Education News: August 28, 2006

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending August 4, 2006.

Schools Face Katrina Costs
(Source: The Dallas Morning News, 08/04/06) School districts in Texas are scrambling to find the money to accommodate the estimated 31,000 displaced students from Hurricane Katrina who are expected to stay in Texas this year. In the initial aftermath of the hurricane, 46,000 students moved to Texas. The federal government provided a large stipend to help cover the cost of the massive influx. However, there are no expected federal grants this year, even though many of the families are planning on staying in Texas. Beleaguered by the storm and impressed by the quality of education in the Lone Star state, families are keeping their children where they are.

Random Drug Tests for Students Are Being Tried At British School
(Source: The Plain Dealer, 08/03/06) The Abbey School in Britain has started a trial project in which school students are put through a drug test that tests for traces of substances such as marijuana. The program began in January 2005, and only one student has tested positive so far. However, school officials feel that it is a large incentive for students to stay away from drugs. Were the program to make it over to the United States, it would confront a series of privacy and personal rights activists.

Student’s Diary Lawsuit Dismissed
(Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 08/03/06) Rachel Boim, the middle school student who was expelled from her school in 2003 for having a fantasy diary in which she recorded killing her sixth period math teacher, has lost her case in court. Her lawyer’s claim to free speech and allusion to “thought crimes” in the court brief was dismissed by the judge, who thought that Rachel’s claims were disturbing enough to warrant her expulsion. The family pursued this lawsuit to clear Rachel’s disciplinary record (she now attends a private school) and they are planning to appeal the decision.

City Dangles Prizes to Lure Kids to School
(Source: The Chicago Sun-Times, 08/02/06) In a major effort to yield high turn out rates for children on the first day of school, Chicago Mayor Daley is instituting an incentive program to encourage more children to turn up. Mayor Daley believes that first day attendance influences attendance patterns and behavior throughout the whole year, so he is working with high profile organizations and individuals to develop a sweepstakes of sort to reward school attendance. Schools with the highest percentage of students present have a chance to win a trip to Disney World or a visit from a pro-athlete.

Schools Requiring More Vaccines
(Source: The Chicago Tribune, 08/01/06) As the list of required vaccinations for school children continues to grow, soaring costs pose a daunting challenge to uninsured families. The Chicago Tribune posits an enormously interesting statistic, showing that required vaccines for school children cost about $100 twenty years ago, while today they cost upwards of $1,200. A new vaccine that prevents cervical cancer in women may soon make its way on to the list. To add to the expansive nature of these shots, it now appears that some shots which were thought to last indefinitely now need booster shots. A list of government-recommended shots includes Hepatitis B, which only recently became a required shot.

Kansas Voters Choose Between Evolution Supporters, Critics
(Source: CNN, 08/01/06) In a recent board shake-up, Kansas voters decided this week that the 5 contested seats in the school board election should be filled with moderates rather than simply conservatives. Kansas state’s scientific course material has varied in the last ten years, depending on the composition of the school board at the time. While Darwinists favor teaching evolution, religious officials often want children to be taught about intelligent design. Personal stances on evolution versus intelligent design became critical factors in this campaign.

History Without Books Gets a Test in California Schools
(Source: The Boston Globe, 08/01/06) Pearson Publishers will be providing the educational materials for elementary school social studies in California in the upcoming year. In a move that surprised even Pearson itself, the state board of education decided to accept Pearson’s proposal for technologically centered lessons that students will use on computers. The total cost for the project will be somewhere around $70 million. "Most schools have a big fat textbook on the table that doesn't really entice students any more" says the chief executive of Pearson. In that small indictment of books and printed materials, a new era of technology is ushered in.

Picky Parents Ask For Certain Teachers
(Source: The Atlanta Journal/Constitution, 07/31/06) Parents in the Atlanta metropolitan area are increasingly playing an active role in teacher selection for their students. Eager to see their children’s personalities and learning styles complemented by their grade-level instructors, parents have now taken to writing to, telephoning, and meeting with school administrators to demand certain teacher types or even specific teachers for their children. Some school principals are embracing this extra guidance, sending out evaluation forms to parents so that school officials can more carefully match students with instructors. Other school officials are warning that running interference will do nothing. One school even explicitly states that parents who request a certain teacher for their student are guaranteed not to get that teacher. Parents who want to play the system have taken to writing in the name of a teacher that they do not want. Parental involvement in schooling appears to be at an all-time high!