All articles tagged with #k 12
Newly appointed NYC schools chancellor Kamar H. Samuels outlines a plan anchored in rigor and equity as he starts leading the nation’s largest school system, visiting campuses and signaling policy directions aimed at closing achievement gaps tied to race and income.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has signed seven bills into law, allocating over $10 billion to improve K-12 education and childcare. The funding will increase teacher and staff salaries, prevent layoffs, incentivize teaching careers, and support diversity. The bills also include provisions for special education, child care infrastructure, professional development, civil rights coordination, and early literacy. Governor Kotek expressed her commitment to providing high-quality education and affordable childcare for every child and family in Oregon.
Figma, a cloud-based design tool, is now offering its most advanced tier, Figma Enterprise, for free to all US K-12 students in partnership with Google for Education. The program includes unlimited files, individual and shared project options, dedicated workspaces, and more sophisticated design features. Schools will need Chromebooks to utilize the program, but they can apply for access if they have non-Google systems. The initiative started in beta last year, with 50 high schools across the country getting free access to Figma and FigJam, a collaborative whiteboard.
Alabama lawmakers have approved a historic $8.8 billion education budget and $2.8 billion supplemental allocation, which will be distributed during the current budget year. The education budget will send K-12 education $6 billion, a $363 million or 4.4% increase, while higher education will receive $2.3 billion, a $140 million or 1.7% increase. The budget will fund 2% pay increases for K-12 teachers, a minimum pay scale for school support staff, and a $1,000 bonus for special education teachers. Lawmakers put an additional $50 million into math and science initiatives and an additional $30 million into child care and after school resources.
The Florida Board of Education has expanded the state's restrictions on teaching students about sexual orientation or gender identity to all K-12 public schools. Under the updated rule, teachers risk losing their credentials for leading instruction on those topics to students through 12th grade instead of strictly kindergarten through grade 3. The rule is meant to ensure that educators stick to Florida's teaching standards, but opponents warn it could wedge a divide between LGBTQ students and teachers who support them. The parental rights expansions approved by the state board go beyond grade-level scope of legislation GOP lawmakers are currently advancing in the Legislature.