Florida House opens door for more technology in classrooms
A bill that would give Florida school districts more flexibility in buying technology has passed the state House and is heading to the Senate, reports the Tampa Bay…
Legislation
More Texas school districts consider switching to online textbooks
Texas could help lead a textbook transformation if Gov. Rick Perry's recent proposal to abandon traditional texts in favor of online versions takes hold, reports the Dallas Morning…
Lawmakers back La. school board webcasts
Meetings of Louisiana’s top school board would have to be carried over the internet under a bill approved by a state Senate committee on April 8, reports the…
Governor: Texas should move to online textbooks
Texas Gov. Rick Perry proposed April 7 that his state abandon using traditional textbooks in public schools and replace them with computer technology, BusinessWeek reports.
Virtual schooling gets a boost in Virginia
A school without walls that uses technology to bring a K-12 curriculum from private providers online to students across Virginia is the focus of legislation that Gov. Robert…
Technology coalition seeks stronger privacy laws
A broad coalition of technology companies, including AT&T, Google, and Microsoft, and advocacy groups from across the political spectrum said March 30 that it would push Congress to…
School webcam spying prompts call for new laws
Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., is pushing for new federal laws on electronic privacy as a school district in his home state struggles with a lawsuit over attempts to…
House boosts college aid for students in need
Riding the coattails of a historic health care vote, the House on Sunday also passed a broad reorganization of college aid that affects millions of students and moves…
Rethinking sex-offender laws for youth texting
In most states, teenagers who send or receive sexually explicit photographs by cell phone or computer—known as “sexting”—have risked felony child pornography charges and being listed on a…
Student aid, linked to health care, gets a trim
Congressional Democrats on March 18 trimmed their original student loan plans, reduced spending for community colleges, and eliminated early childhood money from a broad rewrite of a college…
Obama offers blueprint for rewriting NCLB
President Barack Obama on March 13 unveiled a plan to overhaul the 2002 No Child Left Behind education law championed by President George W. Bush.
Groups make renewed push for student loan reform
Higher education and K-12 activist groups have stepped up their support in recent days for President Obama’s student lending reform legislation, which has stalled in the U.S. Senate…
Deal gives new life to overhaul of student loans
The New York Times reports that Democratic Congressional leaders struck a tentative agreement March 11 that breathes new life into President Obama’s proposed overhaul of federal student loan…
Ohio bill would allow snow days to be made up online
Lawmakers are considering a bill in the Ohio House that would allow school districts to make up calamity days by having students complete their work from home using…
Duncan pushes back against private lenders
Responding to private lenders’ lobbying efforts against White House plans for direct federal loans, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Feb. 17 that he trusts the U.S. Senate will…
Oregon panel votes to add restrictions to online schools
A bill to increase restrictions on online public schools was approved by a key committee in the Oregon Legislature on Feb. 3, despite pleas from parents for exceptions…
A federal effort to push junk food out of schools
The Obama administration will begin a drive this week to expel Pepsi, French fries, and Snickers bars from the nation’s schools in hopes of reducing the number of…
U.S. House passes cyber-security scholarship bill
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a cyber-security bill that calls for beefing up training, education, research, and coordination so the government can better prepare to deal…
Kindles, iPads could be textbooks in new Georgia state bill
Could Kindles, iPads, and other reading devices soon be as common in Georgia schools as textbooks? Maybe, if a bill passed by the state Senate is approved in…
Obama to seek sweeping change in NCLB rewrite
The Obama administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of President Bush’s signature education law, No Child Left Behind, and will call for broad changes in how schools are…
Microsoft calls for cloud-computing regulations
A Microsoft official argued Jan. 13 that the U.S. Congress should create rules and regulations for cloud computing, a burgeoning technology that has gained traction among schools and…
More Ariz. classes approved for online instruction
A new state law that lets all 227 Arizona school districts and 500 charter schools offer K-12 courses online has the potential to revolutionize instruction, reports the Arizona…
States lower test standards for a high school diploma
On the way to creating a statewide exit test for graduation, many states have softened standards, delayed the requirement, or added alternative paths to a high school diploma,…
Feds roll out simpler FAFSA form
The new online version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will allow college applicants to skip series of questions that don't apply to them and…
Comcast, NBC deal to test net neutrality
Analysts say Comcast Corp. likely will have to accept substantial conditions if the cable TV provider wants to win regulatory approval for control of NBC Universal's broadcast network,…
UC’s 32-percent fee hike sparks protest
As protests raged outside, the University of California Board of Regents on Nov. 19 approved a 32-percent fee increase for students attending the state's premier public universities in…
Mich. bill pushes ‘green’ lessons for new drivers
Is it environmental awareness or political correctness? That's the question swirling around a bill recently introduced in the Michigan House that would require driver's education programs to propagate…
SETDA names new executive director
On Nov. 16, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) will have a new leader: Long-time ed-tech industry executive Douglas Levin will take the reins from current SETDA…
Bill Gates helps shape education policy
Not content with shaping education directly through schools, the biggest player in the school-reform movement has an eye on moving education policy. Key words: Bill and Melinda Gates,…
FCC moves closer to net neutrality
University IT officials concerned that corporate control of the internet would mean that only major schools could afford premium web access lauded the Federal Communication Commission's step Oct.…
Education advocates push for net neutrality
Republican opposition is mounting as federal regulators prepare to vote this month on so-called "network neutrality" rules, which would prohibit broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against certain…
FCC chairman: ‘Open internet’ rules are vital
Wireless carriers shouldn't be allowed to block certain types of internet traffic flowing over their networks, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said Sept. 21 in a…
Initiative focuses on early learning programs
Tucked away in an $87 billion higher-education bill that passed the House last week was a broad new federal initiative aimed not at benefiting college students, but at…
Google addresses book-search privacy fears
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin has extended the deadline until 10 a.m. EDT on Sept. 8 for protesting or supporting the landmark deal that would let Google Inc.…
Royalty rates settled for college internet radio
Campus-based internet radio broadcasters have an established royalty rate after an agreement was reached with SoundExchange, a nonprofit organization created to collect and dole out music royalties to…
GOP leaving ‘No Child’ behind
As the Obama administration considers new legislation to fix schools, House Republicans have chosen an education policy leader who is eager to turn the page on the No…
ED: Blended learning helps boost achievement
A new analysis of existing online-learning research by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) reveals that students who took all or part of their class on line performed…
ED: Blended learning helps boost achievement
A new analysis of existing online-learning research by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) reveals that students who took all or part of their class on line performed…
ED OKs proctors, secure logins for online tests
Web-based college programs won't have to buy pricey monitoring gadgets like cameras and fingerprint or eye scanners to satisfy the requirements of a section in the recently reauthorized…
Rendell: Science, math pros needed to teach school
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is asking the state Legislature to create a "fast track" into the teaching ranks for technology and engineering professionals, reports the Associated Press.