Press Releases 2012

Statement from The Education Trust on House Passage of the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act

WASHINGTON (May 10, 2012) — Balancing the needs of a strong national defense, deficit reduction and a strong education system should be a no-brainer for a country with the traditions we have and the values we hold. But earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives broke with our traditions and turned against our values by passing a budget reconciliation bill that would harm millions of American students who are trying to learn their way to a brighter future and earn their way into the middle class.

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Midterm report of Access to Success Initiative shows increases in both enrollment figures and degrees conferred, driven largely by low-income and minority students

WASHINGTON (May 3, 2012) — Even before concerns about the economy focused national attention on lackluster college-attainment rates, a cadre of state public higher education systems leaders came together in 2007 to form the Access to Success Initiative.

Statement from The Education Trust on the passage of H.R. 4628, the Interest Rate Reduction Act

 WASHINGTON (April 27, 2012) – On behalf of the millions of hard-working students struggling to pay for college, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Interest Rate Reduction Act earlier today to help maintain low interest rates for federally backed student loans. With similar efforts moving in the Senate, we are pleased to see Congress put politics aside and take the issue of college affordability seriously.

Tuition rates are skyrocketing, increasing nearly twice as fast as healthcare costs and more than four times faster than inflation. Americans now owe more than $1 trillion dollars in student debt, and our country’s low- and middle-income college students are struggling to keep up.

College- and career-ready standards efforts must equip teachers with strong supports to help students meet new, higher expectations

WASHINGTON (March 30, 2012) — For years, our nation’s public schools have struggled to bridge the gap between what high schools require and the skills and knowledge students need to be successful after graduation day. To close that gap, 45 states and three territories are adopting a common set of college- and career-ready standards.

But those higher standards represent a massive expectations shift, one that must be coupled with rich supports for teachers if the new standards are to be more than an empty promise of higher achievement for our nation’s students.

Education Trust analysis of accountability plans in first-round NCLB waiver agreements shows potential for both promise, pitfalls in new federal-state partnership in K-12 education

EDITOR’S NOTE:  From the beginning, The Education Trust has recognized both the potential promise and pitfalls of the U.S. Department of Education’s plan to grant state waivers from the federal No Child Left Behind Act. As part of our ongoing work on this front, today we are releasing deeper analyses of the accountability plans in the agreements made with the first 10 waiver states. In the coming days, we will issue further analyses of each state’s plans for educator evaluations and implementation of college and career ready standards. In addition, similar analyses of the new agreement with New Mexico are under way.

WASHINGTON (February 29, 2012) — The Education Trust continues to push Congress hard to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. NCLB has been a critical tool in the effort to raise achievement and close gaps, but it was never perfect and parts of the law have become outdated and unworkable.

Statement from The Education Trust on the New York state teacher evaluation system

WASHINGTON (February 16, 2012) — Today’s agreement on a modernized teacher evaluation system in New York state is a critical step forward for the students, teachers, taxpayers, and employers in the Empire State. The New York State Union of Teachers, the United Federation of Teachers, the State Education Department, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo deserve credit for abandoning an antiquated system that failed students and teachers, and moving on to a system that offers better feedback to teachers, so they can improve their craft, and deliver better outcomes for students.

Statement from The Education Trust on No Child Left Behind waiver announcement

WASHINGTON (February 9, 2012) – The Obama administration has announced that it is granting 10 states waivers from the accountability system of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In response, The Education Trust issued the following statement from Amy Wilkins, vice president for government affairs and communications:

“Today, the Obama administration embarked on a new phase in the education partnership between the federal government and the states.

Stronger teacher evaluation systems benefit teachers and students

WASHINGTON (September 22, 2011) — Today, The Education Trust released “Fair to Everyone: Building the Balanced Teacher Evaluations that Educators and Students Deserve,” a new report outlining the importance of building stronger teacher evaluation systems to help all teachers become good and good teachers become great.