An overwhelming majority of teachers (98 percent) and the general public (92 percent) believe it is "absolutely essential" for schools to teach basic reading, writing, and math skills. Ninety-three percent of teachers and 88 percent of the public also want schools to emphasize such habits as "being on time, responsible, and disciplined."
The report found a strong consensus on how learning goals for students should be met. Four out of five teachers and 82 percent of the public supported setting up very clear guidelines on what students should learn and teachers should teach in every major subject. Eighty-three percent of teachers and 88 percent of the public felt that students should not be allowed to graduate from high school unless they clearly demonstrate they can speak and write English well.
Order and discipline was found to be another shared concern of teachers and the general public. A clear majority of teachers (81 percent) said that the worst-behaved students absorb the most attention in today's schools, thereby undermining learning for other students. Four out of five teachers and 73 percent of the public felt that overall academic achievement would improve substantially if persistent troublemakers were removed from class. Eighty-four percent of teachers and 76 percent of the public believed that permanently removing students caught with drugs or weapons would also improve academic achievement.
When teachers as a group were asked to rate the performance of our nation's public schools, they believed that given the tough circumstances of schools and communities with inadequate resources and family and social pressures, public schools are performing well. In fact, more than three-fourths of teachers believed their local public schools outperform private schools. In such key areas as better preparation for college, higher academic standards, and sounder teaching methods, teachers said that public schools did a better job. Respondents felt that private schools do excel in the areas of smaller class size and order and discipline.
When asked what is the most important thing public schools need to help students learn, "involved parents" received the top response from teachers. Four out of five teachers said their public schools are not getting enough money to do a good job, and 58 percent of the public shared this view. Sixty-five percent of teachers and 50 percent of the public thought classes are too crowded.
The broad consensus reported by the study on education priorities and strategies to improve public schools forms a basis for productive dialogue between teachers and parents, according to Deborah Wadsworth, Executive Director of Public Agenda. "Most Americans place teachers and parents at the very top of the list of those they trust to make sound decisions about schools," she wrote in the afterword to the study.
To purchase the full Given the Circumstances report, call Public Agenda at (212) 686-6610.
Entitled "Preparing for College, Academically and Financially" the hour-long Town Meeting will air on Tuesday, April 16 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The program is closed- captioned and is simulcast in Spanish.
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley and Deputy Secretary Madeleine Kunin will welcome a panel of guests from around the country who can share how planning ahead for higher learning can help students succeed at both two-year and four-year institutions. Discussion topics will include what skills students need to stay in college once admitted, what financial aid is available for families who need extra help in paying for a student's college education, and what kinds of partnerships between schools, businesses, and other community organizations help ensure that all students have access to higher education.
The Department of Education produces the Satellite Town Meeting series in partnership with the National Alliance of Business and the Center for Workforce Preparation with support from the Bayer Foundation, The Procter and Gamble Fund, Microsoft, Inc., and SC Johnson Wax.
Satellite coordinates are as follows ....To participate in the Satellite Town Meeting, contact your local Public Broadcasting System (PBS) member station, Chamber of Commerce, or Johnson Controls branch office and ask if your group can use the facility as a downlink site. Other possible sites are local schools, public libraries, community colleges, cable television stations, universities and technical schools, government offices, hospitals, businesses, hotels, or even private residences with satellite dishes. Call 1-800-USA-LEARN for further information or to register your participation.C-Band: Galaxy 6, Orbital Location 74 degrees West; Transponder 2; Vertical Polarity; Channel 2; Downlink Frequency 3740 MHz; Audio Subcarriers 6.2 MHz (Spanish) and 6.8 MHz (English).
Ku-Band: SBS-6, Orbital Location 74 degrees West; Transponder 17; Horizontal Polarity; Channel 17; Downlink Frequency 12120.0 MHz; Audio Subcarriers 6.2 MHz (Spanish) and 6.8 MHz (English).
President Clinton, who led the nation's governors at the 1989 summit to establish the National Education Goals, was a keynote speaker at the summit. U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley was among the other participants, who included local educators, state legislators, and chief state school officers. Summit participants hoped that their work will stimulate other discussions and activities on standards, accountability, and technology. [1996 National Education Summit Page (site disabled)]
Last month, leaders from student councils and honor societies of public and private schools in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Virginia and the District of Columbia assembled in Baltimore to learn more about the Family Involvement Partnership. Students explored how they can act as the link between their teachers and schools and their families and communities. In addition students discussed how they could become involved in mentoring for younger children, tutoring their peers, and becoming reading partners in programs such as READ*WRITE*NOW!, the nationwide reading and writing initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
"During this time of budget cuts," a student from Virginia remarked, "everyone in the community needs to get involved to make sure that we all get an education that will allow us to be successful and to have a good future. As members of our student councils, we have a responsibility to make sure that teachers, parents, businesses, and community leaders get involved to make a difference in our education."
Workshops on student involvement in education are planned for the National Association of Student Council area conferences next month in Chicago and Denver, and at the upcoming national conference in Florida. For more information on the READ*WRITE*NOW! program or other ways the Education Department helps students, families, businesses, communities, religious organizations and higher education groups get involved in learning, call 1-800-USA-LEARN.
The reading program focuses on five- and six-year-olds who lack the necessary skills to succeed in reading when they enter first grade. The club organized a committee to create a highly structured, fun-filled curriculum of language learning, utilizing the talents of reading specialists, librarians, educators, a Boy Scout executive, a business owner, and a graphic artist. The curriculum relies heavily on materials provided by the U.S. Department of Education's READ*WRITE*NOW! program.
More than 200 Kiwanis volunteers participated in weekly reading sessions with children during the summer. Reading Is Fundamental contributed books, and a local dentist and children's book reviewer are now adding to the supply. A local Safeway supermarket has provided materials for one activity to teach the alphabet.
Due to the reading program's success, it has now been expanded to include elementary school children during the school year.
To reach NPIN via the World Wide Web, go to http://npin.org. If you are using gopher, go to ericps.ed.uiuc.edu. To contact NPIN by telephone, call 1-800-583-4135.
Twenty-one states have passed laws permitting public charter schools, the Town Meeting audience heard, and more than 250 such schools across the country are in operation during this school year. Minnesota was the first state to pass a charter school law, and leaders from two innovative public charter schools joined the program in a live uplink from PBS member station KTCA in St. Paul.
Milo Cutter, director of the City Academy in St. Paul, explained some of the challenges experienced by charter schools. "Learning new roles would be a major one. This is asking teachers to take on roles of accountability that we haven't experienced before. Searching out funding would be another. Many charter schools operate at a deficit compared to other public schools. And always creating -- while it's exciting, it's also draining."
John Schultz, Team Facilitator at the New Country School in the rural community of Le Sueur, Minnesota, emphasized why charter schools are a powerful tool of school improvement. "You have to always be trying to do better. You can't say we're at a point now where we're done creating. That's not what these schools are about. It's about constantly doing better."
Education Secretary Richard Riley related how a school board member in Minneapolis told him that charter schools have been a source of good ideas to apply throughout the district. "That's a very important feature of charter schools -- how they can impact change in other schools," Riley said.
Guest panelists in Washington, D.C., included State Senator Ember Reichgott Junge who represents New Hope, Minnesota and helped write the nation's first charter school law. When caller Frank Brogan, the Florida Commissioner of Education, asked what elements were important for his state's pending charter school law, Senator Junge offered this advice: "The first thing is that a charter school needs to be autonomous and have control over its budget, staffing, and curriculum. The second is that there needs to be more than one sponsor other than the local school board -- either an appeal to the state board of education or perhaps a postsecondary organization. And third, we need to be able to have a large enough number of charter schools."
Panelist Jonathan Williams, the director of the Accelerated Charter School in Los Angeles, explained how parents played a key role in the development of his public charter school. "We went out to community centers and churches, and we made presentations to parents and welcomed them to dialogue with us as to what is the ideal type of school that you would like to have."
Involving the community as partners was another common theme to the experience of public charter schools. Panelist Rex Brown, director of the P.S. One School in Denver, Colorado, told how his school's innovative curriculum draws from the community. "Our kids use the Denver Center for the Performing Arts as their theater and the new Denver Public Library is our library. The Colorado History Museum is our history department, and we have a wonderful relationship with the art museum."
Deputy Secretary Madeleine Kunin emphasized that while public charter schools are a relatively new idea, they carry great potential to create new educational opportunities for students and their families. "Our experience with charter schools is very new, but it's very promising," she said.
The Education Department has several publications available on charter schools and other innovative ways to improve learning in existing public schools. "A Look At Charter Schools" features ten examples of charter schools across the country. With it is a sheet listing contacts at the Education Department and in each state for more information about charter schools. "10 Tips for Expanding Public School Choice" suggests actions that families, community groups, educators, school boards, and states can take to create new educational opportunities for children. To order these publications, call 1-800-USA-LEARN.
The President has submitted his 1997 budget request for education on schedule, even though final action has not taken place on the 1996 appropriation. The chart below compares the funding levels for major education programs in the 1995 appropriation, the House and Senate bills for 1996, and the President's request for the 1997 budget, as this edition went to press.
(in thousands of dollars)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Major Education | FY 1995 | Senate Bill, | House Bill, | President's
Programs | Appropri- | FY 1996 | FY 1996 | Budget,
| ation | | | FY 1997
------------------|------------|--------------|-------------|--------------
Raise Standards | | | |
of Achievement: | $371,870 | 350,000 | 0 | 491,000
Goals 2000 | | | |
------------------|------------|--------------|-------------|--------------
Improve Basic | 6,698,356 | 6,833,887 | 5,555,000 | 7,165,000
Skills: Title I | | | |
------------------|------------|--------------|-------------|--------------
Safe and Drug- | 465,981 | 400,000 | 200,000 | 540,000
Free Schools | | | |
------------------|------------|--------------|-------------|--------------
Bring Computers | 22,500 | 35,000 | 25,000 | 325,000
into Classrooms | | | |
------------------|------------|--------------|-------------|--------------
Gifted & Talented | 4,921 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 10,000
Education | | | |
------------------|------------|--------------|-------------|--------------
Help Youth Move | | | |
from School to | 122,500 | 186,000 | 95,000 | 200,000
Careers | | | |
------------------|------------|--------------|-------------|--------------
Expand Public | | | |
School Choice: | 6,000 | 16,000 | 8,000 | 40,000
Charter Schools | | | |
------------------|------------|--------------|-------------|--------------
-###-
[Table of Contents] 
[ED HomePage]