Daily EducationNews.org
Sunday, April 9, 2006

Baltimore Sun
It's time to surrender ego, focus on the kids
Dan Rodricks
Those who are convinced that Operation Nancy, the proposed state takeover of 11 failing Baltimore schools, is nothing more than a cynical, election-year political move to make Mayor Martin O'Malley, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, look bad -- hey, I hear you.

House blocks veto on schools
Senate next to vote on overriding governor over takeover measure
Lawmakers painted a painful picture of Baltimore's school system and others passionately defended it yesterday before Maryland's House of Delegates voted to override Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s veto of a bill that would stall the state takeover of 11 of the city's most troubled schools.

Successful schools face cuts
Under city budget plan, funds would be shifted to failing sites
Some of Baltimore's most successful elementary schools face staff reductions next school year as the city school system shifts money to failing schools to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Boston Globe
Try to trust a teacher's grading
I feel that my son's teacher is grading him based on his older brother's abilities, which were much greater. How do I address her subjective grading?

Etiquette 101 is on college menu
HAVERHILL -- Soup, no slurping. Salad, to be cut properly with a knife and fork. Ziti with meatballs and a very splashable marinara sauce. Cake and coffee. Three forks, two spoons, two knives, three glasses .

Boston Herald
College hopes? Pay up, kids: Mom and Dad don't have the cash
By Marie Szaniszlo
Gladys Alexander wants her 14-year-old grandson to have the benefit of the college education she never had. But her hope - and his ambition to become an English teacher - may hinge on whether he's good enough at football or basketball to win a sports scholarship.

CBS
First Suit Over SAT Scoring Errors
A high school senior whose SAT was incorrectly scored low is suing the board that oversees the exam and the company that was hired to score the tests.

Contra Costa Times
Enrollment continues to drop
By Andrew Becker, CONTRA COSTA TIMES
As housing prices go up, young families stop moving into area, schools see fewer students.

Deseret News
Utah lawmakers revive lands-for-schools issue
A recent finding by the U.S. Census Bureau that Utah remains last in the nation in the amount of money it spends per school child is reviving interest in a plan to make the federal government turn over some of the vast public lands it holds to pay for schools.

Houston Chronicle
Leaders' lack of consensus threatens Perry tax plan
The House speaker and lieutenant governor haven't expressed support for the governor's proposal, which could be a problem when the special session begins April 17.

Strayhorn plan flips TAKS test to fall semester
Independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn said Saturday that as governor she would push the Legislature and educators to hold the TAKS test in the fall rather than the spring so teachers could spend less time throughout the year preparing students for the exam.

Indianapolis Star-Tribune
Charter schools attract attention
Omotayo Ola-Niyi came to Indianapolis in 2003, after working as a consultant in Chicago's public school system. The University of Oklahoma grad was attracted by our reputation for education reform.

Kansas City Star
Audit finds Missouri high school graduation rates inflated
Missouri's high school graduation rates appear inflated, because officials are not accurately tracking how many students drop out, a state audit asserted Wednesday.

Los Angeles Daily News
Don't blame teachers
FOR years, the Los Angeles Unified School District's leaders blamed students for the district's low achievement. Now school board president Marlene Canter has a better idea it's the teachers' fault.

Los Angeles Times
Schools need our help in preventing medication errors Valerie Ulene Schools are under an incredible strain to simply educate children - let alone medicate them - so it's hardly surprising that dispensing drugs at school leads to an alarming number of errors. The surprise is that parents and doctors don't work harder to prevent them.

New York Post
'HEAVEN SENT' OFFER OF TUITION
By DAN GESSLEIN He's the answer to a little boy's prayers. An anonymous upstate businessman has offered to help the family of 5-year-old Ricardo Lewis III pay for his Catholic elementary education.

New York Times
New York Tries Yet More Ways to Fix Schools
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
The New York City schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, is once again rethinking the nation's largest school system.

Corzine Wants Poor Schools to Make Do With Less Aid
By DAVID W. CHEN
Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey said he would ask the State Supreme Court to freeze financing for the poorest school districts because of budgetary constraints.

Orlando Sentinel
School land deal could be a winner
For developers hoping to sell three- and four-bedroom homes to families, a school in the neighborhood can be a strong draw. And if they're putting those homes in an area where too few schools exist, it makes sense to step in and help get one built.

Palm Beach Post
Slow school enrollment mystifies
Officials are finding the student population growth isn't anywhere near expected.

Wild students on Web puzzling
College students willing to show wilder side on Facebook.com have officials concerned

Pasadena Star News
Public agencies fail student's test
At 18, Ryan McKee knows all about rejection.
Twice in the last year, the Pasadena City College freshman has suffered the obstinacy and ignorance of government officials as a way to test compliance with the California Public Records Act. 

Providence Journal
Edwatch by Julia Steiny: The elusive school-funding formula
Every state in the nation is wrestling mightily with how to support its public school districts -- rich and poor, urban and suburban. This is America, so in principle, any child from any community should be able to get a fair shake from his or her...

Richmond Times Dispatch
Separated classes increasing in U.S.
WASHINGTON - Thought to be illegal a few years ago, separate classes for boys and girls are popping up in public schools across the country.

San Antonio Express-News
Business leaders spend a day at school
OCEANSIDE - Peter Picciano usually spends the day with clients at the bank where he works.

Testing hits hurricane kids
Trauma from storm, Louisiana school standards blamed as young evacuees lag behind on TAKS.

'Lost Diary' recalls horror of Bataan
On 64th anniversary of Death March, S.A. son publishes dad's journal.

San Jose Mercury 
Exit exam revolt urged
WEST CONTRA COSTA TRUSTEE WANTS TO GIVE STUDENTS MORE OPTIONS TO GRADUATE
In what could become the first school-based rebellion against the state's high-stakes high school exit exam law, one of the Bay Area's largest school districts is considering awarding diplomas to seniors who have failed the exam but are otherwise qualified to graduate.

St. Louis Post Dispatch 
Apathy didn't decide race for School Board; voters did
By Sylvester Brown Jr.
Barry Liebman's bushy, salt-and-pepper eyebrows furrowed often as we chatted Friday morning about last week's hotly contested St. Louis School Board race.

St. Petersburg Times 
Parents vent frustrations
An NAACP forum draws many, who give their opinions on Pinellas' achievement gap between black and white students. Parents list barriers to success and brainstorm solutions.

Washington Post
Measuring the Health of Portable Classrooms
When students at Bells Mill Elementary School in Potomac began complaining of headaches, puffy eyes and stuffy noses, parents began asking questions about the air quaility in their portable classrooms.

Washington Times
House rejects Ehrlich's veto of schools bill  (Kristen Wyatt)
ANNAPOLIS -- The House yesterday overturned Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s veto of a bill to stop the state from taking over some low-performing schools in Baltimore.

Wichita Eagle
STATE CONSIDERS JUST TELLING TEENS:
BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS, The Wichita Eagle
Board of Ed to discuss limiting sex education Should sex education classes stop at "Just say no"? Some members of the Kansas Board of Education think so, and are pushing for a change that would require abstinence-only sex education across the state.

Wilmington News Journal
School choice popular, but impact remains murky
Some excluded by district growth or lack of transportation
Mary Grant knew what she wanted in a middle school: good behavior, top test scores and classes that would challenge her science-loving son.

Del. considers overhaul of student testing
For each of the past 10 years, when trees bud and birds fly north, Delaware children have braced for another perennial cycle: state testing in reading, math and writing. But now, because of a combination of political pressure and increasingly sophisticated testing technology, all that could change.

Mom has trouble finding fit for youngster with special needs
Fifth-grader Derron Grayson of Wilmington already has been through three elementary schools.

International Articles

The Guardian 
Miss Beckles owes us money, claim staff
Education: BBC's education guru's failed firms are accused of leaving a trail of debt.

Just face it, girls: MySpace is like so totally over
Technology: New figures show that the busiest community website is the unheralded Faceparty.

The Gulf Times
Girls go on field trip to learn about plant
SOME 250 girl students and women went on a field trip to Ras Matbakh, 70km north of Doha, yesterday to learn about Qataf, or sea lavender, the plant chosen this year for promotion under the 'A Flower Each Spring' campaign.

The Independent (UK)
Top GCSE pupils fail at maths and English
As many as 70,000 students obtained five top-grade GCSE passes last year without mastering maths and English, new figures reveal.

The Peninsula
Govt schools dismissed 499 students last year
DOHA: A total of 499 students were dismissed from government schools in Qatar last year for various reasons including absence in the class room and bad conduct.

The Press New Zealand
Bullied girl's family upset with college
A private Christchurch school told a bullied student and her tormenters to "take ownership" of the problem - angering the victim's family.