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Education News for Thursday, May 11

GOP Joins Inquiry About Uncounted Kids – In an expanding call for answers, Republicans have joined Democrats in asking the Education Department why the test scores of many minority students are not being counted as promised under the No Child Left Behind law. (more)

Florida wants feds to compile national teacher pay figures – State education officials want the federal government to compile comparative teacher pay numbers across the nation, but a teachers union spokesman dismissed the idea as public relations spin to make Florida’s salaries look better than they are. (more) 

FCAT writing scores show improvement – Intense classes, practice tests and teacher preparation propel gains in the Tallahassee area. (more)

State Education board considers plan to revamp school rankings – The California Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously approved a change that will require schools to improve the performance of blacks, English learners and other minorities in order to reach state achievement goals. (more) 

School tries incentives – Tutoring, teacher specialists, prizes, even a day at an amusement park— one Utah junior high school hopes these and other measures will be enough lift the school from No Child Left Behind’s sanctions that open the door for a state school takeover. (more) 

Villaraigosa’s Request for a State Audit of L.A. Unified Prompts a Rebuke From Romer – Los Angeles schools chief Roy Romer fired off a stern rebuttal to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s call for a state audit Wednesday, saying that he and the Board of Education welcome the review but reject the mayor’s continued attacks on the school district. (more)

UPDATE:

Iowa poised to enact new tuition tax credit – Ed Week (subscription required) – Iowa lawmakers approved a measure May 2 that would establish a tax credit for individuals who make donations to groups that provide scholarships to help low-income students pay tuition at private religious or secular schools. (more)

Senate backs more hurricane relief for schools – Ed Week (subscription required)-States and school districts that opened their doors to students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are anxiously watching the fate of $650 million in a potential second round of federal aid to cover the costs of educating such students. (more)

Expectations raised for Calif. minority students – The state Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously approved a change that will require schools to improve the performance of blacks, English learners and other minorities in order to reach state achievement goals. (more)

Let Florida voters decide on vouchers – Students in schools that have failed them should not be trapped in those schools merely because their parents cannot afford a better educational choice. Families with more financial resources make these choices regularly, but students with limited resources cannot. (more)

Tuition tax credit group told to open up books – South Carolinians for Responsible Government, a pro-tuition tax credit group, has until today to disclose where it gets and spends its money, an official with the State Ethics Commission said. (more)

Wisconsin pulls money to voucher programs – A long-simmering dispute between the state Department of Public Instruction and one of the schools that has been in Milwaukee’s voucher program the longest came to a boil Tuesday with the DPI cutting off the school’s money and leaders of a half-dozen voucher schools accusing the department of targeting black schools. (more)

Charters harder to get them before – Ed Week (Subscription required) – Charter school authorizers are getting “choosier” about which applications for schools they will accept and are basing decisions not to renew charters more on student-achievement issues than previously recognized, an analysis by a pro-charter organization finds. (more)