Education News: January 11, 2008

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending January 11, 2008.

Steroid Tests to Begin in Texas High Schools
(Source: The Houston Chronicle, 1/11/08):  Beginning next month, the state of Texas will begin administering random drug tests for steroids to 23,000 high school athletes each year.  Student athletes who test positive for anabolic steroids will temporarily be suspended from competition in their sports.

Maine Program Brightens College Prospects – At Birth
(Source:  The Christian Science Monitor, 1/10/08):  The Harold Alfond College Challenge is a new foundation program that gives Maine parents a $500 starter grant and assistance with paperwork to establish 529 college savings accounts for their newborn infants.  The program is meant to encourage parents to create and maintain good saving habits for their children’s education.  After a one-year pilot program at two hospitals, the program will be expanded to include all Maine newborns.

Court Hears Suit over Year-Round Schools
(Source:  The (Raleigh) News and Observer, 1/9/08):  The controversy surrounding year-round schooling continued this week in Raleigh, North Carolina, as a lawyer for Wake County schools argued before the state Court of Appeals that parental permission should not be needed to send students to year-round schools.  Previously, a state court had ruled that parental permission was necessary, and the result was over-crowding in traditional-calendar schools and a reduction in diversity, due to the fact that low-income families were more likely to opt out of the year-round schools.

Bill on School Firings Passes
(Source: The Washington Post, 1/9/08):  The D.C. Council has passed legislation that will allow D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee to fire non-unionized school system employees without cause.  This will leave 488 people at the system’s central office vulnerable to firing, but Ms. Rhee emphasized that only incompetent people will be fired and that the legislation will foster a “culture of accountability” in D.C. schools.

New Jersey Revamps State Aid to Schools
(Source: The New York Times, 1/8/08):  After hours of deliberation, the New Jersey Legislature approved Governor Jon Corzine’s $7.8 billion plan to increase and redistribute funding for New Jersey’s public schools.  If the legislation is not blocked by the State Supreme Court, education funding will be increased by $532.8 million during the first year, and many children who live outside the state’s poorest areas will have markedly more education money spent on them than has recently been the case.

Arizona Teacher Shortage Threatens to Stall Education
(Source:  The Arizona Republic, 1/7/08):  A teacher shortage in Arizona is causing many children to stagnate or lose ground academically rather than make forward progress.  In many cases, classes that have lost their regular teachers are taught by one short-term substitute after another.  Because most qualified educators have no trouble finding regular teaching jobs in the midst of the teacher shortage, the pool of substitute teachers is sparse and under-qualified.

As PTA Groups Move Online, So Does Dissension
(Source:  The Washington Post, 1/7/08):  Parents are able to quickly share information and, in some cases, ruffle feathers now that PTA groups across the nation are using large email lists to communicate.  In some cases, the ‘ownership’ of a given list falls into question and a ‘rival’ email list arises.  Questions of email etiquette and content censorship have caused controversy as well.