Distributed via Email: June 25, 2013
SENATE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT (ESEA) REAUTHORIZATION
The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee approved a bill to reauthorize the ESEA on Wednesday, June 12. The Strengthening America's Schools Act (S. 1094) was passed after two days of sometimes heated deliberation on a 12 Democrat - 10 Republican party-line vote. Whether and when the bill will be considered by the full Senate is uncertain, but Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) expressed his intention to get it to the floor by the end of the year.
The major points of debate at the mark-up were the proper role of the federal government in education. Unfortunately, the partisan gap continues on what that role should be. Chairman Harkin characterized the bill as "a new partnership of shared responsibility," and passed an amendment clarifying that states and districts could refuse Title I, Part A funds, and thereby be free of federal requirements. Meanwhile, Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) repeatedly asserted that S. 1094 creates "a national school board."
The following are parts of the legislation NSBA is working against:
Role of the Secretary: The role of the Secretary of Education appears to have increased substantially in S. 1094. Throughout the bill, the Secretary is authorized to determine the overall quality and effectiveness of greatly expanded state plan requirements that will, in turn, impact the local level. The Secretary would appear to be involved in the design of programs, directing the specifics, for example, in addressing parent/community engagement and extensive data collection. In the case of data, the bill calls for multiple cross tabulations of a wide range of academic and non-academic student data that we believe will be overwhelming for many school systems to produce. The same can be said of new local plan requirements. Amendments described by their sponsors as attempts to eliminate new or onerous reporting and federal oversight requirements were rejected by the Committee. In fact, amendments were approved to create additional reporting requirements on military children, interscholastic sports, and career and technical education.
Turnaround models: Local educational agencies, including those receiving No Child Left Behind waivers from the Secretary, continue to be concerned with the limited flexibility in designing and implementing turnaround models for low performing schools. Several amendments intended to increase flexibility on how States and LEAs identify and improve low-performing schools were not approved.
Comparability: The proposed comparability provision in S. 1094 would change the method for how LEAs determine whether comparable services are being provided from local resources to Title I schools compared to other schools in the district. It would require local educational agencies to show that they spend no less at each Title I school - as determined by the combined state and local per-pupil expenditures for personnel and non-personnel - than they do at the average non-Title I schools in the district. Local school officials have determined that the provision is burdensome and not geared to achieving the desired educational outcomes. Efforts to address comparability were rejected by the Committee, so the unworkable language in the base bill stands.
Public Charter Schools Expansion: Local educational agencies continue to be concerned with the increased congressional support for public charter schools in the legislation and the apparent willingness of Congress to not hold public charter schools to the same accountability requirements as traditional public schools. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) offered, but then withdrew, an amendment to hold charter schools to the same accountability requirements as other public schools. Chairman Harkin pledged to work on an amendment for the floor.
HOUSE ESEA REAUTHORIZATION
The House Education & Workforce Committee approved The Student Success Act (H.R. 5) to reauthorize the ESEA on Wednesday, June 19. NSBA supported the bill because it eliminates unnecessary and overwhelming administrative requirements and restores flexibility and governance to local school boards who are in the best position to address the needs of students in our local communities. However, NSBA raised strong concerns about federal funding caps and lowered state support requirements in the bill. H.R. 5 holds the authorization of appropriations for the first year to current sequestration levels and then freezes those levels for the ensuing five years. It also eliminates maintenance of effort provisions for education to ensure that states provide at least the same level of funding for K-12 education from one year to the next. The bill was approved on a party line vote with one amendment to add dual enrollment programs as an eligible use of Title I, II, and III funds. A floor vote could occur as early as July.
ESEA WAIVER FOR ILLINOIS
As mentioned before in Federal Legislative Report 113-1, Illinois is still waiting for the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) to grant our waiver request for certain aspects of NCLB. The reason for the delay is that the USDOE was pushing Illinois to adjust the timeline for an earlier implementation of the new evaluation systems incorporating student growth. The Illinois State Board of Education had refused, which it turns out worked in our favor.
Last week the USDOE released a letter stating that after further review they admit schools need more time to implement new evaluation systems. State Superintendent Chris Koch expects Illinois’ waiver to be granted within the next few months due to this change in policy.
This Federal Legislative Report is used to forward information on federal issues from NSBA and other federal sources. Those interested in additional information or signing up for these free reports should contact Susan Hilton .