Obama Presses Congress for Overhaul of No Child Left Behind Law AP: President Barack Obama nudged Congress to overhaul the No Child Left Behind law by the end of the year and give states and local schools more flexibility in a student's education... L.A. teachers union seeks to halt school district initiatives LAT: Union opposes testing of a new teacher evaluation system and wants to thwart plans to hand over South Los Angeles campuses to a charter organization... Los Angeles teachers union seeks to block test of evaluation program LAT: Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy appeared to have momentum in the effort to revise educator evaluations in the LAUSD, but the teachers union is digging in its heels...Pawlenty, an Education Guy, to Run for President EdWeek: For a glimpse into what Pawlenty's education platform will look like, check out this recap of a campaign stop he made in Iowa earlier this year...Gender Games: Born on Sideline, Cheering Clamors to Be Sport NYT: The N.C.A.A. is being asked to put cheerleading on track to gain full status as a championship sport...Small, Poor, Successful School Waits for Obama, in Vain NYT: One of three finalists in the White House’s 2011 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge had hoped for a graduation speech delivered by the president himself... Tennessee Senate Passes 'Don't Say Gay' Bill AP: If you're a young Tennessee student and you want to talk about what it means to be gay, you might just have to wait till high school... Leaf recognition software TDW: Leafsnap currently includes the trees of New York City and Washington, D.C., and will soon grow to include the trees of the entire continental United States.
