“SETTING THE STAGE FOR NEW HIGH SCHOOLS”: Alliance, National League of Cities Cohost Capitol Hill Briefing on Alternative High Schools

On July 10, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean appeared at a Capitol Hill briefing to discuss the importance of ensuring that all students—including those who are struggling, those at risk of dropping out, and those who may have left school—are prepared for college and success in the workforce. The briefing, titled “Setting the Stage for New High Schools: Expanding Alternatives to High School to Ensure that All Students Become College and Work Ready,” was cohosted by the Alliance for Excellent Education and the National League of Cities and focused on a leading-edge group of cities that are establishing partnerships to develop high-quality alternative high schools.

“We still have in our country a remarkable economic engine,” Alexander said. “We’re still the grand champion in technology and education. … But the competition is getting fierce. Other countries around the world want the same standard of living we have. They understand it has a lot to do with developing their brain power…we in the United States need to make sure over the next decade or two that we maintain our competitive advantage.”

He explained that Congress has tried to develop a framework for meeting this goal through the passage of the America Competes Act, a bipartisan law that focuses on improved student performance in math and science. Alexander said that the law provides support for low-income students to take Advanced Placement courses, trains teachers to better prepare students to take the tests, and provides support to train more math and science teachers as well as to better train those who are already teaching in those fields.

Dean said Nashville is a strong city with a diverse economy that includes everything from health care to publishing to the music industry, but he also acknowledged that it has issues with its schools.

“Nashville is a great city; we’ve benefitted from good government…we’re a city on the rise, but we have not focused adequately on education,” he said. “There is a connection between schools and keeping kids in schools and having reduced crime and a safer city. If you have a safer city and good schools, you’re going to see economic development. Those three things are just intrinsically connected.”

Dean also talked about his work designed to reduce the dropout rate and keep more students in school. His efforts include appointing a task force to study the issue (see box below), working with the National League of Cities to develop alternative high schools, and reaching out to different models and programs around the country—such as charter schools and Teach for America—to learn more about best practices and how to use them. He also included money in his budget to develop an “Attendance Center.”

“Truancy is something that is the number one indicator [of whether] a student is going to drop out of school,” he said. “The Attendance Center is in-between the juvenile courts, the schools, and the police. It’s where kids can be brought when they’re loitering or they’re truant, where there will be social workers and teachers who will find out what the real problem is…and get them back on the right track.”

Dean explained that his emphasis on truancy and dropout rates stems from his work as a public defender. “When I was doing adult criminal work, I would represent tons of people in a given day,” he said. “Every one of them except for just a few were high school dropouts—and I’m talking hundreds of people. I’m not saying that’s the only issue, but there is clearly a correlation.”

He added that he often worked with juveniles, particularly with youth accused of very serious crimes. “All of those kids that I saw in juvenile—whether it was the serious cases or the less serious delinquent-type cases—were chronically truant. I think the city has a responsibility to pay attention to that issue all of the time and keep those kids in schools. …There are no throw-away people in our society. We are not going to be satisfied until all of our schools have graduation rates in the 90th percentile.”

Other featured speakers at the briefing included Elliot Washor, codirector of the Big Picture Company, an organization that began with the design of The Met, a high school in Rhode Island, and has continued to create radically different schools across the country though the Alternative High School Initiative (AHSI). As one of the most recent cities selected to join the initiative, Nashville will partner with AHSI to reduce dropout rates and improve students’ educational outcomes. Part of that work will include helping the city establish several innovation-model high schools, with new schools debuting as soon as the 2009–2010 school year.

Washor talked about his experiences in different alternative schools around the country and on the importance of longitudinal studies that follow students through high school and into college. He explained that the Big Picture Company schools not only measure students’ success in college, but school staff also get involved with students and continued to stay in contact with them through college—a vital support considering that, nationwide, only 10 percent of low-income, minority students graduate from college.

Also on hand was Cliff Johnson, executive director of the National League of Cities (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF), which helps to develop the content of AHSI convenings and guide the evolution of the network. Johnson talked about the dropout crisis underway in cities throughout the nation and the important role that mayors can play in helping to reduce dropout rates. Audrey Hutchinson, program director at the National League of Cities, discussed what it meant to be an alternative high school and shared the findings from Setting the Stage for New High Schools: Municipal Leadership in Supporting High School Alternatives, a November 2007 report by the YEF Institute. The report examines how mayors and other municipal leaders in seven cities across the country (Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Corpus Christi, TX; Hartford, CT; Phoenix, AZ; San Jose, CA; and Seattle, WA) are expanding alternatives for students who struggle in traditional high school settings.

Setting the Stage for New High Schools: Municipal Leadership in Supporting High School Alternatives is available at http://www.nlc.org/ASSETS/8D1C9C4738C7419DAE8060B73828827D/IYEF_Setting_the_Stage.pdf.

More information on the Capitol Hill event, including complete audio and video coverage, is available at http://www.all4ed.org/events/Alliance_NLC.

KIDS’ SHARE 2008: Report Finds Federal Spending on Children’s Programs Getting the Squeeze

Although federal spending for children’s programs has increased in actual dollar amounts and as a percentage of GDP since 1960, the percentage of the federal domestic budget spent on children has decreased, according to Kids’ Share 2008: How Children Fare in the Federal Budget, a new report from the Urban Institute and the New America Foundation (1). Looking ahead to 2018, the report finds that federal spending on children will continue to shrink as a percentage of domestic spending unless major adjustments are made to current policy and budget trends, especially if spending on entitlements continues to spiral out of control.

“The squeeze between growing entitlements and existing taxes—a squeeze affecting children’s programs and many traditional government functions—is not waiting for some future date; it is taking place now,” said Eugene Steuerle, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and one of the report’s authors. “By action and inaction, both political parties bear responsibility for choosing this path and for allowing other priorities to take precedence.”

According to the report, which defines children as individuals under nineteen who are not in postsecondary education, federal spending on children, adjusted for inflation, grew from $55 billion in 1960 to $354 billion in 2007. But although federal spending on children has grown dramatically, it makes up a smaller portion of domestic federal spending in 2007 (16.2 percent) than it did nearly fifty years ago (20.2 percent).

During the same time period, however, spending on nonchild Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid more than doubled, growing from 21.9 percent to 49.1 percent of domestic spending. As a result, real federal spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid rose from $3,057 per senior in 1960 to $20,530 in 2005, compared to $819 and $4,680 per child.

The report also finds that federal spending on children’s programs grew as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), but not nearly at the same pace as spending on entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, which tended to outpace both growth in the economy and inflation. From 1960 to 2007, entitlement spending grew from 2.0 to 7.9 percent of GDP, whereas federal spending on children rose from 1.9 to 2.6 percent of GDP. And of the eight major budget categories that spend money on children that were featured in the report, only health, which grew 4.5 percent in real terms, gained ground relative to the economy. Education, which actually fell 2.1 percent in real terms, lost the most ground.(2)

Assuming that current policy and budget trends continue, the report predicts that spending on children should increase in real dollar amounts from 2007 to 2018, but that its portion of domestic spending will continue to decrease as entitlement spending continues to eat away at the rest of the budget. Specifically, it says that children’s spending in real dollar terms will increase by 15.5 percent from 2007 to 2018, compared to a 63 percent increase for the adult portions of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Consequently, the report estimates that domestic spending on children in 2018 will represent just 13.8 percent of federal domestic spending, down from 16.2 percent in 2007. Meanwhile, spending on the nonchild portions of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will consume 59.2 percent of domestic spending by 2018.

“It is clear that, absent major adjustments to our current way of doing business, we are rapidly approaching the day when there will be no federal dollars left for any program outside the three major entitlements, plus defense, international affairs, and interest on the debt,” the report reads. “If more people pay higher taxes, or some of the president’s recent proposals to cut Medicare growth are enacted, or the defense budget falls by more than projected, then the squeeze is lessened. The budget pressures will not go away, however, without major reforms to both revenues and spending.”

The complete report is available at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411699_kids_share_08_report.pdf.

 1. Domestic federal spending excludes spending on defense, homeland security, and international affairs.
 2. The report divides federal programs that spend money on children into eight major budget categories: income security (e.g., Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), nutrition (food stamps), housing (low-income home energy assistance), tax credits and exemptions (child tax credit), health (Children’s Health Insurance Program), social services (Head Start), education (Education for the Disadvantaged), and training (Workforce Investment Act).

SCHWARZENEGGER IS X FACTOR IN MATH DEBATE: California Governor’s Influence Leads State Board to Mandate Testing Every Eighth Grader in Algebra

Every eighth-grade student in California will be tested in algebra under a policy approved on July 9 by the California Board of Education. The action, which is scheduled to take effect within three years, could make California the first state in the nation to require an upper-level math class in middle school.

Originally, the board had been scheduled to vote on a new eighth-grade math test proposed by Jack O’Connell, the California superintendent of public instruction. But the night before, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) issued a letter asking for the more rigorous test. The board granted Schwarzenegger’s request the next day, voting eight to one to adopt his recommendation.

“I have always been a staunch supporter of high academic standards in California,” Schwarzenegger wrote in the letter. “I am asking the State Board to do away with the below grade-level General Mathematics test and chart California’s course to lead the nation in 8th grade math. I stand committed to ensuring schools have the resources needed to prepare every 8th grader to take an Algebra I standardized test.”

In the letter, Schwarzenegger calls algebra the “gateway to critical thinking, pivotal for success in science, engineering and technology” and says that the board had a choice between “high expectations” or “a two-track system: one for high achievers and one for those of whom we expect less.”

Reaction to the decision was decidedly mixed. Proponents hailed it as one that will push school districts to ensure that eighth graders are ready for algebra. Others said that the three-year time frame was too unrealistic.

According to the Associated Press, O’Connell “blasted Schwarzenegger during the nearly four-hour hearing, saying he had never seen such meddling by a governor at the last minute on a policy change that deserved rigorous public debate.” He criticized Schwarzenegger for “never [taking] the time to weigh in until last night on a policy that will have significant impact on literally tens of thousands of students” in California.

In his letter, Schwarzenegger maintains that the number of California eighth graders taking Algebra I has increased from 34 percent to 52 percent since 2003, compared with just 30 percent of eighth graders nationwide. At the hearing, O’Connell countered by saying that only about 23 percent score at the proficient level or above on standardized tests, with even smaller percentages of African American, Hispanic, and low-income students reaching proficient.

The vote became necessary after U.S. Department of Education officials discovered that California’s existing math test for students not enrolled in Algebra I did not follow the rules of the No Child Left Behind Act because it tested sixth- and seventh-grade math but was administered in eighth grade. At that point, the department said that California had to change its current eighth-grade math test by August 1 or face losing up to $4.1 million in federal funding.

In response to the vote, Holly Kuzmich, deputy chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, told the Los Angeles Times, “Education policy is leading us to getting kids access to algebra by the eighth grade, and we know that’s what leads kids to jobs and college,” she said. “We are delighted at the governor’s push for high standards.” (The link for the Los Angeles Times article is in the box below.)

Business leaders were also supportive of the decision and had lobbied for a more rigorous test for months. “This $1 million proposed ‘algebra light’ alternative test will be a disaster for California kids and teachers,” said Jim Lanich, president of California Business for Education Excellence, before the vote. “It will be a watering down of academic standards. . . . It will institutionalize a lower expectation for minority and low-income kids.”

A copy of Governor Schwarzenegger’s letter is available at http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/Board_of_Education_Algebra_I_Standards_FINAL.pdf.

Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The format makes information on federal education policy accessible to everyone from elected officials and policymakers to parents and community leaders. The Alliance for Excellent Education is a nonprofit organization working to make it possible for America's six million at-risk middle and high school students to achieve high standards and graduate prepared for college and success in life. To receive a free subscription to Straight A's, visit http://www.all4ed.org/what_you_can_do and add your name to our mailing list.