Education Program
This Week in Education
June 5 - June 11, 2008
Highlighted Bills of the Week
(Powered by State Net)
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Illinois (IL SB 2691)- Enacted
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Requires each institution of higher education in the state to develop an emergency response plan and a campus violence prevention plan and to conduct training and exercises for the plans annually. Requires county and major municipal emergency managers and Emergency Management Agency regional coordinators to assist in the planning and training process and provide standards and guidelines. |
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Colorado (HB 1255)- Enacted
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Expands the definition of rural school district to allow more teachers who teach in rural areas to qualify for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program; specifies that the general assembly may appropriate general fund moneys to fund the program; removes the provisions that limit the program to repaying only CollegeInvest loans; increases the dollar amount that all teachers under the program can seek in loan forgiveness; extends the repeal date of the program. |
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This Week in Education
June 5 - June 11, 2008
K-12
Patrick plans new kind of public school
Governor Deval Patrick, in a potential break with the teachers unions that helped elect him, is set to propose a new form of public school that would assume unprecedented control over matters ranging from curriculum and hiring decisions to policies on school uniforms and the length of the school year.
Students likely to fail high school exit exam can be identified as early as 4th grade, study says
As early as fourth grade, students who will be at risk of failing the high school exit exam -- a state requirement to earn a diploma -- can be identified based on grades, classroom behavior and test scores, according to a new study released Tuesday.
Assembly bill protecting student free speech passes judiciary committee
On a unanimous 10-0 vote, the Assembly Judiciary Committee today approved legislation to protect high school and college teachers and other employees from retaliation by administrators as a result of student speech, which most often happens when a journalism advisor or professor is disciplined for content in a student newspaper.
Fuel costs could crimp education
School districts on contingency budgets may get relief from rising fuel prices if Gov. David Paterson signs a bill speedily passed by the state Legislature last month.
K-12 Governance
A Local Feud Proves Toxic (EdWeek)
The stakes could hardly be higher in a school leadership crisis that has dragged on since last fall and which threatens to make the 52,000-student Atlanta-area district the first nationally in almost 40 years to lose its accreditation.
Leadership
Penn Hills superintendent quits, 34 teachers fired
The Penn Hills School Board accepted the resignation of the superintendent during a meeting Tuesday in which 34 teachers were fired as part of an effort to plug a $5 million hole in next year's budget.
State hires help to find a schools chief
The Ohio Board of Education hired a search firm yesterday to help find a replacement for Superintendent Susan T. Zelman. The 19-member panel voted unanimously to contract with the Worthington-based firm of Hudepohl & Associates to find and screen candidates to oversee Ohio's primary and secondary schools.
Tennessee: Negotiators look at bonuses for teachers, principals
At least 40 school system employees received bonus money last year beyond their regular salary, even though it wasn’t written down in the yearly contract, say members of the local teachers association.
Tiny district tries to hold on
The Damon Independent School District is so small that Superintendent Jim Haley also is principal of the district's only school, is a counselor, coaches the six-man football team and sometimes drives a bus.
Delaware Rolling Out New Evaluations for Principals (EdWeek)
Delaware rolls out a new method to judge performance of principals and district-level administrators that ties leadership to student achievement.
Leaders of 4 ‘F’ Schools Are Now Up for Bonuses
Because of differing criteria used to determine school grades and administrative performance bonuses, administrators of four New York City schools that earned failing grades and another five that received D's are now eligible for bonuses of $2,750 to $15,000. However, an education department spokeswoman noted that almost 90% of those schools whose leaders are eligible for this year's bonus received top grades of an A or a B.
Post-Secondary Education
Illinois House approves campus security legislation
The Illinois House of Representatives voted 111-0 in favor of legislation requiring universities and community colleges to develop campus security plans in coordination with local emergency and law enforcement officials. This legislation is a recommendation of the task force assembled by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) after the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech.
School Choice
EDUCATION: Republicans blast Del. charter school moratorium
Republican lawmakers on Thursday criticized a proposed one-year moratorium on new charter school applications, saying it is part of an effort to attack the success of the nontraditional public schools.
Fate of D.C. Voucher Program Darkens
The groundbreaking federal voucher program that enables nearly 2,000 D.C. children to attend private schools is facing an uncertain future in the Democrat-controlled Congress and may well be heading into its final year of operation, according to officials and supporters of the program.
Districts seek to fix imbalanced charter school costs
A group of state representatives wants to standardize -- and reduce -- the tuition paid to cyber charter schools, which deliver instruction through the Internet rather than in school buildings. The amounts are based on a complicated formula that translates roughly into 70 percent of each sending district's per-pupil spending.
School Finance
Lynch lets school plan go into law
With a deadline to act looming, Gov. John Lynch announced yesterday that he would allow a school funding plan to become law, but without his signature.
School funding formula
It seems like simple math - the more students you have in the classroom, the more money it takes to teach them. But in Pennsylvania, that isn't the way the state funds school districts.
STEM
Web opens up science school
About 100 students who didn't get into the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics are getting a pretty sweet consolation prize. Starting in August, the runners-up may take school courses -- they'll just have to do it from home instead of living on the Durham campus.
Accelerated Math Adds Up To a Division Over Merits
Next fall, 26 of the sharpest fifth-grade minds at Potomac Elementary School will study seventh-grade math. The rest of the fifth grade will learn sixth-grade math. Fifth-grade math will be left to the third- and fourth-graders.
Bill allowing schools to issue bonds for computers fails
A bill that would have given school districts another way to raise money for computers, in exchange for converting to a digital curriculum, failed in the state Senate on Wednesday.
Florida may expand online education
Thousands of public-school children across the state may soon be able to go to class without leaving their homes under a far-reaching measure that is now sitting on the desk of Gov. Charlie Crist. The GOP-controlled Legislature passed a bill this year that mandates that every school district by 2009 offer some type of online education program, even to students as young as 5. Crist has until next week to sign it or veto it.
Missouri's virtual school gears up for summer classes, second year
About 1,800 students completed courses in online classrooms through Missouri's Virtual Instruction Program, or MoVIP, during the 2007-08 inaugural year. And numbers are expected to go up for the second year as interest continues to increase in virtual education, said Curt Fuchs, director of Missouri's virtual school.
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