3/15/05 -- California leaders not happy with NCLB plan
• The U.S. Education Department and the California Department of Education have approved an agreement on the criteria used for determining whether school districts are meeting adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
Under the criteria that had been used by the state, 14 school districts were designated as in need of improvement and targeted for sanctions. The changes sought by the U.S. Education Department would have put 310 schools on the list.
Even though the compromise agreed to March 9 whittles the number of districts on the list to 184, “it is riddled with problems,” says California School Boards Association President Scott Plotkin.
“Rather than addressing NCLB’s fundamental defects, the deal simply offers more short-sighted, convoluted quick fixes that do much to penalize schools but little to support them,” Plotkin says. “Any system that labels districts like Cupertino Union Elementary -- one of the highest-achieving districts in the country -- as failing is clearly dysfunctional.”
Supreme Court hears Ten Commandments cases
• The U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases March 2 that could clear up the confusion over the constitutionality of religious displays on public property, including schools.
Van Orden v. Perry involves a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas state Capitol in Austin. The display was challenged as violating the First Amendment clause that prohibits the establishment of religion. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld the constitutionality of that monument.
The other case, McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union, involves framed copies of the Ten Commandments amid a display of nonreligious, historical documents at two county courthouses in Kentucky. Those displays were found to be unconstitutional by the Sixth Circuit.
NSBA had filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the cases and establish a clearer framework for determining the role of religion in public schools.
Gov. Bush proposes new voucher program
• Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has proposed a new voucher program to provide private school tuition assistance to students who fail the state’s reading test three years in a row.
The measure is part of a comprehensive education reform package announced Feb. 23 that also includes higher pay for teachers working in poor schools, teaching subject areas where there is a teacher shortage, and for teachers taking on additional duties such as mentoring other teachers.
As many as 170,000 children could be eligible for the new vouchers, the governor’s office reports.
The Florida School Boards Association opposes the voucher proposal but supports other aspects of the governor’s proposals.
Some state leaders questioned the logic of proposing a new voucher program while the legality of the state’s original voucher program -- for students at schools receiving a failing grade two out of four years -- has not been determined.
In November, a state appeals court ruled that program is unconstitutional because it allows tax dollars to be spent on religious schools. The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case this spring.
That program serves about 720 students. An additional 10,420 Florida children get corporate income tax vouchers and 15,500 get vouchers under a program for students with disabilities.
Connecticut’s NCLB request denied
• The U.S. Education Department has denied Connecticut’s request to waive some of the testing requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Commissioner of Education Betty J. Sternberg had requested a waiver of the provision that calls for all students in grades 3-8 to be given annual tests in reading and mathematics. Connecticut gives tests in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10, and Sternberg says the additional tests would cost millions of dollars.
A Feb. 28 letter from U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to Sternberg says: “We must measure annually and in each grade to determine if these [achievement] gaps are being closed, and, if they are not, adjustments must be made. For these reasons, we will not waiver in the implementation of the NCLB annual testing provisions.”
The state’s department of education issued a report stating that Connecticut will have to spend $41.6 million more than it is receiving from the federal government to comply with NCLB through fiscal year 2008.
That includes a shortfall of more than $8 million for NCLB-related standards and assessments and more than $19 million to provide technical assistance and support systems to school districts.
Utah rejects tuition tax credits
• A tuition tax credit bill was rejected for the fifth year in a row by the Utah legislature. The bill would have given tax breaks to parents who switch their children from public to private schools and to low-income parents whose children already attend private schools.
Utah lawmakers, however, did approve a voucher program to help parents of children with disabilities pay for tuition at private schools. The vouchers would range from $3,275 to $5,450, depending on the severity of students’ needs.