Fast Report

12/20/05 -- Town supports NCLB opt-out with tax hike

• Voters in the town of Kit Carson, Colo., have agreed to increase their taxes to make up for the federal funding they will lose when the district opts out of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Residents of the small town voted 104-97 last month to pay a total of $25,000 more in property taxes each year for five years. The school board will take a formal vote on withdrawing from NCLB at its January meeting.

Several school districts across the nation opted out of NCLB and gave up the federal money they were entitled to, but Kit Carson is apparently the only community to tie a tax hike to opting out.

“We made the issue a NCLB issue,” says Superintendent Gerald Keefe. “It’s much more powerful if you have a community willing to dig into its pockets and say they’re willing to get away from the clutches of the federal government rather than just having a school board do it.” He says education should be a state and local issue and views NCLB as a federal intrusion.

Kit Carson has just 100 students and a single K-12 school.  

Spellings moves to dismiss NCLB lawsuit

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sued Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings in August claiming the department cannot mandate additional testing of students without covering the cost.

The Education Department’s motion charges Connecticut with seeking “to keep the funds [it received from the federal government] while jettisoning the accompanying obligations.” It says NCLB is not intended “to excuse states from their voluntary decision to comply with Congress’ conditions in exchange for federal funds.”

According to the Education Department, Connecticut did not have to spend money to provide tests in writing (NCLB only requires tests in reading and math), provide modified tests for the disabled, and translate tests into other languages.

In response, Blumenthal accuses the federal government of launching “a scorched earth assault on states’ rights to protect their citizens against arbitrary and capricious federal action.”

“The secretary of education says that Connecticut must forgo all funding before it can challenge the federal government’s illegal unfunded mandates,” he says. “Her argument defies common sense, fairness, and public policy -- not to mention the law.”

The secretary “contends that Connecticut need only dumb down its tests or water down its standards, and there would be no shortage of federal funds,” Blumenthal says. “The NCLB Act was designed to improve actual student achievement -- not to create a federal paper charade.”

Report urges focus on international studies

• A new report from the Asia Society describes initiatives in U.S. schools to support international education.

States Prepare for the Global Age documents how education leaders are responding to business and policy leaders who are focusing attention on the link between their state’s economy and international trade -- and the need for employees who can approach problems with a broad world view.

According to the report, 11 states have conducted statewide “audits” examining the status of international education. Ten states have passed legislation or board of education policies to promote international education.

The report recommends the expansion of teacher training to support rigorous studies in world history, geography, global science, and economics. It calls for the development of world language pipelines from primary school on, primarily focused on such critical languages as Chinese.

The study can be found at: www.internationaled.org.

Schools honored for international education

• Richmond Elementary School in Portland, Ore., and Newton (Mass.) North and Newton South High Schools were awarded a Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International Education Dec. 8.

The awards program, sponsored by the foundation and the Asia Society, is aimed at making international knowledge and skills a key part of a 21st century education.

Richmond Elementary was honored for its Japanese Magnet Program, and the schools in Newton were honored for having the longest-running student and teacher exchange program with China.

Young children should have time for play

• The Alliance for Childhood has issued a “call to action” expressing concerns that “current trends in early education, fueled by political pressure, are leading to an emphasis on unproven methods of academic instruction and unreliable standardized testing that can undermine learning and damage young children healthy development.”

The alliance supports universal preschool as long as such efforts are not based on “educational fads.” It recommends “early education that emphasizes experiential, hands-on activities, open-ended creative play, and caring human relationships.”