The Important Education Issue Leaders Are Still Ignoring

The Important Education Issue Leaders Are Still Ignoring:

The Important Education Issue Leaders Are Still Ignoring

One of the more telling combinations of news stories from the past week found education policy insiders in Washington, DC rejoicing over the passage of a new law rewriting federal education policy while at the same time a new report revealed how political leadership is continuing to fail America’ public schools.

This is not to say that revising federal education policy wasn’t a worthwhile goal. For sure, the new law, dubbed the Every Student Succeeds Act, has corrected some harmful aspects of federal education policy. Many good commentaries have pointed out significant problemswith the new law too. But such is the nature of legislating. You don’t always get everything you want.

However, despite all the celebration surrounding ESSA, the issue that remains mostly unaddressed in education policy is the massive under-funding that most states continue to inflict on public schools. The ugly truth about how political leaders continue to underfund local schools was exposed in a new report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priority.

Schools Aren’t Getting The Money They Need

The new CBPP report finds, “Most states provide less support per student for elementary and secondary schools – in some cases, much less – than before the Great Recession.” This is an issue that should be front-and-center in education discussion, not something burbling in the background while education policy leaders congratulate each other over a job well done.

As the commentary from CBPP on its report explains, state funding is a key factor in any assessment of the health and well being of the nation’s public schools. K-12 schools generally rely on their respective state government to supply about 46 percent of their funding. Local governments provide another 45 percent, and the federal government chips in only 9 percent on average.

The significance of funding sources varies considerably from state to state, given state funding formulas and the demographics of a specific districts (schools with large populations of low-income, nonwhite students receive extra federal funds through a provision called Title I). But “because schools rely so heavily on state aid,” CBPP explains, “cuts to state funding (especially formula funding) generally force local school districts to scale back educational services, raise more revenue to cover the gap, or both.”

Also, the severity of these funding cuts varies considerably from state to The Important Education Issue Leaders Are Still Ignoring:

NEWS AND VIEWS

How Washington Created Some Of The Worst Schools In America

Politico

“The network of schools for Native American children run by an obscure agency of the Interior Department remains arguably the worst school system in the United States, a disgrace the government has known about for eight decades and never successfully reformed … No Child Left Behind program, which aimed to bring accountability to schools, was especially hard to implement at BIE. Administrators struggle to comply with local tests and standards in 23 different states … During the Obama administration’s first term … school construction budgets for schools dwindled under competing administration priorities and twice the administration didn’t propose any money for new BIE schools. Meanwhile, a parade of directors – three in four years – gave the agency inconsistent oversight.”
Read more …

The Successor To No Child Left Behind Has, It Turns Out, Big Problems Of Its Own

The Washington Post

Valerie Strauss writes, “Anybody expecting the Every Student Succeeds Act to be a fix-all will be disappointed … Use of federal funds for ‘Pay for Success’ programs allow wealthy investors to make profits from education investments … States will be required to fund ‘equitable services’ for children in private and religious schools who are deemed eligible … Provisions in the legislation for the establishment of teacher preparation academies are written to primarily support non-traditional, non-university programs … ESSA is a compromise bill.”
Read more …

K-12 Funding Cuts Persist

Center On Budget And Policy Priorities

“Most states provide less support per student for elementary and secondary schools … than before the Great Recession … 31 states provided less state funding per student in the 2014 school year … than in the 2008 school year … In at least 18 states, local government funding per student fell over the same period … This year … 12 states imposed new cuts, even as the national economy continues to improve.”
Read more …

L.A. School Communities Resist Take Over By Charter Schools’ ‘Hurricane Eli’

The Progressive

Los Angeles public school parent Cynthia Liu writes, “In September of 2015, the LA Times broke the story that Eli Broad’s foundation planned to spend $490 million over approximately eight years to push its plan to convert half of the schools in the district to charter schools run by private operators … Broad’s leaked plan exposes the top-down nature of the charter sector. Never before has it been so glaringly evident how a single wealthy benefactor can rearrange a public school district according to his own ambitions. Families who previously viewed charter schools as a life raft for their children now must confront the sweeping nature of Broad’s plan: is it still “school choice” if a Broad-sponsored charter wave is the tsunami that eventually removes any other kind of school? … The immediate revelation of the top-down, high-handed Broad plan sparked outrage and protest by UTLA and various community groups. Teachers, parents, and community members pushed back.”
Read more …

Textbooks Out Of Step With Scientists On Climate Change, Study Says

Education Week

“Researchers looked at four 6th grade science textbooks that were published nearly a decade ago and are still being used in some California schools. In those texts, ‘the causes of climate change were shrouded in uncertainty’ … he texts often refer to what climate scientists ‘believe’ and “think,’ using verbs that convey uncertainty, rather than discussing what they’ve done such as collecting data … Materials adoptions in California, which serves more than 6 million public school students, have historically had a hefty impact on the textbook market nationally … The study points to 2011 research saying that only about half of U.S. teens believe climate change is occurring. And it says that teachers are reliant on textbooks to guide their instruction.”
Read more …

Happy Holidays

Next week EON is taking a holiday break from publishing. Best wishes for the season and the New Year.