Obama offers D.C. voucher compromise
Washington Post, May 7
President Obama will propose setting aside enough money for all 1,716 students in the District’ of Columbia’s voucher program to continue receiving grants for private school tuition until they graduate from high school, but he would allow no new students to join the program, administration officials said.
More
Indian-born school board candidate banking on Asian-American votes in Texas district
Dallas Morning News, May 7
An Indian-born candidate for the Plano, Texas, school board has traded the traditional path used to win such elections — candidate forums and endorsements from the city’s political elite — for a strategy nearly entirely dependent on the voter turnout of the city’s growing Asian-American population.
More
Calif. judge bars drug tests for students in band, chess club
Los Angeles Times, May 7
A Shasta County, Calif., Superior Court judge has temporarily barred a school district’s policy that subjects students in band and academic clubs to random drug tests.
More
N.Y.C. schools chief bans hiring of teachers from outside
New York Times, May 6
Anticipating significant budget cuts to New York City schools in the coming year, Chancellor Joel I. Klein has ordered principals to stop hiring teachers from outside the system, a move that will force them to look internally at a pool that, according to an independent report, includes many subpar teachers.
More
Judge: Calif. teacher violated students’ rights by calling creationism ‘nonsense’
USA Today, May 6
A federal judge ruled that a public high school history teacher violated the First Amendment when he called creationism “superstitious nonsense” during a classroom lecture.
More
