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May 25, 2007
Morning Shots
Time Magazine: How to fix No Child Left Behind
It's countdown time in Philadelphia's public schools. Just 21 days remain before the state reading and math tests in March, and the kids and faculty at James G. Blaine Elementary, an all-black, inner-city school that spans pre-K to eighth grade, have been drilling for much of the day.
To understand the impact of the 2001 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, indelibly rebranded as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), you need to visit a school like Blaine. The astonishingly ambitious law, the Bush Administration's proudest domestic achievement, was crafted with high-poverty, low-achieving schools like this one in mind. NCLB proponents and critics alike agree that the law's greatest accomplishment has been shining an unforgiving spotlight on such languishing schools and demanding that they do better.
Ask almost any school administrator, education policymaker or think-tank wonk about NCLB, and you're guaranteed to get at least one sunny metaphor about how the law opened a window, raised a curtain or otherwise illuminated the plight of the nation's underserved kids.
There's plenty of argument, however, about how the law seeks to achieve these goals.
Salt Lake Tribune: Voucher confusion deepens
Confusion surrounds a November vote on the state's private school voucher program despite actions taken Thursday by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and legislative leaders meant to clarify the situation. If anything, things got muddier.
Despite requests from the attorney general, education officials and some Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature, Huntsman refuses to call a special session to sort out the mess.
The referendum aims to repeal one voucher law, but another that accidentally re-enacted major portions of the first one would remain on the books. Some say that second law can be used to give parents state money to help defray the cost of private school tuition.
"Oh man, it's such a mess," Senate President John Valentine said.
Los Angeles Times: Schools could use funds better, study says
The Los Angeles school district gets more of its money into the classroom than most urban school systems, but doesn't use those funds nearly as well as it could, according to a study commissioned by the district and the teachers union.
The results were released on the same day that Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. David L. Brewer unveiled broad plans to eliminate 500 positions, while refashioning the very bureaucracy that may be less bloated than widely believed.
In this more extensive review, researchers concluded that L.A. Unified receives less money than most other urban school districts, while putting 59% of its budget into the classroom.
Echoing other research, the Education Resource Strategies team said state and federal rules hamstring local reform, while adding costs and bureaucratic layers.
Washington Post: Teachers lacking certification face dismissal
A D.C. public schools official has notified more than 300 teachers that they will be terminated next month if they do not have the proper credentials to remain in the classroom.
The teachers were told they "will be terminated from DCPS effective June 30," unless they notify the Office of Human Resources that they can produce a valid District teaching or service provider license, Johnnie Fairfax, the office's acting director, wrote in a May 21 letter. If the teachers can verify that they are currently enrolled in a program and will complete the course work by Aug. 31, they will be granted an exception.
The numbers are far lower than last year, when the superintendent reported that about one-fourth of the teachers in the school system, or about 1,100, were not certified.
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