THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5A
EDUCATION
Fired teachers aided cheaters
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON—Administrators in Texas' largest school district said yesterday that they planned to fire six teachers and demote two principals and an assistant principal after finding evidence of cheating on state tests at four schools.
schools. Houston Independent School District Superintendent Abe Saavedra said three other district employees, including a principal, would receive formal reprimands.
A Dallas Morning News review of standardized test scores throughout the state prompted a handful of Texas school districts to investigate test results at individual schools from recent years.
Supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide walk around of a fire during a small demonstration calling for his return and for freedom of political prisoners in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, yesterday.
Ariana Cubillos/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Houston district began an internal investigation four months ago after finding unexplained jumps in scores and statistical irregularities on standardized tests at 23 schools, Saavedra said.
two months into the investigation, Saavedra announced the district had identified two teachers at an elementary
Robert Moore, the district's inspector general who led the review, said all the teachers and administrators accused had denied wrongdoing.
school who assisted students on the state exam. The district has recommended those teachers be fired and has demoted the school's principal.
Chris Tritico, an attorney for one of the principals and two of the teachers fighting to retain their jobs, claimed investigators picked a target "and then molded their facts around that target."
Yesterday, Saavedra said the investigation was over and confirmed cheating occurred at another three elementary schools. At one school, investigators found that four eighth-graders were taken from their regular classrooms to another room where a math teacher helped them answer questions. The four answered all of the test questions the same way, and they incorrectly answered the same two questions.
Other schools around the nation have faced similar incidents.
All fired up for Aristide
Former leaders aim to shape up youth
NATION
NEW YORK — Former President Clinton and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — two politicians whose love of junk food landed them in the hospital — are trying to help the next generation shape up.
The two announced a campaign Tuesday to stem the tide of obesity by encouraging children to create lifelong healthy habits that emphasize better nutrition and increased activity.
"The truth is that children born today could become part of the first generation in American history to live shorter lives than their parents because so many are eating too much of the wrong things and not exercising enough," Clinton said.
Clinton and Huckabee vowed to halt childhood obesity in the United States by 2010. Estimates are that 16 percent of U.S. children are obese, making them susceptible to such life-threatening illnesses as heart disease and diabetes.
ting involved was the heart bypass surgery he had last September; Huckabee's was the 110 pounds he lost after being diagnosed with Type II diabetes.
Clinton's motivation for get-
The Associated Press
WORLD
Explosives kill 60, target police center
IRBIL, Iraq — An Iraqi carrying hidden explosives set them off outside a police recruitment center yesterday where people were applying for jobs, police
State-owned TV in Iraq and Al-Arabiya television gave even higher casualty figures, saying 60 were killed and as many as 150 wounded.
At least seven cars were destroyed by the blast in Irbil, a Kurdish city 220 miles north of Baghdad. Several nearby buildings were damaged.
The attack came as many civilians were applying for Iraqi police jobs at the recruitment center, said Capt. Mark Walter, the spokesman who provided the U.S. military death toll.
Police officer Shwan Mohammed first said that the attacker had set the explosives off inside the police center, but police Capt. Othman Aziz later said the attacker detonated them outside the building because of the heavy security there.
said. The U.S. military said at least 50 Iraqis were killed, making it the deadliest insurgent attack in Iraq in more than two months.
Pools of blood formed on the street outside the center as ambulances and cabs raced to
the chaotic scene to take casualties to hospitals.
WORLD
Israel halts plans to hand over towns
JERUSALEM — Israel froze the planned handover of West Bank towns to the Palestinians yesterday, accusing Palestinian security forces of failing to honor commitments to disarm militants in areas already under their control.
In the West Bank, two Palestinian youths were shot dead by Israeli soldiers. The developments strained the already tense cease-fire.
Palestinian officials called the decision to stop the handover of towns "unfortunate" and said they had struck a deal to collect militants' weapons, despite a top commander's announcement Wednesday that he had no plans to disarm the gunmen by force.
Palestinian security and hospital officials said Israeli soldiers shot and killed two 17-year-old cousins after nightfall yesterday. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
The security officials said the youths were throwing rocks at troops guarding the separation barrier Israel is building near the village of Beit Lakia when the soldiers opened fire.
Israeli military officials said about 300 Palestinians threw rocks and iron bars at soldiers, who fired warning shots in the air before shooting at the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority issued a statement that called the killings a violation of the cease-fire. The truce, declared Feb. 8, has considerably reduced violence, but isolated incidents continue.
Under the cease-fire agreement, Israel pledged to pull its forces out of five West Bank towns, while the Palestinians promised to disarm militants. Israel has pulled out of only two towns, Jericho and Tuklarem, while holding back from leaving Qalqiliya, Bethlehem and Ramallah.
The Associated Press