October 26, 2005
Education Week, Vol. 25, Issue 09
Ed-Tech Policy
Makers of Online Systems Merge
The educational software company Blackboard Inc. announced its acquisition of its biggest rival last week, giving it the lion’s share of the market for online management of higher education courses.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
Hickok Nominated
President Bush on Oct. 17 nominated Eugene W. Hickok, a former deputy secretary of education in the president’s administration, to be a member of the National Council on the Humanities for the remainder of a term that expires Jan. 26, 2008.
Special Education
A Washington Roundup
Final Rules on Revised IDEA Will Miss December Target
The Department of Education’s office of special education programs has delayed its annual leadership conference until it can complete the final regulations for the reauthorized Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
U.S. Said to Probe Williams’ PR Contract
The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington is investigating the public relations arrangement between the Department of Education and commentator Armstrong Williams, according to a senator who requested the inquiry.
Law & Courts
Federal File
Miers on Meyer
White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers has been on an uncomfortable path toward the Nov. 7 start of her confirmation hearings to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
New Pa. Chief Nominated
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell has nominated Gerald L. Zahorchak to become Pennsylvania’s next secretary of education.
Federal
A State Capitals Roundup
Some Fla. Tutoring Providers Disallowed
The Florida Department of Education has reversed an earlier decision allowing school district divisions, affiliates, or related entities to serve as federally financed tutoring providers in failing districts.
Ed-Tech Policy
A State Capitals Roundup
Indiana Program Speeds Transcripts
Indiana high school students will be able to submit their transcripts to prospective colleges electronically, thanks to Indiana e-Transcript, an initiative launched last week.
Education Funding
Funding Increases Faulted by Some
Oregon legislators, in the final moments of the legislature’s second-longest session in its history, approved $5.2 billion in state spending for K-12 schools in the 2006 and 2007 fiscal years.
Education Funding
Help Wanted
Educators in two states now can access what has been called the eBay of philanthropy—a Web site that offers teachers a chance to post their grant ideas online and find donors for their projects.
Law & Courts
School Mold Ruling May Have New Relevance
The “employers liability exclusion” in a Louisiana school district’s insurance policy bars coverage for claims against a school board by employees who allege they have been injured by mold at school, a state appeals court has ruled.
Law & Courts
Reservist’s Case Sent Back to Lower Court
A federal appeals court has ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to decide a key claim by a New York state principal who lost her job with the Chester Union Free School District, allegedly because of her military service. The case was returned to a lower federal court for further proceedings.
Law & Courts
Court Upholds Wisconsin District on Refusal to Bus Charter Students
A Wisconsin school district did not violate the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution or state law by refusing to bus students of a charter public school located within the district’s boundaries, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Special Education
Special Ed. Teacher Shortage Targeted
Two organizations devoted to the needs of children with disabilities are leading an effort to address shortages of special education teachers and other professionals in the field.
Education
Report Roundup
Time and Schools
The reprint of the report, originally produced by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Education Commission on Time and Learning, includes a new introduction and more recent examples of how educators use time productively. The 2005 edition of “Prisoners of Time” is online at www.ecs.org.—J.L.T
Education Funding
Report Roundup
Child Tax Credit
According to the report, published by the Tax Policy Center, a collaboration between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, both based in Washington, 50 percent of black children, 46 percent of Hispanic children, and 18 percent of white children did not receive the full $1,000 credit in 2005, because their family incomes were either too low or too high to qualify. Families that earn annual incomes between $10,750 and $110,000 are eligible for at least part of the $1,000 credit for every child under 17.
Education
Report Roundup
Sexual Behavior
Between 1943 and 1999, the average age of first intercourse among young women dropped from 19 to 15, and the number of sexually active girls increased from 13 percent to 47 percent. Approval of premarital sex also increased during that time, from 12 percent to 73 percent among young women, and from 40 percent to 79 percent among young men.
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Texas Charters
Though students of all ages in charter schools tend to have lower test scores on average than students in regular schools, charter students in grades 5-8 had higher growth in both the mathematics and reading sections of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills than noncharter students, based on scores from the 2003 and 2004 assessments.
Federal
Report Roundup
Supplemental Services
The federal law requires that children from low-income families enrolled at Title I schools that have not made adequate yearly progress for three years receive services such as tutoring, academic remediation, and other assistance. The department’s report provides case studies for the 2003-04 school year, the second year the supplemental-services provision had been in effect.
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Report Defines Types of Charter Schools
Arguing that charter schools should not be thought of as monolithic, a report presents a “typology” of the independently run public schools that divides them into five basic categories: traditional, progressive, vocational, general, and alternative delivery.
Education
Foreign Exchange: British Test the SAT
A group of high school seniors in Britain will take the SAT this fall as the country’s government attempts to gauge whether its own, highly criticized college-admissions test needs strengthening.
School & District Management
Leaders Try to Foster Charter-District Ties
Sharing “best practices” in education isn’t exactly a new idea, but a recent symposium in Oakland, Calif., gave it an unusual twist: Charter school and regular public school officials sat down together to share ideas.
Education
People in the News
Pamela Saylor Lannon
Pamela Saylor Lannon has been named the dean of the college of education at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.
Education
People in the News
Mark E. Ankeny
Mark E. Ankeny is the new dean of the school of education at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.
Education
People in the News
Paul Roitman Bardack
Paul Roitman Bardack was voted in as the president of the United States Distance Learning Association last week by the organization’s board of directors.
Education
A National Roundup
NEA Makes Its Case
The National Education Association presented its case last week in its lawsuit against the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Appearing in U.S. District Court in Detroit, lawyers for the 2.7 million-member union asked the court to determine that the nearly 4-year-old law places unfunded mandates on states and districts. Staci Maiers, a spokeswoman for the nea, said the judge indicated a verdict would be issued in approximately three weeks.
Education
A National Roundup
Catholic School Cancels Prom; ‘Financial Decadence’ Cited
The principal of a Roman Catholic school in New York state has canceled the spring prom, citing the increasingly out-of-control spending that accompanies the event.
Education
A National Roundup
Cleveland Schools Admit Errors in Attendance Reports to State
The Ohio Department of Education is monitoring an effort by the Cleveland school system to explain why the district misreported student-attendance data.
School Choice & Charters
A National Roundup
Charter School Enrollment Climbs 14 Percent, Center Says
Charter school enrollment has climbed by about 14 percent since last school year, according to data from the Washington-based Center for Education Reform.