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News Clips
– STATE STATE Poorly funded preschools still among nation's best By JAMI KUNZER,
Northwest Herald, 4/9/04 Brenda Huemann would
like to teach more children. And she wouldn't mind a cost-of-living
increase next year. But like most state-funded
preschool providers, she does the most with what she gets. A recent study ranks
State-funded preschools
across Yet the services
they provide are high quality, according to "The State of Preschool:
2003 State Preschool Yearbook." The report is the
first of its kind released by the National Institute for Early Education
Research. "As far as
The state program
allows no more than 20 children age High standards result
in quality programs, said Steve Barnett, director of the institute
that conducted the study to bring more attention and money to the
programs as they grow in size. "If no one's
paying attention, legislators and their policymakers are apt to
put resources someplace else," he said. Qualifying for the
program Those who qualify
are considered "at-risk," a designation that preschool
providers try to avoid because of its negative connotations. Children go through
a screening process that evaluates motor, speech, language and social
skills, as well as family histories. Children born premature or
whose parents are divorced or poorly educated might qualify. Nancy Barchard's
son, Jake, qualified because he could not skip or hold a pencil
very well. Now in kindergarten, Jake has excelled, said Barchard
of Johnsburg. Barchard was pleased
when her other son, 3-year-old Nicholas, qualified because he had
trouble following directions. "You shouldn't
think of the name 'at-risk' as feeling like your child has a problem,"
she said. "Basically, you're getting a government-funded program
instead of a preschool where you don't know if they follow the same
type of learning process as the elementary school where your kids
are going to go." Once qualified,
children attend free of charge in most cases. It gives them a jump-start
on kindergarten, preschool providers say. The children's emotional
maturity improves as they learn to share, take turns and wait, said
Pamela Richards, who teaches District 165's pre-kindergarten program
at The one-classroom
program has 18 children on a waiting list. Many of those who
qualify are children who do not speak English as their primary language
and who need help learning it, Richards said. "I've been
trying to get another classroom for quite a while," she said.
"Everybody's in a tax crunch. Everybody's vying for the same
money in some respects." Finding the money
District 12 asked
parents to pay a $65 materials fee for the first time this year
because of its limited funds, Huemann said. The state has agreed
to add an extra $29.4 million to its preschool program. For the
first time, providers have been told that they can ask for a 3.3
percent cost-of-living increase. But the extra money
likely will help add new programs, not bring in more money to programs
that already exist, Huemann said. The lack of funding
creates a tough situation in Huntley's District 158, where officials
will have to close one preschool classroom next year, said Meg Schnoor,
the district's director of special education. Using some of its
own funding, the district offered three classrooms this year. It received about
$75,000 from the state, Schnoor said. "That's not
going to cover much more than a salary," she said. "The growth
is just exploding," she said. "The number of at-risk students
followed that growth curve." In The district has
chipped in to keep the program alive, Emmerich said, but a failed
referendum in March has made her job dependent on next year's grant.
No one argues the
importance of the programs, but the state's financial situation
is bound to keep funding flat for at least the next few years, said
Don Englert, "I think we
all understand money spent at those early years has significant
impact on reading achievement and later success in school,"
he said. "But funds are dear, of course." The state earned
high marks in the first study of state-funded preschool programs
throughout the country. * Eighth for providing
access to 4-year-olds * Fourth for providing
access to 3-year-olds * 17th for the amount
of money spent per child enrolled in preschool State spending per
child enrolled: $3,094 Total state program
enrollment: 53,000 School districts
that offer state program: 77 percent Spending per child
enrolled in state funded preschool programs ranged from $451 in
Most states provided
about $2,000 to $4,000 per child. All data is based
on the 2001-02 school year. SOURCE: The National
Institute for Early Education Research study, "The State of
Preschool: 2003 State Preschool Yearbook" Ideas pour in for minority kids' success / Rockford Register Star Column by Judy Emerson,
Seldom have I gotten
as much response to a column as I did to the one asking for ideas
about how we can increase the number of minority students in the
ranks of the The suggestions
could be sorted into a few broad categories. I got the most responses
from people who said high achievers of any race almost always have
involved and supportive parents. A few people said
that since schools have limited power to change parents, teachers
need to be more creative in teaching kids who have little support
from home. Even as I write
those words, I know that teachers all over the city are grinding
their teeth and thinking: "Sure, blame the teacher." Nobody did that,
nor am I doing that. It comes down to looking at which factors the
district has some control over and which ones it doesn't. Teachers
need creative leadership, administrative support and adequate resources. Some children have
lousy parents. Some children have loving parents who want the best
for them but don't know how to pull it off. Do we write those kids
off? I don't have the
answers, but I know there are examples across the nation of pockets
of excellence in schools with a high proportion of minority students,
high poverty rates and low parental involvement. How do they do
it? A number of people
wrote about how they have stepped up to the plate to tutor or mentor
children. Some called for each of the city's many churches to adopt
a school or shower it with attention. A few called for
better enforcement of truancy laws. It seems that kids can just
skip school for a long time before anyone notices. The people who
used to notice and haul those kids back to school have been fired
because of the district's budget crunch. So, he said, "Outsource
it. Ship the students overseas and pay for their board and bring
them back at the end of the year. If we can't do it, let the Communists
do it." I know Mike, and
I know he's joking. But maybe it is
time for something radical. We can't continue to accept declining
test scores and program reductions and call it an adequate education
for the modern world. A few people wrote
to express sadness about what's happening to our schools, in general,
because of the budget cuts. Poet Dan Magnuson
sent a poem about his daughter, who loves playing the viola in her
middle school orchestra. Band and orchestra may be cut from middle
schools next year. "Here you have
a child growing more literate
in the world already lucid on
the Internet far beyond what
I can do; quite knowing of
what's trash and what can be
quite good in the kingdom of
the NowPop: if it's 'R,' she
declines, Thank God! And here you have
a child falling for something
classical connecting to our
past, cultivating soul. And now they're
taking them away all the orchestras
in her world. Who do we think
we are hurting our children
in this way?" Madigan slams 'Band-Aid budget' Blagojevich defends
decision to hold line on taxes, AP, Gov. Rod Blagojevich,
responding Tuesday to House Speaker Michael Madigan's concerns about
his budget plan, said he remains opposed to raising income or sales
taxes, even temporarily. Madigan said Monday
said he would support a temporary income tax increase, then noted
that the Democratic governor's continued forceful opposition made
such a move unlikely. Tuesday, Blagojevich drove that point home.
"If the General
Assembly sends me a bill that increases the income or sales tax,
whether it be temporary or permanent, I will veto it," Blagojevich
said from Madigan's comments
Monday offered one of the first glimpses into his thinking on Blagojevich's
proposals. The Democrat said he worries the administration is operating
on the theory that it can borrow its way out of a multibillion-dollar
budget deficit. "We did a Band-Aid
budget last year and we're looking at doing another one this year,
and that's why the Blagojevich administration is so in favor of
borrowing," Madigan said. The powerful Chicago
Democrat made his comments while fielding questions from the public
during an appearance at Southern Illinois University. His thoughts
on a variety of proposals could help set the stage for negotiations
during the final six weeks of the legislative session. Madigan, who has
rarely spoken to reporters over the past year and makes few public
speeches, also offered his opinion on Blagojevich's cost-cutting
proposal to shutter the downstate prison at Vandalia. Madigan said
while he hasn't made a final decision on the matter, he doesn't
see why it needs to be closed. He also said he is concerned with
the governor's proposal to gut the State Board of Education. A spokeswoman for
the governor said Blagojevich is balancing the budget through spending
cuts and eliminating waste. "We've reduced
the state's reliance on borrowing and (we're) balancing the budget
by tough choices about where we need to cut and by changing some
of the irresponsible budget habits of the past," spokeswoman
Abby Ottenhoff said. Madigan said he
has questions about Blagojevich's proposal to close the Vandalia
prison as a cost-cutting move to save the state $32 million. The
prison houses 1400 inmates and employs about 450 people. "I've just
got very serious questions regarding that proposal," Madigan
said. Ottenhoff said that
while Blagojevich is willing to listen to Madigan's concerns, the
governor believes closing the prison will save taxpayers money.
"We still believe
that this is a responsible way to both ensure that our prisoners
are being housed and guarded adequately and also to use taxpayer
dollars more efficiently in a very tight budget year," she
said. Blagojevich also
has proposed gutting the independent State Board of Education and
giving its duties to a new agency directly under his control. The
governor says that would improve education by reducing bureaucracy
and increasing accountability. Madigan said he
has "serious concerns" about the idea, but he did not
elaborate on his worries or whether he is firmly against the idea.
If he lobbied House Democrats to oppose the governor's idea, it
would almost certainly fail. Ottenhoff said the
governor will work with the speaker on the proposal, but he believes
his plan "is critical to improve accountability in the state's
education system." Rep. Brandon Phelps,
"He's up there
speaking from the heart, he said a lot of good things today, a lot
of truths," Phelps said. Several audience
members expressed concerns about rising medical insurance costs,
which they say are driving doctors out of southern Madigan, an attorney,
said he doubts the Illinois State Medical Society and the insurance
industry will succeed in limiting the size of malpractice lawsuit
awards because the state Supreme Court has already ruled caps unconstitutional.
Livingston schools are annexed to Staunton By Alexa Aguilar
of the Post-Dispatch, A long, costly and
emotional fight formally ended Monday night when the regional boards
for both Macoupin and The regional boards
acted after Those complaints
are still pending, but on Monday, the "It's for real,
I can't believe it," a resident in the crowd murmured under
her breath, while others cheered and hugged after the meeting adjourned.
For these residents,
the 15-minute meeting was the culmination of a yearlong clash over
where The pro-Staunton
group maintains that The pro-Staunton
group hosted barbecues and fish frys to pay for the more than $100,000
it has spent on legal fees. Hundreds have taken off work to attend
every hearing and meeting. The group's leaders spent hours collecting
petitions to place the school question on the ballot, while Libbra
has spent thousands of dollars as well, challenging those petitions
in court. "I'm just so
happy it's over," said Sara Schlemer, one of the pro-Staunton
group's leaders. "I'm ecstatic." Attorneys for both
the Libbra, who could
not be reached for comment, filed complaints in Madison County Court
challenging the validity of the petitions that placed the school
issue on the ballot. Both the Kyle Hlafka, superintendent
of His district will
receive $1.9 million in state incentives for the consolidation of
the two districts. Part of that money will likely go toward air
conditioning the elementary building in The "We're getting
closer," Hlafka said. "We're one step closer after tonight." Officials
Discuss Future of Local Education Andrea Kampwerth,
The Poshard's testimony
was part of the third of three Illinois Senate education committee
meetings. It was held in the Poshard, a former
educator and congressman, along with Carbondale Elementary School
District Superintendent Elizabeth Lewin, said they supported Gov.
Rod Blagojevich's plan to create a state Department of Education.
Taking issue with
the governor's proposals were Steven Sabens, superintendent of Sen. Miquel del
Valle, D-Chicago, opened the hearing saying there was "no more
important (issue in The two main changes
are Senate Bills 3000 and 3001. SB3000, also known as the Department
of Education Act, would create a Department of Education headed
by a Secretary of Education who would answer directly to the governor.
The current Illinois State Board of Education would be relegated
to an advisory panel. SB3001 would place the responsibility for
school construction on the Capital Development Board. Joining del Valle
were two other members of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. David
Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, and Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton. Rep. Mike
Bost, R-Murphysboro, joined the senators on the panel. In his testimony,
Poshard said, "Changing the system is the only way people will
have a direct voice, through their votes, to hold someone accountable
for education progress in this state. The governor has asked us
to hold him accountable through this change. ... I say, let's do
it." Poshard said teachers
need to understand that their lesson plans and attempts to meet
state requirements and the changing requirements of the presidential
"No Child Left Behind" mandate "mean something."
"I think the
system is broken and does need fixing," he said, referring
to earlier testimony to the contrary from a superintendent from
the Metro East. "There is a basic disconnect in this state
between the Illinois State Board of Education and the local teachers."
Lewin, who is a
member of the governor-appointed task force to help with the proposed
re-structuring, said, "What we really need is clarity, some
direction, a person to be held accountable. Let's give this is a
chance. We need to put the power back with the voters." Sabens said he worried
about the possibility of loss of local control especially in relation
to school construction, and the adverse economic effect that could
have on "Will this
create a new political bureaucracy?" he asked the committee.
"Are we certain our children will be improved by this change?
Let's move with caution and consider the consequences and the future
of our children." Superintendent Jim
Burgett of the "We feel that
in short order the governor will be replacing quality with patronage
jobs," he said. "The ISBE needs leaders, not buddies.
... Fix the ISBE -- don't eliminate it." Before the hearing,
del Valle said he was pleased the governor had made education such
a priority, but hoped there would be the usual negotiation process
with the introduction of the two bills. He said the governor had
not responded to amendments proposed by the senate so far. "We extended
deadlines on both bills in order for there to be more time for these
kinds of public hearings as we had today," del Valle said.
Sabens said he was
honored to host the senate hearing. He said the new high school
was an appropriate venue because it is a new facility and was built
with the help of a school construction grant under the current system.
"People tend
to take a very strong position (with education)," he said before
the hearing started. "Hopefully everyone has the same end goal
in mind -- furthering education in Education crisis calls for action By Laura Turner,
Daily Times Correspondent, TREMONT -- There
was lots of talk Wednesday about the state's education funding crisis,
but no immediate answers were forthcoming for a local school administrator
looking for a solution to budget woes. "I'm not seeing
any action," said Pekin District 108 superintendent Don White.
"Quite frankly, our district has hit a wall (financially)." State Rep. Bill
Mitchell and Illinois School Superintendent Dr. Robert Schiller
hosted an open forum in the Tremont High School Library for area
school superintendents to discuss the state's education crisis. Mitchell circulated
a petition calling for a General Assembly special session, saying
if the governor doesn't take action this year, districts will face
"fiscal calamities." He also urged those present to press
their local representatives "to rally around" education
issues in hopes more noise will bring quicker action. White, however,
said more has to happen. "I'm all for a special house session.
I will sign his petition; support his efforts. But we've studied
this thing to death. We have several plans on the shelf. Let's try
one," he said. Schiller said The lion's share
of school dollars, 53 percent, comes from local property taxes.
Using zip codes to pay for education creates great discrepancies
across the state, leaving poorer communities struggling to keep
status quo, let alone improve, Schiller said. "It's a local
responsibility, but most communities don't have the money to keep
up with basics. They are tapped out to raise additional funding.
We need to ask, 'What is the state's role in education?' About 80 percent
of At the same time,
student achievement levels are being raised. Schiller described
the $400 million Governor Rod Blagojevich earmarked for education
is his fiscal year 2005 budget as inadequate. "Four hundred
million sounds good. It's a good sound byte, but it's only a drop
in the bucket. It's barely enough to keep current levels going,
let alone support needed programs." He was also critical
of the 20-year-old funding formulas used to calculate mandated programs,
such as special education and transportation. Both he and Mitchell
agree the state needs to step up its education funding, but disagree
on how. Schiller supports taxing certain services, while Mitchell
said a sale tax increase would be "volatile." He favors
relying more on income taxes to support education. Neither is likely
to happen soon if Blagojevich keeps his campaign promise of no new
taxes. In the meantime, White is seeking a referendum to be placed
on the ballot as early as this November. He said his district
has already eliminated textbook and technology purchases, and will
cut teachers next year and extracurriculars in 2006 without an additional
$1.8 million. He's saddened to see "an otherwise good district
being decimated." "I'm frustrated
beyond belief. We know it's out of our hands. Teachers know what
they need to do to do well, but we don't have the revenue to maintain
those things," he said. But in the end,
it's the students who ultimately suffer. "We have a population
of students that's missing out," he said. Academy gives dropouts second chances By Chris Hubbuch,
Daily Illini Staff writer, Last fall Jessica
Long gave up on school. She had never been a good student and finally
stopped going altogether. "I needed a
better life," the 17-year-old said. "High school wasn't
for me." The life she found
was working — "Subway, McDonald's, mall jobs" — and crashing
with friends. "My dad had
the house open to me," she said. "But I didn't want to
live there because we were always fighting." As a high school
dropout, Long's chances of finding a better life were slim — dropouts
are almost twice as likely to be unemployed as recent high school
graduates, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dropouts
are more than twice as likely to receive some sort of government
welfare benefit as graduates, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
And they are far likelier than graduates to end up in jail. Almost
70 percent of state prison inmates did not finish high school, according
to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. The economic impact
of dropping out is "tremendously bad," said Paul Harrington,
associate director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Harrington said
if dropouts get a job, their earnings will be lower — about $10,000
annually, according to the Employment Policy Foundation. By dropping
out, Harrington said, "you start at the bottom and you stay
there." This winter, Long
was smoking a cigarette across the street from Five weeks after
enrolling in Lincoln's Challenge Academy (LCA) in Rantoul, Long
had already filled out an application to Parkland Community College,
where she plans to study dental hygiene. Her relationship with her
father has improved, and she said he is now proud of her. LCA is one of 29
academies in 25 states administered by the National Guard and is
designed to give 16- to 18-year-old dropouts a chance to avoid becoming
part of the litany of woeful statistics that describe their future.
"What these
kids need is someone to give them a boot in the butt once in a while
and head them down the right path," said Joe Padilla, chief
of the National Guard Office of Athletics and Youth, who oversees
the Challenge programs. But LCA is not a
boot camp for juvenile delinquents, said Richard Steigmann, the
program's spokesman. "It's a high
school with a military influence," he said. Every February and
July a new class of cadets move into the barracks of the former
air force base where they spend the next 22 weeks. The cadets sleep
three to a room with no door. For amenities they are allowed three
personal photos in their lockers. They rise at dawn for calisthenics.
Lights out comes at nine. Although the cadets
don't receive combat training, they do answer to a cadre of drill
instructors. Verbal harangues are common. Cadets who disrupt classes
are made to do calisthenics or stand in the hall, "nose and
toes on the wall." For dropouts like
Long, LCA provides not just a chance to earn a GED, but also a highly
structured environment in which to learn some of the skills they
will need to function in the world: job skills, physical fitness,
leadership and teamwork, health, and skills such as budget management.
"Some of these
kids are very smart, but weren't serviced in a traditional school
environment," said Marilyn Brengle, of the One of the program's
key components is volunteer work. It's important to recognize that
the students can contribute to society, said Lisa Comstock, community
resource director at For all its success,
LCA is not a panacea for the dropout problem. In ten years the academy
graduated 7,500 students. Yet last year alone, the Illinois State
Board of Education reported more than 36,000 dropouts—a figure Harrington
says is an underestimate. Though the program
can quantify its short-term successes, little is known about how
its graduates — the oldest are now approaching 30 — have fared.
The program was not set up to track graduates, Padilla said, but
it is launching such a study, which will take 18 months to complete.
LCA attempts to
place all graduates in either a job, a structured volunteer position,
further education, or the military. But, according to the National
Guard's annual report, only 60 percent of LCA's 2002 graduates were
successfully placed upon graduation, below the national average
of 70 percent. By the end of the year, LCA had lost contact with
60 percent of its graduates. The national average for all Challenge
programs was 22 percent. John Linderman,
supervisor of LCA's graduate affairs, attributes the low placement
rates in part to bookkeeping, saying that many of the final reports
did not arrive until after the cadets' cases were closed. Linderman
also cited the failure of cadets and volunteer mentors to follow
through with paperwork. He estimated that the actual placement rate
is higher. He said the case managers' workloads might also contribute
to the problem. In 2002, two of LCA's case managers were called
up to active duty in Since 1993, LCA
has maintained an 80 percent graduation rate—almost as high as the
average for While these statistics
may seem unremarkable, LCA students are some of the most difficult
to teach. "These are
kids that the high schools have already failed," said Cyprus
Hughes, an admissions advisor at In addition, the
classes are large—33 students per teacher, almost twice the average
ratio for Many who praise
the program cite the academy's effect on students' self-confidence
and maturity. "In a relatively
short time they seem to take on an adult air," said Mary Vidoni,
a counselor at Stacey Gross, an
art teacher at Centennial who serves as Jessica Long's mentor, said
she has already witnessed a transformation. "(She has changed)
mostly in self-confidence," Gross said. "She's never really
had any attention at the academic level. She's never had anyone
tell her she can do it." Long now proudly
wears a gold star on her uniform, recognition for the perfect 800
she scored on the reading section of the GED. Marveling at her success,
she said, "I never knew I was smart." Teachers offer to forgo retirement gifts By Jake Griffin,
Daily Herald Staff Writer, Some teachers who
are retiring from Instead of accepting
retirement gifts from District 94, the teachers have asked the school
board to allow them to donate the cost of those gifts to a scholarship
fund for the school's students. Board members said
they liked the idea, but they did raise a concern about limiting
where the money can be donated. "I think it's
a great idea, but ... if it's a donation back to the district, whether
it be a scholarship or something directly related to District 94,
I'd be in favor," said Karen Stott. "But outside organizations
- I'd have some concerns, just because I want something that everybody
in the district would approve of." The board asked
the district's staff to look into the proposal at a recent meeting,
but only if the donations could be tied back to the students or
school. Mary Rash is retiring
from teaching social studies at the school after 34 years. She thought
of the donation when looking through a catalog of potential retirement
gifts - such as gold watches, clocks and crystal - available to
her. "I just thought
it was a way to give back to the students for all my good years,"
she said. "I've spent 34 years here, and it's a way to reinvest
in their future." Superintendent Lee
Rieck said the donation idea also could apply to service anniversary
gifts teachers receive starting at five years of seniority. Rieck said the cost
for the gifts ranges from $50 for five years of service to $275
for retirement gifts. The district budgets about $4,500 annually
for service and retirement gifts for its 240-member staff. "I think it's
a very positive statement," he said of the proposal. "The
teaching profession generally is one that gives back. When teachers
have the opportunity they continue to give; many times it happens
beyond retirement." The cash-conscious
board also floated the idea of cutting the gifts altogether to help
shore up the budget. Stott said the issue
should be explored, but not at the risk of cutting out any type
of recognition for the teachers' services. "Maybe gifts
aren't the way to recognize the teachers," she said. "But
I don't have an alternate suggestion. Maybe we need to look at (more)
years of service for recognition." Rash said she'd
talked with some other retiring teachers who also expressed an interest
in the donation plan. "With the cost
of college these days, kids need the money," she said. The board is expected
to decide on a policy in May, Rieck said. =========================================================================== NATIONAL By Beth Fouhy, Associated
Press Writer, Seven warned the
state they can't pay their bills this year, and 55 others say they
may fall short of cash in the next three years. In one extreme example,
the "We are getting
a call or an e-mail a day from districts asking for management assistance,"
said Tom Henry, whose Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team
offers state management help to struggling schools. The problem, many
say, is a political environment that pays lip service to the importance
of education but doesn't deliver the resources needed for even basic
services. "There's never
been a time that I've been more concerned, more worried, and more
fearful of the impact of budget cuts," said Brett McFadden
of the Association of California School Administrators. "We
have a situation in California where there's a huge disconnect between
what the electorate wants and what the electorate is willing to
pay for, and Republicans and Democrats alike need to admit it." States nationwide
face daunting school funding challenges, but the situation is particularly
severe in Educators point
to a confluence of economic and political constraints at the federal
and state level that have forced The problems include
a state budget deficit projected to reach $14 billion next year,
declining student enrollment in some places and explosive growth
in others, spiraling health care and workers' compensation costs,
and intractable state and federal spending mandates. A voter backlash
led to Proposition 98 in 1988, which guaranteed minimum funds for
K-12 schools. But Republican Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned on a promise to protect public
education. He negotiated a deal in December to delay $2 billion
in payments to public schools in exchange for no further cuts, and
has proposed freeing $2 billion in mandated programs so that schools
can spend it as they see fit. "He definitely
followed through on the promises he made in the campaign, and the
proof is in his budget," said state finance spokesman H.D.
Palmer. But escalating costs
are forcing drastic choices. Small towns aren't
immune -- the rural district of Corning in northern "This has been
the most contentious, awful year I have spent as a school administrator,"
said Solutions remain
elusive and controversial. Voters approved a $12.3 billion school
construction bond in March, but the state's largest teachers union
and director Rob Reiner dropped plans Thursday for an initiative
to raise property taxes to pay for education and preschool programs. The decision came
after anti-tax groups claimed the measure could have raised residential
property taxes, despite assurances from supporters that it would
only affect commercial property. Ultimately, Schwarzenegger
and the legislature should consider tax increases, many educators
say. " Houston Schools Ease Rules on High School Promotion By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO,
New York Times, After years of toughening
standards for the promotion of ninth graders, the Houston Independent
School District reversed course on Thursday, saying high school
students who failed core subjects could now go on to the next grade,
provided they had sufficient credits from other courses. In a unanimous vote,
the board gave preliminary approval to a proposal from the "It doesn't
make sense to keep a child back until he is 17 or 18 years old because
he passed all his subjects except one," Dr. Stripling said
in a news release. "A student sitting in the ninth grade at
age 17 is a kid who is going to say, `Forget this; I'm dropping
out.' And School districts
around the country are grappling with the issue of social promotion.
In The about-face in
More recently, a
To graduate, they
still had to take the state test given to 10th graders, but their
scores did not affect schools' ratings, on which bonuses for school
employees were based. While the After the decision
on Thursday, some education advocates welcomed the abandonment of
a practice they had long criticized. But the shift also created
bitterness, particularly among students who felt their lives had
been short-circuited by the previous practice. School officials
had maintained that holding children back in the ninth grade was
meant to improve learning. "Our first
responsibility is to educate children," Terry Abbott, the spokesman
for the Under the policy
approved Thursday, students in the George Scott, an
online education columnist for EdNews.org, who analyzes test scores
in Luis Vega, a 20-year-old
who was held back for three years as a ninth grader at "They should
have put me with teachers who had more experience with students
who were slow learners," he said. "Instead they threw
us away like trash. You just learn by yourself in any way you can." Mr. Vega now attends
a charter school run by the Association for the Advancement of Mexican
Americans, and is on track to graduate from high school this June,
said Gilbert Moreno, the organization's director. Tracy Dell'angela,
Chicago Tribune/The LA VISTA, Macy Morrison, 8,
opens an online portfolio to review her scores on math problems
that test her reasoning skills. Kyle Dunbar reads to a 5th-grade
classmate, who will offer suggestions about how to improve his fluency. In schools on the
outskirts of Here, students aren't
pushed to do well on 50-minute tests that will determine whether
their teachers and their schools are considered successful - the
kind of pressure faced across the nation as children take their
states' standardized achievement tests. With criticism mounting
over implementation of the federal accountability law and states
scrambling to overhaul their testing systems to comply, The state has persuaded
federal education officials to approve the nation's most unorthodox
assessment system, which allows school districts to use portfolios
to measure student progress. For this, "I don't give
a damn what No Child Left Behind says," Christensen said. "I
think education is far too complex to be reduced to a single score.
We decided we were going to take No Child Left Behind and integrate
it into our plan, not the other way around. If it's bad for kids,
we're not going to do it." But critics of No
Child Left Behind - and the high-stakes testing mania it has spawned
- say Nebraska's 517 school
districts design their own assessment systems: A portfolio of teachers'
classroom assessments, district tests that measure how well children
are meeting locally developed learning standards, a state writing
test and at least one nationally standardized test included as a
reality check. These are submitted
to state education officials and a team of outside testing experts
for review, and the districts are rated not just on the proficiency
of their students but on the quality and reliability of their testing
portfolio. Federal education
officials said That method "has
a certain efficiency that most states prefer," Hickok said.
"But the federal law doesn't say you can only have one test.
People shouldn't think No Child Left Behind is the only way you
hold students accountable or measure student achievement." Nationwide, teachers
in thousands of districts already use such comprehensive portfolios;
they just are not used by state and federal officials to determine
whether the schools are making academic progress. Illinois Supt. of
Education Robert Schiller, whose former district in "It's admirable,
but it's also very, very difficult," Schiller said. "Absolutely,
a portfolio system is much more representative than a one-time assessment.
But it's a very time-consuming process, and very difficult in districts
where you have lots of students transferring and high turnover of
teachers." At Portal Elementary
in La Vista, 2nd grader Macy Morrison can see for herself that she's
making progress. She has been taking tests since school started.
By the end of the year, her teacher will send the district 33 measures
of Macy's progress in reading, writing and math. During a recent
visit, Macy was reading an "Arthur" book into a microphone
on a computer. This test measures Macy's fluency - a rare example
in which speech is actually measured for state standards - and when
she's finished she knows exactly what she should do to improve. "My expression
was just right, but I'm still getting there on my smoothness because
I had a lot of stops," Macy said, clicking to a bar chart of
her progress during 2nd grade. Tests make Macy a little nervous,
but she knows they are important - and her reasons have nothing
to do with the reputation of her school. "We take these
tests so we can learn more and the teachers can see how we're doing,"
she said. Sixth-grade teacher
Melissa McCain knows some of her "Everything
was about the test in Despite all the
hand-wringing over the federal law, No Child Left Behind isn't even
a factor for most of the schools in this largely rural state. Only 159 of One of the criticisms
of the These differences
in assessment systems are clearly visible in three neighboring districts
just outside State education
leaders have praised the fifth-largest district in the state, Papillion-La
Vista, for developing an exemplary system. The standards are high
and validated by national test scores. The district trains its teachers
constantly. The teachers control the assessments. The students view
tests as a natural part of their school day. "You will never
hear us talking about getting ready for a big test. We will never
compare the performance of schools in our district," said Jef
Johnston, the district's assistant superintendent. "The only
thing we will ever tell our principals is that, wherever you are
now, you have to do better next year. "What keeps
teachers from cheating? Nothing, except honesty and the desire to
do the right thing for kids." In the Millard school
district, an affluent suburban district with 19,000 students, proficiency
is measured solely by district-designed multiple-choice and short-answer
tests. Teachers here don't create portfolios, but do give a national
standardized test and state writing tests as required. District
officials said they never considered moving to classroom assessments
because they want to guarantee their students have a base level
of skills that can be measured by a single test. School officials
in Ralston, a 3,000-student district where a quarter of the students
are low-income, are under pressure to design a more rigorous testing
program after state officials rated the district's assessments unacceptable. The district reported
that 76 percent of its students passed reading standards and about
97 percent were proficient in math. But district officials acknowledge
their tests were too easy and didn't match up with much lower scores
seen on the national Stanford exams, where about 58 percent of Ralston
elementary pupils scored above average in reading and 60 percent
in math. Jerry Riibe, Ralston's
new assistant superintendent, said he remains committed to the idea
that children are best assessed in the classroom and is confident
the district can create a more reliable program. "The easy thing
to do would be to write a test and give it to everyone," Riibe
said. "But it doesn't give teachers the information they need
to improve learning. You can make classroom assessments work, as
long as you're willing to trust your teachers and invest the time
and effort it takes." Christensen said
"Educators
have never been in control of their craft," said Christensen,
a former all-state quarterback who trained for the ministry before
settling on a teaching career. "What makes our system work
is it speaks to the heart of teachers." Kids' drug of choice ... in your medicine cabinet Senta Scarborough
and Justin Juozapavicius, The The drug of choice
for some Valley schoolchildren is increasingly becoming whatever
they can find in their parents' medicine cabinets or buy over the
counter. For the third time
in a month, students were hospitalized Monday after taking a household
medication, in this case a vitamin supplement called niacin used
to combat high cholesterol. The three 12-year-old girls from Linda Rottman, Mesa
Public Schools assistant superintendent, said students are making
poor choices by getting high. "It seems recently
to be more and more over-the-counter and prescribed drugs. We are
dealing with something they can get from their dad's medicine cabinet,"
Rottman said. "You hope that something good will come of this,
and you hope children and parents will recognize the dangers." Last month, paramedics
were called to a Two Desert Ridge
High School sophomores, ages 14 and 15, were hospitalized March
25 after both took over-the-counter cold pills, DexAlone, and one
also took an antidepressant, Elavil, while they were at the Gilbert
district school. The cold pills were
shoplifted from a drugstore and the antidepressant was stolen from
a terminally ill friend of the girl's family, according to police
reports. Gilbert Public Schools
Superintendent Brad Barrett told parents in a letter dated April
6 that there had also been a second such incident in his district
"in the past couple of weeks." He did not provide details
of that incident. In the letter Barrett
wrote, "Another disturbing fact is that in recent years the
nature of drug abuse has changed. In addition to illegal drugs,
we are now dealing with the abuse of common over-the-counter cold
medicines and muscle relaxants. These are more difficult to detect." Marian Hermie, superintendent
of the "You can't
keep spray starch in some people's homes," she said. "Things
they use today wouldn't have crossed my mind." Lacey Rose Cox,
administrator of Gilbert police counseling programs, says the increase
seems to be due to the general upswing in the use of drugs, fueled
partly by drug advertisements in magazines and on television. "In this society,
that is an increasing trend, and I think the kids are following
that," Cox said. "Prescription drugs are much more prevalent
and easier for them to get their hands on. A lot of those people
are being helped, but it opens you up to a lot of abuse." Cox said staff in
her program created a new brochure on household drug dangers that
is being distributed now. The department, Gilbert schools and community
groups are organizing a drug-awareness forum for next month because
of the spring incidents, including the suspected drug-related deaths
of two students who took illegal drugs, and the school suspension
March 29 of students at two high schools who were involved in buying,
selling and using the muscle relaxant soma that they had obtained
in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. At Fire paramedics
were called to the school at Power and University in northeast Mesa
around 9:30 a.m. to evaluate seven seventh- and eighth-grade students,
ages 12 to 14, believed to have taken between half a pill and 15
pills. The school called police after three students complained
of dizziness, nausea and rashes. Although police
will investigate the Monday incident, it's unlikely any of the students
will face legal charges because they were using over-the-counter
medicine. "We don't have
a lot of teeth for us to come back on," Thompson said. "That
is why it is frustrating, and more and more they are doing it because
they are not breaking the law." Perry orders special session to pay for By CLAY ROBISON,
WHAT THE GOVERNOR
WANTS To reduce local
school property taxes by: • A higher cigarette
tax. • Video lottery
terminals at racetracks and on Indian reservations. • A $5 state tax
on admissions to adult entertainment clubs. • Closing a loophole
in the state franchise tax. "The time for
pondering is over. It's time for action," said Perry, who is
seeking cuts in local school property taxes and a replacement for
the so-called "Robin Hood" school funding law that forces
wealthy districts to share tax revenue with poor schools. The governor repeatedly
had said he would schedule a special session after he had reached
consensus with legislative leaders on a new plan for funding the
public schools. So far, no agreement is apparent. But Perry predicted
the pressure of a special session -- and the possibility of more
sessions if necessary -- would force a solution once lawmakers return
to He said there already
is "great consensus" that the current funding scheme is
"dated and unworkable." "There is nothing
like the certainty of a session to bring greater work on the details,"
he added. Each special session
is limited to 30 days, which means this one will have to end on
May 19 if work is not completed sooner. But there is no limit to
the number of special sessions a governor can call, and Perry indicated
he would call subsequent sessions if the first one ends in failure.
"We will roll
up our sleeves. We will burn the Last week, Perry
unveiled the final parts of his own plan for replacing the current
school finance law and making other changes in public education.
The governor has
proposed cuts in local school property taxes to be replaced by new
state revenue sources, including a higher cigarette tax, video lottery
terminals at racetracks and on Indian reservations, a new $5 state
tax on admissions to adult entertainment clubs and closing a loophole
in the state franchise tax. He also has proposed
a new statewide tax on business property that has drawn widespread
opposition from the business community, which fears being taxed
at a higher rate than residential property. The statewide business
tax and the expanded gambling would have tough hills to climb in
the Legislature because each would require constitutional amendments
approved by two-thirds of the House and the Senate. They also would
have to be approved by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst
and much of the Senate, meanwhile, are working on a competing plan,
which would trade lower school property taxes for a broad-based
business activity tax. "I don't think
there is any consensus at this time," said Bill Hammond, president
of the Texas Association of Business, which generally supports the
governor on major issues but opposes the statewide business property
tax. But "He has a real
problem that needs to be dealt with," he said. Perry said his plan
would replace the so-called "Robin Hood" school finance
law, which forces property wealthy school districts to share tax
revenue with poor schools. He said it would
increase the state's share of funding the public schools from the
present 38 percent to about 60 percent and promote equity. He also
would set new limits on increases in property tax revenue for cities
and counties, as well as school districts. That latter proposal
has drawn strong opposition from local governments. Vouchers spur lasting achievement gains in MPS schools,
study says But critics seek
more information, argue that other research doesn't match By SARAH CARR, Milwaukee's voucher
program prompted sustainable achievement gains for the city's public
elementary schools, according to a new study by a Harvard economist. Researcher Caroline
Hoxby followed up on a study of three years ago, in which she concluded
that the private school choice program pushed the public schools
to improve. In the new study,
she adds test score data from two additional years - the 2000-'01
and 2001-'02 school years - and finds that the gains were sustained,
although they did not accelerate. The study was published in the
Swedish Economic Policy Review. "Adding the
new years of data allows us to see that the good results have lasted,"
Hoxby said. "A lot of people thought that this was a blip that
was going to go away." But Martin Carnoy,
a professor of education and economics at Carnoy added that
if Hoxby removed the 1997-'98 school year, with its good test scores,
from her analysis, "she would be cooked." "If one believes
her conclusions already, this will fuel their belief," Carnoy
said. "But for someone who is a skeptic, this isn't going to
change their mind." Some Advocates for vouchers
tout this as a key selling point, arguing that vouchers can improve
the educational experience of the thousands of children who choose
to stay with Milwaukee Public Schools. Hoxby's argument
is that vouchers can spur improvements in public schools by threatening
to steal away students and the money that comes with them. In this study and
the earlier one, Hoxby did a complicated review of what she describes
as "productivity" at several dozen Hoxby calculated
the productivity from 1996 through 2002 of a set of MPS schools
that she predicts would be most affected by choice because they
have a large number of students eligible for vouchers; of a set
that would be less affected because fewer students are eligible
for vouchers; and of a set of Wisconsin schools outside Milwaukee
that are in urban areas and have relatively high numbers of poor
and black students. The last group is the control set because students
outside She found that test
scores at the most affected schools shot up more than those in the
two other groups between 1997 and 1999, when MPS would feel the
most competitive pressure because of the state Supreme Court decision
allowing the expansion of vouchers. In all three groups,
test scores were relatively level between 1999 and 2002 in most
subjects. "The gains
are really remarkable by any American standards," Hoxby said.
"Vouchers are not supposed to be a miracle silver bullet but
should stimulate schools to make changes that they've needed to
make for a long time." But Emily Van Dunk,
research director at the Public Policy Forum, a local research organization,
said it is "very unclear when the test score increases she
is talking about really happened." Van Dunk said her
own research has not uncovered comparable test score increases.
She recently co-wrote a book that concluded that student performance
is lower in public schools located near voucher schools, and that
MPS schools are insulated from financial harm when they lose students
to private ones in the choice program. "In many ways,
her research is creative and sophisticated, but it doesn't reconcile
with the real world," she added. Carnoy argued that
not enough is known about the control group outside "Her position
is pretty strong based on her data," he said. But Hoxby said:
"It looks like the achievement is significantly higher and
shows no signs of decreasing at all." School district may try farming out bus service By Emily Richmond,
"In order to
assure the public we're getting the biggest bang for their buck
we occasionally have to do a comparison of our costs versus what
the outside guys say they could do the job for," Walt Rulffes,
deputy superintendent of operations for the district, said. "We've
looked into outsourcing food services and custodial services, but
until now we haven't done a serious examination of transportation." It makes sense to
use the magnet schools program as a potential pilot study, Rulffes
said. "We wouldn't
want to experiment on a district-wide basis and risk disrupting
services for our students," Rulffes said. "The magnet
school program is small enough that we could step back in quickly
if things weren't working out." The magnet school
bus routes have been a source of frustration for parents and students
for years, said D.J. Stutz, president of the Nevada PTA. In many
instances students must ride one bus from their local school to
a transfer site and then board a second bus for the ride to the
magnet school. "You have kids
who have to be up and ready two hours earlier than normal and spend
more than an hour each way on buses," Stutz said. "That's
a long time for kids, especially when you're talking about first,
second or third graders." Stutz said she would
want more information as to how drivers hired by the contracting
companies would be trained and screened. "If contracting
out transportation would cut down on the amount of time a kid has
to sit on the bus, that would certainly make the plan more appealing,"
Stutz said. "We want to make sure parents and students are
getting the best possible services." Several private
bus companies have contacted the district and expressed interest
in provide services, Rulffes said. The discussions have not reached
the stage where formal proposals or cost estimates have been submitted,
Rulffes said. Valerie Flores,
general manager for Illinois-based Laidlaw Transit's operations
in the "We would certainly
like to find out more about what the (school district) is considering,"
It's unlikely that
outsourcing a small portion of the district's transportation services
would result in job cuts for current drivers, Rulffes said. "We're always
looking for more drivers and it seems like we're adding new routes
all the time," Rulffes said, noting the district will open
14 new schools in August. "I don't think any employee should
feel that contracting would threaten their job security." The district's total
transportation budget for the 2003-04 academic year is $68 million,
and includes 1,180 buses operating on hundreds of routes. Transportation
for the magnet school sites -- which draw students from throughout
the district for special programs in the arts, sciences and humanities
-- require 140 buses. Joe Furtado, executive
director of the Education Support Employees Association, said the
union representing the district's bus drivers would oppose contracting
out any transportation services. "That work
is for our people, or for future drivers who will become our people,"
Furtado said last Thursday. Furtado said he
had additional questions, including how the district planned to
conduct background checks on contracted drivers. An attempt by district
officials last year to put students from three high schools on Citizen
Area Transport buses was dismantled after angry parents voiced safety
concerns. Furtado said he expected the district's latest proposal
will ultimately be derailed for the same reason. "( A warning on school achievement scores By Jay Mathews,
WASHINGTON -- A
new study of 270,000 public school students warns that the No Child
Left Behind law may prompt some parents to send children from low-performing
schools to others that appear to foster high achievement but do
a poor job of raising individual student scores. The study endorses
the view of many educators, including some supporters of No Child
Left Behind, that school achievement ratings will work better once
all school systems can keep track of every student's improvement
each year, rather than just compare one year's average test scores
with the scores of other students from the previous year. "While it is
clear that our educational system should leave no child behind,
it is also clear that the mission of our educational system needs
to go beyond this goal," said the study by the nonprofit Northwest
Evaluation Association, based in Officials at the
US Education Department said they will have to study the full report,
available at www.nwea.org/research/growth-study.html, before they
could judge its worth. The association
used data from about 1 million The analysis shows
that many schools with average test scores high enough to meet the
annual milestones set by the No Child Left Behind law were below
average in individual student academic growth, said Allan Olson,
the association's executive director and one of the study's authors.
More than 20 percent of the schools with scores high enough to meet
the federal targets "fall into the bottom quarter of schools
in terms of the amount of growth they cause in their students,"
the study said. The federal targets
are measured as average passing rates on a test, and compare one
group of students with a different group from the previous year.
The study authors said this disguises and obscures how much each
individual student learns during each year. Under No Child Left
Behind, schools that accept federal antipoverty education funds
must demonstrate "adequate yearly progress" toward ensuring
that all students will be proficient in reading and math by 2014.
Schools that consistently fail to do so must provide transportation
for students who wish to transfer to higher-performing schools.
Illinois State Board of Education |
