Daily EducationNews.org
Saturday, April 15, 2006

Arizona Republic
For seniors, ceremony rests on AIMS score
SCOTTSDALE - As many as 39 Scottsdale High School seniors might not be allowed to participate in their June 8 graduation ceremony because they have not passed at least one portion of the AIMS test.

Adjust the stakes in AIMS test
Scottsdale Republic: We should set high expectations for students, but teens who complete high school shouldn't be treated like dropouts. They should receive a diploma. Make it a less prestigious one.

School board acts, but not in the best interest of students
Johanna Haver
The dispute between Phoenix Union High School District Superintendent Raj Chopra and the PUHSD Classroom Teachers Association climaxed on the evening of April 6. The PUHSD Governing Board voted 4-3 for a teachers pay raise and to adopt a revised teacher handbook.

Boston Globe
School voucher program expanded amid doubts
Milwaukee program's success is debated
MILWAUKEE -- The nation's oldest and largest school voucher program is about to undergo its biggest expansion yet with no clear-cut evidence after 15 years that sending youngsters to private schools at taxpayer expense yields a better education.

Youthful marchers stress immigration issue
- About 1,200 mostly youthful marchers paraded through downtown Friday, demanding a more lenient U.S. immigration policy.

Dallas Morning News
Lottery is the way into collegiate high
Dallas: New charter school at Richland College has dual degree
A spinning drum will hold the fate of 276 area high school students.

Detroit News
Statewide forums aim to curb underage drinking
With about 75% of teens having tried alcohol, gatherings hope to raise awareness about dangers.

Granholm signs bill to help with early intervention
LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation Friday to help school districts create early intervention programs for pupils in kindergarten through third grade.

Houston Chronicle
Strayhorn predicts tax-plan shortfall
Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn on Friday criticized her political rival, Gov. Rick Perry, for wanting to use surplus revenue to help fund property tax cuts, saying it would cause a multibillion-dollar "gaping hole" in future state finances.

State funding plan would not affect some school taxes
AUSTIN - They may all dig deeply into your pocket, but all school property taxes weren't created equally. And they aren't going to be treated equally as the Legislature tries again to change the school funding system.

Ledger
Charters To Compete For Funding
BARTOW -- Charter schools were founded to compete with public schools. The argument is that the competition will make public schools better by offering more educational options.
Now, new charter schools in Florida will compete with each other for something very basic -- money.

Los Angeles Daily News
Parents want say on LAUSD proposal
Several parent groups lashed out Friday at Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposal to take over Los Angeles Unified School District, holding a news conference on the steps of City Hall to complain they weren't consulted.

Los Angeles Times
Union Wants Early Say on School Reform
By Joel Rubin
A coalition led by the L.A. teachers group will reveal its own plan for revamping the district a day before the mayor outlines his proposal.

Standardize education
The Times is to be congratulated for its tough-love posture on No Child Left Behind legislation (editorial, April 9). Too many states shortchange too many students with "loophole" diplomas by lowering their standards on their way to the deadline of 2014 for all students being "proficient" in math and English. This inevitable fiasco could be avoided if the U.S. went to a national curriculum, with corresponding assessments and standards to be met by all students nationwide. Talk about equity and equal access for all.

New York Post
RANDOM GUN SCANS TARGET SCHOOLKIDS
By DAVID ANDREATTA Education Reporter City students have pop quizzes and pop tarts down pat. Now they'll be introduced to the pop scan.

New York Times
Law to Segregate Omaha Schools Divides Nebraska
By SAM DILLON
The law calls for dividing public schools into three racially distinct districts, one black, one white and one Hispanic.

Police Enter Dormitory at Duke to Query Players in Rape Case
By VIV BERNSTEIN
The police entered a campus dormitory Thursday night to interview Duke men's lacrosse team players as part of their investigation into rape allegations.

Iowa College Town Reeling in Wake of Tornado Strikes
By NINA SIEGAL
In Iowa City, residents were assessing their losses after one or two tornadoes ripped through this university town.

Oregon Register-Guard
Pepsi will pull soda pop from high schools
With the proverbial handwriting on the wall, Pepsi-Cola announced Thursday it will yank all carbonated beverages from vending machines and school stores in the Eugene School District's four high .

Palm Beach Post
Bad attitude burdens DJJ
Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice finds tours of Palm Beach County's juvenile detention center and interviews of staff as part of a court-ordered investigation "burdensome and purposeless."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
State claims high school dropout rate is below national average
The alarming number of high school dropouts in America is hardly fresh news, but the topic itself has become a lightning rod of controversy and debate in the national conversation about the future of public education.

Richmond Times Dispatch
VCU tuition increases
In-state undergrads will face 5.3% rise Tuition for in-state undergraduate students at VCU will rise 6.5 percent next academic year, to $4,227. Overall costs, including tuition, fees, student housing and dining plans, will jump to $13,082, an increase of $655.

Saint Paul Pioneer Press
Opinions sought on schools
Public sessions will air results of recent meetings and lead to a levy discussion expected in June
BY MEGAN BOLDT, Pioneer Press
Stillwater Area Schools staff members have spent the past month meeting with parents and other residents, students and business owners to hear their thoughts on what the school district is doing well and how it can improve.

San Diego Union Tribune 
Dispute over flag at Fallbrook High School leads to inquiry
The superintendent of the Fallbrook Union High School District said yesterday there will be an inquiry into allegations that a high school studen Malia Fontana's free-speech rights were violated when she was told to put away an American flag at school.

San Jose Mercury 
Panel: Pay practices of UC 'unacceptable'
The University of California system has consistently circumvented its own compensation policies with little risk of reprisal, a UC task force reported Thursday.

St. Louis Post Dispatch 
Students may get little from MOHELA sale
Initially, a plan to extract nearly a half billion dollars from Missouri's student loan authority would have been a windfall for students - at least in terms of new scholarships.

St. Petersburg Times 
Al-Arian may be deported
The U.S. will not retry the former USF professor.

Washington Post
A Place for Both the Pen and the Sword
A few University of Maryland University College professors are teaching on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. It is an odd sort of ivory tower for them, a makeshift college campus walled off from most of the danger around them.

Wichita Eagle
A fairy-tale evening
Parents and friends of special-education students at Maize High help create memories of a lifetime for 10 teenagers
BY KAREN SHIDELER, The Wichita Eagle
Justin, Josh, Chris, Carter and Laren: Five handsome young men, in tuxes and shiny black shoes. Kara, Stephanie, Suzy, Anissa and Lindsay:

WorldNet Daily
Librarian attacked for promoting 'Marketing of Evil' 
In what is being called an "astonishing" and "shameful" case of campus persecution, Ohio State University's head librarian is being formally accused of "sexual harassment." His crime?

International Articles

The Australian
Elite girls' school 'kills the study of literature'
ONE of the world's leading authorities on Shakespeare's work, Harold Bloom, and the nation's pre-eminent poet, Les Murray, have declared literary study in Australia dead after learning that a prestigious Sydney school asked students to interpret Othello from Marxist, feminist and racial perspectives.

Failure raises heat on new school courses
THE West Australian Government is facing pressure to delay the introduction of 17 new secondary courses after failing to deliver sample exam papers to teachers this week.

Choice is not a dirty word
THE issue of government funding to non-government schools has returned to centre stage. The ALP has decided to get rid of its hit list of so-called wealthy private schools, finally realising that all parents pay taxes, regardless of where their children go to school.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Call for ballots on trust schools
Teachers' leaders are calling for parents to be consulted locally on plans for "trust schools" in England.

Academies threatened by row
The city academies programme is in doubt due to allegations over the abuse of honours, say unions and MPs.

Teachers left to 'sink or swim'
New teachers are not being given adequate training to deal with bad pupil behaviour, a union conference has heard.

The Globe and Mail
UBC files new appeal over denied promotion
SHANNON KARI 
VANCOUVER -- The University of British Columbia is appealing a court ruling that upheld a finding that president Martha Piper was "unreasonable" in denying a promotion to a professor in the faculty of dentistry.

The Guardian 
Nebraska goes back to dividing schools on racial lines
United States: Fifty years after America abolished segregated schools, Nebraska turns back the clock.

Give parents right to block new trust schools, says NUT
Education: National Union of Teachers steps up opposition to the government's plans across the country.

The Independent (UK)
NUT plans for parents to veto trust schools
Britain's biggest teachers' union is to step up its war against the Prime Minister's plans to set up a network of independently run "trust" schools and academies throughout the country.

A-level history to focus on Britain
More British history is to be taught in schools to counter concern that young people have little understanding of the nation's past.

The Peninsula
Academics differ on unification of curricula and working days of schools
DOHA: Academicians have expressed divergent views on unification of the curricula and working days of the government, Independent and private schools in Qatar.

The Toronto Star
Inside T.O's toughest school
Small Eastdale Collegiate has highest suspension rate
But stats improving as caring staff adapt programs to needs