EDUCATION: THE PATH OUT OF POVERTY
	An essential tool for child advocates for more than two decades, the annual "The State of America's Children," from the Children's Defense Fund takes a close look at 37 million people living in America who are poor (including 13 million children) and the growing numbers of families struggling to survive. The 2005 edition Includes most recent (September 2005) U.S. poverty data throughout; personal stories and photographs; in-depth analyses of the current status of family income, child health, child care and early childhood development, education, child welfare, and youth development; and personal and policy success stories and recommendations for just treatment for children and poor families. Chapter Four, which can be downloaded for free, is full of analysis of pressing education issues (including NCLB, school funding, high-stakes testing and zero tolerance policies) and powerful (and jaw-dropping) statistics.
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WHY CAN'T SCHOOLS BE LIKE BUSINESSES?
	Three basic differences separate businesses from schools: the multiple purposes of tax-supported public schools; public responsibility for achieving these purposes; and democratic deliberations in deciding policies and determining school success. The profound differences in purposes, democratic decision making and accountability for outcomes between businesses and schools mean the basic assumption of corporate-inspired reformers -- that schools and businesses are fundamentally alike - is deeply flawed. This is why it is crucial that U.S. policymakers, practitioners, researchers, parents and taxpayers know clearly in what respects schools and businesses are alike and in what ways they differ. Business-inspired reform will not go away, writes Larry Cuban in The School Administrator. When business-minded policy proposals arise again -- and they will -- their assumptions, logic and evidence have to be dissected carefully and arrayed against the many purposes that tax-supported public schools serve.
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OF U.S. CHILDREN UNDER 5, NEARLY HALF ARE MINORITIES
	Nearly half of the nation's children under 5 are racial or ethnic minorities, and the percentage is increasing mainly because the Hispanic population is growing so rapidly, according to a new census report. In some suburban communities, government officials face a cultural generation gap as they weigh demands from older white residents for senior-citizen centers, transportation and other aid against requests from younger, mainly minority residents for translation assistance, preschools and other services. Experts say immigrant families are becoming more concerned with the quality of their children's early education, aware that it can affect their future academic success.
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TEACHING ABOUT IMMIGRATION IN THE CLASSROOM
	Immigration is a major issue in the news right now and looks to be a major issue for the fall elections, both on the local level in many parts of the country and on the national level. Large demonstrations are taking place in major cities. Students are walking out of schools. Politicians are trying to out-do the other in how "tough" they can sound. But what resources are available for teachers who want to tackle the issue of immigration in their classrooms? How can they talk about root causes of immigration, about the broader economic relationship between Mexico and the United States, and about the history of the border? These considerations are almost always missing from the sound bites on the news and the talk shows. The spring issue of Rethinking Schools includes a special section of articles recounting how teachers across the country are addressing one of the most vexing issues of our day -- immigration.
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REINING IN CHARTER SCHOOLS
	The charter school movement began with the tantalizing promise that independently operated schools would outperform their traditional counterparts -- if they could only be exempted from state regulations while receiving public money. It hasn't quite worked out that way. With charter laws now on the books in about 40 states and thousands of schools up and running, the problem has turned out to be too little state oversight, not too much. Even states with disastrously low-performing charter systems can point to a handful of outstanding schools. But several studies have shown that on the whole, charter schools perform no better than other public schools. Beyond that, some states have opened so many charter programs so quickly that they can barely count them, let alone monitor student performance. Where charters have clearly failed, the states often lack the political will -- or even a process -- for closing them down. Promising charter systems are few. But those that exist have some things in common: The states issue charters only after a rigorous screening process. They provide technical assistance to the schools, especially on procurement matters. And they provide sophisticated oversight -- with regular and systematic data collection -- to make sure that the schools are actually working. So far, the national experience with charter schools shows that they are not a magical solution to the achievement problem. The only way to improve public schooling is to provide well-trained teachers and orderly schools, and to monitor them to make sure that the students are actually learning. To salvage the charter movement, the states will need to abandon the strategy, now discredited, that consists largely of giving public money to what are basically private schools and then looking the other way.
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TOOLKITS FOR IMPROVING COMMUNITY RELATIONS WITH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
	The Iowa Association of School Boards website offers a handful of tools, checklists, and tipsheets aimed at improving community relations, building community understanding of school roles and improvement efforts, increasing school board members' knowledge of school improvement and student achievement strategies, and numerous resources to help make school board meetings a powerful community relations tool.
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SHOULD ALL TEACHERS BE EXEMPT FROM FEDERAL INCOME TAXES?
	According to surveys, the public and teachers want an increase in teacher pay. Of course, there are other pressing issues, including better facilities, better curricula, better-trained administrators, and greater parent involvement. But responses to these needs, because they involve overcoming ingrained bureaucratic obstacles or instilling personal motivation, take years to ripple through the system. So, let's start by simply eliminating federal income taxes on the earnings of any K-12 teacher teaching at an accredited school. Effective salaries would immediately rise to more livable levels, and improved quality would follow right behind, writes Leo Hindery, Jr. Although the United States has approximately 3 million K-12 teachers, their aggregate federal income taxes run only about $15 billion to $20 billion a year, which is a tiny six-tenths of 1 percent of the U.S. Treasury's expected total receipts.
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1750 U.S. SCHOOLS ORDERED INTO RADICAL RESTRUCTURING
	Falling short of requirements under President Bush's education law, about 1,750 U.S. schools have been ordered into radical "restructuring," subject to mass firings, closure, state takeover or other moves aimed at wiping their slates clean. Many are finding resolutions short of such drastic measures. But there is growing concern that the number of schools in serious trouble under the No Child Left Behind law is rising sharply -- up 44 percent over the past year alone -- and is expected to swell by thousands in the next few years. Schools make the list by falling short in math or reading for at least five straight years. In perspective, the total amounts to 3 percent of roughly 53,000 schools that get federal poverty aid and face penalties under the No Child Left Behind law. The Associated Press reported last month that schools were deliberately not counting the test scores of nearly 2 million students, mostly minorities, when they measure progress by racial groups. Those exclusions have made it easier for schools to meet their yearly goals. Still, more than a quarter of the nation's schools have failed to make adequate yearly progress for at least one year.
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NATIONAL BOARD TEACHERS NO BETTER THAN REGULAR TEACHERS, STUDY FINDS
	Students of teachers who hold certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards achieve, on average, no greater academic progress than students of teachers without the special status, a long-awaited study using North Carolina data concludes. Bess Keller reports that the study found that there was basically no difference in the achievement levels of students whose teachers earned the prestigious NBPTS credential, those who tried but failed to earn it, those who never tried to get the certification, or those who earned it after the student test-score data was collected. The results of the study came to light last week after Andrew Rotherham -- co-founder and director of Washington-based Education Sector -- used a posting on his Eduwonk blog to note that the privately organized NBPTS national board had apparently been "sitting on" the results because they were not favorable.
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GROWING COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
	The Coalition for Community Schools is pleased to announce the release of its new paper, Growing Community Schools: the Role of Cross-Boundary Leadership. This paper highlights 11 communities around the country whose community school initiatives are moving toward the "tipping point". Chicago now has 102 community schools; Multnomah County 56 (of 150) and in Tukwila, Washington all five schools are community schools. The report focuses on how innovative cross-boundary leaders from education, local government, public, private and community-based agencies, business and other sectors are organizing themselves and their communities to create and sustain community schools. Leaders in these communities recognize that helping all young people succeed means providing them with as much support and as many pathways to success as possible.
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JUDGE MAY HALT CALIFORNIA'S HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM
	A judge said Monday he is likely to prohibit the state from requiring that high school seniors pass an exit exam to graduate, siding with attorneys who say the test discriminates against the poor. A group of high school students and their parents sued the state Department of Education in February, seeking a preliminary injunction to halt giving the exam to this year's senior class. It's the first class required to pass the exam to earn a diploma. Both sides are scheduled to appear Tuesday before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman in Oakland. Freedman said in his tentative ruling that he is likely to issue the injunction, based on the plaintiffs' argument that all California students do not have access to the same quality of education.
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STUDY PROVIDES INSIGHT ON MOTIVATING YOUNG PEOPLE TO VOLUNTEER
	MTV released the results of "Just Cause," a research study that deconstructs how youth perceive "activism" and explores the motivating factors and barriers in their decision to become involved in social causes. The study includes more than 1200 young people, including expert interviews, ethnographies and a national poll of a representative sample with participants ages 12 to 24. Findings deconstruct youth activism and find an "activation gap", showing a strong disparity between interest in and involvement in social causes. Anecdotal responses from respondents also offer clues into successful strategies into closing the "activation gap".
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TWELVE ESSENTIALS OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT WEBSITE
	An up-to-date, attractive and user-friendly school district website is like having an extra public information officer on staff -- only one whom you don't have to pay every week or provide with health care benefits. If you can't recall the last time your school system redesigned or upgraded its website, it may be time to move this frequently neglected area to the top of the to-do list for your communications or technology staff. Jennifer L. Wohlleb offers 12 considerations to think about if your school district is planning to redesign or reorganize its website. Education is increasingly high-tech and a school's website should reinforce that fact with a professional-looking site. Information is an education agency website's greatest commodity. While a busy classroom is good, a busy website is not. An up-to-date website is also an easy way to promote a positive image of your school or district. An active, current site suggests an active, current school. A neglected site doesn't necessarily mean a neglected school, but it will raise the question in people's minds.
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BUST BUREAUCRATIC BARRIERS TO RELIEVE TEACHER SHORTAGE
	Suppose Colin Powell tires of giving $100,000-a-pop speeches and wants to teach high school social studies. Suppose Meryl Streep has a hankering to teach drama. Alas, they would be "unqualified" for a public school. Elite private schools would snap them up, but public schools that are begging for teachers would have to turn them away because they don't have teacher certification. That's an absurd snarl in our education bureaucracy, writes Nicholas Kristof. Let's relax the barriers so people can enter teaching more easily, right out of college or as a midcareer switch. One study after another has concluded it is time to relax teacher certification requirements.
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POETRY THAT SUSTAINS THE COURAGE TO LEAD
	The Center for Courage & Renewal invites you to take part in a new book project tentatively titled "Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Lead." Modeled after the popular "Teaching With Fire: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Teach" (Jossey-Bass 2003), the format will be an anthology of poems and short personal commentaries describing how the poem helps leaders make sense of their life and work. Like the first poetry book, the new volume is intended to honor the people, passions, and practices that restore hope in our world. A more substantial explanation of the project, deadline information (June 30th), and submissions guidelines are available at:
	http://www.couragerenewal.org/?q=resources/submissions
U.S. NEWBORN SURVIVAL RATE RANKS LOW
	America may be the world's superpower, but its survival rate for newborn babies ranks near the bottom among modern nations, better only than Latvia. Among 33 industrialized nations, the United States is tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia with a death rate of nearly 5 per 1,000 babies, according to a new report. Latvia's rate is 6 per 1,000. "We are the wealthiest country in the world, but there are still pockets of our population who are not getting the health care they need," said Mary Beth Powers, a reproductive health adviser for the U.S.-based Save the Children, which compiled the rankings based on health data from countries and agencies worldwide. The U.S. ranking is driven partly by racial and income health care disparities. Among U.S. blacks, there are 9 deaths per 1,000 live births, closer to rates in developing nations than to those in the industrialized world. The researchers also said lack of national health insurance and short maternity leaves likely contribute to the poor U.S. rankings, reports Lindsey Tanner. Those factors can lead to poor health care before and during pregnancy, increasing risks for premature births and low birth weight, which are the leading causes of newborn death in industrialized countries. Infections are the main culprit in developing nations, the report said. Other possible factors in the U.S. include teen pregnancies and obesity rates, which both disproportionately affect African-American women and also increase risk for premature births and low birth weights.
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TELL CONGRESS NO BUDGET PLAN IS BETTER THAN A BAD BUDGET PLAN
	The House of Representatives will soon be voting on the FY 2007 budget resolution, a budget plan that if approved would significantly reduce the current level of services in the areas of child care, health care, child abuse prevention, and nutrition. While looking for ways to cut spending, the House is also preparing the tax reconciliation bill with approximately $70 billion in new tax cuts. Such cuts threaten dollars for services and increase the fiscal burden we are passing down to the next generation. According to data from the Tax Policy Center and an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the tax reconciliation package under consideration would offer moderate-income families about $20 in a tax break, while the average millionaire-household tax break would be $42,000. Instead of a budget plan that favors the wealthiest over the neediest, we're better off with no budget plan at all say youth and other advocates. Instead of giving billions in tax handouts to millionaires, budget-watchers say we should be using our money to improve health care, access to college, and child care assistance. Call the American Friends Service Committee's toll-free number -- 800-459-1887 -- to tell Congress to either pass a budget plan that protects vital services for youth or else vote for no budget plan at all.
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SPORTS & CIVICS MAKE BETTER CITIZENS
	Young people who are involved in sports report higher levels of voting, volunteering and news attentiveness than their peers who do not participate in sports, according to new. Researchers were not able to draw any direct conclusions as to why student athletes were more engaged in their community, and considered the possibility that people who choose to do sports might naturally be more inclined to participate in civic affairs. "However, I think that sports participation helps to develop a set of civic skills that are transferable to other areas," Mark Hugo Lopez says. "For example, being part of a group, and learning to work with other people could lead to a lifetime of group membership."
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CHILD CARE PRICIER THAN COLLEGE
	The cost of sending a preschool-age child to day care in Wyoming exceeds the cost of sending a student to college classes in the state, according to a recent report by a national group. Parents of a 4-year-old in Wyoming pay an average of $5,438 for preschool care each year, according to the study titled "Breaking the Piggy Bank: Parents and the High Price of Child Care," from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. At the University of Wyoming, meanwhile, a resident student taking 12 credit hours each semester would pay $2,208 in tuition, while a student paying out-of-state tuition would pay $7,320. The study found that the cost of child care exceeded the cost of college in 42 states, including Wyoming.
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STATE BOARD OF REGENTS WEIGHS ATTENDANCE TARGETS FOR SCHOOLS
	Convinced that students can't learn the material if they're not in class, the New York Board of Regents is considering setting attendance targets for individual schools, said State Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills. That move would have the greatest local impact in Buffalo, where at some high schools, as many as three of every 10 students fail to show up on a given day. The other local districts that struggle most with attendance are generally those in small cities. Many of their students, like those in Buffalo, struggle with the effects of poverty. More-affluent local suburban districts register high school attendance rates as high as 97%. The attendance targets are viewed as a new element in the state's effort to boost high school graduation rates, Mills said. Statewide, just 64% of students who entered high school in 2001 graduated four years later.
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STUDENTS CONCERNED ABOUT U.S. PLAN TO SELL NATIONAL FOREST TREES
	"What is the deal with cutting down the Croatan National Forest?" the letter began. "How would you like it if we cut down some trees around your house?" Haley Wester, a sixth grader at Broad Creek Middle School, was voicing the sentiments of her classmates and North Carolina's top officials when she wrote Mark Rey, under secretary of agriculture, two months ago to protest his proposal to sell 309,000 acres of National Forest land across the country, including nearly 10,000 in North Carolina. The letter was gloriously blunt, but Ms. Wester was hardly alone in her feelings -- the proposal has evoked strong protest around the country and in Congress. The recipient's response, however, was a bit out of the ordinary: Mr. Rey flew to Carteret County to defend the proposal before Dave Holland's sixth-grade science classes.
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HOW TO COMBAT SENIORITIS
	Early symptoms of the disease -- lethargy, lack of focus, difficulty making decisions -- often appear in the fall. By spring the average, healthy high school senior may have completely succumbed. Senioritis attacks high-achieving, average and struggling students alike. By this time in the school year, most college-bound seniors have turned in their applications and received their acceptance letters. Many of them understandably feel entitled to a little downtime. The 30% of seniors who aren't headed for higher learning may not have figured out what they want to do after graduation, but they are pretty sure that it won't require algebra or Shakespeare. In short, the second semester of the last year of high school is a kind of waiting room for the next stage of life. But over the past few years, high schools and colleges have begun experimenting with ways to keep students more engaged during the period between homecoming weekend and the senior prom. Those efforts include internships that keep seniors motivated by allowing them to explore their passions, dual-enrollment programs on college campuses that offer a sneak preview of the higher-education experience and tests designed to alert those likely to have trouble keeping up in college that they should buckle down.
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NEW GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION

"Grants for Youth Literacy"
The Dollar General Community Grants Program focuses on youth literacy initiatives in communities where the company does business. Maximum Award: $2,500. Eligibility: Organization must be located in Dollar General's 33-state operating territory and must be within 20 miles of the nearest Dollar General Store. (A store locator is available online.) Deadline: June 5, 2006.

"U.S. Dana Foundation Rural Arts Initiatives"
Beginning in 2007, The Dana Foundation will grant professional development programs in rural communities in the U.S. Dana Foundation Rural Arts Initiatives are interested in professional artists teaching performing arts in public schools and in-school arts specialists who teach performing arts in the public schools. Maximum Award: varies up to $50,000. Eligibility: Rural organizations with professional artists serving the K-12 education community. Deadline: June 15, 2006.

"Grants for Music Education and Talent Development Programs"
The ASCAP Foundation is now considering proposals from organizations engaging in music education and talent development programs that support music education programs for aspiring songwriters and composers. Maximum Award: $5,000. Eligibility: Organization must be 501(c)(3). Deadline: October 1, 2006.

"Red, White, and Green Climate Change Grants"
Youth Service America and the Civil Society Institute are awarding Red, White, and Green Climate Change Grants to design a service-learning project that promotes awareness about climate change and possible solutions. Projects should be youth-led, and the service must take place between October 1 and November 30, 2006. Maximum Award: $500. Eligibility: youth between the ages of 15-25 or to organizations serving or engaging youth ages 15-25. Deadline: September 1, 2006.

For a detailed listing of numerous EXISTING GRANT OPPORTUNITIES (updated each week), visit: http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"If young children have been able in their play to give up their whole loving being to the world around them, they will be able, in the serious tasks of later life, to devote themselves with confidence and power to the service of the world."
- Caroline von Heydebrand (Waldorf educator)