Both teacher unions battled against the bill because of provisions that called for more rigorous recertification and performance standards for teachers. She explained that her district is not opposed to diversity, but to the so-called diversity rule. If that were occurring, there would be no need for a diversity rule. In fact, all children do not receive an equal education. Some children, from the first day they walk through the school door, are expected to fail.
Some parents disagree.
Madelia school board member Joanne McCabe pointed to time and money problems as her main complaint against the rule. Hearings on the diversity rule are underway before an administrative law judge, who will decide whether the rule is legal, reasonable and necessary. His ruling is several months away, according to Marsha Gronseth, State Board of Education executive director. Fumo's plan, written jointly with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, calls for a K-3 school named in honor of Christopher Columbus. The school's curriculum would incorporate E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge Curriculum and the Reading Recovery Program.