A quarterly publication of the Horace Mann League.  The purpose of the Horace Mann League is to strengthen public education and recognize those who support the cause of public education – the corner stone of our democracy.

 

Doug Otto, Supt. of Schools for Plano (TX) ISD with the Horace Mann display.

 

 

 

The Horace Mann Displays.................. 1

Side of the Separation Debate.............. 2

Books of Interest................................. 3
Horace Mann League Foundation........ 4
Quotes by Horace Mann..................... 5

HML Officers and Directors................ 8

 

The Horace Mann League has two display that can be shipped to school districts and organizations on a loan basis.  The large display is 8’ high x 10’ wide.  The small display is 4’ high and 6’ wide.  See scheduling information the HML website:  www.hmleague.org

 

The 2006 Survey of Factors Impacting School Reform was conducted in December. Of the 500 invited to participate online, 125 completed the survey.  Demographically, two-thirds of the participants represented districts greater than 5000 students and primarily located suburban communities.  Two-thirds of the participants were located along the east coast and the mid western states.

 

Question #1: Best Indicator:   Participants were asked to what they would consider the best indicator of school improvement.  Over 75% indicated that “Improving student achievement and annual academic growth results” would be the best indicator.  Second, with 11% is “Improving level of commitment by students to reach their academic potential.”

 

Question #2: Inhibiting Factors:  Participants were asked to indicate those factors that frustrate, inhibit or limit school improvement efforts.  Over 50% indicated that “the inability of the legislature to adequately fund the public schools of the state” was the major factor inhibiting school improvement.  The second major factor is “the inability of either federal or state policy makers to adequately fund mandated programs.”

 

Question #3: Participants were asked to indicate what school improvement effort they would like to be involved in accomplishing during their career. Over 40% wanted to make a career commitment to “establishing the support and understanding that the public schools are the most important responsibility of our community.”  Other career long activities that ranked high were “establishing the priority for and the necessary funding for continual career development of teachers, adminsitrators and support staff” and establishing equitible state funding for all public schools in our state.

 

A complete summary of the 2006 survey of Factors Inhibiting School Improvement can be found on the Horace Mann League website at:  http://www.hmleague.org

 

From: Tom Peters, Separation of Church and State. 

Usually, the debate over separation of church and state involves only two groups of people: separationists, who favor separation, and accomodationists, who oppose it. But obviously, the debate is more complicated than this. In particular, not all separationists agree as to precisely what constitutes an establishment of religion, and not all accomodationists agree as what types of religious aid are permissible. Like most political debates, the debate over separation is a messy affair, and there is some disagreement within both positions as to where people actually stand.

Nevertheless, it is possible to describe with a good degree of accuracy the general positions people take within both of these camps. In most cases, these positions can be described with respect to (1) attitude toward the original Constitution, (2) attitude toward the First Amendment, and (3) attitude toward a variety of political issues around which the current debate revolves.

Following is an attempt to distinguish between the two major points of view.

Separationists.

Attitude toward the original Constitution. Separationists hold that the original Constitution grants no power, either positive or negative, to the federal government over religion.

 

Attitude toward the First Amendment. Separationists generally believe that the First Amendment was intended to reaffirm that the Constitution granted no power to the federal government over religion. Additionally, they generally hold to what is known as the "broad" interpretation of the establishment clause, i.e., a belief that the First Amendment was intended to prohibit government from supporting or promoting religious beliefs or practices, even if that promotion favors no particular sect or religion. A separationists reading of the First Amendment would, for example, prohibit government from favoring religion over non-religion, using tax dollars to underwrite religious activities, or requiring people to be exposed to religious practices in the course of everyday governmental activity. A classic summary of the broad interpretation is given in Everson v. Board of Education.

 

Attitude toward specific political issues. Separationists would generally be against any of the following:

·                    allowing government to organize, encourage, or discourage prayer in the public schools;

·                    using government funds to aid parochial schools (eg., voucher programs);

·                    religious displays (eg., creches, crosses, menorahs) on government property when these displays convey government support of religious beliefs.

Accomodationists.
Attitude toward the original Constitution. Accomodationists hold either that the original Constitution conferred some grant of power to the federal government over religion, or that the Constitution should not be interpreted to prohibit such power.

Attitude toward the First Amendment. Accomodationists hold to any one of a number of "narrow" interpretations of the First Amendment clause, i.e., interpretations that allow the government considerable latitude in supporting or promoting religious beliefs and practices. Extreme accomodationists hold that the First Amendment was intended to bar only the establishment of a state church or religion, and that most types of aid that do not reach this level of favoritism are legal. Extreme accomodationists are generally very committed to majority rule at the local level and, hence, are favorable to laws that would allow local (as opposed to national or statewide) majorities to make decisions about religion in public forums. Extreme accomodationists, for example, have seriously proposed school prayer schemes that would give local school boards the power to write sectarian prayers that reflect the religious beliefs of the majority of parents in a school district. In practice, the overwhelming majority of accomodationists are not this extreme, and can be classified as non-preferentialists (see below).

Attitude toward specific political issues. Generally, accomodationists are in favor of the following:

·                    allowing government to require prayer in the public schools;

·                    using government funds to aid parochial schools (eg., voucher programs);

·                    religious displays (eg., creches, crosses, menorahs) on government property, even when these displays convey government support of religious beliefs.

Non-preferentialists.
Non-preferentialists are a subset of accomodationists. Their positions generally are the same as those of accomodationists, with an important exception: non-preferentialists believe that the Constitution allows the government to support or promote religious beliefs and practices only so long as that support favors no one religious sect or belief.

Like accomodationists, non-preferentialists would hold that the First Amendment bars only the establishment of a state church, but they would interpret "establishment" somewhat more broadly to include any aid that expresses a specific religious viewpoint, even if that aid does not establish a specific denomination. Accordingly, non-preferentialists would reject accomodationist schemes to allow sectarian prayers in the public schools (eg., prayers in the name of Jesus Christ), but would allow non-sectarian prayers (eg., prayers that are general enough that they would not offend any theist). Similarly, non-preferentialists would allow government to favor religion generally over non-religion, provide at least some types of non-preferential aid to religion, and incorporate religious practices into government activities as long as those practices are non-sectarian.

Source:

http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/tnpidx.htm

Barry Lynn, author of “Piety and Politics” writes, “…separation of church and state was not the brainchild of forces opposed to religion.  Rather, it was the heartfelt desire, and eventually the demand, of devoutly religious people—people who were weary of being told by the government that their religion was unimportant, unpleasing to God, and even corrosive.” (page 33-34)

 

Gary Marx, Barry Lynn and David Berliner recently had their book published. Books can be purchased through Amazon.com.

 

Barry Lynn  Politics and Piety: The Right Wing Assault On Religious Freedom.

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Gary Marx Future-focused Leadership: Preparing Schools, Students, and Communities for Tomorrow’s Realities,

 

Sixteen Trends:  Their Profound Impact on Our Future...Implications for Students, Education, Communities, and the Whole of Society,
 

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David Berliner and Sharon Nichols  Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America's Schools.

 

 

 

Main features of the Horace Mann League web site:

• Mission and Purpose of the League
• About Horace Mann w/Quotes
• Legal Issues
• Officers/Directors & Vitas
• Minutes and Agendas
• Publications & Newsletters
• Past Presidents
• Membership Application
  Display Information & Schedule

 

http://www.hmleague.org

 

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The HML Foundation is a fund dedicated to non-operating League activities such as scholarships, grants, and special projects.  The HML Foundation provides an opportunity for members to make a contribution on behalf of a colleague’s passing who has served as an inspiration, mentor or friend in the profession of school leadership.

 

The 85^th Annual Meeting and Luncheon of the Horace Mann League will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2007, in New Orleans.  The meeting will be held in the Marriott Hotel, GALERIES 4-5.

 

The Horace Mann League exists to:

Perpetuate the ideals of Horace Mann (that the public schools are the foundation of our democratic society).

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The Horace Mann League of the USA
560 Rainier Lane
Port Ludlow, WA 98365

 

Officers

President:              Walt Warfield, (Emeritus) Exec. Dir., Illinois Assoc. of School Adm., Springfield, IL

President-elect:     Colleen Wilcox, Superintendent, Santa Clara Co. Supt. of Schools, San Jose, CA

Vice President:      Fred Hartmeister, Associate Dean, Graduate School, Texas Tech. University, Lubbock, TX

Past President:      John Simpson, Superintendent in Residence, Stupski Foundation,  Norfolk, VA

Directors

Jim Anderson                           Supt., Los Alamos Public Schools, NM

Richard Christie                       Director of CareerVision Academies, Iowa Western Community College, IA

Linda Darling-Hammond         Professor of Education, Stanford University, CA

George Garcia                           Supt. Boulder Valley Public Schools, CO

Mark Edwards                          Vice President, Harcourt Assessment, San Antonio, TX

Eric King                                    Supt. Matteson Community Schools, Matteson, IL

Barry Lynn                                Exec. Dir. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Washington, DC

Gary Marx                                  Pres. Center for Public Outreach, Vienna, VA

Douglas Otto                            Supt. Plano Independent School District, TX

Susan Purser                             Supt. Moore County Schools, Carthage, NC

Steve Rasmussen                     Supt. Franklin-Pierce School District, Tacoma, WA

Jerry Sellentin                           Exec. Dir. Nebraska Council of School Administrators, Lincoln, NE

Julie Underwood                      Dean, College of Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Executive Director

Jack McKay, 560 Rainier Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365

Professor Emeritus of Educational Administration, University of Nebraska at Omaha

(360) 437 1186    FAX 866 389 0740    Website: www.hmleague.org  Email: jmckay@hmleague.org

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The Horace Mann League

560 Rainier Lane

Port Ludlow 98365