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Items in this update:
o FROM THE EDITOR: Night of the living dead
o Education breaks folded into tax bill's fine print
o Repetition + Rap = Charter School Success
o Big Apple kids can fail and still pass
o Once again, spelling bee won by a homeschooler
o Another victory for choice in Illinois
o Texas legislature places restrictions on charter schools
o Hague reopens school choice row in attack on 'rattled' PM
o Education savings accounts getting another look
o Homeschooler achieves perfection
o Charter school principal referees fights for a reason
o 'Survivor' inspired by 'Lord of the Flies' and school
o 'New math' worth a try, says NYC mathpanel chief
o NYC's Vallone to NYC parents: I will fight privatization
o Milwaukee students taught at home get to flip tassels
o Chicago charters showing progress
o More school cash is missing
o NYC HOLD debate on math reform
o The Department of Embezzlement
o Parents vs. educrats
o Reagan's ABCs
o Vouchers help teachers too
o Math wars, conceptual thinking and traditional algorithms
o De-worshipping public education
Dear Fellow School Reformer,
Despite our mumbled valedictions over the grave, federal-level school
choice is not altogether kaput after all. It's simply taking a somewhat
different form; and it's not in the education bill, it's in the tax bill;
and it's a tax break rather than a voucher.
"This is a major breakthrough," said Joe McTighe, the executive
director of
the Council for American Private Education. He says it's the first time
the
feds are giving tax relief for the purpose of precollegiate education. A
previous President (initials of B.C.) twice vetoed tax bills that would
have enabled education savings accounts. So, call this year's educational
spending "central planning plus a dash of choice."
Tax credits are much in the news lately. The Illinois courts, for example,
have just issued a favorable ruling on the subject. The Institute for
Choice gets the credit.
Meanwhile, back in the Big Apple, we keep receiving reports of tales of
two
cities -- two ways of educating.
First there's the hear-no-evil, see-no-evil, reform-no-evil regime of the
educrats as personified by Chancellor Levy, who a few months back helped
torpedo the conversion of a bunch of failing public schools to charters
via
his blundering and lackluster "support" for the idea. Levy is
full-throttle
behind the policy of advancing flunking kids up to the next grade level
regardless of academic circumstances. "Everyone's entitled to a bad
day,"
says Levy, in reference to botched final exams.
The other city is the city of choice and alternatives, as incarnated by
Bronx Preparatory Charter School. This school uses music -- i.e.,
mnemonics, or memory techniques -- to teach the basics. According to The
New York Times, the recently opened charter "saw its math scores
soar, from
29 percent of students performing at grade level to 71 percent, placing it
in the 77th percentile nationally, a rare ranking for a school serving
black and Hispanic children from poor families."
We don't usually feature all the stories about how kids are being
pointlessly suspended for drawing pictures of guns or having a ruler in
the
back pack or a kitchen knife in the trunk of a car, but all this
educational fascism does come under one of our official database
categories
of "quality of education." And the desire not to have your
innocent tyke
bulldozed by administrators exercising not a speck of common sense is as
good a reason as any to homeschool.
The latest nonsense: a second-grader suspended for pretending a piece of
chicken was a pistol.
Poor little Billy sure does _seem_ like an innocent 8-year-old who does
the
sort of things 8-year-olds invariably do, but hey ... after Columbine, you
can never be too sure, right? Human nature is completely different, now.
Yours for school choice,
David M. Brown
Editor
SchoolReformers.com
http://www.schoolreformers.com
P.S. Oh by the way -- a homeschooler won the national spelling bee. Again.
==> NEWS REPORTS <==
Education breaks folded into tax bill's fine print
----------
The tax bill approved by Congress includes a tax break for
private school tuition costs. "This is a major breakthrough,"
said Joe McTighe, the executive director of the Council for American
Private Education...the first time the federal government will
provide tax relief to help families expand their options for precollegiate
education. (06/06/01)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?
slug=39tax.h20
Repetition + Rap = Charter School Success
----------
At Bronx Preparatory Charter School, a back to basics
curriculum paid off with gains on standardized test scores, particularly
in math. The school's creative stamp is its songbook. Between tracks, the
children spend their long hours at Bronx Prep marching through basic
training for college, for life -- and for standardized tests. (Site
requires registration.) (06/06/01)
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/06/nyreg
ion/06CHAR.html
Big Apple kids can fail and still pass
----------
The NYC Board of Education will allow thousands of
summer-school students to be promoted even if they flunk their exams.
Schools Chancellor Harold Levy defended the policy. "Everyone's
entitled to a bad day." (06/06/01)
http://www.nypostonline.com/news/region
alnews/31994.htm
Grade 2 student suspended for pretending food was a pistol
----------
"Somebody told on me," says Billy. Says the felon's
mom: "There are gun rules. But this wasn't a gun. It was a chicken
finger, something that you eat. And kids do play. Especially an
eight-year-old boy." (05/31/01)
http://www.herald.ns.ca/cgi-bin/home/load
main?2001/05/31+227.raw
Once again, spelling bee won by a homeschooler
----------
Sean Conley, 13, wins the National Spelling Bee with the word
"succedaneum." "I was really lucky to have
homeschooled all this time because I had enough time to practice for
the spelling bee instead of having to do a lot of other work that wasn't
necessarily stuff I wanted to learn about or that was exactly at my
level." (06/01/01)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/ame
ricas/newsid_1363000/1363359.stm
Another victory for choice in Illinois
----------
"[Institute for Justice] won another courtroom battle on
the school choice front when a three-judge panel of the Appellate
Court of Illinois for the Fifth Judicial District issued a unanimous
ruling on April 3 upholding the constitutionality of the Illinois
educational expenses tax credit." (05/01)
http://www.ij.org/publications/liberty/200
1/10_3_01_h.asp
Texas legislature places restrictions on charter schools
----------
The measure would make it easier for universities to obtain
state charters to run schools, and place no limits on their number.
But charters granted to everyone other than higher education institutions
would be capped at 215 -- about two-dozen more than the state's current
crop of charter schools. (06/06/01)
http://edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=
39texas.h20
Hague reopens school choice row in attack on 'rattled' PM
----------
William Hague has re-opened the debate over the British prime
minister's decision to send his children to a private school. As the
campaign entered its final 24 hours, the Tory leader contrasted Mr.
Blair's decision to send his children to the London Oratory school with
the government's habit of "kicking away the ladder from other
parents." (06/06/01)
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/stor
y/0,5500,502502,00.html
Education savings accounts getting another look
----------
During his second term, President Clinton twice vetoed tax
bills that would have allowed parents to set aside money in tax-free
savings accounts to help pay the costs of public or private
schooling. Under a new President, that could change. (04/04/01)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?
slug=29savings.h20
Homeschooler achieves perfection
----------
A 17-year-old who has been mostly homeschooled earned a
perfect score on his Scholastic Assessment Test. (06/02/01)
http://www.freepress.com/news/educatio
n/perf2_20010602.htm
Charter school principal referees fights for a reason
----------
"We were going to finish this our way, whether Mr. Wells
was there or not," says McClendon, a burly 18-year-old
with Don King-style hair. "He didn't want us to end up dead, so he
said, 'If you're going to fight, I'm going to be there.'" (06/03/01)
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/loca
l_regional/badg06032001.htm
'Survivor' inspired by 'Lord of the Flies' and school
----------
It is not the first time that public school has been referred
to as a perfect training ground for survival in tough conditions.
(06/03/01)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000859
662412044&rtmo=0KbxsXsq&atmo=rrrrrrrq
&pg=/et/01/6/3/nsurv03.html
'New math' worth a try, says NYC math panel chief
----------
The "new" math focuses on group learning, more
"real world" applications and, in some cases, permitting
approximate answers. Some angry parents said they're sending their kids
for tutoring because the students are not learning the basics, and some
teachers have protested, too. (05/31/01)
http://www.nypostonline.com/news/regio
nalnews/31621.htm
NYC's Vallone to NYC parents: I will fight privatization
----------
Council Speaker Peter Vallone vowed yesterday to shoot down
Mayor Giuliani's attempt to put $80 million into next year's city budget
to help privatize failing public schools. (06/04/01)
http://www.nypostonline.com/news/region
alnews/31817.htm
Milwaukee students taught at home get to flip tassels
----------
The nine Milwaukee students on the dais had all been
homeschooled. And instead of receiving their diplomas from a district
superintendent or high school principal, doing the honors were their
parents. (06/01/01)
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jun01
/grads04060301a.asp
Chicago charters showing progress
----------
Four years into the Chicago Public Schools' five-year
experiment with charter schools, results on the latest Iowa Tests of
Basic Skills show that more schools improved their reading scores than
ever before. And the results couldn't have come at a better time for
charter school proponents. (06/04/01)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/me
tro/chicago/article/0,2669,SAV-01060401
43,FF.html
More school cash is missing
----------
Detroit Public Schools released four new school audits
Tuesday that revealed even more of the scandals found in previous audits:
More missing money, more misspent money, and more money passing through
the schools without a paper trail. (05/30/01)
http://www.freepress.com/news/education/
audit30_20010530.htm
For more News Reports see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resour
ces/bycategory/news/
==> EVENTS <==
NYC HOLD debate on math reform
----------
June 6, 2001
Mathematicians and scientists from New York University, City
University, and Harvard spoke out against the controversial new math
programs taught in New York City Schools, at a NYC HOLD parent-hosted math
forum on Wednesday, June 6, at NYU School of Law.
http://www.educationnews.org/nyc_hold_
honest_open_logical_deb.htm
For more Events see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resourc
es/bycategory/events/
==> COMMENTARY, OPINION, AND BOOK REVIEWS <==
The Department of Embezzlement
----------
by Michelle Malkin
"President Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' school reform
proposal passed in the House last week. Considering what a colossal black
hole the U.S. Department of Education has become, the $24 billion plan
would be more appropriately dubbed 'No Dime Left Behind.'"
(05/31/01)
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/mic
hellemalkin/mm20010531.shtml
Parents vs. educrats
----------
by Deroy Murdock
Edison Schools, Inc. is outflanking failing government
schools, and educrats don't like it. (05/31/01)
http://www.nationalreview.com/murdoc
k/murdock053101.shtml
Reagan's ABCs
----------
by Dan Lips
"Instead of dumping more money into Jimmy Carter's
bureaucratic boondoggle [the Education Department], President Bush should
get behind the scholarship tax credit. In the process, the new president
could empower millions of parents with school choice, return federal
power to the people, and, finally, deliver a long overdue win for the
Gipper." (06/01/01)
http://www.cato.org/dailys/06-01-01.html
Vouchers help teachers too
----------
by Tim DeRoche
One of the best reasons for school vouchers has been
consistently overlooked: Vouchers will be good for teachers. In a
full voucher system, teachers are freed from the need for unions.
Like doctors and lawyers, they become full professionals, free to
sell their services to the highest bidder. (06/06/01)
http://edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=
39deroche.h20
Math wars, conceptual thinking and traditional algorithms
----------
by David S. Ross, Ph.D.
The reformers are wrong and their opponents are right.
"[A] mastered algorithm in the hands of a student is an incomparable
tool for laying bare the conceptual structure of the mathematical problems
that the algorithm solves. With such tools ... a student can grasp
and integrate in twelve years a body of mathematics that it has taken
hundreds of geniuses thousands of years to devise."
http://www.educationnews.org/The
Math Wars, Conceptual Thinking, and
Traditional Algorithms.htm
De-worshipping public education
----------
by Karen De Coster
"It's time that taxpayers reject the public education
nipple and look toward the same market they covet for their goods and
services - the free market." (05/20/01)
austrian-accountant@home.com
http://www.spintechmag.com/0105/k
d0501.htm
For more Commentary, Opinion, and Book Reviews see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/res
ources/bycategory/commentary/
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