Education stimulus dollars meet the goals
In a report released Wednesday, the Center for Education Policy (CEP) concluded that the Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)met its' goal of creating or saving education jobs. In a press release, CEP's executive director Maria Ferguson said, "Federal stimulus funds appear to have blunted the effects of the economic downturn on the K-12 education sector."
Although many districts still had to eliminate teaching and other key staff positions, our research indicates that the situation would have been worse without the stimulus funds." ARRA, signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009 has pumped $763.1 billion dollars into the economy. The authors of the report — What Impact Did Education Stimulus Funds Have on States and Schools? found that in 2010 about 70 percent of the nation's school districts used State Fiscal Stabilization funding, the largest pot of ARRA education money, to save or create jobs for teachers and other school personnel.
Although many districts still had to eliminate teaching and other key staff positions, our research indicates that the situation would have been worse without the stimulus funds." ARRA, signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009 has pumped $763.1 billion dollars into the economy. The authors of the report — What Impact Did Education Stimulus Funds Have on States and Schools? found that in 2010 about 70 percent of the nation's school districts used State Fiscal Stabilization funding, the largest pot of ARRA education money, to save or create jobs for teachers and other school personnel.
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Waivers keep coming
The Huffington Post reports that the ED announced additional No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) waivers on July 19th. The District of Columbia (D.C.), along with states Arizona, Washington, Oregon, South Carolina, Kansas, Michigan, and Mississippi will become the latest to be granted some flexibility regarding specific requirements of the NCLB. This announcement will bring the total number states provided some flexibility to 32. For additional information on specific plans and supporting documents, visit the ED Flexibility page.
Elementary school principals advocate for ESEA reauthorization
The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) are holding their national conference this week in D.C. and will spend part of that time advocating for reauthorization of ESEA with legislators. "The NAESP has outlined six ways that principal capacity can be built through ESEA reauthorization:
- Uphold the role of principals by recognizing the core competencies of effective school leadership in Title I and as a definition in the law aligned to each program;
- Set the basis of high-quality professional development opportunities for principals in Title II on core competencies of effective school leadership — and require states and districts to provide capacity-building supports for principals and other school leaders;
- Encourage and support state and local efforts to develop fair, objective, and comprehensive principal evaluation systems for principals that use appropriate measures of principal performance, not standardized test scores;
- Ensure that a principal leadership review and evaluation be conducted as the first step of any school improvement plan, and align the evaluation of a principal to high-quality professional development;
- Expand accurate and robust accountability systems that value growth models and multiple measures of student performance; and Support innovative models to help improve academic achievement, including prekindergarten through grade three alignment (P-3) strategies."
News from NCES The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES),
the U.S. Department of Education (ED) arm responsible for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S., released several reports in July.
The National Indian Education Study: 2011 which supplies information on academic performance in mathematics and reading for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students,
New Americans in Postsecondary Education: A Profile of Immigrant and Second-Generation American Undergraduates which describes the characteristics and experiences of 2007-08 undergraduates who immigrated to the United States or who had at least one immigrant parent, and
Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in 2011-12; Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2010-11, and 12-Month Enrollment: 2010-11. This report shares data findings on students' completion rates and 12-month enrollment during the 2010-11 academic year. Back to Top Take Action: Tell Congress education funding matters Let your representative know that education funding matters for students.
Tell Congress to take a balanced approach to deficit reduction and reject more cuts to education.
To send a message click here.
Questions or comments? Contact the Education Policy and Practice Department at ESEAinfo@nea.org.
