Teen smoking rates decline

According to a nationwide survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28.4 percent said they had smoked in the preceding month. That compares to 36.4 percent in 1997, the last time the CDC looked at high school smoking.

However, the CDC also surveyed middle-school students for the first time in 1999 and found 9 percent of students in grades 6 through 8 had smoked cigarettes and nearly 13 percent had used some tobacco product.

IDEA compliance called lax

Too often, children and their parents must file formal complaints or lawsuits to ensure they are getting the services they are entitled to, states a report issued by the council Jan. 25 titled Back to School on Civil Rights: Advancing the Federal Commitment to Leave No Child Behind.

According to the report, families have to struggle to ensure their children are placed in the least restrictive environment, and administrative barriers prevent parents from meaningful involvement in educational decisions.

Privacy advocates attack ZapMe!

ZapMe! loans to participating schools 15 computers, a satellite dish, an Internet server, and access to the "ZapMe! netspace," consisting of 13,000 pre-selected, indexed education sites and software applications. Students must use an electronic ID provided by the company to use the computers.

According to the coalition, "ZapMe! has designed these computers to serve as the front end of a sophisticated marketing and advertising scheme." It claims ZapMe!'s corporate sponsors collect and distribute personal information about schoolchildren, including their names, addresses, and telephone numbers.

The group also says ZapMe! itself monitors the activities of children on the Web for commercial purposes, directs advertising to schoolchildren via the ZapMe! Internet browser, and requires students to bring corporate sponsor marketing materials home to parents three times a year.

The coalition wants state officials to disclose information to parents about marketing information collected on their children and require parents' written consent before such data is gathered.

ZapMe! President and CEO Rick Inatome says the company does not collect "personal information like names, addresses, or phone numbers of our users." It does, however, ask the school to provide broad demographic data about students using the service.

Most Calif. schools miss target

Schools were ranked on a scale of 200 to 1,000, with a statewide target of 800. Statewide median scores were 629 for elementary schools, 633 for middle schools, and 620 for high schools. Each school's scores also are compared separately with schools that have similar characteristics.

This year's rankings on the state's first Academic Performance Index are measured solely by scores on the 1999 Stanford Achievement Test. In the future, the index will be expanded to include other assessments and other data, such as graduation rates.

Each school was given a "growth target" based on how far its 1999 scores were from the statewide target. Those that meet their targets could receive cash rewards; those that fail would have to participate in a state-mandated improvement program.

Administration to push for construction money

At the FRN Conference, NSBA President Mary Ellen Maxwell presented Riley with the NSBA's Laureate Award for outstanding lifetime commitment to children and public education.

Nearly 650 local school board leaders gathered for the conference, which featured briefings on upcoming education legislation, presentations by congressional leaders, and the annual Day on the Hill, where local school board members present the school board perspective in face-to-face meetings with their House and Senate members. [Read the full story]

Lawmakers at FRN Conference support funding increases for special education

"IDEA has been causing a lot of problems for you," he says. "You got the responsibility. You didn't get the money. We've approved an increase for IDEA every year. We'll do it again this year." [Read the full story]

Without support, first-year teachers more likely to quit

Blegen, the 1996 National Teacher of the Year, says "lack of support" is the major reason so many new teachers quit within the first three years. "The low salary also is a factor, but teachers know about that when they go in. Most of us do not understand the culture, what it's like being in a school." [Read the full story]

College scholarships reward high scores on state assessments

The California proposal is the latest in a series of similar plans established by Michigan, Ohio, and Washington to reward students strictly for doing well on statewide assessments. And that makes them different from scholarship or financial assistance programs offered by some 15 states, such as Georgia's HOPE Scholarships, that reward students for high grades or high scores on SATs or other measures. [Read the full story]

To ban or not to ban: Confederate flag stirs conflicts for schools

Where the local football team is nicknamed the "Rebels," school boards are under attack for tolerating a symbol associated with the Ku Klux Klan and slavery. Elsewhere, school administrators are wrestling with young racists who use the flag to sow racial discord. Some officials, in their haste to avoid trouble, have attempted to ban the flag--and sometimes found themselves the target of litigation. [Read the full story]

A successful Census is crucial for public school funding

In Darlington, S.C., students competed in a districtwide Census 2000 poster contest, and the winning drawing is appearing in public places around the community. Anderson County, S.C., school districts are holding slogan-writing contests with savings bonds for the winners. And to be sure even new children aren't missed in the count, infants are being sent home from the hospital with "Count Me In" T-shirts. [Read the full story]

Voucher drive gaining momentum, school board leaders warned

That was the warning given by Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, who spoke at the NSBA Leadership Conference, Jan. 28 in Washington, D.C. [Read the full story]

Community engagement can aid student achievement goals

Two new books from NSBA offer guidance on how schools can carry out public engagement strategies. Communities Count: A School Board Guide to Public Engagement, by NSBA Associate Executive Director Michael A. Resnick, defines public engagement as "an ongoing, collaborative process during which the school district works with the public to build understanding, guidance, and active support for the education of the children in its community." [Read the full story]