Momentum Building on ESEA Renewal?
Remember what we said a few months ago about including the word "education" and even "ESEA" in your 2011 State of the Union drinking game? Well, if you take that advice, you may want to make sure you have at least a six-pack handy.
Rumor has it that the president is going to make a big push for renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in his address to the newly divided Congress, slated for Jan. 25.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, is aiming for the panel to consider a bill by Easter, and then bring the measure to the floor in late spring or early summer, according to Justine Sessions, a spokeswoman for the committee.
Can the bill actually get done this year, before the 2012 presidential election campaign complicates matters? The current version of the ESEA law, the No Child Left Behind Act, was up for renewal four years ago, and so far
Online Chat on School Budget Crisis Today, at 2 p.m.
Ed Week is hosting an online "chat," in which a pair of experts on school budgets and finance will be answering your questions at 2 p.m. today about districts' struggles during the aftermath of "the Great Recession."
Our guests are Noelle Ellerson, of the American Association of School Administrators, who can offer an on-the-ground perspective on what schools are going through, and Donald J. Boyd, of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, who can speak to some of the big-picture economic forces at work. The discussion focuses on some of the topics put forward in Ed Week's newly released edition of Quality Counts, which focuses on the financial crisis.
We're accepting questions. So go to this link, and submit yours!