Education Reform Briefs

From the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, 11/12/97

Seven of Eight GOP Education Initiatives Pass in House

"House Republicans delivered their fall education agenda," said Chairman Bill Goodling (R-PA). Seven of the eight GOP education initiatives announced earlier in the fall succeeded.

• The Charter Schools Amendment Act of 1997 (H.R. 2616) passed the House on Nov. 7 by a vote of 367-57.
• Dollars to the Classroom Resolution (H.Res. 139) passed the House on Oct. 29 by a vote of 310 to 99.
• Ban On National Testing was reached first week in Nov. with the White House during negotiations on Appropriations bill.
• The Pass A+ Education Savings Accounts Act (H.R. 2646) passed the House on Oct. 23 by a vote of 230-198.
• The District of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Act passed the House on Oct. 9 as part of the D.C. Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2607).
• The Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act (H.R. 2535) passed the House on Oct. 21 by voice vote.
• Reading Excellence Act (H.R. 2614) passed the House by voice vote on Nov. 8.
• The HELP Scholarships Act (H.R. 2746) failed on passage on Nov. 4. The legislation is expected to be re-introduced next year.

From the Association of American Educators, November 1997

More Than 3,000 Members Surveyed on Education Issues

AAE asked its members whether block grants to the states are a good or bad idea. More than 8 in 10 thought it was a good idea, just 13% a bad idea.

When asked if the Dept. of Education should be eliminated or not, 74% felt it should be done away with, while 18% wanted to keep it.

On the school-to-work issue, 51% of AAE members liked the idea. Roughly one fourth thought it was a bad idea, and the other fourth felt they needed more information to make and informed judgment.

Other questions in the survey were:

• Are National Standards Needed?
• Are Uniforms In Public Schools A Good Idea?
• Can A Volunteer Army Help Our Children Read Better?
• Who's Afraid Of School Choice?
• Should Public Schools Be Involved In Family Planning?
• Teacher Competency Testing -- good or bad idea?
• Merit Pay - Will it Help or Hurt?
• Can Outsiders Help?

From the New York Times/World Net Daily, 11/12/97

George Washington Elementary Drops Founder's Name

Following a policy that prohibits school names honoring "former slave owners or others who did not respect equal opportunity for all," the Orleans Parish School Board voted unanimously on Oct. 27 to change the name of George Washington Elementary to Dr. Charles Richard Drew Elementary. The new name pays tribute to a black surgeon (1904-1950) known for developing methods to preserve blood plasma and for protesting the Army's practice of segregating donated blood by race.

Both [Lee] Caston, the principal, and Linda J. Stelly, an associate superintendent of the Orleans Parish schools, said there was virtually no opposition to removing Washington's name from the three-story, brown-brick school. Ms. Stelly said the school board felt it was important to be consistent about its policy, which makes no allowances for slave owners, regardless of their historical stature.

From the Associated Press/Las Vegas Sun, 11/9/97

New Islamic School Proposed for Virginia

Saudi Arabian officials have proposed building an Islamic school for 3,500 students in Loudoun County in what would be largest private Islamic academic institution in the country.

The need for the new school reflects the growing Muslim community in the Washington area -- estimated at 200,000 -- which has in recent years increasingly turned to private Islamic schools as a solution to the problems of educating their children in a non-Islamic culture.

School construction, just north of Dulles airport, is anticipated to cost about $50 million and would be complete by 1999, when the lease on the current school location expires. The project is being financed by the Saudi government.

From the Education Excellence Network, 11/11/97

Eight-Step Action Guide for Raising Standards

Denis Doyle and Susan Pimentel give communities across America an invaluable gift: a step-by-step guide to setting--and meeting--high academic standards.

Doyle and Pimentel do not downplay the importance of national and state standards. They do, however, make a persuasive argument for locally set standards, the kind that community members understand and "buy into". Since algebra is the same in Seattle as in Sarasota, even locally set standards are apt to resemble one another in most subjects.

Raising the Standard is a project of the Coalition for Goals 2000. For more information, visit the Standards Work section at www.goalline.org.

From the Education Excellence Network, 11/11/97

Education Reform Australian Style

Ken Gannicott, a professor of education at the University of Wollongong, argues that academic standards have declined in the thirty years since "romantic progressivism" swept Australia. Teachers and their unions have objected to standard measures of performance, and those measurements that have survived show disappointing scores compared to neighboring Asian lands. Gannicott also argues that Australia's twenty-five year old partial-voucher program has not succeeded as government regulations have suffocated the supply side of the school market, essentially making private schools more like public schools instead of the other way around.

Gannicott points to America's growing charter school movement and to Britain's more mature grant-maintained schools as examples of reforms that wrest control of schools from the producers and give it back to the consumers.

For more information, visit www.cis.org.au.

From the Education Intelligence Agency, 11/17/97

Unionized Teachers Take Unusual Approach in CT

Thomas Toch of U.S. News & World Report revealed that NEA opened a charter school in Norwich, Connecticut, despite the opposition of the local union affiliate, the Norwich Teachers League. The NEA- backed teachers "raided" their own local, certified themselves as a new local affiliate and opened the charter school under a new contract. A lengthy joint press release issued by NEA and the Connecticut Education Association made no mention of the problem, or of their unusual "union-busting" tactic.

From the American Federation of Teachers, 11/17/97

Committee Works on Paraprofessional Certification

A committee on paraprofessional certification, which includes AFT paraprofessional and teacher leaders, met Nov. 12 at the AFT headquarters to continue its work on developing materials and strategies to push for paraprofessional certification throughout the states. The committee has already developed a definition of the roles and responsibilities of instructional paraprofessionals. The committee refined a more detailed list of basic skills for entry into the profession, as well as some proposed preservice and inservice guidelines that could be a part of any proposal to set standards for the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals.

From the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, November 1997

Tax Credit Proposal Avoids Voucher Concerns

Michigan children would find it easier to switch to a school that best meets their needs under a sweeping plan released today by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The plan, called the Universal Tuition Tax Credit, would provide powerful incentives for all schools to improve by allowing any individual or business that pays a K-12 student's public or nonpublic school tuition to subtract a dollar-for-dollar tax credit from their state tax liability.

The tax credit would ease the burden of parents who pay twice for their child's K-12 education&emdash;once through public or nonpublic school tuition and again through taxes&emdash;and would create incentives for others with state tax liabilities to provide tuition scholarships for children of low-income families.

From the Associated Press/Las Vegas Sun, 11/18/97

Mock Marriage Ceremony Pairs Same Sex 2nd Graders

A mock marriage ceremony that paired second-grade pupils of the same sex has drawn protests from some parents, including one family who now plans to home-school their son.

Many others supported the teacher who developed the "wedding of friends," and a school curriculum panel recommended 9-2 Monday [11/17] that the district not change the class at Star Hill Elementary outside Dover [DE].

A local educator's group submitted 350 signatures in support of the teacher. But some of the 150 people at the public meeting voiced doubts about the ceremony.

From the National Education Association, 11/5/97

NEA and AFT Announce First National Collaboration

The presidents of the nation's two teacher unions today announced the formation of a national joint council to work on three issues: school infrastructure, school safety and discipline, and teacher quality. The council is the first such national collaboration between the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Among other efforts, the joint council will focus on improving teacher preparation programs, licensing, and in-service education, establishing peer assistance and review programs, and encouraging members to seek certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

The NEA/AFT joint council is composed of 15 elected state and local leaders of each union.

From the Heartland Institute, School Reform News, November 1997

Poll Shows Poor Civics Teaching

The poll results from a telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. citizens, commissioned by the National Constitution Center, demonstrated just how little Americans know about the Constitution. For example:

• only 6 percent of those polled could name all four rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, and almost one-quarter could not name a single First Amendment right;
• 84 percent incorrectly believe that the Constitution states that "all men are equal";
• 35 percent believe that the Constitution mandates English as the country's official language;
• about one in three did not know the number of branches in the federal government, and two in three could not name all three branches.

Despite their lack of knowledge about the document, 91 percent of survey respondents reported that the U.S. Constitution is important to them, and 84 percent believe that for the Constitutional system to work we must be active and informed citizens.