Vol. 27, Issue 23
FRONT PAGE
Charter schools, which the Bush administration has strongly supported, may have effectively helped undermine Catholic schools.
A national project aimed at improving school leaders’ effectiveness is seeking to change that situation by supporting the hiring of “school administration managers” in schools.
Some observers are concerned that money-for-achievement programs actually decrease students’ intrinsic motivation to learn and send mixed messages about studying.
The outcome of this year’s budget showdown could hinge on the November election, not on a compromise between the White House and Capitol Hill.
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News in Brief
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Report Roundup
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The overhaul would offer career-oriented magnet programs at each campus, along with a districtwide college-preparatory curriculum of honors and Advanced Placement courses.
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The plan targets high schools and elementary campuses in impoverished neighborhoods on the city’s South and West sides.
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An audit of professional-development literacy programs in a Florida district has found that students of teachers trained in those programs showed significant gains in reading-test scores.
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Officials nationwide have scaled back school library services and staffing in response to budget deficits, a problem highlighted in a new survey by the American Association of School Librarians.
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Finance & Facilities
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More teachers getting compensation based on nontraditional factors.
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New ways of paying teachers launched by districts such as Denver and Houston are alone unlikely to produce the sweeping change that is needed on the compensation front, a report from the National Governors Association says.
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Experts are beginning to contend that the case is growing stronger for physical activity's link to improved brain function.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell reserved one of the few increases in his proposed fiscal 2009 budget for education, saying it is important to funnel money into a new, fairer school funding formula.
States are looking for ways to provide money for a program that historically has been treated differently from the 1st through 12th grades.
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State Journal
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Capitol Recap
State of the States
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Federal File
The U.S. Department of Education is publishing a two-page report on each state that gives a glimpse of the quality of its K-12 schools.
National assessments in core subjects will proceed as planned, now that the federal testing program has received additional funding in the current year’s budget.
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Funding for the Head Start preschool program would rise to $7 billion under the President Bush’s budget request for fiscal 2009.
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The ramifications of the decision are "immediate and irreparable," the administration's court filing says.
The long-stalled measure includes provisions that affect colleges of education.
PAGE 27-30 - In Perspective
Efforts are growing to assist charter schools in finding and affording facilities, challenges that remain big obstacles to the sector’s continued expansion.
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An unusual public-private partnership in Indianapolis is helping charter schools get access to money for buildings at favorable rates.
PAGE 32 - Commentary
The arts have the power to show excellent teaching in action, Marcia Daft argues.
Michael A. Rebell explains why there’s still hope for equal educational opportunity.
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Letters
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Letters
PAGE 48 - Commentary
Richard Whitmire and Andrew J. Rotherham explain how networking best practices may revolutionize the movement, and reshape urban education.
