This is a sampling of The Education Report, Katy Murphy’s Oakland schools blog. Read more at www.IBAbuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/KatyMurphy.

July 17: In a recent story, Mercury News reporters Julia Prodis Sulek and Sharon Noguchi asked why some school personnel don’t report complaints of child abuse, especially when they involve a colleague. Here’s the crux of their report:

“From Moraga to Palo Alto to San Jose, child sex abuse cases in schools and day care centers have surfaced alleging that school employees entrusted with the safety of students failed to do what their oaths and the law required: report to police or child protective services when they have a reasonable suspicion that a child has been abused.

“Child advocates blame a lack of courage and a lack of training.

“It’s not so much about protecting people, but not having the leadership ability to step up,” said Margaret Petros, a commissioner on the Santa Clara County Child Abuse Council. “People in general want to get along and not rock the boat.’”

Their piece followed the latest developments in the Jerry Sandusky scandal and apparent cover-up at Penn State; it also came in the wake of a series of investigative re…………… continues on San Jose Mercury News

Local school districts will have more leeway on how to spend federal money now that Washington has been granted a waiver from No Child Left Behind requirements, Longview school officials said.

“This removes some of the strings as to how you can spend Title I dollars,” said Dana Jones, executive director of teaching and learning for the Longview School District. “Now we can really focus on using the dollars we are allotted to try and make a difference for those kids.”

The Obama administration on July 6 granted Washington’s request for a waiver, leaving school accountability in the hands of the state. On Thursday, Oregon was also granted a waiver.

Jones and Longview District spokeswoman Sandy Catt said Thursday under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, the district was required to pay busing costs for elementary students who transferred out of a school that was not meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP) and into one that was. In the 2011-12 sc…………… continues on Longview Daily News