This is the first post in a monthly to inform members about what is going on in your state.
This past month, seven policy analysts published reports about聽what occurred in the following states: Pennsylvania, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, and Washington.
Budget and funding continue to be the biggest concerns for educators and schools. discussed the difficulty that impoverished school districts in Pennsylvania face in borrowing money due to the state鈥檚 budget impasse. described the possibility of a shutdown for Kansas due to the legislature adjourning without addressing a court order to provide equitable funding for public schools. Although the Michigan legislature passed legislation to address Detroit鈥檚 financial crisis, there are controversial elements included in the law, as outlined: 聽hiring uncertified teachers,聽 determining merit pay based on standardized tests, and punitive measures for those teachers who participate in sick-outs. Kentucky delayed its initiative to offer free two-year college tuition according to Laura Matravers, Rachel Gramer, and , who questioned how Kentucky would sustain such funding.
In : Daniel Yowell distinguished between the House bill that mandated retention if a student is one grade level behind in reading and the Senate bill that would allow a case-by-case exemption.聽 起点传媒registered its strong opposition to 鈥渓egislation mandating that children, in any grade level, who do not meet criteria in reading be retained,鈥� in its .
reported on Louisiana鈥檚 unanimous passage of a law requiring public schools to teach cursive writing. noted New York鈥檚 release of Common Core test items in light of the high percentage of New York students who opted out of mandated testing in 2015. described Washington鈥檚 use of Smarter Balanced Assessment scores as placement tests in their public colleges and universities, addressing faculty concerns with student maturity.