Internet Access at School: What is Appropriate?

The first day of school for Chicago Public Schools is just weeks away, but a myriad of problems continues to plague the district and even threaten the ability of schools to open on schedule. With ongoing conflict between school leaders and the teacher’s union, accusations of lying, and even a bond downgrade by Moodys’, CPS doesn’t look like a district getting ready to welcome students back to their schools. Will the problems be resolved by the looming August deadline?

Is a Strike Inevitable?

Disagreements between the teacher’s union and school administrators continue to heat up, and talks of a strike are concerning many in the Chicago school district. CBS News reports that a recent rejection of a fact finder’s recommendation fuels worries that teachers and school leaders will not be able to come to an agreement before the school year begins. The recommendation included a double-digit raise for district teachers, a move district officials have said they simply cannot afford.

The fact finder, Edwin Benn, made the recommendations after the two sides failed to come to an agreement on the proposed budget for the upcoming school year. The proposed $5.73 billion budget included a two-percent pay increase for teachers for the next school year, but the teacher’s union has said that amount is unacceptable. The Chicago Tribune reports that teachers booed the proposed budget when it was announced earlier this month.

The proposed budget also included a $665 million deficit, increased property taxes

Single-sex classrooms have been around for generations, although they have been primarily limited to elite private schools where academics are revered and rewarded no matter what the student’s gender. Today, same-sex classes are beginning to crop up in public schools across the country, thanks to relaxed restrictions by the U.S. Department of Education. Is there a benefit to segregating children into classrooms according to gender? Both the opinions of educators – and the research supporting those opinions – appear to be widely mixed.

Are Single-Sex Classrooms Becoming More Prevalent?

According to the Huffington Post, there were approximately one dozen schools across the U.S. offering single-sex classrooms in 2002. Currently, around 500 public schools offer some sort of single-gender classroom options for students and their parents. The exponential growth of single-sex classrooms in recent years has to do with policy changes by the U.S. Department of Education, which relaxed the requirement to segregate students within public classrooms. The changes involved Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination of students in public schools, based on their gender.

In 2006, the Department of Education determined that same-sex classrooms should be allowed under Title IX since some children learn better in single-sex classrooms than coed environments. The law requires single-sex classroom options to be completely voluntary, and it requires schools to offer traditional coed classrooms at the same time. According to the Department of Education’s website, “If a single-sex classroom is

Students in the Highland Park School District in Michigan are consistently failing at one of the foundational skills necessary for a productive academic and professional life – the ability to read. With a concerning number of students within the district reading well below grade level, the ACLU has decided to take matters in its own hands. The organization has filed eight lawsuits against the school district and the state of Michigan on behalf of students and their parents. The charge? Failure to teach children to read.

This video explains reading levels.

Obscure Law Fuels Lawsuit Fire

According to the Detroit News, the ACLU has filed a class-action lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court. The lawsuit alleges that the school district and the state have failed to do their job in ensuring students within the Highland Park School District can read at grade level. The lawsuit further asserts that although students are supposed to be provided with “special assistance” if they don’t make grade-level proficiency in grades four and seven, these students were not given any additional help to bring their reading skills up to par.

The lawsuit calls on an obscure law on the Michigan books known as the “right to read” provision. This law enacted by the state legislature in 1993 states, “A pupil who does not score satisfactorily on the 4^th or 7^th-grade MEAP reading test shall be

Homeschooling allows parents the freedom to instruct their children at home; however, sometimes, finding good lesson plans, ideas, and resources can be challenging. Check out these helpful sites to collect ideas and information about developing effective lesson plans for your children!

General Information on Lesson Plans

• BBC Schools provides a variety of educational materials that parents can adapt to use in their home school classroom. Lesson plans are included in this exceptional resource.
• Considering Methods and Styles of Homeschooling provides parents with information about how to determine their child's learning style. Understanding your child's learning style will help parents create effective and meaningful lesson plans.
• Free Homeschool Curriculum helps parents understand different types of free curricula, as well as how to assess if they should use the curriculum with their children. This is a helpful article for parents who are new to homeschooling.
• Homeschool Weekly Lesson Planner, a resource provided by Donna Young, provides homeschooling parents with printable templates for creating lesson plans.
• Free Homeschool Curriculum is an article that will help parents determine if a free curriculum is appropriate and valuable to use when homeschooling their children.
• What is a Lesson Plan?, an article from Let's Homeschool, provides parents with an understanding of what a lesson plan is and how to assess if a lesson plan is effective.

Grade School

• Dig In!, a lesson from BBC Schools, provides parents with a number of resources for teaching their children about farming