who brought up the abuses of the school''s policy at a meeting in September. School administrators said last month that some parents have entered into provisional custody agreements with other Ascension residents just so their children could attend the school of that person''s choice. The previous policy allowed parents of the student in question to sign a notarized agreement transferring school-related custody of their children to residents who live in the school district where they want their children enrolled. Hillensbeck and Superintendent Robert Clouatre said last month that school principals reported to them that students from other parishes, including St. James, Assumption and East Baton Rouge, were attending schools illegally in Ascension. Beginning in the 2001-2002 school year, no one will be allowed to attend school in Ascension outside his school district educationreform unless he shows proof of a court-ordered provisional custody agreement.

all political stripes, including long-standing Tories - are hoping their grassroots movement will bring about a groundswell of support. The full-page ad reads, in part: ``Large classes. Fewer educationreform special education classes. Reduced library staff. Fewer arts programs . . . Does educationreform this sound like your school?'''' The first one appears in today''s Star. The funding formula is not meeting needs of kids in Toronto, or anywhere,'''' said Joanne Pauli, speaking on behalf of the newly formed Friends of Public She has three children, educationreform one at North Toronto Collegiate. Most of the parents have some connection to the collegiate; the educationreform idea for the ad campaign came out of a parent council meeting. The one-size-fits-all formula isn''t really fitting anyone at all,'''' Pauli said. In 1998, the provincial government seized control of education spending, taking away individual boards'' ability to raise their own taxes depending on their needs. It now spends $13.4 billion a year.

A modest proposal by President Clinton for vague and voluntary national standards provoked strong opposition in Congress and elsewhere. A variety of efforts on the part of states to introduce some forms of curriculum educationreform guidelines and to reinforce educationreform them with statewide testing have stirred up strong reactions at the local level. Reinforcing this local response to setting standards has been the hostility toward government that has characterized the politics of the last two decades. Increasingly, elected officials have won office on a platform educationreform of being educationreform relentlessly anti-government. They see their primary job as an effort to protect local communities and individual citizens from the intrusion of government control Denver should consolidate its program for gifted middle-schoolers to stop children from leaving for private, charter and magnet schools, the program''s leader said Thursday.

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