7/23/2004

July 23, 2004 Edition

This Week In NCLB:
One girl's struggle to find a future
Many Qualify, Few Take School Transfers
New York City Will Limit Chance To Leave Failing Schools
What Next for NCLB Center on Education Policy Forum
Special-education students struggle to pass state exams
Teacher Standards Held For Some Schools
A lesson plan for 'failing' schools
Schools not rural
Tom Carroll: N.Y.'s Schools-Fix Folly
Schools act gets high marks at NCLB summit
No Child Left Behind law at a glance
Bridging the Gap Between Poor and Privileged
A Special Case
Additional Assistance and Better Coordination Needed among Education Offices to Help States Meet the NCLBA Teacher Requirements

Campaign 2004:
Kerry Promises Teachers Major Spending
Hot for Teachers
Paige Given Prime Slot At the GOP Convention
A Look to Your Left
Yes, the Education President
Kerry, Edwards Share Education Policy Aims
Veteran union leader to head AFT
Kerry Promises No Dollar Left Behind.
University of Ore. education professors influence Bush

New and Notable:
Large schools have their advantages
When Students Are in Flux, Schools Are in Crisis
U.S. Children Are Safer, Healthier
Using AP Tests to Rate Teachers
OPINION: The Junk Food Industry Often Rules The School
Public Schools' Bids for Private Money Raise Questions
A Tale of Two Schools: Reading Instruction

Around Chicago:
Votes questioned at challengers' schools
Schools seek to boost diversity of magnets
Schools awarded after-school funds
Charter schools plan rapped by CTU's Lynch
Chicago Public Schools To Get Naval High School
15 districts defensive over charter school plan
Marathon on budget in last leg
Opinion: Education choice
Daley funding 3 schools with TIF cash
Navy junior ROTC school to open in 2005: Daley
Schools land grants for after-school programs
Millions in budget for schools

School Life:
Council causes outrage by keeping children's bowling scores secret
Big back-to-school bucks
The Kids Are All Right
Duke Passes Out iPods For Educational Use
No Child Left On Their Behind

7/16/2004

July 16, 2004 Edition

States Game AYP to Shorten School 'Failing' Lists This Summer: While the release of the big ECS report on states' implementation of NCLB dominated education news this week, the real impact story of the week is Education Week's look into the last-minute haggling between states and the U.S. Department of Education over AYP definitions, which will directly affect the number of schools on each state's 'in need of improvement' lists over the next couple of weeks and months when the spring scores start coming back. To be sure, the ECS report highlights important progress implementing NCLB as well as widespread problems for states in the area of teacher quality. However, the combination of states' growing creativity with AYP specs and the USDE's decision to soften some of the regulatory requirements likely means that there will be no giant increase in the number of schools identified under NCLB and a potential decrease in some places regardless of whether student achievement increased over last year. Will the public and the press understand that decreased numbers of schools not meeting AYP this summer don't necessarily mean that schools are doing any better? States Dicker Over Changes to AYP Plans (Education Week)

This Week In NCLB:
States lag in gearing up for No Child Left Behind law (Stateline.org)
Study: States Progressing With New School Law (CNN.com)
More states adopt No Child provisions (Detroit News)
ECS Report to the Nation: State Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (ECS)
Secretary Paige Comments on Opposition to NCLB (Wall Street Journal)
How school reform is altering classrooms (CSM)
Transfers frustrate Board (Orlando Sentinel)
School choice advocates launch awareness campaign (Indianapolis Star)
Humor not left behind in attacks on Bush law (Los Angeles Times)
Fed law designed to fail, say educators (Dartmouth Standard-Times)
State says city schools misused federal funds (Baltimore Sun)
Tests failed; students didn't, state says (Oregonian)

Election 2004:
Opinion: True reform calls for a plan (USAT)
Opinion: List Kerry as absent on school accountability (USAT)
Kerry to Appear Tomorrow Afternoon --But Which One? (Education Intelligence Agency)
Kerry Promises Teachers Big Spending (Boston Globe)

Other Notable News:
Teacher's Aides Filling Growing Gap (USAT)
'Dropout Factories' Identified In Hopkins Study (Education Week)
Typical teacher pay moves up modestly, nears $46,000 (CNN.com)
Grading Mistakes Caused More Than 4,000 Would-Be Teachers to Fail a Licensing Exam (New York Times)
When good isn't good enough (Washington Post)
Jackson wants amendment to equalize schools (Philadelphia Daily News)
Many charter schools not slated for evaluation until 2005 (Houston Chronicle)
Opinion: Tests are critical measures of school achievement (CSM)

Dismal Times for the AFT and CTU: The national conference of the AFT going on this week can't be a particularly upbeat event for most of the participants, given that Sandy Feldman is leaving the presidency for health reasons and two different sets of representatives from the Chicago Teachers Union decided to show up and make things awkward for everyone else. And, while claiming minor victories in their increasingly destructive dispute over rightful ownership of the CTU presidency, both sides continued to make themselves look fairly ridiculous: Lynch by being the sole AFT executive council member to vote against a motion to have the AFT look into the allegations of vote fraud that Lynch and others are relying on to call the June runoff into dispute, and Stewart by issuing a belated and weak comment on the Renaissance 2010 school restructuring proposal.
Stewart Statement on Board Initiative (UPC)
Both sides in teachers' union dispute claim small victories (WLS)
Stewart scores 1 in teacher dispute (Chicago Tribune)
Wins for both sides in dispute over control of teachers union (Chicago Sun Times)
National Union Weighing Teacher Delegate Status (Tribune)
AFT to Review Chicago Election Dispute (Education Week)
CTU votes won't count, yet (Daily Southtown)
CTU election results to be reviewed (Sun Times)
Contested teacher vote to be probed (Tribune)

Other Chicago News:
Chicago to 'Start Over' With Small Schools (Education Week)
South side faces school shake up (Tribune)
Activists seek say on city school plan (Tribune)
Teachers' average pay near $46,000 (Chicago Tribune)
Teachers Say $45,771 Isn't Enough Pay (Tribune)
Gov: leaders close to budget deal (Crain's)
Budget breakthrough in works (Tribune)

School Life
Instant cash -- at school? (CSM)
Offline and Still in Touch With Away Messaging (Washington Post)
Jenna (Bush) to teach in Harlem (NY Post)


7/09/2004

July 9 2004 Edition

Still No Resolution in Chicago: After nearly two weeks of back and forth (and the possibility of a summer-long dispute), it seems as of late Thursday that the AFT national is going to try and figure out whether the June 11 CTU vote requires a revote in September, or whether the original runoff vote can still be certified and finalized one way or the other. It certainly sounds like the national would like to avoid a prolonged dispute, but given the apparent determination of both sides to remain in/return to power it's hard to imagine how the dispute doesn't end up in court. Whether that is beneficial to the teachers, who've already voted twice on who they want as president, or the children and the school system, seems doubtful. I propose a Lynch-Stewart spelling bee to resolve the dispute:

WBEZ Eight Forty-Eight AFT Interview (audio)
Bank Freezes Teachers Union Accounts (Sun-Times)
Teachers panel OKs September election by mail (Sun-Times)
Teacher Union Offer Rejected (Chicago Tribune)
City teachers union opts for election by mail (Tribune)
Teachers Union Vote Pits Local And National Groups (NYT)
Teachers Will Re-Vote For President (Sun-Times)
Chicago Teachers' Leader Seeks Interim Rule (Hartford (Conn.) Courant)
CTU sets election date, says schools won't handle the ballots (Daily Southtown)
Union flap may serve Daley school plan - - for now (Chicago Sun-Times)
Election Dispute Leads to Impasse for Teachers Union (NYT)
Teacher union panel OKs mail vote (Tribune)

This Week In NCLB:
Education: Feds quell states' revolt on No Child Left Behind (Stateline.org)
Education Lawsuits Succeeding With 'No Child Left Behind' Data (Civilrights.org)
City Schools Challenged On Tutoring (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Poor pupils improving (New Britain Herald)
Was Jump in State Test Scores a Fluke? (Delaware News Journal)
State Pitches School Choice (Orlando Sentinel)
Paraprofessionals and NCLB (Teacher Magazine)
Symposium Tackles Politics Of Education (Education Week)
One School Left Behind (Texas Monthly)
No Child Left Behind: Where Do We Go From Here? (Heritage.org)
Inside No Child Left Behind(August (VA) Free Press)

Around the Nation:
Johnny Won't Read: Report Shows Big Drop In Reading (USAT)
The Possible Dream (Ed. Magazine)
Teacher Tenure Under Scrutiny (CNN)
Charters Get $75 Million Boost (San Jose Mercury News)
Colo. Supreme Court Strikes Down Voucher Law (Education Week)
Sen. Clinton Bats For Kerry With Teachers (Washington Post)
Kerry Tells PUSH Of College Plan (Tribune)
Summer school attracts the high-achievers (
The New York Times)

The Many Challenges of Big-City School Reform:
A Special School District Is Gone, But A Study Cites Its Benefits (NYT)
City Retools Special Education, But Pupils Slip Through Cracks (NYT)
Detroit Schools Chief Asked To Resign (Detroit News)
Schools Chief Learns Tough Lessons On Fraud (SF Chronicle)
Ready For Fourth Grade? Not So Fast, New York Says (Washington Post)
The coup at King high school (City Paper Philadelphia)
Crew, New On Job, Plans A Takeover Of Failing Schools (Miami Herald)
Minneapolis Is Told School Closings Are Imperative (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Amato Suspends No. 2 Man After Clashes (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

Around Chicagoland:
Educators say schools desperate for state cash (Sun-Times)
Great Expectations (Teacher Magazine)
Educators to push school priorities for budget talks (Tribune)
Bad marks for Illinois education (Chicago Tribune)
Daley urges funding reform for Illinois schools (Crain's)
Daley seeks talks on changes in school funding (Tribune)

School Life:
Parents sue to get son back to recess (Washington Post)
SAT Essays Prompt Handwriting Worries (Detroit News)
Crime shows inspire forensics classes (
Lexington Herald-Leader(Ky.)/Associated Press)
Teen Stumps Governor With Question From FCAT (Miami Herald)
The New Face Of Underage Drinking: Teenage Girls (CSM)
Riordan Calls Kid A 'Stupid, Dirty Girl' At Book Event (Sacramento Bee)
Bloomberg Calls For Dismissal Of 5 Educators Who Shopped (NYT)
The New Cosby Kids (NYT)