ASBO International's Economic Recovery Blog

Throwing Out the Baby with the Bathwater?

According to a blog post from the Learning First Alliance, the President’s proposed budget has a fatal flaw: little resources for staff development.

The post notes: “Get the right people into the schools, the thinking seems to go, and the rest will sort itself out. But reality is more complicated than that. All roads will take us back to staff development.”

 So what do you think about staff development—dump the dirty bath water, or is there a baby in there?

More Billions to the Rescue

Have you been up at night worrying about how to keep your district running when the ARRA funds run out? Well, you just might be counting fewer sheep soon.

While many federally funded programs will have dollars shaved from their budgets, President Obama is calling for a greater investment in education--$4 billion more this next fiscal year. Watch tonight’s State of the Union address for details.

Here’s what we know now. President Obama will call on Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, continue the Race to the Top program, and pass the package for early learning and increased student aid for higher education. 

The Washington Post reports on the increased investment: “The funding would include a $1.35 billion increase in Obama's "Race to the Top" competitive grants for school reform. It would also set aside $1 billion to finance an overhaul of No Child Left Behind, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the budget proposal before its release next week.”

Please Mind the Gap

Nearly a year ago, President Obama addressed the need for reform in America’s schools; he proclaimed, "...the countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow."

In this last year, the federal government has unleashed unprecedented efforts to close that gap, to bring on that reform.

Hear what the Department of Education has to say about the progress that we’ve made and the challenges ahead. Deputy Secretary Tony Miller drops by ASBO Radio to talk with ASBO’s Executive Director John Musso about the federal role in education. Miller acknowledges that the vast majority of education policies are set at a local level, but that the federal government is essentially trying to “set a higher bar.”

Find out why this could be the perfect storm for education reform.

Freedom of Information or Protection of Privacy?

The tally is high for applications for Race to the Top funds—40 states and the District of Columbia.

Many states have posted the applications online. But Virginia is hitting the breaks, refusing to share its application. What do you think? Do states have the right to keep this information private, or should all stakeholders be able to take a peek?

Find out which states are sharing their applications and more info about the AARA funds on EdMoney.org, a site created by the Education Writers Association to track spending in schools.

Tick,Tock: Reporting Deadlines Approach

The clock is ticking, says Cathy Solomon, advisor for Recovery Act Implementation in the Office of the Deputy Secretary, about reporting on the stimulus funds. As the clock ticks, the questions about the new guidance are pouring in to the Department of Education (ED).

That’s why, on January 11, ED and the Office of Management and Budget called a conference call to review the new ARRA Recipient Reporting Guidance.

Read the transcript or listen to the recording to find out if your questions are among those that were discussed.

Count the Ways of Accountability

When school business officials hear the word accountability, we tend to think of ourselves being accountable to our stakeholders. With the stimulus funds, though, accountability has taken on new dimensions, including how our states must report to the federal government and to our districts.

Tune in to ASBO’s Live Learning Center for Stimulus Package Accountability. This recorded session will:

• Explain how your state will be held accountable for the funds received through the 2009 Recovery Act.
• List the sources of ARRA funding that are available in your state.
• Describe how your district can ensure that funds through the ARRA will be used in the most effective way possible for education.

Speaker(s):
Barbara Shaner, Associate Executive Director, The Ohio Association of School Business Officials , Columbus, OH
Kurt Subra, CFO, West Des Moines Community School District, West Des Moines, IA
Representatives of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC

Note: This presentation is free to ASBO's 2009 Annual Meeting attendees and available for $25/$35 for members/non-members.

Job Calculations Simplified

Stimulus reporting made simple? Well, simpler, at least. 

On December 18, OMB updated guidance under Recovery Act Section 1512. This change reflects simplifications to how schools will calculate and report on job estimates.

For more clarification, from ASBO’s Website, you’ll find a link to the transcript and slides from the ARRA Sect. 1512 Reporting Round 2: Updates & Answers from ED, a December 16 webinar.

Rhode to Reform

The weather outside might be frightful, but, for Rhode Island, education reform could be delightful. The state’s relatively new commissioner of elementary and secondary education, Deborah A. Gist, is gearing up to win Race to the Top Funds.

The Providence Journal reports that the "sense of urgency that Deborah A. Gist brought to her job" as Rhode Island's "top education leader six months ago has only intensified since then, with the new commissioner and her staff at the state Department of Education rolling out a dizzying array of reforms."

In "early January, Gist will launch the state's ambitious bid to capture millions of dollars in federal grants in the competitive Race to the Top grant program, which rewards dramatic changes." Gist "seems unfazed by the challenges she faces and the toll the recession is taking on school districts, saying everyone has to step up and 'do a little bit more than we did the year before.'"

Jobs Saved … Temporarily

Although the stimulus funds have filled the gaps in many school budgets , the pavement will crack again soon. It’s no surprise to school business officials that a recent study found schools will face shortfalls after the stimulus ends.

"Using federal stimulus money to avoid layoffs at schools is going to create a shortfall even more difficult for states and schools to contend with when that money runs out," according to a study released Monday by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, as reported by the Associated Press.

In July, the Government Accountability Office "cautioned that many states facing deep deficits were using stimulus dollars to fill budget holes and avoid layoffs, rather than reforms that could mean longer-term savings or programs such as building new schools." The Department of Education "encouraged schools to diversify the use of stimulus money to ward off huge budget gaps when it runs out, said spokeswoman Sandra Abrevaya. 'When one saves a job, it doesn't mean one saves it indefinitely.'"

How Will We Report on the ARRA Funds?

Confused about how to report on the use of ARRA funds, school business officials are wrestling with questions about data gathering, accountability, and requirements. That’s why, on Dec. 2, the Department of Education hosted a Webinar for ASBO members.

Participants discussed the burning questions of what qualifies as jobs saved, how to report on money that fills the budget gaps, and more.

Even if you missed the live report, you can still catch up by listening to the recorded Webinar and downloading the slides.

The Department of Education will keep the lines of communication open for school business officials. Maura Policelli, Special Assistant to Deputy Secretary of Education Tony Miller, who was on the webinar, relayed a promising message from the Deputy Secretary:

“…my boss remains very committed to engaging with all of you because we are very appreciative of the role you are all playing in this unprecedented time of not only economic strain but also some very
unique legislative initiatives that are great opportunities but also a lot of challenges in terms of the work that you all are conducting.”

Turnaround, Upside Down?

A new report from the Center on Education Policy questions the effectiveness of the Department of Education’s turnaround strategy.

Education Week reports that the Center on Education Policy "is raising questions about the wisdom of the Education Department's favored strategies for turning around the lowest-performing schools with stimulus funding, saying that its research shows that similar federal school restructuring strategies have not been effective.”

The Department of Education disagrees. According to the same Education Week article: “Judy Wurtzel, the deputy assistant secretary in the Education Department’s office of planning, evaluation, and policy development—which helps shape the department’s school improvement strategy—said states and districts are encouraged to draw on multiple strategies in revamping their poorest-performing schools. The four models the department now advocates, she said, “go far beyond” the catchall “other” option allowed under NCLB, which was chosen by more than 80 percent of restructuring schools in the center's study.”

ASBO Has the Talking Stick

And the Department of Education is listening. Whether you participated in ASBO’s exclusive Department of Education ARRA webinar or missed it, you can still voice your opinion. The Department of Education asked ASBO to collect your questions so that they can answer them.

As school business officials, you are the front line of reporting on the stimulus funds. You know that you have questions about how to account for money used to fill the gaps and whether there will be more money on the way.

Write your questions as comments to this post, and together, we’ll get the answers you need.

Must Be Present to Win

When schools take attendance this year, it’s not just the students who will be counted. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan "has made teacher attendance one of the measures to determine which low-achieving schools receive federal improvement funds."

"Every 10 absences lowers mathematics achievement by the same amount as having a teacher with one year to two years of experience instead of a teacher with three years to five years of experience," Center for American Progress associate director for education research Raegen T. Miller pointed out. Furthermore, public schools pay "as much as $4 billion a year according to the National Center for Education Statistics...to hire substitutes to fill in for absent staff."

School Districts Get More Flexibility

Feel that stretch? You might not be able to touch your nose to your knee, but your district will be feeling more flexible. Education Week (requires subscription) reported "final rules for the $4 billion Race to the Top competition give states and districts" more flexibility "in how they intervene in chronically underperforming schools."

The change, however, "raises new questions about whether the push to turn around struggling campuses will succeed in rehabilitating large numbers of schools." According to Education Week, the US Department of Education guidelines released this month permitted "states and districts using the federal grant money" to "opt, as a first resort, to use a turnaround approach that many educators favor: providing professional development and coaching for a school's current staff, and making changes to curriculum and instruction."

Originally, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan "had sought to make that 'transformation' model a last resort for school turnarounds if three other, more aggressive methods -- replacing the principal and at least half its teachers; reopening the school under a charter operator or other outside manager; or shutting the school down-were not feasible."

Invitation to Department of Education Webinar — ASBO Exclusive

As school business officials, we are on the front lines of reporting on the use of our district’s stimulus funds.

Are you worried about how you will account for the reform with this money when you have had to use it to fill funding gaps? Or are you up at night thinking about how to make next year’s budget? ASBO and the Department of Education are teaming up to bring you these answers and more.

You’re invited to participate in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Compliance for School Districts Webinar. Exclusively for ASBO members and invited guests, this webinar will be held on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at 2:00-3:30 p.m. (Eastern Time).

You do not need to pre-register. But test your system requirements now, and add the appointment to your Outlook.

The Tradeoff Between Teacher Wages and Layoffs to Meet Budget Cuts

Tune in for the latest episode of ASBO Radio for a discussion about the tough choices we are making to survive the fiscal crisis. Marguerite Roza, Ph.D., research associate professor at the University of Washington's College of Education, offers some creative solutions.

The Race Begins

On your mark, get ready, get set, go! The Department of Education announced the final criteria for Race to the Top.

The Department also summarized the potential funding ranges for each state:

CATEGORY 1 – $350-700 million  
California, Texas, New York, Florida

CATEGORY 2 – $200-400 million  
Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey  

CATEGORY 3 – $150-250 million   
Virginia, Arizona, Indiana, Washington, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Missouri, Maryland, Wisconsin 

CATEGORY 4 – $60-175 million   
Minnesota, Colorado, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oregon, Connecticut, Utah, Mississippi, Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, Nevada  

CATEGORY 5 – $20-75 million  
New Mexico, Nebraska, Idaho, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, District of Columbia 

Most Likely to Succeed: Colorado?

"If the competition for a slice of $4 billion in federal Race to the Top Fund money were a school class, Colorado would be one of the kids sitting up front, furiously taking notes, and leaping up to answer every one of the teacher's questions," said Alyson Klein in an article in Education Week (subscription required).

Since the Race to the Top program was created in February, "officials have been crisscrossing the state, letting district officials know how they will benefit if Colorado gets a grant."

Do you have information to share about your state? Are you "sitting in the front row" with Colorado to compete for the funds?

Duncan’s Dear Governor Letters Not Enough

Seven months after U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wrote to governors explaining that the ARRA funds would be sent to governors to disperse to schools, according to the Honolulu Advertiser,  the Department of Education is criticizing several states “for using stimulus money to close budget gaps while reducing state spending on education."

Recent reports from the ED inspector general call out Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania for misusing the funds. And although not mentioned, Hawaii, will not be bestowed with leis. That state has done the same thing—which might keep it from qualifying for the Race to the Top funds.

"You are on the Front Lines"

These were the words of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education, Tony Miller to ASBO members attending a town hall meeting with the deputy secretary and a panel of school business experts on Sunday at ASBO International's annual meeting in Chicago.

The stars are aligned, said Miller, for the success of this once-a-generation opportunity. He defined those stars as effective leadership, goals, strategy, financial resources, and legislation.

The panelists and audience members brought to the discussion the realities of handling stimulus dollars, including simply administering the process while keeping the finance team lean to set an example for the rest of the district. States took a beating as the audience erupted in applause at the comment that states keep changing direction on how to track the money and that they are using the stimulus dollars to supplant funding--leaving the tough decisions on sustainable support for education for later.

The deputy secretary offered a glimmer of hope when audience members asked for more flexibility to use funds outside of Title I schools noting that we should look for an announcement coming soon.

The full town hall session will be made available online and announced here in the coming week, and look for an announcement about a Web seminar specifically for school business officials tentatively scheduled for November 19th at 1pm Eastern.