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4401-A
Connecticut Avenue, Box 294, Washington, DC
20008
Tel: (202) 244-7535, Fax: (202) 244-7584
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Education Exchange
Volume 2, Issue 5 -- May
1998
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Focusing on
Education Reforms at Your School, in Your State
Legislature, and in Congress
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Violence
Is One of Many Reasons
Parents Seek Private School Options
The reasons parents give for moving their children from
public to private school are numerous and varied. Many
experts say parents are simply fed up with bad public
schools and unfulfilled political promises for fixing them.
With a rash of serious episodes of violence on school
campuses over the past six months, concerns about school
safety have reached fever pitch, leading more parents to
question the safety of their children at public schools. In
defending the safety of public schools, U.S. Secretary of
Education Richard Riley said, "Ninety percent of our schools
are free of serious violent crime..." Serious violent crimes
were defined as murder, rape or other type of sexual
battery, suicide, physical attack or fight with a weapon, or
robbery in Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public
Schools: 1996-97, a National Center for Education Statistics
report.
The statistics are sobering, for according to the 1996
Digest of Education Statistics, ten percent of U.S. public
schools comes to a total of more than 8,600 schools. When
averaged among all fifty states, the breakdown totals 172
schools per state.
Secretary Riley suggests a variety of solutions for
addressing the school violence problem. Among them are
smaller schools, schools-within-schools, strong conflict
resolution programs, zero tolerance programs, increased
school uniform policies and more after-school learning
centers. Some of these ideas, most notably smaller size and
uniforms, have been in practice in many private schools for
years. New York City schools have gone so far as to adopt a
measure requiring uniforms for all students in an effort to
reduce the level of student-on-student violence.
In an article titled, "Parents... What do they look for
in a Private School," the National Private Schools
Association Group (NPSAG) pointed out that parents seek
"safeguards in place to insure the physical safety, security
and well being of the student." NPSAG also reported that
"Parents state that the primary measure of their level of
comfort for the area of safety and security lies in the 'gut
feelings' and is supported by a liberal open door policy,
access to teachers and staff, records, the classroom and the
campus facilities."
Individuals testifying before the House Education
Committee's early childhood, youth and families subcommittee
in April offered their assessments of why it seems younger
and younger children are becoming more violent. They said
child abuse, violence in the home, poverty, easy access to
guns, drugs and alcohol all play a role in increasing
violence, which all too often plays out on school grounds.
According to testimony by W. Rodney Hammond, Director of
Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, "What has changed most dramatically over the
past 20 years has been the emergence of fatal youth violence
-- children killing children." Since September 1995, nine
multiple homicides have occurred in schools.
While private schools are not immune to violent behavior,
the likelihood of such episodes may be less due to closer
supervision by teachers and staff, greater interaction with
individual students and their parents, and a foundation of
religious or other core values.
During the last decade, nationwide private school
enrollment has increased by 10 percent a year on average. In
many urban environments, the increase is even greater.
Metropolitan Detroit, for example, had a 25 percent increase
in private school enrollments over the past five years.
Education
Coalition Fights to Save E-Rate
A coalition, comprised of American Association of School
Administrators, National Association of Independent Schools,
National Catholic Educational Association, National
Education Association, National School Boards Association,
and the U.S. Catholic Conference's Department of Education,
have joined together in a national campaign to save the
e-rate.
The Schools and Libraries Universal Service Program, or
"e-rate" as it is more commonly known, has come under fire
from the telecommunications industry. In a Roll Call
advertisement earlier this month, a coalition of education
associations charged, "Certain telecommunications companies
-- AT&T, MCI and Sprint -- are undermining the program,
by unnecessarily blaming the e-rate for higher costs. Others
-- SBC, BellSouth and GTE -- have filed a lawsuit that could
gut the e-rate program."
The program allows eligible schools and libraries to
purchase telecommunications services, internal connections,
and Internet access at discounts ranging between 20 and 90
percent depending on location and economic circumstances.
More than 30,000 schools and libraries applied for program
discounts during the opening submission cycle between Jan.
30 and April 28.
Like his coalition peers, Msgr. Thomas J. McDade,
Secretary for Education for the U.S. Catholic Conference,
doesn't want to see the program fail. "We're fighting to
make sure that promised resources are there so that none of
the pending applications is denied due to threatened cuts
and no child or community is left behind," he said.
The campaign to save the e-rate has already e-mailed an
alert to 30,000 schools, libraries, parents, educators, and
community activists, asking them to send messages of support
to Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the
six telecommunications companies being targeted. In the
first 24 hours after the message went out on May 6, more
than 1,300 messages had been sent.
Speaking about preparing students for future high-tech
needs, National Education Association President Bob Chase
said, "The FCC must take whatever regulatory action is
necessary to ensure the success of this program." Peter D.
Relic, President of the National Association of Independent
Schools, added," Congress was on the right track when it
established this program. Clearly, the great numbers of
applications show the popularity of the e-rate around the
country."
In a survey conducted by the E-Rate Hotline between Feb.
20 and April 2, 93 percent of participating schools and
libraries (165 public and private schools and libraries in
14 states) were aware of the e-rate. Eighty-four percent
said they intended to take advantage of the e-rate.
Computer hardware and software is not covered under the
e-rate program; however, the U.S. Department of Education
has directed $425 million this year so schools can provide
computers, software and teacher technology training. Without
this equipment and training, the e-rate program's potential
effectiveness would be significantly lessened.
For further information on the e-rate program, visit the
SLC at http://www.slcfund.org, the National Exchange Carrier
Association (NECA) at http://www.neca.org/funds/faslc.htm,
or the Education and Libraries Networks Coalition (EdLiNC)
at http://www.itc.org/edlinc.
Sen.
McCain Sponsors Internet School Filtering Act
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has sponsored the "Internet
School Filtering Act," a bill designed to address the
content of Internet materials available through school and
library systems.
The bill states, "No universal service for schools or
libraries that fail to implement a filtering or blocking
system for computers with Internet access." This proposal
specifically targets e-rate customers who, together with
local authorities, must determine the appropriateness of
Internet sites based on their content. The bill's
certification requirements are as follows:
CERTIFICATION FOR SCHOOLS -- Before receiving universal
service assistance, ...an elementary or secondary school (or
the school board or other authority with responsibility for
administration of that school) shall certify to the
Commission that it has --
(A) selected a system for computers with Internet access
to filter or block matter deemed to be inappropriate for
minors; and
(B) installed, or will install as soon as it obtains
computers with Internet access, a system to filter or block
such matter.
CERTIFICATION OF LIBRARIES &endash; Before receiving
universal service assistance, a library that has a computer
with Internet access shall certify to the Commission that,
on one or more of its computers with Internet access, it
employs a system to filter or block matter deemed to be
inappropriate for minors. If a library that makes a
certification under this paragraph changes the system it
employs or ceases to employ any such system, it shall notify
the Commission within 10 days after implementing the change
or ceasing to employ the system.
The American Civil Liberties Union has come out against
this bill, stating, "By forcing libraries and schools to use
these notoriously clumsy and ineffective programs, the
McCain bill would remove power from parents and local
communities to decide how to help children use the Internet
safely."
The
Evidence on Class Size
In Occasional Paper Number 98-1, Dr. Eric
Hanushek Refutes Class Size Arguments
Dr. Eric A. Hanushek, professor of economics and public
policy at the University of Rochester, states simply and
unequivocally, "Broadly reducing class sizes is
extraordinarily expensive and, based on years of research
and experience, very ineffective."
Between 1950 and 1995, pupil-teacher ratios fell by 35
percent. Student achievement data is not available for the
entire period; however, from 1970 to 1996, results of the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) among
17-year-olds remained stagnant.
Based on nearly 300 carefully scrutinized statistical
investigations of the relationship between class size and
student performance, Dr. Hanushek states there is no reason
to expect performance improvements from lowering class
sizes.
Tennessee's Project STAR, a random-assignment
experimental program involving kindergarten through third
grade students, has been cited as proof that class size
reduction works by proponents of class size reduction
policies. A study of the STAR data reaches the conclusion
that smaller classes may have had a positive achievement
impact in kindergarten. The gap between the test group and
the control groups of students does not widen in subsequent
years, however, indicating no continuing improvement based
upon smaller class size.
According to Dr. Hanushek, "It appears that the ultimate
effect of any large-scale program to reduce class size will
depend much more importantly on the quality of new teachers
hired than on the effects of class size reductions per se.
Variations in teacher quality have been shown to be
extraordinarily important for student achievement, and the
econometric studies providing such results indicate that
these variations completely dominate any effects of altered
class size."
Homosexual Lobby
Close to Victory in Battle for ENDA
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is back in
the forefront of Congressional attention, after having been
voted down in 1996 in the Senate by a vote of 49-50. That
vote was the first time any piece of gay civil rights
legislation had been brought to the floor for a vote.
This bill, S. 869, is designed to prohibit employment
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In
addition, S. 869 would require that activities of religious
organizations that generate unrelated business income
subject to taxation under "specified" Internal Revenue Code
provisions (schools perhaps) fall under the stipulations
written into the bill. The likelihood for lawsuits being
filed against employers on the basis of homosexual
discrimination is greatly increased because of the proposal.
Enforcement is built into the bill.
With the vote count in the Senate Labor and Human
Resources Committee currently deadlocked at 9-9, it is
uncertain when this measure will go to markup or be sent to
the Senate floor for a vote.
The bill currently has 35 Senate sponsors and 157 House
sponsors.
Home Schoolers
Wary of Education Establishment;
Active on Legislative Front
In a recent Washington Post article, "Newest
Home-Schooling Parents are Unlikely Converts," reporter Fern
Shen writes, "Public school officials question whether
home-schoolers are getting a better education than children
in the public schools, noting that regulation has been
minimal in some places, even as home-schoolers' ranks
swell."
Many home school advocates fear this attitude, which
seems to seek increased regulation and government
interference in home education, infringes on their rights.
In an article titled, "The Seduction of Homeschool
Families," Chris Cardiff, President of the California
Homeschool Network, analyzes the perceived public education
threat to the homeschool community. He explains how the
establishment has begun "alternative" programs aimed at
"assisting" home educators in ways that would entice them
back under the government school system.
The complete text of Cardiff's article can be found at
http://people.netscape.com/ccardiff/seduction.html.
The Home School Legal Defense Association, celebrating
its fifteenth anniversary this year, and representing more
than 55,000 home school families, provides legal and
advocacy service for its constituency. Acting on alerts from
HSLDA, home schoolers inundated the Senate with phone calls
supporting the recently-passed K-12 Education Savings
Account bill (H.R. 2646).
HSLDA is also working to add language to the Higher
Education Act Reauthorization that accepts home school
diplomas for the purposes of receiving academic funds.
EPI's
Education Quick Facts
- Eighty-six percent of principals surveyed say that
introducing computers into their school has been
beneficial to instruction. More than a third of them
believe that computers help their students achieve higher
test scores, but 43 percent had no opinion on the
relationship between computers and testing. (Source:
April 1998 Communicator, a publication of the National
Association of Elementary School Principals)
- Thirty-six percent of public school teachers of
academic subjects in 1997 had neither an undergraduate
major nor minor in their main teaching field. Among
social studies teachers, 59% were teaching what they had
not studied. Other subjects also have similar proportions
of such "neophyte" teachers: 39.5% in science, 34% in
math, and 25% in English. (Source: The Center for
Education Reform's response to U.S. News and World Report
cover story "The Great School Experiment," April 27,
1998)
- In the 10th poll sponsored by the Partnership for a
Drug Free America, the number of 9 to 12-year-old
children who had tried marijuana was up from 334,000 in
1993 to 571,000 last year. Marijuana use among 13 to
16-year-old youths remained stable, but there was a
significant increase among 17 and 18-year-olds &endash;
from 41% in 1996 to 48% last year. (Source: April 1998,
Partnership for a Drug Free America)
- Colleges and universities gave out more than $10
billion in financial aid last year, the federal
government awarded more than $6 billion in Pell Grants,
and states offered more than $3 billion. An additional
$30 billion was available in low-interest federal loans.
(Source: April 9, 1998 ABC News)
Copyright 1998
Education Policy Institute, PMB 294, 4401-A Connecticut
Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008-2322 202/244-7535, Fax
202/244-7584 http://www.educationpolicy.org
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