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This Week in Education - June 18- June 24, 2009

Meeting Information

  • Audio and Video Recordings from the 2009 Spring Forum.  More.

Highlighed Bills of the Week

Louisiana - H 794 Introduced:
Provides for a commission to review all aspects of postsecondary education in the state and report to the legislature. House Bill 794, would set up a nine-member commission to review college and university operations, and possibly consider whether some schools should be heavily revamped or even closed.

Colorado - H 1319 Enacted:
Relates to concurrent enrollment; amends provisions regarding the high school fast track program, the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act, the Fast College Fast Jobs Act and college courses offered to qualified high school students; requires notification of students, parents and guardians of the opportunity for concurrent enrollment. 

 

Responding to economic challenges

For Colleges, Small Cuts Add Up to Big Savings  (New York Times)

College life may look different in the not-so-distant future: Students squinting out dirtier windows, faculty offices with full wastebaskets and no phones, sporting events in which opponents never meet, and paper course catalogs existing only as artifacts of the wasteful old days.

Leadership

Governor Paterson gets behind Mayor Bloomberg's school control bill  (New York Daily News)
Gov. Paterson Monday threw his support behind an Assembly-passed bill to continue the mayor's control over the schools.

Silver slaps tom Dem on school control  (The New York Post)
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday delivered a stern political lesson to new Senate Democratic leader John Sampson -- by rejecting Sampson's bid to curb mayoral control of the schools.  

Assembly gives nod to mayor on schools  (The New York Times)
A bill that would keep control of New York City's public schools firmly in the hands of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was overwhelmingly approved by the Assembly on Wednesday, although the new Senate Democratic leader indicated that he planned to push for more checks on the mayor's power in his chamber.

Chicago schools chief wants data-driven schools leadership  (Chicago Sun-Times)
Chicago principals may soon get more authority, as long as their decisions are based on periodic student assessments, says schools chief Ron Huberman. "You're given the freedom, but you can't make those decisions based on hunches," Huberman said. "You have to make them based on the analytical framework we're providing."

Top Virginia principal focuses on whole child  (The Washington Post)
Benita Stephens, principal at a middle school in Virginia, has made her school a community hub by integrating social services. In one instance, she held a clothing and gift drive within the school that allowed low-income students to bring home gifts for themselves and family. Stephens also helped boost test scores and arts involvement, and has been named Virginia's middle-school principal of the year.


School Choice

Colorado's charter schools enroll fewer with needs  (Denver Post)
Colorado charter schools on average enroll fewer students with disabilities than noncharters — lending weight to long-held criticism of the publicly funded schools that are supposed to serve everyone. But efforts are underway on the state level and in Denver to change the imbalance, including a task force and committee focused on the issue.
 

The Supreme Court on Monday made it easier for parents of special education students to get reimbursement for private school tuition. School administrators fear that the 6-3 ruling will lead to a jump in private school placements.

STEM

Senate approves 1-year limit for on-line charter schools  (The Oregonian)
A bitterly divided Senate on Wednesday approved a one-year limit to keep on-line charter schools from opening or growing while the state develops regulations governing the fast-growing, computer-based schools.


Teacher


Few teacher leaders plan to take summer off  (Teacher Magazine)
Members of the Teacher Leaders Network recently were surveyed about their summer plans as the school year comes to an end nationwide. Members of the group said they plan to spend time reflecting on the previous school year, planning ahead, taking advantage of professional development opportunities and mentoring other teachers.

P-12 

The Second Derivative: International Benchmarks in Mathematics for U.S. States and School Districts 
from the American Institute for Research puts letter grades to international benchmarks to compare U.S. schools to other countries'.
 

School grades plummet statewide and around the bay area  (St. Petersburg Times)
High school grades plunged all over Florida on Thursday, the latest sign that progress in the upper grades remains sluggish despite a decade of reforms.

Push for Time Off Gains in Many States  (Wall Street Journal)
New and strengthened Democratic majorities in many state legislatures are pushing measures that require businesses to grant employees additional time off for personal or family reasons. Governors in Colorado and Nevada signed laws within the past month that give employees unpaid leave for school-related events, becoming the first states to do so in a decade. Wisconsin lawmakers will take up similar legislation this fall.

N. Carolina House passes law to protect gay children  (The Miami Herald)
The N.C. House passed legislation Monday night that would add North Carolina to a handful of states with anti-bullying laws that include specific protections for students tormented because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.


Post - Secondary Education

Tuition increases possible (Clarion Ledger)
The state College Board is planning this week to discuss raising university tuition for the 12th time in 13 years.

 
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced grants to 15 community colleges and five states. The gifts total $16.5 million (with each college receiving $743,000 over three years), and are focused on strengthening remedial education programs to improve retention and graduation rates.

Dropouts

Why high school students drop out of school: Educators discuss what it will take to get them back Even though the state has been recognized nationally for its improvements in student performance, officials said Monday that there is still work to do to lower the dropout rate

State graduation exam returned to the shelf
In an effort to turn down the heat in the kitchen, state Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak has stopped the development of state public high school graduation exams -- for now.

 
As WASL Goes Away, a Pledge to Improve Wash. 1-in-4 Dropout Rate
For years, the release of WASL test scores has been accompanied by careful parsing of the numbers to figure out what they meant. Were students improving, or were they sliding backward? But now the Washington Assessment of Student Learning is going away, to be replaced next year by tests that are considerably shorter and will eventually be taken online.
 

Education Finance

California Schools' Tough Choices  (Wall Street Journal)
Residents of some affluent cities in this broke state are banding together to make up for cuts in public education, opening rifts between rich and poor school districts. Key to the debate are parcel taxes, flat fees on property that are used by some cities to help fund public schools.

 

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