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Membership Set for D.C. School Finance Panel [Carlos Rosario International and Cesar Chavez PCS are mentioned]
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School Officials Eye Infants, Toddlers With Disabilities
- Some in GOP Back Obama on NCLB
Membership Set for D.C. School Finance Panel [Carlos Rosario International and Cesar Chavez PCS are mentioned]
The Washington Post
By Bill Turque
September 26, 2011
The commission that will study possible changes in D.C. school funding has a full list of members. It was put together by Collaborative Communications Group, the firm the District hired to handle public outreach for the project. The composition of the panel, which will have its first meeting Tuesday, is certain to generate some debate, especially among folks who are sore about being left off. Here’s the lineup:
Jennifer Comey, Urban Institute
Justin Constantino, Mayor’s Office of Budget and Finance
Celine Fejeran, Office of the Deputy Mayor
Mary Filardo, 21st Century School Fund
Timothea Howard, CentroNia
Allison Kokkoros, Carlos Rosario International PCS
Ed Lazere, D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute
Lisa Raymond, D.C. Council Committee of the Whole
Lisa Ruda, DCPS
Irasema Salcido, Cesar Chavez PCS
Jeremy Williams, D.C. Public Charter School Board
Yesim Yilmaz, Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Hosanna Mahaley, Office of the State Superintendent of Education
School Officials Eye Infants, Toddlers With Disabilities
The Washington Examiner
By Lisa Gartner
September 26, 2011
District officials are trying to help parents recognize the signs of autism in children as young as infants, saying delayed diagnoses cause a frustrating bottleneck in the city's public schools.
The city hopes that increased awareness of what developmental delays look and sound like in young children will increase the graduation rate, combat delinquent behaviors, drive up test scores, and "reduce the special education pipeline," said Deputy Mayor for Education De'Shawn Wright.
The D.C. Early Intervention Program is not new: parents already can reach out for free screenings and, in some cases, financial support for services proscribed.
Per federal law, assessments are free, and the city or Medicaid pays for families who can't afford services like physical therapy or speech pathology.
But on Monday the program was recast more aggressively as "Strong Smart," urging parents through radio, television, and Metro ads to address anything off-kilter.
"She doesn't look at pictures like her big brother used to," a woman remarks in the radio spot about bedtime stories, which runs in English and Spanish. A Metro ad reads, "If your child isn't talking, maybe it's worth speaking up."
According to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, "hundreds" of eligible children in the District are not receiving services for development disorders. Only about 400 are; the city wants to add 100 by the end of 2011.
"It's a subject a lot of people don't know about, and certainly a subject a lot of people don't want to talk about," Superintendent Hosanna Mahaley said.
Several officials applauded Mayor Vincent Gray's focus on early childhood education, a staple of his campaign last summer. But parents and city officials are urging the mayor to go further by lowering the eligibility threshold for services.
Currently, a child must be assessed as at least 50-percent delayed to receive services. Most other states require a child to meet the 25-percent mark.
Parents applauded when Beatriz Otero, deputy mayor for health and human services, said she told Gray, "You've got to move to 25 percent. The investment is high," but many more children need the benefits.
Spokesmen for the mayor did not reply to requests for comment.
Almo Carter, whose 3-year-old is non-verbal, said she hopes the city continues to focus on the transition of special-needs students into schools. "I can't 'wait and wonder' if my son is going to be able to contribute to society," she said.
Some in GOP Back Obama on NCLB
The Washington Times
By Ben Wolfgang
September 26, 2011
Over objections from Republicans on Capitol Hill, President Obama is making it clear he will proceed with his blueprint education reform and an overhaul of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. And this time, Mr. Obama will have some bipartisan cover, as many Republican governors are backing his approach.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, has come out in full-fledged support of the proposal, which frees states from the “failing” schools designation and other mandates of the No Child law in exchange for detailed reform plans.
His state had applied for a waiver even before Mr. Obama outlined the details in a speech Friday.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, said his state will apply, and dozens of other leaders from both parties are considering doing the same.
Connecticut, Wisconsin, Indiana, Oregon and several other states on Friday indicated that, minutes after Mr. Obama spoke, they’ll seek a way out of many NCLB mandates.
“When there are things we can work together on, we should,” Mr. Haslam said Friday, joining Mr. Obama to announce the proposal.
Where governors see relief, however, Republicans in Congress see a power grab.
Rep. John Kline, Minnesota Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, called the waiver approach “a dangerous precedent” that will hinder Congress‘ efforts to pass a comprehensive reform bill.
He also said the move raises legal questions because the administration through the waivers is essentially nullifying a law passed by Congress 10 years ago.
Mr. Kline and fellow House Republicans are pushing their own education-reform package, a five-part plan to eliminate federal red tape, recruit more effective teachers and scrap duplicative federal programs.
The majority of his plan has met stiff resistance from Democrats, with the exception of a bill that encourages and provides startup money for charter schools. That bill passed the House with strong bipartisan support earlier this month.
In the Senate, Republicans led by Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee recently unveiled their own blueprint, which focuses on eliminating the “adequate yearly progress” system under NCLB that calls for 100 percent of students to be proficient in math and reading by 2014.
The measure also authorizes the creation of a “Teacher Incentive Fund” to reward the best classroom leaders, combines federal education programs and, much like the bill passed in the House, expands charter schools.
Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat and chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has yet to produce his plan, but it likely will contain many differences from the proposals put forward by Republicans.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan first revealed Mr. Obama’s waiver plan this summer, but it was short on details until Friday. To escape from under NCLB, states must already have in place college- and career-ready standards; develop systems of “differentiated recognition,” which highlight the highest-performing schools and those that best serve low-income students as “reward schools”; implement a turnaround program for the lowest-performing districts; and set up a detailed system to measure the effectiveness of teachers and principals.