Court Rejects Reimbursement Over Unfunded School Mandates [School Law Blog, 2/18/11]: Times are tough, a California appellate court says, and the judiciary cannot compel state lawmakers to come up with nearly $1 billion to reimburse unfunded education mandates imposed on school districts. But in a partial victory for school districts, a panel of the California Court of Appeal said they could seek to temporarily get out of mandates not fully funded by the state. Read the decision in CSBA v. State of California.

Student a 'whiny little boy,' teacher in anti-Christian case says [Orange County Register, 2/17/11]: Capistrano Valley High School history teacher James Corbett is firing back against the student who sued him three years ago for disparaging Creationism in class, posting a series of recent comments on the Register's website in which he refers to Chad Farnan as "a whiny little boy" who didn't do his homework and whose "helicopter parents" intervened frequently in their son's affairs.

The politics of education upended [Politico, 2/17/11]: In Wisconsin, about 1,000 teachers called in sick Wednesday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to strip their union bargaining rights. In Washington, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recounted his battle with his state’s teachers unions Wednesday, calling their leaders “greedy” and “selfish.”

Unions, officials in 150 districts attend collaboration summit [Wall Street Journal / New York Times, 2/16/11]: Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged union leaders and administrators in 150 districts to collaborate during a summit in Denver this week organized by Duncan and two national unions. The event is intended to ease conflict over teachers' contracts and other contentious education-reform issues such as tenure, layoffs and teacher evaluations. Those who attended were selected by lottery and had to agree to work together on the "hiring, retention, compensation, development and evaluation of a highly effective work force."

Report: reform 'deeply flawed state education funding system [Orange County Register, 2/15/11]: California's schools have survived billions in state cuts by relying heavily one-time federal aid, but will find themselves in serious trouble next year as the aid runs out, according to a new report from the Legislative Analyst's Office.

Obama's 'Disparate Impact' Policy Draws Criticism [Education Week, 2/15/11]: Critics are challenging the U.S. Department of Education's new focus on curbing school discipline policies that disproportionately affect some student groups.

Fensterwald: LAO: Change pensions for new teachers [Thoughts on Public Education, 2/14/11]: New teachers would be among public employees whose state-financed retirement benefits would shrink under a proposal that the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office outlined last week to limit taxpayers’ future liability. Read the proposal.

2nd Circuit rejects whistleblowing custodian's appeal [First Amendment Center, 2/14/11]: High court's Garcetti ruling continues to punish public employees for speaking up, even about safety. A former custodian who warned school officials about possible asbestos in a gymnasium lost his appeal before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Read Morey v. Somers Central School District.

Obama's 'Disparate Impact' Policy Draws Criticism [Education Week, 2/15/11]: Critics are challenging the U.S. Department of Education's new focus on curbing school discipline policies that disproportionately affect some student groups.

Fensterwald: LAO: Change pensions for new teachers [Thoughts on Public Education, 2/14/11]: New teachers would be among public employees whose state-financed retirement benefits would shrink under a proposal that the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office outlined last week to limit taxpayers’ future liability. Read the proposal: