January 8, 2008: Federal Court Reinstates Lawsuit Over NCLB Funding

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January 8, 2008: Federal Court Reinstates Lawsuit Over NCLB Funding

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Customized Briefing for THERESA CAVANAUGHJanuary 8, 2008

Leading the News

In the Classroom

On the Job

Law & Policy

Special Needs

Also in the News

Leading the News

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Federal court reinstates lawsuit over NCLB funding.

The New York Times (1/8, A18, Dillon) reports, " A federal appeals court on

Monday revived a legal challenge to the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

education law, saying that school districts have been justified in

complaining that the law required them to pay for testing and other programs

without providing sufficient federal money. " U.S. Education Secretary

Margaret Spellings said in a statement that " the federal government is

exploring all legal options available " because " this decision could

undermine efforts to improve the education of our nation's children, in

particular those students most in need. " NEA President Reg Weaver called the

decision " a victory for the students of America. "

According to the AP (1/8), the suit claims " that the government is

imposing unfunded mandates, " through the law, " even though the act itself

prohibits unfunded mandates. " Spellings said the government considers the

law " a compact between the states and the federal government, not an

unfunded mandate. " Though the lawsuit had been dismissed in November, 2005,

yesterday's ruling by a three-judge panel will allow it to go forward. The

lawsuit was filed by school districts and NEA affiliates in three states,

and the NEA " is paying for the appeal. "

In a separate article, the AP (1/8, ) explains, " The court

majority said statutes enacted under the spending clause of the U.S.

Constitution must provide clear notice to the states of their liabilities if

they accept federal funding under those statutes. " The ruling said that NCLB

" fails to provide clear notice as to who bears the additional costs of

compliance. " The plaintiffs contend that the situation amounts to an

unfunded mandate. Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal (D) " said

the appeals court decision should boost a similar but separate federal

lawsuit by the state of Connecticut, " which argues that NCLB is

" unconstitutional, an unfunded federal mandate costing more than the state

received in federal aid. "

In the NCLB: ACT II blog for Education Week (1/7), Hoff wrote,

" For the short term, the suit is in the hands of a federal judge in Detroit

and the implementation of the law probably won't change much. " However, he

predicted, " a decision declaring many of NCLB's rules as unfunded mandates

could restrict the federal government's power to enforce NCLB's testing and

accountability rules. "

In the Classroom

New York City may be planning to build more career-oriented high schools.

The New York Sun (1/8, Green) reports, " A plan to build new [career and

technical education] high schools in the city is gaining ground, a signal

that the Department of Education (DOE) is moving in a new direction after

years of disinterest in such schools. " Officials " are hearing details of a

plan that would build several new 'model' schools across the city in the

next few years. " The movement for more CTE schools in New York is gaining

traction due to " lobbying from business and labor groups that say the city's

economy depends on training more skilled workers. " A recent report on CTE

schools from the city comptroller, , " has also catalyzed

interest. " The report found that, " despite outperforming other high schools

in areas such as graduation rates and test scores, " career and technical

education schools " have been losing staff and students steadily. "

Mulgrew, a city teachers' union vice president, said that he is confident

the Department of Education will pursue this plan. He made his comments

" after a meeting with the career and technical education program's new tsar

at the [DOE], Gregg Betheil. "

California teacher crafts physics challenges for students.

California's Oakland Tribune (1/7, Pearlman) reported on a series of physics

challenges that science teacher Maafi Gueye uses in her combined college

prep and honors physics classes, open to students in grades nine through

twelve at the Alameda Community Learning Center. Gueye's students " work,

alone or in teams of two, to construct contraptions -- out of cardboard or

Styrofoam, rubber bands or springs -- to act as containers for eggs. " The

eggs are dropped from increasing heights, to test which structures will

protect them from cracking. In another challenge, the students " build boats

for the Cardboard Boat Regatta, which must be water-worthy enough to carry

two students across " the school's pool. Some of her past students have

" crafted winning entries to the Great America Roller Coaster Model Building

Contest. " Gueye says that " students who struggle in other disciplines often

come alive in her classes. "

Colorado district pilots curriculum focused on employers' needs.

Colorado NBC affiliate KOAA-TV (1/8, Koen) reports that on School

District 2 has initiated a pilot program in what it calls " 21st Century

Learning " at Carmel Middle School this year. The curriculum is divided into

six subjects: Information Literacy, Critical Thinking and Analysis, Math and

Science Reasoning, Chinese, the Arts, and Economics and Globalization.

Superintendent Mike Miles " says the shift away from the traditional subjects

like Math, Science, Language and Social Studies reinforces skills students

will need later in life. " Classroom lessons are designed so that " lessons in

teamwork and problem solving outrank memorization and formulas. " The school

district is currently authoring a new strategic plan aimed at bringing 21st

Century Learning into all of its schools, and recently organized a forum for

local business leaders to tell teachers " about the 21st Century Skills they

are looking for in future employees. "

Second Conroy novel allowed in West Virginia high school.

In continuing coverage from previous briefings, West Virginia's ton

Gazette (1/8, White) reports, " The second of two novels that caused

controversy in a Nitro High School English class has apparently been

approved for return to the classroom, as long as students are offered

alternative texts. " Pat Conroy's 1986 novel The Prince of Tides has been

approved by a panel of community members. " Another Conroy novel, Beach

Music, was allowed back at Nitro in November after the same committee

approved it for the classroom. " The parent who originally objected to the

books being used in the school's AP English class was a member of the

committee, and voted in favor of " retaining the book as a choice of titles

from which students may select. "

On the Job

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Editorial urges reform of California mentoring program.

In continuing coverage from previous briefings, California's Oakland Tribune

(1/8) editorializes, " California's mandatory mentoring program for new

teachers is an admirable concept, but it is bogged down in counterproductive

paperwork and bureaucracy. " The program is worth reforming, the Tribune

argues, because " nearly one-quarter of new California teachers quit in their

first four years, " and " most leave because of inadequate support and

bureaucracy. " The Tribune explains that veteran teachers who agree to mentor

new colleagues are not given any reduction in classload to accommodate the

new responsibility, and that some are asked to mentor new teachers in grades

and subjects with which they are not familiar. " But the chief criticism of

the program is its overwhelming amount of unproductive record-keeping and

other tasks. " Noting that the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing

plans to revise the program by July, the Tribune concludes, " They must act

quickly to keep what could be a productive program from being strangled by

red tape. "

Ohio district mentoring program benefits new and veteran teachers.

Ohio's n Star (1/8, ) reports on a mentoring program in the n

City Schools (MCS) aimed at helping new teachers through their first two

years in the school system. The state of Ohio mandates that schools offer

mentoring programs, and recently released a report " praising the state's

teacher mentor program for keeping teachers in the profession. " In the MCS

program, veteran teachers " occasionally sit in on classes, observe new

teachers and offer advice on how to better prepare for what will be covered

under the Praxis III assessment, " which all Ohio teachers must pass after

two years on the job. The mentors " use Pathwise, a companion program to

Praxis III, to help find mentoring activities that strengthen the new

teachers' skills. " Though the program is designed to help new teachers,

mentors often say they benefit from the system. Heritage Elementary teacher

White, a mentor, said the new teachers she works with " offer a breath

of fresh air. Their enthusiasm is contagious. "

Law & Policy

President Bush urges Congress to reauthorize NCLB.

The Washington Post (1/8, A3, Glod) reports, " President Bush urged the

Democratic-led Congress on Monday to revive a stalled effort to reauthorize

the No Child Left Behind law before he leaves office, but he pledged to veto

any bill that 'weakens the accountability' measures at the core of one of

his signature domestic achievements. " Speaking on the sixth anniversary of

the day he signed the bill into law, Bush " urged Congress to revise the law

to increase flexibility for state and local agencies without loosening the

annual testing and enforcement provisions that give it teeth. "

President says he may pursue changes through executive action. The

AP (1/8, Loven) adds, " President Bush said Monday that if Congress doesn't

reauthorize the No Child Left Behind education law, he'll make as many

changes as he can on his own. " The President " laid out what he said were

some changes he would consider making administratively if lawmakers fail to

act, " including measures to grant more flexibility to states and school

districts in measuring progress, providing additional help for schools

struggling to meet their federally-mandated testing goals, and " devising an

accurate system for measuring high school dropout rates. " If Congress fails

to pass a revised law, the existing law remains in force.

Congressional Quarterly (1/8, ) explains, " Although the

law...expired at the end of September, a built-in, automatic one-year

extension has kept its programs operating, and Congress can continue core

elements simply by appropriating money. " This " means the administration can

to some extent revise the law without Congress, for example by expanding

existing pilot programs involving year-to-year academic performance

assessments. "

Utah schools warned to stop reporting average test scores.

Utah's Deseret Morning News (1/7, Toomer-Cook) reported that the U.S.

Department of Education (DOE) has warned " a handful of Utah school leaders "

that " districts can't average test scores used for No Child Left Behind, a

method that let at least 32 schools pass federal requirements this year. "

Some Utah districts have apparently been calculating their performances on

standardized tests using three-year averages, rather than simply reporting

scores for the current year. According to DOE spokesman Chad Colby, " the

department would likely approve the use of averaging...if Utah chose to add

it to the workbook, " a set of instructions each state publishes for school

districts calculating their performance, " but Utah was not allowed to do

anything not currently in the workbook. "

Special Needs

Iowa school's program mainstreams children with behavioral disorders.

Iowa's Quad City Times (1/8, Dooley) reports on a program at the Lincoln

Academy of the Integrated Arts, which " integrates children with behavior

disorders into regular classrooms. " Though such students in the Davenport

School District are traditionally taught in separate classrooms, " the

program at Lincoln, which started this school year and includes students in

kindergarten, first and third grade, allows children with behavior problems

to work their way out of those rooms and into the integrated classes. "

Students in the program are given " a daily behavior sheet that lists six

skills: stay in assigned area, follow directions, accept feedback, show

mutual respect, complete assignments and make a plan for new behavior. "

Teachers record notes on the sheets during the day to update students and

parents on their progress. The students also have behavioral goals listed

alongside academic goals on nametags on their desks. " If students fail to

meet what's expected of them in the six areas, they lose recess privileges

and are excluded from some group activities. " Teacher Tallman praised

the program for making students " aware of themselves and their

capabilities. "

Also in the News

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Teenage girls' perception of their popularity may impact weight gain, study

suggests.

The AP (1/8, ) reports that teenage girls " who believed they were

unpopular gained more weight over a two-year period than girls who viewed

themselves as more popular, " according to a study published in January's

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Researchers measured the

girls' " perceived popularity " based on how they responded when asked to rate

themselves compared to their most popular and most unpopular schoolmates.

The girls were also asked to use " a 10-rung ladder " to make this

determination. The researchers found that " the 4,264 [girls] who said they

were on rung five or above " gained less weight, in contrast to " the 182 who

said they were on rung four or below. " Clea McNeely, Dr.P.H., of s

Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that the study " is so

important " because " it has broader implications beyond weight gain, "

particularly since " ubjective social status is not just an uncomfortable

experience you grow out of, but can have important health consequences. "

In the Boston Globe's (1/7) White Coat Notes blog, Cooney

wrote that while " [d]epression and low self-esteem have been identified as

contributing to the burden of obesity in adolescents, " this study sought to

determine " whether girls' perception of their social standing predicted

changes in their weight. " The study's lead author, Adina Lemeshow, S.M., now

a project analyst at the New York City Department of Health and Mental

Hygiene, stated that " how girls feel about themselves, especially in

relation to their peers, should be part of all prevention strategies. "

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