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Registration for CCSSO’s 2009 Legislative Conference Closes Today
By Paul Ferrari
The deadline to register for CCSSO’s 2009 Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, is today, February 18, 2009. Given the political and budgetary landscapes, conference sessions will focus on discussions about legislative/regulatory issues and shrinking state education budgets. Confirmed speakers include Tucker Carlson, MSNBC’s senior campaign correspondent; Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association; Alma Powell, chair of the America’s Promise Alliance; and Michael Geisen, 2008 National Teacher of the Year. The conference begins Sunday evening, March 8, and concludes on Tuesday afternoon, March 10.
All CCSSO member groups are invited to participate in this meeting, including chiefs, deputies, federal liaisons, and public information officers. The half-day on Tuesday, March 10—ending at 12:30 p.m.—will provide participants an opportunity to visit with state congressional delegations in the afternoon. The deadline to register for the meeting is Tuesday, February 18, 2009.
For more information about the 2009 Legislative Conference program, please contact Abigail Rogers at abigailr@ccsso.org or 202-336-7073. For any questions regarding registration, please contact Shawn Morrison at shawnm@ccsso.org, 202.336.7021.
Headlines
Association & Related News
Education Week to Host Live Chat on Obama's Education Plan
Advocacy in Action
President Obama Signs Stimulus into Law
Advocacy Resources
Education Newsbriefs
"Legislation to Save California School Meal Programs Discussed" (CA)
"Statewide Core Curriculum Finalized" (IA)
"Bill Allows Flexible Graduation for High-Schoolers" (MD)
"School Ranking Plan Unveiled" (MS)
"Tennessee Program Standardizes Alternative Education" (TN)
Association & Related News
Education Week to Host Live Chat on Obama's Education Plan
By Paul Ferrari
This Thursday, February 19, at 3 p.m. EST, Education Week will host a free live chat with federal policy experts to discuss the new administration in Washington and the prospect of new approaches to education policy and practice. The chat coincides with the release of the latest book from Education Week Press, The Obama Education Plan: An Education Week Guide, and will focus on providing an advanced look at how decisions on the No Child Left Behind law, Title I, and other key legislation by President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan may change the education landscape.
Participants include: Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation; Thomas Toch, co-founder and co-director of Education Sector; and Gene Wilhoit, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. The chat will be moderated by Education Week Associate Editor Scott J. Cech.
To attend the chat, visit http://www.edweek-chat.org at 3 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 19. Click here to submit questions in advance.
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Advocacy in Action
President Obama Signs Stimulus into Law
Yesterday, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law. This historic act provides a total of $787 billion in new funding and tax incentives. The final stimulus package included approximately $100 billion to education programs, including $13 billion to Title I, $12.2 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), $250 million for State Data Systems, and $53.6 billion for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. In the coming days, Secretary Duncan is expected to provide states with initial guidance on how new funds can be effectively implemented for long, established programs. CCSSO will assist states in the facilitation and use of the new funds and has set aside considerable time at the upcoming Legislative Conference to discussion on the stimulus. In the meantime, the White House has launched a new website dedicated to the stimulus package: http://www.recovery.gov.
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Advocacy Resources
To gain additional information about legislation discussed in this issue, please visit http://thomas.loc.gov/ and enter the name or bill number of the legislation.
For more advocacy information and support, please contact advocacy@ccsso.org.
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Education Newsbriefs
Legislation to Save California School Meal Programs Discussed
Imperial Valley News (02/11/09)
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell is sponsoring legislation to keep the school meals program in place. AB 95, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch), would prevent the program from running out of money by April with an infusion of $19.5 million in cash. According to O'Connell, "During these uncertain economic times, families have taken to tightening their finances, and so we've seen a dramatic spike in the number of children who are receiving subsidized school meals. In fact, we are perilously close to running out of money to provide these meals, but we can't let this happen. Our responsibility is to ensure that students who need these meals get these meals. Hungry children don't learn. Assemblyman Torlakson's legislation is the fix we need right now to continue serving these meals to our low-income students for the remainder of the school year." The number of meals served by schools across the state rose 4.5 percent to 770.6 million during the 2007-08 school year from the prior school year. Data from the state Department of Education also shows that 50.9 percent of public students in grades K-12 are enrolled in the subsidized meals program.
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Statewide Core Curriculum Finalized
Gazette (Iowa) (02/11/09)
On Feb. 11, the Iowa Board of Education approved the final provisions of the statewide core curriculum for K-12 school districts and accredited non-public schools, which requires civic, financial, technology, and health literacy and employability skills. Iowa Director of Education Judy Jeffrey says, "The intent of the Iowa core curriculum is to raise student achievement and improve teaching in Iowa. To support this effort, I ask everyone who touches the lives of young Iowans--teachers, parents, grandparents, coaches, mentors, employers--to set high academic expectations for our youth. Students I have talked to say they will deliver what we expect." High schools must implement the new curriculum by the 2012-13 school year, and kindergarten through eighth-grade schools have until the 2014-15 school year to institute the new curriculum. Among the elements approved were problem solving skills for math in K-12 classrooms, along with social studies and 21st Century skills for K-8 students.
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Bill Allows Flexible Graduation for High-Schoolers
MSNBC (02/16/09)
Maryland Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick supports legislation that would give high school students the option to graduate in three, four, or five years, provided they meet certain requirements. The high school options bill would allow some students to receive their diplomas in their junior year, while others who need extra help, such as special education or immigrant students, could stay for an extra year. According to Grasmick, "We think, in many ways, those students should be eligible to go on to college and really be legitimate as college and university students. We have some students who have some special needs, and they are eligible to stay until they are 21. We think they benefit from the fifth year." If approved, high school options could be offered as early as 2011.
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School Ranking Plan Unveiled
Jackson Clarion-Ledger (MS) (02/11/09) Brown, Brittany
At a recent meeting of education officials at Hattiesburg High School, Mississippi Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds revealed a new school ranking system that would replace the current five-tier system that uses numbers to designate achievement and academic growth. The new system would use labels such as failing, at-risk of failing, academic watch, low performing, satisfactory, high performing, and star school to highlight achievement and academic growth. Bounds says the new system also would take into account high school completion and graduation rates and would measure the percentage of students scoring minimal, basic, proficient, and advanced. The new system relies upon the Quality of Distribution Index formula, which would merge basic, proficient, and advanced scores from the Mississippi Curriculum Test, the Subject Area Testing program, and the state science tests for grades 5 and 8 starting next year. For high schools, ratings would be derived from the High School Completion Index, which takes into account a school's graduation rate, dropout numbers, and students receiving GEDs. "In the past, there was no expectation to grow kids after a certain point. The idea here is that all kids should grow," explains Bounds. "I will not back up from having high expectations and hopes that boys and girls can meet those high levels of expectations. If we don't dream for our boys and girls, no one will."
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Tennessee Program Standardizes Alternative Education
Tennessean (TN) (02/12/09) Cousins, Juanita
Recently, the National Alternative Education Association adopted a 24-page document outlining Tennessee's national blueprint to help at-risk students succeed in school through alternative education programs. At-risk students are those who have been suspended, expelled, or have dropped out of school. Among the recommendations in the plan are that schools collaborate with law enforcement and juvenile justice systems, create individual student plans to address educational and behavioral concerns, ensure secondary programs such as job shadowing or mentoring are available to students, and maintain student-teacher ratios of 12:1. "These standards draw on the years of research and experience of what works and what doesn't in terms of helping at-risk students succeed at school," says Tennessee Education Commissioner Timothy Webb. The plan also provides school districts with the means of evaluating alternative schools and can help lawmakers establish statutes to govern these schools.
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