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The Washington Post (1/19, Fletcher) reports that President Obama "plans to go to Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church [VA], which the White House calls a low-income but high-achieving school, to signal his intention to expand his Race to the Top program" via $1.35 billion in his next budget. According to the Post, though "money from the first year of funding is just now moving toward being awarded to states, Obama administration officials credit it with prompting education policy changes in many parts of the country."

        Race To The Top Facing Last-Minute Opposition. The New York Times (1/19, A18, Dillon) reports that the Race to the Top education stimulus competition "has spurred education policy changes in states across the nation, but it is meeting with some last-minute resistance as the first deadline for applications arrives Tuesday." According to the Times, "thousands of school districts in California, Ohio and other states have declined to participate, and teachers' unions in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida have recommended that their local units not sign on to their states' applications." However, since the competition "got under way last summer, with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan bluntly criticizing school policies in many states, legislatures and officials from Rhode Island to California have reworked laws or policies in ways that have advanced President Obama's vision: more charter schools, better-qualified teachers and a national effort to overhaul failing schools."

Former UCLA Graduate School of Education lecturer Walt Gardner write in an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee (1/17), "If schools were allowed to be truly run like businesses, they (employers) would be able to deny enrollment (hiring) of students (workers) who have neither the ability nor desire (qualifications) to be there. But public schools, unlike private and religious schools, must accept virtually all who show up at the schoolhouse door." According to Gardner, "This is the antithesis of how business operates. ... If taxpayers were to spend time in the classroom, they might gain more respect for the work that public schools do in the face of daunting challenges. At the least, they'd come away realizing the futility of running schools like businesses.

The Orange County (CA) Register (1/19, James) reports that "when budget cuts forced the closure of the elementary school music programs," the city of Tustin joined the Tustin Public Schools Foundation and Tustin Unified School District "to create an after-school music" pilot "program for fourth- and fifth-grade students." The classes, offered through the city Parks and Recreation Department "cost $55 for 12 weeks, and scholarships are available." One challenge facing the program is "finding transportation for the elementary students to get to the afternoon classes." The program also needs "music teachers, volunteers, and donations."

The Chicago Tribune (1/19) reports that about 25 groups from Chicago and suburbs "participated in volunteer events for King Day, said Paula Phillips, civic engagement coordinator for City Year, an AmeriCorps program that works in inner-city public schools and enlists teens and young adults in 10 months of community service." City Year "bused groups of students throughout the day to about seven locations to help refurbish schools, senior homes, public housing and community centers. At Wadsworth Elementary School, students marched up stairs and ladders to paint murals of King and President Barack Obama on the walls.

        Students In Class On Martin Luther King Day Learn About Civil Rights Struggle. The WHSV -TV Harrisburg, VA (1/18, Knight) reported on its Web site that Rockingham County, VA students "were some of the only ones who were in class on the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Teachers say they're using the day in school, along with much of this week, to talk about King and his message." According to WHSV, "Students in elementary schools have been reading books, as well as coloring pictures and other activities, to help them understand the civil rights struggle."

The Washington Post (1/17, Williams) reported that astronaut Robert Satcher visited Potomac (VA) Middle School last week, speaking "to the eighth grade in the Dumfries school's gymnasium Thursday before moving to the library for a 30-minute question-and-answer session with about 25 science students from sixth, seventh and eighth grades." Satcher "showed a video" of a mission "and entertained the students with tales of playing weightless football and snoozing in a sleeping bag attached to a wall with Velcro. He compared launches to being on a roller coaster for 8 1/2 minutes."

The AP (1/18) reported that Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) "has signed into law an education bill that aims to close a persistent achievement gap between schools in richer and poorer communities. ... The bill establishes 'Innovation Schools,' in-district charter schools that aim to add autonomy and flexibility into school systems." The bill "makes it easier for the state to intervene with struggling schools. It also lifts the cap on charter schools in the lowest performing districts."

The New York Times (1/19, A24, Otterman, Peters) reports, "An eleventh-hour push by [New York City] Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg [I] and Gov. David A. Paterson [D] to improve New York State's chances to receive up to $700 million in federal education financing faltered on Monday after the State Legislature balked at the plan. The governor had called the Legislature into session Monday night to consider a proposal that would increase the number of charter schools allowed in the state, which would help the state in the federal competition known as Race to the Top." However, a "bill put forth by the governor differs in key respects from one proposed by the legislative leadership. Both would allow more charters, but the legislative proposal would also place significant new restrictions on them, drawing protests from the mayor and charter school advocates."

        Charter School Cap At Heart Of Race To The Top Differences In New York State. The Wall Street Journal (1/19, Gershman, Martinez) reports that New York lawmakers are to poised to reject changes to education laws that would qualify the state for Race to the Top education stimulus funds due to a disagreement over charter school expansion. According to the Journal, Gov. David A. Paterson (D) and lawmakers were negotiating a compromise regarding increasing the limit on charter school in New York, though even if no agreement is reached, the state is still expected to submit a Race to the Top Application.

The AP (1/19) reports that Mississippi will "hire the Denver-based firm Augenblick, Palaich and Associates Inc." to help the state determine "which school districts are best suited for merger." In the 1990's, Augenblick, Palaich and Associates "helped [state] lawmakers develop the Mississippi Adequate Education Program," which was "designed to ensure that each school district receives enough money to meet midlevel academic standards." Under a budget unveiled by Gov. Haley Barbour (R) in November, Mississippi would "go from 152 school districts to 100 to save money as state revenues are running short." The governor estimates that "consolidation could save about $65 million a year in the more than $4 billion public education budget." Augenblick, Palaich and Associates has been asked to present "recommendations by early April, with the goal that some districts would be combined beginning in the 2011-12 school year."

The Oklahoman (1/17, Rolland) reported that Oklahoma state employees "are working weekends and pulling all-nighters to get the more than 300-page" Race to the Top report sent to the ED by the Tuesday deadline. According to the Oklahoman, "The process is being used as an incentive by the federal Education Department for states to make or pledge to make sweeping reforms in four major areas: holding students to standards on statewide tests; improving data gathered from tests; employing and retaining quality teachers; and turning around failing schools." Oklahoma "is likely competitive in all of those areas, those familiar with the application process have said, placing the state's likelihood of receiving a grant in the top 10 or 15 of those states competing."

Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Marcus Winters writes in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times (1/18) that states' low education standards "have spurred a bipartisan campaign to create worthwhile national ones. But the road to national standards would be extremely tough to navigate politically." According to Winters, "We could make better progress toward an effective testing regime if we changed our goal from uniform national standards to high state standards, which two simple amendments to [NCLB] could help bring about. First, remove the law's disincentives for states to adopt higher standards." Secondly, Winters calls for students across the county to take an individual states' standardized test, thus giving policymakers a snapshot of how state tests compare to one another.

The Salem (MA) News (1/17, Forman) reported that Danvers, MA school officials "and police resource officer Olivia Silva have found one of the concerns among elementary students is bullying on the bus. Placing high school students amid the younger students may help prevent bullying because many younger students look up to high school students as role models, Silva said." The "student monitors are all part of the Students Against Destructive Decisions, or SADD, group" at Danvers High School.

The Washington Post (1/17, Givhan) printed an excerpt from its photo book, 'Michelle: Her First Year As First Lady.'" In her first year as First Lady, Michelle Obama "sketched out a job description that had nurturing at its core. She would turn parental mantras such as eat-your-vegetables and go-out-and-play into policy initiatives on healthy eating and exercise." Also, at the behest of Michelle Obama, "mentoring young Washington area students became part of the daily responsibilities of senior White House staff."

The AP (1/17) reported, "The nonprofit group Friends of the Rouge has awarded grants to three Michigan schools to build schoolyard habitats . Each school's grant includes $500 to purchase native Michigan plants and another $500 in expert assistance with implementing the project. Each school also will get $400 for tools or other garden items.

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