federal policy

Rubio-Style Reform? Republican rising star Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thursday that lawmakers must pay more attention to the "skills gap" between existing jobs and the lack of qualified employees to fill them, reports The Hill. Speaking at the Chamber of Commerce, Rubio said of education, "because it's not controversial, it's not getting nearly enough attention as it needs to be getting."

New York schools would lose $164 million in federal funding for the 2013-14 school year if Congress does not find compromise on the nation’s looming “fiscal cliff,” according to a state School Boards Association analysis.

Spending reductions caused by the fiscal cliff would be devastating for Kentucky’s public schools, officials say. According to the Kentucky Department of Education, federal funding for public schools would be reduced up to $61 mil­lion per year for the next 10 years, affecting more than 1,350 jobs and nearly 130,000 students. Higher education officials in Kentucky and Indiana also are warily eying the fiscal cliff talks.

The New York City Education Department proposed new boundaries Wednesday night for some of Brooklyn’s most-sought-after elementary school zones, drawing anxious parents to an auditorium to see the new map for the first time.

Public expenditure on education at 19 percent and health at 17.5 percent grew faster than GDP which expanded at 15.3 percent during the period between 2003-04 and 2010-11, rating agency Crisil said in a note today.

In Cranston, a signature school event, “the father-daughter dance” has been banned in all public schools.

After a full day of discussions about public education among a select group of establishment educators and allied think-tank types, the best recommendation they could all come up with is the need for more “effective teachers.”

President Barack Obama is creating a new office to bolster education of African-American students.