current events

Michael Perry, a humorist, musician and pig farmer from New Auburn, Wisc., has been awarded the new "distinguished public-school alumni" award from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Ahead of a second closed-door meeting scheduled by the Wake County School Board to discuss "confidential personnel matters," board member Chris Malone told ABC11 in an on-camera interview that it was highly likely Superintendent Tony Tata would be fired.

As Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanual pushes ahead on his promise to reform the city’s underperforming classrooms, he faces several daunting tasks: slashing an estimated $1 billion budget deficit, confronting a woefully underfunded employee pension system and finding money for the pay raises that settled the first teacher walkout in a generation. He hasn’t ruled out school closings and tax increases, both of which would be hugely unpopular.

The trial has resumed in Memphis where a federal judge is hearing arguments on whether a state law that allows the six small cities in Shelby County to start their own schools is constitutional. Proceedings got back under way Thursday after a two-week recess.

Chicago Public Schools returned to their classrooms Wednesday with pay raises on the horizon after a seven-day strike, but details on how the cash-strapped district would pay for them remained scarce.

Thursday, October 4, 2012, 6:00 p.m.
University of New Hampshire Manchester's
third floor auditorium
400 Commercial Street
Manchester, NH

Free discussion exploring current major technology topics in K12 schools and higher ed, including tablets, mobile and the cloud.

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission moved Monday to borrow $300 million to bridge a massive deficit, emphasizing the bond deal will probably be the district's last for several years. In a brief, sober meeting, the commission approved a tough five-year financial plan for the district as a prelude to the bond sale to cover a deficit of more than $200 million in the current $2.5 billion budget, as well as a shortfall anticipated in the fiscal year that begins next July 1.

After a full day of discussions about public education among a select group of establishment educators and allied think-tank types, the best recommendation they could all come up with is the need for more “effective teachers.”

Million-dollar homes and leafy boulevards once were the surest sign that you lived in a rich Texas school district. Now add drilling rigs, dusty roads and overnight trailer parks.

The Baltimore school system has hired a leading data forensics company to review thousands of state assessment results dating to 2009 — a third-party analysis that school officials say is needed to inject fairness into investigations of alleged cheating.