November 1, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 10
Equity & Diversity
Teachers’ Network Works to Prevent Deportations
A coalition of teachers in France have been staging protests and helping shelter families facing deportation to keep the affected children inside the classroom and on track with their studies.
School Climate & Safety
In Wake of Riots, France Refashions Priority Zones
One year after widespread youth violence broke out in many disadvantaged communities in France, the government has embarked on an initiative aimed at adapting its 25-year-old “priority education” program to a landscape that has dramatically changed.
Equity & Diversity
A Question of Priorities
After violence in poor immigrant neighborhoods shook the country last year, France responded by focusing more resources on schools facing the most pressing disadvantages.
Teacher Preparation
‘Residencies’ Set Up to Train Urban Teachers at School Sites
Three groups that use a yearlong practicum to prepare college graduates for some of the nation’s toughest classrooms recently invited educators and others to take a closer look at their model.
School & District Management
Firms Merge in Busy Market for Superintendent Searches
Three well-established private firms and a recent start-up have merged to create a single large firm focused on superintendent searches.
Education Funding
Report: College Cost Hikes Slowing, But Are Still Outpacing Inflation
College costs are continuing to rise faster than inflation, but the annual increases aren’t as steep in percentage as they were just a few years ago, the College Board reported last week.
School & District Management
Reporter's Notebook
Superintendent-Principal Juggles 2 Jobs in Illinois
When an audience member at a conference here asked David D. Gilliland last week what things don’t get done in his district because he serves as both the superintendent and the only high school principal, he fired off an answer right away.
Federal
Teacher Pipeline Part of Operation to Lift a School
Graduates of the Chicago-based Academy for Urban School Leadership are channeled directly into low-performing "turn around" schools where they receive guidance from accomplished veterans.
Education
Report Roundup
Math and Science
A new report examines the performance of eight relatively large districts that attempted to improve the performance of their students in mathematics and science with the help of a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Education
Report Roundup
Pre-K Spending
An analysis of state spending on preschool shows that no states have decreased their budgets for early-childhood programs in fiscal 2007. And more states than ever—31, plus the District of Columbia—increased spending on pre-K, by a total of more than $450 million.
Education
Report Roundup
Policy Changes Seen Needed for Charters
Major policy changes are needed to “level the playing field” for charter schools, a new book argues. It wants changes that include equitable funding in relation to regular public schools, empowerment of new authorizers besides school districts, and elimination of arbitrary caps on the number of charters.
Education
Correction
Correction
An article in the Oct. 25, 2006, issue of Education Week on charter schools in the District of Columbia should have said that 118 out of 146 regular public schools in the city did not make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act for last school year.
Education
People in the News
David Hunt
David Hunt has been promoted to vice president for channel expansion and English-language programs at the Educational Testing Service, the Princeton, N.J.-based nonprofit testing and research company.
Education
People in the News
Luyen Chou
Luyen Chou has been hired as the senior vice president of Global Networks at SchoolNet Inc., a technology company that works with public schools to improve efficiency and academic achievement.
Education
People in the News
Carmen Fariña
Carmen Fariña has joined the board of directors for Teachers Network, a nationwide nonprofit organization based in New York City, that seeks to improve student achievement by bringing together a professional community of teachers and other educators.
Education
A National Roundup
Seattle Superintendent Resigns
Raj Manhas, the superintendent of the Seattle public schools, announced last week that he will step down from the job at the end of the school year.
Education
A National Roundup
Cincinnati Wins $20 Million Grant
The Cincinnati school district has received a five-year, $20 million grant from the GE Foundation to prepare students to enter college by improving their scores in mathematics and science.
Education
A National Roundup
Safety Training Clarified
In a letter to parents, officials of the Burleson, Texas, school district have responded to criticism of the district’s school safety training program, which has been portrayed in the news media as encouraging students to attack intruders or otherwise fight back against them.
Education
A National Roundup
New Orleans Board, Agencies to Build Early-Childhood Center
The Orleans Parish school board and the state-run Recovery School District in New Orleans have announced plans to open an Early Childhood and Family Learning Center at an elementary school in the storm-battered city.
Education
A National Roundup
430 Detroit Teachers Receive Notices of Possible Layoffs
Plummeting enrollment continues to vex the Detroit public schools, prompting district managers to issue layoff notices to 430 teachers—about 6 percent of the teaching corps.
Education
A National Roundup
Arbitrator Faults Buffalo District Over Switch to Single Insurer
An arbitrator has ordered the Buffalo, N.Y., school district to let its employees choose any of several health-insurance plans, saying the district engaged in “heavy-handed bullying” when it decided to use only one plan.
Education
A National Roundup
Internship Program in Education Reform to Triple With Grant
Education Pioneers, a nonprofit group based in San Jose, Calif., that recruits top graduate students into summer internships in education organizations, has received a $1.2 million grant that will enable it to triple its program.
School Choice & Charters
Fla. City Eyes More Charters
Officials in Pembroke Pines, Fla., are contemplating an effort to convert 13 Broward County public schools into charters run by the city.
Student Well-Being
GAO Opinion Renews Debate on Abstinence-Only Programs
A recent opinion issued by a congressional watchdog agency has stoked debate over what schools should be telling students about condom use.
Recruitment & Retention
Many Teacher Incentive Fund Applications Rejected
The U.S. Department of Education will award this year less than half the money appropriated to pay bonuses to principals and teachers whose students perform better on tests and meet tough academic goals.
School & District Management
Unions Provide Money and Personnel for Key Races
In the lead-up to Election Day next week, the two national teachers’ unions have set their sights on swaying several state gubernatorial contests, as well as a crop of federal races that could help determine control of Congress.
Social Studies
Opinion
An Argument to Engage Students In the Political Process
Robert Dallek, a presidential historian and a senior consultant for McDougal Littell American History, writes that American educators can improve students' interest and involvement in the democratic process.
School & District Management
Opinion
Welcoming the Entrepreneurial Era?
Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, writes that, although they face resistance, young, unconventional entrepreneurs have the potential to help answer some of education's most stubborn challenges.
