Renewing an effort to strengthen middle level education as a way to increase high school graduation rates, Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) have reintroduced the Success in the Middle Act (H.R. 3006/S. 1362). Although there was strong support to pass the legislation as part of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, action on all education bills was postponed during the 110^th Congress.

“Middle schools are a forgotten area,” said Congressman Grijalva. “We need to invest in the most crucial years of the education pipeline to ensure our students succeed. Middle school students are faced with many changes in their personal life and the pressures of adjusting into teenagers. Our schools need to invest in this transitional period, to create the support mechanism these students will need to continue through high school and on to other higher education opportunities.”

"There has been significant focud during K-12 reform discussions regarding high school reform, and while there is no doubt that this is an essential component of improving our education system, addressing dropout prevention must begin earlier," said Sen. Reed in a statement on the Senate floor. "As one of the leading experts in the area of middle and high school reform, Robert Balfanz has stated, middle schools are the 'first line of defense' in identifying at-risk students and then effectively intervening to prevent them from dropping out."

NASSP worked with the National Middle School Association, the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, and a number of other education groups to draft the Success in the Middle Act, and the bill incorporates many of the recommendations outlined in Breaking Ranks in the Middle. Specifically, the bill would:

• Authorize $1 billion annually for grants to local school districts to improve low-performing schools that contain middle grades.
• Require states receiving grants to implement a plan that describes what students are required to know and do to successfully complete the middle grades and transition to and succeed in an academically rigorous high school that prepares them for postsecondary education and the workplace
• Require states to develop early warning and intervention systems to identify those students most at-risk of dropping out and intervene appropriately to help them succeed.
• Encourage states and districts to invest in proven strategies, such as: 1) Providing professional development and coaching to school leaders, teachers and other school personnel in addressing the needs of diverse learners and in using challenging and relevant research-based best practices and curriculum; 2) Developing and implementing comprehensive, school-wide improvement efforts in eligible schools; and 3) Implementing student supports, such as extended learning time and personal academic plans that enable all students to stay on the path to graduation.
• Authorizes an additional $100 million to facilitate the generation, dissemination, and application of research to identify promising practices in middle grades education, as well as review existing research on middle grades education practices.

Take action! As a school leader, you are in a prime position to educate your members of Congress about the needs of middle level schools and their students. Please visit the Principal's Legislative Action Center and urge your representative and senators to cosponsor the Success in the Middle Act.

Posted by Amanda Karhuse at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A bill to require stricter regulation of tobacco products and to limit their advertising near schools was signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 22. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256) was first considered by Congress at this time last year but, the House and Senate were unable to reach a consensus on the legislation before the end of the 110^th Congress.

At the bill’s public signing ceremony, President Obama said, “This legislation is a victory for bipartisanship, and it was passed overwhelmingly in both Houses of Congress. It’s a victory for health care reform, as it will reduce some of the billions we spend on tobacco-related health care costs in this country. It’s a law that will reduce the number of American children who pick up a cigarette and become adult smokers. And most importantly, it is a law that will save American lives and make Americans healthier.”

“We are so pleased that President Obama has signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act,” said NASSP Executive Director Gerald N. Tirozzi. “Every day, nearly 4,000 young people under the age of 18 try smoking for the first time, and an estimated 1,100 young people become daily cigarette smokers, which is of great concern to school leaders.”

For the first time ever, the legislation would give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products. In addition, the bill would take a number of steps to help prevent children from trying tobacco products, including:

• restricting all outdoor advertising of tobacco products within 1,000 feet of schools or playgrounds;
• banning tobacco-brand sponsorships or events;
• prohibiting the use of candy flavorings such as strawberry, vanilla, or mint in cigarettes; and
• requiring stronger visual health warnings on cigarette packaging.

The NASSP Board of Directors recently revised a position statement on the marketing of tobacco to children and youth, which states that “approximately 20% of all high school students and 8% of all middle level students are current smokers, and this number has remained unchanged since 2003.” Recommendations for principals include educating and mentoring students about the dangers of tobacco and how to resist social influences to smoke, prohibiting smoking by anyone on school grounds, and providing anti-smoking education to all students.

To read the position statement, go to www.principals.org/tobaccomarketing.

Posted by Amanda Karhuse at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Rep. John Kline (R-TN) recently replaced Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) as the highest-ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee. McKeon left the committee to become the ranking Republican of the House Armed Services Committee.

Kline has served on the committee since his election to Congress in 2002, and was most recently the ranking Republican of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, which focuses on employer-worker relations.

Over the years, Kline has been a strong advocate for special education, repeatedly calling on the federal government to fulfill its promise in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to fund 40% of the national Average per Pupil Expenditure for students in special education. (Excluding the one-time infusion of funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government’s share of special education funding stands at about 16.6%.)

Kline pressed U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on this issue when Duncan appeared before the House Education and Labor Committee to discuss the administration’s FY 2010 budget request, saying, “The federal government was supposed to provide 40% of the funding [for special education]; it has never come close…Frankly, Mr. Secretary, I was surprised when this budget came out that you haven’t done anything about increasing that funding for special education.”

Kline later continued that “If we would fund IDEA to the extent that we’re supposed to, to the extent that we’re obligated to, we would help every school district in America. It seems to me that…we ought to be able to agree across party lines, across branches of government, that [the IDEA funding shortfall is] an obligation that we ought to meet.”

Prior to Congress, Kline spent 25 distinguished years in the U.S. Marine Corps, which included service as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, and the commander of all Marine aviation forces in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia.

Posted by Mark Ames, NASSP Gov't Relations Mgr at 03:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Comment on the poll.

Imagine you get a call from a state health official informing you that you must evacuate the building, close your doors, and allow no one on campus...for an indefinite period of time--days, weeks, perhaps months. Would your school be prepared to continue to deliver the curriculum?

This was the very situation in which principal Rick Herrig found himself several months back. A veteran U.S. principal, Herrig had just made a change and was enjoying his first year as principal at an American school in Mexico City. Then came the H1N1 flu scare and Herrig was told that no one should be allowed on campus. Herrig discusses his experience in the most recent School Leader's Review podcast and his tale offers a lesson to school leaders everywhere.

Herrig's school now includes remote delivery of curriculum as part of its crisis preparedness plan. Does yours? If you have not already done so, please take the current Principal's Poll at www.principals.org and leave your comments below.

Posted by Bob Farrace at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)