Daily News RoundUp—July 28, 2010

National

• U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke at the National Urban League’s Centennial Conference, earlier today, emphasizing that educational equity is the civil rights issue of our generation. Duncan directly addressed a statement released earlier this week by a coalition of civil rights groups (including NAACP and Urban League) criticizing his reform agenda reminding the audience that Race to the Top represents less than 1% of all federal education funding and has done more to dismantle the barriers to education reform and to better serve low-income and minority students than any federal law in history.”
• The Department’s Press Release is included at the end of Today’s RoundUp and we will share the full text of his speech as soon as we have it.
• A new report(pdf) (produced by the American Educational Research Association and Sage Publications) suggests that teaching assignments for new Teach for America corps members are linked to teacher retention, noting that Teach For America teachers who are assigned to teach more than one grade, subject, or out-of-field are more likely to leave their schools. Article by EdWeek.
• The New York Times highlights a study (conducted by professors from University of CA-Berkeley, Harvard, and Northwestern) making the case that a highly effective Kindergarten teacher is worth about $320,000 a year, based on the long-lasting effect that positive Kindergarten instruction is now believed to have on children as they mature into adults. EdWeek argues, “Kindergarten-Ready should be the new College- and Career-ready,” citing this and other recent studies.
• Thompson reports that the Department of Education is urging states to use their stimulus funds to hire and retain educators to help “alleviate the impact of hundreds of thousands of predicted staff layoffs in the 2010-11 school year.”
• Susan Eaton, research director at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, and Steven Rivkin, professor of economics at Amherst College, talk with Education Next  (video) about efforts to reduce racial segregation in education since the Supreme Court’s 2007 rulings that students may not be assigned to schools on the basis of race.
• The Washington Post reports that while states are moving quickly to overhaul public schools, President Obama's education agenda is hitting a wall in Congress, as election year divisions have stalled efforts for bipartisan federal education policy.
• Across the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 2,136 schools have been identified as the most "persistently low-performing" and the first in line to receive a share of the $3.5 billion in stimulus-funded Title I School Improvement Grants, a forthcoming report from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University reports. EdWeek provides preliminary coverage – stay tuned for the full report!
• Eduflack questions the Alliance for Excellent Education’s recent study on the role that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization will play in November’s upcoming congressional elections.
• Here’s a change of pace: From Facebook, photos from a recent “Let’s Read. Let’s Move.” event, featuring Mrs. Marian Robinson, mother of First Lady Michelle Obama, Washington Redksin Chris Drake, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.  They are worth clicking through!

Race to the Top

The coverage from yesterday’s announcement of Race to the Top Round II finalists is so big, that it needs its own section!

• U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the finalists of the second round of Race to the Top yesterday, in an address to the National Press Club (video, text), entitled “The Quiet Revolution.” These states will vie for a share of the remaining $3.5 billion.  The finalists include (in alphabetical order):
• Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
• EdWeek’s comprehensive report of the day’s events can be found here. The Christian Science Monitor’s take can be found here. 
• The Wall Street Journal’s article includes an infographic on how each state’s 8^th grade students stack up against one another.
• The Hechinger Report provides a color-coded map of the winners and losers thus far.  The also try to predict who will win round two.
• The Quick and Ed asks if the release of the finalists will impact Common Core Standards adoption nationally.
• EdReformer notes the apparent lack of digital learning initiatives being boosted by states in their RttT applications.  They also comment on New Jersey’s and Florida’s respective battles with their unions and school chiefs.
• The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools finds eight Race to the Top finalists supportive of charter schools, based on Annual Ranking of the Country’s 10 strongest state charter school laws. The full report can be found here (pdf)
• And finally, looking forward – Politics K-12 reports that the Race to the Top program would be renewed for 2011 under a spending bill approved today by the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, although the bill would not receive as much money as President Obama requested ($675 million down from $1.35 billion).

From the States

Arizona

The Hechinger Report writes on Arizona’s amazing catapult to make the list of finalists, after placing 40^th out of 41^st in the first round.

Florida

Amidst all the Race to the Top excitement, EdWeek reports that Florida became the 30^th state to adopt Common Core standards.

Illinois

The Sun-Times and the Tribune report on Chicago Public Schools’ strongest test score gains in a decade in math and science, while noting that declining reading scores still remain a “red flag.”

Louisiana

EdWeek reports that the number of failing public schools in Louisiana shrank by four this year.                 

New York

• Charles Barone from Democrats for Education Reform writes in the New York Post that the state needs to provide equitable funding for charter schools in order to win up to $700 million from Race to the Top.
• Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch tells Gotham Schools that statewide education reform is completely contingent upon winning Race to the Top funding, despite Secretary Duncan’s recommendation to carry out reform plans even if they don’t receive funding.

West Virginia

Gov. Joe Manchin said Tuesday he was "very disappointed" that the Legislature failed to pass any substantial public school reform legislation during the recently completed seven-day special session, EdWeek reports.

DUNCAN HIGHLIGHTS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT’S CIVIL RIGHTS AGENDA         

Secretary Promises to Advance Civil Rights by Addressing Inequities in Schools

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced he would form a bipartisan commission to examine educational equity and promised to pursue federal policies that would advance equity in the nation’s K-12 schools.

In a speech at the conference marking the 100th anniversary of the National Urban League, Duncan told civil rights leaders that the Obama administration’s school reform agenda is benefiting students of color and those growing up in poverty through the Race to the Top program, the Promise Neighborhoods program, and other competitive programs, as well as maintaining formula programs focused on low-income children.

“In so many ways, our reform agenda is all about equity,” he said. “Competition isn't about winners and losers.  It's about getting better.”

He said he was open to discussing criticisms of the administration’s education agenda and promised to remain “deeply engaged” with civil rights leaders to address their concerns about school reform.

“You are partners and allies in the cause of public education,” Duncan said.  “This is a movement.  This is the civil rights issue of our time.”

To address fiscal inequities in K-12 schools, Duncan said the Department of Education is establishing the Equity and Excellence Commission. The 15-member panel will obtain broad public input about inequities in K-12 education and examine how those inequities contribute to the achievement gap. The panel will submit recommendations to Duncan on how to address those inequities.

Next week, the Department will publish a notice in the Federal Register asking for nominations for the commission, which was called for by Congress in the fiscal year 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, with the leadership of Representatives Chaka Fattah and Michael Honda.

In addition to the equity commission, Duncan promised to fight so that more than $14 billion in the Title I program is advancing equity within school districts by providing effective teachers and other vital resources for students who need them most.

Title I funds are intended to reduce inequity by providing additional dollars to schools serving low-income children. But under current law, districts can hide inequities in state and local spending between poorer schools and wealthier schools because they only have to show average salaries of teachers – not actual salaries.

“If we change the law and require schools to distribute resources more equitably, schools serving low-income students will have more money and better teachers,” Duncan said. “That money can buy more support for students and teachers, higher pay for great teachers willing to work in low-income schools, and breakthrough technology to advance learning.”

Duncan said he would work with Congress to fix this provision, known as comparability, in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

In addition, Duncan highlighted many of the Obama administration’s accomplishments that will benefit low-income and minority students. The administration has invested more than $40 billion in Pell grants to help low-income students pay for college and another $2 billion for community colleges, which serve a disproportionate share of low-income and minority students. 

Under the leadership of Assistant Secretary Russlynn Ali, the Office for Civil Rights is launching compliance reviews and investigations around the country to expose inequities in disciplinary actions against African-American males, access to a rigorous curriculum, safety, and sexual violence.

“We will ensure that all schools -- public, private and charter -- serve the kids most in need,” Duncan said.  “That is also something you told us was important.  We heard you loud and clear, we are responding and these schools will be held accountable.”

###

Public Schedule of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
The Week Ahead: Monday – Sunday, July 26-August 1

Information/Schedule Subject to Change

Monday, July 26

No public events

Tuesday, July 27

1:00 p.m.
The Secretary will make a major speech on education reform at the National Press Club, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, July 28

1:10 p.m.
The Secretary will address the National Center for Education Statistics' Summer Data Conference, Hyatt Regency Hotel, 7400 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, Md.

2:45 p.m.
The Secretary will deliver remarks at the National Urban League's Centennial Town Hall: the Past 100 Years of Black Education, Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place, Washington, D.C.

4:00 p.m.
The Secretary will meet with the Education Department's 15 new Teaching Ambassador Fellows, LBJ Bldg., (ED Headquarters), 400 Maryland Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C.

Thursday, July 29

11:00 a.m.
The Secretary will participate in a town hall meeting with some 30 teachers, as well as call-in questions from listeners, on the Sirius/XM Satellite Radio Network, details to follow.

Friday, July 30

Noon
The Secretary will read to local school children at the fifth event of the Department's "Let's Read. Let's Move." summer reading program. Actor Quinton Aaron, who portrayed Michael Oher in the movie "The Blind Side" will also participate.

Saturday, July 31

No public events

Sunday, August 1

No public events

Want to receive these headlines via email? Send us a note - info@educationequalityproject.org - with the Subject Title "Daily News Roundup."

And you can always review old RoundUps on our website here.

Categories: Daily News RoundUp