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News & Views - Aug,
2000 Issue (page 1).
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Page 1 of 2 - Next
VOUCHERS, CHARTERS CONFUSE PUBLIC
(November 24, 1999) The organization Public Agenda, reported the results of a poll that said that while on the surface
there seems to be considerable support for vouchers and charter schools, there really is very little knowledge among the public about
what these proposals really entail. For example, “63% of the general public, 66% of parents, and 60% of parents of school children
in voucher communities say they know ‘very little’ or ‘nothing’ about school vouchers and how they work. 81% of the general public,
79% of parents, and 52% of parents of school children in charter communities say they know ‘very little’ or ‘nothing’ about charter
schools. After parents were provided with definitions of vouchers and charter schools, 70% said they would definitely use or seriously
consider using vouchers; 54% said the same about charter schools…. 62% of the public say the nation’s public schools ‘have some good
things about them, but they need major change,’ 19% say they’re ‘doing pretty well and need little change;’ and 16% say they ‘have
so much wrong with them that we need to create a whole new system altogether.” The full article can be found on the Education Week
web site.
NO LEGAL OBLIGATION TO EDUCATE CHILDREN
(May 10, 2000) A Colorado Appeals Court confirmed the state’s public schools have no legally enforceable obligation
to educate children. The decision was that parents and students cannot sue school districts because they “are not private students
enrolled in a private vocational school but, instead, consist of the general public. They have not individually bargained with the
school district, nor individually paid for specific educational services. As a result, they cannot assert legal claims for the alleged
failure to provide those unbargained-for services.” Denver Parents Association et al. v. Denver Board of Education: 98CA1309, Colorado
Court of Appeals. February 3, 2000. Posted on the Colorado Bar Association’s web
site on May 10, 2000.
NC BOOT CAMP CLOSED
(June 15, 2000) The Charlotte Observer, reported the About
Face Youth Boot Camp, 70 miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina was closed and 62 children ages 9 to 18 including both boys
and girls were removed from the facility by Burke County sheriff’s deputies. Many parents found the boot camp from exposure on the
national Jenny Jones TV talk show, where the camp’s founder, former marine Raymond Moses, appeared on more than ten episodes about
out-of-control kids since March 1999. The state action was taken after an allegation of abuse was made to the Department of Social
Services, and the department determined the camp was providing foster care without a license.
TEEN SEX ACTIVITY LINKED TO PEER NORMS
(June 28, 2000) Sara Kinsman M.D., the lead investigator in a study published in the November 1998 issue of Pediatrics
titled “Early
Sexual Initiation: The Role of Peer Norms,” concluded in a June 28th news article that “Young teens are more likely to have sexual
intercourse if they believe their friends have already done so.” Kinsman stated “Sexual initiation is a planned activity for these
young adolescents to participate in sexual activity, not because ‘it’s cool’ but because they don’t want to be left behind.”
DESPERATE MEASURES
(July 2, 2000) Lou Kilzer, a writer for Denver Rocky Mountain
News, in an article titled “Desperate Measures: Lost Boy” wrote of a boy in El Paso, Texas that committed suicide in March of
this year. Kilzer makes the connection that the boy had been in Teen Help in Montana and Western Somoa for 32 months. The mother has
said that without Teen Help, her son might have died years earlier.
MANY TEENS REGRET HAVING HAD SEX
(July 3, 2000) In a poll conducted in June of 2000 by International Communications Research of Media on behalf of the
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, it was concluded that “Nearly two-thirds of teens who have had sexual intercourse wish
they had waited.”
Copyright © 2000, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without prior
approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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