State

By Morgan Smith

The president of the University of Missouri system resigned Monday amid escalating protests over racist and other bias-related incidents on campus and concerns about how he responded when members of the community showed outrage.

Renewed urgency, political importance as neighboring states with more high-tech opportunities have grown faster than Arizona in recent years.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Board of Education has voted to reject Common Core, but for the time being leave its standards in place.

As millions of American children head back to school over the next few weeks, they’re preparing for lessons in reading, writing, and math.  But there’s one crucial subject that too many of today’s high schools students are missing out on: Financial literacy.

by John HigginsAfter nearly a year of deliberation, the state Supreme Court ruled 6-3 late Friday afternoon that charter schools are unconstitutional, creating chaos for hundreds of families whose children have already started classes.Read the rest of the story at The Seattle Times.

Photo Credit: www.SeniorLiving.orgby Neal MortonThe American Civil Liberties Union, waging the first of potentially several legal challenges against school choice in Nevada, has filed a lawsuit to stop the state’s new education savings accounts, claiming a violation of a constitutional prohibition against the use of public money for religious purposes.Read the rest of the story at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Photo Credit: dcJohnby Grace SmithThere will be no penalty for New York state school districts that had large numbers of students who refused to sit for the New York standardized tests this year.Education officials made the announcement to put to rest the uncertainty over how districts would respond to the anti-testing movement. Kate Taylor of The New York Times reports that state and federal officials had warned for months that districts that fell below the 95% participation rate might stand to lose federal funds. Leaders of the “opt-out movement” argued that these were nothing but empty threats.Read the rest of the story at Education News.

Photo Credit: U.S. Dept. of Agricultureby Amy SchimkeAs the second phase of Colorado’s “Breakfast After the Bell” law takes effect this fall, thousands more low-income students will have access to free breakfast served during school hours.It’s a development lauded by advocates who say the program improves attendance and achievement, but not always by administrators in the districts required to provide the universal free meals.Read the rest of the story at Chalkbeat Colorado.