For the first time in the United States, a charter-based district will be accountable to its local school board, as the Louisiana Legislature voted in May to reverse the 2005 state takeover of most of New Orleans' public schools. Senate Bill 432 transitions 52 Recovery School District charters back to the oversight of the Orleans […]
Gail Pletnick, superintendent of Dysart Unified School District 89 in Surprise, Arizona, was elected president of AASA for 2016-17. The 2016 Arizona Superintendent of the Year and a member of AASA's digital and personal learning consortia, Pletnick will focus on reshaping the national public education agenda and empowering district leaders through advocacy, networking and PD. […]
Meria Carstarphen is a team player—literally. She has played football in the hot summer sun alongside varsity players at Atlanta Public Schools. The district superintendent also gives her personal cell phone number to staff and students alike. They can text her or call her—any time. In addition, they follow each other on Twitter. Meria Carstarphen […]
Any public district transitioning to an integrated digital curriculum needs time, patience and support from top leadership. Let's face it, digital content—from the Khan Academy to streaming videos to adaptive learning applications—has enveloped K12 education. While some district leaders have only begun replacing printed learning materials with the new technology, other districts are going entirely […]
Educators generally agree that we are testing too much. On the heels of No Child Left Behind, we've had 15 years of often misguided national and state accountability policies that have only just been rolled back. Driven by a robust parental "opt out" movement, Congress' latest action puts more authority back with the states. But […]
From Newark to Los Angeles, districts building affordable homes for teachers hope to better retain and recruit staff as local housing costs rise and salaries remain stagnant. Many new housing developments are in California: The city of San Francisco announced plans in October to build 100 units for the city's educators. It may also offer […]
In Baldwin Community Schools, students had been returning from summer break having lost more than six weeks of learning—two weeks more than is typical. The district is located in the lowest-income county in rural Michigan, where 94 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Superintendent Stiles Simmons resolved the learning loss issue in […]
In seeking to save money while also boosting teacher recruitment and retention, the Pierce City R-VI School District in Missouri switched to a four-day school week this school year. The time is made up by extending the school day 30 minutes. It increased learning time by 20 hours. "We want to create a culture where […]
Customer service is not traditionally thought of as part of a district administrator's job—but learning effective communication skills can sometimes mean the difference between retaining or losing students to charter schools, according to a new report from K12 Insight. "We have to understand that we do have customers—we're not a monopoly just because we are […]
After a shake-up in Oklahoma City Public Schools that resulted with Superintendent Rob Neu and the district “parting ways” Aurora Lora has taken over as superintendent. Lora, a former fourth-grade teacher in Houston and a district administrator in Portland, Seattle and Dallas, had been a finalist for the job in 2014. Neu subsequently hired her […]
