Updates and Information Provided by NEA
Individual States Show Progress In Closing Gaps On NAEP.
The Washington Post (3/25, Anderson, Turque) reports, “A report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that fourth-grade” reading “scores for the nation’s public schools stagnated after the law took effect in 2002, rose modestly in 2007 and remained unchanged last year. … The national picture for eighth-grade reading was largely the same: a slight uptick in performance since 2007, but no gain in the seven years” when NCLB “was in high gear.” The Christian Science Monitor (3/25, Paulson, Khadaroo) reports that, according to Amy Wilkins, Vice President of the Education Trust, “One glimmer of hope in the nation’s report card…is that individual states have shown progress in closing gaps.” For instance, “among Florida fourth-graders…the black-white gap and the income gap have narrowed.”
The New York Times (3/25, Dillon) reports that some experts attribute “the lagging reading scores…to declines in the amount of reading children do for pleasure as they devote more free time to surfing the Internet, texting, on cellphones or watching television. Others blame undemanding curriculums.”
The AP (3/25, Armario) reports that “the nation’s fourth-grade math scores flattened last year and eighth-grade scores improved two points.” It points out, however, that since 1990, “there has been a 27 point increase overall” in math “for fourth-grade students.” Brookings Institution senior fellow, Tom Loveless, noted, “To the extent that there are gains, they’re found amongst the lowest achievers.” This, “he suspects…is related to the enactment of more accountability systems at the state and federal level that focus attention on the lowest achievers and punish or reward schools based on progress with that group.”
Georgia Achievement Gap Narrowing. The AP (3/24) reported, “A new national report shows black and Hispanic eighth-graders in Georgia are gaining on their white counterparts in reading. … Overall, Georgia’s eighth-grade [NAEP] scores did not change significantly from 2007, with 72 percent of students passing. In fourth-grade, scores rose slightly, from 66 percent passing in 2007 to 63 percent last year.”
Florida NAEP Scores Outpace National Average. The Miami Herald (3/24, McGrory) reported, “Florida’s fourth-graders outperformed the national average on the national reading test, according to a new report released Wednesday. The report, which is mandated by Congress, looks at scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a standardized test given to fourth- and eighth-grade students nationwide.” According to the Herald, “Florida’s eighth-graders posted scores that matched the national average.” The Providence (RI) Journal (3/25, Borg) also covers the story on the state level.
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In the Classroom
Seeking To Stem Enrollment Declines, Chicago High School Adopts New Curriculum.
The Chicago Tribune (3/24, Reinwald) reported, “Faced with an enrollment of just 140 students, massive deficits and possible closure, officials of St. Gregory the Great High School” in Chicago “are getting a reprieve with a new technology-based teaching and learning initiative that will start in the fall.” The school’s board “voted last month to pin its hopes on a curriculum based on a national model that emphasizes analytical thinking, problem solving and communication, among other things. Behind the model is the non-profit Partnership for 21st Century Skills, which has programs in place in several states.”
On the Job
Maryland District Testing New Anti-Truancy Program.
The Washington Post (3/25, Birnbaum) reports, “A new anti-truancy program in Montgomery County [MD] is trying to reach out to students before they miss too much school, a month-old effort that advocates say already is yielding results. Educators and county officials lauded the program Wednesday at Francis Scott Key Middle School in Silver Spring.” According to the Post, “Students in a similar five-year-old program in Baltimore have reduced their unexcused absences and lateness by 50 to 75 percent, said Gloria Danziger, a fellow at the University of Baltimore School of Law who is one of the administrators of the program.”
Law & Policy
In Unanimous Vote, Senate Agriculture Committee Passes School Lunch Bill.
USA Today (3/25, Eisler) reports that in a unanimous vote, the Senate Agriculture Committee “cleared the path Wednesday for a final vote” by the full Senate “on legislation to bolster the safety and nutritional value of school lunches, including provisions to improve training for cafeteria workers and to alert schools more quickly about recalls of contaminated food. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 would commit an additional $4.5 billion to child-nutrition programs over the next 10 years and implement the most sweeping changes to those programs in decades.” According to USA Today, “Among other things, the bill directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set new nutrition standards for all food served in schools, from lunchrooms to vending machines.”
Florida Governor Eager To Sign Teacher Tenure, Merit Pay Bill.
The St. Petersburg Times (3/25, Silva) reports that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), “who brags about coming from a family of educators, said he’s ready to sign a bill” that will make “it easier to fire teachers and” that “ties pay increases to student test scores.” The bill was passed in the Senate by a 21-17 vote. Said Crist, “This is a bill that really focuses on trying to help children and encouraging better teachers. … It pays better teachers more, and that just seems like the right thing to do to me.” According to the St. Petersburg Times, the legislation was “a big blow…to the Florida Education Association (FEA), whose bargaining power and clout in the Capitol hang in the balance.” The Times adds that other education measures passed Wednesday call for a replacement for the state’s standardized tests and an expansion of “the state’s tax credit scholarship program.”
The Palm Beach (FL) Post (3/25, Kam) reports that state Sen. John Thrasher (R), “crafted the plan” to eliminate teacher tenure “as part of major education reforms he says are necessary to get the state’s 75 percent graduation rate up and raise student performance.” But FEA President Andy Ford has “accused Thrasher of ‘punishing and scapegoating teachers, driving experienced and skilled teachers out of the classroom, and creating more chaos in Florida public schools.” Moreover, “the teachers union called [the legislation] an ‘all-out assault’ on educators.”
The WSVN-TV Miami, FL (3/25) reports that “South Florida teachers, students and parents” plan to hold a rally in Tallahassee on “Thursday to protest against a cut to school funding.” But “a group of teachers from the Bob Graham Education Center began the rally early in Miami Lakes to protest against Senate Bill 6.”
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School Finance
Illinois BOE Identifies 29 School Districts On Financial Watch List.
The Chicago Tribune (3/25, Ahmed-ullah) reports that the Illinois State Board of Education’s “annual report on the financial health of school districts” released Wednesday shows that “twenty-nine school districts…are on the state’s financial watch list,” up from 22 last year. The Tribune notes, “Each year, the education board analyzes school districts’ finances and designates them as financially sound, under review, under warning or – in the worst case – on a financial watch list.” The assessments are based on the districts’ “ratio of expenditures to revenue, the number of days of cash a district has on hand to pay its bills, and its short- and long-term borrowing ability.” According to Illinois ASBO executive director Michael Jacoby, districts will face even more financial difficulty next year. “Not only are districts facing pressures from the economy, but they’re also looking at state payment delays and state budget reductions,” said Jacoby.
Illinois District Cut Nearly 1,100 Teachers, Staff To Close $44 Million Gap. The Chicago Tribune (3/24, Marrazzo) reported that administrators in the “Elgin-based School District U-46…have cut nearly 1,100 jobs, including more than 700 teachers, to help close a $44 million deficit.” Cut positions “include tenured and non-tenured teachers, central office administrators, counselors, nurses, coaches, librarians, clerical workers and transportation staff.” District officials had hoped “to hire some back,” but “there’s little hope of salvation from the state since Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed slashing $1.3 billion in education funding.”
Maryland Senate Approves Shift Of Teacher Pension Payments To Local Governments.
The Baltimore Sun (3/24, Linskey) reported, “The Maryland Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday night to a plan that would balance future state budgets by shifting hundreds of millions of dollars in teacher pension payments to local governments.” Beginning in 2011, “the new pension plan would require local governments to contribute an added $63 million in the first year,” increasing to $337 million “within two years.” The Baltimore Sun adds that “the Senate voted 28-19 to approve the pension change, but the entire budget is pending approval in the Senate and changes could still occur.”
Texas Senate Education Committee Considers Options For New School Funding System.
The Dallas Morning News (3/25, Stutz) reports that Texas Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, who co-chairs “a special legislative committee on school finance,” said that state “lawmakers are working with an ‘antiquated’ system for financing education that has been in and out of legal trouble in the courts for several years.” The panel is seeking “proposals for an entirely new” funding system. The Dallas Morning News notes, “Currently, local school districts levy significant property taxes on homes and businesses, the state provides tens of billions of dollars in funding every year, and districts get a small amount of federal money.
Prince William County, VA School Board Approves Plan To Cut More Than 200 Jobs.
The Washington Post (3/25, Chandler) reports, “The Prince William County [VA] School Board adopted a $760 million operating budget Wednesday that will cut more than 200 jobs, freeze salaries and raise class sizes in many grades. Even deeper cuts were anticipated, but the system’s fiscal forecast brightened over the past month with an increase in state funding.” According to the Post, Prince Williams County Schools Superintendent Steven L. Walts “outlined what he called an ‘unprecedented’ spending plan last month that included eliminating more than 700 jobs, increasing class sizes to the maximum allowed by the state, and introducing new student fees for sports and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests.”
Also in the News
Students Complain To Chicago BOE About Quality Of School Lunches.
Chicago Public Radio (3/25, Lutton) reports on its website that the Chicago public school district “is re-negotiating its meals contract for the first time in five years.” On Wednesday, the Board of Education heard comments from students about school lunches. Some said that “their lunches are unhealthy and they leave school feeling sick and bloated.” Chicago Public Radio adds, “Many schools don’t have full kitchens. Kids get cellophane-wrapped lunches heated on site,” and one student at the hearing complained that his school serves “the same three choices every day.” The school system “is asking vendors to meet higher nutrition standards in the new contract, worth about $60 million.”
ABC News (3/24, Pinto, Murray) reported on its Website, “A coalition of high school students in Chicago spoke out against their school lunch menu today at a meeting of the Chicago Board of Education. Schools have tended to defend their menus as giving students what they want, but students at the meeting said those foods are sickening.” According to ABC, “Kids have grumbled for years about the salty fries and mystery meats found in many high school lunches, but in Chicago, those complaints have launched a revolution,” which “started in a nutrition class, when the students learned just how little nutrition they were getting in the cafeteria.”
New DC Schools Food Director Tasked With Major Overhaul.
The Washington Post (3/24, Black) reports, “Since Chancellor Michelle Rhee handpicked him” to overhaul food service in D.C. Public Schools in January, former restaurateur Jeff Mills, the new director of food service for DCPS, “has toured the area’s models of school-food reform” in order “to create the best school food service possible.” Currently, Mills “is launching several pilot programs, including one to expand the number of schools that serve breakfast in the classroom.” However, he says that his main goal is to “put more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and fewer processed foods on school lunch trays.”
Chicago Schools To Phase Out Many Unhealthy Foods From Menus. The Chicago Tribune (3/24, Eng) reports, “Chicago public schools plan to ditch their daily nacho service in high school and get rid of doughnuts and Pop-Tarts for breakfast as part of a major nutritional overhaul of menus, according to interviews and documents examined by the Chicago Tribune. New standards from the Chicago Public Schools Nutrition Support Services address many of the concerns raised in Tribune articles describing the daily serving of nachos, doughnuts and desserts in a district with an inordinate number of overweight and obese children.” The Tribune adds, “According to the district’s current food service operator, starting in June, nacho service will be reduced to once a week in high school and once a month in elementary school; sweet packaged desserts will also be reduced to weekly treats; and doughnuts and Pop-Tarts will be eliminated.”
Push To Serve Healthy Food In School Cafeterias Challenges Districts. The Seattle Times/McClatchy (3/23, Lubrano) reported, “Unlike most” Philadelphia schools, the High School of the Future in West Philadelphia “has a full kitchen where many meals are prepared practically from scratch. … Future is emblematic both of what healthy school eating can look like and of Philadelphia’s place in the forefront of cities seeking to improve school meals.” However, Future “is a relative anomaly” and stakeholders say “much work has to be done to get other schools in the city — as well as across America — up to that same standard.”
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In the Classroom
Google Launching Competition For Ultra-Fast Broadband Test Sites.
The AP (3/24) reports that Google “is giving interested communities until March 26 to apply to be test sites for a broadband network capable of delivering information at speeds of up to 1 gigabit,” up “to 300 times faster than current DSL, cable and fiber-optic networks in use today.” Cabell County, West Virginia, schools Superintendent William Smith “envisions the Google network helping public schools in a variety of ways,” including making “it easier to have online lessons, so a child who gets stuck doing homework can turn to a teacher rather than a parent who’s less familiar with the material.”
On the Job
Teachers Say Leadership, Curriculum Changes Biggest Factors In Rhode Island School’s Failure.
The Providence Journal (3/24, Jordan) reports that “more than a dozen teachers who were fired a month ago spoke Tuesday night about the upheaval in leadership and curriculum the struggling Central Falls High School has experienced for many years.” The school has had “five principals in seven years” on top of “schedule changes” and some effective and ineffective “programs about how to teach low-income, special education, and English language learners how to read and do math.” The teachers argued to “the city’s Board of Trustees” that those factors contributed more to “the school’s poor performance than the effectiveness of the 93 teachers, support staff, and administrators who were terminated on Feb. 23 as part of a dramatic reform effort.”
University Dean Advises Future Teachers To Study Specialized Fields.
WSBT-TV South Bend, Indiana (3/24, Paul) reports, “School budget cuts across the country may eventually create some trouble for those working to become teachers,” according to Dr. Michael Horvath, Dean of the Indiana University South Bend School of Education. “Horvath said professors at the school have encouraged future teachers to study specialized fields like special education, math, and science.” Said Horvath, “If you are looking for a job in one of those shortage areas, you are going to be in good shape.”
Law & Policy
California Seen As Losing Best Teachers Due To Quality-Blind Layoffs Law.
Timothy Daly, president of the New Teacher Project, and Arun Ramanathan, executive director of the Education Trust-West, write in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times (3/24), “Over the last several weeks, in what has become a dismal rite of spring, nearly 30,000 teachers throughout California received layoff notices. … Unfortunately, the only tool that California schools can use to make these decisions is a calendar,” due to “an outdated state law that prevents schools from considering anything other than how long a teacher has worked in the school system to decide who stays and who goes.” According to Daly and Ramanathan, “Forcing schools to fire some of their best teachers while keeping less effective teachers is just one of many perverse side effects of California’s quality-blind layoffs law.”
Duncan’s List Of Chicago Schools’ Admission-Seekers Under Investigation.
The New York Times (3/24, Lewin, Davey) reports that when Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was Chicago Public Schools CEO, “his office kept a log of nearly 40 pages listing the local politicians and business people and others who sought help getting children into the city’s most selective public schools.” According to a Department of Education spokesperson, “the log was a record of those who asked for help, and…neither Mr. Duncan nor the aide who maintained the list, David Pickens, ever pressured principals to accept a child.” The Chicago Sun-Times (3/23, Rossi) reported that the “list has now come under the scrutiny of both federal officials and the schools inspector general as part of a probe of whether clout played a role in admissions to Chicago’s elite schools, sources said.” Bloomberg News (3/23, Hechinger) also covered the story.
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Florida Senate Pushes Forward With Education Overhaul Legislation.
The St. Petersburg Times (3/24, Solocheck) reports that the Florida Senate “pushed forward a series of…education measures Tuesday that could dramatically alter the landscape of Florida’s public schools.” The measures would make academic requirements tougher, all more money to be directed “toward private, religious schools,” and eliminate teacher tenure. If approved, “Florida would be the first in the nation to so closely link student test scores to teacher salaries, and one of just a handful of states that do not award multiple-year contracts to teachers with classroom experience.” Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, said of the proposed legislation, “It’s a new dynamic we have. We have a new senator who came in during a special election who is also the party chairman. … That does account for some of the increased movement to the right.”
California Proposal Would Lower Amount Of Votes Needed To Pass School Parcel Taxes.
California’s Contra Costa Times (3/24, Jordan) reports, “Schools districts around the state are taking a stand on an initiative that would amend the state constitution to make it much easier to pass new taxes for education.” The Local Control of Local Classrooms Funding Act “would amend the state constitution by lowering the amount of votes required to pass a school parcel tax from two-thirds to 55 percent.” Current law requires “two-thirds of the vote to pass a special tax.” Californians for Improved School Funding are working to “to collect the required 694,354 signatures” by May 1 in order to get the proposal on November’s ballot.
Chicago Public Education Fund Official Says NCLB Should Focus On School Leadership.
Penny Pritzker, chairwoman for the Chicago Public Education Fund, writes in a commentary for BusinessWeek (3/24), “Business leaders, no matter their political persuasion, understand that our nation’s primary and secondary schools face a leadership crisis. She asserts that “business has a vested interest in improving our schools,” because education “is the foundation upon which the workforce and successful commerce are built.” She notes that for businesses, “it is significant that the U.S. Education Dept. is now focusing on school leadership” indicating that “leadership is now recognized as critical to school and student success.” Pritzker concludes, “This focus should be maintained as Congress continues to debate the future of the No Child Left Behind federal education law.”
Special Needs
Court Rules Against Overhaul Of Bilingual, ESL Programs In Texas.
Texas’ Monitor (3/24, Roebuck) reports that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled “on Monday overturned a decision that promised a complete overhaul of bilingual and English as a second language programs in Texas schools.” The court “found that despite a lower court’s ruling that the state had failed to provide adequate education to non-native English speakers in its secondary schools, insufficient evidence existed to suggest that local school districts had violated the rights of these students.” The appellate court’s decision “is expected to spare Texas’ more than 1,000 school districts a massive reorganization of not only the way the state tracks the performance of underperforming Spanish-speaking students but also the programs used to educate them.”
School Finance
Texas State Committee Says School Funding Formula Should Be Rebuilt.
The San Antonio Express-News (3/23, LaCoste-Caputo) reported that “a joint select committee on school finance met Tuesday and lawmakers, educators, and business leaders agreed” that “the state’s school funding system is complicated, convoluted, and needs” to be rebuilt. The consensus was reached after the committee heard “a two-hour presentation to explain how the current school funding system works.” Said State Sen. Florence Shapiro afterward, “We just spent the better part of two hours trying to figure this out, and I guarantee you we have more questions now than we did when we started. … We’ve got to find a way that makes more sense so we can be more responsive to taxpayers.” The Express News notes that Texas’ “school funding system…has evolved into complex, multi-tiered formulas that are difficult for even education experts to understand.”
Teacher, Staff Positions Saved In Texas District Due To Attrition.
The Cleburne (TX) Times-Review (3/23, Kendall) reports, “Cleburne Superintendent Dr. Ronny Beard would like to be able to guarantee Cleburne ISD won’t experience a reduction in force,” but “he can’t.” He did, however, say the district will not see “a huge multi-person [reduction in force] as” other districts have seen, “because we’ve already eliminated so many positions by attrition,” said Beard. He added, “The determining factor will be whether we have sufficient numbers of employees leave in positions we can absorb. We’re liable not to know that until June.”
Also in the News
Canceling Prom Violated Student’s Rights, Judge Rules.
The AP (3/24) reports that on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson ruled that Mississippi’s Itawamba County school district “did violate the…constitutional rights” of a student when it canceled prom, rather than let the “lesbian student bring her girlfriend.” The judge, however, “refused the American Civil Liberties Union’s demand to force the…district to put on the April 2 prom.” Davidson said that “he would hold a trial on the issue.” Though the trial “would come too late for the prom to be salvaged at Itawamba Agricultural High School,” ACLU Mississippi Legal Director Kristy Bennett “called the decision a victory.”
Community Impact Of School Closures Analyzed.
The AP (3/24) reports, “Superintendents of struggling districts are winning praise for confronting budget woes by shuttering half-empty and underperforming schools, a move often blocked by local politics in the past. … Now school leaders have an argument that trumps any parent outrage: The struggling economy makes these schools a luxury that districts can no longer afford.” According to the AP, “About 6% of districts closed or consolidated schools this year, compared to about 3% in 2008-09, according to a survey conducted by the American Association of School Administrators.”
NEA in the News
Wisconsin Teacher Earns NEA Peace and International Understanding Award.
The Pierce (WI) County Herald (3/24, Schulte) reports that Ellsworth High School teacher Ryan Casper created the school’s “Hearts and Minds Club when he was deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan” in order to “show his students what it would be like to help someone overseas,” he said. Moreover, he wanted to “show Iraqi and Afghan students US and coalition forces were there to help, not hurt, their country.” Casper’s efforts are being recognized by the NEA. He has been “named the recipient of the” NEA’s Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award,” which he will receive in July. “The award is presented to those NEA-affiliated whose activities in education contribute to international understanding and motivate youth to work for world peace.”
NEA Honors Sioux Falls District’s Homeless Liaison With Human and Civil Rights Award.
The KELOLAND TV Sioux Falls, SD (3/23, Janssen) reported that about “1,000 kids in the Sioux Falls School District are homeless, and that number is growing steadily every year.”" In addition to tracking the students, the district also offers “resources and support for families in need” including “supplies and clothing” through its homeless education liaison, Wendy Giebink. “For her work with these families, the National Education Association has given Giebink the Reg Weaver Human and Civil Rights Award,” which it will present to her in July. “The Reg Weaver Human and Civil Rights Award is the first-ever for the National Education Association and is named for the organization’s past president.”
Analyses Show California Ranking Near Bottom On Per-Pupil Funding.
KPBS-TV San Diego (3/23, Taylor) reported that “the last time California spent more money on students than most other states in the country was 45 years ago, according to government and education association statistics.” Since 1965, the state has gone from having the fifth-highest per-pupil spending of all US states “to 43rd in 2009.” KPBS investigates how that state fell “to the bottom of the heap and how much of that decline is directly attributable to Prop 13,” legislation “that capped property taxes at 1 percent of purchase price and limited yearly increases to 2 percent.” It notes that the NEA, “the California Department of Education…and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), all keep stats on per pupil funding,” using different calculations. But regardless of “which measure is used, California repeatedly ends up below the national average.”
Arizona Teacher Proposes Mandatory 30 Minute Recess Everyday.
The Arizona Republic (3/23, Gersema) reports, “Parents, students, and educators generally agree that recess is beneficial to students, but over the years, many schools across the country have chosen to reduce recess to spend more time on classroom lessons because of increased academic requirements.” Now retired teacher Steve Gall is asking Arizona lawmakers “to consider a baseline requirement of 30 minutes of recess every day. Arizona has no requirements for recess; times vary from school to school.” Gall is currently “urging school-board officials in Tucson” to back his proposal and will later ask “boards statewide to implement his idea through board policy.”
In the Classroom
Career Program Allows Students To Earn College Credit, Learn About Criminal Justice.
The San Antonio Express-News (3/23, Kastner) reports on the career pathways program at Edison High School in the San Antonio Independent School District. “Trustees in the San Antonio Independent School District voted Monday night to move forward with plans for the program, which will allow students to earn college credits while learning about jobs in the criminal justice arena.” San Antonio fire and police department members “helped create the blueprint for the program after visiting similar programs in Phoenix and Austin.” The school district expects the program to cost “$120,000 in startup costs and an additional $50,000 a year.”
Elementary School Program Merges Science, English Language Development.
The Sonoma (CA) Index-Tribune (3/23, Charrier-Botts) reports that the “a pilot program launched last year at El Verano Elementary School is attempting to kill two birds with one stone by merging science education with English language development through a new partnership between the Sonoma Valley Unified School District, the Exploratorium’s Institute for Inquiry, the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation and the Vadasz Family Foundation.” Through the program, students will be able to “explore scientific concepts on their own without being required to follow predetermined steps.” Then, “after making an educated hypothesis on what the students’ think might happen, they test out their assumption. All steps, including the inquiry, question and discovery, are compiled on a poster that outlines the students’ findings.” Grants will help the district cover the program’s cost of “$398,662 over three years” for “Exploratorium salaries, teacher salaries, materials and evaluations.”
Washington District’s Math Curriculum Review Reveals Teaching Inconsistencies.
The Tacoma (WA) News Tribune (3/23, Cafazzo) reports that last fall, administrators for Tacoma (WA) Public Schools “launched a district-wide review of math teaching” The review, conducted by “a committee of 30 Tacoma administrators and teachers” discovered “that elementary school teachers in the district aren’t consistent in how they use two available sets of lessons:” Investigations, and Saxon Math. In 2006, the district invested “more than $1 million in the Saxon series,” though “Saxon didn’t replace Investigations entirely.” Assistant Superintendent Rosanne Fulton “said that using an inquiry-based math text requires lots of teacher support,” so she supports “more teacher training and the further development of math coaching by teacher peers at the elementary level.”
Study: Math, Reading Scores In Urban Districts On The Rise.
Education Week (3/22, Aarons) reported, “Students in the nation’s urban school districts have improved markedly in mathematics and reading proficiency as measured both on state exams and the National Assessment of Educational Progress, according to a new report by the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools.” According to Education Week, the “council’s ninth annual ‘Beating the Odds’ report looks at how students in urban districts stack up on state tests compared with students in their respective states as a whole.” The study “examines state assessment data for 4th and 8th graders from 65 school districts in 37 states and the District of Columbia” and the “statewide data come from administrations in the 2005-06 through 2008-09 school years.”
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On the Job
Report Gives US Poor Grades In Fostering STEM Diversity.
Following an article yesterday in the New York Times about a report, from the American Association of University Women, that found continued impediments for women in math and science, Education Week (3/22) reported, “The nation’s K-12 education system gets an average grade of D for the job it does ‘engaging and nurturing’ minorities to pursue careers in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and a D-plus for such performance with girls.” This is according to a survey from the Bayer Corp. of female and minority members of the American Chemical Society. The Education Week article also notes the results of the AAUW study, which “offers a set of recommendations for educators, parents, and others, including a call to ‘spread the word about girls’ and women’s achievements in math and science’ to combat negative stereotypes…and explain to girls that buying into negative stereotypes can diminish academic achievement,” among other things. “The two new reports come amid strong and growing interest in promoting improved STEM education and stronger interest among young people in the subjects.”
eSchool News (3/22, Prabhu) reported on the Bayer Corp. survey, which “identified the three top causes or contributors that respondents thought lead to underrepresentation in STEM fields.” These were “a lack of high-quality science and math education programs in poorer school districts (cited by 75 percent of respondents); persistent stereotypes that STEM isn’t for girls or minorities (66 percent); and financial issues related to the cost of education (53 percent).”
Columnist Says Teachers Need More Training, Not Threats.
Columnist Lawrence Harmon writes in an op-ed for the Boston Globe (3/23), “In the battle for accountability, school superintendents in Boston, Washington, and elsewhere are dragging ineffective educators in front of figurative firing squads. But it’s hard to see how firing or transferring teachers will save schools unless teacher training – both in-service and in schools of education – improves dramatically.” Harmon adds, “If school districts are going to demand so much of teachers, then the least superintendents and schools of education can provide is basic tools” as effective training has more power “than there could ever be in threats.”
Law & Policy
Chicago Students Seek School Lunch Menu Overhaul.
The Chicago Tribune (3/23, Eng) reports, “When school officials defend serving a daily menu of nachos, pizza, burgers and fries, they often say they’re just giving students what they want. But you wouldn’t know it by listening to an angry coalition of high school students who plan to speak out on Chicago Public Schools meals Wednesday at the monthly Chicago Board of Education meeting.” According to the Tribune, “One of those students is Teresa Onstott, a sophomore at Social Justice High School who last week practiced a speech that details the ‘sickening pizza, chicken sandwiches and nachos’ the district serves each day and urges the board not to renew the contract for” Chartwells-Thompson, “the company providing the food.”
Race To The Top To Spur Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Programs In Georgia.
Maureen Downey wrote in a “Get Schooled” blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (3/22) that Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s (R) teacher merit pay bill “was likely off the table” for this legislative “session after its sponsor told educators he was settling for a study committee. But the pay for performance issue still looms as it is a key part of the state’s Race to the Top application and would be mandatory in the 23 participating school districts.” According to Downey, “Those districts, which represent 41 percent of the students in Georgia schools, would, in essence, pilot performance pay for the rest of the state.”
Illinois House Votes To Allow Districts To Set Four-Day School Weeks.
The Chicago Tribune (3/23, Manchir) reports, “In an effort to help strapped school districts save money,” the Illinois House “on Monday approved a bill that would let local school boards set four-day weeks for students,” and the bill now “goes to the Senate for consideration.” According to the Tribune, “Lawmakers said the move could save school districts money on fuel for buses and utility costs for buildings.” However, “the legislation is opposed by some major education groups, including the Chicago Teachers Union.”
Duncan’s Office Maintained List Of Chicago Politicians’ School Admissions Requests.
The Chicago Tribune (3/23, Ahmed) reports, “For several years when U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was Chicago Public Schools chief, his office maintained a list of politicians and others seeking help for applicants to selective schools, former top aide David Pickens told the Tribune today. The list is being investigated as part of a wider inquiry into allegations of back-door admissions practices at the elite schools, now being conducted by the school district inspector general and part of a federal probe.” According to the Tribune, Duncan spokesman Peter Cunningham is quoted saying that admissions decisions were “up to the principal” and any admissions queries that came from Duncan’s office were “part of our process of being responsive to people.”
The Chicago Sun-Times (3/23, Rossi) reports, “For several years during U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s tenure running Chicago’s public schools, his office kept a list of elected officials and others trying to get children into the city’s elite selective enrollment schools, top CPS official David Pickens told the Chicago Sun-Times today. … The CPS inspector general is investigating the list, Pickens said, adding that they began keeping it at the request of principals who were inundated with calls from parents about gaining a seat in a magnet or selective enrollment college prep school.”
School Finance
Official Says Mismanagement Of Construction Cost Hampton, Virginia, District $2 Million.
The Daily Press (3/23, Shalash) reports, “Since 2008, Charles Roberts has kept an eagle-eye on the pre-K-8 school construction in Hampton to make sure it ran smoothly and taxpayer money wasn’t wasted.” In his position as director of facilities and planning , Roberts “alerted his boss about mismanagement on the $100 million projects that led to the schools opening a year late and costing $2 million in delays,” but those alerts, “were ignored by his boss, Deputy Superintendent for Facilities Victor Hellman and former Superintendent Patrick Russo.” Now, his job “has been eliminated from the proposed 2011 budget that the School Board will finalize March 31.” Hellman said the position is no longer needed.
Bills Would Allow Minnesota Districts To Raise Taxes Without Voter Approval.
The St. Paul (MN) Pioneer-Press (3/23, Boldt) reports that “state aid for schools is frozen … forcing districts to dip into their reserves and take out loans.” Some education officials say that “school districts should have more authority to raise property taxes without voter approval.” State Rep. Mindy Greiling (D) “introduced a bill…that would allow school districts to levy up to $200 per pupil from local taxpayers without voter approval.” Two other bills will also be examined: the first “would allow school boards to renew an expiring levy,” and the second would “let districts increase taxes to help pay for proposed increased contributions to help stabilize the state pension fund for teachers and administrators.”
Also in the News
Teen Juries Hear Cases Of First-Time Offenders In Los Angeles District.
The Los Angeles Times (3/22, Kim) reported that a “teen court, which convened after last bell on a recent Wednesday at Dorsey High in South Los Angeles, is one of 17 in the county where students decide the cases of first-time juvenile offenders accused of misdemeanors including tagging, petty theft, drug possession and prostitution.” According to adults involved in the process, “these teens, who perform their civic duty with part somber responsibility and part gleeful curiosity, often know better than legal professionals why a teen did what he or she did, and what punishment will change his or her behavior.” The Times noted that “the idea behind having teens’ cases heard by peers is that the combination of questioning, sanctions and involvement in the legal process — most defendants are ordered back to serve as a juror on teen court as part of their community service — will steer them away from more serious offenses.”
Teens Help Adults Pass California High School Exit Exam.
The Los Angeles Times (3/22, Cruz) reported that Brandy Rice was “one of 20 Compton Adult School students in a tutoring program for the California High School Exit Examination. The tutors weren’t teachers, but teenagers from Palos Verdes High School,” set in a wealthy “beach community on a hill.” According to the Times, the “adults receiving tutoring…all have the same regret: They didn’t get a high school diploma.”