Districts would be dismantled and replaced with a state-run entity that would hand management of individual schools over to nonprofit operators.

The agreement sets an end date for nearly $70 million in desegregation aid that Arkansas pays to Little Rock and two other school districts.

After shutting down 30 schools over the last two years, education officials in the city have decided to spare the district from additional closures in 2014.

AASA, the School Superintendents Association, will announce the winner for 2014 at its conference in February.

Nearly half of all former educators indicted in the sprawling cheating case have pleaded guilty to less charges in exchange for their cooperation. The rest will stand trial later this year.

New Mayor Martin J. Walsh will work with an appointed school committee to conduct a national search for a new schools chief in Boston.

Ms. Fariña served for more than four decades as a teacher, principal, district superintendent and deputy chancellor in the 1 million-student school system.

The New York Times reports that retired educator Carmen Farina, a former deputy chancellor for New York City schools, will lead the 1 million student system.

The Douglas County district sought to influence its school board election when it commissioned and publicized a report about its "reform agenda" by the American Enterprise Institute, a judge finds.

Scores were wrong for only a small fraction of teachers, the school system says, but the president of the Washington Teachers Union says she is "deeply disturbed" by the information.