HML Notes

In this issue:

Summer Board Meeting Highlights
Horace Mann League website
Corporate Partners
Horace Mann League Prints
Annual Awards
Some Interesting Reading
NCLB Standards Applied to Cars
Separation of Church and State (political cartoon)
Court Decision relating to the Distribution of Religious Materials

HML Annual Meeting

Saturday, February 19, 2005, 11:45 to 1:30 p.m. San Antonio.

Further information on the location, agenda and luncheon cost will be mailed in December.

· Formed a committee to develop strategies for building stronger relations with corporations and foundations that support public education. Committee members are Jane Hammond, Terry Grier, Art Stellar, and Ken Bird.

· Agreed to sponsor a “Distinguished Lecturer” at the Annual AASA Conference.

· Agreed to create a traveling display on the history of public education and the contributions of Horace Mann.

· Agreed to continue the involvement with NSBA on legal issues before the United States Supreme Court.

· Agreed to proceed with the second Horace Mann print.

· Agreed to proceed with the publishing of the monograph, “Things that work to improve public schools.”

· Agreed to proceed with the publication of a monograph on the issues surrounding charter schools, voucher plans, and home schooling. Co-editors are Colleen Wilcox, Steve Rasmussen, Jane Hammond, Larry Dlugosh, and Jack McKay

· Agreed to place a stronger emphasis on recognizing “life-time” members in future publications of the HML.

· Approved the “retiree” membership classification.

· Approved supporting the Education Law Association (NOLPE) in the production of a PBS documentary related to “Beyond the Brown Decision.”

Corporate Partners

The corporate partners of the Horace Mann League are:

The Plato Learning Corporation

The Apple Computer Company

The Advanced Learning Company

The Learning Together Company

These companies support public education and the goals of the Horace Mann League – to strengthen public schools across the nation.

Horace Mann Posters

The Horace Mann posters(24 x 36 inches) is suitable for framing. The framed poster is an excellent gift of appreciation to community organizations and businesses that support public schools.

Greatest Discovery Attaining an Education

Ordering information: Each $20. Both for $30.00

Email: jmckay@mail.unomaha.edu

FAX: 360 437 0641

Phone: 360 437 1186

Mail orders to:

Dr. Jack McKay, Exec. Director

Horace Mann League

61D N. Chandler Court

Port Ludlow, WA 98365

Horace Mann League Annual Awards

Annually, the Horace Mann League presents three major awards. Recipients are nominated by members and selected by the Board of Directors.

The Outstanding Friend of Public Education Award is presented to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to the improvement of public education at the state or national level.

The Outstanding Public Educator Award is presented to a public educator who has made a significant contribution to the improvement of public education at the state or national level.

The Ambassador Award is presented to individuals who recruited ten or more new Horace Mann League members..

Awards are presented to recipients at the annual meeting, held in conjunction with the AASA National meeting.

Past recipients of the Horace Mann League awards can be found on the League's website at: www.hmleague.org

Some Interesting Reading

Why Is Corporate America Bashing Our Public Schools? by Kathy Emery and Susan Ohanian. Published by Heinemann. www.heimemann.com

“A magnificent, carefully documented, and high-voltage manifesto to confront the degradation of nation’s school by powerful corporations whose self-serving motives and assaultive tactics have developed into a relentless and dehumanizing juggernaut. Steam will be coming from your ears by the time you finish this extraordinary book.” Review by Jonathan Kozol.

NCLB Standards Applied to Cars

It is suggested that the feds make Detroit automakers operate like schools: automakers much come up with a plan of action for reaching 100 fuel proficiency by 2015. What a plan: perfect kids produce by federal fiat in 2014 can ride around in perfect cars in 2015.

Meanwhile, as the automakers are working their way along the road to perfection, newspapers can publish annual charts of those cars that nee the “Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) target and those that “need improvement.” If, two years in a row of not meeting targets, the auto personnel will need retraining. Some may need to be vacated and new staff brought in.

Probably the industry needs people who have proven their expertise on other fields: retired generals, for example. Automakers need to come up with a plan of action which must be approved by a panel of experts. To expedite matters, just use the 73 members of the No Child Left Behind Reading First panel. They probably know as much about cars as they do about kids.

Four years without meeting targets, and the company executives and employees can be removed and the company subject to state takeover. What is the state going to do with auto plants? That’s as good a question as what the state is going to do with the schools declared to be failing.

From: Why is corporate American bashing our public schools? Emery and Ohanian, Heinemann Publishing, page 29.

Separation of Church and State

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Source: www.cagle.com

Horace Mann League Officers and Directors 2005-2005

Officers

President: Spike Jorgensen, Educational Consultant, Tok, AK,

President-elect: John Simpson, Superintendent in Residence, Stupski Foundation, Norfolk, VA

Vice President: Walt Warfield, Executive Director, Illinois Assoc. of School Administrators, Springfield, IL

Past President: Dr. Larry Dlugosh, Chair, Ed. Ad. University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE

Board of Directors:

James Anderson, Supt. Los Alamos Public Schools, Los Alamos, NM

Richard Christie Supt. Council Bluffs Community Schools, Council Bluffs, IA

George Garcia, Supt., Boulder Valley School District, Boulder, CO

Mark Edwards, Dean, College of Education, Northern Alabama Univ., Florence, AL

Fred Hartmeister, Assoc. Dean, Grad. Educ., Texas Tech. Univ., Lubbock, TX

Barry Lynn, Exec. Director, Americans United for Separation of Church & State, Wash. DC

Vern Moore, Supt. University City Public Schools, University City, MO

Douglas Otto, Supt., Plano Independent School District, Plano, TX

Susan Purser, Supt., Moore Co. Public Schools, Carthage, NC

Steve Rasmussen, Supt., Franklin Pierce School District, Tacoma, WA

Jerry Sellentin , Exec. Director, Nebraska Council of School Admin., Lincoln, NE

Colleen Wilcox, Supt., Santa Clara County Office of Education, San Jose, CA

Executive Director

Jack McKay, Professor Emeritus, Educ. Admin., University of Nebraska at Omaha

Mailing: 61D N. Chandler Court

Port Ludlow, WA 98365

jmckay@mail.unomaha.edu

(402) 850 0034 (cellphone)

(360) 437 116 (phone)

(360) 437 0641(FAX)

Horace Mann League of the USA website

http://www.hmleague.org

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has ruled that an elementary school teacher can participate in an after-school religious club of children, even if the meetings are held at the same school where she is assigned to teach.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has ruled that a school district’s practice of commencing in-service training sessions and faculty meetings with a prayer violates the Establishment Clause.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona has ruled that a school district’s decision to exclude tiles containing religious greetings from a permanent school display violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled that the refusal by Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to distribute materials promoting an after-school “Good News Club” run by the Child Evangelism Fellowship of Maryland (CEF) constituted impermissible viewpoint discrimination in violation of CEF’s free speech rights.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that a school district’s policy of having teachers distribute promotional materials from outside religious groups in elementary school classrooms does not violate the Establishment Clause.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that a school district that allowed a Christian ministry to conduct Bible study classes in the district’s public schools during school hours violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

In an 8-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Michael Newdow lacks standing to press his Establishment Clause challenge of Elk Grove Unified School District’s (CA) Pledge of Allegiance policy.

U.S. Supreme Court rules that State of Washington scholarship program's prohibition on using funds to pursue a theological or divinity degree does not violate Free Exercise Clause.

A New York appellate court has ruled that a teachers’ union collective bargaining agreement (CBA) provision that permits teachers to take three paid days a year for religious observance does not violate the Establishment Clause.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has held that high school officials’ refusal to allow a student to participate in a school-sponsored “diversity week” panel on homosexuality, religion and censorship of her “what diversity means to me” speech for the school’s “diversity week” general assembly violated her free speech and equal protection rights, and contravened the establishment clause principle of religious neutrality.

A federal district court has dismissed a former Palm Beach, Florida, high school student’s lawsuit against a school district that required her to remove religious messages from a school mural painting.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has denied in part and granted in part a motion by the Loudoun County Public Schools to dismiss a lawsuit brought by parents and students over the removal of bricks inscribed with religious symbols from a walkway on the campus of Potomac Falls High School.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a school district was not liable for an Establishment Clause violation when a school board member recited a prayer at a graduation ceremony in contravention of school board policy.

The U.S Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that a high school's refusal to allow a student Bible club to meet in school during the morning activity period violated both the Equal Access Act (EAA) and the free speech clause of the First Amendment.

The Federal District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania has ruled that a school district policy prohibiting school employees from wearing “religious emblems, dress, or insignia” violates First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.

In a two to one split, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that the New York City Board of Education cannot bar religious groups from using public school facilities to hold weekend religious services. The Second Circuit concluded it was bound by the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98 (2001) that speech discussing otherwise permissible subjects cannot be excluded from a limited public forum because the subject is discussed from a religious viewpoint.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that a school district that prohibited the distribution of flyers promoting a religious summer camp but allowed distribution of materials from other nonprofit organizations engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that “dual enrollment programs,” which allow local school districts to pay teachers to teach classes on secular subjects in religious schools and provide those schools with resources such as Internet service, do not violate state law.

Source: National School Boards Association. 1680 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 http://www.nsba.org/site/page.asp?TRACKID=&CID=468&DID=8753