Engaging Parents: A PIRC Best Practice Guide

On Wednesday, at the 2007 National Parental Information and Resource Center (PIRC) Conference in Baltimore, MD, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released Engaging Parents in Education, a best practice guide that profiles five PIRCs that are representative of how they and their partnering organizations can increase parental involvement in education.

The guide emphasizes the critical role that parents play under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and recognizes that getting the right resources and information to parents is a difficult task. That is why, according to the report, Congress created PIRCs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The first 28 PIRCs were funded by ED in 1995 and the role of the PIRCs has grown since then, helping state educational agencies and others implement NCLB’s parental involvement mandates. The most recent PIRC award cycle funds one PIRC per state with the requirement that the grantee serve parents and educators across the state. These grants also have considerable focus on parental understanding of NCLB, hence the issuance of this best practices manual.

To learn more about this issue please visit: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2007/08/08012007.html

Resources:
“Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education Announces New Guide for Engaging Parents in Education,” U.S. Department of Education, Press Releases, August 1, 2007.
Author: DAD

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Miller on NCLB

On Monday, July 30, 2007, Representative George Miller, the Chairman of the House of Committee on Education and Labor, spoke about the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) at the National Press Club. To view an edited version of the speech, click here.

Chairman Miller is an original architect of the law and has been one of its most outspoken supporters. NCLB, he stated, has brought positive change to the nation’s education system, but all is not well with the law. “Americans have a sense that NCLB is not fair, flexible and not funded. And they are not wrong,” said Chairman Miller. To secure the benefits of the law and to make sure it is fair, flexible and funded, Chairman Miller laid out six guiding principles for the bill that his Committee on Education and Labor is drafting and will likely introduce in September:

1. Fairness & Flexibility
• Base school progress on more than single test results;
• Ensure that all students in all schools have access to a broad, rich curriculum;
• Add growth models to the law, building on the pilot effort started by Secretary Spellings;
• Allow the use of additional valid and reliable measures to assess student learning and school performance. This is especially important for English language learners and students with disabilities who should be given tests that are fair and appropriate;
• Increase resources so states can develop better tests.
2. Rich and Challenging Educational Environment
• Encourage employers and colleges to come together as stakeholders with the states to jointly develop more rigorous standards;
• Require that assessments be fully aligned with these new state standards;
• Use multiple measures to gauge student progress (academics, critical thinking, teamwork).
3. Support Teachers and Principals
• Ensure that poor and minority students are taught by teachers with expertise in the subjects they are teaching;
• Provide performance pay for principals and teachers based on fair and proven models, teacher mentoring, teacher career ladders, and improved working conditions;
• Provide incentives that will help bring top teacher talent into the classrooms.
4. Hold Schools Accountable for Student Progress
• Distinguish among different schools and the challenges facing them, as well as their needs for addressing those challenges;
• Allow schools with specific problems in specific areas to use instructional interventions that are appropriate to their needs;
• Give high priority schools more intensive support and assistance;
• Recognize schools that are excelling.
5. Improve the Nation’s High Schools
• Include comprehensive steps to turn around low-performing middle and high schools;
• Include uniform standards for measuring graduation rates that are fair, accurate, reliable, and will do more to keep students in school;
• Work towards preparing students for college and/or entering workforce;
• Reward successful schools, sustain them, build on them and bring them to scale.
6. Invest in Schools
• Increased funding for education;
• Strategic investment for assessment methods and data systems.

The drafting of these principles will be as challenging as building bi-partisan political support for the bill. The committee’s ranking member, Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), made clear in a follow-up statement that House Republicans will not be very cooperative in the process. “Changes to the law that weaken any of these three pillars of NCLB – accountability, flexibility and parental choice – will be met with strong opposition from House Republicans and are likely to be a fatal blow to the reauthorization process.” To be sure, these sound like partisan campaign fighting words.

Chairman Miller’s principles will be central to the reauthorization debates and we will examine the influences, implications and likelihood of each element in the coming weeks.

Resources:
“NCLB Speech: Chairman George Miller (Edited Version),” EdLaborDemocrats, YouTube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PctbxKrYodY.
“Chairman Miller on NCLB: Maintain Accountability in Schools and Make the Law Fair, Flexible, and Funded,” Committee on Education and Labor, July 30, 2007, http://edworkforce.house.gov/.
McKeon Statement on NCLB Reauthorization, Committee on Education and Labor, Republicans, Press Release, July 30, 2007, http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=222.
Author: DAD

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Congress Passes SCHIP Expansion

Last Thursday, the Senate passed an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance program (SCHIP), by a vote of 68-31. S. 976 expands SCHIP by $35 billion over five years to cover an additional 3 million low-income children, paid for by an increase in federal taxes on cigarettes. The House passed a $47 billion five-year SCHIP expansion on Wednesday, by a vote of 225-204. Both proposals are facing a veto threat from the White House but, unlike the House, the Senate seems to have the necessary votes to override the President. Yet, before the President plays a role, the two bills must go to conference where Congressional negotiators need to iron out the large differences between the two measures.

The Senate bill contains a $.61 increase on cigarette taxes, bringing them to an even $1. The House proposes a smaller increase of only $.45, but also includes spending cuts for Medicare Advantage, a program in which private managed-care plans provide benefits to seniors in place of the government. The cuts in the House bill would raise $157 billion over 10 years that, along with the tobacco tax increase, will pay for the increased expansion. Many Senate Republicans who voted in favor of S. 976 say that they will not vote for a bill that includes cuts to Medicare Advantage. At the same time, Southern Democrats in the House are reluctant to approve a larger tax increase. Both sides need to find a compromise that can pass through both chambers.

Once the bill clears conference, the President will remain the final hurdle before the expansion can go into effect. The White House called for a $5 billion expansion and has voiced opposition to the large increases proposed on Capitol Hill. While the Senate vote indicates it will have the 60 votes necessary to override a veto, the House fell far short of the 290 votes required to fight off a veto. If the conference report is able to pull in the additional votes in the House, conferees run the risk of alienating too many Republicans in the Senate, thereby taking away their ability to fend off a Presidential veto. Lawmakers will likely do some pre-conference work during the August recess, so that the conference report can go to both chambers for final approval sometime in September.

Resources:
Alex Wayne, “Tough Negotiations Ahead on Children’s Health Care Expansion, Medicare,” CQ Today, August 2, 2007.
George Cahlink, “Senate Approves SCHIP With Veto-Proof Majority,” Congress Now, August 2, 2007.
Jennifer Bendery, “House Passes SCHIP, but Without Veto-Proof Margin,” Congress Now, August 1, 2007.
Author: SAS

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Congress Sends Lobbying Overhaul to President’s Desk

Congress passed the first major lobbying and ethics reform legislation this week. S. 1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, passed through both chambers with large bipartisan report (83-14 in the Senate and 411-8 in the House). Many Republicans criticized the bill for not going far enough to end the private and often unethical practices on Capitol Hill, but after a year and a half of failed legislation after the public downfall of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, even critics feel this is a step in the right direction.

Under the bill:

• Earmark sponsors have to be identified, and the earmark information must be posted in a publicly available database at least 48 hours before any votes on the provisions;
• Members of Congress, as well as presidential candidates, have to start paying the equivalent of charter fares for rides on private planes;
• Members and their staffs are barred from accepting gifts from lobbyists;
• Congressional and presidential candidates are required to report when lobbyists arranged donations and delivered them as bundled contributions once the bundles reach $15,000 during a six-month period;
• Senators may still place anonymous holds on nominations and legislation, but the cloak of anonymity could dissolve after six days with the unanimous consent of the Senate;
• Committee chairmen are required to identify any “congressionally directed spending item,” limited tax benefit or limited trade benefit; and
• The majority leader or parliamentarian would identify “dead of night” provisions added to conference reports that were not passed in either the House or Senate version of the underlying legislation.

Nearly a year and a half after the Abramoff scandal, this legislation marks the first advanced step toward lobbying and ethics reform. Both the House and Senate adopted certain rules for their own proceedings, but these rules do not constitute federal law. As such, this bill is lauded as the most significant institutional overhaul effort in more than a generation. S. 1 now heads to the White House for the President’s signature.

Resources:
Bart Jansen, “Changes Already a Topic for Just-Cleared Lobbying and Ethics Measure,” CQ Today, August 2, 2007.
Tory Newmyer, “Senate Passes Ethics Reform; Measure Moves to White House for Signature,” Congress Now, August 2, 2007.
Author: SAS

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Congress Passes Competitiveness Conference Report

On Thursday, the House passed the conference report for H.R. 2272, the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science (America COMPETES) Act, by a vote of 367-57. Although the White House expressed concerns over the funding authorized in the bill, which conferees reported out on Tuesday, Congressional leaders expect President Bush to sign the omnibus legislation.

H.R. 2272 contains provisions from S. 761, H.R. 362, H.R. 363, H.R. 1068, H.R. 1867 and H.R. 1868, all of which passed through at least one chamber of Congress earlier this year. The omnibus package provides $33 billion over the next three years to support 25,000 new math and science teachers through professional development and graduate education assistance. The bill also authorizes grants to support baccalaureate degrees in math and science with concurrent teacher certification, and establishes a public-private partnership with the business community to identify high-needs fields. Additionally it supports federal research through the National Science Foundation, Energy Department and the National Institute on Standards and Technology.

Republicans criticized the “excessive” spending levels and the manner in which the Democratic leadership moved the report through both chambers. Normal Congressional proceedings require that a conference report be available for review for three legislative days before coming to the floor for a final vote. H.R. 2272’s conference report was available for fewer than 48 hours. That did not sit well with many Republican leaders. Despite those reservations, the bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and President Bush is expected to sign the bill.

Resources:
Jennifer Bendery, “House Approves Competitiveness Conference Report,” Congress Now, August 2, 2007.
Kathryn A. Wolfe, “House Completes Work on Math and Science ‘Competitiveness’ Measure,” CQ Today, August 2, 2007.
Author: SAS

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H.R. 3253: Longitudinal Student Data

On July 31, Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced H.R. 3253, Measuring and Evaluating Trends for Reliability, Integrity and Continued Success Act (METRICS). The bill would provide grants to states to create, maintain and utilize longitudinal student data systems capable of tracking student academic progress over time. The bill also calls for the establishment of a national data center to serve as a central repository for state education and safety data.

The bill text is not yet available, but there are three notable points. First, the longitudinal data systems would be used to evaluate the effect of teacher preparation on student achievement. The use of student longitudinal academic data to measure teacher effectiveness is an emerging topic on Capitol Hill. This is, in part, due to
the active lobbying of the Aspen Institute’s Commission on No Child Left Behind, the Education Trust and others who are eager to see the growing volume of academic data linked to some kind of analysis of teacher effectiveness. How this would be done in a valid, reliable way is the life of the debate, and it is a topic that has has captured the attention of many in Washington.

Second, the bill seeks to determine the value added effectiveness of specific schools and programs. This suggests that the data-marts for the METRICS system would be far more comprehensive than just academic data. A value added analysis requires that the state educational agency is able to isolate a single data point from multiple data points, and that assumes a data system that manages and extracts multiple points in a valid manner. This is noteworthy because such a system would likely require years to develop.

Third, the bill calls for the establishment of a national data center for serve as a central repository for state education and safety data. What this means, exactly, is not clear, but it does foreshadow a coming debate in Washington: The future role of the U.S. Department of Education as a clearing house of state (and even local) academic data and reporting. Interest groups, such as the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, would like to see ED become more of a data reporting hub and less of a program compliance enforcement agency. While the issue is not yet prominent, it is a topic in the crosshairs of more than a few advocacy groups in Washington.

Nobody really expects this bill to move out of Committee, but it has gathered attention because its language is an important contribution to the ongoing discussions on the nature and funding of longitudinal data systems in the reauthorized No Child Left Behind.

Resources:
Representative Rush Holt, the 12th District of New Jersey, http://holt.house.gov/index.shtml.
“H.R. 3253, To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide for the use of longitudinal data systems,” The Library of Congress, THOMAS, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h3253:.
Author: DAD

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Appropriations: Tight Timelines Ahead

When the House and Senate adjourn this week, they will leave all twelve appropriations bills for fiscal year 2008 (FY08) in limbo until they return in September. The House has passed eleven of the twelve spending bills, leaving the Defense appropriations until September. Meanwhile, the Senate has only passed the Homeland Security bill, leaving eleven other bills incomplete until the members return to Washington next month. Both chambers are set to return on Tuesday, September 4, at which point they will have fewer than four weeks for each body to pass the remaining bills, go to conference, pass the conference report, and face a possible Presidential veto. If Congress is unable to complete the various bills before September 30, the end of the fiscal year, then appropriators will pass a continuing resolution to keep government operations running past the deadline. This leaves a cloudy outlook for the FY08 appropriations.

As previously reported, President Bush has threatened to veto any spending bills that are too far above his requests for FY08. The Labor-HHS-Education bill, which exceeds Bush’s request by about $12 billion, is near the top of the list of bills in danger of a veto. The bill’s fate relies heavily on the resolve of the 147 Republicans who pledged their support to sustain a presidential veto. That resolve, however, is in question since some of the 147 members have already voted for the bills at issue. 145 votes are necessary to sustain the veto.

If all 147 hold firm, then the Democratic leaders may try to pass an omnibus bill consisting of multiple appropriations measures. The bundled appropriations make a veto more challenging for the President and Congress since the stakes are higher. Yet, the Democrats, no doubt, would rather avoid this gamesmanship and pass all spending bills in a more timely fashion than the previous Republican majority.

Before Congress can get to that crossroads, the Senate still needs to pass its Labor-HHS-Education bill, and go to conference with the House. Although the House bill appropriates slightly higher levels of spending, the two bills have some differences that conferees need to work out. While on the House floor, members passed a series of amendments that shifted money from program to program. A point of contention is likely to be the $175 million cut to the Department of Education’s (ED) administrative funds. The salaries and expenses fund was cut nearly in half to provide additional funding for certain member’s favored programs, without increasing the overall cost of the bill. For example, $125 million was shifted from administrative funds to help support programs for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

To save time, House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) offered no concrete opposition to what he called “pretend amendments,” though he warned members that these shifts would not likely survive conference with the Senate. Most Senators will likely follow Obey’s rationale: Although many of these programs deserve more funding, it cannot come at the expense of the administrative budgets of executive agencies. Cutting ED’s expense and salary funds will force the agency to downsize programmatic and administrative staff. As Chairman Obey put it, there is no use in increasing the grant money if there is no staff left to administer the grant.

Appropriators have many options over the next few months, be it a continuing resolution or a large omnibus package. While members return to their districts for the month-long recess, Congressional staffers will likely remain in Washington to continue negotiations between the two chambers as well as the White House. Congress may be in recess, but appropriators will certainly not be on vacation.

Resources:
Jennifer Bendery, “Senate Will Spend September Working on Spending Bills,” Congress Now, August 2, 2007.
Author: SAS

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