Education Reform Seen As A Challenge For President-Elect Obama.

Education Week (11/5, Hoff) reports that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), “whose campaign platform laid out an expansive agenda for pre-K-12 education, will have the chance to fulfill those promises when he takes office Jan. 20 as the 44th president of the United States.” President-elect Obama has “said he would expand federal preschool programs, ‘recruit an army of new teachers,’ and provide scholarships to college students and to professionals from other fields who promise to pursue careers in teaching.” He has also said he “would support efforts to link a portion of teachers’ pay to the achievement gains of their students,” would “work to change the No Child Left Behind Act…and would double federal funding for charter schools.” But, Education Week points out that given “deep troubles in the financial markets and in the broader economy, the Obama administration may have difficulty generating public support for” its “ambitious education agenda and the spending needed for the programs in it.”

The AP (11/5, Drinkard) noted that with his victory, President-elect Obama’s “goals will collide with daunting realities.” Obama has proposed “An $18 billion plan that would encourage, but not mandate, universal pre-kindergarten; teacher pay raises tied to, although not based solely on, test scores;” and “an overhaul of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law to better measure student progress.” According to the AP, one problem the Obama administration may encounter is that “with the budget stretched thin,” lawmakers may view “the economy, the war, and health care [as] stickier and more pressing concerns” than education reform. In a front-page story, the Washington Post (11/5, A1, Balz) also lists Obama’s education proposals as a campaign promise that the President-elect will have to transform “into a set of legislative priorities for his first two years in office.”

States Moving To Make Native American Studies Part Of Curriculum.

Education Week (11/4) reported that a 2004 Montana Supreme Court ruling that the state, in which “11.4 percent of the students are” of Native American descent, “had ignored its responsibility to teach about the state’s seven tribes” prompted “an effort that has yielded curriculum materials created in consultation with those tribes, a state-sponsored curriculum Web site, and training workshops that have drawn thousands of teachers from across the state.” Montana’s effort “mirrors a move in other states to make the history and culture of indigenous people a specific part of the curriculum, either by law or by administrative policy. Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin all require students to be taught about Native American tribes in their states, while North Dakota makes a similar mandate part of its teacher training.” Meanwhile, “an increasing number of teachers are seeing the value of teaching about the Native American tribes in their states.”

Florida Third-Graders Who Fail State Tests May Be Promoted Under “Good Cause” Provision.

Florida’s Ledger (11/5, Chambliss) reports, “More than 60 percent of third-graders who failed the 2008″ Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) “reading test were eligible for promotion to the fourth grade, according to recent numbers reported by the Polk County School District.” This was due, in part, to Florida’s “good cause” provision, which allows districts to “can waive promotion requirements for numerous reasons.” For instance, “if third-graders are Exceptional Student Education students whose participation in the FCAT is not required, foreign students with less than two years of English instruction, or have a reading deficiency and have received intensive reading remediation for two or more years and have been retained for two years,” they may have their promotion requirements waived.

Training Needed For Increasing Technology In Elementary Classrooms, Experts Say.

FOX News (11/4, Shannon) reported, “Technology is getting a front-row seat in elementary classrooms, with the result that chalkboards have become a relic and ‘the dog ate my homework’ won’t fly as an excuse any more.” And while “many education experts give these new technologies a thumbs-up for making learning more interesting and convenient…others contend there could be some speed bumps.” For example, one “plausible drawback for SMART Boards stems from a lack of training and support, says Amy Gaimaro, assistant professor of education at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, N.Y.” Similarly, “a cyber-based solution incorporating a chat or message board can mean a shy child can open up and be more outspoken,” but communications sent out “via a computer” are more likely to be misinterpreted than communication done over the phone. “To deal with these new technologies and the nuances they bring to the classroom, education experts…say teachers need to be trained not only in the technical aspects but also in network etiquette or ‘netiquette.’”

Teachers Unsettled By Decreasing Pension Values.

Education Week (11/4, Aarons) reported, “Plunges in the stock market have taken a toll on the fortunes of the nation’s pension funds for retired teachers and other public employees, with retirement systems nationwide reporting losses in the billions of dollars in recent weeks.” And, “the unsettled economy has many teachers on edge.” Education Week predicts that “states likely will tackle dwindling pension values in 2010, after a full accounting of those values is done at the close of the 2009 fiscal year. Changes most likely will come in the form of raising contributions made by states, local governments, and school districts to the plans.” Yet, “it is unlikely, because of political considerations, that many states would look at a proposal like that in Georgia or actively seek to raise the contribution rate of future retirees,” said Ronald K. Snell, the director of the state-services division at the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.

Maryland Teacher Shortage May Be Easing, Officials Say.

The Baltimore Sun (11/4, Bowie) reported, “Maryland’s perennial teacher shortage may be easing for the first time in several years, a result of increased emphasis on producing better-trained teachers from the state’s colleges and universities and a steady enrollment trend, according to state officials.” John Smeallie, acting deputy superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education, said that “colleges and public schools have been working hard recently to produce more math and science teachers.” But, “while the teaching vacancies are fewer, the number of new hires has also gone down in the past several years. Across the state, Maryland hired more than 8,046 teachers in the 2005-06 school year, but by last school year hires had dropped to 7,249.” State schools “remain in need of special education, math, chemistry, physics, and foreign language teachers. The state has designated those as shortage areas in its report released Friday.”

Gary, Indiana School Board May Cut Nearly 60 Teaching Positions.

The Gary (IN) Post-Tribune (11/4, Lazerus) reported, “The Gary School Board will likely cut more than 50 teacher positions in order to trim $23 million from its 2009 budget by Dec. 1.” The proposal comes after “the board passed a massive restructuring plan” in October to “close 12 schools over the next two years. The extent of the cuts is deep: 57 teachers, 57 supervisory aides, most custodians from the buildings scheduled to be closed, 12 secretaries and five maintenance workers.” In addition, the district will refrain from filling “several administrative positions.” However, “the board was not sold on the idea of eliminating aides and replacing them with police officers.” Members will discuss the cuts “at Wednesday’s personnel committee meeting.”

Santa Fe, Texas City Council Considers Banning Handheld Use Of Cell Phones In School Zones.

The Houston Chronicle (11/5, Evans) reports, “An ordinance that would prohibit the handheld use of cell phones in school zones could be adopted Nov. 13 by the city of Santa Fe.” The purpose of the proposal is to encourage drivers to “pay attention to their driving and the kids instead of talking on their cell phone,” said Mayor Ralph Stenzel. “Drivers, however, would still be able to use hands-free devices to make and receive calls. In addition, phones can be used for emergency calls.” The Santa Fe City council “will consider approving the second and final reading of the measure during its meeting next week.”

Material From Old High School Reused In Buildings Throughout Maryland District.

Maryland’s Gazette (11/4, Brown) reported, “School officials are in the midst of drawing boundaries for Oakdale and Linganore high schools that would take effect when they are both open in 2010.” Linganore high school, which has been in existence for 45 years, “will be a state-of-the-art science magnet school.” The new Linganore building “will be built” where the old building once stood. Meanwhile, “many of the materials that made up the original Linganore, such as desks and copper pipes, have been salvaged for reuse in schools throughout Frederick County.” Principal Marge Lyburn said that “recycling these materials emphasizes the importance of understanding human impact on the environment, and dovetails well with the new school’s emphasis on science.”

Connecticut School’s Proposal For Geothermal System Garners Near-Unanimous Public Support.

Connecticut’s The Day (11/4, Clark) reported that although “the pros and cons of” renovating Lyme-Old Lyme High School “were widely discussed…one feature — the school’s geothermal system — stood out because of its near public unanimous support.” Although “the geothermal heating and cooling system is estimated to cost $1.1 million…school officials put the payback versus a conventional four-pipe system at seven to eight years, according to Jim Witkins, vice chairman of the high school Building Committee.” The geothermal system is expected “to save $1.3 million” over 30 years “compared to the four-pipe design.” The Day explains, “Geothermal systems employ a closed-loop network of underground pipes and wells that circulate liquid to pick up hot or cold energy below the ground, where, in this latitude, the earth’s temperature is consistently around 52 degrees no matter what the season.”

Educators May Apply For NEA’s Public School Library Grants.

The School Library Journal (11/5, Staino) reports, “The National Education Association (NEA) Foundation is sponsoring the Books Across America Library Books Awards to help schools that serve kids in economically disadvantaged areas — and the application process is a breeze.” To be considered for the grant, applicants need to complete a three-page application, including “a one page or less narrative describing the unique ways” his or her “school has promoted student reading and literacy.” They “are also asked to include a wish list of books totaling $1,000.” Grants of $1,000 will be awarded “for the sole purpose of buying books and other reading materials for their public school library. Eligible applicants must be a practicing school librarian, teacher, or education support professional in a PreK–12 public school, and at least 70 percent of the students in the applicant’s school must be eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program.”

Walton Family Foundation Awards Funds To Help Advance School Choice.

Education Week (11/4, Robelen) reported, “With no fanfare and a distaste for publicity, the Bentonville, Ark.-based Walton Family Foundation has played a key role in fueling a vast array of efforts to advance school choice, including charter schools, vouchers, and tuition tax credits to support private schooling.” The foundation is seen by some as having used, at times, “a heavy hand to influence the direction of work in the contentious world of K-12 choice. Still, observers say a strong case can be made that no other private organization has done more to put school choice on the map.” The Walton Family Foundation “provided $94 million in education grants, plus $23 million in loans” last year, with “nearly two-thirds of the giving and all of the loans…aimed at the charter school sector.” Daniel N. Marzoni, the president of the Arkansas Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA), said that the foundation gives “to many different quarters [in Arkansas]. … Some of them we definitely like, and some of them we’re not too happy with,” he added.