The House Education and Labor Committee today approved legislation supported by NASSP that would establish minimum federal standards on the use of seclusion and restraint in schools similar to those currently in place for hospitals and non-medical community-based facilities.

 

The Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247) would prohibit the use of physical restraint or seclusion unless a student’s behavior poses an imminent danger of physical injury to the student, school personnel, or others. Only those school personnel who have been trained and certified by a state-approved training program could impose physical restraint or seclusion except in “rare and clearly unavoidable emergency circumstances.” Schools would also be required to notify parents after incidents when restraint or seclusion was used.

 

States would have two years to ensure they are in compliance with the federal standards and could apply for a grant to fund professional development, training, and certification for school personnel to meet the standards. They could also use the funding to develop training programs for implementing systematic approaches to schoolwide positive behavior supports.

 

“This bill makes clear that there is no place in our schools for abuse and torture,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “The egregious abuse of a child should not be considered less criminal because it happens in a classroom—It should be the opposite. I’m proud that this bill has bipartisan support and I hope the full House will vote on it soon.”

 

 

“Principals will be supported by passage of the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act as states are required not only to comply with the federal standards but also to provide support and training to educators in this area,” said John Nori, NASSP Director of Program Development. “Currently, many schools across America have no trained staff in this area and few or no resources for professional development, as this is typically one of the first things cut in tough budgets times.”

 

 

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) has introduced a companion bill (S. 2860) in the Senate, but there has been no committee action to date.

Posted by Amanda Karhuse at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In his fiscal year 2011 budget request to Congress, President Barack Obama has called for a dedicated funding stream of $170 million for the recruitment, preparation, and retention of effective principals and school leadership teams.

The proposed funding would come under a new Excellent Instructional Teams program that would consolidate several existing programs, including the School Leadership program and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants program, which currently provide the bulk of federal funding for principal training and professional development under Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

“The new investment for principals shows that federal policymakers are beginning to see the light on school leadership,” said NASSP Executive Director Gerald N. Tirozzi. “The need for high quality, effective school leaders is absolutely critical to school improvement efforts. For countless years NASSP has called for a dedicated funding stream to assist principals in their endeavor towards constant improvement. The president’s proposal represents a major step forward, and the next steps will be critical for principals and their schools. NASSP looks forward to working with Congress and the administration to ensure that school leaders receive the help they need to take their schools, students, and profession to the next level.”

While the administration is proposing many new changes, they are making it clear that funding already approved for current federal programs, such as the School Leadership program, would continue without interruption.

Going forward however, the administration is proposing significant overall alterations to how federal dollars are awarded; moving away from the formula-driven grants that have characterized programs for years, towards competitive grants, where funds are awarded to those states and districts that show the most promise for reform and improvement.

Senior officials at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) were quick to note, however, that a greater focus on competitive grants would not result in a bias for or against certain states or districts, nor would it for urban versus rural areas.

Major New Funding Proposed

Several critical programs have been proposed for significant increases. Amongst them is the Striving Readers program, which would be consolidated with several other federal literacy programs to create a new comprehensive pre-K through grade 12 literacy program that would be funded at $450 million. This represents an overall increase of $36.7 million for federal literacy programs, and builds on the $214.6 million increase congress provided last year to expand the Striving Readers program.

NASSP has championed the effort to create a strong, comprehensive reading program, and we are extremely pleased that the administration continues to recognize the critical role that literacy instruction plays at all levels of the pre-K through grade 12 pipeline.

Similarly, the School Improvement Grants program would receive a significant increase in funding from $545.6 million in FY 2010 to $900 in FY 2011. The addition funds would be used to further ED’s goal of turning around low-performing schools.

NASSP will continue to provide full coverage of the budget and appropriations processes; check back here soon for a complete description of proposed funding levels and policy changes for several other key programs.

Posted by Amanda Karhuse at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New legislation introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and 60 original cosponsors would extend civil rights protections to public school students who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). Upon its introduction in late January, the Student Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 4530) or “SNDA” was celebrated by civil rights and education groups alike.

SNDA would establish a federal prohibition on discrimination in public schools that is based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. It would also provide victims of such harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence with more effective legal recourse in federal courts.

“Every student has the right to an education free from harassment and violence,” said Polis, a former chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education and current member of the House Education and Labor Committee. In a press release, Polis contended that his legislation “puts LGBT students on an equal footing with their peers, so they can attend school and get a quality education, free from fear.”

Current federal statutes specifically prohibit discrimination in public schools on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, disability or national origin, but sexual orientation and gender identity have not been expressly addressed until now. SNDA would extend protections to LGBT students based on those found in Title IX, which deals with gender discrimination. That would make adherence to the new protections a requirement for the delivery of federal funds and grants. Additionally, targeted LGBT students and their families would be able to assert a violation of the law when seeking remedies against discrimination in court.

Surveys indicate that as many as nine out of ten LGBT students have been the victims of bullying or harassment based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that a majority of these students feel unsafe at school as a result. Repeated discriminatory treatment has been linked to high rates of absenteeism, disengagement, and academic underachievement among LGBT students. For some students, there are even more serious consequences. As stated in a letter signed by Polis and other proponents of the legislation, “left unchecked, discrimination can lead, and has led, to life-threatening violence and to suicide.”

“A safe and secure learning environment is vital to the educational success of all students,” said NASSP Executive Director Gerald N. Tirozzi. “This legislation will enhance the ability of teachers and administrators to deliver a valuable education in public schools that are free of bullying, harassment and other forms of harmful discrimination.”

Posted by Michael Riddile at 02:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

States across the country have broken down barriers to linking student achievement or growth data to teacher and principal evaluations, and have scaled up the number of charter schools that can exist in a state – all of which are priorities of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and were accomplished without ED having to spend a single dollar of the $4.3 billion Race to the Top Fund.

Created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1), the Race to the Top Fund is being used by ED to drive certain education reforms that it believes are key to advancing student achievement.

Inspired by this progress, President Barack Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced plans on January 19 to expand the Race to the Top program by $1.3 billion and to allow local school districts to compete for the grants. The announcement came on the same day that state applications for Phase 1 of the Race to the Top Funds were due. In total, 40 states and the District of Columbia submitted applications. Finalists will be notified on or around March 1, and winners of the Phase 1 competition will be announced in early April. ED has not pre-determined either the size or number of grants that will be awarded in Phase 1 or 2. Rather, the number of grants will depend on the quality of the applications and the size of the grants awarded. The size of a winners’ grant will be based on a number of factors, including a detailed review of the proposed activities, the level of district participation, and state population.

The decision of state-level policymakers to reject some reform efforts in light of district-level support in places such as Texas was also a factor in the proposed expansion of the program, said President Obama at a press event.

“By launching a Race to the Top among school districts, and by applying the principles of Race to the Top to other federal programs, we'll build on [its success],” said President Obama. “We're going to raise the bar for all our students and take bigger steps towards closing the achievement gap that denies so many students, especially black and Latino students, a fair shot at their dreams.”

The proposed expansion will be included in the FY 2011 budget request that is submitted to Congress on February 1, and then it must be approved through the annual appropriations process. Duncan said that he cannot be certain of any of the final details of the expansion, including the actual funds that will be available or the structure of the new program until after congressional approval.

In the meantime, and over the next four to six months, Duncan said that he and his staff will be traveling around the country, meeting with principals, teachers, and other educational leaders and stakeholders to discuss what activities should be included in the proposed Race to the Top expansion that would help push innovation at the local level.

NASSP submitted comments to ED in 2009 on how the Race to the Top Fund could be improved, and over the next several months we will work with Congress and ED to ensure that our concerns and recommendations are addressed.

Posted by Mark Ames, NASSP Gov't Relations Mgr at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)