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--- Wednesday --- October 30, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 80 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
THE RADICAL MIDDLE | SPOTLIGHT |
There is a radical middle | |
ground in the phonics vs. whole | EDUCATIONAL GOLD DIGGING? |
language debate: those who | |
believe it is possible to teach | Are parents who seek a |
reading by using both methods. | special education label for |
The W.S. JOURNAL cites Richard | their child, or who |
Elmore, a professor at Har- | tenaciously battle a school |
vard's education school, as a | district for private-school |
middle-grounder in the conten- | placement for their child |
tious reading debate (Duff, | "educational gold diggers?" |
10/30). For Elmore and others, | Or are they parents simply |
"methods that balance the free- | demanding the best for |
spirited approach of whole | their offspring? |
language with the rigors of | |
phonics work best." | As expected, the real |
But zealots on either side | problem is the bottom line. |
make it virtually impossible to | The cost of educating |
hear the voices coming from the | special-needs children has |
middle. Some say the "fuss" | skyrocketed; so has the |
goes beyond reading, writing | number of special-ed |
and spelling. "With whole | students. A federal law |
language, no rigid skills are | calls for the federal |
enforced; phonics, ... relies | government to produce 40% |
on a tried-and-true, if boring, | of the cost of implementing |
formula of drills," writes the | its provisions; but, so |
JOURNAL. The paper notes that | far, the federal share of |
the issue is "so divisive" that | national spending for |
some teacher-training colleges | special ed is 7%. Local |
find it difficult to fill read- | school districts and |
ing slots because candidates | taxpayers must bear the |
are often deemed too pro- | brunt of the cost. And |
phonics or pro-whole language, | some are outraged at the |
depending on the "bent of the | expense. (#5, #6) |
selection committee." |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"People spend money on a house and they should be able to have a
shot at sending their kids to the local school." Chicago schools
chief, Paul Vallas, on his proposal to make it easier for
students to attend their neighborhood's magnet school. (#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 |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
PROMISING PRACTICES
SIGN AND SPOKEN: Both languages on stage in arts program. (#1)
ED REFORM IN DETROIT: A potpourri of ideas. (#2)
MAGNETIC APPEAL
MAGNET SCHOOL DELAY: Tied up in Sheff decision?. (#3)
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD MAGNET: Currently off limit to many. (#4)
A SPECIAL CASE
EDUCATING SPECIAL CHILDREN: The costs have skyrocketed. (#5)
THE CARTER CASE: A special-ed dilemma for school districts.(#6)
==== PROMISING PRACTICES ====
*1 SIGN AND SPOKEN: BOTH LANGUAGES ON STAGE IN ARTS PROGRAM
The Cleveland School of the Arts has broken new ground by
combining hearing-impaired and hearing students in theatrical
performances (French, Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 10/21). Tavon
Dickerson and Daniel Ware, both hearing-impaired, are the first
deaf students to enroll full time in a Cleveland magnet school,
reports the paper.
Two years ago, funding from the state and Ameritech opened
the Deaf Culture Project at the school. Teachers from the arts
magnet used the money to purchase computers, special books and
audiovisual materials geared to deaf students, reports the paper.
At that time, Paul Brown, a foreign language teacher, began
thinking about developing a pilot full-time program for talented
deaf students at the arts school. The PLAIN DEALER notes that
Brown was aware that theater teacher, Bill Smith, had studied
sign language at Gallaudet U, a Washington, D.C. school for the
deaf.
Once the program opened, Tavon and Daniel were encouraged to
apply because of their interest in drama and past theatrical
work. Tavon currently is in rehearsal with his classmates in the
annual theater class production, which this year will combine
sign and spoken language.
Smith commented on the importance not only to provide
opportunities for deaf students, but to "help hearing students
understand deaf culture, so the two groups learn to accept and
support each other," writes the paper. "I never really thought
about not being able to hear until I met Tavon and Daniel," said
Peter Jackson, a thirteen-year-old student. "They're regular
people, exactly like we are, but they can't hear. It's important
[for us] to use sign language, so we can communicate with them,
so they know they are appreciated," he added.
According to their parents, both Tavon and Daniel are
achieving higher at their new school. The parents credit the
theater program as providing an incentive to do well.
Willie Barclay, Tavon's dad: "I went to see him in the
Christmas play and I was proud. He didn't let his handicap hold
him back. He knew the whole play and interpreted everybody's
lines. I said,'Well, I'll be dogged!"
*2 ED REFORM IN DETROIT: A POTPOURRI OF IDEAS
The DETROIT FREE PRESS capsulized the varied approaches to
school reform being tried in Detroit (Robles, 10/26). According
to the paper, reform efforts underway in the city are targeted to
individual schools and students, rather than systemic reform.
However, two system-wide efforts have been deemed successful
by some: self-governing schools and a restructuring of the
ninth-grade. Since self-governing's inception in the early
1990s, 33 schools now make their own budget and curriculum
decisions, reports the paper. Many of the "empowered" schools
boast of test scores that are on the rise.
The U of Michigan is reviewing a ninth-grade restructuring
program. The program's mission is to ensure that every student
who enters high school stays to graduate. According to the
paper, the effort included a summer program.
Other reform models being implemented throughout the city
include: Comer Schools and Families Initiative, which is
designed to "strengthen a student's social, psychological, health
and emotional development, writes the paper -- funding has been
provided by the Killman Foundation; and Cities in Schools, in
which at-risk students receive help to graduate from high school
and find a job or go on to college -- funds come from Title I and
grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Another program is the Detroit Compact, which is a
business/education partnership that provides job opportunities or
college scholarships for middle and high school students. The
students must "meet standards of good attendance and above-
average academics," writes the paper. Funding comes from the
Detroit Renaissance Foundation and Detroit Public Schools, and
the Detroit Chamber of Commerce helps coordinate the program.
The Northern Area Model School Project also is noted as part
of Detroit's reform program. It targets students from Northern
High School and several feeder schools. According to the paper,
learning is "personalize[d]" and students are encouraged to
develop a "sense of commitment to their school." Technology is
stressed in the program, which is funded by the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation.
==== MAGNETIC APPEAL ====
*3 MAGNET SCHOOL DELAY: TIED UP IN SHEFF DECISION?
Conn. Gov John Rowland (D) decided to remove from the agenda
of the State Bond Commission $14M needed to complete construction
of an "experimental" magnet elementary school in New Britain
(Carlson, Hartford COURANT, 10/23). Reasons for Rowland's lack
of approval range from political pay-back to a wait-and-see
attitude regarding desegregation efforts stemming from the recent
Sheff vs. O'Neill decision, the state Supreme Court's
desegregation order on Hartford's public schools. The court
found segregated Hartford schools in violation of the state
constitution. (See DRC, 7/10)
The Early Childhood Magnet School would enroll students in
grades pre-K to 3rd grade. It would operate year-round and would
integrate students from five districts throughout central Conn.
While the school has garnered much support among educators and
politicians, a "lone voice" of dissent comes from State Senator
Thomas Bozek, a conservative Democrat who represents New Britain
and Berlin, writes the paper.
According to the COURANT, Bozek opposes the school's year-
round plans and is "skeptical of its mission to integrate the
region's schools." Bozek: "I don't believe in an elementary
magnet school. I don't think it is the answer to Sheff, and I
don't like it in New Britain."
Bozek said he petitioned Rowland to "hold the powder" on the
magnet school, reports the paper. "My feeling is that I gave the
governor the votes on crime bills, on labor contracts. I'm
asking him to hold up on the [school] funding now," explained
Bozek. However, he and his staff "quickly added" that it is
unclear whether Bozek's request persuaded the governor to hold up
the bond allocation.
The paper notes that Rowland's desire to limit bond requests
to $500M a year is a more powerful reason for the governor to
halt the school's bond issue. Rowland's aides also said that a
statewide education panel still is reviewing solutions to the
Sheff ruling and Rowland wants to wait until the findings are
released in Jan. "The governor thought it was prudent to put
this on hold until the Sheff panel comes out," said Jim O'Brien,
legislative liaison for the governor. But he added, "This is not
dead," and if Education Commissioner Ted Sergi deems the school a
priority, he should include it in next year's budget request.
*4 YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD MAGNET: CURRENTLY OFF LIMIT TO MANY
Chicago Schools Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas has
proposed a plan to make it easier for students to attend a magnet
school located in their neighborhood (Rossi, Chicago SUN-TIMES,
10/24). "People spend money on a house and they should be able
to have a shot at sending their kids to the local school,"
explained Vallas.
Vallas' plan would set aside between 15% and 30% of all
student slots at Chicago's 27 magnet schools for neighborhood
students, reports the paper. The only criteria is that racial
balance does not change as a result of allowing neighborhood
children to enroll. The TRIBUNE notes that currently
neighborhood students can gain enrollment slots in lotteries, and
16 of the city's magnet schools already meet the 15% quota for
neighborhood students. However, a recent school board study
revealed that the magnets may be able to accommodate as many as
30% of the neighborhood children, without jeopardizing racial
balance.
School Board President Gery Chico said the parents'
complaints about being squeezed out of enrollment in neighborhood
magnet schools was the catalyst for the plan. "When someone
moves into a neighborhood and a [magnet] school is a half-block
away, they view that as a neighborhood school," he said.
"People, with some justification, are asking us to consider set-
asides."
==== A SPECIAL CASE ====
*5 EDUCATING SPECIAL CHILDREN: THE COSTS HAVE SKYROCKETED
TIME Magazine reports on the Maynard family, who reside in
rural Union County, S.D. (Allis, 11/4). They have received an
abundance of hate mail and personal threats all because one of
their children, who is autistic, is going to a private school at
taxpayer expense -- dollars that would have been targeted to the
county's school district.
School board meetings were "like walking into a Klan
meeting," said Cathy Maynard, the child's mother. "People we
lived beside for generations will no longer talk to us. We
didn't choose the role. We did what any good parents would do."
According to TIME, county residents paid for an 80%
increase in the school budget, a quarter of which went for the
Maynard child's special-education needs. Property taxes jumped
55% in 1992, writes the magazine.
TIME: "While the venom facing the Maynard family is rare,
the conflict that spawned it is not." The magazine goes on to
explain that while federal and state laws mandate certain
educational requirements for special-needs students, funding to
cover the costs of the education is not forthcoming. For
example, federal special-education legislation enacted in 1975
was supposed to cover 40% of the costs. The reality: the
federal share of national spending for special education is a
mere 7%, notes TIME.
States have special-education laws, also funded at
inadequate levels. Mass., "which has one of the highest
percentages of special-ed. students of any state in the country
(11.1%)," covered only 17% of the cost of educating special-needs
students last year, writes the magazine. And the number of
public school students in special education has increased over
the years: 5.4 million in special education nationwide last
year, up from 4.8 million five years ago. A soon-to-be-released
report by the Washington-based Council for Educational
Development and Research reports that special-education spending
nationally has doubled during the past 25 years to $30B, reports
the magazine.
Some educators point to "inclusion" as a means to cut the
cost of educating special-needs students. TIME notes that under
inclusion, special-education funds follow the child. However,
others claim that inclusion is no "fiscal panacea," reports TIME.
Public school teachers must be trained to work with special-
education children and additional staff must be hired. "Anything
less is dumping," said William Henderson, principal of Boston's
Patrick O'Hearn ELementary School, where inclusion is part of the
program.
According to the magazine, inclusion works best at the
elementary-school level, and rarely at the secondary level.
"High school inclusion has little or no relevance in the lives of
the severely disabled," said one high school special-education
director in a Boston suburb. "The kids are often miserable
because they have no friends except their tutors. I think
parents are beginning to realize this."
TIME reports on Edward Moscovitch's, author of "Special
Education, Good Intentions Gone Awry," proposal to "soften" the
federal and state requirements concerning special education. "I
would have an ironclad provision that if a child is making
reasonable progress in school, he doesn't get special education,
regardless of the disabilities."
*6 THE CARTER CASE: A SPECIAL-ED DILEMMA FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS
A 1993 U.S. Supreme Court decision that requires school
districts to reimburse parents of special-needs children for any
private school tuition if the public school system is seen as
inadequate has caused financial stress to many school districts
(Belluck, N.Y. TIMES, 10/27). The case, Florence County School
District 4 vs. Carter, was viewed as "a blow to public schools,"
when, in a unanimous decision, the court decided to award parents
public funds when they transferred their special-needs children
to private schools, even ones not approved by the local school
district (See DRC 11/11/93).
"I think a break-the-bank strategy is a really bad strategy,
but I don't see any easy way out of this one," commented Norman
Fruchter, director of the Institute for Education and Social
Policy of New York U. "The ability to demonstrate that kids
aren't getting what they need in the public system is one that
any parent with a good lawyer can make," he added.
The Carter case refers to a suit brought by the Carter
family of S.C., who rejected a public school education plan for
their daughter and sued the school system for the cost of
attending a private school, reports the paper. Since then, many
affluent parents have hired lawyers to fight for private-school
placement of their special-needs children. New York City School
Board members are so disturbed by the legions of parents seeking
reimbursement for private school costs that they accuse them of
"educational gold digging: getting a free private school
education when many of them could pay for it on their own,"
writes the paper. According to the paper, the number of cases
has "multiplied" each year since Carter: in the first year, the
system paid for only two children, the next year there were 20;
then 135, and in the year that ended last June, 210 cases,
costing more than $3M.
Parent Phyllis Saxe, whose daughter attends a private school
takes umbrage at the criticism. She compares the allegation to
"when people look at you when you have one of those handicapped
stickers on your car. Like I couldn't wait to have a handicapped
child so I could get one of those stickers. It's only the money
that the Board of Ed is worried about, not the way they educate
your child." Education experts note that in New York City
special education costs make up 25% of the school system's
budget.
"It's a leading indicator that the existing system is out of
whack," said Robert Berne, vice president for academic
development at New York U. "You can't blame the parents of
disabled youngsters for taking advantage of the situation. It's
the rules of the game that are flawed, not the motivations of the
parents who are trying to do the best for their chidlren. If the
system was working, a much smaller number of kids would need to
go outside."
The TIMES reports that if more special-education children
continue to pour out of the public school system, the system will
become "less flexible in dealing with the wide range of
disabilities." Fruchter: "If you pull kids out of the
mainstream, you make the mainstream less and less capable of
dealing with disabled kids' needs."
In New York City, a child first is evaluated by a team of
teachers and psychologists. The team decides upon the best
school program for the child, reports the paper. However, if an
appropriate public-school program is not available within a
certain time limit, parents are permitted to send the child to a
private school, "but only a school that is approved by and
primarily paid for by the state," notes the paper. Under Carter,
parents can be reimbursed for any private school, regardless of
cost.
Often parents win tuition reimbursement cases on technical
points -- the school system misses a deadline, or forgets to
include a parent in a meeting about their child. According to
the TIMES, New York's school board has been sponsoring training
sessions for special education teachers and psychologists so they
"stop making mistakes and will be able to document 'evidence that
would support our case' about each child."
Lawyer Regina Skyer summed up the parent's view: "Parents
wouldn't be running out of the system in droves if the schools
were doing their job."
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