November 19, 2010
Governor Charlie Crist today announced Florida’s graduation rat e soared to new heights this year, continuing a five-year trend of increases. According to results released today by the Florida Department of Education, the state’s graduation rate climbed more than two-and-a-half percentage points to 79 percent. Included in the increases was a 3.5 percentage point increase […]
November 19, 2010
Reading scores for the nation’s 12th-grade students have increased somewhat since they dropped to a historic low in 2005, according to results of the largest federal test, released Thursday. Average math scores also ticked upward.&l t;br /> Experts said the increases, after years of dismal achievement reports, were surprising because every year the nation’s schools […]
November 19, 2010
Philadelphia School District officials say the district’s expanded summer-school program helped a record number of students improve their academic performance. Nearly 60,000 students from prekindergarten through high school – nearly twice as many as in 2009 – attended summer classes this year to improve their reading, math, and language skills. David Weiner, associate superintendent for […]
November 18, 2010
A recently released report has North Carolina near the bottom of the barrel in terms of K-12 education spending, and is sharply critical of the formula it uses to determine who gets the money. State educators are bracing for the impact of an estimated $3.5 billion to $4 billion budget shortfall next year, but this […]
November 18, 2010
Three years after a landmark agreement to cut class sizes in New York City’s public schools, classrooms are swelling across the city, a result of budget cuts and spending decisions that have reduced the teaching force. According to the city’s Department of Education, elementary schools this year had the largest increases, with average class sizes […]
November 18, 2010
Baltimore’s teaching corps just ratified, by a 1,902-1,045 vote, a new contract that does away with many of the features of its traditional "step-and-lane" salary schedule in favor of one that puts a heavier emphasis on teacher performance. It looks like second time’s a charm in Baltimore: A nearly identical proposal was put to the […]
November 18, 2010
As many as 10,000 Connecticut children could be affected by a proposal to adjust the age they can enter kindergarten. Instead of children becoming eligible to enter kindergarten if they celebrate their fifth birthday by Dec. 31, they would have to turn 5 by Sept. 1. State education Commissioner Mark McQuillan has proposed the change […]
November 18, 2010
Utah lawmakers have agreed to accept $101 million in federal education stimulus money, but not without griping about it. & #x0D; Lawmakers begrudgingly accepted the money during a special legislative session Wednesday, but said in a resolution that Congress had usurped states’ authority. Federal legislation is providing $10 billion to school districts nationwide to rehire […]
November 18, 2010
Last month, the governor slashed funding for mental health services for special education students and suspended a state mandate to provide those services. Now, his decision faces a lawsuit that the Manhattan Beach Unified School District has joined in on. On Oct. 8, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed $133 million intended to pay counties for mental health […]
November 18, 2010
As state leaders grapple with a looming $1.6 billion deficit, thousands of teachers know they have a target on their backs. With K-12 education one of the state’s largest expenses, any funding cuts could put pressure on teacher compensation. Michigan educators, who get some of the nation’s best teacher wages and benefits, know their pay […]