Fast Report
Budget crisis rocks Detroit school district
• As many as 700 school jobs are possible targets for the budget ax in Detroit, which faces a budget deficit of $70 million to $90 million.
Dozens of school employees were told earlier this month they would lose their jobs Jan. 18, and at least 60 more are scheduled for layoffs in March.
Schools CEO Kenneth Burnley says more layoffs and other budget cuts will be announced over the next 30 to 60 days. Principals and department heads have been told to cut their budgets by 10 percent.
Burnley blames the financial problems on rising costs and cuts in state aid.
School officials say staffing cuts will be made, as much as possible, through attrition and the elimination of vacant positions, and certified teachers should be spared from future layoffs.
Court overturns Harrisburg takeover
• The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has ruled that the state law allowing the mayor of Harrisburg to take over the city's school district is unconstitutional.
Under state law, the state board of education can take over school districts with poor performance on test scores for three years. The legislature enacted a special law last year that allowed the Harrisburg mayor to take over the Harrisburg school district immediately.
Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pelligrini ruled Jan. 3 that the Harrisburg takeover law violates the provision in the state constitution that prohibits the enactment of laws that single out a school district for special treatment.
The elected school board still exists, but its powers have been superceded by the board of control appointed by Mayor Stephen Reed. The city filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Deal reached in Yonkers bias case
• The state of New York and the NAACP have tentatively settled a desegregation lawsuit involving the Yonkers, N.Y., school district that was filed 21 years ago.
The "agreement in principle," announced Jan. 8, still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand. In 1985 Sand ordered the city to desegregate its school system and build subsidized housing in predominantly white neighborhoods. Later rulings sought to address "vestiges of segregation" that led to test score disparities between white and minority students.
The agreement calls for the state to provide $300 million to the school system over five years to help raise achievement of black and Hispanic students, reduce class sizes, renovate school buildings, and lengthen the school day and year.
Texas plans to require PE for K-6
• The Texas State Board of Education tentatively approved a rule to require all elementary schools to provide a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity a day or 135 minutes a week for students in grades K-6.
The board "strongly supports" the P.E. concept but might revise the wording of the rule and will take a final vote on the matter in March, says Adrienne Sobolak, deputy director of communications for the Texas Education Agency. She says research shows that physical activity helps prevent diabetes and heart disease and "contributes to a child's ability to focus on learning."
The state required daily P.E. for elementary students until 1995 when the legislature overhauled curriculum requirements to focus more on academics.
Boys no better than girls in math
• The notion that boys have stronger mathematical skills than girls has been dispelled by a new study from the University of North Carolina.
Researchers Erin Leahey and Guang Guo found that girls had higher average math scores than boys until about age 11 and higher reasoning scores at ages 11 to 13.
"Despite relatively equal starting points in elementary school, we found that boys showed a somewhat faster rate of acceleration in math," Leahey says. By the 12th grade boys had edged ahead, but only by 1.5 percent.
The UNC study was based on data from large studies of K-12 students. Earlier studies focused on gifted students.
Preschool quality varies greatly
• States' efforts to finance and monitor early childhood education vary greatly, according to Quality Counts 2002: Building Blocks for Success, published by Education Week.
In Alabama, for example, less than 2 percent of 4-year-olds participate in state-financed prekindergarten. That compares to more than half of all 4-year-olds–and 70 percent when Head Start is included–in Georgia.
Only 19 states and the District of Columbia lay out specific expectations for the kindergarten year, and only 15 states and D.C. have standards for prekindergarten.
Every state requires kindergarten teachers to have at least a bachelor's degree and a certificate in elementary or early childhood education, but only 20 states and D.C. require teachers in state-financed prekindergarten to meet similar requirements. Thirty states allow teachers to work in early childhood education without any preservice training.