September 13, 1995
Education Week, Vol. 15, Issue 02
Education
Two Key Officials Have Resigned From National Teaching-Standards Board
Two senior staff members have resigned from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the privately organized group that is establishing a voluntary system for certifying outstanding teachers.
Education
Service Programs' Future the Real Topic at Wofford Hearing
A hearing last week on Harris Wofford's nomination to head the Corporation for National and Community Service focused more on its beleaguered programs than on his qualifications, which committee members praised.
Education
Federal File: Taxing N.E.A.; Term limit?; Delegating
In 1906, Congress granted a federal charter to the National Education Association that exempted the teachers' group from property taxes on its national headquarters in Washington.
English-Language Learners
Bilingual Education Column
A Texas judge's remarks to a mother who spoke to her child in Spanish have sparked a national controversy. Bilingual-education advocates have asked the judge to apologize to all Hispanics, and have criticized him for a lack of understanding of their field.
Education
Diva School
The drab basement rehearsal room suddenly comes to life when camp counselor Paul Edson calls the 28 fidgety performers to attention with a few shrill chords on the piano.
Education
Baltimore Seeks Plan To End Spec.-Ed. Suit
Baltimore city and school officials have launched what many observers are calling a last-ditch effort to improve services for the school system's disabled students.
Education
Private Schools Column
Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Mass.--noted for eschewing grades, homework assignments, class rankings, and even a curriculum--has a new baby sister.
Education
Panel Puts Brakes on Bill To Rebuild Calif. Testing System
A California Assembly committee last week tabled legislation to reconstruct the state's testing system, a move supporters say effectively kills the bill's chances of passage before the legislature adjourns at week's end.
Education
A State of Change
Photos by Benjamin Tice Smith
California invaded this, the last best place on earth, in 1991. That was the year that Bushwhacker USA, a Ventura County-based maker of bicycle bags, fled the Golden State's high tax and crime rates for a small warehouse in the heart of this farming community, population 2,100.
California invaded this, the last best place on earth, in 1991. That was the year that Bushwhacker USA, a Ventura County-based maker of bicycle bags, fled the Golden State's high tax and crime rates for a small warehouse in the heart of this farming community, population 2,100.
Education
Book That Bucks Negative View of Schools Stirs Debate
A new book that lays out good news about the nation's schools is sparking controversy among educators nationwide.
Education
Dole Decries History Standards for Dwelling on the Negative
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the leading candidate for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination, last week attacked the voluntary national history standards in a speech designed to appeal to his party's conservative wing.
Education
A Cognitive View Of Leadership
Which of the scholarly disciplines "owns" leadership? Traditionally, the study of leadership has been considered within the purview of political science. Political scientists have considered leadership from the point of view of the power held by leading persons and institutions, the policies that are implemented, and the interests of various publics within a society. Other disciplines have had their say from time to time. Representatives of my discipline of psychology, for example, have examined the personalities of leaders and have considered the unconscious needs of leaders as well as the wishes of those who are led.
Education
Phoenix Alumni Assignment: Save Historically Black School
The Phoenix Monarchs Alumni Association has a mission: to save George Washington Carver School, once the only high school for black students in Arizona.
Education
Jury Awards Ky. Teacher Nearly $34,000 In Lawsuit Against Student
A Kentucky teacher who won a $34,000 jury award after she sued a disruptive student for making death threats against her has drawn national attention for her legal counterattack on classroom disorder.
Education
Faith in Family
For those who believe good education can be had at wholesale prices, Utah is a case in point. While it spends less per pupil on K-12 education than any other state in the country, many state-by-state measures of student achievement place Utah in the middle of the pack. Some even put it at the top.
Education
Order Blocks Nonsectarian Expansion of Voucher Program
Students in Milwaukee's religious schools are not the only ones affected by the temporary court order blocking the controversial expansion of the city's school-voucher program.
Education
Calif. District Not Obligated To Provide Transportation, Judge Rules
A northern California school district's policy of assigning students to distant schools without providing transportation does not violate state law, a judge has ruled.
Education
Court Upholds School-Finance System in Ohio
An Ohio appeals court has ruled that the state's school-finance system is constitutional, saying lawmakers, not judges, should make decisions about school funding.
Education
Mich. Lawmakers Face Hot-Button Issues in Fall Session
When Michigan lawmakers convene their fall session this week, they are expected to put a Republican stamp on a massive plan for statewide school reform.
Education
Governor Seeks End To Desegregation Orders in Ariz.
Gov. Fife Symington has launched a campaign to rid Arizona of local school-desegregation programs ordered by federal courts, in part because they can prevent students from enrolling in the state's new charter schools.
Education
Campaign-Ad Ruling Spurs Judge To Step Aside in Ala. Finance Case
An Alabama judge who became a lightning rod for controversy after finding the state's school-finance system unconstitutional in 1993 has stepped aside in the case.
Education
Mandatory Raises for Tenn. Superintendents Assailed
Some residents of Putnam County, Tenn., struggle to earn $12,000 a year. So it was almost scandalous to some that their school superintendent would get that much in a pay raise.
Education
From Babar to Utopia
In New York a number of high school students I have had occasion to talk with have expressed passionate pleas for exposure to literature they can relate to as well as equally strong objections to the literature they were exposed to as children. Their vehement anger at books and tales such as Dr. Doolittle, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and The Little Prince surprised me. They were not merely asking for inclusion of texts that represented the stories of African-Americans and Latinos, but for the wholesale reconsideration of what is considered appropriate reading for young people.
Education
Clinton Leads Fight Against Budget Cuts
If letters and phone calls cannot stop looming federal spending cuts in education and other social programs, maybe cookies will.
Education
Couple Gives $25 Million for Catholic School Vouchers
A Rochester, N.Y., couple has announced a $25 million gift that will help local children afford an education at one of six Roman Catholic elementary schools.
Education
Correction
The 1995-96 Calendar of Events that appeared with the Sept. 6 issue of Education Week listed the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English twice, once with an incorrect date. The correct date for the convention is Nov. 16-19. For information, please call the ncte membership-service representative at (217) 328-3870.ac