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--- Wednesday --- December 18, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 98 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
HAPPY HOLIDAYS | SPOTLIGHT |
The DAILY REPORT CARD will | |
take a holiday break beginning | POWER PLAYS |
this Friday, 20 December. We | |
will return on Wednesday, 8 | School boards in urban |
January. Enjoy the season! | districts are taking the |
| heat for system failures. |
UNIFORMS AND RELIGION | The latest trouble spot is |
Parents of Adam Levon, a | Hartford, Conn., where |
twelve-year-old student at | personality clashes among |
Wentworth Junior High School in | board members has stymied |
Calumet City, Ill., filed a | their efforts to perform |
lawsuit against the school | even basic tasks, including |
because of a requirement that | hiring a superintendent. |
all students wear uniforms | |
(Gillis, Chicago SUN TIMES, | A parent group is demand- |
12/16). | ing the resignations of all |
School officials expelled | board members. They want |
Adam for not wearing the | to give City Hall the power |
standard uniform -- blue pants, | to run the schools. (#6) |
white shirt and solid-colored | |
shoes. His parents filed a | Cleveland's mayor also |
federal lawsuit, arguing that | may be handed the reigns of |
the uniform violates their | his city's schools. A |
belief that "Christians should | school governance committee |
lead a simple life and not | -- borrowing from Chicago, |
judge people based on material | Boston and Baltimore plans |
wealth." They sought an | -- has recommended that |
injunction to allow Adam to | Mayor White be granted the |
return to school until the case | authority to appoint the |
is solved. But U.S. | school board in order to |
Magistrate Judge Joan Lefkow | bring "stability and |
denied the request, saying the | credibility" to the school |
parents are unlikely to win | system. (#5) |
their suit. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"Kids can't develop critical thinking if they don't have anything
to think about." -- Walter Lambert, senior program coordinator
for social studies in the Boston public schools. (#3)
_______________________________________________________________
| 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 Writer: Rosemary Polanco |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
STATESIDE
REORGANIZATION: Mich. DoEd may be Engler's target. (#1)
ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN: Mass. board of ed decides on GED.(#2)
STANDARD BEARERS
HISTORY STANDARDS: Tough going in Massachusetts. (#3)
FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE
CAN'T DO THAT: Minn. school district can't sue state? (#4)
GOVERNANCE
THE EDUCATION MAYOR: Will it play in Cleveland? (#5)
PERSONALITY CLASHES: Hartford school board at standstill. (#6)
===== STATESIDE =====
*1 REORGANIZATION: MICH. DoED MAY BE ENGLER'S TARGET
Mich. Gov John Engler (R) may be considering a
reorganization of the state DoEd and transfer of power away from
the elected state Board of Education to the state superintendent
of schools (Walsh-Sarnecki and Bell, Detroit FREE PRESS, 12/11).
Clark Durant, president of the state board, said that Engler
wants to "clarify the roles and enhance his ability to continue
education reform and change."
Engler's critics countered that the proposal is an "attempt
by the governor to control and centralize his power," writes the
paper. State Rep James Agee (D) remarked on the irony of
Engler's decision to scrap an elected board since that board in
January will go from a Republican majority to a 4-4 partisan
split, after two Democrats were elected in November. "To me, if
that is in fact what he intends to do, it's a pretty obvious, in-
your-face and blatant slap in the face of the voters, who just
changed the composition of the state board," he said.
Engler can expect a challenge from the American Civil
Liberties Union of Michigan, according to remarks made by Wendy
Wagenheimm, legislative affairs director of the ACLU. "If this
rumor is true, then we would like to see the constitutional and
legal rationale behind it," she said.
The paper notes that Engler's plan to reorganization
education follows "a pattern established by Engler in the last
six years with appointed boards and commissions."
*2 ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN: MASS. BOARD OF ED DECIDES FATE OF GED
Mass. high school seniors will be required to take the
General Educational Development test this spring, but they will
not face a "scarlet letter" on their diploma if they do not pass
(Cornell, BOSTON HERALD, 12/12). During a "volatile" meeting,
the state board of education turned down the request of Gov.
William Weld (R) and Board President John Silber to mark "GED
FAILED" on student diplomas. "The governor and I don't control
the Board of Education," said Silber, after the meeting.
"You don't always get every idea translated into action,"
remarked Weld. "Silber and I thought the scarlet letter would be
an enforcement mechanism. But we both got the test
administered." Silber added that there will be consequences,
since "the record will show to their parents if their child has
passed or failed."
However, legislation has been formulated to prevent the
state DoEd from allocating the $600,000 it costs to administer
the GED exam. "The GED is a gimmick," said Rep. Harold Lane Jr
(D), who filed the bill. "It's a bad idea that should be
reversed."
Some lawmakers prefer that Silber concentrate whole-
heartedly on raising standards and producing tests tied to those
new standards, as determined by the state's education reform
legislation. Weld and three key legislators sent a "strongly
worded" letter to Silber earlier this month that stressed the
importance of giving the highest priority to these parts of the
education reform agenda (Avenoso, BOSTON GLOBE, 12/11). "They
were trying to get [Silber] to focus on the pressing issues, to
say 'first things first,'" a source told the GLOBE.
Alexis Vagianos, the student representative on the board,
called the GED proposal a "waste of money." Vagianos: "Students
don't want to take a test that has consequences, because that
wouldn't be fair. Without consequences, they aren't going to
take it seriously."
==== STANDARD BEARERS ====
*3 HISTORY STANDARDS: TOUGH GOING IN MASSACHUSETTS
The Mass. state Board of Education last week proposed a new
social studies curriculum that already is stirring controversy
(Avenoso, BOSTON GLOBE, 12/13). Board members based their
curriculum on history standards already in place in Va., which
were developed by educator E.D. Hirsch.
The new curriculum focuses on Western history and outlines a
"set of key events, ideas and places that will be the focus of a
statewide test," reports the paper. Critics claim students will
loose interest in history because the standards reduce the
subject to memorization of dates, places and other facts. Others
argue that the curriculum does not adequately cover economics,
geography, sociology and other areas of social studies. Some
teachers add that the curriculum's emphasis on Western history
neglects issues of multiculturalism. "These standards don't
speak to the many different people who make up our country and
our world," said Wendell Bourne, a social studies teacher at
Weston Middle School. "I think children need social studies to
be more related to life and reality in the 21st century,
including the ethnic groups that are part of their own
communitites," he added.
Supporters counter that students need to know basic
historic facts, and are being academically harmed by the current
curriculum that has been described as a "mishmash of electives on
multiculturalism and self esteem." "The sense has been that if
kids knew how to think about ideas, they could always look the
information up," said Walter Lambert, senior program coordinator
for social studies in the Boston public schools. "But history is
not an amorphous set of personal opinions. It's solid content.
And kids can't develop critical thinking if they don't have
anything to think about."
The board anticipates voting on the new curriculum early
next year, reports the paper.
===== FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE =====
*4 CAN'T DO THAT: MINN. SCHOOL DISTRICT CAN'T SUE STATE?
The Minn. attorney general's office last week filed a motion
requesting that a judge dismiss the St. Paul School District
lawsuit that claims the state has provided inadequate funding to
educate the district's disadvantaged students (Smith, Minneapolis
STAR TRIBUNE, 12/12). According to the Attorney General, the
school district, a political organization created by the
Legislature, cannot sue another political entity, the state.
Ramsey County District Court senior Judge Bertrand Poritsky
has scheduled arguments on the motion for 9 January; he then has
90 days to make a ruling. "It's very early," said Scott Strand,
deputy counsel with the attorney general's office. The first
order of business is not "haggling about test scores and gaps,
and educational issues," but whether the district legally can
bring the suit to court, remarked Strand.
The paper notes that in Minn. and other parts of the
country, school districts have sued states over school funding
matters. In the 1980s, a group of parents and school districts
in Minn. sued the state over unequal funding levels. However,
the state Supreme Court in 1993 ruled that the system was
constitutional, "even if it allowed disparities," writes the
paper. And last year, the NAACP filed a similar lawsuit,
claiming that Minn. provides inadequate funding to students in
Minneapolis.
"If we're going to have equal educational opportunity for
all children, we need to rationally match the resources to the
needs the children have," said Steve Routh, a Washington, D.C.
attorney representing St. Paul. "In a school context, that
doesn't mean one dollar figure for all children; it means looking
at the services that must be provided."
==== GOVERNANCE ====
*5 THE EDUCATION MAYOR: WILL IT PLAY IN CLEVELAND?
A school governance committee has proposed giving Cleveland
Mayor Michael White the authority to appoint a school board to
run the city's troubled schools (Stephens, Ortiz and Jones,
Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 12/11). "We see it as a way to bring
stability and credibility to a system that has had very little of
either of those qualities," said David Bergholz, executive
director of the Gund Foundation and co-chairman of the committee.
Specifically, the plan calls for White to choose nine school
board members from a list of 18 submitted by a group consisting
of parents, a teacher, principal and representatives from
business and higher education. After a trial period from 1997 to
2001, a referendum would allow citizens to decide whether to keep
an appointed board or return to an elected one, writes the paper.
Under the plan, the mayor also would appoint a chief
executive officer to oversee the schools by appointing
administrators and other personnel; creating a plan to hold
schools accountable for academic performance; appointing an
ombudsman to help solve problems involving parents; and reporting
annually to the community on the performance of the schools,
reports the paper.
According to the PLAIN DEALER, committee members borrowed
from plans already in existence in Chicago, Baltimore and Boston.
State legislation is needed to turn the elected board into an
appointed board, and a bill introduced in September by state Reps
William Batchelder (R) and Mike Wise (R) is a possible vehicle.
"I am very excited because what began as an initiative from
Columbus has truly become a local issue," said Wise.
A decision to install an appointed board also would need
clearance from the court. U.S. District Judge George White
continues to oversee the district's desegregation case, and it
was his predecessor, Judge Robert Krupansky, who turned control
of the Cleveland school district over to the state. Steven
Minter, co-chairman of the committee and executive director of
the Cleveland Foundation, said Judge White is interested in a
plan for the district that would be in place once the state steps
back. "The judge has made it clear his concern is getting it
back to local control," said Minter.
A PLAIN DEALER editorial embraces the proposal. "The 18-
point plan a citizens committee released this week is as well-
researched as it is well-reasoned," writes the paper.
Critics of the plan include the Cleveland Teachers Union.
"I think the people of Cleveland should have the right to vote on
this themselves," said Richard DeColibus, president of the CTU.
"Basically, they are trying to give the school system to the
mayor It's a little less direct than coming out and saying so,
but the net effect is the same. The end result was never in
doubt," he added.
Shirley Hawk, a member of the current elected board, said
the recommendation will "create chaos." She remains loyal to a
model that allows citizens to elect school board members.
*6 PERSONALITY CLASHES: HARTFORD SCHOOL BOARD AT A STANDSTILL
A parent's group is demanding that the current Hartford
School Board be forced to resign, giving control of the schools
to City Hall (Puleo and Green, 12/12 and Puleo, 12/16, HARTFORD
COURANT). However, Mayor Michael Peters and city council members
want to slow down the process and, once again, meet with the
board to force a truce among quarrelling members.
"It would be a courtesy to at least meet again," said
Peters, who noted that the board has changed hands since
President Stephanie Lightfoot stepped down earlier this month.
"These are good people. They just can't get their act together."
Parents from Educate Our Children Now prefer swift action.
They produced a resolution that called for the resignations of
the board members, writes the paper. They complain that personal
squabbling has made the board inept. The paper reports that
board members are unable to select a new superintendent and have
yet to attempt to meet education reform objectives specified by
Education Commissioner Theodore Sergi.
City Council members are "exploring" the development of
state legislation that would turn control of the district's
schools over to the mayor, writes the paper. Council Majority
Leader John Stewart Jr. said the council also is reviewing the
New Haven model, where the mayor and a board of aldermen appoints
the school board. "If the school board doesn't cooperate, we
will take whatever measures we can to move the educational
process ahead," said Stewart.
Councilman John O'Connell expressed his lack of interest in
another meeting with the board. "I'd just as soon pass the
resolution and call for the resignations," he said. "We've met
to death -- they're dysfunctional, and we ought to take them over
and run them like a department. I don't think they can get their
act together."
But Art Feltman, another board member, said replacing the
board is not the solution. "I'm so tired of personality-based
politics and people pointing fingers," he said. "We can change
the personalities but the problems are systemic."
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