November 25, 1998
Education Week, Vol. 18, Issue 13
States
NEA: Fiscal Troubles Ahead for Many States
Looming fiscal trouble in a number of states could inhibit current and future efforts to improve their public schools, a report from the National Education Association concludes.
Education
Court Sends Girl to Public School Against Parents' Wishes
A legal battle in Virginia is pitting a teenager's wish to attend public high school against her parents' desire that she be educated at home.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
Tirozzi To Take Top Job at NASSP
Gerald N. Tirozzi, the Department of Education's assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, will leave the post in March to join the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Education Funding
N.H. Lawmakers Still Seeking School Finance Solution
The upcoming session of the New Hampshire legislature should reveal whether the just-concluded November elections will change the state's response to the challenge of financing public education.
Education
State Adds to List of N.y.c.'s Low-Performing Schools
New York state's annual compilation of its lowest-performing schools places nearly 10 percent of New York City's schools at risk of being shut down, prompting criticism that too many city schools are being left behind.
School Choice & Charters
Public Prefers Competent Teachers to Other Reforms, Survey Finds
While policymakers and pundits hotly debate the merits of vouchers, national tests, and limiting class sizes, the American public is more interested in the qualifications of the people who work most closely with students, a survey shows.
Education
Worker Can File Suit Despite Arbitration Waiver, Court Rules
Union members may sue their employers in discrimination cases even if their labor contracts contain general language requiring such disputes to be submitted to arbitration, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week.
College & Workforce Readiness
U.S. Graduation Rates Starting To Fall Behind
The United States is falling behind other economic powers in one category that defines an educated workforce: the high school graduation rate.
Law & Courts
Court Blocks Race-Based School Policy
A federal appeals court last week struck down an affirmative action plan governing student admissions at the Boston Latin School, a prestigious public high school that has been at the center of the debate over racial preferences.
Social Studies
American Pride
In a survey of parents and the public, the following percentages of respondents said they agreed with these statements.
Student Well-Being
Experts Call Lack of Consensus on ADHD a Major Health Problem
The medical community is still unclear about the best way to diagnose and treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the National Institutes of Health said last week. More than 2 million schoolchildren have ADHD, and many of them take strong medications to control their behavior.
Federal
Groups Revving Up for ESEA Reauthorization
The Title I administrators gathered here on a chilly November morning were eager to talk about what's working in the federal government's largest K-12 program and what Congress should change next year.
Education
The Scout Handbook Through the Years
More than 36 million copies of The Boy Scout Handbook have been printed since the first edition in 1910, which included an illustration of a Boy Scout helping an elderly woman cross a street. One requirement to become a First Class Scout at the time: be able to stop a runaway horse. Later editions of the manual were also representative of their times, as the following examples show:
Equity & Diversity
Separate Worlds
In 1996, the state of California created six new single-sex academies. But two years later, their future is hanging by a thread.
College & Workforce Readiness
Finishing School
Percentage of the population that has completed at least an upper-secondary education, by age group (1996).
Education
N.Y.C. Educator Is Named Chief in Cleveland
A longtime educator credited with raising achievement at several of New York City's worst schools has been named the new head of the Cleveland school system.
Student Achievement
Venerable National Honor Society Catching Flak From Some Quarters
For the first time in decades, there will be no members of the National Honor Society next spring among the 850 or so graduates of Waubonsie Valley High School in suburban Chicago.
English-Language Learners
Parents Say Schools Should Imbue Patriotism, Teach English
Just in time for Thanksgiving, a survey of what parents want schools to teach about the United States reveals an appreciation for the American system of government, the personal freedoms afforded citizens, and a traditional view of the nation's history.
Education
After a Decade, Boy Scouts Get New, Updated Handbook
The Boy Scout motto is "Be prepared," and that apparently includes adapting to life in the late 1990s.
Education
State Journal
Texas has enough open-enrollment charter schools for now, says the state board of education, which is asking the legislature not to raise the cap on such charter schools when it convenes next year.
Charter Cap
Texas has enough open-enrollment charter schools for now, says the state board of education, which is asking the legislature not to raise the cap on such charter schools when it convenes next year.
College & Workforce Readiness
Job Corps' Successes Were Overstated, GAO Audit Finds
When the General Accounting Office tried to verify statistics from the Department of Labor on the success of its Job Corps program, it found some sloppy work.
States
Education Policy Figures Prominently at GOP Governors' Meeting
New Orleans
New Orleans
Teacher quality and children's literacy emerged as prominent issues during the featured policy discussion at last week's annual conference of the Republican Governors Association.
Education
Federal File
House Republicans elected a few new faces to their leadership last week and vowed to make education a top priority.
New Leadership
House Republicans elected a few new faces to their leadership last week and vowed to make education a top priority.
Education
Frustrated San Antonio Superintendent Calls It Quits
After four years of struggling against a divided and sometimes uncooperative school board, San Antonio Superintendent Diana Lam has thrown in the towel.