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May 9, 2008

BoardBuzz was excited to see our friends at the Center for Public Education making the case for pre-K this week. In the story, out of Orlando's Channel 13, the CPE's Patte Barth makes the case that pre-K education is essential to student success later on.

Pre-Kindergarten is where kids start learning vocabulary, shapes and colors, and the big sell for voluntary pre-K is that it's free.

Florida leads the country in voluntary pre-K with nearly two-thirds of 4-year-olds in the program last year. Experts say they need more students to get the money they need.

"The benefits are really an investment. It's good for kids, but it's also good for communities because that investment pays off," said Patte Barth, the director of the Center for Public Education.

According to the Center for Public Education, every dollar spent for pre-K can save up to $16 in public education because fewer students need to be placed in special education classes, and that means fewer students are held back.

Also, studies show pre-kindergarten education increases test scores and graduation rates.

"We're not putting little children in desks, giving them worksheets, giving them a strong academic program. No, play is important," Barth said.

Indeed, play is important. And so is a quality pre-K education. For more on pre-K, visit the Center's pre-K topic area, and be sure to sign up for the e-newsletter.

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May 8, 2008

If you read Education Week's article on Value-Added measures you are probably more than a little confused. For those of you who don't know, Value-Added measures are statistical techniques that are used to isolate the effect schools, programs, or teachers have on the change in student achievement from one year to the next. How does BoardBuzz know this? Has BoardBuzz graduated with a PhD in statistics? No, BoardBuzz just read the Center for Public Education's, Measuring Student Growth: A guide to informed decision making.

The Education Week article focused on the ongoing debate about the accuracy and usefulness of Value-Added models particularly when using the models on high-stakes decisions on teachers such as whether to offer tenure or salaries increases. The article highlights many of the strengths and weaknesses of using Value-Added data to make such decision but is not very clear on how the data should be used. As BoardBuzz learned from the Center's report, Value-Added models are just one tool in making decisions particularly in evaluating teachers. Although not perfect measures, the information obtained from Value-Added models should be combined with other measures such as principal and peer evaluations to obtain a clearer understanding of how effective a teacher really is.

So if your district is considering using Value-Added or any other measure of student growth be sure to check out the Center for Public Education's Measuring Student Growth to find out more on how growth measures should be used.

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April 24, 2008

As we previewed Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives this week easily approved H.R. 5613, which would delay Administration plans to cut reimbursements to school districts providing services to Medicaid eligible children with disabilities.

The 349-62 vote may give the bill extra momentum as it heads to the Senate, despite White House threats of a veto. More from the Washington Post here.

The bill would impose a moratorium until April 2009 on a rule finalized in late 2007 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit federal reimbursements for school-based administration and transportation services provided to poor children with disabilities, as well as six other recently issued Medicaid regulations. The bill would prevent the Administration from implementing the regulation, which has been estimated to cost school districts $635 million in the 2008 and $3.6 billion over the next five years.

NSBA background and resources on the issue can be found on our Advocacy website Medicaid issue page.

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April 21, 2008

Tight budgets, rising fuel costs, federal funding shortfalls and a flawed No Child Left Behind Act are all contributing to difficult times for local school boards. This was the message that Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT) heard from school board members back home this weekend in a meeting organized by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

“The way fuel costs are headed right now, our budgets are in deep trouble,” said Charlie Jaskiewicz, chairman of the Norwich Board of Education.

“Being able to talk about what's happening in your district — that gets through to politicians,” said Courtney, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee. “You're actually there talking about what's happening back home.”

BoardBuzz couldn't agree more. It is incumbent on school board members to keep their members of Congress informed throughout the year on their districts' accomplishments and challenges, as well as what they need from Congress. Get the facts and tools to make your case at NSBA's Advocacy website. Here's a needs-completion list for Congress: 1) fix the flaws in NCLB; the comprehensive H.R. 648 contains key improvements and strong support from local boards; 2) increase federal funding for Title I and IDEA by $2.5 billion each and oppose diverting dollars to private schools via vouchers; and, 3) protect districts' ability to receive reimbursement for providing services to Medicaid-eligible children with disabilities. One way to do that is by urging your Representative to support H.R. 5613, which would impose a moratorium until April 2009 on administration plans to end reimbursements to districts. The bill cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week and could reach the House floor Tuesday. Stay engaged on these issues via NSBA's Legislative Action Center.

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March 25, 2008

BoardBuzz wants to remind you to log in to the two online discussions that we'll be hosting from NSBA's Annual Conference in Orlando.

The Tipping Point on School Vouchers: Has Time Run Out for the Privatization Movement? Join NSBA Director of Federal Affairs Marcus Egan for an online discussion Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m. ET to get the latest information on research, legislation and the political landscape impacting vouchers. You can submit a question in advance or log in to the discussion as it happens.

Straight Talk on Tobacco Join NSBA school health experts, Karen Lewis and Brenda Greene for an online discussion Monday, March 31, at 12:45 ET, to get the full scoop on tobacco free schools and to learn more about what school districts can do to make campuses tobacco free.You can submit a question in advance or log in and watch as the discussion unfolds.

Posted at 12:19 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

March 20, 2008

NSBA will host two lively online discussions during the Annual Conference in Orlando.

The Tipping Point on School Vouchers: Has Time Run Out for the Privatization Movement? Although well funded and with a vocal, albeit small network of supporters, the school voucher movement has run into troubles of late. From another crushing defeat of vouchers by voters in Utah, to a slew of recent research debunking private schools’ purported superiority in raising student achievement, to cautionary words from longtime voucher advocates downplaying vouchers’ alleged competitive benefits for public education, it has been a rough stretch for proponents of spending taxpayer dollars on private school tuition. While voucher proposals remain on the table in some states and in Congress, have the best opportunities for enacting new programs passed?

Join NSBA Director of Federal Affairs Marcus Egan for an online discussion Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m. ET to get the latest information on research, legislation and the political landscape impacting vouchers. You can submit a question in advance or log in to the discussion as it happens.

Straight Talk on Tobacco Most people assume that all schools are completely tobacco free – it just seems to make too much sense not to be true! Unfortunately, the truth is more complicated than that, and according to the latest available (school health data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 58 percent of states, 55.4 percent of districts, and 63.6 percent of schools prohibit all tobacco use in all locations at all times. So, there is plenty of room for improvement in making all schools tobacco-free!

Join NSBA school health experts, Karen Lewis and Brenda Greene for an online discussion Monday, March 31, at 12:45 ET, to get the full scoop on tobacco free schools and to learn more about what school districts can do to make campuses tobacco free.You can submit a question in advance or log in and watch as the discussion unfolds.

Be sure to check it out! And be sure to visit the Annual Conference blog, which will detail all the events of the conference as they happen.

Posted at 3:12 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

February 27, 2008

BoardBuzz agrees wholeheartedly with this op-ed in today's edition of USA Today, which points out that public education has become "an afterthought" in presidential debates. The author, Wendy Puriefoy, CEO of the Public Education Network asserts, "Nearly 50 million of our nation's children attend public schools, yet the men and women who aspire to lead us have spent less time debating how these children are being educated than it takes to get a haircut or a facial." Strong (but true) words.

On the rare occasion that the presidential candidates have managed to get in a few words about education, they've often recycled such buzz words as No Child Left Behind and unfunded mandate, with little substance or meaning attached. We are hearing the same repetitive statistics on students' poor graduation rates and their lackluster performance in math and science compared with other countries, but rarely are any concrete solutions offered to tackle these challenges.

There is no reason why education should not be debated as feverishly as healthcare, the economy, the Iraq war, and immigration. There are plenty of substantive issues to debate that affect our kids' education every day. Most of all, there is NCLB, which is now driving the activities in many of our schools.

Public education advocates need to hear from our presidential candidates on exactly how they will improve NCLB and address other challenges in our schools, and not just as an afterthought. How exactly, for example, should student performance be accurately measured and how to build the capacity of local schools and school districts to help student achieve? The list goes on and on.

Posted at 4:45 PM | Link to this story | Comments (1)

February 25, 2008

BoardBuzz recently visited NSBA's re-designed Legislative Action Center. The site outlines the steps that school board members can take to nudge Congress along through the NCLB reauthorization process. A few "nudges" could become a big shove in the right direction. Here's how you can help:

Pass a resolution in support of H.R. 648 – more than 700 school districts have passed a resolution, and with your help, we can reach 1000! Passing a resolution: 1) urges your member of Congress to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 648; and 2) shows Congress that you support the provisions in H.R. 648 for improving NCLB. View the sample resolution, list of resolutions, and more information about H.R. 648 here.

Send a letter from your board to Chairman George Miller (CA-7) and Ranking Member Howard “Buck” McKeon (CA-25) of the House Education and Labor Committee urging the committee to complete the House reauthorization process now. NSBA created a sample letter that's easy for you to use. When you're done, be sure to fax the letter to Chairman Miller at (202) 225-5609 and Ranking Member McKeon at (202) 226-0683.

Send an e-mail to your member of Congress using NSBA's Legislative Action Center and express your concerns about how NCLB has impacted your district and why it needs to be changed.

For more information about H.R. 648, NSBA's bill to improve NCLB, click here.

Posted at 4:07 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

February 15, 2008

NSBA’s Director of Federal Affairs, Advocacy, and Issues Management, Marc Egan, will be appearing on C-SPAN tomorrow morning. He will participate in an hour-long debate on the merits (or lack thereof) of vouchers. The live, call-in program, Washington Journal, airs on C-SPAN at 8:30 a.m.EST. Egan will go toe-to-toe with Jeanne Allen, founder and president of the Center for Education Reform.

Be sure to check it out. And if you decide to sleep in on Saturday morning, or for those of you in other time zones, you can also catch it online on C-SPAN's Web site after it airs.

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February 5, 2008

NSBA's Federal Relations Network Conference has been abuzz with activity. With dynamic speakers Norman Ornstein and Freeman Hrabowski wowing the crowds on Sunday, Senator Chuck Hagel encouraging them on Monday, and a full day of lobbying on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, FRN Members got their fill in D.C. this week.

FRN members went to the hill to encourage members of Congress to reauthorize NCLB before the presidential election this year and to get increased funding for school districts. One FRN member from Ohio, Andrew Mizsak, has been blogging on his experiences, and sums up the programming better (and in far greater detail--here, here, here, and here) than BoardBuzz ever could. And besides, he brings the perspective of an actual school board member. If there was ever any doubt that school board members come to the FRN Conference in Washington to work and learn, one needs only read Mr. Mizsak's blog to understand what a dedicated bunch these members are.

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February 1, 2008

BoardBuzz is certain that many state departments of education staff have been burning the midnight oil the last couple days. That's because today is the deadline for states to submit their proposals for including a growth model into their No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability plans for the 2007-08 school year.

Back in December Secretary Spellings announced that she was expanding the growth model pilot program to include all states instead of limiting it to just ten. However, BoardBuzz is not expecting a slew of states to use growth models in the coming year for several reasons discussed below.

In its recent report Growth Models: A guide to informed decision making the Center for Public Education points out that states need properly designed annual tests; data systems to collect, sort, and analyze data covering at least the past two years; and statistical experts to design and implement an accurate and reliable measure of student achievement growth. Unfortunately, growth models are still relatively new in education and not only do states have to meet all seven of the pilot program’s conditions, but, as the Center for Public Education points out, so many states still do not have the right elements in place, although most states will in the coming years.

BoardBuzz certainly agrees that allowing states to judge schools based on how much their students learned from one year to the next is much more fair then the current system. However, that does not mean states should rush into implementing just any growth model. School boards members, educators, parents, state policymakers, and anyone else interested in developing an accurate measure of student growth should read the Center for Public Education's Growth Models: A guide to informed decision making to learn what it takes to implement the right growth model. Implementing the wrong growth model will not help improve NCLB, but implementing the right one most definitely will.

To learn more about NCLB, standardized testing and many other important educational issues check out the www.centerforpubliceducation.org.

Posted at 1:04 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

January 31, 2008

NSBA's 35th annual Federal Relations Network Conference begins this Sunday and runs through Tuesday, when FRN members will visit their members of Congress on Capitol Hill. Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County will address the nearly 900 school board members in attendance on Sunday on their role in American democracy, and Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) will address the group on Monday.

School board members will be poised to talk to their Congressional members about supporting improvements to the No Child Left Behind law and securing funding for key programs. More than 675 school districts nationwide have passed resolutions urging Congress to support H.R. 648, the No Child Left Behind Improvements Act. In this election year, it's essential that elected officials focus on education, and specifically the reauthorization of NCLB.

Check back here for all the news from the conference.

Posted at 2:26 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

January 29, 2008

The good news is that President Bush utilized his final State of the Union address to mention education. The bad news? We've heard a lot of this before, including the D.O.A. idea of a national voucher program. Now, if next week the President's budget includes a substantial increase in funding for the No Child Left Behind Act, then maybe Congress and the administration will be able to seriously tackle the challenge of reauthorizing the broken law in 2008. BoardBuzz has expressed why we think major changes are needed now instead of forcing students, educators and schools to suffer under a flawed system for another 2 or 3 school years.

And vouchers, again? Really? No chance and everyone knows it. When will the administration realize it undercuts its own arguments about school accountability every time it promotes sending taxpayer dollars to private schools that are not accountable to the public?

NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant issued this statement on the State of the Union.

Posted at 3:40 PM | Link to this story | Comments (1)

January 10, 2008

BoardBuzz loves a good chuckle and this one out of Florida really got us giggling. The Ledger (Lakeland) reports that a committee in the Florida legislature has okayed a ban on droopy pants, which will move the legislation forward to the Senate floor. We're all for a little modesty, but is this what it's come to?

According to the article, "Youths who let their drawers droop to expose underwear, G-strings or worse at school would be get a verbal warning after a first offense but face suspension if they keep doing it under a measure that cleared a Senate committee Wednesday."

The article goes on to say, "The Prekindergarten-12th Grade Education Committee unanimously approved Sen. Gary Siplin's "pull up your britches" bill (SB 302). It next will go to the Senate floor after the Legislature convenes its regular annual session in March."

Previous measures have failed, including a provision that "would have jailed repeat offenders." If that's not an argument for elastic wastebands and belts, we don't know what is. For more BoardBuzz coverage on a similar story, click here.

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November 14, 2007

With Congress set to leave Friday for a 2-week Thanksgiving break, several education related bills and amendments are on this week's agenda. Get all the latest on the appropriations fight, a school nutrition amendment that could restrict local school board authority, the completion (finally) of Head Start reauthorization, and action on higher education reauthorization, plus more in the NSBA Advocacy Department's weekly update.

We also would like to thank the six new co-sponsors of H.R. 648, the comprehensive bill to improve ESEA / NCLB that is backed by NSBA: Representatives Phil English (R-PA-3), Donna Christensen (D-VI), Bart Gordon (D-TN-6), and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ-2), Rick Boucher (D-VA-9) and Jerry Moran (R-KS-1).

UPDATE: As expected, President Bush yesterday vetoed the education appropriations bill. The House may vote tomorrow on an override. NSBA is urging House members to override the veto and support needed funding increases for Title I and special education. Learn more about this and take action on NSBA's special veto override web page. Some local school officials are speaking up already.

Check out more NSBA resources, including this funding chart.

Posted at 10:35 AM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

November 13, 2007

BoardBuzz has heard from a lot of hard working educators and school board members that growth models need to be incorporated into NCLB version 2.0 so schools are given the credit they deserve for increasing student achievement. BoardBuzz certainly agrees, but is including a measure of student growth a silver bullet to cure all of NCLB's ills?

If you have been following the recent developments up in the Big Apple, the answer surely seems to be a resounding NO. The New York Times had two articles (read here and here) this past week on the fallout of New York City's new school accountability system which included a growth measure. So what is all the fuss about? Well, since the growth measure accounts for more than half (55 percent) of each school's accountability grade (schools are graded A through F) many schools with already "high performing" students with impeccable reputations received grades lower than schools with lower performing students who were making greater gains with their students. This did not sit well with many parents from the "high performing" schools or parents from many of the schools receiving D and F's for that matter.

So what went wrong? If New York officials were able to read the Center for Public Education's report released today—Growth Models: A guide for informed decision making—maybe the fallout could've been avoided. The report points out several important issues policymakers, such as those in New York City, need to take into consideration when implementing a growth model. Although BoardBuzz is an NYC outsider, it does not appear that city officials took into consideration one key element the Center's report points out—one that is often overlooked when implementing a growth model—provide professional development.

According to the report, professional development is needed to inform teachers, administrators, and parents to what exactly is being measured and how the data should be used, because if those who are affected by the growth model don’t understand it, then they won't accept its results. After reading the New York Times articles, it appears this was the case in NYC. Parents and educators seemed confused about how some schools were graded higher than others, since it is hard to understand how the grades were calculated.

This is a lesson federal policymakers should take heed of before they include a growth model in NCLB's reauthorization. Just throwing a growth model into the new law won't magically make NCLB better, just as a doctor simply diagnosing an illness won't make a patient better. As the Center's report points out, there is no "one" growth model, and federal policymakers should give states the flexibility needed to develop growth models that meet the goals of NCLB and enable them to develop growth models that fit their needs and resources.

Although including a growth model in NCLB 2.0 is certainly a step in the right direction, it needs to be done correctly. Policymakers, educators, parents and even the media should check out the Center for Public Education's Growth Models: A guide for informed decision making to learn more about the different types of growth models, what is needed to implement a growth model, and how growth model data should be used.

Posted at 10:35 AM | Link to this story | Comments (2)

November 8, 2007

Election Day came and went on Tuesday without as much fanfare as we're used to seeing in most states. With no presidential election or mid-term elections to entice people to go to the polls, the more local matters became the center of attention. Yesterday we highlighted the Utah voucher vote which was watched closely in education circles, but what about some of the other issues? From Seattle to Miami, and everywhere in-between, there are some big challenges to address, especially in urban districts.

A recent study from the Southern Education Foundation found that poverty is on the rise in the south, requiring school districts to accept the fact that, according to our friends at Ed Week, "low-income students are now a majority in the public schools of the U.S. South, and that schools in the West may cross that line in the near future." This undoubtedly brings health issues to the forefront of public schools, and it seems that you can't open the newspaper or go to the web without seeing a blurb about childhood obesity. In Houston, they're facing the issue with a pilot program that brings in chefs to discuss healthy eating, cook great food, and change the way students choose what to eat. An article in the Houston Chronicle on election day outlines the program and discusses the challenges. But poverty, health, and obesity are not alone...

National academic standards, school choice, school safety, conquering the achievement gap, NCLB, and pre-kindergarten (just to name a few) are on the minds of Americans, but are they on the minds of the candidates? Now that election day 2007 has come and gone, these issues could actually be addressed by the 16 presidential candidates. So far, other issues have dominated the debates and the rhetoric so in some cities, it's the students who are chiming in with ideas. In Washington, D.C., almost 200 students participated in a town hall meeting to tell Mayor Adrian Fenty and School Chancellor Michelle Rhee how they thought the D.C. schools could be improved. What's happening in your part of the country? Leave a comment to share the issues that you feel should be addressed.

Posted at 9:47 AM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

October 26, 2007

While Congress moved forward this week on two bills of importance to public schools and students, the expectation remains that President Bush will veto both measures. On Tuesday night, the Senate overwhelmingly passed its version of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill that includes more than a $1 billion increase for Title I and $450 million more for IDEA (special education). The House-passed bill (H.R. 3043) includes larger funding increases for education, and differences will need to be reconciled in conference committee before heading to the president's desk.

Although the Senate cleared the measure 75 - 19, it looks doubtful at this point that the House will reach the two-thirds majority needed to override the expected veto. Follow the process and take action in supporting your local schools by visiting NSBA's Advocacy web site.

On Thursday, the House passed a new version of the SCHIP bill (State Children's Health Insurance Program) that President Bush previously vetoed. Of special interest to school boards and taxpayers is that the bill would extend to January 1, 2010, a moratorium preventing the administration from taking any action on a newly proposed rule that restricts school districts’ ability to seek federal reimbursement for Medicaid services to eligible children. As with the approps bill, the vote is still short of what will be needed to override another potential veto. Learn more on why this reimbursement is so crucial to schools on NSBA's Advocacy web site.

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October 15, 2007

Responding to a recent action plan from the National Science Board on Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education, NSBA testified before the House Subcommittee on Research and Science Education of the Committee on Science and Technology last week. Chrisanne Gayl, NSBA's director of federal programs, indicated in her testimony that the plan is on the right track to ensuring that students receive the education and skills they will need to become productive workers, good citizens, and intelligent consumers in the 21st century.

“We believe that this action plan is a step in the right direction for promoting high-quality STEM education in the U.S. Its emphasis on increasing public appreciation for and understanding of STEM education is consistent with the key work of local school boards to engage their communities and ensure support for these initiatives,” Gayl said. “In particular, the plan’s focus on ensuring an adequate supply of well-prepared and effective STEM teachers is absolutely essential to enhancing student learning in these fields.”

However, NSBA is concerned that some of the Board’s recommendations could ultimately erode state and local control over education, such as the creation of a national council to develop academic content guidelines and teacher certification requirements.

Read NSBA's press release on the testimony here and the full testimony here.

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September 28, 2007

Public schools take their fair share (okay, often more than their fair share) of lumps from politicians, especially the ones who work in Washington. So we couldn't help but notice the findings of a recent Gallup poll revealing that these are woeful times for the federal government in the eyes of Americans.

How bad is it? Ever hear of Watergate? Well...

Now, Americans generally express less trust in the federal government than at any point in the past decade, and trust in many federal government institutions is now lower than it was during the Watergate era, generally recognized as the low point in American history for trust in government.

On ability to handle domestic issues, which BoardBuzz has a keen interest in, not a lot of love. How does that play into Congress' need to tackle tough matters, like say increasing education funding and fixing No Child Left Behind?

Less than half of Americans, 47%, now have at least a fair amount of trust in the federal government to handle domestic problems. Gallup found a sub-50% reading on this measure only one other time, in 1976.

But while Americans are vastly unimpressed with the Feds, they still express faith in their state and local governments. So maybe before members of Congress and the administration launch into the occasional trashing of our schools, they ought to take steps to restore credibility in their own houses. One place we might suggest they begin is with improving NCLB and providing states and local districts with the appropriate latitude to make education decisions.

Posted at 1:18 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

September 27, 2007

NSBA and the College Board have released a report spotlighting the Court’s most recent decisions and what they mean to schools as they try to decipher how to forge ahead while maintaining high quality education for all students. This report, titled “Not Black and White: Making Sense of the United States Supreme Court Decisions Regarding Race-Conscious Student Assignment Plans,” will be showcased at NSBA's Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) Annual Conference in Atlanta this weekend. The report explains the Court’s decision and its impact on race-conscious policies and practices districts may currently have in place. It also discusses how best to pursue diversity-related educational goals, as well as how to manage the associated legal risks in the future.

The Supreme Court rulings earlier this year are a topic of discussion as school systems across the country strive to answer the question, “What does this mean for us?” The topic is not new to BoardBuzz, we covered the issue here and here.

When the news hit back in June, media coverage on the Court’s decision was widespread and NSBA’s General Counsel, Francisco Negron told ABC News, "We have our work cut out for us, but I think it's a task that school boards all over the country are up to."

For more information on NSBA and the College Board’s latest publication view the press release and for answers to your FAQ, click here.

If you want to get NSBA’s legal news delivered to your e-mail inbox, subscribe to Legal Clips published by NSBA's Office of General Counsel and the NSBA Council of School Attorneys.

Posted at 2:36 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

July 5, 2007

BoardBuzz recently told you about NSBA's push for school districts to pass resolutions in support of H.R. 648, the No Child Left Behind Improvements Act of 2007. NSBA believes that Congress will only act now if they hear from their constituents. And proving the power of local governance, an unprecedented 320 school districts have passed the resolution, which calls on Congress to improve the federal law by supporting H.R. 648. The bill fully addresses concerns raised by parents, educators, local school board members, administrators, and other stakeholders.

NSBA hopes that the collective voice supporting recommendations to improve NCLB will be heard by Congress, because our schools deserve a workable federal law that supports, not abandons our public schools.

Is your school district among those supporting the bill? Check the list and see.

Posted at 2:21 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

May 3, 2007

It's mayoral takeovers again! BoardBuzz just can't get enough of this one (and apparently neither can a number of mayors throughout the country). For different reasons, we think.

Today's lesson is Constitutional Law. Yes, that's right, straight out of Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's takeover bid (which we've covered here, here, and here) has hit yet another snag. If you recall, a Superior Court judge declared the law, which was hastily pushed through the legislature, unconstitutional. Ah, but Villaraigosa was undeterred and appealed.

But as is the case in these hero and villain stories, Villaraigosa has been foiled again (here). Not by Batman, but by the California 2nd District Court of Appeals, which also declared the takeover bid unconstitutional. In the 44-page opinion, Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote, "The citizens of Los Angeles have the constitutional right to decide whether their school board is to be appointed or elected." Does the story end here? Will our villain succeed in his attempt to gain control of the local school district and its multi-million dollar budget? Tune in next time for the latest installment of Mayoral Takeover Madness.

Posted at 5:27 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

April 4, 2007

The Washington Post reports that that the D.C. Council (the district’s legislative body, er, along with big papa Congress) voted yesterday to support Mayor Adrian Fenty’s takeover of the Washington, D.C. public schools. That is unless it all doesn’t work out, in which case the Council can take back the schools from hizzoner if there isn’t “sufficient progress in education” in five years. Well, well, it seems the Council has learned its federal lesson well and crafted its very own No D.C. Child Left Behind.

But, all of this leaves BoardBuzz wondering, if the Mayor’s plan is terrific enough to justify uprooting the first elected body in this last remaining federal colony, why will it take five years to show even “sufficient progress?” That means BoardBuzz’s hypothetical kindergartener would be ready (or not) for middle school before the Council decides whether the Mayor’s plan is working.

Sounds like a heavy burden for the ersatz school board and Mayor cum-chief-state-school-officer must also contend with building roads, running the jails, making sure the city’s bond rating isn’t junked, getting the trash picked up on time, creating housing opportunities, providing quality after school programs, improving fire and police services, and well, running the nation’s capital. BoardBuzz may be dripping with skepticism here, but in the light of so much to do, we can’t help but wonder whether the Mayor can pull it all off, especially since one of his supporters on the DC Council says he can be “single-minded.” Er, Councilmember, didn’t you mean to say, “multi-tasking?”

Aligning with BoardBuzz's past speculations, the Post article notes that, "As part of the new structure, the council would have line-item budget control, and the school board would set academic standards." It looks like the almighty budget monster rears its ugly head again.

And, as they take this monumental first step it seems city government oberservers are waking up to the fact that the Council is happy to make fundamental changes to D.C.’s “constitution” without full representation on the D.C. Council. You can read more coverage here.

Yep, you get it. BoardBuzz is not too happy with this latest vote. We aren’t happy with the Mayor’s proposal either. So, there, we said it.

Posted at 5:00 PM | Link to this story | Comments (0)

March 30, 2007

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 216-210 Thursday to adopt its fiscal year 2008 budget resolution (H.Con.Res.99) that includes $7.9 billion more for education than the Administration's request. Roll call vote is here.

The House passed the measure the Budget Committee had approved last week. The proposed increase of $7.9 billion includes $5.9 billion in 2008 funding and $2 billion in advance funding from FY2009. According to House Budget Committee staff, approximately one-third of the proposed increase would be targeted towards special education.

H.Con.Res.99 will be reconciled with the Senate-passed budget resolution (S.Con.Res. 21) in order to establish final budget allocations for education programs and other areas of spending.

The Senate's Budget Resolution (S.Con.Res.21) proposed a $62.3 billion allocation for the U.S. Department of Education, while the House Budget figure is $64.1 billion.

Next steps for education advocates will be to urge approval for the higher overall allocation for education programs and then encourage House and Senate Appropriations Committees to provide the increases that are needed for Title I and IDEA and to restore funding for other key programs that have been impacted by cuts in recent years. Stay up to speed on the budget and appropriations process at NSBA's Advocacy Web site.

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March 28, 2007

The Pledge to America's Schoolchildren is at full steam now! Nearly a third of all members of Congress have signed on in support of public education. BoardBuzz has told you about the Pledge in the past, here, here, and here. As of today, 176 members have signed the Pledge, committing to:

Improve the No Child Left Behind Act to give my school district(s) better measures for student and school performance, and the support needed to close the achievement gap.

Help my school district(s) meet the needs of students with disabilities by supporting the funding goals of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA).

Support school readiness programs for children entering kindergarten in my school district(s).

Help my school district(s) to attract, train and retain highly qualified and effective teachers.

Help my school district(s) to provide all students with 21st Century skills and knowledge, including math, science and technology.

Has your member signed the Pledge? Click here to see a list of all signers.

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March 8, 2007

Brian Perkins, steering committee chairman for NSBA's Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) and principal investigator for two studies on school climate, spoke on the topic during a briefing for members of Congress in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Perkins, a member of Connecticut’s New Haven Board of Education, was on a panel that discussed the role of school counselors in school safety and crisis response. He discussed CUBE’s 2006 survey of urban students, Where We Learn, and previewed the upcoming Where We Teach, a survey of urban teachers and administrators that will be released later this month.

Other panelists included Peter Yarrow, a member of the folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary, and founder of the anti-bullying group “Operation Respect”; Betsy Thompson, director of student services for Colorado’s Jefferson County Schools; and Cheri Lovre of the Crisis Management Institute. The panel was sponsored by the American School Counselor Association.

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February 15, 2007

Nearly halfway through the current fiscal year, Congress has finally passed the FY 2007 budget for most federal agencies, including education. Most agencies had been operating on a continuing resolution that the previous Congress put in place in lieu of actually passing the appropriations bills last year.

The Senate voted 81-15 on the measure that will fund education and other domestic programs for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends September 30. The House passed it in January.

The measure will provide a $250 million increase in Title I grants, including $125 million for School Improvement grants for NCLB; and a $200 million increase for IDEA (special education) grants. Despite the small increases, total FY07 funding for Title I will still be about $12 billion below what Congress authorized for it this year under NCLB, and FY07 funding for IDEA will still be almost $6 billion below the level Congress authorized for it this year.

Looking ahead to the FY08 budget process, NSBA is urging Congress to provide a $2.5 billion increase for both Title I and IDEA. More info on that here.

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January 31, 2007

The NSBA Federal Relations Network Conference, which wrapped up yesterday with Hill visits by 1,000 school board members, scored big on several fronts this year. Notables such as Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Rep. Michael Castle (R-Del.), and Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) addressed conference attendees, while Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) received awards for their commitment to public education.

The conference received a great deal of press this year, too. This piece from North Adams Transcript (Mass.) notes Kennedy's vow to "soften the federal No Child Left Behind Act's deadlines and discipline while providing a new surge of money and encouragement." The article also pointed out that

Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said President Bush and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney "hate public schools" and set No Child standards so high that they could not be reached.

"The key (to what Kennedy's) saying is we want to get there, but we're going to do it with carrots instead of whips," Koocher said.

The Washington Times covered Secretary Spellings' remarks to the group and the comments and questions from conference attendees that followed. A delegate from Detroit told Mrs. Spellings that when it comes to charter and private-school policy, 'you should leave that decision up to the states.' He also complained NCLB law is 'woefully underfunded.'" And the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (Alaska) spotlighted Rep. Young's award. "Young said geographic, economic and cultural factors prevent schools from meeting [NCLB's] mandates. He said his bill would hold schools accountable but address unintended consequences of the law."
Check out all of BoardBuzz's conference coverage here and here. Wished you had been there? Watch this clip from C-SPAN.

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January 30, 2007

Yesterday afternoon, at the Federal Relations Network Conference, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings outlined the administration's priorities for NCLB for nearly 1,000 school board members in attendance. You can read Spellings' complete Building on Results: A Blueprint for Strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act here.

In her remarks, Spellings advocated for the reauthorization of NCLB. "No Child Left Behind has transformed the education enterprise. Before this law, we took for granted that our education system was meeting the needs of our students," Secretary Spellings said. "No Child Left Behind changed all that. The law brought standards, data-driven decision making and accountability to the system. And it set a historic goal of every child performing at grade-level by 2014."

BoardBuzz was happy to note that Spellings acknowledged that the law "isn't perfect," which is a change from her 99.9% pure comment in September. She also faced tough questions from school board members in the audience, including whether or not she had seen and would take the time to read the No Child Left Behind Improvements Act (which is in line with NSBA's own recommendations for the law--read more here)--that has been introduced in the House by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).

Young and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) were honored yesterday by NSBA for their commitment to public education and for the legislation that each has introduced in Congress. The FRN Conference concludes today with nearly 1,000 school board members hitting Capitol Hill to lobby their members of Congress to support public education issues and sign the Pledge to America's Schoolchildren.

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January 29, 2007

Today in Washington, D.C., more than 1,000 school board members from across the nation listened as Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee outlined his agenda for the 110th Congress at NSBA's Federal Relations Network Conference. Kennedy called upon the school board members to share their "leadership and service to help strengthen America's future," and told NSBA's president that he would work together to fix NCLB.

Kennedy told the audience that

one of the most important aspects of the strength of our democracy is the excellence of our public schools. As leaders and advocates of that excellence, each of you is at the forefront of the ongoing movement to improve our public schools. In Massachusetts, that movement began in 1837, when the father of public education -- Horace Mann -- campaigned relentlessly for the support and improvement of public schools.

He reminds us that a free and public education was vital to our future. He brought intense public attention to inferior conditions in our schools. He fought to double the wages of teachers, improve textbooks, and build fifty new secondary schools across the state. And I'm told that he did it without measuring adequate yearly process.

He also outlined four key messages for his agenda:

Do more to see that resources are available to bring needed reforms to schools;

Find more effective ways to measure progress, see that all students are reaching high standards, and focus on the lowest perfrorming schools instead of labeling so many schools as failures;

Look for creative ideas to meet our common goal to turn around struggling schools, including extended school days, parent and community initiatives, and high school reform; and

Renew the commitment to teacher quality and help the neediest schools to attract and keep good teachers.

You can view a complete copy of Senator Kennedy's remarks by clicking here.

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January 23, 2007

Watch out Washington, D.C. School board members from across the country will be convening in the nation's capital, January 28-30, at NSBA's Federal Relations Network (FRN)Conference to give Members of Congress some advice and direction on key education issues.

With the dramatic shift in politics this year, the conference is seeing a renewed energy among the nearly 1,000 school board members from every congressional district in the country who come to Washington every year to voice their concerns. There also seems to be a renewed interest in the school board perspective as U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will address attendees, and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will share the democratic education agenda for the 110th Congress.

Attendees will also hear from House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), chair of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education. In addition, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will be honored for their support and sponsorship of a bill that contained improvements for the No Child Left Behind law.

School board members will be poised to talk to their Congressional members about supporting improvements to the No Child Left Behind law, following through on promised funding for the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, supporting universal pre-kindergarten programs, getting high-quality teachers in every classroom, and making sure students have critical math, science, and technology skills. And, the push will continue to get Congressional members to sign NSBA's Pledge to America's Schoolchildren. Have your representative and senator signed yet?

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January 19, 2007

Our friends in Ohio are on the right track, it seems, as a consortium of 12 statewide education groups dedicated to strengthening education and economic opportunities in the state submitted a constitutional ammendment to the attorney general this week. The amendment campaign, Getting It Right for Ohio's Future, is pushing for more state funding for education and supports developing a well-educated workforce to help stimulate good jobs and restore Ohio's competitiveness.

According to the Getting It Right for Ohio's Future press release, the campaign would:

• Amend the Ohio Constitution to establish that a high-quality education is a fundamental right for every Ohio child
  
• Determine levels of funding based on student need for all types of students, including special education, vocational education, gifted or economically disadvantaged
  
• Eliminate "phantom revenue" of untaxed property value calculations by the state, thereby reducing the need for local tax levies
  
• Exempt Ohio seniors and disabled citizens from property taxes on the first $40,000 of the market value of their homes
  
• Create an independent commission appointed by Ohio's top elected leaders—the governor, speaker of the House and Senate president—that monitors districts to ensure that high-quality educational opportunities are available to students in a cost-effective manner
  
• Direct the independent commission to report annually to the governor, General Assembly, State Board of Education and the public
  
• Create and maintain a permanent local government fund to support police and fire departments, libraries and other local government services that support Ohio schools, citizens, and Ohio's ability to compete for jobs
  
• Establish a system that ensures total state funding for Ohio's public institutions of higher education receive no less than the amount provided in 2007 and increases annually based on the state's personal income percentage.

The attorney general's office has 10 days to respond to the petition, which is backed by 12 top education groups, including the Ohio School Boards Association. You can check out media coverage of the petition here and here.

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January 3, 2007

It seems newly sworn-in D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty isn't intimidated by a recent Superior Court ruling in California that slapped Mayor Villaraigosa's hand for trying to take over the Los Angeles public schools. And, Mayor Fenty seems undeterred by that court's findings that the mayoral plot "violated multiple provisions of the state Constitution and the Los Angeles City Charter." Los Angeles, after all, is a continent away. (And you thought the East-Coast/West-Coast debate was only a hip-hop thing.)

The Washington Post reports that the youngest D.C. mayor ever (he's 36) will unveil his takeover scheme tomorrow at the first major press conference of his term. So far, Fenty has declined to provide any details of the plan to any but a few supporters, including six D.C. Council Members, some of whom favor school reform, but are "waiting to see full details of [the] plan" before they commit.

Why the push so early in his term? Well, it seems to BoardBuzz that the new mayor learned a thing or two about counting votes during his time on the D.C. Council. The D.C. Council (the District's local legislative body) is down by 2 members to 11. So until special elections are held this spring, Fenty has a greater shot of getting a majority vote. But, a vote without a full Council on an issue of such import would deny the voice of 2 of the District's 9 wards. In this federal colony where even the license plates resonate with the city's ongoing struggle for congressional representation with slogans of "Taxation Without Representation," it baffles the mind that a new mayor would take such hasty action without full representation of all the city's wards simply to claim a political victory on an arbitrary timetable.

But, even if the mayor succeeds in pushing his agenda for takeover through the Council, he then faces the greater challenge of moving Congress to amend the D.C. Charter (akin to state constitutions) by removing the right of District residents to directly elect representatives to the City's longest standing free-governing political institution—yep, the Board of Education. This is expecially interesting, since Congress is now seriously considering giving the District representation. BoardBuzz thinks the mayor would do better to collaborate with existing political structures to bring about true reform to improve student achievement, delivery of services, and curricular alignment by working with the D.C. Board of Education and its superintendent.

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December 22, 2006

The St. Petersburg Times has more on NSBA's press event at which U.S. Representative-Elect Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) became the latest member of Congress to sign the Pledge to America's Schoolchildren. Don't let the Times' web link fool you. The Pledge recap is there, but the editors think you might first want to read about the woman who drove a moped into a drain!

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December 20, 2006

Kudos to U.S. Representative-Elect Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) for becoming the latest to ink his name on the Pledge to America's Schoolchildren, NSBA's campaign encouraging members of Congress to commit to five fundamental goals in support of public schools. Bilirakis signed the Pledge this morning at a press event in Pinellas County, Florida, alongside local school board member and NSBA President Jane Gallucci.

Lots of media coverage, including Tampa's FOX13 News. Watch Gallucci "interview" Bilirakis here.

More updates to follow on the press event.

Thanks also to Representative Bill Young (R-FL), another Floridian to recently sign the Pledge, which now has more than 60 members signed on.

School board members should continue talking to their representative and senators, encouraging them to sign the Pledge. Find out how here or here.

And track the campaign's progress anytime at our website.

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"Tough Choices or Tough Times" is rearing its head again. BoardBuzz told you about the report from the National Center on Education and the Economy last week, here and here, and, as we suspected, the discussion is still raging. It was the cover story in Time magazine, for one thing, and it was covered here by U.S. News & World Report and has prompted editorials in the Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News and the New York Sun, as well as this op-ed in the Charleston Daily Mail.

Skills Commission member, Tony Carnevale has written a letter (via: Eduwonk) critical of the report, which defends school boards, school districts, teachers and unions. In short, Carnevale points out

I see no recognition, quantitative or qualitative, of what's lost by setting aside these mass institutions embedded in local communities. The unions and school boards are steeped in democratic process. The school districts are the repository of administrative practice and the teachers bring the core professional knowledge and values that guide teaching and learning.

The American mass public school system is the unique historical amalgam of these forces. I don't see how the narrow experience and offerings of a nascent education contracting industry substitutes for the current mix of democratic process, administrative practice and professional knowledge and values that these institution bring to the table. I see no evidence that the capabilities of the education contracting industry are up to the task at hand.

He goes on to compare the notion of "contract schools" as proposed in the report to charter schools. Carnevale vigorously defends teachers as well.

My other difficulty with this report is the common theme of bashing public school teachers. I owe too much to public school teachers not to object to their mistreatment. There are repeated references to the poor quality of American public school teachers, with no data offered as support.

According to the report, "We generally recruit teachers from among the least able high school students who go to college" (p.22). Teachers are "those who entered college with the lowest measured ability." Apparently our current teachers don't read a lot or well or write well, are uncomfortable with ideas and are not creative. In the future, the report says, we will need better teachers: "We will have to have teachers who write well, who read a lot and well and who are themselves good at mathematical reasoning. And we will need teachers who are very comfortable with ideas" (p.69). "When we invested hundreds of millions in curriculums that captured the key ideas in the disciplines, we failed to attract the teachers who were well enough educated --- (not trained, educated) to teach it well" (p.71). Please.

You can read the entire letter here. BoardBuzz wants to hear what you have to say—leave a comment on this hot topic.

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December 6, 2006

The Pledge to America's Schoolchildren is gaining momentum. The Pledge, launched by NSBA in October, has been collecting signatures of Members of Congress who pledge to support fundamental issues that NSBA and school board members will push to achieve in the upcoming 110th Congress.

More than 50 Members of Congress have already signed on in support of public education. You can see if your state's members have signed on by visiting the Pledge Web site. If you don't see your members on the list, you can contact them by going here.