Word: defuniak
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...around the globe, with authorities paying particular attention to possible terrorist support networks in Germany and Britain. Those scooped up included a few who appeared to have links to the hijackers, and some who just had the wrong sort of look at the wrong sort of time. In DeFuniak Springs, a small town in the Florida panhandle, a local librarian remembered that the hijackers had used library computers to book flight reservations, saw a man from the Middle East seated at a keyboard and called the police. (The man was guilty of nothing.) Those driving into Manhattan were stuck...
...catering and security. But when the seven high schools in San Jose's East Side Union school district contracted with Achieva for college counseling, it marked perhaps the first time a business had been hired in public schools to handle an academic area. And this year Fred deFuniak, principal of Silver Creek High School, is thinking of hiring Achieva not only for test prep but also to teach reading and writing skills. "This may be controversial, but you have to be innovative to get results," he says. "Parents and legislators are demanding accountability...
...DeFuniak says hiring Achieva is a bid not only for better results but also for efficiency. For $60,000, he can add one new guidance counselor, which would just reduce the student-to-counselor ratio to 650 to 1. Moreover, the person hired would be saddled not only with giving college advice but also with staying on top of disciplinary and psychological problems. For the same amount of money, DeFuniak is planning to employ three Achieva counselors to do only test prep, a service he expects to translate into a 50-point jump in SAT scores. He says such gains...
Still, private involvement in public education raises questions about whether the schools are relinquishing their basic function. While public school guidance counselors have to be certified and hold specific degrees, there are no guidelines for outside professionals. And, asks Stanford's Reider, "shouldn't DeFuniak's English department be doing reading and writing skills...
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