|
Snap Schott:
Every week The Schott Foundation for Public Education highlights a select list of articles of interest to you. Simply click the article headlines below to expand the article.
This Issue:
To Duncan, Incentives a Priority
$1.8 billion in stimulus is earmarked for NYC education department
Governor's budget would set back progress in state school system
Boston schools face big job cuts
Graduation rate lowest for Hispanic male students
MD Leads U.S. in Passing Rates on AP Exams
A Vital Boost for Education
|
To Duncan, Incentives a Priority
New Secretary of Education Eyes Use of Proposed Fund
By Alyson Klein
February 4, 2009
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says he is eager to use a proposed $15 billion federal incentive-grant fund in part to reward states, districts, and even nonprofit organizations that have set high standards for the students they serve.
“With this fund, we really have a chance to drive dramatic changes, to take to scale what works, invest in what works,” Mr. Duncan said in an interview last week, his first full week at the helm of the Department of Education. He said he would aim to “reward those states that are pushing very, very hard to get dramatically better.”
Mr. Duncan’s comments came in a wide-ranging interview with Education Week in which he named as priorities reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, expansion of prekindergarten programs, and improvements in teacher quality, recruitment, and retention.
The education incentive-grant money would be available to Mr. Duncan under both versions of a huge economic-stimulus package working its way through Congress. The House approved a broad, $819 billion measure Jan. 28. The Senate is expected to consider such legislation this week.
Push for Standards
While language in the House and Senate bills outlines how the incentive fund should be used, both bills appear to give some latitude to the secretary of education in allocating the money.
Secretary Duncan said the Education Department would want to use the money in part to reward states—as well as districts and nonprofit groups—that have set rigorous standards linked to strong assessments and monitored by student-data systems.
“There’s a series of things we’re looking for,” he said. “This is absolutely a historic opportunity to reward excellence, to ‘incent’ excellence.”
When asked, Mr. Duncan indicated he may consider using the incentive money as part of a push for national or other more-uniform standards.
“Sure, absolutely,” he answered. “We want to reward rigor and challenge the status quo.”
The $15 billion fund is a relatively small slice of the more than $120 billion slated for education programs under the pending stimulus legislation—the most immediate domestic priority for the Obama administration—but it presents an unusual opportunity for the new secretary. It would represent more than was appropriated in fiscal 2008 for the Title I program for disadvantaged students, the main federal program in K-12 education.
Suggested Direction
Observers from all parts of the political spectrum say Secretary Duncan’s vision for allocating the funds, if they’re approved as part of a final bill, will provide an important early sign of the direction the new administration will take in education policy.
Typically, Congress sets specific guidelines for such large pots of money, said Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, a research and advocacy organization in Washington. But the stimulus plan is moving too quickly through the legislative process for that detailed attention to be practicable, he said.
“The action is going to be with the Department of Education,” said Mr. Jennings, who was an aide on education issues to House Democrats for nearly three decades.
Michael J. Petrilli, a vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, another Washington research and advocacy group, said he wasn’t surprised by Mr. Duncan’s thoughts on using the money in part to encourage states to raise their standards and to better track student achievement.
“Everything we know about Arne Duncan said he is a big believer in national standards and national tests, and understands the games that states have been playing around No Child Left Behind” by setting low standards for proficiency, said Mr. Petrilli, a leading advocate for national academic standards who served in the Education Department during President George W. Bush’s first term.
Mr. Duncan wasn’t specific in the interview about which items the new administration had pushed to include in the $120 billion in education funding being considered by Congress.
Teacher Funds Supported
But, when asked, he said he supported the House’s decision to include an additional $200 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund that gives grants to districts for alternative pay programs, $25 million for charter school facilities, and $250 million for state data systems.
“Obviously, the reform piece is hugely important,” Mr. Duncan said of those proposals.
Those items are not part of the Senate stimulus measure.
Mr. Duncan, 44, served as the chief executive officer of the 408,000-student Chicago school district before being named by President Barack Obama to head the federal department.
He was viewed as a compromise choice who could bring together what are widely perceived to be two disparate groups on education issues whose differences complicate policymaking for Democrats and their allies.
One faction, seen as being dominated by the teachers’ unions and other major education groups, is said by critics to be too protective of the current school system. Its members generally stress the need for outside social supports to help schools raise the performance of disadvantaged students.
The other camp, associated with some civil rights groups, prominent urban superintendents, and mayors, is said to take a “no excuses” approach that holds schools accountable for educating children regardless of their socioeconomic needs.
But Mr. Duncan dismissed the idea that such a division exists.
“The press likes controversy, pitting folks against each other,” he said. “We need great teachers; we need real reform; we have to push to get dramatically better.”
He also talked about addressing children’s health and other needs as a part of boosting achievement.
“If they’re hungry, we need to feed them; if they don’t have clothes, you need to give them clothes. … And so, yes, you have to look at their social and emotional needs as well,” he said.
“We need to absolutely push as hard as we can on both of these agendas,” the secretary said. “These are not in competition with each other. They are absolutely complementary.”
Reworking NCLB
Secretary Duncan wasn’t specific about where he would take the NCLB law, the landmark—and controversial—school improvement measure that was due for reauthorization in 2007. But he outlined some general principles during the interview, reiterating much of what President Obama said on the 2008 campaign trail.
“The philosophy behind [the law], the premise, I would wholeheartedly support,” Mr. Duncan said. “It’s important to have absolutely high expectations. I would actually argue we need to raise the bar. We need to do better.”
And he made it clear that teacher quality will be a key part of his education redesign plan.
“We want the best and brightest young people around the country coming into education,” he said. “We need to develop real career ladders—and if folks aren’t great teachers, if it’s simply not going to work, then we need to be honest about that as well.”
He also indicated that he may take a look at the outcome measures for students envisioned in the NCLB law, putting greater focus on college readiness and high school graduation rates.
Mr. Duncan wasn’t willing to specify whom he will be bringing into the department as appointees to other high-level jobs, although he said he was looking for “folks who are absolute innovators, who are visionaries.” He said the personnel picture would “get a whole lot clearer over the next two weeks.”
Return to TOP
Sen. Schumer: $1.8 billion in stimulus is earmarked for NYC education department
By PETE DONOHUE, MEREDITH KOLODNER AND ADAM LISBERG
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, February 2nd 2009
The federal government can come to the rescue of 14,000 city teachers threatened with layoffs, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Monday.
"There is going to be significant federal aid to prevent the kinds of large cuts that are being proposed in education," Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters.
The federal stimulus bill is expected to send $1.8 billion to city schools, much of which can make up for Gov. Paterson's deep cuts in state aid.
"If they were to use that money to prevent massive layoffs of teachers, that would be the intention of what the money is for, and that's a good thing."
Mayor Bloomberg last week proposed cutting 14,000 teachers, saying it was the only way to make up for a $771 million cut from Paterson.
Aides said he did not count the federal money in his budget because it was not guaranteed.
He ducked a question Monday about whether he had overstated the layoff threat, saying, "You use federal monies to make up for the state budget cut."
Teachers union president Randi Weingarten blamed Bloomberg for threatening teachers instead of working with them.
"Instead of allowing teachers to use their political voices outside of school, what he's done is to scare them," Weingarten said."We need to work together to avert this kind of crisis."
Return to TOP
Commentary:
Governor's budget would set back progress in state school system
January 30, 2009
New York state is once again receiving national recognition for the high quality of its public school system. Education Week, an independent national publication that covers education issues, has ranked the state third in the nation (just slightly behind Maryland and Massachusetts) when it comes to providing the framework necessary to ensure student success.
In its annual "Quality Counts" report card — which takes a critical and comprehensive look at the educational structure in all 50 states and the District of Columbia — New York was given an A for standards, accountability and assessing performance. The state also scored an A-minus in spending and in providing early childhood education.
That New York should rate so high nationally should hardly come as a surprise. The state last year received repeated national attention from organizations such as the College Board, Education Trust and Education Week for narrowing the achievement gap, improving the graduation rate, and topping the nation in Advanced Placement test results.
Yet, despite the accolades, there remains room for improvement.
There still remains too large an achievement gap between students in wealthy and poor districts, most frequently affecting children of color. Overall student performance on standardized tests continues to lag at the middle-school level as well.
While the recent Education Week report shows New York public's education system is on the right track, Gov. David Paterson's proposed executive budget represents for our schools a roadblock that threatens not only to obstruct the state's academic progress but also derail it altogether.
Under the governor's proposed budget, school aid is slashed by $700 million. But the actual aid cut would total $2.5 billion when factoring in the $1.9 billion allocation the state is required to pay schools under terms of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court decision addressing aid inequities between wealthy and poor districts.
Paterson's budget would also freeze foundation aid and universal pre-kindergarten funding through 2011, and eliminate $1.1 billion in formula-based aids for 2009-10, leaving individual districts with cuts ranging from 3 percent to 13 percent. Locally, for instance, Middletown faces a possible 3 percent cut in aid, while Cornwall could see a reduction of as much as 14 percent.
Though New York received high overall marks in the Education Week report, when it came to improving teacher quality through "incentives and allocations" the state's grade plummeted to a D.
Teacher quality and student success are inextricably linked. But Paterson's budget would actually push the teaching profession backward by targeting for elimination the entire $40 million allocation used to fund Teacher Centers, which provide high-quality professional development to approximately 267,000 teachers and 41,000 teacher assistants statewide. His budget would also eliminate the $10 million used to pay for the state's critical Teacher Mentor-Intern program, which enables experienced educators to provide guidance and support to those in their first or second year of teaching.
One needs only to look to California to see the harmful toll that budget cuts have exacted on public schools. The Golden State now spends only $7,541 per student — $5,500 less than New York and roughly $1,500 below the national average. Once considered the national model, California's public school system in the Education Week report is now ranked 26th nationwide.
Certainly, New York's fiscal crisis is very real. But it is during tough times like this when government has a moral obligation to provide the continuation of critical public services — and, like health care, education is at the top of that list.
Now is the time to invest in our public schools, not dismantle them. Our children's success depends on it.
Richard C. Iannuzzi is president of New York State United Teachers.
Return to TOP
Boston schools face big job cuts
Budget slashes 900 positions, 403 teachers
By James Vaznis
February 5, 2009
The Boston school district may have to eliminate at least 900 jobs, including 403 teaching positions, and explore the closure of additional schools as the system confronts its worst budget crisis in more than a decade, Superintendent Carol R. Johnson told the School Committee last night.
Her preliminary budget plan, unveiled at a School Committee meeting, would also restructure the district into five smaller zones, reducing the district's skyrocketing transportation costs but limiting the number of schools parents can choose from.
The spending proposal represents a 5.5 percent cut in this year's $833.1 million budget at a time when the district is trying to address persistent concerns about student achievement and low graduation rates.
To achieve that deep of a reduction -while taking into account the rising costs of salaries, special education, and other services - the district must cut spending by $107 million. The plan presented last night identifies $83 million in specific cuts and lays out possible strategies for coming up with $24 million more in savings, including additional school closures.
Johnson said in a memo to the School Committee that she remains committed to "achieving our core mission of providing every child with a first-rate public education."
But the elimination of 403 of the district's approximately 6,500 teaching positions, a 6 percent cut, could make that a challenge, raising the specter of larger class sizes and fewer class offerings.
Johnson emphasized in an interview after the meeting that the recommendations were preliminary and that adjustments would be made based on public input. She also said that she and her staff may have overestimated the number of cuts schools could absorb.
"It's hard to feel positive about this particular budget recommendation," Johnson said. "People did a good job working on it, but it's not resolved yet."
The drastic measures reflect what is happening in City Halls, town offices, and at school committee meetings across the state, as communities try to grapple with the ever-widening impact of the economic decline, which has led to steep decreases in state aid.
In Boston - where City Hall is facing a projected $140 million shortfall next year - city leaders are bracing for an additional $44 million reduction in state aid next year and an estimated $14 million decline in local revenue generated by licensing and permit fees, interest income, and excise taxes, according to city officials.
The district has been teetering on the brink of a financial crisis for the last two fiscal years and has been forced twice to ask City Hall for help. Each time, the city handed over about $10 million. The idea was to give Johnson, who was fairly new, some breathing room to develop a comprehensive plan to address the unfolding financial woes and avoid reactionary cuts.
But school leaders last year ignored a directive by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to cut $10 million in transportation spending by redrawing the boundaries of the city's three sprawling student assignment zones, which would have allowed more students to walk to school or travel shorter distances by bus. The Globe reported on Monday that more than half of the district's school buses arrive at school each morning with at least half of their seats empty.
The five-zone plan unveiled last night, which is likely to run into heavy opposition from some parents, could save $5 million to $10 million.
Another proposal - the elimination of bus service for students attending private and parochial schools - would carve an additional $1.4 million from the transportation budget but also could run into political opposition. City officials have defended the practice in the past as a necessary service for parents already working multiple jobs to pay tuition. Many of those parents, they argued, send their children to private schools because they cannot get them into public schools closer to home.
Cutting more than 900 positions in just one year greatly exceeds the loss of 716 jobs over a two-year period earlier this decade, which at that time represented an 8.4 percent decline in the department's city-funded positions, according to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. The district eventually regained those numbers.
To keep down the number of positions eliminated, Menino proposed last month a wage freeze to save millions of dollars in contractual salary increases. If the teachers' union approved such a move, it would save up to 335 teaching positions and 70 other jobs, John McDonough, the system's chief financial officer, said in an interview yesterday afternoon.
But city unions have been reluctant to negotiate because revenue forecasts for next year are still wobbly. A federal economic stimulus bill could funnel an unspecified amount of money to financially strapped districts. On the other hand, the amount of aid from the state could possibly decrease because it depends on a proposed increase in the meals and room tax - a controversial proposal that must receive legislative approval.
Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers Union, said teachers are concerned about layoffs and the prospect of larger class sizes next fall. The union, he said, would aggressively pursue grievances if class sizes push beyond contract provisions, which range from a maximum of 22 students in the primary grades to 31 at the high school level. The contract includes remedies, such as paying teachers thousands of dollars more.
"In a given year, we have hundreds of grievances," Stutman said in an interview before the budget was unveiled. "In a year like this upcoming year, we will have in the nature of the thousands."
He said the cuts will set back the progress the system has been making in recent years in a number of areas, such as the success of some underperforming schools in turning around academic achievement.
"There is a split in the road," Stutman said in an interview prior to the meeting. "Are we going to continue progress or lose momentum? Everyone is concerned we will lose momentum. A cut like this doesn't disrupt for one year but for many years. Many talented teachers will go elsewhere."
Before the meeting, dozens of students marched from City Hall to the school department's headquarters on nearby Court Street, where they joined a parent rally. Both groups advocated for the preservation of the arts, music, and college-level courses, as well as a greater say in budget decisions.
"We recognize cuts are necessary because there is a financial crisis going on, but they need to consult students more," Maya Jonas-Silver, a student organizer from Boston Latin School, said in an interview before the event. "They really haven't asked us our opinion. We are concerned some favorite programs and teachers will be lost."
Return to TOP
Graduation rate lowest for Hispanic male students
Declines as other groups make strides
By James Vaznis
February 6, 2009
MALDEN - Little more than half of the Hispanic male students last year graduated from high school within four years, a slight decline from the previous year, even as other demographic groups began closing an achievement gap, according to a state report released yesterday.
The poor performance of this ever-growing segment of the high school population is raising questions about the quality of programs that teach immigrant students how to speak English and concern among some advocates for Hispanic students that state and local school leaders may be too apathetic.
State leaders say they are committed to addressing the problem, noting, for instance, that they are working in partnership with Boston, Chelsea, Springfield, and Worcester on a new teacher and leadership training program to help these students.
"We need to be doing better," Mitchell Chester, state commissioner of elementary and secondary education, said in an interview.
Hispanic males have had the lowest rate of any student group broken down by race, ethnicity, and gender since the state began tracking graduation rates three years ago. According to data released yesterday by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 52.6 percent of the 5,112 Hispanic male students who started as freshmen in fall 2004 graduated four years later, compared with a state average of 81.2 percent.
Low graduation rates among Hispanic males has become a growing issue in recent years across the nation. Two years ago, a report, led by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University and the Urban Institute in New York, called trailing graduation rates a "Civil rights crisis."
Gary Orfield, codirector of the Civil Rights Project, based at the University of California at Los Angeles, said the low rates are a glaring failure of Massachusetts' 15-year effort to overhaul public education, which he contends has overlooked the needs of the fast-growing Hispanic population. Hispanics comprise nearly 14 percent of the state's student enrollment, up from 8.8 percent 15 years ago.
"Massachusetts has not gotten used to the fact it's going into a big demographic change," said Orfield, who places some blame on the state's Hispanic community. "Latinos need to get mobilized. This is a life-or-death issue for their future. . . . Not getting a high school diploma is a life sentence to marginalization and poverty and living on the streets. It's a horrible threat to the future of a community."
Massachusetts has made some headway in boosting graduation rates for another historically low-performing student group: black males, whose rate is among the lowest of all groups. Their rate has increased two years in a row, from 57.5 percent in 2006 to 62.7 percent last year.
The results frustrated local Hispanic advocates, who say many schools offer insufficient support for new immigrant students. Sometimes, they say, schools place students with poor English skills too quickly in regular classrooms, while other students may linger too long in isolated programs.
They also expressed concern about female Hispanic students' low graduate rate, which budged only slightly upward last year to 64.4 percent.
"I'm afraid its going to get worse with the budget situation we are in," said Samuel Hurtado, coordinator of the Latino Education Action Network/English Language Learners Work Group, a part of Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a nonprofit that works on behalf of disadvantaged students. "Usually support for bilingual students is the first thing that gets cut. So we'll see what happens."
In Boston - where the district's overall graduation rate increased 2 percentage points to 59.9 percent - Superintendent of Schools Carol Johnson is creating a "newcomers" academy, where newly arrived immigrants will be able to work on their English skills while receiving academic tutoring. She also is looking into opening a school in East Boston, home to many Hispanic families, where students could learn in both English and Spanish.
Springfield, like Boston, is conducting a top-to-bottom review of its English language programs with assistance from the state to improve instruction as part of a new pilot program. About 53 percent of Springfield's 26,000 students are Hispanic, while its overall graduation rate last year was 54.4 percent.
"We recognize it's a problem," said Azell Cavaan, a Springfield schools spokeswoman.
Some educators say the key to boosting graduation rates, in some cases, may be no different than proven remedies for all academically struggling students: top-notch teachers, longer school days, early intervention, and intense tutoring.
"There is no magic bullet; it's about quality schools," said Miren Uriarte, a research associate at the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
That has been the focus at Excel Academy Charter School in East Boston, where nearly 70 percent of the 200 middle school students are Hispanic and more than half are not native English speakers. Many of them enter the school with reading skills two years below grade level. To ratchet up success, students attend class nearly eight hours a day, and many receive tutoring after school or on Saturday mornings. Eighth-grade scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams are among the highest in the state.
"We set a really high bar and give them the boost they need to get up there," said Ann Waterman Roy, the school's executive director. "They require a lot of opportunities to catch up."
Return to TOP
Md. Leads U.S. in Passing Rates on AP Exams
By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 5, 2009
For the first time, Maryland ranks top in the nation for the share of high school graduates who passed at least one Advanced Placement test.
The College Board reported yesterday that 23.4 percent of Maryland students in the Class of 2008 earned passing scores on one or more AP exams, which cover material comparable to what is taught in a first-year college course. The state edged New York, the home base of the nonprofit test publisher, to post the highest such rate in the AP program. Virginia was third, with 21.3 percent of graduating students having passed an AP test.
A score of 3 or higher on a five-point scale is considered passing and can yield college credit and advanced standing for matriculating college students.
Participation in AP has exploded this decade. Educators have embraced it as a sort of national curriculum for high school students who are ready for college study. Northeastern states, home to many elite universities, have led the trend. Schools in the Washington area have also been spurred by the Challenge Index, an annual report created by The Washington Post's Jay Mathews that measures high school rigor on the basis of participation in AP and other college-level programs.
Six states, including Maryland and Virginia, had at least one-fifth of graduates pass an AP test in high school: New York (23.3 percent), Connecticut (21 percent), Massachusetts (20.8 percent) and California (20.2 percent). The nationwide rate for the Class of 2008 was 15.2 percent. In the District, the rate was 6.9 percent. All figures represent only public schools.
About 10 percent of graduates nationwide who took one or more AP tests never attained a passing score. The same was true for about 13 percent of 2008 graduates in Virginia, 14 percent in Maryland and 19 percent in the District.
Virginia and Maryland have ascended in the AP program, with their largest systems leading the way. In Montgomery County, 46.4 percent of last year's graduates passed one or more AP tests, twice the state average and three times the national average. Fairfax County did not release such figures, but the system ranked just above Montgomery in the latest edition of the Challenge Index.
Five years ago, according to the College Board, Maryland was third in the nation for the share of students passing AP tests, behind New York and Utah. Virginia ranked sixth.
"There is huge effort being put forth across the state," said Nancy S. Grasmick, Maryland's superintendent of schools. She said that 13 of the state's 24 systems have 30 percent or more of their students participating in AP. "It's places like Worcester County, St. Mary's County, Calvert County, Charles County, Washington County. These are counties that no one ever thought about."
A few Washington area school systems released tabulations yesterday of students who had passed an AP test: 45 percent in St. Mary's, 46 percent in Anne Arundel County, 32 percent in Alexandria, 31 percent in Frederick County, Md., and 18 percent in Manassas. Others said they hadn't completed the calculations.
Trevor Packer, executive director of the AP program, said that Maryland had reached the top ranking through "a commitment at the state level, by policy makers, to insist that AP is part of their secondary-school agenda." The state has an employee, her salary paid partly by the College Board, whose job is to travel to all of the school systems to train teachers and recruit underrepresented students into AP study.
Schools in Maryland and Virginia have increased their AP participation by abandoning a "gatekeeper" mentality that created limited access for a small cadre of top students and by recruiting minority students.
Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville also earned a distinction from the College Board yesterday: No other high school in the United States had as many black students pass the AP world history exam. Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George's County reaped a similar honor. It had the largest number of black students scoring 3 or higher on the AP chemistry test.
Garland Christopher, 17, an African American junior at Paint Branch, is taking four AP courses this year after taking one last year. The real preparation, he said, came in middle school, when he was persuaded to enroll in the ninth-grade Algebra I course as a seventh-grader. He took a steady dose of honors and accelerated courses before cracking an AP text.
"It gives you a taste of the level of work that you're going to face later," he said.
Return to TOP
Editorial:
A Vital Boost for Education
Published: February 3, 2009
The stimulus measure being debated in Congress contains a vital $140 billion education package that would more than double the Education Department’s discretionary budget and give the federal government unprecedented leverage over a school-reform effort that has been controlled primarily by the states. Congress has to make sure, however, that the spending does not actually undermine reform. The money needs to be targeted in a way that forces the states to adopt reforms required under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002.
For that to happen, Congress would need to embrace the stronger House measure, which was framed with an eye toward forcing the states to end the shameful practice of shunting the least qualified teachers into schools that serve the neediest students.
Beyond that, Arne Duncan, the education secretary, has a burgeoning discretionary budget that can be used to reward those states that embrace reform and prod those states that continue to lag. Mr. Duncan’s main goal should be to replace a wildly uneven patchwork of standards with a coherent system of national standards and tests that would allow parents to know, at last, how their schools compare with schools elsewhere in the country.
Both bills in the House and Senate include a $79 billion “stabilization” fund that is supposed to help the states avoid financing cuts and layoffs in education. Both allow for renovation aid for crumbling schools, more spending under Title I, which gives help to disadvantaged children, as well as under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which is aimed at disabled children.
The purpose of the measures is to protect schools from damaging cuts and layoffs while preserving the momentum toward reform. But that won’t happen if the states adopt the familiar strategy of cutting their own contributions to education — and shifting the money to other uses — while using federal dollars to plug the hole. That could result in a decline in total financing for education despite the mammoth federal expenditure. Worse still, money that moves from the education fund to say, road building, is often lost to the schools forever.
Both bills require that the states that access the stabilization money maintain education finances at sensible, specified levels. The Senate opens the door for trouble by allowing the secretary of education to waive the requirement. The House bill wisely does not open such a loophole in the maintenance-of-effort requirement.
The Bush administration failed to enforce a crucial provision of No Child Left Behind that requires states to finally give poor and minority schools a fair share of experienced, qualified teachers. The House version of the stimulus bill requires states that get the new money to comply with the law. If the Senate fails to embrace this provision, it would be selling out impoverished children.
The House bill also contains crucial funds for performance-based pay for teachers and higher quality tests and for data systems that will, with luck, give us an accurate view of how students, schools, districts and states are actually doing.
Congress is doing the right thing by helping the states stave off layoffs and other problems. But the stimulus will fail Americans in crucial ways if Congress squanders the opportunity to push the country’s schools toward long-overdue reform and allows the education money to be turned into more pork-barrel spending.
Return to TOP
|
