(Charles Dharapak / AP)
The administration announced last year that states can apply to be exempt from some No Child requirements. The first 10, AP says, are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
(Larry Abramson / NPR)
Dismal attendance rates have put Detroit Public Schools at risk of losing vital state funding, so the city has launched an assault on truancy. Attendance agent George Eason says, "If we see that the parent is willfully ... not sending the child to school, then we will take every means necessary to enforce the law."
(Courtesy of Mohammed Tayssir Safi)
Even though the number of Muslim students pursuing higher education is growing, very few colleges have Muslim chaplains. This semester, the University of Michigan became the first public school with a Muslim chaplaincy, but the position is privately funded to maintain a separation of church and state.
(Alan Greenblatt / NPR)
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is looking for momentum as Republicans caucus and vote in three states on Tuesday: Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado. And dissatisfaction with front-runner Mitt Romney in Missouri could point to a potential opportunity for President Obama in the fall.
(Larry Abramson / NPR)
The city's school system is trying to get parents more engaged with their children's education in an effort to boost achievement and stop an exodus of families from the district.
Application deadlines for financial aid like grants, scholarships and student loans are just around the corner. But many students may need help getting their paperwork in order. Host Michel Martin speaks with Adrianna Badillo. She's the director of Gear-Up, a program designed to guide low-income students into higher education.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Tired of tuition increases within the cash-strapped University of California system, a group of students has suggested eliminating tuition entirely. Instead, they propose that graduates pay the system a percentage of their income over the subsequent 20 years.
The Chester Upland School District — a small, mostly minority district outside Philadelphia — is on the verge of going broke. State budget cuts have put the district in such financial straits that teachers and some other employees agreed last month to work without pay for the rest of the school year. A judge ordered the state to advance Chester Upland $3 million, but that will only keep the schools open for a few weeks.
(Fred Mogul)
For years, small churches have been meeting in New York City's public schools. One church, Grace Fellowship, has been gathering at PS-150 in Queens since 2006. In one week, though, they will be evicted. "Freedom for a church to take over a school and convert it to a house of worship is not what our Constitution stands for," says a civil liberties proponent.
A second teacher has been removed from Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles as part of an investigation into lewd photos. One teacher has already been charged with lewd conduct with 23 students.
(Erik Jacobs / For NPR)
At the Fife and Drum Restaurant, located in a Massachusetts minimum-security prison, inmates learn to cook and wait tables. Regulars praise the tasty lunches served up at bargain prices. Prison officials say such job training reduces the chances prisoners will re-offend.
Nevada has the lowest high school graduation rate in the country. But now a multi-million dollar federal grant is helping one district turn its schools around. Host Michel Martin speaks with a principal who spent last Saturday knocking on the doors of students who dropped out, encouraging them to come back to school.
Nearly a quarter of U.S. public high school students fail to graduate on time, or at all. The president wants a rule requiring students to stay in school until age 18. But even with the requirement, Washington, D.C. has one of the lowest graduation rates. Host Michel Martin speaks with WAMU's Kavitha Cardoza and former dropout, Rashida Harris.
Officials at Claremont McKenna College announced Wednesday that the school submitted inflated SAT scores for several years to publications such U.S. News and World Report to boost its rankings. Claremont McKenna is ranked among the top 10 liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and has recently seen an upswing in popularity among applicants.
(StoryCorps)
Roger Alvarez dropped out of high school despite the efforts of his English teacher, Antero Garcia. "You were determined to help me, but what was I willing to give? I could have actually tried," Alvarez says.
(Charles Dharapak / AP)
In his State of the Union address, President Obama called on every state to require students to stay in school until they graduate or turn 18. But unimpressive results in states that already have that requirement raise questions about how effective the initiative would really be.
President Obama told students in Michigan that their universities should stop raising tuition so much faster than the rate of inflation.
(Bill Pugliano / Getty Images)
The president says he's putting colleges "on notice" about tuition hikes. College officials say the White House shouldn't be prescribing how schools cut costs.
New guidelines announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday call for less fat and more fruits in school lunches. In Louisville, Kentucky, the Jefferson County School District lets students evaluate its healthy food offerings.
BOSTON — The new grant, along with about $4 million already committed, puts the arts expansion initiative much closer to its $10 million goal, which will be used to go directly toward arts education in all Boston public schools.
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Thursday will free 10 states, including Massachusetts, from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, The Associated Press has learned.
BOSTON — Heavy-hitters from business, civic and community groups in Massachusetts set up a coalition to reform the state’s community colleges to train workers needed to fill job openings.
BOSTON — U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, during a Boston visit Monday, said the way teachers are evaluated now doesn’t work.
BOSTON — Boston Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson joined us to discuss her newly unveiled budget plan and the ongoing negotiations with teachers over extended school days.
BOSTON — A federal judge has ruled that Boston College must submit recordings from its oral history project on Northern Ireland’s conflict to British investigators, who say the tapes may contain information about killings. We talk to the parties involved.
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick has been out drumming up support for his proposal to streamline the state’s community college system.
BOSTON — Some Boston parents are reacting with caution to Mayor Thomas Menino’s plans to change the way students in Boston are assigned to schools.
BOSTON — Thomas Menino, the longest-serving mayor in Boston history, will deliver his unprecedented 19th annual State Of The City address Tuesday night.
BOSTON — Educators and lawmakers gathered Tuesday to celebrate the recent award of $50 million in federal Race to the Top funds. The money will be used to support early education programs.
BOSTON — The new Lawrence schools receiver, Jeffrey Riley, promises “whatever action is necessary” to help the city’s troubled school system.
BALTIMORE, Md. — Maryland public schools have been ranked first in the nation for the fourth year in a row by a leading education publication. Massachusetts is second.
LAWRENCE, Mass. — “Lawrence needs bold change,” said the new receiver, Jeffrey Riley. “We must be willing to rethink the current design of the school day and the school year.”
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate has unanimously approved a bill targeting financial abuse and mismanagement at education collaboratives in the state.
BOSTON — Massachusetts has received high grades from federal education officials for its first year implementation of “Race to the Top” reforms.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum spoke at a St. Anselm College event on the economy and the election when he accused President Obama of “snobbery” for suggesting all American kids should attend college.
Washington, D.C. — After a decade on the books, President George W. Bush’s most hyped domestic accomplishment has become a symbol to many of federal overreach and Congress’ inability to fix something that’s clearly flawed.
BOSTON — The state Senate is expected to take up a bill written in response to abuses at the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative, where the director was accused of funneling millions of dollars.
BOSTON — “Whitey” is caught. DiMasi is convicted. Boston is “occupied.” Gambling is law. The Bruins are champs! And oh, that weather — snow, tornadoes, Irene. Review WBUR’s biggest stories of 2011.
