May 13, 1998
Education Week, Vol. 17, Issue 35
Teaching Profession
NEA Board OKs Principles for AFT Merger
The National Education Association's board of directors has approved, by exactly a two-thirds majority, the "principles of unity" that would govern its steps toward merging with the American Federation of Teachers.
Education
Their Own Voices
It has been nearly two decades since Carol Gilligan began to notice that,
around the time girls crossed the threshold into adolescence, they began
to talk about themselves differently.
Education
Supreme Court Ruling on Lawsuits Is a Defeat for Government Officials
The U.S. Supreme Court last week made it more difficult for government officials to have civil rights lawsuits against them dismissed before trial.
Education
Federal File
It's been three years since Republicans lost the battle to overhaul the federal school lunch program, but the event remains a painful memory for GOP lawmakers. So painful, in fact, that they sometimes use the term "school lunch" to describe being on the losing end of a public relations battle.
Out to lunch
It's been three years since Republicans lost the battle to overhaul the federal school lunch program, but the event remains a painful memory for GOP lawmakers. So painful, in fact, that they sometimes use the term "school lunch" to describe being on the losing end of a public relations battle.
College & Workforce Readiness
More Students in AP Courses Find They Can't Escape the Test
For students in Advanced Placement classes at one Nevada high school, preparing to take the program's end-of-course exams could mean both hitting the books and hawking raffle tickets.
College & Workforce Readiness
Senate Passes Bill Governing Vocational Education
The Senate passed the Workforce Investment Partnership Act of 1997 last week despite concerns from some state and federal officials that an amendment to the bill could hinder vocational education.
Equity & Diversity
Buffalo Settles Case Challenging Racial Preferences
The Buffalo school system has settled a lawsuit by a white 6th grader who said she was denied admission to a prestigious city school because of her race. The district agreed to accept her there next fall.
Education
Correction
A story about teaching Shakespeare in the April 8, 1998, issue of Education Week credited the wrong federal agency with financing the Folger Shakespeare Library's institutes for teachers. The National Endowment for the Humanities underwrites the program.
A story about teaching Shakespeare in the April 8, 1998, issue of Education Week credited the wrong federal agency with financing the Folger Shakespeare Library's institutes for teachers. The National Endowment for the Humanities underwrites the program.
School Choice & Charters
Fla. City Will Open Its Own Charter Schools
Crowded schools are a fact of life in booming Broward County, Fla.
But one of the sprawling county's nearly 30 municipalities hopes to ease its classroom shortage by opening its own charter schools in August.
Assessment
Ed. Dept. Shows Relationship Between NAEP, TIMSS
For the first time, 40 states and the District of Columbia can see how their 8th graders stack up in math and science against students in 41 nations worldwide.
Education Funding
Ohio Voters Reject Sales-Tax Hike for Schools
It's back to the finance drawing board in Ohio.
More than a year after the state's highest court ordered lawmakers to revamp Ohio's system of paying for schools, voters overwhelmingly rejected a major part of that overhaul last week: a proposed 1-cent sales-tax increase for schools and property-tax relief for homeowners.
More than a year after the state's highest court ordered lawmakers to revamp Ohio's system of paying for schools, voters overwhelmingly rejected a major part of that overhaul last week: a proposed 1-cent sales-tax increase for schools and property-tax relief for homeowners.
School & District Management
Tenn. Weighs Response to School Bus Overcrowding
Tennessee education and safety officials are working together to strengthen a bus-waiver program in hopes of significantly reducing the number of overcrowded school buses in the state.
Teaching Profession
Boosters of 'Payroll Protection' View Calif. as Pacesetter
Teachers' unions and their political foes expect next month's primary-election ballot in California to set the pace for a national movement on the issue of "paycheck protection."
Ed-Tech Policy
School Groups Rally Behind E-Rate Program
Groups representing U.S. public and private schools, school administrators, and the nation's largest teachers' union have launched a "Save the E-Rate Campaign" to avert efforts to cut federal subsidies for telecommunications services for schools and libraries.
Assessment
A Question of Value
In trying to judge school performance fairly, some researchers and policymakers are turning to a "value added" approach.
Education
State Journal
Parents and teachers at Townsend (Del.) Elementary School were elated to have Gov. Thomas R. Carper on hand to celebrate the school's 65th birthday May 1.
Strong words
Parents and teachers at Townsend (Del.) Elementary School were elated to have Gov. Thomas R. Carper on hand to celebrate the school's 65th birthday May 1.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
Calif. Lawmakers Pass Bilingual Education Bill; N.J. Adopts Continuing Education Mandate; N.H. School Finance Agreement Reached; Calif. Says It Will Release Federal Funds
College & Workforce Readiness
House Approves Reauthorization of Higher Education Act
The House voted overwhelmingly to reauthorize the Higher Education Act last week after defeating an amendment that would have effectively made California's ban on racial and gender preferences in public-college admissions the law of the land.
School & District Management
Behind the 'Mask of Masculinity'
Carol Gilligan's work opened eyes around the world to the difficulties
girls face in adolescence. But in many ways the statistics on boys may
tell an even sadder story.
Curriculum
Educators Call Birthrate Drop Payoff for Sex Ed. Programs
Abstinence and better contraceptive use both have played a part in reducing the teenage birthrate, the authors of a report announcing the five-year trend said last week.
Education
Parents' Organization Counts Chapters in 26 States
Parents for Public Schools, which was conceived in a Jackson, Miss., living room in 1989 by parents who were determined to resist middle-class flight and send their children to public schools, has come a long way in less than 10 years.
Education
AFT Report Disputes Claims by Edison Project
Achievement results in the Edison Project's schools are less impressive than the private, for-profit company presents them, according to an analysis of testing data by the American Federation of Teachers.
School Climate & Safety
Species Act Hits Schools' Forest Income
In Western communities where woodlands dominate the landscape, schools are compelled to see the forests for the trees, and the logging revenues they generate. But federal environmental laws are stirring budget tensions and forcing local educators to enter the fray over when and how to limit the harvesting of trees on federal land.