May 24, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 25, Issue 38
Education
A Washington Roundup
Ed. Dept. Employee Sentenced
A former systems auditor in the Department of Education’s inspector general’s office was sentenced May 12 to five months in federal prison for placing tracking software on a supervisor’s computer that allowed him to view the supervisor’s e-mail and Internet activity. Kenneth Kwak, 34, of Chantilly, Va., was also fined $40,000 by a federal judge in Washington, and will serve five months of home confinement after his prison term.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Higher Ed. Panel Nears Finish
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings last week urged her Commission on the Future of Higher Education to be “as bold as you possibly can” in recommending changes.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Spellings Convenes Girls' Math, Science 'Summit'
Amid worries about the burgeoning scientific and mathematical might of nations such as China and India, federal officials say the United States must make better use of an untapped asset: girls.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Panel OKs Expansion of NAEP History Test
A Senate committee last week approved a bill that would expand the national assessment program in U.S. history to include state-by-state comparisons.
Education
A Washington Roundup
House Panel Begins Examining NCLB
The chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee declared last week that the No Child Left Behind Act has succeeded in improving student achievement and closing achievement gaps between minority students and their other peers.
Federal
Federal File
Anti-Social Networking
A new bill in Congress would regulate children’s access to the popular social-networking Web sites, such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com, from U.S. public schools and libraries.
Education Funding
School Aid Increases Are Largest in Years
Kentucky legislators’ 2006 session was marked by major changes to the state’s testing program and the largest K-12 spending increases in 16 years.
Education Funding
Ed. Spending Hike Includes Tuition Aid
State lawmakers in Illinois have approved a series of education-related measures supported by Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, who is up for re-election in the fall, including a new financial-aid program tailored to middle-income families and an expansion of the state’s preschool program.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Indiana Clarifies Fee Stand
A week after warning schools that charging a fee for full-day kindergarten could violate the state’s constitution, the Indiana Department of Education told superintendents that districts could, in fact, decide whether or not to charge a fee.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Grasmick Wins Award
The Education Commission of the States will give its highest award to Nancy S. Grasmick, Maryland’s superintendent of schools, this summer.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
N.J. Court Allows Aid Freeze in State’s Poorest Districts
The New Jersey Supreme Court has granted Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s request to hold funding for the state’s poorest school districts flat for the 2006-07 school year.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Supreme Court Won’t Review Nebraska Consolidation Case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined without comment last week to review an appeal stemming from a Nebraska lawsuit that aimed to keep open about 200 small school districts that opposed being consolidated into neighboring districts.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
California Senate Endorses Teaching Gays’ Contributions
The California Senate has approved a bill that would require the state’s social studies curriculum to include contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Illinois State Board Alters Test Contract
The Illinois state board of education voted unanimously on May 18 to strip its testing contractor of several administrative duties, after hearing complaints from districts across the state about late-arriving and misprinted test booklets.
Curriculum
Running Debate
Just three months away from statewide primary elections, Kansas state school board members who have been advocating abstinence-until-marriage sex education are softening their strategy.
Education
Report Roundup
Abuse of Medications
Using prescription and over-the-counter medications to get high is now so widespread that it has become “normalized” among teenagers, says a report by the New York City-based Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
Education
Report Roundup
States Seen to Inflate Educational Progress
States are using the flexibility they have to set their own standards for meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act to inflate data on student achievement, graduation rates, school safety, and teacher quality, concludes a report by Education Sector, a Washington-based research organization.
Student Well-Being
Ore. Schools Divided Over Classifications
A decision to expand Oregon’s classification system for school sports has caused such an uproar among school districts that the state superintendent will try to resolve the dispute. Still, the issue may go to court.
Education
People in the News
Alan Richard
Alan Richard is the new director of communications for the Atlanta-based Southern Regional Education Board. Mr. Richard, 35, was previously a staff writer for Education Week, based in Bethesda, Md.
Education
People in the News
Bruce Harter
Bruce Harter, the superintendent of the 10,700-student Brandywine school district in Delaware, has been named the superintendent of the 32,000-student West Contra Costa Unified School District in Richmond, Calif. Mr. Harter, 58, begins his new job July 3.
Education
People in the News
Timothy Shanahan
Timothy Shanahan has been elected the president of the International Reading Association, a Newark, Del.-based professional organization that represents about 88,000 reading teachers and other educators. Mr. Shanahan, 54, who will serve a one-year term, is a professor of urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Education
A National Roundup
Longtime Union President Ousted in Minneapolis
The longtime head of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers has been ousted by a relative newcomer who says he will show more independence from the school district.
Education
A National Roundup
Judge Orders Tally of Costs to Improve Baltimore Schools
A state circuit court judge last week ordered school officials from Baltimore and the Maryland Department of Education to spell out how much it will cost the school district to implement a series of state-imposed mandates to improve low-performing schools.
Education Funding
Delaware District in Budget Fuss
Delaware lawmakers have approved a bailout, teachers have gotten pink slips, and turnaround consultants have been hired—all for a budget crisis that former leaders of the state’s largest school district say doesn’t exist.
School & District Management
Under Pressure, NBPTS Releases Full Study
The national organization that grants teachers advanced certification today released the text of an unflattering study.
Mathematics
Some Worry About Potential Bias on the National Math Panel
Supporters of a new expert panel on mathematics are confident it will help identify national strategies for improving student learning in that subject—even as critics ask whether its members have the classroom teaching experience, and the objectivity, needed to accomplish that mission.