PPS NEWS
Pittsburgh Public Schools Receive Federal Grant to Help Strengthen AP and IB Programs, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Choice, charters, vouchers pushed by Gov. Corbett, PittsburghLive.com
Pittsburgh Phillips is National Runner-up: Supporting Students, Engaging Families, PTO Today

LOCAL & PA NEWS
The Power of Knowledge: Carey Harris of A+ Schools, POP City
Walnut Capital Proposes Big Plans for School Site, Pittsburgh Business Times
Bids come in on at least 3 School Sites, PittsburghLive.com
Schools strapped for money to educate homeless students, PittsburghLive.com

NATIONAL NEWS
Senators Announce Agreement on Educational Law, Yahoo! News
Maybe Teach Them Math, Science and Chess, The New York Times

RESEARCH

New School Year Brings Steep Cuts in State Funding For Schools, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Elementary and high schools are receiving less state funding than last year in at least 37 states, and in at least 30 states school funding now stands below 2008 levels, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Seventeen states have cut per-student funding by more than 10 percent from pre-recession levels, and four states -- South Carolina, Arizona, California, and Hawaii -- each have reduced per-student funding to K-12 schools by more than 20 percent. Forty-seven percent of total education expenditures in the U.S. come from state funds, and reductions in so-called formula funding are resulting in particularly deep cuts in general state aid for less-wealthy, higher-need districts. The cuts often counteract and sometimes undermine education reform and more generally hinder the ability of school districts to deliver high-quality education. Education job losses have reduced the purchasing power of workers' families, in turn reducing overall consumption in the economy and affecting state revenues. Beyond raising local taxes, districts' options for preserving education services are limited. Some localities could divert funds from other local services to shore up school district budgets, but this would sustain education spending at the expense of services like police and fire protection.

The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation assembles decades of research and data to demonstrate that America's heavy reliance on juvenile incarceration is a failed strategy. The latest national count of youth in custody, conducted in 2007, found that roughly 60,500 U.S. youths were confined in correctional facilities or other residential programs each night on the order of a juvenile delinquency court. The largest share of committed youth -- about 40 percent of the total, disproportionately youth of color -- are held in locked, long-term correctional facilities operated by state governments or private contractors hired by states. The authors find compelling evidence that youth incarceration does not reduce future offending; provides no overall benefit to public safety; wastes taxpayer dollars; and exposes youth to high levels of violence and abuse. While a significant movement away from juvenile incarceration, prompted by state budget crises and abuse scandals, signals that positive action is being taken, sustainable system improvements will require mobilization of a coordinated juvenile corrections reform movement. Nationally, just 12 percent of the nearly 150,000 youth placed into residential programs by delinquency courts in 2007 had committed aggravated assault, robbery, rape, or homicide. It is time to abandon the long-standing incarceration model and embrace a more constructive, humane, and cost-effective approach to youth corrections.

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