From Bake Sales to Tenure, Ethics Issues are Featured in Week’s Education News

Nov 17th, 2008 • Posted in: News

Also, press reports say Dallas public schools have been caught doing the wrong thing for the right reason — trying to get new employees paid more quickly by issuing phony Social Security numbers

VARIOUS DATELINES
Education and ethics crossed paths in several stories this week. Among the headlines:

• Bake sales have become the latest casualty in the battle over whether schools should manage the quality of food that students eat on campus. California’s tough new nutritional standard for public schools have made the staple of fundraising pretty much a thing of the past, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. State guidelines dictate that any food sold on campus during the school day meet certain guidelines as to fat and caloric content — rules that eliminate most bake-sale fare. Some parents told the Chronicle that the restrictions are draconian and put a significant dent in a proven fundraising strategy — a problem in times of financial crisis. Advocates counter that the goal of the recently enacted legislation is simply to protect students and stem obesity, and that schools had set themselves up for this situation by becoming dependent on a fundraising tactic that was inherently bad for children.
• The head of the school system in Washington, D.C., is taking on the cherished system of teacher tenure, arguing that it hurts children by making it difficult to fire incompetent instructors. The New York Times reports that chancellor Michelle Rhee has proposed raises of as much as $40,000 per year, financed by private foundations, for teachers willing to give up their tenure. The Washington Teachers’ Union is divided over the proposal, but according to the Times, many union members say tenure is a critical protection against arbitrary termination. Rhee counters that tenure is “the holy grail of teacher unions,” telling the Times that it “has no educational value for kids; it only benefits adults.”
• The Dallas public school system provided foreign citizens with fake social security numbers to get them on the payroll quickly, according to an internal investigation by the system. The Dallas Morning News reports that the practice continued for years and ended only this summer. School officials say that while providing bogus numbers was “inappropriate,” it was done only to get foreign nationals who were in alternative licensing program onto the payroll quickly. The Morning News says the district has hired employees from various countries, including Mexico and Spain, to help stem a shortage of bilingual teachers.

Sources: Dallas Morning News, Nov. 14 — New York Times, Nov. 14 — San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 13.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Oct. 20 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 15 — Related Newsline story, June 9 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 31 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 31, 2007.

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One Response »

1. Ethics Newsline® » News » Study Says Banning Fast-Food Ads on TV Could Cut Childhood Obesity on November 24th, 2008 at 8:23 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 17 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 5, 2007 — Related Newsline story, June [...]

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