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Federal Legislation
Congress takes close
look at abstinence-only
Earlier this month, Congress
held the first-ever hearings on the failures of
abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The Committee on Oversight
and
Government
Reform heard from scientists, clinicians, researchers and youth
activists.
In his
opening statement, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) said: The statistics
are shocking. A few weeks ago, the CDC released data showing that
one in four teenage
girls in the U.S. has a sexually
transmitted infection. 30% of all American girls become
pregnant before the age of 20; for African-American
and Latina girls,
the rate is 50%. And thousands of teenagers and young adults in the United
States become infected with HIV
each year. If we're serious about responding to these
challenges, we must base our policy on the best available science
and evidence, not ideology.
PTA
Applauds Education Secretary's Pilot Program Parent Involvement
Critical to Program's
Success
CHICAGO
(March 19, 2008) - PTA applauds Secretary Spellings' creation of a
differentiated accountability system pilot program. As the
Secretary noted in her speech yesterday, not all struggling schools
are alike and many states have identified a wide range of schools in
need of improvement. A tiered system will allow states to
target resources based on the type of interventions a school needs
and the intensity of those interventions.
As
flexibility is given to schools, accountability must not be
lessened, especially with regard to the notice requirements and
parent involvement provisions of the ESEA-NCLB. PTA
appreciates the Secretary's inclusion of "timely and transparent"
information to the public as one of the eligibility requirements for
the pilot program. PTA believes it is imperative that parents
know exactly why their child's school is failing, what the state is
doing about it, and the options available to parents'-presented in a
very clear and understandable format and a timely
manner.
Increased, meaningful and substantive engagement of
parents and families is critical to the success of any school
intervention. Studies have documented that regardless of the
economic, ethnic, or cultural background of the family, parent and
family involvement in a child's education is a major factor in
determining achievement in school. Successful parent and family
involvement strategies vary from region to region, school to school
and this flexibility needs to be supported by the law.
PTA asks Secretary Spellings to require all interventions
approved under the differentiated accountability pilot program to
provide opportunities for parents to be a part of decisions
affecting school improvements. Whether that involves being an
integral part of developing a schools' parental involvement plan or
evaluating proposed changes in curriculum, parents provide an
invaluable perspective and need to be included in making these
decisions.
Furthermore, schools must be an essential part of
a community, working cooperatively to build partnerships within the
community in order for the school to be more successful. Businesses
and community groups need to be engaged and gain a renewed stake in
every child's education. The differentiated accountability pilot
program can support that engagement by providing incentives to
encourage school-community partnerships. Successful school
involvement plans include meaningful parent involvement and
community outreach and partnerships.
Adequate funding must be
provided so all schools may carry out the provisions of
ESEA-NCLB. We must support the progress of all schools towards
meeting proficiency goals by and not divert limited resources in the
name of targeting. Moreover, we must ensure that the focus on
mathematics, reading, and, eventually, science does not cause a
narrowing of the curriculum. It is important that art, music, and
history not be sacrificed in the name of academic achievement in
areas more amenable to standardized testing.
President Bush Proposes FY 2009
Budget
On Monday, February 4th, President George W. Bush sent his eighth
annual budget proposal to Congress, seeking to increase the budget
to $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2009 (FY09). The president's budget
would increase the federal deficit by nearly $250 billion while
making substantial cuts in areas ranging from education, health
care, disease control, and environmental protection to emergency
responders, and low-income heating assistance.
Bush proposes to
extend most of the tax cuts enacted in 2001and 2003 and add new tax
cuts on top. According to analysis by Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities the president's budget would enlarge
deficits by a total of $547 billion in fiscal years 2008-2013, or
$397 billion not counting the economic stimulus package moving
through Congress (see second article in the January 30
issue
of
This Week in
Washington for more
information on the economic stimulus proposals).
As stated in his
State of
the Union Address before Congress last week, Bush has
proposed eliminating or reducing 151 programs as wasteful or
inefficient, for a savings of $18 billion in FY09. 47
education programs would be eliminated for nearly $3.3
billion, along with a sharp reduction for an additional 11 programs
totaling $720 million. |
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Features of the Department of
Education budget include:
- Title I Basic Grants to School
Districts – $6.6 billion: no increase from FY08
- Title I Concentration Grants –$1.4 billion: no
increase from FY08:
- Title I Targeted Grants – $3.4 billion: increase of
$406 million
- School Improvement Grants – $491 million: no
increase from FY08
- Pell Grants for Kids – $300 million: new national voucher program
- Reading First – $1.1 billion: restoration to near
FY07 funding
- Improving Teacher Quality – $2.8 billion; reduction
of $100 million
- Safe and Drug Free State Grants – $100 million;
reduction of $195 million
- 21st Century Learning Opportunities (after-school
programming) – $800 million; reduction of $281 million
- Special Education – $12.3 billion; increase of $342
million
- Pell Grants (Higher Education) – increase of maximum
award to $4,310
Programs proposed
for elimination include:
- Arts in Education
- Career and Technical Education National Programs
- Career and Technical Education State Grants
- Education Technology State Grants
- Even Start
- Parent Information and Resource
Centers
- Physical Education
- Reading is Fundamental
- Tech Prep Education State Grants
At a Department of Education briefing Monday,
officials indicated many of the eliminations and cuts were the
result of programs being deemed "ineffective"; and that a better
option is putting more money directly in the hands of students.
Also, they stated that a number of programs had "accomplished the
goals they were created for,"; therefore do not need additional
funding.
A summary and in-depth details of the education budget
is available at the Department of
Education website. The President's full budget
proposal can be viewed through the Office of Management and
Budget..
In
the President’s State of the Union Address, January 28th, 2008, he
brought forward a school voucher proposal that he called “Pell
Grants for Kids.” In response to this $300 million voucher
proposal, the PTA National President has issued the following
statement.
Arlene Zielke, Fed. Leg.
Counsultant
January 29, 2008
United
States
Senate
United
States House of
Representatives
Washington,
DC
Dear
Members of Congress:
The National PTA, comprising millions of
parents, teachers, students, and other child advocates, is firmly
opposed to President
Bush’s proposal for “Pell Grants for Kids”, a national
voucher program that deprives public schools of critically needed
taxpayer funds by diverting those funds to private schools with no
taxpayer or educational accountability. Public funding for
education needs to support and improve our nation’s public
schools.
In one breath, Mr. Bush called for the
reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), saying that
we must “work together to increase accountability, add flexibility
for states and districts, reduce the number of dropouts, provide
extra help for struggling schools.” In the next breath, Mr.
Bush called for the diversion of $300 million dollars in taxpayer
funds to support schools that are not accountable to the public,
have no requirements for teacher quality, and show no evidence of
improving student achievement. This seems contradictory, at
best.
Vouchers benefit few students while taking
scarce resources away from those who need it the most.
Vouchers take money away from public schools, where 90 percent of
all school-age children are enrolled, and give it to private
schools. Public schools must meet federal state and local
standards in a broad variety of areas including teacher
qualifications, core curriculum and student achievement, and report
their status to elected school boards and the taxpaying
public. Private schools have no public accountability for the
expenditure of public funds. Public schools must demonstrate
student achievement and progress. Private schools are not
required to demonstrate anything. Students receiving vouchers
are not required to take core subjects such as reading, math,
history, and science much less demonstrate proficiency in these core
subjects. Private schools are not required to have “highly
qualified” teachers or even meet minimal state teacher
qualifications. Private schools are not required to make
Adequate Yearly Progress.
The “choice” in “choice programs” lies with
private school administrators, not with parents. Supporters of
vouchers claim that they give choice to parents; that is not the
case. Vouchers will not ensure parental “choice.”
Private and religious schools may deny applications for enrollment
for any reason. Furthermore, private schools are not required to
follow the parental involvement provisions of NCLB, a provision that
Congress embraced heartily just a few short years
ago.
There is no strong evidence that voucher
programs—whether funded directly, or indirectly through education
tax subsidies—improve student achievement. In fact, a
recent study by the Department of Education shows that public school
students do as well or better than their private school counterparts
in 4th grade math and reading and in 8th grade
math on the National Assessment of Education
Progress.
Americans have consistently rejected
vouchers, both in surveys and in referendums. What’s more,
Congress has consistently rejected voucher proposals just like the
President’s most recent proposal.
If we are serious about keeping America
competitive, we must be equally serious about our support of
education. If we want student achievement to continue to rise,
high-school graduation and college enrollment to increase, and the
student drop-out rate to decrease, there is no better investment
than public education. Children succeed when families, schools
and communities work together. Together, we can make every
child’s potential a reality.
If National PTA can provide you with any
further information or assistance, please contact Todd Haiken ,
Acting Manager of Public Policy, at 202-289-6790
or thaiken@pta.org.
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT DEEMS NCLB “Unfunded
Mandate”
School districts in Michigan, Texas and Vermont and 9 state affiliates of
the National Education Association brought a lawsuit against the US
Department of Education challenging how the federal No Child Left
Behind law is funded.
The Sixth Circuit Federal Appeals Court ruled that the
federal government was in violation of the Spending Clause of the US
Constitution for not providing clear notice as to who bears the
additional costs of compliance.
The District Court sent the suit back to the
lower court and reversed the lower courts ruling arguing that the
Spending Clause of the Constitution requires Congress to give states
clear notice of their financial liabilities when they accept federal
financing that may fall short of the full costs of complying with
requirements from Washington. Sec. Spellings’ response
“The federal government is exploring all legal options
available. This
decision could undermine efforts to improve the education of our
nation’s children, in particular those students most in
need.”
The ruling does not mean that states and
local school districts no longer have to comply with NCLB. The immediate effect of the
ruling is that states and local school districts are not required to
comply with the requirements of NCLB that are not paid for by the
federal government. If
a state or district chooses to continue to accept federal money, it
must still comply with the NCLB requirements for which there is
federal funding.
2008 FEDERAL EDUCATION FUNDING
Discretionary funding for the Department of
Education is 2.9 percent over fiscal year 2007 but is significantly
below the $3.2 billion (5.5 percent) additional funding reported in
a Conference Report. It
provides an increase of 9.2% for Title l programs but provides less
than inflation level increases for IDEA and other programs. An across the board 1.75%
cut to all programs will have the greatest impact on programs that
would have received the same level of funding in 2007. The same level of funding as
in 2007 will mean that programs must contend with inflation in the
cost of services. The
across the board cut will cause programs to receive even fewer
dollars.
Arlene Zielke, Federal Legislation
Consultant
Wil-lene@sbcglobal.net
708-385-8562
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