A National Problem, Education World news editor Diane Weaver Dunne describes how environmental conditions in school may make students sick, yet no federal laws protect students from exposure to contaminants that pose potential health risks.

A growing number of states have been forced—by litigation, school crowding, or the sheer need to meet modern educational demands—to play an expanded role in local school construction and repair.

A new government report assessing the status of the 70.2 million children in the United States is mostly good news. A collaborative effort by 20 federal agencies, the report was released last week by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2000 is the fourth annual summary of children's well-being. The finding are based on 23 key indicators, such as children's economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education. National surveys and vital records were the basis of the report's data.

Michigan public schools were put on notice Monday to tone down the rhetoric about a private school-voucher ballot proposal after three districts were found by the Secretary of State's Office to have violated electioneering law. Officials with Oakland Schools, the county's intermediate school district, the Kearsley Community Schools in Flint and Grand Haven schools were notified that anti-voucher materials they distributed earlier this year to parents and employees were impermissible attempts to "influence the outcome" of an election with public resources.

Riverdeep Group plc, a leading on-line designer and developer of K-12 interactive learning solutions, Monday announced that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with MuseumNetwork.com, a comprehensive provider for and about the global museum community. Under terms of the agreement, MuseumNetwork.com will grant Riverdeep the exclusive right to market and sell a museum education package in combination with Riverdeep's subscription-based products and services into the K-12 and home markets. Additionally, Riverdeep.net will become MuseumNetwork.com's primary K-12 educational portal and will offer MuseumNetwork content within the Riverdeep.net website.