THINK "DIGITAL STIMULUS!"

In some classrooms, books are a thing of the past

Digital texts gaining favor, but critics question quality

By Ashley Surdin
Monday, October 19, 2009


AGOURA HILLS, CALIF. -- The dread of high school algebra is lost here amid the blue glow of computer screens and the clickety-clack of keyboards.

A fanfare plays from a speaker as a student passes a chapter test. Nearby, a classmate watches a video lecture on ratios. Another works out an equation in her notebook before clicking on a multiple-choice answer on her screen.

Their teacher at Agoura High School, Russell Stephans, sits at the back of the room, watching as scores pop up in real time on his computer grade sheet. One student has passed a level, the data shows; another is retaking a quiz.

"Whoever thought this up makes life so much easier," Stephans says with a chuckle.

This textbook-free classroom is by no means the norm, but it may be someday. Slowly, but in increasing numbers, grade schools across the country are supplementing or substituting the heavy, expensive and indelible hardbound book with its lighter, cheaper and changeable cousin: the digital textbook.

Also known as a flexbook because of its adaptability, a digital textbook can be downloaded, projected and printed, and can range from simple text to a Web-based curriculum embedded with multimedia and links to Internet content. Some versions must be purchased; others are "open source" -- free and available online to anyone.

Some praise the technology as a way to save schools money, replace outdated books and better engage tech-savvy students. Others say most schools don't have the resources to join the digital drift, or they question the quality of open-source content.

Hardbound books still dominate the $7 billion U.S. textbook market, with digital textbooks making up less than 5 percent, according to analyst Kathy Mickey of Simba Information, a market research group.

But that is changing, as K-12 schools follow the lead of U.S. universities and schools in other countries, including South Korea and Turkey. In Florida's Broward County, students and teachers log online to access digital versions of their Spanish, math and reading books. In Arizona, classes at one Vail School District high school are conducted entirely with laptops instead of textbooks. And in Virginia this year, state officials and educators unveiled a free physics flexbook to complement textbooks.

California's experiment


California made the largest embrace of digital textbooks this summer when it approved 10 free high school math and science titles developed by college professors and the CK-12 Foundation, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit aimed at lowering the cost of educational materials. The titles were approved as meeting at least 90 percent of California's academic standards, with the state leaving the choice to use them up to individual schools.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) hopes they will. His digital textbook initiative is meant to cut costs in the severely cash-strapped state. (Given that the average textbook costs $100, he argued, the state could save $400 million if its 2 million high school students used digital math and science texts.) The initiative also aims to replace aging hardbound books that don't teach students about the Iraq war, the country's first black president or the Human Genome Project.

"The textbooks are outdated, as far as I'm concerned, and there's no reason why our schools should have our students lug around these antiquated and heavy and expensive books," Schwarzenegger said this summer. "Digital textbooks are good not only for the students' achievement, but they're also good for the schools' bottom line."

California public and private schools spent more than $633 million on textbooks in 2007, making the state the biggest spender nationwide, according to the latest data from the Association of American Publishers. Schools in Texas spent $375 million; in New York, $264 million. The District spent $13.9 million.

Controlling costs?


Concerns over costs prompted Congress to pass legislation last year that requires publishers to disclose the price of textbooks when they sell them to teachers. It also ends a practice in which publishers sell books and supplemental materials together, driving up costs. Several states have passed similar legislation.

But some dispute the idea that digital textbooks -- even open-source versions -- will be cheaper for states, at least right away, or improve education quality.

"Keep in mind that with open-source materials, you have to ask, 'Where are they coming from?' " said Jay Diskey, executive director of the Association of American Publishers' school division. "Is it a trusted source? Is it aligned to state standards? Is it based on real research?"

Diskey said traditional textbooks offer a comprehensive curriculum, while some open-source texts provide only bits and pieces. "There can be quite a difference of content and accuracy," he said. "In many cases, you get what you pay for."

Textbook publishers face losing business as free Internet content expands. But Diskey blames the recession, not free digital books, for any fiscal hardships facing the industry. "We don't think budgets are being cut because of open-source materials," he said.

A lack of digital resources


Schools using digital texts say it's too soon to tell how much money they may be saving. As critics point out, long-term fiscal benefits require upfront resources that many schools lack: money, teacher training, bandwidth to support Internet multimedia and, most critically, computers.

The majority of households have personal computers and Internet access, according to a 2005 report from the Census Bureau, but access declines with income. And U.S. schools on average have roughly one computer for every four students, according to 2005 data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

"It's going to be a bit of a challenge for schools throughout the country to implement this new technology," said David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association. "How do you guarantee all children have access to that kind of textbook?"

Glen Thomas, California's education secretary, questions whether digital textbooks require a computer for every child. "This initiative is not about hardware," he said. "I visited a classroom where there were a couple kids using laptops, several had textbooks, some had a couple chapters printed out, and the lesson was displayed on a screen in front of the class."

For now, it appears that digital textbooks are largely a school-by-school, teacher-by-teacher choice. But converts such as Stephans of Agoura High School are quick to encourage more.

"If there was a list of math teachers who would have signed up for this, I would have been at the bottom," said Stephans, who hesitantly agreed to pilot the textbook-free class this year. To educators considering the digital possibilities, he now says: "What are you waiting for?"

WHAT a DIFFERENCE a DAY MAKES!

BUDGET CLASHES

As they bicker, strife grows

GRANHOLM SAYS SHE HAD TO VETO; BISHOP CALLS IT ‘EXTORTION’

By CHRIS CHRISTOFF

FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF

LANSING — The Capitol crackled with defi­ance, dismay and doctors in white smocks Tues­day, as new skirmishes in the state budget war erupted on several fronts.

Outside, hundreds of doctors with signs and bullhorns rallied for and against legislation to impose a 3% tax on all physicians.

Inside, Gov. Jennifer Granholm defended her Monday veto of $51.5 million for 39 of the state’s highest-spending school districts, including 26 in suburban Detroit. She said she had no choice because the school budget the Legislature sent her was unbalanced.

“There will be additional cuts, perhaps soon,” she warned, as state economists met to assess the state’s worsening finances.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R­Rochester, denied Granholm’s charge that $60 million in revenue was missing to pay for a near­ly $11-billion school budget. He called Gran­holm’s veto “extortion” but pledged not to raise taxes.

Clearly, the gulf between the two most im­portant people in the process was deeper by day’s end.

School officials caught in the middle com­plained that students were being held hostage and blamed both the governor and Legislature. Meanwhile, Bishop sent Granholm six more budget bills with a warning not to veto any items in the bills. But Granholm hinted that she would and said more money is needed to fund college scholarships, help cities and support Medicaid.

---

Veto threats loom for budgets

Granholm presses for new taxes, fees

By CHRIS CHRISTOFF and KATHLEEN GRAY

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

LANSING — The ink from Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s veto of $51.5 million for 39 school districts was barely dry Tues­day when she received six more budget bills, and hinted that more vetoes are coming.

State budget director Bob Emerson cautioned that all school districts may face more cuts of as much as $120 per pu­pil this year, as tax revenues continue to weaken.

Granholm’s veto sent shock waves through the Legisla­ture. She laid blame on Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and pressured lawmakers to approve more revenue to fund schools and other programs that were slashed in the new budget bills she received Tuesday — col­lege scholarships, revenue sharing to local governments and Medicaid payments to doctors, hospitals and nursing homes.

Bishop released the six bud­get bills Tuesday after holding them for more than two weeks after the Legislature approved them. He warned Granholm not to veto line items, saying Senate Republicans would not restore them.

Granholm, surrounded by 18 of the state’s top education lobbyists, said that without more money, many school dis­tricts face insolvency. She called for a public campaign to urge the Legislature to ap­prove new taxes and fees that she and House Democrats sup­port.

Among them: a freeze in the personal income tax exemp­tion (which is scheduled to get an inflationary increase); a re­duction in tax credits for busi­nesses; an increase in the tax on non-cigarette tobacco prod­ucts; a cut in tax credits for filmmakers, and new liquor li­cense fees for bars to remain open after 2 a.m. and on Sun­day mornings.

Granholm said the state needs to make systemic re­forms for the short and long term. On Tuesday, the short­term impact put many law­makers face-to-face with fiscal crisis in their local school dis­tricts.

“In a panic, hysterical about what these cuts mean. That was my phone call from my su­perintendents,” said Rep. Le­sia Liss, D-Warren, whose main school district, Center Line, stands to lose $570,000.

Rep. Marie Donigan, D-Roy­al Oak, said she was frustrated that legislators can’t compro­mise, as sales tax revenues de­cline and leave even less mon­ey for schools and other essen­tial services. The Royal Oak school district stands to lose $1.5 million under Granholm’s veto.

“This is scary stuff,” Doni­gan said.

Rep. Hugh Crawford, R-No­vi, represents three school dis­tricts — Northville, Novi and Walled Lake — that would lose more than $8.3 million in state funding because of Granholm’s veto.

“She’s playing games and didn’t have to do that,” he said. “I’ve never been exposed to do­ing business this way.”

Crawford said he has no plans to vote for new taxes but would be willing to look at a freeze on the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is used by low-income taxpayers.

“I have a granddaughter who is going to college, and I wasn’t happy about taking away her scholarship,” he said, referring to the $4,000 Prom­ise Scholarship eliminated by the Legislature. “But it’s going to be incumbent on schools and cities to restructure.”

Three districts in state Rep. Chuck Moss’ district — Bir­mingham, Bloomfield and West Bloomfield — all suffer deep cuts under the veto.

“It’s getting more … difficult to watch these desperate, cyn­ical measures to get more tax­es,” said Moss, R-Birmingham, instead suggesting eliminating the 1% pay increase scheduled for state employees and reduc­ing their benefits.

The easiest short-term so­lution wasn’t mentioned Tues­day: another dip into $184 mil­lion in remaining federal stim­ulus money lawmakers were hoping to save for next year.

Schools frustrated with funding veto

By LORI HIGGINS

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s veto of $51.5 million in funding for select districts means some school employees will lose their jobs, some districts will deplete their savings and oth­ers will find themselves head­ing quicker into a deficit.

The veto — and the subse­quent finger-pointing that took place Tuesday in Lansing — al­so produced harsh comments for Granholm and the Legisla­ture.

“It’s frustrating and disap­pointing that we’re playing pol­itics with kids,” said Brian Whiston, Dearborn Public Schools superintendent, whose district is to lose $5 mil­lion. “I’ve got to educate these kids this year, right now.”

Dearborn and 38 other dis­tricts statewide — 26 of them in metro Detroit — are among the state’s highest funded. They have been allowed to re­ceive the special money to maintain their high funding levels since Proposal A was en­acted in 1994 with the intent to equalize funding for districts.

In Dearborn, the loss of $5 million is on top of the $165­per-pupil cut all districts in Michigan must deal with and another $1.5 million Dearborn is to lose in funding for at-risk students. Whiston said layoffs are a certainty, though he’ll be soliciting input from employ­ees on how to make up the loss. Whiston said as many as 150 jobs could be on the line.

The West Bloomfield School District already was to end the school year with a def­icit. The loss of $1.5 million will speed that along, said Joey Spano, district spokeswoman. She and others say Granholm and the Legislature are equally to blame for the situation.

“Every parent and every citizen in the state of Michigan should be outraged at this. It’s a dysfunctional system,” Spa­no said.

Superintendents in Livonia Public Schools, which is to lose nearly $5 million, and Royal Oak Neighborhood Schools, which is to lose $1.5 million, an­ticipate they’ll have to dig deep into their reserve funds to cov­er the loss. Livonia Superin­tendent Randy Liepa said he welcomes Granholm to come to his district, review his bud­get and tell him how he can make cuts.

“There has to be some ex­planation to the parents in my community,” Liepa said.


Editorial

Lansing’s failure of leadership reaches the schoolhouse door

As Michigan’s elected leaders continue their diatribes over the state budget, now 10 days away from the next deadline, the dire consequences have begun to hit home.

On Monday, Gov. Jennifer Gran­holm vetoed nearly $60 million of spending in the School Aid Fund bud­get. Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop immediately denounced the cuts, which fall disproportionately on the state’s most affluent school dis­tricts, but vowed to let them take effect before he and his Republican Senate colleagues authorize a penny of the additional revenue Granholm insists is required to restore them.

What is coming into view now is the sort of state you get when leaders attempt to fix a long-term budget imbalance with short-term changes in only one side of the ledger — a. state that trashes schools, cripples hospi­tals and doctors who treat Medicaid patients, jeopardizes local police and fire services, and breaks promises made to its college students.

The funds Granholm vetoed yester­day are only the leading edge of more wide­spread cuts in K-12 aid. Because tax reve­nues continue to fall short of previous esti­mates, the governor warned that another $120 per pupil may need to be cut, starting perhaps as early as next month. That’s on top of the $165 per-pupil cut included in the budget bill Granholm signed.

Now you can argue, and many people will, about Granholm’s chief line-item veto tar­get: the extra payment that some of the higher-spending school districts have gotten for the last 10 years, an adjustment that was made when the state had ample dollars and which those schools had every right to as­sume had become a permanent part of their annual grants. But nothing is guaranteed in a budget this devastated, and Granholm had few other places to turn.

Those who insist Michigan cannot afford any new taxes may well get their wish. The House has appropriately thumbed its nose at an irresponsible, Senate-produced package to raise roughly $100 million this year.

Meanwhile, the Senate will not act on any House-produced tax increases. So these cuts Granholm ordered Monday look likely to stand.

That’s brutal news to Michiganders, who have long identified K-12 educa­tion as a top priority. With 24 school districts already on the financial edge, the state may not have enough emer­gency financial managers to go around. Outright closures may occur.

Without some additional taxes — or a slowdown in some programmed tax breaks — the news will get worse, and not just for schools. The Senate has sent Granholm the final six budget bills she needs to sign to prevent a state shutdown Nov. 1, along with a message from Bishop that any line­item vetoes she makes will not be vot­ed on again.

That’s fine. The more the governor saves now with line-item vetoes, the fewer cuts will have to be made later.

Granholm noted Tuesday that freez­ing the personal deduction on the state in­come tax could yield $55 million. Other stop­gap measures could produce significant dollars without increasing the general bur­den on hard-pressed taxpayers.

But Michiganders would be better off now if both sides turned their full attention to long-term changes in the way our state rais­es and spends money, such as containing employee benefit costs and adopting a tax regime that captures revenues from every segment of the state’s changing economy.

Even the best long-term reform package — and no one’s holding their breath on that — may not be able to repair the wounds occur­ring right now.

STATUS-QUO INSURED! (At least for another day or so)

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Politics K-12

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Michele McNeil covered education and state government in Indiana for a decade before joining Education Week as a state policy reporter in June 2006. Alyson Klein, who reports on federal education policy, joined the staff in February 2006 after nearly two years at Congress Daily.

« 53 House GOP Members Call for Jennings' Resignation | Main | How Big Is the Stimulus Funding Cliff? »

White House: Stimulus Saved 250,000 Education Jobs So Far

A new report out from the White House Domestic Policy Council estimates that the stimulus package has saved or created 250,000 education jobs so far—most of them probably teachers. (UPDATE: And a good chunk of them are from California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reported today that 62,204 of these education jobs, or nearly 25 percent of the estimated total, were saved or created in his state.)
The White House has the distinct advantage of being able to look at the first quarterly stimulus reports that states and other recipients of stimulus funds filed with the federal government before anyone else. The rest of us get to look at the reports when they're made public on Recovery.gov Oct. 30.
Even so, much of the 23-page report rehashes data from the already public applications states submitted to gain access to their stabilization funds—data that shows most states said they would use the money to backfill cuts they made, or were going to make, to K-12 education. The White House also drew on anecdotal reports from the media to highlight jobs that were saved in specific school districts. In a press release, the White House says that the stimulus package has enabled states to restore nearly all of their projected education budget shortfalls for fiscal 2009 and 2010. Of course, things are still projected to get much worse for states, based on latest tax collections data.
In the press release, Education Secretary Arne Duncan says: "Early feedback from states also tells us that many districts are using stimulus dollars in ways that will move us beyond the status quo."
Given that most of the money has so far been used to get state K-12 funding levels up to the status quo, it will be most interesting to see what states and school districts report spending their money on. (UPDATE 2: Read Andy Smarick's take on this issue, too.)

STIMULUS FUNDING in JEOPARDY! (NO-Not the GAME but because of it)

State examines whether waiver is needed to keep K-12 stimulus funding

Granholm administration officials are looking at whether Michigan may need to seek a waiver enabling it to keep federal stimulus funds for K-12 education.

The possibility is being considered as state officials examinewhether state funding levels for K-12 education are likely to drop below the “maintenance of effort” compliance levels required by the federal stimulus package, or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

State Budget Director Robert Emerson said at a press conference on Tuesday that any further reductions, beyond those in the school aid budget signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Monday, could jeopardize the federal stimulus funding.

Michigan used about $600 million in federal stimulus funds as part of the fiscal 2009 school aid budget and has allocated an additional $450 million as part of the current-year school budget, leaving about $183 million reserved for use in fiscal 2011.

If Michigan were to be out of compliance with the ARRA, it could potentially have to repay the money. A waiver, however, would avert that and other states have sought and received such waivers.

Emerson and Granholm said there is the potential that Michigan will need to enact additional per-pupil cuts, beyond the $165 per-pupil reductions in the just-signed budget.

Emerson said state Treasurer Robert Kleine and officials at the House Fiscal Agency and Senate Fiscal Agency were meeting on Tuesday to determine the state's current revenue outlook.

He and Granholm said the current school aid budget was underfunded by $60 million, based on May revenue estimates. But the state Treasurer has also indicated that, based on the latest revenue data, the shortfall in the school aid fund could be as high as $264 million.

Granholm on Monday vetoed $54 million in spending measures in the $12.9 billion K-12 budget, including $51.5 million in supplemental payments to districts that get among the highest per-pupil payments statewide.

Taking into account Granholm's veto, that could leave a current-year shortfall as high as $210 million, which could translate to additional, across-the-board cuts of as high as $120 per pupil, unless the Legislature provides additional funding, Emerson said.

At the Capitol press conference, Granholm and an array of education officials from across the state urged lawmakers to pass additional sources of revenue.

Granholm said education is the “thing most important for our economic recovery” and warned of “additional cuts, potentially soon.”

Also on Tuesday, the Senate sent Granholm six remaining budget bills that include controversial cuts like an 11.1 percent reduction in state revenue sharing and an 8 percent cut in Medicaid providers' reimbursement rates.

In a letter accompanying the bills, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, warned Granholm against vetoing items in the bills with the expectation that the Legislature would pass new sources of revenue to reinstate the vetoed items.

“Please remember that any line item veto you exercise will result in the total elimination of those programs,” Bishop wrote. “Do not veto portions of these budgets with the expectation that money will be reappropriated at a later date to fund the vetoed programs.

“There is not sufficient support in the Senate Republican caucus for tax increases and for you to think otherwise is a mistake.”

Bishop said the final fiscal 2010 budget represents a “bipartisan and bicameral effort that was achieved after months of tough negotiations.”

"WOW, YOU mean we've used ALL of the Federal STIMULUS Monies to merely perpetuate the STATUS-QUO?"

States Feeling Fiscal Squeeze Despite Stimulus

Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon, left, talks with Rep. George Cushingberry on Sept. 30 in Lansing, Mich. Dillon said Democrats could begin to look at tax increases or other revenue sources to pay for the college scholarship program and lessen deep cuts Senate Republicans want.
$mdash;Al Goldis/AP

By Alyson Klein

Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org.

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Despite the nearly $40 billion infused into state coffers to help steady state education budgets under the federal economic-stimulus package, some states remain in dismal fiscal straits, forcing further cuts to K-12 programs.
States such as Pennsylvania that recently wrapped up protracted legislative sessions were forced to make sometimes-painful adjustments to cope with declining revenues, despite the unprecedented aid under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus law.
Lawmakers in other states, including New Mexico, are heading back for special sessions to consider further reductions to their budgets for the current fiscal year.
And many states are looking ahead to a time in the federal 2011 fiscal year when money from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, a key part of the stimulus program, will no longer be available. That funding, which was intended primarily to backfill cuts that states had already made to education programs, is spread out over two years. In some cases, states have diverted resources from K-12 programs and replaced their own dollars with stabilization funding from the federal government. ("States Stung by Criticism on Use of Stimulus Aid," October 12, 2009.)
“K-12 education has come under pressure that it has not seen in decades,” said Arturo Perez, a fiscal analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures, based in Denver. “The only bright note is the money provided under the ARRA.”
That cloudy fiscal forecast appears unlikely to brighten any time soon. A report released Oct. 15 by the Nelson A. Rockeller Institute of Government, the public-policy-research arm of the State University of New York, shows that state revenues are faltering and are likely to remain shaky for the next several years.
The study found that those revenues nationwide dropped a record $63 billion in the fiscal year ending June 2009, or roughly twice the amount of money states have gained from the stimulus program so far.
That may help explain why, even with the extra cash, some states still have reduced or eliminated education programs.
For instance, this week Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, was expected to sign the state’s K-12 budget for this fiscal year by Oct. 20, in time for payments to school districts to be doled out. The budget came after lawmakers had passed a continuing resolution to keep programs afloat while the legislature hashed out its spending bills. The budget includes a cut of $165 per pupil in grants to school districts for K-12 students.
In Michigan, the governor has line-item veto power, and it is still unclear whether Gov. Granholm planned to use it on any portion of the education spending bill.
Although state lawmakers sought to give districts flexibility in determining how to find the savings, school officials are struggling to figure out what to trim next, said Brad Biladeau, the associate executive for government relations at the Michigan Association of School Administrators.
“We’ve been cutting administrative expenses and support services to school districts,” he said. “Now school districts are faced with significant cuts that could impact the classroom."

Cuts to Programs

Pennsylvania wrapped up an exhausting legislative session when Gov. Edward G. Rendell, a Democrat, signed the final budget Oct. 9. The measure, which came in more than 100 days behind schedule, offered a mixed picture for K-12 education, said Ronald Cowell, the president of the Education Policy and Leadership Center, a nonprofit organization in Harrisburg, Pa.
“The good news is that there is a $300 million increase,” to $5.5 billion, for basic education funding, which provides the largest amount of aid for school districts, Mr. Cowell said. That amount represents a 5.7 percent increase over last year.
The move was in keeping with a plan, enacted in 2007, to overhaul Pennsylvania’s school finance system. But it will be tough to keep up that level of funding once the state-stabilization dollars provided under the recovery act are gone, Mr. Cowell said.
And other programs that school districts depend on saw substantial reductions, he said. For instance, a $44.7 million program called Classrooms for the Future, which provides technology to schools, was eliminated. A high school reform program was reduced to $3.7 million, from $10.7 million.
“There’s a story to be told about each one of these program cuts,” Mr. Cowell said.
This week, New Mexico is slated to hold a special session to address its budget issues. Lawmakers will work to resolve a deficit of at least $400 million in a budget of $5.5 billion.
Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, has suggested a 3 percent across-the-board reduction in government programs, except for K-12 education.
But some New Mexico legislative leaders say cuts to schools might be unavoidable. K-12 education is receiving $2.4 billion this fiscal year.
“To sit there and say we’re not going to have any cuts in education—60 percent of the budget—is that a realistic proposal or is that just political rhetoric?” said Sen. Tim Jennings, a Democrat. “There ought to be meaningful solutions.”
But districts are going to have a tough time weathering further cuts, said Tom Sullivan, the executive director of the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators.
“We have some superintendents who may be hanging by a thread who see this as the straw that’s going to break the camel’s back,” Mr. Sullivan said.
And he sees further trouble ahead, particularly if the state doesn’t find a new revenue source for education. Lawmakers in New Mexico used about $165 million in stimulus money to help balance school districts’ books in the current fiscal year, he said, but revenue forecasts have been even cloudier than expected.
That might force the state to tap the remaining $90 million in stimulus funding that so far hasn’t been allocated—leaving much less of a federal cushion to help finance schools in the next fiscal year.
“If that money is held back and used in building [next year’s] budget, then ... we’re not falling off the cliff yet,” Mr. Sullivan said. But, he added, “I’m not sure if they can make it through [this fiscal year] without using some or all of the $90 million sooner than they had hoped.”

‘Funding Cliff’ Coming

Other states are bracing for tough choices in the coming legislative sessions.
Florida has been hit particularly hard with the national downturn in the housing market, and that’s likely to lead to a structural deficit in the years ahead, said Wayne Blanton, the executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.
“We’re sort of at a crossroads,” Mr. Blanton said. He said state-financed programs, including K-12 education, have always benefited from the revenue bump created by an influx of new residents.
But Florida recently lost nearly 60,000 people, the first population drain in decades. “We’re going to take a 15 to 20 percent cut in state services” in the coming years, Mr. Blanton said, if there isn’t a major change in the state’s tax structure.
Right now, K-12 education in Florida is facing a $1 billion budget deficit, but Mr. Blanton said that amount would be closer to $2 billion without the federal help. The total budget for K-12, not including capital costs, was $15.9 billion.
He’s hoping that in the next legislative session, state lawmakers will start thinking about how to finance education after the stimulus money is no longer available.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Race to the Top (Qualifier)

Education Secretary Leads Chorus Calling for Big City-Hall Role

Robert C. Bobb, left, the emergency financial manager of the Detroit school system, and Mayor Dave Bing visit a 2nd grade class at Hutchinson Elementary School in June. —William Archie/Detroit Free Press

Interest in bringing school districts under the municipal umbrella continues to grow.

By Lesli A. Maxwell

The troubles that plague many local school boards prompt some observers to throw up their hands. But when it comes to big-city districts, there’s a popular remedy that continues to gain momentum: mayoral control.
This governance arrangement sidelines school boards, for the most part, in favor of a strong chief executive handpicked by the mayor.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who for seven years ran Chicago’s public schools under Mayor Richard M. Daley, is using his bully pulpit to aggressively promote the approach as a necessity for reversing decades of abysmal academic performance in some cities. In a speech to mayors and school superintendents last spring, in fact, Duncan said he would consider his time as education secretary a “failure” if more mayors didn’t take over city school systems by the end of his tenure.

Wallace Report: Leading for Learning

Overview: An Overlooked Institution Struggles to Remain Relevant In Pittsburgh, Monitors Hold School Board Accountable Governance Project Teaches Value of Policy Framework At State Level, Power Over Schools a Contentious Issue Education Secretary Leads Chorus Calling For Big City-Hall Role Mayors Can Be ‘Prime Movers’ Of Urban School Improvement Commentary: Meetings Are Just Tip of Iceberg Commentary: Keeping an Eye on the Big Picture—From a Small Town Commentary: For Better Schools and for Civic Life, Boards Must Assert Power

“I absolutely believe that we need more mayors to put their reputations and resources on the line for public education,” says Duncan, who emphasized in an interview that mayoral control is “not right for all places.” And in an article he wrote for this month’s issue of American School Board Journal, he also presented a more nuanced take on mayoral control than he did in his remarks earlier this year.
“In the places where you need fundamental, dramatic change and real breakthrough, you have to have a leader who can bring a unified purpose and sense of urgency,” says the secretary, speaking in the interview. “That’s the mayor.”
As evidence that mayoral control delivers results that urban school boards can’t, Duncan points to Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school district. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s attempt to take over the schools in 2007 made it through the state legislature, but was stopped by a state judge, who ruled that the law enacted to give him control violated the California Constitution.
“If you look at the big cities that are really moving educationally, Chicago comes to mind, New York comes to mind, and Washington, D.C., comes to mind,” says Duncan. “What do they have in common? Mayoral control. Then you have a city like Los Angeles, which frankly, has not come to mind for a number of years. Los Angeles is the outlier.”

Boston Goes First

From a historical perspective, mayoral control is nothing new. More than 100 years ago, most mayors were in charge of public education in their cities, and education reformers spearheaded a push to remove schools from the reach of City Hall. They argued that mayors were often too corrupt and focused on providing patronage jobs, and envisioned that elected members of a school board would be more democratic and better stewards of children’s educations.
In 1992, Boston became the first major city in recent times to embrace mayoral control when local voters granted Mayor Thomas M. Menino the authority to appoint the school board and hire a superintendent. They reaffirmed that change in another vote four years later, and Mr. Menino—who is seeking election to a fifth term next month—continues to run the school system.
Chicago came next. After a 1988 law decentralized the district by creating local school councils to run individual schools, financial and managerial problems continued. In 1995, the Illinois legislature gave Mayor Daley authority over the schools.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, right, selected Ron Huberman, the president of the transit authority, to replace U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as the head of Chicago’s school system.

—Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Now, a growing number of mayors—even those who have not sought outright control over their cities’ schools—are interested in playing some role in improvement efforts, says Kenneth K. Wong, a political science professor and the chairman of the education department at Brown University.
“It signals to me that there is a widening recognition among mayors that as the service economy sinks and global competition rises, they have to make sure that their schools are generating high-quality labor to keep their cities competitive,” Wong says. “It actually presents a real opportunity for a much broader redesign of how we govern our public schools.”
Interest in mayoral control of schools is now running high in several cities. In all, eight major cities now have some form of mayoral control, including New York City, where Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently won a high-profile legislative battle to retain his seven-year grip on the city’s school system. In the District of Columbia, where Mayor Adrian M. Fenty gained control over the school system in 2007, Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has made national headlines for a hard-charging approach to school improvement. The District of Columbia Council retains control over the schools’ budget, however, and its members have been aggressive about questioning many of the chancellor’s decisions.

No Guarantee

In Milwaukee, Mayor Tom Barrett, backed by Wisconsin Gov. James E. Doyle, a fellow Democrat, is making a bid for the power to appoint the school board and hire a superintendent. In Detroit, recently elected Mayor Dave Bing wants to take over the district, despite the city’s earlier, unsuccessful experiment with mayoral control. And in Sacramento, Mayor Kevin Johnson has announced plans to create an “education liaison” between City Hall and the school district, and pledged to raise private money to pay for the position.
Mixed academic results from cities like Chicago, and loud strains of discontent from some parents and elected officials in cities like New York and Washington, are just a few reasons to be skeptical about mayoral control, argues Anne L. Bryant, the executive director of the National School Boards Association, based in Alexandria, Va.
“Too much of this depends on who the mayor is,” says Bryant. “One mayor will be great, but the next mayor could undo the progress. Or, you end up with an autocratic situation like in New York, where parents honestly feel like they don’t know what’s going on, and all they get is the cotton-candy spin machine.”
Paul T. Hill, the director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, at the University of Washington Bothell, agrees that putting a mayor in charge doesn’t guarantee progress. In other words, it takes the right mayor, working under the right political conditions, he says.
“If the mayor is not going to be in a position to take on the teachers’ union, or is not prepared to put up with the complaints and pressure from parents and the neighbors of schools that have had everything go their way in the system, then he or she shouldn’t take over the system,” Hill says.
More importantly, he says, the mayor must select a strong school district leader. He points to Boston, where Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant oversaw steady improvement in student achievement over his 10-year tenure.
“In that case, you got an exceptional leader who profoundly understood education and knew where to intervene in the schools and was able to sail just enough into the wind. I regard that as a Michael Jordan performance,” Hill says. “Frankly, in that case, it was exceptional leadership, but as a prescription for what ails urban education, exceptional leadership is completely hopeless.”
While critics will debate whether students in mayorally controlled systems are making greater academic strides than they would under an elected school board’s leadership, the arrangement brings benefits that have received less attention than test scores.
In Chicago, Mayor Daley has leveraged the city’s parks and recreation and library departments to work with the school system in an extensive after-school program. In New York, donors have contributed more than $240 million to the city’s school system since Mayor Bloomberg took over, and the school district won the Broad Prize for Urban Education in 2007.
Eli Broad, the philanthropist who established the urban education prize in 2002, argues that putting the mayor in charge of schools is the only way to turn around a low-performing district with a history of chaotic school board governance. Mayors, he says, are much better positioned than school boards to challenge the various interest groups and traditions in school districts.
“Most of the nations we compete with have national education systems, and are able to do things with some dispatch and rigor that we are not able to,” Broad says. “If we’re going to change public education for the better, then we need to do national standards, we need to change the school calendar, we need to foster greater competition, and we need better teacher compensation. I don’t think any of this can happen with elected school boards.”

Accountability to Voters

With a mayor in charge, accountability for school performance is concentrated on one person, who can be re-elected or tossed out by voters. In Bloomberg’s bid this fall to win a third term as mayor of New York, in fact, his education record is one of the central issues. His challenger, city Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., is a former president of the old board of education and has been a sharp critic of Bloomberg’s approach to governing the schools.
In Boston, Mayor Menino is facing his first real challenge in 16 years in office from an opponent who has zeroed in on the quality of public education in the city.
“I think the major advantage is focused accountability,” says Michael D. Usdan, a senior fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership, in Washington. “You’ve got a highly visible person in charge that people know can be removed if they are not satisfied.”
Also, Usdan points out, a mayor has more status, political capital, and community resources to use when advocating for poor children than elected school board members whom many people have never heard of.
“This becomes especially important in communities where the demographics have shifted so much, and the mayors can provide coordinated services to students and their families within the schools,” he says. “I just don’t think that urban school boards have the political clout anymore, especially in cities that are losing enrollment.”
Even when mayors don’t directly run school systems, their involvement can leverage new resources for education.
In Nashville, Tenn., Mayor Karl Dean is expending political capital and city resources to improve the public schools. He wooed the New York City-based groups Teach For America and the New Teacher Project to the city and raised the money to pay for their services in helping to staff schools.

‘Number-One Issue’

The quality of schools, he says, “is the number-one issue facing our city. We have a lot of great things going on here, with a strong track record of economic development and public safety, but our school system has some real challenges.”

Wallace Report: Leading for Learning

The sixth annual Leading for Learning report, funded by The Wallace Foundation, examines the school board's role in education leadership.

• Click here to read the full report.

Dean came close to gaining control of the 74,000-student system under a state law that allows the governor to change the governance of districts in “corrective action” status for low performance for several years. But Nashville’s students scored well enough that the district narrowly avoided that outcome—one that Dean, who was elected in 2007, has said he would be ready to take on.
In the meantime, Dean has made clear his intention to keep education at the top of his agenda. He estimates spending at least 25 percent of his time on public school matters.
He’s traveled to New Orleans to look at the proliferation of charter schools since Hurricane Katrina four years ago, and says he’d like to see a charter-incubator organization, much like New Schools for New Orleans, come to Nashville now that Tennessee has lifted some of its restrictions on charter schools. He hosted an education summit this past summer that featured some of the most high-profile reformers in the nation.
“I see and hear what’s been going on in other cities over the last five to 10 years, and I just see how far we have to go to catch up with them,” he says. “I think my involvement can help move us along.”

A special report funded by The Wallace Foundation.

21st Century Digital Learning Environments (REAL-WORLD Stimulations for OUR Imaginations, Creativity & Innovations)

Mobile Learning Institute (A 21st Century Education)
http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation/

It's About TIME! (To DO the RIGHT THING)

WHY it's NOT About the MONEY!

Race to the Top (Update)

September 28, 2009
Editorial
Mr. Duncan and That $4.3 Billion

With sound ideas and a commitment to rigorously monitor the states’ progress, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has revitalized the school-reform effort that had lost most of its momentum by the closing days of the Bush administration.

His power to press for reforms was dramatically enhanced earlier this year when Congress gave him control of $4.3 billion in grant money — the Race to the Top fund — that is to be disbursed to the states on a competitive basis. Mr. Duncan will need to resist political pressure and special pleadings and reward only the states that are committed to effective and clearly measurable reform.

Mr. Duncan’s exhortations, and the promise of so much cash, have already persuaded eight states to adopt measures favorable to charter schools, which Mr. Duncan rightly sees as crucial in the fight to turn around failing schools.

To be eligible for the money, every state must also show how student performance will be factored into their systems for evaluating teachers. And Mr. Duncan has asked the states to come up with plausible plans to turn around failing schools — so-called dropout factories — and to better serve minority students.

He has also made clear in preliminary guidelines released earlier this year that his system for evaluating the states’ reform efforts will be rigorous — and that financing can be revoked if states renege on their promises. Even the National Education Association, the aggressively hidebound teachers’ union, seems to understand that the time for defending the status quo has passed.

For all that, the difficult part is yet to come. Mr. Duncan must be prepared to reject grant applications that do not meet the eligibility requirements, but he also must be willing to encourage states to innovate.

As he decides which applications to accept and which to reject, Mr. Duncan can expect a lot of outside pressure from politicians demanding that he finance all of their states’ programs and from community purists demanding that he reject projects that don’t comply with their views.

He will need to resist those pressures and choose substantive, innovative proposals that stand the best chance of improving the schools. For that, he will need courage, stamina and cover from the White House.

Warren Consolidated Schools / Macomb, Math, Science & Technology Center (MMSTC)

A Race WORTH Running (AND ONE WE MUST NOT LOSE!)

For Release:
1:00 pm

September 24, 2008Contact:
Gary G. Naeyaert
517-281-2690

2,500 ADVOCATES HOLD EDUCATION REFORM RALLY AT STATE CAPITOL

Change agents urge legislature to pass bills to close the achievement gap and secure “Race to the Top” funds

Lansing, MI – More than 2,500 students, parents, teachers and education activists held a rally on the lawn of State Capitol Building this morning.

Education reform priorities pushed during the rally included the need to fix failing schools, provide alternative routes to teacher certification, and expand quality public school options, especially in underperforming areas.

“It is a moral imperative that we close the academic achievement gap in Michigan,” said Michael Tenbusch, Vice President for Education Preparedness at the United Way of Southeastern Michigan.

“These reforms are not only the right approach for our students – they could bring millions in federal education funds to the state,” he continued.

Most observers believe passing these types of bills are necessary before Michigan will be competitive in $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” federal incentive program.

“Each and every American citizen is entitled to have equal access to a high quality education,” said Kevin Chavous, one of the nation’s leading education reform activists, during his stirring keynote address at the rally.

Students released over 1,000 “Kids Need Great Schools” balloons after Chavous’ remarks, and each balloon represented hundreds of minority and at-risk students behind grade level and stuck in failing schools.

“Every child can learn, and all kids deserve great schools. The status quo isn’t getting it done, so we need to work together and find new ways to help kids achieve,” said Rachele Downs, Vice President, CB Richard Ellis Detroit and member of the Leadership Detroit Education Support Committee.

“We agree with President Obama that students must take responsibility for their own education, and empowering parents as true partners in public education should be a much higher priority,” said Sharlonda Buckman, Executive Director of the Detroit Parent Network.

EARLY Childhood Learning (Dollars-But WHAT does it Look Like?)

September 20, 2009
Initiative Focuses on Early Learning Programs
By SAM DILLON

Tucked away in an $87 billion higher education bill that passed the House last week was a broad new federal initiative aimed not at benefiting college students, but at raising quality in the early learning and care programs that serve children from birth through age 5.

The initiative, the Early Learning Challenge Fund, would channel $8 billion over eight years to states with plans to improve standards, training and oversight of programs serving infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

The Senate is expected to pass similar legislation this fall, giving President Obama, who proposed the Challenge Fund during the presidential campaign, a bill to sign in December.

Experts describe the current array of programs serving young children and their families nationwide as a hodgepodge of efforts with little coordination or coherence. Financing comes from a shifting mix of private, local, state and federal money. Programs are run out of storefronts and churches, homes and Head Start centers, public schools and other facilities. Quality is uneven, with some offering stimulating activities, play and instruction but others providing little more than a room and a television.

Oversight varies by state, but most lack any early childhood structure analogous to the state and local boards of education that govern public schools. A result is that poor children, even many who have access to government-financed early care or learning programs, tend to enter kindergarten less prepared for school than those with wealthier parents.

To qualify for grants, states would have to demonstrate that they have established or improved what the bill calls a “governance structure” for their networks of child care centers and prekindergarten programs.

The structure would include quality standards; a curriculum of sorts, appropriate for young children; a mechanism for reviewing programs and assigning quality ratings; minimum training requirements for providers; a plan for reaching out to parents; and a system for collecting data on children and families. The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services would jointly administer the Challenge Fund.

Sharon Lynn Kagan, a professor at Teachers College who has traced the history of American child care programs back to the early 19th century, wrote a paper last year advocating federal aid to states in building a more coherent and robust early-childhood infrastructure.

“No one bill can solve everything,” Professor Kagan said, “but this will move us more than any other piece of legislation toward higher quality in early education, not just more spaces for children.”

Since the campaign, Mr. Obama has raised expectations among early learning advocates with his endorsements of public investments in the careful nurturing of young children, especially the disadvantaged. In the economic stimulus bill, Congress last spring appropriated more than $4 billion in new financing for child care and education efforts, including Head Start, the federal program that serves about 900,000 preschoolers.

Still, not all early learning advocates are satisfied that the administration is doing all it could to integrate early learning efforts into the nation’s broader public education system.

The Department of Education is already administering a separate $4.3 billion competition among states to reward and encourage improvements to elementary and secondary schools. In August, scores of early learning groups and advocates wrote letters to the department criticizing proposed rules for that competition, known as Race to the Top, as largely ignoring early childhood education.

“We don’t see how our country can race to the top when all kids are not at the same starting line” when they reach kindergarten, said Marcy Young, project director for the Pre-K Now program at the Pew Center on the States, one group that criticized the rules.

One reason the administration focused on elementary and secondary schools in the Race to the Top competition and early childhood in the Challenge Fund is that the two are at contrasting levels of development, administration officials said, with the public schools needing initiatives to improve teacher effectiveness, for instance, and early childhood needing basic structures of governance.

Sara Mead, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, said, “I haven’t talked with anybody who isn’t excited about the prospects for this Early Learning Challenge Fund.”

“But there is disappointment in some parts of the early childhood community that it’s not more focused on adding slots,” Ms. Mead said.

One reason advocates are especially concerned about slots for children is that after a decade in which states had taken the lead in expanding access nationwide, several with deep budget troubles have recently eliminated or reduced services for tens of thousands of children.

Illinois, for instance, cut the budget for its Pre-K for All program to $305 million this fiscal year from $338 million last year, eliminating slots for about 9,500 children, according to statistics provided by Albert Wat, a project manager at Pre-K Now.

In Ohio, lawmakers did away with a program known as the Early Learning Initiative, the budget for which last year was $125 million, Mr. Wat said. The action eliminated access for 12,000 children, he said.

“In some states, we’re seeing a disaster,” said Steve Barnett, co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.

But despite the tightest budgets in decades, nearly 30 states have chosen to protect or increase financing for early learning programs.

Follow the Mindset and Model the Practice!

Many People, Business's & Organizations have asked "What do You Guys DO?" We now have an appropriate answer "WHAT HE SAID!"

President Obama Weighs-In!

The following is the prepared text of Mr. Obama's speech to students to be delivered in Arlington, Va., on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2009, which was posted in advance on the White House Web site.


The President: Hello everyone - how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still Summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday - at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home - that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer - hundreds of extra hours - to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust - a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor - and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you - don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down - don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

This Just In!

Posted: Tuesday, 08 September 2009 7:37AM

Students Head Back To School

Detroit (WWJ) -- Detroit Public Schools students and thousands of others across Metro Detroit and Michigan return to class and there are big changes in some districts.

Over 1,000 teachers have been laid off and 29 schools closed in the Detroit Public Schools, as the district tries to stop plummeting enrollment. Last fall, enrollment dropped below 100,000 and is expected to dip under 90,000 this fall.

Emergency financial manager Robert Bobb will be at several schools this morning welcoming students back.

"We want to make sure parents and students have everything they need to have a successful first day of school," Bobb said. "We know that issues will arise so we will have SWAT teams out in the schools all day. And I will be in the field at schools throughout the day, as well, to address concerns and answer questions."

Early Tuesday morning, Bobb said he was upset that there wasn't enough workers to answer a hotline number set up to answer any questions that arise.

Parents who have questions are being asked to call (313) 240-4DPS for questions not answered by their child's school. District staff will be on hand to answer phones until 5:30 p.m. Extra staff will be on hand throughout the week to address concerns.

Teachers in three suburban districts are without contracts, but they plan to be in the classroom when school starts.

According to the Michigan Education Association, all three districts -- Woodhaven-Brownstown, Southfield and Redford Union Schools -- are on the union's critical list, meaning the union does not see progress in the negotiations. Talks in the districts are stalled over salaries and health insurance.

In Pontiac, the school district opens with a new uniform policy in place and only one high school. Pontiac High School opens in what had been known as Pontiac Northern High School. Under a consolidation plan, high school students from Northern and Central High will be attending class at the new Pontiac High.

The weather for the first couple days of school includes rain. Click here for the forecast.

RING! Consequences of the PERFECT STORM!

September 8, 2009
Schools Aided by Stimulus Money Still Facing Cuts
By SAM DILLON

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Children are returning to classrooms across the nation during one of the most tumultuous periods in American education, in which many thousands of teachers and other school workers — no one yet knows how many — were laid off in dozens of states because of plummeting state and local revenue. Many were hired back, thanks in part to $100 billion in federal stimulus money.

How much the federal money has succeeded in stabilizing schools depends on the state. In those where budget deficits have been manageable, stimulus money largely replaced plunging taxpayer revenues for schools. But in Arizona, California, Georgia and a dozen other states with overwhelming deficits, the federal money has failed to prevent the most extensive school layoffs in several decades, experts said.

When Lori Smallwood welcomed her third-grade students back to school here, it was a new beginning after a searing summer in which she lost her job, agonized over bills, got rehired and, along with all school employees here, saw her salary cut.

“I’m just glad to be teaching,” Ms. Smallwood said. “After the misery of losing your job, a pay cut is a piece of cake.”

In the hard-hit states, the shuffling of teachers out of their previous classrooms and into new ones, often in new districts or at unfamiliar grade levels — or onto unemployment — continues to disrupt instruction at thousands of schools. Experts said that seniority and dysfunctional teacher evaluation systems were forcing many districts to trim strong teachers rather than the least effective.

And in some places, teacher layoffs have pushed up class sizes. In Arizona, which is suffering one of the nation’s worst fiscal crises, some classrooms were jammed with nearly 50 students when schools reopened last month, and the norm for Los Angeles high schools this fall is 42.5 students per teacher.

“I’ve been in public education north of three decades, and these are the most sweeping cutbacks I’ve seen,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools. “But it would have been worse without the stimulus.”

Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest district, sent layoff notices to 8,850 teachers, counselors and administrators last spring. Bolstered by stimulus money, it recently rehired some 6,700 of them, leaving about 2,150 demoted to substitute teaching or out of work. Hundreds of districts across California laid off a total of more than 20,000 teachers, according to the California Teachers Association.

In Michigan, the Detroit schools’ emergency financial manager closed 29 schools and laid off 1,700 employees, including 1,000 teachers. Arizona school districts laid off 7,000 teachers in the spring, but stimulus money helped them rehire several thousand. Tucson Unified, for instance, laid off 560 teachers, but rehired 400.

Florida’s second-largest system, Broward County Schools, laid off 400 teachers, but aided by stimulus money, rehired more than 100. In Washington State, many districts let employees go; Seattle laid off about 50 teachers.

Lauren Stokes, who taught high school English last year in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg district, was laid off with about 650 of her colleagues. She sought other jobs, but stimulus money sent to the state helped her district hire her and many others back. One disappointment: her classroom this year is a portable trailer.

“But I’m rehired, thank goodness,” said Ms. Stokes, who is 23. “I’m looking forward to trying new things out on this year’s batch of students.”

Catherine Vidal, a language teacher laid off in May from a high school in Moorpark, Calif., is still out of work. Fifty-nine years old, Ms. Vidal has given up her apartment and is living, for now, on a friend’s boat. Teaching has become too iffy, and she will change professions, she said.

Not only school staff members are feeling the pain, of course.

“I struggled this year getting my three boys everything they needed,” said Mary Lou Johnson, an unemployed office worker who went back-to-school shopping last month at a Wal-Mart in Chamblee, Ga. “Buying their backpacks, sneakers, all the stuff for their classes — it nearly cleaned me out.”

In Ohio, students in the South-Western City district south of Columbus returned to schools with no sports, cheerleading or band, all cut after residents voted down a property tax increase. Stimulus money allowed the district to expand services for disabled students, but it could not save extracurricular programs, said Hugh Garside, the district’s treasurer.

Driving the layoffs was a precipitous decline in tax revenues that left states with a cumulative budget shortfall of $165 billion for this fiscal year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research institute. About half of the 160 school superintendents from 37 states surveyed by the American Association of School Administrators said that despite receiving stimulus money, they were forced to cut teachers in core subjects. Eight out of 10 said they had cut librarians, nurses, cooks and bus drivers.

Districts unable to avoid layoffs should seek to do minimum damage by retaining outstanding teachers and culling ineffective ones, said Timothy Daly, president of the New Teacher Project, a nonprofit group. But most districts are simply dismissing teachers hired most recently, because union contracts or state laws protect tenured teachers in most states and because few districts have systems to accurately evaluate teacher performance, he said.

“Districts tend to make their problems worse by laying off good teachers and keeping bad ones,” Mr. Daly said.

The Hall County district northeast of Atlanta, which has 35 schools, dismissed 100 of its 2,000 teachers, said William Schofield, the superintendent. John Stape, who taught high school Spanish, and his wife, Janie, who taught third grade, were among them.

Ms. Stape, 50, is still out of work. Mr. Stape, who is 65 and has a Ph.D., found a job teaching this school year, for less pay, in a rural high school southeast of Atlanta. He said that no administrator had ever observed his teaching before the day he was laid off.

“They didn’t know whether I was a good teacher or not,” Mr. Stape said. Mr. Schofield said the district used student achievement data and professional judgment to identify mediocre teachers for dismissal, but he acknowledged that Hall County had to cut so many teachers that strong ones were let go, too.

“We downsized about 50 pretty good folks,” Mr. Schofield said. The district also trimmed salaries of all district employees by 2.4 percent. Mr. Schofield said he cut his own by 3.4 percent, bringing it to $183,000 this year, and relinquished $23,000 in bonuses.

The Hall County schools received more than $18 million in stimulus money, and without it, “those 100 layoffs could easily have gone to 150,” he said.

Among the Hall County educators helped by the stimulus was Ms. Smallwood, who is 25. After she lost her job teaching kindergarten, she went to her mother’s home to cry, then regained her composure and circulated her résumé. A principal eventually hired her to teach third grade.

“I feel like I’m starting over again,” she said.

Grants in Innovation i3 Fund

Grants from Innovation Pot Would Require Track Record

By Michele McNeil

Washington

Federal education officials last week pledged that the economic-stimulus program’s $650 million innovation fund will reserve the largest grants for schools, districts, and nonprofit organizations that want to finance programs with proven track records and are ready to grow.

In the U.S. Department of Education’s first substantial preview of the “Investing in Innovation” grant program—newly dubbed the “i3 Fund”—Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sketched out three broad grant categories that, in essence, will make the biggest awards where there’s the most evidence of success.

The grants start going out early next year, and the largest—of up to $50 million each—will be reserved for “proven” programs that are ready to grow, Mr. Duncan told a gathering of school district superintendents here. The second category will be grants of up to $30 million for programs that already exist in pilot form, where research shows they work. The smallest grants will be for up to $5 million in seed money for “pure innovation”—ideas that aren’t proved but show promise.

“Educational innovation should not be confused with just generating more great ideas or unique inventions,” said Mr. Duncan at a symposium hosted by ACT Inc., the Iowa City, Iowa-based nonprofit organization, and America’s Choice, a school reform group in Washington. “Instead, we need new solutions.”

A formal framework for how the grant process will work, what criteria will be used to judge proposals, and an exact timetable, including application deadlines, will be released in the coming weeks.

Still, Mr. Duncan provided the first insight into how the department will structure those grants and what it will be looking for. Education officials said there would likely be two rounds to the competition, although they would consider consolidating the rounds into one if districts and nonprofit groups need more time to apply.

Discretionary Pot

The i3 innovation grants are part of a larger $5 billion pot of discretionary money available to Mr. Duncan as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress in February. The i3 program is set aside for school districts, nonprofit organizations, and consortia of schools to encourage innovation.

Separately, Education Department officials are asking the philanthropic community to pledge money beyond the $650 million in the stimulus package toward the department’s goal of scaling up innovation at the district level.

In addition, a larger $4.35 billion is earmarked for the Race to the Top Fund—a competitive grant program for states to pay for large-scale education improvement efforts that focus on bolstering academic standards, teacher quality, data systems, and low-performing schools. President Barack Obama officially kicked off the Race to the Top Fund competition last month in a speech at the Education Department, when the proposed criteria for judging states were released for public comment. ("States Scramble for Coveted Dollars," July 24, 2009.)

Details of a separate $350 million competition within the Race to the Top Fund to help states implement common assessments will be announced later. ("Duncan Unveils Details on Race to the Top Aid," June 15, 2009.)

Evidence-Based Criteria

James H. Shelton, the assistant deputy secretary who leads the department’s office of innovation and improvement, said at the Aug. 20 event that data and validation are important components of any successful innovation-grant proposal.

Mr. Shelton said that when “rock-solid evidence” isn’t available, then the rationale behind a proposal must be grounded in strong theories and research. “We have many anecdotes,” he said. “But we have to get beyond the anecdotes.”

He acknowledged the administrative challenges ahead for the department, as thousands of applications are expected. Judging the smaller “pure innovation” grants could be particularly vexing, Mr. Shelton added, as the task will likely involve comparing “apples and oranges.”

For the majority of school districts that have tight budgets, the i3 grants are particularly attractive, said Sheryl R. Abshire, the chief technology officer of the 32,400-student Calcasieu Parish district in Lake Charles, La.

“School districts don’t have the luxury of sitting around and waiting for money anymore,” said Ms. Abshire, who attended the briefing. Her school district is already starting to plot strategy on how to win one of the grants. She said the focus will be, at least in part, on improving technology in the classrooms and the professional development teachers need to use it.

In making the awards, Mr. Duncan said the Education Department will want to see programs driven by student outcomes that can be successfully scaled up and are sustainable once federal grant money runs out.

The secretary specifically cited his interest in increasing graduation rates and college preparedness, expanding the school day and academic year, and improving the quality and reach of prekindergarten programs.

Models Cited

In his speech, Mr. Duncan singled out several models as examples of innovation, including the Teaching Fellows programs that have been established in a number of cities. He also cited Mastery Charter Schools, in Philadelphia, the Los Angles-based Green Dot Public Schools, and the Academy for Urban School Leadership—a Chicago-based not-for-profit—as examples in the area of turning around failing schools.

And Mr. Duncan devoted a sizable portion of his speech to praising Wendy Kopp, who started Teach For America while a Princeton University undergraduate. TFA recruits recent liberal arts graduates into the teaching profession.

The department also is working to establish an interactive i3 Web platform that will allow for online discussion and reviews—by anyone—of promising innovative practices that can help districts and others prepare proposals. For example, it could be a way for a school district to find a partner for an innovative program it wants to try, or a way to solicit ideas to improve a program.

That is one way, said Mr. Shelton, the assistant deputy secretary, that the department itself is trying to be innovative.

DEPSA Going Green! (AND A WHOLE LOT MORE)

YAPO CLC Future Entrepreneurs @ TIMBUKTU INTERNET CAFE

Capacity Building @ Pontiac Schools (Continues)

Alignment to OUR Purpose

Michigan Drop-Out Summit 2009
http://www.midropoutsummit.org/

Michigan Conference Proceedings
http://www.midropoutsummit.org/SummitProceedings.aspx

Michigan Conference (Videos)
http://mistreamnet.com/vidflv.php?who=mdedrop1n01

ONE-D Drop-Out Conference (Update Brochure)
http://www.uwsem.org/_collateral/pdf/oned/TurnaroundUpdate0508.pdf

Isn't it about time the State of Michigan entered the 21st Century?

21st Century Digital Learning Environments (UPDATE)

Elliot Soloway: Ed-Tech Classroom Climate from Education Week on Vimeo.