Student athletes and those involved in other extracurricular activities in states including New Jersey, South Carolina and Indiana are signing codes of conduct that hold them accountable for their behavior regardless of whether school is in session.

Some parents say their districts are going too far.

“Schools are crossing the boundary of what they’re authorized to do and crossing into the realm of the family — that’s unconstitutional,” says attorney Matt Wolf who is challenging the policy in Haddonfield, N.J., where he represents a teenager who lost extracurricular privileges because of an underage drinking charge.

Haddonfield’s attorney, Joe Betley, says the district is well within its right to establish rules for participating in extracurricular activities.

“We can demand higher standards in leadership positions and from those wearing the uniforms of Haddonfield,” Betley says.

Code of conduct rules vary from district to district. Some cover only the school year, some include athletes and some expand to all students participating in extracurricular school activities.

“Participating in extracurricular activities is a privilege,” says Oby Lyles, spokesman for South Carolina’s largest school district in Greenville County. That privilege can be revoked when students who wear a school’s uniform or represent a school don’t follow rules of conduct at school and in the community.

• In South Carolina, Greenville and Pickens counties have year-round conduct policies for athletes, holding them accountable when school is not in session.

• In Indiana, Carmel Clay schools have a year-round conduct policy for athletes and band and choir members. The school district expanded conduct rules three years ago to include those involved in extracurricular activities, says student services director Steve Dillon.

• At least half a dozen New Jersey school districts have year-round conduct expectations of both athletes and students involved in extracurricular activities.

Other districts restrict the codes to a sports season or the school year, such as in Springfield, Mo., and Salem-Keizer, Ore., where athletes must be on good behavior 24-7 during the school year.

“To label something a privilege does not justify a violation of the First Amendment,” says Ken Falk, legal director for Indiana’s American Civil Liberties Union, which is fighting a code-of-conduct case in federal district court. The case involves discipline placed on two female volleyball players in the Smith Green Community schools last year after they were accused of posting sexually suggestive photos on social networking sites during summer vacation.

Erik Weber, attorney for the Smith-Green schools, says such policies can be enforced year-round because those representing the school in any kind of uniform can be held to a higher standard.

“If they don’t like the rules, they don’t have to play,” Weber says.

In Mountain Lakes, N.J., Michael Bernal-Silva fought his daughter’s suspension from a basketball team in 2007 after she attended a party where other underage students were drinking. Bernal-Silva settled out of court with the school district.

“You’re not cops,” Bernal-Silva said to the school board.

Bruno reports for the Daily Record in Morris County, N.J. Contributing: Ron Barnett, The Greenville (S.C.) News; Tim Evans, The Indianapolis Star; Didi Tang, Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader; Tracy Loew, (Salem, Ore.) Statesman Journal.

Schools enforce year-round conduct rules

The nation’s leading college lender Sallie Mae released Tuesday its second annual study of college students and parents conducted by Gallup.

It shows 60% of parents have saved money for their child’s college education, about the same as a year ago. However, it is surprising that nearly a quarter of all college savings has been set aside in retirement accounts including 401(k)s or individual retirement accounts, said Sarah Ducich, senior vice president for public policy at Sallie Mae.

The typical family saving for college has amassed an average of $28,102 and is projected to have saved $48,367 by the time their child reaches age 18.

The problem with relying on retirement accounts is that when money is withdrawn before age 59 1/2, the accountholder must pay taxes on the funds as well as a 10% penalty.

As an alternative, some families are choosing to take out a loan against a 401(k) account. This is also problematic because it removes a portion of the retirement fund, reducing the potential for growth. Also there’s the possibility that the loan will need to be repaid quickly if the accountholder changes jobs. Whether an outright withdrawal or a loan, either way, parents are shortchanging their retirement savings potential, Ducich said.

An additional disadvantage to using the 401(k) for college savings is that the money withdrawn this year counts as income for the parents. This means that when the family applies for financial aid the next year, that amount will be included in income, reducing potential aid.

Of course not all savings is held in retirement accounts. About 21% of money set aside for college is in investments and 14% sits in general savings accounts, which return very little interest.

About 12% is held in dedicated college savings 529 accounts.

A few responses in the 2010 study show signs that economic pressures have affected how families are setting their savings goals.

About 72% of parents say they expect to pay half or more of their child’s education costs, but that is down from 79% a year ago. Also, fewer parents intend to pay most of the cost with 27% saying that this year, compared with 33% in 2009.

That’s one more indicator that the recession has forced people to make decisions about their money, said Bill Diggins, a senior consultant at Gallup Inc., who helped conduct this year’s survey.

Economic confidence has dropped over the last couple of years and discretionary spending has gone down and continues to fall. Savings rates however, have increased. Diggins said Gallup research indicates about two-thirds of those who are saving more say it’s a permanent change.

“We’re finding people will pay for and sacrifice for things they value,” Diggins said. “It’s clear from these studies that they continue to place a high priority on college for their kids.”

The study illustrates that point with 21% of parents saying college savings is their most important savings goal, up from 14% in 2009. Saving for retirement fell to 22% as the most important savings priority from 27%.

About 38% of families said they are saving the same this year as last year and 34% said they are saving less. About 28% boosted their savings.

The study also shows that families understand the need to start early. The average age when parents began a college account is about 3 years old.

It’s important now to educate parents on the most efficient ways to save, Ducich said.

The dedication to help children obtain a college education is there, it’s now a matter of helping families put that savings to work balancing earning potential with safe investments that help them reach their goals.

Study: Families saving for college aren’t always choosing best options

Preliminary data from a 10-year study released Thursday, looking at how California foster kids stack up against their at-risk peers, suggests that academic challenges posed by poverty, disability and language barriers are compounded when those children also have to shuffle from school to school because they have no permanent family.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, shows that foster children consistently scored lower in state English and math tests, even when factors such as income, race and learning disabilities were taken into account. The findings confirm earlier studies analyzing foster children in the Midwest and Washington state but the final California report, due out later this year, will be the first to examine how different circumstances within the foster care network affect student learning, researchers said.

The data was released at a Capitol Hill news conference by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and Fostering Media Connections, which are hoping to spotlight the issue in Congress. Legislation, sponsored by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., would direct child-welfare agencies to collaborate with local school districts to ensure that foster children remain in their current schools after they move to new school districts if it’s in their best interest.

There are some 400,000 children in foster care at any one time in the United States. The average time a child spends in the foster care system is about 27 months, advocates say.

No one needs to promote the importance of stability to Christina Miranda, a foster child from the Reading, Pa., area who shuttled among 10 different schools between the ages of 5 and 18. At 13, Christina thought she had finally found a permanent school — until she was told one afternoon that she had three hours to leave because she was being sent to another family in another community.

“I remember moving to that new foster home,” she said during the news conference. “I had this new room. I’m in a new town. I’m with a new foster care agency. New school. New teachers. New friends. That can be very traumatizing for a child, but to have to go through that all the times that I did, it’s unbelievable.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who has been a foster parent to 23 children — all teenage girls — said she’s not surprised how important a permanent home is for a student who may be struggling with the complexities of algebra or the intricacies of grammar.

“The one thing we learned in foster care is that stability is very important in a child’s life,” she said. “Children need a sense of place.”

Study: Foster children struggle to learn

Last Dec. 3, after years of attacks on Asian immigrant students, something finally snapped.

Fueled by rumors, a group of students roamed the halls searching for Asian victims until one was attacked in a classroom. Later, about 70 students stormed the cafeteria, where several Asians were beaten. About 35 students pushed past a police officer onto the so-called “Asian floor,” but were turned back. After school, Asians being escorted home were attacked anyway by a mob of youths.

Almost all the attackers were black — but few observers believe the violence was due to racial hatred. Instead, they cite isolation of different groups within the school, certain students’ warped “gangster” values, and for some, simmering resentments over perceived benefits for Asian students.

About 30 Asians were injured that day; seven went to hospitals. Past attacks had been reported to administrators and police, but students say nothing seemed to change.

Ly (pronounced LEE) was in the lunchroom for what he calls “the riot.” Days later, he was followed home from school and punched in the face on his front stoop.

He had arrived from Vietnam two years earlier, speaking nearly no English, the son of poor, uneducated parents. He thought America would be like the Hannah Montana TV episodes he had watched in Vietnam. What he found was closer to The Wire. So he kept his head down, sought silent refuge among his countrymen and tried to make his way through the broken system.

Dec. 3 was a turning point. He realized the system must change — and that he and his fellow immigrants were the ones to make that happen.

Their method? Guided by local activists, and despite reservations from some parents, about 50 Asian students boycotted school for a week.

“Before, I was timid. I didn’t really want to get myself into trouble,” says Ly, 18. Then he realized, “If everybody’s silent, nobody speaks up, the problem keeps going on without being resolved. I feel like I or my friends have to speak up and organize to tell people this is not right.

“We had to fight for it.”

‘Just suffer it’

Duong Ly’s parents, ethnic Chinese who grew up in Vietnam, worked 27 years to grasp the bottom rung of the ladder to American success.

His mother, Phung Mac, attended school through the second grade, when her family ran out of money to pay for more. His father, Tu Ly, made it through the sixth grade. In 1981, they submitted their first paperwork to immigrate to the United States.

“You had to have a certain background to go to school, be in the Communist Party,” Tu Ly says in Cantonese as his son translates. “Your grandparents had to be a party member for you to get into good schools. Otherwise it cost a lot of money to get an education.”

Ly’s parents lived in Ho Chi Minh City, eking out a living selling “pho” noodle soup, rising at 5 a.m. and working in their shop until 9 or 10 at night. All extra money went toward school for Duong (pronounced YUHNG) and his older brother, and fees for immigration paperwork. At times they could not pay their rent and were forced to move, but they always made sure their boys stayed in school.

Ly’s mother developed painful hip problems. Her younger brother, who had already moved to America, sent money to pay for an operation. It was unsuccessful — the doctor said it was “an experiment. If you want a better … operation, you need to pay more money,” she says in Cantonese.

In 2008, after spending about $20,000 on immigration fees, the family was approved and came to Philadelphia. “We finally achieved our wish: freedom,” Tu Ly says. “We finally had a chance for a better education.”

South Philadelphia High looms over an entire city block in a poor section of South Philadelphia long populated by descendants of voyagers from Italy, other European nations and the black American South. Asians and Latinos are now coming in greater numbers. Today, the school is about 70% black and 18% Asian.

During Duong Ly’s first year, there were 45 reports of “dangerous incidents” such as weapons possession or assaults at the school of about 1,000 students, enough to earn a “persistently dangerous” label from the state. There also were 326 reports of lesser crimes such as fighting, threats or robberies. The graduation rate was 48%. Only 16% of students were proficient or better in reading and 8% in math, according to state test results.

Within weeks of starting school, Ly was robbed in the bathroom. His older brother was punched in the face. “Our friends told us, ‘Just suffer it,’” Ly says.

They didn’t report either incident.

‘Discrimination happens’

Duong Ly speaks dispassionately, expressing no racial animosity, when asked to explain how fellow students could commit such vicious attacks.

“Because they live in a violent environment,” he suggests. “Maybe their parents have problems and troubles, so they want to express their anger by violence.”

His father also declines to condemn the attackers. “In Vietnam,” he says, “the original Vietnamese people don’t like us because we are a different ethnicity. People from the countryside who move to the city get discrimination from city people. It’s the same here. They don’t have an understanding about who we are. Discrimination happens in every society.”

About a dozen black students were suspended or expelled after Dec. 3. Their names have been kept secret, and they have not commented publicly.

Some other black students show little sympathy for them. “They’re just hating on other races. They don’t have anything better to do with their lives,” says Tyreke Williams, who graduated last June.

Wali Smith makes no excuses for the attacks, but understands where they come from. A community specialist who holds workshops on anger management and conflict resolution in various schools, he witnessed the Dec. 3 violence.

The South Philly native says blacks have always felt marginalized in the neighborhood dominated by Italians and Irish. Now, some students feel an almost unconscious resentment when they see their Asian counterparts studying on their special second-floor sanctuary, which was established to provide language programs and provide a more welcoming environment.

“Those (black) kids feel the majority of the staff there does not care about their education,” Smith says. “They see these Asian kids come in and be nurtured, and they want that same kind of comfort.”

Then there is a small group of troublemakers with a value system that says, “it’s cool to be gangster,” Smith says. “But really you’re afraid, a scared coward. So you take advantage of weak people.”

“It’s not based on race, it’s based on opportunity,” Smith said of the history of violence against Asians. “If they go to the bathroom and take your money, and you don’t report it, they’ll just keep riding it until the wheels fall off.”

School, community and beyond

The Asian students and activists reserve almost all of their criticism for administrators and the school district, which they say consistently failed to protect students.

A school district spokesman did not return a call for comment. Administrators have insisted that they responded to Asian students’ complaints and tried their best to combat violence that has become part of the culture for some Philadelphia youths.

“These problems are long-standing and go beyond the school and into the community,” district superintendent Arlene Ackerman said a week after the attacks.

A report by a retired judge, which was commissioned by the district, said there were confrontations between a small group of black and Asian students on Dec. 2 that led to the widespread Dec. 3 attacks on random Asians. The report was criticized by Asians who say it failed to account for years of documented violence and that investigators did not interview many student victims and witnesses.

Yet Duong Ly is still enthusiastic about his school. He says the English as a Second Language program is good, the teachers care, there are plenty of computers with Internet access — and it’s all free.

“If I study hard I will get a lot of opportunities, scholarships, grants…,” he says. “It’s rewarding to work hard and study hard here, more than in Vietnam. I can go to a better school, go to college, get a career, then I can take care of my parents. So I like it more here.”

He also likes his new home, a narrow, two-story row house bought from his uncle. They are the only Asians on the block.

The front door opens into the living room, where the family’s bicycles (they have no car) share space with an old, fat television, couches and a folding table for meals. On the far wall is a handsome curio cabinet of polished wood, ornately carved, holding photographs of ancestors.

Tu Ly works as a cook in an Asian supermarket. His wife is unemployed. The family has permanent resident status and expects to become naturalized citizens within a few years. Recently, Medicaid paid for a hip replacement for Duong’s mother.

“We owe this country a lot,” Tu Ly says. “The government paid a lot of money for my wife’s operation. We will work our best to contribute to society. My children can choose whatever job they like, as long as they do something to contribute to this country.”

New initiatives

The boycott was not an easy step to take. Some students were afraid of being expelled. Many parents were against it, fearing their children would become even more conspicuous targets. Some said local activists were making the situation worse.

Once it started, though, attitudes changed. “After the boycott, I felt much more confident and powerful because our voices were heard by the people,” Duong Ly says.

The district installed 126 security cameras. A “50-50 club” took Asian and black students on group outings. More bilingual staffers and diversity training were added. Principal LaGreta Brown was forced out on the eve of a faculty no-confidence vote after a local newspaper discovered her certification had lapsed.

All eyes are on the incoming principal. Otis Hackney III is 37, a black Philadelphia native, fresh from two years as principal of a mostly white suburban high school. He got the call from Philly one night when he was standing on the sidelines of his school stadium, watching a lacrosse game under the lights.

“My first thought was, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Hackney says during an interview in his new office, the cinderblock walls bare except for a picture of the singing legend Marian Anderson, class of 1921.

Soon, though, Hackney accepted the challenge. His immediate agenda includes building a relationship with the Asian community and creating a group of school stakeholders who meet regularly to set goals.

Hackney says all students should feel comfortable approaching him: “I want to listen more than I speak. Students are often much more honest than adults.” He bought a new conference table and spiffed up a room for community meetings: “The message is, this is an important place where we talk about important things.” He’s getting Asians out of their special floor and into the rest of the building. He’s looking at United Nations-style translation headphones for immigrant parents.

He is the fifth principal in six years, and he wants to stick around.

There is much to heal. The Vietnamese embassy has complained to the U.S. State Department. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a complaint with the Justice Department, which on August 27 found merit in the claims and advised the district to settle the matter. An investigation by the state Human Rights Commission is pending. The dynamic that exploded on Dec. 3 has not disappeared.

“If you’re that angry and frustrated about something that your behavior manifests itself that way, what are we not addressing as a school, as a community?” asks Hackney. “As African-Americans, we can’t forget our own struggle to the point that we become what we fought so hard against.”

“That’s one side. The other side is, when you have an immigrant population that comes in, what are the skill sets they need to function in this society? It can be very difficult for that child and that family to function in schools. So how do you put all that together? That’s my job.

“Part of it is getting people to see the human side in every person, identifying with their struggle. Once people begin to do that, you realize folks aren’t as privileged as you think they are. They don’t speak the language. They don’t have that many advantages over you. You’re just not taking advantage of the ones you have.”

Hope ahead?

Duong Ly had a busy summer: An internship at the University of Pennsylvania on Asian health issues; a psychology class at a community college; trips to conferences in Houston and Boston to discuss his new activism; being photographed for a Philadelphia magazine story that labeled the boycotters “heroes.” In between, he spent a little time working on his college essays and a lot of time on Facebook.

On Wednesday, he will walk through the battered metal doors of South Philadelphia High to start his senior year at what he hopes is a changed school.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he says.

Can Philadelphia school end black vs. Asian violence?

U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger says investigators have found no evidence of criminal intent by Lower Merion School District employees who activated tracking software that took thousands of webcam and screenshot images on school-provided laptops.

A student and his family sued the district in February, claiming officials invaded his privacy by activating the software. That case continues.

The district has acknowledged capturing 56,000 screen shots and webcam images so it could locate missing laptops.

Memeger says he decided to make Tuesday’s announcement to close the matter before the start of the school year.

Feds: No charges in Philadelphia school laptop-spying case

He and thousands of other teachers around the country could get their jobs back now that the Senate has approved an emergency stimulus package designed to keep educators and other public employees out of the unemployment line.

“My biggest thing is I want to go back to the school I was at for the students,” said Ebersbach, 43, one of 14 math teachers in the Toledo school district to receive notice a few weeks ago that their jobs were cut. “We’re in a high-poverty school and one thing the students need more than anything else is consistency. And they’re not going to get that.”

The $26 billion measure passed Thursday is less than was initially proposed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, but will provide $16 billion to help states balance their Medicaid budgets and $10 billion for grants to school districts to forestall layoffs.

Republicans strenuously opposed the measure, denouncing it as yet another federal bailout the government cannot afford and calling it a giveaway to public employee unions.

For educators across the country, it’s been a bewildering summer as money to save thousands of jobs stalled in Congress and unions and administrators sparred over ways to rehire laid-off teachers.

The result has been what is referred to in education circles as the “yo-yo effect.” School budgets, facing severe reductions in state funding, are cut. Layoffs are made. And some or even all of the teachers are hired back over the summer as officials scramble for money.

The money coming from Congress could help fill some of that void. But until districts actually have the money in hand, thousands of teachers must wait in limbo not knowing whether they’ll have jobs when school starts in a few weeks.

Data provided by the U.S. Department of Education on how many jobs the bill is expected to fund reads like the medical chart of a battered patient: 16,500 in California. In Texas, 14,500. More than 9,000 in Florida. Some 161,000 education jobs across the country in all.

“The Senate amendment will go a long way to protecting these jobs and ensuring that America’s educators are working to educate our way to a better economy,” Duncan said. “It’s the right thing to do for America’s students and America’s teachers.”

Throughout the summer, many districts had despaired that Congress would deliver any money, and scrambled to find other ways to bring back the teachers, offering early-retirement incentives and negotiating furlough days.

In Iowa, where 1,500 layoffs were announced earlier this year, the Des Moines district has called back all but 30 of the 173 teachers who were laid off. Twyla Woods, the district’s chief of staff, said they opened an early retirement option and hope to have enough attrition overall to bring back the remaining teachers.

In Santa Cruz, Calif., 82 teachers were laid-off this spring and rehired again this summer, also largely due to a negotiated retirement incentive that 41 workers opted into. Teachers also agreed to take furlough days. The entry level salary in the district is $40,000.

The efforts all saved jobs, but are not considered long-term solutions.

In other districts, no solution was reached at all, leaving hundreds unemployed and hoping for federal money.

Gretchen Marfisi in Florida was laid off in each of the last two summers, only to be rehired by the Broward County School District.

This year she canceled her family vacation and put her life on hold before being called back Thursday.

“Why are they firing all of us?” Marfisi said, her voice ringing with frustration. “Besides giving us all more gray hair and wrinkles, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of logic involved.”

Marfisi is now preparing to unpack all her boxes of teaching materials once again.

“It’s a relief to get a paycheck,” Marfisi said. “It’s just very weird and bizarre emotionally. It just in the process makes you feel like garbage.”

Mike Langyel, president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, worries about the long-term effects these series of layoffs will have on the teaching career.

“We don’t need to turn this into a Wal-Mart employment where you’re in for a while and you’re out,” Langyel said.

Teachers say the effect on morale has been overwhelming.

“Somebody said to me, ‘Teacher: I thought that was one field that was recession-proof,’” Ebersbach said. “I’m at a 50-50 shot.”

Turner reported from Atlanta. Armario reported from Miami.

Jobs bill offers teachers relief

A study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center highlights the growing diversity in higher education amid debate over the role of race in college admissions and controversy over Arizona‘s new ban on ethnic studies in public schools.

Newly released government figures show that freshman enrollment surged 6% in 2008 to a record 2.6 million, mostly due to rising minority enrollment. That is the highest increase since 1968 during the height of the Vietnam War, when young adults who attended college could avoid the military draft.

Almost three-quarters of the freshman increases in 2008 were minorities, of which the largest share was Hispanics.

The enrollment increases were clustered mostly at community colleges, trade schools, and large public universities, which tend to have more open admissions policies and charge less tuition. Still, the gains in minorities were seen at almost all levels of higher education, with white enrollment dipping to 53% at community colleges and 62% at four-year colleges.

Preliminary government data show freshman college enrollment continued rising in 2009 to fresh highs, but demographic breakdowns were not yet available.

“The nation is moving beyond whether minorities have access to post-secondary education,” said Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew who wrote the report. “The question increasingly is not ‘which youth go beyond high school?’ but ‘who goes where?’”

California, the District of Columbia, Arizona, Alabama and Nevada had the largest freshman enrollment increases in 2008, with gains ranging from 11% to 21%. States registering declines included Minnesota, Nebraska, Delaware and Oklahoma, which dropped as much as 5%.

Demographers say much of the college enrollment gains reflect the nation’s rapidly changing demographics, in which 43% of all students in K-12 are now minority. But the recession, too, is adding to the increases as more high school graduates — primarily Hispanics — enroll immediately in college rather than take their chances in the labor force.

Among the findings:

•Freshman enrollment of Hispanics in higher education jumped by 15% in 2008, compared to 8% for blacks, 6% for Asians and 3% for whites.

•The share of 18- to 24-year-olds who earned a high school diploma reached an all-time high of 85%, up from 84% in 2007. Among Asians, the number was 92%, whites 90%, blacks 79% and Hispanics 70%.

•Colleges showing the largest freshmen increases included Fresno City College in California, jumping 448% to 2,998 students; Arizona State University, rising 21% to 8,458; and American Public University System in West Virginia, increasing 332% to 121 students.

The findings add to the burgeoning debate over the role of race in America amid a steady rise in the minority population that is expected to make them the new American majority by mid-century. In Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer last month signed a measure banning ethnic studies courses in public schools if they serve to promote racial solidarity or are designed primarily for students of a particular race.

Several minority groups have praised Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, who as solicitor general authorized the filing of a brief by the Justice Department defending the constitutionality of the University of Texas’ affirmative action program that considers race in undergraduate admissions. The case, still pending, is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Fry noted that minority enrollment appeared to be concentrated in the “basic tiers” of higher education, such as community colleges and trade schools. It is not clear whether gains occurred in more selective four-year colleges, which often use affirmative action to promote diversity.

In addition, while Hispanics have seen recent gains in college enrollment, they still lag overall. Hispanics make up roughly 12% of full-time undergraduate and graduate students, compared to their 16% representation in the total U.S. population.

“These findings are only half reassuring,” Fry said. “Many Hispanic teens still are not graduating high school, and the high school gains may not be sustained when the teen labor market revives. It also remains to be seen how many of these additional minority freshmen will actually complete degrees.”

Pew, an independent research group, based its findings on 2008 data from the Census Bureau and the Education Department. The figures for “white” refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity.

U.S. colleges see highest enrollment jump in 40 years

Across the country, mass layoffs of teachers, counselors and other staff members — caused in part by the drying up of federal stimulus dollars — are leading to larger classes and reductions in everything that is not a core subject, including music, art, clubs, sports and other after-school activities.

Educators and others worry the cuts could lead to higher dropout rates and lower college attendance as students receive less guidance and become less engaged in school. They fear a generation of young people could be left behind.

“It’s going to be harder for everybody to get an opportunity to get into college,” said Chelsea Braza, a 16-year-old sophomore at Silver Creek High School in San Jose. “People wouldn’t be as motivated to do anything in school because there’s no activities and there’s no involvement.”

The library at Silver Creek High is open for only an hour a day. The career center is closed. There is no more summer school. And student athletes must pay $200 each.

State budget cuts will make things even worse next year. The school will probably have five fewer classroom days and lose three of its four guidance counselors and three of its four custodians, as well as its health aide, mental health coordinator and student activities director. The future of student government, clubs, pep rallies, homecoming and prom is in doubt.

The federal government’s $787 billion economic stimulus package saved an estimated 300,000 education jobs for this year, but many of those positions are once again in jeopardy as that money dries up.

“Literally tens of millions of students will experience these budget cuts in one way or another,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who is urging Congress to provide another round of emergency funding for schools. “If we do not help avert this state and local budget crisis, we could impede reform and fail another generation of children.”

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has introduced legislation that would create a $23 billion fund to help schools retain teachers, principals and other staff members. The fate of the bill is uncertain.

The American Association of School Administrators estimates that 275,000 education jobs will be cut in the coming school year, based on an April survey. Other AASA surveys found that 52% of administrators plan to cut extracurricular activities, and 51% are reducing elective courses not required for graduation.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system in North Carolina, which cut $90 million last school year, plans to slice off an additional $78 million and eliminate more than 1,000 positions, including almost 650 teachers. The district will cut its middle school sports teams next year, and schools are cutting electives such as German and creative writing, Superintendent Peter Gorman said.

“I’m very concerned when we can’t offer those courses which hook an individual student to pursue their passion, or what could be their life’s vocation,” Gorman said.

In the Tupper Lake Central Schools in New York, the rural district in the Adirondacks will lose 25% of its instructional staff in the upcoming school year, which will probably result in bigger classes and the elimination of electives such as photography, modern art and ceramics, said Superintendent Seth McGowan.

“It seriously compromises the depth of the education our students will be receiving,” he said.

In Illinois, more than 20,000 jobs in schools — including an estimated 12,600 teachers and administrators — will be lost next school year, said Brent Clark, executive director of the Illinois Association of School Administrators.

South Florida’s Broward County, the nation’s sixth-largest school district, could lay off 800 to 1,000 teachers because of a $130 million budget shortfall. Officials are trying to figure out how to save sports and electives, considering options like sharing an art teacher between schools.

California’s relentless budget crisis is taking its toll on schools like Silver Creek High, part of San Jose’s East Side Union High School District, which is seeking to slash an additional 10% from its $200 million budget.

Over the past two years, the district, which has 12 campuses and 25,000 students, has eliminated more than 450 full-time positions, including nearly 200 teachers and certified staff, said Assistant Superintendent Cathy Giammona.

Class sizes have swelled to an average of 35 students, with more than 40 crammed into AP Calculus sections. And schools in the district won’t offer any courses unless they are fully enrolled, leading to cuts in electives such as photography, business, woodworking and Japanese.

Silver Creek High senior Anthony Chavez, who credits his counselors with helping him win a scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley, said he worries that students won’t get the same opportunities with just one counselor for more than 2,400 students.

“Through my four years here my counselors helped me with everything. I’m the first generation in my family to go to college,” he said. “I didn’t even know what SATs were.”

Major cuts: High schools face hard economic lessons

Across the country, mass layoffs of teachers, counselors and other staff members — caused in part by the drying up of federal stimulus dollars — are leading to larger classes and reductions in everything that is not a core subject, including music, art, clubs, sports and other after-school activities.

Educators and others worry the cuts could lead to higher dropout rates and lower college attendance as students receive less guidance and become less engaged in school. They fear a generation of young people could be left behind.

“It’s going to be harder for everybody to get an opportunity to get into college,” said Chelsea Braza, a 16-year-old sophomore at Silver Creek High School in San Jose. “People wouldn’t be as motivated to do anything in school because there’s no activities and there’s no involvement.”

The library at Silver Creek High is open for only an hour a day. The career center is closed. There is no more summer school. And student athletes must pay $200 each.

State budget cuts will make things even worse next year. The school will probably have five fewer classroom days and lose three of its four guidance counselors and three of its four custodians, as well as its health aide, mental health coordinator and student activities director. The future of student government, clubs, pep rallies, homecoming and prom is in doubt.

The federal government’s $787 billion economic stimulus package saved an estimated 300,000 education jobs for this year, but many of those positions are once again in jeopardy as that money dries up.

“Literally tens of millions of students will experience these budget cuts in one way or another,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who is urging Congress to provide another round of emergency funding for schools. “If we do not help avert this state and local budget crisis, we could impede reform and fail another generation of children.”

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has introduced legislation that would create a $23 billion fund to help schools retain teachers, principals and other staff members. The fate of the bill is uncertain.

The American Association of School Administrators estimates that 275,000 education jobs will be cut in the coming school year, based on an April survey. Other AASA surveys found that 52% of administrators plan to cut extracurricular activities, and 51% are reducing elective courses not required for graduation.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system in North Carolina, which cut $90 million last school year, plans to slice off an additional $78 million and eliminate more than 1,000 positions, including almost 650 teachers. The district will cut its middle school sports teams next year, and schools are cutting electives such as German and creative writing, Superintendent Peter Gorman said.

“I’m very concerned when we can’t offer those courses which hook an individual student to pursue their passion, or what could be their life’s vocation,” Gorman said.

In the Tupper Lake Central Schools in New York, the rural district in the Adirondacks will lose 25% of its instructional staff in the upcoming school year, which will probably result in bigger classes and the elimination of electives such as photography, modern art and ceramics, said Superintendent Seth McGowan.

“It seriously compromises the depth of the education our students will be receiving,” he said.

In Illinois, more than 20,000 jobs in schools — including an estimated 12,600 teachers and administrators — will be lost next school year, said Brent Clark, executive director of the Illinois Association of School Administrators.

South Florida’s Broward County, the nation’s sixth-largest school district, could lay off 800 to 1,000 teachers because of a $130 million budget shortfall. Officials are trying to figure out how to save sports and electives, considering options like sharing an art teacher between schools.

California’s relentless budget crisis is taking its toll on schools like Silver Creek High, part of San Jose’s East Side Union High School District, which is seeking to slash an additional 10% from its $200 million budget.

Over the past two years, the district, which has 12 campuses and 25,000 students, has eliminated more than 450 full-time positions, including nearly 200 teachers and certified staff, said Assistant Superintendent Cathy Giammona.

Class sizes have swelled to an average of 35 students, with more than 40 crammed into AP Calculus sections. And schools in the district won’t offer any courses unless they are fully enrolled, leading to cuts in electives such as photography, business, woodworking and Japanese.

Silver Creek High senior Anthony Chavez, who credits his counselors with helping him win a scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley, said he worries that students won’t get the same opportunities with just one counselor for more than 2,400 students.

“Through my four years here my counselors helped me with everything. I’m the first generation in my family to go to college,” he said. “I didn’t even know what SATs were.”

Major cuts: High schools face hard economic lessons

The San Leandro woman was one of about 500 students to pick up diplomas Saturday during a commencement ceremony at Mills College, an Oakland liberal arts college for women that also offers coed graduate programs.

“It’s taken me quite a long time because I’ve had a busy life,” said Soares. “I’m finally achieving it, and it makes me feel really good.”

Soares, who has six children and 40 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, is believed to be the world’s second oldest person to graduate from college.

Nola Ochs (OAKS) of Kansas became the oldest when she graduated from Fort Hays State University three years ago at age 95, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Ochs, now 98, topped that academic feat Saturday, when she received her master’s degree in liberal studies from Fort Hays.

The nonagenarians are earning their degrees as the Obama administration pushes to once again make the United States the world leader in college attainment by 2020.

Born in Richmond, Calif. in 1915, Soares said she had wanted to attend college right after she graduated from Roosevelt High School in Oakland in 1932, but that was during the Great Depression.

“Unless you had some help, it would have been impossible to go to college,” Soares said. “However I never lost the desire to go.”

Soares married twice, raised six children and worked as a nurse and event organizer before she retired and decided to return to pursue her dream of obtaining a college education.

She spent six years taking courses at Chabot College in Hayward before earning her associate’s degree when she was 85. Then she enrolled at Mills College in 2007.

“We are really amazed and very proud of my mom,” said Regina Hungerford, Soares’ youngest child. “The biggest thing that we can all learn is that we’re never too old.”

At Saturday’s commencement, she was congratulated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who delivered the keynote speech. She was cheered by her classmates and more than 40 family members.

“She’s really an incredible inspiration,” said Sandeep Brar, who also graduated Saturday.

Soares doesn’t plan to relax now that she finally has her degree. The art history major hopes to work as a docent at a San Francisco Bay area museum.

Soares said she doesn’t know the source of her longevity — no one in her family has lived as long as she has — but she believes it has something to do with eating lots of fresh vegetables.

She still drives, and she visits her doctor only once every three years to make sure she’s OK. She said she doesn’t take any prescription medications.

She hopes others realize that it’s never too late to get a college education.

“There’s no reason why you could not go back,” Soares said. “Some people do give up the idea or postpone the idea. It’s too late. It’s too much work. They may not realize that once you try it it’s exciting to go to school.”

California woman earns college diploma at age 94