TOP NEWS Chalkbeat Indiana Indiana education officials approved a controversial plan for additional high school graduation requirements, despite hours of intense objections from teachers, parents and school leaders. Read more>> From DA Magazine Tim Goral A new report by the Frontline Research and Learning Institute sets out to provide actionable insights to help states and local districts address the needs of special needs students equitably. Read more>> The Roanoke Times Close to a third of Virginia’s school divisions are backing a new coalition to make the case for small and rural localities’ education needs to the General Assembly come January. Read more>> The Boston Globe The new policy would change the start and end times at many schools across the city for next fall, and officials planned to disclose what the new hours of operation would be at individual schools this week. Read more>> AL.com State education officials have once again delayed the annual release of a report grading schools. Alabama communities eager to see what grade their schools earned will have to wait until January 11. Read more>> Los Angeles Times All LAUSD schools in the San Fernando Valley as well as 17 schools on the city’s Westside will be closed for the rest of the week, district officials announced. The decision closes at least 265 schools in neighborhoods affected by the wildfires raging in and near Los Angeles. Read more>> The Columbus Dispatch The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow’s (ECOT) request for an injunction or expedited appeal, even though the state’s largest charter school says it will run out of money by March. ECOT is trying to stop the state from taking back $60 million for unverified enrollment during the 2015-16 school year. Read more>> NBC Bay Area Nearly 3,000 of the California district's employees had their most recent paychecks deducted from their checking accounts this week due to a "human error," according to a district spokesman. Read more>> OPINION The Detroit News Nearly every developed nation and a growing number of high performing states like Massachusetts invest more money in the education of low-income children than middle-class children as necessary to achieve high and equal education outcomes for all children. Michigan does the opposite. Read more>> Goshen News Any move to lower the compulsory age for education should take into account that children develop and mature at different rates. Parents will usually know what their children are ready for and be the best judge of whether they should wait a year to start school. Read more>> ABC News There are some things worth considering before placing the extra demands of volunteering on parents. Schools often assume that parents are motivated by benefits for their child but there are other reasons parents volunteer. And potential volunteers are also lost when schools only promote the long-term volunteering roles. Read more>> INDUSTRY NEWS Safer Minds Inc./Offer Motivated Giving Available immediately for implementation, millions of families with smartphone will be motivated by local merchant offers to directly donate $10 or more to their school, and instantly save 150-200 percent of that donation on meals, personal services and merchandise. Read more>> K12 Inc. Stride is now be available for purchase outside of a classroom setting. The platform from K12, Inc. motivates pre-K through 8th grade students towards mastery and rewards learning with games. Read more>> The Virtual High School GenYES and The Virtual High School are partnering to expand the number of student technology leaders and provide more students with access to computer science education. Read more>> ✭ Visit the District Administration's PR Portal ✭ CONSTRUCTION WATCH Richmond Times-Dispatch Five new schools and two renovations are part of a five-year plan to build long-awaited new schools across the Virginia city. But the vote was taken without receiving public comments on the plans, which were not made publicly available outside of a newspaper's breakdown days before the vote. Read more>> WPDE The Home Builders Association says 60,000 construction jobs need to be filled just in South Carolina and current builders are aging out of the business. So the Horry Georgetown Home Builders Association and area high schools are working together to attract a younger workforce. Read more>> Idaho Statesman The West Ada School District board of trustees has approved resolutions to ask voters to approve a $95 million bond and a two-year supplemental levy of $14 million per year. The bond would fund the construction of two new schools and upgrades at other schools. Read more>> | 