February 13, 2008
Education Week, Vol. 27, Issue 23
Education
Report Roundup
Native American Education
Ninety-three percent of American Indian students, totaling more than 624,000, attend nontribal public schools, a report says.
Education
Report Roundup
District-Employee Retirement Plans
The American Association of School Administrators has produced a “toolkit” to help administrators oversee retirement plans.
Education Funding
Reauthorized Head Start Gets a Boost in Bush Proposal
Funding for the Head Start preschool program would rise to $7 billion under the President Bush’s budget request for fiscal 2009.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Tribal-Gambling Expansion in Calif. to Boost Revenues for Education
The expanded gambling deal is expected to bring in about $200 million in additional revenue a year for the state.
Federal
News in Brief
Gates Foundation CEO to Step Down
Ms. Stonesifer has led the Seattle-based philanthropy since its inception in 1997.
Education
Report Roundup
Teacher-Quality Gap Examined in Texas
Low-income and minority students are less likely to attend schools with experienced teachers than high-income and white students, a report finds.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
School Finance
U.S. public schools should be more focused on continually improving student performance, and all money spent should reflect that goal, a new report says.
Education Funding
Delayed Illinois Budget Boosts School Funding
The budget, signed by the governor Jan. 11, will increase K-12 spending by $554 million, or nearly 9 percent, to a little over $7 billion, for a fiscal year that is already halfway complete.
School Choice & Charters
Help for Charters in Race for Space
Efforts are growing to assist charter schools in finding and affording facilities, big obstacles to the sector’s continued expansion.
School Choice & Charters
Partnership Helps Indianapolis Charters Get Places of Their Own
An unusual public-private partnership in Indianapolis is helping charter schools get access to money for buildings at favorable rates.
States
State of the States
Connecticut
Gov. Rell this month unveiled a revised budget that represents an increase of $114.4 million over last year’s K-12 allocation.
Federal
U.S. ‘Dashboards’ Offer Data on State Achievement
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.
Education Funding
School Spending Boost, Revised Funding Formula Pressed in Pennsylvania
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.
School & District Management
Exercise Seen as Priming Pump for Students’ Academic Strides
Experts are beginning to contend that the case is growing stronger for physical activity's link to improved brain function.
Education Funding
State Officials Find S.C. School Bus Ads Elusive Pot of Gold
The program, already put into place by the South Carolina Department of Education, could generate as much as $3.6 million for the state and participating school districts in its first year.
Federal
Federal File
What’s in a Name? GOP Says Anything Except ‘Vouchers’
When President Bush proposed “Pell Grants for Kids” recently, he added another entry into the dictionary of creative names for school choice programs.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Poll Results on Vouchers Differ From Referendums’
Your Report Roundup news item on the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation poll purportedly showing support for school vouchers in Illinois was misleading.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Give Gifted Students Assessment Options
When will our nation rise above the fog of illusionary closings of achievement gaps?
Education
Letter to the Editor
On the What Works Clearinghouse
The debate about how to evaluate and synthesize research underscores the need for an institution like the What Works Clearinghouse.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Where Teachers Work vs. How They Were Prepared
We should be applauding teacher-preparation programs that take on the task of preparing and supporting successful teachers for the highest-needs environments, rather than penalizing them for doing so.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Challenging Quality Counts on What’s Worth Counting
I expect Education Week to help educators and the general public distill useful facts and analysis. I hope you will see fit to renew your focus on that goal.
School Choice & Charters
Catholic Closures Linked to Growth of City Charters
Charter schools, which the Bush administration has strongly supported, may have effectively helped undermine Catholic schools.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Some Presidents Not Only Say, But Do Something
In Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, higher education leaders are not only talking about the gaps and failures in the K-12 system and colleges’ need to attract and better retain diverse students, we’re doing something about it.
Curriculum
Opinion
Artists as Education Consultants
The arts have the power to show excellent teaching in action, Marcia Daft argues.
Law & Courts
Opinion
Sleepless After Seattle?
Michael A. Rebell explains why there’s still hope for equal educational opportunity.
School & District Management
Managers Help Principals Balance Time
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.