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
November 16,
2006
-- ALASKA GETS NO FLEXIBILITY ON NO CHILD
LEFT BEHIND LAW
-- SAME-SEX BENEFITS RULING SPARKS LEGAL
STORM
-- KODIAK ELEMENTRY STUDENTS GET WIRED
-- $1.3 MILLION GRANTED TO AID LANGUAGE
PROGRAMS
-- NEW SCHOOL HONORS LEGACY OF BEGICH
-- CHILKOOT INDIAN ASSOCIATION OFFERS
CASH FOR GRADES
-- AASB HONORS SCHOOL LEADERS IN UNALASKA
AND COPPER RIVER
-- RESULTS OF VOTES ON EDUCATION ISSUES
ON STATE BALLOTS
ALASKA GETS NO FLEXIBILITY
ON NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND LAW
A federal agency has denied AlaskaÕs application to have more
flexibility in judging whether schools are making adequate yearly progress
under the No Child Left Behind law. One federal legislator says the only
alternative now is a fix by Congress. See full story here:
http://www.adn.com/news/education/story/8397787p-8292570c.html
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SAME-SEX BENEFITS RULING
SPARKS LEGAL STORM
Thirteen months ago, the stateÕs highest court ruled that
same-sex couples deserved the same employment benefits from the state as
married couples, even though they couldnÕt legally marry. It later gave the
state a deadline of Jan. 1, 2007, to implement the benefits. HereÕs a look at
whatÕs at stake and how the issue has led to a battle between the Alaska
Supreme Court, Gov. Frank Murkowski and the state Legislature. See full story
here:
http://newsminer.com/2006/11/15/3327/
Related links:
Text of Governor MurkowskiÕs
bill to implement the Supreme Court decision:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=SB4001A&session=24
Text of resolution offered
by the Alaska Senate seeking a delay in the court order:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=SCR401A&session=24
Read the full Supreme Court
opinion here:
http://www.ktoo.org/gavel/pdf/AKSC021216D.pdf
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KODIAK ELEMENTARY STUDENTS
GET WIRED
The Kodiak High School Commons was invaded by about 100
elementary school students on Tuesday to kick off a new school program that
puts notebook computers into the hands of students. Kodiak is one of 18 school districts selected to take part
in the first year of the AASB Consortium for Digital Learning. Read full story
here:
http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=4009
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$1.3 GRANTED TO
AID LANGUAGE PROGRAMS
Linguistics researchers at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks have been awarded $1.3 million to help teach
teachers in rural Alaska how to better serve bilingual students and students in
language immersion programs. The granted from the U.S. Department of Education
is the largest humanities grant the College of Liberal Arts has ever received.
See full story here:
http://newsminer.com/2006/11/14/3303/
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NEW SCHOOL
HONORS LEGACY OF BEGICH
The new East Anchorage middle school
will bear Congressman Nick
BegichÕs name, the Anchorage School Board decided Monday. See full story here:
http://www.adn.com/news/education/story/8407513p-8302991c.html
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CHILKOOT INDIAN
ASSOCIATION OFFERS CASH FOR GRADES
A Haines tribe is offering cash awards
to Native high school students who make the honor roll. Chilkoot Indian
Association officials say they started the ÒAchieverÕs ProgramÓ this year as a
way of rewarding honor students, providing an incentive to students just below
the honor roll, and tracking youths for future leadership positions in the
tribe. See full story here:
http://www.chilkatvalleynews.com/story-3.html
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AASB HONORS
EDUCATION LEADERS IN UNALASKA AND COPPER RIVER
The Unalaska City School
District earned top honors with the Outstanding School Board Award for 2006 by
the Association of Alaska School Boards.
At the groupÕs annual conference Nov. 9-12 in Anchorage, Beth Betts,
president of the Copper River School Board, took individual honors with the
Outstanding School Board Member Award.
ÒThe Unalaska City School
Board ranks high when it comes to growth in student achievement, education
leadership, community engagement and participation in state and national
education efforts,Ó said Carl Rose, AASB Executive Director. ÒThe community is
fortunate to have such a dedicated and talented board leading its public school
system.Ó
The Outstanding School Board
Award was accepted by the entire Unalaska board, including President Tammy
Fowler Pound, Juanita Lewis, Sonia Handforth-Kome, Rick Kniaziowski, Melanie Magnuson and student representative
Robyn Burt. Superintendent Darrell
Sanborn, who was honored as the 2007 Superintendent of the Year by the Alaska
Association of School Administrators, joined his board the AASB conference,
which as attended by more than 300 school leaders from around Alaska.
Betts, of Copper Center, has
served on the Copper River School District Board of Education since 1999. She
is an active advocate for public education in the halls of the State Capitol.
The districtÕs students were among the top performers in the state in 2005-06
when measured for math and language skills. Betts is now the President of the
AASB Board of Directors.
ÒThe youth and families of
the Copper River School District are fortunate to have a dedicated and
insightful leader like Beth Betts in a key policy position,Ó said Rose.
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RESULTS OF VOTES
ON EDUCATION ISSUES ON STATE BALLOTS
The Nov. 7 election saw voters in 15
states decide a wide variety of education policy issues, from school finance to
consolidation to the rights of immigrants to education. Here is a roundup of
those votes from Alabama to Wyoming, courtesy of the National School Board
Association:
http://boardbuzz.nsba.org/t+l/docs/ballot_measures.pdf
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Association of
Alaska School Boards
...promoting BOARD STANDARDS through...
Vision Structure
Accountability Advocacy Conduct Ethics
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