For students at risk, early college proves a draw, By Tamar Lewin, February 7, 2010, New York Times: “Precious Holt, a 12th grader with dangly earrings and a SpongeBob pillow, climbs on the yellow school bus and promptly falls asleep for the hour-plus ride to Sandhills Community College. When the bus arrives, she checks in with a guidance counselor and heads off to a day of college classes, blending with older classmates until 4 p.m., when she and the other seniors from SandHoke Early College High School gather for the ride home. There is a payoff for the long bus rides: The 48 SandHoke seniors are in a fast-track program that allows them to earn their high-school diploma and up to two years of college credit in five years – completely free. Until recently, most programs like this were aimed at affluent, overachieving students – a way to keep them challenged and give them a head start on college work. But the goal is quite different at SandHoke, which enrolls only students whose parents do not have college degrees…”
Day: February 8, 2010
Economic Stimulus and Education Funding
With federal stimulus money gone, many schools face budget gaps, By Sam Dillon, February 7, 2010, New York Times: “Federal stimulus money has helped avoid drastic cuts at public schools in most parts of the nation, at least so far. But with the federal money running out, many of the nation’s schools are approaching what officials are calling a ‘funding cliff.’ Congress included about $100 billion for education in the stimulus law last year to cushion the recession’s impact on schools and to help fuel an economic recovery. New studies show that many states will spend all or nearly all that is left between now and the end of this school term. With state and local tax revenues still in decline, the end of the federal money will leave big holes in education budgets from Massachusetts and Florida to California and Washington, experts said…”
Racial Enrollment Gaps in Charter Schools
- Study: Charter school growth accompanied by racial imbalance, By Nick Anderson, February 4, 2010, Washington Post: “Seven out of 10 black charter school students are on campuses with extremely few white students, according to a new study of enrollment trends that shows the independent public schools are less racially diverse than their traditional counterparts. The findings from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, which are being released Thursday, reflect the proliferation of charter schools in the District of Columbia and other major cities with struggling school systems and high minority populations. To the authors of the study, the findings point to a civil rights issue: ‘As the country continues moving steadily toward greater segregation and inequality of education for students of color in schools with lower achievement and graduation rates,’ the study concludes, ‘the rapid growth of charter schools has been expanding a sector that is even more segregated than the public schools…'”
- Report: Racial gap grows in charter schools, By Emily Gersema, February 8 2010, Arizona Republic: “The racial gap is widening with the increase in charter schools in Arizona and other states due to a lack of regulation and enforcement of existing civil-rights regulations, a group of researchers based at the University of California-Los Angeles said in a new report. The UCLA Civil Rights Project report, ‘Choice Without Equity,’ revealed what researchers deemed a troubling pattern of racial stratification in charter schools across the country. They said they believe state and federal intervention can turn the trend around. Gary Orfield, the project’s co-director, said the Obama administration’s recent grant programs, such as Race to the Top, and charter-school grants that encourage the expansion of charters and development of new ones, are a timely opportunity for regulation…”