Latest news with #TeachersUnion
Irish Times
5 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Teaching union votes to accept controversial Leaving Cert reforms
Members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) have voted by a margin of 73 per cent to 27 per cent to accept a package of supports aimed at easing the roll-out of controversial Leaving Certificate reforms. The outcome of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) ballot on the same issue is due next Friday. The strength of the TUI vote, however, looks likely to avert the threat of industrial action across second level schools in the autumn. It also paves the way for curriculum changes which seek to broaden assessment and ease pressure facing Leaving Cert students. READ MORE The reforms will see students awarded a minimum of 40 per cent for project work or practicals across all subjects. Minister for Education Helen McEntee , who has pushed ahead with the reforms despite calls for a pause from teaching unions, welcomed the outcome of the TUI vote. She thanked the union for its 'positive engagement' during recent negotiations and for its 'commitment to finding a shared path forward to the continued implementation of senior cycle redevelopment for the benefit of all students'. Teaching unions' annual conferences at Easter heard concerns that laboratories were ill-equipped for the volume of new research projects for physics, chemistry and biology. It was also stated that the changes would benefit affluent schools with access to more resources. During subsequent negotiations with teaching unions, the Department of Education announced a support package aimed at easing the roll-out of the reforms, which begin for fifth year students in September next. The package clarified that pay increases of up to 5 per cent, due under the public sector pay deal, were contingent on co-operating with senior cycle reforms. It also offered pledges of flexibility in relation to so-called Croke Park hours and a shorter qualifying period for teachers to attain job permanency by way of a contract of indefinite duration. In addition, the support package pledged to address teachers' concerns over workload and authenticating students' work against a backdrop of rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI), among other issues. The TUI's executive committee had recommended acceptance, stating that it believed the measures were the 'best that could be achieved through negotiation'. The ASTI, on the other hand, did not issue any recommendation to members. In a statement on Friday evening, the TUI said it made clear at all times that the ballot was on the 'acceptability of the implementation measures and not the actual curriculum', which the Minister has the power to prescribe under the Education Act and 'which other stakeholders have no veto over'. TUI president David Waters said its members had assessed the support package for senior cycle implementation and voted to accept it. 'However, it is clear that they still have a range of concerns around various issues related to the redevelopment process, and we will be insisting that the department honours the commitments set out in the negotiated document,' Mr Waters said. He said members still had concerns about the system capacity for the roll-out of the science subjects in schools that have been 'chronically under-resourced', the potential risks to assessment posed by AI and the additional resourcing required to ensure that 'no students, particularly those in Deis settings, are put at a disadvantage by any of the changes'. 'It is now imperative that these and any other arising issues are urgently addressed,' Mr Waters said. Earlier this week, the TUI welcomed a report in The Irish Times of a delay in the implementation of changes in English and accounting until September 2027. The reforms – including oral exams for English – were due to roll out in September 2026.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Education bill would require parental notification to 'TRACE' foreign funding of curriculum as China looks on
EXCLUSIVE: Republican lawmakers will be putting forward a bill requiring parental notification of any foreign funding sources connected to their child's public K-12 curriculum. Rep. Aaron Bean, R–Fla., and House Education Committee member Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., will put forward the TRACE Act – or Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education. It will amend the Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965 to make such parental notification a condition of federal funding allocation. The issue has come to the fore in recent years, as education officials in states like Oklahoma warn against Chinese Communist Party-linked Confucius Classrooms and other foreign-funded or globally-based initiatives. Pompeo Labels Teachers Union Boss 'Among The Most Dangerous People' In The Us The TRACE Act would require schools to provide on an approximately monthly basis any education materials provided by, using funds received by or purchased from foreign governments. Read On The Fox News App The bill will also require that parents have the right to know about any contract or financial transaction between a foreign country and their child's school. Bean, who also leads the Congressional DOGE Caucus, forwarded a similar bill in 2024, but Republicans now hold full control of Congress – which they did not at the time. "American schools are for education, not espionage. We cannot allow our students – the future of our great nation – to be corrupted by foreign adversaries who are systematically and aggressively attempting to influence our nation's K-12 schools," Bean told Fox News Digital. "Yet, this is what happens when our institutions of learning accept the Trojan horse of foreign funding." Chinese Influence In Schools Leads To Grown Concerns, Oklahoma Official Says Mackenzie, who just took office after a narrow but crucial GOP upset over Democrat Susan Wild in his Lehigh Valley district, called the TRACE Act "essential for safeguarding America's children and schools against foreign influence." "Parents have a fundamental right to know what's happening in their children's classrooms, especially in cases where foreign governments are funding curricular materials or compensating school personnel," Mackenzie said. "By empowering parents to demand transparency and accountability, the TRACE Act will ensure that our children's education remains free from external influence," the Pennsylvanian added. Bean said parents deserve to know who is funding the materials used to educate their children and further warned against potential subtle indoctrination of America's youth. Oklahoma's top elected education official had called for congressional action in 2023 to blunt foreign influence in schools – and further pledged to be on the front lines of pushing back against untoward interference in children's education. State Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters told Fox News Digital in June that foreign influence over education is a national security risk – especially when it comes without the knowledge of children or their parents. He challenged his state's largest school district, alleging funding for Confucius Classrooms had been "hidden" from parents and that it was "actually the Chinese Communist Party that was funding a nonprofit that was working directly in the school." In a statement to Fox News at the time, Tulsa Public Schools said the district "has no Confucius classroom programs in its schools." In a report from The Oklahoman, the district reportedly funded a professional development class for a Chinese language teacher at one high school, which was facilitated through a Confucius Classroom Coordination Office at an outside, Texas-based organization. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., then chair of the House Education Committee, said it is clear "significant investments" from foreign nations are "flowing into America's K-12 schools [and] possibly impacting decisions regarding personnel or curriculum." Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Wis., took over for Foxx as chair of that committee in article source: Education bill would require parental notification to 'TRACE' foreign funding of curriculum as China looks on
