News: Monday Morning Update

Superintendent spreads the gospel of 'value-added' teacher evaluations LA Times
In Tenn. and N.C., Terry Grier adopted and expanded a statistical method of tracking student progress. Union resistance scuttled more modest efforts in San Diego, mirroring a brewing national debate.

First Lady for Teachers TIME
Michelle Obama pens Thursday op-ed calling for "a new generation of leaders... in our nation's schools."

Grants aplenty, but can matching funding be found?
Las Vegas Sun
If Clark County teamed up with another district on the grant application with the intent of sharing best practices, it might improve the odds of getting the requisite matching funding.

Chicago Talks
A controversial program that paid over $2 million to students for good grades has been quietly scrapped due to lack of funding, said Michael Scott, president of the Chicago Board of Education.

Lesbian student fights for tuxedo photo MSNBC
Everyone at Wesson Attendance Center knows 17-year-old Ceara Sturgis is gay because she's never tried to hide it.

Teen Arrested for Creating Website to Bully Other Teen Wired
A Missouri ninth-grader has been arrested for creating a website that disparaged another teen, the most recent arrest in a series of crackdowns by Missouri authorities on so-called cyberbullying.