Congress took a major step forward in the year-long budget and appropriations process last week by determining the 302(b) allocations for each subcommittee, at least on one side of the Capitol. The 302(b) allocations are the numbers that signal to subcommittee chairs just how much money they can spend for the federal agencies. For the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) the allocation for those agencies for FY 2010 is $160.65 billion, which is a $7.5 billion increase over FY 2009 or approximately 5 percent more money. That closely approximates the funding recommended by President Obama in his budget plan. The Senate subcommittee has not yet released its allocation.

The House LHHS Subcommittee also announced plans to mark-up its FY 2010 bill on July 8, with the intention of a quick full committee mark-up and floor action to follow. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he hopes to see two of the 12 appropriations measures move off the Senate floor prior to the July 4 recess. The fact that conferees on the emergency war supplemental bill came to agreement on a conference report last week, increases the likelihood that the Senate will reach Reid's more modest goal.

Lack of action on the appropriations front does not mean there hasn't been action elsewhere on the Hill. Of particular interest to education advocates, longtime ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, Howard "Buck" McKeon (Calif.), stepped down from his position to become ranking member on the Armed Services Committee. The race is on for a replacement, and since the four most senior Republicans on the committee have declined the spot, the remaining contestants are Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.).

Other committees are working around the clock to develop energy and health care reform bills that the White House and the leadership would also like to see adopted this summer. It is an ambitious agenda, and as the details go from the discussion phase to actual legislation, the difficulty of the task before them comes into sharp, partisan focus. Add to that the upcoming confirmation hearing for Obama's first Supreme Court nominee and you have the makings for a long, hot summer.

On June 10, Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center released a new national report, "Diplomas Count 2009: Broader Horizons: The Challenge of College Readiness for All Students," on high school graduation trends over the last decade.

The report finds some good news; there has been an increase in the national graduation rate between 1996 and 2006, the most recent year for which federal data is available. The national graduation rate is 69.2 percent for the class of 2006, an overall increase of nearly three percentage points since 1996, which "does offer some reason to be cautiously optimistic," said Christopher B. Swanson, EPE Research Center director. Nonetheless, three out of every 10 students in the U.S. public schools fail to graduate, which amounts to 1.3 million students lost from the graduation pipeline each year, or almost 7,200 students lost each day. In addition, there was a dip in the overall graduation rate of 1.5 percent between 2005 and 2006, which shows up across demographic groups in about half the states. This dip will be watched closely in future years to see if it's a blip or the start of a new trend. Also, for males in racial and ethnic minorities who live in large, urban communities, the news is even worse. A graduation gap of as much as 26 percentage points divides these historically underserved minorities from their white classmates.

The report also indicates there is no firm consensus among states, schools and policy makers on what it means to be ready for post-secondary education or how to measure college readiness. The EPE Research Center also conducted a special analysis to identify school systems that exceed expectations for current graduation rates or improvement over the past decade. The report identifies stellar performance in some of the nation's most at-risk communities, recognizing 50 overachieving big-city schools systems from across the country. Interestingly, however, Swanson said he could not categorically answer why these 50 schools have been so successful in improving their graduation rates and that we need to look at the "real work" taking place in these settings.

More SFS Funding Being Awarded: Since passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Department of Education has been awarding the state fiscal stabilization (SFS) funds made available by ARRA to eligible states that have completed Part 1 of the state stabilization application. As the weeks continue, more states are being added to ED's list of states approved to receive funding. So far the department has awarded more than $24 billion to 31 states. Over the past two weeks Maryland has been approved to receive $589 million of ARRA funds; Iowa was approved for $316 million; $301 million was approved for Kansas; Arizona was approved for $681 million; Colorado was approved for $509 million; Connecticut was approved for $363 million; $1 billion was approved for Michigan and $1 billion for Ohio. These funds will help reform education and protect the jobs of teachers. More info. To view information on what states are doing with the funds visit: View info on what the states are doing with the funds.

Duncan Highlights Need For Strong Data Systems At IES Conference: During the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) annual research conference, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told the audience that supporting states' efforts to build warehouses of data on student achievement is one of his top priorities. He said, "Education reform is not about sweeping mandates or grand gestures. It's about systematically examining and learning, building on what we've done right and scrapping what hasn't worked for kids." Duncan told the researchers that the data systems should inform education policies that will improve practices. He urged them to work on improving accountability models based on the growth of student test scores and developing fair models of compensating teachers and other school staff based on the achievement of their students. Duncan's speech is the first in a series over the next four weeks in which he plans to detail the Department of Education's policies on each of the four required assurances under the American Recovery and Reinvestment ActMore info.

Duncan Discusses Charter Schools and Race to the Top Fund: During a conference call on June 8, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told reporters that states must be "open to charter schools as a way of reforming America's lowest performing schools." He said, "Too much is at stake for states financially and for students academically to restrict choice and innovation. States that do not have public charter laws or put artificial caps on the growth of charter schools will jeopardize their applications under the Race to the Top Fund. To be clear, this administration is not looking to open unregulated and unaccountable schools. We want real autonomy for charters combined with a rigorous authorization process and high performance standards." Duncan noted that the Department of Education will begin accepting state applications for the Race to the Top Fund and the school improvement funds this summer and by the end of the year will be distributing grants, although other conversations around town suggest that timeline is slipping. "I am advocating for using whatever models work for students and particularly where improvements have stagnated for years," Duncan said. "We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect different results. We cannot let another generation of children be deprived of their civil right to a quality education." More info.

New America Foundation Holds Briefing on Teacher Equity: On June 8, the New America Foundation held a briefing to release its new report, "Equitable Resources in Low Income Schools: Teacher Equity and the Federal Title I Comparability Requirement." The report found that teacher salary disparity is the primary cause of intra-district spending inequality. Because experience is tied to salary in most districts, this disparity in teacher salary is indicative of the unequal distribution of high-quality teachers among schools in a district. MaryEllen McGuire, director of the education policy program at the New America Foundation, discussed the Title I "comparability" requirement and its failure in preventing such an unfair distribution. The report's proposed solutions include budget transparency from school districts, legislative action to encourage the enforcement of comparability and a reduction of the allowed disparity in spending between schools from 10 percent to 5 percent. She emphasized that legislative action should not require forcibly relocating teachers to low-income schools. The question and answer period was punctuated by a comment about the importance of closing the comparability loophole, not because it will fix the problems of teacher distribution but because it will make sure money and resources (including teachers) can be equally distributed. All of the panelists agreed. View the full report.

Senate LHHS Subcommittee Holds Hearing on HHS FY2010 Budget: The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education held a hearing on June 9 at which Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, discussed the agency's FY2010 budget request. Sebelius spoke extensively about health care reform, expressing her belief that investments in prevention and wellness are central to the reform. She emphasized the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's (ARRA) role in improving patient-centered research, providing better health coverage to minorities and preparing the country in case of a flu pandemic. Notably, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) pushed Sebelius on health care reform, asking whether the president's emphasis on finding offsets for spending (PAYGO) would apply to health care. Sebelius said she believed so but couldn't say for sure because the Congressional Budget Office doesn't score the financial consequences of prevention. Alexander asked Sebelius about whether President Obama supports Sen. Edward Kennedy's (D-Mass.) recently unveiled draft legislation on health care reform and whether it was necessary to read and analyze the costs of the program before voting. Sebelius said she wasn't sure but that she did know the president supported a publicly financed option. View a webcast of the hearing.

WWC Holds Briefing on RTI: On June 10, the Institute of Science's What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) held a briefing to introduce two of its latest practice guides highlighting effective methods of instructing struggling students in math and reading. These practice guides are part of the Response to Intervention (RTI) approach to identify K-12 students who are struggling to learn in math and reading and intervene with practices that have proven to be effective in instructing these students. The first guide discussed at the briefing, "Assisting Students Struggling with Reading," provides a list of recommendations for intervening and helping struggling students in the primary grades. The guide recommends screening students early to identify potential reading problems, providing differentiated reading instructions based on students' reading levels and dividing the struggling readers into separate groups based on their abilities and providing intensive, targeted instruction accordingly. The second practice guide, "Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics," provides similar recommendations for intervening and instructing struggling elementary and middle school math students. Mark Dynarski, vice president of Mathematica policy research and director of WWC, said, "WWC is working to provide as complete a view as possible in order to recommend the best practices to teachers." He also stated that these practice guides have proven helpful and shown success for educators in other areas such as dropout prevention and solving student behavioral problems. More info.

First Five Years Fund Holds Briefing on Early Childhood Interventions: The First Five Years Fund held a briefing on June 11 on the impact of early childhood interventions on reducing the need for special-education services. Panelists included: Alexa Posny, Kansas commissioner of education; Kathleen Hebberler, manager of community services and strategies program; and Kathy Augustine, deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Atlanta Public Schools. The panelists overwhelmingly agreed that young children who receive high-quality early education from infancy to age five do better in school academically, are less likely to need special-education services and are more likely to stay in school longer and graduate. Hebberler noted that early interventions for children with special-education needs are a critical strategy for improving later outcomes. She said research shows that children with disabilities who are identified early and receive the appropriate early intervention services before kindergarten have a greater chance of meeting their social and educational potential than those who do not. The panelists all urged Congress to increase the federal investment in early-intervention programs and to create policies ensuring all children have access to high-quality, early-intervention programs with high-quality teachers, assessments and data systems. More info on the First Five Years Fund.

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