28 Jan 12, 06:01:05

AP - Public university presidents facing ever-increasing state budget cuts are raising concerns about President Barack Obama's plan to force colleges and universities to contain tuition prices or face losing federal dollars.

28 Jan 12, 12:01:39

AP - The two teens had a detailed plot, blueprints of the school and security systems, but no explosives. They had hours of flight simulator training on a home computer and a plan to flee the country, but no plane.

27 Jan 12, 06:01:36 AP - The state's largest city must produce a list of documents related to a $100 million pledge to its public schools from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a judge ruled Friday.

27 Jan 12, 05:01:36 AP - Can flight simulator training on a home computer teach you enough to fly a real plane?

27 Jan 12, 12:01:47 Reuters - President Barack Obama, appearing before thousands of cheering students at the University of Michigan, touted his plan on Friday to reward colleges that keep their tuition under control with more federal aid as he makes school affordability a top election-year priority.

27 Jan 12, 04:01:50

AP - President Barack Obama fired a warning at the nation's colleges and universities on Friday, threatening to strip their federal aid if they jack up tuition every year and to give the money instead to schools showing restraint and value.

27 Jan 12, 05:01:38 Reuters - The first blow to Martha Netshiozwe's future came when her parents died of AIDS. The second came when she ran out of money and had to drop out of a South African high school.

26 Jan 12, 05:01:32

AP - Gov. Beverly Perdue said Thursday she will not seek re-election because she fears a fight with Republicans over public education would become too political. But she entered the election year with some baggage: a campaign finance investigation, sagging poll numbers and worries from fellow Democrats she would drag them down in a key battleground state for President Barack Obama.

26 Jan 12, 09:01:33 The Christian Science Monitor - Sharon McNary believes in having tough teacher evaluations.

25 Jan 12, 07:01:18

AP - The first major nutritional overhaul of school meals in more than 15 years means most offerings — including the always popular pizza — will come with less sodium, more whole grains and a wider selection of fruits and vegetables on the side.

25 Jan 12, 06:01:39 ContributorNetwork - According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a bill signed into law by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday changes the amount of information given to parents on how schools rank in terms graduation rates, standardized test scores, teacher performance and more. These more detailed so-called report cards will be available to the public beginning next year with the goal of offering more transparency of the state education system.

25 Jan 12, 05:01:06 AP - A lawyer for an Alabama professor who could be executed for allegedly killing three colleagues asked a judge Wednesday to keep a report into the 1986 killing of her brother secret, arguing it could prejudice a jury against her.

25 Jan 12, 04:01:10

AP - Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday proposed turning a former teacher's college into New Jersey's second major public research university in a shake-up of the state's higher education system that's intended to raise the standing of Rutgers University and other institutions from good to great.

25 Jan 12, 04:01:00 The Christian Science Monitor - President Obama hit hard on issues of college affordability in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, and continued to emphasize the importance of excellent teaching in K-12 education.

25 Jan 12, 03:01:50

Reuters - U.S. school children, accustomed to a steady diet of pizza and French fries, will find more fruits, vegetables and whole grains on their trays under new government rules announced on Wednesday.

25 Jan 12, 01:01:14 Reuters - School meals for millions of children will be healthier under obesity-fighting U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards unveiled on Wednesday that double the fruits and vegetables in cafeteria lunches - but won't pull French fries from the menu.

25 Jan 12, 12:01:20 AP - A prominent businessman pleaded guilty Wednesday to fraud in a $135 million real estate scheme that fleeced hundreds of investors, including the Roman Catholic prep school he once attended.

23 Jan 12, 03:01:01 Reuters - The financial conditions of many U.S. colleges and universities will likely not improve much this year, as states continue cutting funding for public schools, students become more price sensitive, and areas for other revenue remain stretched, a lead rating agency said on Monday.

23 Jan 12, 05:01:33 AP - State funding for higher education has declined because of a slow recovery from the recession and the end of federal stimulus money, according to a study released Monday.

21 Jan 12, 06:01:57 Reuters - A 9-year-old Colorado girl abducted while walking home from school on Thursday managed to escape her kidnapper after a harrowing 18-hour ordeal by calling police from a convenience store, police said on Saturday.

Atlanta Public School has just posted its new redistricting scenarios and maps. Take a look and let us know what you think. Several of the files are long and will take a while to download.

I have dozens of notes from readers and friends unhappy about the first round of options. Are these any better?

If not, what scenarios can you suggest that can both deal with the serious overcrowding at some beloved schools and treat all students fairly?

–From Maureen Downey for the AJC Get Schooled blog

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I received this letter from GSU student Kiana Nicholas, a film/video and journalism/public relations double major. Proving that she has learned something about effective PR, Kiana is taking her disagreement with Georgia State University to the public square. (She is president of the Public Relations Student Society of America. )

Her issue: She will graduate in the fall, and Georgia State has decided against a college-wide commencement ceremony for students graduating mid-year. Instead, fall 2012 graduates will have to wait and walk with spring 2013 grads in a joint ceremony. (Students will still graduate; it is the commencement that is delayed.)

A Georgia State spokeswoman told me this morning that the university’s goal was to raise the profile and fanfare of the spring event. …

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To mark National School Choice Week, the Center for Education Reform has held daily webinars on choice issues. Today, the center’s director Jeanne Allen speculated on the future of choice in states, only mentioning Georgia in passing for its special education voucher and private school scholarships.

Allen said two main factors determine state success in expanding school choice through vouchers and more charter schools: There has to be a “strong actor in the state, someone who wakes up every morning with a fire in the belly bound and determined to get it done.”

Second, Allen said there must be “friends on the ground,” strong grassroots groups to “show the Legislature that there is support and to cover the back of that actor.”

I am not sure if we have that “strong actor” in Georgia, although House Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones may be the closest thing.

Rep. Jones, R-Milton, is sponsoring HR 1162, a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to approve charter schools …

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UPDATE Friday: Cobb County Superintendent Michael Hinojosa averted a fight over Teach for America, withdrawing, at least for now, his proposal to hire 50 teachers from the program. Read more here.

The Cobb school board decides tonight whether to staff several chronically under achieving schools with newly minted Teach for America teachers. New Cobb school chief Michael Hinojosa wants to hire 50 TFA teachers. (The costs associated with the program itself would be borne by donations but Cobb would pay the actual salaries.)

The well-regarded alternative teacher training program — which attracts applicants by the thousands and can pick the very brightest and most capable college graduates — has both its fans and detractors, as the Cobb board debate reflects.

According to the AJC:

“They may be elite college grads,” Eagle said last week during a debate over Hinojosa’s proposal. “But knowing the content doesn’t mean you know how to teach.” Eagle said in a later interview that …

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School and class size are one of those areas in education where the research and common sense can diverge. Parents and  teachers feel at an organic level that fewer students in a class or a school building enable more attention to all students. But the research has been murky at best on the relationship between size and performance.

So, a new study on the positive impact on graduation rates from New York City’s experiment with small high schools is getting a lot of attention, including a gleeful statement this morning from Ed Secretary Arne Duncan:

This new, rigorous study by MDRC of New York City’s ambitious experiment with small public high schools underscores the great potential to replace failing schools for disadvantaged students with schools that instead narrow achievement and attainment gaps. MDRC’s study is important and encouraging on several fronts. It shows that school reform can achieve success at scale, district-wide, and not just in isolated islands of …

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