California Board Of Education

After three years of controversy over math instruction in California classrooms, the State Board of Education is poised to turn back the clock toward an emphasis on basics by adopting statewide standards that discourage the use of calculators and require memorization of multiplication tables.

By the time the teachers gathered in Lincoln High School's small faculty dining room for lunch Wednesday, most had already learned of the latest development in the Los Angeles Unified School District's battle to balance its budget by cutting salaries. And they were anything but happy.

Charging that some members of the State Board of Education are part of a "conspiracy to do me damage," state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig vowed Tuesday to limit the authority and perquisites of the 11-member board. Because the board voted last week to reject an agreement seeking to divide power and settle a long-running dispute between the board and the superintendent, Honig said in an interview that he will cooperate with its members only to the degree required by law.

The state Board of Education on Monday punished the publisher of the Stanford 9 exam for botching test scores last month, cutting $1.1 million from the company's $22-million tab. Angry board members lashed out at Harcourt Educational Measurement for allowing data errors to delay the release of school and district scores for three weeks and to undermine the credibility of California's testing program.

The state Board of Education on Wednesday voted down a request by the city of Lomita to break away from the Los Angeles Unified School District. The 7-4 vote dealt a serious blow to several groups trying to leave the nation's second-largest school district. The Committee to Unify Lomita Schools has made two major efforts since 1985 to carve out its own district, which would have three schools and 2,000 students.

The simple error in judgment that caused the state to delay the release of much-anticipated testing data this week could have been caught, officials now say, had they been able to devote as little as an hour to monitoring the work of the private contractor before the testing began.

The State Board of Education on Thursday authorized a vote in the South Bay city of Carson on whether to sever from the Los Angeles Unified School District. The unanimous board vote set up the first election since the 1940s on a community's proposal to leave the giant school district and provided an emotional lift to a number of groups trying to break away from other areas. "From where I sit, this was the keystone," said George Harris, whose wife Carolyn started the Carson breakup drive.

School districts for the first time will be able to use state money to buy math textbooks that fully meet the state's tough 1997 standards, which call for algebra in eighth grade. The state Board of Education has approved a dozen math textbook programs offered by nine publishers for elementary and middle school students. The board also rejected 11 programs by seven publishers as not meeting the standards that outline in detail what students should learn in each grade.

California school districts that want to maintain their bilingual education programs scored an important court victory Thursday when a judge ordered the State Board of Education to consider their requests to waive enforcement of Proposition 227. Unless the decision is overturned on appeal, school districts now may be able to obtain waivers to avoid dismantling bilingual programs for as long as two years. If the state board rejects the waivers, the districts can challenge the denials in court.

Members of the state Board of Education said Thursday they will discuss whether to block the allocation of Proposition 227 funds earmarked for adult education programs under investigation by the FBI. Federal authorities are investigating the state education department's allocation of millions of dollars in public funds to community organizations that provide adult education, and the possible misuse of funds by 10 of those groups.