Click here to return to OFCN's Main Index Page.
--- Monday --- November 18, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 89 ---
D #### ##### #### ### #### #### ##### ### #### ####
A ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##
I #### #### #### ## ## #### ## ## ##### #### ## ##
L ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##
Y ## ## ##### ## ### ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ####
THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK | SPOTLIGHT |
The week of 17-23 November | |
marks the 75th anniversary of | "WE WILL FIX IT" |
American Education Week | |
(National Education Association | Retired Army Lt. General |
press release, 11/13). The NEA | Julius Becton Jr. is bound |
and the American Legion have | and determined to succeed |
co-sponsored the event since | in his next mission -- CEO |
1921. This year's theme, "The | of Washington, D.C.'s much |
Future Begins in Today's | maligned school system. |
Schools," will be highlighted | "We will fix it. And once |
in events nationwide -- from | we get it fixed, we will |
school open houses to events | return it to the proper |
honoring retired teachers and | authorities," he declared. |
school staff. Wednesday is | |
designated "education Support | The D.C. schools have |
Personnel Day," to salute the | been taken over by the |
"unsung heroes of America's | financial control board |
public schools: cafeteria | installed by Congress to |
workers, secretaries, bus | help run the city. Board |
drivers, teacher aides and | members fired Superinten- |
other teaching support staff," | dent Franklin Smith and |
notes the NEA. | recruited Becton for the |
| job. Smith thinks Becton |
CHOICE DEBATE ON-LINE | may have more success |
The competing, clashing | because the control board |
school-choice studies issued | will give him more freedom |
separately by Paul Peterson of | and resources. (#1 & 2) |
Harvard U and John Witte of the | |
U of Wisconsin are available on | N.Y.C.'s Rudy Crew also |
line. Peterson's is at hdc- | would like more freedom, |
www.harvard.edu/pepg/op/evaluat | since the Justice Dept. |
e.htm. Witte's is at: | nixed his ouster of a South |
dpls.dacc.wisc.edu/choice/choic | Bronx school board. (#3) |
e_index.html. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"Let's be honest. It means they can go after people." --
Virginia Gray, a U of Minnesota political science professor, on
the board of regents plan to modify the tenure system. (#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 ==============
CITY HALL
THE GENERAL'S NEW COMMAND: Heading up the D.C. schools. (#1)
PROFILE OF A LEADER: Who is Lt. General Julius Becton Jr. (#2)
A NEW YORK-STYLE POWER STRUGGLE: Crew loses district 12. (#3)
HIGHER EDUCATION
U OF MINNESOTA REGENTS: Back down on plan to modify tenure.(#4)
FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE
IT'S OVER, FOR NOW: Boston ends racial quota system. (#5)
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
The DAILY REPORT CARD would like to know which members of
the business community read the DRC and to find more business-
school projects. If you are a representative of a large or small
business, please complete the form at the end of today's DRC.
Thank you for your cooperation.
==== CITY HALL ====
*1 THE GENERAL'S NEW COMMAND: HEADING UP THE D.C. SCHOOLS
Retired Army Lt. General Julius Becton Jr. last Friday
assumed control of the Washington, D.C., public schools. (Vise,
WASH POST, 11/16). "We will fix it," he said. "And once we get
it fixed, we will return it to the proper authorities."
Becton will replace Franklin Smith, who was fired by the
D.C. financial control board. The POST notes that the control
board was created last year by Congress to "rescue the District
government from financial ruin and improve city services,
including education."
The control board, declaring the schools to be in a "state
of emergency," also transferred the authority of the newly
elected school board to a new board of trustees directed by Bruce
MacLaury, former president of the Brookings Institution. The new
board of trustees will assume control of the schools until June
2000, when an elected school board will be brought back.
Under the new plan, Becton will be exempt from D.C.
contracting and personnel rules and is charged with developing
new procedures for hiring and firing school system personnel,
writes the paper. "We are convinced that the time for change has
come -- that every day we delay action is another day that
children's futures are delayed," declared control board Chairman
Andrew Brimmer. Control board members voted unanimously on the
public school governance issue, which the POST deems the "biggest
changes in the structure of the District government since the
board itself was created by Congress last year."
Members of the current school board sought a temporary
restraining order from a district judge. However, U.S. District
Judge Gladys Kessler refused to grant the order, explaining that
the school board failed to show that the control board had broken
any law, reports the paper. "Congress made the legislative
decision to give substantial powers to the control board to take
action in the education field that ... would ultimately benefit
the interests of the children of the District of Columbia," she
said.
Some members of the city council and former school board
protest the changes being made by the control board. "They're
taking away home rule, and it makes me blue and brown," said D.C.
Council member Hilda H.M. Mason. "I don't think we are stepping
on the toes of democracy," said MacLaury. "This is an
emergency."
Newly elected school board member Don Reeves, who now faces
reduced powers, said he is willing to give the control board a
chance. Parents interviewed by the POST appeared to welcome the
governance changes. "We need people in [power] who care more
about the children and the things that are gong on with the
kids," said Deborah Harris, mother of a high school student, who
lives in a disadvantaged neighborhood. "I don't care if I get a
chance to vote or elect whoever they put in there, as long as
they care about these kids."
"I'm a strong supporter of home rule," said Robert Molofsky,
the father of two D.C. public school students, who attend one of
the city's top-notch schools located in an affluent neighborhood.
"But I'm also among those ... who believe the state of affairs of
the school system requires some immediate and tough actions.
The control board's full report criticizing D.C. public
schools can be found at the POST's Web site:
http:\\www.washingtonpost.com
*2 PROFILE OF A LEADER: WHO IS LT. GENERAL JULIUS BECTON JR.
The Washington, D.C. financial control board last week
ousted the city's school superintendent, replacing him with a
retired Army general. Lt. General Julius Becton Jr. has a
history of "restoring stability and accountability" to public
institutions, writes the WASH POST (Greene, 11/16).
Becton was director of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency during the 1980s; appointed to rid the agency of scandal.
In the 1990s, Becton took the reigns of the "financially
troubled" Prairie View A&M University in Texas, reports the
paper.
Many expect Becton to bring the same results-oriented stand
to D.C. schools. "I think Becton will do to that school system
what Lee Iacocca did for Chrysler," said Samuel Metters, a McLean
businessman and president of the Prairie View Alumni Association.
"Becton is going to come in there and clean up the classrooms,
get good administrators and create an environment so that
learning can take place."
However, some critics claim Becton is too quick to make
decisions. Others point out that Becton is not an educator and
does not have the academic background to do the job, writes the
paper. Becton said he plans to hire a chief educational officer
from within the school system to advise him on academic matters
(Vise, WASH POST, 11/16).
Becton: "We will be diligent in our efforts to create an
optimum learning environment that is stimulating and challenging
to students and teachers alike. Our goal is to build an
environment that fosters success. Remember, children first.
Failure is not an option."
Becton counts as one of his advisors General Colin Powell,
notes the paper.
*3 A NEW YORK-STYLE POWER STRUGGLE: CREW LOSES DISTRICT 12
New York School Chancellor Rudy Crew came out on the losing
end of a decision issued by the Justice Department that concerns
his suspension of the entire school board of District 12, located
in the South Bronx (Barry, N.Y. TIMES, 11/17).
Crew was not subdued by defeat. "I believe the New Yorkers
agree with me that the ruling of the Justice Department does not
serve the children of New York. We will pursue all legal avenues
to insure that the members of Community School Board 12 do not
return to office."
A new state law allows the Chancellor to prevent an entire
school board from taking office in a district where the board was
previously under suspicion of corruption, reports the paper. The
law also bans members who have been previously suspended for
having committed either a crime or an act of malfeasance from
returning to their posts for three years, according to the TIMES.
However, the new law is controversial because it gives the
Chancellor the power to override the electorate, which could be
perceived as compromising the Voting Rights Act. Last summer,
the Justice Department ruled that the Chancellor would need to
gain its permission to bar the winners of school board elections
from assuming office, notes the paper.
The Justice Department agreed in several cases with Crew.
The matter of District 12 saw a split between Crew's decision and
Justice's ruling. Armando Montano, the lawyer representing the
school board members, said the difference between District 12 and
the other districts is that the school board members in the South
Bronx had never been accused of wrongdoing. Instead, Crew's
argument with them stemmed from disagreement over who should be
hired as district superintendent. The board favored Alexander
Castillo, a former board member who was principal of an
elementary school in East Harlem, while the Chancellor wanted
Mary Rivera, a principal of a West Bronx grade school.
The board selected Castillo, and Crew charged that their
decision "does nothing to convince me that your board is in any
way serious about making necessary changes to begin to raise the
achievement levels in your schools. The decision to select an
individual as the educational leader of your district whose own
record of achievement is subpar is puzzling."
Crew then ousted Louis Maldonado, the school board
president, and the board's eight other members, reports the
paper. He replaced them with three trustees "who would step
aside once parents' groups had selected five trustees to serve
until the next election," writes the paper. And he appointed
Rivera as acting superintendent. The school board appealed, with
the Justice Department concurring with their appeal.
According to the TIMES, the heart of the issue is "the
extent to which [Crew], as superintendent, can insure the
integrity of education in the city; at issue for District 12 and
other school boards is the extent to which they can maintain
autonomy."
===== HIGHER EDUCATION =====
*4 U OF MINNESOTA REGENTS: BACK DOWN ON PLAN TO MODIFY TENURE
The U of Minnesota's Board of Regents decided to surrender,
at least temporarily, a plan that would have had unprecedented
impact on higher education's tenure system (Honan, N.Y. TIMES,
11/17). "It's the sense of this board ... that we will not be
revisiting the tenure code for at least a year and a half and
probably never," said Tom Reagan, chairman of the board of
regents.
U of Minnesota faculty were on the verge of forming a union
in order to use the collective bargaining process to protect
their tenure. Tenure, which has been a teaching reward since the
Middle Ages, was attacked as the university wallowed in a budget
crisis faced by many other universities nationwide (Sanchez, WASH
POST, 11/9). "This is a very critical place -- if changes like
this can occur at a major university like Minnesota, they can
happen on any campus," said Mary Burgan, the general secretary of
the American Association of University Professors. "Faculty see
this as the beginning of the end."
The regent's plan, drafted with the help of Washington,
D.C., law firm Hogan and Hartson, was based on giving the regents
the authority to dismiss professors whose programs were
eliminated and to cut faculty pay for reasons other than
financial emergency, reports the TIMES. Currently, professors
are granted tenure after about six years and, under tenure
agreements, are guaranteed lifetime employment unless a financial
emergency emerges or in a case of individual misconduct.
"The goal of this is only to enhance the quality of the
university," said Patricia Spence, a regent. "Resource are
getting tighter. We need more flexibility, In no way will this
diminish academic freedom. But the faculty are really reacting
with paranoia. I'm afraid it has done great damage to the
university."
But Virginia Gray, a political science professor, countered:
"Let's be honest. It means they can go after people." She added
that if the proposal is not stopped, "the university is going to
suffer tremendous damage in the eyes of higher education."
The POST writes that the percent of college professors who
are tenured is dropping: It was about 65% ten years ago, and
only 58% today. College officials told the paper that the reason
for the decline is simple: "State aid is declining, expenses are
rising and colleges are facing grater pressure to restructure and
keep salaries down."
An attempt to unionize U of Minnesota's law professors
narrowly failed last month, allowing the regent's to revamp the
school's employment practices. Under new regulations, tenured
professors are permitted to stay on the payroll when programs are
eliminated if they accept reassignment, writes the TIMES. The
old rules allowed lay-offs only when a state of financial
emergency was declared. According to the paper, the new rules
also make it easier to cut pay in times of "financial distress."
Fred Morrison, a U of Minnesota law school professor who
served as a faculty leader in the negotiations said many faculty
opposed the initial rewrite of the tenure rules because it
"dramatically shift[s] the burden of tenure decisions from the
faculty to the regents, and reduce[s] the right of appeal." He
accepted the negotiated proposal, saying it "meets all of the
faculty concerns for academic freedom, due process and protection
of employment." The paper notes that other law school faculty
are not so sanguine.
Proposed revisions to Minnesota's tenure code can be found
on The WASH POST's Web site at: http:\\www.washingtonpost.com.
===== FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE =====
*5 IT'S OVER, FOR NOW: BOSTON ENDS RACIAL QUOTA SYSTEM
Last Friday, the Boston School Committee agreed to end its
racial quota system for students to enter the city's three top
public schools that require applicants to take an exam (AP/N.Y.
TIMES 11/17). The committee also voted to allow Julia McLaughlin
to remain at the Boston Latin School. Julia brought forth a
lawsuit when she was rejected from Boston Latin, although she
scored better on the entrance exam than 103 black and Hispanic
applicants who were accepted. (See DRC 10/13/95)
Committee Chairman Robert Gittens said the board already is
reviewing new admission procedures to replace the quotas and
"insure that students in Boston from every racial and ethnic
group have equal access" to the schools. Gittens: "What we will
do is look at the range of options the advisory board will be
presenting to us. There are other ways of coming up with a
formula that may be considered."
The TIMES reminds readers that a Federal judge ordered
Julia's admission to the school while the case was underway.
(See DRC 9/23/96) The committee's decision to let her remain in
the school prevented the case from going to court this Tuesday,
reports the paper.
DAILY REPORT CARD READERS
BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Please complete the following if you work for or are an
official of a large or small business. Return the form by mail:
DAILY REPORT CARD; 1255 22nd St. NW; Suite 502; Washington, D.C.
20037 -- by fax: 202/632-0957 -- by e-mail:
DRC_publisher@goalline.org.
Thank you for your assistance.
Name:
Title:
Business:
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Would you like to read more stories related to private
sector involvement in schools and school systems?
Yes _________
No ___________
Please add the DRC to your business's press mailng list for
education projects:
Barbara Pape
Publisher
DAILY REPORT CARD
1255 22nd Street NW
Suite 502
Washington, D.C. 20037
202/632-0952
202/632-0957 (fax)
DRC_publisher@goalline.org
Click here to return to OFCN's
Academy Program
Click here to return to OFCN's Main Index Page.
John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org