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School lunches will be finally getting a new look, thanks to new federal guidelines created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The agency unveiled its plan for more nutritious school cafeteria food this week, amidst concerns by many regarding the increasing obesity rate among America’s youth today. The new guidelines will be implemented during the 2012-2013 school year. While most are applauding the new dietary guidelines, some are worried that the USDA didn’t go far enough in ensuring children get the most nutritious fare possible while they are at school.

Why New Lunch Guidelines?

According to a report on , the USDA stated the new guidelines are “intended to respond to serious concerns about childhood obesity and the importance for children to consume nutritious school meals within their calorie needs.” Currently, one in every three children in the United States is considered overweight or obese. The concerns have also been mounting in light of the fact that more children are taking advantage of the breakfast programs in their schools – making the fare provided by schools an even more significant amount of the nutritional content supplied to children most days of the week. The Chicago Tribune states that these rules represent the first major change to school meal standards in 15 years!

“The future of America is about our children, about making sure that the foods they eat allow them to become meaningful members of our communities,” Jose Andres, chef

It wasn’t news to many of the educators across the country, but the poverty numbers recently released are still alarming. With an economic slowdown well into its third year and unemployment figures still reaching double digits in some areas, poverty rates are up as well. According to recent data released from the U.S. Census Bureau, the rate of poverty across the United States has gone up 1.6 percent, although some individual states are seeing even larger increases. This translates to more than one million children nationwide who have now been added to the poverty rolls.

Poverty Widespread Across the Country

The U.S. Census Bureau report shows that statistically significant increases in poverty were seen in about 20 percent of the country. As many as 653 counties experienced poverty increases among children between 2007 and 2010, and only eight counties nationwide reported a poverty decrease. The data provided represents single-year figures of 2007 and 2010 to study the change in poverty levels since the recession began. The numbers provided by the U.S. Census Bureau help to determine the distribution of federal and state funding to local communities.

Nationally, nearly 20 percent of children qualify as poor, according to a report in the . In addition, one-third of the total counties in the country have thresholds well above that level, while one-quarter boasts numbers below the national average. Some of the states that showed the highest increases over four years were New Jersey, Nevada, Florida,

Facing pressure and a potential lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, a small Missouri agreed to discontinue voluntary, single-sex classes in its schools. The Adrian R-III school district is not the first to come into the ACLU fight over single-sex classrooms since the U.S. Department of Education approved the practice under specific conditions in 2006. Single-sex classrooms have been the source of debate between government leaders and educators for some time, as studies supporting the practice have been somewhat inconclusive, but concerns over equal rights for both genders have come into question.

This CBS News video discusses single-sex schools.

Why Missouri Began Offering Single-Sex Classes

According to a report at , the Missouri school district began offering single-sex classes to certain grades in their schools this year. Students in grades 6 through 8 were the primary recipients of this choice, although some higher grades received single-sex class options as well. Class options included math and communication art, according to . The superintendent of Adrian schools, Kirk Eidson, said the decision was made in the interest of students since some research indicates that students may perform better in single-sex classrooms.

“There were some behavioral issues that impacted learning,” Eidson explained to Reuters in regards to the co-ed classes. Eidson added that students who chose to participate in single-sex classrooms this year were doing better with fewer classroom

The big yellow school bus that lumbers through residential streets throughout the school year is a sight often taken for granted by parents and students alike. However, those buses may become scarce in New York if dire predictions about a transportation strike in New York City ring true. A union representing city school bus drivers has warned of an impending strike if their labor demands are not met soon.

The Dispute Leading Up to Strike Talk

According to a New York Daily News report, local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union is the group threatening the strike. The primary point of contention is a demand by the union that pre-kindergarten bus drivers receive seniority-based job protection like other school bus drivers in the city. The union wants these bus drivers to receive protection, even if their current company does not win a new contract. The concern arose when city officials began talking about collecting bids for a new transportation company when the contract expires in June of next year.

The president of the drivers’ union, Michael Cordiello, told the Wall Street Journal that if the city did away with senior protections for experienced drivers, the result could be many more unprepared bus drivers on the streets of New York City. He mentioned a charter bus accident in the Bronx that occurred in May, killing 15 people.

This video reports on the 2013 school bus strike in New York City.

A new report card is out for charter schools this month, courtesy of Mathematica Policy Research. The study is considered to be the most comprehensive, longitudinal study on charter school networks to date, and it offers valuable information on whether these public schools are serving the purpose originally intended for them. While data is somewhat mixed throughout the study, there are a few key facts that can be taken from the research to explain why some charter schools are more effective than others.

The CMO and the Study

The Mathematica study revolves around data collected on charter school management organizations or CMOs. These organizations serve as networks that operate multiple charter schools. Currently, there are around 130 CMOs across the country that are responsible for meeting the needs of approximately 250,000 students. While this number does not encompass all of the charter schools in operation currently, the number of schools overseen by CMOs has been growing. According to the , CMOs started out overseeing about six percent of all charter schools. Today, that number has grown to 17 percent.

According to a press release on Mathematica’s website, this latest study selected 40 CMOs to examine management practices and instruction methodology at 40 of these organizations to determine how effective they were in impacting the achievement of students within their schools. Of that 40, 22 networks provided sufficient data for accurate analysis. The core of the study was achievement in the middle school years,