CFK Weekly -- April 26, 2004

Connect for Kids.org: Better Policies for Kids

NEW ON CONNECTFORKIDS.ORG
**Every Picture Tells Your Story
**Support Connect for Kids
**More Pictures, More Stories

KIDS & POLITICS
**Presidential Candidates and the Politics of Education
**Congress Still Negotiating Budget Blueprint
**Advocates Protest Cuts in Youth Crime Prevention Dollars
**Parents Advocate for Improved Special Education

ZERO TOLERANCE: BEGINNING OF A BACKLASH?
**Northern Lights: Success in Student Achievement and School Discipline
**Zero Tolerance Raises Alarms

STATE SPENDING CUTS SQUEEZE SERVICES FOR FAMILIES
**Many States Cut Budgets as Fiscal Squeeze Continues
**Property Tax Feels Weight of Demands
**Report Finds State Preschool Funds Fall Short of Rhetoric

GOOD JOBS, BAD JOBS, NEW JOBS... NO JOBS?
**Most States Still Stuck with Poor Job Growth
**Getting Time Off: Access to Leave among Working Parents

HUNGER AND NUTRITION
**State of the States on Hunger
**Schools Stuff Backpacks with Food
**Preschoolers' Choice: Tofu or Potato Chips?

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
**American University Offers Strategic Communications Institute

QUALITY COUNTS, IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL
**Evaluation Exchange Assesses Out-of-School Quality
**ETS Urges Steps on Teacher Quality

KEEPING KIDS SAFE
** Antidepressants Called Unsafe for Children
**CFK Asks the Experts

FOCUS ON THE STATES
**State-by-State News

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

PRIVACY POLICY

We encourage distribution of this information! If reprinting in whole or part, please attribute it to Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org).

__________________________________

NEW ON CONNECTFORKIDS.ORG

**Every Picture Tells Your Story
For the young photographers in Lynne Bernay-Roman's classes, image-making becomes an inward voyage of discovery—one their teachers say helps them be more successful in school. Letitia Monaco looks at how Bernay-Roman's Finding Focus Through Photography curriculum is working in some Palm Beach County schools.
http://www.connectforkids.org/

**Support Connect for Kids
Thanks Cathy, Bettie, and Jonathan! These recent donors not only told us how much they appreciate Connect for Kids, they sent in contributions to help keep this resource alive and well. Follow their lead and donate today.
http://www.connectforkids.org/

**More Pictures, More Stories
Lynne Bernay-Roman's students work hard to put together visual elements and text in ways that explore their feelings about the world around them. How are they doing? You be the judge -- we've gathered some more images from the Finding Focus Through Photography classes into this slide show.
http://www.connectforkids.org/

_____________________________________________________

KIDS & POLITICS

**Presidential Candidates and the Politics of Education
America's having a high school crisis: each school day, more than 3,000 students drop out, resulting in a national graduation rate of only 68 percent. Of those who do graduate, too many read below basic levels. Advocates -- fearing these stark numbers are translating into a skilled workforce shortage that will affect America's international competitiveness -- are urging policymakers at all levels of government to pay more attention to high schools. This Alliance for Excellent Education policy brief compares the presidential candidates' Bush and Kerry's positions on reforming America's secondary schools and students.
http://www.all4ed.org/publications/ThePresidentialCandidates/index.html

**Congress Still Negotiating Budget Blueprint
Federal budget negotiations continued to stall because several moderate Republicans are demanding that final budget resolution include the "pay-as-you-go" rules that treat tax cuts and entitlement spending the same as discretionary spending -- requiring that all increases be offset with spending cuts.

The National PTA argues that while the Senate's education funding is better than the House's version, both budget resolutions fail to provide the resources necessary for No Child Left Behind reforms and adequate services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Because neither budget resolution limits tax cuts, the PTA warns that education and other programs for children and families may continue to be inadequately funded over the next five years.
http://www.pta.org/ptawashington/news/dcnews/index.asp#4

Connect for Kids offers an overview of the major decisions in the FY2005 budget.
http://www.connectforkids.org/benton_topics1544/benton_topics_show.htm?doc_id=208292

**Advocates Protest Cuts in Youth Crime Prevention Dollars
Sponsored by the National Collaboration for Youth and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition, law enforcement officials, victims, young people and youth program leaders will visit Congress on Tuesday, April 27 to urge federal lawmakers to restore proposed FY2005 cuts in crime prevention funding for juvenile justice programs. Advocates say the recent trend of cutting federal dollars that support local youth crime prevention and intervention programs denies youth the very services they need to become productive adults. For more information, email Morna Murray mmurray@childrensdefense.org.

**Parents Advocate for Improved Special Education
A Connect for Kids reader objected to last week's information about the National Center for Learning Disabilities' support for reauthorizing IDEA, saying NCLD “is on the other side of most of us parents” for students with special needs. Learn more in the Special Ed Advocate Newsletter.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/04/al.idea.0319.htm

_____________________________________________________

ZERO TOLERANCE: BEGINNING OF A BACKLASH?

**Northern Lights: Success in Student Achievement and School Discipline
Parents and the public say they're concerned about discipline in the schools, but zero tolerance policies that suspend or expel youth can be counterproductive and perpetuate achievement gaps. Instead, Northern Elementary School used old-fashioned disciplinary techniques, core values, committed teachers and leaders, and child and family support programs to dramatically raise achievement levels and reduce suspensions. During the 1999-2000 school year, only 15 percent of the students were reading at grade level. With school reforms, that number steadily increased to 81 percent in 2003.
http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/kentucky/index2.html

**Zero Tolerance Raises Alarms
According to this Houston Chronicle article, parents fear zero tolerance policies that increase the kind and level of offenses for which students can be sent to discipline schools, suspended, expelled, ticketed or even arrested may be going too far.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/education/2511629

_____________________________________________________

STATE SPENDING CUTS SQUEEZE SERVICES FOR FAMILIES

** Many States Cut Budgets as Fiscal Squeeze Continues
Reluctant to raise taxes and running out of short-term fixes, states are once again turning to spending cuts as they face gaps in their FY2005 budgets, reports the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. State spending as a share of the economy remained fairly steady between 1990 and 2000, but has declined sharply in the last few years, putting important government services at risk in many states, from cutbacks in health coverage and child care assistance to cuts in school funding, support for higher education and aid for local social and safety services.
http://www.cbpp.org/4-22-04sfp.htm

**Property Tax Feels Weight of Demands
With state budgets in crisis and schools under heightened federal pressure to raise student achievement, school leaders and finance experts say sales, income, and other taxes simply don't generate enough to meet school needs. At the same time, measures to improve student learning, like reducing class sizes, offering extended-day programs, or providing tutoring, are raising costs. Public support for the property tax, the foundation of American school finance for generations, may be crumbling just as state revenues are declining.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=32property.h23

**Report Finds State Preschool Funds Fall Short of Rhetoric
The Education Trust says that in their FY2005 budget proposals, the nation's governors have failed to ask for pre-kindergarten funding to match their rhetoric for investing in school readiness. Only 11governors proposed increased investment in pre-kindergarten -- six Republicans and five Democrats. The unevenness of state budget proposals mirrors a wide variation in program quality, percentage of children served and limits on access.
http://www.trustforearlyed.org/docs/TEEGovPreKProposalNarrative.pdf

_____________________________________________________

GOOD JOBS, BAD JOBS, NEW JOBS... NO JOBS?

**Most States Still Stuck with Poor Job Growth
Strong labor markets produce secure jobs and rising wages. Weak labor markets cause job uncertainty or loss and stagnant or falling wages. The March 2004 job numbers were good news in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas -- but not so good in most states, which continue to have months with job losses or inadequate job gains, reports the Economic Policy Institute's JobWatch. The nation as a whole and 35 states still have fewer jobs than when the recession started three years ago.
http://www.jobwatch.org/20040423_job_growth_v_population_growth_marchA.pdf

**Getting Time Off: Access to Leave among Working Parents
Although access to maternity/paternity and paid leave is not universal, most working parents age 18 to 54 are employed at jobs that provide both. But those who need paid sick leave the most -- parents of very young children and welfare-to-work parents -- are least likely to have it, according to the Urban Institute. Many in the low-wage workforce lack paid time off, health benefits and opportunities for advancement that enable working parents to take care of their families.
http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=310977

_____________________________________________________

HUNGER AND NUTRITION

**State of the States on Hunger
The good news is that more eligible people are receiving food stamps and WIC, school lunch, school breakfast and after-school food, says the Food Research and Action Center in its annual state-by-state report on hunger. But economic trends and government decision-making are doing little to bridge the wealth gap in America. Despite jobs, millions of families struggle to keep poverty and hunger at bay. In 2002, 12 million households experienced either food insecurity or hunger; Black and Hispanic households experienced food insecurity at double the national average.
http://www.frac.org/html/news/Press_Release_04.21a.04.html

**Schools Stuff Backpacks with Food
America's Second Harvest has a program to help thousands of kids get through the weekend hunger-free, with the help of backpacks and food from school. The Detroit News reports on such a program by the St. Joseph School District, which sends home backpacks filled with canned fruit, cereal bars and other single-serving foods.
http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0404/15/a07-123790.htm

**Preschoolers' Choice: Tofu or Potato Chips?
Eating and fitness habits start early, so some preschools are introducing their young charges to good nutrition and exercise habits in efforts to combat the rise of obesity in children, reports Education Week.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=32obese.h23

_____________________________________________________

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

**American University Offers Strategic Communications Institute
Scholarships are available for nonprofit leaders who want to participate in the American University School of Communication weeklong seminar on strategic communications for nonprofits, May 16 -- 21, 2004 in Washington, DC. Learn the latest tools and trends and broaden your professional networks. Applications due by April 30.
http://www.aunonprofitinstitute.org

_____________________________________________________

QUALITY COUNTS, IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL

**Evaluation Exchange Assesses Out-of-School Quality
Assessing the quality of out-of-school time, sustaining participation and serving immigrant youth are among the articles in the spring issue of Harvard Family Research Project's "The Evaluation Exchange" on assessing and improving the quality of out-of-school time (OST) and youth development programs.
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval/issue25

**ETS Urges Steps on Teacher Quality
In a new position paper and Congressional testimony, the Educational Testing Service says the quality of teaching determines the quality of learning -- but improving teacher quality cannot be a one-shot effort. Among the recommendations are raising entry standards for licensing, providing support and mentoring programs for beginning teachers, continuing high-quality professional development programs, and observing and evaluating teachers in the classroom and throughout their careers.
http://www.ets.org/

_____________________________________________________

KEEPING KIDS SAFE

**Antidepressants Called Unsafe for Children
Four popular antidepressants -- Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor and Celexa -- used to treat thousands of American children are unsafe, ineffective, or both, according to the first careful scientific review to include all available studies, including data long withheld by the pharmaceutical industry. It is especially dangerous to prescribe these medications to children who are suicidal, because the data show a clear increase in the risk of suicidal behavior among children taking the drugs -- and no benefit. The research is in the current issue of The Lancet, but the Washington Post and other major news outlets have published useful summaries.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34792-2004Apr22.html

**CFK Asks the Experts
Growing research that shows some antidepressants may be linked to an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thinking in children and adolescents has raised the stakes for families struggling to help a depressed child. Connect for Kids interviewed two experts—Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Dr. Lawrence H. Diller—and found powerful similarities in the message each one has for parents.
http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_show.htm?doc_id=211133

_____________________________________________________

FOCUS ON THE STATES

**State-by-State News

Arizona
Potential budget cuts being discussed by the Arizona House Republican leadership includes eliminating state funding for substance abuse treatment, family literacy services, in-home services for abused and neglected children, high risk peri-natal programs, general assistance, community health centers, trauma centers and critical access hospitals, reports Arizona advocates for children.
http://www.azchildren.org/

California
The 1996 federal welfare reform law included a lifetime ban on benefits for drug felons. Many states have lifted or modified this ban, and a bill is now pending to do so in California. (See, “The War on People.”)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/18/EDG4H65J681.DTL

The Sacramento Hunger Commission's report "Hunger Hits Home" aims to mobilizes lawmakers to help create a “food secure” community by ing current anti-hunger programs and sponsoring new ones. (See, “Sacramento Tackles Hunger.”)
http://www.sacobserver.com/news/041304/sacramento_feeding_hungry.shtml

Maryland

On April 16, the United States Department of Justice ruled that conditions at Maryland's juvenile justice facilities violate youths' civil rights. Two facilities, Cheltenham and Hickey, house over 300 boys ranging in age from 12 to 20. Most youths are detained at Cheltenham prior to adjudication; some are there for lengthy periods following adjudication while they await placement in a treatment program.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/April/04_crt_247.htm

Oregon

Despite relatively low poverty rates Oregon has one of the highest percentages of food insecure families in the nation because of the state's high housing, health care, and child care costs. The Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force's five-year-plan outlines 40 ways, big and small, that we can all help reduce hunger in our communities.
http://www.oregonhunger.org/

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

Need to subscribe? Or go to http://www.connectforkids.org

You can always find the current Weekly, and archived editions, at
http://www.connectforkids.org//newsletter-url1571/newsletter-url.htm

You are currently subscribed to %%list.name%% as: %%emailaddr%%.
To unsubscribe send a blank email to %%email.unsub%%

PRIVACY POLICY

In an effort to better serve the subscribers of our electronic newsletters, the Connect for Kids Weekly and Connections, periodically we may employ tracking software that lets us know how subscribers move from the e-mail newsletter to our Web site. The information we gather is strictly intended for internal evaluation and will not be shared with any individual or organization.
http://www.connectforkids.org/information1537/information_show.htm?doc_id=9207

Keep up the good work, everyone!

Jan Richter, Policy and Outreach Specialist, and the Connect for Kids team
Jan@connectforkids.org