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Friday, February 1, 2013

UPDATE: Arne Duncan On Early Education - Joy Resmovits: Voucher Expansion Proposed By Ohio Gov. Kasich: Ed Today

Joy Resmovits: Voucher Expansion Proposed By Ohio Gov. Kasich: Ed Today:



Arne Duncan On Early Education: Access Will Be Key Piece Of Obama's Second Term

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in a forthcoming interview with Bloomberg Radio, reiterated his plans for a big push on early childhood education in the second term, which were first reported by The Huffington Post in January.

"We have to continue to invest in early childhood education," Duncan said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio's Jane Williams. "That's arguably the most important investment we can make." The interview on Bloomberg EDU will air Friday night at 10 p.m.

According to a transcript provided to HuffPost, Duncan stresses that, "We have to do a lot more going forward."

He adds that, "Kathleen Sebelius, who runs HHS, ... has been just a fantastic partner. And ... we got our department in the game in a big, big way in the first term. But [we] would like to do a lot more over the next four 



Voucher Expansion Proposed By Ohio Gov. Kasich: Ed Today

Vouchers To Grow In Ohio? In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich's (R) budget plan would reduce funding gaps between wealthy and poor public school districts and also create a new voucher program, reports the Columbus Dispatch.The new vouchers would give about $4,250 a year toward private-school tuition to any kindergartener whose family is making less than 200 percent of the poverty line. The next year, Kasich would expand the program to include first graders. While an existing scholarship plan currently does something similar for 15,702 students, a full 1.8 million students would qualify for the new plan's income requirements The budget plan includes a 6 percent overall school funding increase the following year, and then 3.2 percent more the next year.

Wyoming Ed-lection? Wyoming's state Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill announced she is is running for governor, according to the Star Tribune. The announcement follows Hill's tumultuous tenure and raucous relationships with state leadership: On Tuesday, Gov. Matt Mead signed into law a bill that removed much power from Hill's office -- so Hill filed a lawsuit. Why the fight? "Her tenure so far has included accusations that she improperly redirected state money to programs not authorized by the Legislature and hindered