Wednesday Churn: High court weighs in

What’s churning:

The U.S. Supreme Court this week dismissed an appeal of a California Supreme Court ruling that had upheld the state’s program of granting resident tuition rates to undocumented college students.

A key part of the state court’s reasoning involved the fact that California bases eligibility on graduation from a California high school, not citizenship.

Colorado legislation proposed earlier this year, Senate Bill 11-126, included a similar tie to high school graduation. Opponents of the bill, which ultimately died in a House committee, mustered a variety of complicated legal arguments against it, some of which would seem to have been eliminated by the high court ruling. See the Los Angeles Times for a detailed story on the decision.

Here are some other education developments making news at midweek:

Possible risks to reform: A number of new Republican governors who’ve pushed tenure restrictions and other education measures aren’t doing so well in the polls. Many issues, of course, affect governors’ popularity, but the developments bear watching. EdWeek’s State EdWatch blog

Performance funding tricky: As happened in Colorado, Texas is taking a go-slow approach to the complex issue of higher education performance funding. Texas Tribune

Another education movie: The latest entry in the category of education documentaries is a film named “American Teacher,” which previewed in NYC and D.C. recently and will be released this fall. It reportedly takes a more sympathetic view of teachers than such pics as “Waiting for Superman.” Washington Post

What’s on tap:

The State Board of Education convenes at 9 a.m. today and plans to devote most of the morning to draft regulations for implementing the educator effectiveness law. The starting point for the board’s discussion is a 30-page set of draft rules; read them here.

The board also will take some time for public comment on the draft and will hold another comment session June 14 starting at 2 p.m. Both today’s and next week’s meetings are at the Department of Education, 201 E. Colfax. Ave. See this detailed schedule of the board’s consideration process for the rest of the year.