April 13, 2008 - April 19, 2008 Archives

When General Mills debuted Reece’s Puffs, the idea of eating candy for breakfast was both appalling and exciting. Today, it’s not such a crazy concept.

Although research shows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, students all over the country start class with tummies filled with Hot Fudge Sundae Pop-Tarts, Sausage McGriddles, or worse—nothing.

That’s why more schools are implementing universal breakfast programs that offer all students a free breakfast.

Schools in Gary, Ind., began their district-funded Universal Breakfast Program this fall. The program has been so successful that officials are looking for ways to institute universal lunch, the Post-Tribune reports.

School officials from Springfield, Ohio, are partly attributing their universal breakfast program, which began in 2005, to improved academic performance among students, says the Springfield News-Sun.

Both districts provide breakfasts using money allocated to pay for the meals of students who receive free or reduced lunch. But just because a program is there, doesn’t mean it’s wholesome.
“I remember when we first started looking at our menu I saw kids standing in line and they had a Mountain Dew and a Honey Bun,” said Springfield’s supervisor of food and nutrition. “That's not breakfast. Now, we offer a more balanced menu that students like.”
The Sun-News invited readers to comment on the issue. While some thought the program was a great way to assist children who don’t get an adequate breakfast, others saw it as a way of teaching students to be dependent on the government for support.

I recently spoke to Chef Ann Cooper, the “renegade lunch lady” who revamped unhealthy school lunch programs in multiple districts. A copy of her interview will appear in an upcoming issue of ASBJ.

Chef Ann is an advocate of universal breakfast. “It’s a social justice issue,” she said. “Children can’t think and they can’t learn if they’re not well nourished.”

Offering universal breakfast blurs the line between raising children and educating them. But districts that pride themselves on creating a healthy learning environment shouldn’t allow students to go unfed.

School meals? For breakfast? It’s not such a crazy concept.

Stacey Hollenbeck, spring intern

The light bulb went on for me about 10 years ago, when I was tutoring a middle school student in Northern Virginia.

It wasn’t a great experience. The program wasn’t well run. I had little contact with the classroom teachers. The student was uncommunicative (even by middle school standards) and at times seemed downright hostile. For all I knew, he hated school.

Oh, and did I mention? He couldn’t read.

It’s true, he could mouth the words of his American history text, and he could sort of “read” the sentences. But there was barely a spark of comprehension. It was then that I realized that there is an alarming adolescent reading crisis in this country.

If that sounds overwrought, consider this boy’s future: My tutoring did absolutely no good; what he needed -- if he was to ever learn to read well enough to “read to learn” -- was intensive remediation, and even that might not be enough..

One state that is facing up to this crisis is Alabama, which launched a state reading initiative in the late 1990s. While focused originally on early elementary school, the program is now expanding into middle schools, said Sherrill W. Parris, the assistant state superintendent for reading, who spoke at a Washington D.C. forum last week.

Fourteen schools throughout the state -- “the Fabulous Fourteen” -- were chosen to pilot the adolescent program. To be accepted, the school’s principal had to promise to attend training sessions, and at least 85 percent of the faculty had to commit to ongoing, “job-embedded” professional development. Each school has a literacy coach and a leadership team that meets frequently to assess the program’s success.

Alabama has made remarkable gains in elementary reading, but no measurable progress at eighth grade -- so far. Parris hopes the fledgling adolescent reading program will change that; and it looks, to me at least, like her state is on the right track.

Click here to read more about Alabama’s reading program. And here is the Reading Next report upon which much of that program is derived from.

Lawrence Hardy, Senior Editor

By now, just about everyone knows something is really wrong with California’s school funding formula.

California is the first place we call for heart-wrenching, firsthand stories of how budget cuts are affecting school programs, teachers, and students. California schools have seen student enrollments and schools’ needs rise as the state education budget from which they receive the bulk of their funding has pretty much stagnated.

It’s now become a spring ritual to hand out layoff notices to every eligible teacher and administrator. Several years ago I visited a school principal who was moved to tears as she told of having to hand the notices to some of her most prized and talented recruits.

So when I wrote about how state budget fluctuations have a lot of school administrators on edge for May’s ASBJ, I knew that California school officials would be wondering how much they would have to cut from their budgets. I was wrong. They’re already cutting classroom programs. And while the layoff notices used to be a formality -- most teachers knew they would be rehired once the education budget was hashed out -- now, thousands of teachers are certain they won’t have their jobs next year, even as some class sizes rise to 40 or more students.

What we don’t hear much talk about are solid solutions to this ever-present crisis, which would mean dramatic tax reform. Some 40 percent of the state budget goes to education, but the budget has been hamstrung by two voter-approved ballot initiatives, Proposition 98, which guarantees a minimum level of funding for schools except in periods of financial hardship (ie, now), and Proposition 13, which capped property taxes in 1978. When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launched an expensive campaign to overhaul Proposition 98 three years ago, he got clobbered.

What Schwarzenegger and other politicians won’t dare discuss is how to overhaul Proposition 13, as financial guru Warren Buffett has recommended. Prop 13’s formula uses the purchase price of a home -- no matter whether that home was purchased in the 1940s, 1970s, or 2005 -- as the basis and limits how much that tax can be increased each year. Designed to help elderly homeowners afford their tax bills, it’s created vast inequities, for both local governments and residents.

And as a result, school districts are beholden to the state economy and the whims of the state legislature far more than property taxes – which, despite the current national housing slump, are still one of the most stable revenues for schools.

How long it will take -- or how dire the schools’ crisis will get -- for lawmakers to address this issue?

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor

I’m a hypocrite.

I recently read that students who pass next year’s Advanced Placement tests at Wilby High School in Waterbury, Conn., will be getting $100 rewards. And I was offended by the idea.

You know the arguments against such payments. Students need to value learning for its own sake. Learning is an investment in the future of students, and they darned well ought to recognize that.

So, why do I say I’m a hypocrite? Because Wilby High has inspired me. Now I’m thinking of paying my son to read a history book.

I hate to do it. I’m a big history buff and a lover of books of all kinds. I think a kid should read a book simply because it’s within arm’s reach.

But my son doesn’t agree. Foolishly, I overlooked the insidious effect of television and video games on my child’s early development. Today, he is yet another sad statistic: a teenager whose life revolves around the plasma TV, PlayStation 3, MySpace, and his iPod.

For him, a book is something you read when forced to by adults.

I have failed him.

They say desperate times require desperate measures. So I have been plotting. My son is receiving a quite solid background in history and civics in the public schools of Fairfax County, Va., so I know he has a brain. Sometimes he even uses it.

So, not long ago, I introduced him to the HBO television miniseries “Band of Brothers,” which focuses on the story of a group of soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.

Some battle scenes were not exactly appropriate for a 14-year-old. But I overlooked this inconvenience in the hopes that the true-to-life story would catch his imagination. And it did.

Now I intend to offer a bribe. The miniseries was based on the acclaimed book by historian Stephen Ambrose, and my son will get a payout if he reads it.

This could get costly. I’m not sure what my son will consider the market rate for reading a history book. I do know he’ll count the pages, judge his pain threshold, and check the Apple website to determine the price of upgrading his iPod.

But, as long as I don’t need to mortgage the house, I think I’ll pay his price. I know he’ll love the book. And, while he’s not a reader today, perhaps the experience will spark a greater appreciation of the entertainment (and educational) value of books. (I can dream, can’t I?)

And perhaps I can compensate somewhat for failing to observe that, as a child, my son’s brain was turning to mush in front of the TV.

I wonder if someone offers a grant for this kind of project? At Wilby High, the cash rewards for students are being paid out of money awarded by the National Math and Science Initiative.

It’s still a shameful thing that Wilby High is doing. But now I understand a little better. Educators want so much for their kids. And so does every parent.

Del Stover, Senior Editor

The slowing economy has forced homeowners to foreclose on their property, companies to layoff employees and consumers to hold on to their money. Now it has forced education officials in Florida to pull back on some of its state assessment tests.

Eric Smith, the state’s education commissioner, proposed holding off on making the writing section of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) a graduation requirement. He also recommended nixing an updated multiple-choice portion of the writing exam administered to fourth, eighth and 10th-grade.

All told, the changes--- which state board members have agreed to--- would save Florida an estimated $2.5 million. It’s not chump change, but it won’t be enough to stem a tidal wave of financial problems the state has coming its way.

The white-hot housing market has cooled significantly in Florida, with property values plummeting, home sales stagnating and foreclosures rising. To make matters worse for the school districts--- which depend on property taxes for their local revenue--- voters in January approved an increase in the state’s homestead exemption, which opponents (including educators) say would offer scant tax relief but cripple public agencies. Florida certainly has a rough economic road ahead.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor