February 2009 Archives

We're still fielding your stimulus questions. Check out Round 1, Round 2, and Round 3.

1. There's money for "school improvement" that the National Education Association is breaking down to show how much will go to each state. What can that money be used for?

The school improvement money is part of a program originally authorized under the No Child Left Behind Act that’s meant to help states revamp schools that are struggling to meet the goals of the law. Like Title I and IDEA, it’s a formula-program, so everyone gets a piece. In doling out the money, states are supposed to give priority to districts that have the greatest need and a commitment to closing the achievement gap. The program received $3 billion in the stimulus package, and it’s slated to get over $500 million under the fiscal year 2009 spending bill being considered in Congress. That’s a whole lot of cash, considering that the program wasn’t funded at all until fiscal year 2007. In fiscal year 2008, it got just $491 million total.

2. Where can non-profit organizations get more information with regard to the following funds referenced online by Rep. Miller: "At the urging of Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, the [stimulus package] sets aside $650 million for school districts or districts in partnership with nonprofit groups. This could include charter schools or other programs with a track record of boosting achievement."

This goes back to that $650 million fund Michele wrote about here. It’s important to note that the non-profits that receive these funds must partner one or more districts and schools. It seems that Duncan and his team want to focus on efforts that can be researched and "scaled up." As to which non-profits exactly are eligible…that’s a question that the education secretary may answer when he releases guidance on how to apply for the fund.

3. Many school districts have cut transportation in an effort to keep the cuts away from the classroom. Can stimulus money be used to restore (backfill) transportation cuts?

That's a great question, and one that an advocate for local districts who I spoke to extensively about the stimulus outlined as an area of concern. It's my understanding that transportation is not an allowable use of the state stabilization funds because it isn't authorized under any of the federal education laws that are supposed to govern state stabilization dollars, which I wrote about here.

4. Has the department put out any more detailed information on how much money each state is getting, or how exactly the process will work?

The department now has its own "recovery" web page and just today we checked and found information detailing how much money each state will get from the stabilization fund. Title I and IDEA estimates, which have been up for awhile here. We’re still awaiting word on when official guidance will be available for states and school districts.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 10:32 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

We got lots of proposals, but very few hard numbers, from the Office of Management and Budget today on President Obama's education proposals.

Reporters in an afternoon call-in briefing pressed U.S. Department of Education officials on whether future budgets will make room for the increases to K-12 programs, including Title I and special education, that are in the economic stimulus just passed by Congress.

The budget documents say the Department of Education would get $46.7 billion in fiscal year 2010, which seems low compared to the $59.2 the department got in fiscal year 2008. But the reason for that apparent drop is that the money for the Pell Grant program for college students was shifted from the discretionary part of the budget to the mandatory side.

The budget projects that the department would get $53.6 billion in fiscal year 2011, the first year no longer covered by the stimulus money. It's unclear whether the stimulus-funded increases for Title I and special education would be preserved.

Department folks stressed that we wouldn't get the official numbers till April.

“In 2010 there’s not a lot of room," one budget official said. "What have you done for me lately? [K-12] just got a lot of money in the [stimulus package].”

In addition to all the higher education news we already blogged about, President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2010 budget seems to have some big changes in the works for prekindergarten programs.

It looks like the budget would preserve a boosted budget for Head Start, which got a $2 billion bump in the stimulus. And the administration is working on a new early-education initiative aimed at helping states improve the quality and coordination of their prekindergarten programs, an idea that President Obama hit hard on the campaign trail last year. No details yet on whether that would be located in the Department of Education or in Head Start, which is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. There would also be mandatory funding to expand home visits by nurses for at-risk children.

There's a proposal to fund a Promise Neighborhood program, which would be modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone. The program aims to boost college-going rates by combining K-12 education programs with a network of support services, including early childhood education, after-school activities and college counseling. No word on just how many cities would get access to the money; aides said those details are still being worked out.

There's also language stating that the budget would provide funds for education research to help scale up promising programs. And the budget documents indicate that the Obama administration is going to "get started" on its plan to double spending on charter schools. Again, no numbers. The budget documents say the administration will close charter schools that aren't performing well.

There's also a $1 billion annual increase for child nutrition program reforms, which is supposed to improve the nutritional quality of school meals, and new money to expand service learning programs.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The fiscal year 2010 budget proposal being released today by President Barack Obama would seek to eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program by 2010. The program subsidizes private lenders who make government-backed college loans. Its elimination would be a huge change, the equivalent of a nuclear bomb going off in the higher education loan world.

I'm guessing that the new administration is hoping the federal government's direct lending program, in which students borrow from the U.S. Treasury, rather than allowing subsidized lenders to do the job, will step up to take its place. After 2010, all loans would originate through that program.

UPDATE: In another big bombshell, the budget would seek to make the Pell Grant program mandatory, which would mean that it wouldn't be subject to the whims of the appropriations process. This is just about the best thing that can happen to any federal program. School districts have been trying to get mandatory funding for special education for decades, with no success.

The subsidized loan program came under fire recently because of mismanagement and conflict of interest problems.

President Barack Obama did not highlight the major loan change in a press conference today at which he announced his budget outline. But he did say that his fiscal 2010 budget would build on the investments in the recently passed economic stimulus law, in terms of education.

This budget supports the historic investment in education we made as part of the recovery plan by matching new resources with new reform. We want to create incentives for better teacher performance and pathways for advancement. We want to reward success in the classroom. And we'll invest in innovative initiatives that will help schools meet high standards and close achievement gaps, preparing students for the high-paying jobs of tomorrow -- but also helping them fulfill their God-given potential.

Obama's top budget aide, Peter Orszag, said in a briefing today that the budget would build on the investments in early education in the stimulus. Read a three-page summary of the education budget proposals here. You'll see there's also a new $2.5 billion program to support innovative state efforts to help low-income students complete college.

And he mentioned that the fiscal 2010 budget would eliminate an ineffective mentoring program in the U.S. Department of Education. Wonder where else Obama used his scalpel?

Posted by Alyson Klein at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Team Stimulus told state chiefs today that they can expect the first set of stimulus money to become available within 30 to 45 days, and that formal guidance from the department—the nitty gritty details on how all of this is going to work—will be out next week.

That was the gist of today's Q-and-A meeting at the White House with Duncan (who was joined at the end by Vice President Joe Biden) and state chiefs. Thirty-six of them made the trip in, while three states sent designees. Education chiefs from the U.S. territories, including Northern Mariana Islands, also had a strong showing.

Disclaimer: Select members of the press (including yours truly) were allowed into the meeting only to hear closing remarks. But we were allowed to ask questions afterward of the meeting's attendees.

Based on who was sitting nearest to Duncan at the meeting and who he singled out as his helpers, it's becoming clearer who's actually making the important decisions on how the stimulus money will be administered. In addition to Duncan, the strategic apex of Team Stimulus seems to be: adviser Jon Schnur, Chief Operating Officer Tony Miller, special assistant Ann Whalen, senior counselor Margot Rogers, and assistant secretary on policy Carmel Martin. UPDATE: I forgot to include senior adviser Mike Smith in the list.

It's likely that the first set of money available will be formula dollars—such as part of the $13 billion that will flow through Title I. Since formulas for disbursing the money already exist, that's an easy place to start.

The message Duncan and Biden conveyed is that a lot is expected from chiefs, and their schools, in exchange for this money.

"We're going to have a much higher bar than other folks [receiving stimulus money]," Duncan told the chiefs. "We need to create jobs, and we need to get dramatically better."

Biden pledged the administration's continued support—so long as all of this money translates into results.

"This is going to be an education administration," Biden said. "But we want to begin to change the script, demand more of everyone. We expect a hell of a lot more."

But how will the administration demand—not just ask for—more from schools? Especially when much of the $115 billion or so in K-12 education aid is flowing to states and districts with little or no strings?

I posed that question to Duncan, who was so on-message about needing to get "dramatically better" that he didn't explain how he would actually demand that.

The closest he got was in saying this: "Line-by-line we’re going to do everything we can to ask states to demonstrate to us what is going to change for students so we can dramatically close the achievement gap, so we can increase our high school graduation rates and ultimately our college graduation rates."

Note that he said "ask states," and not "demand."

Posted by Michele McNeil at 7:12 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

The House of Representatives just passed the $410 billion fiscal year 2009 omnibus spending bill, which eliminates the Reading First program and provides boosts for other education programs that would seem modest, but really aren't when you add in the dizzying figures in the economic stimulus package, which covers fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

The omnibus bill was approved on a vote of 245-178. Democratic leaders have been sitting on this bill for months, waiting for a Democratic president to sign it.

The measure includes:

- $11.5 billion for special education.

- $15 billion for Title I, which includes $648 million for school improvement.

- $97 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund.

- $7.1 billion for Head Start.

- $1.1 billion for after-school programs.

Rep. John A. Boehner, the Ohio Republican, House Minority Leader and former chairman of the House education committee, railed against language in the bill that he said makes it clear that this is the last year Congress will provide funding for the D.C. Scholarship and Opportunity Program. He called that provision "hideous" and said it was done in secret.

And Republican members lambasted the earmarks in the bill.

Democrats had bragged that the stimulus was earmark-free, but that's not the case with the omnibus measure.For instance, after Congress just had a big fight over whether the federal government should be paying for school facilities, the bill directs $1.5 million in funds from the Education for Native Hawaiians program to be used for modernization, construction, and repair of schools that primarily serve native Hawaiian kids.

One of the most influential lawmakers in the appropriations process is Sen. Daniel Inouye, who just happens to come from Hawaii.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

From guest blogger Erik Robelen:

His office may be smaller, but Marshall (Mike) S. Smith, a veteran education official from the Clinton era, is back at 400 Maryland Ave. in downtown Washington. As of last month, Smith has returned to the Education Department's headquarters as a senior adviser to Secretary Arne Duncan.

“I’m working with a team on the implementation of the stimulus package, which is a big part of my time, and other duties as requested by the secretary,” said Smith, who served as both the undersecretary and acting deputy secretary at the federal agency for seven years during the Clinton administration.

Smith, 71, said he expects to stay in his new position, which does not require congressional approval, for a year or two.

Many key slots at the Education Department remain unfilled, including the deputy secretary position.

And with a federal stimulus package to contend with, which includes some $115 billion in aid to public education, the Education Department under President Obama has had to hit the ground running.

“The mix of things we have to deal with now is far greater than in the first days of the Clinton era,” Smith said.

The former Education Department official joins an administration already loaded with plenty of former Clintonites.

“It’s just the natural way of the world,” he said. “These are people who know the workings of government.”

In his case, Secretary Duncan asked him to come on board, Smith said.“That always helps in making decisions.”

Since stepping down from the department in 2000, Smith has spent most of his time as the education program director (and more recently a senior adviser) at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, based in Menlo Park, Calif. His official last day at the foundation was Jan. 21.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Barack Obama is putting his mouth where his money is.

After leading the charge for a $787 billion stimulus package that includes a mind-boggling $115 billion in education aid, Barack Obama tonight put education reform on the national stage like it never was during the campaign. He used his first Congressional address -- a State of the Union of sorts -- to pledge to curb dropout rates, increase college-going rates, and fund programs that close the achievement gap and improve teacher performance.

It was as if education was a huge campaign issue! (Which it wasn't....)

Though much of his education rhetoric wasn't new, it showed where his priorities rest. In Obama's trio of critical issues that will shape our economic future, the president listed energy, health care...and education.

He reiterated his call that $100 billion in stimulus money for education must come with reform. He renewed his call for expanding the federal committment to charter schools. He bemoaned the too-high high school dropout rates: "This is a prescription for economic decline, because we know the countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow."

He also hit on the tenet of personal responsibility and urged everyone to commit to an extra year of college or career training, even implying that dropping out of school was unAmerican. "And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country – and this country needs and values the talents of every American."

So he set a new goal--that by 2020, the United States will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. (It will be interesting to see how this unfolds, because a new $2,500 tax credit for college tuition that's in the stimulus package isn't likely to get us there all by itself.)

He also touted the stimulus package for providing "...the resources necessary to prevent painful cuts and teacher layoffs that would set back our children’s progress." (Except it's likely that many states, such as California and Florida, will still see teacher layoffs and program cuts even with the stimulus.)

As for his budget, which he'll unveil in the next few days Obama pledged: "...we will end education programs that don’t work..." We already know that Reading First and the D.C. voucher program are on the chopping block, but Obama is putting everyone on notice that he'll make good on his promise to use a scapel to cut out ineffective programs.

Tomorrow, the administration comes to get right to work on pumping out stimulus money. Vice President Joe Biden (who's now heading up the implementation of the stimulus package) will be joined by education secretary Arne Duncan in a meeting with state schools chiefs from around the country.

But back to tonight, Obama also honored several people during the speech. Getting a special guest-of-honor ringside speech, according to the White House, were five students. Three were high school students from Washington D.C. public schools who are planning to go to college, another is a Howard University communications student, and the fifth is an eighth grader from Dillon, South Carolina, whose school -- Martin Junior High School -- struck a chord with Obama. He visited the school, part of the I-95 "Corridor of Shame" during a 2007 campaign stop and talked about the school in a press conference earlier this month touting the value of stimulus dollars.

According to the White House, after Ty'Sheoma Bethea heard Obama mention her school earlier this month, she walked to the public library after school to gain access to a computer to compose a poignant letter to Congress asking for help.

Obama said: "She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, 'We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.'"

UPDATE: For another Republican reaction to the speech, read Flypaper's disappointed-dad commentary.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 11:46 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

Here's the third installment of answers to your stimulus questions. Check out Round 1 and Round 2.

How will the stimulus package address funds for Title IV (Safe and Drug-free Schools?)
Unlike Title I grants for disadvantaged students and money for special education, there isn’t a specific line item in the bill that covers Safe and Drug Free schools. But the short answers is that there might be some money in the bill for the program if districts have it left over and want to use it that way.

The longer answer: As you’ve probably heard, the bill includes $54 billion for a state stabilization fund that must first be used to “backfill” any cuts the state has already made in education. But, once those cuts are taken care of, the rest of the money in the fund flows to districts through the Title I formula. Districts are allowed to use it for any activity authorized under four different federal education laws, including the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Adult and Family Literacy Act, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. They can also use it for modernization, renovation, or repair of public school facilities.

ESEA governs the safe and drug free schools program, which means those excess state stabilization dollars can go to that program. But districts would have to deem it a higher priority than any of the other possible uses. It doesn’t get its own dedicated pot of money.

Will the stimulus package offer any additional funding specifically for the Even Start Family Literacy Program (Title I, Part B)? Additionally, will the package include any additional funding for adult literacy and/or parenting education?

This goes along with the previous question. As with Safe and Drug Free Schools, there isn’t a separate pot of money in the stimulus for Even Start, but, since it’s authorized under ESEA, districts can use a portion of their leftover money from the state stabilization fund for Even Start activities. That money can also be used for adult literacy programs authorized under the Adult and Family Literacy Act, as outlined above.

Are there funds to support school modernization and construction in the stimulus bill?

Great question, since this was a bone of contention as the bill was being crafted. And it goes back, yet again, to those state stabilization dollars that aren’t being used to backfill state cuts. Within that $54 billion fund, the $39.5 billion slated for districts can be used for a host of education-related programs outlined above, including school modernization and repair. And within the state stabilization fund, there is also $8.8 billion that goes to governors. They can use it for pressing needs, such as public safety, but can also direct it to education, including school modernization.

Why do I keep saying “modernization” instead of construction? It’s important to note that new school construction is not supposed to be a paid for using stimulus dollars, but the money can be used for modernization, renovation, and repair.

In AZ full day kindergarten was cut. Will the stimulus help offer that again?

The state stabilization money is supposed to be used first to backfill any cuts made to education. If Arizona gets enough money from the federal government to make up for all the cuts it has already made, the program may be restored.

I’m not sure if the stimulus money will make Arizona whole. It may not, according to this story. By my calculations, using estimates posted here, it looks like the state is getting about $1.43 billion total in education money for fiscal year 2009. That includes nearly a billion from the state stabilization fund, which is meant to backfill cuts. And I read in this story that The Grand Canyon State faces a total deficit of $1.6 billion this year.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 9:05 AM | Permalink | 7 Comments | Recommend

After all the excitement with the stimulus, I'll bet you've totally forgotten about that other fiscal year 2009 spending bill...you know, the regular, old budget bill for the fiscal year that started way back on Oct. 1, 2008.

Usually, Congress passes its spending bills sometime in the fall. But this year Democratic leaders in Congress said they were going to sit on most spending bills until they got someone in the White House who might be more disposed to funding their priorities, including education. They didn't want to have to go through another veto showdown with President Bush, who would have had final say on the bill if it had passed in the fall. So they extended funding for most programs at fiscal year 2008 levels until March.

Well, now that President Barack Obama is in the White House, Congress is going ahead with that long-stalled measure. In fact, it will be on the floor of House, and possibly the Senate, this week.

The House Appropriations Committee just released a not-too-detailed summary.

Here are the highlights:

- Reading First is still out. In fact, the summary takes yet another swat at the controversial program, saying it has been plagued with conflicts of interest and cronyism. And it cites this study, which they say concludes that the program hasn't helped much with comprehension.

- Title I would be boosted by $648 million to $15 billion total, not counting the stimulus money. Compared to the dizzying numbers in the stimulus that increase sounds like a rounding error.

- The bill would also provide a $235 million hike for Head Start, bringing it to $7.1 billion, not counting the stimulus increase, which was $2.1 billion over two years split between Head Start and Early Head Start.

And, for your background, here are our stories on the House and Senate Appropriations panels markups of this bill from over the summer.

UPDATED: Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon of California, the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, isn't happy about the committee's decision to eliminate Reading First, or language he says signals that this will be the last year for the D.C. Scholarship and Opportunity Program. He called the moves "a partisan powerplay." Here's what McKeon said in a statement released today:

Democrats have crafted another massive federal spending package in secret, this time advancing their partisan agenda at the expense of some of the poorest children in some of the most troubled schools in the country. Even as they plan to spend nearly half a trillion in taxpayer dollars, the majority is undermining critical education initiatives that help disadvantaged children.

Will such opposition derail the bill in the House? Probably not, the Democrats have too big of a majority for that. But expect to hear similar arguments repeated during floor debate this week.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 4:44 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The U.S. Department of Education is supposed to release guidance as soon as this week on how states and districts can tap and use the $100 billion in education funding in the stimulus.

But while you're waiting for the official word, check out this memo sent to Secretary Arne Duncan by Democrats for Education Reform, a political action committee, which also released a Wish List of Obama Appointees for Top Education Jobs.

As you might expect, the recommendations are pretty wonky, but they give a good indication of how the school reform crowd might want the feds to use the stimulus dollars to leverage change.

For instance, the group suggests that the Department be pretty strict in deciding which states get those Race to the Top grants. States that get those funds should be "going above and beyond" on making progress on the "assurances" spelled out in the law, they say.

And they say that states that get school improvement money available under the stimulus should show that they are providing "meaningful" transfer options as required under No Child Left Behind.

They also have some strong recommendations requiring that states give charter schools equal access to any funds used for modernization, repair, and renovation, and for using the school improvement funds provided under the bill to get states to jettison, or at least significantly overhaul, any caps on the number of charter schools.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 3:46 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

Here's our second installment of answers to your stimulus questions. Read Round 1 here.

1. How will teacher salary be linked to student academic performance under this package? How will this impact "highly qualified" teacher criteria?

There's no explicit language in the stimulus package linking salary to student performance. However, the stimulus does provide an additional $200 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund under the U.S. Department of Education. This now-larger pot of money will be used, as it was before, to fund pay-for-performance programs in school districts. Read more about the program here. As to the second part of your question, one of the "assurances" that governors have to make to receive their chunk of the state stabilization money is to take steps to address equitable distribution of “highly qualified,” experienced, and in-field teachers across all schools, including in very poor schools. This has been a provision under the No Child Left Behind Act that hasn't been very well enforced, so it will be interesting to see what education secretary Arne Duncan does about this. I did ask Duncan specifically about the equitable teacher distribution provision during C-SPAN's Newsmakers show, and he seemed more inclined toward incentives than enforcement. Finally, the equitable-distribution requirement also asks states to “improve teacher effectiveness.” Although there are no details on how states should address teacher effectiveness; this is potentially a new direction for the federal government, which has not referenced the issue before. (Thanks to my colleague Stephen Sawchuk, who blogs over at Teacher Beat.)

2. My school district, like many, is interested in getting training in some continuous improvement initiatives to help advance student performance and hold down costs. The problem, of course, is getting the money for the training. The question is, will the new stimulus package provide monies for grants for schools to get innovative training to better their operations? If so, who would we contact, what would that type of grant be called, what is the range of the grant award, and when will it be available?

Your question illustrates that there will be a lot of money out there that can be used for a lot of different things. Ultimately, once the money trickles down to the district level, school districts will have a lot of discretion to decide how to spend the money. Some may choose to hire or re-hire teachers, some may purchase technology, or others may do the kind of professional development you're talking about. More specifically, your district may be able to tap the new Innovation Fund, which I explained more in depth here, in Questions 2 and 3.

3. Title II is referenced in the "School Improvement Programs" section. I would appreciate any explanation.

This part of the stimulus bill sets aside $650 million for Title II D, which is the EdTech program that helps districts train teachers on technology. The money will be distributed through the existing formula, which uses Title I to distribute grants to states, which then must distribute at least 95 percent of it to local districts. Please note that this is not the $3 billion teacher quality formula state grant program.

4. How much will go to keeping jobs (since it is stimulus) and how much will go toward No Child Left Behind?

I'm guessing you're talking about education-related jobs, such as teachers. It's really difficult to separate the two since teachers, administrators and instructional staff all are working to meet the goals and requirements under NCLB. Even though there are set formulas that determine how much of the money will go to states, and how the money will be distributed to districts, the districts will ultimately have a lot of discretion in determining how they spend their money. A lot of districts facing tough budget cuts will probably decide to re-hire teachers, but I've also heard from several districts that since this is one-time money, they might decide to use it on a one-time expense (such as buying computers.) After all, hiring or re-hiring a teacher is a long-term investment.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 12:00 PM | Permalink | 4 Comments | Recommend

Politics K-12's own Michele McNeil will be on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program this weekend interviewing Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, along with the Associated Press' Libby Quaid. (Quaid along with Edweek's Steve Sawchuk and Dakarai Aarons, landed a coveted spot on Alexander Russo's Hot For Education list).

Michele asked Duncan when the department would be sending out the stimulus checks to states and school districts (probably the number one question on school officials' minds). Duncan said districts would be receiving their money and guidance as soon as possible.

And Michele pressed him on whether the Department could enforce the teacher effectiveness and distribution requirements in No Child Left Behind law and that are a condition of states receiving stimulus funding. He said it wasn't an issue of enforceability....does that mean no?

Secretary Duncan told Michele and Libby that he'll be trying to come up with a new name for the No Child Left Behind Act. (He should look here for suggestions).

You can check out the program on Sunday at 6 p.m.

UPDATED: Check out Duncan's very on-message answers here.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 10:51 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

Yesterday, we invited your questions on the stimulus and have gotten dozens. So thank you! And keep them coming...we're going to try to get to all of them within the next several days or so. Here's our first round of answers:

1. How much will my state/district/school be getting from the stimulus?
There are two places to look for this--but please keep in mind these are just estimates. The House Education and Labor Committee has posted estimates by state and district here. These estimates are particularly useful because they break down allocations by program—such as Title I, IDEA, education technology, etc. The education department also has estimates up for Title I and IDEA, which vary slightly from the Congressional estimates. Find those here.

2. What are the specifics on the innovation fund? (It's being lumped in with the incentive funds in a lot of stimulus coverage).
The innovation fund is part of the $5 billion from the state stabilization fund that will go to the education department and Secretary Arne Duncan, who will award incentive and innovation grants. The innovation fund is worth $650 million. The recipients of the innovation funds will be local school districts, or a partnership between a nonprofit and one or more school districts or a nonprofit and a consortium of schools. These awards will be given out based on districts or other eligible entities that have made gains in closing the achievement gap, according to the law. School districts must also have met annual state performance measures for at least two years in a row, demonstrate academic achievement improvement for all groups of students, and make progress in a host of other things (graduation rate, high-quality teachers.) The districts must also demonstrate that they can get matching funds through partnerships with the private sector. Secretary Duncan has said he wants to use these awards, and the entire $5 billion fund, to push the "reform agenda." If you want to read the language, go to page 438 of this very large PDF of the stimulus bill.

3. How can districts, states, etc. access funds from the "race to the top" pot? Will there be a proposal process? What types of initiatives can this money be used for?
This is related to the question above. The $5 billion pot of money is what Secretary Duncan is calling his "race to the top" fund. I already detailed the smaller innovation fund in the answer above. The rest of the fund will be awarded as "incentive grants" to states. Governors will apply, the law spells out, and must show progress in four areas: maintaining state funding for education at 2006 levels, achieving equity in teacher distribution, improving data collection and use, and improving standards and assessment. Those four areas, incidentally, are areas where governors must "assure" they'll make progress when they take their bigger piece of the state stabilization fund. Duncan has said he'll use the smaller incentive grants to hold states accountable for that. In calls to reporters and public appearances, Duncan seems particularly interested in improving standards. UPDATED: Just wanted to expand on this answer. The department hasn't yet spelled out how districts and states can access these funds, which the law says shall be made available in fiscal 2010. We'll keep you posted on that.

4. Are states supposed to restore spending to FY08 levels or FY06 levels? The legislation says different things in different places.
To qualify for state stabilization funds, states must be able to use their own state money to fund schools up to the level they were doing so in 2006. Then, they must use their federal stabilization money to backfill any cuts they made past those levels, to restore funding to Fiscal 2008 levels. This is an issue for Florida, which will seek a waiver from that 2006 "maintenance of effort."

Posted by Michele McNeil at 8:19 AM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

Linda Darling-Hammond, who was widely rumored for a top job in the U.S. Department of Education, told me today that she is going to stay in California and support President Barack Obama's agenda in her role as an education professor and researcher at Stanford University.

Darling-Hammond, who has done extensive research on teacher quality and international benchmarking, said she will be working to establish a new policy center at the University that will examine a variety of education redesign issues, including standards and assessments, teacher quality, and educational equity in the U.S. and abroad. She has also been asked to take a key role in an international performance assessment project, which will help advance the U.S.'s ability to work with other countries to develop better measures of learning, an Obama priority, she told me. Family concerns were also a major factor in her decision, she said.

Darling-Hammond was one of the first education advisers to then-Sen. Obama and helped developed his teacher residency proposal, which became part of his campaign stump speech. She also led his education policy transition team.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 12:57 PM | Permalink | 3 Comments | Recommend

The Sunshine State is one of a handful that says it can't meet the maintenance of effort requirements in the economic stimulus package, which mandate that states keep education funding at 2006 levels in order to receive the cash.

The law allows U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to waive maintenance of effort requirements for states that are in particularly dire fiscal straits. On a conference call last week with the media, an Education Department consultant told a reporter from Florida that the department wasn't going to issue blanket waivers and was going to look at each state on a case-by-case basis.

But, seriously, I don't think Florida should be sweating this one. There's no way that President Obama is going to travel to economically struggling Fort Myers, Fla., to stump for the stimulus, appear with Gov. Charlie Crist—one of just a few prominent Republicans govs to make a big show of support for the super-sized spending package—and then deny the state access to its share of a huge chunk of the money.

And, then there's the matter of those 27 electoral votes and Florida's status as one of the swingiest swing states. Mr. Obama wants to be re-elected, after all, and letting the state lay off thousands of teachers isn't a good way to launch his 2012 campaign.

At least two of the other states likely to seek waivers, according to this story: Nevada, home to Senate President Harry Reid, and California, home to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Education, Labor Chairman George Miller, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, another gov who had the administration's back when others were crying foul about the cost of the measure.

Anything can happen, of course, but my guess? They'll be just fine too.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

If you're trying to make sense of the $787 billion stimulus package, and what it means for education, Politics K-12 wants to help. Over the next few days, we'll be compiling a list of Frequently Asked Questions and answering them on the blog. No question is too detailed. After all, $100 billion in education funding is at stake. And if Alyson and I don't know the answers, we'll find someone who does.

Leave your question in the comment section below, or shoot us an e-mail. Our e-mail addresses are to the right, under our pictures.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 8:58 AM | Permalink | 22 Comments | Recommend

So President Obama caused a bit of a stir when he picked a charter school for his first visit to a public school.

Now, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will use his first "Education News" TV show appearance tonight from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. to address the topic: "Charter Schools: School Reform that Works." You can watch it at very odd hours on TV on channels like The Learning Channel, or on public broadcasting stations. It looks like it's also available via webcast. The show is a longstanding Education Department initiative to communicate education information to parents. A registration is required.

(By the way, I found out about this from an ed department "tweet." This is not your father's education department, because these folks are Twittering.)

The description of the show talks about how Obama and Duncan want to embrace and foster innovation, and singles out "progressive" districts in Miami, Milwaukee (vouchers!), Tampa, and Chicago.

"Charter schools, in particular, are increasingly appealing to parents, and for good reason," the description of the upcoming broadcast says.

Specifically, the show's description indicates that Duncan and other guests will talk about the latest tools and options for parents, how the charter school and school choice movements have impacted academic achievement, and what a high-performing charter school looks like.

UPDATED: Politics K-12's own Alyson Klein was holding court of her own on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning—described as a "wonderful lady" by one caller, she explained the stimulus package and fielded numerous questions from callers.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 2:05 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

The $100 billion for education programs in the federal economic-stimulus bill gives the new administration and the secretary of education "credibility" with the public and with educators, just as Congress is gearing up to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, told me today.

"I really think this changes the conversation dramatically," Miller said. "I think it makes things a lot easier." Miller said he'd like to reauthorize the law, which many educators have criticized as underfunded, this calendar year.

The unprecedented boost for education in the stimulus "tells the country and the education world where the administration would like to go" on K-12 policy, he said. "They would really like to make a substantial change."

During last year's presidential election, education was largely drowned out on the campaign trail by such issues as the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and health care.

But Miller said the stimulus shows that President Barack Obama sees schools as a top priority.

"From the first time I met Barack Obama he made it clear that education was a very, very important part of his growing up and that [he appreciated] the opportunity it provided for him," the committee chairman said.

Miller ran into a brick wall the last time he took a stab at renewing the No Child Left Behind Act. Back in August 2007, he introduced a discussion draft that drew criticism from all parts of the education spectrum, for being too complicated, too tough on schools, or not tough enough, and for including teacher incentive pay.

The draft never even became an official bill and progress on overhauling the law has been stalled ever since.

But Miller thinks that the education world may have become more accepting of policies that helped doom his past effort.

He acknowledged that the controversy's not over on issues like incentive pay. "There are still plenty of people who are skeptical of these things," he said, but added, "It's pretty clear there's a national conversation in support of changing the workplace" for teachers that includes performance pay and new strategies for recruitment and retention.

And Miller said that, during often tense negotiations over the stimulus, Arne Duncan, the incoming Secretary of Education, had plenty of chances to jettison the "reform" oriented pieces from the bill, but stuck by his guns.

"People knew what it would mean if these were accounts were funded" and appropriated money for them anyway, he said.

That sounded to me like Miller fully expects Congress to continue increased support for programs like the Teacher Incentive Fund, state data systems, and probably even Secretary Duncan's new "race to the top fund," which is aimed at rewarding states and districts who are boosting student achievement.

And, in our brief conversation, Miller really stressed the importance of state data systems, and emphasized that they're also a big priority for Duncan. Some educators, including in Miller's home state of California, are wary that state data systems could be used to tie teacher pay to student progress, but it sounds like the education chairman views them as a good way to measure student learning and wants to press full steam ahead.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 8:12 PM | Permalink | 5 Comments | Recommend

It's almost all over but the shouting.

Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the final version of the stimulus package, which provides some $100 billion for education programs. The stimulus package passed 246-183. As with the original House bill, no Republicans voted in favor of the measure.

The measure now moves over to the Senate, where it is expected to pass sometime this evening. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told reporters today that it looks like President Barack Obama will sign the bill on Monday.

There wasn't much beyond speechifying on the House floor today. It seems lawmakers have gotten their stimulus pro-con arguments down pat.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said that the bill will help school districts prevent staff reductions.

"Now school districts will know that they are going to [get] $13 billion in Title I ... that will help them reduce the number of people who will be unemployed if we do nothing," he said.

But Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., a leading conservative, said he didn't think the bill would do much to spur the slumping economy.

The bill "will not grow our economy. It will merely grow our government," he said.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 3:12 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

Now that it looks like $100 billion in new funding for education in the economic stimulus package is on its way to being a done deal (assuming the congressional votes go as predicted, that is) the action is shifting to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Duncan, who is still putting together his team, would be handed unprecedented resources, and an unprecedented management challenge.

On a conference call with reporters today, which took place even as the House debated, Duncan sounded pretty upbeat and said the House and Senate are likely to vote on the final bill today.

"This represents a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to do something dramatically better," Duncan said.

Some advocates for districts are worried there aren't explicit provisions in the bill that require states to get the money out quickly to districts. But Duncan seems very aware that schools in dire straits are clamoring for these funds. He said he and the department plan to "very fast, but also be very smart" and will give states "real guidance around speed." He wasn't specific about exactly what those guidelines might look like.

Secretary Duncan said that a key goals of the bill is "pushing a significant reform agenda," and he highlighted money for programs in the measure embraced by the reform community, including the Teacher Incentive Fund, which would get $200 million.

And he talked about the $5 billion in incentive grants he would be given broad authority over, which includes $650 million for so-called "innovation grants." That money would be used to reward states and districts that are making progress on closing the achievement gap. Even though it's not official yet, Duncan has already named the program the Race to the Top Grants. He says he would consider state standards, assessments, and teacher recruitment and retention when doling out the grants.

Under the bill, Duncan is given authority to waive so-called "maintenance of effort" provisions, which require states to keep up their spending levels for fiscal year 2006 in order to be eligible for the money in the state stabilization fund, a $53.6 billion pot of money used to help states shore up their budgets and restore education funding cuts. The measure would allow Duncan to waive the requirement for states in particularly dire economic circumstances.

Jon Schnur, a co-founder of New Leaders for New Schools, was on the call as an Education Department consultant, for those of you keeping score on the personnel game. He said the Department would be issuing some criteria on that waiver, but he indicated it would be looking at states' specific circumstances and doesn't want to issue a "one-size-fits-all" blanket waiver.

And, notably, Duncan said in a response to one reporter's question that he would consider revising newly issued Title I regulations on supplemental services and choice.

“There’s absolutely room in our office to do that," he said. "We want to address these kinds of questions."

That statement might raise eyebrows with Republicans on the House Education and Labor Committee, who issued this statement last week.

UPDATE:The House of Representatives just passed its version of the stimulus package, 246-183. As with the original House bill, no Republicans voted in favor of the measure.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

If education secretary Arne Duncan is a T-Mobile user, he let us know who in the lobbying world belongs in his "Fave 5".

And they are...

Anne Bryant, the executive director of the National School Boards Association;
Michael Casserly, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools;
Mary Kusler, assistant director for advocacy and policy for the American Association of School Administrators;
Gene Wilhoit, the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers; and,
Molly Broad, the president of the American Council on Education.

Duncan singled out this lobbying quintet out in a conference call to about 500 people from education organizations on Wednesday, when he spent a few minutes updating them on the status of the stimulus package. He thanked them by name for all of their hard work as the stimulus package was being developed.

Wilhoit and Bryant, incidentally, joined Duncan during his tour earlier this week of Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., where he tried to drum up support for school construction funding in the stimulus package.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

When it comes to the stimulus package, the devil's in the details. And we have some important details from House Democratic aides.

The $39.5 billion in the state fiscal stabilization fund for schools must first be used by states to backfill any cuts they have made to both K-12 and higher education, up to fiscal 2008 or 2009 levels. If a state doesn't have enough money to make K-12 and higher ed whole, then the money must be spread proportionally between the two. Money will flow to states based on the state's population, ages 5-24. Any leftover money after backfilling cuts will flow to K-12 districts based on existing Title I formulas and can be used for a host of things, including school modernization. New construction is not envisioned. House aides say it's hoped the money will go out before July 1.

States also must put in their own money (called maintenance-of-effort) to fund schools up to fiscal 2006 levels. But states can seek a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education in cases of severe financial hardship.

The $5 billion incentive fund, which will be under the control of education secretary Arne Duncan, will include $650 million for innovation grants to school districts that could serve as models for best practices. The innovation money will go to local districts, nonprofits, or consortia of school districts. The rest of the $5 billion incentive fund will go to states to fund projects such as improving assessments and equitable teacher distribution.

In all, the department will have a whopping $95 billion over two years to dole out once Title I, special education, teacher grants, higher education and other funding is factored in.

UPDATE:Check out the final bill at the House Appropriations Committee's Web site here.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

In a press conference that just wrapped up, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shed a little light on how the school modernization/construction part of the $53.6 billion state stabilization fund in the economic stimulus package is going to work.

In a nutshell, it sounds like school modernization is one of many things school districts will be able to use their money on. The state stabilization fund will be divvied up among school districts by states based on each state's existing formula for distributing money for schools. Modernization merely got added to the list of approved areas for funding.

If you remember, the House wanted a separate line item worth $14 billion in school construction grants, which sparked alarm among Republicans in the House and Senate who didn't want to create a new federal education program. Instead, in the compromise, the state stabilization fund grew from the $39 billion the House originally wanted to this final, $53.6 billion. Pelosi called the amount for school construction "still very, very substantial."

There are also slightly revised numbers for the different components of the stabilization fund:

*$39.5 billion will go to local school districts to fill their budgets and/or modernize schools.
*$5 billion goes to school districts for "meeting key performance measures," a fund to be administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
*$8.8 billion goes to states to use for "high-priority needs," which can include education and school modernization.

Read House Appropriations' summary here.

Again, we'll know more once the legislation is available. But without a school construction line item, school districts looking for a big pot of money from which to draw for their construction projects will probably be disappointed.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The word's not official yet, but here are some preliminary numbers on education aid in the U.S. Senate-House agreement on the economic stimulus package. Sounds like final details are still being hammered out.

The agreement would provide $53.6 billion for the state fiscal stabilization fund, including $40.6 billion to local school districts using existing funding formulas, which can be used for averting layoffs and programmatic cutbacks, and to pay for school modernization. The fund also includes $5 billion for incentive grants to be allocated by the Secretary of Education; and $8 billion to states' high--priority needs, which may include education.

The agreement would provide $1.1 billion for Early Head Start and $1 billion for Head Start, plus $2 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant.

It would also provide $13 billion for Title I programs for disadvantaged students and $12.2 billion for grants for special education.

And, on the higher education front, the bill would boost the maximum Pell Grant to college students by $500, for a maximum of $5,350 in 2009 and $5,550 in 2010.

More when we have it!

UPDATE: From a preliminary synopsis of the compromise sent out last night by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, new school bonding provisions were also included. So was $7 billion to expand broadband to rural communities, which could be a big help to rural schools. In addition to the Pell Grant expansion, the bill also increases the higher education tax credit to a maximum $2,500 and adds $200 million to work-study programs.

And finally, the compromise includes some accountability language, including a requirement that the public be given notice—on the Internet—of how the stimulus money is being spent. Disclosure information must include what's being funded, the purpose, the total cost, and why recovery dollars should be used. Governors, mayors, or others making funding decisions must personally certify that the investment has been fully vetted and is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.

The $25 million fund for charter school facilities is not included.

UPDATE 2: The House will vote on the stimulus package tomorrow.

UPDATE 3: The compromise agreement includes $250 million for state data systems, $100 million for teacher quality state grants, and $200 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund. It also has $650 million for education technology, which is less than the $1 billion provided in both the House and Senate bills. The $13 billion for Title I money includes $3 billion for school improvement grants, according to education lobbyists.

UPDATE 4: The deal includes $25 billion in school construction bonds, which some estimates say is enough to pay for modernizing 10,000 schools.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 11:36 AM | Permalink | 5 Comments | Recommend

Congressional leaders have announced a deal on the stimulus, Alyson reports in from the Hill. More to come as we sort out numbers on the school construction and state stabilization funds.

UPDATE: She's also hearing the numbers for school modernization and state stabilization could be a little higher than we previously reported. Apparently, school modernization funding may be the sticking point holding up a final agreement. Lawmakers from both chambers are convening to discuss the bill in a few minutes..stay tuned.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 3:42 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

In the tussle over $14 billion in school construction funds, it appears that the compromise stimulus package will include $6 billion for school repair and modernization, according to the Associated Press .

Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa told reporters earlier today that money cut from the Senate's version of the stimulus bill would be restored.

The reported amount is less than the $14 billion the House version included, but still more than the Senate's version, which included nothing in that category.

Of course, a lot still needs to be worked out on this legislation, so stay tuned.

UPDATE 2: Alyson has confirmed the $6 billion in school modernization and repair funding with Sen. Harkin's office. Also, she's learned that the final deal is set to include $44 billion for state budget stabilization, which is down from the $79 billion in the House version.

UPDATE: Alyson reported in from Rep. George Miller's press conference (in which New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein appeared) that the congressman also implied he was optimistic that the final version will include some money for state data systems and teacher incentive funds for alternative-pay programs. (The House set aside $250 million for data systems and $200 million for TIF.) He also indicated that the House may prevail in its stricter maintenance-of-effort requirements, which require states to use their own money up to certain levels before they use federal money for programs.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As the stimulus bill heads toward a formal conference committee meeting at 3 p.m., the House and Senate are furiously trying to work out a deal. Of course, the big education questions are: Will school construction money be restored? And will states get a big chunk of their stabilization money back? And how will the stabilization money be distributed?

In fact, Alyson is headed to the Hill now for a 1:10 p.m. press conference with Rep. George Miller, the California Democrat who is the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, New York Congressman Chuck Rangel, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The trio will push for the $16 billion in school construction money that the Senate stripped out of the stimulus package.

The Miller bunch will be the latest big names to stick their necks out for school construction. Duncan did so yesterday, and President Obama the day before. It would be embarassing for the President, his education secretary, and key members of Congress to put on the full-court press and end up losing this fight.

In the meantime, other groups are putting out their last-ditch pushes to help craft the compromise. The National Head Start Association wants the full $2.1 billion the House included. The Education Trust, which advocates for low-income students, sent a letter to the Hill encouraging negotiators not to give too much latitude to the states, which have a "long history" of "shortchanging schools."

The National Governors Association, certainly a powerhouse player on the Hill on this topic given the level of state involvement in the stimulus, offers its own compromise suggestions that include allowing governors to spend half of the state incentive grants on critical needs outside of education. NGA recommends funding these incentive grants at the $7.5 billion level of the Senate, which is half what the House wanted. The NGA also recommends, given the organization's ongoing work with common standards, taking out a Senate provision that requires states to take steps to improve state academic standards per the America COMPETES Act. What's interesting to note is that, at least according to these documents, NGA appears neutral on the school construction money (since they don't mention it in their recommendations.) Check out a summary chart of NGA's recommendations here, and a more detailed explanation here.

On that note, If you want to find out how much school construction money is at stake for your state or school district, the nonprofit journalism organization ProPublica has a handy searchable database.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The Great GOP Divide among governors was on display yesterday as Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist appeared with President Obama during a pep-rally stop in the Sunshine State to tout the economic stimulus package.

Florida's schools have been among the hardest hit across the country as cuts have forced them to lay off teachers and trim programs. Legislative leaders predict next year's state budget deficit could reach $5 billion, and already, the governor has pushed through a $2.5 billion package of cuts for this budget year and next.

Given his state's dire straits—with a huge home foreclosure crisis and pockets of very high unemployment—it's no big surprise that Crist was one of four Republican governors to sign a letter in support of the stimulus package. (Crist may also be making sure the state can get a waiver from so-called "maintenance of effort" provisions that require the state to spend on schools what it spent in 2006 -- a tall order since school funding has been cut to levels lower than that year.) The others were Connecticut's Jodi Rell, Vermont's Jim Douglas, and California's Arnold Schwarzenegger. And it's no wonder Schwarzenegger has signed on—he's got a gigantic budget mess on his hands.

But lining up in opposition to the stimulus package are fellow Republican Govs. Sarah Palin of Alaska, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Rick Perry of Texas and Mark Sanford of South Carolina.

Of course, there's plenty of political ideology at work (a couple of those governors have national ambitions and Sanford, especially, is a hard-line budget hawk.) However, it's important to note that their budgets don't have the glaring budget gaps that others do. According to the latest report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, Alaska has a budget deficit worth about 4 percent of Palin's general fund budget, isn't reporting a budget deficit next budget year, and has billions in oil and natural gas profits in a special reserve fund. In Texas, Perry is in a similar position: His state also enjoys oil profits, isn't reporting a budget deficit now, and faces a shortfall of just 5 percent next budget year. Mississippi, under Barbour, is reporting a 4 percent budget deficit this year and none next year. Jindal, in Louisiana, has closed his budget deficit but does, potentially, face a double-digit one next year.

So, it may be a little easier to oppose the stimulus when your state—including your schools—aren't in desperate and immediate need of the money.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The U.S. Senate approved its "lite" version of a federal infusion of cash for education today by a vote of 61-37, with just three Republicans crossing the aisle to support an $838 billion economic stimulus measure that would provide some $80 billion for education programs.

That's less than the $140 billion for education in the $819 billion House stimulus measure, but still a sizable chunk of change, considering the Senate bill would have more money for education than the U.S. Department of Education's entire $59.2 billion discretionary budget.

The Senate's original bill contained about the same amount of education spending as the House legislation. But $16 billion was eliminated in grants for school construction, and direct aid to states for education was reduced, all as part of a compromise worked out by moderate lawmakers.

More details available in this story.

Update: Sounds like the positioning has already begun for conference and supporters of the billions in school construction funds are trying to get it back. The House version still includes $14 billion in school construction grants.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, just released this statement:

“While I am glad the Senate has now joined the House in passing legislation to get our economy moving forward again, it appears the Senate bill creates about 400,000 fewer jobs than the House legislation. With more Americans losing their jobs by the day, we must make every effort to bring that figure up.

“As President Obama has said, one way we can do that is by restoring investments to modernize our nation’s schools and colleges. The $14 billion to repair, renovate and update public schools included in the House plan would create at least 315,000 more jobs than what the Senate bill generates. Modernizing our schools and colleges is a common-sense way we can quickly create jobs while helping our students get a 21st century education, and should get restored to this plan as negotiations move forward.”

Sounds pretty on-message, considering President Barack Obama's plug for school construction in last night's prime-time press conference, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's school visit today, in which he made a pitch for school construction.

Could be an uphill battle though. Republicans, and some moderate Democrats, have long argued that school construction is a state and local responsibility. They're worried that including money for the program in the stimulus bill could set a dangerous precedent.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 2:00 PM | Permalink | 3 Comments | Recommend

In his first public school visit since being named U.S. education secretary, Arne Duncan went to Arlington, Va.'s Wakefield High School as part of a public relations push to get Congress to restore $16 billion in school construction money eliminated from the Senate version of the economic stimulus package.

The outdated high school, built in 1953, is set to be rebuilt in 2013 (not exactly "shovel-ready," but Arlington superintendent Robert Smith told me they could certainly speed things up with some stimulus money.) Duncan stopped by a class that prepares students for Advanced Placement classes (in which some of the students should get kudos for asking tough questions, like: Isn't money for school construction only going to resort in short-term stimulus, so how's that going to help us in the long-term?)

In a press conference after his tour, he then declared that the actions on the Hill in the next 24, 48, and 72 hours are crucial. "It's going to shape education for years to come," he said. "I would call this an historic opportunity -- once-in-a-lifetime."

Duncan, however, evaded two big questions. First, he wouldn't talk about whether the school construction money is more crucial than some of the other education parts of the stimulus package—such as money for Title I or special education. I asked him which was more important, and another reporter followed up to ask him about funding priorities within the stimulus, especially given the need for compromise, and he declared that all of the education money is important (not exactly the rhetoric of compromise.)

Secondly, he was also asked (as part of a two-part question) what processes are in place to make sure the education money gets spent where it's needed most. (That's another big concern among many members of Congress.) He didn't answer that question.

As a side note, the superintendent announced that Duncan had, indeed, chosen Arlington as the school district for his kids. Duncan said he and his wife would be moving into their new digs within the next two weeks.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 12:00 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

As Congress is poised to spend at least $80 billion on education programs—and possibly much more—President Barack Obama said in a prime-time news conference tonight that more money for education must be followed by more reform.

And he said he'd work in a bipartisan way to make sure that polices like expanding charter schools and removing ineffective teachers are put in place, along with the increased resources.

"I think there are areas like education where some in my party have been too resistant to reform and have argued only money makes a difference. And there have been others on the Republican side or the conservative side who said, 'No matter how much money you spend, nothing makes a difference, so let's just blow up the public school systems.' And I think that both sides are going to have to acknowledge we're going to need more money for new science labs, to pay teachers more effectively, but we're also going to need more reform, which means that we've got to train teachers more effectively, bad teachers need to be fired after being given the opportunity to train effectively, that we should experiment with things like charter schools that are innovating in the classroom, that we should have high standards."

The statement seemed to be a response to GOP lawmakers—and some Democrats—who say that the proposed stimulus package working its way through Congress pumps too much money into schools, without enough strings.

It's unlikely Obama's appeal will actually translate into more Republican votes for the super-sized stimulus package, but it does seem to signal that the president isn't planning to boost education spending without asking for something in return from the nation's school system.

Obama made it clear that he also considers federal funding of school construction to be a key economic stimulus and investment in the future, even though a huge chunk of the funding for school facilities is slated be stripped out of the Senate's bill as part of an agreement forged by moderate lawmakers to win passage of the measure.

"I visited a school down in South Carolina that was built in the 1850s," Obama said. "Kids are still learning in that school, as best they can. ... It's right next to a railroad. And when the train runs by, the whole building shakes and the teacher has to stop teaching for a while. The auditorium is completely broken down; they can't use it. So why wouldn't we want to build state-of-the-art schools with science labs that are teaching our kids the skills they need for the 21st century, that will enhance our economy, and, by the way, right now, will create jobs?"

The House bill includes about $14 billion in school construction spending, plus bonds to help finance school facilities. But $16 billion in money for school facilities was stripped out of the Senate's bill, as part of a compromise agreement worked out with Senate moderates. The Senate compromise version still includes the tax provisions for school construction bonds.

But Obama's high-profile support of the school construction funds could signal that his administration may fight for some money for grants to cover the cost of school facilities, in addition to the bonds provision, when the House and Senate eventually reconcile their versions of the bill in conference.

You can read a transcript of the press conference here.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 8:06 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

After President Obama goes on the offensive tonight to push for the stimulus package during a prime-time press conference, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will do the same tomorrow at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.

Duncan will visit with students and tour the school, which is slated for renovation in 2013, "to highlight the importance of school construction and renovation, and other education provisions in the stimulus package now being debated in the U.S. Congress," according to the media advisory.

Stay tuned to Politics K-12 for full coverage tomorrow.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

This is shaping up to be a big week for education funding in the stimulus package.

The Senate is expected to hold procedural votes today to clear the way for passage of its slimmed down stimulus measure. And tonight, President Barack Obama is holding a news conference during which he is will likely to tout the plan's ability to reinvigorate the sluggish economy. (UPDATE: While you're waiting for this excitement, check out the video below from Saturday Night Live, which specifically mentions education funding in the stimulus package -- and the number of "stupid people running around ruining our economy." Or, for an even more stimulating use of your time, check out the 778-page text of the compromise amendment, now on the Senate Appropriations website. )

A summary of the much-talked about deal by congressional moderates, put together by Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, was released late Friday.

The Senate is expected to vote on the compromise deal, and the whole bill, this week.

Although the numbers for education aren't as high as those in the original Senate Appropriations Committee measure, the proposed amendment would still provide a major boost for education.

The Senate's original bill would have provided between $120 billion and $140 billion for education. The amendment would dial that back to about $80 billion. That's still considerably more than the U.S. Department of Education's $59.2 billion discretionary budget for fiscal year 2008.

The amendment doesn't change the originally proposed spending for special education, untouched at $13 billion, and would provide $1 billion for education technology, the same level as in the original Senate measure. And it would reduce the $13 billion originally slated for Title I just slightly, to $12.4 billion.

The Senate cut the entire $16 billion in school construction grants, but left bonds that help finance school construction.

The state stabilization fund, which would have provided $79 billion in relief to local school districts would shrink down to $39 billion. That would include $7.5 billion to states as incentive grants as a reward for meeting certain education performance measures.

There are some other reductions from the Senate's original bill. The amendment would provide $1.05 billion for Head Start, reduced from $2 billion in the Senate's original bill, and $50 million for teacher quality state grants, reduced from $100 million.

You can download an excel spread sheet on the amendment at Sen. Nelson's Web site, here.

Republicans, most of whom are still planning to vote against the bill, said Saturday during floor debate that too much of the money goes to programs that don't stimulate the economy, a criticism levied against many of the K-12 programs in the bill.

"The bill is still comprised of wasteful spending," said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb.

But Friday night, in introducing the bill, Sen. Collins said that programs, such as spending for special education would help avert layoffs and put financially-strapped school districts back on firmer fiscal footing.

It looks like the Senate has the votes to pass this amendment and the bill. And it's reported that President Obama has signed off on these changes.

We'll see if House lawmakers go along with it when conference negotiations begin next week.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 3:03 PM | Permalink | 4 Comments | Recommend

The moderate Democrats and Republicans who are negotiating over a deal that would make cuts to the U.S. Senate's original economic-stimulus package are reportedly close to a tentative agreement.

I'm hearing rumors that, compared with the original Senate version released late last month, the deal now on the table would sizably scale back increases to education, even more than predicted as recently as yesterday. It appears, though, that the legislation would still provide a one-time boost in money for special education.

Yet it looks like the House Democrats, whose bill would provide between $120 billion for $150 billion, are getting worried. A spokeswoman for Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., sent this e-mail to reporters, referring to the $79 billion state stabilization fund that was in both the House and original Senate versions of the bill, much of which would go to education:

Rumors are that today the Senate is going to cut billions of dollars out of the state stabilization funds in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These are the funds that help states preserve vital services and jobs as they face a budget crunch - it makes no sense to have states raising taxes and cutting spending at the same time that the federal government is trying to turn the economy around by cutting taxes and putting more money into the economy.

Sounds like the House lawmakers are already going on the offensive. More details as we have them...

Posted by Alyson Klein at 7:02 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

While you're waiting to hear the verdict on the stimulus package—will ed funding be closer to $150 billion, or $75 billion?—check out these good reads:

On the Teacher Beat, Stephen Sawchuk explores the teacher distribution requirements in the stimulus package—one of the few strings attached to the federal education dollars.

Elizabeth Green and the Gotham Schools blog chronicle a heated, ongoing discussion in New York City about mayoral control of schools. Talk about Politics K-12!

Despite what a couple of Washington, D.C.-based blogs are reporting, Arne Duncan did not tell NPR that he's sending his kids to a D.C. public school. A public school, yes, but he never said which district. Listen to the interview for yourself here.

For those who have studied the connection between paper mache and the GDP, House Education Committee Chairman George Miller will hold a series of hearings on how the arts benefit the economy.

Mike Petrilli at Flypaper dares us to call him a Scrooge for declaring that less money for schools might actually be a better deal in the stimulus.

Over at EdWeek's Curriculum Matters, colleague Sean Cavanagh examines whether, given the economic meltdown, some school reformers are so quickly turning to "business" for lessons on turning around schools.

And finally, This Week in Education examines where things stand with Arne Duncan and the DOE.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

I've heard from folks up on the Hill that an amendment to be introduced by Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, could significantly scale back the nearly $140 billion education funding in the Senate's version of the proposed economic stimulus package.

The items targeted include at least $24.8 billion to be cut from the $79 billion State Stabilization Fund, $6.75 billion out of the more than $13 billion for special education, $6.5 billion from Title I out of $13 billion, and $50 million from the proposed $100 million Teacher Quality Enhancement grant program.

Advocates are worried the plan would block much needed aid for local districts.

"We are extremely disappointed that the bipartisan amendment would cut the only direct aid going to school districts” that could help avert layoffs and severe program reductions," said Mary Kusler, the assistant director of government relations for the American Associations of School Administrators. "By reducing their investment in [special education] and Title I they are only going to increase the burdens being felt by local districts as they work on their budgets for the coming school year."

I'm hearing that a number of centrist Democratic senators are willing to consider the package of cuts. Stay tuned.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 4:39 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

First, there was Broader, Bolder, then there was Education Equality. Now, there's a new consensus.

At a two-day summit in Washington, a group of 14 education policy leaders, including Linda Darling-Hammond, the NEA’s John I. Wilson, and two former governors, pieced together a set of six recommendations to President Obama. The forum was sponsored by the HOPE Foundation, a Bloomington, Ind.-based organization that works to support education leaders. (A complete roster of the group is pasted at the end of this item. They're pictured in the photo at left, which is courtesy of the HOPE Foundation. Click to enlarge it.)

The six recommendations, released today, are hard for anyone, no matter what his or her politics, to disagree on:

1. Assure Readiness: Success in the classroom requires that children arrive ready to learn – cognitively, physically, and psychologically.

2. Provide Rich Learning Environments for All Students: All young people in America deserve rich learning environments that challenge their thinking, promote learning by doing and focus on higher-order thinking skills that encourage life-long learning and prepare young people to be engaged, collaborative citizens.

3. Improve Overall Standards, Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment: Standards should be more common, more rigorous, and benchmarked against the top international standards. Curriculum, instruction, and assessment must be aligned with each other and with those international benchmarked standards.

4. Improve Overall Teacher Quality: Policies and systems must be in place to promote best practices in teaching, reward high performers, and provide opportunities for feedback and development for those in need of improvement.

5. Ensure the Development of 21st Century School Leaders: School leadership should be focused on a combination of student learning, progress, and culture-building, while enhancing the quality of teaching.

6. Generate and Use Research Effectively: Ensure the use of existing research and advance new research topics that address issues specific to 21st Century challenges.

The consensus paper doesn't wade very far into the thornier issues facing K-12, such as how to get rid of ineffective teachers, or what common standards would look like. The group also debated, and decided against, using the words "charter schools" in the consensus document.

Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, who now leads the Alliance for Excellent Education, said that "this would be everyone's wish list...but the power is in the final message." And, he said the power is in the diverse group of people who got together to come up with this consensus.

In addition, said Alan M. Blankstein, president and founder of the HOPE Foundation, several members of the group will be moving action steps from the consensus forward .

Perhaps most interesting were the folks in the room: Democrats for Education Reform executive director Joe Williams sat nearly elbow-to-elbow with Darling-Hammond, a duo whom many folks consider to be on opposite sides of the education spectrum. Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, a proponent of national standards, sat in the same room with leaders of organizations, such as the school boards and school administrators, that are very much about local control. The question is: What will come from this new consensus?

Participants in the HOPE forum:

--Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, chairman, Strong American Schools
--Former West Virgina Gov. Bob Wise, president, Alliance for Excellent Education
--Felicia Y. Blasingame, president/CEO of South Central Community Services, Inc.
--Alan M. Blankstein, president and founder of the HOPE Foundation
--Anne L. Bryant, executive director, National School Boards Association
--Linda Darling-Hammond, professor, Stanford University
--Dan Domenech, executive director, American Assoc. of School Administrators
--Sharon Lynn Kagan, professor, Yale University
--Debby Kasak, executive director, National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform
--Michael L. Lomax, president, United Negro College Fund
--Pedro A. Noguera, professor, New York University
--Karen Pittman, executive director, Forum for Youth Investment
--Joe Williams, executive director, Democrats for Education Reform
--John I. Wilson, executive director, National Education Association

Posted by Michele McNeil at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The education department announced today that President Obama has nominated Education Trust vice president Russlynn Ali as the new assistant secretary for civil rights.

The EdTrust, of course, is very pro-accountability and championed NCLB as it was being written. And, Ali has done a lot of work on teacher quality and compensation issues. She's also the executive director of the group's West Coast arm, Education Trust-West.

Of course, we're still waiting for the official word on who will be Duncan's deputy secretary.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 11:30 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

President Obama continued his pitch for the economic stimulus package today, even as the Senate debates the future of this mega-billion-dollar package.

His audience this afternoon, in addition to the media, was a class of 2nd graders at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington. (This, by the way, was a school Sara Mead of the New America Foundation suggested the president look at for his own kids.) This marks his first official school visit as president. And, as a colleague so astutely pointed out, his first visit is to a charter school. Is he making a statement?

According to the transcript, Obama said this (after reading to the 2nd graders):

"... we're very proud of what's been accomplished at this school and we want to make sure that we're duplicating that success all across the country...And the recovery and reinvestment act that we've put forward will provide billions of dollars to build schools and help with school construction. It will provide money to train teachers, especially in subjects like math and science that are so critical. And it will also give Secretary Duncan the resources he needs to reward excellent, innovative schools. And so we think it's really important for the country that we get that bill passed."

UPDATE: The pool report from the reporter following the president today contained some interesting tidbits:

*When asked to name his superheroes, Obama picked Spiderman and Batman.

*Obama read "The Moon Over Star" by Dianna Hutts, about Neil Armstrong's moon landing, to the class.

*Obama was asked about pets. He admitted he had a fish, but that it died. Michelle Obama chimed in: "the girls say we keep killing them."

*Before they left, the First Couple distributed books to the kids for their library. One was called "Mr. Peabody's Apples."

More Update:

Video courtesy MSNBC.com

Posted by Michele McNeil at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

It's a busy day on the North side of the Capitol.

The Senate is debating its $888 billion version of the economic stimulus package, with an eye towards passing it by the end of the week and getting it to President Barack Obama for his signature And former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.C., pulled himself out of the running for Secretary of Health and Human Services because of problems with unpaid taxes.

So far, Republicans in the Senate seem to be echoing many of the arguments against the stimulus made by their colleagues in the House: That much of the spending goes to favored Democratic programs and won't create jobs.

But they are also arguing that there are very few strings attached to the money and that the administration, including, presumably, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, will have a lot of unprecedented control over what happens to it.

“I’m not one who believes that Congress must always wait for the Executive Branch to lead," said Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee during floor debate. "But with regard to this bill we are giving the Executive Branch immense latitude in the disbursement of the spending it contains. We are doing so without any official request, and without any documentation that speaks to the issue of how this spending will stimulate the economy, or what the long term implications of the spending will be."

And apparently, at least one conservative Democrats is concerned that many of the programs in the stimulus package, including some of the education funds, aren't really going to spur the economy and create jobs immediatly. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska told reporters from his home state on a conference call today that he is working with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate Republican, to tweak the package, possibly through an amendment to be offered later this week.

Will Republican/conservative Democratic opposition derail the bill or seriously curtail the education funding? Possibly, but my guess is that it's not likely.

I think the debate over whether the funds will really generate job growth matters more in the context of what happens after the stimulus passes, presumably with most of the more $120 billion in education funding intact. If states, districts, and schools don't appear to be using the money wisely there will be a lot of "I told you so's" from the folks expressing concerns about the funds this time around. It will make Congress much more wary of boosting spending on education programs in the future.

Meanwhile, Daschle's decision means that President Obama will have to choose another HHS Secretary. That person will be responsible for overseeing the main federal early childhood program, Head Start. When a nominee is announced, we'll be sure to find out what Head Start and other pre-K advocates think.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 2:21 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

For those wondering which regulations new education secretary Arne Duncan might have his eye one, make sure the new graduation rate rules are on your list.

One of the last things former education secretary Margaret Spellings did was usher through new regulations establishing a uniform way of calculating graduation rates across states, similar to what the governors voluntarily agreed to do in 2005.

At issue is what defines a high school graduate, at least for accountability and statistical purposes. Should a high school get credit just for students who get a diploma within four years? What about those who take five or six years to finish high school? The new rules call for high schools to count only four-year graduates in their calculations, although the education department can consider districts' plans to count other graduates, too.

But some organizations, like the school boards, think the four-year standard is too rigid.

Duncan was receptive to revising that rigid standard, said Anne Bryant, the executive director of the National School Boards Association, who stepped away from her association's annual federal relations conference in Washington yesterday to attend an hour-long meeting with Duncan and other folks from education organizations.

Though the topic of the meeting was the economic stimulus package, other topics came up--especially as Duncan outlined his five top priorities as ed sec: improving early childhood education, developing better assessments, reducing the dropout rate, improving human capital, and a broad priority of expanding on "what's working."

Bryant said that in the context of the dropout discussion, she raised the new grad rate regs. She said that he showed a lot of interest in revisiting those regulations and told the group that his experience in Chicago Public Schools showed that some students will take longer than four years to get a diploma.

"He got it," she said.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

First lady Michelle Obama dropped by the Department of Education this afternoon for a meet-and-greet/pep rally to honor career employees, the first in what's supposed to be a series of such sessions at various cabinet agencies.

The roughly 350 employees who gathered for the event cheered, applauded, and used cellphone cameras to take pictures of the first lady. Seventeen of the agency's longest-serving employees, some of whom have spent decades at the department, stood behind Obama as she spoke.

—Christopher Powers/Education Week

"I am a product of your work," she told the crowd. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the public schools that nurtured me and helped me along. ... I'm going to be visiting agencies throughout this administration to do just something simple, and that's to say thank you—thank you before we even begin the work, because so many of you have been here struggling and pushing for decades. ... The children of this country are counting on all of us."

She also touted the economic stimulus package working its way through Congress, saying it would help avert teacher layoffs, and highlighted provisions to direct money for facilities, teacher training, and charter schools.

The first lady is planning to drop by a number of federal agencies and speak to employees, in part to get to know the folks living in her new hometown of Washington, D.C., a spokeswoman said.

In introducing Obama, the new secretary of education, Arne Duncan, said it's "not a coincidence" that the department was Obama's first stop.

Duncan reiterated remarks he made during his Senate confirmation hearing last month about the "Obama effect," which he hopes will inspire schoolchildren across the country to get a good education.

—Christopher Powers/Education Week

"We have people saying not just I want to be the president or the first lady, but I want to be smart like the president, or smart like the first lady," he said. "The Obama effect is going to be powerful."

Education Department employees clapped and smiled and seemed genuinely jazzed.

Recognizing and commending the efforts of career staff was "really right on" said Karen Stratman-Krusemark, a career staff member who serves as a liaison between the department and professional associations in education field. She and other department employees also had glowing words for their new boss.

"[Mr. Duncan] has this great combination of smart and real," Stratman-Krusemark said. "We were cheering at the staff meeting, we were all so excited to get to work. ... Right now, if you work at the Department of Ed, it's like the coolest thing."

Posted by Alyson Klein at 4:30 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend