June 9, 2004
Education Week, Vol. 23, Issue 39
Education
Different Directions
Public school choice offers students a chance to follow their interests, but it comes at a price, chipping away at the sense of community once common among neighbors.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Va. Official Nominated for Spec. Ed. Position
- Ed. Dept. Issues Brochures on School Choice, Tutoring
Federal
Memo Suggests Education Could Be in Line for Spending Cuts
A preliminary White House budget document suggests that, if re-elected, President Bush would request about $1.5 billion less for the Department of Education in fiscal 2006 than he is seeking for the coming year.
Federal
GAO: ‘No Child’ Law Is Not an ‘Unfunded Mandate’
Department of Education officials are lauding a federal report declaring that the No Child Left Behind Act is not an "unfunded mandate."
Education
Federal File
World Wide Wonks
So, you’ve got your morning coffee. You flip on the computer. Fingers fall to the keyboard and … if you’re a policy wonk, or have any wonkish leanings, you could do worse than visit a new Web log, or blog, aptly named Eduwonk.com.
School Climate & Safety
U.S. Turns to Classrooms To Fight Terrorism
The war on terrorism has fueled an expansion of the U.S. government’s work to improve schools overseas. Includes an accompanying story, "New Iraqi Education Minister Named."
Curriculum
New Oregon Law Targets Students’ Debts
Oregon parents who are not paying their children’s school fees might regret it come the end of the 2004-05 school year, when the schools withhold their children’s report cards or diplomas.
Federal
Campaign Notebook
- After a Debate, Mich. High School Agrees to Kerry Commencement Talk
- Big Tent
Equity & Diversity
Mass. City Defends Use of Race in Assigning Students to Schools
Backers of the integration plan in Lynn, Mass., say students have reaped psychological benefits from going to school together.
College & Workforce Readiness
Bush Plan Calls for More Rigor In Vocational Education
As Congress prepares to revamp the federal law on vocational education, the Bush administration has unveiled a proposal that would require career-oriented high school programs to increase their academic rigor and form stronger partnerships with colleges and employers.
Early Childhood
New Allegations Leveled Against Head Start Official
The National Head Start Association has renewed its call for the resignation of the leader of the federal Head Start program, with fresh accusations that she tried to cover up financial mismanagement that took place during her tenure as a local program director in Texas.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Court Takes Broad View of Ohio Abuse Statute
- Utah State School Board Names Education Chief
- Oregon State Board Bars Tobacco on Campuses
- Virginia Governor Vetoes Home Schooling Measure
- Court to Name Overseers in N.Y. Funding Case
Assessment
Tenn. ‘Value Added’ System Survives Legislative Attack
The Tennessee legislature has passed a bill to continue the state’s widely recognized "value added" assessment system.
Education
N.H. School Aid Changes Draw Little Praise
New Hampshire was set to say goodbye next month to its controversial school finance system that borrows from wealthier districts to send property-tax money to schools in poorer areas.
Education
Urban Education
Can putting mayors in charge of schools make urban schools work better?
Mayoral Control
Can putting mayors in charge of schools make urban schools work better?
Student Well-Being & Movement
N.Y.C. Culinary Campaign Feeds Meals Effort
The New York City school system has hired its first executive chef in an ongoing drive to boost student participation in its meal programs with healthier and more appealing cafeteria fare.
Equity & Diversity
Md. School-Merger Idea Fails; Offers Lesson in Change
It seemed like an idea worth exploring when district leaders here first starting discussing it: Help students from a low-achieving elementary school by merging them with pupils from a high-achieving school just a few miles away. But the plan met with strong opposition from parents.
School Choice & Charters
Multimillionaire Buys Major Charter School Manager
A new education management company, led by the former head of a global electric company, has acquired Chancellor Beacon Academies, the nation’s second-largest for-profit manager of charter schools.
Education
People in the News
Jack D. Dale has been named the superintendent of Fairfax County, Va., public schools—the 12th-largest school district in the country.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- NAEYC to Accredit Teacher-Prep Programs
- Baltimore Reduces Credits Needed for 9th Grade Promotion
- Indianapolis School Board Votes to Ban Paddling
- Chicago Teachers to Vote in Union Runoff Election
- Kent, Wash., Schools Advised to Stop Handcuffing Students
- School Fitness Foundation Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Education
Clarification
A May 19 story on a U.S. General Accounting Office report on "diploma mills" ("Federal Investigators Target ‘Diploma Mills’") implied that three unaccredited schools mentioned in the report are diploma mills. Unaccredited schools are not necessarily diploma mills.
School & District Management
Rural Schools Market Selves to Survive
In rural parts of the nation, many towns are taking creative steps to lure new students to local schools in their quests to keep those schools open and their communities intact.
Education Funding
Amid Tight Budgets, Two-Year Colleges Play Growing Role
State and federal leaders across the country are touting the potential for community colleges to accommodate the expanding ranks of high school graduates seeking a higher education.
College & Workforce Readiness
Aid Not Keeping Pace With Rising Tuition, Report Says
Increases in grant aid did not keep pace with the rising cost of education for students at two- and four-year colleges during the 1990s, leaving those undergraduates with a larger financial burden, a federal report shows.
Teaching Profession
AFT Leader Won’t Seek Re-Election
With the second in command stepping up to run for president of the American Federation of Teachers this summer, observers say they don’t expect to see significant changes in direction for the 1.3 million-member union.