(SC) South Carolina task force tackles childhood obesity

The Columbia State

Increasingly alarmed by the rate of childhood obesity in the state, physicians in South Carolina are leading a new effort to focus on the problem and possible solutions.

Some efforts are working, evidenced by the childhood obesity rate hitting a plateau of around 17 percent in the past two years. But South Carolina still ranks in the bottom 10 among states. Nearly 32 percent of the state’s children are considered either obese or overweight. (National levels are 12 percent obese and 28 percent obese or overweight.)

The S.C. Medical Association’s Childhood Obesity Task Force was formed to bring together physicians, researchers, school leaders and state health officials.

(LA) Gov. Bobby Jindal proposes grading early childhood programs

The New Orleans Times-Picayune

A plan to rework Louisiana's uncoordinated system of prekindergarten and early childhood education programs is tucked in the list of Gov. Bobby Jindal's education agenda for the upcoming legislative session. The proposals would grade preschools, streamline governance and yank funding for underperforming programs.

So far, they have been overlooked in the heated debate over the governor's other education ideas, including the creation of a statewide voucher program, revamping tenure laws and making it easier to create new charter schools.

The early education changes may be one of the areas in which Jindal, lawmakers and education leaders can reach consensus without the acrimony surrounding his other recommendations.

(TX) Texas education officials decry 'over-testing' in public schools

The Austin American-Statesman

State Board of Education members pressed the Texas education commissioner on Thursday about whether an abundance of high-stakes standardized testing is warping classroom teaching to ensure students spend more time preparing for the exams then actual learning.

Robert Scott, head of the Texas Education Agency, responded that having kids cram is "a perversion of what's intended" and that tests are supposed to ensure students don't fall through the cracks while holding teachers and school districts accountable.

But Scott also acknowledged that some schools over-prepare for tests whose results have become the overwhelming standard by which education is measured statewide.

(TN) TN taps new pipeline for top teachers

The Tennessean

Students in the state’s worst schools will find themselves led by teachers who didn’t graduate with education degrees.

Instead, Tennessee education leaders plan to invest $10 million on two national programs that recruit the brightest graduates in other fields, put them through intensive training and send them into classrooms — where they typically outperform peers who took the traditional route.

In its successful Race to the Top grant application, the state promised to build a pipeline to produce great teachers, said Chris Barbic, hired to head the Achievement School District and turn around Tennessee’s lowest performers. It will use money from the $501 million federal grant to hire up to 580 teachers from nonprofits Teach for America and the New Teacher Project, which will split the contract.

(VA) House of Delegates backs bill to repeal 'Kings Dominion law'

The Richmond Times Dispatch

The Virginia House of Delegates has passed a bill to repeal of the state's decades-old "Kings Dominion law" requiring school systems to open after Labor Day unless they get a waiver from the Department of Education.

House Bill 1063, carried by Del. Robert Tata, R-Virginia Beach, passed on a 76-23 vote. But the future of the legislation, backed by Gov. Bob McDonnell, is unclear after a Senate committee last week shot down an identical bill.

Currently, school systems can open early only with a waiver from the Virginia Board of Education for "good cause," which 77 of the state's 132 school divisions already carry.

(MS) $305M more sought for K-12

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger

Mississippi's top education official is asking for an additional $305 million for the coming year - a request he acknowledges is unlikely to be fulfilled.

State Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham told House budget writers Tuesday that the biggest part of the request is $255 million to meet requirements of a complex funding formula, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program.

MAEP was put into state law in 1997, largely as an effort to avoid equity-funding lawsuits like those filed in Arkansas and other states. The formula attempts to give each of the 152 school districts enough money to meet mid-level academic standards, taking into account a number of factors, including students' economic backgrounds.

(VA) Virginia schools get top grade on science standards

The Virginian-Pilot

The science standards for Virginia's public schools are thorough and rigorous and should serve as a model for other states, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute gave Virginia a grade of "A-" for its K-12 science standards and supplemental curriculum frameworks, which offer additional details for what students should know.

Virginia was among five states and Washington, D.C., to earn the highest letter grade. Reviewers for the Washington-based education think tank awarded a "D" or "F" to the majority of states.

(WV) Senator chides state education chief

The Charleston Daily Mail

The state Department of Education is asking the Legislature for more money but not proposing to do enough with it to help students, Senate Finance Chairman Roman Prezioso said during a Thursday morning exchange with the state schools superintendent.

Superintendent Jorea Marple had just presented the department's budget request to the finance committee when Prezioso said he wasn't sure if the department was asking for changes that would make life better for students.

The department wants a perpetual $22 million per year for classroom technology, $1.6 million a year for the eight Regional Education Service Agencies, and nearly $1 million for teacher mentoring.

(FL) Educators criticize latest Florida school rankings

The Orlando Sentinel

Florida's more than 3,000 public schools have been ranked from best to worst in a new database released this morning by the state.

The school rankings come a week after the state released its first-ever ranking of its 67 school districts.

The latest ranking lists schools by the points they earned in Florida's school grading formula, which grades schools A to F. So all the top ranked schools are A's, but the new list shows the best of the A's — and also the worst of the F's.

Like the ranking of districts, the ranking of schools worries and upsets some educators, who say it does not take into account how factors such as poverty can impact students' academic performance.

(KY) Senate committee approves alternative dropout bill

The Louisville Courier-Journal

Local school districts would have the option to raise the minimum dropout age to 18 under a bill that has cleared its first legislative hurdle.

The Senate Education Committee voted unanimously Thursday to approve the proposal. It now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

The measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Jack Westwood of Erlanger is an alternative to legislation being pushed by Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear that would uniformly increase the dropout age for all school districts from 16 to 18 by 2017.

(FL) Florida Senate approves school prayer bill

The Orlando Sentinel

Sen. Gary Siplin believes this is the year for school prayer.

Sure, Florida lawmakers have pitched the idea time and time again. But Siplin, a Democrat from Orlando, says his bill has momentum.

 If the bill were to become law, local school boards could allow student volunteers to deliver "inspirational messages" in public schools. District employees would not be able to participate or interfere.

The original version said inspirational messages could include "prayers of invocation or benediction" — and could only take place at optional student assemblies at high schools.

(KY) House passes bill to promote 'green cleaning'

The Louisville Courier-Journal

The Kentucky House has passed legislation to promote the use of "green cleaning" products in schools.

The bill sponsored by Democratic Rep. Carl Rollins II of Midway directs the Department of Education to disseminate to school districts lists of recommended cleaning products, procedures, policies and staff training after consulting with the Department for Environmental Protection and the U.S. Green Building Council.

Rollins said the bill "doesn't cost anything" and "is not a mandate for the schools."

(GA) Constitutional amendment set for vote Thursday

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A vote is expected Thursday in the House Education Committee on a proposed constitutional amendment that appeals to charter school supporters and is opposed by public school groups.

The amendment would effectively override last year's Georgia's Supreme Court ruling by reinstating the state's authority to create and fund charter schools over the objections of local school boards. It also would affirm that state and local governments both have a role in public education -- something that amendment proponents say was called into question by the court ruling.

Opponents say the ruling did not have such broad implications. They say it would allow the state to approve charter schools and give them access to already stretched local education dollars.

(MS) Plan for school choice outlined

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger

Parents of students attending public schools that lose accreditation will be able to send their children, and the related tax dollars, to another school under a plan Mississippi's education chief outlined to lawmakers Wednesday.

Officials at the school where the child would enroll would have to consent, state Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham told House Education Committee members.

He said he and his staff plan to take to the state Board of Education this month a policy recommendation on granting school choice when accreditation is withdrawn.

(KY) Capilouto: State budget cuts will mean higher tuition and fewer scholarships

The Lexington herald-leader.com

Kentucky's two research universities would lose almost $30 million under Gov. Steve Beshear's proposed two-year budget.

If lawmakers approve the proposal, it probably mean tuition increases, fewer scholarships, less recruitment of top faculty and program losses at the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, presidents of the universities told the House budget subcommitte on postsecondary education on Thursday.

Beshear's budget recommends a 6.4 percent cut to postsecondary education, compared to 8 percent for most state agencies.

(GA) Ga. lawmakers consider anti-hazing bill

The Athens Banner Herald

State lawmakers are considering legislation that would toughen Georgia’s law on hazing in schools and colleges.

The bill would ban any student convicted of hazing from enrolling in Georgia’s K-12 schools, colleges and universities, even if the incident happened in another state. It also adds athletic teams to the list of organizations covered in the law.

The legislation’s sponsor, Rep. Joe Wilkinson, a Republican from Sandy Springs, introduced the bill in April, six months before the death of a Florida A&M University drum major from Georgia from suspected hazing. Wilkinson, chairman of the House Ethics Committee, said he has been concerned about hazing for years.

(GA) Much debate over bill to bar illegal immigrants from Georgia colleges

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After nearly two hours of heated testimony during a packed meeting, the House Higher Education Committee held off voting on a bill that would bar illegal immigrants from attending all Georgia public colleges.

Chairman Carl Rogers said Tuesday's meeting was designed to serve only as a hearing on House Bill 59, although that wasn't clear at the start. Rogers said he plans to meet with college leaders and others to look at adding flexibility to the bill. The earliest the committee could vote would be in two weeks, he said.

(FL) Gov. Rick Scott says he's opposed to college tuition hike

The Tampa Bay Times

The first budget confrontation of the legislative session emerged Tuesday when Gov. Rick Scott declared his opposition to an 8 percent tuition increase at state colleges and universities that Republican lawmakers support.

The House Appropriations Committee is expected to vote today on a preliminary budget of $69.2 billion that includes an 8 percent tuition hike — the same as in the current year's budget, which Scott signed into law last May without objecting to a tuition hike.

Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, who chairs the House budget panel, issued a statement defending the House's support for a tuition increase.

(MS) Community colleges say cuts could increase fees

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger

Leaders of Mississippi's community college system said Wednesday that the 5.5 percent cut in their budget proposed by Gov. Phil Bryant could lead to higher tuition, bigger classes and more part-time instructors.

They said any decrease in funding would only aggravate money problems the colleges have been struggling with, as the recession drove more students into classrooms at the same time state appropriations have fallen.

Community college tuition, which averages $2,174 this year, grew nearly 50 percent from 2003 to 2010. Mississippi incomes, by one measure, grew about 30 percent.

(GA) Leaders at other merged universities see risks, rewards

The Augusta Chronicle

Those looking to merge Augusta State and Georgia Health Sciences universities should watch out for “unintended consequences” unless there is careful planning and much effort to make it work, said an official who has been through a similar merger in Denver.

The potential risks from such a move were deemed to be too much for the University System of Maryland, which opted last month to pursue a looser “alliance” between its flagship liberal arts university and the university that houses its professional schools. But some reports do show the economic benefits being touted by proponents of the Augusta consolidation.

(US) Gaming the College Rankings

The New York Times

There is no reason to think the U.S. News rankings are rife with misinformation, and the publication makes efforts to police the data, adjust its metrics and close loopholes.

But repeated revelations of manipulation show the importance of the rankings in the minds of prospective students, their guidance counselors, parents, the alumni considering donations, the professors weighing job offers — and, of course, the colleges themselves.

(FL) University students protest higher tuition  

The Miami Herald

Some students protested tuition increases. Some lamented cuts to the Bright Futures scholarship program. And some said they were only after the extra credit.

But when the 200 or so university students cheered, chanted and booed on the Capitol steps Thursday, they all seemed to have one common goal.

Many of the students were en route to Tallahassee before dawn, on buses from the state’s 11 universities. Nearly three dozen attended from the University of South Florida.

(VA) Study faults costs, courses at the state's colleges

Richmond Times Dispatch

Administrative costs have outpaced spending on instruction at many of the state's colleges and universities, while tuition and fees take an increasing share of family incomes, a study of 39 public and private schools in Virginia says.

Classroom space isn't used efficiently, graduation rates while improving are still too low, and core curriculum courses in economics, math and U.S. history aren't given proper weight.

That's the assessment of a study by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which found that tuition and fees at 17 of the 39 schools total more than 40 percent of median household income for Virginians. That's up from 10 schools in 2004.

(MO) University of Missouri tuition could go up 6.5 percent

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Tuition and fees at the four University of Missouri campuses could go up 6.5 percent, starting this summer, under a proposal that will be considered Thursday and Friday by the system's Board of Curators.

The group is meeting in Kansas City, in part, to discuss the tuition proprosal in the wake of Gov. Jay Nixon's plan to trim 12.5 percent from the higher education budget.

While the average increase for the four campuses would be 6.5 percent, the impact would be greater on three of the campuses.

(KY) Kentucky lawmakers warned of tuition hikes under budget cuts

The Louisville Courier-Journal

The Council on Postsecondary Education warned Thursday that students at Kentucky’s public colleges could face steep tuition increases over the next decade as lawmakers slash state funding and higher enrollment continues to strain resources.

The council issued the dire projections in a report to the House budget subcommittee on postsecondary education as part of the budget-writing process for the next biennium.

Officials said that state investment in higher education is falling behind and creating an unsustainable financial burden for students, who make up the difference by paying higher tuition rates.