News is Busting Out All Over!

We call your attention to news from thither and yon that in one way or another affects the educational enterprise.

To wit:

• In Portland there's a kerfuffle about the number of grant-funded positions within the school department and the City Council's request for this information. This seems to have been answered, at least in part, for now. It's the veritable tip of the iceberg for much larger questions, some of which are aptly raised by reader comments on the original article.
  
• Graduation rates are, rightly, a concern locally, statewide, and nationally. Now a report in the New York Times exposes serious and systematic discrepencies in the reporting of graduation data. Common sense and credibility suffer in the examination.
  
• As the state revenue picture worsens, a trial balloon is sent up on the 55% committment. It hardly seems necessary, given the state's power to determine what is "essential." On the other hand, manipulating both sides of the GPA equation probably provides that much more "wiggle room." Watch them writhe!

There's more, much more, at Articles of Interest!