Education Trust News

In Kati's Blogs: Gouging the Poor's Food Stamp Benefits to Save Teacher Jobs Is the Senate's Cruel Choice

Though many in the education community are celebrating last week’s Senate vote for the Edujobs bill, I can’t find any joy in it. In fact, I am shaken and ashamed because, to pay for it, the Senate snatched $11.9 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

That’s right: They cut food stamps. For the first time ever, this bill would gouge the monthly benefits that low-income families receive.

In Kati's Blogs: Spurring Real Change for Needy Kids

Education Trust President Kati Haycock posted the following on the National Journal education blog:

Some—on this blog and elsewhere—have taken the position that competitive grants to fund education improvements are somehow bad for poor kids.

Caught on Tape: College Dreams of Vulnerable Students Meet Deceptive Claims by For-Profit Colleges

In today’s tough economy, a college degree is surely a leg up in the workplace. Yet by focusing more on getting students in the door than getting them through with a degree, some colleges are saddling many of our most vulnerable students with unconscionable debt.

In a series of reports, Ed Trust has focused attention on four-year colleges and universities with unusually good—and unusually bad—success rates, especially for minority students.  But the problems we found among traditional public and private nonprofit colleges paled by comparison to problems in for-profit colleges brought to public attention recently in a series of Senate hearings.

On August 4, in testimony before a Senate committee, Government Accountability Office (GAO) officials shone a light on shady recruiting practices. GAO’s undercover probe of 15 for-profit colleges showed that all misled students about matters ranging from the cost of a degree to the salary they would earn after graduation.

EQUITY EXPRESS FAST FACT: Gouging the Poor's Food Stamp Benefits to Save Teacher Jobs Is the Senate's Cruel Choice

America's poorest families have never experienced a reduction in monthly food stamp benefits—until now. To pay for an education jobs bill, the Senate voted on Wednesday to cut $11.9 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps), beginning in 2014.

Cut Food Stamps to Save Teacher Jobs?

In an effort to “do something” to avert more teacher layoffs, Congress and the Obama Administration have targeted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—formerly known as food stamps—to help pay for it. The proposal would slash $6.7 billion from this program that provides food to more than 40 million vulnerable Americans, nearly half of whom are children. 

Obama, Duncan: Value Teachers, But Insist on Results

In twin speeches last week, President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan came out swinging for our kids—and against those who would settle for halting half-measures in reforming our nation’s schools.

While pressing for “results in the classroom,” Obama urged making teaching a prized profession, calling for “a culture where we idolize the people who shape our children's future.” For his part, Duncan flagged measurement of student growth as a “game-changer” for improving all facets of the K-12 system.

“If we want success for our country, we can't accept failure in our schools,” the president said in a speech to the National Urban League on July 29.

Race to the Top Is Speeding Needed Reforms

The caliber of teachers, studies show, shapes student learning more than any other in-school factor. That’s why we’re heartened to note that 17 states have retooled their approach to gauging teacher impact in response to the U.S.

More for Core

number 26Number of states that have pledged to adopt Common Core standards