July 14, 2004
Education Week, Vol. 23, Issue 42
School & District Management
Legal Battles Continue as Arkansas Districts Merge
Arkansas’ decade-long court battle over school finances may finally be over, but the larger legal and political dogfight over money for rural schools and the consolidation of rural school districts is just beginning to get fierce.
School & District Management
Superintendent of Wealthy District Charged in Embezzlement Scandal
An embezzlement scandal in an affluent Long Island community has residents asking hard questions about how a school district known for its Advanced Placement classes, college-bound graduates, and generous school budgets apparently could have been bilked out of millions by trusted administrators.
School & District Management
Deep Budget Cuts Taking Toll On City Schools
Many of the nation’s urban school districts—hit by dwindling state and local aid, shrinking enrollment, competition from charter schools, and higher costs— have made deep budget cuts.
Law & Courts
Schools Probe in City Yields Theft Charges
In what was described as a first step toward rooting out corruption in the New Orleans public schools, federal investigators said early this month that nine current and former district employees had agreed to plead guilty to theft charges.
Education
Education Inc.
The educational software and services company Blackboard Inc. went public last month, and its initial public offering of $14 a share had surged by 43 percent, to $20.01 a share, by day’s end, raising $77 million.
Going Public
The educational software and services company Blackboard Inc. went public last month, and its initial public offering of $14 a share had surged by 43 percent, to $20.01 a share, by day’s end, raising $77 million.
Education
Appetite for Change
President Bush signed the Child Nutrition and Women, Infants, and Children Reauthorization Act of 2004 into law on June 30. The $16 billion reauthorization includes the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs and the Summer Food Service Program. Among the law’s changes are:
Federal
Kerry, Edwards Share Education Policy Aims
It’s easy enough to contrast Sen. John Kerry with his designated vice presidential running mate when it comes to such matters as style and experience, but on education policy, the two have a lot in common.
It’s easy enough to contrast Sen. John Kerry with his designated vice presidential running mate when it comes to such matters as style and experience, but on education policy, the two have a lot in common.
Education
Report Roundup
- 'Universal' Preschool Questions Examined
- Teacher Quality
- State Finances
- Language Immersion
- Education Philanthropy
Education
Facilities
Air Specialist
The Association of School Business Officials International has hired a district administrator from Washington state for its recently created position of indoor-air-quality specialist.
Education Funding
Council for Basic Education Closes Doors
The Council for Basic Education shut its doors last month after nearly half a century—the victim, its leaders say, of a tight fund-raising environment for education groups.
Curriculum
Settlement Sends Music CDs To Schools Nationwide
Musical blasts from the past are arriving in cardboard boxes at schools, colleges, and libraries across the United States this summer, an unexpected boost to the music resources available to their students and patrons.
Education
Words of Warning
A report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education includes 15 recommendations for helping to eliminate or reduce sexual misconduct by educators against students. Among them is that educators, parents, and students be aware of the following information:
School & District Management
‘What Works’ Research Site Unveiled
After nearly two years in development, a new federally backed research service on "what works" in education began rolling its first products off the assembly line last week.
Education
Ted Sanders Announces Resignation As ECS President
Ted Sanders will step down as the president of the Education Commission of the States in January.
Education
Mixed Responses
A survey of 1,309 adults found divided views on the No Child Left Behind Act among all adults, parents, and residents of presidential “battleground” states.
Education
Honors & Awards
21st Century Schools of Distinction Award
The Intel Foundation, Scholastic Inc., and the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Foundation recently honored 20 schools with 21st Century Schools of Distinction Awards.
The Intel Foundation, Scholastic Inc., and the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Foundation recently honored 20 schools with 21st Century Schools of Distinction Awards.
Education
Education and the Supreme Court: The 2003-04 Term
Among the highest-profile appeals considered by the U.S. Supreme Court this year was an education case. The dispute over the Pledge of Allegiance—although it ended up being decided on procedural grounds—raised thorny church-state issues and produced dramatic courtroom exchanges that resonated in public schools and on newspaper editorial pages. Other cases being watched by educators involved religious school scholarships and tax credits, employee rights, children’s exposure to online pornography, and court-ordered consent decrees.
Here are summaries of cases of particular interest to educators that the justices decided in their 2003-04 term:
Student Well-Being & Movement
High Court Bars Internet-Porn Statute From Taking Effect
A federal law aimed at protecting children from Internet pornography will remain on hold, following a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court finding it likely that the statute’s goals can be achieved by means that carry less potential threat to Americans’ rights to free speech. Includes the accompanying table, "Education and the Supreme Court: The 2003-04 Term."
Education
State Journal
On Hold in N.Y.
With the court-ordered deadline for fixing New York’s school finance system nearing, the state legislature has adjourned without producing a plan—and it has not scheduled any sessions to work on one.
Equity & Diversity
Asian Students’ Needs Overlooked In N.Y.C., Advocacy Group Says
The struggles of Asian and Asian-American students are being overlooked in the New York City public schools, in part because they are perceived as a high-achieving group with little need for help, an advocacy group contends.
Education
State Chiefs, Businesses Forge $45 Million Data Venture
The demand on states to collect, analyze, and report data on education has never been greater. Now, a three-year, $45 million project is gearing up to help states use the data to inform education policy.
School & District Management
‘Dropout Factories’ Identified In Hopkins Study
A report has flagged 2,000 high schools across the country as potential "dropout factories" because 40 percent or more of their freshmen fail to make it to 12th grade on time.
Equity & Diversity
Public Backs School Equity Efforts; Opinion Divided on ‘No Child’ Law
A strong majority of Americans say they support redirecting tax revenues to schools in poorer areas to bring greater equity to students, though the public also suspects that schools waste too much money, a nationwide survey has found. Includes a chart, "Mixed Responses."
Assessment
Despite Tough Fiscal Year, Baltimore Students Post Gains on Md. Tests
Baltimore public school students made improvements in almost every grade on Maryland’s state tests, despite a tumultuous year in which the system was nearly driven into insolvency and hundreds of central-office workers lost their jobs.
Special Education
Rewrite of Special Education Law Stalls in Congress
With each day that passes, the chances that Congress will deliver a bill rewriting the nation’s main special education law to President Bush’s desk this year appear to be fading.
Teaching Profession
Chicago Union Leaders Ask AFT To Resolve Vote Dispute
The American Federation of Teachers’ executive council last week was weighing whether to conduct a full investigation into the election for president of its Chicago affiliate.
