Before increasing spending, school districts should insist on improvements in student and teacher performance, Gov. John H. Sununu of New Hampshire has told members of the state’s school-boards association.
“As we talk about quality in education, 99 percent of the people can only discuss quality in terms of price tag--what I call the Neiman-Marcus theory of education,’' he said this month. “I know of no system where we can’t get an improvement of one-quarter to one-third and not have to change dollars one iota.’'
However, he continued, “If you have tied those dollars to an improvement in education, if you have tied those dollars to more teacher time for students, if you have tied those dollars to a more intense educational experience ... then you got a bargain.’'
Bobby Czyz, the International Boxing Federation’s light-heavyweight titleholder, has chalked up another victory--this time in the arena of local school politics.
On April 7, voters in Wanaque, N.J., elected the prizefighter to a three-year term on the Passaic County town’s school board. According to the board’s executive secretary, Mr. Czyz received 396 votes, placing him second among the seven candidates vying to fill three vacancies on the board.
The 25-year-old boxer told reporters that his interest in school politics began four years ago, when his father’s death left him responsible for his 9-year-old sister’s upbringing and education.
“I have a vested interest in my sister and want to see her get the best education,’' Mr. Czyz was quoted as saying.
Edwin S. Darrell, a former press secretary to Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, has been named director of information services for the Education Department’s office of educational research and improvement. In his new post, Mr. Darrell will also oversee the department’s network of Educational Resources Information Centers.
Mr. Darrell served most recently as director of public affairs for the President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors, the chairman of which was former Gov. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Between 1976 and 1985, Mr. Darrell worked for Senator Hatch in several capacities, both in Washington, D.C., and Utah.
He replaces James Bencivenga, who will resume his post as education editor at the Christian Science Monitor.
Richard Vanderloo has more than the typical gym teacher’s interest in the recent decision to standardize a three-point field goal for high-school basketball.
To Mr. Vanderloo, a physical-education teacher and athletic director at Sioux City (Iowa) East High School, the rule change by the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations means business.
Using a $51.95 kit developed by Mr. Vanderloo and sold by his firm, the Three-Point Arc Company, athletic officials can apply vinyl tape to basketball courts in an arc 19 feet, 9 inches from the middle of the basket. If a commercial floor company did the work, Mr. Vanderloo says, it would have to varnish the basketball court after painting the line at a total cost of $200 to $500.
The three-point field goal was first tested in Iowa high schools during the 1982-83 basketball season and later in other states. The federation decided last month to standardize the practice nationally, effective next season. (See Education Week, April 8, 1987.)
