Printer-friendly versionSome of the News Fit to Print
A BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM
On March 13,the Obama Administration released its blueprint for revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to help states raise expectations of students and reward schools for producing dramatic gains in student achievement. The blueprint provides incentives for states to adopt academic standards that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and create accountability systems that measure student growth toward meeting the goal that all children graduate and succeed in college. The information is on the Education Department’s website. There is a link to the blueprint and a video of President Obama’s presentation.
OBAMA CALLS FOR MAJOR CHANGE IN EDUCATION LAW
The Obama administration on Saturday called for a broad overhaul of President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, proposing to reshape divisive provisions that encouraged instructors to teach to tests, narrowed the curriculum, and labeled one in three American schools as failing. The administration would replace the law’s pass-fail school grading system with one that would measure individual students’ academic growth and judge schools based not on test scores alone but also on indicators like pupil attendance, graduation rates and learning climate. And while the proposal calls for more vigorous interventions in failing schools, it would also reward top performers and lessen federal interference in tens of thousands of reasonably well-run schools in the middle. In addition, President Obama would replace the law’s requirement that every American child reach proficiency in reading and math, which administration officials have called utopian, with a new national target that could prove equally elusive: that all students should graduate from high school prepared for college and a career. The article is in The New York Times.
NEW FUNDING PROJECTION COULD SQUEEZE OBAMA’S ED AGENDA
In the final push to pass a major student aid bill pending in Congress, funding for key elements in President Obama's education agenda is dwindling. New Congressional Budget Office projections show that Obama's proposal to cut private banks out of a federal lending program would yield billions of dollars less than he originally hoped. That means less money for priorities that range from early childhood education to college completion, and a scramble is underway to determine what initiatives will be funded and what will be cut if, as expected, the loan overhaul merges with health-care legislation that appears headed for a final vote soon. The article is in the Washington Post.
DIRE FINANCIAL FUTURE PROJECTED FOR U.S. COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Hundreds of community college trustees and officials, meeting last week at the 2010 Community College National Legislative Summit in Washington, are girding themselves for projected state funding shortfalls in 2012 when stimulus funds will dry up and recessionary budget gaps are expected to swell. During a Thursday policy session at the annual legislative summit organized by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), officials presented a bleak outlook for states and the recession’s potential long-term effects. Without stimulus money, higher education is poised to see deeper drops in funding than the projected revenue gains resulting from record high enrollments, summit speakers cautioned. The article is in Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
SCHOOLS ACROSS U.S. GRAPPLE WITH CLOSURES
All over the country, many school districts are facing declines in both revenue and enrollment. As a result, the number of districts considering school closures this year has doubled — and is expected to double again next year. "Right now, the economy is expediting school closures," says Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. "As districts are hard-pressed to meet their budgets, they're looking for everything they can cut." The piece is from NPR.
LURED INTO TRADE SCHOOL AND DEBT
At institutions that train students for careers in areas like health care, computers and food service, enrollments are soaring as people anxious about weak job prospects borrow aggressively to pay tuition that can exceed $30,000 a year. But the profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students, according to academics and advocates for greater oversight of financial aid. Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle-class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low-wage work and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low-income students. The article is in The New York Times.
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