Federal Update
February 15, 2008
“The
Leadership Limbo”
Potential Cuts
in School Budgets Predicted Nationwide
Teacher
Ambassador Fellowship
Bruce
Randolph School Granted Freedom
Online Courses
Used to Reduce Dropout Rates
Ruling in NCLB
Court Case Could be Reconsidered
House
Education Committee Hearing on Public School Facilities
“Valuable
NEA Political Endorsement Remains Up for Grabs”
“The
Leadership Limbo”
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently released a
comprehensive study of the collective bargaining agreements in
America’s largest school districts. The researchers pointed
out that principals often complain of being held accountable under No
Child Left Behind but labor agreements tie their hands and do not give
them the authority to get the job done. Therefore, when analyzing the
collective bargaining agreements one of the main questions for the
researchers was “Are teacher contracts as much of a barrier
to good schools as many reformers claim?”
Unfortunately no labor agreements received the
“Highly Flexible” rating the researchers were
hoping for, but five districts were rated
“Flexible”. These school districts are Guilford
County Schools, NC; Austin Independent School District, TX; Northside
Independent School District (San Antonio), TX; Dallas Independent
School District, TX; Fairfax County Public Schools, VA. On the other
end of the spectrum Miami-Dade Public Schools were ranked last.
The labor agreements were analyzed by looking at three main
compensation categories which included performance pay, hardship pay,
and extra pay for shortage subjects; personnel policies which looked at
transfers and layoffs; and work rules which included professional
development and faculty meetings. Each subcategory received a letter
grade and the labor agreement was then giving a GPA which was used to
determine the rankings.
Some of the more stunning statistics from the report showed
that nearly ten percent of the nation’s African-American K-12
students attend the schools in the 15 lowest-scoring districts, leading
the researchers to conclude that these contracts are “major
barriers to more equal opportunities.” It was also found that
most of the contracts are very restrictive when it comes to paying
teachers more in hard-to-staff subject areas such as math and science.
Thirty-one school districts actually prohibit schools from doing so.
As a result of their findings, Chester E. Finn, Jr. and
Michael J. Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute urge union
leaders to amend labor agreements to be more flexible. They ask union
members, “Do you really want to defend contract provisions
that treat teachers like industrial-era auto workers? Even the United
Auto Workers has gotten beyond that.” They continue by
stating, “An Age of Teacher Professionalism could be at hand,
but it won’t happen without labor agreements that treat
teachers as true professionals and principals as true executives. For
the benefit of your membership, get on board the
‘flexible’ contract train.”
To read the report in its entirety, please go to http://edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=380#A1.
Top
Potential
Cuts in School Budgets Predicted Nationwide
Recently school board members met in Washington, D.C. for the
National School Boards Association’s legislative conference.
A topic of concern for many board members was future cuts to school
budgets. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about
half of the states are anticipating budget shortfalls. State budget
shortfalls in conjunction with a decline in revenue from state taxes
due to the downturn in the housing market and less property taxes as a
result of a reduction in real estate value all contribute to the
potential for fewer funds for local school districts. Increases in
expenses such as wage and benefit costs, that make up a majority of the
school budgets, as well as energy prices are also adding to the strain
on school budgets.
In anticipation of smaller school budgets, board members from
across the country indicated at the conference that they were
considering cutting back on benefits to school employees, reducing
staff, and limiting extracurricular activities available for students.
A school board member from California also mentioned that reductions in
class sizes and block scheduling may also be eliminated.
Jackie Magnuson, a school board member from Minnesota,
commented that ballot initiatives that increase taxes may be attractive
to school districts in her state but that it is an issue that voters
won’t easily pass. “They’re not going to
be in any real hurry to run and help support the schools and pay for
increased taxes for you, even if they’d like to, because
they’re already up to their eyeballs in bills,” she
said.
“The watchword right now is wait and see,”
said Michael Griffith, a school finance analyst at the Education
Commission of the States, based in Denver, CO.
For more information about school budgets, please read the
following article titled, “School Board Officials Say Cuts
Coming,” at http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jSGeuBA68_gvoGXl0Iq1LiXDwLbAD8UO95081.
Top
Teacher
Ambassador Fellowship
A new program designed to better connect teachers and policy
makers was announced on February 8 by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Teacher Ambassador Fellowship (TAF) will consist of two programs,
the Classroom Fellows and the Washington Fellows. Up to 20 teachers
will be selected to become Classroom Fellows while five teachers will
become Washington Fellows.
Teachers participating in the Classroom Fellows program will
remain in their classroom but will be called upon to provide their
experience and perspectives to members of the department. Classroom
Fellows will remain under their current contract but will be paid an
additional hourly rate by the department for work done for the fellows
program. Participants in the Washington Fellows program will move to
Washington, D.C. and become full-time federal employees, employed at
the department, in able to work on education programs and contribute to
policy discussions.
“This is a terrific opportunity for educators to
share their voices directly with policymakers, and I look forward to
hearing from them,” said Secretary Spellings.
All highly qualified K-12 public school teachers who have
taught for at least three years are invited to apply for the
fellowships. The deadline for applications is April 7, 2008. The
fellowships will take place during the 2008-09 school year and
decisions will be made by the department early this summer. To apply
please go to http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/applicant.html.
For more information about TAF please go to http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/programoverview.html.
Top
Bruce
Randolph School Granted Freedom
In a surprising turn of events on February 12, the Denver
Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) approved Bruce Randolph
School’s request for autonomy, and moreover, granted Manual
High School their freedom as well. In December the Bruce Randolph
School presented the Denver Public Schools school board and the Denver
Classroom Teachers Association an autonomy plan that would give them
control over their budget, curriculums, and hiring and rewarding
teachers. The school board approved the plan in a unanimous decision in
January but until recently the DCTA would not approve the plan, citing
their belief that it would hurt other teachers and students in the
district.
In the wake of Bruce Randolph’s request for autonomy
Manual High School, a high school in Denver, had requested autonomy as
well. DCTA had previously stated that it would not consider Manual High
School’s request or any other requests for autonomy until
Bruce Randolph’s request had been resolved. Both schools are
been low-performing schools in Denver but with the implementation of
education reforms by teachers and the administration the schools have
started turning around.
Some of the flexibilities Bruce Randolph and Manual High
School now have include posting new job openings and hiring new
teachers as the need arises instead of waiting until the spring
staffing cycles; laying out their own school calendars; determining
their own teaching loads and class sizes; and deciding how to
distribute teacher time during the day and how to use the time when
students are not in school. Both schools are still subject to employee
grievance procedures.
Kristen Waters, the principal at Bruce Randolph, has already
started to take advantage of the new flexibility when a math teacher
asked to teach an extra class. “In the past I would say,
‘No, I can't pay you,’” Waters said.
“Now I can pay that teacher to work that extra class. It's
going to benefit the teacher and the students.”
For more information about the two schools new freedom, please
visit read the following article titled, “Two Schools Gain
Some Freedom,” at http://www.denverpost.com/education/ci_8245901.
Top
Online
Courses Used to Reduce Dropout Rates
It is common knowledge that the dropout rates in many high
schools across the United States are reaching monumental heights. On
average 30 percent of high school students drop out but that number
increases to 50 percent in schools with low-income students. To curb
the high dropout rates, some schools are focusing on using online
courses to help students pass the classes they need and ultimately
receive their high school diplomas.
“This is very important because in many cases,
students are only lacking a few credits for graduation, but they simply
won’t stay in school to get them,” said Jay Smink,
executive director of the National Dropout Prevention Center at Clemson
University.
One such program that is being used is Educational Options. In
this program, students read a chapter online and then answer questions
at the end. A teacher sets the number of questions a student must get
right before moving on to the next chapter. It is often set at 80
percent. The definitions of difficult words are available for the
students.
“You can go at your own pace. Sometimes teachers go
too slow or too fast, but here you can move any way you
want,” stated Jefferson Lara, an Arlington, VA student
participating in the program.
The program isn’t a cure-all for the high number of
high school dropouts but it will help students who otherwise may not
have finished high school. Sharon Ruggieri, a teacher who oversees
students taking online classes, said that in her earth science class
she had 24 students this fall, but the number is now down to 12.
She’s not discouraged though. “Many of them will
come back. And what brings them back is that box on the application
that says: ‘Do you have a high school
diploma?’”
For more information on the online program please go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/10/AR2008021002068.html.
Top
Ruling in NCLB
Court Case Could be Reconsidered
In January the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that
schools do not have to comply with NCLB mandates if federal funds are
not sufficient. This ruling was based in part on their belief that
states were not clear of their potential financial obligations when
they agreed to accept federal funding. Education Secretary Spellings
disagrees with this ruling and has been authorized by the solicitor
general to submit a request for a rehearing of the case, Pontiac
(MI) School District et al. v. U.S. Department of Education.
“I strongly disagree with the ruling and believe
that if the decision were to stand, it could undermine efforts to
improve the education of our nation's children, in particular those
students most in need,” stated Secretary Spellings.
The case was brought by the NEA on behalf of nine school
districts in Michigan, Texas, and Vermont.
Top
House
Education Committee Hearing on Public School Facilities
On February 13, the House Education and Labor Committee held a
hearing to discuss the state of public school facilities. The main
focus of the hearing was whether or not the federal government should
provide local schools with federal funds to repair schools.
Democrats on the committee called for more federal funds to be
dedicated to school repair. “We all agree on the urgent
national priority of providing every child with a world class
education….It is clear that we cannot satisfy the priority
unless we help states and school districts improve the physical
condition of their school buildings and facilities,” stated
Chairman George Miller (D-CA) in his opening statement.
Judi Caddick, a teacher at Memorial Junior High School in
Illinois, emphasized the need for “Green Schools.”
Every child and school staff person has the right to a school with
healthy air to breathe and conditions that foster learning.
‘Green schools’ create a safe and healthy learning
environment that is conducive to teaching and learning while saving
energy, resources and money,” she stated.
Republicans on committee agree with Democrats that safe,
quality schools are important but reminded participants at the hearing
that federal funds come with costly mandates to states and local
schools that would take away funds from other education priorities.
Federal construction projects are subject to Davis-Bacon prevailing
wage mandates, which drive up the cost of construction projects by
requiring them to adhere to the prevailing wage in the area, which is
often close to the union wage.
In his testimony before the committee, Rep. Charles Boustany
(R-LA) stated, “A number of studies have found that projects
completed under Davis Bacon are 20 percent more expensive than similar
projects completed under marketing conditions. At the same time many
construction employees are actually underpaid using the flawed
determination method…Continuing to use the current
Davis-Bacon wage determination method would lead to a troubling
situation in which we lose just by playing. Either taxpayers get
overcharged by the system, or construction employees are underpaid. We
wouldn’t teach that kind of fuzzy math in school buildings;
we shouldn’t practice it when building schools.”
The senior Republican on the committee, Rep. Howard P.
“Buck” McKeon (R-CA), stressed the importance of
not infringing upon local control. “The local quality and
safety of our nation’s school buildings are of paramount
importance to ensuring a quality educational experience for our
students. And the responsibility for maintaining those facilities lies
with the local communities who know their students’ needs
best.”
For more information about the hearing, please read the follow
press release issued by the majority office of the Education and Labor
Committee at http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/edlabor_dem/rel021308.html
To read the press release about the hearing issued by the
minority office, please go to http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=432.
Top
“Valuable
NEA Political Endorsement Remains Up for Grabs”
On February 6 the NEA issued a press release reminding
Democratic presidential hopefuls, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary
Clinton that they have yet to endorse a candidate. No mention was made
of endorsing Republicans Sen. John McCain or Gov. Mike Huckabee.
According to the NEA the reason they have not endorsed Clinton or Obama
yet is that the candidates have not made education a central part of
their campaign.
Reg Weaver, president of the NEA stated, “Both
Democratic candidates have strong records on education, but our members
want to know about their visions and their plans for the future, and we
haven't really heard that yet. If they haven't made education a central
part of their campaigns, how can we feel confident that they will make
education a central part of their administration?”
Weaver also reminded Clinton and Obama about the fact that the
NEA’s members could be used for campaigning. “Our
3.2 million members live in every state, in every Congressional
district, and in every precinct,” said Weaver.
“When you look at friends and family, we're talking five to
six million potential voters, and most important, we're talking about
tens of thousands of committed local campaign volunteers.”
To read the NEA’s press release please go to http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2008/nr080206.html.
Top
Archives
|
