EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

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Congress Still Divided on Education Reform
The Washington Post, September 9, 2001

While Congress has been in recess, staff members have worked over the past month to reconcile a large number of differences between versions of the reform plan that were passed by the House and Senate. But the most difficult issues, including how to define a failing school and how to fund reform, have been left to the lawmakers.

Lawmakers Struggle to Define Failing Schools
The Washington Post, August 28, 2001

Federal lawmakers are having a difficult time defining what constitutes a "failing" school. For instance, under the exacting standards of an education bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, 96 percent of Maryland's schools would be considered "failing" in some years -- even though Maryland has some of the finest public schools in the nation and its standardized testing program has top ratings.

See also:

Rigid Rules Will Damage School,
The New York Times, August 13, 2001

As New Schools Get Bigger,
Report Argues Smaller is Better
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis), September 10, 2001

According to a recent study by the University of Minnesota's Center for School Change, smaller schools generally offer a safer atmosphere, a more challenging environment, higher student achievement and graduation rates, and fewer discipline problems.

Schools Closing Gap with Computer Access
Dallas Morning News, September 13, 2001

According to a recent survey by the Census Bureau, Latinos and blacks are still struggling to bridge the so-called digital divide in computer ownership, but the nation's schools nearly level the playing field by giving computer access to children who have none at home.

Study: Addictions Burden School Budgets
CNN.com, September 5, 2001

According to a recent study which calculated the costs of injuries, property damage, counseling, teacher turnover and other factors -- smoking, alcohol and drug addiction will add an estimated $41 billion to the expense of elementary and secondary education this year.

Denying School Aid for Drugs is Faulted
The Indianapolis Star, August 16, 2001

Republican Congressman. Mark Souder is close to an agreement with the federal Department of Education to reduce the effect of the 1998 statute that bars federal grants, work-study money and student loans to anyone convicted of selling or possessing drugs.

Later School Start Benefits Teens, Study Concludes
The Washington Post, August 29, 2001

According to a recent large-scale study, high school students are less likely to miss classes or stop coming to school regularly if they can sleep later on school mornings.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. Principals' Training Designed
To Boost Instructional Leadership
Education Week, September 12, 2001

A profile of the Principals' Leadership Academy, a two-year program aimed at transforming the District of Columbia's principals into instructional leaders.

The Washington Post recently published the following extensive series of articles on the District of Columbia's child protection services:

Trying to Mend the 'Frayed Trust'
The Washington Post, September 9, 2001

'Protected' Children Died as Government Did Little
The Washington Post, September 9, 2001

A Foster Girl Is Sent Away And Dies Alone
The Washington Post, September 10, 2001

For the Unwanted, Few Options
The Washington Post, September 10, 2001

A Child's Story
The Washington Post, September 10, 2001

Children's Stories
The Washington Post, September 10, 2001

A Home With No Electricity, No Hope
The Washington Post, September 11, 2001

Without Help, Frail Infants Died
The Washington Post, September 11, 2001

Child Endangered, Without a Lifeline
The Washington Post, September 12, 2001

MARYLAND

Thousands Held Back in City Schools
The Baltimore Sun, August 31, 2001

About 10,000 Baltimore city public school children will be held back a grade next month under new, tougher passing standards.

Closing Student Gap Opens Door to Conflict
The Washington Post, September 3, 2001

Although Montgomery County Public Schools has been spending as much as $3,000 more per pupil at high-poverty schools, the achievement gap between haves and have-nots -- on test scores, grades earned and advanced courses taken -- has continued to widen.

Online High School May Open in '02
The Washington Post, September 6, 2001

The Maryland State Department of Education hopes to open an online high school, called the Maryland Virtual Learning Community, in fall 2002 with 350 virtual "seats."

Charter Supporters Remain Resolute
The Washington Post, September 9, 2001

Advocates for Montgomery County's proposed first charter school want to create a school aimed at improving the academic progress of minority students from the county's poorer neighborhoods.

Schools' Efforts Lure More Into AP Classes
The Washington Post, September 9, 2001

Charles County is joining a national movement to encourage students to take college-level AP classes. Efforts have been stepped up to increase the placement of black and Latino in AP classes.

All-Day Kindergarten Boosts Reading
The Washington Post, September 12, 2001

The results of a year-long literacy study conducted in Montgomery County found that children from low-income or immigrant families who attended full-day kindergarten did significantly better than their counterparts in half-day classes.

Parham Asks To Increase
Capital Funds For Schools
The Washington Post, September 13, 2001

Anne Arundel County Superintendent Carol S. Parham is seeking $11 million more in next year's capital budget -- a 20 percent increase over this year's $56.6 million -- to rebuild, renovate and add on to existing schools.

School Leaders Seek Input
on Magnet Program Plans
The Washington Post, September 13, 2001

Prince George's school leaders plan to meet with parent groups and national experts sometime in the next several weeks to discuss ways of managing its 55 magnet school programs.

VIRGINIA

Teacher Pay, Class Size Worry Fairfax School Parents
The Washington Post, September 13, 2001

In a recent survey, parents gave Fairfax County Public Schools a relatively high rating of 6.95 overall on a 1 to 10 scale, but they expressed disappointment that teachers aren't paid enough, that classes are too big and that the school budget is inadequate.

Alexandria Students Improve Scores on State Test
The Washington Post, September 12, 2001

Alexandria students who took the Virginia Standards of Learning exams this spring scored higher than a year ago on 22 of the 27 tests. District officials say that some of the system's most economically and ethnically diverse schools had the largest improvements.

PENNSYLVANIA

State Starts Program of Tax
Credits for Education Funds
The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 16, 2001

A new Pennsylvania state program offers up to $30 million in "education improvement" tax credits to corporations. It sets aside $20 million of the credits for businesses that contribute to scholarship programs for public or private schools; the remaining credits will be awarded for donations to innovative public school programs.

Seeking Comment, Edison Draws Flak
The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 31, 2001

Edison Schools Inc., the company hired by Governor Ridge to study the city's failing school system, drew criticism at a West Philadelphia public forum the company had called to get public input about city schools.

Street Withholds Pledged School Aid
The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 6, 2001

Mayor Street vetoed a promised $60 million subsidy to the city's financially troubled public schools yesterday, sending his strongest signal to date that a state takeover of the system is looming.

Teachers Learn Edison Methods
The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 6, 2001

Edison Schools Inc., the private firm newly hired to manage schools in the Chester Upland School District, is training teachers on its own curriculum and preferred instructional methods.

City Council Agrees on a Redistricting Plan
The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 13, 2001

After weeks of controversy, Philadelphia City Council members agreed to redraw the 10 Council districts in a way that would give the Seventh District, in North Philadelphia and Kensington, a nearly 40 percent Latino population, nearly 2 percentage points more than its current makeup. The plan was designed to appease a host of Latino voting-rights groups that had lobbied hard against diluting the Latino presence in the district.

SPECIAL ARTICLES & REPORTS

Alcohol, Other Drugs and Child Welfare (pdf file)
Child Welfare League of America, 2001

Blacks Deserve Reparations--But Not for Slavery
Reason Online, September 1, 2001

Colorblind Court?
Opinion Journal, September 2, 2001

The Conservation Case Against Racial
Profiling: Arrested Development
The New Republic, September 10, 2001

Damage Control
Teacher Magazine, August 2001
(A profile of Rebound, an academic program started by Berkeley, Calif., parents aimed at raising black and Hispanic achievement.)

The Failure of Zero Tolerance
Salon.com, August 29, 2001

Going Places
Teacher Magazine, August 2001
(A profile of GEAR UP, a federally funded program started during the Clinton administration to encourage low-income middle school students to set their sights on college through a combination of tutoring, mentoring and college visits. )

How Well Are American Students Doing?--
Brown Center Report on American Education
The Brookings Institution, 2001

Identity Crisis
Education Next, Fall 2001
(A series of articles on teachers' unions and their role in advancing education reform.)

Lessons from Vermont: 132-Year-Old
Voucher Program Rebuts Critics
Cato Institute, September 10, 2001

Lessons from Maine: Education
Vouchers for Students since 1873
Cato Institute, September 10, 2001

Malignant Neglect: Substance
Abuse and America's Schools
National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse at Columbia University, September 2001

The Over-Testing of America?
Wired News, August 27, 2001

Pushing the Boundaries of Technology in
American Classrooms - Symposium Papers
University of Minnesota, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI), August 2001

School Start Time Study - Executive Summary
University of Minnesota, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI), August 2001

Selective Reporting
Education Next, Fall 2001
(A critique of Education Week's research report Quality Counts 2001:A Better Balance: Standards, Tests, and the Tools to Succeed)

Smaller, Safer, Saner, Successful Schools (pdf file)
University of Minnesota, Center for School Change,
August 2001

33rd Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools
Phi Delta Kappan, August 2001

Anti-Reform Group Releases Annual
Education Poll: Public School Approval Mixed
Center for Education Reform, August 22, 2001

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

WEBSITES & LINKS

Afterschool Alliance
(www.afterschoolalliance.org)

A coalition of public, private, and nonprofit organizations dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of afterschool programs and advocating for quality, affordable programs for all children.

Cato Institute
(www.cato.org)

A nonpartisan public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Center for Applied Research and
Educational Development (CAREI)
(education.umn.edu/carei)

A collaborative organization that brings the resources of the College of Education and Human Development and the University of Minnesota to bear on educational issues in Minnesota and across the nation.

Center for Education Reform
(www.edreform.com)

A national, independent, non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1993 to provide support and guidance to parents and teachers, community and civic groups, policymakers and grassroots leaders, and all who are working to bring fundamental reforms to their schools.

Center for School Change
(www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/school-change)

A program of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota that works to "increase student achievement; raise graduation rates; improve student attitudes toward learning, their schools, and their communities; and strengthen communities through building stronger working relationships among educators, parents, students and other community members."

Child Welfare League of America
(www.cwla.org)

An association of more than 1,100 public and private nonprofit agencies that assist over 3.5 million abused and neglected children and their families each year with a wide range of services

SEED (Seeking Educational Equity &
Diversity) Project on Inclusive Curriculum
(www.wellesley.edu/WCW/projects/seed.html)

A staff-development equity project for educators that provides teacher-led faculty development seminars in public and private schools throughout the United States and in English-speaking international schools.

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