AM News: Will Oregon Be Able To Keep Its NCLB Waiver?

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee seeks to keep waiver from No Child Left Behind law The Oregonian: Jay Inslee says he had a productive meeting with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Sunday to discuss options to preserve the state's waiver from provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind law. 

When Grownups Take the SAT The New Yorker: Since Kaplan set up shop, test-prep tutoring has come out of the basement. It’s now a billion-dollar industry whose primary product is heartache: college admission is, after all, a zero-sum game.

As High Schoolers Wait For College Notices, D.C. Fights To Get Students To Apply WAMU: Thousands of high school seniors across our region are waiting to hear if they've gotten into the colleges of their choice, but in the District, D.C. public schools are making a big push to get students — especially those from low-income backgrounds — ready for higher education.

Charters' desire for closed schools will be a difficult sell for CPS and city Chicago Tribune: The growing charter movement is one logical use for the 43 recently vacated CPS school buildings, but the district promised during the painful process of closing schools last year that it would not allow privately run charters into the buildings. CPS said it had nothing to do with Legacy's proposal.

After years of talk, MPS takes decisive action on the achievement gap MinnPost: When the announcement was made at the Minneapolis School Board’s February meeting that an office was being created to focus specifically on the welfare of black boys there was polite applause and a palpable wave of Minnesota Nice discomfort. 

Public schools recruiting international high schoolers USA Today: Newcomb is one of a number of school districts -- both public and private -- quietly taking advantage of a growing interest in an American education by cash-ready international students. Federal statistics show that the number of international high schoolers arriving in the USA on F-1 visas has jumped from about 6,500 in 2007 to 65,000 in 2012. 

More news below (and throughout the day via @alexanderrusso).

Skip school and lose welfare? The good and bad of Australia’s tough tactics on truancy Hechinger Report: What if the punishment for skipping school was a loss in welfare benefits for your family? It’s a strategy that some politicians are considering in the U.S. – plans have been floated in Missouri and put into action in Michigan last year. But in Australia, they’ve already tried it, and the experience is a cautionary tale.

Many L.A. Unified school libraries, lacking staff, are forced to shut LA TImes: Budget cuts leave about half of L.A. Unified's elementary and middle schools without librarians, and thousands of students without books.

In Manhattan, Children of Ukrainians Connect to Revolution NYT: Streaming video and social media fostered a sense of involvement in the recent political upheaval.

Will Dartmouth figure out big applicant drop? Washington Post (Mathews): If there were a prize this year for cluelessness in American higher education, it would go to Dartmouth College. That fine Ivy League institution has a brilliant faculty, terrific students and a lovely New Hampshire campus, yet seems unable to realize how ignoring high school students’ hard work and financial needs has hurt its reputation.

Minimum drinking age of 21 'saves lives' AJAM: After the drinking age was increased in the U.S. from 18 to 21 in 1988, there were 5 to 9 percent less deaths among drivers ages 18-20, according to one study cited in DeJong’s report.