Field Trip-Up
Their trip started out well: In July, Wilson Charter High School students traveled from Phoenix to Buffalo, New York, to compete in a solar-powered boat competition. But when they tried to visit Canada, INS officials discovered that four were illegal immigrants, the Arizona Republic says. Teachers couldn’t prevent the fiasco because federal law prohibits school officials from asking about a student’s immigration status. The kids now face deportation.
Holiday Madness
Who could be unhappy with an extra paid day off? Chicago teachers, it turns out. In June, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, some grumbled when the district gave them a “teacher and staff appreciation” holiday. The problem: It fell in the middle of the report card preparation period. The day off forced many to work extra hours to finish their paperwork on time.
Share the Wealth
Low-income pupils do better in school when their classmates come from richer families, according to a recent Piton Foundation study of Colorado students. What’s more, the report says, mixing poor with affluent kids doesn’t harm the wealthier students’ academic performance. The group suggests integrating regional schools economically by sending some city students to the suburbs and some suburban kids to the city, the Denver Post reports.
Backfire
A popular Seattle teacher’s career may go up in flames because a newspaper photo alerted a fire department official to his exciting—but apparently illegal—science experiments. In the spring, a picture of a methane explosion in Larry Gulberg’s classroom at Woodinville High School accompanied a Seattle Times article about his students’ win at a Science Bowl competition. Upon reading the story, the local fire marshal slapped him with three fire code violations. The school has warned Gulberg that he faces dismissal if he continues to conduct such experiments.
