The Education Report
Legislative Update
June 2, 2006
The Education Report
The Education Report is a weekly report of public policy issues in
American Education. This week's report for June 2nd may be read
or downloaded at http://www.socialstudies.org/legislative/.
The report is prepared by Washington Partners, LLC, a public and
government relations consulting firm dedicated to empowering its
clients in public policy and communications. The report is copyrighted
by Washington Partners, LLC. Redistribution of the report or its
content outside of NCSS without the express prior permission of
Washington Partners, LLC is prohibited.
Highlights of Interest to NCSS members include:
Budget and Appropriations Update -- Capitol Hill was in full recess
mode this week, having left town last Friday after several weeks of
intense partisan debate over spending plans and immigration reform. The
fighting was not just between parties. Outrage over an FBI raid on the
office of a congressman under a bribery investigation caused tension
between the Congress and the White House and contributed to the
poisonous environment. A four-hour lock down in the House office
buildings, imposed because of loud, unidentified noises in an
underground parking garage, slowed the departure of Members and aides
anxious to get away for the long weekend. In other words, everyone
needed a week-long "cooling off" period. In spite of the recess,
progress was being made on the appropriations front, and the results
were disappointing to education advocates. The victory that was
celebrated when Senators Specter (R-PA) and Harkin (D-IA) successfully
amended the budget resolution to add $7 billion for the Labor, Health
and Human Services and Education spending bill appears to be slipping
away. Absent a budget resolution conference report, the Senate will be
forced to adopt a deeming provision, the purpose of which is to divide
up the agreed-upon pool of spending among subcommittees. As of this
writing, that pool has been cut by $10 billion since the bill was
debated and adopted and funding for LHHS and ED has been reduced from
an additional $7.2 billion to something slightly above $4.1 billion.
This will leave Senate appropriators in a position similar to that of
their House colleagues.
The allocation for LHHS and ED agreed upon a few weeks ago in the House
gave Subcommittee Chairman Regula (R-OH) just $4.1 billion more than
the President had requested for programs in his jurisdiction-that is
almost $3 billion less than is necessary to match last year's spending
levels. Mr. Regula's Subcommittee will meet on June 7th to debate his
funding plan for LHHS and ED. The full Appropriations Committee has
scheduled a June 13th mark-up for the bill, followed by floor action
the following week. A Senate appropriations schedule has not been
announced and though word is out on the deeming provision there is
still time to put pressure on the Senate leadership regarding funding
for domestic programs. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) has written and is
circulating a letter to her colleagues urging them to press Majority
Leader Frist (R-TN) and Appropriations Committee Chair Cochran (R-MS)
to honor the Specter/Harkin amendment and increase funding for the LHHS
and ED Subcommittee. The recess period ends next week. Let's hope
everyone did in fact have time to cool-off.
NCES Unveils Condition of Education 2006 -- On June 6, the Institute of
Education Sciences (IES) and the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES) unveiled its annual "Condition of Education" report
for 2006. The Congressionally mandated report examines several areas of
the education landscape including: participation; outcomes; educational
progress; and other statistics related to elementary, secondary and
postsecondary education. The report includes data from several other
reports including Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
(TIMMS), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The report avoids
using subjective terms and simply reports on statistics. For more
information on the report, visit: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/
In Brief
Forum for Youth Investment Discusses Efforts to Ensure College
Readiness -- On May 30, the Forum for Youth Investment hosted an
audioconference to discuss efforts within the education and youth
development community to ensure that young people are prepared for
college, work and to succeed by the age of 21. "Ready by 21" is an
effort by the Forum to encourage localities to pool resources to this
end. More information is available on the Forum's web site at
http://www.forumfyi.org/Files/ReadyforCollege.pdf
Report Finds Gaps Remain Between States' Progress, Goals of NCLB -- A
recently released Department of Education (ED) study of Title I
accountability and school improvement efforts from 2001-2004, found
that states and localities are making progress but gaps still remained
between their status and the goals of NCLB. The Evaluation of Title I
Accountability Systems and School Improvement Efforts (TASSIE) report
was commissioned by ED and is based on surveys of all states, a
nationally representative sample of districts, and a sample of schools.
,a href="http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/disadv/tassie3/index.html">For more information
New Publications
Education Insights, Public Agenda (2006). "Reality Check 2006, Issue
No. 2: How Black and Hispanic Families Rate Their Schools."
http://www.publicagenda.org/research/pdfs/rc0602.pdf
In the News
The Washington Post (5/31/06). "Schools, Pressed to Achieve, Put the Squeeze on Recess."
The New York Times (5/30/06). "Can't Complete High School? Go Right to College."
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< a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1196969,00.html">Time (6/01/06). "No Child Left Behind: Giving the States a Break."
Read More
NCSS Signed Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB
Education News
June 2, 2006
NCSS Signed Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB
NCSS was one of 82 national education, civil rights, religious and
civic organizations to sign on to the "Joint Organizational Statement
on NCLB" calling for a major overhaul of the federal K-12 education
law. The PEN Weekly NewsBlast, a free e-mail newsletter featuring
school reform and school fundraising resources, (to subscribe or
unsubscribe, visit: http://www.publiceducation.org/subscribe.asp/),
reported on the "Statement" today:
Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind
(from Pen Weekly NewsBlast 6/2/06)
Eighty-two national education, civil rights, religious and civic
organizations have now signed on to the "Joint Organizational Statement
on NCLB" calling for a major overhaul of federal K-12 education law.
Based on concerns raised during the implementation of NCLB, signers of
the joint statement believe that significant, constructive corrections
are necessary to make the Act fair and effective. Among these concerns
are: over-emphasizing standardized testing, narrowing curriculum and
instruction to focus on test preparation rather than richer academic
learning; over-identifying schools in need of improvement; using
sanctions that do not help improve schools; inappropriately excluding
low-scoring children in order to boost test results; and inadequate
funding. Overall, the law's emphasis needs to shift from applying
sanctions for failing to raise test scores to holding states and
localities accountable for making the systemic changes that improve
student achievement. The statement makes recommendations for revision
of the law in five significant areas. To read more, visit:
NCLB Joint Statement 2006
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SAVE THE DATE TEACH EUROPE 2006
The Teach Europe Program offers yearly workshop seminars intending to provide participants with fair and updated information about the European Union. Its multicultural nature, its economy, role and impact on today’s world and its relation with the United States.
October 27th Rutgers University, NJ
November 4th Yale University, CT
November 10th Columbia University, NY
Structure of Teach Europe Workshop
9:00-10:00 Keynote Speech
10:00-10:30 Q&A with speaker
10:30-12:00 3-5 workshop sessions with max 40 participants per workshop session
12:00-12:30 exchange sessions extending into lunch
12:30-13:30 lunch
13:30-15:00 panel discussions
CONSULT www.teacheurope.org for further information an
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TEACH EUROPE CALL FOR PROPOSALS
WORKSHOPS PREREQUISITE
Selected instructors will receive a fixed $250 stipend.
Suggested themes: Art and culture, Language, Social Studies.
Abstract must be in English 250 words.
Workshops are 60 to 75 minutes with a Q&A.
Consult www.teacheurope.org for more information.
Proposals should be sent by e-mail to jsm 6@columbia.edu atkinson@langlab.rutgers.edu before July 1st and briancarter@yale.edu before august 21st
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National Council for the Social Studies
