Friday, June 20, 2008

Governor Crist Signs 2008-09 Budget
The Fiscal Year 2008-09 budget was signed by Governor Charlie Crist. The budget contains education funding to continue long-term academic gains that Florida students have experienced over the last decade. These learning gains are further evidenced by Florida’s performance on national and state measures.
Florida’s achievements are demonstrated in recent educational assessments that have ranked the state near the top of the nation in student performance. The 2008 Quality Counts report placed Florida 14th in the nation, a 17 place jump compared to last year’s ranking of 31st. In addition, Florida’s latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Advanced Placement (AP) and Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) all demonstrate increased student performance. For the full story, visit www.fldoe.org/news/2008/2008_06_11.asp.
 

Monday, June 16, 2008

CEC Holds Briefing on RTI

CEC Holds Briefing on RTI: On Monday, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) held a briefing titled, "Understanding Response to Intervention (RTI)." Douglas Fuchs, Ph.D., professor of special education at Vanderbilt University, presented his views on RTI and explained why he believes RTI should be used to identify struggling students and diagnose learning disabilities. According to CEC, RTI is designed to identify struggling learners early in their education, to provide access to needed interventions and to help identify children with disabilities. Fuchs argued that there are two purposes of RTI: to provide an alternate method of learning disability identification and to re-orient general education toward early intervention and prevention. CEC believes RTI merges special education into the overall policies of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) by having clear standards, useful measurement and sound instructional practices. Dr. Susan Fowler, CEC president, said RTI "lays the groundwork for bringing a new focus on enhancing the performance of all students, including those with disabilities, through a common system in which classroom teachers and special education teachers can work together."

More info at http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home

Budget and Appropriations

Consideration of funding bills for fiscal year 2009 went into full swing on Capitol Hill last week. Although the full Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate are not scheduled to meet to divide up the kitty, almost $1 trillion for domestic discretionary programs, several subcommittees got to work in the House and completed four mark-ups, based on preliminary conversations with the committee leadership.

The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee approved on a party line vote a bill that will provide $27.9 billion for the Interior Department and EPA programs, which is approximately 5 percent over last year. Funding for the National Endowment for the Arts grows by $15 million to $160 million, with identical funding provided for the National Endowment for the Humanities. When the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science met it provided a $1.7 billion increase in funding for programs supporting science, technology and innovation. For the National Science Foundation that translates to $6.9 billion, up from $6.06 in FY 2008. $17.8 billion was allotted for NASA and $785 million for NIST.

On June 19, the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) and Education will meet to mark up a funding bill for those agencies. Although exact numbers aren't public, it is anticipated that subcommittee members will ignore the program eliminations called for by the president as well as with many significant proposed cuts in spending. How many programs will actually be increased is not known, but staff members are doing their best to lower expectations in what is considered to be an austere budget climate.

The Senate LHHS and Education Subcommittee will meet on June 24 to consider its spending plan. The full Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate will probably also act that week to adopt LHHS and Education spending plans. Taking the bills to the floor for a vote, however, remains a long shot. The leadership is not interested in an extended debate with the president, who has already made it known that he will veto anything that allocates more funding than he requested. The LHHS bill in both Houses is certain to exceed his request by as much as $10 billion, making a presidential veto a sure thing.

While appropriators got to work on their FY 2009 plans, the House and Senate remained tied up in knots over what to do about the emergency supplemental spending bill. Funding for the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are top priorities, so that portion of the measure will surely be agreed to before the July 4 recess. What is in question is whether and how much domestic emergency funding will be included in the bill. The Senate is insisting on new GI Education benefits and funds to extend unemployment insurance payments along with funds to pay for a moratorium on controversial new Medicaid rules. In the House, there was an effort to move a stand-alone unemployment benefits bill that finally passed but with barely enough votes to override an anticipated veto. What happens when the stand-alone bill reaches the Senate is anyone's guess. What we can be sure about is that the final budget decisions regarding education spending for FY 2009 will be postponed through a continuing resolution and handed off to the new president just as soon as he takes office.

Friday, June 13, 2008

CONTINUATION OF CONTROVERSIAL D.C. VOUCHER PROGRAM IN DOUBT


The possible demise of a groundbreaking federal voucher program in Washington, D.C. is one more sign of the new directions K-12 education reform might soon take as a result of the 2008 election, write Valerie Strauss and Bill Turque of The Washington Post. The aid program awards scholarships of up to $7,500 a year to 2,000 low-income D.C. children for tuition and other fees at participating private schools. Creation of the program in 2004 put the District at the forefront of the school-choice movement. At that time, the Republican-led federal government was taking steps to use the nation's capital -- with its ailing public school system -- as a showcase for educational reforms, which also included the country's most sweeping charter school law. Parents of scholarship recipients offer high praise for the program, crediting it with changing the direction of their children's lives. The program has also drawn criticism. A 2007 Government Accountability Office study found that some participating private schools lacked proper permits to operate. It has also been faulted for allowing ineligible families to receive federal funds and for failing to ensure that families selected accredited schools. Opponents said they thought the program blurred the separation of church and state because more than half of the students have enrolled in religious schools, most of them Catholic.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/08/AR2008060802041.html

 

A PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PRIMER


Authentic public engagement is a highly inclusive problem-solving approach through which regular citizens deliberate and collaborate on complex public problems. Rather than relegating people to the sidelines, it invites them to join the public dialogue surrounding a problem and provides them the tools to do so productively. As a result, leaders know where the public stands as problem solving progresses, while citizens themselves contribute to solutions through their input, ideas and actions. The Center for the Advancement of Public Engagement has released a primer on ways to cultivate greater community engagement with public life and a more citizen-centered approach to politics. The primer is organized around four themes to help citizens engage other citizens in their work toward a common goal: Creating Civic Capacity for Public Problem-Solving; Ten Core Principles of Public Engagement; Examples of Key Practices and Strategies; and the Power of "Citizen Choicework." "In our society, public decision-making is typically the domain of powerful interest groups or highly specialized experts," the primer states. "To the extent that citizens are considered at all, it is usually as consumers or clients of government, while as a whole, the public is most often viewed as an audience to educate or a problem to manage. In this dominant framework, the citizenry is rarely viewed as a vital resource or potentially powerful partner in problem-solving."
http://publicagenda.org/pubengage/pdfs/public_engagement_primer.pdf

 

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Jobs for the Future Releases New Report

On Thursday, Jobs for the Future hosted a conference call to release its new report, "On Ramp to College," which highlights the expansion of dual-enrollment programs in the states as a means of expanding college opportunity, particularly among student groups who may not view themselves as college-bound. These programs are designed to allow high school students to take college-level courses during their junior or senior years. Courses are taught either by high school teachers, adjunct professors at the high school or by college professors on a college campus. Nationally, about 13 percent of high school students are enrolled in dual-enrollment courses, but that percentage can be as high as 30 percent in some states. Dual-enrollment programs arguably can be effective in encouraging students who might not consider themselves college-bound to pursue postsecondary study.

Although this news is promising, the report suggests that minority students are participating at much lower rates and, in some instances, not at all. In fact, many schools with high minority populations do not offer dual enrollment programs, suggesting an equity issue. But, as states continue to experience pressure to produce more college graduates, dual-enrollment programs can be used to improve participation among minority and low-income students.

"On Ramp to College" reviews trends in a growing number of states and shows how dual enrollment can serve as an "on ramp" to postsecondary education. It highlights successful statewide dual-enrollment efforts, provides a step-by-step plan for policymakers to create successful programs and assess current approaches and guides state officials in providing a wide range of students equal access to dual enrollment and making the strategy part of a continuous system for grades 9-16.

http://jff.org/

NCES Releases Condition of Education 2008 Report

NCES Releases Condition of Education 2008 Report

Last Thursday, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) held a briefing on the release of "The Condition of Education 2008." The congressionally mandated annual report showcases findings on a number of trends, including school enrollments, student performance on national and international assessments, public school expenditures and the educational attainment of young adults.

Mark Schneider, NCES commissioner, presented the report findings. Introducing the report as a "big picture" view of U.S. education data, Schneider said this year's notable findings include an improvement in math and reading scores, an increase in college enrollment and persistent challenges that remain for minority populations. Public school enrollment continues to grow (expected to approach 50 million this year) and set new records, while private school enrollment has declined since 2001. Hispanic students now represent 20 percent of public school enrollment, and the percentage of children who speak a language other than English at home has doubled (to 20 percent). Average test scores in 2007 for 9- and 13-year-olds in reading, and mathematics show an upward trend. Notably, U.S. fourth-graders are outperforming their international peers, on average, in terms of literacy. For the 2004-05 school year, the estimated on-time graduation rate in the United States was 75 percent. The rate of students enrolling in college immediately after high school was 67 percent in 1997 (up from 49 percent in 1972), but has since fluctuated between 62 percent and 69 percent.

During the discussion period, Schneider commented on upcoming NCES projects. New directions for NCES data collections include data on new teachers across time, a teacher compensation survey and continued work on state K-12 longitudinal data systems. Finally, Schneider mentioned a new high school longitudinal study that NCES will release in 2009, in which math and science will be a major focus point.

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/

Budget and Appropriations

Budget and Appropriations

Last week, Capitol Hill was quiet. Members of Congress were at home during the Memorial Day Recess, and it seems staff seized the opportunity for a brief respite as well. Shortly before adjourning for the Memorial Day recess, the Senate approved a two-part supplemental spending package that included $165 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also incorporated funding for increased veterans' benefits and an extension of unemployment insurance and other domestic spending, including: investments in a new education entitlement for veterans; a one-year moratorium on costly Medicaid regulatory changes that are of great concern to educators and health care providers; and increases in budgets at the National Science Foundation and other agencies that fund science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and research programs. The House is expected to consider this package upon return from the district work period. Of course, the White House has said it will veto any legislation that includes unrelated domestic spending, but the Senate approved the measure with a 75-vote, veto-proof majority. Consequently, House debate and the vote count on final passage will be important to Capitol Hill and White House schemers next week.

As for FY 2009 appropriations, the House and Senate are also expected to pass a budget resolution once they return that allows for increased spending on domestic programs, including education initiatives. However, the separate spending measures that fund each agency are not expected to make much progress, nor will most of them reach the president's desk this year. Nonetheless, advocates continue to work to influence these spending plans, with the understanding that their efforts will affect final spending decisions, which are not likely to occur until early in the next presidential administration.

Elsewhere in education, the higher education community expects the conference negotiations on the Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization to move into full swing in June. The 14th HEA extender expires June 30, and given the recent news about Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-Mass.) health, many expect him, his staff and those who respect his contribution and commitment to education policy to work hard to complete that bill sooner rather than later.