NEA Joins Push For $23 Billion Teacher Jobs Bill. Education Week (5/26, Klein) reported that the NEA, along with the AFT, has joined the push “to drum up support for legislation that would provide $23 billion to help school districts” avert “a looming tidal wave of layoffs.” The unions are “working on a media blitz called ‘Speak Up for Education and Kids’” that “includes an NEA commercial in which children dressed in suits and carrying briefcases ask whether Congress would be more willing to save their teachers’ jobs or keep their classes small if the children were Wall Street bankers.” In addition, the NEA has “established a hotline to help supporters of the bill reach their representatives in Congress.”

The Washington Post (5/27, Anderson) reports that the House Appropriations Committee may take up the bill “as early as Thursday.” Yesterday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told lawmakers, “We desperately need Congress to act — to recognize the emergency for what it is. … We have to keep hundreds of thousands of teachers teaching.” Meanwhile, some lawmakers from both parties “say the government can’t afford an extension of last year’s economic stimulus that would add to the federal deficit.” According to Duncan, if the measure does not pass, “100,000 to 300,000 education jobs” would be “at risk, including support staff.” The Post also notes that the NEA’s television ads will be shown “in markets that are home to potential swing votes among House Democrats.” The Politico (5/27, Rogers) also covers the story.

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Full-Day Preschool Found To Benefit Boys, Some Minorities In Maryland District. The Washington Post (5/11, Birnbaum) reports that Montgomery County, Maryland, “boys as well as African Americans of both sexes benefit more from full-day pre-kindergarten programs, according to a study announced Monday by school officials. The findings come at a time when educators increasingly are using programs aimed at the youngest students as the surest way to close persistent gaps in performance between economic and racial groups.” According to the Post, “The study found that among African American students and boys in general, those who attended full-day pre-kindergarten classes outperformed their Head Start peers who had only half-day programs on reading benchmarks.”

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In the Classroom
The “Big Read” Aims To Revitalize Role Of Literature In Pop Culture. The Washington Post (5/11, Brown) reports, “Officials at the D.C. Humanities Council and the D.C. Public Library system are participating in the ‘Big Read,’ a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts to ‘revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture,’ are hoping that everyone in the city can learn from reading the same book.” The novel “A Lesson Before Dying,” by Ernest J. Gaines is this year’s selection.

High School In Michigan Wins Obama Commencement Competition. The New York Times (5/5, Calmes) reports that Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan has “beaten more than 1,000 public high schools in a national contest” to have President Obama “as commencement speaker” in the first annual Race to the Top Commencement Challenge for high schools. According to the Times, “Officials at the White House and the Education Department chose the six finalists, whose videos and essays were posted on the White House Website” and “Obama made the final choice.” ABC News (5/4, Bruce, Blackburn) reported on its Website that after announcing Kalamazoo Central High School as the winner, President Obama added “a shout out to Kalamazoo Central’s mascot: ‘Go Giants!’”

The Christian Science Monitor (5/5, Paulson) reports, “On June 10, seniors at Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan will get a rare honor for a high school: a sitting president as their commencement speaker.” Kalamazoo Central was among three finalists, including “Clark Montessori Junior High and High School in Cincinnati, and the Denver School of Science and Technology.”

The Kalamazoo (MI) Gazette (5/5, Mack) reports that Kalamazoo Central’s “entry focused on The Kalamazoo Promise, the college scholarship program for Kalamazoo graduates, and the reform efforts The Promise has inspired.” The AP (5/5) also covers the story, as did David Jackson in a blog for USA Today (5/4) and Valerie Strauss in a blog for the Washington Post (5/4). WWMT-TV Kalamazoo, MI (5/4) and KUSA-TV Denver (5/4, Boniface) also covered the story.

California To Submit New Race To The Top Application. The San Francisco Chronicle (5/1, Tucker) reports California will “throw its hat into the ring for the chance to win $700 million in the second round of federal Race to the Top funds despite the state’s arguably long odds and dismal showing in the last round, state officials said Friday.” State Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss said the state “would need to vault from 27th place – out of 40 applicants – in round one to a spot among serious contenders – something that will require a complete revamp of the application.” This time, “six district superintendents, representing more than 1 million students in California, will craft the application rather than Sacramento policy wonks,” and it will “shine a spotlight on what those districts are already doing to turn around struggling schools, evaluate and support teachers and principals and measure student performance.”

The Los Angeles Times (5/1, Blume) reports the “names of the three largest districts, including L.A. Unified, had been disclosed in an article this week in The Times,” and Long Beach Unified and Fresno Unified “also were taking part.” But officials “revealed Friday that three other districts wanted to be involved as well: San Francisco Unified and two Fresno-area districts: Clovis Unified and Sanger Unified.” The state “developed a new strategy: A few districts would pursue reforms more specific and more aggressive than in the original state submission.”

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