|
NSTA Legislative Update February 2, 2004 Congress Passes
FY2004 Appropriations Bill, Math and Science Partnerships Get 48
Percent Increase Congress Passes FY2004 Appropriations Bill, Math and Science Partnerships Get 48 Percent Increase In a process that started last spring, and just days before President Bush is scheduled to unveil his spending plan for FY2005 on February 2, the Senate returned in late January and ended the stalemate over the FY2004 omnibus appropriations bill, voting to provide the Department of Education with $56 billion in FY2004. This represents an increase of $2.9 billion from FY2003 but still about $17 billion less than what was authorized for these federal education programs in NCLB. The final bill provides approximately $148 million for the Math and Science Partnerships under NCLB (Title II Part B), which represents a whopping 48 percent increase over the FY2003 program. As you will recall these funds go directly to the states for competitive grants made by the state education agency to local science and math education programs involving partnerships between K-12 districts and higher education institutions. Title I funding increased by $723 million, and special education funding increased by $1.3 billion. Also included in this bill is a pilot voucher program for the District of Columbia. The President is expected to sign the spending bill into law. Is $120 Million Moving from NSF MSP Program to NCLB? The Jan. 12 issue of Science magazine reports that for FY 2005 the Bush administration plans to phase out the National Science Foundation Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program and instead “shift responsibility” for the program to the NCLB Math and Science Partnerships at the U. S. Department of Education. “Sources say that the president’s 2005 request doesn’t raise the total funding for the combined programs, now about $290 million, and NSF would receive enough money to finish up projects now underway,” writes reporter Jeffrey Mervis. “One source familiar with both programs says that the shift was made because White House officials felt that NSF’s current MSP programs “were too close to its previous systemic reform initiative and not specific to NCLB” says Science. The article quotes a staffer for the House Science Committee, which has jurisdiction over the NSF programs, as opposed to the proposed shift. Press materials
from the White House that provide details on some FY2005 education
programs before the Feb. 2 release of the President’s budget indicate
that the administration is proposing a $120 million increase to
the NCLB MSP program to support “direct federal competitive grants
to partnerships to increase achievement in mathematics for secondary
students.” The President is expected to release the FY2005 later
this afternoon (February 2). Administration Proposes New Adjunct Teacher Corps Another new development from the White House also of interest to science and math educators is a new initiative to establish an Adjunct Teacher Corps specifically in science and math. According to the White House, “Many school districts need opportunities and the personnel to strengthen instruction in middle and high schools in the core academic subjects, especially mathematics and science. The Adjunct Teacher Corps would help alleviate this critical situation by bringing professionals with subject-matter knowledge and experience into the classroom.” To bring these individuals into the classroom, a new $40 million competitive grant program would be developed so that school districts could identify well qualified individuals outside of the K-12 education system who could teach one or more courses at a middle level or high school on a part-time basis, or teach full time while on leave from their jobs. These adjunct teachers could also teach online courses or other distance-learning courses. These individuals from outside the K-12 system include “outstanding individuals at the height of their careers in business, government, and institutions of higher learning.” The Administration expects 60 to 100 awards would be made. Look for more information on this new initiative in future issues of NSTA Express. Update on No Child Left Behind (NCLB)Virginia Seeks to Leave Bush Law Behind was the headline in a Washington Post article that reported the 98 to 1 resolution vote by the Republican-controlled Virginia legislature asking the U. S. Congress to exempt their state from the NCLB requirements. The legislature
also criticized the law, calling it an unfunded mandate that threatens
to undermine the state’s efforts to improve student performance,
saying it "represents the most sweeping intrusions into state
and local control of education in the history of the United States,"
that will cost "literally millions of dollars that Virginia
does not have," reports the Post. In the Post
article, a spokesman for the National Conference of State Legislatures
is quoted saying that "there is definitely a bipartisan backlash
(to NCLB) in the Poll Finds More Public Support for NCLB A bipartisan poll commissioned by the NEA finds that most voters don’t know much about NCLB, but many support the law once they find out more about it. Nearly two years after the law was signed by President Bush, 19 percent of those polled said they never heard of NCLB; 24 percent said they hadn’t heard very much about it; 34 percent said they had heard some; and 22 percent said they had heard a lot. When asked about their opinion of the law based on what they knew, 37 percent said they had a positive opinion, 21 percent said they had a negative opinion, and 42 percent said it was too early to tell. When read a short description of the law, 55 percent of respondents said they believed the law would have a positive impact, while 37 percent said they did not believe it would have a positive impact. One in Four Schools Fall Short Under Bush Law, reports an article in the January 27 issue of The New York Times. A new report from the Center on Education Policy finds that about 26,000 of the nation’s 91,400 public schools are on probation because they failed to make adequate yearly progress on tests given last spring. “States and districts are trying hard to comply, but many educators fear the future because many more schools are going to face sanctions and need help, and the states don’t think they’ll have any way to give it,” said Jack Jennings, director of the Center on Education Policy. Says the report, “The law has focused the nation’s attention on raising student achievement, closing achievement gaps between different groups of students, and improving qualifications of teachers. But we also found that many school districts are having difficulty with NCLB requirements—not in most cases because they fear accountability or reject the act’s goals, but because the requirements are too stringent or are not workable.” Only about 2 percent of students eligible to transfer to better schools took advantage of the transfer, and 46 percent of the students eligible for tutoring received it. Eugene Hickok, acting deputy secretary of education, told the Times he was not surprised that school officials were complaining about the accountability provisions. “Not everybody is happy about this law, but this study shows that people are committed to its purposes,” Mr. Hickok said. “Human nature being what it is, when one’s shortcomings are made visible, it’s easy to understand somebody being bothered. And this law is all about exposing shortcomings.” |