20 years ago... DEC. 15, 1982
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights attacks the Reagan administration for its opposition to busing for desegregation and for budget cuts for the Department of Education, saying those actions both encourage segregation. The administration, in response, reiterates its opposition to busing and says federal funding cuts amount to only 2 percent of local education budgets.
- The Education Department’s inspector general questions, or recommends for recovery, $160 million $160 million allegedly misspent by states, school districts, and other recipients of agency funds. The largest target: California, accused of inappropriately spending $24.8 million in migrant education grants.
- Textbook manufacturer McDougal, Littell, and Co., based in Evanston, Ill., is suing Kraft Inc. after a photograph of one of the company’s English texts appears on the back of Kraft’s macaroni-and-cheese package. The photo was part of a promotion that would enable customers to get a plastic pencil box for $1.50 and proof of two purchases of the dinner mixes.
10 years ago ...DEC. 9, 1992
- A coalition of 18 education organizations sends Congress an array of proposed changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The law is up for reauthorization in 1993 and the groups anticipate a significant change in the federal role in education.
- A new Gallup poll shows substantial public support for special school programs for gifted children, even as shrinking education budgets are forcing cuts in such programs. In the poll, 61 percent say schools should do more to challenge the “very smartest” children, but 84 percent say such support should not come at the expense of slower learners.
- The New Hampshire Supreme Court rules that local tax revenues cannot be used to finance tuition vouchers for students at religious schools. The state Senate had asked the court to rule on the constitutionality of a proposed plan that would have required local governments to pay up to 75 percent of the tuition costs of private schools.