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Congressional ESEA Hearings Reveal Support for and Pose Questions About Obama’s Blueprint

March 22, 2010—Last week both the Senate and the House education committees held hearings with Secretary Duncan regarding the Obama Administration’s blueprint for reauthorizing the ESEA. Of course, many discussions have been happening behind closed doors between the committee members and Secretary Duncan, so the blueprint was not a complete surprise to them. Overall, both committees showed support for the ideas outlined in the plan. One of the most praised aspects is the fact that the Obama blueprint intends to give more flexibility and control back to state and local education entities. However, the legislators were quick to point out that Congress writes the law and that the blueprint is not the only input they are seeking. Below are highlights from the hearings.

House and Senate Highlights

1. Unsurprisingly, no one brought up instructional materials during either hearing. The closest anyone came was House Committee Chair Miller, during his opening remarks, stating that he would like a law that treats teachers with professionalism, including giving them the right tools to do their jobs.
2. Representative Kline, the Ranking Republican on the House Committee, said that the republicans are using four guiding principles in the reauthorization: Restoring local controls, Empowering parents, Letting teachers teach, and Protecting the taxpayers.
3. In fact, most of both discussions centered on the blueprint’s call for effective teachers and effective principals. There were many questions about the definition, training, compensation, and evaluation systems.
4. The other overall contentious area is funding with two key points: 1. By making some formula programs (literacy, title I) into competitive grants, are they not depriving many students of funding for these programs? and 2. What happens to the noble ambitions of the blueprint if during the appropriations and budget process the Dept. of Ed. does not get what it needs to fully fund these programs?
5. Next, in the House they talked about how this blueprint is “the next big thing,” which is what NCLB was after the previous “big thing.” In other words, the representatives want to know that these proposals are sustainable. Educators have told their representatives that they are looking for long-term support for any reauthorization mandates.
6. Finally, many House and Senate members brought up serving the needs of diverse children (minority, homeless, special needs). Since this was only a blueprint, Secretary Duncan didn’t have much to say except that those children were not going to be ignored.

Secretary Duncan’s Highlights

1. Individual growth and formative assessments: in other words, instead of measuring every child by the same standard, he wants assessments to look at the growth of the individual child. He would like assessments that measure a child’s skills as they move through the curriculum at each step, providing teachers with instantaneous feedback that will help them teach and engage the child.
2. Similarly, when talking about teachers evaluations, he wanted to be clear that it wouldn’t simply be a numbers game based on standardized tests. For example, he said that if a student enters a teacher’s class 3 years behind grade level and leaves only one year behind, that is tremendous progress. Even though the student is not at grade level according to a standardized test, the teacher has truly helped that child and should be acknowledged/rewarded.
3. Whether they are the common core standards or university-approved ones, Duncan made it clear that states need to focus on creating and implementing higher standards. He cited statistics regarding the U.S. falling behind other countries in academics and talked about the goal of developing college- and career-ready students.
4. Duncan used the Harlem Children’s Zone as a key example of a successful neighborhood school. Duncan called on the legislators and educators to stop pointing fingers at each other over which grades get more attention and money and to look at the continuum of education from birth throughout adulthood. He also talked a lot about parental involvement.
5. He talked about being tight on the goals with local flexibility. In other words, NCLB was too heavy-handed, punitive, and prescriptive from the federal government. The new ESEA will not be a prescription for success, but a means for achieving it. His three goals are: 1. Raise standards. 2. Reward excellence and growth. 3. Increase local control and flexibility while maintaining the focus on equity and closing achievement gaps.

Key Buzzwords

• College- and career-ready standards
• Community schools, neighborhood schools
• Growth models
• Effective teachers and principals
• Innovation
• Globally competitive

AEP plans to submit comments on the ESEA to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

More Information

The Obama Administration’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization Blueprint
The House Committee on Education and Labor

Full Committee Hearing – ESEA Reauthorization: The Obama Administration’s ESEA Reauthorization Priorities
Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pension

A Blueprint for Reform: Reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

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