EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

NATIONAL

State School Chiefs Fret Over
U.S. Plan to Require Testing
The New York Times, July 17, 2001

State education officials across the country are complaining that the imminent federal requirement for annual reading and math tests threatens to undermine the testing systems virtually every state has fashioned over the last decade.

America's Widening Teacher Gap
Christian Science Monitor, July 17, 2001

American public schools are facing one of the most severe teacher shortages in history. While the problem has existed for several years, it is suddenly becoming more acute as a surge in the number of retiring teachers collides with rapid growth in student enrollments in many parts of the country.

Teacher-Student Racial Gap Growing, Union Says
The Houston Chronicle, July 16, 2001

The enrollment of minority students in public schools has grown from 32 percent in 1990 to 38 percent today, but the percentage of minority teachers stagnated at between 14 and 16 percent during those years.

A New Proposal: Head Start For All?
Time.com, July 17, 2001

At the biannual convention of the American Federation of Teachers, president Sandra Feldman called for the universal enrollment in pre-school of every child aged three or older — regardless of whether their parents are able to pay for the classes. The AFT plan would charge parents on a sliding scale, asking wealthier parents to spend a bit more.

Here's the Problem: How to Keep Kids
From Forgetting Math Skills During Break
(requires free registration)
The Dallas Morning News, July 12, 2001

According to a study by Dr. Lawrence Seidman, an economics professor at the University of Delaware, American students forget so much math over summer break that it was one of the biggest reasons why they trail their international peers in math knowledge.

NEA Agrees to New Alliance With AFT
Education Week, July 11, 2001

Delegates to the National Education Association’s annual meeting approved the creation of a new partnership with the American Federation of Teachers. The “NEAFT Partnership” agreement, which AFT leaders almost assuredly will pass in a vote scheduled for July 11, launches an ongoing effort by the two groups to collaborate in projects ranging from education conferences to political and legal campaigns.

How Many Poor Children Is Too Many?
The New York Times, July 8, 2001

According to the latest available figures from the Census Bureau, in 1999, after nearly a decade of unprecedented economic growth and well into the latest overhaul of the nation's welfare system, one in six American children — over 12 million youngsters — lived in poverty.

Press Release: Study of Teens in Four
Cities Finds Drug Treatment Effective
National Institutes of Health, July 12, 2001

The first large-scale study designed specifically to evaluate drug abuse treatment outcomes among adolescents found that community-based treatment programs can reduce drug and alcohol use, improve school performance, and lower involvement with the criminal justice system.

PENNSYLVANIA

District Says It May Not Meet August Payroll
The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 17, 2001

The Philadelphia School District's interim chief executive officer has announced that without more revenue, the district will be unable to pay all its workers beginning August 2, 2001. (See also: Street, Ridge Agree to Discuss Philadelphia School Funding, The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 12, 2001)

Reform is Struggle For School District
The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 16, 2001

The Philadelphia School District is delaying the start of its plan to tie pay increases to a teacher's performance with no new target date set.

Wilkinsburg Board Pulls School's Charter
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 17, 2001

The Wilkinsburg School Board has revoked the charter of the Thurgood Marshall Academy Charter School, making it only the second charter school in the state to have its charter revoked.

MARYLAND

Teachers Become Learners in Back-to-School Summer
The Baltimore Sun, July 15, 2001

This summer, 100 Maryland teachers attended the Governor's Academy for Science and Mathematics at Towson University.

Alternative School Plan Put on Hold
The Baltimore Sun, July 17, 2001

Due to budget problems, Baltimore County is holding off plans for building a new alternative school designed for students who need special education programs or other alternative schooling because of behavioral and emotional problems.

VIRGINIA

SOL Tests Create New Dropouts
The Washington Post, July 17, 2001

To avoid the constraints of Standards of Learning (SOL) tests , teachers in Virginia are retiring early, retreating to private schools or moving to grades or subjects where students don't take the SOL exams.

Reviews Help Schools in SOL trouble
Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 16, 2001

Academic review teams say some of Richmond's public schools are not making the best use of the tools in place to help students pass Virginia's Standards of Learning tests.

Activist Mothers Turn Focus to Literacy Effort
The Washington Post, July 15, 2001

A group of mothers in Loudon County have developed a community-based summer reading program for children.

At Manassas Site, A Black Educator Soldiered On
The Washington Post, July 17, 2001

The city of Manassas has built a memorial park to honor Jennie Dean, an ex-slave who founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth, which opened in 1894 as Virginia's only school for blacks.

SPECIAL ARTICLES & REPORTS

Designing Tax Cuts to Benefit Low-Income Families
The Urban Institute, 2001

The Myth of the (Black) Teen Suicide Epidemic
AlterNet.org, July 10, 2001

Report of the Surgeon General's
Conference on Children's Mental
Health: A National Action Agenda
Department of Health & Human Services, 2001

WEBSITES & LINKS

American Federation of Teachers
(www.aft.org)

The second largest teachers' union in the United States.

Fairtest's Assessment Reform Network
(www.fairtest.org/arn/arn.htm)

An advocacy group working to facilitate the exchange of information and reform strategies among teachers, parents, and other education reform organizations seeking to improve student assessment practices in their communities.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
(www.nctm.org)

With more than 100,000 members and 250 Affiliates throughout the United States and Canada, NCTM is the world's largest mathematics education organization. Its mission "provide the vision and leadership necessary to ensure a mathematics education of the highest quality for all students."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

To subscribe to listservs on education and equity issues, please visit our Equity Listservs and Forums page.