1Center or American Progress | Cut and Run
Cut and Run
House Republicans’ Education Plan Would ShortchangeDisadvantaged Students and Schools
Jeremy Ayers and Raegen MillerFebruary 2012
In January Rep. John Kline (R-MN), chairman o he House Commitee on Educaionand he Workorce, released wo dra discussion bills o reauhorize he Elemenary and Secondary Educaion Ac, or ESEA. Te Suden Success Ac and he EncouragingInnovaion and Eecive eachers Ac would increase sae and local conrol over educa-ion. In he process, however, he proposals would weaken equiy provisions in he law designed o ensure hisorically disadvanaged sudens ge a air sho a a good educaion.ESEA, currenly iled he No Child Le Behind Ac, is he naion’s larges public educaionlaw, and is reauhorizaion is ar pas due. Te decade-old law needs immediae repair:
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I idenies schools as “in need o improvemen” wheher hey missed achievemenarges by a litle or a lo.
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I prescribes inervenions or hose schools, bu he inervenions are no showing resuls.
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I ensures eachers have credenials o ener he proession bu does no ensure hey are eecive wih sudens in he classroom.Te nex version o ESEA should look markedly dieren rom he curren one, and suchsignican change will require biparisan eors. Rep. Kline’s highly parisan proposals would so weaken equiy provisions, however, ha biparisan negoiaions broke down.Tis brie oulines specic ways he Kline bills would undermine how hisorically dis-advanaged sudens are reaed and how schools wih low-income sudens are unded.Te brie concludes wih a progressive vision or how ESEA could be reauhorized in ways ha do promoe equiy.Specically we recommend ha ESEA should:
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Hold all schools accounable or geting resuls wih all sudens
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Inves in eachers and principals so hey become more skilled and eecive
2Center or American Progress | Cut and Run
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Make unding pracices more air and ecien so every suden ges a air sho aadequae resources
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arge suppor o low-perorming schools
Lack of protections for historically disadvantaged students
Several aspecs o he Suden Success Ac would diminish or dismanle equiy provi-sions or hisorically disadvanaged sudens. In a press release Rep. Kline said his planpromoes educaion reorm by “mainaining and srenghening long-sanding proec-ions or sae and local auonomy.” Clearly he goal is o reduce ederal involvemen andproec local auonomy. Bu in he process i weakens proecions or disadvanaged su-dens. In ac he public debae abou ESEA has ocused ar more on srenghening hehand o aduls (local conrol) han ha o sudens. In paricular, he Suden Success Ac diminishes he ollowing.
Responsibility for student learning
Curren law requires saes o se goals or gradually improving suden achievemenand graduaion raes and o ensure disrics ake acion o improve sruggling schoolsha do no do well on hose measures. Bu under he Suden Success Ac, saes wouldno be required o se goals or suden achievemen or graduaion raes, nor would hey be required o inervene or suppor schools ha are inadequaely educaing hisorically disadvanaged sudens. Saes would sill have o measure he achievemen o all sudensand subgroups o sudens named in curren law—namely low-income sudens, sudenso color, disabled sudens, and English language learners. Bu saes would come up wihheir own accounabiliy and improvemen sysem ree o any ederal parameers.Ta means saes would repor how well sudens are learning, bu hey would no haveo do anyhing abou i. Tey would also coninue o receive ederal unding regardless o heir success. Tis is a signican rerea rom curren law in an atemp o reurn greaerconrol o saes and disrics. While many saes ac in good aih, hisory reminds us haprior o ESEA only wo saes included suden subgroups in heir accounabiliy sysem.Te ederal governmen had o push saes o ideniy and ac on achievemen gaps. odiminish ha role is o weaken proecions or hisorically vulnerable suden groups.
Student access to effective teachers
Curren law requires saes o ensure ha poor and minoriy sudens are no augh ahigher raes by unqualied or inexperienced eachers or by eachers who lack knowledgeo he subjec hey each. Bu he Suden Success Ac would srip his requiremen and
3Center or American Progress | Cut and Run
only ask saes o “address he dispariy” in he disribuion o eecive eachers. A rsglance his may seem like a mild change. Bu “ensuring” means a sae is on he hook or suden access o good eachers, and “addressing” means no more han rying o x problems irrespecive o he oucome.
Public use of public money
Curren law requires school disrics o ensure sudens and eachers in privae schoolshave equiable access o educaional services such as compuer equipmen or proessionaldevelopmen. Te Suden Success Ac would mainain he pariy and srenghen i by requiring every sae o hire an ombudsman o monior and enorce he provision. Tis isa new ederal requiremen placed on saes and disrics ha would require greaer ederaloversigh o ensure compliance. I is ineresing ha he Kline bill would diminish equiy or disadvanaged sudens while srenghening equiy or privae school sudens.
Low-income children left behind by design
Te Kline proposal would also signicanly change ederal unding paterns. Somechanges would clearly diminish he argeing o ederal resources based on povery levels in schools, disrics, and saes. Oher changes would creae incenives o divereducaion unding. Sill more elling is he ailure o he Kline proposal o close aloophole in ederal law ha allows school disrics o shorchange schools wih largerpopulaions o low-income sudens.
Targeting federal funds based on poverty
Curren law provides abou $3 billion or improving he skills o eachers and princi-pals under ile II, Par A, or ile II-A. Tese unds are allocaed o saes and disrics based on povery levels and populaion, wih he povery acor given greaer weigh.Tis is consisen wih he ederal role in promoing equiy. Te Encouraging Innovaionand Eecive eachers Ac, however, would radically aler he way ile II-A unds aredisribued, hereby diluing he argeing o unds o ose he eecs o povery.Under curren pracice he accreion o various unding approaches makes i dicul oassess he exen o which ile II-A unds are driven by numbers o low-income chil-dren as opposed o populaions o children served. For ile II-A unds in excess o he2001 level—or combined Eisenhower and Class Size Reducion grans—he ormulaavors povery (65 percen) over populaion (35 percen) in driving unds o saes.
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Buile II-A’s hold-harmless provision, which ensures ha saes coninue o receive a leas wha hey did in 2001 under he wo predecessor programs, avors povery wih weighs
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Cut and Run: House Republicans’ Education Plan Would Shortchange Disadvantaged Students and Schools
There are better ways to reform the Elementary and Secondary Education Act than the Student Success Act and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act, write Jeremy Ayers and Raegen Miller.
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