Education News: January 19, 2007

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending January 19, 2007.

High School: Modern or Outmoded?
(Source: The Star Tribune, 1/19/07): Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has proposed a new type of high school known as the 3R school, focusing primarily on rigor, relevance, and results. The plan includes requirements that every student accumulate one year’s worth of college credits and four years of foreign language courses before graduating. Other parts of the plan include an increased focus on online and workplace training. Opponents of the plan worry that some students will find these newly proposed requirements insurmountable and be unable to finish high school.

Test Rigging Found at Brimm School By Camden Probe
(Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/19/07): Investigator Edward Borden has determined that someone internally rigged tests at Brimm High School in the Camden school district in the spring of 2005. In the wake of his report, the Camden school board suspended Roger Robinson, the district supervisor of testing, with pay. The school district has been embroiled in controversy since former principal of Brimm, Joseph Carruth, accused the district assistant superintendent of pressuring him to cheat on the tests. Investigator Borden did not find evidence to support Carruth’s claims but did find evidence of cheating at Brimm High School.

Mayor Posts His Strategy For Schools
(Source: The Los Angeles Times, 1/18/07) Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa revealed a 52-point strategy for fixing Los Angeles schools in a meeting on Wednesday. Bracing for the possibility that he may lose his bid to have more control over the school district, the mayor outlined the policies that he believes will have the greatest impact on strengthening schools in Los Angeles, including reducing class size and introducing foreign languages such as Arabic in first grade. Only one school board member was present at the meeting. Board president Marlene Canter was out of town, but she responded to news of the meeting by criticizing the mayor for expressing desire for collaboration but doing little to make it a reality.

Bill Targets Online Threats
(Source: The Chicago Tribune, 1/18/07) The Republican leader in the Illinois House of Representatives, Mr. Tom Cross, is sponsoring a bill that would allow school districts to take action against students making “explicit threats” communicated via electronic devices. The bill stems from an incident in 2006 when a student at Bednarcik Junior High School in Oswega, Illinois threatened to assassinate his assistant principal on his MySpace.com web page. Laws about threats of school violence have been outpaced by today’s rapidly growing technology. However, free speech watchdogs caution that new laws will need to be worded gingerly so they do not violate the principle of free speech.

Student Interest Rate Cut Set for Vote in House Today
(Source: The San Francisco Gate, 1/17/07): A plan to lighten the financial load for 5.5 million college students in America will be voted on in the U. S. House of Representatives today. The plan, authored by Representative George Miller of the House Education and Labor Committee, would reduce the annual rate of interest on federal Stafford loans to college students from 6.8 to 3.4 percent. For college students in California, this would yield an average savings of $15,000. Some education experts do not support this measure, stating that more needs to be done to alleviate student debt in the face of increasing college tuition.

Middle Schools’ End May Begin
(Source: Kansas City Star, 1/18/07): Several school districts in Kansas City have begun looking at phasing out middle schools in favor of K-8 lower schools, citing higher scores and lessened behavioral incidents in schools that combine elementary and middle school populations. Going back to the 1800s and early 1900s, officials are reviving a policy that puts a wide range of ages together in one school building rather than placing 6-8 graders in a school by themselves. A recent study released by Johns Hopkins University contested the findings that middle schools combined with elementary schools operated more successfully, furthering the debate. To weigh the benefits of both systems, school administrators in some districts are combining some of their schools and keeping others separate.

A School Finds a Singular Road to Academic Success
(Source: Los Angeles Times, 1/14/07): Bunche Elementary School students in California attend classes in Harvard, Princeton and Emory—names of various classrooms located around the school. Principal Mikara Solomon Davis, a young and extremely innovative administrator, has turned the place where all the students qualify for free lunch from a failing school in 2000 to a school that currently far exceeds the California academic performance index marker. This transformative process has been difficult but rewarding for school employees, with Ms. Davis sharing a large burden of responsibility for selecting teachers, reviewing lesson plans, and staying involved in all school concerns.

Four Schools, No Regrets
(Source: The Saint Petersburg Times, 1/14/07): The Young family takes full advantage of the proliferation of content-specific magnet schools in the Tampa area by sending each of their four children to a different public school. While picking children up from four different schools a day proves challenging, they are excited that they can now search for schools that complement the personalities of their children.

Florida’s Top School Official Resigns
(Source: Miami Herald, 1/13/07): Florida state’s education commissioner, Mr. John Winn, abruptly announced his retirement on January 12th after newly seated Governor Crist removed two Winn supporters from the Florida Board of Education. Winn rose to the top of the Florida education department during Jeb Bush’s tenure as governor. The seven-member board of education has the power to hire and dismiss education commissioners, ceding ultimate power to the governor, who can pick the members of the board. Crist and Winn clashed over the classroom-size amendment that was recently passed in Florida.