March 18, 1992
Education Week, Vol. 11, Issue 26
Ed-Tech Policy
Apple Developing Computer That Can Recognize Sounds
Apple Computer Inc. has unveiled a working prototype of a Macintosh personal computer that appears to greatly advance the capability of computers to recognize and respond to commands in spoken English.
Education
Debate Over Renewing Public-TV Aid Raises Fears of Cuts in 'Seed Money'
A bill to reauthorize federal funding for public broadcasting has ignited a sharp legislative debate over a perceived liberal bias in programming and a lack of accountability for federal dollars, including those going to children's shows.
Education
State Journal: California cabinet clash; Siberia treatment
A political storm may be brewing in California over the role of Gov. Pete Wilson's proposed child-development and education cabinet post.
Education
Oklahoma Voters Approve Tax-Limitation Initiative
The Oklahoma anti-tax activists who failed last October to force repeal of a massive school-reform and tax-increase law celebrated victory last week, after state voters passed a ballot initiative limiting the legislature's ability to raise taxes.
Education
Alexander Plans 'Partnership' To Strengthen Arts Education
Amid continuing criticism that music and the arts have been left out of national education-reform efforts, Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander earlier this month disclosed his intention to form a national "partnership" to strengthen schooling in those subjects.
Education
Early-Years Column
Building on the successes of Head Start and a state preschool program, New Jersey has launched an effort to expand the reach and scope of early-education services for urban poor children and ensure that elementary schools help them to sustain their preschool gains.
Education
Disabled Students Found To Achieve 'Mixed Success'
WASHINGTON--Young people with disabilities are meeting with "mixed success" as they struggle through high school and search for meaningful, well-paid employment, data from three new federal studies indicate.
Education
Coalition Campaigns For Investment in Energy-Efficient Schools
Inspired by a report estimating that public schools waste $1.85 billion in energy costs each year, a loose coalition of education groups, businesses, and federal agencies has undertaken a campaign to urge school leaders to invest in making their buildings more energy-efficient.
Education
Detroit Board Set To Vote on Plan 'To Empower' Schools
The Detroit Board of Education is slated to vote next week on a plan that would give teachers, parents, and students at individual schools substantial control over their educational programs, budgets, and resources--including the right to purchase services from vendors other than the central administration.
Education
Legislative Updates
The following are summaries of governors' budget requests for precollegiate education and highlights of proposals that rank high on the states' education agendas.
Education
5 Districts, Center To Create New Vision of Schools
Five school districts committed to a set of common principles have entered into a partnership with The Center for Leadership in School Reform to fundamentally rethink the way they do business.
Education
School-Funding Debate Hits Airwaves As Idaho Governor, Lawmakers Clash
A $5-million difference in education funding has touched off a bitter partisan dispute between Idaho's Democratic Governor and Republican legislative leaders.
Education
Union Leaders Hail N.M. Collective-Bargaining Bill
Stymied for nearly a decade in their attempts to mandate collective bargaining in every state, the nation's teachers' unions have made a breakthrough in New Mexico with the passage of a law that allows teachers and other public-sector employees to negotiate as a unit.
Education
Report on Welfare-to-Work Programs Calls for Focus on Children's Services
Welfare-to-work programs can be I "powerful catalysts" to improve the health and educational outcomes of children as well as the employment status of their parents, a new report, from the Foundation for Child Development concludes.
Education
Capital Digest
The Senate last week appeared poised to approve a tax bill that includes several provisions aiding schools and children.
Education
Calif. Lawmakers Approve $1.9-Billion School-Bond Vote
After dropping a pair of controversial proposals aimed at making it easier for school districts to raise funds locally, the California legislature last week approved a $1.9-billion school-bond issue on the state's June 2 ballot.
Education
Testing Column
Nearly three-fifths of school districts administer commercially available standardized tests annually to almost every pupil in grades K-12, and more than three-fourths administer such tests I each year to pupils in grades K-9, a survey has found.
Education
Study of Jobs Program Finds 'Disappointing' Impact
A public-private summer employment and remediation program for at-risk teenagers that had shown promising short-term results and has been replicated at 100 sites in 15 states has had a "disappointing'' long-term impact, according to a new study of some of its earliest participants.
Education
Thinking About Education
The Rutgers University sociologists Jackson Toby and David J. Armour suggest in the Winter 1992 issue of The Public Interest that the General Educational Development program offers greater benefits in the long run than most high-school dropout programs because it appeals to the motivated:
Education
Private School Column
As part of its ongoing Promoting Independent Education Project, the National Association of Independent Schools this month released two publications aimed at helping parents find out more about independent schools.
Education
Iowa's 4 Largest Universities Withdraw From NCATE
The four largest universities in Iowa announced last week that they were removing their teacher-preparation programs from the national accreditation process.
Education
Accord Affirms Independence Of NAEP Governing Board
The Education Department and the National Assessment Governing Board have signed an agreement affirming the board's status as an independent agency.
Education
District News Roundup
A Maricopa County Superior Court jury this month awarded the mother of an Arizona high-school sophomore who died of heat-related injuries during a football practice $850,000 in damages.
Education
I.R.S. Apparently Is Scrutinizing Student Compliance With Tax Law
A request by the Internal Revenue Service for scholarship records from Harvard University has raised the possibility that the agency may be more closely scrutinizing students' compliance with a law making some scholarship money subject to federal income taxes.
Education
Judge Questions New York Aid to Nonpublic Schools
A federal judge has questioned the constitutionality of two New York State programs that loan computer software and library books to nonpublic schools, including religious institutions.
Education
People News
Robert L. Maddox, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has resigned effective April 1.
Education
Budget Cutters, School Reformers Taking Aim at Gifted Education
Once educators in his community decided he was gifted, Marcus Simpson began to do wonderful things in school. He created inventions, spent hours working on complex problems, and visited with a local television station to find out how weather reports are produced.