Fast Report

06/28/05 -- Connecticut to sue over NCLB

• Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced plans to go to court to fight the No Child Left Behind law.

“These unfunded mandates are illegal and illogical,” Blumenthal says. He hopes to begin the court challenge “before any state or local funds are illegally spent on annual tests or any other unfunded federal mandate.”

While the state will continue to seek flexibility, he says, “The federal government’s history of rigidity and irrationality on this subject leaves little reason for hope.”

The Waterbury, Conn., board of education voted 8-1 June 13 to endorse the lawsuit. The Connecticut state board of education considered a motion to sue over NCLB but was split 4-4 on the issue, so the motion was tabled.

Public says high schools need to be overhauled

• Only 9 percent of Americans believe most high school students are being challenged by their schoolwork, according to the results of a survey released June 22 by ETS, a nonprofit organization involved with assessments and education research.

More than three-quarters (76 percent) of those polled believe the United States will be less competitive in 25 years if the curriculum at the nation’s high schools does not become more rigorous.

Among other findings:

• Eighty percent strongly or somewhat strongly agree that teacher salaries should be raised, even if it will take higher taxes.

• Public awareness of the No Child Left Behind Act has doubled from 31 percent in 2001 to 61 percent in 2005.

• While large numbers of all adults (45 percent) and parents of school-age children (46 percent) view NCLB favorably, 75 percent of high school teachers have unfavorable opinions of NCLB.

Study finds charter schools not effective

• A policy brief by the Education Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University finds charter schools appear to have failed as a school reform strategy.

Instead of being a highly accountable and nimble method of raising student achievement, charter schools are no better than the public schools to which they purport to be superior, says Gerald Bracey, the author of Charter Schools’ Performance and Accountability: A Disconnect.

According to Bracey, research that credits charter schools with raising achievement has frequently used faulty methods. He suggests that support for charter schools appears to be based on the assumption that “deregulation is a sufficient condition for declaring success.”

As originally conceived, charter schools are supposed to be shut down if they fail to increase student achievement. But that isn’t happening, Bracey says.

“Only a tiny percentage of charters have been shut down,” he says, “and those overwhelmingly had their charters terminated because they misspent the money, not because they failed to educate their students.”

L.A. mandates rigorous curriculum

• The board of education of the Los Angeles Unified School District approved a policy June 14 to toughen graduation standards by requiring all students to complete a college preparatory curriculum.

In order to get a diploma, students will have to complete the so-called “A-G” curriculum, which includes a series of 15 courses in English, mathematics, science, foreign language, and social studies.

These courses will be available to all students who request them in 2006-07 and will be mandatory for all students entering ninth grade in 2012.

The key difference between the district’s current graduation requirements and the new policy is that students will now have to pass Algebra II and two years of a foreign language. These courses are required by the University of California and the California State University system.

Some teachers, board members, and students have raised concerns that the new policy would result in more dropouts.

Report offers advice on bomb threats

• If you’re concerned about frequent, disruptive bomb threats in your schools, the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has some advice.

According to Bomb Threats in Schools, the most effective strategies for preventing an initial occurrence or a rash of bomb threats are for school leaders to work with law enforcement officials to develop a threat reporting system; conduct a security survey; control access to school premises; and monitor communications.

They also need to warn students that bomb-related materials and threats are prohibited and clearly communicate the penalties.

The threats that should be taken most seriously are direct, specific, and plausible. They target a specific individual and indicate that the person making the threat has a weapon or has had the intended victim under surveillance.

The report says zero-tolerance policies are not effective because bomb threats are often made by students who have a grudge, have been suspended, or dropped out.