SPPS Today - Morning Edition: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 ***SPPS IN THE NEWS: No stories today ***OTHER DISTRICTS IN THE NEWS: Hard Times Hit Schools States’ Budget Shortfalls Darken Start of New Year Just two months ago, states had already racked up $40 billion in budget shortfalls so far this fiscal year—or the equivalent of the K-12 education budget for the entire state of Texas, with a couple billion left over in change. 8/26/2008 Edweek.org http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/27/01econstate_ep.h28.html?tmp=1916087741 Mapping Analysis Finds Interdistrict-Choice Options to Be Limited The use of interdistrict-choice programs is unlikely to increase most students’ educational opportunities significantly, a new report concludes, despite recent attention to the idea as a means of reducing economic and racial segregation and giving students in low-performing public schools a chance to find a better school. 8/26/2008 Edweek.org http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/27/01choice.h28.html?tmp=40945139 New Algebra 2 Test Suggests States Face High Hurdles Students across the country struggled with advanced algebra on a first-of-its-kind test in that subject, according to a report to be released this week by Achieve, the nonprofit Washington organization that helped coordinate the exam. 8/26/2008 Edweek.org http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/27/01achieve.h28.html Rhee Builds Case to Fix D.C. Schools One of Michelle A. Rhee’s favorite tales of incompetence inside the District of Columbia public schools was her discovery, last fall, that mishandled paperwork and a missed meeting by an employee was costing the system nearly a half million dollars a year. The worker’s mistakes, Ms. Rhee said, had prompted the placement of two special education students in out-of-state schools that each cost more than $200,000. 8/26/2008 Edweek.org http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/25/02rhee.h28.html Texas students pack bookbags; teachers pack heat HARROLD, Texas (AP) — Along with normal first-day jitters and excitement, students in this tiny district started school Monday wondering which teachers might be toting firearms. 8/26/2008 Edweek.org http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/25/150969bcnusguntotingteachers_ap.html As Food Costs Rise, So Do School Lunch Prices Gas pumps, grocery stores, and now school cafeterias. 8/26/2008 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/education/25lunches.html?ref=education Mixed Results on Paying City Students to Pass Tests Offered up to $1,000 for scoring well on Advanced Placement exams, students at 31 New York City high schools took 345 more of the tests this year than last. But the number who passed declined slightly, raising questions about the effectiveness of increasingly popular pay-for-performance programs in schools here and across the country. 8/26/2008 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/education/20cash.html?ref=education 10 City Schools to Focus Reading Skills on Content In a bid to correct what he called a “knowledge deficit” among New York City public school students, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein announced on Monday a pilot program that would overhaul the way children in 10 city schools are taught to read. 8/26/2008 Star Tribune http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/education/26core.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin Editorial: Plenty of students, no money for school "The students are here; we need more seats for them. Our budget is already bare bones. We need help from the community, from voters, to open Redtail School.'' 8/26/2008 Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/27398219.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:_Du3LE:QDUthPacyPE7iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiU Fire causes minor damage at Prior Lake High A fire caused minor damage to a south metro high school Thursday night, police said. 8/26/2008 Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/local/south/27271719.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU While parents pack lunches and students pack bookbags, teachers in Texas town pack heat HARROLD, Texas - Along with normal first-day jitters and excitement, students in this tiny district started school Monday wondering which teachers might be toting firearms. 8/26/2008 Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/nation/27386694.html?elr=KArksUUUU Our public schools are still a good investment The “Strong Schools, Strong City” levy referendum on which we will vote in November is a call for a breakthrough in Minneapolis education. Imagine this: we invest in our community schools and the growing needs of our urban students, and Minneapolis holds its own as one of the most highly educated populations in our country. 8/26/2008 Twin Cities Daily Planet http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/08/23/voices-our-public-schools-are-still-good-investment.html ***MISC. NEWS: SCHOOL'S IN AGAIN - An experience that stays with you for a lifetime A school is a special institution whose mission is to transmit basic skills, knowledge, information and important parts of the culture to the next generation. If that was all a school contributed, it probably wouldn't evoke the strong memories that persist over time. 8/26/2008 Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/27398214.html?page=2&c=y The best education or the best teams? If people have any doubts that intercollegiate athletics has replaced educating our young people as the primary mission of the University of Minnesota, they need only read the spread on the new University of Minnesota football stadium in the Aug. 24 Star Tribune. 8/26/2008 Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/27398214.html?page=2&c=y |