June 16, 2010
Education Week, Vol. 29, Issue 35
Education Funding
Major Foundation Gets Set to Open a Charter School
With plans to open a charter school next year in its Kansas City, Mo. hometown, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation breaks new ground.
Families & the Community
Opinion
Shutting Out Parents
The Obama "blueprint for reform" offers parents little voice in decisions that affect their children's education, Leonie Haimson and Julie Woestehoff write.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Give Us the Truth About School Violence
Districts routinely mislead Congress and the public on school-safety statistics, writes Jack Stollsteimer, and reporting laws should be toughened.
English Learners
Report Roundup
Research Report: English-Language Learners
New York City's education department should undertake a review of its programs for students with interrupted formal education, or SIFE, and create a more comprehensive plan for identifying and educating such students, says a report released last month by Advocates for Children of New York.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Equivalency Exam
Although a growing number of high school dropouts are taking the GED exam, most who pass it discover that it doesn’t help them much in finding better economic opportunities or completing postsecondary education, an analysis concludes.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Bush Education Secretary Takes Key Role in Chamber of Commerce
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a major force behind the stepped-up federal accountability in No Child Left Behind, has tapped former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to serve as the new head of its education programs.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Race to Top Chief Changes
Joanne Weiss, the director of the Race to the Top Fund for the U.S. Department of Education, will become the chief of staff to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on July 1.
Standards
News in Brief
Ohio Backs Common Standards
Ohio last week became the seventh state to adopt common standards in math and English/language arts.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Safety and Health
The most recent edition of a biennial national survey of health-risk behaviors among students finds that about 20 percent of respondents were victims of bullying on school grounds during 2009.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Ore. Court Allows Drug Searches
The state supreme court ruled last week that high school students can be searched for illegal drugs without a warrant if school officials have a reasonable suspicion.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Fla. District Lays Off 1,300
The Broward County school district, struggling to close a $130 million budget shortfall, notified 1,305 employees last week that they will not have jobs next school year.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Cleveland Teachers' Dispute Will Proceed to Arbitration
An arbitrator will decide whether more than 600 teachers in the school district have to reapply for positions with the system.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Research Report: Charter School
Students attending the Harlem Success Academy are outperforming peers who applied to the same school but failed to win a seat in the lottery, a new study says.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Jobs-Bill Backers Searching For Strategy to Win Passage
Supporters of a federal education jobs bill were still searching for a legislative vehicle late last week.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Justice Dept. Joins ACLU Against Single-Sex Classes
The U.S. Department of Justice sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit claiming that single-gender classes at a Louisiana middle school violate students' rights.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Study: Teens Are Bored
Most high school students feel bored and disconnected from school, according to a new survey of students from 103 high schools in 27 states.
Standards
News in Brief
Troubled Ga. School District Improving, Accreditor Says
Two years after it was stripped of its accreditation, the Clayton County school district remains on probation with a national accrediting agency, but it has made progress on a list of benchmarks.
Education Funding
News in Brief
N.J. Advocates Ask Court to Restore School Funding
The Education Law Center filed a motion with the state Supreme Court last week in an attempt to restore millions of dollars in school funding that the governor has proposed cutting.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Detroit to Close 32 Schools to Help Shrink Budget Gap
The district will close fewer schools than had been expected as it tries to curtail costs while improving academics for an ever-lower number of students.
Education
News in Brief
Ala. Schools Chief: BP Owes Students for Lost Tax Revenue
The state superintendent said last week that he plans to bill BP for the loss of education tax revenues caused by the oil spill.
Federal
NEA Eyes Congress as High Court Refuses NCLB Case
Claims that the law amounts to an unfunded mandate could live on in debates over reauthorization.
Education
News in Brief
Teachers' Union in Chicago Sues Over Class Sizes
The union sued the city school system last week in a bid to block the district from increasing class sizes.
Budget & Finance
Tough Times Ahead for Children of the Great Recession, Report Finds
While the economy may recover, the generation growing up now could feel the harsh impact of the Great Recession for years to come, a new report from the Foundation for Child Development contends.
School & District Management
Dodd Seeks to Put Spotlight on Children's Issues
Hearings and a proposed commission aim to focus on education, health, and other topics, amid economic uncertainty.
School & District Management
Calif. Primary Narrows Field for Top Schools Job
A retired superintendent will vie with a state assemblyman in November for the post of state schools chief.
School & District Management
Kentucky High School Launches Turnaround Journey
Principal Keith Look's job is on the line as he steers Louisville's Shawnee High School through an aggressive, federally-mandated effort to reverse years of academic decline.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
The Inadvertent Bigotry of Inappropriate Expectations
In the push to make all students "college- and career-ready," Chris Myers Asch argues, there's too much stress on the "college" part.
Special Education
States Seek Federal Waivers to Cut Special Education
Faced with budget woes, a handful of states look to a little-used legal provision to offer an escape hatch from federal spending mandates.