Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h534cKC12336; Tue, 3 Jun 2003 00:38:21 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 00:38:21 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <031e01c3298a$0af463c0$304279a5@air.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Mary Ann Corley" <macorley1@earthlink.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:1135] Articles from This Week's Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: RO Content-Length: 3835 Lines: 69 Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast " Public Involvement. Public Education. Public Benefit." ******************************************************** DISTRICTS TAKE FROM POOR SCHOOLS & GIVE TO RICH School districts transfer millions of dollars each year from schools in poor neighborhoods to those with wealthier students and higher-paid teachers, according to a new report from Marguerite Roza and Paul Hill of the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education. The study documents the previously hidden effects of a funding system used by nearly all of America's school districts, which allocates money among schools as if all teachers made the same salary even though better-paid teachers overwhelmingly teach in affluent neighborhoods. By switching to a system that accounts for actual pay, districts could let poorer schools recoup the lost dollars for smaller classes or better technology. "Do we really want to keep systematically funneling resources away from poor and low-performing schools?" asked Hill, who recommends not only using real salaries in budgeting, but adding financial incentives to lure better teachers to struggling schools. http://www.crpe.org/pubs/introSchoolFunding.shtml TEACHER WHO UTTERED RACIAL SLUR RESIGNS A Seattle teacher suspended over using a racial epithet in class was given permission to return to work yesterday but resigned instead, saying he feared that the incident would continue to dog him. The teacher was suspended with pay following recent incident, which started when a junior in one of his computer classes disparagingly referred to an exercise as "gay." The teacher told the student, who is black, that the term was hurtful toward homosexuals and unacceptable in his classroom. When the teen argued with him, the teacher took the student into the hallway to discuss the matter and asked him how he would feel if someone called him a "nigger." The teacher acknowledged that as the student walked back into the class, he said, "This nigger can come back into the classroom," and immediately followed the comment by telling the class such language is offensive and unacceptable. The school district issued a written reprimand saying that while the use of the slur was "inappropriate and unprofessional," it was understood that the teacher was attempting to make a point about discriminatory language and "did not intend to harm any person." http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/123318_teacher23.html IMMIGRANT PARENTS FINDING A VOICE As schools try to meet state achievement mandates and the requirements of the new federal No Child Left Behind law, they are emphasizing parents as key factors in children's academic success. Increasingly, the region's school districts are developing innovative programs -- from culturally specific to breakfast gatherings -- to encourage immigrants to take an active role in their children's education. Districts have stopped waiting for the parents to join in and, not content just to encourage them, have started recruiting. The aim is to get "all families to do all things," said Joyce L. Epstein, director of Johns Hopkins University's Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships. "Almost every school system is becoming more diverse," Epstein said. "Schools are becoming more sensitive to the need to include every family." To help immigrant parents feel welcome and motivated, school staffs must first address the obvious barriers, such as language and cultural differences, before tackling the most subtle ones, such as a fear of challenging authority that makes them reluctant to ask basic questions: How do you read a report card? What is a parent-teacher conference for? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46243-2003May27.html * * * * * Mary Ann Corley NIFL-povracelit List Moderator
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