MARCH MADNESS: FEDERAL EDUCATION UPDATE AASA March 2012

Overview  ESEA  House  Senate  Waivers  Funding  FY13  Sequestration

ESEA Reauthorization: Overview  House Cmte passed ESEA bills out of committee in late February  Very partisan  Can expect it to move to the floor, but not much further  Senate passed their bipartisan bill out of committee in October  Do not expect it to the floor any time soon

ESEA Reauthorization: The Good  Both snap AYP, AMO, 100% proficiency  Both require annual testing in math/reading in grades 3-8 and once in high school  Continued data disaggregation  States get big say in intervening in low-performing schools  Eliminates requirement re: tutoring and school choice  Both reauthorize REAP

ESEA Reauthorization: Points of Concern  House  Maintenance of Effort  Funding Cap  Equitable Participation  Charters  Senate  Comparability Changes  Reliance on One-Time testing  Treatment of Foster Kids  Codification of RttT and i3

ESEA: House & Senate Differences  Both call for higher standards; House makes it illegal for Secretary to endorse specific efforts (Common Core)  House model lacks any specific turn around models, as well as any parameters in identifying who would use models  House doesn’t include another percentage of schools for special attention (Senate includes gap schools, administration includes those at-risk of 5%)  House bill eliminates HQT requirement  House bill requires SEA/LEAs to develop teacher evaluation systems (Driven by student performance and having more than 2 levels); Senate only requires it for those applying for competitive grants  House bill includes significant expansion of funding flexibility

ESEA: Regulatory Relief Flexibility being offered in 11 specific areas States have to adopt all three policy priorities: – Higher standards – Differentiated accountability system – Teacher/principal evaluation system based on growth Conditional, quid-pro-quo deal, with states having to adopt specific policy priorities in exchange for relief

ESEA: Regulatory Relief  To date, 39+ states have expressed interest in the waivers  11 states applied for and received waivers in the first round: CO, FL, GA, IN, KY, MA, MN, NJ, NM, OK, and TN  26 more states applied in the second round  Who hasn’t applied? AL, AK, CA, HI, ME, MT, NV, NH, ND, PA, TX, WV, and WY  One more round, applications due Sept. 6

FY13 Budget Proposal  USED only non-defense funding increase -about $1.7 billion  $30 billion to retain, hire teachers and first responders  $30 billion to modernize at least 35,000 schools

FY13 Budget Proposal Level funds Title I and IDEA Consolidates 38 programs down to 11 $850 million for RTT $150 million for i3 $2.5 billion for teacher quality formula grants $400 million for Teachers/Leaders Innovation Fund NEW $5 billion grant program to reform the teaching profession Eliminates funding for Impact Aid Federal Property Program

AASA Advocacy Resources  AASA Website:  AASA Blog:  AASA  Weekly Leg Corps: Concise weekly wrap up of what happened in Congress ( Sasha)  Monthly Update: Summary of everything going on in Congress ( Noelle)  Policy Insider: A periodic publication that takes a more in-depth look at current education policy issues ( Noelle)

Questions?  Noelle Ellerson Assistant Director, Policy Analysis &  Sasha Pudelski Government Affairs Manager