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A recent probe of 15 school districts in New Jersey has resulted in the finding that more than 100 government employees in the state have lied on applications to score free school lunches for their children. The findings could lead to the prosecution of at least some of these individuals, who appear to have used their knowledge of the system to take advantage of it. The findings also point to the need for tightening up a federal system that seems to lend itself to easy and widespread fraud.

Investigation Turns Up Disturbing Findings

The reports that the investigation was conducted by the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller. The recently released report on the investigation shows that 109 public employees and their family members lied about income amounts on free lunch applications - some by thousands of dollars. All of the individuals have now been referred to the Division of Criminal Justice for possible prosecution.

According to , at least some of the 83 public employees were school board members or teachers at the schools where the free lunches were offered. The other 26 individuals were family members of those employees. They intentionally misrepresented how much income they made to qualify for free lunches under false pretenses.

This video explains the free school lunch program.

Excuses, Excuses

The excuses some of the individuals involved in the

At a time when budget cuts have forced many school districts across the country to cut arts programs, one of the largest districts has received funding to beef up their arts offerings. recently received a large donation from an organization that will allow them to try out a new arts integration program in many of their schools. This new pilot program will extend over the next three years.

Bringing the Arts Back to the Classroom

The reports that the donation, totaling $750,000, comes from the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education. Referred to as the LA Fund, this organization is responsible for launching the Arts Matter campaign in public schools throughout the district. The new donation comprises the actual program phase of the effort, which has consisted of advocacy and fundraising to this point.

According to the , this recent donation will be used to support teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District as they strive to integrate the arts into their classrooms. The students will also benefit, as the donation will increase student access to the arts. The donation will help advance the five-year arts plan, known as “Arts at the Core,” which was developed by the district to bring the arts into the classroom.

Arts at the Core provides methods for teachers to integrate the arts into all classroom subjects. This results-based program has already seen success in the

Detroit 51����s tend to get a pretty bad rap regarding performance and education quality. However, many of the evaluations that contribute to this view do not consider the specific challenges teachers in these schools face daily. Many of the schools in Detroit face extremely high percentages of students living in poverty – a factor that can directly impact their ability to learn. In a recently released report that weighed this factor in comparing schools in Michigan, some Detroit schools fared much better than expected.

Elementary and Middle School Context Report Card

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy recently released its “,” which offers a unique comparison formula that considers income level and location. The result is an “apples-to-apples” comparison that does not penalize schools with high poverty levels, according to the website for the Mackinac Center. The recent report card ranked 2,362 elementary and middle schools in the state.

The report card takes several factors into account as it calculates school scores and poverty levels. The report includes data on the school’s location, whether it is a city, suburb, town, or rural area. It labels the school type, distinguishing between conventional, selective, and charter schools.

The report card also lists the total enrollment at the school and the percentage of children that qualify for the free lunch program. Finally, the report calculates the CAP (Context and Performance) score, grade, and the school’s state rank. The

Even after the churn of closing nearly 50 schools across the city, one of the largest school districts in the country is continuing to struggle with a $1 billion budget shortfall. Chicago 51����s continues to make painful cuts to the schools slated to remain open this fall, prompting some principals to accuse the district of forcing them to choose between teachers and essentials like toilet paper, according to the . The new cuts were unveiled weeks after the initial school closings, provoking a whole new series of protests against the school system and the Chicago lawmakers that oversee it.

This video reports on a CPS budget shortfall.

Bad News Travels Slowly but Surely

The reports that news began trickling out about the impact of the budget cuts as principals received their preliminary budgets from the city two weeks ago. The good news is those principals have been given much more power to set priorities for their school – the bad news is there is much less money to go around, forcing principals to make tough decisions about what stays and what must go. As school leaders are beginning to look at the difficult budgeting that lies ahead, staff, parents, and students are beginning to worry about what schools will look like when they re-open in the fall.

Speculation and worry have been fueled by the

For those who relied on Schoolhouse Rock to memorize important facts like the Preamble to the Constitution and the meaning of conjunction, there’s a new kid in town. Rap meets rock in Science Genius, a new way to help kids get excited about subjects like atoms and DNA. The program has recently been tested out in schools in New York City – with great enthusiasm and success. Read on to discover how hip hop and science facts collide to create a whole new generation of science-mania.

Music Meets Academics

Science Genius is a collaboration between rapper GZA from Wu-Tang Clan and Columbia University Teachers College professor Christopher Emdin. The unlikely pair teamed up to use hip hop music to teach a wide range of science subjects to students. According to a report at , the effort began as GZA’s attempt to “bring order to the chaos.”

Emdin explains that the new curriculum is designed to address achievement gaps in science and mathematics that are particularly prevalent in areas like New York City. More importantly, the program was created to inspire an interest in science that has been lacking, using a culturally relevant form of music many students in the New York district can relate to.

“The people who most embrace hip-hop culture are the same populations who are most disinterested in school and disinterested in science,” Emdin told the .

This video illustrates the creativity behind Science Genius.