Quick Hits

Bill addresses SEEK problems: SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky), a formula-driven, state-funded money allocation program, doles out money to schools based on a county's wealth. State Rep. Addia Wuchner R-Florence, submitted House Bill 108 to address the inequities of the formula. If passed, school districts would be allowed a third recalculation of SEEK if enrollment grows during the school year. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

KDE Seeks Input on Budget Cuts: State agencies have been asked to prepare worst-case-scenario budgets for the current fiscal year in order to close a projected $456 million General Fund shortfall. (Herald-Leader)

Archdiocese of Louisville Freezes Wages to Ward Off Tuition Hikes: About 3,000 employees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky., will have their wages frozen in an effort to save money and minimize tuition increases at its schools, church officials said last week. (Education Week - subscription)

KHSAA medical advisory committee to discuss new safety recommendations following Jefferson Co. football player's death: The heat exhaustion death last year of a Louisville high school football player, whose coach was indicted Friday, is prompting a group of doctors to consider new protections for the state's high school athletes. (H-L)

'Tebow bill' would let home school students play on public school teams - Prospects for passage difficult: Tim Tebow, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner and twice the quarterback of NCAA football championship teams at the University of Florida, never attended public schools. He was home-schooled but he played on high school football teams.Now Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Crescent Springs, wants kids in Kentucky to have the same opportunity. He’s introduced a bill in the state Senate which would allow home-school students in Kentucky to participate in inter-scholastic sports at their local public schools. (News and Tribute)

A Coach Indicted: Football is a contact sport, and sometimes players are hurt. The pads and helmets they wear are protection against the literal breaks of the game. That roughness, that risk, is understood. But less understandable is a player collapsing from heat stroke during football practice, as 15-year-old Max Gilpin did last August after working out in 94-degree heat at Pleasure Ridge Park High School. His body heat spiked to 107 degrees, and he died of organ failure after three days on life support. Questions swirled: Why did this happen? How could it be? What about the rules governing water and heat and practice? (Courier-Journal)

Lawsuit Says Minn. Charter School Illegally Promotes Muslim Religion: A Minnesota charter school that caters to Muslim students is using taxpayer money to illegally promote religion in violation of the First Amendment, the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota alleged in a lawsuit filed last week. (Education Week - subscription)

Will some Maryland seniors fail to meet state graduation requirements?: Thousands of Maryland high school seniors are believed to be at risk of failing to meet state requirements for graduation. This spring, high school seniors are required to pass a four-subject test, and although students can complete projects instead, or earn waivers from the requirement, it is unclear how many are doing so statewide. (The Baltimore Sun)

Economy batters Vanderbilt University's assets: With 'protective bubble' burst, school plans cuts. (The Tennessean)

Los Angeles district tests may spark teacher boycott: The Los Angeles teachers union is speaking out against periodic assessments of students that they say are costly and impinge on classroom instruction time. Union leaders say jobs could be spared be eliminating the tests, while a Los Angeles Times analysis asserts student scores on state assessments have risen since the district tests began. (Los Angeles Times)

Stimulus plan could reshape U.S. education policy: The federal investment in education would more than double under a proposed stimulus package pending in Congress -- which includes $150 billion in new education spending -- changing the federal government's role in education. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the money will prevent hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs nationwide, and money also will go to support early childhood education, repair aging school buildings and improve special-education programs. (International Herald Tribune)

Students in Louisiana charter set own time line for graduation: A Louisiana charter school lets high school students work their way through the computer programs that teach the state's curriculum at their own speed. Educators say the model, which offers a 244-day school year instead of 180, gives them more time to tailor extra lessons to students' needs. (The Times-Picayune)

Court says private school can expel lesbians: A private religious high school can expel students it believes are lesbians because the school isn't... As with the Boy Scouts, she said, the primary function of the school is to instill its values in young people, who are told of its policies when they enroll. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Cheerleader can't sue school or spotter, court rules: A cheerleader injured while practicing a stunt cannot sue her high school or the spotter who was supposed to break her fall, the Wisconsin Supreme Court said in a decision released Tuesday. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Chairman Miller Asks GAO to Investigate Cases of Abuse and Neglect of Schoolchildren: U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office to further investigate recent reports of seclusion and restraint of children in public and private schools across the country. Miller’s committee plans to hold a hearing on these practices in the coming months. (US House of Representives)

Legal fees from losing Title IX suit prove costly: The Ramona school district has been scrambling to find a way to pay almost $325,000 in attorneys' fees and costs to Ramona High softball parents who sued in 2007 because boys had a better baseball facility. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

News You Can Endow: There is an option that might not only save newspapers but also make them stronger: Turn them into nonprofit, endowed institutions — like colleges and universities...Today, we are dangerously close to having a government without newspapers. American newspapers shoulder the burden of considerable indebtedness with little cash on hand, as their profit margins have diminished or disappeared. Readers turn increasingly to the Internet for information — even though the Internet has the potential to be, in the words of the chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, “a cesspool” of false information. If Jefferson was right that a well-informed citizenry is the foundation of our democracy, then newspapers must be saved. (New York Times)

Technology Companies Team Up on Testing: Three of the world's largest technology companies (Microsoft, Intel & Cisco Systems) are working together to create assessments that measure critical thinking, technical aptitude, and other 21st century skills—a project that could guide new versions of international comparison tests. (Ed Week - subscription)

2 more kids claim strip-searches: CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS Students at two more Chicago public schools are suing over what they say were illegal strip-searches by school security staffers during hunts for contraband that was never found. (Chicago Sun Times)

'Scientifically Based' Giving Way to 'Development,' 'Innovation': The watchwords for the field of education research in the post-Bush era seem headed toward "development" and "innovation." (Ed Week - subscription)

School Officials 'Threatened Kids:' Administrators at a Bronx elementary school interrogated a class of 7-year-olds individually about their teacher - and then threatened to suspend those who told their folks, several fuming parents told The Post. Education officials confirmed yesterday that they were investigating claims that as many as 20 second-graders at PS 70 in Mount Eden were pressured by Principal Kerry Castellano and other administrators to compose written statements about teacher Jonathan Alejandro's disciplinary methods. Parents said they hit the roof when they heard about it. Students were promised McDonald's and other goodies for keeping mum, parents said. "It's appalling! I'm raising my daughter not to hide things from me, and they're telling her to lie," said Rosa Caceres, who described her daughter, Loreal Luna, as an "emotional wreck" ever since last month's incident. (New York Post)