Compass Point
A Weekly Collection of Data, Articles and Insights from the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute
A project of the Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for Public Policy
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
CEPI in the News









Education Editorial: Fiscal Exigency
NBC 12 (WWBT)
October 5, 2014

"Tuition clearly has regressive characteristics. The greatest impact is upon those who can least afford it."

Cyber bully targets Henrico County middle school students
NBC 12 (WWBT)
(October 2, 2014)
Articles of Interest
State & Local Policy

UVA Faculty Seek to Boost STEM Education through NSF Grants
NBC 29 (WVIR)
October 6, 2014

A group of University of Virginia faculty members is looking at ways to boost science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the classroom. The initiative is being funded by a series of grants from the National Science Foundation.

Professors in the Curry School of Education are working on three research projects focused on the STEM fields. They say they are trying to address a critical shortage of both stem teachers and manpower of the workforce in these areas.

One project is geared on improving how math is taught in elementary schools. Researchers will follow 150 teachers for two years to evaluate their creation and execution of lesson plans.

State announces 2015 Virginia teachers of the year

Augusta Free Press
September 17, 2014
Eight educators today learned of their selection as 2015 Virginia Regional Teachers of the Year during surprise classroom visits and announcements made by their division superintendents — and in the case of a chesterfield county chemistry teacher — Governor Terry McAuliffe and Superintendent of Public Instruction Steven R. Staples.
“At the heart of Virginia’s national and international reputation for excellent and innovative public schools are thousands of smart and dedicated teachers who are epitomized by the eight recognized today as best of the best,”McAuliffe said after announcing the selection of James River High chemistry teacher Tara L. Brunyansky as the 2015 Region I Teacher of Year.

Federal Policy

Common Core: The Real Issues
Ed Week

There has been much Sturm und Drang about the Common Core in recent months, but it looks to me as though the Common Core, in most states, is safe for the time being. Its name may be changed in some states. It may suffer from nips and tucks on occasion, but in most states it will emerge into the highlands fairly unscathed.

But that, in my view, does not mean that it is home free. Far from it. The real test for the Common Core, the fire it must go through to become a permanent feature of the national education infrastructure, lies in the extent to which it is well and truly implemented in the states. Unfortunately, for that to happen, almost everything else has to change.

Was There a Student Loan Crisis in 2006?
EdCentral
October 1, 2014

Back in 2006, you would have been hard pressed to find a news story about student loans. It was, after all, the middle of an economic boom. That is in stark contrast to today when it seems everyone believes student loans are a big national problem. So what happens if you put the federal student loan portfolio of 2006 side-by-side with the portfolio today? Ok, yes it now tops $1 trillion in size compared to $441 billion back then. That has been the story about student loans for two years. But what about defaults, loans that remain unpaid for nearly a year? Surely they make up a much larger share today than during the boom times of 2006. Not so.

This information is not widely known because the U.S. Department of Education only started disclosing the repayment status of the federal student loan portfolio recently. A single year’s worth of information is now available. Otherwise the information has been locked away in a clunky federal database off-limits to anyone outside of the government—with one notable exception. Buried in the back of a 2007 Congressional Budget Office study (later appearing in a book) that used the restricted data to analyze student loan costs is a chart showing the repayment status of the loan portfolio in 2006. It offers a rare glimpse of the program during that time.
Football or the classroom - which is more important?

Early September always includes two significant events for most colleges and universities - the return of college football and the release of annual rankings from U.S. News and World Report.  The article linked above has the following lines about changes in the rankings (if you're interested, UVA held steady at 23rd; GMU rose 3 slots to 138th and VCU climbed 11 places to 156th):

Do these types of oscillations matter?

“Not really,” said Brian Kelly, editor of U.S. News. “But some people go crazy over very minute changes.”

The same words might be applied to college football.  Upshot, the data crunching blog for the NY Times, recently published a brightly colored map showing dominant college football fan bases based on Facebook data.  Most of Viriginia is evidently partial to the Virginia Tech Hokies with UVA holding a region around Charlottesville. 


What at first is a quick and fun reflection on where loyalties lie in our region may be worth deeper reflection in light of media coverage looking at what is driving up the cost of college for millions of young people and their families.  Which matters more, football or the classroom?

September is also the time when a list of the states highest paid employees is published and in many states, a college football coach is at the head.  A recent Newsday review of FBS head coaches compensation found the average salary among the 128 schools was $1.75 million (not counting perks and incentive benefits), an almost 75 percent increase over the past 7 years.  Others have argued that declines in public taxpayer support for higher ed have shifted universities toward greater competition for students, resulting in more lavish dorms, athletic arenas, student centers and other amenities.  At the same time, teaching faculty are increasingly non-tenure track (in 2009 only 33.5% of instructors were tenure track, compared to 78.3% in 1969 according to AGB).  Since 2009 the number of non-tenure track faculty has reached 76%.

This dilemma also plays out in September as a schools financial standing becomes more crystal clear as projected enrollment numbers become tuition payments in hand.  Dr. Bosher's weekly editorial reflects on such fiscal exigency and the impact on students. Along with uncertainty about state funding cuts, this has left a number of Virginia public universities uncertain about pay raises for faculty and funding for programs.  News stories have highlighted institutions like James Madison University where administration were able to budget for a 2% raise for faculty, to Virginia State University where significant enrollment drops forced signficant cuts in amenities and programs.  That incentive pay bonuses for top administration officials are often approved at the same time as overall budgets cuts can make for some awkward media reports.

Our poll snapshot this week shows whether folks in the Commonwealth feel that universities in the state are doing a good job on a number of objectives- to the credit of both faculty and administration, the answer is generally yes.   

Finally, we share an excerpt from Dr. Vacca's most recent Ed Law newsletter, which looks at recent case law regarding mandatory school uniforms.

Sincerely,
CEPI
Poll Snapshot:  Virginia colleges/universities doing a good job according to most respondents
National rankings are one measure of success by a university - one which can drive admissions.  But especially for public institutions that receive taxpayer funding so too is a positive rating from the general public.  The past two years we've asked a representative sample of Virginia residents whether they think Virginia colleges and universities do a good job at four different things.  Strong majorities said yes on all four, with the numbers trending upward from 2013 to 2014. 



























Beneath the positive banner numbers, there are also some interesting tidbits in the demographic breakdowns. 

  • Skills useful in obtaining a job:  Both Republicans (75%) and Democrats (73%) were more likely than Independents (60%) to feel that universities were doing a good job teaching those skills.  Likewise, women (76%) were more likely to feel colleges are doing a good job on this element than men (68%). 
  • Writing/Communication skills:  Those with incomes under $50,000 (71%) were more likely to rate colleges as doing well on this metric than were folks with household incomes over that amount (57%).
  • Preparing students for workforce needs of the future:  here again Independents (51%) split differently than either Democrats (71%) or Republicans (73%).

(To read the full results of the 2014 poll, visit our website. Question 18 is the question reported above - topline results are on page 33; crosstabs are on pages 63-66.)

Ed Law: Mandatory School Uniforms and the First Amendment - Policy Issues

Excerpted from Dr. Vacca's September Education Law Newsletter

"Frudden v. Pilling (9th Cir. 2014)
In a recent visit to the law library I came across a Nevada case in which parents of two elementary school students (a daughter in third grade, and a son in fifth grade) challenged a mandatory student uniform policy. I selected the case for review and comment because of a specific aspect of the policy that spawned the court challenge.

******

Recognizing that Frudden is but one case from one jurisdiction, the Ninth Circuit’s rationale is nonetheless instructive and yields information worth pondering where mandatory student uniform policies are being considered. What follow are suggestions gleaned from the Court’s opinion.

Local school system policies must make it clear that:
• The sole purpose of the mandatory student uniform policy is to maintain a safe, secure, and non-disrupted learning environment.

• While the Board recognizes that students do not shed their speech and expression rights at the schoolhouse door, the Board, its administrators, teachers, and other staff have a responsibility to implement the mandates of the uniform policy.

• Students who violate that policy will be subject to disciplinary action as enumerated in the Student Code of Conduct.

• All students in this school system will be required to wear solid colored bottoms and solid colored polo, or tee tops. Individual school logos on uniforms are optional.

• School uniforms shall not be altered in any way and no other logo, insignia, slogan or motto shall be permitted to appear on a school uniform.

• School uniforms are to be worn to school each school day, and at all official school activities and other functions—whether these functions or activities occur during the school day, after school, or on weekends.

• Parents shall be completely informed and involved in any incident involving their child and an infraction of the uniform policy."

To read the full newsletter, visit our website.