European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes saturday february 22,1986 . Rated worst in school dropouts Minnesota has Best graduation record Washington a the District of Columbia Louisiana and Alabama have the worst problems with students dropping out of school while Minnesota Nebraska and North Dakota have the Best graduation rates new Federal rankings show. Secretary of education William j. Bennett Friday re leased his department s third annual Chart ranking the 50 states and the District of Columbia on a Host of school statistics including dropouts College Entrance lest scores teachers salaries and class size. The Chart showed improvements in College admission scores in 35 states since 1982. The news is Good our schools arc improving again our children Are learning More Bennett said in a statement. To the american people i say Good show now let s stay at  Bennett said states with higher test scores also tended to have lower dropout rates. Is excellence a threat to the poor and minorities the answer is no he said. He said How states spent their Money on schools was More important than How much they spent. He lauded new Hampshire Vermont Nebraska and Iowa As states with average expenditures but above average test scores. And he described Illinois South Dakota California Dela Ware Maine and Virginia As states with Large concentrations of minority students and above average scores. But criticism of the Wall Chart began to Roll in As it has on the two previous occasions. Howard Carroll a spokesman for the National education association said the report is incomplete. Everybody wants to know the score but this is an incomplete score card. Tests re not a True evaluator of achievement he noted the percentage of seniors taking the sat or act College Entrance exams varies widely from state to state. Janis Cromer spokeswoman for the District of Colum Bia Public schools said Ever time i get this report i just go berserk because it says one out of every two kids Don t graduate and that s not True. Programming error foiled cruise test leg Lin fab Fla. A human error caused a Navy cruise missile to veer sharply off course forcing a premature end to its test flight says a Pentagon spokesman. It was not the missile s fault. Bob Holsapple of the joint cruise missile office told the playground daily news of nearby fort Walton Beach wednesday. It did exactly what it was supposed to  he said the problem was faulty programming of the missile s on Board computer. The unarmed Tomahawk missile was launched . 8 from a submarine beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Minutes later it made an unexpected 90-degree turn to the East. The flight was aborted and it parachuted to the ground near Freeport a Small Panhandle town Northeast of Eglin. Holsapple said testing will continue at least through 1992 with 10 to 20 More Navy launches spread among Eglin the West coast and puerto Rico. As you can see we can use the practice Holsapple said. He said the launch Crew fed information into the com Puter Loo quickly erasing the Middle portion of a flight program that was supposed to guide the Tomahawk into Southern Alabama where it was to follow a circular route Back to Eglin for a Landing. As a result the missile went from the launch part of the program immediately into the Landing portion skipping the Middle Holsapple said. The launch was the first of a cruise missile in the East Ern United states. The aborted test broke a string of 24 straight successes at Sites elsewhere. Procedures used for the ill fated december flight have now been changed in an Effort to prevent the problem from cropping up again. The problem with the dropout rate is that each system calculates it differently. They consider us a state for their purposes and it really is an unfair comparison she said noting that the 88,000-Pupil system should be compared to other big cities. New Hampshire Oregon and Vermont led in Scholastic aptitude test scores in the 22 states where most College bound seniors take that test Iowa Wisconsin and Minne Sota set the Pace in the 28 states where the american College testing program is dominant. By contrast at the Back of the sat pack were South Carolina North Carolina and Georgia while Mississippi Louisiana Arkansas and West Virginia pulled up at the rear on act scores. The Chart said 70.9 percent of Public school students graduated from High school in 1984, which was a revision downward from the education department s previous assessment of a 74 percent graduation rate for that year. The department explained that some states in the for Mer estimate had not counted special education students and others who were not classified by Grade. In the latest accounting the state figures also were adjusted to take into account migrations of students be tween states. The graduation rate which is calculated by dividing the number of graduating seniors by the number of freshmen four years earlier does not include those who obtain High school equivalency diplomas. The department said that in 1984 the lowest graduation rates were in the District of Columbia 55.2 percent Loui Siana 56.7 percent and Alabama 62.1 percent. The High est were in Minnesota 89.3 percent and 86.3 percent in both Nebraska and North Dakota. The department also computed a new graduation rate for 1982 of 69.7 percent. That Means the dropout situation improved Between 1982 and 1984 even while Many states were imposing More rigorous diploma requirements Edu cation department officials said. The graduation rate improved in 39 states Between 1982 and 1984. Cap run Neth Over a photo stud big Oulom la surf reeling weather a Coloni Al gentleman seems to unfixed As he stares at an icicle suspended before his nose. The statue is in front of a Bookstore b East Sandwich Mas. Some have said that we can t have both excellence and equity in our schools but the 1986 report show otherwise. It proves that contrary to the usual thin Lunt test scores can be increased and dropout rates decreased at the same time Bennett said. The Chart also showed 37 slates provide or pay for in service training for Veteran teachers and 31 require new teachers to pass certification exams. Alaska paid Public school teachers the most an Esti mated $39,751 average in 1985, followed by the District of Columbia $28,621 and Michigan $28,401. Lowest teacher pay in 1985 was estimated at $15,971 in Mississippi. The first such Chart in 1984 Drew brickbats from some state school superintendents and other educators particularly for the sat and act rankings. Fairest a Boston based group that is critical of standardized tests issued a statement in Advance of Friday education department release charging that the Chart violates professional guidelines for proper test use and warps school curricula. John Weiss the group s executive director said this scoreboard approach forces educators in All 50 states to teach to the limited Content of what a multiple Choice Tot can  president Reagan has challenged each state to raise its graduation rate to 90 percent by 1990. He also has exhorted schools to shoot for regaining half the drop in sat and act scores by then. Sat scores fell steadily from 1963 through 1980 but have inched Back up in recent years. The education Agency using 1972 scores As the goal said currently Only the District of Columbia and Georgia have already recovered their test score losses since 1972� the Chart did not include sat or act scores from the state of Washington because fewer than 20 percent of High school seniors took either test there. Stateside feeding time is fighting time at the new York aquarium new York a feeding time at the new York aquarium has become fighting time with gulls who lost their favorite Landfill dropping m on resident penguins and seals and leaving with their dinner. The problem dates to the recent closing of a dump where the gulls ate near the aquarium in the Coney is Buu Section of Brooklyn. Gulls began arriving at feeding time in the Seal and Penguin tank and stealing fish meant for their less mobbed they were More aggressive than the penguins said Kathi Schaeffer an aquarium spokeswoman. The pen Guins got  she said aquarium officials planned to keep the gulls out by stringing a net above the tank. Man who found Long lost siblings loses Battle against leukaemia Houston a a Man whose efforts to find a Bone marrow donor reunited him with a Long lost brother and sister has died after a three year Battle with leukaemia. Steven Akin 25, of Victoria died in a Houston Hospital. When Akin Learned that siblings possibly could Supply compatible Bone marrow he began searching for a brother and a sister who had been put up for adoption As infant More than 20 years ago. Last year the search ended when an adoption Agency. In april 1985, the three were United in Houston where Davis and Miller went for transplant tests. The test showed their marrow Vas not compatible with Akin s. Bob Hope s son to run for California congressional seat los Angeles a Anthony j. Hope the son of entertainer Bob Hope said thursday he will run for the congressional seat held by rep. Bobbi Fiedler who is campaigning for the Senate. Hope 45, an attorney and a conservative Republican has never held Public office but has served on two presidential commissions. President Reagan appointed him to the Grace commission which was formed to find waste and fraud in the Federal govern ment former president Ford appointed him to the overseas investment corp. I be worked at the Law and at business. Now i have an Opportunity to work for my Community he said at a news conference. The adopted son of the comedian said he will use the name Tony Hope during the Campaign. The 21st congressional District is in the suburban san Fernando Valley in los an Geles and Ventura counties. Hope who was raised in the area spent the past eight years in Washington where he was a partner with the touche Ross & co. Accounting firm dealing with govern ment related problems of the firm s corporate clients. No other Republican has announced for the seat now held by the gop Congress woman. Prospective candidates for the Republican nomination include  Mcclitock of thousand Oaks Simi Valley mayor Elton Gallegly and former rep a can rep. Barry Goldwater or. I