Schools News Around the Blogosphere

Writing Off Disabled Children
New York Times
In Texas and throughout the country, disabled children should be given the school services they are entitled to under federal law. Many of America's juvenile jails would be empty if the public schools obeyed federal law and provided disabled children with the special instruction that they need. Instead, these children are allowed to fall behind. When they act out, they are often suspended or expelled, which makes them more likely to commit crimes and land in jails where they can count on even less help.

Over-cautious parents stop play
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (UK)
Children are being denied the chance to climb trees and play conkers by over-cautious parents, a new survey claims.

"A Program That Pays." [PDF format]
Providing a world-class education for all kids may no longer be possible without outside financial help, says Stan Levenson, Fundraising Consultant to the Public Schools in his latest article appearing in the July 2008 issue of the American School Board Journal. In this article, Levenson recommends that school districts consider a large-scale fundraising effort coordinated and articulated across district lines.

Growing hesitancy over a military test
Philadelphia Inquirer
Every school year, at hundreds of high schools across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, students are asked - and sometimes required - to take a vocational aptitude test with a strange-sounding name - the ASVAB, which stands for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

Students 'robbed of their childhood'
Chicago Sun-Times
Maybe kids do know best. For a social studies project this year, fifth-graders at Little Village Academy plotted a cost-free way to counter the guns and gangs that plague their neighborhood: They asked parents to volunteer to lead after-school programs in drawing, painting, handcrafts, dancing, sports, cheerleading and chess.

College Board to debut an 8th-grade PSAT exam
Los Angeles Times
By Gale Holland
The test, expected to be released in 2010, aims to identify talented students and get them into college-prep classes early. But many critics say students already face too many tests and too much stress