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The AP (1/13, Wilson) reports that on Tuesday, Steven C. Teske, "a juvenile court judge from Clayton County, GA," testified before Indiana's House Judiciary Committee "in support of a bill that would create a study group including police, judges, principals and others who work with children to recommend...methods for handling juveniles who get into trouble at school" other than arresting them. Teske told the committee, "When you slap the handcuffs on a kid, you increase the risk that they're not going to graduate." He added that "the introduction of police in local schools led to a dramatic increase in misdemeanor arrests in his Atlanta-area jurisdiction while more serious offenses didn't decline." In addition to creating a task force, the proposed legislation would also "require all police and security officers stationed in schools to be trained in interacting with youth, and schools would have to submit annual reports on student arrests." The bill was unanimously approved by the committee, "sending it to the full House."

Diane Rado writes in the Dallas Morning News (1/13) Dallas ISD blog that in accordance with federal law, "all teachers of core academic subjects" must be "'highly-qualified,'" meaning they have at least a bachelor's degree, full teacher certification and they know their subject matter." But reports from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) show that the Dallas Independent School District trails "the state in making sure all teachers are highly qualified." TEA data show that "97.94 percent of Dallas' non-special ed elementary teachers are considered highly qualified, compared to 99.68 percent of elementary teachers statewide." Moreover, 98.31 percent of teachers for "grades 7 to 12...are highly qualified, compared to 99.20 percent statewide."

The Dallas Morning News (1/13, Holloway) reports that the Mesquite, TX, school district has allowed a compromise for a pre-kindergartner whose hair dies not meet the district's dress policy. Taylor Pugh, aged four, "can return to class if his hair is braided close to his head, over his ears and is not gathered in a bun on his neck," the board ruled. His parents agreed to "send him to class...with a ponytail," but said they plan to "appeal to the state education commissioner." The Dallas Morning News adds that Taylor "has lessons in the library with an aide because his hair doesn't meet the district dress code. It covers his ears and collar and often falls into his eyes." The New York Times (1/13, A19, McKinley) reports that "the boy's parents...have argued that it is unfair to punish Taylor for his longish locks; it suggests, they say, that the district cares more about appearances than education."

The Raleigh (NC) News & Observer (1/12, Hui) reported, "Wake County commissioners' Chairman Tony Gurley accused the school system Monday of deliberately not offering students access to algebra in middle school to raise test scores." Gurley "was reacting to a SAS Institute report presented to the commissioners at a work session Monday. It found that only about half of the Wake County students who are ready to take Algebra I in middle school do so." According to the News & Observer, "Democratic county commissioners argued that it's not an attempt by the school system to boost test scores. Instead, they attributed it to factors such as cultural expectations on the part of students, parents and teachers that may discourage participation in Algebra I."

The Las Vegas Sun (1/13, Richmond) reports on the accomplishments of Clark County (NV) schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes in his four years as head of the district. During his tenure, Rulffes has "won over many of his past critics," despite the many challenges Clark County schools have faced such as "a soaring population of at-risk students, increased demands for academic progress by the federal government and an economy that has forced more than $250 million in budget cuts." The Las Vegas Sun points out that "student proficiency in reading, writing and mathematics -- as measured under the federal No Child Left Behind Act -- is up across grade levels." And, "the percentage of students who require remediation when they get to a state university or college has declined to 24 percent from 40 percent," due "to intensive interventions and new partnerships that Rulffes helped establish." The Las Vegas Review-Journal (1/13, Tetreault) also profiles Rulffes' accomplishments as Clark County Public Schools superintendent.

The Florida Times-Union (1/13, Jones) reports, "Teachers can opt to have their pay raises based partly on how well their students perform if the General Assembly adopts legislation" Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) "said Tuesday he will introduce." Perdue "gave the first hints at his legislative package during a speech to 2,700 people attending a breakfast sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. ... Perdue said his proposal, to be enacted over several years, would be a way for good teachers to get a major boost in pay." The Daily Citizen (GA) (1/13, Brown) reports that Perdue's "plan calls for the state Board of Education to develop a common, statewide rubric to evaluate teachers' and leaders' effectiveness."

        Maureen Downey wrote in a "Get Schooled" blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/12, Downey) that Gov. Perdue "made his pitch for performance pay, which is one of the criteria to quality for Race to the Top money from the feds. It would be an option for current teachers, but a way of life for new ones seeking salary enhancements. I have always thought this was a good idea, especially Perdue's plan to end automatic pay increases for graduate degrees, no matter whether the degree had any bearing on what the teacher taught."

The New York Times (1/13, A21, Greenhouse) reports, "Facing criticism that her union makes it too hard to get rid of bad teachers, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, on Tuesday announced a union-backed effort to develop a new model for how public school teachers should be evaluated, promoted and removed. The effort will be run by Kenneth R. Feinberg, the federal government's special master for executive compensation." According to the Times, Weingarten "scoffed at the predominant method of evaluating teachers - visiting their classroom a few minutes each year and then giving an evaluation at year-end. Instead, she proposed a system of year-round evaluations as part of an effort to improve teaching and weed out ineffective teachers."

        Official Says NEA Open To Some Test Score-Driven Teacher Evaluation Systems. Jay Mathews writes in the Washington Post (1/13) Class Struggle blog, "My colleague Nick Anderson on the national education beat reports that the National Education Association shares many of the views American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten espoused this morning in a speech on teacher evaluation, test scores and discipline." However, the NEA, he notes, is "a bit more cautious, rhetorically, and substantively" when is comes to those issues. According to NEA Director of Teacher Quality Segun Eubanks, "the NEA is open to discussing experiments in teacher evaluation systems that incorporate student test data as long as the data offer 'authentic measures of student learning and student growth' and complement other types of assessment." Eubanks noted that "using state standardized test scores to make decisions regarding the effectiveness of teachers has yet to be proven effective. 'We're not going to embrace something for which there is so little evidence yet,'" he said.

The Tennessean (1/12, Sisk) reported, "Local school boards would no longer decide whether to remove tenured teachers from their jobs, as part of the education reform bill officially unveiled Monday" by Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's (D) administration. According to the Tennessean, "Hearings on whether to fire veteran teachers who had earned job projection through the tenure system would be shifted from local school boards to third-party impartial officers, according to a provision of the bill." The bill "that covers kindergarten through 12th grade is meant to improve Tennessee's chances of winning as much as $500 million" in Race to the Top funds.

The AP (1/12) reported that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools "says it's withdrawing the accreditation of Georgia's Warren County school system." Jennifer Oliver, SACS vice president of communications, "says a team visited the east Georgia county last June to investigate complaints about the school board." Oliver "says the team found that among other things, the board failed to follow policies of the district and refused to sign its ethics pledge."

West Virginia's State Journal (1/13, Krivanek) reports, "A legislative audit out this week found one in four West Virginia high school students drop out without earning a diploma. The report showed the dropout rate is higher in larger high schools and larger school districts." According to the Journal, teachers and principals in Mercer County "attribute the high rate to students losing of interest in the classroom."

        YMCA Program Aims To Reduce Dropout Rate. The Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram (1/13, Holt) reports, "Students lacking enough credits to graduate at Northern Nash and Nash Central high schools have the opportunity to make up those hours and move on with their respective classes thanks to a program offered by the Kate & Billy Harrison Family YMCA. WIRED, which stands for 'Working to Integrate Resources in Education Development,' is offered through the two high schools to students struggling to meet graduation requirements." The program "has two core components. The Alternative Learning Program allows students to take the required courses at their high school and then meet with a certified teaching coach three times a week to make sure they're meeting the core requirements necessary to graduate. The Credit Recovery Program is for students on the verge of dropping out."

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