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For this year and next year, things are fine,” he told the education secretary at the June 3 hearing. “You can say, well, this is OK because we have all this money in the [stimulus program]. But the problem with that is, you cut the base. If you cut the base this year, you have to make all that up” in fiscal 2011.

Another Obama administration proposal appeared to be a tough sell with some congressional Democrats: the massive increase proposed for the Teacher Incentive Fund, or TIF,which awards grants for pay-for-performance programs. ("Obama Budget Choices Scrutinized," May 20, 2009.) The president is seeking to boost funding for TIF to $487.3 million in fiscal 2010, up from $97 million in the current budget year, which ends Sept. 30. That major hike would come on top of $200 million for TIF in the stimulus law.

Establishing a system for identifying and training highly effective teachers to serve as instructional leaders in Title I school wide programs and modifying the school schedule to allow for collaboration among the instructional staff. Providing new opportunities for Title I school-wide programs for secondary school students to use high-quality, online coursework as supplemental learning materials for meeting mathematics and science requirements. Developing and expanding longitudinal data systems to drive continuous improvement efforts focused on increased achievement in Title I schools. Districts are also encouraged to consider using these funds to support and improve preschool and early childhood development programs which are an existing allowable use for Title I.

Obtain state-of-the art assistive technology devices and provide training in their use to enhance access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities, including online professional development, online student courses and learning opportunities, and electronic records management for student progress monitoring and data-based decisions for instruction/intervention. Provide intensive district-wide professional development for special education and regular education teachers that focuses on scaling-up, through replication, proven and innovative evidence-based school-wide strategies in reading, math, writing and science, and positive behavioral supports to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. Develop or expand the capacity to collect and use data to improve teaching and learning. Expand the availability and range of inclusive placement options for preschoolers with disabilities by developing the capacity of public and private preschool programs to serve these children. Hire transition coordinators to work with employers in the community to develop job placements for youths with disabilities.

. The ARRA SFSF funds provide an opportunity to jump start school reform and improvement efforts while also saving and creating jobs and stimulating the economy. California received $2.56 billion in SFSF for K-12 LEAs.

In its fiscal 2010 budget proposal, the administration justified the change by pointing to a $10 billion increase that the Title I grant program for districts received in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus measure that passed in February and that includes up to $100 billion for education, spread out over fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

“For this year and next year, things are fine,” he told the education secretary at the June 3 hearing. “You can say, well, this is OK because we have all this money in the [stimulus program]. But the problem with that is, you cut the base. If you cut the base this year, you have to make all that up” in fiscal 2011.

And, at a hearing later that same day, Rep. Obey expressed concern that the proposal could lessen the impact of the Title I money in the stimulus package because districts would have to use that money to “backfill” the difference between their 2009 and 2010 allocations.

Pennsylvania's seven applications are competing for some of the $7.2 billion available nationwide for broadband development under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA. The funds would advance the state's existing broadband development efforts, as outlined in an aggressive strategy released in July. Applications include efforts to:

Aggregate broadband purchases by educational facilities.

Extend communications infrastructure to reach un-served and underserved areas.

ATTAIN builds upon the successful education technology programs that began with No Child Left Behind and focuses more on systemic school redesign through the innovative use of technolog

A stand-alone workshop has less than a 5% chance of actually changing teacher practice in the classroom. However, if you add on-going and embedded professional development, provide professional learning communities where teachers interact with their colleagues, and ensure on-going support from coaches and administrative staff, the chance of really affecting teaching and learning increases dramatically -- to nearly 90%

y using online resource hubs and other tools for collaboration, i.e. blogs and discussion boards, and including virtual or in-school coaching and mentoring, schools, districts, and states are beginning to see gains in teaching quality and student achievement. The greatest successes are seen with professional development that includes high-quality content, is tailored to the needs of students, takes advantage of the assets of technology, and is embedded in professional learning communities to enable teachers to actively participate.

Removing a school library media specialist, who is an expert [at helping students acquire 21st-century information skills], from a library becomes a disadvantage for the students in that school," she said.

he American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains funding for educators to implement innovative strategies in Title I schools that improve education for at-risk students and close the achievement gap. The funding is flexible and, for the most part, the control rests in the hands of local and state superintendents--and spending some of it on school libraries would be a wise investment, ALA asserts.

In addition to the direct spending increases, several tax portions of the bill can benefit public charter schools, including a newly-authorized $22 billion school construction bond program, $10 billion to the New Markets Tax Credit Program, $25 billion in recovery zone bonds, and $1.4 billion in new funding to the Qualified Zone Academy Bonds - all tools charters will be able to tap to finance facilities. Additionally, several reform-oriented programs received new funding in this bill, including $200 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund and $250 million for the development of State Wide Longitudinal Data Systems. The Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program unfortunately did not receive any new funding and will rely on its FY09 appropriations until a new appropriation is made in FY10.

This is two-year money and so spreading it some—again I don’t have any of the specific details there, but just big picture—spreading it between the years makes a lot of sense.”