What we’re following: Vouchers don’t cover specialized school costs and AZ needs to nearly double education funding
The parents of a teenage boy who attends a private school for students with autism say U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wrongly portrayed them as a school choice success story. The parents told Chalkbeat that the amount most voucher programs offer – around $5,000 – wouldn’t work for many families who have children with disabilities, because tuition at a specialized private school like the one their son attends can run up to $70,000 a year and parents lose their right to challenge the services private schools are willing to provide for their student.
The Arizona Republic reports that Arizona Town Hall participants said the state needs to nearly double public K-12 education funding and give teachers substantial raises, and offered proposals on how to do it, including increasing the Proposition 301 sales tax, eliminating corporate income tax cuts and creating a statewide property tax.
A Rhode Island after-school STEM club provides students time to learn, imagine and do hands-on activities they may not have time for in class says Education Week and PBS NewsHour, and that can keep them engaged even as classwork becomes more difficult.
Azfamily.com reports that patients and leaders from Barrow Cleft and Craniofacial Center, which treats most Arizona patients with facial deformities, are talking with students at 10 Phoenix schools before the premiere of the movie “Wonder” which tells the story of a boy born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare genetic condition. They hope to encourage kindness toward people who look a little different on the outside, but have the same interests and cares on the inside.
National Public Radio said 4.2 million American children experience homelessness each year, because of abuse, family problems or abandonment, and it’s a problem that affects students of color and LGBTQ youth disproportionately.
Flagstaff High School students are collecting canned and nonperishable food to help students in the Flagstaff Unified School District’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Program after learning that at least 150 students at their school are either homeless or living in shelters, campgrounds or motels, according to a story in the Arizona Daily Sun.
The Ithacan reports that in an effort to achieve equity and diversity in discussions in higher education classes, instructors are allowing members of underrepresented groups such as people of color, individuals with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community and women to speak before members of majority communities so that all voices crucial of the context of the conversation are heard.
After the shooting in Tehama County, Calif., earlier this week, Fox 10 News Phoenix looks at how Arizona schools deal with active shooter situations to protect students and staff.
NBC News reports that hackers are threatening public schools that they have access to school security cameras and that they will make students’ private data public unless a ransom is paid, which has led to law enforcement involvement and the U.S. Department of Education encouraging schools to conduct security audits and train staff on cybersecurity best practices.
Culinary arts students showed off their harvest-fair recipes, including citrus sage turkey breast, apricot ricotta honey basil bites, cumin-glazed carrots, pear hazelnut and blue cheese on red endive, and salted caramel pumpkin profiteroles, with local food service professionals in Bullhead City recently, according to a story in the Mohave Valley Daily News.
