AM News: Budget Cuts Vs. New Ideas

For school districts on the edge, busing halt considered Detroit Free press: Some districts are asking parents to dig deeper to pay for athletic uniforms or to purchase classroom supplies. Class sizes are rising. And many school boards are involved in heated discussions about closing schools.

Computerized state assessments to save time, money Wichita Eagle:  The Wichita district spent $1.9 million on Netbooks and $20,400 on updating Internet connections this year to help students practice for and take assessments outside of computer labs. Most schools only have one lab.

Math Wiz Adds Web Tools to Take Education to New Limits PBS NewsHour:  From a bedroom in the San Francisco Bay area, Salman Khan is using the Web to teach math and science to millions. 

Obama Pitches Education Proposal to Governors NYT:  The president praised efforts by 48 states — all but Alaska and Texas — to develop common standards in math and reading, coordinated by the National Governors Association. The collaboration was a bipartisan project at variance with the highly polarized political mood in Washington that has frustrated many of Mr. Obama’s top priorities in Congress.

Disabled kids could get more access to charter schools Houston Chronicle:  Encouraging a crop of charters for special-needs students won't be easy. Current funding structures and accountability laws for Texas charter schools are prohibitive, said Houston advocate Louis Geigerman, who abandoned a plan several years ago to open a charter for children with Asperger's syndrome.

Boston gets an F in teacher appraisals Boston Globe:  A new state law that bolsters a superintendent’s ability to fire teachers at underperforming schools could be undermined in Boston because administrators routinely neglect a basic task: evaluating teachers.