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THE EDUCATION REFORM AGENDA

In Washington’s education policy circles, you do not hear the word "education" without "reform" right behind it, and it is all directed at taking a bolder approach to the eventual reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The U.S. Secretary of Education has embarked on a 15-state "listening tour" to hear firsthand what needs to be done. In his second stop in Detroit recently, Secretary Arne Duncan indicated that the NCLB name branded by the Bush Administration was "toxic." References to NCLB have all but disappeared from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) website,
which officially refers to the law as the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Duncan has made it known he would consider suggested renames, and in the past few weeks, EduWonk.com has held a renaming contest. Entries ranged from the serious to the irreverent to the optimistic. The winning entry was "The Elementary and Secondary Educational Excellence Act" – giving an extra E to the original acronym. One less-than-serious entry receiving some attention was "Achieving America's Reading, wRiting and aRithmatic Goals," abbreviated AARRRG! – a nod to the potentially difficult and frustrating road ahead.


USDE prepares for reauthorization proposal
Duncan continues on the first leg of that road trip called "Listening and Learning: A Conversation About Education Reform," and is visiting 15 states (no scheduled trip to Texas but additional states might be added) to receive input from parents, teachers and administrators about those issues and challenges in schools that need federal attention and support. The tour is based on the philosophy that education reform should be driven from classrooms, school districts and the states before the writing of changes to the current law begins in Washington. Calling education the "civil rights issue of our generation," Duncan indicates the meetings will generate grassroots input that will be taped, with reports and video summaries prepared and available on the USDE's website. The Secretary has expanded the "listening tour" online where you can join the conversation or post a comment. In the coming weeks he will cover topics related to improving teacher quality, using data to improve learning, and raising standards.


This year, President Barack Obama named health care, energy and education as his top priorities. While the USDE prepares to address education reform in a reauthorization proposal, the Congress is currently moving forward on health care, energy and climate change legislation. Given the crowded legislative schedule for the summer, it is likely that the House and Senate education committees will not begin serious work until early fall with the possible development of working drafts to reauthorize current law. Rest assured that Congress will take control of this process and the education reform agenda, and House and Senate Democrats who run the education committees will work hand-in-hand with the Obama Administration. Most agree that consideration of any reauthorization of ESEA legislation by the Congress will not be completed until next year.

Texas not among states seeking common standards
One area where Congress and the Administration are taking a back seat in the education reform agenda is with a new initiative to create common standards. The initiative has kicked into high gear and is being driven by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers who have joined forces to push for "uniform and rigorous" common standards from the state level. Criticism of
individual state standards has been growing with the argument that there are too many standards and they are too vague. There has also been concern expressed over results indicating that students score on the proficient level for some state standards
while scoring below par on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Congress and the USDE have for the most part stayed out of the conversation arguing that the movement must be nonpartisan, state-driven and absent of any suggestion of a federal mandate. A key component of the initiative is that common standards must be voluntary. As of June 1, 46 states have signed on to create common standards in math and English language arts. Four states remain opposed, including Texas. The Texas Commissioner of Education has reiterated support for strong, rigorous standards but has not embraced the common core standards initiative and maintains a position that standards appropriate to Texas must always reflect the long established cultural identity unique to the state.

Education a priority in proposed budget
Another large indicator of bold education reform is the President's proposed fiscal year 2010 budget. Released on May 7, it requests $46.7 billion in discretionary funding for the USDE – an increase of $1.3 billion over last year's funding. Key areas highlighted in the release of the budget which reflect the President's priorities are early childhood education, turning around underperforming schools, improving teacher effectiveness and college accessibility and affordability. Of note in the budget request is a large increase in the Teacher Incentive Fund – increasing the funding by over 80 percent bringing the request to a total of $517 million. The funds would be used to stimulate state and local efforts to strengthen the workforce, including financial rewards for teachers, principals and other personnel who raise student achievement, close achievement gaps, and work in schools that are difficult to staff. Congress through its annual appropriations process will begin to examine the funding request this summer.

This budget proposal builds on the investments already made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which provided about $100 billion to education
above the annual fiscal year 2009 budget. Duncan is urging states to submit applications for funding through the state stabilization program immediately to deal with teacher jobs that are at risk and avoid layoffs and to enable reforms to advance. States have until July 1, 2009 to submit applications for funds and if they do not, the state will not receive stabilization funds and the USDE will allocate those funds to the states that submitted timely applications. The ARRA is designed to drive school reform in a bold and aggressive manner and sets the stage for continued reform efforts, particularly to Title I of ESEA when it is reauthorized.

Opportunity for far-reaching, systemic education reform
While ESEA reauthorization is on the back burner for now as Congress tackles energy and health care and other legislation, it remains the most far-reaching, systemic opportunity for education reform. The USDE will use ARRA funding to identify and test drive some of the most innovative and bold projects being recommended and is looking for ideas that are reform-directed, have positive data-driven indicators, and can be sustained when the ARRA funds come to an end in two years. Those most successful programs will likely become reauthorization proposals for education reform aimed at improving results for students and achieving long-term gains for America's schools.

Leo Coco is TCTA's lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He is a senior policy advisor with the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and his background includes extensive experience in the U.S. Department of Education.

Posted: 07/01/09 ("The Classroom Teacher," summer 2009)