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Weekly News Round-Up for July 20th
posted by: Melissa | July 20, 2018, 05:20 PM   

Each week, AAE brings its members a round-up of what’s happening in education. From big, eye-catching headlines to the stories most papers overlook, we find the news our members really want to see. This week, teachers raise money for the classroom, Target helps out, troubling findings about the safety of schools’ drinking water, and more!


Target’s Newest Teacher Discount: This week, Target is offering a coupon to teachers that will give them a 15% discount on school supplies. It’s fairly common for stores to offer teachers a back-to-school discount of some sort, but this one in particular has caught national attention and has started a discussion on whether teachers should need to rely on such discounts at all. Nearly all teachers end up spending their own money on school supplies, averaging about $479 per teacher each year, though some independent researchers estimate it may be even more. In the face of a spring where school funding took the spotlight, many are asking why teachers have to buy their own supplies at all.


Creative Solutions to Purchasing Supplies: Meanwhile, teachers across the country are looking for ways to purchase the supplies that they don’t get through their schools. For example, the teacher who panhandled on the side of an Oklahoma road for cash last year is back at it again. Asking for donations so that she can supply her classroom. One teacher from Tampa has started a Facebook campaign to help area teachers get the supplies that they need. Perhaps most heart-warming is the story of a Chicago teacher who never even asked. When passengers on an airplane overheard her telling her seatmate about how much she needed for her students, they donated over $500 in cash on the spot.


New Report: Most Schools not Testing for Lead: The Government Accountability office released a report on the number of schools that test for lead in the their drinking water. According to the report, only 43% of the nation’s schools are currently testing for lead. Of that 43%, over 1/3rd found elevated lead levels. While there is currently no federal law requiring the testing of lead, any lead exposure can have negative effects for children including development delays, hyperactivity, and lowered IQs.


Happening Elsewhere:

Behind The Campaign To Get Teachers To Leave Their Unions

Georgia Lottery Makes Billion Dollar Transfer To Education

Tesla announces first $1.5M investment in Nevada education

Feds: Michigan 'needs intervention' in special education programs

TNReady testing scores mostly flat, but results dip in high school English

Court rules Douglas Co. schools violated constitutional rights of parent, student

Affordable homes program for inner-city teachers: Is it working?

Students invent school safety device


What’s going on where you are?

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