Updates and Information Provided by NEA
Sixth-Graders At California School Learn Money Management By Earning Salaries, Paying Taxes.
The Modesto Bee (1/29, Hatfield) reports that Jamie Garner’s sixth-grade class at Walnut Elementary School “is one of several ‘minisocieties’ in Turlock schools. Every one of Garner’s 30 students has a job, earns a salary, gets bonuses (for such things as keeping a clean desk), earns fines (for things like talking during lessons) and pays taxes.” Garner’s “students fill out ledgers, practicing their addition, subtraction and decimals. They also learn why they should keep track and save their mock money.” According to the Modesto Bee, “The U.S. recession is providing a surplus of current events that help teachers relate economic, math or government lessons to students. The topic has come up in most high school classes, from English to science,” according to teachers.
In the Classroom
Students At Two Schools In Massachusetts Use PlayStation Portables For Reading, Math.
Massachusetts’s The Patriot Ledger (1/29, McCarthy) reports that “at the Joseph Osgood and Deer Hill elementary schools in Cohasset, a new type of video-game system is not only welcome in the classroom, it’s being used to help children learn.” The schools “have begun using an interactive video-game program called Achieve Now by Plato Learning,” which “uses animated characters, color, and music to help students with reading, language arts, and math.” Each school has 25 PlayStation Portables that “are used once a week by students in grades one through five.” The Patriot Ledger adds that “The program was paid for by a state educational grant and included the interactive software, school and home learning activities, teacher materials, professional development and student assessment.”
Dual-Language Program Will Be Offered To Kindergartners At Schools In Illinois District.
The Chicago Tribune (1/28, Houde) reported on the new dual-language program that will be offered to kindergartners at several schools in the Community Consolidated School District 59. “The classes differ from traditional English-as-a-Second-Language programs because the students are a mix of Spanish and English speakers.” The classes will be made up of equal numbers of native Spanish-speakers and native English-speakers. Eighty percent of “reading, writing, and arithmetic lessons will be in Spanish and 20 percent will be in English.” But “by the time the students reach 4th grade, half of the lessons will be in English and the other half will be in Spanish.”
“You Have The Power” Program Helping Maryland Students Stand Up To Bullying.
The Washington Post (1/29, GZ13, Rasicot) reports on “‘You Have the Power!,’ a bullying-prevention peer education program for students” launched in 2005 by the nonprofit Project Change in Olney, MD. According to the Post, Project Change “is a community partner of the federal government’s ‘Stop Bullying Now!’ campaign. Through the program in Montgomery County (MD), a group” of Sherwood High School students “spends 12 weeks mentoring middle and elementary school students on ways to spread anti-bullying messages through activities and projects. ‘You Have the Power!’ has received national attention, including in a recent story in Time for Kids,” and “it was featured on a PBS program in 2005.”
Passport To The World Features Cross-Curricular Art Lesson Plans.
Illinois’s Plainfield Sun (1/29) reports that “River View Elementary School art teacher Joan Borzym has published lesson plans designed to take elementary students on an art adventure across the seven continents of the world.” Borzym wrote the “250-page art curriculum guide, entitled Passport to the World, “in a professional lesson plan format for first- through fifth-grade students.” A first-grade lesson from the book involves “creating red-eyed tree frogs from the rainforests of South America. … Second-graders could use art to visit the continent of Europe and learn about Vincent Van Gogh’s two versions of the famous painting, ‘Starry Night.’” In addition to geography, “the guide also integrates art lessons across the curriculum to include components of math, science…and language arts.” It “has been printed to CD-Rom format and is linked to each individual state’s standards.” Passport to the World also is also “aligned to the National Fine Arts Standards.”
On the Job
Los Angeles Teachers Union Directs Members Not To Administer Periodic Tests.
The Los Angeles Times (1/28, Blume) reported that on Tuesday the Los Angeles teachers union “directed teachers to refuse to give” students periodic assessments “administered by the Los Angeles Unified School District.” The tests are intended to “give teachers insight into what students need to learn while there remains time in the current school year to adjust instruction.” But the union says that “the tests are costly and counterproductive.” Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines contends that “the assessments are part of teachers’ assigned duties — they are not optional. He also said he has and will amend aspects of the tests that need fixing.” However, he will not “toss them out because, he said, they have contributed strongly to rising performance on the state’s own annual tests.” The Times noted that “the district tests…have become central to a debate over the proliferation of testing, whether it interrupts instruction and can narrow the depth and breadth of what’s taught.”
Ninety-Five Percent Of Houston Public School Teachers Earn Bonuses.
The Houston Chronicle (1/29, Mellon) reports that “a record number of teachers in” Houston Independent School District (HISD) “saw their bank accounts grow Wednesday when the school district doled out $31.4 million in performance bonuses.” Ninety-Five percent of teachers earned some cash,” according to the district. Still, “more than 2,200 eligible HISD employees received no bonus.” The Houston Chronicle explains, “The bonuses are calculated using a complex statistical formula that estimates how individual students should score on standardized tests based on their own past performance. Teachers are then ranked by how much their students exceeded expectations, and those teachers in the top half get bonuses.” School-wide growth determines the amount “Other employees, including counselors, janitors and principals” can receive. The average teacher bonus was $2,426, and the “top-earning teacher…received $8,580.” HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra also received a bonus of $77,500.
Chicago Schools CEO Criticized For School Closing, Reorganization Plan.
The Chicago Tribune (1/29, Sadovi) reports that “newly installed Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Ron Huberman got a rude awakening at his first board meeting Wednesday as dozens of parents and teachers blasted plans to close and reorganize 22 schools.” The plan was first announced by “his predecessor, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.” Nevertheless, “Huberman was booed by a packed audience who called him an educational novice and a political appointee of Mayor Richard Daley.” Also on Wednesday, “a coalition of nearly a dozen groups…held news conferences,” speaking “out against the proposals.” The groups accused CPS “of closing schools as part of Daley’s efforts to push his Renaissance 2010.” Opponents of the plan say it “is a way to put schools in gentrifying neighborhoods under control of private companies and to fire union teachers. The district contends the schools have low enrollment or are academically failing.”
Law & Policy
New York City Schools Chief Requests More Flexibility For Spending State Aid.
The New York Times (1/29, A22, Gootman) reports, “Joel I. Klein, the New York City schools chancellor, pleaded with state lawmakers on Wednesday to reduce proposed budget cuts and to give the city more flexibility in how state aid is spent, saying that as things stand, the schools could have to lay off 15,000 employees, many of them teachers, next year.” According to Klein’s testimony “at a joint hearing of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee,” City schools face “a $1.4 billion shortfall from its 2009-10 budget: $700 million in state cuts, $500 million in city cuts and $200 million in what he described as increases in “additional obligations,” including salary increases and special-education mandates.” According to the Times, legislators did not appear to be receptive to Klein’s request.
Idaho District Directed To Divert Funds From Special Education Toward Intervention Programs.
The AP (1/29) reports that Idaho’s State Department of Education “says a school district in eastern Idaho has labeled Native American students who struggle because of race or poverty as disabled and placed them in special education classes.” School District 25 administrators must now “direct nearly $370,000 from their special education budget to a general operation fund and use the money to fund intervention programs.” An attorney for the district said that “students are placed in special education programs based on their individual needs and many minority students remain in traditional classrooms.”
Utah District Settles Age-Discrimination Lawsuit.
The Salt Lake Tribune (1/29, Stewart) reports, “Alpine School District has agreed to issue an apology and check for $135,000 to two former Geneva Elementary School teachers, settling an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).” The suit accuses Geneva principal Janette Strong of using “age as a criterion for rejecting a job applicant and refusing tenure to a teacher between 2002 and 2003.” The principal “allegedly favored younger teachers when it came to dispensing classroom supplies and professional development opportunities, according to the lawsuit.”
“As part of the settlement, the district has agreed to reinstate” one of the teachers “beginning in the 2009-2010 school year,” Utah’s Deseret News (1/29, Stuart) adds. It will also provide age-discrimination education for teachers and administration.”
Utah Lawmaker Proposes Later Age For Starting Kindergarten.
The Salt Lake Tribune (1/29, Schencker, Stewart) reports that Rep. Laura Black (D-Sandy) “is sponsoring a bill this session that would require children to be older before starting kindergarten.” Current policy requires that “Utah children…be five years old before Sept. 2 to start kindergarten. Black’s bill would move the deadline to July 1.” But some experts say that “delaying entry to kindergarten…might do more harm than good, especially for parents who can’t afford to stay home with their children or send them to preschool.” Others say that “states should focus on school readiness, not child readiness.” But Kathy Wittke, a Jordan School District elementary literacy consultant, argues that “changing the dates would at least ensure, for year-round schools, that children are five when they start.”
Safety & Security
Chicago Public Schools Enforce Restrictions On High School Sports Fans Attending Away Games.
The Chicago Tribune (1/29, Olkon, Harrison) reports, “Restrictions on game attendance announced last week by Chicago Public Schools took effect this week. Fans can’t attend away games unless they have been pre-approved by the host school.” Although “the rules had been on the books for at least 12 years,” school officials decided to enforce the rules due to “a recent rash of violence — including six shootings — during or after basketball games.” According to the Chicago Tribune, “other rules include starting games earlier and banning potential troublemakers.”
Schools In Massachusetts District Must Have Permit To Hold Ticketed Performances.
Massachusetts’s The Herald News (1/28, Welker) reported that “schools will now need a permit from the Fire Department for plays and shows after complaints were made of overcrowding to the point of being dangerous and people parking in fire lanes.” The “Permits will be required only for events that issue tickets, like plays and shows.” However, “sports games won’t need permits.” The Herald News noted that “permits from the Fire Department are free, but paid details for a firefighter or police officer typically costs $30 or $40 an hour.”
School Finance
St. Paul School Officials Announce $1.4 Million Corporate Donation.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (1/29, Johns) reports, “The St. Paul school district announced Wednesday that it will be receiving about $1.4 million from the Travelers Companies Inc. to help expand a program for students preparing for college and invest in leadership development of principals.” On Tuesday, district officials said they expect “to make several similar announcements in the next few weeks, with more investments coming from these ‘strategic partners.’” Superintendent Meria Carstarphen announced in November “that corporate partners such as 3M, Ecolab, and the McKnight Foundation have agreed to designate the district as a ‘strategic partnership priority.’ That means they’ll align their investments with the district’s strategic priorities, such as ensuring that teachers are culturally proficient and helping ease student transitions from elementary grades to junior high and high school.” The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal (1/29, Newmarker) also covers the story.
Also in the News
Former Educator Urges Scrutiny Of College Degree’s Value.
Former UCLA Graduate School of Education lecturer Walt Gardner writes in an op-ed for the Christian Science Monitor (1/29), “Today’s economic downturn has blindsided a generation of young people around the globe brought up to believe that a college degree guaranteed them financial prosperity. Whether in the US, China, or in countries in between, graduates from even marquee-name schools are feeling the crunch, prompting many rightly to rethink the value of their education.” Gardner adds, “There is a distinct difference between learning as an end in itself and learning relevant to earn a living. College is not intended to be a trade school. … No matter how marketable majors may seem, there is no assurance graduates will practice only one trade throughout their entire careers.” Thus, “to avoid further disillusionment, we must be willing to take an unflinching look at the way we prepare students for the challenges ahead.”
Coach Removed After High School Dance Team Performs Provocative Routine.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (1/28, Matteucci) reports that “a Clayton County school employee can no longer coach a Jonesboro High School dance team because the students performed a provocative dance at a basketball game that offended some spectators.” The coach “has been removed as the team’s adviser and is now being investigated by the human resources department.” At issue is a Jan 13 performance “at a Jonesboro High boys’ basketball game” in which the dance team wore “thigh-high stockings, tiny shorts and tight shirts. … The girls danced on chairs, then boys came out of the crowd to sit on the chairs while the girls danced in front of them.” District spokesman Charles White said that “when a school administrator previewed the dance before the game, the girls were not wearing the costumes or performing that kind of dance.”
States Struggle To Keep Good Teachers, Remove Bad Ones, Analysis Shows.
The AP (1/29, Quaid) reported that a review released by the National Council on Teacher Quality finds that states “are not doing what it takes to keep good teachers and remove bad ones. … Only Iowa and New Mexico require any evidence that public school teachers are effective before granting them tenure.” But the NEA said that “job protections shouldn’t be blamed for keeping bad teachers on the job.” Segun Eubanks, NEA’s director of teacher quality, said, “No district-union contract in America states that bad teachers can never be fired from their jobs. … Yet too often, district-teacher union contracts are blamed for inadequate, ineffective and misused teacher evaluation systems.”
Education Week (1/30, Sawchuk) reports that according to the Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality, states are mainly responsible for the findings. The council contends that “by putting into place vague guidelines around teacher-evaluation and tenure-granting processes, states are complicit in allowing poor teachers to remain in classrooms.” Meanwhile, the report shows that “states did a better job creating incentives for teachers who work in shortage subjects or high-need schools; more than half the states had those policies in place.”
KFOX-TV El Paso (1/30, Dombrowski) reports that the National Council on Teacher Quality rates New Mexico “unsatisfactory overall based on six categories including: meeting No Child Left Behind objectives, teacher licensure, teacher evaluation and compensation, state approval of teacher preparation programs, alternate routes to certification, and preparation of special education teachers.” The state is one of only two that requires “evidence that public school teachers are effective, before granting tenure.” Iowa is the other.
According to WAMU-Radio DC (1/30, Jacobs), DC area “school districts haven’t fared too well when it comes to identifying and retaining effective teachers in 2008. Neither have they done a very good job firing ineffective ones.” The 2008 National Council on Teacher Quality report shows that DC schools failed overall in “identifying and retaining effective teachers” and firing ineffective teachers in 2008, while Maryland and Virginia schools earned a D- and a D+, respectively. NBC Washington points out that “Virginia requires all new teachers receive mentoring,” but Maryland only “requires it for some teachers, and D.C.” does not require mentoring.
The Baltimore Sun (1/30, Bowie) adds that “Maryland is one of seven states that give tenure to teachers after only two years of teaching, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality.” But “the council believes that status should be given only to teachers who have proved themselves effective after five years in a classroom.” They also say that “tenure should be accompanied by a large pay increase that recognizes a teacher has reached a level that deserves a long-term investment by the state and local school system.”
The Seattle Times /AP (1/30, Blankinship) reports that the analysis by the “National Council on Teacher Quality gives Washington state a C minus average, better than the national average of a D plus.” Washington did, however get “a D minus for identifying effective teachers because [the council] wants teachers judged by objective means like student test scores.” While the council “commended Washington for doing multiple formal evaluations of new teachers and for the consequences it sets for teachers with unsatisfactory evaluations,” it wants the state to “change its policy concerning teacher tenure.” Under current policy, “new teachers in Washington are on probation for two years. But after that period is over, the council believes granting of tenure is virtually automatic.”
The Salt Lake Tribune (1/30, Stewart), the Pittsburgh Tribune – Review (1/30, Kurutz), the Minneapolis Star Tribune (1/30, Releford), and Florida’s The Ledger /AP (1/30, Quaid) also cover the National Council on Teacher Quality analysis of teacher policies for their respective states.
In the Classroom
Education Consultant Shows Teachers How To Use Children’s Literature To Teach Science.
The Houston Chronicle (1/30, Radcliffe) reports, “Getting teachers up to speed in [science] is a pressing issue in Texas and across the nation.” According to some experts, “U.S. students struggle with science because they aren’t given a strong foundation early in their educations.” In an effort “to help shore up teachers’ skills, Harris County Department of Education consultant Lisa Felske secured about $215,000 in grants to create “Science Fiction” workshops.” During the workshops, “Felske, a former science teacher at HISD’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, shows prekindergarten- through second-grade teachers how to use children’s literature to introduce physics and chemistry concepts.” In the past two years, “about 300 teachers have attended the chemistry training. … About 60 more have gone through the physics training, which just launched in December.”
Teachers In Nebraska District Emphasize Spelling With Less Rote Memorization.
The Omaha World-Herald (1/30) reports that “learning commonly used and often misspelled words — with less rote memorization — has been part of” District 66′s “spelling curriculum for about a dozen years,” and “now other metro-area districts, including Omaha, Millard and Papillion-La Vista, are joining in the approach.” The intent “is to move away from asking students to memorize a weekly list of words, especially if they don’t yet know what the words mean or use them when they write.” Under District 66′s method, “Students still might get a spelling list. But instead of simply writing each word three times, they’re asked to use the words when they journal, to find and correct misspellings or improper usage in a passage, or to work on look-alike words.” According to the Omaha World-Herald, “Such activities help to make the words part of the long-term memory.” In upper elementary school, students “will study words and their roots so they understand the spelling behind them.”
Knowledge Of Science Seen As Critical To Keeping US Competitive In Modern World.
The Tennessean (1/30) argues in an editorial, “In the big push to raise American schoolchildren’s knowledge of reading and math, an equally important discipline may have gotten overlooked: science.” The latest “Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) found that American fourth- and eighth-graders have made significant math gains since 1995, but their scores in science have remained flat over the same period.” According to the Tennessean, “If reading and math form the basis for critical knowledge that keeps the United States competitive in the modern world, science should be the third leg of that stool.” The paper suggests that “more public schools…seek partnerships with local colleges and universities,” and that “more schools…encourage team-teaching to help instructors in science (and any other subject) who lack specialized training.”
On the Job
Lake County, Florida, School Board Enacts Hiring Freeze.
The Orlando Sentinel (1/30, Hudak) reports, “Lake County commissioners and the School Board enacted hiring freezes this week, though each can fill critical vacant posts.” According to the Orlando Sentinel, “the School Board’s action means the district can replace bus drivers, teachers and other employees who directly serve students, but not administrators, secretaries and other staff who resign or retire.” School Board member Rosanne Brandeburg said that the board was being proactive. “Being able to freeze positions now will possibly mean positions won’t have to be taken away later,” she pointed out. “Neither school officials nor commissioners were able to provide an estimate of cost savings.”
Law & Policy
Parent-Activists Use Technology To Gain Support, Influence.
In a front-page story, the Washington Post (1/30, A1, Chandler) reports, “For a new generation of well-wired activists in the Washington region, it’s not enough to speak at Parent-Teacher Association or late-night school board meetings.” Instead, “they are going head-to-head with superintendents through e-mail blitzes, social networking Web sites, online petitions,” and “partnerships with business and student groups.” The Post points to parent-led campaigns in Fairfax County, VA, and Montgomery County, MD, to prove that “parent insurgents are gaining influence — and getting things changed.” While “school officials say they welcome the heightened interest in public education, because parent involvement often leads to student success…they also warn that the wildfire Web-based campaigns can spread rumors quickly and tend to benefit affluent, well-connected parents.” The Post also describes instances when parent groups, “whose agendas tend to be limited to helping their own children, fail to carry the day against administrators, who must balance the needs of huge and diverse school systems.”
Federal Stimulus Would Pump Billions Into NCLB And IDEA.
USA Today (1/30, Toppo) reports, “The one-time, multibillion-dollar congressional stimulus offers public schools ‘an extraordinary opportunity,’ not just to plug gaping state and local budget holes, but to improve education in ways that have eluded the USA for decades, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Thursday.” In addition to providing “more funding for school construction, college loans and other programs,” the $141 billion designated in the stimulus for schools promises “$19.4 billion for Title I this year and the same next year, up from $13.9 billion in 2008″ and “$16.9 billion for IDEA this year, $17.9 billion in 2010, up from $10.9 billion in 2008.” USA Today adds that “both programs date back decades and have never had what advocates consider adequate funding.” Also on Thursday, “Duncan said he is talking to school officials nationwide for ideas on how to reauthorize No Child Left Behind.”
According to the AP (1/30, Quaid), the stimulus “would pump an extra $26 billion into two long-term programs — No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, an increase that critics say will be impossible to roll back when the economy improves.” But Duncan contends that “the money would be ‘righting a huge, historic wrong’ because Congress has never spent what it promised for the programs.” He said, “There is going to be this huge outpouring of joy because this has been a desperately unfunded mandate for far too long.”
Opinion: Current Economic Hardship Marks End Of Modern School Reform.
In a commentary for Forbes (1/30) Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli, president and vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, write, “Pretty much everyone agrees that the federal response to the banking crisis indicates the end of a certain sort of free-wheeling capitalism.” Finn and Petrilli contend that “this time of economic hardship may also represent the beginning of the end of the modern school reform movement.” This is owed to “a tragic flaw in the strategy of many reformers in recent decades: to offer the education establishment a lot more money in return for a little reform. … During flush times, buying reform seemed to make a certain kind of sense and to be relatively low risk.” But “During hard times…it turns out to be the very definition of unsustainability.” Finn and Petrilli conclude that “sooner or later any serious reformer must tackle the truly tough issue: pushing for greater productivity from our schools.”
Also in the News
Principal Credits Sugar Ban, Exercise For Higher Test Scores, Fewer Discipline Problems.
FOX News (1/29) reported that Yvonne Sanders-Butler, principal of Browns Mill Elementary in Lithonia, GA, “claims to have a simple solution to improve test scores, reduce discipline problems and improve student health: ban sugar.” Butler told Fox, “My personal health challenges inspired this.” She “once suffered from obesity and severe high blood pressure.” FOX News adds that for the past ten years, Butler has required that all students at her school “participate in daily physical exercise and eat healthy foods. Her school enforces a strict ban on sugar. … According to Butler, standardized test scores increased 15 percent at the school within the first year of the program.” She also said that “discipline problems decreased by 23 percent,” and “obesity at the school has been virtually eliminated.”
NEA in the News
New Mexico Budget Cuts May Lead To Larger Class Sizes.
KOB-TV Albuquerque (1/29) reported, Gov. Bill Richardson’s (D) “administration said Thursday’s vote to cut $100 million from the state’s budget could lead to bigger classes when some in the legislature said it is time for less students per teacher.” About “half of the state’s $6 billion budget goes to public schools.” As such, “The governor and many lawmakers agree that it is just about impossible to cut the budget overall without touching education.” Last week, “the governor unveiled a $76 million budget cut for public schools in the next budget, with bigger class sizes as part of the equation.” KOB notes that “the Richardson team said the increased class sizes would only be temporary. … But leaders of the biggest teachers’ union –The National Education Association — said it is their biggest concern.”
Battle Over Washington, DC Teachers Contract Seen As Having National Implications.
The Washington Post (2/1, A1, Turque) reported in a front-page story, “When the District’s teachers union unveils its long-awaited contract proposal this month, a head-to-head struggle will be fully joined between two of public education’s most prominent and strongest-willed leaders: Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.” Chancellor Rhee is said to be a representative of “a new generation of urban school reformers” that “want to dramatically elevate the quality of teaching and learning, even if the effort sparks labor tensions with politically influential teachers unions.” It is also seen as a “potential watershed for Weingarten,” who “wants to protect her 1.4 million-strong national membership from the spread of what she calls Rhee’s ‘scorched earth’ approach and roll back the broad public perception that teachers unions are an impediment to reform because they harbor mediocre or incompetent instructors.” Rhee is described as “an adversary whose antipathy toward teachers unions has led her to explore the possibility of legislation empowering the District to declare a New Orleans-style ‘state of emergency’ … That would allow the government to establish a new system of nonunion charter schools.” Weingarten is said to be “a pragmatic dealmaker [with] a record of selling teachers on ideas they have traditionally disdained.” Still Weingarten favors merit pay “based on schoolwide performance only” and “is willing to modify tenure but not abolish it.”
In the Classroom
California Governor’s Proposal For Flexibility In Class-Size Reduction Funds Criticized.
The Los Angeles Times (2/2, Mehta) reports, “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal to allow school districts to use state class-size reduction funding any way they choose is alarming teachers unions and community activists, who say it will inevitably lead to ballooning classrooms in the state’s neediest communities.” California Teachers Association president David Sanchez criticized the proposal, saying that it “won’t save the state one dime … Districts will continue to receive that funding from the state but won’t have to spend that money on class-size reduction, or, frankly, even in the classroom.” ACORN’s Alicia Gaddis said that “districts in poorer neighborhoods will be the first to increase classroom sizes, [which] means the achievement gap will widen.” State Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer “said the suggestion for greater flexibility in how districts can spend nearly $15.7 billion next year in so-called categorical funds, including $1.3 billion for kindergarten through third-grade class-size reduction, came last fall from district superintendents as a way to address the impending state-funding cuts.” Several superintendents are quoted defending the proposal, but the article closes with a quote from state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell saying, “It’s a sad day for all of California.”
Iowa Districts Face Upset Parents In Effort To Increase Teacher Training.
The Des Moines Register (2/1, Hupp) reported, “Students start late or go home early once a week in Ames, Grinnell, Iowa City, Marshalltown, Sioux City and other cities. … The goal is to help teachers so they can produce better students.” But “efforts to give teachers more time away from students have stalled in Des Moines and Waukee amid complaints of shortchanging children.” In response, school officials said that “after school and holiday breaks are off-limits because school districts cannot afford extra teacher pay that would be required by contracts.” In defense of the practice, “studies show professional development can lead to better teaching,” but “researchers warn that training efforts in U.S. schools will fall short unless teachers work longer days, as their counterparts in Japan and other countries do.”
On the Job
Teachers’ Salaries Seen As Having Risen To Great Heights.
The New York Times (1/30, ST2, Winerip) reported, “This is a great economic time to be a veteran public schoolteacher. … In the late 1980s, teacher salaries took a jump across the country, and they just kept improving, to the point that now, with the economic collapse, a lot of people who sneered at teachers, wish they had it so good.” The Times notes that “veteran teachers who add to their pay by working summer school and mentoring new teachers can lift their salary into the $120,000 to $130,000 range, and their pensions to around $75,000 a year.” This is seen as part of an effort to raise the professional status of teachers.
Houston Superintendent Proposes High Salaries To Retain Top Teachers.
The Houston Chronicle (2/1, Mellon) reported, “Some of the best teachers in the Houston school district could earn $100,000 a year under an unconventional pay proposal unveiled Saturday. The plan, which is in its infancy, would give the most effective HISD teachers bigger bonuses, plus offer them more cash if they teach summer school, coach their colleagues and transfer to a lower-performing campus.” And “HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra is banking that a hefty paycheck – about twice the average teacher salary – will keep talented educators in the classroom and lure the best from other school districts.”
Minnesota Merit Pay Program Rewards Nearly All Teachers.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (2/1, Johns) reported, “A state program meant to give only effective Minnesota teachers merit pay raises instead appears to be rewarding nearly all the teachers participating in it with more money. The program, called ‘Q Comp,’ is one of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s top initiatives to improve schools, and many educators say it is strengthening teacher evaluations and training.” The Star Tribune found that “in 22 school districts…more than 99 percent of teachers in the program received merit raises during the most recent school year.” Still, “Pawlenty’s spokesman Brian McClung defended the program Friday as ‘a move towards greater emphasis on student achievement and the measures that lead to [it].’” Also, “the Minnesota Department of Education asserts that it is too early in the program’s life to make substantive comparisons about how Q Comp is affecting student achievement.”
Symposium Offers Ideas To Math And Science Teachers.
The Abilene (TX) Reporter-News (2/1, Kieke) reported on the Big Country Math/Science Symposium held Saturday where “more than 200 teachers registered and had their choice of science or math breakout sessions throughout the day, many designed for specific grade levels.” One idea noted was using a flip phone to record conversations with students about how they understand a problem. “Shawna Pinkerton, science teacher at Snyder High School … sees the symposium as a big help with the 4-by-4 plan, requiring high school students beginning with this year’s sophomore class to take four years of science.” And “Valiene Bullinger, of Paint Creek, said: ‘I’m always looking for new and exciting ways that I can experiment with or something that will get the attention of and intrigue my students.’”
Law & Policy
Kentucky To Consider Changing Math Content Standards.
The Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) (2/2, Warren) reports, “One of the smallest measures moving through the Kentucky General Assembly could have the biggest effects for the state’s young people. Senate Joint Resolution 19 – just two pages long – would direct the Kentucky Department of Education to write new, more concise and more rigorous core content standards for mathematics from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.” Its “supporters say that stronger standards would boost standardized test scores, better prepare Kentucky students for college or careers, and help position the state for success in a new economy.” But “as now written, it calls for completing new math standards by Aug. 1,” and “several educators say they doubt that new standards could or should be completed that quickly.” Further, under NCLB “changes in the standards would require approval by the U.S. Department of Education,” and “Kentucky might have to change its Commonwealth Accountability Testing System.”
Stimulus Bill Would Aid Peoria, Illinois, Area Schools.
The Peoria (IL) Journal Star (1/31, Haney) reports, “An $819 billion federal stimulus bill that passed the House this week may hold an unexpected windfall for schools, area superintendents say. The bill, as it currently is written, contains estimates in excess of $20 million headed for school districts in the Tri-County Area for the current fiscal year and another $10 million for next year.” One official “said the nearly $8 million might be used to help build a proposed math, science and technology school or a vocational technical program at one of the high schools.” Others were uncertain of the effects with one saying, “It’s positive, should this happen … There’s just a lot of unknowns.”
Special Needs
Parents, Businesses In Fight Over Virginia Bill Requiring Insurers To Cover Autism Therapy.
The Washington Post (2/2, B1, Kunkle) reports that parents of autistic children “have marched on Richmond to ask the Virginia General Assembly to require insurers to cover the cost of therapy for autism” which “the District of Columbia and 27 states, including Maryland, already do.” The issue is said to be part of a “national debate over the explosion in autism cases,” and a bill mandating insurers to cover autism therapy in Virginia “is one of the few bills to draw attention in a session consumed by fixing a $2.9 billion hole in the budget.” While the measure “has been backed by Democrats and Republicans,” yet private businesses “have lined up against another government-ordered mandate that would drive up health-care premiums.”
Lack Of Special-Needs Teachers In Ohio Districts Imperil “Highly Qualified” Rankings.
The Lancaster (OH) Eagle-Gazette (1/31, George) reported, “A lack of special-needs teachers in Ohio might have an affect on whether some local district officials are able to keep highly qualified instructors in the classroom. Nearly all the school districts in Fairfield County had highly qualified teachers instructing core classes in the 2006-07 school year, according to data from the Ohio Department of Education.” However, the districts “that fell short in Fairfield County were Lancaster City Schools and Berne Union Local Schools. … Lancaster City School Assistant Superintendent Rob Walker said he believes the reason the district fell short is because of a lack of special-needs teachers serving as substitutes or long-term replacements in the classroom.”
Safety & Security
Indiana University Researcher Exploring Effectiveness Of State’s Anti-Bullying Law.
The Greater Fort Wayne (IN) Family Magazine (1/31) reported, “Does Indiana’s anti-bullying law help parents keep their children safe in school or is it a paper tiger that does little to assist victims? That’s the question James R. Brown, a researcher in the Ph.D. program at the Indiana School of Social Work, hopes to better understand through a study focusing on the parents of Indiana middle school students.” Brown said that it’s “hard to tell.” Brown “wants to talk to middle school parents who have gone into school to report to a school official that their child has been bullied. The study is to collect data to better assist parents, school officials, and law makers who have a vested interest in lowering the occurrence of school bullying.”
School Finance
Officials In Virginia County Try To Avoid Job Cuts, Class Increases Amid Budget Shortfall.
The Washington Post (2/1, LZ1, Birnbaum) reports though the Loudoun County (VA) School Board “approved a budget last week that would keep most educational programs in place, several county supervisors said they are likely to impose deeper cuts, and it remained unclear how the School Board will respond if they do. The board forwarded to supervisors Tuesday a $747 million schools operating budget for the next fiscal year that keeps spending essentially flat — despite a projected enrollment increase of almost 2,500 — and that requires $12 million less in county funding than the current budget.” At the same time, “by freezing teacher salaries and instituting student fees for various programs, the board was able to avoid cutting staff positions or increasing the average class size.”
Some Utah District Officials Concerns Budget Cuts Will Lead To Larger Classes.
The Salt Lake Tribune (2/1, Schencker) reported that as many as 371 teaching positions across Utah “could be lost for every 1 percent cut to the Minimum School Program, which makes up most of the state’s education budget, according to legislative fiscal analysts. Each 1 percent could mean an increase in student-teacher ratios by nearly half a student.” According to the Tribune, “Last year, the state’s median class size for sixth grade was 25 students. … Some districts worry the potential cuts could force them to undo years of work to whittle down class sizes.”
Rhode Island Group Urging State Officials To Solve Persistent School Finance Problems.
The Providence Journal (2/2, Jordan) reports, “Rhode Island may receive as much as $142 million in education aid from the proposed federal stimulus package over the next two years, but a business-backed policy group is warning the windfall should not distract state officials from tackling thorny school finance problems. The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council is issuing its annual report today on how Rhode Island schools compare nationally and with neighboring states.” According to the Journal, “Mayors and town officials have been clamoring for a ‘fair and equitable’ school funding formula for several years, saying their communities are unable to keep pace with rising school costs.”
Georgia Officials In Dispute With Feds Over Alleged Misuse Of Katrina Relief Dollars.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2/2, Vogell) reports, “Three metro Atlanta districts used flawed counts of students displaced by Hurricane Katrina to wrongly secure millions of dollars in aid,” say ED officials, who “are at odds with Georgia educators over how much schools should give back.” In 2007, “the federal government told Georgia it wanted an $8.2 million refund, a federal audit and letters obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show.” After a state audit that “found half had accepted too much money. The state asked them to return a much smaller amount — a total of $1.4 million.”
NEA in the News
Educators Discuss Fiscal Challenges At Regional Meeting.
WSFA-TV Montgomery, AL (1/31) reported on its Web site, “It’s a problem for educators across the country: a lack of funding, all because of an economic crisis. … ‘If we don’t have money, something has got to be cut,’ explained Peggy Mobley, President of the Alabama Education Association.” Mobley “was one of hundreds of educators in Montgomery for the NEA’s Southeast Leadership Conference. Educators say pushing the Obama administration’s massive stimulus package through Congress could” fill looming budget gaps. Becky Pringle, Secretary Treasurer of the National Education Association is quoted saying, “It’s hard for us to get the resources and materials for our students and to attract and maintain qualified teachers and education support professionals. If we don’t take care of [our children], we have no future.’”