With voters in charge, high anxiety about teacher layoffs [California Watch, 1/18/11]: School districts are grappling with an excruciating dilemma: whether to plan for the coming school year based on the assumption that taxpayers will approve tax increases in a special election in June, or on an equally uncertain assumption that they will reject it.

In Florida, Virtual Classrooms With No Teachers [New York Times, 1/18/11]: There are over 7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. A “facilitator” is in the room to make sure students progress. That person also deals with any technical problems. These virtual classrooms, called e-learning labs, were put in place last August as a result of Florida’s Class Size Reduction Amendment, passed in 2002. The amendment limits the number of students allowed in classrooms, but not in virtual labs.

Young: While they’re still in training, intern teachers are not yet highly qualified [Thoughts on Public Education, 1/18/11]: The recent posting “Alternate Route, Same Destination” by Catherine Kearney presents one perspective on the recent congressional action to reestablish California’s teachers who are still in training through an alternative program of preparation as “highly qualified.”

How will Calif. schools implement "parent trigger" law? [Los Angeles Times, 1/17/11]:] California’s "parent trigger" law, which allows parents to force changes at failing schools. New members of the state's school board say they need more time to consider proposed regulations, which were set to be approved last week. Key concerns include whether parents outside a school could trigger a transformation and whether parents should be able to choose a charter operator without first gathering community input. Parents at a Compton school already have moved to turn over management to a charter

Moment of silence may be back in Illinois; State superintendent tells schools to prepare for observance [Chicago Tribune, 1/14/11]: Many school principals and superintendents were caught off guard this week when the state's top educator cautioned that they soon might need to observe a dormant state law requiring a moment of "silent prayer or silent reflection" to start the school day. In his weekly message, Illinois schools Superintendent Christopher Koch alerted school districts that the federal injunction that banned the moment of silence could be lifted in the next few days.

Court Backs District in Disclosure of Teacher's Medical Condition [School Law Blog, 1/12/11]: The New York City school district did not violate the privacy rights of a teacher when it publicly disclosed her medical condition, a federal appeals court has ruled. Read the decision in Matson v. Board of Education of the City School district of New York.

Fensterwald: California Now 43rd in per-student spending [Thoughts on Public Education / California Watch, 1/12/11]: Praised for its high academic standards and accountability measures, dinged for its low scores on the national standardized tests, low high school graduation rates, and disadvantages of high rates of poverty and non-English speaking households, California fell squarely in a crowded, mediocre middle – 30th among the states, in this year’s annual ratings by Education Week’s Quality Counts.

Ariz. high court: Student's curses didn't 'abuse' teacher [Associated Press / First Amendment Center, 1/11/11]: The Arizona Supreme Court says that a school child must use "fighting words," not merely curse, to be found guilty of abusing a teacher. Read the decision in In re Nickolas S.
“The limited issue before us is therefore whether this case involves fighting words as defined by the United States Supreme Court. Although Nickolas insulted a teacher with derogatory and offensive words (and was suspended from school for doing so), we must vacate his juvenile adjudications because his words were not inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction by the teacher.”
The School Law Blog has posted on this decision as well.

State judge rules NYC can release teacher ratings [Associated Press / First Amendment Center, 1/11/11]: A judge ruled yesterday that New York City can release performance ratings for 12,000 teachers based on a statistical analysis of student test scores. The union, which plans to appeal, had argued that releasing data would be an invasion of privacy and would unfairly subject educators to public ridicule.

High Court to Weigh Speech Rights of Public Officials [School Law Blog, 1/10/11]: In a case with implications for school board members nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether First Amendment free speech concerns are raised when states require local elected officials to recuse themselves from voting on certain issues for ethics reasons. Read the Nevada Supreme Court ruling in Carrigan v. Commission on Ethics for the State of Nevada. Read the opinion of Charlie Haynes (of the First Amendment Center) (“Garcetti would be unwelcome element in Nevada case”) take on this issue.