EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

NATIONAL

"Federal Breakfast Program Feeds Record Numbers"
The Washington Post, November 20, 2000

According to an annual report released by the Food Research and Action Center, titled The School Breakfast Scorecard:2000, more than 71,000 schools offered breakfasts subsidized by the federal government and the average number of poor children served rose to 6.3 million in 2000, nearly double the figure of 3.4 million in 1990.

"Massachusetts Teachers Blast
 State Tests in New TV Ads"
Education Week, November 22, 2000

The largest teachers' union in Massachusetts -- the Massachusetts Teachers Association -- has launched a $600,000 advertising campaign that attacks the state's high-stakes testing program.

"California Settles Battle Over LEP Testing"
Education Week, November 22, 2000

The San Francisco school district has agreed to settle its lawsuit against the state of California by backing down from its refusal to administer a state-mandated test in English to Limited-English-Proficient students.

MARYLAND

"Reading Scores Vex Educators"
The Baltimore Sun, November 26, 2000

Maryland eighth graders have shown no improvement on statewide reading tests over the past seven years, despite gains in other subjects. State officials are intensifying their efforts to improve reading achievement.

"At Troubled City School, Discipline Takes Priority"
The Baltimore Sun, November 26, 2000

Furman L. Templeton Elementary, one of three elementary schools in Baltimore managed by a for-profit company, has instituted a student discipline program created in tandem with the May Institute, a Massachusetts non-profit company that specializes in providing services for people with learning and behavioral problems.

PENNSYLVANIA

"Report Card on the Schools"
The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 24, 2000

The Philadelphia Inquirer's 2000 Report Card on the Schools takes measure of schools in five Pennsylvania counties (and three South Jersey counties) on issues such as safety, student performance, teacher salaries, and per-pupil spending. Search The Philadelphia Inquirer's School Report Card Database

VIRGINIA

In Prince William County, students can now choose to attend any of the eight different high schools across the county. The county has restructured its schools so that each has its own an academic specialty program. Examples include informational technology, biology and physics.

RESOURCES

The Education Week website has special sections dedicated to the following topics, including links to key research articles and policy documents:

Bilingual Education

School Vouchers

School Violence and Safety

WORKSHOPS

"The Psychology and Education of
African American Children and Youth."

The Mid-Atlantic Equity Center is hosting a breakfast roundtable and workshop in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday November 29, 2000 from 8:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m., entitled, "The Psychology and Education of African American Children and Youth."

This interactive workshop, headed by Dr. Thomas A. Parham, an African-centered psychologist and educator from the University of California, Irvine, will explore issues concerning the healthy psychological development of African American children and its relation to learning and achievement. It is designed for policymakers, superintendents, school board members, principals, teachers, school counselors, mental health workers, school-age child care providers and parents.

The cost of the breakfast and workshop is $40.00. For additional information and/or registration materials, please call MAEC at (301) 657-7741.