Fast Report
02/07/06 -- Public schools outperform private schools
• According to an analysis of the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), traditional public school students score higher in mathematics than students in private and charter schools, once demographic characteristics and school location are taken into account.
That’s the conclusion of a report published in January by the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Authors Christopher and Sarah Lubienski found that fourth graders in public schools outscored private and charter school fourth graders by between 4 and 12 points. A 10 to 11 point difference on the NAEP is generally viewed as representing a difference of one grade level. Findings were mixed at the eighth-grade level.
“Overall, this analysis undermines the common perception that private institutions provide a superior learning experience relative to public schools,” Teachers College states. “This study suggests that privatization and choice-based policies are not quick fixes to the problems found in education.”
Public satisfied with math, science education
• While government and business leaders are talking about U.S. students’ lagging performance in mathematics and science threatening the nation’s global competitiveness, most students and parents believe schools are doing a good job teaching those subjects.
According to a report released in January by Public Agenda, 57 percent of parents say the amount of science and math their child studies now is about right.
In fact, parents’ concern about math and science achievement has actually declined since the mid-1990s, states Reality Check 2006: Are American Parents and Students Ready for More Math and Science?
In 1994, 48 percent of parents thought their children were not getting enough math and science, compared to only 32 percent of parents in 2005.
Only one-quarter of students say lack of emphasis on science and math is a problem in their own school.
And, despite widely publicized predictions about the role science and technology will play in the economy of the future, more that four in 10 students say they do not want a career with a math or science focus.
Just four in 10 students (41 percent) say having great skills with computers and technology is essential, and 50 percent say that understanding science and having strong math skills are essential.
Despite concerns about how few young women pursue math and science studies and careers, the survey found no significant differences between the attitudes of high school girls and boys.
Bill would allow principals to be armed
• Legislation has been proposed in Oklahoma to allow superintendents and principals to carry firearms.
State Rep. Bud Smithson (D-Saslaw), a retired firearm safety instructor and retired police officer, introduced the bill because, “Our school administrators, especially in rural areas, need to be able to protect their students when violence erupts in the schools.”
He introduced the measure at the request of Lucky McCrary, superintendent of the Belfonte School District, who says his district is 17 miles from the nearest police station.
Noting that it could take the police half an hour to arrive, he says, “I am the first line of protection for my students, staff, and property.”
The bill would allow administrators to carry firearms if they have a “valid concealed handgun license” and a letter of approval from a majority of school board members.
The Oklahoma State School Boards Association opposes the bill “because of the potential liability issues and because none of the school shootings we’ve studied could have been prevented if administrators were armed,” says Julie Miller, general counsel and director of policy services.
Course on Bible proposed in Georgia
• A group of Democratic senators in the Georgia legislature introduced a bill Jan. 18 to create an elective high school class on the Bible.
If enacted, the bill would authorize the state board of education to adopt a state-funded course that would cover the Bible’s influence on literature, art, music, culture, and politics. It would prohibit schools to use the Bible for devotional purposes.
The bill recommends that the state board approve a textbook published last year by the Bible Literacy Project, based in Fairfax, Va. The New Braunfels, Texas, school district recently voted to offer the course next year, and some schools in California, Oregon, and Washington already offer it.
The bill’s sponsors believe the course will meet Supreme Court standards. Courts have upheld study of the Bible from a historical or social perspective, as long as it isn’t used as a sacred text.
A similar bill was introduced recently by Democrats in the Alabama House of Representatives.
Republicans in both states accuse the bills’ sponsors of promoting the use of the Bible in public schools merely to expand their electoral bases. Evangelical Christian groups, including Redeem the Vote, are lobbying in support of the bills.