Blog

Today marks the beginning of Public Schools Week, which celebrates the great things happening in our nation’s public schools. Across the country, public elementary, middle and high school students are building robots and 3D-generated artificial limbs; creating original works of art; collaborating with local government officials to solve community problems...

By Greg Waples, Senior Manager of State Engagement and Outreach at NASSP Just over three weeks ago, we watched in horror as one of the worst school shootings in American history unfolded at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida—17 students and educators were killed and another 14 were...

How does a person, family, community, and a nation respond to the violence that struck a high school in Florida? Just over two weeks after the tragedy occurred, it looks like we all go through a sense of shock that numbs us all to the core. Almost all in our...

After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14, surviving students quickly organized and called for better school safety measures and more gun control, and political debates began. Learning First Alliance members have spent recent days offering sympathies and help for educators and students who were...

By Julie Stern This post was originally published on the Share My Lesson website. Has anyone else been having trouble sleeping since the school shooting in Florida? Every single life lost before its time is a tragedy. For many of us, this one feels… different. Perhaps it’s the fact that...

By Peter Adams This commentary originally appeared in The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., and is republished with permission We’ve become so accustomed to frequently and easily accessing information on-demand — from more sources and in more forms than at any other time in history — that it’s easy to...

The fiscal 2019 budget put forth by the Trump administration today would spend billions of dollars more than the federal government will take in, breaking promises to balance the federal budget, yet K-12 education is once again shortchanged. Members of the Learning First Alliance spoke out against the proposal as...

How does one begin a discussion on the strength of our society—one that is becoming more important with each passing day? The erosion of civil discourse has presented a new normal, with the continued use, by political and government leaders, of increasingly vulgar terms to describe those who disagree with...

AASA, The School Superintendents Association, recently announced the four finalists for the 2018 Superintendent of the Year, a program graciously sponsored by VALIC and First Student. This is our opportunity to showcase four champions for children and put outstanding school district leaders from communities large and small on the national...

In focus groups, voters in the South had a hard time relating the term “equity” to public education, a new report shows. But it’s clear they understand the concept, bringing up inequities organically in conversation and supporting the idea of addressing the differences in quality and funding that exist in...