Federal Update - June 6, 2008
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Educators.
NWPE Executive Director on CNN
NCLB’s Proficiency Deadline Fast Approaching for Many States
Presidential Candidates’ Views on Education
An Investigation Called for Abuse into Federal Education Programs
NWPE Executive Director on CNN
On May 28 Cindy Omlin, executive director of the Northwest Professional Educators, an affiliate of AAE, was a guest on the Glenn Beck Show on CNN Headline News to discuss Washington State’s loss of a $13.2 million grant from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) as a result of actions from the Washington Education Association (WEA). The grant would have been used to strengthen math and science AP courses in the state’s high schools. A portion of the grant was intended to be used to compensate teachers for their extra time during training and their students’ success on AP exams. WEA claimed that the additional pay teachers would have received violated the state’s collective bargaining laws. When a compromise could not be reached between the NMSI and WEA, NMSI revoked the grant.
On the show Glenn Beck expressed outrage at the conduct of the WEA stating, “Like any other special interest group, the Washington teachers union cares about protecting themselves first.”
Ms. Omlin voiced frustration and concern about the effects the loss of the grant will have on the state. “Washington State won’t get one dime of this important grant to improve math and science achievement for students because the union couldn’t get its hands on every cent of that grant. So everybody loses. The students lose. Teachers lose. Our state loses. Our economy loses. And as you know, this state is heavily driven by math and science industries such as Microsoft and Boeing, which is one of the reasons Bill Gates is so interested in improving math and science.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed $10 million to NMSI.
Six other states, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Virginia, were also awarded grants from NMSI which are being implemented.
To read the transcript of the Glenn Beck Show featuring Cindy Omlin, please go to http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0805/28/gb.01.html.
To view the segment on YouTube, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrn7U9C51Lc.
NCLB’s Proficiency Deadline Fast Approaching for Many States
The 2013-2014 deadline for all students to be proficient in reading and math under NCLB is still five years away but that time may pass all too quickly for some states. At the inception of the law many states did not require their school districts to make large achievement gains but as the deadline approaches 23 states are now in jeopardy of not meeting the deadline unless they make large incremental strides in student achievement according to a new report by the Center on Education Policy.
One reason some states have waited to raise the bar for student achievement is that it took a few years to effectively implement new curriculums. “Our best hypothesis at the time was that it would take Ohio schools a while to adjust their approach to instruction and improve curriculum. That was the reason we adopted the approach that looked for more incremental progress in the early years of the 12-year trajectory and steeper progress in the later years,” stated Mitchell Chester, Ohio’s former senior associate superintendent who is now Massachusetts’s education commissioner.
Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, believes that many viewed the 2013-2014 deadline as unrealistic and believed it would be changed before reaching the date. However, with progress on the renewal of NCLB stalled in Congress, the deadline remains in effect.
According to research from the U.S. Department of Education, only one-quarter to one-third of states will reach the goal of having 100 percent of students proficient in reading and math by 2013-2014.
“To say 100 percent is just silly, and it creates frustration in the education system. Educators look at that goal and say, ‘These people must be kidding,’” stated Michael Petrilli, vice president at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education think tank.
Kerri Briggs, the Education Department’s assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, contends that parents would disagree with the thought that the deadline is unattainable. “They would like their kids to be on grade level now and not 50 years from now, not 20 years from now, but this year,” Briggs said.
Under the law exemptions are made for newly arrived immigrants, racial groups in schools that are too small to be statistically significant and students with disabilities.
For more information about the study, please go to the Center on Education Policy at http://www.cep-dc.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=document_ext.showDocumentByID&nodeID=1&DocumentID=238.
Also please read the article, “More Schools to Face Law’s Consequences,” at http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jFMkGSqlI1PKoWIOvSmLwTXt0cIgD90P7RF82.
Presidential Candidates’ Views on Education
Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for President and Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President vary on many issues and education is no different, especially when addressing No Child Left Behind.
Sen. McCain believes that the law has shed light on problems in our schools that previously were not known. “In this age of honest reporting, we finally see what is happening to students who were previously invisible. While that is progress all its own, it compels us to seek and find solutions to the dismal facts before us,” states his campaign website.
Sen. McCain is also a proponent of giving parents the option of sending their children to a school that is safe and best fits the needs of the child. He believes that is a “fundamental and essential right we should honor for all parents.”
Sen. Obama has stated that No Child Left Behind “has done more to stigmatize and demoralize our students and teachers in struggling schools than it has to marshal the talent and the determination and the resources to turn them around.” Obama believes that accountability should not lie with just schools but with parents as well. He would like to see schools adopt school-family contracts that outline expectations for student behavior, attendance and homework.
Another key issue in education recently has been universal pre-K. Under Sen. Obama’s “Zero to Five Plan” funds will be given to states to expand their pre-K programs. His “Zero to Five Plan” will also invest federal money in early care and education for infants, an expansion of Early Head Start and Head Start, and affordable high-quality child care.
On the issue of universal pre-K Sen. McCain has stated a federal program for preschool children from low-income families already exists. “Let’s not look to expand the role of the federal government in this area,” stated a campaign aide for McCain. “Rather, let’s look to ensure where the government is playing a role, it’s doing so effectively.”
For more information about the two candidates please go to their respective campaign websites at www.barackobama.com and www.johnmccain.com.
Also, please read the following article from the Wall Street Journal titled, “Candidates Split Sharply on Bush’s No Child Left Behind Law,” at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121202868393728349.html?mod=googlenews_wsj.
The day after Senator Barack Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee Reg Weaver, president of the NEA, announced that he will recommend that the NEA’s 9,000 member Representative Assembly vote to endorse Senator Obama in the presidential election.
“With such a clear picture of what Senator Obama will do for public education and his commitment to partner with NEA on issues that affect our members across the country, every public school employee needs to get squarely behind the Obama candidacy,” stated Weaver.
Weaver had stated that ideally the NEA would have endorsed a candidate earlier but NEA members were split between Senators Obama and Clinton.
To read the NEA’s press release about the endorsement, please go to http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2008/nr080604.html.
An Investigation Called for Abuse into Federal Education Programs
Republicans on the House Education and Labor Committee have called on the Government Accountability office and the U.S. Department of Education’s Inspector General to investigate abuses of federal education programs.
“Financial abuse and mismanagement in federal education programs meant to benefit disadvantaged students is unacceptable, and allegations of such a breach of the public’s trust must be investigated quickly and aggressively,” stated Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the senior Republican on the Education and Labor Committee.
It was found recently the Puerto Rico Department of Education falsely reported that migratory children resided in Puerto Rico. As a result they wrongfully received funds from the Migrant Education Program from 2001-2004. Puerto Rico has had to pay $19 million to settle the allegations.
In another case, the Saint Paul Public Schools District in Minnesota spent roughly $20,000 in federal Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant funding for superfluous computer equipment but did not pay the $150,000 in required matching funds for the program.
Reps. McKeon and Mike Castle (R-DE), the senior Republican on the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee, have requested specific information regarding the processes in place to ensure that states and school districts comply with the federal program and fiscal requirements associated with it.
For more information about the request for an investigation, please go to http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=585.
Recently HR 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Among other things, this bill contains a one-year extension of the educator expense deduction, the tax deduction that allows educators to deduct up to $250 on their taxes for purchases made for their classrooms through the use of personal funds. The educator expense deduction had expired December 31, 2007 with other Bush tax cuts. The bill now moves on to the Senate for consideration. AAE will continue to work to ensure that this important tax deduction is restored.