A College Parking Lot, Deficit Reduction, and Public Investment

Last week I spent two days visiting the University of California-Berkeley, one of the nation's most prestigious higher education and research institutions. Walking the campus linked UCB's major accomplishments - ranging from STEM to public policy - with the buildings that housed the people that created them. The throngs of passing students were a United Nations in languages and dress.

This is a public university, created and run by the state of California and funded by the taxpayer. Rivaling well- known private selective institutions, UCB produces state, national, and international leaders in almost every field. This is a publicly-funded institution where the physics building's parking lot has six prime spots "Reserved for Nobel Laureates."

Yet even this major institution that has created much of California's intellectual infrastructure and resulting economic growth has seen reductions in state investment in past years. Against the backdrop of my walk, I replayed the constant political refrain that ending deficit spending is the most important issue facing the nation. Read Entire Post

Morning Announcements April 17, 2012

It's Tax Day! If you were one of the millions of Americans who dilligently filed their taxes early or online, kick back and relax. If not, hurry up and get your returns filed before the post offices close! Here are your latest headlines in education news.

The Alliance for Excellent Education continues its discussion on the limits of teacher privacy and personal life. The Huffington Post  poses the question of whether students and teachers should be allowed to interact via text messaging. This year has already seen a slew of controversial incidents involving teachers texting students. Earlier this month, Pennsylvania teacher Timothy Moll was accused of texting one of his students and offering good grades for naked pictures.

Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: January 10, 2012

The Alliance wishes you a productive (and quick) Tuesday. As you speed through the afternoon take in the latest in education news.

The state of New York has yet to comply with the goals it set when applying for financial assistance through the federal Race to the Top program. According to the New York Times, the state is one of three on the federal government’s watch list and therefore may be in jeopardy of losing federal aid.

The Los Angeles Times reports that federal reforms to address quality and accountability concerns are forcing more than 130 Head Start agencies to compete for funding. The report analyzes potential risks for the agencies.

Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: December 12, 2011

It's yet another slow and sluggish Monday. As you reach for coffee number four, take a look at the latest in education news.

The Alliance strives to raise awareness of the dire need to focus more attention on high schools in terms of educational reform. A new study by researchers at John Hopkins University and the University of Arizona underscores this mission. According to the Washington Post, the study finds that two-fifths of high school students graduate prepared neither for traditional college nor for career training.

Apparently, schools around the country could use a lesson from the military. The New York Times reports that schools located on U.S. military bases outperform public schools based on results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Read Entire Post

Stats That Stick--November 30, 2011

Here are this week's "Stats that Stick," courtesy of Alliance Policy Intern Bill DeBaun:

Number of states that have made midyear cuts to K-12 education: 18. State budgets are improving, but not quickly enough to avoid cuts to education, says Education Week. In the 2010-11 school years, 39 states made overall reductions and 35 made midyear budget cuts. The article reports that "the total size of state general fund budgets in fiscal 2012, $666.6 billion, is still 3 percent below prerecession levels."

Number of counties in the United States that saw significant increases in child poverty since 2007: 653. A recent US Census Bureau report reveals that child poverty is much more prevalent now than pre-recession year 2007, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The 653 counties represent just under 21% of all of the counties in the United States. Across the country, only 8 counties saw a decrease in child poverty between 2007 and the present.

Read Entire Post

Stats That Stick: June 15, 2011

In 2008, more than two of five (42 percent) first-year college students were living at, near, or below poverty—a 4 percentage point increase from 2000. Most startling is the fact that among non-White females in their first year of college, more than half, including seven of 10 Black females, were from a poverty background. –Institute for Higher Educational Policy (IHEP)

Education has overtaken other hot-button topics including immigration and the economy as the top issue facing Texas, according to an independent poll released Tuesday. –Austin American-Statesman

Just 13 percent of high school seniors who took the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress, called the Nation's Report Card, showed a solid grasp of U.S. History. Results released Tuesday showed the two other grades didn't perform much better, with just 22 percent of fourth-grade students and 18 percent of eighth-graders demonstrating proficiency. –National Assessment of Educational Progress

Read Entire Post

Straight A's Covers NCLB, High School Graduation Rates, Common Standards, State Budgets and More

Here's a quick summary of the articles in the June 13 issue of Straight A's, the Alliance's biweekly newsletter.

Click on a title below to access the complete article or download a printer-friendly version of the entire newsletter at: http://www.all4ed.org/files/Volume11No12.pdf.

Read Entire Post

Report Round-up

Affirming the Goal: Is College and Career Readiness an Internationally-Competitive Standard? by ACT Inc. According to this study, the implementation of Common Core State Standards in English/language arts and math could potentially propel the U.S. toward becoming one of the top ten countries in reading and math performance as well as help all students succeed in life after high school.

Children, Media, and Race: Media Use Among White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American Children from the Center on Media and Human Development School of Communication Northwestern University. This report explores the health and educational implications of racial and ethnic differences in young people's media usage.

Restructuring Resources for High-Performing Schools A Primer for State Policymakers—Summary from Education Resource Strategies. This report examines four areas in which state policymakers can make a big difference: how schools organize personnel and time, how districts and schools spend special education dollars, how districts allocate resources to schools and students, and what information districts gather on resources and spending.

Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: May 25, 2011

Education Week reports, “Education Secretary Arne Duncan will divvy up the $700 million in additional Race to the Top money Congress gave him this year between a new contest focused on early education and the nine runners-up that lost in last year's high-profile state competition.”

Wondering how school districts used stabilization money? Check out this Education Week story and the graph to the left. 

Public schools across the country, struggling with cuts in state funding, rising personnel costs and lower tax revenues, are shifting costs to students and their parents by imposing or boosting fees for everything from enrolling in honors English to riding the bus, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Read Entire Post

Morning Announcements: March 1, 2011

Education Week writes, “The rhetoric of today's education policy tends to divide the world in two: those who favor 'reform' and those who don't.” Ed Week also reports on a new analysis finding that arts education is experiencing a decline, particularly among minority students. 

In Maryland, rally organizers say they hope to bring more than 2,000 people to Annapolis to protest $94 million in spending reductions for schools statewide.

In the New York Times, columnist David Brooks writes, "The country’s future greatness will be shaped by whether we cut wisely or stupidly...Many governors of both parties are diverting money from schools in thoughtless and self-destructive ways."

Read Entire Post