20 years ago ... [OCT. 6, 1982]
A survey by the American Association of School Administrators finds that fewer than 100 of the nation’s 16,000 public school districts are headed by African-Americans. Most are city school systems with large numbers of minority students and with severe fiscal problems.
- U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell tells a House education panel that he plans to withdraw controversial changes the Reagan administration had proposed making in special education regulations.
- Leaders from business, higher education, and civic organizations join with public school leaders in Boston to sign the Boston Compact, committing the schools to produce better-educated graduates and the community to hiring them.
10 years ago ... [Oct. 7, 1992]
- Christian activist Robert Simonds, the president of a California-based group Citizens for Excellence in Education, vows to elect like-minded school board members in races across the nation.
- The philanthropic community ponders how to respond to the American Association of University Women’s recent report on how schools “shortchange” girls.
- Teachers return to work in Detroit after a 27-day strike, dropping their opposition to the district’s “empowerment” program, which gives schools the authority to waive contract provisions.
