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The Washington Post (1/28, Anderson) reports, "The Obama administration launched an effort Wednesday to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law, with a proposed increase in federal spending." According to the Post, the administration plans to "reserve $1 billion to fund programs that may emerge through a revision of the 2002 law." In addition, Obama "is proposing to raise elementary and secondary education spending by $3 billion in the fiscal year that begins in October." The AP (1/27) reported that also included in the increase is "$1.35 billion for Obama's Race to the Top competitive grant program." With that money, "states not awarded money in the first round would get another chance to compete. Local school districts also would be allowed to apply."

        William McKenzie wrote in "The Education Front" blog for the Dallas Morning News (1/27) that in a conference call with reporters, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said amid budget cuts in other areas, "education spending would go up six percent if the president's 2011 budget is adopted." McKenzie added, "I'm glad to see him pushing forward with investments here, especially in trying to get more students into college. We can't let up on this front."

Education Week (1/27, Aarons) reported that a new working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that Chicago teachers "who didn't have tenure took fewer days off after principals were given more flexibility to dismiss probationary teachers." According to Education Week, "The policy reduced teacher absences on an annual basis by about 10 percent and cut the number of teachers with 15 or more annual absences by 20 percent, according to the report by Brian A. Jacob, a professor of education policy and economics at the University of Michigan." The study "examines the effects of the policy from that year through the 2006-07 school year, and compares teacher-absence rates from before and after the policy was implemented for probationary vs. tenured teachers."

Florida's First Coast News (1/28) reports on Sallye Mathis Elementary, a STEM magnet school in Jacksonville that provided special training to its teachers, "developed a curriculum with the help of the Museum of Science in Boston and added technology. ... The curriculum emphasizes hands-on experiments and projects that demonstrate scientific concepts." Curriculum Integration director Latrese Fann "said they are trying to build critical thinkers and build problem solvers."

The Washington Post (1/28, Arias) reports that members of the Takoma Park Middle School Science Club are learning "to program calculator robots donated by NASA" and the National Defense Education Program. The "CalcBots" are TI-84 calculators combined with "small, flat-back carts with two wheels and a jack to connect the TI-84s." Students can program the robots "by entering an equation or command in the calculator." A portion of the NDEP's support pays for weekly visits from "Michael Britt-Crane, a naval mechanical engineer who meets with the club members on Wednesdays to teach them how to use the robots." He said, "The curriculum is all related to the Mars rover project." Britt-Crane "explained that for students to complete their 'missions,' they must figure out a math equation or approximate measurement within a scenario faced by real NASA and Navy scientists."

Government Technology (1/27, Nichols) reports on "a national trend of collaboration between K-12 and higher education institutions to put more students on track for STEM careers." These efforts allow schools to "connect across district lines, share resources and develop in-depth programs," and give students the opportunity "to learn through hands-on activities, project-based assignments and apprenticeships in the field." Experts say that "many students don't know enough about the industry to even think about pursuing STEM jobs," and say they are working to change this through a variety of programs. The article profiles the Hughes STEM High School in Cincinnati which, among other things, has partnered with the University of Cincinnati for STEM learning, "introduces students to the myriad career possibilities a STEM education can help them obtain" and "offers high school/college enrollment programs, co-ops and internships."

Pennsylvania's Patriot-News (1/27, Andren) reported, "Broadening definitions have put more conditions under the special education umbrella and parents' increasing awareness of their child's legal rights have contributed to increased special education enrollment and litigation," according to Lehigh University law and education professor, Perry Zirkel. Special education enrollment, including enrollment in gifted classes, increased from 14.5 percent to 19 percent between 1990 and 2008. Zirkel said that the "increase can be attributed, in part, to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder becoming recognized disorders under federal special education law within that time span." During that same period, "due process hearings have increased nationally," and Pennsylvania is among the 10 states with the highest number of special education cases.

WYFF-TV Greenville, SC (1/28) reports that lawmakers in South Carolina are considering shortening the school year as an option for saving about $100 million. On Tuesday, "the House panel approved a measure that would require teaches statewide take a five-day furlough and that administrators take 10 days." Tommie Reece, a trustee on the Greenville County Schools Board, suggested that the state "give local legislation a number to cut [and] give school districts the responsibility to" make cuts at the district level.

        South Carolina Senate Education Panel Approves Calorie Limits For Food Sold In Schools. The AP (1/28, Adcox) reports that a South Carolina Senate Education panel tentatively approved legislation in Wednesday that would bar "honey buns, greasy pizza and chocolate bars from being sold to students during the school day." The bill would limit the percentage of "calories from fat" in each cafeteria item to 35, "and 10 percent from saturated fat." If the bill becomes law, "South Carolina would join at least six other states that require school meals to be healthier than USDA guidelines, according to the School Nutrition Association." Some lawmakers and "school groups vowed to fight the bill as passed Wednesday." Sen. Larry Grooms (R), for instance, said that "the state has no business micromanaging what students can buy." Grooms "said he's OK with, for example, students selling cookies for Haiti earthquake victims, or PTAs having the occasional brownie fundraiser."

The Houston Chronicle (1/27, Mellon) reported that on Wednesday, the Houston Independent School District paid "more than $40 million in performance bonuses" to "teachers and other staff whose students made the biggest academic gains." The bonuses ranged "from $25 to nearly $25,000," and were earned by nearly "90 percent of the eligible employees." The largest bonuses awarded to teachers -- $10,890 -- were given to two elementary teachers and one middle school teacher. On average, teachers earned $3,606, "while principals pocketed almost twice that. Executive principals and regional superintendents received $16,157 on average." WKRK-TV Houston (1/27, Cisneros) reported that the bonuses are "part of the much touted ASPIRE program, started three years ago by former HISD Superintendent Dr. Abe Saavedra." The evaluation "measures teacher, principal, and certain staff member performances in the classroom, tied to TAKS tests scores."

The AP (1/27) reported, "The Michigan Court of Appeals court has overturned a judge's ruling that the email messages of Howell teachers' union leaders are public records under the state Freedom of Information Act." The decision was made in regards to "a 2007 lawsuit brought by the Howell Education Association against the Howell Public Schools." According to the court, "the union and district agreed on a 'friendly' suit to establish if three union officials' email traffic was subject to disclosure if it was recorded in the district's computer system."

Reporter Mike Thomas wrote in a blog for the Orlando (FL) Sentinel (1/27) that the federal desegregation order for Orange County, FL schools "will not, by itself, improve high-poverty schools. Data shows that there are two things that improve schools. Great administrators and teachers is one. And parental involvement is the other." The desegregation order "contains nothing that requires Orange to put high-performing teachers in low-performing schools. Instead, it says Orange will do more to hire more minority teachers." Thomas added, "Race has nothing to do with teacher quality. Putting a less qualified black teacher in with black kids, instead of a more qualified white teacher, will hinder, not help, their education. ... The focus needs to be on the quality of the teachers in these schools. And I don't see that in this order."

The Washington Post (1/27) reported that three school districts in Dillon, SC, "will receive a $4 million grant and a $35.8 million loan to build two schools and renovate two others." The city's schools gained national attention in 2008 when President Obama "twice visited Dillon during his campaign for the presidency. He then specifically highlighted the poor conditions at J.V. Martin Junior High during a speech to Congress last February." The AP (1/28, Kinnard) reports that according to Dillon School District 2 Superintendent Ray Rogers, "some of the money will be used to refurbish existing facilities and build a new early childhood development center. But about $25 million will go toward building a new J.V. Martin Junior High School."

Carl Love writes in a column for the Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise (1/28) that "well-intentioned folks" in the Menifee, CA district blocked elementary school students' access to dictionaries "after a parent complained about an elementary school kid coming across 'oral sex' in a classroom Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. ... Tuesday, the district announced the dictionaries would return and an 'alternate' dictionary would available." Love adds that why "do some people in southwest Riverside County continue to think they can shield their kids from everything bad the grown-up world has to offer? ... If a dictionary doesn't support curriculum, what does?"

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