Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker refused to sign the state’s ESSA plan. In a letter Walker and his administration cited concerns with the plan: “Your bureaucratic proposal does little to challenge the status quo for the benefit of Wisconsin’s students.
The New York State Board of Regents on Monday approved a plan laying out the state’s goals for its education system, as required by the sweeping federal education law signed by President Barack Obama in 2015 known as the Every Student Succeeds Act.
The Regents’ approval means the state can now submit its plan to the federal Department of Education for review and approval.
The plan details how the Regents will implement the federal law, including how individual schools will be evaluated and identified for what the law refers to as either comprehensive or targeted support and improvement.
Under the plan, elementary and middle schools would continue to be evaluated on English and math test scores and high schools on graduation rates. But the plan would also hold schools accountable for other measures, such as performance on science and social studies exams, the number of students making progress in achieving English language proficiency, college and career readiness, chronic absenteeism and, eventually, out-of-school suspensions.
Senators are pouring cold water on U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ vision of a big new investment in school choice, as well as the Trump administration’s plans to dramatically slash spending at the U.S. Department of Education.
Legislation on both fronts received bipartisan support from the full Senate appropriations committee last week. In addition to barring the administration from using federal funding for vouchers or public school choice, it would continue paying for two high-profile programs the Trump administration is seeking to scrap: Title II, which provides $2.05 billion in federal funding to hire and train educators, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which provides $1.2 billion for after-school and summer programs.
But the teacher-training program isn’t out of the woods just yet. The House of Representatives spending bill, which will have to be hashed out in conference with the Senate measure, still aims to eliminate that program. The House’s version of the bill would, however, provide $1 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, meaning it is almost certain to stick around in the 2018-19 school year.
Overall, the Senate’s spending bill includes a lot more money for the department’s bottom line than the administration wanted. It would provide $68.3 billion overall, a slight increase of $29 million over the current level for fiscal 2017, which ends Sept. 30 and generally affects the 2017-18 school year. That’s in contrast to the House’s proposal, which would provide $66 billion for the department, down $2.4 billion from the current budget.
The administration had been hoping for a $1 billion boost for the nearly $15 billion Title I program, the largest federal K-12 program, which is aimed at covering the cost of educating disadvantaged students. It had planned to use that increase for a new program that would allow districts to have federal funding follow students to the school of their choice.
And the Trump team had hoped to use a new $250 million investment in the Education Innovation and Research program—which is supposed to help scale up promising practices in states and school districts—to nurture private school choice.
The Senate bill essentially rejects both of those pitches. It instead would provide a $25 million boost for Title I and $95 million for the research program, a slight cut from the current level of $100 million.
But importantly, the legislation wouldn’t give DeVos and her team the authority to use money from either of those pots for school choice. In fact, the committee said in language accompanying the bill that the secretary needs to get the OK from Congress to create a school choice initiative with the funds.
That isn’t the first setback for DeVos’ school choice ambitions. The full House approved a funding bill last week that doesn’t provide any new money for the administration’s school choice proposals.
And it is looking less and less likely that the administration will be able to get a federal tax-credit scholarship included in a forthcoming measure to overhaul the tax code. Such a program, a version of which is in place in at least 16 states, would give a tax break to individuals or corporations that donate to K-12 scholarship-granting organizations. DeVos and her team are said to be working on the idea behind the scenes, but it’s already drawn pushback from conservative organizations, including the influential Heritage Foundation.
Still, the Trump team may end up with a small victory when it comes to charter schools, which for years have enjoyed bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. The Senate bill includes a $25 million increase for charter school grants, which would bring them to $367 million. That’s not as high as the $167 million boost the administration asked for, or even as high as the $28 million the House is seeking.
The committee is proposing $450 million for another program that the administration sought to zero-out completely: the Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants, the new block-grant program created under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The program, which can be used for almost anything from computer science programs to band instruments and Advanced Placement test fees, is now receiving $400 million. It is slated to receive $500 million under a bill approved by the House appropriations committee earlier this year.
Separately, the bill would provide level funding for special education state grants, keeping them at about $12.2 billion. It would allocate $1.1 billion for Career and Technical Education grants, the same level as last year. The Trump administration had pitched a $165 million reduction.
The Head Start program, an early-childhood-education program for low-income children, would receive $9.3 billion in the Senate bill. That’s about the same as the current level. The House bill includes a $22 million boost for Head Start. The National Head Start Association, which represents centers, said in a statement that the Senate’s plan to flat-fund the program could lead to cuts down the road.
Published in Print: September 13, 2017, as Senate Bill Blocks Trump, DeVos on K-12 Cuts, School Choice
BEACON – The Howland Public Library is all a buzz with excitement. The library’s teen Battle of the Books team, The Beacon Buzzers, took home first place in the Mid-Hudson Library System’s 2nd Annual High School Battle of the Books. The regional literary contest took place at Poughkeepsie Day School, on August 19th. Congratulations to Beekman Public Library’s team “Where’s Ralph” second place winners and Kingston Public Library’s “Hardcore Hardcovers T2” who came in third.
This year, eleven public libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System’s five counties (Putnam, Dutchess, Columbia, Ulster and Greene) competed in this nationally recognized literature contest in which teens answer trivia questions based on books they all read this summer.
Individual library teams worked all summer with their coaches to prepare for this final regional battle. Mini-battles were played throughout the summer to practice for the big event. Over 60 students in grades 9-12 participated as coaches, family, and friends cheered on. The teams all proved to be winners when it came to knowledge, team spirit, and good sportsmanship.
A big thank you to the host venue, Poughkeepsie Day School, all of the volunteers and families who came out to support the teams, and the coaches and librarians who worked so hard throughout the year to make this special event possible. Much appreciated sponsors include The Allstate Foundation through the Sorrentino Agency in the Town of Newburgh and donations from many library Friends Groups. The Howland Public Library team would like to give a special shout out to the The Friends of the Howland Public Library who generously sponsor the Beacon team every year and Pleasant Ridge Pizza for keeping the team’s hungry minds fed all summer. The Howland Public Library is all a buzz with excitement. The library’s teen Battle of the Books team, The Beacon Buzzers, took home first place in the Mid-Hudson Library System’s 2nd Annual High School Battle of the Books. The regional literary contest took place at Poughkeepsie Day School, on August 19th. Congratulations to Beekman Public Library’s team “Where’s Ralph” second place winners and Kingston Public Library’s “Hardcore Hardcovers T2” who came in third.
This year, eleven public libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System’s five counties (Putnam, Dutchess, Columbia, Ulster and Greene) competed in this nationally recognized literature contest in which teens answer trivia questions based on books they all read this summer.
Individual library teams worked all summer with their coaches to prepare for this final regional battle. Mini-battles were played throughout the summer to practice for the big event. Over 60 students in grades 9-12 participated as coaches, family, and friends cheered on. The teams all proved to be winners when it came to knowledge, team spirit, and good sportsmanship.
A big thank you to the host venue, Poughkeepsie Day School, all of the volunteers and families who came out to support the teams, and the coaches.
(CNN Money) — Florence Yu can’t believe her luck. She’s starting college the same year New York made tuition free for middle-class students like her.
New York’s Excelsior Scholarship is the first of its kind. It covers the cost of tuition for qualifying students who are enrolled in a two- or four-year degree program at any of the state’s 88 public colleges and university campuses.
Plans for the scholarship were announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo in January. At first, students planning to attend college this fall didn’t know whether it would become reality in time. It was officially approved by the legislature in April.
“I called my Dad at work, and I’m like ‘oh my God, Dad, I could get free tuition.’ It was so exciting and I remember it so vividly because it was so life changing,” Yu said.
She’s now a freshman at Stony Brook University double majoring in business and health science.
Like other students, Yu had to apply for the scholarship and didn’t find out until August whether she qualified. The good news finally came, just before it was time to pay the bill. Her parents, immigrants from Myanmar, always wanted her and her brother to go to college, but were worried about finances.
“I’ve never seen my Dad so happy. He knows I really wanted to go to Stony Brook and he was really stressed about paying. Now he’s able to, so it really changed a lot,” Yu said.
A ‘life changing’ option
When Governor Cuomo announced the program he said that college, like high school, “should always be an option even if you can’t afford it.”
While similar programs in other states have made tuition free for community college students, the Excelsior Scholarship is the first to include those pursuing a four-year degree.
The scholarship could save students as much as $27,000 over four years by cutting out tuition costs. The award doesn’t cover fees charged by the school, or room and board. Students must also agree to live in state after college for the same number of years they received the scholarship, or it will be converted to a loan.
Bonnie Tang, another Stony Brook freshman, is commuting from her home in Brooklyn, saving her about $13,000 in room and board costs. She’ll have to buy a monthly train pass. And she’ll still pay about $2,560 in fees this year. But everything else is free.
“My tuition is paid for and that saves me a lot of money,” she said.
Tyler Mendoza, also a freshman at Stony Brook, and James Martello, a freshman at the University at Albany, both say they probably would have gone to a community college instead if they hadn’t received the Excelsior Scholarship.
Gianluca Russo transferred to the University at Albany this year after finishing his associate’s degree from Schenectady County Community College. The scholarship, he said, convinced him to stay in state to pursue a bachelor’s in journalism.
Many won’t qualify
An estimated 75,000 people applied for the scholarship this year, but an initial projection from the governor’s office said only about 23,000 would receive it. An official number has yet to be released as summer course credits are counted and community college students continue to enroll for the fall semester.
Officials from several schools said the biggest reason why students were disqualified was because they receive other need-based grants that already cover the full cost of tuition. The Excelsior Scholarship doesn’t offer additional funds to help with other expenses.
Other students are disqualified because their family income is too high. This year, the scholarship is offered to those who earn up to $100,000 a year. The limit will rise to $110,000 next year, and then up to $125,000 for the 2019-20 school year and thereafter.
Some critics say the Excelsior Scholarship may spend too many taxpayer dollars subsidizing the cost of tuition for students who would be enrolling anyway, and still leaves students from the lowest-income families behind. The program is expected to cost $87 million this year, and $163 million annually once fully implemented.
The scholarship is designed to help those students whose families previously earned a little too much to qualify for financial aid.
“While many students with the greatest financial aid have always attended CUNY tuition-free, far too many families just above the income eligibility — which means most middle class families — received little or no state or federal aid,” said CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken in a statement emailed to CNNMoney.
The Excelsior Scholarship will “help remedy this problem,” he said.
Income isn’t the only eligibility requirement. Students must be a state resident and they must maintain a full time schedule. That disqualifies many community college students going to school while working. It also makes it tough for adults wanting to return to school to finish a degree they started years ago.
Ahmad James, 35, is one of those students. He has stopped and started college twice. Once because two deaths in the family required him to help out at home, and once because of Hurricane Sandy, which forced him out of his apartment. He found a new place in Long Island, but it extended his commute to work and didn’t leave time for class.
But after he applied for the Excelsior Scholarship, he was told he was ineligible because he “did not earn a sufficient number of credits in each year” he was previously enrolled. The program requires you to take an average of 30 credits a year.
He’s working on finding other ways to help pay for college so he can advance his career in social services.
“I have the experience, but I need the piece of paper to do exactly what I want to do with my life,” James said.
A ‘positive buzz’ on campus
It’s too early to tell the impact the scholarship will have on New York’s college campuses.
Many incoming freshmen had to enroll before officially being awarded the scholarship. Transfer students, though, were more likely to find out about the scholarship before making their decision. The University at Albany saw an 11% jump in applications from transfer students this year, which officials attribute at least in part to the Excelsior Scholarship.
More students are certainly expected to receive the scholarship in the future, as the income cap rises and awareness grows.
“It’s creating a very positive buzz about public higher ed,” said Stony Brook President Samuel Stanley.
“If you go around the country the story has generally been states pulling back on support of higher education, putting more of the burden on students and their families. So this is really changing that narrative in a very dramatic way,” he said.
“Discipline yourself so you never get mad you get smart.” -Andrew Young
The Upward Bound students of Buffalo State College were treated to life lessons by former United Nations ambassador and civil rights activist Andrew Young at its summer program awards banquet.
Young, who served as the UN ambassador during the Carter administration, received the 2017 Hal D. Payne Educational Opportunity Lifetime Service Award during the banquet. He also served as the event’s keynote speaker. The former mayor of Atlanta, brought a message that gave both a history tutorial and a guide to navigate through today’s political turbulent time. It was also a navigation through the rough waters of life. “You should never turn your back on any human being,” Young stated. “It doesn’t matter what color, or age, or what culture, in each and every human being is the same thing that is in you.
That is the spirit of the living God” Don Patterson, the director of the Upward Bound program at Buffalo State, believed that having one of the foremost civil rights and global leaders as the keynote speaker at the event was invaluable for his students. “His message to the students was extremely timely,” Patterson said. “When he told them to believe in yourselves, don’t be afraid to make mistakes and grow from those mistakes.” “He emphasized history and the knowledge of it. He wanted the young people to realize that you must know your history during this turbulent time. His message was one of growth for these young minds.”
During the banquet, the students were treated to a video retrospective of Young’s multitude of service. The video showed the former congressman’s early life as a television personality in the 50’s, a civil rights leader next to Martin Luther King in the 60’s, the UN ambassador in the 70’s, and Mayor of Atlanta in the 80’s. His life was a road map for community service. He related his early life as a civil rights activist. He spoke of Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young Deltas To Host Jabberwock Info Session Addresses Buffalo State Upward Bound Students how he marched shoulder to shoulder with Dr. King in an attempt to gain equality for all races, colors and creeds.
Upward Bound students, like high school freshman Jhayla Chinn, were unaware of Young’s life experience. “His speech was very powerful,” Chinn said. “I had not heard of Mr. Young but after he spoke I wanted to learn more about him.” “I don’t know if I could do some of the things he did with Martin Luther King,” Chinn continued. “It was very brave and I learned a lot.” Ambassador Young also gave some insight to the current political climate. He made a compelling argument on why the presidential election turned out in favor of Donald Trump. “Many Americans in rural and poorer parts of the country wanted a simple answer for their plight,” Young explained. “The world is very complex and the answers are not very simple but people want plain answers.”
“Donald Trump gave a simple answer to many Americans that are feeling pain economically,” he continued. quiries. The President of DST Buffalo Alumnae Chapter is Dr. Mattie L. Rhodes, and the Jabberwock Chairpersons are Trina Burruss and JoAnna Johnson. “He spoke in a way that made sense to many of those people. Unfortunately, the country and the world does not work that way.”
Patterson gave an impassioned soliloquy, during the banquet, on why he wanted Ambassador Young to speak to his students. “We are moving towards the right thing. We are moving towards good. We are moving towards positive outcomes. (Everyone) Keep pushing. Everyone here is a part of it,” Patterson exclaimed. “ His (Young’s) life is an example of it. His life is an example of what you can do if all of us, not just one person, moving in one direction can achieve.”
After the event, Young took time to take pictures with many of the young people. He also continued to drop pearls of wisdom to the Upward Bound participants. Young also sat and had a discussion with long time local politician and community leader Arthur O. Eve. The meeting was a chance for the students to witness over a century of community service experience in one place.
There is no place for shaming if we want to improve outcomes for kids. We know human beings shut down when they experience shame, making it nearly impossible to reflect, connect and grow — the very skillset that is essential to foster effective teaching and learning in classrooms, in schools and in the systems that serve public education. But promoting equity and shining a light on the achievement of all students is not mutually exclusive with that vision.
CHILDREN NOW’s Samantha Tran
The Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, has been the right direction for the state to go — shifting decision-making authority to the local level and allocating resources to more accurately match needs. But, the success of these shifts hinges on the state’s role to provide an accessible accountability system and fiscal transparency so that local stakeholders have the information that they need to actively engage in the local decision-making process.
What the state does next is critical. Is it possible to be both fundamentally transparent about where students, schools and local education agencies are struggling, while simultaneously providing real support that is not grounded in shame and blame? This is not an easy task, but there are meaningful steps we can take, including building an effective system of support and bringing it to scale across the state.
At the same time, we can’t shy away from the hard realities students face and where the system is struggling. On Wednesday, the State Board of Education is meeting to approve California’s final plan to the federal government under the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA. My organization has several concerns about the draft plan, as we noted in a letter to the State Board. In particular, there are three changes to the plan that shouldn’t be hard to make from a technical standpoint and that would promote transparency. California has the ability to make the data clear now. It just requires political will.
1. Clearly identify if gaps in achievement are closing or are stagnant.
If we are going to successfully combat historic inequities, educators, students, parents and the public need to know, not just whether outcomes are improving, but if they are improving at a rate that could actually close the gap. While the state has set appropriate long-term goals, it doesn’t plan to measure or report the “interim progress” toward those goals (as required by ESSA). This information is essential to allow the public to see, in a clear way, if achievement gaps are actually closing or not.
2. Set assessment standards so that the system doesn’t mask low performance
The California School Dashboard is based on a five-color rating system that combines a school’s performance and the recent change in performance. Red indicates the lowest level of performance and improvement and blue indicates the highest. Both red and orange ratings are used in determining state and local accountability actions. Schools performing “low” and with no change (“maintained”) on the state assessments receive a yellow rating. That means a school can have its average student scoring 3 grade levels behind in math or English and is maintaining that level of performance overtime. It is imperative that these outcomes aren’t buried in the yellow category and that they are appropriately highlighted for local and state action.
3. Ensure alternative education students are counted and visible in the dashboard for Local Education Agencies.
Alternative education schools serve mostly high-risk high school students that range from students who habitually miss school or have credit deficiencies to incarcerated youth. Approximately 1 in every 5 seniors is in an alternative school. Many of these students ultimately drop out, with the statewide graduation rate for alternative schools around 37 percent. While school districts run many of these schools, those students are not currently included in the Dashboard. By not counting these students as part of the district, the district outcomes that are used to determine color ratings in the Dashboard are artificially inflated. For example, in one large district, the Dashboard reports a graduation rate of 80 percent; however, if the district’s alternative education students’ outcomes were included, the actual graduation rate for the district would only be 72 percent.
It is tempting to make our results look better than they are — by glossing over whether gaps in achievement are closing, giving schools a yellow rating instead of orange, and excluding alternative student outcomes from a district’s results — but doing so doesn’t serve the kids who need it the most and runs the serious risk of breeding distrust in our fledgling system of accountability.
It is imperative that transparency, as well as support, are core values in California’s approach and in California’s ESSA plan. It is not one or the other. It has to be both.
•••
Samantha Tran is senior managing director of education policy at Children Now.
September 11, 2017
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) submitted its plan today to the United States Department of Education (USDE) to comply with the federal law known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The plan was submitted one week ahead of the September 18 deadline.
“I am extremely proud of the extraordinary amount of work put into developing this plan and for the valuable input we received from various stakeholders including teachers, parents, administrators, community members and elected officials,” said West Virginia Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Steven Paine. “I feel confident that West Virginia’s plan outlines a foundation that is best for all Mountain State students and know we will ultimately see results surrounding student achievement.”
West Virginia’s plan details the foundational pieces of its public education system including content standards, the statewide assessment, the school accountability system and support for struggling schools. The plan also details how federal funds will be distributed to counties.
Several changes were incorporated into the final version of the plan as a result of stakeholder input. Within the state’s accountability system, the five-year graduation cohort was included to accommodate those students who require additional time to graduate. The English Language Proficiency indicator was incorporated into the English language arts measure within the Academic Achievement indicator. The Student Success indicator, which considers attendance and behavior, now includes an exemption for all absences due to out-of-school suspensions and level three behavior violations are exempt from accountable suspensions. Summer School courses will be included within the high school Student Progress indicator, which considers credits earned toward graduation.
The USDE has 120 days to review the plan and provide feedback. To review West Virginia’s plan, visit: http://wvde.state.wv.us/essa/review/
By Lucia Bragg
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos kicks off a “Rethink School” back-to-school tour today at select locations across the country.
The tour is designed to highlight standout examples of innovation in K-12 and higher education settings and leadership.
“It is our goal with this tour to highlight what’s working. We want to encourage local education leaders to continue to be creative, to empower parents with options and to expand student-centered education opportunities,” DeVos said Monday. She will kick off the trip in Wyoming, where she plans to start the day at Woods Learning Center in Casper and make a visit to St. Stephens Indian High School in St. Stephens that afternoon. The events will focus on ways local educators are meeting the needs of their students. From there, the tour will continue to Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Indiana before wrapping up on Friday.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia offer K-12 students a variety of choice options. To learn more about state-led innovation on school choice, visit NCSL’s interactive guide to school choice. This page provides a comprehensive look at what options are available to students in each state, as well as an analysis of the unique and varied components of the school choice landscape. NCSL also offers a guide for state legislators, “Comprehensive School Choice Policy: A Guide for Legislators.”
States are also leading other education innovations and student-centered learning policies. The NCSL Student-Centered Learning Commission is a bipartisan group of state legislators studying policy options, obstacles and recommendations to help states support student-centered learning. Among the commission’s guiding principles are that learning is personalized, competency-based, takes place outside traditional classroom settings, and gives students ownership over their education.
Happy Back to School!
Lucia Bragg is a policy associate in NCSL’s Education program.
Oregon Department of Education
Published on Sep 8, 2017
This is a recording of the webinar Private Schools and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) conducted by Russ Sweet on September 8, 2017.