To use an appropriate metaphor: The can of soda has been given a hearty shake, and it鈥檚 about to be opened. Or so a handful of lawyers, some veterans of 鈥�90s tobacco litigation, would have us believe. They鈥檝e announced a . Stephen Gardner, an attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, claims that selling such drinks on campus endangers students鈥� health. But the soda companies, citing a study they commissioned, say vending machine sales do not contribute to the obesity rate among children. Roughly half the country鈥檚 public schools have contracts with cola companies, and yet another study, conducted in Oregon, concludes that the money schools earn from the sales is insignificant鈥攍ess than one-tenth of a percent of the Portland district鈥檚 budget, for example. Some contracts, that study adds, reward schools for pushing the unhealthiest of options on students. Gardner and his fellow attorneys have not yet decided whether the consumer-protection lawsuit, to be filed in Massachusetts, will seek financial damages. While admitting that damages in a suit like this could total in the billions, he was perhaps reading the minds of many a skeptic when he added, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want this to come off looking like a greedy-lawyer lawsuit.鈥�
Another debate continues to rage in schools鈥攐ver . Dozens of public and private schools in the Indianapolis region say no, and some, including Carmel High, have banned the use of iPods, cell phones, and other handhelds altogether. But some area educators鈥攚ho consider technology a learning tool and today鈥檚 kids accomplished multitaskers鈥攄on鈥檛 see the harm. Robert Albano, principal at Hamilton Southeastern High, says, 鈥淯tilizing electronic devices [is] appealing to this generation. Our responsibility is to be on the edge, to take risks.鈥�
Which is what they鈥檙e doing in parts of Pennsylvania. In the Lower Merion School District, for example, . And a pilot program is putting video iPods in the hands of 18 teachers, who will use them to design grammar jingles, physics experiments, and other projects. Geography teacher Anne Van Meter has already set up a blog for her 7th graders so that they can 鈥渄iscuss鈥� news stories. 鈥淭his is the first time in four years,鈥� she says, 鈥渢hat I鈥檝e had students asking to be allowed to read and summarize current events.鈥� Some educators advise caution, pointing out that technology isn鈥檛 cheap. But the savvy know a good learning tool when they see it. James Cho is a 4th grade teacher who allows his students to use handhelds for geology lessons and word problems鈥攊f they鈥檝e behaved. 鈥淚鈥檓 finding new ways of using [handhelds] all the time,鈥� he says.
The source of discord in Baltimore these days is not technology but . After students performed dismally on standardized tests last spring, the district turned to Studio Course, which defines a noun as 鈥渟tuff,鈥� a verb as 鈥渨hat stuff does.鈥� Magazines used in the curriculum include Teen People, a recent issue of which sports headlines such as 鈥淔lirt Better!鈥� and 鈥淗ot Boy Next Door.鈥� Studio Course鈥檚 creator, Sally Mentor Hay, makes some sense when she says of the approach, 鈥淭he first thing is to build some fluency in writing, not to shut it down with overemphasis on spelling and grammar.鈥� But Baltimore鈥檚 teachers, who had the curriculum thrust upon them last-minute, are discovering that its implementation is somewhat chaotic. One educator in Denver, where Studio Course was introduced in 2002, says the curriculum is constantly being revised, adding, 鈥淲e continue to be the guinea pigs.鈥� No small complaint when one considers the program has cost Baltimore $2 million thus far.
One possible way to cover that expense is to . Consider the case of New Trier High School in Illinois. Back in 1948, the school bought Stuart Davis鈥� modernist 鈥淪till Life With Flowers鈥� for $62.50. The painting had already traveled the world in a yearlong exhibit, and New Trier鈥檚 art department chair saw some value in displaying and using it as a teaching tool. It was then stored for a number of years and, finally, lent to the Art Institute of Chicago. When school officials learned that Davis鈥� work was in demand, they agreed to put it up for auction鈥攁t Christie鈥檚 in New York City. That鈥檚 where an anonymous phone-in bidder bought it for $3.152 million. School board president James Koch, who said that proceeds will help fund future school projects, added, by way of understatement, 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be more pleased.鈥�
