July 10, 2002
Education Week, Vol. 21, Issue 42
Curriculum
Geography Makes Comeback In U.S. Classrooms
After falling off the curriculum map a generation ago, geography has made a quiet comeback in U.S. classrooms. Still, its supporters are looking to hold on to the ground they've gained, especially at a time when political and economic stakes have been raised to learn about other places and cultures.
Teaching Profession
Teaching Quality Viewed as Crucial
Americans say the No. 1 way to improve schools is to raise teacher quality, according to a recent poll commissioned by the Public Education Network and Education Week.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Low Appetite Seen for Free Summer Lunches
Advocacy groups and federal nutrition officials worry every summer that millions of children aren't getting the meals they need when school is out.
Education
People in the News
Betty Castor, the president and chief executive officer of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, recently announced that she plans to leave the organization in October.
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School & District Management
Senate May Vote on Overhaul Of OERI Before Fall Elections
If influential Senate lawmakers have their way, the Department of Education's primary research office will get its long-awaited face-lift this year.
School Choice & Charters
Advocates' Post-Ruling Choice: Bubbly
Several mornings this June, Clint Bolick arrived at the U.S. Supreme Court and took a seat in the exclusive section of the gallery set aside for members of the court's bar.
Education
Education and the Supreme Court: The 2001-02 Term
It was a major year for education in the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices addressed school vouchers, drug testing of students, and two cases involving the federal law that guarantees the privacy of education records.
Education
In the Court's Words
Here are excerpts from the majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court's June 27 decision in Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls, the student drug- testing case from Tecumseh, Okla.:
Majority Opinion | Concurring Opinions | Dissenting Opinion
Early Childhood
L.A. Panel Set to Vote On Preschool-for-All Plan
A commission that chooses how to spend tobacco-tax revenues in Los Angeles County is expected to decide next month whether to establish universal access to preschool across the county.
School & District Management
Several City Districts In Hunt for New Leaders
In the latest turn of the revolving door that has come to symbolize the job, three urban superintendents are out and one is in.
School Choice & Charters
In the Court's Words
Following are excerpts from the majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court's June 27 decision in the Cleveland voucher case, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris:
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Initial 'Reading First' Grants Awarded to Three States
- Program Pushes Fruits, Veggies
- Welfare Overhaul Advances
- Report Sees College-Cost Crunch
- Study Urges Aid to Hispanics
- African Education Aid Proposed
- 'Hatched' D.C. Teacher Rehired
- Title IX in the News: Education Department Names
Commission to Study Title IX - Title IX in the News: Group Cites Costs of Gender Bias in Athletics
Education
Vouchers on the Ballot
Ballot measures that would have led to publicly financed voucher systems have been put to voeter and defeated in the following states. No such statewide ballot proposal has won voter approval.
Education
Geographic Exposure
Students taking the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress in geography were asked the following:
Education
A Long Road to the Court
Given the ferocity of the debate over vouchers, it is often forgotten that early in the history of the United States, religiously affiliated schools at times received generous public funding from states and cities. By the mid-19th century, with the rise of the common school and the increasing desire by Roman Catholic immigrants for their own schools, government aid to private schools gradually declined. Such aid to religious schools was generally not considered unconstitutional, however, until the 14th Amendment was interpreted as applying to the states the First Amendment's prohibition on a government establishment of religion. The specific policy debate on vouchers that led to the U.S. Supreme Court's June 27 decision is a post-World War II phenomenon. Here's a look at some mileposts on the way to that ruling:
Special Education
Brave New World
Middle school is hard enough. Imagine what it's like for a child with Down syndrome. Sixth grader Chris Vogelberger found out last year.
Education Funding
Illinois Budget Trims Funds For K-12, Higher Education
With the state's economy hemorrhaging, Illinois officials said they had no choice but to perform surgery with a blunt scalpel on the education budget for next year.
Education
State Journal
Return to Sender
During these days of tin-cup state budgets and bleak economic forecasts, many programs that help college-bound students have trouble scraping together funds. But Texas, according to a recent report, seems to have a different problem: millions of dollars going unspent.
Education Funding
Ore. Plan Would Mitigate School Budget Cuts
During its third special session of the 2002 fiscal year the Oregon legislature approved a budget plan that may restore some school money lawmakers had earlier slashed. Yet even with those changes, Oregon's budget troubles are unlikely to go away.
Education
Federal File
Decoding ESEA
How easy things would have been if only Congress had handed out magic decoder rings when it passed the 1,100-page tome known as the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001.
Education
In the Court's Words
Here are excerpts from the majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court's June 20 decision in Gonzaga University v. Doe, a case involving enforcement of the privacy of student records:
Majority Opinion | Concurring Opinions | Dissenting Opinion
School Choice & Charters
Bishops Require Background Checks for Priests in Catholic Schools
Local policies on screening personnel for past convictions for sexual abuse could change at some Roman Catholic schools as a result of the Catholic bishops' recent approval of a new policy to curtail the sexual abuse of minors by priests.
School & District Management
Training Sessions Help Urban School Boards Lead Change
Through his Center for Reform of School Systems in Houston, Donald R. McAdams is trying to get school boards to look beyond their districts' immediate concerns and see a bigger picture.
Early Childhood
Early-Childhood Advocates Seek A Stronger Alliance With Higher Ed.
Forging new alliances with the nation's colleges and universities was a front-and-center theme at a June 24 gathering of early-childhood education experts.