« Senate Passes SAA Mandate Relief Bill | Home | State Won’t Hit 2008 Job Peak Until 2015 »
Senate Education Panel Approves ESEA Overhaul
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | October 24, 2011
From AASA …
On Thursday evening, the Senate Education Committee passed a bi-partisan bill re-authorizing ESEA. Over the course of 12.5 hours, the committee reviewed 52 amendments (144 had been filed). Of the 19 amendments that AASA was closely following, 5 were adopted, 3 were defeated and the others were either withdrawn or ignored.
One of the amendments that passed out of committee was offered by Sen. Alexander (R-TN) and would let states submit their own ideas for turning around the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools. While it would retain the six turnaround models spelled out in the ESEA reauthorization bill introduced last week by Sens. Harkin and Enzi, the amendment would add a seventh option, allowing districts to come up with their own turnaround ideas, then submit them to the U.S. Secretary of Education for approval.
Sen. Franken (D-MN), had several of his amendments accepted during the committee mark-up. One would give states the option of using computer-adaptive tests for accountability purposes under the law. Another amendment would require state education and welfare agencies to create a plan for how children in foster care can remain in their school of origin. This plan would include deciding who would pay for transportation to/from school for children in foster care.
Sen. Bingaman, (D-NM), introduced an amendment to reauthorize the Educational Technology State Grants, which helps states design technology programs. The program lost its authorization in the 2011 continuing resolution, and was eliminated under the bill. AASA was very supportive of this amendment and the restoration of this program.
An amendment by Sen. Isakson (R-GA) that would have removed the caps on the number of students taking the 1% and 2% tests was defeated. In the current bill, schools cannot give the 2% test, but can still give an alternate assessment to 1% of students with the most significant disabilities.
Several amendments that AASA supported were not voted on, but are expected to be re-introduced on the floor of the Senate. Three of these key amendments were introduced by Sen. Alexander. One would have eliminated the federal definition of “highly qualified teacher”, instead allowing states to determine the definition of highly qualified teacher. Another would have removed a provision in the bill requiring that states make continuous improvement, while another would eliminate the requirements and definition for states and locals to develop a plan to address schools with a persistent achievement gap.
For more detailed information on AASA’s positions on all the Senate Committee amendments, click here.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Comments are closed.