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The $85 billion in federal budget cuts known as sequestration are beginning to be felt far from the nation’s capital. Facing the task of cutting 142 children from the Head Start program in Colorado Springs this fall, the teachers and administrators came up with a creative response: Have the children decorate empty chairs, then sell them for $500 apiece to stave off the worst of the across-the-board federal cuts heading their way.

Industry experts gathered to discuss what has changed--and hasn’t--since “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform” was published

Boston Public Schools, in a push to beef up background checks on employees, will meet the requirements of a new state law mandating that all staff be fingerprinted, and will go a step further by scouring court documents to see if a string of “nonconvictions” is a sign of questionable character.

The superintendent is examining projected school funding projections for 2014-15 within the recently adopted state budget. His Munster district can expect a funding hike of 2 percent next year and 1.4 percent in 2015. In dollars, it amounts to per pupil funding of $5,643 in 2014 and $5,719 in 2015.

The 13.4 acres in question on Saul Road has been at the center of the dispute between neighbors and the district. MCPS spokesman Dana Tofig said the district owns that land as a school site, and gave it over to the Parks Department under the condition it would have it back if they needed to build a school.

This school year, Dexter started its international student program and brought six students from China to Dexter Regional High School.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the Education Department sent an email to testing coordinators on Saturday saying that ACT Inc. was suspending the online system on Monday.

The St. Tammany Parish School Board took a step Thursday toward joining a cooperative of Louisiana school districts created in response to sweeping education programs, changes that many educators statewide complain were handed down without their input.

DePasquale announced the findings of a major audit of the district during a morning press conference. The findings include of lack of proper accounting processes and policies that have put the district in financial turmoil.

Maureen Clancy-May, an area supervisor with Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, told the crowd of about 150 that the standards were developed by states to better prepare students for the global economy and for college.