The New York Times (11/13, A29, Medina, Gebeloff) reports, “The number of New York City high schools receiving top marks on the Bloomberg administration’s contentious report cards jumped this year, with more than 83 percent earning an A or B, the Department of Education announced on Wednesday. Six high schools received F’s and eight got D’s, together making up 5 percent of the grades that were doled out. Chancellor Joel I. Klein, who has made accountability a cornerstone of his reform efforts, said that the high marks reflected a steadily improving graduation rate and indicated that the grading system had been effective in changing the schools.” The piece notes however that many of the city’s “large comprehensive high schools” are still struggling.

The News of Orange County (NC) (11/13, Shortley) reports that standardized test scores “fell dramatically in North Carolina schools, with the Orange County Schools system following suit. Despite lower test scores, Orange County Schools performed better than the statewide average.” According to the News of Orange County, statewide, schools “made 69.5 percent of their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals, while schools in Orange County made 81.5 percent of their goals.” Also, no North Carolina school district “made their AYPs, goals set under the banner of the No Child Left Behind legislation, which was introduced in 2002.”

The Charleston (WV) Daily Mail (11/12, Rivard) reported, “Unless members of the Kanawha County school board change their minds about a plan to randomly drug test teachers, the county could be in for a costly legal battle.” According to the Daily Mail, the American Federation of Teachers “is working with three lawyers to formulate a legal strategy. The West Virginia Education Association will also send a lawyer or two. Both organizations are expected to the lobby the board before its Nov. 20 meeting.” The Daily Mail added, “In October, board members voted 4-1 to randomly test teachers and other school employees for drugs. … Critics said another pre-existing board policy that allowed the county to test teachers out of suspicion that they used or were under the influence of drugs would, if used, effectively address concerns about educators’ potential drug use.”

The Fayetteville (NC) Observer (11/13, Gilpin) reports, “Another Cumberland County teacher is facing possible discipline for espousing political views in the classroom. This time, it’s a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Mac Williams Middle School who expressed disapproval of a Barack Obama presidency.” According to the Observer, this incident is the second to become public “in the county schools since last week’s conclusion of a hard-fought presidential election. The first incident – a YouTube video of teacher Diatha D. Harris questioning a fifth-grader’s support of John McCain – led to dozens of Internet viewers demanding the dismissal of the Mary McArthur Elementary School instructor. The furor prompted June Atkinson, state superintendent of public instruction, to post an Internet statement advising callers to her office that the Harris video is a local issue.”

McClatchy (11/13, Helms) reports, “An elementary teacher faces firing for posting derogatory comments about students on Facebook, while four other Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Schools teachers have been disciplined for posts involving ‘poor judgment and bad taste,’ spokeswoman Nora Carr said Tuesday.” According to McClatchy, North Carolina’s WCNC-TV “turned up questionable pages on the social networking site by searching for people who identified themselves as CMS employees.” McClatchy adds that Carr “would not provide details about the offensive material,” but the questionable Website pages “included photos of female teachers in sexually suggestive poses. … District officials are working on a memo reminding all 19,000 employees that information they post on the Web can be viewed by the public and should be appropriate.”

New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (11/13) editorializes that because President-elect Barack Obama “has voiced support” for the idea of teacher merit pay, “it is likely to be part of the conversation in any overhaul of the federal No Child Left Behind initiative. The concept of bonuses for those who perform well has proven itself in too many other areas to accept the argument that many educators and teachers unions try to spin: Merit pay would be divisive and destroy collegiality and cooperation among teachers.” The Star-Ledger adds, “It is not, we suspect, the fact that some teachers will get more money that makes so many in education nervous about merit pay but the prospect that all teachers will be evaluated. Yet teachers routinely administer tests and score and judge their students.”

The Suffolk (VA) News-Herald (11/12, Agnew) reports that the Suffolk Public School System “cannot force the parents of a 6-year-old autistic child to put their son in a special program for autistic students, a hearing officer ruled this week. The officer’s ruling came a week after the conclusion of due process proceedings brought by the school system against Vincent and Kimberly Rodgers when the Rodgers’ refused to agree to their son’s placement in the autistic children’s curriculum of the Southeastern Cooperative Education Program.” According to the News-Herald, the “issue at stake was whether the SECEP program was a proper placement – in other words, a placement where the student could continue to improve his academic, social and communication skills – and if it was the least restrictive environment where he could improve.”

The Augusta (GA) Chronicle (11/13, Garcia) reports, “As part of a requirement for special education classes, Laney and Midland Valley High School students gain work experience at Sunrise Grill that will help them get jobs after graduation. Many special education students will not go to college, so the curriculum gets them ready to enter the work force, said Sylvia Holmes, a Laney paraprofessional special education teacher.” According to the Chronicle, Holmes “has students fold towels at the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All will be able to hold down a job after graduating high school, she said.”

The Los Angeles Times (11/13, Saillant) reports, “It didn’t take Jeff Lasater long to swing into action after his 14-year-old son, Jeremiah, took his own life at” Vasquez High in Acton, CA last month. According to the Times, “Within days of burying his youngest son, Lasater rounded up other Vasquez High parents and outraged citizens who had heard about the reported bullying that the teenager suffered before his Oct. 20 death. Together, they vowed to do something about it.” The Times adds that the result of the parents initiative “is Project 51, a nonprofit group that will serve as a watchdog over the Acton education system’s response to reports of bullying, Lasater said. Its name is a tribute to Jeremiah’s number — 51 — on the school’s junior varsity football team.” According to the Times, a “key element is a planned toll-free 800 telephone number that will be sponsored by Project 51 to enable students or their parents to report on-campus harassment.”

Florida’s WMBB-TV (11/12, Hawley) reported that the Bay District School Board “is one step closer to making cyber bullying an expellable offense. The state requested that districts in Florida add the new form of bullying to their board policies, allowing them to punish students for making threats online.” Also, the board is “advertising a revision to its student search and seizure policy. The change would require the school to contact a parent or guardian before asking any questions. … The searches and questioning will have to take place in front of a school official of the same gender as the student.”

Jonathan A. Schein writes in a column for New York House Magazine (11/12, Schein) reported, “One of the best ways to educate this country’s young people about greening their world is to build them greener schools. To that end, the U.S. Green Building Council has been promoting the renovation and construction of green” and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified schools “with its ‘Build Green Schools’ program. … It has been said society can be judged by how it treats its youngest and oldest citizens, and developing healthier schools is certainly one way to provide our finest offerings to the next generation.” Schein added, “The downside to greening schools? There isn’t one.”

The AP (11/12) reports, “The superintendent of the troubled Dallas schools said the district’s financial system will be overhauled by the end of the year instead of over three years, but Michael Hinojosa declined to give details of how it will happen so quickly. ‘By January, we’ll be implementing everything,’ Hinojosa said in a story for Tuesday’s online edition of The Dallas Morning News, after a three-hour closed-door meeting with a group of Dallas business leaders. Hinojosa announced in September that the Dallas Independent School District ran $64 million over budget last year and faced an even larger potential deficit this year. In October the district released hundreds of employees, including hundreds of teachers, to avoid the deficit.”

Wisconsin’s Community Newspapers (11/12, Marra) reported, “As more school budgets get squeezed by increasing health care costs and decreasing state aid, a coalition of education advocacy groups is floating a proposal for revising Wisconsin’s school funding system. South Milwaukee School Superintendent David Ewald said he knows it’s unlikely School Finance Network’s plan will pass the state Legislature as is, but it will help get a conversation going at the state level.” Community Newspapers adds, “Under School Network Finance’s plan, districts that have a number of students from low-income families, as South Milwaukee does, would receive more state aid, explained South Milwaukee School District Superintendent David Ewald during a Nov. 5 presentation to the School Board. The current proposal also includes increasing categorical aid for children with disabilities and special needs.”

Long Island (NY) Business News (11/13) reports that the $5.2 billion in budget cuts proposed by New York Gov. David Paterson (D) over the next two years” will result in up to 10 percent cuts in already-budgeted state funding to Long Island school districts. Paterson, who proposed the cuts Wednesday morning, will ask the state Legislature to approve them during a special session in Albany next week.” According to Long Island Business News, New York state Budget Director Laura Anglin “said the education cuts are not being made uniformly. She said low wealth, at-risk school districts will be asked for a smaller reduction in funds than wealthier districts, many of which are located on Long Island.” Anglin “said poor school districts will be asked for a 3 percent reduction while richer ones will see a 9 percent to 10 percent dip.”

The Las Vegas Sun (11/12) editorialized that Clark County (NV) School District administrators “have announced plans to end an early retirement program, which they say will save about $2.5 million a year. … Some employees are complaining that the district’s plan to shut down the early retirement program is shortsighted and could be costly. One employee told the School Board that absenteeism will increase, saying employees will start calling in to burn unused sick days. As a result, the person suggested, the district will face increasing costs for substitute teachers.” The Sun added, “We hope that is not true. We would think employees would use sick time for its purpose, and we would hope that they understand the seriousness of the state’s budget crisis.” Ultimately, according to the Sun, the early retirement program “is a simple, and relatively painless, item to cut from the budget that will do nothing to hurt education. It may actually help the quality of education by keeping more senior teachers and administrators on the job.”

The AP (11/12) reports, “D.C. officials say they are discussing public school options with President-elect Barack Obama’s family for their two young daughters. In a statement Wednesday, the school system says Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee believe every parent should decide where to send their children to school ‘based solely on what school is in the best interest of the child.’ The statement says city officials will support whatever decision the Obamas make.”