Category: Education News

NJ Waives Graduation Rules, Makes Other School Changes Amid COVID

by  on  in Education News

TRENTON, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Monday that New Jersey will once again have to make important statewide changes to New Jersey schools as the coronavirus crisis continues.

Murphy announced during a Monday news conference that the state Department of Education will, for the second time, be waiving a graduation assessment test requirement for all New Jersey 12th graders this spring.

This is due to COVID-19 and so many students forced to learn virtually from home, he noted.

The governor also extended the time in which certified teachers can work as substitutes, as school districts across the state

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‘It Is an Inflection Point’

by  on  in Education News

Image via Drew Angerer/Getty

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation Thursday night.

DeVos becomes the second person in Donald Trump’s cabinet to resign in wake of the insurrection on the US Capitol by his supporters. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said she would be resigning earlier today.

“We should be highlighting and celebrating your

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Joe Biden is set to pull America’s schools far to the left

by  on  in Education News

Education reformers breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear that President-elect Joe Biden wouldn’t tap a teachers-union leader as his secretary of education, contrary to the post-election rumor mill. Instead, Biden nominated Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona.

Compared to teachers-union leaders, Cardona appears moderate. But Biden’s Department of Education transition team looks as though it came straight off the field of a National Education Association versus American Federation of Teachers softball game. It seems all but certain that on education, Biden will govern to the left of his ex-boss, President Barack Obama.

During the campaign, Biden railed against

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Gregory Fowler to become University of Maryland Global Campus president

by  on  in Education News

Now Fowler will take the helm of the public, online-focused school based in Maryland known as UMGC. It had more than 58,000 students in the United States in 2019, federal data show, and served tens of thousands more at locations around the world. Much of UMGC’s overseas enrollment comes from U.S. military service members and their families.

UMGC is a leader among public universities devoted mostly or entirely to online education. Fowler is the first African American named to serve as the school’s president on a long-term basis. (The interim president, Lawrence E. Leak, is also African American.)

Maryland higher-education

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London primary schools stay shut for start of term

by  on  in Education News

Schools may have to close to prevent the spread of the new Covid-19 variant scientists have warned (PA)
Schools may have to close to prevent the spread of the new Covid-19 variant scientists have warned (PA)

Gavin Williamson has been forced into another humiliating policy reversal after the government bowed to pressure and agreed to keep all London primary schools closed for the start of the new term.

The education secretary has confirmed a blanket approach to schools after announcing just days ago that only a select number would remain closed after the Christmas holidays.

Labour said the education secretary’s “incompetent” handling of the return of schools had caused “huge stress” to pupils, parents and staff, amid calls

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