News
Stricter policies adjust
no-pass, no-play rules
AUSTIN (AP) — A new school year
wouldn’t mean a new slate for students par
ticipating in extracurricular activities under
a bill by Senate Education Committee
Chairman Teel Bivins.
Under his bill, a student failing a course
during the last six-week grading period of the
school year would be suspended from
extracurricular activities the following fall.
It would apply even if a stu- i
dent ends up with a passing
grade for the course overall.
Suspensions under the no
pass, no-play rule currently
aren’t held over from one school
year to the next. But Bivins, R-
Amarillo, said he wants to “keep
the focus on academics.”
Under the current rule,
failing students’ suspension
from extracurricular activi
ties is as short as three
weeks, if they can bring up
their grades to passing in
that time. Students can prac
tice or rehearse during the
suspension period.
“I thought
everything was
going well, and I
thought everyone
was pretty happy
with the results.”
Eddie Joseph
Texas High School
Coaches Assosciation
grades in good shape in the first six weeks of
the next school year,” Bivins said.
If a student does well in summer school,
Bivins said his intention is that would keep
them from being suspended in the fall.
In addition, he said, “Once they know
what the rules of the game are, it will be I
hope an incentive for them to work harder
in the springtime.”
The bill is opposed by
Eddie Joseph of the Texas
High School Coaches
Association, who said,
“Obviously, the object is to
pass the course.”
Joseph said a student could
do well in the other grading
periods, then hit a slump or
traumatic event and make a 69
in the final six weeks, but still
pass the class. A passing grade
is 70 out of 100.
“When the springtime
comes, all youngsters have a
hard time staying focused on
what they’re there for,” he said.
The bill, which includes the three-week sus
pension period, “might ensure that those stu
dents during the summertime not only prac
tice band or debate ... but also do a little work
in the summertime to get ready to get their
Joseph said he was surprised at the move to
change the no-pass, no-play requirement in
light of the 1995 modifications.
“I thought everything was going well, and
I thought everyone was pretty happy with the
results,” he said.
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Tracking deadbeat parents
The federal
government has paid
millions for states to
build computer
systems that track
down parents owing
child support. A dozen
have the computers up
and running, others are
still working. The
systems must be in
place by October.
$ millions
Federal spending
600
500
400
300
200
100
Bin mu! silBiB US fH I
h
Documents show shortcomings in child support prograi
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Washington.
State-by-state progress
7
filSjfjil v
fully certified
conditionally certified
not certified
[ . Mississippi j
.Zl ora
Louisianna : l
Virginia
Georgia !
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sixteen
years ago, the federal government
agreed to pay states to develop com
puter systems to track deadbeat par
ents. Taxpayers have spent $1.5 bil
lion since then but only a dozen
states have operational systems.
The money, most of it spent in the
past two years, went to computer
companies, state workers and
numerous consultants. There were
consultants to design the systems, to
write bids, to build software and even
to police other consultants, an
Associated Press review of audits and
other documents shows.
The purpose was to modernize the
collection of overdue support money
— a figure that has grown to $35 billion
owed to 29 million children.
When officials are asked why
more has not been accomplished,
fingerpointing abounds:
—State officials say they received bad
advice and systems that didn’t work.
—Vendors say technical difficul
ties and changing federal require
ments are to blame.
—Federal officials say some states
didn’t manage the projects properly.
—And congressional auditors con
tend the federal agency overseeing the
effort did little to hold states accountable.
“A lot of energy is being spent on
trying to figure out whose fault this
is,” said Elisabeth Hirschhorn
Donahue, an attorney for the
National Women’s Law Center, a
nongovernmental outfit that tracks
child support policy.
The computers are expected to
deliver big payoffs. They’ll store all
case data, process and distribute pay
ments, connect to tax and welfare
agency computers and share informa
tion with other states.
The last is a crucial component
because one-third of all child support
cases involve out-of-state parents.
A year and a half after the federal
deadline passed for states to computer
ize their collection systems, only three
states have met all federal requirements.
Washington developed its own sys
tem, without using consultants, for
$30 million. After a false start with one
vendor, Virginia jointly developed a
system with a contractor for $21 mil
lion. Wyoming maintained strict con
trol over the consultants it hired and
built a system in three years for under
$10 million. All three states have rela
tively small caseloads.
Nine states have been given condi
tional federal certification, meaning
their systems meet most of the
requirements but need minor adjust
ments to gain final approval.
Many other states have spent tens
of millions of dollars on contractors
but only have partial systems, at best,
to show for it.
When the federal deadline for
completing the systems passed in
1995, Congress extended it two more
years, and hundreds of millions of
dollars of additional federal aid has
flowed to these states.
“No one is denying that t
much more to do,” said David
deputy director of the
Department of Health and Hi
Services’ Office of Child Support
agency that oversees the effort.
Michigan serves as a case in pi
With one of the largest child
port caseloads at 1.4 million,
state has spent $116 millionin
eral and state funds to buildao
puter system. The system is ridi
with technical flaws and
meet federal standards, j
State auditors found
gave several consultants nonco
petitive contracts that fs
allowed them to earn fulpaymjl'
even if they only worked&yra
of the hours promised.
Some contractors lacked teb
know-how, so the state paid |l
training at a cost of $100,000 forli
and lost time on the job., auditors!
Some sessions had nothingtf
with technology.
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