SPPS IN THE NEWS:
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OTHER DSITRICTS IN THE NEWS:
Chavez School Turmoil Highlights Charter Issues
A battle over the future of Colorado's Cesar Chavez Schools Network, plagued by recent management problems and financial scandal, has created uncertainty in one of the state's most successful charter school groups.
10/1/2009
Edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/09/30/06charter.h29.html?tkn=QMTFiJuhGKAVWgeb8c696%2BODy0OGDx6fwEBl
Breckenridge / School board sets rules for reporters
A western Minnesota school district has new rules for media coverage of board meetings - rules some broadcasters say are too restrictive.
10/1/2009
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/ci_13458360.html
Sleepy Eye / Teacher admits sex with student, 16
A former Sleepy Eye teacher has pleaded guilty to felony sexual assault involving a 16-year-old student.
10/1/2009
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/ci_13458359.html
Incendiary device found outside Minn. high school
A suspicious package found outside an eastern Minnesota high school Wednesday contained an incendiary device, the school district's superintendent said.
10/1/2009
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/62873862.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
Princeton bomb threats: Cause for concern, or hoax?
Three devices resembling homemade bombs were found in Princeton; 4,000 students and workers went home early.
10/1/2009
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/62863182.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
Anoka-Hennepin closing schools
With student numbers down by 2,000 over the past five years, the state's largest school district will close several schools next year, reports MPR. Anoka-Hennepin joins Minneapolis, St. Paul and Robbinsdale in closing schools because of declining student numbers.
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/29/news-day-anoka-hennepin-closing-schools
Minneapolis changing school options: A return to separate but equal?
The Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) are poised for landmark changes as they seek to reverse declining enrollment, growing competition with private and charter schools, and an internal choice system that exacerbated segregation. Both the MPS Board of Directors and district leadership have admirably placed high importance on a strategy that addresses equity between students, while reducing a busing system costing $33 million a year and equal, says the district, to a "trip around the world." If the district had a national flag, it would read, "Equity, stability, sustainability."
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/learning/minneapolis-changing-school-options-return-separate-equal
Minneapolis schools to close next year
On Tuesday night, the Minneapolis school board unanimously voted to approve a plan to close four schools along with eliminating four magnet programs and a community school at the end of this school year.
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/23/minneapolis-schools-close-next-year
NEA Signals Contract Flexibility
Data show that schools in poor neighborhoods tend to have a disproportionate number of unqualified, inexperienced or out-of-field teachers. That compounds the schools' many academic challenges.
10/1/2009
Washington Post
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2009/09/nea_signals_contract_flexibili.html
New D.C. Teacher Ratings Stress Better Test Scores
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has launched a rigorous evaluation system that will make some District teachers among the first in the nation to have their job security tied to standardized test scores.
10/1/2009
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/30/AR2009093004729.html
MISC. NEWS:
Algebra 2 Test Yields Poor Results in Year II
States that voluntarily took part in a demanding test of advanced algebra skills, given for a second straight year, again saw large proportions of their students struggle with that math content.
10/1/2009
Edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/10/01/06algebra.h29.html?tkn=TTOFCpJny1SRoBod01ZEMxEPB2Cqh6jwcyvJ
The debate over national education standards
Minnesota is one of several states vetting a new set of English and math standards all students should master before graduating high school. Advocates hope this is the first step toward national education standards, an idea critics say is bound to fail.
10/1/2009
Minnesota Public Radio
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/09/30/midmorning1/
134 schools hit by H1N1 flu outbreaks
The state Health Department reports H1N1 flu outbreaks in 134 schools in 67 Minnesota counties, with the heaviest concentration in the seven-county metro area.
10/1/2009
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/ci_13458356.html
Northwestern College to begin construction of new student center named for Billy Graham
Northwestern College will break ground Friday on a new student commons to be named after its former president, Billy Graham.
10/1/2009
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/ci_13457788h.html
Two men sought in robbery of student
Police are seeking two men suspected of robbing a University of Minnesota student and forcing him to withdraw money from a Minneapolis bank early Sunday, university police said
10/1/2009
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/ci_13458353.html
"In the Shelter of Words" in St. Paul
"I write. It's my secret," the high school student said to me. He was present with other students and their guests celebrating the dedication of their art installation, In the Shelter of Words, in the atrium at Face to Face Academy.
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/24/shelter-words
Laid off clerical worker fights back
Students know Nancy Wiswell as the smiling face of the University of Minnesota School of Music, but the 39-year veteran clerical worker may not be there to raise spirits much longer.
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/28/laid-clerical-worker-fights-back
Minnesota's education roof has already failed
And so it goes with Minnesota's government. Our leaders ask us to contemplate: Do we really want to pay for good roads? What exactly is an educated populace worth?
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/23/minnesotas-education-roof-has-already-failed
Minnesota's school investment drops below national average
Minnesota -- the "brain power" state, the bright Star of the North -- spends less on public elementary and secondary education than the U.S. average. Over the last decade, Minnesota's public school current spending has gone from significantly above the U.S. average to modestly below.
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/29/minnesotas-school-investment-drops-below-national-average
New Sunday library hours paid for by leftover ballpark funds
About half of Hennepin County's 41 libraries have expanded hours to include Sundays year-round, including four Minneapolis libraries.
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/29/new-sunday-library-hours-paid-leftover-ballpark-funds
OPINION: Do we have the heart to close the achievement gap?
A recent report, "Minnesota's Future: World-Class Schools, World-Class Jobs," (PDF) applauds Minnesota's public schools for their performance on standardized achievement tests, graduation rates and scoring on college entrance exams.
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/28/opinion-do-we-have-heart-close-achievement-gap
U's retention rates among Big Ten's lowest
Sherene Ahrar, a medical engineering student at the University of Minnesota, just started her third year at the University-a feat that doesn't seem all that unusual in a sea of more than 40,000 undergraduates on campus.
10/1/2009
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/24/u%E2%80%99s-retention-rates-among-big-ten%E2%80%99s-lowest