John was tragically taken from us in the early morning of Sunday, October 16, 2011, when he was hit by a car trying to help another individual. John not only left behind his parents, but he also left behind two small children ages 8 and 10.

Function 11, a fantastic band, will be performing the evening of Saturday, November 19, 2011, at 8:00pm. Advance ticket sales are $20.00, with ticket prices of $25.00 at the door. A portion of the door sales will go directly to the benefit of John’s children through his parents. There will also be 50/50 ticket sales as well as other gift prizes, which will benefit the children and also help the APEAPF provide a scholarship in John’s name in the Asbury Park School District to be given out in June.

If you are unable to attend, but would like to donate to this worthy cause, please send a check to:

The Asbury Park Education Association Philanthropic Fund (APEAPF)
658 Cookman Ave.
Suite 19
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
(In the memo section, please write: FBO John Key)

We look forward to seeing you at this very worthy cause.

ASBURY PARK — The Board of Education is moving ahead to get a new synthetic turf football field installed by the end of the school year, and hired Leon S. Avakian Consulting Engineers to get bidding documents ready and to supervise the project.

The board Wednesday night awarded a $145,000 contract to the engineering firm.

Geoffrey Hastings, school business administrator, said Avakian was chosen after getting quotes from other firms. The total cost of the project is expected to be in the range of $1.1 million, school officials said.

Board President Gregory Hopson said the board has planned to get a turf field for some time because of the Canada geese problem on the field adjacent to Deal Lake.

“We do have the finances to put our turf in,” Hopson said Wednesday.

School officials also asked families to come to a 5:30 p.m. meeting Thursday, Oct. 27 to learn how to support their children’s education through the Title 1 federal aid program that gives additional funds to districts with at-risk students to ensure that all children have a fair opportunity to obtain high quality education.

That meeting will be in the Barack Obama Building at 1300 Bangs Ave., which is being refurbished for its new school and community uses now that it is no longer operating as a neighborhood school. The district has reopened the Dorothy McNish Parent Center at the Obama Building.

LAKEWOOD — – The Lakewood School District has received notification that it will receive a federal School Improvement Grant – worth about $6 million over three years, said Michael I. Inzelbuch, school board attorney.

The money is part of $11.6 million given to New Jersey from the federal government. School districts were awarded money competitively based on compliance to a strict set of guidelines.

When announcing the application process during a board meeting in the spring, district Superintendent Lydia Silva said the money would be used to help turn Lakewood High School around and improve the graduation rate, which was 37.6 percent for the 2009-2010 school year. The monies will be used for new technology in the classrooms, educational tools for students and teacher professional development programs, Silva said.

“When a school continues to perform in the bottom five percent of the state and isn’t showing signs of progress or has graduation rates below 60 percent over a number of years, something dramatic needs to be done,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in an April news release.

In 2010, the federal government provided $546 million in SIG funds to turn around the lowest performing schools, according to the release.

The Lakewood School District received notification July 15 to send three administrative representatives to a two-week daily seminar in Jamesburg that will prepare them for the regulations and stipulations regarding the funding, Inzelbuch said.

At that same time, the Asbury Park School District learned that they were not receiving the grant, according to Denise Lowe, the district superintendent.

“The teachers and administrators worked tirelessly on the applications,” Lowe said. “The committee also had external support from Rutgers University as well as the NJEA. We will still work to implement some of the initiatives where possible as we continue our reform efforts in the district.”

The Lakewood district received a memo from the state that it “has been recommended for the funding,” Inzelbuch said, quoting from the memo.

The Lakewood High School is under new leadership with Albert Gilson, hired as principal at the June 30 meeting. He will attend the funding seminar with Silva and a representative from the district’s business department, Inzelbuch said.

To qualify for the grant, the board had to take action to remove the current principals of four school and to remove a significant portion of the staff, according to the SIG application process from the federal Department of Education.

Written by NANCY SHIELDS

ASBURY PARK — School Superintendent Denise Lowe Wednesday night was once again rebuffed in her effort to get the school board to accept her reorganization plan that would create early childhood centers of preschool up to third grade at two elementary schools and have fourth- and fifth-graders go to a third elementary school.

With six of nine board members present, the result was a 3-1 vote with two abstentions. The proposal needed a majority of the board, or five votes, to pass.

Lowe did not ask for a vote on a backup plan to close Barack Obama Elementary School, which also could result in bringing the district’s youngest children together in two locations.

It appeared likely, however, that some change will take place because Bruce Rodman, the state monitor who works each day in the district and has the final say on all fiscal matters, announced he was reserving the right to take action. After the meeting, Rodman said he has not yet made a final decision but plans to implement what is best for the district. Lowe said she and Rodman are working very closely.

A significant loss in enrollment the past eight years and lower standardized test scores for elementary students are driving the need for the district to make significant changes in how students are taught and in the use of district buildings.

At the meeting, board president Gregory Hopson and members Gregory Brewington and Garrett Giberson supported the superintendent’s plan. Connie Breech voted no. Kevin Michel and recently appointed John Morton both abstained.

Members Remond Palmer, Joseph Raines and Geneva Smallwood were absent. Palmer and Raines indicated earlier in the week that they were going to support the high school’s boys basketball team that was playing at the same time in a state championship tournament in Toms River.

The New York Times (1/19, Brown) reports that announcement by AdvancED “followed months of public power struggles between two groups of board members for control of the board. Atlanta is the largest school system that the accreditation group has ever placed on probation, according to its spokeswoman, Jennifer H. Oliver.”

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In the Classroom
New York City To Set Aside $10 Million To Provide Students Extra Help.
The New York Times (1/19, Santos) reports that New York City “announced on Tuesday that it had set aside $10 million to give extra help to tens of thousands of students who failed standardized exams last year after the state raised the standards for passing. The money will be distributed among 532 schools and will benefit nearly 50,000 fourth through eighth graders.” The funds “will be disbursed in amounts ranging from $6,000 to $65,000, and it will be up to principals to decide how to use it, whether on small-group classes, on individual lessons or on books and Web-based programs.”

On the Job
DC Mayor, Interim Schools Chief May Clash Over Teacher Evaluation System.
The Washington Post (1/19, Turque) reports that DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) “says that the IMPACT teacher evaluation system, regarded as former schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee’s signature reform, has ‘a long way to go’ before it is fair because it disadvantages instructors in schools with large numbers of students challenged by the effects of poverty and other social conditions. … Gray’s criticism of IMPACT, his most explicit since entering office, echoes that of the Washington Teachers’ Union, a major financial supporter of his candidacy. It appears to clash with a core tenet of Rhee and her successor, Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson: that excellent teachers can help children thrive academically, regardless of the students’ economic or social backgrounds.”

Teacher-Led Detroit School Innovates With Student Regrouping.
Education Week (1/18, Sawchuk) reported, “Detroit’s troubled school system remains in emergency management, its enrollment dwindling and its labor-management relations contentious. Yet in spite of those challenges, a school there is making a bid to innovate with many of the formal structures that have long guided not just teachers’ roles, but also how students are organized in classes.” According Education Week, “At Palmer Park Preparatory Academy, teachers are gradually assuming administrative duties to become the city’s first teacher-led school.” Also, “a new, pilot schedule for 7th and 8th graders lets teachers regroup the middle school students in different English/language arts and math classes frequently, based on the students’ performance and how quickly they are learning new material.”

Law & Policy
White House Expected To Mount Fresh ESEA Effort.
Education Week (1/18, Klein) reported, “A prominent and sustained White House push for renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act-which is widely expected to be part of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address next week-is viewed as crucial to prospects for the 9-year-old law’s reauthorization by a now-divided Congress. … Last March, the Obama administration released a blueprint for overhauling the ESEA, and even proposed $1 billion extra for K-12 education if Congress approved the proposal.” According to Education Week, “For the past year, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been championing ESEA overhaul on Capitol Hill. … ‘I think we have a great foundation of bipartisan enthusiasm for what we have done and for what we want to do,’ said Peter Cunningham,” the Education Department’s “assistant secretary for communications and outreach.”

Event Aims To Leverage ‘i3′ Competition Momentum.
Education Week (1/18, Klein) reported, “Dozens of nonprofit organizations that narrowly missed out on a slice of the $650 million Investing in Innovation grant program may get a new shot at private funding, thanks in part to an event being organized this week by the Aspen Institute in Washington. The event is seeking, in part, to continue the momentum that was spurred by the i3 program, which was created in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal economic-stimulus program.” According to Education Week, “US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Jim Shelton, the assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement, are” slated to speak at the event.

Education Department Decision Not To Grant NH District A NCLB Waiver Criticized.
The New Hampshire Union Leader (1/19) editorializes, “Federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan talks a great deal about education reform — especially the need to change No Child Left Behind (NCLB). But given the chance to help Manchester [NH] by allowing a sensible waiver to a burdensome NCLB requirement, Duncan’s Department of Education said no. Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas was justifiably upset at the snub, which came after Duncan trotted up to Manchester to use our schools as a prop for an education-reform publicity tour.” According to the Union Leader, if Duncan “can’t grant the waiver, then his dedication to improving NCLB is in serious doubt.”

Safety & Security
Two Students Injured When Gun Discharges At California School.
The Los Angeles Times (1/19, Allen, Landsberg, Blankstein) reports, “Third-period health class was just beginning Tuesday at Gardena [CA] High School when a 17-year-old boy walked in and set his backpack down on a desk. In the chaos that followed, accounts differed about precisely what happened. But this much was clear: A gun had discharged, apparently by accident; two students were wounded, one critically; and the campus of 3,100 was sent into a tense, frightening lockdown.” According to the Times, “Law enforcement sources told The Times one of the aspects of the investigation was whether the teen, a special education student, had been bullied on his way to and from school.”

The Los Angeles Times (1/19, Song) reports, “Administrators and staff randomly search students for weapons on Los Angeles city school campuses, but officials acknowledged that it is nearly impossible to keep all weapons away from classrooms. … It was the second time a gun was found on a Los Angeles Unified School District campus since classes began this school year, according to district officials. A gun was found at Sylmar High earlier this year after administrators received a tip.”

The AP (1/19, Watkins) reports, “A gun in a 10th grader’s backpack went off Tuesday when he dropped the bag, wounding two students at his high school, police said. The 17-year-old could be charged with assault with a deadly weapon and other charges, said police Capt. Bill Hayes.” According to the AP, “John Deasy, incoming superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said there was no indication the student with the backpack had touched the gun before it discharged.”

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School Finance
Poll: Most Utahns Say They’d Pay Higher Taxes To Help Schools.
The Salt Lake Tribune (1/19, Schencker) reports, “A majority of Utahns surveyed in a new poll say they’d be willing to pay more in taxes to raise teacher salaries and reduce class sizes. The survey, conducted by Dan Jones and Associates and presented by the University of Utah’s Center for Public Policy & Administration and the Exoro Group, surveyed 500 Utahns about issues that could be addressed in the upcoming legislative session.” The Tribune adds, “Utah had the highest student-to-teacher ratio – 27 students per teacher – in the nation in 2008-2009.”

Maryland, DC Receive Race To The Top Funds.
The Washington (DC) Examiner (1/19, Sherfinski) reports, “Maryland and the District each have received a piece of $3.4 billion in funding as part of the federal ‘Race to the Top’ program, intended to recruit high-quality teachers and turn around the country’s lowest-performing schools. Maryland was awarded $250 million and D.C. $75 million under the program, part of the 2009 federal stimulus plan. Virginia, meanwhile, dropped out of the race for the grant money.” According to the Examiner, “Maryland will base 50 percent of teacher evaluations on student performance and growth — 30 percent at the state level and 20 percent locally — as part of its initiatives under the grant.”

Also in the News
Newark, NJ Schools Superintendent To Step Down.
The Star-Ledger (NJ) (1/19) reports that Newark, NJ’s “embattled schools superintendent announced his resignation” on Tuesday, “four months after Gov. Chris Christie decided not to renew his contract. Clifford Janey revealed his decision during a meeting with the Newark Public Schools advisory board, telling committee members he would ‘keep his options open’ and ‘seek new career opportunities,’ according to board member Marques Lewis.” According to the Star-Ledger, “The announcement comes four months after Christie decided not to renew Janey’s contract, saying his reform plans had moved too slowly and Newark students ‘simply cannot wait any longer’ for the district to improve.”

New Jersey Governor Announces The Approval Of 23 New Charter Schools.
The New York Times (1/19, Hu) reports, “Following through on his promise for more charter schools, Gov. Chris Christie [R] announced Tuesday the approval of 23 new charter schools across New Jersey, including ones with single-sex classes or an emphasis on online learning or character-building. Seventeen of the new schools, as well as seven previously approved, are scheduled to open in September, bringing the number of charter schools operating in the state next fall to 97, from 73.” Christie “also proposed changes in the state’s charter law that would allow local school boards to authorize charter schools, streamline the application process, allow more flexibility for charter school operations and encourage ‘new and innovative types of charters.’”

School Policies On Cancelling Recess Due To Cold Vary Widely.
USA Today (1/19) reports, “When is it too cold for schoolchildren to go outside for recess? The answer varies widely based on where a school is located and what the kids are used to. … Canceling recess because of the cold is no small issue given that much of the USA is shivering through what may be its coldest winter in a generation, according to AccuWeather. There is no national temperature standard for when to keep kids inside during the winter months, the US Department of Education says.” Thus, “policies are all over the map.”

NEA in the News
Teachers’ Unions On Defensive As GOP Lawmakers Target Job Protections, Benefits.
Education Week (1/18, Cavanagh) reported, “Teachers’ unions find themselves on the defensive in states across the country, as governors and lawmakers press forward with proposals to target job protections and benefits that elected officials contend the public can no longer afford academically or financially. Many of those efforts are being driven by newly elected Republicans, who have traditionally drawn political opposition from teachers’ organizations-and did in last year’s midterm elections-but who made historic gains in those state contests.” According to Education Week, “The 3.2 million-member NEA was the largest single provider of political cash at the state and federal levels during the 2007-08 election cycle, according to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in State Politics” and “during the 2010 election cycle, the vast majority of the money the NEA and the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers spent on individual state candidates went to Democrats, according to data from the institute.”

Push For More Class Time Runs Into Financial, Political Obstacles.
The Washington Post (1/20, Anderson) reports, “Many educators in the Washington area and across the nation are pushing for a seemingly simple solution to lagging student performance: Keep students in school longer. Some officials want a longer school day; others, a shorter summer break” and the main “argument is that more time in class would probably result in more teaching, more learning and, eventually, more-skilled graduates better able to cope in an increasingly competitive world.” However, “these initiatives – favored by President Obama and floated in recent months by officials in the District, Prince George’s County [MD] and Alexandria [VA] – have run into more immediate political realities. Budgets are tight. Rules are restrictive. And some parents have balked at locking more of their children’s lives into structured activities.”

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In the Classroom
New York City Opens Inquiry On Grading Practices At Top-Scoring School.
The New York Times (1/20, Otterman) reports, “When report card grades were released in the fall for” New York “city’s 455 high schools, the highest score went to a small school in a down-and-out section of the Bronx called Theater Arts Production Company School. A stunning 94 percent of its seniors graduated, more than 30 points above the citywide average.” According to the Times, “By order of the principal, codified in the school’s teacher handbook, all teachers should grade their classes in the same way: 30 percent of students should earn a grade in the A range, 40 percent B’s, 25 percent C’s, and no more than 5 percent D’s. … On Wednesday, the city said it had opened an investigation into how grades were awarded at the school, including whether students were awarded credits for classes that were not offered, and whether records were changed to improve student attendance statistics.”

More Than 1,000 Out-Of-District Students Seeking Entry Into Detroit Schools.
The Detroit Free Press (1/20, Dawsey) reports, “While the Detroit Public Schools is suffering historic political and budget woes, hundreds of students outside of the district are clamoring to get into its premier high schools, according to DPS officials. An estimated 1,250 out-of-district students will take the entry test over the next week in an attempt to gain admittance to Cass and Renaissance high schools and the selective programs at King High for the fall of 2011, DPS announced today.”

On the Job
Arbitration Expert Outlines New Teacher Discipline Plan.
The New York Times (1/20, Gabriel) reports, “Teachers accused of misconduct should have their cases decided within a speedy 100 days by a special examiner and not be cast into an interminable limbo of waiting, said Kenneth R. Feinberg, the arbitration expert, who investigated teacher discipline at the request of the American Federation of Teachers. On Thursday, Mr. Feinberg will release his plan for dealing with teacher misconduct like absenteeism, corporal punishment and sexual advances to students.” According to the Times, “Misconduct cases have regularly embarrassed unions and school districts: Exhibit A was New York City’s so-called rubber rooms, where accused teachers idled away months or even years while cases were investigated, until they were closed last year.”

North Carolina District Could Lose 600 Teachers Under Plan To Cut $100 Million.
The Charlotte (NC) Observer (1/20, Helms) reports that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman’s “$100 million budget-cut plan would eliminate ‘more than 600′ teachers, but almost two-thirds could be spared if the scenario improves by spring, according to a priority list posted Wednesday.” In all, 1,500 education jobs would be lost in a plan revealed last week that would also “add 45 minutes to the elementary-school day” for “science, social studies and writing” instruction. The Observer adds that the priority list also “provides some insight…about how cuts could play out in coming months.” The school board will vote on the plan next week.

Report Highlights Poor Teacher Quality In Kansas City Schools.
KMBC-TV Kansas City, MO (1/19) reported on its Website that according to a study conducted by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), “the Kansas City School District has serious issues when it comes to teacher quality.” For instance, the NCTQ noted in its report “a disconnect between low-student performance and the high marks teachers get.” School officials in Kansas City “said they already knew much of what is in the report,” which was commissioned by the Kauffman Foundation.

Law & Policy
Oklahoma Keeps Law Passed As Part Of Race To The Top Bid.
The Broken Arrow (OK) Ledger (1/19, Habib) reported that the Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Act, “passed last year in conjunction with Oklahoma’s Race to the Top application” is still in effect, even though the state lost its Race to the Top bid. The act calls “for an incentive pay system that ‘rewards teachers who are increasing student and school growth in achievement,’” and “outlines a new evaluation system that the incentive pay plan would be based on.” The Oklahoma Education Association “supported the act,” but the Broken Arrow Education Association (BAEA) has neither supported nor objected to the law, according to the Ledger. BAEA President Katy Cook said that the evaluation system “was not spelled out clearly in the bill” and that “the BAEA rejects performance-based pay models” due to unequal work situations among teachers.

Nebraska State Senator Introduces Bill Allowing Teachers To Carry Guns.
The Christian Science Monitor (1/20, Khadaroo) reports that Nebraska State Sen. Mark Christensen “wants teachers to be able to carry concealed guns in school. The proposal follows a recent shooting in which an Omaha high school senior killed an assistant principal and wounded a principal before killing himself.” According to the Monitor, the bill introduced by Christensen calls for each school district to “set its own policy, with a two-thirds majority vote of the school board required to allow the weapons.”

Special Needs
Districts Tread Carefully When Considering Special Education Cuts.
The AP (1/19) reported, “Educating students with disabilities – a federally mandated responsibility – is seen as one of the costliest services school districts must provide, and one of the last that can be cut. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides a set of protections for 6.6 million students – about 13 percent of total student enrollment – who have dyslexia, autism, intellectual disabilities, blindness, or other impairments that affect educational performance.” According to the AP, IDEA “guidelines have led to the perception that special education is an untouchable expense, even in lean economic times.” The AP added, “States and districts are able to adjust what they spend on special education, though the adjustments may not be billed as cuts.”

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Safety & Security
Los Angeles Schools Step Up Security After Student Shooting.
The AP (1/21, Hoag, Jablon) reports, “Security officers wielding metal detecting wands meticulously searched students Wednesday as they waited in a long line outside a Los Angeles high school where two 15-year-olds were shot in a classroom a day earlier. The stepped-up security measures come after a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun being carried in a backpack by a 10th-grader discharged Tuesday when he put the bag down on a desk at Gardena High School, authorities said.” According to the AP, “Since 1993, Los Angeles Unified School District has required some campuses to randomly check students with hand-held metal-detectors every day at different times. A preliminary review of security at Gardena, however, showed the 2,400-student school had lapsed in that procedure, a district official said.”

Los Angeles School Police Officer Shot. The AP (1/21, Jablon) reports, “A school police officer was shot by a suspected car burglar near a San Fernando Valley high school Wednesday but his bulletproof vest saved him, authorities said. … Nine schools with about 9,000 students were locked down as more than 350 police officers, sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers scoured 7 square miles of the affluent Woodland Hills neighborhood around El Camino Real High School for the gunman.” The AP adds, “The attack occurred a day after an accidental shooting at a high school across the city wounded two students.”

School Finance
Up To 100,000 Education Jobs May Be Lost In Texas Under House Budget.
The Houston Chronicle (1/20, Mellon) reports, “The Houston Independent School District, [Texas'] largest system, might have to slash between $203 million and $348 million – up to a fifth of its budget, according to estimates from a leading school-finance firm.” Moak, Casey & Associates also estimates that statewide, about “80,000 to 100,000 education jobs are on the line.” The figures are based on the fact that “the House’s budget proposal, which serves as a starting point for the state’s spending plan, cuts between $5 billion and $10 billion from public schools” statewide. Texas districts can choose to increase revenue “by asking voters to approve a higher property tax rate – but elected trustees often are reluctant to make the call.”

Missouri Governor Proposes $112 Million Increase In K-12 Funding.
WDAF-TV Kansas City, MO (1/19) reported on its Website that “Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon [D] proposed flat funding for public schools and cuts to colleges Wednesday while acknowledging during his annual State of the State speech that ‘times are tough.’” Under Nixon’s proposed budget, K-12 schools would get “an additional $112 million during the current year, thanks to an influx of federal money that must be spent this school year. But it would cut schools by $112 million next year.” Based on the state’s current funding formula, schools “would be due an increase of about $233 million next year,” WDAF notes.

Study Spotlights School Districts’ “Educational Productivity.”
Education Week (1/19, Samuels) reported, “A report from a progressive think tank measuring the ‘educational productivity’ of more than 9,000 school districts around the country shows that districts getting the most for their money tend to spend more on teachers and less on administration, partner with their communities to save money, and have school boards willing to make potentially unpopular decisions, like closing underenrolled schools. The study, from the Washington-based Center for American Progress, attempts to measure district productivity nationwide, according to its authors.” According to Education Week, “The analysis is intended to encourage a more sophisticated discussion rather than just suggesting district funding should be cut in the name of encouraging efficiency, said Ulrich Boser, a senior fellow at the center and the report’s author.”

Arizona Bill Widens Tax-Credit Donations For Schools.
The Arizona Republic (1/20, Kossan) reports, “A new bill would allow taxpayers for the first time to designate tax-credit donations to public schools for books, computers and other academic purposes, easing a law that now restricts the donations to extracurricular programs.” According to the Republic, “The change, which would last until December 2014, is part of a larger bill called the ‘Education Relief Act’ that also would give schools more flexibility in how they operate and spend their money. It is part of a move designed to help them cope with proposed state budget cuts.”

Also in the News

Georgia Governor Holds Talks With Atlanta Lawmakers Over Accreditation Crisis.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/20, Torres) that Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) “said Wednesday that he would pursue legislative action against the Atlanta school board ‘only as a last resort’ as the city’s fractious board works to regain full accreditation for the city’s high schools. Deal emerged from an hourlong meeting Wednesday with Atlanta lawmakers saying that while the group had a free-ranging conversation, they all agreed the board must work without question to prove themselves capable by a Sept. 30 deadline from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).” SACS “placed the system on probation Tuesday for reasons related entirely to the board’s governance and said the board must make progress on six “required actions” to improve its leadership and performance.” The AP (1/20) also covers this story.

North Carolina District Residents Denounce Efforts To Roll Back Diversity Policy.
The Raleigh News & Observer (1/20, Martin) reports, “Wake County [NC] residents on Wednesday loudly criticized the Wake County school board’s efforts to end a longstanding diversity policy during a hearing designed to discuss specifics of a reassignment plan for students. In front of a rowdy crowd of several hundred at Southeast Raleigh High School, school board members heard from a few parents and educators concerned about details of the proposed reassignment plan, which could move 4,703 students to different schools this fall.” According to the News & Observer, “Some brought attention to national scrutiny that the board has received in recent weeks from US Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert.”

NEA in the News
Lily Eskelsen To Speak At Race To The Top Conference.
The Lakeland (FL) Ledger (1/20, Green) reports, “Superintendents and teachers union leaders from across [Florida] met Wednesday in Tampa to find ways they can work together to meet the federal Race to the Top mandates imposed on Polk County and other school districts. … The discussion continues today at the two-day conference at the Hyatt Regency in Tampa called ‘Leading the Way, Strategies for Transforming Florida Schools.’” According to the Ledger, “Guest speakers include Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith and US Department of Education Senior Advisor Jo Anderson, and national union leaders, including American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and National Education Association Vice President Lily Eskelsen.”

Teacher Evaluations In California Districts Seen As Skewed.
The New York Times (1/21, Gollan) reports, “Grade inflation – a term normally associated with students – is widespread among Bay Area [CA] teachers, who receive so many favorable evaluations that it is impossible to tell how well they are performing, some educators say. For the 2009-10 school year, just 40 out of 1,924 teachers – or 2 percent – reviewed by the San Francisco Unified School District received below-satisfactory performance reviews, district records show.” According to the Times, “Administrators emphasized that weaknesses in the evaluation system did not diminish the work of teachers who educate students under difficult conditions exacerbated by a state budget crisis that has increased class sizes and reduced financing for schools. But the numbers reveal that the review process is effectively broken, parents and administrators said, at a time when the Obama administration is seeking to tie federal money for education to the use of teacher evaluations based on student performance.”

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In the Classroom
Study: Taking Tests Actually Helps Students Learn.
The New York Times (1/21, Belluck) reports, “Taking a test is not just a passive mechanism for assessing how much people know, according to new research. It actually helps people learn, and it works better than a number of other studying techniques.” According to the Times, “The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two other methods. … Several cognitive scientists and education experts said the results were striking.”

Bronx School’s Top Ranking Stirs Wider Doubts About Rating System.
The New York Times (1/21, Santos) reports, “One of the trademarks of New York City’s school accountability system is an equation that assigns every school a letter grade, A through F, based on a numerical score from 1 to 100. A parent pulling up the latest report card for the Theater Arts Production Company School in the Bronx would find that it earned the score of 106.3 (including extra credit).” Yet “that very empiric-sounding number, which was the highest of any high school in the city, is based in part on subjective measures” and, “according to some teachers at the school, even the more tangible factors in the score – graduation rates and credits earned by students – were not to be taken at face value.” According to the Times, a question remains, are the issues raised at the Bronx school “an exception or a sign of a major fault in the school accountability system?”

Georgia May Allow Districts To Choose How They Will Teach Math.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/21, Dodd) reports, “Responding to parental complaints and the governor’s concern over graduation rates, [Georgia] state Superintendent John Barge on Thursday introduced a plan that would allow local school districts to choose how they will teach math. Two years ago, the state collectively turned to integrated math, or accelerated classes that were introduced to make more students college ready, rather than traditional algebra, geometry and statistics classes. However, the faster-paced curriculum was largely blamed for the failure last May of 80,000 students on math final exams.”

On the Job
New York City Teacher Bonus Pilot Program Suspended.
The New York Times (1/21, Otterman) reports, “New York City’s Education Department said Thursday that it was suspending one of the signature experiments of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s control of city schools, a multimillion-dollar program that awards annual bonuses to teachers based on student performance. The announcement came on the same day the city announced that teachers at only 26 schools would receive schoolwide bonuses this year, down from about 160 schools last year, as far fewer schools met their performance targets on state standardized tests.” According to the Times, “The city’s tight budget was one of many factors that led to the decision, the city said,” as “the mayor’s budget projects that thousands of teacher layoffs may be necessary for the 2011-12 school year.”

Law & Policy
ESEA Overhaul Viewed As An Uphill Climb.
The Christian Science Monitor (1/21, Khadaroo) reports, “President Obama campaigned on bringing common-sense changes to the federal role in K-12 education. But even with a Democratic-controlled Congress, efforts toward a long-overdue revision of No Child Left Behind made little headway.” According to the Monitor, “Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says revising the law is his top priority. … ‘The trade-off we want is this much higher bar, but in exchange for that higher bar, give folks a lot more flexibility to hit it at the local level, and frankly, in many ways, get the federal government off their backs,’ Secretary Duncan said in a recent Monitor interview.” According to the Monitor, “Education experts and Washington insiders are split on the likelihood that a revised ESEA will go through in 2011.”

Education Reform Expected To Be Major Theme Within State Of The Union Address.
Bloomberg News (1/21, Dorning) reports, “President Barack Obama plans to mark the beginning of a politically divided Congress with a State of the Union speech stressing shared responsibility for reining in the deficit and boosting the country’s capacity to compete with foreign economic rivals, according to two Democratic officials.” According to Bloomberg, “A call to promote greater accountability in the educational system, a policy goal shared by some in the Republican Party that now controls the US House, also will be featured in the speech.” According to Bloomberg, “The administration is pressing for a revision of” NCLB, “to encourage higher student achievement and additional teacher training. Obama has ‘been laser-like focused on education from Day One,’ Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in an interview. ‘I think you’ll see that reflected in the State of the Union.”

New Jersey Lawmakers Advance Opportunity Scholarship Act.
The AP (1/21) reports, “A startup school choice program that would allow children in 166 failing New Jersey public schools to transfer elsewhere advanced Thursday after a four-hour legislative hearing.” Under the Opportunity Scholarship Act, “businesses that make contributions to education scholarships” would receive a tax credit. The contributions would go toward a supplying private and parochial school scholarship vouchers to some of the roughly “40,000 students in 13 low-income districts” expected to apply. The AP notes that “dozens of people testified” at the hearing, “most of them affiliated with an education or lobbying group.”

Wyoming House Adds Funding To Study Committee On Teacher Merit Pay.
The Billings (MT) Gazette / Casper Star-Tribune (1/21, Barron) reports that “the Wyoming House on Thursday added $50,000 to a bill for an outside consultant for the study of merit pay for teachers.” Under the legislation, a merit pay study committee comprised of “two senators, two representatives, one school board member, one school administrator, one teacher and one parent” would be created. Sponsor Rep. Mike Madden (R) said that “the stickler in the study will be the criteria used. One system would have teachers give students tests at the beginning of the year and again at the end of the year and then the results would be compared.” The Star-Tribune notes that the study has the approval of the Wyoming Education Association (WEA). “A study with the right stakeholders to make sure we get something that is going to work right for Wyoming,” said WEA President Kathryn Valido.

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Special Needs
Need For Special Education Teachers To Skyrocket.
WTOL-TV Toledo, OH (1/20, Gimbel) reported on its Website, “The employment of special education teachers is expected to jump by 17-percent by 2018, which is an increase of almost 82,000 jobs nationwide. Retirements and turnovers are factors, but so is the apparent increase in the number of children with special needs.” WTOL added, “Almost 15-percent of students studying education at the University of Toledo are focusing on special education.”

Safety & Security
Los Angeles Schools Police Chief Acknowledges Poor Communication In Recent Lockdowns.
The Los Angeles Times (1/21, Blume, Blankenstein) reports, “Students from nine San Fernando Valley schools were in lockdown for as long as five hours as officers combed campuses and neighborhoods for a suspect who shot and wounded a school police officer Wednesday just outside El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills.” Now, some parents are complaining that the “students were kept in classrooms without food, water or access to restrooms longer than necessary.” Los Angeles School Police Chief Steve Zipperman acknowledged the situation on Thursday, saying, “There were restrooms down the hallways from classrooms and some schools did have the ability to deliver food. We have to determine how we get the word to schools that it’s safe to do that.” Both Zipperman and “incoming” schools Supt. John Deasy have “pledged to review policies and procedures as they sought to mollify frustrated and angry parents.”

Facilities
Baltimore County Executive Seeks To Ramp Up School Construction.
The Baltimore Sun (1/21, Hirsch) reports, “Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said Thursday afternoon that his school construction requests for the fiscal year starting this summer recognize the need for spending restraint in difficult times, but he said the same economic challenges ‘make the education of our future work force and leaders more important than ever,’ according to his prepared remarks. The executive’s annual message to the 15-member planning board on capital spending for 2012 offered highlights of a $670 million spending plan.” According to the Sun, “Kamenetz focused on school construction,” and the “plan includes construction of three high schools and doubling the size of an elementary school.”

School Finance
School Officials In Texas Grapple With Preliminary $10 Billion State Budget Shortfall.
The Dallas Morning News (1/21, Weiss) reports, “Texas public school officials are struggling to figure out how to respond to a first-draft state budget that includes a shortfall in education funding twice as large as their largest estimates.” On Wednesday, state officials released a preliminary budget indicating a gap of almost $10 billion. Before that, “many school officials had been planning how to handle a state funding shortfall of about $5 billion for the biennium.” For instance, “Dallas ISD had been planning to work with $120 million less for the next budget cycle.” Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said, however, that “if the preliminary budget were approved, the reduction would be closer to $200 million.”

The Houston Chronicle (1/21, Mellon) reports that Houston-area “school leaders, stunned by the magnitude of the cuts reflected in the Texas House’s base budget, fear they will have to” use rainy day funds “to balance their…spending plans.” They are also “considering even more unpopular options – increasing property tax rates or eliminating special tax breaks.” But even with those moves, some do not expect to “raise enough money to plug the worst-case budget holes.”

KTRK-TV Houston (1/20) reported that the Houston Independent School District “is looking at developing a budget to approve by the end of June,” and officials are looking at “zeroing out state grants” to help make up for the more than $203 million in expected cuts. The Austin American Statesman (1/21, Heinauer) reports on how the state education cuts are likely to affect the Austin Independent School District.

Also in the News

New Jersey Charter School Application Reviewers Explain Process.
New Jersey’s Star Ledger (1/ 20) reports that one day after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “unveiled a list of 23 new schools as a signature piece of his education reform agenda, several reviewers talked about the rigors of sifting through the 50 detailed applications for charter schools, and what they looked for.” Each reviewer examined “several applications, using a scorecard and providing detailed comments and a non-binding recommendation on each proposal.” Then, Department of Education officials gave final approval on the applications. The Star-Ledger notes that “some education advocates were questioning the process and why the state did not release a full list of reviewers.” David Sciarra of the Education Law Center, for instance, said, “The public needs to know who was brought in to review the applications, what their qualifications are, and whether they have a vested interest in the outcome.”

Illinois District Forms More Multi-Grade Classes Due To Teacher Layoffs.
The Elgin (IL) Courier News (1/24, McFarlan) reports, “Multi-grade classrooms aren’t new – think one-room schoolhouse – and they aren’t all that uncommon in Elgin [IL] School District U46, according to district officials. But there are more multi-grade classrooms this year than in years past, mostly because more than 400 teachers were laid off in last year’s budget cuts.” According to the Courier News, “This year, U46 elementary schools have 689 single-grade classrooms and 177 multi-grade classrooms, according to Deborah Devine, the district math instructional coach,” which is “more than 20 percent of the Elgin school district’s elementary classrooms – about a 4 percent jump from the number of multi-grade classrooms (158 of 979 elementary classrooms) in the district last year.”

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On the Job
Pennsylvania District Aims To Revamp Teacher Evaluations.
The York (PA) Daily Record (1/23, Mason) reported, “Nationwide, districts have experimented with tying student performance to teacher evaluations or setting up merit pay, and the Obama administration has aimed money toward that cause. Numerous studies weigh the merits and drawbacks. Local educators say the movement is likely to hit York County [PA]. But questions linger about how, when and whether it’s a good idea.” According to the Daily Record, “Pennsylvania is using a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create a model for how districts can evaluate teachers and principals, with student performance included.”

Los Angeles Judge OKs Settlement Limiting Use Of Seniority In Teacher Layoffs.
The Los Angeles Times (1/22, Felch, Song) reported, “In a case that pits the constitutional rights of students against the job protections of teachers, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge approved a groundbreaking settlement Friday that limits the effect of layoffs on the district’s most vulnerable students. Up to 45 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will be shielded from teacher layoffs altogether, Judge William F. Highberger ordered Friday, and layoffs in the district’s other 750 schools must be spread more equitably.” According to the Times, “The decision comes amid deep education cuts and a debate over teacher tenure rules, which are being challenged across the country.”

Law & Policy
Teacher Merit Pay Proposal Passes Wyoming House.
The Wyoming Tribune Eagle (1/21, Dynes) reported, “A teacher merit-pay proposal met little opposition as it passed the [Wyoming] House of Representatives on Thursday. Lawmakers approved a bill on third and final reading 56-3 that would study various merit-pay strategies, as well as identify ways to measure teacher success.” According to the Tribune Eagle, “It’s a proposal that would recognize the hard work of the state’s best educators, said co-sponsor Rep. Mike Madden, R-Buffalo. Lawmakers will discuss other proposals this session that could end teacher tenure and link student success with teacher performance.”

Duncan Pushes Education Reform During Minnesota Visit.
The St. Paul Pioneer-Press (1/22, Belden) reported, “Minnesota has lost its ‘sense of urgency’ to improve education and needs to take bolder steps to reduce the achievement gap between student groups and foster nontraditional pathways to teaching, US Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a group of business and community leaders Friday in Minneapolis. Minnesota’s achievement gap between white students and their low-income, minority peers is among the largest in the nation. Duncan called it ‘a huge challenge’ that no state has solved but that many have made more progress on than Minnesota.” According to the Pioneer-Press, “Duncan spoke at a Chamber of Commerce lunch at a downtown Minneapolis hotel and then spent about an hour at a school in Lakeville with Congressman John Kline and state Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.”

The AP (1/22) added that Duncan “said Minnesota, like other states in the nation, was becoming more racially diverse but wasn’t doing enough to help students on the wrong side of the achievement gap catch up. … Duncan said there wasn’t a single policy that would solve the problem, but providing high-quality early childhood programs would help.” The AP adds, “In the speech, Duncan also made the administration’s case for overhauling the federal No Child Left Behind law. .. After the speech, Duncan traveled to Lakeville where he sat in on two classes at Crystal Lake Elementary with [John] Kline, the new chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.”

Safety & Security
Virginia School’s Disciplinary Policies Scrutinized After Apparent Suicide.
The Washington Post (1/22, George) reported, “The apparent suicide of a 15-year-old high school football player in Fairfax County [VA] has sparked concern about the school district’s disciplinary policies, which critics say are overly punitive and often debilitating for students. The concerns come as students at W.T. Woodson High School mourn the loss of Nick Stuban, a former sophomore running back on the junior varsity team. … Nick’s death followed a disciplinary action that some parents and school activists considered unnecessarily harsh.” According to the Post, “As the family prepared for a Monday service, parent activists and a School Board member spoke about the need to reexamine discipline policies and what some parents call a ‘zero tolerance’ approach.”

Facilities
Texas Budget Cuts Could Leave Numerous School Buildings Vacant.
The New York Times (1/22, Smith) reported, “Texas public schools are facing what could be $10 billion less in state financing – a stark prospect that could empty school buildings across the state as districts consolidate campuses to reduce costs. … What should happen to these structures, built with taxpayer money?” According to the Times, “It is a dilemma that the state, with its fast-growing population, has not had to confront before on a large scale. … Perhaps the most eager potential tenants are charter schools. David Dunn, who directs the Texas Charter Schools Association, said charters had a ‘huge’ need for suitable facilities. But Mr. Dunn said it had been ‘a struggle’ to get districts to accept charter schools as potential lessees.”

School Finance
Numerous States Enact Deep Education Funding Cuts.
Bloomberg News (1/21, Jones) reported, “US governors and legislatures facing deficits of more than $140 billion are slashing local school budgets, cuts that may mean jammed classrooms, fewer teachers and libraries without librarians.” According to Bloomberg, “The Texas Legislature is considering a 13 percent reduction in education funding and South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard recommended taking 10 percent out of per-pupil spending. Cuts proposed in those states, and in Kansas, Washington, Ohio and Iowa, come after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took $820 million away from schools in his current $29.4 billion budget.”

Iowa District Seeking Stimulus Funds.
The Quad-City Times (IA) (1/24, Cook) reports, “Davenport [IA] Mayor Bill Gluba returned from meetings in Washington, D.C., Sunday with hope that Davenport still can receive federal funding that will transform its education system. … The application was ‘a comprehensive plan to try to get Davenport $25 million to basically transform our education system,’ said Gluba, who was in the audience when Secretary of Education Arne Duncan addressed the three-day United States Conference of Mayors.” According to the Times, “Gluba asked Duncan if he could set up a meeting with James H. Shelton III, assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement. Duncan arranged for Gluba to meet with Shelton, who reviews applications for the money.”

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Also in the News
Former DC Schools Chief To Headquarter New Lobby In Sacramento.
The Sacramento Bee (1/21, Lillis) reported on its front-page, “Former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee will headquarter her new education advocacy organization in Sacramento, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Thursday during his State of the City address. Rhee’s goal is for her organization, StudentsFirst, to raise $1 billion and to use the money — much as teachers unions do — to support candidates and influence education policy in state legislatures and school districts across the country. … The move means Johnson and Rhee, who are engaged to be married, will be a twin force on education in Sacramento.”

George Washington University Launches Online College Prep School.
The Washington Post (1/22, De Vise) reported, “George Washington University has opened a private college-preparatory high school that will operate entirely online, one of the nation’s first ‘virtual’ secondary schools to be affiliated with a major research university. The opening of a laboratory-style school under the banner of a prestigious university generally counts as a major event among parents of the college-bound.” According to the Post, “Online learning may be the next logical step in the evolution of university ‘lab’ schools, an ongoing experiment in pedagogy.”

New KIPP School Model Questioned.
Jay Mathews writes in a column for the Washington Post (1/24), “The Knowledge Is Power Program, the nation’s and [DC's] most successful charter school network, has a new official name, KIPP, and a new approach to raising achievement for disadvantaged children. In its first decade, the network…focused on creating middle schools that started with fifth-graders two or three years below grade level and got them up to speed by eighth grade. Now it is opening elementary schools, including three here, so that it can start raising achievement in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.” According to Matthews, “The move makes sense and conforms to a movement in many city school systems and charter networks to create K-8 schools that will give urban and rural children the consistent support and high standards found in many suburban schools. But I see a problem. This clean progression from making pre-K the main intake point overlooks the messiness of life in the communities being served.”

NEA in the News
Teacher Unions Urged To Work With Lawmakers, Districts To Craft Reforms.
The New York Times (1/24) editorializes, “The American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers’ union, has wisely chosen to work with state legislatures and local school districts to help shape” new teacher evaluation systems and disciplinary policies “rather than try to block them.” The Times adds that “unions and state legislatures also need to press forward on developing evaluation systems that take student performance into account and that allow school systems to reward excellent teaching while steering ineffective teachers out of the field.” AFT President Randi Weingarten “has shown strong leadership in this area, and is well ahead of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union.” According to the Times, “The states are already charging ahead in this area” and if “unions want to have input, they need to quickly come up with a legitimate proposal of their own.”

Conference Seeks To Promote Less Conflict Among Teacher Unions, Districts.
The Providence (RI) Journal (1/24) reports that Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist “said Thursday that she was ‘very disappointed’ that Jane Sessums, president of the Central Falls Teachers’ Union, had declined an invitation from US Education Secretary Arne Duncan to attend a conference in Denver designed to improve relations between labor and management.” According to the Journal, “The country’s two teacher unions are co-hosting the event with the US Department of Education, the American Federation of Teachers, which represents the teachers in Central Falls through the Rhode Island affiliate, and the National Education Association. … Gallo has said she wants to break away from adversarial negotiations, include the public in the process to a greater degree and create a ‘compact’ with teachers that focuses on the needs of students.”

Duncan, Obama To Engage GOP On Education Policy.
Bloomberg News (1/25, Brower) reports, “President Barack Obama, who has adopted such traditionally Republican principles as charter schools and teacher merit pay, will meet resistance in a divided Congress over spending and the reach of government in the classroom. He will showcase his argument for an education overhaul in his State of the Union address tomorrow, Education Secretary Arne Duncan says.” According to Bloomberg, “Republicans now holding majorities on the House Education and Workforce Committee, which writes education legislation, say they’re skeptical that the government is the solution. … Duncan said he’s still ‘hopeful’ that Congress can agree on an education bill this year.”

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In the Classroom
Tiered RI Diploma Plan Discriminatory, Critics Say.
The Boston Globe (1/25) reports, “A coalition of groups including the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and disability and minority advocates joined yesterday to object to a plan to institute a tiered high school diploma system in the state, saying it would create a ‘caste system’ in public schools. The Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education has proposed that each student who graduates from a public high school starting next year would receive one of three diplomas, depending in part on how well he or she does in junior year on a standardized test, the New England Common Assessment Program.” According to the Globe, “A student who does not pass the test could take it again and receive a ‘Rhode Island’ diploma if he or she improves. If the student does not improve but meets other graduation requirements, he or she could receive a certificate.”

On the Job
Wyoming Lawmakers Propose Installing Cameras In Classrooms.
The Christian Science Monitor (1/25, Khadaroo) reports, “Teachers in Wyoming might someday have to add an extra step to their lesson plans: Smile for the camera. State lawmakers have proposed installing video cameras and taping lessons to help evaluate teachers’ performance.” According to the Monitor, “the notion of tying recorded lessons to high-stakes evaluations raises a host of thorny issues. Schools would have to consider who would be evaluating the taped lessons, what criteria they’d use, and how student and teacher privacy would be respected.”

Minnesota Campaign For Achievement Now Pushes For Education Reforms.
KARE-TV Minneapolis, MN (1/24) reported on its Website, “A new nonprofit group launched efforts at the [Minnesota] State Capitol Monday aimed at closing the achievement gap through education reforms. The Minnesota Campaign for Achievement Now, or MinnCan for short, is headed by Vallay Varro, a former St. Paul school board member and one-time adviser to Mayor Chris Coleman on education.” According to KARE, “MinnCan will push for alternative teacher licensing, which would enable people from other professions to gain certification to teach. The group will also seek more investment in quality pre-kindergarten programs. … US Education Secretary Arne Duncan stressed many of the same initiatives during in his visit to Minnesota Friday.”

Maine District To Apply For Teacher Training Grant.
The Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal (1/25) reports, “Despite concern from teachers, the [Lewiston, ME] School Committee voted 5-2 Monday night to permit the School Department to apply for a federal teacher training grant. Superintendent Bill Webster will seek a teacher incentive grant that, if awarded, would net about $3 million over five years to help some teachers get on the road to becoming nationally certified. … As proposed, the grant would allow 270 of Lewiston’s 460 teachers to receive one year of teacher development training called Take One. It amounts to 25 percent of the national certification process.”

Law & Policy
Boehner, Lieberman To Introduce DC School Voucher Bill.
Politico (1/25, Lee) reports, “The day after President Barack Obama makes education a centerpiece of his State of the Union address, House Speaker John Boehner will try to force his hand on the issue of school vouchers in Washington, D.C. as a test of the White House’s commitment to bipartisanship.” According to Politico, Boehner and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) “will introduce legislation on Wednesday to reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, the speaker’s office said Monday, making a school voucher initiative that Democrats, including Obama, have strongly opposed as a bargaining chip for beginning discussions on the administration’s desired education proposals.” The voucher bill “could be the only bill Boehner authors all year, his office said to stress how important he views the program.”

The Washington Post (1/25, DeBonis, Pershing) reports, “House Speaker John Boehner will introduce a bill Wednesday that aims to revive a school voucher program in the District, nearly two years after Democratic opposition to the program led to its phaseout. Boehner (R-Ohio) is set to unveil the bill one day after President Obama is expected to call for greater political comity in his State of the Union address. … Democrats pushed successfully in the previous Congress to prevent re-authorization of the program, which provides up to $7,500 yearly toward tuition in private schools, including religious schools.”

Indiana House Panel Passes Bill To Expand Charter Schools.
The Louisville Courier-Journal (1/25, Weidenbener) reports that the Indiana “House Education Committee amended and approved legislation on Monday meant to expand charter schools in Indiana, in part by making the public schools – which are freed from some state regulation – easier to create and fund. House Bill 1002 passed along party lines, with majority Republicans pushing it to the full House for consideration after beating back Democratic amendments that they say would have weakened the legislation.” According to the Courier-Journal, “Indiana already has 62 charter schools serving about 22,000 students. But Republicans – and a handful of Democrats – are seeking to bolster that number significantly to give parents more choices.”

Nevada Governor Proposes Major K-12 Changes.
The Nevada News Bureau (1/25) reports, “Nevada’s primary education system would change dramatically under the proposals Gov. Brian Sandoval delivered tonight in his State of the State address. He would use student achievement data to evaluate educators, provide merit pay for effective teachers and end extra pay for longevity and advanced degree attainment.” Also, the Nevada governor “would also eliminate full-day kindergarten, class size reduction, early childhood education and the gifted program, among other programs. The catch, however, is a proposal to allot school district ‘block grants’ through which districts could choose the programs they want to fund.”

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Safety & Security
New Jersey Bill Would Allow Teens To Avoid “Sexting” Prosecution Via Education Program.
The AP (1/25, Santi) reports, “New Jersey teenagers caught texting or posting sexually explicit photos online could avoid prosecution under a measure that would give first-time offenders the chance to complete a diversionary program. State Assemblywoman Pam Lampitt of Camden, who is sponsoring the bill, said it’s important to teach teens the potential consequences of their actions without saddling them with a permanent criminal record.” According to the AP, “The bill won unanimous support from both parties in a committee and is headed for the Assembly floor. A version must also pass the Senate for it to become law.”

Facilities
EPA Inspection Finds PCBs In Another New York City School.
The AP (1/25) reports, “Inspectors from the federal Environmental Protection Agency have found leaks of the toxic chemicals known as PCBs at another New York City school. According to The New York Times, the EPA says 18 out of 28 samples taken at Public School 11 in Brooklyn showed PCBs above the regulatory limit of 50 parts per million. … The contamination does not pose an immediate health threat, but officials say long-term exposure to PCBs can cause cancer and other health problems.”

School Finance
Nevada Governor Outlines School Budget Reforms.
The Nevada Appeal (1/24, Dornan) reported, “Nevada’s per pupil contribution to public schools will drop about $270 a year under Gov. Brian Sandoval’s spending plan. The reduction will take basic support per pupil down to $4,918 for each year of the biennium.” However, “Sandoval plans to give school districts a lot more freedom in how they spend other money from the state on programs such as class size reduction, full day kindergarten and gifted and talented programs. Those are among eight programs rolled into a new Student Achievement Block Grant Program under Sandoval’s plan.”

Kansas Governor’s School Finance Plan Could Cost State $70 Million In Federal Funds.
The Washington D.C. Examiner (1/25) reports that Kansas “Governor Sam Brownback’s budget proposal would cut public education funding by $132 million in the current school year, including $16.7 million in special education funding. … By cutting $16.7 million from special education funding, Kansas would fall below a minimum threshold to receive all its federal special education funding. This could cost the state $70 million over the next two years. School districts, still held accountable under special education laws, would be forced to make up the difference out of their general funds.”

The Lawrence Journal World (KS) (1/24, Rothschild) reported, “Not only would Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed budget cut school funding, it could result in a federal penalty of $70 million in special education funding, officials said Monday. … Brownback’s budget recommendation would cut school funding in the current school year by $132 million, which would reduce base state aid per student from $4,012 to $3,937, or $75 per pupil. It would also cut special education funding by $16.7 million.”

Advocates Call For More Pre-K Funding In New Mexico.
The Santa Fe New Mexican (1/25, Jennings) reports, “Dozens of New Mexicans braved a brief snow shower at the Capitol on Monday to rally support for a proposal they believe would help raise school test scores, lower the dropout rate and curb teen pregnancy. The solution is simple, advocates say: Include early-childhood programs such as pre-kindergarten and home visits for developmentally delayed children in the annual payout to public schools, colleges and universities from the state’s more than $10 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund.” According to the New Mexican, “The permanent fund distributes hundreds of millions of dollars each year to K-12 education and higher education. But none of the dollars goes toward early-childhood programs.”

Also in the News

Atlanta School Board Accepts Probation.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/25, Torres) reports, “The embattled Atlanta school board, after receiving sharp criticism from the leader of one of the nation’s top accrediting agencies, students and even state lawmakers, on Monday night voted to accept an accreditation report that put the school system on probation.” However, some education stakeholders “wanted the board to fight the decision by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to put the school system on probation and challenge its accreditation.” Monday’s vote “formally moved the board into action to address six mandates required by SACS, one of the nation’s top accrediting agencies, for the system to regain full standing. All mandates deal with board leadership and governance, which the agency found sorely lacking after months of infighting and dysfunction among board members.”

New Jersey Governor Proposing End To Teacher Tenure.
Bloomberg News (1/26, Dopp, Deprez) reports, “In New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s perfect world, the worst unionized teachers would forfeit raises or even lose tenure rights they have enjoyed for more than a century. Students in the state’s underperforming schools would be offered vouchers to attend private institutions. Failing schools would be taken over by publicly funded charters operated independently of district boards of education.” According to Bloomberg, “The plans, which Christie, 48, lays out in town-hall meetings on YouTube, have escalated his war with the teachers’ union and helped make him a Republican star. … Christie’s success in winning support for his proposals may determine whether other governors follow his lead.”

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In the Classroom
Less Than Half Of US Students Proficient In Science, NAEP Results Show.
The AP (1/26) reports that scores from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress released Tuesday show that US “students are still struggling in science, with less than half considered proficient and just a tiny fraction showing the advanced skills that could lead to careers in science and technology.” The AP adds that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “said the NAEP results show students aren’t learning at a rate that will maintain the United States’ role as an international science leader. … ‘Our nation’s long-term economic prosperity depends on providing a world class education to all students, especially in mathematics and science,’ Duncan said.”

The Washington Post (1/26, Anderson) reports that the results show that “the average student was likely to be stumped when asked to interpret a temperature graph or explain an example of heat transfer. Seventy percent of eighth-graders and 79 percent of 12th-graders also fell short of science proficiency…, a key measure of performance in a subject that President Obama and business leaders call crucial for American competitiveness.” The Post adds that the results “provide a sobering snapshot of scientific performance in US schools” and indicate “major achievement gaps among racial and ethnic groups.”

The New York Times (1/26, Dillon) adds that the NAEP test was given to “308,000 fourth graders and eighth graders and 11,000 12th-graders.” The Times adds, “Because the Education Department changed the test since it was last administered in 2005, the latest results cannot be used to determine whether science achievement has risen or declined in recent years. But the results showed that a smaller proportion of 12th graders demonstrated proficiency in science than in any other subject that the government has tested since 2005 – except history.”

Bloomberg News (1/26, Hechinger) reports, “Fewer than half of US students are proficient in science, renewing questions about the country’s global competitiveness, the Education Department said today. A third of the nation’s fourth-graders, 30 percent of eighth-graders and 21 percent of 12th-graders are performing at or above the proficient level in science, according to the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. … ‘The results released today show that our nation’s students aren’t learning at a rate that will maintain America’s role as an international leader in the sciences,’ Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. ‘When 1 or 2 percent of children score at the advanced levels on NAEP, the next generation will not be ready to be world-class inventors, doctors and engineers.’”

The Washington Times (1/26, Simmons) reports that the NAEP results “underscore” past reports from the National Academies warning about lingering deficits in math and science education which “could diminish America’s standing on the competitive global stage.” The Christian Science Monitor (1/26, Paulson), AFP (1/26), Reuters (1/26), the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/26, Badertscher), the Detroit Free Press (1/26, Higgins) and the Orlando Sentinel (1/26, Postal) also cover this story, as did CNN (1/25, Holland) in a report on its Website.

Charter School Advocates, Opponents To Square Off In Chicago.
The Chicago Tribune (1/26, Ahmed-Ullah, Reporter) reports, “Hundreds of charter school supporters and detractors are expected to attend a Chicago Public Schools board meeting Wednesday, hoping to influence a vote on whether to open more of the independently run public schools. Critics forced the board to hold off on a decision to add new campuses last month, catching the charter community off guard.” However, “they plan to come back strong as the school board gets another chance to hear the proposals, which call for two new charter schools as well as four more campuses and additional students for existing charters.”

Law & Policy
Obama Makes Education A State of Union Centerpiece.
Alyson Klein wrote in a blog for Education Week (1/25), “President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address tonight to put education front-and-center on the national agenda, and on the agenda of the newly divided Congress. And he tied his education proposals, including the long-stalled reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, directly to the nation’s economic future. … While calling for a five-year federal spending freeze, the president-without giving budget specifics-also proposed spending more on education as part of a campaign to ‘win the future.’” President Obama “also announced an initiative to train 100,000 new teachers in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering, or STEM subjects. He plans to expand ‘promising and effective teacher preparation models’ for STEM teachers.”

House Speaker Seeks To “Revive” DC Voucher Program.
The Washington Times (1/26, Simmons) reports, “House Speaker John A. Boehner plans to meet President Obama’s call for bipartisanship and education reform with legislation that would ‘totally revive’ the D.C. voucher program, which the president killed in 2009. On Wednesday, Mr. Boehner, a school-choice stalwart, will announce plans to reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and provide funds for traditional and charter public schools.” The Times adds, “The voucher program is helping an estimated 1,000 poor children attend the private or parochial school of their parents’ choosing with scholarships up to $7,500 – about half the public schools’ per-pupil spending.”

DC Mayor, Council Chairman Set To Clash Over Voucher Issue. Mike Debonis wrote in a blog for the Washington Post (1/25), “A popular Wilson Building parlor game of the moment is trying to discern where exactly Mayor Vincent Gray and D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown will part political company in the coming weeks, months or years.” However, “thanks to House Speaker John Boehner, there is clear daylight between Brown and Gray on a hot-button issue: school vouchers. Brown is on the record for them. … Gray is on the record against them. He sees the federally funded program as another example of unwarranted congressional experimentation with the District, saying in a statement last night that it was an example of ‘decisions that should be made by the residents of the District of Columbia.’”

Bills Address Bullying In Virginia Schools.
The Franklin (VA) News Post (1/26, Turner) reports, “As more schools nationwide implement anti-bullying programs, several bills have been introduced in the [Virginia] General Assembly that define bullying and establish specific requirements for schools in handling bullying incidents. Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Arlington) has introduced a bill that defines bullying to mean ‘recklessly or intentionally endangering the health or safety of a student by exposing the student repeatedly and over time to physical aggression or intimidation.’” According to the News Post, “Under the bill, this aggression or intimidation can be through direct physical contact or through the use of information or communication technology, resulting in bodily injury or other harm to person or property.”

School Finance
Minneapolis Schools Make $3.7 Million Error.
The Minneapolis (MN) Star Tribune (1/26, Mitchell) reports, “The Minneapolis School District underestimated the cost of the new teacher contract by $3.7 million due to a ‘significant’ clerical error. The contract will cost the district $14.7 million, not $11 million as initially estimated, Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson told school board members Tuesday.” According to the Star Tribune, “No job or program cuts are imminent because the district’s budget for the contract negotiations provided a cushion, district spokesman Stan Alleyne said.”

Dallas District Now Preparing For $260 Million Funding Cut.
Matthew Haag wrote in a blog for the Dallas Morning News (1/25), “Dallas school officials are now bracing to lose as much as $260 million each of the next school years as lawmakers slash education funding to close a multibillion-dollar deficit. … A month ago, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa thought Dallas ISD might be out $120 million each of the next two school years. Under the Texas House draft budget, Hinojosa said last week, DISD could lose $200 million a year.” Hinojosa “has advocated for school districts to gain the authority to enact furloughs.”

Nevada Governor Suggests School Funding Cuts.
The AP (1/26) reports that Nevada “Gov. Brian Sandoval wants to improve Nevada’s troubled schools while slashing education spending. His ambitious and conservative plan revealed Monday during his State of the State speech proposes rolling back education spending to 2007 levels, giving unproven educators the boot and eliminating statutory mandates requiring smaller class sizes and other programs.” According to the AP, “Education advocates and Democratic leaders call the plan the latest assault on Nevada’s underperforming schools. … The brewing battle over education dollars mirrors a national debate over the role of state funding versus teacher performance in student achievement.”

CA District Chief Placed On Leave Pending Financial Mismanagement Charges.
The Los Angeles Times (1/25) reported in a blog post, “A judge in Los Angeles ruled Monday that there is enough evidence for Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard to stand trial for alleged misappropriation of funds during his previous job as superintendent in the Beverly Hills schools district. Hubbard has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of misappropriation of funds.” The Times adds, “Also on Monday, the Newport-Mesa school board placed Hubbard on paid administrative leave.”

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Also in the News
Wake County, NC School Board Will Cooperate With Accrediting Agency.
The Raleigh News & Observer (1/26, Goldsmith) reports, “Wake County [NC] school board members agreed Tuesday to cooperate with a national accrediting agency’s review of the system’s high schools. The decision ends a political standoff that could have endangered college and scholarship prospects for students.” According to the News & Observer, “Some school board members complain that AdvancED’s review unfairly includes matters that shouldn’t affect accreditation and that, therefore, they have been reluctant to fully cooperate with the review. The dispute came to a head when the system was getting push-back from comedian Stephen Colbert, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and many others.”

Schools Take Steps To Combat Food Allergies.
The Chicago Tribune (1/26, Ahmed-Ullah) reports, “Even as schools across Illinois put the finishing touches on new state-mandated food allergy policies, some health care advocates question whether they go far enough to keep children safe. The debate is especially strong in Chicago, where the death of a seventh-grader who suffered an allergic reaction reportedly to food served at a classroom party last month prompted public schools officials to re-examine their proposed policy even before it was adopted.” According to the Tribune, “Even if the board approves the policy Wednesday, Chicago Public Schools officials will continue looking at issues ranging from districtwide peanut bans to whether an epinephrine injection could be given to any student suffering a severe allergic reaction at school, whether or not the potentially lifesaving hormone has been prescribed for that child.”

NEA in the News

25 Years Later, Challenger’s McAuliffe Remembered.
Education Week (1/26, Heitin) reports that “nearly everyone who was of school age or older in 1986 vividly remembers the day when the space shuttle Challenger burst into flames just 73 seconds after takeoff, claiming the lives of all seven astronauts aboard-including Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in space. Friday, Jan. 28, marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. Around the country, teachers-some of them classroom veterans, others too young to recall those terrible moments-will describe the day’s historical significance to their students.” Education Week adds, “Dennis Van Roekel, the president of the National Education Association, remembered that throughout the media blitz before the shuttle launch, Ms. McAuliffe, an NEA member, held true to her roots as a teacher. ‘She spoke to audiences from the viewpoint of a teacher who taught kids,’ he said.”

Obama Seeks To Make NCLB More Flexible.
The Washington Post (1/27, Anderson) reports, “Confusion over the ratings” of thousands of schools across the US “is fueling President Obama’s drive to rewrite the nine-year-old No Child Left Behind law. In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Obama called for a version that is ‘more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids.’ Senior congressional Republicans and Democrats said Wednesday they would join forces with the president to fix what they call numerous flaws in the law. … ‘We need to get away from Washington announcing whether schools are passing or failing,’ said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). ‘We’re getting to the point where we’re going to have almost every school in the country failing,’ said Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. ‘We’re going to have to change that.’”

ESEA Needs Major Overhaul, Duncan Says. The AP (1/27, Vanderwerf) reports, “It’s time to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wants to do away with the current version, called No Child Left Behind. In a conference call with journalists Wednesday, Duncan said he hopes to see the law revamped and sent to President Obama this year, with a new program in place by the time school starts in the fall. School officials in west central Minnesota have long had complaints about the law. … ‘The president and I both understand that NCLB doesn’t work in every school in America and particularly for schools in rural communities,’ Duncan said.”

Senators Seek To Have NCLB Reauthorization Bill Competed This Summer. The Washington Times (1/27, Weber) reports, “The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Education Committee said Wednesday they plan to have a reauthorization bill for No Child Left Behind to President Obama by late summer and that it would include broad changes, including possibly renaming the landmark education-reform legislation to ‘Every Child Counts.’ … The proposals follow the State of Union address Tuesday night in which Mr. Obama said he wanted to ‘replace,’ not fix No Child Left Behind.” According to the Times, “Education Secretary Arne Duncan, in a conference call with reporters, said the administration is not ‘dialing back’ on the president’s statement and that the White House and Congress are moving ‘in the same direction.’”

Duncan, Harkin, Enzi Discuss NCLB In Conference Call. Maureen Downey wrote in a blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/26), Are US schools “ready for a sleeker, less onerous model of education reform, an Every Child Counts law? That may be coming, according to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Sen. Mike Enzi R-Wyo., and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.” Downey added, “In a media conference today, the Senate education leaders joined Duncan in pushing for greater flexibility, increased state and local control and a federal focus on the bottom 5 percent of the nation’s schools.”

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In the Classroom
North Carolina District Adds Schools To Reform Effort.
The Charlotte (NC) Observer (1/27, Frazier) reports that Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) Schools “Superintendent Peter Gorman today added four campuses to his signature strategic staffing initiative, which pays top teachers and administrators extra to tackle some of the area’s worst-performing schools. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools now has about two dozen schools involved in the effort, which has won national praise despite mixed early results.” According to the Observer, “The announcement comes the day after the school board voted to save millions by cutting extra teachers for low-income students and rearranging school schedules to reduce busing costs. The district faces as much as a $100 million budget shortfall next year.”

Plan For Durham, NC Schools Outlined.
The Raleigh News & Observer (1/27, Bridges) reports that Durham, NC “Public schools Superintendent Eric J. Becoats rolled out a districtwide strategic plan Wednesday night that seeks to shrink the high school dropout rate to 3 percent, raise student proficiency in various grades and subjects to at least 80 percent, and obtain a 90 percent approval rating on teachers’ working conditions by 2014. .. Other goals of the 10-year road map for the district include increasing partnerships with local colleges and businesses, improving school nutrition, establishing equitable standards for school resources, and starting a competitive recruitment and retention initiative to attract the education industry’s best and brightest.”

On the Job
Indiana School District Budget Plan Will Cut Up To 25 Jobs.
Indianapolis Star (1/27) reports, “About 10 certified staff members and as many as 15 instructional assistants will lose their jobs at the end of the school year under a proposal by [Brownsburg, IN Schools] Superintendent Jim Snapp. … The plan, which would make up for a $3 million budget shortfall, also would result in smaller class sizes at the elementary level. Parents requested fewer administrators, more teachers and smaller classes during a series of community meetings last summer.”

Nevada Educators Debate Teacher Pay Changes.
KLAS-TV Las Vegas (1/26) reported on its Website, “Earlier this week, [Nevada] Governor Brian Sandoval talked about merit pay for teachers who perform well. Now President Barack Obama is echoing that sentiment. But is it fair? Some teachers in the Clark County School District say it is not, while the Nevada State Education Association supports the performance pay idea.” According to KLAS, “The NSEA says they support performance pay because they feel people should be rewarded for a job well done.” Sandoval “also floated the idea of ending teacher tenure.”

Florida Lawmakers Tackle Teacher Merit Pay Issue.
The Orlando Sentinel (1/26, Postal) reported, “Crafting a teacher merit-pay bill for Florida this spring is ‘not going to be like last time,’ a key state lawmaker promised today. State Sen. Steve Wise, whose education committee will devise a bill to be considered by the Florida Legislature, said he does not want a repeat of last year’s fierce fight.” According to the Sentinel, “Wise, who is the committee chairman, said that in tackling what was one of the most divisive issues of the legislature’s 2010 session, his committee will devise a ‘thoughtful’ bill that aims to boost teacher quality by changing how teachers are evaluated and paid.”

Law & Policy
Duncan At Odds With Paul Over Proposal To Eliminate Education Department.
The Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader (1/27) reports, “Critics lashed out Wednesday at a proposal by US Sen. Rand Paul to slash numerous federal programs, including food stamps, to save $500 billion in a single year. But Paul’s supporters praised him for sticking to his campaign promise to attempt to reduce the size of the federal government.” The Herald-Leader adds, “US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he disagreed with Paul’s proposal to do away with most of the Department of Education. ‘I’d love to have that conversation with the senator,’ Duncan said during a news conference. Duncan said the department’s role should not be to pay for local public schools but to ‘spur innovation.’”

Teacher Praises Obama’s Remarks On Education.
In a piece for the Huffington Post (1/27) introduced by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Antero Garcia, a Classroom Teaching Fellow for the US Department of Education, writes, “As the president listed the many things that will strengthen the country in his forthcoming budget proposal, I was continually reminded that none of these items is possible without an improved educational foundation. … The president…offered a sobering view of education today and the challenges we are facing ‘that have been decades in the making.’”

Will Calls Duncan Administration’s “Redeeming Feature.”
George Will, in his column for the Washington Post (1/27), writes, “The Education Department sits at the foot of Capitol Hill, where many new legislators consider ‘federal education policy’ a constitutional oxymoron. They have a point. They might, however, decide that the changes [Education Secretary] Duncan proposes — on balance, greater state flexibility in meeting national goals — make him the Obama administration’s redeeming feature.”

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School Finance
Detroit Schools Chief Proposes Series Of Painful Cuts Amid Fiscal Crisis.
The Washington Times (1/27, Billups) reports that some Detroit schools “could end up with as many as 62 students per classroom under a proposal geared at helping balance the district’s budget, which is $327 million in the red. The class-size increases come along with a recommendation to close nearly half of the struggling city’s schools over the next two years, from 142 to 72, in a money-saving effort that would shutter empty buildings, lay off staff, force parents to pay fees for sports and consolidate some departments.” According to the Times, “The hard-times proposal was released last week as a part of a monthly recommendation made to the Michigan Department of Education by Robert Bobb, a former D.C. school board president and deputy mayor who was appointed in January 2009 by Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm as the district’s emergency financial manager.”

Kansas Governor Wants Definition Of “Suitable” Funding For Schools.
The Kansas City Star (1/27, Klepper) reports, “Kansas lawmakers should define how much a public education should cost, says Gov. Sam Brownback, to finally settle the vexing debate at the center of the state’s money problems. Schools are the most expensive program for Kansas government – a priority that Brownback likens to the role that the military plays in the federal budget. But many lawmakers say they lack a clear understanding of what the money must pay for.” According to the Star, “That uncertainty has prompted lawsuits from parents and school districts who think the state isn’t meeting its obligations.”

Also in the News
Interim DC Schools Chief Reassigns Principal.
The Washington Post (1/27, Turque) reports, “Interim D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced Wednesday that she has reassigned the new principal of Hardy Middle School, acknowledging that poor decisions by the District had contributed to more than a year of turmoil at one of the city’s few academically successful public middle schools. In a take-home letter distributed to students at dismissal, Henderson said Dana Nerenberg will return full-time to Hyde-Addison Elementary, where she also serves as principal.” According to the Post, “The move also represents the second high-profile Rhee initiative that Henderson has reversed in her three months on the job. In December, she ousted the private management firm hired by Rhee to turn around low-performing Dunbar High School.”

Group Calls For School Reforms In Rhode Island.
The Providence Journal (1/27, Jordan) reports, “For the second time in two days, an education-advocacy group is appealing to [Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee] to push ahead with controversial school reforms, in this case the growth of public charter schools, an expansion the governor has made clear he does not support. Joe Williams, the executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, a national group, hand-delivered a letter with his concerns to the governor’s office Wednesday morning, said organization spokesman, Bill Fischer.” According to the Journal, “The commitment to expand these alternative public schools was a key part of Rhode Island’s successful Race to the Top application, which will bring $75 million to schools over the next four years. Federal education officials have said that changing any part of the plan could jeopardize the entire grant. Chafee has said he is discussing altering that part of the plan with US Education Secretary Arne Duncan.”

More Than 170 Houston Educators May Be Laid Off As Stimulus Exhausted.
The Houston Chronicle (1/28, Mellon) reports, “More than 170 educators in the Houston school district received notice on Thursday that their jobs may disappear in June with the end of federal stimulus funding. Hundreds of public school employees across Texas also face the prospect of layoffs as the two-year-old economic stimulus package runs dry.” According to the Chronicle, “The 2011 expiration date is no surprise, but it comes as the state faces a multibillion-dollar funding shortfall that officials warn could cost even more jobs – up to 100,000, according to one estimate.”

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In the Classroom
Report Documents Sharp Rise In Suspensions At New York City Schools.
The New York Times (1/28, Santos) reports, “The number of New York City student suspensions more than doubled in the six years after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took control of public schools and as the city moved toward a zero-tolerance approach toward misbehavior, according to a report released on Thursday. The report, compiled by the New York Civil Liberties Union and based on 10 years of previously undisclosed suspension statistics, echoed a nationwide trend toward mandatory suspensions for an increasing variety of infractions.” According to the Times, “Black students, who make up 30 percent of the schools’ enrollment, accounted for more than half of all suspensions every year from 1999-2000 to 2008-9, the period covered by the report,” and special education “students, who make up 16.2 percent of the enrollment, served about one-third of all suspensions.”

Los Angeles Catholic Schools To Add 20 Days To Academic Year.
The Los Angeles Times (1/28, Landsberg) reports, “As public school students in Los Angeles adjust to a shorter academic year, Catholic school pupils face a different sort of transition. Beginning this fall, most elementary schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will add 20 days to their schedules, making their school year one of the longest in the United States.” According to the Times “Los Angeles Unified Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said he would lengthen the public school year ‘in a minute’ if he had enough money. … Probably the largest school system to operate on an extended calendar is that run by the KIPP charter school group, which operates 99 schools across the country, including five in Los Angeles.”

Florida District Struggles To Comply With Class-Size Limits.
The Orlando Sentinel (1/28, Freeman) reports, “After reviewing options with some teachers and parents, public schools in Palm Beach [FL] County are making tough choices to meet the state’s strict class-size limits next year. This round of planning – to be completed Friday – is critical as the School Board prepares to vote Feb. 9 on a compliance blueprint to be submitted to the state.” According to the Sentinel, “The goal is for all 163 traditional schools, and three of the district’s alternative schools, to get on track for meeting the requirements by an October enrollment count. But it’s not going to be easy because there’s not enough money, or classrooms on each campus, to simply hire more teachers.”

Struggling Los Angeles High School To Be Restructured.
The Los Angeles Times (1/27, Song) reported, “Los Angeles school district officials announced Wednesday that Belmont High School will be restructured and most employees will have to reapply for their jobs and agree to a curriculum in which students will be taught in English, Spanish and Mandarin. The move marks the third time recently that officials have taken such measures using federal guidelines allowing districts to revamp struggling campuses.” According to the Times, “The two other campuses that were restructured, John C. Fremont and Jordan high schools, showed much less progress than Belmont before teachers, administrators and staff were made to reapply for their jobs. But Dale Vigil, the local superintendent who oversees Belmont near downtown, said he made the decision to overhaul the nearly 1,300-student school because a small percentage of students score at grade level or above in English and math on standardized tests and a low percentage graduate in four years.”

On the Job
North Carolina District Expands Strategic Staffing Initiative.
The Charlotte (NC) Observer (1/28, Frazier) reports that Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) Schools “Superintendent Peter Gorman this week added five campuses to his signature strategic staffing initiative, which pays top teachers and administrators extra to tackle some of the area’s worst-performing schools.” CMS “now has about two dozen schools involved in the effort, which has won national praise despite mixed early results. The announcement came the day after the school board voted to save millions by cutting extra teachers for low-income students and rearranging school schedules to reduce busing costs” amid a looming $100 million budget shortfall.

24 Georgia Educators Under Investigation Over Alleged Test Cheating.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/28, Matteucci, Sarrio) reports, “Twenty-four DeKalb County[GA] educators have been reassigned to nonschool duties over irregularities in 2009 state testing that affected nine schools and possibly 1,400 students. The unidentified educators, both teachers and principals, could face losing their teaching licenses” and the “DeKalb District attorney will review the investigation conducted by the school system and determine if criminal charges are warranted. … School officials told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday they referred 24 educators and five former employees to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission after an internal investigation uncovered numerous irregularities on the April 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests.”

Law & Policy
Teacher Licensing Plan Moves Through Minnesota House.
The AP (1/28, Williams) reports, “Less than a week after US Education Secretary Arne Duncan scolded Minnesota for not having more ways for talented people to become teachers, a state House committee approved a bill aiming to do just that. On a split vote, the House Education Finance Committee on Thursday forwarded a bill sponsored by Rep. Patrick Garofalo [R]” which “would make it possible for the first time for a local applicant to get a license through an organization other than a Minnesota college or university. … ‘We need to open this up and get great talent, wherever that talent may come from,’ Duncan told a group of business leaders in Minneapolis on Jan. 14.”

Obama, Duncan Call For NCLB Overhaul.
The International Business Times (1/28, Picard) reports, “The Obama administration believes that one policy area ripe for bipartisan cooperation and accomplishment is the reauthorization, and improvement, of” NCLB. In his State of the Union address “Obama said he wanted to ‘replace No Child Left Behind with a law that’s more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids.’ Secretary of Education Arne Duncan followed the President’s lead by holding a press conference Wednesday, accompanied by US Sens. Tom Harkin, D-IA, Mike Enzi, R-WY, Jeff Bingaman, D-NM and Lamar Alexander, R-TN.” According to the IBT, “Duncan called NCLB ‘far too rigid’ to allow states to develop their own policies.”

Colorado Bill Would Expand Turnaround Choices.
Education News Colorado (1/27, Engdahl) reported, “A measure introduced in the [Colorado] Senate Thursday would increase the options that could be used for schools that need turnaround plans and also would require greater public scrutiny of such plans. If passed, the bill would be the first significant modification of the state’s new accountability system for schools, passed by the legislature in 2009 and now being implemented by the Department of Education.” According to Education News Colorado, “The accountability law, known as Senate Bill 09-163, requires that schools placed on ‘turnaround’ status for low academic performance hire an outside partner to help improve the school, reorganize school leadership, become an innovation school or cluster with other schools to form an innovation zone, or ‘restart’ by hiring contract management, becoming a charter school or redoing the charter if the school already has charter status.”

Michigan Teacher Tenure Reform Back On The Table.
Peter Luke wrote in a blog for MichiganLive (1/27), “The Michigan Education Association managed to block House consideration of a teacher tenure change measure in last year’s lame duck session when Democrats controlled the chamber. That’s going to be tougher to do now that Republicans are in charge and move to change state tenure laws has retained the flavor of bipartisanship. … A measure introduced by Rep. Tim Melton, D-Auburn Hills, this week would bar tenure to new teachers in the last year of probation unless they received a performance evaluation that judged them to be effective, according to the assessment tool adopted by the school district that has to include student performance as a measure.”

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Safety & Security
Los Angeles School Officer Faked Shooting Story, LAPD Says.
The Los Angeles Times (1/28, Rubin, Blankstein) reports, “A Los Angeles school police officer who said he was shot by an attacker last week, prompting a manhunt that shut down a large swath of Woodland Hills, has been arrested on suspicion of concocting the story, authorities said Thursday night.” According to the Times, “Police had said Stenroos was shot in the chest Jan. 19 after he confronted a man who was attempting to break into vehicles near the eastern boundary of the El Camino Real High School campus. … The incident sparked a massive police response that inconvenienced thousands of people for the day as officers blocked roads, locked down schools and refused to let people in or out of a 7-square-mile area.” The AP (1/28, Watkins) also covers this story.

Also in the News
Memphis To Vote On Transferring School System To County.
The New York Times (1/28, Robertson) reports that the “voluntary surrender” of Memphis, TN “schools’ charter, since backed by the City Council and most of the school board, has led to an extraordinary standoff between Tennessee’s largest county and its largest city, a showdown charged with issues of money, politics, class and race. It is headed for a citywide referendum in March, and if it is approved, the residents of Memphis and surrounding Shelby County are likely to find themselves together in uncharted territory.” According to the Times, Memphis city councilman Shea Flinn said the surrender “was a pre-emptive strike, a way to head off a plan by the separate county school system that could have led to a drastic shortfall in city school revenues. With no Memphis school system, the city schools instead would become the county’s responsibility.”

NEA in the News
Teach For America Secures $100 Million To Launch Endowment.
The AP (1/28) reports, “Teach For America, the education organization that places recent college graduates in low-income public schools, is getting $100 million to launch its first-ever endowment in hopes of making the grass-roots organization a permanent fixture in education. The program – which is now in communities from Atlanta to rural New Mexico to Los Angeles – announced Thursday that four philanthropists are joining to create a stable, long-term source of money.” The AP adds that the news is “likely to be unwelcome…for teachers’ unions and other opponents, who say Teach For America puts inexperienced 20-somethings with just five weeks of training in classrooms and most of don’t stay after their two years of service. ‘I don’t want anyone to practice or test out whether teaching is their profession on children,’ said Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, a teachers’ union with 3 million members. ‘We need to find out if teaching is your profession before you get in the classroom.’”

Rhee Building National Platform For Education Reform Agenda.
Politico (1/28, Smith) reports that former DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee is “an important voice among centrist Democrats – led by President Barack Obama – who are pushing a new agenda of teacher quality and high standards in education. She’s an adviser to some of the nation’s most ambitious Republican governors, like Florida’s Rick Scott, New Jersey’s Chris Christie, and Indiana’s Mitch Daniels, all of whom envision a more apocalyptic confrontation with teachers’ unions.” According to Politico, “Teacher union leaders privately loathe Rhee, but they have tried to associate themselves with the reform cause by showing flexibility on contracts, while pointing out that salaries and benefits are key to attracting good teachers. ‘My greatest concern is that she takes energy and focus away from the very things we ought to be doing to change things for students,’ said the president of the National Education Association, president Dennis Van Roekel. ‘She’s polarizing in almost everything she does.’”

The Los Angeles Times (1/7, York) adds that an announcement about the position could have been made as early as yesterday. Gubernatorial spokesperson Evan Westrup, however, would not confirm nor deny speculation about the future of the position or the office. The “11 employees in the education secretary’s office were already packing boxes and have been notified that their office has been targeted for elimination.” The article also provides some background on Brown’s intentions with the office and noted that during his campaign, he targeted it for removal and cited it “as an example of bureaucratic redundancy.”

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In the Classroom
Mentoring, Scholarship Programs In Pittsburgh Aim To Prepare Students For College, Careers.
USA Today (1/7, Marklein) reports that in Pittsburgh Public Schools “more than 300 adults give their time to kids through a 2-year-old mentoring program — one of many ways in which residents have rallied around the belief that education is the key to Pittsburgh’s future.” The movement “centers on the Pittsburgh Promise, a 3-year-old scholarship…for public school graduates” funded by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which “gave $10 million upfront, and said it would match donations up to $90 million over nine years toward a $250 million permanent endowment.” The goals Pittsburgh’s initiatives, USA Today adds, are “to ensure that students master academics, develop behaviors and habits that are consistent with success in college or a career, and explore ambitions and dreams.”

Elementary Immersion Program Delivers 90 Percent Of Curriculum In Mandarin.
California’s Mercury News (1/7, Barry) reports that “a class of kindergarteners at Joseph Azevada Elementary School is learning the same core instruction of reading, writing and arithmetic” with 90 percent of the curriculum “taught in Mandarin Chinese” and 10 percent in English. Students in the Mandarin Immersion Program are able to pick up Mandarin quickly, according to Azevada Principal Carole Diamond. “What I’ve seen in their language oral abilities, the students themselves are now using Mandarin casually and academically,” she said. Currently, there is only one class of students in the program “there is approval to have two classrooms at both the kindergarten and first-grade level next school year. Based on registration that has just begun, Diamond said there will be one kindergarten and one first-grade class for sure next year.”

Students Collaborate On Cross-School Wiki Project To Track Energy Conservation.
Illinois’ TribLocal.com (1/7, Jaworski) reports that “children at Oak Park Elementary District 97 got a lesson in conservation and green energy this week, as educators kicked off a cross-school project to get students more involved in environmental initiatives.” Sixth and third-graders from Brooks Middle School and Longfellow Elementary School, respectively “will all be working with a wiki, an Internet document that is edited by multiple parties working in collaboration.” They “will evaluate their own homes” for energy conservation “and report back to the wiki.” TribLocal adds that Oak Park Elementary District 97 is “beginning a process to get students from multiple grade levels and schools all involved in the same project on a larger scale.”

Law & Policy
New Jersey Enacts New School Anti-Bullying Law.
The New York Times (1/7, Pérez-peña) reports, “New Jersey on Thursday enacted the nation’s toughest law against bullying and harassment in schools, three and a half months after the suicide of a Rutgers University student drew national attention to the issue.” Under the law, schools and districts must appoint “specific people…to run antibullying programs;” incidents must be investigated “starting within a day after they occur; and…teachers, administrators and school board members” must be trained. The law also requires that superintendents “make public reports twice a year detailing any episodes in each school, and each school will receive a letter grade to be posted on its Web site. The law, which goes into effect at the start of the next school year, lists harassment, intimidation or bullying as grounds for suspension or even expulsion from school.” The AP (1/7) also covers the story.

Rhee Teams Up With Florida Governor On Education Reform.
The AP (1/7, Kay) reports that Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) “and former D.C. public schools chief Michelle Rhee visited a South Florida charter school Thursday to announce a partnership and tout their student-focused education agendas.” Rhee, who “was on Scott’s education transition team” will “continue to serve Florida as an informal education adviser.” She told her audience at Florida International Academy in Opa-locka Thursday that “she made Florida the first state to partner with her new nonprofit education organization, StudentsFirst, because Scott shares her focus on improving teacher quality, on giving parents and students more options and on school accountability.” Scott and Rhee “both said they supported merit pay plans for teachers, even if the teachers unions oppose such plans.”

Florida Officials Propose $43 Million In Penalties For Districts In Violation Of Class-Size Rules.
The AP (1/7, Kaczor) reports, “Florida education officials have proposed reducing state funding to school districts and laboratory and charter schools by about $43 million as penalties for violating class size limits.” Still, that total “is far less than the $131 million the department had predicted before the school year began.” Of the 35 districts in violation of class-size regulations, 25 have appealed so far. “Also, all three laboratory schools and 38 of 44 charter schools found in violation are appealing. The State Board of Education will consider the appeals when it meets Jan. 18 in Pensacola. The fines then must be approved by the Legislative Budget Commission, probably in February.”

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Special Needs
DC Officials Seek To Save Money With Fewer Private School Placements For Special Education.
The Washington Times (1/7, Simmons) reports, “D.C. officials are adamant: The spiraling costs for special education must be cut.” As of “Oct. 1, taxpayers have spent about $142 million on nonpublic special-education programs, including about $15,000 per student on tuition for students who attended specialized private schools. Room and board alone for those students has cost an additional $510,000.” DC Mayor Vincent Gray opposes vouchers for special education students. Instead, he and Deputy Chancellor for Special Education Richard Nyankori “want to “mainstream” special-ed students in D.C. public schools and make early-intervention testing a mainstay so educators can begin addressing learning and behavioral problems early on.”

The Washington Post (1/7, Turque) reports “that the area of the city with the highest proportion of privately placed special needs students is its most affluent: Ward 3.” Forty percent of “Ward 3 special [education] students” have “attended private schools” as of Sept 30. Meanwhile, “Ward 8 has the lowest proportion at 22 percent.” Nyankori noted that “the data reflect other disparities. … ‘Some of our best special education services are located in Ward Three. … It is also an area of the city where we have the least concentration of students with highly complex needs–Wards 5, 7, and 8 have many more. Given the resources available in that ward, I think we have to take a look at the disproportionality and understand whether it’s warranted or not,’” he said.

New Jersey Lawmaker Proposes Task Force To Study Special Education Spending.
New Jersey’s Asbury Park Press (1/7, Mullen) reports that “a new bill, if passed, would set up a task force to study ways to make the state’s $3 billion-a-year special-education system more effective and accountable.” Assemblyman David P. Rible (R), the measure’s sponsor, said that “the 15-member task force would include teachers and parents of disabled children.” Currently, “, little data exists to gauge the performance of” special education programs. An investigation by the Asbury Park Press recently showed that “the state Department of Education doesn’t keep track of the costs associated with educating some 200,000 students in the state with wide-ranging disabilities.”

School Finance
Connecticut School Systems Warned Of Cuts In State Funding This Year.
The Middletown (CT) Press (1/7, Federico) reports that Connecticut school systems “could lose an estimated $3 million in federal stimulus money this summer if the state fails to restore state education grants to towns, state education officials warned Thursday.” Over the last two years, Connecticut has made up for $270 million in education funding cuts through “federal economic stimulus money.” But with that funding “running out…school leaders” are uncertain whether or not the money will be restored. On Wednesday, The Middletown Press adds, “Organizations including…Connecticut Association of School Business Officials” went with “parents and students [to] the state Capitol…to announce a campaign meant to raise awareness of the shortfall and to urge state legislators to take action during the upcoming session to protect state education funding.” For the campaign, the “organizations pledged to provide information to their communities and education leaders across the state in order to find attainable results for their school via a website, called WhatWillOurChildrenLose.com.” The AP (1/7, Reitz) and the Danbury (CT) News Times (1/7, Lambeck) also cover the story.

Also in the News
Community Conversations Aimed At Bridging Achievement Gap In Tulsa Public Schools.
KOTV-TV Tulsa (1/7) reports that some parents in Tulsa, Oklahoma are “coming together to bridge the [achievement] gap” between black and white students. The movement’s organizers call it “an action plan to save a segment of students who are falling further and further behind” through community conversations. “Thursday night was the second community conversation on the achievement gap” focused on “accountability and ways to get parents engaged in their children’s schools.” Participants are still working to develop an action plan for the school district on the issue. KOTV notes that “African American students at Tulsa Public Schools lag nearly 30 points behind their white peers on state exams.”

NEA in the News
Van Roekel: Tests Should Not Be Used To Punish Schools.
In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post (1/6) “Answer Sheet” blog, NEA President Dennis van Roekel wrote that “The intent behind” the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was to close achievement gaps between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers.” However, he notes, the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress “showed that those gaps have not been narrowed. So while NCLB was useful in providing data about different demographic groups, it didn’t achieve its goal of closing the achievement gaps.” Van Roekel also says that the emphasis on standardized testing that has come as a result of NCLB “has distorted our children’s experience in school.” He concludes that “tests shouldn’t be used to punish schools…or to pigeonhole students or their teachers. Instead we should use assessments to help teachers improve their practice…and focus help on the students and subjects that need attention.”

Teachers In Illinois District Vote Against Reopening Contract To Salary Freeze.
Illinois’ TribLocal.com (1/7, Huston) reports, “Teachers at Wilmette School District 39 have rejected a school board request to open their contract for renegotiation in light of a $5.1 million deficit.” The school board in November asked the Wilmette Education Association to reopen its contract to include a salary freeze that would have saved the district $1.1 million each year. “But in mid-December the WEA voted against reopening its contract, which runs through August 2013. … The contract calls for annual raises of between 5 percent and 6 percent, depending on experience and seniority.”

Class Sizes Rise Amid California Budget Crisis.
The San Jose Mercury News (1/10, Noguchi) reports, “As California crams more kids into classrooms, students are sitting in aisles and on windowsills. Fewer are paying attention and more are certain to be left behind. Teachers are spending more time lecturing and less time leading experiments and devising creative lessons.” According to the Mercury News, “Caught in a budget meltdown, the state is forcing schools to abandon one of the most popular education reforms — smaller class sizes. … While standardized test scores have yet to measure the result of larger class sizes, teachers and students are reporting the day-to-day struggles, from more unruly classes to more students being neglected.”

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In the Classroom
Virginia District To Remove Erroneous History Textbooks From Classrooms.
The Washington Post (1/8, Sieff) reported, “Fairfax [VA] school officials have decided to pull a textbook in which historians have found dozens of errors. Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack D. Dale said that fourth-grade history will be taught using supplemental materials until errors in ‘Our Virginia, Past and Present’ are corrected in a subsequent edition.” According to the Post, “A state-appointed panel of historians in December found dozens of additional errors in ‘Our Virginia’ and ‘Our America to 1865,’ both of which were published by Connecticut-based Five Ponds Press.”

McCartney: Virginia Schools Should Insist On Full Refund For Error-Filled Textbooks. Robert McCartney wrote in a column for the Washington Post (1/9), “Among Northern Virginia school systems wrestling with how to handle a wildly erroneous fourth-grade social studies textbook, Loudoun County initially received the gold star. Loudoun yanked the book, ‘Our Virginia: Past and Present,’ when the first falsehood – describing nonexistent battalions of black Confederate soldiers – was discovered in October. … By contrast, Fairfax and Arlington were content just to cover up the offending sentence with a blank sticker.” According to McCartney, “There can be only one acceptable solution. The small publishing company responsible for this fiasco, Five Ponds Press of Weston, Conn., should agree right away to cover the entire price” to replace the books.

Maryland, DC To Adopt National Academic Standards.
The Washington Post (1/10, Anderson) reports, “D.C. and Maryland school officials have agreed to national academic standards and have begun to lay the groundwork for new tests and teacher training. But it will take at least a few years before such measures generate notable change in the classroom.” According to the Post, “D.C. and Maryland school officials adopted the standards last year and won major school reform grants from the federal government to help carry them out. The District’s share from the $4 billion Race to the Top contest is $75 million. Maryland’s is $250 million.”

Advanced Placement Guidelines To Be Revamped.
The New York Times (1/7, Drew) reported that as Advanced Placement “has proliferated, spreading to more than 30 subjects with 1.8 million students taking 3.2 million tests, the program has won praise for giving students an early chance at more challenging work. But many of the courses, particularly in the sciences and history, have also been criticized for overwhelming students with facts to memorize and then rushing through important topics.” According to the Times, “All that, says the College Board, is about to change. Next month, the board, the nonprofit organization that owns the A.P. exams as well as the SAT, will release a wholesale revamping of A.P. biology as well as United States history – with 387,000 test-takers the most popular A.P. subject.”

Effectiveness Of School Reform Push Questioned.
Robert J. Samuelson writes in a column for the Washington Post (1/10), “Almost everyone who worries about America’s ‘competitiveness’ in the world bemoans the sorry state of US K-12 education. … ‘The urgency for reform has never been greater,’ Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently wrote in The Post. The diagnosis spans the political spectrum. But what if it’s not true?” Samuelson adds that “persistent achievement gaps demonstrate the limits of schools to compensate for problems outside the classroom. … What we face is not an engineering problem; it’s overcoming the legacy of history and culture.”

Law & Policy
Virginia Updating Startup Rules For Charter Schools.
The Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot (1/10) reports that Virginia “is changing the way that charter schools apply for approval” yet “that isn’t likely to bring more of the nontraditional schools” to the state, according to “some state and national education leaders.” According to the Virginian-Pilot, “Charter advocacy groups generally don’t consider Virginia a charter-friendly state, though Gov. Bob McDonnell pledged to ease restrictions during his campaign and when he took office last year. Charter schools have been in the national spotlight, too, thanks in part to the support of President Barack Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan.”

Pennsylvania Leaders Push Plan For School Vouchers.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (1/9, Weigand) reported, “This week Pennsylvanians will get a look at a plan to use state money to give low-income families alternatives to public school. State Sens. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, will release their proposal for a tuition voucher system mid-week. Parents could use the money to send their child to a public, parochial or private school of their choice.” According to the Tribune-Review, “The plan provides up to an $8,000 voucher to families with an annual income of no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level,” Williams said. “For a family of four, the income limit would be $28,665.”

Law Banning Latino Classes Sparks Controversy In Arizona.
The New York Times (1/8, Lacey) reports that Latino-culture themed classes “have been declared illegal by the State of Arizona – even while similar programs for black, Asian and American Indian students have been left untouched. ‘It’s propagandizing and brainwashing that’s going on there,’ Tom Horne, Arizona’s newly elected attorney general, said this week as he officially declared the program in violation of a state law that went into effect on Jan. 1.’” According to the Times, “It was Horne, as the state’s superintendent of public instruction, who wrote a law aimed at challenging Tucson’s ethnic-studies program.”

Many See Union Influence In Shakeup Of California Board Of Education.
The Los Angeles Times (1/8, Mehta) reported, “In one of [California] Gov. Jerry Brown’s first official acts this week, he sacked the majority of the state Board of Education, replacing several vocal proponents of charter schools, parent empowerment and teacher accountability. A broad range of educators, policy makers and others say the move was widely believed to be the handiwork of the California Teachers Assn., which heavily supported Brown in his gubernatorial campaign.” According to the Times, the move “also appears to delay a key vote about parents’ power to reshape failing schools – an effort opposed by the union – leading to strong criticism of the governor from fellow Democrats.”

Safety & Security
Virginia Education Leaders Study Proposal On Sex Abuse.
The Washington Post (1/9, White) reported, “The Virginia Board of Education is considering its first statewide guidelines for the prevention of sexual misconduct in public schools in response to recent abuse cases, such as the one involving former Manassas [VA] teacher Kevin Ricks, officials said. The proposed guidelines would target behavior that has led to student sexual abuse, and they seek to limit situations that could blur the lines in a teacher-student relationship.” According to the Post, “The guidelines suggest strict limits on communication, physical contact and socializing with students.”

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School Finance
California Education Chief Declares Fiscal Emergency For State’s Schools.
Bloomberg News (1/7, Marois) reported that California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said that “California’s public schools are mired in a fiscal crisis” and cautioned “that renewed cuts might push some districts further toward insolvency after three consecutive years of deficits.” He added that 174 California districts “are in financial jeopardy and may require state oversight. He called on Governor Jerry Brown to resist making more cuts to elementary and high-school education.”

KGO-TV San Francisco (1/7, Anthony) added on its website that Torlakson also said, “The law won’t let me call out the National Guard. Your schools need your help. And they need it now. Continuing some of the current taxes that are in place, that the taxpayers got used to paying, that were put in place to protect schools and education, we need to do that.”

The San Jose Mercury News (1/7, Gonzales) observed that in addition to Torlakson’s declaration, he also identified ways that his office hopes to save districts money ahead of the Governor’s budget announcement. Specifically, “Torlakson’s ideas of giving districts additional financial flexibility and streamlining the school construction process pleased local education leaders.” Howard Blume also covered this story in a blog for the Los Angeles Times (1/7).

K-12 Funding, Policy On Radar For New Congress.
Education Week (1/7, Klein) reported, “President Obama has a long list of K-12 items on the policy agenda for his next two years in office, but it remains to be seen how his priorities will jibe with those of the new, more conservative Congress that took office last week with many members intent on shrinking the federal government and squeezing spending. Although renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act-whose current version is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002-is being touted as one area of potential common ground, the task is politically tricky for reasons that go beyond partisan divisions: There are deep disagreements within both parties over the best direction to take K-12 policy.” Also, “the new Republican-controlled House could step up oversight of key Obama programs, including the $4.35 billion Race to the Top program.”

Minnesota Governor Seeks Another Run At Race To Top Funds.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (1/7, Kaszuba) reported that Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton “said Friday he wants Minnesota to reapply for the federal government’s Race to the Top education money, a move that drew praise from Republicans and resurrected an issue that deeply divided former Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the state’s largest teachers union. Dayton said he has already talked briefly to US Education Secretary Arne Duncan and hopes to meet with him when Duncan comes to Minnesota on Jan. 21.” The Star Tribune added, “Republicans said the move showed that the new DFL governor, who initially was not supported in his campaign by Education Minnesota, the state’s largest teachers union, was not beholden to the union and might act independently from a longtime DFL constituency.”

Delaware Approves Schools’ Race To The Top Reform Plans.
The Wilmington News Journal (1/7, Dobo) reported that the Delaware Department of Education “has approved Race to the Top academic reform plans for four schools.” According to the News Journal, “As part of its Partnership Zones effort, the state will restructure 10 schools over the next four years. The effort is funded by $2.2 million of the state’s $119 million federal Race to the Top grant. Schools receive as much as $700,000 in money and technical assistance, but first, they have to come up with a plan approved by the state.”

Also in the News
Deasy Tapped As Los Angeles Schools Chief.
The Los Angeles Times (1/10, Blume) reports, “The selection of John Deasy to lead the nation’s second-largest school system, expected Tuesday, would give the Board of Education a leader who is eager to make sweeping changes and who has earned the respect of disparate and often warring forces in the Los Angeles Unified School District. … US Education Secretary Arne Duncan weighed in last week, saying Deasy ‘has been a thoughtful, aggressive leader in public education.’” According to the Times, “After joining the school district in August, Deasy carved out a role heading a controversial effort to revamp teacher evaluations to include the use of student test score data, a move vigorously opposed by the teachers union.” The Los Angeles Times (1/7, Blume) also carried a separate report on this story.

In Tough Times, Schools Try To Keep Homeless Students’ Education On Track.
The Los Angeles Times (1/9, Rojas) reported as jobs “are lost, houses are foreclosed and tenants are evicted, more families are being pushed into shelters, motels, even cars. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest, nearly 13,500 students were identified as homeless in the 2009-10 school year, records show, a 53% increase from five years ago.” Meanwhile, programs “attempting to help the children in these situations… face a sad dilemma: The same difficult economic times that create the need for such services also cause them to struggle financially.”

Students Learn About Nutrition Through Cooking, Activities.
The Washington Post (1/9, Lake) reported on a nutrition lesson taught by Mercer Middle School physical education teacher Benjamin Chiet, who “persuaded three classes of seventh-graders to prepare, cook and, ultimately, enjoy a meal made from whole-wheat flour, spinach, pumpkin and low-fat cheese.” Chiet said, “Childhood obesity is a huge problem that we try to combat every day in physical education class, and for most children and families, it starts because of a simple misunderstanding of nutrition and how to incorporate healthy foods into everyday meals.”

Rhee Taking Education Reform Message Nationwide.
The AP (1/10, Armario) reports that former DC schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee “is continuing her fight to improve the nation’s classrooms through a new organization, Students First. This time, she’s hoping to better tap into discontent with the state of public schools across the country.” According to the AP, “On Monday, she’ll announce the group’s agenda, focusing on three areas: the teaching profession, empowering families with information and choices; and developing more accountability.”

North Carolina District Buffeted By Controversy Amid Re-Segregation Fears.
The Washington Post (1/12, McCrummen) reports that unlike many school districts across the nation, some of the best and most diverse schools in Wake County, NC “are in the poorest sections” of Raleigh, NC. However, “over the past year, a new majority-Republican school board backed by national tea party conservatives has set the district on a strikingly different course,” by abolishing “the policy behind one of the nation’s most celebrated integration efforts. And as the board moves toward a system in which students attend neighborhood schools, some members are embracing the provocative idea that concentrating poor children, who are usually minorities, in a few schools could have merits – logic that critics are blasting as a 21st-century case for segregation.” The Post notes that recently, “federal education officials visited the county, the first step toward a possible investigation.”

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In the Classroom
Parents Push For More Free Play Time For Kindergartners At New York City School.
The New York Times (1/12, Otterman) reports, “Some kindergarten parents at Public School 101, a graceful brick castle in Forest Hills, Queens, wanted more free play time for their children; so they decided to do something about it. Gone were the play kitchens, sand and water tables, and dress-up areas; half-days were now full days.” Subsequently, there were “whiteboards, and the kindergartners, in classes of up to 27, practiced reading and math on work sheets on desks at P.S. 101, also known as the School in the Gardens.” According to the Times, “Time and space for imaginative play in city schools seem to be shrinking as the academic emphasis on reading and math grows, said Clara Hemphill, who researches the city’s schools.”

On the Job
North Carolina District Chief Recommends Cutting 1,500 Jobs.
The Charlotte Observer (Frazier, Helms) reports, “Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman on Tuesday recommended cutting more than 1,500 jobs – including hundreds of teachers and assistants – to bridge a $100 million budget gap. His plan also calls for saving money by lengthening the day at schools around the county, and by cutting more than a thousand children from the Bright Beginnings preschool program.” According to the Observer, “The 1,500 jobs would represent about 9 percent of CMS’ 16,000 employees. Gorman didn’t immediately specify how many of the cuts are teaching positions.”

New Jersey Governor Calls For Range Of Education Policy Overhauls.
The New York Times (1/12, Pérez-Peña) reports that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “signaled Tuesday that his second year in office will be as full of conflict and wrenching change as his first, calling for more deep cuts in state spending and public employee benefits, and a broad education overhaul that quickly drew scorn from Democrats.” According to the Times, Christie “devoted the largest part” of his first State of the State address “to plans that would profoundly alter the way schools operate, including stripping teachers of tenure and paying them based partly on student achievement. … Mr. Christie said that the worst public schools should be closed, reiterated his call for the state to pay private-school tuition for students in failing public schools, and called for a major expansion of charter schools.”

Court Sides With New York City In Lawsuit Over Release Of Teacher Ratings.
The Christian Science Monitor (1/12, Paulson) reports, “Monday’s ruling by a judge in New York paves the way for detailed information to be released about how individual teachers affect students’ test scores. The ruling would allow the New York City school district to release performance rankings for more than 12,000 of its teachers to the media outlets that have requested the information.” The Monitor adds, “New York’s teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers, has promised to appeal the decision, and the district won’t release the rankings until after the appeal.”

Law & Policy
Obama To Push For NCLB Reauthorization.
The Washington Post (1/12, Anderson) reports, “President Obama will mount a fresh attempt this year to rewrite the No Child Left Behind education law, a top administration official said this week, and key congressional Republicans said they are ready to deal. ‘The president is ready to move on this,’ Education Secretary Arne Duncan told The Washington Post.” However, some “Republicans say a big bill could die of its own weight” and House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R) “has indicated that he might push instead for a series of small education bills. Duncan said Monday he was ‘open to that conversation’ but does not want to leave major problems unaddressed.”

Texas Governor Criticized Over Education Financing Policy Stance.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D) writes in a letter to the New York Times (1/12) regarding a January 7 column by Paul Krugman titled “The Texas Omen ” that in 2009, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) “used $3.25 billion in federal education money to replace state education funds, denying any additional support for Texas schools. When Congress considered providing new education financing for states last year, the Texas Democratic delegation worked to prevent history from repeating itself,” working “with Texas superintendents and major statewide education groups to craft a provision ensuring that $830 million of new education financing actually helps Texas schools.” However, Perry “refused to sign the three-page financing application because it requires him to use the money as Congress intended – for education. Five months later, Texas is one of two states that have not been awarded funds from this bill, and the governor continues to delay to the detriment of Texas schools.”

Safety & Security
Federal Government Website Seeks To Share Anti-Bullying Strategies.
Ryan Gray wrote in a blog for School Transportation News (1/12), “For children and youth to thrive in their schools and communities, they need to feel safe and be safe – socially, emotionally, and physically. That is the opening sentence on BullyingInfo.org, a Web site created by the federal government’s Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs to identify and disseminate ‘promising and effective strategies’ to combat bullying as well as to promote partnerships between stakeholders. … ‘We know that many programs are successfully addressing bullying and want to share those materials with others,’ says Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary for the US Department of Education’s Education Department’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools who also chairs the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Task Force.”

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Facilities
Maryland District Residents Press For Construction Of New Middle School.
The Washington Post (1/12, Johnson) reports, “For more than six years, Prince George’s County [MD] real estate agents often have told young families looking to settle in the planned community of Fairwood that an elementary school would be built soon on a 15-acre plot set aside by the developer.” However, “late last year, enrollment projections for the area dropped” and in order to “justify the need for the new school, Prince George’s County school officials are considering closing one of two aging elementary schools.” According to the Post, when state and local funding “was committed to Fairwood, school officials projected that by 2016, the six elementary schools adjacent to Fairwood would have 600 more students than they had seats for. But then the school system redrew its boundaries countywide and moved sixth-graders from several of the elementary schools to a nearby middle school” which ultimately “prompted state officials to announce late last year that a new elementary school was no longer needed.”

School Finance
Half Of Detroit Public Schools May Be Closed.
The Detroit News (1/12, Chambers) reports, “Detroit Public Schools would close nearly half of its schools in the next two years, and increase high school class sizes to 62 by the following year, under a deficit-reduction plan filed with the state. The plan, part of a monthly update Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb gives the Department of Education, was filed late Monday to provide insight into Bobb’s progress in his attempt to slash a $327 million deficit in the district to zero over the next several years.” According to the Detroit News, “Bobb has said school closures, bigger classes and other measures would be needed if he cannot get help from lawmakers to restructure finances in the state’s largest school district.”

Florida Districts Awarded Race To The Top Funds.
Florida’s Treasure Coast Palm (1/12, Tyko) reports, “The St. Lucie County [FL] School District is getting nearly $5 million in federal Race to the Top dollars. School officials learned Monday the district will receive $4,949,987 over the next four years as part of the state’s $700 million prize from Race to the Top, a federal education reform grant competition.” According to the Treasure Coast Palm, “Of the state’s prize, half of the money will be distributed to approved school districts to carry out locally developed education reform plans. The state is using the other half of the funding to develop an array of programs and strategies designed to aid all school districts in areas such as improving their lowest-performing schools, recognizing and rewarding their highly effective teachers, and increasing the academic achievement of all students.”

Florida’s Naples Daily News (1/12) reports, “The Florida Department of Education announced Monday that the Lee County School District has received $9 million in Race to the Top funds. Lee County was one of five in the state approved for the funds, bringing the total number of Florida districts receiving full approval to their Race to the Top grant to 29.”

Also in the News
Los Angeles School Board Names Deasy Superintendent.
The AP (1/12, Hoag) reports, “The Los Angeles Unified school board on Tuesday promoted an administrator nationally known for an ambitious and aggressive stance on education reform to lead the nation’s second-largest school district. In an widely anticipated move, Deputy Superintendent John Deasy will replace current Superintendent Ramon Cortines, who will retire April 15.” According to the AP, “A $142 million budget deficit, a 50 percent dropout rate, overseeing the handover of struggling campuses to outside operators and overhauling entrenched teacher tenure and evaluation policies are some of the thorniest challenges the new superintendent will face. … District unions have criticized the board for not conducting a national search and the United Teachers Los Angeles said in a letter that Deasy’s selection should be delayed.”

The Los Angeles Times (1/12, Blume) reports that nothing Deasy has “done defines exactly how he will run the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest, which has been hammered by budget cuts, increasing class sizes and layoffs, and which remains beset by low student achievement and community schisms. … One annual goal: increasing the rate of students who graduate from high school within four years by 6 percentage points; another: raising the number of ninth graders who test as proficient in algebra by 4 percentage points.” NBC Los Angeles (1/11, Ebright) also covers this story in a report on its Website.

LATimes Calls For Overhaul Of California Education Leadership Structure.
The Los Angeles Times (1/12) editorializes, “For the two decades that California has had a secretary of education, the position has never made much sense” as the post “has no real authority” and thus, “Gov. Jerry Brown was right to get rid of it; that was an easy save of almost $2 million a year.” However, “the secretary of education wasn’t the real problem. The underlying mistake is contained in the Constitution, which mandates an elected superintendent. Ideally, Brown would be able to do away with that post and the appointed Board of Education, bring the Education Department under his wing and streamline the bulky and often-contradictory administration of the public schools.”

New York Archdiocese Says It Plans To Close 27 Schools.
The New York Times (1/12, Vitello) reports, “The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York announced on Tuesday that 26 elementary schools and one high school that had received heavy subsidies in recent years because of declining enrollment would be closed at the end of the current school year. The announcement capped a two-year review process and represented the largest school consolidation in the history of the archdiocese, which includes 2.5 million Catholics in a sprawling territory stretching from Staten Island to Sullivan County.” The Times adds that the “archdiocese has promised to find places in other parochial schools for all of the roughly 4,700 students affected by the closings.”

Report Documents Low Academic Achievement Across Michigan.
The Detroit News (1/13, Lewis) reports, “Detroit Public Schools is not necessarily Michigan’s lowest performing district, according to a” new report by the Education Trust-Midwest, which “lists several districts across Michigan that performed below the Detroit district on some state tests among African-American students, including Pontiac, Oak Park, Clintondale, Taylor, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Flint and Jackson. The report also says Michigan is near the bottom in student performance on national assessments, and that many of the state’s schoolchildren are considered proficient only because of lax standards.” The Detroit News adds, “According to the report, ‘Becoming a Leader in Education: An Agenda for Michigan,’ 84 percent of Michigan fourth-graders meet state reading standards, but only 30 percent are proficient on the National Assessment of Education Progress exam.”

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In the Classroom
Idaho Education Chief Seeks Classroom Technology, Instruction Overhauls.
The Twin Falls (ID) Times-News (1/13, Botkin) reports, “Technology is just one piece of” Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna’s “‘Students Come First’ proposal, aimed at overhauling public education in Idaho with a three-pronged approach of technology, effective educators and transparent accountability. It comes at a time when the public schools budget is lean, and budget cuts have led to everything from fewer class days to slashed field trips and music programs.” According to the Times-News, “For students, it would mean investment in technology and new classroom equipment…and increased virtual education options, with the Idaho Education Network playing a key role.”

Plan To Close Achievement Gap In Minneapolis Includes School Closure.
KARE-TV Minneapolis (1/12, Xiong) reported on its Website, “Four Seasons Elementary School is St. Paul’s first year-round school. However, it may not open again next fall because the school could close under a new three year plan to tackle the district’s persistent achievement gap.” According to KARE, “The plan calls for some schools like Barack and Michelle Obama Service Learning to add grades, while others like Open World Learning and Four Seasons will lose them” and the “district will also cut 16 magnet school programs.”

Virginia District Pulls Error-Filled History Textbook.
The Washington Post (1/12, Sieff) reports that Arlington, VA “school officials decided Wednesday to pull a textbook in which historians have found dozens of errors. ‘Based upon the recent information about the number and scope of errors identified in the Grade 4 Social Studies textbook, Our Virginia: Past and Present, Arlington Public Schools (APS) officials announced today their decision to remove all print copies of the textbooks from circulation and use in Grade 4 classrooms,’ officials wrote in an email to parents.” According to the Post, “Five Ponds Press announced Monday that it will provide free corrected editions of the books to school districts across the state in July.”

Law & Policy
New Jersey Governor Presses For Education Reforms.
The New York Times (1/13, Hu) reports that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) “tough-on-schools approach in a state that has zealously protected its public schools – and its teachers – has already put him at loggerheads with legislative leaders, unions and some parents in New Jersey. And on Tuesday, the governor…used his State of the State address to push his education agenda further by calling for an end to teacher tenure, on top of his support for merit pay for teachers based partly on student achievement and adoption of a voucherlike system that would give students in low-performing schools other options.” According to the Times, Christie’s “latest salvo has placed New Jersey center stage in the increasingly rancorous national debate over education” and it “also increases pressure on teachers and their unions, which are under criticism nationally as educators, lawmakers and taxpayers try to lower costs and improve results.”

DC Earns Top Marks For Charter School Laws.
The Washington Times (1/13, Simmons) reports, “As unions move to organize charter-school employees, former D.C. Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee rolled out a taut school-reform agenda that pushes charter expansion and public-private vouchers, and she said the untold number of charter teachers she has encountered are not ‘interested in joining a union.’ Ms. Rhee’s proposal and comments came as the District of Columbia won the No. 1 spot for its charter-school laws, which are touted in a new Center for Education Reform study for supporting school and teacher autonomy.” According to the Times, “With Ms. Rhee looking on Wednesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called union demands problematic for school reform and fiscal responsibility,” calling for teacher merit pay, ending teacher tenure and the expansion of charters in his State of the State address.

ESEA Reauthorization Faces Numerous Hurdles.
Nick Anderson wrote in a blog for the Washington Post (1/12), “Every year since 2007, the education world has wondered whether Congress will revise” NCLB, yet each year, “lawmakers have punted. Will 2011 be any different? There are plenty of reasons for skepticism. First, congressional Republicans have their eyes on other matters, including spending cuts” and if the “Education Department budget takes a hit — and it’s hard to see how it won’t be a big, inviting target for the new House GOP majority — that might not bode well for bipartisan compromise on the school testing and accountability policies at the heart of the 2002 education law.”

Obama May Push From ESEA Renewal In State Of The Union Address. Alyson Klein wrote in a blog for Education Week (1/12), “Rumor has it that the president is going to make a big push for renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in his State of the Union address to the newly divided Congress, slated for Jan. 25. US Sen. Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, is aiming for the panel to consider a bill by Easter, and then bring the measure to the floor in late spring or early summer, according to Justine Sessions, a spokeswoman for the committee.”

Court Case On Breast Cancer Bracelets Garners Attention Nationwide.
USA Today (1/13, Martin) reports, “School districts nationwide have their eyes on a federal court case in Pennsylvania, which will address whether students should be allowed to wear breast-cancer awareness bracelets that have become a controversy in multiple states. The bracelets – which proclaim ‘I (heart symbol) boobies!’ – have been banned in some districts.” USA Today adds, “The case arose after two middle-school girls were prohibited from wearing the bracelets in the Easton (Pa.) Area School District in October.” USA Today adds, “The Easton case is the only one the ACLU has initiated, but” ACLU lawyer Mary Catherine Roper “said she has corresponded with colleagues in Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware.”

Facilities
Maryland District Chief Postpones Plan To Build Elementary School.
The Washington Post (1/13, Johnson) reports, “Prince George’s County [MD] school officials have once again postponed plans to build an elementary school in Fairwood, a planned community near Bowie. Fairwood residents have been fighting for their own school for more than six years” yet “Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Wednesday night that ‘there’s no way to move that project forward’ at this point, as state officials have decided there is no need for it.” Though “the Fairwood project has been delayed, Hite said it has not been killed” as future “school-boundary changes could restore the need for the school, he said.”

Florida District’s School Construction Funds Running Low.
The Orlando Sentinel (1/13, Weber) reports, “Fallout continues from the failed school construction sales tax in Seminole County [FL], with district officials scrounging for cash to complete needed projects and pay old building debt. The days of making every county school bright, shiny and up-to-date are over – at least during the current economic turmoil.” According to the Sentinel, “Over the next five years the district will have only about $50 million a year in revenue for school repairs and construction. Nearly half, about $23 million, already is committed each year toward repaying old school construction debt.”

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School Finance
Class Sizes Would Rise Under Baltimore County Superintendent’s Budget Proposal.
The Baltimore Sun (1/13, Bowie) reports, “Class sizes would rise in Baltimore County next school year under Superintendent Joe A. Hairston’s budget proposal, which includes a freeze on filling about 200 vacant teaching positions, even as the system experiences a surge in enrollment. Hairston, who presented his plan to the school board Wednesday night, is also proposing a 5 percent decrease in central office and individual school budgets that would require principals to cut back on purchasing supplies and equipment.” According to the Sun, “Hairston’s $1.2 billion operating budget for the fiscal year beginning in July would increase over last year by $6.5 million, or 0.5 percent” assuming “state funding will increase slightly and county funding will hold steady.”

Cuts In Education Funding Likely, Florida Senate President Says.
The Orlando Sentinel (1/13, Deslatte, Garcia) reports that Florida “Senate President Mike Haridopolos signaled Wednesday that the Legislature was unlikely to take up any big-ticket tax cuts this year given Florida’s $3.62-billion projected budget shortfall, and that education could also face big cuts to patch the holes. Haridopolos said policymakers would be passing a budget this spring without any new tax increases, which means they would have to make dramatic cuts to health care and education to make the math work.” Gov. Rick Scott (R) “has proposed to cut school property taxes by $1.4 billion and make up the millage reduction with more state dollars.”

Missouri Lawmakers Consider Education Funding Cuts.
The AP (1/13, Lieb) reports that Missouri state Sen. Victor Callahan (D) “outlined about $80 million of potential cuts to public schools Tuesday as senators began reviewing around 1,000 e-mails containing cost-saving suggestions from the general public. The Senate’s second annual ‘Rebooting Government’ initiative is intended to identify ways of saving money for a cash-strapped state that is facing a projected budget gap of several hundred million dollars for the upcoming fiscal year.” According to the AP, “The ideas discussed Tuesday ranged from the complex, such as changes to the state’s highly technical school aid formula, to the simple, such as picking up trash less frequently from state institutions.”

Also in the News
New York City Charter School Questions Motivations Behind Its Closure.
The New York Times (1/13, Chen) reports that last Month, the New York City Department of Education announced that the Ross Global Academy “would be closed because of poor performance” and now the charter school “is claiming that the true reason for its fall from grace is not what happened in the school, but something much more ironic. Money. In a letter to state education officials this week urging a reversal of the city’s decision, the school says that its newly renovated building on East 12th Street has been promised to Girls Prep, another politically connected charter school on the Lower East Side that has long been yearning for better real estate.” Also, the “letter also questions whether there was any connection involving Girls Prep’s chairwoman, Sarah Robertson, the daughter-in-law of the prominent financier Julian Robertson, and $25 million in contributions made in recent years by the Robertson Foundation to three entities closely associated with the former schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein.”

Chinese Students’ High Scores In International Tests Come At A Cost.
The Los Angeles Times (1/13, Stack) reports, “Chinese adolescence is known as a time of scant whimsy: Students rise at dawn, disappear into school until dinnertime and toil into the late night over homework in preparation for university entrance exams that can make or break their future. So it came as little surprise when international education assessors announced last month that students in Shanghai had outperformed the rest of the industrialized world in standardized exams in math, reading and science.” However, “even as some parents in the West wrung their hands, fretting over an education gap, Chinese commentators reacted to the results with a bout of soul-searching and even an undertone of embarrassment. … In a sense, this is the underbelly of a rising China: the fear that schools are churning out generations of unimaginative worker bees who do well on tests.”

USDA Calls For Overhaul Of School Lunches.
USA Today (1/13, Hellmich) reports, “The government is calling for dramatic changes in school meals, including limiting french fries, sodium and calories and offering students more fruits and vegetables. The proposed rule, being released Thursday by the US Department of Agriculture, will raise the nutrition standards for meals for the first time in 15 years.” According to the AP, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack “says addressing the childhood obesity problem is critical for kids’ health, future medical costs and national security, as so many young adults are too heavy to serve in the military.”

State Takeover A Possibility For Schools In Louisiana District.
The Baton Rouge Advocate (1/14, 4B, Roberts) reports, “The St. Helena School System is like an ailing patient who needs healing,” Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek “told the St. Helena School Board Thursday night. And one solution, Pastorek said, would be the state taking over the system’s two remaining schools. St. Helena’s middle school is already under the control of the state’s Recovery School District.” According to the Advocate, “Pastorek said that the St. Helena public school system faces three significant problems: a financial one, a facilities problem, and an academic problem.”

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In the Classroom
New York Education Officials Overhaul Curriculum Standards.
The Buffalo (NY) News (1/13) reported, “Students as young as kindergarteners would be required to learn more math skills under new standards for New York’s public schools to be in place by the coming school year. The state Board of Regents on Tuesday approved changes in the statewide curriculum and testing to enforce the requirements, which include the higher standard for math in kindergarten and first grade.” The Buffalo News adds that another policy change “will require students to be taught how to better interpret literature from a wide variety of genres and a spectrum of American and world cultures.”

University Of Chicago Researchers Find Writing About Test Anxiety May Improve Grades.
The AP (1/14, Blankinship) reports that a new study by University of Chicago researchers found that “a simple writing exercise can relieve students of test anxiety and may help them get better scores than their less anxious classmates.” University of Chicago associate professor of psychology Sian L. Beilock and co-author Gerardo Ramirez, a graduate student, “found that students who were prone to test anxiety improved their test grades by nearly one grade point – from a B-minus to a B-plus, for example – if they were given 10 minutes before an exam to write about their feelings.” The two “believe worrying competes for computing power in the brain’s ‘working,’ or short-term memory.” The idea to test the theory came “from the use of writing to combat depression.”

Virginia BOE Pulls Its Approval Of Two Textbooks.
The Washington Post (1/14, Sieff) reports, “The Virginia Board of Education on Thursday withdrew its approval of two elementary school history textbooks that a panel of historians found to have dozens of errors. The Washington Post reported in October that ‘Our Virginia: Past and Present,’ a fourth-grade textbook, asserted that African American soldiers fought for the South during the Civil War.” According to the Post, “Despite the withdrawal of approval, a school system does not have to stop using the books. The board also ordered a review by experts of any approved textbooks published by Five Ponds Press.”

Maryland Elementary School Uses Army Theme To Motivate.
The Washington Post (1/14, Leaderman) reports, “Lewisdale Elementary School’s faculty has a clear strategy for boosting student assessment scores: they’re going to war. For the third year, the Hyattsville-area [MD] school is encouraging students to do well on the Maryland School Assessment test in March by likening the test to a battle. … The motivation prompted by the army theme has been a key part of students’ success on the tests over the past two years, Principal Melissa Glee-Woodard said.”

On the Job
Los Angeles School Officials Announce Plan To Split Up Low-Performing High School.
The Los Angeles Times (1/13, Song, Blume) reported, “Los Angeles school district leaders announced Wednesday that they will split low-performing Jordan High School into three small schools that will be run by outside groups. All current employees will have to reapply for their jobs or work elsewhere.” According to the Times, “It marks the second time the Los Angeles Unified School District has targeted a campus for such a forced makeover. Fremont High School, located in Florence south of downtown, was also ‘restructured’ last year, a move that drew fierce criticism from the teachers union and resulted in the departure of most teachers.” The Times adds, “Teacher union leaders said they had not been told of the impending move and were disappointed. Restructuring ‘has not been proven to work anywhere they’ve done it,’ said Gregg Solkovits, a union vice president.”

LATimes Backs Move To Split High School, Bring In Outside Operators. The Los Angeles Times (1/14) editorializes, “Ordinarily, we’d rail against a decision by the Los Angeles Unified School District to hand over a school to outside operators without a vote of the teachers, without consulting parents, without an open discussion or an opportunity for existing staff to offer a competing proposal. But Jordan High School’s record isn’t ordinary. The school performs so poorly that only 2% of its students are proficient in math; the picture for English isn’t much better.” According to the Times, “In the future we would rather see L.A. Unified make more of an effort to improve its own schools – as it did by reconstituting Fremont High – than outsource them without public discussion or competing proposals.”

Law & Policy
New Jersey Supreme Court Questions Legality Of Education Cuts.
The Star-Ledger (NJ) (1/14, Calefati) reports that the New Jersey Supreme Court has “requested a ‘special master’ to gather more information and issue a report on the latest battle over state education funding by March 31, according to an order posted on the court’s website. For a second time, the court asked Superior Court Judge Peter Doyne to serve as its fact-finder” and he “will be asked to decide whether Gov. Chris Christie’s nearly $1 billion in cuts to state education aid last year violate the constitution’s requirement for ‘thorough and efficient education for New Jersey school children.’” Also, because “the court’s most recent Abbott v. Burke decision came with an expectation that the state would provide full education funding for three years – an obligation Christie broke – the legal burden now falls to the state to prove that the present levels of funding are sufficient.”

Duncan Urges School Districts To Maintain Racial Diversity In Schools.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan writes in a letter to the Washington Post (1/15) regarding a January 12 front-page article titled “‘In N.C., a new battle on school integration ” that “America’s strength has always been a function of its diversity, so it is troubling to see North Carolina’s Wake County School Board taking steps to reverse a long-standing policy to promote racial diversity in its schools…The board’s action has led to a complaint that has prompted an investigation by our Office for Civil Rights, but it should also prompt a conversation among educators, parents and students across America about our core values.” Duncan adds, “In an increasingly diverse society like ours, racial isolation is not a positive outcome for children of any color or background. … I respectfully urge school boards across America to fully consider the consequences before taking such action.”

Safety & Security
School Security Protocols Questioned In Wake Of Tucson Killings.
World Magazine (1/13, Belz) reported, “Could the lessons learned from mass shootings on school campuses such as Columbine and Virginia Tech have helped law enforcement prevent what happened last Saturday in Tucson? … School campuses have generally focused on ferreting out threats by establishing threat assessment teams instead of beefing up security presence or adding metal detectors.” According to World Magazine, “The trick for law enforcement and school administrators is discovering which angry individuals are about to take action. ‘Sure there’s red flag there. There are red flags in lots of places. A lot of times there are clues there for years and years and years and no one does anything about it,’ said Bill Modzeleski, a Department of Education official who oversaw the reports on school shooters after Columbine and Virginia Tech. ‘You can’t say it’s anybody who acts strange-in some schools, that would probably include a significant part of the population.’”

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Facilities
New Orleans School District Weighs Demands For School Facilities Money.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune (1/14, Chang) reports, “On Wednesday night,” numerous school construction “agendas were aired multiple times at a meeting called by the Recovery School District to discuss which school programs will be assigned to which sites as it moves forward with a $1.8 billion overhaul of New Orleans’ aging and flood-devastated school facilities. The massive construction project, made possible by a historic FEMA settlement, takes place at a time of both uncertainty and opportunity.” According to the Times-Picayune, “In the short term, due to years of neglect as well as storm damage, there are not enough usable buildings. … For the longer term, charter schools are jostling for a piece of the $1.8 billion in construction projects.”

School Finance
Kentucky Slashes Education Funding.
WYMT-TV Hazard, KY (1/13, Downing) reported on its Website, “Officials with the Kentucky Department of Education said an increase in the number of students in Kentucky schools combined with a state budget shortfall means districts will be asked to do more with less. … The state has slashed almost fifty million in school funding across the Commonwealth. That adds up to nearly a two percent cut.” According to WYMT, “‘This is something that could have an effect that ripples out for this fiscal year, next fiscal year, and who knows, maybe even fiscal years after that,’ said Lisa Gross, with the Kentucky Department of Education.”

Showdown Looming In Kansas Over School Spending.
WDAF-TV Kansas City, MO (1/13, Hall) reported on its Website, “A school budget battle is brewing in Kansas after newly-elected Governor Sam Brownback announced plans to slash the state’s budget, and those cuts could cause more pain to an already-hurting education system. During his State of the State address on Wednesday, Brownback said that overall spending on education to school districts across the state would actually increase under his proposed budget, which seeks to reduce overall state spending by six percent. But educators here in the metro say that is not necessarily the case.” According to WDAF, “The governor’s budget increases spending per pupil” yet the budget “decreases the so-called base state aid, or the amount the state pays each district to educate its students.”

Maryland Districts Face Major School Funding Challenges.
The Washington Post (1/14, Spivack, Laris) reports, “Leaders from Montgomery [MD] and Prince George’s [MD] counties prepared for the start of General Assembly session this week with what has become a recession-era routine – they carefully craft expensive wish lists, then scramble for whatever they can get. And this year promises to be even tougher.” According to the Post, “It is becoming increasingly difficult to square ambitious spending requests from Maryland’s two biggest counties with fiscal realities in Annapolis. Opportunities for less-painful state budget fixes have been used – as have federal stimulus dollars, which the state put toward key projects and school spending.”

Also in the News
Agriculture Secretary Proposes Overhaul Of School Nutrition Guidelines.
The Washington Post (1/14, Carman) reports, “Calling it not only a national health issue but also a military one, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday proposed to overhaul the nutrition guidelines for public school meals for the first time since 1995, when Americans were mostly alarmed by the fat content of food. The proposed rules are far more wide-ranging and would gradually reduce sodium, limit starchy vegetables, ban most trans fats, require fat-free or lowfat milk, increase whole grains, add more fruits and vegetables, and, for the first time, limit the number of calories children consume daily.” According to the Post, “Experts on nutrition and school lunch programs generally welcomed the proposed guidelines, which only slightly modify the original recommendations by the Institute of Medicine, the independent ‘health arm’ of the National Academies.”

Maryland Parent Uses Robocall To Retaliate Against School Officials.
The Washington Post (1/14, George) reports that Aaron Titus, a parent of students enrolled in Prince George’s County, MD schools, recorded a robocall sent to school officials to complain about a 4:30 a.m. robocall he received from the district announcing a school opening delay. According to the Post, “Robocalls are a widely accepted fact of family life for those with children in school – an efficient way for school districts to spread the word about emergency closings and for schools to announce everything from state testing days to back-to-school night. … Usually such calls are placed ‘in the 6 o’clock hour, and sometimes the 5 o’clock hour,’” said schools spokesman Darrell Pressley, “with a concern for safety and a recognition that not all families have easy online access. This robocall was pegged for the 4 o’clock hour. … ‘It’s the first time – and the last time,’ he said of the timing.”

Incoming Pennsylvania Governor Nominates Tomalis To Lead Education Department.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (1/14, Hardy) reports that Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett “reached back into the Ridge administration Thursday to select his nominee to lead the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Ronald J. Tomalis, 48, served from 1995 to 2001 as executive deputy secretary of education under Education Secretary Eugene Hickok, who championed vouchers and charter schools, among other initiatives.” Also, from “2001 to 2004, Tomalis worked in the US Department of Education, where he managed implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, popularly known as No Child Left Behind.”

Miami District Enrolling Students In Virtual Labs Without A Teacher.
The New York Times (1/18, Herrera) reports that more than “7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools” are “enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. … These virtual classrooms, called e-learning labs, were put in place last August as a result of Florida’s Class Size Reduction Amendment, passed in 2002,” which “limits the number of students allowed in classrooms, but not in virtual labs.” According to the Times, other districts across the nation are implementing similar programs, as in “Chicago Public Schools, high schools have ‘credit recovery’ programs that let students take online classes they previously failed” and “Omaha [NE] Public Schools also have similar programs that require physical attendance at certain locations.”

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In the Classroom
New York School Reeling After Dismissal Of Principal.
The New York Times (1/14, Virshup) reported, “Dr. Jose Maldonado-Rivera, the charismatic and controversial head” of Columbia Secondary School, “a four-year-old selective school in Harlem, had weathered an investigation last summer into the drowning of a sixth grader on a field trip to a Long Island beach. Now, just as the school seemed to be regaining its footing after that tragedy,” he has “been dismissed for having what city officials called ‘an inappropriate financial relationship’ with the school’s former parent coordinator, Monica Marin-Reyes.” According to the Times, “Throughout its history, the school had faced financial challenges – partly because Dr. Maldonado-Rivera, who had never taught in a New York City public school, never mind run one, was caught off guard by a drop in city funding; and partly because of its ambitious program, including a rich range of experiential learning adventures each June.”

“Mathemusician” Aims To Make Math Engaging.
The New York Times (1/18, Chang) reports, “Mathematicians over the centuries have thought long and deep about how tightly things, like piles of oranges, can be packed within a given amount of space.” According to the Times, Vi Hart, “has an audacious career ambition: She wants to make math cool. … She calls herself a full-time recreational mathemusician, an off-the-beaten-path choice with seemingly limited prospects. And for most of the two years since she graduated from Stony Brook University, life as a recreational mathemusician has indeed been a meager niche pursuit.” According to the Times, “At first glance, Ms. Hart’s fascination with mathematics might seem odd and unexpected. … At second glance, the intertwining of art and math seems to be the family business. Her father, George W. Hart, builds sculptures based on geometric forms.”

Five Years After Katrina, Teacher Tills Soil Of Lower 9th Ward.
The New York Times (1/16, Wilson) reported, “Nat Turner, a former history teacher at the Beacon School in Manhattan,” is “the founder of Our School at Blair Grocery, a fledgling educational venture and commercial urban farm in the heart of the Lower Ninth Ward. Operating out of a former black-owned grocery store wrecked by 14 feet of water and on two empty lots, the enterprise is an unusual hybrid of G.E.D. training and farm academy. With its emphasis on experiential learning, the school is also a clear rejection of the test-heavy emphasis of No Child Left Behind.”

On the Job
In Role Reversal, Students Help Train Teachers.
The New York Times (1/14, Hu) reported, “In a role reversal,” Syidah O’Bryant “and other teachers at Brick Avon Academy are getting pointers from their students this year as part of an unusual teacher training program at 19 low-performing Newark {NJ] schools. … The training program, which is supported by a federal grant, is being run by the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, a nonprofit group based in Syosset, N.Y.” According to the Times, “The half-dozen students who participated told their teachers that they learned better when they could move around, interact with classmates and use computers and the Internet – prompting Ms. O’Bryant to joke that she should find a way to give tests on Facebook. But afterward, the teachers said they saw ways to incorporate the students’ ideas into their teaching methods.”

Budget Crisis May Cause Texas Teachers To Lose Jobs.
The New York Times (1/16, Smith) reports, “Among the many ideas for reducing” Texas’ “huge budget shortfall, one in particular is gaining traction among lawmakers examining the $35 billion the state spends on public education: eliminate the class-size cap of 22 students per teacher for kindergarten through fourth grade. It is also the proposal generating the most anxiety in the public education community. The effect on the quality of education that pupils would receive in more-crowded classrooms is fiercely debated, but the intent is to reduce districts’ personnel costs and allow them, if needed, to eliminate teacher positions.”

Efforts Underway In Numerous States To End Teacher Tenure.
The Christian Science Monitor (1/14, Khadaroo) reported, “In their bids to reform K-12 education, state leaders in New Jersey, Florida, and Idaho have all called…for eliminating teacher tenure. If the legislatures go forward with such proposals, they’ll join more than a dozen states that have recently changed their teacher evaluation and dismissal systems or are considering such moves.” According to the Monitor, “The momentum sprang in part from incentives in the Obama administration’s recent Race to the Top competition for stimulus funds.” Though “tenure reform enjoys support from both Democrats and Republicans, some observers see such calls as polarizing rhetoric that could ultimately harm efforts to improve education.”

New Jersey Governor Puts Spotlight On Teacher Tenure.
NPR (1/17, Sanchez) reported on its Website, “Since his election in 2009, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been a relentless critic of schoolteachers. Christie wants to make it a lot easier to fire ineffective teachers by eliminating tenure.” According to NPR, “Education was a big part of Christie’s speech but he zeroed in on tenure, saying that it made it almost impossible for schools to get rid of bad teachers. The time to eliminate tenure is now, Christie said. And that has infuriated teachers, who argue that bad teachers are indeed let go.”

Law & Policy
Duncan Criticizes North Carolina District’s Diversity Policy Decision.
The Raleigh News & Observer (1/15, Goldsmith, Hui) reported, “The turmoil over Wake County [NC] schools reached the top of the federal Department of Education Friday, as Education Secretary Arne Duncan criticized Wake’s decision to discard its school diversity policy in a letter published by the Washington Post. Duncan’s comments came near the end of a tumultuous week for Wake’s 143,000-student system, which remained locked in a battle over a review of its accreditation with the powerful AdvancED agency. Both the accreditation agency’s probe and an investigation by the Office for Civil Rights of Duncan’s department were prompted by an NAACP complaint about the Wake system.”

The AP (1/15, Breen) reported, “The US Secretary of Education has singled out the school board in Raleigh, N.C., for criticism over its decision to end a busing for diversity program. In a letter published Friday in The Washington Post, Secretary Arne Duncan wrote that other school districts around the country should think twice before following Wake County’s lead. … The board’s decision is being investigated by the education department’s Office for Civil Rights.”

WRAL-TV Raleigh, NC (1/14) reported, “The national accreditation group at odds with the Wake County Board of Education over whether an upcoming review of the panel’s effectiveness is unjust is standing by its insistence that the process will be fair. Atlanta-based AdvanceEd, the parent company of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, plans to review the Wake County school system next month after a complaint filed last year by the North Carolina NAACP alleging that some board members want to segregate the school system.”

California Educators Debate Proposed “Parent Trigger” Law.
The Los Angeles Times (1/17) reported, “After months of debate and reams of revisions,” California “education officials were expected to vote last week to finalize details laying out how” the parent trigger “law is supposed to work. But that vote was postponed because a newly appointed state Board of Education announced that it needed more time to consider the issues. The law is intended to allow parents to petition for dramatic changes at struggling schools.” According to the Times, “Several education groups say the previous board gave short shrift to their concerns, instead rushing to approve rules favorable to the charter-school industry. Gov. Jerry Brown replaced a majority of the board in one of his first official acts, installing some members viewed by critics as having more traditional union sympathies.”

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Special Needs
More Autism Schools Proposed In New Jersey.
The New York Times (1/16, Hu) reported that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “has proposed creating additional specialized public schools for educating children with autism in New Jersey, a departure from the current practice in many communities of integrating those children into neighborhood schools. The governor proposed creating ‘centers for excellence’ in every county, suggesting that such schools could save money for districts and ensure a higher quality of instruction.” According to the Times, “Parents and advocates are split over the idea of creating specialized schools for children with autism, reflecting a larger debate nationally over whether those children are best served in separate programs or in general-education classes.”

School Finance
Schools Tested By Budget Cuts Learn New Strategies.
NPR (1/17, Abramson) reported on its Website, “The size of classes in schools around the country is growing” as 50 percent of “districts responding to a recent poll say they are increasing class size because of budget pressures. Many school officials fear this will hurt students.” However, “some education reformers say there are ways to boost class size and save money at the same time.” The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Marguerite Roza “is pushing for adoption of a number of efficiency measures that would help schools, even when fatter budgets return. One suggestion is to create a rigorous teacher evaluation system so schools know which teachers are most effective.”

Also in the News
Miami District Receives Influx Of Well-Off Haitian Immigrants.
The New York Times (1/16, Winerip) reports, “Last year after the earthquake in Haiti, Alberto M. Carvalho, superintendent of the Miami-Dade schools – the fourth-biggest district in the nation, with 345,000 students – expected to enroll thousands and thousands of survivors arriving from the devastated country. He was wrong. A year later, his district has 1,403 survivors – the highest number in the nation, but far below what he predicted.” Carvalho “expected most to be poor” yet many were of “‘a higher social status,’” Carvalho said. “Definitely middle and upper-middle class.” According to the Times, “Carline Faustin, who works in Haitian affairs for the Miami-Dade schools, said it made sense that the survivors here were middle or upper class. ‘They’re the ones who can afford the visas, the paperwork, the flights back and forth to establish US residency,’ Ms. Faustin said.”

Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver Aims For Nutrition Overhaul Of Los Angeles Schools.
The Los Angeles Times (1/17, MacVean) reported, “Jamie Oliver, the celebrity chef who is beating the drums for a school lunch revolution, received a warm reception this weekend from hundreds of the people who make and serve food to children every day. It’s the Los Angeles Unified School District that isn’t so welcoming.” According to the Times, “Oliver, who moved to Los Angeles with his family earlier this month, has so far failed to get L.A. Unified to reverse its decision not to let him – and his reality television show – into the country’s second-largest school system.” However, the “second season of ABC’s Emmy-winning ‘Food Revolution,’ scheduled for spring, will go on with or without the L.A. school district, Oliver said last week.”

School Buses Add Cameras To Catch Drivers Endangering Students.
USA Today (1/18, Shephard) reports, “School districts nationwide are trying out video cameras as a way to deter drivers from passing buses that are loading or unloading children. Districts in Dallas County, Texas, Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland and Cobb County, Ga., are among the latest to test the cameras on some school buses in their fleets.” According to USA Today, “Michael Warner, associate director of fleet maintenance for the Cobb County School District, says an incident there in December 2009 prompted them to install cameras on two of their buses last spring. ‘A bus was stopped, unloading students, and a car behind the bus stopped and a second car behind that car swerved, went around the right side of the bus and ran over a kindergarten girl and killed her,’ Warner says.”

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In the Classroom
More Schools Using iPads In The Classroom.
The New York Times (1/5, Hu) reports, “A growing number of schools across the nation are embracing the iPad” as an education tool, though “spending money on tablet computers may seem like an extravagance” amid fiscal crises in many districts. Also, “some parents and scholars have raised concerns that schools are rushing to invest in them before their educational value has been proved by research. … But school leaders say the iPad is not just a cool new toy but rather a powerful and versatile tool with a multitude of applications, including thousands with educational uses.”

Maine District Undergoing Technological Transformation.
The Weekly Observer (ME) (1/5, Balentine, Wood) reports, “New technology has stepped front and center in the minds of educators aiming to take advantage of the new digital revolution to further students’ grasp of everything from history to home economics.” According to the Observer, schools in the Sanford, ME area “are utilizing laptops, netbooks and e-readers to break down the boundaries of education, further students’ breadth and depth of knowledge and maybe even put a little more fun into the process of learning key essentials of a 21st-century education. These efforts are a glimpse of education’s future, which state educators believe will be free of textbooks and where laptops, e-readers and tablet computers like Apple’s iPad render traditional textbooks obsolete.”

Detroit District To Spend $49 Million In Stimulus Funds On Classroom Technology.
The Detroit Free Press (1/5, Dawsey) reports, “Detroit Public Schools will spend $49 million in federal money to push technology in the district, including distributing 40,000 new laptop computers to students in grades 6-12 for use in class, as well as more than 5,000 new desktop computers. … The computers are being funded by stimulus money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.” According to the Free Press, “The massive technology infusion totals 50,000 pieces of equipment — including 4,300 printer/scanners and more than 500 HP desktop computers for the 138 early childhood classrooms in the district.”

On the Job
Teachers, Parents Protest Florida Governor’s School Reform Ideas.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (1/5, Fitzpatrick) reports, “In a quiet show of opposition to changes proposed by [Florida] Gov. Rick Scott’s education transition team, some parents and teachers across Florida wore red and lit up Facebook with messages of support for public schools. As part of a grassroots campaign, they posted pictures of themselves and their children in red, with some changing their profile photos to incorporate red and others putting up images of a single red T-shirt.” According to the Sun-Sentinel, “Scott’s team late last month recommended the state revisit merit pay for teachers, expand school voucher programs and alter how public schools are funded.”

Law & Policy
Controversy Brews Over State-Mandated English Policy In Arizona.
NPR (1/4, Sanchez) reported on its Website, “Up until the late 1990s, schools in Arizona relied on various approaches to teaching English-language learners. Bilingual education was especially popular, although with mixed results, so it was banned in 2000″ and in “its place, the state mandated a highly prescriptive four-hour block called Structured English Immersion that some teachers today call inadequate.”

Florida Districts Facing Fines For Breaking Class Size Law.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (1/5, Fitzpatrick) reports, “More than half of Florida’s school districts, including Broward and Palm Beach counties, face hefty fines for breaking the state’s class-size law – but it’s not clear yet how much state officials will force them to pay. Palm Beach County, the state’s worst offender, was officially notified late last week it faces a $16.6 million fine. Broward, which came in fifth behind Miami-Dade, Duval and Collier counties, faces a $3 million penalty.” According to the Sun-Sentinel, “the Florida School Boards Association, with at least 20 school districts backing it, has threatened to sue the state over the penalties.”

Massachusetts Governor Urged To Continue School Reform Efforts.
The Boston Globe (1/5) editorializes, “At this time last year, the [Massachusetts] Legislature handed Governor [Deval] Patrick powerful tools to convince federal funders that the state could lead the way in education reform. A few months later, Massachusetts emerged from a competitive field with a $250 million Race to the Top education grant. … Now the Patrick administration must use the new law and funds to close the achievement gap between low-income and middle-class students, redeem underachieving schools, and expand school choice in Massachusetts.”

Special Needs
Los Angeles Charter Schools To Receive More Special Education Funds.
The Los Angeles Times (1/5, Blume) reports, “Local charter schools will receive more money to educate disabled students and more freedom from the Los Angeles Unified School District in the process, under an agreement approved Tuesday by the Board of Education. The board unanimously approved the pact, which will cost the cash-strapped school system millions of dollars because the district will now give charter schools state money that it previously kept for traditional schools’ special education programs.” However, “failing to make the deal could have cost the district many millions more if charters exercise a new right to contract for special education programs.”

Special Education Costs Could Imbalance Connecticut District’s Budget.
The Record-Journal (CT) (1/5, Buchanan) reports, “Costs for an unexpected number of special education students could put the [Cheshire, CT] Board of Education as much as $500,000 in the red by year’s end. The board is requesting help from the Town Council to pay special education bills rather than raid accounts for textbooks and extra-curricular activities, according to school board Chairman Gerald Brittingham.” According to the Record-Journal, “Courts and the state Department of Children and Families can order the placement of Cheshire special education students in out-of-town facilities, some of which are as far away as Ledyard or even out of state, School Superintendent Greg Florio said.”

Detroit District To Lay Off School Bus Attendants For Special Needs Children.
The Detroit Free Press (1/5, Dawsey) reports, “For the second time in two years, Detroit Public Schools plans to lay off school bus attendants who help special education and disabled students. Keith January, president of the AFSCME Local 345, which represents the bus attendants, said layoff notices were mailed out Monday to 88 of 175 bus attendants.” January “said the district plans to provide attendants only for students whose individualized education plans require a bus attendant.” The AP (1/5) also covers this story.

Dog That Helps Epileptic Boy Will Get Two-Week Tryout At Virginia School.
The Washington Post (1/5, Turque) reports that Fairfax County, VA “school officials and the family of an epileptic 12-year-old boy have worked out an agreement that will allow him to attend school with his specially trained service dog on a two-week trial basis. Beginning Tuesday at Fort Belvoir Elementary School, Andrew Stevens will have Alaya, a 5-year-old German shepherd who Andrew’s parents say is trained to detect and respond to seizures that their son experiences as a symptom of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy.” According to the Post, “School officials said last week that teachers and aides in Andrew’s special-education classroom can respond to emergencies at least as well as the dog,” and the “family’s predicament has drawn intense publicity, including an appearance on ‘Today’ on Tuesday morning by Andrew, his mother, Nancy, and Alaya.”

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Facilities
Kansas District Spends $64.9 Million On School Construction Projects.
The Leavenworth (KS) Times (1/4, Richmeier) reported, “After paying all of the contractors, the Leavenworth public school district will have spent $64.9 million on school construction resulting from the 2008 bond issue, according to a district official. Voters approved a $57.8 million bond issue” yet “district officials have relied on additional sources of revenue such as money from the school system’s capital outlay fund and interest made from the bond money.” According to the Times, “The $64.9 million total includes $57.8 million from the bonds, $3.5 million in capital outlay money, $3.1 million in grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $380,000 in interest from the bond money.”

School Finance
State Officials Facing Numerous Fiscal Challenges.
Education Week (1/4, Cavanagh) reported, “Despite bleak fiscal conditions that could thwart some of their priorities, governors and state lawmakers-bolstered in some cases by new Republican majorities-are expected to press forward this year with ambitious education proposals that could include changing teacher job protections and expanding school choice. Newly elected and returning officeholders go to work this month as states struggle to climb out of the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression, with many warning that K-12 education-historically insulated from the budget ax-is likely to face severe cuts.” Education Week notes though “state tax revenues have improved somewhat recently, 15 states already have reported new budget shortfalls since the fiscal 2011 year began last summer, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.”

Missouri Schools Unlikely To Get Money Owed By State.
The AP (1/5, Lieb) reports, “Missouri schools are due a nearly $255 million state funding increase next year. But they’re unlikely to get it.” According to the AP, “Budget documents reviewed Tuesday by The Associated Press show public schools would need about an 8 percent funding increase to provide the full amount called for by a state law that distributes basic aid to Missouri’s schools” yet “Gov. Jay Nixon’s budget director said the governor will not recommend full school funding when he submits a budget to state legislators Jan. 19.”

Kansas Delays School Aid Payments.
AP (1/5, Hanna) reports, “Kansas delayed half of the aid payments due to its public school districts at the start of the new year for a few days because of concerns about a short-term cash crunch, an official confirmed Tuesday. Elaine Frisbie, deputy state budget director, told The Associated Press that $98 million in funds that normally would have reached school districts Monday won’t get to them until the end of this week.” Frisbie “said the state decided to be cautious after its tax collections in December were about $22 million short of expectations.”

Virginia District Establishes Second Foundation To Help Bolster Finances.
The Washington Post (1/5, Sieff) reports, “Crippled by a protracted budget crunch, Fairfax County’s [VA] school system has redoubled its efforts to funnel private-sector dollars to public school classrooms, establishing a second education foundation to attract donations from local businesses. On Monday, officials introduced the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Public Schools Education Foundation, a partnership between the school system and the county’s largest business association.” According to the Post, “School districts across the country increasingly have turned to the private sector to cover budget shortfalls or pay for new programs” yet “Fairfax has become one of the rare ones served by more than one foundation.”

Also in the News
New Jersey Governor Seeks To Relax Rules On Who Can Lead Schools.
The New York Times (1/5, Hu) reports that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “is pressing for regulations that would allow some New Jersey school districts to hire superintendents without traditional academic backgrounds or experience, in an effort to change confining state rules like those that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had to surmount to win approval for Cathleen P. Black, his choice for New York City schools chancellor. Mr. Christie is proposing that requirements for superintendents be eased in low-performing districts, where at least half the children are failing state tests, saying he wants to open the door to more candidates with strong management and leadership skills.” Christie’s “proposals would lower the minimum academic standard for a superintendent from a master’s to a bachelor’s degree, and waive additional requirements, including a 150-hour graduate internship in educational leadership and passing a superintendent’s assessment.”

Oklahoma State Superintendent-Elect Says Education Secretary Will Be An Asset.
The AP (1/5) reports that Oklahoma state “Superintendent-elect Janet Barresi says the decision by Gov.-elect Mary Fallin to appoint an Oklahoma secretary of education makes sense. Barresi told The Associated Press on Tuesday there will be no competing messages coming from her and Phyllis Hudecki when it comes to educational policy in Oklahoma.” According to the AP, “Fallin’s predecessor, Gov. Brad Henry, did not have an education secretary although he has been lauded as an education-friendly governor.”

New Jersey Test Results Show Poverty Contributes To Poor Performance.
The Press of Atlantic City (NJ) (1/4, D’Amico) reports, “The academic performance of New Jersey students living in poverty continues to lag far behind that of their nondisadvantaged peers, preliminary results of state tests given to public school students in 2010 show. New Jersey students from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, identified as those in the free- and reduced-fee meal program, remain far behind their peers in every grade in both math and language arts, the test results show.” The Press of Atlantic City adds, “The issue is even more pressing as the state struggles to reach benchmark passing rates required by” NCLB.

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In the Classroom
Education Department Launches Civil Rights Probe Of Texas School.
The Star-Telegram (TX) (1/3, Ayala) reported that the Education Department “has launched an investigation into allegations that minority students were discriminated against at Arlington Heights High School, federal officials confirmed Monday. Specifically, the department’s Office of Civil Rights will investigate whether school officials discriminated against African-American and Hispanic students in disciplinary action and in opportunities to make up absences, agency spokesman Jim Bradshaw said.” The Star-Telegram noted that in “November, the Texas Education Agency closed its review of the same allegations without action.”

Green Bay School District Classrooms Receive Technology Upgrades.
The Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette (1/3, Zarling) reported that Green Bay, WI district “tech workers took advantage of the holiday break to swap out aging desktop computers with faster models at the school, as well as work on projects at a handful of other elementary schools. It’s all part of the district’s overall technology upgrade, which stems from a $16.7 million spring referendum in which voters overwhelmingly approved spending $11 million for facilities and building maintenance projects as well as $5.7 million in technology needs.” According to the Press-Gazette, “District officials plan to replace about 5,000 desktop and laptop computers, and add projectors and document cameras to about 1,100 classrooms.”

Michigan Governor Urged To Accelerate Education Reforms.
The Detroit News (1/4) editorializes, “Education reform was one of the areas where former [Michigan] Gov. Jennifer Granholm posted good success, adopting a more stringent high school curriculum and tougher accountability standards for teachers. But Michigan lags so far behind in education performance that new Gov. Rick Snyder will have to accelerate the pace of reform if he is to make the state competitive for knowledge economy jobs.” According to the Detroit News, “Snyder must push the pace of change into the fast lane, where other states are traveling.”

On the Job
Ohio State University Program Helps Career-Changers Enter Teaching.
The Columbus Dispatch (1/4) reports that Ohio State University “received a $13 million federal grant last year to improve teacher education. A key goal was to develop a direct pipeline to bring teachers trained in high-need areas (math, science, foreign languages) to Columbus schools.” According to the Dispatch, “During the five-year grant, Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology hopes to send Columbus 600 bachelor’s graduates and 120 more with master’s degrees in the subjects the district needs most” via Ohio State’s Project ASPIRE program.

Law & Policy
Duncan Calls For Bipartisan Cooperation On Education Policy.
Politico (1/4, Epstein) reports that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “thinks Democrats and Republicans can find common ground when it comes to updating the law that funds elementary and secondary schools. ‘Few areas are more suited for bipartisan action than education reform,’ Duncan wrote in an op-ed published Monday in The Washington Post.” According to Politico, “Duncan homes in on several areas of possible consensus: ‘flexibility and fairness’ in accountability policies, more spending on teachers and principals and new ways to help at-risk schools and students.”

The AP (1/4, Pace) reports, “The first weeks of the new year will be an early test of how” President Obama “will deal with a divided Congress, and whether he can build on the victories he secured during the final days of the lame-duck legislative session. … In an editorial in the Washington Post Monday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said lawmakers from both parties are already working together to draft a reauthorization” of NCLB, “and said, ‘few areas are more suited for bipartisan action than education reform.’”

Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, wrote in a blog for the Washington Post (1/3), “The plan presented in [ED]‘s Blueprint for Reform calls for an astonishing amount of testing, far more than we have now with No Child Left Behind. The only people I know who support the testing plan have spent very little time in schools, haven’t read the Blueprint, or just aren’t listening to real education professions or students.” Krashen added, “There is no evidence that there is a crisis in teacher quality, no evidence that teacher quality has declined.”

Safety & Security
Nearly All Massachusetts Schools File Antibullying Proposals.
The Boston Globe (1/4, Schweitzer) reports, “Ninety-nine percent of Massachusetts school districts filed bullying-prevention plans with the state by the Dec. 31 deadline – a marked turnaround from nearly two weeks ago when just 60 percent had complied with the mandate. Only six schools – two public, one charter, and three private special education schools – failed to file plans with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as required by the new law that seeks to protect students from bullying in schools and beyond.” According to the Globe, “The law, signed by Governor Deval Patrick last May after the suicide of bullied South Hadley student Phoebe Prince, requires schools to adopt clear procedures for reporting and investigating cases of bullying, as well as methods for preventing retaliation against those who report problems.”

Education Stakeholders Tackle Bullying Epidemic.
The Shreveport Times (LA) (1/3, White) reported, “According to the American Justice Department, one out of four children will be bullied by another youth. The National Education Association reports that an estimated 160,000 students miss school every day out of fear of attack or intimidation by another student.” According to the Times, “Beaux Wellborn, cofounder of the Bully Suicide Project and assistant director of planning and development of Campus Harmony, was a victim of bullying while attending Northwood High School in Shreveport. The bullying became so bad at one point he even attempted suicide. … Turning his experience into something positive, he has made it his mission to bring awareness to the dangers of bullying.”

Arizona Teen Takes Aim At Gay Bullying.
The Arizona Republic (1/4, Wang) reports, “A teenage activist has notified officials at every school in Arizona that they need to put a stop to bullying of gay and lesbian students or face a lawsuit. Caleb Laieski, 15, e-mailed a letter to more than 5,000 school administrators, city-council members and state lawmakers demanding improved measures to fight discrimination.” According to the Republic, “The letters warn school officials that they must institute policies specifically prohibiting gay harassment by students, teachers and administrators.”

Advocates To Press For Passage Of Michigan Anti-Bullying Bill.
The Detroit Free Press (1/4, Walsh-Sarnecki) reports, “Supporters of a proposed anti-bullying law that wasn’t passed in the last session of the [Michigan] Legislature are promising to introduce a similar bill after the new legislative session begins this month. The bill has been named Matt’s Law, for 14-year-old Matt Epling, who took his life in 2002 after being bullied by high school students.” Epling “is one of 11 young people in Michigan who have killed themselves over bullying since 2001, including two during the last two months, according to Matt’s father, Kevin Epling, who is co-director of BullyPolice USA, an anti-bullying advocacy group.”

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Facilities
After Fire, DC School Relocates To New Site.
The Washington Post (1/4, Turque) reports, “One week ago, the Takoma Educational Center’s new home had no heat, running water or kitchen facilities to feed its 328 students. … The good news was that the former Meyer Elementary School” in DC “was still a building with ‘solid bones,’ said Anthony DeGuzman, director of the D.C. school facilities office. District officials were left scrambling over the holidays for a new facility after a three-alarm fire Dec. 22 caused $2 million worth of damage to the second and third floors of Takoma’s building,” and though it “took a remarkable effort to restore Meyer,…the school opened on time Monday morning for Takoma students.”

Virginia Planetarium Receives Last-Minute Gift Allowing It To Stay Open.
The Washington Post (1/4, Sieff) reports, “Four decades after it opened on the heels of the Apollo 11 voyage to the moon, the David M. Brown Planetarium in Arlington County [VA] didn’t look like it would survive 2010. If the planetarium didn’t raise $240,000 for renovations by the end of 2010 and $400,000 by June, county schools Superintendent Patrick K. Murphy said he would have to shut it down.” However, Preston Caruthers, an Arlington businessman and philanthropist has pledged “$100,000, enough to keep the facility open. … Volunteers have been frantic in their efforts to raise money for the renovations, hosting benefit concerts and sponsorship drives and trying to establish the planetarium’s role in local science and math curricula.”

School Finance
Pennsylvania Districts Facing Major Budget Shortfalls.
The York (PA) Dispatch (1/4, Shaw) reports, “An incoming governor, a $4 billion-plus deficit, disappearing stimulus funds and a shifting state budget schedule will all contribute to ‘the worst budget year, in terms of uncertainty, in maybe the last two decades.’ That’s what Jay Himes, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, calls the upcoming budget year for school districts.” According to the Dispatch, “York County school officials have said as much during recent school board meetings, with board members and business managers saying they are having a tough time pinpointing how state funding will shape up in the 2011-12 school year.”

New Jersey Supreme Court To Weigh In On Constitutionality Of Governor’s Education Cuts.
The Star-Ledger (NJ) (1/3) reported, “For almost three decades, the court case Abbott vs. Burke has been a fault line running through New Jersey government. The original 1985 decision on school funding, which has diverted billions of dollars toward education in the state’s poorest communities, still divides residents and elected officials by demographics, economics and party politics.” According to the Star-Ledger the “case will burst back into the spotlight” this week as the “state Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Wednesday over whether Gov. Chris Christie’s cuts in education spending are unconstitutional.”

Also in the News
New York City Schools Chancellor Embarks On School Tour.
The New York Times (1/4, Santos) reports that Cathleen P. Black, “who officially began her job as New York City schools chancellor on Monday, has been visiting schools for weeks. But the tour on Monday, more than an introduction to the system, was a tightly choreographed showcasing of the Department of Education’s biggest successes and newest programs, like using technology to help teachers in the classroom and breaking up big schools into small ones.” Black “visited one school in each borough, serving different grades, most of them with similar student populations: primarily black and Latino students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a snapshot of a system where minorities are the majority and poverty is pervasive.”

The AP (1/4) adds that Black “started work Monday as chancellor of the nation’s largest public school system, vowing to put the ‘pedal to the metal’ as she visited schools in each of New York City’s five boroughs. ‘For me, this is a dream. It’s a dream job, a dream opportunity, a chance to make a difference,’ Black said at Public School 262 in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the first stop on her tour.” Reuters (1/4, Allen) also covers this story.

New Jersey Governor Dismisses Several County Superintendents.
The Asbury Park Press (NJ) (1/3, Jordan, Bradshaw) reported that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s (R) “overhaul of the state education system has continued with the executive county superintendents for eight of the New Jersey’s 21 counties being booted from their jobs. The executive county superintendents for Bergen, Burlington, Cape May, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Somerset – all of whom had expiring three-year appointments and were typically being paid $120,000 annually – were told last Thursday not to come to work this week because they wouldn’t be reappointed.” The Park Press added, “Michael Drewniak, Christie’s spokesman, said there should have been nothing surprising about the moves, since the county education chiefs were appointed by a Democrat, former Gov. Jon Corzine.”

Arkansas Official Calls For Improvement In Bus Safety Law.
The AP (1/3) reported that an Arkansas “education official says a new Arkansas school bus safety law needs to be improved if it is to become practical. The law that took effect Saturday says all new buses bought by a school district must have an electronic or written warning to drivers.” According to the AP, “Written warnings must be displayed on the bus’s rear emergency exit and read ‘It is a violation of Arkansas law to pass a school bus from any direction when it is stopped to load or unload a child.’ Mike Simmons, the senior transportation manager for the state Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation, says the statement is so wordy it will be hard to put it in lettering large enough for drivers to read at a glance.”

The Los Angeles Times (12/14, Muskal) reports that “the bill reauthorizes the federal nutrition program, a $4.5-billion measure that expands free school meals for the needy.” First Lady Michelle Obama with regard to the bill, “We can agree that in the wealthiest nation on earth, all children should have the basic nutrition they need to learn and grow. … Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our children. Nothing.”

USA Today (12/14) reports that when he signed the new law at Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Washington, D.C., “President Obama paid joking tribute to its most prominent supporter: first lady Michelle Obama. ‘Not only am I very proud of the bill,’ the president said, ‘but had I not been able to get this passed, I would be sleeping on the couch.’”

CNN (12/14) also quotes the President as saying that “the bill is about ‘giving our kids the healthy futures they deserve. … Right now across the country too many kids don’t have access to school meals.’” He added that “even when they do…too often the meals aren’t sufficiently nutritious.”

Education Week (12/14) reports that “part of the child-nutrition law has been paid for through a $2 billion cut to the nation’s food-stamp program, an offset opposed by advocacy groups like the Food Research and Action Center in Washington and the School Nutrition Association, a coalition of school food-service directors based in Oxon Hill, Md.” The groups say, however, that the administration has assured them that it “will work to recover funds for food stamps, which is the largest nutrition program administered by the Agriculture Department.” AFP (12/14), the Grand Rapids Press (12/14, Murray), the Seattle Times (12/14), the New York Daily News (12/14, Bazinet), the MSNBC (12/14) “First Read” blog, and the PBS (12/14, Devore) “NewsHour” blog also cover the story.

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In the Classroom
Study Predicts How Long It Will Take To Close Achievement Gaps In Several States.
Education Week (12/14) says that a report released Monday “by the Center on Education Policy…breaks new ground by estimating the length of time it will likely take to close [achievement] gaps in a sample of states.” According to the report, “if states continue their current pace of progress…it could take decades” to close the gaps between students of different races and social situations. “In Washington State, for example,” the report “predicts it will take 105 years to close the gap between white and African-American students in 4th grade reading,” compared to 12.5 years to narrow the gap for the same groups of students in Louisiana. Meanwhile, “the gap between whites and Native Americans in 4th grade reading in Colorado is growing rather than narrowing.” To draw these and other conclusions, the center “looked at the state testing data for all grades…under the No Child Left Behind Act” and at “data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.”

The Augusta Chronicle (12/14, Wermers) reports that Jack Jennings, president and chief executive of the Center on Education Policy, said in a statement, “This report shows that states can raise student achievement and can narrow achievement gaps. … But it also makes clear that we need to do more. Gaps aren’t narrowing fast enough. This is not fair for the students who are behind, and it’s not good for the country.”

The Houston Chronicle (12/14, Mellon) reports, “White schoolchildren in Texas continue to outperform their peers in reading and math, but black and Hispanic students slowly are making gains to close the gap in test scores, according to” the study. Researchers noted that “74 percent of [Texas'] Hispanic students passed” TAKS math tests last year, “up from half in 2005. The passing rate for black children grew from 44 percent to 66 percent.” White students also improved, but at a slower rate, “from 75 percent passing the state test to 88 percent.” However, researchers pointed out that “their analysis of average scores on the TAKS – rather than the more commonly cited passing rates – found that the achievement gap widened in some cases, such as in fourth-grade reading.”

Michigan District Launches “Classrooms Of The Future.”
The Grand Rapids (MI) Press (12/14, Scott) reports that Rockford Public Schools has launched six “Classrooms of the Future” this school year – “two each at the elementary, middle and high school.” These classrooms differ from others because they are “set-up to foster collaboration and communication.” For instance, instead of sitting in “single desks lined up in a row,” students in classrooms of the future sit “face to face at tables of five or six at each four points with interactive whiteboards at three different angles.” The school district “set aside $500,000 in a prior bond issue to assist with” creating the classrooms. “It is partnering with [the company] Steelcase, which reached out to the district to be a prototype to gather data on how the learning environment and student achievement.”

“School Of The Future” In South Carolina Will Use Museum, Inquiry-Based Instruction.
The Charleston Daily Mail (12/14, Harold) reports on a “school of the future” proposed for South Carolina’s Kanawha County school system. The district received a $8.83 million grant form the state School Building Authority “to build the new elementary” school which will “use ‘project-based learning,’ allowing students to learn all the core subjects – math, reading, writing, science and social students – through one long-term project.” Henry Nearman, principal of J.E. Robbins Elementary, “was selected last month to lead” the new school, which he says “will operate on a ‘museum, inquiry-based model,’ that will have students finding the way of learning most comfortable for them.”

Study Says Low-Performing Public Schools Stay Open For Years With Little Improvement.
Education Week (12/14) reports that according to a study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Basis Policy Research in North Carolina, “the lowest-performing public K-8 schools often linger in that state for years, neither improving enough to get off accountability life support nor being shuttered completely.” The study also found that “persistently failing charter schools fare no better than regular public schools.” Researchers looked at low-performing K-8 schools “in the 10 biggest charter school states: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin” and also found that “charters were more likely than noncharter public schools to improve moderately rather than dramatically, but only 9 percent of either group of schools made at least moderate improvement.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (12/14, Richards) also covers the story.

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Law & Policy
More States Allowing Students To Waive Physical Education Classes.
USA Today (12/14, Schulte, Dooley) reports that even with “growing concerns about obesity among young people, the number of states that allow students to waive or substitute physical education classes has grown from 27 to 32 since 2006″ according to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). Instead of taking physical education classes, students in these states can “enroll in interscholastic sports, marching band, cheerleading or other activities.” Stephen Jefferies, a public health professor at Central Washington University, said that “the increase in waivers” come from “efforts within school districts to save money.” Meanwhile, “The number of states that allow waivers for health issues, disabilities or religious reasons has risen from 18 to 30 since 2006.” Online physical education is also an option in some schools. These classes “combine study about health and nutrition with exercise students do on their own.”

New York City Sets More Stringent Guidelines For Teacher Tenure.
The New York Times (12/14, Santos) reports that the New York City Department of Education on Monday released new guidelines for granting teachers tenure. Under the new rules, principals must “base their decisions on an elaborate system that measures teachers’ success in and outside the classroom, including student performance on standardized tests. The principals then have to explain their recommendation in three paragraphs.” Teachers will be rated as either “highly effective, effective, developing or ineffective…in each of three categories: ‘instructional practice,’ ‘professional contributions’ and ‘impact on student learning.’” They must get “a rating of effective or highly effective for at least two consecutive years in all three categories” in order to be considered for tenure. “But the city is not setting limits on how many teachers can earn each rating or how many can earn tenure.” The Times notes, that many principles support the new rules, but the teachers union is much less enthusiastic about them.

Continuous Learning Calendar Aimed At Helping Students Retain Information.
The Oklahoman (12/14, Rolland) reports that the Oklahoma City School Board on Monday approved a continuous learning calendar proposed by Superintendent Karl Springer “in hopes that it would help turn around struggling schools by reducing the amount of information students forget over a three-month summer, decreasing the time spent on review.” Ultimately, the new schedule will reduce the time for summer vacation from three months to two months. “Students still will attend the same number of school days, 173, with the school calendar starting on Aug. 1 and featuring two-week breaks in October and March, a three-week break in December and a three-day break for Thanksgiving.” Springer speculates that other Oklahoma school districts may also move to a continuous learning calendar. “I think we’re going to start something here that’s really going to be a change,” he said.

KFOR-TV Oklahoma City (12/14) adds for teachers, “the shorter break means they don’t have to spend as much time getting students up to speed in August.”

Also in the News

Some Schools Allow Students To Check Out Laptop Computers From Library.
Fort Bend (TX) Now (12/14) reports on a laptop checkout program launched by the Fort Bend Independent School District at seven elementary, middle, and high schools. “Each school will receive twelve netbooks which” students can check out from the library “to take the netbook home overnight to complete assignments, work on technology literacy skills, or access provided tutorial content.” The computers are all “equipped with a full suite of district approved applications for student use, inclusive of filtered web browsing through Internet Explorer.” Bob Arena, Principal at Jones Elementary School, is quoted as saying, “The Check It Out program will help open doors that have previously been closed for some students.” Fort Bend Now notes that the school district chose schools for the program “based on technology literacy assessment scores along with economic need.”

NEA in the News
California District Mulls Over How To Place New Teachers Hired With Edujobs Funding.
The Palo Alto (CA) Daily News (12/14, Eslinger) reports, “Months after it had to lay off about 35 teachers, the Redwood City School District has received enough one-time federal funds to hire 20 or so teachers for the rest of the school year.” District officials will meet Wednesday to discuss “the best way to use the new teachers.” According to the Daily News, “the district wants the new hires to help current teachers,” but the teachers union “wants the new teachers to be given their own classrooms” so that “class sizes overall could shrink closer to pre-layoff levels.” Deputy Superintendent John Baker told the Daily News that “moving students into new classes mid-year could be ‘somewhat stressful’ for” students. Meanwhile, Bret Baird, vice president of the Redwood City Teachers Association, said, “If it’s done right, I don’t believe it’s so traumatic. … The kids would get more individualized attention for the rest of the year.”

California’s Teacher Force Shrinking, Report Says.
The AP (12/15) reports, “The number of public school teachers has reached a decade-low in California, and the job is getting less attractive amid state budget cuts,” according to a new study released Monday by the nonprofit Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning. The number of teachers in the state has dropped from 310,361 in 2008 to a 10-year low of “just under 300,000 this year,” the report says. The Sacramento Bee (12/14, Gutierrez) reported that the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning attributes the drop to “massive cuts to education over the past three years” that “have made it difficult for teachers to meet rising expectations.”

The Bakersfield Californian (12/15) editorializes that the reduction in California’s teaching force is “an alarming trend, made worse by our longstanding tendency as Americans to undervalue the honorable profession of teaching.” The Californian asserts, therefore, “We need to chip away at that perception before we’re forced to put automatons in charge of packed classrooms.”

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In the Classroom
Marketing Students Take High School Store Online.
The Petersburg (VA) Progress-Index (12/14, Burchett) reported, “As some small businesses struggle to stay afloat, Dinwiddie High School’s store is flourishing,” as “marketing students are expanding their customer base and sales potential by going online.” The store’s online business “allows potential customers to peruse merchandise 24 hours a day, seven days a week with convenient, secure transactions using Pay-Pal.” And, “by expanding their product line, the Generals have increased their profit potential, but a traditional store would require maintaining large inventories and projecting the type of items, colors and sizes that would be in greatest demand.” However, “an online presence eliminates those problems, since products can be produced upon demand.” The article noted, “Students design, produce, market and sell their merchandise not only for Dinwiddie High School, but also for other schools, clubs, sports teams and local businesses.”

US Education Lag Attributed To Focus On Intelligence Rather Than Hard Work.
Educator and author Jonathan Zimmerman writes in the Christian Science Monitor (12/15) that “a standardized test administered to 15-year-olds in over 60 countries,” in which “the US came in 17th in reading, 23rd in science, and 31st in math,” is being frequently cited as an indicator that something is wrong with the US education system. “There’s something to that,” Zimmerman writes. “But there’s more to it than that. Put simply, Asians believe that hard work is the prime determinant of their success. By contrast, Americans and other Westerners typically ascribe academic performance to innate ability.” He cites a study which found that students praised for being “smart” did worse on a test than students praised for being “hard working.” Zimmerman writes, “The moral of these stories seems clear: If you want kids to succeed, don’t talk about their intelligence.” Instead, he argues, encourage them to work hard.

On the Job
Teacher Absenteeism Stalls High School’s Improvement Effort.
The Providence Journal (12/15, Jordan, Borg) reports, “With as many as 15 percent of its teachers out of work on any given day, the transformation effort at Central Falls [RI] High School is being threatened. So far, 15 teachers have resigned” and six “other teachers have gone out on long-term leave this fall. And as many as a half-dozen teachers call in absent each day for various reasons, ranging from illness to bereavement.” According to the Journal, “Education leaders had hoped to turn the struggling, 840-student school around this year, buoyed by a new leadership team, a bold plan and $2 million in federal grants” yet “instruction has been so uneven and so much class time has been lost that 453 students received ‘no grade’ for at least one subject on their report card for the first quarter.”

Law & Policy
Some Florida Districts Ban Synthetic Marijuana.
The Orlando Sentinel (12/15, Weber) reports that Florida’s Seminole County School Board “adopted an emergency policy Tuesday night that specifically makes possession, sale or use of” synthetic marijuana “an infraction with consequences the same as if it were the real stuff,” up to expulsion. While some states have already outlawed the substance, fake marijuana “increasingly available” in stores throughout Central Florida. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s ban of the product does not go into effect until Dec. 24, and “is for one year while federal health officials decide whether the man-made compounds used in [it] should be added to the list of controlled substances.” Other area school districts are considering “following Seminole’s lead,” and some already have policies in place banning “substances such as synthetic pot.” WFTV-TV Orlando (12/15) reports that the substance banned in Seminole County, K2, “is coated with chemicals and when smoked has similar effects to marijuana.” It is “also know as spice” or “legalized marijuana.”

Arizona Districts Working To Create Medical Marijuana Policies. Arizona’s East Valley Tribune (12/15, Reese) reports, “Arizona’s voter-approved law legalizing medical marijuana has left a number of decisions to be made” as local governments “must figure out where dispensaries can be located” and “school districts must make clear what’s acceptable and what’s not for students and staff.” The East Valley Tribune adds, “School district policies already address student use of prescription drugs,” yet regulations are not clear for “employees, such as school bus drivers” as though “state law may allow medical marijuana use, federal comes into play with commercial driver’s licenses.”

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School Finance
California Teachers, Education Officials Suggest Alternatives To School Budget Cuts.
Bloomberg News (12/15, Palmeri) reports that during a two-hour forum held Tuesday, “California teachers and school administrators asked Governor-elect Jerry Brown (D) to increase taxes and refrain from cutting their budgets.” Brown convened the meeting to discuss “closing projected [state] deficits of $28.1 billion” in the next year-and-a-half. Tom Torlakson, superintendent-elect of the Education Department says that “California voters have approved $82 billion of education- related bond issues since June 2003, illustrating ‘a sign of support from the local community.’” At the meeting local school officials suggested that more available funds “be devoted to online education” and that Race to the Top funding “be shifted to a national program that aids poorer school districts.”

The Los Angeles Times (12/14) “PolitiCal” blog reported that state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who was also at the meeting, “grew visibly frustrated by some of the comments about increasing funding on programs such as online education, given the gravity of the state’s financial hole.” Lockyear proposed 25 percent cuts “across the board.” The PolitiCal blog added that “Educators appeared shaken by Lockyer’s remarks.” David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association, is quoted as saying, “There is no more meat on this bone to carve, the only thing left is amputation.”

The San Francisco Chronicle (12/14, Buchanan) also reported that “Education leaders at the event pleaded for flexibility from the state regulations and laws that force districts to spend money on certain programs. Several people also said that education spending had suffered enough from budget cuts over previous years and that Brown should look elsewhere for savings.”

Detroit Public Schools To Get $225,000 From GM Car Auction.
The AP (12/15) reports that “the Detroit school district says a charity auction of the first Chevrolet Volt offered for sale is bringing in $225,000 for science, technology and other programs.” A spokesperson for the district “says Chevrolet will announce the winner and present a check to the Detroit Public Schools Foundation after verifying the bid.”

The Detroit Free Press (12/15, Gardner) notes that “Bidding opened on Nov. 30 at $50,000 and appeared to stop at $185,000 on Dec. 3 with no competing bid offered until 5:43 p.m. Tuesday, 17 minutes before the auction’s 6 p.m. deadline.” Then, it became “a frantic down-to-the-wire exchange between two people with screen names ‘Volter’ and ‘ChargeOn.’” General Motors Co. plans to reveal the identity of the winning bidder – “ChargeOn” — at an “event Thursday night.”

CNNMoney (12/15, Valdes-Dapena) gives details about the auctioned vehicle, noting that “the sticker price for the car, a Chevrolet Volt with the ‘Premium Trim Package’ of options, including leather seats plus a back-up camera, is about $45,000,” according to GM spokesman Monte Doran.

Also in the News

Study Shows Ways Flu Can Spread In A High Schools.
WLS-TV Chicago, IL (12/14) reported that a new study from Penn State University published online in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” indicates that there are “more than 750,000 opportunities for the [flu] to spread daily” in high schools nationwide. “The main reason is because teachers, students and staff are in close proximity which makes it easy to spread the illness.”

Health Day (12/14, Goodwin) reported that the study was conducted “by outfitting students and teachers with wireless sensors,” simulating “how the flu might spread through a typical American high school.” Researchers then “ran computer simulations using the ‘contact network’ data collected at the high school” and found that “their predictions for how many would fall ill closely matched absentee rates during the actual H1N1 flu pandemic in the fall of 2009.”

NEA in the News
Van Roekel: US Should Learn From Example Of Nations Leading In Education.
National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel writes in an opinion piece for USA Today (12/15) that “the worst thing” the US can do in its efforts to improve education “is adopt unproven policies in the rush to reclaim our leadership position.” He asserts, “Policies that the National Education Association (NEA) has supported – stronger teacher preparation and more autonomy in the classroom – echo” recommendations from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) “for boosting US performance.” Canada and Finland, two nations that PISA ranked high in education have “strong teachers unions and evaluation systems that identify, support and advance effective teaching,” Van Roekel adds, noting that those “international reforms mirror the work of” NEA affiliates in Florida and Maryland, among others. He concludes, “The lesson from PISA is clear: Respect teachers and treat them like professionals. The US should focus on what leading countries are doing and learn from their example.”

North Carolina Educator One Of Five Nationwide To Receive Horace Mann Award.
North Carolina’s News & Record (12/15) reports that Teresa Lawrence McNeill, a math teacher at Page High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, “is one of five educators across the country to win the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence.” She will receive $10,000, “technology for her classroom, a technology education experience for her students presented by the Pearson Foundation, a check for Page High to be spent at the discretion of the principal, and a trip to China at the end of the school year.” The honor also comes with “an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to be recognized at the NEA Foundation’s annual gala Feb. 11,” and makes McNeil eligible to win the 2011 National Education Association Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence.

Cerf To Be Nominated As Next New Jersey Education Commissioner.
The Star-Ledger (NJ) (12/17, Calefati) reports, “Christopher Cerf, a former New York City deputy schools chancellor described as ‘one of the most talented and sophisticated people in education in America today,’ will be nominated as New Jersey’s next education commissioner, two people briefed on the nomination said tonight. Gov. Chris Christie is expected to formally nominate Cerf, a 56-year-old Montclair resident, next week, according to one of the two people.” According to the Star-Ledger, “If confirmed by the state Senate, Cerf would take over an embattled department that has been without a commissioner since August, when Bret Schundler was fired after the state lost $400 million in federal education aid, and an education system has been under relentless attacks by Christie.” The Wall Street Journal (12/17, Fleisher, Martinez) also covers this story.

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In the Classroom
AP Exam Scores Show Persistent Achievement Gap In Maryland District.
The Washington Post (12/17, Birnbaum) reports, “The percentage of Prince George’s County [MD] high school seniors taking at least one Advanced Placement exam is rising, as is the percentage of those achieving passing grades. For the Class of 2010, the percentage taking an AP test rose to 35 percent, up from 27 percent for the Class of 2009, according to data released by the school system.” The Post adds, “The data also reflect lingering gaps in achievement among different groups” as “African American students received passing marks on 17.5 percent of the exams they took, and Hispanic students received passing marks on 30.3 percent of the exams. White students, meanwhile, received passing marks on 59.3 percent of exams.”

Illinois Education Officials Move To Close Testing Loophole.
The Chicago Tribune (12/17, Malone) reports, “Come April, Illinois 11th-graders will need to sweat through two days of state testing before they can advance to the senior class. Illinois education officials approved the new rules Thursday, taking aim at a loophole some schools used to keep academically weak juniors from taking the test, thereby avoiding accountability for their scores under federal law.” According to the Tribune, “About 8 percent of Illinois 12th-graders skipped the PSAE when they were in their third year of high school, according to a review by the US Department of Education earlier this year.”

On the Job
Arizona District To Test New Teacher Evaluation System.
The Arizona Republic (12/17, Faller) reports, “Scottsdale [AZ] schools will test a new teacher-evaluation system anonymously this spring, using sets of student-achievement data to measure teacher effectiveness. Starting in 2012, all Arizona public school teachers will be evaluated in a new way – including measurements of how well students have progressed academically under a teacher.” Under the current system, teacher “evaluations include Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards test scores, but they only compare scores from year to year, using different groups of students. The new system will analyze individual student growth over the year.”

Georgia District Considers Expanding Charter Options.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/17, Badertscher) reports, “Fulton County [GA] is among the few school districts that have formally started examining their three options: charter systems, IE2 systems or the status quo.” According to the Journal-Constitution, “IE2 systems and charter systems enter into contracts with the state, committing to higher academic achievement in exchange for flexibility on issues such as teacher pay, class size and the courses they offer. The basic difference: The policy decisions still largely come from the top in IE2 systems, and they are made more at the school level and with more parental involvement in the charter systems.”

Law & Policy
Ohio Education Colleges To Be Put To Test.
The Columbus Dispatch (12/16, Pyle) reported, “Ohio will soon become the first state in the nation to grade colleges on how well they train teachers to help students succeed. Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut announced 15 measures yesterday that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the education colleges at Ohio’s public and private universities.” According to the Dispatch, “The schools will submit annual data on how well their students do on the state teacher licensure exam, as well as on a ‘value-added’ component that is being developed by the State Board of Education as part of Ohio’s Race to the Top plan.”

Safety & Security
GAO: Laws Fail To Keep Sex Offenders From Working In Schools.
The Washington Post (12/17, Anderson) reports, “People with a record of sexual misconduct are often able to land positions in public and private schools as teachers, support staff, volunteers or contractors, slipping through a system of background checks meant to thwart them, federal investigators reported Thursday.” According to the Post, 11 of the 15 cases reviewed by the GAO “showed that offenders who had previously targeted children were able to obtain positions in schools. ‘Even more disturbing,’ the report concluded, they were able in at least six cases to use those positions to abuse more children.”

The Christian Science Monitor (12/17, Khadaroo) adds, “The GAO report follows a 2004 Department of Education report estimating that millions of students experience sexual misconduct by a school employee at some point between kindergarten and 12th grade.” According to the Monitor, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D) requested the GAO report and is quoted saying, “Our schools have a fundamental obligation to children and parents that all students are safe at school. What we see here is a major violation of that trust.”

Play At Virginia High School Puts Spotlight On Bullying Epidemic.
The Washington Post (12/17, George) reports that on Friday night, students at Langley High School in McLean, VA “are to take the stage…for the opening of ‘The Laramie Project,’ a play that has been a nationwide phenomenon for a decade but that students say is particularly relevant now, in the aftermath of a spate of bullying incidents and suicides that have included gay teens. … The events in the play go back to 1998, when [Matthew] Shepard was driven to a remote area and robbed, tortured, beaten and tied to a fence by two men who met him in a bar.” According to the Post, “The play is not a depiction of the 21-year-old Shepard’s death but rather a series of monologues that tell the stories of those affected: friends, family, religious leaders, doctors, professors, police, protesters, the accused.”

Duncan Highlights Best Practices For Bullying Policies.
School Transportation News (12/17, Gray) reports that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “distributed a memo to state leaders outlining key components of strong state bullying laws and policies that can be used to develop or revise anti-bullying legislation or policies. … All governors, chief state school officers and state education boards received today’s memo, which is linked to the Obama Administration’s commitment to prevent bullying in schools.” According to School Transportation News, “The memo also recognized several states for their innovative approaches in addressing bullying, which the Department of Education has said extends beyond the classroom and playground and into and around school buses.”

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Facilities
Virginia District Unveils Plan To Renovate Aging School Buildings.
The Washington Post (12/17, Sieff) reports, “In preparation for a projected enrollment boom, Fairfax County [VA] education officials unveiled a plan Thursday to renovate a slew of aging schools at a cost of $805 million through the next decade. The plan also funds renovations at 27 schools, as well as the construction of one middle school and one elementary school.” The Post adds, “An unexpected savings of $31 million from lower than estimated construction costs for recent projects will help the district accelerate its plan – which is awaiting School Board approval – moving schools up the district’s renovation list by several years.”

Flaws In Design Of ’70s-Era DC School Building Analyzed.
Mike DeBonis writes in a column for the Washington Post (12/17), “This week, we learned that” DC’s “Dunbar Senior High School will be razed as soon as 2013. That fall, if all goes as planned, students will attend a new, glassy, airy Dunbar next door.” According to DeBonis, “The design process began only a couple years after the 1968 riots decimated inner-city neighborhoods” and “the buildings subsequently designed for those neighborhoods, in essence, had to be riot-proof – made of sturdy concrete or metal or other materials that would be difficult to vandalize. Glass, and hence sunlight, was essentially prohibited. … The combination of riot-proof design and open classrooms in a high-rise made Dunbar an exemplar of what” Robert C. deJongh, the school’s architect, “calls a generation of ‘grim and brutal’ structures ‘designed to keep occupants in and everyone else out.’”

School Finance
Connecticut Legislators Seek Settlement In Education Funding Case.
The Hartford Courant (12/17, De La Torre) reports, “Bridgeport [CT] legislators on Thursday began a campaign to pressure Gov.-elect Dan Malloy to negotiate a settlement in a 5-year-old lawsuit that calls for overhauling the way the state pays for its public schools. At the core of the suit, Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, is the argument that the state’s existing education cost-sharing formula is a broken system that places the burden on local property taxes to support school spending.” The suit “is projected to go to trial around 2014, and beyond that would likely be appealed for years – too late, coalition supporters said Thursday, for students who are now languishing in underfunded classrooms.”

Vermont School Budget Cuts Fall Short Of State Recommendations.
The Burlington (VT) Free Press (12/16, Walsh) reported, “Vermont Education Department officials are planning to count money today — and the tally could come up short. Early indications suggest the $23 million in school spending cuts sought under a state budget-cutting measure will not materialize.” According to the Free Press, “Wednesday was the deadline for school officials to respond to the recommendations set by the Vermont Education Department in August. … Education Department Chief Financial Officer Bill Talbott said he expects the cuts to total less than $23 million and said the task for the next few days is to see how much less.”

Maryland District Chief Proposes Series Of Budget Cuts.
The Washington Post (12/17, Birnbaum) reports, “Prince George’s County [MD] school employees’ pay would be frozen and middle school sports would be eliminated under a budget proposal released Thursday by Schools Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. The budget request…is for $1.69 billion for fiscal 2012, an increase of $49 million more than current levels and the latest indicator of how school systems hope to cope with straitened fiscal times and a decrease in federal stimulus money.” The Post adds, “Federal stimulus money has softened the impact of local and state funding cuts for the past two years. But much of it will no longer be available next year, and Prince George’s is budgeting for $103 million less.”

Maryland District Officials Weigh Budget Options.
The Baltimore Sun (12/17, Burris) reports, “Anne Arundel County [MD] Board of Education President Patricia Nally says she is ‘happy’ with Superintendent Kevin Maxwell’s $969 million operating budget recommendation, which calls for a $37.5 million increase over last year. After hearing Maxwell outline the budget at Wednesday night’s board meeting, Nally said that she was confident that the board and county executives will work together on funding the budget to keep the school system on its ‘journey from good to great.’” According to the Sun, “The General Assembly’s maintenance-of-effort requirements state that counties must appropriate operating budget funds on a per-pupil basis for local K-12 schools in an amount no less than the per-pupil amount of the previous year.”

Also in the News

New York City Launches Effort To Overhaul GED.
The Queens Chronicle (12/16, Yurcan) reported that New York City “has announced it is launching a pilot program to ‘modernize’ the General Educational Development test to better prepare those who take it for college. Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg, along with US Education Secretary Arne Duncan and city schools Chancellor Joel Klein, announced the program, which is designed to prepare more GED candidates for careers and post-secondary education.” According to the Queens Chronicle, “The program is offered at District 79 schools, which were established to help students succeed by providing diverse and innovative educational opportunities that combine academic instruction with meaningful youth development, according to the DOE.”

Civil Rights Groups Cry Foul Over Texas School Curriculum.
The AP (12/21, Graczyk) reports, “Two civil rights organizations are seeking a federal review of public school education in Texas, accusing state school administrators of violating federal civil rights laws after curriculum changes approved earlier this year by the Texas Board of Education. The request to the US Department of Education made by the Texas NAACP and Texas League of United Latin American Citizens on Monday contended that the curriculum changes passed in May ‘were made with the intention to discriminate’ and would have a ‘stigmatizing impact’ on African-American and Latino students.” According to the AP, “The request, signed by Gary Bledsoe, president of the state NAACP, and Joey D. Cardenas Jr., state director of Texas LULAC, asked that implementation of the curriculum changes and new standardized tests be stopped for being racially or ethnically offensive or historically inaccurate.”

The Houston Chronicle (12/21, Scharrer) reports, “A school curriculum teaching children about violent Black Panthers while playing down Ku Klux Klan violence against blacks is not only inaccurate but discriminatory, the Texas NAACP and LULAC said Monday in a joint complaint filed with the US Department of Education. The complaint asks the department’s Office of Civil Rights to review Texas’ new social studies curriculum standards approved by the State Board of Education and to take legal action if the state tries to implement the standards the groups call ‘racially or ethnically offensive,’ as well as historically inaccurate.”

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On the Job
Central Falls, RI School Officials Defend Turnaround Plan.
The Providence Journal (12/21, Jordan) reports, “Despite a high rate of teacher absenteeism, school officials on Monday defended their ambitious plan to transform Central Falls [RI] High School. School Supt. Frances Gallo and Deputy Supt. Victor Capellan described several changes they say are succeeding at the 840-student school, including creation of an active parent organization and a new program for students who are at risk of becoming dropouts.” However, “in response to the reports of unusual numbers of sick days and long-term leaves, the teachers’ union said Monday that lack of student discipline, ‘the constant threat of dismissal’ from their jobs, and the failure by administrators to fill vacancies quickly are also part of the tumultuous picture at the school during the last four months.”

Massachusetts Teachers Would Tie Own Rating To Standardized Test.
The Boston Globe (12/21) reports that Massachusetts’ “largest teachers’ union, embracing a concept shunned by many educators, plans to offer a proposal today to use student test scores to help judge which teachers deserve promotions and which ones should be fired. The report from the Massachusetts Teachers Association, to be released at a state Board of Education meeting, positions the union as an active participant – and an unusual one, for a labor organization – in pushing an issue that is highly polarizing among teachers.” The “association says that the change is inevitable and that teachers would be better off shaping it.”

Most Want Easier Way To Fire Underperforming Teachers, Poll Finds.
The AP (12/19) reported, “An overwhelming majority of Americans are frustrated that it’s too difficult to get rid of bad teachers, while most also believe that teachers aren’t paid enough, a new poll shows. The Associated Press-Stanford University poll found that 78 percent think it should be easier for school administrators to fire poorly performing teachers.” However, “overall, the public wants to reward teachers – 57 percent say they are paid too little, with just 7 percent believing they are overpaid and most of the rest saying they’re paid about right.”

New Hampshire Teacher Contract Talks Hit Roadblocks.
The North Andover (MA) Eagle Tribune (12/21) reports, “A tough economy usually means rough sledding at the [teacher] contract table, and there are no rubber stamps for pay deals. In Southern New Hampshire, teacher contracts are in place for about half the school districts.” According to the Eagle Tribune, “Windham is hung up on a proposal from the School Board for a major change in the way teachers get paid. They want to introduce a merit pay system in a new contract.”

Congress May Change “High Qualified” Teacher Rules.
Valerie Strauss wrote in a blog for the Washington Post (12/20), “Should teachers still in training programs be considered ‘highly qualified’ to teach kids? The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that they aren’t, but some members of Congress think so.” According to Strauss, “Senators have included in key legislation language that would allow teachers still in training to be considered ‘highly qualified’ so they can meet a standard set in the federal No Child Left Behind law” Strauss added, “There are surely some teachers still in training who are excellent teachers. But to declare that all of them are ‘highly qualified’ doesn’t make them so.”

Law & Policy
K-12 Funding To Stay Flat Under Continuing Resolution.
Alyson Klein wrote in a blog for Education Week (12/20), “After Democratic leaders failed to enact a giant spending bill that would have included a modest boost for education, the US Senate has agreed to pass a temporary measure that would freeze spending at current levels for most of the federal government, including the US Department of Education, until March 4. That means a new Congress, in which Republicans control the majority in the House and have a greater margin in the Senate, will get to decide on final spending levels for fiscal year 2011, which started back on Oct. 1.” According to Klein, “But new money for education programs that was in the Senate’s omnibus spending bill…won’t be included in the stop-gap measure.”

Duncan, Senate Republicans Talk ESEA Renewal.
Alyson Klein wrote in a blog for Education Week (12/20), “No one is expecting the more-conservative Congress and the Democratic administration to cooperate on much next year. But reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is one area where there’s a glimmer of hope for compromise between the two parties.” Klein added, “The two top GOP senators on ESEA renewal, Sen. Michael B. Enzi, of Wyoming, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, of Tennessee, both have a history of working across the aisle on education issues” and the two “met last week with GOP lawmakers on the Senate education committee to get a sense of their thinking” and also met with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan last week.

Colorado Lawmakers Face Tough Choices On School Funding.
Education News Colorado (12/20, Engdahl) reported that Colorado legislators “face tough decisions next session about whether to cover the loss of local tax revenues or force school districts to eat those cuts.” Education News Colorado added, “It’s widely expected that state support of schools will be no better than flat next year” and flat “funding is an effective cut for schools, because they don’t get money to cover additional costs created by enrollment growth and cost increases. The enrollment projections predict increases of just under 1 percent, about 7,000 students, in each of the next two school years.”

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Safety & Security
New York City Will Require Police To Produce Regular School Arrest Reports.
The New York Times (12/21, Rosenberg) reports, “The New York City Council voted on Monday to require the Police and Education Departments to produce regular reports on arrests, summonses and suspensions of public school students, a victory for civil liberties advocates who say that the school police have sometimes been too aggressive in trying to keep order. The measure, which was introduced in August 2008, was approved unanimously after compromises were made to satisfy the police and education officials.” According to the Times, “Groups like the New York Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund have complained for years that the school safety officers, who are members of the Police Department, as well as regular police officers tend to overreact, making arrests or writing summonses for infractions as minor as writing on a desk.”

School Finance
Maryland Governor Considering Five Percent Cut For Public Education.
The AP (12/21, Nuckols) reports that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) “is considering a 5 percent across-the-board cut in state aid for public education. State Budget Secretary T. Eloise Foster has proposed the cut, which the governor’s office says would save more than $200 million.” The AP adds, “O’Malley’s spokesman says the possible cut is merely ‘an option presented to the governor’ but that it speaks to the severity of the state’s fiscal situation.”

Bridgeport, CT Looks To Settle Education Funding Lawsuit.
WCBS-AM New York (12/20, Schneidau) reported on its Website that Connecticut State Representative Chris Caruso says the City of Bridgeport “gets about 75 percent of its school funding from the state, but it’s not enough to adequately educate the city’s 20,000 students, many of who really require special education. … Carsuo says many of the kids lack proper textbooks and writing materials. He says Governor-Elect Dan Malloy, who as mayor of Stamford, was an original plaintiff” in a lawsuit against the state over school funding, “has indicated his willingness to try to settle it.”

Also in the News
Cerf Nominated To Become Next New Jersey Education Commissioner.
The Star-Ledger (NJ) (12/21, Rundquist) reports, “Vowing to focus on ‘issues that have long been neglected’ in public education, [New Jersey] Gov. Chris Christie Monday introduced former deputy New York City schools chancellor Christopher D. Cerf as the state’s next education commissioner. At a press conference in the Statehouse, Christie called Cerf…someone whose ‘record of reform and innovation…is well known’ and whose ‘philosophical approach in many areas of education is in line with mine.’” According to the Star-Ledger, Cerf “called for the need to reform the state’s worst schools, closing the ‘shameful’ achievement gap between ‘those born to economic circumstances that are positive and those born to poverty.’”

Bloomberg News (12/21, Dopp) reports, “New Jersey Governor Chris Christie nominated Christopher Cerf, a former deputy chancellor of the New York City school system, to be the state’s next education commissioner. Cerf, 56, would replace Bret Schundler, whom Christie fired in August after the state lost $400 million in federal school funding because of an error on an application.” The AP (12/21) also covers this story.

Legal, Practical Implications Of School Holiday Observance Analyzed.
Boston University religion professor Stephen Prothero writes in an op-ed for USA Today (12/21), “The school committee in Cambridge, Mass., stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy when it voted in October to include a Muslim holiday on its academic calendar. … Elsewhere across America, public school districts are wrestling with whether the First Amendment requires inclusion or exclusion when it comes to recognizing religious holy days.” Prothero adds, “As these celebrations expand, the demands of the Constitution and of pragmatism, which now run in opposite directions, will merge, forcing us to do what we are eventually going to have to do: Whittle our public school holy days down to zero.”

NEA in the News
NEA Executive John Wilson To Retire.
Erik Robelen wrote in a blog for Education Week (12/20), “John Wilson, who has served as the National Education Association’s executive director for a decade, is planning to retire in August, according to a blog post by Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency. NEA President Dennis Van Roekel has named John Stocks, currently the union’s deputy executive director, to fill the post, Antonucci says.” Robelen added, “Wilson made an unsuccessful run to become the NEA’s president in 1989, losing to Keith Geiger.”

Teaching Improvements Help Boost California School’s Performance.
The Los Angeles Times (12/22, Felch, Song, Poindexter) reports that Edwin Markham Middle School “has been considered one of the worst middle schools in California, despite the best efforts of” a series of “principals and an army of well-intentioned reformers, including big-hearted volunteers, private foundations, corporate sponsors, the city attorney’s office and – most recently – the mayor of Los Angeles. In the last seven years alone, they tried changing the curriculum, reducing class size, improving school safety, requiring school uniforms, opening after-school programs and spending a lot more money per pupil.” However, the “one thing they didn’t do was improve the teaching – at least, not until last year, when layoffs swept out many of the school’s worst performers and test scores jumped, a Times analysis found.”

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In the Classroom
Study: More Testing Seen For High School Students.
Education Week (12/21) reported, “High school is becoming a focus of increased testing, as more states tie diplomas to some type of assessment and require other exams that are not linked to graduation, according to a study released today. In its ninth annual examination of high school exit-exam trends, the Center on Education Policy notes the continuation of key assessment trends in high school and the addition of new trends that, taken together, suggest a net increase in testing is taking shape for high school students.” According to Education Week, “The Washington-based research and policy group found a continued rise in the number of states using an exit exam, which it defines as a test students must pass in order to graduate.”

Oregon District Using Education Department Grant For Arts Project.
The Oregonian (12/21) reported that the Beaverton (OR) School District “was one of 49 education groups in the nation to be awarded a federal Investing in Innovation grant, also called i3. The 39,000-student district will use the money over five years for the Arts for Learning Lessons Project.” According to the Oregonian, “The program, which starts this spring, incorporates drama, music, dance, drawing and other arts into the curriculum. It eventually will be used in all 33 of the district’s elementary schools in grades third through fifth.”

GAO Study Shines Light On Student Mobility.
Education Week (12/21, Zehr) reported, “About 13 percent of children in the United States change schools four or more times before enrolling in high school, and job loss, home foreclosures, and homelessness may be driving up student mobility as Americans move in search of employment or affordable housing, according to a report released yesterday by the US Government Accountability Office. The report is based on an analysis of US Department of Education data from 1998 to 2007.” According to Education Week, “The GAO researchers supplemented their analysis with interviews conducted in March and April with educators at eight schools in six school districts across three states.”

Florida Governor-Elect’s Transition Team Seeking Numerous School Reforms.
The St. Augustine Record (FL) (12/22, Haughney) reports, “Florida schools should enact a number of changes championed by former Gov. Jeb Bush, including expanding school choice, eliminating teacher job protection and basing educators’ pay on student performance, members of Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s transition team said Tuesday. The governor-elect’s education team released briefing documents of recommendations that it was making to the incoming governor, who will take office in two weeks.” According to the Record, “Scott, throughout the campaign, maintained his support for school choice efforts and also appeared recently with advocates for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program, which sends low income students to private schools.”

On the Job
Boston Teachers Union Urged To Accept Use Of MCAS Scores In Teacher Rating.
The Boston Globe (12/22, Johnson) reports, “The Boston Teachers Union should join other educators throughout Massachusetts and endorse plans to use student test scores to help determine teacher effectiveness, Superintendent Carol Johnson told union leaders yesterday. In a letter to the Boston union, Johnson praised the decision by the Massachusetts Teachers Association to tackle one of the most divisive issues in today’s education-reform debate.” According to the Globe, “The school system, the local union, and the state teachers association all agree that a new evaluation process must include observations of how teachers function in the classroom as well as student performance,” however, “using results of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System to evaluate teachers is a deal-breaker for the Boston union.”

Maryland District May Lay Off Nearly 1,000 Teachers.
The Gaithersburg (MD) Gazette (12/22, Skalski) reports, “Prince George’s [MD] schools chief William R. Hite said Monday evening that 1,000 teachers may have to be laid off if the county is unable to close an anticipated $89 million budget gap. The school system released budget documents Dec. 16 showing an anticipated $140 million shortfall in the $1.69 billion fiscal 2012 education budget, but officials identified about $51 million in cuts that they said do not directly impact classrooms.” According to the Gazette, “The proposed cuts include eliminating middle school sports, which is estimated to save $800,000, freezing pay and eliminating some other school system positions, such as custodial, central office and instructional staff.”

AFT Chief Comes To Defense Of Teachers At Troubled Rhode Island High School.
The Providence Journal (12/22, Jordan) reports, “The turbulent effort to transform Central Falls [RI] High School needs a ‘midcourse correction,’ the national president of the American Federation of Teachers said Tuesday. In response, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist said it’s still possible to fix the school if local and state school leaders sit down and talk – and if AFT president Randi Weingarten can get her member teachers in Central Falls to recommit to the plans for change.” The Journal notes that the “mile-square city of Central Falls drew national attention this year when every teacher at its high school was fired in a battle over education reform.”

Study Highlights Effectiveness Of Talented Teachers.
Catherine Rampell wrote in a blog for the New York Times (12/21), “Earlier this year my colleague David Leonhardt wrote about a new study that found that a good kindergarten teacher could greatly improve students’ future earnings. On that basis, an especially strong kindergarten teacher is arguably worth about $320,000 a year, which is the present value of the additional earnings that a full class of students can expect to earn over their careers.” According to Rampell, “Now another working paper, by Stanford’s Eric A. Hanushek, gets similar results, arguing that a minor improvement in teacher quality could have a big effect on test scores, especially as they compare to those of other countries.”

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Law & Policy
Virginia Urged To Adopt Common Standards.
The Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot (12/22) editorializes, “During a recent visit from US Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Gov. Bob McDonnell promised to address shortcomings in Virginia’s math Standards of Learning. Indeed, state education analysts were already hard at work comparing the SOLs to common academic standards developed by the National Governors Association.” Though “the improvements now being contemplated to Virginia’s SOLs are real and welcome, the common core standards are still the surest and best pathway to excellence.”

Safety & Security
Education Department Investigating California District’s Handling Of Bullying Claim.
The AP (12/22, Leff) reports, “Federal education officials are investigating a school district in a Central California town where a 13-year-old boy committed suicide after allegedly being harassed by classmates because he was gay, a spokesman for Education Secretary Arne Duncan confirmed Tuesday. The probe was launched in response to a complaint from Seth Walsh’s mother that Tehachapi Unified School District employees failed to adequately address the years of bullying that preceded her son’s death last Sept. 28, spokesman Justin Hamilton said.” The AP adds, “Seth was one of at least seven gay teenagers whose suicides this fall – all occurring within a month – focused renewed attention on the pain inflicted by peers who mock other children because of their sexual orientations.”

The Bakersfield Californian (12/22, Barrientos) reports, “Education and legal officials confirmed Tuesday that the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating the Tehachapi Unified School District’s handling of bullying claims connected with the death of Seth Walsh, who hanged himself in September after complaining about being harassed because of his sexuality. The investigation is perhaps the first time the department has investigated a gender harassment, bullying claim since October, when it sent out letters to school districts setting guidelines for bullying prevention and warning of reprimands to those who didn’t follow them.”

Facilities
New York City Embarks On Major School Building Campaign.
The New York Times (12/22, Satow) reports, “The education sector, and especially the School Construction Authority, has become big business in the world of New York City real estate. As residential condominiums, office towers and other private sector projects have faltered, the authority has swooped in to take advantage of lower construction costs, amenable landlords and available land to pursue an aggressive expansion.” According to the Times, “This year, the S.C.A. has built a record 26 new facilities, creating room for 17,500 students.”

New York City Sparring With EPA Over Plan To Check Schools For PCBs.
The New York Times (12/22, Navarro) reports, “The Environmental Protection Agency plans to begin inspecting school buildings in New York City next month for contamination with the toxic chemicals known as PCBs in response to a pilot study that found that the substance was leaking from old light fixtures in some schools. The decision follows an exchange of letters between the federal agency and city officials that show the two sides disagreeing over the urgency of addressing a problem that the city says could affect 750 to 850 of about 1,200 school buildings and cost about $1 billion if all the old fluorescent fixtures throughout the school system were to be replaced.” The Times adds, “Elevated levels of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were found last summer in the first three school buildings tested in the pilot study, and light fixtures were replaced at all three.”

Declining Costs Allowing For More Renovation Projects In Virginia District.
The Fairfax (VA) Times (12/22, Hobbs) reports, “Built in the 1960s, Langley High School in McLean [VA] is operating by 50-year-old standards.” However, “the school, and 24 others in the Fairfax County Public Schools system, received some good news last week. A decline in construction costs has generated a savings of $31 million for the school system during the past three years, and will allow an accelerated renovation schedule for schools listed as capital improvement projects during fiscal 2012-16.”

School Finance
Virginia District’s Fiscal State Improving.
The Lynchburg (VA) News & Advance (12/21, Pounds) reported, “An early indicator suggests that the Lynchburg City Schools will face less severe budget cuts this upcoming year than last. Superintendent Paul McKendrick told school board members Tuesday that state budget cuts to the division likely would total less than $900,000 under Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed budget submitted to the General Assembly Dec. 17.” According to the News & Advance, “In contrast, last year, the division cut about $8.7 million, or 10 percent, from its budget.”

Also in the News
Teen Birthrate Hits Record Low.
The Washington Post (12/22, Stein) reports, “The rate at which US women are having babies continued to fall between 2008 and 2009, federal officials reported Tuesday, pushing the teen birthrate to a record low and prompting a debate about whether the drop was caused by the recession, an increased focus on encouraging abstinence, more adolescents using birth control or a combination of those factors. The birthrate among US girls ages 15 to 19 fell from 41.5 to 39.1 births per 1,000 teens – a 6 percent drop to the lowest rate in the nearly 70 years the federal government has been collecting reliable data, according to a preliminary analysis of the latest statistics.”

NEA in the News

Appeals Court Rejects Suit Over NEA Annuity Plan.
Mark Walsh wrote in a blog for Education Week (12/21), “A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that the nation’s largest teachers’ union aggressively marketed retirement annuities that charged fees that were ten times as much as those for comparable products. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled unanimously on Monday that the National Education Association’s Valuebuilder annuities were not regulated by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and, thus, the plaintiffs’ lawsuit could not go forward.” According to Walsh, “The annuity plan was challenged by NEA members who work for the South Kitsap School District, in Washington state, and the El Dorado Union High School District, in California.”

The San Diego Union Tribune (12/2, Persinger) reports that the new policy aims to balance “post-graduation recruiting efforts across the San Diego Unified School District.” Leading up to the school board’s vote, much of the discussion among parents and students focused on “the presence of military recruiters on campus, some of whom have had – until now – unfettered access to students as they determine their post-high school plans.” But, “Board member John de Beck, who introduced the policy two weeks ago, said despite all the fuss on military recruiters, the policy was never meant to eliminate them from campuses.”

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In the Classroom
Mock Wedding Stresses Healthy Relationships.
The Springfield (OH) News Sun (12/2, Gildow) reports on “a mock wedding ceremony staged in Kenton Ridge High School’s auditorium” earlier this week as part of the school’s Managing Family Transitions class, which has “spent the semester discussing healthy and unhealthy relationships, dealing with family crisis and issues teens face in dating.” The mock ceremony “was stressing the importance of healthy relationships.” The article notes, “This is the first year the class – which falls under the heading of family and consumer science – relied heavily on community resources such as the Marriage Resource Center and the Community Hospital Health Services Foundation for the sex education component.” Last year, the state passed a law “requiring school districts to develop and implement policies to prevent and address teen dating violence.”

Etiquette Course Instructs Middle School Students In Manners.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (12/1, Richards) reports on an elective class in etiquette offered at the Concordia University School and Young Leaders Academy. During the students’ first class they practiced formal introductions and table manners. At the end of the course, students are rewarded with “a formal five-course lunch or dinner at Bacchus restaurant downtown.” Assistant Principal Danielle Davis “said students’ behavior changed instantly” after the first class, and that “they were attentive, thoughtful and respectful.” Camille Monk, who leads the class and started the business behind it, Etiquette and Protocol School of Wisconsin, was “trained and certified in Georgia at the American School of Protocol.”

Survey Of Utah Principals Shows Most See State-Funded Arts Program As Effective.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/2, Schencker) reports that a survey of principals in Utah shows that most believe “a state-funded arts learning program is making a difference in” their schools. The survey by Dan Jones & Associates asked principals about “their perceptions of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program, which” pairs art specialists with classroom teachers to “integrate art with other subjects.” All survey respondents said that “the effect of the program was either ‘definitely positive’ or ‘probably positive.’” The Salt Lake Tribune notes that the program needs about $4 million more state funding in order to continue next school year.

New Jersey District Seeks To Approve New Health Academy For High School.
New Jersey’s Shore News Today (12/2, Wompierski) reports the Egg Harbor Township School District “hopes to approve a new Allied Health Academy program at the high school in time for the 2011-2012 school year.” The program has seen “around five years of research and development” since it was initially considered. Rodney Velardi, the school’s supervisor of science, “said the academy would be an asset to the Egg Harbor Township School District because of the growing number of careers in the medical field, adding that the academy would be ideal for students who are considering careers in health care.” The program would include “a second set of classes for students to take in addition to their regular science courses,” such as “honors genetics and pathology, honors anatomy and physiology, honors forensic science, sports medicine, neuroscience, and a senior experience class that incorporates observation and fieldwork.”

On the Job
New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Considers Raising Teacher Contributions.
KFOX-TV El Paso, Texas (12/2, Anaya) reports, “proposed changes to retirement benefits for public school teachers and colleges in New Mexico has some Las Cruces teachers outraged.” A new plan by the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board would ask “teachers to pay an additional half-percent of their salary into the pension fund and” would require that they “stay an additional 10 years before retirement.” According to the retirement board, the changes are “necessary to keep the retirement fund sustainable.” It will vote on the changes Dec. 9.

More Than 1,000 Los Angeles District Classified Staff Lose Jobs.
The Los Angeles Times (12/1, Rojas) reported, “More than a thousand Los Angeles Unified School District employees – including those who staff school offices, run libraries and maintain campuses – will be without jobs Wednesday amid the latest round of budget reductions this year in the nation’s second-largest school district. Thousands of others will be shifted to new workplaces, with some taking positions with less pay and fewer hours.” According to the Times, district officials “said no teachers are included in this round” and “the reductions and reassignments affect 4,700 employees in various classified positions.”

The AP (12/1) reported, “About 150 employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District are protesting the layoffs of about 1,000 non-teaching staffers scheduled to lose their jobs Wednesday.” According to the AP, School Superintendent Ramon Cortines “says the district faces a $142 million deficit for the 2011-2012 school year.”

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Law & Policy
House Delays Vote On Child Nutrition Bill.
ABC News (12/1, Khan) reported on its Website, “The House of Representatives today delayed a vote on the $4.5 billion child nutrition bill that would ban greasy food and sugary soft drinks from schools. The legislation has triggered criticism for its hefty price tag and new nutritional requirements that some say shouldn’t come from the federal government.” The AP (12/2, Jalonick) notes, “the $4.5 billion bill…would give more needy children the opportunity to eat free lunches at school and make those lunches healthier.” According to the AP, “If the bill were amended, it would be sent back to the Senate with little time left in the legislative session.”

California Court Says Parents Can Force Schools To Provide Physical Education.
The AP (12/1) reported that a California appeals court ruled on Tuesday that “parents can force public schools to provide state-mandated physical education.” The “ruling overturned a Sacramento trial judge’s decision in an east bay Albany school district case” in which “a parent sued the district to force it to offer the required physical education.”

The San Francisco Chronicle (12/1, Tucker) noted that in California, elementary schools must “offer 200 minutes of physical education every 10 days, an amount that rises to 400 minutes in middle or high schools, not including lunch or recess.” The Sacramento trial court decision said that “the state’s physical education rule was advisory rather than a requirement and that a private party, like a parent, had no standing to enforce the law anyway.” But in their ruling, judges of the appellate court said, “We conclude (the law) means what it says and that, while individual school districts may have discretion as to how to administer their physical education programs, those programs must satisfy the 200-minute-per-10-school-day minimum.”

Parents Banding Together To Challenge “Inappropriate” Content In School Books.
USA Today (12/2, Tang, Marklein) reports, “Parents have long raised concerns about school and library books – children’s and young adult books, and sometimes dictionaries – often for inappropriate content. The number of reported challenges in the past 30 years has hovered between about 400 or 500 each year, says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, an attorney with the American Library Association.” Though “challenges once were mostly launched by a lone parent, Caldwell-Stone says she has noticed ‘an uptick in organized efforts’ to remove books from public and school libraries” and recent complaints have “stirred emotional argument over just how much freedom should be extended to students in advanced courses.”

Safety & Security
Wisconsin School Where Hostage Taking Occurred Showed Effects Of Training.
ABC News (12/1, Burry, et al.) reported that Marinette High School in Wisconsin had undergone “training drills last fall about how to respond to a potential school shooter.” This week, when 15-year-old student Sam Hangel “took teacher Valerie Burd” and “his 24 other classmates hostage,” Burd “stayed on the phone with police who called the classroom…and directed arriving students to the safety of the library.” ABC News adds that Hengel’s classmates “took a cue from their teacher, engaging [him] in hours of small talk to try to ease the tense situation.”

Wisconsin District Has Plan To Prevent, Respond To School Crises. Wisconsin’s Journal Times (12/1, Fiori) reported, “Park High School Principal Dan Thielen held a special meeting of his school’s crisis response team Tuesday morning following an incident” at Marinette High School. He also sent a written reminder to staff “to staff about crisis protocol.” Said Thielen, “The big thing I emphasize with staff is to remain calm in a situation like what happened up in Marinette.” The Journal Times adds that according to Racine Unified spokeswoman Stacy Tapp, “the district’s schools are adequately prepared to both prevent and also respond to crisis situations involving students and staff.” It “has a crisis response team and plan,” and it regularly “conducts safety and security audits of school buildings.”

Facilities
New Jersey Governor Urged To Lift ban On School Construction Projects
Shavar D. Jeffries, board chair of Newark (NJ) Public Schools, and David G. Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center in Newark write in an op-ed for New Jersey Newsroom (12/2), “For decades, Newark students have attended school in buildings that are among the oldest, most obsolete and dangerous in New Jersey, if not the nation.” Jeffries and Sciarra add though a badly needed school construction initiative was launched prior to the inauguration of Gov. Chris Christie (R), since taking office he has halted school construction projects across the state. They conclude that numerous education stakeholders “have waited far too long for this very basic education reform. We urge all those concerned about the Newark public schools to let Governor Christie know that it’s time to build Newark’s ‘shovel ready’ new schools.”

Also in the News

Blogger Lists Five Favorite Virtual Tools For “Classroom Chores.”
Sarah Kessler wrote at Mashable (12/1) about five “virtual tools for tackling some of the most common classroom chores.” They include an online grade book by SchoolCircuit that allows parents and students “easy access” and is simple for teachers to manage. Another tool, “Backboard, enables groups to access a shared document and make notes and corrections. It saves time in group projects, draft assessments and even grading.” ClassMaker, meanwhile, lets teachers “make online assessments that are graded instantly;” PlanbookEdu is an online lesson plan book that makes it simple to “share plans with substitute teachers, colleagues and administrators.” Kessler also mentions a $4.99 iPhone app for taking attendance that “was created by a teacher.”

NASA To Give Away Pieces Of Space Shuttle To Schools.
W.J. Hennigan wrote in a blog for the Los Angeles Times (12/1), “Starting Wednesday, NASA is giving away 7,000 space shuttle heat shield tiles to schools and universities that want to pique their students’ interest in the shuttle program with a little piece of space history. … With the shuttle program slated to end next year, NASA said the offer was made to ‘preserve the program’s history and inspire the next generation of space explorers, scientists and engineers.’”

Evolution Debate Intensifies Amid Vote On Textbooks In Louisiana.
Education Week (12/1, Robelen) reported, “Louisiana’s state school board is gearing up for a debate next week over a set of proposed life-science textbooks, amid complaints that they don’t provide information questioning the theory of evolution. But defenders of the texts say the criticism of evolution’s treatment is misguided and appears to be part of a thinly veiled agenda to promote a religiously infused creationist or ‘intelligent design’ perspective on the origins of life.” Education Week added that the state board of education “voted 8-4 last month to recommend the books” and “the two state lawmakers on the panel, who both have leadership roles on education, cast ‘no’ votes.”

NEA in the News
Stakeholders Await Announcement Of Permanent New Jersey Education Commissioner.
The New Jersey Spotlight (12/2, Mooney) speculates as to whether or not New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will give the state’s “acting” education commissioner, Rochelle Hendricks, “the formal job” of education commissioner. The Spotlight points out that Hendricks’ “public refusal last month to attend the annual convention of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), one of Christie’s archenemies, removed little doubt she would follow” his lead. Many education advocates are waiting eagerly for Christie’s decision. Derrell Bradford, executive director of Excellent Education for Everyone, a “school choice advocacy group,” said, for instance, “If she’s going to be the person, we need to know. … We’re 10 months into trying to implement Christie’s reform plans.”

Rhee Among 18 Leaders Appointed To Florida Education Transition Team.
The Washington Post (12/3, Anderson) reports, “Former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has joined the education transition team of Florida Gov.-elect Rick Scott, according to a statement from” Scott’s office. As part of the team, Rhee will help Scott “find innovative ways to create a new education system for a new economy,” the statement said. Rhee also issued a statement on the move, saying, “I am happy to be of service to Governor Elect Scott and the state of Florida. .. When it comes to improving our schools for our children, I will work with Democrats, Republicans, Independents and people who have general interest in making schools great for our children.”

The Miami Herald (12/2, McGrory) reported that 17 other people were also on the list of education transition team appointees. The Orlando Sentinel (12/3, Balona, Roth) reports that “the vast majority of the people named to Scott’s education transition team…are from Florida, and some have been called upon by previous governors for guidance.” Besides Rhee, Scott’s other “Champions of Achievement” include Jonathan K. Hage, the president of Charter Schools USA, who has also advised helped both governors Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist; “Patricia Levesque, executive director of Bush’s Foundation For Florida’s Future…and Julio Fuentes, president of Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.”

The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (12/3, Marshall) reports that MaryEllen Elia, superintendent of the Hillsborough County school district, is “the only representative from traditional public K-12 schools” included among the 18 members. The St. Petersburg Times lists all the members of the team.

Ben Smith writes in his Politico (12/2) blog, “The word that Michelle Rhee will advise Rick Scott’s transition is another signal that Florida is about to emerge as the central battleground in the education wars.” He added, “The well-funded education reform movement has some of the energy and money you’d expect to find around a third party and leaders like Jeb Bush and Michael Bloomberg; it’s a space to watch as 2012 approaches.” Florida’s Sun-Sentinel (12/3, Alanez) and the Palm Beach (FL) Post (12/2, Fitzpatrick) also covered the story.

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In the Classroom
Texas’ New Standardized Tests To Be Longer, More Difficult.
The Dallas Morning News (12/3, Stutz) reports, “Texas students will have to answer more questions – and spend more time in class answering them – when the state’s new student testing program is rolled out for the 2011-12 school year. A preview of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, sent to school districts Wednesday also indicated that college and career readiness rather than minimum skills will be the focus for older students.” The Morning News notes, “Students will have less opportunity to guess at multiple choice questions as more open-ended items appear on tests – particularly in math and science – requiring students to come up with original answers.” The article also includes a list of “the key changes discussed in the report.”

Tennessee Raises High School Graduation Rates With Coaches, CTE.
The Tennessean (12/3, Ragland-Hudgins) reports, “Strategies to get high school students to graduate on time like those implemented by the Rutherford County seem to be working.” The county had a graduation rate of 91.3 percent in 2009. Don Odom, assistant superintendent of instruction and curriculum for Rutherford County Schools, “said when the system implemented graduation coaches in 2007, the focus was on seniors who lacked enough credits to graduate.” The focus has since been expanded to younger students. “We’re trying to pick up the ones coming out of the middle grades because that transition is hard for them,” Odom said. The state as a whole has seen success in raising graduation rates. At Oakland High School, Principal Bill Spurlock has “found that career and technical education students at his school have a higher graduation rate.” Also, “communicating with the staff, he said, has helped tremendously in developing new approaches to help students.”

High School May Get Program Focusing On Cyber Security.
The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (12/3) reports on “plans for a new, cutting edge technology program at Countryside High School [that] are taking shape” in Pinellas County. “The details of the program, called the Institute for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or ISTEM, are a work in progress.” However, the most recent “draft of proposed offerings” focuses on a cyber security program as well as “study paths for database programming and digital video production.” Recently, “the Science Center of Pinellas County teamed up with Raytheon, SRI International and St. Petersburg College to kick off a cyber security education program. Bill Lawrence, director of Pinellas County Schools advanced studies and academic excellence, said the district hopes to work with members of the team to hone elements of the ISTEM program, chief among them, cyber security.”

Eight States Selected For Math And Science Study.
The Aurora (CO) Sentinel (12/3) reports, “Colorado will be among eight states to participate in a new math and science study for eighth graders, an assessment that will reach approximately 50 schools in 28 local districts.” The 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study will take place next spring, and will compare date from the selected states with “student achievement information from more than 60 countries.” Schools in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota and North Carolina were also selected by the Department of Education to take part in the study. Colorado Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones said, “Participating in this study will yield that information and we deeply appreciate the cooperation of those districts and schools that have agreed to assist with this study.”

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Law & Policy
House Approves Child Nutrition Act.
The New York Times (12/3, Pear) reports, “Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a child nutrition bill that expands the school lunch program and sets new standards to improve the quality of school meals, with more fruits and vegetables.” The bill championed by First lady Michelle Obama would be financed, in part “by a cut in food stamps starting in several years.” The Times adds that President Obama is expected to sign the bill.

The AP (12/3) reports that the bill would expand school lunch and dinner programs to include more children. Some lawmakers say the legislation could help “stem rising health care costs due to expanding American waistlines and to feed hungry children in tough economic times.” But opponents are concerned about its costs and say it is “an example of government overreach.”

‎The Christian Science Monitor (12/2, Paulson) reported that “the bill, formally known as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, includes some of the biggest changes to the Child Nutrition Act since the program was started nearly half a century ago.” It provides “$4.5 billion over 10 years to child nutrition programs – the first time the federal government has increased funding for them in 30 years.” Also under the legislation, schools would be reimbursed 6 cents more than the current $2.68 “reimbursement rate…from the federal government for free school meals.”

USA Today (12/3, Eisler) adds, “On the safety front, the bill also includes provisions to better train school cafeteria workers and more quickly alert schools that may have received food that has been recalled because of contamination concerns.”

‎Politico (12/3, Phillip) reports that Michelle Obama said Thursday “that she is ‘thrilled’ that the legislation is close to the finish line. She called it ‘a groundbreaking piece of bipartisan legislation that will significantly improve the quality of meals that children receive at school and will play an integral role in our efforts to combat childhood obesity.’” The Chicago Tribune (12/3, Steffen), Reuters (12/3, Abbott), and AFP (12/3) also cover the story.

Some School Districts Pulling Out Of Race To The Top.
Education Week (12/2, Cavanagh) reported, “States are pushing ahead with efforts to make sweeping changes to education policy through the Race to the Top program, despite some of them having seen individual schools and districts back out of the process because of concerns over the time and money required to make those plans a reality.” According to Education Week, ED spokesman Justin Hamilton “said recently that states that make ‘significant alterations’ to their Race to the Top plans could risk losing their pots of federal cash. But he declined to speculate on how far states could go in changing those blueprints before crossing the line.”

Duncan Criticizes Automatic Pay Raises For Teachers Earning Master’s Degrees.
KLAS-TV Las Vegas, NV (12/2) reported on its Website that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “says there’s little evidence students are getting any better education from teachers who have advanced degrees” yet students “at UNLV’s Masters of Education classes disagreed with Secretary Duncan’s statements.” The Clark County (NV) School District “faces tough budget negotiations with teachers next year” yet thus far, “no district leaders are proposing adjusting the way teachers with master’s degrees are paid. But with Secretary Duncan saying there’s little to show for that extra pay, the idea of adjusting salaries is now out there.”

Facilities
Kansas City School District Hires “Repurposer” To Rehabilitate Vacant Properties.
The Kansas City Star (12/2, Robertson) reported that the Kansas City School District has hired a repurposer “to turn vacant school properties back into community assets.” Shannon Jaax, president of the Kansas City chapter of the American Planning Association, will take on the role created through a partnership between the Board of Education and the city. “The details of the one-year contract are still being finalized. … But the combined salaries for Jaax and a support person will be less than $150,000.’ The board projected an overall budget for the process to be less than $500,000,” board President Airick Leonard West said.

Also in the News
Parents Increasingly Resisting Schools’ Requests For Volunteers.
The New York Times (12/2, D1, Stout) reported on the front of its “Home & Garden” section that mothers nationwide “are becoming emboldened to push back against the relentless requests from their children’s schools for their time.” In recent years, “as local and state economies continue to struggle, budget cuts to rich and poor school systems” have increased schools’ “reliance on unpaid parent help.” Some schools either have or are considering mandatory commitments “to a small amount of volunteer time.” According to the Times, “the heightened need and expectations are coming at a time when many parents have less and less time to give.” Gary Parkes, the PTA president at Carmel Elementary School in Woodstock, Georgia, told the New York Times, “People are so busy trying to stay afloat, they just do not have as much time as they would like to give.”

“Kalamazoo Promise” Helped Boost School Enrollment, Economy In Michigan City.
Columnist Conor Williams writes in The Washington Post (12/3) that in 2005, “a group of residents” from Kalamazoo, Michigan, “anonymously established and endowed ‘The Kalamazoo Promise,’ offering Kalamazoo public school graduates full tuition at any of Michigan’s prestigious public universities or colleges.” Their aim was not only to boost education, but also the local economy. Williams adds that according to the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., “in the Promise’s first two years, real estate values rose by 8 to 10 percent” and “Kalamazoo public school enrollment increased by more than 1,000 students.” Several other “communities, including Detroit and Pittsburgh, are launching versions of a Promise program.” Williams asserts that while “different communities may need different models…there are ways to make it work.” He concludes that these types of local responses “to education and economic challenges is exactly what we need right now.”

Study Finds Disparities In School Punishment For Gay, Lesbian Teens.
The Washington Post (12/6, George) reports, “Gay and lesbian teens in the United States are about 40 percent more likely than their straight peers to be punished by schools, police and the courts, according to a” Yale University “study published Monday, which finds that girls are especially at risk for unequal treatment. The research, described as the first national look at sexual orientation and teen punishment, comes as a spate of high-profile bullying and suicide cases across the country have focused attention on the sometimes hidden cruelties of teen life.” The study finds that “for similar misconduct, gay adolescents were roughly 1.25 to 3 times more likely to be sanctioned than their straight peers.”

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In the Classroom
Fewer Than 400,000 Illegal Immigrant Students Estimated At Texas Public Schools.
The Dallas Morning News (12/5, Hobbs et al.) reported that because Texas “schools do not track students’ legal status,” it is unknown “how many illegal immigrants” are enrolled. An analysis of “little-known state data,” however, provides “a range that is lower than many people might expect,” the Morning News added. According to researchers, “between 125,000 and 150,000 illegal immigrants attended Texas public schools in 2009.” This cost “taxpayers more than $1 billion a year.” At the most, the state has “about 400,000 illegal immigrant students,” based on the fact that 92 percent of students in the state have “Social Security numbers on file.”

Dallas District Officials Seeking To Add More Teach For America Instructors. The Dallas Morning News (12/3, Haag) reported, “Dallas school officials asked trustees Thursday to approve a boost in the district’s participation in Teach for America” as a “report by the district said that the program has been a success and that the performance of the 174 Teach for America teachers, measured by the district’s Classroom Effectiveness Index, outranked other teachers in math and language arts.” According to the Morning News, “The district wants to add 120 Teach for America teachers next year.”

Maryland District Expanding Integrated Curriculum In Elementary Schools.
The Washington Post (12/6, Birnbaum) reports that Maryland’s Montgomery County school district has “a $2.25 million agreement with Pearson…to develop and market a new elementary school curriculum” that teaches “multiple topics…through one theme.” But, according to “Montgomery teachers…the new method, which they call an integrated curriculum, pushes much further,” because it “involves more analytical skills than the old methods.” Montgomery school officials first rolled out the new curriculum, much of which is available online, in kindergarten classrooms, and this year, “112 schools are trying it in first grade.” Eventually, it may “reach all grades at all schools.”

Network Of Chicago Schools Emphasizes Collaborative Teaching.
The Chicago Tribune /Hechinger Report (12/6, Garland) reports, “The Academy for Urban School Leadership – which manages 19 schools in Chicago, including 12 that were designated for ‘turnaround’ because of poor academic performance – employs the technology to help speed up the time it takes new teachers to learn the basics of classroom management. Underlying the new gadgetry, however, is a deeper innovation that is spreading across the country” culminating in “a growing effort to open up classroom doors and transform teaching from a solo endeavor into teamwork. It’s a quiet reform in an era of more extreme moves such as firing principals, opening charter schools or splitting dropout factories into smaller schools.”

Student Experiment To Launch With Endeavour.
KSTU-TV Salt Lake City, Utah (12/5) website reports, “Hillcrest High School students will be part of NASA’s final” Endeavour mission. Although it reports the mission will take place in February, the article notes the group is “one of 16 teams selected from across the country to send a science experiment aboard NASA’s Endeavor Space Shuttle. Out of 447 entries from high school students, Keltson Howell, Megan Dolley and Nicos Liodakis made the cut to load their experiment on the space shuttle Endeavor.” The experiment “will test the effects of microgravity on the development of an African Pond Frog. Two eggs will be sent on Endeavor and two eggs will be kept on Earth to serve as a control to compare development.”

Maryland District Touts AP Scores.
The Washington Post (12/5, Birnbaum) reports, “The cross-Potomac staring match between the schools of” Montgomery, Maryland and Fairfax, Virginia – two of the highest performing districts in the US — on Friday after Montgomery Superintendent Jerry D. Weast “pointed out in a letter to his school board that the number of passing AP scores among African American and Hispanic students in Montgomery – 3,235 – was higher than the total number of those students who took AP tests at all in Fairfax – 1,746.” The Post points out that Fairfax schools have “about half as many African American students and the same number of Hispanic students, contributing factors in why Montgomery’s participation numbers are higher.” WTOP-FM Washington, DC (12/5) also covered this story in a report on its Website.

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On the Job
Retention Gap Expanding Between White, Minority Teachers.
Miller-McCune (12/5, Burns) reported that according to researchers, droves of minority teachers “are going in one door and out the other.” Over the last 20 years, “the number of teachers of color has doubled to 640,000,” but they “still represent only 17 percent of the teaching workforce,” according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania. Moreover, the study says, “minority teachers…have been changing schools and abandoning the profession at higher rates than whites,” and that “gap is widening.” The reasons for the high turnover rates among minority teachers may include “poor working conditions in the high-poverty, high-minority urban schools where they are concentrated.” Also, the teachers often want “want more influence over school direction and more autonomy in the classroom to teach what works.”

Analysis: Los Angeles Would Have Far Fewer Teacher Layoffs If Quality Were A Factor.
The Los Angeles Times (12/4, Song et al.) reported that “quality-blind layoffs are just one vestige of seniority rules introduced decades ago to promote fairness and protect teachers from capricious administrators.” The Times looked into how “about 2,700 seniority-based layoffs in the Los Angeles Unified School District in the last two years” have impacted student achievement based on the performance data of roughly 1,000 “elementary and middle school teachers.” It found that about 190 of the teachers laid off by the district “ranked in the top fifth in raising scores and more than 400 ranked in the top 40 percent.” Also, according to the Times, “far fewer teachers would be laid off if the district were to base the cuts on performance rather than seniority.”

Pennsylvania Leads States In Number Of Teachers Strikes.
The AP (12/5, Scolforo) reported that teacher strikes occur “more often in Pennsylvania than in all other states combined.” But even though “more than half the nation’s teacher strikes have occurred in Pennsylvania every year since 2004, their frequency is actually far lower than it once was.” The AP notes that “thirty-seven states do not permit teachers to strike,” and some constituents hope that with a new governor and a new majority in the state Legislature, more progress will be made “in what has been a long crusade to ban strikes” in Pennsylvania.

Safety & Security
Schools’ Safe Practices Include Clothing Color Restrictions.
The Modesto (CA) Bee (12/5, Austin) reported that due to gang violence in “the south Modesto neighborhood by Bret Harte Elementary and Hanshaw Middle School,” school officials have implemented “safe practices at both schools,” including “careful regulation of colors, particularly at the middle school.” For instance, Hanshaw does not allow “bright red or royal blue” clothes to be worn on campus. “At Bret Harte, children are allowed to wear blue – the school color – and khaki or shades of brown and blue jeans…but no red.” The Modesto Bee lists several other precautionary measures the schools have implemented in order to promote a safe learning environment.

Classroom “Go-Kits” Include Supplies For Lock-Downs, Long-Term Evacuations.
The Berkshire (MA) Eagle (12/6, Smith) reports that the Central Berkshire Regional School District’s School Emergency Planning Council (SEPC) “recently completed a yearlong project to fund and assemble emergency ‘Go-Kits’ to put in every classroom and administrative office.” The kits comprise of “small backpacks filled with emergency and administrative supplies in the event students are locked-down in the classroom or need to be evacuated from a school for a prolonged period of time.” Items in the kits “include emergency blankets, drinking water pouches, face masks, writing utensils, flashlights, glow stick lights and emergency plans and forms.” The Eagle notes that “SEPC was able to secure at $13,431 grant from the Western Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council for the project back in April.”

Also in the News
New Website Designed As Platform For Youth To Write Novels.
The New York Times (12/6, Bosman) reports, “Figment.com will be unveiled on Monday as an experiment in online literature, a free platform for young people to read and write fiction, both on their computers and on their cellphones. Users are invited to write novels, short stories and poems, collaborate with other writers and give and receive feedback on the work posted on the site.” According to the Times, “The idea for Figment emerged from a very 21st-century invention, the cellphone novel, which arrived in the United States around 2008.”

Embattled New York City Schools Chancellor-Designate Defends Record.
The AP (12/6) reports that incoming New York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black “defended her skills and experience as a manager of large, complex organizations in her first interview, broadcast Sunday on WABC-TV. … The 66-year-old Hearst Magazines chairwoman has faced criticism over her lack of education experience since being appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.” According to the AP, “Speaking about her decision to send her own children to private schools, Black said that ‘schools in New York City 15 years ago were not at the caliber that they are today.’”

The New York Times (12/6, Otterman) adds that Black “praised the work of Chancellor Joel I. Klein, saying that she was in ‘complete alignment’ with him, and that she agreed with all the measures he had put into place. … On labor issues, Ms. Black said that as negotiations for a new contract for city teachers moved forward, she planned to continue Mr. Klein’s efforts to increase the robustness of teacher evaluations, reconsider the policy of lifetime tenure and seek to change the law that requires layoffs to be determined by seniority.”

Schools Expect Parents To Monitor Students’ Internet Activity At Home.
The New York Times (12/5, A1, Hoffman) reported on its front page that the Internet’s “potential for casual, breathtaking cruelty, and its capacity to cloak a bully’s identity all present slippery new challenges to this transitional generation of analog parents.” They turn to schools for help, but are often “rebuffed because officials think they do not have the authority to intercede.” Parents are expected to monitor their own children’s online activity at home, as “overburdened school administrators and, increasingly, police officers who unravel juvenile cybercrimes, say it is almost impossible for them to monitor regulations imposed on teenagers.”

Rhee Launches Education Reform Advocacy Group.
The Washington Post (12/7, Turque, Anderson) reports, “Michelle A. Rhee, who often expressed impatience with politics in more than three years as D.C. schools chancellor, launched a new political organization Monday that plans to spend $1 billion bringing her aggressive brand of education reform to the national stage.” The group will address teacher recruitment, merit pay, “expanding school choice and fostering parent and family involvement.”

The New York Times (12/7, Gabriel) adds that StudentsFirst “will solicit memberships for as little as $5 per month, but it will also take advantage of changes in campaign finance laws that allow it to broadcast political advertisements paid for by rich individuals and corporations.”

Bloomberg News (12/7, Deprez) adds that in the “organization’s first year, Rhee aims to sign up 1 million members and raise $1 billion from corporate and philanthropic donors and from membership dues, she said. The group, whose headquarters location hasn’t been determined, will express opinions on legislation and endorse candidates” and “will have an annual budget of $200 million to $300 million, Rhee said.” The Wall Street Journal (12/7, Banchero) and Politico (12/7, Epstein) also cover the story.

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In the Classroom
Detroit Public Schools Recruits Community Volunteers For Reading Tutoring Program.
Miller-McCune (12/6, Vachon) reported on Detroit Public Schools’ efforts to recruit volunteers to tutor students in the critical area of reading. Low test scores throughout the district in both reading and math in 2009 “suggested to school officials that reading posed the most foundational problem, preventing progress in math and other areas.” In order to boost achievement, DPS Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb created the Call to Action for a new Reading Corps program. Most volunteer tutors do not have an education background, so “organizers have set up a 30-minute structured module. After a brief introduction, the tutor reads to the child for 15 minutes and is asked to retell the story in their words.” For 2010-11, “more than 5,700 volunteers offered to help, representing over 650,000 hours of tutoring.”

Wisconsin Virtual School Advocates Call For More Accessibility.
The Superior (WI) Telegraph (12/6, Nachreiner) reported that the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families are pointing to a “presented recently at an education conference in Washington DC by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush” in its case for expanding virtual education in the state. “Ten Elements of High Quality Digital Learning” says that online education can be a solution “to many education problems” and “stresses accessibility as a way to improve online education for states.” Wisconsin limits virtual public school enrollment to 5,250 students, a restriction that Julie Thompson of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families says frustrates many families. The enrollment cap, she notes, “has resulted in waiting lists dragging on through summer.”

Law & Policy
Judge: Detroit Schools Emergency Manager Has Limited Say In Non-Financial Matters.
The AP (12/6) reported that Wayne County Judge Wendy Baxter ruled on Monday that Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb “exceeded his authority” when he did not consult school board members on issues “that go beyond money.”

The Detroit Free Press (12/7, Dawsey) reports that Judge Baxter’s decision “could dramatically change the power structure and reform efforts under way in the Detroit Public Schools.” Since his appointment in 2009, Bobb has made “decisions regarding school closures and curriculum in the school system.” The Free Press quotes Bobb as saying, “Judge Baxter’s ruling is a step backward and endorses the past academic policies which, along with the financial practices and the overall direction of the school district, were a total failure. There’s nothing in the Board’s academic plan that sets measurable goals for the district .. The ruling fails to address the basic question of how to separate the academics from the financials.”

The Detroit News (12/7, Schultz) reports that school board members, meanwhile, “praised the ruling, declaring it an early Christmas gift. They pledged to reassess Bobb’s academic decisions, including quarterly benchmark tests of students.” The Detroit News also notes that “the decision comes as Bobb is trying to persuade the Michigan Legislature to free up $400 million to help mend deficits in DPS and 40 other districts.”

Salt Lake City Schools To Consider Anti-Discrimination Policy For Gay Students, Faculty.
The AP (12/7) reports that the Salt Lake City, Utah, school board today will consider implementing “an anti-discrimination policy including protections for gay students and faculty. … The district already identifies color, disability, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion and gender as protected classes.”

The Salt Lake Tribune (12/7, Winters) reports that “Advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have asked that the Board of Education go further and also add gender identity and expression to the policy to protect students and employees who are transgender or who express their gender in ways that differ from social norms.” District officials say that if the policy is adopted, Salt Lake City would be the first school system “in Utah to do so.”

Incoming New York City Schools Chief Critical Of Teacher Tenure System.
The New York Daily News (12/6, Kolodner) reported, “The icy relationship between the” New York City “Education Department and the teachers union shows no sign of thawing under the new schools chancellor. Incoming schools chief Cathie Black blasted tenure for teachers” in a interview aired on WABC-TV (New York, NY). According to the Daily News, “Outgoing Chancellor Joel Klein worked unsuccessfully for years to get rid of a provision that allows the least senior teachers to be laid off first. Black, 66, said she’s also against the policy because it could cause the system to lose ‘younger, newer, fresher ideas.’” The Wall Street Journal (12/6, Rutkoff) also covered this story.

Black Faces Steep Learning Curve. The New York Times (12/7, Dominus) reports, “During an hourlong visit to Public School 33 in Chelsea on Monday morning,” incoming New York City schools Chancellor Cathleen Black “missed no opportunity to smile and say hello to school employees, from the office assistants to the person she later called the safety adviser (safety officer, but O.K., she is still new).” According to the Times, “It is all new to Cathie Black: the knees, the numbers, the needs of the nation’s largest school system, where two-thirds of the students are poor enough to qualify for free meals. The current chancellor, Joel I. Klein, grew up in a housing project; Ms. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, acknowledged Monday that she had never set foot in one.”

NAACP To Push For Longer School Day, Universal Kindergarten.
The AP (12/5) reported that the NAACP “says it will push for many changes in the nation’s schools as well as guarding against a return to segregated policies of bygone days as it wrapped up an education conference Saturday” in Raleigh, NC. NAACP President Benjamin Todd “told The News & Observer of Raleigh that other issues include longer school days, year-round attendance and universal kindergarten. … Wake County was chosen as the backdrop for this year’s meeting because of a school board vote to scrap a decade-old busing policy to achieve socio-economic balance in public schools” that has drawn a civil rights complaint from the NAACP and other groups.

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Safety & Security
Massachusetts District’s Bullying Prevent Program Gets National Recognition.
The Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette (12/6, Baldwin) reported on the West Boylston Bullying Prevention Program, which has recently gotten national attention, according to Superintendent Thomas J. Kane. “People magazine contacted us because they became aware of some of the things we were doing,” Kane told a crowd of parents last week. The district has since 2005 “had ‘bully boxes,’ where students can write about bullying incidents and ask for help.” With the boxes, “any student can report what is believed to be a bullying incident.” Additional “bullying-prevention efforts include direct instruction, teaching strategies, whole-school initiatives, various events and programs, school resources (such as guidance staff and peer programs), community resources (working with the police) and collaborating with families,” Kane said.

School Finance
Idaho District To Use About Half Of Jobs Bill Money To Restore Unpaid Furlough Days.
The AP (12/7) reports that Twin Falls (ID) public schools plan “to spend nearly half of their share of a $51 million pool of federal money given to Idaho to preserve teaching jobs.” That means about $650,000 of their $1.3 million cut will “restore four unpaid furlough days previously cut from teacher contracts.”

Federal Education Funding In Limbo.
Education Week (12/6, Klein, Samuels) reported, “Cash-strapped states and school districts wondering whether they will see an increase in federal funding this year will likely have to wait a week or more for Congress to complete action on a spending plan for fiscal 2011, which began Oct. 1.” Congress “could pass a year-long continuing resolution, extending all federal funding at fiscal 2010 levels until the end of fiscal 2011 next Sept. 30″ or “another stop-gap measure. .. Or-as many education advocates hope-they could use the extra time to reach agreement on a large budget bill that would finance most of the federal government for fiscal 2011.”

Also in the News
Obama Calls For “Sputnik Moment” In Education.
The AP (12/7, Werner) reports from Winston-Salem, NC, “Warning of a future where America could lag other nations, President Barack Obama called Monday for more spending on education, innovation and infrastructure to ensure that doesn’t happen.” The President told teachers and students at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, NC, that “it was time for an American ‘Sputnik moment’ — referring to the 1957 Soviet satellite launch that jolted the US into jump-starting its own space and science programs.” Said Obama, “We need a commitment to innovation we haven’t seen since President Kennedy challenged us to go to the moon.” Politico (12/7) also covers the story.

NEA in the News

New Jersey Education Association To Unveil Plans For Tenure Reform, Failing Schools.
New Jersey’s Record (12/6, Alex) reported that the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) “will unveil its plans for tenure reform and failing schools” today. NJEA spokesman Steve Baker said that the tenure reform proposal is “designed to address concerns [of the public] without getting the unintended consequences of eliminating tenure.” Also today, NJEA President Barbara Keshishian “will discuss the National Education Association’s Priority Schools Campaign, a reform initiative aimed at low-achieving schools,” which was launched this year. The campaign seeks to establish a “collaborative approach to school reform” that includes teachers, parents, and community members. New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (12/7) also covers the story.

Florida Lawmakers To Host Private Screening Of “Waiting For Superman.”
The Miami Herald (12/6, Kennedy) reported that “Florida lawmakers will host a private screening [today] of the film ‘Waiting for Superman,’” followed by a panel discussion about education. Florida Education Association spokesman Mark Pudlow responded to news of the movie screening, saying, “It’s a terribly skewed view of education. … But I’m sure the members will enjoy it immensely.” The Herald added that Gov.-elect Rick Scott (R) “is a fan of the film. … During the final weekend of the governor’s race, [he] rented out a Winter Park movie theater to air Waiting for Superman before an audience that included several low-income students whose tuition at an area private school was paid through the state’s Tax Credit Scholarship program.”

NJEA Reform Proposal Covers Teacher Firings, Technology Expansion.
The AP (12/8, Mulvihill) reports that the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) unveiled a plan that would “make it quicker for schools to fire bad teachers in a response to Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) constant refrain that the group is a roadblock to improving education.” The NJEA recommends that “the process… be moved from administrative law courts to arbitrators, who would have strict deadlines for coming up with final rulings.” In addition to the arbitration idea, the NJEA announced several other “initiatives to try to reform the state’s public school system.”

New Jersey’s Record (12/8, Brody) reports that under the plan “to fast-track tenure cases…it would take 90 days to remove a bad teacher instead of roughly a year.” Also “under the current system, dismissing a tenured teacher can easily cost a district more than $100,000 in legal fees and other expenses, such as paying teachers who are suspended while the legal process drags on.” The NJEA’s proposal is “modeled after a successful program in Massachusetts,” the record adds.

New Jersey’s Daily Record (12/7, Symons) reports that the proposal is “a much tamer version of tenure reform than the overhaul sought by Gov. Chris Christie, but NJEA officials said tweaks to the current system are what’s needed.” NJEA President Barbara Keshishian is quoted as saying, “The current system works. … After three years, a decision can certainly more than likely be correctly and comfortably made as to whether or not someone should keep their job.”

The New Jersey Newsroom (12/8) reports, “Other parts of the proposal include commitments to better serve the needs of students in early grades…the creation of a cadre of educational technology coaches to expand the use of technology in schools;” a mentorship program for new teachers aimed at retention; and “strong NJEA commitment to lend expertise, resources, and staff to help low-performing schools improve.” Keshishian told reporters Tuesday, “Our reforms take the view that professional educators should be involved in the development of reforms. .. Too many so-called reforms are based on politics and sound bites – and not on sound research and proven practice.” The Wall Street Journal (12/8, Fleisher) and NJ Today (12/7) also covered the story.

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In the Classroom
International Test Data Show US In Middle Of Pack In Math, Science.
The Christian Science Monitor (12/8, Paulson) reports, “American students made modest gains in science and math, but still lag significantly behind their counterparts around the world.” This is according to “the latest results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) released Tuesday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),” which “show Asian students – particularly those from China, who participated in the exam for the first time in 2009 – at the top of the pack, with the United States generally in the middle or, in math, toward the bottom.”

Bloomberg News (12/8, Hechinger) reports, “Fifteen-year-olds in the US ranked 25th among peers from 34 countries on a math test and scored in the middle in science and reading, while China’s Shanghai topped the charts, raising concern that the US isn’t prepared to succeed in the global economy.” In the US, the test is considered “one of the most comprehensive measures of international achievement.” Unlike previous versions, “the test broke out the performance of China’s Shanghai region, which topped every country in all academic categories.” Bloomberg notes, “China’s success in Shanghai results from” the government’s embrace of “a more inclusive system in which all students are expected to perform at high levels,” according to the OECD. “China also raised teacher pay and standards and reduced rote learning, while giving students and local authorities more choice in curriculum.” The Washington Post (12/7, Anderson), the New York Times (12/7, A1, Dillon), and the Wall Street Journal (12/8) also covered the story.

California Graduation, Dropout Rates Increase.
The AP (12/8) reports, “California public high school students graduated at a higher rate in 2008-09 than the previous year, but more students also dropped out, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Education. The data showed that 70.1 percent of public school students graduated from high school during the 2008-09 school year-an improvement from 68.5 percent the previous year.” According to the AP, “African-Americans had the highest dropout rate at 36.9 percent, followed by Hispanics followed at 26.9 percent.”

Florida Homeless Students Increasing In Number.
The Miami Herald (12/7, Haughney) reported that the number of homeless student in Florida rose to 49,104 in 2009-10 from 6,201 in 2002-03. Schools are required to have “a homeless liaison” and often have to “devote extra attention to such students, because they’re extremely at-risk.” Moreover, “students who are declared homeless are enrolled in the free lunch program and given aid in other ways, such as clothing and transportation assistance.” Barbara Duffield, policy director for the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, said that stimulus money has helped schools respond to the increase in homeless students, “but that is running out.”

On the Job
Teachers Learn How To Enhance Science Lessons With Hip-Hop.
WBTW-TV Florence, South Carolina (12/7, McClam) reported that science teachers in the Florence School District 3 “recently learned how to use hip-hop music to teach” at a monthly workshop of the Science Professional Learning Community. “This month’s speaker was Paul Morse of www.sciencehiphop.com. … Morse has created hip-hop songs on scientific inquiry, the cell, the periodic table, the rock cycle and other topics.”

Law & Policy
Parents Mobilize To Force Charter Company Takeover Of Failing California School.
The New York Times (12/8, A16, Medina) reports that more than 250 parents at McKinley Elementary School in Compton, California, “are using a new state law to force the failing school to be taken over by a charter school operator, the first such move in the country.” The law says that “if 51 percent of parents at a school sign a petition, it ‘triggers’ one of four actions, including takeover by a charter school.” Sixty-one percent of McKinley parents “signed the petition.”

The Los Angeles Times (12/7, Watanabe, Blume) noted that “the mobilization at McKinley has raised concerns.” Several district officials “said they were not aware of the petition drive before being contacted Monday by the media, and the state teachers union criticized the effort’s low profile.” Frank Wells, a spokesman for the California Teachers Association – an NEA affiliate, said that “the chosen charter, Celerity Educational Group, should have competed publicly against other possible choices.” But, while the new law does give districts “the right to verify the petition signatures,” it gives them “little room to block the parents’ chosen course,” according to Nicolas Schweizer, executive director of the state Board of Education.

Bills On Bullying Filed By Texas Legislators.
Texas’ Star-Telegram (12/7, Batheja) reported, “After a rash of widely publicized suicides by youths who were victims of bullying, the Texas Legislature next year will consider redefining how schools tackle the problem. At least seven bills related to bullying have been filed in advance of next year’s legislative session.” According to the Star-Telegram, “The issue has gained traction nationally after several suicides by youths who were alleged to have been bullied for being gay, including Asher Brown, 13, of Houston, who shot himself with his father’s handgun, and Tyler Clementi, 18, a Rutgers University student who jumped off a bridge.” The AP (12/7) also covered this story.

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Safety & Security
“Text-A-Tip” Lets Students Anonymously Notify Administrators About Potential Problems.
KMBC-TV Kansas City, Missouri (12/8) reports on the “Text-A-Tip” program that will soon be implemented in North Kansas City School District. Text-A-Tip will allow “students to anonymously text school officials about things going on in school that could lead to trouble,” including bullying. Submitted texts “would go to a server in Utah and then be forwarded to the school resource officer or other school administrators.”

Boys, Girls Show Different Concussion Symptoms, Study Shows.
The Washington Post (12/8, Siegel) reports, “According to a study presented Tuesday on Capitol Hill, boys and girls may present different types of symptoms after suffering a sport-related concussion. Data collected from 100 American high schools during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years showed that while recuperation time is similar for both sexes, males reported more cognitive symptoms…while females reported more neurobehavioral (sleeping more than usual, drowsiness, fatigue, nervousness) and somatic (headache, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, and balance problems) symptoms.” The Post notes that the “study will be published in the January issue of the Journal of Athletic Training.”

School Finance
Minneapolis Schools To Use $8 Million From Jobs Fund To Maintain Workforce.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (12/8, Michell) reports, “Minneapolis School District leaders will use $8 million in federal funds to save 90 teaching jobs and prevent mid-year layoffs.” The jobs fund money will go toward “maintaining, not expanding, [the district's] workforce.” Stan Alleyne, a district spokesman, said Tuesday that layoffs were not being considered “as an option” to cover “a projected budget deficit that ballooned this fall when an arbitrator ruled that the district owed employees $17 million in back pay.”

Also in the News
Gates Foundation Forges Education Partnerships.
The AP (12/8) reports, “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is helping traditional school districts in nine cities form partnerships with charter school organizations, to help both kinds of schools learn from each other and improve student learning. The collaboration agreements announced Tuesday in Denver will help schools there and in Baltimore, Hartford, Conn., Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans, New York City and Rochester, N.Y.” According to the AP most of the agreements “will focus on things like access to buildings, opening charter schools to students with special needs or those who are still learning English, and aligning school curriculum to the new national academic standards.”

The Tennessean (12/7, Hall) reported, “Nashville is one of nine cities selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a model city for forging a working partnership between its school district, community and charter schools. … Part of Nashville’s compact agrees to allow district teachers to take three year leaves of absenses to work in a charter school and to share student tracking data and professional development.” The Denver Post (12/7, Meyer), the Baltimore Sun (12/7), KDVR-TV Denver (12/7, Jose), and NY1 News New York (12/7) also covered the story.

NEA in the News

Dismantling Education Department Could Be Tough Task.
Education Week (12/7, Klein) reported, “During the recent midterm election, a number of conservative Republican…took aim at scrapping a familiar target: the 30-year-old US Department of Education.” Education Week pointed out, however, that “if past attempts are any guide…a push to abolish the agency as a Cabinet-level department faces steep political and logistical hurdles.” President Jimmy Carter “won the first-ever presidential endorsement from the National Education Association,” in part because he “made creation of a Cabinet-level education department a key piece of his platform in the 1976 presidential campaign.” Meanwhile, “many lawmakers serving in Congress when legislation establishing the Education Department was passed worried that the agency would, essentially, be a voice in the federal government for the NEA.” Education Week added that since, the department was created in 1979, it has been targeted for elimination under some administrations, though the idea “never caught fire…with mainstream voters.”

Texas Releases Districts’ Student Achievement, Financial Ratings.
The Dallas Morning News (12/9, Holloway) reports that nine Dallas-area “school districts received a five-star rating from the Texas comptroller’s office Wednesday based on a complex new system that looks at both” Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills “score improvement and expenditures. … The ratings were released by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs as part of a report that rated the districts, listed ways districts might save money and introduced a website with massive amounts of data that can be used by the public.” The Morning News notes that the “numbers are based on data from the 2008-09 school year.”

The Houston Chronicle (12/9, Mellon) reports, “The Houston Independent School District is making above-average gains in student test scores but isn’t spending taxpayer money as efficiently as many of its suburban neighbors, according to a state study released Wednesday. … The study comes as school officials brace for major cuts – perhaps between $3 billion and $5 billion – due to a state budget shortfall.” According to the Chronicle, “The comptroller’s grades – dubbed FAST ratings, for the Financial Allocation Study for Texas – were based on a formula that adjusted for differences among districts, including salary levels and student demographics.”

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In the Classroom
Middle School In Memphis “Urkels” Students With Sagging Pants.
KETK-TV Tyler, Texas (12/9) reports that Bobby White, principal of Westside Middle School in Memphis, Tennessee, has “combined a popular TV character, an award system, and zip ties to turn [the school] into a no-sagging zone.” Now, “staff members walk the halls with zip ties” and when they find a student wearing saggy pants, they tie up the extra fabric, turning the student “into television character Steve Urkel. The popular character’s style of dress is now a verb at Westside Middle School.” Student Keldrion Vann told KETK, “It’s pretty embarrassing. … They can put your pants as high as your chest.” After Westside started “Urkling” students, it saw a more than 80 percent “drop in the number of people” needing to be zip tied, said teacher Shaka Greene. Greene, KETK adds, “is the reigning ‘Urkel’ award champ. The teacher started ‘Urkeling’ up to 80 students a week,” and “in five weeks, that number dropped to 18.”

Texas’ American Statesman (12/8) “Homeroom” blog noted that Westside Middle “even has a ‘Steve Urkel: War Against Saggy Pants’ wall, in which students…caught violating the dress code are displayed with their pants cinched all the way up.” Columnist James E. Causey also covered the story in his Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (12/8) “Uncommon Causey” blog.

Programs Encourage Elementary Students To Set College Goals.
Education Week (12/7, Adams) reported, “In the push to boost college-completion rates, high schools have often been the focus of college-readiness efforts, but now the reach is going even deeper into middle and elementary schools. Some educators feel it’s too late in high school to start introducing the concepts of college, high expectations, and academic achievement.” Thus, programs “are emerging to instill in young children the belief that they can go to college and promote the work ethic needed to make it.”

Dropout Rate Among Black California Students On The Rise.
The San Francisco Chronicle (12/8, Tucker) reports, “More than a third of California’s African American public high school students dropped out before graduation day, a startling number and one that’s on the rise, according to 2009 data released Tuesday. The 37 percent African American dropout rate, up three percentage points from the prior year, was far above that of any other ethnic subgroup” and “Hispanic students had the second highest rate at 27 percent.” The Chronicle adds, “The statewide statistics highlight a pervasive achievement gap in test scores and graduation rates that persists despite focused efforts to boost the academic performance of black, Hispanic and low-income students, state education officials said.”

On the Job
Thirty More Minnesota Districts, Charter Schools Adopt Q Comp Teacher Pay System.
The AP (12/9, Williams) reports that “seven school districts and 23 charter schools are joining Minnesota’s alternative system for evaluating and paying teachers – the signature education initiative under Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who leaves office next month.” Under the Q Comp program, started in 2006, school districts get “an additional $260 per student in state aid and additional levy authority.” In return, they must “agree to a system of professional development and evaluation for teachers that emphasizes teachers evaluating each other. It also links teacher pay to the test scores of their students.” KAAL-TV Austin, Minnesota (12/8) noted that “with the addition of 30 new schools and districts, 32% of Minnesota students are now taught by Q Comp teachers.”

Purdue Develops New Courses For Computer Science Teachers.
The Brazil (IN) Times (12/8) reported, “Faculty from Purdue’s Department of Computer Science and College of Education worked together to develop two new courses and create a computer science teaching supplemental licensure program for education majors. The program is part of Purdue’s National Science Foundation-funded Computer Science for the Education project that is part of a national initiative to expand by 2015 the number of high school educators who are qualified to teach computer science.” One course, “Contemporary Issues in Computing,” considers “how computing affects everyone in society and what the implications are for the future. ” The second, “Methods of Teaching Computer Science,” focuses on “effective techniques for teaching computational thinking and presents the latest research on how to teach computing concepts and programming skills.” The students will also “take four computer science courses in programming, discrete mathematics and data structures and algorithms to fulfill the program requirements.”

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Law & Policy
Parent Group Files Complaint Against Chicago Public Schools Over Flunking Policy.
The Chicago Tribune (12/9, Ahmed-Ullah) reports that Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE), “a nonprofit group representing Chicago Public Schools parents,” has filed a complaint with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against the district over its “policy of flunking…students who fail to meet cutoff scores on state standardized tests.” PURE says that the rule, which applies to third-, sixth- and eighth-graders, “disproportionately harms black and Latino students.” But, CSP officials defend the policy, saying “it would be a disservice to promote students who aren’t prepared to move up,” which they imply is what failing test scores indicate.

The Chicago Sun Times (12/8, Rossi) reported that in the complaint, PURE noted that “about 100,000 students have repeated a grade since 1996, at an estimated cost of $100 million a year.” WGN-TV Chicago (12/9, Kissinger, Crews) reports that PURE also “argues the practice of ending social promotions has accelerated the downward spiral of many affected students and led to an increase in the dropout rate.”

Oregon Releases Guidance For New Law Allowing Teachers To Wear Religious Clothing.
The Oregonian (12/9, Melton) reports that Oregon officials “released a policy Wednesday intended to help school districts apply [the state's] new law permitting teachers to wear religious clothing in the classroom.” It includes “a list of issues that should be addressed before restricting an employee’s religious dress,” such as “evaluating the size and visibility of the religious clothing, the number of employees wearing similar clothing, and whether the clothing could be perceived as an effort to convert students.” KEZI-TV Eugene (12/8, Skrzypek) noted that the Oregon Department of Education “says the guide is just intended as a model” and “schools are encouraged to use it when forming their own policy.” KPTV-TV Portland (12/8) also covered the story.

Detroit School Board To Review Programs Implemented By Bobb.
The Detroit News (12/9, Schultz) reports that “in the wake of a court ruling that takes academic control of Detroit Public Schools away from Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb, the elected school board is preparing to review which programs to keep for its 70,000 students.” In addition to re-evaluating initiatives such as “extended instructional time in math and reading” and “extended school days,” the board may also look at “the pending issuance of 35,000 netbooks to sixth- through 12th-graders, the volunteer reading corps program that pairs a tutor with pre-kindergarten students, and raising the academic eligibility requirements to play district sports starting in 2011″ – all programs implemented under Bobb. School Board President Anthony Adams has said, however, that even though he applauds the court ruling, “many of those programs support the board’s vision and have helped students.”

School Finance
Milwaukee School Budget Predictions Indicate Loss Of More Than 300 Jobs.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (12/9, Richards) reports that “preliminary Milwaukee Public Schools budget predictions for fiscal 2012 include a slight dip in student enrollment and the loss of more than 300 full-time jobs,” mainly due to “a drop in federal stimulus and education jobs money.” But Terry Falk, chair of the board’s Committee on Strategic Planning and Budget, said that until officials know how much schools will get in the new state budget, financial predictions will not “carry much weight.” He noted that “the state superintendent’s recent proposal to change the way schools in the state are financed” is still undecided upon. “Still, the anticipated drop-off of federal stimulus funds that poured into the district as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and this year’s education jobs bill” is expected to leave the district with about $88.1 million less in the 2011-12 school year than in previous years.

Grand Rapids-Area School Districts Plan To Retain Teachers With “Edujobs” Funding.
The Grand Rapids Press (12/8, Scott) reported that “local school officials expect to retain teachers and programs next year with their share of $246 million of one-time ‘Edujobs’ federal aid.” Grand Rapids Public Schools, for instance, plans to use its $3.9 million share to preserve, instead of add, jobs. Meanwhile, according to Spokesman John Helmholdt, Grand Rapids “and other districts are waiting on the state’s January revenue estimating conference for a better idea of how the state school aid budget is shaping up.” Rockford Superintendent Michael Shibler said he hopes the district will use its $1.8 million on-time funding “to restore elementary music and art.”

Also in the News

Seattle Superintendent Apologizes For Publishing Incorrect College Readiness Figure.
The Seattle Times (12/9, Shaw) reports that “Seattle Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson publicly apologized Wednesday for reporting that just 17 percent of the district’s graduates met the entrance requirements for four-year colleges, when the number was actually much higher.” The Times explains that “the 17 percent figure” was first published in 2008 and “was meant to be a measure of how many students were prepared to succeed in college, but that’s not how the district described it for at least a year. … District officials later quietly stopped using the number then recently revised it, without comment, to 46 percent.” Meanwhile, several “groups and politicians referred to” the 17 percent figure “in speeches, letters and newspaper editorials. As late as last August, former Mayor Norm Rice used it in arguing for changes he wanted to see in Seattle’s new teachers contract,” the Times adds.

Global Study Tracks Common Paths To Improving Schooling.
The Education Week (12/7, Sawchuk) reports, “Around the world, school systems whose students have posted gains over time on international exams also appear to have embraced common clusters of interventions at particular phases of their improvement, concludes a report released last week by” McKinsey & Co. According to Education Week, “Such commonalities appear to transcend differences in nationality, size, demographics, and school spending, according to the analysis, which has drawn praise and skepticism from academics who study international comparisons. Drawing from an analysis of nearly 600 reform strategies instituted across 20 international school systems over a quarter-century, the report…suggests that school systems seeking to improve could do well by taking cues from the strategies used by those with similar performance trends.”

Officials Teach Mexican Schoolchildren To Protect Themselves If Caught In Gun Fight.
Reuters (12/8) reports that safety officials in Acapulco, Mexico are training schoolchildren how to respond if they find themselves in the middle of a fire fight between gangs. The drills come as drug-related violence in Mexico becomes a more common part of everyday life. Reuters notes that only a few schools so far have had the training, but Acapulco officials want to bring it to more schools in the future.

More Than 700 Schools In The US Undergoing Turnaround Efforts This Year.
The AP (12/10, Blankenship) reports that 730 schools throughout the US are trying “to reinvent themselves this school year, and nearly a third have chosen the most difficult paths to get a piece of the more than $500 million set aside for transforming” low-performing schools. According to union leaders, turnaround efforts under No Child Left Behind “became less controversial as school district officials started collaborating with teachers instead of blaming them for their problems.” NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, for instance, is quoted as saying, “Our members are excited. They want to make a difference in these schools.” Van Roekel pointed out that schools’ “success also requires community and parent engagement, effective school leadership, more time for learning and staff collaboration, social services for children, and conditions that attract educators to the most needy schools.”

The Washington Post (12/20, Anderson) reports that “principals and at least half of the staff” have been replaced in about 150 of the schools nationwide that are undergoing changes to boost achievement, according to a report announced Thursday by the Obama Administration. The Post cites as an example G. James Gholson Middle School in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Van Roekel and Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited the school earlier this month. Gholson replaced two principals and half its staff after winning “a $2.7 million turnaround grant” from the federal government. Van Roekel said “that his appearance at Gholson was not meant to endorse a fire-the-faculty strategy. But he said, ‘I talked to the local [union] there and was impressed with the level of collaboration and parental engagement.’”

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In the Classroom
Indiana High Schools Adding Dual-Credit, Job Shadow Opportunities.
The AP (12/10) reports school officials in Indiana “hope to give even more students a chance to earn college credits by making more dual-credit courses available.” The plan gives students “a head start” if they pursue college, as well as “the confidence that they can succeed in college level courses, Whiteland Community High School interim Principal John Schilawski said.” Franklin Community High School, meanwhile, is not only hoping “to expand dual-credit opportunities,” it also “seeks to give students more chances to job shadow and earn college credits at the same time. The school already has an early-college program that lets students earn up to two years’ worth of college credit by the time they graduate.” The AP notes, “As dual-credit programs grow, schools plan to keep track of students after they graduate to see if giving them a head start on college pays off.”

Literacy Program Groups Students According To Reading Level.
The AP (12/9) reported on “a carefully constructed, leveled literacy program that monitors student literacy by pairing students with books by reading level.” Some teachers claim the reading instruction method has dramatically changed the way they teach. “The system places books into an A through Z letter scale. Level A books contain wide spacing, large pictures and large text, while Level Z books contain more text per page with few, if any, pictures.” It differs from “the traditional Basal system in which each student in the class reads the same book each week.” Teachers meet with small groups of students at different times throughout the day to monitor their reading progress and observe “how they respond to sentence structure and phonics.”

On the Job
Leaders Say Professional Development Should Be Part Of Educators’ Daily Work.
J. Alvin Wilbanks, CEO and superintendent of Gwinnett County Public Schools, and Stephanie Hirsh, executive director of Learning Forward, write in an opinion piece for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/10), “The debate on how to best improve student achievement” often excludes the “critical” issue of “teacher quality and how we should go about improving the quality of teaching in every single classroom.” The authors write that research shows teachers are “a key factor in a student’s academic success.” They assert that “the most powerful improvements occur when professional development is embedded into the daily work of every educator. That must be our goal.”

Voice Stress Can Lead To Health Problems In Teachers.
The Baltimore Sun (12/9, Vozzella) reported, “Teachers, like professional singers, are vulnerable to severe voice problems, according to…Johns Hopkins throat specialist. Dr. Lee M. Akst,” who advises teachers “to take voice stress seriously.” The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery says that “one in 10 teachers has been forced out of the profession because” due to problems with their voice. And while some voice problems can “go away on their own…it’s hard for teachers to get the rest necessary to make that happen.” Akst pointed out that these problems are note extremely “not dangerous to personal health,” but they can lead to “an inflamed throat,” which “may also make it harder to tolerate the colds and flu that are already a professional hazard for anyone working around kids.”

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Law & Policy
California Settles With Rights Advocates Over Public School Fees.
The AP (12/9, Jablon) reported, “California school districts will no longer charge parents extra fees for textbooks, art supplies and other basic educational items under a lawsuit settlement announced Thursday.” Under the agreement letters will be sent “to every public school district and charter school operator in the state…encouraging them to review their fees.” In addition, California will “seek new laws that would broaden annual state audits to include determining whether schools charged illegal fees. The laws also would permit parents to complain about illegal fees and to be reimbursed.”

Howard Blume wrote in the Los Angeles Times (12/9) “LA Now” blog that ACLU attorneys filed a case against the state of California “in September after collecting numerous anecdotal examples of school districts charging fees for books and other basic educational materials, as well as for involvement in activities.” Attorneys involved in the matter said that “the tentative resolution…requires both court approval and follow-up legislation.” The San Diego Union Tribune (12/10, Magee) reports that the follow-up legislation “would require a standard complaint process for students, annual audits of such fees, fines for districts for charging them illegally, and resolution for families within 30 days of any illegal charges.”

KGTV-TV San Diego (12/10) and KCRA-TV Sacramento (12/10) also cover the story.

Plan To Return New Orleans Schools To Local Control Approved.
The AP (12/10) reports, “A complex plan that will allow some state-run schools in New Orleans to return to local control by 2012 won approval Thursday from the state education board, temporarily settling a dispute expected to end up in court. The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education agreed to Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek’s recommendation for returning schools taken over by the state’s Recovery School District.” According to the AP, “Approval came despite criticism from New Orleans residents and local school board leaders that the plan creates too many hurdles.”

Washington Court Rules In Favor Of State On Special Education Funding.
The AP (12/10, Blankinship) reports, “The Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state is not shortchanging school districts in the way it pays for special education. In an 8-1 ruling, the high court affirmed a Court of Appeals ruling sparked by a lawsuit brought by a dozen school districts across the state in Thurston County Superior Court.” The Alliance for Adequate Funding of Special Education “has argued Washington districts have been forced to use money raised by school levies to support special education because they were not getting enough money from the state.” The Issaquah (WA) Press (12/10, Geggel) also covers this story.

School Finance
Funding Diverted From Boston-Area Classrooms To Cover Healthcare Costs, Report Says.
The Boston Globe (12/9, Levenson) reported that a report released by the Boston Foundation on Thursday said that “hundreds of millions of dollars the state has provided to [Boston-area] school districts to improve classroom education has instead been gobbled up by soaring health care costs for school employees.” According to the report titled “A Bargain Not Kept,” between 200 and 2007, “annual health care costs in school budgets grew by $1 billion, while state aid for schools grew by only $700 million.” Consequently, many “school districts have been forced to make painful spending cuts, in books, teachers, and teacher training.” The Globe notes that “the report dovetails with the Boston Foundation’s push to loosen union control over health care benefits.”

Nevada School District Officials Told To Expect Funding Cuts Of More Than 10 Percent.
The Las Vegas Sun (12/10, Ramirez) reports, “Clark County school officials who met with Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval this week to discuss the budget described the tone as gloomy and were told to brace for cuts in excess of 10 percent.” Dale Erquiaga, Sandoval’s senior adviser, said that “the governor’s staff was assuming the state budget deficit would be at least $1.2 billion.” And, some estimates have the deficit reaching “as high as $3 billion.” The Las Vegas Sun notes that “education – including higher education – accounts for more than half of all state spending and may bear the brunt of budget cuts. The Clark County School District’s annual budget exceeds $2 billion.”

Also in the News
Nebraska Launches School Information Website.
KCAU-TV Sioux City, Iowa (12/9) reported that Nebraska has launched a new website aimed at helping “parents research the state’s public schools.” In addition, the site will also “will also help schools identify areas that need improvement. But the public part of the website won’t identify individual students.” KHAS-TV Hastings, Nebraska (12/10, Rainey) notes that “the website was paid for by a 1 million dollar federal grant.”

Sources Say Bloomberg Sought Out Canada For New York Schools Chief Post Before Black.
The New York Times (12/10, A25, Hernandez) reports that publishing executive Cathleen P. Black “was not the first person” to whom Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) offered the position of public schools chief. According to two anonymous sources close to the matter, the mayor “tried to persuade Geoffrey Canada, the prominent Harlem education leader…to be chancellor, but Mr. Canada turned it down.” Canada’s schools are known for their “cradle-to-college approach” to education. For him, “becoming chancellor would have meant leaving behind the empire he had built in Harlem, which is depicted as helping children succeed against steep odds in a popular documentary, ‘Waiting for Superman.’” The Times notes that “the revelation suggests that Mr. Bloomberg conducted a wider search than previously thought, and that he may have been seeking a more traditional candidate in hopes of avoiding the withering criticism that has accompanied Ms. Black’s appointment.”

High Chinese PISA Scores Mask Education Weaknesses, Educator Says.
Jiang Xueqin, deputy principal of Peking University High School, writes in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (12/10) that Chinese students’ high scores on the Program for International Student Assessment reflect excellent test-prep by Chinese educators, and masks the reality that Chinese schools fail to prepare students for higher education. Jiang urges a greater focus on writing skills, which he says are lacking among Chinese students.

Esther Cepeda writes in an op-ed for the Press-Telegram (CA) (12/10) that lackluster PISA scores for the US are not an indication “that we’re doomed – meaningful educational reforms to boost student achievement are already being tested across the country. But lacking a cultural shift of our own, America’s relatively affluent standard of living is keeping us from yielding the same academic achievements as our hungry No. 2 competitor,” China.

More Than 700 Schools In The US Undergoing Turnaround Efforts This Year.
The AP (12/10, Blankenship) reports that 730 schools throughout the US are trying “to reinvent themselves this school year, and nearly a third have chosen the most difficult paths to get a piece of the more than $500 million set aside for transforming” low-performing schools. According to union leaders, turnaround efforts under No Child Left Behind “became less controversial as school district officials started collaborating with teachers instead of blaming them for their problems.” NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, for instance, is quoted as saying, “Our members are excited. They want to make a difference in these schools.” Van Roekel pointed out that schools’ “success also requires community and parent engagement, effective school leadership, more time for learning and staff collaboration, social services for children, and conditions that attract educators to the most needy schools.”

The Washington Post (12/20, Anderson) reports that “principals and at least half of the staff” have been replaced in about 150 of the schools nationwide that are undergoing changes to boost achievement, according to a report announced Thursday by the Obama Administration. The Post cites as an example G. James Gholson Middle School in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Van Roekel and Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited the school earlier this month. Gholson replaced two principals and half its staff after winning “a $2.7 million turnaround grant” from the federal government. Van Roekel said “that his appearance at Gholson was not meant to endorse a fire-the-faculty strategy. But he said, ‘I talked to the local [union] there and was impressed with the level of collaboration and parental engagement.’”

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In the Classroom
Indiana High Schools Adding Dual-Credit, Job Shadow Opportunities.
The AP (12/10) reports school officials in Indiana “hope to give even more students a chance to earn college credits by making more dual-credit courses available.” The plan gives students “a head start” if they pursue college, as well as “the confidence that they can succeed in college level courses, Whiteland Community High School interim Principal John Schilawski said.” Franklin Community High School, meanwhile, is not only hoping “to expand dual-credit opportunities,” it also “seeks to give students more chances to job shadow and earn college credits at the same time. The school already has an early-college program that lets students earn up to two years’ worth of college credit by the time they graduate.” The AP notes, “As dual-credit programs grow, schools plan to keep track of students after they graduate to see if giving them a head start on college pays off.”

Literacy Program Groups Students According To Reading Level.
The AP (12/9) reported on “a carefully constructed, leveled literacy program that monitors student literacy by pairing students with books by reading level.” Some teachers claim the reading instruction method has dramatically changed the way they teach. “The system places books into an A through Z letter scale. Level A books contain wide spacing, large pictures and large text, while Level Z books contain more text per page with few, if any, pictures.” It differs from “the traditional Basal system in which each student in the class reads the same book each week.” Teachers meet with small groups of students at different times throughout the day to monitor their reading progress and observe “how they respond to sentence structure and phonics.”

On the Job
Leaders Say Professional Development Should Be Part Of Educators’ Daily Work.
J. Alvin Wilbanks, CEO and superintendent of Gwinnett County Public Schools, and Stephanie Hirsh, executive director of Learning Forward, write in an opinion piece for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/10), “The debate on how to best improve student achievement” often excludes the “critical” issue of “teacher quality and how we should go about improving the quality of teaching in every single classroom.” The authors write that research shows teachers are “a key factor in a student’s academic success.” They assert that “the most powerful improvements occur when professional development is embedded into the daily work of every educator. That must be our goal.”

Voice Stress Can Lead To Health Problems In Teachers.
The Baltimore Sun (12/9, Vozzella) reported, “Teachers, like professional singers, are vulnerable to severe voice problems, according to…Johns Hopkins throat specialist. Dr. Lee M. Akst,” who advises teachers “to take voice stress seriously.” The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery says that “one in 10 teachers has been forced out of the profession because” due to problems with their voice. And while some voice problems can “go away on their own…it’s hard for teachers to get the rest necessary to make that happen.” Akst pointed out that these problems are note extremely “not dangerous to personal health,” but they can lead to “an inflamed throat,” which “may also make it harder to tolerate the colds and flu that are already a professional hazard for anyone working around kids.”

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Law & Policy
California Settles With Rights Advocates Over Public School Fees.
The AP (12/9, Jablon) reported, “California school districts will no longer charge parents extra fees for textbooks, art supplies and other basic educational items under a lawsuit settlement announced Thursday.” Under the agreement letters will be sent “to every public school district and charter school operator in the state…encouraging them to review their fees.” In addition, California will “seek new laws that would broaden annual state audits to include determining whether schools charged illegal fees. The laws also would permit parents to complain about illegal fees and to be reimbursed.”

Howard Blume wrote in the Los Angeles Times (12/9) “LA Now” blog that ACLU attorneys filed a case against the state of California “in September after collecting numerous anecdotal examples of school districts charging fees for books and other basic educational materials, as well as for involvement in activities.” Attorneys involved in the matter said that “the tentative resolution…requires both court approval and follow-up legislation.” The San Diego Union Tribune (12/10, Magee) reports that the follow-up legislation “would require a standard complaint process for students, annual audits of such fees, fines for districts for charging them illegally, and resolution for families within 30 days of any illegal charges.”

KGTV-TV San Diego (12/10) and KCRA-TV Sacramento (12/10) also cover the story.

Plan To Return New Orleans Schools To Local Control Approved.
The AP (12/10) reports, “A complex plan that will allow some state-run schools in New Orleans to return to local control by 2012 won approval Thursday from the state education board, temporarily settling a dispute expected to end up in court. The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education agreed to Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek’s recommendation for returning schools taken over by the state’s Recovery School District.” According to the AP, “Approval came despite criticism from New Orleans residents and local school board leaders that the plan creates too many hurdles.”

Washington Court Rules In Favor Of State On Special Education Funding.
The AP (12/10, Blankinship) reports, “The Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state is not shortchanging school districts in the way it pays for special education. In an 8-1 ruling, the high court affirmed a Court of Appeals ruling sparked by a lawsuit brought by a dozen school districts across the state in Thurston County Superior Court.” The Alliance for Adequate Funding of Special Education “has argued Washington districts have been forced to use money raised by school levies to support special education because they were not getting enough money from the state.” The Issaquah (WA) Press (12/10, Geggel) also covers this story.

School Finance
Funding Diverted From Boston-Area Classrooms To Cover Healthcare Costs, Report Says.
The Boston Globe (12/9, Levenson) reported that a report released by the Boston Foundation on Thursday said that “hundreds of millions of dollars the state has provided to [Boston-area] school districts to improve classroom education has instead been gobbled up by soaring health care costs for school employees.” According to the report titled “A Bargain Not Kept,” between 200 and 2007, “annual health care costs in school budgets grew by $1 billion, while state aid for schools grew by only $700 million.” Consequently, many “school districts have been forced to make painful spending cuts, in books, teachers, and teacher training.” The Globe notes that “the report dovetails with the Boston Foundation’s push to loosen union control over health care benefits.”

Nevada School District Officials Told To Expect Funding Cuts Of More Than 10 Percent.
The Las Vegas Sun (12/10, Ramirez) reports, “Clark County school officials who met with Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval this week to discuss the budget described the tone as gloomy and were told to brace for cuts in excess of 10 percent.” Dale Erquiaga, Sandoval’s senior adviser, said that “the governor’s staff was assuming the state budget deficit would be at least $1.2 billion.” And, some estimates have the deficit reaching “as high as $3 billion.” The Las Vegas Sun notes that “education – including higher education – accounts for more than half of all state spending and may bear the brunt of budget cuts. The Clark County School District’s annual budget exceeds $2 billion.”

Also in the News
Nebraska Launches School Information Website.
KCAU-TV Sioux City, Iowa (12/9) reported that Nebraska has launched a new website aimed at helping “parents research the state’s public schools.” In addition, the site will also “will also help schools identify areas that need improvement. But the public part of the website won’t identify individual students.” KHAS-TV Hastings, Nebraska (12/10, Rainey) notes that “the website was paid for by a 1 million dollar federal grant.”

Sources Say Bloomberg Sought Out Canada For New York Schools Chief Post Before Black.
The New York Times (12/10, A25, Hernandez) reports that publishing executive Cathleen P. Black “was not the first person” to whom Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) offered the position of public schools chief. According to two anonymous sources close to the matter, the mayor “tried to persuade Geoffrey Canada, the prominent Harlem education leader…to be chancellor, but Mr. Canada turned it down.” Canada’s schools are known for their “cradle-to-college approach” to education. For him, “becoming chancellor would have meant leaving behind the empire he had built in Harlem, which is depicted as helping children succeed against steep odds in a popular documentary, ‘Waiting for Superman.’” The Times notes that “the revelation suggests that Mr. Bloomberg conducted a wider search than previously thought, and that he may have been seeking a more traditional candidate in hopes of avoiding the withering criticism that has accompanied Ms. Black’s appointment.”

High Chinese PISA Scores Mask Education Weaknesses, Educator Says.
Jiang Xueqin, deputy principal of Peking University High School, writes in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (12/10) that Chinese students’ high scores on the Program for International Student Assessment reflect excellent test-prep by Chinese educators, and masks the reality that Chinese schools fail to prepare students for higher education. Jiang urges a greater focus on writing skills, which he says are lacking among Chinese students.

Esther Cepeda writes in an op-ed for the Press-Telegram (CA) (12/10) that lackluster PISA scores for the US are not an indication “that we’re doomed – meaningful educational reforms to boost student achievement are already being tested across the country. But lacking a cultural shift of our own, America’s relatively affluent standard of living is keeping us from yielding the same academic achievements as our hungry No. 2 competitor,” China.

WACH-TV Columbia, SC (12/1, Stone) notes that despite the positive reviews, the number of schools offering single-gender classes in South Carolina has declined over the past two years as a result of budget cuts. “Two years ago 214 schools offered the classes, but that is down to 125 this year.”

The AP (11/30, Adcox) adds, however, that South Carolina “still leads the nation in public single-sex programs.” On Tuesday, outgoing state Superintendent Jim Rex “cautioned lawmakers not to disrupt what’s working.” He pointed out that “single-gender is a relatively inexpensive choice to offer, compared to others, but it does require an adequate number of teachers, and some training costs.”

The Anderson (SC) Independent Mail (12/1, Carey) quotes Rex as saying, “We’ve said all along that when it comes to learning, one size does not fit all. … These results show that the single-gender option works for a lot of students and their families.” Reuters (12/1) and WCBD-TV Charleston, SC (12/1, Mitchell) also cover the story.

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In the Classroom
Traveling Drama Troupe Teaches Students In Connecticut District About AIDS.
The Greenwich (CT) Time (12/1, Gordon) reports, “Stamford Public School students are learning about AIDS prevention this week as the community commemorates the 22nd annual World AIDS Day Wednesday.” A traveling drama troupe called the Stop AIDS Mobile theater is visiting “each of Stamford’s three high schools and three middle schools” to teach students about the virus. Debra Katz, director of HIV programs for Stamford’s health department, said that the group “has been visiting the city’s public schools for several years; more schools sign up to participate each year.”

On the Job
Minneapolis Star Tribune: Teacher Quality Disparities Not Just A Big City Problem.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (12/1) editorializes, “In America’s classrooms, unfortunately, family income can be an indicator of the quality of a student’s teachers.” According to a recently released report by the Education Trust, even with federal laws requiring “highly qualified teachers in every class, poor students are still more likely to be taught by inexperienced or unqualified teachers or those teaching outside of their areas of expertise.” The Star-Tribune points out that “the problem is not limited to big cities,” but also exists in schools in “in suburbs, small towns, and rural areas.” The Star Tribune notes several efforts that “are underway in Minnesota to” bring more highly qualified teachers into low-performing schools. It concludes that such “initiatives can move school systems closer to providing quality instruction for all kids — regardless of family income.”

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Law & Policy
Group Of State School Chiefs To Press For Education Reforms.
Catherine Gewertz wrote in a blog for Education Week (11/30), “The education leaders of five states announced today that they have created a new education-chiefs group to press a policy agenda topped by school choice and performance-driven evaluations for teachers and principals. Unveiling the new group, ‘Chiefs for Change,’ were its founding members: Tony Bennett, of Indiana; Deborah Gist, of Rhode Island; Paul Pastorek, of Louisiana; Gerard Robinson, of Virginia; and Eric Smith, of Florida.” According to Gewertz, the group “came together in conversation with” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, “who has agreed to provide it with financial and staffing support

Early Childhood Education Advocates Seeking To Preserve Funding For Federal Programs.
Education Week (11/30, Kelleher) reported, “For early-childhood advocates, the midterm elections-with Republicans taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives and adding to their minority in the Senate-steepened the uphill climb they already faced to maintain federal funding in Head Start, Early Head Start, and subsidized child care. But while a tide of fiscal conservatives and continued state-level budget crises may add to pressure for rollbacks in some state early-learning programs, the advocates hope the base of bipartisan and voter support that has largely preserved gains in state prekindergarten programs may still provide some shelter.” According to Education Week, “Advocates are girding for the prospect of budget cuts at the federal level” as the “First Five Years Fund estimates up to 300,000 children stand to lose their spots in Head Start, Early Head Start, and publicly funded child care when Congress tackles the overdue fiscal 2011 budget.”

Group Of Michigan School Leaders Denounces Data Collection Requirements.
The AP (11/30) reported that a group of Michigan superintendents on Tuesday urged lawmakers to scrap state data collection requirements for schools “because they don’t have any academic value.” Moreover, “they say the data collection requirements violate state law and court rulings because the state doesn’t pay for them.” Meanwhile, a bill “pending in the Senate” would require that “nearly $26 million already allocated for schools…go toward the data collection.”

More Than Half Of Florida Districts Not In Compliance With Class Size Law.
The AP (11/30, Kaczor) reported, “Slightly more than half of Florida’s 67 school districts could face fines for violating state class size limits,” said state Education Commissioner Eric Smith on Tuesday. Across the state, “44,556 of 812,483 traditional public classrooms, or 5.5 percent, had too many students” and ” 44 of 454 charter schools were in violation. Potential fine amounts have not yet been calculated but they could run into the millions for larger districts.”

Safety & Security
Wisconsin District On Alert For Copycat Student Hostage Attempts.
WBAY-TV Green Bay (12/1, Thomsen) reports that one day after a high school student held several classmates hostage at a Wisconsin school on Monday, administrators in the Green Bay school district “put their teachers and staff on high alert to watch for a possible copycat incident.” In addition, Green Bay schools had “extra police presence in the hallways, lunch rooms, and even outside” on Tuesday. WBAY notes, “The heightened security is meant to prevent possible copycat situations but more importantly let students know they are safe.”

School Finance
Indiana Schools Chief Says No Cuts To Education Are Planned For Next Year.
The AP (12/1) reports that Indiana schools Superintendent Tony Bennett distributed a memo last week which said that “there are ‘no current plans for reductions’ in total state funding for K-12 tuition support for 2011 compared to this year.” Indiana’s Journal & Courier (11/30, Livingston) reported that also “in the memo, Bennett said that state revenues for the first four months of fiscal year 2011 are tracking close to forecasts but will still fall short of state projections by approximately $800 million.”

Indiana’s Tribune Star (11/30, Loughlin) reports that even without planned cuts, Bennett is advising “districts to be cautious with spending commitments as they await the outcome of the next General Assembly, which will determine school funding levels for 2012 and 2013.” He also “has urged districts to reserve” funding from the federal Education Jobs Fund “until education budgeting…becomes clearer.” The Tribune Star also reports that Indiana ASBO executive Dennis Costerison, has warmed “members that ‘Even though the administration has determined that further cuts to K-12 are not necessary [in 2011], the General Assembly could still cut the appropriation for the next biennium.’”

Proceeds From Chevrolet Volt Auction Will Go To Detroit Public Schools.
The Los Angeles Times (12/1, Hirsch) reports that General Motors Co. is auctioning off its “first production Chevrolet Volt” with all proceeds going to the Detroit Public Schools Foundation.

The Grand Rapids (MI) Press (12/1, Oosting) reports that “the opening bid is $50,000 and all proceeds from the sale will go” toward “math and science programs in the Detroit Public Schools (DPS).” The auction “is the latest attempt by GM to rehabilitate its image and re-engage in the local community,” following GM CEO Dan Akerson’s announcement last month that “he would personally donate $10,000 to DPS athletics.” DPS Emergency financial Manager Robert Bobb said of the auction on Twitter, “We’re ready to prepare the next generation of engineers to keep Detroit’s, and Michigan’s, momentum going.”

The Detroit News (11/30) quotes Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, as saying, “Every aspect of the Volt – from its aerodynamic shape to its battery chemistry – is a testament to the importance of math and sciences. … By encouraging Detroit-area students to pursue these topics, we hope to cultivate the next generation of engineers who will build upon the Volt’s innovative technologies.”

Brent Snavely writes in the Detroit Free Press (11/30) “Motor City Today” blog that less than a day after the auction began, the highest bid on Tuesday was $180,000.

The New York Times (12/1, B1, Vlasic) notes on the front of its “Business” section that the very “first Volt off the assembly line” at GM’s Hamtramck, Michigan, plant will be put on display at the GM Heritage Center museum. The car being auctioned for Detroit Public schools is the second Volt made in Hamtramck. The CNET (11/30, Ashe) “Car Tech” blog, the Conceivably Tech (11/30, Bakke) blog, and Canada’s CTV (12/1) also cover the story.

Education Department Touts “Unprecedented” Aid To Struggling High Schools.
The Washington Post (12/1, Anderson) reports that an announcement from the Education Department “Tuesday that it has provided an unprecedented amount of aid to turn around struggling high schools” coincided with the release of a report from the nonprofit America’s Promise Alliance showing “that the nation’s high school graduation rate is on the rise.” According to the Education Department, “48 percent of the 730 schools that have set turnaround plans in motion through” federal grants “are high schools.” That is an increase from years prior to the passage of “the 2009 economic stimulus law,” when “federal education aid” was “tilted toward elementary and middle schools that qualify for” Title I funding.

“Grad Nation” Report A “Wake-Up Call,” Blogger Says. “Eduwonk” blogger Andrew Rotherham wrote in a commentary for Time (11/30) that while the “Grad Nation” report issued Tuesday highlights improved overall graduation rates in the US, the report also notes that “eight states had graduation rates below 70% in 2008, and 2.2 million students still attend dropout factories.” Moreover, an achievement gap between white and minority students “also persists.” Rotherham concludes that “Grad Nation is good news but also a wake-up call. Three in four students graduating from high school is nothing to celebrate in a country like ours.”

Also in the News
New Jersey District Named Most Technologically Advanced Mid-Sized School System.
New Jersey’s News Transcript (12/1) reports that “for the sixth year, the Howell K-8 School District has been named one of the top technologically advanced school districts in the nation” on the 2010 Digital School Districts Survey. For “medium-sized districts nationwide” — those with 2,500 to 14,999 students — Howell leads in technology, according to the survey, which “analyzes the use of technology by school boards and school districts to enhance curriculum, engage students, govern the district, communicate with students, parents, staff and the community, and how it is implemented to improve district operations.”

New Jersey’s Asbury Park Press (11/30, Sapia) reported on some of the technology used in Howell schools. Some “examples include the district’s website, creating podcasts, learning robotics, talking digitally from a classroom in one school to one in another school and exchanging e-mails.”

Report Highlights Rise In High School Graduation Rates.
The New York Times (11/30, A20, Dillon) reports that “the nation’s high school graduation rate, which declined in the latter part of the 20th century, may have hit bottom and begun to rise, according to a report to be issued Tuesday by” the nonprofit America’s Promise Alliance, “founded by former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.” The report’s conclusion is based on data showing that “the national graduation rate increased to 75 percent in 2008, from 72 percent in 2001″ and that the number of “dropout factories” in the US has “declined to about 1,750 in 2008, from about 2,000 such schools in 2002.”

The AP (11/30, Turner) reports that the study “also said that progress needs to increase fivefold for the country to graduate nine out of 10 students by 2020, a goal of the Obama administration.” School systems in Georgia, West Virginia, Texas, and Tennessee were cited as having “already figured out tactics that work.” For instance, “Tennessee and West Virginia passed laws that take driver’s licenses away from students who drop out.” And, “more than 30 states have raised the compulsory attendance age to 17 or 18 as a way to ensure students graduate.”

Education Week (11/30, Sparks) notes that the Alliance’s “study suggests that a combination of state economic concerns and federal accountability pressure has helped drive up the national graduation rate.” Moreover, it points to gains made by “Black, Hispanic, and Native American students” as some of the highest, but adds that “more than 40 percent of those students still did not graduate on time as of 2008.” The Washington Times (11/30, Simmons) also covers the story.

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In the Classroom
Facing New Requirement, Minneapolis Focuses On Linear Algebra.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/30, Mitchell) reports the Minneapolis school district “wants to double the percentage of students who pass linear algebra,” a subject that “long has been considered the gateway course to higher math,” and “has implications for everything from dropout rates to future job prospects.” Across the US, “ever-increasing numbers of jobs will require more math, science and technology.” Both officials and experts say that improving students’ performance in these areas will be critical to businesses and the economy. “In 2006, state legislators decided that this year’s Minnesota eighth-graders would be required to take algebra. Educators across the state are grappling with what eighth-grade algebra is.” Minneapolis Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson chose to focus on linear algebra, “roughly the first half of a typical algebra textbook.” The article details the successes and struggles the district has encountered.

Co-Curricular “Box City” Lessons Incorporate Design.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/30, Winters) reports that 350 fourth-through fifth-grade students at Escalante Elementary in Salt Lake City created a “99-block ‘box city,’” which was “unveiled Monday in the Salt Lake City Main Library.” As part of cross-curricular lessons that centered on design, the students “the students constructed schools, houses, town halls, churches and businesses from cereal boxes, cardboard, tin foil, construction paper and other materials.” Volunteers with from the Utah chapter of the American Institute of Architects led the eight-week project.

Hospital Donates Online Health Curriculum Access To Florida District.
Florida’s Sun-Sentinel (11/30, Solomon) reports that the “Miami Children’s Hospital has donated access to HealthTeacher, an online curriculum used by teachers in more than 8,000 schools across the country,” to teachers in Palm Beach County. “The hospital…will train teachers to” incorporate the health curriculum into the lesson plans for any subject. The HealthTeacher curriculum “offers 10 subject areas, with lessons for each age group, including anatomy, environmental health, nutrition, tobacco and sexuality.” WPTV-TV West Palm Beach (11/30, Norman) reports that “the program will be available to students, teachers and parents in Palm Beach County through the 2013-2014 school year.”

On the Job
Professional Development Strategies Offered To Improve Teacher Retention.
Angelo Collins of the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation writes in a commentary for Education Week (12/1) that while professional development and training are widely accepted as having a positive impact on student learning, “the opportunities for teachers to engage in sustained professional learning and collaboration have actually declined in the last decade.” A recent study found, among other things, “that teachers receive less than eight hours of training a year on any given topic. However, for professional development to have an impact on student learning…between 49 and 100 hours of intensive training in key areas is needed.” Collins offers his foundation’s advice for districts looking to support development. Among his suggestions are to encourage collaboration, mentorship and leadership, and to “avoid diluting talent” by assigning STEM teachers to their areas of expertise. Collins says the strategies are particularly important for improving retention of new teachers.

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Law & Policy
Attorney General Advises Oklahoma BOE To Pay $35 Million Toward Teachers’ Retirement.
The AP (11/30) reports that according to Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, “the state Board of Education is violating the law by not making a required contribution this year to the Oklahoma Teachers’ Retirement System (OTRS).” In an opinion requested by the head of OTRS, Edmondson said that “the board has a statutory obligation to transfer money to the system.” The BOE plans to “address the matter at its next regular meeting on Dec. 16,” the AP notes.

The Oklahoman (11/29, McNutt) reported that Edmondson is advising the BOE to “allocate $35 million from its legislatively appropriated budget to the teachers retirement system.” The Oklahoman explains that each year “since 1998, the Legislature has appropriated $35 million to the Board of Education with instructions to allocate the money for teachers’ contributions, which the state is required to pay.” In the last session, lawmakers “did not include specific instructions on how the money was to be spent,” so board members decided to use “the money to help pay for increases in health insurance premiums for teachers and education support staff, which also is required by law.”

New York City Mayor’s Pick For Schools Chief Granted Waiver.
The New York Times (11/30, Otterman) reports that the New York state education commissioner on Monday granted publishing executive Cathleen P. Black a waiver allowing her to take “the helm of New York City’s public school system.” Commissioner David M. Steiner said that in a compromised reached in the last few days, Black’s “inexperience in education would be offset in part by the appointment of a chief academic officer to serve by her side. … Ms. Black agreed last week to compensate for her lack of education credentials by installing, as her first act, an experienced educator as her chief deputy, to administer and supervise instruction in the city’s 1,600 schools.”

The AP (11/30) notes that deputy schools Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky will be appointed “as senior deputy chancellor and chief academic officer under Black.” Throughout her career, Polakow-Suransky also “has served as a teacher and principal.” The Wall Street Journal (11/30, Banchero, Martinez) and Bloomberg News (11/30, Lutz) also cover the story.

North Carolina District Revises Policy On Lip Balm, Hand Sanitizer.
Colin Campbell wrote in North Carolina’s News & Observer (11/29) “Between the Lines” blog that Johnston County public schools has revised its policy on lip balm, sunscreen and hand sanitizer use in school. Superintendent Ed Croom sent a letter to parents on Monday “informing them that they’ll need to write a note only if they don’t want their kids to use” those products. “The permission requirement stemmed from parent concerns that kids were sharing lip balm – and germs – and that some students were allergic to hand sanitizer.” But, after district officials spoke with the Johnston County Health Department recently, they decided to make the change.

LATimes Backs Overhaul Of Parent-Focused Programs In Los Angeles District.
The Los Angeles Times (11/30) editorializes, “From the beginning, the education reform equation has been missing an important factor: parents. … So we’re glad to see that this topic is on the agenda for Tuesday’s board meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School District” as board member Yolie Flores “will be pushing for a more concerted, organized effort to inform and engage parents.” The Times adds, “Better parent centers won’t solve it all, but they’re a potentially important start” and the board should “review impartially whether the parent advisory committees are fulfilling a needed mission.”

Special Needs
Few Houston-Area Schools Offer Students Mental Health Services.
The Houston Chronicle (11/30, Lee) reports that according to mental health experts, “early intervention and easy access to care are critical in keeping mentally ill youths in school and out of jail.” Still, few “Houston-area schools offer mental health services” because, school officials say, they are working with limited financial resources. “Budget cuts have forced many schools to eliminate nurses and counselors, who are trained to spot symptoms of mental illness.” And, according to experts “the state’s projected budget shortfall will only worsen the problem.” Despite the challenges, some schools in the Houston Independent School District are coming up with the means to offer mental health services through “grant-funded partnerships with public health and social services agencies that provide clinicians and services.”

School Finance
Kaiser Permanente Donates $7.5 Million To California District.
The Oakland (CA) Tribune (11/30, Murphy) reported, “On Monday, weeks after losing a close parcel tax election, the Oakland school district got a major boost: a $7.5 million donation from Kaiser Permanente.” Most of the grant money “will support the school district’s school-based health centers, which provide health and counseling services to children and their families, and other wellness initiatives.”

The San Francisco Business Times (11/30, Rauber) adds that “Kaiser said the gifts, which it labeled as ‘investments,’ are intended to help Oakland school children stay healthier as they learn, help them increase their attendance rates and academic performance, ‘and teach them about humanitarian leaders who succeeded in making positive differences in their communities.’” KGO-TV San Francisco (11/29, Brinkley) also covered this story.

Also in the News

Rural Arkansas District To Play Educational Videos On School Bus.
The AP (11/30, Bleed) reports that Arkansas’ rural Hector School District “is participating in a new program believed to be the first of its kind: The school is playing science and math content over ceiling-mounted computer screens during the lengthy bus rides.” The bus is equipped with “five ceiling-mounted screens that show educational content geared at different age groups” and headphones in each seat. “The programming rotates daily and features videos from PBS, NASA, the Discovery Channel and Smithsonian Institute.” The AP adds that the initiative is a collaboration between the Hector School District and Vanderbilt University’s Aspirnaut Program, which “works with rural schools in Arkansas and Maine to help educate students in science, technology, engineering and math.”

NEA in the News
Former ACLU Leader Joins Nevada State Education Association.
The Las Vegas Review Journal (11/29, Planas) reports that former ACLU leader Gary Peck will join the Nevada State Education Association (NSEA) as an executive director. During his tenure with the ACLU, the organization pressed free speech issues for the homeless, immigrants, women, and religious minorities, among others. Peck’s first major challenge with the NSEA will be to take on the next legislative session, the Review Journal added. NSEA President Lynn Warne said that the association welcomes Peck’s “integrity” and “enthusiasm.”

Seminole Education Association Negotiating Raises For Teachers.
The Orlando Sentinel (11/30, Weber) reports that the Seminole (FL) Education Association is negotiating for an average 1,000 pay increase for teachers. Overall, the pay increases would add $4.4 million to the Seminole County school district’s expenses. Still, according to SEA representative Tony Gentile, teachers “are due for a raise” after two years of the same pay scale. School district negotiators say they can sympathize with the teachers, “but that the district remains pinched for cash. The district has cut $91 million over the past two years and expects to be strapped next year when federal stimulus subsidies are reduced substantially.”

New Jersey District Declares No D-Grades Policy A Success.
The AP (11/29) reports that a “New Jersey school district that eliminated the ‘D’ grade for students says the change has been a success. The new policy in Mount Olive took effect in September” and it “raised the failure score to anything under a 70 instead of 65.” According to the AP, “some school officials and teachers say it’s too early to declare the policy a success” noting that “the new policy allows students to retake exams and redo assignments after initial failing grades, often bringing up their scores.” The Toronto Star (11/26, Taylor) reported that this year the overall “number of failing students fell to 718 from 1,360 in the first semester of 2009.”

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In the Classroom
Co-Teaching Experiment Combines Three Fifth-Grade Classes.
The Hattiesburg (MS) American (11/28, Ciurczak) reported that three fifth-grade teachers at Woodley Elementary School decided at the beginning of the school year to combine their classes and co-teach. “Woodley Elementary is in its first year of school improvement, brought on by low student test scores.” Based on “scores from the first round of testing in the Hattiesburg Public School District,” the combined class has helped boost achievement. Students in that class “scored highest in the district in language arts on the District Wide Assessment” and “the class also had the only student in the district to score advanced – the highest level possible – on the test.” Teacher TaShara Shoemaker credited team teaching for the improvements. “Sometimes you’re trying to teach a concept and the kids aren’t getting it and we can step in and build on each other’s strengths. … We’re better able to teach the whole child,” she said.

Teachers Use Listening Circles To Build Trust Among Classmates.
The Los Angeles Times (11/27, Watanabe) reported that at many schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), teachers are using a storytelling “practice known as ‘council’” to get students to share their experiences with one another to build trust and strong bonds. The program is based on “speaking and listening circles” long used by “cultures worldwide…most notably, Native Americans.” The program that began in Los Angeles public schools in 2006 was “developed by the nonprofit Ojai Foundation.” LAUSD chief academic officer Judy Elliott said the program is “a ‘very powerful tool’ to help students transcend race, gender, disabilities and other dividing lines,” and it “gives teachers a strategy to make the curriculum come alive.”

Digital Music Production Classes Offered In Salt Lake City School System.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/28, Schencker) reported on two schools in the Salt Lake City system that are offering classes in digital “music creation and production,” which use “software donated by Sony to produce everything from techno to rock to classical music.” The class is held monthly at Northwest Middle School “during the school day and at Northwest and Highland High after school and during the evenings as part of the district’s community education program.” The Salt Lake Tribune describes a recent class during which instructor Steve Auerbach “taught a handful of middle school students how to use the program to create songs by mixing and matching sounds, instruments and vocals.”

Pilot Program Helped Increase Knowledge, Fruit Consumption Among Head Start Students.
The Shreveport (LA) Times (11/28, Brumble) reported, “Head Start students who participated in a pilot health and nutrition program in the spring still turn their noses up at vegetables.” But, students in the program “significantly increased consumption of fruit and showed significantly more health and nutrition knowledge after the lessons.” To measure the pilot program’s results, dietitian Jennifer Guin photographed and analyzed “the children’s lunch choices for three days. She compared the photos to shots snapped before the program started.”

Boston Teens Seek Overhaul Of Sex Education Programs.
The Boston Globe (11/28, Vaznis) reported, “A group of Boston teenagers is pushing for free condoms and comprehensive sex education programs at all city high schools in an effort to prevent unexpected pregnancies and reverse an alarming rise in sexually transmitted infections among city teenagers. The students propose that “each city high school…designate a male and female staff member to give out condoms – instead of just health center employees – and” that the high schools “provide a rigorous sexual education program to all students.”

On the Job
Teacher Creates Math Computer Game.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/27, Schencker) reported on a computer math game “being used in a handful of classrooms in and outside of Utah and by a number of Utah home-schoolers. Scott Laidlaw left his job teaching math at a private school in Salt Lake City to create it along with other programs through his new company Imagine Education. He acknowledges it was a risk but said it seemed like one worth taking based on the success of one of his previous math games.” In one game called “Ko’s Journey,” the main character “faces challenges and tasks that require middle-school math, such as ratios, graphing and geometry.”

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Law & Policy
District Revamps Grading System Following Standardized Testing Score Discrepancy.
The New York Times (11/28, Tyre) reported, “A few years ago, teachers at Ellis Middle School in Austin, Minnesota, might have” identified their top students based on factors such as on-time homework completion, tardiness, extra-credit assignments, and overall classroom behavior. Data comparison between “semester grades with end-of-the-year test scores” showed that at Ellis Middle School, about “10 percent of the students who earned A’s and B’s in school stumbled during end-of-the-year exams.” According to Principal Kate Berglund, “many teachers had been grading kids for compliance – not for mastering the course material.” Last year, “the eighth-grade math teachers at Ellis tried a new, standards-based grading system, and this fall the new system is being used by the entire middle school and in high school for ninth graders.”

New York City Mayor Reaches Deal With State Over Schools Chief.
The New York Times (11/27, Hernandez) reported that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “reached a deal Friday to save the tottering candidacy of Cathleen P. Black to be the next chancellor of New York City schools, agreeing to appoint” Shael Polakow-Suransky, “a career educator who started as a classroom teacher to serve as her second in command. As a result, the state education commissioner, David M. Steiner, has agreed to grant Ms. Black, a media executive, the exemption from the normal credentials required by state law for the position, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations.” According to the Times, “Underscoring the high-stakes nature of Ms. Black’s fate, even the federal secretary of education, Arne Duncan, spoke to both Dr. Steiner and Mr. Bloomberg during the negotiations” and “On Friday, Mr. Duncan praised the outcome.” The AP (11/27) also covered this story.

Opposition To Black’s Candidacy A Reflection Of Bloomberg’s Political Standing. The New York Times (11/26, Gootman) reported, “In many ways, whether people support or oppose” Black’s “appointment has become a proxy for what they think of the mayor and his imperial style of running the city. … When Mr. Bloomberg appointed Mr. Klein, he had just swept into his first term in public office, rescuing the city from its post-9/11 haze and from decades of educational neglect. This time, by contrast, he is at least for some the mayor who will not go away, the one who wrangled a third term and is beginning to wear out his welcome.”

Special Needs
Federal Regulations Prompt States To Make Special Education Reforms.
New Jersey’s Courier News (11/27, Mullen) reported that federal regulations are prompting special education innovations in school districts nationwide. According to the Courier News, “special-education voucher programs that a small but growing number of states have adopted in recent years” presents a major “challenge to the status quo.” Florida, Utah, Georgia, and Oklahoma each have programs that offer financial assistance to parents of special needs students who opt not to send their children to public schools. Autism education is another reform front. In California, for instance, “under a new state requirement, some 25,000 special-education teachers must complete an autism training course by July 2011 in order to work with children who have the disorder.” The Courier News notes that while New Jersey does not have a similar requirement, “some districts voluntarily provide autism training, and many teachers seek it out on their own.”

Facilities
Los Angeles Project Combines Early Education Center, Teacher Housing.
The Los Angeles Times (11/27, Newman) reported that the Los Angeles Unified School District is building an “early education center and [a] 50-unit apartment complex…on land owned by L.A. Unified in a dense urban neighborhood.” The apartments are intended for teachers, “police officers, nurses and others who earn a median income but find themselves unable to afford housing in many neighborhoods.” The complex will also feature “10,000-square-foot ‘outdoor learning classroom,’ which will provide space for young children to play and take classes.” The Times adds that “the Glassell project is an example of joint use in which two different organizations…combine to build projects that would be difficult and costly to build separately.”

School Finance
Texas Districts Struggling To Cope With Major State Funding Shortfall.
The Dallas Morning News (11/28, Haag) reported, “Dallas school officials are struggling to make some decisions as they await what could be one of the state’s largest shortfalls in its history. Educators across Texas have said that a deep deficit – some projecting as high as $25 billion – could bring huge cuts to school districts, which receive much of their funding from the state.” According to the Morning News, “The issue recently came to the fore over a decision to set staffing levels at some Dallas schools and to expand pre-K programs” as a pre-k expansion “is expected to save the district millions of dollars because some teacher’s aides would be cut, and because increased enrollment would lead to more state funding.”

Also in the News
Borders To Give Customers $15 To Donate To Schools.
The AP (11/29) reports that on Dec. 4 and 5, Borders bookstores will be giving customers making in-store purchases $15 gift cards “to donate to a public school of choice through DonorsChoose.org, an Internet-based charity.” Those who purchase “the book ‘Waiting for ‘Superman’: How We Can Save America’s Failing Public Schools’ will receive a second $15 card

NEA in the News
Veteran Teacher Marks Tenth Anniversary As NEA Executive Director.
North Carolina’s Raleigh News & Observer (11/29, Stancill) reports that this month, John I. Wilson “marked his tenth anniversary as executive director of the National Education Association.” The veteran special education teacher and “North Carolina native is on the front lines of the debate about how to rescue a public education system that lags behind those of many other countries.” Said Wilson, “There’s a lot of demonizing going on.” But, he noted, “Our members care deeply about their students. … They’ll do anything for their students to be successful.” The News & Observer presents highlights of Wilson’s career and notes that he “has championed a minimum salary of $40,000 for every teacher.”

Baltimore Teacher Contract Not Expected To Serve As Model For Others.
The Baltimore Sun (11/28, Bowie) reported that Baltimore teachers’ recently-ratified contract “has gotten a lot of attention,” but “it is too early to say whether [it] will have any effect on how other union contracts are negotiated.” Instead of a traditional pay scale., teachers’ pay will be “based on the growth of students’ knowledge over a year, the extra leadership positions and mentoring teachers take on, and the additional training they receive” under the Baltimore contract. John Woolums, the director of government relations for the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, said “it is unlikely that any other union,” in including the NEA, “will quickly embrace the ideas in the new city contract.”

New Jersey Lawmakers Approve “Nation’s Toughest” Anti-Bullying Bill.
The AP (11/23, Mulvihill) reports, “A law against bullying in schools, which advocates call the nation’s toughest because it requires schools to develop anti-harassment programs, was approved Monday in New Jersey. The state General Assembly and Senate both passed the bill overwhelmingly and sent it to the desk of Republican Gov. Chris Christie” who said “he hadn’t read the bill but that the state’s lawyers have raised concerns over whether its provisions infringe on constitutional rights.” According to the AP, the “bill would require anti-bullying programs in public schools and language in college codes of conduct to address bullying.”

New Jersey Today (11/22) added that the bill “is the product of nearly a year of research and discussions with top bullying experts, advocates and victims in an effort to combat harassment, intimidation and bullying among students. … The legislation will provide school administrators with the tools they need to respond to instances of harassment, intimidation and bullying in a timely and effective manner.” Also, “the bill requires annual reporting on bullying instances from schools and districts to be passed up directly to the Commissioner of Education and it grades each school on how it handles bullying, harassment and intimidation.” The New Jersey Newsroom (11/23) also covers this story.

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In the Classroom
Teachers Credit Robotics Competition For Rising Test Scores.
The Wilmington (NC) Star News (11/22, Greene) reported that fifth-graders at Rachel Freeman Elementary School in North Carolina have “been building and programming” LEGO robots “for the past two weeks” and on Friday, they raced their creations at the LEGO Mindstorms Challenge. “The competition incorporates a lot of the science and math in the fifth grade curriculum such as measuring the course to see how many wheel rotations it would take to finish the course and concepts such as force, friction, gravity and momentum.” Freeman Elementary teachers and administrators credit the competition, “along with emphasizing problem-solving, hands-on science, and four curriculum-based field trips each year,” with helping “boost the fifth grade N.C. end-of-grade science test scores a whopping 37 points last year.”

Students Participate In Robotics Competitions. The Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette (11/22, Spencer) reports, “Sixty-three teams of middle-school students ages 9 to 14 came from across Massachusetts to Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School on Saturday to compete in the 11th annual FIRST LEGO League Competition.” In addition to building robots “to perform tasks related to this year’s biomedical-engineering theme,” the students “also presented to judges a biomedical problem and proposed solution. And they were rated for how well they demonstrated ‘core values’ such as teamwork and gracious professionalism.” The article noted that Bancroft School of Worcester’s Uber Bulldogs “won first place for topic presentation, drawing from the school’s recent eighth-grade play, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ to portray the relationship between sugar and diabetes.”

The Connellsville (PA) Daily Courier (11/22, Schmadel) reported, “The fourth annual VEX Robotics Contest took place Saturday at California University of Pennsylvania with teams from 27 high schools competing. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh provided software and helped with the competition.” Teams from Connellsville Area and Frazier high schools participated in the competition, and “one Connellsville team took home a championship trophy.” The competition was organized by Cal U robotics professor Mike Amrhein, who “said the tournament has grown continuously and was quite large this year. He encouraged the high school students to consider Cal U for continuing robotics education through the National Center for Robotics Engineering and Technology Education at the university.”

“Mustache Movement” At Oregon High School Raises Funds For Cancer Research.
KTVL-TV Medford, Oregon (11/22, Villamor) reports, “Many South Medford High School teachers are growing out their facial hair to raise awareness about” prostate cancer. The teachers hope that bringing attention to the issue will help raise money for cancer research. “There are mustache donation jars in some of the classrooms where students have been donating to the cause.” Teachers say “the mustache movement” is “a fun way to get students involved.” The school has raised $600 so far “for Livestrong and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. They hope to reach their goal of $1000 by the end of the month.”

Seattle Times: False Data Hinders Efforts To Improve College Readiness.
The Seattle Times (11/23) editorializes, “Discovery that Seattle Public Schools underestimated the percentage of high-school graduates ready for college is extremely harmful for a district striving to repair its dodgy image.” District officials say that “only 17 percent of students met the entrance requirements for four-year colleges.” But, according to The Truth Needle, a fact-checking tool for the Seattle Times, “the real number is 46 percent.” The Seattle Times asserts that “the low, and incorrect, percentage allowed the district to exaggerate a problem that needed no exaggeration and further compound already shaky public relations.” The “false data” also hampers efforts to improve college readiness.

On the Job
Teachers Form Committee To Raise $400,000 For School Music Programs.
California’s North County Times (11/23, Brandt) reports, “A group of music teachers in the Vista Unified School District is working to raise money so it can save music classes at the district’s 17 elementary schools.” In March, the school board voted to cancel the music program “at the end of the school year if no additional funding could be found.” Now, seven teachers “have formed a committee of parents and educators” to work with the Vista Education Foundation to come up with about $400,000 for teacher “salaries and benefits next year so the program can continue.” The committee plans to “ask parents and businesses to donate to the effort and to host fundraising events to benefit the music program.” Businesses can also donate $32,000 to “sponsor music for an entire school.”

Business Leaders Become Principals For A Day In Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
The Miami Herald (11/22, Feuerman) reported that “more than 330″ business leaders in Miami Dade County “traded the board room for the principal’s office on Wednesday” for the “Miami-Dade school district’s annual Principal for a Day program.” The 14-year-old program “seeks to develop partnerships between business leaders and public schools.” Business leaders who participate “are encouraged to stay connected with their schools for the school year.”

Special Needs
Newspaper Investigation Indicates Lax Oversight Of Special Education In New Jersey.
New Jersey’s Courier News (11/22, Mullen) reported that while special education programs in New Jersey’s public schools “help thousands of children each year deal with, and even overcome, their disabilities,” many “are hampered by fiscal and educational dysfunction.” The Asbury Park Press investigated several district-wide programs over 8 months and found that “the system is a $3 billion a year bureaucracy plagued by unchecked costs, lax oversight, racial bias and unproven programs.” Each year, public schools spend more than $580 million on private tuition for special education students. The Courier News points out, however, that “no one, not even the state Education Department, keeps track of how much money is actually spent on special education every year.”

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School Finance
Texas Lawmakers Urged To Give Districts More Budget Flexibility.
Texas’ American Statesman (11/23) editorializes, “Despite – or, more accurately, because of – the national recession, Central Texas school enrollments continue to grow. … Faced with the inevitability of reductions in state contributions, local school boards now have the unappealing choices of raising local property taxes or lowering expectations – or an unappetizing concoction of both.” The Statesman urges Texas legislators to “start calculating ways to give cash-strapped districts the maximum flexibility to spend their money.”

DC Weighs Cuts To Schools, Emergency Services.
The Washington Times (11/23, Simmon, Cella) reports that DC “is in such dire financial straits…that officials are considering cuts to such sancrosant agencies as public safety and schools to ward off a growing fiscal 2011 deficit and a looming $345 million budget gap in 2012. Social service programs and other discretionary spending face some trimming, but funding cuts in schools and public safety are inescapable, at-large D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown said.” Brown “pointed out that spending has always been a contentious issue, especially since the mayor and council restructured governance in 2007, giving Mayor Adrian M. Fenty broad latitude to run schools while lawmakers gained the budget reins. Special education, which is under court supervision because of long-standing class-action lawsuits, has added to annual cost overruns.”

Also in the News
First Lady Promotes Healthy Eating At Miami School.
The AP (11/23, Kennedy) reports that First Lady Michelle Obama “ate some cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs” with students at Miami’s Riverside Elementary, “the first in the country to receive a free salad bar as part of her new initiative to get more veggie displays into school cafeterias.” United Fresh Produce Association “is donating 6,000 salad bars to schools, mostly in low-income neighborhoods, over the next three years as part of Obama’s Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative.

The Palm Beach (FL) Post (11/23, Valdes) reports that during her visit to Miami’s Riverside Elementary, the First Lady “launched the ‘Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools’ campaign, the next step in her ‘Let’s Move’ initiative established in 2009 to fight childhood obesity.” Obama “emphasized each child’s responsibility in changing eating and exercise habits and told the students that good nutrition provides ‘brainpower’ that will help them do better in school.”

Utah High School Students Rank Below National Average For Drug, Alcohol Use.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/23, Schencker) reports that fewer high school students in Utah said that they used marijuana or alcohol last year than their peers nationwide, “according to a school crime and safety report released Monday by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.” About 18 percent of Utah high schoolers said they tried alcohol “during the previous 30 days, compared with nearly 42 percent nationally.” Meanwhile, only 10 percent of Utah high schoolers said they had tried marijuana “during the previous 30 days, compared with nearly 21 percent nationwide.” State and education officials in Utah attributed the lower-than-average rates to the state’s “dominant religious group, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” which “shuns alcohol and drug use.”

NEA in the News
US Department Of Education, NEA Sponsor “Challenge To Innovate” Competition.
Michigan’s Bay City Times (11/23, Dodson) reports that the US Department of Education and the National Education Association are challenging educators to come up with and share solutions to “classroom-based problems.” The NEA Foundation will choose a solution it finds “most responsive” to receive a $2,500 reward. The Challenge to Innovate competition is being run through the Department of Education’s website.

Milwaukee Teachers Approve Four-Year Contract.
The Milwaukee Business Journal (11/22) reported that the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) “overwhelmingly ratified a four-year contract with Milwaukee Public Schools Monday that is expected to save up to $50 million over the next two years.” The new contract expires “June 30, 2013, and contains no pay increase for the first year.” However, teachers will get “a 3 percent increase in a lump sum” the second year, “pay increases of 2.5 percent and 3 percent” for the third and fourth years, respectively. In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (11/22) “School Zone” blog, Becky Vevea quoted MTEA president Mike Langyel as saying, “The new contract is a key first step toward our union and our district working together for changes that will improve what the public schools offer to the children and families of Milwaukee.”

NCLB Transfers Lead To Crowding At High-Performing Schools.
The Washington Post (11/24, Birnbaum) reports, “In some struggling school districts around the country, students transferring from failing schools are overwhelming the few successful schools in their areas, an unintended byproduct of” NCLB. According to the Post, the “issue arose in Prince George’s County [MD] this year, when the parents of nearly 3,000 middle-schoolers learned just days before school started that they could switch their children to the only two non-specialized middle schools in the county that met the law’s performance goals. … The flurry of transfers – more than 700 in Prince George’s this year across all 12 grades – has packed classrooms while underscoring a tough aspect of” NCLB which mandates that all students “pass benchmark tests by 2014 – and, as a result, more schools fail every year.”

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In the Classroom
In Reversal Of Longtime Trend, Class Sizes Expected To Grow.
Education Week (11/24, Sparks) reports, “After dropping for decades, average class sizes in American schools may be growing again as schools cope with budget shortfalls.” According to Education Week, “The national ratio of students to their teachers fell between 1980 and 2008, from 17.6 to 15.8 students per public school teacher, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. … That number is likely to rise, given states’ and districts’ financial constraints, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said last month at a Washington forum.”

Boston Public Schools To Expand Vacation Math, Reading Classes.
Roy Greene wrote in the Boston Globe (11/23) “Metro Desk” blog that in an effort to boost “student proficiency in English and math next year,” Boston Public Schools will add “six schools to a program that teaches extra classes over February and April vacations.” The district issued a statement today saying that the program, currently in place in nine schools, “has already seen positive results, boasting a 20 point gain in Student Growth Percentile in English and a 17 point gain in math among participating students.” Each session covers material equal “to more than a month’s worth of instruction in the given disciplines,” according to program administrator Jeff Riley. It is being funded, in part, with “federal stimulus money.”

More Indiana School Districts Show Academic Gains.
The Indianapolis Star (11/24, Thomas) reports, “More school districts showed improvement on Indiana’s academic progress rankings this year, with the number of districts climbing to ‘exemplary progress’ and ‘commendable progress’ jumping 20 percentage points over last year. For the 2009 results released today, 139 out of 292 school districts showed ‘exemplary progress’ and ‘commendable progress,’ compared to 81 out of 294 districts appearing in those categories last year.” The Star adds that Indiana educators “have lauded the state’s ranking system as better than the federal adequate yearly progress measurement, or AYP, which the state also released today, because the state rankings take into account whether schools are improving rather than simply being required to meet a certain percentage of students passing a state test.” The Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal (11/23, Weidenbener) also covered the story.

Job Shadow Event Aligned With Schools’ Curriculum.
Illinois’ Carol Stream Press (11/24, Sauder) reports on the recent Bloomingdale Chamber of Commerce Student to Business Partnership job shadow event, in which “about 30 students from Glenbard East and Glenbard North high schools participated.” The event “paired students with business people in a field that interests them,” and offered opportunities to learn about a range of occupational fields. “District 87 spokeswoman Peg Mannion said the Bloomingdale Chamber’s Student to Business Partnership program aligns with the district’s strategic priority to strengthen productive home, school and community partnerships for education.” Mannion said, “These opportunities are aligned with our curriculum and increase students’ awareness of business practices. … The employers who participate in these programs are role models for our students.”

On the Job
Federal Grant Allows District To Turn Teachers’ Furlough Into Paid Vacation Days.
The Washington Post (11/24, Seiff) reports that the Loudoun County (VA) School Board had originally planned to give teachers unpaid furlough “for the first two days of Thanksgiving week and pocket $4.5 million in savings to help balance a strained budget.” But, with the help “of a federal grant designed to protect the jobs of teachers,” the school board decided, instead, to allow the teachers “two bonus days of vacation and full pay.” According to the Post, “The move quieted months of controversy over the Thanksgiving week furlough, which had prompted teachers to threaten to picket in protest.” The Post also notes that the grant program, “which required that the money go to pay the salaries and benefits of educators, has helped underwrite a wide variety of initiatives nationwide — some of them having little to do with putting teachers in classrooms.”

Law & Policy
Minnesota Districts Propose Boundary Changes To Diversify School Enrollments.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/24, Smith) reports that Eden Prairie and Bloomington school officials are trying to drum up community support for proposed “school boundary changes aimed largely at integrating and balancing schools.” Eden Prairie’s plan would move “fifth- and sixth-grades into grade K-4 elementary schools” and balance “enrollments in elementary schools by socio-economic status and building capacity.” Many parents, however, have protested the plan, calling it “social engineering,” which they say will lead to “forced busing of students to schools away from their neighborhoods.” Meanwhile, “some Bloomington parents don’t want to revert to attending” neighborhood schools. They prefer school choice, which is currently offered in the district. But school officials In Bloomington want to use boundary changes “to correct the disparities between schools that are overcrowded and those that are under capacity — and between the poorest elementary school and most affluent one.”

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Safety & Security
FBI Arrests Woman Charged With Making Threats To Florida School District.
The AP (11/24) reports that Ellisa Martinez, “a woman charged with making threats that caused 300 Florida schools to be locked down,” surrendered to the FBI on Tuesday and was arrested. Martinez “is accused of sending an e-mail” threat earlier this month to a radio talk show host and calling “the Pompano Beach station later that morning” claiming “that her husband…was going to go to a school in Pembroke Pines (Florida) and start shooting.”

CNN (11/24) reports that “schools and government offices across [Broward County] were secured for several hours by police on November 10 after the threat.” Sometime after making the threats, Martinez left Florida for California.

The Miami Herald (11/23, Moskotitz) reported that Martinez appears to have “acted alone,” based on “new details outlined in a criminal complaint. … She is charged with interstate communication of a threat to injure another. If convicted, she could face up to five years’ imprisonment, followed by supervised release.” Florida’s Sun Sentinel (11/24, Santana) also covers the story.

Districts Seek To Balance Safety, Privacy In Regulating Access To Security Cameras.
The Dallas Morning News (11/23, Unmuth) reported that while some North Texas “school districts bulk up the number of cameras in schools, others are questioning access among administrators, security officers and even police departments.” The efforts to balance “privacy rights with safety concerns” vary from district to district. In Irving, for instance, “even school-based resource police officers must submit written requests to view footage alongside school administrators, who can pull up footage from their computer at any time.” The Richardson school district, however, “allows complete access.” The Dallas Morning News adds that “student and parent opinions” on access to security footage “seem to depend on whether they value security or privacy more.”

School Finance
Education Department To Launch Review Of Its Competitive Grant Programs.
Sean Cavanagh wrote in a blog for Education Week (11/23), “After managing a number of high-profile state and local competitions for federal cash-most notably Race to the Top- [the Education Department] is conducting a far-reaching review of all its competitive grant programs, to see how the rules that govern them can be refined and improved.” Cavanagh added that the Education Department’s “choices of winners in the recent Race to the Top and Investing in Innovation (i3) contests were cause for celebration in some quarters. But those choices also came in for a lot of second-guessing and criticism from state officials and advocacy groups, some of whom labeled the final judgments as unfair and the process opaque.”

Also in the News
State Officials Raise Doubts About New York City Schools Chief Pick.
The New York Times (11/24, Hernandez, Otterman) reports, “The candidacy of Cathleen P. Black, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s choice to be chancellor of the New York City schools, was in jeopardy on Tuesday as both a panel weighing her credentials and the state official who will determine her fate expressed deep doubts about her readiness for the job. The official, David M. Steiner, the state education commissioner, said he would consider granting Ms. Black, a publishing executive, the waiver she needed to take office only if Mr. Bloomberg appointed an educator to help her run the system” and yet, Steiner “did not rule out rejecting her request for a waiver, saying he was skeptical about her ability to master the intricacies of the nation’s largest school system.”

The AP (11/24, Matthews) adds, “An advisory panel appointed to weigh the qualifications of Hearst Magazines Chairwoman Cathie Black to head New York City schools recommended on Tuesday denying a waiver that would allow the non-educator to serve as chancellor of the country’s largest school system.” According to the AP, during a “closed meeting, the panel members had three options on whether to recommend a waiver: yes, no, and ‘send the waiver request back to the New York City mayor for possible resubmission,’ said spokesman Tom Dunn. Four members voted ‘no,’ two ‘yes,’ and two members urged resubmission, Dunn said.” The Wall Street Journal (11/24, Martinez, Saul) also covers this story.

School Meal Programs Can Help Boost Academic Performance, Report Says.
Reuters (11/24, Marcus) reports that school performance of teens living in food-scarce households suffers, but a new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics finds that federal school meal programs can reverse this effect. In the study, Christelle Roustit, of the Research Group on the Social Determinants of Health and Healthcare, in Paris, France, analyzed questionnaires given to 2,346 public high school students in Quebec, Canada along with almost 2,000 of the students’ parents.

Minority Students Become Majority In North Carolina District.
North Carolina’s News & Observer (11/23, Hui) reported, “For the first time, minority students now account for a majority of the students in the Wake County school system.” White students now make up 40.5 percent of the student population in Wake County, down from 51.1 percent last year. “After white students, the next largest group in Wake is black students,” making up 24.8 percent of the population. Hispanic students “account for 14.6 percent of the enrollment” and are “the fastest-growing group in the school system.”

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In the Classroom
Oklahoma Early Childhood Program Targets At Risk Students.
The Oklahoman (11/14, Painter) reported, “The Educare programs in Oklahoma City and Tulsa are examples of those receiving some funding through the Oklahoma Pilot Early Childhood Program. … Educare Centers strive to provide high quality learning environments for families and their children 5 and younger who are considered at risk for school failure, according to Educare.” According to the Oklahoman, “The State of Oklahoma Pilot Early Childhood Program is targeting children, up to age 3, in impoverished families.”

Latino Students Now Make Up Majority In California Public Schools.
The San Francisco Chronicle (11/13, Kane) reported, “Latinos now make up a majority of California’s public school students, cracking the 50 percent barrier for the first time in the state’s history, according to data released Friday by the state Department of Education.” State data from the 2009-10 school year showed, meanwhile, that out of 6.2 million students throughout the state, 27 percent were white, nine percent were Asian, and seven percent were black. “Students calling themselves Filipino, Pacific Islander, Native American or other total almost 7 percent.” UC Berkeley Education Professor Bruce Fuller said that Latinos’ large impact on public education in California will continue to grow, “as Latino parents — now in the majority — realize many of the schools their children attend are underfunded.”

High School In Florida Struggles To Balance Academic Priorities With Athletic Tradition.
The Miami Herald (11/13, McGrory) reported on the conflict between “football excellence and the academic mission at the core of” Northwestern High School in Liberty City, Florida. Principal Charles Hankerson came to the school in 2007, at a time when the school was facing a football scandal and “was being threatened with punishment by the state unless it improved its academic record.” Changes under Hankerson’s leadership have included making “improvement and discipline the school’s top priorities” and “emphasizing standardized test preparation.” His efforts have been criticized by students who “complained the school had become too focused on test prep and discipline. And some alumni felt that Hankerson…wasn’t showing enough reverence to the school’s storied football program.” Despite the criticism, “Hankerson’s three-year tenure” is marked by improved academics. This year, for instance, the school – which has never received higher than a “D” in school grades — is expected “to earn a C.”

On the Job
Several Large Districts Using “Value-Added” Teacher Assessments.
The Los Angeles Times (11/14, Watanabe) reported that historically, teacher “evaluations typically have involved a school administrator making a quick, pre-announced visit to a teacher’s classroom. But in major districts including Washington’s, New York’s and Houston’s – and perhaps soon, Los Angeles’ – officials are using a method called ‘value-added’ to bring a measure of objectivity to the process.” According to the Times, “Value-added assesses a teacher’s effectiveness at raising students’ performance on standardized tests compared with how they did in previous years” yet some “educational experts and union leaders say that value-added is not reliable enough for high-stakes decisions on firing, tenure or pay; that it is a narrow gauge of teaching; and that it pressures instructors to ‘teach to the test.’”

Top-Performing Teachers Not Evenly Distributed In DC.
The Washington Post (11/14, Turque) reported that DC’s “most affluent ward has more than four times as many ‘highly effective’ public schoolteachers as its poorest, underscoring a problem endemic to urban school systems: Their best educators often do not serve the children who need them most.” According to the Post, “The imbalance represents a significant challenge for Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray (D) and interim Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who have pledged to continue the reform measures initiated by former chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. Research frequently cited by Rhee and her supporters suggests that low-achieving children who have three highly effective teachers in successive years can make dramatic academic gains.”

Law & Policy
Political Sparring Threatens Ohio Race To The Top Award.
The Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer (11/15, Starzyk) reports, “Everybody was cheering just a few months ago, when Ohio won $400 million in the federal government’s Race to the Top competition for public schools” yet “a few grumbles are being heard as well” as 28 “districts and charter schools…have withdrawn, some of them saying they can’t afford to spend more than they’d get. And Gov. Ted Strickland [D] and Gov.-elect John Kasich [R] are sparring over whether the Race money will be endangered if Kasich gets rid of Strickland’s new state funding formula.” According to the Plain Dealer, “Strickland ‘expressed his concern’ in a phone call with US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Friday, said the governor’s spokeswoman Amanda Wurst.”

Special Needs
Oregon Officials Seek To Avoid Federal Penalties Over Special Education Funding.
The AP (11/15) reports, “Oregon state dollars for special education have decreased because of budget cuts” and “state officials are working to avoid federal sanctions. Federal special education law requires states to support special education at the same level or higher from year to year or face penalties.” According to the AP, Oregon DOE “officials hope a clause in the federal law that makes an exception for uncontrollable circumstances and unforeseen declines in state resources will help them avoid a cut in federal dollars for special education.”

New Jersey DOE To Review Special Needs Funding Formula.
The Record and Herald News (NJ) (11/13, Brody) reports that the New Jersey “Education Department has commissioned a $174,000 study to determine how fairly New Jersey’s new school funding formula handles the high costs of special-needs students. The Education Law Center, which advocates for disadvantaged children, said the independent consultant’s study was long overdue; legislation required that it be finished by June.” The Herald News added, “Advocates for the disabled have long charged that special-needs children often don’t get all the services they deserve because school districts don’t get enough of the state or federal funding intended for them.”

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Safety & Security
Educators Say Olweus Bullying Prevention Program Is Effective.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (11/14, Hardy) reported that the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program “used by dozens of schools in the Philadelphia area and hundreds throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey” teacher children “that bystanders who witness bullying should help the victim. Many schools say it has made a difference.” The Inquirer added, “Pennsylvania and New Jersey require that school districts have anti-bullying policies and name a person to whom complaints can be made” yet “while policies and publicity can help somewhat, experts say the numbers go down significantly only when schools put in place consistent, well-organized, long-term programs.”

School Finance
Michigan Schools Superintendent Proposes Boost In State Funding For Schools.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (11/15, Hetzner) reports that Michigan schools Superintendent Tony Evers “is proposing extensive changes to the way the state finances public schools, including a shift of nearly $900 million a year from tax credits to school aid and guaranteed state funding of $3,000 per student.” The changes also include giving “school districts 20% more state aid for every enrolled student who qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch.” The changes would require “a 2 percent increase in funding from the state for the 2011-’12 school year and 4 percent more for the following year.” The increases reduce the likelihood that Evers’ plan will be approved by the state Legislature, the Journal Sentinel adds. Governor-elect Scott Walker said this week that “he was pessimistic about the feasibility of more state funding in a biennial budget already in the red.”

South Dakota Districts Spending Less Due To Inflation, Uncertain State Funding.
South Dakota’s Argus Leader (11/14, Verges) reported that nearly “one-quarter of South Dakota school districts ended last school year with more general fund cash on hand than ever.” School officials say they need “to save because they fear that state budget problems will mean less money for local districts.” Last year, despite an expected “1.2 percent inflationary bump,” state “lawmakers for the first time provided no increase in the per-student funding formula.” Based on inflation, “schools should get 1.26 percent more per student, but the state faces a difficult budget and school administrators worry about the precedent set last year.” Rapid City Area Schools, for instance, saved stimulus money and “hired less-experienced teachers.” In one year, “the district saw its reserves swell…from $8.9 million to $14 million — 17 percent of this year’s spending budget.” Lancaster (PA) Online (11/13, Smart) reported on a similar trend in Pennsylvania.

Also in the News
Columnist Says Black Appointment Part Of “Outsider As Problem-Solver” Trend.
Columnist James Carroll writes in the Boston Globe (11/15) that with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s appointment of Joel I. Klein and now Cathleen P. Black as schools chancellor, “the idea seems to be that the only disqualification for the top job in education is a background in education. What gives?” Carroll acknowledges Black’s accomplishments as a media executive, but questions whether “educational leadership [is] only a matter of management.” He adds, “Black’s appointment is part of a larger American trend, as the nation in one troubled sector after another turns to the ‘outsider’ as the problem solver.” Noting that Black’s bestselling book, “Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life),” focuses on succeeding in the competitive workplace, Carroll asserts that in education “What’s needed is not an essential guide to getting ahead, but a debunking of the corrupt notion that school is a competitive race.”

New York Mayor Faces High Hurdle In Establishing Black’s Education Credentials. The New York Times (11/15, Hernandez) reports that when New York Michael R. Bloomberg “was trying to convince the state in 2002 that a scrappy former prosecutor from Queens could run the country’s largest school system, he took the kitchen-sink approach” yet as Bloomberg “repeats the ritual of seeking approval from the state for his chancellor-in-waiting – this time, Cathleen P. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines – his case may be even more strained.” According to the Times, “While Mr. Klein’s experience with New York education was slim, Ms. Black’s may be slimmer.” Though Black “serves on the board of a Harlem charter school and as a trustee for the University of Notre Dame, she does not seem to have had much direct interaction with the public school system.”

Klein’s Education Leadership Applauded. Joe Nocera wrote in a column for the New York Times (11/13) that New York schools chief Joel I. Klein “will leave his post with a reputation as the country’s pre-eminent education reformer. … Graduation rates are up over 20 percent since he took over. Thousands of parents sign up for the lotteries each year that decide whether their children will get into a coveted charter school slot.” Nocera added, “Though the job is far from over – don’t drop the ball, Cathie Black! – you’d have to be blind not to see the progress.”

Noise Hampers Young UK Students’ Ability To Speak, Listen Properly, Survey Says.
AFP (11/14) reported that a new study by the UK education watchdog Ofsted concludes that “young children in Britain are starting nursery school unable to speak and listen properly because of continuous noise and poor conversation at home.” Ofsted surveyed several nursery schools to see “how the best schools teach children to read.”

The UK’s Independent (11/14, Youde) reported that researchers “found televisions in constant use, noisy siblings and raised voices at home were impeding children’s language skills.” Most of the schools Ofsted visited “reported that children are, increasingly, unprepared for learning, having poor listening and speaking skills.” Consequently, the “nursery classes focus on speaking, listening, increasing vocabulary and using sentences.” In addition, they have “structured days ‘to compensate for the chaotic home lives that too many of the children were experiencing.’” The UK’s Mirror (11/14) and The UK’s Daily Express (11/14, Douglas) also covered the story.

Leading the News
North Carolina To Offer Microsoft Certification In All School Districts.
The AP (11/16) reports, “North Carolina is on track to become the first state offering Microsoft computer training in every high school.” The Microsoft IT Academy will allow high school students “to earn certification as a Microsoft Office Specialist or a Microsoft Certified Professional by completing the academy’s coursework and passing exams.” Beginning in January, the program will be tested in 20 school districts throughout the state. WFMY-TV Greensboro (11/16) notes that “state school officials expect all of the state’s 628 public high schools to participate beginning next fall.”

North Carolina’s News & Observer (11/16) reports that the fully implemented program “will allow the state to offer the information technology courses in all public high schools. Course material will be available to students when they log on to computers at home, in public libraries, or community centers.”

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In the Classroom
Hand-Held Devices See Increasing Use In Classroom Instruction.
The New York Times (11/16, A14, Steinberg) reports that “the greatest impact” of hand-held technology devices in the classroom, which can be used to take attendance, answer quizzes or signal confusion, “may be cultural: they have altered, perhaps irrevocably, the nap schedules of anyone who might have hoped to catch a few winks in the back row, and made it harder for them to respond to text messages, e-mail and other distractions.” While some “students say they resent the potential Big Brother aspect of all this,” others say they appreciate the heightened level of attention it requires of them. “Though the technology is relatively new, preliminary studies at Harvard and Ohio State, among other institutions, suggest that engaging students in class through a device as familiar to them as a cellphone…increases their understanding of material that may otherwise be conveyed in traditional lectures.”

Students Learn Physics Principles From Hip-Hop Science Education Tour.
The Providence (RI) Journal (11/16) reports on a “hip-hop science education program” that NASA and the Honeywell technology company brought to Western Hills Middle School in Cranston, Rhode Island this week as part of the FMA Live Tour. The tour, named after Sir Isaac Newton’s “second law of motion,” brought “plenty of club-thumping beats, catchy lyrics based on [Newton's] law of gravity and three laws of motion.”

Popularization Of Food Culture Drives Student Interest In Cooking, Nutrition.
New Jersey’s Record and Herald News (11/16, Fujimori) reports, “The mass popularization of food culture has trickled down to these impressionable junior foodies, who are increasingly interested in cooking, nutrition and understanding how the food system fits into their communities.” Tina Gagliano, head of the FCS curriculum at Ridgewood High School, said, “There’s been an enormous trend with food and an exploration and creativity of food.” She added that there has been a significant rise in popularity of cooking programs among males. “Gagliano hopes to inspire her students to think about the community and cultural aspects of cuisine. In the spring she’s proposing that her club members do a garden lesson with elementary school students and she encourages them to bring in family recipes. ‘Food is science, it’s math, it’s history, it’s a personal thing,’ said Gagliano.”

Texas District To Launch Career Program Choices At High Schools.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (11/16, Ayala) reports, “Next year, the [Fort Worth] district plans to launch career-oriented programs of choice at each high school, where students could earn college credit — and be certified and licensed in certain fields — by graduation.” Superintendent Melody Johnson said the programs would “be focused on both career and college” and would include “partnerships in the community.” Specifically, Johnson said, “the district needs input from the business community to make sure the programs will provide the training that is needed. She said the district is also looking for internship and mentoring opportunities.” The Star-Telegram notes “each campus will have two to four industry-specific programs, including computer technology, communications, medical sciences and engineering.”

On the Job
Panel Urges Major Revision Of Teacher Training Standards.
The Washington Post (11/16, Birnbaum) reports, “Programs that train teachers need to be radically revised, according to a panel composed of some of the country’s top educators, and eight states, including Maryland, have signed on to adopt the recommendations, scheduled to be released Tuesday. Teacher-training programs have long been criticized for not putting enough emphasis on inside-the-classroom practice, and the recommendations suggest turning programs ‘upside-down’ by putting practical training first and foremost.” The Post adds that a “growing number” of teachers “come from programs such as Teach for America, which bypass traditional education schools, in part because of a perception that the standard routes for teacher preparation have become less useful.”

More Students Leaving Failing Schools In Washington State Districts.
The AP (11/15) reported, “More parents in Southwest Washington are taking advantage” of NCLB provisions that allow “them to transfer their kids out of failing schools. … More than 160 elementary students in the Longview and Kelso school districts are using the school choice provision of the law this year, The Daily News [WA] reported.” According to the AP, “That’s still a small percentage of the 5,510 students eligible to transfer in both school districts” yet “it’s up sharply from the 24 Longview students who switched out of failing schools last year.”

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Law & Policy
New Hampshire Court Upholds Constitutionality Of Voluntary US Pledge In Schools.
The AP (11/15, Lavoie) reported that 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on Friday upheld “the constitutionality of a New Hampshire law that requires schools to authorize a time each day for students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance.” The three-panel court’s decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation on behalf of two parents “who identified themselves and their children as atheist and agnostic.” The lawsuit claimed that “the pledge is a religious exercise because it uses the phrase ‘under God.’” But Chief Judge Sandra Lynch wrote on behalf of the court, “In reciting the Pledge, students promise fidelity to our flag and our nation, not to any particular God, faith, or church. … The New Hampshire School Patriot Act’s primary effect is not the advancement of religion, but the advancement of patriotism through a pledge to the flag as a symbol of the nation.”

Washington State BOE Approves Revamped High School Graduation Standards.
The AP (11/15) reported, “Washington state took another step toward tougher high school graduation requirements this week, but since the ideas of the State Board of Education require money and approval from the Legislature, it may be a while until these initiatives affect students.” According to the AP, “After three years of surveys, hearings, research and discussions, the board approved what would be the first wholesale revision of Washington graduation requirements since 1985. High school graduation requirements would be aligned with Washington’s minimum four-year public college admission requirements.”

District Considers Stricter Proof Of Residency Requirements For Enrollment.
St. Petersburg Times (11/16, Marshall) reports that Florida’s Hillsborough County school district may begin asking new families to provide “iron-clad proof of residence, such as a homestead exemption or rental lease. No longer would a simple electric or cable bill generally suffice.” The move comes as Florida public school districts face “stringent class-size limits and the possibility of needing to redraw school boundaries.” Hillsborough school board members are also considering the feasibility of “audits to root out cheaters.” According to Student Placement Director Bill Person, “a full audit would cost around $17,000 for a high school of 2,000 students and $8,500 for an elementary school of 1,000.”

The Tampa Tribune (11/16, Ackerman) reports at a workshop on Monday, school board members floated ideas for how to deal with illegal families enrolling in Hillsborough schools. Even though “the district has tightened rules allowing families to…attend schools outside their neighborhood,” school officials “still hear about students slipping into schools whose enrollment is stretched beyond capacity.”

School Finance
Wisconsin State Superintendent Proposes Increased State Funding For Schools.
WITI-TV Milwaukee (11/16) reports that Wisconsin State Superintendent Tony Evers has unveiled a new plan for funding public schools in the state. Called “Fair Funding for our Future,” Evers’ proposal would “increase funding for each student to a minimum of $3,000.”

WAOW-TV Wausau, Wisconsin (11/16, Hersch) reports that school districts would receive at least $3,600 for each student who qualifies “for free and reduced-price lunches.” The plan would require a $420 million increase in the state budget. Evers said of the proposal, “This is the lowest increase we’ve requested in over a decade and we believe with the proper work and effort, we can make this happen, absolutely.”

WEAU-TV Eau Claire (11/16, Peterson) notes that Evers “says he plans on getting $900 million to pay for this plan by transferring money from property tax credit relief.” According to WISN-TV Milwaukee (11/16), “If approved, the changes would take effect in July 2012.”

Also in the News

Survey Indicates Fewer Twelfth-Graders In Minnesota Are Drinking While Driving.
The AP (11/16) reports that the 2010 Minnesota Student Survey “of the state’s sixth-, ninth- and 12th-graders” shows that “high school seniors in Minnesota are making better choices when it comes to seat belt use, smoking and drunken driving.” However, the survey also found that the percentage of students smoking marijuana remained about the same as in 2007, when the survey was last given.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune (11/16, Draper) reports that state Education Commissioner Alice Seagren noted that “the survey provides only a rough snapshot of teen behavior.” Participants “can change from one survey to the next,” and since “students participate voluntarily and anonymously, there’s no way of knowing how accurately they’re reporting their own behavior,” he said. The Star Tribune notes that 295 of Minnesota’s 335 school districts participated in this year’s survey, and about 71 percent of all students in “sixth-, ninth- and 12th-grade…filled out the surveys,” according to the Department of Education.

In Illinois, Latino Children Least Likely To Enroll In Preschool, Study Shows.
The Chicago Tribune (11/16, Malone) reports, “In Illinois, Latino children were half as likely to enroll in preschool as white and African-American students, a disparity that threatens to widen the academic divide between them, according to a new report out Tuesday. … With preschool increasingly seen as the front door to the education system, the enrollment gaps could leave Latino children behind their peers even before the start of kindergarten.” According to the Tribune, researchers led by Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, “tracked 380 Illinois children born in 2001 – as part of a national study that included more than 10,000 children across the country – for nearly a decade, monitoring everything from the child’s social and cognitive development to how often they read with their parents at home.”

NEA in the News
Administration-Backed Education Reforms Will Be Harder To Pass Under New Congress.
The AP (11/16, Armario) reports that none of the Obama Administration’s major education initiatives “have been bipartisan. Most were approved through large spending bills that Republicans opposed.” And, with Republicans making up the new House majority and taking several Senate seats, experts say “Democrat-led education reform efforts” will be harder to pass. For instance, the AP points out, “another round of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition or a cash infusion like the $10 billion aid package Democrats passed earlier this fall to save thousands of teacher jobs would almost certainly be blocked.” The AP notes, however, that teacher unions “have resisted” some reforms favored by the Obama administration, “like performance pay and charter schools.” Still, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel says, “Where we are totally the same in looking at the current right now is that the status quo is not acceptable.”

Organizations Focus Efforts On Improving K-12 Evolution Instruction.
Education Week (11/17, Sparks) reported that several organizations, including the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences, are investing more in research to identify “essential concepts for teaching evolution” in K-12 classrooms. “One of the instructional-improvement projects is Evolution Readiness, a program devised by a team of researchers from the Concord, Mass.-based Concord Consortium and Boston College.” The project incorporates natural selection computer models, “classroom activities and readings on evolution concepts.” The National Science Foundation sponsored a three-year study of the project, which suggested “that students who participate in the program show significantly better understanding than those in a control group of evolution concepts, such as the idea that changes in the environment will prompt changes in a population over time.” Education Week adds that according to many evolution experts, “teacher education and training, rather than school board policy or state standards, will be the key to better teaching of evolution in science courses.”

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In the Classroom
More Schools Integrating Arts Into Core Curriculum.
Education Week (11/17, Robelen) reported, “The idea of integrating the arts, including dance, into the broader curriculum is not new, but it appears to be gaining a stronger foothold in public schools, proponents say, though national data are not available.” Such efforts have been taken on by educators who have seen arts programs in schools diminish “amid the financial straits facing many districts and other challenges, such as pressure to boost test scores in core subjects like reading and math.” Dance, in particular, has been left out of many public schools. But Jane Bonbright of the National Dance Education Organization, said that is changing. Now dance, “first introduced in schools mainly through P.E. programs, appears to be increasingly taught as an art form, which according to Bonbright, “is an important distinction.”

Students Track, Observe Meteor Shower In Outdoor Science Lab.
For California’s Press-Enterprise (11/17, Rhodes) reports that on Tuesday night, Daniel Barth, a high school and college science instructor, set up the Tahquitz High School “football stadium as an outdoor science laboratory” so that students can track meteors and earn extra credit. “Barth said students will chart and compare observations trying to find the” meteors’ radiant points. And since “the early-morning meteor shower is unpredictable, Barth…planned a science activity every hour to keep students busy.” The Press-Enterprise notes that Berth “has hosted an annual meteor event for the past 12 years that he has taught at Hemet Unified School District.” He documented parts of this years event “as part of his application for the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.”

Students Increasingly Showing Interest In Food, Nutrition.
New Jersey’s Record (11/16, Fujimori) reported that children today “are becoming more and more passionate about food.” That interest for some students includes “cooking, nutrition and understanding how the food system fits into their communities.” For instance, the Food for Thought Club at Wayne Hills High School last year “prepared meals for the working poor, which they froze and donated to a church.” Jane Gorli, a food and consumer sciences teacher and the club’s sponsor said that “while the recent state education cuts have severely hurt family and consumer science curriculums…her students’ interest in developing these skills is high.” Gorli noted, “It’s important for people to have these basic skills, and there are more jobs in the hospitality industry.”

IB Students In California Collaborate With Students In Thailand To Write Stage Plays.
California’s Mercury News (11/17, Noguchi) reports on a theater exchange program between high school students in California and Bangkok, Thailand. International Baccalaureate (IB) students from Andrew Hill High School and students at Regents International School in Thailand “worked from the same three prompts, and had 48 hours to write” 10 short “plays before sharing the scripts.” On Tuesday night the Andrew Hill students produced the plays. Teacher Michael Winsatt, who came up with the idea for the theater exchange, said that “while Andrew Hill’s theater class stages weekly improvisational theater and other productions, ‘having the other school participate makes students step up their game.’”

On the Job
Report Calls For Major Overhaul Of Teacher Training.
The AP (11/17, Gormley) reports, “Eight states are beginning a national pilot program to transform teacher education and preparation to emphasize far more infield, intensive training as is common practice in medical schools.” According to the AP, the “states agreed to implement the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning created by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is quoted saying, “There is little or no accountability for turning out effective teachers. … It is time to start holding teacher preparation programs far more accountable for the impact of their graduates on student learning and achievement.” Education Week (11/17, Sawchuk) and the Chronicle of Higher Education (11/16, Kiley) also covered the story.

Law & Policy
High Schools Face Title IX Scrutiny.
The Washington Times (11/17, Simmons) reports, “Until recently, the battles over sex equality in sports programs largely occurred on college campuses. But as institutions of higher learning have complied better with the 1972 Title IX law, advocates for women’s sports increasingly have turned their attention to public high schools.” According to the Times, “Several months ago, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that Education’s civil rights office would be vigilant on Title IX compliance.”

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School Finance
Failed Contract Negotiations Could Cost Michigan District $24 Million In Federal Funding.
The Grand Rapids Press (11/17, Reinstadler) reports, “Grants worth $24.6 million are in jeopardy after Grand Rapids Public Schools and the Grand Rapids Education Association (GREA) failed to meet a Tuesday deadline for negotiating labor contract changes so it could start using reform models in five struggling city schools.” The two sides have met 21 times since May. An agreement would mean the district could “collect one-time federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to help turn around” two high schools and three middle schools. “The district’s grant proposal would not lengthen the school day for all students, but would require staff to devote more time to tutoring students, receiving training, and collaborating with colleagues.” GREA Vice President Sue Maturkanich said, however, that the proposal lacks a plan for decreasing class sizes and professional development as part of the school day.

WZZM-TV Grand Rapids (11/17, Puchala) notes that teachers also wanted “more input on the writing of the grant request.” Maturkanich told WZZM, “We would be interested in seeing what this grant would look like if we had class sizes that were more conducive to a learning environment that would impact low achievement.” WWMT-TV Grand Rapids (11/17) also covers the story.

Proposal Would Use Money From Tobacco Settlements To Help Michigan Schools.
The AP (11/17) reports that Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manger Robert Bobb has proposed a plan for the state Legislature to consider that would give Detroit “and about 40 other deficit-ridden districts…more money in exchange for academic changes.” The plan suggests “selling off more of Michigan’s share of future tobacco lawsuit settlements” in order to raise $400 million for school districts.

The Detroit Free Press (11/16, Dawsey, et al.) reported that “the plan has raised the ire of teachers unions because in order to get the assistance, districts would make major changes including eliminating teacher seniority, changing tenure requirements, implementing merit pay and working a longer school year.” Also under Bobb’s proposal, benefiting “districts also would have to submit a financial reform plan to prevent future overspending.” MLive.com (11/16, Oosting) also covered the story.

Oklahoma DOE May Propose Nearly $300 Million School Funding Increase.
The Oklahoman (11/17, Rolland) reports, “A draft budget for the [Oklahoma] Department of Education includes an increase of $295 million for public schools, despite what figures to be a tight year for state finances.” The AP (11/16, Murphy) reported that the Oklahoma Board of Education will likely “request an increase of more than $300 million for public schools” for next year. The money would “replace one-time stimulus funds used to plug holes in the budget last year.” The board will vote on the proposal Dec. 14.

Also in the News
New York Schools Chancellor Pick One Of Numerous Parental Concerns.
The New York Times (11/17, Otterman) reports, “More than 8,000 people have signed online petitions opposing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s selection for the next city schools chancellor, Cathleen P. Black. But at the first public meeting to take up the question on Tuesday night at Brooklyn Technical High School, only about a dozen people testified directly against her appointment,” citing “continuing concerns at their individual schools, like overcrowding and inadequate help for failing students.” The Times adds, “Earlier Tuesday, Ms. Black made her first visit to the Education Department headquarters, and the city released pictures of her meeting with officials there.”

Opposition To Black’s Appointment Growing. The AP (11/17) reports, “Opposition to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s pick to lead the largest public school system is increasing, with some critics showing up to a meeting of an education advisory board. But the city’s Panel for Educational Policy agreed at a meeting Tuesday that it was up to the mayor whether to seek a waiver from the state education commissioner allowing media executive Cathie Black to get the job.” The AP adds, “Critics have called on the commissioner to deny the waiver, saying her background didn’t make her fit to serve the city’s school system.”

Ad Campaign Aims To Get Kids Excited About Science.
USA Today (11/17, Vergano) reports on an ad campaign by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation that pairs popular musicians with scientists to get “kids and their parents jazzed about science.” The campaign kicks off in December with ads in GQ Magazine. USA Today points notes that while “rock stars are household names…ResearchAmerica! polls suggest half the public can’t name a living scientist.”

NEA in the News
NEA Seeks Flexibility For Districts On Teacher Qualifications, Adequate Yearly Progress.
Alyson Klein wrote in the Education Week “Politics K-12″ blog that the NEA sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Monday “asking him for flexibility in some key areas” of the No Child Left Behind Act. Specifically, the NEA is seeking “leeway for districts on the highly qualified teacher part of the law” and “changes to adequate yearly progress” (AYP) to allow “schools that miss achievement targets by just one subgroup…to focus interventions just on that particular group, not the whole school.” The NEA also wants the Education Department to give districts more options for getting “credit towards AYP” and to give schools more flexibility for “testing students in special education, and English-language learners.” Klein outlines several other requests made by the NEA. She also notes that “a bunch” of other education organizations also “are asking the [DOE] for regulatory relief from parts of the No Child Left Behind Act.”

Virtual Town Hall Meeting Draws Students’ Attention To STEM Careers.
WMBF-TV Myrtle Beach (11/18) reports on the “Math, Science and the Future of Our Nation” online town hall hosted by former Vice President Al Gore and Time Warner Cable on Wednesday. “The event [was] part of Time Warner Cable’s “Connect a Million Minds” program, which attempts to inspire students to pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering and math.” Astronaut Sally Ride and inventor Dean Kamen were speakers for the event. WPDE-TV Conway, South Carolina (11/18) notes that “several schools across the country…participated by attending Time Warner’s viewing party.”

The Birmingham (AL) Business Journal (11/18, Phinisee) reports, “On Wednesday, 300 middle school students from the San Antonio Independent School District’s Young Women’s Leadership Academy participated in a global online town hall meeting hosted by former US Vice President Al Gore” and featuring “Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage from Discovery Channel’s MythBusters, inventor Dean Kamen and astronaut Sally Ride served as special guest panelists.” The event was called Math, Science and the Future of Our Nation.

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In the Classroom
High School Test Plan Allowing Students Caught Cheating To Retake Tests.
The Washington Post (11/18, George) reports that West Potomac High School Principal in Fairfax County, Virginia, which recently “asked teachers to all but banish F’s from” report cards, is testing a plan to let “students caught cheating…retake tests instead of receiving zeros.” Principal Cliff Hardison sent an email to teachers earlier this month, instructing them to allow retakes. “The idea was that cheating should ‘result in a disciplinary consequence separate from an academic consequence,’” according to the email. Parents were informed of the change, but after many parents and teachers complained, the school reverted to its former policy of assigning zeros to cheaters. Hardison said that “instructional leaders” would try to develop “a ‘whole-school approach’” to dealing with cheaters.

Class Sizes Swell In New York City, Despite 2007 Agreement.
The New York Times (11/18, Otterman) reports, “Three years after a landmark agreement to cut class sizes in New York City’s public schools, classrooms are swelling across the city, a result of budget cuts and spending decisions that have reduced the teaching force. According to the city’s Department of Education, elementary schools this year had the largest increases, with average class sizes growing to 23.7 students per class from 22.9 last year.” According to the Times, “State spending reductions are one of the largest challenges awaiting Cathleen P. Black, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s choice to be the next chancellor, and given that the state faces another large deficit, it is possible that class sizes will continue to rise.”

STEM, Apprenticeships To Be Key Parts Of Proposed Academy.
The Forsyth County News Online (11/18) reports that STEM subjects could “be the key focus of the proposed STEM Academy at Forsyth Central High School,” as “officials are working on a proposal to bring the academy to Central as early as August.” Over time, “the academy would create engineering and biotechnology programs and expand advanced science and math course offerings. There are also proposals to compete in science, robotics and rocketry competitions, as well as developing an engineering/robotics lab that would be available to all students.” Officials will also seek to “develop apprenticeship opportunities and work with technical colleges and universities for joint enrollment,” among other efforts.

Law & Policy
Education Department To Probe Racism Complaint Against North Carolina District.
The AP (11/18) reports, “The federal government says it will investigate complaints filed by the NAACP that the Wake County school board is discriminating against minority students.” The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights “said in a letter released by the NAACP on Wednesday that it has not made any determinations about the merits of the complaints. NAACP leaders have complained that the Wake County school board is discriminating against minority students by moving to eliminate a policy of assigning students to achieve socioeconomic diversity.”

The Raleigh News & Observer (11/18, Hui) adds that ED “plans to investigate allegations of racism filed by the NAACP against the Wake County school system. In a Nov. 5 notification letter, Alice B. Wender, director of [ED]‘s Office of Civil Rights, says that it will open an investigation into the complaint. The NAACP has alleged that the school board has engaged in racial discrimination through the move to community schools, student reassignments made this year and in the way minority students are suspended.”

Lawmakers Urged To Prohibit Teacher Strikes In Chicago.
The Chicago Tribune (11/18) editorializes that Chicago Public Schools faces “a huge budget shortfall – estimated at more than $700 million – in 2011. There are serious rumblings about a strike if the Chicago Board of Education can’t scrape up the money for raises guaranteed to teachers in the last year of a contract that expires in 2012.” The Tribune urges lawmakers to “block that threat. Just as state law prohibits firefighters and police officers from striking, so too should it stop teachers from walking out.”

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Safety & Security
Metro Atlanta Districts Rely On Police, Students In Determining Validity Of School Threats.
Atlanta Journal Constitution (11/18, Sarrio, Dodd) reports that threats to schools occur frequently in “districts across metro Atlanta,” and officials must walk a fine line “between anticipating danger and keeping schools open and on schedule.” Districts throughout metro Atlanta “rely on school police and students to help determine the likelihood a threat will become reality.” Gwinnett County Public Schools, for instance, turns to students as “a valuable resource when determining the validity of a threat,” because they “are often the ones who tip off principals and administrators when they hear rumors of violence at school.” The Journal Constitution adds that in order “to manage the spread of rumors and panic that are common once a threat occurs,” Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, “advises schools to establish a clear emergency communication plan, and to inform parents about the plan before an incident occurs.”

Parents, Teachers Want Ban On Guns For School Security Officers In Texas District.
The San Antonio Express News (11/17, Lloyd) reported that a 14 year old student was shot to death last week by a school safety officer in the San Antonio Independent School district. On Tuesday, “about 15 protesters gathered outside a Northside Independent School District board meeting Tuesday, calling for district police officers to give up their guns.” As in the San Antonio district, Northside school officers carry guns. A spokesman for the district said there are “no plans to ban officers from carrying guns because it would hinder them from carrying out their duties as Texas peace officers.”

Facilities
New York District Proposes In-School Drug Rehabilitation Program.
WNBC-TV New York (11/18, Cergol) reports that New York’s William Floyd school district has proposed “opening a drug clinic inside William Floyd high school” to combat the school system’s growing drug problem among students. “Since the 2007-08 school year, the number of disciplinary cases involving students either possessing drugs in school or coming to class high” has doubled, school officials say. They created the plan for the in-school rehab program after consulting experts.” Only students in the Wiliam Floyd district would be able to enter the program, which would be run by the Daytop rehabilitation program. “Daytop currently runs programs across New York State; but, students come to the Daytop facilities, not vice versa.” If the plan “approved by state officials, it would become the only in-school program of its kind in New York.”

School Finance
Utah Lawmakers Approve Federal Jobs Bill Funding For Schools.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/18, Gerhke) reports that Utah “lawmakers reluctantly agreed Wednesday to accept $101 million in federal assistance aimed at helping [state] schools avoid teacher layoffs.” The funding is set up so that even if state lawmakers “voted to refuse the money, the U.S. Department of Education could send it directly to the state’s school districts.” Also, The Tribune points out, “If legislators were able to reject the money, schools would be forced to cut $50 million from their budgets in the middle of the school year.” The Utah House and Senate votes in favor of taking the money were both “more than a 3-to-1 ratio.” Even so, “the resolution accepting the funds scolded the federal government for usurping state sovereignty, and lawmakers promised more federal fights lie ahead.” KTVX-TV Salt Lake City (11/18) also covers the story.

Raleigh Public Schools Wants To Use Race To The Top Share For iPads, Longer School Days.
WRAL-TV Raleigh (11/18, Hanrahan) reports that the Durham, North Carolina school system is expecting $4.5 million from the state’s $400 million Race to the Top grant. North Carolina’s News & Observer (11/18, Bridges) reports that the district “hopes to use its $4.5 million in federal Race to the Top money to give students at two schools iPads and implement an extended school day at another.” Each of the three schools also “would participate in a process of replacing principals, instituting comprehensive instruction reforms and providing students with additional support.” WNCN-TV Raleigh (11/18, Jones) also covers the story.

Also in the News
New York Mayor Makes Case For Black As Schools Chancellor.
The New York Times (11/18, Hernandez) reports, “In a six-page letter to state education officials on Wednesday,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg(I) “seemed intent on leaving no accomplishment” of Catherine Black, his choice for schools chancellor, “unmentioned, even citing an award she received for volunteer work after Hurricane Katrina to help offset her lack of experience in education. The letter sought an exemption from a state law that says the chancellor must hold a professional certificate in educational leadership and have at least three years of school experience.” According to the Times, “Bloomberg’s challenge was to allay concerns that Ms. Black had little experience in or exposure to public school systems.” The AP (11/18, Matthews) also covers the story.

Duncan Says Detroit District Among The Worst-Performing.
The Detroit Free Press (11/18, Dawsey) reports that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “dealt the Detroit Public Schools another verbal blow, calling the district ‘arguably the worst urban school district in the country now.’ Duncan made the remarks in response to a DPS-related question during a discussion today at the American Enterprise Institute Forum in Washington, D.C.” The Free Press adds, “Duncan did, however, say that he is a ‘fan’ of DPS Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb, who was formerly the deputy mayor and school board president in Washington.”

Alyson Klein wrote in a blog for Education Week (11/17), “The dismal economic climate may well be represent ‘new normal’ for schools, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said today at a forum sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank.” According to Klein, Duncan is “hoping they’ll use the opportunity fundamentally rethink long-held ideas, such as the need for students to have a certain amount of ‘seat time’ in each particular class, class size, and teacher pay scales that reward educators for getting advanced degrees.”

NEA in the News
Georgia District Celebrates American Education Week.
Georgia’s Rockdale Citizen (11/18, Floyd) reports that over the past week, Rockdale County, Georgia, schools have been celebrating American Education Week, which was founded by the NEA in 1921. Community volunteers have joined in, with some reading at schools. This year’s theme is, “Great Public Schools: A Right and a Responsibility.” Students at Pine Street Elementary “created posters and wrote essays about the…theme” and wrote letters of appreciation to former teachers. “Students also spent the week making and decorating book characters out of pumpkins and dressing up to show their future college and career choices.” The Rockdale Citizen highlights other events at schools throughout the County and notes that “the [NEA] also supports Read Across America Day in March, National Teacher Day in May and other special educational events throughout the year.”

NAEP Scores Show Modest Improvement.
The Washington Post (11/19, Anderson) reports, “The nation’s high school seniors are performing slightly better in math and reading than they did in the middle of the last decade, new test results show, but a large majority continue to fall short of the federal standard for proficiency. Results from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, made public Thursday morning, documented a modest rise in achievement for 12th-graders since 2005.” However, NAEP “results suggest that public schools must make quantum leaps to approach President Obama’s goal of college and career readiness for all graduates.”

The New York Times (11/19, Dillon) adds that on “the 500-point scale used in the reading assessment, the average 12th grader scored 288 on the 2009 test, up from 286 in 2005. … On the math assessment, which is scored on a 300-point scale, the average 12th grader scored 153 in 2009, up from 150 in 2005. Because the governing board changed the math test before its 2005 administration, the latest results cannot be compared with previous math tests given in the 1990s and early 2000s.”

Education Week (11/18, Gewertz) added that the “report shows significant disparities among subgroups of students. White students in Connecticut, for instance, produced an average reading score of 301, while African-American students’ average in that state was 265.” According to Education Week, “Achievement gaps among subgroups didn’t shrink between 2005 to 2009 in either reading or math, even though all racial and ethnic groups and both males and females turned in higher average math scores than they did in 2005.” The Chicago Tribune (11/19, Malone) and the Miami Herald (11/18, Crline) also covered this story.

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In the Classroom
Michigan District Addresses Kinks In Blended Learning Program.
The Grand Rapids Press (11/19, Reinstadler) reports, “Grand Rapids Public Schools teachers contend there is already a need to change the district’s version of blended online learning.” The format has students taking classes online “during days two and three of a three-day instructional rotation.” A key complaint from teachers is “that seeing students only two days one week, and one day the next, isn’t conducive to building relationships.” And, they say, it sometimes takes up to “20 minutes of each 60-minute period” just to log on. Another complaint is that too much time is spent having to make sure students are on task and not visiting social media websites. Grand Rapids Schools Chief Academic Officer Carolyn Evans asserts, however, that with the blended program, students are learning how to better manage their own learning. She also said that “the district has hired…an online learning expert, to help teachers learn the new method of instruction.”

First Lady Brings “Let’s Move” Campaign To New Jersey.
The AP (11/19) reports, “First lady Michelle Obama has told a group of New Jersey school children she practices what she preaches about healthy eating and exercise at the White House. Mrs. Obama visited the Maple Avenue School in Newark on Thursday to talk with students about how eating better and exercising more can improve their lives.” The AP notes that the “event was part of Mrs. Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ initiative against childhood obesity.” The Star-Ledger (NJ) (11/19, Calefati) also covers the First Lady’s visit to the Maple Avenue School, noting that she was accompanied by Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Students Participate In Video Conference With NASA Research Center.
Columbus Local News (11/18, Nuckles) reports, “More than 100 Longfellow Elementary students visited the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland this month, and they did it without ever setting foot outside of Westerville.” The students participated in a video conference with NASA Technical Coordinator David Mazza on November 4. “Students posed questions to Mazza, who tailored the discussion to the interests of his audience. When one student asked about living on the moon, the NASA expert quickly found video clips of a moon landing and talked to students about what it might be like to eat, sleep and move around in a low-gravity situation.” A similar event is scheduled for older students later this month. “NASA’s Learning Technologies Project is a winner for schools seeking unique learning opportunities for young students, [Longfellow PTA President Lynne] Aventino said.”

On the Job
“Work To The Rule” Movement Calls Attention To Teachers’ Time Commitment.
The Washington Post (11/19, Gibson) reports that teachers throughout Loudoun County, Virginia are participating in an effort launched this year by the Loudoun Education Association “to call attention to the county’s public schools budget and the amount of extra time that teachers devote to their jobs.” For the “Work to the Rule” movement, teachers are “entering and exiting the school as a group at precisely the beginning and end of each school day.” Teachers admit, however, that they do “compromise…somewhat to make sure that students aren’t negatively affected.” Loudoun Education Association President Sandy Sullivan told the Post, “We want the community to understand just how much time employees spend above and beyond the work day. … Employees have had their salaries frozen for three years and are dealing with furlough days.” Work to the Rule’s first phase began in September, and the second phase started earlier this month.

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Law & Policy
Sexual Relations Between Teachers, Students Are Illegal, Court Rules.
The AP (11/19, Blankinship) reports, “The Washington Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that student age doesn’t matter in teacher-sex cases, even if the student is 18 and considered an adult by other state laws. The case involves Matthew Hirschfelder, a former choir teacher at Hoquiam High School, who had been charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor in 2006.” Hirschfelder “denies any relationship occurred” and “asked a lower-court judge to dismiss the case because the girl was not a minor.” According to the AP, Hirschfelder’s attorney, Rob Morgan Hill, “said he expected his client will want to appeal this decision to the US Supreme Court.”

Rhode Island Education Officials Poised To Move Forward On New Diploma System.
Jennifer Jordan wrote in the Providence (RI) Journal (11/18) “Projo 7 to 7 News Blog” that Rhode Island Education leaders “appear ready to move forward with their plan to establish a three-tier high school diploma system.” At a work session this week, the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education “discussed the details of the plan,” which would offer students one of three different types of diplomas based on standardized test scores, courses completed, and “a portfolio or senior project.”

Special Needs
New Jersey District Considers “In-Sourcing” For Special Education.
New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (11/18, Corbett) reports, “Instead of sending special education students to costly private schools, Montclair’s [NJ] school board is considering a proposal to educate them in-house while attracting pupils from neighboring towns with competitive tuition rates. The ‘in-sourcing’ plan could eventually save the school district $2 million, said Harvey Susswein, a Montclair resident who presented the idea at the school board meeting Monday.” According to the Star-Ledger, “Montclair’s school district this year is spending $7.65 million to send 90 special-education students out of district to schools like Chapel Hill Academy in Lincoln Park, which charges an average per-pupil rate of $61,700 plus busing, and The Phoenix Center in Nutley, which costs $71,400 per student.”

Safety & Security

Bomb Threats At Texas School Linked To Juvenile In Saudi Arabia.
Texas’ American-Statesman (11/19, Grisales) reports that “a series of bomb threats that triggered the evacuation of two Round Rock schools this week and became the center of a widespread federal and local police investigation have been traced to a juvenile in Saudi Arabia.” The threats were sent to Deerpark Middle School students via Facebook and through phone calls. Deerpark “students had accepted the suspect, who was posing as a Deerpark student as a Facebook friend,” according to sheriff’s office spokesman John Foster. He also said that “the suspect has no apparent connection to the school and has never lived in the United States.” Several local, state, and federal agencies “responded to the bomb threat” that occurred Wednesday, and the FBI is “reviewing whether any federal criminal violations have occurred.”

Detroit-Area School Officials Warn Students About Sharing Information On Facebook. The Detroit Free Press (11/19, Lawrence) reports, “School officials in several metro Detroit communities are warning their students and parents about social networking safety after pictures of” several high school girls were copied from their Facebook pages and “posted on a Facebook account registered in the Middle East.” The account holder tries to pressure girls into “friending” him by “being very pushy and insistent,” according to one school official. Police are looking into whether a crime has been committed. Meanwhile, both “police and school officials said the incident points to the need for students to be careful about the types of information they share online.”

Florida District Reinforces Fences At Middle School To Prevent Coyotes On Campus.
The St. Petersburg Times (11/18, Solochek) reported that officials in some Florida school districts are grappling with how to handle wolves and wild pigs that make their way on campus. Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spokesman Gary Morse said that coyotes are common in all of Florida’s 67 counties. Morse suggested that schools “reinforce their fences as a precaution.” When faced with a wolf at a middle school campus this week, the Pasco school district maintenance department “added fill dirt and sod to better secure the [school's] fence line and also installed skirt fencing around some portables.” Supplies and labor for the project cost the district about $3,500.

Dallas Schools’ Anti-Bullying Policy Addresses Cyberstalking, Harassment Of Gay Students.
Matthew Haag wrote in the Dallas Morning News (11/18) “Dallas ISD” blog that “the Dallas school board passed an anti-bullying policy Thursday night that includes protections for gay and lesbian students.” The policy also “includes provisions for” other students, “cyberbullying and cyberstalking,” and is effective immediately. Haag also notes that “The district’s definition of bullying ranges from hitting, flashing gang signs and intimidation to making fun of students because of their national origin, family background, political beliefs and much more.”

Facilities
Iowa District Gets FEMA Grant To Create Safe Room.
The AP (11/18) reported that the Mason City, Iowa, school district is getting a $1.8 million grant from FEMA “to build multipurpose safe room.” The room will be added to the John Adams middle and high school complex to “house all students and staff in case of emergency and will double over as performance space.”

School Finance
Utah District To Add Instructional Days With Federal Funding Boost.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/19, Winters) reports, “With federal education money flowing to Utah, Davis School District has announced it will restore two days it had cut from the current school year to save money.” The district will receive about a $5.8 million share of the state’s $101 million in “federal assistance for cash-strapped schools.” Restoring the two days that were cut to cover a budget deficit “will cost $3 million.”

Atlanta Schools Chief To Step Down.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (11/21, Torres, Vogell) reported, “Embattled Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall announced Saturday that she will step down in June, ending a remarkable 11-year tenure that won praise nationally but soured under the glare of a test-cheating investigation. Hall’s decision to leave APS had been expected by year’s end, precipitated by a power struggle among school board members as well as a Dec. 31 contractual deadline to notify the board of her intentions.” The Journal-Constitution added that Hall’s “notice to the board came the same day that the AJC asked the state attorney general to investigate Atlanta Public Schools for withholding a report largely confirming the newspaper’s findings last year that test results in a dozen schools were highly suspicious.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (11/22, Dodd) reports, “On the heels of Beverly Hall’s weekend announcement that she will step down as superintendent of Atlanta schools in June, talk is already turning to who may replace her and what the school board should do to find the right candidate. … Named national superintendent of the year in early 2009, Hall has boasted a of 33-percent increase in graduation rates and improving student performance for elementary and middle school students.” However, “Hall’s final years on the job have been tainted by persistent allegations of cheating on standardized tests — allegations that have led to state and federal investigations that continue today.” The AP (11/21) also covered this story.

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In the Classroom
Opposition To School Closings Drives Chicago’s Reliance On “Turnarounds.”
The New York Times (11/20, Karp) reported from Chicago: “Poorly performing schools are…being spared as resistance to closing them has grown, confronting the next mayor with a longstanding question: What can be done with neighborhood schools where enrollment is shrinking and academic improvement is slow? … Despite the academic and financial incentives for shutting underperforming schools, the district has been treading lightly on closings in recent years, for several reasons. In some neighborhoods, a school, however poor its performance, is the last remaining functional community institution, and many residents have emotional ties to it.” According to the Times, “As opposition to the closings grew, Arne Duncan, the former public schools chief executive and now the United States secretary of education, initiated ‘turnarounds’ in 2006, in which students continue to attend the same schools but administrators and most teachers are fired, and schools get an infusion of extra money.”

Charter Schools Transforming New Orleans’ Education System.
The Dallas Morning News (11/21, Hacker) reported that Hurricane Katrina allowed New Orleans to “to reinvent public education in a failing school district.” Today, 70 percent of its student attend charter schools, the highest rate in the nation. “The relative freedom of charter schools…appears to have been key to an overall boost in student performance in New Orleans. But the charter school setup alone did not guarantee success. The best ones have strong leaders, capable teachers and a relentless focus on learning.”

Iowa Reading And Math Results Described As “Stagnant.”
The Des Moines Register (11/22, Dooley) reports, “Test scores remained stagnant over the past two years among Iowa students on standardized reading and math exams, according to a new state report. The Iowa Department of Education’s annual Condition of Education report, which details student progress in the classroom among fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders, shows: The percentage of students in all three grades who perform at grade level in reading and math has remained flat over the past six years, with between 72 and 81 percent of students showing proficiency in reading and math.”

On the Job
Debate Growing Over Bonuses To Teachers With Masters.
The AP (11/20, Blankinship) reports, “Every year, American schools pay more than $8.6 billion in bonuses to teachers with master’s degrees, even though the idea that a higher degree makes a teacher more effective has been mostly debunked. Despite more than a decade of research showing the money has little impact on student achievement, state lawmakers and other officials have been reluctant to tackle this popular way for teachers to earn more money. That could soon change, as local school districts around the country grapple with shrinking budgets. Just this week,” Education Secretary Duncan said the “economy has given the nation an opportunity to make dramatic improvements in the productivity of its education system. Duncan told the American Enterprise Institute on Wednesday that master’s degree bonuses are an example of spending money on something that doesn’t work.” Bill Gates echoed Duncan with similar thoughts on Friday.

Incentive Pay At Pittsburgh Schools Analyzed.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (11/22, Richards) reports that in Pittsburgh, the Promise Readiness Corps “is one element of a new plan that overhauls the way the district hires, trains, evaluates, pays and dismisses teachers. Under a new performance-pay system, incoming district teachers whose students learn, on average, at 1.3 times their grade level can earn $100,000 a year within seven years of being hired. Raising the quality of teaching in America has been a priority of President Barack Obama’s administration, and reforms receiving the most attention right now include stronger teacher evaluation systems and financial incentives to attract, reward and retain quality educators. Pittsburgh’s efforts, along with those in other cities around the country, could hold lessons for Wisconsin and Milwaukee, primarily because they were accomplished through a collective bargaining agreement.”

Indiana Governor’s Education Agenda Includes Merit Pay Plan.
The Lafayette (IN) Journal and Courier (11/22, Livingston) reports, “Armed with a Republican majority in the Indiana House,” Gov. Mitch Daniels “has made clear his education agenda, and it’s focused on swift change. Among the most controversial ideas: merit pay. His plan would tie a teacher’s compensation to how students perform on ISTEP, the state’s standardized test. This process would be gauged under a new growth model which will compare a student’s performance to those in targeted peer groups.” According to the LJC, “To some, merit pay will integrate a long, successful performance evaluation system into an education world that needs to be revamped. To others it will place added pressure on educators, causing competition among teachers at the expense of collaboration.”

Merit Pay Plans Rely On Imperfect Evaluation Methods.
The Kansas City Star (11/22, Robertson) reports, “One hard truth stands at the door of efforts to evaluate teachers and pay them for their students’ academic performance. … It won’t be perfect. More researchers are telling teachers and school boards that it’s time to get moving anyway. It’s true that the science of using student performance in measuring teachers is fraught with holes. Intricate models for analyzing numbers will never completely account for everything that influences students’ test scores.” According to the Star, “The same message is ringing from the Obama administration and the US Department of Education, which gave a favorable nod in its dispersal of Race to the Top grants to states whose proposals included aggressive plans to develop pay for performance. The Kansas City School District, stepping out with its plan to try to reward top schools and teachers, won a $13.6 million five-year grant from the feds.”

WPost: More Must Be Done To Attract “High Caliber” Teacher Candidates.
The Washington Post (11/21) editorialized that teacher training remains vital to enhancing student outcomes, more must be done to attract high caliber candidates to the profession. The Post lauds the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education for its report that called for better teacher training. While the report “calls for raising admission, performance and graduation standards for aspiring teachers but leaves largely unanswered how to attract top talent.” The Post says that “by comparison with other nations America’s smartest and most accomplished college graduates don’t want to be teachers.”

In his New York Times (11/21) column, Thomas Friedman writes that President correctly proclaimed “that whoever ‘out-educates us today is going to out-compete us tomorrow.’” Friedman applauds the education reform effort by the federal government, states, and cities, but concedes we’re “in a hole.” According to Friedman, Education Secretary Duncan’s “biggest push…is to raise the status of the teaching profession.” Friedman writes that Harvard education expert Tony Wagner notes that teacher nations with better education accomplishments such as Denmark, Finland, South Korea, and Singapore recruit teachers from the top third of college graduating classes. Friedman maintains that Duncan must be successful in his campaign to attract from the top third of college graduates. Better parenting, Friedman opines, remains central to improve education attainment.

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Law & Policy
North Carolina Legislature May Abolish Charter School Cap.
The Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram (11/20, Holt) reports, “With Republicans about to be in control of the N.C. General Assembly for the first time in more than 100 years, the cap on North Carolina charter schools could be raised or altogether done away with. … The North Carolina charter law, passed in 1996, allows a maximum of 100 charter schools in the state and only five per school district per year. N.C. Rep.-elect Jeff Collins, R-District 25, wants to abolish the 100-charter school limit so parents will have more choices on where to send their children to receive their education.”

South Carolina Legislators Mull Cutting Ten Days From School Year.
South Carolina Now (11/20, Jackson) reports, “The state of South Carolina considers cuts to the number of days your children would go to school. The reason is to save money. The debate has two distinct sides. Some lawmakers say chopping ten days off the school calendar would save hundreds of millions of dollars. … They believe it could save more than $200 million dollars.”

Hunger Advocates Propose End To Childhood Hunger This Decade.
In a Washington Post (11/21) op-ed, actor Jeff Bridges, founder of the End Hunger Network, and Bill Shore of Share Our Strength write, “We can end childhood hunger in America in this decade, maybe even in the next five years. The programs to achieve this are already in place. They’re just woefully underutilized. We need to get more of our children into them.” The authors say that access to SNAP must be expanded. They also note the program’s positive effect on local economies. The authors continue, “Help for hungry children is surely a bipartisan cause. Congress can demonstrate its commitment by passing the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, which would strengthen many of the most important hunger and nutrition programs, including school breakfast and summer meals. The bill passed the Senate without a single objection in August and is awaiting House action. It will only be weakened if we wait for the next Congress.”

School Finance
Charlotte Schools Anticipate $100 Million In Cuts.
The Charlotte (NC) Observer (11/20, Helms) reports, “The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board took a first look Friday at the kind of big-ticket items that could be slashed in 2011, including extra teachers for high-poverty schools, magnet busing, high school sports and pre-kindergarten. The board made no decisions. Instead, it launched a six-month lead-up to what officials fear will be roughly $100 million in cuts from a billion-dollar budget.”

Stimulus Allows California District To Restore Instructional Days.
The Orange County (CA) Register (11/20) reports, “An $87 million infusion of federal stimulus money to Orange County schools has allowed one district to add days back to its instructional year after removing them from the calendar a few months ago, but a bleak state budget outlook makes it unlikely that many others will follow suit, education officials said. The 27,000-student Irvine Unified School District on Tuesday authorized lengthening its instructional year by two days – including shortening winter break by a day this January – after receiving $5 million in federal funds under the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act.”

Also in the News
Program Teaches English To Students’ Parents.
The Chicago Tribune (11/22, Bowean) reports on a “project offered by Community High School District 218 that seeks to improve some students’ outcomes by also helping their parents. District officials want to help the parents learn to study, communicate, and balance work and school. The classes aren’t for credit, and the parents don’t get grades or report cards. The mission is to teach them good habits to pass on to their children, said Anne Coffman, director of federal and state programs for the district.”

Children’s Brains Could Be Weakened By Distracting Technologies.
Matt Richtel, writing for the New York Times (11/21), says, “Students have always faced distractions and time-wasters. But computers and cellphones, and the constant stream of stimuli they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning. Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer (11/3, Clark, Smith) reported that 11 out of 15 school districts in Greater Cincinnati “asking voters to pay for local schools…were defeated” on Tuesday. Meanwhile, just “one new tax hike – Sycamore Schools’ $17 million bond issue for school construction – won at the ballot.” The consensus between school officials and opponents of new school taxes is that “the economy played a major role in the losses.”

WXIX-TV Cincinnati (11/4, Teasley) reports on some of the changes planned in the Lakota school district after Tuesday’s levy defeat. “The first thing to go is high school busing beginning this January — K-8 busing outside of a two mile radius will also be cut.” Next year, “130 staff members could be laid off and activities like junior high sports will also be eliminated.” Lakota Superintendent Mike Taylor said the district will likely “come back for another levy,” though he is not sure when. But Taylor added, “the administration and the school board want to hear from the community, before preparing for another levy.”

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In the Classroom
Lesson Plan Introduces Students To Designing “Useful Robots.”
The New York Times (11/3, Cutraro, Ojalvo) “Lesson Plan” blog reported a lesson plan centered around “designing useful robots,” in which “students explore the kinds of robots in use or in development in a variety of fields, including space exploration. They then work in teams to identify real-world problems, then develop plans for robots designed to address those challenges. Finally, they pitch their ideas to a group of experts.” The blog includes a list of necessary materials, warm-up activities, activities and questions for discussion. It also provides links to related material, options for extending the lesson, and an explanation of how the lesson correlates to McREL’s national standards. The authors note that “it can also be aligned to the new Common Core State Standards.”

Fewer New York City Schools Get A’s. The New York Times (11/4, Otterman) reports, “New York City high schools fared slightly worse on their annual A through F report cards this year, with a small decline in the number of schools receiving A’s and a rise in the number of schools earning D’s or F’s, city officials said Wednesday.” According to the Times, “This is the fourth year that the report cards have been distributed as a cornerstone of the city’s data-driven accountability system. The reports put heavy weight on progress that schools make on measures like graduation rates, state tests and credits earned by students, rather than only measuring absolute performance.”

Utah Education Office Honors Title I Schools Closing Achievement Gap.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/4, Schencker) reports that Utah’s Office of Education on Wednesday honored 10 Title I schools “for shrinking achievement gaps between groups of students.” Schools that earned the honor reduced “the achievement gap between the averaged scores of minority students, students with disabilities, and those from low-income families and the school as a whole” by 50 percent or more. They also met federal Adequate Yearly Progress goals “in math and language arts for two consecutive years.”

Elementary School Offers Program Based On “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People.”
The Evansville (IN) Courier & Press (11/4, Grabner) reports on a new program at Chandler Elementary School based on the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” by Stephen R. Covey. In a recent talk with community leaders, Principal Brian Gardner said, “Leadership is a very, very important topic to the business community,” and that while basic education is important to the workforce, “other, so-called ‘soft skills’ are also necessary in the 21st century.” Soft skills such as “integrity, honesty, a work ethic, punctuality and communication skills” are “the types of qualities that Chandler Elementary is trying to teach through Covey’s book.”

Parents Seek To Ban “Brave New World” From STEM Curriculum, School.
The Maryland Gazette (11/3, Weathers) reported, “A small group of parents is circulating a petition to have Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ removed from use by county schools over concerns about the book’s explicit sexual content.” The dystopian science fiction novel, written in 1932, “was being taught to 10th-graders as part of a pilot Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics program” at North County and South River high schools. “Linda Poole, who heads up the Secondary Reading, English and Integrated Literacy program, called the book an ‘excellent example of satire,’” and explained that it “deals with ethical issues revolving around science and technology.” Arguing that “the option of an alternative text is not enough,” the parents involved have “met with a committee of teachers and administrators to try and have the book removed the book not only from the 10th-grade class,” but “removed from the schools in its entirety.”

Law & Policy
Data Indicates Disparities In Florida School Districts’ Reporting Of Bullying Incidents.
The Orlando Sentinel (11/4, Postal) reports that the Obama Administration’s crack down on school bullying “was propelled by several high-profile cases in which students killed themselves after being bullied in some manner.” But, some experts warn that the tragedies do not “mean there are more [bullying] incidents today than in the past.” Others, including the ACLU, “worry new anti-bullying rules, particularly those targeting ‘cyber bullying’…can trample on students’ rights to free speech.” Under Florida’s Stand up for All Students Act of 2008, school districts must have “anti-bullying policies that address cyberbullying as well as the traditional kind.” In addition, “the law…demands that bullying be punished by no less than suspension.” Still, 2008-09 data on school bullying incidents throughout the state indicate that “administrators in different districts didn’t agree on what constituted bullying or harassment.” That year, “the Miami-Dade County school district, the state’s largest, reported seven incidents… — the same as tiny Glades County.”

Safety & Security
Burnbook.com A Cyberbullying Concern For High School Administrators.
The Las Vegas Sun (11/3, Takahashi) reported that “the issue of cyberbullying on Burnbook.com has” is a concern for administrators at Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nevada. “The website allows users to gossip about other students anonymously.” Green Valley High School Principal Jeff Horn said that administrators were “alarmed” by the comments on the website. Last week, he “spoke to senior government classes and urged students who have bullied other students on the website to come forward. He threatened those who didn’t with possible expulsion.” Horn said that “about 30 students came forward with information about the website” and six were suspended. To help the school combat the problem, Horn wants “the Henderson and the Clark County School District police departments [to] go through the unique Internet Protocol addresses of Burnbook.com users to track down the bullies.”

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Facilities
Washington State Voters Reject School Energy Retrofit Measure.
The AP (11/3, Le) reported that a Washington state “referendum authorizing bonds for school energy retrofits has been defeated” as almost “57 percent of voters rejected Referendum 52 with 1.37 million votes counted Tuesday. … R-52 would have authorized $505 million in bonds to be paid back by extending the temporary sales tax on bottled water set to expire in 2013.” The AP added, “Under the measure, public school districts and public higher education institutions would have competed for grants to pay for construction projects, and at least five percent of the total amount would have gone to districts with fewer than 1,000 students.”

School Finance
Detroit Public Schools Seeking To Sell, Lease Vacant School Buildings.
The AP (11/4) reports that the Detroit Public School District On Nov. 17 will hold “a purchase and development workshop on reusing and transforming shuttered district buildings.” The workshop is part of the district’s “strategy to sell or lease vacant school buildings.” Currently, about 90 buildings belonging to Detroit schools are up for sale or lease.

The Detroit Free Press (11/3, Gallagher) reported that the workshop, called ReUse 101, “is being sponsored by DPS along with the nonprofit historic architecture group Preservation Wayne and private developer Landy, who has taken over two former DPS buildings for redevelopment.” Landy is currently renovating the Malcom X school building and has “agreed to pay $750,000 at a future date to DPS for the” school building, which he is turning into a recording studio.

Minnesota Voters Approve More Than Half Of All School Ballot Measures.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/4, Draper) reports that results from Tuesday’s referendum votes were mixed “across the Twin Cities metro area and throughout” Minnesota, with about 55 percent of school districts getting “at least some of what they asked for at the polls.” But in light of “the rough economic times,” even those results were better than some observers expected. Voters in the Carlton school district “voters approved replacing an existing levy with a newer, bigger one that will bring the district $470,000 a year for seven years.” Superintendent Peter Haapala said that the approval is “a lifeline” for Carlton, which is “deeper in the red than any other in Minnesota” due to overspending and declining enrollment over several years. The Star Tribune adds that because “it appears that state school funding will be frozen at best for the next two years, defeat at the polls may mean deep cuts for some districts.”

Also in the News
Study Says Nearly Sixty Percent Of Ontario Music Teachers Have No Musical Background.
The Toronto Star (11/4, Brown) reports that a new study released today “warns 58 percent of Ontario grade school teachers teach music with no musical background at all,” compared to the national average of 38 percent. The report, “A Delicate Balance: Music Education in Canadian Schools,” is based on a “survey of 1,204 schools” in Canada and ultimately “calls for more funding for teachers qualified to” teach the subject. The Toronto Star adds that many of the schools responding to the survey “said music often gets squeezed between the push on literacy, a jam-packed curriculum and budgets that treat it as the first frill to be cut.” The report also said that “more than half of schools cited fundraising as one of their top three sources of funding for music programs.”

NEA in the News

New Jersey Acting Education Commissioner Declines Offer To Attend Teacher Convention.
New Jersey’s Press of Atlantic City (11/4, D’Amico) reports that New Jersey’s Acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks on Monday declined an invitation from the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) to attend the NJEA’s annual convention “today and Friday in Atlantic City.” Each year, “the head of the state Department of Education is invited to speak” at the event, “and that session is usually one of the most popular.” In her letter, Hendricks wrote, “Whenever you are ready to consider a real discussion about pursuing bold education reform, my door is open.” NJEA President Barbara Keshishian responded, calling “the decision not to attend the convention astounding.” Wrote Keshishian,, “Her claim that NJEA refuses to be a partner in bold education reform is simply untrue.” She also “cited actions taken by the NJEA to promote education, and said it is very upsetting to members, who take pride in their work, to be snubbed by the commissioner.” The Press Of Atlantic City (11/4) also printed Keshishian’s full response.

Urban, Suburban Teens Show Increased Interest In Agricultural Sciences.
The Chicago Tribune (11/5, Cullotta) reports that “for a burgeoning number of” urban and suburban teenagers, “an affinity for digging in the dirt is proving transformative, blurring the boundaries between rural and urban, fostering a grassroots slow food movement, and perhaps above all, forging future career paths in agricultural sciences.” The student participation ranges “from suburban 4-H club members donating bushels of their homegrown produce each week to local food pantries, to Chicago high school students who view their urban farm as a safe haven from dangerous city neighborhoods.” An official with the National 4-H Council said it has seen rising interest from large urban centers such as New York and Chicago, as well as suburban areas. She added “that today’s chapters of 4-H, long a staple of rural America, are often far more concerned with issues such as eradicating social inequities in food distribution, rather than competing for blue ribbons at the county fair.”

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In the Classroom
Central Falls High School Turnaround Facing Discipline, Attendance Challenges.
The Providence (RI) Journal (11/5, Jordan) reports on the obstacles Central Falls High School is running into two months after it began an “ambitious school reform” effort. “Teachers and students are often absent, with about 15 percent of both groups missing school on any given day.” The school is also battling discipline issues. A few teachers have “filed complaints after physical altercations with students, and some gang-affiliated graffiti had to be scrubbed from school walls.” The Providence Journal adds that “more than 300 students have” gotten in school suspension for offences like disrupting class or skipping class, and incidents of fighting and bullying “have also been reported.” Teachers, for the most part, blame the district administration, saying that the discipline policy is ineffective and that the school needs more “guidance counselors and behavioral specialists to help troubled students.” Deputy Supt. Victor Capellan has acknowledged that specialists are needed and “is hiring several new people to the discipline team.”

Oregon District Boosts Efforts To Reach Growing Somali-Speaking Student Population.
The Oregonian (11/5, Hottle) reports that in the past few years, “Portland Public Schools has added staff and English-teaching services to accommodate a steady increase in Somali student enrollment.” With an increase of 340 Somali-speaking students between 2005-06 and 2009-10, the language has “become the district’s third most-spoken native primary language.” In order to educate these students, some of whom were not literate in Somali, the district added a “program that helps ESL students catch up to the academic level of other students in their grade.” It also “has implemented a new language line, which allows parents who don’t speak English to call and be connected to a person who speaks their native tongue.” Last month, an auditor for Portland Public Schools gave the efforts “a failing grade” saying the system was “out of compliance with federal law.” Superintendent Carole Smith plans “to hire a temporary ‘intervention officer’ to work alongside the district’s ESL director…and ensure that problems are fixed.”

Chicago Initiative Aims To Boost Diversity At Selective Schools.
The Chicago Tribune (11/5, Ahmed-Ullah) reported, “Students living in neighborhoods with low-performing schools could have a better shot getting into the most competitive programs under admissions changes unveiled Thursday by Chicago Public Schools. … After a federal order last year banned the use of race as a key admissions factor to the city’s selective-enrollment and magnet schools, CPS adopted a new format, hoping to maintain diversity.” The Chicago district “predicts it could increase the percentage of African-American and Hispanic students in selective enrollment high schools by 1 percent each.”

New Jersey District To Begin Accelerated Math And Science Academy.
New Jersey’s Record and Herald News (11/5, Leibowitz) reports, “The Elmwood Park Board of Education and Superintendent Richard Tomko announced plans on Oct. 26 for the school district to begin a mathematics and science academy for borough high school students titled The Academy of Mathematics and Medical Sciences.” Beginning their freshman year, students will take “courses in geometry honors, biology honors and a doubling up in mathematics courses among others. Over the course of the four-year program, students will be required to take on 10 to 14 more credits than a normal student, meet the accelerated standards of any other academy, attend and take part in a running lecture series and involve themselves in a senior year capstone program which will include taking part in an internship during personal time at a local medical facility or hospital to get real world experience.”

Maryland County To Promote Basic Math To Better Prepare Students.
The Washington Post (11/5, Birnbaum) reports from Montgomery County, Maryland, “Elementary and middle school students will no longer skip grade levels in math in large numbers. Instead, they will spend extra time on fundamental mathematical concepts that will better prepare them for Algebra I in the eighth grade and advanced math topics in high school” in a bid “to increase the number of high school students taking courses such as calculus and statistics.” The Post notes, “The new direction comes as part of a sweeping set of recommended changes in the math curriculum released Thursday. Some of the recommendations cost money and require school board approval. Others, including the change in math acceleration, do not, and will be implemented quickly, officials said.”

Professionals Volunteer To Teach Finance Lessons Beginning In Kindergarten.
Wisconsin’s Courier Life News (11/4, Martin) reported that Junior Achievement of Wisconsin has begun a program that matches volunteers from “area businesses and organizations” with schools to teach “business and personal finance.” The professionals come from various sectors such as healthcare, banking, car sales, and education. The lessons, which begin in kindergarten, “are tied directly to the social studies themes being studied in each grade.” In the upper grades, “Junior Achievement volunteers get into more and more advanced economic topics — things like credit reports, 401K’s and investing.” Tami Satre, vice president of statewide operations for Junior Achievement, said that the goal of the program is to teach “kids to own their own financial success.”

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Law & Policy
California Judge Rules Against School Proximity Restrictions For Sex Offenders.
The Los Angeles Times (11/5, Blankenstein) reports, “California corrections officials this week stopped enforcing portions of Jessica’s Law in Los Angeles County after a judge ruled that…restricting how close sex offenders can live to parks or schools is unconstitutional.” Judge Peter Espinoza of the Los Angeles County Superior Court said that the restriction made large areas of Los Angeles off limits to sex offenders, leaving them “with the choice of being homeless or going to jail.” Espinoza noted that according to Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, parts of Jessica’s Law, passed by voters in 2006, “had resulted in ‘a marked increase of homeless/transient [sex offender] registrants.’”

The AP (11/5, Deutsch) reports that the law “forbids sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of a public or private school, or a park where children gather.” Espinoza issue his ruling in a case “filed for four paroled sex offenders. But he said the court has already received 650 other petitions including 550 filed in the past six months.” KTLA-TV Los Angeles (11/5) notes that “The ruling is temporary, pending final resolution of a flood of lawsuits being filed on behalf of sex offender parolees.”

Supreme Court Ponders Arizona School Tax Credit Issue.
USA Today (11/4, Biskupic) reported, “An ideologically divided Supreme Court wrestled Wednesday with taxpayers’ ability to challenge state programs that support students at religious schools and may violate the constitutional separation of church and state.” USA Today added that “in the balance is an Arizona program that gives tax credits to people who donate money to ‘school tuition organizations’ that then provide scholarships to students for private schools, including religious institutions. A group of taxpayers claims most of the money is channeled to organizations that restrict their grants to religious education.”

The New York Times (11/4, Liptak) noted that acting States solicitor general Neal K. Katyal said, “If you placed an electronic tag to track and monitor each cent that the respondent plaintiffs pay in tax, not a cent, not a fraction of a cent, would go in any religious school’s coffers.” The Post also reports that “in 2002, in a 5-to-4 ruling, the court upheld a school voucher system in Cleveland that parents used almost exclusively to pay for religious schools.” Since then, “four new justices have joined the court…but there was nothing in Wednesday’s arguments to suggest that the issue has become any less polarizing.” The Washington Post (11/4, Barnes), the Wall Street Journal (11/4, Jones), the Los Angeles Times (11/4) and the Christian Science Monitor (11/3, Richey) also covered the story.

WPost Says Supreme Court Should Uphold Arizona School Choice Law. The Washington Post (11/4) said in an editorial that the Supreme Court “will again wade into the controversial topic of school choice this week when it takes up an Arizona program that has come under attack by critics who claim it eviscerates the separation of church and state.” The Supreme Court “has upheld other school choice programs, including those that provide students who attend failing schools with tax-funded vouchers that they may use to pay for private schools, including religious institutions. The justices have found these schemes permissible as long as they are religion-neutral and individuals decide where tax dollars are spent. This describes the Arizona program, which provides students and families with a range of options. The program is driven by a series of private choices that do not involve the government.”

New Jersey Superintendents Open To Proposed “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights.”
NorthJersey.com (11/4, Lamendola) reported that last week, New Jersey “legislators from both sides of the aisle proposed stringent new bullying laws” that school officials in the state view as “prudent,” though many “say their districts already have tough bullying policies in place.” Provisions in the “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights” include “harassment, intimidation and bullying” training for current teachers and a requirement that “by 2011-12, candidates for school administrator or teacher certification…complete a program on harassment, intimidation and bullying.” East Rutherford Superintendent Ken Rota said of the proposed regulations, “I have no opposition to it; I don’t think any educator would be opposed to tougher bullying laws, but you need to make sure you specifically address the problems in your district.” NorthJersey.com also reported responses from school district leaders throughout the state.

Safety & Security

Pennsylvania High School Holds Community Meetings To Address Racial Tensions.
Pennsylvania’s Patriot-News (11/5, Thompson) reports that administrators at Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, PA, held two community meetings this week to address “reports of high student tensions — some of it race-based” at the school. “Rumors in the wake of a cafeteria standoff between a black and a Puerto Rican student last Friday appear, to date, to have actually outpaced the actual number of extraordinary incidents in the school.” Still, many students fear for their safety. This week, two students were arrested for bringing weapons to school. One of them “was found with a loaded gun, ostensibly for protection.” At the meeting on Thursday, school officials “identified a number of short-term steps they are taking to try to stop things from escalating at Harrisburg High now, including an in-building police presence throughout the day, random security screenings of students as they arrive, and the imposition of immediate suspensions on those breaking rules.”

WHP-TV Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (11/5, Roman) and WHTM-TV Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (11/4) also covered the story.

Also in the News
New Research Agenda Set For Department Of Education.
Education Week (11/4, Sparks) reported, “The Institute for Education Sciences this week officially set a new research agenda for the US Department Of Education, as its advisory board approved the first revised priorities in five years.” Though the “institute’s topics of study won’t change much under the new priorities,” the “new priorities put greater emphasis on putting federally supported education research findings into context ‘to identify education policies, programs, and practices that improve education outcomes, and to determine how, why, for whom, and under what conditions they are effective.’”

New York City Schools Chief Resigns, Publishing Executive Tapped As Replacement.
The New York Times (11/10, Otterman, Medina) reports, “Joel I. Klein, who presided over a radical reorganization of the New York City school system and drew praise and criticism for efforts to raise test scores and hold teachers accountable for them, resigned on Tuesday as chancellor after eight years in the job. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointed Cathleen P. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, as Mr. Klein’s successor.” The Times adds that Black “has no educational background” and therefore “will need a waiver from the State Education Department” before she can officially fill the position.

The Washington Post (11/10, Anderson) adds that “Klein was known as a strong advocate of performance pay and limits on teacher tenure. He recently clashed with the United Federation of Teachers over his decision to publicly release teachers’ names and their ratings derived from student test scores.”

The New York Times (11/10, Peters) notes that Black “earned a reputation in publishing as a tough-minded chief executive who never left her employees guessing what she wanted. … She will be the first woman to head the nation’s largest school system.” Bloomberg News (11/10, Goldman) and New York Magazine (11/10, Smith) also cover this story, as does Joe Flint in a blog for the Los Angeles Times (11/9).

Decision To Pick Another Business Executive To Run New York Schools Panned. Valerie Strauss wrote in a blog for the Washington Post (11/9), “There is unfortunate symmetry to today’s news that Joel Klein had resigned as New York City Schools Chancellor today to join Rupert Murdoch’s outfit, and that he was being succeeded by Cathie Black, chair of Hearst Magazines. Klein, who is becoming an executive vice president for News Corp., had taken the job as chancellor without any experience in education.” Strauss asserts, ” That’s twice that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has deluded himself into thinking that success in business management is easily transferable to success in the public education system.”

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In the Classroom
Pittsburgh Public Schools May Offer Career Education In Lower Grades.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (11/10, Chute) reports, “Pittsburgh Public Schools already is on track to revamp its career and technical education program for high school students,” but “now there’s a proposal for students in third through eighth grade.” Angela Mike, the district’s executive director of CTE, was scheduled to “present a plan” at last night’s school board meeting that would “provide all students in grades 3 through 8 once-a-month lessons about careers and work. The plan is expected to be up for a board vote next month and, if approved, begin in the second semester of this school year.” The Post-Gazette notes, “Pittsburgh is working on developing a curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade 2 as well. If approved, that may be in place next fall.” The article details how careers would be introduced and integrated into the curriculum at each grade level.

Troubled High School Divided Into Three College, Career Academies.
KCTV-TV Kansas City, MO (11/10) reports, “The troubled Southwest High School will split into three college and career preparation academies in the spring semester, the Kansas City School District announced Tuesday morning.” The offerings will include “the Early College Academy, Life and Engineering Sciences Academy, [and the] School of One,” with students choosing one “based on their interest.” The Early College Academy will help students create “long-term relationships around academic interest and college and career planning,” according to the district, while the Life and Engineering Sciences Academy “will offer a college preparatory curriculum ‘with a focus on healthy, sciences and engineering.’” The School of One, meanwhile, will offer “a typical high school curriculum, but students will be given unique lesson plans, tailored to their ‘learning styles, academic strengths and needs.’”

Florida County Replacing D.A.R.E. Anti-Drug Program With “Broader” Curriculum.
The Orlando Sentinel (11/10, Zaragoza) reports that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is replacing its drug prevention curriculum Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) with Make A Great Impact on Children (MAGIC). MAGIC will address is “designed to address a broader set of issues facing children than is covered by the D.A.R.E. curriculum” such as “cyber-bullying and prescription drug abuse.”

Colorado BOE Panel Disapproves Of Adding Social Studies Standardized Tests.
KUSA-TV Denver (11/10, Garcia) reports that the Colorado Board of Education is considering adding a standardized test for social studies in addition to math and reading. The Assessment Stakeholders Committee created by the board to study this and other issues “recommended that social studies continue without an assessment test” because the subject is very broad. Committee chairwoman Jo O’Brien, also the assistant commissioner of education, “says committee members believe that a social studies assessment test would actually take away from learning.” The money it would take to create another standardized test was another issue in coming up with the recommendation.

Colorado’s Online K-12 Schools Lag In Achievement, Workforce Readiness. KUNC-FM (11/9, Hood) reported, “Online K-12 schools continue to be a popular alternative for many students and parents, but some of those schools have two months to respond to performance ratings that show they are lagging in areas like academic achievement, student growth and workforce readiness.” The Colorado Board of Education has devised “a new accountability system” under which “every school is assigned one of four plan types: performance, improvement, priority improvement and turnaround.” In the case of “online schools, the bottom two categories encompass 11 out of 17 multi-district schools that received rankings–the majority.” A review of the data is ongoing.

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On the Job
Teacher’s Suicide Highlights Divisions Regarding Educator Effectiveness Ratings.
The New York Times (11/10, Lovett) reports that the September suicide of Los Angeles public school teacher Rigoberto Ruelas has drawn “the city’s largest newspaper into the middle of the debate over reforming the nation’s second-largest school district.” The Los Angeles Times released a database of teacher effectiveness ratings in August. According to colleagues, Ruelas became depressed after he received a rating of “less effective than average.” This week, hundreds of people “marched to the Los Angeles Times building, where they waved signs and chanted, demanding that the newspaper remove Mr. Ruelas’s name from the online database.” The Times notes that value-added teacher assessments are growing in popularity, while remaining controversial. Teachers unions and some experts say that the assessments are “unfair and incomplete and have fought its implementation across the country.” Meanwhile, some district leaders and federal education officials support that method of evaluating teacher effectiveness.

Los Angeles School Board Approves Value-Added Contract. Jason Song wrote in a blog for the Los Angeles Times (11/9), “The Los Angeles Board of Education unanimously approved a contract Tuesday with a company that will analyze teachers’ effectiveness in raising students’ standardized test scores.” Under the terms of the agreement, the University of Wisconsin Value Added Research Center “would calculate value-added scores for individual teachers. School district officials have said they plan to issue confidential scores to teachers this year.”

Districts Experiment With Revamped Teacher-Pay Systems.
Education Week (11/9, Sawchuk) reported, “A handful of districts, some with the approval of their local teachers’ unions, are experimenting with alternatives to the fundamental components that govern teachers’ base-pay raises. Ranging from a long-standing plan in Eagle County, Colo., to a contract ratified earlier this year by teachers in the Pittsburgh district, the systems tie raises more closely to classroom evaluations, rather than granting automatic increases for each year of service or the completion of an advanced degree.” Education Week added, “Some scholars of teacher compensation welcome the experimentation as a chance to try out various alternatives for structuring pay in ways that better suit district needs.”

Law & Policy
Texas Lawmakers Propose Legislation Requiring Students To Show Proof Of Citizenship.
The Dallas Morning News (11/9) reported that Texas lawmakers on Monday proposed legislation “make students at public schools show proof of citizenship, so the state can account for education funding spent on noncitizens.” William McKenzie wrote in the Dallas Morning News (11/9) “Education Front” blog that “it feels like proponents are placing a target on children out of their frustration over illegal immigration.” He questions how schools would be expected to enforce the legislation. “This proposal seems punitive and ill-conceived. May it die a quick death in next year’s Legislature,” McKenzie asserts.

Nebraska District’s Truancy Court Seeks To Prevent State Involvement.
Nebraska’s The Grand Independent (11/10) reports that Nebraska Sen. Brad Ashford (I) this week praised Grand Island Public Schools’ method for dealing with chronically truant students. The district has implemented a truancy court that helps students “work out a voluntary plan” to improve “attendance before it becomes an official court case.” After 20 absences, state law takes over, but Grant Independent’s truancy court aims to prevent state intervention. When “a high number of absences” are noted, a letter is sent home to “parents or guardians of the child.” Afterward, a hearing is set up “at the school with, ideally, the parents, the child and a school social worker involved.” District officials said that last year “1,053 parents or guardians” received letters, “but just 173 students eventually made it to the school attendance hearing, and just 11 were sent on to the criminal system.” NTV-TV Kearney, NE (11/10) also covers the story.

Safety & Security
Philadelphia District Forms Panel To Reduce School Violence.
The AP (11/10) reports that “the Philadelphia School District has formed a blue-ribbon commission to try to find ways to reduce violence in the classrooms of city schools.” The group plans to meet each quarter “and issue annual reports.” Philadelphia public schools aim to reduce “the number of schools deemed ‘persistently dangerous’ and” to implement “recommendations from state safety audits on 25 dangerous schools.”

Also in the News
Education Department Releases Finalized National Technology Plan.
Education Week (10/9, Quillen) reported that the US Department of Education on Tuesday unveiled the final version of its National Education Technology Plan. According to the plan, the Education Department “intends to pay for research to study online professional-collaboration communities for teachers and other educators.” In addition, the administration will “launch an initiative dedicated to defining and increasing educational productivity.” Also, “the creation of a national online-learning registry” that was first announced in July is included in the plan, which aims “to improve teaching, assessment, learning, and educational infrastructure through Web 2.0 technologies, such as social networking.” Education Week notes, however, that “Any proposals requiring new federal funding could face a difficult political climate on Capitol Hill,” because the new House majority will likely “push for cuts in discretionary federal spending.”

Initiative Will Pay College Tuition For High School Graduates In New Haven, Connecticut.
The New York Times (11/10, Hu) reports that New Haven, Connectivut “officials announced on Tuesday that a new program, called New Haven Promise, would offer to pay eligible students’ way through any public college or university in Connecticut. The program will also pay up to $2,500 a year to those who attend a private college in the state.” The Times adds that the program is “financed primarily by Yale University” and “is open to students who live in the city and have attended its public schools, including charter schools, since at least ninth grade, regardless of family income.”

Cal Ripken Jr. Announced Nationwide Math Challenge for K-12 Students.
The Baltimore Sun (11/10, Green) reports, “Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. announced a nationwide education challenge Tuesday that is geared toward helping students knock their math skills out of the park.” The six-month initiative sponsored by the Ripken Baseball organization asks “students in grades kindergarten through 12 in every state to play the online and board game TiViTz to improve their math skills.” The game “uses math skills on a video baseball field.” By playing, students have the chance to win one of 50 trips “to compete in the national TiViTz championships. Five grand-prize winners will win trips to the 2011 MLB All-Star game as a guest of Ripken.”

NEA in the News
Idaho Teachers Unions Back Lawmaker’s Lawsuit Over Secret Tax Deals.
Washington’s Spokesman Review (10/9, Russell) reported that the Idaho Education Association (IEA) and two other teachers unions “are seeking to join Rep. Shirley Ringo (D)…in her lawsuit over secret tax deals by the [Idaho] Tax Commission, saying the alleged deals are causing education funding in the state to suffer.” According to the lawsuit, “the state Tax Commission has let some influential taxpayers off the hook for millions in secret deals.” It seeks “an injunction to stop all such tax compromises until Idaho adopts a new system.” The state has responded by filing “a motion to dismiss the case.” In their filing, the teachers unions said, “Idaho governmental leaders tell us that much of the recent funding holdbacks to education are due to reduced tax revenue, yet the Idaho State Tax Commission fails to raise revenue according to state laws and policies.”

National Women’s Law Center Files Title IX Complaints Against School Districts Nationwide.
The New York Times (11/11, B18, Thomas) reports that the National Women’s Law Center “filed complaints Wednesday with the federal [Office for Civil Rights] alleging that 12 school districts nationwide…are violating federal law by failing to offer equal opportunities to boys and girls who play high school sports.” Citing “that school districts reported to the education department in 2006,” the group pointed to “a participation gap of more than 10 percentage points” in the 12 districts. Under Title IX law, “proportionality is one of the three ways schools can show compliance with Title IX.” Center Co-President Marcia Greenberger said that the selected districts represent “the nation as a whole, with a mix of geographic regions and large and smaller districts.”

The AP (11/11) reports that lawsuits were filed against school districts in “Chicago; Clark County, Nev.; Columbus, Ohio; Deer Valley, Ariz.; Henry County, Ga.; Houston; Irvine, Calif.; New York City; Oldham County, Ky.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Wake County, N.C.; and Worcester, Mass.” The AP also points out that “determining whether Title IX violations exist is more complicated than looking at raw numbers because the statute can be satisfied” based on “the percentage of” female athletes compared to the percentage of female students; whether “the school has continually expanded opportunities for girls”; or whether “the school meets its female students’ interest in participating in sports.”

Bloomberg News (11/11, Kuriloff, Novy-Williams) reports quotes Greenberger as saying, “Nationwide, only 41 percent of all high school athletes are girls, even though they make up half the student population. That means schools are giving girls 1.3 million fewer opportunities than boys to play sports nationwide.” Bloomberg notes that the New York City school system issued a statement saying it is reviewing the complaint, “and that girls’ teams recently had been added in lacrosse, golf and Double Dutch jump rope.” Meanwhile, in Houston, the district’s athletic director said officials “‘will work very closely’ with the Office of Civil Rights to review the allegations.”

The Los Angeles Times (11/11, Pucin) reports that the Irvine school district was one of the 12 the National Women’s Law Center “filed a complaint against…for allegedly failing to comply with Title IX requirements to offer equal sports opportunities for women.” Assistant Superintendent Cassie Parham told the Times, “We pride ourselves in terms of offering multiple opportunities. .. Kids at our schools are very involved in many things. I just don’t see any basis for this complaint.” Parham, once a student athlete in the Irvine school district, added that as a student there she felt adequate opportunities to play sports were made available to her. The Christian Science Monitor (11/11, Khadaroo), the Columbus Dispatch (11/11, Richards), the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (11/11, Carvell), and North Carolina’s News & Observer (11/11, Hui) also cover the story.

DC Council Considers Title IX Compliance Bill. The Washington Post (11/11, 7:54 PM, Goldenbach) reports that as some districts found out yesterday about lawsuits filed against them by the National Women’s Law Center, a DC Council Committee considered “a bill aimed to make sure District public schools are in compliance with Title IX.” The Title IX Athletic Compliance Act of 2009 would “authorize a survey of all District public schools – both traditional and charter – from elementary through high school to determine whether each complies with Title IX.” In addition, it “would create a strategic plan for compliance and require another analysis after five years to gauge improvements.” At a meeting, the College Sports Council argued that because of “city’s budget deficit,” compliance with the bill would likely lead to cuts in “opportunities for male athletes.”

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In the Classroom
Schools In New Jersey Inviting Veterans To Recognition Events.
New Jersey’s The Press of Atlantic City (11/11, D’Amico) reports that students throughout Atlantic City, New Jersey on Wednesday observed Veteran’s Day early by welcoming local military veterans to their schools. The holiday “has been getting more attention as more schools stay open…and integrate” observances “it into the school day.” At Oak Hill High School, for instance, the Social Studies club invited veterans to attend its annual breakfast on Tuesday. “The event lets veterans chat with students informally at tables or make some formal remarks.” The school has several teachers who are veterans and had no trouble finding participants. The Press of Atlantic City notes that “almost as many veterans as students” attended the event.

High School Teacher To Conduct Student-Suggested Experiments In South Pole.
The Washington Post (11/11, 1:39 PM, Sieff) reports that Katey Shirey, a physics teacher at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington County, Virginia “will spend a month working on an experiment investigating the production of cosmic rays and…neutrinos.” She will travel to the South Pole next week to participate in an experiment by the University of Wisconsin “called IceCube…hailed as the biggest research project ever conducted on Antarctica.” While there, Shirley will “stay at a military base with scientists and research personnel, and…perform experiments suggested by their students.” In addition, she will share her experiences with educators and students nationwide through “via lectures, blogs, conferences and informal conversations.” The Post notes that “Shirey will be the fifth high school teacher to participate in the IceCube experiment.”

On the Job
Group Of Maryland Educators To Create Online STEM Hub For Teachers.
The Baltimore Sun (11/11, Bowie) reports on Mark Wilcox, a chemistry teacher at Patterson High School in Maryland who, along with 29 other educators, was chosen by state education and business leaders to create the STEMnet Teachers Hub. The hub, announced Wednesday, is an initiative of the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Business Roundtable on Education. It will use “$2 million in federal Race to the Top money and more than $300,000 in contributions from” businesses to develop “an Internet resource for teachers in math, science engineering and technology.” Through the hub, teachers will be able to share and critique each others’ lesson plans and “connect with top researchers in the field to answer questions about cutting-edge research on a particular topic.” Next Spring, the hub will be rolled out “in either Baltimore County or Baltimore City, and plans call for an expansion next fall to other districts.”

Teacher Professional Development Needs Clearly Defined Purpose, Advocates Say.
Education Week (11/10, Sawchuk) reported that teacher professional development in America is facing a severe “identity crisis,” because the term “has become both ubiquitous and all but meaningless” for “describing ongoing training investments in the teaching force.” The biggest problem with professional development, according to Education Week, is “mediocre, scattershot training.” But, with the national spotlight on “teacher effectiveness,” professional development is coming to a crossroads. Traditionally, professional development activities are seen as an giving teachers opportunities “to improve their craft.” Still, “advocates acknowledge that [it] risks marginalization in the teacher-effectiveness conversation unless it is able to articulate clearly its place in producing better teachers.” Education Week analyzes “some of the critical issues faced by those charged with upgrading the quality of post-preparation teacher training.”

Law & Policy
Indiana Schools Must Have Online Standardized Tests For At Lest One Grade Level.
The AP (11/11) reports that the Indiana DOE is mandating that public schools “use online testing for at least one grade level during spring ISTEP tests this school year.” In the future, the state will move to “all students using online testing for the exam’s multiple choice sections.” The goal is to have all students testing online by 2014, said State superintendent Tony Bennett. Currently, just five percent “of students…use online tests.”

Poll Shows Most New Jersey Voters Support Teacher Tenure Overhaul, Oppose Merit Pay.
New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (11/11, Calefati) reports that a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released Wednesday shows that 59 percent “registered voters said the state is underfunding education and 63 percent oppose merit pay.” But, the survey of “885 registered voters” at the end of October also showed that even more – 70 percent – say they do support Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) “intentions to overhaul teacher tenure.” Many of the respondents said the teacher tenure blocks schools firing bad teachers. The Star-Ledger notes that Christie announced plans to “cut $820 million from this year’s budget for education,” distributing the cuts based on school systems’ overall operating budgets. The move “left some wealthy, suburban districts with no education funding from” the state.

Massachusetts District Ahead Of State Deadline For Filing Anti-Bullying Policies.
The Boston Herald (11/11, Dwinell) reports that Massachusetts’ Milton school district is collaborating with Bentley College “to hold rallies at the town’s elementary and middle schools to promote respect.” The district also is ahead of the Dec. 31 state deadline for submitting its anti-bullying policy and may file the document this week. According to the Herald, “Milton may be the exception.” As of Wednesday, “hundreds of Bay State school districts” reportedly had not filed “their anti-bullying plans six months into the enactment of the highly touted law.” State Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester sent a message this week to school officials saying his office is “working closely with district leaders to ensure that they have the information and support they need to create sound plans that will address the issues within their communities.”

Special Needs
Iowa City Schools Addressing Disproportionate Demographics In Special Education Classes.
The Iowa City (IA) Press-Citizen (11/11, Daniel) reports that the Iowa City School District is working on addressing the disproportionate number of black students in the district who are in the special education program or have individualized education plans (IEPs). In September, the district was reportedly being “audited by the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education” over the issue. Since then, the school system “has been studying ways to correct them with the Grant Wood Area Education Agency.” Beginning this fall, Iowa City schools began using a universal screening method that “relies on repeated testing of age-appropriate skills to students in math and reading” to identify academically at-risk students. The Press-Citizen points out that the percentage of black students placed in special education went down last year, indicating that the method may “be working.”

Safety & Security
Threats Of School Attack Lead To Lockdown Of More Than 300 Schools In Florida District.
AFP (11/11) reports that after a radio station caller in Broward County, Florida, warned that “her husband was going to ‘start shooting at schools,’” the school district put each of its more than 300 campuses “on lockdown Wednesday.” After the call, “an email was also sent to the radio station warning that ‘something big was going to happen at government buildings in Broward County, maybe at a post office or a school.’”

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (11/11, Trischitta, Ortega, Sentinel) reports that the warnings of violence prompted “an extended scramble to find the source of the threats.” The police department was searching for “‘digital fingerprints’ to lift clues to the source of the threats. Investigators said they had ruled out a hoax, a terrorist attack, or a disgruntled current or former school district employee.” Police still had not located a suspect by “late Wednesday.”

The AP (11/11) reports that according to Broward school Superintendent James Notter, “the threat included hate words, apparently against certain ethnic and religious groups.” The AP notes that “the man who sent the e-mail felt a connection to the politically charged and sometimes incendiary opinions of the station’s conservative radio talk show host, Joyce Kaufman.” Local, state and federal officials are continuing the investigation, which “has expanded statewide.”

CNN (11/11) reports that the police department “had requested the full-scale lockdown as a precautionary measure. … The school system’s administrative offices also were locked down.”

Also in the News
Black Appointment Furthers Trend Of Placing Outsiders As School District Leaders.
The New York Times (11/11, Gootman, Medina) reports, “The notion of who can run a large public school system has shifted radically in the past decade, as lawyers, bankers and budget experts with little classroom experience…have been tapped as” leaders for school systems nationwide. New York City Schools chancellor Joel Klein was a pioneer in the movement, and by choosing business executive Cathleen Black as Klein’s successor, mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) “appears to have taken the idea of the outsider-chancellor to a new level,” according to the Times. Black attended private schools and sent her children to private schools as well. She also has admitted to having “‘limited exposure’ to unions.” The Times notes that “the issue of whether Ms. Black is qualified is likely to arise as the state decides whether to grant her permission to take the job.” The AP (11/11, Matthews) also covers the story.

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NEA in the News
NEA Vice President Part Of Connecticut Forum Education Panel.
The Hartford Courant (11/11, Merritt) reports that NEA Vice President Lily Eskelsen was part of an education panel at the Connecticut Forum Thursday night. She will be joined by Davis Guggenheim, director of the documentary ‘Waiting for Superman, “Deborah Gist, the Rhode Island education commissioner who fired all teachers at Central Falls High School to reform a badly performing school system,” and former New York City School chief Joel Klein. The panel will “discuss who is responsible for student achievement, where the US ranks compared with other countries, why the country is losing ground and what can be done to reverse the trend.”

Minnesota To Require Real-Time Performance Assessment For Teacher Certification.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune (11/12, Burnette) reports that in 2012, Minnesota “will become the first state to assess first-time teachers’ real-life performance.” Under the new teacher certification program, called Teacher Performance Assessment, teacher candidates for “early childhood learning, special education, elementary literacy or high school math, English, science and social studies will be required to send a classroom videotape showing their teaching skills to the teaching board.” The videos will be graded by “independent evaluators” on their “abilities to execute meaningful curriculum, engage with students and produce lasting results.” Certification will be based on teachers’ “video and test scores, as well as surveys completed by them and their student-teaching employers.”

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In the Classroom
Analysis Of ACT Scores Reveals Most Chicago High School Juniors Not College-Ready.
The Chicago Tribune (11/12, Rado, Malone, Mahr) reports, “Eight of 10 public high school juniors in Illinois weren’t considered ready for college classes in all subjects based on ACT testing last spring – and many students missed the mark even at posh suburban Chicago schools that graduate some of the state’s brightest kids. … The Tribune calculated college readiness figures from student ACT scores released for the first time by the state under the Freedom of Information Act.” According to the Tribune, “The readiness numbers generated skepticism and even heated criticism from some educators who questioned ACT’s benchmarks, though schools were hard-pressed to explain why their students weren’t considered prepared.”

Female Veterans Talk To Middle Schoolers About Military Experiences.
Illinois’ Beacon News (11/12, Linke) reports that two veterans spoke at Herget Middle School in aurora about their experiences as females in the military in the 1970s and 1980s. Kathy Kostos and Pamela Kluber, now math teachers in the West Aurora School District, both “served during peacetime.” Kostos said that as a Marine Corps Russian linguist, “she never got to translate a word of Russian during the second two years of her enlistment because female Marines were not permitted to enter combat zones, where the surveillance was taking place.” The two teachers also told students about how “their military records have influenced their careers as teachers.”

Some Parents Oppose Slurs In Banned Book Week Homework Handout.
WVIT-TV New Britain, Connecticut (11/12, Upton) reports that some parents this week complained to the Greenwich school district about “a handout middle school students received of literary passages containing racial, ethnic and gender slurs.” The homework assignment was connected to “a project with the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week in early October.” Superintendent Sidney Freund Said the assignment asked students to “read from one of the works on the ALA’s banned book list and do a persuasive essay or presentation on the subject of censorship.” In the future, Freund told WVIT, schools should send a letter home to parents about the assignment. Freund added, “Some tempering of the quotes could be made, and we would not lose the essence of the message that we’re trying to deliver to the kids about censorship.”

Law & Policy
Utah Lawmaker Will Propose Bill Making It Easier To Fire Low-Performing Teachers.
The Salt Lake Tribune (11/12, Schencker) reports that Utah Sen. Howard Stephenson (R) “plans to propose a bill this coming legislative session that would remove certain protections when teachers perform poorly.” He is still writing the bill, but told the Tribune that it would basically “make it so teachers could lose their career status if they consistently fail over time to produce ‘adequate growth in student progress.’” Teachers in Utah are granted career status after three to five years. Stephenson’s proposal will target “the bottom-performing 4 or 5 percent of teachers,” he said. According to the Tribune, Utah Education Association (UEA) government relations director Kory Holdaway responded to news of the proposal, saying, “if it’s improving…quality of education in the schools, I think there would be interest.” But, he added, the UEA “would be concerned about removing some of the career status protections that [teachers] have to avoid discrimination or false accusations or things like that.”

Central Falls High School Administrators Seek Discipline Policy Changes.
The Providence (RI) Journal (11/12, Jordan) reports that administrators at Central Falls High School say that “the new [discipline] policy they have tried to establish this fall is not working.” The acknowledgement follows weeks of teacher complains and reported discipline problems. Now, a group made up of “two co-principals and [a] deputy superintendent…will begin working with teachers, the police, parents and officials from the state Department of Education to improve the school’s ‘behavioral-management plan.’” The current policy “focuses on having students reflect on their behavior and its effect on others.” It also includes “reaching out to parents and building a sense of pride in the school.” New ideas under consideration include more teacher training on discipline and an evening school program for suspended students. Two behavioral coaches have already been added “to the discipline team.”

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Special Needs
Portland, Oregon, Schools Looks To Most Successful ESL Program For Effective Strategies.
The Portland (OR) Tribune (11/11, Anderson) reported that at Whitman Elementary School, where “one out of three students [is] learning English as a second language,” each student has to take an “intensive two-hour [block] of reading time each day.” The school staggers the blocks In order to best utilize “the school’s two-and-a-half ESL teaching positions and one bilingual assistant.” Accommodations such as this “have helped Whitman become Portland Public Schools’ highest-performing elementary school for English as a second language students.” The district as a whole “has been out of compliance with state and federal ESL laws for 13 of the past 17 years,” but recently came back into compliance. Still, an audit of the district showed that “many problems still exist,” and “as the ESL population grows, the situation appears to be getting worse.” Portland school officials are looking at Whitman for ESL strategies that can be applied throughout the district.

Safety & Security
FBI Takes Over Case Involving Threat On Broward County, Florida Schools.
WFOR-TV Miami (11/12) reports, “Pembroke Pines Police say a ‘person of interest’ has been identified after two threats forced the lockdown of all Broward County public and charter schools for most of the school day on Wednesday.” The person “was tracked through an internet address.” The FBI has taken over the case.

The Miami Herald (11/11, Burnett) reported that a woman is being questioned, but “authorities aren’t releasing any ” other information on her, “except to express doubt she has a husband. They also suspect the same woman who made the call authored the e-mail, which was full of racial and ethnic slurs.”

School Finance
Georgia Expected To Get Race to the Top Funds By Mid-December.
The AP (11/11) reported that Georgia education official Erin Hames “told the Georgia school board on Wednesday that the 26 school districts that joined the state’s application for the federal funding are working on plans that will be sent to the US Department of Education this month.” After the plans “are approved,” the state will get its share of federal Race To The Top grant funding. The AP adds that the money is expected to come by mid-December.

Teacher Pensions Need Overhaul, Eduwonk Blogger Says.
Eduwonk blogger Andrew Rotherham wrote in the Time (11/11) “School of Thought” column that teachers’ pensions are “threatening the fiscal health of many states.” Currently, teacher pensions are facing a nearly “$500 billion shortfall.” He adds that the liabilities in all states except New York, Florida, and Washington, “stem from lousy incentives and bad decisions by state officials.” Rotherham says another problem with the pension system is that it “penalizes teachers who move between states, switch to private or public charter schools that do not participate in the pension system or leave teaching altogether.” It is also “financial suicide” for teachers who switch careers. Rotherham details suggestions for reforming the teacher pension system to make it useful for “today’s more mobile workforce” and to take into account “the effectiveness of teachers who are retiring.”

Also in the News
Incoming New York City Schools Chief Faces Early Challenges.
The New York Times (11/12, Otterman) reports “there will be no cushy learning period” for incoming New York City schools chief Cathleen P. Black, “a publishing executive without political or education leadership experience.” Black “will be entering a treacherous political and educational landscape, far darker than it was just one year ago, when elementary and middle school test scores told a story of continual growth and achievements. Now, more than 100,000 additional students who failed toughened state tests this year need tutoring and help. Up to 47 schools face closing.” Also, according to the Times, the “teachers’ union, which has been without a contract for more than a year, has been more adversarial toward the city than supportive, a relationship that promises to sour further if the Department of Education continues to back the public release of teacher rankings based on student test scores.”

Black In Need Of Waiver From State Schools Chief. The New York Times (11/12, Hu) reports, “The man who will decide whether Cathleen P. Black, a publisher with no educational leadership experience, is qualified to lead the nation’s largest school system is” New York State education commissioner David M. Steiner, “a career educator known for his efforts to better prepare teachers for the classroom.” However, Steiner “is also a well-regarded figure among the school reform movement, whose guiding principle is that American students are best served by a results-driven, businesslike approach to education management.” Though state “law requires all school chiefs to hold a professional certificate in educational leadership and to have at least three years’ experience in schools,” the “law allows for the education commissioner to grant a waiver to ‘exceptionally qualified persons.’”

DC Officials Mull Merger Of Public, Charter School Athletic Departments.
The Washington Post (11/12, Goldenbach) reports, “D.C. officials this week acknowledged for the first time that combining the athletic departments of D.C. Public Schools and D.C. Public Charter Schools under the same administrative body might be inevitable.” According to the Post, “Charter schools enroll nearly 40 percent of all District students receiving public education, according to an unaudited report by” the DC Public Charter School Board and “there is no athletic department to oversee sports at all charter schools, which allows each school to develop its athletic program to suit its student body.” The Post adds that a “lack of oversight allowed the basketball programs at” Friendship Collegiate “and Kamit Institute for Magnificent Achievers (KIMA) to suit up players last season who were either playing their fifth season of high school ball, or who were non-residents of the District and were not paying tuition, as required for all non-District residents who attend charter schools.”

NEA in the News
Connecticut Forum Hosts Discussion On Education Reform.
WTIC-TV Hartford (11/12, Merritt) reports, “Superstar school reformers went toe to toe with a national teachers’ union leader in a debate hosted by the Connecticut Forum at the Bushnell Thursday night over how to improve schools and evaluate teachers.” Former New York City schools chancellor Joel I. Klein “kicked off the evening by criticizing teacher unions.” He pointed to restrictions in teachers union contracts that “would not allow him to pay certain teachers more,” and asserted, “We reward length of service rather than excellence.” Lily Eskelsen, vice president of the National Education Association, meanwhile, “said that teachers do want to be recognized for excellence, but she is concerned about simply measuring teacher performance by student test scores. She said that teachers should be given more autonomy to identify the problems in their own schools and come up with creative solutions to fix them.”

Please take the time out to reflect and thank these dedicated and selfless individuals for their service to our great country, the United States of America. God Bless.

New Jersey’s Press of Atlantic City (10/28, D’Amico) notes that according to critics, “the reporting process for violence and bullying remains seriously flawed and represents just a small percentage of actual problems in the schools.” Stuart Green, director of the New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention, “said he believes the number” of incidents reported are up to “100 times lower than the actual number[s].” According to Green, “schools have been chronically under-reporting incidents for fear of landing on the dreaded ‘persistently dangerous schools’ list as required by the federal No Child Left Behind law.” Currently, no schools in New Jersey are on that list.

New Jersey’s Record (10/28, Brody) notes that school districts “send their own numbers to the state, and some interpret the reporting requirements slightly differently.”

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In the Classroom
Chicago Elementary School’s Turnaround Shows Promising Results After Five Years.
Education Week (10/27, Kelleher) reported that in the summer of 2006, William T. Sherman Elementary School in “one of Chicago’s poorest and most violence-plagued communities… became Chicago’s first official turnaround school.” The school’s “principal, the entire faculty, and all but one of the building’s staff were replaced in one fell swoop.” Now, after nearly five years, “the improvements appear to have taken root.” The school “has made progress on state tests,” although “its scores still lag behind city averages.” According to Education Week, Sherman Elementary is both “a case study in the importance of having…talent ready” in order to reverse the school’s “academic fortunes” and “whether turnarounds can come about as quickly, or dramatically, as the architects of the federal program might hope.”

Research Shows Pre-K Counts Helped Boost Achievement In Pennsylvania.
The Bucks County (PA) Courier Times (10/28, Canelli) reports that Stephen Bagnato, professor of pediatrics and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh recently “presented results from a study of the Pre-K Counts program in 21 school districts across” Pennsylvania. According to the Courier Times, “The research…looked at more than 10,000 children ages 3 to 6 across the state, including 223 kids in Bucks County. Out of those 223 students, 146 at-risk children exceeded expected competencies in language, reading, math, writing and behavior after transitioning from the program to kindergarten.”

Arizona District Continues To Grow CTE Program Despite Budget Cutbacks.
The Arizona Republic (10/28, Scott) reports, “Career and technical education continues to grow in the Paradise Valley Unified School District, even as resources are shrinking. The Northeast Valley district is working to provide more career options for students, despite a $250,000 cut to its career and technical education budget this school year.” Tony Maldonado, director of the district’s Star Tech Center, said “Innovation is one of our major key” areas, adding “We cannot be as aggressive as we want to be, so what happens is we just have to put those innovative-type things off until our budget picture improves.” Even so, the Republic notes, “growth and emerging career fields continue to demand new programs, so district officials have had to be more strategic. This year, the district launched a program that allows about 30 students to earn a certificate to become an auto-body or collision technician.”

New Jersey Festival Breaks Mold Of “Boring Science Fair.”
New Jersey’s Record and Herald News (10/28, Rohan) reports, “Robots, reptiles and remnants of dinosaurs made Saturday’s New Jersey Science and Engineering Festival at Clifton High School fun for families.” Activities designed to make the event more than just a “boring science fair” included “lectures on topics like ‘the science of superheroes,’ a scaled down fossil-dig and even a simulation of cloud-making.” Meanwhile, “in the lower exhibit hall, Keith Gerhardt of Fanuc Robotics in Massachusetts demonstrated the “color-vision capability” of a robot that had been programmed to distinguish between red, white and yellow M&M’s, and sort them into separate containers.” The festival also hosted a First Tech Challenge scrimmage, as well as bomb-disarming robots used by the police department, among other activities.

Law & Policy
Administration To Launch New Sex Education Campaign.
The Washington Post (10/28, Stein) reports that “the Obama administration has entered the politically sensitive” debate over “safe-sex vs. abstinence-only sex education programs,” with a promise “to put scientific evidence before political ideology. A $110 million campaign will support a range of programs, including those that teach about the risks of specific sexual activities and the benefits of contraception and others that focus primarily on encouraging teens to delay sex.” The Post adds, “Although the program is being hailed by many adolescent health experts, it is being denounced by some on both sides of the abstinence debate.”

Ohio Supreme Court Says School Districts Can Fire Employees For Old Crimes.
The AP (10/27) reported that in the case of a “Cincinnati school employee fired in 2008 over a 1976 drug trafficking conviction,” the Ohio Supreme Court ruled this week that “school districts have a right to fire employees over old criminal convictions.” The court said that “a 2007 law that required schools to investigate employees’ criminal pasts and then dismiss those convicted of some offenses is constitutional, even when applied retroactively.” The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (10/27, Nash) noted that after the law went into effect, school districts in Ohio “fired dozens of employees over long-ago criminal convictions.”

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Special Needs
Virginia District Teachers Coping With Influx Of Special Needs Students.
Virginia’s Daily Press (10/28, Shalash) reports, “When Hampton [VA] teachers returned to school after summer break, they were caught unprepared with a major change – most would now be collaborating with a special education teacher, and up to half of their students would have disabilities.” According to the Daily Press, “Mixing disabled and regular students in a general classroom is called ‘inclusion,’ a method that’s federally required for students who can handle it. But it should be done with careful planning and training instead of the all-at-once approach Hampton rolled out over the summer, experts and teachers said.”

Safety & Security
Some Experts Say Education Department Letter Could Lead To Less Bullying.
Inside Higher Ed (10/28, Berrett) reports that school bullying incidents “could grow rarer, say legal experts and student advocates, following the U.S. Department of Education’s release Tuesday of anti-discrimination guidelines” in a letter to a wide range of education institutions. According to Inside Higher Ed, “Colleges’ responses are mandatory, even if a student does not formally file a complaint, according to the letter. In fact, college and university administrators are on the hook for addressing harassment incidents about which they know or ‘reasonably should have known,’ wrote” Department of Education Office for Civil Rights chief Russlynn Ali.

School Finance
Audit Of Los Angeles School District’s Construction Finds Several Conflicts Of Interest.
The Los Angeles Times (10/28, Blume) reports that an independent audit of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s “20-billion school construction program” found several “conflicts of interest, but most problems were eliminated after 2006.” The audit, commissioned by the district “after the March indictment of a senior facilities manager,” looked into “records dating to 2002″ and “found 225 instances in which consultant hiring panels included people from the same company as the applicant.” In addition, “auditors identified four people who participated in hiring panels and ‘stood to receive a direct financial benefit because they selected a [consultant] from a firm in which they had an investment.’” The school system plans “to conduct a follow-up investigation, with particular attention to the four unnamed people.”

The AP (10/28, Hoag) reports that Controller Wendy Greuel has “recommended that in the future, newly hired contractors be trained in conflict-of-interest policies and file a statement of economic interest when they are hired and when they leave district employ.”

Also in the News

Blogger Suggests Using College Admittance To Measure Schools’ Success.
Harriet Blackburn of the Adam Smith Institute blog wrote in the Christian Science Monitor (10/27), “The education system in this country is creating a generation of children who are unable to think for themselves.” She asserts that since 1992, priorities in education have shifted “away from traditional teaching methods towards teaching exam tactics to help schools to advance up the league table rankings.” However, Blackburn calls for “a revolution in the way we approach schools and measure their relative success.” She suggests that school success is better measured by “the number of children they can get accepted into” colleges and universities. “With universities becoming more disillusioned with the quality of education of incoming students, it is becoming increasingly important that children are educated beyond the curriculum and taught the skills required to thrive in further education and society in general,” Blackburn concludes.

Foundations Not Doing Enough To Help Neediest Students, Study Says.
The AP (10/28, Blankinship) reports that the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy “is hoping to light a fire under charitable foundations that support education by releasing a report Wednesday that points out how few of them focus enough attention on helping the most needy students.” The study “said that only 11 percent of American foundations devoted at least half their grants to programs that benefit vulnerable students” and the reports also found that “only 2 percent met the watchdog group’s other main criteria for philanthropic success: spending 25 percent of its grants toward advocating for long-term change, through community building, advocacy and civil engagement.”

NEA in the News
Community In Maryland Begins NEA Public Engagement Project.
The Gaithersburg (MD) Gazette (10/28, McGill) reports that residents in District Heights, Maryland, are participating in the NEA’s Community Conversation. According to Brenda Vincent, an NEA senior policy analyst, the “public engagement project began in 1997 as a way for communities to meet and identify whether family and community involvement, effective programs, or adequate resources are the key to eliminate achievement gaps in their local schools.” The first Community Conversation was held last week, and another is planned for February 2011. “After the second meeting, a final action plan will be given to NEA that can help the GDHCC identify grant money to solve specific issues by spring 2011,” according to the Gazette.

Education Department Grants Will Help Districts Curb High School Dropout Rates.
Education Week (10/28, Gewertz) reported, “In the first wave of funding under a revitalized high school graduation initiative, the US Education Department is betting nearly $50 million that it can help states and school districts find better ways to hang onto students who might drop out and bring back those who have disappeared without diplomas. Twenty-nine states and districts won grants last month of up to $3 million” from the High School Graduation Initiative “to work with schools whose dropout rates exceed their state’s average.” According to Education Week, the Education Department hopes to use the funds “to exert leverage on high school graduation rates, which hover around 70 percent nationally and can sink below 50 percent in poor communities.”

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In the Classroom
More Atlanta Schools Make AYP After Students Retake Standardized Tests.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (10/29, Badertscher) reports that “32 metro Atlanta schools…got the bump up they needed to meet testing requirements of [NCLB], based on summer” Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests “retests…and summer graduates, new data from the state show.” According to the Journal-Constitution, “Students who fail one or more portions of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) take retests near the end of the school year or in the summer. Those results are paired with the results of the spring CRCT, which last school year showed two of every three public high schools failing to make AYP and 305 schools on the ‘needs improvement’ list.”

Shakespeare Program Aimed At Helping ESL Students Learn English Language.
The Chicago Sun-Times (10/28, Noulihan) reported on the ESL/Shakespeare program at Gage Park High School in Chicago that began last year. Maria Rivera, the ESL teacher who created the program in which students study Shakespeare’s use of language, said it gives students “a new creative avenue into the English language, a new way of learning words and their meanings that they find unique, exciting and fulfilling.” The ESL students learn and perform adapted versions of Shakespeare plays onstage at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

High School Trades Program Partners With Habitat For Humanity To Build House.
KOAM-TV Pittsburgh, Kansas (10/29) reports that when budget cuts threatened to end the Trades Program at Carl Junction High School in Missouri, the school formed a partnership with the Joplin Area Habitat For Humanity that essentially saved the program. Students are working with the home-building group on a house for a family of six. The family will also help build the house before moving in.

Pittsburgh Overhauling Schools’ CTE Program.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (10/28, Weigand) reported on the CTE “overhaul” going on in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, with the board recently voting to eliminate the rolling admissions process. A “first-come-first-served” process was preferred. “In May, the board approved a plan to create a rigorous, career-focused program by the 2011-12 school year, with three regional clusters offering their own specialty courses. All students, however, would be able to take classes in health careers, information technology and business finance or culinary arts.”

Teaching Peers An Effective Learning Tool For Students, Studies Show.
Education Week (10/28, Sparks) reported, “Educators have long held that peer tutoring can help students learn, and emerging research on students working with computer characters points to one possible reason why: Teaching begets learning for the teacher, too. Researchers at Stanford University’s AAA Lab and Vanderbilt University’s Teachable Agents Group call it the ‘protege effect,’ which posits that students will work harder, reason better, and ultimately understand more by learning to teach someone else-even a virtual ‘teachable agent’-than they will when learning for themselves.” Education Week noted that both “labs are moving to bring the lessons from virtual teaching to flesh-and-blood classrooms.”

On the Job
Four Schools In Providence, Rhode Island Develop Own Turnaround Plans.
The Providence (RI) Journal (10/29, Borg) reports that four schools in Providence, Rhode Island, which have been “identified by state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist as among the worst in the state, have devised” plans “to turn themselves around after years of low student achievement.” The efforts are not ordinary, because these plans are “coming from the bottom up. Typically, school reform is developed by the superintendent and staff and imposed on the individual schools.” But, with the bottom-up approach, “principals and teachers have decided which reforms will boost student performance.” The changes will be observed by a “labor-management partnership…believed to be the first of its kind in the” US. Beginning next September, “all four schools will have” up to 75 minutes added to the school day, teachers will have 10 professional training days added to their contract, and more time will be devoted to helping students struggling with math and reading.

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Law & Policy
New Jersey Governor Appoints Task Force For New Teacher, Principal Evaluations.
New Jersey’s Record & Herald News (10/29, Brody) reports that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Thursday “appointed nine members…to a task force charged with the controversial mission of recommending ways to use student achievement and other measures to evaluate all teachers and principals.” Christie wants the group to present recommendations “for a statewide evaluation system” to him by March 1. The recommendations are expected to fall in line with Christie’s goals of basing “teachers’ tenure, job retention, and compensation…on their results in the classroom rather than on seniority” and for “at least half of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on student achievement.” Currently, “districts have their own methods and almost everybody is deemed satisfactory or better,” according to the Record & Herald News.

The Newark Star-Ledger (10/29, Mascarenhas) reports that the task force does not include any representative from the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union. Union spokesman Steve Baker commented on the exclusion, saying, “It obviously indicates the governor is continuing his disrespect toward practitioners, professionals, and the people who do this work for a living.” Baker also said that Christies goal of creating “an evaluation system in which student achievement measures make up at least 50 percent of a teacher or school leader’s assessment” might “lead to a heavy reliance on standardized testing.” Said Baker, “Standardized test scores are a very flawed tool when it comes to measuring student achievement. … Some students respond better to instruction, some test better.”

Arizona District Proposes Solution For Curbing Use Of “Synthetic Marijuana” At School.
KNXV-TV Phoenix (10/29, Resendez) reports that some students in Arizona’s in the Tempe Union High School District are using a substance called spice or K2 to get high. K2 “is a legal synthetic form of marijuana that can be easily purchased from smoke shops, convenience stores and online, as long as you’re over 18.” Tempe Union spokeswoman Linda Littell said that abuse of the substance is “a big problem” and a school committee “is proposing to the school board that it be listed the same as an illegal drug,” she said. “If the school board approves the proposal in November, the punishment for a student possessing Spice or being under the influence of Spice would be the same as an illegal drug,” KNXV added.

Safety & Security
First Lady Says Adults Should Lead By Example To Stop School Bullying.
The AP (10/29) reports that First Lady Michelle Obama “says adults can address the problem of bullying if they lead by example.” The First Lady’s comments on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” came “days after President Barack Obama addressed the topic in a video posted on the White House website. … Mrs. Obama said young people need to know that they shouldn’t let the challenges they face in high school or college ‘eat them up.’”

Facilities
Up To Forty-Seven New York City Schools May Close Due To Lagging Performance.
The New York Times (10/29, Otterman) reports that the New York City DOE “said Thursday that up to 47 schools could be closed for poor performance, a huge increase from previous years if all remain on the chopping block.” According to the Times, city officials gave “few reasons” for the sharp increase in school closures. Nineteen “of the schools were to close last year, but won temporary reprieves because of a lawsuit brought by the teachers’ union and” the NAACP. The Times adds that in an effort “to reduce the shock and anger that closing announcements met in past years, the city has a new process to explain its thinking before making a final decision. At least four meetings are being held at each school, and parents and staff and community members can object if they feel that part or all of the school should be preserved, officials said.”

School Finance

Some Connecticut Superintendents Take Raises As Schools Cut Staff.
WFSB-TV Hartford (10/29) reports that as Connecticut school districts “have been cutting jobs left and right,” some superintendents are taking raises. WFSB contacted school districts statewide and found that “more than two dozen superintendents took raises this school year.” In Hartford, for instance, schools have seen a consistent decline in staff, losing about 400 employees since 2007. Meanwhile, the schools superintendent has taken a raise each year.

Superintendent Declines Raise For Second Straight Year. The Hartford (CT) Courant (10/29) reports that Manchester, Connecticut, schools superintendent, Kathleen Ouellette, “will forgo a salary raise for the second year in a row.” Ouellette, who makes $155,366 annually, has “declined any raise in the current fiscal year and in fiscal year 2009-10. The board recently approved a contract for Ouellette through June 30, 2013, that includes a boost in vacation days from 25 to 30 and raises the number of sick days paid out at retirement from 60 to 65.”

Also in the News
Controversy Surrounds Cards Being Tested For Monitoring Students Activity.
The Boston Globe (10/28) reports that “civil libertarians are raising privacy concerns about a plan by Boston public schools to issue cards to students that could be used for a variety of services from riding the bus, to borrowing library books, to accessing meal programs.” State ACLU director Carol Rose “says school officials have no right to know where students go, or what they read.” But school officials say that the cards, which are being “issued to 530 students in grades 6 through 12…as part of a pilot program,” could help reduce absenteeism.

Ohio School Districts Pay State DOE Nearly $35,000 For Testing Mishaps.
The Newark (OH) Advocate (10/30) reported that in May, the Ohio Department of Education “began charging” school districts with standardized testing mishaps “a fee of $25 per student, per subject to help cover the expense of giving second, alternate tests.” So far throughout the state, “71 schools or school systems [have] paid almost $35,000 for mistakes that led to retesting,” with Cincinnati schools paying the largest fine of $11,500. The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (10/30, Richards) noted that “the Ohio Department of Education has long had the option of charging a fee but hadn’t done so until this year, prompted by budget concerns.” The AP (10/30) also covered the story.

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In the Classroom
Texas District Adjusts Homework Grading Policy After Increase In Failing Grades.
The Dallas Morning News (10/30, Unmuth) reported that at the beginning of this school year, the Irving school district “stopped counting homework toward grades.” Since that policy has been in place, “the number of high school students failing at least one class [has] increased by more than one-third,” from 3,412 students during the first six weeks of school last year to 4,597 this year. Irving is now adjusting the policy “by giving students the opportunity to increase their grade by submitting one portfolio of six samples that can include homework assignments.” The Dallas Morning News notes that “The district initially stopped counting homework because administrators felt it didn’t measure students’ actual learning as much as other assessments.”

District Sees Increased Minority Enrollment In Middle School Advanced Math.
North Carolina’s News & Observer (10/29, Hui) reported that the Wake County school system has reported “gains in minority enrollment in…middle school advanced math classes.” This year, “61.6 percent of black middle school students and 61.6 percent of Hispanic students who were identified as being ready to take pre-algebra or Algebra I were placed in those courses.” Still, more eligible white students are being placed in advanced math courses this year, at 75.5 percent. The News & Observer notes that previously, a report form the SAS Institute “had found a majority of qualified black and Hispanic students weren’t being placed into Algebra I in middle school,” thus possibly limiting “ability to take enough advanced math courses in high school.” At a school board meeting last week, Board Member John Tedesco pointed out that, despite the improvement, all students who are qualified should be placed in advance math courses, regardless of race.

Students Throughout California, Maine Participate In Mock Elections.
The Lodi (CA) News-Sentinel (10/30, Bonnett) reported that students in the Lodi Unified School District “participated in the 2010 MyVote California Student Mock Election” that took place last week. More than 105,000 students throughout California cast ballots for the event. “With 389 schools reporting statewide,” Democratic candidate Jerry Brown “took 49 percent of the vote,” followed by “Republican Meg Whitman with 22 percent of the vote.” Students also voted on Proposition 19, “the controversial ballot initiative to permit local governments to tax and regulate marijuana.”

MPBN-TV Bangor, Maine (10/28) reported that students in Maine also took part in a statewide mock voting event last Friday. “As part of the process, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap” hosted a “Rally and Tally” “event, in which students will [collect] the mock election results by phone and the Internet and report them throughout the afternoon and evening.” Students also made posters, learned how to conduct an interview, wrote “stump” speeches, and heard “directly from candidates” for the event.

Maryland Study Finds Low-Income Students Perform Better In Wealthy Schools.
Newsweek (10/31, Wu) reported on its website that the Century Foundation “tracked two groups of low-income children” in Montgomery County, Maryland schools: “those randomly assigned to higher-income schools and those not. The study, released last month, showed that between 2001 and 2007 the” children who attended schools in wealthy neighborhoods “cut their achievement gap by almost a third in reading and half in math — even though the lower-income schools had more funding.” The study’s author, Heather Schwartz, attributed the improved results to the school “environment: fewer disciplinary interruptions, more engaged students, and a stable set of teachers.”

More Public Schools Requiring Students To Wear Uniforms.
The Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle (10/31, Lankes) reported, “While once limited to private schools, more public schools such as” Early College International High School in Rochester, NY “are adopting uniforms as part of their program, hoping the consistent dress will help their students stay focused in class and in turn boost their academic performance.” The Democrat & Chronicle added, “The trend locally underscores something happening all over the country as administrators look for ways to focus their students’ attention on learning. The US department of Education reports that about one in five public schools required students to wear uniforms during the 2007-08 school year…up from 12 percent in 1999-2000.”

Law & Policy
Defense Spending Bill Includes School Provisions For Military Families.
Education Week (10/29, Samuels) reported that Congress plans to take up a defense spending bill that includes “a proposed $5 million voucher program for military families who have children with special education needs.” Eligible families would get $7,500 per school year beginning in the 2011-12 school year. The bill also includes a provision that would “direct the secretaries of defense and education to collaborate on issues such as expedited due process resolution for military families and creation of individualized education programs that are applicable across state lines.” Education Week points out that “military families say…current regulations don’t work well for parents and children who are constantly on the move,” as services that apply “in one district [often] can’t be implemented in another.”

FCC Expected To Require Schools Receiving E-Rate Funds To Teach Internet Responsibility.
PC Magazine (10/29, Albanesius) reported that the FCC plans to “circulate an order that would require schools that receive e-rate funding to adopt Internet safety policies.” According to the document, schools will have to “educate students how to act responsibly online.” PC Magazine noted that “the e-rate program is part of the government’s universal service fund, which is intended to provide telecom services to all Americans;” it “focuses on funds to schools and libraries.” The FCC has not said “when Chairman Julius Genachowski might formally announce this plan.” Reuters (10/30, Melvin) also covered the story.

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School Finance
New Jersey Schools Find “More Creative” Ways To Raise Money.
The AP (11/1) reports that as state budget cuts chip at funding for “academic and extracurricular programs” in New Jersey public schools this year, “educators are getting more creative in looking for ways to fund projects they see as important to student education.” Last week, a school in Folsom auctioned off student-made scarecrows, “with part of the proceeds going to help support the school’s new positive-behavior program.” And, at William Davies Middle School in Hamilton Township, “about 40 people paid $10 each for a one-hour Zumba workout so music students at the school can travel to festivals.” Some teachers and schools are also looking at more traditional funding sources like grants and recycling programs.

Also in the News
Obama Highlighting Importance Of STEM Education.
Education Week (10/29, Robelen) reported, “Amid a struggling economy, a raft of foreign-policy headaches, and the tail end of a heated campaign season, President Barack Obama carved out time in his schedule this month to watch students in the State Dining Room demonstrate a solar-powered model car, a water-purification system, and a soccer-playing robot.” According to Education Week, the President says “those activities-part of what was dubbed the first annual White House science fair celebrating winners of STEM-focused student competitions-are just what the nation needs to prosper. … The science fair was the fifth White House event he has personally hosted over the past year or so focused on education in the STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”

Students In Utah District Must Pass Breathalyzer Test To Attend School Dances.
The Salt Lake Tribune (10/31, Smart) reported on the Park City School District’s policy of requiring students to pass a breathalyzer test before being allowed into school dances. “The program, intended to keep school activities safe and send a message to teens, has been in place for about five years.” The Salt Lake Tribune notes that the ACLU has in some states “challenged the practice of ‘suspicionless’ tests as a violation of the Fourth Amendment ban on illegal searches.” But Utah ACLU Legal Director Darcy Goddard said that her group will likely not raise the issue unless a complaint is made. So far, she said, “nobody in Utah has complained to her agency.”

Teen Reading Habits Changing With The Increased Use Of High-Tech Devices.
The Washington Post (11/1, George) reports, “Recreational reading has changed for teens in an era of ebooks and laptops and hours spent online, but experts and media specialists say there are signs of promise in spite of busy lives and research findings that show traditional book reading is down.” According to the Post, research conducted by the University of Maryland’s Sandra Hofferth found that pleasure reading “dropped 23 percent in 2008, compared with 2003, from 65 minutes a week to 50 minutes a week – with the greatest falloff for those ages 12 to 14. Still, she says: ‘They could be reading on the cell phone, in games, on the Web, on the computer.’” Randi Adleberg, head of the high school English program at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County, adds that “if reading online and in game-playing are taken into account,” then “the digital age has probably increased reading.”

Leading the News
First Phase Of Newark School Reform Aims To Increase Parental Involvement.
The AP (11/2) reports that the first phase of Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million reform effort in Newark Public Schools includes “an initiative to reach out to parents of schoolchildren to find out what’s working and what isn’t.” As part of the effort, “canvassers will knock on doors and make phone calls” in the next two months. The campaign aims to involve parents “in the educational process.”

New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (11/2, Rundquist) reports that Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) and Superintendent Clifford Janey kicked off the effort on Monday, along with “a host of other Newark leaders.” The Star-Ledger also notes that Mayor Booker has received $43 million of the $100 million in pledges needed to match Zuckerberg’s pledge. According to Booker, the canvassing phase of the campaign “will cost more than $1 million.”

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In the Classroom
Teachers In South Florida Put Focus On Civics With Election-Themed Lessons.
Florida’s Sun-Sentinel (11/1, Olmeda) reported on the election-related lessons and trainings taking place in schools throughout South Florida. The Broward School District through the nonpartisan Kids Voting Broward allowed students “to participate in an online mock election.” Some Broward teachers are discussing “the [voting] process and” showing “students how to access the online ballot, which the students can do from anywhere using the Virtual Counselor site.” Meanwhile, many teachers in Palm Beach County “will be spending Election Day at a Royal Palm Beach High School workshop with former Sen. Bob Graham.” According to Palm Beach County’s Teaching American History Project coordinator Ana Dowling, “the workshop…is part of an ongoing effort to do a better job of teaching civics.” She also pointed out that Florida’s new Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, “help teach students how to process all the information they receive” about the electoral process, “so they can recognize what’s important as citizens.”

First Grade Teacher Uses Pumpkins For Multi-Curricular Lessons.
The Jackson (MI) Citizen Patriot (11/1, Wheaton) reported that Sue Allen, a first grade teacher at Townsend Elementary School in Vandercook Lake, Michigan, is teaching her students to count by having them gut pumpkins and number the seeds. The activity was one of several activities at various stations throughout the classroom. The students “also guessed the weight of their pumpkins, and then weighed them on a scale” and “measured the pumpkins’ circumference and height using a tape measure.” The Citizen Patriot adds that “At other stations the students also learned about the lifespan of a pumpkin, made books, and practiced their handwriting with a pumpkin poem.” Allen said that she has been teaching the pumpkin-centered lessons for about 13 or 13 years.

More New Jersey Students Earning Credits Through Dual-Enrollment Programs.
New Jersey’s Record and Herald News (11/1, Alex) reports, “More and more North Jersey high school students are earning college credits thanks to partnerships between their schools and local colleges and universities. So-called dual enrollment or Middle College programs are an increasingly popular complement to Advanced Placement classes and a way to keep students engaged through graduation.” As interest in these programs continues to grow, educators also see an opportunity for students to save money as the get a jump on their post-secondary education. The article describes some of the Middle College programs that area districts have adopted, including some with Fairleigh Dickinson University, Bergen Community College, Stevens Institute of Technology and Syracuse University. Some districts are also moving to expand online access to their courses.

Law & Policy
Pennsylvania District’s Zero Tolerance Policy Includes Profanity.
KDKA-TV Pittsburgh (11/2) reports that in an effort to turn “all of its campuses into…safe and conducive learning [environments],” the Wilkinsburg School District sent a letter to parents last week, asking them to help the district take “a proactive approach in stopping the recent increase in profanity toward teachers and staff.” Superintendent Archie Perrin, Jr., said, “We don’t want [to] spend time in school basically doing what should have already been done at home. … We’re not here to raise children, we’re not here to discipline students, we’re here to educate them.” Wilkinsburg has a “zero tolerance policy…in place so that profanity doesn’t escalate into other disruptive behaviors resulting in an unsafe learning environment.”

WPXI-TV Pittsburgh (11/2) quotes Perrin as saying, “Violence is violence. We view verbal abuse as a form of violence in order to rid the district of that.” Students who use profanity face punishment ranging “from a warning to expulsion.”

San Francisco School Officials Cracking Down On Out-Of District Students.
The AP (11/2) reports that in the past seven months, the San Francisco school district “has identified 200 students who do not live within the city’s limits and have kicked them out.” District officials are “offering amnesty until Nov. 20 for any other students who admit they do not belong in city schools.” Those students “will be allowed to finish the semester” and their parents will not have to pay “the $500 to $4,500 per student the district says it has spent rooting out offenders,” including “staff time and using private detectives to verify whether students live where they say they do.”

Supreme Court To Hear School Miranda Rights Case.
The Los Angeles Times (11/2, Savage) reports, “The Supreme Court said Monday it would explore the rights of schoolchildren who were questioned by the police, the second time in recent weeks it has delved into student issues.” According to the Times, “Last year, the North Carolina Supreme Court said that a” 13-year-old student suspected of burglary who was “being questioned by an officer at school was not in custody and therefore need not be warned of his rights. … His appeal, in [J.D.B.] vs. North Carolina, argued that the young man should have been told of his rights and given a chance to consult with a parent.”

The Education Week (11/1, Walsh) added that in 2005, the student at the center of the case identified as J.D.B. “was escorted to a school conference room, where he was interrogated by a Chapel Hill, N.C., juvenile crimes investigator in the presence of the school resource officer, an assistant principal, and a school administrative intern. J.D.B.’s parents were not contacted, and he was not given any warnings about his rights under the 1966 high court decision in Miranda v. Arizona, such as the right to remain silent or to have access to a lawyer.” According to Education Week, “Lawyers for the boy sought to suppress his confession in a juvenile-delinquency proceeding charging him with two counts each of breaking and entering and larceny, but they lost in lower courts and before the North Carolina Supreme Court.”

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Facilities
Little Rock Air Force Base Increases Offer Of Land To School District.
The AP (11/1) reported, “Little Rock Air Force Base now is offering more land to the Pulaski County Special School District for future school construction.” In 2007, the Air Force “initially offered the district 20 acres near the base’s back gate.” Though the district “has not accepted the offer,” Air Force Col. Andy Coggins told Superintendent Charles Hopson last month that the offer still stands and “is being increased by 77 acres.” The AP added that school board President Bill Vasquez is ready “to get started on the project.”

School Finance
California District Restores Full-Time Librarians.
The Santa Cruz (CA) Sentinel (11/2, Kelly) reports that the Santa Cruz school board recently voted to “restored $132,494 for salaries of certificated librarians.” This school year, elementary school librarians’ hours were cut by 30 percent and middle school librarians hours were cut 20 percent. However, the school board’s decision will bring full-time librarians back to elementary and middle schools. The decision, said Supervisor Gary Bloom, came after “last month’s state budget did not contain the anticipated cuts to the class-size reduction program for kindergarten through third grade students.”

Also in the News
DC Holds Kennedy Center Event To Honor “Highly Effective” Teachers.
WRC-TV Washington, DC (11/2, Tetu) reports on “the first annual ‘Standing Ovation for D.C. Teachers’ event” held at the Kennedy Center Monday night to honor “sixteen public school teachers who have been rated ‘highly effective’ under the school system’s new ratings.” DC mayor Adrian Fenty and Education Secretary Arne Duncan were among the officials who attended the gala. According to WRC, “proceeds from the event will go to the D.C. Public Education Fund, an independent non-profit group.” The AP (11/1) also covered the story.

Connecticut Panel Releases Recommendations On How To Close Achievement Gap.
The New Haven (CT) Register (11/1, Smith) reported that the “Connecticut Commission on Educational Achievement last week released a long list of recommendations for how the state can begin to close the achievement gap between low-income students and the rest of the state. Gov. M. Jodi Rell [R] established the commission in March with a mission of looking at why Connecticut has one of the worst achievement gaps in the country.” The panel recommended that preschool be expanded “for low-income students” and that teacher evaluations “consider student performance and have real consequences.” In addition the panel said that the state should “develop a…school turnaround office to ‘aggressively intervene’ in the lowest achieving schools and reform how the state funds education, including having money ‘follow the child.’”

Report Says Elementary Students Can Easily Access High Sugar Drinks In Schools.
USA Today (11/2, Hellmich) reports, “About half of elementary school children in the USA could buy high-fat milk, sodas, sports drinks and fruit drinks in school a la carte lines, snack bars, vending machines and stores during 2008-2009, a new study shows.” The University of Illinois-Chicago’s Lindsey Turner, the study’s lead author, and her “colleagues conducted a national survey of hundreds of elementary schools over three years” and found that only “16 percent of elementary students in public schools in 2008-2009 could purchase” only healthy beverages, including low-fat milk and beverages comprised of 100% fruit juice.

Health Day News (11/1, Doheny) noted that that the report appears “to contradict a report released in March by the American Beverage Association (ABA), a trade group, reporting that 99 percent of school districts with beverage distribution contracts were in compliance with the voluntary guidelines.” US News and World Report (11/1, Shute) also covered the story.

NEA in the News
Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association Announces New Executive Director.
Wisconsin’s Journal Sentinel (11/2, Richards) reports, that the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association announced Monday that Stan Johnson, “a former president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council,” will be its new executive Director. Johnson served six years as president of WEAC, “the state’s largest teachers union.” After leaving the post in 2007, he “he did some consulting work for the National Education Association’s Minority Leadership Training Program and the National Council of Education Support Professionals.”

Leading the News
Florida Voters Reject Measure Loosening Class-Size Requirements.
The St. Petersburg Times (11/3, Bowers, Matus) reports that Florida voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have “put some flexibility into the class-size amendment they approved eight years ago.” State Sen. Don Gaetz (R), “a former Okaloosa County superintendent and a leading supporter of” the class size amendment, said that the issue failed mainly because backers did not have as much money to spend as their opponents did. Meanwhile, he acknowledged, “The teachers union worked very hard in this campaign. They raised a lot of money.” Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida, noted that “having the cash to communicate with voters is especially important on constitutional measures,” because, she said, “voters find them so confusing.”

The Miami Herald (11/3, McGrory, Teproff) reports that the defeat of Amendment 8 “was a victory for parent and teacher groups,” which argued that “loosening the regulations…could mean less state funding for education.” The Miami Herald notes that class size “requirements apply only to core subject areas like math, science, social studies and language arts, and vary based on grade level.” School Districts not in compliance “face millions in penalties.”

The Orlando Sentinel (11/3, Postal) notes, “The coalition that fought against Amendment 8 included the Florida Education Association, the state teachers’ union, which pushed for adding the original class-size amendment to the state constitution.” It adds that school districts, aiming to “free up money for smaller classes,” have “cut electives, combined classes, shifted student schedules, and packed students into elective courses.”

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In the Classroom
High School Students To Build Reusable Rockets Through NASA Program.
The Huntsville (AL) Times (11/3, Newcomb) reports, “When Bob Jones High School placed third in the national Team America Rocketry Challenge last May, the adventure was not over. As a top team, Bob Jones was invited to apply for the chance to build a bigger rocket.” The high school rocket team “is now one of 19 teams from 10 states taking part in NASA’s Student Launch Initiative,” and “will work all year to design and build a reusable rocket that can be launched to a mile high, carrying a payload, and then recover it from the water.” The students will also have “to meet the kind of requirements any engineering company must meet on a project: a request for proposal, a preliminary design review, a critical design review, reports, video conferences and a flight readiness review.” They will also have “to develop an educational outreach project, a website and operate within a budget.”

Forty Percent Of Arkansas Schools Failed To Meet Achievement Requirements For Two Years.
The AP (11/2) reported that roughly “40 percent of Arkansas 1,075 public schools have failed for at least two years to meet minimum student achievement requirements.” According to state data, 420 schools in the state reported too few students passing Benchmark and End-of-Course tests measuring proficiency. Those schools “face having to offer tutoring, changing curriculum, hiring specialists and possibly replacing faculty.”

Strategies Offered For Developing Successful Co-Teaching Partnerships.
High school special education co-teacher Cossondra George wrote in an op-ed for Teacher Magazine (11/2), “Imagine each hour of the day you bounce from classroom to classroom-from algebra to history to science to social studies. … As the special education half of the co-teaching model, this is often your life. However, with a little extra planning on your part, as well as that of the ‘real’ teacher, the partnership can be meaningful for both of you, as well as the students.” George goes on to offer a number of recommendations to enhance the regular teacher/co-teacher partnership. George added, “For both teachers, keep in mind this is a living, growing, changing partnership. … Success is about finding a balance you are both confident and comfortable with day to day.”

“Adamsville” Is First School-Based Mini Community Program In San Antonio.
The San Antonio Express News (11/2, Lloyd) reported that Adams Elementary School in the Harlandale Independent School District has a pretend city called Adamsville that was created “to teach students leadership and financial skills and” possibly “could nudge them toward careers in politics, banking, or other businesses.” In the MicroSociety, students can act as business executives and community leaders. The Express News notes that “the MicroSociety program has been in schools across the country,” but Adamsville is the first “mini-community program in San Antonio.” According to Ramiro Cavazos, president and CEO of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, “the program will cost about $30,000 the first year,” and was launched with support from the city’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

On the Job
Task Force Determines Top 25 Websites For Teaching, Learning.
The Chicago Tribune (11/3, Cullotta) reports, “Heather Moorefield-Lang, the education and social-sciences librarian at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., and a former middle school librarian, is aware of the frustration both parents and educators experience when students limit their research efforts to Google and Wikipedia, when a wealth of online tools are at their fingertips, many free of charge.” Moorefield-Lang was “a member of the American Association of School Librarians’ task force assigned to study the best educational Websites for kindergarten through 12th grade. The group has posted this year’s Top 25 Websites for Teaching and Learning on the American Library Association’s site.” The sites were chosen “based on credibility, ease of use, interactivity and affordability.” The article lists some of Moorefield-Lang’s favorite resources.

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Law & Policy
Oklahoma Voters Reject Measure To Match Per-Pupil Funding To Surrounding States.
KJRH-TV Tulsa (11/3, Russell) reports that Oklahoma voters on Tuesday “flatly rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have required education spending match per-pupil spending in surrounding states.” Supporters of the measure say the state trails its neighbors “in per-pupil spending,” and argue that there is “a direct correlation between education and economic competition with the other states.” But, opponents “argued successfully that the measure” did not specify were the money would come from or how it would be spent. KJRH points out that the proposal “was sparked by the Oklahoma Education Association.”

The Oklahoman (11/2, Rolland) reported that Gov. Brad Henry, who opposed the measure, “struck a conciliatory tone Tuesday night,” saying, “Now that the campaign is over and the dust is settled, we can all put aside our differences. … Both sides of the issue care deeply about our state and the quality of our education and the future of our young people.” The Oklahoman noted that “state Question 744 was put on the ballot by 238,000 voter signatures in October 2008, through a petition drive led by the Oklahoma Education Association.” The AP reports that the proposal “was expected to cost nearly $2 billion over the next three years.” Oklahoma’s Shawnee News-Star (11/3, McCormick) also covers the story.

Election Results Could Have Major Impact On Education Policy.
Education Week (11/2, Klein, Cavanagh) reported that the results of Tuesday’s “midterm elections-which are expected to reflect voters’ frustration with the protracted economic downturn and wariness in many quarters about the role of government-could have major implications for the direction of federal education policy, the implementation of key state K-12 initiatives, and education spending at all levels.” According to Education Week, “At the congressional level, most analysts expect that Republicans will win enough seats to gain a majority in the US House of Representatives…and significantly bolster their margins in the Senate. … The election is also expected to produce major political turnover at the state level, where much school policy is decided.”

Safety & Security
Elementary School Principal Notes Positive Changes After All-Day Anti-Bullying Seminar.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (11/3, Staples) reports that when “the U.S. Department of Education issued a letter” last week clarifying the legal responsibilities of public school officials to prevent” bullying, Manning Oaks Elementary School Principal Sharon Reinig decided that her school could “really make a difference…and build awareness.” Manning Oaks recently “a daylong seminar led by bullying expert Mike Dreiblatt for students, parents and faculty in the surrounding area.” Since the seminar, Reinig said she’s seen “positive results…including more students reporting incidences” and students hanging posters around the school, encouraging others to report incidents.

Tennessee Districts Launch Initiatives To Combat Bullying.
Tennessee’s Commercial Appeal (11/2, Melvin) reports that an “An anti-bullying rally was held recently at the” Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center, “where gay parents and students from around the city spoke about the emotional and physical toll bullying takes.” The Commercial Appeal added, “Both Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools have anti-bullying policies, which include training for teachers and educating students. … Kingsbury High School started a gay-straight alliance for students last year, the first in the Memphis area” and “other city school principals are considering forming similar student groups, according to district spokeswoman Heather Danielson.”

School Finance
Tough Economic Times Hamper STEM Initiatives.
The Kansas City Star (11/3, Robertson) reports, “Five years ago, alarms sounded over America’s rapidly falling stature in STEM education.” But after a wave of new programs and initiatives formed in response to the news, “signs are emerging that the momentum of the mid-2000s is slipping away, even as students’ needs continue to grow.” The economic recession and budget cutbacks “mean hard times in particular for schools trying to keep up with the urgent need for stronger STEM programs.” In detailing some of the issues, the Star profiles an educator leading an area FIRST Robotics team, which entailed “scrambling for sponsors in a corporate world that has less money to give, and finding mentors from work forces that are strapped.” Also, “the rapid growth in Project Lead the Way engineering programs is hitting a wall” in terms of funding, despite student interest.

Grand Rapids Public Schools See $6.3 Million Funds Balance Increase.
The Grand Rapids Press (11/3, Reinstadle) reports that a recent audit found that the Grand Rapids public school district’s “fund balance improved from $9.7 million to $15.6 million over the fiscal year that ended June 30.” Schools CFO Lisa Freiburger attributed the gains to “$6.3 million in one-time revenue sources during the 2009-2010 school year,” including “$2.6 million in federal stimulus money and $1.7 million in accrued Medicaid reimbursement.”

Grand Rapids Public Schools, Teachers Work Against Grant Deadline To Negotiate Contract. The Grand Rapids Press (11/3, Reinstadler) reports, “Snarled negotiations over changes to teachers union contracts could jeopardize $25 million in grants intended to help turn around five failing Grand Rapids Public Schools.” The two sides must come to an agreement in time for the district to submit to the Michigan Department of Education its final plans for transforming several low-performing schools by Nov. 16. The Grand Rapids Education Association’s main concerns are “provisions requiring teachers to work additional hours, implementation of a merit pay system, and teacher evaluations.”

Voters Approve San Antonio District’s Largest Ever Bond Issue.
The San Antonio Express News (11/3, Kastner) reports that according to preliminary results, “voters in the San Antonio Independent School District overwhelmingly approved a $515 million bond issue Tuesday — the district’s largest ever.” The bond will pay for renovations at 22 schools and “upgraded playgrounds, technology, [and] security” at several other schools, as well as “facilities for career and vocational education.” In addition, the bond “will allow the district to launch the first phase of its long-range facilities plan, which includes closing five schools” and moving students from those schools “to newly updated facilities once renovations and additions are completed.” The Express News adds that one of the most controversial provisions in the measure is a seven percent increase in funding for Alamo Stadium.

Also in the News
New Teacher Licensing Systems Require Candidates To Demonstrate Skills.
The AP (11/3, Williams) reports that a new teacher “licensing system is being tested in 19 states that includes filming student teachers in their classroom and evaluating the video, also candidates must show they can prepare a lesson, tailor it to different levels of students and present it effectively.” According to the AP, “Most states only require that would-be teachers pass their class work and a written test. Supporters of the new system say the Teacher Performance Assessment program is a significant improvement, while others are a little more cautious in their praise, warning that it’s not guaranteed it will lead to more successful teachers.”

Students In Australia Hope Welcome Messages Will Lead To Oprah Visit.
Australia’s Messenger News (11/3, Harris) reports that in December, Oprah Winfrey will be filming her television show in Sydney and Far North Queensland, Australia. Five schools in Adelaide “are working on their messages to welcome Oprah to Australia and convince her to include a stop in Adelaide on her trip.” One school is creating “a book of Australian animals for Oprah, using only tissue paper and gum leaves.” Third and fourth grade students at Allenby Gardens Primary School are developing “a list of their recommendations for the top five places for Oprah to visit, featuring Allenby Gardens Primary at number one, in an attempt to lure her.” Students at several of the schools are also creating artwork to send “in a welcome pack to be delivered to Oprah on the day she arrives along with video greetings, cards, gifts and notes from people all over Australia.”

Election Day is upon us. Please make every effort to get out and vote for the NJEA endorsed candidates. Polls are open from 6:00am to 8:00pm. If you are not sure where to go, contact your local municipality and they will be able to give you instructions. Endorsed candidates in Monmouth County are:

Legislative District 6 – Frank Pallone

Legislative District 12 – Rush Holt

Legislative District 4 – No Endorsement

In Monmouth County, just stay on the Democratic side for the candidates: Brophy, D’Amico, Venables.

Your vote does count so make sure you get to the polls right after school. This is an extremely important election.

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In the Classroom
Virginia District Removes Textbooks Over Claim About Black Confederate Soldiers.
The Washington Post (10/24, Sieff) reports that Loudoun County, VA “school officials have decided to pull ‘Our Virginia’ from its fourth-grade classrooms because of its dubious claim about thousands of black soldiers fighting for the South during the Civil War.” According to the Post, “The publisher has said it will provide a sticker to cover the disputed sentence in ‘Our Virginia.’ The state Board of Education, which approved the book, said this week that the claim about African Americans fighting for the Confederacy falls outside ‘mainstream Civil War scholarship.’”

On the Job
Teacher Accountability Issue Analyzed.
Robert C. Pianta, dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, wrote in a blog for the Washington Post (10/24), “Teacher evaluation is emerging as the central flash point in education policy debates” as “it combines two elements new to education professionals and the public – quantifiable measurement of performance, and stakes like firing or public exposure.” However, “the core problem in public education is not identifying effective teachers. It’s that our existing system does not produce effective teaching in sufficient scope, scale, regularity, or intensity.”

Building Of New Florida Teacher Evaluation System Seen As Key Reform Initiative.
Florida Commissioner of Education Eric J. Smith wrote in an op-ed for the Miami Herald (10/23), “Over the last several weeks I have had the pleasure of visiting different areas of the state to gather public input and hear from education stakeholders as part of the Florida State Board of Education’s ‘What’s Working in Effective Teaching and Leadership’ workshop series.” Smith added that building a new teacher “evaluation system will help us put even more…gifted educators in our classrooms and will mean increased support and professional development for teachers who have the talent and desire, but need a little extra help to reach their true potential. With our recent win in the federal Race to the Top competition we have the tools and resources to make this new system a reality.”

Law & Policy
DC Teachers Union Election To Play Key Role In Future Of Education Reform Effort.
The Washington Post (10/24, Turque) reports, “Much of the public discussion about education reform this fall was dominated by the widely anticipated resignation of Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and presumptive Democratic mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray’s willingness to sustain the initiatives she launched” yet “the survival of Rhee’s agenda…will also be determined by those at the top of the” Washington Teachers’ Union. According to the Post, “George Parker, who signed the game-changing labor contract with Rhee that was approved by members in June, is running for reelection to a three-year term” as president yet “Parker faces challenges from three veteran teachers who say he gave away too much at the bargaining table, weakening job security and other protections. His opponents, Elizabeth Davis, Christopher Bergfalk and the union’s general vice president, Nathan Saunders, also favor abolishing or substantially revising Rhee’s signature measure, the IMPACT evaluation system, which can trigger dismissals for teachers with low scores.”

New York Mayor Applauds Colorado Education Reform Effort.
The Denver Post (10/22, Meyer) reported, “New York City has been held up as a pioneer in education reforms, but New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday said Colorado’s efforts might be even more ambitious. ‘In some senses, you have done something that we would love to be able to do and haven’t gotten there yet,’ said Bloomberg, who was in Colorado to be the keynote speaker at the Denver Scholarship Foundation dinner Thursday.” The Post added, “Many of New York’s education reforms have taken root elsewhere, including in Denver, where the school district is co-locating schools within district buildings, embracing charter schools and going to a sophisticated rating system for each school.”

Safety & Security
New Jersey District Launches 6-12 Anti-Bullying Campaign.
The Jersey Journal (NJ) (10/25, Mestanza) reports on a ceremony inaugurating an anti-bullying campaign at Secaucus High School in Secaucus, New Jersey. “Several government officials attended the meeting, as well as former NBA player and New Jersey native Eric Williams. The goal of the campaign is to curb bullying by aggressively enforcing a zero-tolerance policy, said Secaucus High School Principal Robert Berckes. ‘If I hear of it, if a teacher senses it, it will be addressed right away,’ Berckes said. Berckes said nearly all of the bullying problems he encounters are traceable to Facebook, the ubiquitous social networking site, and other technologically-driven vehicles, such as instant messaging.”

Facilities
North Carolina Officials Tout Stimulus-Funded School Construction Projects.
The Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram (10/25) reports that NC 2 Rep. Bob Etheridge (D) and other officials “donned hard hats and gathered Friday at the construction site at Middlesex Elementary to tout how federal stimulus money is helping fund renovations at the school. ‘Education is the key to creating good jobs and long-term economic prosperity,’” Etheridge said. “Mark Strickland, special assistant for auxiliary services for the school district, said the construction project at Middlesex Elementary is his first experience with a USDA project. … Strickland said the previous 7,000-square-foot building at Middlesex Elementary was built in 1938. … Strickland said the building will be replaced with an approximately 37,000-square-foot building with 12 classrooms, a couple computer labs and a ‘brand new kitchen and cafeteria.’”

Pennsylvania School Board Urged To Focus On Construction For Local High School.
An editorial in the State College (PA) Centre Daily Times (10/25) notes, “In July 2008, the State College school board hired an Ohio-based firm to assess the district’s facilities and develop a new master plan that would identify and prioritize future construction needs.” However, a plan to implement construction projects at the elementary and high school level “have yet to materialize. … As the board reviews construction progress of facilities for its youngest residents, it’s time for them to focus on the current status of the high school plans and come up with a strategy to address the building’s disrepair. All indicators show that the building is cramped, outdated and in need of a major overhaul.” The piece concedes that some work on the high school has been done, but laments that voters halted “plans to spend more than $100 million.”

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School Finance
Iowa Community Pondering Future Of “Attendance Centers” Ahead Of Facilities Plan.
The Ames (IA) Tribune (10/25, Hanson) reports that local school board members in Ames, Iowa, “say moving forward with a districtwide facilities plan hinges on its decision about elementary grade-level attendance centers versus neighborhood schools.” At a recent meeting, “the board discussed its struggle to understand where StruXture Architects stands in the process of delivering a master facilities plan by the end of the calendar year. The board needs to ‘logically accept or reject attendance centers,’ and have the discussion as soon as possible,” one member said. “The decision is foundational, board members said, for determining the location for new and/or remodeled elementary schools in the district because grade centers group children by a narrow span of grade levels, such as kindergarten through grade two, rather than enrolling a broader range of grades.”

Oklahomans To Vote On State Ballot Measure Boosting K-12 Education Funding.
The Oklahoman (10/25, Rolland) reports, “If approved on Nov. 2, State Question 744 would mean a minimum of $830 million more in funding for the prekindergarten through 12th grade education system in Oklahoma.” The paper features a “breakdown of the facts” surrounding the ballot initiative, given the “millions on advertising” that stakeholders on both sides of the issue have been fielding. The Oklahoman explains that the measure “calls for public education funding in Oklahoma to be equal to the regional average spent per-student in six states surrounding Oklahoma. … If SQ 744 took effect this year, it would require an additional $832 million to reach the regional average, according to the” Center for Education Statistics. “That’s in a state budget that’s roughly $6.93 billion, with a common education appropriation of $2.4 billion.”

New Hampshire Legislator Calls For Revamped School Tax Policy.
In an op-ed for Seacoastonline.com (10/25), New Hampshire state rep. Nancy F. Stiles (R) writes, “Public education is a partnership between the state and local community,” stressing the need “to make sure that the quality of education a child receives is not an accident of geography.” Noting that state court rulings mandate that the state must provide children across the state an “adequate education,” Stiles states, “It will take passing a constitutional amendment to address the issue of donor towns unless the state-wide property tax is repealed and the cost of adequacy alone as defined in the current formula is covered with money in the Education Trust Fund.” She adds that property taxes for education “should stay in your community,” and that state support “should be focused on those communities that don’t have the tax base/median income to support adequacy.”

New Mexico Legislator Calls On Local District To Trim Budget By 1%.
The Silver City Sun News (10/25, Steele) reports, “State Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, told the Silver Consolidated District School Board on Thursday night it should look at trimming 1 percent – which is $1 million – from its school budget as a precautionary measure before the legislative session in January.” Morales stressed a $257 million state funding deficit along with offsetting Federal stimulus funding and declining enrollment. “At one time, the district had as many as 4,300 students, but at its most recent count – on the 40th day of school this year – the district had 3,041 students enrolled,” the Sun News added.

Also in the News
Celebrity Chefs Lending Helping Hand To New York City School Food Programs.
The New York Times (10/23, Dominus) reported, “After three decades of cooking in New York schools,” Larry Cowell, head chef at DeWitt Clinton High School, “might well be wary of the latest in a string of outsiders swooping in with suggestions about overhauling the frozen foods that feed thousands of students daily. … With school food an officially sexy subject, volunteering in the cafeteria may well become” a positive career step “for aspiring celebrity chefs, along with televised competitions and spots on local news.” The Times added, “The elegant cuisine already on offer at DeWitt Clinton – wheat berries were mixed in with the rice served that day – is in stark contrast with the typically institutional feel of the school itself, which saw fighting so severe this month that the police were called in and issued several notices of disorderly conduct to students.”

New York City Education Officials Postpone Release Of Teacher Ratings.
The AP (10/22) reports, “New York City agreed Thursday not to release job performance ratings for 12,000 teachers based on student test scores, with the teachers’ names attached, pending a court hearing next month.” The decision came after the teachers union went “to court seeking an injunction to block the release of the teacher ratings, which it argues are based on unproven methodology.” City education officials had planned to release the ratings this week, but have now “agreed not to release the data pending a Nov. 24 hearing.”

The Washington Post (10/22, Anderson) reports that the teachers union is concerned about the “disclosure of records that include the names of thousands of teachers.” But Natalie Ravitz, an education spokeswoman for the city, said, “We think the public has a right to the information.” And, US Education Secretary Arne Duncan released a statement saying, “I give New York credit for sharing this information with teachers so they can improve and get better. I also think that parents and community members have the right to know how their districts, schools, principals and teachers are doing.” Duncan added that “local communities” should each decide how to share that information, “but silence is not an option,” he said.

The Christian Science Monitor (10/21, Khadaroo) reported that in it’s filing, the teachers union said “that data reports did not qualify as something that needed to be released under the freedom-of-information laws.” In addition, “it argued that the data reports are often unreliable and if released would ’cause the public to form unsupported conclusions as to teacher quality’ and ‘irreparably harm the professional reputations of educators.’” According to a district spokesman, “the 12,000 teachers affected” by the release of the scores “have had the opportunity to access their 2009-10 reports with a password.” Moreover, the data already “have started to factor into personnel decisions” such as tenure.

Bloomberg News (10/22, Hechinger) notes that the “value-added” approach to determining teacher scores “attempts to determine whether pupils make larger or smaller gains than their previous test scores would have predicted.” Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, said that “in theory, the ratings give teachers credit for their students’ improvement, regardless of each pupil’s starting point.” But she pointed out that it is difficult to accurately assess “the impact of individual teachers on students…in part because they often receive instruction from many teachers.”

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In the Classroom
Disputed Virginia History Textbook Was Not Reviewed By Historians.
The AP (10/22, Sampson) reports that after approving “a textbook that wrongly claims thousands of black troops fought for the Confederacy,” Virginia’s Department of Education “is now warning schools about the mistake.” The mistake “in the Civil War chapter of ‘Our Virginia: Past and Present’” was discovered by Carol Sheriff, “a history professor at the College of William and Mary” and parent of a fourth-grade student who had the book.

The Washington Post (10/22, Sieff) reports that Virginia “officials had no historian review the textbook ‘Our Virginia’ before it was distributed to fourth-graders last month.” The state Education Department “has long said that its textbooks are vetted by review committees ‘made up of content specialists, teachers and other qualified persons.’ But department spokesman Charles Pyle said Thursday that the review committee for ‘Our Virginia’ consisted entirely of three elementary school classroom teachers.” The textbook’s approval “has highlighted weaknesses in a vetting process that relies mainly on teachers who are paid $200 and given credit toward the renewal of their teaching licenses in exchange for serving on textbook review committees,” the Post adds.

Cooking Class Teaches Problem Solving, Teamwork.
The Joplin (MO) Globe (10/22, Pound) reports on students in Family and Consumer Science teacher Kim Hoover’s cooking class at Carthage Junior High School, many of whom “come into her classroom for the first time with little or no kitchen knowledge.” Hoover “has noticed a troubling trend” over the years that “fewer and fewer families…actually sit down to homemade family dinners.” In addition to learning their way around the kitchen, Hoover noted that students “learn to follow directions. They learn problem solving. They learn, when cooking in a group, to work as a team. They learn to use math skills, and they learn how to follow a budget. And, as they did one day last week, they learned how to make tacos using homemade tortillas.” The article includes the recipes the students have recently learned.

Nebraska Standardized Tests Scores Show Widening Achievement Gap.
The Omaha (NE) World-Herald (10/21, Dejka, Goodsell) reported, “Fewer than half the Hispanic, black and American Indian students in Nebraska can read proficiently,” while three of four white students demonstrated reading proficiency, “according to results of the statewide reading test released Thursday. … The test, taken by 147,000 public school students for the first time last spring, shows a wider gulf between racial and ethnic groups than in past years when districts administered their own reading assessments and reported their results to the state.” According to the World-Herald, “Reading scores for those groups were made public Thursday as part of the 2009-10 State of the Schools Report, an annual bundle of test scores and data compiled by the Nebraska Education Department on the state’s nearly 300,000 public school students.”

More Nebraska Schools Fail To Hit NCLB Benchmark. The AP (10/22, Beck) reports, “More public schools failed to meet federal improvement standards in the most recent school year than the year before, according to Nebraska’s annual report card on students’ academic progress released Thursday. The report from the 2009-2010 school year showed 61 of Nebraska’s 1,200 schools made the ‘needs improvement’ list as defined by” NCLB, “up from 52 schools the previous year.” Also, the “state report card showed 93 percent of students tested in grades 3-8 and 11 were proficient in math, up from 92 percent in the 2008-2009 year.”

Character Education Programs Ineffective, ED Study Finds.
Education Week (10/21, Sparks) reported, “Character education has grown in popularity among educators and parents alike, but the largest federal study of schoolwide programs to date has found that, for the most part, they don’t produce any improvements in student behavior or academic performance. The Institute of Education Sciences, [ED]‘s research arm, gauged the effects of seven typical schoolwide programs from across the country” and “found that the schools taking part in the intervention significantly increased their use of character-development instruction and activities.” Education Week added, “However, the programs did not improve the use of schoolwide social-development strategies or teachers’ attitudes and their individual practices related to character building, such as modeling polite behavior or enlisting students in decision-making.”

On the Job
Audit Suggests Districts Rethink Spending Thousands To Train Educators In China.
The Salt Lake Tribune (10/22, Schencker) reports that a legislative audit released this week suggests that “Utah school districts…rethink spending thousands of dollars to send educators to China each year, given current budget woes.” Utah paid $90,000 in 2009 to send “83 educators to China,” the audit said. The trips are intended “to help educators from districts with Chinese [language] programs.” The Tribune adds that most of the costs associated with the trips are paid for by “a Chinese government-affiliated organization,” school systems “or the state Office of Education typically pay registration fees ranging from $450 to $900 a person and airfare to certain US airports. And some districts pay per diem and/or US lodging expenses as well, according to the audit.”

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Law & Policy
Teachers’ Curriculum Choices Not Protected Under First Amendment, Court Rules.
Mark Walsh wrote in the Education Week (10/21) “School Law” blog that the US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, in Cincinnati, ruled on Thursday that “teachers have no First Amendment free-speech protection for curricular decisions they make in the classroom.” The ruling “came in the case of an Ohio teacher whose contract was not renewed in 2002 after community controversy over reading selections she assigned to her high school English classes.” The court said in its opinion that the school board is ultimately responsible “for what goes on in the classroom, legitimately giving it a say over what teachers may (or may not) teach in the classroom.”

Special Needs
Oklahoma BOE Consults Attorney General On Districts’ Rejection Of Special Education Law.
The Tulsa (OK) World (10/22, Hoberock) reports that the Oklahoma BOE “on Thursday decided not to take action yet against districts that have said they will not comply with” the state’s new law that “requires public schools to fund private school scholarships for special education students.” The board “has consulted with” an attorney about how to respond and is seeking further consultation, according to board member Tim Gilpin. The AP (10/22) adds that on Thursday the board met and “approved a resolution noting it will need to continue discussions with the Attorney General’s office ‘before any action or decision.’” KOTV-TV (10/22, Wright) also covers the story.

Facilities
Virginia District Maximizing Facilities Amid Enrollment Boom.
The Washington Post (10/22, Goodman) reports that officials in the Arlington, VA school system are “trying to maximize” the use of school buildings “by increasing class sizes, adjusting transfer policies, and using temporary space.” Currently, “the school system is…at a 37-year high in enrollment,” and officials expect that by 2013, buildings “will be at capacity.” Still, “no new schools are planned for the next six years,” and renovations at one high school will “add only a few hundred seats.” The Post adds that “in preparation for this school year, the board voted to increase class sizes by one student in kindergarten through third grade and as well as in middle- and high-school grades.” And, “to gain classroom space” in middle and high schools, “computer labs were removed and laptops were put on carts.” Also, “trailer classrooms have been added.”

Also in the News

“Manifesto” Criticized For Unfairly Blaming Teachers For Education Failures.
Steven J. Klees, professor of international education policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, writes in an op-ed for the Baltimore Sun (10/22), “A group of 16 school superintendents, including Baltimore schools CEO Andres Alonso, recently published a ‘manifesto’ on ‘How to Fix Our Schools.’” Klees criticizes the manifesto for placing unfair blame on teachers for education failures, adding that teachers “need to be treated as professionals, with commensurate pay and considerable say over the means by which they are evaluated. … And we need superintendents with a much broader vision of education than offered in the ‘manifesto.’”

Oprah Connected Charity Helps Renovate South African School.
The AP (10/22) reports that “a charity affiliated with Oprah Winfrey has contributed at least $725,000 toward renovating a school in South Africa, where the group already has helped fund a primary school and Winfrey has built a lavish $40 million academy for girls.” The donation will help renovate “Vele High School in South Africa’s Limpopo province.” The school will have “16 classrooms and accommodate some 640 students when it is officially complete in January.” The AP notes that in South Africa, “schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid, which left a deep racial divide in the country’s education system. Quality schooling is still largely reserved for white or rich black students while pupils at the hundreds of schools in poor areas often suffer under badly trained teachers with little equipment.”

Obama Administration Launches Campaign To Combat School Bullying.
The Washington Post (10/26, Anderson) reports, “The Obama administration is launching a campaign to prevent anti-gay bullying and other harassment at school, advising educators that federal law protects students from many forms of discrimination.” According to the Post, Administration officials say a new advisory from the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights is “the federal government’s most comprehensive guidance to date on how civil rights law applies to the sort of campus situations that in some cases have led persecuted students to commit suicide. President Obama is expected to help promote the initiative.”

According to the New York Times (10/26, Dillon), Administration officials said the move “took on new urgency in recent weeks because of a string of high-profile cases in which students have committed suicide after enduring bullying by classmates. .. ‘I am writing to remind you that some student misconduct that falls under a school’s anti-bullying policy also may trigger responsibilities under one or more of the federal anti-discrimination laws,’ says the letter, signed by Russlynn H. Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights.” The Times adds that data collected by ED researchers last year indicated that “one-third of all students ages 12 to 18 felt that they were being bullied or harassed at school, Ms. Ali said in an interview.”

The AP (10/26, Armario) adds that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “sought to assure” bullying victims “that action will be taken.” Said Duncan, “To every student who feels threatened or harassed, for whatever reason, please know that you are not alone. Please know that there are people who love you. And please know that we will protect you.’”

Bloomberg News (10/26, Young) adds, “The White House will convene a conference on bullying and harassment in schools early next year, [ED] said in a news release. In addition, [ED] will hold a series of workshops for school administrators around the country on antibullying measures.”

Duncan To Hold National Press Call On Bullying. The Bay City (MI) Times (10/26, Dodson) reports, “US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will hold a national press conference Tuesday announcing guidance to schools on handling bullying and discriminatory harassment. Joining Duncan will be White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Russlynn Ali.” Said Duncan, “This is a moment where every one of us – parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience -needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms.”

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In the Classroom
Teacher-Recruitment Town Hall Features Duncan, Danza.
The AP (10/26, Matheson) reports, “US Education Secretary Arne Duncan took his national teacher-recruitment campaign to a town hall meeting in Philadelphia on Monday with actor-turned-teacher Tony Danza, hoping to inspire a new generation of educators. Addressing hundreds of high school and college students at Temple University, Duncan stressed the need to replace an estimated 1 million teachers expected to retire in the next few years.” Duncan “also emphasized the need to diversify the nation’s teaching ranks, noting that about 45 percent of American students are nonwhite while only 14 percent of teachers are in that demographic.”

Obama, Duncan To Honor Oregon Teacher Of The Year.
The Salem (OR) Statesman Journal (10/25, Knowlton) reported, “Corvallis [OR] High School social sciences teacher Colleen Works was named Oregon’s teacher of the year today. She earns a $5,000 cash award and will attend the National Teacher of the Year forum in Washington, D.C. where she will meet President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.” The Statesman Journal added, “Works has taught a wide range of students during her career as an educator from special needs to TAG students going from the elementary level all the way through high school.”

Ohio District To Experiment With Online Learning During Snow Days.
The AP (10/25) reported, “When bad weather hits this winter, students in a rural western Ohio school district will hit their home computers as part of an experiment. With the Ohio Department of Education looking on, the Mississinawa Valley Schools in Darke County will try to replace days off for snow and other inclement weather with online learning.” According to the AP, “Mississinawa Superintendent Lisa Wendel tells The Columbus Dispatch the experience in online education will help students in college, where those classes are more common.”

Law & Policy
“Tea Party” Candidates Revive Efforts To Eliminate ED.
The Washington Times (10/26, Weber) reports, “Conservatives have talked wistfully for years about eliminating [ED], but a host of Republican ‘tea party’ candidates this election year are saying it’s time to move beyond talk and force Congress to vote.” According to the Times, “Senate candidate Rand Paul, in his Republican primary campaign in Kentucky, was among the first tea-party-backed candidates to revive the idea that the 30-year-old agency had failed students and that the states could do a better job” and Paul “has been joined by GOP Senate nominees Sharron Angle in Nevada, John Raese in West Virginia and Mike Lee in Utah, all of whom say they want to see the federal agency abolished.” According to the Post, former President George W. Bush’s “efforts to boost the federal role in education through [NCLB] seemed to put an end to the debate until this year, when tea party candidates rallied around the call to downsize government.”

NYTimes: Congress Should Boost Funding For Math, Science Education Programs.
The New York Times (10/26, 1.01M) editorializes that National Academies “warned in 2005 that unless the United States improved the quality of math and science education, at all levels, it would continue to lose economic ground to foreign competitors” and according “to a follow-up report published last month, the academies found that the United States ranks 27th out of 29 wealthy countries in the proportion of college students with degrees in science or engineering, while the World Economic Forum ranked this country 48th out of 133 developed and developing nations in quality of math and science instruction.” The Times adds that “Congress has an important role to play” in turning around these “grim” statistics. Congress should “expand funding for programs that support high-caliber math and science students in college in return for their commitment to teach in needy districts.”

Safety & Security
Study Finds School Buses Safe Without Seat Belts.
The AP (10/26, Johnson) reports on a three-year study on school bus safety conducted in Alabama that found “school buses are safe enough without seat belts and students in many cases ignore a requirement to wear them.” The study also found that “putting belts on most buses is expensive – about $11,000 to $15,000 per bus, and requires larger seats,” while “students don’t put on the belts and drivers complained they couldn’t see the children.” Further, the study concluded that “it would be more cost-effective to spend money making the process of loading students on and off the buses safer.”

Homicide Charges Considered In Los Angeles School Bus Crash.
The Los Angeles Times (10/26, Allen, Linthicum) reports, “Criminal homicide charges are being weighed in connection with a hit-and-run accident that killed one person and injured nearly two dozen students aboard a school bus in Boyle Heights [Los Angeles] on Monday, authorities said. The driver of a black BMW ran a red light, knocked down a pedestrian and broadsided a school bus that was returning students to Roosevelt High School, according to Miguel Luevano, a California Highway Patrol spokesman.”

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Facilities
Local Officials Balk At Architect’s Estimate For New Illinois School.
The Benton (IL) Evening News (10/26, Sandefur) reports that a public meeting with an architect working on a project to consolidate a trio of schools in Royalton, Illinois, “left audience members speechless, reporting staggering construction costs. Committee Chair Allan Patton said the meeting was an eye-opening learning experience for all. ‘He presented the number of acres of land that would be required to have a new or remodeled school building and the number of acres for sports facilities, along with staff and student parking, plus a road for bus traffic,’ he said. ‘[The architect] said we need 35 acres to accommodate 500 students’” and that “‘a new school would cost $23 million for 100,000 square feet and $28 million for 120,000 square feet,’ he said. ‘That’s without the cost of the land.”

School Finance
Blogger Calls Advertisements On School Materials Act Of “Desperation.”
Jennifer Neff writes at Gather.com (10/26) about the “controversial” practice of “adding advertisements to school slips and even lockers” in Minnesota in order to bolster lagging school budgets, painting this as a sign of “desperation among school officials. It’d seem that fundraisers that normally work well would suffer more so due to the state of the economy leaving the schools with budgets that cannot be met.” She notes that “schools in several states already” have taken similar measures, but asks, “Is this normal or even in good taste? The answer here is likely a resounding no, but what’s a school to do? There’s money needed and no place for them to get it from. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and selling school property to ads seems about as desperate as things can get.”

Local Officials Balk At Architect’s Estimate For New Illinois School.
The Benton (IL) Evening News (10/26, Sandefur) reports that a public meeting with an architect working on a project to consolidate a trio of schools in Royalton, Illinois, “left audience members speechless, reporting staggering construction costs. Committee Chair Allan Patton said the meeting was an eye-opening learning experience for all. ‘He presented the number of acres of land that would be required to have a new or remodeled school building and the number of acres for sports facilities, along with staff and student parking, plus a road for bus traffic,’ he said. ‘[The architect] said we need 35 acres to accommodate 500 students’” and that “‘a new school would cost $23 million for 100,000 square feet and $28 million for 120,000 square feet,’ he said. ‘That’s without the cost of the land.”

NEA in the News
NEA Launching Attack Ads Against Tea Party Candidates.
National Journal (10/26, Johnson) reports that the NEA “is closing out a $17 million ad campaign against tea party candidates who the union believes will hurt public schools, although the ads veer freely from education issues.” The piece notes that NEA “attack ads” have been launched against Washington State GOP Senate nominee Dino Rossi, “Ken Buck in Colorado, Rand Paul in Kentucky,” and “Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania. The ad against Toomey compares him to Gordon Gekko, the ‘greed is good’ villain extraordinaire from Oliver Stone’s Wall Street. The ad against Paul attacks him for saying drugs are not a ‘pressing issue.’” The piece quotes NEA political director Karen White saying that “NEA is targeting tea party candidates because the union believes that their calls for massive cuts in spending and government programs will harm the economy and public schools.”

The New York Daily News (10/26, McAuliff) adds, “Democrats are not without their own outside support in this year’s elections, led by unions,” noting that NEA “rolled out a $2 million ad buy this morning, targeting several Republican candidates, among them Long Island Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop’s challenger, Randy Altschuler. … Bishop was leading the businessman by 12 points in the last Siena Poll, but many observers consider him vulnerable in the wretched climate for Democrats. The radio spot released by the NEA, though, is a good example of what Democrats are trying to do: make the races about specific opponents. In this case, the NEA hits Altschuler hard for his past business.”

Maine District Working To Attract High School Students From China.
The New York Times (10/27, A1, Goodnough) reports that the Kenneth Smith, superintendent of the Millinocket, Maine, school district, is in China this week “pitching Stearns High to school officials, parents and students in Beijing, Shanghai and two other cities.” Smith is trying to attract Chinese students to his district and “has hired a consultant to help him make connections in China, lobbied Millinocket’s elected officials and business owners to embrace the plan and even directed the school’s cafeteria workers to add Chinese food to the menu.” The Chinese students would pay “$27,000 a year in tuition, room and board.” The one set back to Millinocket’s plan, the Times adds, is that “foreign students can attend public high school in the United States for only a year.” Smith is urging “Maine’s Congressional delegation to seek a change, but in the meantime, he intends to recruit a handful of Chinese students to attend Stearns next year.”

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In the Classroom
Georgia High School Graduation Rate Reaches 80 Percent.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (10/27) reports that on Tuesday, state officials announced that “Georgia’s high school graduation rate rose 2 percentage points this year, bringing it to a record 80.8 percent.” Among minority students, African-Americans “had a graduation rate of 75.8 percent, up more than 23 percentage points from 2003 and from 74.1 percent in 2009,” and Hispanics “had a graduation rate of 77.6 percent, up more than 29 percentage points from 2003 and from 71 percent in 2009.” The Journal Constitution points out, however, that “some national education experts say the 17-point gain in” the state’s overall “graduation rate over seven years…is suspect because of a flawed system used to calculate it.” Next year, all states “will move to a new common system for calculating the graduation rates.”

The Atlanta Business Chronicle (10/26) reports that “all groups of students saw increases” and economically-disadvantaged “students raised their graduation rate to 76 percent in 2010, up more than 24 percentage points from 2003.” The Augusta (GA) Chronicle (10/26, Wermers) noted that Perdue set the goal of an 80 percent state high school graduation rate “by the time he left office.”

Maine District To Double Number Of Pre-K Classrooms.
The Portland (ME) Press Herald (10/27, Bouchard) reports that Portland, Maine, education “officials are developing a plan to greatly increase the number of pre-kindergarten classrooms for 4-year-olds in the city’s public schools. By next fall, Superintendent Jim Morse and others hope to double the number of pre-kindergarten classrooms to six and seek outside funding that may ensure all 4-year-olds in Portland have access to quality education.” The Press Herald adds, “The district has long had two Head Start pre-kindergarten classrooms, now at the Riverton and East End community schools and sponsored by PROP, a community social service agency.”

Study Finds Uncertainty Around National K-12 Engineering Standards.
eSchool News (10/27, Zwang) reports, “Some policy makers are looking at whether it makes sense to include engineering standards for K-12 education. But the ability to establish a national set of standards for K-12 engineering education might still be out of reach.” This is according to a new study, “Standards for K-12 Engineering Education?,” which was recently released by the National Academy of Sciences and found that “although the main ideas in K-12 engineering education are largely agreed upon, data based on rigorous research on engineering learning at the K-12 level are still not sufficient to develop learning progressions that could be reflected as standards.” According to the article, “educators are split on whether establishing K-12 engineering standards is a feasible option or not.” Some educators say that, because of the overlap with core subjects, “separate standards would not sufficiently measure achievement.” Others argue “it can be accomplished,” and detail their strategies.

Videoconferencing Technology Brings Shark Experts Into The Classroom.
Pennsylvania’s Delco News Network (10/26) reported, “Technology brought live sharks into Jennifer Iavarone’s class of sixth-graders at the Garnet Valley Middle School when they used video conferencing equipment to speak directly to an apprentice trainer at Mote Marina Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla. for a program titled, Sharks!: Devouring the Myth.” The event was part of a larger initiative called SeaTrek, which “has a goal of bringing the ocean world to students through imaginative delivery of interactive science education programs and to foster understanding of marine life.” The article notes, “Use of video conference equipment is just one of the ways the Garnet Valley School District is increasing its involvement in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) initiatives while still complimenting a solid foundation of reading, research, and critical thinking.”

On the Job
Arbitrator Says Minneapolis School District Unjustly Denied Raises To Teachers, Staff.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (10/27, Mitchell) reports that “the Minneapolis School District will have to pay out almost $17 million to teachers and support staff after a state arbitrator ruled that the employees were unjustly denied raises and merit pay for two years.” The district did not “pay salary schedule raises and merit pay to teachers” during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years due to “budget problems.” But the arbitrator “found that the decision was made without sufficient reason.” The Star Tribune adds that “In a separate ruling,” a different arbitrator “found that the district failed to provide raises to support staff after their contract expired in summer 2009.” The support staff members are due about “$2.8 million in back pay.”

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Law & Policy
Schools’ Failure To Properly Deal With Harassment Could Lead To Cut In Funding.
CNN (10/27, Cohen) reports that schools that “fail to properly deal with harassment” among students that is “based on gender, race or other issues, they risk being cited for contributing to a pattern of civil rights violations that could, in extreme cases, lead to a cut in federal funding, according to top officials.” The issue was a dressed in a letter from US education officials “sent Tuesday to thousands of schools, colleges, universities and school districts around the country that included examples of bullying and harassment cases that constituted violations of federal civil rights laws.”

Christina A. Samuels wrote in the Education Week (10/26) “Politics K-12″ blog that “harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered students may be a form of gender stereotyping and therefore a federal offense,” according to the Department of Education. “Federal civil rights law also protects against harassment of religious groups ‘based on shared ethnic characteristics.’” Russlyn H. Ali, the Education Department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, noted that “the guidance from the department is a reiteration of guidance that had come from the Bush administration in 2001 and 2006.”

Maureen Downey wrote in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (10/26), “While I agree that bullying is a problem, do we need the White House to put it on its agenda?” According to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the guidance aims “to both help education institutions build on their bullying prevention programs and to wake up ‘the schools that have their heads in the sand.’” He also explained, “If the federal government has to step in, it means that the problem was ignored for far too long.”

Survey Shows Half Of High School Students Admit To Bullying Peers. California’s Contra Costa Times (10/27, Butler) reports that a survey released Tuesday by the Josephson Institute of Ethics found that “nearly half of high school students report that they have been bullied,” and “exactly half of respondents admitted they had bullied, teased or taunted someone in the past year.” The survey, “billed as the largest bullying survey of high school students,” included “43,321 high school students” in the US and “had a margin of error of less than 1 percentage point.”

New Jersey District Votes To Reverse Kindergarten Age Cutoff Decision.
New Jersey’s Daily Record (10/26, Roman) reported, “The Mount Olive [NJ] Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night to return a revised July 1 kindergarten cutoff date to the original Oct. 1 policy, following months of complaints from parents angry about the fiscally motivated policy change.” According to the Daily Record, the original policy “was expected to affect about 60 children and save the district about $780,000 over the course of several years.”

Virginia Governor Orders Full Review Of Textbook Adoption Process.
The Washington Post (10/27, Helderman, Sieff) reports, “Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said Tuesday that he has ordered a full review of the state’s textbook adoption process in the wake of a Washington Post report that a three-teacher state panel approved a fourth-grade history book that claims thousands of African Americans fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Professional historians have disputed the claim, which the author of ‘Our Virginia: Past and Present’ said she found using Internet resources written largely by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.” The Post notes that the “Virginia Department of Education said last week that it would begin a comprehensive review of the textbook adoption process, focusing on committees that are charged with reviewing materials that deal with ‘sensitive periods in American history,’ said Charles Pyle, a department spokesman.”

School Finance
State-Owned Storage Business Expected To Bring Thousands Into Idaho Schools.
The AP (10/27) reports that schools in Boise, Idaho, “stand to benefit more from a storage business that the state bought than when it was under private ownership.” The state “paid $2.7 million to buy Affordable Self-Storage in the suburbs of Boise,” and according to Idaho’s Department of Land, the property “will contribute $20,087 annually to Boise schools — double the $10,040 in taxes that previously went to schools.” In addition, “$208,000 in earnings from the facility will be shared by schools across Idaho.”

Also in the News
Columnist Notes Success Of Some Charters, Says Unions Can Help Improve School Quality.
Columnist Julie Mack writes in the Kalamazoo (MI) Gazette (10/26) that “‘Waiting for Superman,’ the new documentary by David Guggenheim that skewers American schools, has re-energerized the debate over the charter school movement, which the film implies is the silver bullet for school reform.” But, Mack says the film “neglects to mention” that “the charters profiled in [the film] are the exception,” and their successes are not found in the majority of charter schools, according to a 2009 Stanford University study. Mack also points out that “the three charters in the film that serve high-poverty students are successful because they go far beyond a traditional public school — and, not so incidentally, they spend much more, too.” Finally, Mack addresses unions, saying they can help “improve school quality: By enforcing better pay and benefits, they make it easier for regular public schools to recruit and retain the best instructors.”

On the Boardwalk, Asbury Park

Friday, Oct. 22, 2010
Happy Hour Gathering
3:00

Visit with old friends and make new ones!

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In the Classroom
Nature Publishing Group Launches Social Networking Website For Science Education.
Maggie Shiels writes in the BBC News (10/14) “dot.Maggie” blog that “it seems to be an almost accepted truth that science and maths education in the US is in danger of going the way of the dodo.” In Silicon Valley, she adds, the issue has long been discussed as the technology sector is “worried about where [its] next workforce is going to come from.” Shiels points out that in an effort to help “elevate science,” the Nature Publishing Group, which produces Scientific American and Nature magazines, “has launched Scitable, a social network for science research and education.” The website is a platform in which “teachers, researchers, and students [can] share and contribute content as well as connect with peers and browse and search articles. Users can also set up online classrooms, reach out to experts, build a personal scientific network and get involved in online discussions.”

Industrial Technology Students Restore Vintage Cars.
The Grand Forks (ND) Herald (10/13, Bailey) reported that advanced industrial technology students at Clearbrook-Gonvick (Minn.) School “restore vintage cars that are raffled off to raise money for the Industrial Technology Department.” Last month, the students earned nearly $26,000 for the department by raffling off a refurbished 1969 Mustang. “Expenses, which included purchase of the car and the shop materials used to restore it, were about $20,000 said Ross Faldet, Clearbrook-Gonvick School industrial technology teacher.” Faldet noted that “the restoration provided a good hands-on learning experience for the students. ‘In terms of the automotive skills, it gives them exposure to the variety of skills. They get mechanical skills as they rebuild the engine, the transmission, the rear differential, the steering and suspension and brakes,’” he said.

On the Job
Kansas City Schools Gives Teachers 1 Percent Pay Raise For Class Time Increase.
The Kansas City Star (10/14) reports, “The Kansas City school board approved a 1 percent salary increase Wednesday for the district’s teachers because their workday has grown by 15 minutes.” The pay increase is “retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year, which started in July,” and “will cost the school district about $850,000, which officials plan to pull from the district’s reserve funds.” The time and pay increases were previously negotiated by district officials and the teachers union. The lengthened school day is “part of Superintendent John Covington’s transformation plan,” the Kansas City Star notes.

Presumptive DC Mayor Names Interim Schools Chancellor, Vows To Continue Reforms.
The Washington Post (10/14, Craig, Turque) reports that presumptive DC mayor Vincent C. Gray “promised Wednesday to move ahead with the District’s aggressive school reform agenda even as he allowed its most visible leader, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, to exit the stage. In a carefully choreographed news conference, Rhee embraced” Gray “and offered an enthusiastic endorsement of her replacement, Kaya Henderson, a longtime friend and ally.” The Post adds that Henderson’s “selection was praised by education professionals, including Michael Casserly” who is quoted saying that in Henderson, Gray has “someone he can work with, someone who has been in the trenches of the reforms that Rhee has pursued who is well-liked and smart.”

The New York Times (10/14, Dillon) reports, “With Michelle Rhee’s decision to resign Wednesday as the Washington schools chancellor, the movement to shake up the nation’s public schools is losing perhaps its most visible leader. But changes were sweeping through the halls of public education before Ms. Rhee took over the leadership of the Washington schools three years ago.” Thus, according to the Times, Rhee’s “departure seemed unlikely to slow that momentum, experts said.”

The AP (10/14, Gresko) adds, “Education observers suggested that the fast pace of change and Rhee’s abrupt personality might have contributed to her downfall, though not everyone agreed. Others stressed the importance of getting stakeholders to back sweeping change.” Outgoing DC Mayor Adrian Fenty “on Wednesday rejected suggestions that the pace of reform should have been slower, and the idea that if it had been, both he and Rhee would have been able to continue their work in a second term.”

Bloomberg News (10/14, Moroney, Young), Education Week (10/13, Cavanagh, Zehr) and Ta-Nehisi Coates in a blog for the Atlantic (10/13) also covered the story.

Law & Policy
Indiana Districts In Court Battle With State Over Education Funding Formula.
The AP (10/14) reports that Indiana “is asking a judge to throw out a constitutional challenge to the way” the state “distributes education funding. Indiana Solicitor General Tom Fisher told Hamilton Superior Court Judge Steve Nation during a hearing Wednesday in Noblesville that schools are state entities and lack legal standing to sue the state.” According to the AP, three districts “sued the state in February, claiming the school funding formula unfairly penalizes growing districts.”

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School Finance
Michigan Districts Face “Ballooning” Pension Costs.
The Grand Rapids (MI) Press (10/14, Reinstadler) reports that for Michigan Districts, “ballooning pension costs — paid by a surcharge on district payrolls — will top 20 percent for the first time this school year, the state has announced.” That is an increase “from 19.41 percent this year and 16.47 the year before.” The state “stands to get about $316 million in EduJob funds if lawmakers can iron out concerns Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) raised this week about distribution formulas.” But “most of the money, about $246 million,” will be used “to restore state aid to a base rate of $7,316 per student — eliminating last year’s $154 per student cut. The remaining $66 million could boost revenue to most schools by between $23 and $46 a student.”

Also in the News
Initiative Aims To Counter “Soft Bigotry Of Low Expectations.”
Education Week (10/12, Sparks) reported though “the ‘soft bigotry of low expectations’ has become an education catchphrase, scholars and advocates are just beginning to explore whether it is possible to prevent such expectations from taking root by making teachers and students aware of their beliefs about students.” This year, the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education “launched a program in Bridgeport, Conn.; Greene County, Ga.; San Francisco” and Newark, N.J. “to bring students and teachers together for lessons on cognitive development, instructional strategies, and lesson planning, with the students then modeling the instruction in a classroom for the teachers. The joint professional development course is intended to teach students to think critically about how they learn and are taught, while at the same time countering what the alliance’s chief executive officer, Yvette Jackson, called a ‘focus on weakness.’”

Georgia District, Planned Parenthood Deny Rumored Link.
The Augusta (GA) Chronicle (10/14, Wermers) reports that Georgia’s Richmond County School System “will hold a news conference this morning to address what it says is ‘false and dishonest information being circulated’ that the district has a partnership with Planned Parenthood.” Some school board members have complained that they have been flooded in the past weeks “by e-mails, and even some certified letters, accusing them of working with Planned Parenthood on a teen pregnancy prevention program,” but “Planned Parenthood issued a statement Wednesday afternoon also denying any ‘working relationship’ with the school system.”

WRDW-TV Augusta (10/14, Begam) reports that “the rumors come at a time when the board is under scrutiny by Susan Swanson, the woman who tried to put her Aspire Abstinence pilot program in schools.” The programs “would teach students about character building and abstinence.” But, while Swanson says she has received district approval to move ahead with the pilot, school board members say otherwise. “After the program went under further reviews, the district realized the program needed certified teachers which [Sawnson] didn’t have.”

NEA in the News
Survey Shows Most Wake County Teachers Support Diverse Schools.
WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham, NC (10/14) reports that “In early September, an independent firm surveyed 501 NEA members in Wake County” to find out their views on “the school system and the job the school board is currently doing.” Seventy-two percent “of teachers surveyed said they felt public schools in Wake County are on the wrong track and 81 percent had a negative or very negative general impression of the school board.” Moreover, the majority of teachers either “disagreed or strongly disagreed with the board’s decision to end the socio-economic diversity policy,” with most “diverse schools are the better choice for academic and social success.” The Wake North Carolina Association of Educators and the NEA together created the survey questions.

Teachers In Spokane, Washington Speak Out Against Administrators’ Salary Boost.
Washington’s Spokesman-Review (10/13, Turner) reported that members of the Spokane Education Association on Wednesday “packed the [Spokane school system's] board of directors meeting to express disappointment the elected school board members approved raises for 104 school principals and administrators while 1,700 of the union’s 3,000 members – those who work with students – saw a pay cut.” Association President Jenny Rose expressed the overwhelming sentiment of the crowd, “The morale of hard-working employees in this school district is dismal. … People are feeling over worked with district mandates, over used, and not being recognized for the job they are doing.” The Spokesman-Review added that most principals and administrators “received pay increases of 3 percent or more this summer according to district records obtained by The Spokesman-Review that compare 2009-10 salary schedules to 2010-11.” According to district officials, the increase “stemmed from a bargaining agreement with the district’s principals union for an additional reward for years of service.”

Van Roekel, Weingarten, Duncan Announce Plans For Education Summit.
The Washington Post (10/15, Anderson) reports that on Thursday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, and AFT President Randi Weingarten announced plans for an “education summit early next year” focused “on labor-management collaboration.” The summit “will include superintendents, school board members and labor leaders.” The AP (10/15) reports that according to Duncan, “the gathering will promote school reform by highlighting examples of ‘progressive’ teachers contracts across the US.”

Alyson Klein wrote in the Education Week “Politics K-12″ blog that “the event…will be called the National Education Reform Conference on Labor Management Collaboration,” and “will showcase examples of collective bargaining agreements that show that unions and districts can collaborate on education redesign.” The Christian Science Monitor (10/15, Khadaroo) also covers the story.

Duncan Says Florida District Is National Model For Collaborative Education Reform. The St. Petersburg Times (10/15, Marshall, Catalanello) reports that in Florida on Thursday, Duncan citied Hillsborough County schools as an example of the possibilities of education reform. “I think there is so much the country can learn from what’s happening here,” said Duncan during a visit to the Rampello Downtown Partnership School. The Times says that “Hillsborough has sought common ground” between teachers and administrators “on tenure, toughening standards on awarding it but supporting teachers with peer evaluators and mentors.” And the National Education Association is backing the district’s efforts. The St Petersburg Times quotes Van Roekel, who visited the Rampello School along with Duncan, as saying, “All the people who are in (education) are part of the ‘problem.’ … And they have to be part of the solution.”

Van Roekel Encourages Dialogue About Shared Responsibility Of Improving Schools. NEA President Dennis Van Roekel wrote in The Hill (10/14) “Congress Blog” that “playing the blame game has become the new sport among education reformers.” Instead, he calls for “constructive dialogue” and collaboration between educators and administrators. Van Roekel points to Hillsborough County, Florida, where district officials and the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association are working together to “overhaul how teachers are trained, evaluated and compensated.” The district “designed a system that will look at many indicators of student achievement, not just test scores, and consider all of them in the evaluation of teachers.” He adds that “many of NEA’s local affiliates” nationwide “have agreed to significant changes in the ways that teachers are evaluated and compensated.” Van Roekel concludes, “It’s past time to stop pointing fingers about who should be responsible for improving our public schools. It’s time to begin a dialogue about how to share in that responsibility.”

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In the Classroom
Chicago Academy Offers New Perspective On Manufacturing Education.
The New York Times /Chicago News Cooperative (10/15, A21A, Knight) reports on the Austin Polytechnical Academy, “the city’s first and only career academy dedicated to occupations in high-skill manufacturing.” The academy hopes “to redefine” CTE and thereby “revive the city’s manufacturing industry by educating the next generation of advanced manufacturers – in effect, students who enter the workforce as hybrids of machinist and engineer.” The school’s “diverse curriculum is designed to prepare” students for both college and workforce opportunities that do not require a four-year degree. It includes both a strong liberal arts curriculum, as well as a requirement that students earn “two nationally recognized manufacturing credentials” before graduation. Officials said changing the staff’s perspective on CTE and manufacturing was key to the school’s success.  The Chicago News Cooperative will follow three of this spring’s graduates, part of the school’s first class, arguing that “where the seniors end up in 2011 is an early test of the school’s model for training.”

Some Experts Say Truancy Prevention Efforts Should Begin In Elementary School.
Education Week (10/14, Sparks) reported that more studies are being released suggesting “that the start of elementary school is the critical time to prevent truancy — particularly as those programs become more academic.” The organizations Attendance Counts and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, for instance, cite statistics showing that “an average of one in 10 students younger than grade 3 nationwide is considered chronically absent, defined as missing 10 percent or more of school.” For poor students, “the problem is particularly acute,” according to the Casey Foundation. Hedy N. Chang of Attendance Counts “said high kindergarten absences are the norm nationwide, but tend to get less attention from educators and policymakers than secondary school truancy.” Chang argued that even kindergarten absences can have lasting effects on academics, explaining, “Kindergarten as an academic resource is a relatively new experience. … Parents may think of their own experience, but kindergartners today are learning to read,” she said.

Study Shows Achievement Gains At Economically Integrated Schools.
The Washington Post (10/15, McCrummen, Birnbaum) reports, “Low-income students in Montgomery County [MD} performed better when they attended affluent elementary schools instead of ones with higher concentrations of poverty, according to a new" Century Foundation "study that suggests economic integration is a powerful but neglected school-reform tool." The study "addresses the potential impact of policies that mix income levels across several schools or an entire district. And it suggests that such policies could be more effective than directing extra resources at higher-poverty schools."

Study Says Pre-K Effect Diminishes After Second Grade.
The Tennessean /Daily News Journal (10/14) reports, "Pre-kindergarten has a significant effect on children in the early years of elementary school, but that the effect diminishes during and after second grade, according to a report released today by the Comptroller's Offices of Research and Education Accountability (OREA). Similar to the results of previous studies, this analysis of test scores reported from the 2008-2009 school year showed that pre-K participation was associated with small but reliable improvements in student performance in kindergarten and first grade, primarily among economically disadvantaged students." The Tennessean adds that "similar to findings in earlier reports, despite an early academic advantage, pre-K program participants did not perform measurably better beyond the second grade."

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Law & Policy
Number Of Civil Rights Complaints To Education Department On The Rise.
The AP (10/13, Armario) reported that ED's "Office for Civil Rights received nearly 7,000 complaints this fiscal year, an 11 percent increase and the largest jump in at least 10 years, according to data provided by the department. The increase comes as the office proceeds with 54 compliance reviews in districts and institutions of higher education nationwide, including cases involving disparate discipline rates and treatment of students with disabilities." According to the AP, "Russlynn Ali, director of the Office for Civil Rights, said the reason for the increase in complaints is unclear, but believes students, parents and administrators have more faith that officials will take action."

Michigan Lawmakers Must Rework Distribution Plan For "EduJobs" Funds.
Michigan's Jackson Citizen-Patriot (10/14, Wheaton) reported that Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) this week "vetoed a plan to distribute $316 million in federal 'EduJobs' cash" because, she said, "it violated guidelines provided by the US Education Department, which could demand districts return the money." Under the federal guidelines, states must "distribute the money based on the number of students qualifying for Title 1 services...or using the state's primary funding formula." But in Michigan, "lawmakers allocated $65.8 million through the primary funding formula" and "spread the rest around through a one-time boost to the per-student state aid grant, covering previous cuts."

The Grand Rapids Press (10/14, Murray) reported that "the Legislature hasn't decided yet how to rework the formula for distributing the money. But there have been talks in Lansing that the change will provide a greater share of the funding to lower-spending school districts." Kevin Oxley, Superintendent of the Jackson County Intermediate School District, said "it appears the Legislature might wait until newly elected legislators take office next year before approving a new formula."

New Jersey Districts Develop Teacher Evaluation Criteria To Comply With State Mandate.
New Jersey's Independent Press (10/14, Ness) reported that "School officials face a New Jersey-mandated deadline of Oct. 15 which requires all school districts to post their teacher evaluation criteria on their websites, and provide the numbers of teachers who did not meet those performance standards." But, because "there is no standard for teacher evaluations across the state...districts are left with trying to fit its data into the program's guidelines." The Independent Press provides details on the evaluation criteria some districts have set up to comply with the mandate.

Attorney Says Noncompliance Is Fastest Route To Hearing On Oklahoma Special Education Law.
KOTV-TV Tulsa (10/15, Wright) reports that "a legal battle looms" for several Tulsa-area school districts that have chosen not to comply with state legislation that "requires public schools to provide scholarship money so special needs students can attend private school." Douglas Mann, a lawyer representing "many Tulsa County districts, says non-compliance is the quickest way to get 3393 in front of a judge." Attorney Bill Wilkinson, who also represents school districts across the state, called HB3393 "a stupid piece of legislation" and a "terrible mistake," but said that choosing not to comply with it "is a very slippery slope." He said "the districts could have filed what's called a 'Petition For Declaratory Judgment,'" which "would have allowed a district judge to rule on whether or not 3393 is constitutional." KOTV adds that Wilkinson is "strongly advising" the districts he represents to maintain compliance with the law. Ed Week (10/14, Zehr) also covered the story.

School Finance

Tennessee District Closes Schools Amid Budget Dispute With County Officials.
Tennessee's Daily Herald (10/15) reports that the Maury County, Tennessee, school board has closed schools "until further notice because a budget has not been approved. The Maury County School Board voted unanimously Thursday to not lower its budget request to the amount allocated by the Maury County Commission." Moreover, Maury county schools have no "state funding because it missed Tennessee's Oct. 1 deadline to submit a budget." The Daily Herald adds that schools could resume Tuesday if the commission "increases its allocation Monday."

In a separate story, Tennessee's Daily Herald (10/15) reports that "Maury County school employees will get a check Friday, but whether they will be paid at the end of the month remains to be determined." The district will receive a $4 million intergovernmental loan to pay teachers, but "the dispute at the center of a budget standoff between the county commission and school board remains unresolved."

School Districts Say County Lost Money In "High-Stakes Gamble" On Lehman Brothers.
The AP (10/14) reports that "a dozen San Mateo County [CA] school districts have filed a claim accusing county officials of mismanaging funds invested in Lehman Brothers, costing the schools $20 million.” The districts argue that “the county should not have kept its money in Lehman Brothers when the company’s credit rating and stock price began to fall. The claim accuses county officials of engaging in a ‘high-stakes gamble,’ saying they wrongly assumed someone would rescue the firm.” The AP notes that “the claim – filed last month – is a possible precursor to a lawsuit.”

White House Hosts Science Fair.
The AP (10/19, Superville) reports that the White House hosted a science fair on Monday, and that President Obama “spent nearly an hour viewing 11 science projects on display in the State Dining Room, ranging from cancer therapies to solar-power cars, water purification systems and robotic wheelchairs.” Stressing the importance of STEM education, President Obama called the students’ research “a testament to the potential that awaits when we inspire young people to take part in the scientific enterprise.” The President said, “You know, when you win first place at a science fair, nobody’s rushing the field or dumping Gatorade over your head.” He added, “But in many ways, our future depends on what happens in those contests, what happens when a young person is engaged in conducting an experiment or writing a piece of software or solving a hard math problem or designing a new gadget.”

The USA Today (10/18, Jackson) “The Oval” blog reports the President “indulged his inner geek today, praising all the winners of the inaugural White House Science Fair,” and during the event “singled out a young self-taught chemist who is working on a new drug to attack cancer cells.” Obama said, “If that doesn’t make you feel good about America and the possibilities of our young people when they apply themselves to science and math, I don’t know what will.” The President “also seized on the Science Fair event to promote his education program, noting that the United States is slipping behind global competitors in math and science scores.”

In its report on the science fair, CNN (10/19, Cohen) describes some of the technology shown off by the visiting students. One team found that using gel in helmets provided better protection than foam. And “Antonio Hernandez and Diego Vazquez of Cesar Chavez High School in the Phoenix, Arizona, area told Obama how their team worked with physical therapists to develop a chair that disabled students can use to receive physical therapy while at school. The chair moves manually, heats and vibrates, and was built from scratch over six months with aluminum donated by companies, they explained.” The President said, “They didn’t have money, but they did have a desire to work together, to help a friend and build something that had never been done before. … That’s not just the power of science. That’s the promise of America.”

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In the Classroom
Georgia Bureau Of Investigation Probes Atlanta Public Schools For Cheating.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (10/19, Rankin) reports that agents from Georgia’s Bureau of Investigation (GBI) “began paying visits to Atlanta public schools and questioning teachers Monday afternoon as part of an ongoing state investigation into allegations of test tampering.” GBI spokesman John Bankhead said that teachers at least 15 schools being investigated “are not targets for criminal charges as long as they are truthful with agents.” However, “if anyone is found to have lied to state agents or investigators, that could lead to criminal charges. Under state law, lying to investigators is a felony that can be punished with a $1,000 fine and up to five years in prison,” The Journal Constitution adds.

WXIA-TV Atlanta (10/19, King) reports that the GBI probe comes two months after Atlanta Public Schools’ own investigation into the matter. “Perdue essentially accused the system of whitewashing its own investigation,” which “many staffers refused to cooperate with.” GPB-TV Atlanta (10/19, Capelouto) reports that Gov. Sonny Perdue (D) signed an executive order last week to get GBI agents on the ground.,” according to Bankhead.

On the Job
DC Schools’ Early Dinner Program Aims To Fight Childhood Hunger.
The Washington Post (10/19, Turque) reports, “D.C. public schools have started serving an early dinner to an estimated 10,000 students, many of whom are now receiving three meals a day from the system as it expand efforts to curb childhood hunger and poor nutrition. … Officials describe the dinner initiative as having three goals: hedging against childhood hunger, reducing alarming rates of obesity and drawing more students to after-school programs, where extra academic help is available.” According to the Post, the early dinner program “is also part of a broader effort, mandated by recent D.C. Council legislation, to upgrade the quality and nutritional value of school food with fresh, locally grown ingredients.”

Law & Policy
Court Says Illinois Law Requiring Moment Of Silence In Schools Is Constitutional.
The AP (10/18) reported that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that “the Illinois law requiring a moment of silence in public schools is constitutional because it doesn’t specify prayer.” The ruling settled a lawsuit brought by an atheist radio talk show host whose daughter is a high school student in Chicago. “In filing the lawsuit, Sherman said the law indicated an ‘intent to force the introduction of the concept of prayer into the schools.’” But, in a 2-1 decision, the panel majority said “that legislators who supported the bill said the moment of reflection had a secular and practical purpose in settling down students at the start of the school day.”

Mark Walsh wrote in the Education Week (10/18) “School Law” blog that “the law has been on the books in various forms since 1969, but in 2007, over the veto of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois legislature amended it to tell school districts they ‘shall observe’ instead of ‘may observe’ the daily period.” Last year, “a federal district court in Chicago struck down the law.” Illinois’ Vernon Hills Review (10/18, Wachter) also covered the story.

Middle School Principals In Des Moines Creating Expectations For Grade Promotion.
The AP (10/19) reports that “middle school principals in Des Moines are developing a proposal that would create a list of expectations middle school students need to meet so they can advance to the next grade.” Currently, students are advanced “to the next grade no matter their academic performance.” The proposed expectations are aimed at reducing dropouts and increasing graduation rates. Des Moines Education Association President Melissa Spencer said that “the effort to enact a policy started about two years when teachers noticed more ninth-graders were struggling with high school because they weren’t prepared.” The proposed policy includes expectations for “standardized test scores, class grades, attendance and class progress.” If a student does not meet the requirements, “a grade placement committee…will determine if [he or she] can be promoted.”

Congress Adjourns Without Passing Child Nutrition Bill.
Education Week (10/18, Samuels) reported, “Congress adjourned for the November elections without reauthorizing the federal law that controls the nation’s school meals program” yet “school nutrition and anti-hunger advocates say that delay could be a blessing in disguise.” According to Education Week, “Two competing versions of the Child Nutrition Act were introduced in the US Senate and the House of Representatives, but the Senate version is further along.” However, some advocates “don’t want to pass the Senate measure unchanged because the 10-year bill would offset its proposed spending increases in part by cutting $2.2 billion from food stamps.”

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Special Needs
Special Education Is Top Priority For Interim DC Chancellor.
The Washington Times (10/19, Simmons) reports, “Michelle A. Rhee may be on her way out as chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, but the fights she waged over the city’s education policies are likely to linger long after she is gone.” Rhee’s successor Kaya Henderson said in an interview Friday that “special education reform is one of her top priorities.” Henderson is in favor of “keeping students in the D.C. Public Schools system and trimming spending.” She also “has in the past supported Ms. Rhee’s approach to special education,” including a proposal announced over the summer for “a new voucher program for special-needs students whose parents opt out of the public system and enroll their children in private schools.”

Safety & Security
Chicago Police Expanding Gang Prevention School Outreach Program.
The Chicago Sun-Times (10/18, Guy) reports that Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said that officers “are expanding a high school outreach program to prevent gang violence after the initial program appears to be making inroads.” Police say that as a result of the “program, which started March 8 in [Area 1] high schools,” some students have sought “to get tattoos removed and to leave their gangs.” Moreover, Weis said that “the high schools in Area 1 had no students murdered in gang violence from March through June, compared with five murders in that same time period of 2009.” This year, the program is being implemented in Area 2 schools.

School Finance
Some Minnesota Districts Sell Ads On Lockers.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune (10/19, Draper) reports that the Centennial School Board will decide on Nov. 1 “whether it will allow…ads on up to 10 percent of the available surfaces in all of the district’s seven schools. That includes lockers, walls, and floors.” The ads could bring nearly $200,000 in additional revenue for the district. “Centennial — with $3.6 million in cuts this year and more likely on the way next year — is just the latest school district looking at the ads as an alternative way to generate some cash.” Already, St. Francis schools have approved such ads, which “will start going up on lockers there this week.” Through an agreement with the company School Media, St. Francis schools could earn up to $200,000 a year. The Star-Tribune adds that “some school officials say they have found either support or a lack of concern among their parents,” while “others say such advertising crosses the boundaries of what schools should allow.”

Also in the News
Twelve Georgia Districts Participating In State Data System Pilot Program.
Maureen Downey wrote in a blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (10/18), “After many years of delays in the long-awaited state student data system, a basic system allowing a teacher to see at a glance a student’s performance on state assessments, attendance and enrollment stats over the last four years is now a reality in Georgia.” According to Downey, 12 districts are testing the system, which “is easy, quick and a boon to teachers and principals, according to” Hall County educators. Downey adds that most “Georgia schools will be on the new data system by early in the new year, with districts being added every week.”

Obama To Sign Order For White House Hispanic Initiative.
Mary Ann Zehr wrote in a blog for Education Week (10/18), “President Obama is expected to sign an executive order tomorrow that will establish a presidential advisory commission on Hispanic education and a federal interagency working group on improving Hispanic education and the lives of Latinos.” Over the past 18 months, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics has visited more than 90 communities to gather information and ideas on how the education and lives of Latinos could be improved.” Next, it will “identify nine communities that it can partner with to support President Obama’s goal to ensure that the United States is the top nation in the world in college completion by 2020.”

NEA in the News

Kansas National Education Association, District Nearing Completion For Teacher Contract.
The Dodge City (KS) Daily Globe (10/19, Reagan) reports that “negotiators for USD 443 and the Kansas National Education Association are getting closer to a teachers contract for 2010-11.” Talks are currently focused “on finalizing a salary schedule, defining some positions and smoothing out some of the language in the contract.” One “issue is supplemental positions, which” officials say “need to be better defined.” However, negotiators have already overcome one of the greatest hurdles when “USD 443 removed the Board of Education’s proposal to define a teacher’s work day, which would have required teachers to be at school half an hour before and after the each school day.” In a compromise, the KNEA removed its request for more personal leave days.

Florida District Strikes Down Promised Raises For Teachers.
The Miami Herald (10/18, Figueroa) reported that “hours after a protest by hundreds of” teachers in Broward County, Florida, “demanding pay raises they were promised in their contracts, the School Board voted” unanimously “against giving them any more money.” Superintendent Jim Notter had argued against the raises, saying the “would require roughly $36 million that the district cannot afford,” considering its $140 million deficit. However, according to Broward teachers Union President Pat Santeramo, Notter has “refused to seriously weigh recommendations put forth by the BTU to cut costs and free up money for the raises.” Santeramo vowed that BTU would “continue the fight” next year.

Georgia District Wins $1 Million For Scholarships From Broad Foundation.
The AP (10/20) reports that Gwinnett County Public Schools, “Georgia’s largest school system has won the” 2010 Broad Prize for Urban Education. The award is given each year by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation “to urban districts that show the most gains in student performance and closing minority achievement gaps.” Gwinnet’s student population “is 28 percent black and 25 percent Hispanic, with about half of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. But last year in reading and math, Gwinnett County schools outperformed all other Georgia districts serving students with similar family incomes.”

Education Week (10/19, Robelen) reported that the Broad Foundation will give “the 161,000-student district, led since 1996 by J. Alvin Wilbanks…$1 million in college-scholarship money for students graduating in 2011.” It will also give four finalists – “the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district in North Carolina, the Montgomery County, Md., public schools, and the Socorro and Ysleta districts in Texas” — $250,000 for scholarships.

WXIA-TV Atlanta (10/20) notes that “Last year, Gwinnett County was a finalist for the award” and was able to give $20,000 scholarships to 12 graduating seniors. The district “will soon be announcing how high school seniors can apply for” this year’s scholarships. The Atlanta Business Chronicle (10/20, Couret) also covers the story.

In the Atlanta Journal Constitution “Get Schooled” blog, Maureen Downey praises the Gwinnet school district’s leadership, saying, “From an outside point of view, Gwinnett is well run, efficient and responsive.” She notes that when she needs “photos of top students or a statement, Gwinnett is the first to respond.” Downey adds that a former DOE official told her last week that Gwinnet Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks had “assembled a leadership team that was sharp, responsive and together.”

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In the Classroom
Textbook Claims “Thousands” Of Black Americans Fought For South In Civil War.
The Washington Post (10/20, Sieff) reports that “a textbook distributed to Virginia fourth-graders says that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War — a claim rejected by most historians but often made by groups seeking to play down slavery’s role as a cause of the conflict.” Joy Masoff, author of the textbook, “Our Virginia: Past and Present,” has said that “she found the information about black Confederate soldiers primarily through Internet research, which turned up work by members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.” But, the overwhelming majority of scholars call “these accounts of black Confederate soldiers a misrepresentation of history.” Education officials in Virginia said that “they will contact school districts across the state to caution them against teaching the passage.”

Report Finds Disparities In Teacher Quality In Texas Districts.
Texas’ American-Statesman (10/19, Heinauer) reported that a study commissioned by the Association of Texas Professional Educators finds that “in Texas, students do better with better teachers, particularly in the middle and high school grades.” The American-Statesman added, “In the largely low-income Manor school district, the study found that about 48 percent of high school teachers had less than three years of experience, 19 percent of teachers weren’t certified to teach their assigned subjects and 22 percent of teachers left each year. … By comparison, in the Eanes school district, 19 miles to the west, fewer than 12 percent of high school teachers were novices, fewer than 14 percent weren’t certified to teach their assigned subjects and about 10 percent left each year, the report said”

On the Job
Schools In Virginia, Maine To Receive Funding For Teacher Recruitment, Development.
The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch (10/19, Jones) reported that public schools in Richmond, Virginia, “will receive $6 million to $7 million through a five-year federal grant to recruit and develop exceptional teachers and principals for schools that are difficult to staff.” Through the grant provided by the US Department of Education Teacher Incentive Fund, “teachers are expected to be eligible for as much as $7,500 per year in additional compensation if they go through a rigorous training and certification process.” The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards was awarded the $27 million grant “for eight schools in Richmond and 15 in rural Maine.”

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Law & Policy
Educators Suing Arizona Superintendent, BOE Over Ban On Mexican-American Studies.
CNN (10/20, Martinez, Gutierrez) reports that “eleven Tucson, Arizona, educators sued the state board of education and superintendent this week for what the teachers consider an “anti-Hispanic” ban looming on Mexican-American studies.” State Superintendent of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne defended the new law, which “authorizes the superintendent to stop any ethnic studies classes that ‘promote the overthrow of the United States government … promote resentment toward a race or class of people … (or) advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treatment of pupils as individuals.’” Horne seeks to ban Mexican-American studies from schools in the state. In the lawsuit, “The 11 educators in Tucson’s Mexican-American Studies Department are asking a federal judge to stay the new schools law,” saying “it violates free speech, equal protection and due process.”

Group Urges Salt Lake School District To Add Gender Identity To Anti-Discrimination Policy.
The Salt Lake Tribune (10/20, Winters) reports that “on Tuesday, the Salt Lake Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) called on the” Salt Lake City School District “Board of Education to include gender identity and gender expression in the district’s anti-discrimination policy.” Board members have recently “considered adding gender identity” to the policy, “but an attorney advised against it and research indicated that sexual orientation is more commonly covered.” Kathy Godwin, president of the PFLAG chapter, said that “including gender identity and expression would protect students who aren’t gay or aren’t comfortable coming out as gay, but who are harassed for expressing their gender in ways outside social norms.”

US Supreme Court To Hear Case Concerning Police Questionings At Schools.
Education Week (10/19, Walsh) reported, “The US Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether authorities seeking to question students at school about possible sexual abuse at home require a warrant or parental consent. … The sex-abuse case from Oregon, accepted Oct. 12, has important implications for schools as well as for police and child-protection investigators because educators typically cooperate with such warrantless interviews, and many investigators view schools as a natural and reassuring place to question children suspected of being abused by a family member.” Also, according to Education Week, the high court “heard arguments about the potential liability for manufacturers over the side effects of childhood vaccines, in a case being watched closely by those who suspect a link between vaccines and autism.”

Special Needs
Tulsa Public Schools To Ignore Oklahoma’s Special Education Scholarship Law.
KOKI-TV Tulsa (10/20) reports that the Tulsa Public School District (TPS) on Monday “became the sixth Tulsa-area district to vote to ignore a new state law granting private school scholarships to special education students.” The school board decided not to process any scholarship applications Under HB 3393 received after Oct. 18. The six applications submitted before that date will be processed. TPS and the other five districts ignoring the law “are all represented by” Attorney Doug Mann, who “advised the districts not to comply with the law, hoping somebody would sue the district so they could get the matter in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Mann believes the court will rule that the law is unconstitutional.” Meanwhile, TPS “say the district is in the process of seeking a legal opinion from the Oklahoma Attorney General on whether HB3393 is constitutional, but the attorney general’s opinion is not legally binding,” KOKI adds.

KOTV-TV Tulsa (10/20, Wright) reports that while TPS “stands by its special education programs, saying they are excellent,” district officials are still working “to further develop” the department. The district is forming a special education task force “made up of administrators, teachers, parents, and education experts” that “will study successful special education programs around the nation.”

Safety & Security

Texas State Troopers To Ride In School Buses To Enforce Road Safety Laws.
The Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram (10/19, Welch) reported that Texas state troopers will be “riding with students at various locations around the state as a part of National School Bus Safety Week,” state Department of Public Safety “trooper Lonny Haschel said. Troopers will watch for motorists who don’t obey the buses’ flashing lights when stopped, according to a DPS release.” Troopers “will work in pairs, with one…trailing the bus in a patrol car, Haschel said.”

School Finance
Blogger Calls Philanthropic School Funding “Perverted.”
Valerie Strauss wrote in the Washington Post (10/19) “The Answer Sheet” blog about the “the perverted way schools are funded in 2010,” with “very wealthy people…donating big private money to their own pet projects.” For example, Strauss points to “Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation to the Newark public schools, given with the provision that Zuckerberg, apparently an education reform expert, play a big role in determining success.” According to Strauss, none of the philanthropists’ projects are “grounded in any research.” Bill Gates invested millions in small schools, but in an annual letter for his foundation last year, he said, “Many of the small schools that we invested in did not improve students’ achievement in any significant way.” Now, Gates is investing in teacher assessment systems, which according to Strauss, are another waste of money, as several studies have shown them to be “unreliable and unfair.”

Illinois District Considers Charging For Kindergarten.
WLS-TV Chicago, IL (10/19) reported on its Website that Wilmette (IL) Public Schools District 39 “is considering several options to plug a projected $5 million deficit this year” including “charging for kindergarten. Wilmette School District 39 may ask parents to pay $5,000 a year for their young children. … Budget cuts, new user fees and a tax increase are also being considered.”

NEA in the News
Van Roekel Discusses NEA’s Focus On Boosting Student Achievement.
Jay Mathews wrote in the Washington Post (10/19) “Class Struggle” blog that he interviewed NEA President Dennis Van Roekel recently. According to Mathews, “The interview reveals [Van Roekel's] desire to focus his union efforts on raising achievement for low-income children, what he thinks about the trashing that unions and [American Federation of Teachers President Randi] Weingarten got in” the new documentary “Waiting for Superman,” and other issues.

More Students With Special Needs Going To College.
The AP (10/18) reports that now more than ever, “students with Down syndrome, autism, and other conditions that can result in intellectual disabilities are leaving high school more academically prepared…and ready” to attend college. “Eight years ago, disability advocates were able to find only four programs on university campuses that allowed students with intellectual disabilities to experience college life with extra help from mentors and tutors.” But “last year, there were more than 250 spread across more than three dozen states and two Canadian provinces, said Debra Hart, head of Think College at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston.” According to the AP, this growth can be attributed to “an increasing demand for higher education for these students and…new federal funds for such programs.”

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In the Classroom
Elementary Students Learn About Wetlands Through Series Of Lagoon Trips.
The San Diego Union-Tribune (10/18, Horn) reports that “about 30 fourth-graders from” Escondido Central Elementary School in California “spent a day earlier this month walking some of the six miles of trails that surround the 1,000-acre” San Elijo Lagoon while “learning about the food chain. Their first trip to San Elijo was last year as third-graders, when they learned about wetlands. They’ll return one more time next year to discover water resources and watersheds.” The trips are part of a program called “Our Living Watershed: Teaching Scientific Literacy in the San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve,” which “began last year, created by the San Elijo Conservancy and funded by a grant from Qualcomm” for students in “third to fifth grade.” The Union-Tribune notes that “more than 750 students per year from Escondido’s Lincoln and Central elementary schools will take field trips to the San Elijo Lagoon” for the program.

Athletes At High School In Texas Help Teach Reading Lessons To Younger Students.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram (10/18, Engelland) reports that “athletes from Fossil Ridge High School” in Fort Worth, Texas, “are doing their part to encourage young students to read.” Each month, “more than 20 athletes go to an elementary school in the Fossil Ridge feeder pattern to read to students and help with lessons.” The high school students attend these sessions “on their own time before first period.” The Star-Telegram also notes that “this fall, the club has started honoring elementary students at athletic events, featuring a different campus each time.” Brandy Abbott, an English teacher at Fossil Ridge who sponsors the reading club said that “some 50 athletes are involved in the club. … ‘It’s so encouraging to see our students sacrifice their own time to help younger kids,’” said Abbott.

On the Job
Students Lead Parent-Teacher Conferences At Some Schools In Washington State.
The Yakima (WA) Herald-Republic (10/18, Janovich) reports that Eisenhower High School hosts student-led parent-teacher conferences, which “school officials say…helps students take responsibility for their education and encourages parent involvement.” In these conferences, “students walk their parents or guardians through a checklist” that includes “topics like attendance, graduation requirements, academic assessment, family access and state standardized exam results, as well as the student’s six-year plan.” The Herald-Republic notes that “the practice of holding student-led conferences has been gaining momentum at high schools and middle schools around the Yakima Valley since the late 1990s.” And some area districts “hold their student-led conferences twice a year, fall and spring.”

Tennessee District’s Initiative Held Up As Model Of Teacher Improvement Program That Works.
Emily Hanford, a reporter for American RadioWorks, the national documentary unit of American Public Media, writes in the Los Angeles Times (10/18, Hanford), “Teachers are at the center of the great debate over how to fix American education. We’re told the bad ones need to be fired; the good ones, rewarded.” According to Hanford, however, “most teachers are in the middle – not terrible, but they could be better.” As such, “the question of how to help teachers in the middle must be part of the debate.”

After searching “for teacher improvement programs that work,” Hanford says that “the best example I found is the Benwood Initiative in Chattanooga, Tennessee.” The initiative began with Chattanooga’s Benwood Foundation and “local education leaders” pairing “less effective teachers” with teaching “superstars.” Hanford notes, “One distinctive feature of the system is that teachers spend time in their colleagues’ classrooms, watching each other teach.”

Law & Policy
Hawaii Voters To Decide On Whether BOE Members Will Be Appointed Or Elected.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser (10/17, Vorsino) reported that voters in Hawaii “are being asked whether to switch from an elected Board of Education to one appointed by the governor at a time of immense reform efforts for public schools.” The vote will be the “third time in four decades that the question has been put on the ballot, this time prompted by the angst and anger over teacher furloughs last year that left Hawaii students with the shortest instructional calendar in the nation.” Approval of the switch “would bring Hawaii in line with most other states in the way statewide school board members are chosen,” the Star Bulletin added.

Georgia’s Race To The Top Plans Include Programs For Children From Birth To Age Five.
The Macon (GA) Telegraph (10.18, Duncan) reports that “half of Georgia’s Race to the Top grant will be used toward statewide programming, including initiatives to benefit children from birth to age 5.” The state’s Department of Early Care and Learning “will partner with the state Department of Human Resources and the state Department of Education to focus on this age group.” The funding for Georgia’s youngest students will be spent on creating uniform Pre-K through third grade assessments and “an initiative to prepare children from birth to age 8 to be able to read at grade level by third grade.” But state officials have not yet decided “what proportion of the funding will go to infants and toddlers.”

Indiana District Officials End Bible Classes At Elementary School.
The AP (10/18) reports that officials from Fairfield Community Schools in northern Indiana “voted [unanimously] to end an elementary school Bible class Thursday after their lawyer told them they were bound to lose a lawsuit over its constitutionality.” The ACLU of Indiana “sued the district in South Bend federal court Oct. 5 on behalf of a New Paris Elementary School first-grader and his mother,” claiming the child “was left unsupervised in the hallway when his mother opted him out of the weekly…Bible class.” Tim Shelly, the district’s attorney, said, “The law is quite clear: Religious instruction for elementary school students on school grounds during the school day is not constitutionally permitted.” The district also “could be forced to pay $100,000 to $800,000 when it inevitably lost,” according to Shelly. The AP notes that the vote drew “boos from a crowd of students, parents, and community members who had shown up to speak in support of the program.”

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Safety & Security
Asian Students At South Philadelphia High School See Slow Changes In School Violence.
CNN (10/18, Hoye) reports that “after being attacked as a freshman and witnessing other attacks on Asian students” at South Philadelphia High School, Wei Chen “founded the Chinese Student Association to help new Chinese students — many who recently immigrated to the country — adjust to life at” the school. “He also kept track of the incidents of violence against Asian students.” Last year, Asian students at the school held rallies during school hours to take a stand against the bullying. “The boycott helped trigger nationwide attention to the violence against Asian students at South Philly High,” and “a federal investigation was launched following a formal civil rights complaint filed by the Asian American Legal Defense Fund.” After the investigation, “he Justice Department…instructed the school system to improve the treatment of Asian students.” CNN adds that “today, the perception among students and their families is that things are slowly changing.”

Facilities
New Orleans In Early Stage Of School Construction Boom.
Education Week (10/15) reported that “a generation of brand-new school buildings is rising” throughout New Orleans. The city “is in the early stages of a construction spree to both build and renovate dozens of schools, and recently got news” that it will receive “more than $1.8 billion” form FEMA “to cover storm-related damages to schools.” Ramsey Green, the director of operations for New Orleans’ Recovery School District, said that “even before [Katrina]…New Orleans was in dire need of overhauling its many aging school buildings, which had fallen into disrepair after years of neglect.” But even though “the massive construction initiative and the settlement with FEMA are welcome news in the city, some observers argue that state and local officials” are not including stakeholders in the decision making process when it comes to school construction. Green, however, maintains “that RSD officials meet with community members “every single day” to get input on the construction program, and that there will be more-formal opportunities for feedback over time, especially as a master facilities plan developed for the school construction effort is updated.”

Florida District Takes Proactive Measures To Address Persistent Mold In Schools.
To Florida’s Sun-Sentinel (10/16, Freeman, Marie-Balona) reports that after mold was found at Northmore Elementary in West Palm Beach, Florida, last year, “problems were fixed quickly, but the case was far from an isolated incident across the Palm Beach County School District, records show.” A review by the Sun Sentinel/Orlando Sentinel found “thousands of cases involving moldy classrooms, health-related complaints from teachers and students, and responses and actions by school officials.” And even though “the school district has received national recognition for a pro-active measures in addressing mold issues, some problems persist.” Still, according to Joseph Sanches, Palm Beach schools’ facilities management chief, “a proactive approach to building maintenance – such as using environmentally friendly materials and cleaning chemicals, and proper cooling procedures – has reduced the potential for problems and the number of incidents.”

Also in the News
Report Says US Struggles To Attract Top College Graduates To Teaching Profession.
Education Week (10/15) reported that “countries with the best-performing school systems largely recruit teachers from the top third of high school and college graduates, while the United States has difficulty attracting its top students to the profession,” according to a new report by the management-consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The report’s authors say “salary is keeping some top graduates away. A starting teacher in New York City makes about $45,000, while a starting lawyer makes $160,000. Nationally, starting teacher salaries average $39,000, and go up to an average maximum of $67,000.” In other countries such as Singapore, however, “starting salaries…are more competitive, and teachers can receive retention bonuses of $10,000 to $36,000 every three to five years, the report says.”

Connecticut Education Commission To Announce Suggestions For Closing Achievement Gap.
The AP (10/18) reports that the Connecticut Commission on Educational Achievement “is set to release recommendations on how to close the achievement gap between low-income Connecticut students and their peers.” According to the commission, “the state’s poorest students are” on average “about three grade levels behind their peers in reading and math.” It will “announce recommendations on how to close the gaps at an event Tuesday at the state Capitol in Hartford.”

NEA in the News
Most Wake County Teachers Oppose Ending School Assignments Based Socioeconomics.
WRAL-TV Raleigh, NC (10/18) reports that “a survey by the National Education Association found that a majority of Wake County teachers oppose ending a student assignment policy based, in part, on achieving socioeconomic diversity in schools.” Survey results showed that 81 percent of “respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with ending the diversity policy while agreeing that the policy has had a positive impact on students’ academic achievement.” Meanwhile, 47 percent of respondents “identified the student assignment policy as the biggest problem facing Wake County schools, while 19 percent named funding cuts and 12 percent listed class size.”

Free Online Financial Literacy Module Targets High School Students.
The San Francisco Chronicle (10/12) on “a new interactive online module” aimed at teaching high school students financial literacy skills. “Burning Money” the free module “created by the financial literacy group FoolProof” is made up of “45- to 60-minute lessons…designed for high school teachers to use in computer labs.” Already more than “1,000 high schools across the country are using FoolProof.”

New York State Poised To Ease Schools’ Extra Help Requirements.
The New York Times (10/13, Otterman) reports, “The New York State Board of Regents is set to excuse school districts from a requirement to provide extra help to all students who fail the state’s standardized exams, a number that grew by hundreds of thousands after the state made the exams tougher to pass this year. The vote by the board, which is scheduled for early next week, would cover more than 125,000 students in New York City alone.” The Times adds that “some city elected officials and advocates expressed concern that schools would use the leniency as an excuse not to provide help to children who need it.”

Denver’s Advanced Kindergarten Program In High Demand.
Education Week /Education News Colorado (10/12, McCrimmon) reported, “The Denver Public Schools’ advanced-kindergarten program, now in its seventh year, draws families who want a faster academic pace for their children, and it helps retain some who might otherwise choose private schools or other districts. Enrollment in the program has nearly doubled since its inception in 2004, when 111 children started in classes at four city schools.” According to Education Week, “This year, 200 students are in advanced-kindergarten classrooms in eight schools throughout the district” and “48 children are on waiting lists, 46 of whom hoped to win spots at the Polaris Program at Ebert, Denver’s sought-after elementary school for gifted students.”

On the Job
DC Schools Chancellor To Announce Resignation.
The Washington Post (10/13, Craig, Turque) reports, “D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee will announce Wednesday that she is resigning at the end of this month, bringing an abrupt end to a tenure that drew national acclaim but that also became a central issue in an election that sent her patron, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, to defeat.” According to the Post, “Rhee survived three contentious years that made her a superstar of the education reform movement” yet she “will leave with considerable unfinished business in her quest to improve teaching, close the worst schools and infuse a culture of excellence in a system that has been one of the nation’s least effective at educating students.”

The AP (10/13, Jones) reports, “D.C. schools head Michelle Rhee, whose decision to fire many teachers helped bounce the mayor who appointed her out of office, will announce her resignation on Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The decision was mutually made by Rhee and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, the presumptive next mayor, said the person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because an official announcement wasn’t scheduled until a morning news conference.”

The New York Times (10/13, Urbina, Wheaton) adds that a “city official said Kaya Henderson, the deputy chancellor, would be the interim chancellor. Replacing Ms. Rhee, who is Korean-American, with Ms. Henderson, who is black, is expected to ease racial tensions.” According to the Times, Washington Teachers’ Union chief George Parker said Rhee’s departure “would help end ‘divisiveness.’” The Wall Street Journal (10/13, Banchero), the Washington Times (10/13, Sands) and MSNBC (10/13, Iovino) and the Washington Post (10/13, Turque) also cover the story.

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Law & Policy
Psychologists To Aid USDA School Lunch Program.
The Chicago Tribune (10/13, Marchione) reports, “The US Department of Agriculture announced what it called a major new initiative Tuesday, giving $2 million to food behavior scientists to find ways to use psychology to improve kids’ use of the federal school lunch program and fight childhood obesity.” According to the Tribune, “Some tricks already judged a success by” Cornell University “researchers: Keep ice cream in freezers without glass display tops so the treats are out of sight.” Another successful tactic is to move “salad bars next to the checkout registers, where students linger to pay, giving them more time to ponder a salad.”

Special Needs
Former Special Needs Student Returns To Classroom As Teacher’s Aide.
South Carolina’s Independent-Mail (10/13, Carey) profiles Mary Brown, a volunteer at Powdersville Elementary School who has Down syndrome. “Brown was a student under Barbara Masaki, the special-needs instructor at Powdersville,” when Brown was an elementary student. “Now, Brown has returned to Masaki’s classroom to volunteer with the class of nine autistic or Down syndrome children.” As a teacher’s aide, Brown is not paid, but she “works like the two full-time paid teacher’s aides,” who “help Masaki with the classroom teaching everything from potty training to table manners to play time to desk work.”

School Finance
Georgia Supreme Court Hears School Districts’ Charter School Funding Suit.
The AP (10/13, Turner) reports, “The first-ever challenge to Georgia’s charter school law went before the state’s highest court Tuesday, with seven public school districts hoping to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding.” Lawyers for the school systems argue that the Georgia Charter Schools Commission “is illegal because it is creating an independent school system prohibited by the state constitution.” Funding for the charter schools, they say “is actually local dollars that belong to the public school systems, not the state.”

The Journal-Constitution (10/13, Dodd) reports that if the court rules in favor of the school districts, “more than 6,000 children…could lose their [charter] schools.” The school districts that brought the case are asking the Georgia Supreme Court “to overturn a Fulton County Superior Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission and its ability to approve and fund charter schools, including those rejected by local districts. The Fulton decision ruled that commission charter schools are special schools and are entitled to be funded by the commission.” The Atlanta Business Chronicle (10/13, Williams) reports that “school systems in the city of Atlanta, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry, Bulloch and Candler counties, and the consolidated district of Griffin-Spalding” brought the lawsuit.

Kansas Paper Urges State To Rethink Ending Funding For Newspaper, Yearbook Classes.
The Winfield (KS) Daily Courier (10/13) editorializes, “High school newspapers and yearbooks help prepare young people to work in the growing, increasingly complex field of communications.” The Daily Courier adds, “These opportunities for hands-on training in communications are especially important for small school districts.” The classification of high school newspaper and yearbook classes as CTE courses has changed at the state level, meaning districts could be responsible for as much as $700,000 for the programs in a few years. “High school newspaper classes offer students opportunities to publish on paper, online, by blogging and using social media – all steps that take them into the future of communications, where jobs are waiting,” the Daily Courier argues. “The state department of education and the state board of education should rethink their decision to end funding for newspaper and yearbook classes as [CTE] training.”

Also in the News
Pennsylvania District Settles Laptop Spying Cases For $610,000.
CNN (10/13, Bonus) reports that Pennsylvania’s Lower Merion School District on Monday settled “several lawsuits involving privacy concerns in a laptop computer distribution program.” In two of the cases, “students who were given laptop computers through the district” found out later that school administrators were able to “take photographs and screenshots by remotely accessing the webcam on the laptop.” A spokesman for the Lower Merion School District said that “a substantial number of webcam photographs were recovered,” but noted that “the district would only remotely access a laptop if it was reported to be lost, stolen or missing.” In the settlement, one student was awarded $175,000, another student was given $10,000, and their attorney got $425,000. USA Today (10/12, Stanglin) and WAPI-FM Birmingham, Alabama (10/13) also covered the story.

Computerworld (10/13, Vijayan) reports that “the district provided laptops to about 1,800 of its high school students, but did not inform them about the embedded tracking software, which could be used to remotely activate Webcams on the laptops.” After a student “filed a lawsuit against the school district accusing it of spying on him in his home,” investigators “found that school-issued laptops had taken more than 30,000 photographs, using the activated tracking software.” The FBI conducted its own investigation into the matter, after which the US Department of Justice “said it would not file criminal charges against the school district because there was no evidence of criminal intent in its actions.”

PC Magazine (10/12, Albanesius) reported that after the investigations, “the school district…apologized and admitted that it should have informed students and parents about the software. An updated school policy now requires the district to get a student’s permission before activating the monitoring software.”

NEA in the News
Van Roekel Says School Reform Should Be Nonpartisan Effort.
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel writes in an opinion piece for The Hill (10/13) that “John Feehery’s op-ed in The Hill (“Education as a Wedge Issue,” Oct. 4) begins with the incorrect statement that the National Education Association was involved in the recent D.C. mayoral election.” He points out, however, that “educators in D.C. public schools belong to a different union, and NEA was not involved in the election in any way.” Van Roekel calls Feehery’s statement a “sloppy disregard for facts” and notes other faulty claims presented in the op-ed, “including Mr. Feehery’s suggestion the failed No Child Left Behind law has done anything to improve student achievement.” Van Reokel asserts that “contrary to his claims, NEA members across the nation are working to transform public schools, collaborating with district management and communities” to reach student achievement goals. He concludes, “Transforming public schools is not and should not be a partisan issue.”

Van Roekel To Appear At Education Forum In Florida With Arne Duncan. The Tampa Tribune (10/12) reported that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “will appear at a forum Thursday in Tampa with the heads of the nation’s two major teachers unions and Hillsborough educators. The forum, according to Duncan’s office, will highlight the collaboration and labor agreement that’s at the heart of a historic teacher improvement initiative funded in part with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.” According to the Tribune, Duncan will be joined at the forum by Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association.”

Two Texas Districts Use Tracking Devices To Monitor Students.
The AP (10/11) reported, “Two school districts in the Houston area have begun monitoring students’ whereabouts on campus by issuing them identification badges with radio frequency identification technology – the same technology used to track cattle.” According to school officials, the ID badges “improve security and increase attendance rates, a figure that’s important because some school funding is tied to attendance.” The Spring school district has been able to “recover $194,000 in state funding since December 2008″ by locating students with the badges.

The Houston Chronicle (10/11, Radcliffe) reported that “some parents and privacy advocates question whether the technology could have unintended consequences,” such as hackers figuring out “a way to track students after they leave school.” Some also say that “identity theft and stalking could become serious concerns.” Meanwhile, the Spring and Santa Fe districts tout the benefits of the tracking devices. “In case of a fire, administrators would be able to see if any students are trapped inside a building. If a student disappears, they’ll know exactly when they left campus.”

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In the Classroom
Agriculture Education Gaining Popularity In Some Minnesota Schools.
Minnesota’s Star-Tribune (10/12, Carew) reports that “agriculture education in [Minneapolis-area] high schools has gained popularity recently, popping up in unlikely metro schools.” This growth of interest, according to educators, is “because they’ve expanded the focus of their programs to include topics such as natural resources, agriculture economics and food science.” Becky Meyer, director of the charter Academy for Sciences and Agriculture (AFSA), said that the interest is also “being driven by jobs” at “non-farming agriculture businesses.”

Four-Year Medical Programs Aimed At Giving High Schoolers A Leg Up On Careers.
The San Diego Union-Tribune (10/12, McGlone) reports on “a growing number of high school students enrolled in four-year medical programs aimed at giving teens a leg up on the competition as they explore a career in healthcare.” At participating area schools, “courses often include medically focused chemistry, biology and anatomy, as well as a senior-year medical internship or certification course. Some classes can earn students college credit and nominal pay.” The Union-Tribune adds, “The Regional Allied Health and Science Initiative – a local schools partnership and a primary source of funding for the medical programs countywide – is working to get pathway graduates preferential enrollment at community colleges,” and with some success. “Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District officials said they may offer preferred enrollment beginning next fall.”

Louisiana District To Drop Laptop Initiative, Expand Literacy Program.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune (10/12, Bronston) reports, “When Jefferson Parish [Louisiana] school officials rolled out a laptop computer program in two middle schools three years ago and five other schools a year later, they had high hopes that it would help boost standardized test scores” but while “test scores have risen since then, officials say the higher numbers have little to do with the laptop program. As result, the Jefferson Parish School Board last week voted to do away with the One-to-One Laptop Project at the end of the 2010-2011 school year and put the money, about $3 million, toward a more proven initiative — Fast ForWord, a computer-based literacy program for struggling readers.”

On the Job
Teachers Participate In Weightless Flights of Discovery Program.
The Salt Lake Tribune (10/12, Schencker) reports that about 30 teachers from Utah and other states “participated in the Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery program” on Monday. The teachers “spent about two hours skyrocketing up and down in a specially modified airplane to experience weightlessness.” They also “performed experiments, flipped, floated and spun in a padded, chairless part of the cabin in hope of inspiring their students to become the nation’s next scientists and engineers.” The purpose of the program “is to excite students about science and engineering,” said Anthony Spehar, vice president in missile systems for Northrop Grumman. The industry, he said, will need many scientists and engineers for the future. “If we can get people interested in math and science in junior high and have them take AP math and science courses in high school, we can produce the technical talent we need in this country,” Spehar added.

Texas Education Officials Search For Ways To Identify Most Effective Teachers.
The Dallas Morning News (10/12, Meyers) reports that now, since the federal government is offering millions of dollars to reward “the nation’s best teachers, school districts are searching for ways to identify them.” Texas has gotten “$53.5 million in federal grants to reward teachers partly for boosting their students’ scores.” The Texas Education Agency “has developed a new testing system and a database that will make it easier to crunch numbers.” And in Dallas, 22 middle school teachers “are participating in a two-year program intended to blend test-driven analysis with classroom assessments.” Called Measures of Effective Teaching, the program has “received funding in six cities from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”

California Reviewing Student Data System.
Education Week (10/11, Aarons) reported, “The California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, or CALPADS” is being designed “to allow a comprehensive look at student data across California that can be used to create targeted efforts to improve student achievement.” Education Week adds, however, that “shortly after CALPADS was launched a year ago,” districts “found technical roadblocks in the IBM-built system that hampered their efforts to enter data.” In February, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell “ordered a halt to any changes to the system while it underwent a ‘top to bottom’ review.”

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Law & Policy
Some Districts Have Year-Round Conduct Policies For Extracurricular Activities.
USA Today (10/12, Bruno) reports, “student athletes and those involved in other extracurricular activities in states including New Jersey, South Carolina and Indiana are signing codes of conduct that hold them accountable for their behavior regardless of whether school is in session.” Oby Lyles, spokesman for South Carolina’s largest school district in Greenville County, explained, “Participating in extracurricular activities is a privilege.” As such, some school officials reason that the “privilege can be revoked when students who wear a school’s uniform or represent a school don’t follow rules of conduct at school and in the community.” USA Today describes some of the year-round policies in effect in school systems nationwide.

Special Needs
More Oklahoma Districts Choose Not to Comply With Special Education Law.
KJRH-TV Tulsa (10/12) reports that on Monday, Oklahoma’s Bixby and Union school districts “voted not to follow the requirements of house bill 3393,” which “forces Oklahoma school districts to give scholarships to special needs students whose parents wish to enroll them in private schools.” The two districts now join the Jenks and Broken Arrow school systems in refusing to comply with the law, which they say goes against the state constitution. KJRH adds that “Tulsa Public Schools will hold a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss the same issue.”

School Finance
South Carolina Education Department Awarded $3.9 Million For Special Education Training.
The AP (10/11) reported that the US Department of Education has awarded the South Carolina Education Department a five-year, “$3.9 million federal grant to improve achievement among students with disabilities.” With the money, the state can “expand training for teachers who work with students with special needs. The training program will include the use of coaches and mentors for special education teachers, financial assistance for local training programs and setting up model schools.”

Also in the News
Gates Foundation Online Learning Grants Expected To Expand To K-12 Programs.
PC Magazine (10/11, Hachman) reported, “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday announced a $20 million grant program to improve college graduation rates via technology, which will probably be oriented around online education and learning programs.” Bill gates says that the focus will expand to K-12 programs next year. Called the Next-Generation Learning Challenges, the gates program will award $20 million in “grants ranging from $250,000 to $750,000.”

Ian Quillen wrote in the Education Week (10/11) “Digital Education” blog that “the Next Generation Learning Challenges program is releasing its first in a series of requests to solicit funding proposals for technology initiatives, with the first round focused specifically on postsecondary education.” Applicants “will be judged on whether their proposals address increasing the use of blended learning models, student engagement, open courseware, and learning analytics.”

In a separate post, Ian Quillen wrote in the Education Week “Digital Education” blog that “subsequent waves of funding for K-12 and higher ed could push the total grants awarded up to around $80 million, Gates suggested.” Gates is quoted as saying, “‘Sometime next year, we’ll have a set [of grants] that focuses on K-12 education. … But there’s not a black and white dividing line between those’ K-12 and postsecondary categories.”

Studies Link Social, Emotional Skills To Academics.
McClatchy Newspapers (10/10, Rubin) reported, “In 2004, Illinois became the first state in the nation to require all school districts to teach social and emotional skills as part of their curriculum and daily school life. That means students are expected to meet certain benchmarks, such as recognizing and managing feelings, building empathy and making responsible decisions.” Roger Weissberg, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago, says that “new evidence shows a strong link between interpersonal skills and academics.” He “and his colleagues recently completed an analysis of 300 scientific studies and reached two important conclusions: Students enrolled in such programs scored at least 10 percentage points higher on achievement tests than peers who weren’t. At the same time, discipline problems were cut in half.”

NEA in the News
Teachers Protest Pay Cuts In Michigan District.
The Detroit Free Press (10/12, Walsh-Sarnecki) reports that teachers in West Bloomfield Public Schools are protesting “the pay cuts the district is asking for to help offset a $1.7-million budget deficit.” The district is asking teachers “to go back to last year’s salary level and take a 10% cut on top of that. … Then the district is proposing the teachers’ salaries freeze there.” West Bloomfield Education Association President Kim Pilarski is quoted as saying, “For the first time in over 30 years, we haven’t got a contract and are picketing.” The association’s counter proposal includes “cuts worth $2.8 million,” but the district rejected that because it proposed “staff reductions” that “were already included in the 2010-2011 budget,” according to one school official. The Detroit Free Press notes, “If the district imposes a contract, the teachers could consider a strike.”

Superintendents Call For Reforms Regarding Teacher Hiring, Learning Options, And Charters.
New York City schools Chancellor Joel Klein, DC schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and 14 other school district leaders throughout the US, wrote in an opinion piece for the Washington Post (10/10) titled, that “as educators, superintendents, chief executives and chancellors responsible for educating nearly 2 1/2 million students in America, we know that the task of reforming the country’s public schools begins with us.” They assert that the education reforms they have initiated and those specified under the federal Race to the Top program “are still outpaced and outsized by the crisis in public education.” They point to “teacher hiring and retention,” flexible learning options, and charter schools as issues that must be addressed, and conclude, “Until we fix our schools, the gap between the haves and the have-nots will only grow wider and the United States will fall further behind the rest of the industrialized world in education, rendering the American dream a distant, elusive memory.”

Blogger Refutes “Misinformation” Contained In Superintendents’ Manifesto. Valerie Strauss wrote in the Washington Post (10/9) “the Answer Sheet” blog, “There are so many things wrong with the new “school reform manifesto” signed by 16 school district chiefs…that it is hard to know where to start.” She pointed out, “The document says kids are just sitting around waiting for adults to do something, without noting that adults have been pushing eight years for test-centric reform favored by many of these superintendents with disastrous results.” The document also contains “misinformation,” Strauss added, noting a passage that that says, “the single most important factor determining whether students succeed in school is…the quality of their teacher.” According to Strauss, however, “research actually shows that the home life of students is the single biggest determinant of school achievement. School chiefs can ignore it all they want, but that doesn’t change the facts.”

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In the Classroom
Tardiness Declines After School Implements Dance Sessions At Start Of Each Day.
USA Today (10/11, Hellmich) reports that Conlee Elementary School in Las Cruces, New Mexico uses the Nintendo Wii video game Just Dance “at the start of every school day.” Each morning, “The dance activity is broadcast into classrooms that have TV monitors.” When the ritual began last year, teachers noticed that “tardiness went down.” The daily morning dance activities were inspired by “researchers at New Mexico State University who are investigating the use of active video games as part of an obesity-prevention project funded by the US Department of Agriculture.” The first part of the study focused on game-play “at a laundromat in Hawaii, an after-school program in Connecticut and a low-income community program in Delaware.” For the next part, researchers will test “whether doing an active video game before math and spelling tests improves performance.”

New York Education Officials Were Warned About Problems With Standardized Tests.
The New York Times (10/11, A1, Medina) reports, “When New York State made its standardized English and math tests tougher to pass this year…it said it was relying on a new analysis showing that the tests had become too easy and that score inflation was rampant.” But increasing amounts of evidence over the years has shown that the older tests, “which have formed the basis of almost every school reform effort of the past decade, had serious flaws.” The sharp rise and fall of the state’s “passing rates resulted from the effect of policies, decisions and missed red flags that stretched back more than 10 years,” according to the Times. In that time, experts warned state education officials about the flaws, but the warnings went unheeded. The Times details the actions that led to the state changing its testing system, highlighting the trends in passing rates over the years.

Anti-Bullying Program Teaches Students To Respect Each Others’ Differences.
The Dallas Morning News (10/11, Weiss) reports that the Richardson Independent School District has begun a new anti-bullying program called R time that “has shown remarkable ability to cut down the kid-on-kid oppression that can lead to bullying and violence, school officials say.” Unlike most other anti-bullying programs, R time “spends almost no time specifically addressing bullying or what to do about it.” The program “happens once a week in every classroom in a participating elementary school.” Teachers “randomly [pair] the students, ensuring that kids don’t always link up with friends.” The students are given a topic to discuss with each other, following the “R time rules: Caring at all times, listening, good manners, don’t interrupt, show respect.”

Debate Centers On Whether To Specifically Address Anti-Gay Bullying In Schools. The AP (10/10, Crary) reported that “a spate of teen suicides linked to anti-gay harassment is prompting school officials nationwide to rethink their efforts against bullying — and in the process, risk entanglement in a bitter ideological debate.” The disagreement is between gay rights advocates who “insist that any effective anti-bullying program must include specific components addressing harassment of gay youth.” Meanwhile, “religious conservatives condemn that approach as an unnecessary and manipulative tactic to sway young people’s views of homosexuality.” The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, “one of the largest in the nation…strives to serve schools ranging from progressive to conservative.” Olweus’ “community-by-community approach…enables schools to tailor the program as they see fit in regard to anti-gay bullying.” Meanwhile, New York City schools’ Respect for All Initiative “makes specific mention of sexual orientation in its anti-bullying training for teachers and its materials for students.”

Educator Says Classroom Discipline Is Key Factor In Eliminating Achievement Gap.
Jane Lonnquist, a museum educator in Minnesota, writes in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (10/11) describes her experience working “in two Minneapolis middle schools, both serving 95 percent minority students, 80 percent or more receiving free or reduced school lunch.” The first was a KIPP charter school, where teachers devoted considerable time at the beginning of the year establishing discipline in the classroom. In the second school, which had been reopened “after being closed in 2007 for low performance,” Lonnquist says, “students still seemed to control the culture.” Lonnquist concludes that to tackle the challenges faced by schools and teachers, “we need the urgency to say not one minute can be wasted in helping disadvantaged kids close the gap in their academic achievement. We also need the honesty to say that there is no learning without order in the classroom.”

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On the Job
Agreement Aims To Protect Boston Teachers From Subjective Actions By Principals.
The Baltimore Sun (10/9, Green) reported, “The tentative contract agreement between the Baltimore Teachers Union and the city school district strives to protect educators from” potential “subjective actions by principals, who have been given greater leeway in decisions about their schools during the tenure of schools CEO Andrés Alonso.” Principals have “power over teacher assignments and evaluations,” and the union wants teachers to have “more control over their working conditions and the opportunity to earn hefty pay increases.” The tentative contract “includes stipulations about principal behavior, and requires administrators to participate in training on the new contract and on how to evaluate teachers.” Teachers will vote on the contract this week.

Bloomberg Proposes Stricter Standards For Awarding Teacher Tenure.
The AP (10/11, Matthews) reports that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “announced on national television last week that he would overhaul the way city teachers are granted tenure, linking their advancement to improving student test scores.” The AP notes that states have varying “tenure rules for K-12 teachers…with some operating more like universities and others that offer no stronger protection than job security laws that prevent people from being fired without cause.” In New York City, teachers earn tenure after three years on the job. Afterward, “tenure they cannot be fired without an administrative hearing.” Bloomberg announced the “tenure crackdown” during “a 15-minute MSNBC segment” at the end of September. He said that “principals must start denying tenure unless their students have made two years of progress on state tests.”

New Jersey District to Post Teacher Evaluations Online.
New Jersey.com (10/10, Zimmer) reported that “West Milford will join other school districts throughout the state in posting teacher evaluations online this month.” The district will not post teachers’ names with the evaluations, only “the number of teachers evaluated and the number of teachers that are not effectively teaching – based on standards set by the school district itself.” According to New Jersey.com, the information can “provide local stakeholders with an idea of the standards individual districts set for their faculty” and could be used to compare West Milford schools with other districts. “However, such comparisons aren’t likely to be accurate, due to varying methods of evaluation through the state.”

Law & Policy
North Carolina Schools Must Explain Reasons For Suspension Stipulations, Court Rules.
The New York Times (10/9, Eckholm) reported that the North Carolina Supreme Court issued a ruling last week saying “that schools must provide strong reasons for denying alternative schooling or tutoring to students after they are suspended for misbehavior.” In the case, “two girls who were suspended for five months in 2008 after a brief fistfight at their high school in Beaufort County that involved no weapons or injuries.” While “the suit did not question the district’s right to suspend” the girls, it did object to the district “denying them access to the county’s alternative school for troubled students or help with study at home.” According to legal experts, “the decision, in a case that had drawn national attention from civil rights groups, children’s advocates and school leaders,” will likely “be cited as a precedent as other states confront similar issues.”

Massachusetts District To Close Schools For Muslim Holiday To Promote Equality.
The Boston Globe (10/10, Parker) reported that starting next year, students in Cambridge, Massachusetts public schools “will either close for Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, depending on which holiday falls within the school year. If both fall within the school calendar, the district will close for only one of the days.” Cambridge School Committee member Marc McGovern said that the move is an attempt to treat Christian, Jewish, and Muslim holidays equally. “The issue that sort of came up was should we celebrate any religious holidays, but there was not the will to take away Good Friday or one of the Jewish holidays. … So I said, if that is the case, I think we have an obligation to celebrate one of the Muslim holidays, as well,” said McGovern.

WHDH-TV Boston (10/11) reports that “The dialogue surrounding this decision began a few years ago after Muslim students said they were forced to choose between academics and religious obligations.” According to school officials, the “move is the first of its kind in Massachusetts.” AP (10/10) and NECN-TV Newton, Massachusetts (10/11, Yount) also covered the story.

Also in the News
Study Shows Strong High School Curriculum Helps Boost Students’ Chances Of Graduating College.
Education Week (10/8, Gewertz) reported that ACT’s “Mind the Gaps” study shows that “taking a strong core curriculum in high school and meeting benchmark scores in all four subjects of the ACT college-entrance exam enhance students’ chances of enrolling in college, persisting there for a second year, earning good grades, and obtaining a two- or four-year degree.” Researchers “found that even with college-readiness levels two to four times higher among white and wealthier students than among their less advantaged peers, gaps in college going and college success were narrowed substantially by building a broader base of college readiness among high school students.” Cynthia B. Schmeiser, president of ACT’s education division presented the findings last week, saying, “Ensuring kids are prepared for college by the time they leave high school is the single most important thing we can do to improve college-completion rates.”

NEA in the News
Michigan Education Association President Says “Heroes” In Schools “Worth Celebrating.”
Iris K. Salters, president of the Michigan Education Association, wrote in the Detroit Free Press (10/10, A29) that the film “Waiting for Superman” provides “an incomplete snapshot of areas” in the public education system that need improvement. She adds that the film fails to properly address “some of the core issues facing public schools throughout the country and, in particular, in Michigan.” It also fails to look at the research being done on “how to improve struggling schools,” or “the good things that are happening in our state’s public schools.” Salters asserted that despite factors such as poverty, homelessness, lack of parental involvement, and the school budget crisis, teachers “have worked hard to deliver a quality education.” She concluded, “We’re not waiting for a superhero to save the day — there are real heroes in our schools every day working to ensure every Michigan child succeeds. And that’s worth celebrating.”

Runoff Election Likely To Determine Representation For School Secretaries In Missouri District.
Missouri’s News-Leader (10/9, Riley) reported that last week, the Springfield National Education Association won an election to “determine which [school employee group] would represent secretaries.” But, since “two contested votes weren’t counted,” the SNEA and the Springfield Office Professionals “have 10 business days to officially challenge the results.” SNEA President Ray Smith “said the group’s slim victory and the two uncounted votes make a runoff election likely.”

Report Says Effects Of Recession Likely To Impact School Districts For Years.
Sean Cavanagh wrote in the Education Week (10/7) “State EdWatch” blog that a new report by the Center for Public Education says that “school districts around the country are laying off teachers, cutting instructional programs, and eliminating student activities as they absorb the lingering effects of ‘The Great Recession.’” And, it says, it may take “up to a decade…for district budgets to recover to their pre-recession levels,” as the budgets will likely be impacted by “lagging home prices, poor state budgets, and reduced federal stimulus funding, which is expected to run out by 2011.” In addition, districts “are complying with the ‘underfunded mandates’ of the Individuals with Disabilities Act and the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as with their own states’ academic requirements,” which has further impact on their budgets, study authors say.

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In the Classroom
LAUSD, Gay Advocates Launch Campaign To Combat Bullying.
California’s Contra Costa Times (10/8, Llanos) reports that “in the wake of a recent string of gay teen suicides across the country, Los Angeles Unified officials joined forces with gay-rights advocates Thursday to announce a targeted effort to combat bullying of homosexual youth at local schools.” The district and the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network “will launch an information campaign this month that will include handing out…’Safe School Kits’” in schools. The kits “include stickers that teachers, counselors and administrators can place in their offices or classrooms, which label that space as a ‘safe’ zone” for students. In addition, teachers and administrators will receive resources “that they can connect students to, and tip sheets on how best to counsel students.”

KABC-TV (10/7, McBride) explained that the Safe Schools Kits will help teachers and administrators “create a safe environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) students. The kit provides reading information on how young people can deal with on-campus bullying, cyber bullying, coming out, and homophobia.”

Researcher Seeks To Link Academic Performance, Cell Phone Rewards.
The AP (10/8) reports, “Selected Oklahoma City Public Schools students will receive free cell phones and minutes as part of a Harvard University economist’s research into academic motivation.” For the study, “1,500 local middle-school students” would “receive the phones Friday.” Over a nine-month period, “the students will receive free phones and can earn minutes in exchange for academic success.” The AP notes that “Harvard economist Roland Fryer has conducted similar experiments in a handful of other urban school systems, using money instead of phones as the incentive.”

Playtime Viewed As Critical To Kindergarten Readiness.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (10/8, Rujumba) reports, “In preschool, academic readiness for kindergarten often is measured in terms of how well a youngster can grasp basic concepts like counting and identifying shapes, letters and colors” yet “how a child handles play time is another important marker, educators contend.” The Post-Gazette adds, “Many see finding ways to enhance success in preschool as a major battle in the fight to reduce the dropout rate and boost academic achievement at all grade levels. Speaking in New Mexico last week, President Barack Obama stressed that idea as he explained his school reform agenda.”

Two-Year Kindergarten Programs Growing In Popularity In California District.
KXTV-TV Sacramento, CA (10/8, Larsen) reports, “Two-year kindergarten programs are growing in popularity among Sacramento schools and parents. Sacramento City Unified School District began Early-Kinder programs at four elementary schools this year.” According to KXTV, “Parents who want to give their kids more time in the classroom and an extra edge academically are choosing the two-year kinder track, particularly if their child is young for their class.”

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On the Job
Los Angeles Mayor Vows To Press On With Teacher Layoff Policy Overhaul.
The AP (10/8, Hoag) reports that Los Angeles Unified School District’s “sweeping overhaul of seniority-based teacher layoffs and other reforms…will continue despite teachers union opposition, city and school officials said Thursday.” The United Teachers Los Angeles said Wednesday that “it would challenge” the proposal, “saying it had been left out of negotiations.” Said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday, “There’s not an anti-union bone in my body. I’ll continue to reach out to them, I want to work with them. … But with or without them, we’re moving ahead.” UTLA has also said that it wants to “meet with the school board and the ACLU to review the terms of the proposed settlement and voice its objections.”

Law & Policy
Education Department To Issue School Discipline Guidance With “Disparate-Impact Analysis.”
Education Week (10/7, Zehr) reported that federal officials “plan to use ‘disparate-impact analysis’ in enforcing school discipline cases” in an effort to emphasize “that addressing racial disparities in school discipline is a high priority.” Thomas E. Perez, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice, pointed out at a conference recently that “students of color are receiving different and harsher disciplinary punishments than whites for the same or similar infractions, and they are disproportionately impacted by zero-tolerance policies — a fact that only serves to exacerbate already deeply entrenched disparities in many communities.” It was announced at the conference that the Education Department’s office for civil rights “will release guidance this winter on school discipline that will include an analysis of disparate impact.”

Schundler Says New Jersey Governor Feared Appearance Of Giving In To Teachers Union.
The New York Times (10/8, Pena) reports that former New Jersey education commissioner Bret D. Schundler on Thursday “told a State Senate hearing” that “before rejecting a compromise with teachers that would have” helped the state win a federal Race to the Top grant, Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) “main objection was that it would appear that he had given in to the teachers’ union.” At the “hearing investigating the loss of the federal grant,” Schundler also told lawmakers “that in his conversation with the governor, in May, he had explained that it was the union that had given ground, and that the administration had won nearly everything it wanted.” But Christie, “who had battled the union all year,” was more concerned with how the compromise “would be perceived,” he noted. Meanwhile, Christie’s press secretary Michael Drewniak said that the governor “had rejected the plan because it ‘fell far short of the education reforms the governor has long endorsed.’”

Special Needs

Two Oklahoma Districts Refuse To Pay Private School Fees For Special Needs Students.
KOTV-TV Tulsa (10/8, Wright) reports that “The controversy continues over the rights of special needs students” in Oklahoma, as the Jenks and Broken Arrow refuse to comply with “a new law providing public funding for special needs kids who want to attend private school.” Under the law, “parents of special needs students who think they’re children would fare better at a private school are now supposed to be allowed to send them to one” – at the local public school district’s expense. The Jenks and Broken Arrow school districts, however, say the “law violates the State Constitution.” Lisa Muller, Jenks Assistant Superintendent, told KOTV, “We do not disagree with parent’s individual right to choose a private school for their children if they believe that’s the better option, but our concern is just taking those public funds with them.” She added, “I would expect that this will be decided eventually by the courts.”

KTUL-TV Tulsa (10/8) reports that if the Broken Arrow school district “followed the law they could lose a decent chunk of change. Special needs kids in Broken Arrow make up 14% of the total student population, that’s a couple of thousand dollars per student of state funding.” It adds that “according to the Oklahoma Constitution, public funding cannot go to private schools directly or indirectly.” The Jenks (OK) Journal (10/7) also covered the story.

Facilities
US Green Building Council Launches Center For Green Schools.
Greener World Media (10/8) reports on the US Green Building Council’s new Center for Green Schools that was launched last week. Council President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi said the Center “is engaging educators in creating sustainable learning environments for their students and applying solid research to inform leadership — from school boards to college presidents — about the benefits of healthy, high-performing schools.” Through its Green Schools Program, the Building Council seeks to make sure that every student “has the opportunity to attend a green school within this generation,” he added.

Also in the News
Recovery School District Is Louisiana’s Most Improved In 2009-10, State Data Show.
WGNO-TV New Orleans (10/8) reports that Louisiana’s Recovery School District (RSD) “was the state’s most improved district in 2009-2010, according to preliminary District Performance Scores (DPS) released by the State Department of Education” Thursday. The district’s growth in School Performance Scores (SPS) “was twice that of the state. The state’s average SPS increased by 3.1 percentage points,” while the recovery school District’s was 6.6 points. The accomplishment is remarkable, especially since “The RSD took over the lowest performing schools in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, and five years after the storm the RSD continues to enroll children who haven’t been to school consistently since Katrina,” WGNO notes. Still, Superintendent Paul Vallas acknowledged, “There is clearly much more work to do in the RSD to bring scores up, particularly in our high schools.”

“Race To Nowhere” Film Highlights Student Stress.
The Washington Post (10/8, George) reports that the documentary “Race to Nowhere” has become “a growing grass-roots phenomenon in the achievement-minded Washington area and beyond.” According to the Post, the film “has raised difficult questions about how to raise well-adjusted children at a time when schools seem test-obsessed, advanced classes are the norm and parents worry that their sons and daughters will not go as far in life as they have. … The film is attracting notice from New York to California, where mom-turned-filmmaker, Vicki Abeles, a 48-year-old lawyer, launched the documentary project as she set out to understand the stresses her children, now ages 16, 14 and 11, were experiencing.”

Maryland High School Graduation Rate Climbing.
The Baltimore Sun (10/7, Bowie, Green) reports, “More Maryland high school students are graduating and fewer are dropping out than two years ago, defying critics of the state’s graduation testing requirement who feared the tougher standards would drive kids to leave school or fail.” The change in particularly marked in Baltimore, where “at 4 percent, the city’s dropout rate is now half what it was three years ago, a swift decline that won praise from education experts.” Ccritics “feared thousands of students might either become discouraged they would never pass the four end-of-course tests and drop out of high school or that students would stay and fail to get a diploma in the spring of their senior year,” but officials argue “the High School Assessments have only raised the standards for students and enabled more to get a diploma.”

More Maryland Students Opt For Alternative Assessments. The Washington Post (10/7, Birnbaum) reports, “Maryland’s high school testing requirements were designed to increase rigor and the value of the state’s diplomas, but only a tiny fraction of seniors this year failed to graduate because of their exam results, and an increasing number of students are using alternative assessments because they have difficulty passing the regular tests.” Data from the State Department of Education indicates that “0.06 percent of seniors failed to receive their diplomas because of the tests and 8.6 percent of the senior class graduated only after completing the alternative projects, an increase of 2.3 percentage points from 2009.” Further, “some students received waivers exempting them from the requirements altogether.” State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick said “the use of alternative assessments [is] growing because there are more recent immigrants and those learning English in the state.”

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In the Classroom
Media Company Creates Curriculum For Digital Citizenship.
NPR (10/6) reported, “In the wake of a Rutgers University student’s suicide, researchers who study youth and the Internet say schools need to do a better job of teaching kids the basics of digital citizenship.” John Pelfrey of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society says that legislation “to make the penalties in cyberbullying cases harsher” by itself will not “change bad behavior.” He recommends more mentoring and education. To that end, Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Commonsense Media, “a nonprofit that provides information about movies, video games and technology for children, has written a curriculum to help schools teach digital citizenship. It focuses on how to teach youth to think critically about the Internet and make ethical decisions about its use.” According to Steyer, schools are behind when it comes to teaching online ethics. “I think that the technological revolution has in some cases outpaced schools’ ability to keep track of it,” he said.

Chinese Government Aid Boosts Mandarin-Language Instruction In US.
Education Week (10/5, Robelen) reported, “With China’s growing power and influence on the global stage, efforts are burgeoning to promote teaching the official Chinese language in US schools” and “one key player taking an increased role is the Chinese government itself. Just this year, the Office of Chinese Language Council International-or Hanban, an affiliate of China’s Ministry of Education-committed millions of dollars to help launch several ventures with US schools.” According to Education Week, “As school districts grapple with tough financial straits, the money from China for the most part appears to be getting a welcome reception in local schools and communities.”

On the Job
United Teachers Los Angeles Bemoans Exclusion From Layoff Negotiations.
The Los Angeles Times (9/7, Blume, Song) reports that leaders of the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) yesterday “angrily denounced” an agreement between the Los Angeles BOE and the ACLU “that would result in sweeping changes to teacher seniority protections.” Though the UTLA “was a defendant in [a] lawsuit” filed by the ACLU “over layoff procedures that effectively decimated the staffs of three schools serving low-income minority students,” the teachers union “was not involved in the negotiations that led to Tuesday’s resolution.” Regarding the tentative agreement, UTLA President A.J. Duffy said, “The policy is disturbing and it’s disturbing because we weren’t involved in the process. .. We should have been consulted and we weren’t. There is a growing pattern within the district and the board majority to leave teachers out of the discussion and the debate.”

The AP (9/7, Hoag) reports that while the agreement “is being hailed as a landmark that could pave the way for changes in urban districts across the nation,” the UTLA has “serious concerns.” One major concern is that “the agreement would leave low-performing schools with a higher concentration of less experienced teachers.” The UTLA said that “the settlement does nothing to solve ongoing staffing problems at hard-to-staff schools.”

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Law & Policy
Diversity Proponents Hail North Carolina District’s Scrapping Of Community Schools Plan.
North Carolina’s News & Observer (10/7, Hui) reports that “supporters of Wake County’s discarded socioeconomic diversity policy are hailing the school board’s decision” Tuesday “to halt work on a new community schools plan,” which aims to “divide the county into 16 community assignment zones.” State NAACP President Rev. William Barber, one of the more vocal opponents of the community schools plan, released a statement saying, “We believe yesterday’s vote to stop the student assignment process is a step in the right direction.” Also, the Leaders of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, “a group that supported the old diversity policy, said…they were encouraged by Tuesday’s vote.” The News & Observer notes, however, that “the latest vote still leaves in place the policy change approved by the board in May that dropped the use of socioeconomic diversity in the student assignment policy.”

The AP (10/6) reported, “A member of the Wake County school board says she still supports community-based schools, despite her vote to ditch a student assignment plan meant to replace one based on diversity.” Vice chair Debra Goldman said Wednesday that she voted to drop the assignment plan because the one “being developed by a committee doesn’t adhere to the board’s own policy, including the part that guarantees a base assignment close to a student’s home.”

Former North Carolina Education Official Says District’s Progress Comes Despite School Assignments. J.B. Buxton, former deputy state superintendent for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, wrote in an opinion piece for the Charlotte (NC) Observer (10/6), “The Wake County school board’s draft student assignment maps” appear to “give us more high-poverty and racially segregated schools, fewer magnet seats in downtown schools and the continued need for significant busing. This is the Charlotte story.” According to Buxton, the idea that “recent progress in student performance in Charlotte proves that achieving balance in student assignment doesn’t matter” is “cynical” and “wrong.” He asserts that “progress has resulted from actions taken to address challenges created in part by the assignment plan. It has also meant higher levels of local spending in Charlotte than in Wake” in order to get “levels of performance that Wake has had for years.”

About 30 Wisconsin School Districts Drop Indian Names For Mascots.
USA Today (10/7, Keen) reports that a Wisconsin law that began taking effect in May, “allows school district residents to lodge complaints against race-based names.” After a complaint is filed, the state Department of Public Instruction “holds a hearing” and “districts can argue that a name isn’t discriminatory if they have a tribe’s approval.” Since the law has been in effect, says Barbara Munson, chair of a Wisconsin Indian Education Association task force on mascots and logos, “about 30 school districts use Indian names and about 30 dropped them voluntarily.” The decision has not been easy for some. The Kewaunee School Board, for instance, “intended to fight” a complaint filed against its mascot. Eventually, the school board “changed its mind…and decided to voluntarily drop the name.” According to Munson, resistance on the issue “is a failure of mainstream American culture to deal with stereotyping.”

Florida Ballot Initiative Proposes Raising Class Size Limit.
The AP (10/6, Armario, Kaczor) reported, “Florida’s class-size requirements would be loosened under a measure on next month’s ballot.” According to the AP, “This year, each core curriculum classroom must have no more than 18 students in pre-kindergarten through third grade; 22 in fourth through eighth grade; and 25 in high school. Amendment 8 would raise the cap to 21 in pre-kindergarten through third grade; to 27 in fourth through eighth grade; and to 30 in high school.”

Salt Lake City School District May Be First In Utah To Ban Anti-Gay Discrimination.
The Salt Lake Tribune (10/6, Winters) reported that Salt Lake City School Board on Wednesday “weighed an amendment that would add sexual orientation to the list of characteristics, such as race and religion, that would be illegal to use to target someone for harassment.” If adopted, the amendment would make Salt Lake City public schools the first district in Utah “to ban discrimination” specifically “against gay students and employees.” But Will Carlson, “an openly gay candidate for school board,” argued that “the change doesn’t go far enough,” and “should also include gender identity so that transgender students and employees are protected.” While some board members “supported the proposal as written,” others said they are opposed “to expanding the district’s policy to include another ‘protected class.’” Still, the Tribune notes, “it appeared likely” on Tuesday that “the measure can secure a four-vote majority to pass.”

Many New Jersey Superintendents Oppose Governor’s Teacher Merit-Pay Plan.
New Jersey’s Record and Herald News (10/6, Kim) reported that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “recently announced his plan to set up a new system that would attack [teacher] tenure and involve merit-based pay.” The system would end “salary increases and raises based on a teacher’s seniority.” While “many local education administrators agree there’s a need to improve the public school system, they say Christie’s proposal…may be an overly simple formula for achieving success in the classroom.” Englewood Superintendent Richard Segall pointed out, for instance, “Kids arrive in a school at very different points throughout the school year. Sometimes they make phenomenal progress because of one or two teachers.” But he added that it is difficult, if at all possible, to “draw the difference.” Superintendents of other districts said that “merit-based pay is out of the question” due to cost and lack of evidence linking it to student performance.

Special Needs
Most Americans Do Not Understand Learning Disabilities, Poll Finds.
USA Today (10/7, Klinck) reports, “Despite an increased understanding that kids learn differently, a majority of Americans still do not completely understand what conditions are related to learning disabilities,” finds a new poll conducted by the Tremaine Foundation. According to USA Today, the Tremaine Foundation’s “report says that 79% of parents and 80% of non-parents incorrectly associate mental retardation with a learning disorder. … These misconceptions may lead to shortcomings in addressing learning disabilities in schools.”

Education Week (10/6, Samuels) adds that “despite a general perception among” poll “respondents that they have heard a lot about learning disabilities and understand the nature of learning differences, many were also willing to chalk learning disabilities up to laziness or the home environment. Many people also linked learning disabilities to other disorders, such as blindness or deafness.”

Agreement Would Limit Number Of Los Angeles Teachers Laid Off Based On Seniority.
The Los Angeles Times (10/6, Song, et al.) reports that on Tuesday, the Los Angeles BOE approved an agreement that “would cap the number of” teachers laid off based solely on seniority. In addition, the agreement “would spare up to 45 struggling schools from layoffs. Many of those schools have disruptive turnover rates among teachers.” The changes are aimed at making sure “layoffs based on seniority” are “distributed evenly among district schools” so that “no school [loses] a disproportionate number of instructors.”

The AP (10/ Dillon) reports that the new agreement comes after the ACLU in February “sued the state, which cut education funding to close its massive budget deficit, and” the Los Angeles Unified School District, “which it accused of violating the rights of inner-city students to a quality education as spelled out in the state constitution.” KABC-TV Los Angeles (10/5, Ravindhran) also covered the story.

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In the Classroom
Organizations Partner To Make Google Apps Available In New York Classrooms.
PC World (10/5, Perez) reported that the New York Institute of Technology is partnering with “the New York State Teacher Centers and associated Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, the New York State teacher unions and New York State professional organizations” to make Google Apps “available to teachers and more than 3.1 million” K-12 students in New York public and private schools. The apps includes “e-mail, instant messaging, calendar and office productivity applications like word processing.” PC Magazine (10/5, Horn) reported that “Google Apps will allow students to collaborate on projects and engage with students and teachers at any time.”

Information Week (10/6, Claburn) notes that “Oregon became the first state to make Google Apps Education Edition available statewide” in April. Iowa, Colorado, and Maryland also make Google Apps an option in schools. The Wall Street Journal (10/6, Efrati) and the Washington Post (10/5, Rao) “Tech Crunch” blog also covered the story.

Teaching Social, Emotional Skills Could Improve Overall Learning.
The Chicago Tribune (10/6, Rubin) reports, “In 2004, Illinois became the first state in the nation to require all school districts to teach social and emotional skills as part of their curriculum and daily school life.” As part of their studies, “students are expected to meet certain benchmarks, such as recognizing and managing feelings, building empathy and making responsible decisions.” According to experts such as University of Illinois, Chicago, psychology professor Roger Weissberg, “the touchy-feely stuff doesn’t have to come at the expense of intellect. New evidence shows a strong link between interpersonal skills and academics.” Weissberg said, “Some teachers may be skeptical about (Social and Emotional Learning) at first, but they are won over when their students learn more, are more engaged and better problem solvers.” The Tribune describes how social and emotional learning is employed in the classroom, such as in the case of a science lab.

Indiana Education Officials Asking Parents To Pledge School Involvement.
The AP (10/5) reported that the Indiana “Department of Education is touting a new ‘parents pledge’ it hopes will increase parent involvement in schools. … Parents who take the pledge commit to having their child read every day, complete homework assignments, graduate from high school and treat classmates and teachers with respect.” According to the AP, “Parents commit to encouraging their children to ‘dream big’ and to monitoring their child’s academic growth.” WXIN-TV Indianapolis, IN (10/5) also covered this story on its Website.

On the Job
Survey Shows Most Pittsburgh Teachers Like Workplace, Want More Instructional Autonomy.
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review (10/6, Weigand) reports that according to a survey by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, teachers in Pittsburgh “want more say in how they teach, more time in the classroom and better mentoring.” The survey of educators, conducted in April and May, included more than 2,150 participants, mostly teachers.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette (10/5, Chute) reported that the survey released Tuesday also shows “that 78 percent of the district’s educators agree that their school is a good place to work and learn. The California-based New Teacher Center conducted the anonymous survey to which 85 percent of the district’s teachers responded.” KDKA-TV Pittsburgh (10/6) also covers the story.

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Law & Policy
New California Law To Raise Kindergarten Eligibility Age.
The San Diego Union-Tribune (10/5, Persinger) reports that California officials expect the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010, now signed into law, “to reduce the current 460,000 kindergarten students each year by 120,000 children once it is fully phased in. … Under the law, the [kindergarten] eligibility date will move up by one month each year until 2014, when only children who turn 5 years old by Sept. 1 will be allowed to enroll.” According to the Union-Tribune, “Supporters of the law say the youngest kindergartners lack the physical, emotional and even intellectual maturity to deal with today’s kindergarten, which focuses more on academics than finger painting.”

Utah Leaders Consider Move To All-Day Kindergarten.
The Deseret Morning News (UT) (10/6, Farmer) reports that Utah “is considering if and how to fund optional extended-day kindergarten throughout Utah. On Tuesday, the Legislature’s Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee heard from Brenda Hales, associate superintendent from the State Office of Education, about a pilot program in its fourth year that is currently serving more than 8,000 students.” According to the Morning News, “Representatives from higher education as well as the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce have recommended that the governor and Legislature implement universal extended-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs statewide.”

Virginia District Considers Full-Day Kindergarten. The Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot (10/6, Hulette) reports that the Chesapeake (VA) School Board “is considering an all-day schedule for all its kindergartens. Advocates argued it would be a tremendous benefit for financially strapped parents who work all day and have trouble paying for day care.” According to the Virginian-Pilot, “If Chesapeake made the switch, it would join not only Hampton and Norfolk, but also Suffolk and Portsmouth” among Virginia district “offering only full-day kindergarten.”

Laid Off Tenured Teachers Must Be Given “Foot In The Door” For District Jobs.
The Huffington Post (10/6) reports that Federal Judge James Coar “has ruled that the layoffs of hundreds of Chicago Public Schools teachers must be rescinded, and that provisions must be made for their possible rehiring.” Over the summer more than “1,300 teachers were laid off. … At issue in this court case were the 749 of those fired who were fully tenured staff.” Under Coar’s order, the laid off tenured teachers must “be given a ‘foot in the door’ to apply for future openings at the district.”

WGN-TV Chicago (10/5) reported that Chicago Public Schools “has 30 days to work with the” teachers’ union “to set up a system to help tenured teachers pursue current job openings. The union plans to seek back pay and reinstatement from the Illinois Labor Relations Board.” WBEX-FM Chicago (10/5, Clauss) also covered the story.

Judge Rules New York District’s Teacher Housing Proximity Rule “Unenforceable.”
The Buffalo (NY) News (10/6, Baldwin) reports that according to New York State Supreme Court Justice Justice Ralph A. Boniello III, the Niagara Falls School Board’s “effort to make sure that all of its employees live within the school district is ‘reasonable,’ but its implementation is so flawed that the policy is ‘unenforceable, incomplete … arbitrary and capricious.’” Last year, “the School Board fired seven employees…under its strict policy of local residence.” Boniello ordered that two of the teachers be reinstated “with full back pay and benefits retroactive” from the day of their firing.

School Finance
Los Angeles Public Schools Faces $268 Million Shortfall Next Year.
The AP (10/6) reports that Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines “says the district faces a $268 million budget deficit for the next academic year that could affect up to 3,300 jobs.” In a statement on Tuesday, Cortines proposed “partially covering the shortfall by using $103 million in federal jobs funding and reducing expenses by $5 million at central headquarters and district offices.” He also said that “the district will discuss several options with unions to avoid layoffs.”

Proposal Would Make Head Start Funding Competitive.
Education Week (10/5, Samuels) reported, “In one of the biggest changes to Head Start in its 45-year history, the US Department of Health and Human Services has announced proposed rules that would force low-performing programs to compete for their federal funding.” According to Education Week, “About 1,600 Head Start grantees around the country run programs for low-income preschool children,” and at “least a quarter of the grantees being evaluated in any given year-those falling below a certain performance threshold-would be required under the new rule to ‘recompete’ for their grants against other interested entities in the community.”

Also in the News
President Obama Convenes First White House Community College Summit.
The AP (10/6, Superville) reports that President Obama “said Tuesday he wants to see community colleges produce an additional 5 million graduates by 2020, arguing the schools are crucial to America’s future competitiveness. Obama made his comments in the East Room as he convened his first White House summit on community colleges.” According to the AP, “The daylong exercise at the White House included representatives from some of the nation’s 1,200 community colleges, along with officials from business, philanthropy and government.”

San Francisco Giving Kindergartners College “Seed Money.”
The AP (10/6) reports, “Kindergartners at 18 public schools in San Francisco are getting a gift from the city” – up to $100 “each in seed money for their college educations.” On Monday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and city Treasurer Jose Cisneros announced “the taxpayer-financed savings plan” that they say may be “the first of its kind for a US city. …The city has budgeted $257,000 to set up initial savings accounts for about 1,200 children, or one-quarter of its kindergartners.”

College Promise Scholarship Expands In Detroit Public Schools.
The Detroit News (10/6, Williams) reports that the Detroit College Promise scholarship program is being expanded in Detroit Public Schools. “The nonprofit organization, modeled after the Kalamazoo Promise, initially offered the program to Cody High School’s graduating class of 2009.” It included “five additional high schools” for the class of 2010, and next year, 500 of the 1,700 students who signed up for the program this year are expected “to follow through with the application process.” In 2009, the scholarships ranged from $500 to $2,000. “The scholarship program also assists students and parents in finding additional grant money for their education.”

Report Highlights Negative Impact Of Foreclosures On Student Performance.
Crain’s New York Business (10/5, Fung) reports that a report released Monday by New York University’s Institute for Education and Social Policy and NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy “highlights the increasingly negative impact…that foreclosures are having on New York City school children.” The report covering the 2006-07 school year shows that “there were 18,525 school children from grades K-12 in homes facing foreclosure, up 59% from the 2003-2004 academic year.” About “100 schools in the city…had 5 percent or more of their student body experiencing a foreclosure.” And, schools with the highest “concentration of children living in a home heading into foreclosure” had “reading and math test scores” much lower than other schools. In the coming months, the second part of the study will be released, focusing on “the 2008-2009 academic year and…whether foreclosures force students to move to lower-performing schools.”

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In the Classroom
Middle School Music Class Enrollment Increases Under New Texas Law.
The Dallas Morning News (10/5, Fox) reports that “a state law that recently took effect requires that middle school students log at least one fine arts credit in grades six through eight.” As a result of the new law, band classes throughout North Texas are experiencing an enrollment boom. To keep up with the demand, “some school districts [are asking] businesses and parents to donate new or used musical instruments and” are seeking grants. While “Most schools with active band programs try to provide large instruments, such as percussion instruments and bass violins,” lower-income schools “often don’t have enough instruments to go around, and many students can’t afford the rental fees.” The Morning News notes, however, that “while the new law does create a need for new instruments, many fine arts officials say it has opened an important and neglected door for middle school arts education.”

NASA-Sponsored Program Exposes Students To STEM Careers.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting (10/4, Brown) reported the West Virginia Aerospace and Engineering Scholars (WVAES) program, “a new NASA sponsored program at Fairmont State University, is helping some high school students in WV explore future careers as scientists, mathematicians and engineers,” and could “help keep talented students in the state.” The program, which is open to all high school juniors, includes an online course and focuses on space exploration. Dr. Anthony Gilberti of Fairmont State explained, “We are utilizing NASA missions and the experiences that an astronaut might look at and we have taken those and we have placed those into a curriculum of study where students learn about space activities, launches, aerospace in flight and living environments in space.” Gilberti noted “the West Virginia scholars program is modeled after a similar one in Virginia.”

Tennessee County Opens First Fully Integrated STEM Academy.
The Tennessean (10/4, Stevens) reported on “the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System’s new STEM Academy, a specialized school within Kenwood High School,” which according to officials “is the first of its kind in the United States.” Lead administrator Christi Fordham explained, “Some other schools in the country integrate science and math instruction, but this is the first one we know about that pulls together all four, plus we keep the 46 academy students together for English and Social Studies classes.” The Tennessean noted, “The academy’s goal is to identify and attract students who have an intense interest and aptitude in math, science and engineering and then prepare them with a challenging, integrated curriculum to move into a rigorous college program and a STEM oriented career.” Kenwood High was selected “because of its central location and capacity to house the entire program.”

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On the Job
Wisconsin Teachers Learn Rocket Science At Orbitec Workshop.
The Wisconsin State Journal (10/4, Newman) reported, “A dozen teachers from the Madison area and around the state learned about nose cones, payloads and igniters as they built rockets and then fired them high into the sky above Orbital Technologies Corp. (Orbitec) on Saturday,” which “hosted a daylong workshop in rocket science” for the educators. “The workshop was funded by a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of a nationwide effort to promote science, technology, engineering and math. Orbitec systems engineer Todd Treichel, who led the workshop, said he would like to see teachers pass the message along to students that such fields are not ‘grueling or painful’ but can be fun. Students who are interested in computer games might like computer simulations of rocket launches, for example, he said.”

Report Calls For Greater Developmental Science Training For Teachers.
Education Week (10/5, Sawchuk) reports, “Education programs should more explicitly train teacher candidates in the rudiments of developmental science, and need policy support from states and the federal government to do so, asserts a report released this morning by a panel convened by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. … The paper contends that a greater emphasis on developmental science in the course of teacher preparation is especially warranted given that research appears to point toward instruction rooted in that field as one way of boosting academic achievement.” According to Education Week. “The report outlines a number of avenues through which policymakers could strengthen the pre-service focus on developmental science, including through individual programs’ requirements and assessments; the national-accreditation process; state licensing and accreditation regimes; and federal programs and policy governing teacher-preparation and school-turnaround initiatives.”

Law & Policy
Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal Against Ban On Religious Music In Schools.
Mark Walsh wrote in the Education Week (10/4) “School Law” blog, “On the first day of its new term, the US Supreme Court today declined without comment to hear the appeal of a parent who challenged a New Jersey school district’s restrictions on religious music at holiday performances in its schools.” The South Orange-Maplewood School District allows “secular holiday selections such as ‘Winter Wonderland’…and ‘Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer’” for its winter concerts, but “religious selections such as ‘Joy to the World’…and ‘Silent Night’ are not allowed.” Last November, the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ruled “that the district’s policy was not hostile to religion in violation of the First Amendment, nor did it violate the rights of student to receive information and ideas.” Walsh noted that “the justices’ refusal without comment to hear the parent’s appeal is not a ruling on the merits of the case.”

Safety & Security
Networks Available To Help Bullied Gay Teens.
The AP (10/5, Italie) reports that advocates for gay teenagers say that recent suicides of “teens who were believed to have been victims of anti-gay bullying point to the need for even more widespread help” for these students. The AP points out some existing programs aimed at helping gay teens. They include Gay-Straight Alliances (GLSEN) in about 4,000 schools nationwide. “Another nonprofit focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, the Trevor Project, operates a free, confidential hotline (866 4-U-Trevor) for counseling and suicide prevention around the clock.” Eliza Byard, executive director of GLSEN, told the AP, “The single most important line of defense for young people in crisis is a network of visibly supportive adults, in their own community, in school, at home. … We’re talking about a very big country, and far too few young people have access to those supports.”

School Finance

Union Buy-In Varies Among Teacher Incentive Fund Grant Winners.
Education Week (10/4, Zehr) reported, “Four urban school districts that have won some of the largest shares of the $442 million in grants handed out last month through the federal Teacher Incentive Fund have varying levels of buy-in from their local teachers’ unions, which could affect how their plans for performance-based teacher compensation play out. … Started in 2006 under President George W. Bush, the Teacher Incentive Fund’s purpose is to support efforts to create performance-based teacher and principal pay systems in high-needs schools.” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “has…been a strong supporter of the fund” and during his tenure as Chicago schools chief, Duncan “oversaw Chicago’s iteration of the program, called the Teacher Advancement Program.”

Utah State Superintendent Puts Positive Spin On Low Per-Pupil Spending.
The Salt Lake Tribune (10/4, Schencker) reported that “some state education leaders want the public – and lawmakers” – in Utah want to transform the way the state’s per-pupil education spending is viewed by the public. Said state Superintendent Larry Shumway, “Utah has the most efficient school system in the country. … We’re getting our job done in Utah with 22 percent less than any other state.” Utah currently spends less per student on education than any other state or DC. Despite that Shumway noted, “Utah students tend to score at or above national averages on a number of academic measures.” But, a report by the Utah Foundation released this week shows that while that is true when “com­pared with the nation as a whole,” when “compared with only states with similar ethnic makeups, parental education levels and poverty rates, Utah students most often rank last on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.”

Also in the News
More Minorities In STEM Could Help US Remain Competitive, Report Finds.
The Huffington Post (10/5) reports, “One way to ensure that the US remains competitive in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is by increasing the level of minorities who pursue postsecondary education in these fields.” This is according to a report, “Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads,” from the National Academies, which “calls for schools at the elementary, secondary and undergraduate level to encourage the participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM studies.” The Post notes, “Although drastic changes must be made throughout all tiers of the education system in order to achieve parity in STEM fields, Science Magazine reports that it may be worthwhile to focus efforts on the undergraduate level.”

New Orleans Superintendent Helps Design Education System For Haiti.
Louisiana’s Times-Picayune (10/ Chang) reported that New Orleans schools Superintendent Paul Vallas recently spent time in Haiti to help the quake-hit nation “design a public education system.” He has “made seven or eight trips to Haiti — using vacation time or unpaid leave — since he began his unpaid job there in February.” The Times-Picayune added that “as a leading architect of the $4.2 billion education plan presented to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission in August, Vallas was not so much remaking a school system as creating one from scratch,” since most schools in Haiti are private. The plan is to make education free or nearly free for all students. “Most schools are likely to remain private, but they would receive subsidies in exchange for reducing tuition, implementing a national curriculum and improving their facilities.”

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In the Classroom
Utah Schools Could Implement International Model Math By 2014.
The Salt Lake Tribune (10/3, Schencker) reported that on Friday, Utah’s Board of Education voted to merge some math classes, so that “instead of taking a full year of algebra, algebra II and geometry, students would take classes that progressively integrate all those concepts.” Switching to the new method, called the international model of math instruction, “is part of the state’s adoption of the Common Core, new academic standards being embraced by a number of states.” The international model is currently being “used in most other countries, including those that perform well in math,” according to Brenda Hales, state associate superintendent. Hales also said that the change is likely to take effect in Utah beginning with the 2014-15 school year.

Program Brings Professional Musicians Into Public School Classrooms.
The Sacramento Bee (10/ 1, B1, Ortiz) reported, “Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute has partnered with the Sacramento Philharmonic and the Vocal and Instrumental Teaching Artists Academy to bring music instruction to 18 schools in the Sacramento region this year.” The program called Link Up is operating nationwide to “bring teachers and professional musicians into third- through fifth-grade classrooms around the region.” Throughout the school year, students in the “Sacramento City Unified, San Juan Unified, Twin Rivers” districts “will have a chance to interact with the orchestra, in a program that concludes with two concerts in May.”

On the Job
Teachers In Virginia District Lobby School Board For Pay Increases After Two-Year Freeze.
The Washington Post (10/3, Sieff) reported that teachers in Fairfax County, Virginia, “are lobbying the School Board to spend anticipated federal funds on pay raises instead of hiring hundreds of new instructors.” Over the past two years, teachers in the district have had their salaries frozen and some have even “been hit by non-salary pay cuts.” The Post notes, “Raises for existing teachers – while permitted by the jobs bill approved in August – would do little to advance the goal of creating or saving teaching positions.” And, some board members “have expressed doubts about using one-time federal funds for an ongoing expense such as a permanent pay raise for the county’s 14,000 teachers.”

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Law & Policy
Federal Government, Boston Schools Settle English Learner Probe.
The AP (10/2, Contreras) reported, “Federal officials and the Boston Public Schools have reached an agreement over allegations that the school district violated federal law by not providing English instruction to students with a limited grasp of the language, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday. Under the agreement, Boston Public Schools agreed to assess the English proficiency of an estimated 7,000 students who were not previously tested in how well they understand, speak, read and write English.” According to the AP, “In a statement Friday, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and [ED]‘s Office for Civil Rights said that since 2003, Boston Public Schools had failed to properly identify and adequately serve thousands of English language learners under federal law.”

The Boston Globe (10/2, Vaznis) added that “Boston schools did not admit to any wrongdoing in signing the agreement, which aims to remedy the problems without going to court. But the Justice Department reserves the right to bring legal action against the school district if it fails to implement the agreement and will conduct a comprehensive review this fall of all the district’s programs for English-language learners.”

Education Week (10/1, Zehr) added that the “44-page agreement requires that, starting this school year, all of Boston’s 135 schools provide services to English-language learners, even if the schools don’t have large numbers of such students, something that wasn’t happening before. It also includes a mandate that the district offer ‘compensatory services’ to students who previously had been deemed as ‘opting out’ of language services that they were entitled to receive under federal law.”

Proposed Power-Sharing Plan For Newark Public Schools Creates Controversy.
Education Week (10/1, Gewertz) reported that “the power-sharing arrangement proposed” for Newark public schools by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker (D), and Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has led to “a tangle of blowback and counterpunches as skeptics contend their plan would violate state law.” It is unclear “how much power Mr. Booker…would have over the schools,” but Christie told reporters last week “the mayor would be ‘the lead person on my behalf’ in the school system, working with the governor to choose a new superintendent and remold education practice.” Still, “the prospect that the mayor could wield decision-making power” over a district that has “been under state control for 15 years” is a concern for “education law experts, who maintain that state law would prohibit such a power shift.” Meanwhile, some activists that support Newark regaining “control of its own schools question whether the Booker-Christie plan represents an extension of state control.”

South Dakota Effort Seeks To Boost Academic Progress Among Native American Students.
The AP (10/3, Brokaw) reported that South Dakota’s state Education Department “is collaborating with teachers, school administrators and others to take a new approach to improving academic achievement and graduation rates among American Indian students.” Indian Education Advisory Council has been tasked with developing “five-year goals and plans to improve American Indian students’ performance.” For instance, one “draft goal calls for closing the achievement and graduation gaps between Indian and non-Indian students in the next five years.” The Council “will set realistic details such as how much that gap can be narrowed each year and what methods are used to do that.” According to LuAnn Werdel, director of Indian education for the state Education Department, council members “have years of experience working in rural and urban areas and in schools administrated by the state, tribes and the federal government.”

School Finance
Indiana Paid Schools $94 Million In 2009 For “Ghost” Students.
The AP (10/ 3) reported that Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett is pushing a school funding “formula that would let education money follow each student.” Since 1981, the state has provided “schools with funding for students who leave at a declining rate for three additional years.” This means that districts receive money for students who are no longer in the classroom. In 2009, “Indiana sent $94 million to schools…to support 16,315 “ghost” students who were no longer enrolled.” Critics of the current formula “say the money should go toward districts with increasing enrollment.” But state Sen. Earline Rogers (D) defended the formula, arguing that “districts need the money to pay expenses that continue even if enrollment drops.”

Texas Districts Set To Receive HHS Grants For Pregnancy Prevention.
Texas’ Star-Telegram (10/3, Cadwallader) reported that last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced “that it will give out more than 100 grants worth a total of $155 million nationwide for two types of teen pregnancy-prevention programs: those that will replicate approaches proven to be effective and those that will test innovative strategies.” Texas’ Arlington school district is set to receive one of the grants, worth $996,000 in the first year and up to $5 million over five years, “to help steer students away from risky behaviors.” Arlington “is among seven Texas education institutions and organizations to share $7.6 million” from HHS. The district has designed a program that “will provide counselors and tutors who can work with students in their homes and at alternative education sites as well as help with transportation, life-skills training and contacting social service agencies.”

Columnist Says Lack Of Classroom Spending Is Most Harmful To Education.
Elizabeth Hovde wrote in a column for The Oregonian (10/2) that the “teaching profession sees high turnover in the first five years, but so do other industries. … Though some of us might think Oregon spends enough on a per pupil basis (count me in that category), the amount of money reaching classrooms isn’t enough.” According to Hovde, until more resources are dedicated to the classroom, “large class sizes and shorter school years jeopardize the academic results we want for Oregon students and diminish the ability of even the state’s best teachers to succeed” and “no amount of professional development and no number of teacher retention efforts seem likely to change that.”

Also in the News
Suicides Put Spotlight On School Bullying Issue.
The New York Times (10/4, McKinley) reports, “The case of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who jumped off the George Washington Bridge after a sexual encounter with another man was broadcast online, has shocked many. But his death is just one of several suicides in recent weeks by young gay teenagers who had been harassed by classmates, both in person and online.” According to the Times, “The deaths have set off an impassioned – and sometimes angry – response from gay activists and caught the attention of federal officials, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who on Friday called the suicides ‘unnecessary tragedies’ brought on by ‘the trauma of being bullied.’”

NEA in the News
Jones Says Clark County Teachers Would Be Consulted On New School Policy Ideas.
The Las Vegas Sun (10/2, Ramirez) reported that Colorado Education Commissioner Dwight Jones, “who has been offered the job of school superintendent, said the teachers union in the Clark County School District has nothing to fear from a tough teacher-effectiveness law passed recently in” Colorado. Jones told the Las Vegas Sun that “any ‘new ideas’ in Clark County would evolve in collaboration with teachers and others.” The Sun points out, however that a Colorado bill making it “easier to fire poorly performing teachers” was passed in May, despite the teachers union’s objections. The law goes into effect in 2014. Clark County Education Association President Ruben Murillo said that “the Colorado law ‘sounds like a work in progress.’” And, regarding future reforms in the district, Murillo added, “I want to make sure whatever school reform is passed that it is done in a fair and equitable way.”

More Districts Adopting Singapore Math.
The New York Times (10/1, Hu) reports that Franklin Lakes, NJ “is one of dozens of districts, from Scarsdale, N.Y., to Lexington, Ky., that in recent years have adopted Singapore math…amid growing concerns that too many American students lack the higher-order math skills called for in a global economy.” Singapore math “supporters say it seems to address one of the difficulties in teaching math: all children learn differently. In contrast to the most common math programs in the United States, Singapore math devotes more time to fewer topics, to ensure that children master the material through detailed instruction, questions, problem solving, and visual and hands-on aids like blocks, cards and bar charts.”

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In the Classroom
Virginia High School Graduation Rates Increase.
The Washington Post (10/1, Sieff) reports, “More than 85 percent of Virginia high school seniors received diplomas on time in 2010 – marking a two point increase in the state’s overall graduation rate, as well as a three point improvement among black and hispanic students. State education officials said the numbers, which were released Thursday, represented a step toward closing the longstanding achievement gap between white and minority students.” According to the Post, the on-time graduation rate across Virginia “was 78.9 percent for black students, and 76 percent for Hispanics” and “just under 89 percent” for white students.

New York City School Ratings Plunge.
The New York Times (10/1, Otterman, Gebeloff) reports, “The number of New York City public schools earning an A on the city’s A-to-F school report cards has plunged, according to results released on Thursday, as schools began to feel the impact of the state’s decision to make its standardized English and math exams tougher to pass. For the 2009-10 academic year, only 25 percent of city elementary and middle schools received A’s, down from 84 percent the previous year, when many more students excelled under the easier standards.” According to the Times, charter schools “over all received lower grades than traditional schools.”

Campaign Credited For Detroit Public Schools’ Higher-Than-Expected Student Count.
The Detroit Free Press (9/30, Dawsey, Walsh-Sarnecki) reported that Detroit public schools on Wednesday encouraged high attendance among students on Wednesday by holding pizza parties and prize giveaways “for the statewide student head count that determines funding.” Based on “unofficial counts,” Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb said that “the district met its budgeted student count of 77,314 and enrollment is declining at a slower rate than in the past.” The Detroit Free Press noted that Michigan districts “may still get state funds for enrolled students who missed count day. A student who was absent has 10 days to return without an excuse, or 30 days to return to school with an excuse.”

The Detroit News (9/30, Lewis) reported that the preliminary student count on Wednesday was “better than projected enrollment of 76,000 but well below last year’s number, 84,000.” Bobb is quoted as saying, “I’m cautiously optimistic. .. We had a loss of 7,000 students, but at one time we were losing 10,000 students a year, so that’s a lot less millions of dollars that we’re losing.” The high number of students Bobb attributed to “‘a very aggressive marketing plan’ and a more rigorous curriculum than last year.” Detroit Public Schools gets “$7,600 per student in state funding,” the Detroit News noted.

Lack Of Qualified STEM Teachers May Hamper US Economy.
WOWK-TV Huntington, WV (9/30, Earle) reported, “Poor science and mathematics skills could block people from getting a job. That is according to the Rising Above Gathering Storm review. Released at a congressional briefing scientific and educational experts claimed despite five years of federal funding, the nation’s education outlook in science and mathematics is still bleak.” The story noted, “Experts suggested if students matched educational systems like Finland’s for example, the U.S economy could grow by upwards of 16 percent. But a lack of qualified professionals has forced technological job seekers elsewhere.”

On the Job
Some Teachers In Nevada District Forced To Choose Between Pay Cut, Return To Retirement.
The Las Vegas Sun (9/30, Ramirez) reported that some of the 129 retired teachers employed by the Clark County School District had to decide yesterday “whether to take big pay cuts to stay in the” critical labor shortage program “or return to retirement.” The program “allows retired teachers and other staff to return to work in special education, mathematics and other subjects where they are needed.” But, “Under state rules, 60 teachers can collect” both pension payments and a salary “this school year, meaning 69 face reduced pay or a return to retirement.” According to Clark County Education Association vice President Rob Benson, retired staffers have “an outsize influence on how schools are evaluated under the federal law and that an exodus would hurt schools.”

Law & Policy
Michigan Lawmakers Approve Per-Pupil Funding Increase For School Districts.
WLNS-TV Lansing, Michigan (9/30, Maki) reported that Michigan lawmakers approved a bill on Wednesday that would give school districts about $154 more per pupil by adding “about $300 million in stimulus funds into Michigan’s school budget.” According to WLNS, “most are pleased with the money,” but “some say schools should be cautious with the funds, because it’s only around this fiscal year. .. The bill still needs approval from Governor Jennifer Granholm.”

Schwarzenegger Signs Bill Requiring Fresh Water In School Food Service Areas.
The AP (10/1) reports that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Thursday signed a bill requiring “that water be available in public schools’ food service areas by next July.” The bill does note, however, provide “funding for school administrators to purchase equipment or do water tests and does not apply to private or charter schools.” But, schools may “opt out if they can’t afford to provide free drinking water or have health and safety concerns.”

Rep. Honda Introduces Bill To Create Office Of STEM Education.
The Hill (10/1, Nagesh) reports, “Calling the country ‘woefully inequipped’ to teach students about science and math, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would create an office to oversee federal efforts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.” The bill drafted by Honda, a former science educator himself, “would create an Office of STEM in the Department of Education at the assistant-secretary level in charge of coordinating all federal efforts to boost STEM education. It would also establish a voluntary consortium where states can collaborate to develop common standards for STEM in K-12 education. Finally, there will be a repository where educators can research the latest innovations in STEM. Honda said this bill is a precursor to comprehensive legislation he plans to introduce early next year that will provide a blueprint for improving STEM education nationwide.”

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School Finance
Massachusetts District To Sell Ads On Classroom Supplies.
The Boston Globe (10/1, Abel) reports that business ads “could soon be appearing on permission slips, class calendars, and school notices sent home with Peabody elementary school students after a unanimous School Committee vote this week.” The Peabody school district, “like nearly every other district in Massachusetts, has coped with cuts in state aid and escalating costs for everything from contractual obligations to instructional supplies.” District officials are aiming for initial earnings of up to $24,000. “They expect advertisers to pay $300 to run ads on some 10,000 sheets of paper in one elementary school.” Businesses can also advertise at “all elementary schools in the district” for $2,000. The Boston Globe notes that before turning to ad sales, Peabody “hiked fees for buses and sports” and laid off teachers and staff.

Montgomery County, Maryland, Seeks Grant For “High-Tech High.”
The Washington Post (9/30, Ujifusa) reported, “Montgomery County school officials say they hope to hear soon about a federal grant that would create a ‘high-tech high’ for the 2011-12 school year. The $3.2 million Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant from the US Department of Education would lead to combining Wheaton and Thomas Edison high schools in Silver Spring, enlarging [CTE] programs that have a waiting list, eliminating underenrolled classes,” and creating the Montgomery County High Tech High School, “a full four-year high school [CTE] program option and introducing more high-tech instruction.” However, the Post notes, “The Board of Education did not discuss or vote on the grant before an application was submitted in April, and some Thomas Edison High School of Technology parents expressed surprise and anger that community input wasn’t sought.”

Alabama Schools Awarded Grants For Robotics Education.
The Huntsville (AL) Times (10/1, Bonvillian) reports on “40 schools from North Alabama who were awarded grant money from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s Pathfinder Chapter.” The grants will help the schools “purchase robot kits, computers and other items that give students an opportunity to learn and to participate in robotics competitions.” The Times notes, “Pathfinder also awarded $5,000 grants to the Alabama Council for Technology in Education, the Alabama First Lego League and SciQuest. The ACTE grant will help pay for its annual technology fair, which is held each spring at the Von Braun Center.”

Also in the News
Program Allows High School Students To Assign Punishment To Youth Offenders.
WDIV-TV Detroit (9/30) reported that Detroit Public Schools is implementing the Safe Schools Project, under which “youth offenders between the ages of 11 and 16, who have no prior juvenile court record, commit specified minor misdemeanors, and are willing to admit responsibility are put before a jury of students at two Detroit high schools.” Teen jurors will question the offenders and “recommend an appropriate punishment that does not involve any form of detention” such as community service, restitution, or an apology. By participating, “youth offenders…would avoid a juvenile record.”

Walt Disney Company Joins First Lady’s Campaign To Combat Childhood Obesity.
AFP (10/1) reports, “The Walt Disney Company on Thursday threw its weight behind a campaign championed by US First Lady Michelle Obama to push back child obesity. The ‘Magic of Healthy Living’ campaign will feature public service announcements by Michelle Obama, teen idol Nick Jonas, TV star Brenda Song and other celebrities, all seeking ‘to inspire kids’ to lead healthy lives and help their parents to instill good habits in them, Disney said in a statement.” According to AFP, “The Disney initiative is part of the ‘Let’s Move’ campaign launched by the US first lady in January this year to push back the epidemic of US childhood obesity within a generation.”

George W. Bush Institute Launches Initiative To Recruit, Train Principals.
The AP (9/30) reports that on Wednesday, former first lady Laura Bush announced the George W. Bush Institute’s first initiative focused on improving “the performance of school principals.” The institute is establishing the Alliance to Reform Education Leadership (AREL), which “will consist of school districts, universities and foundations offering educational programs to current and future school leaders,” with the goal of certifying “at least half the nation’s public school principals by 2020.” Already, “organizations in six cities are participating.”

Education Week (9/29, Aarons) reports that the initiative “also looks to broaden the talent pool for the profession by tapping into organizations such as Teach for America and New Leaders for New Schools to recruit a different set of school leaders.” Roughly 200 “aspiring principals will take part in the programs” in the first year, “with plans to build up from there, said James W. Guthrie, a senior fellow and director of education policy studies for the institute.”

The Dallas Morning News (9/30, Stahl) reports that the Dallas Independent School District is participating in AREL. A “spokesman said that the district is particularly hopeful the Bush initiative will develop job candidates for local secondary schools.” The Dallas morning News adds that Bush and Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa “stressed that the new effort should not be interpreted as a threat to educators who want to become principals through traditional channels. But they said they will actively search for job candidates with business, military and sports backgrounds.”

McClatchy (9/29, Ayala) reported that “the models used in the alliance will vary across the nation but must include certain elements, such as mentoring. Guthrie said school districts also will be encouraged to give more authority to principals so they can truly be leaders.”

“Irresistible Forces” Driving Change In Public Schools, Bush Institute Official Says. James W. Guthrie, the director of education policy studies at the George W. Bush Institute, writes in the Christian Science Monitor (9/29), “The recently released documentary, ‘Waiting For Superman,’ paints a discouraging future for America’s schools” and “suggests that only a ‘superman’ can bring about public-school change.” But Guthrie asserts that “superman has already arrived…as a set of irresistible forces that is driving education reform as never before.” He lists the “forces” as “a growing understanding of what works…increasing public pressure, and” the need to make “hard choices in the face of fiscal crisis.” Guthrie provides insight into how each of the forces are driving education reform in America and concludes, “I have never seen such a favorable alignment of forces on reform’s side. … The results will be good for students, good for teachers, and very good indeed for America.”

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In the Classroom
Oklahoma City Schools Superintendent Seeks To Shorten Summer Break.
KFOR-TV Oklahoma City (9/30, Carter) reports that Oklahoma city Superintendent Karl Springer this week said that he wants to see the school year extended. “It makes no sense to me to have 12 weeks off in the summer,” said Carter. Instead, he proposed a 6-7 week-long summer break, with “more time off throughout the year.” But, according to Dr. Bill Pink, an education expert at the University of Central Oklahoma, “extending the school year could cost the district more money.” Pink, who favors a longer school year, also said that “teachers would need more training so the extra time is more productive.”

Virginia Launches Pilot Replacing Textbooks With iPads.
Virginia’s Daily Press (9/30, Shalash) reports that students in two classes at Menchville High and An Achievable Dream High schools in Newport News, Virginia, will use “iPads loaded with a digital curriculum created by Pearson,” instead of textbooks. The switch is part of a statewide “pilot program launched” on Wednesday called “Beyond Textbooks.” With the iPads, “students will be able to customize lesson text by writing in the margins, bookmarking and highlighting in the digital books.” In the coming weeks, “teachers will be trained how to use the devices…and students will begin using the content in late October through mid-November.” The 40 digital devices worth $499 each “were paid for through a grant from Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Productivity Investment Fund,” the Daily Press adds.

Students Explore Caves To Learn About Geology.
The St. Petersburg Times (9/30, Ritchie) reports that as part of a unit on geology, Gulf Coast Academy science teacher Melissa Raulerson’s seventh-grade class visited the Dames Caves in Lecanto, Florida. The group was “divided into four groups to explore the area’s four caves.” In addition to “exploring, the students were invited (but not required) to take a couple of tests to determine if they were capable of more advanced caving.” The Academy’s curriculum director, Joseph Gatti, also attended the trip and explained to the students “that caves are natural drainage systems carved out of limestone over tens of thousands of years.”

Academically Troubled School In Florida May Extend School Day. The St. Petersburg Times (9/30, Catalanello) reports that the “academically troubled Gibbs High School” could become Pinellas County’s first school “to use extended hours to help raise student performance.” This week, Principal Kevin Gordon notified parents that the school is considering adding 35 minutes to each day as early as next week. The school district is currently in negotiations with teachers to pay them for the extra time. “The district’s lead negotiator on Wednesday offered a $1,000 supplement to teachers at Gibbs.” Union officials are considering the district’s proposal, but are concerned that the proposed schedule does not include enough planning time for teachers.

Middle School Students Develop Nutrition, Exercise Curriculum For Elementary Students.
The Quay County (NM) Sun (9/30, Anglin) reports eighth grade students in Tucumcari are developing exercise and nutrition curriculum to present to third grade students. The effort is organized through the New Mexico University Cooperate Extension Service’s Ideas for Cooking and Nutrition (ICAN) program. ICAN educator Alice “Johnson said she often hears from parents who notice a change in their child’s awareness of food” after students complete the program.

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On the Job
Baltimore Teachers Could Earn More, Faster Under Tentative Agreement.
The Baltimore Sun (9/30, Green, Bowie) reports that the Baltimore school districts new tentative agreement with teachers would allow the most “effective and ambitious” teachers “to move quickly through the ranks and earn up to $100,000 a year, as well as give teachers more input on working conditions in their schools.” In addition, the contract “dictates that by its third year…80 percent of teachers in a school could help set working conditions not outlined in the general contract, such as a longer work day or more planning time.” The Baltimore Sun notes that the agreement’s “pay-structure overhauls are among the most radical in the nation.” In addition to “an automatic 2 percent pay increase in the first year of the contract,” teachers would receive “a one-time $1,500 stipend for signing the contract, paid for with money from the federal jobs bill passed recently by Congress.”

New Program Allows Principals In Nevada District To Use iPads To Evaluate Teachers.
The Reno (NV) Gazette-Journal (9/30, Perea) reports, “If you walk down the hallway or into a classroom of a Lyon County School, you’re liable to encounter the principal with an Apple iPad in his hand,” which, as a part of a new district program, “allows principals to evaluate teachers and give them immediate feedback on what he observed while visiting their classrooms.” According to the Gazette-Journal, “Lyon County School District policy requires principals to spend at least an hour a day in classrooms to observe and evaluate teachers, and according to Scott Lommori, the District’s Director of Testing & Educational Technology, the new iPad program allows them to fill out the evaluation form and upload information immediately, giving the teacher immediate feedback into what they are doing right or wrong.”

Law & Policy
Districts Struggle To Integrate Schools Following Supreme Court Ruling.
USA Today (9/30, Biskupic) reports that following a 2007 US Supreme Court ruling striking down a school integration program in the Louisville, KY district, elementary schools “in white neighborhoods…are whiter now, and those in the black neighborhoods are blacker.” Now, under “a new student-assignment plan that’s tied to household income and dependent on increased cross-town busing, elementary schools” in Louisville “slowly are being integrated in a different way. … Its situation reflects the new landscape for school integration” which has prompted districts to “decide whether to continue to make integration a priority or return to neighborhood schools, whose enrollments often reflect communities’ racial divide.”

Safety & Security
Classroom Science Kit Makers Seek Exemption From Consumer Product Safety Testing.
The AP (9/30, Kerr) reports that the future of classroom science kits is uncertain as the Consumer Product Safety Commission “writes guidelines on what makes a product a “children’s product” – and consequently which products would have to undergo more stringent safety testing.” The purpose of the document is “to help sort out which products have to be tested under legislation passed by Congress over two years ago that requires rigorous safety checks for…potential dangers.” But “science kit makers argue [that] paper clips, rulers and other items in the kits aren’t harmful to children…and shouldn’t have to be tested because they are everyday items found in homes and schools that don’t have to be tested if bought separately at retail.” Moreover, testing such items “would force them to refocus and market kits to older children instead of the 12-and-under crowd the law targets.”

School Finance
DC Schools May Face Another Budget Shortfall.
The Washington Post (9/30, Turque) reports, “The D.C. public school system, which laid off more than 200 teachers last October to close what Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said was a budget gap, is facing potential new financial problems in the fiscal year that begins Friday because of a projected $30 million in overspending on special education.” According to the Post, “Despite last year’s layoffs,” DC Mayor Adrian Fenty’s “administration has carefully shielded its education budgets from the ax that has fallen on city agencies as the District’s economy has deteriorated. … But the city’s continued financial problems, driven by declining tax revenue, could place the education budget at greater risk, despite its status as a top priority of the mayor and council.”

Also in the News
Libraries Going High-Tech To Meet Demands Of Tech-Savvy Patrons.
The AP (9/30, Nuss) reports, “Libraries are tweeting, texting and launching smart-phone apps as they try to keep up with” increasingly tech savvy patrons and “they seem to be pulling it off. … The latest national data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services show that library visits and circulation climbed nearly 20 percent from 1999 to 2008. Since then, experts say, technology has continued to drive in-person visits, circulation and usage.”‘

New Jersey Governor Announces K-12 Education Reform Plans.
The New York Times (9/29, A22, Hu) reports that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Tuesday said that “ineffective teachers” should not have tenure, asserting that “tenure should be granted and maintained for those who show they know how to teach.” Moreover, Christie said that teachers should not get pay increases “for completion of a certain number of years of service, or for earning a master’s or other graduate degree, unless the teacher can show that their students’ performance improved.”

The AP (9/29) reports that Christie does, however, want “to create ‘master teacher’ and ‘master principal’ designations to give more responsibilities — and more pay — to effective teachers and administrators.”

New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (9/29) reports that also included in the reforms Christie announced on Tuesday are plans for “completing a statewide data system that tracks student achievement, forming of a teacher evaluation task force…and allowing alternate route certification for principals.” New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian pointed out that the governor’s “suggested reliance on student test scores to determine a teacher’s worth has been proven scientifically ineffective.” Said Keshishian, “What he proposes — an over-reliance on student test scores to make critical decisions from compensation to employment — is fatally flawed.”

New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (9/29) reports that Christie will hold a town hall on Thursday to outline “his agenda for transforming New Jersey’s education bureaucracy.” The Asbury Park (NJ) Press (9/28, Malwitz) reported that on Tuesday, Christie spoke to an “audience of about 200 people” about his plans “to reform public education in” New Jersey. “His main point of attack was against the concept of tenure, which” he said “has its place at the college level,” but not in K-12 classrooms.

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In the Classroom
Baltimore District, Union Reach Agreement On Pay System That Rewards Teacher Effectiveness.
The Baltimore Sun (9/29, Bowie, Green) reports that a tentative agreement recently reached between the “Baltimore school district and its teachers union…would end the longtime practice of linking pay to years of employment and place the city at the forefront of a national reform effort.” The new “pay system…would reward skills and effectiveness.” It could also “be easily married to the state’s new laws and regulations that require 50 percent of teacher evaluations to be based on student achievement.” More details on the agreement will be released today.

Students Report Food Allergy-Related Bullying In Survey.
Jeannine Stein wrote in the Los Angeles Times (9/28) “Booster Shots” blog that a new study published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology found “that about one-quarter of” the 353 children with food allergies “surveyed said they were bullied because of their food allergies.” And, “among those who had been bullied, about 44% said that the food they were allergic to had been waved in their face.” Still, “none of the participants reported having an allergic reaction as a result of being bullied.” While most of the students said “the bullies were classmates…about 18 participants said a teacher or other school staff member had done the teasing.”

On the Job
Some Rural Districts Seeking To Hire More Home-Grown Teachers.
The AP (9/29, Zagier) reports, “Faced with chronic teacher shortages and unable to compete with the higher salaries and greater social opportunities found in big cities and suburban districts, a growing number of rural school systems are turning to familiar faces to teach their students. They know teachers with rural backgrounds are more likely to stick around and not leave after a year or two.” According to the AP, rural districts can count on teachers with rural backgrounds to be “more in touch with their students’ home lives, whether their parents are Indiana farmers, Mississippi factory workers or Northern California grape pickers.”

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Law & Policy
Court Says Teaching Interns In California Were Illegally Classified As “Highly Qualified.”
The AP (9/29) reports that the 9th US Circuit Court “has ruled that California illegally classified interns as ‘highly qualified’ teachers and assigned them to schools in low-income and minority areas.” The court found that the “Bush administration policy adopted by a California commission” does not comply with “the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires teachers to have full state certification to teach core subjects.”

The San Francisco Chronicle (9/29, Egelko) reports that the decision “was a victory for impoverished families in Richmond, Hayward and Los Angeles who filed suit in 2007.” The families “claimed their schools were saddled with disproportionate numbers of untrained interns because of federal and state regulations that flouted federal law.” While “the ruling doesn’t require school districts to fire interns or bar them from teaching core subjects,” it does require “districts in California — and potentially other states — to change their assignment policies so that the least-prepared teachers are not routinely placed in the neediest schools, said John Affeldt, a lawyer for the families.”

District May Ban Negative School-Related Comments By Teachers On Social Media Sites.
WFTS-TV Tampa (9/28) reported that the Manatee school board “is considering new rules that would ban teachers from posting negative comments or photos about the district on social networking sites like Facebook.” WFTS added that “the issue arose after a middle school teacher posted that he hated his students and job on Facebook.”

Florida’s Herald Tribune (9/28, O’Donnell) reported that “on Friday, leaders of the Manatee Education Association joined critics warning school officials that the rules are too restrictive.” Opponents of the plan say that “limiting teachers’ use of social networking websites…could be unconstitutional.” Said MEA business official Bruce Proud, “We have concerns about teachers’ privacy and rights to free speech. … The policy language seems to restrict employees’ ability to speak publicly.”

Some Districts Use Software Instead Of Teachers For Foreign Language Instruction.
Meredith Orban wrote in a blog for FOX News (9/28) that Randolph, New Jersey “is one of several districts in the state cutting elementary foreign language teachers due to budget cuts.” Though using Rosetta Stone software has allowed the district to save on language instructor personnel costs, not “everyone agrees though that a computer program is a suitable alternative to a living, breathing teacher. Brett Lovejoy, Executive Director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign languages points out that language learning is a ‘highly intensive interactive process’ and says the presence of a live teacher is very important.”

School Finance
Obama’s Call For Longer School Year Faces Daunting Budget Realities.
The AP (9/29, Matthews) reports, “President Barack Obama’s call for a longer school day and year for America’s kids echoes a similar call he made a year ago to little effect, illustrating just how deeply entrenched the traditional school calendar is and how little power the federal government has to change it. Education reformers have long called for US kids to log more time in the classroom so they can catch up with their peers elsewhere in the world,” yet extending the school year “could cost cash-strapped state governments and local school districts billions of dollars, strip teachers of a time-honored perk of their profession, and irk officials in states that already bridle at federal intrusion into their traditional control over education.”

The Denver Post (9/28, Meyer) reported, “President Barack Obama on Monday called for longer school years and longer school days, a concept education reformers have pushed for decades only to be rebuffed because of a lack of funding. … In Colorado, where rural schools are already moving to four-day school weeks to save money, and future big education cuts are a certainty, the notion of paying more for a longer school year or day is a tough sell.” According to the Post, Deborah Fallin, spokeswoman for the Colorado Education Association, is quoted saying despite the calls for an extended school day, the question is “are people willing to raise taxes” to implement longer school days.

Strauss: Sidwell Eschews Obama Administration Emphasis On Standardized Tests. Valerie Strauss wrote in a blog for the Washington Post (9/28), “There is some irony behind President Obama’s comment that his daughters could not get as fine an academic experience in a D.C. public school as they do at private Sidwell Friends School: His education policies promote some practices that Sidwell wouldn’t dream of adopting.” According to Strauss, “At Sidwell, a Quaker school, teachers don’t spend days drilling kids to pass standardized tests, and they aren’t evaluated by student test scores. .. The irony is that Obama’s own education policies give standardized testing a central place in public education, though he chose a school for his children that wouldn’t see that as a sound way to run an academic program.”

Also in the News
Laura Bush Expected To Unveil Public School Reform Program.
The Dallas Morning News (9/29, Stahl) reports, “Former first lady Laura Bush is expected to unveil a public school reform program today that will be the first large-scale policy initiative of the George W. Bush Institute at” Southern Methodist University. According to the Morning News, “The plan involves a new collaboration of educators, nonprofits and businesses aimed at improving the performance of public school students by altering the role of principals. … The idea is to develop a fast track into schools for experienced or promising leaders who don’t necessarily have training as educators – such as retired military personnel.”

Students Praise Actor’s First Year As Teacher.
The AP (9/29, Matheson) reports, “When former sitcom star Tony Danza began teaching English at a Philadelphia high school, no one really knew what to expect. Not even Tony Danza.” Danza taught one 90-minute class at Northeast High School last year, where he dealt “with cheating and violence,” met “with parents of obstinate students, and” tried “to balance discipline with empathy — all while teaching ‘Of Mice and Men’ and other books to teens with varying academic abilities.” In addition, he “helped coach Northeast’s football team, organized a student variety show, sang the national anthem at a Phillies game, and participated in a citywide clean-up and a poetry slam.” Danza’s students have “largely praised him, citing everything from his lessons…to his caring attitude and positive outlook on life,” the AP adds.

NEA in the News
After Impasse, Utah District Agrees To Salary Increases For School Employees.
The Salt Lake Tribune (9/29) reports that the Jordan Board of Education on Tuesday agreed to increase pay for “teachers and other school employees,” months after coming to an impasse on contract negotiations with the Jordan Education Association (JEA). The district made its decision “After meeting with a state-appointed hearing officer. … JEA, which formally approved the deal on Monday, agreed to forfeit the raises next year – unless the Legislature kicks in the needed funds.” The Salt Lake Tribune quotes JEA President Jennifer Boehme as saying, “It’s incredible for teachers to have steps and lanes this year. … We are the first school district in the state to have taken the negotiations process to a [state] hearing. We feel like it was a positive step for us.”