August 10, 2005
Education Week, Vol. 24, Issue 44
Federal
Tough Message, Diplomatic Messenger
As the Department of Education’s assistant secretary for vocational and adult education, Susan K. Sclafani has generally won praise from backers of career and technical programs, despite her demand that they recast their mission and become more challenging academically.
Law & Courts
Education Groups Wait to Opine on Roberts Nomination
With Senate hearings on U.S. Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. scheduled to begin Sept. 6, several education groups said last week that they were content to wait on opining about whether the federal appellate judge should become the high court’s next associate justice.
Federal
Bush Nominates Commissioner for Statistics Agency
Mark S. Schneider, President Bush’s new pick to head the National Center for Education Statistics, is a far less controversial figure than his first choice for the job, comments last week from researchers and education advocates suggest.
Federal
Title I Allocations Reveal Gains and Losses
While many districts are seeing less Title I aid in the 2005-06 school year, others—particularly larger urban districts with high concentrations of disadvantaged students—are getting a bump up, according to a study released last month by the Washington-based Center on Education Policy.
Education Funding
N.J. Facility Fund Dries Up, Scores of Plans on Hold
Only about 20 percent of the construction and renovation projects the New Jersey Schools Construction Corp. approved for the state’s neediest districts will move forward, the state agency announced late last month, because it has run out of money.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
Former Official Sentenced
A former Department of Education official who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful conflict of interest was sentenced July 29.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
House and Senate Approve Transportation Bill
After weeks of wrangling, the House and Senate hammered out an agreement on a $286 billion transportation bill late last month that includes several education-related provisions.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
Congress Adds 4 Weeks to Daylight-Saving Time
To save the nation energy costs, Congress last month voted to add four weeks to daylight-saving time. But the National PTA thinks the change could pose a safety threat for children traveling to school.
Special Education
A Washington Roundup
Federal Court Rebuffs Illinois NCLB Challenge
A federal district judge in Chicago has dismissed a lawsuit claiming that the No Child Left Behind Act conflicts with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
New Team in Place For Ed. Department
The Department of Education now has its top management staff in place, after a flurry of confirmations.
Science
Federal File
Intelligent Design
Last week, President Bush told reporters that he supports allowing schools to teach the controversial concept of “intelligent design”—which has been flatly rejected by the nation’s top scientific organizations—alongside the theory of evolution.
Education
Lawmakers Debate Preschool Programs
After an acrimonious adjournment in early June, Gov. Jim Douglas called the Vermont legislature back into session to pass an amended version of the fiscal 2006 budget, which lawmakers did on June 21. Little of the disagreement, however, focused on K-12 spending.
Education
Veto of Consolidation Thwarted by Override
After two years of budget cuts, lawmakers in late May approved $683.5 million in state school aid for fiscal 2006, a 10.5 percent increase from fiscal 2005. Legislators voted to increase that aid again for 2007, to $734 million, or 7.4 percent over 2006.
Education
School Aid Increases as Tax Battle Unfolds
Residents have been embroiled in debate over how to curb rising property taxes—the primary source of funding for the state’s schools—and last winter the legislature passed a tax-relief measure that will give grants to low-income homeowners to help them pay their local property taxes.
Education Funding
Teacher Plan Gets Financial Boost
Overall K-12 funding climbed by 5 percent to $2.2 billion for fiscal 2006. Some education programs, though, saw more significant increases.
Teaching Profession
Evaluating Online Teachers Is Largely a Virtual Task
When administrators of virtual schools evaluate a teacher, they can’t walk out of their offices, stroll into the classroom, and take a seat at the back to observe the day’s lesson. But they can go online and get megabytes of vital information about the teacher.
School & District Management
A State Capitals Roundup
N.J. Chief Steps Down
New Jersey Commissioner of Education William L. Librera has announced he will resign Sept. 7 to take a post at Rutgers University’s graduate school of education.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
N.C. Schools Get Fiscal Boost
North Carolina Gov. Michael F. Easley has issued an executive order directing the state to free up $75 million in emergency education aid after the legislature failed to pass a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. Much of the money will go to low-wealth districts, college-based high school programs, and school-based child- and family-support teams. Mr. Easley, a Republican, had included the funds in his budget request.
School Choice & Charters
A State Capitals Roundup
Fla. Charters Forced to Close
Two low-rated Florida charter schools have been ordered to close after Commissioner of Education John Winn last week threatened to withhold state funds from the 171,000-student Palm Beach County district.
Federal
A State Capitals Roundup
Va. Lawmakers Seek Answers to NCLB Waivers
A bipartisan group of seven Virginia state legislators has written U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings seeking responses to state waiver requests under the No Child Left Behind Act before the new school year begins.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Illinois Indictments Allege Pension-Fund Kickbacks
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois on Aug. 3 charged Stuart Levine, a lawyer, businessman, and former trustee of the Teachers’ Retirement System, with soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks and illegal payments.
School & District Management
A State Capitals Roundup
Wyoming Schools Chief Heads North to Alaska
Trent Blankenship, Wyoming’s superintendent of public instruction, stepped down from his post Aug. 1, to take a $130,000-a-year position as superintendent of Alaska’s North Slope Borough school district, the northernmost school system in the country.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Company Investigates Possible Cheating in Texas
A private company will investigate allegations of cheating on Texas state tests, after a leading newspaper in the state reportedly uncovered evidence of educators providing students with improper help.
Federal
Calif. Group Sues Over ‘Highly Qualified’ Label
A California activist group has sued the state commission on teacher credentialing, contending it is misleading the public by enabling teachers with emergency credentials to serve as “highly qualified” educators under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Federal
A State Capitals Roundup
Conn. Governor Backs NCLB Suit
With some reservations, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut has signed legislation authorizing the state’s attorney general to sue the federal government over the No Child Left Behind Act.
School & District Management
Carrying the Torch for Rural Schools
Joyce L. Conrad, executive director of Organizations Concerned about Rural Education, continues the work of her late husband, Charles O. Conrad, who died suddenly last year at the age of 80. Mr. Conrad founded OCRE in 1988, and ran it until his death.
Mathematics
Business Coalition Focuses on Math, Science Careers
A business coalition has released a plan to lure more Americans into careers in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering, with the goal of doubling the number of graduates in those fields in the next decade.
Special Education
Most Students With Disabilities Take State Exams
Most students with disabilities took state reading tests during the 2003-04 school year, but states are struggling to create and give alternate assessments that measure grade-level and below grade-level standards for at least some special education youngsters, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Education
Chart: Competing Expenses
In a recent poll, school business officials reported that the rising cost of health care is taking a chunk out of budgets.