The Vermont State Board of Education last week unanimously adopted a proposal to assess student performance on the basis of work portfolios as well as test scores.
Plans for Vermont’s first statewide assessment were unveiled last month by Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills. The proposal, the first of its kind to be adopted by a state, has been praised by national experts and local teachers, principals, and administrators. (See Education Week, Oct. 26, 1988.)
The system will go into effect in 1992.
Attorney General Jim Mattox of Texas has filed suit against three promoters of a health-insurance trust fund whose collapse left 7,000 school employees with $8 million in unpaid bills.
“We want them to be held liable for the unpaid claims,” said Ron Dusek, Mr. Mattox’s spokesman. The suit, filed under the state’s deceptive-trade and insurance codes, named as defendants W. Robert Boon, Jerry Cunningham, and Henry Labaj.
Meanwhile, a court-appointed attorney overseeing the bankruptcy case filed by the trust in August has included the 87 participating school districts in the case as well. That raises the possibility that the districts could also be held liable for claims, said Brad Ritter, spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association. (See Education Week, Oct. 5, 1988.)