UPDATES AND INFORMATION COURTESY OF NEA
Georgia Education Officials To Investigate Surge In CRCT Scores.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/14, Vogell, Perry) reported that half of the fifth-graders at Atherton Elementary School in Decatur, GA “failed a yearly state test in the spring. When the 32 students took retests, not only did every one of them pass – 26 scored at the highest level.” According to the Journal-Constitution, “No other Georgia fifth grade pulled off such a feat in the past three years. It was, as one researcher put it, as extraordinary as a snowstorm in July.” However, “State education officials said last week they will investigate steep gains at Atherton and four other schools as a result of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s inquiries. ‘It’s a big red flag,’ said Kathleen Mothers, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. She said officials don’t know what caused the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test scores to soar, only that they require explanation.”
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In the Classroom
Educators Offer Recommendations On How To Overhaul NCLB.
The Washington Post (12/15, B2, Glod) reports that the No Child Left Behind law, “one of President Bush’s major domestic achievements, was enacted with broad bipartisan support. But that consensus faded, and efforts to reauthorize the law stalled in the past year as lawmakers awaited a new president.” Thus, with Congress “poised to begin the debate anew, a student, a PTA president, a charter school advocate, a teachers union leader and a superintendent offer ideas about how to improve the law.” According to the Post, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said, “My hope is the new law will return to its roots and will focus on children in poverty.” Center for Education Reform President Jeanne Allen is quoted saying, “We need a federal law that is really aligned with how to get continuous sustainable improvement in our education system. … What’s happened in the past few years is it has been so out of whack that it has become more of a testing and a blame game than about how we help kids.”
DC Charter School Students Show Testing Gains Over Public School Counterparts.
The Washington Post (12/15, A1, Keating, Labbé-DeBose) reports on its front page that students in D.C.’s charter schools “have opened a solid academic lead over those in its traditional public schools, adding momentum to a movement that is recasting public education in the city. The gains show up on national standardized tests and the city’s own tests in reading and math, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.” The Post notes that Charter schools “have been particularly successful with low-income children, who make up two-thirds of D.C. public school students.” According to the Post analysis, “District children in both systems still fall short of national averages on standardized tests.” However, according “to a Washington Post analysis of recent national test results for economically disadvantaged students, D.C. middle-school charters scored 19 points higher than the regular public schools in reading and 20 points higher in math.”
Obama’s Education Secretary Pick Seen As Key To Knowing Stance On Reforms.
The New York Times (12/14, A35, Dillon, 1.12M) reports that as President-elect Obama “prepares to announce his choice for education secretary, there is mystery not only about the person he will choose, but also about the approach to overhauling the nation’s schools that his selection will reflect. … Will he side with those who want to abolish teacher tenure and otherwise curb the power of teachers’ unions? Or with those who want to rewrite the main federal law on elementary and secondary education, the No Child Left Behind Act, and who say the best strategy is to help teachers become more qualified?” According to the Times, “The debate has sometimes been nasty. … Some of the toughest criticism has been aimed at the person Mr. Obama appointed to lead his education policy working group, the most important education post of the transition: Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor of education at Stanford University.” Darling-Hammond “is liked by the teachers’ unions, and partly for that reason has been portrayed as an enemy of school reform by detractors. These have included people who have urged Mr. Obama to appoint Joel I. Klein, the New York City schools chancellor, or Michelle Rhee, the schools chancellor in Washington, as education secretary.”
On the Job
College Seniors’ Interest In Teach For America Program Very High.
The Chicago Tribune (12/14, Greenwell) reported, “In its 18th year, Teach for America has emerged as the most popular non-profit service organization among college seniors in the U.S., with 14,181 applications received this year and as many as 23,000 more expected by the end of February-all for fewer than 5,000 teaching spots. In part because of the dearth of other job prospects in the sagging economy but mostly because the program has captured the imagination of a generation of students bent on doing good, some graduates of the nation’s elite universities are fighting for low-paying teaching positions the way they once sought jobs on Wall Street.”
Kentucky Ranks 11th On Nationally Certified Teacher List.
TheDaily News (KY ) (12/13) reported, “Five local educators helped Kentucky become one of the leading states in national certifications. The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards said Kentucky ranked 11th in the country, with 232 state teachers completing the rigorous process to earn the distinction of being nationally certified.” The Daily News adds that Kentucky’s goal “is to have one nationally certified teacher in every school by 2020. … The state offers a $2,000 pay increase to teachers who complete the process, as well as providing them with an alternative to achieving their Rank I status.”
Law & Policy
Arkansas Efforts To Ensure Underprivileged Students Get Qualified Teachers Bearing Fruit.
The Arkansas News Bureau (12/14, Moritz) reports, “Efforts by the Legislature to ensure poor and minority children are not disproportionately taught by inexperienced or underqualified teachers appear to be working, according to a report released by the Arkansas Department of Education. The report, presented to the state Board of Education this month as a requirement of the federal No Child Left Behind law, shows teachers averaging a dozen years in experience are teaching 98 percent of core academic classes in districts with and without large numbers of minority students.” The News Bureau noted that in 2003, the Arkansas Legislature “raised minimum base salaries for teachers and approved a new compensation schedule.” Also, since 2004, the Legislature “has appropriated about $700 million to improve school facilities in the state’s 245 school districts.”
Special Needs
Arizona Supreme Court To Rule On Vouchers For Special-Needs Students.
The AP (12/14) reported that the “scholastic fates” of 225 students across Arizona “will be determined by the Arizona Supreme Court, which heard arguments Dec. 9 about whether it’s legal to send state dollars to private schools to educate special-needs and displaced foster children. The issue has pitted those who say they’re on the side of families who can’t get the specialized help they need from public schools against a consortium of a dozen educational agencies who contend this is just a first step to a wholesale voucher program that will bleed resources from the already financially strapped public-school system.” According to the AP, “Twenty-two of the 41 students enrolled at the secular, private Turning Point School (Tucson, AZ) are there on vouchers.”
Many New York City Special Education Students “Shortchanged,” Study Finds.
The New York Daily News (12/14, Lazarowitz) reported that a “huge chunk” of New York City’s special education students “are being shortchanged when it comes to the services they’re supposed to get, the Daily News has learned. As of June, nearly a quarter of the special needs children officials say should receive occupational therapy aren’t getting it, according to Department of Education data obtained by The News.” However, in two other areas, the DOE “comes closer to the mark, with 90% of students getting their speech therapy and 93% receiving counseling.
Federal Officials End 12-Year Special Education Review In Massachusetts District.
The Republican (MA) (12/13, McAuliffe) reported that the federal government “has closed a review of the process of evaluating special education students in the Springfield (MA) public schools that lasted 12 years. The School Department announced Friday that the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Education Department had concluded the review and determined the system’s evaluation of special education students had greatly improved.” According to the Republican, “Among steps taken by the School Department that the federal government wanted were the hirings of a chief compliance officer to oversee special education issues; an information technology specialist to manage special education data; more special education evaluation team leaders; and providing funds for team leaders to work in the summer to process referrals and further address any other compliance issues.”
Safety & Security
Lawsuit Highlights Bullying At Exclusive Connecticut School.
The AP (12/13, Reitz) reported, “The bullying came at school dances and in class, on Facebook and back at the dorm by girls who called themselves ‘Oprichniki,’ a Russian attack squad notorious for torturing suspected enemies of a 16th-century czar. The cruel clique at the exclusive Miss Porter’s School (CT) allegedly harassed Tatum Bass for months, until two doctors advised her to take a break.” According to the AP, after the all-girls boarding school, one of the nation’s most selective, threatened to expel Bass, she “and her parents responded with a federal lawsuit that offers a disturbing glimpse into life on the leafy campus in the affluent Hartford suburbs.”
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Survey Finds “Some Of The Worst” Bullying Rate In New Zealand, Australia.
The New Zealand Herald (12/15, Tapaleao) reports, “Children in New Zealand suffer some of the worst school bullying in the world, an Australian survey has found. The survey, which featured 36 countries, showed bullying in Australia and New Zealand rated in the worst category.” According to the Herald, Australian primary school students “suffered bullying at a rate of almost 50 per cent above the international average, putting it in the worst section. Kiwi youngsters and students from Kuwait, Taiwan and Qatar fared only just worse than their Australian counterparts.”
School Finance
California Budget Cuts Threaten Planned Vocational School.
The Signal (CA) (12/13, Lovato) reported, “State budget cuts mean a hard-earned $1.6 million grant for new vocational education facilities could be snatched from the coffers of the William S. Hart Union High School District (CA). The change came a day after a state official lauded the influx of money into schools.” California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell is quoted saying, “Even as the state is embroiled in a fiscal crisis, the people saw fit to help create more safe and modern school environments where their children can learn so they can compete in a more global, technologically challenging world after they graduate. But on Friday, Tina Jung, spokeswoman for the California Department of Education, said threatened budget cuts to state public-education funding could mean no such money is available.”
PTAs Provide Critical Funding To School Hard-Hit By California Budget Woes.
KGO-TV San Francisco (12/13, Amin) reported, statewide budget cuts are forcing California school districts “to do more with less. … The Los Altos School District is feeling the short fall first hand. At Blach Junior High School (Los Altos, CA), the district cut the school’s operating budget in half.” However, schools “are now relying heavily on a different funding source, school parent-teacher associations. … The PTA usually pays for computers, laptops and teachers aides, but at Blach, it will spend $40,000 on necessities like paper, pencils, copying expenses and ink jet cartridges, instead.”
Utah Schools Bracing For State Budget Cuts.
The Salt Lake Tribune (12/13, Gehrke, Gehrke) reported that plummeting state revenue has Utah officials “to begin cutting costs, forcing the elimination of things like subsidized meals for seniors and scaling back items like rented beds in county jails and treatment for juvenile sex offenders and convicted drug addicts.” Also, “Schools wouldn’t be exempt from the cuts,” says state Sen. Lyle Hillyard, (R). According to the Tribune, “There is simply no way to maintain the current education funding and pay for 13,500 students entering the school system next year. State departments have already started tightening their belts, trying to hold back 1.5 percent of the money they have been allocated for the current year to plug shortfalls.”
Ohio School Districts Forced To Cut Millions From Budget After Voters Reject Levies.
The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (12/13, Boss, Woods) reports that two Franklin County (OH) school districts “recently outlined the damage caused by the failure of operating levies on Nov. 4. Canal Winchester board members must make at least $2.4 million in cuts — which officials said probably will include employee layoffs — early next year to balance the books for the 2009-10 school year.” Also, Reynoldsburg “is cutting an additional $387,000 from the current 2008-09 budget. The district’s cuts announced yesterday include raising pay-to-play fees by $65 per student per sport and slashing funding for summer school and field trips.” Officials “at both districts said the reductions could swell if voters don’t agree to higher taxes in the spring. But the troubled economy and the state’s financial crisis could mean lower passage rates for school levies next year, said David Varda, executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.”
Editorial: Academic Impact Of Education Budget Cuts Must Be Assessed.
The Louisville Courier-Journal (12/14) editorialized, “Jefferson County (KY) Public Schools has been poring over every line of its budget to find a way to cover a $40 million hole in the 2009-10 school year costs. … All told, as many as 264 jobs may be lost in this emergency surgery; they make up part of more than 50 proposed reductions aimed at extracting programs and services while minimizing harm to students and employees.” The Courier Journal added, “For now, we must digest that $40 million must come from our public school budget, and that this sort of economizing could last several years. We must ask ourselves what this will mean to a state that already faces so many education challenges.”
Florida’s St. Petersburg Times (12/16, Solochek) reports, “Without doubt, the staff at Academy at the Farm charter school could have used bonuses in this tough budget year. … But when the school received $24,565 this fall in state recognition funds – a bonus based on the school’s FCAT performance – no one on the 40-person faculty and staff even suggested putting the money into their own pockets.” According to the Times, the teachers decided to invest the funds into classroom technology. Last year, the Pasco County School District “received $3.4-million in recognition funds, which can go toward bonuses, materials or temporary employees. … Ideas to spend the money on school supplies, laptops for teachers and paraprofessionals got waylaid at some schools, as the guiding principle seemed to be recognizing teachers and staff members for their hard work.” According to the Times, some schools “gave their teachers the option of taking a bonus or leaving the money at the school for materials and support services.”
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Oregon Education Officials Suspend Plans To Raise Math Standards Amid Budget Crunch.
The AP (12/15) reported that the Oregon Board of Education, “cash-strapped by the recession, says it is suspending plans to raise high school graduation requirements in math. Under the heightened requirements set six months ago, this year’s high school freshmen would have had to prove they had mastered introductory algebra, geometry and statistics by the time they graduated.” However, since “almost half of the state’s sophomores failed the math test on their first try, according to board members, getting all students proficient in math by 2012 was a challenge the state does not have the money to address during a recession.”
Some Missouri School Districts Receive State Awards Despite NCLB Sanctions.
The Southeast Missourian (12/15, Bavolek) reported, “Some school districts that received federal sanctions this year for not making enough progress are now receiving a state award for distinction in performance. That’s because the state looks at a broader range of data, including ACT scores, college placement rates and availability of advanced courses, while the federal government focuses mainly on test scores, holding all subgroups of students accountable.” Thus, some districts “that received criticism when Missouri Assessment Program results were released in August are now celebrating their state distinction. The state’s education department doled out awards to 330 districts out of 523 this year.”
Many Hawaii Schools Make Progress, But Fall Short Of AYP Standards.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (12/15, Barone) reported that over the next six years, Hawaii AYP standards “will increase steadily until 2014, when all proficiency objectives will increase to 100 percent. … A school that does not make AYP will face sanctions and may be put under reconstruction.” The “percentage of schools to make AYP has decreased from last year and it is believed that increased proficiency objectives are to blame. … Progress is being made, but not fast enough for NCLB. Superintendent of Education Patricia Hamamoto says, ‘The progress made by our schools clearly indicates deep learning, especially with a substantial increase in math and reading proficiency targets this year.’”
Paper Calls For “More Realistic Expectations” From NCLB.
The Yakima (WA) Herald-Republic (12/16) editorializes, “Change is on the way for state and federal education agencies, and clearly one challenge facing their new leaders is the need for a complete re-evaluation of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning and federal No Child Left Behind Act. We’re appalled that several Valley schools don’t get proper credit for efforts that have produced measurable ‘adequate yearly progress’ mandated by the federal law.” The Herald-Republic adds, that Yakima Valley students “are showing solid progress in academics, whether [NCLB] acknowledges it or not. With the new presidential administration and a new state superintendent in Olympia, we’re at an important crossroads to revisit both programs and come up with more realistic expectations of students, and certainly a better way of measuring progress in learning.”
On the Job
Minnesota District Freezes Hiring Amid Budget Uncertainty.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (12/16, Johns) reports that the St. Paul School District “is instituting a district-wide hiring freeze, it said Monday, because of concerns over what the state’s gloomy budget picture could mean for the district’s finances this school year. Just more than a week after the state announced it would face a $5.2 billion deficit over the next two and a half years, the district said it hopes to save up to half a million dollars this school year by not filling positions that open between Monday and June 30.”
Number Of Certified Teachers In Hawaii On The Rise.
The Honolulu Advertiser (12/15, Moreno) reported, “The number of nationally certified teachers in Hawai’i rose by 25 percent this year to a total of 203 teachers with the profession’s highest credential. Hawai’i was among about 16 states to see a more than 20 percent increase in the number of national board-certified teachers compared to last year, according to data released by the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board.” According to the Advertiser, each year, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards “grants a small percentage of teachers across the country national board certification for meeting rigorous standards in education. About 9,600 teachers received board certification this year, of whom 41 were from Hawai’i.”
Rise In Number Of Certified Teachers In Washington State Applauded.
The Seattle Times (12/16) editorializes, “Teacher quality is closely tied to student academic achievement, making Washington state’s efforts to improve quality by getting more teachers to earn a National Board Certification worth lauding. … This year, 919 teachers statewide earned the advanced certification, nearly double the number certified last year.” The “challenge is continuing the momentum. It would be nice if the numbers of teachers earning certification doubled again next year.”
Law & Policy
Pennsylvania Governor To Renew Push For Statewide Health Plan For School Districts.
The AP (12/16, Raffaele) reports, “The spiraling cost of health care is a constant lament of Pennsylvania school boards whenever they draw up their annual budgets. Their consternation, however, wasn’t enough to overcome their skepticism during the 2007-08 legislative session about a proposal that Gov. Rendell said could reduce those expenses – and rein in property-tax increases.” According to the AP, “A statewide plan would help control school employee health-benefit costs by spreading the risk more widely, managing benefits better, and lowering school administrative costs, Rendell said. In a trade-off, employee unions would give up the right to bargain for better health-insurance benefits during contract negotiations.” However, House Democrats, “who control the flow of legislation in that chamber, didn’t advance the measure because of resistance from their home school districts, said Bob Caton, a caucus spokesman.” Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo “said the administration expects to renew its push in the upcoming legislative session that begins in January.”
Safety & Security
Survey Aims To Reveal Extent Of Bullying Among Students At Arizona School.
HealthDay (12/15, Gordon) reported, “Behavior that was once dismissed as ‘kids being kids’ is now recognized as bullying. And as mounting research shows the negative effects on both the bully and the victim, mental-health professionals, schools, parents and even kids themselves are coming up with new ways to combat this threatening behavior.” According to HealthDay, “One of the biggest problems that adults encounter with bullying is silence. It’s difficult to get accurate estimates of how pervasive the problem is because children often don’t report it, usually because of fear.” When Bay Area Children’s Association researchers administered a bullying survey “to a group of 175 third- and fourth-graders in an Arizona school, they found that almost 60 percent of the children reported participating in at least one bullying behavior, and 90 percent of the youngsters reported being on the receiving end of at least one form of bullying behavior.”
Florida Superintendent Implements Plan To Curb Bullying.
WCTV-TV Tallahassee, FL (12/15, Searcy) reported, “Recent riots at Jefferson Middle/ High School have some students fearing for their safety.” Superintendent Bill Brumfield “thinks a zero tolerance anti-bullying policy will keep the problems to a minimum and make students feel safe again. … When the kids return from break in January, the superintendent, sheriff, county judge and prosecuting attorney will be speaking to students.” According to WCTV, the “plan is to present the relationship between actions and consequences so the students realize violence and bullying can potentially get them into trouble with the law.”
Facilities
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West Virginia County Gains Approval For School Building Plans.
The Fayette-Tribune (WV) (12/16, Hill) reports, “Fayette County school officials received word last Monday that the state School Building Authority approved their request for funding consideration for a Major Improvement Project to build four new classrooms and restrooms at Valley Elementary School.” Superintendent Chris Perkins said that Valley “is a K-5 facility that was built using an inefficient and outdated ‘open space’ concept that no longer benefits the 369 students who are educated there.” Also, “the SBA is likely to make a decision in March on Fayette County’s plans to build a new consolidated high school in the Plateau District and close Fayetteville, Midland Trail, Mount Hope and Oak Hill high schools.”
Virginia District Says It Tried To Keep Neighborhoods Together In Drawing Attendance Lines.
The Franklin News-Post (VA) (12/15, Turner) reports, “Franklin County school officials said they tried to avoid splitting neighborhoods in drawing the proposed attendance zones for elementary schools as a result of the opening of the new Windy Gap Elementary School.” Director of facilities and transportation Steve Oakes said that “the goal of the new attendance zones was to reduce the enrollment by about 100 students each at Boones Mill, Burnt Chimney and Dudley, and to have an enrollment of about 300 at Windy Gap.” The meeting “was the third in a series by school officials to explain the proposed changes in attendance zones and to answer parents’ questions.” Superintendent Charles Lackey also “assured the parents that he and other school officials are available to answer any of their questions about the proposed changes in attendance zones.”
School Finance
State Spending Reduction Expected To Reach Education Budgets.
Education Week (12/16, McNeil) reports, “The first drop in program expenditures in a quarter-century bodes ill for states’ economic future,” according to “the December 2008 semiannual fiscal survey of states released today by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.” The survey found that “36 states face existing budget gaps totaling $30 billion, and are already turning to cuts in K-12 education to help close those shortfalls.” And “overall, state government spending is expected to shrink by 0.1 percent — a seemingly small amount, but negative growth nonetheless that hasn’t been experienced since 1983, when spending shrunk 0.7 percent.”
Alabama Gov Riley Announces Education Cuts.
The Times-Journal (AL) (12/15, Felkins) reports, “With Gov. Bob Riley’s announcement of school budget cuts across the state Monday, both Fort Payne City and DeKalb County superintendents are bracing for much leaner times. Riley declared the state education budget in proration in the amount of 12.5 percent — a rate higher than education officials had expected.” That “will mean across-the-board reductions in spending on grades K-12 and higher education.” Gov. Riley also said that “he will use $218 million from the state’s ‘rainy day’ fund to lessen the proration effects to about 9 percent.”
Kansas Expected To Borrow To Make School Payments.
The Kansas City Star (12/16, Klepper) reports, “Kansas has a cash-flow problem, one so serious that it’s forcing state officials to dip into other accounts to pay the state’s public education bills.” This month’s state transfer to school districts “was supposed to be $220 million. But because of declining tax revenues, the state had only $165 million to give.” So “the Kansas Finance Council — comprising Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and legislative leaders — today will consider borrowing $400 million from other state funds.” And “big budget cuts are likely on the way when state lawmakers return to Topeka next month.” But “Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran downplayed the move, calling it fairly routine.”
New York Districts Prepare For Possible Freeze In State Aid.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (12/15, McDermott) reported, “Gov. David Paterson will release his budget for 2009-10 on Tuesday,” and “schools could take a big hit.” In fact, “the state School Boards Association warned members in early November not to be surprised if school aid for next year is frozen at current levels.” But “the state Board of Regents earlier this month proposed the governor increase spending by about $879 million, for a roughly 4 percent increase statewide in school aid.” The Democrat & Chronicle describes several area school districts planning cuts in some spending in order to prepare for expected reductions in school aid.
Also in the News
Obama Selects Chicago Schools Chief As New Education Secretary.
The AP (12/16) reports, “President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan to serve as education secretary, people with knowledge of the decision said Monday. Obama planned to announce his choice Tuesday morning.” Duncan “has run the country’s third-biggest school district for the past seven years. He has focused on improving struggling schools, closing those that fail.” The AP adds “Obama’s choice has been anticipated, and argued about.” Obama “managed throughout his campaign to avoid taking sides in the contentious debate between reform advocates and teachers’ unions over the direction of education and the fate of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind accountability law,” and “Duncan’s selection may satisfy both factions. Reform advocates wanted a big-city school superintendent who, like Duncan, has sought accountability for schools and teachers. And teachers’ unions, an influential segment of the party base, wanted an advocate for their members; they have said they believe Duncan is willing to work with them.”
The New York Times (12/16, A1, Dillon, 1.12M) calls Duncan “a compromise choice in the debate that has divided Democrats in recent months over the proper course for public-school policy after the Bush years.”
Spellings Called Duncan “A Kindred Spirit.” The Washington Post (12/16, A1, Kornblut, Rucker, 696K) notes that “Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who visited a Chicago elementary school last week to highlight Duncan’s pay-for-performance program, showered praise on the executive in an interview with The Washington Post last week. Spellings called him ‘a really good school leader.’” Said Spellings, “I do think he’s a reform-oriented school leader who has been a supporter of No Child Left Behind and accountability concepts and teacher quality. … He’s a kindred spirit.”