Everyone's Getting Straight A's: House Spending Plan Would Cut Education

It's time for another edition of Straight A's, the Alliance for Excellent Education's bi-weekly e-newsletter. You can read the entire issue online, pick from the article snippets below, or receive Straight A's in your inbox by emailing JAmos@all4ed.org. Here are the articles featured in this issue:

A spending plan being circulated by U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) would cut funding for the Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education appropriations bill by about $35 billion, or 22 percent less than the current level, in favor of protecting spending for the military and homeland security. Working within an overall spending limit of $967 billion, Rogers chose to allocate a total of $625 billion for the Defense, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security appropriations bills, a cut of $4 billion or less than 1 percent from the current level. Getting Defensive

In a May 9 speech at Manor New Technology High School in Austin, Texas, President Obama called on Americans to rally around what he called the “single-greatest challenge” facing the nation—reigniting the “true engine of economic growth”—a rising, thriving middle class. He listed three things necessary to create more jobs and opportunity for the middle class: (1) making America a magnet for good jobs; (2) ensuring that hard-working people can achieve a decent living; and (3) helping people earn the education and develop the skills they need to succeed in good jobs. Obama Sees Deeper Learning in Action  

Originally signed into law more than a decade ago by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) technically expired in 2007. On several occasions over the last few years, various attempts have been made by both political parties in Congress to rewrite the law, but they ultimately fell short. Since 2012, President Obama has granted waivers to thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia from some of NCLB’s requirements, including the one requiring that 100 percent of students be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Although Republicans and Democrats alike have expressed concerns about the waivers, they have been unable to pass legislation to replace them. ESEA in Play?

State education agencies (SEAs) must play a pivotal role in the implementation and performance of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)—adopted by forty-six states and the District of Columbia—if states are to see gains in teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes, a new policy report from the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the Aspen Institute finds. The report, Teaching to the Core: Integrating Implementation of Common Core and Teacher Effectiveness Policies, offers ten organization and functional recommendations to help state departments succeed in carrying out the new responsibilities necessary to see long-term improvements in teacher and student outcomes. Teaching to the Core

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Afternoon Announcements: State Education Spending Per-Pupil Lowest in Three Decades

When Arne Duncan testified this week before the House Education and the Workforce Committee on the President’s 2014 fiscal year budget, he received numerous questions on student loan interest rates that are set to rise this summer, No Child Left Behind Waivers, and the Common Core State Standards. Politics K-12

New census report data shows how much states are spending per pupil on education. New York spends the most per-student, and Utah spends the lease. Overall, states are spending less per-pupil than they were in previous years. Stateline

The Wall Street Journal covers the new census bureau data on per-pupil spending, as well, today. They note that spending on public-education fell in 2011 for the first time in more than three decades. Wall Street Journal

Why is the GOP opposing the Common Core State standards? One opinion writer claims that the state-level rebuke of the standards is unfounded and challenges leaders to rethink their views. Washington Post Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: STEM Education Could Get $100 in Additional Funds

Ninety-two percent of elementary, middle, and high school students surveyed in a recent study believe that digital technology is the direction education is moving and believe increased access to it would make learning more enjoyable. The Student Mobile Device Survey was conducted for learning company Pearson by Harris Interactive. Information Week

Sequestration cuts will impact how many students take national tests in social studies for 2014. The National Assessment Governing Board voted to postpone the 4th and 12th grade tests in civics, history, and geography, but the assessments will continue for 8th graders. Politics K-12

According to research by the Pew Hispanic Center, 7 in 10 Latino high school graduates in the class of 2012 went to college. That’s a record college enrollment rate for Latinos. The group surpassed white and black students but still lagged behind Asian-Americans. NPR

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to put additional resources toward science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (STEM) education. It could mean an additional $100 million annually for STEM. Politics K-12 Read Entire Post

Everyone's Getting Straight A's: Obama's Budget Proposal

The Alliance's newsletter, Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress, is available online. You can read excerpts from the newest volume below, and you can read the full articles here. If you would like to receive the bi-weekly newsletter in your inbox, email jamos@all4ed.org.

Released April 10, President Obama’s education budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 proposes new grant competitions focused on high school redesign and college completion and includes a $75 billion plan to provide access to high-quality preschool programs. Overall, the budget would provide $48.39 billion in discretionary funding—excluding Pell Grants—for the U.S. Department of Education, an increase of $2.8 billion over last year. Obama Releases FY 2014 Budget Proposal

Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and Related Agencies on April 17, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan heard support for the president’s preschool proposal from committee members of both parties, but he also faced pointed questions regarding President Obama’s decision to target new spending on competitive programs rather than formula programs, such as Title I and special education. Duncan Talks Education Budget

  Located about forty-five miles north of Philadelphia, PA, Quakertown Community School District (QCSD) has seen tremendous improvement in student achievement and engagement from implementation of a blended learning approach that combines online learning with traditional classroom instruction, finds a new interactive video profile conducted by the Alliance for Excellent Education and Public Impact. “Quakertown Community School District: A Systematic Approach to Blended Learning That Focuses on District Leadership, Staffing, and Cost-effectiveness,” is the first in a series of interactive video profiles highlighting innovative school districts that utilize digital learning to improve teaching and learn. Quakertown Community School District Blazes a Trail for Blended Learning

 On April 17, West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) joined with Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, to announce that West Virginia would be the first state to implement “Project 24” as part of a statewide education initiative. West Virginia Adopts Project 24

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Afternoon Announcements: Kentucky Districts to Receive $10,000 for Raising Dropout Age

Kentucky education commissioner Terry Holliday is incentivizing districts to raise their high school dropout age from 16 to 18 by promising the first 57 that do a $10,000 state grant. Holliday’s actions align with a years-long pursuit by state lawmakers to raise Kentucky’s legal dropout age to 18. The Courier-Journal

New research sheds light on how effective online learning is. The large-scale Columbia study found that online instruction improved student achievement in sex, drugs, and health studies. The findings indicate that with the often taboo nature of the subjects, students are more comfortable sharing and asking questions outside of a traditional classroom. The Hechinger Report

In feel good news of the day, a 7th-grade journalism prodigy interviewed First Lady Michelle Obama for the cover story for Sports Illustrated Kids. She has interviewed celebrities and athletes in the past. She said Ms. Obama is the easiest interview she’s ever had. Indy Star

President Obama’s education budget proposal would invest heavily in pre-kindergarten and put money into transforming high schools, among other things. Politics K-12 Read Entire Post

Everyone's Getting Straight A's: OECD Test Compares Individual Schools to Highest-Performing Nations

We're back at you with another issue of Straight A's, the Alliance for Excellent Education's bi-weekly newsletter! As always, you can read the entire articles online, or you can sign up to receive Straight A's in your inbox by emailing JAmos@all4ed.org. Here are the highlights.

President Obama releasd his budget proposal today, but will he be able to convince Congress his plan is as good as he believes it to be? The congressional budget resolution is a nonbinding spending blueprint that sets monetary limits for the spending and tax legislation that the U.S. Congress will consider for the rest of the year. It does not require presidential approval and only the grand total of the discretionary spending laid out in the final budget resolution is binding on the appropriations committees. Nonetheless, the congressional budget resolution is an important step in the budgeting process because it provides guidance to the chairmen of the appropriations committees on how to divide resources among various federal departments and agencies, and sets the stage for the twelve annual appropriations bills that must be passed by Congress and signed by the president. Congressional Budget Resolutions

A large percentage of American middle-class high schools have not kept pace with countries like Singapore, Finland, Korea, and Germany that have raised standards, invested in teachers, and lifted their overall performance, according to a new report from America Achieves. The report, Middle Class or Middle of the Pack?: What Can We Learn When Benchmarking U.S. Schools Against the World’s Best?, finds that middle-class American fifteen-year-olds are “significantly” outperformed by their peers in twenty-four countries in math and fifteen countries in science based on a pilot study involving 105 American high schools that administered a new test known as the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Test for Schools (based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)). The test measures students’ abilities to apply their knowledge to solve real-world problems, the kinds of deeper learning necessary to succeed in college and the workplace. Middle Class or Middle of the Pack?

The Gordon Commission on the Future of Assessment in Education (the Gordon Commission) recently issued a public policy statement based on its two-plus years of work designed to “stimulate a productive national conversation about assessment and its relationship to teaching and learning.” Transforming Assessment

School districts and states must find affordable and feasible ways to improve student assessments so that they measure high-level skills and knowledge, a new report from the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education finds. The report, Developing Assessments of Deeper Learning: The Costs and Benefits of Using Tests that Help Students Learn, provides data on what states and districts currently spend on tests; examines the failings of current multiple-choice tests; and analyzes the costs and opportunities of creating, implementing, and scoring assessments that ensure students are equipped with twenty-first-century competencies. Developing Assessments of Deeper Learning

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Afternoon Announcements: Obama requests $300 million for high school transformation in 2014 budget

The Next Generation Science Standards were publicly released on Tuesday and will help shape science education around the nation. The next step for states will be deciding whether to adopt them. Education Week

A bipartisan bill focused on improving mental health in schools is slated to be considered by the Senate education panel tomorrow. Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) are sponsoring the bill. Politics K-12

A lot of focus has been given to the student debt crisis. But what about the amount of debt owed by college-goers who don’t complete their programs? New federal data focuses on debt incurred by noncompleters. National Center for Education Statistics

Obama released his budget plan today, and it includes a $300 million increase for high school reform, along with $659 million for School Turnaround Grants. The White House

Georgia will receive $17.2 million in federal grant money to improve consistently low-performing schools, as part of the School Improvement Grants program under the U.S. Department of Education. Education Week Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: Student Loan Rates Set to Increase July 1

Elementary school children in Richmond, Virginia will be incentivized to read, as part of a program to ensure that all students are reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The program is called “Earning to Learn.” Education Week

The Common Core State Standards, set to be implemented in 45 states next year, expect students to be competent typists by fourth grade. Keyboarding replaces cursive in many areas, and some states are opting to include a cursive writing requirement. The Star-Herald

A Kenyan Maasai warrior studying at Clemson University talked with students at the University of Georgia as part of a cultural exchange program. He had to run nine miles each way to receive an education. He hopes to return to Kenya with the skills and knowledge to make education more accessible to children in his village and community. The Red and Black

Student loan interest rates will rise from the current 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1 if Congress does not half the increase. Student advocacy groups released an issue brief calling for the federal government not to profit from student loans. New York Times Read Entire Post

Afternoon announcements: Obama will pay for pre-k plan through increased tobacco taxes

Protestors outside the Department of Education, dubbed, “Occupy DOE,” resorted to inflammatory and even racist insults against high-stakes testing. Politics K-12

Ohio State University students might think they’re getting an easy lift to class when a golf cart pulls up beside them, but what they’re actually getting is a trip in “Buck$ Bus,” in which they’re quizzed on financial aid and budgeting. The inspiration for the game comes from the Discovery Channel’s show, Cash Cab. The Columbus Dispatch

The Obama administration released details on how they plan to pay for the universal pre-kindergarten program highlighted in the President’s State of the Union earlier this year. Money will come from increased revenue from raised tobacco taxes. Politics K-12

Massachusetts parents are outraged over a story that broke earlier this week, in which as many as 25 students were told to throw away their lunch because they could not pay for it. The director of the food service company that denied the children their lunches was placed on administrative leave. Education Week Read Entire Post

Afternoon announcements: Is Eric Cantor education's biggest advocate in Congress?

Students at the Career and Technical Education Academy in Hutchinson, Kansas are adding interactions and familiarity with robots to their resumes. Nao, the Robot Teacher, has a human caretaker but can relay messages from students and be programmed to do most anything the students would like. Huffington Post

Research shows that graduating more students from high school and college is key to a successful and growing economy, but what about the 284,000 college graduates who held minimum-wage jobs last year? The number is down from an all-time high in 2010 of 327,000. Huffington Post

Federal grants would provide a financial backing for schools who wish to up their safety measures if new legislation gets through Congress. The bill is in response to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last December. Politics K-12

U.S. Representative and House majority leader Eric Cantor may be education’s new biggest advocate on the Hill. While many members are focused on financial issues, he is championing several education ones. Education Week Read Entire Post