Education News: November 17, 2006

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending November 17, 2006.

Bellevue Schools Using Gates Grant to Make Lessons Available Online
(Source: The Seattle Times, 11/17/06) The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given a $1.9 million grant to the Bellevue School District in Washington state to expand the district’s website. The website offers lesson plans and class information online, making it more accessible for parents, students, and all educators in general. The district hopes the website will become a major information resource for the education community.

A Green View on Energy
(Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/16/06) Mr. J. Willian Naish, the head of utility and energy management for the San Diego Unified School District, has a stellar record on energy and conservation, saving his school district $12 million in utility costs each year with the measures he puts in place. Concentrated efforts help his campaign: recently, he oversaw the replacement of 1,000 old refrigerators. The savings on electricity will total $200,000 a year. He has also helped implement a computerized sprinkler/irrigation system and the installation of solar panels on top of school buildings. 161 of the 216 San Diego Unified Schools hold the highest Energy Star labels from the EPA.

She Found Abuses in U. S. Plan for Reading
(Source: The New York Times, 11/15/06) Dr. Cindy Cupp of Savannah, Georgia has called the federal government to task for reported abuses in the Reading First program enacted in 2002. The program, with $6 billion in funds, is intended to ensure that lower-income children learn to read. Problems began when manufacturers of reading aid materials, including Ms. Cupp, were told that their materials would not be approved for the program without a sufficient explanation. Ms. Cupp, convinced of the usefulness of the resources she had designed, investigated the government’s refusal to accept her program and discovered that several people on the national panel to choose materials benefited financially from their decisions.

Single Sex Classes May Expand
(Source: : The Buffalo News, 11/14/06) A former practice, once abandoned, is now regaining popularity in schools across the United States: designating classes as single-sex. Leonard Sax of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education says that nationally there are 51 single-sex public high schools and an additional 190 more with single-sex programs. The government has recently simplified the legal issues surrounding single-sex public education by ruling that public schools can decide the matter for themselves, provided the classes are optional.

Early School Piques Interest
(Source: The News & Observer, 11/13/06) Educators in Chapel Hill are contemplating opening an “early school” for three year olds in North Carolina. Supporters of the program believe that starting schooling at the age of three will help to level the playing field more. However, changing a system that has been in place for many years has others not as excited about the program.