January 16, 2002
Education Week, Vol. 21, Issue 18
Law & Courts
Pa. Board Mulls Tighter Reins On Student Press
The free-speech rights of student journalists in Pennsylvania may be seriously reduced if proposed changes to the state education code pass, some school newspaper advisers and the state press association say.
Education
People in the News
The National Education Association has hired Timothy C. Dedman to join the staff of its Teacher Quality Unit.
Federal
AASA President-Elect's Promotional Spending Reviewed
The president-elect of the American Association of School Administrators is under scrutiny for spending up to $20,000 in local school district funds for promotional materials highlighting himself and his district at a time when he was seeking that leadership position.
Education
Math and Science Could Be Big Losers Under New Law
The changes in the new education law "virtually eliminate dedicated federal funding for K-12 math and science education," advocates for math and science teachers declared in a last-minute plea for help in lobbying for a new mathematics and science program.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Bush Names Director for 'Reading First' Program
- Department Offers Research Grants
Education
Early Years
More Kindergarten?: The Santa Ana Unified School District in California is floating the idea of establishing a two-year kindergarten program that proponents hope would better serve a highly needy student population.
Education
Program Finds New Teachers In Unexpected Places: Schools
Recruiting highly qualified teachers to work in needy school districts isn't difficult if administrators know where to look for candidates, concludes a report released last week.
Law & Courts
Yonkers Desegregation Suit May Be Nearing End
The decades-old desegregation case in Yonkers, N.Y., could end this year if a federal court approves a settlement that would pump an additional $300 million in state money into the struggling school district.
Law & Courts
High Court Declines to Hear Case On Teaching of Evolution
The U.S. Supreme Court declined last week to hear the appeal of a Minnesota high school biology teacher who was reassigned because he refused to teach a unit on the theory of evolution in accordance with the district's curriculum.
Ed-Tech Policy
Former Hickok Aide to Direct Ed. Technology for Paige
Secretary of Education Rod Paige has turned to a young but experienced Pennsylvania official to advise him on the use of technology in education.
Education
State Journal
Off the A-List
School boosters, lulled by numerous polls showing keen interest in the subject among voters, might be surprised to find it absent from the latest list of likely hot topics in state legislatures this year. After all, education has been a staple of the list since the National Conference of State Legislatures began the compilation in 1998.
Assessment
Austin Cheating Scandal Ends in No-Contest Plea, Fine
The Austin, Texas, school district closed the book on an almost 3-year-old testing scandal last week, pleading no contest to a criminal conviction and agreeing to pay a $5,000 fine.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Internet Filtering Is Balancing Act For Many Schools
The Children's Internet Protection Act requires schools using federal funds for Internet use or connections to have filtering systems in place by July of this year, or risk losing federal education aid. But the requirements of CIPA, as the law is known, worry some educators and have prompted a legal challenge.
School Climate & Safety
Concern Turns to Preschool Facilities
The potential dangers and depressing physical characteristics of many child-care centers have some early-childhood policymakers saying it's time to start focusing more attention on improving the quality of the nation's child-care and preschool facilities.
Education
City Districts Lifting Rules On Residency
Residency rules for teachers still have their proponents among some school and city leaders, but with urban districts struggling to recruit enough qualified teachers, many forecast the extinction of such dictates.
Education
States Gear Up for New Federal Law
Interviews by Education Week reporters with officials in 45 states suggest that, by and large, state leaders applaud the thrust of the newly reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act and welcome the billions of new dollars Congress has appropriated for education. But they also have a number of questions and concerns.
Education
Honors & Awards
Milken Family Foundation Educators
The Milken Family Foundation has presented 120 educators in 44 states with its 2001National Educator Awards. Each winner will receive $25,000 for their unrestricted use and an expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to participate in the foundation's annual conference in June.
Early Childhood
Generation Connection
In an unusual move, an Oklahoma school district and a nursing home have joined forces to build and run an early-childhood facility that brings together young and old.
Education
Amid Heartland Hoopla, Bush Signs the ESEA
Eschewing a Rose Garden ceremony, President Bush signed the new federal education act last week at what could best be described as a heartland pep rally.
Eschewing a Rose Garden ceremony, President Bush signed the new federal education act last week at what could best be described as a heartland pep rally.
States
Michigan Chief Sees School Ratings, Sanctions in Future
Michigan state schools chief Thomas D. Watkins is betting that his new blueprint for school accountability will win approval by this spring, ending four years of official wavering over how best to rate schools in the Great Lakes State.
Education
State of the States 2002: California, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, West Virginia
Even as California lawmakers begin a special session to grapple with the grim realities of a $12.2 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Gray Davis struck an optimistic tone in his State of the State Address last week.
Education Funding
Philanthropy Gives Grants Aimed at Leadership
A national foundation gave a major boost last week to 15 states and 10 districts working to improve the quality of leadership in education.
Education
Toys 'R' Useful: Stores Cash In On Educational Playthings
With a demographic bump in the number of young children, and with many parents eager to spend on toys that will not only entertain but also teach, this could be a golden era for educational toys. Includes an accompanying business story, "School Managers Chancellor and Beacon Merge."
With a demographic bump in the number of young children, and with many parents eager to spend on toys that will not only entertain but also teach, this could be a golden era for educational toys. Includes an accompanying business story, "School Managers Chancellor and Beacon Merge."
Curriculum
Fun and Games: Utah Students Study The Winter Olympics
Like many other residents of Utah, the students at McPolin Elementary School in Park City can't wait for the 2002 Winter Olympics to begin in Salt Lake City next month. For the past year, the youngsters been learning about the Gamesthrough extracurricular activities, assemblies, special projects, and classroom lessons designed by the local Olympic committee.
Budget & Finance
School Managers Chancellor and Beacon Merge
In the latest consolidation in the for-profit education industry, Chancellor Academies Inc. merged last week with Beacon Education Management to form the country's second-largest school management company.
Education
Retrospective
An expert predicts that computers will kill long division; a desegregation plan loses funding in N.J.; the Illinois superintendent moves ahead on a controversial plans to teach values in schools; a panel warns the U.S. students aren't getting as much math and science as students in other industrialized countries; and more.
An expert predicts that computers will kill long division; a desegregation plan loses funding in N.J.; the Illinois superintendent moves ahead on a controversial plans to teach values in schools; a panel warns the U.S. students aren't getting as much math and science as students in other industrialized countries; and more.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- North Carolina Schools Assemble Crisis Kits
- Baltimore District Settles Suit Over Teacher's Use of Guide Dog
- Calif. Superintendent Resigns After Uproar Over Spending
- Chicago Mayor Praises District's Flexible High School Schedules
- N.M. Principal Won't Return $390,000 in Incentive Pay
- Government Seizes a Portion of Nevada District's NSF Grant
- Houston-Area Students to Get Cash for Tips on Crime Threats
Education
Corrections
A column of data in the Program Standards table [print edition] on Page 63 of Education Week's report Quality Counts 2002: Building Blocks for Success, published as the Jan. 10 issue, provided incorrect information about states that allow exemptions from licensing for nursery schools, preschools, or prekindergarten. The 14 states that do so are: Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia.