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1) EIA Exclusive: NEA Looking
to Settle NCLB Lawsuit. Remember
Pontiac v. Spellings? It's the lawsuit that the National Education
Association and a handful of school districts filed against the U.S.
Department of Education in April 2005 claiming the No Child Left Behind Act
was an unfunded federal mandate.
Despite evidence that
NEA's general counsel had his own doubts about the legal principles
involved, the union pursued the case to the U.S. Sixth District Court of
Appeals, where it has sat without decision for almost a year.
Well, we have a Democrat in the White
House now, so NEA decided to recalculate the benefits of continuing to seek
legal remedies. Sources within NEA tell EIA that the union is in
negotiations with the U.S. Department of Education in an attempt to reach a
settlement of the case.
NEA seems to feel that the lawsuit's
objectives have largely been met, though that feeling is difficult to square
with the
union's reaction to the Race to the Top guidelines issued by the Obama
administration. It also remains to be seen what, if anything, the
administration would have to sacrifice to settle a moribund lawsuit.
2) District Spending Tables Revived.
There were many delays, from the Census Bureau
release of the raw data to the posting of the final product, but
EIA's famous district enrollment, hiring and spending tables for 13,836
operating public school districts in the United States are available for
your perusal.
The tables contain four numbers for each
district for the 2006-07 school year (the most recent year for which
comprehensive statistics are available): K-12 enrollment, full-time
equivalent teachers, per-pupil spending, and spending per-pupil on employee
compensation. The tables also include the changes (up or down) in those
figures from five years previous.
A few highlights:
* The New York City school district
dropped below 1 million students, but increased staffing to nearly 71,000
teachers. Spending over the 2002-2007 period increased more than 45 percent.
* Six of the 10 largest districts saw a
decrease in enrollment and a seventh, Broward County in Florida, experienced
only a 0.3% increase in five years.
* Most of the fastest growing districts
(more than 20% increase in enrollment) have kept pace or greatly exceeded
that growth in teacher hiring.
* In 2006-07, sixteen states spent more
than $10,000 per pupil. EIA estimates that seven more states, plus the
national average, exceed the $10,000 level today.
All the per-pupil spending figures are
based on full enrollment, which are considerably less than those based on
average daily attendance (ADA). Think of it this way: spending based on
enrollment assumes every student shows up for school every day. Spending
based on ADA corrects for the number of students who are absent on an
average day.
3) Contract Hits.
Wherein we highlight a contract provision from the current agreement between
the National Education Association and its largest staff union. This is
Article 28, Section 2:
" During the term of this contract, a
total of 500* hours of time off, with pay, every contract year shall be
granted to employees designated by the Union for Union business. Unused
balances may be carried over to the following contract year."
*The latest contract provision allows
700 release time hours for 2009, 1,000 for 2010 and 700 for 2011.
4) Last Week's Intercepts.
EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from October 5-12:
*
NEA Sends $200,000 to Washington to Fight Initiative 1033. Because
limiting spending increases to population growth and inflation would be
"devastating."
* Kansas
NEA on ObamaCare: Never Heard of It. Will health insurance cover
collective amnesia?
* I
Am a Fugitive from a (Bicycle) Chain Gang. A peloton of nincompoops.
* Click
Here for Related Items. Supporting material for last week's communiqué.
* Who
Lost the Boston Globe? Deserting the sinking ship.
5) Quote of the Week #1.
"I'll be the first to admit I was one of the staunchest opponents [of
charters] and waged a real battle in my own school district in Central
Islip. The world has changed since then. Charter schools are established." –
New York State United Teachers President Richard Iannuzzi. (October 9
New York Post)
Quote of the Week #2.
"Buffalo is 'oversaturated' with charter schools, and the state should be
more demanding when it is asked to create new charter schools here or to
relicense existing ones, the president of New York State’s teachers union
said here Wednesday. 'I would say Buffalo has, unfortunately, more than
reached a saturation point,' said Richard Iannuzzi, president of New York
State United Teachers. 'It makes it almost a side-by-side school district,
and you can't function like that.'" – from the October 8
Buffalo News.
Quote of the Week #3.
"The upshot of Mr. Iannuzzi's presentation yesterday is: there's too many
charter schools, I don't want any more, but if they show up I want their
money!" – Peter Murphy, director of policy and communications for the New
York Charter Schools Association. (October 8
The Chalkboard) |
