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Richmond, VA — The nation’s original school choice organization, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, applauds Virginia lawmakers for passing a tax-credit scholarship program for its students in need. In doing so, Virginia inches closer toward becoming the newest member of the school choice “family.”

INDIANAPOLIS— More than 1,000 students, educators and policymakers flooded into an “Ed Reform Rocks” rally Wednesday to advocate for more freedom for students and more opportunities for Indiana schools.

WALNUT HILLS — Dohn Community High School senior Arneqka Lester, 16, is especially excited about coming to school this week.

It's bedtime, and your 4-year-old is tucked in and ready for her nightly story. Paperbacks are scattered around the room, and among them an eReader loaded with her favorite fairy tales. Do you reach for the worn-out copy of The Wizard of Oz from the bookshelf, or head into the interactive world of Dorothy and friends instead?

WASHINGTON | President Barack Obama has freed 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students.

LatinaLista — The 8th Annual AP Report to the Nation was released today by the College Board and, as would be expected, it showed that more public high school students are opting to take the Advanced Placement (AP) test, and more are passing.

Public education in Florida is under enormous pressure to improve at a time when school districts are being squeezed financially. The anguish of district leaders is understandable. But that is no reason to blame low-income parents for wanting options (“Seminole schools blast tax-credit scholarships,” Orlando Sentinel, Dec. 23).


The Florida tax-credit scholarship was created in 2001to provide students on free or reduced-price lunch with learning options, and the Legislature provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits for contributions that fund the $4,011scholarships. But no one forced the parents of nearly 38,000 mostly black and Hispanic children on the scholarship this school year to apply. No one insisted they pay upwards of $1,000 to cover the gap between scholarship and tuition. 
So when Seminole schools Superintendent Bill Vogel says the program is “part of the agenda” to weaken public schools, he is not only attacking the bipartisan legislative coalition that supports it. He is also telling some desperately poor parents that their schooling choices are wrong — even though public education is about equal opportunity.
This scholarship is part of an increasingly customized public education system. In Florida, 736,000 students attend magnet programs, career academies, choice and open-enrollment schools; 154,000 choose charter schools, and 140,000 4-yearolds use public funds to attend private schools.
District officials are right to call for accountability. To that end, scholarship students take nationally norm-referenced tests, and their schools answer to parents who help pay tuition. From such oversight, we know students who choose the scholarship are the lowest performers from their district schools and that their test-score gains now match students of all income levels nationally. These same students receive 64 cents on the public-school dollar, which is why four independent organizations have concluded the program saves tax money.
These are challenging times for public education, but to label scholarships for impoverished children “a travesty” is the kind of hyperbole that cheapens public discourse. Only 53 percent of low-income children read at grade level, and the ones who choose this scholarship are doing worse than the rest. Their parents don’t care about a school’s corporate governance; they simply want schools that work for their children.
What’s wrong with that? Doug Tuthill is president of Step Up For Students and the former president of two teachers unions.

During one of the Republican debates in Florida, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney agreed that the only way they’d support the DREAM Act is to take out the educational component.     Coincidentally, the day after the candidates introduced the idea of a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants only if they serve in the military, Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., submitted the Adjusted Residency for Military Service (ARMS) Act to the House.

Like women, Hispanic people are severely underrepresented in STEM fields. Latinos make up 16 percent of America's population, but just 6.2 percent of the engineering workforce. Luckily, there are a host of organizations trying to close this gap by helping Hispanic students who are interested in STEM get through college. For a list of more organizations supporting Hispanics in STEM, check out U.S. News partnerSTEMConnector.

Four high schools in Southern California are offering math and science courses using online curriculum from Mexico to get more Latino students to meet requirements to go to college.