Transcript Federal Education Legislative Update

Wrapping Up the 111th Session of Congress:
Federal Education Policy Update
Noelle Ellerson
American Association of School Administrators
Economic Environment
• State and local economies struggling to experience
the stability and recovery starting to take hold at the
federal level.
• Continued issue of supplement/supplant from ARRA
and, now, education jobs fund.
• Confluence of the end of ARRA (2010-11/2011-12
school years) and the delayed economic recovery
represent very real obstacle to schools as they try to
balance increased emphasis on innovation with ever
slimmer operating budgets.
Obama Budget Proposal
• FY11 budget proposal released Feb 1 (2011-12
school year)
• Despite tight economic times, including non-defense
discretionary budget freeze, education receives
historic increases
• Proposal includes massive restructuring in ESEA
reauthorization
• Despite overall increases:
– Title I was level funded
– IDEA received a $250 million increase, remaining at 17%
instead of the promised 40%
Obama Budget Proposal
• 65% increase in the proportion of discretionary education
dollars moving through competitive grants
• AASA has a position in favor of formula grants.
USED 2010
Obama Budget Proposal
New Authority
Consolidated Programs
(change relative to consolidated programs cumulative total)
Effective Teachers and Leaders
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-$458.5 million (-15.5%)
Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund
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+$539.4 million (+131.3%)
Teacher and Leader Pathways
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+$268.9 million (+197.6%)
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Ready to Teach
Teacher Quality State Grants
Advanced Credentialing
Teacher Incentive Fund
School Leadership
Teach for America
Teacher Quality Partnership
Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow
Transition to Teaching
Effective Teaching and Learning: STEM
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+$119.5 million (+66.2%)
Effective Teaching and Learning: Well Rounded Education
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+$38.9 million (+17.2%)
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Mathematics and Science Partnership
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Teaching American History
Academies for American History and Civics
Civic Education
Close-Up Fellowships
Excellence in Economic Education
Foreign Language Assistance
Arts in Education
College Pathways and Accelerated Learning
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-$3.3 million (-3.2%)
Successful, Safe and Healthy Students
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+$45 million (+12.3%)
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Advanced Placement
High School Graduation Initiative
Javits Gifted and Talented Education
Alcohol Abuse Reduction
Elementary and Secondary School Counseling
Foundations for Learning
Mental Health integration in Schools
Physical Education
Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities
National Activities
Expanding Educational Options
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+$80.9 million (19.8%)
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Charter School Grants
Credit Enhancement for Charter School
Facilities
Parental Information and Resource Centers
Smaller Learning Communities
Voluntary Public School Choice
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Obama Budget Proposal
• Despite overall increases:
Program
FY11 Proposal
School Turnaround Grants
+$354.4 million (+65%)
Assessing Achievement
+$39.2 million (+9.6%)
Promise Nieghborhoods
+$200 million (+2,000%)
Magnet Schools Assistance
+$10 million (+10%)
English Language Acquisition State Grats
+$50 million (+6.7%)
Title I grants to LEAs
FROZEN
Migrant Student Education
FROZEN
Neglected/Delinquent Children and Youth
FROZEN
Homeless Children and Youth Education
FROZEN
Impact Aid
FROZEN
Rural Education
FROZEN
Indian Student Education
FROZEN
21st Century Community Learning Centers
FROZEN
FY 11 Appropriations
• The House and Senate Approps Cmtes announced
caps for FY11 discretionary spending. The Senate cap
is roughly $14 billion below the administration, and
the House cap is $7 below.
• House LHHS markup includes a discretionary
increase above FY10 of $2.04 billion (3.2% increase)
– Includes $5.67 billion for Pell
– $400 m increase for Title I
– $153 m increase for IDEA
• Next step? CR thru 12/3, then either a CR into new
Congress or an omnibus in lame duck.
Emergency Education Jobs Bill
• $10 billion in education jobs funding and $16.1 billion in
FMAP funding
• All but 2 states applied (SC and WY).
• Current issues?
– Supplement/supplant
– Maintenance of effort
– State pass-through of funds
Title I Funding Equity
• There will be a formula fight within ESEA
reauthorization.
• Title I allocations are made up of four formulas:
– Basic Grant, Concentration Grant, Targeted Grant,
Education Finance Incentive Grant
• Idea is to focus on concentrations of poverty
– Current law uses numbers or percentages
• Since NCLB, all new money in Title I has been split
between the Targeted Grant and the Education
Finance Incentive Grant.
• Focus on percentages of poverty for equity
Serving Schools Most in Need
• School Turnaround Grants will be targeted to bottom
5% performing schools in each states.
– Schools will have to choose one of four possible interventions.
• Turnaround – fire principal and 50% of staff, institute a new curriculum
• Restart – close school and restart as a charter or under an educational
management organization
• School Closure – close school and send students to other schools
• Transformation – fire principal, grant new budgeting and scheduling
flexibility, new curriculum, intensive professional development,
community schools model
– A fifth “research based” option will be available to some
Focusing on Teachers and Leaders
• Cuts Title II, Part A formula by $450 million.
• All states would be required to develop a definition
of effective teachers and principals.
• Will require all states to link evaluations of teachers
and principals to student achievement.
• Sets up a federal evaluation criteria:
•At least 3 performance levels
•Uses highly effective definitions
•Meaningful feedback to improve
performance and inform Prof Dev
•Developed in collaboration with
stakeholders
Creating a Better School Climate
• Successful, Safe and Healthy Students
– Competitive grant program to improve school climate by
reducing drug use, violence or harassment
– Focus on student physical health and nutrition, mental
health and well being
– Extensive school climate survey required
• $210 million proposed for Promise Neighborhood
– Based on Harlem Children’s Zone: comprehensive services
to meet needs of the total child
Reauthorization of REAP
• Some changes need to be made to
improve REAP in the coming
reauthorization.
• Specifically, a number of districts are no
longer receiving a financial benefit from
the program despite qualifying.
– Allow districts to choose which program to
apply under.
– Raise the sliding scale from $20,000 $60,000 to $25,000 - $70,000.
• For the Rural & Low-income program,
use free and reduced lunch instead of
census.
• Update Locale codes.
• Support the REAP Reauthorization Act
HR 2446 & S 1052
Secure Rural Counties and Schools
• In late 2008, an omnibus legislative package included a fouryear extension of SRSCA and five years of full funding for PILT
• In Jan. 2010 the National Forest Counties and Schools
Coalition Launched a new legislative initiative, The
Partnership for Rural America Campaign, a two-year
legislative effort to secure long-term reauthorization of
SRSCA, providing 8-10 years of funding at the 2010 level.
• Ongoing campaign includes push for line item request in
administration's FY12 budget proposal
Common Core Standards
• Increased Congressional support for common core (not national)
standards.
– CCSSO and NGA have joined together with 48 states and territories to
develop them.
– Draft standards were released in March and open for comment until April
2nd.
– States may choose to include additional standards beyond the common
core as long as the common core represents at least 85 percent of the
state’s standards in English language arts and mathematics.
• What if Congress requires adoption of common core in order to
receive Title I?
– Still unclear what Congress sees as their role in this.
– Certain competitive grants will give priority to Common Core states
State
Grant Award
MA
$250,000,000
NY
$700,000,000
HI
$75,000,000
FL
$700,000,000
RI
$75,000,000
DC
$75,000,000
MD
$250,000,000
GA
$400,000,000
NC
$400,000,000
OH
$400,000,000
The First Lady’s Obesity Initiative
• First Lady announced large initiative to end
childhood obesity within a generation.
– Schools
– Physical Fitness
– Healthy & Affordable Foods
– Empowering Families with the Right Information
• Pledge to increase number of US Healthy
Schools – A Department of Agriculture
program
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus/index.html
Child Nutrition Act/ School Lunch
• Reauthorization is split into two topics of discussion:
– Nutritional Standards
• Increasing the nutritional content of
school lunch.
• Conversations over the restriction of
sales of types of food on school property.
• Needs to have school sponsored event
exception.
– Programmatic Operation
• Increasing direct certification to include
Medicaid.
• S 1737 to would convert all reduced price
lunches to free lunches over four years.
Child Nutrition Act/ School Lunch
• Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (continued)
– Problem Areas in the Bill
• Mandatory yearly training for all food service personnel
– Absolutely no funding is provided
• All Food Service Directors will have to meet new national education,
training and certification requirements
– Could be a problem for rural schools
• Provisions that have the federal government limiting flexibility in
school district budgeting.
– National calculation of school lunch price
– Competitive food restrictions
– Calculation of indirect rate study
Vouchers
• Senate Armed Services Committee passed the FY2011
National Defense Authorization Act (S 3454), which included
an amendment that would provide $7,500 in government
funds to military families with special needs children to use to
pay for tuition at a private or a different public school.
• Many of the protections touted by proponents of this
amendment are already provided to students under IDEA.
– Current provisions and requirements of IDEA provide better services
for the child. The ultimate goal is providing services, something
guaranteed through IDEA but not the voucher.
• Would reduce Impact Aid for all federally connected schools.
Next Steps: Time for You to Get Involved
• ESEA Reauthorization is on the move. Make sure
your voice is heard!!
– Superintendents and federal program coordinators have a
unique expertise when it come to the ins and outs of
educating children.
• The timeline for action will be quick, even if they
don’t complete it this year. Need to weigh in early
and often.
• ESEA Reauthorization will be high stakes impacting
all education “reform” going forward.
• Take the time to educate your senators and
representatives of the good work being done in
schools to improve student achievement.
Questions?
Noelle Ellerson
Assistant Director, Policy Analysis & Advocacy
American Association of School Administrators
(703) 875-0764
[email protected]