WILMINGTON, Del. — The U.S. Department of Education ‘s office of civil rights is investigating whether black male students are punished disproportionately in the Christina School District in Wilmington and Newark , one of five districts nationwide under scrutiny for its discipline record. Federal investigators are in the process of visiting all of Christina’s schools and have requested detailed discipline data for at least the last two academic years. Education Secretary Arne Duncan first mentioned districts were being investigated at a conference in late September hosted by the Department of Education’s civil rights office and the Department of Justice’s civil rights division. Besides Delaware, the school districts under review are in New York , North Carolina , Utah and Minnesota. CIVIL RIGHTS: Education Dept. sees spike in complaints One of the other districts, the San Juan School District in rural Utah, is being investigated for alleged gender disparities without respect to race or ethnicity, according to a school official. Christina district officials acknowledged that a disparity exists in the discipline rates for black male students that they are working to correct, according to district spokeswoman Wendy Lapham. She added that the district has been cooperating with the federal investigation. Statewide, black students made up about 32% of the public school population last year, but they accounted for about 55% of students who were suspended or expelled, according to an analysis by The News Journal published in June that compared discipline statistics provided by the state to school enrollments. The discipline rates for all students in Delaware are higher than the national average: 21,690 of the state’s 126,801 students — about one in six — were suspended or expelled in the 2009-2010 school year, which is down slightly from the year before. Those numbers include in-school suspensions. Counting only expulsions and out-of-school suspensions, the number dips to 14,368 students, or about one in nine. The Christina School District had the highest rate among the state’s 19 school districts in the 2008-2009 and the 2007-2008 school years. However, the district’s numbers went down in almost every school in 2009-2010. Lapham said the decrease is the result of an effort to better train teachers, help students learn to deal with conflicts and the elimination of a zero-tolerance policy. She said the district has been analyzing its data internally and has been “working to address any issues of disparity by working with teachers at the classroom level, increasing training for para-professionals, reviewing and discussing data at the school level and significantly reducing suspensions and expulsions.” In 2009, a 6-year-old boy brought a Boy Scout tool to a Christina school to eat his pudding at lunch. Under the district’s zero-tolerance policy, the boy faced a punishment of suspension or expulsion. The policy did not allow educators to make a punishment judgment call based on the context of the incident or age of the child. But after public outcry and widespread media attention, the school board decided to amend its policy as it pertained to kindergarten and first-grade students. Parents and officials point to that outcome when they complained about Christina’s high rate of punishment among black males. The 6-year-old was white. Wanda Stanley said she read about the boy’s case with interest because her 11-year-old daughter was expelled after a box cutter fell out of her jacket pocket at Pulaski Elementary School in Wilmington. The girl did not know how the box cutter got in her pocket and had no intention of hurting anyone, her mother said. Police were notified by the school but did not file charges. School officials told her there was no room for debate about the expulsion because of the district’s zero-tolerance policy, Stanley said. From her perspective, Stanley saw that a white boy went unpunished while her black daughter was put out of school. “I am hurt because I know my daughter is totally innocent and I don’t want this to follow my daughter through her schooling,” Stanley said. The district and state boards of education ruled that the expulsion was justified. The district’s board amended the zero-tolerance policy further last school year. A complaint against the school board is pending before the state Human Relations Commission, alleging that the district discriminated against Stanley’s daughter on the basis of age and race. Studies show that minorities are punished at higher rates than their peers, but there’s not evidence that these children misbehave more, said Dan Losen, a former teacher who now works for the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles . The government under President George W. Bush did not investigate many schools for these issues, which are now getting attention under the Obama administration, he said. Typically, reviews from the office of civil rights are used to help districts find solutions and to monitor progress, Losen said, because “the preference has historically been to enter into a joint problem-solving approach rather than issuing violations.” Helen Spacht, principal at Christina’s Wilson Elementary, said programs like the district’s Day of Caring help reinforce the importance of kindness and how to treat others with respect. The school is certified under the Anti-Defamation League ‘s No Place for Hate program, which means staff and students have undergone training on diversity issues. Also, teachers have been meeting to share ideas and literature on better classroom and bullying management, she said. “It’s really changing the strategies and how they work with students,” she said. But the district has not made enough progress in dealing with these issues, said New Castle Councilman Jea Street, who organized a rally in April to protest the discipline rates. “The fact is that (the office of civil rights) is once again going to have to do what local officials refuse to do,” Street said. “Nobody would listen to me when I claimed Christina was discriminating when it changed policy to accommodate one child and knew full well that the same policy had been used overzealously for others.”

Drury University junior Garret Shelenhamer ditched his car and gets to his classes and volunteer commitments using a shiny, new bike provided by the school. Shelenhamer is one of a number of students across the USA taking advantage of free or low-cost bike-sharing programs, which have become increasingly popular. Drury students agreed to pay a $20-a-year sustainability fee, which funds the bike program. The Springfield, Mo., school purchased 40 new bikes for use by students in time for the fall semester. “It’s helped me so much. It’s been fun,” Shelenhamer said. BIKE POWER: Gyms retrofit bikes to produce electricity DENVER: Bike-share program takes off Nearly 90 American universities, from New York University to the University of Alaska-Anchorage , offer some form of campus bike program, according to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Programs have launched or will launch this year at a wide range of universities, including Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville; John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio; the University of Cincinnati ; Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.; Samford University in Birmingham, Ala .; Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken , N.J.; and North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C . “The demand is coming from students,” says Jeremy Friedman, manager of sustainability initiatives at New York University. This summer, NYU kicked off a pilot bike share program with a fleet of 30 bikes available for free checkout from the front desk of many residence halls. Fueling the demand are the public embrace of biking culture, new miles of bike lanes and the economic recession that has many tightening their spending, Friedman says. “In the future, we may find ourselves in the role of trying to encourage more biking, but for now, we are behind the demand,” he says. “We’re just trying to keep up.” Wendy Anderson, director of campus sustainability at Drury, says the bike program appeals to students, who are active and likely to grumble about costs associated with a car. “I think universities are trying to keep up with the increasing competitive nature of higher education,” Anderson says. “I’m not saying this is a recruiting tool, but it offers a richer experience in student life.” At College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., students came up with the idea for a bike program and made it a reality in April, college spokeswoman Diane Hageman says. The program offers 30 bikes for free, daily checkout until the first snowfall, Hageman says. Paul Rowland, executive director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, says bike programs have found fertile soil on college campuses. “One thing about the campus is it has a fairly high density of individuals, students as well as staff. It is relatively defined, and there are a lot of movements every hour or every half an hour,” he says. Bikes help alleviate traffic congestion, improve campus safety and reduce greenhouse gas emission, Rowland says. In 2008, faced with a parking crisis, the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, raised parking permit fees and began to give away free bikes to freshman students who promised not to bring cars to campus, university spokeswoman Kathleen Taggersell says. Since then, the university has given out 530 bikes and, as a direct result of the program, turned a 95-space parking lot into a basketball court with a river-view tent for university events, Taggersell says. University bike programs are usually funded by an internal grant or a student fee, Rowland says. Bikes are checked out differently. Some programs require membership, some are free, and some charge a rental fee. Though many schools rely on staff to check out bikes, some have gone high-tech. This fall, Washington State University in Pullman installed a $140,000 automated system for its bike program, says Jamie Bentley, the environmental well-being coordinator at WSU. Students swipe their identification cards to unlock a bike from one of the four docking stations on campus, Bentley says. The convenience has drastically boosted the use of the bike program: 454 people checked out a bike in the first two weeks this fall, compared with 583 users last year, Bentley says. Tang reports for the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader .

Joe Turant pointed to the rent-a-text signs in Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Florham Park , N.J., bookstore window last month and told his incoming freshman daughter, Caitlyn, “That’s what you’re doing.” With potential savings up to 50% off the price of a new textbook, the Colonia, N.J., father says renting textbooks will free up money for other things, such as the meal plan. E-BOOKS: iPad the next textbook? Maybe not “If we can get them through rental, great. Otherwise, she’s going to go online to try to find a lower price,” says Turant, who jokingly reminded his daughter that “Dad’s paying.” College students will be able to shop early and save hundreds of dollars on textbooks as more than 1,000 campus bookstores nationwide launch discounted rental programs this fall. The timing is right: The federal Higher Education Opportunity Act, which took effect July 1, says colleges must list required course materials for students during registration. “Students will be able to take advantage of more cost-saving options sooner, and they can save hundreds,” says Nicole Allen, textbook advocate for the Student Public Interest Research Groups. College textbook prices have risen at nearly four times the rate of inflation since 1994, with an average of $900 spent a year, Allen says. Successful pilot programs The rise of rentals means students can see substantial upfront cost savings without having to gamble on buying a used book and hoping the bookstore will buy it back, Allen says. Students can highlight and write in the rentals; normal wear and tear is expected. The country’s two largest college bookstore companies, Follett and Barnes & Noble, embraced the rental option after successful pilot programs last fall. Just 250 college campuses nationwide offered some textbook rental program during the 2009-10 school year, according to the National Association of College Stores. This fall, some 1,300 campuses will offer textbooks for rent. In late July, Follett had 720 of its 860 stores adopt the rental option, says spokesman Elio DiStaola. And half of Barnes & Noble’s 640 campuses have signed on, says Jade Roth, vice president for books at Barnes & Noble College Booksellers. Follett saved students $2 million off the cost of new textbooks in its seven pilot bookstores, including the University of Texas-Arlington, the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, and Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier, Calif., DiStaola says. An online alternative Typically, about 25% of the bookstores’ titles were available for rent. This fall, the stores expect to offer about 40% of titles for rent. “I’ve had students come up and thank us for this,” says Bill Coulter, bookstore director at the University of Texas-Arlington, where 6,000 students chose to rent last school year. “In my 44 years in this business, that never happened before.” “One student came up to the register and saved $300 … he was excited,” says Lee Cobb, textbook manager at the University of North Florida’s bookstore. Chegg.com, a California-based online rental company with 4.2 million titles available for rent — some up to 80% discounted — is expanding, too, by partnering with eight campus bookstores this fall. It partnered with California State University in Fresno in January and saw its number of Fresno users jump from 400 to 1,600, says Chegg.com spokeswoman Tina Couch. Meanwhile, Kyle Smith , 21, a Bridgewater, N.J., political science major at Drew University in Madison, N.J., says he’s excited to see how much money renting textbooks can save him. Drew’s bookstore will offer about 30% of its titles for rent this fall. Typically, Smith shops online for used textbooks. Being able to see the books he’ll need and whether he can rent will help in deciding if he can afford to take a course, Smith says. “Some poli sci courses call for nine or 10 books,” Smith says. “For me, it’s all about the bottom line. If it’s cheaper to rent, that’s what I’ll do.”

ATLANTA (AP) — Eighteen states and the District of Columbia were named finalists Tuesday in the second round of the federal “Race to the Top” school reform grant competition, giving them a chance to receive a share of $3 billion. Education Department officials provided The Associated Press with a list of the finalists ahead of a speech by Education Secretary Arne Duncan . The states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia , Hawaii , Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland , Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Duncan was expected to officially announce the finalists at a speech at the National Press Club. The competition rewards ambitious reforms aimed at improving struggling schools and closing the achievement gap. Applications were screened by a panel of peer reviewers, and finalists will travel to Washington in coming weeks to present their proposals. In all, 35 states and the District of Columbia applied for the second round of the application. The 19 finalists have asked for $6.2 billion, though only $3.4 billion is available. Dozens of states passed new education policies to make themselves more attractive to the judges. New York, which was a finalist in the first round but did not win money, lifted its cap on the number of charter schools that can open annually from 200 to 460. Colorado passed laws that would pay teachers based on student performance and can strip tenure from low performing instructors. Two states, Tennessee and Delaware, were awarded a total of $600 million in the first round. Their applications were praised for merit pay policies that link teacher pay to student performance and for garnering the support of teachers’ unions. Tennessee and Delaware also have laws that are welcoming to charter schools. In the first round of the race, some stakeholders were reluctant to support applications tying teacher evaluations to student test scores. Armario reported from Miami. AP Writer Michael Gormley in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Students graduating from high school this spring may be collecting their diplomas just in time, leaving institutions that are being badly weakened by the nation’s economic downturn. 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. VIDEO: More deep cuts looming for public schools VIDEO: Hard times for even richest districts 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.” Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The alarming spike in demand for mental health services on college campuses that began about a decade ago appears to be leveling off, a just-released survey of counseling center directors suggests. The findings of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors’ 2008-9 poll of hundreds of member institutions point to a new stasis, where the number of students arriving on campuses in need of counseling or psychotropic medications is remaining constant from year to year, though still likely to keep counseling centers strained. STUDY: Students more stressed now than during Depression SUICIDE SCHOOL? Cornell sees 6 deaths in 6 months “In the last few years, I think we’ve seen stabilization,” said Victor M. Barr, the survey’s lead author and a director of counseling and psychological services at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. “That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a lot of students to see, just that it doesn’t seem like it’s changing as rapidly as a few years ago.” The survey was sent to members at 752 institutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In all, 363 responded. Across all respondents, 10.2% of students sought counseling during the 2008-9 academic year, about the same as in the directors group’s two previous surveys. At institutions with fewer than 1,500 students, an average of 18.3% of students sought counseling. At institutions with enrollments of more than 35,000, it was 7.2%. (Another study, the National Survey of Counseling Center Directors, found that 10.4% of students at four-year institutions sought help in 2008-9.) Perhaps related to the stable proportion of students seeking counseling was a decline in the perception by counseling center directors that mental health problems were on the rise at their institutions. In this year’s survey, 94% of respondents said “the number of students with severe psychological problems is [a] growing concern on their campuses.” In the 2007-8 survey, it was 96%. In 2006-7, it was 97%. ON THE WEB: College suicides a call to action INSIDE HIGHER ED: What spurs violence like Virginia Tech, Alabama? Despite the onslaught of national and local economic problems during the survey year, fewer counseling jobs were cut than were added. Respondents reported a total of 82 new professional clinical positions created, while 34 were lost. “We saw these small gains in staffing, but I’m not sure the same thing will happen in our next survey because of economic conditions,” Barr said. Counseling services aren’t a popular place to cut budgets, he added, but they’re not likely to be the first place where institutions direct funds, either. Colleges aren’t out of the woods yet. Seventy-three percent of respondents said there had been an increase in the last year in the number of students already on psychotropic medications who were seeking counseling services, and 71% said they thought the number of students with severe psychological problems had risen during the survey year. The most common conditions seen in students were depression (seen in 37.5% of students visiting a counseling center), anxiety (36.8 percent) and relationship issues (35.9 percent). Nearly a quarter of patients seen in counseling centers were taking psychotropic medications.