Virginia rolls out teacher merit-pay plan Associated Press: Gov. Bob McDonnell on Tuesday rolled out Virginia's teacher merit-pay plan, inviting 57 districts that have struggling schools to apply for $3 million in total state funding for the 2011-12 school year...Police look at how Houston kindergartner got gun AP: Police are trying to determine how a Houston kindergartener got a loaded gun that he brought to an elementary school, where officials say it accidentally fired when it fell from his pocket as he sat down for lunch, wounding himself and two other students... Five New State Officials Join 'Chiefs for Change' EdWeek: The new members of the coalition, announced today, are all new to the state superintendent's job: Janet Barresi of Oklahoma, Stephen Bowen of Maine, Kevin Huffman of Tennessee, Chris Cerf of New Jersey, and Hanna Skandera of New Mexico... Georgia, Wisconsin Ed. Schools Back Out of NCTQ Review EdWeek: Public higher education institutions in Wisconsin and Georgia—and possibly as many as five other states—will not participate voluntarily in a review of education schools now being conducted by the National Council for Teacher Quality and U.S. News and World Report... RI lawmaker seeks to mute cellphones during school Associated Press: Robert Mayne sees the sly texters slouched at their desks. He hears the muffled chirps of smartphones tucked in bluejeans or backpacks. He worries a student might email the week's math test to a friend in the afternoon class... Autism's Causes: How Close Are We to Solving the Puzzle? PBS: The dramatic rise in official figures over the last decade has generated a surge of scientific research to find what is causing autism.
