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State Education Leaders Stand Ready to Help Deliver the President's Call for Reforms
By Paul Ferrari
President Obama visited CCSSO’s 2009 Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, yesterday to highlight the importance of our nation’s public education system to the economy. President Obama addressed the chiefs, pressing states to transform the national education agenda during challenging economic times.”
"The economies in states all across the country are hurting, and that’s putting a lot of pressure on you. We’ve tried to provide some relief here, but what we don’t want to do is put more money into the same old system. We want to see if we can also use this crisis as an opportunity to turn things around,” stated President Obama in his address to CCSSO members and invited guests.
“This is a one-time opportunity we can’t squander,” responded CCSSO President and Arkansas Commissioner of Education, Ken James. “Chiefs aren’t driven by the difficulty of the task—we are driven by the need to best educate every child.”
President Obama’s focus on the importance of state education officials in leading necessary change in states is clear. CCSSO Executive Director Gene Wilhoit stated after the President’s address, “President Obama agrees there is a need for change, and he has clearly challenged us to deliver. We are ready, as states, to deliver on that promise. We owe it to this Administration and we owe it to every student in this country.”
To view video footage of President Obama’s visit to the conference please click here. If you have questions about the 2009 Legislative Conference, please contact Abigail Rogers at abigailr@ccsso.orgor 202-336-7073.
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Education Newsbriefs
"U.S., State Face Teacher Shortage in Next Decade" (AL)
"ComEd to Mentor High School Teams in Innovative Energy Education Effort" (IL)
"Reshaping Education--Commissioner Touts Governor's Plan in Alexandria" (MN)
"Oster Stays Busy in New Job as Education Secretary" (SD)
"Education Initiative: Manchin Bill Pumps up Math, Reading" (WV)
"National Standards Gain Steam"
Education Newsbriefs
U.S., State Face Teacher Shortage in Next Decade
Times Daily (AL) (03/08/09) Singleton-Rickman, Lisa
Over the next 10 years, Education Week's "Quality Counts 2008" report predicts more than 2 million teachers will be needed to fill in gaps across the U.S. public school system, which is why Alabama Department of Education officials are touting teaching programs. Alabama Superintendent of Education Joe Morton says, "We want more young people to seriously consider teaching as their future career; we want to inspire them. Teaching is a profession and a calling, highly respected for the positive influence it has on our society, economy, and national welfare." The state has three programs that aim to promote teaching as a rewarding career to high school students: Teach Alabama, Future Teachers of Alabama, and Growing Our Own. While Teach Alabama provides students with academic credits for tutoring, assisting with class projects, and shadowing veteran teachers, Growing Our Own promotes education as a career during a set of week-long activities in February. Teachers say they have full schedules and are happy that the State Department of Education is taking a leading role in teacher recruitment. Meanwhile, some schools, such as Florence High School, are adopting new programs to allow students to explore aspects of teaching and learn what makes an effective teacher.
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ComEd to Mentor High School Teams in Innovative Energy Education Effort
MSN Money (03/02/09)
The Illinois State Board of Education (IBSE), the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, and ComEd have joined in a public-private partnership called the Illinois Innovation Talent pilot program, which will provide technical energy efficiency training and expertise to students at seven Northern Illinois high schools. The schools participating in the pilot program are William Fremd High School (Palatine), Genoa-Kingston High School (Genoa), Reavis High School (Burbank), Manteno High School (Manteno), Thornton Township High School (Harvey), Waubonsie Valley High School (Aurora), and After School Matters (Chicago). The Energy Reduction Challenge, which began in February, partners teams of students with a local school board or other local government entity to design an energy reduction strategy for a public facility in their region, and plans will be presented in the spring for possible implementation. Strategies using infrastructure improvements could be eligible for incentives, and ComEd plans to help students conduct energy audits of public facilities. Illinois Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch says, "Anytime we can engage students in real world applications and show them that what they're learning has meaning in everyday life, we're expanding the classroom and making it a part of their lives. We hope that providing a practical lab experience that impacts a building that they see everyday will translate into a sense of ownership, not just in today's project, but in using their minds to improve the world around them in the future."
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Reshaping Education--Commissioner Touts Governor's Plan in Alexandria
DL-Online (03/04/2009) Beam, Celeste
Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren recently discussed Gov. Tim Pawlenty's education proposal at the Alexandria Technical College, insisting that the state step up and address challenges to prepare students for success in the 21st century. She emphasized the need to reform the education system; recruit, retain, and retrain quality teachers; and use more of the state's $14 billion in K-12 funding to bolster student achievement. Seagren said the governor's Teaching Transformation Act would expand the Q-Comp teacher compensation program, which underscores teacher performance over years on the job; enhance teacher preparation programs at colleges and universities across the state; expand math and science teacher academies; establish the UTeach program to provide recruitment incentives for teachers in certain subject areas where educators are in short supply; and recruit more mid-career professionals to the education field. Among other things, Seagren said the Pawlenty's proposal would lower costs by allowing school districts and charter schools to share services and boost funding for school districts by as much as 2 percent per student when students show progress toward meeting standards.
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Oster Stays Busy in New Job as Education Secretary
Education Week (03/02/09)
Tom Oster recently assumed the post of South Dakota's education secretary, and his predecessor, Rick Melmer, says his knowledge of school funding and the political process make him a suitable replacement. Oster says he is keeping his eye on several bills up for consideration this year on such things as graduation requirements, scholarships, and consolidation. As Oster began his new job in November, he did not have much time to prepare before the start of the legislative session. According to Melmer, "He had to draw on his past knowledge of how the system works. He is no stranger to the process, which helped him hit the ground running (for the legislative session) in January." Oster's priorities include recruiting and retaining quality teachers, possibly using alternative certification paths and mentoring programs. With regard to consolidation, Oster says he would rather have those decisions be made at the school level--not by the state. "I hope the legislators let that process work itself out locally," he remarks. "By the end of the fiscal year, July 1, 2009, we could be at around 156 districts. The process is taking care of itself without forcing or speeding it up."
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Education Initiative: Manchin Bill Pumps up Math, Reading
Charleston Daily Mail (WV) (03/03/09) P. P01A; Saxton, Michelle
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin's proposal to create after-school or summer programs aimed at improving the basic skills of students in grades 3 and 8 has been crafted into House Bill 2832, which is pending in a subcommittee. The bill would enable the creation of after-school or summer programs to help students who do not meet certain proficiency standards in math and reading, and these programs would include accelerated instruction. The bill also outlines the need for $10 million in funding to conduct critical skills evaluations and to develop these programs. However, West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine says the true cost of the programs will be unknown until the best models are selected, and he expects to recruit teachers who produce the best classroom results to lead these programs. Paine adds, "We'll bus them and we'll feed them. Just make sure that you take the responsibility to commit to your child to be there every day, and the rest of the job will be ours." He also warned against solely relying upon standardized test results to determine which students would need assistance. "Primarily the most valid indication I would follow would be a teacher recommendation based on classroom grades," he said. Moreover, this initiative, according to Paine, will enable teachers and parents to partner together to help students meet their goals, particularly for students in grades 3 and 8.
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National Standards Gain Steam
Education Week (03/04/09) Vol. 28, No. 23, P. 1; Hoff, David J.
A policy statement advocating the development of common academic standards involving comparisons between student performance and international tests was adopted recently by the National Governors Association (NGA). U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan will support groups calling for national standards and wants the federal government to act as a "catalyst" for their development. However, critics worry that common standards would lead to nationalizing school policy and leave teachers with less control over what to teach and how. According to the policy statement, "International benchmarking will move the American education system beyond comparing school performance against peers in neighboring cities and states--it will shift the focus to the skills students need to compete with others students around the world." The NGA used the "Benchmarking for Success" report, which it released in conjunction with the Council of Chief State School Officers and Achieve, in creating the policy statement. Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman insisted that NGA does not want to federalize education, noting that international benchmarking must be handled at the state and local level. If national standards are created, experts say they will be difficult to implement, mainly due to debates within subject areas about which topics and skills should be emphasized. The "Benchmarking for Success" report can be viewed here.
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