1. In a case brought by 9 students, a California judge has thrown out key state laws governing tenure and other teacher job protections because the current system discriminates against low-income and minority students by giving them ineffective teachers.
2. The two largest teacher unions, NEA and AFT, have vowed to challenge the above case.
3. The Gates Foundation, which has invested more than $200 million to create, support, and implement the Common Core Standards, now says states should postpone using the Common Core assessments to evaluate teachers for two years.
4. So far, five states–KY, MI, NV, NC, and SC–have been approved to delay their new teacher-evaluation systems as part of their No Child Left Behind waivers.
5. New York may lose $300 million federal dollars if it doesn’t implement a new principal and teacher evaluation system promised in its earlier Race to the Top win.
6. Initially, 45 states and DC adopted the Common Core State Standards assessments; today just 27 still plan to do so in 2014-15: 17 will go with SBAC and only 9 and DC with PARCC.
7. More than one million students in grades 3 through 11 in 14 states tested the new Common Core standardized tests this spring to fine-tune them.
8. As of May 15, lawmakers had introduced more than 340 bills in 46 states that addressed college- and career-readiness education standards, including the Common Core. Of those, 30 would slow down or delay those standards and 35 would stop or revoke implementation altogether.
9. Governor Bobby Jindal is trying to end Louisiana’s enactment of the Common Core and their assessments, but some officials say he’s overstepped his authority and have vowed to resist his efforts.
10. Governor Mary Fallin recently signed a bill repealing Oklahoma’s adoption of the Common Core and directed the state board of education to create more rigorous standards by August, 2016.
11. The U.S. Department of Education’s $35 million investment in teacher preparation is meant to produce effective STEM teachers and prepare teachers to implement the Common Core.
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