May 2009 Archives

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan got to use his favorite word again in a speech this morning when he said he wants states and districts to take "dramatic" steps to overhaul schools that are struggling to meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act.

He talked about how, as superintendent in Chicago, he closed the city's lowest-performing schools and brought in all new staff, resulting in significant academic gains.

But in a wide-ranging speech at the National Press Club in Washington, Duncan said that there's a shortage of folks out there—among states, districts, and even innovative non-profits—who know how to reshape foundering schools.

"I can count on one hand the number of turnaround specialists doing this work," he said.

There is already $3 billion for school improvement included as part of the economic stimulus package, and Duncan is pushing for another $1.5 billion in the fiscal year 2010 budget. Some experts have told me that, while that money is great, they're not sure it will necessarily be put to good use because districts also need expertise to help fix chronically underperforming schools.

Duncan also acknowledged that the $100 billion in stimulus funding for education may have an uneven impact in states, since some, such as California, will still have to make drastic cuts, while others, such as South Dakota, will get an enormous windfall.

But he said that shouldn't preclude states that are in the red from taking steps to overhaul schools.

"In a time of crisis, you have to look very carefully at how you are spending the money," he said. "States that have been hardest hit" may be well-positioned to advance reforms, he added. "This is a huge test of leadership."

Today's was the latest in a series of tough-talk speeches by Duncan about the need to turn around low-performing schools, with the implication that states and districts that don't take the hint may be left out of the running for some of the $5 billion in Race to the Top and innovation grant money he will be doling out.

Duncan said he hadn't expected that so many states would drag their feet in applying for the first round of fiscal stabilization funding in the stimulus package. He said the Education Department hasn't come up with a contingency plan in case states don't finish their applications by the July deadline, since he expects them all to be complete by then.

"I don't think that's going to be much of a problem," he said.

Duncan was also asked about his efforts to improve Education Department's culture, after the department ranked near the bottom of a survey of the best places to work in the federal government. (The survey was taken before the Obama administration took office.)

He said that he will try to create the kind of collegial, professional working climate that he would like schools across the country to adopt.

If the department doesn't rise in the rankings, "you can hold me accountable," he said.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 1:10 PM | Permalink | 4 Comments | Recommend

In case you missed it, according a survey released earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education was ranked as one of the absolute worst places to work in the federal government. (For a quick summary, check out the The Washington Post's story on the survey).

To be fair, 400 Maryland Ave. wasn't dead last. That honor belonged to the Department of Transportation. But it ranked 27th out of the 30 large agencies surveyed.

The survey, conducted by the Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit in Washington, used data from the Office of Personnel Management's federal human capital survey, from fiscal year 2008, well before President Barack Obama took office.

Well, Secretary of Education "Call me Arne" Duncan saw that survey, and yesterday, he told ED employees he's out to change that culture, and he wants their help and input.

Here's a snippet from his email to employees:

I knew from day one that I needed your feedback to make this a more focused, results-oriented, efficient, and great place to work. We have a critical agenda, and we will not be successful without everyone's involvement.

The survey results on which rankings are based show that while employee satisfaction has increased at ED in recent years, we still have a long way to go. Coming in 27th out of 30 federal agencies in this new report is not where I want the Department to be. I take the specific findings of where we fall short very seriously. And I want to learn more about the previous efforts to address these shortcomings, find out what worked and what didn't, and develop a thoughtful approach that can help us create real and lasting change in ED's culture.

The current findings suggest that people don't feel they are being listened to, and I expect our leadership and our managers to take responsibility for changing that. We need to make sure management understands your concerns and works to address them. We need to make sure to open the lines of communication between my new leadership team and you, the people most familiar with our challenges and opportunities.

You need to know how your work impacts and advances our priorities, and that your work matters.

The memo seems like another indication of Duncan's managerial style—or at least how he wants to be perceived over at the Department. From reportedly giving out his personal cell phone number to rural school superintendents to hearing concerns about the No Child Left Behind Act in school districts across the country, it's pretty clear Duncan is (or wants to be perceived as) The Nice Guy Who Listens.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 11:15 AM | Permalink | 4 Comments | Recommend

The U.S. Department of Education has been quietly, and now more openly, grousing about how slow states have been in applying for state stabilization funds under the economic stimulus package. Other folks are taking note and also questioning states' slow progress.

The deadline for applying for stabilization funds is July 1. So far, 19 states have been approved. At least 30 applications have been received. (UPDATE: That 30 figure includes the 19 applications that have already been approved.)

Well, late last month, the National Governors Association hosted states' stimulus czars from across the country, and I got to pose this question to a few of them: What's taking you guys so long? They laughed, as if the federal officials just don't get it. Here are some of the reasons it's taking so long, according to these czars:

* Legislative sessions have only recently started wrapping up, and most of those sessions involve budget work and serious discussions about what to do with stimulus money. In fact, the National Conference of State Legislatures session calendar shows that most states didn't start adjourning until late April or this month. Some go into June. Its hard to fill in budget numbers on the stabilization fund application if the budget isn't done.

* Governors, who must apply for the funds, have to promise things in these applications, such as making progress on data collection and removing charter caps. Apparently, governors are taking these promises seriously. Plus, governors are responsible for a lot more stimulus funding--education- and non-education-related--than just the stabilization funds.

* While school districts might want the money this very minute, states might not have the same sense of urgency. They probably wouldn't be applying the stabilization fund money until their fiscal 2010 budgets. Most states' budget years start July 1. That's still weeks away.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 12:23 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

Over at the School Law Blog, my colleague Erik Robelen gives a K-12 once-over on President Obama's nomination of New York federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Her personal and professional resume includes a lot of anecdotes that will resonate with the public. Her father, who had only a third-grade education, died young, leaving her mother—a nurse—to raise her and her brother. Sotomayor took comfort in Nancy Drew books, and the fictional amateur detective ended up inspiring the now-Supreme-Court-nominee to read and learn. She excelled in school, got college scholarships to Ivy League schools, and became a lawyer and jurist. Now, she works to help high school students learn about the judicial system—putting Goldilocks on trial so students can practice being prosecutors and defense attorneys, according to the White House's official backgrounder on her.

Her legal highlights, with a K-12 twist, include her opposition to student strip searches in the N.G. ex rel. S.C. vs. Connecticut case

(Photo cutline and credit: Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor smiles as President Barack Obama applauds on May 26 at the White House in Washington. Alex Brandon/AP.)

Posted by Michele McNeil at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan put out the official list of many of the folks who've gotten top positions at the U.S. Department of Education. Most of these aren't new, but the list is a good Who's Who of new political appointees.

Another Gates Foundation refugee got a top job. Margot Rogers, formerly the senior counselor to Duncan, will be Arne Duncan's chief of staff. While at Gates, she managed the foundation's five-year education strategy.

Juan Sepulveda will be the director of the White House Initiative on the Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. He was the Texas state director for Obama for America and the former president of The Common Enterprise, whose mission is to help nonprofit groups, philanthropic organizations, and businesses help build stronger communities.

Also among those we've already told you about: the Aspen Institute's Judy Wurtzel as a deputy assistant secretary in the office of planning, evaluation and policy; ex-EdWeek staff David Hoff, deputy assistant secretary for communication development; and, former Prince George's County Schools spokesman John White as press secretary. And Dianne Piche is the deputy assistant Secretary of Enforcement, Office for Civil Rights. Piche most recently served as executive director of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights.

Kevin Jennings, the assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, is the founder and former executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which works to keep kids safe in school, regardless of their sexual orientation. Before that, Jennings was a history teacher and history department head at Concord Academy in Massachusetts, and a teacher at Moses Brown School in Providence.

Stacey Jordan, director of Intergovernmental Affairs, comes to the department from The Education Sector, where she served as a communications manager. And Jordan also served as special adviser for education policy to the mayor of Providence, R.I., and as director of The New York City Department of Education Office of Strategic Partnerships.

Julius Lloyd Horwich has been tapped as deputy assistant secretary, Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs. Like lots of folks in leg jobs, Horwich is a Hill veteran. He's worked with most of the top lawmakers on education policy, so he'll be well positioned to sell Duncan's agenda to his old bosses. Horwich recently served as education counsel and policy adviser to the House of Education and Labor Committee, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education. And he also worked as an education counsel on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Subcommittee on Children and Families and as a policy counsel to Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a pretty important guy to know since he controls the purse strings on ed spending in the Senate.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Happy Friday and Almost-Memorial-Day!

After you're done watching the On-Demand version of our stimulus webinar (register first here) check out these good reads:

First, crack education finance researcher Marguerite Roza has a report out on the stimulus and the prospects for school reform. There's a super-helpful chart showing just how much of a difference the money will make to each state's K-12 budget that you'll definitely want to bookmark. Looks like there are a lot of places where it won't make much of a difference.

One of the states that will actually be in the black after the stim, according to Roza: Arkansas. And it sounds like some districts there already are thinking about how they want to use their stimulus funds.

For instance, the Crossett School District would like to purchase handicapped-accessible buses. Apparently, school district officials want to get their contract in as soon as possible because they expect the stim money to ramp up demand for those vehicles. They're also planning to use some of the money to pay tuition for school staff members seeking master's degrees. Good use of the funds or swimming pool? Discuss.

Another district in the Natural State had considered using the money to pay for teaching coaches—one of Ed Sec Arne Duncan's top recommended uses for the funds. But the local board nixed the idea because members are worried about making investments in staff that they won't be able to sustain over the long haul.

If you're looking for a list of Who's Who among the department's political appointees, check out this page on ed.gov, featuring new chief of staff Margot Rogers (and former EdWeek reporter David J. Hoff).

Over at This Week in Education, Alexander Russo ponders the Thelma Melendez appointment—and disses her blog.

And at Flypaper, Mike Petrilli bemoans the fact that there aren't many, or any, former state sups working at the department. Check it out, there's even a picture of Mr. T.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The $4 billion in state fiscal stabilization fund money headed to California is barely going to make a dent in the state's budget mess after voters rejected a package of amendments earlier this week that would have capped state spending and freed up more money for schools.

The state is now facing a $21 billion budget deficit.

The result for K-12 education? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said schools may have to close seven days early this year, and tens of thousands of teachers will be laid off. And if you think it's easy to avoid such draconian cuts, then play this "budget challenge" game from a California nonprofit.

The second round of stabilization fund money, to be awarded this fall, will mean an additional $2 billion for schools. But even after all of this stabilization money is sent to California, the state's budget will hardly be stable. This is very bad news for California schools. Perhaps states that aren't in such deep budget trouble (think Wyoming and Texas) would be willing to forgo their stabilization fund monies. After all, states aren't exactly rushing to the till.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 12:38 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

Have a burning question about the stimulus? You're in luck — Michele and I will be doing a webinar today at 1 p.m. We'll do an overview on the different parts of the law, the guidance that's yet to come, and take your questions. You can watch it all right here on edweek.org. And it's free (although registration is required).

Posted by Alyson Klein at 10:30 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today urged Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to be very picky in determining which states should get money under the Race to the Top fund, a $4.35 billion pot of money created as part of the stimulus package to encourage states to work on teacher distribution, assessments, data-systems, and standards.

Giving a brand-new Secretary of Education broad discretion over such a huge discretionary grant program – privately dubbed Arne’s Slush fund by some during the stimulus debate - was “an amazing act for the Congress but … also a vote of confidence in you,” Miller said at a hearing of the committee, Duncan's first time testifying before the committee.

But, he warned Duncan to hold firm in deciding who gets the grants, only giving them to states that are really serious about enacting reform.

“When you put $5 billion on the table in Washington, D.C., there’s no shortage of people who will have an interest in that agenda, no matter what it is,” Miller said.

He said the department should go for quality over quantity. “I think it would be better to have fewer entities doing more because they can be the pathway, the beacon [to others],” Miller said. “I’m not sure everybody should be able to participate just because there’s so much money.”

There has been speculation in Washington that, given the sorry condition of most state's finances, the department might give a piece of the Race to the Top Funding to almost everyone. I wonder if that's why Miller worked so hard to make it clear that wasn't Congress' intention in creating the program.

Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., the top Republican on the committee, said there are policies on which the administration and GOP lawmakers agree at the 30,000-foot level - such as that there should be more charter schools. But he pressed the Secretary for specifics on how the federal government can encourage their proliferation.

Duncan said he’d be asking states whether they have charter caps in determining who gets those Race to the Top funds. That could set off debate in state legislatures on whether the grants are worth getting into a fight with charter school detractors.

Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., asked Duncan about No Child Left Behind Act's reauthorization, which is supposed to ramp up this year. The Ed Sec gave a pretty vague answer on that one.

“We need to get this right,” Mr. Duncan said. “We have a chance to think blue skies.” He said Congress should keep in place the parts of the law that are working, but fix the parts that aren't. "Let’s not tweak around the edges, let’s fix it. I just want to ask all of you to work with me and really do a much better job of making sure that we do the right thing by children.” So... I’m guessing that means the administration is still working on its NCLB renewal game plan.

And there was definitely a lot of mutual admiration between Duncan and Miller, who many folks say are pretty much on the same page when it comes to K-12 policy. Miller praised Duncan’s work in Chicago and called him a “true disruptor” – Miller’s number one qualification for an Education Secretary.

Duncan thanked Miller for being so helpful in his transition to Washington and for being “an absolute champion” for children. “Thank you for your leadership, your heart and passion … for kids in this country,” Duncan said.

No hugging though.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Judy Wurtzel, who was on leave from the Aspen Institute to serve as a consultant to the Education Department, is in line to take a full-time position under Education Secretary Arne Duncan. She would be the deputy assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy development.

That's according to an email just sent out by the Aspen Institute. UPDATE: And the education department also confirms.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

From guest blogger Kathleen Kennedy Manzo:

In the wake of the demise of the federal Reading First program last year there's been a lot of speculation about when and how the federal government would again attempt to tackle the nation's significant literacy problems. There's been little question about whether there would eventually be a successor to Reading First, which pumped about $6 billion into K-3 reading instruction across the country since 2002.

There's been more discussion of the issue lately (Eduflack outlines his own suggestions here). Now there's a draft bill circulating which details a federal reading effort that would target children of all ages, essentially from birth to high school.

Could this signal that the recent federal hiatus from reading-reform issues, prompted by the controversy over Reading First, might be coming to an end? A Senate aide confirms that there is bipartisan interest in the bill, which reflects the handiwork of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington-based organization that has focused a lot on adolescent literacy. The bill, I'm told, could be introduced after Congress' Memorial Day break.

The proposal holds true to many of the tenets of Reading First, particularly the need for instruction grounded in skills that also builds vocabulary and comprehension. But it goes further in making writing a key component of effective reading instruction, as well as the importance of students' motivation to read.

Reading First drew criticism from many in the field for ignoring those elements. Some other additions might answer some of that criticism as well: There is an expressed emphasis on what are described as "the characteristics of effective literacy instruction." Under that banner students would be exposed to a variety of texts, reading practice, and text-based collaborative learning. Also emphasized are language development, the family's role in building literacy, and the need to build students' interest in reading.

Instructional materials used by grantees in the program would need to be "based on scientifically valid literacy research," the draft says. There's no detail about what that term means, and under Reading First the demand for materials and strategies based on "scientifically based reading research" caused a lot of confusion and was interpreted in different ways. It also led to a lot of commercial products marketed as "research-based" that didn't necessarily meet the standard.

Reading First was also slammed for real or perceived conflicts of interest among federal officials and consultants involved in the program. The draft bill, and new rules instituted at the Ed. Dept. in the wake of the Reading First controversy, try to address those problems.

The proposal, of course, carries a hefty price tag: $2.3 billion.

Do you think the feds should get back into the reading reform business? Does the draft bill address all the key points, and adequately tackle the problems in Reading First?

Posted by at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, the superintendent of the Pomona Unified School District, in California, is being nominated as the new assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, the White House just announced. (UPDATE: Pending Senate confirmation, of course.)

This would make Melendez the top K-12 specialist, in charge of Title I programs and other things No-Child-Left-Behind. She'd be the highest-ranking Hispanic in the department. (UPDATE 2: Reading Alexander Russo's post on Melendez reminded me that Gabrielle Gomez, who is also at the assistant secretary level—for legislative affairs—is also Hispanic.)

Though she's not a big-name superintendent like Washington's Michelle Rhee or New York City's Joel Klein, she's got her own education street creds. She was part of the reform-y Broad Superintendents Academy, in the class of 2006. She worked for 25 years in urban school districts and is known as "Dr. T."

One of her district's high schools, the Village Academy, caught the attention of President Obama after students made a nine-minute, thought-provoking video called "Is Anybody Listening?," which called attention to the economic hardship of local families and students. Obama did listen, and referenced the video and the students in his March 10 education speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. And several days later, he met with the students who made the video.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 4:38 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

The $4-plus-billion Race to the Top fund has a new master: Joanne S. Weiss, a partner and the chief operating officer at the NewSchools Venture Fund.

We’ve heard that Education Secretary Arne Duncan made the announcement today in a speech to the NewSchools Venture Fund via a video link.

Weiss will be in charge of the larger, $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund, which gives grants to states. Jim Shelton will be in charge of the smaller, $635 million Invest in What Works Innovation fund, which will give grants to school districts and nonprofits that make progress in closing the achievement gap.

Alexander Russo of This Week in Education fame is at the NewSchools conference, tweeting away, if you'd like to follow.

And in other education department personnel news, John White, the former spokesman for Prince George's County, Md., school system, is now the department's press secretary.

(Photo credit: Peter Bohler)

Posted by Michele McNeil at 2:33 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has billions in state-stabilization funding burning a hole in his pocket. And he's urging states to apply to pick up their checks before he runs out and spends the cash on extra-long suits and a basketball court for 400 Maryland Ave.

In all seriousness, it sounds like the Education Department is getting a little antsy. After all, the $32.6 billion in state-stabilization money available in the first round was intended to be sent out quickly to help save jobs, stimulate the economy, and restore school programs that might be on the chopping block.

But, according to a statement the department released this morning, just under $13 billion of that money has been allocated.

So far, it has gone to 13 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin. Puerto Rico and another nine states have applied: Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.

Put another way, of the 52 applications that need to be submitted, 29 remain outstanding.

Note that the states in arguably the most dire fiscal straits—California, Florida, and Nevada—are among those that have received their funds. The stragglers include some states in comparatively good financial shape, such as Texas and Wyoming.

So is lack of need the main reason some states are taking their time? That's possible, but hard to imagine in most cases.

Any ideas?

Posted by Alyson Klein at 11:26 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

The school facilities bill that the House Education and Labor Committee approved just a few weeks ago came up for a vote today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As you might expect, it was approved 275 to 155, pretty much on a party-line vote. As you also might expect, the pro-and-con arguments haven't changed much over time.

During the House debate, Republicans worried that Congress is committing itself to yet another education program when it can't seem to fully fund special education and Title I grants to districts, no matter which party is in charge. And, they wondered whether the feds should be financing school facilities at all, especially given the federal prevailing wage law, which they say is too costly.

Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, summed up his side's arguments nicely in a statement today.

The federal government has always maintained a limited role in education, focusing on key academic priorities such as closing achievement gaps between disadvantaged students and their peers and ensuring services for children with disabilities. The construction and renovation of schools are among the most fundamental rights and responsibilities belonging to states and local communities. Federalizing this role is a stunning Washington power grab; something that has become all too familiar in recent months.

And here's Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the committee's chairman:

All students and teachers deserve safe and healthy learning environments, but too often, their schools are literally falling apart. This legislation is a victory for students, workers, and our planet. It will help improve educational opportunities and boost student achievement, it will help transition us toward a green economy by making our classrooms more environmentally friendly, and it will get Americans back to work by creating good-paying, clean-energy jobs.

As we've mentioned, that debate isn't as big a deal in the House of Representatives, where Democrats have a majority. (In the House, the majority pretty much runs the show). That's why the House was able to pass a version of the stimulus package that included $14 billion for school facilities, while the full Senate rejected a similar program.

And the House approved a similar bill last year that never made it to prime time, because the Senate didn't take it up.

Over on the Senate side, it takes 60 votes to get anything through, and some conservative Democrats are skeptical about a federal school facilities program.

That probably won't stop senators from trying. It's possible that Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, the chairman of the subcommittee that funds education and a school facilities fan, could try to get a program into this year's appropriations bill, for example.

But the real test for this bill is in the Senate, not the House.

Check out a summary of the bill here. And if you're not a summary person and want to see the real deal, look here.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The Colorado Senate lost a big education advocate when Peter Groff, that chamber's president, left for a new job with the U.S. Department of Education.

But never fear, ed reformers.

Taking Groff's seat (but not his leadership role) in the State Senate is Michael Johnston, an education adviser to then-candidate Barack Obama. Johnston is the principal of a Denver-area charter school that got a much-publicized visit from Obama (when he was still a candidate.) UPDATE: Thanks to the commenter below, who pointed out that while Mapleton is a choice school within the school district, it's not a charter school.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 5:05 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

After health care, it seems one of the next big things on the Obama agenda is the No Child Left Behind Act.

In an interview about Education Secretary Arne Duncan's cross-country listening tour yesterday, lead spokesman Peter Cunningham told me that the goal is for Duncan and the president to be able to outline their plans in early fall for overhauling federal education policy.

That's if all of the political air doesn't get sucked out of Washington during what's sure to be a contentious and fast-moving debate about health care.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The U.S. Department of Education is changing its tune on whether state stabilization fund money can—and should—be used to pay for new school construction.

In April, the department issued its first round of guidance on the stabilization fund, declaring that new school construction was, indeed, an allowable use of funds (because of a big loophole in the stimulus legislation.) But yesterday, the department backed off. In a big way. Not only is the department discouraging states and school districts from using stabilization fund money for new construction (renovations and repairs are okay), officials strongly hinted that any state or district that does so will be penalized when it comes time for the department to award Race to the Top money.

So what happened between April 1 and now?

Apparently, Republicans have been squawking about the department's guidance for a while, most recently in a meeting last week on a House bill on the 21st Century High Performing Public Schools Act. During the congressional debate on the stimulus package, school construction was a huge bone of contention for most Republicans and some moderate Democrats, who didn't want a big chunk of stimulus money to go for new construction. So a $14 billion (in the House) and $16 billion (in the Senate) line item for new construction got zeroed out.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 5:18 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has a new teacher quality adviser ... and he's got a foot in both the merit pay and union camps.

Brad Jupp is formerly a senior policy adviser to Denver-schools-superintendent-turned-U.S.-Senator Michael Bennet. In that role, he worked on school and district performance improvement and accountability, teacher effectiveness, and school choice, among other issues.

But, before that, Jupp was a teacher and a union activist with the Denver Classroom Teachers Association for 19 years. He helped develop the Professional Compensation System for Teachers (ProComp), Denver's signature alternative pay program.

At the department, Jupp will work on teacher quality issues in the economic stimulus program and in the No Child Left Behind Act.

"He will be the voice of the Department to teachers across the country, gathering input from teachers on ED policy," said John McGrath, a spokesman for the Department in an email. "Brad will also help the Department advance its goal of supporting teachers and promoting teachers as professionals."

Reading between the lines, I'm guessing he might dispatched to replicate what he did in Denver, namely getting the unions on board for a pay-for-performance plan. But that might be a lot trickier inside the Beltway than in the Mile High City.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 4:40 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

The U.S. Department of Education has identified four states that can expect stimulus-related audits by its Office of Inspector General: California, Illinois, New York, and Texas.

The department flagged these four states in its newest weekly report, under a "major planned action." There aren't any more details, except that these will be "initial" audits, and the OIG has been fairly mum on its auditing strategy.

Course, there isn't a whole lot to audit yet. Most money hasn't even made it down to the district level.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

From guest blogger Catherine Gewertz:

If folks in the "high school space" have felt that much of reform's money and attention has been passing them by, their time of longing could be ending.

There have been signs of this already, with all the talk about ensuring high school graduates are college ready, and the focus on "next generation" high school accountability for the anticipated reauthorization of No Child Left Behind—oops, sorry, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Yesterday, a key education voice at the Office of Management and Budget told a high-level Jobs For the Future convening here in Washington that the new, $50 million high school initiative in President Obama's proposed budget shouldn't be judged solely by the relatively paltry amount of seed money requested for its start-up.

"You should see it as a down payment to major commitments and major reforms in high school," Robert Gordon, the OMB's associate director of education, income maintenance and labor, told the group.

When asked later whether changes were needed in Title I rules to ensure that more of the money flows to middle and high schools, Mr. Gordon didn't go into detail, but hinted that the administration was indeed seeking such tweaks.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

From contributing blogger Erik Robelen:

With debate heating up over the future of the federal voucher program for the District of Columbia, a Senate panel has just announced a hearing on the matter for this Wednesday, May 13.

Based on the title: “The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Preserving School Choice for All,” it sounds like the controversial program will get a fairly sympathetic, well, hearing from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. This shouldn’t be too surprising, given the chairman is Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., a longtime proponent of D.C. vouchers.

The hearing comes as President Barack Obama last week unveiled a fiscal 2010 budget that proposes to continue voucher funding for students already in the program—effectively grandfathering them in—but not funding any new students. This approach seems likely to frustrate both the program’s critics and supporters.

A quick scan of the invite list for Sen. Lieberman’s hearing suggests a lot of sympathetic voices will be testifying, including former D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams. As far as I can tell, it looks like no outright opponents of the program will take part. Funny, the invite to Randi Weingarten and Dennis Van Roekel must have gotten lost in the cybermail.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

At a Brookings Institution event today, Education Secretary Arne Duncan put aside a lot of the rhetoric he's been pushing lately on the "Race to the Top" to focus on those languishing at the bottom.

He seems to want to direct our attention to a less-talked-about pot of money—the $3 billion in Title I funding that's set aside as school improvement grants for the lowest performing schools. Coupled with $1.5 billion in the fiscal 2010 federal budget, that means low-performing schools have available to them almost as much as is in the $5 billion Race to the Top fund, he told the packed crowed.

Duncan wants to target the lowest 1 percent of schools—those schools where student achievement hasn't improved in years—to be eligible for new staff and leadership. In fact, he seems intent on seeing 5,000 of the nation's worst schools closed and reopened within five years.

That may be an ambitious goal. After all, the new Coalition for Student Achievement (made up of leaders from the Broad and Gates foundations, along with other education advocates) declared that a measure of success would be whether 500 schools are closed by 2012.

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

The Obama administration has proposed cutting 12 programs from the Department of Education's budget, for a savings of $550.7 million. By contrast, in his fiscal year 2009 budget, President George W. Bush sought to scrap 47 Education Department programs (such as Even Start, and EdTech state grants) for a potential savings of $3.3 billion. But, as then-President Bush discovered, proposing those cuts and actually getting Congress to go along are two different things.

Let's look at the programs on the chopping block this time around. Notice that the department plans to keep many of the concepts of these programs (like character education) but absorb them into other programs.

Safe and Drug-Free Schools State Grants: According to the department, this program has not demonstrated effectiveness. Money would be better spent for targeted school safety and drug prevention education activities. The Office of Management and Budget, in its performance-based budget rating system, has not quite declared the program ineffective, but instead says that results have not been demonstrated. This means the program either hasn't set goals, or hasn't collected enough data to determine if it's performing. Savings: $294.8 million.

Even Start: This family literacy program is one of the more high-profile cuts, and may face the biggest barriers. The education department points out that three separate national studies find no benefit to the program. OMB rates Even Start ineffective. Savings: $66.5 million.

College Access Challenge Grants: The department wants to eliminate this program, which helps increase the number of underrepresented students in higher education, in favor of its own, much bigger, "better structured", $2.5 billion College Access and Completion Fund. Seems like a name change to me. (The program wasn't evaluated by OMB.) Savings: $66 million.

Mentoring: This program that provides grants to school districts and community-based organizations for mentoring at-risk youth was found to be ineffective, according to a recent evaluation conducted by the Institute for Education Sciences. OMB declared it duplicative of other programs. Savings: $48.5 million.

Civic Education: This program provides non-competitive grants for the We the People civics education course and for exchange programs. The department says it will replace this with a broader, competitive grant program. OMB hasn't evaluated this program. Savings: $33.5 million.

Character Education: Eliminates funding to states and school districts for character education, instead wrapping it into a new initiative that's part of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools national program, not to be confused with the state program that's getting the ax. OMB hasn't evaluated this program. Savings: $11.9 million.

Ready to Teach: Eliminates funding for TV programming that helps improving teaching in core curricular areas. OMB hasn't evaluated this one either. Savings: $10.7 million.

Javits Gifted and Talented: Read more about this over at the On Special Education blog. Savings: $7.5 million.

National Institute for Literacy: The department wants to cut this nearly 20-year-old program for demonstrating "little success" in providing national leadership on literacy issues (its mission). The OMB said this institute overlaps with the duties of other federal agencies. Savings: $6.5 million.

Academies for American History and Civics: The department says this program, which makes "3 or 4 awards" annually to support workshops for teachers, is too small to make any real difference. And apparently too small for OMB to bother evaluating. Savings: $1.9 million.

Close Up Fellowships: Provides funding for low-income students and teachers to visit Washington, D.C. The department says the foundation that runs the fellowship doesn't need taxpayer money because it gets plenty from the private sector. Not evaluated by OMB. Savings: $1.9 million.

Foundations for Learning: The program is too small for its broad mission of helping to promote the emotional, behavioral, and social development of at-risk kids, the department says. Plus, other parts of the budget address these issues. OMB hasn't evaluated this one either. Savings: $1 million.

Total Savings: $550.7 million.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 11:28 AM | Permalink | 3 Comments | Recommend

Dianne Piche, the executive director of the Citizens Commission on Civil Rights, is headed to the department of education as the deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Civil Rights.

She belongs to the more reform-y wing of the Democratic Party, is a friend of the Democrats for Education Reform, and a supporter of the Education Equality Project. According to her official bio, she's represented students in desegregation case in St. Louis and Fort Wayne, Ind. and has also been an advisor to congressional committees, including the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.

Piche, an attorney, will be working for Russlynn Ali, who is that office's assistant secretary.

(Photo credit: Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights.)

Posted by Michele McNeil at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As I guessed earlier this week, this is all a little less exciting than it usually is, just because so much got done in the stimulus package.

But here are some highlights:

The Title I district grant program is slated to get $12.9 billion, which is actually a little bit lower than the $14.49 billion the program got in fiscal year 2009. Of course, it also received $10 billion in the stimulus.

At first glance, it looks like some of the difference may be due to the fact that Title I dollars have been diverted to some other purposes, including what looks like two brand new Title I programs: $500 million for Early Childhood grants, and $300 million for an Early Learning Challenge Fund. There's also an additional $50 million for a high school graduation initiative.

UPDATE: School districts are not happy about this. “The dollar amounts that districts build [their budgets] off of has been cut in the President’s budget,” said Mary Kusler, the assistant director of advocacy and policy for the American Association of School Administrators in Arlington, Va. “Districts have already budgeted these dollars. Districts will have to rethink their [stimulus] funds to potentially covering a shortfall in Title I, lessening the potential impact of [the stimulus].”

Special education state grants are slated to get $11.5 billion, the same level as in fiscal year 2009. The program also got $11.3 billion in the stimulus.

The Improving Teacher Quality State grants are slated for $2.9 billion. And it looks like the Teacher Incentive Fund may get a huge boost, bigger than the Bush administration may even have dreamed of. The budget proposes $717 million for the program, which I'm guessing includes the $200 million approved under the stimulus. But that's still a big increase from just under $100 million in fiscal year 2009.

The budget proposes $1.16 billion for career and technical state grants, which is pretty much level-funding from fiscal year 2009. Two major college-prep programs, TRIO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate programs, were also level-funded at $905 million and $313 million, respectively.

There's also a huge boost for school improvement grants to help schools struggling to meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act. That program, which was financed at $606 million in fiscal year 2009, got an extra $1 billion, plus another $3 billion in the stimulus, for a grand total of $4.6 billion.

If you want the fun of pouring through the budget documents yourself, the Education Department's Web site is happy to oblige.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 5:09 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan snagged himself an invitation to the White House Correspondents' Association annual black-tie dinner, on May 9.

His date? CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric.

While many news organizations and reporters want big name celebrities as their guests—in fact, Jon Bon Jovi, Ben Affleck, John Cusack are on the guest list for Saturday night's shindig—it seems Arne is celebrity enough for Katie! After all, he practically opened for Neko Case, and made Rolling Stone's Top 100 people who are changing America.

(Photo credit: Gaas/AP)

Posted by Michele McNeil at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Yesterday it was Even Start. Earlier this morning it was gifted education.

Now the White House has announced a few more education programs that it would like to see Congress scrap in the fiscal year 2010 budget.

The list includes: Civic Education, which received about $33 million in fiscal year 2009. That program pays for the We the People program, which, ironically, got a lot of kids I talked to in Indiana interested in volunteering for President Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

The budget also proposes getting rid of the $2 million Close-Up fellowships, which provide grants for students to visit Washington, and the $2 million Academies for History and Civics, which provide intensive workshops for teachers and students in those subjects.

Also on the hit list:

-Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities State Grants: a $295 million program that the administration doesn't think is well designed. Instead, officials want to hike funding for the Safe and Drug free schools national program, which they think is more effective

- Foundations for Learning, a $1 million program aimed at providing mental health service to at-risk kids. Apparently, it's just too small to make much of an impact

- The National Institute for Literacy, a $6 million program that promotes adult literacy. The White House thinks that should be the job of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education

- The Ready to Teach program, an $11 million program which doles out grants to telecommunications entities to develop educational video programming. Apparently, the administration thinks that eligibility criteria is too limiting. Instead, the administration is proposing a brand new $5 million program called Digital Professional Development, which will make funds available a wider range of folks. No word yet on just who though.

- Student Mentoring Program, $47 million. The administration thinks this duplicates the work of other programs.

- Character Education, a $12 million that apparently doesn't have much of an effect student outcomes

And in addition to getting rid of that Paris representative, the administration wants to eliminate the Education Secretary's Regional Representatives, which help with outreach and program implementation. That will save $2 million.

For more reductions and eliminations, check out the White House Office of Management and Budget's Web site.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

President Obama's budget to be released Thursday will propose eliminating the $66 million Even Start family literacy program, which apparently hasn't done very well on performance evaluations.

Advocates for early childhood education shouldn't take this to mean that Obama doesn't care about their issue, White House aides were quick to point out.

"The President's commitment to early childhood education is well known," a senior White House aide told reporters on a conference call earlier today. "We're not going to hold back on eliminating programs simply because of their intentions."

Obama might have an uphill battle on this one. President Bush also tried to scrap the program, but its congressional champions keep restoring the funding. Will those folks have more qualms about bucking a Democratic President instead of a Republican? We'll see.

Even Start is just one of some 120 programs that are slated for the chopping block in tomorrow's budget proposal. Top administration aides said the reductions will save $17 billion, which sounds like a lot of money, but really isn't in the context a $3.5 trillion budget.

Aides mentioned just one other Education Department that they've decided is extraneous: that attaché to Paris we've already mentioned. Apparently, the White House agrees with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that video-conferencing to Paris will work just as well.

My guess is there are at least a few more Education Department programs on the chopping block (the $8.8 million Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners Program comes to mind).

But we won't know for sure until Thursday.

UPDATE: The $7 million Javits Gifted and Talented Education program is slated for elimination in Obama's budget. The Office of Management and Budget justified the decision, saying that the grants only go out to 15 school districts. Bush also tried to slash that program, but had no luck.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 8:03 PM | Permalink | 6 Comments | Recommend

So it looks like President Obama is going to propose extending the D.C. voucher program, just for the kids currently enrolled, in his fiscal year 2010 budget, to be released tomorrow.

Politically, it's probably a smart move. The administration will avoid stories and commentaries about kids, including a couple of Sasha and Malia's classmates at Sidwell Friends School, getting booted from their desks.

But it should put an interesting twist on the debate over reauthorizing the voucher program. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an Independent Democrat from Connecticut, has said he will hold hearings on whether or not to renew the program, which is set to sunset this year.

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Politics K-12 imagines that the communication between the President and former South Carolina education chief Inez Tenenbaum regarding her nomination to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission read something like this:

Dear Inez Tenenbaum,

Thanks so much for serving on my education advisory team during the campaign, and especially for being an early supporter when practically everybody else thought Hillary was going to win.

Sorry I selected Arne to head up the education department, and not you. His jumpshot is dramatically better than yours.

But as a token of my appreciation, you get to make sure that Barbie's hair is flame resistant.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

Posted by Michele McNeil at 1:14 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

President Obama's proposed federal budget, the real one, with numbers and everything this time, is likely to come out any day now.

Usually, folks in Washington are on pins-and-needles waiting for this document, which lays out how much the administration thinks should be spent on federal programs.

It includes everything from a bottom-line number for the U.S. Department of Education to spending levels for programs from Title I (which got about $14 billion in fiscal year 2009) to the Javits Gifted Education program (which got just under $7.5 million).

You might recall that, a couple of months ago, Obama put out a preliminary version of this budget plan, which gave top-line numbers for agencies and proposed some new programs, but for the most part, avoided the nitty-gritty.

His proposal would fund the U.S. Department of Education at $46.7 billion in the next fiscal year. That figure doesn’t take into account $81 billion for the Education Department under the economic-stimulus package or a major budgetary change for the Pell Grant program for college students.

In this more fleshed out budget, the administration will tell us just how much it thinks should be spent on some of Obama's new proposals (like Promise Neighborhoods, which are supposed to mirror the Harlem Children's Zone). We might also see other new proposals, such as a possible successor to Reading First, which Congress zeroed out in fiscal year 2009.

And Obama's budget proposal, which will also outline spending for other departments that deal with education, including the Department of Health and Human Services, will give us an idea of which programs the new administration would like to eliminate. I wouldn't expect him to propose scrapping as many programs as President George W. Bush did. (Bush put 47 Ed. Dept. programs on the chopping block in fiscal year 2009.)

But a lot of the major work on this year's budget, is well...basically done. Educators are usually most interested in whether there will be significant increases to Title I and special education, two of the largest chunks of the department's discretionary budget. But those were already approved as part of the $115 billion for education in the economic stimulus package.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

So if you were following the behind-the-scenes drama of the creation of the stimulus bill, you may remember that a specially dedicated fund just for school facilities, a huge priority for President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress, was stripped out at the last minute to gain the support of some moderate lawmakers.

Apparently, those folks were worried about creating a brand-new government program when the feds have trouble funding the ones that already exist (special education and Title I).

In the end, the stimulus included some tax incentives for school construction, and it permitted districts to use a portion of their state stabilization for school facilities. But some school districts weren't very happy with the compromise.

Proponents of more funding for school facilities, including some powerful Democrats such as Rep. George Miller of California, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who heads up the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education spending, argued that the program would have been a win-win-win (spur the economy, create "greener" schools that will save money over the long haul, and bolster student achievement).

Now it looks like those folks haven't given up on the idea of more resources for school facilities. On Wednesday, the House Education and Labor Committee is going to consider a bill that would authorize over $6 billion for modernization, renovation, and repair projects. A similar bill passed the House last year. Read more about it here.

The bill will most likely pass both the committee and the full House of Representatives, in which Democrats hold a majority.

The big question is what will happen in the Senate, where it's much trickier to push through legislation. That chamber didn't even bother to take up the House-passed bill in the last Congress.

Now, will Democratic leaders, with the White House and a bolstered majority, have the clout to get a school modernization program enacted into law? It remains to be seen, but if there's pushback, it's just as likely to come from conservative and moderate Democrats in the Senate as Republicans.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 12:09 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

Get to know Arne Duncan a little bit better by checking out these good reads:

In a Jan. 8 ethics letter posted at the ProPublica journalism Web site, you can see Duncan declaring that once he's secretary, he'll give up his unpaid consulting position with the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and other involvement in groups including the Harvard University Board of Overseers, Illinois Center Against Handgun Violence, and the South Side YMCA. (H-T to Russo.)

And in his financial disclosure required when he was nominated for secretary, you'll see that Duncan has socked away plenty of money for his two kids for college.

More recently, in a round-up of his own 100 days in office, Duncan and his staff write mostly about the stimulus package, but also note that he's done at least 68 media interviews since Jan. 21 (which probably doesn't even count his Neko Case appearance!) The report also notes that in addition to eliminating its Paris office and requiring employees to share printers, the department is saving money by reducing travel within the secretary's office and eliminating unnecessary videoconferencing equipment. Also, Duncan reports that he has taken steps to change the department's internal culture, from asking people to call him "Arne" to dining in the building's cafeteria.

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