In high-priced Silicon Valley, San Jose Unified School District is considering turning underused schools into teacher housing. But, especially in the upper-middle-class parts of the district, residents think teacher housing will lower their property values, reports Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury News. San Jose Unified says it’s fighting to find and retain workers as rising housing costs outpace income. Teachers are commuting up to four hours a day to and from the city

Colorado is investing in school counselors to improve success rates for low-income students reports Hechinger’s Sarah Gonser. As of 2016, the most recent year for which data is available, graduation rates among participating schools had risen from 65 percent to nearly 80 percent, while dropout rates declined. Enrollment in high school career-and-technical programs doubled. Completion rates for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid increased to 54 percent, compared to 4

Arizona teachers won’t return to work until the Legislature passes a budget giving them a 20 percent pay raise, reports NPR’s Colin Dwyer. For nearly a week, educators have exchanged blackboards for poster board, descending on the Capitol in Phoenix with signs and chants expressing their frustration. Among their demands is a 20 percent pay raise for teachers and certified school staff, smaller class sizes, and efforts to bring teacher salaries in Arizona in line with the nati

The average U.S. teacher made $59,660 in 2016-17, reports the National Education Association in its annual ranking of the states. That’s expected to rise to $60,483 in 2017-18. Teachers earned the most in New York ($81,902), California ($79,128), and Massachusetts ($78,100) and the least in Mississippi ($42,925), Oklahoma ($45,292) and West Virginia  ($45,555). Arizona teachers march at the Capitol in Phoenix. Photo: Ross D. Franklin/AP Demands for higher teacher pay have spa

Dual enrollment is worth doing — but do it right, argues Rob Jenkins, who’s been a dual enrollment student, parent and college dean. Increasingly popular dual-enrollment programs let students earn college credits while still in high school. Some take classes on nearby college campuses, but often dual-credit courses are taught in the school by an adjunct professor or by a high school teacher. Matthew Caypless, a dual-enrollment student in Alabama, will complete an associate de

Six years ago, Oregon legislators set an ambitious goal for the state’s schools: By 2025, all students would graduate from high school, 40 percent would earn a bachelor’s degree and 40 percent would earn a two-year degree. Now lawmakers are preparing to drop the education goals, “largely at the urging of the state’s teachers union,” reports Oregon Live. “It is not realistic,” Rep. Paul Evans, D-Salem, a community college instructor and the primary sponsor of the bill to end t