Fast Report

• NSBA urges members of the Senate to oppose federal legislation to establish nationwide school nutrition standards for all foods and beverages sold in schools.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said he planned to introduce an amendment to the Senate farm bill setting nutrition standards for all foods outside the school breakfast and lunch programs. This would include items sold in vending machines, a la carte lines, school stores, and other venues throughout the school day.

NSBA opposes the proposed amendment because it would impose a burdensome, unfunded mandate on local school boards. NSBA believes school boards, in conjunction with their communities, are in the best position to determine how to foster a healthy learning environment for students.

The House already passed its version of the farm bill and did not include a comparable provision on school nutrition.

Restricting students’ access to foods in schools will not change their eating habits outside of school, NSBA states, and it would be better to focus on educating them about good nutrition.

NSBA does support a provision in the Senate bill to provide $245 million a year to allow schools in all states to participate in the fruit and vegetable snack program.

• For the third time in as many years, a major national study has found no evidence to support the commonly held notion that private schools are better than public schools.

The latest study, published by the Center on Education Policy, found that low-income students attending urban public high schools generally performed at the same academic level as their counterparts in private schools.

In reading, for example, 12th-graders’ test scores were affected by families’ socioeconomic status, parents’ expectations and involvement, and students’ eighth-grade test scores.

But the type of school had no impact on achievement, with the exception of “Catholic holy order schools,” which are run by a religious order, such as the Jesuits, and which make up just 3 percent of all students in the sample.

The study also looked at students in other types of Catholic schools, other religious schools, independent private schools, public schools of choice, and public magnet schools, as well as traditional public schools.

Taken as a whole, the study found no general private school advantage across subjects.

The public school students also were just as likely to attend college and be satisfied in their jobs when they reached their mid-20s.

• School board leaders in New Jersey are concerned about a state law that calls for the governor to appoint executive superintendents to oversee K-12 education in each of the state’s 21 counties.

Gov. Jon Corzine appointed 10 people in October, and all the appointees have to be approved by the state senate.

The New Jersey School Boards Association opposed the creation of these “super county superintendents” because they add another unnecessary administrative layer and will become overly political, said NJSBA Government Relations Director Michael Vrancik. He said the new positions would not save the state money, as the proponents predict.