We’re not all winners anymore. Last week, Iowa became the first state to be turned down by the U.S. Department of Education for an ESEA waiver. While the news is a blow for Iowans – and policymakers like Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who supported the request – it really isn’t a surprise or a bold political statement from the Obama administration (Iowa is a swing stateContinue Reading »

Image from esea.net

Two weeks ago, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce reported out two of Chairman John Kline’s ESEA reauthorization bills, the Student Success Act and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teaching Act, on a party-line vote, 23-16. Democrats, led by Ranking Member George Miller, offered just two (unsuccessful) amendments, bothContinue Reading »

With a weekend of reflection between me and the markup of the Harkin-Enzi ESEA Reauthorization Bill, I am caught up on sleep, but still coming to terms with the implications of last Thursday’s events. Yes, the bill passed out of committee 15-7, receiving only 3 Republican votes. But what did we really learn about the direction of federal K-12 education policy, the positions of key players, and Continue Reading »

Photo Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Yesterday, you approved an amendment sponsored by Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) to ensure postsecondary credits earned through early colleges would be earned “at no cost to students or their families.” This ensures low-income students would have free access to early colleges as part of the new Pathways to College grant program in theContinue Reading »

The Senate’s ESEA Reauthorization bills (the old Harkin bill and the newer Harkin-Enzi version) elicited a familiar reaction from interest groups representing teachers, principals, and school administrators and from conservative eduwonks following the legislation: federal overreach.

You have Rick Hess: “I’m not worried about going ‘back’ to 1994… partly because some of the ‘retreats’ areContinue Reading »

If you haven’t heard, Senators Harkin and Enzi introduced a substitute version of their ESEA Reauthorization bill today. While I’m disheartened and disappointed by these changes, Secretary Duncan released a more muted statement on the new bill. As a public service, Quick and the Ed is going to break down the key changes so you don’t have to re-read the 860-page bill again (seeContinue Reading »

Earlier, I praised the Harkin-Enzi ESEA Reauthorization bill’s handling of teacher and principal evaluations, noting that they found a very small middle ground between the Obama administration’s waiver package and the Senate Republican plan. Well, strike that. Guess Senators Harkin and Enzi really aren’t worried about what I think of their plan.

A substitute has been introduced and posteContinue Reading »

Harkin-Enzi’s ESEA reauthorization bill attempts to find a middle ground on teacher and principal evaluations. On one hand, you have the Senate Republican plan supported by Secretary of Education-turned-Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that would give states the option to develop these kinds of evaluation systems. On the other, you have the Obama administration’s ESEA waiver package that requiresContinue Reading »

In Part 1 of our Pathways series, we discussed the details of the proposed Pathways to College grant program.  The question that remained was what does it all mean? Can it help students from lower-performing, high-need schools become ready for postsecondary success?

One of the most promising aspects of the new Pathways to College grant program is that it requires funds to be usedContinue Reading »

There’s been a lot of talk lately about college- and career- readiness, and the Harkin-Enzi ESEA reauthorization bill is no exception.  While Title I, Part A focuses on standards and accountability to ensure college and career readiness for all students, Part B is renamed Pathways to College and would authorize funding for a new competitive grant program supporting pathways to postseconContinue Reading »