This Week's News:Youth in Transition

Education
Schools beating odds basis for plan to improve education
Arizona Republic - 13 November 2006
There may be newfound hope for "mostly Latino, mostly poor" Arizona schools that struggle with high dropout rates and low academic performance according to a state study. Latinos make up more than 405,000 of the state's 1 million students. They are a growing population, but are lagging behind their academic peers.

Gates Foundation aids school
17 November 2006
The richest charitable foundation in the world will help open an alternative high school in Western Pennsylvania next year to help the most vulnerable students have a better chance for success. Thanks to a multi-million dollar donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Communities In Schools will be able to expand its national network of alternative schools by opening 12 more in four states by fall of next year.

2-year colleges low on transfers
Mercury News - 17 November 2006
Most of California's 2.5 million community college students will neither earn associate's degrees nor transfer to four-year schools, according to a study released this week. The report by the Public Policy Institute of California illustrates the varied mission of the state's 110 two-year schools as well as stark racial differences in success rates. Researches found that black, Lation and American Indian students were half as likely to transfer as Asians.

Juvenile Justice
Juvenile Justice in "pit of trouble"
LA Daily News - 19 November 2006
The U.S. Department of Justice is close to seeking federal oversight of Los Angeles County's juvenile justice system, which has been plagued for years by violence and other problems, county authorities said Tuesday. Representatives of the department have expressed alarm about excessive use of force, an education crisis and high conviction rates in the three juvenile halls and 19 probation camps.

Attorney General Lockyer Releases 2005 Annual Juvenile Justice California Report
YubaNet.com - 17 November 2006
Attorney General Bill Lockyer today released the Department of Justice's Juvenile Justice in California, 2005 report showing nearly two-thirds (60 percent) of juveniles were arrested for a misdemeanor offense, 26.5 percent were arrested for felonies and 13.4 percent were arrested for status offenses.

Foster Care
Institute for Justice Vows to Defend Arizona's Scholarships for Disabled and Foster Care Students From Unprecedented Legal Attack
EdNews - 16 November 2006
The Institute for Justice and its Arizona Chapter today pledged to defend Arizona's two new publicly funded scholarship programs from legal attack. The programs are designed to help especially vulnerable students-those with disabilities and those in foster care-secure quality educational opportunities in private schools. A coalition of special interest groups filed their legal challenge today, skipping the trial court and asking for a resolution of the case by the Arizona Supreme Court.

Tout college, training to foster children
Burlington Free Press - 19 November 2006
About 1,500 young Vermonters are under the care of the state on any given day. About 150 are nearing age 18 each year, many facing an uncertain future without the state's support, family connections or the basic skills to make it on their own. Vermont higher education, labor and industry, and financial aid officials need to reach out to foster care youths at the earliest ages to ensure they understand that college and work force training are within their grasp.