Here are summaries of recent annual addresses by governors around the country.

"We have a responsibility to save lives," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said on Twitter. "We could have waited to close schools, but based on advice from health experts, this is the time to do it."

Many states have recently enacted laws or rules designed to ensure that teachers are well versed in evidence-based reading instruction. Here are some highlights.

Governors in several natural resource-dependent states said recently they will have to continue to cut public education funding because prices for oil and coal have not rebounded.

Several states this year sought to replace their funding formulas, a monumental fiscal and political feat, but only a handful of legislatures have been able to get proposals to their governors' desks.

Eight states have passed laws requiring students to pass some version of a civics test so far in 2015.

A Smarter Balanced testing vendor has released completion rates in three states that had serious challenges giving the common-core aligned exam.

Advocates have plans to push more state legislatures to pass laws requiring high schoolers to pass a citizenship test in order to graduate in coming years.

Not having to negotiate with federal officials on the finer points of teacher evaluation, rigorous standards, or school turnarounds has made it easier to chart their own paths, some education leaders say.

Some states, such as California, Kentucky and North Dakota plan to use the Every Student Succeeds Act to bolster the decision-making powers of their local school boards in the coming years.

Lawmakers in Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Utah have all gave previews this to their 2018 fiscal year budget proposals.

With the plan's approval, North Dakota's educators will experience some of the nation's most dramatic changes under the Every Student Succeeds Act this fall.

Officials in Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania are proposing to close online charter schools over concerns that they're producing subpar academic results for students.

Several states this year sought to replace their funding formulas, a monumental fiscal and political feat, but only a handful of legislatures have been able to get proposals to their governors' desks.

Many states have recently enacted laws or rules designed to ensure that teachers are well versed in evidence-based reading instruction. Here are some highlights.

A bill in Nebraska would require high school students to take a civics examination before graduating.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is not famous for pressuring states into desired outcomes, but did put at least two states' Title I funding on "high-risk" status last year.

Michael Sentance, who would oversee ESSA implementation as state superintendent, is less than a year into the job and under fire by the state board for his communication and leadership style.

Michael Sentance abruptly resigns less than a year after being hired to oversee Alabama's schools and as board members were preparing to decide his fate after a brutal evaluation.

The state's last superintendent resigned under pressure after he attempted to take over Montgomery's school system and figure out a way to grade the state's schools.

Many states have recently enacted laws or rules designed to ensure that teachers are well versed in evidence-based reading instruction. Here are some highlights.

A collection of short news stories from this week.

The political landscape for updating school finance systems won’t be any easier in the 2020 legislative season, despite a surging economy, state flexibility under ESSA, and single-party control in many states.

Schools may have to continue closures in the fall if the coronavirus resurges, state schools chiefs in Maryland and Washington said. The warnings came the same week thata key federal official predicted schools would be able to reopen for the 2020-21 school year.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos railed against state constitutional prohibitions on public funds going to religious institutions in a speech to the Alfred E. Smith Foundation in New York City.

Students returning to schools in Virginia and New York this fall will be required to participate in mental-health education as part of their health and physical education courses.

The New York state legislature passed a bill that would make the use of state test scores in these evaluations optional, leaving the decision up to districts and making it subject to collective bargaining.

Teachers in Tennessee have an important voice in shaping state initiatives and policies.

Tennessee improved its teacher evaluation and training systems by integrating data and teacher voice, according to a new report. But value-added measures that evaluate teachers based on student test scores remain controversial.

Many states have recently enacted laws or rules designed to ensure that teachers are well versed in evidence-based reading instruction. Here are some highlights.

Many states have recently enacted laws or rules designed to ensure that teachers are well versed in evidence-based reading instruction. Here are some highlights.

After years of shepherding the state’s K-12 system, Democrat Tony Evers will be called on to make good as governor on his pledge of more funding for K-12.

A special state panel in Wisconsin has rejected a financially strapped district's request to dissolve.

Biden's campaign announced March 31 that the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate backs two local attempts to raise more tax revenue for schools.

As some states move to jump-start economies shut down by the coronavirus, most are keeping their school buildings shuttered. What makes schools such an outlier?

As Montana's governor pursues a plan to gradually reopen the state, the state education department is relying in part on public opinion to decide whether to reopen schools this year.

Montana Superintendent Elsie Arntzen offers practical advice to schools that could open as early as May 7, even as she says "how they open schools and how learning takes place is up to them."

State education departments' finance technology can cost millions to replace, but those systems are crucial for fiscal transparency and efficiency. Hawaii's is replacing its long-troubled system with a new one to go online this summer.

There could be an 8.4 percent reduction in the U.S. teaching corps, and some states could see reductions as large as 20 percent, according to a new analysis by the Learning Policy Institute.

Here's a clue: the governor has said the teachers' unions need to be punched in the face.

Having failed to shape their states' Every Student Succeeds Act plans to their liking, elected officials in a a few places want the U.S. secretary of education to send the plans back or turn them down.

Several women told local newspapers that Pennsylvania state board chair Larry Wittig pursued sexual relationships with them when they were teenagers.