February 4, 2008

“Pell Grants for Kids”

The NEA’s $12 Million Worth of Contributions

Wisconsin Virtual Schools Allowed to Stay Open

House Education and Labor Committee Hearing about Early Education

Money for Grades

Pilot Merit Pay Program Proposed in Oklahoma

Reforms at the Bruce Randolph School Brought to a Standstill by the Union

“Pell Grants for Kids”

In his final State of the Union address on January 28, President George W. Bush used the opportunity to urge Congress to reauthorize NCLB and to propose a new idea, a program being called “Pell Grants for Kids.” The “Pell Grants for Kids” would provide competitive grants to states, school districts, cities, and non-profit organizations to create scholarship programs for low-income students enrolled in schools that have not accomplished their achievement targets as specified under NCLB or are enrolled in high schools that have a graduation rate less than 60 percent. President Bush has called for $300 million to be allocated to this program.

“The president tonight offered a path that will not only strengthen NCLB, but build on its successes by expanding education opportunities for disadvantaged children, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, ranking Republican on the education committee said.

Not all the members of the House Education and Labor Committee were supportive of the President’s proposal. “I’m just surprised that we’re still stuck on vouchers, which is not a way to support public education in our country,” stated Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

During the State of the Union President Bush also called for a summit to discuss the lack of educational options for students in inner-cities. The summit would include national, state, and local leaders in education, research, philanthropy, business, and community development to look at the challenges facing inner city schools, including closings of religious schools. According to the White House, 355,000 students have been displaced between 1996 and 2004 as a result of inner-city religious schools closing. The closings have often resulted from a lack of finances. To help offset this problem, President Bush proposed $800 million in scholarships to help low-income families enroll their students in after-school programs, including those run by religious organizations.

President Bush also emphasized his views on NCLB. “Now we must work together to increase accountability, add flexibility for states and districts, reduce the number of high school dropouts, and provide extra help for struggling schools. The No Child Left Behind Act is a bipartisan achievement. It is succeeding,” stated President Bush.

This statement was met by applause from some Republicans but significantly less applause from Democrats. NCLB was up for reauthorization last year but was never reauthorized. An NCLB bill in the House failed to get out of the Education and Labor Committee, while the Senate did not even introduce a bill. Rep. George Miller, (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Senate committee overseeing education, have signified that they are hoping to get an NCLB bill to the President this spring. Not all members of Congress are optimistic, however, that an NCLB bill will pass this year. “It’s a stretch to think we can do (No Child Left Behind) this year,” said Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-IL).

For more information about the “Pell Grants for Kids” or the status of the reauthorization of NCLB, please visit the following websites: http://cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002661952.

NCLB: http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2008/initiatives/nclb.html.

“Pell Grants for Kids”: http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2008/initiatives/education.html.

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The NEA’s $12 Million Worth of Contributions

The Education Intelligence Agency has analyzed the NEA’s financial disclosure forms for the 2006-07 fiscal year which revealed that the NEA gave $12 million to advocacy groups last year. This amount is triple what the NEA spent last fiscal year. Contributions to a plethora of groups ranged from $2.3 million for Citizens for Education to $5,000 and $10,000 contributions to groups such as the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, respectively.

For a complete list of the NEA’s grantees, please go to http://www.eiaonline.com/communique.htm.

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Wisconsin Virtual Schools Allowed to Stay Open

Republicans and Democrats in the Wisconsin state legislature have come to a consensus concerning virtual schools in Wisconsin. A recent court decision combined with inaction from the legislature threatened to close a dozen virtual schools in Wisconsin as early as next school year. The compromise would require the Department of Public Instruction to operate a Web Academy containing best practices and online education curricula for school districts. The compromise also requires schools to be certified in their subject matter, have at least 30 hours of training in online teaching, and respond to parents and teachers in at least 24 hours. The schools will continue to receive $6,000 for each open-enrollment student. Governor Jim Doyle has stated that he is waiting for the details of the bill but will probably sign it.

For information about Wisconsin virtual schools, please read the following article titled, “Wis. Lawmakers Strike Deal on Schools,” at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5485799.html.

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House Education and Labor Committee Hearing about Early Education

On January 23 the House Education and Labor committee held a hearing to discuss early childhood education. At the hearing Chairman George Miller (D-CA) emphasized that he believes that early childhood education is vital to students’ success in school. “If we are serious about reforming our education system and ensuring success for all children, and if we are serious about maintaining our leadership in today’s global economy, we must focus on investing in our children during their most formative years,” he stated.

Witnesses at the hearing also underlined the importance of early education. Elisabeth Chun, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Good Beginnings Alliance stated, “It is evident that by age six, there are large and preventable gaps between the development and academic abilities of high- and low-income children. Research has shown that high quality early childhood education programs make a difference in educational, social, emotional, and physical outcomes, especially for high-risk, low-income children.” Kathleen Dunn Priestly, Supervisor of Early Childhood Education for public schools in Orange, New Jersey, highlighted the fact that increased access to early childhood programs in her district resulted in higher academic achievement by elementary students.

Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, ranking Republican on the education committee stated his support for programs such as Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start and Early Reading First that give early childhood opportunities to disadvantaged children. He offered one caution by stating, “At the same time, there is much we do not know about the long-term effects of early childhood education programs on student academic performance and whether these educational benefits continue into middle and high school.” Rep. McKeon believes that federal investment in early childhood programs need to focus on three areas: the opportunity for parents to choose from a diverse set of public and private early childhood education providers; guaranteeing that federal investment in early childhood education should be reserved for students that need it and come from families who cannot afford it; and ensuring that public and private programs that receive federal funds run high-quality programs.

For more information about the hearing, please visit the House Education and Labor Committee majority website at http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/edlabor_dem/rel012308.html or the Republican Education and Labor Committee website at http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=395.

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Money for Grades

The idea of paying students for good grades is gaining more traction across the nation as school districts in twelve states have adopted the idea. Examples of some of the plans that schools have implemented include:

• Baltimore schools have promised to allocate more than $935,000 to give to high school students as much as $110 each to improve their scores on state graduation exams.
• In New York City, about 9,000 fourth-and seventh-graders in 60 schools are eligible to receive up to $500 for improvements on the city’s English and math tests.
• In Atlanta two schools have implemented a “Learn & Earn” after school program. Students participating in the program will earn $8 an hour for the 15-week class.

Seven other states − Arkansas, Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington − are participating in an Exxon/Mobil program that pays students $100 for each passing grade on advanced placement college-prep exams.

The idea of paying students for grades draws strong opinions from opponents and proponents alike. According to Gregg Fleisher of the National Math and Science Initiative, the idea of students receiving cash for improved grades is “…an incentive to get them to basically make the right decision and choose a more rigorous class. This teaches them that if they work at something very hard and have a lot of support, they can do something they didn’t think they could do.” Not everyone ascribes to this idea, however. Bob Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a watchdog group, states, “Bribing kids for higher test scores- or paying teachers bounties for their students’ work- is similar to giving them steroids. Short-term performance might improve but the long-term effects can be very damaging.”

For information about paying students for good grades, please go to http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-01-27-grades_N.htm.

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Pilot Merit Pay Program Proposed in Oklahoma

The issue of teacher pay in Oklahoma is receiving greater attention lately from House Republicans and Governor Brad Henry as they each promote their plans to raise teacher pay. House Republicans are promoting a merit pay pilot program for teachers in 25 schools. Schools participating in the program would be required to meeting certain criteria such as showing improvement on national test scores, improvement in graduation rates and attendance, the availability of professional development, collaboration and or mentoring, principal and peer review evaluation teams, and parental review. According to House Speaker Lance Cargill, (R-Harrah) public funds will pay for part of the program, put private donations will be accepted. “We are finally going to empower teachers to control their own compensation,” said Rep. Tad Jones (R-Claremore), House education chairman.

Governor Henry’s plan for raising teacher pay takes a different approach than the House Republicans. Gov. Henry is calling on the legislature to raise teacher pay by an average of $1,200 a year. This pay raise would be the last installment in a five-year commitment to raise salaries to the regional average. In 2005 teachers received a $1,200 pay increase, $3,000 in 2006, and $1,000 last year. According to Governor Henry teacher salaries in Oklahoma are currently $1,140 below the regional average. The total cost of implementing the governor’s plan for Oklahoma’s 46,000 teachers would be $68.5 million.

For more information about the pilot merit pay program or Gov. Henry’s proposal, please read the following article titled, “Republicans Promote Pilot Program on Teacher Merit Pay,” at http://www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2008/01/25/news/news3.txt.

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Reforms at the Bruce Randolph School Brought to a Standstill by the Union

With the support of its staff, the Bruce Randolph School in Denver, CO, has requested to be released from certain provisions of the collective bargaining agreement in order to better serve their students. The school was the worst performing school in the state a few years ago until principal Kristin Waters and her staff implemented a series of reforms in the school which resulted in an increase in student achievement.

The Denver Public Schools school board has approved Bruce Randolph’s request for autonomy but the Denver Classroom Teachers Association has not. One of the reasons cited by the union for not approving the waiver was encompassed in the following statement, “In good conscience we cannot grant the extensive waiver requested that would favor Bruce Randolph teachers and students at the expense of other teachers and students in the district.”

In response to the union’s vote Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet stated, “I honestly don't understand it. The Bruce Randolph proposal seemed to me to be a great idea for our kids, for the district and for the union.”

Teachers at the Bruce Randolph School are frustrated by the union’s decision and now are facing some tough decisions regarding the future structure of their school. One option is for the school to become a charter school. Some teachers at the school, however, wonder if this would be the right choice at this time. “We want some of those advantages that charter schools have….but we want to serve the neighborhood children, and we’re not going to deviate from that,” stated Greg Ahrnsbrak, a Bruce Randolph teacher and union representative at the school. If the school does decide to become a charter the Piton Foundation, a Denver based philanthropic organization, has pledged $100,000 to the school. “If somebody there says they’d like to do a charter we’ll give them the $100,000 and I’ll go back and try and raise more money,” stated Van Schoales a program officer at the Piton Foundation.

Another option for the school is to implement the autonomy agreement without the union’s approval. In response to this idea Ahrnsbrak stated, “The truth is, we don’t know what DCTA will do. Will they sue us? That’s a definite possibility.”

For more information about the Bruce Randolph School, please read the following article titled, “Union Board Opts Not to Vote on School's Autonomy Plan,” at http://www.denverpost.com/education/ci_8049853.

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