Entries for August 2008

The United States won the most medals of any country at the summer Olympic Games in Beijing, but it turned in a dismal performance at the Education Olympics. Americans took home only one medal from those games, for an embarrassing 20th-place finish, ahead of only Germany, Hungary, and Iceland. The top medal winners across all 58 education events were Finland (35 medals), Hong Kong (33 medals), and Singapore (16 medals).

Now, we know what you're asking: What are the Education Olympics? Why wasn't the public told about these games? And did Michael Phelps compete? We had the same questions, too, when we first learned about the thrashing team USA took. It turns out that the Education Olympics are not exactly sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee or even any international education organization. And they most certainly were not broadcast on national television (probably because they've never been held before).

A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, contains some eye-popping statistics about the growth in the number of Latino children enrolled in public schools. Since 1990, the number of Latino students nationwide has nearly doubled, reaching 10 million in 2006. That number is expected to swell to 28 million by 2050, which would mean Hispanic students will outnumber white children in public schools, according to the study. Today, 1 in 5 public school students is Hispanic.

The growth of Latino students—driven by immigration and higher fertility rates—is certain to pose challenges for educators, especially in so-called new or emerging Hispanic states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, among others. Already, these states are grappling with how to educate English learners, handle undocumented Latinos, and address a persistent achievement gap. Expect some of them to look to the Southwest for guidance. According to the study, California has the largest concentration of Latino children, where they now make up nearly half of all public school students, a 36 percent increase from 1990. Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas are also home to high numbers of Hispanics.

Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic wants to lease the city-owned sewage system to a private contractor and then use the $200 million from the deal to fund college scholarships for the Ohio city's public high school graduates, the Associated Press reports. Elegantly nicknamed "stools for schools," the plan is designed to address the area's brain drain problem and requires students to attend the University of Akron (or one of the city's trade schools) and remain in Akron after they graduate. If they leave, students will be required to pay the equivalent of the city's municipal income tax rate for up to 30 years on future income.

Students and educators seem to support the plan, while the city's sewage workers oppose the move to privatization, warning against loss of control over public works and potential sewage rate hikes.

If improving public schools was all that voters cared about in this presidential election, Democratic candidate Barack Obama would get more votes than Republican candidate John McCain, according to the results of a new poll. The poll was conducted by the Gallup Organization and Phi Delta Kappa International, a professional society for educators. Its findings are surprising partly because neither candidate has said much publicly about his plan for improving schools. These results also differ from the results of the same poll in the previous two presidential elections. In 2000 and 2004, no candidate—Republican or Democrat—emerged from the poll as a clear favorite on education issues.

In the latest poll, 46 percent of voting-age adults said Obama would do a better job of handling education, compared with 29 percent who favored McCain. The remaining 25 percent said they didn't know which candidate would be a better education president. Asked which candidate was better poised to close the achievement gap, support research in education, and adequately fund schools, respondents gave Obama the edge each time. Even on the question of promoting parental choice in schools, generally a strong point for Republicans, Obama was favored by 43 percent to McCain's 32 percent.

A new survey of college students and their parents finds that at least 14 percent of families borrowed the entire cost of the most recent academic year. In addition, the Gallup survey of about 700 students and 700 parents found that most families cobbled together the funds they needed for college last year from a variety of sources—a little from savings, perhaps a scholarship or two, a little from paychecks, and some loans.

"How America Pays for College," which was funded by student lending giant Sallie Mae and released this week, found that students, on average, borrowed and worked enough for about a third of their college costs last year. And nearly 40 percent of parents were able to kick out something from their paychecks to pay for schooling. The average amount parents contributed from their income was $5,815, or nearly $500 a month.

Chewing gum in class, talking back to a teacher, violating the dress code, and going to the bathroom without permission are punishable offenses at just about every school. But the consequences can be especially painful for students who break the rules in Texas and Mississippi, two of 19 states that still allow corporal punishment in schools. Corporal punishment, which often takes the form of paddling, has been banned in 106 countries, including in Britain and most other European nations. But it remains widespread across the southern region of the United States, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.

In the 2006-07 school year, 223,190 public school students between the ages of 3 and 19 were physically disciplined for minor and serious offenses, according to the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education. Texas and Mississippi schools employed corporal punishment the most, the report says. They were followed by Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, and Missouri. To be sure, not all schools in these states paddle students, and the number of students who are physically punished has declined from previous years. But in issuing a scathing report that includes interviews with students who were beaten by their teachers and principals, Human Rights Watch hopes to put enough pressure on the remaining states and local districts to abolish paddling altogether.

In July, U.S. News reported that soaring food and energy prices were forcing school districts to adopt drastic cost-saving measures this fall. Nationwide, districts are expected to raise the price of a student meal by an average of 32 cents, and a handful of districts were considering switching to a shorter school week. That will all happen—only on a much larger scale.

After our report, the American Association of School Administrators announced that in a survey of 546 school districts, all but four said they were feeling the pinch of rising costs. To cope with these, district superintendents said they planned to adopt one or several of these measures: cutting back on student field trips (240 districts), scaling back use of heating and air conditioning (202 districts), consolidating bus routes (189 districts), eliminating bus stops close to school sites (82 districts), delaying repairs (157 districts), and eliminating or modifying teaching positions (157 districts). Only 14 school districts said they are switching to a four-day school week this fall. But an additional 82 said they are considering the idea. The responses came from superintendents from every state except Delaware and Hawaii, and the District of Columbia. Sixty-one percent of them reported they work in rural districts, 27 percent in suburban districts, and 7 percent in urban districts.

For families of students getting ready to return to school, the start of classes will certainly pose some unpleasant challenges. Here's a big-picture look at how families and schools across the country are coping with these hard times. And let us know what, if any, changes are in store for your family this new school year.

By now, you probably know about the rural school district in northern Texas that will allow its teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns to schools this fall. The news, first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has made headlines around the world. Here are some of the more irreverent ones:

"The American school where teachers carry a pen, a ruler ... and a gun"—from the Guardian (Britain)

"Don't mess with any teachers in Texas"—from the New Zealand Herald

"That'll learn 'em—Texas school to arm teachers with pistols"—from the (Australia) Sunday Telegraph

The board that governs North Carolina's 58 community colleges has voted to keep in place a ban on illegal immigrants but delay a permanent policy until it completes a study of how other states handle such students. The decision, reached on August 15, has hardly appeased folks on either side of the debate. Both supporters of an open-door policy and opponents of illegal immigration denounced the decision as a political play by members of the state board, including Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic candidate for governor, who made the motion to keep the ban while a study is ongoing. Perdue has been unavailable for comment, but other board members have said that their decision was not politically motivated.

Last week, U.S. News reported on undocumented students who are caught between conflicting immigration policies. In North Carolina, the community colleges have been flip-flopping on whether to admit undocumented students for years. Of the estimated 300,000 students enrolled in the state's community colleges in 2006-07, only 112 were illegal immigrants, according to the results of one survey. Jacqueline, a North Carolina undocumented student who spoke with U.S. News, can continue her studies. The ban affects only new applicants who are illegal immigrants—whose future is now even more uncertain.

It's Christmas this week for eighth graders in Nebraska and New Mexico. According to local news reports, several school districts in both states have issued personal laptops to every eighth grader to use at school and at home this coming school year. I knew these one-laptop-per-student programs were common at the high school level. But now that middle schools are issuing laptops to eighth graders, people are naturally questioning the wisdom of the idea.

On the one hand, school-issued laptops can help make life easier for students who don't have computers at home and maybe even turn more students on to learning. On the other, they can create all sorts of trouble for the student and the school. One of the biggest concerns for schools is preventing students from misusing their laptops. Immature students can use them to bully classmates or access inappropriate websites. The less responsible students can damage or lose the computers. I did a little research and found a high school in Manatee County, Fla., that probably wishes it had given more thought to the ramifications of issuing computers to every student. In 2005, the school filed grand theft charges to recover dozens of missing laptops from students who had moved out of the county. Despite a police investigation, the laptops never turned up. The loss was more than $50,000 to the school.

In Omaha and in Farmington, N.M., eighth graders must have their parents' permission and sign a contract to receive a school laptop. School officials have also taken measures to address safety concerns. The laptops have been outfitted with an antitheft tracking system and filters that limit students' Internet access. If parents don't want their children using laptops after 9 p.m., they can even ask the school to make the computers shut down after that time. There is also a $100 fine if students lose or damage the computers. School officials believe students will take responsibility for laptops just like students in a music program who know how to care for a school-issued violin or saxophone. It's your turn to weigh in. Should schools issue students, even eighth graders, laptop computers to complete assignments at home and at school?