麻豆原创

Federal/NCLB

• U.S. Secretary of Education tells educators that additional testing mandated by NCLB was worth the stress, during her 50-state tour to gauge what can be done to improve the law
  
• Spellings wants Congress to tweak the federal “No Child Left Behind” law without making major changes to it
  
• Study finds that while reducing class sizes can lead to higher test scores overall, it might not necessarily reduce achievement gaps
  
• Report shows that states are increasingly seeking to support their pre-K programs through school funding formulas embedded in state law
  

School Funding Litigation/Policy

• GA House Republicans vow to restore austerity cuts to the state's schools
  
• NH Senate passes constitutional amendment on education funding, which would give lawmakers broad authority to direct education dollars to certain districts
  
• ND governor proposes a $300 million state spending infusion for K-12 education to improve education and lower property tax burdens
  
• State Superintendent says OK Board of Education needs $37 million in supplemental funding to ensure schools get all the money they've been promised this year
  

State

• AR schools have made significant progress in improving education since a 2002 state Supreme Court decision, but a big gap still remains among students of different ethnic, social and economic backgrounds, according to report
  
• CA Senate leader wants to make an overhaul of programs for reducing the number of high school dropouts a top legislative priority
  
• CO bill would allow schools to form their own "districts of innovation," which would allow them to operate without having to follow some state laws
  
• U.S. Department of Education rejects IL’s requests to allow districts to exclude the scores of English learners when calculating whether they met state and federal standards
  
• IL district might boycott exam, becoming the first in the state and perhaps the nation to refuse to administer mandatory state exams to students who haven't yet mastered English
  
• NH math test results concern local officials; 1 in 4 students score proficient in math while 3 in 4 score proficient in reading
  
• Despite voting to abolish it two years ago, NJ Board of Education plans to revise the Special Review Assessment with stricter guidelines
  
• UT lawmakers decided against helping schools pay for anti-American International Baccalaureate programs
  

Federal/NCLB

• “NCLB has helped make strides in American public education since 2001, but how the government administers it might need some tweaking,” says Education Secretary
  
• Study finds that schools are adding time for reading and math at the expense of other subjects
  
• Experiment shows that cash awards in OH lift student test scores
  School Funding Litigation/Policy
• GA governors’ budget proposal reduces education spending by $141 million for next year; chairman of the Appropriations Committee opposes the latest round of cuts
  
• PA governor proposes a new way to fund public schools that increases state aid to local districts by 1.5 percent to 11 percent
  
• UT governor will continue pushing for a big boost for education, even if other priorities have to be cut back
  

State

• AZ schools need to try harder to keep music, art and physical education in their curriculum, says a state lawmaker
  
• Study shows that 25 of CA’s 2,462 high schools account for more than a fifth of the state's dropouts, with the problem heavily concentrated in charter and alternative schools
  
• NH bill would direct more state money to charter schools than ever before
  
• VA launches several efforts to improve math and science education, amid a nationwide push to better prepare students for careers in engineering and science
  

February 20, 2008

School Integration

• When unequal treatment is fair: How Montgomery County school leaders have conquered achievement gaps by giving extra attention and resources to schools in areas with high concentrations of poor, minority, and English-language learner students

Federal/NCLB

• Report says assessments required under NCLB have caused low-achieving TX students to drop out in higher numbers than before
  
• Financial education experts advocate teaching students economics and personal-finance skills
  
  Editorial – More than words are needed to support Head Start
  
• Schools districts that rely on bond insurance to help them save money on the borrowing they do for construction projects and special programs could be affected by major ups and downs in that industry
  

School Funding Litigation/Policy

• The White House seeks a substantial jump in federal aid for D.C. public schools in “an unprecedented partnership”
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• ID Gov. replaces a $60 million proposal with a new plan in which teachers would get nearly $21 million in merit bonuses; union leaders criticize the scaled back proposal
  
• KY Senator says shift in school calendar could save the state millions
  

State

• FL school districts call on lawmakers to weaken the 2002 class size reduction mandate, a $10 billion constitutional requirement, before it is fully phased in
  
• KY Republicans want to replace the state's 18-year-old testing system with nationally normed multiple-choice tests, to provide more useful information, save $10 million and add 21 days in student instructional time
  
• NJ Supreme Court agrees to give Gov. Corzine and the Legislature a chance to come up with additional funds for the depleted $8.6 billion school construction program
  
• SD preschool standards bill hits the wall after a House committee couldn't muster enough votes to either kill the measure or keep it moving

February 19, 2008

Federal/NCLB

• Commentary – E.D. Hirsch Jr. explains why NCLB has left so many children behind; "teaching to the test" does not effectively teach to the test after all, he says

School Funding Litigation/Policy

• AK House Finance Committee approves another study to cost out education in the state
  
• CA’s locked spending will pump half a billion dollars into novel social and recreational programs, despite spending cuts in reading and math
  
• Opinion – “Turn public values into public policy:” CA schools do not have $4.8 billion to cut
  
• Charters and traditional school districts are not completely satisfied with UT bill that would shake up how charter schools are funded, but lawmakers say it's the best option
  
• State preschool program is cut from the budget
  
• D.C. Schools Chancellor weighs ideas to fix low performing schools
  
• D.C. Schools Chancellor plans to implement an experimental program that would offer customized lessons for disabled, regular and gifted students in the same classroom, a key component of her strategy to reduce special education costs
  
• NM bill would make high school graduation harder, by requiring students demonstrate they are ready for college or a career by passing a new diploma test
  
• TN civics education bill sidesteps NCLB rules
  
• TX teacher unions ask state to ease up on high-stakes testing that they said has forced schools to focus more on test preparation and school ratings than on learning
  
• UT bill sets targets for reducing the number of students per teacher
  

Published Monday, Feb. 25, 2008