January 17, 1996
Education Week, Vol. 15, Issue 17
Education
Negative Test at Health Clinic Seen Indicator of Later Pregnancy
When a teenage girl walks out of a health clinic with a negative pregnancy test, there's a good chance that she'll be back.
Families & the Community
Lessons of Life: Mrs. Clinton Urges Focus on Children
Washington
Families, communities, politicians, and institutions need to stop pointing accusing fingers at each other and come together to give children what they need to thrive in today's society, Hillary Rodham Clinton argues in her new book.
Families, communities, politicians, and institutions need to stop pointing accusing fingers at each other and come together to give children what they need to thrive in today's society, Hillary Rodham Clinton argues in her new book.
Education
News in Brief: Clinton Vetoes Measure On Welfare, School Meals
As expected, President Clinton last week vetoed a welfare-reform bill that sought to end decades of guaranteed federal benefits for poor children and their families. It also would have allowed seven states to run school-meals programs under a block-grant plan.
Teaching Profession
Paying for Substitutes
School districts nationwide face difficulties in finding replacement teachers. The job of a substitute teacher is marked by irregular hours, little respect, lack of benefits, and low pay. Following are a few examples of what districts pay their substitutes.
Law & Courts
Oberti and the Law
The word "inclusion" is not found anywhere in federal special-education law.
Education
Ideas and Findings
Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie may be good at teaching preschoolers the alphabet. But when it comes to teaching reading, they may be delivering the wrong kinds of messages.
Education
State Journal: Free labor; Stocking stuffers
A Hawaii state representative got a cool reception recently when he suggested that the state have prison inmates work for free as school groundskeepers.
Free Labor
A Hawaii state representative got a cool reception recently when he suggested that the state have prison inmates work for free as school groundskeepers.
Education
Take Note: A star is born?
Today's topic on "Geraldo": A straight-shooting schools chief shares his secrets of success.
Education
Student Wins Settlement For Internet School Spoof
The Bellevue, Wash., school district has settled out of court with a high school senior who was punished last year for creating a satirical computer "home page" about his school.
School & District Management
Mississippi Poised To Take Over Cash-Short District
Mississippi appears poised to take over the financially strapped
North Panola school system in Sardis under a so-far-untested law passed
in 1991 that allows the state to assume control of troubled
districts.
Education
Court Rejects Miss. Law Authorizing Student-Led Prayer
A federal appeals court last week struck down a 1994 Mississippi law that authorized "student-initiated voluntary prayer" at student assemblies, sports contests, and other school events.
School Climate & Safety
Poll Finds Fear of Crime Alters Student Routines
Fear of crime and violence leads many young people to miss school, get lower grades, and carry weapons, according to a nationwide poll of teenagers released last week.
Student Well-Being
High Court Rejects Condom-Distribution Case
Washington
The U.S. Supreme Court last week rejected a constitutional challenge to a Massachusetts district's policy of making condoms available to students in its junior and senior high schools without notifying parents.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week rejected a constitutional challenge to a Massachusetts district's policy of making condoms available to students in its junior and senior high schools without notifying parents.
Education
Model Chicago Schools To Get Cash Rewards
Chicago school officials are betting that the best way for troubled schools to improve is to learn from successful ones.
Education
Mix and Match
Perched atop laboratory stools, eight students in Freda Hill's 7th-grade science class are swapping notes about their field trip the previous day to a local steam-heating plant.
School & District Management
New Rules Would Prevent Boards From Hiring DOD School Chiefs
School boards governing domestic schools operated by the Department of Defense would be prevented from having the final say on hiring superintendents under proposed new rules clarifying the status of the boards.
Families & the Community
Dana Grant Seeks To Bolster Public-Engagement Strategy
A Kentucky organization with a successful track record for rallying public support for school improvement will spend the next year studying how to bolster public engagement in other states.
Education
Colo. Reports Low Graduation Rates for Minority Students
The graduation rate for Hispanic students in Colorado has declined to 60 percent, while the rate for American Indian students dropped to less than 50 percent, according to a recent report.
Standards
Report Offers Ways To Improve History Standards
Why would people risk the hardships of leaving home, traveling the high seas, and resettling in a strange new land?
Education
Mother Nature Exacts a Toll on Schools
The fierce blizzard that dumped record snowfalls along the East Coast and into parts of the Midwest and South last week forced cancellation of school for millions of children.
Education Funding
In Reversal, Allen Proposes Big Boost in Va. Spending
A few months after wrangling with Virginia's Democratic leaders over his proposed decreases in aid to public education, Republican Gov. George F. Allen surprised many opponents last week by proposing a substantial boost in such funding.
Federal
5,500 E.D. Employees Back on Job as Talks Continue
Washington
About 5,500 Department of Education employees returned to work last week, ending a 24-day shutdown that began with an impasse over the federal budget and was extended for three days by a blizzard. But federal officials are no more certain about the future of the education programs they run than they were before the closing.
About 5,500 Department of Education employees returned to work last week, ending a 24-day shutdown that began with an impasse over the federal budget and was extended for three days by a blizzard. But federal officials are no more certain about the future of the education programs they run than they were before the closing.
Education
Providence, R.I., May Ban Smoking Ads Near Schools
The city council in Providence, R.I., is considering a ban on smoking advertisements on billboards within 500 feet of public schools, churches, community centers, and other places where children play.
School Choice & Charters
Wilson Proposes Statewide Choice Plan in Calif.
Hailing what he sees as California's bounce back from the brink of economic oblivion, an upbeat Gov. Pete Wilson proposed last week that the state pay for several new education programs, including a school-voucher plan.
School Choice & Charters
Lawsuit Seeks To Block Vouchers in Cleveland
Opponents of Ohio's program to give low-income parents in Cleveland vouchers allowing them to send children to private and religious schools filed a lawsuit last week in an effort to block it.
Education
Federal File: Mixed review
Rep. Bill Goodling, the chairman of the House Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee, gave a mixed review to the Republican-led Congress' approach in a recent interview recapping action on education issues in 1995.
Law & Courts
Code Revisions Spur Change in Texas Climate
For now, the revolution in public education in Texas is only visible in out-of-the-way places, like the corner of John Horn's desk.
Teaching Profession
Absence Makes Districts Scramble for Stand-Ins
Raeburn Rathbun, the principal of the 340-student Elementary School 64 in Indianapolis, knows all about the shortage of substitute teachers.
Education
Vocational Education
Standards that accurately reflect the skills students will need in the work world, says a new report, must move concurrently toward two goals: They must strive for the short-term goal of making clear to schools and employers what job skills students need to know and the long-term aim of fitting into broader education reforms.