Updates and Information Provided by NEA
SAT Results Show Record Minority Participation, Widening Race, Income Disparities.
The Washington Post (8/26, B3, Anderson, Brown) reports that according to the College Board, 40 percent of SAT test-takers are minorities, a “milestone for the college admissions test most widely used in the nation and the Washington region.” However, scores of the wealthiest students “are growing faster than scores of the poorest, and some racial disparities in test performance are widening.” For the class of 2009, composite SAT scores were 501 in critical reading, “down one point from the year before; 515 in mathematics, unchanged; and 493 in writing, down one point.” Also, according to the Post, black student scores “fell four points (to 1276), while white scores fell two points (to 1581).” Also, scores for students “whose families earned more than $200,000 shot up 26 points (to 1702), while scores for those whose families earn $60,000 a year or less were unchanged or rose only slightly.”
USA Today (8/26, Marklein) reports that students “who identified themselves as Asian, Asian-American or Pacific Islander posted a 13-point gain.” However, students “who identified themselves as Puerto Rican posted a 9-point drop in average scores.” The New York Times (8/26, A13, Dillon) reports that girls “outperformed boys, on average, by 13 points on the writing test,” yet girls “scored 35 points lower than boys in math and 5 points lower than boys in critical reading.”
Texas Students Score Lower In Reading, Writing, Higher In Math Portion Of SAT. The AP (8/25, Pope) reported that Texas students “scored lower on the reading and writing portions of the SAT this year, but scores jumped slightly in math.” The College Board, a “nonprofit membership group that owns the exam,” reported that the average math score for the Texas class of 2009 “was 506, up one point from last year.” The biggest decline “was in writing, where the average score dropped five points to 475.”
Utah Students Beat National Average SAT Pass Rate. The Salt Lake Tribune (8/26, Schencker) reports that “more Utah students took AP tests last school year than the year before, and a higher percentage of tests were passed, according to College Board results released Tuesday.” Specifically, “16,361 Utah students took AP tests last school year and 65.4 percent of the tests taken earned passing scores,” compared to just over 58 percent nationwide. In addition, “the number of tests” administered to student of each ethic group “rose and, in most cases, pass rates among Utah’s ethnic groups surpassed those nationwide.”
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In the Classroom
Principal Abandons Plan To Replace Planned Parenthood Program With Abstinence-Based Sex Education.
The Denver Post (8/26, Meyer) reports that Jorge Loera, “the principal at Denver’s West High School started and then abandoned an effort to replace Planned Parenthood sex education with a religious-themed abstinence-only program.” Last month, Loera “sent an e-mail to Planned Parenthood saying the school has ‘decided to work with another organization around preventing sexual activity among teenagers.’” But on Monday, Loera “told district officials…that although he doesn’t agree with teaching teens about contraception, he will continue the partnership the school has had with Planned Parenthood.” The Denver Post notes that “a state law passed in 2007 requires schools that offer sex education to emphasize abstinence as the best birth control but also include information about contraception.”
On the Job
Schools Losing Teachers Due To Declines In State, Local Revenue, Survey Reveals.
The Washington Post (8/26, B3, Chandler) reports that $100 billion in education stimulus funds is flowing into public school classrooms this year “in the form of new programs and thousands of restored jobs.” Yet, the unprecedented influx of funds “come with similarly sized expectations,” as the Obama administration “is hoping the historic investment will spur reform, boost student achievement, help close achievement gaps and turn around struggling schools.” However, school administrators across the U.S. “offered a reality check in a survey released Tuesday by the American Association of School Administrators.” The survey found that despite the stimulus funds, many schools “are focused on survival. Two-thirds of those surveyed reported that stimulus dollars filled budget gaps or only slightly increased funding levels.” Also, many school systems “reported that they lost teachers and librarians, counselors or support staff this year because of declining state or local revenue.”
New York City DOE Reaches Deal With Unions For Hiring School Aides.
The New York Times (8/26, A18, Hernandez) reports that the New York City Department of Education “and the teachers’ union reached an agreement on Tuesday to allow principals to hire school aides with money raised by parents’ groups.” The pact “was a victory” for the parent groups, “which have depended on the aides to do everything from monitoring hallways to tying shoelaces, freeing teachers in crowded classrooms to concentrate more on instruction.” The Times notes that the city had “banned parents’ associations from directly hiring school aides” after the United Federation of Teachers filed a grievance last year. Under the agreement, the aides will earned about $14 an hour, about the same as they earned in previous years, and the aides “will be prohibited from performing any teaching work, focusing instead on staff support.”
Los Angeles BOE Votes To Allow Outside Charter Operators To Run Schools.
The AP (8/25, Hoag) reported that the Los Angeles Board of Education “voted Tuesday to adopt a controversial resolution that could turn a third of the schools in the nation’s second-largest school district over to private operators.” The proposal “was approved 6-1 after a contentious four-hour public hearing and board debate.” The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), “which has more than 688,000 students, already boasts the highest number of charter schools of any school district in the country.” The AP notes that about 150 of LAUSD’s 800 schools “are run by nonprofit educational groups.”
Howard Blume and Jason Song wrote in the Los Angeles Times (8/25) LA Now blog that the Los Angeles Board of Education voted “to open up 250 schools, including 50 new multimillion-dollar campuses, to outside charter operators and others.” Under the proposal, nonprofit charter groups “and the mayor’s group that oversees 11 schools could compete for the chance to run these schools. Ultimately, it will be up to Supt. Ramon C. Cortines to select the winning bid for these campuses.” Labor unions “were especially opposed to the plan, with teachers union head A.J. Duffy saying the district needs to be collaborative if it wants to reform schools.”
Law & Policy
Child Nutrition Act Renewal Expected To Promote Healthier School Lunch Options.
The Los Angeles Times (8/26, MacVean) reports that President Obama “has proposed a $1-billion increase for the Child Nutrition Act,” and “decades-old nutritional standards may be updated.” The Times notes that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a fifth of U.S. children “are overweight or obese.” Also, one portion of the new Child Nutrition Act would give the Department of Agriculture authority “to update decades-old standards for the food children buy at school stores and vending machines, as well as foods such as pizza and French fries that are sold a la carte in cafeterias.”
“Eat-Ins” To Advocate For Healthier School Food. Mary MacVean wrote in a “Daily Dish” blog for the Los Angeles Times (8/25) that Slow Food USA has organized a “Time for Lunch” campaign “to draw attention to school food. Around the country, almost 270 pot luck ‘eat-ins’ are planned on Sept. 7, in schools, community gardens, parks, homes and other spots.” The goal of the campaign is to advocate for “more fresh fruits and vegetables and more federal money for schools to buy food.”
Opinion: Administration “Dead Wrong” On Punishing Schools For State Policy Decisions.
New York’s Post-Standard (8/26) editorializes, “The Obama administration is taking aim at New York and other states that ban public school officials from considering student test scores when they evaluate teachers.” The Post-Standard asserts that “the administration is right to question states about such counterproductive laws.” However, “it is dead wrong to punish them over what should remain state policy decisions.” Still, the Post-Standard suggests, “the New York Legislature should repeal…legislation” banning “the use of student test scores in teacher-tenure decisions.” It calls the notion that tests are “not designed as teacher evaluation tools and should not be used” that way “a silly argument.” In the other hand, the Post-Standard adds that for the Obama administration to bully “states in areas like teacher evaluation and charter schools is both surprising and disappointing.” Instead, education secretary Arne Duncan should direct Race To The Top funds “to wherever schools and teachers are working diligently and creatively to help students succeed.”
Safety & Security
Teachers Foil Seventeen-Year-Old’s Plot To Bomb High School In California.
The AP (8/25, Dearen) reported that on Tuesday, several staff members at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, CA, subdued a 17-year old boy on campus who was carrying pipe bombs, a sword, and a chain saw. The student had “detonated two pipe bombs” at the school, neither of which “caused neither serious damage [or] injury, but the 1,270-student school was evacuated.” So far, evidence collected by the San Mateo police department “suggests the boy had planned the attack for months, and that he had a number of specific targets on the school faculty whom he believed had wronged him.” The suspect was arrested “on suspicion of six felony counts of attempted murder, igniting a destructive device with intent to murder, possession of destructive devices, possession of destructive devices on school grounds, possession of destructive devices with intent to injure or destroy property and assault with a deadly weapon.”
School Finance
Opinion: Elementary Orchestra Program Should Be Fully Funded.
The East Oregonian (8/26) editorializes that according to the Pendleton school district’s new superintendent, Jon Peterson, “Music is an academic program.” The East Oregonian agrees. However, it adds, “in many school districts, music programs tend to be lumped together with sports and other extracurricular activities, rather than with academics.” Consequently, “music programs often are on the chopping block” when districts have to make budget cuts. The East Oregonian points out that “researchers have consistently found that exposing children to musical training early in life enhances brain development.” This year, the Pendleton school board eliminated “the elementary school strings program.” Yet, some “community members have banded together to fund the…program” themselves. But, the Eat Oregonian concludes, “Next year, and into the future, the school board should find a way to fund the program in entirety.”
NEA in the News
NEA Supporting Efforts To Overhaul National Healthcare System.
Education Week (8/26, Klein) reports that “Education organizations — including both national teachers’ unions — are putting their muscle and money behind an effort by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats to revamp the nation’s health care system.” Figures from the Federal Election Commission show that from January to June 2009, “the NEA has given at least $28,700 to lawmakers and organizations that have championed health care overhaul.” The NEA is “supporting advertising and grassroots advocacy campaigns in favor of the overhaul effort” because “the bills steer clear of changes to members’ current coverage as negotiated with their individual school districts and wouldn’t include a tax on benefits.” However, the union is “wary of any plan that might pay for expanded coverage by taxing workers or employers who have particularly rich health care insurance plans,” according to Education Week.
More Than 17,000 California Teachers Estimated To Have Been Laid Off This Year.
Education Week (8/26, Robelen) reports that “as public schools around the country begin opening their doors for a new academic year, the impact of the worst recession in decades is being felt through such measures as larger class sizes, cuts of jobs and textbook budgets, reduced school bus service, and fewer resources for state education departments.” California “has been hit especially hard.” In an effort “to close a $26 billion budget gap, thousands of teachers have been laid off for the new school year.” According to the California Teachers Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association, “more than 17,000 of its members who are permanent or probationary teachers have been laid off this year.”
NEA Affiliate Criticizes Louisiana School Superintendent For “Failed” Leadership.
Education Week (8/26, Robelen) reports, “Louisiana schools chief Paul G. Pastorek is no stranger to controversy, but things seemed to reach the boiling point this summer for two prominent education groups. In July, the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE), an NEA affiliate said he should be replaced, citing, among other things, what” it said was Patorek’s “failed leadership” and his “unwillingness to work with educators, legislators, and locally elected board leaders to bring about meaningful education reform.” Then, earlier this month, the Louisiana School Boards Association (LSBA) “declined the state superintendent’s invitation for its officers and staff members to meet to discuss education policy.” Nevertheless, both groups “did, in fact, meet Aug. 19 with Mr. Pastorek and a representative from the office of Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal (R)” in order “to discuss the state’s planned application for a grant under the federal Race to the Top Fund, part of the economic-stimulus law.”
Race To The Top Guidelines Conflict With NEA Policies.
As reported last week by the AP and the Washington Post, Education Week (8/26, Sawchuk) also reports that “after emphasizing its agreement with President Barack Obama’s education reform agenda for half of his first year in office, the National Education Association has finally taken the offensive, formally announcing its opposition to core elements of the Obama administration’s proposed guidelines for the $4.35 billion Race to the Top program.” The NEA disagrees with “the fund’s endorsement of using test scores for evaluating teachers, increasing the number of charter schools, and bolstering what the union calls ‘fast-track’ alternative routes to teacher licensure,” among other issues. Education Week points out that the proposed Race to the Top guidelines directly conflict “with NEA policies.” For instance, “the union strongly supports caps” on charter schools, and “NEA resolutions eschew the use of student test scores for evaluating teachers.” In addition, the NEA has stated “that the program’s priority on overhauling teacher evaluation, pay, and tenure might contravene local collective bargaining agreements.”
Survey: Most Science Teachers Endorse National Curriculum.
Sean Cavanagh wrote in a “Curriculum Matters” blog for Education Week (8/26) that an informal National Science Teachers Association survey finds that the majority of U.S. science teachers “like the idea of a national curriculum-and crave more professional development.” The survey of 3,500 science professionals “found that 53 percent of those polled favored a national curriculum in science, compared with about 41 percent opposed.” Also, 58 percent of science teachers “said they didn’t have enough professional-development opportunities in the subject.”
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In the Classroom
Thousands Of Students In Maryland District Miss Classes Due To Computer Glitch.
The Washington Post (8/27, Hernandez, Brown) reports that thousands of high school students in the Prince George’s County, MD district “missed a third day of classes Wednesday, and school officials said it could take more than a week to sort out the chaos caused by a computerized class-scheduling system.” Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said class scheduling problems were “exacerbated by difficulties with SchoolMax, a $4.1 million computer system introduced last school year.” The Post notes that when school opened Monday, “about 8,000 high school students had no class schedules and were sent to wait in holding spaces while administrators tried to sort things out. By Tuesday evening, that number was down to 4,000.”
Atlanta Public Schools Link Nutrition Education, Lunch Menu Offerings.
The AP (8/26) reported that “some schools are finding children will eat healthier meals when offered them and take nutrition to heart if they are taught about the positive impacts on their bodies.” Atlanta Public Schools, for instance, is requiring that each campus “have a wellness council made up not just of teachers but also students and parents” to develop “nutritional education programs.” In addition, schools in Atlanta are offering cafeteria selections that align with “what is being learned in classrooms when possible.”
District Cuts Back On Science, Physical Education With New Elementary Curriculum.
The Marshall County (TN) Tribune (8/27, Hall) reports that teachers, parents, and students in Marshall County “were surprised by [elementary] curriculum changes when” students “went back to school earlier this month.” The new curriculum requires “90 minutes of class time every day for mathematics, and 90 minutes for reading.” Consequently, students now have “significantly less class time for language arts, science, and social studies.” Furthermore, “Art and music have been cut from once a week to once every two weeks,” and instead of 90 minutes per week for physical education, “children have only two 30-minute classes with a PE teacher” this year. According to schools director Stan Curtis, the new curriculum allows for math interventions to be included in the school day. He also said that the district is “still in compliance with state mandates on art, music, and PE.”
On the Job
Texas District Launches Initiative Aimed At Developing Teacher Performance Pay Plan.
The Houston Chronicle (8/27, Baird) reports that teachers and staff in the Spring Branch, TX school district “could be receiving performance bonuses by next year after school board members green-lighted a charter for the district’s task force, created to develop a district-wide bonus plan.” According to the Chronicle, a 30-member committee of teachers, administrators, parents and community members “will over the next six months explore the district’s current performance-based pay practices and look at other practices in the public and private sectors across the nation.” The bonus plan “is expected to tie into student achievement, improved instruction, professional development and top notch performance by personnel.”
NAACP Speaks Out Against Mayoral Control Of Milwaukee Public Schools.
WISN-TV Milwaukee (8/26) reported that “the Milwaukee chapter of the NAACP is speaking out against a plan to give the city’s mayor control of the public school system.” According to the organization, “the proposal takes away citizen’s rights to vote for the representatives of their choice.” Meanwhile, those who support the plan, “including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, said change is needed to improve the system and close the growing achievement gap.” Although there is currently “no formal proposal for a takeover…one is expected to be drafted in time for the fall legislative session.”
Law & Policy
Duncan Proposes Strict New Title I School Improvement Aid Eligibility Requirements.
Education Week (8/26, McNeil) reported that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said “he plans to demand radical steps-such as firing most of a school’s staff or its conversion to a charter school-as the price of admission in directing $3.5 billion in new school improvement aid to the nation’s 5,000 worst-performing schools.” Duncan is proposing “strict conditions” on new Title I school improvement aid, in “sharp contrast to the current free-flowing nature” school improvement funds currently. In exchange, ED “could waive key components of the Title I program, such as requiring schools in restructuring to offer tutoring and public school choice, according to draft regulations.”
Most Americans Agree With NCLB Third, Eighth Grade Testing Requirements, Survey Shows.
The Christian Science Monitor (8/26, Khadaroo) reports that “the majority of Americans give their local public schools good grades, but they rate US schools as a whole lower, expressing concerns about everything from paltry funding to high dropout rates.” The PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools released Wednesday shows that “a majority (66 percent) approve of giving annual tests in Grades 3 through 8, as NCLB requires.” However, only 28 percent view the law favorably, while 48 percent view it unfavorably. Meanwhile less than half (45 percent) gave “President Obama an ‘A’ or ‘B’ for his handling of school issues,” and “nearly two-thirds of Americans now favor charter schools, although many are confused about how they operate.” School-choice advocate Kevin Chavous speculated that “the favorable view of charters may be based on anecdotes or on support from the Obama administration.”
Utah Sex Education Law Debate Continues.
The Salt Lake Tribune (8/27, Schencker) reports, “Educators, students, and parents continued to debate Wednesday whether youth should learn more about contraception in school, at the latest meeting exploring a proposed change to Utah’s sex education law.” Draft legislation “would require school districts to offer two tracks of sex education: one that would teach abstinence only and another where teachers would still promote abstinence but also include information on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and contraceptives.” According to Rep. Lynn Hemingway (D-Salt Lake City), “the proposed change” is “a health issue,” because the number of STD cases and teen pregnancy are increasing throughout the state. Currently, “teachers are now allowed to teach about contraceptives and STDs, among other topics.” But while “districts may teach less than what the law allows,” they cannot teach more. “Many at the meeting…said current law works well and a new one is not needed.”
School Finance
Milwaukee Schools To Receive Recovery Act Funding Early.
The Milwaukee Business Journal (8/27) reports, “Wisconsin schools will gain early access to all of the $366 million set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support educational services and parent outreach.” This money has been “set aside by Congress for schools with high poverty rates, special education and early interventions to keep students on track in academics and behavior.” Regarding the funding, Gov. Jim Doyle (D) said, “Schools across the state and the nation have had to stretch very tight budgets and this immediate investment will benefit students and teachers in classrooms this fall.”
District Expects To Generate More Revenue With New Vending Machine Contract.
The St. Petersburg Times (8/27, Solochek) reports that the Pasco County, FL, school district is replacing the 290 Pepsi vending machines in schools through the system “with those from Coca-Cola, as part of [its] switch in service for the first time in a decade.” The St. Petersburg Times explains that sugar-laden soft drinks are no longer being sold in Pasco schools “as part of new health guidelines…adopted in recent years to combat childhood obesity.” Pasco “will see its drink-related revenue shrink by $250,000 a year with Coca-Cola as the sales opportunities change. Continuing with Pepsi once non-sugared drinks were mandated would have brought in even less.” But, the Coca-Cola Company “increased the percentage commission that schools receive for their vending machine sales.”
Also in the News
Maryland County Withdraws From “Kids Ride Free Program.”
The Washington Post (8/27, Hohmann) reports that Prince George’s County, MD “withdrew from the Kids Ride Free program” that allowed youth to take 210,000 free public transit bus trips in 2008, according to Metro statistics. The Post notes that more than 60 percent of Prince George’s students “are bused by the school system, and they’ll continue to have normal service.”
Report Tracks Hawaii High School Graduates’ College Attendance.
The Honolulu Advertiser (8/26, Moreno) reported, “About 51 percent of Hawai’i's 2008 public high school graduates continued on to college, with a third entering a four-year university,” according to the state’s P-20 Initiative.
Majority Of Canadian Teens Enjoy School, Survey Shows.
Canada.com (8/27, Harris) reports, “In a post-Columbine age of school shootings and bullying, the news seems nothing short of radical: according to” Reginald Bibby, a professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge and “a leading Canadian sociologist, young people’s educational experience is actually better now than it’s been in generations.” Bibby’s findings, based on a survey of about 5,500 teens in Canada indicate “that enjoyment of school is at its ‘highest level in almost three decades.’” Eighty-four percent of respondents said that they “feel safe at school…compared to 78 per cent in 2000.” Furthermore, 53 percent said that they “get high levels of enjoyment from school, a concentration not seen since the early ’80s.”
NEA in the News
Sen. Kennedy Remembered As “A Leading Voice” In Education Policy.
Education Week (8/27, Robelen) reports on the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy Tuesday, noting his influence on education policy — particularly the No Child Left Behind Act. Sen. Kennedy “a leading voice in Congress on education matters in the decades before his death…is being remembered for his strong convictions as well as his political acumen and willingness to work across the partisan divide.” As “a powerful liberal advocate on education,” Education Week points out that Kennedy “played a central role in shaping — and reshaping — major education laws and programs, including the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Head Start program.” The Chicago Tribune (8/27, Simon) reports that NEA President Dennis Van Roekel noted as well that the senator left “an indelible imprint on every major education law passed since the 1960s.”
Increasing Emphasis On Early Childhood Testing Viewed As “Potentially Damaging.”
The Boston Globe (8/28, Hartigan) reports that increasingly in schools across the nation, kindergartners “are being asked to perform academic tasks, including test taking, that early childhood researchers agree are developmentally inappropriate, even potentially damaging.” According to the Globe, if the children “don’t meet certain requirements, they are deemed ‘not proficient.’” And some children can be labeled “inadequate” even before entering kindergarten. The Globe adds that though the Obama administration “has pledged billions” for early childhood education, “some experts remain wary that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is proposing policy that sounds” like NCLB. Also, an increasing amount of kindergartners are “failing” kindergarten, according to an Alliance for Childhood report, and are “missing out on the kind of early schooling that does help develop 5-year-old minds.”
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In the Classroom
Report Highlights Barriers Latinas Face To Graduating From High School On Time.
Education Week (8/27, Gewertz) reported that findings from a recent study by the National Women’s Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund show that “a potent mix of barriers — including family care-taking responsibilities, poor academic preparation, and gender stereotyping — leads Latina students to drop out of high school at ‘alarming’ rates.” For the study, researchers from both organizations “conducted surveys, focus groups, and interviews nationwide with young Latinas and adults who work with them.” Among other findings, they discovered a large “gap between Latinas’ educational goals and their optimism about reaching them.” For instance, “80 percent of the students…said they wanted to complete college, but one-third said they did not expect to do so.”
On the Job
Effect Of Potential Boost In Average Teacher Pay Analyzed.
Stephen Sawchuk wrote in a “Teacher Beat” blog for Education Week (8/27) that the American Enterprise Institute’s Rick Hess “has this provocative essay in the most recent issue of Education Next. He brings up a lot of interesting ideas about recruiting career-changers and deploying teachers differently in the classroom.” Yet, one notable part of the essay was an observation on class-size reduction. Hess wrote, “If policymakers had maintained the same overall teacher-to-student ratio since the 1970s, we would need 1 million fewer teachers, training could be focused on a smaller and more able population, and average teacher pay would be close to $75,000 per year.” Sawchuk added that if average teacher pay reached that level, would “we now have better teachers? After all, as economists will volubly tell you, when you change things like compensation, you effect change in the talent pool that applies for jobs.”
Teachers In Colorado District Call For Resumption Of Stalled Contract Talks. The Denver Post (8/27, Meyer) reported that teachers in the Boulder, CO district, “upset over stalled contract negotiations,” crowded a school board meeting Tuesday and demanded that “the district return to the bargaining table,” yet “no new meetings have been scheduled.” Last week, teachers overwhelmingly voted to reject a contract offer that “would give the district’s 2,000 teachers a 1 percent stipend for the 2009-10 school year that would not be applied to their base pay.” According to the Post, the Boulder district is calling for an “independent fact-finder” and last spring “protesting teachers staged whole-school sickouts.”
School Board Approves Early Dismissal For Parent-Teacher Conferences.
Indiana’s Daily World (8/27, Ferree) reported that “in a 6-0 vote…the Bloomfield School Board on Thursday” agreed to allow schools to “hold parent-teacher conferences this school year.” Indiana State School Superintendent Tony Bennett announced last spring that “an administrative rule allowing school districts to ‘bank time’ to hold parent-teacher conferences and professional development activities” had expired, School Superintendent Dan Sichting said in a recommendation to the school board. Then, in May, the “Bloomfield School District received notification from the Indiana Department of Education allowing the district to use extra instructional time” to hold the conferences. Schools will now “dismiss students at 2:45 p.m. (on set days) and bank five hours and 30 minutes of ‘contractual time’ to hold a one hour and thirty minute open house (Aug. 27) and four hours of parent-teacher conferences” in October.
Law & Policy
Wisconsin Education Stakeholders Applaud Plans To Replace State Test.
The AP (8/27, Bauer) reported that a 17-year-old Wisconsin test used to comply with NCLB “will be replaced with a broader approach to judging how well Wisconsin students are performing, state superintendent Tony Evers said Thursday.” According to the AP, education leaders “heralded the move as a step toward more accountability.” Implementing a new test to replace the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exams “may also help put Wisconsin in a better position to compete with other states” for the DOE’s Race to the Top stimulus competition. The new tests “likely will be computer-based with multiple opportunities to gauge student progress during the year, the state Department of Public Instruction said.”
NCLB Seen As Ineffective For Highest Achievers. Brookings Institution Fellow Tom Loveless and Thomas B. Fordham Institute Vice President for National Programs Michael J. Petrilli write in an op-ed for the New York Times (8/28, A23) that a new Center on Education Policy study finds that NCLB “is acting like a miracle drug. Not only is it having its intended effect — bettering the performance of low-achieving students — it is raising test scores for top students too.” However, Loveless and Petrilli point out that, like “many miracle-drug claims, this conclusion is deeply flawed,” according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. It has “found relatively little progress among our highest-achieving students (those in the top 10 percent) from 2000 to 2007, while the bottom 10 percent made phenomenal gains.” The authors conclude that as policymakers look to improve NCLB, they “must recognize that our top students still have much to learn.”
Task Force Recommends Arizona Ban Corporal Punishment.
The Arizona Republic (8/27, Gersema) reports that a state task force has recommended that Arizona “forbid corporal punishment in schools.” According to panel Chairman Michael Remus, who is also the special-education director for the Deer Valley Unified School District, the panel has concluded that corporal punishment “is punitive and does not redirect the (student’s) behavior to something more positive.” Remus pointed out that “the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act urges school staff to manage bad behaviors through positive techniques that inspire student[s] to act respectfully and appropriately in class.” Currently, Arizona is one of 20 states, including several in the South and Southeast, “that allow school districts to mete out corporal punishment, usually paddling, to control children.”
Florida High School Implements Strict New Rules Aimed At Improving State Rating.
The St. Petersburg Times (8/28, Matus) reports that Kevin Gordon, the new principal at Gibbs High School in the Tampa Bay, FL, area, said that a new set of rules and procedures being implemented this year is aimed at increasing the school’s state rating “from an F to a B.” Beginning this year, students wearing “droopy pants” will have their pants zip tied, student cell phones that are turned on will be confiscated, and if a “school police officer has to break up a fight,” he or she will do so with “a stinging dose of pepper spray.” Furthermore, students have been warned that if ordered out of a classroom by a teacher, they must comply or they will “be handcuffed.” Principal Gordon “and other administrators outlined the changes at a couple of student assemblies, intent on changing the culture of” the Tampa Bay area’s only F-rated high school.
Elementary School Ends Single-Sex Recess, Lunch Periods After Parent Complaints.
The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (8/28, Boss) reports that the staff at Sedalia Elementary School in Ohio wanted to take proactive steps to prevent bullying and halt disruptive behavior from creeping into the classroom.” To do this, they decided to separate students by sex during recess and lunch. However, “district leaders are putting a stop to the new practice…after learning of the situation from upset parents” this week. The Groveport Madison school district’s policy director and the principal of Sedalia on Thursday discussed “alternative methods to improve the educational climate” at the school. The Columbus Dispatch notes that “typically, boys and girls have been separated in the classroom as a way to remove distractions.” Rick Phillips, founder and executive director of the bullying prevention group Community Matters said that some schools have separated boys and girls during social time, but he suggested that parents “be involved in” setting such policies.
Special Needs
Teacher Incorporates Heavy Use Of Technology For Students With Special Needs.
The Chicago Daily Herald (8/28, Daday) reports on Marion Timmons, a 30-year teaching veteran who “works with students with multiple disabilities, including physical and mental impairments.” Timmons’ curriculum “involves heavy use of the computer” to access “literacy programs…stories, movement exercises, and music.” This week, Timmins “was one of three…teachers in the Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization (NSSEO) who were honored as mentors” in her district. NSSEO is “one of the first special education cooperatives in” Illinois.
Facilities
Rebuilt Elementary School Features Geothermal Heating System.
Katherine Long writes in the Seattle Times (8/28, Long) Bellevue Blog that the Bellevue, WA, school district’s “newest rebuilt elementary school, Eastgate Elementary,” this year “has an extra 24,000 square feet of space, including 24 classrooms (four more than the old school), special security features, and rooms that let in lots of natural light through big windows.” Eastgate is also “the first Bellevue school to use a geothermal heating system to warm and cool the building.” According to Jack McLeod, the director of facilities and information technology for the district, the system could “save about 40 percent on heating bills.” Additionally, the school has “an all-electronic door locking system,” which allows the district to “control entry through one main entrance during school hours,” while “electronic pass keys allow the district to monitor staffers coming in and out of the building after hours and on weekends.”
School Finance
Illinois BOE Ends Textbook Funding This Year.
The Chicago Tribune (8/28, Woodward) reports that in Illinois, “the elimination of a state-funded textbook program has left some school administrators scrambling to figure out how to make up the funds without jeopardizing education.” School officials did not learn until this month that, due to state budget cuts, the Illinois Board of Education will “no longer fund the program, which provided public and private schools with new books of the school’s or district’s choosing.” It is unknown whether the textbook program will resume in the future.
Also in the News
Housing Complex In Baltimore Offers Discounted Rates For Teachers.
The AP (8/27, Morrison) reports on Miller’s Court, “an affordable housing complex designed for teachers and built by Baltimore’s Seawall Development Corp.” The complex has 40 units and “features discounted rents for teachers and modern apartments in a historic setting near the urban schools where many start their careers.” Currently, there is a waiting list at Millers Court, and Seawall wants “to build a second, 54-unit complex in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood by 2011.” A spokesman for the company said that “rents for one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments range from $700 to $1,500 for teachers.” The average “one-bedroom in the same neighborhood would go for $1,100 per month” and “two-bedrooms would start at $1,500.”
President Obama Urged To Reconsider Opposition To DC Voucher Program.
The Washington Post (8/28) editorializes that even though President Obama “has a hefty reading list while vacationing this week,” they “would like to offer two additions, both hot off the presses. One is an article by the education expert who studied the D.C. voucher program; the second is a study on school safety in the city’s public and private schools.” Reading Patrick J. Wolf’s article in the new issue of Education Next and a new report by the Heritage Foundation in conjunction with the Lexington Institute “might cause the president to rethink his administration’s wrong-headed decision to shut down the voucher program to new students.” The Post adds that vouchers “aren’t the answer to Washington’s school troubles,” however; they “are an answer for some children whose options otherwise are bleak.”
Nevada State College Expands Middle School Mentoring Program.
The Las Vegas Sun (8/31, Twitchell) reports, “Nevada State College’s Project Crossroads, a mentoring program for at-risk middle school students, is expanding this year to help an estimated 180 students at 14 schools in Henderson and surrounding areas.” Furthermore, the program “this year will offer a $500 scholarship to any student who participates, graduates from high school, and goes to Nevada State College, said Dr. Rene Cantu, vice president of multicultural affairs at Nevada State and manager of Project Crossroads.” The goal of Project Crossroads is “to get students excited about their education by bringing them to Nevada State’s campus in Henderson four times throughout the school year.” There, “they are exposed to college life and its possibilities in the form of mini-lectures from carefully selected professors and other activities.” Students at the college “volunteer as mentors and regularly visit the middle school students throughout the year to encourage them and help them with their school work, Cantu said.”
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In the Classroom
Dropout Prevention Program Pays Students For Academic Performance, School Attendance.
The San Antonio Express News (8/28, Kastner) reported, “Last school year, during his senior year of high school, Mark Cardenas earned $1,000 for doing pretty much what he was supposed to be doing all along.” Cardenas “received periodic checks” of “about $100 a month” for attending class “95 percent of the time and” maintaining “a C average.” He also received “an additional $100 upon graduation.” The payments were part of Diploma Plus, a dropout prevention program by the Rotary Club of San Antonio. The Club paid “59 other students” this year, in addition to Cardenas. Participants were “selected based on essays, counselor recommendations, and financial need.” The Express News notes that “while many programs aim to boost academic achievement by paying kids for high test scores, Diploma Plus hopes to keep students in school through graduation by doling out money that often goes to help support a family.”
English Teacher Allows Students To Select Which Books Class Will Read.
The New York Times (8/30, A1, Rich) reported on its front page on Jonesboro (GA) Middle School English teacher Lorrie McNeill’s curricular approach, turning over “all the decisions about which books to read” to her seventh- and eighth-grade students. The approach McNeill uses “is part of a movement to revolutionize the way literature is taught in America’s schools.” According to the Times, though there “is no clear consensus among English teachers, variations on the approach, known as reading workshop, are catching on” in districts across the country.
On the Job
Some New York City Principals Leave Vacancies Empty Rather Than Hire Within System.
The New York Times (8/29, A1, Medina) reports on its front page that less “than two weeks before the start of school, about 1,800 teaching jobs in New York City” remain unfilled as principals “appear to be resisting orders to fill vacancies with teachers whose previous positions were eliminated.” According to the Times, the city Education Department “enacted a hiring freeze in the spring, requiring principals with openings to hire teachers who are already on the city’s payroll but who have no permanent position.” However, numerous principals “prefer new teachers. So in an act of quiet defiance, they are allowing jobs to sit vacant, leading to one of the most difficult hiring seasons in recent history.”
Maryland District Reduces New Hires By Half Compared To Last Year.
The Baltimore Sun (8/31, Williams) reports that this year, the Howard County public school system hired “the smallest number of new teachers…in recent memory,” said Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin. “Of the 200 new teachers hired for this school year, which starts tomorrow, 36 are filling new positions. The rest will fill vacancies created by resignations or retirements.” Last year, about 400 new teachers were hired. Cousins added that “the reduction in new teachers” is due “to a variety of factors, including the economy, the completion last year of phasing in of full-day kindergarten, a reduction of growth in the county, and not opening up a new school this year.”
Texas Districts Experimenting With Social Networking Sites.
The Dallas Morning News (8/30, Unmuth) reported that the Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Irving and Coppell school districts in Texas have “set up Twitter accounts in recent months, and each has several hundred people following its posts, or tweets.” Also, the Plano ISD has “launched a Facebook page and quickly amassed hundreds of fans.” Texas districts mostly appear to be using social networking sites “to break news about upcoming events or to publicize their achievements.”
Teachers In Washington School Districts Set To Strike Amid Stalled Contract Negotiations.
The Seattle Times (8/30) reports that teachers on strike in the Kent (WA) School District “ended another day of negotiations Saturday without making significant progress, increasing the chances that school will not start as scheduled Monday.” Kent Education Association spokesman Dale Folkerts said school district negotiators “did not take ‘meaningful steps’ on the issues of class size or the time teachers are required to be in meetings and away from students.” The union’s 1,700 teachers “voted on Wednesday to strike.” Also, in the Lake Stevens, WA district, teachers “voted Thursday to go on strike unless they have a new contract before school starts Sept. 8.”
Law & Policy
Appellate Court Grants Milwaukee Public Schools Stay On Special Education Ruling.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (8/28, Richards) reported that “Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) finally scored a victory in its ongoing special education class action lawsuit this week over how it should find and compensate students who failed to receive special education services.” Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein “issued specifics regarding his June 9 orders” that the district “seek [all] students…who might have missed being identified as eligible for special education services between September 2000 and June 2005.” In July, “MPS appealed” the judge’s orders, “saying that the remedy was too broad and too costly to implement.” Last week, “the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has granted MPS its motion to stay those orders, essentially hitting the pause button on the case.” This means that “MPS and Disability Rights Wisconsin will argue their positions in front of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in a series of written briefs” and, most likely, oral arguments.
Facilities
“Tiny” Texas District Opens $113.5 Million High School.
The Dallas Morning News (8/31, Meyers) that Prosper High School in the “tiny” town of Prosper, TX, “is a $113.5 million, 590,000-square-foot behemoth, complete with a medical tech lab, a restaurant-worthy kitchen, a greenhouse, a broadcast studio and, of course, an indoor football practice facility.” It also has three gymnasiums — one of which is an arena — and its 1,000-seat auditorium “will be the town’s only theater.” Last week, the school opened “at half its capacity,” although “district officials say it will soon fill up as families push north from crowded suburbs.” Few of the many new North Texas high schools built “in recent years…match Prosper’s scope.” Gene Preuss, an assistant professor of history at the University of Houston-Downtown, explained the motivation behind building mega-schools is that “Americans have long considered schools a community focus.” Because “Texas stayed rural after World War II,” he added, “the school remained a community center longer in Texans’ collective memory.”
School Finance
Denver Public Schools Receive Over $150,000 In Music Education Grants.
The Denver Post (8/28, Espinoza) reports that “thanks to a $30,000 music-education grant” from the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, Asbury Elementary School in south Denver has been able to purchase “31 new instruments including trumpets, flutes, a trombone, clarinets and a snare drum.” In addition, “the foundation and Comcast will award $150,000 to other Denver public elementary schools to share for music education.” Save the Music Foundation aims to restore “music education in public schools across the country.” Since 1997, the foundation has awarded $45 million in grants to “1,600 public schools nationwide.” Laurie Lock, senior director of programs and policy for Save the Music noted, “An overwhelming body of research done has shown that students do better academically, and music helps to foster teamwork.”
Rhode Island Out-Of-District Busing Program Aims At Saving Up To $4 Million By 2011.
The Providence Journal (8/31, Salit) reports, “Thousands of Rhode Island students head back to school this week and some will arrive at their destinations as pioneers of a new statewide busing system.” The new “consolidated approach eliminates the costly phenomenon of dispatching a large school bus to carry a handful of children to an out-of-district location.” For example, the previous system would have sent three buses to transport 43 students from three different areas to one school. “This school year, one bus will take the 43 students to and from…school.” About 1800 students will be transported throughout 14 districts under “the first phase of the new busing system.” They will include students “who must be transported daily to out-of-district locations” such as “special-education sites…charter schools” and vocational-technical centers. “The state’s goal is to save money — an estimated $1.4 million this year and up to $4 million by 2011 — for local districts, which remain responsible for paying their fair share of the cost.”
Also in the News
Student Suspended After Telling Another To Remove Hijab, Stand For Pledge Of Allegiance.
The St. Petersburg Times (8/31, Marrero) reports on Heather Lawrence, a junior at Springstead High School in Hernando County, FL, who was suspended last week for telling a fellow student to take off her hijab and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. After “Lawrence walked by a classroom” and saw that “the girl wasn’t standing for the Pledge of Allegiance,” the JROTC member confronted the girl “in the hallway.” The encounter was overheard by a teacher, and Lawrence received “a five-day, out-of-school suspension” for “bullying and harassment.” Recalling the incident, Lawrence “admitted…that telling the girl to take off her hijab was ‘a little over the edge.’” Still, she argues that sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance is “one of the most disrespectful things you can do.” Lawrence’s parents are now “considering legal action.” Her father, Mark Lawrence said the issue is about “freedom of speech.”
NEA in the News
Indiana State Teachers Association Files Lawsuit Over Insurance Trust.
The AP (8/31) reports that the Indiana State Teachers Association’s (ISTA) insurance fund filed a lawsuit last week, “alleging former officials, financial advisers, and consultants mismanaged a long-term disability insurance trust.” ISTA’s parent organization, the NEA, took over the fund in May. “The lawsuit claims” that ISTA’s former executive director and its investment adviser “placed an unusually high percentage of investments in hedge funds and high-risk equities that are not publicly traded, without the board’s consent and in violation of a 2004 investment policy.” Over the past two years, “the fund’s value plunged to near bankruptcy…leaving disability benefits for 650 school employees in jeopardy with a projected $45 million to $65 million shortfall in the next 15 to 20 years,” the AP notes.
NYTimes Urges Duncan To Continue Support Of Linking Student, Teacher Performance.
The New York Times (8/29, A20) editorialized, “The Obama administration laid down an appropriately tough line in late July when it released preliminary rules for the $4.3 billion pot of money known as the Race to the Top Fund.” The Times asserted that although “federal regulations are often modified in line with criticisms that arise during the legally mandated comment period,” US Education Secretary Arne Duncan should “hold firm against the likes of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, and others who,” the Times claimed are “clinging to the status quo.” Considering students’ achievement “when judging teacher performance” is an “important provision,” according to the Times, that “should be non-negotiable.” Without this provision, education in “the country will never get where it needs to be.” Therefore, the Times concluded, “Mr. Duncan should hold fast to that plan.”
Maryland State Teachers Association To Become Maryland State Education Association.
The Baltimore Sun (8/29, Fisher) reported that the Maryland State Teachers Association, which “represents the majority of Maryland public school employees, is changing its name to the Maryland State Education Association, effective Tuesday, to better reflect the range of its members who are not teachers.” The NEA affiliate, “formed in 1866…originally only recruited teachers as members but has changed over the years to welcome other education-related professionals such as administrators, support employees, students majoring in education and retired teachers.”
Baltimore’s Accelerator High Schools Allow Students To Graduate After Two Years.
The Baltimore Sun (8/31, Bowie) reported on Baltimore’s three new accelerator schools, which give students a “concentrated version of high school in two years,” designed to help “14- to 21-year-olds graduate who are at a higher risk for dropping out.” Accelerator school students “will still have to meet all the Maryland requirements to graduate, including passing the High School Assessments and taking four math and English credits as well as gym, health and technology education.” The Sun notes that in addition to the “dismal dropout rate” afflicting Baltimore school for years, “about a quarter of the city schools’ students have repeated at least one grade and 6.5 percent of city students are two grades behind.” Thus, according to the Sun, many students “are ‘over-age’ in their grades,” which Johns Hopkins University education researcher Ruth Neild has found is “an independent predictor for students dropping out.”
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In the Classroom
Districts Focus On Teaching Responsible Internet Use Rather Than Blocking Websites.
Education Week (9/2, Manzo) reports that teachers “in the 4,100-student” Trussville, AL, school district near Birmingham are incorporating in to their lesson plans “YouTube videos and film trailers, Internet chats with peers in Nigeria or award-winning children’s authors, even blogging sessions and Web research on open search engines such as Google.” The district, “and other like-minded school systems” nationwide are “educating students and teachers on how to navigate the Internet’s vast resources responsibly, safely, and productively — and setting clear rules and expectations for doing so.” Education Week notes that although “schools are required by federal and state laws to block pornography and other content that poses a danger to minors, Internet-filtering software often prevents students from accessing information on legitimate topics that tend to get caught in the censoring process.” Examples include the terms “breast cancer, sexuality, or even innocuous keywords that sound like blocked terms.”
No Excuses University Network Teaches Students The Value Of A College Education.
The Arizona Republic (9/1, Yara) reports that this year marks Kyrene de los Niños Elementary School’s first “as an official participant in the No Excuses University Network, a national program that works with schools to encourage a college-bound attitude.” The network “trains educators to provide a university-prep culture by identifying and creating an inspirational environment and academic assessments and systems.” For the program, “each classroom at Niños has adopted a college or university.” The classes write to their schools “asking for donations to help with the project” such as pennants, banners, and other school-themed trinkets. Meanwhile, guests from the schools share with the students their own “college experiences, along with discussions of workload, the benefits of a degree, and different ways to pay for tuition.”
Educators Implement Discipline Reforms In Response To Larger Class Sizes.
California’s Contra Costa Times (9/1, Harrington) reports that as “budget cuts in Mt. Diablo district schools” lead “to larger class sizes and fewer staff members, some campuses are considering reforms to improve student behavior and achievement.” Some educators “are concerned that” with fewer teachers responsible for supervising more students “discipline could deteriorate.” Although “budget cuts may force some administrators to delay phone calls or correspondence,” Interim Superintendent Dick Nicoll “insisted campuses will be safe.” Teachers are being trained in a method called BEST, or Building Effective Schools Together, “which stresses positive reinforcement for good behavior and consistent consequences for breaking school rules.”
Odyssey Math Boosts Achievement, What Works Clearinghouse Review Finds.
Education Week (8/31, Cavanagh) reported that a review from the federal What Works Clearinghouse finds that Odyssey Math, “a Web-based math curriculum and assessment tool, has been found to have potentially positive effects on mathematics achievement.” However, the “pool of evidence used for judging the program was relatively small,” and no studies of Odyssey Math have met the What Works Clearinghouse’s “high evidence standards, and just one study met its evidence standards with reservations.”
Cleveland’s “Innovation” School Receive Good Marks.
Cleveland, Ohio’s Plain Dealer (9/1, Ott) reports on Cleveland’s “innovation” schools, which generally received “good marks” on the 2008-09 report cards, which were released last week. “Three schools received ‘excellent’ ratings, the equivalent of an A; two received a mark of ‘effective,’ a B; two more scored ‘continuous improvement,’ a C; and one received ‘academic emergency,’ an F.” The city boasts “two high schools devoted to science, technology, engineering and mathematics” that “were not rated because they opened just last year and at the time had only ninth-graders,” and “the state graduation test, which the Ohio Department of Education uses in report card ratings, is given starting in the 10th grade.” Even so, “MC¯ STEM students took the test anyway, and more than three-quarters attained proficiency in reading, writing and math.”
New Brooklyn High School To Offer Five-Year Diploma, Associate Degree Program.
The Brooklyn (NY) Daily Eagle (8/31) reported on the launch of “a new secondary school in Downtown Brooklyn that will enable students to graduate in five years with both a high school diploma and a college associate degree.” The new City Polytechnic High School of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (City Poly High) “will be comprised of two academies,” the Da Vinci Academy of Technology and the Roebling Academy of Engineering and Architecture. The school will be “the first of its kind” for the city. Currently, no area high schools “are able to integrate a career and technological high school program with a closely linked career-oriented college degree.” City Poly High “will operate on a trimester schedule that allows students to earn credits faster and fulfill their high school graduation requirements in three years instead of four. It will blend a curriculum focused on career and technical education with advanced courses in such subjects as civil engineering, computer systems and architectural technology.”
On The Job
Maryland District Issues Class Schedules To Stranded Students, Declaring End To “Crisis.”
The Washington Post (9/1, B2, Hernandez) reports that the Prince George’s County, MD school system “has issued class schedules to all but a handful of its 41,000 high school students, officials said Monday evening, declaring an end to a crisis in which thousands were stranded in auditoriums, gyms and cafeterias during the first week of class” due to problems with a new SchoolMax computer system. To make up for lost class time, the Prince George’s district “is offering voluntary extended classes for affected students through Sept. 15.” Also, students will be able to attend “weekend walk-in clinics.”
Law & Policy
Obama’s Education Stance Has Sway Over Public Opinion, Survey Finds.
Education Week (8/31, Aarons, Viadero) reported that a new survey from Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University finds that a “popular president’s strong stances on education issues can shift the public perception of those issues.” The survey found that knowing President Obama’s “opinion on education topics gave a boost to those who said they supported particular goals, including an 11 percentage-point increase in support for charter schools and a 13 percentage-point increase in those backing merit pay for teachers.”
Race To The Top Comments Seen As Highlighting Challenge In Comparing Various States. Michele McNeil wrote in a Politics K-12 blog for Education Week (8/31) that ED Race to the Top Program Director Joanne Weiss “has a big job on her hands now that hundreds of comments have been filed on the 19 criteria that the department proposes to use in awarding $4 billion in competitive grants.” The comments “foreshadow how difficult it will be to fairly judge” states “which have different constitutions and governance structures, different politicians, and operate in different contexts.” Weiss has said that ED “will take time to read each comment” and make changes to proposed criteria with a goal of having final regulations issued “by October or early November.”
Schools See Reauthorization Of Child Nutrition Programs As Key In Providing Healthful Meals.
The Salt Lake Tribune (8/31, Schencker) reported that Granger Elementary School in West Valley City, cafeteria food is cooked on-site, and the cafeteria “offers six choices of entrees a day that must meet federal nutrition guidelines, and serves unlimited fruit and vegetables.” The Salt Lake Tribune points out that “school cafeterias have made many changes over the years, but not all students are as lucky as those at Granger.” Throughout the country, schools “are working to get better tasting, more nutritious foods on the menu while struggling with rising costs and limited reimbursement from the federal government.” And “many are hoping a reauthorization of federal Child Nutrition Programs could mean additional money for schools to buy more fresh fruits and vegetables and higher quality foods, a move that could help combat childhood obesity and disease.”
Safety & Security
More Than Half Of Utah Schools Could Fail In Earthquake, Safety Officials Warn.
The AP (8/31) reports that “as children head back to school, safety officials are warning that many Utah schools could fail in an earthquake.” According to “an informal 2006 survey” by the Utah Seismic Safety Commission, “around half of Utah’s schools are vulnerable to collapse from a major quake.” In January, “the commission and a group of Utah engineers” are expected to “ask the Legislature…to fund a comprehensive survey of the condition of Utah’s schools.” However, the AP notes that “lawmakers have rejected the request for two years’ running.”
Facilities
Million-Dollar Renovations Suit Baltimore High Schools Health-Career Theme.
The Baltimore Sun (9/1, Bowie) reports that “After a $28 million, two-year renovation, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School reopened its doors Monday morning and its seniors said they barely recognized the school they had moved out of after their freshman year.” The school boasts “wide hallways, [large] windows, and a state-of-the-art science laboratory.” Dunbar, which “lies in the shadow of the Johns Hopkins medical complex in East Baltimore,” has a “health professions” focus, which the new facilities are now more suited for, the Baltimore Sun notes.
Also in the News
Cosby Joins Detroit Public Schools Financial Manager’s Campaign To Increase Enrollment.
The AP (9/1) reports, “Robert Bobb’s plan to bring accountability and credibility to Detroit Public Schools has received the thumbs-up and support of comedian and activist Bill Cosby.” Cosby “is expected to join the district’s emergency financial manager Tuesday at a noon press conference.” And later in the day, “the two…will go door-to-door urging parents to keep their children in the public schools or return them to the district.”
High School Principal Says Student Lied About Seeing Girl Sit During Pledge Of Allegiance.
In a follow-up to a story published yesterday, the St. Petersburg Times (9/1, Marrero) reports, “Fervent patriots held Jennifer Lawrence up as a hero.” Lawrence was praised by “bloggers and online commenters…for confronting a Muslim student for not standing during the Pledge of Allegiance.” But Springstead High School principal Susan Duval said on Monday that Lawrence lied about seeing the student sitting during the Pledge. “I have confirmed with the homeroom teacher the young (Muslim) lady stood for the pledge,” said Duval, noting that according to her homeroom teacher, Lawrence “never left her own” classroom. Last week, “and Lawrence was suspended for five days for violating the district’s policy against bullying and harassment. The suspension has since been reduced to three days,” because, Duval says, “I’m trying to get this resolved and move on.”
Teacher Charged With Accepting Money In Exchange For Grades.
The AP (9/1) reports that “a New Jersey social studies teacher has been charged with accepting cash from students looking to improve their grades.” The teacher, Megan Laboy, “is accused of collecting more than $1,400 from Colts Neck High School students during the 2008-09 school year,” money, she told the students, that would be donated to charity. But students “say she kept the money for herself.” Laboy has been “charged with third-degree theft by deception,” and is no longer employed with the Colks Neck Township school district.
NEA in the News
Alaska Seeks To Hire Rural Education Director.
The Juneau (AK) Empire (8/31, Forgey) reported that Alaska “is hiring a new rural education director, hoping to boost performance at some of the state’s struggling rural schools.” State Department of Education and Early Development commissioner Larry LeDoux is currently “interviewing applicants for the new position.” The rural education director will work to “build connections between school boards, nonprofit organizations, Native corporations and rural communities, and keep their concerns on the forefront of thinking in the department in Juneau.” Barb Angaiak, president of NEA affiliate the National Education Association-Alaska, “praised the attention LeDoux [is] bringing to rural education in Alaska, and said she’ll be watching who is hired.” According to Angaiak, “the new rural director ‘needs authentic teaching experience in rural Alaska’ with a teacher or administrator certificate.”
NEA Expresses Opposition To Alternative Teacher Training Routes.
Stephen Sawchuk wrote in a Teacher Beat blog for Education Week (8/31) that as he notes in this story, the National Education Association “really went after alternative routes in its comments to the proposed guidelines” for the Race to the Top stimulus grant competition. The NEA “listed several studies that found that teachers from alternative routes were either less effective, or no more effective, than other teachers in the classroom.”