December 8, 1999
Education Week, Vol. 19, Issue 15
Education
Research: Unexplored Territory
As the home schooling phenomenon leaves the educational fringes and gains in popularity as an alternative to traditional schools, the need for information becomes increasingly pressing. Includes "Follow-Up: Home Schooling," a collection of resources on home education.
Education
Displays Entangle Ten Commandments, First Amendment
The Harlan County school system is one of a number of districts in recent months that have been struggling over the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools.
Education
Corrections
The illustrator's credit was omitted from artwork accompanying the Commentary by Steven Goodman in the Dec. 1, 1999, issue of Education Week. The illustrator is Thomas Teague.
Education
Oakland To Vote On Giving Mayor School Say
Mayor Jerry Brown has won the latest round in his continuing maneuvers to influence the operation and direction of the 55,000-student Oakland, Calif., school system. It now will be up to the city's voters to decide if they share their unconventional mayor's vision for education.
Equity & Diversity
Report Cites Threats to Children In New Millennium
The plague of poverty, a lack of health care, and the specter of violent crime are some of the afflictions children face in the next millennium, concludes a report released last week.
Families & the Community
Take Note
Parent class
Children who want to sign up for community sports programs in two Florida towns must first have one parent take a class that teaches appropriate behavior at games.
Education
People in the News
In New York City last week, three educational leaders received the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education, which is presented by the chairman emeritus and the president of the McGraw-Hill Cos. to individuals committed to improving education.
Law & Courts
High Court Hears Arguments Over Aid to Religious Schools
The federal government's loan of computers, software, and other instructional materials to religious schools is "entirely constitutional" under recent U.S. Supreme Court precedents, a lawyer for several parents of children in Roman Catholic schools told the justices last week.
Budget & Finance
'Chance of a Lifetime' for Founder
Advantage Schools founder Steven F. Wilson is a man with a mission.
Budget & Finance
The Business of Running Schools
Following is a sampling of for-profit education management organizations, or EMOs, in the United States. Grade levels listed indicate the widest range of goals offered in any of the company's schools.
Education
Events
December
13-15—Holocaust studies: Holocaust Research and Holocaust Studies in the 21st Century, sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, for educators, in Washington. Contact: USHMM, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place S.W., Washington DC 20024-2126; (202) 488-6115; fax: (202) 488-2690; e-mail: rkopetzky@ushmm.org; www.ushmm.org.
Education
Honors & Awards
Boston U.N. Association Awards
The United Nations Association of Greater Boston recently honored six Massachusetts educators for their contributions to international understanding. They are:
Early Childhood
Child-Care Demand Requires Collaboration, GAO Says
When government agencies work together, they can increase the availability of child care for low-income children, but substantial problems stand in the way of improving services, a report from the General Accounting Office says.
School & District Management
Court Rejects Student's Reverse-Discrimination Claim
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a serious blow last week to a reverse-discrimination lawsuit filed by a white student over his rejection by a Ph.D. program at the University of Texas school of education.
Federal
Federal File
Less of a Challenge
Sen. James M. Jeffords, the Vermont Republican who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, may have an easier re-election campaign next year now that a potential challenger has declined to run.
Federal
Education Budget Has Unprecedented 'Pork'
The San Bernardino County, Calif., superintendent of schools issued a news release last week proudly announcing a $3 million federal grant to underwrite program development for a "virtual" high-tech high school.
States
California Ed. Secretary Is Seen as 'Oasis of Sanity'
The crucial factor that differentiates Gary K. Hart from lawmakers who embrace school reform only because of its political saliency, people who have observed him say, is that he has devoted his career to improving education.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Fla. Ready To Eject Affirmative Action
- Diploma Goal Eludes South
College & Workforce Readiness
Department Study Finds Savings In Direct Loans
The federal government actually earns money by providing college loans directly to students rather paying out funds to subsidize loans by banks and other private lenders, according to a Department of Education study released last week.
Education
N.J. Forging Massive School Building Plan
New Jersey lawmakers are hammering out a plan that could result in one of the most expensive state-sponsored school construction efforts ever.
Education
State Journal
Overprescribing?
The Colorado board of education is urging schools to use proven management techniques to correct student behavior instead of relying too readily on psychiatric prescription drugs.
Student Well-Being
Policies on Lunchtime Scrutinized After Deadly Crashes
Whether to allow students off campus for lunch can be a life-or-death decision for school leaders.
Student Achievement
OCR Probing Social Promotion in Chicago
Chicago's drive to eliminate social promotion, which has won praise from President Clinton, is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights.
Teaching
N.Y., Calif. Cracking Down On College Remediation
Higher education systems in two of the most populous states are cracking down on students in need of remedial help.
Families & the Community
Children & Families
Fighting Apathy: Bringing parents, children, and professionals together as a team can significantly curb delinquency, reduce behavior problems in children, and increase their chances of success in school, according to a study of an award-winning program called fast, or Families and Schools Together.
Standards
States Enlisting Online Tools To Help Promote Standards
Nearly every state has gone to great trouble setting standards for what teachers need to teach and students need to learn. But too often, many educators say, the standards end up sitting in binders on school shelves, unused.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- Room for Growth in New L.A. Plan
- Youth Crime Rate Down
- School Bond Lauded Online
- Controversial Chief To Retire
- Bus-Driver Shortage Seen
- Death
Teaching Profession
'Quality' Crisis Seen In Calif. Teaching Ranks
California falls far short of providing enough qualified teachers for all students, a report released last week warns, and the children most in need of effective teachers are the least likely to have them.
School Choice & Charters
Seeking a Competitive Advantage
While certain businesses have long profited from education—just think of textbooks, cafeteria food, and school supplies—the new education industry is expanding into the area of instruction itself. Tutoring, college counseling, even running entire schools have all opened up as markets for the private sector. Third in a four-part series. Includes: "'Chance of a Lifetime' for Founder" and "The Business of Running Schools."
While certain businesses have long profited from education—just think of textbooks, cafeteria food, and school supplies—the new education industry is expanding into the area of instruction itself. Tutoring, college counseling, even running entire schools have all opened up as markets for the private sector. Third in a four-part series. Includes: "'Chance of a Lifetime' for Founder" and "The Business of Running Schools."