$124K grant to be used for juvenile job program from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington PA]
"Washington County Juvenile Probation Office is using a $124,000 state grant to provide job training resources for troubled youth. ... The purpose of the program is to make them more productive members of society and keep them out of the criminal justice system," said O'Dell Seneca, noting that steady employment often reduces an offender's likelihood of recidivism."

National Tooling and Machining Association launching online training course from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"The trade group National Tooling and Machining Association is the latest to jump into workforce training with the development of NTMA U, an online curriculum that will complement the group’s existing apprenticeship programs and other projects aimed at gaining the interest of junior high and high school students."

Funding cut forces CCAC hiring freeze from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Community College of Allegheny County has implemented an across-the-board hiring freeze. ... College acts after county reduces its support by $2.5 million."

Education reform would shake status quo (Rebecca Nuttal) from the Pittsburgh Courier
"“Underneath this discussion—this is sort of for me the elephant in the room—if you pull out the data for minority students, Whites are comparable to other European countries,” said Dean Larry Davis, School of Social Work. “So why would a group make policy changes if it’s working for them. These are the kind of things that really keep you up at night.”"

Pitt ranks second in cost to attend public universities (Alex Oltmanns) from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"Pitt spokesman John Fedele, and other Pitt officials, attributed the ranking to a low level of state support for higher education — 46th lowest in the country."

Pa. shale commission to make recommendations today (Olson and Heidenreich) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Debate over an impact fee and pooling of land for gas drilling dominated this morning's final meeting of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission."

Review of possible cheating on tests widened (Jonathan Silver) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Calling the integrity of standardized exams a "paramount" concern, Pennsylvania Education Secretary Ron Tomalis has broadened a look into possible cheating on the tests taken annually by nearly 1 million schoolchildren."
In case you missed the Atlanta Journal Constitution's excellent, in-depth investigation of what has prompted much of this re-examination of test data, see HERE.  NPR's On Point program focused on the Atlanta scandal HERE.

Sto-Rox school employees accept wage freeze (Ryan Brown) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sto-Rox school employees -- including all teaching, custodial and office staff -- have accepted a one-year wage freeze in a series of contract agreements announced today."

OPINION: Marcellus credibility: If it wants to be taken seriously, governor's group should open up from the Editorial Board of the Patriot News [of Harrisburg]
"The governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission is holding its final meeting and will vote on a series of proposed policy recommendations surrounding the drilling of natural gas in the state. The only problem is that the public won’t know what those votes are all about."

FUN News Item:

Gas drilling company nixes coloring book featuring 'friendly Fracosaurus' after criticism from the Associated Press via the Patriot News [of Harrisburg]
"A natural gas drilling company says it’s no longer distributing a children’s coloring book featuring a hard hat-wearing dinosaur that’s been criticized by a Massachusetts congressman and lampooned by Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert."