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WHAT ABOUT RELIGIOUS CHARTER SCHOOLS?
Charter schools are gaining in popularity, with approximately 4,000
now open, enrolling some 1.1 million U.S. children with more
participating every year. These schools have filled a need in
American society, giving individuals, communities, and local
associations a chance to create their own schools -- with tax
dollars paying the basic costs. However, a major, unresolved
question remains: What about opening and funding religious charter
schools? How would localities handle the many complexities of
funding charter schools that have a religious, social, and cultural
mission? Direct public funding for religious schools is still not
legal for K-12 education, writes Lawrence D. Weinberg and Bruce S.
Cooper in Education Week. Tax dollars may not be used to support a
particular religious ideology, activity, or program. In effect,
public tax money cannot be used to endorse religion. Hence, salaries
for elementary and secondary school teachers of Bible, Koran, or
catechism classes could not be paid from the public purse, if the
teachers were endorsing these religious beliefs. How, for example,
did a government-sanctioned religious charter school open its doors
in Minnesota four years ago? How does this school walk the fine line
between serving a public purpose (educating children in a sensitive,
culturally specific, values-oriented program) and being an Islamic
religious school? Might we someday see a different system of both
public and private education in the United States, one in which many
schools are, in some sense, charter programs? These new charter
schools would be publicly funded by tax revenues, available to all
children based on parental choice, and as diverse, culturally and
religiously, as our society.
GOVERNORS’ SPEECHES SEND GRADUATES ON THEIR
WAY
This year at least 22 governors -- 15 Democrats and seven
Republicans -- made the commencement rounds to laud graduates.
Governors and their speechwriters largely adhered to commencement
cliches, reports Pauline Vu for Stateline.org. The governors
congratulated grads, encouraged them to reach for the stars, and
cited cartoonist Garry Trudeau’s quote that commencement speeches
were invented largely in the belief that graduates "should never be
released into the world until they have been properly sedated." To
which Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) added, "If I cannot be
transcendentally inspirational, I at least hope not to sedate you."
But one governor strayed from the usual script. Massachusetts Gov.
Deval Patrick (D) used the University of Massachusetts-Boston podium
to unveil an ambitious, 10-year education plan that includes
universal preschool, all-day kindergarten, extending the school day
and year, plus free community college. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D)
returned to Northwest High School, where he was senior class
president in the McDermott, Ohio school’s first graduating class in
1959, and told students, "Your roots here will provide you strength
no matter what you encounter." He said he still wears his high
school ring as a reminder of his Appalachian background.
THOUSANDS OF FAILING SCHOOLS FACE MAJOR
OVERHAUL
The scarlet letter in education these days is an "R." It stands for
restructuring -- the purgatory that schools are pushed into if they
fail to meet testing goals for six straight years under the No Child
Left Behind law. Nationwide, about 2,300 schools are either in
restructuring or are a year away and planning for such drastic
action as firing the principal and moving many of the teachers,
according to a database provided to the Associated Press by the U.S.
Department of Education. Those schools are being warily eyed by
educators elsewhere as the law's consequences begin to hit home.
Schools fall into this category after smaller changes, such as
offering tutoring, fall short. The effort is supposed to amount to a
major makeover, and it has created a sense of urgency that in some
schools verges on desperation. "This is life and death," says John
Deasy, superintendent of schools in Prince George's County,
Maryland, where several schools are coming face-to-face with the
consequences of President Bush's signature education law. "This is
very high-stakes work." The schools bearing the label are often in
poor urban areas, like Far Rockaway, at the end of the subway line
in the New York borough of Queens. But they're also found in leafy
suburbs, rural areas and resort towns. Only schools that receive
federal aid for low-income students -- known as Title I -- are
subject to the law's consequences. But they can be brand-new
facilities with luxuries like television studios. Schools in
low-income communities have trouble attracting and keeping
sought-after teachers. Working conditions are often thought to be
poor, and teachers in failing schools face increased scrutiny. The
federal law says schools in restructuring can replace teachers.
Local union contracts can make that difficult, but some collective
bargaining agreements are starting to permit it. Usually, the
teachers transfer to another school or work as substitutes.
TEACHER
TURNOVER COSTS THE NATION $7.3 BILLION
The teacher dropout problem is costing the nation billions of
dollars, draining resources, diminishing teaching quality, and
undermining the nation’s ability to close the student achievement
gap, according to a new policy brief by the National Commission on
Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF). NCTAF estimates that the
national cost of public school teacher turnover could be over $7.3
billion a year. The policy brief is based on an 18-month pilot study
NCTAF recently completed on the cost of teacher turnover in five
school districts. The research was supported by grants from the
Joyce Foundation and the Spencer Foundation. A user-friendly
calculator enables anyone to determine how serious the problem of
teacher turnover is for a particular school or district. The policy
brief, the full research report, and an online Teacher Turnover Cost
Calculator can be found at the above link.
LONG REVILED, MERIT PAY GAINS AMONG TEACHERS
For years, the unionized teaching profession opposed few ideas more
vehemently than merit pay, but those objections appear to be eroding
as school districts in dozens of states experiment with plans that
compensate teachers partly based on classroom performance.
Minnesota’s $86 million teacher professionalization and merit pay
initiative has spread to dozens of the state’s school districts, and
it got a lift this month when teachers voted overwhelmingly to
expand it in Minneapolis. A major reason it is prospering, Gov. Tim
Pawlenty said to Sam Dillon in a New York Times interview, is that
union leaders helped develop and sell it to teachers. Scores of
similar but mostly smaller teacher-pay experiments are under way
nationwide, and union locals are cooperating with some of them, said
Allan Odden, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who studies
teacher compensation. A consensus is building across the political
spectrum that rewarding teachers with bonuses or raises for
improving student achievement, working in lower income schools or
teaching subjects that are hard to staff can energize veteran
teachers and attract bright rookies to the profession. The rewards
teachers receive for outstanding performance range from a few
hundred dollars to $10,000 or more in a few districts.
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ARE TAKING HOLD & EXPANDING ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Coalition for Community Schools recently honored several places that
have been particularly successful in bringing together the assets
and expertise of schools and their communities to help student
succeed. Three schools and three communities were recognized. These
award-winning schools and communities see the increasing diversity
of their student population as a potential source of strength and
find ways to tap those strengths. They engage school and community
leadership in unique ways that make the school a center of the
community and a resource to students and the community itself.
Working with partners and families, community schools make sure that
all students succeed. To read more about these schools and
communities, and how they are ensuring success for all young people,
click the above link.
LOCAL EDUCATION FUND TO CONDUCT SCHOOL
DISTRICT AUDIT
A school advocacy group issued a challenge yesterday to Washington
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and acting chancellor Michelle A. Rhee to open
up all city schools for a "community audit" that would check whether
schools had been cleaned, teachers hired and other
classroom-readiness issues resolved for the new school year. DC
VOICE, a local education fund, said it planned to recruit hundreds
of volunteers citywide to interview principals and teachers
beginning in September as a way to hold city leaders accountable
under the new system of mayoral control of education. Executive
director Jeff Smith said the group's "community audit" would serve
as an academic counterpoint to the $3.3 million audit of school
finances that Fenty ordered this spring. DC VOICE has conducted its
"Ready Schools Project" for the past three years. This year, it
plans to expand its volunteer corps from 150 people citywide to 125
from each ward and expand the audit from about 50 schools to every
school in the D.C. system, said program director Erika Landberg. The
group plans to solicit volunteers over the summer, working with
civic associations, church groups and advisory neighborhood
commissions, Landberg said. Fenty promised to cooperate with the
group's audit, reports Theola Labbe and David Nakamura in The
Washington Post. The audit would start a week after school opens
Sept. 1 and last for a month. The group plans to tabulate its
findings in October and publish a report in November. Results from
previous years have included information on teacher hiring delays
and the number of teaching vacancies in music, art and librarian
positions.
D.C. PUBLIC SCHOOLS CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
The District of Columbia’s special education department paid $160
million in 16 months to send some 2,000 children to outside schools.
But don't expect school officials to be able to give a full account
of where the money went. More than a year after the U.S. Department
of Education threatened to cut off federal funds to the schools
because of shoddy accounting practices, the schools and the city
finance office continue to mismanage their dollars. There are
problems throughout the school system, critics say, but nowhere are
they as acute as the special education department, which is supposed
to teach and nurture some 10,000 students, reports Bill Myers in The
Examiner. Records show, and sources within the schools and finance
office say, that special education officials: raided the special
education fund to settle a lawsuit filed against another school
department; disbursed millions more in duplicate payments; released
funds without properly scrutinizing contracts; and, gave millions
more to unnamed vendors. David McBride, a special education advocate
and former district employee said, "School officials know about
these problems. They just don't care."
THE MIGRANT-STUDENT CHALLENGE
Imagine being pulled out of school to work in a field picking fruit,
or moving from state to state, week by week, as seasonal crops are
harvested. For the nearly 900,000 migrant kids throughout America,
this is a way of life, and education is the only way most of these
migrant children will break away from a cycle of subsistence living
that is their parents’ reality. A migrant child -- defined by
section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of
1965 as a child who is a migratory agricultural worker who has moved
in the preceding 36 months to obtain temporary or seasonal
employment in agricultural work, or who has one or more parents who
fit this description -- faces a formidable array of challenges,
including language problems, lack of access to educational programs
while his or her family travels, problems with transportation,
inadequate or nonexistent basic health and social services, and work
or family responsibilities that may limit school attendance. As
migrant students move throughout the school year, one of the biggest
problems states face is obtaining the students’ records. Without
these records readily available, migrant students may not be able to
enroll in school, further disrupting an already fractured education.
Forty years after federal recognition, the educational lot of
migrant students has improved, writes Catherine LaCroix in Edutopia,
but keeping transient kids connected to learning is still a major
challenge.
ARE FOOD FIGHTS PART OF THE FABRIC OF SCHOOL
LIFE?
It often starts with the slinging of a single French fry, perhaps a
slice of pepperoni or a Twinkie, before escalating into a flurry of
slushies, sandwiches and milk cartons crisscrossing the school
cafeteria as students run for cover. Food fights have been part of
the fabric of high school life for decades, especially near the end
of the academic year when spring fever and senioritis have students
firmly in their grasp. But the frequency and intensity of such
culinary combat in schools across Canada and the United States in
recent weeks -- as well as evidence that the skirmishes were
premeditated and staged for video broadcast over the Internet --
have school administrators and local officials in a twist. Recently,
police used pepper spray and batons on students at a Montreal high
school while trying to quell a food fight that snowballed into what
authorities termed a "mini-riot" that spilled outside the building.
Last week, three students at a high school in suburban Chicago were
arrested for instigating a massive food fight that reportedly
involved 200 students and left a police officer injured, reports
David Andreatta in The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).
IN SEARCH OF VICTORY IN SERVICE TO CHILDREN
With mayors across California -- indeed, across the nation in such
places as Oakland, Los Angeles and St. Louis -- recently fighting
with boards and unions to take over the schools, perhaps they should
put aside that agenda to pursue a different strategy, one much more
likely to benefit children. What is needed is a plan that is a
win/win situation for all concerned, writes Christopher T. Cross in
the Sacramento (Calif.) Bee. Mayors should mobilize the considerable
resources that they command in social and health services and law
enforcement, plus use their ability to inspire the nonprofit sector,
to work with school boards and superintendents in creating
comprehensive plans to serve children. By starting with a number of
neighborhoods to look at the needs of children, the roles that all
agencies could play in meeting those needs and then developing an
iron-tight agreement for cooperation, mayors could become national
leaders and local heroes. This plan should assure that everything
from health care to after-school programs to internships for middle
and high school students and real jobs for older students are
provided, as well as help with college admission and costs. There is
widening agreement that meeting the educational, social and
citizenship needs of students in this century requires the combined
efforts of all segments of every community.
A DIFFERENT WAY TO THINK ABOUT STUDENT
PERFORMANCE
Lloyd Bond is one of the world's most respected experts on
educational measurement and testing. He has published widely on
research issues in psychometrics, and is called upon to advise many
test developers. However, he also is one of the most persistent and
incisive critics of the testing movement. In the world of
educational testing, Lloyd Bond is unquestionably a "critical
friend." In this month's Carnegie Perspectives, "My Child Doesn't
Test Well," Bond examines a variety of reasons why test performance
may not be a valid measure of a person's competence or potential.
Although the standardized test is one of the most important
inventions of the past century, it remains a special setting,
fundamentally different from those contexts in which we confront the
challenges of the world. At times, it provides an uncannily accurate
portrait of individual and group capacities. At other times, tests
may distort and deceive. Lloyd Bond helps us think about why.
HOW TO SUPPORT SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION
A growing body of research is illuminating the conditions and
strategies that enable schools to change from low- to
high-performing. According to this analysis by WestEd, one key to
school transformation is how external technical assistance providers
establish close collaborations and trusting relationships with
internal advocates for change. When external assistance providers,
such as local education funds, build strong relationships with
internal advocates and other influential educators, their teamwork
helps the key players sense trouble as it develops, choose
appropriate responses, delegate responsibilities, and provide mutual
support and encouragement.
THE WHOLE CHILD: HEALTHY, SAFE, SUPPORTED, ENGAGED & CHALLENGED
All children deserve a 21st century education that fully prepares
them for college, work, and citizenship. That means the basics of
reading, writing, and math, of course. But we should expect more
from our schools and communities. We also want our children to be
healthy, safe, engaged in their learning, supported by caring
adults, and involved in courses such as art and music. ASCD has
launched a new public engagement and advocacy campaign and you can
be a part of it. WholeChildEducation.org is a website that calls on
parents, educators, policymakers, and communities to join forces to
ensure our children become productive, engaged citizens. This is an
opportunity for you to make a difference in how schools and
communities work together to ensure each student has access to a
challenging curriculum in a healthy and supportive climate. Visit
this new website to find out how well your school and community are
doing with a "Grade Your School and Community" tool. Find materials
to share with your friends and neighbors in the Resource
Clearinghouse. The Policy Blackboard highlights policymakers who are
speaking up for the whole child and fighting for change. But they
need your help: please spread the word about these efforts. Our
children deserve an education that emphasizes academic rigor as well
as the essential 21st century skills of critical thinking and
creativity.
DOES MONEY MATTER IN K-12 EDUCATION?
Does money matter in K-12 education? It certainly matters to those
people who are trying to convince everyone else that money doesn't
matter. That’s one lesson we've learned from reading reports
produced by America’s network of well-funded free-market think
tanks. Over the past three decades, these think tanks have gained
considerable influence, writes Kevin G. Welner in The School
Administrator. They have done so, in part, by producing generously
financed "research" documents that advance their agenda. Given the
money promoting these efforts, it is ironic that one key part of
that agenda is the proposition that, for public schooling at least,
money doesn't matter. They contend past increases in funding have
not resulted in improved student achievement so policymakers should
now resist proposals for more school funding. Concerns about public
school finance equity and adequacy cut to the core of our national
democratic commitment.
CENSORSHIP OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
This year's Newbery Medal, the highest honor in children's
literature, was awarded to Susan Patron for "The Higher Power of
Lucky," a novel for fourth through sixth graders about a 10-year-old
girl grieving her mother's death. As the school year comes to a
close, "The Higher Power of Lucky" will surely top many summer
reading lists -- but in some libraries, students won't find it on
the shelf. Why? Because of one word on the first page: scrotum. What
is acceptable content in children's literature? Should librarians
and parents be able to decide what books are appropriate not just
for their children, but for all children? It's an old debate that's
still going strong. John Merrow spoke with Phyllis Reynolds Naylor,
another Newbery winner, whose "Alice" books were among the most
banned books of 1999 (second only to Harry Potter). Naylor's critics
object to her frank discussions of sexual curiosity and use of
"vulgar" language. To hear Naylor's response -- and what she thinks
is inappropriate content for children's literature -- listen to a
special podcast from Learning Matters.
INDIAN MAN FAILS HIGH SCHOOL EXAM 39 TIMES
A 73-year-old man who failed his 10th grade high school exams for
the 39th time vowed to try again next year in the hopes that an
education will improve his job and marriage prospects. Shivcharan
Jatav, a farmer from the desert state of Rajasthan in western India,
had no formal education as a child. He has been trying to pass the
exams since 1969, when an army recruiter told him it would improve
his chances of being accepted into the military. "Since then I have
been trying to pass this examination, but without any success,"
Jatav said, days after receiving the bitter news that he had failed
again. Jatav passed only one subject -- the ancient language of
Sanskrit -- and he said he scored just 103 out of a total of 600 in
the examinations. Even though he is too old to join the army he has
kept at it, reports the Associate Press, hoping to become a more
eligible bachelor. |
