In the news this week, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded several districts and entities grants–a total of $335 million–to explore ways to make teaching more effective. Three participants in NSBA’s Council of Urban School Boards—Pittsburgh, Memphis, Tenn., and Hillsborough County, Fla., received grants to experiment with issues such as teacher tenure, training, and evaluations.
Speaking of teachers, the New York Times reports on an interesting trend: teachers are selling their lesson plans on the internet, either through a handful of companies that have sprung up or their personal blogs or websites. While most teachers ask for only nominal amounts, the revenues can add up. Earnings for a high school English teacher on one website have added up to $36,000! (Be sure to also read the Week in Blogs commentary on this topic on the Leading Source, American School Board Journal’s blog.)
In other news this week:
- Tainted food is getting to school cafeterias because the federal government does not have adequate systems in place to notify school officials of recalls and suppliers that have chronic histories of food contamination, USA Today reported. The next day, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack pledged that the government will do a better job alerting schools when asked during a Senate hearing on food safety.
- Florida is facing a second school-finance lawsuit that says state officials are not providing enough money and putting too much emphasis on high-stakes testing. Meanwhile, the next governor of Texas will have a funding quagmire to deal with as well, the Associated Press reports.
- And the Washington Post visits Arizona‘s charter schools, and finds that success is hard to replicate.
Read these stories and more in School Board News Today. Miss a day? Check out the weekly roundup.
