Education Law

School Board News Today headlines this week

The unlikely trio is back, and they’re kicking off their U.S. tour today in Atlanta. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and civil rights activist Al Sharpton will be visiting several urban areas this fall to promote President Obama’s reforms for urban schools, including an expansion of charter schools.

In other School Board News Today headlines this week, a new survey shows that teens aren’t shy about sharing their prescription drugs: one in five has given medications such as antibiotics and antihistamines to friends.

And, with the threat of an outbreak of the fast-spreading H1N1 virus, some school districts are rethinking rewards for perfect attendance. The Hillsborough County, Fla., school board voted this week to suspend its policy allowing high school students with good grades to skip exams if they have not missed any days of school, a common-sense move given that all health experts say students with any symptoms of the flu need to stay home.

And California officials announced the debut of the first ten online textbooks, part of a long-term plan to move to digital textbooks. But whether they’ll be used remains to be seen, as critics say they do not align to state standards and teachers need more training.

Check out these and all the education news each day at School Board News Today.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on August 14, 2009 (boomark / email).