LEGISLATION
AGENCIES:
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
REPORTS
SUPREME COURT
LEGISLATION
THE SENATE BUDGET BILL On March 16, by a vote of 51 to 49, the Senate passed a budget which added $16 billion in social, military, job safety and home-heating programs to the President's Budget proposal. This increase included $7 billion for health and education programs (the bipartisan Specter/Harkin Amendment) which passed by a vote of 73 to 27. Support for this Amendment was encouraged by the grassroots advocacy of education and health and human service groups,.
THE HOUSE BUDGET BILL The House Budget Committee failed to pass the Specter/Harkin Amendment to include $7 billion for health and education programs. Action on the floor has been delayed because of opposition to the proposed bill from moderates, who wish to add money to discretionary programs and conservatives, who feel the cuts are not deep enough.
BUDGET RECONCILIATION Even if the House passes a budget bill, a House-Senate Conference Committee may not be able to agree on a final bill. If that happens, Congress can either use the figures for last year's budget or pass a deeming resolution, which would set ceilings for appropriations.
HEALTHY PLACES ACT (S 2506) (HR 5088) Senator Barack Obama and Representative Hilda Solis) introduced identical bills to incorporate the efforts federal, state, and local governments to address the effect of the environment on the health of children.
THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT (HR 609) On March 30, the House passed its reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (H.R. 609). Included are provisions to :
* authorize an Adjunct Teacher Corps, allowing professionals from outside education to lead classes in math, science, and critical foreign languages;
* authorize a Teacher Incentive Fund program, providing grants to states interested in offering performance-based pay for teachers;
* provide up to two full Pell Grants to students attending throughout the year;
* support critical foreign language study through partnerships between schools and colleges; and
* authorize money for teacher training to be used to prepare educators to teach advanced placement classes.
The Senate has yet to act.
HOUSE EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE COMMITTEE Howard "Buck" McKeon became chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, following the election of Chairman John Boehner as House Majority Leader. Sally Stroup left her position as Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education to become deputy staff director for the committee.
REAUTHORIZATION OF NCLB House Education Reform Subcommittee Chair Mike Castle (R-DE) announced that a draft NCLB reauthorization bill would be introduced in the Spring of next year (April 2007). However, key House and Senate education committee staff indicated that they did not expect a bill until the fall/winter of 2007, although hearings and roundtable discussions will occur sooner than that.
AGENCIES: THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NEW OSEP DIRECTOR Alexa Posny, formerly Kansas' Deputy Commissioner of Education, became the Department's Director of Special Education Programs on April 17. Posny began her academic career as a special education teacher. She also served as the Kansas director of special education, where she supervised the implementation of alternate assessments under IDEA and NCLB. Troy Justesen remains as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
FINAL REGULATIONS FOR IDEA are promised before the beginning of the school year.
GROWTH MODELS FOR NCLB Of the 13 states that had applied to use a growth model this school year, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, Oregon and Tennessee will go through the peer review process. There is no guarantee that any of these states will be approved. Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, South Carolina, and Utah are not eligible for this school year because the Secretary determined that their applications did not meet all of the seven criteria set forth last November, A report from the Education Trust raised questions about certain facets - about less ambitious timeframes, a variety of methods for calculating Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and additional loopholes - of the eight growth model plans that are being piloted by the Department of Education. The Report can be downloaded.
NATION ASSESSMENT OF TITLE I Volume I of the "National Assessment of Title I: Interim Report to Congress" contains key findings on the implementation of Title I under the No Child Left Behind Act. Volume II is a report on the findings from "Closing the Reading Gap," an evaluation of the impact of remedial reading programs on student achievement. The report can be found here.
STRIVING READERS GRANTS On March 23, the Department of Education issued five year grants to support implementation of programs for middle and/or high schools with significant numbers of struggling readers. Grantees are the Chicago (IL) Public Schools, the Ohio Department of Youth Services, the Danville (KY) Content Literacy Consortium (KCLC), the Newark (NJ) Public Schools, the Multnomah County [Portland OR] School District #1, the San Diego (CA) Unified School District, the Springfield and Chicopee (MA) Public Schools, and the Memphis (TN) City Schools
AGENCIES: THE EPA
COURT ACTION On March 17, a federal appeals court overturned a clean-air regulation issued by the Bush administration that would have let many power plants, refineries and factories avoid installing costly new pollution controls to help offset any increased emissions caused by repairs and replacements of equipment. Ruling in favor of a coalition of states and environmental advocacy groups, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the "plain language" of the law required a stricter approach.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
THE BIPARTISAN COMMISSION ON NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND The Commission, which is collecting data on the successes and problems of No Child Left Behind, will make recommendations to Congress in January or February of 2007. One source of data is the public hearings. The format is a discussion of the chosen issue by a panel of experts followed by an hour and a half public comment period. Sites and topics of hearings are:
The Impact of NCLB on Teacher Quality, Pomona CA, April 11
Testing: Making It Work for Children and Schools, Hartford CT, May 9
Holding Schools Accountable for Student Achievement Comparing Models to Evaluate Our
Schools, Atlanta GA, May 22
Successful Interventions: Helping Schools Achieve Academic Success, June 9,Madison WI
Hearing from the DC Based Education Community - Time and Place to be announced.
The public may also submit comments at the commission's website
REPORTS
DROPOUTS The American Youth Policy Forum has published "Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth" (PDF, requires Acrobat Reader) This 196-page report provides background on the high school dropout problem and describes what twelve communities are doing to reconnect dropouts to education and employment training.
FROM THE CAPITAL TO THE CLASSROOM: YEAR 4 OF THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT The Center for Education Policy is a comprehensive analysis of how the law is being implemented by the federal government, states, and school districts. Based on survey information from 50 states and 299 school districts, as well as 38 case studies of school districts, the report provides the most up-to-date information about the law's implementation and shares the opportunities and challenges that it has presented for states and districts.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: THE PUBLIC SPEAKS OUT ON NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND On May 1, Public Education Network, a national organization of local education funds and individuals, released a report on public hearings on the implementation of NCLB. The public rejected a single test as a measure of school improvement and feel that the term "in need of improvement" erodes public support for schools so identified. Parents made it clear that they do not receive timely information about the law and that the purpose of NCLB assessments is not explained to parents and students. In general, parents felt uninformed of their roles and responsibilities under NCLB and did not feel involved in decision-making. Nonetheless, Americans support the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and believe accountability is necessary to improve our public schools The public supports the following changes in the law
* Accountability that truly supports measurable student achievement and gives credit for significant progress made
* Improved academic resources for students, including increased quality and availability of supplemental educational services.
* An expanded definition of "highly qualified teachers" to include training on parent and community involvement as well as on cultural competency
* Enforced parent involvement provisions so parents can participate in meaningful ways and administration officials can more effectively engage parents.
SUPREME COURT
On April 19, 2006, the U. S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Arlington Central School District v. Pearl Murphy and Theodore Murphy. The issue is whether prevailing parents in a special education due process hearing can be reimbursed for their expert witness fees as a part of the costs.
LDA News from Washington is a periodic publication of The
Learning Disabilities Association of America, Inc. containing news
of interest to the volunteer and administrative leadership of National
LDA and its State and Local Affiliates. Written by LDA's Washington
Representative, Justine Maloney; Kathy Lawson, Editor.
LDA members wishing to be added to the email list may contact Kathy
Lawson, at klawson@ldaamerica.org.
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