United Church of Christ - JPANet: Equal Education for All!

JPANet: Equal Education for All!

ESEA In his proposed budget and State of the Union speech, President Obama laid out the direction in which his Administration will lead federal education policy—including the reauthorization of the federal education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), whose most recent version is called the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

While the President’s budget retains Title I, that has from the very beginning been the foundation of the federal education law, he proposes to level-fund this “formula” program that directs federal aid to schools serving many poor children. Instead he emphasizes “innovation” through competitive grants to states and school districts that agree to:

turn around schools through radical procedures like replacing the staff, moving the children to other schools, or bringing in education management organizations;
vastly increase the number of charter schools; and
institute merit pay for teachers based on test scores.

These proposed reforms are largely untested, and the emphasis on competition will create winners and losers when all children deserve an equal chance.

Tell your elected officals that, when ESEA is reauthorized, equal opportunity must remain a primary goal.

As we move toward the reauthorization of ESEA, Congress should allocate federal resources for equity and use its power to press states to guarantee for every child an opportunity to learn.

It should:

Fully fund Title I and improve the targeting of Title I funds.
Provide strong federal incentives for states to reform inequitable school funding formulas and establish a comprehensive school funding indicator system by which states report data about access to core opportunities like early childhood education, qualified teachers, challenging curriculum, and instructional resources.
Create a transparent, regular federal report that exposes the scope of unequal access to opportunity across states and school districts.
Move Title I from the discretionary budget category to the mandatory budget category, removing this program from the political battles of the annual appropriations process.

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In the Headlines
States have already begun competing for federal funds by experimenting with the school turnaround plans modeled on the Administration’s Race to the Top rules. Just this week, the school board in Central Falls, Rhode Island, dismissed the entire faculty of the community's high school, deemed "failing" under NCLB's Adequate Yearly Progress rating. The Rhode Island Commissioner of Education announced that this move was for the purpose of turning around the school in accord with new guidelines for receiving federal funds.
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Dear [Decision Maker],

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As a person of faith I am concerned about the direction the President has established for federal policy in public education. While the Administration controls the Race to the Top initiative of the federal stimulus, I know that Congress will have oversight over the long overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). I ask you to ensure that equity remains a primary goal of the federal education law.

While retaining Title I, the President's budget proposes to level-fund this formula program that directs federal aid to schools serving many poor children. Instead the Administration emphasizes "innovation" through competitive grants to states and school districts that agree: to turn around schools through radical procedures like replacing the staff, moving the children to other schools, or bringing in education management organizations; to vastly increase the number of charter schools; and to institute merit pay for teachers based on test scores.

These proposed reforms are largely untested, and the emphasis on competition will create winners and losers when all children deserve an equal chance.

In the ESEA reauthorization, I ask Congress to allocate federal resources for equity and use its power to press states to guarantee for every child an opportunity to learn:

- Fully fund Title I and improve the targeting of Title I funds.

- Move Title I from the discretionary budget category to the mandatory budget category, removing this program from the political battles of the annual appropriations process.

- Provide strong federal incentives for states to reform inequitable school funding formulas and establish a comprehensive school funding indicator system by which states report data about access to core opportunities like early childhood education, qualified teachers, challenging curriculum, and instructional resources.

- Require states to develop plans for overcoming resource inequities.

Competitive grants and "innovations" like radical school turnaround plans and massive charterization will continue to marginalize the most vulnerable children and their schools. I ask Congress to guarantee an opportunity to learn for every child as a primary goal of the upcoming reauthorization of ESEA.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Your Email]