AM News: State Board Closes Six For-Profit Charter Schools

Missouri closing six Imagine charter school campuses Washington Post: Missouri's board of education has decided to close six charter school campuses run by the Virginia-based Imagine Schools Inc., the country’s largest for-profit charter network, saying that it “would be a disservice” to children to keep them open because of academic and fiscal issues.

States' Waivers Weak on Extended Learning Time, Report Says Politics K12: Most of the dozen states that have already gotten wiggle room from the No Child Left Behind Act don't have very good plans in place when it comes to a key piece of the U.S. Department of Education's requirements for turning around low-performing schools: extending learning time, according to a report out by the Center for American Progress today.

Exclusionary Housing Leads To Educational 'Segregation' -- Report HuffPost: Tanya McDowell, a Connecticut mother, made headlines last year when she was accused of stealing -- specifically, of stealing an education for her son.

Obama Administration Seeks to Remake Career-Tech Programs Politics K12: The largest federal program for high schools—the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education program—would get a major makeover under a proposal that advocates expect the Obama administration to unveil Thursday.

Should Teachers And Students Be Facebook Friends? AP via HuffPost: Should students and teachers ever be friends on Facebook? School districts across the country, including the nation's largest, are weighing that question as they seek to balance the risks of inappropriate contact with the academic benefits of social networking.

Senate Bill Targets Multi-Billion Dollar Ad Spending At For-Profit Colleges HuffPost: The rapid growth of for-profit colleges over the past decade has been aided by billion-dollar ad campaigns on daytime television, the Internet and highway billboards across the country.

MORE NEWS ITEMS INSIDE

Boston public schools face growing backlog in reviewing special education plans Boston.com: The Boston public schools is facing a ballooning backlog of reviews of special education plans for thousands of students, prompting officials to propose one-time bonuses to staffers to get the job done. As of Friday, teams of teachers, administrators and therapists had missed deadlines in meeting with parents of 2,918 students for the federally-required annual reviews, according to School Department data obtained by the Globe. The backlog has swelled by more than 600 cases since February.

D.C. chancellor announces new 5-year education plan, warns of closures Washington Post: D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson introduced a new five-year plan Wednesday that calls for higher-achieving public schools with longer days and better graduation rates, but she warned that paying for improvements will require closing some campuses. ALSO: Henderson: Cheating probe ‘wrapping up’

Public Schools Start Tracking Alumni In College HuffPost: From the federal government to school boards, policymakers and administrators are increasingly setting their sights on "college and career readiness" as the goal of K-12 education. Now, school districts are grappling with methods that turn this seemingly abstract bar into something tangible.

Comments

[Sarah]

To continue what I said yesterday on the post about teachers and students texting each other, Facebook between teachers and students runs into the same difficulties as texting can. That being said, Facebook is a slightly more secure place... if only because it’s more public.