National School Boards Association

1
National School Boards Association

• Federal Relations Network Conference
• Feb.3-5, 2008
• Power Point prepared by Cheryl L. Flesher

2
Pre-K Legislative Committee Meeting

• Presenter Kerry B. Clegg-NSBA Director
• February 3, 2008
• The NSBA Pre-K Team presented information on the
  role of the committee in NSBAS grassroots
  advocacy and reviewed member responsibilities.

3
Mission

• Increase federal investment in high-quality
  voluntary pre-k for all three and four year olds.
• Goal New federal grant program to fund portion
  of costs to develop and expand Voluntary quality
  preschool programs in local school districts.

4
Federal Relations Network Conference

• Key caveats
• School district participation discretionary
• Parent/student participation discretionary
• Not at expense of K-12 funding
• Doesnt foster vouchers

5
Federal Investment in Early Childhood

• Head Start funding 6.9 billion-down 10.6 from
  2004.
• Child Care to States 2.9 billion-down 6.3 from
  2004.
• Preschool Grants, IDEA 374.1 millions-down 15.3
  from 2004.

6
Hearing on Early Childhood Education

• Investments in (early childhood) these programs
  must be made wisely and we must ensure that we
  target resources to what works. But it is clear
  that new and greater investments must also be
  made.
• Statement from Rep. George Miller, chair of
  education committee from Jan.23rd hearing.

7
NSBAS Pre-K committee History and Activities

• The committee was formed in September 2007 to
  more personally engage school board members in
  federal advocacy of voluntary preschool.
• In October 2007 more than 300 members signed up
  to join the Committee and began playing a pivotal
  role in helping advance NSBAs legislative agenda
  to increase federal investment in high-quality
  pre-k programs across the country.

8
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

• What is no child left behind Act?
• Most comprehensive federal education program.
• Authorizes more than 22 billion.
• Enacted in 1965 as ESEA, reauthorized January 8,
  2002.
• Expired Sept.2007,extended for one year.

9
Key Programs Under NCLB

• Title I-improving education for the
  disadvantaged. Reading First/Early Reading First.
• Title II-Improving teacher quality.
• Title III-English language acquisition.
• Title VIII-Impact aid.

10
Other Programs Under NCLB

• School improvement grants
• Migrant education
• Education technology
• 21st Century Community Learning Centers
• Safe and Drug-Free Schools
• Rural Education

11
Key Issues

• Standards and Assessments
• Accountability/AYP
• Desegregation of Data
• School Improvement
• Students with Disabilities and LEP Students
• Teacher/Paraprofessional Quality

12
Assessments

• Criteria-
• Tied to state standards
• Applicable to all students
• Technically reliable-(including students with
  disabilities and LEP students)
• What subjects?-
• Reading, Math and Science starting in 2007-08

13
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)

• Defined by each state of students required to
  be proficient.
• All students must reach proficiency levels on
  state assessments by 2014.
• Bar must be raised in equal increments to reach
  100 by 2014.
• First increase must occur within 2 years and
  increase at least every 3 years thereafter.

14
How to measure AYP

• Disaggregate student performance for each of the
  subgroups
• All students
• Economically disadvantaged
• Each major racial and ethnic minority group
• Students with disabilities
• LEP students

15
How do schools make AYP?

• Schools make AYP when all subgroups make AYP.
• Schools fail AYP when one subgroup fails AYP.

16
Congress Second SessionA Look at Special Issues

• Issues to cover
• Teacher Quality
• Higher Education Reauthorization
• School Vouchers
• School Construction

17
Teacher Quality

• Increased federal attention-opportunities/Red
  flags
• Recruitment/Retention challenges
• Inequitable distribution
• The quality of the teacher-impacts what the
  students achieve.

18
And the research says

• Teachers matter most greatest school-related
  impact on students.
• How much of an impact?
• 3 consecutive effective teachers
• 83 pt. student gains
• 3 consecutive ineffective teachers
• 29 pt. student gains (or 54 pts. less)
• Source William Sanders/Tennessee

19
National Challenges

• 2 million new teachers needed
• Targeted shortages
• 50 new teachers depart in 5 years
• Inequitable distribution among schools based on
  poverty
• NCLBS Highly Qualified requirements

20
NSBA Recommendations

• Assist in recruitment/retention
• Change Highly Qualified requirements
• Support professional development
• Support alternative routes to certification
• Strengthen teacher preparation
• Facilitate better research/data

21
Higher Education

• Major campaign issue
• Last reauthorized 1998
• Temp extension ends 3-31-08
• Congress moved 2 major bills(2007)
• H.R. 2669 signed by President
• Cut student loan rates in half
• Pell Grant increase 4,310 to 5,400 by 2011
  (authorized)
• Included TEACH Grants (recruitment/retention help
  for K-12)

22
Higher Education Act

• S.1642 passed Senate
• H.R. 4137 passed House Education and Labor
  Committee
• House floor vote this month?
• Includes key improvements to Title II-Teacher
  Quality Grants

23
Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants (HEA)

• Increased accountability for teacher prep
  programs (Sen. Burr amendment)
• More teachers trained in hard-to-staff subjects
• Training for teaching diverse student
  populations/special needs
• Training for rural/urban schools

24
HEA Continued

• Teacher Residency Program
• Senator Obama introduced
• Pairs prospective teacher with mentor
• One year in high-need school
• Pursue Masters Degree/certification
• Commit to teach 3 years in high-need school
  determined by LEA

25
Higher Education Act

• House bill includes research provision
• National Academy of Sciences study
• Best practices in Teacher prep
• Best practices in instruction

26
School Vouchers-NCLB

• President Bush Budget
• Up to 300 million for vouchers (FY2008)
• Would add vouchers to NCLB
• H.R. 1486-Rep.Buck McKeon
• S.1014-Sen.Lamar Alexander

27
School Construction

• Average school built 50 years ago
• 300 billion in facility needs (est.)
• Upgrades/repairs
• Overcrowding
• New Construction

28
Minimal Federal Help

• 2001 1.2 billion in grants for school repair
  and renovation
• Grants targeted to low-income and rural districts
• QZAB bonds 400 million in bond authority for
  repairs/modernization
• Does not cover new construction/land acquisition

29
Federal Help- The ABC Act

• Americas Better Classroom Act
• H.R. 2470 (Reps.Rangel,Ramstad, Etheridge216
  co-sponsors
• 25 billion in bonds (tax credits)
• Construction, repairs, land purchase
• States/districts pay principal only

30
S1942/H.R.3902

• Sen.Harkin/Rep.Loebsack(IA)
• 1.6 billion in grants for school repairs
• Targeted to high-need/rural districts
• Federal study on construction/repair needs and
  costs

31
Medicaid Eligibility

• School districts eligible for payment from
  Medicaid for health services delivered to
  Medicaid-eligible children with disabilities
• Diagnostic, preventive, and rehabilitative
  services
• Speech, physical and occupation therapies
• Transportation for such services

32
Medicaid Eligibility

• School districts can claim reimbursement for the
  administrative costs of providing services such
  as enrollment outreach, coordination and/or
  monitoring of medical care.

33
Medicaid Threat

• Presidents Budget
• Block fed reimbursement for school-based
  administration/transportation costs for
  Medicaid-eligible students.
• Dept .of Health Human Services Rule to stop
  reimbursement from Centers for Medicare and
  Medicaid Services (CMS).
• Goal is to strike implementation of rule through
  legislative action.

34
Why This Issue Matters

• Would hurt districts efforts to provide needed
  services
• May cause delays
• Cause students to slip through the cracks
• Less staff/coordination
• Kids Lose

35
Federal Relations Network Conference

• Power point prepared by Cheryl L. Flesher
• Treasurer- South Redford School District
• FRN Convention-Washington DC
• February 3-5-2008
• Information supplied by NSBA at the Conference
• I also spent 2-5-08 on Capitol Hill-attending
  meetings with Cong.Thaddeus McCotters Office and
  a small group of us, personally met with Cong.
  John Dingell. I also attended a talk with other
  Michigan Board members and Superintendents from
  around the state, with Senators Carl Levin and
  Debbie Stabenow.