McGuire In As New America Education Director

MaryEllen McGuire is going to be the new Education Policy Program Director at the New America Foundation, replacing Michael Dannenberg. 

Dannenberg remains a Fellow for the organization, albeit from New York City.  McGuire comes to New America from the Dodd education subcommittee. 

No word on her replacement.

Congrats, condolences.

Previous post:  Dannenberg Departs NAF Ed Director Position -- Begin The Conjecture Re His Replacement Now!

(Note that McGuire was not one of my guesses.)

School Reform Confusion: What Day Is It?

Yesterday I wrote (No Clear Angle On School Reform) that Democratic groups can't get their act together on scheduling the rollout of major education initiatives -- much less agree on the substance.  Sam Dillon puts it into even sharper relief in today's NYT (Democrats Offer Plans to Revamp Schools Law). 

No plans for a third manifesto or event are scheduled for today, far as I know.  But there will be others down the line, you can be sure, as folks try and influence the campaigns, shape the agenda for the next Congress, and stake out territory for themselves for the future.

What Next For House Dems? Class Size Reduction?

Completely ignoring past experience and the refutation of the Clinton era that is just winding up, the House Dems are pushing through a school modernization bill. 

What next?  Class size reduction?

If things continue along this path, Obama is going to have to run against them as well as McCain.

Image here.

Ted Kennedy & Me

I spent more time fighting Ted Kennedy during my two stints as a Senate education staffer than I did fighting against the Republicans. 

First it was trying to get various amendments and changes into Goals 2000 and the Title I funding formula for Senator Feinstein.  Then it was trying to get education technology and ed school accountability provisions into the higher education act for Jeff Bingaman.  Not to speak of national standards and dropout prevention.

Of course, Kennedy has no idea who I am.  But his former staffers -- Ellen Guiney, Danica Petroshius in particular -- knew that my calls and ideas were hardly ever going to be good or welcome ones from their perspective.  But Kennedy and his education team were always prepared, always ahead, and always pretty fierce about what they were doing.  Education wasn't a genteel side game for them.  They played it just as hard as foreign affairs or anything else.  And I liked that. 

Journos Rank Think Tanks Higher Than Staff Do

Thanks to Paul Baker at WCER for sending me some news about a collection of essays called When Research Matters, a collection of essays edited by Rick Hess. In it, I'm told, Kenneth Wong writes a chapter on politics and research that cites a study of Congressional staff finding that only one in five think that think tanks are highly influential, compared to 28 percent of journalists from national news organizations. Journos think that think tanks are more influential thank Congressional staff who are making the laws. This confirms what I recall from my time on the Hill, when we used think tank reports to bolster our arguments -- but not necessarily to develop them.  Or at least, we thought it happened that way. 

Singer Appears To Promote Global Education: Where's Your Celebrity Spokesperson?

A welcome break from all this NCLB nonsense (and Earth Day), Colombian-born singer and dancer Shakira made a Capitol Hill appearance yesterday on behalf of global education awareness.

If only  EDINO8 could get George Clooney to start doing events with them. 

Erin Renner Stars On The Senate HELP Committee

Check out this light but fun Washington Post piece about young committee staffers including Erin Renner (pictured), who works on higher ed issues on the HELP committee.   

Are there other young stars working education issues at the committee level?  And who's that old guy to her right?

Paying Charters To Take NCLB Kids

I'm not against choice or charters, but there's something wrong here.  Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel wants to create a $300 million program to let kids in NCLB restructuring schools transfer to charter schools that would include paying charters "supplemental funding" to handle any influx.  Promoting the program or providing transportation I get, but don't charters already get public funding for kids they serve?  Giving charters a bounty for NCLB kids seems like an unnecessary and unfair way to go.  Via KY News and Commentary

PLUS:  The Hoff agrees that it's hard to figure out how the Emanuel proposal would work (or why it's really necessary) and then ruins the whole thing with gratuitous Rotherwonk quote. You really need him to tell you Emanuel isn't a policy guy?  You're really asking one Clinton guy about another Clinton guy?

The Obama-Kennedy-Miller Club

"So while it's far from clear that either would-be president would, in practice, do anything noteworthy on K-12 education, an Obama administration would create a situation in which all the White House and the main legislative players regard each other as allies." (Link: Matthew Yglesias: Clinton and Obama on Education).

Previously:   Obama Envoy Visits Reformistan To Reassure On Change Agenda (perhaps my worst headline ever).

Hill Staffers On The Move- "Who's Who" Update

Which long-serving House education committee staffer can't stand the thought of going through any more NCLB nonsense and is getting out -- and who is the replacement? 

Click over to "Who's Who" for Hill staffers and check ou t the recent changes (in italics). 

Make changes or additions while you're there -- it's a free for all!

New NCLB Language Out From Kennedy-Enzi

EXCLUSIVE?  Not content with "just" endorsing Obama, Chairman Kennedy is rumbling and mumbling about a renewed effort to revamp NCLB.  Or at least get something out of Committee.  To that end, he's circulating draft language and telling folks to get their ducks in order.  Thanks to a little birdie for passing this along:

Download title_i_ci_101207_kos07952_xml.pdf

Download title_ii_be_101207_aeg07798_xml.pdf

Download title_iii_1016.pdf

Download titles_iv_101207_aeg07799_xml.pdf

Download titles_vi_101207_aeg07805_xml.pdf

Download title_x_101207_kin07648_xml.pdf

Poor Hill staffers, they know that little is likely to come of this in the short term at least, but can't risk it actually going through. Plus which, whatever gets worked on is then part of the base bill for 2009.  So everyone's got to take this seriously, even though....it isn't serious.

Crocodile Tears Over NCLB Reauth & Funding Levels

The Administration's decision to do a couple of NCLB anniversary events -- the President in Chicago (with Rahm Emmanuel in tow) and the Press Club EdSec speech -- seems to have pissed off their former NCLB allies Miller and Kennedy, who have both issued press releases decrying lack of funding for NCLB (Kennedy) and both funding and effort (Miller). 

Some questions to ponder:  Did the Bush folks plan these NCLB events because they wanted to or simply because they knew folks would make fun of them if they didn't?  My guess is it's the latter.  Were Kennedy and Miller surprised that the Bush folks wanted to talk NCLB this week, or just mad that they weren't invited?  Again, I'd go with the latter.  Did Bush and Spellings not do enough last year to get NCLB revamped?  My sense is that they did all they could, given a Democratic majority and an unpopular administration (not to speak of an unpopular law).  The NCLB problems were most of them on the Democratic side of things, as I recall.  It all seems so long ago now. 

See below for both statements, which, on second look, seem somewhat perfunctory.  Maybe someone from the DNC called and told them to issue something, and it's just ritualistic politics here not true outrage.

Earmarks And Education

Yesterday's story in the Washington Post (A Reading Program's Powerful Patron) isn't just about the DC Public Schools or Voyager Expanded Learning or the Senator from Louisiana who helped win 14 earmarks worth over $8 million for the program over the past five years. 

It's about how education politics really work, for better or worse. Specifically, how lawmakers and administrators help make decisions that affect what materials and curricula are used in classrooms outside of program channels.   Once confined to higher ed, earmarking like this happens more and more in K12. And not just in DC.

In this case, as the Post story outlines, those involved include a Republican businessman (Randy Best), a former House approps chairman (Bob Livinston), and a Democratic senator on the right committee (Mary Landrieu). 

Dismal Results For Many Education Budgets

Education groups in DC that fought for more funding for key programs have come away pretty disheartened after the long appropriations process leading to a disappointing omnibus. 

From the NEA:  "A few key programs have been cut further than what was listed in the table in the omnibus bill (see below).  The differences appear to be related to the application of the across-the-board rescission (excluding Pell Grants).  NCLB Act programs, in general, and ESEA Title I, specifically, are now below the President’s original budget request.  Pending any other update from the Department, these are the numbers we should be using, such as they are."  (See details below.)

From CEF:  "Overall, the FY08 omnibus bill provides less than inflation level funding for IDEA, Impact Aid and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants. The bill substantially cuts vital programs such as Even Start, Teacher Quality Enhancement, and Comprehensive School Reform and eliminates Title V Innovative Education. Finally, the bill also cuts a majority of the student financial aid programs and most other education programs by 1.7% - a total of $501 million. Earlier in the week, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee David Obey (D-WI) was quoted in CQ Today as saying the bill is wholly inadequate to meet the needs of the country here at home."  (More details below.)

 

Can New York's School Rating and Bonus System Save NCLB?

New York City's much-vaunted (and much-maligned) system of progressive evaluations, school grading, and school-based bonus pay probably does not fit neatly into current federal education law or the proposed Miller-McKeon fix proposed in September. 

But that didn't stop Congressman Miller and his education aide Alice Johnson Cain from visiting the city and stopping by a Brooklyn school that got a "B" on the city's rating system to pick up some ideas for what might happen next at the federal level. 

"That's why I'm here," Miller said during his visit, which featured Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Klein, and UFT president (future secretary?) Randi Weingarten, among others.  "This [the New York system] might be closer to what people would consider right."

Ducking Head Start

Amazing that Head Start is being (has been) reauthorized almost entirely separately from the ever-growing chorus of universal preschool proposals.  The conference report (House Conference Report 110-439) has been filed, which is the second to last step of the process before final passage.  I'm not against UPK, or Head Start for that matter.  But at some point along the way UPK advocates are going to have to explain how UPK is different from Head Start, and how it is going to be any better. Efforts to revamp Head Start have generally fallen apart due to Head Start's strong lobby and public concerns about the appropriateness of including academic skills and measurements in a program for young children. Via FritzWire.

Thirty-Five Pages Of Education Earmarks

Wanta see whether your favorite program is going to be getting a little bit of federal love this year or not?  Check out this handy-dandy PDF of the Labor-HHS earmarks, courtesy of the Committee on Education Funding (Conference_report_fy2008.pdf).  Those guys always know what's happening with this stuff.  Or, if you like your lists online, go here and see the whole shebang (not just education).  I'm way too lazy to read through the whole thing, but someone knowledgeable told me that the Reading First funding is cut to $400 million, and that there's no money in there for the Competes Act or Math Now. 

Is K12 Getting Its Fair Share Of 2,200 Earmarks ($1B)?

CQ Today reports that there are 2,200 earmarks in the big appropriations bill that's rumbling around in Congress -- many of them for higher education.  The earmarks are in “National Programs and Activities” plus individual earmarks  of as much as $8 million for universities.  The House passed the legislation last night and the Senate is considering it today.  You may like earmarks or not, but my view is that K12 should get them as long as everyone else is.  (Spending Bill Carries at Least 2,200 Earmarks). Where are the K12 earmarks?

Creepy Congressman Wants To Eliminate Digital Divide For All The Wrong Reasons

From ONN The Onion News Network:
Live From Congress: Representative Wants To See, Meet More Kids Online

Saving Money By Investing In High-Quality Teacher Retention

I'm moderating an event in Dirksen next Tuesday on the savings that come from investing in high-quality teacher retention programs. The New Teacher Center is releasing a cost-benefit study, and Senator Reed and other luminaries are going to be there. Retention programs (aka mentoring and coaching) are a dime a dozen these days, but NTC has found that you get what you pay for. Intensive induction -- full release coaches, lower staffing ratios, etc. -- makes a difference both on the retention side and on the effectiveness side. I don't know how much of this is already written into Miller and or the Kennedy draft, but it doesn't seem like the door is going to be closed before the 23rd.

House Republicans Blame Miller For Slow NCLB Progress

The folks from Cong. Boehner's office were kind enough to send me a copy of this Roll Call article ($) suggesting that little if anything is happening on the NCLB front, despite all efforts on their part. Boehner's specific objections include the loosened accountability provisions in the Miller-McKeon draft, and the creation of 28 new programs.Republicans are claiming that Miller is being inflexible, and won't meet with them. He says he hasn't been able to get a meeting. Fun!

Kennedy Playing Tough On NCLB

Wondering when Ted Kennedy (pictured, file photo) was going to get a word in on this whole NCLB mess? Well, today was the day -- but it wasn't warm and fuzzy like the White House or the NCLB supporters wanted. Said Kennedy (via a press release):

“It’s regrettable that the Bush Administration has made the renewal of the No Child Left Behind school reform law far more difficult by its failure to fully fund and implement it. The President is right that we must continue to hold schools accountable for results. But over the past five years of working with this law, we have learned more about what works and what does not work and we should take those lessons into account. While we press forward with school reform, practical changes to the law are needed to ensure that we do not lag in our commitment to helping every parent, teacher and child succeed.”

So he wants more money, plus a new law that takes the past five years "lessons" into account, plus other "practical" changes. Sounds like he's not so excited about the Secretary's ideas, or the Miller proposal. Setting things up for a Kennedy bill, no doubt.

Are They Water-Boarding Teenagers Yet?

Are they water-boarding teenagers yet? Probably not. But the House Dems are going to look into so-called "boot camps" for wayward teens tomorrow, and it's the closest thing to Abu Ghraib that we have going on in education these days. "The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a full committee investigative hearing to examine allegations of child abuse and neglect, including cases resulting in death, at residential treatment facilities (often called boot camps or wilderness programs)." Tasteless, I know.

On The HotSeat: Former Committee Insider Charles Barone

The last few weeks have been somewhat of a triumphant return for longtime Hill staffer Charles Barone (pictured), who started posting knowledgeable comments on various blogs in September and then wrote a fascinating backgrounder on NCLB last week. There'll be a parade next, I'm almost sure.

In the meantime, check out the HotSeat interview below, which touches on key topics like why there wasn't differentiated rating in the old NCLB and the history of Miller-CTA dustups. Whether you know him from back in the day (I first met him back in the Hart Senate Office Building when we were both newbies) or never heard of the guy before, Barone always has interesting things to say. Not the least of which being that NCLB is going to get reauthorized sooner rather than later.

Don't Dump Disaggregation, Says Former Dem Hill Staffer

"Disaggregation is the key to comparability," writes former Miller staffer Charlie Barone in a new analysis of NCLB then and now. "Comparability is the key to assessing equal opportunity. Equal opportunity is the key to closing achievement gaps."

Renaming NCLB

If anything is certain, it's that NCLB will get a new name when it's reauthorized points out this Washington Post article. It's been that way in the past, and will all but certainly happen again due to the law and President Bush's current unpopularity (Education Law Could Leave Behind Its Name). Check out some of the names that are being proposed -- it's easier to make fun the current name than make up a catchy new one.

Campaign Finance Done, School Reform Next

Having successfully fixed our nation's campaign finance system, Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) is rolling up his sleeves to help fix NCLB. Thanks, Russ. I'm sure the committee staff appreciate your jumping in like this. Not that I was ever particularly nice to committee staff myself. Yes, of course, they should have taken your language into their bill. Every Senator's prerogative, etc.

The "Testing Hawks" Vs. Union "Special Interests"

Friday's National Journal story ("Schoolyard Quarrel" -- subscription required) is the first piece I've really paid attention to from reporter Lisa Caruso, who recently moved over from the lobbyist beat to help cover education. She gives prominent placement to DFER -- the new kid on the block -- and to one of their main notions, which is that the teachers unions are a special interest group that doesn't represent what's good for kids. But the special interests / legitimacy argument goes both ways,as union leaders like to point out. Not all the "testing hawks" -- civil rights groups that favor NCLB (Ed Trust, CCCR, La Raza) are led by minorities or are membership organizations represent them in great numbers. Other things I learned or was reminded of: John Yarmuth (D-KY pictured) is shaping up to be the key freshman Democrat on the committee for the anti-NCLB crowd. Ted Kennedy has just as many if not more troubles on the Senate side with his trio of Presidential candidates on the committee (all of whom have endorsed NEA bills, BTW). Somehow, the NEA ($1.65M) isn't among the top 20 PACs for 2006, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, but the AFT ($2.08) ranked #15.

Why Did Miller Include Merit Pay In His Draft?

If you're not already sick of the NEA-Miller story, there's a new Klein-Hoff EdWeek piece up online today that fleshes out some of the events of the past week. Included are not only the whole he-said, she-said about the TEACH Act language that you probably already know, but also some interesting tidbits like how the NEA made sure to have folks from each of the House ed committee members' districts at the Monday hearing, the toe-the-NEA-line responses of some Dem House members about the issue.

That leaves two questions: Why did Miller include the merit stuff in the first place, and what's going on between the NEA and CTA? I don't know if Miller had to include the merit pay stuff to have any chance of McKeon's support, or for other reasons. But fighting the merit pay thing and revamping the AYP system at the same time (and comparability) continues to seem to me to be biting off more than necessary. Or I'm missing something -- Miller puts in the merit pay stuff just to give something for the NEA folks to focus on, hoping to preserve the standards and accountability provisions. Let me know if you've got it figured out.

Having Done So Well On The War, Dems Turn To Domestic Issues

Maybe she'll have changed her mind by today, but as of Wednesday afternoon's edition of CQ today the House majority leader was saying that she still wanted to do a full NCLB reauth as part of the Dems' return to domestic issues (where they think that they may be able to do better than they have on the war). Wow. That makes me feel really confident about its chances. (Domestic Issues to Claim Spotlight)

What Was Good Enough In 2005 Isn't Good Enough Now

I'm still not exactly sure how, in the carefully-choreographed no surprises world of Congressional hearings, there were actually a couple of mildly unexpected developments at yesterday's monster NCLB gabfest: the CTA's media campaign against the Miller draft (see previous post below) and the late-breaking flareup with Reg Weaver over merit pay (that's why the teachers didn't go first, eh?). The AP has that one covered here, via EdWeek. You can check out the long list of speakers and download their testimony here. You can watch the whole six hours of testimony here. Things get fun at around the 5:23 mark. [Listening back, it sounds like there was a breakdown in talks between Miller's staff and the NEA folks sometime last week, during which the NEA folks were looking for but didn't get something more than they were willing to take in 2005.]

What To Make Of This Tentative Witness List

The only folks I can think of who aren't on this tentative witness list for today's NCLB hearing are EdSec Spellings (not invited? disinclined to appear?) and General Petraeus. By having everyone speak, the committee pretty much ensures a certain amount of cacaphony. And by putting Kati Haycock -- one of the draft's most vocal critics -- off in the teacher quality corner, the committee sends a clear message that it doesn't like being called out.

UPDATE: From Mike Antonucci: "EIA has the exclusive tip that "Sammy the Bull" Gravano will be called in as a surprise witness. Gravano will reveal that "multiple measures" and "growth models" are mobspeak for racketeering of Title I funds."

What Next For Teacher Quality?

More interested in what happens next on the teacher quality front? Check out the latest discussion draft from the Miller camp, which includes Title II and all the rest:

View the text of the Title II draft
View the text of the Title III-Title IX draft
View the summary of this draft

I can't wait to hear what you think.

UPDATE: That didn't take long. EdWeek summarizes here ("The draft proposal also would keep intact most of the current NCLB law’s reporting requirements on whether teachers are “highly qualified” and add new requirements that states identify the districts and schools most in need of highly qualified teachers."). The Ed Trust crows below ("The provisions of the Title II discussion draft released yesterday by the Education and Labor Committee are a critical step forward for teaching and learning in classrooms throughout the country, especially the classrooms of low-income and minority students.")

Spellings Calls NCLB Goals "Righteous"; Miller Schedules Own Conference Call

During an early afternoon press conference call, EdSec Spellings reiterated her concerns about the M&M (Miller and McKeon) discussion draft and said she was sending them comments in the hopes that they were still open-minded. She called the current NCLB and its 2014 goals "righteous, proper, and do-able." Some of the differences between the two positions seem relatively minor -- what form differentiated interventions should take, for example. Others -- multiple measures and other changes to AYP seem more problematic to Spellings.

She's not willing to discuss how much of the changes she could implement without reauthorization, and she denied that there was any surprise or disappointment between her and the House leaders over their proposal or her remarks. However, Miller has scheduled his own conference call for 3:00 pm, so there's obviously more to be said.

Chairman Miller Needs An iPhone

This post from Washington Whispers about just how tech-crazy Congressman G. Miller is sounds like a thinly-veiled invitation to some lobbyist out there to get him an iPhone (YouTube Not Just for White House Hopefuls). He's got just about everything else -- a Second Life avatar, a video podcast, a Blackberry, etc. Maybe if some of the civil rights groups get him one they can get back in his good graces. Or maybe they should buy them for the committee freshmen instead.

Putting Freshmen In The Spotlight, Putting NCLB Under

Right on schedule, CQ Today has a piece about how the Dems are focused on helping the freshmen keep their seats (Democrats Put Freshmen in Spotlight). Doing so makes obvious sense for the Dems, but not so much for NCLB supporters given the newbies' understandably skeptical views of NCLB. It's not entirely wishful thinking to say (as some do) that the freshmen ran against Iraq and -- to a much lesser degree -- NCLB.

(You Are) Live-Blogging The Big Miller Speech Today

Chairman George Miller is scheduled to give a "major" speech on NCLB reauthorization at 10 today at the National Press Club -- should be lots of tidbits and hints at what happens next. Antsy and bored? Make good use of that Blackberry and email me your impressions and observations about the speech, who's there, and -- most important -- what they're wearing. Yes, you can do it anonymously. To: thisweekineducation @ gmail dot com.
UPDATE: EdWeek confirms the delay until September and rehashes some of the conflicts that may be causing it (ie, multiple measures).
UPDATE: McKeon statement (below) emphasizes "content" over "calendar."

How Congressional Earmarks Work

Think the Dems are allocating education and social services money any better, or differently, than those big bad Republicans did? Think again.

"When the House divvied up $282.1 million in earmarks for schools, hospitals and social programs, many poor congressional districts took a back seat to those represented by appropriators, party leaders and politically vulnerable lawmakers," according to this story from CQ Today (CQ Today - House Earmarks for Social Programs Follow Power and Political Needs). "The disparity can be seen by comparing the proposed disbursements to Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles, who represents the fourth-poorest House district as measured by median household income, with the earmarks corralled by Ron Klein of Florida, whose 22nd District includes the beachfront condominiums in Boca Raton and gated retirement communities in Palm Beach and Broward counties."

*Free Daily E-Mail Updates Now Available -- See The Yellow Box To The Right.*

Miller Speaks Monday -- Who's "DanB"

This just out: "On Monday, July 30, at the National Press Club, U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) will deliver a major speech on the future of Lindsay Lohan's acting career the No Child Left Behind education law." 10:00am ET at the Press Building. NB: Eagle eyed readers of the Miller memo (see below) want to know who DanB (the author) is. Any ideas? I'm too lazy to figure it out for you.

Our Hottie Is So Much Hotter Than Their Hotties

As you can see, our education hottie, Jade Floyd of AACTE (left), is so much hotter than any of the other two front-runners (Jessica Ferguson, Sen. Thune in the orange, Pepper Pennington, Rep. Feeney in the black top). And more scantily clad, to boot. However, stuck at the bottom of the ballot, Jade needs your help to leap past these two other contestants. Go here, scroll to the bottom, click the little circle next to Jade's picture, and click "vote." No registration or anything else is required.

EXCLUSIVE: Miller Reauthorization Memo To Freshmen

Thanks a ton to a brave reader for sending in the Miller memo to House freshmen from earlier this month, which outlines where things are (or were) on the House majority side at least. As you can see, the two-page memo (PDF) dated July 7 outlines nine key proposals and asks for feedback. The proposals range from the obvious ("Allow states to use growth models that recognize progress over time," improve test quality, prioritize schools with the most problems) to the highly controversial ("Allow states to use more than test scores to measure student learning and school performance") to the ho-hum ("Address the high school dropout crisis and take comprehensive steps to turn around low-performing high schools," increase funding, etc.). This explains some of the recent weeks' twists and turns, including the new left-right coalition to save NCLB and -- most obviously -- the Friday the 13th letter to Chairman Miller from concerned parties.

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Senate Higher Ed Bill Endangers Quick NCLB Reauthorization

The last time the Senate reauthorized the HEA was a long time ago. I was still working for Jeff Bingaman and we thought that we could really, finally, get ed schools to do a better job on teacher prep. But now the Senate has passed its version of the bill -- no House companion to go along with it, and congrats to everyone there for getting that done.

The implications for NCLB as I read them are bad, however. With two weeks left before August recess and a big education bill in hand, no one on the Senate side at least is going to feel any great rush. And we still don't have any bill language (do we?) from Kennedy or Miller to look at, though I know it's out there and you can send it to me anonymously at thisweekineducation at gmail dot com. Last but not least, there's the exhaustion factor. Many of the same folks work K12 as well as higher ed.

Running Out Of July

AFT John reminds us to read Congressional Quarterly a little more often, especially when it includes tidbits about the increasing unlikelihood of a summer bill introduction and markup for NCLB (Slouching towards 2009). Not enough July left, and not enough of a majority for either party to push something through.

Fresh Off The FritzWire

Appropriations: On Wednesday, July 11, the House Appropriations Committee completed mark-up on a $607 billion Labor-HHS-Education spending bill that will set funding levels for education, health and labor programs for FY 2008. The bill allocates $62.6 billion for the Education Department, an increase of $2.3 billion over current funding. Overall, the total bill is roughly $7 billion more than that approved for FY 2007. Go to: http://appropriations.house.gov. The measure next moves to the House floor for consideration. The Senate has yet to move on its version of the bill.

Introduced Legislation: S 1775 (Burr, North Carolina) introduced, the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2007” to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that no child is left behind. (http://burr.senate.gov).

New Reports: Today, the Center on Education Policy released a report examining the kind of assistance that schools identified for improvement under NCLB receive and how effective district and state officials believe that assistance to be. Moving Beyond Identification: Assisting Schools in Improvement is posted on the Center's home page (www.cep-dc.org) under "What's New."

"Finding, Grinding, & Minding": How Ocean Spray Gets In The Schoolhouse Door

Take a look at this overview of big-time DC lobbyists from Washingtonian and you'll not only see a lot of names that should be familiar to you (if you're in DC) -- Podesta, Boggs, Podesta, Weber -- but also learn a lot about how it all works -- the dark art of the earmark (a favorite of universities needing new buildings), the rivalry between private lobbying firms and law firms with lobbying practices, and the big money that's involved to get things done. (You find a client with an unmet need, you grind out an earmark or a change in the law, and then you mind it to make sure it stays in there through committee, the floor, and the conference report.) Education insiders and Hill staff may have better day to day access know more about the issues in a general sense but they're often outmatched when it comes to specific interests, deep political knowledge, and legislative ins and outs. Really, it's not fair. Funny that nearly all the firms are now owned by three big multinationals. And now we know why there's so much Ocean Spray in the schools.

When A "Congressional Report" Is Not A Congressional Report

As I first pointed out two weeks ago, the Kennedy report on Reading First was not a "Congressional study" in the sense of something like CRS or the GAO would do, despite being described as such in the press. It was internal, and partisan from the start. The good folks at the Title I Monitor have dug into this further, exposing some of the report's problems. RL Colvin over at Early Stories thinks that's a good thing. I agree.

Recent CRS Reports

Looking for some dry but informative weekend reading? Check out these CRS reports from Open CRS: School and Campus Safety Programs, Head Start Reauthorization: A Side-by-Side Comparison, The ESEA, as Amended by the No Child Left Behind Act: A Primer, and High School Graduation, Completion, and Dropouts: Federal Policy, Programs, and Issues. From Open CRS.

Why Are Miller & Kennedy Not Calling Beth Ann Bryan?

What's the connection between former Justice Department official Monica Goodling (no relation, far as I know), who is testifying about her role as liaison between the White House and DOJ on the fired attorneys, and education?

Well, Goodling's counterpart in the Reading First scandal has yet to be heard from. Her name's Beth Ann Bryan, and once this whole Gonzales thing is done with I hope we'll get to hear from her, too -- ideally under oath and without immunity.

Special Treatment For Spellings -- From Congress & The Press

The Times (Spellings Rejects Criticism on Student Loan Scandal) and Post (Education Secretary Defends Loans Record) both take it pretty easy on Spellings, whose performance was to my view neither particularly effective or especially believable.

I think that this is in part due to the ongoing tendency in the press to take it easy on her and also because it was mostly Miller and other Dems, not Republicans, who challenged her. This is in a stark contrast to the treatment that, say, Alberto Gonzalez is getting during his Hill appearances, where it is Republicans who are ridiculing Gonzalez as much as anyone else.

You can watch a video of the testimony from yesterday here.

UPDATE: EdWeek notes Spellings' uncertainty and refusals to take strong action on the Reading First front here.
How much longer will the Congressional Republicans defend her, and when will the press get out from under the Spellings spell?