american federation of teachers
- New efforts to change Maryland's charter school law, buoyed by a recent report from the Abell Foundation, appear to be a solution in search of a problem. Maryland is among the best states in academic performance and achievement. The public school system here has been applauded by observers across the nation. Furthermore, when we examine the data we see that on the whole, charters do not perform better than high quality neighborhood public schools. This is even evident in municipalities that have
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- If Maryland wants to improve students reading performance, teachers must first be trained how to pass along those skills
- Teachers unions contribute in essential ways to the effectiveness of school systems; this should not be ignored in reform efforts.
- Dorothea Arvin Rawlings, a former teacher Barclay Elementary School, died of cancer March 9 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The West Baltimore resident was 73.
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- Teacher preparation programs in the nation and Maryland are "an industry of mediocrity" that are failing to give young teachers the skills to be successful in the classroom, according to a long-awaited report by a national research advocacy group.
- Brenda J. Clayburn, a founder of the City Union of Baltimore who was also a longtime city Police Department supervisor, died Sunday of undetermined causes at her Northwest Baltimore home. She was 63.
- Patricia Cook-Ferguson, a Baltimore city special education teacher and president of the Baltimore County NAACP known for wearing multiple hats in her advocacy for youth and local civil rights issues, died Nov. 28 of complications from lung cancer. She was 56.
- A broad coalition of donors — including casino giant MGM, Delta Airlines, a Washington nightclub and thousands of individuals across the country — together gave nearly $6 million to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland, providing a financial advantage that supporters say was critical to the campaign's success.
- Improving classroom instruction is the most critical issue
- Demonstration planned for Tuesday outside of Polytechnic Institute
- Outraged education, community and political leaders have called for increased oversight of spending in the Baltimore City school system, amid revelations that officials spent about $500,000 to upgrade offices at the district headquarters while city and state leaders fought for funding to fix dilapidated school buildings.
- On Tuesday, officials from the Baltimore Teachers Union and the city school system surprised Ellen Vikestad with news that she'd won this year's Extreme Classroom Makeover contest.
- Baltimore City school officials say the district will reimburse all international teachers who paid out-of-pocket fees associated with obtaining their work visas, a practice that led the U.S. Department of Labor to fine the Prince George's system millions in penalties and back wages.
