December 14, 1994

Education Week, Vol. 14, Issue 15
Education Districts Turn to Parent Counselors To Bolster School-Family Ties
It can be hard to live up to a name like Zion.
Located in the corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago, Zion, Ill., falls far short of utopia for some families living there. For them, it is a stopover in the quest for jobs along the shore of Lake Michigan.
Megan Drennan, December 14, 1994
4 min read
Education The Sound of Nature
Butterflies in flight make no sound. And as a high school science teacher, you'd think Jim Centorino would know better than to challenge such an immutable law of nature.
December 14, 1994
1 min read
Education The U.S. Supreme Court On School Prayer

1962: Engel v. Vitale


The Court ruled that New York State's encouragement of daily prayer recitations in the public schools was a violation of the First Amendment's prohibition on government establishment of religion. At issue was a short, nondenominational prayer composed by the state board of regents and proposed for adoption by school districts. The vote was 6 to 1, with two Justices not participating in the case.
December 14, 1994
1 min read
Education Annenberg Set to Announce Round of Gifts
Nearly a year after he pledged to provide $500 million to the nation's public schools, the philanthropist Walter H. Annenberg is getting ready to announce where a big portion of that money will go.
Meg Sommerfeld & Lynn Olson, December 14, 1994
16 min read
Education Events

January


A symbol (*) marks events that have not appeared in a previous issue of Education Week.
December 14, 1994
15 min read
Education Federal File: Ins and outs; Maybe next year; E.D. efficiency
America's top students appear to be unimpressed with President Clinton, and more than half do not know who Richard W. Riley is.
December 14, 1994
1 min read
Education Baltimore Files Funding Suit Against Maryland Board
The American Civil Liberties Union charges in a lawsuit filed against the Maryland Board of Education last week that the state has denied public school children in Baltimore an adequate education.
Jessica Portner, December 14, 1994
2 min read
School Choice & Charters Citing Debts, L.A. Board Revokes School's Charter
The Los Angeles Unified School District board agreed last week to pull the plug on a charter school that had lost much of its enrollment and gone heavily into debt.
Peter Schmidt, December 14, 1994
3 min read
Education Table Talk
The image of the family gathered around the dinner table has long held a cherished place in American culture. It conjures visions of Norman Rockwell portraits, Thanksgivings, and Ozzie and Harriet.
Debra Viadero, December 14, 1994
12 min read
Education News in Brief

Direct Loans Expand; G.O.P. Promises Review

December 14, 1994
2 min read
Education Kansas High Court Upholds State's School-Finance System
The Kansas Supreme Court has given state lawmakers its stamp of approval for their new school-finance system, ruling unanimously that all parts of the 1992 law pass constitutional muster.
Lonnie Harp, December 14, 1994
3 min read
Education Children's Advocates Mobilize To Protect Child-Care Programs

Atlanta


Leaders of several children's groups, including the National Association for the Education of Young Children, are urging their members to hold the new Republican-controlled Leaders of several children's groups, including the National Association for the Education of Young Children, are urging their members to hold the new Republican-controlled Congress's feet to the fire on the issue of child care.
December 14, 1994
4 min read
Education Idaho Judge Dismisses Equity Suit
An Idaho district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state's school-finance system, ruling that the state legislature rendered the case moot by responding to some of the plaintiffs' complaints.
Meg Sommerfeld, December 14, 1994
1 min read
Education State Journal
The New Jersey Education Department will hold hearings this week with board members and administrators from the Newark school district after questioning the propriety of spending $74,000 on five new cars for board members' use.
December 14, 1994
1 min read
Education The Electronic Gender Gap
Growing numbers of studies suggest that girls and women are raised to think differently about technology than males do.
Debra Viadero, December 14, 1994
7 min read
Education Revival of Private-School-Voucher Plans Predicted
Private school choice, a concept that has suffered setbacks in recent years, may be picking up steam in states where voters have ushered in a wave of conservative leadership poised to rattle the education bureaucracy.
Laura Miller, December 14, 1994
6 min read
Education Ideas and Findings
Students have different ideas about what it means for a teacher to be caring, and those perceptions may vary according to the students' ethnicity and gender.
December 14, 1994
4 min read
Education Foundations Seek More Active Role in Replicating Successful Models
Eight years ago, the Charles A. Dana Foundation launched an awards program to recognize innovations in education and health. It hoped a $50,000 prize would draw attention to the winners' ideas and help spread their successes to more communities.
Meg Sommerfeld, December 14, 1994
6 min read
Education Districts News Briefs

Denver Administrator's Plan To Suspend 98 Backfires

December 14, 1994
3 min read
Education Michigan Partnership Sets Out on New Course
Michigan's five-year venture in "new education" just passed a crossroads.
Joanna Richardson, December 14, 1994
4 min read
Education D.L.C. Drafts Alternative To Republican 'Contract'
The Democratic Leadership Council, the centrist organization that President Clinton helped found, has called for massive increases in education spending in a response to the g.o.p. "Contract With America."
Mark Pitsch, December 14, 1994
3 min read
English Learners Advocates Assail Calif. Bilingual-Education Proposal
A draft proposal discussed at a meeting of the California Board of Education late last week could dismantle bilingual-education programs across the state, advocates of the programs fear.
Lynn Schnaiberg, December 14, 1994
4 min read
Education Democrat Aides Find They Are Out in the Cold
Washington
The day after the Republicans' Nov. 8 election juggernaut swept across the political landscape, Pat Rissler received bad news from the firm that had offered her a job months earlier.
Robert C. Johnston, December 14, 1994
2 min read
Education Elections Are Likely To Spur Shift in Power
As the reconfigured Congress and state legislatures prepare to convene next month, many lawmakers and governors are signaling an interest in rethinking the roles of federal, state, and local governments. That sentiment could launch the most dramatic power shift in decades.
Mark Pitsch & Lonnie Harp, December 14, 1994
6 min read
Education Counting Their Losses in Wealthy Orange County
Education officials in California are picking through the rubble of Orange County's apparent financial disaster to determine whether schools there could lose millions of dollars.
Drew Lindsay, December 14, 1994
4 min read
Education New Laws Leave State, Local Officials Full of Questions
Baltimore
With planning for the 1995-96 school year under way and dramatic changes in federal education programs taking effect, roughly 2,000 state and local education officials came to a recent Education Department conference here looking for answers.
Mark Pitsch, December 14, 1994
5 min read
Education Effort To Do the Right Thing Upsets Ga. County
After Corkin Cherubini was elected the superintendent of schools in Calhoun County, Ga., two years ago, he set out to dismantle a series of district practices that he says amount to "education apartheid."
Robert C. Johnston, December 14, 1994
8 min read
Education Gore Seeks Bill To Earmark F.C.C. Auction Revenues for Schools
Washington
Vice President Al Gore will work with Congress to develop legislation that would earmark money raised by the Federal Communications Commission's multi-billion-dollar auction of the public airwaves for helping schools connect to the "information highway."
Peter West, December 14, 1994
2 min read
Education Capital Update
Capital Update tracks the movement of legislation, the introduction of notable bills, and routine regulatory announcements.
December 14, 1994
1 min read