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In the News on February 28, 2008
CA high school dropouts cost state billions of dollars * Top business economist calls for more funding for FL schools to emerge from poor economy * Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee willing to wait for new president to negotiate education spending
Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee says: if
President Bush isn’t open to a compromise on education spending, Democratic
leaders are willing to wait for a new president to take office who might be
more disposed to supporting their priorities
School Funding Litigation/Policy
DC Superior Court judge rules that the public has no right
to see the education spending plan for the coming fiscal year until it is
submitted to the DC Council with the entire city budget
IL income tax increase gets new attention
as a way to fund public schools
If FL has any hopes of seeing its education system spin out
the talent needed for a stronger economy, it better step up with some cash,
says top business economist
State Roundup
CA governor and education officials unveil their plan to
improve 97 school districts that face the stiffest sanctions for failing to
meet federal academic improvement targets; the crux of the strategy is to send
out "assistance teams"
CA joint plan will help 96 troubled
school districts improve academically - a move intended not only to lend a
hand, but to avoid losing millions of federal education dollars
CA high school dropouts cost state billions of dollars, and strategies to reduce dropout rates are insufficient, says
researcher
DE advocates for early childhood and after-school education
programs seek additional money from finance committee
RI state officials reveal that nearly
80 percent of 11th graders cannot do the math expected of them
In the News on February 27, 2008
Opinion – School choice
is not enough: Recent developments suggest that markets in education
may not be a panacea and that we should re-examine the direction of school
reform
Common Core, new
research and advocacy organization that lobbies for more teaching of the
liberal arts in public schools, releases a survey to demonstrate that a
significant proportion of teenagers live in “stunning ignorance” of history and
literature
K-12 education was overshadowed by worries about a weakening
economy in the nation’s governor annual meeting
School Funding Litigation/Policy
FL Legislature is shaping plans to slash more than
$500million from this year's budget, and education is in line for the biggest
cut
NJ Supreme Court declines to set a deadline for the state
government to provide money to continue a court-mandated program to upgrade
school facilities
State Roundup
CA governor will reveal specific improvement plans for each
of the 97 school districts that have missed NCLB test targets for five consecutive
years
Study finds that students
attending private schools through the
school voucher program are not doing much better or worse than students in
public schools
IA Senate approves a bill that will require school districts
to follow a state-mandated curriculum
OK House approves legislation to add three days to the
school year and give schools more flexibility to set the length of the school
day
Providence Schools
Superintendent meets with Teachers’
Council to get honest answers about schools and teacher morale
In the News on February 26, 2008
Federal/NCLB
VA governor does not support a state withdrawal from NCLB
Other News
Commentary – Why
after-school programs are a powerful resource for English-language learners
School Funding Litigation/Policy
AK House approves a $230 million
increase in education spending over the next three years; some describe the
plan as historic but others warn can't be sustained
ID school districts sue the members of their state’s supreme
court – not the state – in a school finance case, and so far they seem to have
the upper hand
State Roundup
Already strapped for money, AZ could face a bill for
millions of dollars for failing to fund a program for English language learners
FL proposal to restore a school voucher program is rejected
by a state panel, but a plan that would lift a constitutional ban on state aid
to religious schools gets early approval
County in GA will become the first school district in the
nation to separate classrooms by sex - a move born of desperation because of
poor test scores, soaring dropout rates, and high numbers of teenage
pregnancies
After years of continuous growth, which outpaced the growth
in total student enrollment, special education rosters decline substantially in
VA
In the News on February 25, 2008
Federal/NCLB
VA considers a proposal through which it would become the
first state to set a deadline – summer 2009 – for planning a pullout from NCLB
Report calls for new measures of educational outcomes and
equity, by broadening the scope of the National Assessment of Educational
Progress
Throughout the presidential campaign, leading Democrats have
shown similar standpoints on education, until this month when they have
exhibited differing opinions on private school vouchers
Study shows that restrictive labor agreements, are tying the
hands of superintendents around the country who want to pay top teachers more
and transfer them between schools
School Funding Litigation/Policy
GA House budget-writers vow to stop a
five-year cycle of school cuts next year by pumping $140 million extra into
education
State Roundup
Alabama school board
plans to close 16 schools
80 percent of dropouts come from just
20 percent of high schools: New study shows that most CA schools are doing a
good job of keeping kids in class
ID pre-school advocates
arm themselves with a survey to show that the Legislature is going
against the will of the majority, in hopes to advance the availability of early
education programs
Report shows that nearly half of public school 9th graders who started
high school in the last seven years have dropped out without earning a high
school diploma
School choice has been a bumpy road so far in post Katrina
LA
Published Monday, Mar. 3, 2008