D.C.'s Black-Korean Dynamic: A Simmering Tension. D.C.'s new head of schools is Korean. Can people handle?
, the surprise announcement that Rhee, a Korean-American woman, would become the first non-black chief of the D.C. school system in nearly half a century immediately engendered all manner of comment about supposed antipathy toward blacks by Koreans--all this from people who know nothing of Rhee's background, approach or personality.--Washington Post

What Immigration Reform Misses. A good, opinionated review.
For the past decade, the federal government has pursued a strict enforcement-focused strategy in order to make the nation's antiquated immigration laws fit current realities; however, the flow of undocumented immigrants has only increased.--Black Star News

Some Texans Say Border Fence Will Sever Routine. That's it...
Some of the gravest concern involves the effect on wildlife in the 90,000 acres of national refuges in South Texas, where bumper stickers read “No Border Wall” and a group of naturalists, Los Caminos del Rio, has been staging ecotourism forays into a long-closed sanctuary to draw attention to endangered habitats.--NYTimes

States Found to Vary Widely on Education. Another problem with Left Behind.
Academic standards vary so drastically from state to state that a fourth grader judged proficient in reading in Mississippi or Tennessee would fall far short of that mark in Massachusetts and South Carolina, the United States Department of Education said yesterday in a report that, for the first time, measured the extent of the differences.
The wide variation raises questions about whether the federal No Child Left Behind law, President Bush’s signature education initiative, which is up for renewal this year, has allowed a patchwork of educational inequities around the country, with no common yardstick to determine whether schoolchildren are learning enough. --NYTimes

A Harsh Lesson in Finances for After-School Students. More money?
Lower East Side Prep’s after-school program is among 207 statewide, serving kindergarteners through high school students, that are about to run out of government support. They will have to drastically reduce operations or close unless $30 million can be raised before September.
--NYTimes