Education Reform Briefs

From the Family Research Council/Ed Facts, 2/11/00

Alternative Teacher Certification Grows

A new study shows that the number of alternative certification programs is rapidly increasing throughout the country. The National Center for Education Information reports that 24,000 teachers in 28 states were alternatively certified in 1999, compared to 8,000 teachers in 15 states in 1989.

According to one of the report's authors, alternative certification programs are needed, "not just to ward off teacher shortages, but because the nature of people who are interested in becoming teachers really demands that there be alternatives to the undergraduate teacher training model." Many of the alternative certification programs have been designed to draw people from specific backgrounds, such as retiring military officers, whose experience would be valuable in classrooms but who are not typically recruited to become teachers.

From the U.S. Department of Education, 2/11/00

Charter Schools Get Good Review

According to the fourth-year report on The National Study of Charter Schools, produced by the department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the number of students in charter schools increased in 1999 by nearly
90,000, while an additional 421 charter schools opened during the same period.

Thirty-six states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have legislation permitting charter schools, which are public schools freed from some or all state and local regulations, in exchange for achieving the goals set out in the charter, including greater accountability for student success.

Overall, the study found that these schools are being held accountable and that they have the flexibility to make independent decisions about educational and management issues. For the most part, they also serve a diverse set of students, in relatively small schools, with lower student to teacher ratio and better access to computers compared to the average in all public schools.

From the National Association of State Boards of Education, 2/7/99

Govs Focus on Education in State-of-State Addresses

January and February are traditionally the months during which governors give their state of the state addresses. Of the 26 governors' addresses analyzed by the National Governors Association, accountability/assessment was the most frequently mentioned education proposal (15 governors). The next most frequently proposed issues were: school construction funding, adequate/additional school funding, and technology/distance learning. While 15 governors discussed accountability/assessment, only 1 governor discussed state intervention, a reform strategy that has lost appeal for many state policymakers in recent years.

From the American Federation of Teachers, 2/14/00

Senate Candidate Clinton Parrots AFT Line

As First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate on Feb. 6, she took a page from the AFT's own Lessons for Life campaign. Declaring her support for higher standards, smaller classes and well-trained teachers in modern classrooms, she noted that these were essential "so that our kids can learn what I call the six R's: not just reading, writing and 'rithmetic, but also responsibility, respect and results." The AFT's campaign, launched in 1995, used as its slogan "Lessons for Life: Responsibility, Respect, Results."

From the American Federation of Teachers, 2/7/00

Strong Labor Vote Boosts Gore Victories in Iowa, N.H.

Heavy turnout by union households helped Vice President Al Gore capture victories in both New Hampshire and Iowa. In New Hampshire, one exit poll reveals that 24 percent of votes in the Democratic primary were cast by union members and their families, up from 18 percent in the last contested Democratic primary nine years ago. The union vote broke sharply in favor of Gore, who has the backing of the AFT and AFL-CIO. The vice president beat former Sen. Bill Bradley among union households by 62 percent to 37 percent. Through phone banks, canvassing and other activities, AFT members and retirees played a big role in helping to get out the labor vote in the state. A week prior to the New Hampshire primary, a heavy turnout of union families also made a big difference in Iowa, where Gore scored a commanding 63 percent to 24 percent victory against former Sen. Bill Bradley in the state caucuses. Among union voters, Gore beat Bradley by an even bigger margin--74 percent to 26 percent--and exit polls indicated that union members constituted a third of caucus attendees.

From the Mackinac Center, 2/7/00

Fear of Segregation is No Argument Against School Choice

Anita Nelam, a Detroit-based school reform activist, writes, "Research suggests that parentally chosen private schools offer a more racially integrated environment than do government-assigned public schools."

In Integration Where it Counts: A Study of Racial Integration in Public and Private School Lunchrooms, author Jay P. Greene of the University of Texas confirmed that "private schools tend to offer a more racially integrated environment than do public schools."  Public schools replicate the segregation found in their attendance areas, while private schools draw from a variety of neighborhoods.  In another study, Civic Values in Public and Private Schools, Greene found that all but a few private schools are not only more racially integrated, but also "display greater racial tolerance and generally convey stronger democratic values than do public schools."

From CEO America, 2/11/00

Ex-Milwaukee Evaluator Endorses School Choice

John Witte, the official evaluator of the school choice program in Milwaukee, has released a book titled "The Market Approach to Education: An Analysis of America's First Voucher Program" in which his primary message is "choice can be a useful tool to aid families and educators in inner city and poor communities where education has been a struggle for several generations."

Witte, whose reports have been used by choice opponents to suggest that the program is a failure, is endorsing the program. "If programs are devised correctly, they can provide meaningful educational choices to families that now do not have such choices," Witte writes. "And it is not trivial that most people in America, and surely most reading this book, already have those choices."

From the National Education Association, 2/7/00

Longtime NEA Exec Don Cameron Stepping Down

Don Cameron, who has served as the executive director of the 2.5 million-member National Education Association since 1983, announced he will retire effective January 2001.

During his tenure as executive director, the NEA grew by more than 1 million members, nearly doubling in size. At the same time, the NEA grew in influence at the bargaining table, in Congress and state legislatures, and in the political arena.

From the NSBA/School Board News, 2/8/00

Schools Also Embroiled in Confederate Flag Controversy

One hundred and thirty-five years after the American Civil War, the Confederate battle flag once again finds itself at the center of conflict--this time in the nation's public schools.

Where the local football team is nicknamed the "Rebels," school boards are under attack for tolerating a symbol associated with the Ku Klux Klan and slavery. Elsewhere, school administrators are wrestling with young racists who use the flag to sow racial discord. Some officials, in their haste to avoid trouble, have attempted to ban the flag--and sometimes found themselves the target of litigation.

Recently, the risks of litigation have increased.... At the policymaking level, the heart of the problem is a basic conflict between free-speech rights and the recognized authority of school officials to ensure a safe and secure learning environment, says Edwin C. Darden, NSBA's senior staff attorney. To survive a court challenge, officials must show that banning the flag--much as they would ban any gang-affiliated symbol--is a response to documented acts of violence or to a real threat of violence provoked by the flag's use.

From the Center for Education Reform, 2/11/00

CER Touts Charter Schools in Latest Report

The release of Charter Schools Today coincides with the release of the U.S. Department of Education's 4th Annual Report on Charter Schools (see above), and with similar findings. CER's report illustrates that less than a decade after the first charter school opened its doors, 1,674 charter schools now not only provide a very popular alternative to traditional public schools, but are having a dramatic impact on other competing schools in the communities where they have been established.

Today's charter schools are encountering different types of obstacles than they did just a few years ago. In the beginning, charters faced mainly facility and operational hurdles, but the most common obstacles now involve political opposition from teachers unions, state boards and bureaucracies, and local board/district offices.

As of the end of 1999, 39 charter schools had closed their doors, representing 2.3 percent of the 1,713 charter schools that have opened for business. Far from being an indictment of charter schools, however, these closures are evidence of accountability, one of the great strengths of the charter school movement.

From the National PTA, 2/4/00 and 2/11/00

PTA Blasts Bankruptcy Bill with Voucher Component

The U.S. Senate passed legislation to overhaul the nation's bankruptcy laws on Feb. 2 and the bill included an amendment offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) that would make federal funds available to students who have fallen victim to violent crime in schools. The bill passed with a vote of 83-14, with one Senator voting present.

The Hatch amendment, "Student Safety and Family School Choice," would allow federal funding in the form of a voucher for a limited group of children to attend private and religious schools. Money would be made available from Title I and "any other educational funds," and the state's education agencies would set the criterion for what constitutes a "violent criminal offense."

The National PTA, and its National Coalition for Public Education partners are alerting members to ask the president to veto the bill because of the voucher provision.

From the National Association of Elementary School Principals, 2/7/00

NAESP Happy About Proposed Presidential Handout

The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) commended the Clinton Administration's new proposal to help communities curb the growing shortage of school principals and superintendents. The President urged Congress to add $40 million to the federal budget to invite competitive grants aimed at recruiting new school leaders and retaining those who are considering leaving their schools.

A March 1998 study issued by NAESP found a shortage of qualified candidates for principal positions across the country in urban, suburban, and rural K-12 schools. When job vacancies occur, few candidates apply. Furthermore, most veteran principals are retiring early or as soon as they are eligible.