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April 25, 2008
BoardBuzz podcastMouseover the icon to listen to BuzzCast 24
Posted at 3:26 PM | Podcasts | Link to this story | Comments (0)
April 24, 2008
House passes Medicaid rules moratorium crucial to districtsAs 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.
Posted at 10:38 AM | Advocacy & Legislation | Link to this story | Comments (0)
April 23, 2008
More is worse for NCLBWhen it comes to NCLB, more is not better. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings' proposed NCLB rules yesterday add many new requirements for states, school districts and schools (see here), but make no improvement to the law's accountability structure, which has been a central flaw that identifies so many schools as failing.
From requiring states to use a uniform calculation for high school graduation rates and disaggregate the rates by student subgroups, to restricting the use of unspent funds for choice and tutoring, Spellings' proposed regulations simply pile on more burdens for schools.
BoardBuzz can't help but asks how these new requirements are going to improve student learning and achievment? Uniform graduation rates sound good, but where is the support for state and district capacity? According to its own Inspector General, ED didn't do its job early on to insist that states develop the data systems needed for accurate graduation rates.
And instead of helping schools and districts implement best practices for school choice and tutoring, the rules tie the hands of educators to use unspent funds and create burdensome paperwork districts must submit to states. Finally, BoardBuzz questions whether Spellings actually has the authority to make some of these changes to the law. With the lack of congressional action, Spellings seems to be playing the role of a lawmaker.
NSBA believes that ED's piecemeal approach to change the law is not a substitute for reauthorization.
Speaking of which, if the sounding of the death knell for reauthorizing NCLB had not already occurred (plenty believe we crossed that mark some time ago), this week has left little doubt that this Congress and this administration will not complete their work. Yeah - imagine that. A bit of a dog-bites-man storyline.
The adminstration's regulatory moves make it patently clear they won't be partners in a reauthorization. They will take matters into their own hands and then ride off into the sunset. Meantime, earlier today at a National Press Club event, Representative George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, left no room for confusion on where he stands, essentially saying that as long as the administration won't pony up the resources or even partake in a serious discussion about funding, he won't be moving any NCLB legislation. NSBA can certainly attest to the frustrations of local districts over the paltry federal funding our schools have received and the Feds' unwillingness (because it isn't a true lack of resources) to fulfill its financial promises.
But we have to ask: who benefits from this unfortunate game? Call it the Washington shuffle. Congress and the White House pointing fingers about which is to blame for inaction on a law that all realize is deeply flawed. Who benefits? It certainly isn't the nation's schoolchildren.
Posted at 1:54 PM | No Child Left Behind | Link to this story | Comments (0)
TMZ: the Supreme Court edition?In today’s op-ed in USA Today, Tony Mauro, decries the “cloak of secrecy” surrounding the Supreme Court. But, Mauro’s issues with the court stem not from the Court’s jurisprudence, its processes, or its fairness---all substantive issues of democratic concern, but more with the Court’s---or, rather the individual justices’---public persona. Mauro, a seasoned Supreme Court reporter wants more than just the justices’ opinion on the law. He wants access. And, he all but begs for personal interaction when he complains that the Court’s press corps only, “see[s] a lot of the justices when they are nominated and again when they leave the court.”
Now, BoardBuzz is all about access. Certainly, BoardBuzz sees itself as an elegant, albeit slightly askew, vehicle for providing access to all kinds of good stuff to you loyal BoardBuzzers, but we are rather nonplussed by what at first glance seems a somewhat adolescent infatuation with the persons of the justices themselves. Justice Scalia, afterall, is no Lance Bass. Is, Mr. Mauro really suggesting he wants to know who the justices are dating, whether they hung out with Paris Hilton last night or whether they sent their clerks scurrying for pictures of His Holiness on his recent visit? Well, no, of course, not. But, it does beg the question: what exactly is it that Mr. Mauro would want from the justices personally to tell the public in this democracy dependent on gossi… er, information? But, we digress.
And, to be fair, Mauro's article does have some good suggestions for educating the American people about the court: a video clip of Chief Justice Roberts discussing the court or giving a tour of its magnificent building; posting audio of all arguments, perhaps even video clips of the arguments. And, offering the Chief Justice’s annual report on the state of the judiciary at the American Bar Association sounds like a fine idea to us.
But, then all good things come to an end, don’t they. Before you go accusing us of being pessimistic, fatalistic and myopic, check out this: The op-ed says, "[The Court’s] members might be unelected, but the Supreme Court is the American people's highest court. It should not get to decide how invisible, how unaccountable, it will be." What!!!??? We were joshing around with the whole paparazzi bit, but this is beyond the pale. First, to equate the lack of personal access (as we expect from our elected representative) with unaccountability is laughable.
Judges are NOT politicians. And, they should not be subject to the kinds of access from special interests and even constituents that plow the halls of Congress. It can't be that the fact that the justices are appointed makes them unaccountable? Perhaps what was meant was "independence." As in, the framers of the Constitution intended the Supreme Court and the rest of the judiciary to have a clear independence from the other branches of government so that their rulings would be fair, equitable and impartial under the law and not subject to external pressures of the day. But, don’t listen to us, take a gander at what Justice O’Connor says on the importance of the independence of the judiciary.
Oh, wait, but you do know, Mr. Mauro, all about the independence of the judiciary. You once wrote Justice O’Connor herself issued a “rip-snorting defense of judicial independence” to the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers in Washington, D.C.
So, we’re left at somewhat of a loss. What’s Mauro's real beef with the High Court? Is it really concern for the public’s right to know the “disembodied oracles who decide life and death issues without ever making contact with the taxpayers who fund their salaries” as he so off-handedly states? Or, is this about the desire of the Fourth Estate to fill the ever insatiable appetite for information of any kind that seems to be prevalent these days?
We leave it to our able BoardBuzzers to cogitate (and comment, if you dare). But, we do close with this observation: Maybe the "one unelected branch of government[‘s] desire to thrive outside the limelight and above the fray" has more to do with making sure that people get fair treatment under the law than about fulfilling some puerile fantasy about denying the paparazzi. Period.
Posted at 12:24 PM | School Law | Link to this story | Comments (0)
Is Papyrus in your future?BoardBuzz doesn't mean to suggest that the world is facing a paper shortage, but rather a new e-ink device has come to our attention (and wouldn't that be eco-friendly?). The group of innovators at The Greener Grass have presented Papyrus, an inexpensive, student oriented e-reader specially designed with collaboration in mind. This is a concept that BoardBuzz could wholeheartedly get behind. Our inner geek is a-twittering. And for a brief summary of why, let's turn to Engadget:
You don't have to look very far to find e-book concepts these days, but this so-called Papyrus device from the folks at Greener Grass aims a bit higher than most, with it promising to be nothing short of an inexpensive replacement for students' textbooks. If the designers have their way, the device would cost less than $100, while still packing an E Ink-based touchscreen (with handwriting recognition, it seems), and a battery that lasts for a full 30 hours -- not to mention some sort of networking functionality, as the device is apparently also designed to let teachers and students interact with one another.
BoardBuzz believes e-ink devices are very much the way of the future. The pros: low battery consumption, superior readability (compared to laptop screens), and a thin form. All these factors combined bring us one step closer to a fully-digital world. Amazon's Kindle alone is making remarkable inroads to the public's hearts and minds.
What really sets the Papyrus apart is the idea of combining an e-ink device with collaborative tools for the classroom. Students would be placed in an interactive environment with which they're already familiar— similar to Facebook and MySpace where fears of classroom participation diminish. It makes the case for interaction between students and teachers. Imagine students afraid to ask questions in front of peers who could just type out a quick private message to their teacher. Papyrus would provide a direct line of communication between student and teacher. Students can also work collaboratively to tag, highlight, and take notes—helping each other understand their classwork.
BoardBuzz would have greatly enjoyed a device such as this back in our day. Imagine being able to replace all your large, heavy textbooks with a device such as Papyrus. Textbook publishers (and chiropractors) beware! E-ink, e-readers, e-books (however you label them) are very much in our future. We'll admit, there's still something to be said about curling up with a good book, but that feeling generally doesn't extend to your average textbook. With yesterday being Earth Day we even wonder if all those new editions that publishers seem to love are really necessary.
Investing today, millions? Delivering updates and corrections without printing a new edition, priceless.
Posted at 10:30 AM | Education Technology | Link to this story | Comments (0)
April 22, 2008
Feeling greenSeems like everyone's talking about going green these days (including BoardBuzz--here). Newsweek made it their cover earlier this month. And the phrase "green collar" jobs has entered the business and political lexicon. So in honor of Earth Day, BoardBuzz offers up a few resources on environmental education and green schools.
The EPA features an Earth Day Web site in English and Spanish, with classroom-related tools.
Our blogger pals at the Learning First Alliance (yeah, we plugged Public School Insights last week, but they're sharing stories worthy of your attention) profiled and posted an interview with an award-winning high school science teacher.
Want to know more about green schools? The U.S. Green Building Council has a website dedicated to the issue. And green schools was the Spring cover story ofCalifornia Schools Magazine, the top-notch publication of the California School Boards Association.
Even the publishers of the Dr. Seuss classic The Lorax are jumping on the bandwagon. So maybe Kermit needs a new song?
Posted at 10:08 AM | Health & Wellness | Link to this story | Comments (0)
The way it's supposed to beBoardBuzz is always happy to have the media on our side, and especially on the side of school board members. That's why we couldn't help but enjoy this article that came to us from the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer.
The reporter was doing a little digging into the school district's attendance at NSBA's Annual Conference earlier this month, and what he found was definitely educational.
Good training workshops can remind professionals why they do what they do and inject them with new ideas. Folks get too comfortable and too cynical and become predictable in their jobs when they never undergo training.So, I don’t begrudge the nine members of the county school board and Superintendent Bill Harrison for taking a junket to Orlando, Fla., that must have been positively refreshing. I’m a degree or two less thrilled that the bill taxpayers footed came to $21,000, which seems expensive for 10 people.
To see what you and I paid for, I let my fingers do the walking over to the official Web site for the 2008 Annual Conference for the National School Boards Association. I was surprised to find that the presentations for many of the sessions were available for download.
A session that caught my attention was titled “Handling Media Inquiries With Nerves of Steel” presented by Tim Carroll, the public relations person for a Texas school district, and Rich Bagin, director of the National School Public Relations Association.
Not only does this reporter get that school board members need and should take advantage of professional development, but he also did his homework to understand just what the school board members were learning in Orlando.
Allen and Bagin include a piece of advice that works in nearly all arenas, from politics to marriage:“Think before you speak.”
I called school board member Kim Fisher to see if she had made it to the session on media inquiries.
She called me back promptly and answered honestly that she had not.
“That was one of the main ones I wanted to go to,” she said, but the shuttle between where she was staying and the conference ran late.
“By the time I got there, they were at capacity. It was popular.”
Fisher said she did not think any of the board members were able to make that session, but said it was a great conference. She said she planned to share with teachers and staff members ideas she picked up from the NASA Educator Resource Center at the Kennedy Space Center.
“There’s so much out there for our teachers.”
I noticed Fisher used no jargon. I can’t know whether she thought before she spoke, but she seemed to answer my questions with quite the nerves of steel.
Not only did the reporter do his homework, but the school board member did hers. She attended the conference with her district in mind and worked hard to ensure that her district's money wasn't wasted. If BoardBuzz were going to write a textbook, this story would be in it!
Posted at 9:39 AM | Conferences | School Boards | Link to this story | Comments (0)
April 21, 2008
A tarnished silver anniversary?This month marks the 25th Anniversary of A Nation at Risk, the government study that examined education and what needs to be changed to improve American education. The study was put together by a team of educators including school board members from urban districts, rural districts, state associations, presidents of universities, principals, a Nobel Laureate, and a teacher of the year (to name a few). It's widely regarded as "the" report on education, but for many of us in the daily grind of working in the world of education, we were merely school kids ourselves when the report came out.
USA Today took one side of the issue in Friday's edition, essentially saying that while we have a long way to go, there are improvements in education that should be emulated. In the other corner, Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, pits the problems in schools against other American problems such as poverty, the credit debacle, and a loss of industrial jobs.
Nothing in America operates in a vacuum, and education's problems often trickle down to other aspects of society, but can the schools solve a credit crisis? How about health care? Poverty? Shall we go on? Yes, education is the answer to many of our ills, but educational innovations are the key to the future. So much has changed, yet so much has stayed the same as the America we knew in 1983. Look at the facts--economic uncertainly in the U.S.--check. Uncertainty in the international community and it's view of the U.S.--check. Wages being stagnant--check. "Crisis" in education--check.
So what's a teacher, administrator, school board member, superintendent, or most importantly, a student to do? The ideas are out there, but just like those days in school in 80s, you're gonna have to do some homework (and the internet wasn't even being used by regular people yet). NSBA has some innovative ideas through the National Affiliate program, CUBE, TLN, and your state school boards association is always willing to help. Dig in. You'll find that the best answers are often in the depths of the web pages, but what's most important is that as we read about all the flaws and comparisons to the last 25 years, we realize that we still have work to do, and it is possible to have positive results.
Posted at 2:25 PM | School Boards | Students | Teachers | Link to this story | Comments (0)
Board members tell Congress help is neededTight 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.
Posted at 8:46 AM | Advocacy & Legislation | Link to this story | Comments (0)
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