March 8, 2000
Education Week, Vol. 19, Issue 26
States
‘Tough Grandma’ Steps Up Audits in Texas
The Texas state comptroller styles herself as "one tough grandma" as well as a fiscal conservative. She lamented on the stump that only "52 cents out of every education dollar is going into the classroom" in the Lone Star State, and vowed to be its "education watchdog."
Assessment
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Louisiana Parents Sue To Block State’s Use of Test Scores To Promote or Retain Students
- Democratic Legislator Enters Florida Chief’s Race
Early Childhood
State Chiefs Team Up To Scout for Federal, Private Funds
In what some observers are calling an unprecedented effort to raise badly needed funds, the state schools chiefs from four Southern states are banding together to seek more money for education from private and federal sources. Their first order of business: prekindergarten.
Equity & Diversity
U.S. Appellate Panel Reinstates Kansas City Desegregation Case
A federal appeals court has reinstated a 23-year-old desegregation case against the Kansas City, Mo., schools, ruling that the judge who dismissed it in November did so with insufficient evidence that the district had improved enough to justify its release from court supervision.
Recruitment & Retention
Plan for Grading Schools Sharply Debated in Colorado
Colorado schools would receive two letter grades—one based on their state test scores and the other on their safety records—under an education improvement measure working its way through the legislature.
Classroom Technology
Satellite Broadcast Seeks To Enliven Study of History
Employees and supporters of the Gettysburg National Military Park are gearing up for a live satellite broadcast from the Pennsylvania battlefield to schools across the country on May 3, when 4th through 8th graders can travel back in time to the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.
School & District Management
State Ferries’ Budget Problems Worry Island Schools
For the past 13 years that he has worked in the Vashon Island school district in Washington state, Monte L. Bridges has taken a ferry to work.
Education
Senate Approves Bill On Education-Savings Accounts
The Senate passed a bill to expand education-savings accounts late last week, forwarding an election-year priority for Republicans that faces a firewall of resistance from the White House.
School Choice & Charters
Hutterite History
Hutterites have lived in the United States since 1874, but they are unknown to most Americans.
Education
Correction
A Commentary on teacher education in the Feb. 16, 2000, issue of Education Week,"Does the Route to Teaching Need a Fresh Start?," incorrectly stated that prospective teachers in Pennsylvania had earned a C-plus grade point average in high school. The essay should have said that most education schools in the state require a minimum 2.5 GPA for college students seeking admission to teacher-preparation programs.
Equity & Diversity
Fired Beverly Hills Superintendent Claims Anti-Gay Bias
In a lawsuit believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, the former superintendent of the Beverly Hills, Calif., schools claims that the district accused him of financial wrongdoing to justify firing him and to cover up the real reason for his dismissal: He is gay.
Education
NAS Launches Loan Fund To Support Adoption of School Designs
New American Schools, which for nearly a decade has worked to create and perfect models for redesigning entire schools, is turning its attention to making sure the providers of those designs have access to the financial capital they need to expand.
Education Funding
Gates Gift Builds on ‘Excellence,’ Tech Access
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation unveiled a $350 million gift last week to finance four initiatives over three years to improve K-12 public and private schools nationally, with a special focus on Washington state.
Federal
Ed. Dept. Issues Rules on Using Title I Funds To Improve Schools
The Department of Education has issued guidance to help districts use $134 million in new Title I funds designated for turning around failing schools.
School & District Management
President Seeks Bigger Budget For Research
Federal spending on education research would see a sizable increase under the fiscal 2001 budget proposal President Clinton delivered to Congress last month, though the level would remain far below that recommended by a White House panel three years ago.
School Choice & Charters
No Compromise in Sight For Opponents in Voucher Debate
The conference was billed as "a new kind of dialogue" over school vouchers, designed to break the stalemate between hardened policy positions. But the panelists gathered here last week found no room for rapprochement.
Teaching Profession
State Journal
Star attraction
Fresh from his eight-award sweep of the Grammy Awards last month, rock-music legend Carlos Santana can now be seen in a new venue: promoting teaching careers to California minority students.
School Choice & Charters
Black Elementary Students May Reap Most Gains From Vouchers
African-American students in the elementary grades may have the most to gain from scholarship programs that let children switch from public schools to private ones, suggest two new studies co-written by voucher researcher Paul E. Peterson.
Education
Events
March
13—Professional development: Getting Beyond Disruption, Hostility, and Excuses, sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa International, for educators, in Harrisburg, Pa. Contact: PDKI, PO Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789; (812) 339-1156 or (800) 766-1156; fax: (812) 339-0018; e-mail: cpds@pdkintl.org; Web site: www.pdkintl.org.
Education
Awards Announced for Outstanding Education Journalism in ’99
Articles on testing, desegregation, and early-childhood education are among the winners of the 1999 National Awards for Education Reporting, announced last week by the Education Writers Association.
Student Well-Being
Suspect Charged in N.Y., N.J. Boarding School Assaults
A man suspected of assaulting boys at residential high schools in New York and New Jersey has been arrested and charged, bringing relief to area boarding school officials but also leaving them wondering what, if any, measures they could take to ensure that such attacks do not happen again.
Assessment
States Face Limited Choices In Assessment Market
At a time when state officials are under increasing pressure to implement high-stakes assessments, they turn to the same pool of testing contractors—regardless of some embarrassing glitches—because of the dominance of a few large companies.
Education
Teaching & Learning
- Boston To Revamp Staff Development
- Framing Math
- African 'Blackboard'
- Award-Winning Lessons
- Sounding Off for Music
Teacher Preparation
Commentary
Teacher Education's Empty Suit
Kevin Ryan and Karen Bohlin maintain that targeted preparation on character development and the teaching of core ethical values is missing from teacher education.