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Education News for Thursday, June 22

Governor signs budget with tax savings, school dollars – Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano on Wednesday signed into law a budget that will create two small school voucher programs for disabled and adopted children. (more)

$10 billion budget is signed into law – In Arizona, school-choice advocates were ecstatic over the budget because it doubled the size of a new corporate tuition tax credit for private-school scholarships from $5 million to $10 million. The budget also included vouchers for parents of disabled and foster children for private-school education. (more)

The End is Nigh – Commentary: Arizona’s new voucher program is sure to bring a court challenge from teacher unions, who say the state constitution bans the use of public funds for religious schools. (more)

Deal Puts Mayor on Verge of Major School Control – After tough negotiations with two forceful teachers unions, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa struck an agreement Wednesday that would give him significant sway over Los Angeles’ troubled public schools but fall short of the total takeover he had sought. (more)

Kowtowing to Teachers’ Unions – Opinion: The obstacles the teachers’ union puts in the way of educational progress – opposition to merit-based pay, blind support for incompetent but tenured teachers, shackling principals with rigid work rules – doom our public schools to mediocrity. (more)

In School’s Waning Days, a Focus on the Focus – A look at how the atmosphere of New York schools change with the end of school near.  (more)

Teachers and Politicians … Puh-Lease Listen To Us – Opinion: I’m not sure why or how it got to be this way, but I’m frustrated that so much of public schools’ time and energy is spent negotiating process-laden, adversarial relationships. (more)

Retired Math Teacher Concerned About Students Recently Promoted – Opinion: I know some of those promoted will have difficulty in high school because they really don’t read well or they have great difficulty in math. (more)

Vouchers may cost city schools $350,000 – Springfield (Ohio) City Schools’ budget could suffer a significant financial blow from the state’s expanded school voucher program. (more)

Performance Gap on Tests Uneven for Black Students – Black students trail white students more in mathematics than in reading, especially in middle school grades, an analysis of Maryland test scores shows. But the achievement gap for Hispanic students is virtually the same in both academic subjects, a contrast that perplexed some school testing experts. (more)

‘It’s a great deal for our kids’ – Opinion: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa explains his compromise plan to reform L.A.’ s public schools. (more)

Fixing L.A.’s schools – Editorial: Although it’s not quite the victory that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sought when he declared he wanted to take control of the massive Los Angeles Unified School District, the political compromise that the mayor worked out in Sacramento after marathon negotiations is a step in the right direction.  However, there are still many critical questions left unanswered. First and foremost: Where’s the accountability? (more)

Should No Child Left Behind be left behind? – Some Utah legislators disagree with the State Board of Education’s position on reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind education reform act, and they want Utah’s congressional delegation to know it. (more)

Check back later for more education news.   

UPDATE:

Toe-Hold Strategies – Opinion: Clint Bolick, president of the Alliance for School Choice, explains how Democrats are coming around to school choice. (more)
School choice missing its goal – Four years into the school choice plan, Pinellas families remain reluctant partners in its main goal: to voluntarily integrate the school system. (more)

School choice missing its goal – Four years into the school choice plan, Pinellas families remain reluctant partners in its main goal: to voluntarily integrate the school system. (more)

Amen – New school choice measures usher in new era – Like millions of college kids, I was a fortunate recipient of a Pell grant. The Pell is a cash coupon you can use for tuition at colleges from ASU to Amherst. Yesterday Arizona made history by adopting similar programs for students in elementary, middle and high school. (more)

Interest grows in alternative education options – In a recent report on Choice in Education among Canadian provinces, Alberta ranked number one, providing the most choice in the country for education of its students. However, some parents and teachers right here in the province feel that’s not enough.(more)

Charter school conflict still hot – The dispute between the Visual and Performing Arts Charter School and Sacramento City Unified School District — which oversees it – continues…(more)