High School In Michigan Wins Obama Commencement Competition.
The New York Times (5/5, Calmes) reports that Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan has “beaten more than 1,000 public high schools in a national contest” to have President Obama “as commencement speaker” in the first annual Race to the Top Commencement Challenge for high schools. According to the Times, “Officials at the White House and the Education Department chose the six finalists, whose videos and essays were posted on the White House Website” and “Obama made the final choice.” ABC News (5/4, Bruce, Blackburn) reported on its Website that after announcing Kalamazoo Central High School as the winner, President Obama added “a shout out to Kalamazoo Central’s mascot: ‘Go Giants!’”
The Christian Science Monitor (5/5, Paulson) reports, “On June 10, seniors at Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan will get a rare honor for a high school: a sitting president as their commencement speaker.” Kalamazoo Central was among three finalists, including “Clark Montessori Junior High and High School in Cincinnati, and the Denver School of Science and Technology.”
The Kalamazoo (MI) Gazette (5/5, Mack) reports that Kalamazoo Central’s “entry focused on The Kalamazoo Promise, the college scholarship program for Kalamazoo graduates, and the reform efforts The Promise has inspired.” The AP (5/5) also covers the story, as did David Jackson in a blog for USA Today (5/4) and Valerie Strauss in a blog for the Washington Post (5/4). WWMT-TV Kalamazoo, MI (5/4) and KUSA-TV Denver (5/4, Boniface) also covered the story.
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In the Classroom
Teacher Literacy Coaches Help Boost Student Reading Skills, Study Shows.
Education Week (5/4, Viadero) reported, “An innovative study of 17 schools along the East Coast suggests that putting literacy coaches in schools can help boost students’ reading skills by as much as 32 percent over three years. The study, which was presented…on May 1 during the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association,” finds “that reading gains are greatest in schools where teachers receive a larger amount of coaching.” According to Education Week, the study “also finds that the amount of coaching that teachers receive varies widely and is influenced by an array of factors, including relationships among staff members and how teachers envision their roles.”
More High Schools Offering Financial Planning Classes.
The Dallas Morning News (5/5, Meyers) reports that high school financial planning classes “are being offered across the country as students and administrators recognize a lapse in financial literacy among American youth. But the personal finance classes are discretionary” as only “a handful of states require them.” The Morning News notes, “Without continued emphasis, financial literacy experts warn, students will fall into the same pattern of overdraft fees and lackluster savings as the generation before them.”
Event Spurs Interest In Construction, Engineering Careers.
The Kansas City Star (5/5, Robertson) reports that middle schoolers from Scuola Vita Nuova participated in the National Institute for Construction Excellence iBuild Showcase and the Crayons to CAD competition last week, where they were given a “big project assignment – designing complicated spaces like community centers, or ‘green’ schools,” and then “puzzled over labor and materials costs, market studies, architectural designs.” They created scale models and reports on their efforts, which they presented “for the judges’ scrutiny beneath the high ceiling of another giant showroom where construction, engineering and utility companies set up a traveling carnival with big work exhibitions and interactive games.” The article lists the winners of the 2010 Crayons to CAD competition.
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On the Job
South Dakota Districts Lost Ground On Tests After Switch To Four-Day Weeks, Analysis Shows.
The Sioux Falls (SD) Argus Leader (5/5, Verges) reports that according to “an Argus Leader analysis of Dakota” state standardized test (STEP) scores, “on average, schools that have moved to a four-day week since 2003 have lost ground when compared to the rest of the state.” Twelve of the 16 school systems currently on a four-week schedule “switched between 2003 and 2007. In their final year with five-day school weeks, the schools were an average of 4.2 percentage points behind the statewide average in math and reading proficiency.” That gap increased to 4.7 percentage points in math and 6.3 percentage points in reading the next year “as they transitioned to four-day weeks.” However, Deuel Superintendent Dean Christensen, an advocate of the four-day week, argues that “leaving most Fridays open gives his teachers time to collaborate, analyze student data and learn how to use technology.”
Ning Will Continue Offering Educators Some Free Services.
Education Week (5/4, Davis) reported, “The social-networking site Ning announced Tuesday that a ‘major education company’ will help keep some services free for educators who use the site with older students and to exchange ideas with one another. Ning, which announced a new overall pricing structure for its services, said the unnamed company would underwrite the cost for the new Ning Mini Networks for K-12 educators and those working with students 13 and older.” According to Education Week, “Company officials provided few details Tuesday, and it remained unclear as to exactly which education groups would receive free services.”
Law & Policy
States Weigh Importance Of Teachers Union Buy-In For Race To The Top.
Education Week (5/4, McNeil) reported, “In the round-two scramble for $3.4 billion in federal Race to the Top Fund grants, the need for school district and union buy-in-a relatively small, but important part of any winning formula-poses a policy puzzle for the competing states. US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who in past statements has emphasized the importance of such support, has recently made it clear that a watered-down Race to the Top application won’t win on the strength of significant school district and union backing.” According to Education Week, “‘Buy-in isn’t here as a separate thing because expert judgment plays a part,’ said Joanne Weiss, the department’s Race to the Top director, noting that some states, for example, don’t have teachers’ unions.”
Florida District Gives Administrators With “Reasonable Suspicion” Right To Search Cell Phones.
The St. Petersburg Times (5/5, Marrero) reports that the Hernando County, Florida, School Board on Tuesday “approved an updated version of the district’s student code of conduct” that gives “administrators the explicit right to search” students’ “cell phones and other electronic devices.” The regulations specify that administrators must have “‘reasonable suspicion’ that a student has used the gadget to commit an offense such as cheating.” While teachers are able to report incidents, they will not have authority to perform the searches. And, administrators will be trained on “what reasonable suspicion means and what ignites a reasonable suspicion,” said board member John Sweeney.
Schools Will Remain Open On Good Friday In Florida District.
The St. Petersburg Times (5/5, Marshall) reports that the Hillsborough County, Florida, School Board voted 4-2 on Tuesday against “a plan to cancel classes on Good Friday next year due to high absences.” District officials have, “since 2008…wrestled with a decision to maintain what some have called a ‘secular calendar,’ holding classes on religious days but allowing absent students to make up missed work.” Meanwhile, in the past two years, Good Friday school absences have remained high, though lasts months absence rate of “42 percent of students” is an improvement from last year’s 58 percent of student absences.
DC Council Approves New School Lunch, Exercise Standards.
The Washington Post (5/5, Craig) reports, “The D.C. Council unanimously approved stringent school nutrition and exercise standards on Tuesday, but federal officials successfully urged members to remove a key provision of the ‘Healthy Schools’ legislation before they voted on it.” The “measure calls for District public and charter schools to add more fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains to the meals of about 71,000 students” and the standards also encourage schools “to buy food from organic farms in Maryland and Virginia,” add “thousands of students to the free-lunch program and will eventually triple the amount of time that students have to spend exercising.” However, D.C. Council Member Mary M. Cheh (D), “sponsor of the legislation, stripped from the bill her proposal for calorie limits for school lunches and breakfasts, a sign that there remains conflict among health officials over how to address childhood obesity and school nutrition.”
Dallas Education Stakeholders Seek More Nutritious School Lunches.
The Dallas Morning News (5/5, Churnin) reports, “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution may be over on television, but it may be just the beginning for…moms who want to create a revolution in Dallas school cafeterias.” Lisa Greene, who has two children enrolled in Dallas Independent School District schools, has “organized two public Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution watching parties,” and by “the time the last episode aired on April 23, she had crystallized a plan” to “help build a more healthful school lunch menu by coordinating with fellow moms, school officials and the national Alliance for a Healthier Generation and its Healthy Schools Program.” In 2010, DISD will eliminate “breakfast pastry items” from school menus and add “cereals with reduced sugar and increased fiber, whole-grain brown rice, whole-grain pasta, fresh fruits, yogurt parfaits and a hummus plate with whole-grain flatbread and vegetables on the side.”
School Finance
After Years Of Avoiding Layoffs, Pasco County, Florida Schools Likely To Issue Pink Slips.
The St. Petersburg Times (5/5, Solochek) reports, “Through three years of budget cuts, the Pasco School Board has made every effort to avoid layoffs.” But, “as it targets another $28 million to $30 million in spending reductions for fiscal 2011,” the goal “is unlikely,” according to the St. Petersburg Times. The number of layoffs depend on “several factors, such as attrition through other programs, including an early retirement buyout.” Another factor “will be whether the board decides to have all middle and high school teachers instruct six of six periods daily instead of the current five.” Pasco needs to hire “about 250 teachers in core courses such as English and math” to meet Florida’s new class size law. “To make the hires, teachers in other areas, as well as noninstructional staff, could lose their jobs.” The St. Petersburg Times adds that several other districts have already “started issuing pink slips as well to balance their budgets.”
Alabama Education Trust Fund Collections Dropped 2.5 Percent.
The Birmingham News (5/4, White) reported that Alabama’s Education Trust Fund “in October through April collected $3.025 billion, a drop of $76.3 million, 2.5 percent, compared to the same period a year earlier, the state finance department reported Monday.” However, “acting state Finance Director Bill Newton said he thinks the reported decline was worse than reality, because of a delay in processing state personal income tax payments.” He expected that “after all personal income tax payments are processed, gross personal income tax collections will be down more like 3 percent to 4 percent.” Newton also pointed out that according to the report, “gross sales tax collections for the trust fund, before repayment of state bond debt and other deductions, totaled $1.073 billion in October through April, an increase of $11.3 million, 1.1 percent, compared to the same period a year before.”
NEA in the News
Second Grade Teacher Given NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence.
KSTU-TV (5/5, Khorrami) reports that Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, “a second grade teacher at Dilworth Elementary School in Salt Lake City has won the” NEA’s Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence “and a prize of $25,000. She was one of 38 public school educators nominated by their state associations and was honored with the award at the NEA Salute to Excellence and Education Gala Friday in Washington D.C.”
Colorado Tenure Bill Gaining Reputation As “Anti-Teacher.”
Alan Gottlieb, editor of Education News Colorado, writes in the Huffington Post (5/5) that in the next two weeks, “Colorado will sit dead center in the debate over how to improve public education in this country” as is considers Senate Bill 10-19. The legislations “would make significant changes to teacher tenure and teacher evaluation in Colorado.” The NEA seeks to bury the “bill before it becomes law,” and according to Gottlied, “Their chances of success look pretty good. … The perception that Johnston’s bill” would “blame teachers alone for the failures of American public education seem to be taking root, at least in some quarters.” He notes that Diane Ravitch, “the highest-profile opponent of Race to the Top,” visited Denver last week, which “underscored how much disagreement there is, here and across the nation” about education reform.
New Jersey Education Reform Package To Include Merit Pay, Teacher Tenure Provisions.
New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (5/6, Rundquist) reports that New Jersey’s Education Commissioner Bret Schundler on Wednesday “said he plans to introduce a package of reforms next week that will include merit pay for teachers.” Other reforms proposed by the commissioner include “giving parents more school choice and closing failing schools” and “a system where ineffective teachers can be more easily replaced.” The reform package “will be part of the state’s new application for Race to the Top,” through which New Jersey could win up to $350 million. According to Steve Wollmer, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), which “has long opposed merit pay and tenure reform,” NJEA officials have “requested a meeting with Schundler to discuss Race to the Top.”
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In the Classroom
New Study Examines Effectiveness Of Single-Sex Schools For Minority Males.
Education Week (5/5, Zehr) reported, “Single-sex schools for Latino and African-American males use such interventions as fostering a feeling of ‘brotherhood’ among students, providing relevant instruction, and countering negative messages in the media and in their daily lives-among them that school is more suitable for girls,” according to “findings of a study conducted by the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University of seven single-sex public schools that enroll primarily boys of color.” Education Week added, “The qualitative study is part of a more comprehensive inquiry conducted from 2006 to 2009 by Pedro Noguera, the executive director of the center and one of the authors of the study, into the effectiveness of single-sex public schools for Latino and African-American males. … Preliminary quantitative data from the larger study, yet to be published, that compare each of the seven schools with a similar coed school do not find that single-sex schools overall have better academic outcomes for males of color than do their mixed-gender counterparts, Mr. Noguera said in an interview this week.”
Parents Say Elementary School Field Trip Excluded Some Students.
The AP (5/6) reports, “A school district in Michigan is defending its intentions after a field trip by African-American elementary students drew complaints from excluded children and their parents.” Last week, “30 students from Dicken Elementary School in Ann Arbor met last week with an African-American rocket scientist at the University of Michigan” as part of a school-wide “effort to help close persistent test-score gaps between black and white students.” When the students returned to school, “were booed by others,” said district spokeswoman Liz Margolis. Principal Mike Madison “admonished those children for their response” and sent home a letter to parents explaining “that the activity could have been approached better but the goal was positive.”
On the Job
Dallas Independent School District Rolls Out “Parent Portal.”
William McKenzie wrote in the Dallas Morning News (5/5) “Education Front” blog that on May 17, the Dallas Independent School district will roll out a “parent portal” at three schools. “Once they work out the kinks at these schools, all campuses in the Dallas district are supposed to have parent portals.” The portals will allow parents to “find all sorts of information about their child’s academic work.” They will be able to see assignments, test scores, and students’ attendance. In addition, “This new program allows parents to receive alerts when their child’s grades in a subject slip below, say, 85. They then can start intervening, instead of waiting until the report card comes home.” McKenzie calls the parent portal “an innovative way to reach parents.”
Seattle Public Schools Issues Fewer Pink Slips This Year.
The Seattle Times (5/6, Shaw) reports that the number of Seattle public school teachers receiving pink slips this year is “smaller than last year, when the district laid off 161 teachers, counselors, and other school personnel.” This week, “pink slips will go to 25 teachers and 11 elementary-school counselors.” Officials “decided against sending pink slips to an additional 42 teachers without positions for the fall,” as they believe “think there is a good chance that jobs will open up through retirements and other departures.”
North Carolina District Officials Discuss Firing Teachers, Administrators At Lowest-Performing Schools.
North Carolina’s News & Observer (5/5, Bonner) reports, “Reaching for ways to improve bad schools, North Carolina school district leaders are prepared to dismiss all professional staff from a building and start fresh with new teachers and principals.” Guilford County Superintendent Mo Green described in court on Tuesday “a plan to hire new staff at a High Point elementary school that has bad test scores.” And, Durham school officials proposed reassigning “teachers and principals at its lowest-performing” schools. The News & Observer notes, “Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning called Durham, Guilford and Winston-Salem/Forsyth school leaders into court Tuesday to quiz them on what they’re doing to improve elementary and middle schools where student test scores are woefully low.”
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Law & Policy
Columnist Urges Support For House, Senate Education Funding Bills.
Columnist Harold Meyerson writes in an opinion piece for the Washington Post (5/6) that throughout the nation, “the story is the same: The worst recession since the 1930s is clobbering the nation’s schools.” Between 100,000 and 300,000 teachers are expected to be laid off this year, “with some experts pegging the most likely number nearer the high end.” Meyerson points to the Obama $100 million stimulus package for education as sparing “school districts from more draconian cuts.” But, he adds, that money is “largely spent, and no omnibus second stimulus looms.” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) “have introduced legislation in their respective houses narrowly targeted to saving the schools.” The bills would “allot $23 billion to education for the coming fiscal year.” He concludes that “deficit-phobes” should “support Miller and Harkin’s legislation. Their bills protect America’s future — and that future is now.”
NYTimes: Congress Must Act Again To Save Teacher Jobs. The New York Times (5/6, A32) editorializes, “Last year’s $100 billion education stimulus plan insulated the public schools from the worst of the recession and saved an estimated 300,000 jobs.” The Times urges Congress to “act again to prevent a wave of teacher layoffs that could damage the fragile recovery and hobble the school reform effort for years to come.” According to the Times, “”a second school stimulus plan” is needed “prevent layoffs and advance the cause of reform.”
Alaska Opts Out Of Race To The Top Competition.
The AP (5/5) reported that Alaska has opted out of the second round of the federal Race to the Top competition. Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux said that because “the grant structure rewards extensive education planning and policy changes,” the state would have to “give up some sovereignty to an inflexible program.” Comparing Race to the Top to No Child Left Behind, LeDoux said that the competition calls “for too much change, too fast,” and said, “Alaska has the right to be suspicious of an initiative where we hand over authority.”
School Voucher Bill Defeated In Illinois House.
The Chicago Tribune (5/6, Long, Manchir) reports, “A measure to let students in Chicago’s worst-performing and most-overcrowded elementary schools use taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend private schools was defeated in the Illinois House on Wednesday, giving teachers unions a major victory. The landmark legislation would have made Chicago Public Schools the site of what experts said would be the nation’s largest voucher program.” The bill “got through the Senate in March after being championed by Sen. James Meeks, D-Chicago, and suburban Republicans” but “by Wednesday, teachers unions had regrouped and its supporters found themselves pleading with opponents to overcome a furious lobbying effort to stop the bill.”
Special Needs
Oklahoma Legislators Propose Scholarships For Children With Disabilities.
The AP (5/5) reports that “supporters of [Oklahoma] legislation that would create publicly funded scholarships for children with autism or other disabilities said Wednesday critics are wrong when they claim the bill is unconstitutional and would divert scarce public education dollars to private institutions.” Oklahoma State Rep. Jason Nelson (R) wrote the bill that “would qualify disabled students with an individualized education program for a scholarship to attend any public or private school that meets state accreditation requirements.” The scholarships would be funded by the state with money “already dedicated to meeting the” children’s “educational needs.” Every year, Oklahoma “spends about $11,000…to meet the needs of each special needs student,” Nelson said.
KTUL-TV Tulsa, Oklahoma (5/6, Price) reports that according to Richard ‘Dick’ Komer, senior attorney at the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, Oklahoma HB 3393 “would easily withstand a federal constitutional challenge and could make Oklahoma a national leader.” Said Komer, “Oklahoma would not be breaking new ground with this law but would still be one of the more advanced states when it comes to serving children with special needs.” He added that five other states, including Utah, Ohio and Arizona, have similar programs that have not been challenged for their constitutionality.
Arizona District Avoids Layoffs For Special-Education Paraprofessionals.
The Arizona Republic (5/6, Faller) reports, “Although the Scottsdale Unified School District is facing a budget shortfall, it will not cut special-education paraprofessionals, as Gilbert schools proposed to its parents last week.” Cutting “aides in science and social-studies classes” would save the Gilbert school district $2 million. But, according to “an attorney who handles special-education cases…the proposed cuts may violate the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires a certain level of services.” Meanwhile, in Scottsdale, Superintendent Gary T. Catalani said that “personnel cuts will be accomplished through attrition,” instead of layoffs. In addition, Scottsdale plans to save “$413,980 in realigning support staff and $550,000 in raising class sizes at the Learning Resource Center.”
School Finance
Bloomberg To Propose Cutting More Than 6,000 Teachers To Help Close Budget.
The New York Times (5/6, Chen, Hernandex) reports, “Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, anticipating deep financial cuts from Albany, plans to cut the number of city teachers by 6,700 to help close a projected $5 billion deficit under his latest budget proposal,” according to insiders. Meanwhile, public safety will be spared from cuts, due, in part to the recent “Times Square bomb scare.”
Also in the News
Cyberbullying Concerns Raised Over Teen Use Of Social Networking Website.
The New York Times (5/6, Lewin) reports, “Formspring.me, a relatively new social networking site, has become a magnet for comments, many of them nasty and sexual, among the Facebook generation. While Formspring is still under the radar of many parents and guidance counselors, over the last two months it has become an obsession for thousands of teenagers nationwide.” According to the Times, “Formspring is one of many question-and-answer Internet sites that are widely used to find, say, the calorie count of avocados,” yet Formspring “spread like wildfire among young people, who used it to for more intimate topics – or flat-out cyberbullying.”
Activist Group Sues Florida District Over Religious Activity Ban.
The Pensacola (FL) News Journal (5/5, Cooper) reports, “A conservative activist group on Tuesday sued the Santa Rosa County [FL] School District, seeking to overturn an agreement between the district and the American Civil Liberties Union that bans staff-led religious activities in schools. The ACLU, on behalf of two unnamed students, sued the district in 2008, claiming that Pace High School officials violated the US Constitution by regularly promoting their personal religious beliefs and leading prayers at school events.” According to the News Journal, “District officials admitted the claims and entered into a consent decree with the ACLU, agreeing that school officials would not take part in religious activities involving students,” and the “Orlando-based Liberty Counsel filed suit Tuesday in federal court in Pensacola seeking to overturn the decree, which was approved by federal Judge Casey Rodgers.”
The Santa Rosa Press Gazette (FL) (5/6, Gamblin) reports, “Students, teachers, residents and members of Santa Rosa County’s clergy are looking to teach the Santa Rosa County Board of Education a lesson. Tuesday the Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit on behalf of its 24 clients against the Santa Rosa County School Board and School District Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick.” According to the Press Gazette, “The parties involved are seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, declaratory judgment, and damages for violations of their First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights.” The AP (5/6) also covers this story.
Groups Sue Connecticut District For Planned High School Graduation At Church.
USA Today (5/6, Toppo) reports, that the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have filed a lawsuit on behalf of “two Connecticut high school students whose district voted to hold June commencement for two high schools at an area megachurch.” The lawsuit says that “the arrangement ‘coerces students and parents to receive the overwhelming religious message’ of the church as the price of attending ‘a seminal event in their lives.’” According to USA Today, the Enfield, Connecticut, “school board on April 13 reversed a previous decision not to hold commencement ceremonies at The First Cathedral, a Baptist megachurch in nearby Bloomfield.”
New York City DOE Seeking $5 Million To Recruit Teachers Despite Layoffs.
The New York Daily News (5/6, Monahan) reported that New York City “may lay off 8,500 teachers, but education officials still want approval for a contract of up to $5 million a year to recruit even more teachers. The agency’s Panel for Educational Policy will vote later this month on the hefty contract, but already critics are questioning the need to spend money to recruit during a time of layoffs.” According to the Daily News, New York City Education Department “officials countered that even during layoffs, new teachers may still be needed for subject areas where there are shortages.”
Teacher Layoffs Could Imperil Achievement Gains, Some Education Stakeholders Say. The Wall Street Journal (5/7, Martinez) reports that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s [I] plan to lay off more than 6,400 teachers and boost class sizes has given rise to concerns that school achievement gains in the city’s most troubled schools will be erased. The Journal notes that New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has called for teachers that received unsatisfactory performance reviews last year be laid off first, a move not allowed under contract rules.
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In the Classroom
ReadAbout Program Helped Students Comprehend Social Studies Texts, Study Says.
Education Week (5/7, Gewertz) reports that a study “of supplemental programs…intended to improve students’ reading comprehension” shows that “only one of the three programs examined actually did so.” In a report by Mathematica Policy Research Inc. for the US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, “released May 5,” found that Scholastic Inc.’s computer-based ReadAbout program “improved students’ comprehension of social studies texts when the teacher had a previous year’s experience with the program.” However, it “showed no statistically significant effect…on tests measuring students’ comprehension of” general reading, science texts, or for “students whose teachers were in their first year of using the program.” The other two programs used in the study, Read for Real and Project CRISS were not found to have any “significantly positive effects.”
Students Show Off 3-D Animation Technology At Career Day.
The Victoria (TX) Advocate (5/7, Cavazos) reports on the district’s upcoming “two-hour Advanced Animation course at the Advanced Learning Center,” which “will use the 3-dimensional motion capturing system to make short films and simple video games.” Students in the district’s career and technical education program, along with staff, “did the first animation demonstration at Career Day at William Wood Elementary School on Wednesday.” Educators pointed out to students that the technology is the same as what was used during the filming of the movie “Avatar.” The school recently acquired “the state-of-the-art animation system, which cost about $15,894,” with the help of a Perkins grant and the DuPont Community Fund. “To take the Advanced Animation course, students must complete Animation I or Graphic Design and Illustration.” Students and educators also showed off their robotics program.
Rouge River Becomes Science Classroom For Michigan Students.
The Detroit Free Press (5/6, Rossiter) reported that 2,000 Michigan students have been “flocking to the banks of the Rouge River this week” on a mission “to assess the river’s water quality and raise awareness about pollution.” The annual event, organized by an area nonprofit, “gives students a chance to examine the aquatic life, survey the river’s condition and use collected water samples to conduct chemical tests.” Among other things, “students monitor various chemical parameters of the river,” study the flora and fauna, and carry out “physical stream surveys, which document the erosion of stream banks and measure the velocity of the water.” In addition to giving the students hands-on science experience, data collected during the activity “are made available to the public on the Friends of the Rouge Web site.”
Law & Policy
Iowa Law Allows Teachers To See Accusers’ Identity Before Investigation Is Complete.
The AP (5/7) reports, “Iowa teachers can know the identity of people who accuse them of wrongdoing before an investigation into the matter is complete under a new state law.” Iowa State Education Association officials say that “the new law protects teachers’ ability to respond to complaints,” pointing out that teachers “are open to false complaints.”
Louisiana House Panel Approves Bill Allowing Districts To Seek Policy Wavers.
The Times-Picayune (LA) (5/7, Barrow) reports, “In a potentially fundamental shift in Louisiana education policy, local school boards and superintendents could gain the same kind of freedoms from state rules and regulations that charter schools enjoy under a bill that cleared the House Education Committee on Thursday.” House Bill 1368 “would let superintendents, with approval of the local board, apply on behalf of one or multiple schools for waivers from a range of state laws and regulations that now govern public schools, including teacher tenure.” The Times-Picayune describes the bill as “Gov. Bobby Jindal’s [R] top K-12 initiative.”
Michigan Lawmakers Continue Negotiations For School Retirement Plan.
The AP (5/7, Martin) reports, “Michigan lawmakers said Thursday that a potential money-saving plan aimed at coaxing thousands of public school employees into retirement this summer hasn’t yet failed,” yet some “lawmakers are worried they’re running out of time to complete a plan that’s worthwhile for teachers and administrators contemplating retirement after this school year. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm had wanted the legislation passed by April 1.” The AP adds that “some school groups say wrapping up a deal next week would be too late to handle the complications that would arise with changing the multiplier used to calculate pension benefits for retirees.”
Special Needs
One Self-Contained Special Education Class Remains In Ithaca, New York, Public Schools.
The Ithaca (NY) Journal (5/7, Gladys) reports, “Heather Murphy’s classroom at Cayuga Heights Elementary School” in Ithaca, New York, “is the last remaining self-contained special education classroom in the Ithaca City School District.” With just “14 students in grades K-2,” the class “serves all seven elementary schools in the district.” The class “covers all of the content addressed in regular classrooms, but the pace and methods differ.” For instance, “students receive more individualized attention and use more visual and interactive tools.” Although aspects of the program are seen as beneficial for students, the district plans to end the class in June, as it moves “toward a policy of full inclusion, which includes phasing out the special education programs in the district.”
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Safety & Security
Baltimore Elementary School Holds Parent Workshop On Bullying.
The Baltimore Sun (5/7, Green) reports, “About a dozen parents attending a workshop Thursday to address bullying shared stories of the pain, frustration and hopelessness that harassment can cause children. They came together with teachers and other concerned residents at” Gilmor Elementary School in Baltimore “for the first of six sessions to address the issue.” According to the Sun, “Last week, the mother of a third-grader said that her daughter wanted to kill herself and threatened to jump out of a window at Gilmor, though school officials said the 8-year-old only said she wanted to kill herself” and three “students were suspended for bullying after the incident.”
School Finance
Anonymous Donor Pledges Up To $16,000 To California Elementary School.
The Scotts Valley (CA) Press-Banner (5/6) reported that “an anonymous donor has” pledged “as much as $16,000 to San Lorenzo Valley Elementary School” in Felton, California, “to support art and science lessons.” The donor said in a phone call last week, “The overall goal is to encourage people to get involved with the kids in the community.” For every dollar up to $16,000 donated to the school by other community members, the donor will give a dollar.
Also in the News
High Schooler Focuses Senior Project On Well-Worn Shoes.
High School Student Turns The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (5/7, Solochek) reports that Land O’Lakes High School senior Ben Hedblom has worn the same pair of black sneakers everyday since ninth grade. “Four years ago, Hedblom made a wager with Spanish teacher Adrian Antonini that he would wear the same shoes through to graduation day. The loser would shave his hair and eyebrows.” Hedblom says that “the lessons he has learned from wearing” the now tattered, treadless shoes “propelled him to a perfect score on his senior class project.” The project focused “on the psychology behind his effort,” namely “the initial perceptions that people had when seeing his ratty old shoes, and how he would persuade them to understand that it’s not all about the shoes.” Hedblom noted of his four-year shoe experience, “I’ve learned a lot about self image. You are what you believe you are.”
Crist Marks Teacher Appreciation Week With Elementary School Visit.
The Palm Beach (FL) Post (5/7, Bennett) reports that Florida Governor Charlie Christ (I) visited Palm Beach Public School on Thursday “to mark Teacher Appreciation Week.” The school held an assembly, during which Crist “recalled that his 5th grade teacher inspired him to succeed. He urged students to listen to their teachers.”
NEA in the News
NEA, Utah Education Association Sponsor Education Funding Event In Salt Lake City.
Utah’s Deseret Morning News (5/7, Stewart) reports on a “triple-speaker event…jointly sponsored by” the Utah Education Association (UEA), the National Education Association, and several other education organizations that took place in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Thursday. Speakers at the event addressed “education funding and economy issues.” NEA chief economist, Richard Sims, told the crowd of more than 100 people that “ensuring public education is properly funded during the recession is of utmost importance — and something Utah will regret for a long time if neglected.” UEA executive director Mark Mickelsen discussed a “public information campaign, called ‘Speak for Tomorrow Today,’” which aims to “promote the importance of investing in public education and the impact of that on the economy.”
NEA, Colorado Education Association Fight Teacher Tenure Bill.
The Denver Post (5/7, Meyer, O’Connor) reports that this week, NEA president Dennis Van Roekel flew “in to Denver to testify” before Colorado’s Senate Education Committee against Senate Bill 191 — “the controversial measure that seeks to tie student academic growth to teacher evaluations and change the way teachers obtain and keep tenure.” According to the Denver Post, the Colorado Education Association “has been fighting the bill on several points,” mainly “on how the legislation would change the way veteran teachers receive and maintain nonprobationary status.” The bill would send “tenured teachers with two consecutive years of ‘ineffective’ evaluations…back to probationary status, giving them another year to improve or face the possibility of being fired without due process.” On Thursday afternoon, the bill got its first hearing.
State Educators Association Challenges Maryland’s Race To The Top Bid.
The Baltimore Sun (5/10, Green, Sun) reports that the Maryland State Educators Association (MSEA) “is challenging the proposed reforms outlined in the application the state will submit as it vies for up to $250 million in federal Race to the Top funds.” MSEA President Clara Floyd said in a letter to the Maryland State Department of Education “that the state has failed to collaborate with the association on the application.” She also “outlined concerns…about proposed changes to teacher evaluations, which will be tied to student performance, and new programs slated to be implemented under the Race to the Top program, according to the association.”
The Washington Post (5/9, Birnbaum) pointed out that “a major point of contention is how much weight to give to student achievement in evaluating teacher performance.” Under the new law, student growth would “be a ‘significant’ component.” However, the law “limits any one factor to 35 percent of the total. Draft regulations proposed by Grasmick last month would make student progress worth half the evaluation but would limit test scores to 35 percent.”
Maryland’s Race To The Top Strategy Critiqued. Matthew Joseph, executive director of Advocates for Children and Youth, wrote in a column for the Washington Post (5/9), “The Post has been right to chastise Maryland for weak proposed school reforms and to encourage the Maryland State Board of Education to take bold action. So far, the state has not done nearly enough to win a $250 million federal Race to the Top grant or to close large, widening achievement gaps.” According to Joseph, the “best strategy would be for the State Board of Education to take decisive action and to make it clear that these reforms will take place regardless of whether the state gets the federal grant,” leaving “little incentive for districts or teachers unions to withhold support for the Race to the Top application.”
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In the Classroom
China Seeking To Export Language To US Schools.
The New York Times (5/10, Dillon) reports on the “partnership between an agency of China’s Education Ministry and the College Board.” China “wants to teach the world its language and culture,” and “about 325 guest teachers” have “volunteered to work for up to three years in American schools, with their salaries subsidized by the Chinese government. A parallel effort has sent about 2,000 American school administrators to visit China at Beijing’s expense.” In interviews, several Chinese teachers “said they had some difficulties adjusting to the informality of American schools after working in a country where students leap to attention when a teacher enters the room.”
Six Districts Participate In National Standards Pilot.
McClatchy Newspapers (5/7, Heinz) reported that Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) “is one of six districts around the country chosen to pilot math and reading standards that could someday set the bar for education nationwide.” APS, “along with school districts in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Paul, Minn., and Cleveland…will be one of the first districts to try out and comment on the standards.” According to McClatchy, “The Common Core State Standards Initiative seeks to establish standards that can be used to compare student achievement nationally.”
On the Job
Partnership Pairs Scientists With Teachers To Improve Science Instruction.
The San Francisco Chronicle (5/9, Allday) reported on a partnership between the University of California, San Francisco, “and San Francisco public schools, in which scientists pair with classroom teachers to help children learn not just hard sciences, but the special skills needed to conduct laboratory research.” The partnership includes “up to 300 volunteer scientists are involved.” This year, “there are more than 80 teacher-scientist pairs” participating. Each semester, “the scientists usually help teach five or six lessons…and some of the teachers take extended courses over the summer to learn how to more effectively teach science in the classroom.” The partnership aims “to help teachers, especially at the elementary school level, who don’t have the training or background to confidently teach tough concepts.”
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Law & Policy
Socioeconomics Replacing Race In School Assignments.
Education Week (5/7, Zehr) reported, “A growing number of school districts are trying to break up concentrations of poverty on their campuses by taking students’ family income into consideration in school assignments. Some of the districts replaced race with socioeconomic status as a determining indicator after the US Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that using race as the primary factor in assigning students to schools violates the Constitution.” According to many experts, “the composition of a school’s student body affects achievement.” They say, for example, that “if black and Hispanic students, who are more likely to be poor, go to the same schools as their better-off white peers…they’ll all do better and aspire to higher education.” Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, “news reports and other sources” show that the number of “districts with socioeconomic-integration policies” has increased from 40 in 2007 to 70 now.
Critics Say Ties Between Obama Administration, Philanthropists Could Hinder Education Reform.
Education Week (5/7) reports that a “decision by a dozen major education grantmakers to team up on an initiative designed to dovetail with the federal Investing in Innovation grant competition is being seen by supporters as a chance to maximize the power of public and private resources to help transform K-12 education.” Meanwhile, critics say that “the Obama administration and the philanthropic sector are becoming too intertwined-in ways that could” push to the sidelines “worthy reform ideas not favored by the federal government.” They note that Education Secretary Arne Duncan “has drawn several key hires for the Education Department” from the “philanthropic community.” According to Education Week, some “foundations themselves voiced concerns during the public-comment period for the i3 grant rules that they might become de facto gatekeepers for applicants.”
Texas Lawmakers Discuss Increasing Class Size Limit To Cut Costs.
The Dallas Morning News (5/10, Stutz) reports, “One of the oldest standards in Texas public schools – the strict limit on the size of elementary classes – could fall victim to the state’s expected revenue crunch next year. Legislative leaders are suggesting it may be time to ease the costly class size standard to help school districts withstand the shaky economy and tight finances over the next few years. Local school boards and administrators also back the change.” According to the Morning News, “Teacher groups are gearing up to fight any tampering with the requirement, which limits classes in kindergarten through fourth grade to 22 pupils.”
Education Reform Bill Clears Colorado House Panel.
The Denver Post (5/8, Meyer) reports that the Colorado “House education committee heard more than eight hours of testimony before approving a controversial teacher reform bill… in an emotional meeting that stretched into the morning.” The legislation “seeks to tie educator evaluations to student academic growth and change the way teachers get and keep tenure.” One proposed amendment to the bill “says if Colorado doesn’t win a $175 million federal Race to the Top grant, the state would pay for the program by taking $125,000 from the state Board of Education contingency fund and $125,000 from other education funds.”
Safety & Security
Missouri Rolls Out Reporting System For School-Related Violence.
The AP (5/10) reports that Missouri’s “Department of Social Services has announced a website where students, parents and others can file anonymous reports of school violence, such as fights, bullying and vandalism.” The online “form is made up of 10 questions, and most information that could identify the tipster is optional.”
School Finance
Utah Will Submit To Race To The Top Round Two.
The Salt Lake Tribune (5/10, Schencker) reports, “Utah will again plead its case to the federal government in hopes of winning up to $175 million in Race to the Top money for schools.” On Friday, “state education leaders briefly discussed…their plan to apply for the school reform money,” making Utah one of 38 states so far that “have told the feds they anticipate competing in the second round, with applications due by June 1.” According to state associate superintendent Brenda Hales, “the money would let Utah start certain reforms within the next four to five years, rather than likely waiting five to 10 years.” The Salt Lake Tribune notes that Utah’s application for the first round of Race to the Top ranked “19th out of 41 applicants.”
New Jersey Education Reform Plan Aims To Help State Win Race To The Top Funds.
The New York Times (5/8, Hu) reported, “In an effort to compete again” for Race to the Top funds, New Jersey “unveiled an ambitious plan on Friday to award state-financed merit bonuses to teachers and schools based on the performance of their students. Under the proposal, the state would seek to use federal grants to establish a statewide bonus pool, with half the money to be awarded directly to individual teachers or teams of teachers, and the other half to schools to use at their discretion to support staff or programs.” Also, New Jersey “would offer financial incentives to teachers willing to work with large numbers of struggling students, and designate the most effective educators as ‘master teachers’ and ‘master principals.’”
Also in the News
Parent Challenges Placement Of Book In Nashua, New Hampshire Middle Schools.
The Nashua (NH) Telegraph (5/10, Brindley) reports, “A Pennichuck Middle School parent is challenging whether ‘Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story’ should be available to students in middle school libraries.” The anonymous parent objects to “the book’s themes of talking to the dead, spiritualism, and ‘the belief that a part of the body survives after death and that you can communicate with it.’” According to the district’s curriculum director, Althea Sheaff “eight to 10 copies of the book are available in the city’s three middle school libraries,” but it is not required reading in any of the schools. Superintendent Mark Conrad “said the district will follow its policy of establishing a seven-member Instructional Materials Review Committee” to review the complaint and submit “a recommendation to the superintendent.”
School Sabbaticals For Young Students Analyzed.
Jay Mathews writes in a column for the Washington Post (5/10) that the DC area “has the highest concentration of ambitious and challenging schools in the country,” yet schools “that demand so much don’t work for some kids. … When it gets too bad, a family may pull a child out of school to let everyone calm down and see whether another approach can be found.” Mathews calls the practice a “kiddie sabbatical.” A student on sabbatical “reads on his or her own for a while — something he or she likes to do — until the parents find a different school or a new year begins with new teachers better tuned to different rhythms.” These sabbaticals, Matthews says, differ from “long-term home schooling,” because they may last only a few months.
NEA in the News
Rhode Island’s Race To The Top Application May Not Receive Much Union Support.
The Providence (RI) Journal (5/10, Jordan) reports, “The support from teacher unions that Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist fervently wants for the state’s bid to win millions of dollars in federal funds for educational reform may be out of reach.” The Providence Journal notes that “tensions…during the past month” between Central Falls and East Providence school officials and their teachers unions have deepened “a feeling of mistrust and resentment among many teachers.” Union officials have asked Gist to intervene. They have also told her that “while those two disputes continue…they can’t support the aggressive reforms Gist says are needed to fix failing schools.” In some other districts, “superintendents have said they don’t think their union locals will sign on without the endorsement of the” NEA and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers.
Idaho Lawmakers Cut Teacher Pay Appropriations.
The Twin Falls (ID) Times-News (5/9, Botkin) reported that teachers in Idaho “take home some of the lowest wages in the nation, and they’re more likely to see pay cuts than pay increases in the year ahead.” An NEA survey “based on the 2007-08 school year” shows that “Idaho’s average public school teacher pay ranks 41st among US states.” Idaho Education Association President Sherri Wood that neighboring states facing budget crises would “have to make significant cuts before their salaries drop to Idaho’s level.” Recently, the state “Legislature cut the…base salary appropriation for teachers by 4 percent for fiscal year 2011.” In addition, it has frozen “a system that awards teachers raises when they gain experience and education.” However, the Times-News adds, that individual districts still may choose to give teachers “more than the state-mandated minimum for their education and experience levels” but may need to negotiate furlough days for teachers in order to do so.