May 20, 1998
Education Week, Vol. 17, Issue 36
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
Mich. Adopts New Terms For Proficiency Testing;Indiana To Pay for PSAT; Utah Accord Reached; Iowa School Bill Vetoed
Reading & Literacy
Federal Literacy Debate May Go Down to the Wire
Congress has six weeks to choose between spending $210 million on a new reading program or channeling the money to special education.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
Administration Pushes Class-Size Reduction
Armed with a report reiterating its argument that smaller is better, the White House sent legislation to Congress last week for President Clinton's class-size-reduction initiative.
Special Education
Educators and members of Congress want the federal government to cover 40 percent of the additional cost of a disabled student's education, based on the language in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, first passed in 1975 and amended last year. The actual wording of the law states that 40 percent of the national average per-pupil expenditure is the maximum amount a state may receive.
Education
Honors & Awards
AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION
The 1998 Awards for Excellence and Innovation, sponsored by the American Association for Career Education, were given to three organizations for excellence and innovation in programs, practices, and publications. The recipients are: Educators for Tomorrow Program, in the Ector County Independent School District, Odessa, Texas; the National Planning for Life Recognition Program, of the National Consortium of State Career Guidance Supervisors, Columbus, Ohio; the Architecture Curriculum, in the Boulder Valley Middle School Applied Technology Centers, Boulder, Colo.
The 1998 Awards for Excellence and Innovation, sponsored by the American Association for Career Education, were given to three organizations for excellence and innovation in programs, practices, and publications. The recipients are: Educators for Tomorrow Program, in the Ector County Independent School District, Odessa, Texas; the National Planning for Life Recognition Program, of the National Consortium of State Career Guidance Supervisors, Columbus, Ohio; the Architecture Curriculum, in the Boulder Valley Middle School Applied Technology Centers, Boulder, Colo.
Federal
Hands-On Learning
It's 5 p.m. at the U.S. Department of Education. Just a few headquarters
employees are lingering in the agency's long, drab corridors. But on the
top floor of the six-story building, in a small conference room, school is
in session.
School Climate & Safety
Officials Call Gun Report Proof of Crackdown
Federal education officials say a report showing that 6,093 students were expelled last school year for bringing firearms to campus provides proof that schools are cracking down on such offenses.
School & District Management
Ed. Dept. Seeks Researchers To Explore Lonely Databases
The Department of Education is sitting on top of the research equivalent of a gold mine: more than 15 national databases on everything from children's preschool experiences to students' college course work. And it's all free for the asking.
Education
Assessment Panel Seeks Ways To Attract State Participation
To shore up and expand participation by states in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics is assembling a task force to learn how NAEP can best serve the states.
Education Funding
Frustrated With State, Texas Districts Back Reviving Finance Suit
A group of 126 poor, mostly rural Texas school districts that joined a 1984 lawsuit that forced the state to rewrite its school aid law now says it wants to reopen the litigation because the state is backpedaling.
Teaching Profession
Money Issues Often Drive Unions Apart
The Ohio Education Association donated $500,000 to Every Child Counts, the campaign to pass a 1-cent sales-tax increase for public education that state voters defeated by an overwhelming margin this month.
Education
Classroom-Spending Vote Has Educators Split
California school administrators are engaged in a bare-knuckle brawl with Los Angeles teachers over a ballot initiative that would restrict districts' spending on administration.
School Climate & Safety
Middle School Keeps Boys and Girls Apart To Enforce Discipline
Boys and girls at a Tyler, Texas, middle school can look at each other, but they can't touch.
Education
Connecticut Teachers Practicing What Teaching Tome Preaches
With the constant stream of reports and recommendations about education reform, it's tempting to wonder whether anybody's listening.
Education
Wilson Seeks New Funding Boost for State's Schools
Call it the "May Surprise."
Gov. Pete Wilson of California announced last week that he wants to add more than $500 million to the education budget plan he unveiled in January in order to help pay for teacher training and textbooks, as well as intervention for low-performing schools and students.
Ed-Tech Policy
Funding for 'E-Rate' Discounts May Come Up Short, FCC Says
Schools shouldn't count on getting all the money they asked for this year from the federal "E-rate" program, a Federal Communications Commission official said last week.
Education
State Journal
A group of Minnesota school districts is at odds with Gov. Arne Carlson's administration over how difficult the state's 8th grade reading test really is.
A matter of interpretation
A group of Minnesota school districts is at odds with Gov. Arne Carlson's administration over how difficult the state's 8th grade reading test really is.
School Choice & Charters
Private SchoolsLearn Benefits of Bond Issues
When the 109-year-old De La Salle Institute needed money recently to improve its aging facilities, the independent Roman Catholic high school turned to the Chicago city government for help.
Special Education
GOP Puts Priority on Raising IDEA Funding
The House may have been in the midst of debating a voucher bill late last month, but Rep. Bill Goodling clearly had special education money on his mind when he strode to the chamber's lectern.
Education
Federal File
Policies on using a company e-mail account for personal use vary among private employers. But if you're a Department of Education employee, don't even think about it.
Illicit e-mail
Policies on using a company e-mail account for personal use vary among private employers. But if you're a Department of Education employee, don't even think about it.
Education Funding
Alaska Legislature Approves Measure To Revamp School Funding Formula
Alaska lawmakers approved a plan last week to overhaul a school funding system often criticized for its disparate treatment of urban and rural districts.