AM News: Chicago District Officially Votes to Close 49 Elementary Schools

CPS approves largest school closure in Chicago's history ChicagoTribune: Months of argument and anguish over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's push for sweeping school closings came to a climax Wednesday as his hand-picked Board of Education voted to shut 49 elementary schools and transfer thousands of children to new classroom settings. Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett withdrew her recommendation to close four other schools at the last minute as it became clear some board members would fight to save them.

Is District Participation in Race to the Top Waning? PoliticsK12: The fallout in Delaware comes a couple months after several districts in Ohio were poised to drop out of that state's grant because they decided that the costs just weren't worth any federal grant money. Are these isolated, state-specific incidences or part of a broader, worrisome trend?

Charter schools in Boston score higher on key tests, but have lower graduation rates BostonGlobe: Boston charter schools outperform other public schools on three popular barometers of student achievement — the MCAS, the SAT, and the Advanced Placement exams — but tend to have lower four-year graduation rates, accord­ing to a study being released Wednesday.

D.C. Chancellor Force Teachers in Two Schools to Reapply for Their JobsWashingtonPost: More than 100 teachers and other staff members at two D.C. schools learned this week that they must reapply for their jobs after Chancellor Kaya Henderson decided to “reconstitute” the schools in an effort to spur improvement. Cardozo High and Patterson Elementary schools have struggled for years with low test scores, and in such cases, Henderson has the power to reconstitute — remove an entire staff and then rebuild it.

Science Project Left On Bus Leads To Bomb Scare At Boulder's Fairview HighHuffPost: A science project left on a school bus this morning led Boulder police to lock down Fairview High with the school's students corralled in the gym and auditorium, shut down streets and bring in the department's bomb squad.

More Americans have degrees, but lead is slipping HechingerReport: But while more young Americans have at least bachelor’s degrees than their counterparts in other developed countries, their lead has shrunk from 12 percentage points to 4 percentage points in the last 10 years as rival nations increase their production of graduates.

AM News: Per-Pupil Public Spending Drops for First Time in Over 30 Years

Public Spending Per Student Drops WSJ: U.S. public-education spending per student fell in 2011 for the first time in more than three decades, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data issued Tuesday. Spending for elementary and high schools across the 50 states and Washington, D.C. averaged $10,560 per pupil in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011. That was down 0.4% from 2010, the first drop since the bureau began collecting the data on an annual basis in 1977, the agency said Tuesday.

Oklahoma Tornado: Long Minutes of Desperation Inside School Razed by Storm WSJ: When the tornado-warning sirens blared, Kelly Law was already in the hallway of Plaza Towers Elementary School, huddled against the wall, shielding as many students as she could with her body. Another eight or 10 teachers did the same, she said. For the long minutes it took the tornado to pass, she shut her eyes and prayed. The roof was ripped away. "It sounded like rivets being pulled out by a monster," Ms. Law said.

Chicago School Closings May Leave Some Communities Without Old Lifelines NYT:  And yet, the possible move to Gregory [a better-performing school] has generated a visceral reaction from Bethune families, underscoring broader fears about school closings that officials have found difficult to ease. By uprooting elementary schools like Bethune, where around 98 percent of the students are black and from low-income homes, parents say officials are uprooting the personal and academic lifelines of Chicago’s neediest communities.

House Panel Presses Arne Duncan on Loans, Waivers, Common Core PoliticsK12: Student loans are at the top of Congress' agenda this summer—and they were the number one topic when U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified today before the House Education and the Workforce Committee on President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2014 budget.

D.C. Bets Big on Common Core EdWeek: The District of Columbia, where she's taught for 11 years, was quick to adopt the Common Core State Standards. But putting them into practice demands a heavy lift: With their emphasis on mastery of complex text, the standards require far stronger literacy skills than most students here—and many in the 46 states that also adopted the common core in English—currently possess.

Oklahoma Schools Lacked Consistent Tornado Shelter Rules HuffPost: The two elementary schools leveled by the deadly tornado that swept through the Oklahoma City area Monday lacked designated safe rooms designed to protect children and teachers, despite state warnings that the absence of such facilities imperils lives. At least two other schools in Moore -- the epicenter of the disaster -- did have safe rooms. So far no fatalities have been tied to those schools, whose buildings were fortified after a devastating twister hit the area in 1999.

AM News: Alaska, Hawaii & West Virginia Join List of NCLB Waiver States

Alaska, Hawaii, West Virginia Win NCLB Waivers PoliticsK12: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has now awarded No Child Left Behind Act waivers to 37 states plus the District of Columbia. Alaska, Hawaii, and West Virginia are the latest additions to the list, the Education Department announced today. This means that the vast majority of the country is now operating under their own federally approved but state-crafted accountability plans as Congress continues to refrain from rewriting the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, of which NCLB is the latest version.

Source: Fewer than 5 Chicago schools to be spared ChicagoTribune: One source said the six-member school board is likely to vote for saving fewer than five of the schools on the closings list. "It's a few," said Henry Bienen, president emeritus of Northwestern University, a board member who was willing to go on the record. "I don't think it's a large number of schools."

20 children among 51 victims in Okla. Tornado; toll could hit 90 USAToday: Firefighter Russ Locke was among those who helped search through the crushed remains of Plaza Towers Elementary School, where about 75 students and staff had huddled when the tornado hit. At least seven children were killed there; others were pulled alive from the wreckage.

Windows XP Deadline Puts Pressure on Schools EdWeek: Microsoft's plans to end support for Windows XP, believed to be the dominant computer operating system in K-12 education, could pose big technological and financial challenges for districts nationwide— issues that many school systems have yet to confront.

Aspiring teachers learn from their avatars HechingerReport: Started ten years ago, the so-called TeachLivE lab was developed by faculty in the education school at UCF, and at least 22 other universities across the country have opened their own labs using TeachLivE technology. Much like a flight simulator trains pilots, faculty use the virtual classroom to train teachers-to-be by helping them isolate and master strategies like higher-level questioning or behavior management.

AM News: Teacher Training Programs Face National Scrutiny

Florida Plans Increased Scrutiny For Education Schools StateImpact: Nationally, education schools have been criticized for being far too easy and, as a result, pumping ill-equipped teachers into the system and harming student achievement. Schools across the country are trying to mitigate the criticism by changing curriculum or increasing the amount of field experience teachers receive.

Chicago Teachers Union re-elects Karen Lewis Tribune: Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, an often controversial figure who took on Mayor Rahm Emanuel by leading a seven-day strike last fall, was easily re-elected to a second three-year term Friday, according to unofficial results released by the district.

Will Arne Duncan Consider Causing Pause in Common Core Stakes? PoliticsK12: Late last month, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten called for amoratorium on any high stakes attached to the Common Core State Standardsas they are being implemented, to allow teachers more time to prepare. This month, a majority of Washington "insiders" believe states will enact some sort of moratorium on stakes. A small portion, or 18 percent, thought the U.S. Department of Education would take such action, according to this Whiteboard Advisers survey.

Obama Urges Morehouse Graduates to ‘Keep Setting an Example’ NYT: President Obama came to Morehouse College, the alma mater of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on Sunday to tell graduates, 50 years after Dr. King’s landmark “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, that “laws and hearts and minds have been changed to the point where someone who looks just like you can somehow come to serve as president of these United States.”

Schools Add to Test Load, Just to Assess the Questions NYT: As school districts across the country rush to draw up tests and lesson plans that conform to more rigorous standards, they are flocking to field tests — exams that exist solely to help testing companies fine-tune future questions.

AM News: Here Comes Steve Jobs's Widow

Steve Jobs’s Widow Sets Philanthropy Goals NYT: Laurene Powell Jobs has tiptoed into the public sphere, pushing her agenda in education as well as global conservation, nutrition and immigration policy.

Money contines to pours, unevenly, into LA Unified school board race KPCC:  As election day looms for this year's remaining undecided seat for the L.A. Unified's board, outside groups continue to pour money into the race -- all of it for her opponent, political newcomer Antonio Sanchez.

Would Arne Duncan Consider Calling for Pause in Common Core Stakes?Education Week: So I asked Education Department press secretary Daren Briscoe about whether Arne Duncan would echo these calls for pausing stakes tied to common core, and take relevant action at the federal level.

Do new exams produce better teachers? States act while educators debate Hechinger: It took less than a minute for Mario Martinez to finish the first six questions of the algebra exam that his professor, Ivan Cheng, had just handed to him.

Tennessee to Offer Teacher-Transfer BonusesTeacher Beat: Using its share of federal School Improvement Grant funds, the state will give $7,000 signing bonuses to teachers from nonpriority schools who transfer, and agree to stay for two years, in the priority schools. It will also give $5,000 retention bonuses to high-performing teachers already working in such schools.

AM News: Los Angeles School District Rethinks Suspension, Follows National Trend

Los Angeles Schools Re-Think Suspension WSJ: This week, the Los Angeles Unified School District—the second-largest in the nation—decided to end the practice of suspending or expelling students for "willful defiance," starting this fall. District officials said the practice disproportionately affects minority students' education and leads to more disciplinary problems for students down the line.

Chicago Teachers Union Files Civil-Rights Lawsuit on Closings Sun-Times: Attorneys backed by the Chicago Teachers Union filed two federal class action lawsuits Wednesday charging that the closing of 53 public schools in September will violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Civil Rights Act.

Former Education Official Faces Federal Investigation WSJ: Federal investigators are probing whether a former top Education Department official violated the law by allegedly sharing information inappropriately about new regulations with an advocacy group he founded. Newly released court documents show that federal prosecutors believe the Education Department's former deputy undersecretary, Robert Shireman, might have violated executive-branch ethics laws.

Diplomas Elusive for Many Students With Learning Disabilities EdWeek: A state-by-state analysis of the most recent data on graduation rates for students with learning disabilities shows that while more of those students have been leaving high school with a standard diploma, many states are struggling to reach the national graduation rate average of 68 percent for students in that disability category.

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor Urges Immigrant Parents to Help Children with School SchoolBook: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday told thousands of parents of English language learners to always ask for help when needed and to learn alongside their children. “They cannot do it without your help,” she said at the 10th Annual ELL Parent Conference.

AM News: Head Start Centers & National Social Studies Tests Feel 'Sequester' Pain

Head Start Centers Feeling 'Sequester' Pain EdWeek: "These are, by far, the most serious cuts I've experienced," said Ms. Molloy, who has been involved for 40 years with Head Start, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The reduction in the number of children served through the program for low-income children will have a direct effect on schools, she believes."The emphasis on increased academic readiness for kindergarten is huge," Ms. Molloy said.

Sequestration Forces Cuts to National Social Studies Tests PoliticsK12: The executive committee of the National Assessment Governing Board, on the recommendation of the National Center for Education Statistics—which administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP—voted recently to indefinitely postpone the 4th and 12th grade tests in the three subjects for 2014. The exams will continue for 8th graders.

New Jersey Task force may look at full-day kindergarten in all districts Star-Ledger:  A proposal to explore the idea of bringing full-day kindergarten to schools statewide advanced in a state Assembly committee Monday. While most of New Jersey’s elementary school districts offer full-day kindergarten, at least 114 districts still offer half-day only, according to the state Department of Education. The Assembly Education Committee approved a bill that would create a task force to explore full-day options.

Latino High School Grads Enter College At Record Rate NPR: Seven in 10 Latino high school graduates in the class of 2012 went to college, according to a recent report by the Pew Hispanic Center. That's a record-high college enrollment rate for Latinos, and it's the first time Latinos have surpassed white and black students, even as they lag behind Asian-Americans. The Latino high school dropout rate has fallen by half over the past decade — from 28 percent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2011.

Lawmakers Vote to Boost STEM Education in Immigration Bill PoliticsK12: Good news for STEM fans: There's even more federal resources for science, mathematics, engineering and technology in the big, comprehensive, bipartisan immigration bill making its way through the U.S. Senate. The Senate Judiciary committee, which is holding a markup of the bill today, voted unanimously to take money collected on fees for labor certifications under the bill and direct the money towards STEM education at the U.S. Department of Education.

Discipline concerns flare in Denver schools EdNewsColorado: The aim of the discipline policy, revised in recent years, is to reduce in-school or out-of-school suspensions and expulsions so that students can continue to be in a learning environment. It also aims to erase the longstanding disparity between white students and students of color in terms of consequences for student misbehavior.

How Could a Sweet Third-Grader Just Cheat on That School Exam? WSJ: The line between right and wrong in the classroom is often hazy for young children, and shaping the moral compass of children whose brains are still developing can be one of the trickiest jobs a parent faces. Many parents overreact or misread the motivations of small children, say researchers and educators, when it is actually more important to explore the underlying cause.

AM News: Michigan School District Closes Early for Year, to Offer "Skills Camp"

Buena Vista School District Officially Closes For Year, Offers 'Skills Camp' HuffPostEdu: It's official. For the 400 or so students in Buena Vista, Mich., school is over, even though the academic year isn't supposed to end until the middle of June. Instead, they will likely attend "skills camp." If the school board approves the advancement of students -- despite not finishing out the year -- students will be able to attend "skills camp," a voluntary substitute for school, the district announced Monday at a press conference.

Pa. official: Charter schools flout public-records law PhiladelphiaInquirer: Pennsylvania's 180 charter schools routinely ignore the state's Right-To-Know Law even though as publicly funded institutions they are bound to comply with it, the chief of the state's Office of Open Records told a Senate committee on Monday.

Seattle high schools can omit MAP exams SeattleTimes: Teachers protesting the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests in Seattle won a big victory Monday, as Superintendent José Banda announced that high schools don’t have to give the tests after this spring. The decision will be up to each high school’s leadership team, Banda said in a letter to staff.

Amid Common Core Fights, Indiana Remember Race to Top Promises PoliticsK12: College- and career-ready standards are intertwined in the U.S. Department of Education's most prized initiatives—No Child Left Behind Act waivers and Race to the Top. That's why Indiana and federal officials are talking about how the Hoosier State's common core "pause" might affect its waiver. Common core per se has never been required by the feds for any grant or waiver, but it's the most direct route to proving standards are college- and career-ready. (The other approved way is to have a state's higher education institutions certify them as such.)

AFT President Randi Weingarten Explains How She Would Teach the Common Core StateImpact: Weingarten supports the Common Core, but has been calling for a pause in using the results of new Common Core tests for purposes including evaluating teachers and sanctioning low performing schools. Weingarten said teachers have not had enough time or help understanding the new standards and how to change how they teach.

Leader of Teachers’ Cheating Ring in Memphis Gets 7-Year Term NYT: Clarence D. Mumford Sr., a former teacher and assistant principal in Memphis, was sentenced Monday to seven years in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to help teachers cheat on certification exams. Prosecutors said that for 15 years, Mr. Mumford had doctored driver’s licenses and enlisted teachers to impersonate others in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee at exams that many states require for teaching licenses.

Ed. Funders Giving More to Same Few, Studies Show EdWeek: As more and more foundation money floods into K-12 education, it is being channeled to fewer and fewer groups, according to new research presented at the American Educational Research Association meeting here last week. Researchers also found that foundation money is moving away from traditional public schools and toward "challengers to the system"—primarily charter schools—and that the funders in general are becoming much more active in shaping how those challengers develop.

AM News: Feds Want Education Funds Back

Obama administration seeks return of state education funds Hattiesburg American: Those funds served in lieu of the collection of local property taxes and subsidized schools, roads and first-responder services around the country — despite the fact that the local governments receiving the payments have long questioned the equity of taking the federal timber payments in lieu of property taxes. 

“We Need To Be Wildly Successful” Says Arne Duncan In Detroit CBS Local: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan spent the day in Detroit, visiting a DPS school and an EAA school with Governor Rick Snyder. Duncan says the organization, invested in turning around failing schools, is doing good work. 

Backlash of new education standards is rooted in suspicion of federal government STLtoday:
It does not reflect or recommend department policy, said Daren Briscoe, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education. The draft goes on to state the devices are “intrusive or impractical for use in school settings.”

Nation's Top Educator Visits Mission District Classrooms Kitsap Sun: “In some places, there's over-testing,” Daren Briscoe, press secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, told Mission Local. “But we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Briscoe added, referring to Duncan's view that certain elements of ...

Raise Your Hand Texas Wields Power on Charter Schools NYT: Raise Your Hand Texas has become a seasoned lobbying force on education issues, and its No. 1 legislative priority is fighting private-school vouchers.

Seeking Teachers’ Support, Mayoral Candidates Pledge Education Reform NYT:At a forum on Saturday, several candidates said they would scrap signature policies of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, including his A-through-F grading system for schools.

NYC Leadership Academy Takes National Stage EdWeek: The NYC Leadership Academy is a nonprofit that works to develop effective student-focused school leadership, particularly for high-needs schools. Today, one in six of New York City's principals is an academy graduate.

LAUSD fighting for zero-tolerance on teacher cheating Los Angeles Times:  The school district says a decision by a state panel — determining there was test-score cheating but the teacher shouldn't be fired — sends the wrong message.

AM News: Obama Wants Education Focus

Obama renews focus on jobs, education with Texas trip MSNBC: In a speech to students at Manor New Tech High School, Obama acknowledged that economic growth has been insufficient in part because some of his proposals have been blocked for “political reasons,” but reiterated his optimism and commitment to “keep ...

Malloy's Plans for Schools Face Budget Shortfall WSJ: Last year's legislative package set up several initiatives including a network to aid underperforming schools, statewide teacher evaluations and more spending on new state charter schools.

Partnership aims for hybrid traditional-charter school in Southeast WPost: Chancellor Kaya Henderson is seeking to merge a long-struggling Southeast Washington elementary school with a high-performing charter school, creating what she describes as a first-of-its-kind partnership between the two types of schools.

 Student-Achievement Goals at Issue in Senate NCLB Renewal Effort Politics K12: In including a requirement that states set student-achievement goals in the bill, Harkin is hoping that he can help build on the momentum of the waivers, which are now in place in 34 states and the District of Columbia, a Senate Democratic aide said. But Republicans see the overall direction of the still-in-progress bill as carving out too much of a role for the federal government.

Latinos Sharply Narrow Education Gap NYT: Last year, new Hispanic high school graduates became more likely than their white counterparts to go directly to college, according to a study.

AM News: Texas Senate Votes to Drastically Reduce Standardized Tests Needed for Graduation

Texas Senate Votes To Substantially Reduce Number Of Standardized Tests For Students HuffPost: The Texas Senate approved a bill Monday that would substantially reduce the number of standardized tests students need to take in order to graduate. The bill must be reconciled with an earlier House bill, which also loosens graduation standards for students, according to the Associated Press. The Senate bill, which was unanimously approved, would cut the number of end-of-year exams students must pass in order to graduate from 15 to five.

Schools in West Virginia Take On Social Work Amid High Unemployment, Drug Abuse AP: When school started this fall in this sparsely populated rural area at West Virginia's southern tip, 1 of 7 classrooms was without a teacher because leaders couldn't recruit enough educators. The American Federation of Teachers-guided effort is called Reconnecting McDowell, and leaders hope it will stem decades of suffering, both physical and economic. If successful and sustainable, this model could help despairing rural schools elsewhere.

L.A. mayoral candidates support making teacher evaluations public LATimes: City Controller Wendy Greuel and City Councilman Eric Garcetti said they backed the release of individual performance evaluations based on so-called "value-added" formulas, which are controversial both locally and nationwide. These measures use the past performance of students on state standardized tests to help gauge a teacher's success, taking into account such factors as race and income.

Proper Role of Ed-Tech in Pre-K a Rising Issue EdWeek: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, a New York-based children's digital-media research organization, studied the education category of Apple's app store, a slice of the more than 500,000 apps available in all subjects. Of about 200 top-selling apps in the education category, 58 percent were for toddlers and preschoolers.

Common Standards Set for Federal Education Research EdWeek: The criteria, rolled out last week at the American Educational Research Association's annual meeting here, will guide all new research at the IES, the U.S. Department of Education's main research agency, and all NSF research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.

AM News: ACT College Entrance Exam to Move Toward Computer-Testing

ACT to Move Toward Computer-Based Testing NYT: High school students will take the ACT college admissions exam by computer starting in the spring of 2015 — but at least for a while, the paper and pencil version will be available, too. “We are moving to a computer-based version, but for the foreseeable future, we will also have the paper and pencil test as an option for schools that don’t have the technological capability,” said Jon Erickson, the president of ACT’s Education Division.

Rifts Deepen Over Direction of Ed. Policy in U.S. EdWeek: All this change—and more—in education is happening against a backdrop of rapidly shifting demographics, technology that is changing lives at blazing speeds, and an economy still recovering from the Great Recession. At the same time, education is caught in a push for state and federal budget austerity and faces a Congress so gripped by gridlock that some educators are wondering if the withering Elementary and Secondary Education Act will ever get rewritten.

Teacher Pay Hurt by Recession, Report Says NYT: During the recession and its aftermath, public schools took a hit as both state coffers and local property taxes shriveled. That showed up in shrinking employment, but also in teacher salaries. According to a report being released Tuesday, the vast majority of teachers in the nation’s largest school districts took a pay cut or saw their pay frozen at least one year between 2008 and 2012.

Buena Vista Michigan Teachers Agree To Work For Free As District Goes Broke HuffPost: A small school district in Michigan has run out of money to pay its teachers. But the school year isn't over until June 23. The Buena Vista Education Association convened most of its 27 teachers on Monday for what some described as an emotional meeting. They voted to continue teaching, despite learning on Friday that the school district would be unable to pay their salaries starting in mid-May -- because it had run out of money.

Mississippi GOP Prepares New Push On Education Reform To Combat Poverty AP: Republicans' statewide solutions include making it easier to create charter schools and holding back third-graders who can't read. Other changes approved by lawmakers are state-funded prekindergarten and higher qualifications and merit pay for teachers. "All those categories that we see that have an effect not only on quality of life, but on our society and workforce, go back to beginning with a failure in the educational system," said Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, who names education as key to improving Mississippi's weak economy.

The Case Against Grades Slate: A 2002 study at the University of Michigan found that 80 percent of students surveyed based their self-worth on academic performance—more than cited family support as a source of self-esteem. A 2006 study at King’s College showed adolescents with low self-esteem were more likely to have poor health, be involved in criminal behavior, and earn less than their peers. 

AM News: Obama Delivers Optimistic Message to Class of '13 at Ohio State

Obama Delivers Message of Optimism to Class of ’13 NYT: Acknowledging that commencement addresses are no place for partisanship, President Obama nonetheless skirted close to that political line on Sunday, telling graduates at Ohio State University to ignore antigovernment arguments that “gum up the works” and instead aspire to be citizens who value both individual rights and community responsibilities.

Hispanics Now Largest Ethnic Group In Texas' Public Schools HuffPo: Hispanics have passed whites as the largest ethnic group in Texas schools, making up almost 51 percent of public school enrollment. The influx of Hispanic students, many from poor families, has brought about many changes in classrooms, with more expected as that population continues to grow. Some schools already struggle with how to teach an increasing number of poor children who don’t speak English. Others are preparing for a day when their enrollment primarily is made up of low-income students, most of them Hispanic.

TED Teams Up With PBS on Ideas for Education NYT: In its first television foray, TED has joined forces with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the New York public broadcaster WNET for a one-hour special, “TED Talks Education,” to be broadcast on PBS on Tuesday. If it is successful, the program could become a template for future joint projects, said Juliet Blake, one of the show’s executive producers and the TED official charged with bringing the conferences to television.

Rewards for Schools Key Facet of NCLB Waivers EdWeek: One of the chief complaints about the No Child Left Behind Act has been that districts and schools that fail to meet achievement targets face serious sanctions, while schools that do a good job of closing the gaps between traditionally overlooked groups of students and their peers essentially get little in return. To help alleviate those concerns, the U.S. Department of Education asked states to identify so-called "reward schools" in their applications for waivers easing demands of the NCLB law, the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which Congress has yet to revise. 

With an Old Factory, Philadelphia Is Hoping to Draw New Teachers NYT: A Victorian-era dye factory is taking on a new role to help this city’s troubled public school system attract and retain teachers. Two redbrick buildings in the up-and-coming but still gritty South Kensington section of Philadelphia are being converted into apartments and offices intended to house teachers and nonprofit educational organizations in what the developers hope will become a cohesive community.

The new marshmallow test: Resisting the temptations of the web HechingerReport: Living rooms, dens, kitchens, even bedrooms: Investigators followed students into the spaces where homework gets done. Pens poised over their “study observation forms,” the observers watched intently as the students—in middle school, high school, and college, 263 in all—opened their books and turned on their computers. For a quarter of an hour, the investigators from the lab of Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University-Dominguez Hills, marked down once a minute what the students were doing as they studied.

AM News: Detroit Schools Chief Announces Departure

Detroit schools' progress cited as emergency manager Roy Roberts announces his exit Detroit Free Press: He said that because of the progress, along with the announcement in April of a five-year strategic plan to retain and recruit students, he expects the financial emergency will be over in the next three years.

Nation’s Top Educator Visits Mission District Classrooms Mission Local: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan paid a visit Wednesday to 826 Valencia, the Mission-based writing nonprofit founded by educators and authors Níneve Calegari and Dave Eggers.

Education formula fight likely to split lawmakers The Hil: But to change the funding formulas, Democrats from rural states will have to overcome opposition from lawmakers representing major cities and affluent suburbs. This puts them on a collision course with members of the leadership, such as Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.). 

Critics Up Pressure To Keep Targeted Chicago Schools Open NPR: A marathon series of public hearings over school closings in Chicago is over and the city is a step closer to conducting what could be the nation's largest shutdown of schools. Fifty-three elementary and one public high school are on the chopping block. Parents, educators and others say they're not ready to give up the fight.

Debating How to Give Texas Teachers Useful Feedback NYT: When Texas lawmakers rolled out a framework for evaluating public schoolteachers more than 15 years ago, they intended to identify ways to strengthen the state’s teaching corps.

Grading the teachers’ teachers Hechinger: So far, eight states have policies requiring them to do a similar analysis, most of them adopted in the last few years, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Video: Expert: 'Catastrophic' education will haunt kids NBC Nightly News: After an audit of ELL classes in the Las Vegas school system found 69 out of 70 classes failed to meet expectations, parents and experts demand action be taken. KSNV's Sandra Gonzalez reports.

AM News: Spring Testing Snafus In Three States

Computer Problems in Three States Hamper Student Proficiency Tests NYT: School districts in Indiana, Oklahoma and Minnesota are rescheduling high-stakes proficiency tests because of technical problems involving the test administrators’ computer systems.

Chicago Charter Schools Unionize WSJ:  Teachers in one of the country's largest nonprofit charter-school groups voted to unionize, fortifying efforts by organized labor to expand in an area of public education where it has been largely unwelcome.

Will new teacher evaluations help or hurt Chicago’s schools? Hechinger Report: As of early April, Boran and two assistant principals had collectively done 98 observations using the city's new teacher evaluation system. Boran's assessments take her three hours apiece, from reviewing pre-observation lesson plans to a post-evaluation conference and data entry.

Dissatisfied, Parents In Indianapolis Start Their Own School NPR: Some parents in Indianapolis, Ind., are taking school choice to an extreme. Bruised after the mayor closed the public charter school their kids attended, and disgruntled with existing school options, they started their own school. It has made it through the first year with 35 students, despite lacking both funding and a permanent home.

Video: ‘Kids need more than test prep’ NBC Nightly News: Chris Plunkett, a visual arts teacher at Orchard Gardens school in Roxbury, Mass., spoke with NBC’s Katy Tur about the success of the arts program that led to an inspiring turnaround for students.  

School's 'Redneck Day' sparks anger USA Today: The event meant to build school spirit instead has angered civil rights leaders.

Is Avenues the Best Education Money Can Buy? NYT: At Avenues, the $85 million bet on for-profit schooling is meeting its first real test — parents.

AM News: Wal-Mart Foundation Gives 8 Million Dollars to StudentsFirst Organization

Walton foundation gives $8 million to StudentsFirst LATimes: A foundation associated with the Wal-Mart family fortune has expanded its support for the education advocacy group run by former District of Columbia schools chancellor Michelle Rhee. The Walton Family Foundation announced Tuesday an $8-million grant over two years to StudentsFirst, which is headquartered in Sacramento but has operations in 18 states.

New School Standards Spur a Backlash WSJ: Now, the Common Core effort is under attack from an unlikely coalition: conservatives who decry the implementation costs and call the standards an intrusion into local education decisions; union leaders who worry that states have tied, or plan to tie, teacher evaluations to new Common Core exams; and some parents who contend their children are ill-prepared for the Common Core tests.

How Will Indiana's Common Core 'Pause' Affect Its NCLB Waiver? PoliticsK12: To get a waiver under the No Child Left Behind Act, Indiana attested that it had adopted the Common Core State Standards and joined a consortium developing common tests. Now, both are in doubt. The state legislature approved and sent to the governor a bill to "pause" common core implementation, which had started in grades K-1, pending more study and state board of education hearings. From a practical standpoint, this may or may not mean a whole lot (except maybe a whole lot of confusion).

New High School Pathways Emerging EdWeek: Every student at Wheeling High School takes a full academic courseload. But many of the graduates of this 2,000-student school in Wheeling, Ill., also emerge with significant experience in a career field. Those interested in health careers, for example, can work with student-athletes in the school's athletic-training facility, earn a Certified Nursing Assistant credential, and intern at a nursing-care facility. 

New York City To Try Longer School Day For 2,000 Middle School Students HuffPostEdu: The end of summer will be extra bittersweet for some New York City middle school students, who will be greeted in September with a school day 2.5 hours longer than usual. New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced yesterday that the school day will be lengthened for about 2,000 sixth-graders as part of a $6.2 million expansion of the Middle School Quality Initiative, according to New York City-focused education news site Schoolbook. 

AM News: "The Common Core Is In Trouble," Says National Teachers Union Head

Common Core Backlash Is Serious, Says AFT President, Randi Weingarten WashingtonPost:  On Tuesday, the head of the American Federation of Teachers and a strong supporter of the Common Core standards will warn that the new approach is being poorly implemented and requires a “mid-course correction” or the effort will fall apart. “The Common Core is in trouble,” said Randi Weingarten, the union president who is slated to speak Tuesday in New York about the issue. “There is a serious backlash in lots of different ways, on the right and on the left.”

No Child Left Behind District Waivers Derided By Civil Rights, Disabilities Groups HuffPost: In a letter these groups wrote to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan -- and forwarded to The Huffington Post Monday morning -- they argue that the price of giving school districts that kind of flexibility is too high, espeically when it comes to student achievement. "We're asking you to hold the line now," the groups wrote. "Moving away from a system of statewide accountability ... will result in different expectations for students from one district to the next. 

Arne Duncan Makes Pitch to Expand Early-Childhood Education PoliticsK12: The details of the administration's early-childhood education expansion are largely in its most recent budget request to Congress. But Duncan reiterated some of them anyway, noting that the program would call for a state match of roughly 10 percent in the first year, eventually increasing to 75 percent.

Schools Evaluate Whether to Privatize Support Services EdWeek: School districts face constant pressure to provide reliable support services in areas like transportation, student meals, and janitorial work — and do it as cheaply as possible. That leaves them with a decision to make: Should they use their own employees to perform those duties, or hire outside contractors who may be able to do the job for less?

Battle Brews Over California's Planned Student-Funding Overhaul WSJ: A battle is heating up in California over Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to boost funding for all schools, but funnel more money to districts where many students are poor and struggle with English and less to wealthier districts.Since Mr. Brown, a Democrat, unveiled the "weighted funding" plan in January, school chiefs in poorer areas have pushed hard for the state legislature to pass it.

AM News: 30 Years After Monumental "A Nation at Risk" Report, Educators Debate the State of Schools

30 Years On, Educators Still Divided On Scathing Schools Report NPR: But Ron Wolk, who had just started the publication Education Week, says the report had a fatal flaw: It pretty much ignored the plight of poor, minority kids. "It kind of viewed the students of America as middle-class white kids who would really do well if they just tried harder and if we raised standards ... There was no recognition that there was a terrible inequity out there," he says.

Preschool Funding Reached 'State Of Emergency' In 2012: NIEER Report HuffPo: Funding per student for state pre-school programs has reached its lowest point in a decade, according to "The State of Preschool 2012," the annual yearbook released by Rutgers University's National Institute for Early Education Research. "The 2011-2012 school year was the worst in a decade for progress in access to high-quality pre-K for America’s children," the authors wrote.

GOP Dictates New Landscape For Education In Alabama AP: Self-declared education reformers have had considerable success across the country over the past few decades, from charter school expansion and private school tuition vouchers to new limits on teachers' job protections. But perhaps nowhere have the triumphs marked a bigger political upheaval than in Alabama, where the new Republican supermajority is dominating the state teachers' organization that was long the epicenter of power.

Lowering Standards to Earn a Diploma in Texas Could Raise Voters’ Ire TexasTribune: Behind the scenes at the Capitol, different factions from the business community are busy lobbying on this, with one saying the marketplace demands skilled laborers who don’t necessarily want or need four-year college degrees. Another camp, veterans of No Child Left Behind, the state’s sweeping education reforms in 1980s and other fights, is trying to hold the line on standards and accountability.

In Rural Georgia, Students Step Up Offer Integrated Prom NYT: The rural county in central Georgia is one of the last pockets in the country with racially segregated proms. “These are people I see in class every day,” said Ms. Rucker, a senior, who hid in a parked car outside the prom. “What’s wrong with dancing with me, just because I have more pigment?” But this weekend, after decades of separate proms for white students and black students, Wilcox County will have its first integrated prom.

Buffalo schools heed call to curb suspensions WSJ: The upstate New York district's new code of conduct, taking effect for its 34,000 students next school year, shifts away from punitive suspensions in favor of intervention and prevention strategies like conflict resolution, counseling referrals and restorative justice — which involves bringing conflicting parties together to repair damage.

AM News: Less than Half of 12th Graders 'Proficient' in Economics, According to National Assessment

National Assessment Of Educational Progress In Economics Finds Less Than Half Of 12th Graders 'Proficient' HuffPost: Fewer than half of high school seniors are proficient in economics, according to the results of the 2012 National Assessment of Educational Progress exam released Wednesday. This statistic is causing alarm among educators and advocates, especially in an era marked by economic crisis.

At Chicago school closing hearings, crowds fade ChicagoTribune: After months of jampacked hearings over Chicago's decision to shut down scores of schools, the final round of public meetings — the ones mandated by state law — has often been sparsely attended and overcast by an air of futility. Community leaders say some people are simply burned out, while others feel their efforts are pointless after Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration decided to shut down 54 schools after months of protest and public engagement. 

Fixing the 'Opportunity Gap' to Close the Achievement Gap PoliticsK12: Thirty years after the release of the seminal A Nation at Risk report ushered in an era of academic standards and standardized tests to measure how students were mastering those, "Closing the Opportunity Gap," argues that until federal and state governments, as well as local school districts, devote as much time and attention to making investments in broad access to quality preschool, health care, good teachers, and rich curricula as they have to driving up test scores and graduation rates, the academic gaps between upper and middle-class kids and their low-income peers will never disappear.

Bill Would Ensure Free Breakfast for Texas' Poorest Students TexasTribune: The Texas Education Agency estimates that 89 percent of the students in the school's district are from low-income households. But every morning, all of the school’s 927 students can count on a federally subsidized breakfast. Offering free breakfasts to all interested students in low-income areas, not just to those who qualify under federal guidelines, is a program that some state legislators are trying to expand to schools in poor neighborhoods across Texas.

Mexican Teacher Protests Turn Up Heat on President NYT: One of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s signature efforts to shake up the country — a broad plan to overhaul the education system — has run into violent protests that underscore how difficult it may be to carry out, particularly in some volatile states with poor academic performance.

AM News: Immigration Bill Would Help DREAMERs & Boost STEM

Immigration Bill Would Help DREAMERs, Boost STEM PoliticsK12: "This version of the DREAM act is one of the most generous and inclusive to date," said James Ferg-Cadima, a regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Washington. And he said the measure is particularly promising because "it's housed within this larger package of reform." And buried deep within the measure are ways to generate new resources to bolster science, technology, engineering, and math (aka STEM) education.

Obama Proposal on Student Loans Draws Fire EdWeek: The Obama administration has found itself at odds with a key voting block—college students and their advocates—as well as many of its Democratic allies in Congress, because of an important, if technical, budget proposal that could have significant implications for college access. In a move intended to stave off a doubling of interest rates on federally backed Stafford Loans over the summer, the administration is seeking to shift those interest rates from the current predictable, fixed-rate system to a market-based rate at the time of the loan.

CPS protests: Students reject tests, charter school backers want equal funding Sun-Times: Students and parents said they weren’t concerned about students boycotting the test because there is a makeup day in May. Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, meanwhile, issued a statement Wednesday, saying, “The only place that students should be during the school day is in the classroom with their teachers getting the education they need to be successful in life. Today’s PSAE is one of the most critical exams our students will take. Every adult should support and encourage our students to make sure they are in school.”

Boston Area Teacher Helps Kids Cope with Bombings WSJ: At the Fletcher Maynard Academy in Cambridge, Mass., teacher Tonya Leonard is using a technique called "Social Stories" developed for autistic students to help her second graders process the Boston bombings.In the featured Video Ms. Leonard reads a portion of the story. 

Incredible Harlem Teens Produce Documentary on Gun Violence  HuffPost: For many inner-city teens, these words hit close to home -- and they can be heard in the trailer for "Triggering Wounds: A Story of Guns and Violence in Harlem," a documentary produced by an incredible group of high school students. The film, which shines a light on gun violence, is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this week.

AM News: Newtown, CT Votes Down Funding for Additional School Security

Newtown Budget Including Funding For Additional School Security Rejected By Residents AP: Newtown residents have rejected a budget that included money for extra school security in the wake of the December school shootings.Voters turned down the $72 million school budget by 482 votes and rejected the $39 million town government budget by 62 votes Tuesday. Nearly 4,500 residents voted on the plans, which would have increased spending by 4.7 percent next fiscal year.

National Teacher of the Year Noted for Robotics, Resourcefulness EdWeek: On Tuesday afternoon, President Barack Obama presented Jeffrey Charbonneau of Zillah, Wash., with the 63rd National Teacher of the Year award in a cozy Rose Garden ceremony at the White House. The 12-year veteran science teacher was selected from among the 2013 state teachers of the year by a panel of representatives from 15 education organizations.

Harper High in Chicago boasts two Gates Millennium Scholars, despite school’s struggle with violence WBEZ: Deonte Tanner (left) and Brittney Knight are Harper High School’s first ever Gates Millennium Scholars. Harper principal Leonetta Sanders hopes having two students win the prestigious scholarship will help improve the school’s image. One thousand needy minority students are receiving the scholarship across the country this week; 54,000 applied.

San Antonio Sets Sights on Preschool Leadership EdWeek: The city partnered with seven of the 15 local school districts within its borders to launch the “Pre-K 4 SA” program since the November election that authorized a tax increase for preschool programs. Mayor Castro aims to deliver what he deems are gold-standard academics to 22,400 children over eight years in addition to intensive professional development for staff members and extensive parental supports. 

New blended learning certificate program for K-12 teacher HechingerReport:  The “Online Professional Learning Experience” will be conducted on a “challenge cycle” model. Teachers will design a lesson using technology, put it into practice, and then share and reflect with the group. There will be plenty of opportunities for collaboration and community-building.

AM News: Chicago Students Boycott State Test Held on ACT Date

Chicago Public School Students Plan to Boycott State Test WBEZ91.5: They said it’s unfair to judge whether their schools are good or not based on one test. (Chicago Public Schools uses a complicated formula to judge performance, but more than half of the possible points are based on parts of the PSAE) Two student-led groups, Voices of Youth in Chicago Education and Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools, called on their classmates to walk out of the second day of testing for the Prairie State Achievement Exam, or PSAE, Wednesday. Students take the ACT during the first day and many don’t want to jeopardize their chances at college.

New STAAR test standards guarantee some Texas special education students will fail DallasNews: Spring is the stressful STAAR testing season across Texas, but special education teachers and students carry extra challenges and responsibilities. This year, for the first time, students who are able to complete only the simplest tasks on the test will no longer pass. State officials say the standard is a way to challenge a population that was too often warehoused. Many teachers say the rule unfairly stigmatizes some students while penalizing schools, school districts and individual teachers.

House GOP Lawmakers Want More Information on NCLB Waivers  PoliticsK12: So far, 34 states and the District of Columbia have been approved for flexibility from provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, with only a smattering of formal oversight from Congress (mostly in the form of this bipartisan hearing in the Senate education committee and this letter from House Democrats). Now Republicans on the House Education and the Workforce Committee—who haven't yet held a waiver hearing—have some questions about waiver implementation, many of which pinpoint the political and policy challenges inherent in the waivers.

A Presidential Pat for Young Scientists NYT: Praising the work of young scientists and inventors at the third White House Science Fair, President Obama on Monday announced a broad plan to create and expand federal and private-sector initiatives designed to encourage children to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

American Teens Doing Better On Science Tests Than Public Realizes: Pew Research Center Survey AP: American teenagers aren't doing as poorly on international science tests as adults think. Despite the misconception, people don't think the subject should get greater emphasis in schools, a survey released Monday found. More Americans than not wrongly think that U.S. 15-year-olds rank near the bottom on international science tests, according to a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll. U.S. students actually rank in the middle among developed countries.

AM News: Boston Students Return to School Today after Marathon Tragedy

Boston Marathon bombings cast shadow over schools as they reopen BostonGlobe: When public schools reopen Monday for the first time since the Boston Marathon bombings, Cambridge will be grappling with dual sorrows. Several teachers in the district were injured in the blasts, according to school officials, and both suspected bombers — Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who died Friday after a shootout with police, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was hospitalized after his capture — graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. “I think the overwhelming feeling is just of confusion,” said Samuel Gebru, 21, a 2009 graduate who is trying to organize a rally with other alumni and students to support the community. “We are surprised. We are hurt.”

Louisiana recalls student data stored with nonprofit inBloom NewsStar: Louisiana Department of Education Superintendent John White says he is withdrawing Louisiana student information from a non-profit database, just two days after he assured Board of Elementary and Secondary Education members that the data was safe and could not be distributed without DOE approval. “I’m confused,” BESE member Lottie Beebe said early Friday after reading an email from White about the change. “The other day (he said) it was the best thing since mom’s apple pie!"

Language Programs Flower in Utah NYT: For generations, Mormon missionaries from Utah have crisscrossed the globe and returned home speaking Tagalog and Xhosa. Now, with hopes of preparing students for a competitive world economy, the state is building one of the largest and most ambitious school-language programs in the nation.

GOP Senator: No More Federal Money for Common Core PoliticsK12: Congress wouldn't pump another penny into encouraging states to adopt the common core standards, or overseeing their implementation, at least if Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, has his way. Grassley wrote a letter April 18 to Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat who also hails from the Hawkeye State, asking him to include language in the bill that funds the U.S. Department of Education prohibiting the education secretary from using any of the money in the measure to oversee state implementation of the standards. 

In D.C., Art Program Turns Boys' Lives Into 'Masterpieces' NPR: Life Pieces to Masterpieces is an arts program that's not entirely about the art. It's an after-school program based in a struggling neighborhood in Washington, D.C., that teaches black boys and young men what they call "the four C's": "Connect, create, contribute, celebrate." From ages 3-25, they learn to express themselves by conceiving their paintings together. And those paintings will often reflect what's going on in their lives.

AM News: Common Core Testing Complaints

Common Core Testing Spurs Outrage and Protest Among Parents NYT: As New York this week became one of the first states to unveil a set of exams grounded in new curricular standards, education leaders are finding that rallying the public behind tougher tests may be more difficult than they expected.

Steve Jobs’ Widow Makes Public Push for U.S. Immigration Reform Bloomberg: Jobs first met students who could qualify for the Dream Act through College Track, a nonprofit group she cofounded to help underserved high-school students get into and through college. It wasn’t until they began to apply for college and financial aid that some realized they didn’t have Social Security numbers.

Randi Weingarten’s Pension Veto WSJ: Her attempted ambush coincides with a new report that her union sent to pension trustees this week called “Ranking Asset Managers.” Ms. Weingarten isn’t interested in how they rank by return on investment.

 

AM News: Michelle Rhee Fends Off D.C. Cheating Accusations from 2008

Education advocate Michelle Rhee fends off accusations LATimes: Michelle Rhee, head of an influential education advocacy group that backs using student test scores to evaluate teachers, this week fended off accusations that she failed to pursue evidence of cheating when she ran the District of Columbia school system. In an internal memo, a district consultant warned that about 190 teachers at 70 schools — more than half the system's campuses — may have cheated in 2008 by erasing wrong answers on student testing sheets and filling in correct ones. 

Senators to Arne Duncan: Stop Flat-Funding Key K-12 Programs PoliticsK12: U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who oversees the panel that deals with K-12 spending, has already made it clear he's none too happy with the administration's decision to ask for level funding for formula programs, while seeking big increases for competitive grants. He reiterated that today when U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified before the Senate subcommittee that oversees spending for the U.S. Department of Education.

How Parents Are Explaining The Boston Tragedy To Children HuffPost: In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, parents in Boston and across the country are struggling to explain the senselessness of the attack to their children. Around Boston in particular, parents are put in a unique situation, since there is a school break this week. During school-day crises, teachers can be first responders, and they are often taught how to break potentially traumatizing news to children.

Philadelphia district to launch online school Notebook: The Philadelphia School District plans to launch its own online school this summer, part of an effort to reclaim thousands of students and millions of dollars now going to independently operated cyber charters. The proposed Philadelphia Virtual Academy would offer students a combination of "anytime learning" in their homes and in-person support from teachers and other staff at "learning centers" around the city. District officials hope to immediately enroll as many as 1,000 students in grades 6 through 12.

More Than 50 Years Of Putting Kids' Creativity To The Test NPR: Janet Stanford is the artistic director of Imagination Stage, a professional children's theater company and arts center in Bethesda, Md. She says when she first heard about the Torrance Test, she was skeptical. "Initially I thought, as many people do, 'Well, creativity is not something you can measure. It's this sort of wonderful gift and let's not question it too carefully.' "

Some Mississippi districts have critical teacher needs HechingerReport: In Mississippi, attracting top-performing teachers to the neediest schools is an ongoing challenge. Nearly one-third of all districts in the state have been identified as critical needs districts, meaning they have extensive teacher shortages. Those shortages are often exacerbated in rural settings that lack housing, restaurants and other amenities that would make them attractive places for individuals without family connections.

AM News: Florida Union Sues State Over 'Value-Added' Evaluations

Teacher Unions Sue Florida Over 'Value-Added' Teacher Evaluations NBCFlorida: The complaint challenges the Student Success Act passed in 2011. The current teacher evaluation system, partly based on scores from the high-stakes Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, violates teachers' constitutional rights of due process and equal protection of laws. "None of the plaintiffs teaches math or reading in the grades that the FCAT is given," said Andy Ford, the Florida Education Association president. "This lawsuit highlights the absurdity of the current evaluation system."

High School Redesign Gets Presidential Lift EdWeek: A flurry of good news appeared on the high school front this winter. Graduation rates were at their highest mark in nearly 40 years, record numbers of students were taking and passing Advanced Placement exams, and more high schools than ever were offering college credit through dual-enrollment programs. On top of all that, President Barack Obama applauded high school redesign efforts in his State of the Union address and encouraged districts to look to successful models for inspiration. Last week, he followed up with a request in his fiscal 2014 budget proposal for a new, $300 million competitive-grant program.

Nearly $500 million From Race to Top To Fund Early Learning, District Ideas PoliticsK12: About $370 million, will go to early-learning initiatives, including to six states that only received 50 percent of their awards the first time around. The remaining funds will go for new states that pitch early-learning improvement ideas. (Preschool is top priority for President Obama.) But there are some things that aren't clear, including exactly how much will go for early learning in new states. Also unknown is whether the department will conduct an entirely new Race to the Top district competition, or make awards to districts that came close, but did not win, last year.

NYC ‘Cheating teacher’ claims up NewYorkPost: A first-ever breakdown of probes conducted by the Office of Special Investigations, the Department of Education’s internal investigative arm, shows that 221 cases of cheating were reported to the agency last year — up from 128 allegations reported in 2009. Overall since that year, the internal unit has received at least 623 reports of cheating and opened probes on 449 of them, but has substantiated wrongdoing in just 67 of those cases.

Creative Classes: An Artful Approach To Improving Performance NPR: The Turnaround Arts Initiative, spearheaded by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, is using an intensive arts curriculum to try and improve eight low-performing schools. They're located in Denver; New Orleans; Des Moines, Iowa; and on a reservation in Montana, among other places, and they all serve students from poor families. Some were considered to be the lowest-performing schools in their states.

AM News: Chicago Union Pushes for Organizing in Charter Schools

Chicago Unions' Charter-School Push WSJ: Charter schools have spread across the country while generally keeping organized labor out, with operators saying they can manage schools better when their staffs aren't unionized. But labor groups are now making a big push to get a stronger foothold in this educational realm. Here in Chicago, a branch of the American Federation of Teachers is looking to organize one of the nation's largest nonprofit charter-school groups.

Chicago School Closings: Gang Boundaries Consulted By District Amid Student Safety Concerns AP: As Chicago prepares to close 54 schools in an attempt to rescue an academically and financially failing educational system, one of its greatest challenges will be safely maneuvering thousands of students to and from class through the patchwork of rival gang territories that cover large parts of the nation's third-largest city. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his schools chief, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, have acknowledged the danger of mixing young people from different neighborhoods. 

Feds Can Do More to Promote Funding Equity, Report Urges PoliticsK12:  Forty years after the Supreme Court ruled in San Antonio Independent School District v.Rodriguez that state funding formulas for public schools that are based on local property taxes are not unconstitutional, some civil rights leaders and education advocates say it's time to push for new efforts to address decades-long disparities in how resources are parceled out to public schools. 

Long Island Inquiry Includes Claim of Altered High School Exam Score NYT: An investigation into whether teachers in a Long Island school district improperly coached students on standardized tests has expanded to include an allegation that administrators changed a Regents exam grade for at least one high school student, the authorities said on Monday. Both the Nassau County district attorney and the Glen Cove school district are looking into the new accusation, which involves a Regents exam taken last year by a student atGlen Cove High School, spokesmen for the agencies said.

States Dropping GED As Test Price Spikes AP: Several dozen states are looking for an alternative to the GED high school equivalency test because of concerns that a new version coming out next year is more costly and will no longer be offered in a pencil and paper format. The responsibility for issuing high school equivalency certificates or diplomas rests with states, and they've relied on the General Education Development exam since soon after the test was created to help returning World War II veterans.

AM News: Dept. of Ed. Issues a Report Calling for School Systems to Develop Uniform Policies Against Cheating

Anti-Cheating Efforts Lag, But Simple Fixes Exist WSJ: The Department of Education issued a report this year calling for school systems to develop uniform policies for administering tests and for districts and states to regularly review tests for irregularities. Moves to address allegations of cheating on standardized tests in places like Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta show that some effective measures can be simple and need not break already strained education budgets.

School Security, Mental Health Measures Advance EdWeek: The national discussion about improving school safety evolving from the shootings in Newtown, Conn., reached a pivotal moment last week, as the U.S. Senate began consideration of a measure to strengthen school building security, and a Senate committee passed a measure that would bolster school-based mental-health services.

Missouri School Trains Teachers to Carry Guns, and Most Parents Approve NYT: At 8:30 on a cloudy, frigid morning late last month in this folksy Ozark town, the superintendent of an area school strolled through the glass doors of the local newspaper office to deliver a news release. Hours later, the content of that release produced a front-page headline in The West Plains Daily Quill that caught residents off guard: “At Fairview School Some Employees Now Carry Concealed Weapons.”

N.Y. Teacher Who Assigned Nazi Letter Put on Leave AP: New York school district officials have placed a high school English teacher on leave for having students pretend to be Jew-hating Nazis in a writing assignment.The teacher at Albany High School caused a storm of criticism after having students practice the art of persuasive argument by writing a letter to a fictitious Nazi government official arguing that "Jews are evil."

Jazz In The Cafeteria: Kids Learn To Listen While They Chomp NPR:When the music teacher told students here they'd occasionally have a "silent" lunch break, this was kindergartner Alyssa Norquette's reaction: "Why do we need a silent lunch? Is it because we're too loud or something?" That is the reason there's a growing movement nationally to have silent lunches. But that's not music teacher Ami Hall's reason. She knew students here didn't have a lot of exposure to live instruments, so she started asking musicians to come in at lunch.

AM News: Across the Country, More Police in Schools Lead to More Children in Court

With Police in Schools, More Children in Court NYT: As school districts across the country consider placing more police officers in schools, youth advocates and judges are raising alarm about what they have seen in the schools where officers are already stationed: a surge in criminal charges against children for misbehavior that many believe is better handled in the principal’s office.

K-12 Issues in Mix as State Legislatures Wrap Up EdWeek: State lawmakers continue to grapple with high-profile K-12 issues as legislative sessions approach or cross the finish line nationwide. School choice, school safety, and education funding are prominent among them. No single issue dominated legislatures this year, although some policy patterns have emerged. Proponents of vouchers and tax credits for private school tuition, for example, have experienced a largely uphill battle in statehouses.

Believing self-control predicts success, schools teach coping WashingtonPost: The boot-camp expectations, the behavioral charts, the pinnies, all point to a calculated attempt to teach students self-discipline, focus, accountability — ultimately, self-control. Schools across the country are responding to a growing body of research that suggests a definitive and disturbing link between low levels of self-control in childhood and serious problems later in life.

Ed. Dept.'s i3 Wizard Jim Shelton To Be Acting Deputy Secretary PoliticsK12: Jim Shelton, the U.S. Department of Education's assistant secretary for innovation and improvement, is to take on an even bigger role at the department early next month. Department sources confirm that Shelton, who helped craft and implement the Investing in Innovation grant competition, is in line to become the deputy secretary (and would be the "acting" deputy secretary until his appointment becomes official). He would replace Tony Miller.

Texas Considers Backtracking on Testing NYT: In this state that spawned test-based accountability in public schools and spearheaded one of the nation’s toughest high school curriculums, lawmakers are now considering a reversal that would cut back both graduation requirements and standardized testing.

AM News: Obama's Budget Targets Early Education, College Costs, & High School Overhaul

Budget Targets Early Education, Costs for College WSJ: President Barack Obama’s spending blueprint pairs a new, landmark investment in early childhood education with efforts to contain skyrocketing college costs, building on his efforts to ensure every child is prepared for college and a career. The budget, released Wednesday, provides the first details on how the president aims to fund his plan for the biggest expansion of early-childhood education since Head Start was launched nearly 50 years ago.

Obama Budget Would Invest in Pre-K, High School Overhaul EdWeek: President Barack Obama's budget unveiled today proposes new money for a big expansion of prekindergarten programs, a new competitive-grant program for high school improvement, a new Race to the Top competition focused on higher education—and level funding for the two formula grants school districts depend on most: Title I grants for disadvantaged students and special education.

El Paso Schools Cheating Scandal: Who's Accountable? NPR: No one knows if Atlanta's school superintendent or any of the will go to jail, but they wouldn't be the first if they do. Lorenzo Garcia, the former superintendent of schools in El Paso, Texas, has been sitting in a federal prison since last year. He's the nation's first superintendent convicted of fraud and reporting bogus test scores for financial gain. Now, the school district is in turmoil and everybody is blaming everybody else for the scandal.

Preschool Network Puts 'Innovation' Grant to Test EdWeek: The $650 million “i3” competitive-grant program awarded up to $50 million to 49 recipients in 2010. AppleTree’s program, the top-ranked proposal with an exclusive focus on early-childhood education, received one of the smaller “development” grants, for promising but relatively untested ideas, and is putting its money toward meeting the needs of its students, primarily minority and from low-income homes.

Research shows that online education works—for sex, alcohol, and health HechingerReport: But new research shows that, in certain topics—as for these students in Newark—computer-based instruction is not only just as effective as the old-fashioned, in-person kind. It’s more effective. These topics include sex, drugs, and health—subjects in which privacy, personal comfort and customized information are especially important, and embarrassment or cultural taboos can get in the way of classroom teaching.

Michelle Obama Harper High School: First Lady To Visit Chicago School Impacted By Violence AP: As part of a rare foray into a policy debate, Mrs. Obama highlighted the case of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, shot in the back Jan. 29 while hanging out with friends at a park, about a mile from the Obamas' South Side home. Mrs. Obama attended Pendleton's funeral and said she was struck by how familiar the Pendleton family seemed to her own.

AM News: Senate Announces Bipartisan Effort to Boost Mental Health in Schools

Senators Harkin, Alexander Introduce Measure to Boost Mental Health in Schools PoliticsK12: Schools would be encouraged to expand the use of positive behavior support services, boost early-intervention services, and take other steps to help address students' mental health, under a bill that's set for committee consideration by the Senate education panel tomorrow. And the bill is..drumroll...bipartisan. 

Common Science Standards Make Formal Debut EdWeek: The final set of standards aimed at reshaping the focus and delivery of science instruction in U.S. schools was publicly unveiled Tuesday, setting the stage for states—many of which helped craft the standards—to take the next step and consider adopting them as their own.

Obama Pre-K Expansion Battle Pits Kids Against Cigarettes HuffPostEdu: "This investment could help jumpstart preschool programs in states without adequate preschools and could also help states with programs reach the lowest-income children," the authors wrote. "This would free up state dollars to expand access for higher-income children and improve program quality."

Newark students protest budget cuts with walkout, rally Star-Ledger: About 1,000 students from a half-dozen Newark high schools walked out of class today and gathered on Rutgers-Newark campus to protest deep cuts to the district’s budget. Though students at Science Park are thriving, their counterparts at some of the district’s comprehensive high schools, including Barringer and West Side, take classes in dilapidated buildings with outdated text books and too few quality teachers, Bazioe said.

L.A. Schools Hire Security Aides To Watch For Threats NPR: The aides are part-time employees, earning between $12 and $15 an hour. Superintendent John Deasy says he'd rather use the money to hire back teachers, but the shootings last December at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., led to a change in priorities.

AM News: Rigorous "Early College High School Model" Spreads to Disadvantaged Communities

Early College High School Model Spreads to Newark NYT: Across the country in communities like Newark, the early college high school model is being lauded as a way to provide low-income students with a road map to and through college. According to the most recent figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, 68 percent of all high school graduates make it to a two- or four-year institution, but only 52 percent of low-income students do the same.

Leadership Shifts at Top of Education Associations EdWeek: As groups representing local and state education players struggle to remain relevant in a policy conversation often dominated by foundations, think tanks, new advocacy groups, and political and business figures, a shift in leadership has been under way at major associations.

Mike Reynolds, Oklahoma Rep: 'It's Not Our Job To See That Anyone Gets An Education' HuffPostEdu: Oklahoma state Rep. Mike Reynolds (R-Oklahoma City) told fellow lawmakers last week that they have no responsibility to ensure students have access to a college education. The state's legislature has been debating a bill that would expand Oklahoma's Promise, a program that provides post-secondary education scholarships to qualified low-income students.

State Lawmakers Consider Dropping Common Core EdWeek: Track the development of in various states of legislation seeking withdrawal from the Common Core State Standards. You can also find a short synopsis and a timeline of recent actions for each bill below. Follow more state legislative news.

Cursive Club Tries To Keep Handwriting Alive NPR: At first, 45 students signed up for the cursive club that Sylvia Hughes founded last fall at Nellie K. Parker Elementary School. But then the club grew to 60 8- and 9-year olds. Some states require cursive handwriting instruction, but in New Jersey, it's optional.

AM News: Obama Would Pay for Pre-K By Increasing Tobacco Taxes

Obama Would Pay for Pre-K Program by Raising Tobacco Taxes PoliticsK12: The administration would cover the cost for at least part of the prekindergarten expansion by raising federal taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products, according to this New York Times story. The story doesn't say by just how much the tax would go up. But, according to this report, released by the Congressional Budget Office last year, hiking the tax from the current level of $1.01 to $1.51 could trim the deficit by $42 billion over 10 years.

CPS School Closings: King Elementary Parents Frustrated At Lack Of Response DNAinfoChicago: Many concerns and questions, but no answers. That’s how it went for parents and teachers from William H. King Elementary as they gathered for a meeting with Chicago Public Schools officials Saturday. About 350 people attended 10 meetings across the city Saturday morning and afternoon, CPS said in a statement. Three additional meetings were scheduled for Saturday evening.

Charter school demand in Mass. disputed BostonGlobe: A state tally showing more than 53,000 students on charter school waiting lists is overstating demand, according to a Globe review of state data. That’s because the state simply adds up the waiting lists from each charter school without collecting individual names to learn whether a student appears on more than one list or, in fact, may be enrolled at another charter school.

Many States Fight Immigration Overhaul for Youths AP: President Barack Obama's decision last year to allow young people living in the U.S. illegally to stay and work marked the biggest shift in immigration policy in decades, hailed as a landmark step toward the American dream for a generation of immigrants. But months later, many immigrants are having vastly different reactions to the change depending on where they live, and they aren't flocking to the program at the levels the government originally expected.

Data Shows Teachers Stay in Job Longer WSJ: A host of internal efforts and a tough economy have pushed New York City schools considerably closer to a long-sought goal: Teachers are staying in the job longer. More than 80% of public schoolteachers now have at least five years experience, up from less than two-thirds when Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2002, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of city data. But the push was also helped along by a deep recession that sapped other employment alternatives for teachers and forced the Department of Education to drastically reduce hiring people who are new to the profession.

AM News: U.S. Dept. of Ed. Protesters Use Ugly Rhetoric against "Corporate" Reformer, Michelle Rhee

U.S. Dept. of Ed. Protesters Turn Fierce Rhetoric on 'Corporate' Reform PoliticsK12: As they kicked off four days of protests at the U.S. Department of Education, organizers of Occupy DOE 2.0 today used inflammatory—and, in one case, racially insulting—rhetoric to rally opposition against high-stakes testing, "corporate" education reform, and the "dismantling of public education." Standing in front of the Education Department's headquarters in downtown Washington, Miami-Dade County teacher Ceresta Smith referred to former District of Columbia Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee—founder and CEO of the advocacy group StudentsFirst—as an "Asian bitch."

CPS Walk The Walk: District Parents Say Mayor Should See First-Hand School Routes Their Kids Will Tread HuffPostEdu: Fearing the dangers posed by the new routes their kids will be forced to take after the district shutters 54 neighborhood elementary schools, Chicago Public School parents are calling on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to come to their communities and "walk the walk." A Tuesday morning protest outside Emanuel's office in City Hall is just one of the several demonstrations against the planned school closings since the district revealed its closure list.

Lessons From A School Cheating Scandal, Two Decades Later NPR: A local newspaper investigation in Atlanta uncovered widespread cheating in standardized testing, which school officials were indicted for last week. But almost 25 years ago, a doctor in West Virginia coal country uncovered a similar scandal after noticing that standardized test scores in his community were suspiciously high. Host Michel Martin speaks to Dr. John Cannell about his report back then, and other incidents he has been following since.

Missouri Lawmaker Wants To Tie Welfare Benefits To Public School Attendance HuffPostEdu: Steve Cookson (R-Poplar Bluff) , the state House elementary and secondary education committee chairman, filed legislation Wednesday that would mandate school-age children of welfare recipients attend public school 90 percent of the time, unless the children are physically disabled, "in order to receive benefits."

U.S. Middle-Class Students Fall Short in Global Study EdWeek: Discussions of how to close the achievement gaps for low-income and minority students often take center stage in education policy discussions. Yet students from middle-class families, regardless of race and ethnicity, also have some catching up to do to be competitive on the global stage, a new report suggests.

AM News: U.S. Dept. of Ed. Website Down After Hackers Detected

U.S. Department of Education Website Down After Hackers Detected PoliticsK12: Key parts of the U.S. Department of Education's website have been down after federal officials detected "suspicious activity" on Friday and moved to "protect the integrity of the site." Parts of the website that are inaccessible include sections on Race to the Top, Investing in Innovation, waivers, and general policy and guidance letters.

Restorative Justice Programs Take Root in Schools NYT: The approach now taking root in 21 Oakland schools, and in Chicago, Denver and Portland, Ore., tries to nip problems and violence in the bud by forging closer, franker relationships among students, teachers and administrators. It encourages young people to come up with meaningful reparations for their wrongdoing while challenging them to develop empathy for one another through “talking circles” led by facilitators like Mr. Butler.

School closings not racist, CPS chief says ChicagoTribune: Chicago Public Schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett on Wednesday fired back at critics who have called the district's plan to close more than 50 schools racist because most are in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. "These proposals have caused community anguish, and I understand that," Byrd-Bennett said. "But when status quo is not working, change is inevitable. What I cannot understand, and what I will not accept, are charges that the proposals I am offering are racist."

Calif. Districts' Waiver Bid Now in Review Phase EdWeek: The U.S. Department of Education and a band of outside peer reviewers are now weighing the details of a precedent-setting waiver application from nine districts in California that want flexibility under the No Child Left Behind Act even though their state's bid for a waiver was unsuccessful. If approved, it would be the first time the federal department has granted such sweeping flexibility to individual districts.

Proposal for parent-trigger overhaul at L.A. school well-received LATimes: Rather than do battle over a controversial parent-empowerment law, Los Angeles school officials earlier this year opted for collaboration. This week, that move started to pay dividends. A plan devised by the L.A. Unified School District and a charter school to improve 24th Street Elementary — a persistently low-performing school south of downtown — has been endorsed by leaders of a parents group.

Morning Video: Perp Walk for Atlanta Educators

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Well, not technically a perp walk but still a media gauntlet.  See also PBS NewsHour clip here.

AM News: Memphis Prepares for State Takeover of Failing Schools

Crucible of Change in Memphis as State Takes On Failing Schools NYT: In this Mississippi River town marked by pockets of entrenched poverty, some of the worst schools in the state are in the midst of a radical experiment in reinventing public education. Last fall, Tennessee began removing schools with the lowest student test scores and graduation rates from the oversight of local school boards and pooling them in a special state-run district.

Randi Weingarten, Teachers Union Head, Sounds Off On Atlanta Cheating Scandal HuffPostEdu: In a joint statement Tuesday, Weingarten and Verdaillia Turner, president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers, declared, "Standardized tests have a role in accountability, but today they dominate everything else and too often don’t even correlate to what students need to know to succeed." They added that school districts in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere have put "enormous pressure" on teachers to improve scores.

Divisions Form in Atlanta as Bail Is Set in Cheating Case NYT: A grand jury on Friday charged Dr. Hall and the other educators with essentially running a conspiracy in which standardized test scores were secretly raised as a way to get bonuses and ensure job security. As the day unfolded Tuesday, however, the judicial system appeared unprepared for the initial stages of the prosecution.

NRA schools report suggests training staff in weapons USAToday: The school safety project funded and promoted by the National Rifle Association released a series of recommendations Tuesday to make schools safer, including a training program for teachers and other school staff who want to carry a firearm.

Test Groups Weigh Unified Accommodations Policies EdWeek: A patchwork of testing accommodations is used in the nation's public schools to help students with disabilities and those still learning English show their command of academic content, just as their general education peers do. The list of accommodations—providing extra time, allowing the use of dictionaries, and reading test directions aloud, to name a few—has ballooned in the No Child Left Behind Act era.

Texas Trying to Scale Back Graduation Mandates EdWeek: Leading Texas lawmakers are working to rewrite the state's high school graduation requirements with plans to change the default course of study and lower from 15 to five the number of end-of-course exams most students must pass to earn a diploma. Proponents call the legislative effort a reasonable approach to reduce testing and give students more flexibility in selecting high school courses.

AM News: GOP Majority Leader Could Gain Steam on Education Issues

With GOP Advocate, Ed. Issues Could Gain Steam in Congress EdWeek: Education issues—which haven't gotten a lot of attention from Congress over the past four years—may have picked up an unlikely but powerful advocate: U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor. As the majority leader in the House of Representatives, the Virginia Republican has a major role in setting the agenda for the chamber. Mr. Cantor has spent the past couple of months visiting schools in education redesign hot spots, including a Roman Catholic school in New Orleans that's recently benefited from a voucher program and a charter school in Denver.

U.S. Senate Set to Consider School Safety Bill PoliticsK12: The legislation would authorize grants for states and local governments that want to upgrade their security infrastructure by doing things like buying lights, fences, new classroom locks, and new doors, as well as surveillance equipment. Schools could also use the money to train teachers and administrators on security, and to work with local law enforcement officials. Districts could also use the funds to set up hotlines or tiplines for "the reporting of potentially dangerous students and situations."

First three Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal defendants surrender AtlantaJournal:  The first three of the 35 educators indicted in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal turned themselves in to authorities early Tuesday. Tameka Goodson, a school improvement specialist at Kennedy Middle School, turned herself in around 12:30 a.m. and was booked into the Fulton County Jail on $200,000 bond, according to jail records. Goodson is charged with racketeering and false statements and writings. The indictment, handed up by a grand jury Friday, accuses Goodson of working with her school’s principal and secretary to change students’ wrong answers to right answers on standardized tests.

Gang member at 12, student turns his life around SeattleTimes: The first time Brayan ever held a gun, he pointed it at a woman stepping out of a gray Lexus in Everett and stole her purse — his initiation into an older cousin’s gang. He was 12 years old at the time. “I was losing control of my life,” said Brayan, now 17 and a 4.0 student at Scriber Lake High School in Edmonds. As part of his senior project, Brayan recently screened for other students a documentary titled “Minor Differences,” which tracks the lives of five former juvenile inmates over 18 years, and organized discussions with two of the men afterward.

Nao The Robot Teacher Becomes Newest Edition To Kansas School's Teaching Staff HuffPostEdu: The Career and Technical Education Academy in Hutchinson, Kan., has hired a new teacher who may fit in perfectly at an institution with such a technological name. The Hutchinson News reports Nao, a robot teacher, has arrived mid-year at the high school but is already making a big impact. Nao was developed by the French startup company Aldebaran Robotics, which describes the robot as an autonomous and programmable humanoid. Aldebaran says Nao offers students interactive lessons; for example, rather than calculating the velocity of a hypothetical curve ball themselves, students can use Nao's help to apply the mathematical formula in a computer program.

AM News: Hall Included In Atlanta Cheating Indictments

Ex-Atlanta Schools Chief Charged in Cheating Scandal NYT: As she has since the beginning, Mr. Deane said, Dr. Hall has denied the charges and any involvement in cheating or any other wrongdoing and expected to be vindicated. 

More Diagnoses of Hyperactivity Causing Concern NYT: Eleven percent of American school-age children are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and some doctors say that the diagnosis and its medication are overused.

Students look for Obama's help as deadline looms on loan rate hike The Hill: Advocates urging another extension say they're hopeful Obama's April 10 budget will includes a plan to hold the line on rates once again. “Congress is a bit more muted,” said Chris Lindstrom, higher education program director.

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Fires Superintendent NBC: Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roy Roberts has fired the district's superintendent.

Fourth Round of Investing in Innovation Kicks Off With Pre-Screening EdWeek: It's important to note one significant change to the development grants this time around. The matching requirement—which requires winners to secure private dollars to help cover the costs of their projects—has been relaxed even further. 

Making Mistakes NPR: We try so hard to be perfect, to never make mistakes and to avoid failure at all costs. But mistakes happen — and when they do — how do we deal with being wrong? In this episode, TED speakers look at those difficult moments in our lives, and consider why sometimes we need to make mistakes and face them head-on.

AM News: NJ Governor Announces State-Takeover Plan for Camden

Governor of NJ Announces State-Takeover Plan for Camden WSJ: Gov. Chris Christie said Monday his administration could take over the public school system here in as little as six to eight weeks, but what state control would look like in one of New Jersey's most impoverished urban centers remains unclear. In the weeks leading up to the announcement, Mr. Christie said, he and advisers discussed various options available to help boost one of the state's worst-performing districts. One extreme example: New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, the state's "recovery district" took control of most of the city's schools and converted many to charter schools.

Indiana Supreme Court upholds school vouchers IndyStar:  Public tax dollars may be used to fund private school tuition under Indiana's voucher program, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled today. The ruling, on a teachers union-supported lawsuit from 2011, ends the legal challenge to the program at the state level. The case could be made again in federal court. But in 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar program in Ohio, making any federal case a long shot.

With Vouchers, 17 States Shift Aid for Schools to Families NYT: Currently, 17 states offer 33 programs that allow parents to use taxpayer money to send their children to private schools, according to the American Federation for Children, a nonprofit advocate for school vouchers and tax-credit scholarship programs that give individuals or corporations tax reductions if they donate to state-run scholarship funds. To qualify, students generally must fit into certain categories, based on factors that include income and disability status. 

Digitally Aided Education, Using the Students’ Own Electronic Gear NYT: Educators and policy makers continue to debate whether computers are a good teaching tool. But a growing number of schools are adopting a new, even more controversial approach: asking students to bring their own smartphones, tablets, laptops and even their video game players to class. Advocates of this new trend, called B.Y.O.T. for bring your own technology, say there is another advantage: it saves money for schools short of cash.

Civil Rights Groups: School Safety Not Dependent on Guns EdWeek: In a pre-emptive move against a school safety proposal from the National Rifle Association that is expected to include a call for more people trained and approved to carry guns at schools, acoalition of civil rights groups unveiled its own safety planThursday. It seeks the creation of positive school climates, thoughtful and comprehensive crisis plans, and improved safety features that don’t turn schools into fortresses.

AM News: Over 50 School Closure Protesters Arrested in Chicago

Protest Of CPS School Closings: Arrests, Tangled Evening Commute Stem From Loop Rally HuffPostEdu: A throng of protestors, police and media descended on Daley Plaza Wednesday, kicking off what are expected to be several weeks of demonstrations against the Chicago Public School closures. Protestors from across the political spectrum swarmed the Loop just before Wednesday's evening rush, calling for a moratorium on the district's plan to close 54 schools in mostly low-income black and Latino neighborhoods due to what the district has pegged an "underutilization" crisis.

In Chicago, Dozens Arrested As They Protest School Closures NPR: "'People have a right to the neighborhoods in which they live,' [Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis] said. 'Children have the right to a safe, nurturing, loving environment.'During the sit-in, crowds of people on the sidewalk and on northbound LaSalle continued to wave signs and chant 'save our schools' as some of the crowd sat down. "Police soon began making arrests, leading more than 50 people away one by one to a holding area outside a building just south of Washington Street." 

Fourth Round of Investing in Innovation Kicks Off With Pre-Screening PoliticsK12: The U.S Department of Education is accepting "pre-applications" for its small $3 million development grants, which are part of a larger $150 million Investing in Innovation grant contest. The deadline to apply is April 26. Applications for the larger "scale-up" and "validation" grants—which require more evidence of past success but can win applicants up to $25 million—will be available later this spring.

San Diego Superintendent Pick Has Deep Parent Ties EdWeek: Two years ago, a parent leader in San Diego introduced Cindy Marten, the principal of Central Elementary School in City Heights, this way: "Meet the next superintendent of San Diego Unified." It seemed a more-than-generous welcome, considering that about 850 students attend Central, and 133,000 are enrolled in the district, California's second-largest. The elevation of an elementary educator directly to such a level—the superintendency in the 19th largest school district nationwide—would be highly unusual, if not unprecedented, in the nation.

Beleaguered? Not Teachers, a Poll on ‘Well-Being’ Finds NYT: Recent battles over school funding, performance evaluations and tenure have given rise to public perceptions of a beleaguered teaching corps across the United States. But a new analysis of polling data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that examines “well-being” as measured by a number of indicators, including physical and emotional health, job satisfaction and feelings of community and safety, found that teachers ranked second only to physicians.

AM News: "Personalized Learning" A Common Theme for Race to the Top Districts

'Personalized Learning' Varies for Race to Top Districts EdWeek: The 16 Race to the Top district winners, pushed by $400 million in federal grants that put a premium on personalized learning, are embarking on vastly different makeovers of the classroom experience—from districtwide approaches to a narrower blueprint focused on middle school math. Despite the divergent approaches, a review of the winning applications shows those districts are tapping similar tactics. 

CPS School Closings Will Leave 61 Vacant Buildings: What Happens to Them? DNAInfo: Tim Cawley, CPS chief administrative officer, said the district is still in the process of unloading buildings vacated from last year's closures. "We haven't closed on any buildings closed last year, but we have offers," he said, adding that CPS is in the final phases of fielding bids at some locations. Cawley said public schools' CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, "has had multiple conversations with community leaders to try to think about how these schools can continue to serve a useful purpose in their communities."

The Precedent for NCLB District Waivers PoliticsK12: State education officials in California have offered a tepid blessing of the No Child Left Behind waiver application that a group of nine districts have submitted to the U.S. Department of Education. In a March 22 letter to federal officials, Tom Torlakson (the state chief) and Michael Kirst (the board president) said the California Board of Education "expressed enthusiasm" for the waiver. But the two also went on to express reservations about how such a waiver would work, including the role of the state in monitoring these districts, whether other districts will be able to join in, and the process used by federal officials to approve the request.

Phoenix Schools Under Fire For Program Linked To Scientology NPR: Applied Scholastics is a program based on something Hubbard called Study Technology. The idea is that some kids struggle because they can't overcome learning barriers. They misunderstand words or progress through the content too quickly. The Church of Scientology makes no secret of its support for the program. It even distributes highly produced videos on it.

Partnership Blends Science and English Proficiency EdWeek: These pupils at El Verano Elementary School aren't just learning the science behind shadows, they're also improving their English-language skills. Their instruction is part of a federally funded collaborative project between the 4,600-student Sonoma district and the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco.

AM News: Chicago Students Target Mayor's Office in School Closings Protest

Chicago Students protest school closings ChicagoTribune: Light snow flurries fell as the group chanted "Education is our right — we won't go without a fight" and walked along Clark Street from CPS headquarters to City Hall, escorted by several police officers. Once inside City Hall, the group read their letter outside of Emanuel's office, prompting a representative of the mayor to meet the students and accept their letter. The group asked for a meeting with the mayor but did not get one.

Congress Tweaks State Special Education Spending Mandates PoliticsK12: States that run afoul of federal rules for special education funding will be punished—though not forever—under a technical, but important tweak to state maintenance of effort under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The change, which was crafted with the help of the U.S. Department of Education, was included in the giant spending bill for the rest of this fiscal year (better known in Inside the Beltway as a continuing resolution, or CR) that Congress passed this month.

Teacher-prep programs zero in on effective ‘practice’ EdWeek: The Match Teacher Residency is one of a small number of teacher-preparation programs focusing on what’s coming to be called “practice-based” teacher education. The approach is growing in popularity among charter groups and beginning to emerge in university-based programs as well. “The principle underneath it is that this is not a sink-or-swim model,” said Morva McDonald, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Washington, in Seattle, which runs traditional and alternative teacher-education programs.

Q&A from Alaska: Teachers sleeping in the classroom and fighting the achievement gap HechingerReport: The persistence of the Native American achievement gap has stumped educators for decades. Even as black and Hispanic students have made gains in recent years, test scores, high school graduation rates and the college-going rates have stagnated for Native students. Many Yupik Eskimo families who live there depend on whaling and berry-picking to survive, and college can seem irrelevant. Using a pot of $2 million in federal funds, the St. Lawrence schools have launched a set of reforms outlined by the Obama administration, which include an extended school day and new teacher evaluations based partly student standardized test scores.

Girls Excel in the NYC Classroom but Lag in Entry to 8 Elite Schools in the City NYT: In the United States, girls have outshined boys in high school for years, amassing more A’s, earning more diplomas and gliding more readily into college, where they rack up more degrees — whether at the bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral levels. But that has not been the trend when it comes to one of the highest accomplishments a New York City student can achieve: winning a seat in one of the specialized high schools.

AM News: Chicago Mayor Defends School Closings as Tough But Necessary

Rahm Emanuel On School Closings: Chicago Mayor Defends Action As Tough But Needed AP: Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded Saturday to widespread criticism of his plan to close 54 Chicago Public Schools, saying he wasn't interested in doing what was politically easy and that the pain of the closings doesn't compare to the anguish of "trapping" kids in failing schools. "If we don't make these changes, we haven't lived up to our responsibility as adults to the children of the city of Chicago," Emanuel said in his first public statements since Thursday's announcement. "And I did not run for office to shirk my responsibility."

CPS School Closing Protests: District's Announcement Angers Parents, Aldermen, Communities HuffPostEdu: After Chicago Public Schools officials on Thursday unveiled their plan to shutter 54 of the district's elementary schools, the Chicago Teachers Union, parents and community groups vowed to dig in their heels and continue to push back against the proposal. Joining their ranks by the week's end, however, were a number of elected officials who, like other critics of the mass school closings, view the action as having a disproportionately detrimental impact on minority students in low-income, high-crime neighborhoods, points made all the more dramatic by one map that went viralon social media Friday.

Goldman Sachs Hopes To Profit By Helping Troubled Teens NPR: Last year, the New York City Department of Corrections did something no other city in America has ever done — it asked for private, corporate investors. Goldman Sachs opted to invest $9.6 million in the Adolescent Behavioral Learning Experience program, a new curriculum that seeks to bring down the number of youth offenders going back to prison.

Will Funding Flexibility for Schools Come With Sequestration Cuts? PoliticsK12: So now that school districts are coping with a 5 percent across-the-board cut to all federal programs, thanks to sequestration, many advocates are asking the department for what they see as the next best thing to more money: Greater flexibility with the funds they actually have. For instance, advocates are wondering how the cuts will affect maintenance of effort, which requires states and districts to keep their own spending up at a certain level in order to tap federal funds. Do they get a break because they're getting less Title I and special education money?

Same-Sex Marriage Cases Hold Implications for Schools EdWeek: This week, the U.S. Supreme Court takes up their case, Hollingsworth v. Perry (No. 12-144), which asks whether California's limitation of marriage to a man and a woman violates the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Among the scores of briefs filed by parties and "friends of the court" on different sides of those cases are several that address same-sex marriage and the schools. The issues include schools' treatment of same-sex parents and their children, the impact of the debate on gay students and on those who object to same-sex marriage on religious grounds, and the influence of the trend on the curriculum.

AM News: Chicago to Close 61 Schools, Projects $560 Million in Savings

Chicago Moves to Close 11% of Elementary Schools in Fall WSJ: School officials here said Thursday they plan to close 53 elementary schools and one high school, one of the largest mass school closings in the nation's history, as Mayor Rahm Emanuel seeks to fill a gaping budget hole. The move to close about 11% of the 472 elementary schools in the nation's third-largest school district this fall sparked anger from the teachers union, some elected aldermen, parents and neighborhood groups who vowed to fight the move. The Chicago Board of Education, appointed by Mr. Emanuel, a Democrat, must approve the final plan.

CPS to close 61 buildings, expects to ultimately save $560 million ChicagoTribune: Savings from closing schools, though, won't kick in immediately. Officials estimate school upgrades and enhanced security and other transition costs will add $233 million to expenses in the short term, most of it paid for through bond debt at a time when the district's credit rating has dropped. Some of the increased costs will also be covered by staff cuts from schools that close. Over the next decade, however, CPS projects savings of $560 million from the closings.

Senate Republicans Push Federal Voucher Program in Budget Debate PoliticsK12: Parents would be able to take their child's Title I dollars to any school of their choice—including a private school—under a budget amendment written by two very high profile Republican senators: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a tea party darling, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, the top GOP lawmaker on the Senate education committee. Does the policy sound familiar? It should if you were following the presidential election. It's very similar to the policies Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, pushed during the 2012 election.

Head Start Programs Gutted By Sequestration Cuts HuffPostEdu: Citing budget cuts caused by sequestration, a Head Start program near Fayetteville, Ark., has decided to take the dramatic step of closing its classrooms for the summer 13 days earlier than planned. The closure will help the Washington County Head Start program cut a required $150,000 from its operating budget by the end of September. But the ripple effects of taking 30,000 hours of educational and family development services and 10,000 meals from 381 families who rely on the program will result in a major economic blow for the neediest in the area, officials warn.

Budget cuts to hit Native American schools the hardest USAToday: The mandatory, across-the-board budget cuts from the federal sequestration are causing little noticeable effect on most school campuses, but schools for Native Americans are already feeling the pinch. Jacquelyn Power and her students have been living with less since last November. Power is both superintendent and principal of the tiny Blackwater Community School on Arizona's Gila River Indian Reservation, one of about 1,300 school districts nationwide that receives federal Impact Aid for schools that can't collect local property taxes. 

AM News: Chicago Touts New Perks Ahead for Students Affected by Closures

CPS School Closing Investments: Despite Budget Deficit, CEO Pledges To Bolster Receiving Schools HuffPostEdu: In the ongoing battle over Chicago Public School closures, the district is putting a glossy sheen on the news thousands of the city's children — most of them black or Latino — will see their neighborhood schools shuttered as they're moved to a new "welcoming" school this year. In an interview with NBC Chicago, CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett trumpeted new school enhancements geared toward making the transition for displaced students easier post-consolidation.

More States Consider 'Parent Trigger' Laws EdWeek: The push for the “parent trigger” option for turning around struggling schools continues, with new laws under consideration in 12 states’ legislative sessions, even as such laws already on the books remain unused in all but one of the seven states that have them. Many education advocates opposed to what they view as efforts to privatize and corporatize public schools are watching with trepidation as lawmakers in Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and elsewhere review parent-trigger bills. Opponents argue that the mechanism ultimately hurts schools and ruptures communities.

For teachers, the perks of union membership can include a personal touch HechingerReport: The public face of the New York City teachers union is often that of a political heavyweight engaging in battle with opponents like the mayor and charter school supporters. For many teachers, the union is often something more personal and classroom-focused. The face of the United Federation of Teachers and its state affiliate, New York State United Teachers, is that of a training organization for many teachers who take courses with the unions and get in-person help in the classroom.

Arizona: Tucson Schools Chief Resigns NYT: The superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District, which has been shaken by a dispute over its Mexican-American studies program, announced his resignation on Wednesday. The superintendent, John Pedicone, is leaving on June 30, a year before his contract ends. Internal disagreements over the way the district handled the state’s targeting of its Mexican-American studies program, banned by legislation that said it fostered hatred against white people, pushed other educational efforts off course, he said. 

How To Be The Good Guy With A Gun At School NPR: Ever since the Newtown, Ct., school shooting, there's been a raging debate over how to keep America's schoolchildren safe. National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre proposed stationing an armed guard in every school in the country. Critics said that idea was impractical and would be too expensive to carry out. But many schools and school districts already have armed police officers. Since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, about one-third of the schools in the U.S. have added some kind of armed security, according to federal data.

AM News: Philadelphia Advocates Seek 1 Citywide School Application

Philadelphia Advocates Eye System with 1 Citywide School Application TheInquirer: While the number of district-run and parochial schools shrinks and the city's charter-school population booms, a group of education advocates is looking at a plan to implement a single, citywide enrollment process. The result could alter Philadelphia's educational landscape. The plan, still in the early stages, would involve students' filling out one application that would place them on lists at district, charter and parochial schools in the city, said Miles Wilson, director of the Great Schools Compact for the Philadelphia Schools Partnership. 

Minority Groups Remain Outnumbered at Teaching Programs, Study Reports NYT: According to a study being released Wednesday by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, which represents colleges and universities with teacher certification programs, 82 percent of candidates who received bachelor’s degrees in education in 2009-10 and 2010-11 were white. By contrast, census figures show that close to half of all children under 5 in 2008 were members of a racial or ethnic minority.

Pennsylvania Keystone Exams loophole undermines impact of standardized tests TheMorningCall: On the surface, the "Keystone Exams" action by the State Board of Education appears to establish firm standards for high school graduation in Pennsylvania. Not quite. There is a loophole.  Unfortunately, the new standards allow students who do not pass the Keystones to get diplomas based on "validated local assessment," which means a local school district can dish out diplomas to students just to get rid of them, as is done now.

Math Teachers Strive to Bring Core to At-Risk Students EdWeek: The Common Core State Standards for mathematics, now being introduced in schools across the country, set new grade-by-grade expectations for deepening students' understanding of math concepts, with an emphasis on algebraic thinking. But while many accomplished math teachers are enthusiastic about the standards' emphasis on mathematical reasoning and strategic expertise over rote computation, some say the transition to the new framework poses daunting challenges for students who are already behind in math.

'Green Schools' Go on National Display EdWeek: The impact and design features of the growing number of environmentally sustainable school buildings are on display at the National Building Museum as part of an exhibit on green school space. The exhibit, which opened earlier this month, also houses the first display of "Sprout Space," a new sustainable modular classroom designed by the Chicago-based architecture firm Perkins+Will. Featuring solar panels, a low-flow toilet fed by rainwater, and large glass doors and skylights, Sprout Space is designed to improve health and educational outcomes, the firm says, while also reducing the cost of construction and eliminating energy costs.

AM News: Despite Controversy, More Teachers Using Ability Grouping

More teachers are grouping kids by ability USAToday: New findings based on more than 20 years of research suggest that despite decades of controversy, elementary school teachers now feel fine placing students in "ability groups." The research, out Monday from the centrist Brookings Institution's Brown Center on American Education, finds that between 1998 and 2009, the percentage of fourth-grade teachers who said they created ability-based reading groups skyrocketed from 28% to 71%. In math, between 1996 and 2011, the practice rose from 40% to 61%. 

DC Public Charter School Board tries to reduce 'zero tolerance' policies TheExaminer: The DC Public Charter School Board is encouraging charter schools to eliminate their "zero tolerance" discipline policies in an effort to reduce the number of students being suspended and expelled, Executive Director Scott Pearson said Thursday. "On the whole, charter schools expel and suspend too many students," Pearson told The Washington Examiner following a D.C. Council hearing.

Unions wield much power in elections — but can still lose HechingerReport: In all the races, the UFT and NYSUT engaged with local groups, including local teachers unions, to organize grassroots efforts to support their Democratic candidates, Mulgrew said. They also sent out mailers and developed television spots. The unions put out ads calling Cohen a slumlord, which he denied and countered with ads of testimonies from tenants, and attacked Republican Sean Hanna’s record in the State Assembly, calling him “Wrong for Rochester.”

Minnesota analysis shows Q-Comp bonus goes to most teachers in program SCTimes: Minnesota’s pioneering teacher pay-for-performance system has grown into one that awards a bonus to nearly every teacher who participates. Of the more than 10,000 Twin Cities educators who participate in the “Quality Compensation,” or Q-Comp, system, 99 percent received some type of performance pay last year, a Pioneer Press analysis found. Teachers received an average bonus of $1,864 in the 17 metro districts that use Q-Comp. About a third of Minnesota’s 339 school districts are part of the voluntary system that has a budget of $76 million in state and local aid this fiscal year.

11% of NYC Schools Never Flunk Their Teachers WSJ: Principals at more than one in 10 New York City public schools didn't flunk a single teacher for at least eight years, according to an analysis of city data by The Wall Street Journal. Teachers at 142 of 1,269 schools that have been open for at least the past eight years were all marked "satisfactory" on the city's pass/fail system for reviewing job performance.

AM News: Race to the Top Winners Can Apply for Extra Year to Finish Projects

Race to Top Winners Can Apply for Extra Year to Finish Work PoliticsK12: Next school year was set to be the fourth and last year for the Race to the Top program, the $4 billion education-redesign competition for states funded under the economic-stimulus package passed by Congress in 2009. But delays have plagued many winning states as they seek to make good on their promises, and states have been slow to spend their money. More than three years into the grant, the 11 winning states and the District of Columbia have drawn down less than half of their winnings, Education Department records show.

Federal Budget Cuts Cause Research Setbacks And Brain Drain In The U.S., Colleges Say AP: The concerns have emerged because of automatic federal budget cuts that could reduce government funding for research done at educational institutions, spending that totaled about $33.3 billion in 2010, Department of Education statistics show. And the possible cuts add to another anxiety at those schools and others across the country: brain drain.

California State schools chief wants to hold off on some standardized tests LATimes: A plan to suspend California's standardized testing for certain grades while new computerized exams are developed could save $15 million, the state's top education official said.  The new standards are aimed at fostering more critical thinking, sophisticated writing and other higher-level skills."Rather than continuing to spend scarce dollars and precious class time on outdated testing, we can invest these resources in developing the next generation of assessments that will help students focus on critical thinking and problem-solving — the skills they will need in college and their careers," Torlakson said in a statement.

Mississippi Governor Tells Public Schools to Develop Policies Allowing Prayers NYT: Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi has long wanted children to pray at public schools. This week, with his grandmother’s worn Bible on his desk, he signed a bill that gets him closer to that goal.The new law requires public schools to develop policies that will allow students to pray over school intercoms, at assemblies and at sporting events. While not allowing school-sanctioned prayer, the law permits students to offer public prayers with a disclaimer by the school administration. 

Texas-Based Gift Aims to Add More Math Teachers WSJ: A Texas-based program that encourages math and science majors to become math and science teachers is getting a $22.5 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the largest such donations of its kind. The grant will go to UTeach, which enables math and science majors to augment their degree in these fields with an education component. Students who opt to do this can earn enough credits to get their teaching certificate by the time they graduate with a four-year degree.

AM News: New Orleans District Hopes to Bring Charters Back to Local Control

Orleans Parish School Board hopes to lure state takeover schools back to local control Times-Picayune: The Orleans Parish School Board is addressing a key roadblock this legislative session after two years in which no state takeover schools chose to return to local control. The board's legal and legislative committee on Thursday gave their approval to a bill that would let returning charter schools continue to receive federal funds directly, as they do in the Recovery School District, without the board taking a cut. State Rep. Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans, will sponsor the bill. The full board is expected to approve the measure on Tuesday.

Boston Schools Drop Last Remnant of Forced Busing NYT: “Tonight’s historic vote marks a new day for every child in the city of Boston,” the mayor said in a statement. But numerous parents and activists complained during a hearing before the committee’s deliberations that the new system would leave some children — mostly black and Hispanic — in the lowest-performing schools.“No way we can stand around the playground and say, ‘Yeah, we’re all getting a fair shake,’ “ one father testified.

Testing Consortium Reorganizes for Long-Term Survival CurriculumMatters: The two big groups of states that are designing tests for the common standards have a lot more on their minds than the thorny work of test design. They're trying to figure out how they can survive once their federal funding runs out in the fall of 2014, before the tests are even administered.

Partisan Divisions Emerge on Workforce Investment Act PoliticsK12: Tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives is going to consider a long-stalled reauthorization of a major bill. Nope, sorry, edu-advocates, it's not the renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—instead it's the Workforce Investment Act or WIA, which has been pending even longer than ESEA, if you can believe it.

Experts Make a Case for Later School Start Times EdWeek: Mystery still surrounds what sleep is actually for, but multiple research studies suggest that it is critical to brain development, memory function, and cognitive skills, especially among children and teenagers, according to experts and advocates at a symposium here last week. Organized by a pair of Maryland-based advocacy groups—theLloyd Society and Start School Later—the event explored adolescents' need for sleep, and the effects of—and the necessity for—appropriate start times for schools across the country.