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Plaintiffs
Disappointed by Missouri Trial Court Ruling
Circuit Court Judge Richard
Callahan issued a preliminary, but telling,
order on August 29, 2007, in Committee
for Educational Equality (CEE) v. State,
the constitutional challenge to Missouri’s
public school funding system. He held that
the state constitution only requires that
at least 25% of state revenues be used to
fund the public schools. Read
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Immigration Trends: Two Reports Tell Us
About Our Future
The
recent Supreme Court decision in the Seattle
and Jefferson County, Kentucky
voluntary integrations cases has renewed
the focus on racial and ethnic composition
in public schools. Research also shows that
immigration trends have greatly impacted
public school composition in the past few
years. “Children in America’s
Newcomer Families” assesses the immigration
phenomenon with regards to America’s
future. Read
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Report on Alternative High School
Graduation Routes
In
about half the states, students must pass
an “exit exam” to get a high
school diploma. Most of these states also
allow students who have passed the required
courses but not the exit exam to demonstrate
high school-level achievement via an alternative
evaluation. These alternatives are controversial
and draw criticism for being mere “loopholes”
for under achievers. A new report from New
Jersey sheds light on this broad controversy
and calls for reform, not elimination, of
that state’s alternative assessment.
Read
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Litigation Update: South Carolina, New Hampshire,
Alaska and Others
South
Carolina plaintiffs are appealing the trial
court’s ruling, and the state has
filed a cross-appeal. New Hampshire has
asked the supreme court to end the adequate
education case, which is not surprisingly
opposed by plaintiffs. The State of Alaska
has filed motions that essentially ask the
trial court to reconsider its ruling. Also,
the Indiana plaintiffs have appealed the
trial courts’ dismissal of the Bonner
case, while the Pendleton plaintiffs in
Oregon have appealed the trial courts’
decision to grant the state’s motion
for summary judgment. Read
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Lawsuit: “Highly Qualified
Teacher” Rule Violates NCLB and Harms
Students
A
coalition of parents, students, community
groups, and legal advocates sued the United
States Department of Education (ED) in federal
district court in San Francisco in August
2007 because it allows novice teachers in
training to be considered highly qualified.
The plaintiffs claim that classification
of intern teachers as highly qualified harms
students, especially the “large numbers
of poor and minority students” served
by these “intern teachers.”
“A primary purpose of NCLB was to
address this problem,” said one plaintiff.
Read
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