Education Week - January 6, 2016 - 4

NEWS IN BRIEF

The graduation rate for the nation's class of 2014 reached a record 82 percent, an increase of
1 percentage point from the previous year's rate, according to data
released by the U.S. Department of
Education.
Graduation rates for several student demographic groups rose, but
not for American Indian and Alaskan Native students, for whom
rates remained virtually flat. Significant gaps remain, particularly
between black and Hispanic students and their white counterparts,
although those gaps have shrunk
recently.
In a statement, GradNation-a
coalition of groups pushing to increase the national graduation rate
to 90 percent by 2020-praised the
82 percent rate, but noted that, if
the rate increases at its current
trajectory, the country will miss
that goal, the first time the United
States has gotten off track in four
years.
-ANDREW UJIFUSA

N.Y.C. Elementary Schools
Fail ADA Requirements
Twenty-five years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, most New York City
elementary schools are not fully
accessible to children with physical
disabilities, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of
Justice.
In a Dec. 21 letter, Justice officials said 83 percent of public
schools have such problems as inaccessible entrances, playgrounds
that lack handrails or have steep
ramps, or bathrooms that can only
be reached by stairs. Six of the 32
elementary districts in the system
don't have a single school that is

ized exams during the past school
year as resistance to testing gained
momentum nationwide, new state
data show.
Despite the significant number of
students who refused the exam or
were listed as absent on test days,
however, state data show most
schools and districts saw nearly
all their students take the English
and math tests from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness
for College and Careers.
Some 44,000 missed the English/language arts component, and
42,000 didn't take the math segment, representing about 4 percent
of the more than 1 million students
who were tested. That compares
with about 0.5 percent of students
who didn't take state exams in
2014.
-TNS

fully accessible, impacting some
50,000 children.
The problem is not limited to older
schools. In one school, an elevator installed in 2000 did not meet federal
standards for accessibility.
In a statement to The New York
Times, a district spokesman said
officials are reviewing the letter.

-CHRISTINA A. SAMUELS

Few Detroit Students Pass
Tougher State Exam
Just one 4th grader in Detroit
schools run by the Education
Achievement Authority-a district
the state created to turn around
the worst-performing schools in
Michigan-passed the math portion of a tough new state exam,
results released last month show.
Overall, only 1.2 percent of EAA
students passed math, and 5.6 percent passed English/language arts.
In some grades and subjects, not one
student passed. The EAA includes
15 schools, 12 of which are directly
run by the district. Students at the
three charters did better, with 6 percent passing math and 11.6 percent
passing ELA.
In the Detroit district, meanwhile,
7.9 percent of students passed math,
while 14.6 percent passed English/
language arts.
-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

La. Seniors Must Apply
For Financial Aid
To graduate from high school, all
seniors in Louisiana public schools
will have to apply for college financial aid.
The new policy-likely the first
of its kind-begins with the class of
2018. It permits students to opt out
of completing applications for financial aid by submitting a form signed
by one of their parents.
State schools Superintendent

Austin District Hires
Marketing Company
Brian Davies/The Register-Guard/AP

Graduation Rate Rises
To All-Time High

HOLD TIGHT, STAND STILL
John Comey holds a chuckwalla
lizard while Richard Ritchey
places another one on his head at
the Springfield Public Library in
Springfield, Ore. Ritchey, known
in the area as the "Reptile Man,"
brought his menagerie of snakes,
lizards, and alligators for two
shows that allowed children to get
a close-up look at the world
of reptiles.

John White said that the students
who are most in need of the money
are the ones who fail to take steps
to get it. Low application rates cost
students opportunities, but they also
cost colleges and universities tens
of millions of dollars in support, he
said.
-CATHERINE GEWERTZ

Tens of Thousands Skip
State Tests in Illinois
Tens of thousands of Illinois
students-the most in recent history-sat out the state's standard-

The Austin, Texas, school district
has hired a marketing firm to help
boost student enrollment.
The school board approved a
$350,000 contract with Sanders/
Wingo Advertising Inc. to serve
as a marketing consultant for the
district, which has seen enrollment
dwindle by 3,000 students over the
past three years.
The 83,688-student district hopes
to attract students who currently
attend private and charter schools,
as well as those who attend other
districts.
-TNS

Panel Urges State Monitor
For Troubled N.Y. District
A committee appointed to study a
troubled New York school district is
recommending that a state monitor with power to veto the school
board's decisions be put in place-a
plan unanimously approved by the

The nation's two largest districts responded
very differently to recent threats to their
schools, raising questions about how school
officials should handle such matters.
Los Angeles Unified closed its 900 schools
Dec. 15 after district leaders received an online
threat to multiple sites.
Police and district officials scoured every
building for signs of explosives or danger.
Classes resumed the next day after officials
determined the threat was not credible.
New York City schools received a similar threat that same day but opted to stay
open after city police determined it was not
credible, said Police Commissioner William
J. Bratton, who added at a press conference
that he was concerned people were "overreacting."
Perhaps responding to those statements, Los
Angeles officials defended the decision to close
schools, which was made by Superintendent
Ramon Cortines.
"We are not making a decision about the color

of a car or what to eat for dinner," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said on the day
of the closures. "This is about the safety of our
children."
In the days that followed, several other large
districts, including Houston and Miami, reported they had received similar threats and
decided to remain open. Some smaller districts,
including Nashua, N.H., also closed in the
weeks after Los Angeles' closures.
Cortines said he had approached the message, sent from an IP address in Germany, with
particular caution after recent terrorist attacks
in San Bernardino, Calif.
But Bratton said there were signs the threat
was not legitimate, including the way Allah was
spelled with a lowercase "a."
Los Angeles Unified's decision sent some
families of its 640,000 students scrambling
for child care. Principals waited at schools
with children who'd walked there before
hearing the closure message, and the city offered free bus rides to all students. -EVIE BLAD

4 | EDUCATION WEEK | January 6, 2016 | www.edweek.org

Damian Dovarganes/AP

Los Angeles and New York Districts
Choose Different Responses to Threats

Students in the Los Angeles Unified district head back to school at the
Edward R. Roybal Learning Center Dec. 16, the day after an emailed threat
triggered a shutdown of the school system. The shutdown abruptly closed
the district's 900 regular public schools and 187 charter schools.

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Education Week - January 6, 2016

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