January 15, 1997

Education Week, Vol. 16, Issue 16
Professional Development The Comfort Zone
Employees arriving at school district headquarters in Tupelo, Miss., cast wary eyes at the computers that have appeared overnight.
Andrew Trotter, January 15, 1997
17 min read
Education Opinion Electioneering on Education: What Comes Next?
There are two stories to tell about last year's education electioneering. One is about how the Republican-controlled Congress took a U-turn on education issues. The upshot is that mostly Great Society, big-government programs that have long outlived their usefulness now not only have new life; they have more money than the Clinton administration originally requested.
Bruno V. Manno, January 15, 1997
9 min read
Education Opinion Merit Pay Won't Work in Schools
In a school district where the majority of students live below poverty and teachers are crying out for lower class size, higher standards of conduct, greater academic rigor, an end to social promotions, and relief from a blizzard of unnecessary paperwork, Rochester, N.Y., Superintendent Clifford B. Janey offers merit pay as the answer to our problems
Adam Urbanski, January 15, 1997
2 min read
Education Opinion A Common-Ground Issue and a Common-Ground Strategy
After splitting the difference on Election Day between a Republican-controlled Congress and a Democratic president, we voters now know the names of the officeholders who will help chart the course of national public policy. The problem is, we are still in the dark on exactly what that course will be. And in the area of education, where partisan agendas sometimes differed substantially during the campaign, we are especially unenlightened as to the issues that will spring forth from the "common ground" and "vital center" the president and Congressional leaders now pledge to seek.
Joe McTighe, January 15, 1997
4 min read
Budget & Finance Opinion Obfuscation, Rubber Yardsticks, and Double Standards
At the end of last year, Education Week, The New York Times, and several other national news organizations gave prominent coverage to a new book entitled Hard Lessons: Public Schools and Privatization, by Carol Ascher, Norm Fruchter, and Robert Berne. ("Privatization Found To Fall Short of Billing," Nov. 6, 1996, and "What May Be Lost Through Privatization?," Dec. 11, 1996.) The book concludes that privatization does nothing to improve education, harms the poor, and threatens democracy.
Paul T. Hill, January 15, 1997
5 min read
Education Letter to the Editor Letters to the Editor

Early-Computer-Use Stance Was 'Replete With Caveats'

January 15, 1997
16 min read