Education News: February 11, 2005

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending February 11, 2005.

A Cut for Schools, A First for Bush
(Source: The New York Times)
President Bush’s new budget proposal for the 2006 fiscal year includes a reduction in funding for the Department of Education. The new discretionary budget would be $56 billion, one percent lower than last year. Certain programs are to be expanded such as those aimed at high school students, special education, and college loan financing. Pell Grants, the No Child Left Behind Act, remedial high school reading, and math and science partnerships are also to be bolstered by the new budget. Programs and initiatives that will lose funding include the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program, vocational education, Upward Bound, Gear Up, and Talent Search, among others, many of which are aimed at students with disadvantaged backgrounds. Education accounts for 48 of the 150 government programs across the board that President Bush has singled out for elimination or major reduction.

High-School Testing Bill ‘Faces Stiff Resistance’
(Source: CNN.com)
Some of the same congressional lawmakers who vociferously backed President Bush’s first-term school agenda now want to block the president’s efforts to expand standardized testing in the nation’s public high schools. Already students are required by the No Child Left Behind Act to test once each year in grades 3 through 8 and once during high school. Bush’s new proposal would expand standardized testing to include yearly reading and math tests in grades 9 through 11. While some lawmakers are enthused by Bush’s plan, others object to it, either on grounds that it is not the federal government’s place to regulate education so specifically or that the plan pays for its new features by cutting critical other programs.

N.C. Hires Company to Check for Cheating
(Source: Boston.com)
North Carolina has agreed to pay $60,000 to a Utah-based company called Caveon that will study data from standardized tests in public schools for signs of cheating. Joining the ranks of South Carolina and Delaware, North Carolina is now the third school to hire Caveon. A dozen other states are in discussions with the company and may follow suit. While state leaders do not suspect that cheating is out of hand in North Carolina’s public schools, they do feel that standardized testing has become important enough to take preemptive steps to prevent cheating from becoming a problem. Testing results are now responsible for school rankings, teacher bonuses, and federal aid, so state leaders want to check the system’s validity while deterring cheating for both teachers and students.

Tiny District Finds Bonanza of Pupils and Funds Online
(Source: The New York Times)
What was once a small public school in Branson, Colorado, is now at the technological forefront of Internet education. While just 65 students attend Branson’s sole public school in person, a strong 1,000 from across the state log on to its virtual affiliate, Branson Online. As Colorado provides $5,600 per student to public schools, virtual or no, Branson Online is a bonanza of sorts, having already received $15 million since its inception in 2001. Opinions on the school are mixed, as some claim it provides the perfect option for students with unique circumstances, while others cite sub-par test scores as an indication that the format is a failure. The Colorado school is part of a national trend that shows online public schools rapidly increasing in size and numbers over the last five years.

Boston: Lynn Parents Ask Appeals Court to Reject School Desegregation Plan
(Source: Boston.com)
A racially diverse group of parents in Lynn, Massachusetts, has asked a federal appeals court to do away with its 17-year-old school desegregation plan, claiming that no evidence exists to show that students are better off with a forced mixing of the races in classrooms. The plan’s defenders counter that racially diverse schools better prepare students to live and work alongside members of other races. In October, a three-judge panel of the appeals court had ruled that the desegregation plan is unconstitutional, stating that race should be used only as a last resort for districts wanting to send students to schools outside their neighborhood. But this ruling was set aside when the court agreed to hear an appeal at the request of Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly. The plan is now being challenged by the black, white, Latino, and biracial parents of six Lynn students, who say that family structure, language spoken at home, and socio-economic status should be considered in potential school transfers, instead of race alone. If the plan is indeed thrown out, the ruling could have far-reaching implications for the 21 other Massachusetts school districts with similar plans.

New York Middle Schools Can Change Requirements, Regents Rule
(Source: The New York Times)
In an effort to improve floundering schools, New York State has granted educators permission to innovate in public middle schools, relaxing some of the stringent requirements that had determined how many minutes students were supposed to spend on specific subjects. The Board of Regents has announced that schools can, at their discretion, spend less time on non-academic subjects such as art or career skills and more time on reading and math. Some schools will be given the freedom to abandon the scheduling requirements entirely. To take advantage of the new policy, schools must apply to the state, demonstrating preparedness to teach the necessary skills and subjects without the restrictions.