LAUSD parents urged to demand more control of schools
Los Angeles Times, May 11
Risk-taking charter school operator Steve Barr is launching an effort through which parents would wrest political control of the L.A. school system from unions, school bureaucrats and other entrenched interests. The plan is for parents to form chapters all over town and improve schools using the growing leverage of the charter school movement.
More
School violence drops, but bullying, thefts persist
Washington Post, May 11
Even though spasms of intense violence erupt on campuses occasionally and linger in the social consciousness, violence at schools across the country has been decreasing for a number of years.
More

Texas district may give students week off for passing tests
Dallas Morning News, May 11
High school students in Mesquite, Texas who pass state assessments and their classes could skip the last week of school next year while their peers get intensive academic help under a plan expected to be approved by the school board.
More

Nevada district to eliminate administrative jobs to save $1.1 million
Las Vegas Sun, May 11
The Clark County school district expects to save $1.1 million a year from an administrative reorganization that shrinks five regional districts into four and eliminates another office.
More

California budget crisis threatens high school sports
San Francisco Chronicle, May 10
The state budget crisis has prompted school districts to contemplate painful cuts to sports programs–including the possibility of eliminating athletics entirely–and forced them into frenzied fund-raising.
More

Fertile N.Y.C. job market dries up overnight for new teachers
New York Times, May 10
As a result of efforts to cut costs and avoid teacher layoffs, New York City principals may only fill vacancies with internal candidates for the 2009-10 school year, leaving new graduates and aspiring teachers from programs like Teach for America and the city’s Teaching Fellows scrambling for jobs.
More

For more news, go to School Board News Today.