No Bard! Shakespeare Is Out At America’s Top Colleges, ACT V. SAT, New York Progress On LGBT, Prince In HS, Pension Problems, Nuance With Mitchel, School Board Meetings, Teaching Challenges, Bear Insults.

Here’s a bit on Prince’s high school days. He was more than just a phenomenally talented musician.

Ladies and gentleman: Your fourth largest school system.

Happy birthday William!

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni issued “The Unkindest Cut: Shakespeare in Exile 2015” a year ago this month which documented the extent to which the Bard has been barred from the priority list for English majors—both at the top 25 U.S. colleges and universities and at the top 25 U.S. colleges and universities for liberal arts, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. A scant 8 percent of the top institutions nationally require a dedicated Shakespeare course for English majors. Some of these Shakespeare-impaired English majors will eventually teach high school English, and no one seems to care that they will be doing so undereducated and underprepared.

Harvard and UC–Berkeley were the only two among the top 25 schools overall to require Shakespeare for English majors; Wellesley and the U.S. Naval Academy, the only two among the top 25 liberal arts schools.

New York is appointing an LGBT liaison for the school district.

Like a couple of hockey players you knew this ACT/SAT fight was coming.

Here’s an argument for why the volatility associated with public sector pensions is the biggest challenge. It’s an issue, to be sure. But here in education I’d argue instead that the biggest problem is that a retirement system that works for only about 20 percent of the people it touches is just not a very good retirement scheme from a design perspective. Related: Leslie Kan with some good questions on pension finance.

Ashley Mitchel looks at a complicated pre-K/charter issue in New Jersey:

The decision here isn’t obvious. And it shouldn’t be, unless you’re mindlessly pro- or anti-charter.

The idea of charters supporting students in college isn’t a new one but it’s now getting some attention.

Trigger warning for parents: Your kid may not be doing as well in school as you think.  Great moments in school board meetings.  Rick Hess is very upset with Arne Duncan.

OK, here’s a classroom management challenge you don’t see every day.

How to properly insult a bear. 

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