EDUCATION
“National study dubs 12 Portland-area schools ‘private public schools’.” By Betsy Hammond. Oregonian. February 22, 2010. A new report by the non-profit pro-school-choice Fordham Institute says “more than 1.7 million American children attend what we’ve dubbed ‘private public schools’ — public schools that serve virtually no poor students.” And it names names. Like these: Riverdale High, Forest Park Elementary, Findley Elementary of Beaverton, Palisades and Westridge elementaries in Lake Oswego and the Multi-Sensory charter school in Tigard. (All 12 Portland-area schools the group deems “private publics.) Of course, the study’s authors are wrong. These are public schools, paid for by taxpayer funds, that children attend without having to meet admission requirements or pay tuition. But in its report, the institute argues that “by exclusively serving well-off children, they are arguably more private — certainly more exclusive — than many elite private schools, which… generally offer at least some scholarships to low-income students.”
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
“More Catholic schools reaching out to special-needs students.” By Michael Alison Chandler. Washington Post. February 23, 2010. Federal law requires that public schools offer a free, appropriate education for students with disabilities, and federal and state governments subsidize the higher costs of smaller classes and extra resources. Catholic schools have no such legal mandate, and financial constraints have historically made it difficult for them to offer similar specialized services. That is starting to change. Forty-two percent of Catholic elementary schools in the United States had a resource teacher to help students with special needs in 2008-09, up from 28 percent in 2001-02, according to the National Catholic Educational Association. The Arlington County-based group hosts conferences to help schools establish relevant programs and offers scholarships to teachers pursuing special-education degrees. “Children with disabilities have a right to a faith-based education,” said Bernadette McManigal, superintendent of Arlington Diocese Catholic schools. “We want to provide that as best we can.”
CHARTER SCHOOLS
“McDonnell’s charter school plan faces resistance from local officials.” By Anita Kumar. Washington Post. February 24, 2010. Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell often talks about his long-standing belief that government closest to the people governs best — a philosophy rooted in his conservative principles. But when McDonnell (R) began searching for a way to expand the number of charter schools in the state — one of his top goals — he turned not to local government but to the state for a solution. McDonnell proposed this month that those seeking permission to open charter schools — a publicly funded, privately run education alternative — be allowed to appeal to the state Board of Education if they are rejected by local school boards now charged with approving or denying their applications. That appears to contradict philosophical comments made frequently on the campaign trail and in his inaugural address last month.
“As U.S. Aid Grows, Oversight Is Urged for Charter Schools.” By Sam Dillon. New York Times. February 24, 2010. The Obama administration plans to significantly expand the flow of federal aid to charter schools, money that has driven a 15-year expansion of their numbers, from just a few dozen in the early 1990s to some 5,000 today. But in the first Congressional hearing on rewriting the No Child Left Behind law, lawmakers on Wednesday heard experts, all of them charter school advocates, testify that Washington should also make sure charter schools are properly monitored for their admissions procedures, academic standards and financial stewardship. The president of one influential charter group told the House Education and Labor Committee that the federal government had spent $2 billion since the mid-1990s to finance new charter schools but less than $2 million, about one-tenth of 1 percent, to ensure that they were held to high standards. “It’s as if the federal government had spent billions for new highway construction, but nothing to put up guardrails along the sides of those highways,” said Greg Richmond, president of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.
HIGHER EDUCATION
“In report, a peek at Yale’s stocks.” By Vivian Yee. Yale Daily News. February 25, 2010. The Yale Investments Office’s most recent quarterly report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this month, provides a rare peek into the University’s closely guarded investment holdings — but only a peek. The report, which the University is legally required to file four times a year, shows Yale’s stake in companies ranging from a pharmaceuticals manufacturer to the maker of Hush Puppies. Still, given that most of Yale’s assets are not held under its own name but under other managers, the filing offers no window into the bulk of Yale’s $16.3 billion endowment. If Yale wants to fix the proportion of its assets invested in the stock market, selling or buying index funds offers an easy and safe way to make sure the University’s portfolio does not drop too low or climb too high, Anderson said. In the third quarter of 2009, Yale owned just $3.6 million of index funds in its own name, compared to just under $27 million in the quarter covered by the report. That may be because Yale’s allocation targets were disturbed during the economic meltdown last year, prompting Yale to stockpile index funds to rebalance, Jarvis said. The SEC does not require the Investments Office to divulge any of its mutual funds or any so-called “alternative assets,” such as venture capital, private equity and real estate. And the billions in assets Yale owns indirectly through its investment managers do not appear in the report either.
“Yalies create economy of giving.” By Lindsey Raymond. Yale Daily News. February 25, 2010. Four Yale students are launching TheGiftEconomy.org, an online economy with just one rule: no money allowed. On the Web site each user will have a profile that will list what they want to give away and what they need. Since money is banned, users can barter, share or give away goods on the site. Additionally, each user’s profile will contain a record of the user’s transactions and comments that other users post. David “Hans” Schoenburg ’10 said he got the idea for TheGiftEconomy.com after using couchsurfing.com, which connects people interested in traveling around the world with users willing to host them for free. Schoenburg said in the past year he has hosted over 12 people staying in New Haven through couchsurfing.com. TheGiftEconomy.com is a similar form of social networking and Schoenburg said it will give strangers, who may pass each other on the street without a glance, a chance to connect over the exchange of goods and services. Schoenburg said the hardest part about launching the site is getting people to think outside “the money box.” Items on TheGiftEconomy.com may have a different value for each user and “currency is in the eye of the beholder,” Schoenburg said. As a result, a good on the site will “go to the user who values it the most,” Schoenburg said.