Morning Announcements: May 9, 2011

Several stories of note from Education Week this morning – Denver, Baltimore, and Hillsborough, County (FL) are beginning a three-year pilot to implement the common standards. Also, the U.S. Department of Education is trying to figure out how to leverage money through a new round of state-level competitions focused, in part, on early-childhood. And lastly, a presidential advisory panel today issued a report that makes the case for expanding access to arts education in schools, arguing that the arts hold great potential to bolster student engagement and academic achievement.

The National Journal Education Experts blog asks contributors, “Do We Need Four Years of High School?”

The New York Times reports on the “dizzying and disappointing the process” that NYC uses to match students to high schools.

The Washington Post editorial board lauds Virginia officials for adding a one-credit course in economics and personal finance to the list of courses students must pass to earn a standard or advanced diploma.