SHOW ME THE WAY TO GO HOME: Democrats Pare Spending in Effort to Finish Appropriations Before the End of the Year:On February 5 of this year, when President Bush released his budget request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, many observers called it "dead on arrival" because it held discretionary spending to about a 1 percent increase-less than the rate of inflation-and cut the funding of several departments, including the U.S. Department of Education. However, after months of partisan wrangling, veto threats, and veto override attempts, it is now becoming clear that the president may actually get a final discretionary spending total that is very close to his $933 billion target. Nevertheless, Congressional Democrats were able to move money around to fund key priorities, such as a $2 billion increase for the U.S. Department of Education, while staying within the president's spending limit.

LOSING OUR EDGE: American Teenagers Continue to Be Surpassed by International Peers in Math and Science: American fifteen-year-olds fell two places in mathematics and two places in science in international rankings, according to the results of the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA), which were recently released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The continued slippage prompted speakers at a December 4 briefing to call on policymakers to examine what the United States could learn from other education systems around the world to better prepare American students for the global economy.

STATES EXPECT TIGHTER FISCAL CONDITIONS IN 2008: Weakening Housing Market and Higher Funding Demands for Health Care and Medicaid Could Strain State Budgets: While most states enjoyed healthy revenue growth in 2007, overall growth slowed slightly from the robust conditions of 2006 and is expected to decline even more in 2008. So says The Fiscal Survey of States, a twice-a-year publication from the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO). The decline in revenue is especially worrisome considering the increased funding demands for health care and Medicaid and other long-term issues, such as funding pensions and maintenance and repair of infrastructure.

NEW TEACHER SUPPORT PAYS OFF: Policy Brief Emphasizes the Importance of High-Quality Teacher Induction: High-quality teacher induction programs can lead to improved teacher retention, increase teacher effectiveness, and financially benefit schools, districts, and states-as well as teachers and students-according to a policy brief recently released by the New Teacher Center (NTC) at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Titled "New Teacher Support Pays Off: A Return on Investment for Educators and Kids," the brief states that strong teacher induction programs are "an efficient and effective use of public resources" and urges policymakers to invest in such programs and make the creation of policies to strengthen them a priority.

CHANCE FAVORS THE PREPARED MIND: Report Finds that Students in the Highest-Achieving States Score As Well As Counterparts in Most Foreign Countries in Math and Science, but Trail Highest-Achieving Foreign Countries: A new report from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) finds that eighth graders in most states perform as well as or better than their counterparts in most foreign countries in math and science. The bad news is that eighth graders in the highest-achieving states (Massachusetts, Minnesota, and North Dakota, among others) fall significantly below those in the highest-achieving countries (including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Korea).

U.S. READING RESULTS ON INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON THROWN OUT DUE TO PRINTING ERROR: Alliance President Calls for Retest: On November 19, officials from the National Center for Educational Statistics announced that the United States' reading scores on the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) had been invalidated because of an error in the printing of the test. The other results from PISA, which tests fifteen-year-olds in fifty-seven countries in mathematics, science, and reading literacy, are still scheduled to be released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on December 4.

HIGH SCHOOLS FOR EQUITY: Report Offers Lessons from High Schools that Successfully Graduate Low-Income Minority Students: In America, only a few more than half of African American and Latino students graduate from high school on time. In addition, only 12-14 percent graduate having met the requirements to attend a state university, according to a new report by the School Redesign Network at Stanford University and Justice Matters. The report, High Schools for Equity: Policy Supports for Learning in Communities of Color, examines five California schools that are achieving much greater success with low-income students of color and identifies several practices and policies that similar schools can use to improve both the day-to-day learning experiences and educational outcomes of their students.

WHEN GIRLS DON'T GRADUATE, WE ALL FAIL: New Report Finds that Female Dropouts Face Greater Economic Challenges than Male Counterparts: Although American girls are slightly less likely to drop out of high school than boys, they are likely to be more negatively impacted from an economic standpoint, according to a recent report from the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) titled When Girls Don't Graduate, We All Fail: A Call to Improve High School Graduation Rates for Girls. In fact, the report finds that female dropouts earn significantly lower wages than male dropouts, are at greater risk of unemployment, and are more likely to rely on public support programs.