Morning Announcements: May 10, 2012

It's Thursday! Hopefully a stress-free, smooth transition to Friday then ultimately an enjoyable weekend. Here are your top education headlines.

From the New York Times, in an effort to expand the introduction of Common Core State Standards into the city's public schools, officials are asking science and social studies teachers to introduce more reading and writing into students' classwork. This school year, English and math teachers have already begun to adapt their lessons to the new requirements.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a coalition led by parent groups and Philadelphia school employee unions Wednesday blasted the district’s proposal to make drastic cuts and structural changes. This is just part of the Philadelphians pushback against austerity measures.

According to SCPR, the Los Angeles Unified School District has approved college prep requirements for all students. Next year’s high school freshmen will have to take every class required to meet the minimum application standards for the University of California and Cal State systems.

The New York Times also reports that two dozen public schools are being renamed as part of New York City’s strategy to qualify for nearly $60 million in federal grants to help the so-called struggling schools get fresh starts.