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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

New VEA Prez Plans to Lead Without a Curve

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Monday, August 4, 2008   

Richmond, VA - For Kitty Boitnott, getting the teachers and supplies to help Virginia students learn is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. These are just two of Boitnott's ambitious goals as the new head of the Virginia Education Association (VEA).

Boitnott has spent more than three decades in Virginia schools, and is just starting her first full week as VEA president. She says some kids in the state are getting a great education, but many rural schools still need a hand.

"Some schools where we are still having issues with getting enough computers into the classroom because the resources in that particular community may not even be there."

Boitnott says she'll push for higher teacher salaries to keep experienced teachers on the job, especially in the state's hard-to-staff schools. Many schools have become "revolving doors" for beginning teachers, she has found, which takes a toll on students.

"They have a brand new teacher, every single year, for the first two or three years of their education, and then we wonder why those kids aren't achieving as well."

Her plans also include advocating for children in areas with smaller tax bases, both urban and rural. She favors an overhaul of the federal "No Child Left Behind" law, too, to ease what she calls "punitive measures" for schools with lower test scores. The law's proponents have said they believe it is important to hold schools, students and teachers accountable for academic performance.



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