District Administration - June 2007 - (Page 16)

BRIEFINGS NewsUpdate PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT CEO Paul Vallas announced in April that he would be leaving the 174,000-student system, saying that he had fulﬁlled his ﬁveyear commitment to serve the district. Vallas’ administration eﬀected a substantial rise in standardized test scores, an inﬂux of smaller, vocation-based high schools, and a more uniform, standardized curriculum. In April the Louisiana Department of Education called upon Vallas and other national school leaders for guidance as it works to rebuild New Orleans’ school system, which has been plagued by busing and facility problems and ﬂuctuating enrollment in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Vallas spent two weeks doing consulting work for the Louisiana Education Department, and in May department Photo courtesy of David Swanson / Philadelphia Inquirer By Zach Miners Vallas Leaves Philly for New Orleans and the rest are divided between the RSD and privately run charter organizations. The entire New Orleans public school system only has 26,000 students, yet taking on the ailing district is ﬁtting for Vallas, who embraced the challenge of taking charge of the much larger Philadelphia district. An article in The Times-Picayune, New Orleans’ newspaper, called the district “one of the nation’s most dysfunctional school systems in the wake of one of the worst disasters in the nation’s history.” When asked about his future during the preliminary talks of taking over the New Orleans schools, the 53-year-old CEO said at a press conference, “You know I like challenges.” In New Orleans, he will deﬁnitely get one. He oﬃcially takes over on July 1. Paul Vallas is the new head of the state-run public school system in New Orleans. oﬃcials announced that Robin Jarvis will resign as superintendent of the Recovery School District (RSD)—which runs 22 of the city’s 58 public schools—and will be replaced by Vallas. Five of the city’s best-performing schools are run by the local school board, Free Books Hit the Gulf Coast U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION Margaret Spellings in April visited Charles B. Murphy Elementary School in Kiln, Miss., to launch the 2007 Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative, a public-private partnership between the USDE, First Book, and Scholastic. Building on the Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative established in 2006 by the USDE and First Book, a national nonproﬁt organization giving children in lowincome families the opportunity to read, the initiative will distribute 500,000 new books to help replenish schools, libraries, community organizations and homes in the ﬁve states most aﬀected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “The [initiative] is the kind of partnership that has been so instrumental in helping the communities throughout this region … and get books into the hands of children,” said Spellings. 16 June 2007 Top Five Urban School Districts THE BROAD FOUNDATION ANNOUNCED IN APRIL THE FIVE URBAN SCHOOL districts that are ﬁnalists for this year’s Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual $1 million award to honor the urban districts making the greatest progress in raising student achievement while reducing the achievement gap. The ﬁve ﬁnalists are: • Bridgeport (Conn.) Public Schools • Long Beach (Calif.) Uniﬁed School District • Miami-Dade (Fla.) County Public Schools • New York City Department of Education •Northside Independent School District in Northwest San Antonio (Texas) The winner will be announced on September 18 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and will receive $500,000 in scholarships for graduating seniors. The other four ﬁnalist districts will each receive $125,000 in scholarships. The Broad Foundation is a national venture philanthropy established by Eli Broad, a renowned business leader who founded two Fortune 500 companies, Sun America and KB Home. FAST FACT ELLs are projected to comprise 25 percent of K12 student enrollment by 2010. Source: National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - June 2007

Contents
Editor's Letter
Letters
News Update
Security Update
Technology Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
Admistrator Profile
District Profile
Refreshing the ISTE Technology Standards
Action Teams
RE-Construction
Professional Development for the New Century
Multimedia LIT
New Products
Leadership Books
Problem/Solution
Online Edge
Speaking Out
Supervisor's Opinion
Professional Opinion
Research Corner
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - June 2007