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News Clips –
April 30 to May 7, 2004 STATE Blagojevich shows two sides / Lincoln
Courier STATE Some Democrats see cooperative
spirit emerging By Christopher Wills,
AP, Blagojevich holds news
conferences to demand that lawmakers pass his budget. He calls them
narrow-minded servants of special interests. He dismisses the importance
of meeting with legislative leaders. Lawmakers, meanwhile,
hold special hearings to scrutinize the governor's proposals. They reject
his nominees for government jobs. They accuse him of spending too much
time in But that's the public
side of the relationship. Lawmakers - the Democrats,
anyway - say that behind the scenes Blagojevich and his aides are more
cooperative than ever. They describe an administration that is working
with lawmakers and interest groups on issues ranging from medical malpractice
to education reform. Sen. Denny Jacobs, often
a critic of the governor, said he has simply learned to accept that
the public Blagojevich is different from the private one. "He's got a public
persona, and his handlers tell him what makes him look good with the
public," said Jacobs, D-East Moline. "It makes him appear
that he's the only one down here who's standing up for the little guy." But in private meetings,
Blagojevich is "very cordial," Jacobs said. "He doesn't
make a lot of decisions in those. He listens. He smiles a lot and tells
a few jokes." Blagojevich, his aides
and legislative allies insist that the idea of a feud between the governor
and lawmakers is overblown. Yes, Blagojevich uses
public statements to pressure lawmakers. And, yes, he spends far more
time in Blagojevich prefers
to make his case to the public and then leave the Legislature to approve
his idea or come up with alternatives, said Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk. "We're pretty good
at using the bully pulpit," Tusk said. The approach may also
stem from a belief that lawmakers have little choice but to accept the
governor's proposals for closing a roughly $1.7 billion budget gap. Blagojevich has made
it clear that he won't raise income or sales taxes. Few lawmakers would
support the spending cuts necessary to fill that kind of deficit. And
gambling expansion, which might or might not produce the money, would
be a risky move in an election year. That leaves Blagojevich's
mix of higher business taxes, fee increases, borrowing and modest cost-cutting. "If people have
other ideas, we'll look at them," Tusk said. "We're not hearing
that right now. We're just hearing, 'We don't like this, we don't like
that."' House Speaker Michael
Madigan, D-Chicago, has ordered a series of hearings to scrutinize details
of the governor's $54 billion budget plan, including a hearing expected
Thursday on the state's recent reliance on borrowing. He also says lawmakers
will be less deferential to Blagojevich this year than they were last
year when the governor was just starting out. Rep. Jay Hoffman, a
Collinsville Democrat and the governor's closest ally in the House,
said he does not see Madigan's actions as a challenge to Blagojevich. "We have an obligation
to look into the proposals of the governor," Hoffman said. "That's
all part of the process." He acknowledged the
administration got off to a rocky start last year and did not give lawmakers
all the budget details it should have. But Hoffman said that problem
has largely been solved, and other budget negotiators said they are
seeing progress. On other issues, where
lawmakers have more options, the administration is more cooperative. Sen. John Cullerton,
D-Chicago, said that last year, Blagojevich avoided getting involved
in writing a complex bill to overhaul the death penalty system. Then,
after the bill had passed, he used his amendatory veto to block the
entire bill until a relatively small piece was changed. This year, Cullerton
said, the administration is working closely with lawmakers on the complex
issue of rising malpractice insurance costs that threaten to drive some
doctors out of business. Sen. Miguel del Valle,
a Chicago Democrat and frequent Blagojevich critic, said the governor
also seems willing to compromise on his proposal to gut the State Board
of Education. While complaining that
the administration has been slow to provide some details, del Valle
said the governor's aides are listening to alternatives. Blagojevich meets with
lawmakers when he visits That's not to say there
are no problems between Blagojevich and the Legislature, though. Republicans say they
are still denied information and access. Senate Minority Leader Frank
Watson of And some Democrats consider
Blagojevich's rhetoric insulting and counterproductive. "For him to say
we're narrow-minded and not working and down here just feeding at the
trough with lobbyists is totally unfair," said Sen. Donne Trotter
of Chicago, the lead budget negotiator for Senate Democrats. "Members came down
here with the good intent of working together to make this year a little
bit easier than it was last year, and he hasn't made it that way." Teacher academy program targets new Sun Times, May 4, 2004 In an effort to provide
new teachers with an opportunity to connect and network with their peers,
the Associated Colleges of The academy provides
a forum for young, quality educators to share professional resources,
strategies and ideas in an effort to perfect their craft. The The first program in
the series for the 2004-05 school year will take place June 24-25 at
Lake Lawn Lodge in The two-day program,
"Reality Classroom," will offer attendees a variety of dynamic
breakout sessions, including "Implementing Standard Based Lesson
Plans," "Behavior Management," "Motivating Reluctant
Learners," and "Politics in Teaching." The second day of the
program will feature a morning of interactive sessions on how to build
a community of learners and working and integrating ESL students into
the classroom. In the afternoon session, teachers will discuss "Classroom
Management," second-year teachers will discuss "Assessment"
and third-year teachers will discuss "Differentiated Instruction."
The 2004-05 Registration is free
of charge to attend the To register, interested
parties can call (312) 263-2391, Ext. 21 or visit the ACI Web site at
www.acifund.org. Year-round school deserves consideration Letter by Angelina Arroyo,
a student at In the traditional calendar,
students have a very long summer vacation. As a 19-year-old, I recommend
to the school programs to change the traditional calender to year-round
school program. During the long vacation,
the students get behind. Moreover, the teachers need to review for the
first few weeks. Finally, in summertime, violence increases because
many gang members do not have anything to do because some are too young
to work. Year-round education
deserves another look by our community; we really need a change because
students are not getting an adequate education. Superintendent says state is failing schools, students Funding shortages blamed
for eroding quality of education By KAREN McDONALD of
the Journal Star, EUREKA - The lack of
adequate state funding for schools has prompted huge disparities among
programs offered and unequal educational opportunities for children,
the state school superintendent said Monday. "There are disparities
concerning us around the state. Some communities can sustain programs
and others have to cut back," Superintendent Robert Schiller said.
"We as a state have not lived up to our obligations to ensure every
community has the resources necessary to offer the higher-quality education
we demand." Schiller spoke to about
200 students, parents and school officials at the Central Illinois Valley
Region Illinois Principals Association student recognition breakfast.
The event, held at "We need to redefine
our commitment to children - find the means necessary that each child
can go to school and prepare for the next level and have the ability
to be prepared for those challenges," Schiller said. The cost of educating
students is larger than what schools are given by the state. That drives
local communities to rely more heavily
on taxpayers to support schools, although many communities don't have
the resources to raise money that schools need, Schiller said before
the breakfast. Under-funded schools
are being forced to cut programs and sometimes jeopardize students'
education, he said. More school districts also are considering consolidation
options. "In some cases,
consolidation is in the best interest of schools and students. Some
recent consolidations have allowed districts to decrease expenditures
and increase services," Schiller said. Last week, the Illinois
Senate sent legislation to Gov. Rod Blagojevich boosting the per-pupil
funding level in the state by $250 a year to $5,060. Even if the measure
is approved, Schiller said it will not solve education funding problems. "It was a very
important message sent by the Legislature. They realize we need each
year to make another down payment on (education) funding," Schiller
said. "We have to realize that it is merely a Band-aid." Blagojevich, Madigan split over budget BY DAVE With the Legislature's
adjournment less than three weeks away, Blagojevich and House Speaker
Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) differed over how the state should spend
its money next year. In an open letter to
legislators, the governor called on them to back his plan to avoid increasing
the sales and income taxes and spare education, health care and public
safety programs from deep cuts. "This means having
the will to make difficult spending cuts in other areas and the will
to close corporate tax loopholes," he wrote. "It all starts
with us having the courage to say no to the special interests who have
benefited at the taxpayers' expense for far too long." But Madigan, in a speech
before retailers, panned Blagojevich's plan as relying too heavily on
borrowing. The speaker said he would take up proposed borrowing restrictions
proposed by Senate Republicans and plans to allow votes next week on
the governor's revenue proposals. Some want to ban ads
selling alcohol, tobacco products By JOHN SHARP of the
Journal Star, May 5, 2004 PEKIN - A billboard
advertising local companies for a high school boosters club got the
OK recently from the School Board, despite an ongoing debate on what
type of advertising can be displayed at the school. The board voted 6-1
last week to allow the Pekin Swim & Dive Boosters Club to post a
billboard in the natatorium where the swim team competes. The club has until the
2006-07 school year to feature the billboard, at which time the School
Board will review how it's being used. The approval came about
one month after the board voted 4-3 to maintain its policy on advertising.
Currently, there is little regulation on what type of advertising can
be displayed on school grounds. Last year, controversy
arose when School Board member Gary Lowe questioned the board's policy
on advertising. He said District 303 needed to take a stand and prohibit
ads from businesses that sell alcohol and tobacco products. "I wish there was
a policy in place that is more specific on what type of businesses can
be advertised," Lowe, a But at the time, there
were some concerns over how far the School Board was willing to take
an advertising ban. Superintendent Ken Schwab
said he was concerned about prohibiting grocery stores from advertising,
even though they sell alcohol and tobacco. Other than the boosters
club's billboard, there is not much advertising allowed at Only Pepsi Co. products
are promoted and advertised at the school and sold at sporting events.
No taverns, restaurants or grocery stores advertise on school property.
Ric Munge, vice president
of the boosters club, said there will be no taverns or liquor stores
featured on the swim team's billboard. "I think we're
fine with the School Board," Munge said. According to a letter
from boosters club secretary Cheryl Miller, the billboard generated
$5,000 last year that went to purchasing items like a digital clock,
team sweatshirts for all swimmers and divers and a digital camera for
training. "What we want to
do (with the billboard) is to provide funds above what the school's
budget can cover," Munge said. For one of the billboard's
30 spots, the boosters club charges $200 a year. Its goal is to raise
$6,000 annually. "I think the majority
of the board at this time thinks … the Swim & Dive Club did a commendable
job," board member Kids are at risk in budget battle Letter by Jerome Stermer,
President, Voices for Illinois children could
easily wind up losers in the annual budget battle in Political pundits are
having a field day with the new tug-of-war between the governor and
legislators. Interested citizens feel powerless as they watch Though voters approved
a new state Constitution in 1970 that embraces the concept of supporting
public education primarily through state funds, we have moved dramatically
in the wrong direction during the past 34 years. Most financing for
public schools falls on local property taxes in Illinois, ranking us
dead last among the states on Education Week's report card of school-funding
fairness. Sometimes the best ideas
come out of the most chaotic situations. Now, while they still seem
furthest from agreement, is a perfect time for the governor and General
Assembly to come together around a comprehensive approach to answering
Letter by Careen M.
Gordon, State Representative, 75th District, Herald News, 5/5/04 Every May, we take time
to honor those people who have helped shape our youth and build our
future. Teacher Appreciation Week is an opportunity for students, past
and present, to pay tribute to the people who have helped them on their
journey to success. Most people understand
the critical role education plays in shaping our community, our economy
and our lives, but teachers understand this connection better than anyone.
It is their tireless pursuit of perfection that pushes their students
to achieve their maximum potential. Teachers are there for all their
students, helping those who fall behind and challenging those who speed
ahead. Educators provide students
with the tools they need to become productive members of society. They
are completely committed to their profession, often bringing their work
home and supplementing their classroom supplies with their own money.
Teachers dedicate themselves
to improving the future of our youth, and for that we should all be
thankful. I know I would not be where I am today if it were not for
the dedicated and compassionate teachers I had growing up in the Morris
public school system. The teachers from whom I have been fortunate enough
to learn have taught me the value of education and that nothing is impossible
if you put your mind to it. Whether you are 5 or
50, you can think of at least one educator who has had a positive impact
on your life. So please take this week as an opportunity to let them
know how much they have meant to you. I want to thank all
our teachers who give so generously of themselves to improve the future
of our youth. Please know that the knowledge, values and confidence
you help instill in your students last a lifetime. Madigan condemns governor's school plan
Board takeover may fall victim to
political battle
By Ray Long and Christi
Parsons, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporter Molly Parker
contributed to this report, May 6, 2004 Madigan says no to school reform By RYAN KEITH, The Associated Press, Madigan, in a letter delivered
throughout the state Capitol, said for the first time that lawmakers
should not approve Blagojevich's proposal to shift the administrative
powers of the independent state board of education to a new agency under
his control. Blagojevich has criticized
the current board of education system as an inefficient bureaucracy
that has not adequately helped students learn, and he has pushed to
gain control of the agency, saying he could improve accountability and
performance. Madigan, however, said that
creating a new Department of Education would conflict with the state's
constitution, lead to unnecessary lawsuits, and create two bureaucracies
instead of streamlining educational services. Instead, Madigan said,
Blagojevich should get to appoint a majority of board members, and the
schools superintendent should serve no longer than the current governor.
The proclamation could effectively
kill any chance of Blagojevich's proposal gaining legislative support
this spring. As speaker, Madigan, D-Chicago, can keep legislation from
reaching the House floor and has the influence to get enough votes to
defeat bills that do come up. The governor's office responded
that Madigan's proposal does not go far enough to improve the education
system and that Blagojevich is willing to work with lawmakers to make
his own proposal acceptable. "We want to make it
very clear that this is a democratic process and the speaker is one
man with one vote. He's not the entire legislative branch of government,"
Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said. "Many members of the
General Assembly, including members of his caucus, support the governor's
reforms and he'll hear from them in the coming days." A spokeswoman for Senate
President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, said legislators in that chamber may
have their own plan ready for consideration next week. "It opens the door
for compromise," Cindy Davidsmeyer said. Madigan's statement was
welcomed at the state board of education, which had bristled under Blagojevich's
accusations and contended there are better ways to improve education.
"We're very excited
– it respects the Constitution, it's good public policy," board
spokeswoman Karen Craven said. Currently, members of the
State Board of Education are appointed by the governor, but their six-year
terms do not necessarily coincide with the election of a new governor.
Blagojevich has made only one appointment, Janet Steiner as board chairwoman.
Madigan also said Wednesday
that teacher tenure should be limited to four years, and no group should
control the teacher certification process. Blagojevich has proposed
putting teacher certification under a new panel on which union appointees
would make up a majority. "I hope that these
suggestions are helpful and meaningful to the debate concerning the
future of Madigan's letter comes after
weeks of intense legislative scrutiny on Blagojevich's proposal, which
was first announced in a scathing State of the State speech in January.
But the Democratic governor
was put on the defensive from the outset as critics, many within his
own party, questioned whether giving him control of education was a
political move and if shifting the administrative duties complied with
the state's Constitution. That issue was the subject
of a legislative hearing earlier Wednesday, where Blagojevich's legal
counsel and a legislative ally tried to persuade lawmakers that the
Constitution did authorize lawmakers to make such administrative changes.
But authors of the 1970
rewrite of the Constitution – which created the independent board to
alleviate political pressure on education officials – said they never
envisioned the duties of the board and the superintendent being given
to someone else. "What are you if all
of your duties have been taken away from you?" said Betty Bergstrom,
a member of the convention's education committee who now runs a consulting
business in Madigan doesn't buy school proposal
BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND
LESLIE GRIFFY Sun-Times While declaring the initiative dead,
at least in its current form, Madigan offered a concession that would
allow Blagojevich to stock the board with a majority of new appointees.
It is now dominated by holdovers appointed by Gov. George Ryan. "The speaker believes the governor's
attempt to diminish the state board and create another bureaucracy would
be a violation of the state's constitution. That's not a good way to
go about making law," Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. Claiming Madigan's counterproposals
do not go far enough, the Blagojevich administration went into damage
control after learning of the speaker's position. "It's important to remember Speaker
Madigan is just one vote in this process," Blagojevich spokeswoman
Rebecca Rausch said. Earlier this year, Blagojevich implored
lawmakers to rid The dose of bad news Madigan delivered
to the governor wasn't the only body blow Blagojevich experienced at
the Capitol. His cost-cutting plans to close a state
prison in Downstate Vandalia, a mental health facility in Democrats on the committee threw darts
at Blagojevich, who wasn't at the hearing. Rep. Lovana Jones (D-Chicago),
warned the legislation approving the closures might be one vote short:
hers. She told prisons chief Roger Walker
that he wasn't the target of her wrath. Instead, she said, it was Blagojevich,
the infrequent occupant of the Statehouse's most prominent second-floor
office suite. "I know you don't make those decisions,"
she told In another important legislative development,
the House passed and sent to the Senate newly modified legislation designed
to blunt skyrocketing property tax bills in Education takeover
takes a hit
Madigan's
opposition came in the form of a letter, in which he stated the legislature
should not create a department of education under the governor's control
and relegate the state board to think tank status. It came
after a hearing in which delegates from the state's 1970 Constitutional
Convention testified the move went against their aim in writing it.
Madigan, himself a delegate to the convention, agreed. Madigan,
a powerful Chicago Democrat, instead suggested governors be given more
power in appointing members to the existing state education board. Blagojevich
spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said despite Madigan's opposition, the plan
is not dead. "This
is a democratic process," she said. "The governor has a lot
of bipartisan support." In the special
hearing scheduled by Madigan, delegates to the 1970 Constitutional Convention
said the governor's shifting of oversight of education violated what
they put in the state's constitution. "Definitely,
this is stripping the intent of the people of the state, the intent
of the delegates of the convention, of the structure that we felt at
that time and still should be the structure of education systems in
the state of Illinois," said Betty Howard Bergstrom, a constitutional
delegate and member of the original state education board. Blagojevich
and his legal team say the 1970 constitution requires only the existence
of the board and he's not violating it by changing the board's duties.
Under his plan, the board would become an education think tank while
his education department would take over daily responsibility for the
state's school systems. The plan's
sponsor, state Rep. Jay Hoffman, a Collinsville Democrat, said the current
education system isn't working. "We
believe it's very clear. We believe that the governor has the responsibility
to be the chief person looking out for education. We believe that it's
very clear that our bill is constitutional," Hoffman said. Governor getting heat on 2 fronts His borrowing, spending
chided; school bid backed By Ray Long and Mike
Dorning, Tribune staff reporters, May
7, 2004 SPRINGFIELD -- Gov.
Rod Blagojevich found himself waging wars on two fronts Thursday as
his administration struggled to defend his ambitious borrowing programs
and a band of rank-and-file Illinois House Democrats sought to bolster
his ailing education proposal. Appearing before a House
committee, Democratic Comptroller Dan Hynes and Republican Treasurer
Judy Baar Topinka warned the administration's heavy borrowing practices
threatened the state's fiscal stability. At the hearing, the
state's top two fiscal officers got into a rare public debate with Blagojevich
budget chief John Filan, who pointedly challenged opponents of the governor's
budget to come up with something better. Filan belittled critical
assessments of the administration as "absolute fiction" and
"misleading and factually wrong." The exchange unfolded
as part of an elaborately orchestrated drubbing of the administration
in a committee overseen by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago),
who has been challenging Blagojevich on a number of fronts. On Wednesday, Madigan
declared his opposition to Blagojevich's plan to gut the independent
State Board of Education and assume responsibility himself for the state's
education bureaucracy. Blagojevich says the
school proposal would eliminate red tape, redirect more school spending
into classrooms and increase accountability. Madigan said it was inefficient
and unconstitutional, and suggested the governor's goals would be better
served by some minor tinkering with the terms of board members to give
Blagojevich more opportunity to appoint his own people to the nine-member
body. In the U.S. Capitol,
where Blagojevich spent Thursday lobbying members of Congress on various
issues, the governor dismissed Madigan's analysis of the education plan
as "totally wrong" and called the speaker's suggestions "a
half measure dressed up as a solution." "What the speaker
is suggesting is a non-starter," Blagojevich said. "It's not
reform." Back in "From my personal
standpoint, it's my belief the speaker's proposal does not meet the
criteria providing significant reform of the way education is governed
in Illinois," said Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville), a close friend
of Blagojevich who helped him craft the education takeover plan. Rep. Calvin Giles (D-Chicago),
who chairs the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, said
politicians have frequently suggested plans to improve the state's oversight
of schools but that the governor's is the first he had seen in more
than a decade that achieves real reform. "We're frustrated
with the way things are ran," Giles said. "Our children are
not being educated throughout the state of Blagojevich said in
"When I landed
here in An aide to the speaker
said the members who stood up at the news conference are "entitled
to an opinion," but reiterated that Madigan thinks the Blagojevich
plan would be illegal. At the hearing on Blagojevich's
budget, Hynes called the growing state debt "increasingly problematic."
He warned the administration should have slowed spending this fiscal
year while refinancing bonds, pushing major debt repayments into future
years and mortgaging the Instead, Hynes said,
the administration raised spending on day-to-day operations of government
by $1 billion. "It's pushing off
debt, and it's not eliminating the budget deficit," Hynes said. In an angry response,
Filan questioned whether education and health-care programs should have
gone unfunded or taxes should have been raised. "If you have a
solution, put it on the table," Filan said. "If you don't
have a solution, then stick with the responsibilities that you have." Topinka chided Filan
and likened his methodology to "either you do it my way or shut
up." Topinka also railed
against the administration's "dangerous borrowing and binging practices"
that will end up being paid by "our children, grandchildren and
children yet to be conceived." Blagojevich's budget
proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 also calls for borrowing
billions of dollars for road and school construction but has come under
fire because his plan provides no new money to pay off the bonds. Group supports education proposal By Scott Miller, Pantagraph,
Just one day after House
Speaker Michael Madigan told lawmakers he could not support Blagojevich's
education overhaul, 27 House Democrats held a press conference to advocate
eliminating the independent agency. They say giving the governor more
control is the only way to ensure governmental accountability to the
education system. Meanwhile, some say
the rift could put minority Republicans in a better negotiating position
as the legislative session heads toward adjournment later this month. "As time goes on
and with what appears to be some division within the Democratic Party
on some of these ideas, I think it does put us in more of a prominent
position than you would normally be in the minority down here,"
said state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington. Brady said he would
like a special session of the Legislature devoted entirely to education,
an idea that has floated around. In a letter to lawmakers
Wednesday, Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, rejected the idea of replacing
the state board with a Department of Education directly under the governor's
control, saying the move is unconstitutional. Instead, he wants the
governor to appoint five members to the current nine-member board. "I think it's a
fundamental disagreement on public policy," said state Rep. Jay
Hoffman, D-Collinsville, who led Thursday's charge in support of the
governor's plan. "The proposal actually would empower us as legislators
to oversee the education process where we don't now." Some lawmakers, however,
still have questions on how Blagojevich's education plan would really
affect schools. Blagojevich has criticized
the state board as being an inefficient bureaucracy that is not accountable
to taxpayers. In addition, the governor says the board's administrative
costs strip money from schools, and the system adds mounds of paperwork
that restrict the ability to teach. Madigan's declaration
could kill the governor's chances to bring education under his wing,
however. The speaker controls
the legislative agenda in the House and his influence could garner enough
votes to kill the proposal if it does reach debate. "I'm disappointed
that Speaker Madigan has taken a personal position opposing the education
reform plan that I have initiated. I am, however, very confidant that
we're going to be successful," Blagojevich said at a press conference
Thursday in 27 Democrats support education reform By Brian Wallheimer,
SPRINGFIELD, "We need a change,
and it's clearly evident," said state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville.
"We want real accountability, we want real reform and we believe
that starts with a Department of Education." Blagojevich unveiled
his plan to transfer power over educational matters from the State Board
of Education to a Cabinet-level department in January, calling the board
inefficient and a "Soviet-style bureaucracy." On Wednesday, Madigan,
D-Chicago, sent a letter to legislators saying he thinks the governor's
plan doesn't work under the state constitution, that it would result
in lengthy litigation and that it would create two bureaucracies. He
suggested giving incoming governors, including Blagojevich, the authority
to appoint five of the state board's nine members and keeping the hiring
of the state superintendent under the board's control. Blagojevich supporters
said Thursday that Madigan's plan didn't go far enough and dismissed
the idea that the plan is unconstitutional. "I personally believe
that changing five members of a nine-member board, which is the speaker's
proposal, doesn't go far enough. We're not going to leave here with
half-measures," said Hoffman, who is a close friend and political
ally of Blagojevich. "I disagree wholeheartedly that the Department
of Education is unconstitutional." Some said Madigan's
plan would not give the governor or the Legislature enough accountability.
"This proposal
that the governor has proposed will bring about true reform," said
state Rep. Calvin Giles, D-Chicago, chairman of the House Elementary
and Secondary Education Committee. "Many proposals we have heard
have not gone far enough." Madigan's disapproval
puts a cloud over Blagojevich's proposal since the speaker controls
which bills are called in the House. But proponents of the
governor's plan aren't ready to call it quits. They say they want to
work out a deal with Madigan and hope to persuade him to rethink his
plan. Madigan's spokesman,
Steve Brown, said the speaker was willing to discuss ideas for changing
education in the state but said that forming a Department of Education
would take an amendment to the constitution. =========================================================================== NATIONAL Adam Leech, The Rockingham
News PLAISTOW - State budget
cuts will reduce the number of categories that students are tested in
when taking standardized tests to reading and math only. Third-, sixth- and 10th-graders
will no longer be tested in writing, science and social science in the
New Hampshire Educational Improvement and Assessment Program (NHEIAP)
because there is not enough money to administer the tests. Lawmakers
required the Department of Education to use federal money from the No
Child Left Behind program for this year’s round of tests. When funds
fell short, tests were dropped. Tim Kurtz, the Department
of Education’s director of assessment, said the change meets the minimum
standards that still satisfy the No Child Left Behind requirements.
"What it means
is we have less information on how the kids are doing," said Keith
Pfeifer, director of the secondary curriculum in the The Timberlane School
District plans to replace assessments for the excluded categories with
a writing sample that is already required for third through eighth grades,
and the Terra Nova test, which is taken in fifth-, seventh- and eighth-grades
and includes reading, math, science and social science. Pfeifer said
the district will rely more on teacher assessments as well. The Sanborn Regional
School District has also administered writing samples, according to
Sanborn Superintendent James Weiss, but he said there is no way of comparing
results to other schools and identifying where improvements are needed.
He said the science and social science curriculums will now rely on
teacher assessments to determine when changes are needed. State law says tests
must include, but are not limited to, reading, language arts, science,
history and geography. The state Department of Education worked with
the Legislature and federal officials to be sure the tests met No Child
Left Behind requirements and cost no more than the allotted money. Weiss said the state
set a dollar amount it knew could not be met, and when No Child Left
Behind funding fell short, the state was justified in saying there was
not enough money. "For the state
to back away because they did not include funding for it is a travesty,"
said Weiss. "And that sends a horrible message that science, social
science and writing are not important." The third-grade NHEIAP
tests are not affected because they include math and reading only. Testing will now take
place over the course of one week instead of two. In October 2005, the
NHEIAP tests will be replaced by a similar test that will also be taken
in Kurtz said by collaborating
with two other states, it will give each school a better idea of its
students’ development. The No Child Left Behind
act will require the new test be given in third through eighth grades.
The NHEIAP tests will continue to be given at the high school level,
but there is discussion about the three states possibly collaborating
on a high school test as well, according to Kurtz. No Child Left Behind
will also require science be included on the tests in 2007-2008 school
year. Writing prompts will
be administered in fifth through eighth grades in the new test, and
there will be a larger variety of math problems. A pilot of the test
is planned to be given throughout the state this fall. The Associated Press
contributed to this report. The punishing truth about No Child Left Behind William Raspberry, Syndicated
columnist, 5/4/04 WASHINGTON — It is an
idea that seems so right you wonder how any decent-minded legislator
could oppose it. And so, at the end of 2001, both houses of Congress
overwhelmingly approved the president's education program with the fetching
moniker of No Child Left Behind. Schools would no longer
be able to mask the miseducation of certain minorities by reporting
averages and aggregates. They'd have to make sure every group — virtually
every child — was making good academic progress, or there would be penalties
to pay. Perfect — unless you
run an indifferent school district with incompetent administrators and
unprepared teachers fearing to be found out. And that may be the
fatal flaw with NCLB: its underlying assumption that school failure
is willful, and that if you put the fear of God in the people who run
the schools, they'll do their jobs a lot better. A handful might. But
for most educators, the penalties make about as much sense as yelling
at me for using the wrong fork at high tea with the queen of And though Secretary
of Education Rod Paige has modified some of its provisions, NCLB still
relies on punishment. Failure to meet the mandated goals for a second
straight year gives all children in the failing school the right to
transfer to another public school in the same district — with the district
paying at least part of the transportation cost. A third year's failure
entitles children to supplemental services such as tutorial help. And
a fifth year could result in takeover — by private companies, charter
schools or the state. But what constitutes
failure? If any subgroup of the school population — racial minorities,
limited-English speakers, the cognitively disabled — fails to meet the
mechanically prescribed "adequate yearly progress" standards,
the whole school is deemed to have failed. And it's no good suggesting
that the slow learners stay home on test day. If fewer than 95 percent
of the children are tested, that's failure, too, and the same penalties
apply. How tough is it to meet
the standards? The National Education
Association's Joel Packer, who has been lobbying Congress and the Department
of Education to modify the legislation, says a "The problem is
that there are 37 criteria that have to be met for 'adequate yearly
progress,' " Packer explains. "If a school meets 36 of the
37, it's deemed as much a failure as the school that got zero of the
37. And even if students are growing academically, they may not be growing
at a fast enough pace to avoid failure. Say the goal is the 65th percentile
in English, and you bring a group of kids up from the 35th to the 60th,
you've still failed." And sometimes the more
improvement you make this year, the smaller the increment of improvement
you'll be able to show next year. A desk jockey can increase his stamina
by a much larger factor than can, say, a professional marathoner. There are other objections
— aside from the fact that NCLB turns out to be an incredibly intrusive
piece of legislation. It looks only at reading and math performance
on a single day. It gives a school no credit for superlative performance
in some areas, but full penalty of missing the mark in any area. Because
it measures cohort against cohort — this year's third grade against
last year's — it doesn't even tell you whether any particular child
is doing better. But its main shortcoming
as far as I can see is that it overlooks what I believe the problem
to be: Many children aren't doing as well as they should because they
get less help than they should from home. Shouldn't we spend at
least a part of our resources and energy helping those parents learn
how to do their jobs better? Then maybe we could save the threats of
punishment for those who know what to do, but refuse to try. Poor kids thrive in charter school An exhausting schedule,
tough classes and relentless cheerleading bear fruit at By Karen Brandon, Special
to the Tribune, May 4, 2004 His parents, once migrant
workers, had toiled in the fields from such an early age that his father
never set foot in an elementary school and his mother stayed only through
4th grade. His older brother and sister graduated from high school,
but life--jobs, marriages, babies--interfered with their going to college. Friends of the family,
it seemed, never managed to get ahead either, no matter what their talents. "Some of my sister's
friends were really smart," Lopez recalled, "and still they
never got anything accomplished." Now the soft-spoken
17-year-old, who manages to study and sleep despite the deafening squeal
of the trolley just beyond his bedroom window, is poised to scale the
barrier that once seemed insurmountable. Lopez has been accepted at
one of the world's best universities, Stanford. What changed Lopez's
thinking from "I'll never get to college" to "When I
go to college" was the This spring's high-stakes
college admission season for the school's first graduating class has
given Preuss powerful evidence that it is achieving its ambition. Lopez,
one of many students who commuted two hours each way from his home to
attend the school, is only one example. About two-thirds of
the first graduating class gained admission to the Cecil Lytle, the academic
who was the driving force behind the creation of Preuss, fears that
as preliminary word of the school's success spreads, it may elicit "a
`Stand and Deliver' effect." He was referring to the movie about
math teacher Jaime Escalante and his "It will be interesting
to see the community reaction," said Lytle, an African-American
who grew up in Preuss (rhymes with
choice) promises its 750 students the kind of education that will allow
them to succeed in a college admissions process that makes no concessions
for race or ethnicity. It also promises to be an example for schools
across the state and country struggling to improve the education of
poor, minority students. Demographic trends make
the mission especially crucial. This year, for the first time, as many
Latinos and African-Americans as whites will graduate from At the same time, Any controversy over
the school's success would be in keeping with its tortuous beginnings.
In 1995, the 10-campus The rejection exacerbated
the Essentially shamed into
action, the university revised its proposal, won approval, and by 1998
brought the first group of 7th-graders, selected by lottery, to campus.
Each year, another grade was added. One word characterizes
Preuss: more. The school year is nearly a month longer. The school day
is an hour longer. Classes are intense, scheduled in every-other-day
blocks that run for 1 hour, 42 minutes, rather than the typical 55 minutes.
Some students return for Saturday-morning sessions. One senior, David Iaea,
who is headed to Another senior, Eden
Hagos, who will attend the "They tell me,
`I would never go to school there. You'd never have a life,'" she
said. More is expected of
virtually everyone connected with Preuss. Parents must "volunteer"
at the school 15 hours per year. School starts late on Fridays so teachers
may hold two-hour development sessions before classes begin. Teachers'
contracts are up for renewal annually. The idea of college
is everywhere at the school, which is tucked away in a new $14 million
facility on the Discussion of what it
takes to get to college is a daily ritual that extends to minutiae such
as what type of snack to bring while taking the SAT. In a 6th-grade classroom,
posters listing the students' goals cover the walls. Going to college
is on each list, along with other ambitions: traveling the world, becoming
rich, trying to protect the rain forests of "The idea that
college is important is at the forefront of everything we do,"
said Kelly Kovacic, a In the pursuit of college,
no detail is too small. Counselor Carol Sobek, for instance, prowls
the campus to make sure students meet application deadlines, offering
reminders, stamps and "I'm going to the post office at 2!" "I don't leave
anything to chance," she said. The school's expectations
are bearing fruit. Despite long commutes for many, student attendance
is at 98 percent. All of Preuss' high school students take the SAT,
compared with about half of all high school students in But other results suggest
how difficult the mission is. Eighteen students, nearly half of the
school's inaugural group of 42, left for various reasons: a family relocation,
a chance to play on a better sports team, the long commute, a teen pregnancy. Teacher turnover is
high; just four of the school's founding teachers remain. Moreover, Then there is the matter
of paying for college for the Preuss graduates. Lytle, a music professor,
recently held a concert to raise money for that cause. Educators say the school's
most daunting test lies ahead: Can Preuss export its tools for success
and prove they can work outside a university environment? "Frankly, it's
relatively easy for a university, with its intellectual capital and
resources, to create an effective school," said Timothy Knowles,
executive director of the Doris Alvarez, who was
a national principal of the year at a San Diegohigh school with students
from low-income families before being recruited to be principal at Preuss,
is confident that many measures that have worked at her school can be
replicated. For instance, she said,
the school's extended year could be used elsewhere, in lieu of remedial
summer-school programs that she believes are less effective. "We can take this
show on the road," Alvarez said. Others hope so. "We perceive the
public schools to be in such jeopardy and in such need of assistance
that we can no longer stand idly by," said Hugh Mehan, director
of the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching
Excellence, the campus research organization evaluating Preuss. "The specter on
the horizon is increasing moves to privatize schooling through voucher
programs and the rest. Many of us worry that if we don't shore up public
schools or shore up shining examples, the move to privatize schools
will further stratify education." Whether Preuss succeeds
in its mission will be under scrutiny for years to come. A new map hanging
in the school office might well be the measure of Preuss' success. Now
bare, the map will soon be covered with pins marking the collegiate
destinations of Preuss graduates. Fewer educators want to be superintendents By Cindy Kranz, While school superintendents
are retiring in record numbers, school boards locally and across the
country are finding that the pool of applicants to fill those posts
has shrunk, and those who do apply often are less qualified. The pressure and demands
of the job, now ramped up by the accountability requirements of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act, mean fewer educators want the top
post. That is making it tougher for school districts to find an applicant
who's just the "right fit" for this crucial position. Princeton City Schools,
a high-profile Tristate district, received only 30 applications to replace
retiring Superintendent Don Darby. Twenty years ago, there might have
been twice as many, said Al Meloy, a search consultant with the Ohio
School Boards Association. Last year, Wyoming Schools
received only 29 applications for superintendent. The low number is
surprising, considering that the small, elite district has some of the
highest proficiency test scores in the state. Like principals, superintendents
are in short supply. In fact, at least 30 percent of the superintendent
jobs in Sycamore Community Schools
Superintendent Karen Mantia in 2001 did her doctorate on the topic of
the shrinking pool of superintendent applicants. "It is frightening
the lack of eligible or interested people looking to that position,"
she said. "The number of superintendents that can retire, or already
have retired, is staggering. Baby boomers are leaving with no replacements.
The shortage is here and only to get worse." High stress, low rewards
So why don't more people
want to be a superintendent? "The complexity
and time demands, the conditions of the work itself cause some talented
people not to enter the profession," Mantia said. "For instance,
stress, low pay, increased demands from unfunded mandates, higher student
performance requirements, greater public expectations, board turnover,
diminishing prestige, fear of poor superintendent/board relationships,
and inadequate school funding are just a few of the issues that may
be discouraging viable candidates from entering the field." In 1993, when the Winton
Woods City Schools hired Thomas Richey as superintendent, the board
sorted through 28 applications. When Camille Nasbe was hired in 2002,
there were three fewer. The top five in the pool were superbly qualified,
said board President John Pennycuff. "What was surprising
in our search was the absence of truly local people. Ten years ago,
we had local people applying," he said. "Based on my experience
and anecdotes from board members in other districts, the pools are getting
smaller, not only for superintendents but for high school principals.
Those are killer jobs, absolute killer jobs, so there are fewer and
fewer people who want them." Changing expectations
Along with changing
laws, superintendents and principals must deal with the changing expectations
of parents. "They demand their
rights for their kids," Pennycuff said. "Parents are militant,
as opposed to assuming that the teacher or principal may be correct
in some dispute with the child over grades or how much playing time
he has on the basketball team. "Parents come to
board meetings, calling everybody racist because their child got a D
instead of an A. The bus doesn't stop in front of their house. It stops
two doors down." All of that and more
sums up why superintendents and principals are said to carry a roll
of Tums in each pocket, he said. Not all districts have
experienced a decline in applicants or quality. Finneytown's recent
search to replace retiring Sam Martin yielded 36 candidates. More than
20 applied when Martin was hired four years ago. "What did hit us
this time is that it seemed like, from top to bottom, the overall quality
of applicants was better this time than last time," said board
member Gary Metzger. " Metzger understands
why the job takes its toll on superintendents. Along with other factors,
he said, it doesn't help that the current school funding system in "The levy campaigns
are very strenuous and very stressful for administrators and the boards
of education," he said. "Superintendents are the point person
for those campaigns. They are the lightning rod for the community."
Increased pressure Meanwhile, the unfunded
mandates of No Child Left Behind have increased the pressure of accountability
for superintendents. Board members and superintendents
alike say districts are being judged by proficiency test results and
Local Report Cards, which may not accurately reflect what's happening
in their districts. And the only name that appears on that Local Report
Card is the superintendent's. "There will be
some good superintendents that are going to be sacrificed because the
boards won't be able to stand the heat," said Winton Woods' Pennycuff.
Tom Durbin at "If my children
were still at home, I don't think I'd even consider a superintendent's
position," he said. As superintendent of
the small "You also feel
the pressure of doing well on the state of Pressures and problems
aside, Durbin is right where he wants to be. "I like what I
am doing in my role as a superintendent. I learn something new every
day and I hope that somehow I am making a difference in the life of
a child." Problem nationwide Nationwide, there's
been a huge decline in educators applying for superintendent and principal
jobs, said Michael Jazzar, an assistant professor at the There are no empirical
studies, he said, but conventional wisdom in following these kinds of
vacancies reveals there might be 20 to 30 applicants for a huge district
when typically 10 or 15 years ago there might have been more than 100.
"Slim supply means
little choice in appointment. What's so important is the fit, the academics,
the personality, the type of leadership style. When you have a limited
pool, you get whatever is available," he said. Jazzar has some theories
about the shortage. "At one time, when
one went into education and educational leadership, it was to do very
special things for children, for students. Today the positions are so
political, there's hardly any direct contact with children. "There are boards
of education that micromanage to the point of candidates not being interested
in those districts. That micromanaging is very harmful. It sends incorrect
messages throughout the district and community in terms of educational,
instructional and curricular leadership," Jazzar said. In her research, Mantia
learned that salary is another reason educators steer clear of the top
job. The salary gap between administrators and teachers is closing,
and in some cases a teacher may make more than a superintendent on a
per diem basis. "For the headache
of being a superintendent, some folks choose not to take the job because
the pay for a year's work is not worth it when compared to lower level
positions in administration or in teaching," Mantia said. Drafting retirees Many superintendents
are retiring and coming back in another district to fill the void. At the end of the last
school year, Waple retired as superintendent
of "The thing that's
changed is all the federal requirements that have come down through
No Child Left Behind, state proficiency tests and extreme demand on
classroom time," Waple said. Those demands, he said,
are taking away from teaching problem-solving and critical thinking.
Creative teaching is diminished by a regimen aligned to state content
standards. Waple has signed on
for another year while the school board searches for a permanent superintendent.
He agreed to return if the board hired an assistant superintendent.
"That's what they
heard from many candidates, why they didn't get an exceptionally strong
pool of candidates. The pool of candidates was kind of weak here because
of lack of central office help." The board is completing
a search for an assistant superintendent. Some educators don't
seek the top job because they don't like the politics and public criticism
that superintendents sometimes have to endure. And a marriage between
a school board and a superintendent can end in a messy divorce. "Education is about
people," said Meloy, a former school superintendent. "Every
decision we make touches someone's life personally. When that happens,
and you're in the key leadership position, those political winds can
shift hourly. It becomes a high risk job." On the flip side, he
said, there are still those who have a desire to lead, who bring some
extraordinary skills to school districts and believe they can make a
difference. "They are not driven
by the downside of the job, but by the potential of the job," Meloy
said. "There are still those quality people out there." Superintendent pay •Average superintendent
salary nationally: $126,268 •Superintendents in
districts of 25,000 or more students: $170,024 •Superintendents in
districts of 10,000 - 24,999: $138,537 •Superintendents in
districts of 2,500 - 9,999: $121,853 •Superintendents in
districts of 300 - 2,499: $98,302 Source: Educational
Research Service Judge says Schoolhouse Beat, 5/4/04 A judge has ruled that
Study: Obese kids more prone to bully, be bullied Obese kids rate quality
of life as low as cancer patients AP, CHICAGO, Illinois --
Overweight adolescents are more likely than normal-weight children to
be victims of bullying, or bullies themselves, a study found, bolstering
evidence that being fat endangers emotional as well as physical health. The results in a study
of 5,749 Canadian youngsters echo data from British research and follow
a U.S. study published last year in which obese children rated their
quality of life as low as young cancer patients' because of teasing
and weight-related health problems. While not surprising
given the stigma of being overweight, the new findings underscore the
importance of enlisting teachers and schools in the fight to prevent
and treat obesity in children, said lead author Ian Janssen, an obesity
researcher at "Anybody's who's
ever been on a playground would know" that overweight children
are among those who get picked on, Janssen said, adding that in some
cases, that may lead the youngsters to become bullies themselves. The study appears in
the May edition of Pediatrics, released Monday. Janssen said obesity
rates in Canadian children tripled from the 1980s to 1990s and show
no signs of slowing down, similar to rising rates in other developed
nations and in the United States, where 15 percent of school-age youngsters
are obese and increasingly plagued by related health problems. Nearly
one-third of American children are overweight. Social isolation The toll on emotional
health is just as worrisome, the researchers said. "The social and
psychological ramifications induced by the bullying-victimization process
may hinder the social development of overweight and obese youth, because
adolescents are extremely reliant on peers for social support, identity
and self-esteem," the researchers said. Their data is based
on a national survey of Canadian youngsters, ages 11 to 16, conducted
in 2002. Among normal-weight
youngsters, almost 11 percent said they were victims of bullying, compared
with 14 percent of overweight youngsters and nearly 19 percent of obese
youngsters. About 8 percent of normal-weight
children said they were perpetrators, compared with 11 percent of overweight
youngsters and 9 percent of the obese children. Obese boys and girls
were more than two times more likely than normal-weight youngsters to
be victims of "relational" bullying -- being intentionally
left out of social activities. Obese girls were about twice as likely
to be physically bullied on a weekly basis than normal-weight girls;
among obese boys the risk was slightly lower but still substantially
higher than for normal-weight boys. Obese girls were more
than five times more likely than normal-weight girls to physically bully
other youngsters at least once weekly. Among boys the risk of being
physically aggressive was only slightly increased, but they were more
than twice as likely to make fun of others and spread lies and rumors
than normal-weight boys. Rimm said reducing bullying
could help youngsters overcome their weight problems. Bullying perpetuates
those problems because it isolates them, and "the only thing left
for overweight kids is food and television," she said. Teachers using bogus advanced degrees to score raises BY LOUISE ATLANTA -- A middle-school
math teacher in While it sounds prestigious,
Saint Regis is considered a diploma mill, an institution that sells
college degrees for little or no coursework. In one of the biggest
scandals of its kind, 11 Around the country,
the problem of diploma-mill degrees may be getting worse, since the
Internet has made it easier for such businesses to operate and the federal
No Child Left Behind Act has put a higher premium on advanced degrees
for teachers. ''This is an area of
increasing concern on the federal level,'' said John Barth, director
of postsecondary accreditation for the U.S. Education Department. Officials said the percentage
of educators passing off bogus degrees is probably small, but hard to
measure because not all schools diligently check credentials. John Bear, a former
consultant to an FBI task force on diploma mills during the 1980s, estimated
the industry takes in more than $300 million a year, and it is growing. Diploma mills have become
increasingly savvy at posing as legitimate schools, creating impressive
Web sites and providing fake transcripts for their ''alumni.'' Teachers are in one
of the few fields where salary is explicitly tied to education level.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act, most teachers have until the 2005-06
school year to meet federal standards for being ''highly qualified,''
which can include holding an advanced degree in the subject they teach. ''If you're in a smaller
town and not near a major university, then you try to find options,
and it doesn't surprise me that people try to find ways for an easier
way out,'' said Terry Schwartzbeck, policy analyst for the American
Association of School Administrators. Using a bogus degree
to get a job or promotion is illegal only in Moms can't bring cookies to schools Ofelia Madrid, The NORTHEAST VALLEY - The
days of passing out home-baked cupcakes and brownies in the classroom
are over. That's the message Kathy
Glindmeier, director of food services for the "Classroom parties
are going to have to be reworked," Glindmeier said. Glindmeier wants to
be sure that parents know Glindmeier has been
going to parent-teacher meetings throughout the Glindmeier is recommending
that parent groups dish out $300 for a food handler's card if they plan
to sell or distribute food such as packaged food heated in a microwave,
popcorn and cookies. Those passing out food must use non-latex gloves
and an apron. For some events, parent
groups may want to hire a licensed caterer. Other school districts
also are following the county rules. Cathy Getz, nutrition
director for "The parent groups
use prepackaged foods," Getz said. In the 17 years Glindmeier
has worked for the "That's because
we try to do everything we're supposed to do," she said, adding
that after the Glindmeier also told
parents that an alternative is to purchase the food directly from the
district to guarantee food safety. There's also a potential savings
for parent groups and student clubs because they'll be buying the food
at district cost. By Lynn Olson, Education
Week, After a rapid rise,
test scores for 11-year-olds have hit a plateau. One of the national
teachers’ unions has threatened to boycott exams. And critics charge
that high-stakes accountability has narrowed the curriculum. Sound familiar? Perhaps.
But the country where all that is occurring is As Tony Blair’s Labor
government tries to reinvigorate that agenda and restore its momentum,
the lessons learned here may prove a harbinger for the System Centralizes Until the 1980s, the
United Kingdom—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—had one
of the most decentralized education systems in the world, according
to Harry Torrance, a professor of education at Manchester Metropolitan
University. Local education authorities
were responsible for providing education in their communities, but there
were no generally agreed-upon curriculum goals nor any general system
of assessment for primary schools. At the secondary level, national
school-leaving exams taken at ages 16 and 18 determined which students
qualified for further education or employment, but the tests were not
primarily used to judge schools. All that changed when
the Conservative government crafted the Education Reform Act of 1988,
which mandates a national curriculum for England, Wales, and Northern
Ireland, as well as national- curriculum tests at ages 7, 11, and 14.
( The law also permitted
schools in As envisioned by then-Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher, the changes would combine much greater control
from the central government with the use of market forces to improve
schools by permitting parents to choose among schools, in part on the
basis of test results. The national government
released the first set of results in 1992, and the information appeared
in newspapers in the form of school rankings, or "league tables."
That same year, the government also set up the Office for Standards
in Education, or OFSTED, which regularly inspects schools and produces
high-stakes reports on their performance that are published in print
and online. When the Labor government
came to power in 1997, it built on that framework, pursuing a strategy
that embraces both pressure and support for individual schools. Most
notably, the government has provided about 5 percent real growth in
education spending, over and above the rate of inflation, every year
since. In return, it has demanded results: national achievement targets
that help determine goals for individual schools and the local education
authorities, or LEAs. "No government
would spend this much money without demanding something in return,"
observed Michael Barber, the head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit,
which was formed in 2001 to help ensure that the government meets its
targeted outcomes in education and other public services. Mr. Barber,
who formerly directed the standards and effectiveness unit in the Department
for Education and Skills, was one of the principal architects of Prime
Minister Blair’s education strategy. "The accountability
system," Mr. Barber said, "is the way we prove, collectively,
to the public that the system is improving." In a heady political
moment, the government pledged that 80 percent of 11-year-olds would
pass national English tests by 2002—achieving a "level 4"
or higher on the exams—and that 75 percent would pass national math
exams. The government also
launched national literacy and numeracy strategies for primary schools
that included detailed teaching programs for ages Michael Fullan, dean
emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the Last year, for the first
time, the government produced performance tables for every primary and
secondary school in "This is a government
committed to education, and they sometimes drive you up the wall,"
said Alan Steer, the head teacher of the 1,360-student ‘Moment of Truth’ From 1997 to 2000, those
efforts appeared to be working. In 2000, 75 percent of 11-year-olds
reached the expected level 4 in English, up from just 57 percent in
1996, before Mr. Blair took office. In mathematics, the figure jumped
from 54 percent to 73 percent. Moreover, some of "So we got something
quite rare," said Mr. Barber, "which is, across a whole system,
to get rising average standards and a narrowing of the [achievement]
gap." But since 2000, progress
for 11-year-olds has hit a standstill, although test scores for 14-year-olds
have continued a slow, steady drift upward. Trying to figure out
the reasons for that plateau, and how to move off it, has become the
driving force behind the government’s recent education initiatives. "I would make no
apology for what Michael et al. did in 1997," said David Hopkins,
a university academic who succeeded Mr. Barber as head of the standards
and effectiveness unit at the national education department. "For
the first time in 50 years, [primary] standards increased." In 1998, Mr. Hopkins
noted, only two local education authorities had at least 75 percent
of 11-year-olds at level 4 in English; by 2003, a majority did. "If
there’s any justification for doing what Michael Barber and Tony Blair
did, it’s that, in my mind," he said. "It has to be a stunning
achievement." "But," added
the amiable professor, who has spent 25 years working on school improvement
issues, "and this is a big but, that was only the first stage in
a long-term, large-scale reform. And one of the reasons why we’ve stalled
is that more of the same will not work." Few deny that the government’s
efforts to date have had an impact. Although the strategies for primary
school have been criticized by some as too prescriptive and centralized,
particularly in their initial version, most admit that standards and
teaching in the early grades have improved. "Overall, I think
it dragged up the bottom layer," said Susan Scarsbrook, the head
teacher of But it’s harder to gauge
the effects on achievement. Critics point out that much of the increase
in English and math scores at age 11 occurred before the introduction
of the literacy strategy in 1998 and the numeracy strategy in 1999.
Moreover, the sharpest gains have been in science, where the government
had no intervention plan. Some studies also suggest that the gains in
literacy, in particular, have been overstated. "When you ask for
corroborating evidence for rising standards, you see something sort
of like the A government-commissioned
report that examined the comparability of national tests between 1996
and 2001 also questioned the extent of the improvements in reading,
based on giving comparable groups of children in For his part, Mr. Barber
points to the fact that English 10-year-olds scored third in a 35-nation
study of reading achievement released last year as proof that the gains
are real. Far more contentious
than the literacy and numeracy strategies has been the impact of testing,
school league tables, and performance targets. "There’s a big
debate over here about the league tables, which were introduced in the
early 1990s, and I’m quite ambivalent about that," acknowledged
Mr. Steer of Seven Kings secondary school. "It’s terribly crude,
and sometimes it’s quite unfair," he said, noting that the raw
scores compare schools with vastly different student populations and
circumstances. "The positive side
is, it was a moment of truth," he added. "It forced schools
to raise the profile on achievement and to contemplate what their basic
function was, which is helping children learn and achieve, in a way
they’d never done before." When Mr. Steer began
as a head teacher in the 1980s, he recalled, "I couldn’t get hold
of comparative data on my school’s performance with others’. It wasn’t
something that you did. It was considered an unprofessional action." But national tests,
tables, and targets also have had some unintended, negative consequences.
In particular, critics charge, they have encouraged schools to focus
their efforts on those students just below the bar—a level 4 at age
11, and a grade of C on the General Certificate of Secondary Education
exams at age 16. In a recent study of
more than a dozen local education authorities and 50 schools, for example,
researchers at Cambridge University found that 82 percent of head teachers
acknowledged the regular use of "practice" tests in classes
for students at age 11. And 74 percent provided "booster"
classes to help children at or near the bar. A majority also concentrated
their more experienced teachers in classes for 11-year-olds and reduced
the scope of the curriculum to focus on what’s tested. "In the primary
schools, in particular, there’s been a very definite narrowing of the
curriculum," said John M. Gray, a professor of education at In his most recent annual
report to Parliament, David Bell, Her Majesty’s chief school inspector,
said that the gap in standards and quality between English, math, and
science and other subjects had widened. "We cannot afford, and
our children do not deserve, a two-tier curriculum," he said. Attempted Boycott Such concerns, and the
perceived stress on pupils, have led to growing pressure on the government
to abolish national tests for 7-year-olds and end the publication of
league tables based on raw results. The National Union of
Teachers, the biggest of A survey of 30,500 teachers,
conducted for the union, found more than eight in 10 believed that the
tests were stressful to children, and more than half agreed the tests
undermined professional judgment. While 90 percent said the tests diminished
students’ access to a balanced curriculum, only 5 percent agreed that
the tests raised standards. The vast majority also agreed that the national-curriculum
tests placed an additional workload on teachers. "I think it’s fair
to say that it was a setback," John Bangs, an assistant secretary
of the union, said of the failed boycott. "On the positive side,
the effect was that we put testing and assessment bang in the center
of the agenda again." At its annual conference
last month, union delegates voted overwhelmingly to continue campaigning
against national tests for 7-year-olds, as well as teacher profiles
for even younger students. Meanwhile, the two unions representing head
teachers, the equivalent of U.S. principals—the Secondary Heads Association
and the National Association of Head Teachers—also are prodding the
government to stop publishing performance tables based on test results,
and to focus more on school self-evaluation and assessments by teachers.
National targets, in
particular, have come under heavy fire as setting unrealistic expectations
that are too centrally driven. In some cases, local education authorities,
under pressure to meet government benchmarks, drove individual schools
to revise their school targets upward, regardless of the needs of their
students. "My overall view
of targets is they’ve been counterproductive," said Harvey Goldstein,
a professor of education at the In 2002, the government
failed to hit its targets for 11-year-olds. A year ago, in a major concession,
officials announced they still hoped to have 85 percent of 11-year-olds
achieve a level 4 or better in English and math "as soon as possible,"
preferably by 2006. But they agreed to change the local target-setting
procedure, accepting that "schools must be able to set targets
that they own and believe in." Starting this school
year, primary schools set their own targets, based on the performance
of individual children, with local targets set afterward. And although
local authorities can cajole schools to raise their sights, the ultimate
responsibility for setting targets will rest with the schools. At the same time, the
government announced it would invite about one-fourth of the LEAs to
take part in a pilot effort that would give greater emphasis to teacher-crafted
assessment and less emphasis to national-curriculum tests for 7-year-olds.
The government’s strategy for ages 11 to 14 also includes a heavy emphasis
on "assessment for learning," or improving teachers’ use of
classroom assessments, questioning, and marking to inform and adjust
what they do day to day. Open to Refinements Some observers hope
that, in the long term, national targets and tables will wither away.
As evidence, they point to "So, in a sense,
it’s sort of crumbling at the edges," said Wynne Harlen. A professor
of education at the For his part, Charles
Clarke, the secretary of state for education and skills—who sits at
the top of the education hierarchy in Moreover, the government
recently signaled that it is interested in what Mr. Barber calls a "sharper,
clearer, less burdensome, and more precise" accountability framework. The most detailed description
of what that framework might look like came in a Jan. 8 speech by David
Miliband, the minister of state for school standards. "I believe parents
have a right to information about the performance of individual schools,
in a form which allows them readily to make comparisons with other schools,"
said the Labor MP. "We cannot return to a world where ministers,
officials, and probably teachers know the performance of schools, but
the public do not." Nonetheless, he proposed
a greater emphasis on school self-evaluation; sharper, more focused
OFSTED inspections; and the provision of better quantitative and qualitative
data to schools and parents as the way forward. In particular, Mr. Miliband
outlined the idea for an annual "school profile" that would
provide parents with comparative data about a school’s achievement coupled
with information from the school itself about its priorities and performance.
‘Sharper Inspections’ Mr. Miliband’s speech
was followed, in February, by plans for a revised OFSTED inspection
system, based on "shorter, sharper inspections." Since its inception,
the Office for Standards in Education has played a pivotal and controversial
role in "What they get
are what are called amongst teachers ‘OFSTED lessons,’ specially prepared
having tried to figure out the mind of the inspectorate, and totally
false," said Carol Taylor Fitz-Gibbon, a professor emerita at the
University of Durham, who has criticized the inspections for lacking
scientific rigor. "If you were looking for cockroaches as a safety
inspector, you wouldn’t find any if you told people you were coming." Added Professor Gray
of Under the February proposal,
put forth by Mr. Bell, the chief inspector of schools, OFSTED would
inspect schools on a more regular basis—at least once every three years.
But inspections would last no more than a week, occur with minimal advance
notice, and focus on core areas of learning. Such visits, designed
to provide a "warts and all" picture, would result in brief,
six-page summaries of schools’ performance, in contrast to the current
reports, which can run upwards of 40 pages. The inspections also would
rest more on school self-evaluation and on students’ learning gains
than has been true previously. "We’ve come a very
long way in the last 12 months, mainly because of David Miliband’s speech
in January," said John Dunford, the general secretary of the Secondary
Heads Association. "I think it’s moving in the right direction." One of the biggest challenges
is regaining the trust of teachers, who have been bombarded over the
past 16 years with what many here refer to as "initiative overload."
"The interventions
were almost certainly desirable, in that they have over the years drawn
very close attention to the question of standards," said David
H. Hargreaves, a former professor of education at "The price that’s
been paid for it," he continued, "as always when you have
a very strong centralized intervention, is it has created a climate
of relatively low trust between ministers and the profession. And a
lot of people feel that the levers that have been used—which are a highly
prescriptive curriculum, teaching methods, accountability through standardized
tests—these have discouraged professional innovation and commitment.
"And I think that
policy will now have to seek to restore a trustful partnership between
the politicians and the profession." Government officials
describe the challenge as twofold. One, to deepen the reforms, schools
and educators will have to assume ownership of the changes at a more
fundamental level. As the education department’s standards chief Mr.
Hopkins put it: "How do we actually move from a phase of reform
predicated on national prescription to a phase predicated on schools’
leading reform?" And, two, the focus
must be put on the remaining "underperformance" within the
system, both the variation in progress across schools with similar starting
points and the within-school variation across teachers, student groups,
and subject departments. "It will get harder,"
conceded Mr. Barber, the prime minister’s chief adviser on the delivery
of public services."You can’t get the kinds of steep changes that
we got from 1998 to 2000. But what you can do," he said, is "get
continuous improvement, if the system learns." Newsclips here
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