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© 2011 National Association of Secondary School Principals - All rights to the intellectual property contained herein, including copyrights, trademarks, and service marks, are reserved by NASSP.
In his State of the Union address, President Obama offered schools a deal: To provide schools with resources to keep good teachers and reward the best ones, and expect in return that schools exercise their flexibility to “teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn.”
It’s a deal schools will happily make, provided the right supports are in place. Such supports include a commitment to strengthen the entire education profession through better preparation programs and professional development for teachers, principals, and other instructional staff. This development extends to meaningful educator-evaluation systems that resist a focus on student test scores to assess educator performance.
Such supports include formula funding to balance out the Race to the Top and the Investing in Innovation grant programs that drive competition among states to the detriment of low-income students in states that lose. Dedicated resources for programs like Title I will provide ALL students—regardless of state or district—a chance to succeed.
And most immediately, if we’re to no longer “teach to the test,” such supports include policies that are no longer written to the test. We call on the President to renew his pressure on Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and fix what is not working for all schools in No Child Left Behind. While the current law did some good in highlighting the achievement gap, the law’s high-stakes testing and onerous AYP provisions do little to reduce the gap. If education is indeed to become our national mission, the commitment must begin with a fairer and more flexible federal law.
The flexibility of a reauthorized ESEA would arrive just in time for schools to accept the President’s challenge to keep all students in school until age 18 or until they graduate. States with such a policy already in place point to a number of benefits, according to a 2010 NASSP position statement, including greater social mobility for students in poverty who are required to remain in school longer. Raising the compulsory age alone, however, will have no real affect. The policy must be accompanied by a comprehensive school renewal, as encouraged in the Breaking Ranks framework for school improvement, to empower students as owners of their own learning and as the innovators who will fulfill the broader vision of America that President Obama described.
President Obama this morning announced his plan to send the American Jobs Act to Congress. NASSP strongly endorses the president’s call for investing in our children by funding more teachers and school modernization, for which the Act provides.
The need is indeed great, as states are facing the depletion of ARRA funds and still suffering the effects of the recession. The results are real and dire: The Council of Economic advisers projects that states will have to lay off 280,000 teachers during the next school year and crumbling facilities are strained by a $270 billion backlog in repairs and maintenance. The advent of online testing that will accompany the Common Core State Standards adoption intensifies an already urgent need for schools to modernize facilities to prepare students for 21st century work and life.
This bill is about all of us. It’s not about supporting an ideology or institution, but supporting our children–those who will be our caretakers and leaders in the next generation–with educators and facilities that will empower them to thrive.
To underscore our support, NASSP was proud to recommend two member principals, Virginia Minshew of Park View High School in Sterling, VA (a 2010 MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough School), and Jane Spence of Bowie High School in Bowie, MD, to join the president in the Rose Garden for his address. Their presence is front-line testimony that the support outlined in the American Jobs Act matters to schools. We encourage all school leaders to add their voices to these principals’ and use the Principal’s Legislative Action Center to encourage their members of Congress to support the American Jobs Act.
School leaders on Twitter can also visit www.TweetCongress.org to send a quick message to elected officials. First, find your members of Congress by zip code or name, them send a message in 140 characters or less, like:
@Jim_Moran From Falls Church. Pls support the #JobsAct 2 preserve teacher jobs and modernize schools 4 our kids. http://ow.ly/6s5pQ
Whether by e-mail, tweet, or good ol’ fashioned phone call, be sure your members of Congress know that your students need their support!
As part of the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s effort to consider a piecemeal approach to reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), new legislation was introduced last week to expand the federal Charter Schools Program.
According to the committee’s bill summary, the Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act (H.R. 2218) would allow state educational agencies, state charter school boards, or governors to continue to award subgrants for the creation of new charter schools in addition to the replication and expansion of high-quality charter schools.
In order to receive funds under the program, grantees would have to describe how they will work with charter schools to instruct all prospective students, including students with disabilities and English language learners, and provide technical assistance to ensure proper monitoring of charter schools. Funding would be prioritized for those states that:
- agree to repeal caps on the number of charter schools permitted in the state;
- allow entities other than state educational agencies or local educational agencies to be charter school authorizers;
- provide financing to charter schools that is comparable to traditional public schools,
- support full-blended or hybrid-online charter school models; and
- use charter schools to help improve struggling schools.
“An estimated 420,000 students in the U.S. are on charter school waitlists, desperate to escape underperforming public schools,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), in a press release. “It’s time we enhance school choice by improving access to charter schools. These innovative institutions empower parents to play a more active role in their children’s education, open doors for teachers to pioneer fresh teaching methods, and promote high academic standards. By facilitating the development and expansion of successful charter schools, H.R. 2218 will provide parents and children more opportunities for a better education.”
The House Education and the Workforce Committee is scheduled to mark up the Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act on June 22, and the full House could consider the bill before the July 4 recess. According to press reports, future ESEA legislation will address local control and flexibility, teachers and school leaders, and accountability.
Announcements
Education Hearing:
The Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, chaired by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), held a hearing this week to examine the role of charter schools in the nation’s education system. Go here www.edworkforce.house.gov to watch a webcast of the event and read the witness testimony.
Debt Ceiling/Deficit Reduction:
House Rejects Clean Debt Ceiling Bill: This Tuesday, the House rejected HR 1954, a bill to raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion (the amount needed through the end of 2012). It failed by 97 – 318. House Republican leadership staged this vote to give their members the opportunity to officially register their opposition to raising the debt ceiling without spending cuts (all Republicans voted no) as well as to demonstrate that a clean debt ceiling bill can’t pass without spending cuts. Democrats split with 97 voting yes, 82 voting no and 7 voting present.
The next meeting of the Biden bipartisan group (aimed at finding a bipartisan deficit reduction plan for FY 2012) is scheduled for June 9. Yesterday, after President Obama met with the House Republican caucus, Speaker Boehner called for direct talks between himself and Obama and for a deal to be worked out within a month. See: John Boehner calls for debt deal in a month www.politico.com
FY ’12 Budget and Appropriations News: Balanced Budget
Constitutional Amendment:
The House Judiciary Committee yesterday partially marked up H.J. Res 1, a proposed Constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget. In addition to mandating that outlays (spending) cannot exceed revenues in any year (other than by a 3/5ths vote of both the House and Senate) it also limits total outlays to no more than 20% of GDP (the co-called global spending cap), which can only be waived by a 2/3rds majority vote of both houses of Congress and prohibits any legislation to increase revenues without a 3/5ths majority vote of both houses. It would take effect in FY 17.
News
Department of Education Issues New Rules for Investing in Innovation Grants
The second round of the Investing in Innovation grant program will be a smaller, $150 million contest for districts and non-profits. The Education Department guidelines will require fewer private-sector matching dollars, ask applicants to focus on rural schools, and change how evidence of past success is used in the scoring process. Read more here: www.edweek.org.
Common Core Assessments to Integrate Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
The two consortia of states developing the common core assessments, to be rolled out in the 2014-2015 school year, are crafting them to include accommodations for students with disabilities. Videos with avatars conducting sign language is just one example of the innovative means that the consortia are taking in their approach. “We’re not even thinking about accommodations anymore” in the traditional sense, said Mr. Hock, co-chair of the accessibility and accommodations work group for the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium—one of the two groups developing the new tests. Read more here: www.edweek.org.
White House Convenes Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics
The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence held its first President’s Advisory Commission meeting last week. The work of this commission is urgent since Hispanics account for more than one in five students in public elementary, middle, and high schools, but have the lowest educational attainment overall. White House Initiative Director Juan Sepulveda said the commission’s priority is to collect best practices, noting that “the community has told us many, many times: We don’t need any more reports, we need help.” Read more here: www.whitehouse.gov.
Research
Alliance Releases New Report on Deeper Learning
From the Alliance website: “Policy and practice at the local, state, and national levels should support the concepts of “deeper learning” to help all students meet higher expectations and be prepared for college and career, according to a new Alliance policy brief released on May 26. The brief argues that deeper learning provides students with the deep content knowledge they need to succeed after high school and the critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills that today’s jobs demand.” Read the brief here: all4ed.org [pdf].
Resources
ARRA Spending Report:
ED has posted an updated reports showing ARRA spending as of May 27. Of the $97.4 billion in ED ARRA funds allocated, 82.6% has been outlaid (spent). $16.9 billion still remains to be spent.
By State (as of May 27, 2011) www2.ed.gov By Program (as of May 27, 2011) www2.ed.gov.
CHN Budget Webinar:
The Coalition for Human Needs is sponsoring a webinar on June 7th: A Webinar for the Budget-Perplexed: Stop the Slashing
The human needs advocates’ simple guide to understanding – and defeating – unprecedented attacks on the federal budget Tuesday, June 7, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EST
Register today!
https://chn.peachnewmedia.com/store/seminar/seminar.php?seminar=8116
Webinar description:
Massive cuts in essential services like Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP/food stamps, education and children’s services, help to low-income communities such as housing and the Community Services Block Grant, and virtually every other human needs program. A large number of proposals now being floated in Washington would devastate these services and would make it far harder for the federal government to respond to economic downturns and solve looming national problems. Yet at the same time, they would do nothing to restrict more deficit-increasing tax cuts for millionaires and corporations.
These proposals don’t have straightforward names like “The Act to Slash Health Care for Older Americans” or “The Act to Cut Services for Low- and Moderate-Income Americans in order to Provide Enormous Tax Breaks for the Rich.” Instead, Congress is talking about global caps, balanced budget amendments, debt ceiling increases, deficit reduction… It’s hard to fight back if you don’t understand how you’re being attacked.
Announcements
New Legislation: Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a bill that NASSP supports: S. 1019, introduced to amend ESEA in order to support secondary school reentry programs and to reach out to and re-engage disconnected youth. The bill would call upon state and local educational agencies to develop a plan for identifying and re-engaging disconnected youth in a secondary education program that leads to the attainment of a secondary school diploma, and to establish partnerships with community based organizations, institutions of higher education, and other entities to provide a range of educational options and services particularly for students beyond the compulsory age for school. NASSP encourages you to contact your Senators and ask for their co-sponsorship or support of this bill.
FY ’12 Budget and Appropriations News: Sen. Reid announced that the Senate will definitely vote next week on the House-passed budget resolution (e.g. House Budget Chairman Ryan’s HR 1, which would devastate educating funding). Sen. McConnell is expected to force a vote on President Obama’s FY ’12 budget. Neither is expected to pass.
FY 12 Senate Budget Committee: Chairman Conrad is meeting with committee Democrats today to decide whether to proceed with a markup but it’s likely there won’t be one. Next week, the House-passed budget will fail to pass the Senate, and won’t even get all 47 Republican votes. Read more here: thehill.com.
As you recall from my update last week, the House Appropriations Committee last week came out with their FY 2012 302(b) allocations, which are markers for the maximum amount certain agencies can spend for the FY ’12 year. While these numbers are not final, they portend the significant cuts to come to education and other agencies. An analysis of the House’s FY 12 302(b) allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee shows that their FY 12 level would cut funding for the subcommittee all the way back to FY 2004 levels.
Debt Ceiling: The federal government has now reached its limit on the debt and Treasury Secretary Geithner has started to implement special measures to prevent a default and until August 2 at which point we need to have raised the debt ceiling. The Republican Study Committee, a very conservative group of members of Congress, is calling for adding to the debt ceiling increase (a “Cut, Cap, and Balance” approach: rsc.jordan.house.gov) which calls for a global spending cap of 18% of GDP (which would return us back to 1956 spending levels!), a balanced budget constitutional amendment and an immediate 50% cut in the deficit in FY 12.
News
Specialists Consider Common Social Studies Standards
Subject-matter specialists from more than a dozen states are meeting this week collaborate on strategies to improve academic standards in social studies. The third meeting of its kind this year, the talks bring together social studies specialists from 18 states and officials of 15 social studies organizations. Though some organizers refer to their work as development of “common state standards,” there is no guarantee the group will create such standards. Instead, these talks are intended to develop resources states can share, such as a set of guidelines or core principles, and to push a dialogue on how to improve each state’s own standards. Read the rest of the article here: www.edweek.org
Experts Encourage Expanding of Boys’ Options
Ever since Title IX of the federal Civil Rights Act barred sex discrimination in education, girls have been encouraged to study and pursue traditionally “male” careers, including science, technology, and law. Now that a 21st century economy offers fewer good-paying jobs in male-dominated fields like construction, experts are calling for the creation of a White House Council on Boys to Men, much like the existing White House Council on Women and Girls, in order to foster policies and support. Read the rest of the article here: www.edweek.org
Commentary
Principal Preparation: Moving Beyond Assessment
This commentary, an excerpt of which is below, appeared in yesterday’s Education Week. We encourage you to comment on it as a school leader and give your thoughts on the issue.
By Ann Hassenpflug
Increasingly, principal-preparation programs are getting the national scrutiny that has been focused on teacher education for some time.
Today, many principal-training programs run by public and private higher education institutions have been modified to align them with national standards from the Educational Leadership Constituent Council, or ELCC. To receive national recognition from ELCC as part of the college of education accreditation process, faculties have revised their principal-training programs to include assessments that require graduate students to engage in specific activities scored according to rubrics.
Educational administration faculty members have spent immense amounts of time and effort (without extra compensation or reduced teaching and research loads) to design and implement common principalship assessments. One problem with this: The intense focus on tests has caused other important program components to be neglected—despite a lack of data confirming that the new assessments actually make any difference in a future principal’s leadership ability.
Instead of continuing to tinker with assessments in principal-preparation programs, it is time to look at other pieces of the process to determine if the necessary questions are being asked about the preparation process, which includes the selection (or, more often, self-selection) of candidates, the pedagogy and delivery methods used in the courses, the knowledge base and skills addressed in the educational administration courses, and the qualifications of the faculty.
Read the rest of the article and leave any comments here: www.edweek.org
Research
The Pell Institute, sponsored by CEF member the Council for Opportunity in Education, issued The Threat of Income-Based Inequality in Education www.coenet.us [pdf]
New America Foundation’s Federal Education Budget Project (FEBP) released an issue brief on the recently finalized fiscal year 2011 federal education appropriations. The paper, 2011 Education Appropriations Guide education.newamerica.net, “provides a summary and analysis of the $68.3 billion education budget for fiscal year 2011″.
House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Kline (R-MN) is not backing away from his intent to reduce the federal role in education with the introduction of the Committee’s first small ESEA bill that would eliminate funding for several programs vital to secondary school leaders. This first bill, the Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act (H.R. 1891) introduced on May 13 by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, eliminates authorizations for ESEA programs that are no longer funded (including those that lost funding in the recent FY 2011 Continuing Resolution) and also eliminated programs that the Obama administration slated for consolidation in FY 2012. Thus, the following key programs for secondary school leaders would be eliminated:
- School Leadership
- Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program
- Smaller Learning Communities
- Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs
- High School Graduation Initiative
- Safe and Drug Free State Grants
- Physical Education
- National Writing Project
- Parent Information and Resource Centers
along with 34 other ESEA programs to total 43 program eliminations.
To see the complete list of eliminated programs, go here: http://edworkforce.house.gov/UploadedFiles/SUMMARY_-_Setting_New_Priorities_in_Education_Spending_Act.pdf
The Committee’s press release on May 13 about this bill describes the 43 programs slated for elimination as “inefficient,” “unnecessary,” and even “wasteful,” yet just this Wednesday I attended a Hill briefing on strategies for effective ELL instruction that cited the National Writing Project, a supposedly “wasteful” program, as key to one teacher’s success in her students’ English reading and writing achievement (See http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/preparation-access/teacher-advocacy/news/new-report-teacher-voices-immigration-language-and-culture.)
Additionally, in the same press release where Rep. Hunter laments that “approximately one-third of American fourth graders can’t read,” he proposes elimination of six key-and successful-literacy programs (Striving Readers, Even Start Family Literacy Program, National Writing Project, Improving Literacy Through School Libraries, Reading is Fundamental, and Early Reading First) making his bill appear ill-advised to address the literacy crisis specifically and student achievement generally. Rep. Hunter-and Committee Chairman Rep. John Kline (R-MN), who supports this bill-also argue that many of these programs are duplicative efforts of other designated categories in ESEA. The bill eliminates the School Leadership grant, for example, arguing that it is duplicative of the ESEA Title II (Teacher Quality State Grants) program and the Teacher Incentive Fund. However, NASSP finds this duplication argument unfounded considering that currently, less than 5% of Title II dollars go toward principal professional development, and that most go toward reducing class size in district budgets.
As a dedicated school leader, you invariably will be impacted by elimination of these programs, whether it is through less or no school leader professional development with the elimination of the School Leadership grant, or it is through no financial support from the federal government to maintain a safe and healthy school environment with the elimination of the Safe and Drug Free State Grants. Additionally, reports show that every state, and thus district, is recovering more slowly from our economic recession than the nation as a whole, and thus relies heavily now on federal support for these critical programs for your schools. NASSP therefore urges you to visit the Principal’s Legislative Action Center (http://app3.vocusgr.com/WebPublish/controller.aspx?SiteName=NASSP&Definition=Home&XSL=Home&SV_Section=Home) to contact your members of Congress and express your strong opposition to Rep. Hunter’s bill. NASSP Government Relations staff will aggressively oppose this bill through our own outreach, but we need your voice and your support to make our case stronger.
The Forum on Educational Accountability (FEA), a group comprised of education, civil rights, religious and civic organizations committed to the reauthorization of ESEA, issued a joint statement Tuesday outlining the group’s recommendations for a new federal education law. FEA emphasizes their support for the stated objectives of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), strong academic achievement for all children and elimination of the achievement gap. However, FEA calls for certain constructive changes to ensure federal education law is supportive of schools and not a constraint to their success. The recommendation lists five areas that need improvement: progress measurement, assessments, professional development, sanctions, and funding.
FEA stresses the importance of decreased standardized testing requirements, which the group contends are inadequate measures of student achievement. The emphasis on standardized testing created by NCLB, coupled with the pressure to meet AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), narrows classroom curriculum to fit test material, leaving little time for critical thinking instruction. Monty Neill, Executive Director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, agrees and argues that standardized testing turns classrooms into test prep courses rather than effective centers of learning. Moreover, Neill argues that data shows student progress and achievement has significantly slowed since the implementation of NCLB-something he attributes, in part, to an over-emphasis on standardized tests. FEA recommends the use of multiple indicators to measure student achievement over a period of time in lieu of standardized testing.
FEA also recommends a lift on disciplinary sanctions on schools that are slow to show improvements. FEA writes, “Sanctions should not be applied if they undermine existing effective reform efforts” and Congress should “replace sanctions that do not have a consistent record of success with interventions that enable schools to make changes that result in improved student achievement”. By imposing sanctions on schools that struggle to improve, the federal government implies that all schools already possess the resources needed to improve. By this reasoning, schools fail because they do not effectively use available resources, not because they lack resources. Yet, this is not always the case. Funding, resources, and professional development opportunities are not always available to schools, especially in high poverty areas. These schools are already disadvantaged and added sanctions, in many ways, disrupts progress towards improvement.
Molly Hunter, Director of Education Justice and panelist at an event promoting FEA’s recommendations spoke of this “opportunity gap” in high-poverty public schools. As an example, Hunter spoke of a New York state law that required all high school students to complete one course of lab science in order to graduate. When the law was implemented, thirty one New York high schools lacked resources and funding to offer a lab science course. These schools struggled to comply with state law. FEA recommends new ESEA legislation that addresses opportunity gaps such as this.
Consequently, FEA recommends increased federal education funding “to cover a substantial percentage of the costs that states and districts will incur to carry out these recommendations and to fully fund the law at those levels without reducing expenditures for other education programs”. Further, FEA promotes federal support and funding for high quality training and professional development for teachers, principals, and other school personnel, something FEA calls “absolutely essential for improving schools”. NASSP supports FEA’s recommendations and is a signer of the joint statement.
Read a summary of FEA’s revised recommendations
Read FEA’s 2010 detailed recommendations
Announcements:
The Senate this Tuesday passed the 3-week continuing resolution (CR) that the House had passed last Friday to keep the government running through April 8. This CR cuts $2 billion in federal spending per week, or $6 billion total, but the good news is that it does not cut any more from education programs than the previous CR does. However, a few programs key to NASSP members-the School Leadership Program (which provides training, mentoring, and professional development to principals), and the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program (which provides comprehensive birth through grade 12 literacy) were eliminated in this CR, and NASSP Government Relations staff will continue to advocate to restore this funding for a year-long CR. At a DC event this past Wednesday, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) ensured the crowd that he would not allow a federal government shutdown, and that this CR through April 8 would be the last short-term CR. He said Republicans, Democrats, and the Administration must negotiate a compromise in the next 3 weeks for a final year-long CR through the end of the FY 11 fiscal year (September 30.) Read more in the brief description in the “News” section below.
This past Monday President Obama visited Kenmore Middle School in northern Virginia where he urged reauthorization of ESEA before students return to school for the 2011-2012 school year, and where he also urged appropriators not to cut education funding for FY 11 or FY 12. Go here for the blog and video coverage: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/03/14/president-obama-it-s-not-enough-leave-no-child-behind-we-need-help-every-child-get-a), and go here for a fact sheet: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/14/president-obama-calls-congress-fix-no-child-left-behind-start-next-schoo and the Secretary’s remarks at http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-kenmore-middle-school-arlington-virginia). Read more in the brief description in the “News” section below.
The White House recently held a Conference on Bullying Prevention. Approximately 150 students, parents, teachers, advocates, and policymakers gathered to discuss how they can collaborate to make our schools and communities safer. “If there’s one goal of this conference, it’s to dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage, or an inevitable part of growing up. It’s not,” President Obama said. “Bullying can have destructive consequences for our young people. And, it’s not something that we have to accept.” See NASSP’s press release to read about the participation of one of NASSP’s Board members, B.J. Paris, in the Summit: www.nassp.org.
Go here for more information on the Summit: www.whitehouse.gov.
News
New Short Term CR Freezes Education Spending, No New Cuts
Congress passed a new short-term continuing resolution that would fund the government through April 8th. The bill cuts an additional $6 billion dollars in spending, though none of that money is taken from the Department of Education. Congress now has an additional three weeks to compromise on a budget for FY11, which began Oct. 1st of last year. To read more click here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2011/03/senate_passes_spending_bill_fl.html
Wisconsin Judge Blocks Controversial Union Law
A Wisconsin judge temporarily blocked the state’s controversial anti-union law from going into effect. Judge Maryann Sumi made the decision, contending the legislative committee that passed the bill failed to give the required 24-hour notice before meeting. Assistant Attorney General Steven Means has said the state will appeal the ruling. To read more click here: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/03/18/413811_ap.html
Obama Warns Congress, Budgets That Cut Education Will Be Blocked
During a speech at a Virginia middle school, Obama said he expects Congress to reauthorize ESEA before the start of the new school year and added he would not a sign a bill that cuts education spending. The President told the gathering, “A budget that sacrifices our commitment to education would be a budget that’s sacrificing our country’s future. And I will not let it happen”. To read more click here: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/03/14/26obama.h30.html
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Examine Education Red Tape
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have introduced a bipartisan bill that would create a national task force responsible for examining federal, state, and local education regulations and making policy recommendations for removing red tape. The Senators have already created a task force to examine regulations in Colorado and Tennessee. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who supports the bill, will co-chair the task force along with the two Senators. To read more click here: http://bennet.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=1607e534-6c50-4ec7-9fbe-44f107fd484a
Teacher Retirement Spikes in Wisconsin Schools
Despite a temporary court-ordered block of the anti-union bill, more teachers in Wisconsin are opting to retire years earlier than planned, rather than face uncertainty over health and retirement benefits. Districts across the state are reporting retirement numbers three times above average. John Matthews, executive director of Madison Teachers Inc, said of the spike in retirement, “that’s a major brain and skill drain. That will have a major negative impact on the educational program”. To read more click here: http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2011/03/16/mct_wiretire.html
From NASSP’s Principals’ Policy Blog
House Education and Workforce Subcommittee Examines Education Regulations
The House Education and Workforce subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, and the subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training recently held separate hearings on the impact of federal regulations on public schools. The hearings were intended to inform Education and Workforce committee members of the obstacles schools currently face as the committee prepares to rewrite and reauthorize ESEA legislation. Though the two hearings focused on different levels of education, the underlying issues were the same: the unwieldy amount of reporting and data collection required by the federal government overburdens schools and ultimately takes invaluable resources-tangible and intangible-away from the classroom. Read the rest of the blog here: http://www.principalspolicyblog.org/blog/.
Congressional Briefing Held on Children of Immigrant Families
First Focus held a briefing Thursday to discuss policy issues, including education policy, that affect the children of immigrant families. A study released by First Focus in conjunction with the briefing finds children in immigrant families account for nearly one-fourth of all children in the U.S. The majority of these children-88 percent-are U.S. citizens. In addition, an estimated 1.8 million children are undocumented. Many were brought to the United States at a young age and have spent the majority of their lives in the U.S. Under a 1982 Supreme Court Ruling, undocumented children who were brought to the United States by their parents cannot be denied a K-12 education. Though 65,000 undocumented children graduate from American high schools each year, they are unable to pursue college or career opportunities. Read the rest of the blog here: http://www.principalspolicyblog.org/blog/.
Republicans in the House and Senate have quickly begun fulfilling their pledge to reduce federal spending; and while few discretionary programs have been spared, education seems to be a target among these members of Congress.
One of the newest senators and Tea Party favorite, Rand Paul (R-KY), introduced legislation in January to cut $500 billion from the federal budget in FY 2011. Making good on a campaign promise to abolish the U.S. Department of Education, the Cut Federal Spending Act (S. 162) would eliminate funding for nearly every single federal education program. Under the legislation, Pell Grants, which help low-income students attend college, would be salvaged but capped at $16.2 billion. However, Title I, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and other programs essential to our nation’s middle level and high schools would be on the chopping block.
“I am proud to introduce my own solution to the mounting debt our spendthrift, oversized government has accrued,” Sen. Paul said in a press release. “By rolling back to 2008 levels and eliminating the most wasteful programs, we can still keep 85% of our government funding in place. By removing programs that are beyond the constitutional role of the federal government, such as education and housing, we are cutting nearly 40% of our projected deficit and removing the big-government bureaucrats who stand in the way of efficiency in our federal government.”
On the House side, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who chairs the Republican Study Committee, has also introduced a bill to reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion through FY 2011. The Spending Reduction Act (H.R. 408) would extend discretionary spending limits for non-defense spending, rescind unobligated funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and again cut federal education programs. While the bill would maintain funding for Title I and IDEA, some of the programs targeted for elimination include the School Leadership program, Comprehensive School Reform, Enhancing Education through Technology, Elementary and Secondary School Counseling, and Smaller Learning Communities—all programs strongly supported by NASSP and our members.
“Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and cutting vital education programs at a time when states and school districts are struggling to make ends meet is foolish and irresponsible,” said NASSP Executive Director Gerald N. Tirozzi. “Improving education for all students, especially students who live in poverty or who have special needs, is a national economic issue that warrants a cabinet position. NASSP will work hard to ensure these bills are defeated.”
Announcements
Education Funding Update: House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) stated this week that the committee plans to allocate $157 billion to its Labor-HHS-Education panel for FY 2011, which is a 4% or $6.6 billion cut from FY 2010 enacted levels. NASSP is pleased to see that the cut is not the 13% or more we had heard was possible, given the House Republicans’ desire to cut $100 billion from non-security discretionary spending in their Pledge to America document. NASSP will keep you updated on more specific funding amounts for education programs in the coming weeks.
President Obama will release his Fiscal Year 2012 Budget on February 14, indicating the Administration’s priorities for spending in different areas. Look for an update from NASSP on what this means for education funding.
The White House announced the 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge, in which high school students nationwide are invited to submit an application and articulate how their school prepares them for college and a career. The winning school will get a visit from President Obama as their 2011 commencement speaker. The application consists of essay questions and statistical information that demonstrate how schools are promoting college and career readiness while establishing a culture of student success and academic excellence. Applications must be submitted by Friday, February 25, at 11:59 p.m. ET. For more information, visit www.whitehouse.gov.
News
Harvard Study says College Doesn’t Need to be for Everybody
A recently published Harvard report questions our education system’s ability to prepare students for careers requiring less than a bachelor’s degree. The report argues too much emphasis is given to college preparation and not enough to career preparation. “Every high school graduate should find viable ways of pursuing both a career and a meaningful postsecondary degree or credential,” the report says. “For too many of our youth, we have treated preparing for college versus preparing for a career as mutually exclusive options.” Read more here: www.edweek.org
Chiefs Put Pressure on Feds for ESEA renewal, Propose Own Plan
The Council of Chief State School Officers is putting pressure on Congress to speed up reauthorization of ESEA. The Council sent a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as well as to lawmakers and party leaders telling them states are ready to “propose new, innovative policy models in terms of accountability and other areas that move beyond [No Child Left Behind and the current version of ESEA]” if ESEA reauthorization does not happen soon. Read more here: blogs.edweek.org
School Boards Focus On Student Achievement
A nationwide survey of school board members suggests a shift in focus from district management issues to student achievement issues. Members who participated in the survey ranked “help students fulfill their potential” as their most important goals of education. The results differ from a similar survey conducted in 2002 in which board members cited “employee morale, student safety, and board-superintendent working relationship as their most important goals. Concerning the survey, Fordham Institute’s research director Amber Winkler stated, “if we are serious about improving education, we’d be wise not to rely on what we’ve always done in the past. That was a little jarring to us.” Read more here: www.edweek.org
Research
A new report was recently issued by the Center for American progress on School Turnaround Models. The report, “Turning Around the Nation’s Lowest-Performing Schools” discusses five steps districts can take to improve performance rates. NASSP is opposed to school turnaround models for their strategy of replacing school principals without the backing of any evidence-based research or fair evaluations for these principals. Read more here www.americanprogress.org
Coming up…
On Thursday February 10 the House Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a full committee hearing titled Education in the Nation: Examining the Challenges and Opportunities Facing America’s Classrooms. NASSP Government Relations staff will attend and report on the hearing in our next update.
