Friday's news roundup:
1. Political advocacy [2] has no place in classrooms, writes Esther Cepeda.
2. Tennessee's Commercial Appeal comes out in support of school vouchers [3].
3. A federal court strikes down a voter-approved ban on affirmative action [4] in Michigan university admissions.
4. Virginia parents complain their district paid $7.7 million for online textbooks their kids can't use [5].
5. Controversy shouldn't obscure ousted Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett's concern for academics and children [6], says Matthew Tully.
6. California should grade schools [7] on more than average student test scores, says John Chubb.
7. Iowa is considering testing all preschoolers [8].
8. Washington DC needed to close some schools [9], the Washington Post editorializes.
9. Texas lawyers argue how to define "adequate" [10] school funding.
10. Minnesota school districts rely too much on tax-raising referendums [11], exacerbating school spending gaps between districts over time.
Thursday's news roundup:
1. The administrators of a failing school in Michigan still rated every teacher "highly effective [12]."
2. The Midwest Marxist Conference featured teachers discussing how to insert Marxism into classrooms [13] and their love for unions.
3. The U.S. economy could be $1 trillion a year stronger if Americans only performed at Canada's level in math [14].
4. More than 1,100 school districts applied for federal grants [15], which submit local policies to federal oversight.
5. Indiana voters supported every single school-choice candidate [16] but Tony Bennett.
6. Why we can't hold different education standards [17] for children of different races.
7. Alabama's governor won't try again at allowing charter schools [18].
8. Schools in five states limit science instruction [19] to focus on state-tested subjects.
9. One more reformer wins a seat on the Minneapolis school board [20].
10. Iowa leaders consider how to improve teacher training [21].
Wednesday's news roundup:
1. Los Angeles' mayor explains why the nation's mayors unanimously support the Parent Trigger [22].
2. We know ways to close achievement gaps [23], but the education establishment resists them.
3. A Tennessee task force works to make recommendations on forthcoming voucher legislation [24].
4. How to launch a successful Parent University [25].
5. Pennsylvania lawmakers' refusal to fix the state's school funding formula means the state will continue to pay double for charter school employee pensions [26].
6. A national college organization is considering accrediting a few massive open online courses [27]. This means enrollees could take them for credit that counts towards a degree.
7. The outcome of South Dakota referendums on education reform [28] laws mean lawmakers need to start listening, say the editors of the Argus Leader.
8. Michigan lawmakers should move to pass legislation governing a statewide school district for the worst schools [29], opines the Detroit News.
9. Voice recognition software [30] is getting closer to tutoring students.
10. College students and professors complain about highly-paid, increasing numbers of administrators [31].
Tuesday's news roundup:
1. Washington narrowly becomes the 42nd state to allow charter schools [32].
2. Big data in UK schools means a central database of personal information parents don't know [33] about but authorities can access.
3. Last in, first out union policies in an Oregon school mean teachers are now teaching classes they've never taught or trained for [34].
4. An Ohio auditor accuses a public school official of embezzling $4.2 million [35].
5. Chicago union leaders promise "no peace in the city" if the debt encrusted metropolis closes any underperforming, underenrolled schools [36], as planned.
6. View a map of social conflicts created by public schools, [37] from the Cato Institute.
7. Kansas schools boost science instruction [38] without adopting national standards.
8. Fed up with repeatedly failed charter school votes, Pennsylvania's House Speaker replaces an Education Committee member [39].
9. Idaho's voter-chastened superintendent [40] agrees to "sit down" with union leaders as they push their advantage.
10. Pennsylvania college faculty take a strike vote [41].
Monday's news roundup:
1. What does Indiana's new superintendent [42] believe on education policy? Is the state's choice an education policy disaster [43]?
2. Take a look at what the American Federation of Teachers did with its money [44] last year.
3. Though 58 percent of Georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow charter schools, the establishment is suing to prevent their vote from taking effect [45].
4. After voters shot down a South Dakota teacher evaluation law [46], legislators are pledging to revisit the topic.
5. San Antonio voters who supported a pre-K ballot measure [47] were more likely to be minority and support Barack Obama.
6. Wisconsin reforms limiting collective bargaining and requiring school employees to pay into their own