Fast Report
10/11/05 -- Mass. governor proposes merit pay for teachers
• Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced an education reform plan Sept. 22 calling for merit pay for teachers tied to student performance. Teachers in the best-performing classrooms could see their pay rise $5,000 or more a year.
The plan, which must be approved by the legislature, also calls for a basic laptop for every middle and high school student, more charter schools in low-performing districts, and improved math and science instruction. The plan would cost $46 million in 2006 and $143 million the following year.
Congress passes continuing resolution
• Congress has failed to pass an appropriations bill for the U.S. Education Department by the Sept. 30 deadline, so the House and Senate have passed a continuing resolution to provide stop-gap funding through Nov. 18.
Under the continuing resolution, education programs will be funded according to the amount appropriated for the current fiscal year or the amount in the pending fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill (H.R.3010) -- whichever is less.
Title I allocations will be consistent with fiscal year 2005 funding of $12.7 billion. Schools will receive IDEA funding based on the 2005 level of $10.6 billion. Title V Innovative Education programs will be funded at the 2005 level of $198.4 million, and vocational education would remain at $1.3 billion. Funding for education technology grants will be based on the pending 2006 appropriations level of $300 million, which is lower than the 2005 appropriation of $496 million.
The continuing resolution does not include funding for the President’s proposed voucher plan for students displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But lawmakers are expected to consider the voucher proposal in October as part of hurricane school relief legislation.
NSBA remains opposed to the creation of a costly, national voucher program and will continue to lobby for increased funding for Title I, IDEA, and other education programs.
GAO: Ed Dept. used ‘covert propaganda’
• The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report Sept. 30 stating that the U.S. Education Department’s agreement to pay commentator Armstrong Williams to promote the No Child Left Behind Act “amounted to covert propaganda.”
According to the GAO, the department paid the public relations firm Ketchum Inc. more than $188,500.
That company subcontracted with Armstrong’s company, the Graham Williams Group, for several pro-NCLB broadcasts during Williams’ television and radio show, “The Right Side,” including fake news stories.
The GAO says the contract did not require Armstrong to disclose the Education Department’s role, As a result, it violated the provision of the 2004 appropriations act that prohibits federal funding to be “used for publicity or propaganda purposes” and prohibits federal agencies from producing or distributing “covert propaganda” for “purposes of self-aggrandizement” or for “purely partisan purposes.”
The Education Department’s inspector general issued a report in September stating that federal agencies do not have to acknowledge their role in producing television news reports. The GAO disagreed, stating that the practice of paying for prepackaged news “misleads the viewing public.”
The GAO investigation was conducted in response to a request by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). Following the report, the senators asked Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to “abide by the law and recover the misspent funds.”
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) issued a statement calling such practices “corrupt and deceptive” and urged Congress to pass legislation “to ensure that similar abuses of the public trust do not recur.”
Bennett resigns from K12 Inc.
• William J. Bennett, the former secretary of education, announced his resignation Oct. 3 as chairman and member of the board of directors of K12 Inc., because of the “controversy surrounding the remarks I made on my radio show.”
K12 is an education company that produces instructional materials used by online schools, homeschooling parents, and regular public and private schools.
In response to a caller on his radio show, Bennett said, “If you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down.” He added, “That would be an impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do.”
Referring to the widespread condemnation following his comments, Bennett said he is “in the midst of a political battle based on a coordinated campaign willfully distorting my views, my record, and my statements” and is stepping down from K12 so as not to harm the company or its clients.
Parents and education activists in Philadelphia, angry about Bennett’s statement, demanded that the school district end a $3 million contract with K12. Paul Vallas, CEO of the Philadelphia school system, told the Philadelphia Daily News Bennett’s statement is “outrageous and offensive to all of us.” Vallas also said K12 was doing a good job, but the contract could be jeopardized by Bennett’s continued presence on the board.