October 28, 1987

Education Week, Vol. 07, Issue 08
English-Language Learners Bilingual Suit Tests Pupils' Rights
In the wake of the expiration of California's bilingual-education law, a federal suit is seeking to test the adequacy under U.S. civil-rights laws of the Berkeley school district's program for limited-English-proficient students.
Deborah L. Gold, October 28, 1987
5 min read
Education New California Math Curriculum Close to Implementation
California's new mathematics curriculum moved a step closer to implementation this month as the state department of education approved two more of the elementary-school textbook series revised to meet specific state standards.
Robert Rothman, October 28, 1987
3 min read
Education District News Roundup
A tax dispute with the giant Allied-Signal Corporation has created a fiscal crisis for a small New York school district.

Schools in Solvay, a tiny community near Syracuse, were left with a 34 percent budget shortfall for the current fiscal year after Allied-Signal refused to pay $1.4 million in property taxes.

October 28, 1987
4 min read
Education E.D. Extends Crackdown On Scofflaws
Secretary of Education William J. Bennett is expected to announce this week a proposal to restrict participation in the Guaranteed Student Loan program by colleges and other postsecondary schools whose students have a high default rate on the federal loans.
Robert Rothman, October 28, 1987
1 min read
Education Federal File
The public perception that federal lawmakers earmark government dollars for "pork barrel" highway and water projects in their home states is a venerable one. But an appropriations measure recently drafted in the Senate provides proof that they can also bring home educational bacon.

When Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, proposed a "Star Schools" program to fund educational telecommunications networks, critics called it a "boondoggle" to support a project underway in his home state. The recently unveiled appropriations language buttresses their case.

October 28, 1987
2 min read
Education State Journal: A larger sphere of influence; Toughest of the tough; The power of positive students

Betty Castor, who wields a considerable amount of clout in Florida as the state's chief school officer, hopes to expand her sphere of influence even further by landing a spot on the national Democratic Party's platform committee.
October 28, 1987
1 min read
Education Pension Officers Insist Funds Sound Despite Market's Wild Roller Ride
Despite a week of panic on Wall Street that saw the stock market take the wildest of roller-coaster rides, teachers and other school employees should not fear for the safety of their hard-earned pension benefits, plan administrators, investment managers, and other fiscal experts said last week.
William Montague, October 28, 1987
8 min read
Education Teachers Column
The Holmes Group's attempt to eliminate undergraduate teacher-education majors may run into problems, even among its members.

A survey released this month of student-teaching directors at 61 Holmes Group schools found:

October 28, 1987
2 min read
Education News Update
A New Jersey superior-court judge has sentenced 115 teachers who illegally walked off their jobs in Lyndhurst last March to 18 hours of community service.

Judge Peter Ciolino also sentenced 11 secretaries and 15 custodians who honored the teachers' picket line to 12 hours of service.

October 28, 1987
1 min read
Education 133 English Programs Are Named 'Centers of Excellence'
The National Council of Teachers of English has named 133 elementary and secondary schools as "centers of excellence" for 1987.

Located in 38 states and two Canadian provinces, the schools were chosen in recognition of their high-quality programs in English-language arts. Since the program is intended to promote excellence in the teaching of English, ncte officials note, the schools being honored have agreed to supply written descriptions of their programs and to arrange for educators from other schools to sit in on classes. Educators are encouraged to visit the schools or to write them for information about the programs cited.

October 28, 1987
14 min read
Education Values Education Supported
The spread of drug abuse, suicide, and other destructive behaviors among the young demands that school boards set policies for building students' character and fostering ethical behavior, according to a report issued last week by the National School Boards Association.
Robert Rothman, October 28, 1987
2 min read
Education A New Collegiality Marks Catholic-School Labor Talks
Acknowledging the need for more cooperation as Roman Catholic schools accelerate their historic shift to an overwhelmingly lay teaching force, church officials and unions that represent lay teachers are declaring a "cease fire" in what has been a contentious relationship since the early 1970's.
Kirsten Goldberg, October 28, 1987
11 min read
Education N.C. District's Remedy for White 'Isolation' Draws Protest
In a highly unusual move, school administrators in Greensboro, N.C., have grouped white students together in several predominantly black elementary schools to prevent them from being "isolated" in nearly all-black classes.
Blake Rodman, October 28, 1987
4 min read
Education Precollegiate-Education Issues Are Prominent In Gubernatorial Campaigns in 3 States

Precollegiate education has emerged as a major campaign issue in the three states holding gubernatorial elections next month, with all candidates having developed highly detailed platforms on school matters.
October 28, 1987
7 min read
Education Year-Round School Plan Tabled
Under heavy political pressure from angry parents, the Los Angeles Board of Education has decided to reconsider its controversial decision to place all of the city's schools on a single year-round calender.

By a 4-to-3 vote, the board last week moved to reopen debate on the year-round proposal. A final vote on the plan has been postponed until March 1, a district spokesman said.

October 28, 1987
1 min read
Education People News
Irwin Russo, a film producer whose credits include such box-office hits as Teachers and Trading Places, has forsaken the silver screen for a life in the classroom.

"I found that Hollywood was the glamorous girlfriend, but that teaching was the woman I had married," said Mr. Russo, who is teaching college-bound students this fall at the Newbridge School, a private school in Los Angeles.

October 28, 1987
3 min read
Education Studies Shed New Light on Teen-Age Suicides
Washington--Two researchers whose work on the media's influence on teen-age suicide gained nationwide attention last year have completed new studies that shed a slightly different light on the sensitive question of how to prevent young people from killing themselves.
Debra Viadero, October 28, 1987
5 min read
Education State News Roundup
School officials in Maine say they are puzzled over the unusually high number of vacant superintendencies in the state this year and the relatively small number of candidates to fill them.

In all, 29 of Maine's 146 district superintendents have retired or resigned in the past year, more than in any year in recent memory, according to Richard H. Card, deputy commissioner of education. While most of the vacancies were filled over the summer, Mr. Card said last week, four districts have yet to find full-time replacements, and a fifth has received notice that its superintendent will resign Dec. 1 to take a job in Massachusetts.

October 28, 1987
4 min read
Education Governors Ask Fast Action on Welfare Reform
Saying that a "rare moment" of political agreement may be lost if the Congress does not act on welfare reform, Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas has urged that legislation include specific provisions to move welfare recipients into the workforce through education and training.
Reagan Walker, October 28, 1987
3 min read
Education Tuition Tax Credits Are Challenged in Iowa
A group of Iowa taxpayers has asked a federal district court to strike down a new state law that allows parents to claim income-tax credits and deductions for tuition and other expenses at public and private schools.
Tom Mirga, October 28, 1987
2 min read
Education Letter to the Editor Letters To the Editor:
I read with great interest "Schools Rated a Key Factor in Business-Site Decisions" (Sept. 30, 1987). I agree that good schools are important in attracting industry to any area or community. I find very suspect, however, the rankings of the public-school systems in the various states.

Familiar with the per-pupil expenditures, graduation requirements, and standards of many states, I question the ranking of Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee above New York, California, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. I would be very interested in knowing more about how you arrived at the ratings you listed in the article.

October 28, 1987
6 min read
Education Opinion Restructuring the Teaching Profession
For too many students in the United States--and especially for those from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds--schools are failing.
Adam Urbanski, October 28, 1987
8 min read
Education Opinion Expanded NAEP Holds Risks
The proposed legislative expansion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress to provide state-by-state comparative data, both in subjects currently tested and in additional ones, holds dangerous philosophical and political implications.
Onalee McGraw, October 28, 1987
6 min read
Education E.P.A. Issues Final Regulations on School Asbestos
The Environmental Protection Agency last week issued the final version of sweeping regulations that require all public and private schools to inspect for asbestos by next October and to remove, contain, or monitor the cancer-causing substance when it is found.
Ellen Flax, October 28, 1987
1 min read
Education Chicago's 'Unprecedented' Populist Revolt
The thunderous noise from the basketball court above the small meeting room could not drown out the voice that is now being heard with increasing frequency in this city of strong wills and deep political traditions.
William Snider, October 28, 1987
20 min read
Education Balanced-Budget Law May Force Huge Reduction in Aid to Schools
The Education Department raised Guaranteed Student Loan fees last week in anticipation of an 8.5 percent budget cut under the revived Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit-reduction law.
Julie A. Miller & Reagan Walker, October 28, 1987
3 min read
Education Civil-Rights Panel Investigating I.Q. Test Ban in California
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has been drawn into a California woman's complicated challenge to a federal court order barring that state's schools from administering iq tests to black students.
Deborah L. Gold, October 28, 1987
6 min read
Education Commodities Measures Seek More Choice, Faster Service
Schools could receive fresher and more useful food commodities through the school-lunch program under legislation now pending in the Congress.
Julie A. Miller, October 28, 1987
5 min read