Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/530934
June 2015 isea.org • ISEA Communiqué 2 BRIEFS NEWS Supreme Court agrees with NEA The United States Supreme Court ruled in Ohio v. Clark that educators should not be put in a law enforcement role, even as they carry out their duties as mandatory reporters. The case stems from a 2010 incident when a teacher at a Head Start center in Cleveland noticed one of her preschool students had an apparent bloodshot and bloodstained left eye. The teacher and two other colleagues submitted that information to law enforcement officials who subsequently arrested, charged and convicted the boyfriend of the child's mother. The boyfriend, Darius Clark, argued he should be able to face his accusers, in this case the teachers, in open court as law enforcement relied on their testimony. The NEA filed an amicus brief on the side of the state of Ohio to protect the status of teachers who act as mandatory reporters while not giving them the status of enforcement agents who would have to testify in court. "We are pleased the court recognized what educators have long understood—namely, that mandatory reporting laws aren't about prosecuting crimes, but are there to protect abused or neglected children and to ensure those children and their families get the help and support they deserve," NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said in a news release regarding the decision. "Teachers aren't cops. To confuse those two roles could have hampered educators' ability to help their students. Today's decision by the court helps brings some clarity to this area." Summer reading programs lack consistency A survey commissioned by the Iowa Reading Research Center and conducted by Iowa's regent universities shows a lack of consistency statewide in optional summer reading programs for children offered by school districts and community organizations, according to a report by the Iowa Department of Education. The department oversees the Iowa Reading Research Center, which was created by the Iowa Legislature. The center received more than 270 responses from public and private school officials. Among the findings: • Most school and community programs have no attendance requirements; • Most school programs offer between 60-90 minutes of reading instruction each day, while most community programs offer 30 minutes or less of literacy programs; • A majority of school programs are entirely staffed with licensed teachers, while a majority of community programs are not; • About two-thirds of school summer reading programs conduct reading assessments, while 12.5 percent of community programs do. "Most summer reading programs in Iowa are designed to keep students from backsliding, and they haven't focused on acceleration," said Michelle Hosp, director of the Iowa Reading Research Center, in a news release about the survey results. "Schools will need to rethink that approach as they develop intensive summer reading programs, which will need more focus on reading instruction that leads to student improvement." No Child Left Behind National Education Association state affiliate presidents have met with lawmakers in Washington, DC and at home districts to talk about No Child Left Behind and push for decreased standardized testing as well as the inclusion of the "opportunity dashboard" in any reauthorization. The NEA believes that under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the focus has shifted away from student learning and opportunity towards testing, labeling, and punishing schools—with no significant closure of achievement gaps or opportunity gaps. You can find out more about the NEA's positions on federal legislation at the organization's website www.nea.org. The site also allows people an easy way to petition their federal legislators through petitions, emails and other methods. Common Core backers spending most in Iowa The Collaborative for Student Success - a non-profit, pro-Common Core powerhouse based in D.C. - has outpaced all other political spenders in Iowa so far this year. While the group wouldn't confirm a total spending figure, a Sunlight Foundation review of ad contracts shows that the group has spent more than $764,000 on about 1,500 ads here, according to a story in the online magazine Politico. Politico quoted collaborative spokeswoman Blair Mann's statement to Sunlight that the standards have been "grossly" misrepresented. "It's important that the public have the facts and that public officials be held accountable when they employ wildly inaccurate and deliberately misleading descriptions of the standards," she said. "We think it's important - and far more effective - to be part of the conversation early, rather than trying to correct the record after the issue has been distorted and misrepresented." More help for early childhood needed To close school readiness and achievement gaps requires more attention to early childhood programs like Early Head Start, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, according to a report released earlier this month by the Center for American Progress. The full report, which can be found on the organization's website at www.americanprogress.org, says almost half of infants and toddlers in the United States lived in low-income households. "We know that programs such as home visiting and nutrition assistance can help set the stage for future success. It's up to Congress and current and future administrations to step up to the plate," CAP policy analyst and report co-author Rachel Herzfeldt-Kamprath said.