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--- Wednesday --- January 10, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 1 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
MONEY'S TOP 100 SCHOOLS | SPOTLIGHT |
MONEY Magazine (Jan. 1996) | |
compiled a list of the top 100 | THE BLIZZARD OF '96 |
schools in towns you can | |
afford. Number one: Wadsworth | ... may be remembered |
school district in metropolitan | more as the downpour of |
Akron Ohio, where the median | support at the polls for |
home value is $69,987 and the | candidates willing to |
median family income is $41, | improve education than for |
205. Other statistics from | the drifting snowbanks that |
Wadsworth: 13% of the student | closed schools this week |
body take the SAT -- average | from Maine to Virginia. |
score 1,141; 69% take the ACT - | |
- average score 22.7; 75% of | Taking a page from the |
graduates go on to attend | fall 1995 elections, voters |
college or technical school. | may seek candidates who |
Other districts (and their | voice moderate positions on |
metro areas) that made the top | education. The Education |
100: Warsaw in Fort Wayne, | Commission of the States |
Ind.; Mesa in Phoenix; and | observes that voters from |
Gateway in the Pittsburgh area. | Littleton, Colo., to |
| Fairfax County, Va., last |
SERVICE IS NOT SLAVERY | Nov. preferred school board |
... rules the 2nd U.S. | candidates from the |
Circuit Court of Appeals. The | "mainstream." (#6) |
court's recent decision on | |
N.Y.'s Rye Neck School | Democrats are given the |
District's mandatory community | advantage by the W.S. |
service program dismissed | JOURNAL. However, the |
Daniel Immediato's and his | trick is for candidates to |
parents' claim that the | find ways Washington can |
districts graduation | "help out, and then bow |
requirement of 40 hours of | out," observes the Journal. |
service was educational, not | (#7) |
exploitative (WASH POST, 1/4). |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"When the government knowingly helps children defy their parents,
that government burdens parental rights." -- American Center for
Law and Justice lawyer Jay Alan Sekulow, commenting on the
Falmouth, Mass., condom-distribution court case. (#4) ___________________
| A service of the National Education Goals Panel |
| Published by the Education Policy Network |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Wash, D.C.; 20037; 202/632-0952 |
| The DRC hereby authorizes further reproduction and |
| distribution with proper acknowledgement. |
| Publisher: Barbara A. Pape |
| Staff Writers: Kate Kelliher |
| Elizabeth O'Driscoll Gage |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
GOAL EIGHT: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION
A FIRST FOR BOSTON: Parents get reports on schools. (#1)
STATESIDE
LEGISLATIVE BATTLES BEGIN: Md. and Va. talk education. (#2)
CITY HALL
CHICAGO'S NEW JOB PROGRAM: Hire parents and students. (#3)
FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE
REJECTED: Supreme Court rules on Falmouth's condom case. (#4)
DESEG'S DIRGE?: State seeks end to Cleveland busing.(#5)
GOVERNANCE
IN MODERATION: Voters on school board elections. (#6)
ELECTION '96
EDUCATION: The "sleeper" issue for 1996. (#7)
TAKING OVER
ANOTHER FIRST: N.Y. state takes over Roosevelt schools. (#8)
==== GOAL EIGHT: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION ====
*1 A FIRST FOR BOSTON: PARENTS SENT REPORTS ON SCHOOLS
Parents of Boston public school students for the first time
are able to review reports on how well their child's school is
doing compared with other schools in Boston and nationwide
(Cornell, THE BOSTON HERALD, 1/3). The idea of a school report
card is attributed to Superintendent Thomas Payzant who "brought
the idea from his days as superintendent in San Diego," writes
the paper.
"This is a very daring step, becasue in the past no one
really confronted the issue that some schools do better than
others," said Peter Finn, director of the state Association of
School Superintendents. "They just told the public that everyone
was doing fine and discussed the problems behind closed doors."
Each report contains a school mission statement, future
plans, and statistics on expulsions, attendance rates, racial
makeup and student rankings on achievement tests. Schools are
evaluated on three categories: reading test scores, math test
scores and perofrmance in the School Improvmeent Program, reports
the BOSTON GLOBE (Avenso, 1/3). The report groups schools into
the lower third, middle third or upper third for each category.
Mary Ellen Donahue, director of the administration's
research and development, assembled this year's reports, with
assistance from the Boston Teachers Union and the business
community. However, schools are responsible for producing next
year's reports, writes the paper.
===== STATESIDE =====
*2 LEGISLATIVE BATTLES BEGIN: MD. AND VA. TALK EDUCATION
Md. Gov Parris Glendening (D) and Va. Gov George Allen (R)
are advocating increases in their respective state spending for
education. Education, economic development and public safety are
Glendening's major goals for this legislative season, writes the
WASH POST (Babington and Abramowitz, 1/5). The governor calls
for increasing public school spending by more than 5%, despite
the lean financial times for his state. His plan also targets
education funding to more disadvantaged areas.
However, the POST reports that a 5% increase would fund few
new initiatives. Glendening's top new education program targets
$6M a year to bonuses for schools that demonstrate student
progress on standardized test scores. The POST also reports that
Md.'s higher education budget would increase by 3% under
Glendening's plan.
Va.'s Gov George Allen (R) also plans to increase education
spending, after devoting "most of 1995 mired in a slugfest with
Democrats over his plan to cut $90M from Virginia's public
schools and colleges," writes the WASH POST (Hsu, 1/7). However,
Allen is poised at the start of the new legislative season to
increase the state's education budget by $1B more. The POST
reports that education plans abound, emanating from the
governor's office and the Legislature. For example, a computer
in every public school classroom, class size cut in kindergarten
through third grade, an expansion of Head Start and programs for
remedial and delinquent students top many agendas.
Political analysts observe that the current focus on
education stems from the success of the Democratic Party in this
fall's elections when Democratic candidates espoused an education
agenda. "I think the debate following the election has become so
much about improving the education system and spending more money
... the distinctions [among plans] have blurred even in the minds
of those of us who have to make the decisions," said Del. Jay
DeBoer (D).
The paper details some specifics of Allen's plan: $428M
more in general aid to help local schools keep up with inflation,
growing enrollment and pension costs; an additional $59M for
reducing class size for some classes; and strengthening programs
for at-risk youth -- "as it happens, the same programs he sought
to cut last year," reports the paper.
Allen also calls for increasing higher education's budget by
more than $400M.
==== CITY HALL ====
*3 CHICAGO'S NEW JOB PROGRAM: HIRE PARENTS AND STUDENTS
The Chicago school system's Chief Operation Officer Ben
Reyes has proposed hiring parents and students for open custodial
jobs (Rossi, CHICAGO SUN TIMES, 1/4). However, union leaders
want to limit the jobs to full-time work for parents only.
Custodian union President Jarvis Williams lauded the idea of
hiring parents, particularly unemployed parents, reports the
paper. However, he wants to limit the job opportunity to full-
time employment for parents that includes benefits. "I don't
want to see students hired, although I won't close the door on
them being hired," said Williams. "If they are hired, I want
them to have a full-time job."
Chicago Schools Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas said he
"respects" Williams' "desire to increase [union] membership," but
added that much of the work that needs to be done is seasonal,
writes the paper. Many of the jobs include mowing lawns,
shoveling snow and cleaning schools, according to the paper.
Vallas also noted that a custodial job could instill a work ethic
in students.
Reyes' plan calls for the hiring of a minority firm in each
of the system's six regions that would be responsible for hiring
and training parents and students. Students would be assigned to
their own school, while parents could be assigned anywhere in
their region. Reyes also said the system would hire three
parents for every student, reports the paper.
===== FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE =====
*4 REJECTED: SUPREME COURT RULES ON FALMOUTH'S CONDOM CASE
The U.S. Supreme Court this week "spurned" a complaint filed
by a group of Falmouth, Mass., students and parents that the
city's public school condom-distribution policy violated parental
rights to raise their children as they see fit (Biskupic, WASH
POST, 1/9). The justices ruled without comment and with no
dissent in Curtis v. School Committee of Falmouth.
In 1992, the Falmouth School Committee began making condoms
available to junior and senior high school students who requested
them. The district also installed condom vending machines in
both boys' and girls' restrooms at Falmouth High School, writes
the paper. According to the paper, parents who protested the
policy claimed their "right to familial privacy and their liberty
as parents to control what their children learn," reports the
paper.
While the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts agreed
that "parents possess a fundamental liberty interest, protected
by the Fourteenth Amendment, to be free from unnecessary
governmental intrusion in the rearing of their children," they
added that the Falmouth parents failed to demonstrate how that
interest was encumbered by the condom-distribution policy.
From the state court's decision: "No classroom
participation is required of students. ... The students are not
required to seek out and accept the condoms, read the literature
accompanying them, or participate in counseling regarding their
use. In other words, the students are free to decline to
participate in the program."
American Center for Law and Justice lawyer Jay Alan Sekulow
appealed the state court's decision. He said: "Parental
religious liberty includes the direction of their children's
religious and moral upbringing. Obviously, children will disobey
at times, perhaps innumerable times. That is human nature. But
when the government knowingly helps children defy their parents,
that government burdens parental rights."
*5 DESEGREGATION'S DIRGE?: STATE SEEKS END TO CLEVELAND BUSING
The Ohio DoEd last week petitioned a federal judge to allow
Cleveland school officials and parents to decide where students
attend school, without considering the child's race (Stephens and
Jones, Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 1/4). According to the paper, a
favorable court decision would be a "milestone" in the district's
22-year-old desegregation case because it would end court-ordered
busing to achieve racial balance in schools.
"If our motion ... is successful, it means that Cleveland
will not have to continue the massive busing that has been part
of the court order for the past 20 years," said State
Superintendent John Goff. The state and district are
codefendants in the original case, which as was filed in December
1973 by a group of black students and their parents. Thomas
Atkins, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said that "getting that
request granted will not be a walk in a park." He promised a
court battle over the state's request.
The request will be brought before U.S. Senior Circuit Judge
Robert Krupansky, who in March 1995 placed the Cleveland school
district under state control. Cleveland Mayor Michael White was
bewildered since Krupansky last year failed to rule on a similar
request filed by the district, reports the paper. White
supported the district's request, but the state opposed it.
White charged that the state's motion is simply "one-upmanship,"
with the state intending to become the district's "savior,"
writes the paper. "It's really not about education, it's about
politics," said White.
Marva Richards, director of the Cleveland Summit on
Education, said the state's request earns mixed reviews. "There
are a number of parents who believe ending busing is the best way
to go, but there are others who believe busing is the only way to
get a school system that is integrated," she explained. The
Cleveland Summit on Education is hosting a parent summit on 27
January, writes the paper.
Mark O'Neill, a lawyer for the state on the desegregation
case, remarked that the request would help ignite confidence in
the plagued school system. He pointed out that the school
district last March "abandoned" plans for a March levy effort
because of a lack of community support, notes the paper.
==== GOVERNANCE ====
*6 IN MODERATION: VOTERS ON SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS
Voters nationwide appear to favor school board candidates
that offer moderate agendas that "both accept and encourage back-
to-basics as well as alternative forms of schooling," writes the
COMMISSION CONNECTION (Education Commission of the States, Dec.
1995). However, the newsletter declares it too early to predict
a trend toward the middle.
Several examples of recent school board races are detailed
in the newsletter. For example, moderate candidates in
Littleton, Colo., won a "surprise landslide victory" in Nov.
1995, writes the newsletter. Just two years ago, three back-to-
basics candidates had seized control of the board and pushed
ahead an agenda that advocated academic achievement in
traditional subject areas. However, the recent election "sent
the back-to-basics slate back to the drawing board," reports the
newsletter. Instead, voters supported candidates who favored
parental choice between traditional and progressive education for
their children. Bill Cisney, Littleton's school board treasurer
observed that "people feel the academic philosophy behind back-
to-basics is okay, but were threatened by the 'top-down,'
management-by-directive' approach this year's [back-to-basics]
slate was touting." He added that "people are saying, 'Don't do
anything too radical or too extreme."
COMMISSION CONNECTION also notes that for the first time
voters in Fairfax County, Va., were able to elect school board
members. Prior to last year's election, school board members
were appointed. Fairfax voters also selected "mainstream"
candidates "versus those who supported the teaching of
creationism," writes the newsletter. "The bottom line issue
isn't what political philosophies people subscribe to, but what
their commitment to public education is," remarked Fairfax County
Public School Superintendent Robert Spillane.
==== ELECTION '96 ====
*7 EDUCATION: THE "SLEEPER" ISSUE FOR 1996
The W.S. JOURNAL reports that education "may be the sleeper
issue" for the 1996 election (Seib, 12/20). A W.S. JOURNAL and
NBC News national survey conducted in Dec. found that education
and schools were mentioned more often than anything except crime
control as the issue Americans would most like to see the federal
government "do something about." Education was mentioned by
respondents nearly twice as often as it had been when the same
question was posed in each of the past three years, writes the
paper.
According to the survey, the interest in education "cut[s]
across all lines." It tops the agenda of liberals,
conservatives, Democrats and Republicans. Nearly every group,
except the elderly, put education at the top of their agenda.
The JOURNAL predicts an "interesting debate" this year over
what the federal government should do about education. From the
paper: "At a time when voters generally say the federal
government is trying to do too much -- and botching too much of
that -- education is shaping up as a test of whether the
political parties and their leaders can find some new paths to
travel."
Democrats have a decided advantage in the education debate,
according to the paper. They traditionally have been willing to
allocate more money to education, "which is always the easiest
way to demonstrate that you're responding to voters' concerns,"
notes the paper.
The paper points to the recent Va. elections as proof that
Democrats successfully used education to win at the polls. This
fall, Republicans were on the march to take over both houses of
the Legislature for the first time. Democrats fought back by
warning voters that Republicans would "gut the state's education
system," writes the paper. On election day, Democrats maintained
control of both houses. And Gov. George Allen (R) subsequently
proposed more education spending. (See today's DRC, #2)
However, the paper tempers Democratic success by observing
that voters realize that "the ultimate solution" to trouble in
their schools lies at their doorstep, at the community level.
The JOURNAL: "The challenge for Democrats is to show that they
are finding ways Washington can help out, and then bow out."
One example of Democrat ingenuity has gone "virtually
unnoticed," notes the paper. Attorney General Janet Reno last
month traveled to Long Beach, Calif., on orders from President
Bill Clinton, to declare the Administration's support for the
school district's venture to increase school discipline by
mandating school uniforms. School officials required uniforms in
1994 as a means to weaken gang influence and to raise school
standards. According to local officials, the policy helped to
cut in half the number of school fights and reduced crimes and
suspensions by about a third in one year, reports the paper.
However, The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the
uniform policy in court. Reno's visit was meant to spark support
for the school policy by "throwing the influence of the Justice
Department behind the school system," writes the paper. From the
paper: "Long Beach shows how the feds can intervene without
taking over. No money has changed hands, no new federal offices
opened. But an innovative policy is being pushed ahead anyway."
The paper offers that Democrats are on the verge of "figuring out
something important about education," which may be a "prelude to
a useful national debate about education in 1996."
==== TAKING OVER ====
*8 ANOTHER FIRST: STATE TAKES OVER ROOSEVELT SCHOOLS
The N.Y. State Board of Regents on 3 Jan. voted in favor of
ousting the Roosevelt, Long Island, school board and of a state
takeover of the troubled district (Carvajal, N.Y. TIMES, 1/4).
State intervention began this summer after a state inspection
found the district "so weak academically that local officials
could be accused of child neglect," reports the TIMES (Carvajal,
12/29/95).
State Commissioner of Education Richard Mills set 22
December as the deadline for the board to make specified
administrative changes. The board fell short on meeting those
goals. Late December, Mills seized some of the board's powers,
"saying it had failed to improve its management," according to
the paper.
Dr. Daniel Domenech, head of the state takeover panel, said
he intends to aggressively revamp the school district. However,
he added that "our intention is that it's not the State Board of
Education that is going to rebuild Roosevelt, it's going to be
the Roosevelt community that will rebuild Roosevelt." Domenech
became acting president of the school board until the May
elections.
Will Singleton, the district Superintendent who was recently
suspended by the old board, was reinstated by the takeover panel.
He laid out several goals for the schools that include obtaining
new books -- some date back as far as 1963 --, and reaching out
to parents. According to the paper, a team of five consultants
will advise Singleton on curriculum development, special
education and building repairs.
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John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org