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City School Board OK's Software, Training Programs -- But Amount, Lack of Info Concern Some

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 September 2005, 09:00 CDT

High stakes partnerships was the theme of Monday night's city school board meeting as board members sorted through a series of decisions that involved big budgets and strained relations.

The board approved spending more than $1 million in federal funds on training, curriculum and computer software programs designed by Riverdeep Inc. and Voyager Expanded Learning Inc. to help low- performing students improve reading skills. Several board members expressed concern over the amount of money spent and lack of information on the programs.

"These are big dollars. At the end of the day this board is held accountable for the money spent," said board president Wanda Halbert. "If the superintendent can assure us that we didn't approve the same type of program under another name, then I'd be comfortable."

District officials were unable to give a tally Monday night on how many programs are in use or on how much federal funding is available for such programming.

"The one thing I try to do is not be the judge of all curriculum materials," said Supt. Carol Johnson, who received kudos from board members for helping the district meet yearly progress standards. "I rely on my staff for that."

The software programs were recommended by researchers at the University of Oregon and the Florida Center for Reading Research, a center based at Florida State University.

District staffers visited Atlanta, Philadelphia and Miami to see how successful those cities' schools districts were in implementing the program.

"We looked at large urban school districts with similar demographics and achievement scores," said John Avis, associate superintendent for curriculum.

Nationally, critics have accused educational software companies of fleecing urban school districts that are flush with federal funds and desperate to meet "No Child Left Behind" guidelines. The $2.3 billion educational software industry also includes such companies as Plato, which the district and several county schools used this past school year to help students make up course credits.

Source: Commercial Appeal, The

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