By Smita Ghosh

Education advocates skeptical about closure of Dallas magnet programs… Study finds correlation between black student population and exit of high-quality teachers… Texas legislature limits state’s “top ten percent plan”… Education Secretary Arne Duncan struggles with plan to “make over” failing schools… Alaska opts out of national standards initiative… Georgian legislature cuts funds intended for poor schools… Boston Superintendent’s decision to restrict charter busing may be illegal.

Study Links Teacher Movement to Influx of Black Students

Education Week – May 27, 2009

In a May 27 study, Kirabo Jackson, an associate professor of labor economics at Cornell University, found that the best teachers tended to leave when their schools experience an influx of African-American students. Jackson studied patterns of teacher movement in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools between 2002 and 2003, when the district ended its long-running crosstown busing policy. Professor Jackson found that for the average school with a student population that is 60 percent black, a 15 percent increase in the number of African-American students translates to a .3 standard-deviation drop in teacher quality. Jackson measured teacher quality based on years of experience, scores on licensure exams, and teachers’ “value added” scores.  Read the study.

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What Happens when Desegregation Ends?
TAPPED/AMERICAN PROSPECT – MAY 29, 2009

Dallas Learning Centers Face Closure

WFAA - May 28, 2009

Dallas Superintendent David Hinojosa’s controversial recommendation that the district close its learning centers-a series of magnet programs established as part of the district’s desegregation order-is based on the report of a consultant hired by the local school board. The consultant, who was not mentioned in earlier news reports on the issue, found that the learning centers did not conform to federal laws that require all schools to receive within ten percent of the average school funding of the district. However, other advocates say that this law might contain an exemption for programs that target at risk or low-income students.

Texas Vote Curbs a College Admission Guarantee Meant to Bolster Diversity

The New York Times – May 30, 2009

On May 30, the Texas Legislature voted to limit the reach of the state’s “10 percent plan,” bowing to the requests of the elite schools like the University of Texas at Austin as well as suburban legislators. The new law limits the proportion of automatically admitted students in the incoming class of Texas Universities at 75 percent. The plan, in which students whose GPA’s were in the top ten percent at their high school were given automatic admission to the state university of their choice, was created after a Texas Court banned affirmative action in Hopwood v. Texas.

U.S. Effort to Reshape Schools Faces Challenges

The New York Times – June 1, 2009

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s plans to “turn around” failing schools-to close and reopen the institutions with new staff, policies and culture-are proving difficult to execute. Amid local and state budget crises, Duncan must convince local education agencies to challenge often recalcitrant teachers’ unions.

Palin Opts Out of Test Standard for Education

The Anchorage Daily News – June 1, 2009

Governor Sarah Palin and other Alaskan education officials have announced that their state will not participate in the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers’s initiative to develop national standards. The two organizations are working with the College Board and others to set standards for reading and math testing that would let the performance of students in one state be compared with those in another. Besides Alaska, the other states that have turned away from the effort are Missouri, South Carolina and Texas.

Poor Schools Won’t Get Extra Funds

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – May 31, 2009

Responding to budget cuts, Georgia lawmakers voted in April to cut by more than 20 percent the state’s equalization fund, which is distributed to poorer districts in the interest of achieving parity across districts. The cuts, which go into affect on July 1, come from the taxpayer-funded state general fund, and can make a big difference: for some small school systems, “equalization” money can account for 10 to 25 percent of their annual budget.

Charter School Busing Cut Draws Ire

The Boston Globe – May 27, 2009

Boston School Superintendent Carol Johnson’s 2010 transportation plan continues to incite controversy because it restricts options for families attending schools outside of their neighborhoods. Johnson’s proposition to cut citywide busing to charter schools, funding instead only those school buses that travel to charters from within the school’s zone, has caught the eye of Mitchell Chester, state commissioner for elementary and secondary education, who says that a district cannot restrict a charter school to a certain group of students without changing state statute.

Smita Ghosh is a Paralegal in the Education Practice of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.