Monday, September 26, 2011

Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Candidate Forum

On October 22nd elections will be held for seats on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), including Districts 1 and 2, which represent New Orleans. This is an important election for public schools in Louisiana, and particularly in New Orleans. The first task for the new BESE members will be to appoint a state superintendent of education, and, in the coming year BESE, in partnership with local school board members, education organizations, and state Representatives, will play a key role in determining how New Orleans public schools are to be governed.

A forum is being held on October 5th at Dillard University where the BESE candidates will answer questions regarding key education issues in New Orleans.

Click here for a flyer for the BESE elections forum.

Click here to read the Times-Picayune article on the importance of this election.

back to top

New Budgets Adopted

The new fiscal year (FY 2012) for public schools in New Orleans began on July 1, and both the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) and the Recovery School District (RSD) have adopted their 2011-2012 budgets.

OPSB adopted its consolidated budget on September 15.  The consolidated budget includes the general fund budget, which consists primarily of local and state funds.  It also includes the district’s special revenue fund, which consists primarily of federal dollars for district-run and charter schools, and it includes the capital fund.  To balance the general fund budget in FY 2012, OPSB will transfer $2 million from reserves, a decrease of 17 percent in the amount transferred for this purpose during the previous fiscal year.  OPSB’s budget may be viewed on the district’s website, here.

The RSD presented its FY 2012 budget to BESE in mid-August.  This year, the RSD presented a budget that covers all of its schools throughout the state rather than breaking out the RSD’s New Orleans budget separately.  This presentation makes comparison with the previous year difficult.  Further complicating the RSD’s budget picture is the fact that the district is not allowed to maintain separate “funds.”  Thus, all of the district’s funds that flow-through to charter schools and all of its construction dollars are rolled into a single budget along with the budget for school operations.  The RSD’s budget is not available online.

Charter schools follow the same fiscal year as the districts, meaning most schools adopted their budgets for FY 2012 during the past few months.  The Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) posts annual and quarterly budgets for Type 2 and Type 5 charter schools, although not immediately after the budgets are adopted.  Budgets for the 2010-2011 school year are available on LDE’s website, here.

back to top

Recovery School District Performance Audit Released

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor recently released a performance audit of the Louisiana Department of Education, Recovery School District (RSD).  The audit assesses the RSD’s performance regarding five objectives and offers recommendations to improve the RSD’s performance. The audit also includes the RSD’s response to the audit as an appendix.

Click here for the performance audit.

Click here for a Times-Picayune article on the audit.

back to top

Obama Plans to Grant Waivers from Parts of No Child Left Behind, Republicans Seek to Reauthorize Pieces

The Obama Administration plans to grant waivers from some parts of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) to states that agree to adopt certain policies. Currently, eighty percent of schools in the nation will fail to meet Adequate Yearly Progress under NCLB, which requires all children to perform at grade-level by 2014. States seeking a waiver from this requirement must adopt "college and career ready" academic standards, must sketch plans for transforming their lowest performing schools, and establish new ways to measure teacher and principal performance. Qualifying states may also replace NCLB's pass-fail report card system with innovative accountability systems in return for spending flexibility with federal education funding .

In response to the Obama Administration’s plans, top Senate Republicans are proposing legislation to improve NCLB by reauthorizing pieces of it. The Republican bill would clarify that the Department of Education has the authority to grant NCLB waivers but should not spell-out how states run and evaluate public schools. Also the Department’s authority to grant conditional waivers is expected to be challenged.

Click here for the Department of Education's NCLB waiver conditions.

Click here for a blog post from Ed Week on the waivers and the Republican bill.

back to top

Louisiana Wins Funding for Literacy Programs

Louisiana is one of six states that were recently awarded funding under the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program.  This competitive grant focuses on improving literacy outcomes for all children from birth through 12th grade.  Thirty-five states applied for funding. Louisiana was awarded $28.5 million, the majority of which will be targeted to K-12 students.  Ninety-five percent (95%) of the total award will be distributed to local school districts and early learning providers through a competitive process.

Click here to read the U.S. Department of Education press release on this program.

back to top

U.S. Department of Education Releases Requirements for Phase 3 of Race to the Top

The U.S. Department of Education released the requirements for Phase 3 of the Race to the Top competitive grant program. Phase 3 has $200 million in competitive grants for which only the Race to the Top finalists who were not awarded grants in Phase 1 or 2, which includes Louisiana and eight other states, may apply. Race to the Top is a federal competitive grant program designed to encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform. The Louisiana Department of Education has not announced its plans for Phase 3 yet.

Click here for more information.

back to top