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June 26, 2007

Morning Shots

New York Daily News:  For kids, parents work the system

The New York Daily News takes a look at what it takes for inner-city families to provide a good education for their children with a new series.  The series follows the 13-year path of 23 Harlem kids from kindergarten to high school graduation.  It's a glimpse into the struggles to graduate high school in an urban environment that many people never understand.

Some lied about addresses to get their children into better schools. Others used connections to make sure their kids ended up with the best teachers. One stayed in public housing to afford Catholic school, while another fled the city for New Jersey - and a fresh start.

Their stories show that haggling and string pulling is not just limited to the wealthy and middle class - parents of all incomes do whatever they can to work the vast public school system for the sake of their children.

"People do what they have to do for their children," said Terry Love, who used an acquaintance's address to send her daughter, Danique, to two prestigious public schools on the upper West Side from third grade through eighth grade.

Though the kindergartners at Public School 36 began their education in the same classroom in 1994, their paths diverged significantly as their parents struggled to ensure their kids got what all New York families want - a quality education.

Washington Post:  Ex-aides break with Bush on 'No Child'

President Bush urged lawmakers yesterday to renew No Child Left Behind, his landmark education initiative, but one of his biggest political liabilities in achieving that goal comes from an unlikely source: his former aides.

Five years after they helped craft and implement the initiative, senior administration officials from Bush's first term are speaking out against the law with increasing boldness. The shift, combined with mounting criticism from both the political right and left in Congress, is causing supporters of the law to worry that it might not win renewal this year.

"I had these second thoughts in the back of my mind the whole time," said Eugene W. Hickok, a former deputy education secretary. "I believe it was a necessary step at the time, but now that it has been in place for a while, it's important to step back and see if there are other ways to solve the problem."

Some former senior department officials said they have a strained relationship with Spellings over first-term disputes and her second-term agenda. That friction might hinder her efforts to gain support from key education groups and lawmakers for renewal of No Child Left Behind, several senior officials said.

Times Picayune: Recover School District Superintendent promises reform during aid bid

As part of a bid for federal aid, Recovery School District Superintendent Paul Vallas told the state's recovery board Monday that he will try to lower the New Orleans district's student-to-teacher ratio and expects to be judged harshly if test scores and attendance rates don't rise.

"You can expect scores to go up, you can expect graduation rates to go up," Vallas said. "The scores (now) are so low that if they don't go up, I should leave town in shame. The scores at some of the schools, you could do as well by guessing."

Vallas told the state board that the district will try to maintain a 20-to-1 ratio of students to teachers in elementary schools with a "slightly higher" ratio at high schools. A district spokeswoman later said Vallas wants to limit the ratio to 25-to-1 at high schools.

He predicted there will be an "adequate number of seats available for our children" in New Orleans schools come September. Pastorek has said he expects a total enrollment in all New Orleans public schools of about 33,000 this fall, up from 27,000 this past year.

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