The U.S. Senate is at work on the
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) also known
as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The new legislation is titled Every
Child Achieves Act. The bill is being marked up in committee this
week. If you are signed up for National PTA Action Alerts, you received
one on Monday. You can access that link here: http://cqrcengage.com/npta2/app/write-a-letter?2&engagem.
For more information from National PTA continue reading below
On April 7,
2015, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar
Alexander and Ranking Member Patty Murray released the “Every Child Achieves
Act of 2015” — legislation that would reauthorize the ESEA/NCLB. The HELP Committee will begin
marking up the bill on Tuesday, April 14, at 10:00 a.m. There
will be an open amendment process, and we expect the markup to last through
Wednesday, April 15, at a minimum. The HELP Committee has released a summary of the bill.
While the bill has several laudable
provisions, and we are pleased to see a bipartisan bill from the Senate HELP
committee, National PTA is deeply concerned regarding the lack of improvement
in family engagement provisions in the Every Child Achieves Act. We will work
to secure improvements to the bill during markup and beyond.
This document
serves to provide general background on the ESEA as well as a brief review and
analysis of family engagement provisions and National PTA policy priorities
included or excluded in the Alexander/Murray bill.
General Background on Reauthorization
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
No Child
Left Behind (NCLB), the most recent iteration of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA), was enacted in January of 2002. ESEA, as is the case with
most federal laws, is authorized in five year intervals, meaning that ESEA/NCLB
has been up for reauthorization since 2007. Congress has attempted
comprehensive reauthorization numerous times since 2007; however, political
road blocks have prevented a bipartisan agreement. In the absence of
reauthorization, the Department of Education has issued flexibility packages
around certain provisions of ESEA. To date, 42 states and DC have been granted
waivers.
In February
2015, the House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee passed the
Student Success Act (H.R. 5) out of committee along party lines, with all Republicans
in support of the bill and all Democrats opposed. The bill received floor time in
the House the week of February 23; however, the bill was pulled from final
consideration over concerns that there were not enough votes to secure passage.
House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline indicated he would
like the bill to return to the floor the week of April 13.
Please find
below a summary of provisions in the Every Child Achieves Act related to family
engagement and National PTA’s public policy agenda.
Parent and Family Engagement
Section 1118
of ESEA/NCLB, which addresses family and parent engagement, is re-designated in
the Alexander/Murray bill as Section 1115. The bill does not strengthen family engagement provisions that
National PTA has been advocating for including:
·
An
increase in Title I funds set aside for family engagement from 1 to 2%. Existing law directs schools receiving more
than $500,000 in Title I dollars to set aside a minimum of 1% for family and
parent engagement activities. The bill maintains current law. Increasing funds set aside is a top
priority for National PTA and is included in base language of the Family
Engagement in Education Act (S. 622/H.R. 1194). We are disappointed that the Every Child Achieves Act does not reflect
an increase in resources for family engagement.
·
Embedding
National PTA’s Standards for Family-School Partnerships in local education
agency plans.
·
Establishment
of the Family Engagement Responsibility Fund. The Family Engagement in
Education Act would establish this fund using a .3% mandatory set-aside from
Title I funds to establish statewide and local family engagement centers.
Consultation of a local family
engagement plan: The
bill includes language that a local education agency (LEA) “may include
meaningful consultation with employers, business leaders and philanthropic organizations,
or individuals with expertise in effectively engaging parents and family
members in education.” (pg. 154, (B)) National PTA has advocated for an
expansion of those who must be meaningfully consulted when developing a
family and parent engagement plan at the local level such as:
- Parents and family members of students,
- Youth who have graduated from schools in a LEA,
- Local employers, business leaders and philanthropic organizations,
- Other members of the community committed to increasing student academic achievement and improving child development,
- Individuals with expertise in engaging parents and family members, and
- Organizations that have a demonstrated record of effectiveness in assisting students in becoming college and career ready.
Distribution of Title I set-aside
funds: The Every
Child Achieves Act updates the distribution of Title I set-aside funds from 95%
to 85%. Current law dictates that not less than 95% of LEA funding for family
and parent engagement activities go directly to schools. This legislation would
update the percentage to 85%. National PTA and language in the Family
Engagement in Education Act has sought to amend the percentage to 75% to
respond to feedback from schools that certain activities – such as parent
academies – that are provided at the LEA level but serve parents in local
schools, were not available for these district-wide activities.
Allowable Use of Funds: The legislation includes parameters
(pg. 157, lines 6 -25
& pg. 158, lines 1 -17) around the use of an LEA’s Title I set-aside funds
to include not less than 1 of the following:
·
Supporting
schools and nonprofit organizations in providing professional development for
local educational agency and school personnel regarding parent and family
engagement strategies, which may be provided jointly to teachers, school
leaders, early childhood educators, and parents and family members.
·
Supporting
home visitation programs.
·
Disseminating
information on best practices focused on parent and family engagement, especially
best practices for increasing the engagement of economically disadvantaged parents and family members.
·
Collaborating
or providing subgrants to schools to enable such schools to collaborate with
community-based or other organizations or employers with a demonstrated track
record of success in improving and increasing parent and family
engagement. Other organizations could include PTAs.
·
Engaging
in any other activities and strategies that the local educational agency
determines are appropriate and consistent with such agency’s parent and family
engagement policy, which may include adult education and literacy activities,
as defined in section 203 of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act.
There are
some similarities to this language and uses of funds in S. 622/H.R. 1194 for
local family engagement centers.
Parent Information Resource Centers
(PIRCs)
The Every Child Achieves
Act strikes Title V, Part D of the ESEA/NCLB, which includes authorization of
the Parental Assistance and Local Family Information Centers (subpart 16), also
known as PIRCs and the Arts in Education (subpart 15). Additionally, by
eliminating Part D of the ESEA/NCLB, currently authorized programs such as the
elementary and secondary school counseling program and the Carol M. White
physical education program, in addition to PIRCs and Arts in Education which
help to provide a well-rounded education and supports to students and families will
result in the unintended consequence of preventing children from having access
to as diverse range of supports necessary for them to reach their full potential.
National PTA is extremely concerned about the
elimination of PIRCs and that there is no new language in this bill to support
statewide infrastructure or capacity building for family engagement. The Student Success Act (H.R. 5) authorizes Statewide
Family Engagement Centers as a replacement for the existing Parental
Information Resource Centers. This revised program is intended to help
strengthen family engagement through assistance to states, school districts,
teachers, and families. If PIRCs are
eliminated, National PTA believes there must be a program to support family
engagement.
Note: Language
in the Family Engagement in Education Act (FEE) of 2015 shifts funding from a
standalone authorization for the PIRC program (as is current statute) to a
mandatory set-aside of no less than .3% of Title I dollars at the state level
for family engagement activities – which would include a statewide family
engagement center and a local family engagement center (certain small states would
have an exemption if the .3% set aside is not adequate to establish state and
local family engagement center). The FEE Act serves to represent the best
policy to improve family engagement in education long-term. Additionally, with
the defunding of the PIRC program in 2011 – it is unlikely that the PIRC
program will be appropriated in the current fiscal environment. A shift to a marginal
set-aside of Title I dollars represents a more sustainable source of funding
for schools long-term.
Additional National PTA Policy Priorities
Title I Portability: National PTA is extremely pleased to see that the Every Child
Achieves Act does not include any Title I portability language. National
PTA has strenuously advocated against any proposal such as vouchers or
portability that would undermine Title I’s fundamental purpose of assisting
public schools with high concentrations of poverty and high-need students.
Disaggregated Data: Every Child Achieves Act maintains the annual reporting of
disaggregated data of groups of children which provides valuable information to
parents, families, teachers and communities on whether students are achieving
and whether schools are meeting the particular needs of low-income, minority,
students with disabilities, and English learners.
State-based accountability system: The bill also requires states to establish an
accountability system that expects all students to graduate from high school
ready for college or work. The bill ends the federal test-based accountability system
of No Child Left Behind, restoring to states the responsibility for determining
how to use federally required tests for accountability purposes. States must
include these tests in their accountability systems, but will be able to
determine the weight of those tests in their systems. States will also be
required to include graduation rates, one measure of postsecondary education or
workforce readiness, and English proficiency for English learners. States will
also be permitted to include other measures of student and school performance
in their accountability systems in order to provide teachers, parents, and
other stakeholders with a more accurate determination of school performance,
including statewide measures of parent engagement and school climate and
culture.
Use of alternative assessment for students with
disabilities: Additionally, the legislation
includes a 1% cap on the number of students with significant cognitive
disabilities who can take alternative assessments for accountability purposes.
National PTA has been concerned that other ESEA/NCLB reauthorization bills have
eliminated the cap on the use of alternative assessments.
Maintenance of Effort: The bill keeps in place “maintenance of effort”
requirements, which help ensure that states and localities maintain a certain
level of funding in order to receive federal investments in education and do
not unnecessarily cut support for education programs and use federal dollars as
a replacement of state and local funds to support children and families in the
community.
Early Education:
The Every Child Achieves Act ensures that federal funds can be allocated for
early childhood education, by clarifying that states, school districts, and
schools can spend ESEA dollars to improve early childhood education programs.
These provisions apply to various titles including Title I, Title II (supports
for teachers and school leaders) and Title III (programs serving English
learners).
Source: National PTA
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