Despite the premise that charter schools are to be given flexibility in return for being held accountable for their results, few charter schools have actually been closed because of poor academic performance. The author sees the problem as a political one: the differing stakes between charter school families and members of the broader community.…

Two proposals in the bill currently circulating to reauthorize No Child Left Behind seem to be shoe-ins for making their way into federal law. The impetus behind both proposals is to help poor kids by making sure that districts spend as much money on them as gets spent on rich kids. Going against the grain, the National Council on Teacher Quality…

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is the single largest federal investment in K-12 education, supplying over $12.7 billion annually in funding to the states. Although not all schools are identified as Title I schools, all public schools are subject to certain accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act…

Nanotechnology promises to amend an understanding of elemental properties, alter the basic techniques of manufacturing, and improve disease diagnosis. There is a disconnect among the positive predictions of scientists and researchers, the fears of public interest groups, and the developers of products. A new framework for evaluating the social…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) requires states and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) to define and determine whether schools are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward meeting the goal of 100 percent academic proficiency. To address tribes' needs for cultural preservation, NCLBA allows tribal groups to…

This document conveys mandatory policies that have their basis in Federal Law and/or program regulations. It also provides interpretations of Federal Statutes and program regulations initiated by inquiries from State Child Welfare agencies or Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Regional Offices. The manual replaces the Children's…

This essay critically engages challenges made against the federally mandated deferral policies which prohibit "men who have sex with other men" from donating blood. I argue that "passing" and "protest" are dialogically dependent on one another as two separate but related tactics of resistance. Drawing on interview materials from men who have both…

This paper argues that the Children's Television Act of 1990 (CTA) required television broadcasters to air educational and informational children's programming, but Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy did little to clarify the definition of "educational and informational." The paper first examines the historical…

This booklet, available in both English and French, is designed to help parents understand why they should use proper child restraints in their motor vehicles when they are carrying children. The booklet describes: (1) the safety standards for child restraint systems; (2) the types of child restraint systems; (3) the responsibilities of drivers…

The Department of Education's (ED) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces several statutes that protect the rights of beneficiaries in programs or activities receiving financial assistance from ED. An outline of protocols regarding these requirements is provided in this brochure. It describes the notice of nondiscrimination requirements, such as…

This document was developed to assist school, administrative, and state department staff to better understand the links and commonalities of requirements across the title programs in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994. Title I includes Part A, Basic Program; Part B, Even…

This book, sponsored by a group called Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet, shows parents and others why they should care about the way food is grown in America, how the food production system needs to be changed, and ways to make it better for their families and communities. Chapter 1 details why the current food production system needs to…

This special issue is designed for those who want to know all they can about the new federal requirements for nutrition information on food labels. Nine articles are included. "Good Reading for Good Eating" (Paula Kurtzweil) addresses mandatory nutrition labeling, the nutrition panel, nutrient content and health claims, and ingredient…

This document provides information on: (1) the number of schools that withdrew from the National School Lunch Program (NSLP); (2) characteristics of schools that withdrew; (3) reasons why schools withdrew; and (4) lunch services offered at the schools after they withdrew. Data were obtained through a questionnaire of 352 school food authorities…

The late 1980s' resurgent appeal to public interest standards entails a misunderstanding of the real meaning of "public interest" and, whatever the merits of the critique of the deficiencies during the recent regulatory period, the standard still contains within it the seeds of its own compromise, if not destruction. Even among its…