Our schools operate today with a system that was cutting edge when the Model T first rolled off the assembly line. While countries like Finland and South Korea blow by us on the education race track, our policymakers have refused to invest in the resources our schools need to provide students with 21st century skills.

At the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Annual Conference this weekend, hundreds of school board members voted to adopt a resolution to prevent the use of out-of-school suspensions and encouraged school boards to implement positive discipline policies that keep students in the classroom and learning. One of the most crucial tools to use on the local level is being released today: the OTL Campaign's brand new policy guide for school board members and local advocates.

Tax policy may not sound like the most interesting topic in the education reform world, but it is essential to ensuring our schools and teachers have the necessary resources to give every student a high-quality opportunity to learn. For a case in point, check out this recent op-ed in the Boston Globe from OTL ally Noah Berger, President of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

States are given a clear choice in this report: either you care about students, or about StudentsFirst. There’s little room for both. Here’s a list of 5 reasons why this State Report Card is a veritable wish list for privatization advocates and a recipe for failure for everyone else:

Did you know that Arkansas had the fourth fastest rate of immigrant population growth from 2000 to 2010? Learn about that and more on Tuesday, Jan. 8th, 2013, when the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation will release an updated version of their 2007 report, A Profile of Immigrants in Arkansas (pictured right). Better yet, why not attend the press conference for the report's release that same day?

The Schott Foundation for Public Education is on the front lines of the movement to ensure equity for girls in education, and their Girls' Equity Grant Program was recently featured in the December 2012 issue of The Legislator, the publication of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators! Check it out!

The 2012 version of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual "KIDS COUNT Data Book" provides a wealth of information about the well-being of our nation's children, including state-by-state data on educational opportunities, economic security, access to healthcare and family and community environments. The report illustrates the deep disparities between children of color and their White peers and between children from wealthy and low-income families in access to the opportunities and supports necessary to succeed in school and in life. Overall, the report finds that a higher percentage of students of color are living in poverty, not attending preschool, not graduating on time and don't have health insurance compared to non-Hispanic White children.