Direct Education Scheduler
IPS magnet school fairs draw curious families
Damien and Ann Tillis’ second child will be ready for kindergarten next fall, and they want the right fit for her.
Their sixth-grade daughter attends Cold Springs School, one of Indianapolis Public Schools’ magnet schools, which focuses on environmental studies.
They were happy with her experience, but at Saturday’s IPS magnet fair at Tech High School, they started at the table for School 70, which has a performing arts theme.
“We think it may fit her personality better,” Ann Tillis said of her younger child. “She loves music and likes to be the center of attention.”
Specialty themes and enrollment that is not limited to a geographic area are what make magnet schools different from neighborhood schools. The programs generally are selective, requiring students to maintain good grades and good behavior or face possible expulsion.
Magnets also are an increasingly important strategy for IPS as it seeks to compete against new challenges from charter schools and vouchers, which offer parents the chance to use state dollars to defray tuition at private schools.
Fixing Rhode Island’s pensions
Rhode Islands teacher pension system is a mess. The annual cost of the retirement system has doubled since 2003 and will likely double again by 2013. Education Sector has released a report today looking at state treasurer Gina Raimondos plan to stabilize the pension fund by switching to a hybrid plan and spreading the fiscal pain among taxpayers, retirees, current employees, and new workers.
Ed Sectors analysis hits the important high points of the crisis in teacher pensions: this is a crucial education policy issue (because its eating up needed funds that no longer reach the classroom), that existing defined-benefit pensions mistreat the majority of teachers in favor of a select few, and that reforms ought to share the pain among stakeholders rather than soak new teachers.
The writers (rightly) single out Illinois as a bad example that Rhode Island and other states should avoid. As I noted a few weeks ago, the reform there essentially amounts to theft from all new teachers. The RI plan is going to be painful for a lot of people, but its smarter and fairer.
Go check out the report.
Towns where 1 in 4 young people are ‘Neets’ revealed
Industrial buildings in Doncaster. Researchers found that neet blackspots tended to be in areas with a history of industrial decline. Gabriel Szabo/Guzelian
Nearly a quarter of 16- to 24-year-olds are not in work, education or training in some English towns – and this is likely to rise in the next few years.
In Grimsby, Doncaster and Warrington, almost one in four under-25s are Neets, says a joint report by the Work Foundation, a job market thinktank, and the Private Equity Foundation charity.
In some cities, such as Oxford, Aberdeen and York, the proportion of 16- to 24-year-old Neets is fewer than one in 10 – far below the national average of 15.6%.
The study is the first to map the towns and cities in England, Scotland and Wales where clusters of Neets aged under 25 are located. The researchers focused on 53 towns and cities. They found that Neet blackspots tended to be in the north of England, in areas with a history of industrial decline that were heavily reliant on public sector employment. Apa
Twitter updates from Friday night football
There was some great Thursday night football. I’m hoping Friday can match what I watched last night when Woodinville upset top-ranked Eastlake 17-14.
I will be heading up to watch ninth-ranked Lake Stevens play Edmonds-Woodway for the WesCo 4A title at Edmonds Stadium.
Here are our stories from last night.