Obama to seek $1.35 billion more for Race to the Top programBy Michael A. Fletcher Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, January 19, 2010 President Obama is slated to visit a Fairfax County school Tuesday to announce plans to seek $1.35 billion in his next budget to expand his signature education initiative to improve schools.
Obama plans to go to Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, which the White House calls a low-income but high-achieving school, to signal his intention to expand his Race to the Top program. The federal initiative uses the lure of grants to encourage school districts to raise standards, make better use of data to track student achievement, and take more forceful steps to intervene in failing schools.Read more
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Teacher unions oppose school grants
Florida's application for the Race to the Top federal money is due today, but it has been rejected by many teachers' unions in the state, including unions in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.
The Santa Rosa Professional Educators and the Escambia Education Association have denied support for their districts' plans to seek a share of the $1.1 billion Florida is vying for to fund education reform.
With $4.35 billion set aside through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, states can apply for grants to improve teacher quality and help struggling schools.
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Computer starts with "K", at this school
LAKEWOOD RANCH - Fifth-grader Patrick Warren's book report on the vampire novel "New Moon" is a computer presentation with animated graphics and digital photos of drawings he made of the characters.
He posted the report on the Internet so his family can look at it.
The idea of writing the report on paper?
"It wouldn't be fun," the 10-year-old said. "On computers you get to explore, on a piece of paper you don't get to figure things out."
While computers are common in schools, few have gone as far as Willis Elementary School in Lakewood Ranch to engage tech-savvy students like Patrick.
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