| 2010 News |  | Links to media coverage and other information resources about public education issues.
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More students relying on free and reduced lunches
3/11/2010 12:00 AM
Tom Weber, Minnesota Public Radio
More Minnesota families are feeling the pinch of a tough economy where it hurts more than many parents would like to admit -- their children's lunch money. |
Legislature rethinks rules for grad tests
3/11/2010 12:00 AM
Emily Johns, Star Tribune
Required tests in algebra II and biology would count for 25 percent of a student's grade and the state would take on the issue of grade inflation under proposed legislation. |
New national math, English standards drafted
3/10/2010 12:00 AM
Donna Gordon Blankinship, Associated Press (Pioneer Press)
Math and English instruction in the United States moved a step closer to uniform — and more rigorous — standards today as draft new national guidelines were released. |
Robbinsdale class sizes will inch up
3/9/2010 12:00 AM
Norman Draper, Star Tribune
Teacher layoffs approved by the school board are expected to translate into one more student in elementary classes and 1-1/2 more in higher grades. |
Teachers to run new Mpls. school
3/9/2010 12:00 AM
Emily Johns, Star Tribune
Minneapolis will open the state's first "self-governed" school and also sponsor a new charter school. |
Schools' New Math: the Four-Day Week
3/8/2010 12:00 AM
Chris Herring, Wall Street Journal
A small but growing number of school districts across the country are moving to a four-day week, in a shift they hope will help close gaping budget holes and stave off teacher layoffs, but that critics fear could hurt students' education. |
As the teachers union digs in, it's students who suffer
3/8/2010 12:00 AM
Opinion, Star Tribune
On a personal level, union leaders such as Education Minnesota President Thomas Dooher no doubt care about our schools, teachers and communities. We all know many wonderful teachers in Education Minnesota's ranks. They are our relatives, neighbors and friends. |
Reprieve on GRAD would fail students
3/8/2010 12:00 AM
Star Tribune Editorial
State shouldn't cave in on reading, writing test requirements. It should come as no surprise that when Minnesota raises the bar on tests that high school students must pass to graduate, some kids don't get a diploma. |
Federal Education Department to step up civil rights enforcement in nation's schools
3/7/2010 12:00 AM
Christine Armario, Associated Press (Star Tribune)
The federal Department of Education plans to intensify its civil rights enforcement efforts in schools around the country, including a deeper look at issues ranging from programs for immigrant students learning English to equal access to a college preparatory courses. |
Law halts charter school growth
3/6/2010 12:00 AM
Gregory A. Patterson, Star Tribune
A national charter school leader for two decades, Minnesota may not open any new ones this year. |
School decisions need to be local
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Fergus Falls Journal Editorial
It's been one of the great Minnesota debates: Ma and Pa resorts vs. schools. In the 1980s, during an economic downturn, the Legislature passed a law forbidding schools from starting classes before Labor Day. |
Minn. won't get 'Race to Top' funding in 1st round
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
KSTP 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota schools are out of the running - at least for now - for a slice of the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" grants after the state's application didn't advance past the first round. |
Schools miss out on federal windfall
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Emily Johns and Sarah Lemagie, Star Tribune
Minnesota learned it was not one of the finalists for stimulus funds in a contest called "Race to the Top." |
Phy. Ed. bill moves ahead
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Kris Berggren, Session Weekly
Rep. Kim Norton (DFL-Rochester) has moved closer to her longtime goal of getting school children to be more physically active. |
Nonpublics, charters could pay to ride
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Kris Berggren, Session Weekly
School districts must bus students to charter and nonpublic schools. However, the state funding formula does not cover the total cost, so districts have to cut elsewhere to pay for it. |
Bakk proposes sales tax expansion
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Jon Collins, Mesabi Daily News
Clothing would be included; new revenue to repay K-12 schools. In a move designed to restore K-12 education cuts, state Senate Tax Chair Tom Bakk proposed an expansion of sales tax to clothing, as well as a decrease in the overall sales tax rate. |
School board embraces 4-day week in North Branch; official vote later
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Denise Martin, Chisago County Press
North Branch administrators have recommended to the school board to pursue the four-day school week. The conceptual 2010-2011 calendar would extend to June 9 (June 10 for teachers' last day) to comply with rules about total annual instructional hours required to be offered. About one hour will be added onto each of the four days. |
School cuts of $210,000 needed, public asked to comment
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Nora Bryson, Cannon Falls Beacon
Like all other levels of
government, the main discussion at Monday night's, Feb. 22, Cannon
Falls School Board meeting was how to deal with budget shortfalls in an
unpredictable, inflationary environment and still move forward with
contract negotiations. |
District cuts over $2 million
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Chris Schafer, Princeton Union Eagle
Board member Karen Metcalf called it the “most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make on the school board,” before she cast her vote yes to cut $2,083,255 from the district’s budget. Metcalf was the last to vote of the six members present who all approved the cuts with a unanimous decision. |
Referendum opponents lose lawsuit in U.S. District Court
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Sue Webber, Minnesota Sun Newspapers
Two years and three months after a Robbinsdale School District 281 referendum was defeated - and 15 months after a subsequent referendum was successful - a lawsuit involving the 281 CARE Committee has been denied in U.S. District Court.... The lawsuit claimed that enforcement of Minnesota's statute banning false speech relating to school bond levy referenda was contrary to the First Amendment. |
School budget cuts to be discussed March 9
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Mille Lacs County Times
With a projected freeze or reduction in state funding, Milaca will be joining districts across the state in reducing its budget. |
Is it time to tax clothing sales?
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Baird Helgeson, Star Tribune
The proposal by the Senate tax chairman would use the money to ease the deficit and repay aid to schools. |
Randolph schools will face tight cash flow
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Ken Haggerty, Cannon Falls Beacon
Randolph School District business manager Regina Wernimont reported at
the February 16 board meeting that cash flow is hurting and will only
become worse in March and April. |
Charters could gain PSF funding
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Kris Berggren, Session Weekly
A proposal to require that charter schools receive investment income from the state’s Permanent School Fund, as do school districts, raises a constitutional question. |
Schools await decision on early starts
3/4/2010 12:00 AM
Kay Fate, Faribault Daily News
Summer’s last blast may come a little earlier for about 16,000 students in southwestern Minnesota if the governing school districts get their way. |
Dist. 911 identifies proposed cuts for 2010-11
3/3/2010 12:00 AM
Jon Tatting, Isanti County News
The Cambridge-Isanti School
Board on Feb. 24 discussed several budget reductions, proposed to bite
into a $2 million shortfall, for 2010-11. |
North Branch is ready to give four-day week a try
3/3/2010 12:00 AM
MaryHelen Swanson, East Centeral Minnesota Post Review
Last week, after months of research and hours of discussions, the North Branch Area Public Schools’ board of education came to a consensus that the district should try a four-day week schedule. |
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