08/24/04 -- More students are home schooled
• The number of students schooled at home has increased 29 percent since 1999, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports. Some 1.1 million students, or 2.2 percent of the nation’s school-age population, were homeschooled in 2003.
According to the report, about 18 percent of homeschooled students were also enrolled part time in private or public schools.
The two most significant factors influencing parents’ decision to home school their children are concern about the school environment and a desire to provide religious or moral instruction.
The report is available at http//nces.ed.gov.
School district loses NCLB lawsuit
• A three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled Aug. 6 against the Reading, Pa., school district’s lawsuit challenging the state education department’s implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
Reading had charged that the state did not provide enough money or technical assistance to enable the district to properly implement NCLB. As a result, the district argued it was unfair for the state to determine that 13 of its 20 schools failed to make adequate yearly progress.
The decision notes that Reading “is one of the poorest school districts in Pennsylvania and the burden on it may be onerous,” but it also says the state is providing sufficient technical assistance and that the district failed to demonstrate the funds it received “are not adequate to pay for its school improvement measures.”
In response to Reading’s argument that the state tests should be made available in Spanish, the court says that, under NCLB, the state must provide native language testing only “to the extent practicable.”
The district’s attorney, Robert Guida, expressed disappointment in the ruling. “We’re still going to be giving tests in English to students who can’t read them, and they’re still probably going to fail.”
He expects the district to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
Coalition aims to raise profile of education
• A coalition of organizations, led by the National Education Association, launched a campaign Aug. 11 to mobilize public opposition to the No Child Left Behind Act.
The National Mobilization for Great Public Schools also aims to raise the profile of public education during the presidential campaign, educate the public about the “staggering challenges” public schools face, and push for more money for public schools.
The coalition includes MoveOn.org, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, NAACP Voters Fund, U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute, and the Campaign for America’s Future.
As a first step, the coalition is urging teachers, parents, and other citizens to host nonpartisan, issue-based “house parties” on Sept. 22 to mobilize their friends and neighbors to become more active in supporting public education and make education the top priority for voters.
Contact: www.greatpublicschools.org.
Religious prayers at meetings banned
• A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that it is unconstitutional for governmental bodies — such as town councils and school boards — to have public prayers invoking any specific religious figures at their meetings.
The ruling applies to all states within the 4th Circuit, including Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The case began in 2001 when Darla Kaye Wynne, a practitioner of the Wicca religion, sued the Great Falls, S.C., town council for invoking “Jesus Christ the Savior” during meetings.
“The ruling is definitely going to have an impact on prayers that support a specific religion or deity,” says Scott Price, general counsel of the South Carolina School Boards Associations.
It is not known how many South Carolina boards have sectarian prayers, he says. “A lot of boards invite students to come in and say a poem or present an invocation or inspirational message. Others invite different clergy to deliver prayers.”
Following the decision, Great Falls appealed the case to the full 4th Circuit.
N.C. court affirms right of poor students
• The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld its 1997 landmark ruling stating that every child has a constitutional right to a “sound basic education.”
The July 30 ruling by outgoing Justice Robert Orr resolves a lawsuit filed by students and school leaders in Hoke County and other school districts charging that students in poor counties did not receive the same educational opportunities as children in wealthier counties.
In 1997, the state Supreme Court agreed with the plaintiffs and said the state is ultimately responsible for giving poor children an equal opportunity to succeed.
While the current ruling affirms that decision, it rejects a later trial ruling on remedies that recommended the state improve the quality of education by providing prekindergarten for at-risk children.
Orr rejected the mandate for prekindergarten, stating that the trial court judge overstepped his authority by being too prescriptive with a single strategy and that courts do not have the authority to determine the age at which children should start school.