Article Source: The Denver Post

Almost 300 Colorado high school seniors are eligible for a state-paid year of college this fall — a policy garnering attention from the nation's capital as a model to push poor kids to higher education. Colorado's "fifth-year" program allows seniors to elect to have high schools withhold their diplomas for a year so they can go to college on the state's dime.

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Article Source: USA Today

Even as the price tag of a four-year college degree outpaces inflation, a handful of U.S. colleges and universities are going to extraordinary lengths to contain costs — by picking up full tuition for every student they enroll. Most colleges offering free tuition are military academies; several are engineering schools, where graduates are in short supply and demand is great.

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Article Source: CSMonitor

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Thursday that 15 states and the District of Columbia are finalists for Race to the Top education grants. The winners will be chosen in April.

States competing for billions of dollars in education stimulus funding found out today whether they’re still in the running for the “Race to the Top.”

The competition has been a catalyst “to dramatically reshape America’s educational system ... prompting states to think deeply about how to improve the way we prepare our students for success in a competitive 21st century economy,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in announcing the first round of finalists.

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Article Source: 9News Denver

DENVER - Juan Salazar used to be one of those students who got into trouble for fighting at North High School. Now he uses words instead of fists."If someone bumped into me, I started saying something," Salazar, a senior, said. "It always led to a fight."It also always led to a suspension.

"Restorative Justice is actually not a program. It's a philosophy," Cairnes, North High School Restorative Justice coordinator, said. The premise basically states that when students fight, instead of immediate suspensions, have them sit down and discuss the issues face-to-face. They go over a series of questions with Cairnes as the mediator. Then, they come up with contract that spells out a way towards working the differences out.

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