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Newswire - February 7, 2006
Vol. 8, No. 6 CHOICE THE COMPETITIVENESS INITIATIVE. The President's State of the Union introduced the American Competitiveness Initiative, which calls for $380 million in Federal support to improve math, science and technology education. He also emphasized the notion of competitiveness in American enterprise to improve the economy. In her latest Chalk Talk blog, CER President Jeanne Allen highlights the vital role competition is already playing among schools. "It is ironic that the very notion that drives Americans to improve and excel among all other countries in industry - competition - is not more uniformly accepted as a driver of change for schools, even in the face of proven success," she writes. Education could use several different competitiveness initiatives – from differential pay for teachers going into the hard sciences to school choice, which fosters innovation in such programs. Read more on why American Progress Requires a New Focus on Competitiveness - In All Arenas. MASS CHOICE. A crowd of roughly 100 school administrators, academics, media, policy makers and legislators gathered at the Omni Parker House in Boston last week for the Pioneer Institute's forum, "School Choice and Education Reform in Massachusetts: Competing in the 21st Century." On the morning of the State of the Union address, keynote speaker Chris Whittle, founder of Edison Schools, beat the president to the punch, stressing competition - in education - as a means to improve our nation's status worldwide. Whittle pointed to six issues surrounding school choice that need to be addressed, including a lack of funding for research and development in education, the need for better charter school legislation, and the failures of many public schools. Whittle gave credit to the public schools that are improving - many because of school choice competition - but noted that 15 million students are still functionally illiterate. The Pioneer Institute released two major reports demonstrating that while Massachusetts has made great strides in education reform, its highest performing students have remained stagnant and its lowest performing students are not improving. The solution includes greater choices, which are supported by 72 percent of private schools that would participate if there were a full choice program in The Bay State. Obstacles remain, however, to greater opportunity for kids. Said Whittle in his remarks, "Many view [school choice and charter schools] as the end of public education. They see it as a Berlin Wall issue. That if you bring down the wall, all of the kids will flee to the 'West'." Who wouldn't want to flee to a land of freedom and opportunity? CHARTERS SOUTH CAROLINA MISINFORMATION. Can you define the term "proportionate?" At a birthday party, would a child trust his big brother to fairly determine what his "proportionate" slice of the cake should be? Charter schools shouldn't have to be dependent on that same subjective interpretation, but that is what they could be facing if Bill H3010 passes the House. The bill, which creates a new entity for approval of charter schools - the South Carolina Public Charter School District - will in fact create a new bureaucracy and will ultimately take funding away from charter schools. Under the current language of the bill, charter schools would receive none of the local funding they currently receive. They would receive the maximum base state funding they currently receive from the state (about $2290 for next year), but only "proportionate" categorical and federal funds would be allotted to the schools through their new district. The extent of that "proportionate" funding would be calculated by the State Department of Education. The total picture means that on average, charter schools will only be given 60 percent of the funding their conventional public school counterparts would get. While many charter school advocates are applauding the bill as a step forward for charter schools in The Palmetto State, they would be smart to take a closer look. The new law will create more bureaucracy, take away local funding and give a local district the financial incentive to off-load an existing charter to a district with reduced funding. The bill is awaiting conference committee deliberations. Click here to learn more about the funding complexities and effects of the proposed H3010, or read our press release. LITTLE RHODY THAT COULD. Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri is on board with the president's plan to focus on math and science curriculum in schools to improve our nation's standing internationally. In fact, Carcieri has taken that plan a few steps further. Last week, the governor not only called for a $15 million bond to strengthen the teaching of science and math at the state's two four-year public colleges, he also proposed a statewide science curriculum and an effort to recruit math and science professionals to teach part-time in the classroom. Carcieri is pushing for change not only for students, but for teachers as well. While he asks that students be required to take three years of science, he is also working to assure that teachers are learning in college what they are expected to teach in the classroom. To that end, he proposed a pay-for-performance plan to reward the teachers who have a proven track record in student achievement. Of course, this much talk of change in the status quo instantly drew the attention of the union. The opposition is not stopping Carcieri, who also called for a lift of the two-year moratorium on new charters and asked for the cap to be lifted on districts with more than 9,000 students. As if he is finishing the president's line of thought, Carcieri's proposals show a vision of how charter school competition and reform are a vital link to our nation's future success. STANDARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY NAACP FLIP-FLOP. When the Florida Supreme Court declared the state's school choice program unconstitutional, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was among those who sided with the establishment and against the escape valve that Florida created for children stuck in failing schools. New York Times writer John Tierney argued that the only people losing out in the wake of the Florida Supreme Court decision were the minority students stuck in under-performing schools. Now, the NAACP has filed a motion to stop the Connecticut lawsuit against NCLB, claiming that "states do not have the right to ignore federal legislation that aims to help minorities." The Connecticut lawsuit, which also has the backing of the unions and over 100 school boards, says that the state should not have to spend its own money to comply with NCLB. Why the sudden change in stance on education reform? Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut branch of the NAACP said that "the organization was aligning itself with the Bush administration 'on this particular issue and only this particular issue.'" Such contradictions are what led notable civil rights leaders like Milwaukee's Howard Fuller to start the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) and are the cause of much dissent within the ranks of the NAACP. But it's a ray of hope that one state chapter is willing to challenge the status quo. 65 PERCENT SHELL GAME. It is an enticing proposal: 65 percent of all money in the public school system must be spent on what is classified as "direct classroom expenditures." Governor Sonny Purdue of Georgia is just one of the governors pushing the legislation, which on its face would assure that money go directly to students' education and not get lost in bureaucracy. However, the term "direct classroom expenditures" leaves a great deal of wiggle room. Bureaucracies love wiggle room. One argument, offered by Tom Crawford in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, notes that 'direct classroom expenditures' include activities such as field trips, athletics, music and arts, but not building maintenance, transportation, media centers, teacher training and guidance counselors. Under the 65 percent solution, "this means that uniforms for the football team would by law be a higher priority for school spending than nurses to treat ailing students, buses to bring students to school." A deeper problem is that mandating any amount of money in the classroom doesn't address the single biggest challenge the US faces - low student achievement. CER president Jeanne Allen calls it the politician's equivalent of a chicken in every pot: sounds great, but has little impact on the real problem. But with the very successful entrepreneur and founder of Overstock.Com, Patrick Byrne, behind the initiative, it is a natural elixir for any politician. NEWSMAKER OF THE WEEK. Parent, activist, counselor and former teacher Sara Hyatt Boyd could not have been happier three years ago when her daughter was chosen in a lottery to attend Moreland Discovery School in California. The research-based school with 100 percent parent participation had a long waiting list. But within two years, the district decided to cut the budget and merged Moreland Discovery School with a neighboring public school. Parent involvement declined and the spirit of the school was gone. That's when Sara got involved. After a charter school petition to get the Discovery School back was rejected in November of 2005, Sara joined the Discovery Charter School board members in pushing for an appeal and on February 1, the Santa Clara County Board of Education approved Discovery Charter School by a 6-1 vote. We asked this involved parent a few questions:

What is your favorite memory of school growing up? "All of the times when we were not sitting at a desk! Although I always scored in the 99th percentile in spelling and always got A's in math, I can't recall a single spelling or math worksheet. Instead, I remember…a process of hands-on experimentation." What book is currently on your nightstand? The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman and 4000 Things You Should Know by John Farndon. What is your message to reformers? "I would definitely encourage anyone who has a vision for education that is unique…to pursue it diligently until it comes to fruition. Do not waver from what you believe is right just because you may encounter obstacles at times."