AM News: Districts Hiring Failed Principals To Run Turnarounds

Ousted principals quickly find new education jobs AP:  It didn't take long for Ev Arnold to land on his feet, though: The same district now pays him the identical salary to oversee the school's turnaround...  'Value-added' teacher evaluations: L.A. Unified tackles a tough formula LAT:  In Houston, school district officials introduced a test score-based evaluation system to determine teacher bonuses, then — in the face of massive protests — jettisoned the formula after one year to devise a better one... As Student Absenteeism Rises, a Charter School Fights Back CNC:  At the Chicago Talent Development Charter School, the administration and staff are trying different tactics to fight a citywide problem of student absenteeism... Madonna’s Charity Fails in Bid to Finance School NYT:  Plans to build the $15 million school have been abandoned amid criticism of what auditors called $3.8 million in outlandish expenditures... Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? NPR:  Admissions committees at selective colleges sometimes have to plow through thousands of applications to choose the members of next year's freshman class. The committee at Amhest College in Mass., will accept only 1,000 of the more than 8,000 students who applied... Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann Criticize Public Schools Reuters: Three potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates expressed hostility toward the public school system at a home schooling rally on Wednesday in the early presidential caucus state of Iowa... When test scores soared in D.C., were the gains real? USAT:  Twice in three years, Rhee rewarded Noyes' staff for boosting scores: In 2008 and again in 2010, each teacher won an $8,000 bonus, and the principal won $10,000... One Student Shot at Indiana Middle School Atlantic Wire:  According to CNN, the student in custody may have been "recently expelled." .. School Named In Honor Of Teacher Jaime Escalante AP:  A Los Angeles-area school has been named for late calculus teacher Jaime Escalante, whose story about pushing underachieving students to succeed was chronicled in the 1988 hit movie "Stand and Deliver."