Parents Rate Online Report Cards an 'A'

(NEWSER) - The long-running Broadway musical Rent has been edited for the school stage, but the truncated version retains themes of drugs, AIDS, and homosexuality that have some administrators running scared, the New York Times reports. High school productions around the country have met with administrative and parental resistance, forcing organizers to cancel some productions, at least temporarily. More»

At least 28 more plan to seek one

(NEWSER) - Ten of the first 11 states to apply for a waiver from the controversial No Child Left Behind law will be freed from the law's requirements by President Obama today, the AP reports. Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee received the waivers; New Mexico's application was not approved, but it is working with the White House to get the OK. Another 28 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are expected to seek waivers in the future; the heavily populated states of California, Pennsylvania, and Texas are among those that have not yet signaled they will apply. More»

Group plans to use state's Parent Trigger law

(NEWSER) - The Parent Trigger is cocked and ready to fire at an underperforming elementary school in California. A 2010 state law gives parents the power to take over schools, and a parents group at Desert Trails Elementary outside Los Angeles plans to do so if the district doesn't overhaul the institution, reports the Wall Street Journal . Under the law, if more than 50% of parents sign a petition, they can force the district to close the school, convert it into a charter school run by the parents themselves, or fire the principal and teachers. More»

States can submit applications next month

(NEWSER) - Arne Duncan promised to take action on No Child Left Behind if Congress didn't, and now he's making good on that promise. With efforts to reform the controversial 2002 education law stalled in Congress, the Obama administration will allow states to apply to be exempted from the law. More details are due next month, when applications for the waivers will start being accepted. States had been "clamoring" for some sort of action, Duncan says—"desperately." More»

State has narrowed gap between rich and poor students: ProPublica

(NEWSER) - Jeb Bush has made a name for himself for education reform in Florida , and a first-of-its kind analysis by ProPublica suggests he's not just blowing smoke by at least one important measure. Florida now has the highest percentage of high school students in advanced classes and, crucially, "that holds true across rich and poor districts." In other states—including Oklahoma, Maryland, and Kansas, 60 years removed from Brown vs. the Board of Education—the rich-poor gap remains wide. Generally speaking, kids in wealthy districts in those states have plenty of AP courses to choose from, and kids in high-poverty districts have few. (The story includes an interactive feature for people to see how their own schools stack up. Click here for that.) More»