Texas School Board Allows Teachers to Carry Concealed Weapons to School

See In Texas school, some teachers carry books, chalk, and pistols, NYT, 8/29/08, at A1

-Texas school board to allow teachers to carry concealed weapons to school

NYC Parents Upset by Testing of Kindergardeners

See Parents slam K kid testing, NYP, 8/28/08, at 2

NYS Struggling to Provide Universal Pre-K to Public School Students

See State's goal, pre-k for all, is still far off, NYT, 8/23/08, at A1

-1/3 of 677 NYS school districts have no preK programs
-only 38% of 4 years olds attend

Florida Teachers Adapt to Teaching Evolution to Evangelical Students

See A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash, NYT, 8/24/08, at A1

-Floria DOE requires public schools to teach evolution as organizing principle of life science

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Several College Presidents Support Lowering of Drinking Age to 18

See U presidents take shots at drinking age, NYP, 8/19/08, at 7

-Duke, Dartmouth, Ohio St. presidents think it will reduce binge drinking if legalize it earlier

Mayor Bloomberg Announces 18 New Charter Schools in NYC

See 18 new charter schools to open in September, Bloomberg says, NYT

-will be 78 charter schools total, 4x as many as 17 in 2002
-Albany cap statewide on charter schools is 150

Princeton Review Accidentally Publishes Florida Student Test Scores on its Website

See Student files are exposed on web site, NYT, 8/19/08, at C1

-34000 students' results exposed for 7 weeks

NYC Plan to Pay Students to Pass Advanced Placement Tests Getting Only Mixed Results

See Mixed results on paying city students to pass tests, NYT, 8/20/08, at B1

-students at 31 NYC high schools took 345 more tests this year but pass rate declined slightly

A Case for Teaching Evolution in Schools

See Optimism in evolution, NYT editorial, 8/13/08, at A21

-argues evolution should be taught despite protests b/c
1. framework for investigating world we live in
2. evolution is happening here and now (pesticide resistance)
3. builds respect for scientific evidence

Majority of NYC Public High School Students Graduating on Time

See Most in City now graduate in four years, NYT, 8/12/08, at B1

-slight rise for fifth year in a row to 52.2 percent
-68.6 percent statewide
-Bloomberg argues this is reason for extension of mayoral control of NYC schools

100 Tips and Resources to be a Happy, Successful Lawyer

The author of this blog thanks Kelly Sonora for referral to this very interesting article 100 Tips and Resources to be a Happy, Successful Lawyer.

We welcome outside submissions for posting on this and the related workplace blogs, as well as those who may want to advertise materials related to those blogs.

Public Schools Debate 4 Day Workweek to Reduce Costs

See Schools debate 4 day week, Parade Magazine, 8/10/08, at 10


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More NYC Probationary Teachers Face Denial of Tenure

See "Principals tighten the reins on tenure, deny it to 164 teachers," The Chief-Leader, 8/8/08, at p. 1

-66 denied in 2006-07, 164 denied in 2007-08
-115 on probation in 2006-07, 246 on probation in 2007-08

NYC Private Schools Expand as Competition Stiffens

See Where the race now begins at kindergarten, NYT, 8/6/08, at B1

-hundreds rejected annually
-1.1 million attend city schools, 150000 attend private schools

NYC Schools Report 10% Decline in School Crime for 2007-08

See Less crime in schools last year, city reports, NYT, 8/6/08, at B2

-felonies drop 11% and no homicides or rapes on school property last year

Girls Showing No Gap in Math Scores Versus Boys

See Math scores show no gap for girls, study finds, NYT, 7/25/08, at A16

-Science magazine study shows girls now in advanced math scores
-7 million students in 10 states

NYC may disband special education District 75 school district

See District shakeup may fail special-ed kids, NYP, 8/3/08, at 2