Politics K-12

The Louisiana School Boards Associations thinks it would be fiscally irresponsible for the state to go after a slice of the $4 billion in Race to the Top program grants, according to this Associated Press Story.

The boards are worried that the program will eventually amount to an unfunded mandate, in which districts will be expected to keep up with the new activities financed by the grant even after the infusion of federal cash goes away in two years. (One superintendent I talked to in Colorado for this story had similar concerns).

It's hard to say whether the school boards' concerns are going to undermine the state's bid for Race to the Top. Supposedly, states will be judged on the extent to which they have buy-in from key stakeholders, so this might be a black mark for Louisiana. Of course, who is to say that school boards across the country won't have similar concerns?

Before this happened, Louisiana looked like it had a good shot at a Race to the Top grant. The state is one of the lucky 15 states to get a grant free and clear from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help with their application. (Gates is now extending the offer to all states, but those not originally chosen have to apply). And the New Teacher Project rated Louisiana one of the two most competitive states in the country in the Race to the Top contest, in part because of its record of using student achievement data to drive policy decisions. (Florida is the other state the organization considered most competitive).

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President Obama continues to try to drum up interest and excitement in Race to the Top, using a speech in Wisconsin today to urge the state's lawmakers to remove its student-teacher data firewall and highlight progress other states have made in gearing up for this national reform competition.

Readers of EdWeek or this blog won't see anything really new in his speech. But it was significant that he spent a large chunk of the speech trying to educate people about those four "assurances" in the stimulus law, which are clearly becoming the education reform vision of the Obama administration. The four assurances are improving standards and assessments, teacher quality, data collection, and turning around low-performing schools.

During the speech, Obama seemed to borrow a line from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was in town last week, calling education a new "national mission."

(He also went off script and talked about sixth-grade daughter Malia's grade on a recent science test: a 73. Malia was probably thrilled to have her grade broadcast across the country. He used this to illustrate how his daughter decided to change her study habits so she could learn better. "Part of our job as parents is not to just tell our kids what to do but instilling in them a sense that they want to do it for themselves," he said.)

Although no one, including Obama, is saying when the final Race to the Top regulations will be out, he did declare today that "now the race starts." UPDATE: Obama continued his Race to the Top theme today, even championing the program in his congratulatory call to Virginia's new Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell, a Republican who won in a landslide.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan attended today's Wisconsin speech, hitching a ride on Air Force One, and even getting his own press gaggle. Read the Q-and-A Duncan had with the traveling White House press corps here. (I didn't see anything earth-shattering in this. Note that he says Race to the Top final regulations will be out "soon." And if you read to the end, you'll see that Duncan does have a sense of humor.)

Photo: President Barack Obama walks with Education Secretary Arne Duncan down the steps of Air Force One upon their arrival at Dane County Regional Airport, in Madison, Wis., on Nov. 4. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

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The U.S. Department of Education has taken its Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization tour all the way across the street: to the National Museum of the American Indian, literally across Independence Avenue from department headquarters in Washington.

An event today gave tribal leaders, in town anyway for a White House conference on Native American issues, a chance to share their ideas for renewing ESEA, of which the No Child Left Behind Act is the current version.

As you probably remember, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said recently that the NCLB "Listening and Learning Tour" has reached a new phase. Instead of just touring the country, Ed Department officials are reaching out to specific stakeholders to find out what they think needs to be in the new version of the law. Two assistant secretaries, Carmel Martin (planning, evaluation, and policy development) and Thelma Melendez (elementary and secondary education), spoke at the event, but they kept their comments brief and mostly listened.

The Native American tribal leaders brought up some of the criticisms that often get tossed around about the NCLB law: too much testing, not enough time for kids to be creative. But they also had some other concerns, including the need for teachers who are either Native American themselves or trained to work with this special population. And they said Native American kids need to be schooled in their own culture, heritage and language, not just in reading and math.

The need to ramp up social services as part of school improvement often comes up in conversations about NCLB, but it was particularly important here. Drug and alcohol problems are rampant on many reservations, some tribal leaders said, and many parents don't have the time to become involved in their children's education. That's why early childhood education, enrichment, parent involvement, and after-school programs are particularly important for Native American kids.

Some tribes said they were interested in applying for a slice of $4 billion in grants from the Race to the Top Fund, which was created under the economic-stimulus program to reward states that make progress on teacher distribution, academic standards, data systems, and other areas. Right now, those grants are only slated to go to states. It isn't clear yet whether tribes, whose schools are sometimes operated by the U.S. Department of the Interior and are regarded as separate nations, would be able to apply for a grant on their own.

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By guest blogger Erik Robelen:

We've got a more complete picture this morning from yesterday's elections, especially concerning ballot measures of interest to the education community. For starters, those looking to protect, and perhaps increase, contributions to school coffers got some good news in Maine, Ohio, and Washington state.

Voters in Maine rejected a version of the so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights that was designed to constrain the growth of state and local spending. And in Washington state, a similar measure appeared headed to defeat, according to the Seattle Times. Opponents, including teachers' unions, argued that the TABOR initiatives would lead to cuts in public aid to education and other vital government services.

In Ohio, voters approved a measure that clears the way for the operation of gambling casinos for the first time, with a portion of the tax revenues set aside for school districts statewide.

Meanwhile, Mainers rejected an effort to repeal a 2007 law mandating the consolidation of many small, rural school districts. And, as I reported recently, education became a factor in the heated dispute over the state's same-sex marriage law, which voters have opted to repeal. Critics of the law had put out television ads suggesting it would lead to the widespread teaching of gay marriage in schools, an effect the law's supporters strongly disputed.

Meanwhile, political analysts were mulling the significance of the Republican victories in the governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey. And The New York Times had an interesting analysis of the relatively narrow victory margin for New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The piece suggests that the mayor, who has authority over the city school system, will see his political influence diminish in his third term. It will certainly be interesting to see what that might mean for his education agenda.

In a high-profile special election in New York state, Democrat Bill Owens, with some help from the state teachers' union, defeated Conservative Party candidate Douglas Hoffman to join the U.S. Congress. The New York State United Teachers had initially backed Dierdre Scozzafava, a moderate Republican, but switched its support to Mr. Owens after she bowed out of the race days before the election. Leading national conservatives, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, had recently campaigned on behalf of Hoffman in the race.

In his victory speech last night, Owens emphasized several issues—improving the economy and creating good jobs, protecting dairy farmers, health-care reform, and protecting a local Army base—but notably absent was education. His Web site makes no mention of K-12 education that I could find, though he does call for job training and vowed that in Congress he would seek "increased funding for higher education." It's funny, though. I thought it had become boiler plate for pretty much all candidates, especially Democrats, to have "education" as one of their basic issues, but Owens bundled this under the category "jobs" on his Web site.

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By guest blogger Erik Robelen:

Two big-city mayors with control of their school systems won re-election tonight, as voters in New York City handed Michael R. Bloomberg, an Independent, a third term in office and Bostonians gave Democrat Thomas M. Menino a fifth term. Education figured prominently in both campaigns.

In New Jersey, meanwhile, where incumbent Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat, was running in part on his education record, voters instead opted for a change. They handed the keys to the governor's mansion over to Republican Christopher J. Christie, a former U.S. attorney whose education agenda emphasized school choice.

School matters were largely overshadowed by other issues, especially taxes and transportation, in the closely watched Virginia governor's race, in which Republican Robert F. McDonnell won handily. And yet, while leading Republicans and some pundits suggest the GOP victory in Virginia is a repudiation of President Barack Obama's political agenda, it's worth noting that some core elements of McDonnell's education platform bear a striking resemblance to top Obama priorities. Both have emphasized calls for teacher performance pay and expanding the charter schools sector.

At press time, there was no final word yet on several ballot measures in various states with implications for schools: a Maine measure to repeal a 2007 law on school district consolidation; initiatives in both Maine and Washington state that would rein in state and local spending; and an Ohio plan that would allow casino gambling, with a portion of the tax revenue reserved for school districts. Also in Maine, voters were deciding whether to repeal the state's new law allowing same-sex marriages, which some had suggested could lead to the teaching of gay marriage in schools.

The Associated Press also reported that Detroit voters approved a bond referendum to fund an ambitious $500 million building plan for the city's public schools.

I wrote an election preview recently for Education Week that takes a closer look at how education was shaping up in the 2009 campaigns.

The performance of New York City's public schools was a central issue in the mayoral contest between Bloomberg and Thompson, the city's comptroller and the former president of the city board of education.

Bloomberg pledged in his campaign to double the number of charter schools in the city and to spend an additional $50 million over the next four years to help reach his goal of graduating 120,000 New Yorkers from community colleges by 2020.

Education also played a key role in the Boston mayoral contest, with city councilman Michael F. Flaherty Jr. attacking Mayor Menino's stewardship of the city school system and the city's lack of progress in stemming the high school dropout rate.

Menino, a Democrat who for years had opposed charter schools, shifted his stance earlier this year, saying he now supports converting some of Boston's low-performing schools into charters.

Even though education didn't draw nearly as much attention in the Virginia governor's race, McDonnell, the winner, has outlined ideas for more charter schools and performance pay, as well as other items.

His campaign Web site says: "Bob will be focused on supporting parents and students, equipping principals with the tools they need, rewarding excellent teachers and principals with performance pay, improving financial accountability, getting more resources into the classroom, and making charter schools more accessible for Virginia's children."

In a high-profile congressional election in upstate New York, education has played little if any discernible role, though the New York State United Teachers, which apparently has some 25,000 members in that district, ended up shifting its support to Democrat Bill Owens after Republican Dede Scozzafava dropped out just days before the election.

I scanned the Web sites of both Owens and his remaining opponent, Conservative Party candidate Douglas Hoffman, but could find no mention of plans for K-12 education. The closest I could come up with for Hoffman--who has drawn support from leading national conservatives, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin--was a rather Reaganesque item on the Conservative Party of New York State's Web site suggesting the U.S. Department of Education should be eliminated.

Under a section titled "national issues," the education statement says: "Attempts to nationalize our nation's educational system are setting a dangerous precedent and should come to an end. ... The first step in reducing Washington's role in education should be the abolition of the federal Department of Education."

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Barack Obama will stop in Wisconsin tomorrow--one year and one day after being elected to the presidency--in advance of a key vote expected Thursday in the state legislature that could put Wisconsin in a better position to compete for the Race to the Top Fund.

Obama will cheer on the legislature as it considers a proposal to lift the ban on using student test scores for teacher evaluations, which would lift the so-called "data firewall" that stands between any state and being eligible for a slice of $4 billion in Race to the Top grants.

In a conference call today, White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes said the Obama Administration is taking direct credit for spurring education-reform moves in several states--including similar data firewall actions in California and Indiana, and efforts to improve the charter school climates in Illinois, Louisiana, Tennessee, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Ohio and Rhode Island.

Obama is expected to praise states for taking these steps, and encourage Wisconsin to follow along. Barnes did not mention anything about legislation in the Wisconsin legislature to allow the mayor of Milwaukee to take over the city's schools. That's something Obama's Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, champions.

If you'll remember from the draft regulations on Race to the Top, while not having a data firewall is a must for Race to the Top, a state's charter school environment is just part of the larger overall criteria by which states will be judged.

However, any of this could change as the U.S. Department of Education continues to make changes after receiving a slew of comments.

Barnes wouldn't even give us a hint as to what changes are coming for Race to the Top. And as to when we might see final regulations, applications, and how the criteria will be weighted, she said the administration isn't at a "final, final" place yet.

So stay tuned here for final, final regulations.

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From guest blogger Catherine Gewertz:

About a month ago, the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general's office issued a memorandum that used Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts as examples of how states may be violating the spirit—if not the letter—of the law on using State Fiscal Stabilization Fund money. The states cried foul, noting that their plans for spending the money had been duly approved by the department, and that they had done nothing wrong. (See our story.)

Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville wrote to the Ed Department, expressing concern that the memo seemed to suggest that his state had violated the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's maintenance-of-effort provision. He also said he was concerned that it could harm the state's chances of getting money from the stimulus program's Race to the Top Fund.

Deputy Secretary Anthony W. Miller wrote back to Reville this week, saying that the department knows of no evidence, and "does not claim," that Massachusetts violated the ARRA. He also said that while federal officials "might consider" a state's reduction in education funding when considering its Race to the Top application, its chances of getting that money wouldn't necessarily be affected. Besides, he said, it doesn't seem that Massachusetts reduced the proportion of total state revenue it spends on education from one year to the next.

"Although we have taken steps to discourage States from reducing education funding, we fully recognize that SFSF funds are intended to help stabilize State and local budgets in order to minimize and avoid reductions in education and other essential services and that, under the current economic climate, States are forced to make difficult budgetary decisions and choices on the extent of State support for education and other vital public services," Miller wrote.

(Hey, that sounds a lot like what the three states said when they were named in the IG's memo.)

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The U.S. Department of Education released its own report today further breaking down the jobs data from the economic-stimulus package. The White House then hosted a conference call with Education Secretary Arne Duncan to further trumpet the estimated 640,239 jobs that have been saved, 325,000 of which were education jobs.

What's telling is that in the Department's own report, they relied on media reports and accounts from the Council of the Great City Schools to illustrate examples of how federal stimulus money is being spent. And that's because, despite the Obama administration's efforts to make economic-stimulus spending as transparent as possible, the first quarterly stimulus reports filed by states and other stimulus recipients don't go into very much detail about how the money was actually spent.

Part of the problem is a one-size-fits-all approach to reporting, and a need to make sure the reporting isn't overly burdensome. States and recipients fill in the same blanks on a form whether they're reporting on road projects, or school spending. So the level of specificity varies widely in these first reports.

For example, on the vague end of the spectrum is Alaska. The state reported that 91 jobs have been created so far from the education portion of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. They describe those jobs as "teaching and support staff." On the more specific end is Delaware, which reported 205 jobs saved or created, broken down as follows: 7 administrative, 4 guidance, 4 secretaries, 29 paraprofessionals, 3 substitutes, 2 technical support, 1 nurse and 155 teachers.

One additional flaw of the data is we don't know if these are new hires, jobs that were saved, or a combination of both (and if so, then what the mixture is). Also, some of this information can only be gleaned by wading through highly technical Excel spreadsheets from the Recovery.gov "download center." Much of the reporting consisted of filling in blanks with various codes and ID numbers.

Also, it's important to note that when you hear about "education" jobs, they aren't necessarily K-12 teachers. California, for example, reported that education stimulus funds saved about 62,000 education jobs in the state. The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund paid for 53,390.5 of those education-related jobs. But of those SFSF jobs, only about 18,000 are for K-12 education, the state reported, with the rest for higher education.

What's more, what's good news now may be bad news later. If roughly 325,000 education jobs have been saved by stimulus money, what happens when that funding goes away? Will roughly 300,000 education jobs be in danger of being cut? I asked Duncan that during a media call today, and he refused to be Dr. Doom.

"I don't think this is a prediction of where we are going to be," he said. "We simply don't know where we're going to be."

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UPDATE: The wait for the first stimulus reports is over. Recovery.gov now has an updated interactive map, plenty of statistics and charts, and spreadsheets available for download. You could spend hours clicking on the dots on the interactive maps, trying to make sense of it all--and if you do see anything noteworthy, please leave a comment. I'll be digging through this data for a story next week, so check back here for updates. In the meantime, catch up on what VP Joe Biden had to say about the stimulus package in my earlier post below.

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While we're waiting for the first quarterly stimulus spending reports to be posted online later today, we'll have to take Vice President Joe Biden's word for how successful the program's been.

In a press conference today, Biden said 640,239 jobs have been created or saved as a direct result of the economic-stimulus package. Of those, 325,000 were jobs in education. The spending reports, which are supposed to be online sometime between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., will detail not just information about jobs saved, but also how states spent the first dollars of the stimulus package.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who appeared with Biden, said California has used the $7.1 billion in education stimulus funds it's received so far to save 62,000 education-related jobs. That's more than half of the 100,000 jobs in all sectors that the stimulus package has saved in California, according to the governor. (In total, the state has gotten $12.5 billion of its $50 billion in stimulus money so far.)

"Those teachers would have been gone if it hadn't been for the stimulus money," the Republican governor said.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's numbers weren't nearly as impressive (given how small Maryland is compared to California.) The Democratic governor, who also appeared with Biden, said the stimulus has saved 14,000 jobs so far in that state. He didn't spell out how many of those were education jobs.

UPDATE: Also worth noting is that union leaders--including the AFT's Randi Weingarten and the NEA's Dennis Van Roekel--were in attendance. In fact, NEA member Richard Bigelow, a teacher at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Orlando, Fla., got a starring role in the video the White House showed before the press conference began. You can watch the video, which is, predictably, a rah-rah stimulus montage:

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Tomorrow, the public will get its first look at how states, school districts, and other recipients of federal stimulus funding have spent the first dollars from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act . The first quarterly spending reports will be posted on Recovery.gov sometime in the morning.

As you peruse the reports, would you email me or leave a comment if you see anything noteworthy? We'll be combing through them trying to figure out what it all means.

Already, news reports are calling into question just how accurate the reporting will be, particularly when it comes to estimating the number of jobs saved or created because of the stimulus package. This is particularly important for education, because the data already shows that teaching jobs are some of the biggest beneficiaries.

The White House tried to get out in front of the news, declaring earlier this month, before the reports were made public, that the stimulus saved 250,000 education jobs so far. But local media reports, including one in The Indianapolis Star, described how misleading those numbers could be. Yesterday, the Associated Press did an in-depth examination of the jobs reported in the first data that was released, from contractors who received federal stimulus money—and declared that the number of jobs saved was overstated by thousands. The White House, which clearly has a dog in this hunt, quickly fired back and slammed the story, providing a fact-check of its own.

Given how politically charged these jobs numbers are, the reports out tomorrow will be heavily scrutinized by all sides. Although the feds tried to give hard-and-fast rules on how to count the number of jobs saved or created, people in different states and agencies had to use their own interpretation in applying the rules. And so there's plenty of room for error.

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