GOP Pushes School Flexibility Plan
Sen Frist: 'For Too Long, Washington Has Been Part of the Problem With
Education'

By KALPANA SRINIVASAN

WASHINGTON (Feb. 27) - GOP Sen. Bill Frist today promoted his proposal to
increase flexibility and accountability in the nation's schools, while
criticizing the federal government for onerous oversight of local education.

The Education Flexibility Partnership Act, known as ''Ed-Flex,'' would free
local schools from the burdens of bureaucracy and allow them instead to
develop their own plans for boosting student achievement, Frist said in the
weekly Republican radio address.

In return, schools would be held accountable for following through on their
proposals, he said. The Senate next week will consider the bill, co-sponsored
by Frist and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

''For too long, Washington has been part of the problem with education,
enacting many well-intentioned programs that result in more red tape and
regulation,'' Frist said. He said Washington demands 50 percent of all
paperwork from teachers and principals while providing only 7 percent of
education funding.

The ''Ed-Flex'' bill would give school districts the ability to seek waivers
from education rules that are attached to federal aid. Freed from regulations
they consider burdensome, local schools could instead apply the money to
programs better suited to the needs of their students, said Frist.

Twelve states already have ''Ed-Flex'' pilot programs and Frist trumpeted
stories of their success. In Maryland, he said, one school has used the
program to provide one-on-one tutoring for reading from the first through
fifth grades and cut the average student-teacher ratio in math by half.

''That's what education should be about: putting our students first,'' Frist
said.

Texas has implemented ''Ed-Flex'' more broadly than any other state, and after
only two years participating schools boast higher scores than other districts
in reading and math on the state's achievement tests, Frist said.

Democrats and Republicans have been at odds over education reforms and the
extent to which the federal government should be involved. Last month,
President Clinton proposed changes that include tying more of the federal
money that schools get to whether they are meeting federal goals.

''We don't have any business telling you whom to hire, how to teach, how to
run schools. ... But let's not kid ourselves. We're not doing our children any
favors by continuing to subsidize practices that do not work and failing to
invest in practices that do,'' Clinton told the National Governors'
Association this week.

But Frist said his bill would achieve two Clinton priorities - accountability
and flexibility - and believes there is bipartisan support for the measure.

  .c The Associated Press

AP-NY-02-27-99 1106EST

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Satanism Lawsuit Has Weighty Issues

  By JIM FITZGERALD

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- The issues are weighty: religious liberty, personal
privacy, public education. At the outset of a federal trial in which three
Catholic families are attacking a school district, both the First Amendment
and the First Commandment were invoked.

But then the tooth fairy was mentioned. A psychic who had lectured on
creativity said she also was a telepath. A yogi who taught stress reduction
said he also was a numerologist. ``Interspecies communication'' was mentioned.

And the exasperated judge wanted to know just one thing:

``Can a psychic tell when this case will finish?''

The case, which resumes Monday, is perhaps an extreme example of the backlash
against a nationwide trend that has broadened course offerings away from the
basics of reading and math.

The dispute began in 1995, when kids in the Bedford Central school district,
which takes in four affluent towns in Westchester County, began playing a
strategy card game called ``Magic: The Gathering.'' The cards bear images
ranging from innocent fairies to a lurid depiction of a woman about to be
sacrificed.

Some parents objected to the darker aspects of the game.

``It's much worse than witchcraft,'' said Mary Ann DiBari, a plaintiff who is
also a member of the Northeast Ritual Crime Investigators Association.

And when some children formed a Magic club that met in a classroom, parents
demanded that the schools end all support of the game. Superintendent Bruce
Dennis halted play for 30 days until mental health experts assured him the
game posed no danger.

Not satisfied, the parents went to court and af Mexico; studying an owl's
regurgitated lunch for evidence of its diet; taking a field trip to a
cemetery; celebrating Earth Day; and making ``worry dolls'' to put under
children's pillows to keep nightmares away.

Such activities, they said, amount to ``the promotion of Satanism and
occultism, pagan religions and New Age spirituality'' and violate freedom of
religion. The worry dolls, said Mrs. DiBari, amount to voodoo. When asked if
she found the tooth fairy objectionable, she said, ``It was not taught to my
child in school.''

Earth Day? The plaintiffs said part of the celebration included making pledges
to the Earth, which they said was like praying. ``We worship the creator, not
the creation,'' Mrs. DeBari said.

The plaintiffs also objected to drug and suicide counseling, as well as some
homework assignments, as violating the families' privacy. They demanded
injunctions against some activities, the right to opt out of others.

The school district said the activities were mainstream and wholesome. And
allowing opt-outs, Dennis said, would bring chaos to the curriculum.

The dispute sharply divided the community. Some parents held a news conference
to announce their support of the curriculum. Some Catholics separated
themselves from the plaintiffs' religious objections.

``Since the initiation of this lawsuit,'' one parent wrote to the judge, ``the
atmosphere in the Bedford public schools has been one of fear.''

Sensing an important case, the American Catholic Lawyers Association has taken
up the plaintiffs' cause; the liberal People for the American Way is
supporting the schools.

Judge Charles Brieant has been insisting that a court is not the place for a
curriculum dispute.

The framers of the Constitution ``never intended this mess,'' said the
75-year-old jurist, but he was unable to force a settlement.

In testimony last week, the plaintiffs' children told of being forced to make
models of Mexican and Indian idols; one parent recited the First Commandment
stricture against false gods.

The children said they were bothered when the yogi -- Agia Akal Singh Kalsa,
whose World Wide Web site is called ``yogaguy'' -- came to the school to lead
stress-reduction exercises.

When the yogi testified -- in the turban and white robes of a Sikh minister --
he said his lesson had ``nothing to do with religion'' and that he hadn't
mentioned his numerology hobby to the children.

The plaintiffs claim the schools allow the expression of Eastern religions but
exclude Christianity.

The psychic, Nancy Weber, said she had been invited to lecture on creativity
and that she hadn't mentioned being a psychic, a telepath or a minister in the
LifeSciences Congregational Church. The plaintiffs said Ms. Weber
inappropriately asked the students to ``tap into'' themselves by drawing with
their non-dominant hands.

While Ms. Weber was on the stand, she was asked if she believes in
``interspecies communication.''

``I'm not sure I know what interspecies communication is,'' Brieant said when
the defense objected to the subject being introduced.

``It's communication between people and animals,'' said plaintiffs' lawyer
James Bendell.

``You mean, `Come here, Rover, lie down?''' the judge said as lawyers and
spectators burst into laughter. ``Objection sustained.''

.c The Associated Press

AP-NY-02-27-99 1329EST




.

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>before public education is dismantled and poor urban
> children loose their only hope of moving beyond poverty.
<snip>

Apparently the primary reason, in this labor union leader's opinion,
for government schools is to service the poor.  Kinda like food banks
and food stamps and low income housing.

So let us tell the public that the reason for the government schools
is to service the poor and that we expect all the non-poor parents to
be responsible for paying for their own children's educations.    Dale
---
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>Making All Schools Work: Teachers Can't Do It Alone; Management Can't Do It
>Without Us, Says AFT Executive
>
>ADVANCE/PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The newly elected executive
vice
>president of the American Federation of Teachers today urged 1,500
>Philadelphia public school teachers and paraprofessionals to "step up to
the
>frontlines" to find new ways to deliver a quality education to all students
>before public education is dismantled and poor urban children loose their
only
>hope of moving beyond poverty.

The subliminal message here is this:  "Poor urban parents can't be trusted
to choose good schools for their kids."   Read on:

.......Nat LaCour painted a bleak picture for poor urban
>children if public education is gutted in favor of a system that includes
>vouchers and is being sold under the attractive guise of "school choice."
>
>"What would a market system (for education) really mean for poor parents?"
>asked LaCour.  "If left to its own devices, what does the market usually
bring
>to poor neighborhoods?"
>
>"It never brings Saks or Nordstrom's or Tiffany's. It never equalizes the
>quality of goods and services available in rich, suburban neighborhoods,"
he
>said.  "Mostly, it brings liquor stores.  With neon lights and slick
>advertising, they offer you a product that might make you feel better for a
>minute, but can make your life and your children's lives a whole lot worse
in
>the long run."

Translation:  "You aren't smart enough to choose a school where the teachers
know how to teach, where the kids are safe and secure, and where the
curriculum is preparing them for the real world.  Just as you choose liquor
over healthy food, you will choose a school just because of its marketing.
Those evil corporate types are out there waiting to snatch up your $2,000 a
year in voucher money and get rich off it!"  (Does anyone bother to note
that nobody is going to get rich charging just $2,000 -- or even $3,000-- a
year for schooling?)
.....>
>
>LaCour said that the promise of public education is apparent to anyone who
has
>experienced the first day of elementary school.

And the dismal REALITY of public school is apparent to anyone who has
compared the difference between a child on his first day and the same child
one or two years later.  Far too many of those eager, bright-eyed children
who rushed to their first day of school have become anxious, fearful, and
unhappy by their second or third grade.    They feel trapped -- they are
trapped.  They have no choice but to go to the government-mandated school.

>Parents and older siblings
>bring expectant youngsters to school.  They do not have to speak English.
>Children are not required to pass entrance exams, pay registration fees or
>drive the family car there.  "They can just enter. The children have a
right
>to be there.  And their parents have a right to expect the school to
provide
>as fine an education as any suburban school."


Here is a major problem, in my opinion.  Why should any parent EXPECT their
public school to provide for their children  -- without any effort on their
part -- an education?  There is something wrong with this equation.
Education is viewed as an ENTITLEMENT which the recipient does not have to
earn.   This is wrong and contrary to human nature.   Parents should be
encouraged to recognize that it is primarily THEY -- not the schools --  who
are responsible for their child being ready, willing, and able to learn.

>LaCour, a who began his career as a biology teacher in New Orleans public
>schools and later led the United Teachers of New Orleans to develop
>outstanding resources for teachers, parents and professional development,
said
>that guiding schools into the next millennium may be the responsibility of
>management and state and local elected leaders, but if they had done a
great
>job education would be in far better shape.


If PARENTS had done a great job, if PARENTS had taken control of their local
schools, and if educational bureaucracies got out of the way, education
would be in far better shape.

......
>Imagine another profession struggling with a difficult problem -- the
medical
>profession, for example, searching for a cure for AIDS, said LaCour. "Would
>anyone expect members of Congress, governors, hospital administrators,
>corporate CEOs and editorial writers to propose their own solutions, while
>doctors passively waited for someone to tell them what to do?"
>
>"No. As education professionals and as trade unionists that's how the world
>expects us to behave."


Would anyone expect a hospital to  ignore the wishes and needs of its
patients for long -- without being put out of business?  What business owner
would market a product or service based on what the customer "ought" to buy?
That's exactly what educational professionals try to tell their customers --
parents.  "You don't know what's best for your kids, so we will control
their schools for you."
>
.......>
........>
>"We have an obligation to deliver a quality education to all students --
but
>this is especially for kids in the deepest poverty, the toughest
>neighborhoods, the worst schools.  Because we know they have so little else
>going for them. As educators, we have a moral and ethical obligation to
step
>up to the plate on their behalf.  Because we know there's no alternative,"
he
>said.
>
There's no alternative precisely because you have refused parents their
rights to alternatives.  No school will  BE the solutiion, but it should
become PART of the solution.   Any system which empowers and enourages
parents to take responsibility for their children's education is going in
the right direction.  Vouchers would not BE the solution, but only the
beginning of a solution to our educational morass.  Wherever vouchers have
been tried (New York City, Minneapolis, Cleveland) the results have been
encouraging.  Not miraculous, but hopeful.


>The only people peddling alternatives are the enemies of public education:
>those who want vouchers in order to capture public funds to help defray the
>spiraling costs of private school tuition. "Liquor stores for the poor," he
>called them. "Many exclusive shops for the rich."


This is a prime example of elitist propaganda and it exposes the educational
bureacrat's scorn for the poor.  Just because someone is poor doesn't mean
he is trapped in poverty -- UNLESS the government forces him to remain in an
inferior, dangerous school in order to preserve the jobs of the "educrats"
there.

The people who are illicitly benefitting from public funds today are those
teachers and administrators (not the majority, but too many)  who are
unqualified to do anything in the private sector because of inferior skills
and/or personalities.

Laura Hornbeck
Parent
Van Alstyne, Texas



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Making All Schools Work: Teachers Can't Do It Alone; Management Can't Do It
Without Us, Says AFT Executive

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE NOON EST SATURDAY, FEB. 27/

ADVANCE/PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The newly elected executive vice
president of the American Federation of Teachers today urged 1,500
Philadelphia public school teachers and paraprofessionals to "step up to the
frontlines" to find new ways to deliver a quality education to all students
before public education is dismantled and poor urban children loose their only
hope of moving beyond poverty.

Speaking to an overflow crowd of educators, paraprofessionals and parents at
the annual Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Education Conference at the
Wyndham Plaza Hotel, Nat LaCour painted a bleak picture for poor urban
children if public education is gutted in favor of a system that includes
vouchers and is being sold under the attractive guise of "school choice."

"What would a market system (for education) really mean for poor parents?"
asked LaCour.  "If left to its own devices, what does the market usually bring
to poor neighborhoods?"

"It never brings Saks or Nordstrom's or Tiffany's. It never equalizes the
quality of goods and services available in rich, suburban neighborhoods," he
said.  "Mostly, it brings liquor stores.  With neon lights and slick
advertising, they offer you a product that might make you feel better for a
minute, but can make your life and your children's lives a whole lot worse in
the long run."

LaCour was guest speaker at the Federation's two-day education conference this
weekend, at which nearly 3,000 people chose from among 65 workshops on a
variety of education topics.  Workshops were designed to bring information
about innovative education programs and teaching techniques to the more than
20,000 teachers, counselors, nurses, librarians, classroom and non-teaching
assistants who are members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

The weekend was highlighted Friday night by a special workshop by Philly Pops
Conductor Peter Nero on his new "Jazz in the Schools" program that brings jazz
history, evolution and practice to public school children.

LaCour said that the promise of public education is apparent to anyone who has
experienced the first day of elementary school.  Parents and older siblings
bring expectant youngsters to school.  They do not have to speak English.
Children are not required to pass entrance exams, pay registration fees or
drive the family car there.  "They can just enter. The children have a right
to be there.  And their parents have a right to expect the school to provide
as fine an education as any suburban school."

LaCour, a who began his career as a biology teacher in New Orleans public
schools and later led the United Teachers of New Orleans to develop
outstanding resources for teachers, parents and professional development, said
that guiding schools into the next millennium may be the responsibility of
management and state and local elected leaders, but if they had done a great
job education would be in far better shape.

"What is required is systemwide reform," he said.  "That's something that we
can't do by ourselves.  And it's something that management can't do without
us."

He said education needs a partnership, and teachers and other school employees
have to be at the table because "when managers mess up -- and working alone
they often will -- we all go down with them."

Imagine another profession struggling with a difficult problem -- the medical
profession, for example, searching for a cure for AIDS, said LaCour. "Would
anyone expect members of Congress, governors, hospital administrators,
corporate CEOs and editorial writers to propose their own solutions, while
doctors passively waited for someone to tell them what to do?"

"No. As education professionals and as trade unionists that's how the world
expects us to behave."

He said the AFT, led by key locals like Philadelphia, have a long tradition of
"reaching beyond normal union responsibilities" by fighting for the civil
rights of students, providing high-quality, research-based professional
development for its members and leading in the fight to raise standards in
academics, discipline and teacher quality.

"It's much more complicated than just repeating the mantra that all kids can
learn. They can, and it's up to us to make sure they do -- individually and
collectively; as union activist and as part of the school system."

"We have an obligation to deliver a quality education to all students -- but
this is especially for kids in the deepest poverty, the toughest
neighborhoods, the worst schools.  Because we know they have so little else
going for them. As educators, we have a moral and ethical obligation to step
up to the plate on their behalf.  Because we know there's no alternative," he
said.

The only people peddling alternatives are the enemies of public education:
those who want vouchers in order to capture public funds to help defray the
spiraling costs of private school tuition. "Liquor stores for the poor," he
called them. "Many exclusive shops for the rich."

"In America, a quality education must always be the rule.  It cannot depend on
the exceptional poor parent -- the one who got their child into a good school
by learning how to negotiate the system or how to qualify for a scholarship.
It can't depend on the exceptional student, who succeeds against all odds.
And it can't depend on the heroic -- but exceptional -- efforts of individual
teachers and paraprofessionals, who struggle behind the closed doors of their
isolated classrooms to save a handful of students."

Despite the many excellent public schools around the country, the enemies of
public education "will continue to win as long as any school where we work is
not good enough for our own children.  That's the litmus test.  That's the
battle line.  Together with our partners and our allies, we can win it," he
said.

SOURCE  Philadelphia Federation of Teachers

CO:  Philadelphia Federation of Teachers; American Federation of Teachers

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Race Tensions Flare in L.A. Schools

By AMANDA COVARRUBIAS

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Early this month, a white principal at a mostly Hispanic
elementary school was beaten up outside by two men who told him: ``We don't
want you here anymore, principal. Do you understand that, white principal?''

In January, another Los Angeles-area school dropped its observance of both
Black History Month and Cinco de Mayo after Hispanics complained they were
getting only one day of attention compared with a whole month for blacks.

The two racial flare-ups illustrate the challenges faced by Los Angeles-area
schools as urban neighborhoods are transformed by new ethnic groups.

``Our communities are changing quickly,'' said Lee Wallach, executive director
of Days of Dialogue, a nonprofit conflict resolution group that led mediation
talks after the attack on the principal. ``L.A. is such a melting pot and so
transient and these communities are changing, really monthly. When that
happens and no one's talking to each other, it creates a lot of hostility.''

Norman Bernstein, the 65-year-old principal at Burton Street Elementary, was
beaten on Feb. 1 in an attack police are investigating as a hate crime. He
told police that at least one of the assailants was Hispanic. No arrests have
been made.

The attack on the 40-year district veteran led to angry words among teachers,
parents and administrators, who blame each other for creating a volatile
atmosphere at the 750-student school, which is 90 percent Hispanic.

Burton Street Elementary is in Los Angeles' Panorama City section, in the San
Fernando Valley. The nfor Bernstein's replacement for the past year by a
Spanish-speaking principal. They complained he was insensitive to their
concerns over Proposition 227, the state law banning bilingual education. They
also accused him of trying to thwart their efforts to obtain waivers allowing
their children to remain in bilingual classes.

``We just want justice for our kids,'' parent Lorena Aguilar said. ``There are
students who tell their parents they don't want to come to school. What will
happen when they get to junior high or high school?''

Bernstein has not gone back to work since the attack and has not returned
calls for comment.

The question of whether predominantly ethnic schools should have principals
and administrators who speak the same language is at the heart of much of the
tension in the 600,000-student Los Angeles district.

District leaders, as well as Mayor Richard Riordan, strongly believe
administrators should be chosen on the basis of ability, not cultural
background.

Some school board members disagree, siding with a growing number of ethnic
parents who feel their children are best served by administrators of the same
background.

Riordan has said such talk only serves to further divide the city. When School
Board President Victoria Castro suggested Burton Street parents had a right to
want a Spanish-speaking principal, Riordan responded angrily by saying Mrs.
Castro should ``wash her mouth out with soap.''

Just outside the city, Inglewood High School dropped both Black History Month
and Cinco de Mayo this year for fear of the violence and student walkouts that
have occurred during the past several years.

Inglewood High was once overwhelmingly black, but in a transformation that
began in the late 1980s, it is now nearly 60 percent Hispanic.

Last May, Inglewood High was forced to close for a day after a riot broke out
and dozens of police were called in. A task force found that the fight began,
in part, because Hispanic students were angry that blacks got a whole month to
celebrate their heritage. Cinco de Mayo marks a May 5, 1862, victory in
Mexico's battle for independence.

Principal Lowell Winston has told teachers instead to follow a ``multicultural
education approach'' throughout the school year and ``talk about all cultures
and contributions all the time.''

``You can't continue to do things the way they were done in the past,'' he
said. ``This school has had racial problems that are unique. The old ways
didn't work.''

Back in the Los Angeles school district, three black teachers and a 13-year-
old black former student at South Gate Middle School near Watts have filed a
lawsuit alleging the district failed to halt discrimination against them at
the school, which is more than 98 percent Hispanic vs. 63 percent back in
1978.

At Burton Street Elementary, Mia Regalado doubts her 9-year-old son Steven
will learn how to read anytime soon, not with educators and parents busy
trying to ease racial tensions.

Said Ms. Regalado, whose son is repeating second grade because of his
inability to read: ``I'm not so much concerned about race as I am about a
teacher's ability to teach.''

.c The Associated Press

AP-NY-02-22-99 1606EST


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I am logging onto your website to find out more information about your
program.  I am an educator and am inquiring.

carmela@...


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>When I went to help I was there for just a short time
>when the Principal came and asked to speak with me
>and he told me of their policy.

What was their policy? Does each school make their own Classroom
Visitation Policy or is it made at the District level?   Amanda you
have to figure out where to concentrate your political efforts.

Tears(emotional demonstrations) work for some people but not for
others.   After attending hundreds of School Board meetings I have
observed that it works better for small delicate women that have
carefully developed their crying skills.    Dale
---
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The following e-mail came into to Applseed's web site today and we thought
that we might get some suggestions from the parent@egroups.com list.

Kevin
  _________________________________________

Kevin S. Walker
President & National Director
Project Appleseed
The National Campaign for
Public School Improvement
http://members.aol.com/pledgenow/appleseed
kevinwalker@...  or  pledgenow@...


My name is Amanda Johnson I am originally from Lock Haven PA.  The school
system there is set up so that parent involvement is encouraged.  We moved to
Neosho MO where parent involvement is encouraged, but with one small glitch
you do not get to work in your child's classroom.  I am not going to get
involved in my child's education this way at all and am very offended by the
way I was told.  I had asked the teacher if it was okay if I came in once a
week to help out, and was told that was no problem.  When I went to help I was
there for just a short time when the Principal came and asked to speak with me
and he told me of their policy.  Well I am a very emotional person and was
offended that the teacher did not tell me of this herself.  I have been
involved in my children's education for a long time and don't know what to do.
Please e-mail me (the list) back maybe you have some suggestions.

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--
Nancy M. Montano || 224 Cruz Alta Rd, #F || Taos, NM 87571
Outreach/Content Coord || nmontano@... || http://www.laplaza.org

La Plaza Telecommunity  || [V] 505-758-1836     || [F] 505-751-1812

"Aprender es avanzar"



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List Members

You may see a few blank e-mails coming through.  This happens from time to
time as people join our new list.  We are working on the problem.

Project Appleseed Staff

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berlener@...

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Clinton Talks Up His Education Plan

.c The Associated Press

  xhl(President Clinton Says Improving Schools Should Be a 'National
Priority'%xhl)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Improving America's schools should be ``a national
priority,'' President Clinton said today, dismissing criticism that education
strictly is a local matter.

In his weekly radio address, Clinton urged Congress to embrace his proposals
to reduce class size, modernize school buildings, improve teacher quality and
make schools accountable for results. Clinton said his proposals were based
``on proven experience. They're common sense. We have to make them common
practice in every school district in America.''

Democrats and Republicans alike have seized on education as a top political
priority but they differ in their approach. A House Republican bill aims to
give local schools and states more control and flexibility.

Acknowledging differences, Clinton said, ``Now, some in Congress believe the
national government has no business helping communities to improve their
schools.''

``But I think strengthening education is a national priority,'' he said.

Clinton is calling on schools to provide report cards on their own performance
to parents, end social promotion, invest more in summer and after-school
programs, and adopt and enforce disciplinary codes.

He also wants local school districts to fix or close underperforming schools
and ensure that teachers are qualified in the subject matters they teach.

Clinton strived to cast his proposals as grassroots-based and not instructions
trickling down from the capital.

``As both a former governor and a parent, I know the greatest innovations in
education do not start in Washington,'' he said. ``They start in local schools
and school districts, in community councils and parent-teacher groups.''

With the nation's governors gathering in Washington this weekend, he noted
that Delaware is already putting an end to social promotion, Pennsylvania is
improving school safety and North Carolina has been working to improve teacher
quality.

``As I have said many times, every problem in education in America has been
solved somewhere, by somebody, in America,'' Clinton said. ``The trick is
helping more communities to put those proven solutions to work in their own
public schools. I believe the national government has an obligation to help
them do that.''

AP-NY-02-20-99 1013EST

  Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.  The information  contained in the AP
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Detroit School Plan Criticized

.c The Associated Press

  By JUSTIN HYDE

DETROIT (AP) -- For years, the Detroit school district has been like the
straight-D student who always promises to do better on the next homework
assignment, then turns it in late and half-done.

Now Gov. John Engler is vowing to change that by asking the Legislature to
abolish the elected school board and give Mayor Dennis Archer the power to
appoint a new one.

Though a poll shows about half the city's residents support the idea, the plan
has outraged many in Detroit who see a white governor and mostly white
Legislature trying to oust people elected by a predominantly black city.

Hundreds of parents have shown up at community forums and committee hearings
to oppose the plan. The local NAACP has come out against it.

``How dare you take away our rights as black people to vote,'' Helen Moore, a
Detroit parent and school activist, told a state Senate committee Wednesday.
``We can solve our own problems.''

Caught in the middle is Archer, a black man who has been accused by some
residents over the years of not being ``black enough'' and of working too
closely with interests outside the city.

He has said that he doesn't like the governor's idea but that it will probably
happen anyway, and he will do what he can to shape the legislation so that it
accomplishes such things as reducing class size and bringing back summer
school.

``I will insist that the terms of the legislation go far beyond the political
substitution of one board for another. I will insist on real change and real
benefits for the children of Detroit,'' Archer, himself a former teacher, said
recently.

No one disputes that the schools in this city of 1 million people, three-
quarters of them black, have problems. The dropout rate was 26.4 percent in
1997, the four-year graduation rate a dismal 29.7 percent. The district has
180,000 students, 108,000 of them living in poverty.

Those who make manage to graduate often don't have much to show for it. One
Detroit job training program, Focus:HOPE, said two out of three graduates of
Detroit high schools who took an entrance exam for one program could not read
or do math at an eighth-grade level.

Engler's proposal is similar what has been done in Chicago, Cleveland and
elsewhere. The appointed board would run the schools for at least five years,
at which point the public could hold a referendum on the setup.

``Time and again, I was told: `Butt out, send more money, wait until we
implement our new plan, just give us a little more time.' The bottom line:
eight years of excuses to me, preceded by decades of excuses to the people of
Detroit,'' the governor said recently.

Engler said an appointed board could make the hard decisions an elected school
board cannot: ``You need a board that puts kids first.''

He has said among other things that he wants the school system to take the
``fluff'' out of the curriculum and get back to basics.

Some residents are deeply distrustful. They see Engler's plan as an attempt
not only to run the education of their children but to take over a business
with 20,000 jobs and billions to spend.

``We all know racism is alive and well, and it is definitely alive in that
state Legislature,'' said Marie Thornton, a parent. ``This has nothing to do
with the education of little black kids. This is about revenue. They're just
using our kids for excuses.''

Engler said there is no racism behind the plan, and noted that real control of
the schools would be in the hands of Detroit's mayor.

The elected school board is, of course, deeply opposed. It has come up with
its own set of ideas, such as establishing 20 schools just for troublemakers,
asking parents to volunteer a half-day per month, requiring school uniforms,
and using students to clean buildings.

``At any point you can recall us and throw us out,'' Board President Darryl
Redmond said at a recent meeting. ``We don't need anybody to come in here and
tell us what to do.''

Willam Beckham, the head of a panel that spent four months analyzing the
district, said Engler's plan could remove many distractions.

``Every two years, there's a political trauma'' because of the elections,
Beckham said, and the result is a cycle: ideas are debated, half-used, then
thrown out by a new board two years later.

``Can a publicly elected board really sustain reform? I haven't seen it yet,''
he said.

AP-NY-02-19-99 1516ESTparent

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Hello,

I'm a parent with one child out of high school and one in his sophomore
year in high school.  I found this site while subscribed to the
alt.education.alternative newsgroup.  Our experience of the last 10
years with the school district where we live has been a frustrating one
to say the least.  Both children have ADD, and our son is experiencing
the most difficulties.  We have a 504 plan in place with the school, but
getting teachers to pay attention to it and communicate with us on a
regular basis is fruitless.  My wife has a masters degree in counseling,
and I am working on one in a training-related field at Boise State.
What is your organization about?  What alternative sources of education
do you know about that are available for struggling students who don't
fit the traditional school paradigm?  We are probably going to pull our
son out of the public schools, but we need a viable alternative.  Can
you help?

--
Steve Giesel, graduate assistant
Department of instructional & Performance Technology
Boise State University
sgiesel@... or sgiesel@...


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Hi-

I want to send everybody a personal welcome to Project Appleseed's egroup.
The list is brand new and we are adding new members as the address is
publicized across the net.  Please be patient while we add new members.  I
want to begin the conversation this time next week.

Please feel free to post to the list in the meantime - parent@...

Kevin
  _________________________________________

Kevin S. Walker
President & National Director
Project Appleseed
The National Campaign for
Public School Improvement
http://members.aol.com/pledgenow/appleseed
kevinwalker@...  or  pledgenow@...

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I am a newbie on the list.  Been here a day and am not receiving any
posts.  Is there a digest that I can see what you are talking about or
should I just start a new thread?    Thanks,   Dale
---
$ dale-reed@...  Seattle, Washington U.S.A. $


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I am a middle school teacher in Kenosha Wisconsin.  We have a cadre of parents
and teachers and are hoping to get parents more involved in their school and
we are searching for what works.  We have held a dinner to get imput from the
community and parents about our proposed school improvement plan, we send out
a monthly newsletter, our group meets every other week to discuss ways to lure
parents into our school.  If you have any suggestions or know what works we'd
love to hear about it!!!
Lee Belanger-Gonzales
lbelange@...     OR LeeBG4@...

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I am a parent of three children in public schools and am also an
administrator in an elementary public school.  I would like to join your
email discussion group.  My name is Jennifer Terrazas and my email is:

jterraza@...

THank you.

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Hi-

You're the first person to join the list since it was started a few days ago and
we expect dozens and dozens more over the next several weeks as we advertise the
parent eGroup.

I have a backgroud in political counsulting as does our national staff and we
believe that the Parent's Bill of Rights contains the issues that might be
viable in your community.  The Parent's Bill of Rights is an agenda which
addresses the needs of parents.  If you're as an advocate for parents this is a
good place to start.

Check it out and let me know if you have any questions.

Kevin Walker
Project Appleseed



<5857-36aba1ad-22-@...> wrote:
Original Article: http://www.egroups.com/list/parent/?start=3
> I

IAM A CANADATE FOR SCHOOL BOARD IN NEPTUNE NJ IF ANYONE COULD HELP BY
GIVING ME  ANY POINTERS HOW TO INCLUDE THIS INTO MY ELECTION PLEASE
WRITE BACK


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Project Appleseed is the National Campaign for Public School Improvement.  On
our e-mail list - parents@... - we talk about the issues facing parents
in our nation's public schools and in our communities.  Membership to the list
is open to everyone.

The list is not modertaed and Project Appleseed reserves the right to remove
those who wish to misbehave. ; >)

Group Manager: parent-owner@egroups.com

To subscribe, send a message to parent-subscribe@egroups.com or go to the
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