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Education News for Thursday, June 1

The Destruction of Education in America – Opinion: The federal government should get out of the education business. (more)

Experts Will Study How to Improve Math Teaching in U.S. – A new committee of experts will look for the best ways to improve math education in the United States.  The effort is part of the American Competitiveness Initiative that President Bush discussed in his State of the Union message in January. (more)

State Schools Chief Lauds Exit Exam in Santa Rosa – California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell told students, faculty and school officials at Santa Rosa High School this afternoon that the 2006 high school diploma "will mean more than any other diploma ever granted." (more)

NCLB Rebellion Growing – Growing resistance to the No Child Left Behind Act has not gone unnoticed by the U.S. Department of Education. But while some state officials push for implementation changes, advocates say adhering to NCLB is critical to closing the achievement gap. (more)

Can’t read this? – Neither can nearly 90% of blind schoolkids, and proponents say the decline in Braille instruction is leading to illiteracy. (more)

LAUSD’s bad PR – Editorial: Would Superintendent Roy Romer, or some other ranking LAUSD official, care to explain why, exactly, the district needs the services of an expert in public relations and political campaigns? (more)

LAUSD’s answers rest with teachers – What will it take to solve the problems facing LAUSD?  A guest opinion column by United Teachers Los Angeles president A.J. Duffy. (more)

Westminster Board Rescinds Superintendent Job Offer – Trustees of the troubled Westminster (California) School District left students, teachers and parents baffled Wednesday by withdrawing a job offer to a superintendent seven days after it voted to hire her.  She says she suspects her ethnicity is a factor. (more)

Advice to Congress: Dump part or all of ‘No Child Left Behind’ – Utah’s schools chief has some advice for Congress: Dump some or all of No Child Left Behind, or change the rules to resemble the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students and other state initiatives. (more)

Aid to Philadelphia Schools – Editorial: What the Pennsylvania General Assembly has proposed taking away from the School District of Philadelphia, it should restore. (more)

Check back later for more education news.   

UPDATE:

Poll Shows Education Is Concern Locally – Harold Kirchheimer has voted twice against Jeb Bush.  Or as Kirchheimer put it, he voted twice against school vouchers. (more)

For Many, Education Is Another Storm Victim – For hundreds of children at Renaissance Village, this is their lost year. After fleeing Hurricane Katrina, they have landed in a vast gravel moonscape of government trailers, lacking even a playground. (more)

New film highlights city schools of choice – Geography might not be fate – although an old saying assures us it is – but it can be darned convenient at times. (more)

BR gives school choice a tryout – For the first time in the district’s history, the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee has adopted School Choice, a program that allows schools to accept children from outside the district. (more)

Opinion: Lofts or new school? In imperfect world, no easy choice – IN A PERFECT world, the decision about who should own the old Durham Elementary School would be a no-brainer:  It should go to Independence Charter School. (more)