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National Education Strategy Briefing 4/18/91 [OA 6897] [2]
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National Education Strategy Briefing 4/18/91 [OA 6897] [2]
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Speech Backup Chronological Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
Subseries:
Chron Files, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13752
Folder ID Number:
13752-004
Folder Title:
National Education Strategy Briefing 4/18/91 [OA 6897] [2]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
26
21
3
5
04/16/91
18:03
202 401 2837
DEPT or ED/OPBE
001/002
OF
STULATION EDECA ATRON
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
UNITED STATES A AMERICA
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR
FAX COVER SHEET
TO
:
Dan MsGroarty
White House
FROM: Randolph Beaks
Dept. of Education
Name and telephone number of sender Pandolph Beales
telephone number 401-00850-401-0094
No. of pages 2 including cover sheet.
Our fax number is (202) 401-2837
Your fax number is 456-6218
Dan,
attached is a corrected page /
to the material. Esteban Pagan, the
Hisponic student from East Harlem,
is spelled "Esteban Pagan."
Randy Beales
Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
(George Bush Library)
Document No.
Subject/Title of Document
Date
Restriction
Class.
and Type
01. Fax
Short biographies on students proposed for invitation to
04/16/91
P-6, (b)(6)
White House Ceremony; personal information redacted. (1.
pp.)
Collection:
Record Group:
Bush Presidential Records
Office:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File, Backup
Subseries:
WHORM Cat.:
File Location:
National Education Strategy Meeting 4/18/91 [2]
Date Closed:
10/26/2004
OA/ID Number:
06897
FOIA/SYS Case #:
Re-review Case #:
2004-2265-S
P-2/P-5 Review Case #:
MR Case #:
Appeal Case #:
MR Disposition:
Appeal Disposition:
Disposition Date:
Disposition Date:
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P-1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
(b)(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P-2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
(b)(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of an
P-3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P-4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
(b)(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
(b)(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P-5 Release would disclose confidential advise between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
(b)(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P-6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
(b)(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed of
(b)(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
(b)(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
04/16/91
18:04
202 401 2837
DEPT of ED/OPBE
002/002
POSSIBLE INVITEES TO THE WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY
Esteban Pagan -- Esteban Pagan (pronounced Es-tay'-bon Pay-gon),
who goes by "Steve," is an eighth grade student at East Harlem
Tech, a public school in East Harlem. It is a school that he was
able to choose through the public school choice plan that exists in
East Harlem. Steve chose this school because of its excellent
science and mathematics programs and because it is an orderly,
disciplined school. Next year, Steve hopes to take advantage of
private school choice by attending Cardinal Hayes High School, a
Catholic high school in the area. Steve says that other members of
his family have attended East Harlem Tech and that the school has
done well by him and his family. It is a junior high school/middle
school covering 7th and 8th grades, and he has attended it in both
the 7th and 8th grades. Steve has won several science fair
competitions (winning first prize in the district and 2nd prize in
the borough) and also winning first prize in a history competition
on the Bill of Rights. Steve's goal is to be a science teacher
and, ultimately, a professor. As an example of a student who has
benefitted from public school choice and may benefit next year from
private school choice, Steve is a good example of Part I of the
President's Education Plan that focuses on improving today's
schools. The excellent math and science instruction that East
Harlem Tech offers also represents an aspect of improving today's
schools.
P-6, (b)(6)
John Michael Hopkins -- Mike Hopkins is the "Lead Teacher" at the
Saturn School in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mike and the Saturn School
are both completing their second year with this program. Mike
spends half his time in the classroom and half working with 3
Associate Teachers in developing the program and overseeing the
curriculum at the school -- a function that principals handle in
most schools. Saturn's half-time principal and its project
director manage most of the rest of administrative, supervisory,
disciplinary, and other functions that a principal traditionally
handles (The Saturn School is run by a council of 8 parents, 4
teachers, 1 paraprofessional, 2 students, and 2 members of the
local community). In the classroom, Mike teaches the use of
technology. He is a member of the American Federation of Teachers
(AFT) and says the AFT has been very supportive of the Saturn
School and the "Lead Teacher" idea. Mike would be a representative
of Part II of the President's Plan that focuses on researching and
developing New American Schools.
P-6, (6)(6)
001/002
DEPT of ED/OPBE
04/16/91 15:52
202 401 2837
ATION
UNITED STATES 91 APRI6 P4:58 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
UNITED STATES or AMERICA
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR PLANNING. BUDGET AND EVALUATION
FAX COVER SHEET
TO :
Dan McGroarty
White House
FROM: Randolph Beales
Dept. of Education
Name and telephone number of sender Randolph Beales
telephone number 401-00850-401-0094
No. of pages 4 including cover sheet.
Our fax number is (202) 401-2837
Your fax number is 456-6218
Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
(George Bush Library)
Document No.
Subject/Title of Document
Date
Restriction
Class.
and Type
02. Fax
Short biographies on students proposed for invitation to
04/16/91
P-6, (b)(6)
White House Ceremony; personal information redacted. (1
pp.)
Collection:
Record Group:
Bush Presidential Records
Office:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File, Backup
Subseries:
WHORM Cat.:
File Location:
National Education Strategy Meeting 4/18/91 [2]
Date Closed:
10/26/2004
OA/ID Number:
06897
FOIA/SYS Case #:
Re-review Case #:
2004-2265-S
P-2/P-5 Review Case #:
MR Case #:
Appeal Case #:
MR Disposition:
Appeal Disposition:
Disposition Date:
Disposition Date:
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P-1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
(b)(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P-2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
(b)(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of an
P-3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P-4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
(b)(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
(b)(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P-5 Release would disclose confidential advise between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
(b)(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P-6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
(b)(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed of
(b)(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
(b)(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
002/002
04/16/91
15:52
202 401 2837
DEPT of ED/OPBE
Roy David Kelley David Kelley is an electromagnetic
troubleshooter at the Michelin Tire plant in Greenville, South
Carolina. David attended Greenville Technical College, where he
received an Associate of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering
Technology. While at Greenville Tech, he was part of Michelin's
Technical Scholars Program. After graduating in 1987, he was hired
by Michelin as an electromechanical troubleshooter and has quickly
risen at the plant through Michelin's five levels of technicians to
the next to the highest level. Michelin believes in the value of
training and further education for its employees. It sends them
frequently to the Michelin Training Center at Greenville Tech so
that they can continue their education and training. David, for
example, has spent over one year of the four years he has been as
a full-time employee at Michelin in training at the Michelin
Training Center at Greenville Tech. Greenville Tech and Michelin
have a tradition of partnership and cooperation. Greenville Tech
donated the land on which the Michelin Training Center is built,
and Michelin paid for the construction of the Training Center and
now staffs it with instructors. Michelin employees are trained
there during the day, and Greenville Tech uses the training center
for its night classes. With Michelin's encouragement, David is
also taking night classes to work toward a bachelor of science
degree in mechanical engineering technology. David Kelley
represents Part III of the President's Education Plan that focuses
on continued education and retraining of America's work force and
on making America a Nation of Students.
p-6,(b)(6)
Michelle Yvette Paige Moore -- Michelle Moore is a black single
parent from Berkeley, Missouri. Michelle has participated in the
Parents As Teachers Program for over a year with her 15-month-old
son, Austin. This program has helped Michelle help her son learn
and develop, and their helpful hints during the conferences and
home visits have been especially good at aiding her in knowing what
to do for Austin. Like all children, he has individual needs, but
he has special needs because he was born 3 months prematurely. The
Parents As Teachers program is helping her get her child ready to
learn when he starts school in several years. Michelle represents
Part IV of the President's Plan regarding the "other 91 percent" of
the time in a child's life that the child spends outside the
classroom. Michelle and her son also fit well into National
Education Goal #1 (preparing all children by the year 2000 to start
school ready to learn).
p-6,(6)(6)
001/003
DEPT of ED/OPBE
04/15/91 19:16
202 401 2837
DEPARTMENT DEPAR OF ATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
UNITED STATES or AMERICA
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR PLANNING. BUDGET AND EVALUATION
FAX COVER SHEET
TO
: Dan McGroarty Peggy Dooley
White House
FROM: Randolph Beales
U.S. Dept. of Education (Secretary office ) Alexane
Student:
Name and telephone number of sender Randolph Beales
telephone number 401-0085 or 401-0094
No. of pages 3 including cover sheet.
Our fax number is (202) 401-2837
Your fax number is 456-6218
attached are the names of 3
people that Chester Finnand
President educationay wish to invite
Becky Campoverde thought the
perhaps mention in his speech. d
to his speech on Thursday -and
people and how they fit into the 3 mare education
have included information on all 3
reform plan. d will probables send 2 M
KS hS:Bn S BIRHATE
/
Esteban (stere) Pagan - E. Narlem
2
Nopkins
3
Roy David Kelly David -
4
Michele Moore
Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
(George Bush Library)
Document No.
Subject/Title of Document
Date
Restriction
Class.
and Type
03. Fax
Short biographies on students proposed for invitation to
04/15/91
P-6, (b)(6)
White House Ceremony; personal information redacted. (2
pp.)
Collection:
Record Group:
Bush Presidential Records
Office:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File, Backup
Subseries:
WHORM Cat.:
File Location:
National Education Strategy Meeting 4/18/91 [2]
Date Closed:
10/26/2004
OA/ID Number:
06897
FOIA/SYS Case #:
Re-review Case #:
2004-2265-S
P-2/P-5 Review Case #:
MR Case #:
Appeal Case #:
MR Disposition:
Appeal Disposition:
Disposition Date:
Disposition Date:
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P-1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
(b)(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P-2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
(b)(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of an
P-3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P-4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
(b)(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
(b)(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P-5 Release would disclose confidential advise between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
(b)(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P-6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
(b)(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed of
(b)(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
(b)(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
002/003
DEPT of ED/OPBE
04/15/91
19:17
202 401 2837
POSSIBLE INVITEES TO THE WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY
John Michael Hopkins -- Mike Hopkins is the "Lead Teacher" at the
Saturn School in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mike and the Saturn School
are both completing their second year with this program. Mike
spends half his time in the classroom and half working with 3
Associate Teachers in developing the program and overseeing the
curriculum at the school -- a function that principals handle in
most schools. Saturn's half-time principal and its project
director manage most of the rest of administrative, supervisory,
disciplinary, and other functions that a principal traditionally
handles (The Saturn School is run by a council of 8 parents, 4
teachers, 1 paraprofessional, 2 students, and 2 members of the
local community). In the classroom, Mike teaches the use of
technology. He is a member of the American Federation of Teachers
(AFT) and says the AFT has been very supportive of the Saturn
School and the "Lead Teacher" idea. Mike would be a representative
of Part II of the President's Plan that focuses on researching and
developing New American Schools.
p-6,(6)(6)
Mary Eleanor Vasey -- Mary Vasey is a teacher at Metro High School,
a "Sizer school, If in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she teaches English
to 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. She also teaches a class for
seniors called "Preparing to Graduate," in which she helps prepare
students for the world after high school, including looking at
colleges and what they need to know about day-to-day living in the
world as an adult. Heavily involved with the Essential Schools
Coalition in its efforts to improve and reform education, Mary
visits other schools around the country that have decided to become
a Sizer school and helps them set up their program. In doing so,
she draws upon her experience in the 6 years that Metro High School
has been a Sizer school and her work as a teacher at Metro High
School since 1977. Mary is a member of 2 local branches of the
National Education Association -- ISEA and CREA. As an innovative
teacher in a new, innovative school, Mary also fits well into Part
II of the President's Education Plan, the New American Schools.
p6,(6)(6) P-6,
Michelle Yvette Paige Moore -- Michelle Moore is a black single
parent from Berkeley, Missouri. Michelle has participated in the
Parents As Teachers Program for over a year with her 15-month-old
son, Austin. This program has helped Michelle help her son learn
and develop, and their helpful hints during the conferences and
home visits have been especially good at aiding her in knowing what
04/15/91
19:19
202 401 2837
DEPT of ED/OPBE
003/003
he to has do for Austin. Like all children, he has individual
Part IV of he starts school in several years. Michelle ready to
learn when Teachers program is helping her get her child The
Parents special As needs because he was born 3 months prematurely. needs, but
the time the President's Plan regarding the "other 91 represents
classroom. in a child's life that the child spends outside percent" of
school Goal #1 (preparing all children by the year 2000 National to start
Education Michelle and her son also fit well into the
ready to learn).
P-6, p-6,(b)(6) (b)(6)
Roy Dand Relley
retraining - -trach 3.
Greenville Tech College.
user through Therante 17
Fechmeion
St. Sen Bob Schaelfer (Colorado)
Colorado St
McGroarty/Dooley
April 17, 1991
2:30 pm
[EDSTRAT]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL EDUCATION STRATEGY
THE EAST ROOM
APRIL 18, 1991
2:00 P.M.
[Introductory acknowledgements.] My thanks to you for
joining me here. I've asked all of you -- Governors, educators,
business and labor leaders, members of Congress -- to come to the
White House today to underscore the importance of a challenge
destined to define the America we'll know in the next century.
For those of you close to my age, the 21st Century has
always been a kind of shorthand for the distant future -- the
place we put our most far-off hopes and dreams. Today, the 21st
Century is almost upon us -- for our children, it's their world.
Anyone who wonders what the face of the 21st Century will look
like can find the answer -- in America's classrooms. //
Nothing better defines what we are -- and what we will
become -- than the education of our children. To quote the
landmark case, Brown V. Board of Education, "It is doubtful that
any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is
denied the opportunity of an education. "
Education has always meant opportunity. Today, education is
an open door -- to a new world. //
Think about the changes transforming our world: the
collapse of communism and Cold War. The advent -- and
acceleration -- of the information age. Down through history,
we've thought of the world's riches and resources as land and all
2
that lies under it. That too is changing. In the future, our
richest national resource may well be intelligence -- ingenuity -
- the infinite capacity of the human brain. Nations that tap
this potential will move forward. Nations that neglect to
nurture the mind will fall behind and fail.
I'm here to say America will move forward. The time for all
the reports and rankings -- for all the studies and surveys about
what's wrong in our schools -- is past. If we want to keep
America competitive in the coming century -- we must act on
education. If we want America to remain a leader, a force for
good in the world -- we must act on education. If we want to
combat crime and drug abuse -- if we want to create hope and
opportunity in the bleak corners of this country where there is
now nothing but defeat and despair -- we must act on education.
// Think about every problem, every challenge we face today.
Education is where the solution starts.
That is why, for the sake of the future -- of our children
and our nation -- we must transform America's schools.
We've all heard the bad news: Too many children arriving at
school from broken homes and shattered communities -- not ready
to learn. Too many students who never discover the thrill of
learning. Too many teenagers who drop out of school -- and drop
into trouble. Too many adults, unable to read or write well
enough to get a good job and keep it -- to participate as
informed citizens in the life of this democracy. //
3
That's the last bad news you'll hear today -- because I
promise you, from this point forward: The American school is in
for a change. The days of the status quo are over. //
Across this country, people have started to transform the
American school. Today, we must push the reform effort forward -
-use each experiment, each advance, to build for the next
American Century -- new schools for a new world. //
As a first step in this strategy, we must re-examine not
only the methods and the means we've used in the past -- but also
the yardsticks we've used to measure our progress.
That means setting aside the notion that we can measure our
success in terms of money spent. We spend 33% more per pupil in
1991 than we did in 1981 -- 33% more in real, constant dollars -
- and I don't think there's a person anywhere who would say we've
seen a 33% improvement in our schools' performance.
Dollar bills alone don't educate students. Education
demands commitment, caring, work. To those who want to see real
improvement in American education, I say: There will be no
renaissance without revolution. //
For too long, we've adopted a "no fault" approach to
education. But there's no place for a no fault attitude in our
schools. It's time we held our schools -- and ourselves --
accountable for results.
Until now, we've concentrated on regulating the process of
education -- on the assumption that if the process is sound, the
product takes care of itself. It's time to turn things around -
4
- to regulate the product. To set standards for our schools --
show them the kind of student we're looking for -- and let
teachers and principals produce them. / /
We've made a good beginning by setting the nation's sights
on six ambitious National Education Goals -- and setting for our
target the year 2000. Those goals have won the strong support of
this nation's 50 Governors -- and they're well known to everyone
in this room. By 2000, we've got to raise the graduation rate to
90%; make America first in the world in math and science; ensure
that each American student leaving the 4th, 8th and 12th grades
can demonstrate their competence in five core subjects.
Finally, by the year 2000, every American child must start
school ready to learn; every American adult must be literate; and
every American school must be free from drugs and violence. //
These national goals are noble goals. The challenge now is
how to get there -- and that's what our strategy is designed to
do. I can outline our strategy in one paragraph. Here it is:
For today's students, we must make existing schools better
and more accountable. For tomorrow's students -- the next
generation -- we must create a new generation of American
schools. For all of us -- for the adults who think our school
days are over -- we've got to become a nation of students --
recognize that learning is a lifelong process. Finally, outside
our schools, we must cultivate communities where education can
thrive. Communities where the school is more than a refuge --
more than a solitary island of calm amid chaos -- but the living
5
center of a community where people care for children and
cultivate , not just in the school, but in the neighborhood. Not
just in the classroom, but in the home. //
That's our strategy. // You know, people who want
Washington to "solve" our educational problems are missing the
point. What happens here in Washington won't matter half as much
as what happens in each school and local community. But the
federal government can serve as a catalyst for change in several
ways:
Working closely with the Governors, we will define new World
Class Standards for schools, teachers and students in the five
core subjects: math and science, English, history and geography.
We will create voluntary national tests for 4th, 8th and
12th Graders in the five core subjects. These American
Achievement Tests will tell parents and educators -- politicians
and employers -- just how well our schools are doing. Today, I
challenge all parties involved to accept this deadline: let's
pledge right now to have the 4th Grade test in place by 1993. //
And for high-school seniors, let's add another incentive --
a Presidential Citation to students who do well on this test.
This distinction should attract the attention of colleges and
companies in every community. //
And we can improve our schools by encouraging parental
choice. The concept of choice draws its strength from the
principle at the very heart of the democratic idea. Every adult
American has the right to vote -- the right to decide where to
6
work -- where to live. It's time they had the right to choose
the schools their children attend. //
But the centerpiece of our national education strategy is
not a program or a test. It's a challenge: To re-invent
American education -- to design New American Schools for the year
2000 and beyond.
This idea is simple but powerful: put America's special
genius for invention to work for America's schools.
No one has to sell the business community on the values of
R&D. I spoke earlier today with Paul O'Neill -- head of the
President's Education Policy Advisory Council -- and one of the
business community's champions of education reform. I am
delighted to announce today that America's business leaders will
create the New American Schools Development Corporation: a
private sector R&D fund of $150 million dollars to generate
innovation in education. Their commitment offers an open
challenge to the dreamers and doers eager to re-invent and
reinvigorate our schools.
With the results of this R&D in hand, I will urge the
Congress to provide one million dollars each in start-up funds
for 535 New American Schools -- at least one in every
congressional district -- and to have them up and running by
1996. / /
The New American Schools must be more than rooms full of
children seated at computers. All the high-tech gadgetry in the
world can't take the place of old-fashioned virtues. If we mean
7
to prepare our children for life, the classroom must be a place
where values and good character -- right and wrong -- have real
meaning. //
We ask only two things: that their students meet the new
national standards for the five core subjects and that outside of
the costs of the initial R&D, the schools operate on a
conventional budget. //
Beyond that, my message to the architects of the New
American Schools is simple: Break the mold. Build for the
children of the next century. Re-invent the American school. //
No question should be off-limits -- no answers assumed.
We're not after one single way that works for every school.
We're interested in finding every way we can to make schools
better.
There's a special place in inventing the New American School
for the corporate community -- both business and labor.
Today, I want to issue three challenges -- invite you to
work with us not simply to transform our schools, but to
transform every American adult into a student.
[COUNSEL/DELETE PARA: First, I challenge the business and
labor communities to create a private sector system of World
Standards for the workplace. ]]
Second, I ask employers to set up Skill Centers where
workers can seek advice and learn new skills. //
Finally, I challenge every company and every labor union to
bring the worker into the classroom -- and bring the classroom
8
into the workplace. We'll encourage every Federal agency to do
the same. [[And to prove no one's ever too old to learn, I'll
become a student again myself. Starting ---, I'll begin studying
{PRESIDENT'S CHOICE OF CLASS} ]] ///
What I've spoken about today amounts to nothing less than a
revolution in American education -- a battle for our future.
Now, I ask all Americans to be points of light in the crusade
that counts most -- the crusade to prepare our children and
ourselves for the exciting future that looms ahead.
What I've spoken about this afternoon are the broad strokes
of our national education strategy: accountable schools for
today -- a new generation of schools for tomorrow. A nation of
students committed to a lifetime of learning -- in communities
where all our children can learn. //
There are four people here today who symbolize each element
of this strategy -- and point the way forward for our reforms.
First there's Esteban Pagan, Steve, an 8th Grader and award-
winning student in science and history at East Harlem Tech. East
Harlem is part of a long-running experiment in school choice, and
just one example of the way we can act now to improve our
schools.
Then there's Mike Hopkins, "Lead Teacher" at the Saturn
School in St. Paul, Minnesota -- whose responsibilities range
from the teaching class to creating the school's curriculum.
Mike and his colleagues at the Saturn School are a great example
of what we can do to re-invent the American school.
9
Next I want to recognize David Kelley -- a high-tech
troubleshooter at the Michelin Tire plant in Greenville, South
Carolina. David came to Michelin as a graduate of Greenville
Technical College -- and he's spent one full year in his four
years as a Michelin employee back at his college expanding his
skills. That's the kind of corporate-to-classroom partnership
that will make America a nation of students.
Finally, Michelle Moore of Missouri -- a single mother who's
active in that state's Parents as Teachers program. Michelle's
learning how she can help her year-old son Alston arrive for his
first day of school ready to learn. That's just one example of
the way individual parents, local communities and the state can
work together outside the classroom to create the right
environment for education. ///
There is no reason we shouldn't be able to reach our
ambitious goals by the year 2000, and there are lots of good
reasons why we should. Think of it this way: today's 3rd Grader
will graduate in the Class of 2000.
Those students face nine years in a new and better world of
learning. We want each day to become a universe of discovery for
students of all ages. At any moment, in every mind, the miracle
of learning can take place. //
The only real limit to what our children can learn is how
hard we try and how well we teach. Between now and the year
2000, there is not one moment -- or one miracle -- to waste. //
Thank you -- and may God bless the United States of America.
History OT The trign in Wis in the 19th
Univ. Press, wash. 168 D.C. ,1954
Century Sister M. Justille Mc Donald, Catholic
Wisconsin Irishmen in Politics, 1866-1900
Wisconsin Irishmen in Politics, 1866-1900
169
in Irish-American nominations? It is an established rule
with politicians to recognize on their tickets the "ele-
April, 1889. The measure required every child between the ages
ments" for whose support they are under obligations.
of seven and fourteen to attend school "in the city, town or dis-
The Republican State ticket recognizes the "German"
trict" in which he resided for a period of at least twelve weeks in
and "Norwegian" but fails, and has quite systematically
each year. No school was to be regarded as a school unless there
failed to recognize the "Irish," giving some color to the
was taught therein "reading, writing and arithmetic and United
Republican party."
common complaint that an "Irishman has no place in the
States history in the English language."58
But there are our Republican managers talking about
The large German population of Wisconsin was involved par-
the "Irish vote" as a distinct political element, and claim-
ticularly because Lutherans and Catholics of that nationality main-
ing to expect a large accession from it.⁵⁶
tained parochial schools in which the German language was used
The Republicans, after all, did not need the Irish vote under
if not exclusively, at least extensively. The German Lutherans
ordinary circumstances to keep themselves in power on a state
were the first to take up the cudgels at their synods in June, 1889,
level. Within certain local areas, towns and counties, where Irish
and by the spring of 1890 Lutherans and Catholics were demand-
were numerous, however, the Republican party could have prof-
ing that the repeal of the law be made an issue in the 1890 cam-
ited by converting the Irishmen to their side; hence their efforts
paign.59 Popular debate, when not attacking the churches, cen-
in that direction.
In the off-year election of 1890 a political upheaval occurred
Laws of Wisconsin (1889), Chap. 519. William D. Hoard, who had been
elected governor in 1888, took the stand in his inaugural address to the state
which placed the Democrats in control of the state government.
legislature in favor of a compulsory school law and "advocated giving city
The Democrats, who were organized under a state central com-
and county superintendents authority to inspect all schools and require that
mittee as were the Republicans, had worked throughout the sec-
reading and writing in English should be daily taught therein. As if acting
ond half of the century against such odds as scant financial sup-
in concert, the Sentinel [Milwaukee] and Mr. Thayer [State Superintendent
port and continued defeat; therefore, they had no spoils for
of Public Instruction] endorsed the stand taken by Hoard, who afterwards
admitted that his message was aimed at sectarian schools." William F.
distribution to the loyal party workers. However, national issues,
Whyte, "The Bennett Law Campaign in Wisconsin," WMH, x (June,
particularly the tariff, and local conditions combined in 1890 to
1927), 376. Cf. also, Louise P. Kellogg, "The Bennett Law in Wisconsin,"
bring about a total defeat of the Republican party in the state.
WMH, II (September, 1918), 3-25.
This was the year of the Bennett Law campaign.
That same year on February 13, in the Senate, Levi E. Pond of the
The controversy centered about a compulsory school bill which
twenty-seventh district (Adams, Columbia, and Marquette Counties) intro-
duced "A bill to provide for statistical reports from principals or teachers
had been passed by the state legislature and had become law in
of commercial, parochial, and other private schools in the state of Wisconsin
and for the publication of summaries of such reports in the biennial report
September 27, 1884.
of the state superintendent." From the statistics so supplied the state would
57 There is also probably truth to the supposition that the Republicans, ex-
judge whether sufficient instruction was being given in the English language
pecting to lose some rural support because of their endorsement of a protec-
and on that basis whether the institution qualified as a school according to
tive tariff, courted the Irish on that very question. WSHS, Usher Papers,
state law. Petitions against the bill, particularly from German Lutherans and
John Rose to Usher, Galesville, Wisconsin, November 4, 1892, reveals rural
Catholics, flooded the Senate and the measure was not passed by that body.
Irish opposition to one phase of protection "I was just informed that some
About twenty-five of the protests against the Pond Bill originated among
of the Irish Democrats of Ettrick were a going to vote against Cobourn
groups of Irishmen and at least five of these had been instigated by Irish
would be undoubtedly good if you would write and fully explain how and it
[sic], on a/c of him not voting for free Lumber and binding twine
Catholic clergymen. What connection, if any, there was between the failure
of the Pond Bill and the introduction of the Bennett Law into the Assembly
why it was done."
has not been established.
"Kellogg, "The Bennett Law in Wisconsin," loc. cit., pp. 10, 14.
170
Wisconsin Irishmen in Politics, 1866-1900
Wisconsin Irishmen in Politics, 1866-1900
171
tered chiefly around the language question while the Democratic
national issues in a state election, and also of the difficulty of
platform, the Lutheran manifesto, and the Catholic Bishops' state-
evaluating the effect of the various forces at work. Events com-
ment based objections upon interference with parental rights and
parable in result to what happened in Wisconsin were taking
the threat to the existence of parochial and private schools. In
place in other Republican states with the consequence that the
many cities of Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, the spring may-
United States Congress came under Democratic control. Certainly
oralty elections resulted in Democratic victories as the climax of
if the Bennett Law was not the deciding factor in the Badger
campaigns influenced to a greater or less degree by this issue.
state, it was the most publicized issue in the campaign. Although
During the summer the Democrats not only watched the Repub-
the McKinley tariff and the state treasury issues were actually
licans line up in support of the issue but planned how they could
of greater political significance to both parties, the average voter
best use it to put their opponents on the defensive.
was probably more aware of the Bennett Law as a phase of the
Events played into the Democrats' hands so well that when the
campaign and his voting motivated more by this issue than the
Republicans devised their campaign platform they had only slightly
other two. This is especially true of the Lutherans and Catholics
moderated their proposals by promising to revise the statute so as
who felt that the existence of their schools was at stake. It seems
to recognize more explicitly the right of the parent or guardian
hardly possible that the tariff could have effected the party re-
to select the time of year and place, "whether public or private
alignment which resulted when the Bennett Law became an issue.⁶⁴
or wherever located" in which his child or ward should be edu-
The Democrats might have won in any case, but certainly not with
cated.61 The Democrats, on the other hand, pledged themselves
the large majority actually attained.65
unequivocally to repeal the obnoxious law. In their plank on the
04 Comparisons of vote totals in Wisconsin for 1884, 1886, 1888, and 1890
school issue they maintained that existing compulsory education
indicate this party realignment. The votes cast for governor in 1886, an off
and child labor legislation were sufficient if enforced; they op-
year, total approximately 34,000 fewer than in 1884; in 1890 the votes cast
posed "needless and unjust interference" with rights of parents
numbered about 46,000 less than in 1888. The loss in the Republican vote
and liberty of conscience; upheld the public school system which
between 1884 and 1886 was about 28,000 and in the Democratic vote about
they had founded, denounced the Bennett Law "as unnecessary,
32,000. On the other hand, the loss in the Republican vote between 1888 and
1890 was about 44,000, while the Democratic votes increased by about 5,000.
unwise, unconstitutional, un-American and un-Democratic," and
Thus where the normal trend in an off year election was downward for both
demanded its repeal.⁶² As a result of the campaign the Demo-
parties, in 1890 the opposite occurred in the Democratic vote. Allowing for 3
cratic victory in 1890 was complete with the executive and legis-
lighter vote in both parties, the increased Democratic vote would seem to
lative branches brought under their control. Of the Congressmen
indicate two things: first, a goodly number of Republicans deserted their
elected only one was Republican. The legislature repealed the
party in this election. That Republicans just stayed home is hardly the ex-
planation; and secondly, Catholics and Lutherans turned out in large numbers
Bennett Law when it met in 1891.63
to vote the Democratic ticket.
The 1890 campaign is an example of the interplay of state and
Plumb, op. cit., p. 91. Thomson, op. cit., p. 239, states: "The Bennett
law issue proved disastrous to the Republican party." The Waukesha Demo-
Appleton Crescent, April 5, 1890; Catholic Citizen, April 5, 1890.
crat, November 8, 1890, observed that the McKinley tariff had as much if
Blue Book (1891), p. 390.
not more to do with the outcome than the Bennett Law. Joseph Schafer,
Ibid., p. 394.
"Editorial Comment," WMH, x (June, 1927), 458-460, insists on the im-
Substitute measures for the repealed Bennett Law were presented in the
portance of the other issues, especially the McKinley tariff in congressional
assembly by Humphrey Desmond, an Irish-American of Milwaukee, the first
elections, for this was the cause for Republican defeats in other mid-Western
assembly district. These became the child labor law and compulsory school
states. WSHS, N. P. Haugen Papers, W. F. Street to Haugen, Madison,
attendance law which governed the matter for some time. Cf. Laws of Wis-
Wisconsin, Nov. 9, 1890, admitted that the Catholics (Irish and German)
consin (1891), chaps. 109, 187.
and Lutherans had voted to a man while Republicans "stayed at home."
FOUR EXAMPLES:
I'll start with Esteban Pagan, Steve, an 8th Grader from
East Harlem Tech -- part of East Harlem's long-running experiment
in school choice, and just one example of the way we can act now
to improve our schools. Steve's school is strong in math and
science, goal is to be a science teacher or a college professor.
Then there's Mike Hopkins, "Lead Teacher" at the Saturn
School in St. Paul, Minnesota -- whose responsibilities range
from the classroom to creating the school's curriculum. Mike and
his colleagues at the Saturn School are a great example of the
New American Schools
Next I want to recognize David Kelley -- a high-tech
troubleshooter at the Michelin Tire plant in Greenville, South
Carolina. David came to Michelin as a graduate of Greenville
Technical College -- and Michelin has sent him back
That's
the kind of partnership that will make America a nation of
students
Finally, Michelle Moore of Missouri -- a single parent who's
active in that state's Parents as Teachers program. Michelle's
learned how she can help her year-old son Austin get ready for
school
That's just one example of the individual parents,
local communities and the state can work together outside the
classroom to create the right environment for education.
Cities In Schools, Inc.
1023 15th Street, N.W.
CITIES IN
Suite 600
SCHOOLS
Washington, DC 20005
Turning kids around.
(202) 861-0230
FAX (202) 289-6642
Sarah DeCamp
Director of Public Affairs
VI
CITIESIN
SCHOOLS
Turning kids around.
CITIES SCHOOLS
Turning kids around.
FACT SHEET
WHO:
Cities in Schools, Inc., in operation for more than a decade, is the most
comprehensive national non-partisan, non-profit organization devoted to
dropout prevention.
WHAT:
Nationally, CIS is a public/private partnership supported by a variety of
private businesses, foundations and individuals, as well as an interagency
grant from the Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Commerce Departments. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CIS
operates in 50 communities at more than 240 educational sites
throughout the United States.
HOW:
CIS is a process which brings existing public and private resources and
people into schools where they most benefit at-risk youth.
On the local level, CIS brings together local government, school officials,
and private business representatives to form a Board of Directors in each
locale. The Board then assesses the community's needs, and arranges for
CIS projects to be established at educational sites throughout the
community.
Social workers, employment counselors, recreation coaches, educators,
health professionals, and volunteers are brought together at each
program site, usually by repositioning from their home agencies, to form
a support system for at-risk students. These dedicated workers are
structured into multi-disciplined teams that serve a manageable number
of students. This case management system emphasizes personalism,
accountability, and coordination. Thus the children are given direct
access to the services they need to solve social, educational, health, and
emotional problems that lead to loss of self-worth and identity, and
ultimately to dropping out.
On the national level, CIS seeks to institutionalize this unique delivery
system as widely as possible in sites throughout the country. It operates
regional offices to provide technical assistance and training for
developing and establishing CIS communities. CIS regional operations
include:
-Southeast Region, headquartered in Atlanta
-Northeast Region, headquartered in Pittsburgh
-Southwest Region, headquartered in Los Angeles
-South Central Region, headquartered in Austin
-North Central Region, headquartered in Chicago
PHILOSOPHY:
CIS realizes that a student's "decision" to drop out of school may be the
unwitting result of many factors--family problems, alcohol and other
drug abuse, illiteracy, teenage pregnancy, and more. Therefore, CIS
treats each student as a unique individual, bringing together in one place
a support system of caring adults who offer the resources which will
build self-worth and guide young people into a more productive and
constructive life.
WHERE:
The National Office for Cities in Schools, Inc. is headquartered at 1023
15th Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 861-0230.
OFFICERS: William Milliken, President
James Hill, Vice President, Administration
Jeanne Jacob, Vice President of Advancement
Clark Jones, Vice President, Operations
REGIONAL
DIRECTORS:
Douglas Denise, Southeast Regional Director
(404) 761-8118
Alyce Hill, Northeast Regional Director
(412) 776-5711
Robert Arias, Southwest Regional Director
(213) 473-4228
Alfred Ward, North Central Regional Director
(312) 829-2475
Jill Shaw, South Central Regional Director
(512) 463-2821
As of September 30, 1990
1023 15th Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20005. Phone Number: (202) 861-0230.
OPERATIONAL CIS PROGRAMS: SEPTEMBER 30, 1990
LOCATION
NAME OF PROGRAM
Ardmore, OK
Ardmore Cities in Schools
Atlanta, GA
EXODUS, Inc.
Austin, TX
Communities in Schools-Austin, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore City-Cities in Schools
Caldwell Co., NC
Communities in Schools, Inc.
Charleston, SC
Cities in Schools of Charleston County, Inc.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC
Cities in Schools, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc.
Chicago, IL
Chicago Cities in Schools, Inc.
Chicot County, AR
Chicot County At Risk Youth, Inc.
Clear Lake, TX
Bridgeport Cities in Schools, Inc.
Columbia, SC
Cities in Schools-Columbia, Inc.
Corpus Christi, TX
Communities in Schools, Corpus Christi, Inc.
Dallas, TX
Communities in Schools-Dallas, Inc.
El Paso, TX
Communities in Schools-CAST, Inc.
Forrest City, AR
Forrest City Cities in Schools, Inc.
Greensboro, NC
Greater Greensboro Cities in Schools, Inc.
Greensville/Emporia, VA
Greensville/Emporia Cities in Schools
Griffin-Spalding, GA
Griffin-Spalding Cities in Schools, Inc.
Helena/West Helena, AR
Helena/West Helena Cities in Schools
High Point, NC
High Point Cities in Schools, Inc.
Houston, TX
Communities in Schools Houston, Inc.
Inglewood, CA
Cities in Schools of Inglewood, Inc.
Jackson Township, NJ
Jackson Township Cities in Schools, Inc.
LaGrange, GA
LaGrange Cities in Schools
Long Beach, CA
Cities in Schools, Long Beach-Burger King Academy
Marianna, AR
Marianna Cities in Schools, Inc.
McAllen, TX
Communities in Schools-McAllen, Inc.
Miami, FL
Cities in Schools of Miami, Inc.
Miami, FL
PIC/CIS Stay-in-School Program
Mt. Pleasant, TX
Communities in Schools-Northeast, Texas
New Orleans, LA
Cities in Schools/New Orleans
New York, NY
New York Cities in Schools, Inc.
North Little Rock, AR
For Kids, Inc.
Palm Beach Co., FL
Cities in Schools of Palm Beach Co., Inc.
Pasadena, TX
Communities in Schools, Pasadena, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
Cities in Schools-Philadelphia, Inc.
Pinal Co., AZ
Pinal County Cities in Schools
Pine Bluff, AR
Pine Bluff Cities in Schools
Putnam Co., FL
Cities in Schools of the Putnam County
Chamber of Commerce
Richmond, VA
ACDC-Cities in Schools
Rocky Mount, NC
Rocky Mount Cities in Schools, Inc.
Russell Co., VA
Russell County Cities in Schools
Sacramento, CA
Cities in Schools in Sacramento, Inc.
San Antonio, TX
Communities in Schools-San Antonio, Inc.
Schenectady, NY
Schenectady Cities in Schools
Shreveport, LA
Cities in Schools/Shreveport
Southwest, PA
Cities in Schools Southwestern Pennsylvania
Wake County, NC
Wake County Cities in Schools
Westchester Co., NY
Great Potential
Western Upper Peninsula, MI
Cities in Schools
CITIES IN SCHOOLS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
As of September 30, 1990
ROBERT H.B. BALDWIN
ANNE COX CHAMBERS
Chairman
Chairman
CIS Board of Directors
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chairman
The Lodestar Group
RAYMOND G. CHAMBERS
Chairman
JAMES M. ALLWIN
Wesray Capital Corp.
Managing Director
Morgan Stanley & Co, Inc.
J. ANTHONY FORSTMANN
Managing Director
ROGER C. ALTMAN
Forstmann Rayfield & Co.
Vice Chairman
The Blackstone Group
NICHOLAS C. FORSTMANN
General Partner
WALLY AMOS
Forstmann Little & Company
Founder
Famous Amos
MURRAY H. GOODMAN
Chocolate Chip, Inc.
Chairman
The Goodman Company
JEANNIE P. BALILES
GEORGE H. JOHNSON
GEOFFREY T. BOISI
President
Partner
George H. Johnson Properties
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
DELANO E. LEWIS
ERNEST L. BOYER, Ph.D.
President
President
C&P Telephone Company
Carnegie Foundation for
Advancement of Teaching
RUTH B. LOVE, Ph.D.
President
GERALD BRESLAUER
Ruth Love Enterprises, Ltd.
President
Breslauer, Jacobson, Rutman
WILLIAM M. MARCUSSEN
& Sherman, Inc.
President
The Marcussen Group
DANIEL B. BURKE
President & COO
WILLIAM E. MILLIKEN
Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.
President
Cities in Schools, Inc.
PETER C.B. BYNOE
Managing General Partner
DEAN L. OVERMAN
Denver Nuggets
Senior Partner
Winston & Strawn
J. JEFFREY CAMPBELL
Restaurant Developer
LINDA GALE WHITE
CITIES IN SCHOOLS
Turning kids around.
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT CITIES IN SCHOOLS
"One million young people drop out of school every year. Our nation can no longer
afford this drain on our human capital, which has always been America's greatest
resource. We can no longer close our eyes. Every American student deserves an equal
place at the starting line.
Cities in Schools is about helping to provide children an equal place at that starting line,
about people working together towards a common goal.
And therefore, I urge all of you--business leaders, educators, parents, human service
providers--to give your support to Cities in Schools, and find out how you can become
involved. Thank you, and God bless you."
President-Elect Bush
Appeal on CIS informational video.
November 30, 1988
"I personally visited a CIS site and was extremely impressed with what I saw. I was
impressed not only with the progress the students are making, but also with the method
by which they are being reached. Because somebody shows that they care about these
kids, they are responding and making progress in their lives."
Bill Clinton
Governor of the State of Arkansas
Former Chairman, National Governors Association
"CIS makes sense to me because it views the education of all our young people as a
responsibility all of us must share if we are to be successful. The program uses what
each of us can contribute."
The Honorable Andrew Young
Former Mayor of Atlanta
"We would not make that kind of commitment, unless we felt that we were making an
investment in the communities that represent the backbone of our business at BellSouth,
our return from Cities in Schools has already exceeded our greatest expectations. To put
it in an investor's terms, we think Cities in Schools is AAA-rated, and solidly blue-
chip Cities in schools is attempting to deliver our children from the bondage of
ignorance. It's leading them into a new land -- perhaps not one of milk and honey, but
certainly one of promise."
John L. Clendenin
Chairman, BellSouth Corporation
Former Chairman of the Board
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
"All of us in the business world like a program that gets results. Cities in Schools gets
results. Kids who were once dropouts or at great risk, are now graduating from high
school and college. They are productive members of society. I am solidly behind CIS."
Lee Iacocca
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director
the Chrysler Corporation
"In my 30 years as an administrator, I've never seen anything serve as a catalytic agent
as effectively as CIS. It's a result-oriented mechanism. In Houston, it has produced
results faster than any program we've tried, and we've tried many."
Billy R. Reagan
Former General Superintendent
Houston School District
"I learned about CIS when I was U.S. Commissioner of Education. The more I heard
about the program, the more I was impressed it was a serious effort to find an
educational alternative for those who were not being well-served by the system in its
traditional form. I was able to look at some of the data and also spend time visiting
some of the schools. I became convinced that if a program's effectiveness can be
measured by the seriousness of commitment, imagination and integrity, CIS would rank
at or near the top."
Dr. Ernest L. Boyer, President
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Former member of U.S. Commission on Education
"This is a model program that the nation could learn much from."
Elizabeth Dole
Secretary of Labor
"By providing students with the support services they need, CIS frees up teachers' time so
they can concentrate their energies on teaching. It helps to relieve the tremendous
burden teachers have had thrust upon them, of being parents, social workers,
psychiatrists, health and nutrition professionals, and more, in addition to teaching."
Mary Hatwood Futrell
President, National Education Association
"This program saved my life. So many told me: 'You'll never be anything' but I am."
Canveta Burke
Atlanta, CIS/Exodus graduate
CITIES IN SCHOOLS
Turning kids around.
NEWS UPDATE - JANUARY 31, 1991
From the National Office
CIS/CHARLOTTE NAMED "POINT OF LIGHT"
Cities In Schools of Charlotte, North Carolina, was honored by President George Bush
as one of his "Daily Points of Light." The President saluted the volunteers of
CIS/Charlotte, noting that this recognition is intended to call every individual, group, and
organization in America to claim society's problems as their own by taking direct and
consequential action; to identify, enlarge, and multiply successful initiatives, like the
volunteers of Cities In Schools; and to discover, encourage, and develop new leaders in
community service.
At the Charlotte Cities In Schools program, an average of 95 percent of the
students have stayed in school, and an average of 88 percent have been promoted to the
next grade. Over 100 employees from IBM and volunteers from other area corporations
tutor students once a week. Some corporate volunteers serve as mentors, meeting with
students weekly for recreational activities. College students from Davidson College and
Johnson Smith University are matched with students, providing them with positive
mentoring relationships. In exchange for the help they receive, the students volunteer
within the community, visiting nursing homes and mentoring younger students.
The President has been a long-time supporter of the national Cities In Schools
effort. During the first presidential debate in the 1988 campaign, he urged Americans,
"Do not erode out of the system the thousand points of light -- the people who are out
there trying to help these kids -- like Cities In Schools."
LATEST AUDIT IS UNQUALIFIED
Cities In Schools, Inc. received an unqualified audit for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1990. The audit showed Notes Payable at $0 and a Fund Balance of
$214,648, which reflects an FY 90 operating surplus of $43,981. The ratio of program
services to supporting services was 85 to 15, meaning that 85 cents of every dollar raised
was used for program services. Comptroller Rosline Fraser called this ratio "excellent,"
pointing out that it exceeds the generally accepted standard for non-profits -- that of the
United Way of America, whose ratio is 75 to 25.
"COMPANY STORE" GETS COMPUTERS FROM IBM
The IBM Corporation has loaned 19 computers, along with the necessary software,
to the soon-to-be-operational CIS program at Fletcher-Johnson Educational Center in
Washington, D.C. The Washington program is unique in that it will serve as a "company
store," operated directly by the national headquarters and functioning as an example of
everything CIS does best. The IBM donation was a welcome step toward the program's
goal of providing computer skills to all CIS students, and eventually to parents and non-
CIS students at Fletcher-Johnson. Excited youngsters unpacked their new computers on
January 9th, captured on videotape by David Willison, CIS's Assistant Director of Research
and Evaluation. CIS/Washington should begin serving 6th through 9th grade students
in February, under the leadership of Fletcher-Johnson math teacher Willard Black, who
will serve as Project Director.
BURGER KING CORPORATION AWARDS SCHOLARSHIPS
The Burger King Corporation has announced that it will offer three college
scholarships to each Burger King Academy site, beginning in the 1991-92 school year.
Each award will be a four-year scholarship; one student at each Academy will receive
$3,000 per year toward tuition, and two other students will receive $1,000 per year. The
scholarships will be administered through the Citizen's Scholarship Fund of America. CIS
Director of Corporate Academies, Dr. Ron Lewis, is excited about Burger King's initiative.
"This represents a major commitment to our students," he said, "and is yet another sign
of the excellent ongoing partnership between Cities In Schools and Burger King
Corporation." Burger King has also expressed an interest in funding even more Burger
King Academies beyond the current ten operational Academies, and the additional six for
which the U.S. Department of Justice has committed funds. Possible future sites for
Burger King Academies include Anchorage, Cleveland, Chicago, McAllen (TX), Orlando,
Toledo, and Spring Branch (TX).
In other Academy news, the first CIS Corporate Academies sponsored by Goldman
Sachs are planned to open on March 1 in Philadelphia and Boston. The Philadelphia
Academy will be housed within Philadelphia Regional High School, a facility for 9th grade
dropouts. In Boston, CIS will be operating in partnership with Jobs for Youth, Inc.,
which has established an alternative school program for at-risk youth. The Goldman
Sachs initiative will also include an Academy in New York City, to be located on or near
Wall Street. That Academy is scheduled to open during the 1991-92 school year.
U.S. MAYORS MEET CIS
Cities In Schools was one of a handful of exhibitors at the January meeting of the
U.S. Conference of Mayors, held in Washington, D.C. CIS was the only non-profit
organization represented, and the only group associated with educational issues and the
dropout crisis. Mayors from California to Rhode Island signed up for more information
and meetings with CIS staff.
TRAINING COORDINATOR JOINS CIS
The CIS national headquarters is pleased to welcome a new member: Salvatrice
(Sally) DeLuca is the new Training Coordinator for CIS's training institute, the National
Center for Partnership Development. Most recently, Sally was the Executive Director of
the Noel Foundation, a not-for-profit devoted to entrepreneurial initiatives and economic
development opportunities for disadvantaged women. Prior to that, she served as Vice
President for Program Management and Assistant to the President at the United Way of
America. She acted as the national liaison for local United Way/Cities In Schools
partnerships developing collaborations among school systems, social service agencies, and
private voluntary organizations to address the multiple needs of youth at risk. As Senior
Training Consultant for UWA, she designed, developed, and taught courses for United
Way's National Academy for Voluntarism. Sally has also held positions on the faculties
of The American University and Georgetown University.
Quote for the Month.
"The deepest hunger in humans is the desire to be appreciated."
-- William James
Cities In Schools, Inc.
1023 15th Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone Number (202) 861-0230 Fax Number (202) 289-6642
Prepared under Grant No. 87-JS-CX-0002 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Assistance.
Research, and Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
CITIES SCHOOLS
Turning kids around.
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Development and Training for the Cities In Schools Program
in Collaboration with the Iacocca Institute
and the College of Education at Lehigh University
Every year almost 1 million young people drop out of America's public schools.
The nature of the dropout problem is complex, involving factors such as family
dysfunction, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, illiteracy, and teenage pregnancy.
Teamwork, coordination, and collaboration are the watchwords of the educational
reform movement that is being mobilized to address this and other critical problems of
the schools.
One of the most exciting results of this new emphasis on partnership is taking
place at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. There, three of the national
leaders in educational reform--Cities In Schools, the Iacocca Institute, and Lehigh
University--have joined together on behalf of at-risk young people.
Cities In Schools is the nation's largest non-profit dropout prevention program.
Since 1977 it has perfected a process that provides the community with a delivery system
that channels the community's social services directly into the schoolhouse, where they
can benefit young people at risk of dropping out. This process creates public/private
partnerships that bring resources and people into the schools: small, caring, accountable
teams of repositioned social service providers work alongside teachers and concerned
citizens in the battle to keep youth in school, and give them the quality-education they
deserve.
Cities In Schools' national training programs are the centerpiece of the new
National Center for Partnership Development. The Iacocca Institute has agreed to lend
its support to the National Center, and house its headquarters within the Institute's
facilities, which are located on the Lehigh campus. The University's College of Education,
in turn, was selected to convert the CIS strategy manuals into a formal curriculum and
training materials which utilize state-of-the-art educational technology such as computer-
based interactive multimedia sessions.
This joint venture will enable CIS to respond to the growing number of
communities that want to learn more about, or adopt, the CIS process. The National
Center for Partnership Development will now serve as a national training location, so that
local leaders and practitioners from around the country can gather to receive in-depth
exposure to the ideas, history, and techniques that help in successfully stemming the tide
of school dropouts. Upon returning to their communities, trainees will then receive
ongoing instruction from one of the five Regional Training and Technical Assistance
Centers that are the National Center's extensions.
Training is currently available in two key subject areas:
The CIS Replication Process. This four-day program is designed for
individuals and teams interested or involved in creating broad-based
community partnerships that can successfully implement the CIS dropout
prevention model. The course includes:
Community and Leadership Assessment
Workplan Development
Agency Agreements
Fundraising Strategies
Management Team Recruitment
Site Plan Development
Annual Review
Dates for 1991: March 4-7, May 13-16, July 15-18, September 16-19,
November 11-14
CIS Project Operations. This six-day program is designed for individuals
who are or will be directing local CIS projects. Using a variety of
computer-based, print, and video resources, trainees will experience
practical, hands-on instruction, reality-based simulations, and personalized
action plan development in:
School and Agency Relationships
Intake and Referral Processes
Home Visits and Individualized Student and Family Plans
Educational Support Models and Services
Data Collection
Supervision and Evaluation
Team Building
Private Sector Relationships
Working with Students, Teachers, Parents, Volunteers
Dates for 1991: March 17-22, April 14-19, May 19-24, June 9-14, July 21-
26, August 18-23, September 22-27, October 20-25, November 17-22,
December 8-13
These training programs are free of charge. Trainees are responsible only for their
own travel, lodging, and meal expenses. For more information, please contact:
Cities In Schools, Inc.
1023 15th Street N.W., Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 861-0230
Contact: Sally DeLuca
You may also contact the CIS Regional Director nearest you:
Robert Arias, Southwest Region
Jill Shaw, South Central Region
(213) 473-4228 (Los Angeles)
(512) 463-2821 (Austin)
Douglas Denise, Southeast Region
Alfred Ward, North Central Region
(404) 761-8118 (Atlanta)
(312) 829-2475 (Chicago)
Alyce Hill, Northeast Region
(412) 776-5711 (Pittsburgh)
The Washington Post
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1991
Delano E. Lewis
Society and Schools:
The Team System
William Raspberry's column What
people and their families. The reposi-
Cities In Schools is aware of the
It Takes to Deliver Social Services"
tioned. personnel function as a team,
danger to local leadership posed by
[op-ed, Jan. 30] delivered a message to
SO all information is shared, and each
constant reliance on government re-
all of us who are concerned with
student's needs are examined in rela-
sources. To counteract this, CIS has
America's social problems. It is not,
tion to his or her overall situation.
evolved two important guidelines: all
Raspberry asserts, that America has
This team process also "models" for
CIS programs must rely primarily on
stopped caring about poor people,
youngsters a way of cooperating and
private sector leadership, especially
small-children or troubled families.
working together-a model often
from the businesses that are part of
Rather, we have become painfully
sadly lacking in their communities.
the school system's community, and
aware that isolated "programs" simply
The 50 Cities In Schools programs
each CIS program is formed as a pri-
don't alleviate the problems they are
currently operational across the coun-
vately incorporated organization inde-
designed to combat.
try served almost 30,000 young peo-
pendent of any authority outside the
Raspberry points with satisfaction
ple and their families last year. CIS
community itself. A local CIS board of
to a monograph just published by the
programs consistently report excel-
directors typically comprises educa-
Education and Human Services Con-
lent results in areas such as retention,
tors, religious leaders, health and so-
sortium that argues for the solution:
academic improvement and ameliora-
cial service providers, business per-
fragmented and depersonalized social
tion of behavior problems. The over-
sons, Private Industry Council
service programs must become con-
all goal of the CIS effort-reduction
members and community activities,
nected and collaborative. They must
and it is always chaired by a represen-
stop treating their clients as a collec-
tative from the private sector. Thus
tion of unrelated problems and begin
to see them holistically as human be-
"In the long run,
the board members are stakeholders
and have a vested interest in seeing
ings, so that "a truly seamless web of
'parachuting in the
the effort succeed.
services" may be woven for them.
This approach ensures that the com-
I first heard this message almost
experts' may no
munity will assume responsibility for
20 years ago from a man named Bill
solving its children's problems-and it
Milliken. He is now the president of
Cities In Schools Inc. (CIS), the na-
longer be
also provides a model for community
empowerment. In the long run, "para-
tion's largest non-profit dropout pre-
chuting in the experts" may no longer
vention program, and since 1986 I
necessary."
be necessary, and the crippling reli-
have had the privilege of serving on
ance on paternalistic "helping" can be
CIS's national board of directors.
of the dropout rate for these youth-
brought to an end.
Reading Raspberry's column was in
is well within reach. But Milliken
Bill Milliken has worked for more
some respects an eerie experience,
emphasizes that any social problem
than 30 years in disadvantaged com-
because Milliken and the dedicated
can be effectively addressed with this
munities, and his reflections are som-
staff of Cities In Schools have been
same combination of coordinated so-
ber and important for us to understand.
singing the same song loud and clear
cial services and personalized team-
"Since World War II," he says, "our
for many years-and it appears that
building to help those at risk-the
sense of community has deteriorated.
the nation is now ready to listen.
very model that Raspberry and the
Religious institutions and extended
Milliken and CIS argue that most
Education and Human Services Con-
families used to be the mediating struc-
social services for "at-risk" youth are
sortium endorse.
ture of any healthy community. Now, in
already in place-but they are in the
"Ultimately," says Milliken, "we're
many areas, that's no longer true. In a
wrong place. As Raspberry and the
talking about institutional change, a
way, the schools are the last place left
consortium note, students and their
change in the way society views its
for a community to rally behind. But in
families are asked to seek out the help
problems. We've got to stop encour-
the process, we wind up asking schools,
they so badly need-health care, drug
aging, even rewarding, competition be-
and teachers, to do so much more than
rehabilitation, career planning-from a
tween helping agencies. Collaboration
they're able to do. The only effective
confusing variety of disconnected agen-
should be the aim; both government
solution is to reorganize and empower
cies scattered throughout a typical
and private philanthropies have to be-
the community around the school, to
community. The consortium's mono-
gin putting their resources behind co-
make it a rallying point and to bring
graph points out that to expect troubled
operative efforts instead of demanding
community resources into the schools."
youth or their parents to negotiate this
that social service groups with differ-
I can only hope that more and more
maze "is truly to ask the impossible."
ent agendas engage in a destructive
individuals in our communities, busi-
Bill Milliken puts it this way: "You'd
fight for the few funds available."
nesses and government alike, will hear
need a PhD in systems to figure it out.
The CIS approach has another virtue,
Milliken's and Raspberry's message.
I couldn't do it. How can I expect it of
which is also directly pertinent to Rasp-
We haven't stopped caring, nor have
a young kid who's about to drop out?"
berry's column. "If I have any criticism
we run out of resources to help trou-
CIS instead reverses this process and
of this excellent paper [the Consortium
bled families. Whether it is through our
brings repositioned social service pro-
monograph]," he writes, "it is that it
educational support efforts at C&P
viders into the school itself, where
focuses almost exclusively in improving
Telephone or through organizations
they can serve alongside teachers in
the delivery of government services and
like Cities In Schools, I am convinced
the battle to give young people educa-
hardly at all on the importance of
business must be an active partner.
tion, direction and hope.
strengthening communities in order to
This approach emphasizes building
prevent or ameliorate problems before
The writer is president and chief
personal relationships with young
they come to agency attention."
executive officer of C&P Telebhone.
The New York Times
VOL. CXL. No. 48,419
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1990
PAGE A-1
Dropout Fight Is Retooled for Grade Schools
By Michel Marriott
The boy seemed a loose
tangle of arms and legs as he
spoke of spending many of his
school days last year at home
watching cartoons or outside
riding his bicycle. Whenever he
rode, graffiti and urban decay
whisked by as he pedaled along
in his New York City neighbor-
hood, flattening spent crack vi-
als with as little alarm as if they
were fallen leaves.
For months, while school
was in, this fifth-grader was out.
At the age of 11, Louis N.,
who wants to be a motorcycle
racer when he grows up, came
dangerously close to joining the
growing ranks of youngsters
chronically absent from school,
whom some urban educators
call "elementary school drop-
outs."
Discouraged and
Frustrated
He said he stayed away from
Maria Meriles, a New York City social worker assigned to the nationwide Cities in Schools program to
Public School 57 in East Harlem
help troubled students, talking with Eric I. Rosales, a student at Public School 57 in Harlem.
because he was convinced that
his teachers disliked him.
"She screamed at me and
called me stupid," said Louis, whose mother
Urban school officials across the country
"We are just beginning to move down
permitted him to be interviewed only if he
say traditional measures, like truant officers
into that age group," Mr. Milliken said of the
was not fully identified.
and teacher-parent conferences, are too
grade school pupils who are chronically ab-
Advocates for children say increasing
overburdened to work.
sent from school. The attention has moved,
numbers of very young pupils in troubled
"The caseload per capita is so high that it
and we realize we have to get to these kids
neighborhoods are staying home from school
is impossible to imagine the truant officer
earlier and earlier."
more frequently and for longer periods than
system being able to keep track of so many
He said that New York was one of the first
ever before. Even first- and second-graders
kids," said Charles Schultz, director of edu-
places the phenomenon had surfaced, but
are doing so, thus crippling their chances of
cational studies at Trinity College in Hart-
that similar problems have been identified in
adapting to the demands of school and main-
ford. "So many are falling through the cracks
California, Florida, Texas and other states
stream society and increasing their likeli-
that there isn't much of an official means of
with troubled urban areas.
hood of dropping out for good.
recapturing them."
About four million Americans 16 to 24
"We have elementary school dropouts,"
Cities in Schools, which helped Louis N.
years old, or 12.6 percent of the people in this
said Annie Hodge, who is a New York City
return to classes, not only counsels the
age group, were out of school without a
district director for a nationwide dropout
troubled student, but its workers also act as if
diploma in 1989, according to a study released
prevention program, Cities in Schools, a
they are part of the child's extended family
this fall by the United States Department of
nonprofit group operating in 50 cities. "We
and offer other support.
Education. An average of 429,000 students
have kindergarten dropouts. They come in
"I have a social worker who goes to a
in grades 10 through 12 drop out of school
and don't like what they see. Depending on
child's home at 7 A.M. and takes the child to
each year, which is 4.5 percent of the stu-
the homes they come from, a lot of them find
school" said Deidre Meyerson, executive
dents enrolled in those grades, according to
too much structure in schools and stay home."
director of Cities in Schools in New York
the same study.
Many of these children come from single-
City. "We never penalize the parents. We try
The problem is most acute among His-
parent households headed by women in urban
to work with them."
panic and black students, Federal education
areas ravaged by chronic unemployment,
There are no statistics on precisely how
officials said. In 1989, 33 percent of His-
teen-age pregnancy, illegal drugs, violence
many elementary pupils are regularly miss-
panic youths 16 to 24 were not enrolled in
and crime. Many receive little supervision
ing school, Federal education officials said.
school and did not have a high school diploma;
at home, she said. Some, even before they
But officials of Cities in Schools say the
for blacks the figure was 13.8 percent.
were born, were exposed to drugs like crack,
number of elementary students who need
which can make them oblivious to classwork
their help has risen 25 percent to 30 percent
Parents Aren't Doing Well
and prone to misbehave.
in the last five years. Before that time, said
"So, a lot of them just don't come to
the group's national president, William E.
Leslie Rescorla, a clinical psychologist at
school," Ms. Hodge said. "And nobody at
Milliken, the program's emphasis was al-
the Child Study Institute at Bryn Mawr Col-
home is making them come."
most exclusively on high school students.
lege in Bryn Mawr, Pa., and an assistant
NEW YORK TIMES EDUCATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1990
professor of human
development there,
said trouble begins
early for many who
end up dropping out
of school. Increasing
numbers of low-in-
come families are
falling victim to an
array of problems that
are affecting their
children tpre-school
and elementary
school ages, she said.
"A lot of kids in
high drug areas have
parents who aren't
functioning well,"
she said. "Many are
either othome orare
basically preoccu-
pied with their own
drug or alcohol prob-
lems. It is not likely
that they are going to
get up early and get
their kids off to
school."
Another reason
more young children
are staying home is a
lack of a family cul-
ture that supports
education, said Tom
Lasley, chairman of
the education depart-
ment of the Univer-
sity of Dayton in
Ohio. Also, for
children in many of
the country's most
devastated neighbor-
hoods, he said the ex-
ample of what is
achieved by those
who stayed in school
is often not an inspir-
I'm a little nervous, but I'm happy she's coming," said Eric I. Rosales before a visit by Maria Meriles, left, who asked
ing one.
his mother, Rosa, to help maintain his improved punctuality at Public School 57 in East Harlem.
"They look at
older kids who stayed
in schools and see them still walking the
small classroom on the third floor. Through
Mrs. Meriles spoke in Spanish with Eric's
streets or working at McDonald's,' Dr. Lasley
counseling, home visits with the parents,
mother, Rosa Rosales, encouraging the
said. "They just don't see anything great
after-school classes and field trips, pupils are
family to help Eric keep up his improved
happening to these people."
guided back into feeling they are part of their
record of punctuality. Eric's father, a wash-
schools, Ms. Meyerson said.
ing machine repairman, stood nearby.
The Earlier the Better
Working with Cities in Schools counselors
Mrs. Meriles also urged the mother, a
and attending after-school reading courses
native of Guatemala, to let her son out of the
But to give these children from troubled
administered by the program, Louis N.
house more often. Mrs. Rosales said she
families a chance at an education and to help
improved his reading skills as well as his
feared for her son in the dangerous streets
them learn its value means reaching them
relationships with teachers. So far this year,
surrounding the high-rise public housing
earlier and earlier.
his first year back on a full-time basis, he has
project. Mrs. Meriles said that she under-
"When you start in high school when the
only missed one day of classes.
stood, but that Eric needed a chance to work
child is a teen-ager, he is basically set in his
Maria Meriles, a city social worker
off energy and play with other children.
mind." Ms. Hodge said. "How much inter-
assigned to work with Cities in Schools, also
After about 30 minutes, Mrs. Meriles
vention can you do then?"
at Public School 57, said she has watched
helped Mrs. Rosales complete forms to help
Cities in Schools tries to help children
troubled students become well adjusted when
get dental care for Eric. Then she left.
take better advantage of a city's existing
someone takes the time to listen to their
While Mrs. Rosales seemed willing to
youth services, said Mr. Milliken, who
problems and help them work them out.
cooperate in meeting her son's needs, only
founded Cities in Schools in 1977.
time will tell if she would.
In most places, he said, troubled pupils
Fear of the Streets
Martino Black, Eric's principal, said Cities
are asked to navigate a maze of career coun-
in Schools has certainly made a difference in
selors, health and child care officials and
For example, Eric I. Rosales, a plump,
his school in an era of shrinking budgets. The
drug counselors, who are often scattered
extroverted 12-year-old, was often late for
program, which is based in Washington, is in
around the city. The Cities in Schools ap-
class despite the fact that he lived across the
15 New York City schools.
proach coordinates social and educational
street from school. Recently, Mrs. Meriles
"Through the program, we now have the
services, getting them all in a child's school.
made a home visit with him, riding the
people to do the footwork and find out why
For example, at Public School 57, also
cramped elevator to the 12th-floor apartment
that child isn't coming to school on a regular
known as James Weldon Johnson School on
Eric shares with his parents and grandmother.
basis, why that child isn't doing as well as he
East 115th Street in East Harlem, an educa-
"I'm a little nervous, but I'm happy she's
can," Mr. Black said. "Their sole job is to
tion specialist, a recreation specialist and a
coming," he said as he escorted the social
address these kinds of concerns and deal with
social worker see about 45 students a week in
worker to his apartment's metal door. Inside
the potential dropout. They do it well."
For more information: Cities in Schools, Inc.
Suite 600
1023 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC
(202) 861-0230
$
to
A.
1
GERED ENDANGERED SPE SPECIES
EDUCATION
IS AMERICAN EDUC EDUCATION ON A COI LISION
CITIES IN SCHOOLS
Cities in Schools (CIS), Washington, D.C., is
successfully sought the support of corporate
one of those rare, genuinely bipartisan pro-
America to help underwrite his rescue opera-
grams that enjoys the active support of former
tion; the dozens of supporters include major
First Lady Rosalyn Carter and current First
corporations such as General Foods, BellSouth,
Lady Barbara Bush Its purpose is simple:
GTE, Amoco, Coca-Cola, and Federated
reconnecting the disconnected." The plan's
Department Stores.
originator, Bill Milliken, speaks from experi-
CIS is not the product of educators, but of
ence A product of Pittsburgh's mean streets,
individuals who, like Milliken, believe that
Milliken is a school "dropout" who has dropped
schools are where the action should be The
back into society with a powerful message:
program establishes partnerships in com-
There are three places to save our kids-the
munities, between businesses and the schools
streets, prison, or the schools.
as well as other public sector service providers:
Milliken is convinced that schools are the
health, welfare, juvenile justice. The purpose is
natural places of community concern and
not just "one-stop shopping" for social services,
interest, that they should be an oasis of care
but to give youngsters the sense that there are
and concern for the disadvantaged and dispos-
caring adults who can help them over the
sessed. With proper organization and vigil, they
rough spots.
can be
A typical CIS program (if there is one) is an
Twenty years ago, with the support of a friend
Atlanta-based alternative school on the sixth
-and former heroin addict-Milliken dedi-
floor of Rich's department store. Few of the kids
President George Bush
cated himself to serving
enrolled had ever seen
listens attentively to a
kids at risk and began a
an adult with regular
question from a student
street ministry
in
work habits, and few of
in P.S. 146, East Harlem,
N.Y. The President toured
Harlem. From there he
the adult mentors
schools participating in
began a series of "street
involved in the project-
Cities in Schools,
academies," later adopted
many from Rich's-had
a dropout prevention
by the N.Y. Urban League
ever worked with trou-
pregram.
to serve at-risk youngsters
bled youngsters. Were it
in a small, intimate, and
not for the unconven-
supportive setting.
tional location, neither
Since those humble
beginnings, Milliken has
MARDETH
would know about the
other.
D.P.D.
E56
Business Week
WINTER 1989
CITIES IN SCHOOLS
Turning kids around.
NEWS UPDATE - MARCH 12, 1991
From the National Office
LATEST STATISTICS: CIS GROWTH CONTINUES
The new Quarterly Report on the Cities In Schools network of local programs for
the period ending December 31, 1990, shows all-time high figures in every category. Three
new programs -- Marin County, California; McDuffie County, Georgia; and Louisville,
Kentucky -- are now operational, bringing to 53 the total number of CIS programs. We
are now serving 33,277 students at 262 educational sites nationwide. This represents a 28
percent increase in the number of students served, compared to one year ago, and a 43
percent increase in the number of sites!
NATIONAL BOARD MEETING HELD IN JANUARY
The Board of Directors of Cities In Schools, Inc. held its quarterly meeting on
January 30 in New York City. Comptroller Rosline Fraser was present to receive
congratulations for guiding CIS through its tenth consecutive unqualified audit. The Board
was also informed that the Federal Government's Office of Management and Budget audit
found CIS's stewardship of Federal funds to be "without flaw." Recently hired Vice
President for Public Affairs and Development Jeanne G. Jacob presented plans for her
department to advance CIS in 1991, which the Board greeted enthusiastically. Plans were
also approved for an International Board Summit in Washington, D.C., May 6 - 8, featuring
the heads of all local CIS boards, and the chairs and members of the national,
Entertainment Industry, and London, England boards.
SAN ANTONIO CIS 9TH GRADERS BEST IN DISTRICT
The San Antonio CIS/Burger King Academy's 9th grade students scored the best in
their district, and well above the statewide average, on the Texas Assessment of Academic
Skills test. The test is designed to measure a higher order of critical thinking skills and
problem solving abilities. "My high test score gave me the momentum to take the GED
[high school equivalency] test," said Antonio Hererra, a 17-year-old freshman at the
Academy. "I am moving on to a brighter future." Congratulations to all the San Antonio
Academy 9th graders, and to Academy Director Warren Wagner and his colleagues!
MULTIMEDIA TRAINING CURRICULUM READY TO ROLL
CIS's training institute, the National Center for Partnership Development, is ready
to begin Project Operations training featuring an exciting, interactive curriculum. Dr.
Frank Harvey and his staff at Lehigh University's College of Education developed this
computer-based curriculum. It is adapted from the training manual, "Directing a Cities
In Schools Project," written last year, with the help of the National Office for Social
Responsibility, under the direction of CIS Vice President for Administration Jim Hill.
Interactive multimedia training utilizes print, video, and computer resources,
accessible at each trainee's terminal. The videotapes feature presentations and interviews
by local and national CIS staff, as well as simulated "real-life" situations which trainees
view and respond to. Another important feature of this curriculum is its adaptability to
individual learning styles, allowing trainees to proceed at their own pace.
During the last week of February, CIS trainers were instructed in using the new
curriculum. They will begin offering it to new CIS Project Directors during the first
training session, March 17 - 22. If you are interested in learning more about this
stimulating five-and-a-half-day experience, call your Regional Director. Nine more sessions
are scheduled in 1991.
D.C.'S CIS STUDENTS HEAD FOR KNOXVILLE, KENNEDY CENTER
The new Cities In Schools "company store" program at Fletcher-Johnson Educational
Center in Washington, D.C. is on the brink of becoming operational, and it can already feel
proud of its students.
Five Fletcher-Johnson science students, including two CIS youngsters, Detrick
Robinson and Lakisha Smith, were winners in the citywide "Odyssey of the Mind"
competition. The contestants were challenged to design and build a device capable of
holding a specified amount of weight. The Fletcher-Johnson "super-collider" was made
from toothpicks and other small pieces of wood, and could support 375 pounds. Next
comes the national competition to be held in Knoxville, Tennessee in May. We're pleased
that science teacher Wali Mohammad, who guided the students in their winning entry, will
be participating in the CIS program.
Some of the Fletcher-Johnson CIS students are also getting a Saint Patrick's Day
treat. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the capital's internationally
recognized theater and concert hall, is providing 20 free tickets to CIS students and
parents. They will attend a "multi-ethnic tribute to music" on March 17 featuring Seamus
Eagon of the Duke Ellington School of Dance. The event is part of the Kennedy Center's
"Encore Concerts for Families" series. CIS students will continue to be invited for future
performances in this series.
CIS WELCOMES DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Julia A. Wolf has joined the Cities In Schools national staff as Director of
Development. She comes to CIS after nearly six years at the National Academy of
Engineering, where she directed the corporate campaign that raised over $22 million in
contributions toward the five-year, $46 million capital campaign. Prior to her work at the
Academy, Julie was with Youth For Understanding, where she provided an exchange
student and host family population of nearly 7,000 with counseling and other support
services. She also coordinated program support among 13 U.S. regional offices and 25
offices overseas. Julie is currently in the final stages of a Masters program in International
Affairs at The George Washington University.
Ideas for Fundraising.
We invite local programs to send us interesting and effective fundraising techniques
they have used. Here is the first:
For several years CIS/San Antonio has arranged with a local company to take over
the operation of their parking lot during Fiesta, an annual city-wide festival. CIS
students (adequately supervised) and others act as ticket takers, and the $4 to $5
parking fee per car is donated directly to CIS.
Quote for the Month.
"When you don't recognize that your first line of defense is your own people, with
priority to those who are weak and hungry
then the missile has not been
invented that will save us."
--Pastor John Steinbruck,
Luther-Place-Memorial-Church;
Washington, D.C.
Cities In Schools, Inc.
1023 15th Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone Number (202) 861-0230 Fax Number (202) 289-6642
Prepared under Grant No. 87-JS-CX-0002 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Assistance,
Research, and Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Metro &State
SECTION
C
The Allania Tournal
THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1990
Poitier tours school
Actor Sidney Poltier hugs Marcey Perry
Moment with a legend
(above) of Atlanta public schools' Rich's
Academy after the senior performed a
song, "Wind Beneath My Wings," in his hon-
or. The Academy Award-winning actor, in
Atlanta to visit his two daughters, stopped by
Friday for a tour of the alternative school;
answered students' questions (right); and
watched a performance by students. Mr.
Poitier is considering a fund-raiser for the
school, formed in 1981 for dropouts and
students on the verge of dropping out. Rich's
Academy, with students between ages 14
and 21, is in the Rich's building in Downtown.
Another celebrity, model Claudia Schiffer,
was at Macy's Friday. Article, Page C2.
Mr. Poitier wipes away tears after students performed, "It's never too late to turn your life around."
BURGER KING
Cities in Schools
ACADEMY
A CORPORATE ACADEMY OF CITIES IN SCHOOLS
As chief executive of
The Situation
Burger King Corporation,
I am pleased to introduce an
exciting new educational
The national dropout rate has
endeavor that our company is
initiating called Burger King®
reached alarming proportions
Academy.
and is impacting the future of
Burger King Academy is a
special program that will help
this country socially, economi-
remedy a problem that is vir-
tually crippling America's
cally and psychologically. Con-
future. The problem is drop-
outs. The numbers in and of
sider the following statistics:
themselves are staggering.
One million kids drop out of
school every year. In some
U.S. urban centers the drop-
The dropout rate has climbed to 29%
out rate reaches 50 percent. This problem not only takes a
toll on human lives, but costs this country billions of dollars
nationally and is well over 50% in our
each year in lost tax revenue, welfare, unemployment and
country's largest urban areas.
crime prevention. It also costs American businesses a com-
bined $25 billion a year to train people to read, write and
25% of high school seniors drop out
count.
and 50% of teenage girls who become
Burger King Academy provides an alternative academic
setting where high school students who have been identified
pregnant drop out and never return
as at-risk of dropping out can successfully complete their
to school.
high school education. The Academy, designed and admin-
istered by local school systems and Cities In Schools, the
Children at high risk are those that
nation's leading dropout prevention organization, brings
come from homes headed by single
together existing community resources to provide the
students with a nurturing and personalized learning
parents who did not finish school,
environment.
hold low paying jobs or are on
As a company that employs more than 250,000 people,
welfare.
many of them teens, we acutely recognize and appreciate the
importance of quality education to the future of America.
Dropouts cost this country $240 bil-
We at Burger King, therefore, are proud to take the lead in
lion a year in lost earnings, taxes and
national dropout prevention through the Burger King Acad-
emy program, which is part of our "Education Enriches
social services. For the nation, the
Everyone" campaign to better education in the United States.
high dropout rate threatens the health
Burger King Academy is one way we can give something
of our economy and presents the
back to the communities where we do business. Our goal is
potential development of a permanent
to have ten Academies up and running by next year. For
underclass.
more information about Burger King Academy, I invite you
to please contact the Burger King Corporation External
Affairs Department, 17777 Old Cutler Road, Miami,
Low self-esteem is considered to be a
Florida 33157.
primary factor in why America's chil-
dren drop out. Students leave school
Sincerely,
for reasons such as being discouraged,
Banga
poor performance and grades, and
lack of interest in school.
85% of juveniles in the court system
Barry Gibbons
and 75% of the prison population are
Chief Executive Officer
dropouts.
WELCOME
BURGER KING AC
ПМ
STUDENTS
Working Partnerships
Curriculum
Burger King Academy relies heavily on cooperative efforts
Burger King Academy is designed as a school of choice to
between the public and private sectors. Typical contributions
meet the diverse needs of a multicultural and multiethnic com-
include:
munity. The Academy provides a unique environment where
at-risk high school students who have already dropped out of
Public Organizations
school, or are in a traditional school setting but functioning
Cities In Schools offers an established, reputable educational
below their potential, can learn and become productive citizens.
name and experience in Burger King Academy program
These at-risk students are characterized as being unmotivated
design and implementation.
underachievers faced with personal constraints such as preg-
nancy, substance abuse and problems with the judicial system.
U.S. Department of Justice has provided a grant that
Through a unique curriculum implemented in a nurturing
includes $650,000 for the initial funding and development
environment, Burger King Academy focuses on getting these
of 10 Burger King Academies.
unmotivated, troubled students back into the mainstream
Local community provides social services, counseling serv-
of society.
ices and support, health and human services and possibly
At a Burger King Academy, approximately 125 students in
the site.
grades 9-12 will receive a specialized curriculum which includes:
individualized academic instruction in mathematics, reading,
Local school board provides teachers, textbooks, school
writing and verbal communication; employment and job skills,
supplies, student transportation and possibly the site.
training and career placement opportunities; social services
Private Industry Council provides employment skills and
such as health care and personal and family counseling; and
on-the-job training and internships for Academy students
personal enrichment opportunities that help build students' self-
esteem and confidence.
with local businesses.
Additionally, Burger King Academy students will receive
Private Organizations
on-the-job training and internships offered by local com-
Burger King represents the private partner and will provide
munity businesses, including Burger King.
funding, jobs for Academy students and communications sup-
port for the Burger King Academies.
U.S. DEPT.
BURGER
LOCAL
LOCAL
COMMUNITY
KING
SCHOOL
OF JUSTICE
Cities in Schools
BOARDS
BURGER
KING
Cities
in
Schools
ACADEMY
©1989 Burger King Corporation
President Bush
"My wife Barbara and I have been involved with the Cities In
Schools program for some years, and we've both seen firsthand
the results of this unique partnership.
I've seen educators, social service providers and volunteers all
working together to keep at-risk children in school. But what
I saw and what stayed with me was the look of excitement
and hope on the faces of these children who might have been
consigned to the scrap heap of failure.
Both Barbara and I have visited Cities In Schools sites and
have seen the enthusiasm and hope this program generates. Our
nation can no longer afford the drain dropouts create on human
capital - which is America's greatest resource.
Cities In Schools is about people working together towards a
common goal. I urge all of you - business leaders, educators,
parents and human service providers to give your support to
Cities In Schools and find out how you can become involved."
— -President George H. W. Bush
Education
Enriches
Everyone
BURGER
KING.
An Education Enriches Everyone Program administered by Burger King Corporation External Affairs Department
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
UNTIL 2:00 P.M. EDT
APRIL 18, 1991
AMERICA 2000: THE PRESIDENT'S EDUCATION STRATEGY
FACT SHEET
The President today outlined his strategy to move the Nation toward achieving the
national education goals and educational excellence for all Americans. The
President believes we must restructure and revitalize America's education system
by the year 2000.
Emphasizing that this effort is a national challenge, the President asked all
Americans to take part in "the crusade that counts most -- the crusade to prepare
our children and ourselves for the exciting future that looms ahead."
AMERICA 2000 builds on four related themes:
Creating better and more accountable schools for today's students;
Creating a New Generation of American Schools for tomorrow's
students;
Transforming America into a Nation of Students; and
Making our communities places where learning will happen.
I. CREATING BETTER AND MORE ACCOUNTABLE SCHOOLS
FOR TODAY'S STUDENTS
The President called on all Americans to help create better and more accountable
schools based on world class standards and the principle of accountability. He
encouraged all elements of our communities -- families, businesses, unions, places
of worship, neighborhood organizations and other voluntary associations -- to
work together with our schools to help the Nation achieve educational excellence.
-2-
A.
World Class Standards in Five Core Subjects
The President believes the time has come to establish world class standards for
what our children should know and be able to do in five core subjects: English,
mathematics, science, history, and geography.
Through the National Education Goals Panel, and working with interested
parties throughout the Nation, the President and the Governors will develop
a timetable for establishing national standards in these five subjects, and in
September 1991, and each year thereafter, the panel will report to the
Nation on progress toward the national education goals.
The standards are intended to lift the entire education system and improve
the learning achievement of all students. The President and the Governors
oppose a national curriculum or federalizing our education system.
B.
A System of Voluntary National Examinations
Through the efforts of the National Education Goals Panel, a system of voluntary
examinations will be developed and made available for all fourth, eighth, and
twelfth grade students in the five core subjects.
These American Achievement Tests will challenge all students to strive to
meet the world class standards and ensure that, when they leave school,
students are prepared for further study and the workforce. The tests will
measure higher order skills (i.e., they will not be strictly multiple choice
tests).
The President, working with the Nation's Governors, will seek
Congressional authorization for State-level National Assessment of
Educational Progress assessments and for optional use of these assess-
ments at district and school levels.
Students who distinguish themselves on the American Achievement Tests
will receive a Presidential Citation for Educational Excellence in recognition
of their outstanding achievement.
The President will seek authorization for Presidential Achievement
Scholarships to reward academic excellence among low income students
pursuing postsecondary education opportunities. These financial awards
will be based on superior high school and college performance.
-3-
C.
Schools as the Site of Reform
The Administration will help strengthen the capacity of elementary and secondary
schools to improve results and to innovate by increasing flexibility in
decisionmaking at the State, district, and school levels and encouraging report
cards on performance.
In addition to an annual National Report Card, the President will encourage
schools, school districts, and States to issue regular report cards on their
education performance. These report cards will measure results and
progress toward achieving the national education goals.
As part of his AMERICA 2000 Excellence in Education Act of 1991, the
President will again seek legislation that will allow greater flexibility in the
use of Federal resources for education in exchange for enhanced
accountability for results.
To stimulate reform in mathematics and science education, the AMERICA
2000 Excellence in Education Act of 1991 will include $40 million for new
grants to school districts that show significant gains in student achievement.
Awards will be used for continued improvements in these vital subjects.
The AMERICA 2000 Excellence in Education Act of 1991 also will seek
funds for a Merit Schools Program for States to award individual schools
that demonstrate significant progress toward the national education goals.
States may "bank" funds over several years to create even more incentives
for successful schools.
D.
Providing and Promoting School Choice
The President believes that educational choice for parents and students is critical
to improving our schools.
The President will promote State and local choice programs as part of his
AMERICA 2000 Excellence in Education Act of 1991.
--
A $200 million Education Certificate Program Support Fund will
provide incentive grants to local school districts with qualified
education certificate programs that enhance parental choice.
National school choice demonstration projects will be supported
through a $30 million initiative.
The Administration also will seek ways to ensure that Federal education
programs are more supportive of choice.
-4-
E.
Teachers and Principals
America's teachers and principals are on the front lines of transforming our
schools. As part of his AMERICA 2000 Excellence in Education Act of 1991, the
President will propose several initiatives to promote outstanding leadership in our
schools.
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Education will recognize and reward
outstanding teachers across America.
The President will encourage States and communities to provide alternative
routes of certification through one-time grants to States to support
implementation of alternative certification.
In order to improve the training of school principals and other school
leaders, the President will propose establishing Governors' Academies in
every State with Federal seed money to enhance principal training through
instructional and mentoring programs.
The President will seek to establish Governors' Academies for America's
teachers with Federal seed money to offer advanced instruction focusing on
the five core academic disciplines.
The President also encouraged States to consider differential pay and financial and
other awards for those who excel in teaching, teach core subjects, teach in
challenging settings, and serve as mentors for new teachers.
II.
CREATING A NEW GENERATION OF AMERICAN SCHOOLS
FOR TOMORROW'S STUDENTS
The President today challenged the best minds in America to design -- and help
communities create -- the best schools in the world.
A.
Research and Development
A series of Research and Development Teams, funded by contributions from the
business community, will help design a New Generation of American Schools.
America's business leaders will establish and mobilize private resources for
the New American Schools Development Corporation, a new non-profit
organization that will award contracts in 1992 to between three and seven
Research and Development Teams. These teams may consist of
-5-
corporations, universities, think tanks, school innovators and others. The
teams' products will be available to the American people.
The mission of these teams is to help communities create schools that will
reach the national education goals, including world class standards in the
five core subjects for all students, as monitored by the American
Achievement Tests and similar measures.
The President will ask his Education Policy Advisory Committee, as well as
the Department of Education, to examine the work of these Research and
Development Teams and to report on their progress.
B.
New American Schools
The President will ask Congress to provide $550 million in one-time start-up
funds to create at least 535 New American Schools that "break the mold" of
existing school designs.
These funds will provide up to $1 million for each New American School to
underwrite special staff training, instructional materials, or other support
the school needs. The goal is to have at least one New American School
operating in each Congressional district by September 1996.
Once the schools are launched, the operating costs of the New American
Schools will be no more than those of conventional schools.
The President also will ask Congress for start-up funds to help design
state-of-the-art technology appropriate for New American Schools.
A New American School does not necessarily mean new bricks-and-
mortar. Nor does a New American School have to rely on technology;
the quality of learning is what matters.
C.
AMERICA 2000 Communities
The President called on every community in the country to do four things:
Adopt the six national education goals;
Establish a community-wide strategy for achieving the goals;
Develop a report card for measuring its progress; and
Demonstrate its readiness to create and support a New American School.
-6-
Communities that accept this challenge will be designated, by the Governors of
their States, as "AMERICA 2000 Communities."
Governors, in conjunction with the Secretary of Education, will review
community-developed plans with the assistance of a distinguished advisory
panel and will determine which AMERICA 2000 Communities in each State
will receive Federal financial support in starting New American Schools.
The Governors and the Secretary will ensure that many such schools serve
communities with high concentrations of children at risk.
D.
Leadership at All Levels
Transforming American education and creating a New Generation of American
Schools will require the commitment of America's leaders at all levels.
The President welcomes the commitment by American business to
contribute $150-$200 million to support the Research and Development
effort.
The President asked the Nation's Governors to lead the New American
Schools effort in their States.
The President challenged State legislatures to: support the creation and
operation of New American Schools; embrace the world class standards
and adopt the American Achievement Tests; and work toward school,
district, and State-level report cards.
The President encouraged civic leaders to help organize community plans
all across the country to seek designation as an AMERICA 2000
Community, and to help plan and operate New American Schools.
Business can encourage local schools to use the world class standards and
American Achievement Tests, and encourage schools to issue report cards
on their performance.
The President called on educators to accept new roles and to take risks.
Teachers, principals, and other educators are asked to work to develop a
consensus on the world class standards and to determine what it would
take to create a New American School in each community.
E.
Families and Children Devoted to Learning
The President called on parents to urge use of world class standards, American
Achievement Tests, and report cards by local schools. Parents must play a key
-7-
role in creating New American Schools in their own communities and must work
with children in the home to improve children's performance in school.
III.
TRANSFORMING AMERICA INTO "A NATION OF
STUDENTS"
The President believes that learning is a life-long challenge. Approximately 85
percent of America's workers for the year 2000 are already in the workforce.
Improving schools for today's and tomorrow's students is not sufficient to ensure a
competitive America in the year 2000. The President called on Americans to move
from "A Nation at Risk" to "A Nation of Students" by continuing to enhance the
knowledge and skills of all Americans.
A.
Strengthening the Nation's Education Effort for Yesterday's Students,
Today's Workers
To advance the goal of improving literacy for all Americans:
The President will push for greater accountability and choice in the Adult
Education Act, and will advance these twin principles in new adult literacy
activities proposed under the new AMERICA 2000 Excellence in Education
Act of 1991.
The Department of Education will provide regular, timely, and reliable
information by expanding the National Adult Literacy Survey and collecting
information about literacy efforts on a regular basis.
B.
Establishing Standards for Job Skills and Knowledge
The President urged business and labor cooperatively to develop -- and then to
use -- world class standards and core proficiencies for each industry. Federal
resources will be sought to provide start-up assistance for this effort.
C.
Creating Business and Community Skill Clinics
Today's workers will be assisted through Skill Clinics -- one-stop service centers
located in businesses and communities across America where adults can get job
skill diagnosis and referral services.
The Administration will urge businesses to make Skill Clinics available to
their employees and encourage AMERICA 2000 Communities to establish
community Skill Clinics.
-8-
Federal departments and agencies will be encouraged to establish such Skill
Clinics and, working with the Office of Personnel Management, will be
encouraged to undertake activities to upgrade their employees' skills.
D.
Enhancing Job Training Opportunities
The Domestic Policy Council Job Training 2000 Working Group will review
current Federal job training efforts and identify successful ways of motivating and
enabling individuals to receive the comprehensive services, education, and skills
necessary to achieve economic independence.
E.
Mobilizing A "Nation of Students"
The President will work to transform "A Nation at Risk" into "A Nation of
Students."
The President called on the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of
Labor to convene business and labor leaders, education and training experts,
and Federal, State, and local government officials at a national conference
on the education of adult Americans to launch a national effort to transform
adult America into a "Nation of Students."
IV.
MAKING OUR COMMUNITIES PLACES WHERE LEARNING
WILL HAPPEN
The President called on communities to adopt the six national education goals as
their own; set a community strategy to meet them; produce a report card to
measure results; and agree to create and support a New American School.
The President believes that it is essential to reaffirm such enduring values as
personal responsibility, individual action, and other core principles that must
underpin life in a democratic society. The aim of the AMERICA 2000 Community
campaign is to make our communities places where learning will happen.
A. Greater Parental Involvement
The President urged parents to become more involved in their children's education
and in the work of the New American Schools.
-9-
Parents and teachers should encourage children to study more, learn more,
and strive to meet higher academic standards.
The President encouraged parents to read aloud daily to their children,
especially their younger children.
B.
Enhanced Program Effectiveness for Children and Communities
The President is committed to making government work better to improve
programs for America's children and communities.
Working through the Domestic Policy Council Economic Empowerment
Task Force and with the Nation's Governors and other officials, the
Administration will undertake better coordination of existing Federal
programs with corresponding State and local activities.
As part of this effort, existing program eligibility requirements will be
reviewed in order to streamline them and reduce Federal red tape.
Wherever possible, States will be afforded maximum flexibility to design
and implement integrated State, local, and Federal programming.
McGroarty/Dooley
April 17, 1991
3:45 pm
[EDSTRAT]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL EDUCATION STRATEGY
THE EAST ROOM
APRIL 18, 1991
2:00 P.M.
[Introductory acknowledgements.] My thanks to you for
joining me here. I've asked all of you -- Governors, educators,
business and labor leaders, members of Congress -- to come to the
White House today to underscore the importance of a challenge
destined to define the America we'll know in the next century.
For those of you close to my age, the 21st Century has
always been a kind of shorthand for the distant future -- the
place we put our most far-off hopes and dreams. Today, the 21st
Century races toward us. Anyone who wonders what that century
will look like can find the answer -- in America's classrooms.
//
Nothing better defines what we are -- and what we will
become -- than the education of our children. To quote the
landmark case, Brown V. Board of Education, "It is doubtful that
any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is
denied the opportunity of an education. "
Education has always meant opportunity. Today, education
determines not just which students will succeed, but also which
nations will thrive in a world united in pursuit of freedom and
enterprise. //
Think about the changes transforming our world: the
collapse of communism and Cold War. The advent -- and
2
acceleration -- of the information age. Down through history,
we've defined resources as soil and stones -- land and the riches
buried beneath. No more: our greatest natural resource lies
within ourselves -- our intelligence -- ingenuity -- the bracing
capacity of the human mind. Nations that nurture ideas will move
forward in years to come. Nations that stick to stale old
notions and ideologies will not.
I'm here to say America will move forward. The time for all
the reports and rankings -- for all the studies and surveys about
what's wrong in our schools -- is past. If we want to keep
America competitive in the coming century -- we must stop
convening panels to report the obvious and start making our
schools work better. If we want America to remain a leader, a
force for good in the world -- we must lead the way in
educational innovation. If we want to combat crime and drug
abuse -- if we want to create hope and opportunity in the bleak
corners of this country where there is now nothing but defeat and
despair -- we must dispell the darkness with the enlightenment
that a sound and well-rounded education produces. //
Think about every problem, every challenge we face today.
The solution to each starts with education.
For the sake of the future -- of our children and our nation
-- we must transform America's schools. The days of the status
quo are over. //
3
Across this country, people have started to transform the
American school. They know that the time for talk, talk is over.
Their slogan is: Don't dither. Just do it.
X
Let's push the reform effort forward use each experiment,
each advance, to build for the next American Century -- new
schools for a new world. //
As a first step in this strategy, we must challenge not only
the methods and the means we've used in the past -- but also the
yardsticks we've used to measure our progress.
Let's stop trying to measure progress in terms of money
spent. We spend 33% more per pupil in 1991 than we did in 1981 -
- 33% more in real, constant dollars -- and I don't think there's
a person anywhere who would say we've seen a 33% improvement in
our schools' performance.
Dollar bills don't educate students. Education depends on
committed teachers -- freed of non-educational burdens --
committed parents -- determined to support excellence --
committed students -- excited about school and learning. To those
who want to see real improvement in American education, I say:
There will be no renaissance without revolution. //
We who would be revolutionaries must accept responsibility
for our schools. For too long, we've adopted a "no fault"
approach to education: Someone else is always to blame. And
while we point fingers, students suffer. Well, there's no place
for a no fault attitude in our schools. It's time we held our
schools -- and ourselves -- accountable for results.
4
Until now, we've treated education like a manufacturing
process, assuming that if the gauges seemed right -- if we had
good pay scales, test scores, pupil-teacher ratios -- good
students would pop out of our schools. It's time to turn things
around -- to focus on the student. To set standards for our
schools -- and let teachers and principals figure out how best to
meet them. //
We've made a good beginning by setting the nation's sights
on six ambitious National Education Goals -- and setting for our
target the year 2000. Our goals have won the strong support of
this nation's 50 Governors -- and they're well known to everyone
in this room. For those who need a refresher course [[-- there
may be a quiz on this later--]] let me list those goals right
now. // By 2000, we've got to
One: Ensure that every child starts school ready to learn,
using such government programs as Head Start, along with private
programs and initiatives;
Two: Raise the high school graduation rate to 90 percent;
Three: Ensure that each student leaving the 4th, 8th and
12th grades can demonstrate competence in five core subjects.
Four: Make our students first in the world in math and
science achievement;
Five: Ensure that every American adult is literate, and has
the skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise
the rights and responsibilities of citizenship;
5
And Six: Liberate every American school from drugs and
violence, so that schools encourage learning. //
Our strategy to meet these noble, national goals is founded
in common sense -- and common values. It's ambitious -- and yet,
with hard work, it's within our reach. And -- I can outline our
strategy in one paragraph. Here it is:
For today's students, we must make existing schools better
and more accountable. For tomorrow's students -- the next
generation -- we must create a new generation of American
schools. For all of us -- for the adults who think our school
days are over -- we've got to become a nation of students --
recognize that learning is a lifelong process. Finally, outside
our schools, we must cultivate communities where education can
thrive. // That's our strategy.
You know, people who want Washington to "solve" our
educational problems are missing the point. What happens here in
Washington won't matter half as much as what happens in each
school, each local community, and each home. But the federal
government can serve as a catalyst for change in several ways:
Working closely with the Governors, we will define new World
Class Standards for schools, teachers and students in the five
core subjects: math and science, English, history and geography.
We will develop voluntary national tests for 4th, 8th and
12th Graders in the five core subjects. These American
Achievement Tests will tell parents and educators -- politicians
and employers -- just how well our schools are doing. I am
6
determined to have the first of these tests -- for 4th Graders -
- in place by the time school starts in September 1993. //
And for high-school seniors, let's add another incentive --
a distinction sure to attract the attention of colleges and
companies in every community across the country: a Presidential
Citation to students who excel on the 12th Grade test. //
We can encourage educational excellence by encouraging
parental choice. The concept of choice draws its strength from
the principle at the very heart of the democratic idea. Every
adult American has the right to vote -- the right to decide where
to work -- where to live. It's time parents were free to they
choose the schools their children attend. //
But the centerpiece of our national education strategy is
not a program or a test. It's a challenge: To re-invent
American education -- to design New American Schools for the year
2000 and beyond.
This idea is simple but powerful: put America's special
genius for invention to work for America's schools.
I will challenge communities to become what we will call
America 2000 communities. I will honor communities with this
designation if they embrace the national education goals, create
a local solution for reaching them, devise report cards for
measuring their progress, and encouraging encourage learning -- everywhere.
The business community also can help. I am delighted to
announce today that America's business leaders -- under the
leadership of Paul O'Neill -- will create the New American
7
Schools Development Corporation: a private sector research and
development fund of $150 million dollars to generate innovation
in education. This fund offers an open challenge to the dreamers
and doers eager to re-invent and reinvigorate our schools.
With the results of this R&D in hand, I will urge Congress
to provide one million dollars in start-up funds for each of 535
New American Schools -- at least one in every congressional
district -- and to have them up and running by 1996. //
The New American Schools must be more than rooms full of
children seated at computers. If we mean to prepare our children
for life, classrooms also must cultivate values and good
character -- give real meaning to right and wrong. //
We ask only two things: that their students meet the new
national standards for the five core subjects and that outside of
the costs of the initial R&D, the schools operate on a budget
comparable to conventional schools. //
Beyond that, my message to the architects of the New
American Schools is simple: Break the mold. Build for the
children of the next century. Re-invent the American school. //
No question should be off-limits -- no answers assumed.
We're not after one single way that works for every school.
We're interested in finding every way we can to make schools
better.
There's a special place in inventing the New American School
for the corporate community -- both business and labor. I invite
8
you to work with us not simply to transform our schools, but to
transform every American adult into a student.
The business and labor communities can take the lead by
creating a voluntary private system of World Standards for the
workplace. Employers should set up Skill Centers where workers
can seek advice and learn new skills. But most importantly,
every company and every labor union must bring the worker into
the classroom -- and bring the classroom into the workplace.
We'll encourage every Federal agency to do the same. [[And to
prove no one's ever too old to learn, I'll become a student again
myself. Starting ---, I'll begin studying {PRESIDENT'S CHOICE OF
CLASS}. ]] ///
The workplace isn't the only place we must improve
opportunities for education. Across this nation, we must
cultivate communities where children can learn. Communities
where the school is more than a refuge -- more than a solitary
island of calm amid chaos. Where the school is the living center
of a community where people care for each other and their futures
-- not just in the school but in the neighborhood. Not just in
the classroom, but in the home.
What I've spoken about today amounts to nothing less than a
revolution in American education -- a battle for our future.
Now, I ask all Americans to be points of light in the crusade
that counts most -- the crusade to prepare our children and
ourselves for the exciting future that looms ahead.
9
What I've spoken about this afternoon are the broad strokes
of our national education strategy: accountable schools for
today -- a new generation of schools for tomorrow. A nation of
students committed to a lifetime of learning -- in communities
where all our children can learn. //
There are four people here today who symbolize each element
of this strategy -- and point the way forward for our reforms.
Esteban Pagan, Steve, an 8th Grader and award-winning
student in science and history at East Harlem Tech. East Harlem
is part of a long-running experiment in school choice, and just
one example of the way we can act now to improve our schools.
Mike Hopkins, "Lead Teacher" at the Saturn School in St.
Paul, Minnesota -- has taken teken on responsibilities ranging from
teaching to creating the school's curriculum. Mike and his
colleagues at the Saturn School offer a great example of how to
re-invent the American school.
Next I want to recognize David Kelley -- a high-tech
troubleshooter at the Michelin Tire plant in Greenville, South
Carolina. David came to Michelin as a graduate of Greenville
Technical College -- and he's spent the equivalent of one full
year of his four years as a Michelin employee back at his college
expanding his skills. That's the kind of corporate-to-classroom
partnership that will make America a nation of students.
Finally, Michelle Moore of Missouri -- a single mother who's
active in that state's Parents as Teachers program. Michelle's
learning how she can help her year-old son Alston arrive for his
10
first day of school ready to learn. That's just one example of
the way individual parents, local communities and the state can
work together outside the classroom to create the right
environment for education. ///
For these four people -- and for all the others like them -
- the revolution in American education has already begun.
At any moment, in every mind, the miracle of learning is
waiting to happen. Between now and the year 2000, there is not
one moment -- or one miracle -- to waste. //
Thank you -- and may God bless the United States of America.
# # #
Mark Henson
703/836-6996
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
EVISED VERSION
4/12/91
11:00AM
PROPOSED EDUCATION COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 18
10:00 - 10:30 a.m.
The President meets with Secretary
Alexander and a small group (6-8) of
TP
governors. (Demarest)
9:30 - 11:20 a.m.
Governors and Business Executive
Committee (4) meet in Roosevelt Room.
TP
(Demarest) No POTUS participation.
10:45 - 11:45 a.m.
Room 450 briefing by Alexander for
Remarks
labor? disob "leg
200 education, business, community Govs for stuge
leaders and appropriate elected
CEOS front row
officials.
11:30 (10 mins.)
POTUS drop-by Room 450 briefing
Business Executive Committee will walk
over and join briefing for Presidential
remarks.
12:15
Lunch guests arrive at Ground Floor
12:30
Begin receiving line with President and
luncheon guests.
Alex
Lujan
12:45 - 1:45 p.m.
State Dining Room lunch for 75
Ashcroft
business leaders (CEOs), Governors,
Bianstad
Martin
Remarks
and Cabinet members.
Gull
Campbell
1:30 - 1:50
walkins
Map Room for meeting with key
POTUS departs lunch and returns to Mckernan
Darm
congressional leaders.
Rayh
Gardner
Hills
1:50
POTUS photo op with Business Executive
Committee (4) in Red Room.
Clinton
ReyRoemer
Martinez 2:00 p.m.
East Room. Presidential address to the
Aley
Nation on the America's 2000 strategy
CO
Truly
attended by key education, business,
Boskin
congressional leaders.
Kearns 3:00 p.m.
Press Briefing
AG-tent,
11.29.31
Dooley/McGroarty
April 16, 1991
1:00 pm
[EDSTRAT.TP2]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NATIONAL EDUCATION STRATEGY
STATE DINING ROOM LUNCHEON
APRIL 18, 1991
1:30 PM
Thank you. I can't tell you how pleased I am to have all of
you here on this important day for American education. I would
like to think of today as the turning point -- the day we leave all
the pessimism about American education behind, and join together
to do everything we can to make sure our children get everything
they deserve.
Every one of us has a role to play in this endeavor. Earlier
this week, General Colin Powell returned to the Bronx, to the place
where he grew up, to visit his old high school. After his speech,
one young man, Miguel Santiago, said that he wants to go to college
and major in English. He said something very important about
General Powell. He said: "I mean, he doesn't inspire people just
to be soldiers necessarily. He inspires them to be somebody." "
I'm sure that a lot of the kids there felt the same way.
General Powell's success says to them that if he can go on from
Morris High School and become a success -- serve as an inspiration
to others -- then so can they.
That's why all of us are here today. We're here to make sure
that every kid in school, that every teacher and school principal
feels that same sense of hope and possibility. But we also know
that our job doesn't stop at the schoolyard gate. Everyone plays
a role in the future of our children, and I know everyone here is
2
willing to step in and do whatever he or she can.
Our challenge is a great one, but our determination is even
greater. And as our history has shown, once we set our mind to
something, there's no end to the possibilities.
Thank you.
# # #
Dooley/McGroarty
April 16, 1991
11:00 a.m.
[EDSTRAT.TP1]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NATIONAL EDUCATION STRATEGY
ROOM 450 BRIEFING
APRIL 18, 1991
11:30 AM
[Introductory acknowledgements.] Thank you all for coming
here today. We're dedicating this entire day to our new education
strategy, and seeing all of you here tells me that there is a great
sense of possibility and support out there for what we're trying
to do.
There's a new optimism in America, a renewal of the can-do
spirit that made our country what it is. Our confidence is high
now, and I can't think of a better way to put this renewed sense
of duty and possibility to work than for the sake of our children.
We're already on our way. Many of you in this room have taken
the crucial first steps and started programs to rejuvenate an
education system that wasn't living up to our expectations. We've
already moved beyond the days of report after report about the
dismal state of our schools. Today, we're doing something about
it.
This afternoon, I will unveil an aggressive and innovative new
education strategy. This strategy will bring us even closer to
making sure America's children receive what due to them -- a good
education.
We are not afraid of new ideas. And there are a lot of great
ideas out there -- in our states and cities, in the education and
business communities. My job is to do everything in my power to
2
give these ideas a chance. With Secretary Alexander -- and with
all of you -- I think we're on our way to an exciting new chapter
in American education.
All of you are also proof that this new education strategy
just begins with our schools; that our dedication doesn't end when
the bell rings at the end of every school day. Every single
American has a stake in what we're starting today, and I am
confident that we'll rise to the challenge.
Fifty years from now, some fifth or sixth grader who's sitting
in a classroom somewhere in America will be standing here in my
place. Because of the commitment that I feel here today, I know
in my heart that she -- or he -- will have had every opportunity
that this great country has to offer. So let's go to work. I know
we can do it.
Thank you.
# # #
McGroarty/Dooley
April 16, 1991
1:30 pm
[EDSTRAT]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL EDUCATION STRATEGY
THE EAST ROOM
APRIL 18, 1991
2:00 P.M.
[Introductory acknowledgements.] My thanks to you for
joining me here. I've asked all of you -- Governors, educators,
business and labor leaders, members of Congress -- to come to the
White House today to underscore the importance of a challenge
destined to define the America we'll know in the next century.
For those of you close to my age, the 21st Century has
always been a kind of shorthand for the distant future -- the
place we put our most far-off hopes and dreams. Today, the 21st
Century is almost upon us -- for our children, it's their world.
Anyone who wonders what the face of the 21st Century will look
like can find the answer -- in America's classrooms. //
Nothing better defines what we are -- and what we shall
become -- than the education of our children. To quote the
hallmark case, Brown V. Board of Education, "It is doubtful that
any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is
denied the opportunity of an education."
If we want to keep America competitive in the coming century
-- we must think about education. If we want America to remain a
leader in world affairs, a force for good in the world -- we must
think about education. If we want to combat crime and drug abuse
-- if we want to create hope and opportunity in the bleak corners
of this country where defeat and despair gather -- we must think
2
about education. // Think about every problem, every challenge
we face today. Education is part of the answer.
That is why, for the sake of the future -- of our children
and our nation -- we must transform America's schools.
We've all heard bad news: Test scores that are far too low -
- a drop out rate that's far too high. Too many children
arriving at school from broken homes and shattered communities -
- not ready to learn. Too many adults, unable to read or write
well enough to get a good job and keep it -- to participate as
informed citizens in the life of this democracy. //
That's the last bad news you'll hear today -- because I
promise you, from this point forward: The American school is in
for a change. The days of the status quo are over. //
Across the country people have started to transform the
American school. Now, we must push the reform effort forward --
use each experiment, each advance, to build a coherent national
education strategy. //
As a first step in this new strategy, we must re-examine not
only the methods and the means we've used in the past -- but also
the yardsticks we've used to measure our progress.
That means setting aside the notion that we can measure our
Brown
success in terms of money spent. We spend 33% more per pupil in
Dr. Dr. Grant
1991 than we did in 1981 -- 33% more in real, constant dollars -
- and I don't think there's a person anywhere who would say we've
219-
seen a 33% improvement in our schools' performance.
1651
3
Dollar bills don't educate students. Education demands
commitment, caring, work. To those who want to see real
improvement in American education, I say: There will be no
renaissance without revolution. //
For too long, we've adopted a "no fault" approach to
education. But there's no place for a no fault attitude in our
schools. It's time we held our schools -- and ourselves --
accountable for results.
Until now, we've concentrated on regulating the process of
education -- on the assumption that if the process is sound, the
product takes care of itself. It's time to turn things around -
- to regulate the product. To set standards for our schools --
show them the kind of student we're looking for -- and let
teachers and principals produce them. //
We've made a good beginning by setting the nation's sights
on six ambitious National Education Goals -- and setting for our
target the year 2000. Those goals have won the strong support of
this nation's 50 Governors -- and they're well known to everyone
in this room. By 2000, we've got to raise the graduation rate to
90%; make America first in the world in math and science; ensure
that each American student leaving the 4th, 8th and 12th grades
can demonstrate their competence in five core subjects.
Finally, by the year 2000, every American child must start
school ready to learn; every American adult must be literate; and
every American school must be free from drugs and violence. //
4
These national goals are noble goals. The challenge now is
how to get there. We can do it by moving forward on four tracks:
For today's students, we must make existing schools better
and more accountable.
For tomorrow's students -- the next generation -- we must
create a new generation of American schools.
For all of us -- for the adults who think our school days
are over -- we've got to become a nation of students -- recognize
that learning is a lifelong process.
Fourth, outside our schools, we must cultivate
communities where education can take place. Communities where
the school is not a refuge -- a solitary island of calm amid
chaos -- but the living center of a community where people care
for children and cultivate , not just in the school, but on the
street. Not just in the classroom, but at home. //
People who want Washington to "solve" our educational
problems are missing the point. What happens here in Washington
won't matter half as much as what happens in each school and
local community. But the federal government can serve as a
catalyst for change in several ways:
We can begin by encouraging parental choice. The concept of
choice draws its strength from the principle at the very heart of
the democratic idea. Every adult American has the right to vote
-- the right to decide where to work -- where to live. It's time
they had the right to choose the schools their children attend. / /
5
I've included in next year's budget request a $200 million
dollar incentive grant to spur parental choice programs on the
state and local level. In the America 2000: Excellence in
Education Act we'll soon send to Congress, we will seek to modify
Chapter 1 aid for compensatory education -- so that the funds
follow the children to the schools their parents choose.
Working closely with the Governors, we will define new World
Class Standards for schools, teachers and students in the five
core subjects: math and science, English, history and geography.
We will create voluntary national tests for 4th, 8th and
12th Graders in the five core subjects. These American
Achievement Tests will tell parents and educators -- politicians
and employers -- just how well our schools are doing. Today, I
challenge all parties involved to accept this deadline: let's
pledge right now to have the 4th Grade test in place by 1993. //
Let's add another incentive -- a Presidential Citation to
students who do well on this test. This distinction should
attract the attention of colleges and corporations and employers
in every community. //
But the centerpiece of our national education strategy is
not a program or a test. It's a challenge: To re-invent
American education -- to design New American Schools for the year
2000 and beyond.
This idea is simple but powerful: put America's special
genius for invention to work for America's schools.
6
No one has to sell the business community on the values of
R&D. I spoke earlier today with Paul O'Neill -- head of the
President's Education Policy Advisory Council -- and one of the
business community's champions of education reform. I am
delighted to announce today that America's business leaders will
create their own New American Schools Development Corporation:
an R&D fund of $150 million dollars to generate innovation in
education. Their commitment offers an open challenge to the
dreamers and doers eager to re-invent and reinvigorate our
schools.
But I have to warn the corporate community: there will be
no patent rights for these discoveries. The bold ideas you
produce will become the property of the American people. //
With the results of this R&D in hand, I will urge the
Congress to provide one million dollars each in start-up funds
for 535 New American Schools -- at least one in every
congressional district -- and to have them up and running by
1996. I call on the Governors to conduct a competition in each
of their states, to designate 535 America 2000 Communities across
the nation -- each committed to the national education goals,
each with its own New American School. Finally, I ask Secretary
Alexander and the Governors to create at least half of the first
535 New American Schools in urban neighborhoods and rural areas
where at-risk students need and deserve help. //
The New American Schools must be more than rooms full of
children seated at computers. All the high-tech gadgetry in the
7
world can't take the place of old-fashioned virtues. If we mean
to prepare our children for life, the classroom must be a place
where values and good character -- right and wrong -- have real
meaning. //
We ask only two things: that their students meet the new
national standards for the five core subjects and that outside of
the costs of the initial R&D, the schools operate on a
conventional budget. //
Beyond that, my message to the architects of the New
American Schools is simpe: Break the mold. Build for the
children of the next century. Re-invent the American school. //
No question should be off-limits -- no answers assumed.
We're not after one single way that works for every school.
We're interested in finding every way we can to make schools
better.
I've spoken of what government can do. There's a special
place in inventing the New American School for the corporate
community -- both business and labor.
Today, I want to issue three challenges -- invite you to
work with us not simply to transform our schools, but to
transform every American adult into a student.
First, I challenge the business and labor communities to
create a private sector system of World Standards and skill
certificates for the workplace.
8
Second, I ask employers to set up Skill Centers where
workers can seek advice and learn new skills -- and for our part,
we will establish Skill Centers for Federal employees.
Finally, I challenge every company and every labor union to
bring the worker into the classroom -- and bring the classroom
into the workplace. [[Commit yourselves to teaching new skills
to 5% of your workforce each year.]] We'll do the same in every
Federal agency [[-- and to prove no one's ever too old to learn,
I'll become a student again myself. Starting
/
I'll begin
studying {PRESIDENT'S CHOICE OF CLASS} ]] ///
[[FOUR EXAMPLES FOR FOUR TRACKS. Worker, teacher, mother,
student. ]]
What I've spoken about today amounts to nothing less than a
revolution in our schools -- a battle for our future. Now, I ask
all Americans to be points of light in the battle that counts
most -- the battle to prepare our children and ourselves for the
exciting future that looms ahead.
There is no reason we shouldn't be able to reach our
ambitious goals by the year 2000, and there are lots of good
reasons why we should. Think of it this way: today's 3rd Grader
will graduate in the Class of 2000.
Those students face nine years in a new and better world of
learning. We want each day to become a universe of discovery for
students of all ages. At any moment, in every mind, the miracle
of learning can take place. //
9
As I said at the start, nothing we do is more important,
nothing better expresses our hope and love, than a real
commitment to education. If we give our children the confidence
to dream and the knowledge necessary to turn dreams into deeds,
we will have given them the future.
The only real limit to what our children can learn is how
hard we try and how well we teach. Between now and the year
2000, there is not one moment -- or one miracle -- to waste. //
Thank you -- and may God bless the United States of America.
# # #
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Cities in in-Sch Schools,Inc. Scho ols, ols,Inc. Inc.
C
ities in Schools, Inc. (CIS) is a national
nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a network
of dropout prevention programs across the country.
Now in 36 communities, CIS programs work on one
simple premise: Services aimed at helping students
deal with the problems pressuring them to drop out -
substance abuse, pregnancy, illiteracy, family crises,
etc. - are already in place, but they are in the wrong place.
Troubled youth and their families are asked to seek help
from a confusing array of disconnected services
scattered throughout the community. In CIS programs,
tutors, counselors, social workers and other caring
professionals are relocated from their offices to work
with students right in the schools. The result:
Students are connected with the help they need.
I
1989, some 1 million young people
Cities in Schools pioneered public/
failed to complete high school. This year,
private partnerships in education 12 years
another million are expected to drop out.
ago. Since then, we have expanded by
And next year, another million. An endless
responding to communities in need and
procession of youth giving up on school -
working with local leaders to create
becoming trapped in a web of dependency
CIS programs.
and, all too often, poverty, crime and
This strategy has proven successful.
A Message
drug abuse.
In 1989 alone, the lives of more than 20,000
The forces behind this tragedy are
children and their families were affected
from the Chairman
complex. Most young people at risk of drop-
by Cities in Schools.
ping out face a myriad of personal and
However, this strategy is time-inten-
and President
family problems, often with no one to turn
sive, demanding the presence of our limited
to. And while help is usually available
regional staff in increasing numbers of
of Cities
through social programs in the community,
communities. In light of a national resolve
in Schools
those programs too often address one prob-
to end the dropout tragedy we realized the
lem or another without ever addressing
need to accelerate our rate of expansion.
the needs of the whole child.
To do this, Cities in Schools joined
The result is that youth in crisis expe-
with Lehigh University's College of Educa-
rience a profound sense of alienation. They
tion and Iacocca Institute to create the
become disconnected from their families,
National Center for Partnership Develop-
schools, communities and society. In their
ment. Here, we will be able to train program
eyes, there are no other alternatives to
staff and community leaders faster and
dropping out.
in far greater numbers.
In economic terms, the implications
Of course, inherent in the training
of this tragedy are alarmingly clear. Pri-
is instruction on getting individuals, parents
vate-sector demand for employment now
and communities involved in schools and
exceeds the supply of qualified candidates
in the lives of children and families in need.
by some 23 million jobs. As we enter the
If there is one thing that we have learned in
1990s, and as a high- school diploma
working with these children, it is that pro-
becomes the very minimum requirement
grams don't change kids. Relationships do -
for almost every job, America's ability
relationships between hurting children and
to compete in a global economy is
caring adults who believe in them. The pri-
seriously in jeopardy.
mary issues to face in working with at-risk
There is good reason for optimism,
youth are "I'm lonely," "Nobody cares"
Chairman of the Board
however. In the last two years, we have
"I feel worthless," and "It's not safe here."
Robert H.B. Baldwin
witnessed the emergence of a strong nation-
Over the years, Cities in Schools has
(above), and President
al resolve to remedy the problems in edu-
proven the power of positive relationships in
William E. Milliken
cation, particularly high dropout rates.
turning around the lives of children in need.
In the corporate sector, this resolve is
In the years to come, we look forward to
evident in several new initiatives, including
even greater service, reaching not just tens
the formation of new "corporate academies",
of thousands, but hundreds of thousands of
such as the Burger King Academies estab-
disconnected youth. For truly, therein lies
lished in partnership with Cities in Schools.
the future of our nation.
Sincerely,
And in government, calls for reform culmi-
nated in a historic summit of governors
Robert HB Baldwin
from all 50 states. The outcome: Proposals
Robert H.B. Baldwin
for sweeping changes, including commu-
Chairman of the Board
nity-wide involvement - public/private
Bill Mulliken
partnerships - to solve problems that
William E. Milliken
schools alone cannot solve.
President
I
magine you are an inner-city
schools, to connect business leaders with
principal. Your teachers have six classes a
school administrators, and social workers
day of 35 students each in rooms designed
with youth at risk.
for 20. Drug dealing and gang violence
Cities in Schools provides that coor-
are everyday occurrences. And you start
dination, acting as both resource broker
each morning knowing that half your
and program administrator. Here's how:
The Cities
students won't graduate.
A coalition of community leaders
You want to reach them, but their
in education, business, social service and
in Schools Program:
problems are overwhelming. Drugs, preg-
government works with CIS to form a
nancies, illiteracy, poverty, hunger, child
public/private partnership and establish a
A Team Approach
CIS program. In most instances, that coali-
abuse and a host of family crises head the
tion then becomes the board of directors
to Keeping Youth
list. Where do you start? Teachers can't
of the local program, a separate 501(c)(3)
be expected to be social workers. And the
in School
nonprofit organization, autonomous
counselors are already stretched beyond
from CIS, Inc. In some communities, local
their capabilities. The school simply
leaders may work through an existing
doesn't have enough money, manpower
board, such as a Private Industry Council,
and expertise needed to adequately
Boys or Girls Club, or a United Way.
address the problem.
Once hired, the local CIS staff and
Ironically, just as youth at risk are
the school superintendent identify schools
disconnected from the services they need,
in need of assistance. Then, the local staff
so are schools disconnected from the
works with all the various youth-serving
resources they need. The resources exist
agencies in the community to reposition
personnel - tutors, social workers,
outside of the school system: Social services
employment counselors and health care
can be found throughout the community,
professionals - out of their offices to work
and the private sector has demonstrated
on-site at the identified schools where
a willingness to provide money
CIS projects are held.
and expertise.
What is needed is for one orga-
Two Model Programs,
Adapted to Meet Local Needs
nization to bring these resources into the
CIS projects follow one of two
approaches, depending on the particular
needs of a local community. The first model
is for a project to be on-site at an existing
school. There, children attend their regular
classes and then meet with CIS case man-
agers, counselors, tutors and other pro-
fessionals in offices on the school campus.
The second approach involves
an alternative education site, such as
a corporate academy located outside the
traditional school building. Here, children
are also instructed by certified teachers
and receive not only counseling, but in
some cases, job preparedness and
opportunities as well.
2
In either model - and there are
BE
AIM HIGH
iumerous variations of each among CIS
OR
programs - CIS creates a safe environ-
nent for youth at risk. An environment
ree of drugs, violence and intimidation.
An environment where children are
urrounded by a team of caring adults
who work together to help them reduce
ruancy, improve academic perfor-
nance, increase self-esteem and become
emotionally stable.
Equally important is the fact that
UGHTFU
he help these children receive doesn't
egin and end in the classroom. Local CIS
staff also coordinate outreach to families -
in many cases, connecting them with
the services they need, such as housing,
health care, job placement and crisis
SCHOOL
intervention.
COUNSELING
EMPLOYMENT
PROGRAMS
PROGRAMS
Several Distinct Advantages
The entire community takes responsibility
YOUTH
IN NEED
for the dropout problem and becomes involved
in the school system to solve it.
RECREATIONAL
LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Local CIS programs are governed by local
PROGRAMS
PROGRAMS
boards and operated by local staff to meet local
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
needs. CIS, Inc. simply provides the model
PROGRAMS
program, training and support in estab-
lishing the program, as well as ongoing
Diagram of Disconnected Services
technical assistance.
CIS programs are funded by local sources,
including corporations, foundations, indi-
The Cities in Schools Program
vidual gifts and government agencies.
Relatively little new funding is required.
A typical CIS program costing $150,000
COUNSELING
EMPLOYMENT
PROGRAMS
PROGRAMS
per year leverages $750,000 worth of
repositioned human service personnel and
various forms of in-kind assistance, such
YOUTH
IN NEED
as volunteers, office space and compu-
IN SCHOOL
terization. This is because the salaries of
RECREATIONAL
LEGAL ASSISTANCE
the professionals working in CIS projects
PROGRAMS
PROGRAMS
continue to be paid by their home agencies.
For every dollar that CIS programs spend,
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMS
a minimum of five dollars are leveraged into
the program.
Diagram of Connected Services
3
Laura's Story
The personalized attention she
The greatest advantage, of course,
received at Foley's began to take effect.
is that the programs work. Consider,
She joined a teen pregnancy and preven-
for example, the difference in Laura's life.
tion program and worked one-on-one with
Laura is 18 and has a 2-year-old
Foley's full-time vocational counselor.
baby boy. She is an outstanding 11th-grade
When her baby was born, finding
student at Foley's Academy, a CIS project
good child care became a problem, and
Laura was afraid she would have to leave
in Houston, Texas. Three years ago, she
school to care for her son herself. However,
was about to give up.
"She was not going to stay in
Foley's was able to connect her with the
school," recalls Foley's principal, Betty
necessary sources of help.
Grady. "She was increasingly absent from
Laura was encouraged, in time,
her classes, and did not know how to find
to share her new experience with others
the resources she needed to deal with
by teaching and supervising classes in
her pregnancy."
teen pregnancy and prevention. "She has
Laura heard about Foley's from
a really positive outlook," Grady notes.
a student there who also happened to be
"She can use herself as an example, and
pregnant. She came with her mother,
show that, just because she made one mis-
and applied for admission.
take, she doesn't have to make any more."
Foley's Academy is an academic
Laura now has a part-time job,
and her grades and attendance record are
alternative high school, providing individ-
excellent. She intends to apply to Baylor
ualized, self-paced instruction to troubled
University, and her goal is to go on from
youth. All the students enrolled at Foley's
there to medical school.
are designated at risk, all have a multitude
of personal problems, and many had
already dropped out of traditional schools.
Grady and the other staff at Foley's
soon found that Laura was extremely
bright, and always did well on tests, but
had been unable to resolve her personal
difficulties arising from the pregnancy.
But soon, through individual counseling
with the CIS project director and group
therapy with a psychologist working
as part of the program team, Laura was
able to make a commitment to stay in
school, no matter how challenging
the circumstances.
4
I
1989, Cities in Schools made great
strides in expanding the network of CIS pro-
grams while ensuring high standards in quality
control. Selected highlights include:
The National Center
for Partnership Development:
Connecting Communities
with a Proven Dropout
Prevention Program
The National Center for Partnership
Development (NCPD) facilitates a more
1989
rapid and effective approach to program
expansion. No longer must regional CIS
in Review
staff complete all phases of training with
community coalitions interested in or
36 Operational Programs
preparing to establish a CIS program.
Now, anyone interested in establishing
1989
36 Programs
and operating a Cities in Schools program
is invited to a series of training sessions
1988
26 Programs
at the NCPD, headquartered at Lehigh
1987
22 Programs
University's Mountaintop Campus in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Operated by CIS, Inc. in partnership
179 Education Sites
with the University's College of Education
Program
1989
179 Locations
and lacocca Institute, the Center provides
free instruction in every facet of the CIS
Expansion at
1988
131 Locations
process. This includes training in building
a Glance
partnerships between business, education
1987
96 Locations
and community organizations; establish-
ing a program in a new community;
19,123 Students Reached
managing the day-to-day activities within
an education site; expanding the program
1989
19,123 Reached
from one school to another; fund-raising;
and board training.
1988
15,910 Reached
Public/Private Partnerships:
1987
11,307 Reached
Connecting With the Best in
American Business and
Humanitarian Organizations
$3,547,052 In Revenue Raised
Public/private partnerships have
Revenue at
1989
$3,547,052 Raised
emerged to become the most promising
a Glance
vehicles for change in our nation's schools.
1988
$2,614,271 Raised
In 1989, Cities in Schools, a pioneer in
1987
$3,033,349 Raised
creating such partnerships, forged several
new relationships with major corporations
5
Burger King Corporation - Burger King
United Way
became the first company to spearhead the
The United Way of America (UWA)
corporate academy concept on a national
BURGER WELCOME KING ACAD
believes that community problems are
basis. By spring 1990, Cities in Schools and
usually best solved with community
STUDENTS
Burger King will establish 10 academies in
resources. So does Cities in Schools. That's
10 cities, including Miami and Palm Beach
why the two national organizations have
FL; Sacramento, Long Beach and Ingle-
joined in a partnership that will focus on
wood, CA; Columbia, SC; Philadelphia,
cooperation in two major areas:
PA; and San Antonio, TX.
1. Establishing CIS programs in
Initial funding was made through
cities with United Way agencies, utilizing
a grant from the U.S. Department of
United Way boards and membership as
Justice and Burger King Corporation;
vehicles for creating CIS programs.
future funding will be provided by local
To date, Wichita, KS, and Honolulu, HI,
franchises. Cities in Schools provides
have been identified as possible new
the basic model for the academies, and
program sites.
2. Initiating collaboration between
and charitable organizations to facilitate
existing CIS programs and their local
the expansion of programs and diversify
United Way agencies, involving the UW
the range of services available to young-
boards and members in the coordination
sters within those programs.
of services to at-risk youth in CIS pro-
These new partnerships include:
grams and projects.
Corporate Academies
Through corporate academies,
Private Industry Councils
Cities in Schools builds partnerships be-
Private Industry Councils (PICs)
tween the school system and corporate
promote job training and employment
America. A corporate academy combines
opportunities for young people. Local
traditional curricula with mentoring,
councils, composed of community leaders
tutoring and job preparedness. In many
from the public and private sectors,
instances, job placement services are
develop programs that reflect and meet
the labor needs of their communities.
also provided.
Based on the success of two CIS
In 1989, CIS, Inc., with support from
alternative schools - Rich's Academy in
the U.S. Department of Labor, formed a
Atlanta and Foley's Academy in Houston
local CIS staff administer day-to-day
partnership with PICs in Arkansas,
- Cities in Schools signed agreements
operations.
Michigan and Virginia to establish CIS
with two major U.S. companies in 1989
programs with employment training and
Goldman, Sachs & Co. - In late 1989,
placement services. In each state, the PIC
to establish CIS corporate academies
Cities in Schools reached an agreement
boards will function as the CIS boards.
throughout the country.
with Goldman Sachs, one of the nation's
During 1990, about nine CIS/PIC
largest investment banking firms, to
programs will be established in Arkansas,
establish six corporate academies.
Michigan and Virginia.
The locations of these academies will
be announced in 1990.
6
Operational Programs
Regional Bases
Program
Exodus, Inc.
Communities in Schools -
LaGrange
Cities in Schools of
Atlanta, GA
Dallas, Inc.
Cities in Schools, Inc.
the Putnam Co. Chamber
(404) 873-3979
Dallas, TX
LaGrange, GA
of Commerce
Expansion
(214) 827-0955
(404) 845-7046 or 7145
Palatka, FL
Communities in Schools -
(904) 328-1503
in 1989
Austin, Inc.
Communities in Schools -
Russell County
Austin, TX
CAST, Inc.
Cities in Schools
Communities in Schools,
(512) 462-1771
El Paso, TX
Lebanon, VA
Pasadena, Inc.
(915) 593-7317
(703) 889-3708
Pasadena, TX
Baltimore City -
(713) 473-2477
Cities in Schools
Forrest City Cities in Schools
Communities in Schools, Inc.
Cities in Schools -
Baltimore City, MD
Forrest City, AR
Lenoir, NC
D uring the fiscal year October
(301) 396-0040
(501) 633-5831
(704) 758-0128
Philadelphia, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
Cities in Schools
Communities in Schools -
Cities in Schools, Long Beach
(215) 875-3800 xt.252
Baton Rouge
Galveston County, Inc.
- Burger King Academy
Cities in Schools
Baton Rouge, LA
Galveston, TX
Long Beach, CA
Southwestern
(504) 356-2356
(409) 762-8033
(213) 422-8486 or 423-8427
Pennsylvania
Greater Greensboro
Pittsburgh, PA
1988 to September 1989, CIS programs
Pinal County
Marianna
Cities in Schools
Cities in Schools, Inc.
Cities in Schools, Inc.
(412) 281-3752
became operational in the following
Casa Grande, AZ
Greensboro, NC
Marianna, AR
Great Potential
communities:
(602) 723-9339
(919) 282-9228
(501) 295-7130
Purchase, NY
(914) 251-6890
Cities in Schools, Charlotte-
Communities in Schools -
Cities in Schools
Baton Rouge, LA
Mecklenburg, Inc.
Harlingen, Inc.
of Miami, Inc.
Rocky Mount
Caldwell County, NC
Charlotte, NC
Harlingen, TX
Miami, FL
Cities in Schools, Inc.
(704) 335-0601
(512) 430-4726
(305) 530-5609
Chicago, IL
Rocky Mount, NC
(919) 442-9991
Forrest City, AR
Chicago Cities in
High Point
PIC/CIS Stay-In-School
Schools, Inc.
Cities in Schools, Inc.
Program
Jackson Township, NJ
Communities in Schools
Chicago, IL
High Point, NC
Miami, FL
San Antonio, Inc.
LaGrange, GA
(312) 829-2475
(919) 883-6434
(305) 594-7615
San Antonio, TX
Marianna, AR
(512) 349-9094
Cities in Schools -
Communities in Schools
Cities in Schools/
Miami, FL
Columbia, Inc.
Houston, Inc.
New Orleans
Cities in Schools/Shreveport
Columbia, SC
Houston, TX
New Orleans, LA
Pinal County, AZ
Shreveport, LA
(803) 254-9727
(713) 654-1515
(504) 831-7098
(318) 425-3411
Putnam County, FL
Russell County, VA
Communities in Schools,
Jackson Township
New York
Cities in Schools of
Corpus Christi, Inc.
Cities in Schools, Inc.
Cities in Schools, Inc.
Palm Beach Co., Inc.
Shreveport, LA
Corpus Christi, TX
Jackson, NJ
New York, NY
West Palm Beach, FL
(512) 854-7674
(201) 928-1400 t.232
(212) 566-4975
(407) 655-8702
7
Cities in Schools
Board
of Directors
Robert H.B. Baldwin
William E. Milliken
James M. Allwin
Chairman
President
Managing Director
CIS Board of Directors
Cities in Schools, Inc.
Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.
Chairman
The Lodestar Group
Roger C. Altman
Wally Amos
Jeannie P. Baliles
Ernest L. Boyer
Gerald Breslauer
Daniel B. Burke
Vice Chairman
Founder
President
President
President & COO
The Blackstone Group
Famous Amos
Carnegie Foundation for
Breslauer, Jacobson,
Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.
Chocolate Chip, Inc.
Advancement of Teaching
Rutman & Sherman, Inc.
Jeffrey Campbell
Anne Cox Chambers
Raymond G. Chambers
J. Anthony Forstmann
Nicholas C. Forstmann
Murray H. Goodman
Restaurant Developer
Chairman
Chairman
Forstmann-Rayfield & Co.
General Partner
Chairman
Atlanta Journal-
Wesray Capital Corp.
Forstmann Little & Co.
The Goodman Company
Constitution
George H. Johnson
Delano E. Lewis
Ruth B. Love
William M. Marcussen
Dean L. Overman
Linda Gale White
President
President
President
President
Senior Partner
George H. Johnson
C& P Telephone Company
Ruth Love Enterprises, Ltd.
The Marcussen Group
Winston & Strawn
Properties
Cities in Schools
Management and Regional
Directors
National Office
William E. Milliken
James J. Hill
Clark C. Jones
President
Vice President
Vice President
Administration
Operations
Regional
Directors
Robert D. Arias
Douglas T. Denise
Alyce P. Hill
Jill Shaw Binder
Alfred G. Ward
Southwest Region
Southeast Region
Northeast Region
South Central Region
North Central Region
Los Angeles, California
Atlanta, Georgia
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Austin, Texas
Chicago, Illinois
The Entertainment
Industry's Foundation
for Cities in Schools
Board of Directors
Herb Alpert
Jerome S. Moss
Gerald Breslauer
Irving Azoff
Co-Chairman, Foundation
Co-Chairman, Foundation
Treasurer, Foundation
Chairman
Co-Chairman
CEO/President
President
Azoff Entertainment
A&M Records
A&M Records
Breslauer, Jacobson,
Rutman & Sherman, Inc.
Burt Bacharach
Freddy DeMann
Lynda Guber
Quincy Jones
Lionel Richie
Joe Smith
Composer
President
Education 1st!
Quincy Jones Productions
President and CEO
The DeMann
Capitol-EMI Music, Inc.
Entertainment Company
Entertainment Industry's Foundation Board Members not pictured:
James M. Allwin, Wally Amos, Carole Isenberg, Ron Meyer, William Milliken and Dean L. Overman. Executive Director: Mark E. Emblidge
9
15%
Total Revenue
$3,547,052
Where
Government Agencies
53%
$1,875,078
Private Partners
47%
$1,671,974
Contributions
53%
14%
Individuals
15%
$536,240
Come From
Corporations
14%
$498,180
Foundations
17%
$613,842
Other Sources
1%
17%
$23,712
1%
Program Services
77%
$2,608,053
24%
Program Development
36.5%
$1,237,765
4%
Training
24%
$811,291
Evaluation
4%
$137,235
How
7.5%
Information & PR
7.5%
$257,890
They Were
5%
Program Support
5%
$163,872
Supporting Services
23%
$780,912
Spent
36.5%
Administration
15.5%
$531,074
15.5%
Fund Raising
6.5%
$215,367
1%
Bids & Proposals
1%
$34,471
6.5%
Note: $158,087 in excess revenue was carried
over to fiscal 1990 operations.
Minimum Leveraging Effect
A typical CIS program costing $150,000 per year leverages
Private
$750,000 worth of repositioned human service personnel and
Dollars
various forms of in-kind assistance.
Leveraging
Of Dollar
5:1 Leveraging
Contributions
Public Resources
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
10
ARTHUR ANDERSEN & Co.
1666 K STREET. N.W.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006
(202) 862-3100
December 8, 1989
Report of Independent Public Accountants
To the Board of Directors of
Cities in Schools, Inc.:
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Cities in Schools, Inc.
("CIS," a Georgia not-for-profit corporation), as of September 30, 1989 and
1988, and the related statements of (a) support, revenue and expenses, and
changes in fund balances and (b) cash flows for the years then ended. We have
also audited the statement of functional expenses for the year ended
September 30, 1989. These financial statements are the responsibility of
CIS's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform an audit to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of
material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit
also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis
for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in
all material respects, the financial position of Cities In Schools, Inc., as
of September 30, 1989 and 1988, and the results of its operations and its cash
flows for the years then ended, and the functional expenses for the year ended
September 30, 1989, in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles.
Arthur Anderson + Co.
Balance Sheets
Assets
1989
1988
CASH AND SHORT-TERM CASH INVESTMENTS
$594,990
$415,793
PLEDGES RECEIVABLE (Note 3)
328,750
775,000
GRANTS RECEIVABLE
Cities in Schools, Inc.
U.S. Department of Justice (Note 2)
2,136,000
2,597,666
Financial
PREPAYMENTS AND OTHER RECEIVABLES,
net of allowances for uncollectible amounts
Information
of $2,470 in 1989 and $1,101 in 1988 (Note 7)
108,984
69,101
As of
FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT, at cost, net
September 30, 1989
of accumulated depreciation of $2,048 in 1989 (Note 3)
8,193
-
and 1988
OTHER ASSETS (Note 3)
4,920
4,401
$3,181,837
$3,861,961
Liabilities and Fund Balance
NOTE PAYABLE (Note 4)
$75,000
$135,000
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AND ACCRUED LIABILITIES
323,844
324,344
DEFERRED SUPPORT (Notes 2, 3 and 5):
Restricted
2,480,014
3,135,037
Unrestricted
132,312
255,000
Total deferred support
2,612,326
3,390,037
Total liabilities
3,011,170
3,849,381
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Note 8)
FUND BALANCE
170,667
12,580
$3,181,837
$3,861,961
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of these balance sheets.
12
Statements of Support, Revenue & Expenses, and Changes in Fund Balances
For the year ended September 30, 1989, with comparative totals for 1988
1989
1988
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Total
SUPPORT AND REVENUE
Contributions and Grants (Note 3)
Individuals
$529,989
$6,251
$536,240
$233,516
Corporations
288,100
210,080
498,180
571,510
Foundations
588,150
25,692
613,842
182,000
Government Agencies
-
1,875,078
1,875,078
1,599,623
Other Revenue
16,578
7,134
23,712
27,622
Total support and revenue
1,422,817
2,124,235
3,547,052
2,614,271
EXPENSES (Notes 3 and 6)
Program Services
Program design and development
470,302
767,463
1,237,765
749,972
Training
255,809
555,482
811,291
383,814
Evaluation
22,814
114,421
137,235
173,388
Information and public relations
186,038
71,852
257,890
288,086
Program support
24,662
139,210
163,872
127,996
Total program services
959,625
1,648,428
2,608,053
1,723,256
Supporting services
General administration
129,363
401,711
531,074
673,430
Fund-raising
142,895
72,472
215,367
181,218
Bids and proposals
32,847
1,624
34,471
4,908
Total supporting services
305,105
475,807
780,912
859,556
Total expenses
1,264,730
2,124,235
3,388,965
2,582,812
SUPPORT AND REVENUE IN EXCESS OF EXPENSES
FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS
158,087
-
158,087
31,459
DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS
(Washington, D.C./Adolescent Pregnancy/Terrell Programs) (Note 2)
Loss from operations
I
-
-
(106,028)
Spin-off assets to new organization
-
-
-
(52,474)
-
-
—
(158,502)
Total support and revenue in excess of (less than) expenses
158,087
-
158,087
(127,043)
FUND BALANCE, beginning of year
12,580
-
12,580
139,623
FUND BALANCE, end of year
$170,667
-
$170,667
$12,580
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of this statement.
13
Statements of Cash Flows
For the years ended September 30, 1989 and 1988
1989
1988
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Support and revenue in excess of expenses from continuing operations
$158,087
$ 31,459
Items not involving cash in the current period
Write off of donated art
$ -
$50,000
Loss from discontinued operations (Note 2)
-
(106,028)
Depreciation on spin-off assets
-
1,200
Depreciation on furniture and equipment
2,048
-
Change in assets and liabilities
Decrease (increase) in pledges receivable
446,250
(492,000)
Decrease (increase) in grants receivable
461,666
(1,614,465)
(Increase) in prepayments and other receivables
(39,883)
(29,939)
Decrease in furniture and equipment (spin-off assets)
-
1,050
(Increase) decrease in other assets
(519)
8,295
(Decrease) increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities
(500)
49,293
(Decrease) increase in deferred support
(777,711)
91,351
2,072,290
(60,304)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
249,438
(28,845)
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Spin-off of assets (Note 2)
-
(52,474)
Purchase of furniture and equipment
(10,241)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Payment on notes payable
(60,000)
(60,000)
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND
SHORT-TERM CASH INVESTMENTS
179,197
(141,319)
CASH AND SHORT-TERM CASH INVESTMENTS, beginning of year
415,793
557,112
CASH AND SHORT-TERM CASH INVESTMENTS, end of year
$594,990
$415,793
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of these statements.
14
Statements of Functional Expenses (Note 6)
For the year ended September 30, 1989,
with comparative totals for 1988
1989 Program Services
Program
Information
Total
Design and
and Public
Program
Program
Development
Training
Evaluation
Relations
Support
Services
Salaries, payroll taxes and employee benefits
$576,336
$328,800
$91,628
$120,750
$66,942
$1,184,456
Professional fees
252,770
289,482
10,760
54,666
1,402
609,080
Supplies
19,123
12,678
2,166
5,607
2,589
42,163
Communications
40,864
27,092
4,628
12,464
5,531
90,579
Occupancy (Note 8)
65,509
43,431
7,419
24,910
8,867
150,136
Rental and maintenance of equipment (Note 3)
22,263
14,760
2,522
6,948
3,014
49,507
Printing and publications
6,572
3,966
914
9,475
1,716
22,643
Travel
188,193
58,981
14,087
17,473
11,162
289,896
Conferences and meetings
41,270
15,907
90
603
1,534
59,404
Direct program support
18,675
12,088
2,321
3,668
59,888
96,640
Interest
4,138
2,744
469
880
560
8,791
Miscellaneous
2,052
1,362
231
446
667
4,758
Total expenses
$1,237,765
$811,291
$137,235
$257,890
$163,872
$2,608,053
1989 Supporting Services & Total Expenses
Total
Total
Total
General
Fund-
Bids and
Supporting
1989
1988
Administration
Raising
Proposals
Expenses
Expenses
Expenses
Salaries, payroll taxes and employee benefits
$331,895
$125,736
$27,716
$485,347
$1,669,803
$1,448,870
Professional fees
84,402
16,331
287
101,020
710,100
356,990
Supplies
8,294
3,405
528
12,227
54,390
30,391
Communications
17,723
7,673
1,130
26,526
117,105
94,460
Occupancy (Note 8)
28,411
11,582
1,811
41,804
191,940
168,048
Rental and maintenance of equipment (Note 3)
9,656
3,936
614
14,206
63,713
72,051
Printing and publications
4,782
1,552
339
6,673
29,316
19,796
Travel
29,122
25,409
1,874
56,405
346,301
247,924
Conferences and meetings
569
1,291
-
1,860
61,264
28,454
Direct program support
11,488
17,357
I
28,845
125,485
31,965
Interest
1,795
732
114
2,641
11,432
17,196
Miscellaneous
2,937
363
58
3,358
8,116
66,667
Total expenses
$531,074
$215,367
$34,471
$780,912
$3,388,965
$2,582,812
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of this statement.
15
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Partnership Plan Phase Three was awarded on April
$38,027, respectively, and are included in "rental and
September 30, 1989 and 1988
16, 1988, for a two-year period ending April 15, 1990,
maintenance of equipment expenses." Since title to this
1. ORGANIZATION AND PURPOSE -
and included the following cash funding.
equipment passes to Justice upon completion of the
Tax Exempt Status:
Year One
Year Two
Total
grant, these expenditures have not been capitalized in
the financial statements.
Cities in Schools, Inc. ("CIS"), was incorporated in
U.S. Department of Justice
$900,000
$657,000
$1,557,000
Other Assets - Other assets consist of escrowed rent
Georgia on April 28, 1977, and commenced operations
U.S. Department of Labor
980,000
584,000
1,564,000
in June 1977. CIS is a not-for-profit corporation whose
(security deposits) of $4,920 and $4,401 in 1989 and
U.S. Department of Health
purpose is to assist cities, counties, and states in the
and Human Services
50,000
200,000
250,000
1988, respectively (see Note 8).
Prior-Year Reclassifications - Certain immaterial
development of public/ private partnerships designed
$1,930,000
$1,441,000
$3,371,000
amounts for 1988 have been reclassified for
to restructure the delivery of existing human resources
into a personalized, coordinated, and accountable inter-
comparability to 1989.
The funding for the second year of Phase Three is
vention system for the benefit of (1) dropout prone youth,
subject to the availability of funds. Also, $396,000 of the
4. NOTE PAYABLE:
(2) their families, and (3) public education nationwide.
U.S. Department of Labor portion is to be used for the
CIS's note payable to banks at September 30, 1989
CIS is exempt from Federal income taxes under Section
direct funding of state coordinators in Michigan,
and 1988, was as follows.
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. CIS has
Virginia, and Arkansas.
1989
1988
been classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a
In 1989 and 1988, CIS expended, representing both
Note, interest at floating prime rate,
"publicly supported" organization.
Justice funding and matching funds, a total of $1,875,078
due on September 5, 1990, guaranteed by
a member of the CIS Board of Directors
$75,000
$135,000
2. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND OPERATIONS:
and $1,599,623, respectively, under these grants.
National and Local Organizations - The accom-
Alternative School Programs - During 1988, CIS
The CIS Board of Directors has established a policy of
panying financial statements include the operations of
entered into a cooperative agreement with the
reducing aggregate notes payable by not less than $5,000
CIS's national headquarters in Washington, D.C., its
Department of Justice to provide funds to CIS to
per month.
regional offices, and the results of programs which CIS
establish an alternative school program for dropouts.
administered through June 30, 1988, when it spun off its
The grant is to be expended from August 15, 1988,
5. CHANGES IN DEFERRED SUPPORT:
Washington, D.C., Adolescent Pregnancy/Terrell
through February 28, 1990. The funding amount is $1
A summary of changes in deferred support (see Note
Programs. CIS has developed a replication plan to build
million, $350,000 of which is to be used by CIS to design
3) for the years ended September 30, 1989 and 1988, is
the prototype and provide technical assistance to the
as follows.
a network of locally supported not-for-profit orga-
ten local corporations which will be awarded $65,000
1989
1988
nizations responsible for implementing CIS programs in
local communities; these separately incorporated local
each to initiate local Alternative School Programs.
Balance, beginning of year
$3,390,037
$1,317,747
Additions Contributions,
organizations' activities are not included in these
3. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT
pledges and grants
2,023,664
4,043,153
financial statements.
ACCOUNTING POLICIES:
5,413,701
5,360,900
Washington, D.C./Adolescent Pregnancy/Terrell
The financial statements are prepared on the accrual
Programs (the "Programs") - CIS was awarded
basis of accounting. Significant accounting policies
Deductions Funds expended
Federal grants from the U.S. Department of Health and
followed are summarized below.
or transferred during the year
(2,801,375)
(1,970,863)
Human Services, Office of Adolescent Pregnancy
Fund Accounting - To ensure compliance with
Balance, end of year
$2,612,326
$3,390,037
Programs, for the operation of a prenatal care clinic in
restrictions placed on the use of resources available to
6. FUNCTIONAL ALLOCATION OF EXPENSES:
Washington, D.C., beginning in 1981. In addition to the
CIS, the accounts are maintained in accordance with the
Federal funding, supplemental funding (primarily from
The costs of supporting the various programs and
principles of fund accounting. Accordingly, separate
the District of Columbia) was utilized by CIS to fund
other activities are presented in the statement of
accounts are maintained for each fund; however, in the
the Programs.
functional expenses and summarized in the statement
accompanying financial statements, the individual
The Programs functioned as one of CIS's operational
of support, revenue and expenses, and changes in fund
restricted funds have been combined and reported as a
programs until June 30, 1988, after which date the
balances. Certain costs have been allocated among the
single restricted fund.
Programs were spun off. The operating results of these
programs and supporting service functional expense
Deferred Support - Contributions received for
Programs and the net assets transferred with their spin-
categories benefited.
particular operating purposes or periods are deemed to
off are presented as discontinued operations in the
be earned and reported as support when CIS has
7. RELATED PARTIES:
financial statements.
incurred expenditures in compliance with the specific
During the course of normal operations, CIS made
U.S. Department of Justice "Partnership" Grants -
restrictions. Such receivables and amounts received but
noninterest-bearing advances to New York Cities in
During 1984, CIS was awarded a matching grant of
not yet earned are reported as deferred support.
Schools, Inc., during 1982 to 1988. As of September 30,
$1,472,950 from the U.S. Department of Justice
Life Trust - During 1985, CIS was granted an
1989 and 1988, $38,063 and $46,904, respectively, was
("Justice") entitled the Partnership Plan to be expended
interest in a trust benefiting a donor for the donor's
outstanding to New York Cities in Schools, Inc., which
from July 1, 1984, through February 28, 1986. The grant
lifetime. Income from the trust's interest was $25,015
is substantially reserved for in the balance sheet.
was awarded for the primary purpose of replicating CIS
and $30,367 in 1989 and 1988, respectively. Because it is
Members of the Board of Directors have made
programs in cities throughout the United States. CIS
not practicable to estimate the present value of this gift,
contributions to CIS. Those contributions represented
subsequently negotiated Phases Two and Three of the
CIS intends to account for trust distributions as
approximately 9 percent and 15 percent of CIS's 1989
original Partnership Plan.
contribution revenue when received.
and 1988 total support and revenue. The note payable
Partnership Plan Phase Two was awarded March 1,
Pledges Receivable - Legally enforceable pledges,
has been guaranteed by a Board member (see Note 4).
1986, for a two-year period, and was extended through
less an allowance for uncollectible amounts, are
8. COMMITMENTS AND
April 15, 1988. Phase Two was administered through
recorded as receivables in the year the pledge is made.
CONTINGENCIES - LEASES:
Justice and included the following funding.
Unrestricted pledges for support of current operations
CIS has entered into several leases for office space
Year One
Year Two
Total
are recorded as unrestricted support. Pledges intended
Cash:
used for operations. These leases will expire at various
U.S. Department of Justice
$ 900,000
$ 900,000
$1,800,000
for support of future operations or restricted for
times through 1992. While these leases are subject to
U.S. Department of Labor
812,000
800,000
1,612,000
particular operating purposes are recorded as deferred
escalation clauses which are tied to increases in the
U.S. Department of Health
unrestricted or restricted support. Unrestricted support
Consumer Price Index, future minimum payments are
and Human Services
250,000
250,000
500,000
from pledges receivable amounted to $228,750 and
as follows.
$105,000 in 1989 and 1988, respectively.
Fiscal Year
Amount
Total Federal cash
1,962,000
1,950,000
3,912,000
Furniture and Equipment, and Depreciation -
1990
$161,605
In-Kind U.S. Department
Under the Justice grant described in Note 2, CIS has
1991
109,921
of Education
250,000
250,000
500,000
purchased certain office equipment. Justice grant
1992
6,676
Total grant
$2,212,000
$2,200,000
$4,412,000
expenditures in 1989 and 1988 totaled $31,570 and
$278,202
16
James M. & Maria Allwin
IBM
Herb Alpert and Lani Hall
JMC Foundation, Inc.
American Express Foundation
W. B. Johnson Properties, Inc.
American-Standard Foundation
George H. Johnson Properties
The Anschutz Family Foundation
Quincy Jones
Arthur Andersen & Co.
W.M. Keck Foundation
Contributors
AT&T
Mr. & Mrs. C. Lawrence Keller
ARCO
The F. M. Kirby Foundation, Inc.
Because it would be
The ARCO Foundation
The Esther A.& Joseph Klingenstein Fund, Inc.
impossible to list all those
The ARCA Foundation
Henry R. Kravis
who have contributed in
Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager
The Lauder Foundation
various ways to CIS, this
Smith Bagley
Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb
list is limited to those who
Robert H. B. Baldwin
Lilly Endowment, Inc.
have contributed funds
Barton Properties
Frances and John L. Loeb Foundation
in excess of $10,000.
Booth Ferris Foundation
Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. Frederic A. Bourke, Jr.
The MCJ Foundation
We apologize
Gerald Breslauer
William M. & Barbara Marcussen
to any of our friends
Burger King Corporation
Marriott Corporation
that we may have
Mr. & Mrs. Daniel B. Burke
Michael Martin
overlooked.
Capital Cities Foundation, Inc.
The Masco Corporation
The Camp Huggy Bear Invitational
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Kalman M. Carmel
Metromedia, Inc.
Celanese Corporation
Milken Family Foundation
Chartwell Foundation
Mobil Oil
Chevron U.S.A., Inc.
Morgan Guaranty Trust Company
The Chubb Corporation Charitable Trust
Morgan Stanley & Company Incorporated
Anne Cox Chambers
Jerry Moss
Commodity Exchange Center Children's Fund
John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.
Robert A. Day, Jr.
Orion Pictures Company
Willametta K. Day Foundation
Pepsi-Cola Company
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Incorporated
Petro-Lewis Corporation
The Dover Fund, Inc.
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Dyson Foundation
Russ Reid Company
Exxon Corporation
Lionel & Brenda Richie
Exxon Education Foundation
Julian Robertson, Jr.
Federated Department Stores
Howard J. Samuels
The Fiftieth American
Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Presidential Inaugural Committee
Shell Companies Foundation, Incorporated
Fireman's Fund Insurance Company
Joe & Donnie Smith
Ford Motor Company
Sidney Sheldon
Charlotte Ford
The Streisand Foundation
J. Anthony Forstmann
Sun Company, Inc.
Nicholas C. Forstmann
Surdna Foundation, Inc.
Theodore J. Forstmann
S. Donald Sussman
The Carl Forstmann Memorial Foundation, Inc.
Times Mirror Foundation
GTE Corporation
Transamerica Corporation
General Electric Foundation
Union Pacific Foundation
The General Foods Fund, Inc.
Urban Affairs Partnership
The General Motors Foundation, Inc.
U.S.A. for Africa
Paul F. Glenn
Judith M. Von Rugemer
Murray H. Goodman
DeWitt Wallace Fund, Inc.
The Goodman Company
Walt Disney World Co.
Armand Hammer Foundation
Warner Communications, Inc.
Henry U. Harder
Jerry Weintraub
Hedco Foundation
Weingart Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Whitehead Fund
Indiana National Bank
The Whitemarsh Foundation
The Indianapolis Chamber of
The Woodward Fund
Commerce Foundation
The Young & Rubicam Foundation
ne million young people drop out of school
every year. Our nation can no longer afford this drain on
our human capital We can no longer close our eyes.
Every American student deserves an equal place
at the starting line.
Cities in Schools is about helping to provide children
an equal place at that starting line. Therefore, I urge
all of you - business leaders, educators, parents, human
service providers - to give your support to Cities in Schools,
and to find out how you can become involved."
President-Elect George Bush
November 30, 1988
A
ll of us in the business world like a program
that gets results. Cities in Schools gets results.
Kids who were once dropouts or at great risk, are now
graduating from high school and college. They are
productive members of society.
I am solidly behind CIS."
Lee Iacocca
January 21, 1990
MAM
Credits: James J.Hill, Vice President, Administration; Jennifer Goodman, Public Relations Director; Produced by the Russ Reid Company; Design: Scott Smith; Photograph
NETWORK
NEWS
VIEWS
Vol. X, No. 3
March 1991
The Educational Excellence Network
A Project of Vanderbilt University
Institute for Public Policy Studies
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Institute for Public Policy Studies
(202) 785-2985
Educational Excellence Network
1112 Sixteenth Street, NW
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
March 1991
Dear NETWORK Member:
Our Chicago school reform project has moved from a very active phase into a rather
more sedate one. The capstone of the 1990 effort was a conference, co-sponsored by the
Joyce Foundation, on November 19. The proceedings are now available to all interested
NETWORK members in the form of a handsome, short (47 page) book, edited by research
associate Andy Forsaith and our-man-in-the-Windy City Steve Clements. Called Chicago
School Reform: National Perspéctives and Local Responses, it contains essays by Kent
Peterson (the principalship), Lloyd Bond (testing), Beatriz Arias (choice) and Mike Kirst
(the changing role of Chicago's central school administration), as well as excerpts from
conference discussions. Call or write if you'd like a copy.
As you probably recall, we're now issuing the News & Views index every six
months and sending it (gratis) to NETWORK members who request it (or who have
previously asked to be on the regular distribution list). The latest edition, covering August
1990 through January 1991, is now ready. Let us know if you'd like one.
This issue of News & Views contains two original articles, a short one by advisory
councilor Herb Walberg on the importance of homework in improving student learning,
and a longer one by Frank J. Yurco, distinguished Egyptologist at Chicago's Field
Museum, evaluating the so-called African-American "baseline essay" that's so important to
Portland's multi-cultural curriculum project and thus to the nationwide debate about "Afro-
centrism" in the schools.
We salute long-time advisory councilor John A. Murphy, outgoing superintendent
of schools in Prince George's County, Maryland, and one of the ablest and most effective
school improvers in the land, who is now bound for the Charlotte-Mecklenberg school
system. Maryland's loss is North Carolina's gain and while we are going to miss John as
a neighbor, we'll continue to follow his remarkable career with keen interest.
Until April.
Checker Finn
John Crisp
NETWORK
NEWS
VIEWS
Vol. X, No. 3
March 1991
The Educational Excellence Network
A Project of Vanderbilt University
Institute for Public Policy Studies
NEWS & VIEWS
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In addition to original work not previously published, NETWORK NEWS &
VIEWS reproduces selected articles from dozens of publications. It is NETWORK
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generally been pleased when portions of their work are selected for inclusion and
thereby brought to the attention of the NETWORK's hundreds of members.
However, we will scrupulously exclude from consideration for NETWORK NE WS
&
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prefer never to be included.
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE NETWORK
NETWORK NEWS & VIEWS
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John P. Crisp, Jr., Deputy Director;
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Theodor Rebarber, Research Associate;
Matthew Gandal, Research Associate;
Courtney Uhler, Staff Assistant.
Address inquiries to:
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NEWS & VIEWS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Vol. X, No. 3
March 1991
NETWORK NOTES
i-iii
As Students Come to Class Less Healthy, School Clinics
Try to Offer More. By Michel Marriott. The New York Times.
NEW MEMBERS
iv-v
January 30, 1991
37
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
A Bitter Rochester Spurns Teachers Union.
By Carol Innerst. The Washington Times. February 4, 1991
38
Educational Goals and Political Plans.
By Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The Public Interest. Winter 1991.
Rochester Contract Woes Ignite Debate Over
Number 102, pp. 32-48,
1
"Accountability". By Ann Bradley. Education Week.
February 6, 1991
39
What Jefferson and Lincoln Read. By Douglas L. Wilson.
The Atlantic Monthly. January 1991. Volume 267, Number 1
6
AFTER CLASS
Why Johnny's Dad Can't Read. By Meredith Bishop.
Born on Crack and Coping With Kindergarten.
Policy Review. Winter 1991. Number 55, pp. 19-25
12
By Suzanne Daley. The New York Times. February 7, 1991
42
Scientific Management in Education. By J.M. Rice. 1913.
Teach the Children. By Vanessa Gallman. New Dimensions.
(Excerpt)
17
January 1991. Volume 5, Number 1, PP 62-63
43
Pioneering Research Challenges Accepted Notions
Playing Dress-Up. By Beth Ann Krier. Los Angeles Times.
Concerning the Cognitive Abilities of Infants.
January 15, 1991
44
By Chris Raymond. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
January 23, 1991.
19
CHICAGO WATCH
DISPUTES AND DILEMMAS
Pupils' Scores Show 70% in City Below U.S. Average.
By Lou Ortiz. Chicago Sun-Times. January 15, 1991
46
An Evaluation of the Portland Social Studies Baseline
Essay. By Frank J. Yurco. February, 1991
21
City Seeks Right Place for Disabled. By Karen Thomas.
Chicago Tribune. February 3, 1991
46
D.C. May Start African-Centered Teaching This Fall.
By Lynda Richardson. The Washington Post. February 6, 1991
27
JUST THE FACTS
California Minorities Fight "Chauvinistic" School Books.
Latinos Lagging on Every School Level, Study Finds.
By Dexter Waugh. The Washington Times. January 30, 1991
28
By Jean Merl. Los Angeles Times. January 25, 1991
48
Tax Rebate in New Hampshire Town Poses Test for
INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
School Choice Issue. By Fox Butterfield. The New York Times.
January 30, 1991
29
The Right Man for Education. By David S. Broder.
The Washington Post. February 10, 1991
50
Year-Round School Makes the Grade. By Angela Duerson
Tuck. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. January 31, 1991
30
Drive for National Standards Picking Up Steam.
By John O'Neil. Educational Leadership. February 1991.
An L.A. Columnist's Salvo Launches a War of Words
Volume 48, Number 5, pp. 4-8.
51
Over Teacher Salaries. Education Week. January 23, 1991
31
National Test for High School Seniors Gains Backing.
Spillane Abandons Hours Plan. By Peter Baker.
By Kenneth J. Cooper. The Washington Post. January 31, 1991 55
The Washington Post. February 10, 1991
32
UT Wins Pact to Send Report Card to States.
FROM THE TRENCHES
The Tennessean. February 1, 1991
56
Putting It All Together. By Elizabeth Schulz.
FEDERALISM LIVES
Teacher Magazine. January 1991. Volume 2, Number 4
33
Education Chairmen Rise in Stature in Statehouses.
Mississippi Study of "Writing to Read" Finds
By Peter Schmidt. Education Week. January 16, 1991
57
"Significant" Gains In Students' Skills. By Peter West.
Education Week. January 23, 1991
36
Articles outlined in gray are previously unpublished
NEWS & VIEWS
Texas Agenda: Public Education Should Be Core
Cheering On Motorola U. By Bernard R. Gifford.
Issue of Concern. Editorial. Dallas Morning News.
Education Week. January 30, 1991
89
January 14, 1991
58
IN THE GROVES
Business Gives Public Schools Failing Grade.
By Daniel M. Weintraub. Los Angeles Times. January 24, 1991
60
The Derisory Tower. Editorial. The New Republic.
Volume 204, Number 7, pp. 5-6
90
Wilson's Focus on Preventive Services. By Peter Schmidt.
Education Week. February 6, 1991
61
Thin Skins. By Jacob Weisberg. The New Republic.
Volume 204, Number 7, pp. 22-24
91
School Choice Program Thriving Quietly in State.
By Phil Williams. The Tennessean. January 10, 1991
63
Politically Correct Incorrect. By Ben Wattenberg.
The Washington Times. January 30, 1991
93
Letting Teachers Call the Shots. By Aaron Bernstein.
Business Week. January 28, 1991. Number 3197, pp. 54-55
Annals of Political Correctness. By Charles Krauthammer.
64
The Washington Post. February 8, 1991
94
PROMISING PRACTICES
Speaker Calls for Afrocentric Beliefs. By Nekesa Moody.
Columbia Daily Spectator. December 3, 1990
95
A Wonderful Education Awaits 500 Dade Kids.
By Debra O'Connor. The Miami Herald. January 6, 1991
65
Doubts Are Raised About U.S. Inquiry on Harvard
Policies. By Scott Jaschik. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
CUNY Standards Would Press Schools. By Samuel Weiss.
February 6, 1991
96
The New York Times. January 24, 1991
67
Scholars Decry Campus Hostility to Western Culture
Bound for High School, They Test for College.
at a Time When More Nations Embrace Its Values.
By Anthony DePalma. The New York Times. January 22, 1991
68
By Carolyn J. Mooney. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
January 30, 1991
97
Black Culture, the Latin Way. By Edward C. Hoerr.
The Wall Street Journal. January 28, 1991
69
Stupid, Uneducated and Doing Quite Well. Editorial.
OPINION & COMMENTARY
The Washington Times. January 15, 1991
98
PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE
Teaching Students About War. By Edwin J. Delattre.
Education Week. February 6, 1991
70
Why Gauge Students on a Global Scale?
By Archie E. Lapointe. Education Week. February 6, 1991
100
The Clean Sea Breeze of the Centuries. By Susan Moore.
IPA Review. Volume 44, Number 1, pp. 57-59
72
Opt-out Trend Begins to Gather Pace.
By Geraldine Hackett. The Times Educational Supplement.
Reinventing Local Control. By Chester E. Finn, Jr.
January 18, 1991
102
Education Week. January 23, 1991
75
Honesty Is Still the Best Policy. By Gerald Haigh.
For Children at Risk, a Sanctuary. By Franklyn G. Jenifer.
The Times Educational Supplement. January 18, 1991
102
Los Angeles Times. January 27, 1991
77
The Expedient Art of Forgetting the Past.
Does Homework Help? By Herbert J. Walberg
By Paul Bendelow. The Times Educational Supplement.
February, 1991
78
January 25, 1991
103
PRIVATE SECTORS
Coordinated Position Toward Western Help Is Needed.
The Chronicle of Higher Education. January 30, 1991
103
A Glimpse at Teaching Conditions in Top Private
Schools. By Arthur G. Powell. American Educator.
NOT ALL NEWS IS GOOD NEWS
Volume 14, Number 4, pp. 29-39,
80
In Budget Crisis, Minnesota's Teacher of the Year
Detroit May Ask Private Schools to Join System.
Loses Job. By William Celis, 3rd. The New York Times.
By Peter Schmidt. Education Week. February 6, 1991
86
January 27, 1991
104
New York Archdiocese Begins Campaign to Save 140
Oops! Teachers Flunk Letter-Writing.
Catholic Schools in City. By Gary Putka.
The Washington Times. January 30, 1991
104
The Wall Street Journal. January 30, 1991
88
Endpaper.
105
Articles outlined in gray are previously unpublished
NEWS & VIEWS
NETWORK NOTES
saw the sample survey sheets and teachers' guide on the Free
Kids Voting
Speech and Censorship survey. The materials were substan-
We've all seen disturbing data on voter apathy in the U.S. Let
tive, visually attractive and generally designed to facilitate
us call your attention to an extraordinary mock election pro-
classroom use.
gram in Arizona which aims to make lifelong voters out of
After classroom discussion and the completion of a brief
schoolchildren. "Kids Voting", based on a program that has
(three-question) poll, the survey responses are phoned in by
been operating successfully in Costa Rica for over 15 years,
participating teachers to a central 800 phone number. Na-
began in 1988 as a pilot project in the Phoenix area and has
tional results are quickly tabulated and the findings can be
since become a state-wide effort involving 95% of Arizona
retrieved, again via an 800 number, minutes after each poll
students, grades K-12, from nearly 200 school districts.
deadline. Results are also reprinted in the next month's survey
Sponsored primarily by the Arizona Public Service Com-
sheet/newsletter for follow-up class discussion, and they are
pany and led by a state board of directors and 15 county
distributed to the media, educators, members of Congress and
boards, Kids Voting is not your typical mock student election
other key policymakers for their use and information.
program. In order to participate in the general election, stu-
For more information, contact Poll Editor, Voices That Count,
dents must first register to vote; the voting takes place at the
300 East 34th Street, Suite 32F, New York, NY 10016. Tel: (212)
actual time and location of the official adult elections (thus the
684-2484.
JPCJr.
children go to the polling place with their parents); and Kids
Voting is curriculum-based, so that students gain exposure to
The Learning Industry: Education for
issues and candidates while learning the importance of be-
Adult Workers
coming informed, responsible voters.
This recent book, written by Nell Eurich and published by
The results in 1990 were impressive indeed: 92% percent of
the Carnegie Foundation, takes an informed and thoughtful
Arizona's registered voters are aware of, and in favor of con-
look at the state of adult education in the U.S. and offers a
tinuing, Kids Voting; 77% indicated that their children initi-
number of sensible suggestions for how to improve this con-
ated discussion at home about the year's candidate races and
fused and not altogether satisfactory field. According to
ballot propositions; 7% admitted that they went to the polls
Eurich, the chief problem is not in the quantity of the adult
because of Kids Voting; and 95% of teachers want the program
education resources but in the quality of their organization.
continued. (It seems that the majority of students mirrored
U.S. corporations spend about $60 billion annually on formal
their parents' vote in most ways except that they would have
training, serving as much as one-third of the work force (and
elected the Democratic candidate for governor and passed the
the military spends an additional $18 billion). But too many of
Martin Luther King Holiday three to one.)
these programs operate wholly independently of each other.
As a result of its success, Kids Voting has received scores of
Eurich recommends more collaboration between industry,
inquiries and plans to open a national office in hopes of
labor, government and educational institutions and better use
offering the program elsewhere. Several other states are
of technology in the delivery of education services.
expected to have pilot projects in 1992.
The book has three sections. One discusses the existing
For more information contact Marilyn Hawker, President &
resources, another the different types of adult students.
Executive Director, Kids Voting, 604 West McKellips Rd.,
Throughout these two sections, examples of effective pro-
Mesa, Arizona 85201. Telephone: (602) 969-5046. MG
grams are highlighted. In the third section, Eurich touches on
a part of the population that she feels is slighted by most
Voices That Count
existing programs-workers displaced by changing indus-
NETWORK member Leanna Landsmann recently informed
tries, unemployed youth, immigrants, refugees and those on
us of an exciting new series of student opinion surveys, devel-
welfare.
oped by her firm Landsmann & Schultz, designed to encour-
Examples are cited where telecommunications links cam-
age high school students to express their views on important
puses, companies and government agencies, allowing for
national issues and debates. Voices That Count is the name of
courses to be taken, and materials accessed, over long dis-
the project, which is sponsored by AT&T, and it takes the form
tances. Such networks need to be expanded across state lines,
of a (nonpartisan) combination newsletter cum survey sheet
says Eurich. As far as coordinating efforts at the federal level,
which helps to pique student interest in current events and to
she suggests placing all adult training programs under the
challenge them to look beyond the headlines and voice their
Department of Labor, rather than leaving them split between
opinions. Each survey is accompanied by a two-page teachers'
the labor and education departments.
guide which offers appropriate background information,
This book has much to offer. For a copy, contact Princeton
sample class discussion topics and suggested reading materi-
University Press, 3175 Princeton Pike, Lawrenceville,
als for students interested in exploring the issues in depth. We
NJ 08648.
MG
i
NEWS & VIEWS
Cultural Foundations for Educators
Education (Report # 38-086-91-1), contact the CBO Publica-
tions Office, Second and D Streets, S.W., Washington, DC
We thought we'd bring to your attention a fascinating new
20515. Tel: (202) 226-2809.
JPCJr.
experimental core being offered by Boston University' School
of Education aimed at integrating teacher preparation with
primary sources of lasting importance in our culture. The
Choice and Control in American Education, Vol. 1
three courses that make up the new core, all mandatory for
Edited by well-known scholars William H. Clune and John
education majors, include readings from many of the classic
F. Witte of the University of Wisconsin, this collection of
texts of Western civilization, including Homer, the Bible,
essays includes a range of perspectives on "choice". The first
Plato, Ovid, Keats and many others. (The third course, still in
of a two-volume set, this one focuses on theory while the
development, will also include some non-Western sources,
second will take a look at existing choice systems.
such as Confucius' Analects and the Tale of Genji.)
Topics covered include a discussion of present institutional
The courses combine content with techniques for teaching
arrangements and forms of control, a review of the evidence
the relatively sophisticated material to even elementary grades.
linking private schools and enhanced educational outcomes,
In addition, students are exposed to various works of art in
and the intrinsic normative value of allowing freedom of
Boston area museums. Moral education and critical thinking,
choice. Selections are included by James Coleman, John
as well as computer assisted instruction, are explicit compo-
Chubb, Richard Elmore, Charles Glenn, David Cohen, and
nents of the course as well.
many others. The authors are more or less evenly divided
For more information regarding these courses, write to Bos-
between choice supporters and skeptics.
ton University, School of Education, 605 Commonwealth
Members may well wish to leaf through a number of these
Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
TR
thoughtful and provocative, if generally abstract essays. You
can obtain a copy by writing to The Falmer Press, Taylor &
Student Aid and the Cost of Postsecondary
Francis, Inc., 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007.
Education
Hardcover copies cost $66, softcover $29. Prepayment or a
purchase order is required.
TR
After a doubling of inflation-adjusted student aid funds
(from all federal, state and institutional sources) in the last
twenty years, the Congressional Budget Office decided to take
Public to Private: Families Search for Stronger
Academics
a look at who gets student aid, how much they get, the
resulting actual or net cost of postsecondary education, and
The Secondary School Admission Test Board, which ad-
the effectiveness of existing student aid programs in promot-
ministers the admissions tests most widely used by private
ing both student access and choice to postsecondary educa-
schools, recently surveyed parents of children who took its
tion.
tests, and found that 90% of public school parents who transfer
In the January 1991 study that resulted, the CBO finds that
their children to private schools identify the strength of the
students are more likely to receive aid, and to get more aid, as
academic program as the most important reason. In compari-
their families' ability to pay decreases and as the cost of tuition
son, 75% of parents with students already in private schools
and room and board increase (this, it seems to us, is as it should
mentioned academics as most important. A majority of public
be). Low-income students at private four-year institutions are
school parents also listed college placement record and small
most likely to receive and get the most aid, while high-income
class size as important considerations in changing schools,
students at two-year institutions are least likely to receive aid
while 42% were concerned about disciplinary standards.
(this again, it seems to us, is as it should be). The CBO
This survey offers further evidence that parents contemplat-
concluded, therefore, that student aid does serve to promote
ing school changes for their children are chiefly concerned
equal educational opportunity in terms of choice and access.
about educational standards. For a copy of the survey, contact
(Indeed, in the fall of 1986, 46 percent of undergraduate stu-
Lisa Meyers at SSATB, 12 Stockton Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.
dents received some form of financial aid.)
Telephone: (609) 683-4440
ACF
The study also presents three questions for Congress to
consider as it revisits the Higher Education Act this year. The
Profiles in Excellence: The Parent Factor
first is whether the net costs (after student aid) of postsecon-
The Executive Educator and IBM are cosponsoring an annual
dary education are reasonable. The second is whether pro-
recognition program entitled "Profiles in Excellence." Each
prietary schools, providing trade, vocational and business
year a new focus is established and schools and/or educators
training, should have separate student aid programs from
from around the nation are singled out. In this first year of the
institutions that offer academic courses. The third is whether
program, the focus is parental involvement. A special section
the federal vernment should encourage all public postsecon-
in the February issue of Executive Educator presents the ten
dary subsidies to be awarded strictly on the basis of need.
innovative programs chosen to win the "Profiles in Excel-
Since all of these issues promise to be of great import during
lence" awards.
the upcoming student aid debates on Capitol Hill, the arrival
For more information on the "Profiles" program, or to obtain
of this report is certainly timely, even if its contents are less
a copy of the February issue, contact The Executive Educator,
than riveting.
1680 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Telephone: (703)
To obtain a copy of Student Aid and the Cost of Postsecondary
838-6722.
MG
ii
NEWS & VIEWS
the curriculum. Dobson and Bauer believe that the hottest
Linking Performance to Rewards for Teachers,
battles in the "civil war" are being fought in the public schools
Principals and Schools
where, they claim, there is a campaign to imbue children with
The Southern Regional Education Board's enormously use-
humanistic ideas. For example, they suggest that the trend
ful and diligent Career Ladder Clearinghouse has compiled
towards multiculturalism in some schools has been driven by
this survey of programs in all fifty states that link rewards to
political pressures.
changes in schools. Included are not only "career ladder"
To aid parent invol vement in educational decision-making,
programs, but also school incentive reward programs, teacher
Dobson and Bauer recommend the use of a voucher system to
incentives for improved student performance, mentor pro-
promote individual choice and to ameliorate the "current
grams and similar initiatives. In addition to a summary of
mediocrity" in the school system. The proposals in this mani-
activities underway in the various states (and a handy chart
festo amount to a conservative agenda of returning primary
summarizing this information), the monograph reviews sev-
responsibility for child-rearing from the government to the
eral studies that have found positive results in terms both of
traditional family.
student tcomes and of the behavior of educators involved in
The book may be ordered from Word Publishing, Inc., 5221
these programs.
N. O'Conner Blvd., Suite 1000, Irving, Texas 75039. The price
For a copy of the report, send a $5 check to the Southern
is $17.99 Tel: (214) 556-1900.
cu
Regional Education Board, 592 Tenth Street, N.W., Atlanta,
GA 30318-5790. Prepayment (to "SREB") is required.
TR
Systems Design of Education
According to the author of this book, Bela H. Banathy, senior
Children At Risk: The Battle for the Hearts and
research director at the Far West Regional Laboratory for
Minds of Our Kids
Educational Research and Development, the nation's educa-
In this volume, psychologist James C. Dobson, President of
tional system is in poor shape because we have failed to
Focus on the Family, and Gary Bauer, President of the Family
recognize that it is grounded in a 19th century industrial,
Research Council, call on parents to take charge of the political
assembly-line model. Banathy argues that this model is obso-
lete in the modern post-industrial, information age, with all the
process that affects their children's lives. We are in the midst
of the "Second Great Civil War," the authors suggest, between
attendant major changes in society. To really improve the
schools, we must abandon the incremental and piecemeal
the ideologies of secular humanists and traditional Christians,
reforms which have occurred to date and construct an entirely
with the nation's children as the spoils. Basing their own views
on traditional Judeo-Christian values, the authors strongly
new education system.
condemn the cultural pervasiveness of pornography, alcohol
Banathy offers "systems design" theory as a tool that educa-
tors should use to create this new system. Systems design
and drug use, premarital sex, and homosexuality. They con-
tend that an innately conservative public has not adequately
involves thinking strategically about one's goals and purposes
voiced its support for a pro-family agenda in Washington.
and then constructing frameworks to achieve them. Most of
Dobson and Bauer hold conservative inaction equally respon-
the book is devoted to explaining this theory, and how it can be
sible with liberal government policies for creating an environ-
applied to education. The author fails to offer any concrete
details of what the schools of the future should look like; the
ment that is harmful to the development of America's youth.
As part of a larger agenda that includes lowering the tax rate
book is fairly abstract. Still, the basic message of the book is
worth further examination.
for families and requiring unmarried teen mothers to live with
their parents in order to receive government benefits, the
Systems Design of Education is available for $29.95 from Edu-
authors dvocate a two-pronged approach to restructuring the
cational Technology Publications, 720 Palisade Avenue, Engle-
wood Cliffs, NJ 07632. Telephone: (201) 871-4007.
ACF
public school system, namely parental choice and changes in
iii
NEWS & VIEWS
NEW MEMBERS
Donald J. Beaudette
Eileen P. Haller
Superintendent, Newport Public Schools
Evanston, Illinois
Newport, Rhode Island
David Haselkorn
Jennifer L. Betts
President, Recruiting New Teachers, Inc.
Education Consultant
Belmont, Massachusetts
Norcross, Georgia
Ruth Ann Heck
Gerda V. Bikales
Assistant Director, U.S. General Accounting Office
Consultant
Falls Church, Virginia
McLean, Virginia
Rodney C. Hermes
Joanne Bonno
Superintendent, International School
Director, Hamilton County Office of Education
Manila, Phillipines
Cincinnati, Ohio
Kalman R. Hettleman
Larry Braskamp
Executive Director, Baltimore Mentoring Institute
Dean, University of Illinois, Chicago
Baltimore, Maryland
Chicago, Illinois
Mark Higdon
Ned Browning
Superintendent, Campbell County Schools
Assistant Superintendent, Winchester Public Schools
Gillette, Wyoming
Winchester, Virginia
Valerie Holland
Lonnie I. Calhoun, III
California Department of Education
Educational Liaison, Allpoints International
Sacramento, California
Washington, DC
Maria Kauffman
Robert A. Clay
Magi Educational Services
Superintendent, Lee County Board of Education
Larchmont, New York
Leesburg, Virginia
William L. Kelly
Norman M. Colb
Superintendent, North Attleboro Public Schools
Superintendent, Mamaroneck Public Schools
North Attleboro, Maine
Mamaroneck, New York
Mike King
Sam F. Drew, Jr.
Teacher, Williamstown Elementary
Superintendent, Union County Schools
Williamstown, West Virginia
Union, South Carolina
John W. Morabito
Philip E. Geiger
Teacher, Warren Consolidated Schools
Superintendent, Lexington Public Schools
Sterling Heights, Michigan
Lexington, Massachusetts
Anne Nobles
Dave Goetz
Manager of Public Affairs, Eli Lilly & Company
Executive Director, Tennessee Business Roundtable
Indianapolis, Indiana
Nashville, Tennessee
Susan D. Phillips
Margaret W. Goldsborough
Executive Director
Director of Public Information
Greater Milwaukee Education Trust
National Association of Independent Schools
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Washington, DC
iv
NEWS & VIEWS
Shirley G. Pittman
Graduate Student, University of Illinois, Chicago
Harriet Stokke
Chicago, Illinois
Douglas County Schools
Castle Rock, Colorado
Wendy D. Puriefoy
President, Public Education Fund Network
Susan E. Stuber
Washington, DC
Genesee Intermediate School District
Flint, Michigan
Mickey Revenaugh
Editor, Sponsored Educational Materials
Stuart Thompson
Scholastic, Inc.
Superintendent, Hickory Public Schools
New York, New York
Hickory, North Carolina
Timothy Sares
Frederick J. Tirrell
Graduate Student, University of Illinois, Chicago
Superintendent, Needham Public Schools
Chicago, Illinois
Needham, Massachusetts
Tim Shriver
Trudy Wallace
Hillhouse High School
Chicago, Illinois
New Haven, Connecticut
John A. Whritner
Jan Silverstein
Superintendent, Greenwich Public Schools
Colorado Department of Education
Greenwich, Connecticut
Denver, Colorado
Kevin Yelvington
Natalie Sirkin
Associate Director, Institute for Public Policy
Sherman, Connecticut
Florida International University
Miami, Florida
Ellison M. Smith
Superintendent, York School District #1
Mary L. Zeltman
York, South Carolina
Graduate Student, Chicago Board of Education
Chicago, Illinois
Deborah Sommer
Beaverton School District 48
Guoxiong Zhang
Beaverton, Oregon
Graduate Student, University of Illinois, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Winnie Stariha
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago, Illinois
<
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
Educational goals
By the-(applause)-by the year 2000, every child must start school
ready to learn.
and political plans
The United States must increase the high school graduation rate to
no less than 90 percent. (Applause.)
DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN
And we are going to make sure our schools' diplomas mean some-
thing. In critical subjects, at the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades, we
must assess our students' performance.
A
By the-(applause)-year 2000, U.S. students must be the first in the
world in math and science achievement. (Applause.)
Every American adult must be a skilled, literate worker and citizen.
MERICAN POLITICS has
been notable for its lack of ideological structure. We have had our
Now this is a large pronouncement, even granted the setting.
share and more of ideological movements, but these have typically
We are told that the future is at stake. And not just the future of
begun outside the system of political parties, thereafter seeking to
our youth, but that of our nation. Of a sudden, international politics
has taken over what was once the modest domain of school boards
influence and on occasion to penetrate the established institutions.
The latter have in the main resisted this, usually preferring to
whose members in most parts of the nation carefully avoid party
soften distinctions and to compete for votes at the center.
identification.
Accordingly, it is common for American politics to be described as
We will return to the (drear) implications for the nation of the
pragmatic, in contrast to the complex social doctrines that guide
State of the Union address. The point here is that the President
European politics.
was speaking to Congress in a vocabulary created in the 1960s by
This American institutional peculiarity, however, conceals a
the sociologist James S. Coleman, then of Johns Hopkins Univer-
long-established bias in favor of that obscure but enduring ideology
sity, and his associates, notably Ernest Campbell of Vanderbilt
known as social science, to which the Founders themselves explic-
University. Coleman and his associates conducted a survey of pub-
itly acknowledged their debt; they asserted that the Constitution
lic schools and students in 1965, which was published in 1966 by
was drawn up in accordance with a "new science of politics," based
the Office of Education of the U.S. Department of Health, Educa-
on a realistic assessment of human motivation, which gave
tion, and Welfare. Entitled Equality of Educational Opportunity,
the work soon became known as the Coleman Report.
promise of stability through the interaction of clashing interests.
Good revolutionaries, they placed an appropriately high value on
The Coleman Report introduced the language of educational
stability, but they looked for more than stable government; their
outputs, which was a wholly new way for public officials to define
educational policy. This language has antecedents in economic
science was intended to produce good government as well.
Instances abound of Americans' attempts to use social science
concepts such as Leontief's input-output models and Kuznets's
to improve government. It was the American theory of penal
gross national product; but the report was unmistakably a work of
reform, for example, that summoned Alexis de Tocqueville to
sociology. It was the peculiar political fate of this most powerful
upstate New York; only upon arrival did he look about him at
government-sponsored social-science research of the later twenti-
eth century to appear just as the federal government had lost the
American democracy.
capacity to act upon it. Whether and when this capacity might be
restored is another matter.
Educational reform today
But of all such reformist enterprises none began earlier, has
Educational failure and the war on poverty
lasted longer, and remains as problematic as the effort to provide
good and equal educational opportunity. Indeed, as a nation, once
Let us go back to January 1, 1964, when another government
again we find that we are dissatisfied with our educational system.
report-One-Third of a Nation-was issued. This report had its ori-
We do not seem to be turning out the students we had hoped for. A
gins the previous summer,1 when the author of the present essay,
front-page story in the New York Times last March described the
who was then Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy Planning and
present as "a moment of widespread dismay with the schools" of
Research, noted that half-49.8 percent-of the young men who
New York City. And New York is scarcely alone. In 1983 a
were examined for Selective Service had been rejected, having
National Commission on Excellence in Education entitled its
failed the mental test (the Armed Forces Qualification Test or
report A Nation At Risk. On every hand there was a litany, as
AFQT), the physical test, or both. This seemed a large proportion.
Chester E. Finn, Jr., put it, of "allegation, lamentation, and evi-
If on closer examination it was true that a goodly portion of the
dence." The evidence-test scores-was damning, and the effort
entire cohort of young men would fail, then we had a better case
than we perhaps realized for the assorted education and training
toward reform was seemingly stymied.
Recognition of the need for reform reached an apogee of sorts
programs that President Kennedy had proposed to a generally
in 1990, when President Bush devoted a sizable portion of his 1990
indifferent Congress.
State of the Union message to setting forth specific educational
Selective Service was not in the least controversial at this time,
goals for the year 2000. The White House thereafter provided a
while military preparedness is (almost) always an acceptable theme
text, which helpfully noted the moments when the Congress broke
and an occasion, at times, for social enquiry.2 Wherewith, the
into "(applause)," "(light applause)," or "(continued applause, laugh-
President's Task Force on Manpower Conservation. The Task
ter)":
Force was chaired by W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Labor, with
Education is the one investment that means more for our future
'See Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "Toward a Post-Industrial Social Policy," The Public
because it means the most for our children. Real improvement in our
Interest, no. 96 (Full 1989), pp. 16-27.
schools is not simply a matter of spending more. It's a matter of asking
²Tradition has it that the introduction of conscription during World War I first
more, expecting more of our schools, our teachers, of our kids, of our
revealed to British authorities the ill health and educational deficiencies of the
parents and ourselves. And that's why tonight-(light applause)-and
urban working class. The arrival of troups from Australia and New Zealand, who
that's why tonight I am announcing America's education goals, goals
looked almost like members of a different species, is said to have made a striking
contrast.
developed with enormous cooperation from the nation's governors
I acknowledge with gratitude the able assistance of David Rich.
THE PUBLIC INTEREST
WINTER 1991
1
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense; Anthony J. Cele-
school systems of the South made such progress problematic in
brezze, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare; and Lieu-
South Carolina or Mississippi, and there would have been agree-
tenant General Lewis B. Hershey, head of the Selective Service
ment on this. But on what grounds could it be argued that New
System. I served as secretary, using the great capacities of the
York was incapable of the performance of Rhode Island?
career civil servants of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and a more-
These were newly vigorous times in Washington. The assassina-
than-cooperative Department of Defense to establish the baseline
tion of President Kennedy had released great energy. Or was it
data.
anxiety? Either way, the capital was suddenly alive to all manner
We established, as the title of the report indicates, that if all the
of possibilities, not least that of abolishing poverty. There were
eighteen-year-olds in the population were to be tested, a third would
competing theories as to how this might be done, but only one set
be rejected for failing at least one of the tests. One-third was surely
of data as to what needed doing, drawn from One-Third of a Nation.
a large enough proportion to cause concern. But most striking was
In his 1964 State of the Union address President Johnson urged
the variation among states.³ In that most admirable northern tier
Congress to declare "all-out war on poverty in these
United
of states running from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean, edu-
States," and in short order the Office of Economic Opportunity
cational failure was minimal: only 2.7 percent failed in Minnesota,
came into being. Its principal programs were educational, such as
and 3.6 percent in Washington. By contrast, the AFQT test-failure
Head Start, an early childhood program pretty much modeled on
rates in the Old South were appalling: 51.8 percent failed in South
the kindergarten created by Froebel in the first half of the nine-
Carolina, and 51.2 percent in Mississippi. Obviously, some jurisdic-
teenth century in Europe, and the Job Corps, a form of residential
tions-if you like, civic cultures-did better. by their children than
vocational education. On its own, the Department of Defense
did others. This got close to home for this Assistant Secretary from
began Project 100,000, an effort to bring into the Army young men
New York, whose AFQT failure rate of 34.2 percent ranked it
who would otherwise have been rejected and to train them up to
forty-sixth in the nation, just ahead of Georgia, just behind North
standards.
Carolina. The failure rate in New York, moreover, was more than
What we have here is a simple deficiency model. Poverty per-
twice that in Rhode Island (New York's neighbor across Long
sisted because certain young people received too little education.
Island Sound), which had a rate of 14.3 percent.
The solution: give them more.
This ought to have suggested that educational expenditures or
other inputs did not automatically produce the output of educational
The importance of the family
achievement. There was no shortage of inputs in New York State
as such matters were then understood. In terms of inputs, New
Twenty-four years later another president-Ronald Reagan-
York had one of the best school systems-if not the best-in the
declared, "My friends, some years ago, the Federal Government
declared war on poverty, and poverty won." There were few to con-
nation. New York was still the most populous state in the Union,
test the statement for the simple reason that the subject had proved
and probably the wealthiest. Nonetheless, the only explanation that
complex. Where there were simple deficiencies, as with income or
came to mind for the high failure rates was poverty.
health care for the aged, poverty had in fact been greatly reduced,
On receiving the report on January 5, 1964, President Johnson
if not overwhelmed. However, it turned out that, by the 1960s,
issued a statement drafted largely by the present author:
trends were in place that would make the poverty of portions of the
I am releasing today the report of the Task Force on Manpower Con-
nation's youth seemingly irreducible. This would be the lurking,
servation, appointed by President Kennedy on September 30, 1963. I
half-understood message of the Coleman Report.
regard with utmost concern the two principal findings of that report.
First, that one-third of the Nation's youth would, on examination,
It all began, unobtrusively, in a little-noticed provision of the
be found inqualified on the basis of standards set up for military
epic Civil Rights Act of 1964, which mandated the Commissioner
service; and
of Education to "conduct a survey and make a report to the Presi-
Second, that poverty is the principal reason why these young men
dent and the Congress, within two years concerning the lack of
fail to meet those physical and mental standards.
availability of equal educational opportunities for individuals by
The findings of the Task Force are dramatic evidence that poverty
is still with us, still exacting its price in spoiled lives and failed expecta-
reason of race, color, religion, or national origin in public educa-
tions. For entirely too many Americans the promise of American life
tional institutions at all levels in the United States [My empha-
is not being kept. In a Nation as rich and productive as ours this is an
sis.]
intolerable situation.
The report-Equality of Educational Opportunity-appeared
I shall shortly present to the Congress a program designed to attack
thirty months after One-Third of a Nation. It was not, however,
the roots of poverty in our cities and rural areas. I wish to see an
America in which no young person, whatever the circumstances, shall
endorsed by a cabinet committee or hailed by a president. No new
reach the age of twenty-one without the health, education, and skills
program was proposed based on its findings. To the contrary, it was
that will give him an opportunity to be an effective citizen and a self-
released on the Fourth of July weekend, 1966, with a minimum of
supporting individual. This opportunity is too often denied to those who
endorsement. The U.S. Commissioner of Education assured any
grow up in a background of poverty.
potential readers that "[m]y staff members and the consultants who
Thereafter, the President recurrently referred to these findings.
have assisted them on this project do not regard the survey findings
Lyndon B. Johnson was capable of appearing more empathic than
as the last word on the lack of equal education opportunities in the
he was, but these findings seemed to reach him. He clearly
United States." The Assistant Commissioner for Educational Statis-
thought that evidence of dismal educational achievement would
tics noted that "[i]n addition to its own staff" his office had "used
mobilize the society to improve it.
the services of outside consultants and contractors," such as "James
The logic seemed inescapable. If Minnesota could have a raw
Coleman." No middle initial for outside consultants.
failure rate in an education test that was close to the incidence of
It was not until p. 21 of the Summary report that readers might
very low IQ rates, then- clearly it was possible to do as well else-
have sensed that here was something new under the sun: "The first
where. It might have been objected-this was 1964-that the dual
finding is that schools are remarkably similar in the effect they
³One-Third of a Nation did not reestimate failure rates on a state-by-state basis. I use
have on the achievement of their pupils when the socioeconomic
here the raw failure rates contained in General Hershey's annual Selective Service
background of the students is taken into account."
System report for 1963.
One-Third of a Nation had been reported on the front page of the
New York Times. Coverage of the release of Equality of Educational
2
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
Opportunity was buried on page 24 of the Times on July 2, 1966; but
time the post-war baby boom appeared, it was still federal aid.
Times reporter John Herbers, a journalist of rare insight, spotted
Social science was welcome to help make the case for it, but no
the news. What was surprising, he noted, was that "differences in
more than that.
schools had very little effect on the achievement scores of chil-
dren with a strong educational background in the home." In the
Publicizing Coleman's message
words of the Commissioner of Education, "[F]amily background is
In any event, as noted, Coleman's work appeared at the close of
more important than schools."
a period of innovation and experiment. The real challenge was to
Congress had called for a report concerning the "lack of avail-
ensure that the work secured a place in the realm of policy analy-
ability of equal educational opportunities." The report that came
sis and debate. For practical purposes its sponsor, the Office of
recorded little by way of unequal opportunities, as then understood,
Education, with the full knowledge of the Office of the Secretary of
but great differences in educational achievement. Coleman later
Health, Education, and Welfare, had sought to suppress it. An
revealed, if that is the term, that he and his associates had started
effort now began to see that it survived. This was not difficult;
out with a radically different notion of the world they were map-
Coleman was a well-established academic with a wide acquain-
ping:
tance in the circle of (then) liberal Democrats, assorted sócialists,
[T]he major virtue of the study as conceived and executed lay in the
and unreconstructed Californians associated with the new journal
fact that it did not accept [the traditional] definition[;] by refusing to
The Public Interest. Coleman contributed an article, "Equal
do so, [it] has had its major impact in shifting policy attention from its
Schools or Equal Students," to issue No. 4, Summer 1966. He
traditional focus on comparison of inputs (the traditional measures of
wrote:
school quality used by school administrators: per-pupil expenditures,
class size, teacher salaries, age of building and equipment, and so on)
The sources of inequality of educational opportunity appear to lie first
to a focus on output, and the effectiveness of inputs for bringing about
in the home itself and the cultural influences immediately surrounding
changes in output.
the home; then they lie in the schools' ineffectiveness to free
achievement from the impact of the home, and in the schools' cultural
In 1990 Chester E. Finn, Jr., described the impact of the report
homogeneity[.] which perpetuates the social influences of the home
in terms of the "paradigm shifts" discussed in Thomas Kuhn's The
and its environs.
Structure of Scientific Revolutions: whereas the old paradigm
posited a "direct and automatic causal relationship between
That fall I took the report to Theodore R. Sizer, the ebullient
inputs and outcomes[, so] that altering the former was believed
dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who immedi-
ineluctably to change the latter," the new paradigm held that inputs
ately grasped that here was something new and important. A fac-
"did not necessarily have any effect on [outcomes] Educational
ulty seminar was organized, which attracted some eighty professors
achievement and other desired outcomes, it seemed, were strongly
and graduate students from all manner of disciplines and from all
influenced by many factors (some external to the formal education
over the country. (Most importantly, it attracted the attention of
system), such as home environment, peer group, and exposure to
Frederick Mosteller, Chairman of the Harvard Department of
television."
Statistics.) Jason Epstein of Random House also recognized that
Finn records that the response to Coleman's new paradigm was
something of large consequence had come along and cheerfully
"initially, a mixture of bafflement and hostility." More impor-
published On Equality of Educational Opportunity (Frederick
tantly, and largely because of the timing of the report's release, it
Mosteller and Daniel P. Moynihan, eds.), a massive collection of
was subdued. Just as One-Third of a Nation appeared at the outset of
papers prepared in connection with the seminar. The research was
an extraordinary period of political initiative and innovation in
now securely in the public domain.
American national politics, so Equality of Educational Opportunity
The seminar, in effect, "reran" the Coleman data; the numbers
appeared just when that period came to a close, thirty months later.
came out the same. Two decades later, Eric A. Hanushek, who
In a 1965 message to Congress, Johnson, drawing on One-Third
had been a member of the seminar, reported that the conclusions
of a Nation, had stated that "nearly half the youths rejected by
remain valid:
Selective Service for educational deficiency have fathers who are
Two decades of research into educational production functions have
unemployed or else working in unskilled and low-income jobs."
produced startlingly consistent results: Variations in school expenditures
This observation anticipated Coleman, but did not quite get at his
are not systematically related to variations in student performance
point. The importance of family was evident, but since there was
These findings suggest that school decision making must move away
from traditional "input directed" policies to ones providing performance
"nothing" to be done about family, "educational deficiency" had to
incentives. The concentration on expenditure differences in, for exam-
be offset in the schools. The President therefore proposed a new
ple, school finance court cases or legislative deliberations, appears mis-
program of financial assistance to public schools serving children
guided given the evidence.
in "low-income families[,] with the assurance that the funds will
Or consider Hanushek and John E. Chubb, writing in 1990 on
be used for improving the quality of education in schools serving
"Why 'More' Has Not Meant 'Better'":
low-income areas." (This became Chapter 1 of Title I of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which is still in
Education policy is usually seen as a problem of selecting the correct
effect today.)
inputs
There is a fundamental problem with this approach, how-
ever
For more than two decades-since the massive government
What if Coleman's work had been available at the outset of the
study, Equality of Educational Opportunity[,] was conducted in the mid-
thirty months in which Lyndon Johnson's attempt to reduce
1960s-researchers have tried to identify inputs that are reliably asso-
poverty held sway? Would the war on poverty have taken a differ-
ciated with student achievement and school performance. The bottom
ent direction, a different cast? Not likely. This was a time when a
line is, they have not found any.
great many interest groups were getting attention for their agendas,
Standing alone, this body of research might not present any
almost all of which were defined in traditional input terms. Civil
political difficulties. But it does not stand alone. To the contrary.
rights apart, there was no more insistent claim than for "federal
Research in other areas led University of Massachusetts sociologist
aid to education." It came now in the form of the Elementary and
Peter H. Rossi to announce his Iron Law: "If there is any empiri-
Secondary Education Act of 1965. Although this was not the
cal law that is emerging from the past decade of widespread evalu-
straightforward federal cost sharing that had been sought from the
3
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
ation research activities, it is that the expected value for any mea-
down of family.4 Public schools somehow could not connect with
sured effect of a social program is zero."
children in the way that parochial schools somehow could.
Writers in The Public Interest, for example, had begun to sus-
But by this point the political parties had taken sides. In the
pect this; their doing so made them objects of suspicion in turn. A
1970s a tuition tax credit for private schools passed the House of
sometimes savage critique arose. Every finding of fact was scruti-
Representatives and might have passed the Senate save for fierce
nized for intention. In the end a neoconservative school emerged,
opposition from Democratic President Jimmy Carter. His succes-
convinced that liberalism had become a closed doctrine. And yet
sor, Republican Ronald Reagan, just as emphatically supported
the political system as a whole remained open enough to Cole-
tuition tax credits; but they were not enacted, given the now settled
man's insights. It was not impossible to argue that if we did not
opposition of Democrats. On the other hand, by the 1990s the case
know enough about how to get inputs to yield a desired outcome, we
for a more pluralist educational system was being advanced with
simply needed to learn more. On the other hand, the attempt to
considerable vigor.⁵
learn more was scarcely rewarding.
In 1970, as Counselor to President Richard M. Nixon, I drafted,
Unrealistic goals
with the inspired help of Finn and others, a Special Message to the
Congress on Education Reform, a statement drawn almost entirely
At the same time, a general pattern of avoidance in Washing-
from Coleman and the seminar that followed. There were two pro-
ton led to such mindless exercises as the education goals set out in
posals worthy of notice. First was the creation of a National Insti-
the State of the Union address of 1990. The mode of analysis could
tute of Education to continue the Coleman quest.
be traced to Coleman; but the rigor was absent altogether.
This thought should be pressed, not least by the research com-
There is only one important question to be asked about education: What
do the children learn?
munity. President Bush's goals were not merely proclaimed. They
Unfortunately, it is simply not possible to make any confident
were in a legitimate sense negotiated with the governors of the
deduction from school characteristics as to what will be happening in
states. He and the governors met to discuss the subject-one of
any particular school. Fine new buildings alone do not predict high
three such gatherings in our history-in the Fall of 1989. The press
achievement. Pupil-teacher ratios may not make as much difference as
office of the National Governors' Association was near to breath-
we used to think. Expensive equipment may not make as much differ-
less on the outcome. A press release described the agreement to
ence as its salesman would have us believe.
And yet we know that something does make a difference.
establish national education performance goals as "an historic
first."
The outcome of schooling-what children learn-is profoundly dif-
ferent for different groups of children and different parts of the coun-
The following February, the National Governors' Association
try. Although we do not seem to understand just what it is in one school
specifically endorsed the goals set forth in the State of the Union
or school system that produces a different outcome from another, one
address. Through its emphasis on outputs, the Coleman Report had
conclusion is inescapable: We do not yet have equal educational oppor-
tunity in Ainerica.
changed the terms in which political executives addressed the sub-
The purpose of the National Institute of Education would be to begin
ject of education. What it did not do, and could not be expected to
the serious, systematic search for new knowledge needed to make edu-
have done, was to invest these terms with an appropriate sense of
cational opportunity truly equal.
accountability. For on no account could the President's goals-the
With the notable assistance of the late Edith Starrett Green,
quantified; specific goals-reasonably be deemed capable of
achievement.
Representative from Oregon, and John Brademas, then Represen-
tative from Indiana, the National Institute of Education was in fact
It will readily be seen that some of the presidential goals were
essentially nonquantitative, such that we will never know for sure
created, and located in the Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare. Regrettably, it was a waste of money and, indeed, of pres-
whether we have achieved them. By the year 2000 "every child
idential assets. No one wanted to hear from Richard M. Nixon
must start school ready to learn". Most of us would grant that
readiness to learn is an elusive concept, although we are often sur-
that "the educational effectiveness of many special compensatory
prised by what we learn to measure. Similarly, it is hard to be sure
programs[,] despite some dramatic and encouraging exceptions[,]
[is] not yet measurably improving the success of poor children in
just what the President meant when he said that "every adult must
school." This was dismissed because it was somehow taken to mean
be a skilled, literate worker and citizen." We get the idea, of
that President Nixon opposed Head Start.
course. But measuring the outcome would seem to present difficul-
ties. Just what do we mean by "skilled" or "literate"? But then
The education message, which was stuffed with proposals for
again, we might very well find a measure of such qualities. When
increased funding of one established program or another, also
an employer advertises for a "skilled mechanic" those concerned
called for a Presidential Commission on School Finance to address
seem to know what is involved. Why not, then, a "skilled citizen"?
a familiar range of issues. In one respect, however, it was unique.
Let us concentrate, however, on those two specific, numerical
It clearly was partial to some form of support for Catholic schools.
goals: that American students attain a 90-percent graduation rate
These were described as "non-sectarian, Catholic, Protestant, Jew-
ish and other" but to my thinking it was the Catholic schools that
4Consider the evidence provided by Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's
mattered most, for the two simple reasons that there were more of
Defense Fund in her 1990 commencement address at Howard University: "Every
them and that so many were located in inner-city neighborhoods.
79 seconds, an unmarried Black woman has a baby. Over 62 percent of Black
babies are being born to unmarried women, which almost guarantees the poverty of
It did not require any great immersion in the Coleman data to
the majority of the next generation of Black children. Every 3 minutes and 38 sec-
sense that whatever-it-was-that-worked for "disadvantaged" chil-
onds, a Black teenager has a baby. Five out of six young Black female-headed
dren was most likely to be found in denominational schools and
families are poor." Note also that "[e]very 30 seconds of the school day, a Black
child drops out."
that whatever-that-was might prove transferable, SO long as the
⁵See James S. Coleman, Thomas Hoffer, Sally Kilgore, and Samuel S. Peng,
models remained in place. In the 1980s, Coleman, in association
Public and Private Schools, National Center for Education Statistics, 1982; Thomas
with Thomas Hoffer and Andrew M. Greeley, would publish
Hoffer, Andrew M. Greeley, and James S. Coleman, "Achievement Growth in Pub-
research on Catholic education of great interest. The now familiar
lic and Catholic Schools," Sociology of Education, American Sociological Associa-
tion, Volume 58, Number 2, April 1985; and James S. Coleman and Thomas Hof-
themes of family and community emerged to account for the bet-
fer, Public and Private Schools: The Impact of Communities (Basic Books, 1987). See
ter performance, notably in inner cities, of parochial schools. The
also John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe, Politics, Markets and America's Schools
breakdown of "functional communities" had followed the break-
(Brookings Institution, 1990).
4
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
and be first in the world by the year 2000 in math and science
of 1965, but it declined to 66.3 percent for the class that graduated
achievement. In preparing this essay, I wrote to half a dozen peo-
in June 1988.) As for funds, the National Center for Education
ple who had taken part in the Harvard faculty seminar on the
Statistics reports that for 1989-1990, New York, at $7,153, had the
Coleman Report in the 1960s to ask what they thought were the
third highest per-pupil expenditure in the nation, following only
prospects of achieving these goals by the year 2000. Two respon-
Alaska (whose $7,411 figure is inflated by the high cost of living
dents replied that the goals were "completely unreachable" and
there) and New Jersey ($7,312). New York was well above the
"unrealistic"; another said that it was "barely conceivable" that we
national average of $4,448. By contrast, California-the largest
would meet the graduation goal, and a fourth held out "little hope
state-was slightly below that average with a per-pupil expenditure
of even beginning on the path to the goals."
of $4,392. As for those pesky 1988 graduation rates, while New
The final two respondents were somewhat more sanguine. One
York was forty-sixth in the nation, neighboring New Jersey ranked
agreed that the two goals "are very hard to attain," but he "would
fifteenth.
not go so far as to say [that achieving them is] impossible"; while
Now to the President's goal of moving America up to first in
"skeptical," the final respondent was "impressed by the vigor" with
the world in science and math scores by the year 2000. The Budget
which the governors were "attack[ing] this education issue."
of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1991 has a bar chart
I would note that the last two responses came from people who
that shows us ninth-grade science scores as evaluated by the Inter-
have been practitioners as well as researchers, and thus are not
national Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achieve-
disposed to let hopes die too easily. I would note also that two
ment. The chart is entitled "GRADE 9 SCIENCE ACHIEVE-
respondents were more sanguine about graduation rates, and one
MENT IN THE U.S. LAGS BEHIND OTHER INDUSTRIAL-
suggested that to be "first in the world in science and mathematics"
IZED COUNTRIES." In this ranking, Hungary is first, followed
might be an amorphous goal-would it be enough to have the most
by Japan, Canada, Finland, Sweden, England, and, finally, the
Nobel laureates?-as against the general understanding that the
United States. These rankings seem to bounce around a bit. High
President was talking about test scores on various international
school seniors in Hong Kong and Singapore regularly come out
comparisons. Accordingly, it should be made clear that I am the
first in physics, chemistry, and biology. England often ranks sec-
one holding that the President's goals are unattainable. I assume
ond. The United States rarely makes the first ten.
that most social scientists in the field would agree; but then agree-
Most striking is the case of Hungary. Nineteenth-century Hun-
ment is never universal, nor ought it to be.
gary developed a high scientific culture. Much of modern physics
In any event, our subject is not the goals, but the relation of
came out of the University of Budapest in the early years of this
social science to politics in this field. As regards the goals them-
century. (Much of the Manhattan Project was the work of native
selves, my views derive from two sets of observations. Neither is
Hungarians who had fled Europe.) But the twentieth century was
conclusive, but then we won't have to wait long to see if the goals
not kind to Hungary. War, revolution, and tyranny followed in
are met.
seemingly inexorable succession. Hungary is just now emerging
A first set of observations is that in recent years we seem to
from a half-century of fascism followed by communism. Just about
have been moving away from these goals rather than toward them.
anything you could do to a people has been done to Hungarians.
The big change in high school graduation rates came in the half-
But nothing has been able to prevent Hungarian schoolchildren
century from 1910 to 1960. Graduation was rare at the beginning of
from learning physics. By contrast, is there any reason to think
this period (8.8 percent of seventeen-year-olds achieved it), and
that American schoolchildren will reverse their long-established
common at the close (69.5 percent). By 1964 the graduation rate
performance patterns in these measures in the space of a decade?
had reached 76.7 percent, and in 1970, 76.9 percent. Then it
The presidential goals set out in 1990 for the year 2000 would
slumped considerably to a 1980 low of 71.4 percent, from which it
have been more defensible were it not for the fact that in 1984 the
has since risen to 74.0 percent in 1989. (Incidentally, don't trust
preceding president had set out substantially the same goals for
any of these decimal points. They give the illusion of accuracy
1990. In particular, the goal of a 90-percent graduation rate seems
much too common in government statistics.) We seem to be doing
to have gotten stuck in the memory bank of the White House word
a little better, but not as well as we did a quarter-century ago. The
processors: in 1984 President Reagan called for reducing the
1980s did show an improvement, but by no more than 2.6 percent.
dropout rate "to 10 percent or less" before the end of the 1980s.
Double that for the 1990s and by the year 2000 we will have
It is safe, I would think, to regard the dropout rate as the recip-
reached 79.2 percent, not far above the level of 1970.
rocal of the graduation rate. Surely the two goals are approximately
So far as rank order is concerned, educational outcomes in the
the same.⁷ The Reagan goal was not met; it was not even approxi-
late 1980s look very much like those of the early 1960s that were
mately met.
recorded in One-Third of a Nation. In 1962 Minnesota ranked first
There was another goal set forth by President Reagan in 1984:
in AFQT scores (which is to say it had the lowest failure rate). In
"Before this decade is out, we should regain at least half of what
1988 Minnesota had the highest graduation rate. New York was
we lost in the sixties and seventies on scholastic aptitude tests." Let
forty-sixth in the 1962 AFQT rankings, and forty-sixth in the 1988
us examine this proposition. Between 1984 and 1989 the mean SAT
graduation rankings, a quarter-century later.6 In truth, the gradua-
verbal score for college-bound seniors did increase-by two points,
tion rate in New York State has been declining steadily since the
from 426 to 428. That is after having dropped forty points from the
1960s. (It was at 73.5 percent for the class that entered in the fall
peak reached in 1967. The closure was nowhere near the half-way
6Please note that I do not claim that the high school graduation rate is a surrogate
point.
for whatever it is that is tested by the AFQT. Yet there is some evidence that it is
What neither rate takes into account is the number of people who eventually
such a surrogate. In December 1989 a study sponsored by the Office of the Assis-
tant Secretary of Defense noted that "[d]ecades of study results have demonstrated
receive a General Education Development (GED) diploma. According to Marshall
that those without a high school diploma are twice as likely as high school graduates
S. Smith, including these "graduates" in the graduation rate would increase the 1989
to leave the military before completing a full term of service." See Janice H. Lau-
rate from 74 percent to 78 percent. There has, however, been a marked reduction in
rence, Peter F. Rainsberger, and Monica A. Gribben, Effects of Military Experi-
the number of people receiving GEDs. In 1989, 13.4 percent fewer GED diplomas
ence on the Post-Service Lives of Low-Aptitude Recruits: Project 100,000 and the
were awarded than in 1988, despite a decline in the graduation rate. See American
ASVAB Misnorming, Human Resources Research Organization, p. 2.
Council on Education, The 1989 Statistical Report (GED Testing Service, 1990).
5
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
My second set of observations has to do with how little the edu-
His outputs, measured by specialists, can still be grasped by the
cation innovations of the past quarter-century seem to have
general public. If, as forecast here, the year 2000 arrives and the
changed some measures of educational achievement.
United States is nowhere near meeting the education goals set out
Yet to leave the matter there would miss the point, for Coleman
in 1990, the potential will nonetheless exist for serious debate as to
did more than put in place a new way of thinking about education.
why what was basically a political plan went wrong. We might
He also put in place a potentially powerful mode of accountability.
even consider how it'might have turned out better.
For both men books and the written word mattered deeply, and were essential
to their greatness-but in substantially different ways. A reflection on the meanings of literacy
WHAT JEFFERSON AND
LINCOLN READ
BY DOUGLAS L. WILSON
LITTLE-NOTICED ACCOUNT OF HOW ABRAHAM
a large number of its books had once be-
A
Lincoln rose from obscurity to political great-
longed to one of his earliest heroes—
ness calls attention to the term he spent as a
Thomas Jefferson. When British troops
congressman in Washington during the
burned the Capitol, in 1814, and de-
1840s. In a lecture delivered during the Lin-
stroyed the congressional library, Jeffer-
coln centennial, in 1909, Hubert Skinner proposed that it
son promptly offered his own magnifi-
was there that Lincoln laid the basis for his later political
cent collection as a replacement. The
triumphs by taking advantage of the resources of the Li-
acquisition of Jefferson's 6,700 volumes
brary of Congress to study the great documents and is-
made for a collection more than double
sues of American history. "In Washington," according to
the size of the previous one. Another,
Skinner, "Mr. Lincoln had been a puzzle, and a subject
more consequential, result was that it
of amusement to his fellows. He did not drink, or use to-
dramatically broadened the scope of the
bacco, or bet, or swear. It would seem that he must be a
Library of Congress and gave rise to the
very rigid churchman. But no, he did not belong to any
notion that it ought to become a national
church; and he soon became reckoned an 'unbeliever.'
library.
How did he occupy his spare time? He was mousing
In Lincoln's day, and until the end of
among the books of the old Congressional Library.
the century, the books were still ar-
'Bah!' said his fellow Congressmen, 'He is a book-
ranged according to Jefferson's distinc-
worm!"
tive and ingenious classification sys-
Skinner's depiction of Lincoln is undocumented, nor
tem, which was prominently displayed
can it be confirmed from what little is known of Lincoln's
at the beginning of the printed cata-
activities in Washington from December of 1847 to
logue in use at the time, and the titles
March of 1849. But there is no reason to doubt that he
therein were still listed in Jefferson's
frequented the congressional library, which was directly
format. In perusing the catalogue Lin-
across the street from where he lived, and every reason to
coln could easily identify the many
believe that he found it inviting. Housed in the Capitol
books that had once belonged to Jeffer-
in what some regarded as the most beautiful suite of
son, for they were plainly marked, as
rooms in the city, the Library of Congress was a popular
Capitol Hill meeting place, and for a sociable young con-
explained by a note on the first page:
"The Works to which the letter J. is pre-
gressman living most of the time alone in a boarding
fixed, were in the Library of the late
house, this aspect of the library must have been very
President Jefferson, when it was purchased by Con-
appealing. For the research that went into his congres-
gress in 1815." In his first year in Congress, Lincoln
sional speeches, the library's resources were clearly
had an opportunity to vote for the purchase of Jeffer-
indispensable.
son's papers, and if, in researching his speeches, Lin-
One of the things about the congressional library that
coln carried home Library of Congress books, as he
would have interested Lincoln and that
did books from the library of the Supreme Court, in a
might have prompted him to "mouse" in
large bandanna suspended from a stick, some of the
it more than other congressmen was that
books in that bandanna may have once belonged to
Thomas Jefferson.
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
JANUARY 1991
6
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
HOMAS JEFFERSON AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN WERE
two years of college, and a legal apprenticeship. Along
T
as different as the centuries that fostered them,
the way he had the benefit of conspicuously learned men
but the virtue of comparisons is that they tend to
as his teachers-the Reverend James Maury, Dr. William
throw into relief qualities and characteristics that might
Small, and George Wythe-in addition to a seat at the ta-
otherwise be minimized or escape notice. Books and
ble of the cultivated governor of Virginia, Francis Fau-
learning, which constitute the focus of this brief compari-
quier. Lincoln had almost no formal education. Growing
son, were important in the lives of both men, and they
up with nearly illiterate parents and in an atmosphere
often figure as important elements in the legends about
that had, as he wrote, "nothing to excite ambition for
both, which in some respects are as noteworthy as their
education," Lincoln was essentially self-taught. The
lives. In characterizing the transformation of the Lincoln
backwoods schools he attended very sporadically were
of legend-"Honest Abe becomes Father Abraham; the
conducted by teachers with meager qualifications. "If a
rail splitter becomes the Savior of the Union; the most
straggler supposed to understand latin, happened to so-
comic of our major figures becomes the supremely tragic
journ in the neighborhood," Lincoln wrote, "he was
figure"-the great Jefferson biographer Dumas Malone
looked upon as a wizzard." Jefferson read Latin from an
confessed, "By comparison the Jefferson legend seems
early age and, after mastering classical languages and
rather pale, and one wonders if it can be properly called a
French, was able to teach himself Italian; Lincoln at
legend in the same sense." But the legends are still
about the same age was teaching himself grammar in or-
building. President John F. Kennedy's remark to an as-
der to be able to speak and write standard English.
sembly of Nobel laureates-that never had so much ac-
However different in their educational opportunities,
cumulated knowledge been present in the White House,
both Jefferson and Lincoln as young men became known
with the possible exception of when Jefferson dined
to their contemporaries as "hard students." Jefferson was
there alone-has gained enormous currency and is now
remembered as always preparing his lessons before join-
irrevocably part of the Jefferson legend.
ing in the games of his schoolmates and as carrying his
As one would expect, the formative years of Jefferson
Greek grammar with him wherever he went. He is reput-
and Lincoln represent a study in contrasts, for the two
ed to have studied fifteen hours a day at college, and his
men began life at opposite ends of the social and eco-
classmate John Page said that Jefferson could "tear him-
nomic spectrum. There are, however, some intriguing
self away from his dearest friends, to fly to his studies."
parallels. Both men suffered the devastating loss of a par-
Upon deciding to practice law, he studied for nearly three
ent at an early age. Jefferson's father, an able and active
years before taking his bar examination (others might
man tc whom his son was deeply devoted, died when his
spend only a few months) and then put in an additional
son was fourteen, and Thomas was left to the care of his
year of study, making extensive extracts from law reports
mother. His adolescent misogyny and his subsequent gla-
and legal treatises before taking his first case. Jefferson
cial silence on the subject of his mother strongly suggest
also followed this eighteenth-century practice of "com-
that their relationship was strained. Conversely, Lincoln
monplacing"-which resulted in an accumulation of ex-
suffered the loss of his mother at the age of nine, and
tracts, called a commonplace book-in his literary and
while he adored his father's second wife, he seems to
philosophical reading.
have grown increasingly unable to regard his father with
Lincoln was remembered by those he grew up with as
affection or perhaps even respect. Both Jefferson and
an exceptionally studious boy who "read everything he
Lincoln had the painful misfortune to experience in their
could get his hands on." His family testified that in his
youth the death of a favorite sister. And both were
adolescent years he was constantly reading and making
marked for distinction early by being elected to their re-
notes on what he read, even when he had no paper and
spective legislatures at the age of twenty-five.
had to write on boards. His stepmother recalled that he
But the differences are great. Jefferson was born into
would wrestle tenaciously with words, passages, and
the Virginia gentry. Along with a privileged position in
ideas he didn't understand. When he went out on his
society, he inherited a small fortune in land and slaves.
own, his absorption in his studies was a source of aston-
The poverty and obscurity into which Lincoln was born,
ishment to his neighbors at New Salem, where, in addi-
on the other hand, were nearly complete. His father
tion to studying history and biography, he immersed him-
owned land but had great difficulty holding on to it and
self in technical books on grammar, surveying, and the
finally retreated with his family to southwestern Indiana,
law. His legal studies grew so intensive that his friends
which in 1816 was little more than a wilderness, and
feared for his health, and when he became temporarily
where Abraham grew up having only the homemade
deranged after the death of Ann Rutledge, whom he
clothes on his back.
probably would have married, some thought the cause
In the matter of education the contrasts are equally
must be excessive application to his studies.
great. Jefferson received a superb education, even by the
A comparison of the earliest reading of Jefferson and
standards of his class. It included formal schooling from
Lincoln is instructive. The legend in Jefferson's family is
the age of five, expert instruction in classical languages,
that he had read all the books in his father's library by the
7
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
time he was five. The inventory of that library which was
teenth-century ideal of the philosophe, the universally in-
made nine years later, when Peter Jefferson died, shows
formed philosopher, whose knowledge was built on a
about two dozen titles, consisting of a Bible, a dictionary,
classical base and whose efforts were committed to rea-
and books on Virginia law, with an admixture of political
son and the pursuit of objective truth. Jefferson's intel-
and literary standards, such as Rapin's History of England
lectual endeavors were a source of personal pleasure, and
and The Spectator. The earliest entries in the literary com-
although he felt obligated to steer them in a useful direc-
monplace book the young Jefferson kept are Latin ex-
tion, they clearly yielded satisfaction as ends in them-
cerpts from Horace, Virgil, Cicero, and Ovid. These and
selves. He often said that he was ill-suited by nature for
excerpts from Pope, Milton, and Shakespeare date from
politics and would have followed a life of study but for
his teens and suggest that he was being introduced sys-
the accident of the times he lived in.
tematically to the standard classical and English writers.
Lincoln must have been motivated in part by an intel-
Lincoln's first book was
ligent backwoods boy's
undoubtedly the Bible,
curiosity about the great
one of the very few books
world beyond, but his con-
in the Lincoln home.
Apart from the school
Springfield, Illn. Sep. 25. 1860
COURTESY OF THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL LIBRARY
suming ambition was to
rise. The poverty into
books to which he was in-
which he was born entailed
troduced, such as Dil-
g. In Brockman, by
a life of manual labor, the
worth's Spelling-Book, Lin-
Dear Sir
unremitting regimen of the
coln's earliest reading was
your of the 24th asking
ax and the plow. Lincoln's
largely confined to what he
could borrow from his
"the best moow of obtaining a the
commitment to study,
neighbors. Like Jefferson,
sough knowledge of the lanst is w.
which his neighbors and
perhaps even his father
he kept a notebook of his
Cervia the more is very simple,
saw as a species of laziness,
early readings, but unfor-
though labonois, Aven technicalt
may be regarded instead as
tunately it has not sur-
is only to get the books, And
a manifestation of self-
vived. His Indiana ac-
quaintances agreed that he
sea on, And funcy them carefils.
knowledge. Even as a boy
he recognized and began
read and re-read all the
books he could get hold of,
Begin with Blaekston's Comment
to indulge his different-
and Over after reaching was
ness, and by the time he
which, given the primitive
character of the neighbor-
freq though say twice, lather
was a young man his dis-
of butty Pleading, Greenleafi
tinctive ways had set him
hood, were not many.
apart. The character that
They seem to have includ-
birdenco, Story's Equals to, am
Skinner says was remarked
ed Aesop's Fables, Bun-
Duccession- Work, work, work,
by his fellow congressmen
yan's Pilgrim's Progress, De-
is the Iman thing-
twenty years later-his ab-
foe's Robinson Crusoe,
stinence from liquor, to-
James Riley's Narrative, a
your T.Sincohn my lines
bacco, and profanity-was
life of Franklin, and lives
already in evidence in his
of Washington by Mason
youth, and if it was un-
Weems and David Ram-
usual for a politician in
say. The early reading of
Washington, it was almost
Jefferson and Lincoln re-
LETTER OF ADVICE FROM LINCOLN THE LAWYER
unheard of on the mid-
flects the differences in
western frontier.
their circumstances and may provide clues to the incip-
The young Lincoln became an avid reader of newspa-
ient genius of each. But what is perhaps most striking is
pers as well as books. His stepmother remembered that
that as boys and young men, both seized all available op-
in the period from 1827 to 1830 he was "a constant reader
portunities for reading.
of them," and these highly partisan sheets no doubt shar-
pened his interest in politics. One of his friends in Indi-
EFFERSON AND LINCOLN MUST BE JUDGED EQUAL IN
ana remembered that this was about the time he broke
J
the dedication and effort they brought to their youth-
rank with most of his friends and neighbors and pro-
ful studies. They appear to have been equally disci-
claimed himself an anti-Jackson man. Another remem-
plined and equally determined to achieve their objec-
bered lending Lincoln a newspaper containing an edito-
tives through reading and study, but those objectives
rial on Thomas Jefferson, which Lincoln could later
were markedly different. Jefferson set out to become a
repeat word for word. Thus Louis A. Warren's suggestion
learned man. From an early age he aspired to the eigh-
that the editorial may date from the time of Jefferson's
8
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
death, on the Fourth of July, 1826, takes on added inter-
comparison of them," he wrote in a footnote to Notes on
est, for Lincoln insisted repeatedly in later life that his
Virginia, "is the drudgery to which man is subjected by
politics derived from the Declaration of Independence.
his Maker, if he wishes to attain sure knowledge." Books
But Lincoln's legendary feats of reading, book-borrow-
were the indispensable tools of his work, whether as law-
ing, and diligent study belonged only to his youth and
yer, architect, farmer, legislator, or revolutionary states-
early manhood. Once established as a successful legisla-
man. Merely the books referred to and discussed in his
tor and licensed to practice law, Lincoln put his days as a
famous correspondence with John Adams would estab-
hard student behind him. Thereafter he seems to have
lish Jefferson's credentials as an incessant and omnivo-
done little more in the way of serious reading than his
rous reader, but his general correspondence and other
professional and political interests required. His law part-
writings present unmistakable evidence of a habitual re-
ner, William H. Herndon, who was himself an avid read-
currence to books. Isaac Jefferson, who grew up as a slave
er with a good library, said emphatically
at Monticello, remembered his master in the characteris-
that Lincoln read little. Philosophical
tic act of poring over books spread out on the floor of his
and reflective as he undoubtedly was, the
library and said that whenever someone asked him a
mature Lincoln contented himself with
question, "he go right straight to the book and tell you all
newspapers and brief forays into Hern-
about it."
don's scientific and philosophical books,
Both Jefferson and Lincoln were lawyers, and both
rarely reading one all the way through.
readied themselves for the law by a course of intensive
Lincoln "read less and thought more than
reading and study. But once admitted to the bar, they di-
any man in his sphere in America," was
verged. When Jefferson's law books were destroyed by
the way Herndon phrased it. "No man
fire, in 1770, he wrote to his friends in despair, for he be-
can put his finger on any great book writ-
lieved he could not represent his clients without books.
ten in the last or present century that
And, indeed, his surviving opinions show frequent refer-
Lincoln ever read."
ence to the printed case law and other legal authorities
He could still set himself to a particular
and suggest that his great strength as a lawyer was his le-
task that required disciplined reading, as
gal knowledge. Lincoln was not known for his legal
when he undertook to master the six
scholarship but was unexcelled as an advocate in jury tri-
books of Euclid. Robert Lincoln remem-
als. In this context, it is interesting that, in legend, Lin-
bered his father's studious attention to
coln is given credit for saving Duff Armstrong, the son of
Euclid, as did some fellow lawyers on the
his old friends Jack and Hannah Armstrong, from a mur-
circuit, and Lincoln himself was suffi-
der conviction by the shrewd use of a book-an almanac,
ciently proud of this achievement to
which showed that certain testimony about the moon-
point it out in an autobiographical state-
light was questionable. But a close look at this case indi-
ment. He still relished poetry, which had
cates that it was Lincoln's highly personal and strongly
early been a favorite recreation. It
emotional appeal to the jurors, which reduced everyone
seemed to some of his friends that he
in the courtroom to tears, rather than the impugning of
could recite all of Burns by heart, and his
the moonlight testimony, that carried the day. One is re-
marked fondness for recitation may indi-
minded here of Edmund Randolph's famous comparison
cate that he preferred this to private read-
of the legal talents of Jefferson and Patrick Henry: "Mr.
ing. In fact, much to the annoyance of his
Jefferson drew copiously from the depths of the law, Mr.
law partner, Lincoln did his office read-
Henry from the recesses of the human heart."
ing aloud, claiming that both hearing and
seeing the words reinforced his grasp of
ELLING STORIES AND READING THE WORKS OF HU-
the material. If there was an exception to
T
morists to his Cabinet are part of the Lincoln leg-
his lapse from intensive study in his maturity, it was
end, and yet one of the truly remarkable things
Shakespeare. "When he was young he read the Bible,"
about Lincoln as President is the extent to which he re-
Herndon said, "and when of age he read Shakespeare.
sorted to literature. Perhaps no President turned to Eng-
This latter book was scarcely ever out of his mind and his
lish poetry while in office with the frequency that Lin-
hands."
coln did. He continued to recite his old favorites, such as
Jefferson, in contrast, remained a hard student all his
"O Why Should the Spirit of Mortal Be Proud!" and
life. What became legendary with him was the incredi-
Holmes's "The Last Leaf," their melancholy and brood-
-ble range and depth of his knowledge, something that
ing concern for human mortality having been rendered
impressed not only his friends and fellow Americans
especially apt by the somber circumstances of civil war.
but sophisticated Europeans as well. As one might ex-
And he read the poems of Thomas Hood to invoke the
pect, nearly all of Jefferson's great learning was gleaned
lighter side. But he repeatedly returned to Shakespeare,
through diligent reading and study. He believed there
whom he had probably first read as a boy in William
was no substitute for research, no matter how tedious. "A
Scott's Lessons in Elocution and for whom he had a lifelong
patient pursuit of facts, and cautious combination and
fascination. He wrote the Shakespearean actor James
9
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
Hackett, "Some of Shakespeare's plays I have never
libraries. Jefferson's famous library was his most cher-
read; while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently
ished possession, on which he lavished vast amounts of
as any unprofessional reader. Among the latter are Lear,
time and money. Having started out in life as a reader
Richard Third, Henry Eighth, Hamlet, and especially
and collector of books, Jefferson already owned a very
Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth."
sizable library at the age of twenty-six, when his mother's
There is abundant evidence that in the most trying
house burned and he lost most of his books. So deter-
hours of his presidency Lincoln sought out Shakespeare's
mined was he to replace his library with a grander one
plays as a source of strength and consolation. Don E.
that within three years he had acquired a collection three
Fehrenbacher relates this affinity for Shakespeare to Lin-
to four times as large. In the face of great difficulties dur-
coln's keen sense of his role and ultimate responsibility in
ing the revolutionary years, and though effectively cut off
the carnage of the Civil War. "To some indeterminable
from the chief sources of books abroad, Jefferson man-
extent and in some intuitive way, Lincoln seems to have
aged steadily to build up his library. He recorded in 1783
assimilated the substance of the plays into his own expe-
that he possessed the resounding total of 2,640 volumes,
rience and deepening sense of tragedy."
but even then he was assembling a long list of books he
Jefferson, too, had been extremely fond of poetry in
hoped to acquire abroad. In fact, he collected so assidu-
his youth, as his literary commonplace book and other
ously during his five years in France that he nearly dou-
evidence indicates. His poetic acquaintance was wide,
bled the size of his holdings. As a consequence, by the
though his tastes were fairly conventional. Like many so-
time of his retirement from the presidency, many years
phisticated readers of his day, he was smitten by the
later, his library had grown to unprecedented proportions
works of Ossian, the putative third-century Celtic bard
and may well have been, as he believed it to be, "the
whose poems were actually the work of James Macpher-
choicest collection of books in the United States."
son. One of the things that attracted Jefferson to Ossian
As a poor boy and later, as a young man heavily in debt,
was the supposed similarity of his bardic offerings to the
Lincoln owned little. But even when he could afford
writings of Homer and Virgil, whom Jefferson also greatly
books, he rarely bothered to acquire them. Indeed, it is
admired. He was decidedly partial to the classics, includ-
difficult to find a record of his buying a book. While at
ing Horace, the great favorite of the Enlightenment. And
New Salem, upon being advised to study English gram-
like most readers of his time, Jefferson revered Shake-
mar by Mentor Graham, he reportedly walked several
speare, whom he singled out as the English poet to be
miles to acquire a copy of Kirkham's grammar. But when
studied most diligently. His library contained, at one
he had mastered it, he apparently gave it away-to Ann
time or another, many different editions of Shakespeare,
Rutledge. To Herndon, who was a voracious reader and
and he was quite familiar with the efforts of eighteenth-
an eager collector of books, it seemed that Lincoln had,
century editors who vied with one another to improve the
"aside from his law books and the few gilded volumes
reliability of the text.
that ornamented the centre-table in his parlor at home,
But Jefferson's taste for poetry declined as he grew
comparatively no library." This may understate the case
older. About the time he assumed the presidency, he
somewhat, for Robert Lincoln remembered that his fa-
confessed to a correspondent that his youthful relish
ther had some books at home. "I remember well a large
for poetry had almost completely deserted him. Unlike
bookcase full of them." But Herndon is probably justi-
Lincoln, he seems to have faced the problems of his
fied in his conclusion that Lincoln "never seemed to care
presidency without resorting to literary works for per-
to own or collect books." Upon leaving Springfield for
spective or inspiration. It would have been out of charac-
Washington and the presidency, he apparently gave most
ter for him to have read aloud, let alone to members of his
of the books he did own to Herndon.
Cabinet, and he probably allowed himself comparatively
L
INCOLN WAS MARTYRED AT THE MOMENT OF HIS
little time for purely personal reading. A notable excep-
greatest achievement. Jefferson lived on for many
tion was his discovery of John Baxter's history of Eng-
land, which he embraced and recommended enthusiasti-
years after his presidency. Ever active, though re-
clusive, he achieved much during those seventeen years,
cally as an alternative to the "subversive" history of
David Hume. Another exception was a purposeful excur-
not the least of which was a lasting persona, as the Sage of
Monticello. He had long anticipated his return to private
sion into the New Testament, his first effort to extract
life and to the blessings of the triad he often named-his
the "diamonds" of authentic Christianity from the cor-
family, his farm, and his books. In the first two of these
rupted text of the Gospels. This strictly private project
he experienced bitter disappointments, as he found him-
may be the appropriate counterpart to Lincoln's reading
self powerless to reconcile the quarreling and disaffected
Shakespeare aloud to his visitors, for it exemplifies Jef-
ferson's characteristic retreat to his study and his need to
members of his family, and just as powerless to manage
his lands on a paying basis and extricate himself from an
concentrate his own "recreational" activities on what he
increasing burden of debt. But in his books he found sol-
would have called "useful objects."
ace and satisfaction, and he indulged himself during
N
OWHERE IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEFFER-
these years in what he described as "a canine appetite for
son and Lincoln more dramatically demonstrat-
reading." "I cannot live without books," he confessed to
ed, or more characteristic, than in their personal
John Adams-and during the last eleven years of his life
10
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
he assembled more than 2,000 carefully selected vol-
The poem presents reading as a mode of transport, and
umes to replace the collection he had sold to Congress.
the poet recognizes that it takes more than one form. A
Because Lincoln was a self-taught man, his biogra-
frigate is swift and wide-ranging; it is commodious and
phers have made much of his reading. But as the author
global in its reach. As an image, it embodies the potenti-
of the best study of the subject, David C. Mearns, has
ality that reading offers in its more expansive and elabo-
noted, they have overdone it, for he could not possibly
rate forms. But traveling by frigate is beyond the means
have "read, digested, absorbed all of the books imputed
of most, whereas reading itself, the poem insists, is not.
to him." If it would be hard to exaggerate the range and
It is a venture in transport that the poorest may take
extent of Jefferson's prodigious reading, what is hard in
"without offence of Toll." This prepares the reader for
Lincoln's case is to come to terms with the limitations of
the poet's final reflection on reading, which is projected
his learning while doing justice to the crucial role played
in the image of a simple, cartlike conveyance with over-
by reading in his character and career. Without reading
tones of grandeur-the chariot. Though sharply contrast-
books he could never have risen from a life of manual la-
ing in its capacities with the ocean-conquering frigate,
bor. Without books he could never have developed the
the chariot is nonetheless capable of performing the
surpassing prose style that marked his most memorable
quintessential function of
utterances. And without books-particularly, one feels,
reading: it transports the hu-
without Burns and Shake-
man soul.
speare-he would never have
Jefferson's natural predilec-
developed the humane sensi-
tion for the studious life, his
bility and deep regard for the
extensive personal library,
complexities of experience
and his knowledge of six lan-
that tempered his ambition
guages afforded him extraor-
and elevated him to great-
dinary means for intellectual
ness. But Lincoln was neither
travel. Like Dickinson's frig-
widely read nor deeply
ate, his reading could thus
learned. He savored what he
take him to any port of call in
read and liked, retained it
the world of learning. Lin-
with a nearly photographic
coln's reading might be lik-
memory, and often referred
ened to Dickinson's frugal
to or recited favorite pas-
chariot. The startling adjec-
sages from his reading. But it
tive "frugal" is the poet's way
was not a large body of ma-
of emphasizing the utterly ba-
terial, and by comparison
sic nature of the metaphorical
with what Jefferson had at his
mode of transport. Though
command, it was modest
beginning his life in penury,
indeed.
Lincoln was able early to avail
Reading, as Robert Darn-
himself of the benefits of
ton has observed in another
reading "without offence of
context, is more than the
Toll." And though his career
"straightforward process of
as a reader had distinct limita-
lifting information from a
tions, it accomplished some-
page." It has the unique pow-
thing profound and essential
er to transform. In thinking
to his greatness. It afforded
about ways of gauging the
him a mode-if not so grand
role and importance of read-
and stately as the frigate of
ing in the lives of these two
Thomas Jefferson, a mode
men, one is reminded of Emi-
nonetheless-of imaginative
ly Dickinson's poem on the
transport, a means by which to engage the events of pre-
subject, which begins with
vious times, to experience the tragedies and triumphs of
one distinctive metaphor and ends with another.
the world's great heroes.
There is no Frigate like a Book
Unlike many of the world's great political leaders, Jef-
To take us Lands away
ferson and Lincoln shared a greatness of mind and imagi-
Nor any Coursers like a Page
nation. We value them not only for what they did but for
Of prancing Poetry-
what they thought and said. The words and ideas that
This Travel may the poorest take
continue to challenge and inspire us are undoubtedly the
Without offence of Toll-
ripened fruit of experience, but in the case of both men
How frugal is the Chariot
we do well to remember that it was an experience of
That bears the Human soul,
which reading-whether the frigate or the frugal chari-
ot-was an indispensable part.
11
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
WHY JOHNNY'S DAD CAN'T READ
The Elusive Goal of Universal Adult Literacy
MEREDITH BISHOP
J
ohn Corcoran taught high school social studies in
says, but he has "improved tremendously." His remark-
California for 18 years and later became a multimil-
able story has received national attention through his
lionaire real estate developer. Yet he could not read or
efforts to raise public awareness of illiteracy. But Cor-
write until three years ago.
coran makes no illusions about his progress: "I think it's
"As a blind man figures his way around the room, as
going to take me 10 years to learn how to read, including
a deaf man reads lips,' Corcoran made up for his inability
reading, writing, spelling-all aspects of literacy."
to read by developing other skills. "I've learned many
John Corcoran's story is as unusual as it is typical.
things visually. I learned language and oral vocabulary
Unlike most adult illiterates, Corcoran became extreme-
by listening to people, and I developed an oral literacy."
ly successful in spite of his disability. Yet he is like
Corcoran's parents moved often and he attended 17
countless others who were passed through school, and
different elementary and high schools in Texas, New
even college, unable to read. As with so many other adult
Mexico, Arizona, and California. When he refused to
illiterates, Corcoran's reading and writing problems
read in class, his teachers thought he was a discipline
would have been taken care of earlier if schools and
problem, not an educational one. But he was always
teachers had done a better job measuring his perfor-
passed on to the next grade. He went to college on a
mance and insisting on improvement. But for adult
basketball. scholarship and graduated with a degree in
illiterates who missed their chance in school, literacy
education and business administration. Although he
programs can offer hope for those who want to learn.
could not read, he understood numbers and took classes
in accounting and math.
Waste of Human Potential
As a teacher, Corcoran hid his illiteracy by holding
There are good reasons to be concerned about adult
group discussions, bringing in outside speakers, and
illiteracy. Illiterates live precariously, dependent on
having students read the textbook to the class. He used
others for information and guidance through a highly
standardized tests that had an answer key with the holes
literate world. The illiterate has to memorize all infor-
punched through the right answers. When ad-
mation that the reader can simply write down. Even
ministrators asked him to read something and give his
driving a car can prove arduous for someone who cannot
opinion on the spot, Corcoran claimed to be late for a
read street signs. Illiteracy closes off opportunities and
meeting or to have forgotten his glasses. The experience
wastes human potential. Indeed, in a world where
made him feel like a cheat and a liar.
productivity is ever more dependent on a skilled and
He left teaching and struck it rich in real estate. But
knowledgeable labor force, illiteracy is one of America's
it was not until he was 48 years old that he took himself
most important sources of competitive disadvantage, and
to a local library literacy program and asked to be taught
a major obstacle to upward mobility. Over half of those
how to read. He was matched with a 65-year-old volunteer
in prison in this country and most welfare recipients are
"with less than 20 hours of training who believed she
less than marginally literate.
could teach me how," Corcoran says. She was raised in
Sensing the growing concern over high illiteracy rates,
the old school and taught him phonics, the rules govern-
President Bush and the nation's governors declared at
ing the relationship between sounds and letters. He soon
the Education Summit that by "the year 2000, every adult
found out that he had a learning disability that had
American will be literate and will possess the knowledge
thwarted his progress before, but using phonics helped
and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and
him to sound out the words.
exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship."
Before his tutoring, Corcoran could not write a note
But such platitudes ring hollow considering the major
to his wife saying he had gone to the store. Now he reads
flaws with adult literacy training today.
magazines and can write with the help of a dictionary.
His spelling skills lag behind at the fifth-grade level, he
MEREDITH BISHOP is assistant editor of Policy Review.
Policy Review
Winter 1991
12
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
There are three principal obstacles to the achieve-
Someone with a basic level of literacy could get a
ment of universal literacy. First, only a small portion of
General Equivalency Diploma (GED) or a high school
the illiterate population ever signs up for literacy
diploma, read a simple newspaper such as USA Today,
programs; of those who do, between 50 and 75 percent
maintain a household budget, follow voting procedures,
drop out within the first few weeks. Second, literacy
and write a letter. Advanced literacy would include the
programs are dominated by misguided teaching
ability to easily read the New York Times and the Wall Street
methods that do more to frustrate students than to teach
Journal
them. Third, an astonishing lack of accountability per-
A good adult literacy program should raise students'
vades the adult literacy field. Government agencies ap-
reading and writing by at least two to three grade levels
propriate hundreds of millions of dollars for adult
after roughly 100 hours of instruction. This would essen-
literacy, but, for the most part, have no idea how much
tially bring them to the next higher category of literacy:
they actually spend. much less where their literacy dollars
are going. This lack of accountability spills over to local
literacv programs, which are often reluctant to define
important terms such as what literacy means, or what
Success in raising grade levels
works in teaching people to read.
Attaining higher rates of literacy is not impossible, but
of reading is not a criterion
a more clearly directed effort that defines important
goals and how to achieve them would be more successful
for Department of Education
at helping those who want to learn.
grants.
Five Levels of Literacy
In the early davs of the United States, literacy meant
that you could sign your name. Fifty years ago, literacy
meant having at least a sixth-grade education. Today,
a functional illiterate would become marginally literate,
with a rapidly advancing technological society, a much
a marginally literate person would attain basic literacy.
higher standard of literacy is required. Some argue that
Ideally, literacy programs should bring all students to at
a 12th-grade reading level is necessary to get by.
least the level of basic literacy; but for most adult learners
Education experts don't have a standard definition,
this will take a long time, sometimes years.
however. In most adult education circles, literacy is
No-Show Students
"whatever is necessary for one to function in his or her
particular society." In 1970, the U.S. Department of
There is no easy answer as to why such an advanced
Education defined adult literacy as "the ability to read,
industrial country as the U.S. has so many illiterates.
write, and compute with the functional competence
Learning disabilities, illiterate parents, or an abusive
needed for meeting the requirements of adult living."
home life could hamper a child's education. As
Typical in its ambiguity, this definition does not inform
Corcoran's example shows, one of the more important
one as to what the requirements for adult living are.
reasons adult illiteracy is so widespread is that schools
Chester Finn, director of the Educational Excellence
are not insisting that children learn how to read and
Network, savs that literacy programs have a vested inter-
write. In California, as in many states, children are often
est in keeping standards of literacy vague. "There are
passed on to the next grade because of age, regardless
tactical advantages to having the problem undefined,"
of whether they have grasped the basic skills. In many
he savs. Without strict definitions, who is to sav whether
states teachers are rewarded for the number of students
literacy programs are successful? Federal and state fund-
they pass to the next grade. The incentive is to process
ing are assured when there are no criteria by which to
children, not to teach them.
judge results.
The Department of Education estimates that every
Literacy can best be thought of as a continuum, with
year three million Americans enroll in literacy programs,
five degrees of skill: illiteracy, functional illiteracy, mar-
a small proportion of the target population. And of those
ginal literacy, basic literacy, and advanced literacy.
who do enroll, as many as 50 to 75 percent drop out.
Illiteracy is the complete inability to read, write, or
A lack of interest may be responsible for low enroll-
compute. Very few Americans are totally illiterate in this
ment rates. Manv illiterate adults have no desire or need
sense. Functional illiterates can make out some words
to read. Perhaps they have gotten along adequately for
and perhaps sign their names but they cannot perform
vears without reading. Although more and more jobs
important tasks such as filling out a job application,
require high reading levels, there remain many service-
reading the warning label on a medicine bottle, inter-
oriented jobs that require little reading or writing ability.
preting a bus schedule, or counting change at the
Because learning to read as an adult can be difficult. one
grocery store. According to various studies, between 13
must be dedicated to that goal. No literacy program or
and 20 percent of the adult population fall in this
teacher can force someone to learn to read if he does
category. Marginal literacy is the ability to perform
not want to learn.
limited reading and writing tasks. but without great skill
Jov Rogers. a professor of counseling and educational
or understanding. Although most discussions of adult
psychology at Lovola University in Chicago. has been a
illiteracy focus on the lowest levels of reading, a greater
literacy tutor for 10 vears and agrees that motivation is
number-34 percent of the population, according to
kev. "One of the major problems is that students don't
one estimate-is believed to have only marginal reading,
show up." she savs. Students aren't motivated because
writing, and math skills.
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WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
they see little value in raising their skill levels by such
word, whole-word students must memorize every word
trifling amounts. Real job and salary improvements come
as an independent entity. The whole-word method treats
only with advanced degrees.
words like hieroglyphics, says Miriam Hinds, president
In addition to lack of interest. shame contributes to
of the Reading Reform Foundation.
poor turnout and retention rates. Manv illiterates do not
Whole-word teaching programs developed by Literacy
tell even their loved ones of their illiteracy. Like Cor-
Volunteers of America (LVA) work with a list of 300
coran. they often devise ingenious ways to hide the truth.
"survival words," which students memorize throughout
Rhea Lawson, director of the Lifelong Learning Cen-
the course of their instruction. Laubach Literacy Action,
ter (a library devoted to literacy in Baltimore). tells the
on the other hand, is one of the last bastions of phonics
story of a successful businessman who was illiterate.
teaching in the United States.
When he secretly joined the librarv's literacy program.
Whole-word is the reigning practice in education
his wife thought he was having an affair. One day she
today, both in elementary schools and in adult literacy
followed him and saw her husband meeting a woman in
programs, even though all comparisons favor phonics.
the library. She confronted her husband about his in-
Jeanne Chall explains that whole-word remains popular
fidelity and instead he confessed his illiteracy. The wife
because it is easier to teach and less demanding of
was somewhat relieved. but soon replaced the other
students and teachers: "Systematic and direct phonics is
woman as her husband's tutor.
associated with drill, hard work, and a structured learn-
Fear, low self-esteem, lack of transportation or child-
ing environment." Whole-word teachers do not have to
care, and lack of family support also contribute to high
learn or explain the rules of language and the sounds
dropout rates. Yet these "barriers" to literacy disappear
of letter combinations, but can let the student figure it
if the student truly desires to learn.
out. In addition, most textbook companies promote the
Malcolm X taught himself how to read in prison.
Embarrassed that he could barely write a coherent sen-
whole-word method because they make money selling
workbooks; phonics requires no such materials.
tence in his letters to his Black Muslim spiritual leader.
Although there are fundamental differences between
Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X systematically copied the
the two approaches, both phonics and whole-word
dictionary word for word. from cover to cover. He left
methodologies emphasize the importance of writing and
prison with a larger vocabulary and better reading and
reading comprehension. Phonics proponents argue that
writing skills.
Booker T. Washington, the former slave who became
both children and adult students must learn the building
blocks of language first, and comprehension will follow
an educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute. also
naturally with practice in reading. Whole-word tries to
taught himself how to read. He found a copy of Webster's
teach comprehension before reading, savs Groff. and
"Blue-Back Speller," a phonics primer. and coached him-
ends up confusing a student more than helping him.
self in reading and writing until he convinced a teacher
In addition to bad teaching methods. inadequate
to give him added instruction in the evening.
teaching materials can also drive away prospective
Even the severely retarded and those with learning
learners. Joy Rogers savs that high dropout rates in
disabilities can learn to read-although it may take them
literacy programs are caused in part by instructional
several years to do so. Patrick Groff, professor of teacher
materials that frustrate students and tutors. In a study of
education at San Diego State University, says that 4
the readability level of Literacy Volunteers of America's
percent of the population has a neurological handicap,
series, "Read On," Rogers found that the course inade-
such as severe dyslexia, that makes them unable to read.
Albert Einstein and Nelson Rockefeller both overcame
quately treats introductory material about the alphabet
and sounds to start at the second-grade level. Students
learning disabilities that made reading difficult.
at the lowest reading levels miss this vital information
While most people with low intelligence levels will not
and may be intimidated by reading material that is too
learn how to read, Groff says that many can learn
advanced. Rogers says that much of the LVA series is
provided they are taught with a "good methodology,"
written at the second-grade level until it jumps suddenly
such as phonics. Jeanne Chall, professor of education
to much higher reading levels. Although both students
and director of the Reading Laboratory at Harvard
and tutors may experience frustration, she says that
University, believes that almost everyone can learn but
neither "is likely to suspect the textbook series as a cause
that those with severe disabilities need more instruction
of failures." In studying other major literacy publications,
than others.
Rogers has found similar results. "The materials are
awful," she says.
Confusing Teaching Methods
Literacy programs that use such materials increase
Unfortunately, confusing teaching methods used by
their dropout rates and do little to help students who
many literacy programs contribute to high dropout rates.
remain. Chall says that students "give up after a while
Despite 70 years of evidence against it, many literacy
when they get the feeling that they're not learning."
programs still use the "whole-word" or "look-say"
methodology, whereby students memorize whole words,
Expensive Gadgets
without extensive reference to the letters and sounds.
Many literacy programs waste limited funding by
All research points to the superiority of phonics, which
buying expensive workbooks and computer systems that
teaches students to break down words into identifiable
are not necessary to teach people to read and write. The
letters and sounds. Whole-word students find themselves
IBM PALS system, for example, costs thousands of dol-
at a distinct disadvantage. While phonics students can
lars, but only a few students can use it at a time. "You
apply their knowledge of the alphabet and sounds to any
don't need specialized instructional materials to teach
14
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
people how to read," says Rogers. Reading can be taught
handwriting such as "all small letters are the same size".
with almost any written material. An old newspaper or a
and "draw each letter as an artist." Students who have
dictionary and a pencil and paper will suffice.
never before succeeded in learning are encouraged by
But high-tech gadgets are alluring. Corporations often
their quick success. "Students can see a difference in
donate expensive computer systems to literacy programs.
their penmanship and realize they're not dumb," says
Forrest Chisman. of the Southport Institute for Policy
Carey. Their self-esteem and pride skyrocket, she says,
Analysis, says that computers are attractive to adult
and the students are ready to learn more.
learners. He explains that "the computer is a motivator."
In addition to penmanship, the Nellie Thomas
A student can feel like he is going "to computer class,
method encourages student writing. One of the first
not literacy class. It's fun."
exercises in the program is to have students write a paper
In a world where few adult illiterates experience con-
about their fears and a short autobiography. This helps
crete success in learning, buying computer systems and
students break down their defenses and helps teachers
spending a lot of money may give some a sense of
determine students' skill levels. Students "learn to read
accomplishment. But by spending fewer dollars on
from their writing," explains Nancy Mitchell, a Nellie
gadgets, literacy organizations could teach more of those
Thomas teacher.
who wish to learn. If large amounts of money were to be
The beauty of the program is its simplicity. As Carey
invested in literacv programs, they would be best used
points out, the Nellie Thomas program is "a teacher with
to pay salaries for dedicated. full-time teachers.
a piece of chalk, a method. and talent," and can forgo
Prison Progress
expensive teaching materials. The main cost is teacher
While many are mired in the debate over methodol-
salaries.
ogy, progress is being made in some classrooms across
the nation. One of the best literacy programs in the
Addicted to Reading
country is the Nellie Thomas Institute of Learning in
Another successful program from California com-
California. Using an old-fashioned approach, the Nellie
bines literacy training with drug and alcohol rehabilita-
Thomas method teaches phonics, penmanship, and
tion for the homeless. The Acton and Warm Springs
composition. The program has focused its work in
Rehabilitation Centers, which have provided services for
California's prisons, where, as in most U.S. prisons,
addicts for 20 years, discovered that many of their
literacy is the exception rather than the rule.
patients could not read at all, or only at a minimal level.
Dennis Norris, an inmate at the Gabilan Conservation
When residents were discharged from the program they
Camp in Soledad, California, was told by one literacy
had few employment skills and many slipped back into
program that because of his learning disability he would
addiction.
never read beyond the third-grade level. After going
The Language Improvement Program (LIP) at the
through an eight-week program run by the Nellie
rehabilitation centers trains literate residents in recovery
Thomas Institute at the prison, however, he now reads
to serve as tutors for the illiterate residents. Literacy
the Bible and two to three novels a week. "Phonics is
training becomes a part of the alcohol and drug treat-
what helped me," Norris says. He was not taught phonics
ment and gives illiterate drug abusers skills to aid their
in school, where he remained until the ninth grade, but
recovery. The tutoring also encourages both student and
rather the whole-word approach, which relies heavily on
tutor to remain in the rehabilitation program. Thomas
memory. "My memory is not that good," says the 40-year-
Mayo, a recovering addict and first-time tutor savs. "It's
old Norris.
rewarding to get out of my self and help someone else.
Norris's rapid progress is exceptional. On average,
It helps reinforce mv own recovery."
inmates raised their reading levels between 1.5 and 3.5
LIP uses a combination of teaching techniques. in-
grade levels in 100 hours of class work. A more typical
cluding Literacy Volunteers of America. LVA employs an
student is Tony Atkinson, 42, who is slowly but surely
eclectic one-on-one approach using different methods.
learning to read and write. In prison for the 10th time,
including whole-word and student writing. "LVA requires
Atkinson couldn't even write his name correctly. Nancy
two individuals to get to know one another before they
Giuliotti, executive director of the Nellie Thomas In-
touch reading. The tutor doesn't teach as much as
stitute, says that Atkinson "had one of the lowest skill
guide," explains Richard Rioux, director of resource
levels of any of the adults I've dealt with." Now he can
development for the program.
read and write at a minimal level, and fill out his own
The program has been extremely successful, with
job application.
average reading evaluations rising between three and
The Nellie Thomas method is unusual in that it
four grade levels in 90 days. In addition, the literacy
teaches in groups of 15 to 20 students, all with differing
component has extended the completion rate for the
skill levels. Most literacy training in the United States is
alcohol and drug recovery program to 80 percent, up
one-on-one. Virginia Carey, founder of the Nellie
from 55 percent.
Thomas Institute and now spokesman for the group,
LIP addresses the practical needs of its students. Par-
explains that because of the large scope of illiteracy
ticipants learn how to fill out job applications, read the
today, "you can't change literacy on a one-on-one basis."
classifieds, and balance a checkbook. They also have a
The program's success stems from students' immedi-
class on the driver's license exam and a preparation
ate improvement. The method begins by teaching pen-
course in math for the GED. Because the recovery pro-
manship in just 40 minutes, so that students can see
gram is so goal-oriented, Rioux has chosen to use the
progress right away. The method emphasizes penman-
whole-word methodology instead of phonics. Although
ship as an art form, giving practical rules for cursive
he has not tried phonics at the rehabilitation centers,
15
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
Rioux says that phonics is "too childish" and would bore
Some of the $1 billion Health and Human Services is
his students. Residents want a pragmatic approach that
authorized to spend through its Job Opportunities and
can help them get a job when they leave the program,
Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program goes for literacy
he explains: Work "means something to their sobriety."
classes for Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC) recipients. States have broad discretion for
Absence of Accountability
spending the money, and HHS does not know how much
Despite some successful efforts to teach people to read
goes for adult literacy. As of yet, there are no require-
and write, the lack of accountability in most literacy
ments that state literacy programs demonstrate their
programs remains a major concern. In 1986, a report by
success, although the department is planning to establish
the Federal Interagency Committee on Education
"performance standards" in the future.
(FICE) attempted to detail the federal programs that
The Defense Department's appropriations of $26 mil-
deal with adult illiteracy and their annual expenditures.
lion are more clearly defined. The money goes toward
What resulted was a 200-page morass of numbers about
upgrading skills of military personnel, be it through adult
14 different agencies administering 79 different literacy-
basic education classes or vocational training. This clarity
related programs. Very few of these programs even know
of mission has brought them much success, and the
how much they spent on adult education, much less
military serves as a model of accountability for other
whether their efforts were successful.
literacy programs.
The 14 agencies identified $348 million authorized
Like Defense, the Justice Department also knows
for literacy activities in fiscal year 1985. According to
where its money is going. It spent about $30 million on
some reports, however, there are "significant unreported
education programs in federal prisons in 1990, with $7.5
dollars spent on literacy activities in many agencies." But
million going for literacy training. In addition, the Justice
others say that much of the money allocated for literacy
Department spends small amounts on citizenship educa-
is not actually spent. Forrest Chisman says, "At most $1
tion and training.
billion to $2 billion is available at the federal level, and
With the exceptions of the military and the Depart-
much less is surely spent." An independent consulting
ment of Justice, there are almost no methods or techni-
firm. the Cosmos Corporation, recently updated the
ques used to measure program success. Neither HHS
FICE report at the behest of Congress. It estimated that
nor Labor knows whether the programs supported by
the federal government spent $218 million in fiscal year
their funding are successful. The military judges success
1989 on adult literacy. By its own admission. however,
the Cosmos figure is not completely accurate-it ex-
according to whether or not students reach specific
reading levels, which vary according to service. For
cluded major programs by the Departments of Labor
literacy programs in federal prisons, success means
and Health and Human Services because the depart-
reaching the sixth-grade level in reading, which is
ments themselves do not know how much they spent.
evaluated by standardized tests.
The discrepancies between these estimates arise be-
In addition to the hundreds of millions spent by the
cause most government programs dealing with illiteracy
federal government. non-federal expenditures on adult
make block grants to the states, which in turn dole out
illiteracy came to $510 million in fiscal year 1988, accord-
the money to state-wide programs. There are only very
ing to the Department of Education. Often non-federal
general stipulations on how the money should be dis-
programs receive generous federal grants, which all too
tributed and very little reporting on how it was spent.
often promotes wasteful spending. For example, the
Many literacy activities of the federal government fall
Department of Education encourages large expendi-
under a larger umbrella of community service. employee
tures on reading materials. One of the department's
training, or refugee assistance programs. The states are
criteria in awarding grants to outstanding adult educa-
authorized to use the money for literacy but they are not
tion programs is that curricula and materials "reflect
required to do so.
recent trends in delivery of services." In other words,
The five main federal agencies dealing with adult
literacy programs are rewarded for following trends
illiteracy are the Departments of Education, Labor,
rather than tried-and-true methods. Another guideline
Health and Human Services, Defense, and Justice. The
is that "instructional materials, designed for adults not
Education Department spent $193 million in fiscal year
children, are up-to-date, free of sex and/or cultural bias,
1990 for block grants to the states under the Adult
[and] bilingual/bicultural where necessary." Computer-
Education Act. Ninety-nine percent of the money goes
assisted instruction is also suggested. Success in raising
to local education agencies, which must meet minimal
grade levels of reading is not a criterion.
requirements such as spending 10 percent of their grant
on correctional education and 10 percent on "special
Need for Testing
experimental demonstration projects and teacher train-
Despite the problems with the existing federal literacy
ing," according to one Education Department official.
programs, both houses of Congress have proposed legis-
In applying for grants, states must evaluate their own
lation to increase expenditures without amending the
literacy efforts, although the Education Department does
major flaws in the current system. The literacy bills
not require that programs be proved successful in order
sponsored by Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) and Repre-
to receive grants.
sentative Thomas Sawyer (D-OH) contain no efforts to
Labor also gives grants to the states through the Job
increase accountability. They do not ask whether existing
Training Partnership Act, in the way of $4 billion a year.
programs are successful in teaching people to read and
Some of this goes to adult literacy programs, though it
write, nor do they require that recipients of grants report
is not clear how much.
their success, or lack thereof. The proposed legislation
16
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
would also create a national center for literacy to coor-
Testing students when they enter a literacy program
dinate existing literacy efforts, and perhaps even a
and when they leave can tell us more about how far they
cabinet-level post for literacy. But given the problems
have progressed. But literacy programs are often sketchy
with existing programs, it is more likely that such legis-
on their testing data. With testing comes accountability
lation will only add another layer of bureaucracy that
and also embarrassment, for both students and ad-
channels funding away from the important task of teach-
ministrators. It may take some students years to raise
ing people to read.
their reading levels; others drop out after the first few
The federal government's lack of accountability with
weeks. It reflects badly on a literacy program if overall
respect to literacy funding is passed on to the local
statistics show few gains in skill levels. But testing remains
literacv programs. Often dependent on federal or private
the most accurate means of judging an individual's suc-
funding, these programs are not strict about evaluating
cess and that of a literacy program.
the success of their students, teachers, or teaching
With testing, we can better determine how the crusade
methods. Because learning to read as an adult can take
against illiteracy is faring, and whether our present ef-
years, literacy programs often determine success accord-
forts need revision. Although the status quo may be more
ing to short-term goals. Echoing the popular wisdom of
comfortable for literacy program administrators, it does
most literacy experts, Linda Lowen, communications
little for the adults in need. The entire field of literacy
associate for Literacy Volunteers of America, savs, "Suc-
would benefit from a comprehensive shakedown.
cess is determined by the individual's goals." The
While we cannot control an individual's desire to
student's goal may be as limited as reading a bus schedule
learn, we should insist that literacy programs teach those
or passing a driver's license test, or more complex, such
who are willing to learn. The question should not be,
as reading the Bible. While it is important for students
"How much money did we spend?" or "How many people
to set goals and to meet them, it is also important for
joined our program?" but rather, "How many people did
literacy programs to determine how well they are doing
we teach to read and write?"
in making people literate.
The following is an excerpt from a book, entitled Scientific Management in Education, written in 1913 by
J.M. Rice. We couldn't help but notice its relevance with respect to American education today.
MG
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT IN EDUCATION
A NEW BASIS IN EDUCATION
And now we are ready for the crucial questions:
failed to produce better results because it has not
(1) How can we account for the fact that the study
been followed by a specific demand for better re-
of the educational sciences has failed to serve the
sults. On the contrary, it has been accompanied
purpose? and (2) What is the specific form of train-
by a mandate to despise results. This has arisen
ing required to bring about the desired end? Let
from the belief that the results produced by the
us consider these questions in turn.
more rational methods of instruction are purely
That the new ideals are not only higher than the
spiritual in their nature and incapable of measure-
old, but absolutely fundamental, and must in time
ment, and, conversely, that results which can be
prevail, is not even open to question; and, strange
demonstrated in any definite manner must have been
as it may seem, they are the very same ideals up-
produced by methods that should be avoided. In
held by the identical public that has always so
other words, ordinary training has failed because it
strongly protested against surrendering the schools
has been founded upon the assumption-not veri-
to the educational reformers, namely, greater in-
fied by experience-namely, that certain forms of
telligence and greater efficiency. Consequently, the
pedagogical treatment are sure to lead to ideal re-
people are not at loggerheads with the new educa-
sults. The consequence has been that the educators
tion in the matter of ideals, but they are opposed
of the new school have become accustomed to gauge
to it because they not only fail to perceive the mani-
the success of a teacher from the standpoint of what
festation of that greater intelligence and greater
she does, while in matters outside of school success
efficiency which the new school has promised to pro-
is measured by what is accomplished. By reason
duce, but are inclined to believe that the graduates
of this unpractical stand, the demand has been de-
of our elementary schools are even less intelligent
veloping in the direction of methods and mannerisms
and less efficient than they were under the old
which may or may not contribute to success, but
régime.
which in themselves do not constitute success, and
Why, then, has training failed to give a better
are not even a gauge of it; and in the effort to meet
account of itself? My answer is that training has
this demand, the fundamental issue, actual accom-
17
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
plishment, has become entirely submerged.
genuine teaching nor satisfy the demands of an in-
Therefore, in accordance with the trend of the
telligent public. The standard that I am suggest-
times, it has become the custom to call a teacher suc-
ing represents a demand for results on a much higher
cessful if her methods are in the latest style, if her
plane, but recognizes at the same time that such
manners are pleasant, and if her pupils show an
results must be based on a firmer foundation than
interest in the current lesson; while a teacher is
faith.
placed on a lower plane if she does not come up to
As to the specific difference between a low and a
all these requirements. But this position is un-
high order of results, this cannot be accurately ex-
tenable. One who makes the Impression that she
plained in any general statement, for every branch
is all that a successful teacher ought to be may be
must be considered on its own merits. However,
a successful teacher in fact, or she may be lacking
taking a broad view of the matter, it may be said
in certain essential elements involved in good teach-
that in the former the dominant idea is knowledge,
ing, and fail to accomplish much in the end. On
knowledge of facts and of certain formal processes,
the other hand, a teacher who does not make a
while in the latter it is efficiency, the ability to think
favorable impression may in fact be a poor teacher,
and to utilize knowledge in thought and execution.
but not necessarily so, for she may be possessed
As knowledge is a matter of memory, and can be
of just those qualities which are essential to suc-
acquired without bringing into play, to any consid-
cess, and may therefore accomplish far more than
erable extent, the exercise of the higher mental
her more brilliant colleague.
faculties, it so happens that up to a certain point
In view of the above considerations, the answer
a great deal may be accomplished simply by getting
to the second question is obvious. The current
pupils to study their lessons and to be attentive
method of training having failed by reason of a
during the recitations. Consequently, it is evident
false standard of measuring success, the remedy lies
that, within a given compass, children who have but
in substituting for it a more scientific one. The
slightly exercised their higher mental faculties may
current standard calls for an estimate of success
be able to compete on an equal footing with those
by what the teacher does, and the one now sug-
who for years have had the more genuine forms of
gested will call for judgment by what she accom-
mental training. However, if we recognize that,
plishes. Of course, such a radical change in the
within certain limits, children who have had no
standard would not only carry with it a change
genuine teaching are able to compete with those who
in demand, but also the necessity of revising our
have been very well taught, we must also recognize
conception of pedagogical training, which would
that when these limits have been reached the con-
have to be more definitely directed toward the de-
trast between good and poor teaching will begin
velopment of the power to achieve results. But just
to tell in the results.
as the demand for an ideal class-room spirit has
This suggests in a nutshell both the flaw and the
served to bring about a markedly better spirit, so
remedy. The trouble with the traditional standards
the demand for ideal results would undoubtedly be
has been that they have aimed to measure success
followed by better work and start the schools on
within the limits of the lower area; and the remedy
the road to a still higher ideal, namely, the com-
lies in instituting standards that will take as their
bination of an ideal spirit with ideal results.
starting-point the upper limit of the lower area.
The theory that success in teaching should be
That is to say, the higher order of standards, ideally
judged by results is, of course, anything but a novel
speaking, will give no credits for mechanical results,
one; and in view of the pedagogical abuses to which
but simply for such results as show a true indication
it has led, and the just condemnation it has re-
of intelligence and efficiency. Tests formulated upon
ceived at the hands of many, it may seem strange
the higher basis will, however, by no means over-
that any one should have the hardihood not merely
look essential facts and processes of a mechanical
to indorse it, but to suggest it as a fundamental
order, because pupils must necessarily be thoroughly
truth. However, the fact is that we are here again
grounded in the fundamentals to be able to pass
brought face to face with a pedagogical proposi-
the higher tests. As children have brains, they can-
tion which is correct in principle, but which has
not, of course, help acquiring some efficiency as a
ended in disaster by reason of a misconception. In
result of the acquisition of knowledge, however
a word, the traditional system of measuring success
poorly they may be taught; so that in testing for
by results has proved a signal failure, because those
efficiency a part of the credit for that which is
who have followed it have failed to appreciate that
manifested will belong to the pupils.
results differ widely in quality, that some are of a
high and others of a low order, in consequence of
which they have become accustomed to accept as
satisfactory a class of results which neither indicate
18
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
Pioneering Research Challenges Accepted Notions
Concerning the Cognitive Abilities of Infants
Scientists re-assess influential theories developed in the 1930's
by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget
By CHRIS RAYMOND
Another scholar in the pioneer-
integrate information from discon-
Armed with the results of novel experi-
ing group, Elizabeth S. Spelke, a
nected sights, sounds, and touch-
ments, developmental psychologists and
professor of psychology at Cornell
es-what Ms. Bauer calls the
neuroscientists are changing notions about
University, is drawing connections
"starter set" view of the newborn
infancy that have held sway since the psy-
between how an infant comes to
as a set of unconnected reflexes.
chologist William James called the baby's
learn about the various character-
Well into the second year of life,
world a time of "blooming, buzzing confu-
istics of objects and how adults as-
Piaget said, the infant uses that
sion."
sess scientific theories.
newly integrated information, and
Moreover, the experiments are fostering
clumsy exploration, to begin piec-
'Common-Sense Conceptions'
ing together causal relationships.
a major re-assessment of the legacy of Jean
Based on her studies, Ms.
Piaget's insights were drawn
Piaget, the Swiss psychologist whose pio-
Spelke believes that "the physical
from intensive observation of his
neering analysis in the 1930's of children's
knowledge that emerges first in in-
own children. But some scientists
mental development deeply influenced
fancy remains most central to the
are now beginning to concur with
subsequent generations of scholars.
common-sense conceptions of
Charles A. Nelson, who maintains
"Piaget had a remarkable nose for puz-
adults," including scientists. (An
that "Piaget grossly underestimat-
zles about children's behavior, says Re-
infant's physical knowledge, she
ed the abilities of infants. The kinds
nee Baillargeon, one of the psychologists
explains, informs the child that ob-
of memory we see at 6 months, he
who are spearheading the new research.
jects are solid and move along con-
didn't see till 18 months."
The observations will be with us forever,
nected, unobstructed paths.) That,
"He just didn't have the meth-
she adds, "but in terms of his interpreta-
she argues, might partly explain
ods" now available to scholars,
tions of them, Piaget will not have a lasting
the reluctance of physicists early in
adds Mr. Nelson, an associate pro-
impact."
the century-and many lay people
fessor of child psychology and neu-
today-to accept the "quantum
roscience at Cornell University.
Re-Reading Piaget's Observations
universe," in which particles can
Mr. Nelson, like several of his
Ms. Baillargeon, an associate professor
lack mass and move discontinu-
colleagues, says Ms. Baillargeon's
of psychology at the University of Illinois
ously.
work opened a new path in study-
In the course of her research,
ing the abilities of infants. Ms. Bail-
at Urbana-Champaign, who has two small
children of her own, says she finds herself
Ms. Spelke has demonstrated that
largeon took advantage of a well=
as early as 2½ months of age, in-
documented phenomenon: an in-
reading Piaget's observations again and
fants know that objects are solid
nate human préference to look
again.
and continue to exist even when
longer at novel or surprising things
Nonetheless, she says that since Piaget
out of view. But it is only after 6
than at familiar ones.
believed from the beginning that the in-
months that an infant will begin to
In what Ms. Baillargeon de-
fant's and the adult's cognitive abilities
understand that an object's motion
scribes as "putting on magic shows
were radically different, his observations
is subject to the laws of gravity and
for babies," an experimenter pre-
led him to the most negative conclusions
inertia.
sents a baby with two events, one
about an infant's abilities.
Piaget postulated that such con-
possible according to physical laws
"What a terrible world to live in, where
cepts developed much later in an
as adults understand them, and one
objects have no rhyme or reason and noth-
infant's life. Patricia J. Bauer, an
impossible.
ing makes sense!" she exclaims
assistant professor of psychology
about Piaget's view of infancy.
at the University of Minnesota
'Surprised by the Impossible'
The revisionist work is also
says that for decades, psycholo-
"If the baby shares our beliefs, it
prompting researchers to raise
gists assumed that babies could not
will be surprised by the impossible
philosophical questions of their
have ideas until they were 18
event and will look at it longer,"
own.
months to 2 years old.
Ms. Baillargeon explains.
One researcher, for example, is
In a recent review of new re-
For example, Ms. Baillargeon
hoping to explain why we forget
search in cognitive development,
repeatedly shows infants a screen
most of the events we experienced
Jean M. Mandler, a professor of
being flipped back and forth
during infancy. Freud attributed
psychology at the University of
through a 180-degree arc. Then, in
that to the repression of sexual
California at San Diego, wrote that
the "possible" event, the screen's
urges. Others argued that it oc-
the "Piagetian infant" leads a dis-
movement is shown to be stopped
curred because the events during
tinctly un-Proustian life: "not
by coming into contact with a box
infancy are not coded in language
thought about, only lived."
placed behind it. In the "impossi-
and are thus inaccessible to the
Piaget said the first months of life
ble" event, the screen is shown to
adult memory.
were devoted to learning how to
continue unhindered through its
arc despite the presence of the box.
January 23, 1991
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
19
WORTHY SCHOLARSHIP
She found that some 3-month-
cue," she adds. "But if we knew
with pre-verbal infants made it
old infants, and most 5-month-old
the cue at 2 years old, can we trig-
easy to equate their rudimentary
infants, react with surprise to the
ger the memory at 3 years old"
motor skills with their conceptual
impossible event, indicating that
through the use of specific verbal
skills, scientists say.
they realize that one object cannot
or visual cues?
Even if they think Piaget was
pass through another, she says.
Neuroscientists, including Ms.
wrong, scientists still pay homage
Using variations of the general pro-
Spelke's colleague, Mr. Nelson,
to his legacy.
cedure with other pairs of possible
are taking developmental psychol-
"Yes, there was a great deal of
and impossible events, Ms. Baillar-
ogy a step further, seeking to tie
underestimation of an infant's spe-
geon, Ms. Spelke, and others have
changes in cognitive abilities to
cific abilities," says Ms. Bauer.
demonstrated that infants less than
changes in the brain's organization
But, she adds, "there is still a great
a year old have a wide range of
and responses.
deal of room for the construction of
perceptual abilities: They can visu-
'The Familiar and the Novel'
knowledge" after birth, as Piaget
ally separate objects from a back-
suggested, and it remains for cogni-
ground, and know that objects can-
"My question," says Mr. Nel-
tive scientists to discover how that
not move through one another and
son, "is what goes on in the brain
new knowledge is built.
continue to exist when hidden.
when the baby is asked to recog-
In other studies, month-old in-
nize the familiar and the novel?"
fants have recognized images of
Mr. Nelson studies changes in
objects that they have only felt in
the patterns of electrical activity,
their mouths. By 4 months, they
using a headband-like device that
have matched film images to a cor-
places electrodes into contact with
responding sound track.
the infant's scalp.
Ms. Bauer, Ms. Baillargeon, and
He has shown familiar and novel
others are also documenting fairly
pictures to nearly 3,000 babies,
sophisticated conceptual thinking
ranging from 1-year-olds to youn-
early in life, based on demonstrat-
ger infants, some of whom had
ing recall. As Ms. Bauer explains
been born prematurely. He has dis-
it: "If infants can be shown to have
covered that electrical activity in
recall, they must have some kind of
the brain falls into tell-tale patterns
representational tool which would
that depend on whether, and how
allow them to think about the prop-
often, the infant has seen a particu-
erties objects share."
lar picture. By 6 months, infants
On the basis of dozens of experi-
apparently can distinguish between
ments using a procedure she de-
pictures they have never seen,
vised to test. an infant's memory,
those that they are familiar with,
Ms. Bauer reports that 20-month-
and those that they have seen infre-
old babies can imitate sequences
quently, says Mr. Nelson.
they saw as long as six weeks earli-
"Babies can develop [mental]
er. Children 13 months of age "re-
representations and call on them to
member fewer events for shorter
compare old and new informa-
periods, but they are remembering
tion," he adds.
some events at least as long as,one
Mr. Nelson has also found a dra-
week," she says.
matic electrical response in 8-
Ms. Bauer reached her conclu-
month-olds who have become fa-
sions from experiments in which,
miliar with only the feel of an ob-
in front of an infant, she manipulat-
ject, and are then shown pictures of
ed props in sequences of two or
that object or of a different one.
more logical steps, such as sending
"They must have developed visual
a truck down a ramp, or illogical
representations of what they felt,"
ones, such as clothing and then
Mr. Nelson says.
washing a stuffed animal. Later,
Other neuroscientists are explor-
the props are placed in front of the
ing what happens in the infant's
infant, and a collaborator watches
brain as he or she develops notions
to see if he or she will act out the
about objects and learns to talk or,
sequence in the correct order. For
in the case of deaf children, use
comparison, infants who have not
sign language.
seen the acted-out sequence are
The research, says Ms. Bauer, is
also given the props. Ms. Bauer re-
encouraging an increased dialogue
ports that infants in the latter group
between developmental psycholo-
rarely, if ever, act out the sequence
gists and neuroscientists. The
spontaneously.
cross-talk should lead to a much
Ms. Bauer is turning her atten-
more sophisticated understanding
tion to even longer-term memory.
of how humans learn to think than
"Maybe the adult can't remem-
was possible in Piaget's time, when
ber [infancy] because there's no
a dearth of methods to experiment
20
DISPUTES AND DILEMMAS
AN EVALUATION OF THE PORTLAND
SOCIAL STUDIES BASELINE ESSAY
Frank J. Yurco
The Social Studies, African-
out complication. The surest way
1989), which finds that in the pe-
American Baseline, by John Hen-
to accomplish this is to consult
riod when monarchy first ap-
rik Clarke, is one of several
professionals in the field as well as
peared in Lower Nubia, ca. 3300
"baseline" essays which together
reliable up-to-date books and ar-
B.C., the culture in which it ap-
serve as curriculum background
ticles. The author of this packet
peared was Naqadan-Egyptian.
reading for Portland, Oregon,
has deliberately chosen not to take
This is demonstrated by the fact
public school teachers. The
this path, maintaining instead that
that the earliest proto-hiero-
baseline essays have been widely
"in approaching this subject, pref-
glyphs written by these people
distributed and are relied upon
erence is given to writers of Afri-
are comprehensible as Egypto-
by a number of city school sys-
Coptic, and the iconography used
tems across the country. The
by the early kings is pharaonic
social studies essay is reviewed
Egyptian. What is behind the
a curriculum
here from the viewpoint of schol-
author's inability to assess the
arly accuracy and academic
should reflect the
current scholarship in Egyptol-
value, especially as a teaching
most current views
ogy? It is his self imposed crite-
tool for elementary and secon-
in the professional
rion that rules out non-African-
dary schools. While a curriculum
field being covered.
American or African scholars.
intended for younger students
need not be presented in full
The author's viewpoint, as
scholarly format, with full foot-
expressed in the introduction, is
noting and documenting, it
can descent who are generally
that conventional scholars have
should nonetheless reflect the
neglected" (p. SS-4).
distorted Egyptian history by
most current views in the profes-
denying that Egypt was a part of
sional field being covered. The
In looking over the bibliog-
Africa (p. SS-2). His viewpoint
writers of such materials have a
raphy and notes of the packet, the
represents what has come to be
delicate task, to cover the subject
author is found to have followed
called Afro-centric revisionism,
matter accurately, and yet with-
faithfully his self-prescribed
that is, a position that posits that
course. Few professional Egyptolo-
conventional scholarship has de-
Frank J. Yurco is an Egyptologist
gists are cited for the section cov-
liberately distorted ancient his-
at the Chicago Field Museum of
ering ancient Egypt, and virtually
tory to deny the role played by
Natural History. A slightly differ-
none of these represent current
Africans, and more specifically
ent version of this review was
scholarship. Even where one cur-
made available to NETWORK
that ancient Egyptian history has
rent scholar is cited, the author
been skewed and distorted by
members by Erich Martel, whose
fails to cite his final reports (Wil-
such scholars to deny its African
article on multi-culturalism ap-
liams, 1986), relying only on the
nature. However, as he himself
peared in the February issue of
older preliminary report. Even that
recognizes by citing Bruce Wil-
News & Views. Due to space con-
source is mis-represented as claim-
liams (1985), Egyptological inter-
siderations, we have not included
ing that pharaonic Egyptian cul-
Dr. Yurco's detailed (and lengthy)
pretation has changed as more
ture originated from somewhere
and more evidence is found and
bibliography with his article. We
south (of Egypt and of Nubia).
marshalled. Had Clarke con-
would be glad to send it, free of
This is directly contradicted by
sulted current Egyptological
charge, to anyone wishing a copy.
current research (Williams, 1986,
scholarship, he would have found
21
DISPUTES AND DILEMMAS
that almost no modern Egyptolo-
thors consistently distinguish be-
For instance, he writes that
gist supports the old idea that a
tween various dark brown and
the First Intermediate Period was
"Dynastic Race" from somewhere
"burnt" brown complexioned
characterized by "the inability of
north or northeast of Egypt
peoples (Snowden, 1989), describ-
the ruling families to decide on
brought pharaonic culture to the
ing the Ethiopians as the darkest.
who would be pharaoh and
Nile Valley. This was a view
Their term Ethiopian refers mainly
where the ruling seat of power
promulgated by earlier genera-
to the people now called Kushite,
would be. This weakness brought
tions of scholars, partly out of the
or Meroitic by Egyptologists and
about a civil war..." (pp. SS 30-
racial attitudes prevalent in their
Nubian and Sudanese culture
31). There is no mention of the
scholars (e.g. Adams, 1980). Thus
environmental deterioration and
Few professional
the contention that Classical
failure of Nile Floods that brought
Egyptologists are
peoples posited that Egyptians
on the collapse of the Old King-
were as dark as the Ethiopians,
dom, nothing about the Hera-
cited [by Clarke]
and that the Ethiopians originated
cleopolitan IXth and Xth Dynas-
for the section
Egyptian culture is negated by the
ties reforming the kingship, and
covering ancient
Classical sources themselves, and
the parallel development of
Egypt, and virtu-
it also is not supported by the lat-
powerful provincial nomarchs.
ally none of these
est archaeological and linguistic
The author fails to note the emer-
research.
represent current
gence of the XIth Dynasty at
Thebes, its revolt against the
scholarship.
Clarke's history of Egyp-
Heracleopolitans and then he
tian dynastic eras reads in some
day and partly out of incomplete
parts more like a medieval chron-
and mis-interpreted evidence.
icle than like a current survey. His
Dealing with
The author further claims that
dependance on mainly non-Egyp-
periods where his
knowledge of the earliest king-
tological sources of African or
third hand sources
dom in Lower Nubia is not new
African-American ancestry results
(p. SS-3), implying that it was sup-
in uneven, inconsistent, and con-
were muddled or
pressed, or willfully ignored. This
flicting data, and in places, incredi-
uninformative,
is utterly false, for the archaeo-
bly out-of-date, inaccurate inter-
Clarke writes such
logical work that found the evi-
pretations. This is simply because
periods off as ones
dence of the kingship at Qustul,
the overwhelming majority of his
of no historic
in Lower Nubia was carried out
sources are not Egyptologists who
no earlier than the late 1960s, by
have mastery of the ancient lan-
significance.
Dr. Keith Seele (Williams, 1986).
guage and culture, butrather third-
hand sources; some Egyptologists
only sketchily and summarily
Clarke further contends
are cited only to lambast their
mentions the civil war, and as-
that ancient Greeks and Romans
views advocating the "Dynastic
cribes it to "weakness" rather
from Herodotus onwards called
race". Dealing with periods where
than to the ambition and drive of
all dark-skinned peoples, includ-
his third hand sources were
Mentu-hotep II (2061-2010 B.C.),
ing Egyptians, "Ethiopians" (p.
muddled or uninformative, Clarke
the king of Thebes who reunified
SS-2). Yet as Dr. Frank Snowden,
writes such periods off as ones of
the country and whom the tradi-
of Howard University, has con-
no historic significance. This is
tion considered on a par with
sistently argued, Herodotus and
gross over simplification and mis-
Aha (Menes) the original unifier
the other Greek and Roman au-
representation.
(eq. Gardiner, 1961). For the XIIth
22
DISPUTES AND DILEMMAS
Dynasty, he makes no mention of
as "one who preached and lived a
holding off the Neo-Babylonians.
trade with the Aegean regions,
gospel of love, brotherhood, and
It also launched a campaign
attested by the silver vessels found
truth, the world's first idealist, the
against Napata and the Kushites
at Tôd, nor about contacts with
first temporal ruler ever to lead his
(593 B.C.). Necho II sent out a
Syria-Palestine. (Story of Sinuhe),
people to the worship of a single
Phoenician crew that circumnavi-
and Tomb of Khnum-hotep II at
god" (p. SS-37). While some of this
gated Africa, as Herodotus re-
Beni Hasan. There is nothing
is correct, as seen in Akhenaten's
ports, the first recorded instance
about Amenemhat III reclaiming
hymns (Lichtheim, 1976),
of such a voyage. The Persians
lake bottom land from the Fayum,
Akhenaten's religion was not
conquered Egypt in 525 B.C., but
and regulating the in and out-
genuine monotheism, and as a
again, there was armed resis-
flow of water from the lake, nor
political leader he was less than
tance, successfully, 405-343 B.C.
about Queen Sobek-noferu, who
successful (Redford, 1985). Clarke
In this period, Egypt also pro-
took full five-fold pharaonic titles,
apparently relied on a third-hand,
vided shelter to Jews who fled
the first female ruler in Egypt to
non-Egyptological source that is
Judea after the Babylonian con-
do so. Reference to two texts (Gar-
of uncertain date, but seems to
quest in 586 B.C. Some of these
diner, 1961 and Lichtheim, 1973)
served in a garrison at Elephan-
would have supplied all the data
tine, from which letters survive.
I've mentioned and more. Alas,
Clarke promotes
All of this history from Clarke's
neither of these is among Clarke's
so called "Static Period"! Clarke
the undocumented,
select group of scholars to be con-
also fails to acknowledge the help
sulted.
unproven, and
Egyptreceived from Greeks (405-
unscientific argu-
343 B.C.) in the common cause of
The treatment of the New
ment that Cleopa-
resistance to Persian domination.
Kingdom Period (1567-1080 B.C.)
tra was a black
is not much better. The Hyksos
person
Clarke promotes the un-
are portrayed in a completely
documented, unproven, and un-
negative manner, with no men-
scientific argument that Cleopa-
tion of the wheeled chariot, the
reflect Egyptological views of the
tra was a black person, in the
compound bow, and the im-
1920s and 1930s.
sense advocated by the Afro-
proved battle axe, all of which the
centrist revisionists. He relies on
Egyptians obtained from them.
He misnames the Saite
Shakespeare's assessment of her
On p. SS-33 there is the utter mis-
XXVIth Dynasty as "The Static
as "tawny" and falls under the
statement that "Egypt's military
Period", and writes it off as a pe-
spell of Roman propaganda that
friends, to the south, prepared to
come to her assistance". The facts
riod of no progress. This is a purely
makes her the dark serpent of the
unsupported, undocumented and
Nile and other such misrepresen-
are that as the Egyptians them-
uninformed assertion. The XXVIth
tation. Had he referred to Tarn, in
selves record in Kamose's second
stela, the Kushite kingdom was
Dynasty saw a resurgence of Egyp-
Cambridge Ancient History, 1st ed.,
from the 1930s, he would have
tian culture, a revival period, hark-
allied to the Hyksos, and only the
ing back to Old and Middle King-
found a reliable, sympathetic, and
desert Medjay were allied to the
well documented account of Cle-
dom traditions. In politics, the
Egyptians.
Dynasty tried to balance between
opatra. Bowman (1986) would
keeping Assyria at arm's length,
also have been helpful in con-
Regarding the pharaoh
then supporting Assyria against
structing a more accurate por-
Akhenaten, Clarke gives a one-
the Neo-Babylonians, and then
trait. She was, as Plutarch de-
sided view of this enigmatic king,
scribes her, intelligent, fluent in
23
DISPUTES AND DILEMMAS
seven languages, and the first of
house. Ptolemy IX, Cleopatra's
the indigenous population. This
the Ptolemaic Dynasty to speak
grandfather did have a number of
view is a mixture of false data,
Egyptian. Cleopatra was a canny
mistresses, one of whom bore
misinformation, mis-interpreted
politician, knew how to run a
Ptolemy XII, her father. Yet, these
evidence, and false conclusions.
government efficiently, and how
mistresses were all drawn from
to balance the budget and even
Greek, Hellenic families, whether
Migrations into Egypt
generate surpluses, all this after
Cyrenian, Seleucid, or Egyptian.
have been a constant factor
her father left Egypt bankrupt.
Though you cannot prove that
throughout her history. In most
She generated enough surplus to
Cleopatra VII had no indigenous
periods, though they were a
finance Mark Antony several
Egyptian admixture, the probabil-
trickle at the southern and north-
ity is that she did not.
ern frontiers. The major foreign
incursions were Syro-Palestini-
Clarke argues
A few Greek and Egyptian
ans with the Hyksos (1674-1650
another Afro-
families did intermarry, but largely
B.C.), but they were expelled.
only after Ptolemy IV ca. 217 B.C.
centric revisionist
But so many did not, above all the
position, namely
royal family (which so consistently
Anthropological
that the invasions
presented itself as a champion of
studies show
of Egypt [have]
Hellenism), that prior to Cleopa-
totally displaced
tra VII, none of the kings bothered
beyond any doubt
to learn to speak Egyptian. Clarke's
that the modern
the indigineous
assertion that after 300 years of
Egyptian popula-
population.
residence in Egypt, the Ptolemies
tion by and large
had somehow been rendered into
is genetically very
times. She had a remarkable vi-
indigenous Egyptians is theregur-
close to the an-
sion of restoring the Eastern
gitated propaganda that Octavian
Mediterranean and the Greek
(Augustus) tried to paint onto
cient Egyptians, in
states onto an equal footing with
Cleopatra VII and her Greek sup-
features, in color,
Rome and the West. Such are the
porters, after she and Mark An-
and in blood type.
factual things Clarke could have
tony allied themselves against
written about Cleopatra VII.
Octavian.
Libyans settled in Egypt in large
As for her ethnic back-
On p. SS-22, Clarke argues
numbers, 1150-712B.C., and even
ground, a study of Ptolemaic
another Afro-centric revisionist
rose to be pharaohs, but they were
sources would have informed
position, namely that the invasions
very close ethnically to the Egyp-
Clarke that the Macedonian Ptole-
of Egypt that started about 450
tians, and so, had no major im-
maic royal family was ultra Hel-
B.C. and continued until after the
pact. Later came the Kushites,
lenic in outlook. For years, they
Roman Period brought into Egypt
but they too were Nilotic peoples
treated indigenous Egyptians as
large numbers of people who were
with ethnic and cultural relations
second class citizens. As for their
not indigenous to the country,
to the ancient Egyptians. Greeks
own family, so concerned were
adding that "The bulk of the Arab
began to arrive in Dynasty XXVI
they to retain its Greek purity
population in present-day Egypt
and in larger numbers under the
that they engaged regularly in
has no direct relationship to an-
Ptolemies. But, as outlined above,
brother-sister marriages. Later,
cient Egyptian history". He claims
they preferred their own Hellenic
they married princesses from the
further, invasions in the 7th and
culture and only a limited amount
Seleucid royal family in Syria,
8th centuries A.D., during therapid
of intermixing occurred. They
another ardently Hellenic royal
spread of Islam totally displaced
also settled in distinct zones, not
24
DISPUTES AND DILEMMAS
ousting or replacing the Egyptian
Keita (1990) show beyond any
Greek and Classical sources.
populace (Bowman, 1986). Jews
doubt that the modern Egyptian
also started arriving in the XXVIth
population by and large is geneti-
Clarke also distorts the
Dynasty and increased under the
cally very close to the ancient
history of Mesopotamia, so as to
Ptolemies, but again, they con-
Egyptians, in features, in color, and
remove any possible contribution
gregated around the eastern Delta
in blood type.
of that nation as original to the
(traditionally the Land of Goshen)
mix of Middle Eastern culture.
and tended not to intermarry with
"During the Fifth and Sixth Dy-
either Egyptians or Greeks. The
nasties there were rumors of
Romans settled only a few veter-
Clarke also distorts
threats from Western Asia (now
ans in Egypt. During Byzantine
the history of
called the Middle East). The na-
times, the country was Christian-
Mesopotamia, so as
tions and people in the other river
ized, but ethnically remained un-
valley, the Tigris and the Eu-
to remove any pos-
changed.
phrates, were laying the founda-
sible contribution
tion of Sumerian civilization" (p.
In the Islamic Period, the
of that nation to
SS-30). This is totally misdated
invading force under Amr ibn
the mix of Middle
information about the Sumerians.
al-As was about 3,000 men, whom
Eastern culture.
In Mesopotamia, the archaeologi-
he settled at al-Fustat, north of
cal record of proto-literate civili-
the Romano-Byzantine Babylon.
zation dates back to 3500 B.C.,
During the rest of the Islamic
This evidence demolishes
about as old as Qustul in Lower
period, the ruling class might be
not only the "Dynastic Race"
Nubia. Indeed, Sumerian artifacts
Arab, or Turkic, Berber, or Cir-
claims of Victorian Era Egyptolo-
came to Egypt as trade items in
cassian, but all these dynasts had
gists, but also the claims of the
the later Naqada II-Naqada III
their own limited armies of
Afro-centrist revisionists who
periods (Hoffman, 1980). What is
mamlukes and didn't intermix
would make the ancient popula-
this, but an effort to downplay
with the indigenous Egyptians.
tion different and more tropical
the originality of Sumerian civili-
Indeed the foreign dynasties
Africoid than currently is the case.
zation at the expense of an Afro-
scorned the indigenous Egyptians
Both views are false and are dis-
centric view of Egypt?
as "fellahin", whom they viewed
tortions of data or mis-interpreta-
solely as cattle to be milked for
tions. Anyone who has spent time
Thus my evaluation of
taxes. Thus, around Cairo, the
in Egypt can attest to Batrawi's
Clarke's essay is that it is inade-
capital, you can find all sorts of
analysis. Of course, neither Ba-
quate as a school curriculum re-
exotic mixtures, but outside the
trawi, nor any of the other Egyp-
source. The sources used by the
capital, in the country and in the
tologists, by and large, cited in this
author are self proscribed and
provincial towns the population
discussion are cited in Clarke's
slanted towards the Afro-centric
is basically of fellahin origin. The
bibliography. The Afro-centrist
revisionist viewpoint. Other more
few Arab tribes that the Umma-
revisionists have stuck steadfastly
current sources are ignored or
yad and Abbasid governors al-
to their contrived evidence and
avoided. The resulting texti is very
lowed to settle in Egypt proved
arguments and refuse to acknowl-
unreliable as history. There are
so recalcitrant that they ended up
edge, often disparaging, any schol-
factual misinterpretations, out-
fighting the government, and
arship reaching conclusions dif-
dated theories and interpreta-
many were shipped on to Libya
ferent from their own. Dr. Frank
tions, particularist interpreta-
and farther west to help in the
Snowden's work has come under
tions, inconsistencies in facts,
Islamic conquest of North Africa.
just such disparagement, even
spelling, and dates. Rather than
Anthropological studies starting
though he is an eminent Classicist
history, there is a bland, homoge-
with Batrawi (1945-46) and now
with intimate knowledge of the
nized, and unfactual survey of
25
DISPUTES AND DILEMMAS
the historic periods, or a reflec-
In closing, the real message
tributions were passed on to Hit-
tion of out-dated Egyptological
that comes to us from ancient Egypt
tites, Greeks, Romans, Europe-
views gathered from third hand
and Mesopotamia, as well as Syria-
ans, other Africans, and ulti-
sources. Most of Clarke's bibliog-
Palestine is one of multi-cultural
mately to ourselves. Some of these
raphy is not Egyptological, but
people, like the Greeks, synthe-
rather, third hand accounts. The
sized and added to these contri-
dismissal and disparaging of
the real message
butions. Yet some echo in our
Frank Snowden, Jr., and his care-
that comes to us
daily lives. For instance, our 365-
fully written, soundly docu-
from ancient Egypt
day year originated from Egypt;
mented, and well researched
and Mesopotamia,
so did twelve months per-year,
works demonstrate clearly the
and probably twenty four hours
slanted, partisan outlook of the
as well as Syria-
per day. Mesopotamian culture
author of this packet and those
Palestine is one of
gave us algebra, the 60 second
who adhere to his viewpoint. I
multi-cultural
minute, and 60-second hour, and
leave it to those who believe in
experience.
the horoscope. In churches and
sound, reliable scholarship, and
synagogues we follow a religious
documentation using original
tradition that goes back to Syria-
sources, and interpretations
experience. The African Egyptians,
Palestine. Thus our heritage in-
grounded on archaeology, lin-
the Sumerians of uncertain ethnic
cludes contributions from ancient
guistics, and anthropology, to
origin, the Semitic Akkadians and
Africa, Asia, and Europe. This is,
pass their own judgements on
Babylonians and the West Semitic
perhaps, one of the most valuable
the Portland Curriculum as ex-
Syro-Palestinians all contributed
lessons to be learned from study-
emplified by this essay.
to our cultural heritage. Their con-
ing ancient civilizations.
Due to limited space, we were
unable to include Dr. Frank
Yurco's six page Bibliography.
We would be happy to send a
copy, free of charge, to anyone
wishing to see it.
26
DISPUTES & DILEMMAS
D.C. May Start African-Centered
Teaching This Fall
By Lynda Richardson
others, it means offering proof that
esteem and lower the schools' drop-
Washington Post Staff Writer
Egypt was where civilization
out rate.
dawned, and that Egyptians were
District school officials said yes-
Some suggested that Jenkins
black.
terday they hope to introduce Af-
used it as a shield to save his job
Afrocentric curriculum became
rican-centered teaching at some
when his troubles with the school
one of the most politically volatile
schools by September, and at all
board began.
subjects facing the D.C. schools last
schools by September 1992.
year when Andrew E. Jenkins, who
Even as the idea is gaining atten-
Curriculum officials outlined their
was then superintendent of schools,
tion among educators looking for
preliminary plans for the program,
suggested that he was being ousted
ways to offset problems besetting
which could substantially change
because the school board wanted to
minority youths, others question
the way the District's 81,000 stu-
idestroy the Afrocentric plan, which
whether reorienting curriculum will
dents are taught.
received $750,000 in funding for
improve academic performance.
Administrators expect to present
this fiscal year.
Eaton said various task forces
the school board with a more de-
Yesterday, some proponents of
will be formed within the schools.
tailed plan by early March, though
Afrocentrism attending the commit-
and the community to work on goals
it remains unclear how the plan will
tee meeting criticized the proposal
within the Afrocentric education
translate into the classrooms.
for not being African centered
plan.
Education officials have not de-
enough in a school system that is 91
He said those goals will include
cided which schools will be part of
percent black.
reviewing present history and ge-
the pilot program this fall.
"They undermined the whole is-
ography textbooks, writing curric-
The African-centered education
sue," said Thelmiah Lee, a member
ulum and setting criteria for select-
plan includes a complete review of
of the advocacy group, D.C. Save
ing teachers.
textbooks, the rewriting of curric-
Our Schools. "How can you talk
ulum this summer, teacher orien-
about multicultural and deny the
tations and creation of a multicul-
implementation of African Amer-
tural resource center, officials said.
ican education?"
"Students would be learning
Board member David Eaton (At
more about the role of Africans and
Large), who chairs the Committee
African Americans and other ethnic
on Alternative High Schools and
groups in the making of this country
Emerging Educational Programs,
and the world," said Frances Pow-
said he could not respond to such
ell, the curriculum director for so-
criticism because the Afrocentric
cial studies. "I guess you could call
effort is not yet finished.
it a multicultural curriculum with an
Eaton pointed out that a Values
African-centered focus."
Commission, which he chaired in
Educators in many of the nation's
1988, called on the school system
largest cities and in the Washington
to infuse more multicultural and
suburbs are now assessing Afrocen-
Afrocentric teaching into class-
trism, often defined as a move to
rooms in hopes of heightening stu-
purge bias in books and curricula
dents' self-esteem and self-respect.
that show Europe as the cradle of
But Afrocentric education never
Western culture. To some, it means
has been precisely defined in the
giving students a larger sense of
District public schools. Jenkins
African history and the achieve-
seized on the idea last year, partly
ments of African Americans. To
as a drive to improve student self-
THE WASHINGTON POST
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1991
27
DISPUTES & DILEMMAS
California minorities fight
'chauvinistic' school books
By Dexter Waugh
textbook is as adequate as it should be, I don't
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
think the alternative is to stay with the old text
because it is worse than the one being recom-
California school districts with large mi-
mended."
nority enrollments are on the horns of a di-
lemma: how to buy new history textbooks, use
The Berkeley school board put off the issue
state money for them and deal with com-
after parents protested that the books short-
plaints that the only officially approved text-
changed the roles of black, Asian and His-
book series is culturally chauvinistic.
panic Americans. In Sacramento and East
The textbooks are needed to help teach a
Palo Alto, officials were disturbed enough by
new state history and social science curricu-
last year's controversy to delay any decision
for a year.
lum that schools will be following this fall.
Some districts are plunging ahead and buy-
Teachers in the Klamath-Trinity district,
ing the state-approved books. Others are
where many students are American Indians,
seeking ways to compensate for weaknesses
favor a book rejected by the state which deals
they see in the books. A few may continue
more broadly with Indian viewpoints, includ-
using old ones. Some are postponing any de-
ing a rejected text that includes Indian leg-
cision.
ends.
The quandary is the legacy of a bitter
Fewer publishers, meanwhile, sought state
debate last year over new history textbooks
approval of their textbooks last year -
by publisher Houghton Mifflin. The state
mainly because the state's new curriculum
adopted the kindergarten through eighth-
guidelines required them to come up with
grade series by the Boston publisher over the
entirely new material.
objections of some ethnic and religious
The state Board of Education rejected the
groups who wanted more stress on their
books of seven publishers for falling short of
points of view.
the guidelines, which called for lively nar-
ratives, coverage of controversial issues, new
Most officials praised the books, but critics
subjects like religion, and a diversity of ra-
said they failed to go far enough beyond a
cial, religious and ethnic perspectives.
European-immigrant perspective.
The criticism of the approved books has not
The action left Houghton Mifflin with a
troubled many districts. Long Beach already
virtual lock on grades K-7. Districts must buy
has ordered them. "They are being delivered
these books if they want to pay for them with
by the truckload," said Joanne Ward, Long
state funds.
Beach textbook services manager.
This is the problem for districts lke San
And a panel of parents and teachers is
Francisco, where indications are that at least
scrutinizing the texts in Fresno, where Wanda
one teachers committee found the books lack-
Lister, a curriculum administrator, says that
ing in stressing cultural diversity.
while "one textbook can't provide for all dif-
Although the state's text choice has put the
ferent cultures.
These [new] texts are such
district in a tight corner, said San Francisco
an improvement over what we've had in the
schools Superintendent Ramon Cortines, new
past."
materials are vital. "While I do not think the
Distributed by Scripps Howard.
The Washington Times
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1991
28
DISPUTES & DILEMMAS
Tax Rebate in New Hampshire Town
Poses Test for School-Choice Issue
By FOX BUTTERFIELD
'Frightening Implications'
Dr. DeMinico challenged Mr. Kelle-
Special to The New York Times
But Barbara Barksdale, who has
her's arguments. "It doesn't work out
EPSOM, N.H. - A new program
three children in Epsom's public
as neatly as he claims," the superin-
granting $1,000 tax breaks to families
tendent said, because "the bulk of our
that send their children anywhere but
schools, said, "I see this program as
the first step in abolishing public
costs are fixed costs, for items like
the local public high school may turn
this small town into a national testing
education in this country."
bond debt service, utilities, transpor-
tation and the salaries of teachers
ground for plans that offer parents a
Dr. Paul DeMinico, the superin-
tendent of schools for Epsom and four
and maintenance people."
choice as to where their offspring will
neighboring towns that share Pem-
"So if we get fewer students from
go to school.
The plan was enacted in December
broke Academy, the regional high
Epsom, it doesn't mean that we can
in this town of 2,800 people in south-
school, said: "In my opinion this has
cut our costs the $4,600 we charge per
central New Hampshire as part of an
frightening implications. It creates a
pupil," Dr. DeMinico continued. In-
effort to reduce local property taxes,
new class of citizens who are less re-
stead, he said, the school will have to
which are among the highest in the
sponsible for supporting public
raise the tuition it charges Epsom to
education, and it could mean that
compensate for its loss of revenue
nation. Epsom has no high school of
its own; instead, it pays a fee to a re-
public schools will only be for the
Dr. DeMinico said he also thinks
gional high school for each student it
poor, ethnic minorities and the handi-
the new plan creates "a user-fee sys-
sends there.
capped."
tem for public schools," adding,
Sponsors of the measure contend
He added, "I don't think this is fair
"This goes against what public
that for every family that chooses to
or legal."
education in America has meant."
enroll its children in other schools, in-
The new plan may bring more at-
So far, the parents of 12 Epsom stu-
cluding parochial schools, Epsom will
tention to Epsom than the landmark
dents of high school age have signed
for which the town has been best
save money.
up for rebates. But their children are
known until now - a 10-foot-tall road-
already attending other schools, most
Bush Administration's Views
side replica of a Trojan horse, de-
of them parochial schools. Of the 800
But opponents of the program, in-
signed to mock the United Nations as
students enrolled at Pembroke Acad-
cluding some parents, school officials
the handmaiden of Communism.
emy. 180 are from Epsom.
and the state's largest teachers'
Under the plan, any Epsom prop-
Epsom's adoption of the rebate pro-
union, say it would violate the consti-
erty owner can get a rebate of up to
gram is part of a spreading tax revolt
tutional separation of church and
$1,000 on his property taxes if he
in New Hampshire, the only state in
state and is really a disguised at-
sends his children to a high school
the country except Alaska that has
tempt to undermine public education.
other than Pembroke Academy. This
neither a state income tax nor a sales
They also say it would discriminate
could be a private school, a religious
tax. This has meant a heavy reliance
against those who do not own prop-
school or another public high school.
on local property taxes.
erty.
In New Hampshire, local property
The concept of parental choice
'Choice and Competition' Cited
taxes account for 91 percent of the
plans is favored by the Bush Adminis-
Jack Kelleher, a former town se-
revenue for public schools, by far the
tration, which recently set up the Cen-
lectman who devised the ordinance,
highest percentage in the nation, ac-
ter for Choice in Education as part of
said the program would save the
cording to the United States Depart-
the Department of Education. The
town $3,600 for every student who
ment of Education. The second high-
Administration has strongly sup-
chooses not to go to the local public
est is Oregon, with 68 percent. The na-
ported a new Wisconsin program that
high school. Epsom must pay $4,600
tional average is 46 percent.
allows up to 1,000 low-income families
per pupil to the high school now, but
in Milwaukee to use state funds to
'A Convenient Whipping Boy'
would have to give back only the
send their children to private nonsec-
$1,000 in tax abatements to parents
In small residential towns like
tarian schools.
who sign up for the program, a sav-
Epsom, with no industry or commer-
Clint Bolick, the director of the
ings of $3,600.
cial development to broaden the tax
Landmark Center for Civil Rights in
Mr. Kelleher, a member of the
base, the heavy reliance on property
Washington, a conservative group
Libertarian Party, said, "This is the
taxes has made homeowners keenly
that has offered legal and financial
only program I know of where the
attuned to any increase in school
aid to defend the Epsom program if it
more people participate the more the
budgets. Epsom's property tax rate
is challenged in court, said, "I think
government saves."
has doubled in the past decade, and
Epsom has tremendous potential sig-
The program also fosters "choice
many residents have taken out their
nificance for New Hampshire and the
and competition," said Mr. Kelleher,
anger on the public schools.
United States."
"The schools are a convenient
who is single and has no children.
The center is also providing legal
"Essentially, what we have now is a
whipping boy," said Mrs. Barksdale.
help for the school-choice program in
government monopoly over schools.
Mr. Kelleher, who wrote the rebate
Milwaukee. A lawsuit challenging the
As in any monopoly, quality deterio-
program, said that when he first pro-
Wisconsin law is scheduled to be
posed the plan in 1982 he was re-
argued before the State Supreme
rates and costs go up."
garded as "so radical and crazy" that
Court this spring.
In addition, Mr. Kelleher said, the
no one would sit near him. But he per-
Mr. Bolick said the Epsom pro-
plan would help the local public high
sisted.
gram might be an even more impor-
school because it would reduce
Mrs. Barksdale said Mr. Kelleher
tant "breakthrough for choice" than
crowding in classrooms and lighten
once showed up at a school board
Milwaukee's because it was enacted
teachers' classroom work.
election with a sign saying, "Cut your
by the town itself, without going
property taxes by 75 percent abol-
through a state legislature. "That
ish public education."
makes it highly transportable and
ripe for copying by other municipal-
ities around the country," he said.
The New York Times
29
January 30, 1991
DISPUTES & DILEMMAS
Mrs. Barksdale, who is organizing
Legal Challenge Weighed
a group of parents opposing the pro-
A similar move is being considered
gram, said there were several differ-
Mr. Kelleher is confident the ordi-
by the New Hampshire branch of the
ent groups of people who supported
nance will withstand legal challenge
American Civil Liberties Union and
it: Libertarians like Mr. Kelleher,
because he copied much of its lan-
the National Education Association of
who advocate a sharply reduced role
guage from a landmark 1983 Su-
New Hampshire, the local branch of
for government, especially on the
preme Court decision, Mueller v.
the teachers' union.
Federal level; old-line New England-
Allen, involving a Minnesota law that
But the first challenge may come
ers, who see the program simply as a
allows taxpayers to deduct school
from the neighboring town of Pem-
way to save money; parents who
costs, including those for parochial
broke, which is examining whether
want the best education for their chil-
schools.
Epsom failed to live up to the terms
dren and think the $1,000 will help get
But Ted Comstock, a staff lawyer
of its contract with the district school
them a private school education, and
for the New Hampshire School
system.
Roman Catholics who send their chil-
Boards Association, said he thinks the
Dr. DeMinico said he thinks Epsom'
dren to parochial schools.
Epsom plan violates the First
is in violation, and therefore Pem-
One parent who has signed up for
Amendment, as well as the New
broke could refuse to accept high
Hampshire Constitution's prohibition
school students from Epsom.
the plan is Ken Preve, a college ad-
ministrator with a 15-year-old son in
against using public money for
Bishop Brady High School in Con-
church schools. Mr. Comstock said
cord, 12 miles west if Epsom. "It's a
the association is considering a plan
matter of pure economics for the
to join a lawsuit against the program.
town; it saves the town money," said
Mr. Preve. "The issue of church and
state has nothing to do with it."
Year-round school makes the grade
College Park parents
A number of school districts in oth-
approve first in state
er states have gone to year-round cal-
endars as a way to ease classroom
crowding by operating double sessions
By Angela Duerson Tuck
or to boost student achievement.
Staff writer
College Park's goal is the latter. Mr.
Come July, about 500 College Park
Field is convinced that his pupils will
Elementary School pupils will head
do better on a year-round calendar be-
back to class on Georgia's first year-
cause they'll have less time during the
round school calendar, a schedule that
summer to forget what they learned the
spreads the usual 180 days in a way
previous year.
that experts say improves learning.
In December, 78 percent of parents
A whopping 92 percent of parents
voted in favor of the alternative calen-
- 206 of the 225 who voted - endorsed
dar, but that percentage fell short of
the alternative calendar Wednesday in
the 80 percent mandate sought by the
the second round of balloting in as
school's advisory committee.
many months.
Parent leaders were determined
"We are ecstatic," said Gail Little-
not to give up. They went door to door
field, a teacher at the school. "We were
explaining the concept to parents.
so down because of the last vote."
The turnout in a day and a half of
The new calendar creates four
voting was 75 percent, compared with
quarters separated by three
67 percent in the December vote.
three-week breaks and a six-week sum-
Parents, teachers and administra-
mer vacation.
tors soon will begin developing the
The idea could spread. Principals
year-round calendar, which will bring
from several other metro schools inter-
pupils back to their classrooms in mid-
ested in the year-round schedule have
July after six weeks of vacation. Stu-
called Principal Gary Field since
dents expressed mixed feelings, saying
learning about his school's proposal
last month, he said.
they'll miss some swimming but expect
to "learn more."
The Atlanta Fournal AND CONSTITUTION
THURS., JANUARY 31, 1991
30
DISPUTES & DILEMMAS
An L.A. Columnist's Salvo Launches a War of Words Over
Debra J. Saunders, an editorial writer
and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily
&
Why are you critical of the in-
&
Do you believe that all teachers
News, last summer inflamed the local
creases the teachers won in their last
are overpaid?
teachers' union with a column explaining
contract?
how the Los Angeles Unified School Dis-
A.
Absolutely not. This is a big country
trict spent its $169-per-pupil share of the
A.
Los Angeles teachers seem to be
and
maybe a majority of them are not.
California state lottery.
under the belief that there is so much
While other districts had spent 59 per-
administrative fat in the budget that
&
Some union members have sug-
cent to 65 percent of their proceeds on sal-
their raises can be funded by getting rid
gested that you harbor ill will toward
aries and benefits, she wrote, Los Ange-
of [it], and indeed, there is much to be
them because of a lousy teacher in
les used all but about 3 percent, or $5.05
found. The reality is that their raises
your past.
per student, on salaries, which had been
really cut into other things. There are
hiked substantially following a rancor-
year-round schools in Los Angeles that
A.
I had great [public-school] teachers
ous strike.
don't have air conditioning. That is ob-
when I was a kid. Sure, I had a couple who
After the column ran, Ms. Saunders be-
scene. Kids don't get new books. There is
weren't so great, [and] one or two who
came the target of what she characterizes
a real shortage in that area. Field trips
were downright terrible, but I had a lot of
as harassment.
are down.
good teachers.
Staff writer Karen Diegmueller talked
The problem with paying teachers more
with the columnist shortly before the union
than a district can afford is that it really
Q.
You've taken the union to task on
and the district embarked on a new round
hurts the kids, and I don't feel that the un-
other issues as well. Do you think the
of contract negotiations.
ions care enough about the kids.
union should be abolished?
[U.T.L.A. recently] boasted about how
Q.
You wrote a column that angered
the union was nearing a successful nego-
A.
I personally don't believe in unions
United Teachers-Los Angeles. What
tiation to get teachers four more days of
for professional people. One often hears
happened?
preparation time. Right now, they [get]
teachers complain that they feel they're
two days' preparation, 180 days teach-
not treated like professionals, but let's
A.
United Teachers sent out my home
ing kids. It's not going to help the kids to
face it, the whole union compensation
phone number to its members and urged
reduce that number to 176 days. So
method isn't paying people like profes-
them to call me at home. It also said that
many times what they negotiate for isn't
sionals. It's paying them like assembly-
it had my home address and basically
in the best interest of the kids or to im-
line workers. On the other hand, I believe
threatened to print that as well.
prove their education. It's to make life
people have the right to have a union if
I had to change my phone number. I got
easier for teachers.
they want one.
a couple of basically obscene harassing
calls. One woman said she would beat me
&
What other consequences have
a
What is the best thing that teach-
up if she had my home address. A teacher
the teachers' raises had?
ers could do to improve the schools?
was speaking this way! I felt that these
people sounded like thugs. I think the
A.
After [the district] gave these three
A.
Instead of going for raises this year
whole intention of this was to harass me.
8 percent annual increases to teachers, it
[they could] demand that the district
turned around and gave 8 percent in-
give kids certain things. One of them
&
What had you written to set this
creases for two years to administrators.
[might be] air conditioning. Another one
in motion?
Now the [teaching assistants] have a roll-
would be more books. If the union would
ing strike going.
The school board
do that, that would be the best thing pos-
A.
I believe what upset them was the
tried to raise its [members'] salaries from
sible for kids, a selfless bargaining year.
fact that I started publicizing teachers'
$24,000 to $68,926.
salaries, and people had not been aware of
During the strike, the school board
&
Has this conflict accomplished
what teachers' salaries are in Los Ange-
tried to get money from the legislature.
anything?
les. Teachers start at $29,500; their aver-
Other districts said, if [Los Angeles] was
age salary is $45,880. The highest-paid
able to get money out of the state, they
A.
I've gotten people in the city to start
teacher makes over $92,000. I think that
should be able to get money
for their
paying more attention and not to just
when people started finding out about the
districts as well. It's created a domino ef-
automatically assume that teachers are
salaries, they got very upset.
fect.
underpaid as they once were. The result
will be if they start making exorbitant de-
mands this time around, people are just
going to laugh at them.
EDUCATION WEEK JANUARY 23, 1991
31
DISPUTES & DILEMMAS
Spillane Abandons Hours Plan
By Peter Baker
Spillane and Whitney argued that
Most board members expressed
Washington Post Staff Writer
keeping the county's 72,000 ele-
surprise at the move, and several
mentary students in school 61/2
supporters of extended Mondays
Fairfax County School Superin-
hours five days a week would add
said they were sorry Spillane gave
tendent Robert R. Spillane, faced
the equivalent of three weeks to the
up.
with continuing community and
school year.
teacher opposition, has withdrawn
Teachers complained it would
"It's an educational loss to main"
all proposals to change the number
of our children
disrupt their one chance each week
who need that
of hours elementary students spend
for uninterrupted, collaborative
extra exposure to the classroom,"
in class next year.
planning.
said School Board member Ar-
The move represents an uncon-
Although School Board members
mando M. Rodriguez (Mount Ver-
ditional surrender for Spillane, who
non). "I know that delay is some-
unanimously supported the concept
just a month ago declared the issue
thing that can't be helped, but I also
in November 1989, an effort to pass
of the elementary school schedule
can't help feeling the loss for these
a specific proposal failed on a 5 to 5
children."
important enough "to go to war"
vote last November, largely be-
with his critics on the School Board,
cause of concern over the $5.9 mil-
on the Board of Supervisors and in
lion price tag.
the teachers unions.
Spillane, defiantly charging that
"I'm reminded of Kenny Rog-
politics had killed his plan, resur-
ers-you got to know when to hold
rected it with a lower cost, $3.6
'em and know when to fold 'em, and
million, in January, but ran into
I'm folding them on this one," Spil-
near-universal opposition from the
lane told the School Board on
community.
Thursday night.
Then, in a partial retreat, he sug-
Then, in an unusual bow to one
gested extending Mondays but re-
of his chief opponents, he turned
ducing the other four days of the
to the president of the Fairfax Ed-
week so that students would spend
ucation Association, who had lob-
six hours in school each day.
bied against this proposals. "Mau-
While there would be no net in-
reen Daniels, you were absolutely
crease in class time, Spillane por-
right-it's time to move on," he
told her. "This is the first time
trayed the idea as an interim step
on the way to a uniform 61/2-hour
we've agreed in a long, long time,
school day.
and I hope it's not the only time."
Daniels, who has accused Spillane
In an interview yesterday, Spil-
of stubbornly clinging to the issue
lane said he abandoned that idea for
because of his ego, welcomed his
three reasons: opposition from Dan-
move as a "happy ending" and a
iels's union and the Fairfax County
chance to concentrate on other
Council of PTAs, the $1.6 million it
items.
would cost in added wages for bus
"I really am relieved," Daniels
drivers and scheduling difficulties
said yesterday. "I take him at his
that would force 48 schools to open
word that we need to get on with
as late as 9:30 a.m.
[running the schools]. I think he
He said he remains committed to
saw the political handwriting on the
the concept of the 61/2-hour day, but
wall, which was that there was no
promised board members that he
way he was going to salvage this
will not propose it again without
and maintain his credibility as our
direction from them.
instructional leader."
"I will keep the vision of a re-
For more than a year and a half,
structured day as being critical
Spillane and School Board Chairman
but I will not bring it up again un-
Kohann H. Whitney (Centreville)
less a School Board member brings
have campaigned to abandon the
it up again, and then I'll grab that
school system's longstanding prac-
flag and run with it," he said. "If we
tice of closing elementary schools
can't do it this year, do it next year.
up to 2½ hours early on Mondays.
If we can't do it next year, do it the
year after."
32
THE WASHINGTON Posr
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10. 1991
FROM THE TRENCHES
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
HE BUILDING RESEMBLES A HIGH-TECH
able affect on her students. Once, when a student
corporate headquarters. On the roof of the sprawl-
got out of hand, she picked up the phone and called
ing glass-and-red-brick structure sits a gleaming
home. "That blows them away," she says. "They
white satellite dish, which catches sunlight like a
say, You can call mom?' They are much more
dewed spider web. Inside, a secretary answers the
aware of immediate repercussions." Other teachers
phone and types a command into a computer,
use the phone in class to arrange field trips or to
bringing up the information needed to answer the
have students talk to experts in the community.
caller's question. In another room, a person about
A buildingwide "voice mail" system, which works
to give a slide presentation pushes a button and a
like an answering machine and takes messages for
screen slides down from the ceiling with a hum. In
each teacher, further encourages communication.
the hall, a rectangular board spells out a silent
Teachers can pick up their messages from any
message with moving red lights that look like stock
phone in the school-or anywhere in the world, for
tickers on Wall Street.
that matter. "If you have a quick question," says
But the message on the electronic board has
Susan Brooks, who teaches English at Dakota
nothing to do with the price of equities; it an-
Hills, "you lift up the phone, and leave a message
nounces that class rings are on sale in the cafeteria.
for someone. They can get back to you and say, 'Yes,
A bell peals, shattering the corporate atmosphere
that's OK,' or 'No, that's not,' then you're done. You
and sending scores of teenagers out of classrooms
aren't chasing someone all over or writing notes."
and into the hallways.
Voice mail also helps parents track teachers
The building, located in Eagan, Minn., some 15
down when they have a problem or concern. Some
miles from downtown St. Paul, houses Dakota Hills
teachers send notes home every three weeks with
Middle School and Eagan High School. The schools,
an update on class activities and their voice-mail
which fully opened last fall, make use of technolo-
number. That way, parents feel informed and know
gies that the rest of the working world takes for
that the teachers are accessible. Mike Vruno, a
granted. A visitor will find televisions, videocas-
social studies teacher at the mid-
sette recorders, and telephones in most classrooms,
dle school, says voice mail has
and a sizable inventory of video cameras, videodisc
helped him become more respon-
players, and other high-tech gadgets, which are
sive to parents. "I find myself
wheeled around on metal carts from room to room.
worrying less about talking to
But at these two schools, the focus is not on the
parents because there's less time
technology; it's on learning. Thomas Wilson, Eagan
involved," he says. "I'm already
High's principal, compares the technology in the
on the phone, so it's easy to take
school to a phone in a home: "You have a telephone
care of the problem right then. IfI
in your home, but your home doesn't focus around
get notes in my box, I put them on
the telephone. The phone is just a part of what you
the bulletin board and there they
do every day; it gets absorbed into the fabric of your
stay for a week."
life."
Wilson knew that the technology would only
ONE THING THIS "SCHOOL
become part of the fabric of school life if teachers
of the future" doesn't have is a
used it frequently. He also knew that teachers
computer on every student's desk.
would only use it frequently if it was helpful and
Why not? Because software
simple to use. All too often, he'd heard teachers say,
doesn't teach, teachers teach, ac-
"I don't think I'll use that video tape. It's too
cording to Brad Johnson, middle
clumsy." So, to avoid turning teachers into "scien-
school teacher and resident com-
tists of wires," Wilson equipped each classroom
puter guru. Of course, teachers
with one electronic switchboard that enables the
use computers, but only when
teacher to orchestrate the use of many machines.
they're needed.
Wilson points to the simple configuration of
Teachers have a number of
switches and outlets to describe his brainchild.
computer options available to
Need the lights off to watch a video on the overhead
them. Both schools have large,
television? Just flick the switch. Want to watch a
centrally located computer labs,
conference on global warming beamed down by
with PCs lined up back to back
satellite? Simply change the channel on the VCR.
like tightly packed rows of corn.
Need help? Lift the phone and call for support.
Unlike most schools, computer
Just putting simple devices like telephones in
useisn't restricted to word process-
every classroom has revolutionized the school,
ing and computer programming;
connecting teachers to each other, to administra-
students also work on spread-
tors, and to the outside world. Rita Anderson, an
sheets, foreign languages, com-
English teacher who has a class of rambunctious
puter-aided design, and desktop
10th graders, found that the phone has a remark-
publishing, as well as other appli-
cations.
33
TEACHER MAGAZINE JANUARY 1991
FROM THE TRENCHES
Teachers generally use computers to supplement
contact," she says, "they begin to believe it when
classroom instruction. For example, geometry
they actually see it." One teacher even tapes all of
teacher Jane Lee presents a unit on geometrical
her lectures that cover new material SO students
perspective in her classroom and then brings her
who missed class or didn't understand a topic can
students into the labs for some three-dimensional
view them again.
simulations that let them flip and rotate triangles
and lines. "Kids need to see things," she says. "It's
IN THE BELLY OF THE BUILDING, FAR
hard for them to always read theorems and words.
from the rows of desks and chalkboards, is a nerve
On computer, they make conclusions on their own,
center of microchips and megabytes. It's a room
without me leading them to it. It allows them to
that whispers "mission control" rather than
discover."
"teacher control." This "switch room" houses the
In addition to the central labs, both schools have
building's bell and PA sys-
computers that teachers can wheel in for classroom
tem, security system, and
use; in the middle school, teachers can borrow as
energy-management sys-
many as eight computers at a time. In one
tem. It is also the central
classroom, a group of kids who normally bolt for the
feed for telephone wires, TV
door at the end of class are S0 caught up in the scary
cables, and the instruc-
stories they are writing on computers that they
tional computing network.
don't even notice the bell has sounded. "You guys
It is packed with a tangle of
need to shut these babies down," the teacher yells
wires, boards lit up with
as little fingers type furiously.
scores of red lights, and
Plenty of additional computers are located in
nearly a dozen glowing com-
teachers' offices and in the library. Those in the
puter monitors.
labs, classrooms, and library are networked, SO
When there's a problem
teachers and students can call up something they
in the building, whether it
are working on from almost any computer in the
involves ventilation or voice
building.
mail, the custodian or ad-
ministrator will probably
THE EAGAN AND DAKOTA HILLS LIBRAR-
solve it from this room.
ies are located in the center of each school, like
"Before the custodian
ancient Roman atriums. But that's their only
reaches for his tools," says
connection to ancient times. The libraries-also
Greg Utecht, teacher and
known as "media centers"-are a grand departure
technology coordinator for
from the days when students riffled through the
the high school, "he sits
card catalogs and Readers' Guide, scribbling notes
down in front of the com-
on scrap paper. Instead, young researchers belly up
puter, dials up a graphic of
to an IBM computer and type in a topic, author, or
the building, and scans
book title for an instant on-line search. An elec-
through to find out what's
tronic card catalog tells them if a book is checked
wrong. Then, he gets his
out, so they don't have to waste time looking for it.
tool belt to fix it."
Thanks to CD-ROM technology, which enables
This automation makes
volumes of information to be housed on a small
life easier in the admini-
disc, students can touch a few buttons and get
stration office, as well.
computer printouts of magazine and newspaper
"This office is run as a business," says secretary
articles published in the past five years. They can
Judith Palmateer. "Information is readily accessi-
also take notes and write papers on the computers.
ble, well-organized, and easy to find." Palmateer is
And when it's time to check out a book, a laser gun,
often the first person people talk to at the school.
like a grocery store scanner, simply reads the bar
And the memos, calendars, and personnel files
code on the book and the student's ID number.
stored on her computer help her answer their
These research tools and a number of other
questions right away. "There's less filing, and
high-tech devices allow students to go beyond
information is right at your fingertips," she says,
writing traditional term papers. With video cam-
typing away at her keyboard.
eras, state-of-the-art editing equipment, and Apple
Computers also keep track of student attend-
Computer's HyperCard, students can prepare video
ance. For the moment, teachers pencil in little
reports that meld spoken scripts, taped footage,
ovals on class rosters, and the computer reads them
and segments from a visual almanàc that has video
and quickly compiles the data. Utecht hopes that in
clips on everything from speeches by Martin
the future, teachers will be able to enter atten-
Luther King Jr. to physics experiments.
dance figures directly into the computer. A soft-
Students aren't the only ones who know that
ware program also helps teachers calculate their
video cameras are good for more than just home
students' grades. When parent-teacher conference
videos. In her speech class, Brooks tapes students
time came this year, teachers printed out individ-
so they can see for themselves if they speak too
ual progress reports for each student, complete
quickly or avoid eye contact. "Even though we've
with class standing and comments.
told them 18 times that they need more eye
34
FROM THE TRENCHES
But the real boon for teachers is the way
Teachers say this kind of support gives them
computers have helped them cut their load of daily
more control over their teaching. "In this school, we
paperwork; they can use the machines to prepare
have a lot more power over what we want to do,"
lesson plans, work sheets, tests, and memos. After
Brooks says. "I feel like I can try something. If I get
a teacher has prepared a ditto, he or she can send it
stuck, I have a resource."
electronically to a "resource" room with instruc-
Utecht tries to nudge his colleagues along
tions for the secretaries. A secretary then prints
gently: "One thing we do with both teachers and
out the document, makes copies, and sends the
kids is to say, 'We don't care how we hook you, we
computer file back to the teacher's personal elec-
just want to hook you.' So, if we hook a kid using the
tronic file cabinet. "We've gotten spoiled because
computer after school on the yearbook, and the kid
we can spend more time on teaching and less time
thinks, 'Hey, it would be great to do my social
running errands," says Brooks. "We're getting to
studies paper on this,' we've got 'em."
the heart of things faster."
During one training session, Utecht tried to hook
a 50-year-old admitted "computerphobe" who in-
THE EAGAN SCHOOLS HAVE ABANDONED
sisted he would never use the machines. Utecht
the traditional classroom with four walls and a
showed the man, the school's baseball coach, a
door. Most classrooms in the schools have three
graphics program, and he seemed mildly inter-
walls and one open side facing the library or a
ested. So, Utecht called up a file that included some
hallway.
baseball clip art. All of a sudden, Utecht couldn't
A teacher walking by can see other teachers in
get rid of him, the computer whiz recounts with a
action. Although some admit that the less-than-
smile. Now, the teacher takes a computer home
private classrooms have taken some getting used
every weekend.
to, most say the open environment has helped them
"You keep a hand at their backs," Utecht says.
pick up new ideas. "If I had my own classroom,
"You never shove somebody over the cliff, but you
where I shut the door, I would never get to see how
won't let them back away. You know they'll get
the teacher next door uses the computer," Vruno
there eventually because the world's going to make
says. "Anytime I see something appropriate for my
them go there."
kids, I take it."
At both schools, the process has not been without
The middle school is broken into interdiscipli-
difficulties. Some teachers have mastered the
nary "houses," each with four rooms. Some rooms
technology, but others need more practice. Utecht
open to the hallway, and some walls between rooms
and Johnson have been battling computer viruses
are movable. The English, science, social studies,
and other incapacitating ailments in the equip-
and math teachers who share the four rooms have a
ment. And overeager secretaries and administra-
common planning time. This interdisciplinary ap-
tors have put too much information on computer
proach supports the use of technology since
disks, making it more difficult for people to find
teachers aren't confined by the traditional
what they really need.
structure of the school day. "If teachers want
Teachers say the technology has shaken up their
to use technology to do something," says
lives. "Teachers are much busier now because
Johnson, "they don't have to be limited by a
nothing stays the same," says high school teacher
40-minute period."
Suevonne Carlson. "You have new approaches and
Before the new school opened, teachers
new software; you have to make changes and
had a week of training with the phone,
revisions. It takes more planning, and you have to
audiovisual, and computer equipment. Peri-
be open to new ideas and committed to working
odically, special inservice sessions are held to
with technology."
bring the staff up to date on new software or
Despite the problems and the challenges, the
hardware. But training alone doesn't explain
teachers say they have no intention of giving up.
the relaxed, eager attitude of faculty mem-
Technology, they say, is a tool whose time has
bers, most of whom came from traditional
come. "I can't help but think these kids are going to
schools in the district.
be better prepared for the real world," says
The other two-thirds of the credit goes to
Anderson of the high school. "One, because they
Greg Utecht and Brad Johnson, two teachers-
know the power of technology. And two, because it
turned-coordinators who agreed to spend
helps me teach them the skills they need."
most of their time helping the schools' teach-
-Elizabeth Schulz
ers use technology. Utecht teaches only two
high school courses and Johnson spends his
entire day making the high-tech tools work.
"We can go to Brad and say, 'We want to do
something with charts,' and he makes it
happen," Brooks explains. "We say, 'We want
our kids to design their own space station on Mars,'
and he'll show us what we need and how to do it."
Middle school principal Patrick Sullivan says that
Johnson often helps a teacher with a new skill
during first or second period. And by the end of the
day, he says, the teacher has it mastered.
35
FROM THE TRENCHES
Miss. Study of 'Writing To Read' Finds
'Significant' Gains in Students' Skills
By Peter West
A new study of 1st graders who
jor one to doso since a spate of papers
Five groups performed better on
have used the computer-based "Writ-
last year questioned the validity of
language achievement on the Stan-
ing to Read" literacy program con-
many of the previous findings.
ford test.
cludes that it "significantly" improves
In several published and unpub-
Six groups performed better on
students' reading and writing skills.
lished papers, researchers argued
the Stanford spelling test.
"We found out we could make a
variously that the improvements
While Mr. Chambless said he was
difference in literacy skills with this
produced were negligible when com-
impressed with the results, he did
group of kids," said James R.
pared with those achieved using
not endorse any particular method
Chambless, one of three co-authors
adequate "paper-and-pencil pro-
of computer-assisted instruction.
of the study of the popular program.
grams"; that many of the alleged ed-
"There may be other programs
Mr. Chambless, an associate dean
ucational benefits could be traced to
that can do a better job," he said.
and professor of educational leader-
the additional attention children in
"But what you have to ask yourself
ship at the University of Mississippi,
pilot schools received; and that the
is 'How teacher-intensive are those
led a three-person team that studied
program is too costly to justify its
programs?"
the program, marketed by the Inter-
relatively small benefits. (See Edu-
In a related development, a five-
national Business Machines Corpora-
cation Week, Aug. 1, 1990.)
year study concluded that kinder-
tion, in 54 Mississippi schools during
The Mississippi study, while not
gartners exposed to the Writing to
the 1988-89 school year.
designed to test those critical asser-
Read program in the Volusia County,
An executive summary of the
tions, does support previous findings
Fla., schools showed improvements.
study, which was conducted under
of the program's effectiveness, Mr.
James Surratt, the district's super-
the auspices of Gov. Ray Mabus's of-
Chambless said.
intendent, said that kindergartners
fice, was released last month at a
A more detailed analysis of the
who used the program scored 10 per-
press conference in the state capital.
findings is now being prepared for
cent to 20 percent better on standard-
Under an agreement between the
publication, he added.
ized tests than did their peers who
state and two private foundations,
were not part of the program.
Mr. Mabus plans to make Writing to
Reading, Writing Improved
Read laboratories available to every
The research team divided the
elementary school in the state with-
study population of 2,175 1st grad-
in three years. The University of
ers from 27 schools across the state
Mississippi study was designed to
into eight groups on the basis of sex,
test the efficacy of the instructional
race, and high or low socioeconomic
strategy in improving literacy.
status. Their performance was com-
Cal Morell, a spokesman for the
pared with that of an equal number
Los Angeles-based Riordan Founda-
of students at control schools in the
tion, which helped finance the Mis-
same districts. The study's findings
sissippi project and similar ventures
are based on a 20 percent random
elsewhere, said the foundation paid
sample of test and control students.
to have the executive summary
On the basis of their writing sam-
printed and will help distribute
ples, students in the Writing to Read
copies of it.
groups wrote "significantly better"
The foundation also will fund a
than did students in the control
longitudinal study of the Mississippi
groups, according to the summary.
students, he said.
In addition:
While numerous evaluations of the
Seven study groups had a "signifi-
"multi-sensory" program for students
cantly more positive attitude toward
in grades K and 1 tend to indicate
reading" as measured by the San
that it improves literacy, the Missis-
Diego Reading Attitude Inventory.
sippi study appears to be the first ma-
Six groups had significantly better
reading achievement as measured by
the Stanford Achievement Test.
EDUCATION WEEK JANUARY 23, 1991
36
FROM THE TRENCHES
As Students Come to Class Less Healthy,
School Clinics. Try to Offer More
By MICHEL MARRIOTT
curriculums can teach students the
Adolescents' Problems
The hammering had gone on for
importance of preventive care.
The first full-service clinic to also
weeks, but few at Franklin K. Lane
"If you are going to reach kids at a
provide family planning counseling
High School in Queens seemed to
time when intervention and preven-
services, and the model for most
mind. In this castle of a school build-
tion may have some impact, then you
modern school clinics, was estab-
ing that stands at the edge of a ceme-
have to get to them early, and where
lished in 1973 in a high school in St.
tery, there is a bubbling anticipation
they are," Dr. Kaplan said. "A school-
Paul, Minn. The idea spread quickly.
about what the room down the hall
based health center is just an easy
Nationally, about half of the stu-
from the principal's office will be-
way to reach kids and address some
dents who use school clinics have no
come'next month.
of their issues."
other primary source for health care,
"It's going to be a student health
said Population Options officials,
center," Miriam Lassalle, a 17-year-
Filling a Need
referring to a study the group con-
old senior, said proudly. "It's going to
Holly K. Shaw, a registered nurse
cluded in 1988.
be something positive, something
at Schneider Children's Hospital, a
In many clinics, the proportion of
needed around here."
division of Long Island Jewish Medi-
adolescents without any other health
For years, many of the students
cal Center in New Hyde Park, is as-
care is almost 100 percent, they said.
who attend Lane have suffered an
sociate director of the Lane health
Among the reasons are the menace
alarming number of illnesses. At
center project. Ms. Shaw, who spe-
of drug and alcohol abuse and the in-
times, asthma and diabetes appear
almost as common as a winter cough.
cializes in adolescent medicine, said
creasing incidents of violence in
the center was needed because many
America's schools, health care and
Violent homes and neighborhoods dis-
patch scores of students to school
clinics and doctors' offices are either
school administrators said.
with cuts, bruises and an occasional
not in neighborhoods where poor
"There has been a tremendous
gunshot wound. And some Lane stu-
teen-agers live or their office hours
surge in the last 20 years of the num-
do not extend very long after school is
ber of these clinics because the need
dents wrestle with depression, sub-
out. And adolescents are often reluc-
is so great," said John Santelli, Balti-
stance abuse and sexual abuse.
tant to discuss potentially embar-
more's director of school health.
On any given day, about 700 of the
school's 4,000 students are absent and
rassing health or emotional problems
Among adolescents, Dr. Santelli
in need of medical care for "acute or
with parents, she said.
said, "incidents of homicides are up
chronic illnesses," school officials
The majority of school-based
in the cities, suicides are up in the
health centers provide services in-
suburbs and fatal accidents are up
say.
cluding physical examinations,
across the board."
'Something That Has to Be'
weight and drug counseling, treat-
The job of the lone school nurse,
"I don't think you can go into a
ment of illness and minor injuries
whose post has already been ravaged
classroom and not find at least one
and testing for pregnancy and sex-
by a decade of budget cuts in public
kid who has asthma or sickle cell ane-
ually transmitted diseases. The Lane
education, is now challenged by a stu-
mia," said Morton Damesek, the
school clinic, which will provide all of
dent body less healthy than it once
school's principal. "And I can't tell
these services, is scheduled to open
was.
you how many kids don't go to doc-
Friday.
"The problem is so big that no one
tors. This health center is something
An Idea That Spread Quickly
agency can really meet the need,"
that has to be."
said Ronald Shenker, chief of adoles-
As joblessness and despair ripple
The first full-service health clinic in
cent medicine at Schneider Chil-
through America, the ability of many
an American school was established
dren's Hospital. Dr. Shenker, who is
families to pay for adequate health
in Dallas in 1970. By 1984 there were
project director of the Lane health
care diminishes, said David Kaplan,
31; two years later the number had
center, said school-based clinics were
chief of adolescent medicine at the
doubled. In early 1990, there were 162
sure to become more common.
University of Colorado School of
such health centers in 33 states, ac-
Most school health centers are
Medicine in Denver, where there are
cording to the Center for Population
staffed by registered and practical
three school-based health clinics. And
Options, a Washington research and
nurses assisted by visiting doctors
the medical needs of teen-agers are
advocacy group that directs much of
and dentists. The services are usually
often overlooked, he said, because at
its work at preventing pregnancy and
paid for by municipal governments
their age they are expected to be
the spread of sexually transmitted
and, when possible, by Medicaid and
healthy.
diseases among adolescents.
health insurance reimbursements.
In addition to services like free
School health care dates from the
Local medical centers and hospitals
breakfast and lunch programs,
1890's when health programs were
also often provide services.
schools like Lane are increasingly
placed in schools to combat the out-
being called on by educators and
break of infectious diseases often car-
For instance, the Lane clinic, one of
medical professionals to provide free
ried by immigrant children living in
eight being built by the New York
treatment for adolescents with physi-
unsanitary tenements. But not until
City Board of Education, will have an
cal- and emotional problems. Health
the 1960's - long after traveling doc-
annual operating budget of $250,000
care has now become part of the
tors had been replaced by nurses sta-
financed by the New York City De-
trend of schools performing many
tioned in schools - did it become
partment of Health. Medical staff at
functions that were once provided by
clear that many students were inade-
the clinic will be provided by Schnei-
the family.
quately served. Among other cities to
der Children's Hospital, said a hospi-
And health centers placed in public
install school-based health clinics, in
tal spokesman, and the hospital itself
schools and coordinated with health
the 1970's, were Galveston, Tex., and
will be available if necessary.
Cambridge, Mass.
The New York Times January 30, 1991
37
FROM THE TRENCHES
A 'Personal Contract'
Adele De Maro, who lives in Wood-
Abortion counseling will be avail-
The movement for school-based
haven, the neighborhood in which
able at the clinic, Ms. Shaw said. At
health care has not been without de-
Lane High School is situated, said.
the same time, she said, students will
tractors. Some parents said they
that at first she was very critical of
be encouraged to involve their par-
were skeptical of trusting the care of
having a clinic in the school. "You,
ents in exploring "any and all options
their children to institutions that
couldn't believe how against it I was
and alternatives" to pregnancy.
often have difficulty teaching stu-
in the beginning," she said. "But now
"You have to establish trust right
dents to read. Others have been out-
I see it's a great idea."
at the beginning by being absolutely
right suspicious.
A crucial part of assuaging paren-
trustworthy," Ms. Shaw said. "You
For example, dozens of parents in
tal misgivings about the clinic was
have to be beyond reproach."
the poor and working-class neighbor-
done through something that Ms.
Maria Thomson, a member of the
hoods where Lane High School stu,
Shaw calls a "personal contract."
student health center's community
dents live feared the health center
That, she explained, was a promise
advisory board, said she believed the
would become a source for contra-
that no student would receive non-
clinic would be "fantastic."
ceptives and abortions. They have
emergency care at the health center
"There are young people at Lane,
been assured by school administra,
without parental consent. And, she
who don't go to doctors, who've never
tors that neither will be the case.
added, "there will be no abortions
been to a dentist in their lives," she
conducted at the health center."
said. "My God, the bottom line has to
be giving theft better health care."
A bitter Rochester
spurns teachers union
By Carol Innerst
AFT President Albert Shanker urged the
The pay-for-performance provision of the
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
local board to reconsider its vote.
contract, rejected by the school board be-
"Reform in Rochester is rooted in the union
A community impatient with a much-
cause it did not provide sufficient teacher
heralded education reform effort has turned
contract and its progress depends on it," he
accountability, gave "satisfactory" teachers a
on the teachers union that pledged to help
said. "As a union, we have changed the way we
7 percent raise. But teachers who got a "needs
do business; we have taken a lot of risks."
improve its failing schools.
improvement" or lower rating were entitled to
The 2,500 members of the Rochester
Three years ago Rochester, N.Y., reached
a review by five teachers and administrators.
an unprecedented agreement with the local
Teachers Association overwhelmingly ap-
That second review could result in anything
affiliate of the American Federation of Teach-
proved the contract the school board rejected.
from no raise to a full raise, said Mr. McWal-
ers to weave school reform into traditional
The contract would have raised the average
ters.
bargaining issues. The teachers received an
teacher's salary to $55,000 over three years, a
Rochester union leaders, warning that the
24 percent increase. It also was the nation's
increase in salary and input in changes being
school board "has put in great jeopardy all the
made.
first to recognize the concept of teachers
reform initiatives," retaliated by urging
In return, teachers were expected to feel
sharing accountability with parents and com-
teachers to take a stance of "non-cooperation"
more accountable for student learning and
munity for student learning.
with the school district until an agreement is
support the reform effort.
"Teachers can only be held accountable for
reached.
Last week, mindful of community impa-
what is under their control," argued union
Some teachers are putting in the minimum-
tience over the lack of obvious improvement
president Adam Urbanski. "Parents, adminis-
required time or refusing to participate in
and a state financial crunch, the Rochester
trators and the community at large - all of
school-based planning teams, Mr. McWalters
school board voted 7-0 to reject a $33 million
whom have a stake in the future of our chil-
said.
contract.
dren - must also assume responsibility for
"Clearly, without any question, political
"It could mean reform is over," said Super-
student achievement."
will has been lost," Mr. McWalters said. "Lo-
intendent of Schools Peter McWalters, a for-
The current teachers' contract expired
cally, there's a real sense that [national] atten-
mer teacher. "Or that leadership of the reform
June 30. In September the union rejected a
tion was sought and is now being appropri-
movement will change hands. Or we could
proposal that contained a merit pay plan. A
ately humbled."
keep going back to the table.
considerably weaker pay-for-performance
"Clearly the community said 'Don't pass
plan proved a sticking point in the school
this'," he said. "The mayor, county legislators,
board's Jan. 23 rejection of the contract.
parent groups, all were against it. They want
Under the contract the union rejected, a
to know, 'did we get what we thought we were
teacher getting a "superior" evaluation would
going to get three years ago?' My sense is that
have been rewarded with 11 percent raises
right now, there's still a [high] dropout rate
each year of the three-year contract. A
and not everybody's succeeding at the highest
teacher who got a "needs improvement" eval-
standards
so they raced the judgment."
uation would have gotten a 4.5 percent raise
each year; an "unsatisfactory" evaluation
would have resulted in no raise.
The Washington Times February 4, 1991
38
FROM THE TRENCHES
Rochester Contract Woes Ignite Debate Over 'Accountability'
By Ann Bradley
In 1987, when the city's first
trol," said Nancy Herrera, a basic-
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-The seven-month
ground-breaking teachers' contract
skills teacher at Elementary School
search for a way to incorporate the concept
was announced, educators here used
No. 8. "We felt we were being asked
of "accountability" into Rochester's teach-
the term "accountability" to refer to
to be accountable for things beyond
ing contract has ignited a contentious de-
the fact that teachers would be ex-
our control."
bate here about what the word means and
pected to meet their students' needs
Ms. Herrera said she was con-
how to achieve it.
and to put in the extra time such
cerned, like many teachers who
With two failed tentative agreements be-
work would require.
echoed her views, about the new
hind them, the Rochester Teachers Associ-
But in the intervening years, the
portfolios that the contract would
ation and city school district are now await-
term has taken on a different mean-
have required teachers to assemble.
ing the assistance of state mediators in
ing, prompting confusion among
Under the agreement, the portfolios
reaching another agreement.
some Rochester residents and ques-
were to include samples of student
The fact that the union and the school
tions about whether the promised
work, comments from parents, evi-
district were twice able to reach tentative
accountability has actually been de-
dence of professional-development
agreements containing accountability pro-
livered.
activities, lesson plans, and other
visions is evidence, experts said last week,
"Some say, Where are the results
materials to demonstrate teaching
of unprecedented progress toward address-
in student performance?' Other say,
skill.
ing one of the most difficult concepts in
'Bad teachers are still in the system.'
Nationally, the concept of using
school reform today.
Others want 'pay for performance,"
portfolios to assess teachers' work is
said Marc S. Tucker, president of the
still in its infancy. The National
But in Rochester-where school reform
National Center on Education and
Board for Professional Teaching
has been a topic of discussion since the mid-
the Economy here.
Standards, which is developing a vo-
1980's-grave concerns about New York
To Catherine Spoto, president of
luntary certification system to rec-
State's economy and a political climate that
the school board, the public outcry
ognize outstanding teachers, has
has fixed attention almost exclusively on
over how much teachers' salaries
just begun the research-and-devel-
teachers' salaries have overshadowed those
should be increased "is a very power-
opment effort that is expected to pro-
achievements.
ful sign that, at the end of three
duce reliable performance-based as-
The uproar that has followed the defeat of
years, there is very little community
sessment techniques.
the two contracts-in September by the
understanding of what we're trying
Lee S. Shulman, the Stanford edu-
teachers' union and Jan. 23 by the Roches-
to do."
cation professor who has conducted
ter school board-also has brought
"We never overcame the attitude,
ground-breaking research exploring
'We paid teachers big bucks in '87,
the use of portfolios, said he was im-
into sharp relief the deep divide that
still exists between the education
and we're not getting our money's
pressed with the willingness of con-
worth, SO why should we pay them
tract negotiators in Rochester to
system and the larger community.
Although teachers say they are
again?" she added.
tackle new assessement techniques.
The first contract agreement, an-
But, Mr. Shulman, who served as
deeply disappointed and angry at
the board's vote, they share some
nounced in September, contained a
a consultant during contract talks
board members' dismay that the
pay-for-performance plan that
here, said, such techniques need to
community has not grasped the dis-
would have based teachers' raises on
be tested before they are applied
their ratings under a new evalua-
across the board to determine a
trict's accomplishments over the
tion system. Teachers who received
teacher's salary.
past three years.
superior ratings in each year of the
"People have every reason to be
Working as a mentor teacher,
Carl O'Connell said, "I personally
three-year contract could have
suspicious" of portfolios, he said, "be-
talked two people into resigning. I
earned total raises of up to 33.6 per-
cause they' never been tried out in
didn't do it for me or the school board
cent over the life of the contract.
the field."
or the-community; I did it for the stu-
The agreement's announcement
"What you don't want to do," he
dents. That's fundamental change.
was met with immediate concern
cautioned, "is take a brand-new ap-
over whether the contract would be
proach and throw it into the highest-
How many community people know
about that? How much more ac-
affordable, as well as with a good
stakes environment."
countable can I be?"
deal of confusion over how the evalu-
ation system would work. (See Edu-
Merit Pay Still Issue
'Not Getting Money's Worth'
cation Week, Sept. 26, 1990.)
Whatever the concerns over the
School officials say Rochester's re-
pay-for-performance scheme, some
High-Stakes Environment
form efforts have been driven by a
Rochester taxpayers interpreted the
recognition that the school system
In voting against the first contract
teachers' vote against the first con-
needs to "take ownership" of its stu-
agreement, many teachers inter-
tract as a sign that they were duck-
dents and take steps to ensure that
viewed recently said they were not
ing accountability after several
each is given every opportunity to
trying to avoid individual account-
years of being paid relatively high
learn to his fullest potential.
ability. The problem, they said, was
wages.
that they did not have enough de-
"Whether or not it was true, part
tails about what they were getting
of the community came out and said,
into to ratify it.
'Now you don't want to be held ac-
"I think teachers want to be held
countable," said Wanda Strother,
accountable for things we can con-
who serves on the board of a local
advocacy and community-action
EDUCATION WEEK FEBRUARY 6, 1991
group.
39
FROM THE TRENCHES
At the same time, however, the
"Unless you know the dynamics,
The contract also included a section
language of the first contract firmly
you could read more into this than
on school accountability that would
planted the concept of "pay for per-
there is to it," Mr. Urbanski said of
have required each school to formally
formance" in the minds of other in-
the board's no vote.
negotiate a multi-year improvement
fluential leaders in the community
Mr. Johnson of the Urban League
plan with the district. Each year,
as well as some school-board mem-
and several parents here also said
schools' progress toward meeting
bers.
they were offended by the tone of
their goals would have been assessed.
"I think having opened that win-
teachers who spoke at a public hear-
dow, now it is going to be very diffi-
ing to urge board members to vote
Emphasis on Contract
cult to shut it," said William A.
for the second contract.
Superintendent of Schools Peter
Johnson, the president of the Urban
"Too many teachers who spoke out
McWalters and Mr. Urbanski said in
League and a critic of the salary in-
at the public hearing made the con-
interviews last week that they were
creases offered to teachers in the two
nection between their pay and con-
deeply frustrated that the education-
agreements. "It's too late for the
tinued commitment to reform," Mr.
al strides represented in the second
union to turn around and say, We
Johnson said.
contract were lost in the continuing
can't have pay linked to perform-
Destructive Competition?
uproar over teacher salaries.
ance."
Mr. McWalters and the district's
Such was the atmosphere here
Linda Darling-Hammond, a pro-
chief negotiator, Adam Kaufman,
when the second tentative agree-
fessor of curriculum and teaching at
pointed out that two large suburban
ment, which was ratified last month
Teachers College, Columbia Univer-
Monroe County districts recently
by 97 percent of the city's teachers,
sity, consulted with the negotiating
reached contract settlements with
was announced.
teams over how to refine the failed
larger raises than Rochester teach-
Instead of linking teachers' pay to
September contract.
ers would have received. Yet, they
whether they met various levels of
The first proposal, she said, was built
said, the county politicians who
performance, the contract distin-
on the same merit-pay model that had
have been critical of the city con-
guished between giving raises to
proved unsuccessful during the 1980's
tracts did not make an issue out of
teachers who were considered to be
in several states and districts. In con-
the suburban settlements.
doing their jobs, and referring those
trast, the second proposal built on the
Desrite the pressures that such a
who were not to intervention. At
existing career ladder and offered a
focus brings to negotiations, district
that time, a joint union-school dis-
foundation for continuing to develop
and union officials here say they are
trict panel would have decided
teacher professionalism.
intent on continuing to use the con-
whether to withhold all or part of a
It also did not threaten to divide
tract as a vehicle for reform.
teacher's salary.
teachers into competitors, she add-
But Mr. McWalters noted an irony
Adam Urbanski, president of the
ed, the way the first contract, with
in the situation: "There was tremen-
R.T.A., said the first contract "was
its emphasis on individual account-
dous anger in 1987 at the attention
not workable or a good match with
ability, could have.
the contract focused on teachers in
the dynamics that teachers em-
By allowing teachers on school-
the classroom, professional practice,
brace."
based planning committees to refer
and accountability. The national at-
However, making the attempt
their colleagues for intervention, the
tention broke up a [local] coalition
was "necessary pain and develop-
second contract directly addressed
with a sense of partnership and re-
ment 80 we could rule some things
the issue of professional accountabil-
sponsibility for the schools."
out," the union leader said, "as well
ity, Ms. Darling-Hammond said.
Now, he said, "the contract is be-
as build on others."
"In any other profession, that
coming all things to all people."
The school district estimated that
would be the first cornerstone of ac-
Mr. Kaufman said he believes
teachers would have received an
countability," she said. "The first
that the school system's demogra-
average 27 percent pay increase
thing you are accountable for is the
phics explain part of the suspicion
over the three years-an amount
quality and competence of the staff."
and discontent that have become
school-board members decided was
The contract also contained sever-
evident here in the past few months:
not affordable, given the uncertain-
al other teacher-accountability pro-
Only 25 percent of the city's taxpay-
ty over the state, county, and city
visions, according to district officials
ers have children in the schools; of
budgets that finance Rochester
and the teachers' union:
those, 75 percent send their children
schools.
The traditional dismissal time for
to the public schools. Seventy per-
"It rings a little bit hollow to say,
teachers would have been eliminated.
cent of the 35,000 students in Roch-
'We haven't quite made it yet, but
Instead, they would have been re-
ester are members of racial and eth-
give us 27 percent," said Robert L.
quired to work "a professional day" to
nic minority groups; the same
King, a Republican state assembly-
meet the needs of students for after-
number live in poverty.
man who urged board members not
school help and to participate in com-
The bulk of city taxpayers, mean-
to ratify the contract.
mittees to improve their schools.
while, are either elderly and living
The home-base guidance program,
Board Accused of Politics
fixed incomes or do not make as much
in which teachers are assigned to
as the average Rochester teacher,
Mr. Urbanski and the members of
groups of students, would have been
who is paid about $43,000. Members
his union who urged board members
made mandatory in every school.
of minority groups make up 30 per-
to vote for the contract believe board
Teachers would have been expect-
cent of the overall city population.
members caved in to such political
ed to adhere to a new code of profes-
"When they look into the schools,"
pressure when they voted against
sional standards that would have
Mr. Kaufman says of most taxpay-
the agreement.
formed the basis for the development
ers, "they don't see children like
The district's negotiators also con-
of a new evaluation system, to be
them. And the parents of 70 percent
tinue to insist that the new contract
phased in over the life of the contract.
of the children look at the school sys-
was demonstrably affordable in its
The number of "lead teachers"-
tem and see the teachers of their
first year, and that it provided for
the highest rung on the district's ca-
childen are different racially."
new negotiations in the second and
reer ladder-would have been in-
third years, if necessary.
creased from the current 71 to 250.
40
FROM THE TRENCHES
To break down the barriers inher-
Another student at the school, Mr.
ent in such a situation, Mr. Kauf-
Osborne continued, is forced to pay
man said, city residents must be-
his mother for food. "His mother
come aware of "the need to educate
hates him-but he comes to school,
all children."
and he works hard," he said.
Parental involvement is no better
Parental Involvement
at Monroe Middle School, according
But district officials say they have
to Robert Pedzich, the principal.
a long way to go to persuade Roches-
Since school began, 15,000 calls
ter residents and political leaders in
have been made to Monroe's 24-hour
Monroe County that what goes on in
voice mailbox system, which allows
the schools is of concern to them, re-
parents to hear recordings in Eng-
gardless of whether their children
lish and Spanish about homework
attend the public schools.
and school activities.
An even harder task, according to
But a recent meeting of the school
teachers, is to involve overworked
parent-teacher-student group drew
and underpaid parents in their chil-
only nine parents. The school has
dren's schooling.
1,300 students from about 1,100
"I've had parents who were out-
families, the principal noted.
raged that you would even bother
"Many students come from single
them about their son or daughter,"
families," he said. "There are more
said Allan Osborne, who teaches
parents involved in the education of
global studies and economics at Jo-
their children, [but] it's just that they
seph C. Wilson Magnet High School.
don't have the time to come to school."
"The reason the community doesn't
There are signs of increasing pa-
understand is that 80 few people
rental involvement, however-
come into the schools."
some of it sparked by the problems
Mr. Osborne said he was not trou-
with the teachers' contract.
bled by the concept of being held ac-
A new group called the Union of
countable for his work, adding that
Parents has begun meeting, and the
he believes it is "important that, as
district is completing a new paren-
teachers, we clean up and police our
tal-involvement plan.
own profession."
This evidence of growing parental
But the realities of day-to-day
interest gives Robin J. Dettman, a
school life are daunting, he and his
parent who serves on two school-
colleagues said.
based planning teams, confidence
The other day at Wilson, a preg-
that reform here will continue.
nant student went into labor in the
"When teachers spoke at the public
classroom, Mr. Osborne said. Teach-
hearing, they told the board, If you
ers arranged for an ambulance to
vote against this contract, reform is
take the girl to the hospital and
dead,' Mr. Dettman said. "But now
cleaned up the room.
that parents are at the table, we're
not going to let that happen."
41
AFTER CLASS
Born on Crack and Coping With Kindergarten
By SUZANNE DALEY
William Penn, the director of special
Some school administrators say chil-
education in Pittsburgh. He heads a
It is the middle of the school year in
dren affected most severely by crack
committee studying the issue for the
are already raising the count in special
Ina R. Weisberg's kindergarten at Pub-
Council of the Great City Schools, an
education classes. Those who suffer ex-
lic School 48 in the Bronx, a time when
advocacy group for large-city school
treme symptoms, which can include
after months of work, 5-year-olds can
systems.
cerebral palsy and mental retardation,
usually write their names, count to 10
"It wouldn't make sense to put them
clearly belong there. But others may be
and line up to go to the gym.
together," Mr. Penn said. "The only
there as a result of teachers' rusti a-
But this year, it has not happened
thing that is consistent is the inconsis-
tion, a trend that could prove very ex-
that way. There are still a half dozen
tency in skills."
pensive.
children who cannot seem to concen-
Some educators say that even trying
Rise in New York Evaluations
to distinguish crack-exposed children
trate, who offer a jumble of markings
is a waste of time. It would be more ef-
National statistics are not yet avail-
as their names, who do not understand
ficient, they say, to simply recognize
able for this school year, officials from
numbers and for whom lining up qui-
that growing numbers of poor children
the United States Department of
etly is virtually impossible.
have disabilities that need to be ad-
Education said. But New York City of-
"I can't say for sure it's crack," Ms.
dressed.
ficials say this year has already
Weisberg said recently, describing a
"When I go into a classroom, I never
bi ought a sharp rise in 5-year-olds
semester of small, hard-fought ad-
ask if the child is drug-exposed," said
being referred for special education
vances. "The kids don't come with case
Vicki Ferrara, a special education
E. aluations. Last school year, officials
histories. But I can say that in all my
teacher in Los Angeles who has worked
said, 1,071 were evaluated. So far this
years of teaching I've never seen so
with crack-exposed children for sev
year, 1,600 have been.
eral years and who this year is helping
The officials said part of the increase
many functioning at low levels."
kindergarten teachers at one school. "I
might be the result of the city stepping
The first large wave of children
prenatally exposed to crack, the smok-
don't care. I say, 'What's the problem?'
up efforts to evaluate very young chil-
able form of cocaine, entered the na-
Drugs cause problems but what hap-
dren. Part might be a result of a small
pens afterward can be just as impor-
rise in the student population. But part,
tion's schools this year. Educators say
tant."
they said, could be attributed to the ef-
they are presenting problems and
In Ms. Weisberg's classroom in New
fects of the crack epidemic.
behaviors that have left many kinder-
York, there are several youngsters
"There are a lot of factors here,"
garten teachers confused and exhaust-
who have symptoms that could be
said Stanley Litow, the city's Deputy
ed.
caused by drug exposure. Their diffi-
Chancellor for operations. "But it is
In most cases, the teachers, even 20-
culties show just how varied and chal-
logical to assume that some of this has
year veterans like Ms. Weisberg, are
lenging the problems can be for a
to do with crack."
not sure what they are dealing with,
teacher.
This year's kindergarten population
One boy, although highly verbal and
may not offer a full picture of what
and they have received no formal
outgoing, is unable to handle scissors,
schools can expect in the next few
training to identify or handle the some-
and even extra-fat crayons often fall
years, because even though use of the
times unusual needs of these children.
from his hands. Another has no trouble
drug had reached epidemic propor-
Some teachers, unable to manage, are
with the scissors but is oddly uncoordi-
tions by the mid-1980's, many children
simply referring the children to spe-
nated when he walks. One girl manages
born then are not yet in school. Kinder-
cial-education classes, swelling the size
her letters fairly well but has trouble
garten is not mandatory, and in many
of many of those programs.
speaking: "Green" sounds like "gee,"
cases, children of crack-addicted moth-
A few communities are taking steps
a pronunciation more typical of a
ers live in transient, unstable house-
to help teachers cope. The Hillsborough
2-year-old than a 5-year-old.
holds and may not ye: be enrolled in
County school system in Florida, for in-
Still another can already read. But he
schools.
has such a hard time sitting still or re-
Even in the years to come the prob-
stance, is setting up classes for teach-
fraining from fighting with other chil-
lem may defy statistical measure be-
ers on how to manage such children. In
Los Angeles, a booklet on teaching
dren that Ms. Weisberg began giving
cause it is so difficult to know why a
him a sticker if he could behave for 10
child is performing poorly. Linda Dela-
methods is being distributed and some
minutes at a stretch.
penha, the chairman of the Drug Ex-
teacher-training is under way. In the
posed Children's Committee for the
District of Columbia a study has begun
'What Is Going on Here?'
Hillsborough County school system in
to determine the children's needs. But
"The first few days of school," Ms.
Tampa, Fla., said a study that her dis-
Weisberg said, "when I came home
trict conducted in an effort to identify
such efforts remain small and scat-
from work, I just fell down I was so
crack-exposed children led her to con-
tered. Most teachers are on their own.
"tired. I kept thinking, 'What is going on
clude that it was impossible.
School administrators say they
There?'
Other Sources for Problems
rarely even know who the children are
Mrs. Weisberg said that at the end of
who have been exposed to crack. Par-
the year she would probably recom-
Teachers identified troubled chil-
ents are unlikely to volunteer the infor-
mend at least two students in her class
dren, she said, but after extensive in-
mation. Foster parents may not know.
be evaluated for special education
terviews, the problems in many cases
And the effects of crack are difficult to
classes. But other teachers at the
were traced not to drug exposure but to
diagnose because they may mirror and
school - in Hunts Point, a poor, semi-
some other traumatic event - a death
be mixed with the symptoms of malnu-
in the family, homelessness, or abuse,
industrial community where drug deal-
trition, low birth weight, lead poison-
for example.
ers work out of abandoned buildings al-
ing, child abuse and many other ills
Researchers also say questions re-
most any hour of the day - have al-
that frequently afflict poor children.
main about how many children ex-
ready sent children with strange
Moreover, those mothers who used
posed to crack will show any disabili-
behavior to be evaluated.
crack usually used other drugs as well,
ties when they reach school age. The
One boy used to race wildly up and
Federal Government estimates that
including alcohol.
down the hall. Another sucked his
about 325,000 are prenatally exposed to
Inconsistency Is Consistent
thumb constantly and screamed often.
drugs each year with about a third ex.
A little girl fought with others continu-
"Even if you knew who the kids were,
posed to crack. Other estimates are
ously and could not be persuaded to do
you couldn't start a program for kids
higher.
from crack-addicted parents," said
the most basic tasks like putting on her
coat to go outside.
THE NEW YORK TIMES FEBRUARY 7, 1991
42
AFTER CLASS
One study in Chicago, conducted by
studying drug-exposed children have
be helpful.' " Ms. Weisberg said. "I
the National Association of Perinatal
developed a number of approaches that
would like that."
Addiction Research and Education,
they believe are successful. In general,
One recent day, she was constantly
found that when the mothers and the
the emphasis is on structure in the
stopping to untangle fighting children,
children received early help many of
classroom and behavior.
to remind them to sit down or to repeat
the children appeared to be normal at
Ms. Delapenha said her district was
her directions.
the age of 3.
instructing its teachers to organize
Still, during a lesson on colors and
The study followed 300 children from
their classrooms more strictly to re-
shapes she stopped to help the girl with
early in their mothers' pregnancy.
duce fights and wandering attention.
speech difficulties say "yellow." When
Once in the study, the mothers re-
When a child is doing a puzzle on the
the children were asked to cut shapes
ceived prenatal care and a balanced
floor, she said, a teacher might take a
from paper, she held the sheet steady
diet. After the children were born, ef-
Hula Hoop to define his area of play.
for the boy who has trouble with scis-
forts were made to make sure that they
Masking tape can be used to define a
sors so he could complete the task.
were properly cared for. The result so
child's area on a table.
And she passed out animal crackers
far has been that 60 percent to 70 per-
Ms. Weisberg has developed her own
to reward the pupils for their behavior
cent of the children show no percepti-
methods, drawing on her 20 years of
after a far-from-perfect but better-
ble problems at age 3 or 4.
experience, her master's degree in
than-usual excursion to the auditorium.
Ms. Weisberg said she has seen at
'We Can Reduce the Effects'
psychology and her study of special
education techniques. Since she loses
least some small advances in all these
"Our study would seem to indicate
the children's attention fast, she
children.
that if you have all other factors posi-
switches activities more often. And,
"There are still the good times, when
tive, we can reduce the effects of
she uses singing to calm them.
you see that something has finally
crack," said Dan Griffith, a clinical
But she feels all alone with an insidi-
clicked and they get it," she said. "Or,
psychologist with the study. "But it is
ous problem.
when they come up to you with their
just too early to tell."
"No one has come by and said 'Here,
hands full of paste and they give you a
Researchers and teachers who are
we know this is going on and this would
hug."
Teach the children
Entrepreneurism, the heart of the free market system, is showing up in a macabre form as un-
derprivileged youth moonlight for extra Income by dealing drugs. In an effort to redirect this
entrepreneurial zeal, certain groups in Washington are teaching youngsters the business
skills necessary to use the free market the right way.
viewed dealers on probation. "On the other
Drug dealing appeals, he said, because the
By Vanessa Gallman
hand, few of the street-level dealers who
youth know "that the more you work. the
made up most of this sample reported the
more you can make. They need to know that
don't want nobody to give me nothing.
"I
kinds of incomes from which Mercedes and
they can do that legally."
Open up the door; I'll get it myself."
great fortunes spring."
Schools should incorporate entrepre-
-Soul singer James Brown
Adult sellers interviewed made a median
neurial skills into their curricula and take ad-
As society's doors open enough to allow
annual income of $36,000, but 40 percent of
vantage of community resources, Gilbert
glimpses of the high life, teens decide they
them said they consumed
said. "One of the problems we have with
should have it. They want to be a Trump,
some of the drugs they
drugs and crime is that a lot of people are
surviving at the top, and they measure them-
were given to sell. Howev-
looking for fast solutions. You're not going
selves by how close they come.
er, among those under the
to go into business-and the next day the
Drug dealing is incorrectly seen as a quick
age of 18, only 11 percent
money comes rolling in. It's not magic."
way to make big money. Such pursuit of in-
had used any drugs.
stant gratification and evidence of misplaced
Making the effort can transform lives, said
"This fact suggests that
values should be denounced. But the real
Officer William W. Johnson, who founded
drug selling is viewed by
the Conner-Harris Mall. Named for two
shame is stereotyping the young dealer as
many of these young partic-
either an unskilled addict or someone mak-
young victims of the city's violence, the mall
ipants as essentially an eco-
ing too much illegal money to go straight.
has eight stores selling candy, flowers, T-
nomic opportunity rather
Those images keep us from teaching busi-
shirts and fashions, books, school supplies,
than a means of financing
ness skills to inner-city youth who often see
photographic equipment, and haircuts. Six-
their own drug use," the re-
teen students, ranging in age from 11 to 18,
dealing as one way "to get it myself."
port says.
operate their own businesses out of the mall.
Selling drugs has become a form of moon-
Not without risks. For
"A lot of kids here were not interested in
lighting, according to a recent
each year of work, a dealer
reading, writing, and arithmetic," said John-
study of drug dealers in the na-
has a 1.4 percent chance of
son, who started the mall after growing tired
tion's capitol. Seventy-five per-
dying, a 7 percent chance of serious injury.
of seeing so many murdered kids. "I came
cent of the dealers interviewed
and a 22 percent chance of going to jail for
up with something to ease them into it. I tell
reported holding legitimate
an average sentence of 18 months, the re-
them that in order to open this business, you
jobs, averaging $7 an hour.
port estimates.
have to read and count.
Dealing paid an average of
The sellers have no delusions: 38 percent
"I teach more values and morals as op-
$30 an hour with median earn-
said a person selling for a year is likely to
posed to money. A kid can stand out on the
ings about $10,000 a year, work-
be caught by police, and half thought that
streets and make money if he wants to sell
ing a mean average of four
person would likely be seriously injured or
drugs. But I believe that kids, if given the op-
hours a day.
even killed.
"It is indeed much more prof-
portunity to do the right thing, will. Like that
If willing to face such risks, it would seem
James Brown song, I tell them to open doors
itable on an hourly basis than
they could face the risk of bankruptcy in le-
and seize the opportunity."
are legitimate jobs available to
gitimate business.
If they survive. For, at this point in his ex-
the same persons," says the
A city government program to teach en-
planation, Johnson had to turn his attention
Greater Washington Research
trepreneurial skills to poor youth died even
quickly to reports that two groups of teens
Center report, which inter-
before it got off the ground due to budget
were headed toward the center to settle a
cutbacks. Kids asked for the program, say-
dispute-with guns.
ing they wanted more options than going in-
NEW
DIMENSIONS:
JANUARY
1991
to entry-level jobs, said Mike Gilbert of the
D.C. Private Industry Council.
43
AFTER CLASS
Playing Dress-Up
Even at schools without official dress codes. The Los
By BETH ANN KRIER
Angeles Unified School District, for example, has rules
TIMES STAFF WRITER
banning only gang-related items. Says Josephine
o you don't think it's tough being a kid today?
Jiminez, operations administrator for the district's
S
Consider the First-Grade Makeup War.
senior high school divisions: "The bottom line in our
The fight broke out on a school playground,
dress code is that clothing has to be safe and
reports a Los Angeles father who prefers that
non-disruptive. At every campus,
his family and the school remain anonymous. (He
you see kids who tend to be
explains that, even though his daughter was not
extreme. Those kids are usually
involved in the fight, "the school is already like a little
counseled individually. You really
Peyton Place.")
don't get any where today by
This is how it went down: After one first-grade girl
saying your skirt can't be SO many
wore and brought her makeup to school, two others
inches or you can't wear a crop
became envious. They wanted the potential Lolita to
top."
share her lipstick. She refused, and a pint-size cat fight
But even schools with official
broke out. Now, months later, one of the girls is still not
dress codes don't always find their
talking to the junior makeup queen.
students dressing as teachers
Says the father, who permits his daughter to play
would prefer. Reports Jane Han-
with makeup at home but not to wear it to school:
cock, who teaches at Toll Junior
"Makeup is now like contraband to these kids. And the
High School in Glendale: "Some of
girls who have makeup have power over the ones who
don't."
the girls come in wearing low-cut
Although blusher battles are apparently rare-at
tops, and even though we have
least in the first grade-the father is appalled by what
school rules about it, they're pretty
he and other parents see as a small but growing trend:
hard to enforce. You're not sup-
young girls transforming themselves into miniature
posed to show your midriffs or your
adults long before adulthood, sometimes with parental
breasts, but the girls come with
encouragement.
jackets on and then, suddenly,
In extreme cases, they don the provocative styles
they're off.
popular with female music stars seen night and day on
"We usually just send the girls to
MTV: tight, micro-miniskirts; midriff- or cleavage-
the office and the office takes them
baring tops; see-through blouses and skirts; off-the-
home or sends them home for a
shoulder tops; press-on fingernails; dangling earrings,
change of clothes," says Hancock,
and bright, dramatic makeup. There are some unflat-
adding that Toll might be con-
tering names for little girls who wear this stuff: Baby
sidered a typical, middle-class
bimbos. Boy toys. Pop tarts. And worse.
Southern California school; its stu-
According to area teachers and school administra-
dent body encompasses virtually
tors, the overwhelming majority of girls show up for
every ethnic group in the area. "I
elementary, junior high and high school in styles
can remember a case in which an
traditionally suited to their ages. But there are startling
administrator took a girl home to
exceptions. Fourth-graders have arrived wearing
change her clothes. The mother
panty hose and high heels. And 8-year-olds have been
couldn't see anything wrong with
known to win Madonna look-alike contests sponsored
by their schools:
it. The girl was wearing her moth-
er's clothes."
Says a grandmother who is surprised by the
precociousness of her two "Valley Girl" granddaugh-
ters, ages 6 and 9, "I went to a birthday party for the
S
ome parents, many of whom
6-year-old and all the kids were wearing adult-style
came of age in the permissive
clothes. All the parents were wearing sweats. The
1960s, find nothing wrong with
children looked more like adults than the adults. They
allowing their daughters to dress in
watch MTV constantly and use very suggestive dance
adult-style fashions. Those inter-
steps that I'm not sure they really understand.
viewed said they are careful to
"They love Disney movies, but 'Pretty Woman' is
ensure that
one of their favorites. I asked the 6-year-old why she
their children
liked it so much and she said it was because of the
dress fashion-
romance between the hooker and Richard Gere. I said,
ably, not seduc-
'What's a hooker?' She told me it was somebody who
tively.
has sex for money. I asked her what sex was and she
Says Siporah
said, 'Oh grandma, you know.'
Bank of her
School administrators report that the trend toward
daughter, Ash-
girls dressing and acting adult-like shows up most
ley Bank Gold-
predictably when they enter junior high school. It's
berg, a child ac-
typically the time when their bodies begin to develop,
tress
who
and they increasingly test the boundaries of acceptable
attends a public
behavior on assorted fronts.
school for gifted
children and likes to wear mini-
LOS ANGELES TIMES TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1991
dresses, high heels and dangling
44
AFTER CLASS
earrings: "She's 9 years old going
playground makeup war, "You can
classic "Baby and Child Care."
on 50. She likes to think she's older.
tell exactly which mothers let their
"Children are certainly growing up
Not everybody wears the kind of
kids wear this stuff. They're al-
faster than they did before, and a
clothes she does to school. Some
ways the ones in the trashy-look-
lot of it is encouraged by adults
just wear jeans and T-shirts. Some
ing clothes when they come to pick
who want to teach reading to 2-
wear tight skirts and jackets and
the kids up from school."
and 3-year-olds. I strongly advise
really neat shoes and look as if
But what is trashy to some is
parents to let their children be
they're going to work in a corpora-
merely trendy to others. Says
their own ages."
tion. Kids are very trendy these
Nancy Kaufman, owner of Na Na, a
As for tight miniskirts, high
days.
Santa Monica store that sells rock
heels and makeup, Spock considers
"Kids have always done this,
star-style clothing for adults and
the styles ill-advised for preteens.
dressing up in their parents'
children, "I think [the phenome-
"There's a big difference be-
clothes. Now they have their own
non] is happening because kids are
tween parading in the streets in
to do it in. It's not any different."
exposed to the media at younger
high heels and parading in the
Ashley, who lives in Hollywood
ages and because people like Ma-
attic. [The latter is] something
with her mother and stepfather, is
donna are very public figures. The
children have always done. By
aware of what's off limits. "My
kids really tune into them.
wearing these things outside of
mom won't let me wear eye shad-
"They like what they wear and
playtime, at one level it's playing
ow out of the house. She lets me
the fact that they can express
at sex. It's playing at prostitution at
wear lipstick and not too much
themselves. Wearing these kinds
some level. Playing at sex should
blush. She lets me wear a little
wait at least until children are in
of clothes may signify the first time
mascara. She won't let me wear
that they can choose themselves
the relatively late teens."
earrings down to here," Ashley
"I don't think there's anything
instead of being put into the nar-
says, pointing to her shoulders.
row horizons their parents might
good about this," adds the Univer-
"But they can go down to here [the
choose for them. There are also a
sity of Maryland's Seefeldt. "It's
jaw]."
almost as if we as a society find
lot of younger parents now who
childhood so annoying and irritat-
haven't completely outgrown the
ne day last year, Ashley re-
ing that we do everything we can
O
phase themselves."
veals, she made the mistake of
to push kids out of it.
wearing her prized 3-inch heels to
"Five-year-olds really do enjoy
W
hile the store may sell some
school. "My teacher almost threw
Mister Rogers and his neighbor-
of the most outrageous
them out," she recalls in horror.
hood. If parents would reinforce
styles available to youngsters-
But Ashley's wardrobe also in-
Mister Rogers rather than MTV,
leather jackets, second-skin, Puc-
cludes plenty of tomboy clothes,
you would find a whole group of
ci-inspired leggings and miniskirts
her mother insists. And outfits that
kids being kind to one another like
printed with skulls-it is hardly
she wears to synagogue (sweet,
Mister Rogers. But adults find
alone. Perfume manufacturers
traditional, little-girl styles that
Mister Rogers very slow and unso-
have recently developed and mar-
Ashley snidely dismisses as 'Lit-
phisticated, dull.
Adults need
keted products aimed at children.
tle House on the Prairie' dresses").
to teach values other than glitz and
Jewelry makers have gotten into
Bank says she is not worried that
sequins and makeup. You are not
the act as well, selling diamond
her daughter's minidresses and
what you wear."
bracelets designed for the kinder-
earrings could land her in deep
garten set.
E
ven some kids would agree.
Listen to these pupils at Toll
trouble.
Kaufman, who also operates Na
"Ashley's 50 inches tall," Bank
Junior High School discussing their
Na stores in San Francisco and
classmates who wear sex-bomb
says. "She's too short to be mistak-
New York and is planning to sell
en for someone older. These kids
styles:
her rock 'n' roll children's wear to
look very young in their faces.
"People who wear sophisticated
stores nationwide, maintains that
Their hair is also very young. It's
clothes are setting themselves up
adult styles-even some of the
more like they're wearing trendy
for trouble," warns 12-year-old
outrageous gear-look wholesome
clothes than older girls' clothes.
Alexandra Spada. "Guys might be
on youngsters.
Kids learn to imitate what their
looking at them in bad ways. I've
"The kids look really cute in the
parents are wearing. Parents also
seen girls who wear trashy clothes
stuff," she says. "It doesn't have
tend to buy their children's cloth-
and I've seen guys watching them.
the same conno-
ing. Cool parents buy their kids
It's not in good ways that they're
tation that it
cool clothes."
watching them."
does on adults.
Many would agree with the no-
The boys on the class nod in
It has a real cute
tion that young children repeat or
agreement. "A lot of it is influ-
feel to it."
are encouraged to repeat the styles
enced by rock stars. Tight clothes
Experts on
favored in their homes-especially
are what's in right now. You can
child rearing,
if those styles match ones seen on
judge a lot of books by their covers.
however, find
TV. Observes Carolyn Seefeldt, a
Girls dress like that to get atten-
nothing cute
professor at the University of
tion," says Brian Underwood, a
about the ex-
Maryland's Institute for Child
15-year-old ninth-grader.
treme manifes-
Study, "Until the age of 12 or so,
"They want you to look at them
tations of this
children get the majority of their
and then when you do they say, 'So
phenomenon. In
attitudes about clothing and every-
what are you looking at?' They're
fact, they consider it potentially
thing else from their parents. They
trying to attract themselves to
have no control over what they
dangerous.
boys. They're saying that they're
"If children are doing this
wear unless a parent buys it for
sluts."
them and reinforces it."
[dressing in provocative adult
Or as ninth-grader Narineh Ha-
Says the father whose first-
fashions] spontaneously as their
copian puts it, "I feel like saying to
grade daughter witnessed the
play, it's OK," says Dr. Benjamin
these people, 'Act your age. You
45
Spock, author of the best-selling
look stupid."
CHICAGO WATCH
Pupils' scores show 70% in
city below U.S. average
Black males again scored lower
Schools Supt Ted Kimbrough
By Lou Ortiz
than whites or other minority
said the scores reflect student per-
Staff Writer
groups, with 17.5 percent at or
formance during the first year of
above the national average in
the reform act.
More than 70 percent of Chi-
reading, and 23 percent at those
cago Public School students
"This is the starting point for
marks in in math.
reform, and I know these statistics
acored below the national average
A school official said the scores
in reading and math skills, test
will help our local schools plot
should be of concern to parents.
results released Monday show.
their route to future improve-
But the official noted that princi-
ments." he said.
Results of the Tests of Achieve-
pals and teachers would use the
ment and Proficiency that high
Kimbrough said that scores
scores to strengthen their pro-
school students took in April show
should not be compared along ra-
grams, and that the Chicago
cial lines.
that 26.8 percent of students were
School Reform Act would also
"In no way do we mean to
at or above their grade levels in
make an impact.
reading and 19.1 percent were at
suggest that these scores are a
"It's evident by looking at the
those levels in math.
function of race or gender," he
results that we have a long way to
said.
The achievement level for black
go." said Maxey Bacchus, director
"We offer this breakdown so
male students was lower, with 17.9
of research. evaluation and plan-
that schools can better target stu-
percent at or above their grade
ning for the Chicago Board of
dents who need the most assis-
levels in reading and 12.2 percent
Education.
tance."
reaching those marks in math.
"We'll be measuring the prog-
In the elementary schools. 24.2
ress of the schools and the school
percent of the students scored at
system in future years," he said.
or above their grade levels in
"The School Reform Act setab-
reading and 29.5 percent reached
lishes that by 1994, 50 percent or
the same levels in math. according
more should be achieving at or
to results ofthe Iowa Tests of Ba-
above the national norms."
aie Skills taken in April
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES JAN 1 5 1991
City seeks right place for disabled
By Karen M. Thomas
But the "mainstreaming" con-
The disabled children gain social
Education writer
cept also has raised some thorny
skills, non-disabled students learn
issues, particularly for parents of
to accept those who have special
Plans to place more Chicago
special education students: Will a
needs, and the special education
special education students side by
large, urban, financially strapped
students are better prepared to
side with their non-disabled peers
school system be able to provide
tackle life outside the confines of
in city classrooms have renewed
the necessary services and support
an ongoing controversy over
classroom walls, according to the
to help integrated disabled students
research.
whether disabled students are best
succeed, or will gaining social skills
served in segregated programs or
Chicago has relatively few op-
and new friendships be at the cost
in regular classes with extra sup-
tions for special education. And
of practical and academic skills?
port.
parents such as Maryanne Ivy,
"Right now, we're not doing
who has a mentally disabled 11-
The city's new special education
very good educating our regular
year-old, welcomes the chance for
director, Thomas Hehir, is de-
children, so if we add children
her daughter to move to a regular
vising a three-year plan that he
with these problems, what is going
classroom.
says eventually will allow a greater
to happen to them?" said Marlene
"Life is one big massive integra-
number of special education chil-
Curylo, a parent of a 17-year-old
tion," Ivy said. Her daughter
dren to remain at their neighbor-
son who is mentally disabled and
attends Courtenay Elementary
hood schools and venture out of
attends O.W. Wilson Occupational
School, where Ivy is a local school
isolated programs and classrooms.
High School.
council member. "I don't think we
should have one format for teach-
Almost all of the 43,000 stu-
The move is part of a growing
ing our children and another for
dents enrolled in special education
national trend to integrate special
them going out to exist in the
programs are bused to programs
education students with their non-
world."
and schools throughout the city.
disabled counterparts. Recent stud-
'Some have never had classmates
ies and research show that even
without disabilities.
the most severely disabled students
benefit from being placed in regu-
lar schools and classes.
Chicago Tribune February 3, 1991
46
CHICAGO WATCH
Hehir acknowledges that the
The idea of mainstreaming for
school system has some obstacles
Julie Garcia, a parent of a 10-
to overcome. In overcrowded
year-old daughter who has a severe
classrooms, it will be nearly im-
learning disability, raises old fears.
possible to add students, let alone
Her daughter Caroline, who
those with special education needs.
attends Ebinger Elementary
Regular teachers would need extra
School, spent the majority of her
help. Special education funding
time in a regular classroom two
and resources would have to be
years ago, leaving twice a day for
reallocated.
special education services.
Hehir said that is why he plans
"She just couldn't function in
to move slowly, developing pilot
the large classroom," Garcia said.
programs, educating parents and
"It was devastating for her and for
teachers, allowing local school
me as a parent to see your child
councils and principals to devise
stick out like a sore thumb."
what would work best for their
schools.
Since being placed in a self-con-
tained special education class-
Hehir, former special education
director for the Boston public
room, Caroline's schoolwork has
schools, will discuss the concept
improved, Garcia said.
Saturday at a Truman College
A 1975 federal mandate required
forum sponsored by an education
states to provide free education to
reform group, Parents United for
all disabled children in the "least
Responsible Education.
restrictive environment"-a term
"We're not talking about simply
that has spurred mainstreaming
putting the child in a regular class-
debates.
room," Hehir said. "And it
Illinois has had a similar law for
doesn't mean that there aren't
at least 20 years, but the state has
some students where this is not an
ranked 46th among the 50 states
option. There will be support.
for integration programs for the
What we have to do is develop
disabled.
some models."
Experts say integration programs
Such a plan would also help the
fail if they are issued as system-
school system remedy state and
wide policies and not set up to
federal law violations. Last year,
allow decisions based on individu-
the U.S. Office of Civil Rights
al needs.
threatened a possible loss of $117
"When we fail to make decisions
million in federal and state funds
individually with each child, then
if school officials did not do a bet-
it is a failure for the kid, parents
ter job of properly testing and
and teacher. As schools tend to
placing special education students.
make this a policy issue, then we
About $350 million will be spent
tend to lose children in the shuf-
on special education programs this
fle," said Fred Weintraub, assis-
year. There are 18 schools that
tant executive director for com-
serve only disabled students, $42
munication of the national
million is spent each year to bus
Council for Exceptional.
40,000 handicapped children to
Hehir said the plan calls for sev-
special programs and $48 million
is spent to place special needs
eral pilot programs that could in-
children in private programs with
clude providing an aide and thera-
services the school system does
pist for the disabled child in a
regular classroom, cooperative
not offer.
And the city is experimenting
teaching techniques that place stu-
dents in random-ability groups
with the idea. At Spalding High
and consultants provided to
School, a school for the physically
teachers who may need help in de-
disabled, 150 non-disabled fresh-
veloping new teaching strategies.
men enrolled this year. However,
at least 50 of those students have
Hehir has also turned to subur-
learning disabilities, causing some
ban school districts, where small
parents to question whether the
districts have formed special edu-
program is successfully integrating
cation cooperatives to provide
services to students. Some have
youngsters.
successfully mainstreamed disabled
In a handful of other schools,
youngsters' into regular classed.
preschool programs are being inte-
grated with mentally disabled stu-
dents, autistic children are being
placed in regular classrooms and
some disabled children are taking
non-academic classes such as art
or gym with mainstreamed stu-
dents.
47
JUST THE FACTS
Latinos Lagging on Every
students who graduated ahead of
or behind their class, moved away
without requesting that school re-
School Level, Study Finds
cords be forwarded or got a high
school equivalency degree at an
adult school.
Instead, education department
Education: From preschool to college, they are
officials prefer to use a more nar-
under-represented and losing ground nationally.
rowly defined measure to arrive at
a "dropout rate" that includes stu-
The study said the lack of access
dents who are gone for more than
By JEAN MERL
to equal educational resources
45 days with no explanation or
TIMES EDUCATION WRITER
"may well be the most powerful in
request for transcripts.
From enrollment in preschool to
explaining the low levels of educa-
That measure's figures provide
attainment of graduate degrees,
tional attainment for Hispanics." It
little comfort for those concerned
the nation's Latinos are "grossly
went on to say that "school financ-
about Latinos' track record. In
under-represented at every rung
es in a number of states with large
California, the three-year dropout
of the educational ladder" and, by
Hispanic enrollments have been
rate for the class of 1989 was
many measures of academic
found to be grossly unequal."
20.4%; for Latinos it was 28.5%. In
achievement, are losing ground,
the Los Angeles district it was 35%
R
amirez and other education
according to a study by the Ameri-
overall and 36.2% for Latinos.
can Council on Education.
experts cited several other fac-
"We have a massive crisis now
The study, released in Washing-
tors, including the culture of pov-
in education, and for us as Latinos,
ton this week, showed that the
erty, a pattern of poor educational
it's a super-crisis
with devas-
proportion of Latino students com-
facilities in predominantly minori-
tating implications for the future,"
pleting high school slid from 60.1%
ty communities, shrinking funding
said Armando Navarro, executive
in 1984 to 55.9% in 1989. By
for public schools, low perform-
director of the San Bernardino-
contrast, the completion rate for
ance expectations on the part of
based Institute for Social Justice,
schools and the students them-
blacks rose slightly during the
which emphasizes community or-
same period-from 74.7% to
selves, and lack of effective ways
ganizing to improve conditions for
76.1%. While the rate for Anglos
to involve parents in their chil-
Latinos. Earlier this month, Na-
dren's schooling.
varro headed a statewide summit
dipped somewhat, down to 82.1%
These problems are shared by
meeting to find ways of addressing
in 1989, it remained dramatically
many low-achieving students. But
the myriad Latino education issues.
higher than those of the two mi-
for Latinos they may be exacerbat-
The ACE, a private, nonprofit
nority groups. Based on census
ed by language fluency difficulties,
organization representing about
data, the report did not provide
experts say.
1,600 colleges and universities
separate completion rates for
The study's findings are espe-
throughout the United States, is-
Asians and American Indians.
cially significant for California,
sues annual reports on minorities'
Educators and some political
where Latinos make up 33% of the
status in higher education. This
leaders have long been concerned
public school pupils in kindergar-
year, the organization focused on
about Latinos' acute lack of success
ten through 12th grade. The state
Latinos, whose college-age num-
in the schools system, and Presi-
Department of Finance expects
bers grew 39% between 1980 and
dent Bush recently launched a
that proportion to climb to 41% by
1989.
special effort to imporve the edu-
the year 2000 and to 43% by 2005.
The report found that Latinos
cational lot of this group.
The report did not include state-
are less likely than members of
But the ACE study, its Ninth
by-state data, but information col-
other groups to have enrolled their
Annual Status Report on Minori-
lected independently by the state
children in preschool programs or
ties in Higher Education, paints the
Department of Education indicates
to pursue college or graduate edu-
most detailed-and perhaps the
that large numbers of Latinos in
cation. Because of the decline in
darkest-picture to date.
California and in the Los Angeles
Latino high school completion, the
"It's not just that there is no
Unified School District-where
gap between Latino and Anglo
improvement
we are losing
they represent 63.3% of school
college attendance rates is widen-
ground," Blandina Cardenas Rami-
enrollment-also are failing to fin-
ing. And Latinos were the only
rez, director of the ACE's Office of
ish high school.
group to experience a decline in
Minorities in Higher Education,
The high school completion rate
graduate school enrollment be-
said in an interview Wednesday.
for all California students was
tween 1986 and 1988.
Ramirez said the findings cannot
67.3% in 1989, the most recent year
Although both blacks and Lati-
be attributed to the influx of large
for which data is available; for
nos began to close the college
numbers of poor immigrants alone,
Latinos, it was 53.7%; and for
attendance gap in the mid-1970s,
as U.S.-born Latinos also have
considerably lower education lev-
blacks 53.5%. In the Los Angeles
things soon began to change again
district, the high school completion
for Latinos. By 1989, only 16.1% of
els than non-Latinos. Further-
rate for that year was 43.7%; the
all Latinos 18 to 24 were enrolled in
more, the decrease in high school
rate for Latinos was 35.7%. For
college, compared with 23.5% of
completion rates occurred during a
blacks, the rate was 41.6%.
blacks and 31.8% of Anglos.
time when immigration rates for
Latinos were relatively low.
But California education experts
Asian-Americans made the larg-
say the completion rate is too
est proportional gains in college
LOS ANGELES TIMES
imprecise a measure to be of much
enrollment, the report found. Their
significance, failing to account for
enrollment went up 10.9% be-
tween 1986 and 1988.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1991
48
JUST THE FACTS
In California, there have been
Significantly, Latinos remained
efforts by several school districts
concentrated in two-year colleges,
to improve attendance and parent
where they will be unable to earn a
participation and expose young-
bachelor's degree without trans-
sters to wider educational. and
ferring to a four-year school.
career opportunities and at in-
About 56% of all Latinos enrolled
creasingly younger ages. But,
in higher education programs were
without significant amounts of
at community colleges, contrasted
money, most of these efforts have
with 38% for the general popula-
been on a small scale.
tion.
Several districts have made
In 1976, Latinos represented just
strong improvements in their
2% of all those earning bachelor's
dropout rates, often with guidance
degrees. In 1989, that figure had
from the state and special "dropout
increased only slightly-to 3%-
prevention" funds provided by the
despite a doubling of the college-
Legislature.
age Latino population during that
In the Santa Ana Unified School
time, the report found.
District, where 82% of the students
are Latinos, administrators enlisted
T
hings appear particularly bleak
the help of business and civic
for Mexican-Americans, who
leaders, the local community col-
make up the largest group of
lege and a wide range of public and
Latinos. Unlike other Latinos,
private agencies.
young adult Mexican-Americans
With programs to pair adults
showed "essentially no improve-
with youngsters needing role mod-
ment in attending four or more
els and encouragement, "career
years of college" compared with
days". in elementary schools and
their elders.
special counselors to visit the
"The evidence is clear that for
homes of children with unex-
Hispanics [the education system] is
plained absences, the district
not working," Ramirez said, adding
slashed its dropout rate dramati-
that the problems must be ad-
cally. For the class of 1986, its was
dressed much earlier than high
41.8%, but it fell to 22.6% for the
school if the situation, which she
class of 1989.
said is exacerbated by "continued
"All the major players in the city
have been involved in this," dis-
unequal access to the resources of
education," is to be improved.
trict spokeswoman Diane Thomas
said. "Everybody's motto is Educa-
tion First."
STUDENT ACADEMIC ATTAINMENT
High school completion rates and college participation rates by
race/ethnicity:
Total Population
% Enrolled in College
High School
of 18- to 24-year-olds
Completion Rates %
WHITES
1984
23,347,000
28.0
83.0
1985
22,632,000
28.7
83.6
1986
22,020,000
28.6
83.1
1987
21,493,000
30.2
82.3
1988
21,261,000
31.3
82.3
1989
20,825,000
31.8
82.1
BLACKS
1984
3,862,000
20.4
74.7
1985
3,716,000
19.8
75.8
1986
3,653,000
22.2
78.5
1987
3,603,000
22.8
76.0
1988
3,568,000
21.1
75.1
1989
3,559,000
23.5
76.1
LATINOS
1984
2,018,000
17.9
60.1
1985
2,221,000
16.9
62.9
1986
2,514,000
18.2
59.9
1987
2,592,000
17.6
61.6
1988
2,642,000
17.0
55.2
1989
2,818,000
16.1
55.9
Source: American Council on Education, compiled from census data
49
INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
David S. Broder
If a focused purpose combined with
consider radical changes in education
exceptional political and public-
practice in order to break out of the
relations skills are the requisites, Dodd
deadly mediocrity that ensnares far
The Right
is probably correct. In his eight years
too many schools.
as governor, Alexander launched a ma-
Gov. Bill Clinton (D) of Arkansas,
jor school-reform effort that challenged
Alexander's partner in many of the
the education bureaucracy, business
education enterprises of the '80s, re-
Man for
and the taxpayers of his state-and
mains a strong influence in the group.
finally won the support of all three. As
Gov. Roy Romer (D) of Colorado, who
chairman of the National Governors
has taken on the task of developing
Assn., he took the lead in getting all
Education
measurement systems for gauging
the governors committed to a continu-
progress toward the national-
ing drive to set ambitious goals for
education goals, is a dogged battler.
education and measure their states'
They have their hands full dealing
The Senate confirmation hearing
progress-the agreement that was
with the congressional grandees who
on former Tennessee governor La-
sealed at the "education summit" with
think Washington should drive educa-
mar Alexander's appointment as sec-
President Bush in the autumn of 1989.
tion policy for the nation while paying
retary of education suggested that at
Because of those achievements, Al-
only 8 percent of the bill.
long last the right person is in that job
exander comes to the often-scorned
Clinton and Romer welcome Alex-
at the right time.
Education Department job with re-
ander as an ally in that fight-and
Jimmy Carter created the depart-
markably-perhaps dangerously-high
even more as the catalyst for the
ment to fulfill a political promise to
expectations. "I don't mind the high
Cabinet group that wants to make
his supporters in the National Educa-
expectations," he told the committee,
Bush live up to his claim to be the
tion Association. His appointee, Judge
"because there are a lot of people
"education president."
Shirley M. Hufstedler, barely had
around the country ready to move."
Together, they just might make
time to set it up before Carter was
The potential for action starts inside
some things happen.
voted out of office.
the Bush administration. Alexander al-
Ronald Reagan, who came to office
ready has met with the new- secretary
promising to abolish Carter's handi-
of. labor, Lynn Martin, who presides
work, was nonplussed when his first
over a $4.5 billion job-training budget
secretary, Terrell H. Bell, launched
of her own. Personal and bureaucratic
the national school-reform effort with
differences have kept the Labor and
his "Nation at Risk" report detailing
Education departments tugging against
the shortcomings of American educa-
each other more often than they have
tion. Bell's successor, William Ben-
combined forces. Martin, a former
nett, used the job as a pulpit for his
teacher and Illinois congresswoman,
personal and highly controversial
and Alexander match up in tempera-
views on what schools should teach,
ment and ability better than any two
what colleges should charge and even
secretaries in the past.
where college students should vaca-
Former Secretary of Labor Bill
tion. Both made their points, but their
Brock, an informal adviser to both
credibility in Congress and the educa-
Alexander and Martin, says that their
tion world was undercut by their lame
partnership could quickly spread to
attempts to defend the consistent
the other Cabinet members with a
shortchanging of education in the
deep interest in, and large responsi-
Reagan budgets.
bilities for, the health and well-being
Lauro Cavazos, who started in Rea-
of youngsters and the education and
gan's last year and carried on into the
training of youths and adults. They
Bush administration, brought no focus
include Secretary of Health and Hu-
or agenda to the job and ceded control
man Services Louis Sullivan and En-
of education policy to White House
ergy Secretary James D. Watkins,
staffers, who had plenty of other con-
both of whom have education back-
cerns on their minds.
grounds, and Defense Secretary Dick
That sad history explains in part
Cheney, who shares with his wife,
why Alexander drew such a fervent
Lynne, the head of the National En-
bipartisan welcome from the Senate
dowment on Humanities, a burning
Labor and Human Resources Commit-
interest in the quality of schools.
tee last week. But there is more to it
But the bigger potential benefit in
than that. As Sen. Christopher Dodd
Alexander's appointment is the syner-
(D-Conn.) told Alexander, "All the
gy of state-federal action from having
pieces are in place to move forward on
the Education chair filled by a former
education. What has been missing is
governor. The states are the senior
the forceful advocacy to bring that
partners in education policy and, as
priority to the Cabinet table, the Con-
Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) pointed out at
gress and the country. You have all the
Alexander's hearing, they have been
tools required to do that."
far more willing than Congress to
THE WASHINGTON POST
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1991
50
INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
JOHN O'NEIL
Drive for National Standards
Picking Up Steam
movement to create national
process, not outcomes, and every week
ematics assessment. If the process
A
standards for student achieve-
they're held accountable for some new
proves successful, results of future as-
ment-linked to some form of
goal that someone dumps on them."
sessments will be reported similarly.
national assessment-is presently
Now, with the nation's education
Progress toward achieving the na-
picking up steam. But many educators,
goals established just last year and
tion's education goals, outlined last
worried about the erosion of local
several new proposals for national
year by President Bush and the Na-
control of the curriculum and limita-
tests circulating, some analysts say the
tional Governors' Association, is being
tions on teacher autonomy, aim to see
U.S. is moving slowly but relentlessly
monitored by a panel composed pri-
it stopped dead in its tracks.
toward developing national standards
marily of governors and Administra-
The call for schools to "raise stan-
for student achievement. A confluence
tion officials. One of the goals is that by
dards" is by now a well-intentioned
of forces plays a role in the march
the year 2000, U.S. students will leave
but tired cliché. Nonetheless, there is
toward national standards, but several
grades 4, 8, and 12 "having demon-
widespread concern that student
efforts have emerged over the past
strated competency over challenging
achievement (as measured by such
year or two as most pivotal:
subject matter" in English, math, sci-
indicators as the National Assessment
As part of a pilot project, the
ence, history, and geography. At this
of Educational Progress [NAEP] and
National Assessment Governing Board
writing, the monitoring panel had not
several international assessments) is,
(NAGB), which establishes policy for
yet decided how to report progress
at best, marginal. U.S. 13-year-olds fin-
NAEP, has begun to set performance
toward that goal, but it's certainly no
ished dead last of nine countries par-
standards for each of the three grade
accident the goal addresses grade lev-
ticipating in a recent international
levels (4, 8, and 12) measured by
els currently tested by NAEP. If the
mathematics assessment, for example,
NAEP. (NAEP conducts regular assess-
panel chooses to use NAEP data and
and fewer than 5 percent of this na-
ments of student achievement in read-
the new standards developed by the
tion's 17-year-olds can demonstrate
ing, writing, mathematics, science, his-
NAGB, some experts believe that
the ability to "synthesize and learn
tory, geography, and other subjects,
could provide an added boost in the
from specialized reading materials.'
testing a sample of students across the
drive toward national achievement
"Educational standards in this country
U.S. every few years.) Doing so means
standards.
are embarrassingly low," admits
the "Nation's Report Card" will no
The National Center on Education
Daniel Koretz, an assessment expert
longer merely report how well stu-
and the Economy and the University of
with the RAND Corporation.
dents at each grade level scored but
Pittsburgh's Learning Research and De-
Some see as the culprit a system that
how well, compared to standards
velopment Center recently received
fails to make clear what all students
agreed upon by a representative panel
nearly $2.5 million from private founda-
need to learn and whether, in fact, they
of experts.
tions to develop a set of state-of-the-art
learn it. Despite U.S. expenditures on
"Up to now, NAEP has simply de-
student assessments linked to national
elementary and secondary education of
scribed 'what is,'" says Richard Boyd,
standards. The Commission on the Skills
more than $200 billion last year, "the
the former state school superinten-
of the American Workforce, created by
fact is that we can't say with any assur-
dent of Mississippi who chairs NAGB.
the national center, proposed such an
ance what our students are learning or
"With the setting of achievement lev-
effort last year.
even what they should be learning,"
els, NAEP will move toward defining
The assessments would include per-
AT&T Chairman and CEO Robert Allen
'how well' students in these grades
formance examinations, projects, and
grumbled at a recent education confer-
ought to be learning." Last fall, the
portfolios-tasks designed to measure
ence sponsored by CBS. "The current
NAGB brought together educators,
applications of skills and knowledge to
arrangement is confused," adds Ernest
business leaders, and others to set
real problems-and students complet-
Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foun-
standards at three levels-basic, profi-
ing them would accumulate evidence
dation for the Advancement of Teach-
cient, and advanced-for each of the
of their achievement over several
ing. "Schools are held accountable for
three grades tested in the 1990 math-
years. Participation would be volun-
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
FEBRUARY 1991
51
INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
tary, but the backers of the multi-year
is an important first step" to better aca-
ers) is that despite widespread evi-
initiative hope the experience of dis-
demic achievement.
dence from NAEP and other indicators
tricts and states working to pilot the
Last year, the workforce commis-
that few U.S. students are achieving at
plan will prove its feasibility and even-
sion reported the findings of its inter-
high levels, parents and the general
tually influence others to take part.
national study of schools and prepara-
public do not seem unduly alarmed.³
Although the assessment system is
tion for employment, focusing in
If high academic standards were estab-
aimed at creating a national standard
particular on the non-college bound.
lished and the performance of individ-
of excellence, proponents say the ef-
Its conclusion: the U.S. is "the most
ual students were measured against
fort will not require a prescribed cur-
overtested and underexamined nation
them, the argument goes, parents of
riculum or a single common exam.
in the world." Only the top students in
failing students might be more in-
Tests already used by local districts
the U.S. appear to be motivated by
clined to press schools to find out
and states could be calibrated to the
high grades or test scores; many find
why. And that might, in turn, increase
new national standards, and all stu-
little incentive to take hard courses or
pressure to marshall resources and
dents would not be required to take a
earn high marks because they see no
energy to raise student achievement.
single common exam.
correlation between doing well in
"It seems to me that we're not going
school and getting a better job. Com-
to have the level of performance we
Few Incentives, Low
pared to students in countries such as
need in American education until we
Expectations
Germany, Denmark, or Japan, said
have a way for Mr. and Mrs. Smith to
The convergence of national activities
America's Choice: High Skills or Low
see how well Johnny and Janet are
regarding student achievement and
Wages, the U.S. non-college bound are
doing or aren't doing," says Finn.
standards, some experts believe, re-
neither held accountable to high stan-
The present patchwork of local and
flects disillusionment that a decade of
dards of performance nor guided into
state exams and norm-referenced na-
highly trumpeted school reforms still
satisfactory careers.
tional tests, experts point out, is woe-
has not resulted in enough students'
According to the commission's plan,
fully inadequate to accomplish this.
working harder or achieving better
a "new educational performance stan-
Norm-referenced tests, for example,
results. In fact, some say, college pro-
dard," established nationally and com-
are prone to the type of shenanigans
fessors and employers-those who
parable to standards in other nations,
uncovered by John Jacob Cannell, the
deal daily with the "products" of
would be developed. Students would
West Virginia physician who docu-
schools-are as alarmed as ever at the
be expected to meet that standard by
mented that even the most poorly
need for remedial classes and costly
passing a series of performance assess-
achieving states report achievement
basic skills training.
ments by age 16, demonstrating high
test scores above the national aver-
A growing number of policymakers
ability in general school subjects as
age.⁴ Such tests that compare students
believe student achievement will not
well as such abilities as critical think-
against each other rather than against a
increase markedly until high standards
ing and working well in groups. Pupils
specific standard "make the standard a
are set and quality work by all students
meeting the standard would receive a
floating standard, which, in a sense,
is expected and rewarded. Saying the
"certificate of initial mastery" required
makes it no standard at all," says David
high school diploma represents a test
for entrance into all forms of subse-
Hornbeck, a Washington, D.C., attor-
of endurance more than proof of a
quent education.²
ney and former Maryland state school
student's academic abilities, these crit-
If the commission's work proceeds as
superintendent.
ics say the current focus on "seat time"
expected, the grants to the National Cen-
As a result, there is increasing pres-
and minimum competence as re-
ter on Education and the Economy and
sure for the creation of national stan-
flected on standardized tests must be
the University of Pittsburgh will be fol-
dards that reflect high expectations of
supplemented or replaced by better
lowed up by the announcement this
students, as well as better ways to
indicators of the quality of students'
month of a coalition of 20 or more states
monitor progress toward them. Finn
accomplishments.
and districts interested in piloting the
and others believe that filling in the
With colleges opening their doors,
assessment project, Magaziner says.
gaps of the current information and
and their coffers, to marginally prepared
monitoring system as it relates to stu-
pupils, and employers loathe to demand
Needed: A Clearer Picture
dent achievement is one of the most
that job applicants complete a rigorous
Others stress that the establishment of
powerful and essential tasks at hand,
course of study or earn high marks,
national standards for student achieve-
"The system is not yet in place, and
students "can do almost as little as they
ment is vital to monitoring the out-
getting it in place is the biggest task of
choose without doing harm to their
comes of schooling, from the individual
the next 10 years for American educa-
prospects," says Tommy Tomlinson, a
child to the nation as a whole. "A lot of
tion," says Finn.
senior research associate with the U.S.
people are recognizing that we must
"We're in an important transition, to
Department of Education. "I think stu-
re-gear to provide reliable information
try to think nationally about what his-
dents aren't motivated because they
to parents on the educational progress
torically has been a local system with
know the grades they get don't matter.
of their own children and schools," says
83,000 schools, and we really don't
they have no effect on their economic
Chester Finn, Jr., a professor of educa-
have the mechanism in place," adds
future," adds Ira Magaziner, president of
tion and public policy at Vanderbilt Uni-
Boyer. "The kind of structure that we
SJS, Inc., and chair of the Commission
versity and a key Reagan-era education
fill in to meet that need, I think, will
on the Skills of the American Workforce.
department official behind the effort to
shape American education for the next
"Having some standards that are mean-
expand NAEP.
20 to 30 years."
ingful and are recognized by all parties
One issue bothering Finn (and oth-
Not So Fast
While many voice rhetorical support
52
for high standards for students, how-
INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
ever, others are troubled by what they
view as the movement's dependence
on inadequate tests and the potential
National Test Proposals Win Some Support
erosion of local control over curricu-
lum and instruction. Trying to raise
Escalating concern over low student achievement, coupled with a growing belief
standards through the pressure of
that each pupil needs to be able to aim for a national standard of performance, has
high-stakes testing is "a perfectly natu-
some policymakers, business leaders, and educators favoring a national exam (or set
ral, if totally misguided, response to
of exams) for all students.
low standards," Koretz asserts.
Many believe that in a nation that tests students to the tune of $900 million per year,
Many protest that the increasingly
the last thing U.S. education needs is more tests. The past few years have witnessed a
aggressive national reform agenda on
wave of outcry against the alleged abuses of "high-stakes" tests, which critics say
standards and assessment threatens lo-
undermine curricular goals, narrowing the scope of what is taught and ignoring the
importance of problem-solving and critical thinking skills. But others say the current
cal control. For example, the effort to
system for tracking student achievement from the individual child to the nation at large
set standards for NAEP exams runs on
has gaping holes-some of which might nicely be filled by a common exam.
a parallel course with a pilot project to
One show of support for a national examination system is the work of the
release NAEP scores on a state-by-state
Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. It recommends an "exami-
basis-the combined effect of which,
nation-based assessment system" under which students would have to earn a
some say, is to transform NAEP from a
"certificate of initial mastery" by age 16 (or shortly thereafter) to continue on to
general indicator of educational health
college, professional or technical schools, or paying jobs.
to an accountability tool, some be-
Other fans of a national exam include Albert Shanker, president of the American
lieve. "One of the consequences of
Federation of Teachers, who has proposed spending $200-300 million to begin
using NAEP as an accountability mea-
developing a set of national exams in several subjects. And according to the 1989
Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa poll, 73 percent of the American public support a common
sure is that the 'high stakes' associated
national exam for graduation, a figure that has risen from 50 percent when the
with accountability may influence
question was first asked in 1958.
states to change their curriculum em-
Moreover, the President's Education Policy Advisory Committee (PEPAC), a panel
phasis so that they will perform better
of business leaders and educators that advises President Bush, is looking into the
on the test," a draft paper by the U.S.
feasibility of a national student assessment that would monitor not only the nation's
Department of Education notes.⁵
educational health in general (currently, the role of the National Assessment of
Are the stakes being raised too high,
Educational Progress [NAEP]), but also to inform parents about their children's
too fast? A letter issued last year by the
progress and the performance of schools and districts. A variety of tests now exist that
National Center for Fair and Open Test-
yield partial information about the achievement of individual students, their schools,
and the nation as a whole, but no single test accomplishes all these objectives.
ing and endorsed by 75 signatories
NAEP "doesn't tell you anything about how an individual student is doing; it just
(including national education associa-
tells you that the system is broken," says Paul O'Neill, chief executive officer of the
tions such as ASCD) cited a lengthy list
Aluminum Company of America and chairperson of PEPAC. "We know that we're
of potentially harmful byproducts of
not doing well, but we don't know how to intervene because we don't have a
the expansion of NAEP. "The evidence
child-by-child test to tell" how each student fares against agreed-upon standards.
is overwhelming that the more power
If attempted, a national test would surely have a sweeping impact on local
attached to a test, the more control the
curriculums, textbooks, and tests. "The test objectives developed for a national test
test will have over curriculum and in-
of all students would soon become the objectives used to develop textbooks and
struction," the letter asserts. "A national
teaching programs across the nation" and would represent "a de facto national
test with achievement goals and local
agreement on what should be taught," according to a background paper by staff at
the U.S. Department of Education, written for PEPAC's consideration.
comparisons will certainly become a
While no concrete plan has emerged behind a national exam (let alone the
powerful, perhaps controlling, influ-
requisite political and financial support), some are amazed that policymakers are
ence on the curriculum."
even considering the topic, given the traditional sanctity of local control of schools.
Boyer cautions that educators
"I'm surprised that the education community, the business community, and the
should set standards based on what is
government are talking so openly about a national test," said Indiana school
deemed most important for students
Superintendent H. Dean Evans, a member of PEPAC, who is ambivalent about the
to know and be able to do, not what is
idea. "I doubt that could have happened even two or three years ago. It almost seems
easiest to assess. "I only worry that we
a foregone conclusion now that we're going to have one."
don't settle for
measuring that
The concept of a national test has yet to move past the discussion stage, but the
which matters least," he commented at
Education Department paper suggested a number of different paths. Possibilities
the CBS education forum. Given the
include using NAEP tests more widely or equating them to state tests, endorsing an
tendency of teachers to focus on what
existing commercial test, crafting a new national exam, or continuing with the
potpourri of commercial, district, state, and national tests currently in use. Such an
is tested, moreover, standards in only
exam need not be a federal undertaking, the paper said, but could be created and
a few subjects might unduly narrow
managed through private auspices or a chartered group.
the range of what is taught.
-John O'Neil
Moreover, the idea of setting stan-
dards and making progress to higher
education and top jobs dependent on
test scores-common practice in
53
INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
some other nations-also runs
lack of will to marshall resources to
counter to U.S. philosophy. "We pride
help fix them. ASCD Executive Direc-
ourselves, as a nation, on giving sec-
tor Gordon Cawelti, for example, be-
ond, third, and fourth chances," notes
lieves that federal dollars are better
Marshall Smith, education dean at
Although the issue
spent on research and dissemination
Stanford University.
of national standards
of practices and programs shown. to
is occupying an
be effective in raising student
Reflecting Consensus
achievement. "Knowledge of lousy
But if assessments and standards are
increasing number
results is not a motivator," he says of
carefully tailored to reflect an emerging
of policymakers and
the NAGB's plan to compare states'
consensus on principles of sound learn-
NAEP results.
ing, their influence on curriculum and
educators, most
Others warn, however, that with so
teaching will be beneficial, argues Lau-
admit the current
much pressure building to raise student
ren Resnick, director of the University of
achievement to meet higher standards,
Pittsburgh's Learning Research and De-
efforts represent
educators need to help set them, not
velopment Center and a key player in
only a fraction of
oppose them. "The big question faced
the workforce commission's assessment
plan. "Assessments should be designed
the work needed.
by the education community is whether
it plays an affirmative role in shaping the
so that when teachers do the natural
character of those standards
or
thing-that is, prepare their students to
whether it digs its heels in and resists,"
perform well-they exercise the kinds
says Hornbeck.
of abilities and develop the skills and
knowledge that are the real goals of
every semester or the end of every
educational reform."7
chapter, and it would have to be con-
¹See, for example, I.V.S. Mullis et al.,
(1990), America's Challenge: Accelerating
Smith notes that national assess-
gruent with what kids think matters in
Academic Achievement, (Princeton, N.J.:
ment is beginning to better reflect
their grades."
National Assessment of Educational Prog-
national consensus about curricular
ress); A. E. Lapointe et al., (1989), A World
goals, citing the use of curriculum
More Questions than Answers
of Differences: An International Assessment
standards developed by the National
Although the issue of national stan-
of Mathematics and Science, (Princeton,
Council of Teachers of Mathematics to
dards is occupying an increasing num-
N.J.: Educational Testing Service).
prepare the 1990 NAEP mathematics
ber of policymakers and educators,
2Commission on the Skills of the Amer-
assessment. "For this to be at all use-
most admit the current efforts repre-
ican Workforce, (1990), America's Choice:
ful, the efforts have to be synchro-
sent only a fraction of the work
High Skills or Low Wages, (Rochester, N.Y.:
National Center on Education and the
nized, and they're beginning to be,"
needed. And even the limited steps
he says. Others note that efforts are
taken thus far face an uncertain future.
Economy).
³The annual Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa poll
under way to broaden NAEP's assess-
For example, the panel created to
of public attitudes toward education, for
ment techniques (for example, by us-
monitor the national goals (composed
example, consistently finds the public giv-
ing more open-ended rather than only
of six governors, four Administration
ing schools good ratings, particularly
multiple-choice questions).
officials, and four non-voting members
schools local to the person surveyed.
Some experts believe that concerns
of Congress) has met with opposition
4J.J. Cannell, (1987), Nationally Normed
that the new initiatives regarding NAEP
over the group's composition. Efforts
Elementary Achievement Testing in Ameri-
will unduly influence classroom prac-
to create more broadly representative
ca's Public Schools: How All Fifty States Are
tices are overstated. "I can see where
panels to oversee progress toward the
Above the National Average, (Daniels,
NAEP could drive people's impressions
national goals died in Congress last
W.Va.: Friends for Education, Inc.).
⁵National Center for Education Statistics,
of what the schools can do and what
fall, but they may be revived this year.
(1990), "National Education Goals: Op-
kids know, but whether it would drive
The pitched battle has raised ques-
tions for Measuring Student Achievement,"
the everyday classroom instruction is
tions about the credibility and leader-
(background paper prepared for the Pres-
unlikely, given NAEP's current struc-
ship potential of the NGA/Administra-
ident's Education Policy Advisory Commit-
ture," says Stanford University's Michael
tion panel, some observers believe.
tee).
Kirst, who served on a panel that recom-
Further, the project to expand NAEP to
National Center for Fair and Open Test-
mended NAEP's expansion. "I don't
yield state-by-state results-one piece
ing, (1990), open letter to the U.S. Con-
quite see how NAEP would ever be-
of the effort to increase assessment
gress, the Bush Administration, and the
come a pupil-by-pupil test. And if it isn't,
reporting-is not certain to be ex-
Nation's Governors.
tended into the future.
7L. B. Resnick and D. P. Resnick, (Octo-
then it's always going to have a lot of
ber 1989), "Tests as Standards of Achieve-
problems driving all the actual day-to-
In a larger context, some educators
ment in Schools," (essay prepared for the
day classroom practice. For national in-
scoff at the current fascination with
Educational Testing Service Conference).
fluences to really have an impact, na-
tests and standards, given the over-
tional tests would have to be congruent
whelming problems facing many of
John O'Neil is Editor of ASCD Update and
with what is tested locally at the end of
the nation's schools and the apparent
ASCD Curriculum Update.
54
INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
National Test for High School
Seniors Gains Backing
Testing program. But there is no
Gov. Roy Romer (D), appears to be
By Kenneth J. Cooper
single test required of all students.
leaning toward adopting a single set
Washington Post Staff Writer
Kean, now president of Drew
of achievement standards that could
A new education group chaired
University in Madison, N.J., said
be used to "calibrate" several tests.
by former New Jersey governor
that such testing would "add mean-
Those tests could then be adopted
Thomas H. Kean yesterday pro-
ing to that [high school] diploma
by regional groupings of states.
posed that all high school seniors be
encourage student achievement
and instill higher standards."
"We modestly think our proposal
required to take a national exam-
Average state and school results
is a little better," said Cooperman,
ination of their knowledge and
would be published, he said, to
suggesting results of a single test
skills.
The proposal for a comprehen-
strengthen accountability for learn-
would be more easily understood.
sive system of national testing,
ing. National figures could be used
Bush's advisory panel on educa-
to track progress on the national
tion policy also favors national test-
which does not now exist, came as
goals of improving student achieve-
ing in grades 4, 8 and 12. Kean is a
other groups have endorsed the
ment and reaching universal liter-
member of that panel. So too is for-
idea as a way to measure progress
acy among adults.
on national education goals and to
mer Tennessee governor Lamar
Saul Cooperman, Educate Amer-
Alexander, Bush's nominee to be
push schools to produce better re-
ica's president and New Jersey's
sults. The proponents have included
education secretary.
education commissioner under
a presidential advisory panel and
Kean, urged Congress to mandate
the National Alliance for Business.
the testing and pay costs estimated
But the notion of a national test
at $90 million a year. A possible
remains controversial among many
approach would be to mandate the
educators, who fear it would under-
testing in school districts that re-
mine state and local control of
ceive federal funding, as most do.
schools by leading to a national cur-
A spokesman described Rep. Wil-
riculum. Other critics have argued
liam D. Ford (D-Mich.), the new
against another standardized test
chairman of the House Education
by saying U.S. students already
and Labor Committee, as being
spend too much time taking multi-
skeptical of a national test because
ple-choice tests that have limited
of the cost, potential for teaching
educational value.
only those subjects covered by the
Whether the debate will lead to a
examination and possible creation
national test may depend on gover-
of a national curriculum.
nors, who as a group have appeared
Chester Finn, an education pro-
unwilling to relinquish state author-
fessor at Vanderbilt University in
ity, and President Bush, who has not
Nashville and Educate America
publicly addressed the subject.
board member, said a national test
Kean's nonprofit group, Educate
would "sort of" lead to a uniform
America Inc., proposed that high
curriculum, but he argued that one
school seniors each November spend
created partly by textbook publish-
nine hours taking tests in reading,
ers already exists. "We ought to
acknowledge that we have a nation-
writing, mathematics, history, geog-
al curriculum that is doing us no
raphy and science. Graduation would
good at all," he said.
not hinge on the results, but scores
The prospect of a national cur-
could be sent to prospective employ-
riculum has been a sensitive one for
ers and colleges.
a panel of governors and Bush ad-
Many states already require high
ministration officials charged with
school students to pass basic skills
tests, and nearly all college-bound
figuring out how to measure prog-
students take the Scholastic Apti-
ress on national education goals.
tude Test or the American College
The panel, chaired by Colorado
THE WASHINGTON POST
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1991
55
INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY
UT wins pact
to send report
cards to states
KNOXVILLE (AP) - The Uni-
versity of Tennessee has won a $1
million contract to publish a yearly
report card measuring educational
improvements in all states.
The contract is from the National
Business Roundtable, which wants
to determine the impact of the mil-
lions of dollars its members plan to
invest in U.S. schools over the next
decade to support innovative pro-
grams.
The first reports are due in Sep-
tember, said Michael Nettles, uni-
versity vice president for assess-
ment and director of the report
card project.
"The business roundtable is
working with the 50 governors to
encourage them to adopt all or part
of the roundtable's education agen-
da," Nettles said. "The corporations
in the roundtable will support inno-
vative programs in the states."
Smith said the 175 chief execu-
tive officers that are working with
the governors want the states to set
high goals.
"The executives want to help set
the tone. They are asking the gover-
nors to set high expectations for ed-
ucation and to demonstrate tangible
and measurable results," Smith
said.
The roundtable supports Presi-
dent Bush's call for U.S. students to
be No. 1 in science and mathemat-
ics by the year 2000, but it goes fur-
ther, Smith said.
Friday/FEBRUARY 1, 1991 THE TENNESSEAN
56
FEDERALISM LIVES
Education Chairmen Rise in Stature in Statehouses
By Peter Schmidt
The continuing push to improve
"The rest of the legislators wait
the schools and the existence of law-
for a printout of what is happening
In 1987, Representative Roger C.
suits challenging the school-finance
to their districts and act according-
Noe of Kentucky sought to make the
systems of at least two dozen states
ly," Mr. Pipho said.
move from his post as chairman of
are likely to keep education-com-
Once the chairmen produce a ma-
the House Education Committee to
mittee chairmen in positions of pow-
jor education reform with their
what seemed then a considerably
er throughout the 1990's, predicted
names attached, their image among
John L. Myers, director of the educa-
their colleagues often improves and
more powerful job-the state super-
tion program of the National Con-
puts them in a stronger position in
intendency of education.
Mr. Noe lost his bid for the elec-
ference of State Legislatures.
coming legislative decisions, noted
tive post by the tantalizingly narrow
"You are not going anywhere in a
Senator Ronald E. Withem of Ne-
margin of less than 1 percent of the
state unless you work with the edu-
braska, who heads the education
cation-committee chairs," said Eu-
committee in that state's unicamer-
popular vote.
Looking back, however, Mr. Noe
gene H. Wilhoit, executive director
al legislature.
of the National Association of State
Mr. Withem last year pushed
wonders if the defeat might not have
Boards of Education.
through a major school-finance bill
been one of the best things ever to
"In a lot of cases where governors
and then was able to muster enough
happen to his political career.
have gotten notoriety for education
votes to override Gov. Kay A. Orr's
For, by staying as chairman of the
education committee, Mr. Noe
reform, they still rely on the educa-
veto.
would soon find himself in the right
tion-committee chairmen to carry
Mr. Withem also managed to win
any major initiatives," Mr. Wilhoit
re-election last fall, despite a fre-
place to play a central role in
said.
launching the most far-reaching
quent tendency on the part of Corn-
state school-restructuring effort yet
The growing influence of the edu-
husker State voters to defeat their
cation chairmanships is also bringing
education-committee chairmen.
undertaken.
When a 1989 Kentucky Supreme
about a change in the type of lawmak-
Mr. Pipho observed that Mr. With-
Court decision declared the state's
ers who hold the posts, analysts say.
em's victory signals a tendency by
entire education system unconstitu-
Once the preserve of senior members
voters nationally to be less harsh on
tional, it thrust the task of overhaul-
who were content to focus on educa-
legislators who enact controversial
ing every aspect of the schools into
tion issues, the chairmanships have
reforms and to realize that "when you
the legislature's lap-and, to a great
become increasing attractive to youn-
try to reform education and try to re-
extent, into Mr. Noe's.
ger, ambitious legislators who see the
form funding for it, you aren't going to
"The standing joke was that I
position as a possible springboard to
make everyone happy."
lucked out by losing the race, that I
higher office.
Filling a Vacuum
had in essence taken over the lead-
Education-committee chairmen
also have moved to expand their col-
Legislatures in general and edu-
ership position," Mr. Noe said.
In the wake of the court decision,
lective clout. The Education Com-
cation-committee chairmen in par-
mission of the States and the N.C.S.L.
ticular also have been able to exert a
Mr. Noe helped write the 1,000-page
education-reform law passed by the
have been encouraging the chair-
significant level of control over edu-
legislature last year, increase the
men to collaborate with their coun-
cation policy as a result of inaction
state budget for schools by $1 bil-
terparts in other states, as well as
by other governing bodies.
the chairmen of other committees in
That has been the case in Kansas,
lion, and alter the structure of edu-
cation governance at every level.
their own legislatures, as a means of
according to Senator Joseph C. Hard-
One part of the bill stripped the
gaining public support and staying
er, who has served as chairman of his
state superintendent's office of all
informed on new developments in
chamber's education committee for
but nominal authority, transferring
the field of education.
the past 22 years. The legislature
its power to a new appointed post of
Both national organizations are
"has more influence on education
state education commissioner.
involved in the fourth annual meet-
policy because there has been a lack
ing of education-committee chair-
of leadership from the state board of
Post of the 90's
men, which is scheduled to be held
education and other entities," Mr.
Experts on state education policy
in Atlanta next week.
Harder said, and "no unanimity or
say that Mr. Noe is just one of many
Knowledge, Image Aid Power
agreement" among the state's major
education-committee chairmen who
education organizations.
have seen their power, responsibil-
Legislators and legislative ex-
In Kentucky, Texas, and New Jer-
ities, and stature increase signifi-
perts point to several factors behind
sey, Mr. Myers said, state supreme
cantly as a result of pressure on leg-
the influence of education-commit-
court rulings striking down all or
islatures from the public and the
tee chairmen.
courts to bring about major educa-
Within the legislatures, the views
part of the educational system have
of education chairmen often are giv-
had the effect of undermining those
tion reforms.
en exceptional respect out of recog-
who would resist change and giving
"The education chairmanship was
nition that they may be the only
key legislators opportunities to pass
the chairmanship of the 1980's," Mr.
Noe said, adding that his committee
members to thoroughly understand
major reform bills that may address
is regarded as more powerful than
education policy and the complex
issues beyond the scope of the courts'
any other in the Kentucky legisla-
formulas governing school finance,
rulings.
ture, except for the committee on ap-
noted Chris Pipho, director of state
"What the supreme court decisions
propriations and revenue.
relations for the E.C.S.
JANUARY 16, 1991 EDUCATION WEEK
57
FEDERALISM LIVES
did," Mr. Myers said, "was raise the
starting to see that change."
ante, raise the stakes, raise the inter-
"If you look nationally at the ma-
est and support for major change."
jor political races, people are run-
Before the Kentucky Supreme
ning to be the education leaders
Court ruling, "we had authority, but
and adding education leadership to
we had not had the public support we
their résumé," Mr. Myers said.
needed," Mr. Noe recalled. "We had
"Education-committee chairs have
all of the special-interest groups pull-
that on their résumé, and that's
ing us in one direction or another."
helpful."
"With the supreme court ruling,"
The list of current or former edu-
Mr. Noe said, "everything was re-
cation-committee chairmen who
pealed, and we had the opportunity
have sought higher office includes
to start fresh."
Representative Brian Ebersole of
Washington State, now House ma-
Good Career Move
jority leader; Senator Larry Murphy
The rising prestige of the educa-
of Iowa, now assistant majority lead-
tion chairman has had the effect of
er; former Assemblyman James J.
making the post more desirable to
Spinello of Nevada, who ran un-
ambitious politicians with long-
succesfully for Nevada's Secretary of
term plans for higher office, Mr.
State; and former Assemblyman
Myers observed.
Jose E. Serrano of New York, who
"Historically," he said, "educa-
was elected to the U.S. House in a
tion-committee chairs were there for
special election last year.
a long period of time, and they be-
Mr. Myers said the tendency of ex-
came specialists in education. Very
perienced, senior education chair-
rarely did we see those people move
men to be replaced by ambitious ju-
up to become leaders in the legisla-
nior legislators is likely to be
ture or leaders outside of the legisla-
strengthened by term-limitation
ture, to run for higher office. We are
measures, which passed recently in
California, Colorado, and Oklahoma
and appear likely to be placed on the
ballots in other states.
TEXAS AGENDA
Public education should be core issue of concern
Until the Texas Supreme Court nods yea
state makes up the dif-
or nay as to the constitutionality of the
ference between what
state's new public education funding system
a local district raises
(which could happen any time), the Legisla-
through its tax rate
ture will not know the extent of the chal-
and a statewide aver-
lenge before it.
age. This means the
If the high court lets the plan stand, the
higher the tax rate of
Legislature can spend its time addressing
a local district, the
critical education issues like reducing the
more the state puts in.
dropout rate or lengthening the school year.
To a great exte t, the
If the high court affirms a lower court rul-
amount the sta.e must
The Dallas Morning Nelus
ing that the new plan won't do, the Legisla-
contribute depends on
ture will spend much of the next five
just how heavily a lo-
Monday, January 14, 1991
months trying to figure out how to do what
cal district decides to
the court wants done.
tax itself.
Funding: Assuming the court does what
If the high court
everyone expects and throws the reform out,
says "no" to the cur-
lawmakers will need to rethink their entire.
rent plan, the Legisla-
approach to the funding of public schools.
ture should establish
The Legislature to date has attempted to
countywide school tax
achieve greater equal-
districts. This would
ity in funding be-
go a long way toward
tween rich and poor
equalizing property wealth at a level the
districts with a so-
court would accept, but leave local control
called
guaranteed
intact.
yield. This means the
Two additional steps would be required.
58
One would allow local districts to "enrich"
FEDERALISM LIVES
vate sector, but his idea should live to be
local spending on non-core activities (band,
adopted.
drama, sports) up to a fixed amount. The sec-
Quantity of education: Texas children
ond would have the state subsidize poor dis-
go to class for 175 days each year. That is less
tricts to close the remaining gap to comply
than the national average. It is 40 days less
with court standards.
than Japanese children go to school. It
The only other alternative worth discuss-
stands to reason that the more days students
ing is establishing a statewide property tax
attend class, the more information they are
where the state collects education taxes and
going to absorb, and the greater amount of
returns them to local districts on a per-pupil
material teachers can
basis. The problems here are several: First,
cover.
not all students are created equal. From the
The fact is the long
gifted to the disadvantaged, some need more
summer vacation, a
funding than others. Chances are that the
relic from an agricul-
struggle over distribution would become
tural age, does not re-
one of who gets how much for what cate-
flect the modern, com-
gory. Second, state funding leaves less room
petitive
high-tech
for local decisions.
world. Research has
However, any plan ultimately adopted
shown that students'
must allow local districts leeway to spend
ability to retain infor-
more than mandated averages. Parents will
mation is diminished
not remain in school systems that limit the
by the summer break.
educational opportunity they may provide,
Texas can add five
and the end result of any plan that abolished
days without spending
all forms of enrichment would likely trigger
a dime, by shifting
a further exodus of the middle class from
teachers' "in-service"
the public schools, and a further erosion of
days to instructional
political support for any decent level of
days. More days will
funding.
cost more money, and
Beyond the funding system, other con-
might even require
cerns for the Legislature should be:
going to a quarter sys-
Choice and control: The state should
tem with a several
swiftly inaugurate several tests of "choice"
weeks' vacation at the
options to determine where the concept
end of each quarter.
might work in Texas. Choice allows parents
Or incentives could be
to pick the school within a district where
offered for districts to
they want their kids to go. The idea is to in-
voluntarily
begin
troduce market forces into education, allow-
finding ways to expand their teaching sea-
ing parents, especially poor parents, to vote
son.
with their feet. Schools losing students
Dropouts: Nearly one-third of Texas
would be forced to improve or fail.
students drop out before they finish high
Another element of choice must be in-
school. The dropout rate is especially high
creased control over individual schools by
among Hispanics. The state should subsidize
those with the greatest stake in those
poor districts to provide day care for stu-
schools' success: parents and teachers. Dal-
dents with children and provide night
las School Superintendent Marvin Edwards
schools for students who must work.
has proposed schools controlled by local
The state should strive for a greater vari-
boards, composed of elected parents and
ety of programs designed to speed up the ac-
teachers, which would hire and fire princi-
quisition of English language skills, particu-
pals.
larly among Hispanic students. More use of
Vouchers: Another option that should
immersion-type programs is but one of nu-
get a test is the voucher system. In this sys-
merous alternatives. The results of tradi-
tem, parents receive vouchers for some por-
tional bilingual education approaches have
tion of the money the state would spend on
been mixed, at best. They have in too many
that student in a public school which they
instances lost sight of the stated goal of
may spend on private school tuition. The ap-
quick transition to English, and the integra-
proach is being tried in Milwaukee and else-
tion of students into mainstream classrooms.
where, and deserves a Texas test. For four
High-tech teaching: There is great re-
years, then-state Rep. Bill Hammond of Dal-
sistance to many new and exciting ideas in
las tried to have a test voucher program
teaching from educators who don't want to
adopted for the poorest children, for whom
learn new ways. The state must take the lead
it would seem there would be nothing to
in providing these high-tech innovative pro-
59
lose. Mr. Hammond has returned to the pri-
grams for isolated rural areas as well as ur-
ban areas to bring the best in teaching via
FEDERALISM LIVES
telecommunications.
cation system seems self-evident. For those
Just as school buildings are paid for from
still skeptical, it might be worth noting that
bond programs, so can many of the long-
nearly 90 percent of all inmates in the Texas
term, high-tech teaching facilities. The state
prison system lack high school diplomas.
must put in place a program for seeking out
There is a limit to how many prisons Texas
the most promising technologies, and put-
can afford, and it appears one way to reduce
ting them in place throughout the state. A
the inmate population is to increase the pub-
good example is the new laser video learn-
lic school population. This will require more
ing system, where students can learn sci-
focus on the substance of educating, and less
ence by using compact discs and workbooks.
on the form. This Legislature must make it a
Texas is the first state to allow such video
top priority to take whatever steps are neces-
presentations as an option along with text-
sary to shape state policy toward these ends.
books. This technology should be monitored
This is the eighth in a series of editorials on
closely.
legislative issues. Next: criminal justice.
To most, the need for a strong public edu-
were signs of discontent, said Thomas C. Sutton,
Business Gives
chairman and chief executive officer of Pacific Mutual
Life Insurance Co.
One of every seven companies surveyed, and 25% of
manufacturers, said they planned to relocate all or part
Public Schools
of their business outside California, Sutton said.
Among the problems cited by those firms and others
were the costs of housing, labor and health care in
California.
Failing Grade
More than two-thirds said state government has had
a "bad effect" on their operations, with the Legislature
getting the worst marks-66% negative-and the
office of former Gov. George Deukmejian getting the
best reviews-24% positive, 25% negative and the
By DANIEL M. WEINTRAUB
rest reporting that Deukmejian had no effect on their
TIMES STAFF WRITER
businesses.
SACRAMENTO-California business leaders be-
Asked to rank the need for 10 potential state
lieve the state's public education system is failing and
policies, 85% of the executives favored increasing the
four out of five support a "comprehensive restructur-
supply of water, while 83% supported a comprehen-
ing" of the way schools are run, according to a newly
sive reform of the education system.
released survey by an influential business lobbying
At the bottom of the list were two suggestions for
group.
changing the health care system, with 33% favoring a
The California Business Roundtable on Wednesday
proposal to require businesses to provide health
forwarded the results of its survey to Gov. Pete Wilson
coverage and just 20% supporting a
along with its own proposal for change-a plan that
taxpayer-financed health care sys-
suggests making schools and students more accounta-
tem for all.
ble for their progress, rewarding excellent teachers
The business leaders met pri-
and establishing a greater link between schools and
vately for nearly two hours with
employers.
Wilson.
Wilson reportedly made no promises to the group's
Sam Ginn, the chairman and
leaders but said afterward that he shares their outlook.
chief executive officer of Pacific
"We have to be very
Telesis, told Wilson that 60% of
much concerned about
'We need workers
our ability to remain
the company's job applicants can-
competitive," he said.
not pass a basic exam that is keyed
with skills that will
The survey of 836 ex-
to a seventh-grade education.
"We need workers with skills
allow us to be
ecutives from compa-
nies with 100 or more
that will allow us to be competitive
competitive into
employees, conducted in
into the next century," Ginn told
the next century.
September, was an at-
reporters. "Those aren't skills that
tempt by the Business
we're getting out of the public
Those aren't skills
Roundtable to assess at-
education system."
titudes about the state's
Ginn and the others presented to
that we're getting
economic climate, its
Wilson an education plan that Ginn
out of the public
government and institu-
said would shift the focus of school
education system.'
tions.
policy from requiring certain ac-
Although the ques-
tivities, such as a list of courses or
SAM GINN
tionnaire found execu-
subject areas. That system would
Pacific Telesis chairman
tives more upbeat about
be replaced by one that stressed
and chief executive officer
California than respon-
student achievement and fre-
dents to similar nation-
quently tested their ability to meet
wide surveys, there
statewide standards.
60
Ginn said the group favors more
LOS ANGELES TIMES
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1991
FEDERALISM LIVES
parental involvement, merit pay
for teachers and competition
among schools, including giving
parents the right to select which
public school their children attend.
He also suggested that California
examine the German model under
which high school students are
tested and then routed either to
college courses or job training, with
those in the vocational program
required to split their week be-
tween work and school.
Wilson's Focus on Preventive Services
Called Policy Model for Austere Times
By Peter Schmidt
elementary schools. The emphasis of
Bipartisan Support Voiced
the program would be on linkage
Both Democrats and Republicans
Gov. Pete Wilson's sweeping pro-
and referral, rather than direct pro-
have greeted Mr. Wilson's proposals
posal to integrate educational and
vision of services within schools.
with enthusiasm, often claiming his
other services for California chil-
Although many school districts,
ideas as their party's own.
dren represents an important new
including San Diego, have worked
"Pete Wilson is the governor to re-
model for state social policy in times
to integrate schools and other ser-
present the decade of the 1990's"
of fiscal austerity, according to a
vices, California's proposed program
said Michele Davis, executive direc-
number of educators and child-wel-
would be one of the most comprehen-
tor of the Republican Governors As-
fare advocates.
sive-and undoubtedly the larg-
sociation, who called Mr. Wilson's
Calling for unprecedented, wide-
est-such effort undertaken at the
plan "the opening shot of what gov-
scale collaboration between schools
state level.
ernors have to do this decade."
and social-service agencies, the new
Mr. Wilson's plan also includes
$10 million in matching funds for
Also among those who spoke ap-
Republican Governor last month said
his goal was to prevent social prob-
mental-health counseling in ele-
provingly of Mr. Wilson's proposals
lems rather than remediate them.
mentary schools; $50 million to ex-
were several Democratic legislators,
If his policy proposals withstand
pand the federal Head Start pro-
education leaders, and children's ad-
gram to provide preschool services
vocates who had constantly feuded
the formidable challenges posed by
the state's budget crisis and divisive
with his Republican predecessor,
to every low-income 4-year-old; $5
Gov. George Deukmejian, over
politics, experts say, they could
million to help school districts train
school funding and other issues.
spread to other states as well.
mentors and other volunteers to dis-
"These are exciting ideas being
Speaker of the House Willie Lewis
courage students from dropping out;
Brown Jr., a Democrat, praised Wil-
proposed in a very negative fiscal
$10 million to improve the state stu-
son's State of the State Address as
context," said Michael W. Kirst, a
dent-testing mechanism; $53 mil-
"far more progressive and liberal"
professor of education at Stanford
lion for a public-private program to
University and former president of
than any Dianne Feinstein, the
enable low-income women to pur-
the state board of education.
Democratic gubernatorial candi-
chase insurance for prenatal and
date in November, "would have ever
The Governor's approach to state
maternity services; $25 million to
social policy is "a big break from his
dared to give."
treat drug-abusing women; and $4
predecessor's, and maybe unique in
"We have just come out of eight
million for state-mandated drug ed-
the country," he added.
long years of open warfare between
ucation in junior and senior high
"This," Mr. Kirst said, "is a guy
the two branches of government.
schools to teach the effects of sub-
That we can have a week of concilia-
who believes that government can
stance abuse on pregnant women
be made to work and do things for
tory gestures is like a breath of fresh
and their babies.
air around here," said Michael
children."
"Most politicians talk about how
Mr. Wilson outlined his 10-point
Reese, a spokesman for Mr. Brown.
they are going to fund Head Start or
plan for child development last
Mr. Wilson's plan represents "long-
how they are going to fund health
month in his State of the State and
care, but they never talk about the
time Democratic proposals packaged
budget addresses. His initiatives, he
interrelatedness of those services,"
under this title of 'preventative gov-
said, were based on a vision of govern-
Mr. Kirst said. "I have not seen any-
ernment," Mr. Reese added.
ment "truly as uncomplicated as the
one give front and center to the link-
Superintendent of Public Instruc-
old adage that an ounce of prevention
age between schools and other ser-
tion Bill Honig, meanwhile, called
is worth a pound of cure." (See Educa-
vices in such a systematic way."
the initiatives "the right thing to do
tion Week, Jan. 16, 1991.)
"What you have here is more than
and the smart thing to do."
Seeking a 'Healthy Start'
conventional education policy," Mr.
"The tone of this new administra-
Kirst said. "You have a policy vision
tion is tremendously different," Mr.
Central to his plan is a $20-mil-
that says education policy and chil-
Honig said. "They want to work to-
lion "Healthy Start" program de-
dren's policy have to reinforce each
gether, and they have signaled that
signed to give local school districts
other, that schools can't do it alone,
in a variety of ways."
61
funding to integrate county-pro-
but you can't do it without schools."
vided health and social services into
FEBRUARY 6, 1991 EDUCATION WEEK
FEDERALISM LIVES
"There is a sense right now in Cal-
revenue have triggered mecha-
ory that has been tried out hundreds
ifornia that we have a man who is
nisms in Proposition 98 that put the
of times throughout the country,"
realistic, who is trying to set a vision
lowest funding levels possible under
said Mr. Lobman of the Stuart Foun-
for the state, who knows we all have
the initiative into effect.
dations. "The results vary from heart-
to work together to realize that vi-
The president pro tem of the Sen-
ening to unpersuasive and are so
sion," said Mary A. Standlee, presi-
ate, David A. Roberti, and the chair-
anecdotal and unscientific that you
dent of the California School Boards
man of the Assembly Ways and
cannot draw conclusions from them."
Association.
Means Committee, John Vasconcel-
Mr. Kirst cautioned that the Gov-
Mr. Wilson's ideas appear to have
los, have said they would consider
ernor was likely to encounter resis-
caught the attention of philanthro-
suspending Proposition 98 given the
tance to service integration from
pies in the state as well.
state's harsh fiscal climate. But Su-
"people within the system who want
Theodore E. Lobman, president of
perintendent Honig and leaders of
to keep working in splendid isola-
the Stuart Foundations, based in
various education groups are pre-
tion from each other." Such people
San Francisco, said his organization
paring to fight any attempt to sus-
may do whatever they can to keep
and at least three other foundations
pend the initiative.
changes from being institutional-
have been discussing the possibility
The Governor's social-policy
ized, as they have with many pilot
of collaborating with the state in de-
agenda "could go down in flames if
programs tried so far, he said.
signing, financing, and evaluating
Proposition 98 becomes another
"There is no lobby for integrating
the school-linked services initiative.
bloodbath," Mr. Kirst warned.
services. The bureaucracies and lob-
Experts on California's education-
"We had a lot of enthusiasm about
bies are organized to fragment chil-
al politics also said Mr. Wilson
working with Pete Wilson," said Ed
dren's policy," Mr. Kirst said. "It
greatly improved his prospects for
Foglia, president of the California
takes extraordinary leadership to
mobilizing support for his proposal
Teachers Association. "Then he
overcome the centrifugal forces that
among educators and Democrats by
came up with a budget message that
are organized politically."
creating a new cabinet-level post,
was totally unacceptable."
Other potential opponents to the
secretary for child development and
Bill Whiteneck, chief consultant
integration of services and schools
education, and naming to it Mau-
to the Senate education committee,
include local politicians, who may
reen DiMarco, a Democrat who for-
said the chairman of the committee,
not think they have enough money
merly served as a member of the
Gary Hart, was pleased to see more
to implement such an effort.
Garden Grove school board and
emphasis on programs for young
In addition, foes of abortion and
president of the C.S.B.A.
children. But "all indications," Mr.
sex education, who fear more fam-
An education consultant, Ms. Di-
Whiteneck added, are "that their
ily-planning clinics will be put in
Marco's role will be to advise the
proposed funding is coming at the
schools, have already raised objec-
Governor in his effort to link schools
expense of K-12 reform issues."
tions.
and services.
The Los Angeles Unified School
"What Mr. Wilson believes is
District would lose $118 million out
Budget Debate Continues
school-based health clinics plus
of its $3.9-billion budget next year if
abortion equals a lower teenage-
While winning praise for his ser-
Proposition 98 is suspended, said
pregnancy rate," said Danielle
vice-integration proposals, Mr. Wil-
Robert Booker, the district's chief
Madison, manager of California leg-
son has run into sharp criticism
business and financial officer.
islation for Focus on the Family.
from educators over his $55.7-bil-
Republican legislators, on the other
Ms. Madison said her group would
lion budget plan.
hand, have objected to Mr. Wilson's
oppose creation of new school-based
Faced with a huge projected bud-
proposals to expand the state sales
clinics, which she argued lead to
get deficit, Mr. Wilson renewed Gov-
tax to cover more types of goods and to
higher teenage-pregnancy rates.
ernor Deukmejian's call for the sus-
increase state vehicle-license fees and
pension of Proposition 98, a
alcoholic-beverage surtaxes.
constitutional amendment that
guarantees public education about
Ending 'Splendid Isolation'
40 percent of the state general fund.
Even ifMr. Wilson succeeds in im-
Suspension of the amendment,
plementing his proposal to integrate
which requires a two-thirds major-
schools and services, there are no
ity of both legislative chambers,
guarantees that the concept will im-
would cause schools to lose about
prove education outcomes, experts
$1.4 billion in state funds next year.
on service integration caution.
The budget also calls for schools to
"This is a theory that has been
lose another $500 million during the
around for 30 years, and this is a the-
current fiscal year because drops in
62
FEDERALISM LIVES
School choice program
thriving quietly in state
By PHIL WILLIAMS
In Iowa, where open enrollment legislation passed
Staff Writer
in 1989, only 458 students out of about 478,500 partici-
The number of Tennessee students taking advantage
pated in the first year.
of state laws allowing them to attend schools outside
In Wisconsin, about 300 of 1,000 eligible low-in-
their districts has soared to more than 20,800, state ed-
come students are participating in an open enrollment
ucation officials said yesterday.
plan being piloted in Milwaukee.
That is up from just 16,000 a year ago.
State Education Commissioner Charles E. Smith said
Those figures do not include transfers within dis-
the statistics demonstrate that "school choice," the lat-
tricts.
est conservative wave in education reform, is being ac-
"In Tennessee, the issue of choice is viewed as busi-
tively used in Tennessee but not as a panacea for the
ness as usual and yet we are getting dramatic results,"
public schools' ills.
Smith said.
"My sense is there is a whole lot more involvement
The state education commissioner said Tennessee
in the schools today than there was four years ago,"
has not emphasized school choice as a reform measure
Smith said, citing programs designed to encourage par-
because it does not fully attack the problem of making
ents to become more active in their local schools.
schools accountable for meeting specific performance
standards.
"One result of the increased involvement at the local
One provision being prepared for inclusion in the
level is that parents are making informed decisions
Gov. Ned McWherter's education reform plan would
about the schools their children attend.
"Yet, we have not deceived the public into thinking
assess schools' performance in a variety of areas, in-
cluding parental satisfaction.
that choice is the premier answer to all of the problems
in education."
Schools that perform exceptionally well would
Tennessee school systems have had the option of
receive financial rewards, while schools that perform
providing choice to parents since 1925 when the Gener-
poorly would face a range of possible sanctions, includ-
al Assembly passed a law allowing local education
ing state takeover.
boards to admit students from outside their respective
The Education Department will publish yearly re-
school districts. All that is necessary is a formal or in-
ports giving parents and community leaders relevant
formal agreement between districts.
data upon which to make valid judgments about how
In all of the transfers, state dollars follow the stu-
well their local schools perform.
dents to the district where they attend school, but the
"We've had concern with other states' plans in which
local education dollars that would be spent on the stu-
leaders have promoted choice as a primary initiative
dents do not go along. The district that enrolls the stu-
for education reform," Smith said.
dents may charge tuitions equal to the per pupil
"This can leave the false impression that basic prob-
amount the district spends over and above the trans-
lems in education can be solved by simply allowing stu-
ferred funds.
dents or their parents to choose the schools they at-
Surveys conducted by the State Education Depart-
tend.
ment show that all of Tennessee's 139 local school sys-
tems have students involved in interdistrict transfers.
"We are looking at a more global, systemwide meth-
Of those, 131 have agreements allowing students from
od of parental choice and involvement that would em-
other systems to attend their schools.
power parents with the information needed to evaluate
Statistics show 20,853 of the state's 825,000 students
their children's schools and to hold schools account-
now attend schools outside their home district. That
able for reasonable standards of expectations."
does not include students who are enrolled in schools
The education reform package will be submitted to
outside their attendance zones within their own school
the General Assembly.
systems.
Some of the movement across district lines is due to
geographic barriers, such as mountains, between stu-
dents and schools in their home districts, but some of it
can be attributed to parents seeking better schools for
their children, Smith said.
Despite the lack of national publicity that has fallen
on some state programs, Tennessee education officials
insisted that the state's school choice provision stacks
THE TENNESSEAN Thursday/JANUARY 10, 1991
up favorably to those in other states. Among the statis-
tics cited:
In Minnesota, where the plan for open enrollment
is touted as a national model, only 6,100 of the state's
739,500 K-12 students applied in 1990-91 to attend a
school outside their resident district.
63
FEDERALISM LIVES
LETTING TEACHERS
CALL THE SHOTS
Kentucky's experiment gives them more clout and new incentives
W
hen a sweeping school reform
accompanying responsibility, others al-
because they start with a high propol
law kicked in across Kentucky
ready are tossing aside the rules to solve
tion of successful students, the gain i
last fall, the attention-grabber
problems. One example: Arlington Ele-
performance needed to qualify for a bc
was the nearly $500 million a year the
mentary School in Lexington. Shortly be-
nus will be smaller as schools approac
state coughed up mostly for schools in
fore school began last year, Arlington
a 100% success rate.
poor neighborhoods. But a more far-
found that there were too few students
FLEXIBLE BONUS. Kentucky teacher
reaching-and controversial-aspect of
to fill the expected three classes in the
won't see their first incentive check unt
the law involves a new role for teachers
fourth grade and three in the fifth. As a
the 1994-95 school year. But if thei
that could change the face of education
result, Arlington had to transfer a teach-
school hits the top performance scale a
in the state. Starting in 1995, Ken-
er to another school. Usually, it then
laid out in the law, the payoff could b
tucky will use an innovative incen-
would have been left with two classes in
big-up to 15% a year, which may hav
tive-pay system, keyed to how well
each grade and would have formed a
to be funded by new tax money.
each school's students perform, to
fifth class consisting of fourth- and
Teachers have one more incentive t
spur teachers to produce better re-
fifth-graders.
perform well: punishment if they don't
sults. This will make the state a
Instead, Arlington's teachers decided
Schools whose success rates fall by 59
testing ground for the most radical
to have three smaller classes, plus two
or more will be run by state-assigne
attempt to improve schools that has
larger ones in each grade. Then they
teachers. If the decline continues, par
come along in decades.
called on Arlington's two special-educa-
ents could move their kids to othe
The experiment grew out of a cri-
tion instructors, who teach mostly slow
schools. If they do, staff may be cut
sis that occurred in 1989, when Ken-
learners rather than severely disabled
Eventually, a bad school could be shu
tucky's Supreme Court ruled that it
students. One special-ed teacher com-
and its teachers transferred or fired.
was unconstitutional for schools in
bined her seven students with a fourth-
Such strategies have divided educatio
poor neighborhoods to receive less
grade class. The other did the same with
experts around the country. Advocate
funding than those in wealthy dis-
a fifth-grade one. This let Arlington
such as Albert Shanker, president of th
tricts. The windfall for poor schools
avoid a split class. And with two
American Federation of Teachers, argu
followed. And after scouring the na-
teachers in the larger classes, the
that schools could benefit from the disci
tion for ideas, state legislators over-
student-teacher ratio in both grades
pline of the marketplace. That's almos
hauled virtually the entire educa-
is 23 instead of 28. The special-ed
heresy coming from a trade unionist. I1
tional system in an effort to combat
students haven't been hurt, since
fact, the Kentucky law undermines vari
nepotism and the state's low stu-
the school uses self-paced teaching
ous provisions of traditional union con
dent achievement ratings. The in-
methods, which let students work at
tracts, including salary scales, seniorit
centive-pay plan emerged as the key
their own speed. "We have the pow-
provisions, and layoff protections.
element in the package. "A lot of
er now to change the things that
That, among other things, has mad
people will be watching to see how
stymie us from doing our jobs,"
the rival NEA lukewarm about incen
this approach works," says Keith Gei-
says Tim Dedman, a fifth-grade
tives. The Kentucky Education Assn.
ger, president of the National Education
teacher at Arlington.
the NEA'S affiliate, went along afte
Assn. (NEA), whose Kentucky affiliate is
The incentive for teachers to take
much debate and lobbying to softei
the state's largest teachers' union.
a bigger role is money. Many school
some of the new law's provisions. Bu
The new law involves a dramatic shift
districts in recent years have adopt-
KEA leaders say that some rank-and-fil
of power to teachers. It requires every
ed merit-pay systems, which give
teachers fear the change involved. Oth
school to form a teacher-dominated gov-
bonuses to individual teachers who
ers don't see teaching as a profession
erning council that can override a wide
perform well. By contrast, Ken-
that lends itself to incentives-the same
range of state and union rules. For in-
tucky's plan provides a bonus to the
objection many teachers have to meri
entire staff if its school improves—
pay. "It's crazy to run schools like you
stance, a council can alter class size, re-
and to no one if it doesn't. The goal
do a business," says NEA President Gei
arrange or extend the school day, and
is to prompt teachers to work as a
ger. "In that kind of system, you always
decide what new staff to hire. The as-
team, somewhat like the production
build in winners and losers, and you
sumption is the same one that is moti-
teams common in factories.
can't do that with children."
vating Industrial America to push deci-
Because these changes are such a
It will be several years before Ken
sion-making down to the factory floor:
radical departure, Kentucky plans to
tucky's plan can be judged objectively
Those closest to a problem know best
how to solve it. In Kentucky, this rele-
phase them in gradually. By 1992, a
But this much already is clear: With
gates school boards and principals, who
state-appointed committee will define the
U.S. global competitiveness at stake, al
will be outnumbered on the councils, to
attributes of a "successful" student (ta-
most any experiment seems worth try
ble, page 54). Over the next two years,
ing to improve the education of Ameri
advisory roles, though the extent to
teacher bonuses will be awarded based
ca's kids.
which this happens will depend on how
forcefully teachers assert themselves.
on each school's percentage gain in suc-
By Aaron Bernstein in New York, with
SELF-PACING. The reformers hope that
cessful students. To be fair to weak
Patrick Howington in Louisville
empowered teachers will come up with
schools, the ratings will judge each
better ideas in every area of education,
school against how many such students
from curriculum to teaching methods.
it had to begin with, instead of against
Indeed, although some schools fear the
an absolute standard. To ensure that
teachers at good schools aren't penalized
64
BUSINESS WEEK/JANUARY 28, 1991
PROMISING PRACTICES
A wonderful education
awaits 500 Dade kids
Debra O'Connor is a staff writer
the classics of children's literature.
At the center of the school was a
at the St. Paul, Minn., Pioneer
With only a couple of dozen books on
library ringed by computers. Stu-
Press, a Knight-Ridder newspaper.
the classroom literature shelf, he
dents flopped on couches and bean
She and her husband, Michael, have
didn't have much to choose from
bags, reading about space and Tom
two children at the Eagan, Minn.,
unless he brought something from
Sawyer and Peru. Books were
Tesseract School. She wrote this
home.
everywhere, yet textbooks were
article for The Herald.
At conferences, we tried to
conspicuously absent.
explain to the teacher that our son
We were drawn to Tesseract
By DEBRA O'CONNOR
needed something different. She
School by its claims that each indi-
explained that the curriculum must
B
eginning next fall, 514 Dade
vidual child is valued and that a per-
be adhered to. We tried to get the
County Public Schools ele-
sonal education plan, called a PEP,
principal to intercede, and ended up
mentary students will be get-
is developed and followed for each
with our son being saddled with
student.
ting a private school education
more advanced work in addition to,
worth $5,000 a year each, all for
We found through our first year at
not instead of, his regular classroom
free.
the school that their system seems
assignments.
to work so well for a variety of kids
The reason is a five-year contract
Joe's frustration with the curricu-
because it is so personalized. Chil-
for a partnership
lum's rigidity showed up in a variety
dren labeled gifted children work
with a Minne-
of ways - squabbling with class-
side-by-side with children labeled
sota education
mates, a dislike for his teacher and a
learning disabled and they both get
company, Edu-
general antipathy toward school
what they need.
cation Alterna-
that was unsettling from a young
Elementary children learn at radi-
tives Inc., which
child who had started his formal
cally different rates, based on their
has sold the
education with gusto.
interests, their general intelligence,
School Board on
We also wanted to change schools
their backgrounds and even what
the Tesseract
for the sake of our daughter, Anne,
else is going on in their lives at the
concept.
who was finishing up a great year in
moment. A lesson aimed at the mid-
Based on my
kindergarten. We had observed the
die of the class generally will miss
experience as
teacher she would have had in the
the third of the class who already
the parent of
all-important first-grade year and
know it (or who pick up the idea
two children in
we were disappointed.
within the first part of the presenta-
the company's
The teacher didn't seem to be all
tion) and the third of the class who
Eagan, Minn., flagship school, those
that fond of children. She stood at
aren't ready to learn it.
kids at South Pointe Tesseract
the front of the room, lecturing to
Also, some kids learn better when
School in Miami Beach are in for a
students who were fidgeting at their
they're told something, others need
wonderful education.
desks. She instructed them to take
to see it written down before it sinks
Our family chose Eagan's Tesser-
out one textbook after another and
in and some have to hold an example
act School mainly because our son,
complete work sheet after work
sheet. Her room was decorated with
in their hands before they under-
Joe, who was in third grade at the
stand the concept.
time, was miserable in a school
the traditional school-supply-com-
Tesseract takes all that into
where every child moved at the
pany motifs, but aside from a neatly
account. The teachers try to figure
arranged set of nearly identical stu-
same pace.
out where each student is, where he
In that school, when the teacher
dent drawings on the wall, there
was little evidence that children
needs to go next and what might
decided that her students were
worked in the room for six hours
interest him to get there.
going to tackle multiplication by
every day.
For example, Joe already loved to
seven, everybody spent the class
When we walked into the Tesser-
read and was good at it. His teacher,
time multiplying by seven - even
Mike Erdman, didn't make him do
the children who already knew how
act School, we were struck by the
joyous messiness of it all.
most of the computerized compre-
to multiply by seven and even the
children who weren't yet ready to
Projects in various stages were on
hension work that is part of the
tables and counters. Books that stu-
reading program. Instead, Joe got to
multiply by seven.
Joe, who has always loved to read,
dents had written and published
lie on a bean bag and read books
from a list of suggestions made up
showed on standardized tests that
were not only proudly displayed, but
by his teacher and parents. When
his comprehension was at a ninth-
were entered by title, subject and
the class read a book together, he
grade level. Yet he had to do the
author in the library's computerized
joined them for discussions about its
same reading comprehension work-
card catalog. A colorful math puzzle
theme, characters and so on.
book pages as children who were
being developed by several children
His teacher was aware of his new
struggling with third-grade reading
was spread out on a table. Sketches
student's reading abilities before
assignments. He wasn't given much
illustrating favorite literary pas-
the first day of school because he
class time to simply enjoy reading
sages were on the walls.
had looked at the results of Joe's
65
THE MIAMI HERALD
SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 1991
PROMISING PRACTICES
standardized tests from the previ-
Each kid is known by every other
ous spring. He also had a learning
kid. There's not much room for
styles evaluation he'd gone through
cliques and everybody's welcome in
late in the summer at the school. In
the recess softball game. If there's
addition, Erdman had talked to Joe,
conflict, a teacher intercedes imme-
his father and me for more than an
diately and the parties talk it out
hour at the end of the summer. At
with the school's director. Physical
the same conference, we discussed
and emotional pounding are not
everything from Joe's abilities in
allowed.
math to his personality to our opin-
In Dade County, the school will be
ion on the most effective approach
divided into communities to keep
to discipline for our particular child.
the numbers small and each student
The four of us came up with Joe's
visible.
education plan, which included spe-
The heart of any school is its
cific and general goals in academic
teachers. At the Minnesota Tesser-
subjects and the personal matura-
act School, the teachers seem to
tion we hoped to see during the
love their jobs because they have
school year.
much more time to teach.
At Tesseract School, parents
With two teachers for each group
meet with their children's teachers
of 24 students, a teacher gets to
for four hour-long conferences and
spend time with each student. With
however many 10-minute phone
a school director whose job descrip-
calls or chats as it takes to get little
tion includes most of the disciplinary
problems straightened out and con-
hassles, the teacher has more time
gratulations given. Instead of
to teach. With a system that pro-
grades, parents receive information
vides an abundance of interesting
sheets that explain what the student
learning supplies, books and field
was doing in each subject during the
trips, the teacher is not constantly
four grading periods and what the
frustrated by lack of materials.
student learned.
These teachers work harder than
The Tesseract system has ample
any others I've seen. They come
room for parent involvement,
early and stay late and always seem
including pot-luck dinners and class-
to have time to talk to kids or par-
room visits. But in a Miami Herald
ents who want to hang around after
story about turnout for a Tesseract
school. They attend university
meeting, the headline reported:
classes to upgrade their knowledge
"Few hear school plan that relies on
and they talk to each other about
parents."
what works. They're willing to do
In Dade County, administrators
without some specialist support
have doubts about whether parents
they would have in traditional public
will agree to come to the school and
schools in order to lower the class
talk to the teachers about their chil-
sizes. They minimize textbook use
dren. One proposal they've devel-
in favor of better materials, many of
oped would link concerned people
which they've developed them-
from the community with students
selves.
on a one-to-one basis to keep track
A prime example is the "whole
of the student's progress.
language approach" reading, writ-
But it's entirely possible that par-
ing and spelling that's used through-
ents, once they get used to the
out the Tesseract system. The gist
school's ideas, might be drawn into
of it is that kids learn to read and
the school. Parents are respected in
write by reading well-written books
the Tesseract system in part
and writing about their own experi-
because they're considered the
ences, not by filling out work sheets
experts on their own children and
and plodding through a text.
therefore possess valuable informa-
In math, the students do proceed
tion. The classrooms should be
through a textbook as a part of their
homey, the teachers shouldn't be
course, but each student may be in a
intimidating.
different place or even a different
book.
In other ways, too, Tesseract is
set up to be more than an education
Most of the time is spent on read-
factory. In Minnesota, the building
ing, writing and mathematics. Social
is small and the 150 or so kids in kin-
studies, science and foreign lan-
dergarten through sixth grade all
guage are present but secondary.
know each other by name. They
The entire push is to create a
meet in the auditorium every morn-
school where students are eager to
ing for 15 minutes to hear a story,
go in the morning, where they actu-
meet a parent who has an interest-
ally learn something during the day
ing hobby or make a class presenta-
and where they get the idea that
tion. Sometime during the year
they're academically and socially
most of them do some project
capable.
together.
It works at a private school in
66
Minnesota; it's well worth trying at
a public school in Dade County.
PROMISING PRACTICES
CUNY Standards Would Press Schools
By SAMUEL WEISS
To produce graduates who can meet the
good guideline in determining how many
diploma.
new academic standards that the City Uni-
students would be fully prepared to meet
But Mr. Cioffi noted that there were
CUNY's proposed standards.
more serious difficulties to address
versity of New York is planning to impose
on its students, the city's high schools must
Board of Education information about
than simply telling students what they
need to take.
start teaching students far better than they
1989. high school graduates shows that
Noting that half of his students are
do now, education experts said yesterday.
only 6,650 students of the roughly 35,000
recent immigrants, he said, "Our first
Only 15 New York public high schools, vir-
earned Regents-endorsed diplomas
task is to teach them to speak and read
tually all of them specialized academic
that year.
English before we teach them Shake-
schools or local schools in relatively afflu-
Of these, 3,445, or 52 percent, were
speare and the great novels."
ent, predominantly white neighborhoods,
granted at 10 of the city's 120 high
now graduate many students who could
schools. They include academic
meet the kind of standards that CUNY is
scheols that require entrance examina-
rions; high grade point averages or
contemplating.
even auditions: Brooklyn Technical
By contrast, information. from the Board
High School, Peter Stuyvesant High
of Education indicates that at many high
School in Manhattan, Bronx High
schools in poor neighborhoods, virtually no
School of Science, Midwood High
students now take the full range of courses
School at Brooklyn College, Edward R.
that CUNY will expect its graduates to have
Murrow High School of Communica-
mastered. Laboratory science, algebra,
tions in Brooklyn, Townsend Harris
geometry and trigonometry, foreign lan-
High School at Queens College and the
guages, college-preparatory English and
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of
history are among the courses that the uni-
Music and the Arts in Manhattan.
versity is expected to require.
Regents Requirements
Students who have not taken the courses
The three neighborhood schools in
in high school must take college-level
this group were Benjamain N. Cardozo
courses in those subjects.
and Forest Hills High Schools in
CUNY officials say that pushing college
Queens and Tottenville High School in
standards higher is a deliberate effort to put
Staten Island.
pressure on the city's schools to prepare
"Another 606 Regents-endorsed diplo-
youngsters - particularly minority ones -
mas were granted at five more
better for college.
schools: South Shore High School in the
"We know that in cities and states across
Canarsie section of Brooklyn, Susan E.
the country, including New York, the level of
'Wagner High School on Staten Island,
high school preparation varies by racial and
Francis Lewis High School in Flushing,
ethnic group," said a senior university offi-
Queens, Hillcrest High School in Ja-
cial. "What we're trying to do is tell stu-
maica, Queens, and John Adams High
dents, their parents and everyone at the
School in Ozone Park, Queens.
Board of Education what we think academi-
Many schools in poor parts of the city
cally is needed to succeed in college."
produced very few Regents-endorsed
The new standards, proposed by Chancel-
diplomas. At Erasmus Hall High
lor W. Ann Reynolds, would require students
School in the Flatbush section of Brook-
entering the City University to have taken
lyn, for example, only 19 of 300 gradu-
the college-preparatory courses in high
ates earned them. At Bushwick High
school or to take extra courses in college to
School, also in Brooklyn, only one of the
81 graduates did.
graduate.
While the new requirements have yet to
To earn a Regents-endorsed diplo-
ma, a student must take four years of
be spelled out, Dr. Reynolds has said they
college-preparatory classes in English,
would be like those required for a Regents-
four years in social studies, two years
endorsed high school diploma, which indi-
of mathematics, two years of science,
cates that a graduate has taken college-
one year of art or music, two years of a
preparatory classes and passed statewide
foreign language, three years of elec-
examinations in them.
tives and one-half year of health educa-
The Chancellor's planning committee
tion.
hopes to raise admissions standards without
Remedial or modified courses do not
abandoning the policy that guarantees ad-
count toward such a degree.
mission to any city high school graduate.
Chancellor Reynolds said earlier this
But the effort has raised fears among some
week that CUNY was aware how few
university officials that the new standards
graduates could meet its proposed new
would end up undoing the original intent of
standards and SO would phase them in
open admissions by discouraging poor and
slowly, beginning in 1992.
minority students from applying.
A high school principal in Brooklyn
At present, only about 20 percent of the
said yesterday that he thought the new
graduates of the city's public high schools
standards were a move in the right di-
earn a Regents-endorsed diploma.
rection. "I think they can have a very
Board of Education officials cautioned
salutary effect in raising expecta-
that not every student who took a Regents
tions," said Jerry Cioffi, principal of
course ended up with a Regents diploma.
Prospect Heights High School in Brook-
But they agreed that in general, the number
lyn, where less than 10 percent of
of Regents-endorsed diplomas provided a
graduates earned a Regents-endorsed
67
THE NEW YORK TIMES
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1991
PROMISING PRACTICES
Bound for High School, They Test for College
spective home buyers routinely check
ures that he has enough familiarity
By ANTHONY DePALMA
the S.A.T. scores in a town's high school
with geometry to eliminate obviously
Already under pressure from par-
before deciding whether to buy. Legis-
incorrect answers and take an edu-
ents, peers and a society that often sees
lators often use scores to evaluate
cated guess on the right ones, a strat-
test scores as measures of success, in-
educational policies and the perform-
egy endorsed by coaching centers.
creasing numbers of students as young
ance of schools.
as 12 years old are taking the difficult,
Scott has already taken a few two-
Twenty years ago, only a few thou-
hour practice exams, administered by
three-hour college entrance examina-
sand precocious young students took
Ronkin. His highest score was a 1240,
tion before entering high school.
the test. But with the development and
which would be considered excellent
Last year, 105,700 seventh and eighth
spread of special summer programs
for a high school senior. He expects to
graders took the Scholastic Aptitude
for exceptional students run by col-
get a similar score when he takes the
Test, a multiple-choice exam intended
leges, the number of early test takers
real test later this month,
for high school juniors and seniors. The
has steadily increased because the pro-
number of young test takers has been
grams require high S.A.T scores for
But many students his age are disap-
growing for the last 20 years; that age
admission. Educators concede that
pointed when they do take the tests.
group now makes up 6 percent of the
there are problems in using the S.A.T.
The average score for pre-teen-agers
1.7 million students who take the exam
for such young students, but say that
in 1984, was a combined 753. The na-
each year.
they have no better standard measure-
tional average for high school seniors
In a test-conscious society where
ment of students' abilities.
headed for college in 1984 was 897.
scores on standardized tests already
influence a wide range of endeavors,
By 1981 over 40,000 students were
Right now, Scott's biggest worry is
the growing number of youngsters tak-
taking the test. Of the more than
keeping his thoughts straight for the
ing the S.A.T. evokes enthusiasm
105,000 seventh and eighth graders who
three hours of the real test, which he
among some parents and educators
are expected to take the test this year,
will take with a room full of high school
and concern among others.
more than 90 percent will be white and
students.
slightly more than half will be girls,
Seeking an Edge
"I'm building endurance now," said
based on past samples.
The number of young test takers is
the youngster, an eager tennis player
Thousands of youngsters will take
expected to continue growing because
who said he does not mind giving up his
the test this Saturday, nearly all of
the potential pool of students eligible
Saturdays to train for the test by doing
them taking it either to enter special
math and vocabulary exercises on a
for the summer programs is estimated
summer programs for the academi-
to be 750,000.
computer. "I think I'll be able to sur-
cally gifted or to prepare early for the
vive."
The College Board, which adminis-
college application process.
ters the S.A.T., does not encourage the
Some educators say Scott is the kind
Some believe that tackling such chal-
use of the test by seventh and eighth
of young student with the confidence to
lenges'at an early age stimulates learn-
graders, but does nothing to restrict
take the S.A.T. without anxiety and get
ing and gives the young students a leg
this use. The College Board, a nonprofit
a head start in preparing for college.
up on their classmates when they take
organization, charges $14.50 per test.
He already plans to go to Duke Univer-
the test again in high school.
Most Feel Good About Test
sity for his undergraduate degree and
"When they take the test later and it
then to the University of Florida to be-
To better understand the impact of
come a veterinarian.
counts, they will already have been
the early testing experience, the Col-
through it," said Anne Brightwell
lege Board surveyed many of the
Scott was invited to take the S.A.T.
McCord of Atlanta, who is sending her
youngsters who had taken the test in
because he had scored in the top 3 per-
12-year-old son, Hank, a sixth grader at
1984.
cent of students on nationally standard-
Oak Grove Elementary School, to a
The survey, released in 1988, found
ized tests that are routinely given to
center that is helping him prepare to
that the majority of students felt that
fifth- and sixth-grade students.
take the S.A.T. next year.
taking the test had been a positive ex-
If he scores at least a combined 1000
perience. About 18 percent actually en-
But others believe too much impor-
on the S.A.T., Scott will be eligible for a
rolled in summer programs; the rest
tance is already put on standardized
summer program for talented youth
said they took the test to see what it
run by Duke. The three-week course
testing. They say giving the S.A.T. to
was like.
held on campus in the summer costs
children who have not yet been taught
Many students take the S.A.T. more
$1,500.
the algebra and geometry that are cov-
than once, but usually not until high
Eleven-year-old Jimmy Hsu of
ered in the test is absurd. And for some,
school. Some also take a shorter ver-
Laguna Hills, Calif., is also hoping to
imposing the anxiety and stress of the
sion with questions appropriate for
get into a summer enhancement camp.
S.A.T. steals yet another thread of
ninth and 10th graders, the Prelimi-
Although he will not take the qualifying
childhood from youngsters who are
nary Scholastic Aptitude Test, or
S.A.T. until next year, the sixth grader,
growing up too fast.
P.S.A.T. Intended for practice, it is not
who collects Spider Man comic books
used in college admissions decisions.
"The whole thing is hideous," said
and likes to draw, is enrolled in the
Joan Flynn of Rockaway, Queens,
Achieving a high S.A.T. score is the
Ronkin program in Mission Viejo for
immediate goal of young students like
general academic training as well as to
whose 12-year-old son, Huck, a seventh
12-year-old Scott Janowitz of Miami.
study S.A.T. vocabulary words on the
grader at Brooklyn Friends School,
He attends two coaching sessions a
center's computer.
was invited to take the S.A.T. as an en-
week at a program offered by the Ron-
"They're asking about these. high
trance exam for a summer education
kin Educational Group, a private com-
school words or college words I don't
pany based in Plantation, Fla., that has
know," Jimmy said. "Sometimes I
program. Ms. Flynn said no. "There's
college preparation centers around the
have to look at the root word and figure
more to life than scores on a test," she
said.
country. Ronkin charges $375 to $550
out the definition by process of elimina-
tion."
Intended as a predictor of a student's
for a test preparation course that
Maureen Welsh, associate director of
ability to do college work, S.A.T. scores,
ranges from 10 to 16 two-hour sessions.
the admissions testing program at the
which range from 400 to 1600 for the
Scott, a seventh grader at Southwood
College Board, said it is possible for
combined mathematics and verbal sec-
Middle School, thinks he can handle the
bright youngsters to look at material
tions, have become social brands. Pro-
algebra on the test, even though he has
they have never seen before and "do
never studied it in school, and he fig-
some problem solving on the spot."
68
THE NEW YORK TIMES
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1991
PROMISING PRACTICES
Better Prepared, Some Say
The emotional well-being of these
take the test. Ms. Blank, who said she
young test takers concerns some
believes that standardized tests are
Ms. Welsh said the student might
educators. "I'm not a big fan of this, be-
overused, said Sara was not interested
look at the prefix "in" and understand
cause I think the kids are just too
in attending the summer program but
it represents some kid of negative, then
young for the test," said Robert W. At-
"just wanted to see how well she'd do
check the suffix "ible," indicating
kins, a guidance counselor at the Ap-
and get the experience."
capable of. The student might then
plegarth Middle School in Monroe
check the root word and decide it looks
Township, N.J. Of 400 students at the
But Ms. Blank also wants to be sure
like the word "correct."
school, 37 scored in the top 3 percent on
that Sara has a chance to enjoy being a
Reviewing possible answers, the stu-
their sixth grade basic skills test and
child, a concern expressed by others
dent would find: a) symmetrical;
were invited to take the S.A.T. for the
who think that 12-year-olds should not
b)impetuous; c)candid; d)amenable
Johns Hopkins Center for the Advance-
be worrying about S.A.T. scores. John
to improvement, and e) incapable of
ment of Academically Talented Youth
S. Katzman, president of the Princeton
distraction.
program, the oldest of the more than 35
"Without doing a lot of ornate analy-
talent search programs in the nation.
Review, one of the largest private test-
'sis," Ms. Welsh said, "the student
Despite his reservations, Mr. Atkins
coaching service, said he turns away
sent the students letters explaining
most parents who bring in pre-high
might think the answer had something
how to apply for the programs and take
school test takers for coaching.
to do with improvement."
The correct answer is d.
the S.A.T. So far, he said, two of the 37
"The best that parents can do by
have signed up.
starting their kids on the way to coliege
Leslee J. Scheckman, director of the
These youngsters are under pres-
so early is to make them crazy," Mr.
training center that Jimmy Hsu at-
sure, but some of it comes from their
Katzman said.
tends, said that doing well on the S.A.T.
Janet Ronkin, president of the Ron-
might help young students later when
own egos. Honored to be invited to take
kin Educational Group, said coaching
they apply for scholarships, because
the S.A.T., many do so even if they have
does help. She said she has about 1,000
their scores would show how bright
no intention of spending their summer
elementary and junior high school stu-
in a school program.
they are. She also said such students
dents in college preparatory courses
would be better prepared and less
Judy Hepburn Blank of Brooklyn
around the country. Some are as young
nervous when they took the test again
said her 12-year-old daughter, Sara,
as 10.
in high school.
"came home flying" after she found
"Kids wouldn't want to get up at bat
out that Johns Hopkins wanted her to
in Little League without taking a few
practice swings," Mrs. Ronkin said.
"And they wouldn't want to take a test
on which so much is riding without
knowing what is involved."
Black Culture, the Latin Way
By EDWARD C. HOERR
phies, arts and sciences as these emerged
and Elizabeth Tardola, program instruc-
How to infuse a sense of pride and cul-
in Alexandria.
tor, have written a continuing narrative
Developing geographic skills through
about the adventures of a black, second
tural identity in younger minority students
admittedly is a tough question, but Beloit
the use of maps, both ancient and mod-
century Ethiopian family. Their life story,
which unfolds when an ancient scroll
College has what we think are some un-
ern.
usual answers to it: Pliny, Cicero, Homer,
Conducting scientific experiments
comes to light in modern-day America, is
Euclid.
derived from Alexandrian technological
the vehicle that carries all the various ele-
ments of this classical curriculum. This
This different - possibly unique - ap-
achievements.
proach is rooted in the classics and knowl-
Learning and practicing basic ethical
story line is the only thing "fictional"
edge of ancient civilizations. It is part of a
precepts embodied in four Alexandrian re-
about this unusual program, which is
larger, voluntary program called Help
guli, or rules-
firmly based on the principle of historical
Yourself, now in its third year of involving
Act with a kind heart and love what is
accuracy.
minority children ages nine to 13. Two af-
good.
"What we're doing," says Ms. Tardola,
ternoons a week at the end of their regular
Be of help to all.
"is presenting a picture not only of black
public school hours and on Saturday morn-
Learn to love truth.
history, but of integrated history, in which
ings, these youngsters from the city of Be-
To do what is right is difficult.
the blacks contributed to it on an egalitar-
loit gather on campus for a "trip" back in
Why does Beloit focus its innovative
ian basis."
time to the second century and the Egyp-
program on ancient Alexandria, the city of
To have fun while further honing their
tian city of Alexandria. They travel with
the wondrous lighthouse? In the days of
Latin skills, the children play word games
certified passports. And they speak
the Roman Empire, all trade between East
with team competition (for one they oper-
and West passed through Alexandria, a
ate in the manner of Sherlock Holmes to
Latin.
"Meet Us in Alexandria" is a curricu-
Greek city governed by the Egyptian Pto-
"crack the code" of the various parts of
lum based on the Aristotelian premise that
lemaic kings. It was the wealthiest, most
speech in Latin). They present plays in
the best learning takes place when all the
learned, most diverse city of its time. Peo-
Latin, and every May at Beloit College's
senses are occupied. Add to this the Greek
ple from all nations, ethnic groups and re-
commencement exercises they sing sev-
observation that all knowledge begins in
ligions lived and worked together in Alex-
eral songs-in Latin, of course-to the de-
wonder, and you have nearly 70 children
andria: Ethiopians, Greeks, Egyptians,
light of the assembled throng.
whose curiosities are thoroughly aroused
Scythians (Slavs), Chinese, Indians and
Beloit's creative program for minority
in a relaxed and enjoyable context.
Hebrews. Great thinkers such as Euclid
children is producing noticeable results in
No, they're not studying the Three R's
and Philo helped make Alexandria a cen-
short order. It quickly awakens a sense of
(they've spent all day in school doing that)
ter of scientific, medical, philosophical and
cultural identity, but it also fosters cross-
or even African-American history. Instead,
theological learning, drawing on many in-
cultural understanding and cooperation.
they gain a sense of cultural identity and
tellectual, religious, ethnic and political
And it doesn't stop there. As the pro-
history by:
traditions. In short, Alexandria can be
spectus states: "To get to know Alexandria
Speaking Latin, to learn the funda-
seen as a model for the cooperative enter-
is to get to know the use of the mind."
mentals of language structure and critical
prise of diverse peoples.
thinking.
To hold the children's interest, Beloit
Mr. Hoerr is interim president of Beloit
Studying the development of philoso-
College's John Wyatt, professor of classics,
College in Beloit, Wis.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 1991
69
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
Teaching Students About War
By Edwin J. Delattre
n the days since we went to war in the Persian Gulf, the
Because they are worried and fearful-and because war is
I
media-especially television-have featured the reac-
SO horrible-students should be learning to ask why Winston
tions of American students and their schools. Many
Churchill insisted, "War is horrible, but slavery is worse."
broadcasts emphasize classrooms where teachers in-
Why Robert E. Lee reflected, "It is good that war is SO horri-
vite students to describe their feelings-their fears, confu-
ble, lest we should love it too much." They should be learning
sions, and worries-about war.
to ask why, in its enduring cadences, Ecclesiastes says:
Counselors, teachers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and tel-
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter
evision personalities celebrate these classroom activities.
under heaven:
These putative experts subscribe to a model of education as
a time to be born, and a time to die.
group therapy, the basic goal of which is the disclosure and
a time to kill, and a time to heal.
sharing of feelings for the sake of "coping."
a time to love, and a time to hate;
Some schools now offer psychological counseling to stu-
a time for war, and a time for peace.
dents and teach students that expressions of opinion about
Students and their teachers should be achieving the humil-
the war are acceptable and will be tolerated, as one superin-
ity that comes with learning how hard it is to tell, sometimes,
tendent says, "as long as they respect all points of view."
which time it is.
Television cameras visit other classrooms where regular
They should be learning to see into and feel sympathy with
lessons and studies have been suspended. Students watch
the sorrow in the eyes of the women in Anna Lea Merritt's
television coverage of the war in the Middle East. "The
painting, War. And to contrast the blithe innocence of the
students," commentators say, "can watch history in the
children in Lilly Martin Spencer's painting, The War Spirit
making."
at Home: Celebrating the Victory at Vicksburg, with the
These are predictable but dismaying trends. It is certainly
dread of war etched in the grave faces of their mother and her
true that children should be spared inordinate fear by loving
housemaid. They should be learning to enter the feelings of
instruction from their parents and teachers. It is similarly
others in the spirit of the Golden Rule.
true that teachers and parents should seek to know what
Where students are old enough, they should be wondering
their charges worry about.
why, in 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, "During recent
Educationally, these are imperatives because inordinate
months I have come to see more and more the need for the
fear causes unnecessary suffering and obstructs reliable
method of nonviolence in international relations." Why did he
knowledge of reality. And worry and concern are natural
say that he had previously felt that "war, horrible as it is, might
springs of the yearning to know and understand-they pro-
be preferable to surrender to a totalitarian system," and then
vide reasons to study and motives to think.
add that he had come to the conclusion that it was no longer
Preoccupation with feelings alone will bring students no
possible for war to serve even "as a negative good"?
closer to possession of the traditions of civility to which they
Why, by contrast, did Frederick Douglass publish in his
are rightful heirs. Immersion in sentiment will not engage
Rochester, N.Y., newspaper his own exhortation, "Men of
them in the long, literary history of reflection on the human
Color, To Arms!" with the insistence, "Words are now useful
condition; it will only isolate them in the narrow confines of
only as they stimulate to blows. The office of speech now is
their own transient psychological states.
only to point out when, where, and how to strike to the best
As Robert Coles puts the point, "It has been possible in the
advantage
Better even die free, than to live slaves.'
I
past for children in the United States to get through wars
urge you to fly to arms, and smite with death the power that
without the massive intervention of school psychologists and
would bury the government and your liberty in the same
television personalities, and I rather suspect it will be possi-
hopeless grave"? Why did Douglass insist that "dreaming of
ble in the future if we only give children a chance."
peace" was infatuation and blindness and that the failure of
To give students a chance is to take them beyond and be-
some black men to answer the call proved only that "there
hind the unfiltered information of the media to the study of
are weak and cowardly men in all nations"?
history, literature, geography, cartography, civics, vocabu-
Students should be learning to see something of the "peace
lary, spelling, and the fine arts appropriate to their age. And
everywhere beginning to take shape" that Antoine de
as they mature, into reflection on moral ideals such as jus-
Saint-Exupéry saw as he flew to Arras in 1942: "a nameless
tice, courage, and restraint, and political and military cate-
peace that stands for the end of everything." They should learn
gories, including planning, strategy, and tactics. Such stud-
why a man of such sensibilities would say, "The peace that is on
ies give students a chance to form considered opinions about
its way
spreads apace like gray leprosy."
war and peace and do not convey to them the false message
that only this war, only their own immediate present, makes
any difference.
70
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
They should be asking why some ancient civilizations taught
the young that it is a sweet and seemly thing to die for one's
country. And why thousands of years later Joseph Conrad
would lament the fate of people who "go skimming over the
years of existence to sink gently into a placid grave, ignorant of
life to the last, without ever having been made to see all it may
contain of perfidy, of violence, of terror."
They should be learning that they are made of the same flesh
and blood as Anne Frank, who, despite her heartache and fear,
hiding from Nazis, could write in 1943 that she and her family
must not succumb to self-pity. And months later, in the year of
her death, "I know that first and foremost I shall require cour-
age and cheerfulness.
I am often downcast, but never in
despair.
Why can't people live peacefully together?" We
should be teaching them of the anguish we feel for the death of
the young because, unlike Willa Cather's Archbishop Latour,
they do not die "of having lived."
If students, and their minds and hearts, are taken this
seriously by their teachers and their parents, they will learn
that they are not alone. Their heritage is replete with human
beings who have given their best to make sense of the ordeals
of judgment and action imposed by circumstance on all con-
scientious people.
They will learn that history in the making is not SO much
what they see on television as what they make of themselves.
History is being made in their classrooms today-hy whether
they are learning reading, writing, mathematics, and SO on. or
instead being indulged in persistent ignorance fueled by glorifi-
cation of passion, emotion, and sentiment. They need to know
that if they become a generation of Americans ill-educated in
their own time, they threaten the world with a bleaker future
than does the horror of any current war.
Likewise, if students are exposed to the history of voices
that disagree about war-or specific wars-yet remain civil,
patient, and willing to listen, they will learn to tell which
points of view deserve respect. They will learn that the views
of those who take sadistic pleasure in the waging of war and
the infliction of suffering deserve no respect. Those who wan-
tonly and remorselessly slaughter the innocent deserve no
respect. Those who would condemn as evil everyone who dis-
agrees with them deserve no respect. And those who are in-
different to the sacrifices of their own women and men at
arms deserve no respect.
All this, students whose habits of mind and heart are im-
proved by real educational opportunity that springs from the
tragedy of war, have a chance to learn. Nothing less-howev-
er well-intentioned-is good enough.
Edwin J. Delattre is the Olin Scholar in Applied Ethics at
Boston University's school of education.
EDUCATION WEEK FEBRUARY 6, 1991
71
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
The Clean Sea Breeze of
the Centuries
Susan Moore
M
Y title has been taken from a passage in C. S.
observer of the contemporary scene. He knows that many
Lewis's God in the Dock:
20th century lives, perhaps the majority of lives, are
clogged by uncertainty about this fundamental matter.
"Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good
A major reason for C.S. Lewis's insistence that we
at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make
have got to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries
certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books
that will correct the characteristic mistakes of out
blowing through our minds is that we can't begin to
answer the question "What was I made for?" or the
own period. And that means the old books Where
modern books are
related ones "Why am I here? What am I meant to be
and to do?" unless the
true they will give us
truths which we half
yardstick against which we
measure our individual ex-
knew already. Where
they are false they will
perience is firmly attached to
aggravate the error
the civilized past. Not only do
with which we are al-
the old books help us to see
ready dangerously ill.
the errors prevalent in our
The only palliative is
world and in our time; they
to keep the clean sea
give meaning to our own in-
breeze of the centuries
dividual comings and goings,
blowing through our
our ordinary, everyday preoc-
minds, and this can
cupations and activities.
be done only by read-
Through them we acquire a
ing old books."
firmer sense of possibility.
The importance of
Lewis's insight into the
An Absence of Heroes
dangers inherent in every
age struck me forcibly a
A central problem today
few weeks ago as I read a
-what Lewis might have
new book by a very good
described as a dangerous ill-
Australian writer from
ness-is the absence in our
Wahroonga named Peter
world of high models of action
Shrubb. His second novel,
for our children to emulate.
Living Alone, is set in the
When I was in America last year,
present in Sydney. All of
I attended a history class in
his characters, young and
Providence, Rhode Island in
old, are confused about where their lives are going. All
which Year 10 pupils were asked to rate heroes of their
of them, at crucial points, ask themselves the question
own choosing in the order of their importance. Every
posed by the novel's heroine, Anne Waterton: What was
hero named, except Martin Luther King and Al
I made for? Most don't know how to begin to frame an
Capone (!), was an '80s rock star, footballer, basketball
answer. That's because Peter Shrubb is a realist, a close
player or Olympic runner. Not a single person born
Dr Susan Moore is a Research Fellow in the IPA Education Policy Unit.
This is based on a talk delivered on Speech Night at the Queenwood School in Mosman, NSW.
IPA Review, Spring 1990
72
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
before 1920, and not one person who was not an
years ago has been subverted by television, videos and
American citizen, was listed. I have had similar experien-
other forms of popular entertainment; and it's very hard
ces in Australian schools - though, fortunately, not for
for that authority to be appropriately reclaimed.
some time. Today, large numbers of pupils are unac-
Nobody, any more, wants to be a 'Renaissance man or
quainted with scores of individuals whose achievements
woman': a person whose broad knowledge and skills
are outstanding and well-known. Their heroes - if that
issue in a range of superior achievements. The term
word can be used - are figures from popular culture.
itself is fast disappearing from our vocabularies.
A vision of the heroic and the wise, extending back
The thinking that captures our imagination in
to ancient Greece and Rome, is no longer a fundamental
public life is satirical. We respond at once to brilliant
part of the cultural experience of English-speaking
comic creations like Basil Faulty, Yes Minister, Dame
countries. At no stage in their schooling are most
Edna or Kylie Mole. But we don't really believe there
Australian pupils required to read biographies or
are people superior in thought or feeling to ourselves -
autobiographies. Such history as they experience in
as, by definition, heroes are. Why should we believe this?
watered-down Social Studies courses often introduces
There is no pressure in our world for most of us to be
them to only the sketchiest accounts of the lives of great
deeply reflective or sensitive. The lively exchange of
men and women. Many don't study European or An-
ideas-notably, ideas generated at other times and in
cient History at all. The literature to which more and
other places-is not a feature of modern life, except in
more of them are exposed is contemporary; and a great
rarefied circles. Everybody, we're convinced, has a right
deal of it is concerned with human weakness, helpless-
to his opinion; and every opinion is as good (or as
ness and brutality. No wonder fewer than 50 per cent of
worthless) as every other. The fact that our universities
the American students who were given multiple-choice
are producing more and more specialists whose general
national tests in History and Literature in 1986 could
knowledge is woeful barely causes us to raise an
identify Helen of Troy or Sancho Panza, the Prodigal
eyebrow.
Son or Dante.
A recent editorial in The Australian pointed out
For years, in a Tragedy course which I taught to
that more than 1,100 men and women at our universities
second-year students at the Sydney Institute of Educa-
are so valued for their teaching and research that they
tion, I began by asking everyone in the class to name the
have been endowed with the honorific 'professor'. An
elements they would expect to encounter in tragic
additional 4,800 are associate professors or leading lec-
drama. When they told me there would have to be a
turers in their chosen fields. Yet with a "handful of
tragic hero, I asked them to list the most striking per-
exceptions", they are silent in public life. Serious debate
sonal qualities found in such a person, male or female.
about major issues affecting all of us - health, interna-
Invariably they responded by not answering: that is, by
tional crime, education, pollution, and much else - is
speaking about status (tragic heroes are kings or
left to "small circulation magazines, letter writers and
queens) or personality (they're popular with others).
columnists in daily newspapers and to groups on the
They couldn't name qualities, and certainly not moral
opposite ends of the political spectrum." Radio talk
qualities until Isuggested that they start with 'courage'.
shows pick up items highlighted in the daily press, and
Yet even then, and even after I advised them to think
just as quickly drop them.
about additional qualities of mind and heart, and to
Very few of us believe that life would be much
consider what besides status gives a heroic person
more interesting if we debated with one another over
authority, most had trouble.
the kitchen table, as the Mackerras family did, about art
and literature, religion and education. It wouldn't enter
most of our heads to discuss, socially, the wisdom of the
Authority Undermined
Enlightenment belief that knowledge - not faith, not
justice, not courage, not love, but knowledge - can
The large question "Which qualities confer upon
cure our ills. We don't consider it essential to read Anna
heroic men and women the authority which all of them
Karenina (it's so long: 900 pages) instead of watching the
must have to act wisely?" not only isn't asked in our
BBC video or the Garbo film of Tolstoy's novel. Mental
schools; it isn't asked in our culture - and I mean not
activity of this sort strikes us as tiresome or pretentious,
just Australian culture, but the culture of the West. Ours
not as an essential means of fostering human closeness
is an age of anti-heroes ("I didn't mean it! I didn't do
and combating the isolation and bleakness which result
it!"). Nobody looms high above us, as heroes in our early
from the increasing absence in our culture of common
literature or earlier periods of history do or did. Even
cultural reference.
the authority parents and teachers had as recently as 30
73
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
Common Ground Needed
Yet because of the enormous changes which have
books' do - is attach us to everyone who has ever lived,
taken place in the last half-century, many of them a
to all of the ages of man. They do this by immersing us
threat to stability and security - changes which have
in worlds which differ markedly from our own, but in
separated families from their homelands, children from
which, nevertheless, we feel perfectly at home. A com-
their parents, friends from one another, us from our
mon reaction of students reading Aeschylus or
deepest selves - our need for common ground, and for
Euripides for the first time in schools, colleges, or
ancient wisdom in handling the daily round, is very great
universities is, "He's so modern! Did he really write over
indeed. A 20th century cliché is the word 'alienation'.
2,000 years ago?" Great works of literature, philosophy,
But we are alienated deeply from the achievements
history and theology confer upon all readers an un-
of our own past. The 'deep springs' of life which make
shakeable sense of shared experience. Even on a first
humankind whole are for many of us painfully out of
meeting, Glaucon and Phoebe, Hector and Antigone,
reach.
strike us as near-relations. They certainly belong to the
Connections apparent in every major work of
same family as Aerin, the red-haired, intrepid, dragon-
English literature produced from the 12th to the 19th
killing heroine of Robin McKinley's recent prize-win-
century, and every first-rate historical novel written for
ning fantasy for older children, The Hero and the Crown.
older children in the past 50 years, no longer strike us as
They're not larger than life, but they all possess an
essential. Barbara Willard's Mantlemass novels for
Aristotelian largeness of soul.
children, which I've lately been reading, are concerned
in a fundamental way with genealogy - not for snobbish
reasons, but because of the values transmitted intact
Great Books
from one generation to the next: values like honour and
pride of place. In plague-driven 16th century England, a
On the same visit to America in which I listened to
Barbara Willard heroine who is orphaned at 15 derives
Year 10 pupils discuss their heroes, I also heard others,
an essential sense of continuity from her discovery of a
at a much better all-black school in West Chicago, talk
locket depicting a lark and a laurel. Until she finds this
about Ferdinand the Bull (this was in Year 1), a fable
heirloom, she has no secure sense of her place within
about an elephant (in a Year 5 Special Ed class), and
her own family, and little understanding of her ties with
The Book of Revelation (in two Year 8 classes). All of
her mother and grandparents. The locket, in unlocking
these children were engaged in Great Book seminars,
her past, releases her present and promises her a future.
which they have weekly on Wednesday mornings for
The desire for continuity is of course a basic human
anywhere from 20 minutes (in kindergarten) to an hour
need. But it can't be fulfilled in a world preoccupied with
and a half (in Year 8). In all my life - and I've spent
the present, or with self-interested provision for the
years observing classes in schools - I have never seen
future. From Plato onwards, our wisest philosophers
as many highly intelligent and enthusiastic pupils as I
have encouraged us to develop the habit of seeking
saw that day. And these were children surrounded in
long-term happiness rather than instant gratification,
their immediate neighbourhood by crime - children so
knowledge instead of opinion. They have also reminded
disadvantaged that many would write them off as 'born
us that what is pleasurable is very different from what is
losers', incapable of profiting from school.
good. News-stand trivia - what used to be called dime
The essential reason that their performance was so
store novels - and even decent but minor contem-
exciting was that their school is one of a few hundred
porary works cannot give us the deep personal sense of
American schools engaged in a program of reform
our place in history and human society which most of us
begun by the distinguished philosopher Mortimer
need. Neither can most of the TV shows or videos which
Adler. With Robert Hutchins, Adler started the Great
we spend years of our lives watching.
Books program at the University of Chicago over 30
What the classics do - what C. S. Lewis's 'old
years ago. In the early 1980s he moved into schools, help-
ing teachers to learn how to discuss large philosophical
issues with young children, using excerpts from Great
Books with older pupils and fables, myths, Bible stories,
and tales with younger ones. His program has been an
outstanding success in the places where it's been fully
implemented, chiefly because it has encouraged persons
of every age-young children, near-retiring teachers,
and lots of people in between-to experience as a matter
of course the clean sea breeze of the centuries.
74
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
Reinventing Local Control
By Chester E. Finn, Jr.
0 deeply ingrained in our con-
tional funds, but it was taken for granted that cities, towns, and counties did the heavy lifting
S
sciousness is the idea of "local
in public education. Though local governance structures varied, the usual pattern involved a
control of education" that few
lay school committee or board of education which hired a professional superintendent to
Americans even think about it
manage the system.
any more. Like "separation of church and
As might be expected of a fairly stable, mostly rural, and heavily agrarian society sprawled
state," "civilian control of the military,"
across a continental nation, local school systems were numerous and small. In 1931, there
and "equality of opportunity," the phrase
were 128,000 of them, with pupil enrollments averaging just 200. Not until the mid-1950' did
rolls off the tongue without even engaging
their number fall below 50,000. Today, almost 16,000 local districts operate some 83,000
the mind. To suggest that it may be obso-
public schools. Many of these "systems" are still tiny, however. In 1988, 55 percent of the
lete or harmful is like hinting that Mom's
districts enrolled fewer than 1,000 students each. (At the other end of the spectrum, 4 percent
apple pie is laced with arsenic.
of the districts, with enrollments greater than 10,000, accounted for nearly half of all stu-
The time has come, however, to subject
dents.)
"local control" as we know it to closer scru-
These local-system offices are staffed by more than 200,000 people, and the school boards
tiny. It is one of those 19th century school-
that direct them comprise about 97,000 individuals.
governance and -finance arrangements
All this is familiar stuff. The interesting question is whether this legacy of our agrarian past
that may not serve the country well at the
makes sense for our high-tech future. From where I sit, it doesn't. Let me suggest four reasons.
dawn of the next millennium. It is en-
shrined in neither the Ten Command-
First, states have evolved into the senior
ments nor the Constitution. It could,
partners in school finance. Their portion
therefore, be changed. Indeed, it has al-
(now 50 percent) crept past the local share
ready been changing in practice even
(now 44 percent) in the late 1970's. It con-
though we have not yet revamped the the-
tinues to rise and, as property-tax-limita-
tion referenda and school-finance-equaliza-
ory.
The Constitution, of course, is silent
tion lawsuits proliferate, it seems
about education. By not being assigned to
inevitable that fiscal decisions made in
the federal government, this function was
state capitals will increasingly be the deci-
left to the states, and state constitutions
sions that matter most in public education.
are where we find spelled out the duty of
Second, states are where most of the ac-
the commonwealth to furnish education to
tion has been with respect to policy inno-
the citizenry. It is the states that gave
vation, too, as the "excellence movement"
themselves this mandate. It is the states
took shape in the 1980's and shows no sign
that have it today.
of abating in the 1990's. One can cite a
Early on, however, all save Hawaii de-
handful of exceptions (Rochester, Chelsea,
volved the actual operation of schools to
Chicago) where the main impetus was lo-
local education agencies. This followed an
cal, but these pale alongside such
even older pattern in which towns and vil-
statewide reform efforts as those of Ken-
lages ran their own schools-or subsidized
tucky, South Carolina, California, New
the work of quasi-private academies serv-
Jersey, and a dozen other jurisdictions.
ing local children-long before states got
Moreover, big revisions in high-school
into the act. Localities were where most of
graduation requirements, teacher qualifi-
the public school dollar was raised in
cations, and student assessment have
those days, too. States set certain rules for
been undertaken by virtually every state.
schools, to be sure, and as the 20th century
Though one can make a case that state
unrolled, they also came to provide addi-
activism has actually boosted the policy
significance of local school managers, too,
it's hard to claim that decisions made at
Chester E. Finn Jr. is professor of education and public policy at Vanderbilt University and
the municipal level are even half SO im-
director of the Educational Excellence Network. His new book, We Must Take Charge: Our
portant today as they were a decade or two
Schools and Our Future, will be published by The Free Press in May.
ago. (For a provocative discussion, see
"Understanding Local Control in the
EDUCATION WEEK JANUARY 23, 1991
Wake of State Education Reform" by Su-
san H. Fuhrman and Richard F. Elmore in
the Spring 1990 issue of Educational
Evaluation and Policy Analysis.)
Third, almost a dozen states have en-
Ed. note: Thomas Shannon, executive director of the National School
acted "choice" laws, the underlying princi-
Boards Association, responded to this article in the February 13, 1991
ple of which is that youngsters may attend
Education Week, to which Finn's reply is "Q.E.D."
75
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
any public school in the state. notwith-
net of important decisions and duties
moves up to the state (or even the
standing town or district boundaries, with
nation), and another set shifts down
the state's portion of the money accompa-
to the individual school (and to par-
nying the pupil in the manner of a virtual
ents), what is the "local education
public-sector voucher. Several states have also provided for secondary students to take college
agency" except another instance of
middle management of the sort that
courses, to re-enter different schools than those from which they dropped out, and so forth.
most modern organizations are
State-arranged pupil mobility between city and suburb is part of the racial-desegregation
stripping away in the name of effi-
strategy in several jurisdictions as well. The point in all these instances is that children are
ciency and productivity?
not obliged to attend the public school where they reside. That means the school board in their
Local school boards are not just
place of domicile no longer controls their education unless they want it to.
superfluous. They are also dysfunc-
tional. They insulate education deci-
Fourth, restructuring, decentralization, and school-site management loom large on the
sions from voters, taxpayers, and
education-reform agenda of the 1990's. Yet these are a far cry from what has traditionally
parents. This is ironic, because the
been meant by "local control." Today's goal is to confer authority, accountability, and
theory says they should make
autonomy on the individual school-building staff (and, sometimes, parents), not on a mu-
schools more responsive to the pub-
lic. Even though most school boards
nicipal school system. This is the crucial distinction between the sort of reform we see in
are elected, however, reality doesn't
Chicago today and the kind undertaken in New York City two decades ago. Building-level
track theory. The boards have be-
decisionmaking is a form of local control, of course, but it's not what that term has histori-
come part of the "establishment."
cally implied.
They participate in the peculiar
Similar developments can be spotted across the Atlantic, where British education reform-
politics of an arena occupied by the
suppliers of education services-the
ers have conferred sweeping budgetary and personnel authority on individual schools and
employees and managers of the sys-
sharply reduced the powers of local education authorities. (Schools that wish to can even "opt
tem, the vendors who sell it things,
out" of their control altogether and establish a direct relationship with the central govern-
the interest groups that prey upon
ment in London.) "The political function of local authorities has become very small," writes
it-rather than the consumers of
the Cambridge education professor David Hargreaves, "especially since schools seem free to
those services or the taxpayers who
underwrite them. That is why the
ignore local policies if they 80 wish."
Boston City Council recently moved
What, besides tradition, does "local control" have going for it in American education today?
to abolish that city's school commit-
Not even public approbation, it appears from the Gallup education poll. That survey has
tee and have the schools run from
City Hall. The separate governance
several times asked respondents
system wasn't working; the educa-
whether they would favor national
tional needs of Boston's children
high-school-graduation examina-
were not being met. Why cling to an
tions. By 1988, the proportion en-
arrangement that isn't getting the
dorsing such a drastic departure
job done?
from customary practice had risen to
What is more, at a time when
radical alterations are needed
73 percent-up from 50 percent in
throughout elementary-secondary
1958 and 65 percent as recently as
education, school boards have be-
1984. In 1989, Gallup also asked
come defenders of the status quo.
whether people would favor requir-
Their members display the same
ing that schools "conform to nation-
rosy-tinted complacency as do the
al achievement standards and
administrators they hire. Why
goals," "use a standardized national
make big changes in something you
curriculum," and deploy "standard-
think is working O.K. as it is?
ized national testing programs to
Emily Feistritzer's 1989 survey of
measure the academic achievement
school-board presidents tells us that
although they, like the general pub-
of students." To these, the responses
lic, gave low marks to American
were overwhelmingly affirmative:
public education as a whole, four out
70 percent, 69 percent, and 77 per-
of five of them awarded grades of A
cent, respectively, for the public at
or B to the public schools in their
large, with parents even more favor-
own communities, that is, to the
ably disposed.
schools over which they have policy
How deep-seated could our com-
oversight. This was not quite so high
mitment to "local control" be if two-
as the marks conferred by principals
and superintendents, to be sure, but
thirds to three-quarters of the
it was twice as large a proportion of
American public are willing to jetti-
honors grades as the American peo-
son its most important manifesta-
ple were prepared to give their local
tions? Not very, Ernest L. Boyer ob-
schools.
served to a newspaper interviewer
We need change agents in charge
in early 1990. "I think for the first
of those schools, not preservers of en-
time America is more preoccupied
trenched interests and encrusted
with national results than local
practices. If the states discharge
school control," he said. "Today,
their part of the job satisfactorily,
specifying the "ends" of education,
Hondas and Toyotas and Japanese
furnishing resources, and managing
V.C.R.'S have us really worried about
the information feedback and ac-
national competitiveness, and that's
countability systems; if responsibil-
more important than whether we
ity and authority over the "means"
have local governance.
All of this
are devolved to the school-building
suggests there has been a sea
level; and if parents are encouraged
change in the way Americans think
to pick any school in the state that,
about education."
in their judgment, will work well for
Matt or Jessica, we could readily dis-
Breathe deeply. What if W
were
pense with the extra layer.
to declare local boards and superin-
76
Local control is dead. Long live lo-
tendents to be archaic in the 1990's,
cal control.
living fossils of an earlier age? If one
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
For Children at Risk, a Sanctuary
By FRANKLYN G. JENIFER
ment or create a sanctuary
A utopian vision? An economically
T
he time has come for some truly
dramatic solutions to the problems
within it that will allow them
unfeasible pipe dream? Establishing ur-
to reach their fullest poten-
ban residential schools even on the small
plaguing so many of our urban
schools.
tials. Past history would seem
scale of a pilot project would, indeed, be
It is not that the past reforms advo-
to indicate that this nation
an ambitious undertaking. I don't think
cated by educators and educational poli-
does not have the will or the
it would be as costly as some people
interest to effectively change
might think. We could, for instance,
cy-makers lack merit; it is that far too
make use of under-utilized school build-
many of these reforms seem myopic.
detrimental environments.
Therefore, I believe, we must
ings that already dot the urban land-
Their emphasis is on improving individ-
ual schools, whether by introducing
begin to explore the sanctuary
scape. Still, there is no doubt that such a
venture would be costly. A less-costly
school-based management principles or
idea.
alternative would be to establish ex-
outfitting classrooms with computers, to
What I am proposing, specifically, is
tended day schools augmented by sum-
take two examples. But such efforts fail
the creation of neighborhood-based ur-
mer residential schools. But extended
to take into account the crucial role that
ban residential schools for youngsters
day schools alone would be even less
environment plays in the ability and
who are at risk.
costly and a less "radical" alternative.
willingness of students to learn.
As I envision it, admission into these
I am not suggesting that all or any of
There are-and have been-families
schools would be purely voluntary. I
these models constitute the only so-
able to inspire their children to achieve
doubt that there would be any problem
lution to ensuring that all our youth
academically even
in recruiting students. There are many
survive and thrive.
when living under
parents in our urban cores who desper-
But what I am sug-
the most dire cir-
ately want to provide their children with
gesting is that fu-
cumstances. Such
positive experiences-educational and
ture educational
families are be-
otherwise-and would welcome any op-
reforms must come
comingly increas-
portunity that could make that possible.
firmly to grips with
ingly rare.
Put more bluntly: They also desperately
the issue of envi-
Today, the home
want to keep their children off the
ronment.
and neighborhood
streets.
We could, of
environments of a
These residential schools would place
course, blithely go
significant segment
a strong emphasis on mastering basic
about the business
of the school popu-
skills and achieving scientific and tech-
of trying to "im-
lations of our urban
nological literacy. They would inculcate
prove" our schools,
centers are clearly
in their students humanistic values and
totally ignoring the
antithetical to
respect for the individual and the group.
special needs of
learning. Too many
They would promote good health
those young people
of our young peo-
through a nutritious diet and exercise,
whose environ-
ple are growing up
including intramural and extramural
ment puts them at
in homes in which
sports. They would instill discipline by
risk. But then we
disorder, neglect
such means as setting aside designated
must be willing to
and, often, violence
periods for study. They would teach
accept the conse-
is the norm. or in
students at least the rudiments of a trade
quences of this ap-
which parent or
and would enable them to earn money
proach: a tragic
parents are so
practicing that trade. Above all, they
waste of potential
hard-pressed to
would instill in their students the expec-
talent and the as-
make ends meet
tation that they would succeed.
surance that many
that nurturing a
These schools would not cut students
of these young
child's intellectual
off from their families or from their
people will become
growth has little or no priority. Too
communities, but would provide them
a burden, if not a bane, on society.
many of our young people live in
with breathing space to grow and devel-
Such an approach, or more accurately.
neighborhoods that rank high on every
indicator of social ill and where the only
op within their own environment. In
such blindness, also would have tragic
fact, parents and other family members
reverberations for our nation as a
dazzle comes from the gold jewelry and
would be required to participate in
whole. As study after study has poin-
flashy new cars of the local drug lords.
school functions, and students would be
ted out, an educated work force is
Even if schools have fine programs,
able to return to their homes on week-
essential if America is to compete effec-
facilities and equipment, they often
ends and holidays. Moreover, in their
tively in the global marketplace. Our
cannot reach youngsters growing up in
home neighborhoods, these students
nation, quite simply, cannot afford to.
such surroundings. Yet, without quality
would serve as positive role models for
write off a large segment of its youthful
education, these youngsters appear des-
tined to join what more and more
younger children.
population.
In the long run, then, meeting the
commentators are calling a permanent
needs of this population would not be
underclass.
costly, but cost-efficient. And everyone
What is to be done?
would benefit.
If we are serious about educating
these young people, we must intervene.
Franklyn G. Jenifer is the president of
We must either change their environ-
Howard University.
Los Angeles Times, January 27, 1991
77
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
DOES HOMEWORK HELP?
Herbert J. Walberg
Because surveys show
in how much homework they do.
education but has the lowest
U.S. students near the bottom of
For those who only add 2 hours of
dropout rates and top achieve-
rankings of achievement test
homework per week to 25 hours of
ment test rankings. How do the
scores, educators and parents
class time, homework increases
Japanese do it? A long school
have asked if homework helps.
total study time by 7 percent. But
year and rigorous homework
Legislators and business people
those who do four hours every
policies help. Measured by the
have also expressed concern.
day more than double their study
amount of study time, a high
They know today's youth will
time to 53 hours per week. This
school diploma in Japan is
compete with Asians and Euro-
total amount of time is a major
equivalent to a college degree in
peans for good jobs that require
cause of how much students learn.
the United States. The knowl-
more skills and knowledge.
edge and discipline acquired
By the standard of total
may be the keys to Japan's in-
Increasing numbers of
study time, American students
dustrial might and economic
Americans worry about our
suffer another handicap. Not only
progress.
youth's future. They believe stu-
dents can use after-school time to
A survey of
Teachers in Japan, more-
better prepare themselves for
students in eleven
over, encourage students to
college and jobs. Despite such
make use of out-of-school time
beliefs, teachers may not assign
countries showed
for study. They visit students'
and grade homework, and par-
that countries
homes to discuss school prog-
ents may not insist on it. As a
whose students
ress and advise parents how they
consequence, students may not
averaged the most
can foster effective home study.
do much.
homework also
They also encourage parents to
How Much Time for Study?
had the highest
observe children perform in
class.
A survey of eighth-grade
average scores on
students in eleven countries
the tests.
In addition, many Japa-
showed that countries whose stu-
nese students attend evening
dents averaged the most home-
do they skimp on homework but
schools for tutoring and prepar-
work, 8 to 9 hours per week, also
they go to school fewer days than
ing for tests. Others go to the
had the highest average scores
most other students. Of 27 coun-
evening schools to pursue such
on tests. Swedish and U.S. stu-
tries surveyed, only two have
hobbies as piano playing, flower-
dents did the least homework, an
shorter school years. U.S. students
arrangement, and martial arts.
average of 4 to 5 hours a week,
have a 180-day school year. Japa-
and had the lowest scores.
nese students have 243 days; and
All this effort doesn't
German students go to school
appear to hurt Japanese youth.
Of course, students vary
about 230 days.
They have nearly the lowest
delinquency rates in the world.
Japan's education system
Herbert J. Walberg is a Professor
Their life expectancy is above
has attracted the most interest from
of Education at the University of
that of Europe and the U.S.; and
those trying to improve U.S. edu-
Illinois, Chicago and a NETWORK
Japanese youth suicide rates are
cation. Among advanced coun-
Advisory Councilor.
about half the U.S. rates.
tries, Japan spends the least on
78
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
How Much Homework Should
time for homework, we should ask
ten work that should be assigned
Be Done?
what other activities would be
each week.
Studies of prize-winning
given up. For U.S. students, the
American youth in various fields
biggest block of time is devoted to
One solution is to employ
such as art, chess and music show
television-an average of 28 hours
part-time aides to help teachers.
that they put in many hours of
per week. In addition, many stu-
Japan provides a cost-free alter-
well-coached effort. Mastery of
dents work to earn money for cars,
native: Students assigned to small
academic subjects is no different.
dating, and stylish clothes. In the
work groups help each other in
Although it is difficult to state
long term, however, they would
planning, conducting, and mark-
exact time requirements, elemen-
learn and earn more by investing
ing individual work. In this way,
tary school students may have to
their time in homework to increase
they not only acquire more
study 2 to 3 hours to get the most
their knowledge and skills.
knowledge for competitive ex-
from school. Junior high school
aminations but learn a valuable
students in grades 7 and 8 may
Homework quality is also
skill for the future-cooperation.
benefit most from 3 to 4 hours.
important. Unsuitable homework
High school students might do
that is too easy, too difficult, or
Taking homework and
best with 4 to 5 hours.
unclear wastes students' time.
school time more seriously calls
Teachers, however, can double
for big changes in American
More homework is usu-
homework's effects by carefully
education. Of course, students'
ally better, though not to the point
and promptly correcting it. Writ-
abilities, good teaching, and pa-
of exhaustion. Clear school guide-
ing, for example, is learned by
rental encouragement also make
lines, moreover, help parents and
writing, correcting, and re-writ-
a difference. These may sustain
students set goals.
ing. But teachers might be reluc-
present mediocrity, but world-
tant to correct a two-page essay, a
class learning will require more
In deciding the amount of
laboratory report, and other writ-
study time.
79
PRIVATE SECTORS
A GLIMPSE AT TEACHING
CONDITIONS IN
TOP PRIVATE SCHOOLS
By ARTHUR G. POWELL
O
NE FEATURE of public school reform is the pro-
What are the conditions of work in these schools? The
posed empowerment of adults who work in
territory has not been thoroughly explored; thus the
schools. Reformers have advocated increasing prin-
map that can be drawn is preliminary and somewhat
cipals' authority at the school site, while simultaneously
speculative. The sketch that follows draws on existing
increasing the authority and autonomy of classroom
data-case studies of individual schools and surveys and
teachers. Much of what has been called restructuring
large-scale databases whose material touches on work-
refers to decentralizing and dispersing educational
ing-condition issues.
authority to the building level. Additional policy empha-
Three broad themes stand out as capturing many
ses flow directly or indirectly from these general
important aspects of teachers' work in independent
themes: small and caring school environments (instead
schools. These are a workplace context of purposeful
of large and impersonal ones); greater parent involve-
educational communities; a workplace emphasis on
ment; character development as an explicit goal; and an
personalizing education; and a workplace conception of
unapologetic emphasis on academic learning, including
teacher authority that attempts to embrace both the
more homework and higher standards.
idea of teacher empowerment and the idea of strong
It goes without saying that none of these themes is
management at the school site. I will not deal here with
found exclusively in private schools or even in all pri-
the first of these contexts except to say that a purposeful
vate schools. And yet these are among the features that
educational community is more easily - and more
many private schools regard as their most distinctive
commonly - achieved in independent schools than in
characteristics. In these circumstances it seems useful
public schools (largely because these schools can
to explore workplace conditions within private schools
choose their staff and students and vice-versa), and the
as they are experienced by teachers.
existence of such a common purpose - also known as a
We focus here on the type of private schools known as
school ethos - both eases and strengthens teaching.
"independent" schools. These schools present two ana-
For a fuller discussion of this issue, see my chapter on
lytic advantages. Relative to most other private schools,
this subject in The Contexts of Teaching in Secondary
they are less suffused with denominational religion and
Schools. In this article, I will deal only with the second
therefore more similar to the legal circumstances of
two themes.
public schools. In addition, independent schools are the
most expensive private schools. The median tuition for
Personalization of Education
all American private schools in the 1985-86 school year
was $1,100 (calculated using each school's highest tui-
The educational strategy most characteristic of inde-
tion level). Yet, in the same year, the median twelfth-
pendent education is to provide personal attention to
grade tuition of independent private day schools was
each student within a small-scale environment. The
$5,338 [National Association of Independent Schools
personalization of education is the heart of indepen-
(NAIS), 1985]. Although their high cost makes them
dent school technology. All schools, of course, profess
inaccessible to most Americans, it also permits an exam-
full allegiance to the ideal of individualized education.
ination of institutions that are chosen by families who
In many public schools, especially secondary schools,
can afford any type of schooling. In many areas of Amer-
individualization means providing greater curricular
ican consumer life, what the few possess today is what
variety and removing barriers to student choice about
the many will prefer-and receive-in some form
classes and programs. Individualization thus means the
tomorrow.
freedom to do one's own thing. Very often it is a sur-
Independent schools are a small minority within the
prisingly anonymous process, carried on without much
private school universe-perhaps fifteen hundred
knowledge of particular individuals. Anonymous indi-
schools out of an estimated total of nearly twenty-six
vidualization is almost the opposite of personalization
thousand private schools. They enroll perhaps 10 per-
(Powell et al., 1985).
cent of the roughly 5.5 million Americans who attend
School professionals often say that the biggest dif-
private schools [National Center for Education Statistics
ference between public and private school practice is
(NCES), 1987; NAIS, 1987]. They are managed by inde-
that private school teachers "are being paid to know
your kid." Parents and students tend to agree. A recent
pendent boards of trustees; they are nonprofit institu-
tions which hardly ever receive funds from external
summary (Roeser, 1987) of the results of market
systems such as religious denominations.
research on parent and student attitudes toward nine-
teen independent schools found that a "caring and con-
cerned faculty" ranked first among all the attributes they
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS WINTER 1990
desired, even above the teaching ability of the faculty.
80
PRIVATE SECTORS
This parental expectation, and the various ways
A
NOTHER QUITE different indicator of scale is the
schools attempt to meet it, constitutes a crucial work-
number of students a teacher actually instructs.
place condition for independent school teachers. Much
Despite research disagreement over how class size and
institutional energy is expended to ensure that all stu-
student learning are related, there is very little disagree-
dents are known, that no one falls through the cracks
ment (and none in the minds of parents) that personal
and gets lost. Students with special abilities or dis-
attention is directly related to how many students a
abilities are always easy to know and often easy to like.
teacher is responsible for. Available secondary school
They gravitate to teachers, and teachers to them. But
data suggest that student loads significantly smaller than
many average, normal, regular students are not dis-
those carried by public school teachers characterize
tinctive in any way. It is easy for them to become
independent schools. In New Jersey, the average load of
neglected, invisible, unspecial-to pass quietly through
independent day teachers was 69, compared with 103
school without anyone knowing or caring that they are
students for public high school teachers (Kane, 1986).
there. Average students form a sizable part of the inde-
Many of the recent national high school studies have
pendent school constituency, and the schools are
reported student loads of 125 or even 150 in urban
expected to treat each one as special (Powell et al.,
schools, though truancy may reduce the numbers some-
1985).
what. A national survey (Powell, 1986) of all indepen-
How do they go about doing this, and how in par-
dent secondary schools found that the median student
ticular are conditions of teachers' work affected? First,
load per teacher was 63. Perhaps more important, 88
the schools' small size, small scale, and low student
percent of schools reported that their student loads per
attrition help minimize the distance between teachers
teacher were 80:1 or lower, which is the target student
and students. Second, teachers interact with students in
load for Theodore Sizer's Coalition of Essential Schools.
a wide variety of ways. Third, these interactions, along
A small community and a small student load are
with parental and school expectations, shape a some-
typical conditions of teachers' work in independent
what distinct conception of the role of the teacher and
schools. These conditions make it easier for teachers to
of the desirable qualities possessed by good teachers.
know students well and in more ways than they might in
The result is that teachers in independent schools have
large schools with large loads. A related circumstance is
no more chance of being invisible or anonymous than
the relatively low turnover rate of students from year to
do students. They cannot easily escape students, any
year, which, according to the National Association of
more than students can escape them. Let us now discuss
Independent Schools (NAIS, 1989), is about 12 percent.
each of these three dimensions of personalization.
Since independent schools are rarely "neighborhood"
Independent schools are typically quite small. Stu-
schools to begin with, family residential moves from
dents are known and taught by teachers who know and
one part of town to another, or from one town to
talk with each other. It is very unlikely that a teacher
another nearby do not need to result in a school change.
could bring up a student's name in the presence of other
The more students change schools, the less well thev
teachers without most of them knowing something of
will be known by school staff (Grant, 1988).
the student. Over 80 percent of independent schools
These conditions are enabling conditions. They per-
enroll fewer than 400 students. The median school size
mit desired things to happen but do not in themselves
in the 1987-88 school year was 320 and has remained
guarantee that they will. Do teachers capitalize on these
stable through the 1980s (NAIS, 1988a). But school size
advantages in their actual interactions with students?
is only one measure of environmental scale. Many inde-
One tentative answer is that independent school teach-
pendent schools span elementary and secondary grades
ers may work longer hours than many other teachers,
but have separate upper, lower, and middle divisions,
despite the fact that they have fewer students. They
sometimes in different geographical locations. The
interact with students in more varied ways than many
actual unit with which students have contact is often
other teachers, and probably know them better. The
smaller than the size of the school would suggest.
New Jersey independent teachers who taught one-third
The size of grades can therefore offer a better per-
fewer students than their public school counterparts
spective on the scale of independent school commu-
nevertheless spent seven hours more on their jobs per
nities. Since these schools tend to build up their
week (fifty-five hours VS. forty-eight hours). Thus, the
enrollments over the K-12 progression, the upper
average time spent per teacher per student in the inde-
grades are usually the largest. The average number of
pendent schools was forty-eight minutes per week, as
twelfth-graders in independent schools having a twelfth
compared with twenty-eight minutes per week in the
grade was 65 students in 1987-88. The figures for the
public schools (Kane, 1986).
third-, sixth-, and ninth grades were 33, 34, and 50,
But the extra hours worked by these independent
respectively (NAIS, 1988a). An examination of data
teachers were not spent on additional classroom
from 656 independent high schools in 1986-87 indi-
instruction. In fact, independent teachers spent slightly
cates that only 17 (fewer than 3 percent) had graduating
less time in classroom teaching (Kane, 1986). The big
classes of 200 or more. Most of these were relatively
difference-5.5 hours a week-between the public and
large boarding schools. Eighty-four percent of the sen-
private teaching roles was the greater out-of-class time
ior classes were smaller than 100; 63 percent of all
spent by independent school teachers in helping stu-
seniors were in graduating classes with fewer than 100
dents, in correcting papers, and in preparing for their
students (Powell, 1988b)
81
PRIVATE SECTORS
classes. Indeed, independent school teachers spent
logical counselor. Independent schools describe the
slightly more time on these out-of-class instructional
role as an adult friend who pays particular attention to
duties than they spent on classroom teaching. Such out-
an individual student, or a ready listener who cares.
of-class instructional duties should not be confused
Advising is one more extension of the task of knowing all
with all the other out-of-class, extracurricular, athletic
students well and taking a genuine interest in their lives.
coaching, advising, and monitoring activities that all
Over the years the pervasiveness of personalization
teachers undertake in the ordinary course of a. day.
has helped shape a particular image of the "good" inde-
These latter responsibilities are a separate item and
pendent school teacher. This emphasizes personal traits
consumed ten hours of the fifty-five-hour workweek of
and somewhat downplays specialized instructional
the independent school teachers, compared with nine
skills. Kraushaar (1972), who collected some of the first
hours of the forty-eight-hour workweek of the public
survey data on these teachers for his study of nonpublic
school teachers-an equivalent percentage of effort
schools, concluded that:
(Kane, 1986).
The significant time spent on out-of-class instruc-
the profile of the independent school teacher
is
that
of
the dedicated amateur-a man or woman broadly edu-
tional duties in independent schools confirms evidence
cated in the humanistic liberal arts tradition, not highly
from other sources that the personal attention supplied
specialized, and but lightly burdened, if at all, with the
by teachers embraces many more types of teacher/
pedagogical formalism of professional education [p. 145].
student interaction than that of classroom teaching.
Classes themselves, of course, are smaller in the inde-
The same image was nicely captured in 1956 by a
pendent schools. But what is the most distinct about the
former headmaster of the then all-male Phillips Acad-
independent teaching role is the variety of ways in
emy. Andover's John Kemper wrote:
which teachers interact with students.
Instruction in independent schools seems consider-
At the heart of secondary education is the relationship of
man
and
boy. In his every contact with a boy a great
ably less specialized in function than in public schools,
teacher communicates what he is and stands for as a per-
where there are far more programs funded from dif-
son; his love for things of the mind, his integrity, his moral
ferent sources, governed by different rules and agen-
values. From the example and encouragement of such a
cies, and employing different types of personnel.
man, a boy sets his sights high and grows in self-reliance,
self-control, and confidence. In the last analysis he will
Regular classroom teachers in independent schools are
probably not learn in any other way [quoted in Allis, 1979,
more likely to coach sports, advise clubs, and work on
p. 644].
student publications and drama productions. They are
far more likely to spend time preparing written sum-
Such a sentiment validates personal attention on
mary evaluations of student performance, a tradition
grounds that go beyond "caring and love." If the good
that rarely turns up in public schools. They are also
teacher teaches by modeling and exemplifying a total
more likely to discuss with other teachers the progress
personality, then students are best served when teach-
of students who are not in dire academic or personal
ers' associations with them are increased and distance is
trouble. Such schools often spend entire faculty meet-
minimized.
ings, reviewing the situation of every student. Just as
Yet the day-to-day realities of personalization within
students must participate more in the varied activities of
independent schools are often more problematic than
independent schools simply because there are fewer of
the discussion so far might suggest. The expectation of
them and they are needed, teachers must be generalists,
close faculty/student relations may exhaust teachers, if
too (Kane, 1986; Powell et al., 1985).
family expectations for out-of-class help of all kinds
become excessive. Conversely, some students may
P
ERHAPS THE best example of the less-specialized
rebel from environments where adults know too much
nature of the independent school workplace is stu-
about them.
dent advising. In the departmentalized world of high
One study (Cookson & Persell, 1985) has pointed to
schools, it is very easy for no one to have an across-the-
the "structural discrepancy" between the wealth and
board picture of how a student is progressing. This is
privilege of independent students and most of their
understandable in public schools, where responsibility
teachers. Teachers can become frustrated if they are
for such in-depth understanding usually rests with spe-
perceived as "akin to the family retainer-unobtrusive,
cialist guidance counselors, each often burdened with
hard-working, and ultimately expendable." The frustra-
four hundred students. These busy individuals have
tion is exacerbated when the expected norm is a close
time to advise only that small minority with distinct
and caring relationship. (Also see Coles, 1977.)
problems of one sort or another. For the rest, advising
Finally, the varied conditions, practices, and beliefs
too often consists of signing study cards to ensure that
we have called "personalization" appear to affect life
formal requirements have been met.
outside classrooms far more than classroom instruction
Independent schools, in contrast, assume that stu-
itself Teachers with very small classes are just as likely
dent advising is a proper job for teachers. In New Jersey,
to lecture to them as teachers with larger classes, and
nearly half of the independent day teachers had
they are just as likely to confuse Socratic method with a
advisees, compared with 14 percent of the public
question-and-answer format. The enabling conditions of
school teachers (Kane, 1986). But the skills of the
small scale and commitment to personal attention have
teacher/advisor are not those of the specialized psycho-
not made classroom pedagogy different in independent
schools (Powell et al., 1985).
82
PRIVATE SECTORS
Teacher Authority
By definition, independent school authority is con-
The general direction of these differences is striking.
centrated at the school site. Independent school teach-
The comparative disadvantage of independent school
ers have not worked under a relentless cloud of public,
teachers does not exist for heads. On average, heads are
political, and academic criticism about their work or its
compensated at least as well as-and, when housing is
results. They are much freer from external mandates set
included, substantially better than-public school prin-
by political authority far from the school. They are also
cipals. Further, the salary gap between teachers and
freer from bureaucratic rules, regulations, and pro-
heads in independent schools is much greater than the
cedures established by strangers in distant central
salary gap between public school teachers and prin-
offices. Their authority is neither eroded nor enhanced
cipals. Independent schools make a very significant and
by collective negotiations between organized manage-
unique investment in their heads. They expect them to
ment and organized teachers. Unions are exceedingly
be powerful leaders and personify school purposes to
rare in independent schools. In all these ways, the issue
an extent that is unusual in most public schools. These
of teachers' authority in independent schools is dis-
large expectations for heads inevitably shape important
tinctly a within-school issue. At the same time, indepen-
aspects of teachers' work lives. Heads are expected to
dent schools characteristically give a great deal of
build competent faculties. Most are centrally involved
authority to very strong school heads.
in faculty appointments, and even those who choose not
How then do these two facts affect teachers' working
to be have veto power. Teacher contracts are usually
conditions? Are teachers empowered by virtue of their
given on an annual basis, and formal tenure is rare. In
relative freedom from external requirements? Or is
general, teachers know that reappointment (plus career
powerlessness a condition of their work lives?
references) depend on satisfying the head (Baird,
Perhaps the best introduction to these questions is to
1977).
explore the role of the head of an independent school.
School heads (in most cases the word principal is
Y
ET THE substantial authority of the head is typ-
actively avoided) are expected by most boards of trust-
ically not exercised in an authoritarian way. The
ees to be powerful figures. They feel comfortable with
incentives for heads to succeed and hold their jobs,
business-derived descriptions such as "chief executive
especially since heads lack tenure as well as teachers,
officer." Although the typical school size is smaller than
usually encourage other administrative styles. Chubb
most public schools, and the student bodies more
and Moe (1985) argue that private schools tend to
homogeneous and less resistant to engagement in the
operate on a more democratic than authoritarian organ-
schools' academic agendas, heads often compare them-
izational model. "Relative to public schools," they con-
selves to superintendents rather than principals,
clude "private schools appear to delegate significant
because the scope of their authority is wide.
discretion to their teachers and to involve them suffi-
That boards expect heads to exercise wide authority
ciently in school level policy decisions to make them
is best seen by examining school salary policies. It is
feel efficacious." They attribute administrative trust in
well known that independent school teachers' salaries,
teachers mainly to the heads' power over who gets
on average, are substantially lower than public school
hired and who gets reappointed. "The leaders are able
salaries. Independent school teachers cite remunera-
to staff the school the way that they wish. It is safe,
tion as the least satisfactory condition of their work
therefore, for them to involve teachers integrally in
(Kane, 1986). In the 1987-88 school year, for example,
decision-making processes."
the average teacher salary in independent day schools
Heads tend to support and trust teachers, rather than
was $22,755, compared with an average public school
supervise and evaluate them, for reasons that go beyond
salary of $28,085, a national gap of more than 23 per-
their authority over appointments. Their attitude is
cent (NAIS, 1988b).
partly a function of the scale of the schools. In small
But the situation is very different when independent
institutions that are not part of a larger system,
school heads' salaries are compared to those of public
bureaucratic regulation and supervision are less neces-
high school principals. According to NAIS (1988a) fig-
sary to monitor expectations and keep track of what is
ures, the median cash salary of independent school
going on.
heads in 1987-88 was $57,000. In addition, nearly 46
Excessive authoritarianism is also held in check by
percent of these heads had their housing provided fully
the sometimes overlooked reality that independent
by their schools, and another 10 percent received par-
school heads need good and satisfied teachers perhaps
tial housing as a benefit. (These statistics include ele-
more than do many public school principals. The fac-
mentary and secondary schools, as well as schools
ulty is always perceived as one of the most marketable
spanning both grade levels.) The mean salary of public
features of the school. Marketing the school well-
school principals for the same year, according to the
getting enough students and the right students to
National Association of Secondary School Principals
attend-is one of the bottom-line ways by which boards
(NASSP, 1988) was about $47,000. If only public
judge heads. Supporting a faculty in every possible way
schools with the highest per-pupil expenditure of
-through expressions of personal appreciation, gentle
$5,000 or more are included, the median principals'
evaluations, involvement in a variety of school duties,
salary was roughly $53,000 to $54,000. Few of these
providing attractive physical facilities, and improving
individuals received any housing benefits.
compensation-is near the top of heads' priorities.
83
PRIVATE SECTORS
Professional development programs of various types
factor they liked best about working in their schools,
are an increasingly important method of faculty sup-
compared with 34 percent of the public school teachers
port. Independent schools have little tradition of in-
sampled (Kane, 1986). The former cited the "freedom
service education, in part because schools are not com-
to choose texts," "freedom to construct curriculum,"
ponents of systems and in part because appointment
and "freedom to teach the way I want within the struc-
and advancement have not depended on accumulating
ture" as the chief advantages of working in their schools.
credits in professional courses. What has evolved is a
Moreover, public school teachers pointed to admin-
quite varied notion of what professional development
istrative practices, especially to frustration with prin-
entails.
cipals and supervisors, as the factor they liked least
Nearly 20 percent of the independent schools, for
about their schools. Twenty-eight percent mentioned
example, support an internship program to help train
this compared with 19 percent of the independent day
beginning teachers (Powell, 1986). About 30 percent of
school teachers and 10 percent of the boarding school
independent secondary schools have sabbatical pro-
teachers. Eighty-eight percent of the public teachers in
grams in which schools pay for teachers' travel to other
that state had to turn in lesson plans for approval, com-
countries, graduate study in their fields or in education,
pared with 20 percent of the independent teachers.
short-term workshops, visits to other schools, and soli-
(Also see Baird, 1977; Chubb & Moe, 1985.) Classroom
tary independent study (Powell, 1988a). Charac-
freedom, of course, is not absolute. Some independent
teristically, these programs place the burden for
secondary teachers complain, for example, about the
designing an appropriate experience on the individual
subtle curricular power of the Advanced Placement
teacher. Teachers are not told what to do.
(AP) examinations of the College Board.
Beyond the classroom, independent school teachers
T
HOUGH MOST heads have learned that supportive
often have substantial influence over school educational
management is in their own best interests, one
policies. Trustees and heads often delegate considerable
cannot underestimate the variety of leadership styles or
authority over these matters to faculty committees and
different school traditions in which heads' power is
faculties as a whole. Indeed, faculty meetings occur
exercised. At one extreme, some independent schools
frequently at independent schools. Policies are often
remain a last bastion of paternalistic, patronizing one-
debated and voted on, rather than just announced. Most
person rule. (Many such schools were literally created
schools have a senior administrative position for an
by their heads, sometimes with their own money.) At
academic dean, director of studies, or dean of faculty, a
times, as Lightfoot (1983) observes, the "unquestiona-
position with no ordinary equivalent in most public
ble dominance and benign power" of the head only
schools. One important responsibility is to involve
underscore the faculty's "relative powerlessness and
teachers in curricular policymaking (Kane, 1986).
reinforce the childlike impulses." In such schools, the
These procedures attempt to establish within the
teachers could seem the "least powerful, most disen-
faculty a sense of shared authority and responsibility for
franchised group," regardless of the plethora of suppor-
the school as a community, as distinct from simply a
tive benefits, such as sabbatical opportunities, open to
sense of individual authority over each teacher's own
them. (Also see Cookson & Persell, 1985.)
classroom. Freedom within the classroom, in these
Yet, in other schools, equally powerful heads treat
schools, tends to be less a goal to be worked toward than
teachers as adult colleagues. The collegial model makes
a reality that is somewhat problematic. It is easier for
these schools seem more like serious colleges. Teachers
teachers to agree to let each other alone in the class-
are regarded as akin to professors: They are assumed to
room than to strive for more cooperative approaches to
be learned women and men, "thinkers." Within one
instruction itself, such as cooperative teaching, team
such faculty, Lightfoot (1983) writes, "there are striking
teaching, and joint planning. Although cooperative
differences in teacher style, an unusual concern for the
approaches to schoolwide policy making are common,
philosophical issues that shape educational matters, and
collaboration in teaching itself is less frequent.
an expressed need for intellectual invigoration." Some-
times a school faculty thinks of itself enough like a
T
HIS TENTATIVE mapping of the territory con-
college faculty to make many important decisions on its
cerning workplace conditions in one type of
own. Each school, Lightfoot concludes, interprets
school may illuminate two policy questions faced by all
teacher rewards differently, but all "search for a balance
schools. First, how can teachers' work become more
between the expression of teacher autonomy, initiative,
dignified and appealing so that teaching attracts and
and adulthood on the one hand, and the requirements of
retains its fair share of able young Americans? Second,
conformity, discipline, and commitments to school life
what conditions of teachers' work seem most closely.
on the other."
associated with the fundamental goal of improving stu-
Despite these environmental differences, the
dent learning and development? These are classic ques-
authority of independent school teachers seems rela-
tions with no ready answers.
tively straightforward. Classroom freedom, for example,
Our discussion suggests that working conditions at
is not a major problem; it is a well-established condition
independent schools have many ingredients that rein-
of teachers' work. In New Jersey, 70 percent of indepen-
force the notion that teaching is attractive and dignified
dent school teachers cited "autonomy" as the single
work. In a market-driven "industry" in which most
84
PRIVATE SECTORS
schools must constantly sell themselves to potential
Public schools have tended to respond to the realities
clients, teachers are a major marketing tool. In many
of student diversity and the commitment to include and
ways, including participation in educational policymak-
retain all students in school, by offering more educa-
ing, they are constantly reminded by their schools how
tional opportunities (courses, programs, etc.). More
important they are and how good they are. In a society
recently, proponents of equity have come to realize that
where criticism of teachers is often the norm, such
providing opportunities is useful but insufficient. The
positive market visibility is refreshing. The impact of
conditions of work we have discussed bear directly on
being advertised as important at the local level should
the issue of access. The independent schools have not
not be underestimated as one source of vocational self-
chosen to expand curricular and other choices from
esteem.
which students may or may not choose; rather, their
Another source of dignity is that the conditions of
goal has been to push, press, and otherwise engage
work in these schools tend to put teaching and learning
students in whatever learning opportunities are avail-
near the center of institutional concern, rather than on
able. The central educational strategy is seen as engage-
the periphery. One problem with the teaching career in
ment, not the expansion of curricular opportunity.
general is not that teaching itself is unappealing or
Purposeful communities, for example, establish
undignified to many young adults, but that teaching is
deeply imbedded expectations for participation in
hard to do in many schools. Too many other things, for
learning. Engagement at some level becomes a school
one reason or another, get in the way. The personaliza-
norm. Personalization undercuts student anonymity
tion of education and the increase in school-site and
and the preferences of many to remain unengaged, to
teacher authority give support to the teaching role; they
pass quietly through, accumulating credits and not
do not detract from it. They are enabling conditions that
much more. It is harder to negotiate high school this
make it easier to teach, rather than harder. This, of
way if one is known.
course, is not the same thing as saying that good or
So these conditions seem to have important benefits
imaginative teaching will in fact occur. But if it does not,
for students as well as for teachers. Yet they also contain
many traditional culprits cannot be blamed.
certain educational limitations. A central one is that
A third source of dignity is that affluent and educated
they support cautious and traditional conceptions of
independent school families tend to demand conditions
educational engagement just as much as they do more
of work for their children that spill over into teacher
fundamental "restructuring" of the educational objec-
workplace conditions. The schools do not look like or
tives and pedagogies of schools. They are not neutral
feel like large processing plants. If they did, students
about the importance of engagement in school, but they
would not come. Facilities in general are by no means
are solidly neutral about the forms engagement can
lavish, but they are maintained and rarely appear shabby
take. There is nothing about these conditions, for exam-
and neglected. Bathrooms are usable and generally free
ple, that calls into question engagement defined as
from graffiti. Student behavior is relatively civil. Visitors
memorizing facts in order to do well on tests. There is
often find such schools inviting rather than impersonal.
)thing about them that weighs the practice of lectur-
Such features are not merely the inevitable (and there-
ing to small groups of students, or that challenges stu-
fore dismissable) results of money and social class. They
dents to think things through more on their own.
express a commitment to create a decent living
Consequently, these conditions of work do not exert
environment for all. They express respect for the stu-
much specific impact on how teachers teach in class-
dents, and for the teachers. To stay afloat these schools
rooms, or on how they work together, or on what con-
must convey such signs of respect.
ceptions of learning their students take away. Thoughts
On some other dimensions, however, independent
about restructuring education in these fundamental
teachers' workplace conditions do not promote the idea
ways are usually far from the minds of independent
of teaching as dignified and appealing work. In the New
school clients.
Jersey study, for example, a higher fraction of indepen-
dent day teachers believed teaching to lack prestige as a
career than did public school teachers (Kane, 1986).
Arthur G. Powell is a senior research associate at the
Part of this problem may arise from how prestige is
National Association of Independent Schools He is the
viewed by different populations. Many independent
author (with Eleanor Farrar and David K Coben) of
school teachers attended independent schools them-
The Shopping Mall High School: Winners and Losers in
selves and attended selective colleges. It is perhaps
the Educational Marketplace. This article is adapted
with permission of Teachers' College Press from The
harder to make a commitment to schoolteaching when
Contexts of Teaching in Secondary Schools: Teachers'
one's peers routinely enter such occupations as medi-
Realities, edited by Milbrey W. McLaughlin, Joan E.
cine, law, business administration, and Ph.D. programs
Talbert, and Nina Bascia. ©Teachers College Press,
in academic disciplines. A more prosaic but still power-
New York, 1990.
ful explanation may be teacher compensation policies.
Low pay is what independent school teachers like least
about their work, and in America low pay is closely
EFERENCES
associated with low prestige.
Allis, F. S., Jr. (1979) Youth from every quarter: A bicenten-
How do these conditions of teachers' work affect
nial history of Phillips Academy, Andover. Hanover, N.H.:
students? Is there sufficient payoff for all schools to
University Press of New England.
emphasize policies that would emphasize more pur-
Baird, L. L. (1977) The elite schools: A profile of prestigious
poseful communities, more personalization, and more
independent schools. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
teacher authority?
85
PRIVATE SECTORS
Chubb, J. E., & Moe, T.M. (1985, August) Politics, markets
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).
and the organization of schools. Paper presented at the
(1988b) NAIS fall 1988 statistics. Boston: Author.
Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association,
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) (1989)
New Orleans, La.
Student attrition in NAIS member schools. Boston: Author.
oles, R. (1977) Children of Privilege. Boston: Little, Brown.
National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
Cookson, P. W. Jr., & Persell, C. H. (1985) Preparing for
(1988) Salaries paid principals and assistant principals,
power: America's elite boarding schools. New York: Basic
1987-88 school year. Reston, Va.: Author.
Books.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (1987). Pri-
Grant, G. (1988). The world we created at Hamilton High.
vate schools and private school teachers: Final report of the
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
1985-86 private school study. Washington, D.C.: Author.
Kane, P. R. (1986). Teachers in public and independent
Powell, A. G. (1986). [Preliminary tabulation of intern-begin-
schools: A comparative study. New York: Columbia Univer-
ning teacher survey.] Unpublished report, Commission on
sity, Teachers College, Klingenstein Center.
Educational Issues, Boston.
Kraushaar, O.F. (1972) American nonpublic schools: Pat-
owell, A. G. (1988a). [Survey data on independent school
terns of diversity. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins Uni-
rofessional development programs.] Unpublished raw data.
ersity Press.
Powell, A. G. (1988b). Author's analysis of NAIS data.
Lightfoot, S. L. (1983) The good high school: Portraits of
character and culture. New York: Basic Books.
Powell, A. G., Farrar, E., & Cohen, D.K. (1985) The shopping
mall high school: Winners and losers in the educational
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) (1985)
marketplace. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
NAIS fall 1985 statistics. Boston: Author.
Roeser, S. (1987) School selection factors: What research tells
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). (1987)
NAIS fall 1987 statistics. Boston: Author.
us. In Boarding Schools, The new marketing bandbook for
independent schools (pp. 24-26). Boston: Boarding Schools.
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) (1988a)
NAIS spring 1988 statistics. Boston: Author.
Detroit May Ask
"The first hurdles that they are going to
About 12,900 children are enrolled
have to cross are the constitutional hurdles,"
in Catholic schools in Detroit, 6,700
Private Schools
said Robert G. Harris, a spokesman for the
in other private schools, and 181,100
Michigan Department of Education, noting
in the public schools, according to the
that the state Constitution prohibits the use
state education department.
To Join System
of public funds at private schools except for
According to the resolution adopt-
transportation.
ed by the board last month, the dis-
Joe L. Greene, president of the 1,135-
trict is losing about $4,000 in state
Legal, Political Hurdles
member Organization of School Adminis-
aid each year for every child who at-
To 'Charter' Plan Seen
trators and Supervisors, an affiliate of the
tends a private school. The board es-
timates that the district stands to
A.F.L.-C.I.O., said he would do "everything
By Peter Schmidt
possible to stop public funds from being
gain some $60 million in state aid if
it can absorb schools organized out-
spent at a private school."
side the public system.
The Detroit Board of Education has agreed
Noting that parental dissatisfaction with
In order to enter the Detroit public-
to consider a landmark proposal that would
public education is the reason most private
school system, Mr. Olmstead said,
allow some private schools in the city to be-
schools in the city exist, John M. Elliott,
private schools almost certainly
come public schools paid for out of public
president of the Detroit Federation of
would be required to show that they
funds.
Teachers, said he wondered "what makes
will charge no tuition, have equitable
The board voted unanimously at its Jan.
anybody think a private school
admissions policies, and conform to
22 meeting to begin a series of hearings and
wants to join the Detroit public
public-school policies regarding the
school system."
First Amendment to the Constitution
debates designed to develop a legal charter
that, if adopted this spring, would enable
Nevertheless, April Howard Cole-
and its separation of church and state.
private schools to join the public-school sys-
man and David Olmstead, the board
According to the board resolution,
tem as early as next fall.
members who sponsored the mea-
staff members of the newly chartered
The intent of the charter, board members
sure, expressed confidence last week
schools would be paid no less than
equivalent personnel currently em-
said last week, would be to bring students
that Detroit can become the first dis-
and state aid back into the public schools, to
trict in the nation to have private
ployed by the Detroit public schools.
help decentralize the system, and to offer
schools declare themselves public
In addition, the chartering of such
public-school students more educational
and join the public-school system.
schools would not result in the reduc-
"As far as our school-reform efforts
tion of resources available to children
choice.
in Detroit, I think this is our whole
in non-chartered public schools.
The charter is still very much in its con-
shooting match," Mr. Olmstead said
The board resolution also called for
ceptual stage, and numerous legal, politi-
of the board's chartering and decen-
seven existing public schools to be
cal, and labor-related questions need to be
tralization effort. "There is a pent-up
chartered-and thereby given total
addressed before the first private school can
demand in Detroit for radical
control over 95 percent of their bud-
be chartered as public, board members and
change."
gets, with only monitoring and audit-
experts on educational governance stressed
The board has asked for a task-
ing requirements-by the beginning
last week.
force report on the plan by Feb. 28.
of the 1991-92 school year.
86
FEBRUARY 6, 1991 EDUCATION WEEK
PRIVATE SECTORS
Mr. Olmstead said that other pub-
Mr. Olmstead of the Detroit board
ment on the school board in favor of
lic schools will likely be chartered,
said he opposes vouchers because
deregulation and other reforms could
and that private schools that entered
they result in public funds being
make joining the system more ap-
the system would be afforded at least
used to give some children a better
pealing to a number of private
the same amount of autonomy.
education than others and stress the
schools, including Afro-centric pro-
"What we are trying to accom-
differences between private and
grams and schools run by community
plish," Mr. Olmstead said, "is making
public schools without doing enough
groups, service organizations, univer-
the central administration and school
to improve the public system.
sities, and businesses.
board so non-intrusive that even a
The question of whether the
"If we take private schools and
private school outside the system
courts will allow formerly private
turn them into public schools, we're
would be willing to come into the sys-
schools to become public was regard-
bringing a whole class of people
tem."
ed by experts interviewed last week
back into the system," said Ms. Cole-
Precedents Cited
as the single biggest obstacle to the
man, who asserted that the char-
Detroit proposal.
tered schools are likely to appeal to
Michigan Department of Educa-
An amendment added to Article
middle-class Detroit residents who
tion officials and several national
VIII, Section 2 of the Michigan Con-
benefited from public education but
experts on educational governance
stitution in 1970 stipulates that no
who now send their children to pri-
interviewed last week said Detroit is
public money or property can be
vate schools.
the first district they know of to con-
used "to aid or maintain any private,
Mr. Olmstead said the board may
sider giving public status to former-
denominational, or other nonpublic,
also be interested in drawing into the
ly private schools. But, they cau-
pre-elementary, elementary, or sec-
public system two nondenomination-
tioned, the Detroit proposal is as yet
ondary school," with the exception of
al, values-oriented private schools
too ill-defined to determine exactly
money paid for the transportation of
that Catholic Archbishop Adam J.
what its implications might be.
students to and from school.
Maida has proposed establishing
"If you take what they have said
John A. Nevin, a spokesman for
with the assistance of local Episcopal
80 far at face value, then this could
Gov. John M. Engler of Michigan,
and Lutheran church leaders.
be a very radical change in the way
said that the Governor looks favor-
A spokesman for the archbishop de-
public education is conceived," said
ably on any plan that increases com-
clined last week to comment on the
John E. Chubb, a senior fellow with
petition and parental choice but that
likelihood of such an agreement, say-
the Brookings Institution.
"there are a substantial number of
ing their plans are still preliminary.
However, Mr. Chubb added, "you
pitfalls and details to be worked out"
have to be very careful about debat-
in the Detroit proposal.
ing choice and privatization in the ab-
Even if the Detroit board is legally
stract. There are terrific ways to do it,
able to grant the charters to formerly
and there are very bad ways to do it. It
private schools, they have few assur-
really depends a lot on the specifics."
ances that private schools will be will-
Precedents for the Detroit propos-
ing to enter such an agreement.
al do exist, the experts said. In Ver-
Although most private schools pay
mont and Connecticut, for example,
staff members much less and make do
several localities have long-stand-
with much less funding than their
ing contracts with private schools to
provide what is essentially a public
public counterparts, several Detroit
private-school administrators inter-
education to all children in those
viewed last week said they would be
districts who apply.
unwilling to enter into a charter
And, most recently, the Wisconsin
legislature approved a plan under
agreement with the city out of fear of
which about 1,000 low-income Mil-
losing their autonomy.
waukee schoolchildren attend non-
Mr. Chubb of the Brookings Insti-
sectarian private schools using state-
tution predicted that the same unions
funded vouchers.
and special-interest groups that seek
Ted Kolderie, a senior associate at
to impose regulations on existing
the Center for Policy Studies in Min-
public schools are likely to want to
neapolis, noted that, even though
impose regulations on former private
public contracts with private entities
schools that might become chartered.
are increasingly common in educa-
Joyce G. McCray, executive direc-
tor of the Council for American Pri-
tion, the private organizations nor-
mally remain legally independent.
vate Education, which represents 70
Moreover, Mr. Kolderie said, the
percent of the nation's private
Detroit charter concept differs signifi-
schools, praised the Detroit plan as
cantly from most proposed and exist-
bold, but predicted that many private
schools would be hesitant to relin-
ing voucher systems, which allow stu-
quish selective admissions policies
dents to attend any schools that meet
that reflect their specialized missions.
certain criteria. Under the Detroit
Mr. Olmstead conceded that pri-
model, the school district would have
vate schools probably will not want to
discretion over which schools would
join the public system "the way it is
be open to its students.
run now," but added that strong senti-
87
PRIVATE SECTORS
New York Archdiocese Begins Campaign
To Save 140 Catholic Schools in City
By GARY PUTKA
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Archdiocese of New York is casting
John Chubb, an education analyst at the
some light on what it says are the failures
the Brookings Institution, says Catholic
of public education, in hopes of saving 140
schools have "always been careful" about
inner-city Catholic schools.
comparing themselves with public schools
Backed by a group of top businessmen,
in the past "because they haven't wanted
the archdiocese yesterday unveiled a
to provoke a backlash from politicians and
three-year drive to raise $100 million for
others who would say they serve an elite
the schools, which are in desperate finan-
population." But as inner-city Catholic
cial straits. A major pitch is the extent to
school populations have changed, Mr.
which students at the schools exceed pub-
Chubb says, "it's become clear they don't
lic-school students' performance in aca-
serve an elite, and they're more willing to
demic testing, graduation rates and col-
take their chances with asserting they
lege-entrance rates.
have an advantage. I think the results are
Fund-raisers say the drive is the most
on their side."
ambitious campaign on behalf of private
The campaign was announced at Cardi-
schools with kindergarten through 12th
nal Hayes High School, in the South Bronx.
grade curriculum, topping recent or cur-
Present were several students, including
rent Catholic-school drives in such cities as
Agustin Guzman, a Hispanic senior at Car-
Chicago, Philadelphia and Omaha, Neb.
dinal Hayes, who said he lives in a drug-
Even more SO than these campaigns, edu-
and crime-ridden area and described him-
cation and marketing experts say, the New
self as "probably the type of teen-ager the
York drive reflects a newfound willingness
streets should have snagged long ago."
by the U.S. Catholic hierarchy to take ad-
Mr. Guzman said he is an honor student
vantage of indicators that show low public-
and all-city basketball player, vying for a
school performance.
scholarship to Boston College.
The 140 Catholic schools, many of which
The archdiocese and the Partnership
are in Harlem, the-South Bronx and other
for Quality Education, the business group
depressed New York areas, have an enroll-
formed to manage the fund drive, said the
ment of 51,428 students, 85% of whom are
140 schools operated with a combined defi-
black, Hispanic or Asian. Frederic Sa-
cit averaging $14 million a year between
lerno, the president of New York Tele-
1986 and 1989, with a 1988-89 deficit of $16
phone Co., and chairman of the fund-rais-
million. Mr. Salerno and Catholic-school of-
ing drive, contends that the students are
ficials said there would be a "major con-
getting a better education in Catholic
solidation" of the 140 schools without
schools than they could in public schools,
added funds, but declined to give a specific
which is driving many non-Catholic stu-
number.
dents to these schools. About 25% of the
Catholic-school officials add the fund-
students at the 140 schools are non-Catho-
raising drive already has secured pledges
lic.
of about $15 million.
News releases for the campaign
Neil Meitler, a financial consultant who
stressed that the 140 schools have a 1%
has worked with many Catholic schools,
high-school dropout rate, send 90% of their
says in their marketing efforts they are re-
graduates to college, and spend only $1,900
sponding to changing public demands. At
per year to educate each student. New
one time, the primary reason students at-
York City's public schools, Mr. Salerno
tended Catholic school was the parents' de-
said, have a dropout rate of 30% and spend
sire for their children to have religious ed-
over $7,000 per student.
ucation, "our surveys show the principal
A spokesman for the New York city
reason is now academic," Mr. Meitler
public schools declined comment on Mr.
said.
Salerno's assertion that Catholic schools
Mr. Meitler added Catholic schools are
were doing a better job with inner-city stu-
also more willing to discuss academic
dents. The spokesman confirmed the pub-
comparisons because of their desperation
lic-school expenditure figures, and said the
to shore up finances and attract students.
latest dropout rate figures showed that
National Catholic-school enrollment is
about 21% of freshmen don't graduate, al-
about 2.5 million students, down 55% since
though the dropout rate is about 30% if
its high in 1964.
measured according to the number of 14-
year-olds who leave school before gradua-
tion. The public schools don't keep track of
college-entrance rates, but in the latest
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
scheol-district survey, 78% of recent high-
school graduates surveyed said they intend
to go on to college.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1991
88
PRIVATE SECTORS
Cheering On Motorola U.
By Bernard R. Gifford, Ph.D.
Vice President, Education
Apple Computer, Inc.
I've long been an admirer of Motorola Cor-
"We had never wanted to be in the grade school business," writes
poration. Many of the Macintosh computer's unique
Wiggenhorn, but Motorola bit the bullet and made a huge investment in
capabilities hinge on Motorola's ingeniously power-
education-$120 million a year. Building partnerships with educational
ful microprocessors. And now I have another reason
institutions was central to this effort. "We realized that remedial elementary
to applaud the company. Over the last several years, Motorola has devel-
education was not something we could do well ourselves, SO we turned for
oped a state-of-the-art product SO advanced and SO responsive to changing
help to community colleges and other local institutions."
market conditions that it should hold them in good stead well into the next
When they found that these colleges had fallen behind-that their
century. It's Motorola University!
theories, labs, and techniques were not up to modern industrial standards-
I was fascinated by an account of Motorola U.-its origins and its
Motorola's top managers made a hard-nosed business decision. They got
mission-in a recent issue of Harvard Business Review (July-August 1990).
into the education business-making a commitment to "improve the supply
William Wiggenhorn, the company's VP for training and education, recounts
lines that run from elementary schools, high schools, and colleges to
how, in the early eighties, Motorola came to grips with the disturbing fact that
Motorola."
much of its work force couldn't read or do simple arithmetic. Nearly two out
The result is a full-scale educational enterprise that encompasses
of three workers-at one of its more productive plants failed a test containing
not only remedial and business courses, but also curriculum development,
questions as simple as: "10 is what percentage of 100?" And very few new
teacher training, a university press, and coursework that runs the gamut
hires could meet a seventh-grade standard in reading or math.
from math-and-science institutes for middle school children to MBA-level
Motorola was certainly not alone. It has been estimated that
instruction.
American businesses will have to hire a million new workers a year who
Motorola U. has no campus. Its scope is defined by a network of
can't manage the three R's. Teaching them, and absorbing lost productivity
partnerships with schools, colleges, and universities. These institutions pro-
while they're learning. will cost industry $25 billion a year for the foreseeable
vide expertise in the classroom. In return, Motorola gives them not only
future.
thousands of dollars in tuition and technology. but also insights into the kind
Motorola has been unique, however, in the scope of its response.
of preparation people need to work in today's global environment, as well as
Decision makers at the top realized that to survive in the face of stiff global
feedback on their curriculum and faculty.
competition, the company would have to marshal all of the resources and
Ten years ago, Motorola envisioned a stopgap educational program
creativity it has always devoted to product design, using them to create a new
that would get everyone up to speed and then self-destruct. Now there is
model of corporate training and education.
recognition that learning is continuous. Wiggenhorn puts it beautifully:
Like many other American companies, Motorola has brought more
"We now know there is no real distinction between corporate education and
and more employees into contact with keyboards and screens. In the last
every other kind. Education is a strenuous, universal, unending human
decade, the number of computer terminals at its facilities jumped from
activity that neigher business nor society can live without."
5,000 to 55,000. And like many other companies, Motorola found that it
Mororcia has moved beyond "training." Its leaders had no choice:
does little good for computers to be "up" if the people who work with them
They had learned, painfully, that without committing themselves to building
are "down."
an edus ational system-creating an environment for learning. for openness
And many of its employees were demoralized-hard-working,
to new ideas-they could not improve output and quality. That, of course. IN
dedicated, but barely coping. On factory floors in various corners of
their measure of success. As Wiggenhom says, his mission was not SO much
America, workers were relying on middle managers to read aloud from
10 educate people as to be an agent of change within the organization.
computer screens, or to translate instructions displayed on those screens
But in the process, Motorola has become part of what 1 call the
into their native languages.
Learning Society: a model of society in which learning is freed from the
But as Motorola changed its written instructions more rapidly to
confines of the schoolroom or the school day. It is a model in which people
keep pace with new technologies, and thinned out layers of middle man-
of all ages seize opportunities to learn about any topic, in any sequence.
agers (those invaluable readers and translators). more and more workers
whenever and wherever they can.
responded to bright screens with blank looks. Decision makers realized
So as we look ahead this winter to the Orange Bowl. the Rose Bowl.
that they had to do something.
and the Sugar Bowl, I'm imagining a Silicon Bowl. You'll find me in the
stands, cheering on Motorola U.
JANUARY 30, 1991 EDUCATION WEEK
89
IN THE GROVES
The two articles below from the February 18, 1991, New Republic were part of a larger special section in that publication on
the subject of multi-culturalism in the university. We commend the entire issue to readers interested in this matter.
THE DERISORY TOWER TR
Scarcely a generation goes by without a "crisis" in the
distinction to the world at large, have become distilla-
universities. From Gibbon to Bloom the lamentation
tions of our bitterest social divisions.
has become almost a literary genre. It is tempting to
At the bottom of this dispute is an idea that is worth
believe that if these crises did not exist, it would be
tackling at its roots. In its most popular form, "multi-
necessary for social critics to invent them. Still, they
culturalism" holds that the traditional idea of free
have been real often enough. In our century they have
thought is an illusion propagated by the spoilers of
ranged from the malignity of totalitarianism in the
freedom, by the relations of power that obtain in any
1930s to the insipid demand for skills-of law, business,
given society. It holds, more specifically, that the old
medicine, even politics-in the 1970s and '80s. Each
liberal notion of freedom is only a sentimental
has warped the integrity of university life, distracted the
mask of a power structure that is definitionally
university from its central task of open-ended, disinter-
oppressive of those who are not white Western
ested inquiry. More recently, higher learning has been
males. And this ideological and methodological
burdened by the weight of its own growth, by the pref-
principle is not merely a cautionary note to be
erence for publishing over teaching, by the logic of
taken into account when studying the established
bureaucracy.
texts of Western civilization; it is, in the hands of the
The most common cause of these recurrent crises
"multiculturalists," the very meaning of-the deepest
has been the demand that the university conform to
truth about-those texts. (Sometimes their argument is
one orthodoxy or another. Among the roster of oppo-
further complicated by the notion that no stable mean-
nents of free, subversive thought have been the usual
ing at all can be attributed to texts, but we leave that
suspects: religion, patriotism, Marxism, materialism,
issue to the junior faculty.) The university should there-
bourgeois propriety. These critiques of the old ideal of
fore be devoted to blowing the whistle on those texts,
free academic inquiry have usually succeeded in mak-
to replacing them with those that identify and tran-
ing people forget that such freedom is one of the high-
scend this white male oppression, and indeed go be-
er and most powerful forms of subversion. And (happi-
yond mere study to the actual defeat of the racial and
ly) they have tended to elicit a spirited response in
sexual structure of society at large.
defense of heterodoxy at the heart of university life.
"Multiculturalism" turns out, then, to be neither
We have devoted so much of this issue of THE NEW
multi nor cultural. In practice, its objective is a unanim-
REPUBLIC to the subject of race on campus, however, not
ity of thought on campus that, if successful, would ef-
simply because the newest attack on the idea of a hetero-
fectively end open exchange-exchange that would
dox university is based on a familiar rejection of genuine-
have to include the alleged representatives of patriar-
ly pluralist thought, but because it wishes to replace that
chy-and reduce the nuances of culture to the deter-
thought with one of the most destructive and demeaning
minants of race. True multiculturalism, which we ap-
orthodoxies of our time. This orthodoxy, to summarize
plaud and hope to see flourish, would, in contrast, set
the core of the "multiculturalists"" argument, is that
no borders to texts and ideas, histories and cultures,
race is the determinant of a human being's mind, that
lives and images, from worlds alien to our own. It
the mind cannot, and should not, try to wrest itself from
would attempt to account for the social and political
its biological or sociological origins. There are accounts
context in all texts, as rigorous criticism must do.
in these pages both of the curriculum's transformation
(Which texts, in what language, from which society, do
to conform to the dogma of race and of a revolution in
not come to us from the midst of terrible relations of
admissions, faculty hiring, lecturing, writing, speaking,
power? Certainly not the texts of the East.) It would
and thinking to reflect this assumption.
assume, as a matter of-philosophical principle, that at
This is not merely a philosophical quarrel. On Ameri-
least inner independence, freedom of thought and
ca's campuses today the issue of race is unavoidable. The
imagination, may be attributed to great writers and art-
impact of affirmative action upon the tenor of even the
ists in all societies, however repressive.
simplest class discussion is profound. Resentful whites
We are opposed to the current "multiculturalist"
jostle uncomfortably with suspicious minority students,
trend, then, not because we believe that accounting
struggling with situations they find personally over-
for sexual, racial, and political bias in text is not a
whelming. Well-qualified blacks and Hispanics feel the
worthwhile (though limited) intellectual exercise, but
need to prove their worth, or are wracked with the suspi-
because we believe that it is not the only worthwhile
cion that they may not owe their place to merit. Hour
intellectual exercise. What the "multiculturalist" criti-
upon hour of precious faculty time is spent soothing ra-
cism of the canon fails to grasp is that the canon is
cial sensitivities or deconstructing the canon on ethnic
itself a cacophony, that it teaches not certainty but
lines. Deep-rooted racism-which still undoubtedly and
doubt, that it presents not a single Western doctrine
regrettably exists on campus-blurs with legitimate reac-
about the true or the good or the beautiful, but an
tions to the imposition of "political correctness." Our
internecine Western war between different accounts of
universities, which should strive for an identity in contra-
those values, which will rattle the student more than it
90
THE NEW REPUBLIC FEBRUARY 18, 1991
IN THE GROVES
will ever reassure her. The idea that Plato and Heideg-
racially pure, and advances those students whose
ger, Proust and Thucydides, Hegel and Freud are
race-and race alone-entitles them to study them, is
somehow intellectual equivalents because of their
one that will never free people from the iniquities of
sex, race, and class is absurd, and evaporates upon in-
racial prejudice. It may even serve to entrench these
spection. Indeed, many of the fathers of the "multi-
habits of thought (or non-thought), as angry whites
culturalist" church-Derrida, Foucault, Nietzsche,
and angry blacks battle each other over the remnants
Gramsci-are themselves white males. How did they
of each other's pride.
get away unscathed? Or does their work, too, express,
The furor over affirmative action in admissions and
however unwittingly, nothing but the social and sexual
hiring in our universities and over a "multicultural"
biases of their time and place?
curriculum is, in fact, a bitterly ironic distraction from
The university that we defend is a truly subversive
the battle against racial injustice in our society at large.
institution. It is devoted to the pursuit of inquiry, with
While students and academics squabble over whether
no end in sight, and with no justification except its own
to include Alice Walker in a freshman reading list, a
curiosity. It is dedicated to the life of the mind as a
whole generation of black and Hispanic children is
radically undetermined adventure, a ship on an endless
mired in a culture of poverty, dependency, and crime,
and bottomless sea, open to all breezes (even multicul-
which our government has neither the honesty nor the
turalist breezes), deft in all currents, with no particular
will to address appropriately. High school education
destination, and no harbor in sight. Soon, we hope,
for many inner-city blacks and Hispanics is affected by
those who share this vision-the real subversives in our
this culture as well. Without confronting this issue bald-
universities-will emerge to defend it against the racial
ly, and taking the uncomfortable measures to tackle it,
dogmatists. We have confidence that they will prevail,
the "multicultural" posturings in our colleges are at
not least because students get impatient with the plati-
best the indulgence of an elite, at worst cynically
tudes of political orthodoxy, but also because they will
destructive.
provide the proper context for the genuine insights of
The real danger is that the "multicultural" ortho-
multiculturalism to be appreciated. We have no doubt
doxy is itself a disguise for an indifference, or a particu-
that Foucault, Derrida, et al. are worthy of study. Their
lar political attitude, to this greater issue. It whispers in
ideas are not contemptible, and they have the old vir-
our ears that the barriers of race are unbridgeable; that
tue of being dangerous.
thought cannot undo them; that education cannot mit-
Our quarrel with today's "multiculturalism," howev-
igate them; that a liberal government in a liberal soci-
er, is based not only on a concern for thinking and
ety cannot do anything to achieve a more colorblind
teaching in the university, but also on a concern for
society; that racism is, indeed, ineradicable. It is the
tackling the real issue of race relations in our country.
inheritance of liberals to resist this seduction, not
To be blunt, we do not believe that racism will ever
only because it is a temptation to intellectual ortho-
finally be defeated by a sophisticated version of its own
doxy, but also because it is a temptation to political
logic. An orthodoxy that prefers those texts that are
despair.
A Campus Report: Oberlin
founded their own splinter
association. Korean and
Muslim students did the
same thing. Jewish students
THIN SKINS
are split between Hillel and
a smaller, radical sect, one of
whose members wrote an essay in the student newspa-
per this fall titled "Hillel, fuck your Jewish Communi-
ty." Amid a welter of other charges, Michael Hutchens,
By Jacob Weisberg
a senior, asserted that Hillel had no place for him as a
Jewish bisexual.
OBERLIN, OHIO
An ill-mannered, tribal politics based on ever narrow-
Oberlin's student groups undergo a perpetual process
er conceptions of collective identity seems to have re-
akin to what biologists call mitosis. They keep dividing
placed every other kind of politics at Oberlin. Though
themselves into separate units. Amid charges of racism
students overwhelmingly oppose the Gulf war, the col-
and sexism, the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Union re-
lege's peace efforts have been undermined by the same
cently splintered into four narrow factions: Gay Men of
balkanization that brought down its student govern-
Color, Zani (lesbians of color), Lesbians Be Loud
ment and the elected board of its student cooperative
(white lesbians), and the Gay Men's Rap Group (gay
association. "My reason for not wanting a war is differ-
white men). A similar thing happened to the Asian-
ent from somebody with middle-class privilege," one of
American Alliance. East Asians decided that the
the leaders of Abusua, the principal black student
umbrella organization was
group, told me. So far blacks have not joined the opposi-
too dominated by American-
tion. Some Jewish students have become involved, but
born South Asians and
many are upset at the anti-Zionist tenor of the move-
THE NEW REPUBLIC FEBRUARY 18, 1991
91
IN THE GROVES
ment. And because of a recognized need for consensus-
white classmates patronize them. "Racism is a confusing
based "feminist process," organizational meetings have
word to many students," said Hampton. "It's not a color
organized next to nothing. Marc Blecher, a government
thing, it's about a mentality." It is important to recog-
professor, calls Oberlin's political culture "a marriage
nize how scholastic and self-serving the definition of
of '60s radicalism and '80s narcissism-a toxic combina-
racism that holds sway at Oberlin is: "people of color"
tion."
cannot be racist because they lack power. Because they
Increasingly Oberlin students think, act, study, and
do have power, whites are intrinsically racist. Most
live apart. The college's residential and social life are
whites I spoke to accepted this definition. At a brown
dominated by co-ops, and what are called "program
rice and beans dinner to discuss the college's policy on
houses." Originally intended as residences for upper-
hate crimes, I asked a group of white students whether
class majors in some departments, they have evolved as
they were racists. All acknowledged that they were, be-
if dictated by a voluntary equivalent of South Africa's
cause of their "white skin privilege." One said that
Group Areas Act. About a third of Asians live in Asia
those of his peers who couldn't admit their racism were
House, many Jews sleep and eat in "J" House, Latinos in
"in denial."
Spanish House, blacks in the African-Heritage House,
foreign students in Third World House next door. Many
L
ast spring two black women were asked to leave
freshmen pass directly into these ghettos without ever
an outdoor table at a local bakery because they
living in an integrated dormitory; many of them go on
were eating food bought at a rival restaurant.
to major in the corresponding academic programs: Ju-
They initiated a boycott, vowing to make life hell
daic and Near Eastern Studies, Women's Studies, Black
for the racist establishment. "The ignorance, the au-
Studies, Latin American Studies, and East Asian Studies.
dacity, the arrogance, and the racist attitude to do such
The result is separate worlds. "I have no black friends,"
a thing is what is horrifying to us," one said in the
one Jewish senior told me. "My entire social circle is
letter to the Review. "We have got to realize that it is
Jewish and WASP. That was never true before.
not just the administration and all of the other top
brass practicing bigotry. It's the everyday person per-
T
o see how obsessed the campus is, one only has
petuating it." The store's owner apologized to the
to pick up an issue of The Oberlin Review. The
women, but the protest continued. "We'll stand out
news, letters, and editorial columns of every is-
here every day until a public apology is made to Ober-
sue are full of accusations of racism, sexism,
lin's entire black community," said Carolyn Cunning-
heterosexism, homophobia, "ableism," and a host of
ham, a junior at the time.
other insensitivities abhorrent to the disciples of what
The same issue of the paper included an essay titled
might be called Oberlinism. The student finance com-
"Racist women deny right to lower blinds," by an Asian
mittee is racist for not having enough blacks; a Puerto
student who had an altercation with two librarians in the
Rican play is homophobic; the reviewer of the play is
art museum. "These two white women blatantly and
racist against Latinos; ads for a disco belittle Christians;
unnecessarily attempted to deny an Asian student access
Pete Seeger objectifies women; a postage stamp com-
to a hallway inside the art building, refused her right to
memorating Gone with the Wind represents "obscene
lower blinds to enable her vision, defied common cour-
nostalgia for the old slave south and KKK terror."
tesy, adult respect, and most of all, silenced her freedom
Oberlin has a long liberal pedigree. The college,
to express herself," wrote Ching Ching Ni.
which first enrolled blacks in 1835, was a stop on the
Black-Jewish relations are especially troubled. The
underground railroad. Today it brags of its achieve-
bad blood dates from an appearance on campus by
ments in recruiting and retaining minority students and
Kwame Toure, the former Stokely Carmichael, who gave
faculty. With the exception of the odd bit of bathroom
a speech in which he called Zionists racists and pigs.
graffiti, there is little of what anyone outside of a college
This led to an outpouring of rage and hurt on all sides.
campus would call racism. But in a perverse equation,
Despite some fence-mending since, the ill-will persists,
perceived racism at Oberlin is inversely proportional to
and both blacks and Jews express a fear that the incident
actual racism: the less students see, the harder they look.
could repeat itself. It seems likely, given a steady stream
For this reason, real racism seems to come as something
of provocation. Several Jewish students told me about
of a relief. "I believe that overt racism is to some extent a
Adrienne Jones, a Black Studies professor, who teaches
good thing," Abusua leader Gregory Hampton told me.
that Jews only help blacks because of a fear that as poten-
"Once we deal with that, we can get together and
tial victims, "they would be next." The most recent issue
change things." In 1988, after the appearance on cam-
of The Collective, the magazine of "people of color,"
pus of an anonymous "White Supremacy Rules" ban-
features an interview with Dhoruba Bin Wahad, a for-
ner, classes were canceled for the day, and 1,000 people
mer Black Panther, who says American Jews are social-
marched. One professor told me it was the only unifying
ized into racism. "The first group they learned to be
event he could remember.
better than was Negroes. The first word they learned was
Oberlin students are exquisitely sensitive to the sub-
nigger."
tlest forms of bias-embedded in language, glances, ges-
Jewish students are divided into two groups: those
tures, and, of course, in institutions. Black students say
who feel that they too deserve victim status-and that
white professors treat them like children, and that their
black anti-Semitism is part of their oppression-and
92
IN THE GROVES
those who buy into the notion of themselves as white
Throughout the three-and-a-half-houn session, no
oppressors. The latter publishes a Jewish magazine, Ti-
participant raised an objection, yet I subsequently
feret (a term borrowed from Jewish mysticism, which
heard that many were dismayed. Why had they not
means "grandeur" in Hebrew). The most recent issue
spoken out? "It's not worth it," one senior told me.
includes, with approving commentary, more rantings
"You just get attacked." The truth is that all Oberlin
from Bin Wahad, who says that if Hitler hadn't hap-
students are not brainwashed. The most popular mag-
pened to have an anti-Semitic program, "it's very easy
azine on campus is Below the Belt, which pokes fun at
for me to imagine Jews singing Deutschland Uber Alles
the politically correct reflex. But the magazine is pub-
and fighting in behalf of European racist domination of
lished anonymously, without bylines or a staff box.
people of color."
Most of those who aren't brainwashed are well cowed.
The college administration has played
With rare exceptions, the faculty hasn't been much
an auxiliary role in heightening racial
braver.
sensitivities. While on campus, I par-
"I think the tendency to find ever more rarefied
ticipated in an anti-racism seminar
units of racism might have peaked a year or two ago,"
required for the fifty or so upper-
President S. Frederick Starr told me. That might be the
classmen who serve as counselors
case, but I didn't find much evidence of it in three days
in dorms. The session, called
at Oberlin. It's true that the faculty hasn't yet passed a
"Fighting Oppression and Celebrat-
proposal for a diversity course requirement sponsored
ing Diversity," was sponsored by the
by the faculty Minority Concerns Subcommittee-but
dean's office and led by Bill Shipton, a
that's because it votes by secret ballot. Few want to go
dean of diversity education at Indiana Uni-
on record as opponents of the multicultural agenda.
versity. Through films, discussion, and role-playing
Dogmatism and hypersensitivity have made Oberlin
games, Shipton reiterated the litany I heard constantly
such an unpleasant place that it's hard to imagine
while I was at Oberlin: all whites are racist, and only
things not taking a turn for the better before long. But
they can be racist. Shipton instructs participants to
before the situation at Oberlin can improve, the silent
"unlearn" racism not through efforts at colorblind-
majority of students and faculty who are true liberals
ness, but through heightened consciousness of race. To
will have to reassert. themselves, and not worry too
admit one's racism is a sign of strength and growth;
much about the names they get called.
according to Shipton's "onion theory," whites must
continue to strip off layers of inherited racism through
their whole lives.
P
Politically
He said professors were not de-
ut a duncecap on me. When
nied tenure on political criteria; he
"Politically Correct" and
doesn't believe non-PC students are
"PC" made the cover of
penalized in the grading system.
Newsweek, I thought the
current arguments about academia
correct
It was was good for the students
to hear this discussion; a college's
must be exaggerations. I mean,
duty was to air opposing views.
really: Cleansing the curricula of
"Dweems" (Dead White Males, like
Shakespeare)? Censorship of non-
incorrect
Of course, he said, there was no
such thing as value-free teaching.
left views? I am now in re-education
He himself was of the left. Although
camp.
he assigned works from across the
I spoke recently to students from
BEN WATTENBERG
spectrum, his courses yielded a left-
Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
ish view. After all, students had ear-
I am a Hobart graduate. It's a fine
lier been exposed to America's con-
conservative views were penalized
liberal arts college.
on grades. A school newspaper edi-
servative politics and media. For
I explained my hawkish views on
tor said student PC leaders stopped
example, the media wasn't giving a
the paper from presenting a full
full explanation of Saddam Hus-
the Gulf and my expansive view of
sein's position.
America's global role. Students dis-
range of views. A course in research
Liberally oriented teaching bal-
agreed. They said America was im-
methods became a course on gender
anced all that, he said. He said that
perialist. America wouldn't obey the
studies. It was said that only liberal
my bringing up the PC topic was
World Court, and supported the
professors get tenure.
dangerous because the left -view-
United Fruit Co. in Central America,
A few left-liberal students said
point has typically been threatened
not democracy. What right had
this PC stuff was untrue. But even
by the establishment.
America to choose which govern-
more left-liberals said it was so, and
I later spoke to Sheila Bennett,
ments to dump?
unfortunate.
the provost. She says there's not
Later, I said I wanted to learn as
I asked my host, Associate Pro-
much PC there. She believes that be-
well as lecture. I asked: Was there
fessor Craig Rimmerman, what he
cause faculties everywhere are
PC at Hobart?
thought. He is an articulate political
somewhat more liberal and students
Hands shot up all over the room.
scientist. I summarize his views as
are more conservative, the gap is
It was the turn of the silent majority.
stated at the meeting and confirmed
wider than ever. That yields the per-
One student said conservative views
later:
ception of indoctrination.
were never presented. Another said
My friend Roy Dexheimer is a
The Washington Times
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1991
93
IN THE GROVES
member of the board of trustees. He
edy is that students will believe
The next logical lines of defense
says the statement about tenure is
there is not much to learn from their
are college administrations. What
bunk. PC is overstated, he says, but
teachers.
about college presidents and boards
reform can only come from the fac-
What's the remedy? In the '60s,
of trustees? What are they in trust
ulty. Trustees may raise an issue, but
activist students said don't trust any-
of? Might it not be academic free-
the faculty makes academic deci-
one over 30, and we'll decide what's
dom, for students as well as faculty?
sions. That's the way it has to be.
relevant because we are the bright-
But administrators are behaving
I lean toward the student view. PC
est generation ever. Too many fear-
like the intimidated teachers of the
is present and harmful. It's probably
ful faculty members said yes boss,
'60s. They have bought the idea that
worse at other schools. The problem
and changed the course of study.
academic freedom protects an at-
in American colleges is not that the
Now those activists are faculty.
tack on academic freedom.
students are brainwashed. Brains
They have every reason to think no
They ought to deal with the issue,
don't wash easily. The potential trag-
one will stand up to them.
moderately and gently. Because the
next stop is parents, alumni, voters
and politicians. That can get mean.
Annals of Political Correctness
On campus, flying the flag is a provocation.
fensive. What if someone puts up an obscene
Annals of Political Correctness, Chapter 73.
Charles Krauthammer
antiwar banner? What if someone puts up a
Previous chapters, elaborated elsewhere,
poster insulting to our troops? The university
have illuminated the lunacies of the Political
might have to get into the business of "making
Correctness regime now dominating American
of speech, officials at the (publicly funded) Uni-
decisions based on content."
universities. Starting with the premise that
white male America-racist, sexist, militarist
versity of Maryland asked students hanging
This horror at having to make some substan-
and colonialist-is the enemy, the PC move-
American flags and pro-war banners from their
tive judgment shows just how much the acade-
ment propagates and enforces the left's current
dorm windows to take them down. "[T]his is a
my has lost its nerve. What exactly is the
("politically correct") line on the issues of the
very diverse community, and what may be
content problem? As a society, we have well-
day, issues such as racial preferences, gay pride
innocent to one person may be insulting to
developed constitutional rules on the subject.
and peace (good) and Western civilization, the
another," said university official Jan Davidson.
Apply them. Obscenity is not protected under
merit system and "Eurocentrism" (bad).
"We have a big population to be sensitive to,"
the Constitution. Everything else short of libel,
Enforcement begins with limits on legitimate,
said Julie Field, director of one group of dormi-
slander and "fighting words" is.
constitutionally protected speech. The University
tories. "The [university] does not want our
If some students are offended by what flows
of Michigan, for example, made it punishable to
public spaces to show people's opinion." Curbing
from constitutional free speech, too bad. As part
"stigmatize" someone "on the basis of race, eth-
speech for fear of giving offense: It is hard to
of their training for adulthood in an open soci-
nicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, creed,
imagine a more parodic interpretation of the
ety, offended students might actually be encour-
national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, hand-
mission of the university.
aged to learn to respond and debate, rather than
icap or Vietnam-era veteran status." (The courts
This travesty on the idea of the university is
sulk and sue, as the offended are now encour-
had to step in and put an end to the nonsense.)
done in the name of "diversity" and "sensitivity,"
aged to do on campuses throughout the country.
Enforcement of political correctness then ex-
the twin moral pillars of political correctness. Of
tends to "sensitivity" sessions in which students
Back at the University of Maryland, the
course, repression in the name of some higher
are encouraged to confess publicly their racism.
administration has beat a hasty retreat. It now
value is nothing new. In the '50s, the higher
This middle-class take on the Chinese reeduca-
value was national security. Repression then
"supports strongly such [flag] displays as ex-
tion camp, like the other forms of psychological
went by the name McCarthyism.
pressions of freedom of speech." This discovery
coercion on campus, serves a specific agenda: to
of the First Amendment occurred exactly one
What is new, and perhaps even more disturb-
identify nonconforming ideas as illegitimate and,
day after the student newspaper broke the story
ing, is a second explanation that university
by doing so, banish them. Opposing racial pref-
on its front page ("Students Forced to Remove
officials offered for asking that flags and banners
erences is racism. Defending the Western cul-
tural canon is colonialism. Advocating a peda-
be taken down. "We don't want to get drawn
American Flags From Dorms") and hours after a
gogical preference for heterosexuality is
into a situation where we are making decisions
similar report appeared in The Post.
homophobia. Transgressors beware.
based on content," explained Davidson.
No doubt, University of Maryland officials are
Decoded, this means that the university is not
even now penning letters to the editor explain-
Now this week, for one brief shining moment,
another offense was added to the annals of
particularly, perhaps not at all, opposed to flags
ing that there was never any "policy" against
political correctness: displaying the American
and pro-war banners. The worry is that if the
flags, and that this was all just a terrible
university permits one expressed opinion, that
misunderstanding blown out of proportion by
flag in wartime.
might encourage others! What then is a univer-
journalists. But that University officials asked
Not a year after the Supreme Court reaf-
sity to do? Some of these other opinions
students to take down their flags is an incontro-
firmed that burning the flag is a protected form
might-goodness-be anti-patriotic, even of-
vertible fact. Their rationale-fear at giving
offense-is a matter of record. The fact that the
university switched gears when the story be-
came public shows only that it does not even
have the courage of its own illiberal convictions.
THE WASHINGTON POST
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1991
94
IN THE GROVES
Speaker calls for Afrocentric beliefs
By Nekesa Moody
"Now don't get me wrong. There is
"had changed. They've gotten worse! They
nothing wrong with Eurocentric thought,
Speaking to a predominantly
lie more now than they ever lie. But now they
nothing wrong with thinking white--if you're
black audience of about 200 people,
lie better than they ever lied."
white," he said.
Minister Dr. Khallid Abdul
Muhammad also lambasted the belief that
The Nation of Islam and its late founder
Muhammad called for blacks to
European thought is the father of all civili-
and prophet Honorable Elijah Muhammad
center their lives around "Afro-
zation, saying to the audience, "You are the
root the black person in an Afrocentric culture
centric" beliefs Friday night in the
father of it all."
through their religion and teachings, he said.
International Affairs Building.
Speaking of whites, he said, "You didn't
He noted the influence the Nation had on
"What is your center? Is your
father nothing but murder, bloodshed, dest-
black leaders and black culture, including
center Eurocentric, or is your center
ruction, misery, slavery, colonialism, racism,
Muhammed Ali, Malcolm X, Amiri Baraki,
Afrocentric? Is your center white, or
sexism, Zionism, and all forms of madness
Sonya X. Sanchez, the Black Panthers, and
is your center black," Muhammad
that is now reeking throughout the very fiber
others.
asked. "If you're off center, then
of the planet earth, just like Professor Griff
Muhammad chastised blacks who believe
said."
everything else is and the only
or practice things that are not rooted in Afro-
way to find the center is to tell the
Muhammad said he supported statements
centric culture. One such activity, according to
truth."
made last February when Public Enemy's
Muhammad, is interracial dating.
The speech, which was entitled
Richard Griffin, known as "Professor Griff,"
"I heard about you, silly black man, here
"Afrocentricity" was sponsored by
spoke on campus.
at Columbia Jewniverity!
'Heather's my
the Black Students' Organization
"You think Professor Griff was some-
girlfriend.' You' just the white man's nigger
(BSO).
thing--I'm Professor Griff's professor!"
in 1990, ready to be his nigger in 1991! Go
Muhammad, a member of the
Muhammad also defended the remarks of
Nation of Islam, has taught at
back to your black women, black man!," he
community activist Lisa Williamson, who
said.
numerous universities, and was a
spoke on campus earlier this semester, saying
recipient of the Ford Foundation
"And sisters, you leave Bob and Bill and
that the black boycott of a Korean grocery in
Fellowship to study at Columbia,
Larry alone!," he added.
Brooklyn is justified because store owners
Harvard, and Yale.
"Now don't get me wrong. I'm not against
routinely mistreat black customers.
"I am honored to say that
the white girl in that sense. I think the white
"Every time we hear something, we hear
although I am not officially repre-
woman is fine for the white man," he said.
something negative from the Asian commu-
Muhammad criticized the use of the term
senting the Nation of Islam and the
nity," he said.
African-American and stated that blacks can-
honorable Louis Farrakhan here
Racism by Asians is not limited to the
not consider themselves American because
tonight, I was more or less invited as
Korean market incident, he said, citing recent
a scholar [but] my leader, my
they have never reaped the benefits of being
remarks made by a high-level Japanese
American.
teacher my guide is the honorable
government official who said that blacks bring
"African-American. You want to fight it in
Louis Farrakhan. I thought that
down the intelligence level of the American
any way you can, you just don't want to be
should be said at Columbia Jewni-
community as a whole.
black," he said. "Black is the beginning of it
versity [sic]," he said in his opening
Muhammad also pointed to derogatory
all
Don't you know that before there was
statement.
black images that Japanese businessmen often
ever a place called Africa, you were black?"
He later defended his use of the
use to sell products, and to the Chinese
"Who was Africanus? You can't name
term "Columbia Jewniversity,"
yourself after some Johnny-come lately
government's attack last summer on African
asserting that he is not anti-Semitic.
exchange students dating Chinese women.
cracker or peckerwood explorer or conque-
"I don't know a Jew on campus
Like Williamson, he also attacked the case
ror," he said. "That's a slave name on the
that should be angry with me," he
continent."
of the Central Park jogger against the young
said. "You are intelligent, you are
America was created for the white man and
black men charged with rape and assault. He
wise to set up colleges and universities and
not the black person, Muhammad said, adding
cited the inability of the police to match the
schools that will look out for the best interests
DNA of the semen and blood found on the
that the founding fathers considered blacks
of your people. There's nothing wrong with
three-fifths of a person in the Constitution.
jogger with that of the boys', adding that the
that. Here in Jew York City [sic]! That's a
Addressing the role of whites in the per-
semen actually matched her boyfriend's.
compliment, fool!"
secution of blacks throughout history,
The defendants are in jail or are on their
Although he said that he respected Judaism
Muhammad said to the three or four whites in
way to jail "because of a cracker white
and the suffering of the Jewish people, he
the audience, "you had nothing to do with
woman. That's what I said.. A no-good, low-
lambasted Israel for being South Africa's top
that. You were not around. I'm not charging
down, nasty white woman," he said. He said
supporter and said that Jews play a role in the
that he was so "hard" on this case because
you with what your father did.
oppression of blacks.
"But the question is, are you any better
when Tawana Brawley was raped, no one
Muhammad said that his focus on Afro-
than your father? Are you any better than your
believed her story. Even though one person
centric thought was not racist.
mother? Are you any better than your forbea-
who supposedly raped Brawley killed him-
The black people are trained to think
rers that came before you and left you with this
self, and there was evidence of the rape, the
"white," and are lied to about their culture
negative, damnable legacy and history? Are
media and the justice system rejected her
and history, Muhammad said. Because blacks
you any better than that?" he said.
claim, because according to whites "niggers
are rooted in a white culture, they are unable
Muhammad said that whites, however,
can't be raped," he said.
to be true to themselves, he said.
95
IN THE GROVES
Muhammad also blasted rumors that the
He advised the audience to read research
"The lecture was thought-provoking, con-
Nation of Islam ordered the death of Malcolm
done on Malcolm X's murder and press
troversial, scholarly, and above all true," said
X, saying no one from the Nation was involved
reports at the time, saying that research will
Cassandra Smith, BC '91. "It compelled
in his assassination in 1965.
reveal that the government is responsible for
students of African descent to examine their
He said that Malcolm X knew that attempts
his death.
Afrocentricity, their black consciousness and
made on his life in Paris and Cairo and other
Malcolm X can not be separated from the
their black commitment in this Eurocentric
places were not the work of members of the
Nation of Islam, Muhammad said, since he
society. Dr. Minister Khallid Abdul
Nation. According to Muhammad, Malcolm
came from the same school of thought and was
Muhammad's beliefs are very enlightening
X retracted statements that he had made say-
taught by Elijah Mohammed.
and clarifies many questions that black stud-
ing he thought the Nation wanted him dead.
Throughout his speech, Muhammad chal-
ents and future scholars we need to address
"The Honorable Elijah Muhammed did
lenged the audience to dispute his statements
and define in order to fully 'know thyself.'
not order the murder of Malcolm X. The
with evidence, saying he would be happy to
One student at the reception said he did not
Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan had
debate them since he felt no one could say he
understand why Muhammad felt the need to
nothing to do with the murder of Malcolm X,"
was not speaking truthfully.
attack other people to strengthen black awa-
he said. "The government killed Malcolm.
After the speech, which was well received
reness.
The government killed Dr. King. The govern-
by the majority of the audience, Muhammad
In response, Muhammad said in order to
ment killed John F. Kennedy, and the other
attended a reception with students in the Mal-
uncover the lies that his people believe, he
no-good Kennedy boy, Bobby Kennedy, the
colm X lounge.
must attack those beliefs that oppress his
attorney general."
people.
Doubts Are Raised
"I think O.C.R. cleared Harvard on the
ing Harvard, some Asian-Ameri-
basis of inadequate information," said
can activists criticized the agency
Ling-chi Wang, chairman of the ethnic-
for accepting the admissions poli-
About U.S. Inquiry
studies department at the University of
cy. But O.C.R. officials said they
California at Berkeley and one of the first
accepted Harvard's contention
on Harvard Policies
people to study allegations of discrimina-
that no alternative to a legacy-ad-
tion against Asian Americans in college ad-
missions program would meet Har-
missions. "I'm very disappointed that
vard's goals of encouraging volun-
More scrutiny of admission process
O.C.R. did not pursue those leads," he add-
teer activity and financial contribu-
needed, Asian-American critics say
ed.
tions from alumni and maintaining
Education Department officials said that
good community relations.
By SCOTT JASCHIK
their inquiry at Harvard had been thorough
Papers Relate to Questions
WASHINGTON
and that the information the department
Papers obtained by The Chronicle show
The documents obtained by The
had received was sufficient for it to clear
that the Education Department chose not
Chronicle, which were released in
the university. Harvard officials have re-
to challenge Harvard University's practice
response to a request submitted
peatedly denied that the university has
under the Freedom of Information
of giving admissions preference to the chil-
ever discriminated against Asian-
dren of alumni-even though Harvard ad-
Act, deal with the way the Educa-
American applicants.
tion Department questioned Har-
mitted to government investigators that it
The two-year-long Harvard in-
vard about the policies, and with
had no studies to demonstrate the need for
vestigation was watched closely by
Harvard's responses. The Educa-
the policy and had not considered alterna-
higher-education officials. Many
tion Department's requests for in-
tives to it.
thought it would shed light on
formation were outlined in a May
Harvard conceded that the preference
Asian Americans' claims that the
2, 1990 letter from Thomas J. Hi-
resulted in Asian-Americans' being accept-
nation's elite universities have
bino of the O.C.R. Boston office to
ed at a lower rate than applicants from oth-
used quotas or other admissions
William R. Fitzsimmons, Har-
er backgrounds. But it said the preference
policies that limited the enrollment
vard's dean of admissions and fi-
was essential to maintaining good relations
of Asian Americans.
nancial aid. In the letter, Mr. Hi-
with alumni.
In Harvard's case, the civil-
bino asked Harvard to explain the
rights office found that the univer-
"institutional goal and legitimate
Questions About 'Legacies'
sity had admitted 17.4 per cent of
educational purpose achieved by
the white applicants and 13.2 per
Asian-American activists to whom the
giving positive weight to legacies."
cent of the Asian-American appli-
In addition, Mr. Hibino asked for
Education Department documents were
cants in the previous decade, even
"supporting evidence or documen-
described said the information was impor-
though the two groups were "simi-
tation between the goal or purpose
tant because it showed that the Education
larly qualified." The department
and the positive weight."
Department was pursuing a line of inquiry
attributed the difference in admis-
Mr. Hibino also asked what al-
that could have led it to question the legal-
sion rates to shortages of Asian
ternatives Harvard had considered
ity of the programs for alumni children,
Americans in two groups that get
in light of evidence that the policy
who are known as "legacies." When Har-
special admissions treatment from
"has an adverse impact on Asian-
vard failed to provide evidence justifying
the university: recruited athletes
American admit rates."
the program's existence, the activists say,
and children of alumni.
Harvard's response stated that
the department should have subjected the
When the Education Depart-
the university had never studied
university to much more scrutiny.
ment announced that it was clear-
the effect of admitting or rejecting
96
February 6, 1991
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
IN THE GROVES
alumni children and that such a
ularly troubling in light of O.C.R.'S
officials had made in meeting with
question was "not something that
having asked for specific evidence
department officials. Mr. Komer
would lend itself to statistical anal-
to justify the policy-evidence that
said Harvard's failure to provide
ysis."
Harvard did not have.
evidence did not mean the univer-
Mr. Fitzsimmons's letter de-
Paul Igasaki, who has monitored
sity was violating the rights of
fended Harvard's practice by cit-
the issue for the Japanese Ameri-
Asian Americans.
ing conversations with alumni
can Citizens League, said the de-
Mr. Komer said that when a uni-
whose children had applied to the
partment had shown lack of dili-
versity has a policy, such as the
university. Mr. Fitzsimmons
gence." He said he was pleased
admission of legacies, that may
writes: "Often the correlation is a
that it had asked Harvard to justify
have an adverse effect on a particu-
negative one: after berating the ad-
the alumni-admissions program,
lar ethnic group, it must show both
missions office for its stupidity,
but was angry that the department
that it is not deliberately using the
alumni whose children have been
"didn't follow up on it."
policy to limit the enrollment of the
rejected may sever all connections
Berkeley's Mr. Wang said:
group's members and that there is
with the university. While Harvard
"O.C.R. has accepted very general
"some sort of linkage" between
attempts to maintain contact with
explanations without actually mak-
the policy and an educational goal.
its alumni and to involve them in its
ing a link between the admissions
He added that O.C.R.'S review of
communities through a wide range
policy and alumni giving."
the legacy policy had not just been
of methods, there are few ways to
based on a little anecdotal evi-
cement a relationship between an
'Scientific' Study Not Needed
dence, because the agency studied
alumnus and the college like admit-
Richard D. Komer, Deputy As-
"an institution that has been
ting his or her child."
sistant Secretary of Education for
around for several hundred years
civil-rights policy, said that Har-
and a practice that is widespread."
No Specific Evidence
vard had provided "reasonable,
Mr. Komer also said that "it's
Asian-American activists said
defensible justification" for its pol-
not our intention to set the world
the department should not have ac-
icy and that a "scientific" study
on its ear" by declaring that wide-
cepted such contentions. They said
was not needed. He said O.C.R. had
spread policies "are going to be
the department's action was partic-
asked Harvard for information to
treated all of the sudden as viola-
"support the assertions" Harvard
tions."
Scholars Decry Campus Hostility to Western Culture
at a Time When More Nations Embrace Its Values
Madison Center meeting brings 'traditionalist' and 'politically incorrect' scholars together
radical anti-Americanism among a small-
time in decades.
By CAROLYN J. MOONEY
ARLINGTON, VA.
albeit loud-core of academics who had
In her keynote speech, Lynne V. Che-
As more nations embrace democratic
allowed their political agenda to taint their
ney, chairman of the National Endowment
ideas and institutions, why, some scholars
scholarship and teaching. The speakers ac-
for the Humanities, described a recent visit
are asking, are American academics in-
cused those academics of refusing to ques-
to the Soviet Union. "There was an ines-
creasingly hostile to those ideas?
tion assumptions they held, even when it
capable irony about hearing again and
"There's always an extreme right and
became apparent that those assumptions
again about the importance of depoliticiz-
left" in the professoriate, William Ratliff, a
were no longer valid. Among the examples
ing and deideologizing the study of culture
they cited were scholars who have contin-
when so often in the United States I hear
senior research fellow at the Hoover Insti-
tution at Stanford University, said at a
ued to advocate Marxist economic models
about the importance of using the arts and
meeting here sponsored by the Madison
even as Eastern European nations are
the humanities as instruments of politics,"
Center for Educational Affairs. The politi-
quickly shedding them; scholars who over-
she said.
cal equilibrium on campus, Mr. Ratliff ar-
estimated the strength of Nicaragua's de-
The conference reflected the polariza-
gued, must be maintained by the majority
feated Sandinista government; and schol-
tion of the academy in recent years into
of scholars who fall in the center of the
ars who, before the Tiananmen Square
opposing camps that often talk about-but
political spectrum.
massacre, focused on the strengths of Chi-
seldom with-each other. The polarization
nese society while ignoring its problems.
is most intense in the humanities and social
"The center right and center left totally
sciences: On one side are scholars who
abdicates its responsibility," he conclud-
ed. "The majority is silent, and the minor-
'An Inescapable Irony'
have made issues of race, gender, and
ity gains the upper hand."
Some participants also said they found it
class central to their teaching and scholar-
The theme of the conference was reflect-
ironic that U.S. academics increasingly
ship. They have been labeled "politically
ed in a title that seemed both to ask and to
face restraints upon free speech-re-
correct" by critics who, like many of the
answer the question at hand: "Alone, All
straints aimed at curbing language found
participants in last week's conference, ad-
Alone? The American Campus in a World
offensive by some colleagues and stu-
vocate the study of Western culture and an
of Western Resurgence."
dents-as Eastern Europeans try to pro-
"objective" approach to scholarship.
Speakers decried what they said was a
mote free speech and inquiry for the first
In her speech, Mrs. Cheney, a strong
January 30, 1991
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
97
IN THE GROVES
ally of the traditionalists, said it
students in my classes kept grow-
was dropped in 1987 after a lengthy
was "a pleasure to be with people
ing larger and larger," he said.)
dispute over operational control.
who have resisted intellectual
Other speakers agreed it was im-
Mr. Ratliff suggested that the en-
trendiness, to be with people
portant to "name names." Among
tire faculty had caved in to faculty
who-dare I say it?-have been
them were the Hoover Institution's
opponents of the project.
willing to be 'politically incor-
Mr. Ratliff; Hilton Kramer, editor
In an interview later, he ac-
rect.'
of The New Criterion; and Steven
knowledged that scholars who ac-
Mosher, director of the Claremont
cuse others of failing to be objec-
'Profound Relativism'
Institute's Asian Studies Center.
tive are often accused by those
Another speaker, John R. Silber,
Each cited scholars whose work
subjects of having their own politi-
Boston University's sharp-
they considered to be influenced
cal agenda. In his case, he said, the
tongued president, suggested that
by political motivations.
subjects of his criticism probably
higher education was suffering not
Mr. Mosher was dismissed in
view him-wrongly-as "a con-
so much from ideological influence
1983 from Stanford's graduate pro-
servative mouthpiece."
as from "a profound relativism."
gram in anthropology amid contro-
"If you're a good scholar, you'll
He called upon participants to dis-
versy over his behavior in China,
allow the evidence to convince you
credit scholars whose work they
especially during an investigation
you're wrong," he said.
considered politicized or shoddy.
of China's policy of forced abor-
The conference was the second
"Why be so civil? Why be so cor-
tions. Some China scholars at the
held by the Madison Center,
dial?" he said, adding that such
time were concerned that the case
founded by former Education Sec-
scholars could be discredited "if
would lead to restrictions against
retary William J. Bennett and the
they were subjected to the ridicule
U.S. scholars working in China,
University of Chicago's Allan
they so richly deserve."
but others accused Stanford of cav-
Bloom to promote traditional val-
Mr. Silber said he did exactly
ing in to pressure from the Chinese
ues in the humanities. Plagued by
that when he repeatedly challenged
to punish Mr. Mosher. Few if any
high turnover in its early days, the
the scholarly views of Howard
scholars questioned the accuracy
center is back on its feet, said its
Zinn, a historian now retired from
of Mr. Mosher's work.
president, Chester E. Finn, a pro-
B.U. The two men are long-time en-
fessor of education and public poli-
emies, and one of the issues over
'Cave-In' on Reagan Library
cy at Vanderbilt University. Its
which they have clashed is the
"It wasn't through the efforts of
next project is an academic guide
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s eth-
China watchers that we saw China
to colleges. The center also oper-
ical position toward obeying the
for what it was," Mr. Mosher said.
ates a network for student newspa-
law. (Mr. Zinn, reached at his
Mr. Ratliff cited as a casualty of
pers founded to provide an alterna-
home outside Boston, dismissed
political interference Stanford's
tive-more conservative-voice to
Mr. Silber's comments. "If he
loss of the Ronald Reagan Presi-
mainstream student publications.
tried to discredit me, he did not
dential Library. Stanford initially
succeed, because the number of
was chosen as the library site, but
Stupid, uneducated and doing quite well
ick up a sports page or turn on the TV news any
Clifford Adelman, an analyst with the U.S. Depart-
P
time near New Year's, or in March during the
ment of Education, put it to the test of reality and it
NCAA basketball tournament, and the story
has failed. Mr. Adelman did not go out and interview
will be there: An athlete has been exploited by
some bum. He went instead to the National Longitudi-
a college.
nal Study of the High School Class of 1972, an Educa-
Often, but not always, he is a black man. He went to
tion Department program that has collected the aca-
a poor secondary school, never learned to read very
demic transcripts and tracked the lives of 12,599
well and don't know much about geography. In his
Americans who departed high school the year Richard
prime he could fly-slamma-jamma or bench-press
Nixon was making mincemeat out of George
three times the IQ of a Stanford quarterback. But now
McGovern. Of this group, Mr. Adelman isolated 8,000
he's down and out and can't even hold a job swabbing
students who went to college, and divided them into six
floors. And it's all the fault of a corrupt university
general categories, including varsity football and bas-
administration, a win-at-all-costs Neanderthal of a
ketball players, varsity athletes in other sports, per-
coach, and alumni boosters who would sooner spend
forming arts students, intramural sports participants,
their money recruiting a point guard for the alma
non-athletes (those whose transcripts and survey re-
mater's basketball team than get their kid the bone-
sponses show no interest in sports whatsover) and
marrow transplant he needs.
everybody else (that is, students who showed only a
Everybody knows the story because it is a canon in
marginal interest in sports).
the media's vision of American social pathology. It
So by the age of 32, where were the football and
fairly reeks with innuendoes of racism, greed and that
basketball players? In a drug rehabilitation clinic? Do-
most devious of all our national neuroses - that crass
ing 5-to-10 for a gas-station stickup? Studying remedial
inversion of right principles and honor - which Los
reading at a federally subsidized self-help clinic?
Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis has aptly summed up
Nope. To paraphrase President Bush, they were out
with his famous motto: Just win, baby.
kicking a little financial fanny. Their classmates
The story is also a lie.
couldn't hold a wallet to them.
WASHINGTON TIMES, Jan. 15, 1991
98
IN THE GROVES
The most startling material difference between for-
elor degrees far more often than blacks who did not.
mer college jocks and the shallow-lunged nerds, who
"Non-athlete" blacks graduated from college only 26.3
spent their collegiate afternoons sucking air-
percent of the time. but 50.2 percent of black football
conditioning dust in the recesses of the library, is that
and basketball players graduated, and 51.7 of blacks
the jocks now own more real property. By the age of
who played other varsity sports graduated.
32, Mr. Adelman found, 77.1 percent of the former
Still, Mr. Adelman's report raises at least one dis-
varsity football and basketball players owned homes;
turbing question about the education of college ath-
77.0 percent of the varsity athletes in other sports also
letes. They tend, he says, to dedicate much of their
owned homes. But of the "non-athlete" group, only 59.1
academic energies to the study of non-traditional sub-
percent owned homes by age 32. But they were coming
jects like "physical education" and "recreation." But
up hard on the former "performing arts" aficionados,
this may be evidence of a deficiency in our culture that
60.9 of whom had purchased homes.
transcends sports. Anyone who spends much time in
Those who have worried that college athletic pro-
the familiar gathering places of our national elite
grams especially exploit blacks should be pleased by
knows that few professionals in any trade - including
this. Blacks were more highly represented in the group
sports, politics and big business - have what one
of former football and basketball players than in any
would consider a "classical" education. If varsity ath-
other group. In fact, 18 percent of this group is black,
letes are learning the virtues of hard work and long-
while 8.7 percent of the total sample is black. Blacks
suffering dedication in their college years, they are
who played varsity sports in college also earned bach-
learning a lesson lost on many of their peers.
99
THE PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE
Why Gauge Students on a Global Scale?
By Archie E. Lapointe
ateline: Mos-
ing. Theirs will be a world grappling with complex technological is-
D
cow, Philadel-
sues, acid rain, radioactive waste, untreatable illness, hunger. In 10
phia, Beijing,
years, when they are 23 years old, these youths will be shaping our
and Buda-
global environment.
pest-In these
Today, the mathematical and scientific knowledge accumulated
cities and across 20 coun-
by the 105 million I3-year-olds on the earth is a nest egg for the
tries, 13-year-olds will sit
planet.
down next month to take
The project that begins in March will rely on a careful structure
an assessment of mathe-
and proven techniques. It employs the same sampling procedures in
matics and science.
each country. It will present the same test, following the same stan-
Roughly 110,000 of them
dardized procedures, and ask the same background and attitude
will participate in the
questions. Reports will carefully note the proportion of each coun-
Second International As-
try's 13-year-olds who, for one reason or another, are not represent-
sessment of Educational
ed in the national sample. Each country will develop and follow a
Progress, or I.A.E.P. II. Re-
quality-control plan approved by Educational Testing Service, the
ports on their perform-
project administrator, to ensure the validity and reliability of the
ance will be issued world-
findings. Schools will be randomly visited during the assessment.
wide and will furnish new
Based on samples that represent more than one-fourth of the
perspectives, in the form
world's 13-year-old population and building on tested procedures,
of multicultural bench-
I.A.E.P. II will generate a status report rich in information on a
marks, for all who work to
range of educational ac-
stimulate academic
tivities and outcomes.
achievement or contem-
In 1987, I.A.E.P. I, funded
plate standards-setting.
by the National Center for
School leaders have al-
Education Statistics and
ways needed reliable in-
the National Science
formation on the status of
Foundation, demonstrated
student academic
that some of the content
achievement. Informa-
and procedures developed
tion on a global scale is
for the National Assess-
ever more pertinent to-
ment of Educational Pro-
day, because the school-
gress could be used to im-
improvement move-
prove the efficiency of an
ment-and its attendant
international comparative
economic implications-
study. With hundreds of
are without borders.
mathematics- and science-
Educators also must
test questions and a large
have public support. Re-
investment in the method-
gardless of ideology or in-
ology of assessment, NAEP
structional philosophy,
was an appealing model
there is virtual unanimity in the United States for the proposition
for application in this
that our education system needs strong backing in every community.
wider sphere.
If information is inspiration, some of this support could come be-
Data from I.A.E.P. I, re-
cause of I.A.E.P. II.
ported in 1989 in A World
The purpose of the 1991 international assessment, then, is to pro-
of Differences, suggest a
duce, one year later in March of 1992, a set of reports that will detail
number of benefits from
each country's achievement results, catalog home and classroom fac-
this kind of study:
tors that affect student learning in the various countries, and describe
To those setting stan-
other relevant behaviors, such as how much homework students do
dards for student achieve-
and how much television they watch.
ment, it is instructive to
Why bother? Can any assessment account for the differences be-
observe what 13-year-olds
tween a rural classroom in Korea and one in France, or Taiwanese
in various countries can
textbooks compared to the learning resources available in a Rus-
achieve. Those with the re-
sian school? Why invest student time, teacher energy, and school
sponsibility for setting
cooperation in an international assessment?
achievement goals in the
Because these 13-year-olds share a planet whose ozone layer is fray-
United States, for exam-
ple, should know that in
EDUCATION WEEK FEBRUARY 6, 1991
100
THE PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE
the Canadian province of
What effects do cultural differ-
Quebec and in Korea,
ences have on student learning?
more than 70 percent of
Nonschool factors, often described
13-year-olds have success solving two-step mathematics problems,
as motivation, or the "desire to
compared with 40 percent of our students.
learn," are increasingly recognized
To those recommending school policies and practices, it is helpful
as key elements in the equation.
to identify factors that correlate positively with school success or
Education policymakers as well
failure. In 10 of the 12 populations compared, for instance, 13-year-
as teachers from around the world
olds who did more mathematics homework achieved higher math
are searching for tools to help them
identify and set reasonable stan-
scores on the I.A.E.P. test.
dards. They are seeking with even
To those concerned with long-range planning, either on a state
greater interest to identify the fac-
or national level, it is informative to learn how successfully human
tors that seem to improve the learn-
resources are being developed in other countries. A case in point:
ing environment. Information from
Nearly 82 percent of Korean 13-year-olds agreed with the state-
a variety of foreign countries, some
ment, "Much of what you learn in science classes is useful." Only 30
with environments that closely par-
percent of American students had that opinion. Why?
allel our own (Canada) and some
To business and labor leaders girding for the coming expansion
that differ greatly (China) can yield
of global economic competition, it is essential to keep abreast of our
clues of what is possible, and of
partners' and competitors' projected workforce characteristics. Five
strategies that may be helpful.
out of every 100 Korean 13-year-olds are able to "understand and
Inevitably, these data will cause
apply more advanced mathematical concepts," while only 1 out of
us to reflect upon a range of general-
every 100 of their U.S. counterparts can perform at this level.
ly accepted assumptions about the
To political and community leaders, competitive information can
preparation of teachers, the type of
inspire support for upgrading learning conditions and justifies, for
learning materials available, the
parents and students alike, the concentrated efforts needed to improve
student-teacher ratio, the length of
performance. Such a spur was the knowledge, in the last test, that in
school days and the school year, as
both mathematics and science, U.S. 13-year-olds performed at or near
well as many societies' values and
attitudes about the importance and
the bottom, compared with 13-year-olds of 11 other population groups
role of education.
from six countries.
But this kind of information can
These examples suggest how comparative findings can be worth-
only be as helpful as its quality will
while-if the data are valid and reliable and the results can be
allow. How can we assure that it will
produced quickly and efficiently.
be as valid and reliable as possible?
Thanks to NAEP'S tested procedures, along with a fair amount of
How can we be confident that its dis-
discipline, I.A.E.P. I yielded a thought-provoking report in less than
semination will be as accurate and
three years, compared with previous
as responsible as we can make it?
In the planning for I.A.E.P. II, and
experiences requiring six or more
as the project has been implemented
years. That test also indicated that
with the guidance of the National
while many of NAEP'S data-analysis
Academy of Sciences' board on inter-
national comparative studies in ed-
techniques and reporting proce-
ucation, the multinational project
dures "travel well," the journey for
team has addressed these questions
test content, even in mathematics
systematically and conscientiously.
and science, requires extraordinary
The great motivator has been the
self-interest of each participating
care.
country. The expenditure of this
Comparative statistics, whether
much energy, effort, and money
economic, medical, or educational,
would be pointless if the yield were
unreliable data.
always face legitimate challenges:
The results of I.A.E.P. II will be as
Are the samples truly compara-
good as current technology allows.
ble? They must be independently
Like all survey research, the findings
will have limitations. Nonetheless,
and rigorously drawn. Each report
with reasonable interpretation, they
must clearly identify the ranges of
will constitute useful tools for the
sampling error that influence the re-
many professionals charged with the
liability of reported statistics, as
responsibility for finding ways to im-
prove learning.
well as the percentage and the char-
In the short term, the reports from
acteristics of each country's student
the test will provide insights into pos-
population that is represented.
sible achievement targets and how
we might improve academic achieve-
Do school programs (opportunities
ment in the United States. They will
to learn) differ? A difficult question to
be useful in spurring greater efforts to
address accurately, but school cur-
support our schools.
ricula and teacher practice reflect a
In the long run, the assessment
techniques polished through proj-
country's educational priorities and
ects like L.A.E.P. will be repeatedly
must be described to account for vari-
refined, to the benefit of educators in
all nations.
ance in performance.
They, in turn, will advance from
Does the United States share a
asking "why on earth" about the
common definition of what excel-
testing process itself to understand-
lence in math or science represents?
ing "how on earth" each distinctive
Do we want to excel in what others
society prepares its children for
their successful contribution to a
define as science (that is, an accu-
shared future. That is, educators
mulation of facts) or in what our ex-
will learn from each other.
perts might define as a "way of
That's the bottom line.
thinking"?
101
THE PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE
Opt-out trend begins to
gather pace
Applications from schools seeking to opt
Conservative-controlled Kent could
Local authorities are currently incensed
out of local authority control are
lose 10 schools, though not all those
by the Government's proposals to change
accelerating, but not at a pace that would
considering opting out are affected by
the rules for financing opted-out schools.
enable the Government to achieve its aim
reorganisation. In Hillingdon, where the
The Government is suggesting that
of seeing most secondary schools in the
Conservatives have a majority of one,
schools get the same budget as a school
grant-maintained sector before the next
four schools are planning to ballot and one
with local management, plus 16 per cent of
general election.
school has already opted out.
the central services provided by the
This term there are likely to be at least
The majority of the first 50 GM schools
authority.
37 ballots of parents, of which between
were either affected by closure or reorga-
According to Andrew Collier, presi-
eight and ten will involve small schools
nisation or eager to retain their grammar
dent of the Society of Education Officers,
previously barred from opting out by the
school status, and that balance has only
the changes would mean some local
300-pupil limit.
changed slightly in favour of schools that
authorities would be financing grant-
Fifty schools have become grant-
maintained in the 16 months since the-
want to opt out in order to achieve greater
maintained schools at a higher level than
independence.
their own schools.
legislation came into force and they will be
The authority with the largest number
"What concerns us is that the grant-
joined by another six in April.
of opted-out schools remains for the
maintained schools system should provide
But while the numbers are low, they
moment Lincolnshire, which encourages
fair competition," he said.
could double by September. As well as the
schools to consider becoming grant-
The DES is expected to announce the
pending ballots, 30 schools have voted in
maintained.
capital grants awarded to opted-out
favour of opting out and are either still
Although the Government's stated aim
schools in the next few weeks. The first
drawing up proposals or waiting for a
was to provide a means for schools to
grants announced last January generated
decision from the Education Secretary.
escape the control of left-wing Labour
protests that £6.6 million was given to 25
Many of the schools in the process of
councils, only Birmingham, a traditional
schools.
opting out are affected by local education
Labour council, has lost schools that are
re-organisation schemes. The two har-
dest-hit areas are Kent and the London
not faced with reorganisation.or closure.
Geraldine Hackett
Two of the city's comprehensives opted
borough of Hillingdon, two councils that
out by the first available: date'and Great
have embarked on large-scale rationalisa-
THE TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
Barr, the country's second largest school,
tion of schools in order to remove surplus
has won approval to go grant-maintained.
18 91
places.
Honesty is still the best policy
"But about her reading?
and her
Too much reticence, however, can lead
writing looks so untidy?"
How did she do this, I wondered? And
to a chain of events which ends with a
"Oh, her reading's coming on well.
did she use test results?
secondary school blaming earlier stages of
She's doing better than she was last year.
education for not tackling the problem.
"It's usually on parents' evening. You
Don't worry!"
can sometimes use test results, but most
"It's a tightrope we walk," said one
Not all parents are happy about this
head. "We want to be fair to the child, to
teachers know perfectly well how a child is
kind of encounter.
doing without them. If he's still on book
the parent and to later teachers. Frankly I
"Parents' evenings are a waste of time,"
don't know what the answer is."
four of the reading scheme, for example,
one told me. "I get told vague platitudes
All of which, of course, is one reason
when most of the others are two stages
and I come away no wiser about my child's
further on, it's a clear enough pointer for
why we now have a national curriculum
abilities than I was before."
the parents."
with a set of objective measures.
You do not have to look hard to see why
The important thing, as this teacher
Assessment does not, however, make
parents get confused messages. It is within
pointed out, is that you do not just leave it
the problem go away Rather, it places
the nature of being a teacher to encourage
there.
even more responsibility on the teacher to
children and give them space to develop.
"You talk about how you can work
ensure that the raw figures do not come as
The pedagogic vocabulary of the primary
together to improve things, with home-
an unwelcome shock.
school is rich in phrases like "Well done!"
school reading programmes. for example. I
"Good try!" "That's much better!".
There is no doubt that parents once
don't see how, you can expect full co-
Teachers often feel, too, that there is
they are over any initial trauma-welcome
operation; though, if you haven't been
frankness from teachers. One junior
more to life than narrow academic
honest in the first place."
teacher, who has over five years de-
achievement, and are aware that some
All parents would, I think, welcome
veloped a policy of no-holds-barred hon-
parents will react to:bad news by putting
frankness from, teachers. The important
esty, said to me.
extreme pressure on their children. A
thing is to keep in touch with parents, and
"I'm a parent myself, and I wanted
head told me of a mother who reacted to
to give them, as well as encouragement,
honesty about my son's learning difficul-
news of her son's reading difficulties by
statements like: "She is about two years
ties. If a child comes up from the infants
saying: "Right, he won't go out to play
behind the national average with her
struggling to read and can't write
anymore. He can stop in and read."
reading", followed up by a description of
coherently, then in my view it's time to
what the school is proposing to do about
look parents in the eye and tell them
it. Early honesty, and a programme which
there's a problem. Often, in the early
involves parents in providing support, will
THE TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
years at school, teachers have deliberately
fend off later grief.
not been honest enough."
18 91
Gerald Haigh
102
THE PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE
The expedient art of
forgetting the past
Passau is a picturesque place. Nestling in
of the Nazi Party's former rally grounds;
Frau Rosmus says that her history
wooded hills at the confluence of the
monumental remains in brick and stone
teacher devoted just one lesson to the
Danube and the River Inn, this small
were no obstacle to the desire to forget. In
Nazi era and refused to discuss anything
Bavarian town on the Austrian border
1985, however, Nuremberg's Pedagogical
other than Germany's changing borders
presents to the world a facade of idyllic
Institute opened an exhibition at the site
during the period.
timelessness almost too good to be true.
documenting two sides of the Nazi phe-
Ten years on, the Third Reich is a
It is too good to be true, as cinemagoers
nomenon: the fascination exerted by the
required part of history syllabuses in all
can see in Michael Verhoeven's award-
regime and the brutal reality for its
Germany's federal states, but its effective-
winning film Das schreckliche Mädchen,
victims.
ness, according to Dr Dietzfelbinger,
now showing in Britain as The Nasty Girl.
Dr Eckart Dictzfelbinger, one of the
depends very much on the personal
The film is the fictionalised story of Anja
exhibition's organisers, says the majority
commitment of the individual teacher.
Rosmus, who became schrecklich in the
of visiting school classes from all over
Another 140 miles north-west, this time
eyes of the stolid burghers of Passau,
Germany are interested in learning about
to Frankfurt, where Herr Benjamin
when as a sixth-former she began resear-
the Nazi past, as long as its relevance to
Ortmeyer teaches history and music in the
ching into the Nazi past of her home town.
their own lives is made clear. He quotes
Holbein Realschule - an intermediate
What began as an entry for an essay
the example of a lecture he gave to a group
school with as many immigrant pupils as
competition developed into a 10-year
of 16 to 25-year-old apprentices in a local
Germans.
quest for facts which most of Passau's
firm, which developed into a lively discus-
When Herr Ortmeyer tried to introduce
citizenry would prefer to forget - like the
sion once he commented on the neo-Nazi
Jewish songs in his lessons, (Frankfurt has
town's three concentration camps, like a
graffiti in their own works entrance.
Germany's second largest Jewish com-
history of rabid anti-Semitism pre-dating
Resurgent anti-Semitism in Germany
munity) parents protested that he should
the Nazi era, and like a pervasive impeni-
must be taken "very seriously", according
be teaching traditional German songs
tence which, according to Frau Rosmus,
to Dr Dietzfelbinger. He believes a denial
instead.
still allows Passau to be the stamping
or suppression of the Nazi past is "struc-
But the real test of Herr Ortmeyer's
ground of neo-Nazis.
turally anchored" in German society and
personal commitment came in spring
"If Passau were just one crazy town,"
that the "massive pressure" brought to
1988, when he wanted to use the school's
says Anja Rosmus, "it wouldn't be worth
bear on Anja Rosmus would be repeated
own history during the Nazi period as
writing about." Instead, she claims, her
whenever the country's structures - be
teaching material.
own experience of official obstacles put in
they political, religious, judicial or educa-
He was denied access to the school
her way, of abuse. threats and actual
tional - felt themselves attacked. When
chronicles-compulsory annual records of
physical violence, and of widespread fear
she delivered a lecture at the Nuremberg
significant events in the school year - and
of the truth could be found "in varying
institute in 1987, Frau Rosmus was given
to the minutes of staffroom conferences.
degrees of intensity" almost anywhere in
police protection.
This was the beginning, Herr Ortmeyer
Germany.
Fascism as an idea, he says, will con-
says, of a "never-ending story" of official
Her conviction is echoed by Michael
tinue to gain in attractiveness for young
obstruction and evasion, as well as person-
Verhoeven's reported comment: "Passau
people not only in Germany-asgrowing
al abuse and threatening letters.
is just another German town." So many
numbers see themselves as victims of
Far from giving up, Herr Ortmeyer is
young people today, he says, are not
radical upheavals in western civilisation.
currently organising a competition for
interested in what was. His aim in making
Because extreme right-wing ideologies
research into school archives elsewhere
the film was simply to combat the desire to
tend to equip themselves with "a mythical
and cites a successful project along similar
forget.
basis in history", Dr Dietzfelbinger be-
lines in Hamburg, which gained both
About 140 miles north-west of Passau is
lieves the role of history teaching in
official and parental backing. In addition,
Nuremberg, a city with its own problems
schools is very important in countering the
he is conducting a campaign to have
in coming to terms with its Nazi associa-
rise of neo-fascism.
plaques erected in all Frankfurt schools
tions. Fifteen years ago, it was hard to get
commemorating the children who were
directions in the street to the outlying site
hounded out by the Nazis.
THE TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT 251.91
"We must have a coordinated
The officials agreed that their
The meeting also took up
position toward Western help.
countries' education ministers would
concerns in Eastern Europe that
We all have the same problems."
meet twice a year to coordinate
many of its universities are still
That is how Wiktor Kulerski,
university reforms and requests for
burdened by huge administrative
first deputy minister of education in
Western financial assistance. The
staffs that were assigned to them by
Poland, explains the thinking
move is part of a growing trend
former Communist governments.
behind the creation of an
toward regional cooperation in
An official of the Czech Ministry
"International Commission" by his
central Europe since the demise of
of Education, Vladimir Roskovec,
agency and its counterparts in
Communism there.
says the three countries
Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
Participants in the meeting said
represented in Vienna have
Top officials of the three
one of their universities' biggest
strikingly similar needs.
education ministries met in Vienna
problems was inadequate teacher
"The papers that we delivered at
this month under the auspices of a
education, especially for public
the meeting were prepared
private Austrian organization, the
schools. Another issue was
separately," he said. "We were
Institute for Human Sciences.
universities' desire to recapture at
amazed to see that they were almost
least part of the big research
identical."
programs that have long been
reserved for national science
THE CHRONICLE OF January 30, 1991
academies.
HIGHER EDUCATION
103
NOT ALL NEWS IS GOOD NEWS
In Budget Crisis, Minnesota's
Teacher of the Year Loses Job
By WILLIAM CELIS 3d
many good teachers are laid off."
ing the importance of good teachers.
Cathy Nelson has been a teacher for
Indeed, teachers lacking seniority
"I'd go back to the classroom in a
15 years, the last 13 of them teaching
have long been vulnerable when
minute," said Ms. Nelson, who comes
social studies at Fridley High School, in
schools hit hard times. But many ex-
from a family of educators. Her moth-
Fridley, Minn., near Minneapolis. She
perts in education policy find an un-
er, Norma, teaches second grade in
has found innovative ways to interest
pleasant irony in laying off a widely re-
Lake Park, Minn., and encouraged her
students in history, and has found time
spected teacher at a time when the
children to pursue education careers.
to earn a doctoral degree from the Uni-
quality of teaching is under assault by
Ms. Nelson's sister, Terri, is a school
versity of Minnesota.
public opinion.
psychologist, and a brother, Bruce,
Along with the admiration of her stu-
"I think this is an outrage," said Joe
coaches a high school girls' basketball
dents, Ms. Nelson has won a number of
Nathan, a senior fellow at the Hubert
team. Ms. Nelson's grandmother also
awards. Last October she was named
H. Humphrey Institute of Public Af-
taught school.
Minnesota's Teacher of the Year.
fairs at the University of Minnesota
Teachers Don't Often Leave
The only trouble was, she had just
who is studying ways to improve
been laid off.
Norma Nelson maintains that
schooling. Despite economic ills,
The 37-year-old teacher, the third
"school districts need to think about
"teaching is a good job," despite what
generation in her family to teach, was a
priorities," he said, "and I would like to
has happened to her daughter. She
victim of budget cuts, a declining stu-
think that districts could find ways to
pointed out that part of her daughter's
dent enrollment and the seniority sys-
keep good teachers."
problem is that teachers with seniority
tem at the Fridley Independent School
rarely leave their jobs, especially in
District.
No More 'Yo-Yo' Treatment
good school systems like Fridley's.
"What happened is obvious," said
The Fridley district did try to keep
In each of the last two years, for ex-
Donald A. Meyers, principal at Fridley
Ms. Nelson, offering her a part-time
ample, two of the district's four schools
High School. "Last hired is the first
job in teaching combined with another
have received national citations of ex-
fired."
part-time job in staff development. But
cellence from the Federal Department
Laid Off, Again
she declined, saying she was weary of
of Education; the awards are based on
the "yo-yo" treatment.
student test scores, class size, dropout
Unfortunately for Ms. Nelson, this is
Since the latest layoff, Ms. Nelson
rates and graduation rates.
the fourth time that has happened.
said, she has been working as a curric-
But Fridley, like many areas, has
With 13 years at Fridley, she had the
ulum consultant, helping local schools
been hit by shrinking enrollment - to
shortest length of service among the
design and submit state-mandated
about 2,500 students now, from about
school's five social studies teachers.
plans shd ing how these school sys-
6,000 in the early 1970's - and by tough
"It was real hard for me to accept
tems plan to make their curriculums
economic times. The recession has
the fact that I'd been laid off when I
more culturally diverse.
forced Fridley for the second straight
work so hard," said Ms. Nelson, who
She has also tackled the job of repre-
year to cut $250,000 from its annual
will learn next month if the district has
senting the state's teachers with zest,
budget of about $12 million.
enough students and money to hire her
As Teacher of the Year, she has ad-
Losing her job for the fourth time
a fifth time next fall. "But in truth,
dressed about 30 educational, civic and
"has taken a little of the luster off the
business groups since October, stress-
plaque," acknowledged Ms. Nelson,
who also received $1,000 for winning
the state honor.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 1991
"I used to say it's unbelievable," she
said of her layoffs. "Now I say it's all
too believable."
Teachers flunk letter-writing
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A group of
"The democratic process is not only for the
schoolteachers learned an important lesson
powerful, the polished and the perfect," she
from a letter-writing campaign seeking more
said in a telephone interview Monday.
state money for education: Always check your
The grammatical errors were disclosed
work.
last weekend in the St. Joseph News-Press-
Gov. John Ashcroft's office received more
Gazette. Ms. Weston said the publicity had
than 90 letters 2½ weeks ago in which St.
clouded the more important issue of educa-
Joseph teachers called for more money for
tion spending, and she blamed Mr. Ashcroft's
local schools and changes in the formula used
office for allowing reporters to read the let-
to fund districts.
ters.
Most of the letters reviewed by the Associ-
But Mr. Ashcroft's spokesman, Bob Fergu-
ated Press contained no spelling or grammati-
son, said, "I'm not pushing these letters on
cal errors but about 10 did.
anybody."
A few writers addressed their letters to
"Govenor [sic] John Ashcroft."
The 93 letters sent to the governor were
Other errors included confusing "they're"
stamped by a school postage meter. Ms. Wes-
with "their," and using the possessive "teach-
ton said her association reimbursed the dis-
er's" when a plural was necessary.
trict for the postage.
"We made errors and we have learned from
Ms. Weston said the campaign was started
our mistakes," said Kate Weston, a first-grade
"out of deep frustration with the crisis of the
teacher at Noyes Elementary School. She is
funding of education in our state."
president of the St. Joseph Community Teach-
As one teacher wrote to the governor:
ers Association, which organized the letter-
"Don't leave us with a legacy of mediocricy
writing campaign.
[sic] in education."
104
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1991
The Washington Times
ENDPAPER
"Timothy, if you never watch TV you'll never know
what's going on in the world."
THE NEW YORKER FEBRUARY 18, 1991
105
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