Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/16/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Front Group sues 13 school districts for not using test scores in teacher evaluations - LA Times

Group sues 13 school districts for not using test scores in teacher evaluations - LA Times: Group sues 13 school districts for not using test scores in teacher evaluationsAn education advocacy group sued 13 California school districts Thursday, claiming that they have ignored a state law requiring teachers’ performance evaluations to include student standardized test scores.The lawsuit targets the

by mike simpson / 18min 

Houston charter school leaders accused of embezzling $2.6 million meant for kids - Houston Chronicle

Houston charter school leaders accused of embezzling $2.6 million meant for kids - Houston Chronicle: Houston charter school leaders accused of embezzling $2.6 million meant for kidsThe founding superintendent of Houston's Varnett charter school and her husband have been indicted on charges of embezzling more than $2.6 million intended to benefit impoverished students, the U.S. Attorney's Office a

by mike simpson / 1h 

Why BustED Pencils does not support the Senate's ESEA rewrite! | BustED Pencils

Why BustED Pencils does not support the Senate's ESEA rewrite! | BustED Pencils: Why BustED Pencils does not support the Senate’s ESEA rewrite!As was noted today in EdWeek,Secretary of Education Arne Duncan applauded the Senate’s passage of the ESEA rewrite.He particularly touted provisions in the bill that would give states more flexibility from NCLB’s “one-size-fits-all federal mandates” and tho

by mike simpson / 1h 

SN&R's attorney on why K.J.'s shadow email network is a huge problem for the city of Sacramento - Sacramento News & Review

SN&R's attorney on why K.J.'s shadow email network is a huge problem for the city of Sacramento - Page Burner - July 16, 2015 - Blogs - Sacramento News & Review: SN&R's attorney on why K.J.'s shadow email network is a huge problem for the city of Sacramentoby Cosmo GarvinRegular readers know that Mayor Kevin Johnson recently sued SN&R and the city of Sacramento. He did this to bloc

by mike simpson / 1h 

Backroom dealings? American Federation of Teachers endorsement may hurt Hillary Clinton | US Politics | The News Hub

Backroom dealings? American Federation of Teachers endorsement may hurt Hillary Clinton | US Politics | The News Hub: Backroom dealings? American Federation of Teachers endorsement may hurt Hillary ClintonThe union, part of the AFL-CIO, violated an understanding to not endorse candidates before July 30Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has secured the biggest endorsement in the 2016

by mike simpson / 1h 

Revising the No Child Left Behind Act: Issue by Issue - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Revising the No Child Left Behind Act: Issue by Issue - Politics K-12 - Education Week: Revising the No Child Left Behind Act: Issue by IssueBy Alyson Klein on July 15, 2015 4:42 PMThe U.S. Senate has voted to pass a bipartisan bill to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which hasn't gotten a facelift since 2002, when then-President George W. Bush signed the law's current version,

by mike simpson / 2h 

Senate ESEA Amendment “Voice Vote” Update for July 15, 2015 | deutsch29

Senate ESEA Amendment “Voice Vote” Update for July 15, 2015 | deutsch29: Senate ESEA Amendment “Voice Vote” Update for July 15, 2015As the Senate debate on its version of the ESEA reauthorization, the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, neared its end, there was a sort of “sudden death” round as more amendments were dealt with quickly and in the form of voice votes.There were 21 of these voice votes

by mike simpson / 2h 

And You May Ask Yourself, "Well, How Did I Get Here?" | The Jose Vilson

And You May Ask Yourself, "Well, How Did I Get Here?" | The Jose Vilson: And You May Ask Yourself, “Well, How Did I Get Here?”Thanks for your patience.I’ve been to Atlanta, Washington D.C., and now San Antonio within the span of a week, spreading the “good word.” You’ve elevated me, so now I get to bring the words that usually come from this page to the adults who often need to hear it t

by mike simpson / 6h 

Geaux Teacher!: Deutsch29 Picking on Campbell Brown's Carcass

Geaux Teacher!: Deutsch29 Picking on Campbell Brown's Carcass: Deutsch29 Picking on Campbell Brown's CarcassResearcher and teacher extraordinaire Dr. Mercedes Schneider is "picking on" Campbell Brown again and this time she leaves only the bones from the carcass of Brown's inevitably fatal attempts to boost the charter market for her benefactors. For more read Schneider's most recent exp

by mike simpson / 6h 

Senate Amendment to Title I Funding Formula Passed | deutsch29

Senate Amendment to Title I Funding Formula Passed | deutsch29: Senate Amendment to Title I Funding Formula PassedOn July 16, 2015, Senator Burr’s (R-NC) amendment 2247, “As Modified; To amend the allocation of funds under subpart 2 of part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,” was approved via roll call vote, 59-39.The 19-page text of the amendment can be found here

by mike simpson / 6h 

Education Lessons From A Sparkly District: New Jersey’s Standards Review Committee

Education Lessons From A Sparkly District: New Jersey’s Standards Review Committee: New Jersey’s Standards Review CommitteeMaybe it’s just me, but it seems that the favorite way for the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE)/Gov. Christie to blow off immediate responsibility for anything is to create a Committee. The latest being the New Jersey Standards Review Committee. I can’t help the feel

by mike simpson / 7h 

Marie Corfield: Update on One Parent vs. #OneNewark

Marie Corfield: Update on One Parent vs. #OneNewark: Update on One Parent vs. #OneNewarkYesterday I wrote about Frankie Adao of Newark's Parent Power Movement infiltrating a One Newark enrollment center to gain information for parents who are not being provided with it.Frankie just posted this on Facebook (emphasis mine): This is some of the crap charters in Newark are pulling. I also spoke to ano

by mike simpson / 7h 

Jesse “The Walking Man” Turner is a hero and deserves our help - Wait What?

Jesse “The Walking Man” Turner is a hero and deserves our help - Wait What?: Jesse “The Walking Man” Turner is a hero and deserves our helpJesse “The Walking Man Turner” is walking from Connecticut to Washington DC this summer to protest the education malpractice that is demoralizing parents, teachers, and turning our children into human capital.Jesse is successfully raising awareness and support

by mike simpson / 8h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Can Third Graders "Fail"

CURMUDGUCATION: Can Third Graders "Fail": Can Third Graders "Fail"A twitter conversation this morning turned into a discussion of the semantics of talking about test results, but any conversation that turns to phrases like "semantics of talking about test results" (39 characters) is kind of doomed on twitter. Jennifer Borgioli (@JennBinis) referred me to her article f

by mike simpson / 8h 

Big Business vs. Parents on Education in The Capitol – Big Money and Big Lies Winning » Missouri Education Watchdog

Big Business vs. Parents on Education in The Capitol – Big Money and Big Lies Winning » Missouri Education Watchdog: Big Business vs. Parents on Education in The Capitol – Big Money and Big Lies WinningThe conviction of the Senate that they HAD to pass SB1177 Every Child Achieves Act has been hard to understand. Grassroot groups like Eagle Forum and the American Principles Project have been lobbyi

by mike simpson / 8h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Claypool will run Rahm's Clark St. Operation. Otherwise known as CPS.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Claypool will run Rahm's Clark St. Operation. Otherwise known as CPS.: Claypool will run Rahm's Clark St. Operation. Otherwise known as CPS.At a news conference with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, CTA President Forrest Claypool talks about making the Red Line trains run on time.. (Sun-Times photo)Okay, so it looks like the hated David Vitale is out and ComEd/Excelon nukes guy F

by mike simpson / 8h 

2015 Teacher of the Year: How to fight the ‘simplistic slogans and manipulated data’ of critics - The Washington Post

2015 Teacher of the Year: How to fight the ‘simplistic slogans and manipulated data’ of critics - The Washington Post: 2015 Teacher of the Year: How to fight the ‘simplistic slogans and manipulated data’ of criticsShanna Peeples is a high school English teacher in Amarillo, Texas,  who was named the 2015 National Teacher of the Year earlier this year by the Council of Chief State School Officers.

by mike simpson / 8h 

Why Unions for Teachers in Public Schools and Colleges? | janresseger

Why Unions for Teachers in Public Schools and Colleges? | janresseger: Why Unions for Teachers in Public Schools and Colleges?Why do educators need unions?  Aren’t teachers professionals and doesn’t it diminish their professionalism if they join unions?  These are questions underneath several of the big issues in education—charter schools as non-unionized competitors for public schools—the role of

by mike simpson / 8h 

7 Lessons from Race to the Top :: Frederick M. Hess

7 Lessons from Race to the Top :: Frederick M. Hess: 7 Lessons from Race to the TopOver at Education Next, former Race to the Top honcho Joanne Weiss and I have a lively exchange on that program's legacy. Joanne is relatively upbeat; me, not as much. You can find my take here and Joanne'shere. I talk a bit about the lessons learned, but space constraints mean the focus is more on our competing per

by mike simpson / 8h 

Why Arne Duncan Has Been A Monumental Flop As Education Secretary

Why Arne Duncan Has Been A Monumental Flop As Education Secretary: Why Arne Duncan Has Been A Monumental Flop As Education SecretaryFor some years now, the term “The Village” has circulated throughout the Internet blogosphere as a shorthand description of the insular life of the Washington, D.C., policy makers and media mavens. As Heather “Digby” Parton explained in 2009, the term is a metaphor fo

by mike simpson / 9h 

Georgia charter schools: Uneven results and delays in closing failing ones | Get Schooled

Georgia charter schools: Uneven results and delays in closing failing ones | Get Schooled: Georgia charter schools: Uneven results and delays in closing failing onesThe promise of charter schools was that they would outperform traditional public schools or close.The AJC had a long front-page story this morning examining the state’s push for more charter schools despite their mixed record and the f

by mike simpson / 9h 

Rafe Esquith: Have the Bullies Met Their Match? - Change The LAUSD

Have the Bullies Met Their Match? - Change The LAUSD: Have the Bullies Met Their Match? “Exploiting justified anger...to pursue a war on teachers”-Diane RavitchToo often, a teacher in the LAUSD’s Teacher Jail system is doomed to a career ending sentence if they cannot generate the publicity that will force the district’s hand. When district bullies removed Greg Schiller from the classroom because

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

U.S. Senate: Roll Call Vote To amend the accountability provisions.Every Child Achieves Act of 2015

U.S. Senate: Roll Call Vote: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 114th Congress - 1st Sessionas compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the SenateVote SummaryQuestion:  (Murphy Amdt. No. 2241 )Vote Number:241Vote Date:July 15, 2015, 04:29 PMRequired For Majority:3/5Vote Result:Amendment RejectedAmendment Number:S.Amdt. 2241 to S.Amdt. 2089 to S. 1177 (E

by mike simpson / 21h 

Senate ESEA Reauthorization Update for July 15, 2015 | deutsch29

Senate ESEA Reauthorization Update for July 15, 2015 | deutsch29: Senate ESEA Reauthorization Update for July 15, 2015On July 15, 2015, the Senate voted by roll call on five amendments related to the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, the Senate’s version of the proposed reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965.The first roll call vote concerned cloture, which wa

by mike simpson / 22h hide  //  save

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/15/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMThe 5 Teachers You Meet in Heaven: What It Really Takes to Save Our Schools | Yohuru WilliamsThe 5 Teachers You Meet in Heaven: What It Really Takes to Save Our Schools | Yohuru Williams: The 5 Teachers You Meet in Heaven: What It Really Takes to Save Our SchoolsA few weeks ago, I had the privilege of delivering commencement addresses to the graduates of the Rea

by mike simpson / 23h 

Front Group sues 13 school districts for not using test scores in teacher evaluations - LA Times

Group sues 13 school districts for not using test scores in teacher evaluations - LA Times:

Group sues 13 school districts for not using test scores in teacher evaluations

An education advocacy group sued 13 California school districts Thursday, claiming that they have ignored a state law requiring teachers’ performance evaluations to include student standardized test scores.

The lawsuit targets the largest school systems in the state that have barred such a use of test results through their collective-bargaining agreements with teachers unions. These contract provisions are illegal under state law, according to the complaint, which was filed Thursday in Contra Costa County.

The litigation represents the latest effort by Students Matter, a Silicon Valley-based group that has turned to California courts to make changes in education law that were otherwise blocked at the state and local level.

The organization was founded by tech entrepreneur David F. Welch to build on other litigation that has sought to weaken teacher job protections and hold instructors more accountable for student achievement.

The group’s first suit was successful, when a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles ruled a year ago that several teacher job protections were unconstitutional because they hurt students. That case, Vergara vs. California, was watched nationally and spawned similar litigation in New York. The California ruling is on hold pending appeals.

If the ruling is upheld, teachers would lose the right to earn tenure and layoffs would no longer be based on seniority. In addition, the process for firing instructors would be streamlined. The Legislature could pass laws restoring some of these job protections in another form, but they would have to survive court scrutiny.

The Southern California school systems named in the latest filing are El Monte City, Inglewood Unified, Chaffey Joint Union, Chino Valley Unified, Ontario-Montclair, Saddleback Valley Unified, Upland Unified and Victor Elementary District. The others are: Fairfield-Suisun Unified, Fremont Union, Pittsburg Unified; San Ramon Valley Unified and Antioch Unified.

“School districts are not going to get away with bargaining away their ability to use test scores to evaluate teachers,” said attorney Joshua S. Lipshutz, who is working on behalf of Students Matter. “That’s a direct violation of state law.”

The plaintiffs are six California residents, including some parents and teachers, three of whom are participating anonymously.

In all, the districts serve about 250,000 students, although the group's goal is to compel change across California.

“The impact is intended to be statewide, to show that no school district Group sues 13 school districts for not using test scores in teacher evaluations - LA Times:

Houston charter school leaders accused of embezzling $2.6 million meant for kids - Houston Chronicle

Houston charter school leaders accused of embezzling $2.6 million meant for kids - Houston Chronicle:

Houston charter school leaders accused of embezzling $2.6 million meant for kids

The founding superintendent of Houston's Varnett charter school and her husband have been indicted on charges of embezzling more than $2.6 million intended to benefit impoverished students, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

Marian Annette Cluff and Alsie Cluff Jr., the school's former facilities manager, are expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson this week on the 19-count indictment returned late Wednesday, according to a statement from federal authorities.

The Cluffs, who resigned in 2014, are accused of opening four "off-books accounts," kept secret from the school's office manager, external accountant and income tax preparer, the statement said. Specifically, they embezzled more than $1 million from "money orders" that parents submitted for school field trips and fundraisers such as books fairs and carnivals, and hid money from vendors, insurance companies and federal agencies, according to the authorities.

The couple also failed to pay taxes on the money and are charged with evading nearly $852,000 in federal income taxes, the statement said.

"Today's indictment alleges that these school officials abused their positions of trust to steal funds from the very ones they promised to serve — the children who attended the Varnett Public School," said Neil Sanchez of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General.

The Texas Education Agency proposed revoking Varnett's accreditation after an agency investigation found wrongful spending, but proceedings have not taken place and the school continues to operate, said spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson.

Dan Cogdell, a Houston attorney representing the Cluffs, said the couple was aware of the federal investigation and already has repaid a "significant" amount of money to the school.

"There were certainly errors in judgment made," Cogdell said. "They've acknowledged that, but at the end of the day they're Houston charter school leaders accused of embezzling $2.6 million meant for kids - Houston Chronicle:

Why BustED Pencils does not support the Senate's ESEA rewrite! | BustED Pencils

Why BustED Pencils does not support the Senate's ESEA rewrite! | BustED Pencils:

Why BustED Pencils does not support the Senate’s ESEA rewrite!

As was noted today in EdWeek,

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan applauded the Senate’s passage of the ESEA rewrite.

He particularly touted provisions in the bill that would give states more flexibility from NCLB’s “one-size-fits-all federal mandates” and those that would reduce the burden of testing on classroom time. Duncan also cheered language in the bill that would increase access to preschool.

If Duncan “applauded,” “touted,” and “cheered” the rewrite then you just know it’s going to be a massive FAILURE!

Filed under: Education Reform

Why BustED Pencils does not support the Senate's ESEA rewrite! | BustED Pencils:

SN&R's attorney on why K.J.'s shadow email network is a huge problem for the city of Sacramento - Sacramento News & Review

SN&R's attorney on why K.J.'s shadow email network is a huge problem for the city of Sacramento - Page Burner - July 16, 2015 - Blogs - Sacramento News & Review:

SN&R's attorney on why K.J.'s shadow email network is a huge problem for the city of Sacramento

by Cosmo Garvin

Regular readers know that Mayor Kevin Johnson recently sued SN&R and the city of Sacramento. He did this to block release of a few hundred emails, from his staff’s private “OMKJ” Gmail accounts, which Johnson claims are protected by attorney-client privilege. The emails have to do with his attempted takeover of the National Conference of Black Mayors, and its subsequent bankruptcy.

In the process, Johnson exposed the extent to which he is hiding emails, which ought to subject to the California Public Records Act, from public view, and from the control of the City Clerk, City Manager and City Attorney. 

SN&R talked with our attorney, Thomas R. Burke, about the problems with K.J.’s shadow email system. When we spoke late last week, Burke had just headed off an effort by Johnson’s lawyers—the Ballard Spahr law firm—to use their lawsuit to block release of any emails to SN&R, not just the ones the city had identified as being potentially sensitive attorney-client communication. 

Let’s back up. Can you explain why Ballard’s initial request that SN&R change its public-records request was a problem? Why you knew immediately it was not appropriate?

There were two problems with what Ballard Spahr was requesting. First, they were—without any way for you to confirm it—asserting that the attorney-client privilege applied to documents that were somehow in the hands of the Sacramento city attorney. They wanted you to sign off in the abstract that you would not contest whether or not the records were protected by the attorney-client privilege without exception. Without any qualifications, without knowing anything about it, without knowing how many there were. Without knowing how the review process had been done without knowing whether the privilege had been waived. Without anything.

And they did it while threatening the newspaper with litigation. That’s never appropriate, in my book. You don’t threaten reporters for simply doing their job and for not agreeing in advance in the abstract to something that will, SN&R's attorney on why K.J.'s shadow email network is a huge problem for the city of Sacramento - Page Burner - July 16, 2015 - Blogs - Sacramento News & Review:

Backroom dealings? American Federation of Teachers endorsement may hurt Hillary Clinton | US Politics | The News Hub

Backroom dealings? American Federation of Teachers endorsement may hurt Hillary Clinton | US Politics | The News Hub:

Backroom dealings? American Federation of Teachers endorsement may hurt Hillary Clinton

The union, part of the AFL-CIO, violated an understanding to not endorse candidates before July 30

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has secured the biggest endorsement in the 2016 campaign so far by landing the official thumbs-up of the American Federation of Teachers. The AFT, which represents some 1.6 million educators, is the first national union to endorse a presidential candidate during this cycle. While Clinton essentially had a lock on the union's endorsement, she may actually end up in hot water over it.

You see, the AFT was not supposed to endorse until July 30 at the earliest.According to Politico, the AFT is a member of the ALF-CIO organization of 56 national and international unions and was part of an unambiguous understanding to wait until July 30 to endorse. By jumping the gun, the AFT puts scrutiny on Clinton. Additional controversy comes from the fact that the AFT's president, Randi Weingarten, is a longtime close friend of Hillary Clinton. Even more controversy arrives due to the timing of the early endorsement: It comes as Bernie Sanders is surging in popularity...especially among labor unions.

Did Clinton and Weingarten override the rules to hand Clinton an early, powerful endorsement to counter the rise of Bernie Sanders?

While Clinton herself may have had nothing to do with the early endorsement, and her supporters will undoubtedly roll their eyes at the suggestion of impropriety, the real damage in the AFT early endorsement is that it highlights a notorious Clinton weakness: Trust. Many voters struggle to trust Hillary Clinton, meaning the possibility of impropriety could be devastating.

Compared to populist rival Bernie Sanders, Clinton is seen as a bit of a backroom dealer. She is secretive, willing to compromise, and has been Backroom dealings? American Federation of Teachers endorsement may hurt Hillary Clinton | US Politics | The News Hub:

Revising the No Child Left Behind Act: Issue by Issue - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Revising the No Child Left Behind Act: Issue by Issue - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Revising the No Child Left Behind Act: Issue by Issue

By Alyson Klein on July 15, 2015 4:42 PM

The U.S. Senate has voted to pass a bipartisan bill to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which hasn't gotten a facelift since 2002, when then-President George W. Bush signed the law's current version, the No Child Left Behind Act. Now the legislation will have to go to conference with a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month.

And lawmakers have a lot of key issues to discuss—including whether the updated law should include a preschool program, whether states should be able to allow federal funding to follow students to the school of their choice, and just how states should measure school performance.

How are the bills different from each other? And how do they compare to the existing version of the law, as well as the Obama administration's waivers from provisions of NCLB, which are currently in place in 42 states and the District of Columbia?

We've got your cheat sheet right here. 

Testing

No Child Left Behind Act: States must test students in grades 3 through 8 in reading and math, plus science in certain grade spans. And they must make the results public, and include data to show how different subgroups of students, such as racial minorities, are doing relative to other kids. Districts can offer local assessments in place of state tests. But they would have to prove the tests are comparable, which is a tough bar to jump over. In fact, no state was able to meet it, even though Nebraska tried. Ninety-five percent of students must participate in tests, or schools will be considered as not meeting achievement targets.

Waivers: As under NCLB, states must test students in grades 3 through 8 in reading and math, plus science in certain grade spans. They must make the results public, and include data to show how different subgroups of students, such as racial minorities, are doing relative to other students. States can offer local assessments instead of state tests, as long as they prove the tests are comparable. New Hampshire recently got permission to try this, and other states have expressed interest. As under current law, 95 percent of students must participate in tests, or schools will be considered as not meeting achievement targets. That's been an issue in the face of the testing opt-out movement. 

House bill: (aka "the Student Success Act") States must test students in grades 3 through 8 in reading and math, plus science in certain grade spans. They must make the results public, and provide data to show how different subgroups of students, such as racial minorities, are doing relative to other students. States could allow districts to offer local assessments instead of state tests, as long as the results are comparable to state assessments. The local tests would have to be included in the state's plan for using federal Title I money for low-income students, which requires approval from the U.S. Department of Education. But, importantly, states wouldn't have to get express permission from the federal government to offer local tests. And parents could decide to opt their children out of tests without any penalties for their schools. The bill also encourages states and districts to take a look at the number of tests they require and get rid of any assessments that are duplicative or low-quality. 

Senate bill: (aka "the Every Child Achieves Act") States must test students in grades 3 through 8 in reading and math, plus science in certain grade spans. They must make the results public, and provide data to show different subgroups of students, such as racial minorities, are doing relative to other students. There's room for local testing too—up to five states could get permission from the U.S. Department of Education to try out new forms of assessments, such as competency-based or performance assessments in selected school districts, with the goal of eventually taking the new system statewide. The bill also encourages states and districts to take a look at the number of tests they require and get rid of any assessments that are duplicative or low-quality. 

Accountability

No Child Left Behind Act: States must set annual goals for student achievement, with the ultimate aim of bringing every student to the proficiency level on state tests by the 2013-14 school year. States were required to set smaller, annual student achievement goals, both for particular subgroups of students—such as English-langauge learners and students in special education—,and for the student population as a whole. Schools that fell behind on these goals were considered as not making "adequate yearly progress," or AYP. The 2013-14 proficiency deadline turned out to be unrealistic. By 2015, no state had gotten all of its students over that bar.

Waivers: States were allowed to get out of AYP and the 2013-14 deadline for getting all students to proficiency—as long as they came up with another ambitious goal, approved by the Education Department. The waivers gave states three options: reduce the achievement gap between subgroups of at-risk students and all students by half within six years; achieve 100 percent proficiency for all subgroups by 2020; or come up with some "other," but still very rigorous, state-designed method. (More here.) States had to include the results of reading and math tests in their accountability systems, but they could also bring in other factors, such as Advanced Placement course-taking and even social and emotional learning. Not many states took the department up on that flexibility, however.

House bill: As under waivers, states would be allowed to get out AYP and the 2013-14 proficiency goal and develop their own accountability systems. But, even more so than under waivers, states would have a lot of running room when it comes to what these accountability systems would look like, including whether or not to include student growth on standardized tests as a factor. State systems would have to consider overall school performance, and the performance of particular subgroups (such as English-language learners and racial minorities). Other than that, there wouldn't be many restrictions. 

Senate bill: As under waivers, states would be allowed to get out of AYP and the 2013-14 proficiency goal and develop their own accountability systems. State test results would have to figure into these systems, but states could decide how much weight to give to them. States would also have to factor high school graduation rates and English-language proficiency into their accountability systems. And they could include other measures that they think are appropriate, such as "grit." States would also have to set goals for student achievement, but there wouldn't be any pre-prescribed federal options, like there are under waivers.

Standards

No Child Left Behind Act: States must set "challenging" academic standards and measure students progress toward meeting them.  

Waivers: States have to adopt standards that will prepare students for higher education and the workforce. States can either choose to go with the Common Core State Standards, or they can develop their own standards, as long as state institutions of higher education agree that the standards are rigorous enough to get students ready for college and career. 

House bill: States must set challenging academic standards in reading and math. The U.S. Secretary of Education is prohibited from "coercing" a state to adopt a particular set of standards, including the common-core standards. And the bill includes language making it clear that states can ditch the Common Core standards, with no penalties. 

Senate bill: States have to set challenging academic standards in reading and math. The U.S. Secretary of Education is prohibited from using federal funding to entice states to adopt a particular set of standards, including the common-core standards.

Teacher Quality

No Child Left Behind Act: States have to ensure that all teachers are "highly qualified," which generally means that they have a bachelor's degree in the subject they are teaching and state certification. States are also supposed to ensure that "highly qualified' teachers are evenly distributed among schools with high concentrations of poverty and wealthier schools—but that provision hasn't really been enforced.

Waivers: Districts that don't meet the requirements for highly qualified teachers can get out of developing plans to fix this, as long as the state begins implementing a teacher evaluation system that takes student outcomes on state tests into account. These evaluation systems have to "meaningfully differentiate" among teachers, including at least three different levels of performance. This has proved to be the toughest area of waiver implementation for most states. 

House bill: States can use federal teacher-quality funding to set up teacher evaluations if they want to, but it's not a requirement. The bill gets rid of the NCLB law's "highly qualified" teacher requirements and consolidates other teacher quality programs.

Senate bill: States can use federal funding to develop teacher evaluation systems, but it's not a requirement. And the bill eliminates the definition of "highly qualified teacher" and instead lets states decide what constitutes teacher quality. And states would still have to tackle equitable teacher distribution. 

Low-Performing Schools

No Child Left Behind Act: Schools that continually fail to meet achievement targets—either for the student population as a whole or particular subgroups of kids—face increasingly serious sanctions, including a requirement to offer school choice and free tutoring. Schools that underperform for years could face state takeover and be shut down, turned into charters, or subjected to other serious intervention. 

Waivers:  States must identify 15 percent of their schools for significant interventions. The bottom 5 percent of schools are designated as "priority" schools and have to put in place dramatic turnaround strategies, such as extending learning time, getting rid of half the staff, removing the principal, and revamping instruction to focus heavily on student data. States can come up with their own interventions—with secretarial approval—for another 10 percent of "focus" schools, including schools with big achievement gaps, low graduation rates and other problems.

House bill: The bill would get rid of the School Improvement Grant program, which offers formula grants to states to fix up low-performing schools. Instead, states would set aside 7 percent of their own Title I money for school improvement. States would have to intervene in Title I schools that aren't performing well, but the bill doesn't tell them how to do so, or how many schools to try to fix at a time. 

Senate bill: The bill gets rid of the School Improvement Grant program, but includes other federal funding directed at low-performing schools. School districts would be in charge of figuring out how to fix those schools, with help from states. States would have to monitor district turnarounds, and step in if low-performing schools aren't getting any better. But the federal government would be prohibited from telling states or districts how to fix struggling schools, as the Obama administraiton has under its School Improvement Grant program.

School Choice 

No Child Left Behind Act: Schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress under the law for two years in a row must allow students to transfer to a better-performing school. After three years, they must offer free tutoring. And districts have to set aside 20 percent of their Title I funds for disadvantaged students to pay for these fixes.

Waivers: States can elect to continue offering students the opportunity to transfer to a better-performing school, but they don't have to. By and large, waiver states chose not to continue with choice and free tutoring.

House bill: States can choose to offer school choice programs using Title I funding for disadvantaged students. And the bill includes "Title I portability," which means federal funding for poor students could follow children to any public school, but not a private school. States would have to set aside 3 percent of their Title I funds for a competitive-grant program that would allow districts to offer school choice or free tutoring. 

Senate bill: States can allow students in low-performing schools to transfer to a better-performing school, but it's not a must.

Funding Provisions:

No Child Left Behind Act: States have to keep their own spending to a certain level in order to tap federal funds (this is called "maintenance of effort.") And federal money can't replace state and local dollars. If 40 percent of a school's population is in poverty, the school can use federal Title I money with all its students. Otherwise, Title I funds have to be targeted to low-income kids. 

Waivers: Schools that are designated as low-performing can use federal Title I funds for the disadvantaged with all their students—even if less than 40 percent of the students are in poverty.

House bill: The bill would repeal maintenance of effort, which calls for states and districts to keep up their own spending at a certain level in order to tap federal funds. But it would keep the "supplement-not-supplant" rule, which essentially says that federal funds can't replace state and local dollars. And any school that gets Title I money could use it to run a program that benefits all children, even if fewer than 40 percent of the students are in poverty. The measure makes a tiny tweak to the Title I formula, but stops short of sweeping changes to how the dollars are distributed. 

Senate bill: Importantly, the bill would change the formula for distributing Title I dollars for disadvantaged kids, so that there's less of an emphasis on population, and more on poverty. The changes wouldn't kick in until the Title I program, currently funded at nearly $15 billion, reaches $17 billion. That could be awhile from now. Would keep in place "maintenance of effort," which requires states to keep up their own funding at in order to tap federal Title I funds. But the bill would give states and school districts more flexibility in how they meet their required level of funding. And, under the legislation, schools would still be required to target Title I funds to low-income students, unless 40 percent of their students are in poverty. 

Federal Programs and Preschool 

No Child Left Behind Act: The law authorizes a wide range of programs, including separate funding streams for disadvantaged students, English-language learners, migrant students, after-school programs, education technology, and other areas. There's no seperate funding stream for preschool. 

Waivers: The waivers don't make changes to the number of programs authorized under NCLB.

House bill: The bill would merge programs aimed at migrant students, English-language learners, and neglected and delinquent children with the much larger Title I program for disadvantaged students. Districts could use the funds for any activity allowed under those programs. No money could be transferred out of Title I schools, but funds could go to other low-income schools. And the bill would get rid of, or consolidate, nearly 70 programs, some of which (like the Even Start Family Literacy program) haven't seen a dime of federal funding in years. 

Senate bill: Maintains separate programs for disadvantaged students, migrant kids, English-lanugage learners, and other special populations. The bill would eliminate some federal programs, but it would also create a new preschool program for the first time in ESEA. The program would look a lot like the Obama administration's preschool development grants, so that would be a big win for the administration's legacy. Revising the No Child Left Behind Act: Issue by Issue - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Senate ESEA Amendment “Voice Vote” Update for July 15, 2015 | deutsch29

Senate ESEA Amendment “Voice Vote” Update for July 15, 2015 | deutsch29:

Senate ESEA Amendment “Voice Vote” Update for July 15, 2015

As the Senate debate on its version of the ESEA reauthorization, the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, neared its end, there was a sort of “sudden death” round as more amendments were dealt with quickly and in the form of voice votes.

There were 21 of these voice votes on July 15, 2015.

There were also two amendments withdrawn, one of which was Senator Warren’s “disaggregated data” amendment. A quick word on that:

Senator Warren’s (D-MA) amendment 2120, “to amend section 1111(d) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding the cross-tabulation of student data,” was withdrawn on July 15,2015, even as a beefier amendment,Senator Murphy’s (D-CT) amendment 2241 (which Warren co-sponsored) went up for a vote and was rejected 43-54. The 12-page text of Murphy’s SA 2241 reads more like No Child Left Behind (NCLB), with its detailed prescription for reporting on student test results, for “meaningfully differentiating among all public schools” (i.e., grading schools), including publicly identifying the lowest five percent, and, among interventions, potentially firing staff and offering students the option to transfer to other schools and using part of the budget to pay for the transportation.

One of the overriding themes for this Senate ESEA draft is to release more control to states than was afforded by NCLB and its spinoff, the NCLB waivers. So, if states want to follow the likes of Murphy’s amendment 2241, they must decide to do so on their own.

Back to the Senate ESEA voice votes:

Below is information on the 21 Senate ESEA amendments that were approved “by unanimous consent” on July 15, 2015:

Senator McCain’s (R-AZ) amendment 2111, “to express the sense of Congress that John Arthur “Jack” Johnson should receive a posthumous pardon for the racially-motivated conviction in 1913 that diminished the athletic, cultural, and historical significance of Jack Johnson and unduly tarnished his reputation.”

Senator Bennet’s (DD-CO) amendment 2141, “to provide for shared services strategies and models,” a brief amendment that appears to allow for shared services related to grants for early childhood learning and care. (The referenced page numbers in these bills are often a bust to follow, so I am resorting to keyword searches.)

Senator Ayotte’s (R-NH) amendment 2145, “to allow States to use State activity funds provided under part A of title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for certain evidence-based mental health awareness programs.”

Senator Udall’s (D-NM) amendment 2149, “to allow the Bureau of Indian Education to apply for certain competitive grants under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.”

Senator Feinstein’s (D-CA) amendment 2150, “to allow eligible entities to use funds provided under part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for bilingual paraprofessionals and linguistically responsive materials.”

Senator Carper’s (D-DE) amendment 2151, “to amend part A of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve preparation programs and strengthen support for principals and other school leaders.”

Senator King’s (I-ME) amendment 2154, “to authorize the Institute of Education Sciences to conduct a study on Senate ESEA Amendment “Voice Vote” Update for July 15, 2015 | deutsch29:

And You May Ask Yourself, "Well, How Did I Get Here?" | The Jose Vilson

And You May Ask Yourself, "Well, How Did I Get Here?" | The Jose Vilson:

And You May Ask Yourself, “Well, How Did I Get Here?”

Thanks for your patience.

I’ve been to Atlanta, Washington D.C., and now San Antonio within the span of a week, spreading the “good word.” You’ve elevated me, so now I get to bring the words that usually come from this page to the adults who often need to hear it the most. Consequently, I haven’t written much. I’ll be back on the grind very soon.

In the meantime, please know that I haven’t wasted a minute making these here dreams come true. As evidence, I present this video from the American Federation of Teachers’ TEACH 2015 conference. I got to speak on my book This Is Not A Test with the homie Dana Goldstein, writer David Kirp, and writer / rock star Wes Moore. Given the odds, I think I represented teacher voice well:

The next morning, Linda Darling-Hammond, after finding out about the panel, said, “Yes, you definitely belong there.” Belonging is a big freaking deal. In the meantime, let me know what you’re up to. Thanks for now and in advance.

Jose

About Jose Vilson

José Luis Vilson is a math educator, blogger, speaker, and activist. For more of my writing, buy my book This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education, on sale now.