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AM News: While Common Core Rollback Efforts Falter, Duncan Says He'll Backstop States On Student Opt-Outs

Traction Limited in Rolling Back Common Core EdWeek: To date, 19 states this year have considered bills to repeal the common core, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures—but none has adopted such legislation. In Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, repeal proposals have lost what amounted to do-or-die votes, while states including Mississippi and West Virginia have changed repeal proposals into legislation requiring a review of the standards instead.

As opt-out numbers grow, Arne Duncan says feds may have to step in ChalkbeatNY:On Tuesday, when asked whether states with many test boycotters would face consequences, Duncan said he expected states to make sure districts get enough students take the tests. “We think most states will do that,” Duncan said during a discussion at the Education Writers Association conference in Chicago. “If states don’t do that, then we have an obligation to step in.”

Jeb Bush's shifting words on Common Core Tampa Bay Times: “I think Secretary Duncan and President Obama deserve credit for putting pressure on states to change, particularly the states that haven’t changed at all. They’re providing carrots and sticks, and I think that’s appropriate. But these thing have to happen at the state level for policy changes, so for New Jersey wants to get rid of last in first out you gotta go to the legislature and get it done."

Duncan: CPS students deserve stability  Chicago Sun-Times: “I just hate that the current CEO is on leave or whatever, whatever that term is,” Duncan said Tuesday at an education writers conference in Chicago. “Before I was here, there was CEO Paul Vallas for about 7 years. I did about 7 1/2, so you had two ..." See also WTTW Chicago Tonight: US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan 

Resentencing for Educators in Test Cheating Scandal in Atlanta AP: A judge plans to resentence three former Atlanta public school educators who received the stiffest sentences after they were convicted in a conspiracy to inflate student scores on standardized tests.

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

Los Angeles District, Teachers Forge Tentative Agreement, Elude Strike TeacherBeat: After nearly a year of negotiations and the threat of a strike, the Los Angeles school district has reached a tentative agreement with the teachers' union, settling on a deal that would increase teacher salaries by 10 percent.

LAUSD board approves teacher deal but projects $559M deficit KPCC: But those dollars are not a guarantee, said Board Member Monica Ratliff. "We're going to have to come up with an alternative plan in case the May ... See also LADN: Los Angeles Unified school board tentatively approves pay raise for teachers

Does Ohio’s third grade reading test miss its goal? PBS NewsHour: Two years ago, the city of Cincinnati and others across Ohio faced a major problem. On a national reading test, 60 percent of fourth-graders were failing, a gap that many we spoke with then feared would just grow wider. So, two years ago, Republican State Senator Peggy Lehner put a wall around fourth grade, passing legislation that promised to hold back any third grader who failed the state’s reading test. Ohio called it the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.

Michelle Obama to give commencement speech at Chicago school Education Week: First lady Michelle Obama will give the commencement address at a Chicago high school this spring. The White House said Tuesday that Obama would speak at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Preparatory High School, located in the same

Seattle school test-tampering probe: $25K spent, no end in sight Seattle Times: Seattle Public Schools has spent more than $25,000 investigating what happened at Beacon Hill International School, where nearly every wrong answer on last spring’s state exams was erased and changed to a correct response.

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