by Jim Tankersley

It's a federal holiday and (this year) a three-day weekend to boot. But not everyone is taking the Fourth of July off - including a whole bunch of teachers.

Today in Washington, more than 9,000 members of the National Education Association are continuing their Representative Assembly, a sort of smaller-scale national political convention complete with speeches, floor votes and strict parliamentary procedure.

The NEA's web site says the delegates will celebrate America's independence today and tackle "a full agenda of Association business." They'll honor an Idaho elementary school teacher who launched into space on the shuttle Endeavor last summer, along with their Education Support Professional of the Year.

"The day set aside to celebrate the nation's democratic tradition is also an important election day for the Association," the Web site continues. "Delegates will elect a new Secretary-Treasurer, choose two new members of the NEA Executive Committee, and decide whether to reccomend to NEA members the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States."

There's little drama in that last question -- the NEA is a perennial supporter of Democratic presidential candidates. It's also America's largest professional union, with some 3.2 million members. Most of whom are gladly taking today off.

by Mark Silva

Jeb Bush, old governor of Florida, has not faded away.

Bush, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, is rounding up a two-day summit of educators for a conference featuring New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and more.

John Ellis Bush, younger brother of President Bush and former two-term governor of Florida, championed education reforms that awarded additional state money to the best-performing "A-Plus'' schools as well as money to schools that improved their overall performance from year to year. The teachers' unions have criticized the plan for "teaching to the test,'' but student test scores, particularly among minorities, have improved.

Bush, who had never held public office before his first election as governor in 1998, also has used his off-years to promote educational progress - and, some have suggested, keep his fundraising base active.

Between his first, losing campaign for governor in 1994 and his ultimately successful one in '98, Bush founded the Foundation for Florida's Future, which joined with the Greater Miami Urban League to open a charter school in Liberty City, an impoverished inner-city part of Miami.

Now Bush, retired by term limits in 2006, has founded another not-for-profit charitable organization, the Foundation for Excellence in Education. The onetime commercial real estate developer, who lives in Miami, also is serving on corporate boards and working a well-paid speaker's circuit.

Bush's "National Education Reform Summit'' will open Thursday at Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort, near Orlando, with Margaret Spellings, secretary of education in his older brother's administration.

by Andrew Zajac

Tim Russert was journalistic royalty in Washington, and in that sense he was very much a part of the capital's establishment.

But Russert also was an outsider or at least an outlier. In a town where the front ranks of journalism and politics are dominated by graduates of the Ivy League and other elite schools, Russert's academic pedigree was comparatively modest.

He was an undergrad at John Carroll University, a small Jesuit school in suburban Cleveland, and he earned a law degree at Cleveland State University.

(Before Russert, Carroll's best-known alum probably was Super Bowl winning football coach Don Shula. )

The Buffalo-bred Russert, who died Friday at 58, was proud of his working class roots and was notably loyal to his alma maters, both of which are remembering him warmly this weekend.

John Carroll president Fr. Robert Niehoff S.J. said while Russert was a dominant force in journalism, he also was a beloved alum who exemplified the Jesuit Catholic mission of living for others.

CSU president Michael Schwartz noted that Russert was quick to credit his education, including his law school training, for his success

bv Matthew Hay Brown

An Idaho high school teacher put a student's Mexican flag in a garbage can this week, fueling a protest from the community's Latino popluation, according to news reports.

Froyland Camelo told The Times-News of Twin Falls that he was celebrating Cinco de Mayo on Monday at Minico High School in Rupert when a physical education teacher "grabbed" the flag from him. When the 16-year-old ninth-grader asked for the flag back, he said, teacher Clint Straatman taunted him.

"I said, 'What's the problem?'" Camelo told the newspaper. "He said, 'The problem is that we are in the United States and not in Mexico.' He grabbed it from me. He threw the flag in the garbage can."

Straatman acknowledged taking the flag and putting it in the garbage can, but said he was protecting Camelo from "white kids" who might have hurt him.

"I had to confiscate it so it wouldn't escalate any problems in class," Straatman told The Times-News. "We're worried about that stuff all the time. We always have kids saying stuff to each other, and we have a lot of fights between kids."

by Mark Silva

It has come to this.

President Bush, who will begin his own annual tour of college commencement addresses next week in the tornado-stricken town of Greensburg, Kansas -- the first time the president has delivered one of his addresses at a high school -- was on the radio today assuring college kids that student aid will not dry up.

The president, who has lost support in Congress for most of his initiatives in his final year in office, is calling today on people to call on Congress to ensure that adequate student aid remains available to those who need it. And he says this is not a recession.

" A slowdown in the economy shouldn't mean a downturn in educational opportunities,'' the president said in his weekly radio address today. " So we're taking decisive action now to ensure that college is accessible and affordable for students around the country.''

Read on to see the address:

by Matthew Hay Brown

Today is the 25th anniversary of "A Nation at Risk," the blue-ribbon study commissioned by the Reagan administration that sounded alarms about the state of the U.S. education system.

"The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and as a people," one oft-cited passage warned. "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war."

Issued in the midst of the Cold War, and at a moment when America's economic dominance appeared to under threat by a rising Japan, it was the report that launched a thousand school reform programs.

"The most important legacy of 'A Nation at Risk' was to put the quality of education on the national political agenda - where it has remained ever since," Edward B. Fiske writes in The New York Times. "The last 25 years have seen a succession of projects and movements aimed at increasing the quality of American primary and secondary schools: standards-based reform, the 1989 'education summit' that set six 'national goals' for education, the push for school choice and, most recently, the No Child Left Behind legislation. Proponents of each have taken pains to portray themselves as the heirs of 'A Nation at Risk.' "

George F. Will, in The Washington Post, calls much of the effort misguided. He recommends an earlier study, the Coleman report of 1966, which "concluded that the qualities of the families from which children come to school matter much more than money as predictors of schools' effectiveness.

"The crucial common denominator of problems of race and class - fractured families - would have to be faced," Will writes. "But it wasn't. Instead, shopworn panaceas - larger teacher salaries, smaller class sizes - were pursued as colleges were reduced to offering remediation to freshmen."

Fiske warns that "the report's desperate language may be more justified than ever."

President Bush visits third graders at Horace Greeley Elementary in Chicago, Illinois, Monday, January 7, 2008. (Chicago Tribune photo by Heather Stone/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

by Matthew Hay Brown

Visiting a Chicago elementary school today, President Bush said he was open to increasing flexibility in the No Child Left Behind Act – but threatened to veto any changes that would weaken educational accountability, and said he was prepared to reform it himself if Congress didn’t cooperate.

“Look, I recognize some people don't like accountability,” Bush said today at Horace Greeley Elementary School. “In other words, accountability says if you're failing, we're going to expose that and expect you to change. Accountability also says that when you're succeeding you'll get plenty of praise.

“I know No Child Left Behind has worked. And I believe this country needs to build upon the successes. The philosophy behind No Child Left Behind was in return for money there ought to be results. It's pretty commonsensical it seems like to me.”

Bush’s signature domestic policy, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, which requires public schools to show improvements in student achievement in reading and math or face sanctions, comes up for reauthorization this year. The sides are establishing their positions for the debate to come.

Critics say the law has turned schools into test preparation centers that focus on reading and math to the neglect of other subjects. They also say the law has never been funded to the levels needed for it to work.

“When Congress joined President Bush in 2002 to usher in a dramatic reform of our nation’s schools, we were hopeful that increased accountability and performance standards, together with a significant increase in the federal investment in education, would raise student achievement levels,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today in response to Bush’s comments.

by Gabrielle Russon

It's a crime that Marisa Garcia said she's being punished for twice.

Seven years ago, police found a pipe with marijuana residue in her car. "I went to the court, pled guilty and figured I'd pay my fine and that would be done," said Garcia, who was then a freshman at California State University at Fullerton.

Instead her financial aid form was returned, and Garcia, hailing from a single parent household, was stripped of her federal funding because of the drug conviction. To keep Garcia in school, her mother refinanced their family home and charged her textbooks on a credit card.

On Wednesday, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) announced an amendment for the reauthorization of Higher Education Act that would allow college students with drug convictions to keep their financial aid. It was later withdrawn.

President Bush met with supporters of his education reforms in the Roosevelt Room today and invited reporters in for some comments before stepping out to the Rose Garden for more about No Child Left Behind. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

by Mark Silva

"We don't necessarily agree on every issue, but we do agree that education is a basic civil right,'' President Bush said today. "We believe every child can learn.''

Bush delivered his remarks in the Rose Garden, following a meeting with advocates of his signature educational reform, the No Child Left Behind Act, a first-year legislative triumph for which he is seeking reaffirmation during his final years in office.

Bush, who criticized "the soft bigotry of low expectations'' in his 2000 campaign, won passage of the law at the end of his first year in office.

The law, demanding annual achievement testing at various grade levels, holds schools accountable for failing to make "adequate yearly progress.'' Critics claim it has forced teachers to test to the tests, without adequate federal fundiing to help those schools that need it most.

"Now the question is, whether we will finish the job,'' Bush said today. "No Child Left Behind is helping replace a culture of low expectations... As a result, the achievement gap is beginning to narrow.... There is more work to be done. So long as there is an achievement gap, we have more to do.''

by Bay Fang

NEW YORK -- With NYPD helicopters circling overhead, a few thousand Columbia University students sat out under the hot sun waiting for President Ahmadinejad, taking pictures with their cellphones, picnicking and chatting, in what had become a holiday atmosphere.

A group of sophomores, political science majors, debated the merits of allowing Ahmadinejad on campus. "It makes me so proud to be a student here," said Anna Couturier, a 19-year-old with a pierced tongue and strong opinions. "It's all about letting us get direct access to him, without being filtered through the media."

"But where do you draw the line?" asked her roommate, Danielle Ash. "We didn't let the military on campus because of the don't-ask-don't-tell policy."

The crowd of thousands reserved their most raucous, almost disbelieving applause came when their president, Lee Bollinger, began the program with a scathing introduction of Ahmadinejad, saying this was a chance to "confront the mind of evil." "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger said.

(See Ahmadinejad's full remarks at Columbia) and read on:

Trea McPherson, the senior political science major at the University of Connecticut who helped champion student loan reform. Courant photo by Tia Ann Chapman

by David Lightman

President Bush is poised to sign legislation overhauling the nation's college student loan program, and University of Connecticut senior Trea McPherson can claim some credit for the success.

The 21-year-old political science major has been a Washington presence - critics say a convenient prop - this fall as the bill snaked its way through Congress. George Miller, the California Democrat who runs the House Education and Labor Committee, told McPherson, "you've been to more press conferences than I have."

And for good reason, say supporters of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which they're calling the "single largest investment in higher education since the GI Bill" more than 60 years ago.

McPherson is the human face on legislation that would cut interest rates in half on subsidized loans over the next four years; substantially increase the maximum Pell Grants, which go to needy students; provide tuition aid to qualified students who agree to become teachers in high-poverty areas; and allow loan forgiveness after 10 years of public service to prosecutors, military service members, librarians, firefighters, nurses and others.

See the rest of the story in today's Courant:

by Frank James

If you’re white or Hispanic, you’re more likely to think black children have equal educational opportunities in your community than blacks believe to be the case.

That’s the upshot of a Gallup poll in which the polling outfit updated its annual Minority Rights and Relations survey.

… In its annual Minority Rights and Relations survey, updated June 4-24, 2007, Gallup asked Americans, including large samples of blacks and Hispanics, "In general, do you think that black children have as good a chance as white children in your community to get a good education, or don't you think they have as good a chance?"

By William Neikirk

Taking a cue from the British, the Library of Congress is going to name a National Ambassador for Young People's Literature next year.

This person would be an award-winning author or illustrator who would "encourage the appreciation of young people's literature throughout the United States by both personal and media appearances," said the Library of Congress.

It sounds like a good idea in a country where getting a kid to read a book or anything is equivalent to pulling teeth. Parents are desperate for a helping hand.

The Library of Congress was not clear on what it meant by children's literature, but a spokesman said that political literature (in the form of campaign statements or agendas by the major candidates for president) would not be considered the kind of children's literature it would promote. Many would disagree. Some see political literature as pure fantasy and the stuff of fairy tales, but that's another story.

Posted by Frank James at 10:09 am CDT

Politico.com reports today that a spokesman in the office of Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican and presidential candidate, has corrected journalists who have described the Virginia Tech massacre as the worst in American education.

While it was evidently the worst shooting in terms of the numbers of victims, Tancredo's spokesman said there was a horrible school attack in 1917 in Michigan by a rabid anti-tax attacker which had a higher death toll. The mass murderer back then used explosives.

The point being made by Carlos Espinosa, Tancredo's spokesman, is that if gun-control advocates think they can blame guns for the worst massacre in a U.S. education setting, they've got another think coming.

Espinosa's corrective probably won't much slow the push by gun-control advocates for stricter legislation, however.

Here's the Politico.com story by the aptly named reporter Ryan Grim:

The shooting spree at Virginia Tech is being reported as the "deadliest massacre in U.S. history" or the "deadliest massacre on a U.S. campus."

Posted by William Neikirk at 6:25 a.m. CDT

Steven Janosik is a leading expert on the Clery Act, a law requiring colleges and universities to issue annual reports on campus crime and their security measures to deal with it.

He also happens to be a professor at Virginia Tech, where his extensive research went from abstract to real in one violent rampage by a single gunman on Monday.

Janosik is no fan of the law, first passed by Congress in 1990 and amended several times in the wake of rising campus violence. He said parents and students do not, as a rule, read the reports. And students are more likely to respond to personal appeals and warnings about their safety than a long report on a website, he added.

Posted by Jim Tankersley at 3:33 pm, updated 4 pm CDT

The morning shootings that shocked the Virginia Tech campus have left students with a screaming question: Why weren't they warned earlier that a gunman was loose on their campus?

"A lot of us were just questioning why someone was shot at 7 a.m. and the school wasn’t in lockdown," said Max Davis, a 19-year-old freshman and one of several students interviewed this afternoon by Tribune reporters.

The shooting shortly after 7 a.m. EDT at a dormitory and subsequent shooting after 9 a.m. in an academic building have left a reported 31 people dead, at least. Many students say they didn't hear about either of them until they received this e-mail just before 9:30 a.m. EDT.

Campus police believed, at first, that they were dealing with a "domestic'' shooting at 7:15 am, when two were killed in a dormitory, the police chief said at a news conference just now. The university president said they believed the situation was under control -- until the second shooting spree began. At a school of 26,000 students, the president said, just 9,000 live on campus. And by 8 am, they were heading to class.

Judge the urgency of the campus email dispatched at 9:26 am EDT for yourself:

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, June 21, as compiled by the Associated Press.

The National Transportation Safety Board is holding its second day of hearings on last year's runway overrun by a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 at Chicago Midway Airport.
Location: NTSB offices, 429 L’Enfant Plaza

President Bush is in Vienna, meeting with Austrian and EU officials.

The Educational Testing Service is releasing its results of a 6th annual nationwide survey of Americans’ views on key education issues. 11 a.m.