AM News: Noguera Quits. Ackerman Denied. YouTube!

Academic Quits SUNY Board Over Charter Schools WSJ via GothamSchools:  Noguera, a widely quoted academic known for his work on the education of young black men, submitted  his resignation last week after a heated meeting over a proposed charter school in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood.

Ackerman denied unemployment Inquirer: There will be no $573 weekly check for Arlene Ackerman, whose attempt to collect Pennsylvania unemployment benefits has been denied.

CPS lifts ban on YouTube Tribune:  Chicago Public Schools' is lifting a ban on YouTube as part of its efforts to expand digital learning in the classroom. Teachers will now be able to jump onto YouTube and find other teaching tools on that website and others to create playlists for..

One Man's Journey From Gang Member to Academia PBS: Victor Rios says he has lived two lifetimes. In his first, he was a gang member, juvenile delinquent and high school dropout. Today, he's a sociology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studies at-risk youth.

Kline Teacher Proposal Would Create Winners and Losers Politics K12: States that have seen big explosions in population—including Nevada, Utah, and Arizona—also would see a big jump in federal funding for teacher quality under a little-noticed provision of a draft bill to renew the No Child Left Behind Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the chairman of the House education committee.

Challenge to schools: Embracing digital textbooks AP via Boston.com: Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski on Wednesday challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students' hands within five years. 

MORE NEWS ITEMS INSIDE

Texas Ed. Commissioner Won't Enforce Social Promotion Ban Unless Funding Restored Dallas Morning News via Ed Week: Texas' education chief will not enforce the ban on social promotion of students unless funding is restored to help students in danger of failing.

Report Captures Closing Schools' Final Year NYT: A report released by the city's Department of Education on Wednesday sheds some light on what happens to students who remain once a failing school begins the process of closing down. Four city high schools shut their doors last summer, graduating an average of 58 percent of the students who remained until the final days, according to the department's report.

High dropout rate, open questions at schools that closed in 2011 GothamSchools: Of nearly 600 students who were enrolled in four high schools that closed their doors last year, less than half graduated and at least 22 percent left the school system without a diploma.