Education News: March 18, 2005

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending March 18, 2005.

Study Finds Poor Performance by Nation’s Education Schools
(Source: The New York Times)
Acting in response to concerns that the U.S. will lose its economic edge in the world economy if domestic education does not improve, the governors of 13 states have announced that they are forming a coalition to raise standards in public high schools by making courses and examinations more difficult. The thirteen states are Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas. Other states are expected to join the coalition in the coming weeks. Six foundations have designated a total of $23 million in funds to help the states improve high schools, including, most notably, a $15 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The announcement of this renewed push for better high schools came at the end of an “education summit,” that included governors, business executives, and officials in the Bush administration.

Student Rankings? Computers Flunk, and College Plans Are in Chaos
(Source: The New York Times)
After the New York City Department of Education installed a new computer system to track students’ academic records, problems and complaints have been numerous. The situation became especially dire at the end of January when the first semester ended and the flawed system failed to issue report cards for thousands of students, many of whom needed their grades to send to colleges. The system has also, in many cases, failed to generate class ranks, which has hindered educators from recommending students for scholarships. The new system was developed by the Department of Education’s own programmers to replace the department’s pricey outsourcing to CUNY. The new system, known by the acronym HSST (High School Scheduling and Transcripts), was developed at a cost $5.1 million and would have constituted a marked improvement over the previous system, had it functioned correctly. Irwin Kroot, the department’s chief information officer, admitted that the system had not been “stress-tested appropriately,” but assured frustrated students and educators that its problems will be solved in time for the 2005-2006 school year.

Bush Pushes Sexual Abstinence for Teens Despite Data
(Source: Boston.com)
In his fiscal year 2006 budget, President Bush drastically cut or eliminated funding for hundreds of social programs, but proposed an increase in funding for abstinence-only sex education from $39 million to $206 million, with the goal of allocating $270 million for such programs by 2008. Critics of Bush’s plan for sexual education say abstinence-only programs perpetuate false and sometimes sexist information and have not been shown to reduce sexual activity in teens. Proponents contend that including information about contraception and safe sex could “water down” the abstinence message or encourage teens to have sex earlier than they otherwise would.

Census: Nation’s Public Schools Awash in $250 Billion in Red Ink
(Source: The Associated Press)
A recent report by the Census Bureau shows that the nation’s public schools are sinking further into debt. The debts totaled $250 billion in the 2002-03 school year, an 11% increase from the previous year’s figure. New buildings, building repairs, and new hires accounted for much of the increased spending. On average, districts spent $8,019 per student. This is the first full-year’s-worth of data since the No Child Left Behind law was instated, and has prompted some Democrats to say that school districts are not receiving adequate funding and that Bush’s fiscal year 2006 budget, which would provide even less overall funding to schools, would worsen the problem.