March 29, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 25, Issue 29
Education
A Washington Roundup
Supreme Court Rehears Case on Worker Speech
A case potentially affecting legal protections for employees of public schools and other government entities when they speak in the course of doing their jobs had a rare rehearing before the U.S. Supreme Court last week.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Groups Challenge U.S. Ban on Aid for Drug Offenders
Two groups last week challenged a provision in the federal Higher Education Act that makes students with drug convictions ineligible for federal financial aid.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Kansas Official to Lead Special Education Office
Alexa Posny, who is now the deputy commissioner of education in Kansas, will become the new director of the Department of Education’s office of special education programs, effective April 17.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Spellings Announces Flu-Pandemic Grants
The Department of Education announced last week that it will make $24 million in grants available to school districts this year to help them prepare for a possible widespread flu outbreak.
Federal
Federal File
Not the Usual Revolving Door
Two heavy hitters in Washington education circles are headed to the House Education and the Workforce Committee to work under the new chairman, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Court Upholds Decision to Close School
An Arizona court has upheld the decision by a state board to shut down Paulden Elementary School, a rural charter that was accused of several violations of state and federal law. Superior Court Judge Margaret H. Downie wrote in a March 20 ruling that the school failed to prove that the state's decision was unreasonable.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Illinois Governor Is Urged to Drop Preschool Initiative
Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich should abandon his $45 million plans to provide preschool for all of the state’s 3- and 4-year-olds and health coverage for all uninsured children in Illinois, and instead focus on paying for the state’s pension obligations, according to a report from the Chicago-based Civic Federation.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Judge Rejects Ariz. Request to Delay Exam Enforcement
A federal judge this month refused to delay enforcement of his previous ruling that students who are still learning English can earn a high school diploma even if they have not passed the state’s high school exit exam.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Panel Recommends Replacing N.J. School Building Agency
A gubernatorial panel in New Jersey has suggested replacing the embattled Schools Construction Corp. with a new group to oversee building and renovating schools.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Budget Would Hold Line on N.J. School Spending
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine has proposed a fiscal 2007 state budget that calls for nearly level funding of direct aid to school districts.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Oregon Districts File School Funding Suit
Six Oregon school districts and three families have sued the state, alleging that Oregon has repeatedly failed to provide adequate and stable funding for K-12 education despite legislation mandating that it do so.
Recruitment & Retention
Temps Tempest
Florida’s hiring of temporary workers to grade the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests, or FCAT, is under fire.
Education
Report Roundup
Childhood Obesity
The report—published in the spring 2006 issue of The Future of Children, a publication of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University—says that since the 1970s, the percentage of overweight or obese children grew from 15 percent to almost 30 percent. Over the same period, the incidence of childhood obesity increased from 5 percent to 15 percent.
Education
Report Roundup
Private School Enrollment
From fall 2001 to fall 2003, the enrollment at private schools dropped by 218,741 students, or 4 percent, according to the center, an arm of the U.S. Department of Education. In 2003, 5.1 million children were attending private schools, down from 5.3 million in 2001. Over the same period, the United States lost 889 private schools. In 2003, the nation had 28,384 schools.
Education
Report Roundup
Teenage Hearing Loss
The survey of more than 300 high school students and 1,000 adults age 18 and up—commissioned by the Rockville, Md.-based American Speech- Language-Hearing Association—found that 51 percent of high school students said they had experienced some signs of hearing loss, while 37 percent of adults surveyed said they had experienced the symptoms. The high school students were also more likely than the adults to report having to turn up the volume on their TVs or radios, having to say “what” or “huh” during normal conversation, and experiencing ringing in the ears.
Education
Report Roundup
Prekindergarten Programs
Produced by the New Brunswick, N.J.-based National Institute for Early Education Research, the annual report says that since 2002, enrollment in public prekindergarten programs has climbed 16 percent, from 700,000 3- and 4-year-olds to more than 800,000.
Education
Report Roundup
‘Dual Enrollment’ Examined by ECS
States should develop academic programs that offer college-level courses to high school students for college credit, a practice often known as dual enrollment, a policy brief by the Denver-based Education Commission of the States suggests.
School Choice & Charters
Policy-War Veteran Starts N.Y.C. School
It’s not easy chairing the New York City Council’s education committee, but Eva S. Moskowitz has left that job for one that may generate even more headaches: She’s starting a charter school.
Education
Correction
Correction
An item in the Report Roundup in the March 22, 2006, issue of Education Week gave an incorrect title for an evaluation of the Bay Area KIPP Schools.
Education
People in the News
Todd A. Hitchcock
Todd A. Hitchcock has been named the vice president of global services for the Florida Virtual School, a state-sponsored provider of online courses for students nationwide.
Education
People in the News
Jessie T. Woolley-Wilson
Jessie T. Woolley-Wilson has been appointed to the board of directors of the National Education Association Foundation for the Improvement of Education, based in Washington.
Education
People in the News
Mary Ann Wolf
Mary Ann Wolf, 35, was recently promoted from deputy executive director to executive director of the Arlington, Va.-based State Educational Technology Directors Association.
Education
A National Roundup
Warning on Bullying Game
The Miami-Dade County, Fla., school board unanimously passed a resolution March 15 against a computer video game, Bully, that takes place in schools.
Education
A National Roundup
Reading Grants Awarded
Eight school districts and a state agency will share $30 million in federal grants for the 2006-07 school year to build research-based strategies for improving literacy skills among middle and high school students.
Education
A National Roundup
Diploma-Mill Bribery
An Arizona man has admitted to bribing three Liberian diplomats between 2002 and 2004 to arrange for Liberia’s accreditation of Saint Regis University, a Washington state-based “diploma mill” that sold phony college degrees over the Internet, including to some Georgia educators.
Education
A National Roundup
Hindu Foundation Sues Calif. Over Middle School Textbooks
The Hindu American Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the California state board of education for its failure to change excerpts in middle school history textbooks that the group believes demean Hinduism.
Education
A National Roundup
Appeals Court Orders Lawmakers to Fix N.Y.C. School Aid Promptly
A New York state appeals court said last week that the state needs to fix the financing of New York City’s schools by April 1.
Education
A National Roundup
College Board Finds More SAT-Score Errors; Vows Policy Changes
Less than two weeks after admitting that it gave the wrong scores to 4,000 students who took the SAT in October, the College Board revealed last week that another 375 students had received lower scores in error.
Education Funding
San Diego Board Questions Fund
The San Diego board of education has voted to send the findings of a seven-month probe into former Superintendent Alan D. Bersin’s private fund for education to three public agencies for further review.