CER NEWSWIRE
Vol. 4, No. 9
March 5, 2002

* CHOICE: The city of Philadelphia was rejuvenated last weekend when hundreds of school choice activists descended upon the city to participate in the 2nd Annual BAEO Symposium. But as Pennsylvania State Senator Tony Williams pointed out in his opening remarks, the Mayor did not accept an invitation to greet BAEO members. He missed a great event. As expected, the event was filled with several inspirational messages on the benefits and necessity of having viable options for children who need them most. A roof-raising performance by the KIPP Academy orchestra kicked-off the festivities, and Secretary Rod Paige followed the performance with a commanding message of his own that Philly's new School Reform Commission should have heard: In order to have authentic school reform, charter schools need to be part of the mix. Kaleem Caire, the President and CEO of BAEO, pushed the audience to build a better, stronger more effective alliance to bring about good schools for all children and Dr. Howard Fuller, the founder and chairman of the board, wrapped-up the 4-day event with an invigorating message of hope. For more information about BAEO and its efforts, log onto http://www.baeo.org.

* REFORM: Read about more stories like this and get updated on the status of reform in several states by linking now to the CER flagship "Monthly Letter for Friends," mid-winter issue.

* TESTING: The anti-testing crowd has built a constituency and support based on the premise that such a concentrated focus on testing turns off students and turns teachers into automatons. Many have questioned this premise, particularly in light of evidence that shows that in states with high-stakes testing -- such as Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts and Virginia -- achievement has improved teaching and learning. But now there is even more evidence that the anti-testing crowd is misreading the tealeaves: A new report by Public Agenda, just released today, finds that the vast majority of children "aren't feeling the heat" that is apparently ascribed to them: "Most say they can either deal with the stress or don't worry at all about taking the tests. And most teachers and students say preparing for standardized tests has not detracted from learning in their classrooms."

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF OBTAINING BASIC SKILLS, the survey (conducted annually and known as REALITY CHECK) also found for the fifth straight year, employers and college professors report unsatisfactory basic skills attainment among high school graduates. Public Agenda offers several other insights into how Americans view the state of education. And once again, Schools of Education demonstrate that unlike employers and colleges, they do not put a premium on obtaining skills such as grammar, spelling, punctuation and basic math. "Just 20 percent of high school teachers report that students in their schools" do well on those skills but another survey found that only 19 percent of education professors believe that it is essential to produce teachers who 'stress correct spelling, grammar and punctuation' for their students. To view the reports, go to: http://www.publicagenda.org.

* CHARTERS: Under a bill introduced today in the Ohio Legislature, charter schools would be authorized and overseen by several other entities than is currently the case, including colleges, non-profit groups, education service centers and traditional public schools. Currently, the State Board and local boards may approve charters for the Big Eight school districts (those areas most plagued by failing schools) and others experiencing academic emergency, which add up to roughly 35 percent of the state's districts. The purpose of the bill is to alleviate the burden on the state Department of Education, which is ill-equipped to oversee directly the operations of the state's 92 charter schools. The move is a wise one. Most of the states where authorizers other than SEAs or LEAs have control tend to yield higher quality schools where performance is more easily monitored and supported. For more information about the various differences in the laws, check out CER's most recent charter law rankings.

* CHARTERS II: Some Hoosiers are playing a delay game, and it's not the Indiana basketball team. Based on an unsubstantiated claim that all public schools operate with a 4 to 6 month funding lag, the Indiana Department of Education recently made clear that it will withhold first semester funding for all new charter school students.

Indiana's charter supporters note that this action is not only based on a totally unsupported claim, but even worse, is a clear violation of the state's charter law, which stipulates that all new charter schools must begin receiving funds within 40 days of opening. This was a point stressed by State Senator Teresa Lubbers (R-Indianapolis) as she and other legislators attempted to pass a measure guaranteeing charters timely delivery of their funds. A majority of legislators caved in to the demands of school districts for whom the real threat of charter schools are apparently too much for them. Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, the Indiana School Resource Center, and four charter schools approved by Peterson are exploring ways to ensure that the state follow the law as written, but so far the DOE shows no sign of changing its stance. The state's school superintendent is an elected post, now occupied by Republican Suellen Reed. Grassroots groups are already discussing next possibilities.

* REGULATION: The Mackinac Center of Michigan is asking educators and parents from across that state to send in the most outrageous school regulation they can find. The Michigan Department of Education supports the contest, and State Superintendent Tom Watkins will consider waiving onerous school regulations uncovered by the contest if a district can prove its learning environment will benefit from the waiver. If you have a candidate for the contest send it to cer@edreform.com and we will make sure it gets to Mackinac, which is conducting research into confusing and conflicting mandates that hamper school districts. The deadline for submissions is April 1. The winner will receive a hand-held computer organizer.

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The CER Newswire may be redistributed in its entirety with proper attribution. The CER Newswire is published by The Center for Education Reform, the nation's leading authority on school reform. CER is dedicated to making schools better for America's children by improving educational access and excellence for all. CER works with parents, teachers and policymakers to advance meaningful education improvement initiatives.

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