District Administration - July 2006 - (Page 20)

Update DIVISION Sen. Dave Landis lends support to bill LB1024 on the floor of the Nebraska legislature. The bill, which will divide Omaha Public Schools into three districts, won final approval on a 31-16 vote. STAT BLAST 85% of American voters recently polled say Congress Omaha Waits for Answers is cheating children and jeopardizing the U.S.' economic future if it leaves education programs ma ha Public Schools is in a holding pattern now. What started last O unfunded or under-funded. summer as the school board's attempt to enforce an old law has turned S ource : National School into a new law, a new lawsuit and claims of racial segregation. B oa rd s Association, national poll A s far as the Omaha Public Schools are concerned, we want equal edu- cat ion for all students, says Alicia Peters, a district spokeswoman. The plan is not to segregate and not to divide the district. Last summer, the district's Board of Education voted to enforce an old law called One City, One School District, which would have brought 15 additional schools in two districts in Omaha into the Omaha Public Schools. Some have accused the board of trying to boost test scores, as the district has struggled with lagging test scores and more low-income and ELL students. Gov. Dave Heineman spoke out against the plan and called for superin- tendent s and board members of affected districts to talk. 1-1 Laptops Hit With an impasse, the state legislature passed a comprehensive bill that South Dakota would create a so-called Learning Community of 11 districts, including those in the larger metropolitan area. It would establish a super board with In 20 South Dakota school districts, members divvying up the common levy and tax revenue, according to Ash- the state's Classroom Connections ley Cradduck, a spokeswoman for the governor's office. And it would provide project will provide incentive money transportation to students who opt to attend school outside their home dis- to initiate a one-to-one Gateway t r ic t. It's to take effect in 2008-09 school year. But an amendment in the law, proposed by Sen. Ernie Chambers, Nebras- tablet PC laptop program for high ka's only black legislator, would dissolve the district into smaller districts school students. along geographic boundaries, which would create a purportedly mostly It is part of Gov. Michael Rounds black, mostly white and mostly Hispanic district in the north, south and cen- 2010 Education Initiative, using t ra l areas of Omaha. technology funds by Citibank. The T he National Association for the Advancement of Colored People fi led a tablet PC gives student the option lawsuit against the governor and state officials in May in part arguing the of using a full-sized keyboard or a law intentionally segregates students by race. digital pen for handwriting notes directly on the display. 20 July 2006 District Administration DA_706_Update.w.indd 20 6/19/06 11:10:35 AM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July 2006

Contents
Editor's Letter
Letters
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Mixed Reviews
Making Reading Count
No-Nonsense Networking
Cover Story: Money Talks
Making Choices
The Online Edge
Speaking Out
Public Opinion
Problem/Solution
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - July 2006