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Articles of Interest
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State & Local Policy
Virginia schools’ sweet sales may rise again
The News Leader
February 22, 2015
Donuts are out, whole-wheat muffins in, and Virginia’s General Assembly is fed up: It wants to bring back the old sugary school bake sale.
Federal guidelines that took effect this school year have banished sales of nutritionally dubious treats to students during school hours. Anything sold while school is in session must meet the same nutritional guidelines as school lunch and breakfast.
That might be good for the fight against childhood obesity, but it has taken a big bite out of bake-sale proceeds at schools such as Brooke Point High School in Stafford County, where reduced-sugar, whole-grain muffins aren’t exactly selling like the glazed honey buns they replaced on the snack menu.
“Previously, we were allowed to sell whatever we wanted,” said Anne Jacobsen, a parent volunteer. “Since we’ve gone to the ‘smart snacks,’ sales have dropped by more than half. The kids just don’t want it.”
Hundreds sign ‘Better with Bedden’ petition to keep RPS superintendent
CBS 6 (WTVR)
February 23, 2015
In less than 24 hours, hundreds of people signed the “Better with Bedden” petition, an online petition that parents and supporters created Saturday in hopes of convincing Superintendent Dr. Dana Bedden to stay with Richmond Public Schools.
Susan Elliot, who volunteers in Richmond city schools, is one of the hundreds who signed the petition to keep Bedden.
Elliott said schools are lacking, some students are struggling and Richmond schools need Bedden.
Va. Senate: Home-schoolers can play public-school sports
Education Week
February 17, 2015
After years of failed attempts, the General Assembly has passed legislation to allow home-schooled students to participate in public-school sports.
A longtime goal of home-schoolers, the measure is commonly known as the "Tebow bill," named for Tim Tebow, the former NFL quarterback who was home-schooled and allowed to play football for his local high school. The measure has been repeatedly passed by the House of Delegates only to be killed in the state Senate.
Federal Policy
Preserving the federal role in encouraging and evaluating education innovation
Brookings Institute
February 19, 2015
With both houses of Congress moving apace to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the question is not whether the new legislation will reduce the federal government’s footprint in K-12 education; it assuredly will. The question is whether, in their understandable efforts to rein in Washington’s influence, legislators can preserve those elements of federal policy that stand to benefit students and taxpayers—particularly those that fulfill functions that would otherwise go unaddressed within our multi-layered system of education governance.
Among other problems, the letters often fail to distinguish between grants that don’t have to be repaid and loans, which do. They’re also “laden with jargon,” according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and “make it unnecessarily difficult to compare different financial aid awards side-by-side.”
But a two-year-old U.S. Department of Education effort to fix that problem by presenting this information on a simple, consistent form called the “Shopping Sheet” is “extremely confusing for students,” according to a new report by a Senate task force on higher-education regulation.
House Education Committee Vote On AP U.S. History Draws Nationwide Attention
KGOU (Oklahoma City)
February 18, 2015
House Speaker Jeff Hickman (R-Fairview) says no decision has been made about whether or not a controversial bill that directs the State Board of Education to adopt a new program to replace the Advanced Placement U.S. history course and test will be heard by the full chamber.
The bill passed out of the House Common Education Committee Monday on an 11-4 vote. State Rep. Dan Fisher (R-Yukon) defended his measure on Wednesday, saying he's not trying to get rid of AP U.S. history courses, but is concerned the new coursework for Oklahoma high school students paints an incomplete picture of the nation's history.
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Are colleges and universities doing a good job?
Most university students are about half way through their Spring semester, which means they've probably just taken a few mid-term exams. In the same spirit of assessing how things are going, we wanted to focus this week's Compass Point on the performance of higher education in the commonwealth.
Assessing higher education outcomes can be a tricky undertaking. There are no common standards for accreditation of universities because accreditation is carried out by a complex mix of federally recognized bodies. Additionally, both universities and individual professors within a university often have significant discretion in deciding what to teach in their classrooms. (For a run down on current system, see this Heritage Foundation report.) Some believe that this limits the ability of higher ed institutions to change the way they operate. According to the Washington Post, about half the states in the U.S. have developed funding incentives for state schools based on certain performance requirements. (The map below gives a picture of which states have run with this idea.)
Others, including a recent piece in the Washington Post magazine, argue that higher education is ripe for disruption from new technologies and credentialling arrangements. Our contribution to assessing the performance of higher ed in Virginia is our poll - essentially, do Virginians think colleges and universities are doing a good job? We were privileged to share the results of the poll with both the House Education Committee and the monthly meeting of college presidents with the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV). The results of several higher ed performance questions are summarized in this week's poll snapshot.
Also this week, David Blount recaps recent action at the GA in his weekly update on the General Assembly. (Weekly updates are posted to the website each Monday detailing the progress of education related budget and legislation.)
Sincerely,
CEPI
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Poll Snapshot - Performance in Higher Education
Amid continued concerns about college affordability and value for price, public evaluation of the quality of three options for pursuing higher education is increasingly relevant. Strong majorities of Virginians think both four-year colleges and universities and community colleges are offering a quality education. Eighty percent say the quality of education at a four-year institution is good or excellent. Likewise, 78% say the same about community colleges.
However, internet-based programs, where the degree is completed entirely online, received more mixed reviews. A narrow plurality of respondents, 44%, rated the educational quality of internet-based programs as either fair or poor, while 43% rated them as either excellent or good. Thirteen percent said they don’t know or declined to respond, potentially indicating that internet-based programs are still a less known option. Among different demographic groups, those with a H.S. diploma or less (48%) or some college (46%), as well as minority respondents (52%), more frequently evaluated online higher-education programs as being good or excellent.
When it comes to specific outcomes, strong majorities say Virginia colleges and universities are doing a good job in all four areas examined. Seventy-two percent of Virginians say colleges and universities are doing a good job in producing graduates in scientific fields and 69% said the same about providing the skills that will be useful in obtaining a job. Sixty-five percent say the state schools do a good job preparing students for the workforce needs for the future. A slightly smaller majority (62%) thinks they are doing a good job developing students’ writing and communication skills.
Different age groups evaluated higher education outcomes somewhat differently. Respondents in the 18-34 year-old group were significantly more positive about the performance of colleges and universities in the areas of producing graduates in the scientific fields (81% said good job) and in developing students’ writing and communication skills (76% said good job). This was different from other age groups, with the gap in perception being greatest when compared to respondents 65 or older where only 47% felt colleges were doing a good job at developing students’ writing and communication skills.
To read the full poll, visit our website.
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General Assembly Update - Week 5
A conference committee of senior legislators is working to reach a compromise spending plan for the remainder of the current biennium. The members are meeting now and through the weekend to resolve differences between their respective spending plans by the first to middle part of next week. Members of the budget conference committee are as follows: Delegates Jones, Landes, Cox, O’Bannon, Greason and Joannou; and Senators Stosch, Colgan, Howell, Norment, Hanger and Watkins.
Governor McAuliffe announced late last week that January revenue declined by 1.1 percent, attributable in part to one less deposit day and tax refunds being greater during the month. However, on a fiscal year-to-date basis, total revenue collections are up 5.3 percent, ahead of the forecast of 3.1 percent growth. This past Monday, the governor announced an additional $136 million in anticipated state budget revenues as a result of the final mid-session analysis, on top of the $338 million revenue increase he announced earlier this month. The latest bump is attributable to additional information on retail sales tax collections for the holiday shopping season and final individual income tax estimated payments for 2014. The House budget plan approved last week anticipated about $378 million more in revenue than projected by the spending plan introduced by Governor McAuliffe, while the approved Senate plan estimated $430 million more.
Recall that the House and Senate budget proposals both contain funding and flexibility to provide the state share of a pay increase for school instructional and support personnel. Also, both would pay down even more of the unfunded teacher liability than the introduced budget, which included $150 million from the sale of unclaimed property stock to offset a portion of the unfunded teacher liability. This will result in both State and local savings.
Click here for a State Superintendent’s memo that contains additional details on the proposed House and Senate amendments to the budget.
Education Legislation
With this past week’s winter weather, it is timely to note in this report that SB 1021 passed the General Assembly on Wednesday. The bill permits the Board of Education (BOE) to add closings related to severe weather conditions or other emergency situations to the current list of reasons for which school divisions can be relieved of providing additional teaching days or hours to compensate for school closings resulting from a declared state of emergency.
The General Assembly also has approved HB 324 to establish the Virginia Virtual School for the purpose of providing online educational programs and services. For each student enrolled, the average per-pupil share of state SOQ funding would be transferred to the virtual school. The bill must be passed again in 2016 in order for it to become effective.
Bills to reform the A to F grading system are nearing passage. HB 1672 and SB 727 have been reconciled to repeal the system and require the BOE, in consultation with the Standards of Learning (SOL) Innovation Committee, to redesign the School Performance Report Card by July 1, 2016."
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