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Education News for Tuesday, July 11

DeVos dollars back school choice – Dick DeVos isn’t afraid to pour money into a cause he passionately supports.  But nowhere has the DeVos mix of ideological commitment and megafunding been more apparent than in his challenge to traditional public schools. (more)

Schools to receive millions in technology in Microsoft settlement – A total of 135 schools will share $4.7 million in computers and equipment in a settlement of a class-action lawsuit between Vermont consumers and Microsoft Corp. (more)

Report: NEA pays opponents of No Child Left Behind law – The nation’s largest teachers union has spent more than $8 million in a stealth campaign against President Bush’s education reform law, paying for research and political opposition in an effort to derail it, according to a Washington think tank that supports the law. (more)

Education: An Investment in Our Future – An opinion column by Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) on federal efforts in education reform. (more)

School Improvement by Decree – Editorial: If an amendment to the Washington, D.C. charter requiring the District provide "high-quality" public education is passed, there are three possible outcomes.  None of them would be much help to the District’s long-suffering pupils. (more)

Boosting access to preschool – Denver’s mayor wants voters to decide in November whether to support a sales tax hike to improve preschool access for the city’s 4-year-olds. (more)

Learning the lessons of small schools – Editorial: Three small, independently run schools in the San Diego area have produced impressive results, as measured in test scores and parent and teacher approval, in spite of butting heads with the teachers’ union and conflicting with the schools whose buildings they share. (more)

Investment focus is charter schools – A venture capitalist recently helped secure $35 million in federal tax credits for building new charter schools in low-income neighborhoods in California. (more)

Check back later for more education news.

UPDATE:

NY Testing Not Compliant to ‘No Child Left Behind’ – The federal government has informed New York State that some of its testing methods don’t comply with the No Child Left Behind law. (more)

Congress evaluating No Child Left Behind Act – As Congress evaluates NCLB, one California Democrat has concerns about how student data is collected and whether funding will be increased as the law is reauthorized. (more)

NEA spends millions opposing NCLB – Washington think tank Education Sector has accused the National Education Association of spending millions in a campaign opposing No Child Left Behind. (more)

Charter operator may get own say – Steve Barr, the founder of the successful Green Dot charter schools, is on the verge of a major breakthrough that could make him the king of Los Angeles charter schools. (more)

State told SAT would fail No Child test, official says – Over federal warnings, Maine adopted the SAT to measure high school achievement, a move that then led the U.S. Education Department to reject the state’s testing system. (more)

Call for ‘Weighted’ Student Funding Gets Bipartisan Stamp of Approval (Education Week registration required) – The United States needs a fundamental change in the way it allocates money to public schools—something that will not be easy to achieve even though it is desperately needed, a bipartisan, philosophically diverse group of policy leaders is contending. (more)