February 14, 2001


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FRONT PAGE
In what is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind involving a state takeover of a district, the city of Newark, N.J., has taken its state-run public school system to court, alleging financial mismanagement.
A growing number of schools throughout the country are using Title I aid to address learning problems before children start elementary school.
A growing number of prospective and practicing educators are logging on to computers to earn teaching credentials or bachelor's and master's degrees in a field that ordinarily prizes face-to-face interaction.
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Departments
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School district leaders should get paid more and receive more training if they're going to keep pace with ever-increasing demands, a report argues.
Philadelphia public school officials ordered the inspection of thousands of portable cafeteria tables last week, after one of the fold-up tables toppled over and crushed a 5-year-old boy.
Departments
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- Teens Accused of Plot To Blow Up
High School - Gay Student Sues Calif. District
- Boston Police 'Sweep' Schools
- Md. Targets 4th Baltimore School
- Principal Fends off Knife Attack
- Arizona Teacher Avoids Trial
- Judge Removed From Case
Departments
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In a groundbreaking decision, the Educational Testing Service announced last week that students with disabilities who receive extra time to take its graduate-admissions tests will no longer have such accommodations noted on the scores sent to colleges and universities.
The settlement of a landmark class action in Oregon will allow students with learning disabilities to use electronic spell-check, dictation machines, and other forms of assistance deemed appropriate on a case-by-case basis to take statewide tests.
Departments
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After three decades as a philanthropic pioneer in systemic school reform, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation will phase out its work in public schools, citing the difficulty of trying to forge improvements in a system resistant to change.
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Departments
Advocates for school choice who gathered just blocks from the White House last week expressed their growing frustration with a Republican White House that appears to be wavering in its support for their cause.
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- Researchers Probe Achievement Gap
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As leaders in a growing number of states scramble to cut their budgets in the face of declining tax revenues, schools in at least two states—Alabama and Mississippi—are already feeling the pinch.
Breaking with tradition, Gov. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire has proposed the state's first sales tax as a way to solve its long-running problems over how to pay for schools.
Departments
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Colorado voters were in a generous mood last November, approving a state constitutional amendment that guaranteed a significant jump in spending on public schools over the next 10 years.
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- Georgia
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
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Alaska needs to spend $100 million over the next five years—including $42.4 million in the coming fiscal year alone—to help students reach new academic standards mandated by the state's accountability law, a governor's task force says.
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A comprehensive evaluation of Indiana's education system by two national associations urges the state to do away with its elected chief state school officer in favor of a schools chief appointed by the state board of education.
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- North Carolina Postpones
High School Exam - Minnesota Testing Program Encounters
Another Glitch
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Schools identified as low-performing under the federal Title I program are unlikely to get the help they need, a report concludes, despite a legal requirement that states and districts provide them with assistance.
To Rod Paige, testing students every year in academics is a lot like coaching football players. "The whole point is receiving results," the new secretary of education says. Includes "Off to a Quick Start," a look at Secretary Paige's doctoral dissertation.
Departments
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The Department of Education has grossly mismanaged its financial systems and caused a substantial risk of undermining its mission, according to an independent federal watchdog agency.
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President Bush's $5 billion sketch for putting "Reading First" is winning widespread praise from educators for highlighting what many see as the most critical factors in students' overall academic success: early-literacy skills and teacher training.
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While President Bush already has some clear ideas about federal education policy, it hasn't deterred an onslaught of advice for him and his congressional counterparts. Includes "A Paper for Every Position."
Here's what some prominent think tanks and education groups are recommending to President Bush and the new Congress:
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Following are sketches of the other six U.S. teachers taking part in the Antarctica program this research season. Included are brief descriptions of the projects they worked on and excerpts from their journals, posted on the program's Web site,tea.rice.edu/.
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PAGE 44 - Commentary
For author Thomas Hatch, the biggest threat to effective school reform may be system overload.
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Teacher Helen Bardeen Andrejevic advises on the dangers of embracing phonics as a successful reading method to increase child literacy rates.
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We have the blueprint for raising student achievement in math and science, says National Science Teachers Association president Arthur Eisencraft, the challenge is to instill a sense of urgency to take action and implement much-needed reforms.
PAGE 49 - Commentary
Letters
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Departments
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Departments
FOUNDATION SUPPORT: Coverage of specific topics in Education Week is supported in part by grants from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the CME Group Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the NoVo Foundation, the Noyce Foundation, the Raikes Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation. The newspaper retains sole editorial control over the content of the articles that are underwritten by the foundations. Additional grants in support of Editorial Projects in Education’s data journalism and video capacity come from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the Schott Foundation for Public Education. (Updated 1/1/2017)
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