June 12, 1985

Education Week, Vol. 04, Issue 38
Education Districts Receiving Asbestos-Abatement Funds
Alabama: $260,310City Board of Education of Birmingham: $49,809.60 in loans.

Montgomery County Board of Education, Montgomery: $25,250 in loans.

June 12, 1985
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11 min read
Education 6 North Carolina Students Killed in School-Bus Accident
Five schoolchildren were killed on May 31 in Greene County, N.C., when a tractor semi-trailer collided with four other vehicles, including a school bus carrying 28 students.
Anne Bridgman, June 12, 1985
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1 min read
Education Chief Justice's Dissent
Some who trouble to read the opinions in this case will find it ironic--perhaps even bizarre--that on the very day we heard arguments in this case, the Court's session opened with an invocation for Divine protection. Across the park a few hundred yards away, the House of Representatives and the Senate regularly open each session with a prayer. These legislative prayers are not just one minute in duration, but are extended, thoughtful invocations and prayers for Divine guidance. They are given, as they have been since 1789, by clergy appointed as official chaplains and paid from the treasury of the United States. Congress has also provided chapels in the Capitol, at public expense, where members and others may pause for prayer, meditation--or a moment of silence.
June 12, 1985
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6 min read
Education Inspectors Cite 50 Philadelphia Buses
A surprise inspection of 50 buses owned by a private bus company that transports Philadelphia students recently uncovered a number of alleged safety violations and stranded many students without transportation.

The early-morning inspection last month of Pen-Del Coach Line Inc. turned up violations involving incomplete or missing first-aid equipment, missing fire extinguishers, and related safety problems, according to Cpl. Frank Kashetta, unit supervisor of the inspection division of the Pennsylvania State Police and one of the inspectors who visited Pen-Del.

June 12, 1985
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1 min read
Education Peoria Desegregation Case Is Settled
A federal desegregation suit against the Peoria, Ill., school district has been settled, ending a legal battle begun in 1979 by the U.S. Education Department.
Don Sevener, June 12, 1985
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1 min read
Education Senate Panel Backs Legal-Fees Bill
A Senate panel last week approved legislation that would allow parents to receive legal fees in special-education cases.
Alina Tugend, June 12, 1985
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2 min read
Education Publishing Column
The American Association of University Professors has established a commission to study the phenomenon of academic censorship at the high-school level.

Called the aaup Commission on Academic Freedom in Precollegiate Education, the 12-member panel is chaired by Robert O'Neill, the new president of the University of Virginia, and includes representatives from higher education and education associations, according to Jonathan Knight, associate secretary of the aaup

June 12, 1985
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5 min read
Education School Reforms Said To Cut Time for Vocational Training
In a recent nationwide survey of 181 secondary and postsecondary vocational educators, more than 60 percent said their students have a "decreasing" amount of time to take vocational courses.
Susan Hooper, June 12, 1985
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2 min read
Education The Court's Decision in Wallace v. Jaffree
Following, with the exception of introductory material and short selected passages, are the texts of the majority opinion, two concurring opinions, and three dissents in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Wallace v. Jaffree. The single asterisks in brackets [
  • ] denote footnotes that have been omitted; double astrisks [
  • ] denote legal citations omitted.

Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

June 12, 1985
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16 min read
Education White's Dissent
For the most part agreeing with the opinion of the Chief Justice, I dissent from the Court's judgment invalidating Alabama Code 16-1-20.1. ... As I read the filed opinions, a majority of the Court would approve statutes that provided for a moment of silence but did not mention prayer. But if a student asked whether he could pray during that moment, it is difficult to believe that the teacher could not answer in the affirmative. If that is the case, I would not invalidate a statute that at the outset provided the legislative answer to the question "May I pray?" This is so even if the Alabama statute is infirm, which I do not believe it is, because of its peculiar legislative history.
June 12, 1985
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1 min read
Education Federal News Roundup
The Education Department's inspector general last week announced that his office questioned, or recommended for recovery, $45.7 million in federal expenditures during the six-month period ending March 31.

Actions by the inspector's office--an independent watchdog agency that investigates charges of waste, fraud, and abuse within the department--resulted in 91 criminal indictments and 61 convictions, said the inspector general, James B. Thomas Jr., in his report to the Congress.

June 12, 1985
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1 min read
Education Letter to the Editor Letters to the Editor
To the Editor:

Allen Shedlin Jr. makes a fine case in his Commentary defending elementary schools ("Time To End Denigration of Elementary Schools," Education Week, April 24, 1985).

June 12, 1985
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8 min read
Education Opinion Teaching Teachers to be Critical Thinkers
Teaching children to think is one of our main goals as educators, but we can only hope to achieve this if thinking is appreciated and encouraged throughout a school system.
Jay Sugarman, June 12, 1985
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3 min read
Reading & Literacy Opinion Why Can't Johnny Read? We Taught Him Incorrectly
Recently, there has been much concern about illiteracy in the United States. In the fall of 1984, Education Week did a special report on the subject. This year, Jonathan Kozol's new book, Illiterate America, has received wide attention.
Rudolf Flesch, June 12, 1985
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4 min read
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