Education News: September 18, 2009

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending September 18, 2009.

Unions Say Schools are Hiring an Increasing Number of Teachers from Abroad
(New York Times, September 14, 2009)  The American Federation of Teachers recently released a report that claims hard-to-staff schools have increasingly turned to overseas recruiting to find teachers.  According to the report, 19,000 teachers, out of over three million teachers working in the United States public schools, were here on temporary visas in 2007.  The report also claims that the number has risen steadily since.  The majority of the overseas-trained teachers end up in inner-city or very rural schools, and teach math, science or special education.  While foreign educators must usually demonstrate proficiency in English, they are sometimes assessed incorrectly.   In these cases, the report suggests that districts offer help to improve fluency.  The report used Baltimore as a case study, as the number of Filipino teachers in the schools increased from 109 in 2005 to over 600 in 2009.  Additionally, it asserts that foreign hiring has lead to reduced recruitment pf American teachers.  Michael Sarbanes, a spokesman for the Baltimore Public Schools, confirmed the increase but pointed out that their only focus is to get the most qualified teachers into the Baltimore’s classrooms.  International teacher recruitment can be one of the most effective ways to achieve that goal.  Sarbanes also said that recruiters are no less present in America now than they have been before.  He added that the number has begun to decline due to new sources of talent such as Teach for America.  According to the AFT, the hope is that the report leads to heightened regulation.

Texas School District Wins Broad Prize for Shrinking Achievement Gap
(Christian Science Monitor, September 16, 2009)  This year’s Broad Price for Urban Education was awarded to the Aldine, TX school district on Wednesday.  The award comes with $1 million towards scholarships for high school seniors.  The Broad Prize is awarded to the urban district that has best advanced overall achievement while narrowing the achievement gap for minority and low-income students.  Aldine is a predominantly minority district and has been up for the award three times before.  It outperformed other Texas districts that serve similar family incomes on both reading and math at all grade levels, and narrowed the achievement gaps between minority students and the state average for white students in middle-school math. Wanda Bamberg, superintendent of Aldine, credits her school’s success to its focus on data.  By “constantly monitoring to see where kids are and what skills and deficits they have,” she says they are able to “go back and reteach and revisit over the year.”  The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation enjoys rewarding high-performing districts, but also hopes to help spotlight best practices.  The other four finalists this year were Broward County, FL, Long Beach, CA, Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas and Gwinnett County Public Schools Atlanta, GA.  Each of the runner-up districts will receive $250,000 in scholarship money for graduating seniors.

Students Attend Private School on State-Funded Vouchers
(Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 14, 2009)  In 2008, 9,700 Ohio students relied on EdChoice scholarships to pay their tuition at almost 300 private schools.  Each scholarship is now worth up to $5,000.  Students are eligible if the public school where they would attend has been ranked in academic watch or academic emergency for two out of three years. Even if the schools improve, the students continue attending the private schools as well as to receive the scholarships.  While this provides stability for the students, it frustrates superintendents who would like increased enrollment when they improve a school.  While not all of the 12,685 who got the vouchers will use them, the program has grown continuously since its inception in 2006.
Go here to learn more about EdChoice Scholarships

NYC Schools Chancellor Pressures Principals to Hire from Teacher Reserve Pool
(New York Times, September 17, 2009)  In a letter to principals this week, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein began to pressure them to start hiring teachers from the absent reserve pool.  The absent reserve pool is where teachers are placed if they lose their jobs because a school is shut down or forced to shrink its teaching staff due to budget cuts or declining enrollments.  With more than 1,500 teachers on the city’s payroll without permanent job placements, Klein told principals that if they do not fill their vacancies by the end of next month, they will forfeit any funding they had allocated for the open positions.  The pool is expected to cost the city $127 million this year.  If city principals fill their remaining 1050 vacancies strictly from the pool, it would save the city $75 million.  In his letter Klein admitted that he hated limiting principals’ freedom, but the economic reality is forcing them to control costs and avoid deeper cuts.  He has, however, lifted the ban on certain subjects such as special education and science.  

Anti-Bullying Laws in Schools Found Largely Ineffective, May Lead to Suicides
(USA Today, September 14, 2009)  A review by the Associated Press found that laws aimed at protecting school children from playground bullies are largely ineffective.  Across the country parents and advocates are calling for tougher measures after several recent student suicides.  Forty-four states currently ban bullying, but few if any of those measures have actually identified children who pick on their classmates excessively.  Additionally, few of the laws offer any method for how to enforce the laws.  The majority of states require school districts to adopt open-ended policies to prohibit bullying and harassment.  Montana, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, North Dakota, South Dakota and the District of Columbia do not have laws that specifically target school bullying.  The issue came to a head in April after an eleven-year-old fifth-grader named Jaheem Jaheem committed suicide at his home in Atlanta as a result of, according to his parents, being repeatedly tormented in school.  District officials denied it, however, and an independent review found bullying wasn't a factor.  Either way, Georgia's law, though among the strictest in the nation, would not have applied because only 6-12 graders are protected.  While Georgia’s law threatens to strip state funding from schools who fail to take action after three instances involving a bully, the state doesn’t collect data specifically on bullying occurrences.  According to data on more than 55 million students compiled annually by the National Center for Education Statistics, one third of all students ages 12 to 18 reported having been bullied during the school year in 2007.  While is up from one in ten students in the mid 1990s, experts say this could be due to more reports of bullying, not more incidents.

Lacking Alternatives, Schools Turn to Arsenal of Sanitizers to Combat Swine Flu
(Washington Post, September 17, 2009)  In an effort to fend off H1N1 (swine) flu, schools across Washington, DC are stockpiling sanitizers and barraging students with lessons on how to minimize risk.  Tips include frequent hand washing and coughing into one’s elbow.  While many don’t love spending money on the additional soaps and sanitizers, it is much cheaper than a stay in the hospital and drugs.  Several companies, such as Clorox, capitalized on the demand by offering free samples of products that teachers might want. Artealia Gilliard, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, does point out, however, that sanitizers and wipes, while useful, are still not as effective as washing ones hands with soap and water.

Cheyenne Tribe Files Suit Over New School Dress Code
(USA Today, September 18, 2009)  Parents in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in Eagle Butte, South Dakota have joined a federal suit whereby the Cheyenne tribe is seeking to block the school district from enforcing a dress code.  The dress code requires students to wear black, white or tan shirts, pants, skirts or shorts.  The problem is that many of the Cheyenne families survive on welfare and can’t afford to purchase new wardrobes.  Even getting to the nearest discount store, about ninety miles away, is all but impossible.  While administrators say that the code is intended to avoid gang violence, the suit argues that “the dress code violates federal regulations requiring such schools to consult with tribes and parents of American Indian children in developing programs and policies.”  Tom Van Norman, the tribe's attorney, adds that not only is there the monetary hardship, but also the impediment to learning that occurs when children are sent home.