If the Carpenters had known that Bright and Early came back on Mondays, they wouldn’t have written that song. Take heart with your daily education newsblitz!
We report on a new policy that would put San Diego Unified firmly in favor of bilingual classes, blog that a controversial labor agreement on its facilities bond is up for final approval and the dilemma that faces San Diego Unified as bond revenues slow down and projects need rescheduling.
School is starting across Chula Vista at almost all schools — which is a new phenomenon, thanks to a common calendar for two of the five school districts in the South Bay, the Union-Tribune reports. The UT also has this feature on a scientist working to recruit minority and low-income students into the biomedical sciences. And the North County Times writes that a long-awaited magnet school is getting a temporary home in Vista.
Bloggers for the Los Angeles Times report that a court has ruled that it is OK for California to count novice teachers who are still getting their credentials as “highly qualified” teachers under No Child Left Behind rules. But the bigger news may be what California can’t get away with: The Obama Administration is beating the drum that not using students’ test scores to evaluate teachers could mean that California is left out in the cold when the federal government doles out its next round of stimulus dollars.
State officials say the law bars the state from judging teachers on test scores but individual school districts are free to do so. And some are: The Sacramento Bee writes that schools in Long Beach and Garden Grove are already doing it.
If you can’t get enough of the stimulus, a Huffington Post columnist breaks down the “stealth education reform” in the federal stimulus bill. And Education Week writes that states are scrambling to put together knockout proposals to compete for more education stimulus money.
In news that is not related to the federal stimulus bill, a new method from Japan could help children learn the elusive talent of perfect pitch, the Washington Post reports.
The New York Times delves into the growing unionization of charter schools. And NPR reports that Bronx schools are hiring consultants to do school turnarounds from within, instead of completing replacing staff as federal education czar Arne Duncan has urged.