Association of
Alaska School Boards
E-NEWS
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work.
A weekly digest
of education news for Alaska's School Board Members.
Association of
Alaska School Boards, 1111 West 9th St., Juneau, AK 99801. Tel.
907-586-1083,
Fax 907-586-2995. Carl Rose, Executive Director,
crose@aasb.org: John Greely, Editor, jgreely@aasb.org. Review past issues of
the E-News on
the AASB Website at <http://www.aasb.org>. To unsubscribe send an email
stating the same to jgreely@aasb.org.
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Sponsored by
Alaska Public Entity Insurance Co. <http://www.akpei.com>
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AASB E-News
June 7, 2007
--EDUCATION FUNDING TASK FORCE SCHEDULES
FIRST MEETINGS
--SU VALLEY EFFORT TO SAVE SCHOOL LIES IN
RUBBLE
--TEST SCORES REFLECT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
--A CALL FOR EDUCATION
--NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND AIDING TEST
SCORES?
--MAGNA AWARDS NOMINATION FORMS AVAILABLE
EDUCATION FUNDING TASK FORCE
SCHEDULES FIRST MEETINGS
A special legislative panel looking into changes in the way
the state funds K-12 public education will hold its first meetings next week in
Anchorage. The Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force announced that it
would meet on Thursday, June 14, and Friday, June 15, at the Anchorage
Legislative Information Office, beginning at 9 a.m. each day. The agenda
includes a briefing on the state foundation funding program from the Department
of Education & Early Development.
The Senate members of the task force include Sens. Lyman
Hoffman, D-Bethel; Bert Stedman, R-Sitka; Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage; Gary
Stevens, R-Kodiak; and Gary Wilken, R-Fairbanks. They are joined by House
members Reggie Joule, D-Kotzebue; Paul Seaton, R-Homer; Bob Roses, R-Anchorage;
Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage; and Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks. AASB Executive Director Carl Rose sits
as an 11th member of the panel. He was appointed by Gov. Sarah
Palin.
The task force was formed in the waning hours of the 2007
legislative session when leaders were unable to agree on a series of changes to
the foundation funding program for schools. The task force is to meet this
summer and issue a set of recommendations by September 1. A preliminary
schedule released by the task force indicated hearings would be held in Anchorage,
Kenai, Kotzebue and Fairbanks. As the schedule is confirmed, E-news will alert
school districts.
See a related story here:
http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=4840
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SU VALLEY EFFORT TO
SAVE SCHOOL LIES IN RUBBLE
Authorities say it may take a while
before they can determine what caused a fire this week that leveled the Susitna
Valley Junior/Senior High School. In the meantime, school officials are sorting
through the rubble to salvage what they can from the blaze and trying to
console neighbors who lost a community cornerstone See full story here:
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/8956045p-8870748c.html
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TEST SCORES
REFLECT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Preliminary results from a battery of
tests taken by students in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
earlier this spring show marked improvement in math scores across all grade
levels. Reading scores also went up in almost every grade. Despite the
districtÕs improved performance as a whole, however, the results from the
assessment tests show that minority groups are still lagging behind in some
areas substantially. See full story here:
http://newsminer.com/2007/06/07/7361
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A CALL FOR EDUCATION
Native communities must place a strong
emphasis on ensuring their young people graduate from school, Sen. Albert
Kookesh and other speakers said at DenakkanaagaÕs annual conference Wednesday.
See full story here:
http://newsminer.com/2007/06/07/7358
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NO CHILD LEFT
BEHIND LAW AIDING TEST SCORES?
The nationÕs students have performed
significantly better on state reading and math tests since President Bush
signed his landmark education initiative into law five years ago, according to
a major independent study released Tuesday. The studyÕs authors warned that it
is difficult to say whether or how much the No Child Left Behind law is driving
the achievement gains. See full story here:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003736070_nochild06.html
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MAGNA AWARDS
NOMINATION FORMS AVAILABLE
The American School Board Journal
annually presents the Magna Awards to honor school districts around the country
for achievements in a wide variety of programs, from curriculum and technology
to community engagement and school board training. The Magna Awards nomination
forms for 2008 are now on-line and are worth a review by Alaska school
districts, big and small. The deadline to apply is October 1, 2007. See the
nomination forms here:
http://www.asbj.com/magna/index.html
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Alaska School Boards
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Association of
Alaska School Boards
1111 West 9th
Street, Juneau, Alaska 99801-1510 Tel. 907-586-1083
Fax 907-586-2995
Email: aasb@aasb.org
Website: http://www.aasb.org