The Tail Wagging the Dog

On the heels of the president announcing major federal investment in education, state legislators are asserting that education policy needs to support innovations in the states.

A National Conference of State Legislatures’ task force of state legislators concluded that student achievement has not significantly improved with federal intervention. They released a report, “Education at a Crossroads: A New Path for Federal and State Education Policy," which includes a list of recommendations for the federal role in education reform efforts.

The report states the impact of federal policy is now grossly disproportionate to its contribution to the K-12 endeavor. Currently, federal resources now account for slightly more than 7 cents of every dollar. 

"The federal government’s 7% is the tail that wags the policy dog for the rest of the K-12 system. And it really is a case of the tail wagging the dog," NCSL's David Shreve was quoted as saying in the Capitol News Connection.

The NCSL task force offers recommendations for a more clearly defined and productive role for the federal government:

• Focus federal funding on those most at-risk. Use a research-based formula that emphasizes the neediest students instead of trying to make system-wide reforms with limited federal funds.
• Fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for special education programs and other services for children with disabilities. That would free $16 billion annually for states to use to reform and innovate at the state and local levels.
  Change the tax-credit provisions of school construction bonding laws. This also would free tens of billions of dollars in state and local resources that would otherwise be spent on debt-service for school bonds.
• Redirect the federal focus to research and reporting on what works and why. At the same time, don’t pick or mandate how and when “winning strategies” should be required by law or “encouraged” by withholding additional federal resources.

You can hear from the task force members. NCSL has posted its press event held at the National Press Conference in Washington, D.C. with Sen. Robert Plymale of West Virginia and Sen. Stephen Saland of News York who co-chair the education task force. Videos are also available from task force members Representative Rae Anne Kelsch of North Dakota and Senator Leticia Van de Putte of Texas. 

Comments

[James Kester]

I'm interested in tax credit/school bonding
provisions that assign the same FASB
(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
values to similar civic assets. Like schools which are open for public use only part of the fiscal year.
It's like tolling an interstate highway to
pay for other fiscal needs, like mass transit in a commonwealth or state. And
then, allowing local users of the toll road
free use of the public asset.
Leveraging public assets to collect revenue is a common practice. But, the "public" asset becomes a selective revenue tool
that is no longer representing the interests
of everybody it was designed to serve.
A school which remains idle for "summer
vacation" serves no one except an ancient
practice called collective bargaining.

What if the same practice were applied to
a bridge that closed for "summer vacation".
Like ferries which don't run during winter.

Now these same assets become derivatives.
And we all know where those standards led us.