State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton told state board members Thursday that initiatives that have been pushed over the years to improve the quality of education in Alabama have taken the state from the bottom of the heap to being a competitor.   Read More

Education officials are worried that tougher times are ahead because Alabama’s new governor is asking how their schools and colleges would be hit by a 3 percent budget cut this year and 10 percent drop in funding next year.   Read More

Gov. Robert Bentley is asking education officials how their schools and colleges would be affected by a 3 percent budget cut this year and 10 percent drop in funding next year.   Read More

Gov. Robert Bentley told the state school board today there’s “a possibility” there may be no need to declare proration in the 2011 state education budget.   Read More

Arkansas State University says spring enrollment on its Jonesboro campus is a record 13,239 students.   Read More

A bill to ban anyone who is not legally in the U.S. from receiving in-state tuition at an Arkansas college or university was tabled today after two hours of testimony in the House Education Committee.   Read More

A Paragould man has been appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe to serve on the Arkansas State University Board of Trustees.   Read More

A group of community and business leaders, including retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, is launching a public-awareness campaign designed to draw attention to the state’s constitutional mandate to support education.   Read More

Arizona solidified its reputation last year as one of the most liberal gun states in the nation after the Legislature passed a law allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.   Read More

Arizona students fell far below their peers nationally in science know-how, a report by the National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed this week.   Read More

LOS ANGELES — California Governor Jerry Brown would cut nearly 400 local redevelopment agencies, which use property taxes for construction, redevelopment, and beautification projects. Mayors object.   Read More

California’s community colleges always have been among the best bargains in America.   Read More

A new opinion survey of nearly three dozen deans from California community colleges suggests many colleges are turning away qualified applicants from health care programs at a time when demand is expected to soar.   Read More

Unlike the often angry responses in recent years to fee increases at UC and CSU, the community college fee hike proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown is being met with little resistance.   Read More

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday the state should move to increase the minimum age for kindergarten, without waiting until it can afford expanded pre-school for low-income students whose public education is delayed.   Read More

Greenwich millionaire Robert G. Burton has received plenty of publicity lately for seeking the return of $3 million that he gave to the University of Connecticut’s football team.   Read More

Karl J. Krapek’s resignation this week as chairman of the Connecticut State University System’s board of trustees was the best outcome for a system under siege and in need of change.   Read More

With state officials staring at the worst deficit in Connecticut history, and public colleges and universities still reeling from a series of public fiscal embarrassments, the broad budgetary flexibility higher education has enjoyed for more than two decades could begin to shrink — but not without a fight.   Read More

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday he did not seek the resignation of the chairman of Connecticut State University System’s Board of Trustees, but said he wasn’t surprised by Karl Krapek’s decision in light of CSU’s “real tough year.”   Read More

Gov. Jack Markell proposed increases in state support for higher education in his spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1. And yet, Delaware’s three public higher-education institutions will likely walk away with less money.   Read More

The cost of paying for college at Florida public universities has been rising fast in recent years, but another education expense has spiked even faster: The cost of prepaying for college.   Read More

University of Georgia students might deserve consideration of a request made on their behalf by the Student Government Association, which is asking the university’s administration to ease restrictions on football gameday tailgating on the school’s historic and picturesque North Campus.   Read More

As the U.S. economy continues to add highly skilled jobs and shed low-skilled positions, a high school diploma — and at least some college work leading to a technical certification, if not a four-year degree — has become essential for most people seeking a successful career.   Read More

While teachers went without cost-of-living raises last year and had to take unpaid days off, some top state staffers managing their retirement accounts got pay boosts of more than 35 percent.   Read More

For months on the campaign trail, Nikki Haley touted privatizing South Carolina’s school bus fleet as one possibility for saving money.   Read More

The University of Georgia researchers won an $880,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to experiment with pine tree plantations for potential use in biofuel production.   Read More

The state’s high school graduation rate will likely plummet by at least 10 percentage points this year because of a new federally mandated calculation, Georgia schools Superintendent John Barge said Thursday.   Read More

President Barack Obama expressed dismay in last week’s State of the Union speech that “the quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations.” The same day, the Nation’s Report Card revealed that Hawaii’s public schools rank second from the bottom in science proficiency at the fourth-grade level.   Read More

Over the past decade, the state has installed air conditioning in just three schools. Three more projects are under way, but the Department of Education has acknowledged that without a lot more money — and electricity — it can’t air-condition many of the state’s hottest public schools any time soon.   Read More

As part of a push to extend services to more native Hawaiian children statewide, Kamehameha Schools spent $102 million on educational outreach programs last fiscal year, up from $57 million in 2006.   Read More

The state Charter School Review Panel voted yesterday to take the first step toward putting Myron B. Thompson Academy on probation for failing to respond seriously to concerns over nepotism and favoritism at the online school.   Read More

The University of Iowa has launched an investigation after a routine check determined that someone may have accessed the electronic medical records of 13 Iowa football players who were admitted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.   Read More

Iowa students outpaced their national counterparts in fourth- and eighth-grade science on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card.   Read More

A growing number of students at Iowa’s three public universities are returning after their freshman year, a sign programs put in place to bolster retention rates are working, officials said.   Read More

Ames, Iowa — The percentage of out-of-state students attending Iowa’s public universities has reached an all-time high, a trend that ensures money for professors, researchers and infrastructure.   Read More

The state’s colleges and universities would suffer under a proposal to put them together with K-12 schools in one overarching new education department, say members of the state’s Higher Education Coordinating (HEC) Board.   Read More

Much of state government would see reductions, and possible layoffs, while commercial property owners and corporations would pay lower taxes under a budget proposal Republican Gov. Terry Branstad pitched Thursday.   Read More

Iowa families, no matter their income, would pay to put their 4-year-old children through preschool under Gov. Terry Branstad’s proposed state budget, but the fees would be minimal for the most cash-strapped families.   Read More

One college football player hospitalized due to practice-related health problems is cause for concern. Thirteen is cause for alarm.   Read More

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa is trying to force the resignation of a suspended professor who has made widely publicized discrimination complaints, with a school lawyer threatening to release damaging personnel information unless the two sides quickly reach a settlement.   Read More

The Iowa Board of Education unanimously agreed Thursday that the Waterloo School Board overstepped its authority when it imposed a dress code on students last spring.   Read More

University of Iowa leaders promised Thursday to investigate what caused 13 football players to be hospitalized with an unusual muscle disorder following offseason workouts.   Read More

Lawmakers in the split-control Iowa Legislature agreed the $6.16 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2012 that Gov. Terry Branstad unveiled Thursday would be their starting point.   Read More

University of Iowa officials are considering more than $1.1 billion in projects as part of a major overhaul of the health care campus, according to a hospital report to the Iowa state Board of Regents released Thursday.   Read More

The proposed budget allocates the entire $161.4 million requested by the judicial branch.   Read More

The University of Idaho is reporting another semester of growing enrollment at its campuses statewide.   Read More

SANDPOINT, Idaho — A lack of technological infrastructure in northern Idaho will put area students at a disadvantage under proposed state education reforms that call for students to take online classes every year to graduate, school officials say.   Read More

Idaho’s budget deficit may be five times wider than Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter announced earlier this month, leaving lawmakers with gut-wrenching decisions over whether to cut programs like public education or consider raising taxes.   Read More

Plans for a professional-technical high school in northern Idaho would be expedited under a bill before lawmakers in the 2011 Idaho Legislature   Read More

A Tribune investigation has found that crossing state lines is one of the most lucrative ways for retired superintendents to collect multiple government checks without breaking pension rules, according to salary and pension data.   Read More

Given the state’s sorry financial condition, it can be tough to catch state lawmakers talking about much else.   Read More

Some members of the campus senate at the University of Illinois Springfield said Friday they were disturbed that they didn’t know about a $200,000 settlement paid to a UIS student until they read a story in The State Journal-Register.   Read More

Many teachers were learning at the end of the school day Thursday that they could have to pay a larger share of their retirement costs and see their pension benefits reduced under a plan designed to keep the State Teachers Retirement System solvent.   Read More

State budget cuts mean the National High School Finals Rodeo will not be coming back to Springfield.   Read More

Gov. Mitch Daniels told a group of Thea Bowman Leadership Academy seniors on Thursday that he has closely tracked the Gary charter school’s successes.   Read More

Gov. Mitch Daniels says he wants to measure student growth as teachers are evaluated and “not absolutes.”   Read More

A Kansas Senate committee on Thursday rejected some of the cuts to public school funding proposed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, a move the panel’s chairwoman says would still leave the state with a balanced budget next year albeit little financial cushion.   Read More

After years of lean state budgets, public universities don’t have an ambitious agenda during this session of the General Assembly.   Read More

Raising Kentucky’s high school dropout age to 18 and debate about neighborhood and charter schools are expected to be among the top education issues lawmakers grapple with this session.   Read More

Governor Deval Patrick wants to shrink drug-free school zones from 1,000 feet to 100 feet, fueling debate about whether the law effectively protects children from drug dealers or simply sends too many low-level offenders to overcrowded prisons to serve excessive sentences at taxpayers’ expense.   Read More

For an organization of teachers, the Michigan Education Association is slow to learn its political science lessons.   Read More

As state and municipal budgets continue to contract, elected leaders from the Governor’s office and the state Legislature to city councils and school boards must be ever more vigilant in finding ways to balance their respective budgets.   Read More

The Michigan Education Association managed to block House consideration of a teacher tenure change measure in last year’s lame duck session when Democrats controlled the chamber.   Read More

Less than a week after U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan scolded Minnesota for not having more ways for talented people to become teachers, a state House committee approved a bill aiming to do just that.   Read More

Tuition at the four University of Missouri campuses will likely increase for the first time in three years after a vote Friday by the systems’ Board of Curators.   Read More

University of Missouri curators agreed Thursday to hire an executive search firm in the hunt for the four-campus system’s next president, saying they will take their time to ensure they find the best possible candidate.   Read More

Seven Mid-Missouri school districts would gain some money in the next 18 months, while 25 others would lose under Gov. Jay Nixon’s school funding budget proposal. ‘   Read More

With hundreds of millions of dollars being cut from human services and education budgets, some advocates on Thursday urged passage of a bill to raise more state revenue by requiring income tax withholdings on sales of Montana real estate by out-of-state residents.   Read More

New legislation in the N.C. General Assembly would scrap the 100-school limit on taxpayer-funded charter schools.   Read More

A proposal being pushed by Senate Republicans would shift state money to cash-strapped suburban districts by cutting back preschool for the state’s neediest students, according to a document obtained by The Star-Ledger.   Read More

Democratic and Republican members of the state’s legislative redistricting commission said today they expect Rutgers University public policy professor Alan Rosenthal to be the 11th tie-breaking member of the commission.   Read More

Among Bergen County administrators, March 17, 2010 is known as “The St. Patrick’s Day Massacre.” It’s the day 27 school districts found out they lost most or all of their state aid, according to River Dell Regional School District Superintendent Patrick Fletcher.   Read More

Schools in New Jersey might have to conduct classes about dating violence. The Senate Education Committee today will consider a bill that would create a task force to develop a policy to address dating violence.   Read More

So — what’s the problem? Why can’t the state tell the truth about charter schools? Why does the governor have to be asked repeatedly to be fair about comparing charter schools with conventional schools? He’s such a fan of charters, you’d think — prosecutor that he was — he’d jump at the chance of blowing away critics with facts.   Read More

It is happening again. Once more, promises — promises backed by law — made to New Jersey’s neediest children have been broken.   Read More

WASHINGTON — It would take more than another dumping of snow to stop New Jersey’s lawmakers and lobbyists from wheeling and dealing, drinks in hand, on the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s annual train trek to Washington.   Read More

School board elections can sometimes be ho-hum affairs that draw few voters to the polls.   Read More

Democratic legislators battled Republican legislators during two special sessions in 2003 over a proposed budget they felt shortchanged education.   Read More

State school officials say Nevada fourth- and eighth-graders scored below the national average on science tests in the 2009 National Assessment for Educational Progress.   Read More

University Chancellor Dan Klaich promised state lawmakers Thursday that he wouldn’t “whine” during his presentation on the financial state of Nevada’s university system.   Read More

LAS VEGAS — The new Las Vegas-area schools chief wants to use donated funds to hire former associates from Colorado and Kansas to propose reforms for the nation’s fifth-largest school district.   Read More

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg set up his first major confrontation with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Sunday, publicly demanding that he use his coming state budget to reverse a rule that protects long-serving teachers from layoffs, regardless of merit.   Read More

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center are looking for ways that stem cells may one day treat neurological disorders, cancer and lung disease, and help to repair bone. They’re peering with one eye in the microscope as, like everyone else with a stake in state funding, they’re keeping the other on Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is scheduled to release his proposed budget Tuesday.   Read More

Early learning is increasingly viewed as the key to academic success in later life, particularly for economically disadvantaged students up to age 6 who frequently begin school behind their peers.   Read More

More than 150 University of Albany students marched out of class Thursday to protest funding cuts they say are eroding their education, days before Gov. Andrew Cuomo will deliver a budget proposal that is expected to slash state spending even deeper.   Read More

A majority of Ohio University students believe too large a portion of their general fees is subsidizing the school’s athletic teams, according to a new survey.   Read More

Last year, Alisa Bartel jokingly became known as “the downer at the dinner table.” She regaled her University of Dayton roommates with the facts she was learning about human trafficking — both in the classroom and in her new role as an activist.   Read More

More than two years out of college, Ben Harris finds himself working in a chicken-finger place and living with his parents in Hilliard.   Read More

ATHENS, Ohio — A new survey suggests that many Ohio University students would like to see less of their student fees going to support varsity sports.   Read More

Ohio schools have been warned to brace for state funding cuts of 10 to 20 percent, but some key lawmakers say it’s unlikely that every district will face the same level of reductions.   Read More

Ohio got its $400 million in federal Race to the Top money yesterday after federal regulators approved the state’s plan for spending the money.   Read More

The Ohio School Facilities Commission today tapped the agency’s chief fiscal officer to serve as interim executive director until a permanent replacement is found.   Read More

What began as a typical first meeting between the newly elected state schools superintendent and the Board of Education quickly degenerated into shouting accusations, political banter and the unsavory mockery of a pregnant employee who left the room in tears.   Read More

Penn State University officials are recommending consolidation and closure of some programs in an effort to find $10 million in permanent savings to offset declining state aid and expected loss of federal stimulus dollars.   Read More

For months on the campaign trail, Nikki Haley touted privatizing South Carolina’s school bus fleet as one possibility for saving money.   Read More

The Rapid City Journal Editorial Board recently met with Gov. Dennis Daugaard to discuss his plan to cut state spending by 10 percent. Below are excerpts about the impact that would have on education.   Read More

Legislation filed Thursday would delete $26 million in property tax relief associated with Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s proposed 10 percent cut to K-12 education.   Read More

People aren’t building houses in Williamson County like they used to. But you wouldn’t know it from looking at the schools.   Read More

The state House is joining the Senate in scheduling expedited committee review this week of legislation that could delay or halt the transfer of Memphis City Schools to the Shelby County Board of Education.   Read More

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey said Thursday that the state’s largest teachers union made a “failed attempt of everything they could” to keep both him and Rep. Beth Harwell from being elected speaker. But Ramsey, R-Blountville, said that has nothing to do with a raft of legislation from Republicans that seeks to ban collective bargaining by teachers unions, remove Tennessee Education Association representatives from state boards and end government payroll deductions for the group’s dues.   Read More

Even supporters of teachers unions have been critical of them in recent months, forcing unions to collaborate with school districts on education reform as never before.   Read More

Some legislators and educators have commented that there’s a different feeling on Capitol Hill this session.   Read More

Last week, Gov. Bob McDonnell wrongly said there is room in state colleges and universities for only 38 percent of Virginians seeking higher education.   Read More

Teachers at six schools in Addison County voted Thursday to strike Feb. 9 unless school board members return to the negotiating table.   Read More

Some members of Washington’s higher-education community are skeptical — and at times dismissive — of a new report that claims students don’t learn enough in college.   Read More

The sponsor of a bill that would make teacher effectiveness the main determining factor during layoffs says that the proposal is worth billions of dollars in school improvement.   Read More

Washington’s students aren’t at the bottom in science education but neither are schools preparing them for an economy ever more reliant on science, innovation and technology.   Read More

SEATTLE — State Sen. Rodney Tom has proposed a constitutional amendment that would take the superintendent of public instruction off the ballot and make the job an appointed position.   Read More

Polarizing issues such as teacher tenure, repudiation of same-sex marriage and the best way to condemn the federal health care reform law are likely to spark debate in both houses of the Wyoming Legislature this week.   Read More

A state House committee has endorsed a proposal to drop the writing portion of the statewide student assessment.   Read More