Morning Announcements: December 10, 2010

Education officials across the country have replaced the principals and at least half of the staff in about 150 struggling schools to obtain federal aid, the Washington Post reports.

Education Week Catherine Gewertz provides an update on the state assessment consortia that is working on designing tests for the common standards.

According to the New York Times, Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to persuade Geoffrey Canada, the prominent Harlem education leader, to be chancellor of the New York City public schools before tapping Cathleen Black, but Mr. Canada turned it down.

A new Associated Press-Stanford University poll finds: Eighty-eight percent of people say a country’s education system has a major effect on its economic health. Yet when it comes to financing public school improvements, people tilt slightly against raising taxes to do so, with 47 percent opposing and 42 percent in support.

The Los Angeles Times reports that under a settlement agreement announced Thursday, California students will have new protections against being charged fees for a public education that is required by law to be free.

Colorado schools are getting their first ratings under new performance standards approved by lawmakers last year, replacing school report cards that teachers and educators said only stigmatized schools, the Denver Post reports.

Implementing a new jobs program, providing scholarships for low-income students and helping more people get assistance are among the steps to cutting Illinois’ “extreme poverty” rate in half by 2015, according to a state report released Thursday.