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By Jimmy Vielkind ALBANY—Voters offered a mixed appraisal of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s various budget proposals, but a new poll finds a majority believe he should separate his proposed changes to the state’s ethics and education plans from the $141.6 billion spending plan currently under negotiation with lawmakers.The Siena Research Institute found 56 percent of the 800 voters surveyed wanted to see the education plans dropped, and 54 percent wanted to see ethics addressed as a separate bill.Cuomo, a Democrat, has said he won’t approve a budget that isn’t linked to a five-point ethics plan that includes forcing lawmakers to disclose their law and business clients. He’s also yoked a proposed $1.1 billion increase in school aid to changes to teacher evaluation and tenure laws, an increase in the amount of charter schools in the state, the extension of tuition assistance to undocumented immigrants—known as the Dream Act—and a tax credit on donations to private and parochial school scholarship funds as well as public schools.Read the rest of the story at CapitalPhoto Credit: Comme Sisyphe by Honoré Daumier (displayed in the Brooklyn Museum) Photo of lithograph on newsprint courtesy of Wikipedia

By Danielle Nadler Leesburg Today S chool employee advocate groups will not be allowed to intervene in a Lansdowne parent’s case to force the state to disclose student testing data, a Richmond City Circuit Court judge has ruled.The Virginia Education Association and the Loudoun Education Association argue that the release of Student Growth Percentiles that measure student improvement across grade levels could unfairly target specific teachers.But Judge Melvin R. Hughes Jr. ruled Monday that the organizations lack standing to join the case, state education officials said. He also turned down requests from the Virginia School Boards Association and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents to intervene. Read the rest of the story at Leesburg Today

Sweet Briar College, an all-girls school in Virginia, recently announced its closure, sparking debates about single-sex education.

Ron Bethke, from eCampus News, discusses what the re-launched Study.com aims to accomplish for education and community colleges.

Governor Bentley signed a bill supporting charter schools in Alabama, but superintendents still do not know what the bill means for their school systems.

ByDave McCombs – Bloomberg

By Ross Brenneman

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press

By Batten Institute University of Virginia Darden School of Business T he current model of education in the United States is stifling the creative soul of our children. While this is troubling for a variety of reasons, it also has significant economic consequences for the future of our country. America has long been unique because of its remarkable ingenuity, innovative capacity and entrepreneurial spirit. Yet over the last few decades, we have witnessed both a steady decline in the number of startups, as well as an increasing number of studies that suggest America’s education model fails to promote the kind of creativity, risk-taking, and problem solving skills necessary for entrepreneurship, and for a world and labor market that is in the midst of profound transformation. These are very worrisome trends.  Read the Rest of the Article on Forbes Site..