November 29, 2010
They cut themselves, abuse drugs or alcohol, threaten suicide, disrupt classes. Many don’t learn that they suffer from mental illness until they land in the juvenile justice system. Early intervention and easy access to care are critical in keeping mentally ill youths in school and out of jail, mental health advocates say. Yet only a […]
November 29, 2010
New Jersey’s proposed charter schools, hailed by Gov. Christie as part of his school-choice agenda, are at record numbers. But the state has no new start-up money for them because it failed to win another federal education grant. Pennsylvania, where Gov.-elect Tom Corbett has likewise expressed support for charters among school-choice options, also was one […]
November 29, 2010
A number of seats in next year’s round of campus assignments will be set aside for special-education students — at the possible expense of general-education youths vying for a spot at one of their preferred schools. In a report delivered to the Board of Education in September, independent auditors called the current system in which […]
November 29, 2010
Six years ago, the woman who pioneered charter schools in Nashville had to sell her house to keep the one she founded open. State laws regarding charter schools made it tough to succeed, and the school board didn’t help — one decision forced her to drop 50 students at once. Their per-student funding left with […]
November 29, 2010
An education reform gaining t raction locally has nothing to do with reading or math: It’s a plan to start the school year earlier. This change would not make the school year longer — it would just begin sooner and end sooner. The Los Angeles Unified School District hails the idea as a step forward […]
November 24, 2010
Oregon classrooms will finish out the calendar year with nonew cuts, based on the latest state economic forecast released Friday. The state brought in about $100 million more than projectedin September. It’s the first quarterly forecast in two years that didn’t sendscho ol officials scrambling to plan for lower revenues and possible cuts. "This actually […]
November 24, 2010
Last Monday, the California Supreme Court unanimously upheld in-state tuition rates for illegal aliens. The ruling applies to those who, while not Californian citizens, attended and graduated from high school in California. While supporters laud the legislation, declaring that their cause is on the right side of history and that discrimination has once again been […]
November 24, 2010
In Education Matters, the Memphis city council met and voted to pursue amediator to resolve the ongoing dispute with Memphis City Schools. A judge ruled that the city of Memphis owes the school district $57 millionthat was withheld more than two years ago. The city hopes a mediator will help work out how that money […]
November 24, 2010
School districts are being told they should expect to get anestimated $3 billion to $5 billion less in the next two-year budget aslawmakers begin wrestling with a $24 billion revenue shortfall in January. That could mean less money for prekindergarten classes, teacher incentivegrants and tutoring for students struggling to pass the states standardizedtests. And the […]
November 24, 2010
Johnny Falotico always loved goingto class. But his first two years of high school were so miserable, thedisabled teen used to pick his lip raw and pretend to be sick. What had changed was his special-education program. His parents believed it wasn’taddressing the gaps in his basic life skills – how to cross the street, […]