Florida's voucher program for students in the lowest-rated public schools is unconstitutional, the state supreme court ruled early January 2006 in a 5-2 decision that friends and foes of private school choice are scrutinizing for its potential impact on voucher debates nationwide. Chief Justice Barbara J. Pariente of the Florida Supreme Court…

In this article, the author reports what the administrators and educators in Bay St. Louis-Waveland, the last district in Mississippi to reopen following Hurricane Katrina, are doing in order to keep their students in school after Hurricane Katrina. Students in this district attend classes in portable classrooms linked by wooden boardwalks that…

A 50 state look at the nation's governors and their leadership on education over the past year shows that Governors are focusing much of their attention on two critical areas of education policy--high school and preschool. At least 22 governors proposed significant policies last year aimed at improving high schools, or have made such proposals so…

Florida's Opportunity Scholarships faced their most crucial test in June 2005, as the state supreme court heard arguments in a case about the constitutionality of the voucher program. In more than an hour of oral arguments in "Bush v. Holmes," held June 7, in Tallahassee and shown live on the Internet, lawyers sparred over the…

This article reports on another $9.7 million earmarked by Congress for a school improvement program run by the Education Leaders Council (ELC), despite serious questions raised about the project. The latest earmark, contained in the omnibus fiscal 2005 spending bill adopted in November, brings total federal funding for the project, called…

When the US' governors gather in Washington this February 2005 for what is billed as a national education summit on high schools, many will come prepared to talk about initiatives already under way back home. The summit's organizers hope that an "action agenda"--coupled with intensive planning leading up to the meeting--will encourage state…

Debating his Republican opponent for governor of Virginia in October 2001, about all that Mark Warner, a businessman and Democratic Party activist, could muster to say on K-12 education was that history questions on Virginia's standardized tests might need some tweaking. In this article, the author discusses how Warner, now the governor of…

Betsy Rogers, 2003 National Teacher of the Year, chose to go back into the trenches instead of staying on the lecture circuit. Rogers chose Brighton School, a K-8 campus of about 395 students, for her first year back on the job. She wants to show other good teachers an example of how they can make a difference for needy children in hard-to-staff…

Like a growing number of other places in America's heartland, West Liberty is watching its share of minority students shift into the majority. In this working-class Iowa town of 3,600, about 65 miles west of the state's southeastern border with Illinois, the changes are less visible than they are consequential for the local economy and school…

This article reports on a nationally-watched case by educators and families which is scheduled to be heard by the Florida Supreme Court. The court is to decide whether Opportunity Scholarships, available to students enrolled in Florida's persistently lowest-rated public schools, run afoul of a prohibition on using public money in religious…

Through a program known as Call Me MISTER--named for Sidney Poitier's famous line in the 1967 film "In the Heat of the Night," in which he tells the Southern white sheriff that, up North, "They call me "Mister" Tibbs"--the recruitment of more young, gifted black men to teach elementary school is getting a boost.…

This issue, the second in a series on how public education will evolve in the new century, focuses on the suburbs, highlighting two suburban communities in the Atlanta, Georgia, region. The first part, "Remodeling Suburbia," explains that in newer suburbs, enrollment is booming, and schools struggle to keep up with growth and changes in…

Describes how abandoned or neglected downtown buildings in Paterson (New Jersey) were transformed into thriving public schools. Several building to school conversions are highlighted. (GR)

The U.N. World Food Program fed about 110 million people around the world last year, including 15.6 million children who receive their meals at school. The United States provides money for school feeding programs that is awarded to the U.N. program and other relief agencies. Judith Lewis, U.S.-relations director for the World Food Program, said…

This article discusses Arkansas' new compensation package for its new education chief. One recent candidate for the state education director's job is said to have had discussions that included a salary of about $240,000, a substantial bonus for staying a certain number of years, and possibly even a professor's chair at a state university upon…