OREGONIANS TO VOTE ON NATIVE LANGUAGE REFERENDUM — Oregon schools will limit the amount of instruction schools can provide in the native languages of the state’s nearly 70,000 English as a second language students if a November ballot measure is passed. Measure 58 would demand that schools stop students’ native language instruction after they’ve been one year in elementary school or two years in high school. Educators oppose the position that “schools intentionally delay getting students fluent in English” offered by the measure’s author Bill Sizemore, saying that a one-size-fits all timeline for the one in eight students in the state who are English learners is not appropriate nor based on language acquisition research. While it has yet to be approved, an analysis by The Oregonian suggests that with 85 percent of students already being taught completely in English, the measure is already taking effect. Source: Oregonian (9/20/08)

NEBRASKA NAMES NEW EDUCATION COMMISSIONER — On Monday the Nebraska State Board of Education unanimously voted to make Roger Breed the state’s new Education Commissioner. Breed, who will succeed Doug Christensen in the office, was one of four finalists vetted by the state board with the help of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Each finalist also met with Governor Dave Heineman and members of the legislature’s Education Committee before the state board made their final decision. Breed is the superintendent of the Elkhorn district in Nebraska and has experience working with both large and small school districts, which several state board members cited as being a critical factor in their decision. Source: Lincoln Journal Star (9/22/08)

CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS NOT PREPARED FOR EARTHQUAKE THREATS — California’s inventory of seismically vulnerable buildings includes nearly 8,000 schools that are more likely to collapse during high-force quakes. In 2006, voters approved a $10.4 billion school construction bond, a portion of which was to fund seismic retrofits at public schools. Two years later, none of the nearly $200 million tabbed for these improvements has been distributed. While an estimated $9 billion is needed for either the retrofits or reconstruction of the buildings, the state fund would be enough to begin precautionary methods of improvement for the buildings that are most threatened. Thus far, only 10 percent of the state’s 1,052 school districts have requested the state inventory, and few have raised questions as to why the state funds remain unspent. Source: Contra Costa Times (9/21/08)

NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT HEARS NEW SCHOOL FUNDING PLAN ― The state faced off against lawyers from local school districts in New Jersey State Supreme Court this week as the Corzine administration sought the court’s blessing for a new school funding formula. Local districts, especially urban districts, oppose the plan because, they claim, the districts will receive less money than is allocated under existing funding practices. Justices questioned why the state brought the issue directly to them rather than first pursuing the matter in lower courts, but the justices also were dubious about the districts’ claims that the new plan would force cutbacks in essential programs. No date has been set for a ruling to be handed down. Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (9/22/08)