Bright and Early

The fiscal year may be ending, but the education news keeps on chugging: The Union-Tribune reports that Santee schools have suspended their classroom renovations because they have yet to receive needed state funds to match its bond money, and the local First 5 Commission is rewriting its rules about who can sit on advisory committees after conflicts of interest were uncovered at the commission.

Arthur Salm at SDNN writes that teachers ought to be treated better (and gives some major kudos to Roosevelt Middle School) while Marsha Sutton opines on the turf battles over bond plans at Gompers Charter Middle School. And KPBS continues its reporting on the frustration with Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Jesus Gandara.

In state education news, the Sacramento Bee reports that fewer families are signing up to host foreign students. Oakland school officials are retaking control of their district six years after the state stepped in to manage its finances, the San Francisco Chronicle writes. And a note to Los Angeles school officials: If a comedian named Sacha Baron Cohen comes calling, perhaps think twice before letting him snap photos with the kids.

Education Week reports that the federal stimulus money will especially benefit special education programs for infants and toddlers. The Christian Science Monitor writes about skepticism of the push for national education standards.

Catalyst Chicago dissects a study that found that small high schools in the Windy City have some of the highest rates of teacher turnover in the district; a blogger writes that those figures are misleading. And the Washington Post reports on a teachers union teaming up with a school district to better evaluate teachers.

— EMILY ALPERT