EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

NATIONAL

School Superintendents' Group Says It Will Not
Support Bush Administration's Education Plan
The San Francisco Chronicle, November 8, 2001

The American Association of School Administrators says that they will not support President Bush's education bill because it places too many demands on schools without providing enough money for those with low-income students.

“No Child Left Behind”: What it Means for Parents
U.S. Department of Education, 2001

The November Satellite Town Meeting, the third of the 2001-2002 series, aims to inform and prepare parents for the legislative and other changes relaed to President Bush’s vision of "leaving no child behind" in America’s schools.

Study: Graduation Rates 'Implausibly High'
The Washington Times, November 14, 2001

The nation's high school graduation rates are inflated to the point of "implausibility," says a new study by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research that finds that black students graduate from public schools at especially low levels.

Study: School Officials Confident, Overwhelmed
Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 14, 2001

School superintendents and principals perceive that politics and bureaucracy are the main obstacles preventing them from turning around troubled schools, according to a nationwide survey by Public Agenda, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group based in New York.

Ritalin May Cause Brain Change in Children
The Washington Post, November 12, 2001

The stimulant Ritalin, a drug used to help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, may cause long-term changes in the brain, researchers at the University of Buffalo reported yesterday.

Justices to Weigh Wider Drug Tests For Students
The Baltimore Sun, November 9, 2001

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether schools may give drug tests to nearly any student involved in after-school activities, without evidence that the student or the school has a drug problem. (See also: Court Takes Student Drug-Testing Case, USA Today, November 9, 2001.)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. Schools May Lose $25 Million
The Washington Post, November 14, 2001

Federal officials have determined that the D.C. school system has failed to meet the requirements of Title I, the nation's largest federal aid program to local school districts, and the city is in jeopardy of losing more than $25 million a year if it does not come into compliance within three years.

MARYLAND

Area Schools Rank High In Graduating Minorities
The Washington Post, November 14, 2001

According to a recent study by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Fairfax, Montgomery, and Prince George's County's graduation rates -- particularly for African American students -- are among the highest of all large school systems in the country.

Making School Reforms Reality
The Baltimore Sun, November 12, 2001

Baltimore's chief executive officer for education, Carmen V. Russo, has unveiled a string of ambitious reform plans.

College Students Serve Community With Tutoring
The Baltimore Sun, November 12, 2001

Project Politae, a student-run community service organization at St. John's College in Annapolis, has developed a volunteer tutoring program for disadvantaged children.

Learning to Read with Ears, Eyes
The Baltimore Sun, November 11, 2001

About 4,000 students in Maryland are using audio recordings provided by Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic --a nonprofit group based in Princeton, N.J. -- to help them develop and strengthen their reading skills.

Md., Va. Standardized Tests
Score High on Parent Anger
The Washington Post, November 11, 2001

From Maryland to Virginia, New York to California, parents are roiling and kicking against tests that they believe have overtaken their schools. Standardized tests, parents say, have shifted education's focus from the individual in favor of the mass.

Md. Test Scores Fluctuate
The Washington Post, November 9, 2001

In at least 12 of the state's 24 school districts, superintendents were calling the state Department of Education in the past month, asking whether flaws in administering or scoring the test could have been responsible for scores that dropped as much as 35 points or climbed unexpectedly

State Delays Release of MSPAP Test Results
The Baltimore Sun, November 7, 2001

Baffled by "wild swings" in scores, Maryland education officials announced that they will delay releasing results of the state's annual elementary and middle school exams for more than a month.

Salary Complicates Superintendent Search
The Washington Post, November 8, 2001

Anne Arundel County won't find it easy -- or cheap -- to replace retiring schools Superintendent Carol S. Parham, warned a consultant who is leading the search.

Schools May Get Funding Boost
The Washington Post, November 8, 2001

The Prince George's County school system may receive an additional $310 million in state aid over the next five years if a proposal by the Governor-appointed Commission on Education, Finance, Equity and Excellence wins legislative approval.

Panel Recommends State Give
$1.1 Billion More in School Aid
The Washington Post, November 8, 2001

Howard County must receive an additional $31 million in state education aid by 2007 to ensure that its schools meet state standards for student achievement, according to the Governor-appointed Commission on Education, Finance, Equity and Excellence.

PENNSYLVANIA

Plan Would Raise Income Tax to Aid Schools
The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 14, 2001

Members of a bipartisan House select committee on education funding has proposed increasing the state personal-income tax by 64 percent to shift the burden of paying for schools from local property taxes to the state.

Scores Up, But Pupils Still Lag on State Test
The Philadelphia Daily News, November 14, 2001

Philadelphia public school students made slight progress in the latest round of state reading and math tests, but still trailed far behind statewide averages.

Edison Roundly Criticized at Forum
The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 11, 2001

F. Joseph Merlino, a La Salle University professor, and Len Rieser, co-director of the Education Law Center, said Edison's recent review of the Philadelphia system glossed over one important fact that must be addressed - that the system's ills can be attributed to the way the state finances public education.

See also:

Pols Give Edison a Rough Greeting, The Philadelphia Daily News, November 9, 2001.

Unions Vow to Fight Schools Takeover
The Philadelphia Inquirer,
November 8, 2001

Parents' Trip Sheds Light on Edison
The Philadelphia Daily News,
November 9, 2001

Mayor: Drop Plan to Privatize Schools
The Philadelphia Inquirer
November 9, 2001

Guv Not Playing Games About His Plan
Philadelphia Daily News, November 9, 2001

Opinion: Brotherly Love, Bad Schools - The Battle to Improve Philadelphia's Education System
The Wall Street Journal, November 6, 2001

Former Delaware Governor Pete Du Pont in this opinion piece endorses Pennsylvania Gov. Mark S. Schweiker's plan to improve Philadelphia schools—which includes ousting the Philadelphia School Board and substituting the private-management company Edison Schools Inc.

VIRGINIA

Area Schools Rank High In Graduating Minorities
The Washington Post, November 14, 2001

According to a recent study by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Fairfax, Montgomery, and Prince George's County's graduation rates -- particularly for African American students -- are among the highest of all large school systems in the country.

Thomas Jefferson To Expand Admissions
The Washington Post, November 13, 2001

Fairfax County school officials, trying to increase diversity at the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, have agreed to increase the freshman class by 20 qualified students from underrepresented middle schools in the county.

Limit on Spanish at Va. School Sparks Clash
The Washington Post, November 12, 2001

In recent weeks, at Claremont Academy and Early Childhood Center's extended-care facility in Arlington County, tensions between aides who are bilingual and supervisors who cannot understand Spanish have risen to such a level that the center's management sent a series of terse memos to the staff, telling employees they can no longer speak Spanish to parents or to each other without a supervisor and interpreter present.

Md., Va. Standardized Tests
Score High on Parent Anger
The Washington Post, November 11, 2001

From Maryland to Virginia, New York to California, parents are roiling and kicking against tests that they believe have overtaken their schools. Standardized tests, parents say, have shifted education's focus from the individual in favor of the mass.

Against The Establishment
The Washington Post, November 11, 2001

A profile of E.D. Hirsch, Jr. , a professor at the Univesity of Virginia and renowned academic who is often called the "Father of the SOL's".

SPECIAL ARTICLES & REPORTS

Communities at Work: A Guidebook of Strategic Interventions for Community Change (pdf file)
Public Education Network, 2001

Every Child Learning: Safe
and Supportive Schools (pdf file)
Learning First Alliance, 2001

The Continuing Evolution of Our
Nation's Child Welfare System (pdf file)
Urban Institute, 2001

Learning from Starting Points: Findings
from the Starting Points Assessment Project
National Center for Children in Poverty, October 2001

(This report discusses "how funders can provide the momentum for concentrated networking and activities that can change the threshold of expectation, communication, vision, policy, and practice around key aspects of young child well-being.")

Making Standards Matter
American Federation of Teachers, November 2001

Technology Standards for School Administators
Technology Standards for School Administrators (TSSA) Collaborative, 2001

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