Education News Roundup: Sept. 27, 2012

By Mark Peterson, on September 27th, 2012

“School Bus” by Happy via/CC/flickr

Today’s Top Picks:

Daily Herald looks at school finance in light of recent events at Timpview High.
http://goo.gl/hCdKV (PDH)

Tribune looks at how big a revenue stream school bus advertising generates in Jordan District.
http://goo.gl/av5k2 (SLT)
and http://goo.gl/dLccJ (CVD)

Election signs at a school violated policy.
http://goo.gl/OHejd (OSE)

California cuts back on how much test scores will influence a school’s performance index.
http://goo.gl/l0WR8 (LAT)
and http://goo.gl/Zs2Po (Sacramento Bee)

For Tennessee, vouchers aren’t a “whether” question, but a “when” question.
http://goo.gl/ME6ch (Knoxville News)

And how does one go about asking a girl to a high school dance these days?
http://goo.gl/4NVLl (NPR)

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TODAY’S HEADLINES
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UTAH

Where does the buck stop?
How to bring financial accountability to Utah’s public schools

Jordan school bus ads generate $35,000 in six months School funding » Other districts may follow Jordan’s lead in selling advertisements.

Campaign signs in Davis school’s faculty room violated policy, say officials

Guv honors Park City High as top AP test performer Education » Students received book, free lunch.

Ahoy there! Second graders spend a day learning pirate-style

Smithfield elementary starts new after-school program

Davis County tandem bike ride designed to help Spanish-speakers navigate schools Lessons learned » Couple struggled to understand Mexican school system, realized others may do the same in the U.S.

Bullying prevention award recipients named

Snow Canyon lightning strike victims, 2 years later

Mitt Romney wants higher starting salaries for teachers

‘See You at the Pole:’ Millions of students pray for spiritual awakening

OPINION & COMMENTARY

How report cards grow up to become credit reports

Don’t throw away money that could be going to schools

Some teachers get ‘phenomenal’ results from kids

Time to retire the SAT

Richie Rich Aces the SAT
Want to improve standardized test scores? Increase Americans’ incomes.

Why expand school free food programs?

A shift away from zero tolerance will improve school discipline Zero tolerance for bad behavior is common in American schools, but this policy has often proved ineffective, even harmful to students and schools. The tide is turning. A method that relies on communication between students, teachers, and others improves accountability and school safety.

Not Your Parents’ PTA

The Way of the Future: Education Savings Accounts for Every American Family

NATION

California limits role of student tests in API scores A new law broadens how the Academic Performance Index will be calculated. Test results will now account for just 60% of a high school’s API score.

Haslam’s voucher panel debates when to launch

Two High School Teachers May Be Better Than One

Studies Find Payoff in ‘Personalizing’ Algebra

Amid rise in high school hazing, concern over increasingly sexual nature Allegations of hazing against two high school sports teams – one in California, one in Massachusetts – point to an increase in high school hazing as well as a turn toward sexual acts.

Romney, Obama have competing ideas on how to bring school quality up, college tuition down

‘Won’t Back Down’s’ ‘parent trigger’ school story draws protest ‘Won’t Back Down’ stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as a mom and teacher who try to improve a failing public school. Anti-charter advocates aren’t fans.

After review, District 6 accepts Peyton Manning T-shirts

‘Wanna Go To The Dance?’ Is SO Passe. Try YouTube

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UTAH NEWS
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Where does the buck stop?
How to bring financial accountability to Utah’s public schools

Years of financial mismanagement at Provo’s Timpview High School that came to light over the past year — beginning with revelations of sloppy handling of sports accounts and fundraising practices former football coach Louis Wong but extending to a pattern of sloppy practices by administrators — has schools across Utah County scrambling to make sure they’ve got their accounting rows and columns in order.
While Timpview’s sterling reputation has been tarnished and its winning coach removed, the mismanagement has provided a window on public school accountability statewide. Timpview is not the only school with irregularities; it’s the one that got caught. Now the question is what went wrong and why. And what is the solution?
A recent state audit of Timpview showed a lack of accountability over donated funds, but for years legislators have complained of a similar lack of oversight for the $3 billion in taxpayer money that pours into the schools each year. Who keeps track of how it’s spent? Who cuts checks for expenses? At the end of the day, who — in a school, in a district, statewide — is responsible for the money?
http://goo.gl/hCdKV (PDH)

Jordan school bus ads generate $35,000 in six months School funding » Other districts may follow Jordan’s lead in selling advertisements.

West Jordan • In a swirl of noise and color, hundreds of Sunset Ridge Middle School students streamed across the school lawn into bright yellow buses waiting to take them home.
They boarded oblivious to advertisements marking several of the buses: an ad for sports medicine clinics, two ads for a power company.
“It’s all right,” said seventh-grader Trevor Davies of the ads. “It doesn’t affect me.”
Kids might not be paying much attention to the ads, but the revenue they’re bringing in for the Jordan School District has piqued interest among other Utah school leaders, who may soon sell advertising for their buses too.
http://goo.gl/av5k2 (SLT)

http://goo.gl/dLccJ (CVD)

Campaign signs in Davis school’s faculty room violated policy, say officials

BOUNTIFUL — Campaign election signs for three candidates running for school board positions were inappropriately stored in at least one elementary school, said Christopher Williams, the Davis School District’s communication director.
The campaign signs for incumbent school board members Barbara Smith and Jim Clark, as well as Kathie Bone, a retired elementary school director, were stored, according to Williams, face-down in a corner of the faculty room at Adelaide Elementary in Bountiful for about two weeks.
A person who became aware of the campaign signs called the Standard-Examiner and sent an email with a photo of the campaign signs standing upright in Adelaide’s faculty room. The person requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Carol Lear, director of school law and legislation for the Utah State Office of Education, said she received two anonymous phone calls Tuesday about the signs.
After receiving the phone calls, Lear contacted Davis School District officials.
Lear said if the callers had given their names, she would have contacted the Attorney General’s Office.
Lear said when a teacher or educator uses their position or school resources to promote or endorse a specific candidate, it violates state law, as well as policies of the state Office of Education.
http://goo.gl/OHejd (OSE)

Guv honors Park City High as top AP test performer Education » Students received book, free lunch.

Gov. Gary Herbert visited Park City High on Wednesday to recognize the school for its achievement on Advanced Placement (AP) exams.
“The AP success of Utah high schools, especially Park City, is a great indicator that we have the best and brightest students in this state and we are on the pathway to prepare them for college,” Herbert said, according to a news release.
Some Utah high schools had a greater number of kids take AP tests and higher passage rates, but based on a formula looking at the percent of a school’s students taking AP tests and passage rate, state leaders deemed Park City the top performing AP school in the state this year. At Park City High, 43 percent of the student body passed AP exams.
Herbert awarded the school with “History of Utah,” a 120-year-old book written by Orson F. Whitney, that will travel each year to the state’s top AP school. Herbert and his Education Excellence Commission also served students a free lunch sponsored by Fidelity Investments.
Herbert recognized the school Wednesday in collaboration with the commission and Prosperity 2020, a Utah business-led initiative to boost education.
http://goo.gl/uXJhI (SLT)

http://goo.gl/QVUPW (KUTV)

http://goo.gl/AKtZd (KSTU)

Ahoy there! Second graders spend a day learning pirate-style

NORTH OGDEN — Eye patches, bandannas and unusually large hats — accompanied by words like “Ahoy” and “Avast” — are not common for second-graders at North Ogden Elementary School.
But Tuesday was not like any other day. It was “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” and the students, along with their teachers, lived like pirates to the full extent all day.
http://goo.gl/oUD6b (OSE)

Smithfield elementary starts new after-school program

SMITHFIELD — For some students at Birch Creek Elementary, school doesn’t end when the bell rings.
About 50 students have attended an after-school program this week, the first of its kind at Birch Creek Elementary. There, students receive extra homework help and participate in different club activities.
http://goo.gl/62dll (LHJ)

Davis County tandem bike ride designed to help Spanish-speakers navigate schools Lessons learned » Couple struggled to understand Mexican school system, realized others may do the same in the U.S.

Kaysville • Driving down Highway 89 from Ogden to Kaysville on a bicycle built for two, 56-year-old Julie Curtis admits to only a few anxiety attacks when the semitrucks whizzed by on curvy, steep sections of road.
That’s pretty good considering Julie’s feet are strapped into the bikes pedals and she is riding on the back of the tandem bike at the mercy of her 59-year-old husband, Dean, who controls the steering and the brakes.
Dean and Julie Curtis road their tandem bike from Ogden to Logan between Sept. 10 and 13. Their goal: to raise awareness about a new Spanish DVD they have created to help Hispanic families navigate their way through the school system.
http://goo.gl/Cd9J4 (SLT)

Bullying prevention award recipients named

SALT LAKE CITY — Community members will be recognized for their efforts to stop bullying as part of National Bullying Prevention Month.
The Disability Law Center announced its community awards event, An Evening of Recognition, Oct. 5 at The Leonardo in downtown Salt Lake City.
The Stop Bullying Awards recognize outstanding efforts to stop bullying in Utah’s schools and communities.
Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, will receive the Community Advocacy Award. Nichole Lee, entrepreneur/blogger/singer, will get the Student Advocacy Award. The Educator Award goes to Carrie Jensen of Prevent Child Abuse – Utah. And the Family Member Award will be presented to Christopher and Betsy Burton, King’s English Bookshop.
http://goo.gl/GBytY (DN)

Snow Canyon lightning strike victims, 2 years later

SANTA CLARA – On the second anniversary of the freak accident that nearly claimed their lives, 19-year-old Alex Lambson and 18-year-old Dane Zdunich are progressing better than anyone could have imagined.
At just after 3 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2010, the friends exited Snow Canyon High School and walked to their favorite spot underneath a pine tree on the school’s north side to wait for a ride home. They had made plans to hang out later, after theater class and homework. The day seemed like any other, and nothing could have prepared them for what happened next, or the impact it would have on them, their families and their community.
Kaleen Talley, Lambson’s mother, remembers the events of that day all too well http://goo.gl/JcKuE (SGN)

Mitt Romney wants higher starting salaries for teachers

During NBC’s Education Nation summit this week in New York City, Mitt Romney spoke about his evolving views on class size and teacher quality. “I think we know the answer as to what it takes to fix out schools is to invest in great teachers. Teachers are the answer,” Romney said.
Romney said he had previously advocated lowering class sizes, before viewing the 2007 McKinsey report on the world’s best performing school systems.
http://goo.gl/D0A9q (DN)

‘See You at the Pole:’ Millions of students pray for spiritual awakening

Our take: Every year, students across the country celebrate “See You at the Pole” by gathering for a community prayer before classes. This year’s theme encouraged students to find a spiritual awakening. This post from The Christian Post recaps today’s celebration.
http://goo.gl/KIia1 (DN)

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OPINION & COMMENTARY
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How report cards grow up to become credit reports KSL commentary by Rob Brough, executive vice president of marketing and communications for Zions Bank

SALT LAKE CITY — I was holding a big smiley face sign in my left hand, and a frowny face in my right. I was confident these flashy visual aides would stimulate teenage brains into fully grasping the perks and pitfalls of using a credit card.
But, almost a year later, here I am looking at a newspaper clip from that visit to a local high school on last year’s “National Get Smart About Credit Day.” All I notice in the photo is a wild mane on the head of a sophomore student on the front row —literally within my reach— whose face is hidden by hair while he sleeps on his desk during my home room visit at 9:27 a.m.
This year, I’ve got to get my message through to more students.
October is the time when thousands of bankers around the country visit high school classrooms to teach students about the importance of credit and to walk them through credit reports.
http://goo.gl/1ftC4

Don’t throw away money that could be going to schools Deseret News commentary by Coralie Seright, owner of www.UtahCouponDeals.com

With school in full swing, most parents have been to their child’s school and met the teacher, been given a list of supplies that the teacher needs that can be donated, and has learned a little about the school’s programs. One of those programs is called Box Tops for Education.
Box Tops are little coupons that are found on hundreds of different packages (from food to paper goods and more) that you can clip and donate to your local school. Why are these so important? They are worth $0.10 each. This doesn’t sound like a huge amount, but when you are collecting them, it adds up quickly.
http://goo.gl/XG2mG

Some teachers get ‘phenomenal’ results from kids
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner letter from Judi Morris

A Salt Lake newspaper recently published an editorial by Dale McFeatters that might leave one feeling quite discouraged about the state of education.
It’s too bad he doesn’t know Janet Howard, veteran teacher at Roy Jr. High in Weber School District. Janet does outstanding work with her English students. In fact, 97 percent passed last year’s state test. That is a phenomenal statistic. In most districts, a typical pass rate ranges between 70-85 percent.
http://goo.gl/6QsDE

Time to retire the SAT
Washington Post commentary by columnist Jay Mathews

Several years ago, I tried to persuade this newspaper to stop giving so much prominence to the annual results from America’s most feared test, the SAT. I said we were exaggerating its importance and aggravating the anxiety it caused families.
My editors ignored me. They are still doing so. On Tuesday, Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown’s fine story on the 2012 SAT results led the paper. I realize I was wrong to try to keep SAT news from our readers, but it remains true that the elderly test, age 86, is not doing anybody much good.
Selective colleges use the SAT only to decide which applications should be quickly consigned to the dumpster. (They feel guilty about it and will occasionally keep a low score in the maybe pile if the football coach begs them.) They always have more applicants with scores above 2000 (out of 2400) than they have room for. SAT distinctions at that level have no meaning, so admissions offices find other ways to cull the herd http://goo.gl/9R7BB

Richie Rich Aces the SAT
Want to improve standardized test scores? Increase Americans’ incomes.
American Prospect commentary by columnist Harold Meyerson

The College Board released its data on 2012 SAT scores on Monday, and beneath the headlines (which tallied how much SAT scores have slipped as more and more students take the test) was a revealing picture of the influence of students’ household income on their performance.
The influence couldn’t be more decisive. The board measured household income in increments of $20,000—starting with students from households making $0 to $20,000 annually, then $20,000 to $40,000, all the way up to $160,000—then an increment of $40,000 ($160,000 to $200,000) and then a final category of more than $200,000. And SAT scores rose considerably at every step in the income scale. The poorest students, from households making less than $20,000 had a mean combined score of 1322 out of 2400; the next highest, 1397; then 1458, then 1497—all the way to a score of 1722 for students from households making more than $200,000. That’s a 400-point difference between our richest and poorest students.
These mournful numbers cast a harsh light on the practice, beloved by “educational reformers,” of measuring teacher performance chiefly, if not exclusively, by test scores. Test scores, the data make clear, reflect social class and economic standing far more than anything else.
http://goo.gl/Wljkq

Why expand school free food programs?
USA Today op-ed by James Bovard, author of Attention Deficit Democracy

High school kids are complaining about food? So what’s new?
What’s new is that some high schoolers are giving thumbs-down reviews to Michelle Obama’s childhood obesity initiative to cut down on calories in school lunches. One group of students in Kansas were so, uh, famished, they created a four-minute video that was posted on YouTube called “We Are Hungry.” They say 850 calories are not enough.
The lunch calorie limit is a response to decades of federal reports condemning the federal school lunch program for its high fat and poor nutrient content. A 2010 University of Michigan study found that students who regularly eat school lunches are 29% more likely to be overweight, and that consumption of school lunches was the single strongest predictor of childhood obesity.
Unfortunately, at the same time brakes are being tapped on caloric intake at lunch, the Obama administration is championing a vast expansion of the school breakfast program. At the same time some kids are getting smaller lunches, others are having multiple breakfasts.
http://goo.gl/BdukS

Bethlehem, Pa. – As the school year gets under way, teachers and administrators will grapple with how to maintain discipline and ensure safety. New policies and a growing chorus of criticism indicate that harsh “zero tolerance” discipline policies in schools may be on the wane nationally.
That’s a good thing: Zero tolerance policies that rely heavily on suspensions and expulsions for most conduct infractions have become commonplace in American schools in recent decades, but they have proved ineffective, even harmful to students and school environments.
School districts are starting to see the light. In June, the Michigan State Board of Education issued a resolution calling for schools “to adopt discipline policies without mandated suspension or expulsion for issues that do not involve weapons.” In May, the Colorado General Assembly passed a “smarter discipline” bill eliminating mandatory expulsion except for firearms, and giving schools more discretion over suspensions. More recently, school districts in Chicago, New Orleans, and Philadelphia altered their codes of conduct to limit suspensions and expulsions.
http://goo.gl/yGrdG

Not Your Parents’ PTA
Education Week op-ed by Andrew P. Kelly & Patrick McGuinn (Andrew P. Kelly is a research fellow in education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, in Washington. Patrick McGuinn is an associate professor of political science at Drew University in Madison, N.J.)

Education reform is awash in a surge of “parent power.” Long considered bystanders (or even obstacles) to the push for school reform, a slew of new “education reform advocacy organizations,” or ERAOs, such as 50CAN, Stand for Children, StudentsFirst, and Democrats for Education Reform are mobilizing parents to agitate for policy change. From the grassroots pressure on states to raise charter caps and enact teacher-evaluation reforms during Race to the Top to the emergence of the “parent trigger” idea for initiating the overhaul of individual schools, ERAOs are enlisting Mom and Dad to upend the traditional politics of education.
Education reform proponents are rightfully excited about this new parent power; the broader the constituency that supports change, the more pressure elected leaders will feel to enact new policies. But early successes have also unearthed the challenges facing parent-driven reform, raising questions about its impact and sustainability over time. If this new movement is to serve as a lasting counterweight to established interests, advocates must learn from these hard-won lessons.
http://goo.gl/NqGPx

The Way of the Future: Education Savings Accounts for Every American Family Friedman Foundation analysis by Matthew Ladner

Education savings accounts are the way of the future. Under such accounts—managed by parents with state supervision to ensure accountability—parents can use their children’s education funding to choose among public and private schools, online education programs, certified private tutors, community colleges, and even universities. Education savings accounts bring Milton Friedman’s original school voucher idea into the 21st century.
Arizona lawmakers were the first to create such a program, called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs). Through that program, the state of Arizona deposits 90 percent of the funds for a participating child into an account, which can cover multiple educational services through use-restricted debit cards. Parents can choose to use all of their funds on a single method—like private school tuition—or they can employ a customized strategy using multiple methods (e.g., online programs and community college classes). Critically, parents can save some of the money for future higher education expenses through a 529 college savings program. That feature creates an incentive for parents to judge all K-12 service providers not only on quality but also on cost.
A fully realized system of ESAs would create powerful incentives for innovation in schooling practices seeking better outcomes for lower costs. Also, the broader use of funds may help to immunize choice programs against court challenges in some states. Policymakers must fashion their system of accounts to provide reasonable state oversight, fraud prevention, academic transparency, and equity.
http://goo.gl/jU3dy

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NATIONAL NEWS
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California’s key measure of public school quality will be redefined to lessen the impact of standardized test scores under a bill signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The law, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), will broaden how the Academic Performance Index is calculated by limiting test scores to 60% for high schools and including graduation rates and other factors.
The 1,000-point index, which is currently based entirely on student test scores, has been criticized as an inaccurate gauge of campus quality even as it is widely used by parents to choose schools and real estate agents to sell homes.
http://goo.gl/l0WR8

http://goo.gl/Zs2Po (Sacramento Bee)

Haslam’s voucher panel debates when to launch Associated Press via Knoxville (TN) News

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A task force appointed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has skipped over the question of whether to create a school voucher program. Instead, the panel’s most spirited debate Wednesday was over how soon vouchers could be offered in Tennessee.
Former state Sen. Jamie Woodson of Knoxville, now the head of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education, said that even if lawmakers approve a voucher program in the spring, properly implementing the program would take until the 2014 school year.
Republican state Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown said he was surprised at that timeline, arguing that if the legislation is passed by March, the first vouchers should be issued by fall 2013.
“It blows my mind that we would even consider not implementing it immediately,” he said. “I thought the whole point was to get it started and see how it does and move forward from there.”
The panel, which is scheduled to make its full recommendations to the governor in November, also discussed whether private schools participating in the program should be allowed to charge parents any more than the vouchers are worth.
http://goo.gl/ME6ch

Two High School Teachers May Be Better Than One U.S. News & World Report

Coteaching can help educators address a variety of learning levels in one high school classroom.
Two heads are better than one, or so the saying goes. But in a high school classroom, are two teachers better than one?
“It’s all in how you implement it,” says Susan Fitzell, an educational consultant. “It doesn’t work if you just have two bodies in the room.”
To be effective, both teachers need to be interacting with students, breaking them into small groups, and teaching to the needs of individual students, says Fitzell, a former special education teacher who began coteaching at Londonderry Senior High School in New Hampshire in 1993 and now coaches other educators on how to coteach.
While Fitzell says she’s seen an increase in schools pairing two general education instructors in one classroom to manage larger classes, coteaching teams typically pair a special education teacher with an instructor specializing in general education areas, such as math or science. This allows students with learning disabilities to take the same courses as their peers while still receiving individualized instruction, she says.
http://goo.gl/uXYfV

Studies Find Payoff in ‘Personalizing’ Algebra Education Week

Pittsburgh – While “personalization” has become a buzzword in education, it can be hard to determine what really makes a subject relevant to individual children in the classroom. An ongoing series of studies at Southern Methodist University suggests learning students’ interests upfront and incorporating them into lessons can get struggling students to try harder and substantially improve their performance in algebra.
“You don’t think the words, the little details of context, will make a difference when you are solving a math problem, but it really does,” said Candace A. Walkington, an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Southern Methodist in Dallas and the lead researcher for the reports. The most recent of them is expected to be published later this year in a special issue of the Journal of Educational Psychology on advanced learning technologies.
The studies, which were discussed at a recent meeting here at Carnegie Mellon University, highlight one way to boost learning in algebraic expression, a concept considered critical in the Common Core State Standards but which educators say is perennially challenging to students. The study found that personalized math problems not only made it easier for students to understand what was being asked, but also helped boost the confidence of students who may have been intimidated by the subject.
http://goo.gl/HU5Lr

Context Personalization in Algebra
http://goo.gl/ygTCF

Using Adaptive Learning Technologies to Personalize Instruction http://goo.gl/UMc8P

Los Angeles – Amid National Hazing Prevention Week, allegations of hazing on two high school sports teams – a football team in Dedham, Mass., and a soccer team in La Puente, Calif. – are focusing attention on the fact that high school hazing appears to be increasing.
The growing spotlight on the issue has achieved some gains: At least 44 states now have some form of an antihazing law, according to the law firm Manley Burke, which maintains an online database to track these laws. But the cultural factors that feed the ongoing practice are winning, for now, says Elliot Hopkins of the National Federation of State High School Associations in Indianapolis.
“From all the information we are gathering from around the country, this is definitely on the rise,” says Mr. Hopkins, who has spent two decades traveling the nation addressing educators on this issue.
Like bullying, hazing is by its very nature difficult to track. “Hazing is very underreported and difficult to put a number on,” he says. “These things are typically done to prove one is worthy to be in the group” and speaking up would ruin that.
“What makes it different from bullying is that it usually happens and then it is over,” he adds. “Bullying, on the other hand, usually goes on without an end in sight.”
http://goo.gl/RIWoi

Romney, Obama have competing ideas on how to bring school quality up, college tuition down McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Should money for federal student grants for college be cut back?
Should parents be able to spend local tax dollars to pay for private schooling if they don’t like their public schools?
Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama agree that a good education for all Americans is essential for democracy, individual success and the national economy.
The areas where they disagree – such as on school choice and federal spending – make education another of the stark public policy choices in this presidential campaign.
http://goo.gl/nCqgO

The new film “Won’t Back Down” tells the story of a crusading single mother and a dedicated teacher who take on a bad principal, an unforgiving union and an entrenched bureaucracy in an attempt to improve a failing public elementary school.
The real-life tale couldn’t be more topical: The Chicago teachers strike brought public school reform to the forefront of the national conversation. But the film’s relevance is proving problematic too. Pro-union, anti-charter school advocates began denouncing “Won’t Back Down” weeks ahead of its Friday release, making the movie a target in ways its makers hadn’t intended.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, issued a public letter at the end of August condemning the movie for laying the blame for underperforming schools at the feet of the teachers union.
Earlier this month, protesters spoke out against “Won’t Back Down” when it screened in Charlotte, N.C., during the Democratic National Convention. And most recently, demonstrators lined the street at the film’s New York premiere objecting to the idea that it’s up to parents to reclaim troubled schools.
http://goo.gl/dN32Z

After review, District 6 accepts Peyton Manning T-shirts Greeley (CO) Tribune

For the first time in his three weeks as a Denver Bronco, Peyton Manning has avoided a sack. And for the first time this month, Greeley-Evans School District 6 avoided an uncomfortable round in the national spotlight focusing on the quarterback and shirts bearing his name.
Last week the National Football League sent 1,000 bright orange Nike T-shirts to Northridge High School with the words “Peyton Knows” on them, Northridge principal Wes Paxton said. The school district initially accepted the shirts, and then — for a time on Tuesday — it debated sending them back.
Earlier this month, the school district made national news when a Monfort Elementary School third-grader was asked to change his shirt after he wore a Manning No. 18 jersey to school. The district has a 3-year-old dress policy that bans anything with the No. 18 on it because of its connection to the 18th Street gang in Greeley.
At first, district Superintendent Ranelle Lang said the new shirts were OK because there was no number on them. Then Lang decided to send the shirts back, worried it would rekindle the jersey ban controversy that continues to prompt emails to the district.
By Tuesday afternoon, however, Lang changed her mind again and decided the Nike T-shirts would be distributed to the kids after all, said Theresa Myers, director of communications for the district.
http://goo.gl/5GcV7

‘Wanna Go To The Dance?’ Is SO Passe. Try YouTube NPR All Things Considered

She doesn’t know what’s about to happen, but this is a moment high school junior Maddy Powell has been waiting for.
She’s sitting in her Advanced Placement biology class, and her boyfriend, Andrew Forsyth, is finally going to pop the question.
Don’t worry — he’s not asking for Maddy’s hand in marriage. But what Andrew has planned is perhaps as elaborate as a marriage proposal.
Andrew has the teacher play a funny video he made. As it rolls, the class sees Andrew ask several different girls (and one boy) to the homecoming dance. Each time, he gets slapped and turned down.
Then, Andrew’s teacher shows him a picture of Maddy. He thinks, “What a great idea!” The video ends a with a text crawl across the bottom of the screen: “Will you go to homecoming with me?”
Back in the classroom, the video ends. Maddy says yes, and the room erupts in applause. “Thank you! That was so sweet,” Maddy says. “Oh my God.”
http://goo.gl/4NVLl

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

UEN News
http://www.uen.org

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

October 11:
Utah State Charter School Board meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://1.usa.gov/Axtt5K

October 16:
Executive Appropriations Interim Committee meeting
1 p.m., 445 State Capitol
http://le.utah.gov/Interim/2012/html/00001093.htm

October 17:
Education Interim Committee meeting
2 p.m., 30 House Building
http://le.utah.gov/Interim/2012/html/00001174.htm

Education News Roundup: March 29, 2012

Education News Roundup: April 26, 2012

Education News Roundup: Nov. 30, 2012

Education News Roundup: Jan. 31, 2013