More than 35 organizations have joined in opposing a draft version of the Student Success Act recently released by Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee. The opponents range from civil rights groups to groups representing business, education reform, and disability rights.
President Obama’s plan to waive some of the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act strikes a fresh balance between the federal and state roles in educating our nation’s children.
Students struggling to afford higher education risk becoming among the first victims of Washington’s budget battle. What’s more, they’ve already helped cut the deficit. When the White House got rid of the Summer Pell Grant program earlier this year, students “gave’’ $4 billion to debt reduction. Enough is enough!
Tell President Obama: “Protect Pell Grants.” We must not sacrifice a single dollar of support for hard-working students seeking to earn their way into the middle class. Call the White House comment line: 1-888-245-0215 — or send a letter today.
Students need rigorous coursework to prepare them for success in college and the workplace. Years of advocacy and policy change have resulted in more students—particularly students of color—taking high-level courses. Now, a new study reveals that access to these classes does not always equate with high-quality instruction.
The resource gaps between high-poverty and low-poverty school districts have received much attention and advocates in many states have succeeded in narrowing many of these gaps, but funding gaps within school districts have drawn far less attention. These gaps shortchange the schools serving the highest percentages of low-income students, who need the most from their schools—and unfairly advantage schools serving wealthier student populations. Now, finally, a powerful and unusual trio of Washington lawmakers is tackling this critical issue.
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) along with Sens. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) are sponsoring bills that would outlaw within-district funding inequities in districts receiving Title I funds. The legislation, called the ESEA Fiscal Fairness Act, would accomplish this by closing what’s known as the “comparability loophole” in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
For-profit college companies—which draw much of their wealth from taxpayer subsidies—are trying to quash federal rules that would protect students from sleazy recruitment tactics and crippling debt burdens. The industry’s lobbying and advertising blitz seems to have swayed members of the U.S. House of Representatives, who voted Thursday afternoon for the Kline amendment, which cuts off federal funding for rules on “gainful employment” promised to students in career programs.
This amendment eliminates funds for enforcing rules that require for-profit colleges to inform students about the costs, placement rates, and student debt burdens of their programs, and also for crafting proposed regulations that define gainful employment. The battle over reining in for-profit abuses now moves to the U.S. Senate, which is expected to decide on a similar measure in the next several weeks.
Two new reports – one domestic and one international – underscore the challenges in preparing our young people for a global economy in which education plays a decisive role in success.
An analysis by ACT spotlights how hard our schools must work to get all students meeting the expectations outlined in the new Common Core State Standards Initiative: Right now, only about half of our nation’s eleventh-graders would reach these new college and career-ready levels of achievement in writing and language. For geometry, the rate would drop to less than one-third.
The ACT report also points to massive achievement gaps. Take reading, where an estimated 47 percent of white eleventh-graders reach standards, compared with 19 percent of Hispanic and 11 percent of black counterparts. In algebra, some 41 percent of white high school juniors are likely to meet Common Core, as opposed to only 21 percent of Hispanics and 11 percent of black students.
As the nation debates how to raise academic performance for black males, some schools and districts—from Baltimore to New Orleans—are quietly tackling the job. And their solutions aren’t unique to African Americans.
Take Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary, which just won Ed Trust’s Dispelling the Myth Award. Set in a New Orleans neighborhood that suffered from urban blight even before Hurricane Katrina tore through it, this all-black school far surpasses statewide outcomes. In 2009, just 64 percent of Louisiana’s elementary-age boys of all races and family incomes passed language arts—and only 21 percent reached mastery or advanced levels. As for math, 67 percent of all the state’s male grade-schoolers earned a passing level or better.
Where does news you can use in your classroom meet the latest research on learning and a passion for equity in our nation’s schools? Find them all at The Education Trust National Conference, set for Nov. 4-6 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.
Don’t miss these two and a half days of inspiring speakers and empowering workshops. Hear Daniel Willingham, professor of psychology at University of Virginia, on how cognitive science can help your students learn; Carlton E. Brown, president of Clark Atlanta University, on how to step up student success in higher education; and Andrés Alonso, CEO of Baltimore Public Schools, on how leadership can drive improvement in a big urban district.
Meanwhile, let Ed Trust President Kati Haycock brief you on the progress and pitfalls along the road to closing achievement gaps.
Then sample from some 35 small-group sessions on a wealth of timely topics from leadership in teaching to the impact of common standards, helping black males achieve, and turning around struggling schools. In fact, you’ll meet some of the principals who’ve done just that. Registration is available on site. Take charge of change!
Charm City schools finally are delivering good news. Under the leadership of Andrés Alonso, CEO of the Baltimore City Public Schools, students are making real gains in reading and math in what’s long been one of our nation’s most troubled school systems. Moreover, the contract hammered out between Alonso and the local union leadership—though initially rejected by the rank and file—represents another important development among a growing number of local efforts that use teacher contracts as tools to ratchet up student achievement.
Dr. Alonso will share his hard-won insights on leadership, change and student achievement at The Education Trust National Conference, set for Nov. 4-6 at Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va. He will draw on his experience in Baltimore and New York City to explore the role of leadership in improving schools and districts. Don’t miss this dynamic education leader. Register now for the conference!
Charm City schools finally are delivering good news. Under the leadership of Andrés Alonso, CEO of the Baltimore City Public Schools, students are making real gains in reading and math in what’s long been one of our nation’s most troubled school systems. Moreover, the contract hammered out between Alonso and the local union leadership—though initially rejected by the rank and file—represents another important development among a growing number of local efforts that use teacher contracts as tools to ratchet up student achievement. 
