Friday link roundup
Welcome to our third (yes, third) installment of the Friday link roundup. It’s another Friday snow day for lots of you and there’s lots to share on the statewide front and some interesting local stories too. So here we go.
Roanoke Times I File photo
– First up, some local news. Thursday night the Roanoke County School Board took up the school calendar. With the a pre-Labor Day start still up in the air, officials are poised to adopt a later start next month if the General Assembly doesn’t act soon to grant flexilbility. Officials are also putting out a request for proposals on various security measures.
Nearby, in Franklin County students remember a deadly car crash but are moving forward by helping others. The Wounded Eagle Fund was intended to help the families of students involved in the crash, which happened a year ago. But the families declined the help, saying others needed it more. The group raises money and offers assistants to other students attending Franklin County High School.
– Statewide, 81 percent of Virginia high schoolers are graduating on time. This is part of national trend where the country’s graduation rate is on an upswing.
In other state news, Virginia gets a C- in its teacher prep programs, Gov. Bob McDonnell’s education agenda has advanced somewhat, a bill offering in state tuition to undocumented students is advancing, lawmakers in Richmond discussed student eligibility for sports and (and I think this is the most interesting) remember McDonnell’s 2 percent pay raise proposal? Well, the state might pay its share of that for support staff too. Disclaimer: if that state kicks in that two percent raise, localities still have to pay their share.
Snow covered Christiansburg last Friday.
– Elsewhere, Amherst County is saying farewell to well liked Superintendent Brian Ratliff who is moving on to lead schools in Washington County. Sidebar: I can see why folks are sad to see him go. As a reporter who worked with him he was always open, accessible and just a nice guy.
In Powhatan County, a TV weatherman turned educator will soon teach a new course about meteorology and forecasting. Wonder what Kevin Myatt would have to say about that?
Down the road the University of Virginia College at Wise had a scare Wednesday night, which turned out to be a hoax. There were reports of an alleged gunman on campus.
– There was also another school shooting this week. This time in a community college in Houston, Texas. Three people were wounded.
– And finally, looking for a job as an elementary school teacher? Well, so are a lot of people. According to Education Week, colleges are overproducing elementary school teachers some states produce more than twice as many as needed.
So, what have I left out? What stories caught your eye this week?
January 25, 2013 - 1:14 PM
That Education Week article was interesting. I am in a teacher education program myself at Mary Baldwin, but I’m going for a secondary license. However, I can testify that there are a lot of elementary majors in the ADP program. In the education classes I’ve taken they probably outnumber the secondary majors 5 to 1. This surprises me too because as a parent of two elementary school aged children, I realized early on that I did not want to teach at that grade level. The elementary teachers have to focus on so many subjects and also have to deal with being funneled around to different grades each year. My daughter’s kindergarten teacher has had a different grade level in each of the three years she’s been at our school. I find these aspects to be overwhelming, and part of the reason why I chose to go with a secondary license.