Massachusetts Schools

He has become accustomed to the taunts and snickers. He has learned to ignore fans who call him names and make fun of his skirt. His tires were slashed. But what hurt Niles Draper most was when other schools forfeited to Chatham High, refusing to play the girls' field hockey team because he's on it. Under state rules, the forfeits knock Chatham out of the state tournament. But the school is set to challenge that decision before the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Assn.

Mitt Romney has long relegated his record as governor of Massachusetts to the bottom tier of topics that he brings up in his campaign for president. But in his first debate with President Obama, the Republican nominee highlighted his leadership of Massachusetts on healthcare, education and taxes, framing his one term as governor, from 2003 to 2007, as a model for moderation in Washington at a time when Obama is portraying him as beholden to his party's right wing. Romney has barely mentioned his stint as governor in his campaign advertising and rarely talks about it in public remarks.

Mitt Romney has long relegated his record as governor of Massachusetts to the bottom tier of topics that he brings up in his campaign for president. But in his first debate with President Obama, the Republican nominee highlighted his leadership of Massachusetts on healthcare, education and taxes, framing his one term as governor, from 2003 to 2007, as a model for moderation in Washington at a time when Obama is portraying him as beholden to his party's right wing. Romney has barely mentioned his stint as governor in his campaign advertising and rarely talks about it in public remarks.

John Vasconcellos could be forgiven for having a migraine right now. As a longtime California legislator, he was the driving force behind the state's Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. That group's 1989 report helped persuade schools nationwide to nurture their students' self-esteem as a way of eliminating social problems and academic failure. Yet for the last few days, the loud accolades have gone to a Massachusetts English teacher whose speech to graduating high school students dumped on all that carefully cultivated self-worth.

Herman Cain had 9-9-9. Lately, Mitt Romney is all about E-E-E. As in, the economy, energy and -- new this week -- education. Romney rolled out his education plan at a speech in Washington last week, and followed up with a visit to a charter school in West Philadelphia. Now, both the Associated Press and Education Week are taking him to task for what they deem to be misstatements about President Obama's education record. Fair? Along with touting his own education record as governor of Massachusetts, the presumptive Republican nominee attacked Obama for, among other things, being a tool of the teachers unions.

Legal experts are divided on whether Vice President George Bush or Democratic presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis is right in their dispute over Gov. Dukakis' veto of a Massachusetts law requiring the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. But most, citing a 1943 Supreme Court decision, side with Dukakis. The decision declared that U.S. citizens are free to ignore government demands that they pledge their support for "orthodox" views, even if this means refusing to salute the American flag.

Franklyn G. Jenifer, the man who took the the helm of Howard University recently, has confronted angry students, wary legislators, miffed administrators and concerned parents, and he's had to handle a personnel scandal or two. Sound familiar? In some fundamental administrative ways, Jenifer is prepared for his new task as Howard's 14th president.

Education Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos joined gray-haired alumni and fifth-graders in Pilgrim outfits Friday to mark the 350th anniversary of the nation's oldest free school--made new for its birthday by an infusion of renovation funds. Cavazos said the refurbishing of Mather School, where morale had sagged as graffiti and other scars multiplied in the past decade, "speaks to the way our nation is getting together to address our education deficit."

Striking teachers in six states vowed to remain on the picket line today, but weekend settlements of three disputes promised to return at least 1,200 instructors and 17,000 students to class in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Illinois. The end of walkouts in the suburban Philadelphia school district of Spring Ford, and in Lowell, Mass., and Blue Ridge, Ill., reduces the number of students out of school to fewer than 100,000 for the first time this academic year.

Thousands of students stayed away from Sacramento schools Wednesday as a walkout by teachers, counselors and nurses entered its second day. Meanwhile, San Jose's 29,000 students attended their second day of school in classrooms staffed by teachers who came very close to striking but at the last minute accepted a tentative contract offer. In San Diego, teachers prepared to go back to school next week with a 6.4% pay hike approved by school trustees Tuesday.

Herman Cain had 9-9-9. Lately, Mitt Romney is all about E-E-E. As in, the economy, energy and -- new this week -- education. Romney rolled out his education plan at a speech in Washington last week, and followed up with a visit to a charter school in West Philadelphia. Now, both the Associated Press and Education Week are taking him to task for what they deem to be misstatements about President Obama's education record. Fair? Along with touting his own education record as governor of Massachusetts, the presumptive Republican nominee attacked Obama for, among other things, being a tool of the teachers unions.

When seven high school students from immigrant families answered a museum's call to help create an exhibition on local immigration, there was a hitch. The students -- who came from Mexico, South Korea, Russia and China -- didn't want to use the word "immigration," not even once. "Their friends and neighbors hear the word 'immigration' and make so many assumptions," said Sheila Sibley, education manager at the Newton History Museum, just west of Boston.

Twenty-five years ago, just about every seminarian on this campus was a young man who spoke such fluent Greek that he could pass for native in the cafes of Athens. Today, more than 20% of students at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology have no Greek roots.

Police arrested three students Saturday on charges of allegedly plotting a Columbine-style massacre at their high school. Police seized bomb-making instructions, knives, shotgun shells and pictures of the suspects holding what appeared to be handguns from their homes in this coastal city about 50 miles south of Boston.

The first thing Alex Tempel did after waking up Monday morning was to mark off the final day on the makeshift calendar he has kept next to his bed for the last 300 days. Then he flew home. The calendar is a sheet of construction paper on which his father had written rows of numbers, from 300 to 1. At 14, Alex is still learning the concept of weeks, months and years. But by marking off each number, he knew he would be another day closer to leaving Randolph, Mass.

A boy's drawing two years ago of him pointing a gun at a kneeling, praying teacher was more than a doodle, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled. It constituted a punishable threat. The court rejected arguments from the boy's lawyers that the drawing was protected under the 1st Amendment, noting that the Constitution "does not protect conduct that threatens another."

Recruiters from Massachusetts came calling in Berkeley last week, looking to hire a few good teachers. To sweeten the state's appeal, they came offering $20,000 bonuses to be paid out over four years. "We're looking at perhaps lawyers, housewives who have parenting experience, community activists, engineers who have worked 20 years in Silicon Valley," said Alan Safran, chief of staff for the Massachusetts Department of Education. "We want leaders from any aspect of life."

A former treasurer at a Massachusetts vocational school will plead guilty to federal charges he embezzled millions of dollars and used the money to buy a horse racing stable, the U.S. attorney in Boston said. In exchange for a recommendation he serve four years and nine months in jail, Paul R. Blanchette, 48, agreed to plead guilty to charges he embezzled about $5.5 million from Bay Path Vocational Technical High School in Charlton, Mass., and committed tax fraud, U.S. Atty. Donald Stern said.

Recruiters from Massachusetts came calling in Berkeley last week, looking to hire a few good teachers. To sweeten the state's appeal, they came offering $20,000 bonuses to be paid out over four years. "We're looking at perhaps lawyers, housewives who have parenting experience, community activists, engineers who have worked 20 years in Silicon Valley," said Alan Safran, chief of staff for the Massachusetts Department of Education. "We want leaders from any aspect of life."