Education Reform Briefs

From the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, 2/3/99

President Lays Out Major Education Initiatives

The President's budget for FY2000 would increase discretionary spending at the Department of Education by $1.2 billion, from $33.5 billion to $34.7 billion. The President is proposing his Education Accountability Act, nine new education programs and significant funding increases for the following programs in his FY2000 budget:

• School construction ($3.7 billion over 5 years)
• Education Accountability Act
• Class Size Reduction/Teacher Recruitment Initiative ($1.4 billion for FY2000)
• After-school care and summer school programs ($600 million)

From the Christian Science Monitor, 2/9/99

Indiana Paying High Schoolers Who Graduate with Top Honors

Thanks to a bill passed in 1997 by the state legislature, all Indiana high schools can legally award pupils money for earning an academic honors diploma.

To qualify, students have to take 47 credits in rigorous, advanced courses and pass with at least a B average. The state requires a minimum of 38 credits to graduate. Students can enter the program during their first or second year of high school.

The Indiana law is unusual because states typically only reward students financially with college scholarships.

From the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, 2/11/99

Bipartisan Bill Includes Education Flexibility & School Renovation Initiatives

Chairman Bill Goodling (R-PA) introduced the Dollars to the Classroom Act (H.R. 2), a bipartisan bill that will send federal dollars directly to the classroom, provide more flexibility for states through new "ed-flex" legislation and create new tax incentives for school renovation. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has designated H.R. 2 as a top priority for Republicans in the 106th Congress.

H.R. 2 has three titles reflecting the priorities of the bill:

1. Dollars to the Classroom
2. Education Flexibility
3. Public School Construction and Renovation

The H.R. 2 school renovation initiative would provide for a permanent fix in the tax code and apply to all schools.

From the U.S. Department of Education, 2/12/99

Ed Department, Council of Great City Schools, Send Y2K Computer Guide to Every School District in America

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley announced plans for the Education Department to mail to all 15,000 school districts in America a new guide for educators to help address the Year 2000 computer problem.

Produced with the Council of the Great City Schools, the document, "Squashing the Millennium Bug: A Year 2000 Compliance Guide for Elementary/Secondary Schools and School Districts," contains a 57-point checklist, computer tests, Web resources, sample letters to vendors, contract clauses and other suggestions that schools can use to assure that their computer systems function properly on Jan. 1, 2000 and beyond.

From the American Federation of Teachers, 2/15/99

Kuttner Claims Education Doesn't Fit Free Market Model

"Some things don't work well as markets" in the traditional notion of supply and demand, says Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine and a contributing columnist to Business Week.

In the private sector, "if a company messes up, they have to reorganize, sell off their assets, get bought out or even shut down," says Kuttner. It is, in fact, a form of accountability. But we can't do that with a public institution like education. While schools and school systems do have management problems, he said, "you don't destroy the entire system" to resolve it. The solution, he said, "is that you get better management."

From the American Federation of Teachers, 2/15/99

AFT COPE/Legislative Operations Reorganized

As the AFT prepares for an active role in the 2000 national elections, the AFT executive council has approved a reorganization of the union's political action and legislative operations.

The union's Committee on Political Education (COPE) and legislative departments have been combined under one Government Relations department. "This restructuring will enable us to work in a more coordinated way in the legislative and political arena," says Gigi Georges, assistant to the AFT president and secretary-treasurer for government relations. "With our added divisions and a full team approach, we can be even more effective at educating and mobilizing our members and ensuring their voices are heard."

From the Education Intelligence Agency, 2/15/99

Local Connecticut Teacher Union Goes Head to Head with Edison Project

In Connecticut, the Waterbury Teachers Association has accepted the challenge of a proposed Edison Project school in its district. The local union is negotiating a deal with the city's board to open its own charter school in a head-to-head competition with Edison. "Teachers always say, 'If only I could run it myself.' Here's the chance," union president Jack Cronan told Rick Green of the Hartford Courant. "We're not going to stop [Edison]. We better get on the train. You can't always keep criticizing." Both schools will receive the same amount of money per pupil.

From CEO America, 2/12/99

CEO America Adds Two New Voucher Programs

Vermont S.O.S. (Student Opportunity Scholarship Fund) and the PACE (Partners Advancing Choice in Education) Foundation of South Carolina are the newest privately funded voucher programs in the school choice movement.

Vermont S.O.S. plans to award at least 100 school choice scholarships of up to $2000/year to low-income students entering grades K-8 beginning in the fall of 1999.

The PACE Foundation will fund 30-60% of the tuition (up to $2,000) for low-income students in grades 1-6.

Scholarships from both programs may be used in public or private schools.

From the National Education Association, 2/11/99

NEA Announces Publication of Education Reform Guide

The National Education Association, the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals have joined in announcing publication of An Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform.

Included among the 24 schoolwide programs analyzed in this guide are 17 mentioned in legislation funded last year which created the federal government's Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program. Studies on their effectiveness or comparative strengths have been sparse.

National Association of Elementary School Principals Executive Director Samuel Sava emphasized that, while this report is a useful tool, principals should not rush to drop established programs that work in their schools.

From the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, 2/12/99

Another Union Power Play; Worker Fined $32,500 for Resigning Membership

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys announce the filing of federal unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board after local Painters union officials levied illegal fines of $32,500 against a worker who exercised his right to refrain from formal union membership.

Under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Patternmakers v. NLRB, workers may resign their full, formal union membership immediately and without restrictions. Once a worker becomes a non-member, union officials have no legal basis for enforcing union "discipline."

According to internal union documents, union officials charged James Ott -- over a month after his resignation from the union became effective -- with various bizarre claims including "disloyalty," "engaging in subversive activity," and violating "provisions in the ritual of this Brotherhood."