This week, K-12 education dominated both airwaves and print media, meaning even the most diehard education junkies got their news fix. Here’s a quick run-down on some of the high (and low) points.
In Utah, school choice supporters sustained a sizeable setback in their quest for education vouchers. Earlier this year, proponents of choice had cause for celebration: the Utah legislature had passed the state’s first universal voucher legislation, signed into law by Governor Huntsman. Recently, however, Lt. Governor Gary Herbert announced that opponents (e.g., the BLOB, or Big Learning Organizational Bureaucracies) had acquired sufficient signatures to challenge the choice program, meaning it must now go before voters as a referendum. Governor Huntsman has called for a vote in November.
Expect a vigorous and heated battle. Utahns for Public Schools, funded by the National Education Association (NEA) affiliate, the Utah Education Association, is driving the opposition. If past history is any indication, the NEA will pour money into a campaign to block education options for families. But the pro-school choice group, Parents for Choice in Education, is preparing for an all-out battle, staging rallies and taping television ads praising the law.
While opponents aggressively sought to stall choice efforts in Utah (albeit temporarily), they did not stand in the way of a voucher program in Georgia. On May 18, Governor Sonny PerdueHouse Education Committee met, making decisions on six high- profile bills:
HB 30 – Raise Cap on Charter Schools has been amended to create a “legislative special commission on charter schools.” This “study bill” defers the decision on raising the cap yet again. Numerous studies have already been conducted since the cap was imposed in 1996. How many more do we need?
HB 485 – Amend Health Education Curriculum passed out of committee. This bill mandates local school boards to provide instruction for high school students about how to “lawfully” abandon a newborn baby. Does this sound as ludicrous to you as it does to me? This bill now proceeds to a floor vote in the House.
HB 853 – Prohibit Corporal Punishment in Schools passed. This bill, headed to the full House for a vote, would settle the issue of corporal punishment at the legislative level, rather than with local boards of education.
HB 1269 – Repeal Science/Math School Tuition Provision passed from the House Education Committee to the Appropriations Committee for more recommendations. Did you know that a student graduating from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics automatically gets a free ride to a state university? No wonder parents push their children into this high-school program. Maybe it’s time to interject a bit of competition into the scholarship-granting process.
HB 1790 – Raise Compulsory Education Age & Graduation Rate has changed into a “study bill,” so a task force will be created to evaluate the implications of raising the compulsory age of attendance to 18.
HB 1827 – Employment of Noncertified School Personnel has also become a “study bill,” so the Joint Education Legislative Oversight Committee will examine issues surrounding the dismissal of noncertified school employees.
In other North Carolina news, public school students across the state are taking End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course (EOC) exams this week, meaning parents, teachers and administrators are intensely focused on student performance. While it’s right and good to want kids to succeed on state tests, we would do well to scrutinize the tests themselves, along with the testing process. Don’t miss this great editorial in the Charlotte Observer on the perils of testing excess, written by the mother of a 4th grader.
Clearly, much is at stake in public education, nationally and locally. What can you do? Get involved in the debate, by contacting your representative, writing an editorial, or fighting for reform. Citizen activism is hard work to be sure, but it’s a worthy cause. In fact, the future of K-12 education depends on it.