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Welcome!
What is
Urban Edge?
Urban Edge is a service that provides CUBE districts
with relevant information to help your awareness of education issues around the
country. We will glean news sources, blogs, research studies, and NSBA's wide range of expertise for timely information that guides CUBE districts in making sound decisions. Around
the nation
Race
to the top (RttT) application news
As the deadline for the Department of Education's
Race to the Top funds looms next week, many states
are deciding that they do not want to throw their
hat into the ring and apply for these
mega-funds. Many states, including those with
multiple CUBE districts, have decided they do not
want to take a chance on money coming from
Washington to solve their own state's education and
budget problems. Other states do not agree
with some of the mechanics on how teachers need to
be evaluated or paid, and some have changed policy
in order to increase the number of points on their
application to obtain the funds. Three links
below outline the story from three key states with
CUBE members, and more news will come after the
deadline next week.
Link
to Texas Tribune
1/14/10
Link
to Miami Herald 1/13/10
Link
to Columbus Dispatch
1/12/10
Link
to NSBA's Race to the Top Resources
Schools in south
face double major
A new report from the Southern
Education Foundation says that schools in the
south are now facing a new student majority who are
both poor and minority. While many states in
the region have had a large number of black students
for a generation or more, a new influx of Latino
students is changing the demographics
considerably. The region is trying to adapt,
but as the executive director at the Campaign
for Educational Equity said, “When we realize
that the majority of graduates of our schools in the
long run are going to come from backgrounds with
educational deprivation, it makes it imperative that
schools be improved.” While all interested parties
agree that changes need to be made, there is some
debate over how and what needs to be
done.
Link
to New York Times
1/7/10 (free registration)
Jefferson County, KY hopes to create a
national model
CARE for kids (Community, Autonomy, Relationships,
Empowerment) is a program that was introduced by the
superintendent of schools in Jefferson County
(Louisville) in 2008 and has shown some dramatic
changes to the district of almost 100,000
students. Its message, which is to embrace the
whole child and everything he or she is facing in
life as they bring that to school everyday.
The program is for all students from elementary
through high school and has been given credit for
improving test scores as well. Is this too
good to be true? Take a look at the following
Edutopia article which also provides five steps to
making the program work, the impact, and the
rewards.
Link
to Edutopia February
2010 (available on line now)
Shift from private schools to public schools
The recession and troubling economic
situation nationwide has changed private school
enrollment in the last two years, and more students
are heading toward public schools. USAToday
looked at the numbers and about three percent of
private school enrollment has dipped compared to
2006 (about 175,000 students), while public schools
will absorb those students. While families are
coping with their budget constraints, this also
changes school districts budgetary concerns as some
urban districts are seeing more students than
previously projected. Some see this as a
positive opportunity for public schools to embrace
the new parents and students and find ways to utilize
the talents from their private school
days.
Link to USAToday 1/7/10
CUBE
News
Did
you get it? A CUBE Call for Information on
Charter Schools was sent out last week to all
CUBE districts. If your district has not
replied yet, the deadline is January
22. We appreciate your feedback as we
prepare for the NSBA Annual Conference programming
and beyond. If you have not received this call
for information, please contact Kevin Scott (kscott@nsba.org). NSBA's
BoardBuzz blog often includes CUBE
related news and information. Recently,
entries have focused on the achievement gap,
graduation rates, and cost cutting measures, to name
a few topics. Check it out for yourself here.
CUBE
is on Twitter-Follow CUBE_Edge (CUBE_Edge)
for daily updates on what's happening in urban
education around the country.
NSBA
News
Need help with ways to
improve student learning? Subscribe to the NSBA
School Health Programs’ e-newsletter Health
Link. The e-newsletter is published
bi-monthly and provides timely and relevant school
health information to school leaders striving to
keep students healthy and ready to learn. Health
Link will help you stay abreast of health issues
that affect students and schools such as H1N1 flu
and obesity and give you tools to better provide
effective school health policies and practices that
contribute to the well-being and success of our
nation’s children. To subscribe, email schoolhealth@nsba.org.
NSBA's
Hispanic Caucus is offering ten separate $1,000
scholarships to Hispanic students in each region of
the U.S. (two per region). Applications are
available and are due January 29,
2010. For
more information, check the National Hispanic Caucus
web
site.
Meetings
Minute
By
now you should've received your special invitation
in your postal and email to NSBA's
Federal Relations Network (FRN) Conference January 31-February 2, 2010 in Washington, D.C.
For more information, check out www.nsba.org/FRN2010
to find out how you can
participate in the FRN Conference. FRN members are
appointed by their state school boards association
to attend the FRN Conference. School districts that
are part of the Council of Urban Boards of Education
(CUBE) are also eligible to attend the FRN
Conference. In order to participate as a CUBE
district, your district must be a member of its
state association. FRN and CUBE members represent
NSBA’s legislative agenda and should coordinate
with their state associations when they lobby their
members of Congress at the FRN Conference. You must be
an appointed FRN member from your state school board
association or a CUBE member to attend the
conference.
Program
Note
Did
you know that all previous editions of the Urban
Edge are available on CUBE's web site? If
you missed an issue, wanted to go back to find a
link to a research study we referenced, or need some
information about what other districts are doing,
click here.
Disclaimer
Links
on the Urban Edge are subject to change or
become inactive after a period of time. Please
be aware that CUBE has no control over links to
other organizations or entities.
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