Education News Roundup: Sept. 14, 2012

Today’s Top Picks:

The U.S. Department of Education bus tour makes a stop in Salt Lake.
http://goo.gl/moZtg (SLT)
and http://goo.gl/xZXaZ (KSL)

Education comes up in the first gubernatorial debate. (ENR just loves to get the word “gubernatorial” in whenever he can.) http://goo.gl/z7nwT (SLT) and http://goo.gl/1pY4d (DN) and http://goo.gl/Eombi (UP) and http://goo.gl/oJl51 (PDH) and http://goo.gl/J3gpj (KTVX) and http://goo.gl/VGKxX (KSL) and http://goo.gl/kvM2Q (KSTU)

Latest NAEP national writing results are out.
http://goo.gl/lurtU (AP)
and http://goo.gl/W1hUu (Ed Week)
or http://nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2011/

Sad cafeteria food, meet the cell phone camera.
http://goo.gl/FGGMi (WVNS)

It’s the typo all of us in public education dread. Wait. Let ENR check that. Yep. He wrote “public” with an “l.”
http://goo.gl/JK8EL (USA Today)

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TODAY’S HEADLINES
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UTAH

U.S. education officials study progress in Salt Lake Tour » Fed officials emphasize school turnaround programs.

Cooke assails Herbert’s economic leadership in first debate Politics » Herbert says Utah’s economy stands above other states; Cook says governor is ignoring problems with unemployment, education.

Lawmakers skeptical of search for new state superintendent

Granite relocating special needs schools

A West Jordan Middle School Rallies Around Bullied Student

“Bully” victim speaks to Salt Lake City students

Extended Learning Program meetings set for S.L. district

Director: LDS reading tutors set the bar high

Teacher surprised in class with husband’s return from Afghanistan

Local teacher creates viral film about man with ‘impossible’ dream

Private school parents increasingly opting-out of vaccines for children

OPINION & COMMENTARY

Voters should remember that federal assistance has its place

Yup. The timing’s political

Another bite at winners and losers in the Chicago teachers’ strike

Bully for you: Are you an advocate for your child?

Teachers and firefighters

Utah parents interested in choice can make their voices heard

Reforming education

Après Rahm, Le Déluge

Would Firing More Teachers Improve School Performance?

Principals’ Associations Report: Evaluations Should Be Multifaceted

Going Online to Ease Common-Core Transition

What Public Charter Schools Have Taught Us About Public Education

Who Can You Trust About Educational Technology?

NATION

Test: Most student writers still not proficient

Chicago mayor, striking teachers reach “agreement in principle”

Teacher evaluations at center of Chicago strike

Why These Kids Get a Free Ride to College

Raleigh County School Lunch Cooks Up Controversy

Unfortunate typo at high school football field

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UTAH NEWS
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U.S. education officials study progress in Salt Lake Tour » Fed officials emphasize school turnaround programs.

Teacher Ryan Hansen stood at the front of his Glendale Middle School classroom on Thursday — in front of nearly two dozen state and federal education officials — and spit some rhymes.
“Seven goes to 21 three times,” Hansen and his eighth-graders rapped together as part of their math lab, a class meant to support low-performing students in addition to their primary math classes. “Seven goes to 28 four times.”
The state and U.S. Department of Education officials laughed at the creative way to practice math before shuffling off to a roundtable to discuss the school’s progress in recent years. The federal education leaders visited Glendale, along with a number of other Utah schools and colleges this week, as part of their “Education Drives America” bus tour across the nation. They are spending three days in Utah.
They visited Glendale to showcase the school’s progress as a recipient of a School Improvement Grant, meant for low performing schools in the state.
http://goo.gl/moZtg (SLT)

http://goo.gl/xZXaZ (KSL)

Cooke assails Herbert’s economic leadership in first debate Politics » Herbert says Utah’s economy stands above other states; Cook says governor is ignoring problems with unemployment, education.

Peter Cooke accused Gov. Gary Herbert of selling Utahns a rosy picture of the state’s economy, which he said is struggling and needs real leadership to get back on track in the first debate between the two gubernatorial candidates Friday.
Herbert vigorously defended his record, saying that the state was battered by the recession, but now recovering faster than the others in the nation.
“Leadership is about results and I have a proven track record of success,” Herbert said during the debate, hosted by the Utah League of Cities and Towns.
Cooke said that the state has lost tens of thousands of jobs and 5.7 percent of the Utah workforce has quit looking for work. Job growth in the state has slipped from second best in the nation to tenth and the long-term prospects are hampered by Utah’s last-in-the-nation education funding.
…
Herbert defended his record on education, saying that his administration has invested $200 million in schools. But Cooke said more needs to be done to strengthen Utah schools.
“You’ve had a long time to solve the problem of education. It’s time for somebody to take over and run it right and make it happen,” he said.
http://goo.gl/z7nwT (SLT)

http://goo.gl/1pY4d (DN)

http://goo.gl/Eombi (UP)

http://goo.gl/oJl51 (PDH)

http://goo.gl/J3gpj (KTVX)

http://goo.gl/VGKxX (KSL)

http://goo.gl/kvM2Q (KSTU)

Lawmakers skeptical of search for new state superintendent

SALT LAKE CITY — Several state lawmakers criticized the State Board of Education for the way it is conducting its search for a new state superintendent.
In a statement released Thursday, House Majority Whip Greg Hughes, R-Draper; Rep. Dan McKay, R-Riverton; Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper; and Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, described the process of replacing state superintendent Larry Shumway as rushed and superficial. They also suggested that the board has made its decision and is merely going through the motions of holding a search for candidates.
“We believe this decision should not be expedited,” they wrote. “It should not be pre-determined. It should be meticulous, open, inclusive, and thorough.”
Debra Roberts, chair of the State School Board, said no decision on Shumway’s successor has been made and the board is dedicated to finding the best candidate possible.
http://goo.gl/swM55 (DN)

http://goo.gl/phmVi (PDH)

Granite relocating special needs schools

TAYLORSVILLE — A school serving students who have special needs is relocating within the Granite School District.
After 40 years in their existing building, Hartvigsen — a specialty school serving students aged 5 to 21 with moderate to severe disabling conditions — is relocating to a more central location in the district’s special needs constituency.
The new building, near Taylorsville High School, will feature new medical technologies and education features. The hub will be ready for the 2013-14 school year.
http://goo.gl/o7mLf (DN)

A West Jordan Middle School Rallies Around Bullied Student

While students get settled back in school – the issue of bullying becomes more prevalent.
Many schools implement year-long anti-bullying outreach programs to help prevent and educate on bullying- but one Utah school went above and beyond after a classmate fell victim to a bully.
One student was subject to bullying after someone put a mean note on a new student’s back, but instead of ignoring the issue – the girl went to a school counselor.
Sunset Ridge Middle School in West Jordan has a group peer ambassadors who were alerted to the issue, and decided to take matters into their own hands.
The students launched a campaign to show their support for the bullied student – and to send the message that bullying is not welcome in their school.
http://goo.gl/r4pdz (KUTV)

“Bully” victim speaks to Salt Lake City students

SALT LAKE CITY – Students from the Salt Lake City School district are learning the painful reality of bullying, straight from the victim. They are watching the film “Bully” and talking to one of the young victims in the film.
The film “Bully” chronicles the relentless torment in America’s schools, showing the reality facing 13 million students each year, afraid to go to school.
On Thursday, ABC 4 met one of the brave young men who shared their story in the film http://goo.gl/Twd6i (KTVX)

http://goo.gl/TvOcM (MUR)

Extended Learning Program meetings set for S.L. district

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City School District will hold meetings to explain the middle school testing process for its Extended Learning Program later this month.
The meetings are Tuesday, Sept. 25, and Thursday, Sept. 27. Both meetings will be held at the district offices, 440 E. 100 South. Both begin at 6:30 p.m. and last approximately one hour.
The middle school Extended Learning Program testing window runs from October through the end of November.
http://goo.gl/xRfAo (DN)

Director: LDS reading tutors set the bar high

OGDEN — The large numbers of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who volunteered for area reading programs last spring got a compliment from Sally Carter this week.
Carter is a co-director of the Volunteer Engagement Center at United Way of Northern Utah.
She said the LDS Church’s efforts to recruit tutors for area volunteer reading programs made a phenomenal difference in the success of the pilot program last spring and stands to make a similar difference as the program goes forward.
Carter spoke at a monthly meeting of Interfaith Works!, a group of area pastors and representatives of various faiths throughout the Ogden area. Her presentation was an effort to recruit groups from other churches, too.
http://goo.gl/FXlsp (OSE)

Teacher surprised in class with husband’s return from Afghanistan

PAYSON, Utah — A school teacher got a welcome surprise on Thursday when her military husband came home six months early from Afghanistan.
Sgt. Ben Litster says he always gets flack from his wife for not being spontaneous so he orchestrated the ultimate surprise by unexpectedly dropping in on his whole family.
Ben Litster’s wife Christy was in shock when her husband walked into her classroom. Gasping and at a loss for words they embraced, tears flowing.
http://goo.gl/5JpqW (KSTU)

Local teacher creates viral film about man with ‘impossible’ dream

SOUTH JORDAN — A local high school teacher is getting attention for a short film he produced about the life of a man he met on his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Tyler Bastian produced the film, titled “Everything is Incredible,” along with two other local filmmakers, Tim Skousen and Trevor Hill. The 10-minute film tells the story of Agustin, a Honduran man living in poverty who has what some would call an impossible dream.
Agustin started to build a helicopter in 1958 out of trash and discarded materials he found in his poverty-ridden village in Honduras. He was young, ambitious and thought it would take only three months. Now, 54 years later, he continues to build, realizing the work is much more difficult than he originally thought.
http://goo.gl/zt0C1 (DN)

http://goo.gl/dd1zw (KSL)

Private school parents increasingly opting-out of vaccines for children

Parents of children in private schools in California are more than twice as likely than public school parents to opt their children out of immunizations, according to a recent Associated Press analysis.
“Public health officials believe that an immunization rate of at least 90 percent in all communities, including schools, is critical to minimizing the potential for a disease outbreak,” reported the Associated Press. “About 15 percent of the 1,650 private schools surveyed by the state failed to reach that threshold, compared with 5 percent of public schools.”
The resurgence of whooping cough has made headlines lately, but even after whooping cough reached epidemic levels in California in 2010, opt-out rates have continued to climb in private schools, reported the Associated Press.
http://goo.gl/a9byT (DN)

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OPINION & COMMENTARY
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Voters should remember that federal assistance has its place Deseret News op-ed by Sheryl Allen, a board member of Alliance for a Better Utah

The good folks of Saratoga Springs have had more than their share of calamities during the summer of 2012 with fires and mudslides. Volunteers by the hundreds have provided immediate assistance. This is not uncommon in Utah, but we do hear about other disasters throughout the United States that have an influx of volunteers after a wrath of nature.
After the December 2011 windstorm in Bountiful, my neighborhood had hundreds of downed trees, most more than 65 feet tall including nine in my yard. As my husband and I assessed the damage, we assumed it would take us thousands of dollars and weeks to clean up. Not so. Volunteers streamed into our neighborhood, and most of the damage and debris was cleaned up within a few days. Wind River Excavation brought in loaders to pull up giant root systems, and the company hauled load after load away without charge. We will be forever amazed and grateful.
Many power lines were ruined, but power was restored to the neighborhood after outages that lasted several days. The power line repair was dangerous, and repairmen and women came from throughout Utah to assist.
Utah did not stand alone in this clean up and restoration work after the windstorm. Bountiful City recently received $1 million from the federal government for electrical equipment repair, city building damage repair and salaries for the emergency relief efforts. For a city of 42,500, this is an extremely helpful reimbursement. Davis County has received $276,000 for debris removal from the flood control system.
…
The federal government is not the enemy. The federal government is us and our fellow citizens in New York, Iowa and Oregon. When the 2008 recession hit, the federal government increased funding to public education by $200 million in Utah. School districts still had to make painful cuts as state funds were reduced by 13 percent, but thanks to increased federal funds, education cuts were not draconian.
http://goo.gl/pneK3

Yup. The timing’s political
Commentary by Charter Solutions President Lincoln Fillmore

In my earlier post on Superintendent Shumway’s retirement, I wondered if the timing of his retirement and the coming election created political incentive around which board would select his replacement.
The answer is clearly yes. Shumway’s effective retirement date of January 1 is just before a newly constituted board will take office. The Board’s self-imposed deadline of October to name a successor is just before the election.
Today several lawmakers made the same point in a letter to the board.
http://goo.gl/ba9By

Another bite at winners and losers in the Chicago teachers’ strike Deseret News commentary by columnist Mary McConnell

I’ve just read another commentary on the Chicago teachers’ strike from AEI’s Rick Hess. I’ll post a link to the full article in the New York Daily News, but here are some highlights.
I’ve speculated the American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten may be secretly dismayed by a strike that she publicly supports.
http://goo.gl/ExBdr

Bully for you: Are you an advocate for your child?
KSL commentary by Connie Sokol, author of author “Motherhood Matters”

SALT LAKE CITY — Recently, a KSL reporter did a story on the showing of “Bully,” a documentary following five kids and families over the course of a school year — particularly Alex Libby — and the horrific bullying they experienced. Just seeing the short clip had me in tears. Not just for Alex’s experience, but because it reminded me of my son’s.
My oldest son has Asperger’s syndrome, which has often made him a bully target. For a long while, my husband and I followed the “protection through policy” and encouraged him and our other children to stand firm in following the school rules. I cringe to think I’m the one that told my eldest son, “Pull the teacher aside and tell him what’s happening. He’s there to ensure the classroom is a safe place.”
Not.
When the bully — taller and double my son’s weight — cornered him in a booth in the classroom, the teacher took cover in a remote spot, pretending to not notice the other kids gathering and taunting what was happening. Years later, my son still has nightmares about the experience.
http://goo.gl/VdLyh

Teachers and firefighters
Salt Lake Tribune letter from Brent Larsen

As a teacher, I ask our state and local governments to think of education as an emergency service. Our educational system is in a crisis mode and becoming less able to meet the needs of educating our future work force.
To put this into perspective, consider our firefighters and how their situation might be compromised if the Legislature treated that emergency service as it currently does teachers. What would happen if we asked our fire departments over time to serve an ever-widening area with three-fourths of the fuel, water and other resources they had recently used to address emergencies in a much smaller area?
http://goo.gl/o6JAi

Utah parents interested in choice can make their voices heard Deseret News letter from Michelle Roberts

In July of this year, parents from more than 30 states gathered in Washington, D.C., as representatives for the National Coalition of Public School Options.
The three-day event included discussions, demonstrations, coalition training and online course demonstrations. In addition to the parents who attended, there were also numerous congressional staff members. The purpose of the gathering was to promote choice in public education through traditional, charter, home or online schools.
The highlight of the event was a panel discussion of graduates from virtual online schools, home schools and charter schools. Three outstanding young people spoke about the success they experienced in alternative education.
http://goo.gl/1edFu

Reforming education
Chicago Tribune op-ed by Jeb Bush, airman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education

The teachers strike in Chicago is not about money. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has offered an average 16 percent pay increase over four years even as the school district faces a $1 billion deficit. Imagine a private company with that kind of balance sheet being so generous.
No, this strike is about the Chicago Teachers Union clinging to bargaining positions sharply at odds with the current direction of public education.
It is about two concepts that every professional in the workplace understands.
The first is that if your boss is held accountable for the performance of the team, the boss gets to decide who to hire. Second, and most important, your job review is based on how well you do your job.
These sound like common-sense principles but are anathema to many teacher unions, particularly the CTU. It not only wants to block meaningful assessments of teacher performance but also wants to dictate to principals which teachers they can hire.
http://goo.gl/W5OFQ

Après Rahm, Le Déluge
New York Times commentary by columnist DAVID BROOKS

Modern nations have two economies, which exist side by side. Economy I is the tradable sector. This includes companies that make goods like planes, steel and pharmaceuticals. These companies face intense global competition and are compelled to constantly innovate and streamline. They’ve spent the last few decades figuring out ways to make more products with fewer workers.
Economy II is made up of organizations that do not face such intense global competition. They often fall into government-dominated sectors like health care, education, prisons and homeland security. People in this economy believe in innovation, but they don’t have the sword of Damocles hanging over them so they don’t pursue unpleasant streamlining as rigorously. As a result, Economy II institutions tend to get bloated and inefficient as time goes by.
http://goo.gl/P7BZe

Would Firing More Teachers Improve School Performance?
Mother Jones commentary by columnist Kevin Drum

Nicholas Kristof thinks the Chicago teachers union is wrong to fight so hard against more stringent teacher evaluations, but he also offers this important observation:
“In fairness, it’s true that the main reason inner-city schools do poorly isn’t teachers’ unions, but poverty. Southern states without strong teachers’ unions have schools at least as lousy as those in union states. The single most important step we could take has nothing to do with unions and everything to do with providing early-childhood education to at-risk kids.”
Not all school districts are unionized, and the balance of the evidence suggests very little difference in student performance between unionized and nonunionized districts. You’re still welcome to approve or disapprove of teachers unions on other grounds, of course, just as you’re welcome to think that we should use the results of standardized tests as a basis for evaluating teachers and firing the bad ones. (This is Kristof’s view.) It’s a fraught subject with evidence that points in both directions, and personally, I’m more skeptical than Kristof. My own read of the evidence is that the value of standardized tests as a way of evaluating teacher performance has enough problems that we should approach it very slowly and methodically. For now, it should probably be no more than a small portion of any evaluation method.
But even if you’re more gung-ho on standardized tests than I am, you should know that the evidence doesn’t really back up the claim that union-coddled burnout cases are a big contributor to poor student outcomes. They can fire teachers in Georgia a lot more easily than they can in Illinois, but that hasn’t improved their schools any. The stubborn fact is that Georgia kids don’t score any better on national standardized tests than Illinois kids do.
http://goo.gl/PQrHf

Principals’ Associations Report: Evaluations Should Be Multifaceted Education Week commentary by columnist Jaclyn Zubrzycki

Washington – Principal evaluation should be multifaceted and growth-oriented rather than punitive and reliant on standardized test scores, according to a new report put out today by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
The report reflects the work of a committee made up of working principals, and sets out to address the current state of principal evaluation and make recommendations for improvement.
It paints a gloomy picture of current evaluation systems, saying they are generally inconsistent, unaligned with standards for good practice, not relevant to principals’ main goals and responsibilities, and generally not valid or rigorous.
The report suggests that principals should instead be evaluated based on six domains: professional growth and learning; student growth and achievement (which is where student test scores fit in); school planning and progress; school culture; professional qualities and instructional leadership; and stakeholder support and engagement. The report emphasizes that supporting and providing professional development for principals is important in order to reduce turnover.
http://goo.gl/a1KEh

A copy of the report
http://goo.gl/zeao1

Going Online to Ease Common-Core Transition Education Week op-ed by Christine Newell, who teaches 5th grade at Lloyd G. Cunningham Elementary School in Turlock, Calif.

It’s an understatement to say the “next big thing” in K-12 education is the Common Core State Standards, the result of a state-led initiative to establish common educational standards in mathematics and English/language arts across the United States. Forty-six states and the District of Columbia have adopted the common-core standards and have begun or will shortly begin to transition into using them in classrooms this school year.
A key feature of the common core is the building of conceptual understanding and procedures from kindergarten through 12th grade, meaning teacher collaboration within and between grade levels will be a necessity. Beyond prescribing professional development within districts and states, the adoption of the common-core standards provides an unprecedented opportunity for teachers to meaningfully collaborate with their peers around the nation. As schools move their students toward the same educational goals, it makes sense for teachers to share ideas, instructional strategies, and reflections in real time. Engagement in meaningful conversation with fellow educators will provide teachers with support to understand and implement the standards.
Common-core implementation can be defined as the steps taken by states, counties, and districts to raise awareness, build resources, develop and establish professional learning opportunities and collaborations, and align curriculum, instruction, and assessments, as well as strategies and practices developed and reflected upon by teachers.
Online learning communities can provide a space for teachers nationwide to come together as peers to navigate standards implementation.
http://goo.gl/K559c

What Public Charter Schools Have Taught Us About Public Education Huffington Post commentary by Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Twenty years ago this month, a revolutionary new kind of school opened, forging the path for the most innovative public education reform movement in a century. City Academy High School in St. Paul, Minn. became the nation’s first charter school. It was started by two teachers and a youth recreation leader who wanted to provide students at high risk of dropping out with the choice of a new type of public school that could better serve their needs.
Today, demand for public charter schools is at an all time high. More than 2,000,000 students attend charter schools, with more than 610,000 more on waiting lists. Most charter schools, more than two-thirds, are run by people just like City Academy founders — teachers, educators, parents, and civic leaders who want to offer children and families in their communities a tuition-free public education alternative. Other charter schools are provided by organizations like KIPP and Green Dot that are replicating their school models in communities across the country.
With this growth comes greater enthusiasm for public charter schools. A new Phi Delta Kappa (PDK)/Gallup poll shows the American public supports charter schools by a two to one margin. And the movement has been embraced by a wide swath of Americans, including Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama; business leaders Bill Gates and Craig Barrett; celebrities Bill Cosby, John Legend, and Andre Agassi; and organizations including the National Council of La Raza and the United Negro College Fund.
So what have these new kinds of public schools taught us about public education?
http://goo.gl/vdcVg

Who Can You Trust About Educational Technology?
School Administrator commentary by RICHARD ROSE, program director for educational technology and instructional design at West Texas A&M University

I have good reason to love research. Thanks to a hip made of metal and plastic and a team of doctors versed in research, I once again can relish my daily walk. I never forget that research was the reason the doctors knew how fix me up. Still, there is no doubt that educational technology research is something to be approached, not with the faith of a committed believer, but with the skepticism of a judge. Here are reasons why.
http://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=24600

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NATIONAL NEWS
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Test: Most student writers still not proficient Associated Press

Students who have access to computers at home and regularly use them for assignments are more likely to be strong writers, a national exam suggests. But it also says just a quarter of America’s eighth- and 12th-grade students have solid writing skills.
Twenty-seven percent of the students at each of those grade levels were able to write essays that were well developed, organized and had proper language and grammar – 24 percent were considered proficient, 3 percent advanced. The remainder showed just partial mastery of these skills.
“It is important to remember this is first-draft writing,” said Mary Crovo, deputy executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which administers the Nation’s Report Card tests. “They did have some time to edit, but it wasn’t extensive editing.”
http://goo.gl/lurtU

http://goo.gl/W1hUu (Ed Week)

A copy of the results
http://nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2011/

Chicago mayor, striking teachers reach “agreement in principle”
Reuters

CHICAGO – The Chicago Teachers Union and the nation’s third largest school district reached an “agreement in principle” to end a five-day strike over Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s demand for education reforms, the school district said on Friday, raising hopes that teachers would be back in class on Monday.
“CPS (Chicago Public Schools) and CTU (Chicago Teachers Union) have come to an agreement in principle,” the school district said in a message posted on Twitter.
Chicago School Board President David Vitale said the framework deal should allow students to be back in school on Monday morning.
http://goo.gl/MGdzX

Teacher evaluations at center of Chicago strike Associated Press

CHICAGO — Educators in Los Angeles just signed a new deal with the city’s school district. So, too, did teachers in Boston. Both require performance evaluations based in part on how well students succeed, a system that’s making its debut in Cleveland.
So what’s the problem in Chicago, where 25,000 teachers in the nation’s third-largest district have responded to an impatient mayor’s demand that teacher evaluations be tied to student performance by walking off the job for the first time in 25 years?
To start, contract agreements in other cities have hardly come quickly or with ease. They were often signed grudgingly, at the direction of a court or following negotiations that took years. And mayors and school officials have also won over reluctant teachers by promising to first launch pilot projects aimed at proving a concept many believe is inherently unfair.
http://goo.gl/MzSHW

Why These Kids Get a Free Ride to College New York Times Magazine

Wings Stadium, a dim, beery sports barn in Kalamazoo, Mich., is an appropriate home for the K-Wings minor-league hockey team and the Killamazoo Derby Darlins. Yet every year, in June, the site hosts a spectacle more uplifting than a season of flip checks. This is when it is the setting for the graduations of the city’s two main high schools. A couple of nights after Kalamazoo Central High fills the arena, it’s Loy Norrix’s turn. The rink is covered, and students, friends and family take over most of the 5,100 seats.
According to census data, 39 percent of Kalamazoo’s students are white, and 44 percent are African-American. One of every three students in the Kalamazoo district falls below the national poverty level. One in 12 is homeless. Many of them are the first in their families to finish high school; many come from single-parent homes. Some are young parents themselves: Kalamazoo has one of the highest pregnancy rates among black teenagers in the state.
And yet, for the vast majority of the 500-plus students who graduate each year in Kalamazoo, a better future really does await after they collect their diplomas. The high-school degrees come with the biggest present most of them will ever receive: free college.
Back in November 2005, when this year’s graduates were in sixth grade, the superintendent of Kalamazoo’s public schools, Janice M. Brown, shocked the community by announcing that unnamed donors were pledging to pay the tuition at Michigan’s public colleges, universities and community colleges for every student who graduated from the district’s high schools. All of a sudden, students who had little hope of higher education saw college in their future. Called the Kalamazoo Promise, the program — blind to family income levels, to pupils’ grades and even to disciplinary and criminal records — would be the most inclusive, most generous scholarship program in America.
It would also mark the start of an important social experiment.
http://goo.gl/JCuh6

Raleigh County School Lunch Cooks Up Controversy WVNS

When students arrived in cafeterias across Raleigh County last Thursday, many were shocked by what they were served – a small serving of macaroni and cheese, grapes, and a head of broccoli.
The bread option, the students were told, were the crumbs hidden in the Macaroni and Cheese.
One student took a photo and sent it to his parents.
From there, the picture went viral, igniting a countywide debate over new guidelines issued by the FDA last year.
http://goo.gl/FGGMi

Unfortunate typo at high school football field USA Today

A student sent Deadspin a picture of a sign hanging on a fence that borders his high school’s football field. It’s supposed to advertise sponsorship opportunities in his southern Pennsylvania school district, but is perhaps a better argument for sending kids to private schools.
I guess the Red Lion Area School District also has those new, sheer Nike pants.
http://goo.gl/JK8EL

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CALENDAR
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USOE Calendar
http://tinyurl.com/5x9oh9

UEN News
http://www.uen.org

September 13:
Utah State Charter School Board meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://1.usa.gov/Axtt5K

September 18:
Executive Appropriations Interim Committee meeting
1 p.m., 445 State Capitol
http://goo.gl/E0hoC

September 19:
Education Interim Committee meeting
2 p.m., 30 House Building
http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2012&Com=INTEDU

October 5:
Utah State Board of Education meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://www.schools.utah.gov/board/Meetings/Agenda.aspx

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