Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast: "Public Involvement. Public Education. Public Benefit." II

FEW D.C. VOUCHERS HELP NEEDIEST KIDS
A tiny percentage of students in Washington's most troubled public schoolsapplied for private school vouchers under the nation's first federallyfunded program, according to a new Education Department report. Only 79applications -- 4 percent of the total -- came from 15 Washington schoolsdesignated as in need of improvement under the No Child Left Behind Act.All were awarded scholarships of up to $7,500 to pay tuition, fees andtransportation expenses for nonpublic elementary or secondary schools inthe current school year. An additional 73 public schools were designatedas needing improvement after the application deadline, the report said.From those schools, 456 students applied. A total of 433 students from allschools that were eventually labeled as needing improvement receivedscholarships, said Ed Greenberger, a spokesman for the WashingtonScholarship Fund, which administers the program. Those students receivedmore than 30 percent of the scholarships, Greenberger said. By contrast,reports Lauren Frayer, 518 eligible applicants came from private schools.Forty-three percent of those students got vouchers. Of the 1,251 otherpublic school students who applied, 85 percent were admitted into theprogram. "Parents whose students are already (in private school) wantpublic assistance to help their students remain there," said RoxanneEvans, spokeswoman for D.C. Public Schools. "That's one of the tragediesof vouchers -- that private school students use public money to fundprivate education." However, Greenberger said application figures for thecoming school year show the program is moving away from serving privateschool students. Of the 2,286 applications received from public schoolstudents so far for 2005-2006, 52 percent are from students who attendschools that need improvement or who will be entering kindergarten,Greenberger said. He predicted that students who attend public schoolswould receive virtually all the new scholarships to be awarded inlotteries later this month.http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/04/05/report_criticizes_dc_voucher_system/PUBLIC

MILITARY ACADEMIES PUT DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS
Philadelphia Military Academy is part of a growing trend, in Philadelphiaand other cities, of military schools that are part of the public schoolsystem, most of them in low-income areas with black and Hispanicresidents. Two more public military academies are scheduled to open inPhiladelphia in the next two school years, and student interest is alreadyoverwhelming. According to Col. Russell Gallagher, director ofPhiladelphia's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, some 2,000applicants have applied for 125 spots for September in the city militaryacademies. Chicago now has three public Army-oriented high schools withmore than 1,600 students, and officials plan to open a public navalacademy in September. The city also has eight military academies withinregular high schools. "I'm the biggest fan of small schools everywhere,and the military academy option is very attractive," said Arne Duncan,chief executive officer of the Chicago public schools. "It helps to definea culture, and many students thrive in that culture." In recent years,public and charter military academies have also opened in California,Minnesota, Maryland and Florida, and officials say there is interestelsewhere. Current interest in public military schools is a markedcontrast to the public's cool attitude toward private military academies,many of them boarding schools, after the Vietnam War. There were more than270 private military secondary schools and colleges 40 years ago, butthere are fewer than 40 today. The decline in the number of privateacademies has stabilized in recent years, but the growth is occurring inthe public sector. Those gains are fueled by the urgent desire of manyparents and students for an orderly, safe academic environment, and bysome funds from the Department of Defense, reports Alina Tugend. Contraryto popular perception, these military schools are not reform schools. Norare they merely pipelines to the military, according to school officials. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/06/education/06academies.html