Charter School Funding on the Rise Despite Slow Economy

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The charter school movement is growing rapidly thanks to an increase in public and private funding.  This despite a struggling economy that has left many states with significant budget shortfalls. Research by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools counted 4,936 charter schools across the country. The number went up 6.7 last year and they expect a 7.5 percent increase for the current school year. As inner-city public schools struggle for funds, public charter schools are receiving millions of dollars in grants from organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edyth Broad Foundation, according to Philanthropy News Foundation. The jury is still out on charter school success.  In Indianapolis, one of the lowest-performing school districts in the country, graduation rates were as low as 30 percent.  A strong push for charter schools has increased that rate to around 50 percent.

No Name-Calling Week in Schools Promotes End to Bullying

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Bullying and name-calling are nothing new for kids in school.  But the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is hoping to change that with their annual No Name-Calling Week running from January 24 through January 28, 2011. No Name-Calling Week was invented to help schools explore ways to end bullying while also calling national attention to the problem.  The GLSEN website provides resources for teachers, students, guidance counselors. The program was inspired by the young adult novel, “The Misfits,” about four seventh graders who try to win a student council election by running on a platform eliminating school bullying.

Random Drug Testing for 6th Graders

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Children as young as 11 face random drug testing in Belvidere, New Jersey, and the news has people talking across the country. The Board of Education approved the plan for Oxford Street School on Wednesday, and apparently many parents support the idea, even though no drug or alcohol abuse has ever been reported there. The program is voluntary  - both parents and children must sign up.  If a child tests positive for drugs, he or she will get counseling.  School officials promise no suspensions and no police reports.  Principal Sandra Szabocsik  thinks it will be a deterrent, telling WCBS-TV, "We're hoping that the students, if they're at a party or someone's house or just hanging out somewhere, that they'll say 'I don't want to get involved in drinking or using any drug because tomorrow could be a drug testing day,”

Random drug testing in schools is nothing new.

Blueprint for Turning Schools Around Fast

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Dramatic and comprehensive change is the key to improving school performance, according to a new research paper. The School Turnaround Group at Mass Insight Education says bold strategies are the only way to narrow the achievement gap for low-income and minority students. This advice comes as school systems across the country are applying for the next round of Title 1 School Improvement Grants this year.  Researchers recommend that money should only fund bold and truly different programs. They discourage funding for schools that are using the same old strategies that contributed to their decline in the first place.  Some other recommendations:

Think Big
Relentlessly enforce accountability for student achievement
Encourage school districts to use partners in bold and innovative ways
Create district level strategies
Communicate with families

Red Flags Point to Heaping Trouble for Teen School Shooter

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New details are coming out about the 17-year-old high school senior who shot his principal and vice-principal yesterday in Omaha. A number of red flags apparently point to trouble brewing in Robert Butler, Jr.'s life, beginning with his transfer to a large city high school.  He had recently moved in with his father, an Omaha police officer, after living for years with his mother, according to the Omaha World-Herald.  Butler was unhappy with the move and struggled to find a place in his new school. A sequence of events yesterday morning led to the shooting.

In-School Paddling and Spanking Still Legal in 20 States

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Kids are still being paddled in public schools in 20 states, including Georgia and African American students and children with disabilities are twice as likely to get a spanking. That’s according to Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) who brought the nationwide “Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act” before Congress last year. Elementary school children are also more likely to get paddled than high school kids. New attention on the issue comes from Texas. Last month an advocacy group called The Hitting Stops Here rallied against corporal punishment in Texas public schools, according to KETK-TV.

New Laws Across the Country Target Bullying In School

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Forty-five states now have laws against bullying and harassment in schools, including Georgia. The Department of Education sent out a memo last month reiterating that all incidents of bullying and harassment be addressed immediately and effectively. In the memo Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, also addressed key components of bullying laws in several states. Here are some interesting highlights:

Oklahoma has linked bullying to antisocial behavior such as vandalism, shoplifting, fighting and drug and alcohol abuse. Indiana law addresses incidents taking place on school property, off school property and even cases involving equipment provided by the school.

B.E.S.T. Men: Atlanta’s All-Male Academy Seeks To Close Achievement Gap

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From the moment they greet us with broad smiles and outstretched hands it is clear that Jabari Booker and Mykael Riley – our tour guides for the morning – take their duties very seriously. The seventh graders enthusiastically embrace principal LaPaul Shelton’s request to show us around their school. One thing is immediately apparent: Neither of these 12-year-olds, with their closely-cropped hair and spectacles perched on their noses fit the stereotypical images of young black males that often pervade in mainstream media and popular culture. Both are thriving academically, have never had any run-ins with the law and have great relationships with their fathers. Many of their classmates at B.E.S.T. Academy, a single-gender Atlanta Public School with a student body comprised entirely of black boys, aren’t so fortunate.

Boy Busted for Using a Marking Pen in Class

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A 13-year old boy was hauled off to jail last week for using a permanent marker in his Oklahoma City middle school.  A seventh grade math teacher claims the boy tried to hide the marker when she asked him for it. Teacher DeLynn Woodside called police and signed a complaint, saying the child was “writing on a piece of paper, which caused it to bleed over onto the desk.” TheSmokingGun.com broke this story with a link to the arrest records. The teen is accused of violating Municipal Code Section 35-202, originally aimed at stopping graffiti on private property:
No person may possess an aerosol spray paint container or broad-tipped indelible marker on any private property unless the owner, agent, manager, or other person having control of the property consented to the presence of the aerosol spray paint container or broad-tipped indelible marker. The internet is buzzing about the story, which many consider outrageous. One website points out that the law should not apply in this case, because the incident took place in a public school.

Southern Poverty Law Center Sues Birmingham Schools for Using Mace on Children

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Teens in Birmingham, Ala. schools have been routinely sprayed with mace and pepper spray as punishment for minor offenses. The Southern Poverty Law Center has now filed a federal class action lawsuit against the Birmingham City School District on behalf of students who've had chemicals used on them. “We must ask ourselves, what kind of school system allows armed officers to come in and use mace on its children,” said Ebony Glenn Howard, lead attorney on the case for the Center. Hundreds of students were arrested in the Birmingham City Schools last year for minor offenses that could have been taken care of in the principal’s office, according to the Center.