July 6, 2008 - July 12, 2008 Archives

I’m not a doctor, nor do I have a background in medicine. But I am a fairly avid reader of medical news and reports, which is why I was surprised by the latest recommendation by an influential doctor’s group regarding the battle against childhood obesity.

In the July edition of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics replaces its earlier stance which recommended cholesterol fighting drugs called statins for children 10 years of age or older who had been unsuccessful at losing weight, with new advice to prescribe pills to children as young as 8 who have an excess of LDL or bad cholesterol, as well as other risk factors.

With one-third of American kids classified as overweight and roughly 17 percent obese, the doctors’ group is taking an assertive stance against heart disease, which is the number one killer in the U.S. and is increasingly being shown to begin early in life.

“If we are more aggressive about this in childhood, I think we can have an impact on what happens later in life … and avoid some of these heart attacks and strokes in adulthood,” Dr. Stephen Daniels, a Denver area pediatrician and member of the academy’s nutrition committee, told the Associated Press.

For overweight kids with insufficient amounts of HDL or good cholesterol, the academy still recommends exercise, nutritional counseling and weight loss as the first step.
I wonder: why isn’t that still the first step for all overweight and obese children? I would think it’s when they are young, malleable, and still under the control of adults, that lifestyle changes like healthy eating and regular physical activity could be implemented and could even stick.

Giving kids drugs to tackle weight and health risk factors only teaches them to throw pills at a problem, which is a lesson far too many Americans have learned; it does not need to be passed on to even younger generations. What’s more, the academy’s recommendation (and again, I’m not a doctor) not only sidesteps the root of the problem, but it also could incur new ones, like liver damage, a byproduct of long-term sustained use of statins.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor

As far as housewarming gifts go, it was a bit much, wrote Al Mascitti, a columnist for the Wilmington, Del., News Journal. I mean, how often does the superintendent get the gift of a refrigerator for his new home?

From a school board member? Purchased with public funds?

The Hotpoint or Frigidaire might be relatively unusual. (Can’t they think of something more exotic – a hot tub perhaps?) But the larger problem is not: Fraud is rampant in both the private and public sectors -- and that includes school districts.

“The estimate is that maybe only 20 percent of fraud is really identified,” ASBJ’s Money Columnist, Charles Trainor, told me today. Trainor, a certified fraud examiner and certified internal auditor, has a pretty unassailable source for this assessment: The 2006 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.. Read it and weep – or, better yet, become aware of the extent of the fraud that’s out there and what you can do about it.

Each month, Trainor writes about an aspect of school finance in language lay people can understand. And always, he includes tips on how you can have better internal controls in your district. (A case in point: this month’s column, A Boost to Funding, is about keeping tabs on booster clubs.)

I got the idea for this blog by reading about a U.S Department of Education employee audit that turned up $49,500 worth of inappropriate credit card expenses, from clothing to rental cars for personal use. Sort of interesting, I guess, but there’s just something about that refrigerator story that grabs me more.

Maybe it’s because I covered that well-respected school district, Brandywine Hundred, for more than a year in the late 1990s, right before coming to ASBJ. And, as far as I could tell, the school board members and administrators were the most salt-of-the-earth, good-government-type public servant imaginable. Indeed, I’m sure most of them were. (The superintendent, by the way, denied doing anything wrong, saying he had no idea the refrigerator was paid for with public funds.)

It just goes to prove Trainor’s point: School board members and administrators need to be aware of the possibility of fraud and have systems in place to prevent and detect it.

Lawrence Hardy, Senior Editor

Lost forever. That's the presumed fate of the historic buildings and places the National Trust for Historic Preservation names on its annual "Most Endangered Historic Places" list.

The Trust has now placed the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan., a landmark where the Brown v. Board of Education case had its earliest beginnings, on its 2008 list.

In 1950, the Sumner School was a segregated, all-white school when local black minister Oliver Brown tried to enroll his daughter Linda there, but was denied. Brown became the lead plaintiff of the 13 families named in the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that overturned segregation in schools.

Topeka's all-black Monroe School, which Linda attended, was dedicated as the official Brown v. Board Historical site in 2004.

The 1930s-era Sumner School operated as an elementary school until 1996, when it closed as part of the Topeka district's desegregation plan. The Art Deco-style building was sold and used as a storage facility by the county library until 2002, and it is now owned by the city.

In June 2007, the building's fate appeared to be sealed when the city council authorized its staff to plan for demolition of the facility -- even though it is listed as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Parks Service -- citing the costs of maintaining a vacant building. Two private groups had proposed using the building for housing or a charter school but so far neither group has been able to raise enough funds to renovate it.

After the council’s decision, the Kansas State Historical Society stepped in and brought forth a covenant signed by former Topeka officials in 2002 that requires the city to preserve the building until 2012.

But beyond that, its future is uncertain. The shuttered building has fallen into disrepair due to water damage, lack of maintenance, and vandalism, and the Trust deems it to be "in serious jeopardy" to be on the Endangered Places list. It's urging preservationists and history buffs to e-mail Topeka's mayor, Bill Bunten, to urge the city to preserve the building and fulfill its stewardship responsibilities.

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor

ASBJ just received the sad news that the longest serving board member in the country, whom we featured in our April issue, died last month.

Richard A. Moss had served at the helm of the Cardinal Local district in Northeast Ohio for more than 51 years. The 91-year-old told me in a phone conversation last winter that he had enjoyed his many years on the board, but planned to step down by the end of this year due to health problems. He died June 18 at a Cleveland hospital.

During his tenure, Moss oversaw a consolidation, new buildings, school closures, and the integration of students with disabilities into regular classes. He’d also worked full time for the U.S. Postal Service, part time for the local telephone company, and volunteered as chairman of the county fair. In his spare time, he mowed the grass at the local football field, which is named in his honor.

Fellow board member Jack Youshak told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Moss treated everyone on the board fairly.

“He was generous. He had so many good qualities,” said Youshak. “That’s how you last 50 years on the school board.”

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor

When a new superintendent takes over a school system—and test scores rise—who should get the credit?

That’s a question being asked in Washington, D.C., where school officials recently announced solid gains in reading and math test scores.

The data is encouraging for the long-troubled school system. In the last school year, elementary school students boosted scores 11 percentage points in math and eight points in reading. Secondary school students gained nine percentage points in both subjects.

Predictably, some cited the reforms of Chancellor Michelle Rhee as deserving credit for the gains, while Rhee’s critics argued the gains should be attributed to the work of former superintendent Clifford Janey.

But an editorial in the Washington Post dismissed the political finger pointing for what it was. “Imagine what these naysayers would have said if the scores had plummeted,” editors noted. We doubt that they would have been looking Mr. Janey’s way.”

Indeed, the Post reminded everyone that reform is a long and hard slog, and implied the credit for true school reform isn’t going to go to any one person: “There is no question [Janey’s] reforms were a factor, as was Ms. Rhee’s wise decision to continue them,” as well as additional reforms initiated by the new schools chancellor.

Indeed, there’s a lot more credit still to be earned. In the elementary schools, only 46 percent of students test proficient in reading and 40 percent in math. The data is even worse for secondary school students.

For a school system that’s been plagued for decades with administrative problems and political infighting, the work is far from done.

And that brings us to the real lesson of this story—and one that policymakers everywhere should take to heart. Concluded the Post: “What’s really important is what students showed: that they can achieve when their interests are placed first.”

Amen to that.

Del Stover, Senior Editor

I’m a sucker for provocative headlines, as you can tell from above. So, I was caught like a deer in the headlights when I read an article on MSN’s website called “What if we threw out all illegal immigrants?” It’s a thought more and more Americans are pondering, if I had to judge from news accounts of “citizen” disgruntlement, unguarded conversations in local coffee shops, and unabashed policies in public agencies.

So I had to read further and see just what could hypothetically happen if such a thing occurred. While writer Shirley Skeel’s account is pure conjecture (and quite witty, if one can be witty about ejecting an estimated 12 million plus illegal immigrants from the U.S.), it does provide a vivid and thought-provoking glimpse of the future sans undocumented workers.

First, states like California, Texas, and Florida, which have the largest numbers of illegal immigrants (a combined 5.45 million, according to the Department of Homeland Security) would be the most impacted. That’s a no-brainer. But would the mass exodus be for better or worse?

It looks like it could be a toss-up. On the one hand, the thousands of low-paying, hard labor jobs that many immigrants occupy would suddenly be vacant and likely wouldn’t be refilled by Americans, putting many industries at risk.

Nicole Rothfleish, the executive director of the Imperial County Farm Bureau in Southern California, says El Centro boasts the state’s highest unemployment rate, yet farmers are always struggling to find workers.

On the other hand, the Center for Immigration Studies estimates that 6 percent or 3.3 million students have at least one parent who is an illegal immigrant. And at $10,000 a child (the average cost to educate one student), their deportation would free up $3.3 million, as well as classroom space and teacher time.

It’s an interesting scenario isn’t it? Though one that is highly improbable, especially since, when asked, most poll respondents were more in favor of offering citizenship to undocumented workers, instead of throwing them out.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor