The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Chicago Board of Education approved borrowing nearly $1 billion for construction costs and to refinance high-interest debt.

Eric Gordon, CEO of the Cleveland district since 2011, was chosen Thursday as the Urban Educator of the Year at the Council of the Great City Schools annual conference in Miami.

A new report from the Education Research Alliance at Tulane University found that closing low-performing schools and converting them to charter schools can improve student performance, but a key factor was whether students had better schools to attend.

In the midst of a lead crisis that threatens the health and well-being of children in Flint, Mich., state and local education officials are falling short of identifying and serving children in need of special education services, a federal lawsuit alleges.

Thomas J. Dodd, principal of Lesher Middle School in Fort Collins, Colo., was chosen from a panel of three finalists.

The Cleveland, Miss., school district was ordered in May to integrate its middle and high schools after a U.S. District Court judge found that the district had essentially maintained a segregated school system. But the district's proposal to comply with the order would result in the closure of historically black schools, the AP reported.

The seven universities—all in different states—will work on redesigning their principal preparation programs in partnership with their states and local school districts where their graduates go to work.

The U.S. Department of Education also announces its first round of Pay for Success grants, an effort to solve public problems with the aid of private investment.

The last-minute deal on a teacher contract in Chicago came minutes before a midnight deadline Monday, narrowly averting what would have been the city's second teachers' strike in four years.

The money is meant to be used to hire attendance specialists, counselors, and psychologists to help deal with problems that may occur because students were exposed to lead-contaminated tap water.