By Smita Ghosh

Complaint Says Nonprofit Biased
Raleigh News & Observer – September 20, 2009

An education activist in Wake County, North Carolina, has filed a complaint with the state Board of Elections alleging that the Wake Education Partnership violated its nonprofit status by making statements supporting school board candidates that favor the school district’s student assignment policy. Joe Ciulla, the activist who filed the complaint, is a member of the steering committee of the Wake Schools Community Alliance, a group critical of the district’s assignment policy. Wake County public schools assigns students to schools based on a stated desire to equalize the proportion of low-income students in each school.

Seattle Schools Moving Ahead with New Student-Assignment Plan
Seattle Times – September 20, 2009

Officials of Seattle Public Schools announced that they seek to implement the district’s neighborhood schools student assignment plan by the end of this year. District officials will present updated plans at a series of community workshops beginning on October 6, and plan to vote on the plan in November.

Williams Eyes Cuts in Busing, Return to Neighborhood Schools
Buffalo News – September 21, 2009

Seeking to reduce busing costs and travel time, Buffalo, New York Schools Superintendent James Williams recently expressed interest in implementing a neighborhood-based student assignment plan in the city. Buffalo has employed an extensive busing plan under three decades of school desegregation efforts and then under a citywide choice plan.

Initiative Focuses on Early Learning Programs
The New York Times – September 21, 2009

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221), which was passed in the House of Representatives on September 17, includes an allocation of $ 8 million to the Early Learning Challenge Fund, which will provide grants to states that develop “coordinated infrastructures” for early childhood education and health-related screenings. Read more. \

Memphis City Schools Focus on Interventions to Help Students
Memphis Commercial Appeal – September 21, 2009

The City University School of Liberal Arts, a charter school in Memphis, Tennessee, has embarked on an aggressive math-education reform plan that mirrors intervention efforts that officials of the Memphis School District are planning. The City School has added a full-time algebra teacher/coach, mandatory Saturday school six times a year and has doubled the amount of math-education. They have also embraced an “early intervention” approach in which students who may not “get algebra” are required to report for an additional hour of after-school tutoring and to monthly Saturday school.

Debate Simmers Over School Expulsions
The Baltimore Sun – September 21, 2009

On September 21, the Baltimore, Maryland school board will debate its controversial zero tolerance policy in a special meeting. City Superintendent Alonso enacted the policy, in which any student involved in an arson or explosive case is permanently expelled from the system, last October. Since then, 46 students were expelled, and three of them challenged the policy in court, arguing that the permanent expulsion denied them access to a free and adequate education. After this, Alonso softened the ruling-allowing students under 16 to attend an alternative school for one year, with the option of returning to their previous school after good behavior. The Superintendent’s office has also revoked the expulsions of 30 of the 46 students, leaving only the students that are over 16, who are not guaranteed an education under the state constitution. The board will debate the part of the policy that affects these students tonight.

Smita Ghosh is a Paralegal in the Education Practice Area of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.