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<div>October 8, 2013 - In This Issue:</div>
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<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK17">Who suffers? Head Start, again</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK45">The Common Core battle intensifies</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK44">He has seen the movement's enemy, and it is itself</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK43">How not to roll out a new technology district-wide</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK42">We're asking the wrong questions</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK53">So baby, talk to me</a></div>
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<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK55">E.D. Hirsch, vindicated at last</a></div>
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<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK54">Charters and SPED</a></div>
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<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK46">BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA</a></div>
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<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK56">BRIEFLY NOTED</a></div>
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<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="http://mail.aol.com/38079-111/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27531025&seq=0&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK19">GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES</a></div>
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<div><br>
<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><span style="color: #f14e23;"><b>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Who suffers? Head Start, again</div>
</b></span></div>
<div style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">In the short term,
schools are unaffected by the federal shutdown, but if the impasse in
Congress lasts long, they could feel the squeeze, writes Jackie Mader in
The Hechinger Report. From week two onward, the shutdown will delay
funding to districts, colleges, and universities that rely on federal
money, according to a U.S. Department of Education (ED) contingency
plan. With 90 percent of ED employees furloughed, the department can't
assist districts or answer questions about implementing reforms. The
biggest immediate impact will be felt in Head Start programs, still
reeling from sequestration cuts that pushed 57,000 children out of
preschools. According to the National Head Start Association, 23
programs in 11 states with grant cycles that were to begin October 1
will lose money. In Prentiss, Mississippi, the Five County Child
Development Program, which serves about 900 children, had to close its
Head Start classes. "The only funds we have coming in are the federal
dollars," said Jonathan Bines, its director. He's gotten calls from
parents struggling to deal with the closure. In Jefferson Davis County,
where Prentiss is located, the median household income is $26,000 and
one out of every four residents lives in poverty. "They don't have any
childcare," said Bines. "They're scrambling to find a place to leave
their children." <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p52TkdaxnPcLkmM20-xXvsnlj6-5x5x9EfD2OdYJG4GQswTmyekfdDwUi5fZGRULfJuYV97oXEbLn6CiMlaB7vcR8Wvb-wmGLlZQ2auWYxOWtmKHeHzLXn7h0iDirMqLzvyxtnenWWV04YQTdes6WTsV9af6gbG6RM9dHSNhzmgs5h8-7ZRqU7nh8zYgYSuRdw5tuvbtLnuSZ9xMSNOjwSyWkx4qCSrHJ6FxCH7WVvk9-luAkxqjNtNglHremK-s0u3PDL63CrTjIQ==">More.</a> <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p539gVmsDbgKAsQFjitAUscaLQIXxAkJPeF7CJ4pULcwot17zxN07dgZCMdteYdBhoQQOqh4_OlF-cb9AgMJsf8aBdaKlLm4NHeC31TpPLcz_S2cq6p02MmUZ6NLLolt6eKdd__jQ9cnO6q9VDx0ZJN_yxKEW2FkeyIDrGl-dnT6kqqOk8Z2c71vmXahxcb37T5wZCjASyVcXQ==">Related</a></div>
</span></div>
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<div><br>
<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><span style="color: #f14e23;"><b>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The Common Core battle intensifies</div>
</b></span></div>
<div style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Tens of millions of
dollars are pouring into the fight over the Common Core, write Stephanie
Simon and Nirvi Shah for Politico.com. At first glance, proponents have
the advantage: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pumped over
$160 million into developing and promoting the standards, and is
planning $4 million in grants to strengthen advocacy. Opponents project a
scrappy, grassroots image, but in fact are backed by organizations
including the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, the Pioneer
Institute, Concerned Women for America, and FreedomWorks. These have
circulated talking points, organized petitions, connected activists, and
convened anti-Common Core conferences. The battle lines defy partisan
categories: Teacher unions have joined with the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and the Obama administration, while
the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida is allied with Tea Party
activists. "It's hard to argue that Common Core proponents haven't been
caught flat-footed," observes Andrew Rotherham of Bellwether Education.
"There was this overconfidence that the time had come... They forgot
that in a democracy, you have to do the nitty-gritty work of persuading
people." Pro-Core events this fall will focus on persuading parents, and
unions are encouraging teachers to organize town halls. Change the
Equation is urging its members to use their corporate intranets to push
pro-Core messages to employees, many of them parents. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p50kgLX1riPi9bbJ6BCJCe1Ph20t7b8Zg6ac3kTOKGaSi1XheFMSKyqLOEde8n2IClZJfxjsF-AwhKp1M5ygIfdyL6UBukOrUu8U-5oAWOk1C36XkSYpOUEuBkbN2rQkSuxlU88kjyDsCLchGgLksehgX2eFtEch62TIVNTNUVqs2ize_uhO8_LLtNGtj6Q5Pq8Y5NlK-xnMdEVRST4P5BADoXPCVZ6LKLqxFNKjTaz4ig==">More</a></div>
</span></div>
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<div><br>
<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><span style="color: #f14e23;"><b>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">He has seen the movement's enemy, and it is itself</div>
</b></span></div>
<div style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The education reform
movement that produced charter schools, tenure reform, "Waiting for
Superman," and Michelle Rhee is at risk, Louisiana Schools Chief John
White said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, reports Joy
Resmovits in The Huffington Post. In his view, this movement has
morphed into an "aggressive style of populism" now skeptical of a
"reform effort that has done good in America and that needs to be
sustained." This must be addressed within the movement, "lest this
generational effort wash out with the tide of the next administration."
The reform agenda, he says, has gone from "small-time advocacy" to being
the prevailing ideas in governance, education, and philanthropy. The
greatest risk it now faces is not the validity of its ideas but the
pitfalls of authority itself. To prevent its implosion, White offers a
three-part solution: Reformers must shift their mission to one of
national responsibility rather than relying too much on "easy sympathy
for the urban poor"; the narrative must move beyond casting teacher
unions as the enemy to taking on "establishment bureaucracy," such as
management of Title I programs; and reformers should focus more on
implementing than on devising policies. Implementation of big ideas,
such as the revision of teacher evaluations, has come off half-baked, he
said. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p52y0WjgMqo0X2pnQye4u9OvWu7qx9EVYEyThNSmTI5TXTQuYdBdpPZjA49kTnti2uitvxEX1_c1OfoSySE5RhyCZftGp9Ta0ga002P3HHqVpEcEVZT5R3QiPFtFsZW47CjxOwrzj03YsBvvtlex7_dOIh9WrjTXd8jO08_QsM3--oAudNnf5jbkj8mEy_PSeUPw-5uwiuE_sA==">More</a></div>
</span></div>
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<div><br>
<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><b>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">How not to roll out a new technology district-wide</div>
</b></div>
<div style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Anya Kamenetz of The
Hechinger Report spoke to two LAUSD contractors who have first-hand
knowledge of LAUSD's iPad fiasco, and their insiders' view reads like a
primer of how not to deploy a new technology in a district. The first
problem was the district's timeline. The iPad idea surfaced in November
2012 as a proposal to spend $17 million in bond money, and had only a
small pilot in the spring. Second was a lack of professional development
and a failure to recognize the human-resource needs inherent in a big
device rollout. (One reason students found it so easy to turn off the
security controls to access restricted sites was that many teachers were
unfamiliar with how the controls worked.) Third, taking devices home
was not piloted, so in the full rollout, teachers quickly discovered
that checking devices out at the end of the day and back in at the
beginning used up precious classroom time. Parents, meanwhile, don't
want to be liable for iPad loss, breakage, or theft. Fourth, Los Angeles
paid a reported $678 apiece for Apple iPads, higher than retail
(although the price does include educational software). Still, iPads
aren't durable machines, and significantly, they lack keyboards. Just
after Labor Day, the district announced it might spend an additional $38
million on wireless keyboard accessories. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p50-Th6a5eP3iHv-h1S6LyZ3S72dbOiV3kTedoDomOcTrUpBrSyzkZwS2LC6XZ_rw7jBkBjNtwqjT_Dzt86i3hkQBVxGvKFq7rHU3T7HT-4YQ3v2uownw9y_i6l6e6d4TCwAyQEzhcFsLoMKT7Ge1HLomkwQYWbvNc_6clRsnxYScbJLW-1gCwpZihcdSSH034y-FIbjhEs4rqhfkLZX9_QiXoKG3_67kTCum6942zx8nA==">More</a></div>
</span></div>
</div>
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<div><br>
<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><span style="color: #f14e23;"><b>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">We're asking the wrong questions</div>
</b></span></div>
<div style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">California has embarked
on a bold experiment in education, with policy shifts like the Common
Core State Standards and the Local Control Funding Formula making
districts dramatically more autonomous, writes Patrick Atwater on the Ed
Source website. This is a golden opportunity to transform education's
one-size-fits-all model. Management-labor disputes have raged over which
group of adults in a district get power, but the model of school as a
place where students sit in rows and get talked at for hours each day is
unchanged. Consider class-size reduction, a reform favored in the '90s
in California and hastily implemented, which resulted in new
instructional space superseding space for play and kids losing recess.
Atwater says it makes little sense to speak of "optimal" class sizes in
universal terms: "What regression should one run to uncover the truth of
whether every human learns best in a classroom with under 20 students, a
classroom of 34 students, alone in his backyard, or among a hundred
thousand online peers?" Why not consider that a given student might
learn best in one environment for one line of inquiry, and in a
different environment for another? Education extends far beyond formal
schooling, and the shortcomings of our current school structures are
foundational. Before we ask what class size is optimal, for instance, we
should ask what constitutes a classroom. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p51q2CNtZS7gwUDKeEyZZIKshnNkQNrbyqT5JQvp44Z8FIQF983iCJE1liuv5VPkOCdXXuW_EHM6uKX5psPs5q_tc2lLTwUV64Keq_OIOsiGmiyFyWkzZaMdiqaZVOaqj3fp4FO95LAnEvgW_AdSkw-NQInub_jMliMvwsfCpJJhxfZvqaMBuKZN_yfsP9yFA8ixDP3wDWXaE397ywLJX7Io6FwZi9V_747RuzNh_AJ5IWJLVIfm-0jY">More</a></div>
</span></div>
</div>
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<a name="aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK53"></a><table id="aolmail_content_LETTER.BLOCK53" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 9px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><br>
<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><span style="color: #f14e23;"><b>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">So baby, talk to me</div>
</b></span></div>
<div style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Pediatric surgeon Dana
Suskind, her staff, and a rotating cast of research assistants are
working to help low-income parents engage their children in rich,
meaningful conversation from the moment they're born, reports Sara
Neufeld in Slate Magazine. The first trial of the Thirty Million Words
Project (named after research finding that a child born into poverty
hears 30 million fewer words by age 3 than a child born affluent) is
complete, for which Suskind's staff visited low-income mothers on
Chicago's South Side and trained them in a parent-talk curriculum. Every
week, a young child in a participating family spent a day wearing a
device to record the number of words heard and spoken, plus the number
of "turns" in a conversation -- back-and-forth between parent and child.
Words on television did not count. The full results aren't yet
published, but individual participants' data show dramatic increases in
parent-child interaction. The Thirty Million Words curriculum is
delivered in 12 weekly home visits, each with a multimedia computer
presentation for the home visitor and parent to review together on a
laptop. Topics in the Thirty Million Words curriculum include how to go
on a television "diet" and how to effectively encourage a child. Home
visitors always present the research behind their recommendations rather
than simply being directive. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p53fcsKCu5yqrGutrAD4_r2eh1D-yZI0rMQrZZOaLjXmyB99952CoCkKP8nvKNM8gdNgyNJ6dA5R2hOn5kKzpmI7Pqs6bQmhQKRBoHWD6dJHGL8PleupheF34IEops0H8Q3uBZeO85nBNFMIbkMjmLpq4LjM9_vk7rfDxr6658hxKClki0Hr7GIYcz0XpXu13CHE6obGd0I8G0naQIvDbpVfHdwrZ99_rdj_H9VsP2ttIWk4p8LoN7hwpBJm7IF5xF9VJU8jHwhmng3DVoekossj">More</a></div>
</span></div>
</div>
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<div><br>
<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><span style="color: #f14e23;"><b>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">E.D. Hirsch, vindicated at last</div>
</b></span></div>
<div style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A generation after being
widely criticized as elitist and narrow-minded, the education theorist
E. D. Hirsch Jr. is experiencing a revival, writes Al Baker in The New
York Times. Curricula developed by his Core Knowledge Foundation have
been adopted by schools in 25 states. Not since 1987, when he published
"Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know," which included a
list of 5,000 essential concepts, has Hirsch been so in demand. His
newfound popularity can be attributed to the Common Core, which he did
not write, but his lesson plans, teaching materials, and exercises match
its heightened expectations of student progress. Philosophically, the
ideal of a rigorous nationwide standard is vindication of Hirsch's
criticisms of modern education. Hirsch acknowledges his current moment
represents "a decline in the culture wars" around his Core Knowledge
concept. Diane Ravitch, a friend, said that while she agrees with his
emphasis on background knowledge, her concern "is about when, not
whether," to introduce it. Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution
said he was "very sympathetic" to Hirsch's arguments, but credited them
with forging small inroads rather than widespread change. All said,
Hirsh still worries that Common Core proponents might doom the standards
by saddling them with test preparation and meaningless assessments,
rather than ones that measure learning in history and civics, science,
and literature. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p52NHCV3UVDXWhgdEAMx-XsDOStSXMCEf6jAb12P-PmpMUahzYOphtRcJ30-yfVfWC1CTnJbk3dleczjwQUSLO6SMPjD4LjYUOZBpz17diRdwe4yrhTT_S67bZewlBG4cZ-z7PaRgMh7DFczl45aUqTLnwaThM8rxPCGdcbe1Y6y8U2ZGc36uoJkNhq_SwL-M0wH8e2CtrfFvdoyNJeRuAknLaTvyPfBpj0qqQk5VB2HMxWmTS8--nS0">More</a></div>
</span></div>
</div>
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<div><br>
<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><span style="color: #f14e23;"><b>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Charters and SPED</div>
</b></span></div>
<div style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A new study from the
Manhattan Institute examines the disparity in special education rates
between charter and traditional public schools. The study, which uses
data from New York City, finds the gap in special education enrollment
exists primarily because students with disabilities -- particularly
those with autism or a speech or language impairment -- are less likely
to apply to charters in kindergarten than general education students.
This gap grows as students progress from kindergarten through third
grade, with 80 percent of this growth because charters are less likely
than district schools to classify students as needing special education
services, and more likely to declassify them. The other 20 percent of
the gap's growth stems from student transfers between charter and
district schools, since greater proportions of general education
students enter charters between kindergarten and third grade, reducing
the total proportion of students with special needs. The special
education gap between charter and traditional schools occurs mostly in
the categories of emotional disability and specific learning disability;
rates of classification in autism, speech or language impairment, or
intellectual disability are similar in charter and traditional public
schools over time. Special education students are also more mobile,
regardless of school type: Nearly a third leave a school before the
fourth year of attendance, whether charter or traditional. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p51t-orMIhv7vVy7BTey_lN7liU-bA4IzvEjfEkX8amgJxTJed3Z4D8SboIG5F9JA-yWAgfibTLiVV86Rghvx2WL2H7dXa994BDKUbWKNtK4zznNofDHKWgkEUlTJEL2X0odVKmbJ0T3m9AXre_bheJojyFgnrCf-wN3ImgvNHhhOCv9Hdop5kgpEKkH5rvVsZPAAP20zg5C9A==">More</a></div>
</span></div>
</div>
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<div><b>BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA</b></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 18px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Attendance crisis</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">One out of every four
California elementary school students -- nearly one million total -- are
truant each year, jeopardizing their academic futures and depriving
schools of needed dollars. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p50_iEN1xUDTUAU7fPiOEz5hKQTxqxpn-90317YHhR-qPZiEXf7ba8NAUuCfuO09p3IrHKt0oV0h5AP8MfDc6VY92yenJWhq4TvHq24FgJERDI3yeSitLsAdwy56LjaxDytcAugFNRPx6m5A1Zjt1YXOBXVmIEMj9Bx_HCdIAeGHovF3qgpCeyj2">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Certain individuals ruining it for everybody</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">For the second straight
year, the Los Angeles Unified teachers' union refused to endorse the
district's application for a prestigious federal grant, which officials
said would have brought in $30 million to fund counselors and
instructional coaches at high-needs middle schools. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p53URJcJ_73ZtFBNCMTzOWBBDI6QuijfBy1CfOOZQe42sRfW16U0tmhQwuYufdASqutMZ4lKlPztXHVIUmezkIEtZPpe2MvBW38FSTiSUNv1AgGppHN3ip-o8CbzL6_6axjqf6xhzDzGwFO7f_aEaxBmnAToGBR4mI8=">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Coming soon</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Lesson plans about the
roles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans in California
and U.S. history are a step closer to making their way into Los Angeles
Unified School District high schools by early 2014. <a style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p51ZltttyGiHnya9UNehVRGztBPj75CToHHn-f-VlWbrPlmX4NsJcXJUI5E8IQOKVBo1ZnObfQRYnPevq_uaMdL8O-RynlfjMwqfbiNXAyKg6mApC7-165I3S9iSkusFmTitbpVdmtFTgHxRrPhC3gzMZEqp0f_TEFO3v6Y_269_DBk7BJY_hMl0BqoM7s-CoKM1VMBjxXYQzg==">More</a></div>
</div>
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<div><b>BRIEFLY NOTED </b></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 18px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>K.C., no</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro will recommend that Kansas City Public Schools remain unaccredited this year. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p51KAT0bXUfumHIthMDKcjGjRbU9b4lJ-aA_01FUV1QVFPUkjPuU4NkMbzRzG8zFjwQfEAU_QuI4UGRmHtcLy1lx63m8AUKavew8L-31vdrCSfrgZ4U0KlgstpMzMvv5tXs_WjVZF-t57ztKaeEQdsfr1ybcmIIy7lWURDciESGOyO2NP-LWTnH5i1Xzg0_MwzuTQKBxZtrWgqmrbIRTURu2wMImBFgmoQM=">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Developing a problem</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Half the principals in
Washington, D.C.'s traditional public schools were deemed "developing"
-- one rung above "ineffective" -- on newly revised evaluations that for
the first time sorted administrators by their performance. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p51C19uGJ8FN14SJprn7lxiPXXSKyMokoCploRTuBWwlVMl_Jw_U0a3PwI7JUwkIO-8k0CWA7hnr0dgqVmXnfkm1GMnxydBgqD-Bn5lmVijf_oTOS0_cCs4W1GQ5Z7o8GSN4ULY_kOnUkV8k2jDadgfTmR6oktTEtCfKwqwiPDWQ08uIHXRPlrVslLDjvSbE_ugioAxUJvP0P1g0cakWd12bmHeQVTN2RBDeWXfIYrvlHDGp9B43cjhzg33SUXlpjbNg36bQKIHh4Dnm0eFxtXvY3SncxVUZSrSnr5bxg_2yvgFB78-PVu-Yl7vtccZr-rIaoVWA1m_7FeveDHbOEXYlVKrtwprCRPk=">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Snowballing</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The number of Indiana
students applying to receive vouchers that allow them to use state money
to pay for private schools has more than doubled for a second
consecutive year. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p524CQO7WcgPOfttbelQWgT82o_0RlMWFwSK85MmXCXcQgYamcjux1th9wIeukWaClWgLHGSbfANn8j_DpFgN4rblVZZY8rzmswT4XvrO1mmtcGNiOnBtkPIXQ3wV754WFQiIq9mwbTV8QdfHq5V0Fkqtb3dm-n6w2EOARApfHsZ9Zg9u92RFj3fBQTkVJ1rz-0=">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Be their guest</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Arizona lawmakers are
free to give parents what amounts to a voucher of public funds to
educate their children at any private or parochial school they want, the
Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p528RwF4qFBz44G2ZyHxS3JVO3y2jr8y7cImEY73bUvtHP32pun9NNmPywKnyfOOVKzJW95gQfiGZGtMcY-iL6plDrvr9Az-Ow1wyTgf_zyo4P-ezUHsrszPdy-kZVugvrb1b-1LMzBPzSQGQ3VrVPeHJr8Jt3LBf5ARO9RWluXkhS1RQVmwIwQ9CM1uvNpfudkXBj9gRB1_67Zxs7vLKjc7rYk4xLl9lcWEvik-T6WWuFj-VQeqwQ--7Px1P0nia2HTqY3mgRnf1i5JDpdI1Gv4oVnalg1H_o9Jhb909JWwcg==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Less dismal</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The results are out for
Kentucky's second year of Common Core-aligned testing, with student
scores slightly less discouraging than in Year One. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p50ybGTNMZXbz0x92T8ESadXXKt1XJXBhzY2TSPxunbnEft6mBgEcalD2qrFqQ0mhF7HObIvpqP-_jfWaekjLfDp7oTltUrzq39pwOtWPaqi8nyYMdL9yh3ul8rzqpGs8TOgZhjjRp1iWn0IACLjqu2UhWR-gGHGr-VrYP19Mh8Ue76Am2OFLO-VnHV5xyauuIdOQ8gdTivkzvGBteQNveTM-6oCHrdcjkIoycNwjkoz2w==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>We have exactly zero problem with this</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Hillary Clinton is
advancing herself as an advocate for the nation's littlest learners --
an important, popular and risk-free position. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p521B9wnHKkuPkCv8yJ73_l2hG224DYglGhl4Md90yzFH7XyN7rDNpAj082-engybXjJ54GuQVjddXflYo-IUyUzsAL7WeG7Zhciz8c2oKkhNNjGrvo6_sBkw-5kEwDt-Kz8JZ5_cWBgP1EDTNf0ASsb1PIKqa-2JeQSb_mBSGAhseLBXozpZVypjoh4z00bjM0=">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Didn't see this one coming</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Texas is starting its
once-a-decade adoption of new science textbooks, reigniting a battle
over whether to include information on creationism, evolution and global
warming. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p51i650uVNhezdC-k6POjLmklnOi-VLuNgs_pRSy7EV66PvznzgxxccPbCVnBU9ypbRtayZmV1fBHxrCWLL8cMlZY1IGmPDvz1bHU5jXFijyY3XCfbZIWtSszTyxxgDAkOwUt6ZIrDLjOMTEudq2WTvHrs-YasycVXQGXDykHU-VDToogD-aQ7CdXHQCnW410f0=">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>See what happens when you behave?</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Texas has won an NCLB
Waiver after exchanging its own state accountability system for one that
aligns with federal requirements to set achievement goals of 100
percent student proficiency by 2019-2020. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p53RLQcaIMUCoZ3vEPkh-MCszz1h2cVnLpt5QPlgMJE19FQ0b9vQag-10l9I4t6Id-Eo42F2OW74hM-1dVJx6sgqR4DBTHeDfEAQKcumNdPGeyAynzKR5k3tRKp5lWHMxHbig0HBIaEC7un8f7UXariUm8kkOMkjxR4KF_ysWJEGaJAWZRu4zbnNcPRYXMBhEUGPIdIgxUnh9w==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Rubber rooms prove durable</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The Bloomberg
administration is suing the teachers union for failing to comply with an
agreement intended to expedite cases involving teachers accused of
misconduct or incompetence. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p50X8amWXIJ4dnEDZL4Oc7QkNMe7l7cYqil-1UxX-fhVbKF_oJn8veRa_a9sDFPJ7JyxUZXtRf39rXDZFLGXmJg1dG-PA-ApKjo2UbMazJIlKTuqCXZ8tpXCmfLFM5s3K9SZ9eO_xYDm2t8TQ6_IVvIafci97aQNCTSsviBWIJekcegzu9-Wdr8UQX-GtO-KkrU=">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Forearmed</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Schools across the country -- including in Newtown -- will be getting extra guards, the Department of Justice has announced. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p51ESa3bHGWNTJEyKYcN7JwFM_UB9kslSMFGDLHS-AbQTg0-5Pr2xgewr3P4VCP3HS2zhGkVyXgTmj0SERjC0ZRTXvQuaXMIDa8dhHJ4jNxGqBJhLM5Xo57EMzUyQOylV8v4FmTW_JB53Mqh43itTb4yZ2VKrgun4G_-poxnckuwJ3rowK7i_2213XOkk_fn9fLUsJj6A5qNqNopCcYWu1le">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Sound policy</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The
community-meals-eligibility option authorized by Congress in 2010 is
proving popular with high-poverty schools and is significantly
increasing student participation in school lunch and school breakfast
programs funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to a
report released by two national anti-poverty advocacy groups. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p50-nBl5_fH900-mYwBtvXp-1hUhNsLiceXhk9dwACqpLi6dGEa6SmEFKqqP1b7xBtAblygP_X7v2z9zqVxwMG_qyDgwTP-5T1iqchEEV48M7EpTeKyAbwG3Yhp9ZNpvNUDNh_e_Hk91FRPMcNlC30jrgUG1beyB1weo2CdvIJCoVJfkhVgzc5DTAaBZQaI3mBXpbkPsmXdT5qv9cM0VZjs3hT0QMsSVytRpzMDGDYIKbO1DOcAxmVOe51EM1RZhvWDa8toIPO2rIA==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><strong>Welcome news</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A recent study shows that tobacco use in all forms has fallen among all subgroups of students over a 12-year period. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p51mHnJn_sfVjp1ZvlO__h0qu8GbSdSQYB0D_kd7ZwUi5J6Z9l1lHMB1Z9svAGK7Lw5qxCvhQuQeFWu2ueJcqVR5NP_Z4SvArhQs94eFQ7XrBcN5R4s3by4AEFgXHzm8eNV-u_M2gbvxwgfsS259UOM7KczUqTuakt9ItiBbSAmEDsVZn3CuB_K6zK9TAmD25p5hZK_N_Dk6D3aalHDAgZo0ibkCOloTH6Tyy1PeFuPVqw==">More</a></div>
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<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><b>GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES</b></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p53XF0epr9QU3WlaDeRm3y08PDgfIhZ44GyMNf2AOnOf0fg_EE2Qf2P99V89qMFU8Wj6lpdFYHTb6mDib03KFnvBHp0JTnNx4wo-HbByZ9oDsIDF-nu39bcABhmu_hWZGNKmNmAkunj6Wgos-LCktyIUDlr1Gs0UWQpTFrEjucCfDQ==">National Federation of Independent Business: Young Entrepreneur Awards</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The NFIB Young
Entrepreneur Awards program raises awareness among the nation's youth of
the critical role that private enterprise and entrepreneurship play in
the building of America. Maximum award: $10,000 in tuition assistance.
Eligibility: high school seniors. Deadline: December 18, 2013.</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p50vg6hs2Eb_l7EYq2pb0QN0yGpmnbCZKgXOekDT7R4WnmPxJ3SkUvs4q7ckAY96OUGD_RM1TiBREYIW3s1zOzpSrUMYyVhnq71wujEc2-l-R0QfbV8H2jLWpmbnfT0fbCrSA5ZRE-K-gdZl7FNIwzWl">Stag Hunt Enterprises: Grant for District Innovation</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Stag Hunt Enterprises is
offering a prize to the California district that will best use or has
already used flexibility under recent policies to change the education
paradigm in its schools. Maximum award: $1,000. Eligibility: school
districts in California. Deadline: November 5, 2013.</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p52ty2OrSMiJB5RQNUKFarv-ufF-kVfAflTAzs3c1xzo1i5lkKjDhyO2R7xb-AAzim3cVahjVLkwrQGlYJtJ3Qj43_tzHj4HHATHh5fnHnuzSJWjlPhh7fIYavKfCW_oFsk=">Innovation Generation: Christopher Columbus Awards</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The Christopher Columbus
Awards is a national, community-based STEM competition for middle
school students and teachers looking to make a difference in their
community. Working in teams, students identify a problem in the
community and apply the scientific method to create an innovative
solution. Maximum award: $25,000 grant. Eligibility: schools (grades
6-8) and community groups. Deadline: February 3, 2014.</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>QUOTE OF THE WEEK:</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">"We're boring our kids
to death... We're failing our low-income kids and doing a mediocre job
at best with our other kids. This is reality. We need to get our act
together." -- <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(238, 86, 36); text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ghw_F7i3p518PsTqnPq0A9tX5iVIA8bAXVsmo0kNtgXUmo6JNh53dBMNkQZvZDc1-Vw9zAceArSN-1px9CCGTTEceSOmKq5QRRiUZrQpbRDRWFNcdQ4rAdtCo2od7vLi66njqLUis6I4Nzq-cvFmPF_XtUb-i5CuTGC0vtywv3TRTsG2WgoRgMP5S3NKEZS5mJdXKNUg1jALUm4nV8Og1W_gnVioHmNT">Wendy Kopp</a>, founder of Teach for America</div>
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