Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

I’m fresh out of puns today. Straight to the newsblitz!

• State rules were supposed to force colleges to consult with outsiders when they abruptly changed their admissions rules. San Diego State University sought that advice — one day before new policies were a done deal. We explain how what was supposed to be an advisory committee ended up giving little advice.
• We also blog on where the second-in-command in San Diego Unified might be going and how local Democrats are holding off on giving automatic endorsements to two Democratic incumbents on the school board.
• KPBS reports on a San Diego Unified push to get rid of state penalties for upping class sizes. Here was our first explainer on the idea last summer. It sounds like San Diego Unified is now estimating that the savings could be even bigger.
• The Union-Tribune writes more about the idea of ads in public schools — and looks at schools that have already done it.
• Grossmont schools are modernizing thanks to bond money, the UT also reports.
• San Diego News Network sums up the last San Diego Unified board meeting, from the superintendent search to complaints about a “bullying” parent.
• Congressional candidate Francine Busby got picked for a Cardiff school board seat that was vacated, the North County Times writes.
• Whodathunkit: A Public Policy Institute of California poll finds that a strong majority of California adults would back higher taxes to help fund schools. Educated Guess digs into the findings.
• Los Angeles Unified is rolling out new, more user-friendly report cards, the Los Angeles Times reports — but these are report cards to grade schools, not kids.
• Also in the LAT: California State Universities may try to prod students to graduate more quickly.
• San Diego Unified isn’t the only school district considering a parcel tax: Milpitas schools are putting one before voters, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
• You might have heard that the President made a big speech last night. Education Week writes about the 6.2 percent increase that Obama is seeking for education — that includes up to $4 billion more for K-12 schools — and other changes at the federal level. Newsweek blogs about how Obama is using “carrots” for school reform.
• The Washington Post writes about the push for a new version of No Child Left Behind. Obama is holding off on $1 billion in funding until Congress revises the law. One blogger at This Week in Education sighs: Here we go again.
• Radical historian Howard Zinn, who urged people to rethink the way history is taught, passed away yesterday, the Boston Globe writes.
• Can a math textbook be racist? That’s the argument going on in Seattle. The Seattle Times weighs in.
• And the blogs are aflutter: A Washington Post education reporter called the editorial page “a guaranteed soft landing spot for uncomfortable or inconvenient disclosures” for the D.C. schools chancellor. His blog post got pulled. Then it came back, sounding a bit gentler. Poynter and Eduwonk follows the back and forth.
• Also in WaPo: Jay Mathews says the Advanced Placement exams are about to get a makeover. The idea is to get deeper questions that measure more than cramming in content. But does that really do what AP was supposed to do — to mimic a college introductory class?

— EMILY ALPERT