March Madness: federal education update

1. March Madness: federal education update AASA March 2012

2. Overview • ESEA • House • Senate • Waivers • Funding • FY13 • Sequestration

3. ESEA Reauthorization: Overview • House Cmte passed ESEA bills out of committee in late February • Very partisan • Can expect it to move to the floor, but not much further • Senate passed their bipartisan bill out of committee in October • Do not expect it to the floor any time soon

4. ESEA Reauthorization: The Good • Both snap AYP, AMO, 100% proficiency • Both require annual testing in math/reading in grades 3-8 and once in high school • Continued data disaggregation • States get big say in intervening in low-performing schools • Eliminates requirement re: tutoring and school choice • Both reauthorize REAP

5. ESEA Reauthorization: Points of Concern • House • Maintenance of Effort • Funding Cap • Equitable Participation • Charters • Senate • Comparability Changes • Reliance on One-Time testing • Treatment of Foster Kids • Codification of RttT and i3

6. ESEA: House & Senate Differences • Both call for higher standards; House makes it illegal for Secretary to endorse specific efforts (Common Core) • House model lacks any specific turn around models, as well as any parameters in identifying who would use models • House doesn’t include another percentage of schools for special attention (Senate includes gap schools, administration includes those at-risk of 5%) • House bill eliminates HQT requirement • House bill requires SEA/LEAs to develop teacher evaluation systems (Driven by student performance and having more than 2 levels); Senate only requires it for those applying for competitive grants • House bill includes significant expansion of funding flexibility

7. ESEA: Regulatory Relief • Flexibility being offered in 11 specific areas • States have to adopt all three policy priorities: • Higher standards • Differentiated accountability system • Teacher/principal evaluation system based on growth • Conditional, quid-pro-quo deal, with states having to adopt specific policy priorities in exchange for relief

8. ESEA: Regulatory Relief • To date, 39+ states have expressed interest in the waivers • 11 states applied for and received waivers in the first round: CO, FL, GA, IN, KY, MA, MN, NJ, NM, OK, and TN • 26 more states applied in the second round • Who hasn’t applied? AL, AK, CA, HI, ME, MT, NV, NH, ND, PA, TX, WV, and WY • One more round, applications due Sept. 6

9. FY13 Budget Proposal • USED only non-defense funding increase -about $1.7 billion • $30 billion to retain, hire teachers and first responders • $30 billion to modernize at least 35,000 schools

10. FY13 Budget Proposal • Level funds Title I and IDEA • Consolidates 38 programs down to 11 • $850 million for RTT • $150 million for i3 • $2.5 billion for teacher quality formula grants • $400 million for Teachers/Leaders Innovation Fund • NEW $5 billion grant program to reform the teaching profession • Eliminates funding for Impact Aid Federal Property Program

11. AASA Advocacy Resources • AASA Website: www.aasa.org • AASA Blog: www.aasa.org/aasablog.aspx • AASA Twitter: @Noellerson • Weekly Leg Corps: Concise weekly wrap up of what happened in Congress (email Sasha) • Monthly Update: Summary of everything going on in Congress (email Noelle) • Policy Insider: A periodic publication that takes a more in-depth look at current education policy issues (email Noelle)

12. Questions? • Noelle Ellerson (nellerson@aasa.org)Assistant Director, Policy Analysis & Advocacy • Sasha Pudelski (spudelski@aasa.org) Government Affairs Manager