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School Board News Bulletin
January 1999

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George H. Ryan sworn in as governor

Real estate web sites give information on schools

Lincolnshire High School wins national honor

School lawyers give back to the community

E-rate applications deadline extended

Earnings gap widens

FEDERAL UPDATE

Children’s health insurance funding available

Vocational education funding formula improved

TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Book offers tips on Y2K readiness

Make sure facility planning accommodates technology

Internet beginner training offered online

Free kit explains how school boards can land donated supplies

School leaders must ask right technology questions

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

RESEARCH REPORTS

California charter schools fall short of promises

U.S. graduation rate lags

Americans view teacher quality as essential

Kids can boost scores by reading more

Calculus, praise linked to top university attendance

WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

Office personnel conferences announced

Conference on preventing school violence is set

THE NATIONAL SCENE

Test scores are better in California’s smaller classes

Some schools teach marriage, relationship skills

Recent mailings from IASB

George H. Ryan was inaugurated as the state’s 39th governor January 11, calling for cooperation across party lines and signaling his eagerness to broker legislative agreements.

"My basic instinct is to be open to everyone, to listen, to learn and to help where I can," he said. "Compromise is not a bad word."

Ryan called for lawmakers to enact his uppermost campaign proposal to spend 51 percent of new state funds on education. Yet he also suggested the state must "recognize the value of a private education, charter schools and home schooling."

Governor Ryan—a former house speaker and lieutenant governor at the side of dealmaking Governor James R. Thompson—noted that hammering out legislative deals can be a noble task.

"I’ll be an advocate. I’ll try to formulate compromise and make a deal when I can, and I hope very much it makes me a hero when I do it,’" Ryan said.

"I do know unless we all get together and talk, and unless we all accept our own responsibility and stop pointing fingers, we will never leave a legacy of opportunity, promise, prosperity and peace for our children," he said.

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Real estate web sites give information on schools

Officials in several well-respected school districts in the Chicago area were surprised to learn recently that their schools were inaccurately portrayed as average or poor in quality on a major Internet site. The offending Web site provides prospective home buyers with information on houses for sale nationwide.

The inaccurate ratings appeared on the Web site of the National Association of Realtors (<http://www.realtors.com>), which was testing a new service that provides house listings as well as information on neighborhoods, schools, crime, and other matters.

Blaming the problem on a software glitch, the site’s operator, RealSelect Inc. of Westlake Village, California, says it corrected the mistakes within 24 hours. But news of the local schools’ poor ratings, made public by the Chicago Tribune, has drawn attention to the proliferation of such sites on the Internet—and sparked questions about the implications to local school districts.

As a result, school officials might want to search similar Web sites and examine the information being made available to the nation’s home buyers. After all, such reports about local schools will be seen by huge numbers of people on the World Wide Web.

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Lincolnshire High School wins national honor

Adlai Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, was one of seven "New American High Schools" honored by the U.S. Department of Education in November.

The seven schools were recognized for their commitment to high levels of academic achievement. The New American High Schools initiative, begun in 1996, aspires to transform high schools into institutions that fully prepare students to meet the challenges of a changing technological and global economy.

The high schools so honored also included schools in California, New Jersey, Texas (two), New York, and Ohio.

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School lawyers give back to the community

Members of the Illinois Council of School Attorneys recently volunteered their time to support the fund-raising efforts of public television station WTTW in Chicago. The volunteers helped to raise more than $85,000 during a marathon fund-raising event December 9 at WTTW, Channel 11. As one volunteer explained: "it was a nice opportunity to be of service to the community." The school attorneys group was formed in 1987 and is affiliated with IASB and the National School Boards Association.

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E-rate applications deadline extended

The Schools and Libraries Corporation (SLC) has extended the window for e-rate applications for the 1999-2000 funding cycle from 80 to 100 days.

The window for submitting applications, which opened on December 1, now is set to close March 11.

The SLC says the extension was made to accommodate 1998 e-rate applicants still waiting for funding commitment decision letters and to give new applicants more time for planning. Applications (including forms 470 and 471) can be filed via the Internet at the SLC web site, <http://www.slcfund.org>.

Those who prefer to file by mail should send their applications to the SLC, P.O. Box 4217, Iowa City, IA 52244-4217.

Check the SLC Web site for application criteria and dial 888/203-8100 for assistance by telephone. Guidance documents are also available via toll-free fax-on-demand at 800/959-0733.

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Earnings gap widens

The earnings gap between people who have college degrees and those with only a high school education has continued to expand, the U.S. Census Bureau reported December 10. College graduates on average earned $40,478 last year, while high school graduates earned $22,895.

People with college degrees now earn 76 percent more than those without college degrees. In 1975 the gap was 57 percent.

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RESEARCH REPORTS

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California charter schools fall short of promises

A new study says California’s charter schools are falling short on their promises to improve student performance. A 64-page report published by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), concludes the schools "are, in most instances, not yet being held accountable for the enhanced academic achievement of their students."

California harbors more than 125 publicly funded but independently operated charter schools, 17 of which were chosen for the study as a representative sample of charter school activities and accomplishments. Researchers examined case studies and conducted hundreds of interviews with those involved in the chosen charter schools.

Researchers found that, although California statutes require charter schools to adopt achievement goals that are highly measurable, in many cases such schools have substituted goals related to safety or discipline rather than academics.

To get a free copy of the report "Beyond the Rhetoric of Charter School Reform: A Study of Ten California School Districts," phone 310/825-9903. The report is available, as well, on the Web at <http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/docs/charter.pdf>.

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U.S. graduation rate lags

The United States can no longer boast of the best high school graduation rate among industrialized nations, according to a new study by the Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The report says 22 countries outpaced the United States in high school or equivalent graduation rates for 18-year-olds in 1996.

"This is not because the United States is getting worse, but because there are so many countries that have become better," says Andreas Schleicher, principal administrator of the OECD. Also, high unemployment in many other countries is causing youths to stay in school longer.

The comparison of graduation rates for teenagers may be misleading, however, because this country offers several opportunities for dropouts to return to high schools or earn equivalency diplomas. A half-million or so dropouts earn a General Educational Development credential in the United States each year. GED recipients receive some of the same economic benefits as high school graduates, but they fail in higher education at higher rates.

Three-fourths of Americans aged 55-64 have a high school diploma, the highest proportion anywhere and far ahead of the 42 percent average for the 26 developed countries studied.

The study finds U.S. teacher pay among the lowest of the 29 nations. Only the Czech Republic, Hungary and Norway pay their high school teachers less than the United States in terms of gross domestic product per capita.

For more information contact OECD, 800/456-6323.

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Americans view teacher quality as essential

Ninety percent of Americans think the best way to boost student achievement is to place a qualified teacher in every classroom. That word comes from a new national poll conducted by Louis Harris and released by Recruiting New Teachers, Inc.

The study, The Essential Profession, is derived from interviews with 1,504 adults nationwide. It found most people believe quality teaching is the basic building block of better schools and that better teachers are the key to the American dream.

The study also found 71 percent of the public supports paying teachers for longer work days to give them time to stay current with new developments in their fields. Fully 61 percent favored lengthening the school year and providing more time each school day for professional development for teachers.

A free copy of the poll results is available on the Internet at <http://www.rnt.org> or by calling 202/467-8344.

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Kids can boost scores by reading more

More time spent reading can boost children’s scores, while watching more television can lower them. That bit of conventional wisdom is confirmed by a new study on the effects of how kids spend their time.

The study also contains some good news for busy parents: While children are spending more hours in structured programs, it’s still time spent with parents that really matters. The report, "Health Environments, Healthy Children," from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, looks at the daily schedules of children 12 and younger, as well as how their activities affect their development.

Children whose parents expect them to graduate from college had math and verbal scores that were 6-9 points higher than those of children who were not expected to seek higher education. The study also indicates that activities shared with parents, such as preparing meals or working on puzzles, may boost math scores.

The report is available free from the Child Development Supplement, Panel Study of Income Dynamics, Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248; phone 703/763-5166.

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Calculus, praise linked to top university attendance

A federal study of those who enter America’s most highly ranked "national" universities shows a three times greater tendency to attend such prestigious universities if students have received positive comments from their high school teachers.

Students who took calculus in high school were four times more likely to attend the "Tier 1" national universities. The study defined "Tier 1" institutions based on U.S. News and World Report rankings of the nation’s top 50 universities for 1995, a list that included the University of Chicago, Northwestern, and the University of Illinois.

Other school-influenced factors linked to Tier 1 university attendance were taking a third or fourth year of foreign language (four times more likely to go to a Tier 1 school), and taking physics (almost three times more likely).

Race, ethnicity and gender were not significant factors in predicting who would attend Tier 1 universities, except that Asian Americans were three times as likely as whites or blacks to attend top schools.

The study suggests information about Tier 1 attendance may be useful because: "it has been reported that obtaining a degree from a highly selective or elite college or university is related to a host of advantageous outcomes such as increased annual earnings, membership in elite social clubs and groups, and becoming a national leader in politics, business, science and culture."

For more information, contact: Jeff Owings, 202/219-1777.

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TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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Book offers tips on Y2K readiness

If you are at all concerned that your school district’s computer systems might not be prepared for the new century you might want to order the U.S. Education Department (ED) publication, Year 2000 Compliance Guide for Elementary and Secondary Schools.

As the ED material states, school officials not only need to make sure their computer hardware, software, and local area networks are Y2K compliant. They also need to check out such devices as telephone systems, voice mail, postage meters, timers for lights, video recorders, public address systems, security systems, metal detectors, and more. So- called "embedded" computer chips are contained in many such electronic devices, and many of them are not Y2K-compliant.

ED has identified several dates that are crucial in testing systems to ensure they are running smoothly, such as leap year, the start of a school district’s fiscal year, the start of the state government’s fiscal year, the first day of each quarter, and dates that might have a particular meaning in a computer system, such as 9/9/1999 (some computers read a series of 9s as indicating an invalid date).

The guide is available on the department’s Web site at <http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCIO/year/>, or call toll-free, 877/433-7827.

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Make sure facility planning accommodates technology

A new book from NSBA’s Institute for the Transfer of Technology to Education (ITTE), Technology & School Design: Creating Spaces for Learning, aims to help those who are building new schools or remodeling existing ones. Publishers say it will help school leaders learn how to accommodate current and future technologies into their education system.

Written by leading architects, engineers, education consultants and school practitioners, it leads readers through the steps of planning, building consensus, hiring skilled architects and technology consultants, designing effective learning spaces and passing bond referendums. Technical and general information is presented in terms anyone can understand.

Glossaries and a list of recommended resources are included in this 122-page soft-cover book. Copies are available for $35 ($28 for Technology Leadership Network district representatives) from the NSBA Distribution Center, P.O. Box 161, Annapolis Jct., MD 20701-0161; phone 800/706-67722, fax 301/604-0158.

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Internet beginner training offered online

For Internet novices there is now a Web site to help "newbies" learn to navigate the Internet on their own.

Beginners’ Central is dedicated to helping people learn to use information on the Internet in a coherent manner. It is based on a chapter-by-chapter structure that the visitor may use like a book – by skipping to any chapter of interest, or starting at the beginning and working forward.

Take a tour through Beginners’ Central at: <http://www.northernwebs.com/bc/>.

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Free kit explains how school boards can land donated supplies

American corporations will donate over $100 million worth of new products to schools and charities in the upcoming year. A free information kit is available that explains how a school board can land its share of these supplies for its school or district. Available items include office supplies, computer software and accessories, classroom materials, and much more.

Recipient groups pay dues ranging from $375 to $575, plus shipping and handling, but the merchandise itself is free. Members choose what they need from 250-page catalogs published every ten weeks. According to the program coordinator, participants receive an average of $2,500 worth of new supplies per catalog. To obtain this free information kit, call the nonprofit National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources: 800/562-0955.

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School leaders must ask right technology questions

Edvancenet, a new partnership of national organizations, has created tools to address education technology in the context of major policy issues. A booklet called Leader’s Guide to Education Technology is available, along with presentation materials, and an EDvancenet Web site. These tools are designed to help policymakers and school leaders ask the right questions to ensure that technology supports—and helps achieve—educational goals.

Robin Kaczka, manager of EDvancenet, said local and state "policymakers don’t have to become technology experts to make intelligent decisions, but they do need information and resources to help them ask the right questions so that technology is used to support educational goals."

Formed by the National School Boards Foundation, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and MCI WorldCom, EDvancenet is committed to improving teaching and learning in the nation’s schools with technology.

Copies of the EDvancenet tools are available via the EDvancenet Web site at <http://www.edvancenet.org>. Additional tools with up-to-date information are scheduled for release in Spring 1999. For additional information, contact Robin Kaczka, EDvancenet Manager, at 703/838-6200 or at rkaczka@nsba.org.

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DEVELOPMENTS IN SCHOOL LAW

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Defamation cases, with different outcomes, teach same lesson

Words can hurt. Two recent cases brought by Illinois school employees illustrate this. The results in these cases differ, however both cases have the same moral: use caution and discretion when dealing with rumors about, or charges of, misconduct. Snitowsky v. NBC Subsidiary, 696 N.E.2d 761 (Ill.App. 1 Dist. 1998), and Strasburger v. Board of Education, 143 F.3d 351 (7th Cir. 1998).

Television reports about an "alleged" incident involving a special education teacher ignited the controversy in one case. According to the report, a teacher restrained an eight-year-old special education student and instructed four other students to hit him in the face. The station got the information from the principal’s police report. Pertinent information was never reported. Before the broadcast, no station employee tried to contact the teacher.

She would have explained that the student in question kicked her and, while she was restraining him, another student hit him, giving him a bloody lip. She never hit him and never encouraged others to do so. She would have suggested that the principal might have had an ulterior motive for making the report. The teacher was a member of the local school council that gave the principal a negative evaluation and requested her resignation.

Ultimately, after interviewing all witnesses, the police accepted the teacher’s version of the event.

The teacher charged the principal and the TV station with defamation and invasion of privacy. The station reminded the court that it had called the misconduct charges "allegations." This characterization might have enabled the court to find the report was open to an innocent construction had the station also mentioned that the person making the charges may have an ulterior motive. The station raised other privileges, but the court failed to find required elements of these privileges present. Thus, the teacher is allowed to proceed with her case and needs only prove that the station acted negligently when it broadcast the defamatory statements.

In the second case, a high school teacher-coach charged that his RIF was a pretext and that a school board conspiracy deprived him of Constitutional rights and privileges. Specifically, he charged that the board infringed his liberty interests by making false charges against him so damaging that other employers were reluctant to hire him.

The board, after becoming aware that the teacher-coach had a criminal record, suspended him during an executive session from his non-teaching assignments. Terribly unflattering rumors circulated in the community. He was reinstated, but, later that year, RIFfed.

To prove that the board deprived him of his liberty interests, the coach-teacher had to show that it made defamatory statements about him. He urged that a board member defamed him by saying, "We need to get rid of that [mild expletive deleted] . . . before he hurts one of those girls." This, however, was not a false assertion of fact, but merely an opinion. Insulting predictions also do not rise to the level of "false, factual assertions." Likewise, derogatory comments are insufficient unless they are false. As there was no evidence that a public board member made false, factual statements, the teacher-coach’s deprivation of liberty interest claim failed.

The courts in both of these cases recognized that the school employee was not treated well. These decisions remind public school officials that their words carry great weight with broadcasters and the community in general. Misstatements and exaggerations can do great harm to individuals as well as to the district. Even truthful expressions can be hurtful, causing aggrieved parties to seek a judicial remedy. Caution and discretion are well worth pursuing when rumors about, or misconduct charges concerning, individuals arise.

Melinda Selbee is IASB’s general counsel.

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Workshops & Meetings

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Office personnel conferences announced

The Illinois Association of Educational Office Professionals (IAEOP) will be hosting a professional development seminar for educational office professionals on February 5-6 at the Radisson Hotel in Schaumburg. The program will center upon "building and refining professional skills."

Topics will include: marketing a professional image through office etiquette, image and dress, building confidence in yourself and self-esteem in others; maintaining professional ethics; dealing with confrontation by using "I" Message Assertion; effective communication skills; and qualifications of the 21st Century Secretary.

IAEOP also will hold its Annual Spring Conference April 15-18 at the Oak Brook Marriott, Oak Brook. The theme of the conference is "Keys to the 21st Century." Friday night opens the conference with a "dinner and program with Mary Todd Lincoln."

For registration information on these meetings, write: IAEOP Public Relations at P.O. Box 3502, Oak Brook, IL 60522-3502 or fax 630/932-5211.

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Conference on preventing school violence is set

School violence prevention will be the topic of a March 5 conference at Chicago’s Navy Pier. The program will feature Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, along with speakers, programs and workshops to help identify and assist distressed students.

District administrators, teachers, student mental health professionals, violence prevention specialists, parents and students are invited to attend. A $50 registration fee covers a continental breakfast and a boxed lunch. The program is sponsored by the Illinois Counseling Association in cooperation with roughly 25 participating organizations, including the Illinois State Board of Education and the Office of the Attorney General. For more information, contact Pat McGinn, Conference Coordinator at 800/493-4424.

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THE NATIONAL SCENE

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Test scores are better in California’s smaller classes

Students participating in California’s class size reduction program did better on last spring’s state reading and mathematics tests than those who did not. In third grade, for example, 41 percent of students in classes limited to 20 pupils scored at or above the national average in reading, compared with 33 percent in larger classes.

The findings were encouraging to advocates of a state program that has consumed billions of taxpayer dollars since 1996 to reduce the size of classes from kindergarten through third grade.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, a long-time proponent of smaller classes, called the results from the Stanford 9 achievement tests "a positive sign that we are moving in the right direction" according to her spokesman, Doug Stone.

Source: Nick Anderson, Los Angeles Times, "Report: Better test scores in smaller classes," as published in The Seattle Times, December 29, 1998.

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Some schools teach marriage, relationship skills

With a large percentage of all marriages ending up on the rocks, a growing number of high schools are taking it upon themselves to offer students a course in marriage education.

The courses, ranging from Boston University’s "The Art of Living Well" to the American Bar Association-sponsored "Partners," have made their appearance in hundreds of schools in recent years. What’s more, on January 1, Florida became the first state to mandate instruction in marriage and relationship skills in all high schools.

The marriage curricula often parallels more comprehensive adult living courses—updated versions of the traditional home economics class. Such courses dwell extensively on such non-controversial topics as developing a household budget, buying insurance, and purchasing a home.

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FEDERAL UPDATE

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Children’s health insurance funding available

The federal education department has announced a new health insurance program for children. Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides funding for health insurance for children under age 19.

Eleven million children in the United States don’t have health insurance, including more than 330,000 in Illinois. Nationwide 4.7 million uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid but not enrolled. Several million more children are in families with incomes above Medicaid levels but unable to afford private health insurance. CHIP provides $24 billion in funding over five years to insure these children, building on the Medicaid program.

For more information about CHIP, contact the Health Care Financing Administration at 410/786-8705 or Health Resources Services Administration at 301/443-4619, or visit their website at <http://www.hcfa.gov/init/children.htm>.

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Vocational education funding formula improved

Among the many unfinished spending bills wrapped into the $520 billion, 4,000-page omnibus appropriations bill recently adopted by Congress was a provision to make major changes in vocational education funding.

One key change involves the state and local mix, with the percentage of federal funding that goes to the local share set to increase from 75 percent to 85 percent.

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act authorizes $1.2 billion in federal funding for fiscal year 1999 and annually through 2003.

The bill strengthens the quality of vocational and technical education by requiring states to support programs that expand the use of technology. It also provides funding support for the professional development of vocational education teachers, counselors, and administrators.

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Recent mailings from IASB

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Not all IASB mailings are sent to all school board members. For speed or economy, some mailings are sent only to the board president or district superintendent. This item was mailed recently. For more information, contact your board president or district superintendent or get in touch with IASB.

January 7: Call for proposals for annual conference panel presentations, mailed to board presidents and district superintendents.

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IASB ARCHIVES HOME

Illinois Association of School Boards

2921 Baker Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62703