ED Approves Teacher Distribution Plans For 17 States.

Alyson Klein writes at the Education Week (10/23) “Politics K-12” blog that ED has announced that “it has given 17 additional states the greenlight on plans to bolster teacher quality and make sure that low-income kids get their fair share of effective teachers.” Klein lists the states and notes that ED approved the plans of 16 other states last month. The state plans include “steps to bolster teacher quality, including improving teacher preparation.”         Education Dive (10/23) reports that ED’s initiative “aims to guarantee equal access to high-quality education for all students, and the approved plans include strategies for eliminating gaps by addressing localized problems.” ED released a statement indicating that the state plans include “solutions that support, strengthen, or modify teacher prep programs; boost data-driven decision-making; offer teachers incentives to excel or continue working in high-need schools; and publicly report progress in closing equity gaps.” The piece quotes Education Secretary Arne Duncan saying in a statement, “All parents understand that strong teaching is fundamental to strong opportunities for their children. We as a country should treat that opportunity as a right that every family has. — regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin, zip code, wealth, or first language.”         Several media outlets run articles about individual states’ plans being approved. The AP (10/23) reports, for example, that North Dakota Superintendent Kirsten Baesler says that ED “has approved North Dakota’s state equity plan to ensure quality teachers in classrooms.” The piece explains that ED “required all states to submit a plan to ensure that poor and minority children are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, unqualified or out-of-field teachers.” ED “praised North Dakota for its incentives, saying that the state’s teachers are provided with easily accessible information about loan forgiveness and can receive signing bonuses to work in hard-to-staff areas.”         Other media outlets that cover this story at the state level include EdSource (10/23), the Chattanoogan (TN)(10/22), and the North Jersey (NJ) Media Group (10/23).