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EDITORIAL: Adequacy Cases are Alive and
Well
For the past 18 years, plaintiffs
in education adequacy litigations have had
a remarkable record of success, prevailing
in 20 of 27 decisions of the states’
highest courts (or unappealed trial court
decisions). Al Lindseth, an attorney who
has represented the defendants in some of
these cases, claimed in a recent commentary
in Education Week and in his answer
to critical letters from me and from others,
that in the past two years, there has been
“a dramatic shift in the courts’
attitude toward such lawsuits,” and
that since that time, “plaintiffs
have lost or been disappointed in 14 of
the last 15 adequacy decisions.”Read
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The Public of South Carolina Envisions Excellent
Public Schools
“Folks
are passionate about public education in
South Carolina and they want to make our
schools as strong and efficient as possible,”
the Riley Institute found after a series
of statewide forums and detailed discussions
with parents, teachers, business leaders,
school board members, and students. The
Institute’s Director, Don Gordon,
explains that “it is highly important
for policymakers and all of us to know what
people at the grassroots level are thinking
about public education in South Carolina,
at the place where the work is being done.”
Read
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California Advocates Have Facts
for “Year of Education”
Intent
on influencing decisions on education in
the 2008 legislature, Parents and Students
for Great Schools, a coalition of liberal
advocacy groups, entered the Sacramento
spotlight in late September with their statewide
survey Now That We Have the Facts.
The survey results reveal a mounting concern
over the state’s soaring high school
dropout rate, and they mark the beginning
of a grass-roots movement to get more students
graduating from high school and attending
college, among other goals. Moreover, results
suggest an up-and-coming active approach
by confirming that parents are willing to
pay more taxes to improve public education
if certain conditions are met, including
an increase in accountability, transparency,
and local involvement. Read
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Interventions Curb Dropout Rates and Give
Solid Returns on Investment
According
to the Sacramento Bee, “California’s
high school graduation rate in 2006 was
the lowest in 10 years. The estimated 170,000
students who failed to graduate…will
cost the state $46 billion in lost earnings
and $2 billion in lost state taxes. Clearly
the state must act . . .” In fact,
California is taking some important first
steps, with two foundation-funded studies
that: (1) identify interventions that will
improve graduation rates and calculate the
cost-benefit of implementing those interventions;
and (2) estimate the fiscal and social burdens
from high school dropouts in California.
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A Gap Between Public and Private
Schools? Not in Student Performance!
“Contrary
to popular belief, we can find no evidence
that private schools actually increase student
performance,” says Jack Jennings,
president of the Center on Education Policy.”
Jennings’ statement is based on the
results of a recent CEP study, "Are
Private High Schools Better Academically
Than Public High Schools?" issued in
October 2007. The report questions the assumption
that “private schools on the whole
are better” and finds that, for the
most part, it is not supported by evidence.
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