Edu Commentary

Last week, Ted Stilwill, the state superintendent in Iowa and president of the Council of Chief State School Officers, fired back at House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Boehner over the unobligated funds issue. Stilwill took sharp issue with the insinuation that states are sitting on federal funds that could be used for No Child Left Behind.

From Stilwill’s letter:

As the nation’s chief state school officers, we write to express our strong objections with your recent comments regarding federal funding to support public education. You assert that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is adequately funded because states are “sitting on” billions of unspent dollars. You also state, “we are increasing federal education spending more quickly than states can actually spend the money.” If these statements are meant to defend the current level of federal funding for education, they are deliberately misleading. Your statements ignore the budgeting practices authorized by Congress and misrepresent the quality work of our nation’s chief state school officers. As chairman of the Committee on Education and Workforce, we call on you to acknowledge that states are in fact following the federal laws and guidance regarding the expenditure of federal funds for NCLB.

Throughout the last six months, the Committee on Education and the Workforce has cited a U.S. Department of Education (ED) Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS) report that identified $5.7 billion in unexpended funds from fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002 and implied that states are not taking full advantage of appropriated funds for NCLB. It may be understandable for members of the general public to assume that federal funds flow immediately to states after an appropriation bill is signed, but you or members of your staff know better. Indeed, states could issue press releases expressing a concern that we have not been “paid $16.8 billion owed to us for more than a year.” However both that statement and yours would be equally foolish since both disregard the budgeting regulations and practices authorized by Congress.

This is the nut of the matter:

It is also most inaccurate to suggest that because states and schools have not spent their funding, it is going unused. Of the funds that are still unexpended, most are already committed to pay for specific projects; they are in a queue waiting to be expended for ongoing contracts. The comments fail to distinguish between funds that have been obligated to support specific projects and activities and those funds that are unobligated.

But there is also this:

As the nation’s chief state school officers, we particularly resent the implication that state education agencies, rather than Congress, are somehow blocking the flow of funds to local classrooms. Not only is the insinuation untrue, but state education agencies and their chiefs have cooperated fully with the administration and with Congress in a partnership to implement No Child Left Behind – indeed we are on the front lines of that partnership. Now you inaccurately suggest that any lack of resources appears to be of our own making.

Pretty strong stuff (and an early draft was even stronger…). To be sure, a lot of Democrats misread the public appetite for simply spending more on education without accompanying reforms. Yet surely a more grievous miscalculation is this apparent Republican strategy of arguing that states are awash in federal money. First of all it’s not true. And second, state level fiscal constraints are causing discernable problems and most voters are not able to distinguish between local and state dollars and federal ones.

Whether the press catches on to the unspent funds gamesmanship on is an open question but if the Republicans end up getting pummeled on this, they have no one to blame but themselves. The penny wise/pound foolish approach to NCLB funding was pretty dumb politically, calling attention to it with stunts like this, even dumber.

Yes, surprisingly enough, it’s true. You can read all about it here.

More Chicago, the AFT weighs in.

In the Sunday NYT Book Review Daniel Swift reviews “History Lessons: How Textbooks From Around the World Portray U.S. History.”

Colbert King writes about the plight of DC youth in The Washington Post, don’t miss this one.

Also in The Post, David Broder discusses the hyper-partisanship in the House of Representatives, which is in no small part why little gets done these days. Another must read, this impacts education policy along with everything else.

In the NYT Michael Winerip gives a detailed and depressing look at special education in NYC.

More on Cosby here.

And, NYT’s Greenhouse wraps up the just ended SCOTUS term.

New teacher recruitment initiative in Virginia. Teach for Virginia will help steer aspiring teachers to high-need schools. The New Teacher Project has their able hand in this.

Cosby back in the news, AP here, local coverage here.

Come All Within: More teachers’ union back and forth in Chicago. More Chicago here and here. Chi Trib ed board weighs in, too. They’re shocked…shocked…You know you should be following this…

Come All Without: Quasi-anonymous groups attacking the teachers’ union in Colorado.

In Gadfly Senator Lamar Alexander pitches the incredible shrinking GI Bill for Kids… and OH school board member Jim Fedako has a must-read essay about tests and accountability.

In Wisconsin, a state task force is calling for major changes including an overhaul of the finance system, new teacher compensation, and new ideas like a SEED school. Republicans are attacking the finance idea, ignoring the rest.

Todd Ziebarth and Alex Medler are at it again! This time they’ve produced an interesting ECS report (PDF) on the early implementation of the voucher program in Colorado. Of course, the program is now on hold, but it’s still well worth reading as a study of change.

K-12 diversity news from KY.

Rod Paige praises a Voyager program…Educationnews.org smells a sweetheart deal…

A look ahead at new Labor Party education initiatives in England.

More on the principals in NYC, yesterday they were just annoyed with Klein. Today, well, they’re pissed!

NY Post readers respond on behalf of small schools. Also in the NY Post, Jay Greene and Marcus Winters say the schools have plenty of money already.

In a Supreme Court wrap-up AP says that this term was a tough one for conservatives, education included.

Do you like to write? Know something about charter schools or educational issues that impact charter schools? Then you should be writing for this journal.

Finally, better late than never. Interesting House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on No Child Left Behind, testimony here. Worth reading. And, new proposed rule on LEP students here.

The much-awaited congressionally mandated study about sexual misconduct by educators is out. It’s ready made for sensational headlines like this, less so for serious analysis. That’s because it’s not really a study but rather an elaborate literature review of existing studies, each with its own — in some cases substantial — methodological limitations. And, the primary finding is based on a conflation of all manner of misconduct, not just physical abuse that most people think of when they hear “sexual misconduct.”

A good hint that this study is over-the-top? Even the Department of Education, lately not an organization spending a lot of effort on good PR for the public schools, is tamping it down.

That said, sexual misconduct by educators (and other adults) is a real problem, and when it happens to even one child that’s too many. Unfortunately, a study of studies based largely on self-reported data and interest group driven (read agenda driven) research isn’t likely to shed too much empirical light on the real extent of the problem (for a useful caution read this Atlantic article). Moreover, while incidence reporting obviously matters, it likely overstates the actual number of educators who commit these acts because, as with other forms of child abuse, it’s unlikely individual perpetrators are not striking repeated times.

The report does have some interesting recommendations although many are already practiced in school districts around the country. It mentions, essentially in passing, that it’s hard to get strong reporting and registry laws passed because state and local teachers’ unions often fight them but, curiously, doesn’t dwell on that issue. Apparently you can lead Ed School professors to water but…

Read it for yourself and decide if it’s a parent’s worst nightmare as AP says or perhaps a social scientist’s worst nightmare…

Advocacy Afterthought: How long before this “data” shows up in pro-voucher arguments? All things considered could be a tough sell though…

Kaus gives voice (and summons Ron Brownstein) to the increasingly high-decibel rumor floating around about the Kennedy NCLB corrections bill that George Miller wants no part of. The retroactivity bill is a good idea, but — policy merits aside — this next step seems very ill-considered because (a) The Republicans will never let it see the light of day legislatively so it’s going nowhere this year (b) The press seems at least as likely to play it as an effort to gut NCLB than as some sort of grand improvement and (c) It’s going to put Kerry into the accountability box that he’s successfully stayed out of so far (conspiracy theorists can ruminate on that last one…)

Note to Democrats: If the NEA really had the party’s best interests at heart why would they be pushing people to walk this plank during a very close election? Politically this is like the NRA asking Bush to brandish a bazooka at a gun show. Oh, wait, that’s right, they have more pressing priorities…

New census data on high school completion, likely a little inflated, take with a grain of salt.

Yesterday’s news roundup noted that the Department of Education was trying to score a few points on NCLB funding by highlighting unspent federal funds in state accounts. The AP story included some warm quotes from Council of Chief State School Officers staff to the effect that this was no big deal, everything is cool, and this was a courteous heads-up from the feds…Good enough except there is a stark contrast between those warm love-in vibes and quotes from the same CCSSO official in the trade paper Education Daily starting with,

“We are troubled that they are reviving this issue, because it’s one we thought we explained to the Congress and [ED],” said Patricia Sullivan, deputy executive director of

the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). “It’s beginning to wear on my members, because their integrity is being questioned, and that’s very troubling.”

Sullivan added,

[The Department of Education] “can’t report obligated and unobligated funds, because they don’t know,” Sullivan said. “This level of obligation takes place at the district

level, so for the states to [keep track] is hard enough; for the feds, it’s impossible.”

Hmmm…that’s a little different…and it’s a little more like it seeing as Department of Ed is playing crooked pool here.

Another interesting story about District of Columbia schools. There is a raging debate (that keeps a handful of conservative analysts busy and otherwise out of trouble) about how much DCPS spends per-pupil yet it’s hard to know what the right denominator is…more immediate implication is federal dollars.

NYT’s Schemo looks at the ongoing Head Start controversy, if you’re scoring at home the Bush Administration has completely lost the high ground here…Here’s more (via Educationnews.org) from the Head Start advocacy group, they’re understandably piling on.

Also in NYT, more on No Show-Gate. And, what looked like a routine fraud case may have a political angle.

Wash Post reports that Discovery Communications sees a rich vein in schools.

In California, possible movement on the equity suit there. Key quote: Kevin Gordon executive director of the California Association of School Business Officials and general CA ed policy maven, “we don’t want a state rodent monitor…” Via School Wise Press.

More on Florida vouchers from the bulldog Palm Beach Post. Right! Still no voucher problems in Florida…

They’re going to re-run the teachers’ union election in Chicago. This is a must read, a lot of important implications.

NY Daily News likes Klein’s new principal policy. The principals are less enthusiastic.

Boston Herald says do what is necessary to protect charters in MA.

Social Security technical glitches. Don’t blame the teachers (as Heritage Foundation predictably does), modernize the system and offer teachers benefits more in line with the flexibility the private sector affords.

The DC Public Charter School Board is hiring for two positions involving NCLB and Washington charter schools. Please contact them, not Edu Commentary, about these.

Finally, not exactly an education issue but there is a lot of concern among anglers and non-anglers alike about the snakehead fish that is infesting the Potomac River. So, as a public service, if you want to learn more about this fish click here.

Don’t miss this Washington Post look at the SEED Public Charter School in DC, the only public boarding school in the nation. Critics will still grumble though… FYI — SEED is planning to replicate to get at the question of what to do about helping more kids.

Update: More love for SEED, this time from CBS.

The DC Education Blog, a sharp blog covering education in Washington, DC, landed an exclusive interview with Carl Cohn after he turned down the DC superintendent post. There is an essay by Cohn about his decision, too! It’s all interesting; in particular how obvious it is that the governance issues are a deterrent to good candidates for the job. And, just how much Cohn clearly likes Eli Broad! By the way, if for no other reason read it because how often do you hear the words “long-term commitment” and “urban superintendent” used together? He assumes he would’ve lasted a year!

Jay Mathews takes a look at homeschooling and asks for more info.

No show jobs! Get your no show job right here! But, in fairness, at least the NYC Department of Ed takes a firm line on this stuff: “People who are on the Department of Education payroll should not be cheating and stealing taxpayer money…It doesn’t matter how close shopping areas are to the regional offices or to schools.” Whoa…hardliners. Daily News has more including shopping details and this not-to-be-missed quote from one of the culprits:

Levantrosser, who allegedly dropped into Lord & Taylor during work hours, scoffed at the charge she was shopping at high-end department stores.

“Yeah, right, because we have the money for Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue,” she said.

Wow! Talk about always being on message!

No show students in Florida. Right, no problems with the voucher program there…

No NYT education column today, but two belated letters on class size to tide readers over.

Sac Bee editorial board likes direct lending and says don’t mess with student loans.

Ding! Next round of U.S. Department of Education versus almost everyone else over NCLB funding. Oh wait, not politics, it’s just a friendly reminder…

You feed them, help raise them, create small schools for them, teach them to think for themselves, and how do they thank you? By saying something interesting! Then they get the mayor and the public on their side and win. And then they overplay their hand a few days later… By the way, the teacher quality issue rears its head again…the kids get it, but not the adults. Update: Klein draws the line…

At this school the teachers are the dissidents.

Some voucher debate from England. Via educationnews.org

NYT reports on Senator Kerry’s speech proposing to expand college aid and access. And the Salt Lake Trib reports on a flurry of new ideas — including the dreaded differential pay — from the Democratic candidate for Governor in Utah, Scott Matheson Jr. NJ’s governor is expanding access too.

New AYP results in MD. Punchline: Sky not falling.

But in New York Rupert Murdoch thinks it is…

Not so much brotherly love for Edison Schools in Philly…could this ultimately turn into a quagmire, lots of attrition, no clear exit strategy, hostile local population? Yup! Send in the foreign correspondents…

This Washington Post story is very Fairfax County-centric but it’s useful reading if you think teachers’ unions are a monolith.

Another case of charter school skimming! This one almost exclusively serves low-income children who are struggling. 92 percent of the first year’s graduating class off to college…

In the Wash Times, Hoover’s Zelnick writes on affirmative action and the critical mass mess citing O’Connor as the culprit.

This will make one hell of a Fed-Ex commercial…

Attention Republican Climbers! You too can run for office even when there is a logjam of more senior Republicans in front of you. How? Easy, become a charter school opponent!

For instance, back when Democratic NYC Councilwoman and longtime public education supporter Eva Moskowitz was first running for office, the teachers’ union in NYC endorsed her opponent, a Republican, former Gulliani fundraiser, and voucher supporter who jettisoned vouchers and opposed charter schools to get the endorsement. Moskowitz was and is a charter supporter. She won anyway and in the process caught national attention from papers like the Wall Street Journal because of the shenanigans.

Now, in Washington State, which is turning out to be a real charter battleground, the state teachers’ union, the Washington Education Association (WEA), is endorsing a former Republican recently turned anti-charter Democrat over a Democratic 33 year public educator who happens to be a charter supporter…

According to The Columbian, the “new” Democrat, “seemed to have a better understanding of what our issues are, what our goals are,” Lynn Davidson, a Battle Ground teacher and member of the WEA’s political action committee, said Wednesday. Indeed!

Incidentally, real Democrats support public charter schools because real Democrats put kids before adults. And, if doing the right thing doesn’t sway you, smart Democrats also head off obvious wedge issues rather than aid and abet their political adversaries…