April 11, 1984
Education Week, Vol. 03, Issue 29
Education
Study Finds Rise in Number of Free Lunches Served
The number of students participating in the National School Lunch Program dropped by about four million between 1979 and 1983, but the number of children who received free lunches was higher in 1983 than in 1979, a new federal report has found.
Education
PUSH-EXCEL Asked To Return Federal Funds
The Education Department announced last week that it has asked a nonprofit educational organization founded by the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson to return more than $700,000 in federal funds that it says were misspent.
Education
For The Record
Following are excerpts from April 5 remarks by President Reagan before the New York State Federation of Catholic School Parents. 
Education
Military Public School's First Class Marches Off to Careers, College
As an 8th grader, Roy Reed had become so bored with school that by the end of the school year, his records showed 57 days of unexcused absences. "I was at the point," he recalled recently, "where I was just tired of school. My life was at a standstill."
Education
Vocational Education
A researcher at The Johns Hopkins University has concluded in a study of high-school dropouts that youth employment is neither harmful nor a contributor to delinquent behavior. The researcher, Michael S. Cook of the university's Center for Social Organization of Schools, also contends that returning to school does not automatically benefit the students who drop out.
"Recently, some researchers have hypothesized that youth employment may be harmful and lead to delinquency," Mr. Cook said. "They reason that employment exposes youngsters to job stress and to negative socialization in the workplace and decreases the amount of control and surveillance that parents can exert."
Education
Innovative Program Aids Chronically Ill Students in Baltimore
It is a surprisingly cold day for late March, the kind of day that causes problems for 14-year-old Theresa Torrence, who suffers from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
Education
Kentucky, Idaho Legislators Enact School Reforms
The following summary of state legislative action on education was reported by Richard Wilson in Frankfort, Ky., and Sheppard Ranbom.
Education
News Update
State Comptroller Bob Bullock of Texas says that a preliminary estimate of the first-year cost of implementing the reforms proposed by the Texas Select Committee on Public Education was misleading because it did not take into account escalating costs over a five-year period. (See Education Week, March 28, 1984.)
Instead of costing the taxpayers $2.4 million in the first year, the plan will cost $19 billion over five years, according to John Moore, director of tax information.
Education
National News Roundup
The National Center for Research in Vocational Education has convened a panel of experts representing education, business, and labor, to examine vocational education in the high schools and offer recommendations for improvement.
In an attempt to address what has been called the "unfinished agenda" of the various reports on education, panel members will examine the vocational curriculum as it relates to preparation for work, according to Linda Lotto, the center's project director.
Education
Honig Announces California 'Merit-School' Plan
Bill Honig, California's state superintendent of public instruction, last week proposed a three-year program that would reward the state's schools on a per-pupil basis for improving their performance in several measurable categories. If the proposal is adopted, California could become the first state to establish a merit-school program.
Ed-Tech Policy
Number of Computers in Schools Doubles
Microcomputers were added to thousands of public-school classrooms during the past year, according to a new survey.
Education
In-Grade Retention Called Inadequate
At a time when some of the nation's largest school districts are considering abandoning their "social promotion" policies--or have already done so--in response to the public's call for higher standards, at least one researcher is arguing that the practice of failing children who do not meet achievement standards is an ineffective method of ensuring academic progress.
Education
Alaska Approves Higher StandardsFor Graduation
The Alaska State Board of Education last week voted unanimously to raise graduation requirements for the state's 90,000 public-school students. The vote comes at a time when Harold Raynolds Jr., the commissioner of education, has called for an increased emphasis on academic excellence.
Education
Alvarado Is Charged by N.Y.C. Board
The New York City Board of Education filed formal charges last week against suspended Schools Chancellor Anthony J. Alvarado.
Education
E.P.A. Will Provide Information on Asbestos
A federally sponsored task force on asbestos in schools agreed last week to revise an Environmental Protection Agency fact sheet to help school officials, building contractors, and the general public learn more about the health hazards associated with the substance.
Education
Federal News Roundup
The House last week approved an overall budget plan for fiscal 1985 that, according to lobbyists, "tacitly" assumes a maximum spending limit of $17 billion for the U.S. Education Department.
The bill, commonly referred to as the first budget resolution, would provide $29.95 billion in budget authority for the category within the budget that includes education, training, employment, and social-service programs.
Education
N.A.E.P. Ready To Report State Scores
The executive director of the National Assessment of Educational Progress told a House subcommittee last week that the federally financed testing program is prepared to provide states with the means to measure student achievement on an interstate basis.
Education
Vermont State Board Sets New School-Approval Requirements
The Vermont Board of Education has proposed a comprehensive school-improvement plan that would require all school districts to raise the overall quality of their programs before they could receive state approval.
Education
No Pizza Deal, No Cafeteria Meal at Harrison High
A decision to prohibit students from sending out for lunch-time pizza has sent pupils "packing" at William Henry Harrison High School in Harrison, Ohio.
A decision to prohibit students from sending out for lunch-time pizza has sent pupils "packing" at William Henry Harrison High School in Harrison, Ohio.
Education
Bill Introduced in Congress To Restore Broad Scope to Title IX
A coalition of 165 Republican and Democratic Congressmen introduced bills in the House and Senate last week designed to restore to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and three other anti-discrimination statutes the broad scope they said was originally intended by the Congress.
Education
Education Groups Agree on Plan To Improve Instructional Materials
Officials of two national education associations and the Association of American Publishers, meeting in New York City earlier this month, agreed on a three-step plan to upgrade the quality of instructional materials.
Education
Ohio Panel Calls for Restructuring of Vocational System
An Ohio citizen's group that studies school policies has recommended that the state restructure its vocational programs to place more emphasis on academics and promote closer links between schools and the employers for whom vocational students are preparing.
Education
Corporations Considering Creation of For-Profit Schools
Citing a climate of "educational renaissance," leaders of some of the nation's best known corporations are weighing the idea of moving into the field of elementary and secondary education as providers, not just supporters.
Education
Judge Removes Suburbs From Kansas City Desegregation Suit
A federal district judge dismissed charges last week against 11 predominantly white suburban Kansas City, Mo., school districts in a lawsuit seeking to desegregate the city school system.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Letters To The Editor
John H. Hollifield, in his letter to the editor, called the Scholastic Aptitude Test "the specific measure that we use to judge all ... high schools ("An 'Effective' School That Fails To Meet the Standard Measure of Effectiveness," Education Week, March 21, 1984). Who is the "we" he is talking about? The sat is a fine measure for colleges to use--along with other criteria--in trying to predict the academic performance of an individual applicant, or for students to use--along with other criteria--in selecting a college. But it is not an appropriate measure for judging a high school's effectiveness.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
Diane Ravitch's response to your summary of my review of The Troubled Crusade: American Education, 1945-1980 in Dissent sheds much heat but little light on our differences ("Review of Education Book 'Unabashedly Dishonest,' Education Week, March 7, 1984). Readers interested in the fuller exchange will find it in the Spring issue of Dissent.
Diane Ravitch's response to your summary of my review of The Troubled Crusade: American Education, 1945-1980 in Dissent sheds much heat but little light on our differences ("Review of Education Book 'Unabashedly Dishonest,' Education Week, March 7, 1984). Readers interested in the fuller exchange will find it in the Spring issue of Dissent.