To:
LWVO
From: Joan Platz
Education Update for October 2, 2006
1) NCLB Commission Hearings:
A commission formed by The Aspen Institute, Walter Isaacson President &
CEO, has been conducting hearings nationally and accepting comments regarding
the reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act in 2007. The commission, co-chaired by former Georgia
Governor Roy Barnes and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G.
Thompson, concluded a series of hearings on NCLB on September 25, 2006. The text of these hearings will be included
in recommendations for the reauthorization of this act, and will be presented
to Congress early next year. Some of
the issues presented at the hearings included measuring individual student
progress, the rigor of state assessments, determining adequate yearly progress,
school improvement options, teacher quality, choice, and more. Speaking before the commission last week
were representatives from the U.S. Department of Education and several
education organizations and think tanks. Although there is general support for
the reauthorization of the act, there is also support for measuring student
academic progress from year to year, and making other changes in the bill. For more information about The Aspen
Institute NCLB Commission, please visit www.nclbcommission.org .
2) Annual Poll by KnowledgeWorks
Released:
The KnowledgeWorks Foundation released last week the results of its 6th annual
poll called "Ohio's Education Matters 2006". To view the results of the poll please visit
http://www.kwfdn.org/poll/2006/schoolstomorrow/accountability.asp
Included in this year's survey of 800 Ohioans were questions about how well local public, joint vocational, technical, two, and four year colleges and universities were doing in the areas of accountability; assessment and standards; school finance; preparation and transition to higher education; innovative school programs; and choice options.
Education
is a Priority: The results of 2006 poll
show that 80 percent of respondents believe that education is a top priority
over issues such as jobs, taxes, corruption, cost of living, and
immigration. When asked what is the
most important issue for public schools, 24.9 percent of respondents said
schools need to concentrate on basics and offer a balanced curriculum; 10
percent reported lack of discipline, crime, and drugs; 7.4 percent said funding
alternatives; and 7.9 percent said more funding from state and federal
government.
School
Funding: 63.4 percent of respondents
believe that state funding for Ohio's K-12 public schools is less than
adequate. In addition, 79.9 percent of
respondents think that the state of Ohio should spend more on education. 58.5 percent of respondents reported that
funding should come primarily from state government, while 20.7 percent
reported that funding should come from local school districts. 75 percent of respondents would support a
state law that requires all school districts in Ohio to spend a certain
percentage of their money on classroom instruction.
Charter
schools and Choice: 37.8 percent of respondents reported being somewhat
knowledgeable, while 33.3 percent reported not very knowledgeable about
alternatives to local public schools.
50.4 percent of respondents support charter schools while 40.1 percent
oppose charter schools. When asked
about how well charter schools were doing in Ohio, 12 percent of respondents
reported that charter schools are working well; 25.3 percent reported that there
should be minor changes; 13.7 percent support major changes; 11.6 percent
support an overhaul, and 36.8 percent do not know enough about charter
schools. 48.5 percent of respondents
reported that state funding should only be used for students who attend public
schools.
Accountability: 57 percent of respondents said that
standardized tests were not an accurate indicator of student progress and
abilities, and 49.5 percent of respondents oppose using standardized testing to
determine how well local schools are performing. When it comes to transferring to a higher performing school, 72.1
percent of respondents favor additional efforts in their current school rather
than transferring to a new school.
Student
Preparation: Respondent gave overall
support to the graduation requirements proposed by Governor Taft called the
Ohio Core, and increased state funding to implement the core. For example, 76.4 percent of respondents
favor making two years of a foreign language a graduation requirement; 85.2
percent favor three years of social studies; 85.9 favor three years of science;
93.8 favor four years of English; and 89.5 favor four years of math, including
two years of algebra.
3) Voter Information Update:
*The League
of Women Voters of Ohio, Common Cause, COHHIO, and Ohio Votes have prepared a
flyer to help citizens understand the new voting regulations recently approved
by the Ohio General Assembly in HB 3 (DeWine).
The Voter Protection flyer is available online at http://www.lwvohio.org,
and follow the links. A Spanish
language version of the flyer is also available by contacting the LWVO office
at 877-598-6446 ext.10.
*The League
of Women Voters of Ohio, Ohio News Network (ONN), and Ohio Public Television
(OPT) will host a series of statewide candidate debates. These debates will be taped in Columbus at
the Statehouse on October 17-19, and aired later. The confirmed debates will include the candidates for Secretary
of State, Treasurer, and Supreme Court.
ONN and OPT will also provide copies of the debates to local public
television stations for rebroadcast.
*Several
local League of Women Voters affiliates are hosting meetings in their communities
to inform citizens about redistricting, campaign finance, accountability,
election law, and judicial reform.
These meetings, called imPACT Town Hall meetings, are scheduled for
Portsmouth on November 13, 2006; Kent on November 16, 2006; Dayton on November
16, 2006; and Toledo on November 16, 2006. Shaker Heights and Athens have
already held imPACT meetings in their communities. For more information please
visit the imPACT web site at http://www.ohioimpact.org
4) Segregation of Ohio's Schools
Topic of Forum:
The 2006 Forum on Homelessness in Columbus will focus on the effects of racism
and segregation on educational opportunities for children in Ohio. The forum will be held Wednesday, October
18, 2006 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM in the Huntington Hall at the YWCA, 65 South
Fourth Street, Columbus.
This is the
sixth annual public Forum sponsored by the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless,
and the second year that the League of Women Voters of Metro Columbus and the
League of Women Voters of Ohio have been sponsors. As in the past, the goal of the Forum is to energize participants
with information, strategies, and skills to become better advocates for individuals
and families who experience homelessness in their communities.
The special
focus of this year's Forum will be the role that education plays for those who
face homelessness, and what can be done to expand educational opportunities for
all students in Ohio. Information about the registration fee, continuing
education units (CEUs), and scholarships is available online at http://www.columbushomeless.org/or by calling
614-252-3257. The deadline for early
registration is October 4, 2006.
5) New Study on the Florida Voucher
Programs:
The National Center for the Study of Privatization of Education, Teachers
College at Columbia University, has on its web site a new study called
"The Future of Vouchers: Lessons from the Adoption, Design, and Court
Challenges of Three Voucher Programs in Florida." The study was conducted by Douglas N.
Harris, Carolyn D. Herrington, Amy Albee.
A draft of the study was released on September 26, 2006, and is
available at http://ncspe.org/readrel.php?set=pub&cat=145
.
According
to the abstract, the study looked at the factors that have contributed to the
implementation of three voucher programs in Florida. These factors include,
"moderate social conservatism, openness to various sorts of privatization,
large and growing Hispanic population, and out-of-state
"transplanted" voters who have weak ties to the state's public
education system." The efforts of
Governor Jeb Bush helped overcome strong opposition to these voucher programs,
which rest on "...shaky legal foundation due to two highly restrictive
features of the state's constitution, the so-called Blaine Amendment and
provisions for "public" and "uniform" schools. This leaves
the Florida voucher programs on uncertain political and legal
ground." The study concludes,
"We argue therefore that while the adoption of vouchers in Florida does
signal a continued national trend toward school choice, it does not suggest
that the trend will continue in the form of state-funded vouchers or, more
specifically, in forms that allow the use of state funds in religious and other
private schools."
6) Reality Check Looks at School
Reform:
The fourth in a series of Reality Check reports called "The Insiders: How
Principals and Superintendents See Public Education Today" by Jean
Johnson, Ana Maria Arumi, and Amber Ott, identifies the differences among
educators in their experiences, perceptions, and assumptions about school
reform and what students need. This is
Public Agenda's fourth issue in the Reality Check series. Other Reality Check issues have focused on
Standardized Testing, How Black and Hispanic Families Rate their Schools, and
Math and Science Readiness.
According
to this latest Reality Check survey, "...most public school
superintendents -- and principals to a lesser extent -- think local schools are
already in pretty good shape. In fact, more than half of the nation's
superintendents consider local schools to be "excellent." Most
superintendents (77%) and principals (79%) say low academic standards are not a
serious problem where they work."
"Superintendents'
perspectives are also vastly different from teachers on key issues - 62% of
teachers say kids are slipping through the system without learning; only 27% of
superintendents think so."
These
findings show the, "....major disconnects between the priorities of
national policy-makers versus those of local school leaders on issues like
teacher quality, standards and the need to ramp up science and math
coursework."
To learn
more about this report and the other Reality Check reports, please visit http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports_details.cfm?list=101
7) The Arts and Student Achievement:
This month's issue of Edutopia magazine features an article about the Boston
Arts Academy called "Cross Training" by Grace Rubenstein. The Boston Arts Academy is a pilot school in
the Boston Public School system that has made the arts central to learning
math, science, and the humanities. According to the article, teachers at the
school see training in the arts as a way to train students for life by
developing a creative and entrepreneurial understanding of the world. Students choose a major from among theater,
dance, instrumental music, vocal music, and visual art, and instruction is
integrated with all disciplines.
"The
results are impressive. The academy's students, many from low-income families
and drug-impacted neighborhoods, produce exceptional art for their age - and 97
percent of them go on to college. Though it's an arts school, academic
achievement is a priority: According to the most recent available data, 92
percent of the academy's sophomores passed the state's English test and 80
percent passed math, compared to 73 percent and 67 percent of Boston students
overall." To read the article, please visit http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1645&issue=oct_06
. Edutopia magazine is published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation.