August 30, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 01
Federal
New Rules on Student Racial Data Proposed
As a growing number of school-age children think of themselves as being of more than one race, new guidelines proposed by the Department of Education would require that schools allow students to identify themselves as multiracial.
States
Education Passes Medicaid in State Spending, NCSL Finds
Medicaid, which for several years was the fastest-growing line item in state budgets, has been supplanted by K-12 education, a recent report shows.
Budget & Finance
California Audit Alleges Charter Chain’s Funds Misspent
California’s largest charter school operators claimed $57 million more in state funds than they should have received, according to the results of an audit called for by state and county education officials.
States
South Carolina Tax-Relief Law Drawing Fire
Some three months after South Carolina legislators changed how the state’s public schools are financed, educators and businesses are decrying a new property-tax-reform law for granting tax breaks to homeowners at the expense, they contend, of economic growth and K-12 education.
States
Number of Graduation Exams Required by States Levels Off
Growth in the number of states requiring students to pass an exit exam to earn a high school diploma has stalled, a report by the Center on Education Policy says.
Federal
Ed. Dept. Officials’ Roots Run Deep in Heart of Texas
Though the Department of Education is located in the heart of Washington, its corridors echo with the distinctive twang of Texas.
Education
Letter to the Editor
What—Or Whatever—Works
Readers offer their opinions about opposing educational camps and the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Law & Courts
U.S. Opposes Race-Conscious Assignment Plans In K-12
The Bush administration last week urged the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down plans that use race to help determine where to assign students to public schools.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Public or Private School May Be Wrong Setting
The discussion of the competing findings on whether public or private schools produce greater mean achievement (“Data Reanalysis Finds Test-Score Edge for Private Schools,”) misses an important point.
Education
Letter to the Editor
In the EMO Model, Profits Will Always Come First
In response to "Analysts Debate Long-Term Viability of EMO Model" (Aug. 9, 2006):
Education
Letter to the Editor
School Starting Dates: ‘One Size Doesn’t Fit All’
Concerning your Aug. 9, 2006, In Perspective article "Help for the Summer," on the controversy surrounding school starting dates:
Education
Letter to the Editor
Arabic-Language Courses Should Be an Imperative
Regarding "Group Publishes Nation's First Arabic Standards" (July 26, 2006):
Education
Letter to the Editor
Spread Gates Funding Over Wider School Map
In response to Paul T. Hill's Aug. 9 2006, Commentary "Money, Momentum, and the Gates Foundation":
Education Funding
Opinion
TalkBack: Gates Funding
Paul T. Hill’s Aug. 9 Commentary, "Money, Momentum, and the Gates Foundation," featured in the online TalkBack section, drew heavy reader response (more than 87 comments had been posted as this issue went to press) and produced a lively debate on funding priorities.
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Cyber Bullying
More than one-third of American youths ages 12 to 17 report being victims of cyber bullying in the past year, a survey says.
Federal
Department Seeks Input on Higher Ed. Panel’s Suggestions for Change
The Department of Education plans to seek public feedback on a sweeping report approved this month by a commission charged with making long-range recommendations for changes in the nation’s higher education system.
School Choice & Charters
Reanalysis of NAEP Scores Finds Charter Schools Lagging
A federal reanalysis of 2003 test-score data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress finds that charter schools trailed regular public schools that year in student achievement in both reading and mathematics.
Curriculum
Opinion
Why Thinking ‘Outside the Box’ Is Not So Easy
Retired educator Marion Brady writes that the traditional reliance on core subjects, such as math, science, social studies, and language arts, does not provide the right basis for effective educational reform.
Law & Courts
Mass. Violated Rights of Disinvited Speaker
A Massachusetts court has ruled that state education officials infringed the rights of the well-known education author Alfie Kohn by objecting to his planned speech at a 2001 conference being underwritten by a state-administered federal grant.
School & District Management
Opinion
Must Enrollment Declines Spell Financial Chaos for Districts?
Marguerite Roza, a senior fellow at the Center on Reinventing Public Education and a research assistant professor at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, looks at why large school districts frequently end up in the red, and how they can avoid such a fate.
Law & Courts
Officer Lacks Immunity in Student’s Handcuffing
A school resource officer who detained and handcuffed a 9-year-old student during physical education class is not protected from allegations that he violated the girl’s constitutional rights, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Teacher Preparation
Opinion
Fighting the Wrong Battle in the Teacher-Preparation Wars
The type of certification program, be it traditional or alternative, is of little importance in comparison to the assessment of each teacher's preparedness for the classroom, write Daniel C. Humphrey, the associate director, and Marjorie E. Wechsler, a senior researcher at the Center for Education Policy at SRI International.
Law & Courts
Michigan Girls’ Teams Win Again in U.S. Court Fight on Scheduling
In a long-running sex-discrimination case, a federal appeals court has ruled for the second time that the Michigan High School Athletic Association discriminates against female high school athletes by scheduling their sports—and not male athletes’ sports—in nontraditional and less advantageous seasons.
Student Well-Being & Movement
New Medicaid Notification Rule Worries Some Special Educators
A change in Medicaid reimbursement policy has prompted concern from some special education officials who see it as potentially burdensome, but a federal official says the intent is to protect parental privacy rights, not to create more paperwork.
Education Funding
Bill Would Bar Cuts in Schools’ Medicaid Reimbursements
A bill in Congress would bar the federal agency that manages Medicaid from carrying out its plan to trim some of the money it reimburses school districts for providing health services for poor students.
Education Funding
Military-Family College Aid Inspired by School-Age Sisters
Two young sisters have inspired the establishment of a nonprofit organization that awards scholarships to the family members of U.S. soldiers stationed overseas.
Student Achievement
UNC Effort Aims at Minority Boys in Early Childhood
A professor of social work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Oscar A. Barbarin, has received a $6.2 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support his efforts to raise achievement levels among minority boys.
Assessment
ACT Scores Improve; More on East Coast Taking the SAT’s Rival
More East Coast students are opting to take the ACT college-entrance exam, its producer reports, with some observers attributing the trend to the ever more competitive atmosphere for admissions and the mandatory writing test on the rival SAT.
Law & Courts
Union-Watcher’s Scoop of AFT Survey Attracts Legal Threat
In an eyebrow-raising scoop earlier this month, the union watchdog and blogger Mike Antonucci reported on some of the findings of an internal-communications survey of staff members at the American Federation of Teachers, including candid quotes about the culture and politics at the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union.