AM News: Duncan Support For Annual NCLB Testing (Is This News?)

Administration Doubling Down on K-12 Priorities, Ed. Sec. Arne Duncan Declares PK12: Duncan is making it clear he doesn't think that Republicans in Congress—who could introduce draft proposals that make significant changes to federal testing mandates as early as this week—are on the right track. 

Arne Duncan Wants To Drop 'No Child Left Behind' — But Keep Its Tests NPR: The secretary of education calls the law "tired," asserting that much of it ought to be scrapped. But he still wants to keep the annual exams that serve as the law's centerpiece.

Duncan lays out priorities for education law: Testing, preschool funding, teacher evals Washington Post: Education Secretary Arne Duncan spelled out his priorities for a new federal education law Monday, calling on Congress to build in funding for preschool, add $1 billion annually in federal aid for schools with the neediest students, and maintain the federal mandate that says states must test students every year in math and reading. See also: Education groups, leaders weigh in on Duncan’s speech.

White House Still Backs Annual Testing in Schools NYT: Arne Duncan outlined the administration’s priorities for a revision of No Child Left Behind, indicating that testing was important to measuring achievement.

Obama to Call for New Laws on Data Hacking, Student Privacy NPR: The Obama Administration wants to create some new regulations that would alert consumers to the potentially unavoidable dangers facing them in the era of Sony's hacks.  See also Daily Caller.

NYC DOE reveals elusive data for 13 charter schools: How many students leave each year ChalkbeatNY:  The limited student mobility data challenges that [Farina] argument, to a degree. The schools with the highest average mobility rates over the past four years are also the ones that are performing the worst academically.

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

Rally to Fund Schools Draws Hundreds to Albany WNYC: Public school education groups and unions rallied in Albany on the same day supporters of charter schools pressed their own cause.  See also: Equitable funding advocates flood Albany hoping to redirect education debate Chalkbeat New York.

Ex-LAUSD chief John Deasy joins Broad leadership academy KPCC: John Deasy, former Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent, is joining a training academy funded by philanthropist Eli Broad, Deasy's long-time supporter. In his new position at The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, Deasy will serve as a consultant and superintendent-in-residence for the Broad Academy, the center's training and coaching program for urban public education leaders, according to a center news release.

As Jeb Bush Eyes 2016 Recalling Lessons From Governor Races AP: In the recent launch of a political action committee called Right to Rise, Bush described his potential campaign in the most detailed terms to date, and did so in a style that could fairly be called populist.

Students in Pakistan return to school a month after Taliban massacre PBS NewsHour: Students in Pakistan returned to school today for the first time since Taliban militants stormed into classrooms and killed 134 children at Army Public School in Peshawar last month. Emotions were running high as Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif greeted parents and students at the school and invited victims’ families to a private ceremony. 

Credit Card Spending by Minneapolis District Leaders Raises Questions District Dossier: The questions about spending and financial record keeping of expenses by Minneapolis school officials come at a time when the district is facing a $5 million-plus budget shortfall.

West Virginia Revisits Science Standards NYT: Members of the West Virginia Board of Education will take up the teaching of climate science after accusations that the curriculum had been revamped to appease the state’s fossil fuel industry.

The World's Oldest First-Grader Is Honored By A Google Doodle NPR: At age 84, Kimani Maruge put on a school uniform for the first time and went to school. Today's doodle pays tribute to his inspirational story.