Education Program
This Week in Education
April 17- April 23, 2008
Highlighted Bills of the Week
(Powered by State Net)
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Arizona SB 1218 (Enacted)
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Provides that any collection, maintenance or disclosure of pupil educational records compiled by the Department of Education in an educational database of pupil records shall comply with the Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act; provides rules for the manner in which the database shall be maintained to protect it from security breaches and identity theft. |
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Oklahoma SB 923 (Enacted)
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Mandates that automated external defibrillators be made available in schools if funding is available; authorizes such defibrillators available at high school athletic practices and competitions; provides immunity from liability to school districts; provides for a list of private corporations and persons willing to make donations for this purpose. |
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This Week in Education
April 17- April 23, 2008
Legislative Education Staff Network 2008 Award Invitation
We all know one -- a legislative education staffer who exhibits a high degree of professionalism, competence and integrity in service to the legislature and the public, is an expert in education policy and contributes to the work of the Legislative Education Staff Network (LESN). Such a person deserves our admiration and recognition for their efforts, and with that goal in mind, it is our pleasure to announce that LESN is accepting nominations of legislative education staff for the 2008 LESN Recognition Award!
Click here for more information! |
K-12
Flexibility for Military Families
Kansas and Kentucky are the first states to approve a compact that will make it easier for children of military families to change schools if enough other states sign on. The compact seeks to provide flexibility for the 1.5 million children of military families in the United States. They attend an estimated six to nine school systems between kindergarten and graduation on average, and differing educational requirements in different states often add to their burden.
After school can be key to student’s success
The typical teenager has more in common with your household pet than you might think. Teenagers operate from the gut. They haven’t learned abstract thinking or how to generalize from one experience, according to Abigail Baird, director of Laboratory of Adolescent Studies at Vassar College, who kicked off yesterday’s conference on after-school programs at the Providence Marriott hotel.
Many schools face major 'hidden' problem -- helping homeless students succeed
It's common wisdom among teachers that student mobility poses a far greater challenge to academic achievement than socio-economic status. It's much harder to teach kids who change schools one or more times during the year, whether the reason is frequent family moves or disciplinary problems at past schools.
Pre-K Gaining Traction in 'Wilderness States' (EdWeek)
Advocates see promising, though tentative, moves in areas slow to embrace state-funded programs.
Lacking Credits, Some Students Learn a Shortcut
Top officials with the city’s Education Department say good principals have always found creative ways to help struggling students make up missed work, describing such efforts as a lifeline for students who might otherwise never earn their diplomas. And across the country, school systems confronting abysmal graduation rates are turning to online credit recovery courses, which roughly a third of states have either developed or endorsed in recent years, according to the National Dropout Prevention Center at Clemson University.
Leadership
Cultivating a Taste for Leadership (EdWeek)
Instead of waiting for applicants, states, districts, and charter organizations are increasingly recruiting and training candidates for the principalship.
Lack of School Leadership Seen as a Global Problem (EdWeek)
A study to be released this week suggests that improving school leadership is a problem around the world, not just in the United States.
Principals’ Group Updates Standards for Leadership (EdWeek)
Effective school leaders don’t just raise students’ test scores—they instill a culture of learning in their schools that includes the adults who work there and members of the surrounding community.
School Choice
School choice is approved; deficit at $3.1M
There’s nothing like cash to make people change their minds, and $125,000 seems to have done the trick for two school choice opponents. That’s the amount the district expects to receive as a result of 29 students from outside Worcester deciding to come to school here for at least part of the current school year. Under state law, districts can choose to accept students from other districts and be reimbursed approximately $5,000 per student. The 2007-2008 school year was the first time Worcester accepted those students.
D.C. Catholic Schools Follow National Trend
Last month, Center City Public Charter Schools, a nonprofit charter operator selected by the archdiocese, submitted an application for the schools to the D.C. Public Charter School Board. The archdiocese closed two schools last year: St. Benedict the Moor in the Kingman Park section of Northeast Washington, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help, with two campuses in Southeast.
Florida lawmakers spar over charter-school funding, accountability
The Florida Senate wants to make charter schools more accountable. The House response: OK, as long as the schools get more money
STEM
As online testing nears, educators are the ones who are nervous
The new online science test that nearly 200,000 Minnesota students will take for the first time this spring comes with graphics and animation that put it light years beyond traditional paper-and-pencil exams. But that cutting-edge technology has a price.
Panelists: Online learning can help minority students
As online learning becomes more of a strategic resource for K-12 and higher-education institutions to supplement traditional courses, education leaders are starting to discuss how online learning can help support minority students’ instructional needs.
School Finance
New reports released from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the U.S. Census Bureau on public education revenues and expenditures, FY2006 | April 2008
Language funding becomes law without signature | April 15, 2008
(The Arizona Republic)
Gov. Janet Napolitano let a bill that allocates an additional $40 million for English instruction become law without her signature Monday, expressing concern that the state still has unfinished business on the matter.
House approves education funding plan | April 15, 2008
(Sioux City Journal)
The Iowa House on Monday approved a $1.24 billion education spending plan for next year, a plan majority Democrats say is a $60 million bump over the previous year.
Slots pay off for homeowners | April 16, 2008
(The Patriot-News)
Homeowners will see a 10 percent reduction, on average, in their school property tax bills this year in the first state distribution of slots-funded tax relief.
Strickland plans push for school-funding change | April 18, 2008
(The Columbus Dispatch)
Gov. Ted Strickland plans summits across Ohio to build support for an education "reform agenda."
Schools Have To-Do Lists Ready After Record Influx in State Aid | April 22, 2008
(The New York Times)
Like a lottery winner suddenly surrounded by well-wishers, Robert-Wayne Harris, the superintendent of the scandal-scarred and long-suffering school district here, has been bombarded with calls from textbook peddlers, education consultants and community groups. The district, which was $8 million in debt last fall and worried about whether it could make payroll, is newly flush with $10.8 million in extra state money to spend in the coming school year.
State should have more control of local school funding, senator says | April 23, 2008
(Arkansas News Bureau)
The state should have more control in how local school districts spend money on education, Sen. Jim Argue, D-Little Rock, said during an education conference Tuesday.
Teacher
N.Y. Legislature Triples Budget of Teacher Sex Investigative Unit (EdWeek)
The Legislature has restored funding to bolster an understaffed investigative unit in the state Education Department to cut into a backlog of hundreds of cases involving teachers and administrators accused of having sex with students.
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