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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Hispanic council mulls education

Compiled from wire reports The Spokesman-Review

Philadelphia

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Monday the “achievement gap is beginning to close” between Hispanic and white students, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton countered that she’s not convinced the federal government is doing enough to help Hispanic youth.

Spellings and Clinton each spoke at the convention of the National Council of La Raza.

The two did not dispute statistics that show Latino students have the nation’s highest high school dropout rate and the lowest college enrollment rate, but diverged on whether the government is fixing the problem.

Praising No Child Left Behind, the education law President Bush signed in January 2002, Spellings pointed to National Assessment of Educational Progress scores released Thursday that show 9-year-olds, including Hispanics, have improved their reading and math scores.

Clinton stressed that, though younger students’ scores have improved, 17-year-olds have made virtually no gains since the tests started being given 30 years ago.

Car thieves target 1999 Acura Integra

Detroit

The 1999 Acura Integra coupe was the most-stolen vehicle last year, likely the targets of street racers who want its fast engines, a report released Tuesday said.

One out of every 200 registered 1999 Acura Integras was stolen last year, said CCC Information Services Inc., an insurance industry tracker of theft and vehicle damage.

The 2002 BMW M Roadster was No. 2 on the list and the 1998 Acura Integra was third. Other vehicles in the top 10 include the 1991 GMC V2500, the 2002 Audi S4 and the 2004 Mercury Marauder.

Teacher in sex case makes insanity claim

Tampa, Fla.

A teacher will claim she was insane due to emotional stress and did not know right from wrong when she had sex numerous times with a 14-year-old student, her attorney said Monday.

“What teacher in her right mind would do something like this?” attorney John Fitzgibbons said after a brief hearing for his client, Debra Lafave, a middle-school teacher.

The judge agreed to appoint two mental health professionals to evaluate Lafave, 24. Prosecutors have said a state psychologist already determined Lafave was not insane, while one hired by the defense concluded that she was mentally ill.

The boy told investigators he and the teacher had sex in a classroom, her house and once in a vehicle while his 15-year-old cousin drove. He said Lafave told him her marriage was in trouble and that she was aroused by the fact that having sex with him wasn’t allowed.

Mental state key in teen shooter sentence

St. Cloud, Minn.

A 16-year-old boy who prosecutors say smirked as he pulled the trigger in a school shooting that left two teens dead was convicted Monday of murder.

John Jason McLaughlin faces a life sentence unless his lawyer can persuade a judge that the boy was mentally ill at the time.

A judge who heard the case without a jury found McLaughlin guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Seth Bartell, 14, and second-degree murder in the slaying of Aaron Rollins, 17. The two were killed in 2003 at Rocori High School in Cold Spring. McLaughlin was tried as an adult.

A defense psychiatrist testified that McLaughlin was suffering from schizophrenia and heard a voice that urged him to shoot Bartell.