AM News: Five More Waivers Plus Health Care Implications

Five More States Get NCLB Waivers PK12:  Five more states, including Virginia—a state that did not sign onto the Common Core State Standards Initiative—have received wiggle room from the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act. ALSO: George W. Bush Institute Examines NCLB Waivers

Health Care Ruling Has Implications for Education Spending SchoolLaw: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act and other education laws were part of the discussions in the historic case. ALSO: Health Care for Young Adults: What the Supreme Court Decision Means HuffPostEdu

Bill to expedite firing teachers is rejected Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles schools chief John Deasy blasted state lawmakers Thursday for not passing a bill to speed up the teacher-dismissal process, which he and others pushed following the sex-abuse scandal at Miramonte Elementary School.

Schools chiefs give publishers ultimatum about new standards GothamSchools: Calling for a “buyers’ cartel” against the publishing industry, more than 30 large urban school districts have formed an agreement to purchase only instructional material that meets new learning standards’ high bar of rigor.

New Companies Seek Competitive Edge in LMS Market  EducationWeek: Companies old and new are jockeying for position in the unsettled market for learning-management systems, seeking to innovate and fulfill districts' evolving needs

San Antonio Mayor Wants 1/8cent Tax to Finance Pre-K  NYT: Since Texas lawmakers cut over $200 million in grants that supported full-day public prekindergarten in 2011, school districts have worked to fill in where the state left off.

Tests, Standards, Budgets, and Charters StateWatch: In case readers discover they can't read more than three lines of non-health-care news before their eyes stray to yet another analysis of the Affordable Care Act decision, State EdWatch has put together fun-size pieces of state education updates.

Comments

[Sarah]

It’s kind of depressing how a ⅛ cent tax causes so much financial controversy when it benefits a group that really needs it. I like the excuse “we need to see the full plan”, because it’s so clearly not the real issue at hand. The issue is how one tells voters their taxes are increasing without sparking a wildfire of political distrust.

[Sarah]

And isn’t it funny how education spending was bookended into the health care debates? That’s a classic political technique if I know one...