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March 6, 1996 |
On Tuesday, March 5, Secretary Riley appeared before the Senate Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations to discuss the impact of the continuing resolutions on education & to urge the Subcommittee to restore overall fiscal year 1996 funding for the Department to at least the 1995 level. Both Senate & House Appropriations Committees are expected to introduce new proposals this week to fund the Department through the end of the fiscal year. The current continuing resolution expires March 15.Secretary Riley also made specific requests for priority programs in 1996, including $446 million for Goals 2000, $7.3 billion for the Title I account, and $466 million for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities. The Secretaries of Labor and HHS (Health & Human Services) also testified before the Senate Subcommittee.
Secretary Riley's testimony is available in the Online Library at: http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/03-1996/test-305.html
Thirty-nine states (including Washington, D.C.) have received second-year funding under Goals 2000. Fifteen states' comprehensive, standards-based education improvement plans have been approved through the peer review process (most recently West Virginia).States that have received second-year funding:
AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, HI,IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WV.State plans that have been peer reviewed & approved:DE, KS, KY, MD, MA, MI, NV, NM, ND, OH, OR, TX, UT, VT, WV.
Secretary Riley defended public education in his third annual State of American Education address last week. Speaking at Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School in St. Louis, the Secretary cited projections that school enrollments will reach an all-time high this fall, & he issued seven challenges: to improve reading & writing, support families, make schools safe, achieve high academic standards, innovate (using technology, charter schools, & public school choice), prepare young people for work, & keep the doors to college open wide.The Secretary announced, as part of the first challenge, a new national partnership dedicated to the improvement of reading & writing in the U.S. Some 35 organizations have joined the partnership, which complements the Family Involvement Partnership in Learning's "READ*WRITE*NOW" effort (in which more than 200 organizations are participating).
For the full text of the Secretary's address, please see: http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/02-1996/speech.html
On March 19th, Secretary Riley & Deputy Secretary Kunin will host a teleconference on charter schools. The hour-long discussion will be broadcast live via satellite from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, & it will feature a panel of community leaders & educators who have helped develop charter schools. Questions to be discussed include:For satellite coordinates or other information about the monthly Satellite Town Meeting, please call 1-800-USA-LEARN.
- What is a public charter school?
- How are charter schools created?
- How do public charter schools give parents and students more alternatives?
- How do decision-making and teaching styles in charter schools differ from traditional schools?
- What lessons can public charter schools teach the other schools in their district?
- How are public charter schools held accountable for reaching their stated goals?
A national conference on family involvement is being hosted by Teachers College, Working Mother Magazine, the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning, & the U.S. Department of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University (New York City) on April 12 & 13. Teachers, parents, school administrators, community leaders, employers, & graduate students across the U.S. are invited to attend the two-day conference, where they will share promising programs & policies, & investigate questions such as:
What do we really mean when we talk about "parent involvement in children's education"? Are educators & families speaking the same language when they talk about parent involvement? How can schools broaden the perspective & reach out to all families? How can we manage the time crunch so that all family members can be there for their children? What are the other barriers to parent involvement & how can schools, employers, & community & religious leaders work together to overcome them? How can we develop working partnerships that support children's learning & lead to high academic standards?Other topics include Title I & IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), compacts & IEPs (Individual Education Plans), technology & home-school communication, & the preschool years. To request a brochure & registration information, please call or fax the Office of Continuing Professional Education, Teachers College, Columbia University (212-678-3987; fax 212-678-4048).On March 7, a Family Involvement Partnership Conference for six New England states was hosted by the Secretary's Regional Office (known as "Region I"). The aim was to help the states (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) and region develop their own local coalition of school, family, religious, community, & business leaders who will support family involvement in learning & work with the Department on national family involvement efforts. The conference included religious leaders signing on to the Family Involvement Partnership "Statement of Commitment" & Secretary Riley speaking to more than 200 leaders & representatives of family, school, community, religious, & business organizations. Also, participants met in state groups to discuss how they can work together to improve family involvement in children's learning.
As part of the National Education Goal to make all schools safe, disciplined, & drug-free, President Clinton asked Secretary Riley (on February 24) to issue a "Manual on School Uniforms" to the nation's 16,000 school districts. Eight suggestions for those considering adopting a school uniform policy are offered, & "model school uniform policies" in eight schools & school districts are described in the booklet. Prepared by the U.S. Department of Education in consultation with local communities & the U.S. Department of Justice, the nine-page manual is available in our Online Library at: http://www.ed.gov/updates/uniforms.html
Recent additions to the Online Library include:These & other publications recently added to the Online Library are available at: http://www.ed.gov/news.html
- The Secretary's statement (& chart) on projected K-12 enrollment increases & the effects of pending budget cuts on education (from his February 23 press conference).
- Six 8- to 12-page policy & finance "briefs" from the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE):
- School-Based Management: Strategies for Success
- School-Based Management: Promise & Process
- Reinventing Teacher Compensation Systems
- Developing Content Standards: Creating a Process for Change
- Building Capacity for Education Reform
- Helping Teachers Teach Well: Transforming Professional Development
- Commissioned background papers for a conference on public libraries & community-based education ("Making the Connection for Lifelong Learning," April 1995).
- Progress of Education in the United States of America: 1990 through 1994.
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Last Updated -- March 8, 1996, (pjk)
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