AM News: Chris Cristie's Presidential Prospects

How Would Chris Christie Stack Up? EdWeek: It's questionable whether the things they believe could make him viable in a general election—namely, his relatively moderate views—would help him in the Republican primaries.

Is Zuckerberg money put to good use in NJ? NBC: A year ago, billionaire Mark Zuckerberg went on "Oprah" and announced a gift of $100 million to the public schools of Newark, NJ. NBC’s Lisa Myers looks at what Newark's been doing with the money, and what they have to show for it, one year later.

Obama: Jobs bill will create '21st Century schools' USA Today: President Obama took his "pass the jobs bill" campaign to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado today, telling a crowd at a Denver high school that his plan will put people back to work by building roads, bridges, and other projects that include upgraded schools.

Obama encourages learning AP: President Barack Obama is encouraging students to work hard in their classes, saying the country is counting on them. Obama was scheduled to speak Wednesday afternoon at Washington's Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. His back-to-school address will be televised live and carried online.

Senate leader wants states to control schools Politco: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) struck a bipartisan tone Tuesday, arguing that the federal requirements for evaluating students and teachers set out in No Child Left Behind should be scuttled in favor of state-set standards.

MORE NEWS ITEMS BELOW

Rural schools in N.J. sue for funding WSJ: Sixteen rural school districts have sued New Jersey, saying Gov. Chris Christie illegally cut their state funding.

Second L.A. school suspected of cheating L.A. Times: A Koreatown campus that is one of the fastest-improving middle schools in Los Angeles has become the latest to be penalized over suspected cheating on the state's standardized tests.

Abell report critical of Baltimore tutoring program Baltimore Sun: A federally mandated tutoring program targeting thousands of students who attend Baltimore City's worst performing schools is shelling out millions of dollars annually to organizations that are operating in the district with little oversight and virtually no academic accountability measures, according to a report released Tuesday.

N.Y. authorities charge 7 in SAT cheating scandal USAT: A college student was paid to take the SAT exam for high school students, a prosecutor said Tuesday. 

Second Los Angeles school suspected of cheating LAT: Koreatown's Virgil Middle School stands to lose $3.5 million in state grant funds as a result of suspected actions of a teacher who has since retired. 

Comments

[Bruce]

21st century schools cannot be created by merely sending construction workers to a job site; they need plans to build in accordance with, and while the President's proposals would undoubtedly make existing, 20th century schools more convenient to work in, doing just this would likely have only a very modest effect upon increasing student attainment and achievement.

By contrast, our proposal for a 21st century school appeared in the Washington Post this week (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/6-wild-ideas-for-ideal-schools/2011/09/25/gIQA9OqewK_blog.html), and includes up-to-date research on 21st century school designs (many of the best of which are to be found in Singapore).