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May 24, 2007
Morning Shots
Los Angeles Times: Broad gives charter school group a boost
In his continued effort to bring pressures to bear on the Los Angeles public school system, billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad has committed more than $6 million to a high-performing charter school group to help it dramatically expand.
The $6.5-million grant to the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools from Broad's education foundation, along with $3.5 million raised by Alliance board members, clears the way for the group to open 13 middle and high school campuses by 2010 in impoverished neighborhoods where traditional schools are foundering.
Broad's gift to Alliance is the latest indication that he views the work of charters, and not the efforts of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa or the district's Board of Education, as the best chance to reform the nation's second-largest school system.
"If you don't have mayoral control … what other options do we have?" he said. "The option is to get the best public schools you have to act as a catalyst to force the others to become better."
The State: Bill puts limits on school choice
The S.C. Senate is poised for action on a bill that would allow students to apply to attend any public school in the state, regardless of where they live.
But students may not truly stand a chance of enrolling at the school of their choice. That’s because fast-growing school districts — including two in the Midlands — likely won’t have any space for them.
House bill H.3124 and proposed Senate amendments to it call for school districts to start admitting out-of-district students beginning in the 2009-10 school year. School districts also would be required to offer school choices to students already living within their own district boundaries starting in 2008.
The proposed S.C. plan sets some limits regarding how many out-of-district students may enroll in a school.
Washington Post: One engineer's pet project: an AP course
Leigh Abts knows high school students would love his profession, if they just had a chance to explore it.
That's why Abts, an engineer and research professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, has created a model Advanced Placement course in engineering and led an effort to implement it at high schools nationwide.
Abts and a tight circle of engineers, university faculty and high school teachers will know soon if their efforts have paid off. Next month, the College Board, which runs the AP program, will decide whether an engineering class will be added to the curriculum.
Engineering could be introduced on the AP level through pre-AP classes, which would cater to students in eighth, ninth and 10th grades, Abts said.
Engineering could be ideal for students who learn by doing rather than by listening, and Abts has worked to promote AP engineering across the country, said fellow enthusiast Buzz Bartlett, executive director of advancement at the University of Maryland's College of Education.
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