23 Jun2019

Massive Spending Bill Passes House with Large Increases for Education

This blog post is written by AACTE consultant Jane West and is intended to provide update information. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

Today makes summer official! The House has certainly given us something to celebrate!

1. Massive Spending Bill Passes House with Large Increases for Education!
  Education advocates are taking a moment to rejoice in a funding bill (H.R. 2740) that passed the House this week (with a vote count of 226-223) calling for a record high level of spending for the Department of Education bringing total investments to $75.9 billion. Big winners in the bill include Title I, special education and social emotional learning. Notably, the bill cuts funding for charter schools by 10%.
  
  The rejoicing is tinged with the knowledge that this is as good as it will get for education spending. Unfortunately, the Senate will not have numbers this high, as the budget caps, which are yet to be determined, will undoubtedly require lower figures. And the Trump Administration has indicated that it would veto this bill.
  
  The focus now turns to the Senate where Appropriations chair Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has indicated that they will begin moving bills in July. But that pesky budget deal lurks around the corner.
  
  See the CEF charts on individual education program funding.
2. OECD Issues International Report on Teacher Satisfaction
  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECE) released the results of the most recent Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) this week. Teachers and principals in 49 education systems, including the U.S., were asked about their job satisfaction, practice, and working conditions. Over 150,000 teachers in lower secondary grades and 9000 principals participated in the survey.
  
  Among the key findings are the following:
  - 90% of U.S. teachers are satisfied with their jobs, in line with the rest of the world
  - 36% of U.S. teachers think that society values the teaching profession—similar to the global average but less than high performing systems like Finland and Shanghai where over half of teachers believe society values the teaching profession
  - Most teachers around the world feel well prepared in content and pedagogy, but only about half feel prepared to teach in a multicultural, multi-lingual or mixed-ability classroom.
  - U.S. teachers believe increasing teacher pay (69.4%) is more important than reducing class size (57.4%)
    
    Read the article, Explore how teachers, school conditions, and learning environments compared internationally in 2018!

New Resources for Educators
- The Annie E. Casey Foundation has released the 30th edition of the KIDS Count Data Book.The news is not good. Visit aecf.org/resources/2019-kids-count-data-book/
- Rand Corporation released a report on The Principal Pipeline funded by the Wallace Foundation. It found that students performed up to six points above the median percentile on state tests in schools that implemented a program intended to improve the skills of school leaders.
- The Government Accountability Office (GAO )issued a report on Department of Education data on seclusion and restraint.
- ProPublica analyzed the strong relationship between Teacher for America (TFA) and the Charter School movement finding that the Walton Foundation was paying charter schools $6,000 for very TFA teacher they hired. Read the article, How Teach for America Evolved Into an Arm of the Charter School Movement.
  
  Continue reading the full Washington Update on my website to learn more.
  
  See you on twitter @janewestdc