Afternoon announcements: Schools on the fiscal cliff

If Congress can’t work together to agree on a budget to avert a quickly approaching debt crisis, sequestration – automatic budget cuts, will go into affect next year. That will include extreme cuts to many education programs. New York Times

A new report finds that utilizing data is critical for ensuring students are college- and career-ready. “Looking ahead, states’ work entails continuing ot support systems and policies to promote effective data use while expanding their focus to include the people side of the data equation.” The report, “Focus on people to change data culture,” is put out by the Data Quality Campaign .

Last night, the DC council hearing room was packed – with parents, educators and activists, all up in arms over Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s plan to close 20 under-enrolled public schools. Washington Post

Oregon is seeing a decline in the number of homeless students. Though that’s a good sign, they’re still experiencing large numbers of homelessness in their student population since the start of the recession. Ed Week

A new Alliance report identifies four key challenges that district leaders face in the next two years to ensure digital technology is viable in their K-11 classrooms. The increased standards that come with implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are driving this urgent need for systematic plans for technology integration. Huffington Post