Fast Report

11/23/04 -- Florida voucher law is unconstitutional

• A Florida state appeals court has ruled that the state's school voucher law is unconstitutional because it allows tax dollars to be spent on religious schools. The case next goes to the state Supreme Court.

The voucher program allows students attending public schools that earn failing grades on Florida's assessment system for two years in a four-year period to receive vouchers to attend private schools, including religious schools.

The ruling notes that Florida's Constitution prohibits tax money from being used "directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution."

Supreme Court will hear Title IX case

• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Nov. 30 in a case that could greatly expand the reach of Title IX, the 1972 law that bans sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funds.

The case (Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education) was filed by Roderick Jackson, a girls basketball coach at Ensley High School in Birmingham, Ala. He claimed he was fired as a coach in 2001 because he complained that his team was not treated equally with the boys basketball team and charged discrimination under Title IX.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Jackson, stating that Title IX does not prohibit retaliation and that Title IX is intended to protect victims of discrimination, not whistleblowers.

NSBA has filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of the Birmingham school board. "We are supportive of the purposes of Title IX," says NSBA senior staff attorney Naomi Gittins. "But teachers already have protection against retaliation in existing employment law."

NSBA's brief, which was produced in collaboration with the Alabama Association of School Boards and several other education organizations, argues that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the coach, school districts will be open to more litigation involving not only Title IX but other statutes as well.

Report examines NCLB restructuring

• Several states are moving to "restructure" chronically underperforming schools, the ultimate sanction in the No Child Left Behind Act, but these changes are not easy to implement, the Center on Education Policy finds.

A report issued by the group Nov. 9 on the restructuring policies and practices in Michigan finds the most popular form of restructuring is replacing principals and staff. That approach was selected by 63 percent of the 101 schools in the state undergoing restructuring.

Only 15 percent of schools chose to adopt an external school reform model, 14 percent hired state-trained coaches, and 12 percent appointed governing boards to take over schools.

The report also finds school officials are concerned about the lack of resources to make restructuring work effectively.

'Marriage' defined to appease Texas board

• The Texas Board of Education voted to approve new health textbooks for middle and high school students Nov. 5 after the publishers agreed to change the wording to depict marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The issue could have implications nationwide. Texas purchases textbooks for the whole state, and it's the second largest market (after California), so it exerts a great deal of control over the public school textbook industry.

Texas state board member Terri Leo had earlier charged that the new books ran counter to a state law banning the recognition of gay civil unions because the texts used terms like "married partners" instead of "husband and wife."

One of the publishers, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, agreed to include a definition of marriage as a "lifelong union between a husband and a wife." The other publisher, Glencoe/McGraw Hill, made similar changes.

The Texas board also insisted that the sex education portions of the textbooks be changed to reflect an abstinence-only message. When contraception is mentioned at all, it is only in the teacher editions of the books.

Coalition urges more diverse teaching force

• A coalition of education groups released a report Nov. 9 calling for more diversity in the nation's teaching force. According to the groups, "Urban minority children are best taught by teachers who are culturally competent."

The report says minority and culturally competent teachers tend to have higher expectations for students from their own ethnic groups.

Such teachers also can play a significant role in improving achievement markers such as increased attendance rates, lower disciplinary referrals, fewer dropouts, and higher overall satisfaction with school.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 13.4 percent of teachers are racial/ethnic minorities, compared to nearly one-third of public school students.