Education Reform Briefs

From Newsday.com, 8/12/98

Horatio Alger Association Surveys "The State of Our Nation's Youth"

In an annual study, "The State of Our Nation's Youth," produced by the Horatio Alger Association, girls are shown to be outperforming boys in terms of academic success and expectations of entering such fields as medicine and law.

The researchers found that of the 18 percent of students most successful in their academic work, 63 percent were females and 37 percent were males.

"In general, females worked harder at their course work (averaging nearly 10 more hours of homework per week) and received better grades than males," the report accompanying the survey said. "Females challenged themselves more frequently to take the most difficult courses available and were more likely to agree that the amount of work they do now is important to their success in later life.

From the Family Research Council/Ed Facts, 8/18/98

What? Religious Freedom in the Public Schools!

Pearl, Mississippi District Superintendent Bill Dodson listed a number of causes for the recent spate of school shootings, including broken homes, fatherlessness, and teen parenthood. But at his mention of the omission of religion from public schools, the audience at the state-sponsored school safety conference in Jackson, MS, interrupted him with applause.

Meanwhile, South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon yesterday issued an opinion that gives the state's public schools the green light to display the Ten Commandments. The opinion was issued after a state legislator asked whether displaying the Ten Commandments would trigger lawsuits.

From the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August, 1998

Mackinac Center Publishes Collective Bargaining Study

A Mackinac Center for Public Policy study analyzes collective bargaining agreements between teachers' unions and all of Michigan's 583 school districts.

The analyses of contracts found that:

• more than 90% limit ability of school administration to appropriately match teachers to classrooms;
• more than 50% establish class size maximums;
• fewer than 5% allow a performance-based component of teacher compensation;
• most require tenured teachers to be evaluated only once every three years;
• all subject school employees to mandatory union dues payments; and
• none properly informs teachers of their constitutional rights to refrain from paying union dues and joining a union.

From the National PTA, August, 1998

E-rate Changes Forthcoming

In response to pressure by Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on June 12 to make these changes:

• Reduce E-rate funding to $1.3 billion per year.
• Extend the initial funding cycle from 12 months to 18 months.
• Revise priorities so that all eligible schools and libraries will receive support for telecommunication services and Internet access before they receive support for internal connections.
• Order the entities that administer the E-rate plan to reorganize and to cut their officers' salaries.

Some members of Congress, however, are supporting legislation to repeal the program entirely.

From CEO America, 8/12/98

Parental Choice Amendment Back in D.C. Appropriations Bill

The House version of the D.C. Appropriations bill includes the parental choice amendment sponsored by Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX). The spending bill would provide scholarships of up to $3,200 to 2,000 students in the District. The amendment passed on August 6, 214-208.

This should sound familiar -- this is the same bill that was passed by the Senate and House and sent to the president on April 30, 1998. [President] Clinton vetoed the bill at the last minute.

From the National Education Association, 8/6/98

NEA Fighting for Megabucks for School Modernization

"The condition of our public school buildings is a national crisis, and it demands a national solution," says NEA President Bob Chase. "The American public agrees -- and wants Congress to help states and local school districts address this overwhelming problem."

Government and independent estimates put the cost of modernizing America's public schools -- for repairs, replacement, new construction, and making them technology-ready -- at more than $200 billion.

Congress has thus far blocked passage of the NEA-backed Public School Modernization Act.