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In the News on September 27, 2007
State and district leaders struggle to rebuild and repair New Orleans schools * Fewer students transfer schools under NCLB * Court-Ordered Spending Mandates Raise Taxes, But Don't Help Education in the Long Term
Federal/NCLB
Fewer students transfer schools under NCLB, and the low transfer rate fuels debate over the future of school choice
School Funding Litigation/Policy
CT legislators defy Gov. Rell’s demand that they reduce a $3.2 billion bond package to a few hundred million dollars for school construction projects
Money for Nothing – “If any state has taken to
heart the claim that more money is the key to improving public
education for low-income students, it's
Conservative
Heartland Institute reports: “Court-Ordered Spending Mandates Raise
Taxes, But Don't Help Education in the Long Term”
State
State and district leaders struggle to rebuild and repair
ME Education Commissioner says it might be cheaper
for some school districts to defy the state's consolidation law, and
she recognizes that parts of the law may need to be reworked to coax
all districts to comply
Following the achievement gap revealed by NAEP test scores, officials say NE’s immigrant students are often instructed by teachers unequipped to effectively teach them
In the News on September 26, 2007
School Integration
Amid
Federal/NCLB
Commentary: “Too Many Remedies” – NCLB
reauthorization draft has led to various proposals, but little public
attention or interest has been devoted to thinking about the challenges
posed by these remedy provisions
NAEP scores show mixed results for federal
education law; Bush says the scores confirm that NCLB is working, but
critics say achievement scores rose faster before the law was enacted
Commentary: “Rebuilding
International study ranks
Researchers publish a report that shows how scores on NAEP tests might translate to real-life outcomes for students
Post sputnik,
State Roundup
Report card shows gap between white and minority students, especially in CA
FL test scores are up, but critics say that scores are better at showing the what than explaining the why
MA outscores other states in national assessments, but minority students lag
NJ students improve on national test, and fourth
grade reading assessments show the positive returns of investments made
in high-quality early childhood education and early literacy
TX students beat national average in test scores; achievement gaps narrowed in some grades but widened in others
WI reports the lowest average reading ability for
black students and the worst reading achievement gap between black and
white students
Gov. Schwarzenegger declared that 2008 is the year
of CA’s education reform, and hoping to influence the governor’s focus,
a coalition of advocacy groups submit survey results of parents and
students concerned about the state’s dropout rate
MD’s State Board of Education is divided about high school graduation exams
MD students share their thoughts on high school assessments as graduation requirements
NEA pushes for the defeat of voucher programs in
UT, and a conservative think tank condemns the effort as a campaign for
cultural extinction
In the News on September 25, 2007
School Integration
Wake county’s student diversity policy, based on
the premise that schools with a diverse population perform better, has
been held up as a national model, but the county is now relaxing its
policy because schools find it increasingly hard to meet the program’s
goals
Federal/NCLB
Survey: School superintendents claim that NCLB has had a negative impact on education and their own performance
Despite the rhetoric of NCLB, students from working families seem to be on their own
Educators struggle to find the right balance
between core academics and attention to culture to improve the
performance of Native American students
A view of America’s stance in “the race for space” and science teaching
The role of school boards gains new attention as changes take place at the national, state, and local levels
Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress rise across the
National report card shows that
State Roundup
Test scores show that achievement is surging in
Oregon's middle schools, but high school performance remains stagnant;
according to one superintendent, high schools must struggle to
“translate the increased funding they got from the Legislature this
fall into improved results, and fast”
NH school officials urge lawmakers to seek help
from them or from national experts when determining the cost of the
state's share of public education
Advocacy group condemns FL for being the only
state this year to cut its overall pre-kindergarten budget, even though
it increased per-student spending
NV asks for more funds for the schooling of the state's
growing Hispanic population because the census data the state
department used to calculate funding for English language learner
programs was inaccurate
TX school districts
learn that they will have to come up with their own funds if they want
to participate in a new, statewide teacher merit program in the 2008-09
school year
In the News on September 24, 2007
School Integration
50 years after Little Rock Integration, a faculty member says "this country has demonstrated over time that it is not prepared to operate as an integrated society"
AR Gov. meets with “the Little Rock Nine” who required Army escorting in '57. One girl says “segregation still exists in divided schools that offer a ‘substandard, many-tiered education” but another remains hopeful in saying “Change is possible. People's spirits change. People's attitudes change”
Federal/NCLB
NCLB’s proficiency goal appears to be open for negotiation as House and Senate leaders consider plans to reauthorize the law
Kozol speaks of his NCLB protest and says: "I'm
too old to bite my tongue…I don't care what happens to me now. I intend
to keep on fighting this issue to my dying day"
Other News
Public schools in several districts with large
numbers of Hispanic students in AZ, CA, and TX see a drop in
enrollment, and some experts attribute it to rising fears among illegal
immigrants
US Supreme Court will hear case on tuition reimbursement for special education
School Funding Litigation/Policy
CT Gov. plans to veto the legislature’s $4.6
billion bond package for projects like school construction and
transportation improvements
The Bush administration plans to stop reimbursing
states for transporting disabled students, and districts scramble to
figure out how to pay the bill because federal law requires schools to
provide special services for these students
State Roundup
CA districts continue to build schools near freeways despite a state law and evidence of health hazards
CT parents are
concerned about a proposal to make changes to special education; one of
the most contentious changes is lifting the restrictions on class size
Hurdles and high
school dropout rates are high for NV students that face many
socioeconomic and educational obstacles before they even venture out
into the world
OH has the fifth-most national board-certified
teachers in the nation, but they are typically not working with the
neediest children
PA reports impressive achievement, but the state's
accountability system has become a maze of numbers, obscuring
below-target achievement and permitting some schools with low or
declining performance to get the AYP seal of approval
OH's attorney general ruled that school districts
can't charge parents for all-day kindergarten, but some fear that
without further legislative action many districts will have to look
elsewhere for funding or stop offering the programs
Published Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007