EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

NATIONAL

Minorities to Schools: Listen to Us
The Christian Science Monitor, August 21, 2001

Tired of watching their kids struggle to learn under constantly changing academic policies, minority parents across the US are demanding that school districts listen to their ideas of how best to educate their children.

Schools' Backing of Behavior
Drugs Comes Under Fire
The New York Times, August 19, 2001

Some of Ritalin's competitors are breaking with 30-year-old international marketing restrictions to advertise directly to parents, selling the idea that drugs may be the answer to their children's problems in school. At the same time, state legislatures are moving to prevent schools from recommending or requiring that parents put their children on medication.

Drug Record Keeps Aid From 28,000 Students
The Detroit News, August 19, 2001

The millions of college students heading to campus this fall might not include an estimated 28,230 students denied federal financial aid because they've admitted to a drug conviction.

Opinion: Defacto Segregation
The Washington Times, August 20, 2001

The Supreme Court has never reversed Brown vs. Board of Education, but residential patterns in many parts of the country produce segregated neighborhoods, creating boundary lines based not only on race and ethnicity but also on class.

WASHINGTON,D.C. METRO AREA

An Educated Decision
The Washington Post. August 20, 2001

Thousands of new students are arriving in the region's schools just as hundreds of baby-boom era teachers are retiring. School districts in Maryland have been working to hire 8,000 teachers for the new school year. Virginia has predicted it would need more than 9,000, and the District 350. With some schools starting next week, recruiters are still trying to fill hundreds of vacancies.

St. Mary's Will Pay Student Fees For AP Tests
The Washington Post, August 19, 2001

Starting this year, St. Mary's County will join a handful of Washington, D.C. area public school systems that pay the Advanced Placement exam fees for their students.

MARYLAND

Principal Weathers A Racial Storm
The Washington Post, August 19, 2001

Some parents and teachers have accused Principal Adrienne Jackson of Burnt Mills Elementary School of racism and of fostering an racially-intense climate at the school. Eight teachers at the school have quit their jobs.

32 Reading Specialists Headed to City Schools
The Baltimore Sun, August 19, 2001

Starting in September, the Baltimore school system will dispatch a new corps of reading specialist into 32 elementary schools to help teachers.

Lessons Amid New Surroundings
The Washington Post, August 19, 2001

More than 150 teachers arrived at Westlake High School last week to train for their first year with Charles County public schools, even as the county was interviewing candidates to fill the last remaining vacancies.

School Bus Aid Eyed in County
The Baltimore Sun, August 20, 2001

Responding to a perennial shortage of school bus drivers, the Baltimore County government is considering a bill that would allow its retired employees to get behind the wheel.

Career Changers Try Move to Classrooms
The Baltimore Sun, August 20, 2001

In the past five years, educators nationally have seen more and more people making teaching their second, or third, careers.

PENNSYLVANIA

Of Philadelphia Schools or Edison,
Who's Really Rescuing Whom?
The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 19, 2001

Gov. Ridge has hired the Edison Schools, Inc. -- a for-profit education company that is currently losing money -- to study the Philadelphia School District and devise a plan for improving its academics and finances. In two months, Ridge will decide whether this firm, with which he has political ties, should manage some or all of the Philadelphia public schools.

VIRGINIA

More Fairfax Schools Ring Bell Early
The Washington Post, August 20, 2001

J.E.B. Stuart and Falls Church high schools and Glasgow Middle School shifted their calendars to start earlier this year, joining five Fairfax elementary schools that use a different school calendar from the rest of the county.

Prince William SOL Scores Improve
The Washington Post, August 21, 2001

Prince William County schools improved scores on nearly every Virginia Standards of Learning test and doubled the number of schools that meet state accreditation standards.

Fairfax Teachers Vote to Continue
Work-to-the-Rule Protests
The Washington Post, August 20, 2001

The Fairfax County Education Association has voted to continue its work-to-the-rule protests in the upcoming school year. Work-to-the-rule means teachers will only work the hours specified in their contracts and won't take home papers to grade, participate in after-school activities or meet with students or parents after school.

Health Advice Is Available To Parents
The Washington Post, August 19, 2001

The Virginia Department of Health is asking parents to make sure their children are ready for school. A new public awareness campaign contains information on complying with new immunization laws, controlling asthma, treating head lice, preventing the spread of illnesses at school or child-care centers, selecting an after-school program and helping teenagers make positive choices.

WEST VIRGINIA

Southern States Poorest, Census Says
Stateline.org, August 13, 2001

West Virginia, Louisiana and Mississippi are the states with the highest poverty rates in the country, according to new census bureau data.

SPECIAL ARTICLES & REPORTS

In Praise of Mediocrity: Tattered Blue
Ribbons at the Department of Education
Brookings Institution, Summer 2001

A study by the Brookings Institution found that many of the 4,000 "exemplary" schools recognized by the U.S. Department of Education through its Blue Ribbon Schools Program are in fact mediocre.

Kid Friendly Cities Report Card 2001
Zero Population Growth, 2001

Listening to Families: The Role of Values
in Shaping Effective Social Policy
Carnegie Corporation, 2001

Room to Grow: Promoting Child Development Through Medicaid and CHIP (pdf file)
The Commonwealth Fund, June 2001

Health Policy and Early Child
Development: An Overview (pdf file)
The Commonwealth Fund, June 2001

Stronger Efforts Needed to Ensure Children's
Access to Health Screening Services (pdf file)
U.S. General Accounting Office, July 2001

What Do Tests Tell Us?
The Hoover Institution, August 20-27, 2001

WEBSITES & LINKS

Social Policy Action Network (SPAN)
(www.span-online.org)

An organization that "develops effective social policy by transforming the findings of research and the insights of front-line practitioners into concrete action agendas for policymakers."

The Commonwealth Fund - Child
Health and Development Resources Page
(www.cmwf.org/publist/publist2.asp?CategoryID=2)

The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that supports independent research on health and social issues and makes grants to improve health care practice and policy.

Children Now Action Center
(ga1.org/childrennow)

A national organization that "uses communications strategies to reach parents, lawmakers, citizens, business, media and community leaders, creating attention and generating positive change on behalf of children."

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