Group items tagged

I always cringe when I hear so-called reformers say poverty is "no excuse" for lack of student achievement. It is not because I don't subscribe to that belief, but because I know politicians will use that message as an excuse for not "leveling the playing field" for poor children. To believe that you can treat and fund all schools in the same way meets what many call the definition of insanity--doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. From collective bargaining contracts to federal law, poverty has to be a factor in every decision that affects the education of poor children and those who educate them.

State Education Commissioner John King Jr., 36, took his post in June at a pivotal time for education in New York. King is overseeing the implementation of education reforms at a time when school districts, and his own department, are financially strapped. During an exclusive interview last Friday, Education Reporter Meghan E. Murphy asked King about the top issues facing the state today: from school funding disparities to criticisms regarding the state's teacher evaluation regulations.

A lawsuit brought by Utica and 12 other small city school districts against the state is moving forward and could be on the leading edge of a second push toward more equitable funding for schools across the state.

Capping a yearlong political battle by the UFT and its labor and community allies for economic equity, the New York State Legislature on Dec. 6 passed legislation that brought a measure of fairness to the state tax code while providing a much-needed boost in education funding for next year.

An electronic billboard on Business Route 6 in Dickson City flashes an image of smiling students and teachers. The advertisement for the Mid Valley School District promotes student achievement and district accomplishments. At $900 a month, officials hope it saves thousands in lost tuition. As online charter school enrollment continues to grow, public school districts across the region and state are facing competition like they never have before. When students leave public school districts, their state funding follows them to cyber schools. Districts are now advertising, holding recruitment nights and thinking about public relations.

Michigan is ending the year with an estimated $1.2 billion budget surplus. But T-Party Gov. Rick Snyder is sitting on the money rather than funding the state's cash-starved public schools and rehiring laid-off teachers.

Contrary to the canned rhetoric flying around public discourse on education finance, high-quality research like that discussed in Baker's review does not lend itself to broad, sweeping conclusions. Some things work and others don't, and so the strength and consistency of the money/results relationship varies by how it's spent, the students on whom it spent, and other factors. Sometimes effects are small, and sometimes they're larger. Nevertheless, on the whole, Baker's review shows that there is a consistently positive effect of higher spending on achievement. Moreover, interventions that cost money, such as higher teacher salaries, have a proven track record of getting results, while state-level policies to increase the adequacy and equitability of school finance have also been shown to improve the level and distribution of student performance. Finally, and most relevant to the current budget context, the common argument that we can reduce education funding without any harm to (and, some argue, actual improvement of) achievement outcomes has no basis in empirical evidence.

School funding in Texas is in turmoil. State lawmakers slashed more than $4 billion from education this school year - one of the largest cuts in state history - and more than 12,000 teachers and support staff have been laid off. Academic programs and transportation have been cut to the bone. Promising reforms are on hold or on the chopping block. Next year, the cuts could go even deeper.

Eight of the 10 school districts who are receiving School Improvement Grants could lose the money if they don't meet Saturday's deadline to provide evidence they have made the necessary changes to their evaluation systems for teachers and principals, state Education Commissioner John King said in a statement today. Millions of dollars in federal funding are in jeopardy, he said.

The Chester Upland School District is more than $20 million in debt, its bank account is almost empty and it cannot afford to pay teachers past the end of this month. To make matters worse, the local charter school, with which the district must divide its financing, is suing the district over unpaid bills. The district's fiscal woes are the product of a toxic brew of budget cuts, mismanagement and the area's poverty. Its problems are compounded by the Chester Community Charter School, a nonprofit institution that is managed by a for-profit company and that now educates nearly half of the district's students. The district sees the charter as a vampire, sucking up more than its fair share of scarce resources. The state, it says, is giving the charter priority over the district. 

In Silicon Valley, Bullis elementary school accepts one in six kindergarten applicants, offers Chinese and asks families to donate $5,000 per child each year. Parents include Ken Moore, son of Intel Corp.'s co-founder, and Steven Kirsch, inventor of the optical mouse. Bullis isn't a high-end private school. It's a taxpayer- funded, privately run public school, part of the charter-school movement that educates 1.8 million U.S. children. While charters are heralded for offering underprivileged kids an alternative to failing U.S. districts, Bullis gives an admissions edge to residents of parts of Los Altos Hills, where the median home is worth $1 million and household income is $219,000, four times the state average.

Communities of color throughout New York State are at risk of receiving short shrift when it comes to education funding if Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget goes through as planned.

The foundation invested more than $159 million in education reform initiatives in 2011, marking the largest single-year investment in education reform initiatives. Grants were made to organizations and programs that empower parents, particularly in low-income communities, to choose among quality, publicly funded schools for their children. The foundation invests to expand the right of all parents to have access to quality schools, regardless of type, with the goal of ultimately increasing student achievement. List of grants can be found at http://waltonfamilyfoundation.org/2011-education-reform-grant-list

A strong majority of California voters is willing to pay higher taxes to boost funding for public schools even in a grim economy, a new poll has found.

"Cuomo apparently thinks that parents don't care about class size, or budget cuts, or layoffs, or loss of funding for the arts in their schools. No, he alone is the "lobbyist for the students," (as he once boasted), not their parents. Anyone who wants more money for schools must be fronting for the teachers' unions."

"Research shows that in Pennsylvania's public schools skin color, not economics, determines how much money districts get."

"...In a recent report on Democracy Now, Juan Gonzalez turned up an obscure tax credit that was passed by Congress at the end of the Clinton administration in 2000, called a New Markets tax credit. It provides an enormous federal tax credit to banks and equity funds that invest in community projects in underserved communities. The credit has been heavily used in recent years for charter schools..."

"A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university. A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting "political economy and free enterprise.""

Parent Information Resource Centers are about to be de-funded, writes Steiny, despite being a critical link between parents, schools and communities.

EdMoney.org is a project of the Education Writers Association, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The site tracks education funds flowing to states and school districts from the federal economic-stimulus law of 2009, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA. The site, developed by Matt Waite of HotType Consulting, provides data on grants made to states and school districts. It also features a blog aimed at helping reporters cover the topic. In addition, the blog houses stories from "Education Stimulus: Gauging the Impact of a Federal Windfall," a national reporting project tied to the second anniversary of the law and overseen by the Hechinger Report and EWA. Journalists and others are encouraged to contribute to EdMoney.org by uploading links to pertinent stories and blog items; commenting on the blog; and using the data to produce stories of their own.