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Education News for Friday, May 12

Teachers union defends taking $3 million from investment firm – New York’s largest teachers’ union on Monday defended its practice of accepting $3 million from an investment company to sell a retirement plan of questionable value that State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has been investigating for months. (more) 

Baldacci signs bill to boost teachers’ pay to $30,000 – Maine Gov. John Baldacci has signed into law a bill to eventually increase Maine teachers’ minimum salaries to $30,000 a year. (more)

Spellings hopeful funds to educate evacuees on the way – Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Thursday the federal government was working to get funds to local schools that are educating hurricane evacuee students, but officials said it’s still less than they expected or need. (more) 

Minority students closing achievement gap – The achievement gap between minority third graders and their Caucasian classmates just got much skinnier in the DeSoto County (Florida) School District. (more) 

Dems settle in FCAT lawsuit – Democratic leaders in the Florida Senate claimed victory Thursday in their court fight to learn the qualifications of low-wage workers who grade the high-stakes Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests. (more) 

Bill Seeks to Block Access to MySpace in Schools – Concerned about reports of pedophiles trolling wildly popular "social networking" websites for teenage victims, one Republican congressman has introduced a bill to prohibit anyone under 18 from accessing them on school or library computers. (more) 

Assessments Show Work Needs To Be Done To Close Achievement Gap – In the Worcester County, Maryland public school system, African-American students have typically fallen on the lower end of the totem pole in academic proficiency, and although recent data shows that improvements are being made, it is undeniable the achievement gap still exists in local classrooms. (more) 

Check back later for more education news.   

UPDATE:

States Enjoy Steady Rise in Revenue – (Education Week–subscription required) According to a recent report, fiscal 2006 revenue estimates are exceeding original targets in 44 states. But while schools will share in the spoils in many states, some lawmakers are instead spending unexpected revenue elsewhere or are saving it for a rainy day. (more)

Detroit to close 7 schools, not 8 – Amid jeers and shouts, the city’s public school board voted Thursday night to close seven schools in the fall to save costs in the financially struggling district — one less than originally planned. (more)

Parents Leave a Message: Let Students Have Their Cellphones – In the first 12 days of surprise scanning for weapons and other contraband in the public schools, NYPD confiscated seven knives, two box cutters, a razor, some marijuana — and 800 cellphones. (more)

San Diego may make it tougher to enter high school; two F’s would send students to alternative facility – By making it harder to get into high school, the San Diego school district is hoping more students would be around to exit with a diploma. (more)

State: Schools can set kindergarten fees – Indiana’s top education official has told local schools it is up to them whether to charge parents for full-day kindergarten, even though a memo from her department last week called the fees unconstitutional. (more)

The NAACP’s fight against private school vouchers – Opinion: Why would an organization that calls itself the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, whose motto is "Making Democracy Work Since 1909," oppose individual choice and freedom and dedicate itself to promoting public policy that guarantees the perpetuation of black poverty? (more)

UPDATE:

New budget rules draw educators’ ire – School leaders say ’65-percent solution’ ties their hands–while doing little to boost achievement. (more)