Lawmakers Look to Rein In Alternative Diplomas

Lawmakers Look to Reign In Alternative Diplomas
Michelle Diament
February 18, 2015
Url: http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/02/18/lawmakers-alternative-diplomas/20072/
Audience: Educators, parents and general citizens

The United States Congress is looking at (2/18/15) clearly defining what the guidelines are for students who can or cannot qualify for Alternative Diplomas. The policy is being co-spearheaded by Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington State. Senator Bob Casey said that the alternative

Raising the Bar for State Special Ed Programs

This article from June 2014 explains how the U.S. Departmant of Education announced a major shift in the way it oversees the effectiveness of state special ed programs. In addition to meeting timelines for evaluations, due process of hearings and transitioning children into preschool services, states are now collecting data on student performance on tests. Before this new requiement 41 states met requirements and now only 18 do. Oregon falls in the "needs assistance" category. This is important for us as educators because this will push us to set high standards for our students yet also be realistic.
New accountability framework raises the bar for State Sped Programs

Penalties for drug offenses weigh heavily on students

Donna St. George
"Penalties for drug offenses weigh heavily on students"
The Washington Post
April 30, 2011
URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/penalties-for-drug-offenses-weigh-heavily-on-students/2011/04/26/AFWde0NF_story.html

Summary: This article was about a high school student, Nick, was caught with a small device used to smoke marijuana nearly a year ago at Langley High School when he was 17. That alone would have meant a suspension, but when the device tested positive for residue, school officials imposed a second offense that was more serious: drug possession.Nick was not allowed back at Langley for the final school days of June. He completed his exams after hours, went to a disciplinary hearing in July and received a punitive transfer to another high school for senior year.And for his college applications, he could not get a recommendation from the Langley guidance counselor who knew him best, his family said.
Intended audience: All readers
Key points: 1. Nick and his father agree that the teen made a mistake and should have faced consequences.
2. But his case shows how disciplinary actions can play out in a highly common class of cases — those involving marijuana — and how the effects can be farther-reaching than may at first be apparent.
3. Transferred students are not allowed to return to their base schools but may e-mail or call teachers and counselors to ask for recommendations, spokesman Paul Regnier said.
Relevance: As the article stated, it is common for high school students trying marijuana. But the consequence would be very heavy on them. Maybe at the time when high school freshmen enter their new school, they should be informed about the penalty of using drugs first.

"'Greco-Roman Knowledge Only'" (B. Brown, Article 1)

Roberto Cintli Rogriguez

"'Greco Roman Knowledge Only in Arizona Schools, Indigenous Wisdom Outlawed Once Again"

Rethinking Schools

Summer, 2010

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/24_04/24_04_greco.shtml

Summary:

Rogriguez provides an overview of the current situation in Arizona regarding the passage and signing into law of HB-2281. This bill outlaws the teaching of ethnic studies by removing funding from classes that fall under a specific category; Rogriguez insists that the Arizona State Superintendent of Schools Tom Horne has specifically targeted Tucson HS's Mexican American Studies program. It is interesting to note the close parallels this bill has with Arpaio's SB-1070, giving police officers more or less free reign to infringe on rights based on skin color.

Intended Audience: general public, and of specific interest to anyone outraged by the continuing history of minority oppression in America

Key Points:

• similar bill introduced last year, defeated after much protest
• students in the Mexican American Studies program tend to perform better than those not in the program, and they claim a higher rate of college-bound seniors
• Arizona has a recent history of increased operations against immigrants under the purview of Joe Arpaio, including the above-mentioned bill
• as a border state, Arizona may have to deal with these issues more immediately and intimately than many other states

Relevance: This is where it gets fun! Because of the nature of the issue, there is a knee-jerk reaction to think of it in terms of black-and-white. "Clearly," our moral minds assert, "this is a crime of segregation perpetrated by a racist school superintendent who must be failing his students and his district!" The article itself, written by a teacher or participant in the Mexican American Studies program, is clearly pitched in that direction-- but, Deconstructionism reminds us, what is the danger in immediately coming to that conclusion? Thinking of it from only his perspective is a useful tool to sympathize, become similarly outraged, and take action; but what of the perspective of the superintendent? For that matter, there isn't a word said about students' reactions to the MAS program... does anyone feel discriminated against simply because of the presence of such a program? Would a European American Studies program receive similar backing, or would it be shot down as well?

Although this is an issue that, in all likelihood, is another extremely conservative Arizona public servant operating in an unbelievable manner, it is valuable to keep in mind the tendency of Rethinking Schools to be outraged, and to outrage in turn. I will try to find a more "balanced" article next time, to see if more than the perspective of the oppressed is represented in the article. Bottom line: fascinating (and outrageous!) development in a state that is increasingly unbelievable. It will be interesting to follow these laws and see if they can possibly remain upheld.