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In the News on June 16-20, 2008
When it comes to measuring progress under NCLB, "the -'growth model' pilot isn't what you think it is" * Reading First program would be eliminated under a fiscal 2009 spending measures * MA governor will propose a sweeping package aimed at closing the achievement gap in public schools
Federal/NCLB
- Commentary – When it comes to measuring progress under NCLB, “the ‘growth model’ pilot isn’t what you think it is”
Other News
- Reading First program would be eliminated under a fiscal 2009 spending measure approved unanimously by a House Appropriations subcommittee
School Funding Litigation/Policy
- NJ governor calls it a legal and moral responsibility to revive school construction program to the tune of another $3.9 billion
- VA legal aid center for families questions the legality of many school fees and back-to-school costs
State Roundup
- Attorney General’s Office asks AZ Supreme Court to strike down a lower-court decision that rules it unconstitutional to use taxpayer money to pay for private-school tuition
- ID Board of Education will forsake standardized testing this fall, and plans to restore another test that was cut in late 2007 to save money
- MA governor will propose a sweeping package aimed at closing the achievement gap in public schools
- ME school districts make progress in consolidation
- NY Senate Republicans, feeling pressure from the governor, business and taxpayer groups, opinion polls and voters, move closer to supporting property tax cap
- OR board of education approves changes to high school exit exam as well as tougher graduation requirements
In the News on June 20, 2008
School Funding Litigation/Policy
- New report predicts fiscal year 2009 will be tougher than this year on school budgets
- IL is not expected to help schools with increasing gas prices, and schools may have to cut back on services
- KS audit says that over 70 percent of increased spending by school districts in recent years went toward student instruction
- LA bill to boost basic state aid to public schools by 3 percent comes closer to approval
- LA House gives final approval to proposed $10 million plan to finance private school tuition grants for certain students in the city's public schools
- PA Senate approves spending plan that slashes nearly $118 million in proposed plan for basic education funding
State Roundup
- CA court sides with U.S. Department of Education, ruling that teachers who enter schools through alternative teacher-preparation programs can be labeled “highly qualified”
- States hope to learn from FL, No. 1 in the nation in vouchers, No. 2 in charter school enrollment, and No. 4 in the percentage of high school students passing college-level exams
- MA school overhaul plan includes proposal to allow high school students as young as 16 to take an international evaluation test that would allow them to graduate
- MI House introduces legislation to provide more flexibility for struggling students to take a less-stringent course toward meeting the state's tough new graduation requirements
- Despite uniform threshold for admission to public school gifted programs, analysis says that children from NYC’s poorest districts are offered a smaller percentage of the entry-grade gifted slots in elementary schools
- OR ballot initiative could put a two-year cap on the amount of time that English-language learners can spend in “English-immersion programs” or receive instruction in their native languages
- When OR education officials set out to devise a graduation testing requirement for high school students, they looked to other states for inspiration - on what not to do
- SC Superintendent of Schools urges education advocates to fight for much-needed changes to the state's decades-old school funding formula
Other News
- U.S. Department of Education says students in the D.C. school voucher program, the first federal voucher program, did not generally do better on reading and math tests than did their public school peers
In the News on June 18, 2008
Federal/NCLB
- Though NCLB was intended to hold school officials accountable for educating disadvantaged children, researchers and advocates say “Title I is not having its intended effect”
- Report says top students stagnate under NCLB
- U.S. Department of Education will allow MI and MO to use “growth models” to measure student progress toward state goals under NCLB
School Integration
- CT superior-court judge approves the latest settlement in the long-standing lawsuit over the racial isolation in
Other News
- Study says national focus on helping students who are furthest behind is yielding steady academic gains for low-achieving students at the expense of top students
- National Governors Association is asking the U.S. Department of Education for more flexibility in proposed regulations for a common formula to calculate graduation rates
- Report says low income and minority children which could benefit most from quality preschool are the least likely to be enrolled
School Funding Litigation/Policy
- NH approves a new aid system that will take effect in mid-2009, but the system will not be fully implemented until 2012
- NY governor intensifies campaign for a 4 percent annual cap on school property tax increases; taxpayers group threatens to wage political war against lawmakers who block the proposal
- NY governor accuses teachers' union and other property-tax cap opponents of trying to subvert the democratic process
- GOP seeks cuts in PA’s school funding budget
- RI rejects bill to spend public dollars for private school costs
- State
- GA legislators call for an independent investigation into problems with state tests that led to high failure rates among students
- PA hopes to adopt new state regulations to expand services for gifted students, through a broader approach of classification
In the News on June 17, 2008
School Funding Litigation/Policy
- Poll says over 70 percent of New Yorkers support a cap on property tax increases “to force school districts to budget and spend resources more carefully”
- PA schools fear they will be punished for prudence under a proposed state education formula that puts new emphasis on how much a district taxes local property owners
State Roundup
- ND shows little change in its graduation rate since 2001, says analysis
- ‘Teacher gap’ is shrinking in NYC schools, says report
- RI now requires performance based assessments for graduation
In the News on June 16, 2008
Federal/NCLB
Federal/NCLB
- Coalitions seek influence on presidential campaign and the future of NCLB
- National Association of Secondary School Principals calls for adopting common reading and mathematics standards and guidelines in the reauthorization of NCLB
School Integration
- CT judge approved the latest settlement in the Sheff v. O'Neill school desegregation lawsuit
Other News
- States move toward implementing a uniform system to report graduation rates
- Summer school programs swell because students aren’t meeting academic standards set by states
- Evaluation says free tutoring prescribed by NCLB to help students at struggling schools has yielded little or no positive effect on student test scores
School Funding Litigation/Policy
- 92 school districts in SD have voted to back a constitutional challenge to the school funding system
State Roundup
- Study says that CA students who will be at risk of failing the high school exit exam can be identified in the fourth grade based on grades, classroom behavior and test scores
- FL teachers union and associations representing school boards sue the state over pro-voucher proposals
- Larger public schools in HI could benefit from proposed changes to the budget formula
- LA appears to be on track to enact a voucher plan for that borrows from other school choice programs
- LA House Education Committee oks bill for state aid
- MI reports slight progress in high school graduation rates
- Poll shows that Nevadans favor increasing the room tax, paid primarily by tourists, to increase funding to the state's public school system
- OH education officials secure a grant to explore alternative assessments
- TX private schools could get public dollars to help dropouts finish high school
Published Monday, Jun. 23, 2008