June 2, 2010
Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia applied for the second phase of the Race to the Top federal education competition as the application deadline passed Tuesday night. The states are hoping to win a piece of the $3.4 billion available under President Barack Obama’s signature education initiative. Race to the Top aims to spur […]
June 2, 2010
Longtime Chicago school principal Dick Smith has been given a mandate: take Chicago Public Schools’ special education program, long subjected to withering criticism, and change it into a system focused on education and not simply compliance with federal laws, a system that responds rapidly and effectively to the needs of students and the concerns of […]
June 2, 2010
More than two dozen states reapplied Tuesday for millions of dollars in "Race to the Top" education grants, but nine decided to sit out this second round of the competition. For them, the hurdles to win a share of $3.4 billion proved to be too high. Some wary of relinqui shing their tradition of local […]
June 1, 2010
The director of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s Washington, D.C., office hopes a visit home will influence members of Congress to think again about sending more money to public schools to avoid teacher layoffs before the next school year. "We remain to fight another day," Mark Rupp said Friday after Congress failed to take action this week […]
June 1, 2010
New York would more than double the number of charter schools allowed to operate in the state under sweeping legislation passed Friday after a bitter battle between the teachers unions and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration. Ending weeks of suspense, legislators settled on a plan that lifts the charter-school cap to 460 from 200, bans for-profit […]
June 1, 2010
Facing an $18 million budget deficit for the 2010-2011 school year, representatives from Lewisville ISD are traveling the district to inform residents about a possible referendum to raise the tax rate. School board members Amber Fulton and Tom Ferguson were at The Colony City Hall on Monday night, sharing information on the district’s finances while […]
June 1, 2010
In the wake of Measure A’s defeat at the polls, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District on Thursday slashed $7.1 million from its budget, a step toward closing its $12 million funding shortfall.& #x0D; Measure A, the proposed $198 per parcel tax dubbed an "emergency" school funding initiative, would have raised an estimated $5.7 million […]
June 1, 2010
Detroit Public School parents of severely disabled students are outraged over a plan to reduce summer school programs. The children, many of whom use wheelchairs, are nonverbal and with severe cognitive impairments, have attended summer programming five days a week just like other students, but parents got notice recently that programming for their children will […]
June 1, 2010
A new law increases the number of new charter schools that can be formed in Hawai’i and revamps the way the state’s Charter School Review Panel reauthorizes them. The legislation, signed last week by Gov. Linda Lingle, does little to resolve a long-standing debate over equity in funding be tween public charter schools and their […]
June 1, 2010
After 24 years of teaching art, from drawing and painting to computer-aided displays, teacher Kim Haas is retiring. But there is no happy celebration. "That was pretty much my only option," said Haas, who walked out the door for the final time last week. And with her went Roanoke-Benson District 60’s entire art department. The […]