February 9, 1983

Education Week, Vol. 02, Issue 20
Education Tenn. Governor Urges Merit Pay For Teachers
Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander travelled the state last week, devoting full time to promoting major changes in public-school curricula and the career pay patterns of teachers.
Peggy Caldwell, February 9, 1983
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8 min read
Education Cities News Roundup
Ruth B. Love, Chicago's superintendent of schools, has asked for a probe of allegations of widespread drinking and marijuana use among school bus drivers.

The charges, made last week by the Better Government Association and radio station WCFL, stemmed from a four-month investigation by the association and reporters from the station. They contend that drivers employed by Spears Transportation Inc., which holds a $9.1-million contract with the school board this year to transport 20,000 students, routinely use alcohol and marijuana before and during work.

February 9, 1983
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2 min read
Education Teachers Column
Are you looking for a little adventure this year? If so, a California teacher may have just the answer.

H. Clyde Hostetter, a faculty member at California Polytechnic State University, says he discovered on a recent trip to England that many teachers there would like to exchange homes with Americans for a month or more. The problem is making contact.

February 9, 1983
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4 min read
Education People News
Robert G. Scanlon, who served as Pennsylvania's education secretary for four years, has left state government and joined the private sector as assistant to the president of Temple University in Philadelphia.

Mr. Scanlon, a Democrat, was not reappointed to a second term as education secretary by Gov. Richard L. Thornburgh. He was reportedly dissatisfied with his new post, executive secretary of the Human Services Committee, and abruptly quit the job after only five days, amidst rumors of an offer from Temple.

February 9, 1983
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1 min read
Education Research and Reports
Principals received the lowest salary increases in several years in 1982-83, according to a report released last week by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Principals received salary increases this school year ranging from 5.4 percent for elementary-school principals to 7.6 percent for high-school principals in schools with 10,000 to 24,999 students, according to the report. The report was based on the maximum salaries paid to principals and assistant principals by 1,120 school systems that responded to a survey questionnaire.

February 9, 1983
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3 min read
Education Hello, Mrs. Jones? This Is Your Son's, Ah, Principal
Need to call 350 parents to let them know Johnnie or Susie cut classes yesterday, or, alternatively, that they made the Dean's list? Or that there is a pta meeting next Wednesday night? Yes, you say, but one can't possibly make that many calls in a day. Well, Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport, Fla., may have the answer.

Last month, the 1,600-student school put Telsol to work. Half computer, half truant officer, the machine automatically calls and leaves a pre-recorded 20-second message with as many telephone numbers as school officials give it.

February 9, 1983
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1 min read
Education News Update
At 10:17 P.M. on Jan. 26, one of the most celebrated book-banning controversies in the country ended.

The board of the Island Trees Union Free School District in Levittown, N.Y., voted 4 to 3 to keep on the shelves nine books that it had banned from its school libraries in 1976.

February 9, 1983
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2 min read
Education States News Roundup
Gov. Richard F. Celeste of Ohio last week ordered a $190-million cut in state aid to elementary and secondary schools to help balance the state's fiscal 1983 budget, which has a deficit projected at $528 million.

Together with a $40-million cut in state support for colleges and universities, the reductions for education represent more than 81 percent of the $282 million trimmed by the Governor's executive order.

February 9, 1983
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4 min read
Education Absenteeism Is School Officials' 'Major Problem'
When absenteeism increased last year in the Dallas Independent School District, resulting in the loss of more than $1 million in state aid, school officials drafted a new policy requiring that any student who misses more than 10 classes during the school year automatically receive a failing grade.
Susan G. Foster, February 9, 1983
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8 min read
Education SUBB: Books: Nre Print
Ability Testing: Uses, Consequences, and Controversies, Part I: Report of the Committee, edited by Alexandra K. Wigdor and Wendell R. Garner (National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418; 252 pages, paper $13.95).

The members of the Committee on Ability Testing of the National Research Council attempt to present a broad, unbiased examination of the role of testing in the U.S. Their study provides an introduction to the concepts, methods, and terminology of ability testing; a brief history of testing in this country; and an examination of the fundamental educational and public policy questions presented by widespread use of standardized tests. Designed for teachers, administrators, and other educators, the book offers advice on the appropriate use and interpretation of test results and recommends how tests might be used to preserve appropriate social, institutional, and individual goals.

February 9, 1983
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4 min read
Education Districts News Roundup
A Union County, N.J., judge has ruled that the Hillside Board of Education must turn over to the state data on its racially imbalanced elementary schools so that a desegregation plan can be implemented by the beginning of next school year.

Superior Court Judge William DiBuono issued the order on Jan. 28. The state, meanwhile, was ordered to hire a consultant, at the school district's expense, to prepare a desegregation plan.

February 9, 1983
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22 min read
Education N.Y. Gov. Would Shift State Aid from Rich to Poor Districts
The plan announced last week by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo to shift some state aid from New York's wealthy districts to its poor ones is expected to meet adamant opposition from suburban areas, but the Governor's aides said the state's budget problems should make such reform harder for legislators to reject.
Charlie Euchner, February 9, 1983
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3 min read
Education Health Column
Poor sanitation practices and a "casual" attitude toward the routines that prevent disease have made day-care centers "networks" for the transmission of intestinal diseases such as diarrhea, a South Carolina physician says.

Writing in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Stanley H. Schuman said several factors contribute to the problem. Among them, he noted, are the neglect of such rudimentary precautions as training day-care workers to handle food hygienically--by washing their hands, for example.

February 9, 1983
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2 min read
Education Massachusetts Schools 'Took the Brunt' of Proposition 2
A report prepared by the Massachusetts Department of Education supports the view of school officials statewide that of all the services affected by the enactment of Proposition 2--the tax-limitation measure--education programs have been hit the hardest.
Susan G. Foster, February 9, 1983
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2 min read
Education Strike Ends in Western Pa. District, Begins in Phila.
Their lunchboxes shiny from lack of use, schoolchildren here returned to classes last week after an 82-day teachers' strike--the longest in Pennsylvania history.
Debra Hughes, February 9, 1983
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4 min read
Education Film Teaches How To Write by First Teaching How To 'See'
On a recent day on Sullivan Street here, two men in a small corner market were arguing about the opposing teams in a football game they were watching on television.
Alex Heard, February 9, 1983
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6 min read
Ed-Tech Policy Federal 'High-Tech' Programs Gain Supporters
Participants in a conference sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York last week decided to form three groups of business, education, and political leaders to encourage President Reagan and "guide" Congress on legislation to improve education for high-technology jobs.

The committees--which will be directed by David Hamburg, president of the Carnegie Corporation, and Lewis M. Branscomb, vice president and chief scientist for I.B.M. and chairman of the National Science Board, will deal with issues ranging from mathematics and science education to college-based applied research.

February 9, 1983
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1 min read
Education Reagan's 1984 Budget Gets Mixed Reviews
The Reagan Administration's education proposals for the fiscal year 1984, including an overall budget reduction of 12 percent and changes in numerous programs, were greeted with mixed reactions on Capitol Hill and in the education community here last week.
Eileen White, February 9, 1983
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6 min read
Education President Reagan's 1984 Education Budget
The effects of President Reagan's fiscal 1984 budget proposal on various education-related federal programs are summarized in the following special section.

The budget figures listed include: (1) the actual appropriation figures for the fiscal year 1982; (2) the fiscal 1983 budget set by the Congressional continuing resolution last fall; (3) new proposals by the Administration to rescind funds from the 1983 budget; and (4) the Administration's fiscal 1984 budget proposals.

February 9, 1983
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12 min read
Education E.C.S. To Study Private-Ed. Laws
The Education Commission of the States (ecs) has received a $50,000 grant from the National Institute of Education to examine the statutes affecting private education in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories.

Once compiled, the information will be stored in ecs's computerized 50-state databank, from which the commission will be able to draw comparisons on particular items, such as state requirements for teacher and administrator certification and litigation involving state regulation of private schools.

February 9, 1983
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1 min read
Education 'Basics' Push May Hurt Science, Math Achievement, Study Finds
The emphasis on "basics" that led to significant gains among low-achieving students in the 1970's coincided with a less encouraging shift: declining achievement in science and mathematics among more academically able students.
Susan Walton, February 9, 1983
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3 min read
Education Powell Stays Ala. School Prayer Law
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. last week ordered that prayer in Alabama schools be stopped until a federal court challenge against the practice is resolved.
Alex Heard, February 9, 1983
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1 min read
Education S.C. Proposes Funding Boost
Two new initiatives announced last month in South Carolina could result in significant increases in funding and major program changes for the state's public schools.

The first, proposed by Superintendent of Education Charlie G. Williams, is a 41-point plan to "accelerate the progress and improvements" in the schools. Mr. Williams's plan stresses early-intervention programs for students with academic difficulties, and increases in teachers' salaries.

February 9, 1983
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2 min read
Education California School-Finance Lawsuit Returns to Court
In 1967, John Serrano Sr. was told by his son's school principal that the boy, then 6 years old, was considered nearly gifted, but could receive a decent education only if the family moved out of East Los Angeles to a wealthier school district.
Robert Rudy, February 9, 1983
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7 min read
Education Pa. Private College Deans Endorse Higher Admissions Standards
As more states announce higher admissions standards for their public colleges and universities and more stringent high-school graduation requirements, private colleges and universities, for the most part, have been silent about what they expect of college-bound students.
Sheppard Ranbom, February 9, 1983
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5 min read
Education House Ed. Committee Moves Swiftly on Science Bill
As the Reagan Administration last week unveiled its $70-million plan for upgrading the nation's programs in mathematics and science education, the House Education and Labor Committee concluded four days of hearings on a bill that would support such programs with four times as much federal money.
Eileen White, February 9, 1983
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4 min read
Education Children May Suffer Harm When Parents Lose Jobs, Panel Told
The nation's record-high unemployment rate is adversely affecting the health and welfare of children, child-welfare experts told a House subcommittee last week.
Eileen White, February 9, 1983
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2 min read
Education N.E.A. Supports Affirmative Action Over Seniority in Supreme Court Brief
The National Education Association (nea) this week broke with traditional union philosophy and the sentiment of many of its 1.6-million members and filed a brief supporting affirmative action in a reverse-discrimination suit now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Thomas Toch, February 9, 1983
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3 min read
Education Opinion Junior Highs Had Yearbooks; Middle Schools (I'm Told) Do Not
I certainly hope the new magnet-school program works. My 8th-grade child has been subjected to so many new programs in the Wake County, N.C., public schools that it is hard to keep track of them.
Linda J. Duckworth, February 9, 1983
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1 min read
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