Legislative Hot Topics

On May 22nd the US Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan announced a new Race to the Top competition aimed at providing resources to school districts to support an increased emphasis on personalized education.  The announcement specifically outlined the draft criteria for this program and invited comments to be filed with US ED by June 8th. 

In summary this is a $400 million competition that will make awards to 15 to 20 school districts (or groups of school districts).  Each application will need to reflect their program's emphasis (or some say acceptance) of the prinicipals of school system reform reflective in the administration's other initiatives (teacher and principal evaluation, use of data, college and career ready standards, etc.) and increase attention on personalized education. 

From the USED's handout "Fast Facts" the absolute Priority 1, Persoanlized Learning Environment(s) includes this definition.  The environments are "designed to significantly;

improve teaching and learning through the persoanlization of strategies;

tools and supports for teachers and students that are aligned with college- andcareer-ready standards; 

increase the effectiveness of educators, and

expand student access to the most effective educators inorder to raise student achievement; decrease the achievement gap across student groups; and increase the rates at which students graduate from high school prepared for college and careers."

For more information to to: www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-district

Revised: Adolescent Literacy: A Position Statement of the International Reading Association (Rev. 2012 ed.). Developed by the Adolescent Literacy Committees (2008–2011) and the Adolescent Literacy Task Force (2011–2012) of the International Reading Association.

Subjects:          1. Webinar on ideas for councils & common core

                        2. US ED looking for peer reviewers

                        3. IRA/Rotary/Pearson Foundation Award

                        4. IRA Legislative Workshop – June 25 & 26

Webinar for State Council Leaders on Common Core

During the Chicago convention, a session was held to talk about state council approaches to the common core standards.  A draft of a toolkit was to be discussed, but we ran out of time (plus, the session was immediately after another state council session on the other-side-of-the-moon (given the distance between the hotel and the convention center…). So a webinar was announced to complete the session.

The webinar will be conducted on Wednesday, May 30^th at 8:00 PM EASTERN.  To Sign up to get the email with the link to listen and see the PowerPoint, please go to:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?pli=1&formkey=dDcxLVN4Q2NOZVI4eVI5RE9KZDJTaXc6MQ#gid=0

USED Looking for Peer Reviewers

REVIEW DATES: Monday, July 16 – Monday, July 23, 2012 (Proposed) -Approx. 50-60 hours

BACKGROUND:  The United States Department of Education (ED) is seeking individuals to serve as peer reviewers for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) discretionary grant competition. IAL is a new grant program carried out under the legislative authority of the Fund for Improvement of Education (FIE), Title V, Part D, Subpart 1, Sections 5411 through 5413 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended (20 U.S.C. 7243–7243b).  IAL is designed to support high-quality literacy programs to prepare young children for reading and to develop and improve reading skills and academic achievement for children and students from birth through 12th grade in high need LEAs and schools.

(see attached for more details).

IRA/Rotary/Pearson Foundation Literacy Award

Just a reminder on the $2500 Pearson Foundation-IRA- Rotary Literacy Project Awards. Details are on the IRA web at the IRARI SIG page.  If your council, in conjunction with your local Rotary club, has a literacy project to submit, the deadline is June 15, 2012.

New literacy service projects jointly undertaken by Rotary clubs and IRA reading councils in 2011-12 may be considered for a monetary award.  After reading the application, if you need more information on this recognition, Rotarians should contact programs@rotary.org, and IRA members should contact irawash@reading.org.

We look forward to seeing the fruits of your efforts on joint IRA-Rotary literacy projects.

IRA Legislative Workshop

Legislative Workshop in Washington, DC June 25-26, 2012 (in-person only) SPEND INFLUENTIAL TIME ON CAPITOL HILL! (SET UP YOUR HILL APPOINTMENTS, INSTRUCTIONS BELOW)

We will have several guest speakers touching on key issues. The sessions will be held at IRA’s Washington office at 444 N. Capitol St. NW Washington, DC 20001, Room 383 on June 25 and 26th, 2012.

Take advantage of this opportunity to seek your representatives' support for ESEA literacy initiatives. Learn how to make the most of your visit to Capitol Hill and go there well-prepared to request funding and support for vital literacy initiatives including the LEARN Act. Get the latest information on other education issues including Core Standards and teacher evaluation, among others.  In addition, learn how to apply these ideas to influence policy in your state.  To sign up: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhqD0nJkwPNddDR6RmN2LWZ3ejFfVkotMGNQSVBkWVE

Agenda: Monday, June 25, 2012

11:30 Registration

12:00-12:30 Lunch (provided)

12:30-2:15 Federal issues briefing

3:00-5:00 Meet with your Congressman/Senators Set up your own appointments: Call your Senators and Representatives at 202-225-3121. Ask for your Senators’ and Representative’s office. When you get the office, say you are a teacher from their district and in town for an International Reading Association meeting. Ask to talk with the education aide. Set up your appointment time. If the aide is not available during this window of time ask if another staffer is available to meet with you. (The IRA office is a 5 minute walk from the Senate office buildings and 15 minute walk from the House office buildings. You will need a few extra minutes to go through security.)

6:00 No Host Dinner

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

8:30 Breakfast (provided)

 9:00-12:00 Policy issues including Teacher Evaluations, Core Standards, Early Childhood

Noon Lunch (provided)

1:00-3:00 Helping your state council members to impact state and federal education policy

3:00 PM Adjourn

Quick Update

The rewriting of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is very unlikely to be completed this year.  The Senate education committee has passed a proposal (that includes the LEARN Act – a major initiative to fund literacy professional development age 0 to grade 12); but is not likely to get time to bring it to the floor of the Senate.  Similarly the House education committee has completed action on five measures that constitutes its reauthorization package.  They too are awaiting the decision of their leaders as to whether or not it will be moved to a vote.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Education has been pressing ahead with its waivers policy.  Many states (30 or more) will be applying for waivers from the requirements of No Child Left Behind, but having to agree to nine major policy changes (among them adopting college and career ready standards, teacher & principal evaluations).

Of more immediate concern is the lack of funding for schools.  Most states and localities have been cutting back.  Legislatures are being called into special session and many are hoping that the federal government will provide the needed funds.  This is not going to happen.

The big question is will there be a cut (called a sequester) for Title I and IDEA funds which would take effect on January 2, 2013.  As of right now it is law.  However, the White House and the Congress agree on one thing – that the sequester will be bad and will not happen.  However, what they will put in its place will require an agreement that Congress and the Administration has yet to reach on spending and revenue.  AND,  if they reach an agreement it will be during the lame-duck session from November 15 to December 15^th.  This is one month before the cut is to occur.  Many states and local school districts are planning for these cuts to occur and as such will be cutting back before the school year begins.

Questions: contact Richard Long at RLong@reading.org

Spend influential time on Capitol Hill. Attend the IRA Legislative Workshop on June 25 and 26, 2012, at IRA in Washington, DC at 444 N. Capitol St. NW, Washington, DC 20001, Room 383. Take advantage of this opportunity to seek your representatives’ support for ESEA literacy initiatives. Learn how to make the most of your visit to Capitol Hill, and go there well-prepared to request funding and support for vital literacy initiatives including the LEARN Act. Get the latest information on other education issues such as Core Standards and teacher evaluation, among others. Learn how to influence policy in your state, too. Details to follow. 

Register here

Agenda

IRA Government Relations Director Rich Long lead this March 22 and 23, 2012 workshop both virtually (as a webinar) and in-person. Participants learned how to influence literacy policy and funding at the federal level, including the LEARN Act and ESEA, how to influence literacy policy in states, and got the latest information on other education issues such as Core Standards and teacher evaluation.

Webinar Agenda

Hotels

Handouts from legislative workshop March 23, 2012, Rich Long with:
Amanda Karhuse, Director of Government Relations for the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) – NASSP position statements (handouts: NASSP Board Position Statements; Charter Schools; Common Core State Standards; Tracking and Ability Grouping in Middle Level and High Schools; webinar on tiered interventions in high schools)

NASSP Policy Recommendations for Middle Level Reform

NASSP Legislative Recommendations for High School Reform

NASSP Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Legislative Recommendations

Mary Kingston, Assistant Director NASSP – Handout on grassroots lobbying.

Recording of legislative workshop with Rich Long and IRA President Vicki Risko- March 22, 2012:
http://connectpro49244956.adobeconnect.com/r1wt7yjbicc/
Topics include reauthorization of ESEA (NCLB), LEARN Act/Literacy for All, Title I, Teacher Evaluation, Waivers, School Improvement Grants, Race to the Top, and Striving Readers funds, Early Childhood, Race to the Top, Education research and evaluation, Meeting Your Legislator and delivering your message.