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The Washington Post (1/20, Turque) reports that as 40 states and D.C. submitted "Race to the Top" applications by Tuesday's deadline, President Obama visited Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, VA "to announce that he will seek an expansion of the $4.3 billion program that would allow individual school districts to compete for the money." The Los Angeles Times (1/20, Silva) reports that the President "promised Tuesday to 'raise the bar' on what is expected of public school teachers and students." He "plans to include the additional $1.35 billion for the program in the fiscal 2011 budget, which he is due to propose next month." According to the White House, "the extra funding would enable more states, as well as individual school districts, to apply for some of the money."

        The AP (1/19, Superville) reported, "With the grant programs, Obama is trying to make federal education spending more of a competitive endeavor to encourage states and school districts to do better, rather than a solely formula-driven effort in which states and districts look forward to receiving a certain amount of money each school year, regardless of how good a job they do educating students."

The New York Times (1/20, D3, Severson) reports that PS 216 in Brooklyn, NY, is planning the first year-round Edible Schoolyard in the nation. "This summer, supporters will tear up a quarter-acre of asphalt parking lot behind PS 216...and start building the first New York affiliate of the Edible Schoolyard program, developed by the restaurateur Alice Waters of Chez Panisse." The lot will contain "a kitchen classroom with communal tables where children can share meals they make from food they grow in the garden," as well as "a chicken coop, a composting system, an outdoor pizza oven and a cistern to collect rainwater." In addition, "a movable greenhouse will be rolled out each fall." Students will be taught "lessons in subjects like art, math, history and science" in the $1.6 million schoolyard with a curriculum that "will be designed with help from Teachers College at Columbia and will meet New York State standards."

The AP (1/20, Sutschek) reports that according to "a study by two Northern Illinois University professors...high school girls are bored, disengaged, and stressed in science classes when compared with boys." Co-principal investigators, Jennifer Schmidt and M. Cecil Smith "looked at 244 high school students and 13 science teachers." Responding to a pager "students immediately reported what they were doing and thinking, rating their engagement, enjoyment, anxiety and concentration levels." According to Schmidt, boys and girls put forth equal efforts into lessons, "but for whatever reason the engagement switch is not being flipped for the girls, in spite of the fact that they get similar grades," said Schmidt. Smith added that girls often rated "lectures and completing work at their seats as the most engaging classroom activities." The researchers cited "societal expectations and the role of the teacher" as possible "causes for the gender differences."

The Montgomery (AL) Advertiser (1/20) reports that since news broke of the destruction and need left by the earthquake in Haiti, student in the Montgomery, AL, Public School (MPS) District have "engaged in a number of relief efforts ranging from canned food and clothing drives, to selling items to purchase bottled water, first aid kits and flashlights." Some "student groups are also collecting funds that will be given to support agencies like the American Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and the Yele Haiti Foundation." At Goodwyn Jr. High, for instance, the "Student Council and ninth grade homeroom classes are collecting items" for earthquake survivors and "have issued a challenge to all other MPS middle and junior high schools to join their effort." The Montgomery Advertiser lists various "Haiti relief efforts in MPS schools."

The Seattle Post Intelligencer (1/20, Mongillo) reports, "Last May, the Seattle School Board approved implementing a district-wide high-school math curriculum called Discovering Math. ... In June, two parents and a University of Washington professor went to King County Superior Court to overturn the School Board's decision and force the district to consider other textbook options." The plaintiffs "fear the new curriculum will only increase an already widening achievement gap between middle-class and disadvantaged students. ... Edie Harding, executive director of the State Board of Education, said the board was asked by the state superintendent's office to evaluate the Discovering Math series last winter and found it wanting."

The St. Petersburg Times (1/20, Marrero) reports, "By August, [Florida] districts must comply with hard caps of 18 students per teacher at the elementary level, 22 students in middle school, and 25 in high school." Hernando "will have to add about 78 teaching positions to bring core classes down to size." This week, Hernando County Public Schools "got an estimate of" how much it would cost the district to comply with the mandate: about $4.5 million. In order to meet the requirement, "the district could reduce or eliminate existing support positions and shift staffers to core teaching roles, cut other services such as sports and transportation - and likely will have to do some of both."

The Oregonian (1/20) in an editorial writes, "For Oregon's education leaders, especially its teacher unions, navigating the new politics of education is like walking blind into a room of rearranged furniture and sharp edges. Every move seems risky, every step forward dangerous." According to the Oregonian, "Yes, Oregon is treading carefully. ... But at least Oregon is finally moving forward on school reforms, including using test scores to better judge teacher performance." Oregon's education reforms are "surely not all that Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, hoped for when they launched the Race to the Top competition." But they are "a meaningful step forward."

        Merit Pay Seen As Most Contentious Part Of Oregon's Race To The Top Bid. Betsy Hammond wrote in a blog for the Oregonian (1/19), "I've been wondering what, exactly, would prove to be the most controversial part of Oregon's mammoth plan to win federal Race to the Top money. ... Bottom line: Merit pay -- phrased in the application as 'using evaluations to inform compensation, promotion and retention' -- is hands-down more controversial than any other element." Only 65 percent of the Oregon school districts that signed on -- and these are the districts that like the concepts in the application -- checked the box saying they would be willing to use teacher and principal evaluations to help set pay.

New Jersey's Star-Ledger (1/20, Alloway, Rundquist) reports that New Jersey "completed its application...for a share of $4.35 billion in federal Race to the Top education funding with 378 of the state's 591 school districts signing on to the bid - but without the support of most of the state's teachers unions." The New Jersey Education Association "had recommended its local unions not sign on, objecting to grant provisions that link teacher pay and evaluations to student performance" and questioning "how programs would be paid for when the grant money ends, as well as the emphasis on charter schools."

The AP (1/20) reports that school officials in Wellesley, MA, said on Tuesday that "several staff members at" Schofield Elementary School "had to be taken to the hospital after being injected with insulin rather than the swine flu vaccine." According to Superintendent Bella Wong, "the insulin belonged to students with diabetes and was provided by their parents." She added that "no students were ever in danger...and all the people who got the wrong shot have recovered." Meanwhile, "the school nurse who administered the insulin to staff has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation."

The AP (1/19, Matthews) reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "and New York City announced a pilot program Tuesday to address the problem of potentially hazardous PCBs in construction materials in some city schools." According to the AP, "Under the agreement announced Tuesday, New York City will pick five public schools - one in each borough - to monitor for PCB-contaminated caulk. If the caulk is found to contain PCBs, the city will come up with a plan for removing it or covering it up to limit exposure."

The New York Times (1/20, A11, Urbina) reports that in Mount Vernon, OH, eighth-grade public school science teacher John Freshwater "is accused of burning a cross onto the arms of at least two students and teaching creationism, charges he says have been fabricated because he refused an order by his principal to remove a Bible from his desk. After an investigation, school officials notified Mr. Freshwater in June 2008 of their intent to fire him, but he asked for a pre-termination hearing, which has lasted more than a year and cost the school board more than a half-million dollars." Freshwater's "hearing is finally scheduled to end Friday," yet the "the town - home to about 15,000 people, more than 30 churches and an evangelical university - remains split."

The Evanston (IL) Review (1/20, Berkowitz) reports, "The state of Illinois is $1 billion behind in school aid payments due this fiscal year after scrambling in late August to make good on bills lingering from fiscal 2009." Meanwhile, many "school officials are worried that permanent cuts in state aid could be coming in 2011" as the state seeks to "make up for $1 billion in federal stimulus money that has been used to make school aid payments for the past two years." Mohsin Dada, immediate past president of the Illinois ASBO, acknowledged that "this is one of the most challenging times for school districts." Said Moshin, "If the state is falling behind, which they are, instead of letting each entity borrow money at a higher rate, the state can borrow the money."

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