October 26, 1983
Education Week, Vol. 03, Issue 08
Ed-Tech Policy
F.B.I. Raids Prompt Call for the Teaching of Computer Ethics
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's seizure of computer equipment from young people in 13 cities earlier this month has focused national attention on what experts say is an increasingly vexing problem--protecting the security of information stored in large computer databases.
Education
Fla. Teachers' Union To Offer Alternate Merit-Pay Plan to Council
Reacting to proposals discussed so far by the state's recently established merit-pay commission, the Florida Education Association/United has developed a plan of its own that it expects to present to the commission at its Oct. 27 meeting.
Education
Education Groups Jointly Endorse School Reforms
Agreeing with recent national reports that teaching "is the crucial link to school improvements," a coalition of national education organizations scheduled a Washington press conference this week to present its "consensus" on that and other issues raised in the reports.
Education
Federal File: Accusations at Justice; Extraneous Activity; New Hill Task Force
Timothy M. Cook, a staff attorney in the Justice Department's civil-rights division, last week accused the department of refusing to enforce the nation's anti-discrimination laws and charged Attorney General William French Smith with attempting to "distort and obfuscate the true record of meager enforcement" of those laws.
Timothy M. Cook, a staff attorney in the Justice Department's civil-rights division, last week accused the department of refusing to enforce the nation's anti-discrimination laws and charged Attorney General William French Smith with attempting to "distort and obfuscate the true record of meager enforcement" of those laws.
Education
Ohio Education Groups Fight To Defeat Tax-Repeal Measure
Cleveland--Ohio's public-education organizations are playing a leading role in Gov. Richard F. Celeste's fight against two anti-tax initiatives that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Education
Louisiana High Court Upholds Creationism Law
The Louisiana Supreme Court last week upheld the right of the state legislature to require schools to teach the theory of "creation science" along with "evolution science." A federal court will now decide whether such a course of study would violate the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause.
Education
Ore. Board Is First To Support Sales-Tax Vote
The board of commissioners for Multnomah County (Ore.) earlier this month became the first county in the state to support a vote on installing a 4-percent state sales tax.
The Oregon legislature drafted the new tax proposal in a special session last month, stipulating that a majority of the state's cities, counties, and school districts must signal their backing for a statewide vote before it can be held, in March or May of next year.
Education
Pennsylvania Governor's 'Agenda for Excellence' Wins Praise
Gov. Richard L. Thornburgh of Pennsylvania last week joined a growing number of state leaders who have proposed reforms in elementary and secondary education in recent months.
Education
Justice Dept. Backs Missouri In St. Louis Busing Dispute
The U.S. Justice Department told a federal appeals court last week that a federal district judge may have overstepped legal bounds by ordering the state of Missouri to fund a substantial portion of the St. Louis area's voluntary desegregation plan.
Education
'To Introduce Adolescents to the Person of Jesus'
"Hey, man, you still driving that Maverick?" calls out a young man standing by the doors of the high school.
Education
Unfairness Alleged in Choice of Voc.-Ed Center
The U.S. Education Department's bidding procedure on a contract to administer the National Center for Research in Vocational Education was tainted by political maneuvering, according to an official from the University of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee had bid unsuccessfully in competition with Ohio State University to win the contract to administer the center.
Education
Math, Science Teachers Receive Awards
Congratulating them on their accomplishments as excellent teachers, George Keyworth, President Reagan's science adviser, last week presented Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching to 104 teachers from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Education
Publishing Column
A new junior-high-school textbook on Nebraska's history is being rewritten to include fairer treatment of blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians.
The book, Nebraska Studies, was published last fall by the Nebraska State Department of Education. Because it was the first new account of the state's history to be published in more than 10 years, it was eagerly anticipated by history teachers.
Education
N.H. Equal-Access Law May Curtail Military Recruiting in Schools
Five years ago, officials at Contoocook Valley Regional High School in New Hampshire were so concerned about what they perceived to be overzealous military recruiters that they adopted a policy intended to bring about some order.
Education
Courts Provide Schools With Little Guidance on 'Outsider Access'
Schools seeking guidance in dealing with "outsider access"--the question of whether individuals from religious organizations may come onto public-school campuses during school hours to promote their faiths--will find little help in the law.
Two bills that would give outside religious groups the right to meet in public schools have been introduced in the Congress, but neither has yet come to the floor for a vote. No state, apparently, has enacted or even seriously considered legislation aimed at clarifying the issue. And while federal courts have addressed some related questions, they have yet to rule directly on the rights of schools, students, and religious-group representatives in this context.
Education
High Court Declines To Review Louisiana Desegregation Plan
The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined for a second time to review school-desegregation orders by lower federal courts that resulted in the controversial closing of two schools in a central Louisiana school district.
Education
N.A.S.B.E. Panel Recommends Better, Not Longer, Schooling
A task force convened by the National Association of State Boards of Education has recommended that state boards focus their attention on increasing the amount of time spent on instruction during the existing school day, rather than working to extend the school day or the school year.
Education
Panel Urged To Oppose Religious-Meeting Bill
Members of a House subcommittee on education were advised last week to reject a measure that would deny federal financial aid to schools and colleges that prohibit student and faculty religious groups from meeting on school grounds.
Education
Youth Ministries Increase Steadily In Numbers and Campus Influence
Within the last 40 years, a new type of Christian evangelical group, lacking churches, ordained ministers, and other traditional trappings of the major Protestant denominations, has emerged as an influence on college- and high-school-age young people.
These organizations call themselves nondenominational, or "para-church," organizations. Their main base of operations is usually the school or college campus, and their followers are primarily students. Some are multi-million-dollar organizations that operate through a network of thousands of paid and volunteer employees, called youth ministers, in colleges and secondary schools in the 50 states.
Education
Congress Set To Pass 1984 E.D. Budget
The Congress was widely expected late last week to complete action on a $15.22-billion fiscal 1984 appropriations bill for the U.S. Education Department.
Education
N.I.E. Panel Delays Vote on Agenda, Awaits Action on Grant Competition
The 12-member panel empowered to set the priorities of the National Institute of Education last week reviewed new research topics for the institute's laboratories and centers, but decided not to adopt them in light of a vote by a Congressional conference committee to delay for a year the onset of a competition for the sponsorship of the research facilities.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Letters To The Editor
Your recent treatment of corporal punishment in Florida ("Floridians Don't Spare the Rod, But Some Now Say They Should," Education Week, Sept. 18, 1983) left me with the distinct notion that corporal punishment and "capital" punishment are being considered as one and the same.
I have spent all but five years of my life in the Florida public-school system, both as a student and as an educator. I received corporal punishment first from the dear old lady who taught 1st grade and later from the high-school coach who served as assistant principal.
Education
Opinion
'A War With Japan? Really?'The 'Astonishing Ignorance' of Some Teen-Agers
No amount of preparation could possibly cushion the blows of unawareness of even the most elementary current events, history, politics, economics, or just what goes on each day in the world outside of Los Angeles that lurks in the cheerful minds of these children.
Education
Opinion
The Twin Tragedies in Football: Injury and Litigation
During the years 1980, 1981, and 1982, 13 lawsuits involving students who suffered brain damage or paralysis as a result of high-school football injuries were tried against equipment manufacturers, coaches, school districts, and state athletic associations.