4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT
Public Education in the other LA: LOUISIANA VOUCHER PROGRAM RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL
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By Stephanie Simon/Reuters / from Huffinton Post | http://huff.to/QVnFR8 11/30/2012 5:49 pm EST Updated: 11/30/2012 11:06 pm EST :: (Reuters) - A state judge on Friday shot down Louisiana's sweeping school voucher program, ruling that the state could not use funds set aside for public education to pay private-school tuition for thousands of low- and middle-income children. Louisiana
NO MORE EXCUSES FOR CALIFORNIA
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Themes in the News A weekly commentary written by UCLA IDEA on the important issues in education as covered by the news media Week of Nov. 26-30, 2012| http://bit.ly/RpWi1p 11-30-2012 :: The U.S. Department of Education released data on Monday that for the first time used a common measure allowing for state-by-state comparisons. Not surprisingly, in yet another national measure, California
Attorney: “CRIMINAL CULPABILITY’ NEEDED TO FIX LAUSD ABUSE SCANDAL | CTC: FAILURE TO REPORT CONSTITUTES UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
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CBS los Angeles | http://cbsloc.al/Svj3iP November 30, 2012 12:02 PM :: LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — An attorney representing alleged child sex abuse victims from Miramonte Elementary School Friday called for a more thorough audit of the Los Angeles Unified School District. KNX 1070′s Pete Demetriou reports the reaction comes after a state auditor criticized the district for failing to report
Tentative Agreement: LAUSD-UTLA TEACHER EVALUATION PROCEDURES
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from UTLA.NET TENTATIVE AGREEMENT: LAUSD-UTLA 2012 Evaluation Procedures Supplement to Art X 11-29-12
STUDENT SCORES MAY BE USED IN LAUSD TEACHER RATINGS: Union leaders and District officials agree to make testing data part of evaluations. But some hurdles remain.
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"This is a complex agreement and possibly the most sophisticated evaluation agreement that I have seen. It assures that test scores will not be overused, will not be assigned an arbitrary and inappropriate weight, will not be the sole or primary determinant of a teacher's evaluation." -Diane Ravitch By Teresa Watanabe and
LETTER TO DR. JAIME AQUINO FROM SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS + A CONCERN ABOUT FAIRNESS IN RESTORING CUTS
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From the associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA – “The Principals Union”) UPDATE | Week of December 3, 2012 29 November 2012 :: AALA thanks Gary Garcia, President of the Senior High School Principals’ Organization, for sharing this letter. Dear Dr. Aquino: Thank you for taking time out of your previously set schedule to meet with high school principals on Wednesday. The main topic of
Letters: ON THE OTHER HAND ON DEASY
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letters to the Editor of the LA Times | http://lat.ms/YxFHus November 30, 2012 Re "Head of the class," Opinion, Nov. 26 [4LAKids: http://t.co/8uifHhOM ] During his short tenure as superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, John Deasy has been reprimanded by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing for failing to report the change of status of a teacher who was accused of
A+ SCHOOLS INFUSE ARTS AND OTHER ‘ESSENTIALS’
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By Erik W. Robelen, Education Week | http://bit.ly/YxC1ck Jayla Martin, foreground, and Ashanti Baker solve math equations during their dance class at the Millwood Freshman Academy in Oklahoma City, Okla.—Shane Bevel for Education Week Published Online: November 27, 2012 | Oklahoma City :: As a group of Oklahoma principals toured Millwood Arts Academy on a recent morning, they snapped
AUDIT FINDS FAILURES, DELAYS IN LAUSD TEACHER MISCONDUCT PROCESS + Deasy’s Response + District Fact Sheet + more
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By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer LA Newspaper Group/LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/Twkdb2 Students are escorted to a waiting bus as they leave Miramonte Elementary school after classes Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 in Los Angeles. Veteran Miramonte Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday, Jan. 30, on charges of lewd conduct with 23 children after a film processor gave police
State Auditor: LAUSD SLOW TO REPORT ON TEACHER MISCONDUCT
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Audit finds the school district failed to promptly inform California panel about the allegations, including sexual ones. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/U5H38r Angry parents yell at one another in frustration in front of Miramonte Elementary - , Los Angeles Times November 29, 2012, 7:09 p.m. :: Los Angeles school officials failed to promptly report nearly 150 cases
CALIFORNIA STATE AUDIT FAULTS L.A. UNIFIED’S ABUSE REPORTING + Audit Report
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By CHRISTINA HOAG Associated Press, from the San Jose Mercury News http://bit.ly/TtShVC 11/29/2012 10:19:10 AM PST/Updated: 11/29/2012 12:19:49 PM PST :: LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Unified School District frequently failed to report teacher misconduct to state credentialing authorities and took too long to investigate and punish teachers, according to a report by the California state auditor
WHAT HAPPENED TO PUBLIC EDUCATION ON ELECTION NIGHT?
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By Joanne Barkan – Dissent Magazine blog | http://bit.ly/Uei2tP November 26, 2012 :: Barack Obama’s K-12 “reform” policies have brought misery to public schools across the country: more standardized testing, faulty evaluations for teachers based on student test scores, more public schools shut down rather than improved, more privately managed and for-profit charter schools soaking up tax
HOW CHARTER SCHOOLS FLEECE TAXPAYERS
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Arizona Charter School Officials Are Enriching Themselves With Public Funds by Timothy Noah , senior editor| The New Republic http://bit.ly/11kSzTP November 20, 2012 | 2:10 pm :: In government, if I help myself to taxpayer dollars, we call that embezzlement and I go to jail. In the private sector, if I help myself to taxpayer dollars, we call that innovation and I get hailed as
LURKING IN THE BUSHES: Is the “Florida Education Miracle just another “Texas Education Miracle”?
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…and who do you have to sleep with around here to avoid the next miracle? Julian Vasquez Heilig, Ph.D is an Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Planning at the University of Texas, Austin, TX In Lurking in the Bushes: Peeking at Florida Education Miracle [http://bit.ly/VgQXee] in Cloaking Inequity - Dr. Heilig’s Education and Public Policy Blog - he writes: November 28, 2012
LURKING IN THE BUSHES: First the “Texas Education Miracle”, now the “Florida Education Miracle”
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…who do you have to sleep with around here to avoid the miracles? November 28, 2012 XXX
Charter organization apologia+fugue in C minus: THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
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from NACSA | http://bit.ly/UusHCY see also: CHARTER SCHOOL PROPONENTS TO ANNOUNCE MAJOR FOCUS ON SHUTTING DOWN FAILING SCHOOLS: http://bit.ly/V21xSi + National Charter Group: 1-in-5 CHARTER SCHOOLS NOT DOING WELL ENOUGH TO STAY OPEN + USAToday + smf’s 2¢: http://bit.ly/TsNjbd The National Association of Charter School Authorizers “One Million Lives” ; Press Release 11/28/1... more »
National Charter Group: 1-in-5 CHARTER SCHOOLS NOT DOING WELL ENOUGH TO STAY OPEN + USAToday + smf’s 2¢
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A group that oversees more than half of the nation's 5,600 charter schools said as many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of poor academic performance. “As the E-trade baby would say: ‘Here's my shocked face’.” comment in the Seattle Times 11/28/12 by hmaurice By John Hechinger, Bloomberg News – from The Seattle Times | http://bit.ly/Wx4SZ1
Letters: NOT SO FAST ON CHARTER SCHOOLS!
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letters to the editor of the LA Times | http://lat.ms/QsFHc0 Re "Give charter schools their due," Editorial, Nov. 25 November 29, 2012 It is beyond me why The Times believes charter schools have been any kind of "spark" to education reform in Los Angeles. Your editorial claims that charter schools deserve credit for "changing the discussion about poor and minority students," but studies have
CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS FACE HUGE DEBT ON RISKY BONDS
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About 200 districts have borrowed billions of dollars using so-called capital appreciation bonds. Districts may have to pay 10 to 20 times the amount borrowed. By Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/U4F7wU Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach is part of the Newport Mesa School District, which issued $83 million in long-term notes in May 2011. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles
GREAT UNCERTAINTY OVER DIRECTION OF STATE STANDARDIZED TESTS: “State policymakers are ready to deemphasize the role of standardized tests in the school accountability system”
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By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/Tujwme November 26th, 2012 :: With the statute authorizing state standardized tests due to expire in June 2014, the incoming Legislature is facing some hard decisions on the future of the state testing system: What subjects should be tested, for whom, how often (not every year in every subject, perhaps), at what cost, and, perhaps the
Pushing K-12 off the Fiscal Cliff: CUT DEEP - HOW THE SEQUESTER WILL IMPACT OUR NATION'S SCHOOLS
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from the American Association of School Administrators | http://bit.ly/X2BA9k The cuts of sequestration are estimated to between eight and nine percent, which would reduce funding for the US Education Department by an additional $4 billion and affect millions of students, classrooms and teachers by increasing class size, reducing programs and services and eliminating educator jobs. State/
DOE v. DEASY/TEACHER TALKS: What happens if they can’t agree?
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by Hillel Aron, L.A. School Report | http://bit.ly/YsEIMa November 28, 2012 :: The deadline set by Judge Chalfant for LAUSD and UTLA to agree on a teacher evaluation system that satisfies the requirements of the Stull Act is December 4 — less than a week away. Neither side is saying how the negotiations are going – other than, well, “they’re going.” That sounds good, but the district and the
SCHOOL FUNDING CHANGES DEBATED AT EDUCATORS MEETING
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/Ww8J8B Rich Pedroncelli/AP November 28th, 2012, 6:00am :: Educators at a private meeting Tuesday sounded off on an expected proposal to increase state funding to disadvantaged school districts. Conversation focused on Governor Jerry Brown's proposal to redistribute education funding pots known as categoricals among districts
LAUSD PUTTING ON A SHOW – A TALENT SHOW …to showcase employee-entertainers and raise money for after-school programs
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By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/Srp2Fg 11/28/2012 03:33:09 PM PST :: Sure, America and even Britain have talent. Turns out, Los Angeles Unified does, too. The nation's second-largest school district is organizing a variety show to spotlight the talents of its 60,000-plus employees while raising money to fund after-school programs. "I want to really show the
FOSTER YOUTH IN THE SEX TRADE: Most L.A. County youths held for prostitution come from foster care
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The Board of Supervisors launches a multiagency task force to address the issue. By Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/Qrve0n November 27, 2012, 8:51 p.m. :: A majority of juveniles arrested on prostitution charges in Los Angeles County come from the county's foster care system, and, in some cases, pimps use underage sex workers to recruit fellow group home residents, county
U P D A T E D: TEACHER JAILS FILL AS THE GHOSTS OF MIRAMONTE + TELFAIR (+ PENN STATE) HAUNT LAUSD
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LAUSD 'jails' fill with teachers as misconduct complaints rise By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/V4dMf0 Students are escorted to a waiting bus as they leave Miramonte Elementary school after classes Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 in Los Angeles. Veteran Miramonte Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday, Jan. 30, on charges of lewd conduct with 23
CHARTER SCHOOL PROPONENTS TO ANNOUNCE MAJOR FOCUS ON SHUTTING DOWN FAILING SCHOOLS
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“We didn't start this movement in order to create more failing schools, but that's what we have - hundreds of them. Greg Richmond, President & CEO, National Association of Charter School Authorizers Joy Resmovits, Huffington Post | http://huff.to/QrfDOr 11/28/2012 12:28 am EST Updated: 11/28/2012 8:33 am EST ::
A ROAD MAP FOR L.A. UNIFIED …when maybe GPS is needed?
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A six-year study provides a wealth of information on how to recruit, assign, pay and, when necessary, lay off teachers in ways that help students most. LA Times Editorial | http://lat.ms/10WgUA9 November 28, 2012 :: There are big differences in how well Los Angeles' teachers help their students learn, a new study shows — bigger variations than in other districts, where teaching quality
A challenge for HIV/Health Ed in our schools: CDC + KAISER FOUNDATION REPORTS TROUBLING RISE IN HIV INFECTIONS AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE
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CDC acknowledges need for more and improved HIV prevention education for teens Kaiser Survey finds Black and Latino Youth “Very Concerned” about Impact of HIV on themselves and others their age by Sarah Childress | PBS FRONTLINE | ENDGAME: AIDS in Black America | http://to.pbs.org/SbJKrB November 27, 2012, 4:42 pm ET :: Every month, 1,000 young Americans become infected with HIV.
The New Yorker Profile: PUBLIC DEFENDER – DIANE RAVITCH TAKES ON A MOVEMENT …and The New Yorker
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Ravitch: “The high school graduation rate for people ages 18-24 is 90%, the highest in our history.” Annals of Education by David Denby The New Yorker November 19, 2012 | http://nyr.kr/TjNYvs ABSTRACT: ANNALS OF EDUCATION about Diane Ravitch, who has emerged as one of the leading opponents of the education-reform movement. Now seventy-four, Ravitch has been a forceful voice in education
GREEN DOT MAKES THE RACE TO THE TOP CUT AND DROPS FOUNDER STEVE BARR; LAUSD – never in the race …is out of the running
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Green Dot Public Schools finalist for federal Race to the Top money LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/U0Zafx 11/26/2012 06:29:51 PM PSTGreen Dot Public Schools, a 12-year-old charter organization, was named Monday as a finalist for a prestigious federal grant, one of four California groups to qualify for Race to the Top money. Green Dot hopes to win a $30 million, four-year grant, which it
LAUSD: CRENSHAW HIGH’S BIG BULLY
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Janet Denise Kelly CityWatch Vol 10 Issue 95 | http://bit.ly/SnT6Sd 27 Nov 2012 :: URBAN PERSPECTIVE - South Los Angeles advocates are lining up to take on its big bully in education, Los Angeles Unified School District. Recently, Superintendent Deasy announced a restructuring of Crenshaw High School to a full-school magnet causing a reconstitution of staff. The community is in an absolute
LAUSD NOT A RACE TO THE TOP FINALIST, John Deasy Reacts: 'We're Not A Finalist? …I'm Shocked!'
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Anna Almendrala & Joy Resmovits, HUffington Post | http://huff.to/SpFzbg Posted: 11/26/2012 7:52 pm EST :: Finalists for the White House's 2012 Race to the Top grant competition were released Monday. To no one's surprise, the Los Angeles Unified School District is not a contender. In a phone call with The Huffington Post, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy feigned shock at
¿Urgently incremental?: SUPT. DEASY, HEAD OF THE CLASS
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John Deasy approaches his mission at LAUSD with a strong sense of urgency. Op-Ed By Jim Newton, EditoR AT Large, LA Times | http://lat.ms/10YqUrw LAUSD Supt. John Deasy moves quickly, talks fast and is ever-present across the school system. (Los Angeles Times) November 26, 2012 :: Of all the jobs in Southern California, it's hard to think of one that is harder to do well than
FOR TWO L.A. SCHOOLS, SHARING A CAMPUS IS STARTING TO CHAFE + smf’s 2¢
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Logan Elementary in Echo Park hosts Gabriella Charter School. That seemed good when enrollment was lower. But both schools are growing, and the campus is not. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/UnLL63 Eighth-grade students from Gabriella Charter School practice interviews in the auditorium of Logan Street Elementary School. The two schools share the campus. (Al Seib, Los
Deep-fried pretzel logic: SCHOOL’S NO-RUNNING POLICY IS MAKING MOM GAIN WEIGHT
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To get their children healthier, some L.A. Unified parents have to resort to raising funds by peddling something unhealthy but irresistible: cheesecake. PERSPECTIVE By Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/TgcX32 A lot of campuses in Los Angeles have blacktop instead of a grassy playing field, so children are discouraged from running for safety's sake. (Robert Gauthier, Los
LAUSD’s REVAMPED TEACHER EVALUATION SYSTEM GETTING MIXED GRADE
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Teachers are finding value in the new evaluation system as it rolls out, but administrators doing the reviews complain about how time-consuming they are. By Teresa Watanabe and Stephen Ceasar, Los Angeles Time3 | shttp://lat.ms/10BCBVS Eduardo Solorzano, principal of San Fernando Middle School, has taken part in the pilot program for L.A. Unified's new teacher evaluation program. He lauds
ICEF: FINANCIALLY TROUBLED CHARTER SCHOOL COMPANY SAYS FINANCES NOW IN ORDER
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By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | Pass Fail\ KPCC 89.3 | http://bit.ly/Wquneq November 22nd, 2012, 10:23am :: Two years after it almost closed 14 Los Angeles-area schools, ICEF Public Schools says it’s on a stable financial footing. A $700,000 donation saved the nonprofit from closing schools that serve 4,500 students. The ICEF in its name stands for Inner City Education Foundation. After that
LOW-INCOME STUDENTS GET CRASH COURSE IN COLLEGE PREPARATION: Low-income and immigration-status-challenged students get crash course in college preparation
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The session at Sylmar High is offered by a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the number of disadvantaged students who go to college. Personal connections enhance the experience. By Marisa Gerber, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/XNj5qM Brian Caballero, left, encourages Jimmy Fuentes, while he emails his counselor during a College Summit session at Sylmar High School. (Bob Chamberlin, Los
AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE, DISTRICTS, CHARTERS MAKING PEACE OVER FACILITIES
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…or so spins the Charter School Association – which is still suing LAUSD! By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/UWRB0d Monday, November 19, 2012 :: In the 12 years since a state law forcing districts to share facilities with charter schools took effect there are still turf wars but anecdotal evidence suggests the disputes are fewer and more often than not, beneficial
Failing a test that really matters (continued): MORE THAN HALF OF LAUSD STUDENTS OVERWEIGHT
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By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News| http://bit.ly/URxo64 See also: FAILING A TEST THAT REALLY MATTERS/4LAKids 11/18/12 | http://bit.ly/ZUtzD7 11/19/2012 06:33:17 PM PST :: Fewer than half of the Los Angeles Unified students have a healthy body composition and one in three are considered at risk of future medical problems, according to a new state study. Results from the 2011-
LAO Report: The 2013-14 Budget - CALIFORNIA’S FISCAL OUTLOOK
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…your rose-colored-glasses are located in a compartment under the center armrest. From the 11/20 CCSA email to their members: The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released its annual Fiscal Outlook last week, updating its projections on the state’s fiscal situation. With the passage of Propositions 30 and 39, the LAO reports that “the budget situation has improved sharply”
Poll: PROP 30 DREW SUPPORT FROM YOUTH, MINORITIES
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By Isha Kawatra · Daily Trojan | http://bit.ly/RQXKqg Nov 19. 2012 at 10:59 pm :: In the recent election, California’s Proposition 30 to increase funding for public education and other state services passed by a narrow 54 percent majority vote. According to a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll released Sunday, the initiative, sponsored by Gov. Jerry Brown, passed because of overwhelming
The privatization of the University of California: THE FIGHT TO SAVE EDUCATION MUST CONTINUE
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Op-Ed By Elana Eden and Margaret Hardy in the Daily Californian - the student-run newspaper of U.C. Berkeley | http://bit.ly/S8bYEM Tuesday, November 20, 2012 :: Lately, my friends have been asking me: “Proposition 30 just passed… so why mobilize?” In the relief following a narrow escape from a 20.3 percent fee hike, it seems like a reasonable question. As the pre-election panic subsides and
DUNCAN SKETCHES OUT SECOND-TERM AGENDA, says NCLB waivers “make no sense”
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By Michele McNeil, Education Week | http://bit.ly/TdIoxE November 16, 2012 2:20 PM - Savannah, Ga. :: In his first major postelection remarks, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that he will use his second term to continue to leverage education improvement at the state and local levels, with a new emphasis on principal preparation and evaluation. And, he made clear that if Congress