In New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is returned to office. He had invited voters to hold him accountable for his stewardship of the city’s schools. (A Mayor Unleashed, Poised to Offer an Even Broader Agenda, The New York Times.)
Detroiters pick their first elected school board in six years, made up of four at-large and five district-level members. Their tasks include grappling with the district’s financial problems and hiring a new superintendent. (Voters Choose Who Will Lead Schools, The Detroit News.)
Los Angeles voters approve nearly $4 billion in bonds to build schools. The vote will allow the district to complete its ambitious school construction program. (School Bonds, Wesson Win, Los Angeles Times.)
San Franciscans send a chilling message to military recruiters in schools by approving a ballot measure, “College Not Combat,” opposing the presence of military recruiters in public high schools and colleges. But it does not ban their presence, which would put schools at risk of losing federal money. (Voters Take Stand Against Guns, Recruiting at Schools, San Francisco Chronicle.)
School board members supportive of the Wake County, N.C., student-assignment policy are re-elected. At least six of the nine seats on the new board will be held by members who support assigning some students to schools on the basis of family income to achieve diversity. (Millberg, Goettee Win in Wake Schools Race, The News and Observer.)
In Dover, Pa., eight school board members who supported a plan that introduced students to the concept of “intelligent design” in science classes are ousted by eight challengers who opposed that policy. The policy in the 3,600-student district was the subject of a closely scrutinized federal trial that concluded Nov. 4. (Dover Says No to Intelligent Design, The Philadelphia Inquirer.)
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—Compiled by Ann Bradley