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+
+ - THE BUDGET AND POLICY PROPOSALS OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
+
+[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
+[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
+
+
+
+
+ THE BUDGET AND POLICY PROPOSALS OF
+ THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
+
+=======================================================================
+
+
+ HEARING
+
+ before the
+
+ COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
+ AND THE WORKFORCE
+ U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
+
+ ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
+
+ FIRST SESSION
+
+ __________
+
+ HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MARCH 9, 2011
+
+ __________
+
+ Serial No. 112-9
+
+ __________
+
+ Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce
+
+
+
+ Available via the World Wide Web:
+ http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/house/education/index.html
+ or
+ Committee address: http://edworkforce.house.gov
+
+
+
+
+ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
+64-795 WASHINGTON : 2011
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
+Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC
+area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC
+20402-0001
+
+
+
+ COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
+
+ JOHN KLINE, Minnesota, Chairman
+
+Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin George Miller, California,
+Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, Senior Democratic Member
+ California Dale E. Kildee, Michigan
+Judy Biggert, Illinois Donald M. Payne, New Jersey
+Todd Russell Platts, Pennsylvania Robert E. Andrews, New Jersey
+Joe Wilson, South Carolina Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott,
+Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Virginia
+Duncan Hunter, California Lynn C. Woolsey, California
+David P. Roe, Tennessee Ruben Hinojosa, Texas
+Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania Carolyn McCarthy, New York
+Tim Walberg, Michigan John F. Tierney, Massachusetts
+Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio
+Richard L. Hanna, New York David Wu, Oregon
+Todd Rokita, Indiana Rush D. Holt, New Jersey
+Larry Bucshon, Indiana Susan A. Davis, California
+Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona
+Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania Timothy H. Bishop, New York
+Kristi L. Noem, South Dakota David Loebsack, Iowa
+Martha Roby, Alabama Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii
+Joseph J. Heck, Nevada
+Dennis A. Ross, Florida
+Mike Kelly, Pennsylvania
+[Vacant]
+
+ Barrett Karr, Staff Director
+ Jody Calemine, Minority Staff Director
+
+
+
+ C O N T E N T S
+
+ ----------
+ Page
+
+Hearing held on March 9, 2011.................................... 1
+
+Statement of Members:
+ Foxx, Hon. Virginia, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of North Carolina, questions submitted for the record 59
+ Hanna, Hon. Richard L., a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of New York, questions submitted for the record...... 60
+ Kline, Hon. John, Chairman, Committee on Education and the
+ Workforce.................................................. 1
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 3
+ Questions submitted for the record....................... 56
+ McCarthy, Hon. Carolyn, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of New York, questions submitted for the record...... 61
+ Miller, Hon. George, senior Democratic member, Committee on
+ Education and the Workforce................................ 4
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 6
+ Noem, Hon. Kristi L., a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of South Dakota, questions submitted for the record.. 60
+ Payne, Hon. Donald M., a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of New Jersey, submission for the record:
+ Towns, Hon. Edolphus, a Representative in Congress from
+ the State of New York, prepared statement of........... 7
+ Petri, Hon. Thomas E., a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of Wisconsin, questions submitted for the record..... 58
+ Rokita, Hon. Todd, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of Indiana, questions submitted for the record....... 60
+ Scott, Hon. Robert C. ``Bobby,'' a Representative in Congress
+ from the State of Virginia, questions submitted for the
+ record..................................................... 60
+
+Statement of Witnesses:
+ Duncan, Hon. Arne, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education... 8
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 12
+ Responses to questions submitted......................... 63
+
+
+ THE BUDGET AND POLICY PROPOSALS OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
+
+ ----------
+
+
+ Wednesday, March 9, 2011
+
+ U.S. House of Representatives
+
+ Committee on Education and the Workforce
+
+ Washington, DC
+
+ ----------
+
+ The committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:39 p.m., in room
+2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John Kline [chairman
+of the committee] presiding.
+ Present: Representatives Kline, Petri, McKeon, Biggert,
+Platts, Foxx, Hunter, Roe, Thompson, Walberg, DesJarlais,
+Hanna, Bucshon, Gowdy, Barletta, Noem, Roby, Heck, Kelly,
+Miller, Kildee, Payne, Andrews, Scott, Woolsey, Hinojosa,
+Tierney, Kucinich, Wu, Holt, Davis, Grijalva, Bishop, Loebsack,
+and Hirono.
+ Staff Present: Katherine Bathgate, Press Assistant; James
+Bergeron, Director of Education and Human Services Policy;
+Colette Beyer, Press Secretary--Education; Kirk Boyle, General
+Counsel; Casey Buboltz, Coalitions and Member Services
+Coordinator; Heather Couri, Deputy Director of Education and
+Human Services Policy; Daniela Garcia, Professional Staff
+Member; Ed Gilroy, Director of Workforce Policy; Jimmy Hopper,
+Legislative Assistant; Amy Raaf Jones, Education Policy Counsel
+and Senior Advisor; Barrett Karr, Staff Director; Brian Melnyk,
+Legislative Assistant; Brian Newell, Press Secretary-Labor;
+Mandy Schaumburg, Education and Human Services Oversight
+Counsel; Alex Sollberger, Communications Director; Linda
+Stevens, Chief Clerk/Assistant to the General Counsel; Alissa
+Strawcutter, Deputy Clerk; Tylease Alli, Minority Hearing
+Clerk; Jody Calemine, Minority Staff Director; John English,
+Minority Presidential Fellow; Jamie Fasteau, Minority Deputy
+Director of Education Policy; Ruth Friedman, Minority Director
+of Education Policy; Brian Levin, Minority New Media Press
+Assistant; Kara Marchione, Minority Senior Education Policy
+Advisor; Megan O'Reilly, Minority General Counsel; Julie
+Peller, Minority Deputy Staff Director; Helen Pajcic, Minority
+Education Policy Advisor; Alexandria Ruiz, Minority
+Administrative Assistant to Director of Education Policy;
+Melissa Salmanowitz, Minority Press Secretary; and Laura
+Schifter, Minority Senior Education and Disability Advisor.
+ Chairman Kline. A quorum being present the committee will
+come to order.
+ Well, good afternoon to our guests, and welcome back,
+Secretary Duncan, to the Education and the Workforce Committee.
+It is nice to have you back. We realize your time is valuable
+and we appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today
+regarding the President's budget proposal and the current state
+of education in the Nation.
+ Our country is facing a historic fiscal crisis. After years
+of neglect and mismanagement, our national debt has exceeded
+$14 trillion and continues to climb at a rapid pace. Despite
+this year's projected budget deficit of $1.6 trillion, the
+administration has put forward a plan for the next decade that
+includes $8.7 trillion in new spending, $1.5 trillion in new
+taxes, and $13 trillion in new debt. Proposing a budget that
+once again spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too
+much is not the kind of leadership that America deserves.
+ I am disappointed to see this lack of leadership in the
+administration's budget proposal for the Department of
+Education which includes a request for $48.8 billion in so-
+called ``non-Pell discretionary spending.'' This is a new term
+of phrase for Washington, and it attempts to conceal the true
+costs associated with the proposal. Behind this gimmick lies an
+additional request for $28.6 billion in discretionary spending
+for the Pell Grant program as well as $12.6 billion in
+mandatory costs, a total request of $41.2 billion for the
+program.
+ Here is the bottom line. The Department is asking to spend
+nearly $90 billion during the next fiscal year, a 31 percent
+increase in the Department's budget from the time the President
+took office. I shouldn't have to tell anyone here that this
+kind of spending is unsustainable and keeps Pell Grants on the
+path to bankruptcy.
+ We have to make tough choices now to ensure this important
+program remains available for the students who need it most.
+Winning in the future is a goal we all share but it can't be
+won through record spending and record debt. It is time we
+change the status quo not only in how we approach our fiscal
+future but also in the way we support our Nation's education
+system.
+ It is no secret our current education system is failing. We
+all know the statistics of high school and college dropouts and
+test scores that leave students unprepared to tackle the
+challenges they will confront both in the classroom and in the
+workplace.
+ Secretary Duncan, I want to reiterate my appreciation for
+your ongoing efforts to reach across the aisle and across town
+for the betterment of the Nation's classrooms. Although we may
+not see eye to eye on all things, you and I share a belief that
+the current system is broken and is in desperate need of
+repair.
+ As we continue working on reforms that focus on what is
+best for students, parents, teachers, and communities, we must
+first answer a fundamental question: What is the proper role of
+the Federal Government in education?
+ Despite the near tripling of overall per-pupil funding
+since 1965, national academic performance has not improved.
+Math and reading scores have largely gone flat, graduation
+rates have stagnated, and researchers have found serious
+shortcomings with many Federal education programs.
+ Additionally, the volume of rules and reporting
+requirements associated with Federal spending has skyrocketed.
+During a recent hearing in this committee, we learned from
+school officials and local leaders that the regulatory burden
+created by Federal spending often outweighs any potential
+benefits. The Race to the Top, while well intended, has
+exacerbated this tension, leaving schools and States even more
+frustrated with Federal intervention.
+ The Department's activism in higher education is also
+troubling. As you know, Mr. Secretary, a bipartisan coalition
+of Members believes that gainful employment regulations that
+the Department is working on are the wrong approach to
+encouraging accountability and transparency in higher
+education. I strongly urge you, especially in light of last
+month's overwhelming bipartisan vote, to withdraw this job-
+destroying proposal.
+ The time has come to chart a different course. As we work
+to answer the question about the appropriate role for the
+Federal Government in education, one thing is for sure, it must
+be less costly and less intrusive. Across the Nation, Americans
+have demanded Washington make tough choices and real sacrifices
+to get our budget in order and put our Nation back on the path
+to long-term prosperity. The day of reckoning is here, and the
+time to demonstrate the leadership our country desperately
+needs is now.
+ I look forward to your testimony, Mr. Secretary, and to
+working with you in the days ahead. I would now like to
+recognize the distinguished senior Democrat on the committee,
+Mr. Miller, for his opening remarks.
+ [The statement of Chairman Kline follows:]
+
+ Prepared Statement of Hon. John Kline, Chairman,
+ Committee on Education and the Workforce
+
+ Good afternoon to our guests and welcome back, Secretary Duncan, to
+the Education and the Workforce Committee. We realize your time is
+valuable and we appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today
+regarding the president's budget proposal and the current state of
+education in the nation.
+ Our country is facing a historic fiscal crisis. After years of
+neglect and mismanagement, our national debt has exceeded $14 trillion
+and continues to climb at a rapid pace.
+ Despite this year's projected budget deficit of $1.6 trillion, the
+administration has put forward a plan for the next decade that includes
+$8.7 trillion in new spending, $1.6 trillion in new taxes, and $13
+trillion in new debt. Proposing a budget that once again spends too
+much, taxes too much, and borrows too much is not the kind of
+leadership America deserves.
+ I am disappointed to see this lack of leadership in the
+administration's budget proposal for the Department of Education, which
+includes a request for $48.8 billion in so-called ``non-Pell
+discretionary spending.'' This is a new turn of phrase for Washington
+that attempts to conceal the true costs associated with this proposal.
+ Behind this gimmick lies an additional request for $28.6 billion in
+discretionary spending for the Pell Grant program, as well as $12.6
+billion in mandatory costs--a total request of $41.2 billion for the
+program. Here is the bottom line: the department is asking to spend
+nearly $90 billion during the next fiscal year--a 31 percent increase
+in the department's budget from the time the president took office.
+ I shouldn't have to tell you that this kind of spending is
+unsustainable and keeps Pell Grants on the path to bankruptcy. We have
+to make tough choices now to ensure this important program remains
+available for the students who need it most.
+ Winning the future is a goal we all share, but it can't be won
+through record spending and record debt. It is time we changed the
+status quo, not only in how we approach our fiscal future, but also in
+the way we support our nation's education system.
+ It is no secret our current education system is failing. We all
+know the statistics of high school and college dropouts and test scores
+that leave students unprepared to tackle the challenges they will
+confront both in the classroom and in the workplace.
+ Secretary Duncan, I want to reiterate my appreciation of your
+ongoing efforts to reach across the aisle for the betterment of the
+nation's classrooms. Although we may not always see eye to eye, you and
+I share a belief that the current system is broken and in desperate
+need of repair. As we continue to work on reforms that focus on what's
+best for students, parents, teachers, and communities, we must first
+answer a fundamental question: What is the proper role of the federal
+government in education?
+ Despite the near tripling of overall per pupil funding since 1965,
+national academic performance has not improved. Math and reading scores
+have largely gone flat, graduation rates have stagnated, and
+researchers have found serious shortcomings with many federal education
+programs.
+ Additionally, the volume of rules and reporting requirements
+associated with federal spending has skyrocketed. During a recent
+hearing in this Committee, we learned from school officials and local
+leaders that the regulatory burden created by federal spending often
+outweighs any potential benefits. Race to the Top, while well intended,
+has exacerbated this tension, leaving schools and states even more
+frustrated with federal intervention in our classrooms.
+ The department's activism in higher education is also troubling. As
+you know, Mr. Secretary, a bipartisan coalition of members believes the
+gainful employment regulations are the wrong approach to encouraging
+accountability and transparency in higher education. I strongly urge
+you, especially in light of last month's overwhelmingly bipartisan
+vote, to withdraw this job-destroying proposal.
+ The time has come to chart a different course. As we work to answer
+the question about the appropriate role for the federal government in
+education, one thing is for sure: it must be less costly and less
+intrusive.
+ Across the nation, Americans have demanded Washington make tough
+choices and real sacrifices to get our budget in order and put our
+nation back on the path to long-term prosperity. The day of reckoning
+is here, and the time to demonstrate the leadership our country
+desperately needs is now.
+ I look forward to your testimony, Secretary Duncan, and to working
+with you in the days ahead. I would now like to recognize the
+distinguished senior Democratic member, George Miller, for his opening
+remarks.
+ ______
+
+ Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And welcome back, Mr.
+Secretary. This is the fourth time we have had the privilege of
+having you before this committee since you were named Secretary
+of Education. Each time you have told us about the work that
+the Obama administration is doing to help our students succeed
+and our country prosper. You and President Obama have already
+shown us that you are ready to lead, ready to set the bar high,
+and ready to demand the best. This means starting with our
+youngest learners and helping at every step along the way.
+ The President's most recent budget makes it clear that
+quality education has to start well before our children enter
+the doors of elementary school. It makes important investments
+in early childhood education because investing in our youngest
+learners is one of the smartest investments we can make.
+Programs like Head Start ensure that children are on the right
+pathway, with a solid foundation for success.
+ In addition, the proposed Early Learning Challenge Fund
+would increase the number of low-income children arriving at
+kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed by spurring
+better standards and quality in early learning settings.
+ The President has also outlined an ambitious goal to have
+the world's highest college graduation rate by the year 2020.
+To meet that goal, it is imperative that we continue to invest
+in our Nation's college students through Pell Grants and other
+forms of student aid, and we need to encourage colleges and
+States to partner in initiatives to ensure that students not
+only enter but that they graduate from 2-year and 4-year
+institutions. Especially in this economy, we have to keep the
+commitment to students. We used to lead the world in college
+graduates. Now we are shamefully ranking below other
+competitive countries. This can change and it should.
+ But before we even begin to have the conversation about
+college, we need to ensure that our students are learning in
+the elementary schools, succeeding in middle school, and
+graduating from high school.
+ Secretary Duncan, Chairman Kline and I have been part of
+several of the bipartisan meetings between the House and the
+Senate to discuss the future of the reauthorization of the
+Elementary and Secondary Education Act. These meetings have
+been productive. They have been engaging. And most importantly,
+they have been encouraging that we will be able to work in a
+bipartisan fashion to rewrite No Child Left Behind in this
+session.
+ Mr. Secretary, I don't need to remind you of the importance
+of that reauthorization in this year. In fact, I bet you will
+probably be telling us about the importance of the
+reauthorization this year. I think it is critical. I think as
+we have listened to the hearings that the chairman and the
+committee have put together over the last several weeks, it is
+becoming clearer and clearer that this law is no longer
+sufficient to fully engage local communities, students, and
+families in the future of their education; that it is too
+burdensome and it is outdated in a number of ways.
+ Every witness we have had has been committed to making sure
+that poor minority children are given the full opportunity of a
+first-class education. But many of the ways that we measure
+that today do not reflect what is going on in many of the
+communities across the country. And we all know the statistics.
+We rank 25th in math, 14th in reading, and 17th in science
+among the industrialized nations.
+ The most recent NAEP scores found that only 21 percent of
+our high school seniors performed at or above proficient
+levels. That is why we need the authorization. We have got to
+change those outcomes. We also know that employers are
+demanding a more qualified workforce than is currently
+available. Our children deserve more, and our country deserves
+more. Inaction is one of the biggest threats to the future of
+this country, to our economic stability, and to our global
+competitiveness. We can't be sitting on our hands. It is time
+for the kind of change that you and the President have
+outlined.
+ The U.S. has not fallen in international rankings because
+we have gotten worse. We have fallen behind because we have
+stagnated while other countries have accelerated. Our top 10
+percent of students are able to compete internationally, while
+poor or minority students have been allowed to fall flat. If we
+don't hold our schools accountable for all of these children in
+our classrooms, we will fail in those rankings and as a
+society. There is no excuse for letting this continue in a
+country as great as ours.
+ It is time that we decide that, as a Nation, we can no
+longer afford to stay just average. We can't afford to lose a
+generation of children because our best intentions don't work
+as well as they should have. We need a change, and our Federal
+education policy isn't a mystery to most people. We have to
+update the law and respond to the student and national needs
+through college- and career-ready standards. We need to
+modernize teaching and the learning workforce and recognize the
+teachers and leaders as the professionals that they are. We
+need to reevaluate the Federal role in education, as we
+discussed last week. We need to maintain accountability, but we
+must provide States and local districts more flexibility in how
+they appropriately address those needs and achieve those
+outcomes.
+ I know that we can get this right. Our students can't
+afford to wait any longer, and I look forward to hearing you.
+And thank you for taking your time to come and brief the
+committee.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman.
+ [The statement of Mr. Miller follows:]
+
+ Prepared Statement of Hon. George Miller, Senior Democratic Member,
+ Committee on Education and the Workforce
+
+ Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ And welcome back, Mr. Secretary.
+ This is the fourth time we've had the privilege of having you
+before this Committee since you were named Secretary of Education.
+ Each time, you've told us about the work the Obama administration
+is doing to help our students succeed and our country prosper.
+ You and President Obama have already shown us you are ready to
+lead, ready to set the bar high and ready to demand the best.
+ This means starting with our youngest learners and helping at every
+step along the way.
+ The President's most recent budget makes it very clear that quality
+education has to start well before our children enter the doors of
+elementary school.
+ It makes important investments in early childhood education because
+investing in our youngest learners is one of the smartest investments
+we can make.
+ Programs like Head Start ensure our children are on the right
+pathway with a solid foundation for success.
+ In addition, the proposed Early Learning Challenge Fund would
+increase the number of low-income children arriving at kindergarten
+with the skills they need to succeed by spurring better standards and
+quality in early learning settings.
+ The President has also outlined an ambitious goal to have the
+world's highest college graduation rate by the year 2020.
+ To meet this goal, it is imperative that we continue to invest in
+our nation's college students through Pell grants and other forms of
+student aid.
+ And we need to encourage colleges and states to partner in
+initiatives to ensure that students not only enter, but graduate from
+college.
+ Especially in this economy, we have to keep this commitment to
+students. We used to lead the world in college graduates, now we're
+shamefully ranking below other competitive countries.
+ This can change and it should.
+ But before we can even begin to have a conversation about college,
+we have to ensure our students are learning in elementary school,
+succeeding in middle school and graduating high school.
+ Secretary Duncan, Chairman Kline and I have all been part of
+several Big 8 meetings with our colleagues from the Senate about the
+future of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education
+Act.
+ These meetings have been productive. They've been engaging. And
+most importantly, they've been encouraging that we will be able to work
+in a bipartisan way to rewrite the education law in this country.
+ Mr. Secretary, I don't need to remind you how important it is that
+we get to the ESEA reauthorization this year. In fact, I bet you'll be
+telling us about that very soon.
+ We all know the statistics by now.
+ We rank 25th in math, 14th in reading and 17th in science among
+other industrialized countries.
+ The most recent NAEP results found only 21 percent of high school
+seniors performed at or above the proficient level.
+ We also know that employers are demanding a more qualified
+workforce than is available.
+ Our children deserve more. Our country deserves more.
+ Inaction here is one of the biggest threats to the future of this
+country, to our economic stability and our global competitiveness. We
+can't be sitting on our hands.
+ It is time for real change.
+ The U.S. has not fallen in international rankings because we have
+gotten worse--we've fallen behind because we have stagnated while other
+countries have accelerated.
+ Our top 10 percent of students are able to compete internationally
+while poor and minority students have been allowed to fall flat.
+ If we don't hold our schools accountable for ALL the children in
+their classrooms, we fail.
+ There are no excuses for letting this continue in a country as
+great as ours.
+ It is time we decide as a nation that we can no longer afford to
+stay just average.
+ We can't afford to lose a generation of children because our best
+intentions didn't work as well as they should have.
+ What needs to change in our federal education policy isn't a
+mystery.
+ We have to update the law to respond to student and national needs
+through college and career-ready standards.
+ We need to modernize the teaching and learning workforce and
+recognize teachers and leaders as the professionals they are.
+ And we need to reevaluate the federal role in education, as we
+discussed last week, we must maintain accountability, but provide
+states and districts more flexibility where appropriate.
+ I know we can get this right. Our students can't afford for us to
+wait any longer.
+ I look forward to hearing from you, Mr. Secretary, about how we can
+get this country back on track and what we can do to help students
+succeed.
+ I yield back.
+ ______
+
+ Chairman Kline. Pursuant to committee rule 7(c), all
+committee members will be permitted to submit written
+statements to be included in the permanent hearing record.
+Without objection, the hearing record will remain open for 14
+days to allow statements, questions for the record, and other
+extraneous material referenced during the hearing to be
+submitted in the official hearing record.
+ [The statement of Mr. Towns, submitted by Mr. Payne,
+follows:]
+
+Prepared Statement of Hon. Edolphus Towns, a Representative in Congress
+ From the State of New York
+
+ Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member Miller, thank you for convening
+today's hearing on the President's Proposed FY12 Budget for the
+Department of Education. Secretary Duncan, thank you so much for
+testifying before the committee today.
+ I would like to start by expressing my support for the
+Administration's Education budget request. The President's proposed
+budget reflects the need to address the serious deficit facing our
+country without completely gutting vital programs that provide for the
+instruction of our children. In addition to programs designed to ensure
+quality education for all young students, the proposed FY12 budget
+would expand the Pell Grant program over the next 10 years, giving
+qualified undergraduate and graduate students financial help to seek a
+degree. The FY 12 budget would improve the way we approach education in
+a number of other ways. An additional $1.35 billion is set aside for
+Race to the Top awards for deserving state and local school districts.
+The proposed budget ensures $900 million is provided for the important
+task of helping States and local education agencies turn around their
+5,000 lowest-performing schools over the next 5 years through the
+School Turnaround Grants program. The Head Start program would receive
+$8.1 billion, which is an $866 million increase over last year's
+budget. This would allow programs across the country to continue to
+provide services that will allow for 967,000 low-income children to
+reach their full potential in their education.
+ However, I am deeply discouraged to see that despite the
+improvement in funding for the Pell Grant program, the cuts proposed to
+the year-round Pell program drastically change the educational
+experience for our nation's students. The budget proposes an increase
+of $43.9 billion in new mandatory grant funding over the next ten
+years, however, year-round Pell grants are proposed to be eliminated to
+pay for this increase. This will result in Pell students not having the
+option to take summer courses. In addition, the grant would be paid for
+by eliminating the Stafford loan subsidy for graduate students. Under
+current law, the government pays the interest on Stafford loans while
+graduate students are pursuing their education. We should be promoting
+policies that encourage students to pursue higher learning, rather than
+penalizing them for doing so.
+ Rather than propose cuts that would add financial burden to already
+needy students, we should be working together to ensure that those who
+seek a higher education can feel secure in knowing that we are going to
+make college more affordable and attainable for all.
+ Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield the balance of my time.
+ ______
+
+ Chairman Kline. Before I introduce very briefly somebody
+who to this committee really needs no introduction, I just want
+to make an administrative announcement. The Secretary has a
+hard stop time at 5 o'clock, so I would encourage my colleagues
+to abide by the 5-minute rule as we go through. We will, of
+course, be affording the Secretary as much time as he needs to
+give his testimony and then try to keep it moving so all
+members have a chance to ask the Secretary questions.
+ The Honorable Arne Duncan is the current U.S. Secretary of
+Education, having been confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January
+of 2009. Prior to his appointment as Secretary of Education Mr.
+Duncan served as the chief executive officer of the Chicago
+Public Schools from June 2001 through December 2008, becoming
+the longest-serving big-city education superintendent in the
+country. And congratulations to you, sir.
+ As CEO, Mr. Duncan was widely credited for pursuing an
+aggressive educational reform agenda that included opening more
+than 100 new schools, expanding after-school and summer
+learning programs, and closing down underperforming schools.
+And your biography goes on and on. But I think every member of
+this committee knows this. So just let me say, Mr. Secretary,
+you are now recognized and welcome again.
+
+ STATEMENT OF HON. ARNE DUNCAN, SECRETARY,
+ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
+
+ Secretary Duncan. Thank you so much, Chairman Kline,
+Ranking Member Miller, and members of the committee. Thank you
+so much for this opportunity to come before you again and talk
+about President Obama's education agenda.
+ Last week I spoke before the Senate Budget Committee and
+emphasized our administration's dual commitments to reduce
+spending and to be more efficient, while investing in education
+to secure our future. These investments spanned every grade
+from early learning to Pell Grants and they are reflected in my
+written statement. I expect they will be vigorously debated and
+discussed in the coming months as Congress works to pass a
+budget. I am happy to discuss those issues here today.
+ Before I do, however, I want to speak to the policy changes
+we must make in order to strengthen American K-12 education. A
+year ago, we released a 41-page blueprint for rewriting the
+Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Most of you may be
+familiar with the core elements of our proposal, so I will be
+brief and then open it up to our conversation.
+ Our goal is to create a law that is defined by three simple
+words: fair, flexible, and focused. We say ``fair,'' we mean a
+system of accountability based on individual student growth,
+one that recognizes and rewards success and holds all of us
+accountable for the quality of education we provide to every
+single student in the Nation. This is a sea change from the
+current law which simply allows every State to set an arbitrary
+bar for proficiency, and measures only whether students are
+above or below that bar. We don't know how much students learn
+each year. We don't know what they need to do to get over that
+bar. And we can't recognize and reward the great teachers and
+principals that are beating the odds every single day.
+ Current law also sets annual targets for proficiency and
+mandates that every student meet those goals by 2014. Today
+almost 40 percent of America's schools are not meeting those
+goals. And as we approach the 2014 deadline, that number will
+rise steeply.
+ In fact, we did an analysis which shows that next year,
+based upon this year's results, the tests the students are
+taking over the next couple of months, next year, the number of
+schools not meeting their goals under NCLB could double to 80
+percent, even if we assume that all schools will gain as much
+as the top quartile of schools in their respective States.
+ Let me say that one more time. Four out of five schools in
+America would not meet their goals under NCLB by next year.
+This is why we have to fix the law now. No one can support
+inaction and maintain status quo. I do not think that all of
+these schools are failing by any means. They have challenges;
+big challenges, small challenges. And they need to meet them
+because every single child counts. But current law simply does
+not distinguish between them. And we have to do that. We need
+to distinguish that if we are going to address the real
+problems.
+ The consequences under the current law are very clear.
+States and districts all across America will have to intervene
+in more and more schools each year, implementing the exact same
+interventions regardless of those schools' or those students'
+individual needs. If that happens, the schools with the widest
+gaps and the lowest achievement won't get the help and
+attention they need. And that worries me deeply because the
+whole point of the law is to make sure that the schools and
+students most at risk are served.
+ We have to be thoughtful in our approach. NCLB's
+requirement to disaggregate student achievement data for low-
+income students, minority students, English language learners,
+and students with disabilities completely changed the national
+conversation. And we can no longer look the other way as some
+groups of students languish while others thrive.
+ The law reflects our fundamental aspiration that every
+single child is expected to learn, to achieve, and to succeed.
+However, we give NCLB less credit for actually helping to close
+achievement gaps. By mandating and prescribing one-size-fits-
+all solutions, NCLB took away the ability of local and State
+educators to tailor solutions to the unique needs of their
+students, and that is fundamentally flawed.
+ This law is fundamentally broken and we need to fix it, and
+we need to fix it this year. It has created dozens of ways for
+schools to fail and very few ways to help them succeed. We want
+to get out of the business of labeling schools as failures and
+create a new law that is fair, flexible, and focused on the
+schools and the students most at risk. We need a commonsense
+law that strikes the right balance between accountability and
+flexibility. And the basic problem is that NCLB got that
+backwards. Instead of being tight on goals and loose on means
+of achieving them, the law is loose on goals but tight on
+means. From a management standpoint, that simply doesn't make
+sense.
+ We need to flip that, and States are already leading us in
+the right direction. First of all, many States are developing
+robust data systems so they can measure student growth. Second
+and more important, 41 States plus D.C. have voluntarily
+adopted college- and career-ready standards, so the bar has
+been raised.
+ States appreciate the flexibility and the support we are
+providing in other ways as well. At their request, last week we
+gave all Governors a document explaining how they can shift
+around Federal funds to better meet their local needs. We also
+gave them a second document, showing how they can be more
+productive and efficient as they work to balance their budgets
+in these very tough economic times. We all need to be sharing
+good ideas and best practices to do more with less. But they
+are also begging us for more flexibility in getting their
+students over the bar set by NCLB, which is why we need to fix
+the law.
+ Under our proposal, when schools and districts and States
+make gains, we will reward them with resources and flexibility.
+But if schools boost overall proficiency while leaving one
+subgroup behind, that is simply not good enough. Every school,
+every single school must ensure that every child is being
+served. Schools must serve annual targets for improvement for
+all students and subgroups. And if achievement gaps are not
+closing each year, districts and States must intervene. We will
+challenge them not only around achievement gaps but also on
+their use of Title I dollars. And we will further challenge
+them on the distribution of effective teachers and
+comparability in funding. Finally, if schools persistently
+underperform, we will target them for much more serious
+interventions.
+ And that gets to the third word I mentioned at the
+beginning, which is ``focus.'' We don't have unlimited
+resources. We must focus on the schools, communities, and the
+students most at risk.
+ Congress has been generous with us in recent years. And by
+providing $4 billion for school improvement grants, that money
+will help fix thousands of our Nation's lowest performing
+schools, those dropout factories that we cannot just sit idly
+by and watch.
+ President Obama and I visited one of these schools last
+month in Miami, accompanied by former Florida Governor Jeb
+Bush. The school has new leadership, some new staff, a new
+curriculum, more time for learning, and best of all, a new
+climate of energy, hope, and determination that is already
+generating measurable progress in the classroom. I can't tell
+you how inspiring this visit was. Both teachers and students
+were so thankful for the opportunity to gather to create a much
+better learning environment. And today across the country,
+nearly 1,000 schools are undergoing similar transformations.
+And each year we will add more.
+ This is tough work, controversial work, tough medicine. But
+when schools are not making progress, we have a moral
+obligation to demand dramatic change. Children cannot wait for
+an education. They can't take a year or two off while
+administrators tinker around the edges.
+ Now, nothing about our proposal for reauthorization alters
+our historic commitment to serve populations that need extra
+support or hold schools accountable for the academic success of
+these students. That includes low-income children, students
+with disabilities, English language learners, rural students,
+and others.
+ Our commitment to help the children who need the most
+support is stronger than ever. As our proposed 2012 budget
+shows, 84 percent of our funding is for formula programs like
+Title I and IDEA. In fact, we want to increase funding for both
+of these programs. But formula funding alone won't move the
+needle fast enough. We also need to provide some incentives to
+States and districts and local communities to embrace new bold
+reforms.
+ As you know, Congress gave us a unique opportunity to
+develop a State-level grant competition called Race to the Top.
+This program accounts for less than 1 percent of annual
+spending on K-12 education in America but it has helped unleash
+more creativity, more change, more collaboration, more positive
+and productive activity at the State and the local level than
+any other program in history, and has done so by avoiding one-
+size-fits-all mandates and providing flexible funding that
+gives State and local leaders the opportunity to develop
+comprehensive solutions on their own.
+ And I want to work with you and with local leaders to
+design the next round of this program, a district-level
+competition that includes a carve-out for rural school
+districts. Rural districts are absolutely willing to compete
+but they need a level playing field. And it is unfair to ask
+small districts, where school administrators are often doing
+double and even triple duty as coaches and bus drivers, to
+compete directly with large districts who might have full-time
+grant writers.
+ I fully understand that competitive programs serve only a
+share of the student population, but the real measure of
+competitive programs like Race to the Top is not the direct
+impact they have on students but rather the indirect impact
+they have on the entire system. A dozen States received funding
+from us, but 41 States raised standards. And that is a game-
+changing victory for the country and long term for our
+country's economy.
+ Our education system was designed more than a century ago
+and it has simply not changed with the times. It must change to
+prepare our students for the new century. We must try new
+approaches of teaching, new ways of using technology, and
+better systems of monitoring progress. The only way to get
+better results is by replacing what doesn't work with what
+does. Competition can help drive innovation and take the best
+ideas from around the country to scale. And we must also have
+the will to change right here in Washington. I have said
+repeatedly, our Department must continue to support and
+encourage innovation, not force compliance.
+ And we must continue to work together in a bipartisan way
+to rewrite the law. This requires real courage to move beyond
+our differences and to find common ground around basic
+principles of fairness and flexibility.
+ We are more than halfway through another school year. Let's
+challenge ourselves to give States and districts and
+communities the support and the flexibility they need before
+the start of the next school year, and let's do it with
+everyone at the table. Reform is most effective and sustainable
+when developed collaboratively with our teachers and the
+leaders. Race to the Top proved it.
+ Our Denver conference last month was another step forward,
+and rewriting ESEA can further strengthen the relationship
+between policymakers and practitioners in our Nation's
+classrooms. At the end of the day, the best way to make a
+difference in the classroom is with effective, well-supported
+teachers. The best way to achieve that is with stronger
+recruiting and training programs linked to rigorous teacher and
+principal evaluation systems. That work is underway all across
+America. And if we do our part by fixing the law, we can
+accelerate that progress.
+ The urgency for change has never been greater. The plain
+fact is that America is stagnating while the rest of the world
+moves ahead of us. The plain fact is that to lead in a new
+century, we have no choice in this matter but to invest in
+education. No other issue is more critical to our economy, to
+our future, and to our way of life.
+ And so I look forward to working with you in the coming
+months to meet this challenge and to renew our commitment to
+our children and their future by building the education system
+they desperately need and deserve. Thank you so much. I am now
+happy to take your questions.
+ Chairman Kline. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Thanks
+again for being with us, as the ranking member said, for the
+fourth time. Thanks again for your willingness to work with us
+in a bipartisan way. And thanks for your testimony.
+ [The statement of Secretary Duncan follows:]
+
+ Prepared Statement of Hon. Arne Duncan, Secretary,
+ U.S. Department of Education
+
+ Chairman Kline, Ranking Member Miller, and Members of the
+Committee: Thank you for this opportunity to appear before this
+Committee to discuss President Obama's education policy proposals and
+the fiscal year 2012 education budget.
+ Our policies, including those embodied in the President's budget,
+reflect our Administration's dual commitments to reducing spending and
+becoming more efficient while investing to secure our future--and
+education is at the very top of the list of investments we must make.
+ Education is the foundation of a free and democratic society. It is
+the blanket of security for the middle class and the path out of
+poverty for millions of Americans who continue to struggle because of
+the changing economy.
+ Education gives immigrants and their children the chance to be
+productive citizens and contribute to our collective wealth.
+ Education prepares students with disabilities to be full
+participants in our economy and our communities.
+ Education enables us--as a country--to compete in a global economy
+with other countries that are heavily investing in the preparation of
+the next generation of innovators and leaders in business.
+ Education is not just an economic security issue--it's a national
+security issue--which is why retired General Colin Powell, for example,
+devotes so much of his energy to education. Last year, military leaders
+stood with me and called for more education funding because only one in
+four young high school graduates today is educationally and physically
+equipped to serve their country.
+ Today, all across America, people are meeting the challenge of
+improving education in many different ways--from creating high-quality
+early learning programs, to raising standards, improving teacher
+quality, and aggressively closing achievement gaps and increasing high
+school and college completion.
+ While the federal government contributes less than 10 percent of K-
+12 funding nationally, our dollars play a critical role in promoting
+excellence and equity, protecting children at risk, and, more recently,
+supporting significant educational reform at the state and local
+levels.
+ In terms of reform, the last Administration focused on, among other
+areas, charter schools and performance pay--two programs that
+benefitted my school system when I was CEO of the Chicago Public
+Schools.
+ Our Administration has used competitive dollars to incentivize
+state and local educators to think and act differently. Our
+Administration's Race to the Top program has prompted governors and
+educators to jointly embrace bold systematic reforms.
+ For example, 41 states and the District of Columbia have adopted
+higher standards and several states have passed new laws and policies
+on teacher evaluation. Several states have altered their charter school
+laws and policies to foster the creation of new learning models, all
+for the purpose of increasing student achievement.
+ Race to the Top also prompted us to rethink the federal role. As I
+said, the department was established to promote excellence and equity
+in education and protect students most at risk. To that end, we have
+steadily boosted our commitment to formula programs like Title I and
+the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.
+ The federal government also has a long history of supporting higher
+education--from the land-grant colleges in the 19th century to the GI
+Bill and the Pell Grant program in the 20th. This budget would further
+increase our investments in higher education with further innovation,
+incentive and performance-funding for both student lending programs and
+incentives designed to foster reforms and innovations necessary to
+increase college completion.
+ Today, our most critical role in pre-K through 12 education is in
+supporting reform at the state and local level by providing flexibility
+and incentives--while holding states and districts accountable in a
+fair, honest, and transparent way. In fulfilling this role, we must
+strike the right balance--providing as much freedom as possible to
+schools while ensuring that all children receive the services and
+supports they need to leave school prepared for college and career.
+ Last week, at the request of Governor and National Governors
+Association Chair Christine Gregoire, we shared a series of documents
+with our nation's governors outlining ways they can save costs, cut
+spending, and use existing flexibilities under federal law in ways that
+will best serve our students. We're doing what we can to get out of the
+way of governors and local leaders who know what's best for their
+students, but to truly make an impact, we need to fix the No Child Left
+Behind Act (NCLB).
+ I have spent two years traveling the country, visiting many of your
+states and districts and talking with teachers and parents. As you all
+know, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with NCLB. Many people believe
+that the law goes too far with sanctions--mislabeling schools and
+issuing one-size-fits-all mandates tied to a chain of punitive
+sanctions that haven't been working.
+ NCLB was right to shine a bright light on achievement gaps and set
+a clear expectation that all students must learn to the same standards.
+This has led to great progress in schools focusing more on the needs of
+English learners and students with disabilities and other at-risk
+students. But we need to raise the bar by ensuring that every student
+graduates from high school ready for college and a career. We need to
+move away from punitive measures based on a single test on a single
+day, and toward recognizing and rewarding schools and teachers based on
+growth and progress. And we need to give states and districts much more
+flexibility, while focusing interventions where they are most needed.
+ To ensure an excellent education for every child, our focus must
+change from labeling and punishing schools to preparing and supporting
+effective teachers and school leaders. We need rigorous state and local
+definitions of teacher effectiveness that consider student growth in
+significant part as well as other measures of instructional practice
+and better teacher evaluation systems that inform professional
+development and practice. And we need to reorient decision-making in
+our schools around the simple question of how we ensure that every
+student has an effective, well-supported teacher.
+ That's why we are asking Congress to fix NCLB--and I look forward
+to working with you in the months ahead to do that. We're now halfway
+through another school year, and we have an obligation to ensure that
+when the next school year begins, we've done our job to give states and
+communities the flexibility they need.
+ Despite these concerns, as I travel the country I also hear a deep
+appreciation for the federal commitment to children and learning.
+Parents and educators are grateful for our support of science,
+technology, engineering and mathematics (collectively known as STEM)
+subjects. Americans know that--even in challenging fiscal times like
+these--we must prepare our young people to compete in tomorrow's
+economy.
+ They know that--even as states face greater financial pressure than
+at any time in recent history--we cannot put our children at risk--so
+our budget reflects these aspirations and commitments.
+ Overall, we are seeking a $2 billion increase in non-Pell spending.
+That includes increases in formula programs like Title I and the IDEA
+while maintaining programs for English Learners and other at-risk
+populations such as rural, migrant, and homeless students.
+ We are calling for a new round of Race to the Top funds, with which
+we would make grants directly to school districts rather than states,
+and include a carve-out for rural communities. We want to work with
+State and local leaders, including leaders of rural communities, and
+with the members of this committee as we design this program, as well
+as the Investing in Innovation fund, or i3, in a way that reflects
+local needs.
+ At their core, Race to the Top and i3 are about spurring reform by
+rewarding success and giving flexible funding to implement good ideas.
+Especially in a time of tight budgets, we need to make the most
+effective use of federal funds. Formula funds alone won't drive the
+kind of transformational reform our education system needs--we need to
+combine a strong foundation of formula funding with targeted use of
+competitive grant funds.
+ We want to continue to invest in innovation and research. We want
+to support a well-rounded education that includes the arts and foreign
+languages, literacy, STEM, and physical education.
+ We want to strengthen the teaching profession in a number of ways
+and work harder to attract top students to pursue teaching careers. We
+want to attract effective teachers into high-poverty schools and hard-
+to-staff subject areas and fill shortage areas by supporting teachers
+in obtaining dual certification in special education or English
+language acquisition. Also, we want to help states strengthen their
+early learning systems.
+ And we are challenging states to boost college completion. Today,
+more than half of our young people who go to college fail to earn a
+degree. As a nation, we cannot sustain that any longer.
+ In the 2010 budget enacted by Congress, we eliminated four programs
+saving $360 million. In our proposed 2012 budget, we propose
+eliminating 13 more programs in order to save another $147 million.
+Together these savings would total more than $500 million annually--
+which is helping fund our other priorities.
+ Mindful of the paperwork burdens we place on local school
+districts, we are proposing to consolidate 38 separate elementary and
+secondary education programs into 11 funding streams. These common-
+sense reforms will make it easier for school districts to focus on
+educating children, rather than bureaucratic compliance. And, as I
+mentioned, we are supporting governors in taking similar steps at the
+state level by providing guidance on how to spend federal funds
+flexibly and cut costs in a way that protects all students.
+ We are also proposing to reduce our investment in career and
+technical education (CTE)--not because we don't believe in CTE--but
+because we feel the current program is not getting the results we need.
+We are still seeking a billion dollars for CTE and we are committed to
+working with states to reform these programs to better prepare students
+to meet the needs of the new economy. We look forward to working with
+Congress to strengthen the program and improve its alignment with the
+education reform efforts at the core of our Elementary and Secondary
+Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization proposal, so that the Perkins Act
+is a stronger vehicle for supporting the President's 2020 college
+completion goal and the Department's secondary school agenda.
+ This year, we have also identified efficiencies in the student aid
+programs that, coupled with a change in Pell Grant policy, will help
+close a $20 billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program and save $100
+billion over the next decade. Those savings mean that we can protect
+the $5,550 maximum Pell award and help millions of students and their
+families meet rising tuition costs.
+ Those savings also mean that we can meet the skyrocketing demand
+for Pell Grants which has risen from less than 4 million grants in the
+year 2000 to a projected 9.6 million grants next year. In the last two
+years alone, an additional 3 million students received Pell grants.
+ In my view, this is a good problem to have. We need more young
+people and workers displaced by the recession going to college, and in
+this economy they desperately need our help. But we must do more to
+make sure that they finish college and earn their degrees and
+certificates.
+ So, we share with you the responsibility for being efficient and
+smart in how we invest. But we share an even greater responsibility,
+which is to prepare the next generation to lead.
+ We share responsibility for the 20 million disadvantaged students
+served by Title I, the nearly 7 million students served by the IDEA,
+the 5 million English language learners, and the 16 million college
+students who benefit from student aid programs.
+ In his State of the Union address, the President talked about
+winning the future. To emphasize the point, he announced his budget at
+an elementary school in Baltimore. He believes, as I do, that winning
+the future starts in the classroom.
+ He also believes that government spends too much, and he has
+outlined more than a trillion dollars in deficit reduction over the
+next decade. This is an important national conversation that will take
+a great deal of time, energy, and thought.
+ It will also take courage--real courage on the part of Congress and
+the Administration. We have to be truthful with each other and truthful
+with the American people about what is and isn't working. We have to
+take the heat together for the cuts we are making.
+ To win the future while cutting spending, we must be absolutely
+vigilant about how we invest and how we support reform at the state and
+local levels. We must be responsible in what we say and do, and we need
+to show results.
+ Responsibility, reform, and results are the hallmarks of our budget
+and our Administration and the guiding principles as we move forward.
+ I want to close by thanking Congress for your support of education
+over the last two years. Because of you, we protected millions of
+children in classrooms all across America from the greatest economic
+crisis since the depression.
+ Because of you, we helped states and districts all across America
+advance their reform agendas, raise standards, and challenge the status
+quo. Because of you, a thousand underperforming schools have launched
+dramatic restructuring plans to improve the lives of children--and many
+more are in the process.
+ Because of you, there is a greater determination than ever before
+to ensure that all of our children can compete in the global economy.
+And because of you, we face a brighter future and a greater prospect
+that the world we leave behind will be better than the one we
+inherited.
+ So on behalf of 80 million students of all ages, their parents and
+our hard-working teachers, principals, and administrators--and all of
+the people of America who value education and recognize its
+importance--I thank you for your leadership.
+ And now, I would be happy to take your questions.
+ ______
+
+ Chairman Kline. I was pleased to see in your budget an
+elimination of some 13 programs. That is sort of a baby step in
+the right direction, I might say, because last week the GAO
+released a report that found there was widespread duplication,
+including around 80 Federal programs focused on improving
+teacher quality. So even though your budget request
+consolidates some of this, my question is: Why didn't you do
+more? Is it something you are still exploring? It just seems to
+me that one of the easiest things that we ought to be able to
+do, you in the administration, us here, is to eliminate much of
+this duplication.
+ Secretary Duncan. It is a great point, and we have to
+continue to work across the administration on getting--many of
+these programs aren't actually in our Department--but in others
+we need to work better together. We are absolutely committed to
+doing that. We consolidated 38 programs to 11, which is a
+pretty significant step in the right direction. As you said, we
+eliminated about 13 programs and we need to continue to do this
+hard work every single year.
+ Chairman Kline. I look forward to continuing to work with
+you. I can assure you that we are looking at that here and we
+will continue to do so. It is very important that you provide
+the leadership and the first step in administration in doing
+that. We will do our part but I appreciate that you made the
+first step. I was always hoping for a bigger step, and I hope
+that we will get to one of those.
+ I have got a question for the record. I don't expect you to
+answer it here now. But I am concerned that there has been some
+information that has come to light, lately been reported much
+in the news about the gainful employment rules and some short-
+sellers and some contact with the Department. I am not going to
+put you on the spot here now, but we will be looking for an
+answer for the record. We will reach you later.
+ Chairman Kline. One of my favorite subjects, and that is
+funding for individuals with disabilities, Special Education.
+You may recall that last year, the Department came forward with
+a $250 million increase that was labeled by one of my
+colleagues as ``budget dust,'' a view that I hardly concurred
+in. And this year, you have asked for $200 million, even less.
+And I will freely admit that this is a bipartisan problem where
+we say, Republicans and Democrats, that we need to do something
+to come closer to or to meet the Federal Government's--what I
+think is obligation of providing 40 percent of that extra
+funding. We are at about 17 percent now. So believe me, I know
+that fiscal times are hard, but you were able to find $900
+million more for Race to the Top and $350 million more for the
+Investing in Innovation Fund.
+ And it just seems to me that our priorities aren't right.
+We had an amendment on the floor during the continuing
+resolution to restore money to Special Ed which I thought was
+mistakenly taken out. We didn't all agree for the pay-for, so I
+know that that is hard. But it is where my priority is. And
+again, I appeal to the administration in your budget, in your
+setting priorities, to make that a higher priority. What are
+you thinking about that?
+ Secretary Duncan. Yes. You and I first met discussing this.
+ Chairman Kline. Very personal.
+ Secretary Duncan. And I absolutely appreciate your passion
+on it. Again, it is one I acutely felt in Chicago with an
+unfunded liability there. So we are asking for significant
+increases. There is an additional $50 million on IDEA part C,
+for instance. We would love to do more.
+ As you know these are very tough budget times. What I would
+argue to you or ask you to consider is that when we have States
+across the country raising standards and really raising the
+bar, every single child benefits, particularly those children
+where, historically, standards have been dummied down and those
+are students with disabilities. When we are asking to have
+every single high school graduate be college- and career-ready,
+the greatest beneficiaries are those students that historically
+haven't had those kinds of opportunities, students with
+disabilities.
+ So both through direct and indirect funding and by changing
+behavior at the State and local level, I am convinced we have a
+much better chance to help every single child fulfill their
+potential regardless of ability or disability.
+ Chairman Kline. And I applaud your passion and your
+determination. And it is worthwhile for us to continue the
+discussion. I just know and everybody in this room knows that
+every school would benefit by Special Education funding. Some
+of these other things are controversial, not agreed to by
+everybody. Some benefit, some don't benefit. But schools in
+this country are shifting money to meet the requirements of
+IDEA and increasing tensions among parents and other students.
+And I just would again encourage the Department and the
+administration to take a look again at those priorities. And of
+course we will be doing that as we go forward.
+ Secretary Duncan. Thank you.
+ I have one more point. This is an important one. The
+conversation is an important one. We are also challenging
+folks, so there are clearly unmet needs, significant unmet
+needs. We recognize that. We realize that.
+ On the flip side, we are also challenging folks to think
+very creatively in this area. Let me give you a couple of
+examples. Many students who enter Special Education enter
+because they are labeled learning disabled, LD. Many students
+get labeled that because they weren't taught how to read before
+third grade. So we are pushing folks very, very hard. And these
+often are minority boys, our black and brown boys. We are
+really pushing districts to embrace early literacy, to work
+hard with students who are having those difficulties. And if we
+teach them how to read to keep them out of Special Education--
+what is amazing to me, Mr. Chairman, is once a student enters
+Special Education they almost never exit. It stays with them
+for life. If we can do a much better job of preventing students
+from having that label early on--if they have significant
+needs, let's do it.
+ The other thing that we are looking at is transportation.
+We have children who are on a bus by themselves at about
+$35,000 a year. It would be much cheaper to buy that family
+three or four cars than to put them on one school bus every
+single year. So we need to increase funding, but we also need
+to really be thoughtful in are we being efficient in the use of
+scarce IDEA dollars.
+ Chairman Kline. I am sure in many cases we are not. I
+concur there. But we are so far off. We are really, really far
+off in the funding. I am just asking that you will agree with
+that in terms of priority.
+ I am way past my time. I yield back. Mr. Miller.
+ Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just on the last
+point, I think when I look around California at what some
+school districts are doing in the early screening programs--I
+think it is part C programs, really simple dynamics--we are
+taking children that otherwise, almost out of default, would
+end up in Special Education are not. Some of it is the question
+of visual aids, glasses, what have you, some muscle
+coordination. The L.A. school district is showing a huge amount
+of promise in helping us reduce that.
+ Mr. Secretary, as I said in my opening statement, and I
+think you confirmed it in your statement, we really have got to
+get to the reauthorization. When I listened to the last two
+panels in the two hearings that we had in this committee, we
+are now seeing a level of sort of dynamic movement in States
+and in districts, be they rural or be they large urban
+districts across this country, with the use of data that now
+not only allows them to tell the districts and the public how
+the children in those districts are doing, but also now to
+delineate how their teachers are doing, which classes need
+additional assistance, which individuals could use additional
+professional development. And we are really starting to make
+moves now on driving performance-based outcomes that we really
+didn't have the capability to. We speculated about it, and a
+lot of people said that is what they were doing, and it kind of
+turned out that wasn't. But now with robust data systems, we
+really see the level of cooperation between principals and
+superintendents and classroom teachers on a real-time basis and
+being able to get the children in need on a real-time basis as
+opposed to waiting for October of the next year, you know, when
+kids have selected classes and moved to different schools and
+you start all over again.
+ It seems to me that we have the ability to move away from
+this. As you said, one test on one day to judge a whole school
+system on that is really not an accurate reflection. Under the
+terms of No Child Left Behind, you really can't reward the work
+of people who made remarkable improvements but will not reach
+AYP the way it has been set up by their State--it may have
+nothing to do with the school, but by the State to do that.
+ I would hope that one of the things that comes out of this
+hearing is that we have to move. And I think we now have an
+ability to create a system of data that is transparent and,
+more importantly, understandable to parents and to students and
+to teachers and to the community, that really then calls into
+question what is our role in monitoring and sort of the lever-
+pulling that we have done over the last 30 years to really be
+able to back out of some of that; because I think if the data
+is properly collected, if it is properly published, communities
+will stand in on our behalf.
+ You know, the best economic driver in the community is a
+good school system. The Real Estate Association will tell you
+what the first question is families ask: What district is this
+home in?
+ So I think we have a chance to provide some substitution
+for what has been, you know, a tough Federal role for good
+reason. There were a lot of kids who were invisible. They are
+no longer invisible and they are not going to go back to being
+invisible. So I would just hope that we could figure out how we
+get the train on the tracks here, because I think there are
+very substantial improvements that could be made and really
+allow the dynamics that we are now seeing taking place in a lot
+of mixed districts across the country on behalf of students and
+their performance and their outcomes.
+ Secretary Duncan. I couldn't agree more. And I am hopeful.
+I obviously have extraordinary respect for your long-term
+commitment to this. I have a great working relationship with
+the chairman. The Senate is working very, very hard on this.
+And I think for all the silliness we sometimes see here in
+Washington, this can be the one issue that we come together
+behind and do the right thing for children and for the economy.
+So I am very, very hopeful. Again, I feel the urgency. I want
+to go into the school year with a much, much better law, with
+this law fixed.
+ Mr. Miller. Thank you.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Petri.
+ Mr. Petri. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I have
+several narrow questions I would like permission to submit to
+the Secretary for a written response rather than using up my
+time.
+ Chairman Kline. Without objection.
+ Mr. Petri. First of all, in my part of the world, a lot of
+citizens are quite surprised to find what a small fraction of
+local K-12 education budgets actually come from the Federal
+Government. It is in the middle single digits in most of the
+districts.
+ Secretary Duncan. It is 8 to 10 percent, usually.
+ Mr. Petri. Yes. Even a little lower in some of the
+districts. In our State and district, as is all over the
+country, we have our share of poverty, but we have joint school
+districts. And as a result, that kind of moves things towards
+the average, and the money doesn't follow the student. So we
+have a lot of poor kids who aren't getting help from programs
+that are designed normally to help poor students. And the
+districts, as a result, have an extra burden placed on them
+that they don't have the resources to meet.
+ Do you have any ideas, or are there things that we could do
+to try to better fund--direct funding better toward the
+students who in fact are poverty students and who have need,
+rather than to the districts in which they may happen to
+reside?
+ Secretary Duncan. Well, I think when you have scarce
+resources, as we do, and every district around the country will
+tell you these are the toughest budget times we have had in a
+long time, we have to make sure we are getting a great bang for
+our buck, that we are getting great results. So whether it is
+following the money down to the child, whether it is looking at
+how those investments are being made, we have to ask those
+questions. And whether it is Title I dollars that you are
+referring to, whether it is IDEA dollars that the chairman is
+speaking about, we have to make sure that every single scarce
+taxpayer dollar is having an impact on children.
+ Tough budget times are not things you welcome, but it is
+also a time to reevaluate your priorities. And if districts are
+doing things that aren't having an impact, you have to make
+tough cuts. You have to make tough calls to stop doing those
+and put those scarce dollars where they are making a
+difference. So if that money is getting lost in the bureaucracy
+or not really helping poor students be successful academically
+and break cycles of poverty because they are getting a great
+education, we have to challenge that status quo.
+ Mr. Petri. Our problem is that the district doesn't qualify
+because it may have 20 percent of kids who are in poverty, but
+it is not getting funding because it doesn't have 70 percent or
+80 percent or the whole district doesn't fit within the
+quality. I think it would be much more equitable to count the
+number of people who qualify, as we do with the school lunch
+program, for example, or things like that and let the money go
+to--not follow the student individually, necessarily--there are
+some problems with that--but go to the district in which they
+reside rather than disqualifying the district if it doesn't
+reach a certain threshold.
+ Secretary Duncan. I understand the point. I have got it.
+Thank you.
+ Mr. Petri. The other complaint we have is, as you can
+imagine, with a relatively small percentage of dollars coming
+from the Federal Government, in the single digits, the
+stovepiping or siloing of all these different programs really
+means either you can't really effectively utilize many of the
+smaller ones or you lack any flexibility in tailoring the
+dollars to local needs by consolidating them in a way you could
+actually get something done.
+ Is there anything we can do to provide low funding
+districts with a little more flexibility? Or somehow allow
+people to manage the resources to actually do a better job?
+ Secretary Duncan. Absolutely. And I encourage you to please
+keep pushing us very hard on this. So we talked about
+consolidating 38 programs down to 11. That means a lot less
+stovepiping. It means much more accessible pools of funds,
+funds to districts.
+ We met with all the Governors in the past week. We actually
+handed out a document which we can give to you that talks about
+existing flexibility that isn't always used, and then,
+obviously, our whole goal in reauthorizing ESEA is to provide
+much more flexibility than what exists today. So there are a
+number of steps we have taken, are taking in the right
+direction.
+ I had great conversations with Governors and local
+superintendents on this. And I think if we can reauthorize
+together, we can take another very dramatic step in that
+direction. And again, for me, the huge trade-off in all of this
+is where we are raising standards. We have seen where we have a
+high bar--I want to hold folks accountable to that bar, but
+give them a lot more room to get there, get out of their
+micromanagement.
+ And I think that is the trade-off that you are seeing
+around the country that is the right thing for children and the
+right thing for education. And continue to push us hard to find
+ways to be more flexible, to be more innovative, to be less
+stovepipey. And if folks can spend less time dealing with us in
+the bureaucracy and more time teaching children to read, that
+would be a really good thing.
+ Mr. Petri. We have met the enemy and it is us, because we
+have a lot of groups who naturally are concerned that some
+money is set aside for this need or that need, and it has been
+impossible to resist here.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. The gentleman's time
+has expired. Mr. Kildee.
+ Mr. Kildee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Secretary, it is a pleasure to have you here. Currently
+we measure school performance based upon student achievement on
+required State reading and mathematic assessments. What other
+indicators could be used to expand accountability and measure
+student growth? We talk about growth models. Could attendance
+be one of the factors we could measure? Graduation? Aside from
+the number of students involved in attendance and graduation,
+that may have a cumulative effect upon the attitude within that
+school. Could there be other measures in which we can determine
+the progress of a school?
+ Secretary Duncan. Absolutely. So I think at the end of the
+day, graduation rates are hugely important. I think all of you
+know now we have about a 25 percent dropout rate in this
+country. That is economically unsustainable and it is morally
+unacceptable. High school dropouts today have no chance, none,
+to get a good paying job to support their family. So we have to
+look at graduation rates.
+ Longer term, we have to look at what happens after
+graduation. Are folks going to 2-year community colleges, 4-
+year universities, trade, technical vocational training? Are
+they persevering? Were they really ready? I keep saying we have
+to get higher education out of the remediation business. In
+many communities, 30, 40, 50 percent of students who actually
+graduate from high school are taking remedial classes in
+college because they weren't really ready. We were lying to
+them. So looking at perseverance beyond high school is very
+important.
+ Attendance rates are what I call a huge leading indicator
+of what is going to happen. If you want to identify high school
+dropouts, look at kindergarten attendance rates. And where you
+have students missing--you know, 90 percent on a test sounds
+good; 90 percent attendance means that student is missing 18
+days on a 180-school-day year. That is a month of school they
+are missing. So if you want to increase the outcomes, you have
+to look at attendance rates.
+ We want to put out there, we should ask teachers and ask
+students how they feel about the school. Do they feel
+supported? Is there an adult they can talk to? I think those
+kinds of climate surveys can be a great indicator. There has
+been pretty significant research that where there is a climate
+of trust in schools, you see innovation and creativity. When
+there is a significant distrust amongst administrators and
+staff, students' needs aren't being met. So I think there are
+multiple indicators and we should be looking at them both as
+leading and lagging indicators to better ascertain how schools
+are moving.
+ Mr. Kildee. Can we write that into a law so the States will
+have that guidance and be assured that somehow we will let them
+measure those things?
+ Secretary Duncan. Well I think we have the flexibility now,
+and I am not sure they should be held accountable for every
+single one of these, but schools that are really smart in terms
+of driving student achievement are looking at discipline
+issues, are looking at truancy, or are looking at those things.
+So we can have a discussion of how it fits into it.
+ Just to give one more anecdote, the school we were at
+Friday, Miami Central High School, in its first year of a
+turnaround, so no test scores yet, no new graduating classes,
+but in 1 year discipline problems have gone down 60 percent.
+That is a pretty good leading indicator that that school is
+going in the right direction. There are still huge challenges,
+still a long way to go. But when you have a 60 percent
+reduction in discipline challenges, it makes me very, very
+hopeful about where that school is going.
+ Mr. Kildee. Could we assign a certain percentage of how we
+would evaluate that attendance or the graduation, certain
+percentage of their total score to give them some incentive to
+work on that? Because some schools don't do a good job.
+ Secretary Duncan. There is a huge variation in these
+things. I am not sure if we should assign a percentage or not.
+But again, getting schools focused on what I call these leading
+indicators--attendance, truancy, discipline issues, trust,
+collaboration--those leading indicators are hugely predictive
+of where schools are going and getting much better focus.
+Again, my point, sharing best practices when folks are doing
+creative things to reduce truancy, to reduce dropouts and keep
+students more engaged, we need to replicate and build upon
+those best practices and reward that. We don't provide any
+rewards now in the current law. That has to change.
+ Mr. Kildee. Let me ask you this. Can we address the fact
+that a subgroup may keep a school from achieving AYP without
+neglecting our responsibilities for those students who are in
+the subgroup?
+ Secretary Duncan. We can address that. Again, to me, it is
+so important that we take care of every single child. But if
+you have, sometimes literally, one or two children in one
+subgroup who are struggling, let's get them the help they need,
+let's give them the support they need, let's really look at
+what is going on during school, after school, at home. What can
+we do to help those students be successful?
+ But with the current law, you have to provide tutoring for
+the whole school. Like in a 1,500 children school, 1,498 might
+be doing pretty well. Let's target those scarce resources on
+the handful of children who need the help. So we can be much
+more thoughtful, have just much greater commonsense sense if we
+fix this law working together.
+ Mr. Kildee. I appreciate the answer very much. Thanks a
+lot, Mr. Secretary.
+ Chairman Kline. The gentleman's time has expired. Mrs.
+Biggert.
+ Mrs. Biggert. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And welcome,
+Secretary Duncan. It is nice to see you again.
+ I hope I can make my question short. You have the Race to
+the Top program, and I think that came in where really the
+members of this committee did not really have much to do with
+it. It was kind of started and then presented to us. And I
+think that has bothered some of us. And then the competition
+that a lot of the States went through, and two were chosen and
+then ten were chosen. But it seems to be--and I didn't realize
+that there are so many States that are also adopting a lot of
+those reforms and moving ahead with them, even though they were
+not awarded any funding for it. And particularly, one of them
+was Illinois. And I didn't realize how much in depth that they
+had gone into it and how they were working with it.
+ How is that program going to work with the K-12
+reauthorization? Is there going to be kind of a melding? Are we
+going to use the practices, the reforms for Race to the Top?
+ Secretary Duncan. So what we are seeing, again, it is so
+important I emphasize that we have heard repeatedly that
+Federal spending is 8 to 10 percent. And for less than 1
+percent of what we spend on K-12, we had 41 States adopt
+college- and career-ready standards. For the first time in this
+country, a child in Massachusetts and a child in Illinois and a
+child in Mississippi are going to be held to the same standard.
+And I can't overemphasize how important that is long term for
+our children and for our country.
+ We have 44 States working together in two different
+consortiums on the next generation of assessments. We had about
+3 dozen States remove barriers to innovative schools. We had
+some States--I learned this coming to Washington; I didn't know
+it before. We had some States that had laws on the books that
+make it illegal, that prohibited the linking of student
+achievement and teacher effectiveness. All those laws are gone.
+So the benefits went way beyond the dozen or so States that
+receive money.
+ Moving forward, if we are fortunate to receive another
+round of Race to the Top funding, we want to focus on the
+district level. We are seeing dramatic breakthroughs at the
+State level. We want to continue to have districts move in the
+right direction. And that is just one set of resources.
+ The Investing in Innovations fund is all about scaling up
+best practices at the local level. We were able to fund about
+49 of those. We had 1,700 applicants from around the country,
+this huge outpouring of creativity. We want to replicate
+Geoffrey Canada's work and the Harlem Children's Zone, the
+community-level Promise Neighborhoods Initiative. So playing at
+the community level, at the district level, and the State
+level, we think we can continue to get these kinds of
+transformational breakthroughs that frankly we haven't seen for
+far too long in this country.
+ Mrs. Biggert. Do you think that all the K-12--and the
+reauthorization will involve a lot of that, and I know there
+are also concerns about national standards. Now, you talk about
+coalitions of States. So you are not going to become the
+superintendent of public education, and we are not going to be
+the school board?
+ Secretary Duncan. Absolutely not. Zero interest in that.
+And it would be a step in the wrong direction. This is all
+about States voluntarily working together. This has all been
+driven by courageous Governors, Republican, Democratic,
+courageous State school chief officers saying, we are tired of
+lying to children. We are tired of dumbing-down standards.
+ And not to take one more second, but this one,
+Congresswoman Biggert, is so important to me personally,
+because you and I come from one of those States that dummies-
+down standards. The standards got reduced not because it is
+good for children or good for education, but because it is good
+for politicians. And I am so thankful that Illinois is amongst
+those States that have raised standards and we are going to get
+out of the business of lying to children. We are going to tell
+them the truth in third grade and fifth grade and eighth grade
+and 11th grade. Are they truly college- and career-ready? And
+when I ran the Chicago Public Schools, we frankly stopped
+paying attention to a lot of what the State was doing, because
+we thought it was standing in the way of where we needed to go
+for our children.
+ Mrs. Biggert. And just one more quick question and that is
+on the homeless children, which you know I have worked a lot
+on. And I think the definition of ``homeless'' in the education
+agency is so important. And HUD has not quite gotten all of the
+same standards, so that we are seeing so many young, you know,
+from first to sixth, so many of the children are in these
+homeless shelters and are not really getting the education that
+they need.
+ Secretary Duncan. You have been a passionate advocate on
+this issue. I appreciate it so much. And as you know,
+unfortunately, the number of homeless students and homeless
+families is rising pretty significantly. I have a tremendous
+working relationship with Secretary Donovan at HUD. He has been
+a great, great partner in a whole host of areas and is doing
+some really creative things. I absolutely promise you to
+continue to work with him on this specific issue.
+ Mrs. Biggert. I appreciate it. I yield back.
+ Chairman Kline. Thank you very much. Mr. Andrews, you are
+recognized.
+ Mr. Andrews. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Welcome, Mr. Secretary. Welcome back. And thank you for
+your continuing accessibility and openness to ideas. It is very
+much appreciated.
+ I share Chairman Kline's opinion that there is a better way
+for us to get to our common goal on gainful employment of
+assuring taxpayers and students that we are getting value for
+the dollar, and urge you to continue working with us, as you
+have. And I am appreciative for that.
+ I want to ask you about some questions on No Child Left
+Behind and what I hope is an equally collaborative effort to
+improve that law. Are you in favor of instituting a growth
+model for measuring AYP?
+ Secretary Duncan. Absolutely. We have to focus on growth
+and gain. And I am happy to go into some depth about why that
+is important. But that is critically important to moving the
+country in the right direction.
+ Mr. Andrews. Okay. I think that is something there is an
+awful lot of common ground on.
+ Secondly, on No Child Left Behind, your Department has been
+extremely helpful in calling together leading educators in
+distance learning and online learning, for which we are
+appreciative. I wonder what your thoughts were about including
+on the menu of school improvement options high-quality, duly
+accredited, online learning as one of the options that schools
+could look at when they are in the needs improvement category.
+ Secretary Duncan. It is a conversation we can absolutely
+have. It is just interesting; this morning I met with a number
+of the leading tech executives from around the country. And you
+know this as well as I do, that it is so interesting to me that
+this is another area, frankly, where education has lagged.
+Technology has transformed how we do business, it has
+transformed how we interact socially, it is leading to
+democracy around the world. And education, it is touched but is
+not profoundly changed. And I think technology, distance
+learning, engaging students not 6 hours a day, 5 days a week,
+but 24/7.
+ The school we were at yesterday with the President and
+Melinda Gates, they are sending home assignments on cell
+phones.
+ Mr. Andrews. Actually, the one thing that may get our kids
+to stop looking at their phones all the time. It is a pretty
+good idea.
+ Secretary Duncan. So I think we have been far too slow in
+education to learn and get the benefits of engaging students in
+different ways. And I think technology can play a huge role,
+particularly in tough economic times, of getting much better
+results.
+ Mr. Andrews. Many of the districts that aren't making AYP
+aren't making it because of deficiencies in Special Education.
+And there are two takes on why that is. The first is the
+schools aren't doing a good enough job in raising the
+achievement of classified kids. The second is the standards are
+really inappropriate for those children. Where would you like
+to see us go on treating Special Education under No Child Left
+Behind?
+ Secretary Duncan. Well, let me just say and repeat what I
+said in my statement, is I give the current NCLB law great
+credit for shining a spotlight on English language learners, on
+homeless students, on students with special needs. I think
+those are students who far too often got swept under the rug.
+And this idea of disaggregating data and looking at achievement
+gaps I am laser-like focused on, and we will absolutely
+continue. The bar, historically, far too often was lowered for
+students with special needs. I am all about raising the bar. I
+am all about raising expectations and holding schools,
+districts, States, accountable for much better outcomes for
+young people.
+ At the end of the day, it is not about this test score or
+that test score. If you look at unemployment rates for students
+who have special needs, once they leave, they are devastatingly
+high. And this is about having every single child, again
+regardless of ability or disability, have a chance to fulfill
+their potential.
+ Mr. Andrews. One of things I worry about is that it can
+actually add to the stigma of a special needs child if a child
+is held to an unrealistic set of expectations. And again, I am
+with you. I want that child to absolutely reach every ounce of
+potential he or she has. But if schools begin to feel like they
+are not hitting AYP because of unrealistic standards on Special
+Ed, I think it actually adds to the stigma for those children,
+which I don't think we want to do.
+ Secretary Duncan. Another reason to fix the law.
+ Mr. Andrews. Yes. Finally, just very quickly, the chairman
+made reference to the increase in education spending since you
+took over. If you had to guess--and if you want to do it for
+the record, go ahead--what percentage of that increase has gone
+into college scholarships, teachers of reading and math, direct
+services to children and students, and what percentage has been
+overhead?
+ Secretary Duncan. I don't have hard numbers. I would just
+say that my general principle is we have to continue to reduce
+overhead at our level, at the State level, at the local level.
+We have to get scarce resources to classrooms. We have to get
+scarce resources to the children in the communities who need
+the most help.
+ I think other countries--I have spent a lot of time
+studying the data of higher performing countries, and it is
+fascinating to look at the lessons learned. One of the things
+many of the high-performing countries have done is they have
+done an infinitely better job of closing the achievement gaps,
+of working with disadvantaged and poor children.
+ Mr. Andrews. I would just also note that they have done a
+better job at investing more in education than we have in some
+cases. And I thank the chairman and yield back.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Dr. Foxx.
+ Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here
+today, Mr. Duncan. We appreciate it. I want to ask you a
+question also about expenditures. But before I ask the
+question, I want to say that I hope you will answer the
+question without implying something, as you did a little while
+ago.
+ You answered Mrs. Biggert's question, I think, by saying
+you have reduced 38 programs to 11 in the Department. However,
+you failed to mention that you have not cut any spending as a
+result of doing that. You have no savings in reducing those
+departments. You are continuing to spend the same amount of
+money, or even more. So I have related questions.
+ Number one, we have spent about $2 trillion in the
+Department of Education I believe since Title I was
+implemented, and yet we have seen reading scores go down. We
+have seen all kinds of scores go down. You can see it on the
+chart there. You see how spending has gone up, and yet we have
+achieved nothing. Do you have a single program in the
+Department of Education that you can point to measurable
+results as a result of spending from the Federal Government?
+Can you prove anything has come out of one dollar of spending
+from the Federal Government?
+ Secretary Duncan. Well, I don't think I can prove one
+dollar of spending did this. I can tell the outcomes for
+students with special needs have improved significantly.
+Outcomes for students who are English language learners have
+improved significantly. We are an investor. We are a co-
+investor at the State and local level. Again, only 8 to 10
+percent of the money comes from us. Still huge gaps there.
+Still unacceptable gaps. But those have gone in the right
+direction.
+ So I think we have to continue to invest--your initial
+point is absolutely right. At a time when the President is
+asking to flat line domestic spending at a very tough budget
+time, he is asking for a $2 billion increase in education
+spending. And he fundamentally believes, and I absolutely share
+the belief, that we have to invest, we have to educate our way
+to a better economy and better early childhood education, K-12
+reform, more access to Pell grants.
+ Ms. Foxx. Let me stop you, though. Tell me where you have
+had success that justifies that--other than in special needs.
+You have pointed that out, but can you point to Federal dollars
+creating the success? That is what I am asking.
+ Secretary Duncan. Again, we don't just fund any one program
+ourselves. We co-invest with States and local districts. But
+there are lots of places--not just special needs, but Title I
+schools where you are seeing remarkable results. I can point
+you to hundreds and hundreds of schools that are 99 percent
+poor, 99 percent minority, where 95 percent of young people are
+graduating and going to college, preparing to be successful.
+And our resources are helping to create those opportunities.
+Absolutely.
+ Ms. Foxx. I will wait to get some specific information from
+you. Thank you.
+ Chairman Kline. The gentlelady yields back. Ms. Woolsey,
+you are recognized.
+ Ms. Woolsey. Mr. Secretary, can you give us a little bit
+more. I have two subjects I am going to try--2-1/2 and 2-1/2
+minutes on each. Is there more detail you can provide us
+regarding rewriting of ESEA and how we are going to fund
+through State and local education agencies the proposed
+effective teaching and learning for a well-rounded education
+program? I am specifically interested in core subjects like
+music and arts and worried that they will be grouped with other
+non-tested subjects and hoping that each subject will get their
+own share of Federal funds so that schools will actually have
+an incentive to educate the whole child.
+ Secretary Duncan. Great question. And it is arguably the
+biggest complaint I have heard as I have traveled the country
+from students themselves and parents and teachers, is a
+narrowing of the curriculum under NCLB. And I have heard it
+urban, rural, suburban, you name it. So we actually want to
+invest about a billion dollars behind what we call a well-
+rounded education. And I think reading and math are
+fundamental, are foundational. But science, social studies,
+history, foreign language, environmental literacy, financial
+literacy, dance, drama, art, music, physical education, art
+students desperately need and deserve a well-rounded
+curriculum, well-rounded education and we want to put a billion
+dollars behind that.
+ And let me just say one more thing. To me it is so
+important that it not happen just in high school, but it
+happens as first and second and third graders. So our students
+start to develop their sense of self esteem, they start to
+figure out what their passions are. And, if we are serious
+about reducing dropout rates and having many more students be
+successful and be engaged and closing the achievement gap, we
+have to do it through a well-rounded education.
+ Ms. Woolsey. That is good to hear. Second subject. I would
+like to talk about--and I am really pleased that in the
+President's budget request, he has asked for $150 million for
+Promise Neighborhoods. This is an issue that is very important
+to me and has been for a long time because so many of our kids
+go to school not ready to learn. And we know they go to school
+hungry, they need medical care. They don't have help with their
+homework. So tell me how is this program going and how are we
+encouraging more schools and communities to come together so
+that they actually can provide these community services and
+have them located at the school site or someplace convenient?
+ Secretary Duncan. So like Race to the Top, like Investing
+in Innovation Fund, I am just absolutely convinced that Promise
+Neighborhoods has unleashed this huge amount of creativity. We
+funded this past year about 20 communities for planning grants.
+We had over 300 communities apply. So you have folks coming
+together, nonprofits, social service agencies, faith-based
+institutions, K-12 districts, higher education, coming together
+saying our children deserve so much better. I desperately wish
+we could have funded 200 of those 300. We had money to do 20.
+So the $150 million we are requesting from Congress will help
+us move from planning towards implementation. We will open that
+up to the country. And I promise you we are going to have
+hundreds and hundreds of applicants. We only want to work in
+our Nation's most distressed communities and to give those
+children a chance to get a great education, to rally the entire
+community behind that effort. And again, just like Race to the
+Top, obviously the vast majority of communities we were
+unfortunately unable to fund in planning. Many of them are
+moving forward without our dollars. Brought them to the table,
+brought them outside their comfort zone, they are working
+together. And that, in and of itself, has been absolutely
+invaluable.
+ Ms. Woolsey. And I am sure you are able to track how much
+is saved in the long run by providing these services close at
+home. So I think I have time for one more subject and that is
+STEM education for girls and minorities, Mr. Secretary. And we
+know young girls and minorities are losing interest in science
+and math at a much too young an age. They are not choosing to
+pursue more advanced classes in high school or careers in these
+fields. How do you plan and how do you propose effective
+teaching and learning for science technology, engineering and
+mathematics programs? How are we going to increase this
+interest? Because that is the future of our country.
+ Secretary Duncan. Yesterday the President and I and Melinda
+Gates were at TechBoston, which is an amazing high school in
+Boston. The vast majority of children live below the poverty
+line, come from very tough communities. 95 percent--huge
+graduation rates. The vast majority of graduates are going on
+to college. An amazing STEM focus. So there is a $206 million
+budget for effective teaching and learning to support the STEM
+area. We have $80 million specifically to help prepare and
+retain STEM teachers. There is a $185 million request for new
+presidential teaching fellowship program that would help
+talented students who attend top tier teacher preparation
+programs to go into a high needs field like STEM. We have a
+huge focus on STEM through the Investing in Innovation Fund.
+And we want to put many more resources into R&D to continue to
+learn in this area.
+ But at the end of the day, the President has given us a
+simple challenge. He wants us to recruit, attract and retain
+100,000 new STEM teachers as we move forward. We have this baby
+boomer generation retiring. The only way we do a better job of
+reaching women and girls is making sure we have many more
+teachers--again, not just in high school, but in those primary
+grades who have a passion and a love for STEM education,
+working through traditional pathways to increase that number. I
+am also a big fan of alternative certification. I want more
+folks who know chemistry, who know biology, who know physics
+coming in to do this work. And we want to fund places that are
+going to be innovative in bringing in that next generation.
+ Ms. Woolsey. Well, we look forward to working with you on
+that.
+ Chairman Kline. The gentlelady's time has expired. I am
+always so excited when I hear you talk about alternative
+certification. Dr. Roe is recognized.
+ Mr. Roe. Thank you. And I want to thank the Secretary for
+being here. This is the fourth time and I have seen you, more
+than any of the other Secretaries and I appreciate your passion
+for what you do--I truly mean that--and what you try to do and
+did some great things in Chicago.
+ I have a son that lives there. He speaks very highly of
+you. So thank you for that. You have probably one of the
+hardest jobs in America, I think. One of the things that I have
+done when I have gone to rural East Tennessee where I live is
+go see my teachers. I thought doctors were frustrated. You are
+go get 40 or 50 teachers together and you are going to get your
+ears pinned back. Part of the reason is because in all of the
+bureaucracy that we have created, that--the hoops they have to
+jump. And remember I am in a Race to the Top State, Tennessee.
+We were 1 of the 2 States that were selected. And we are in the
+process--I had the teachers explain to me, what does this Race
+to the Top mean to you and how is it helping you when you are
+teaching in the first grade, when you are teaching in the
+second and third grade.
+ I really couldn't get a good explanation from the teacher
+who was actually being observed. And this is the graph that I
+think that concerns me the most. We are going to have an 11
+percent increase in spending as proposed in this budget. And I
+was a mayor of Johnson City, Tennessee before I came here. And
+you are absolutely correct, there were days if I could have
+written the Federal Government a check for the money they sent
+and put into the 1 percent we got in our community because the
+city, the county and the State put the money in--it was a very
+small amount. But the teachers spend an inordinate amount of
+time qualifying. This is the graph that bothers me. Right here
+is the increase in Federal spending and yet the outcomes--we
+are not getting anything for our money. So I think the
+accountability--and right here when you see more and more and
+more spending, but we are not getting any results for it.
+ Secretary Duncan. So, a couple of thoughts. First of all, I
+think Tennessee has a chance to not just transform education in
+the State, but to help lead the country where we need to go. I
+have tremendous confidence in your new governor. He is
+passionate on this issue. He just, in the past couple of days,
+appointed a new State superintendent who is a nontraditional
+candidate, Kevin Huffman, who I have tremendous respect for and
+actually met with him earlier. I think he is going to do a
+great job. So I am very, very hopeful about where the State can
+go and where the State can help to lead the country.
+ On your historical point sort of for the country, does more
+dollars absolutely equate to better outcomes? Of course not. So
+to me what we try to drive from day one is this combination of
+investment, but investment not in the status quo, investment in
+reform. And whether that is at the early childhood level,
+whether it is at K-12 reform, whether it is trying to increase
+access and completion rates at the higher end, it can't be
+investment in the status quo with a 25 percent dropout rate.
+ Mr. Roe. I think Congresswoman Woolsey may have mentioned
+it. But I think if a child can't read by the third or fourth
+grade--I mean, all the teachers that were patients of mine
+through the years could predict who was going to drop out by
+the 4th grade. And if we can do that, then that is where we
+ought to emphasize instead of worrying about all these other
+things. Because if you are never going to graduate, you know
+that by the time you are 10 years old, that is where you need
+to invest the money.
+ The other frustration I had in hearing something was we
+have 96,000 schools in America. I think I heard this testimony
+last year or the year before last. And 2,000 of those account
+for 50 percent of our dropouts.
+ Secretary Duncan. So a couple of thoughts. Your basic point
+on early investment I couldn't agree with more. If we can have
+our babies, our 3- and 4-year-olds enter kindergarten ready to
+read and ready to learn with their socialization skills intact
+gives us a great opportunity. Also, we have to invest early and
+try and level playing fields. I just urge you not to give up on
+those children who are behind. I spent a lot of time in Chicago
+working in a tough community with teenagers who started way
+behind and just hadn't had the opportunity and caught up pretty
+quickly when challenged and with real support. It is much
+tougher work. I would love to get us all out of the catch-up
+business. And we have to do much better at the early side. But
+where students don't have those opportunities, we still need to
+provide a chance for them to get better.
+ Mr. Roe. I totally agree. I think one of the other things
+that I have with this frustration is that so many teachers--
+half of our teachers who graduate from college don't teach in 5
+years. And there is a reason for that. And I think part of the
+reason is--well, there are many reasons I am sure. But all the
+paperwork that really doesn't add anything to the classroom, I
+am very frustrated about that.
+ Secretary Duncan. Again, I just urge you to hold us
+accountable and push us. Everywhere I go, I ask teachers,
+principals, superintendents, State superintendents, tell us
+what we are doing to get in your way, tell us what
+requirements--there is a series of reporting requirements that
+were duplicative that we have already changed. We are trying to
+get better here. But if you think about the teacher, they are
+hit at the local level, the district, they are hit at the
+State, they are hit by us. It is too much. And we are trying to
+lead by example. And again, the more you can challenge us to
+get rid of duplicative or nonhelpful paperwork, we have to do
+that. We have to do that.
+ Mr. Roe. Thank you. I yield back.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Hinojosa.
+ Mr. Hinojosa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Duncan, it
+is always a pleasure to have you testify before our committee.
+I commend you and the President for the tremendous work that
+you all are doing investing in education these couple of years
+that you have been heading the Department of Education. I want
+to ask my question that is easy and doesn't cost much money,
+and that is, that there are some school districts in the Great
+State of Texas that start school early August, not after Labor
+Day. And you spoke about increasing school average days of
+attendance above 90 percent, maybe 95, 97, which is being done
+today in some of my school districts in my congressional
+district. So I know it is doable. But if we could give the flu
+shots to the students in early August as well as the teachers
+and maybe even the staff that serve them in the cafeteria and
+drive the bus, I think that we have fewer children getting sick
+and more being able to attend. That should be easy and the same
+cost that we do it in August versus doing in October. Is that
+something you can support?
+ Secretary Duncan. Absolutely. And I have worked very, very
+closely with Secretary Sebelius on a number of health-related
+issues and H1N1. I thought she did a remarkable job. And if we
+can get students' immunizations earlier, it makes all the sense
+in the world.
+ Mr. Hinojosa. I will send you a memo to this effect because
+we need it in Texas. I also want to say that I believe that our
+Nation must do more to expand accessibility and affordability
+to be able to access higher education. What is your vision for
+HSIs, HBCUs, TCUs and other MSIs? What types of outcomes do you
+expect for the next 10 years? And what is your time line for
+the upcoming STEM grant competition?
+ Secretary Duncan. So our HSIs, our HBCUs can't simply
+survive. We have to help them thrive. And so we continue to
+invest very significantly in them. Obviously the Pell grant
+increases are very significant to those populations. We direct
+fund HSIs and HBCUs and have increased that funding over time.
+We want to put in place the Hawkins Scholarship Program, about
+$40 million, to get great teachers coming out of the HSIs.
+ And so many of our teachers of color come through HSIs and
+HBCUs and I desperately want a much more diverse teacher
+workforce than we have today. Our teachers, our administrators
+don't reflect the amazing diversity of our Nation's students.
+We are to work on that. So we are going to continue to invest
+very significantly in HSIs and HBCUs. And I see them as real
+partners in driving where we need to go. The final thing I will
+say is I have visited a number of them and continue to go out
+to recruit more teachers of color to come into education
+because I think frankly, many traditional schools of education
+haven't shown much creativity or leadership in this area.
+ And obviously HSIs and HBCUs are a natural phenomenal
+pipeline of great teacher talent for our Nation's classrooms.
+ Mr. Hinojosa. I commend you what you have done in this last
+2 years in increasing that funding because it definitely
+exceeds what we did in 1946 with the GI bill. So I commend you.
+But now we need a timeline to be able to get into the
+competition and get to that money and recruit students into
+colleges. The last question, if I still have time, would be
+that I reintroduced H.R. 778, the Graduation Promise Act
+because I believe that we must invest and transform our
+Nation's dropout factories. The question is, how do you propose
+to build the capacity of our Nation's lowest performing high
+schools and middle schools?
+ Secretary Duncan. This is where the school improvement
+grants are so important. We stated earlier for this horrendous
+dropout rate that the country faces, it is actually--we have
+about 100,000 schools. Only about 2,000, 2 percent of our
+schools produce half our Nation's dropouts and 75 percent of
+our dropouts from the minority communities are African
+American, Latino young boys and girls. So with a massive
+investment, not in the status quo, but this idea of reform, we
+have about 1,000 schools for the first time in this country, we
+have about 1,000 schools that are being turned around as we
+speak. And we have to continue to challenge the status quo. We
+have to continue to invest. And unfortunately, as you know all
+too well, Congressman, in many communities, these schools have
+been dropout factories for years, 2 years or 5 years. It has
+often been for decades. 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years. And this has
+not gotten a lot of media attention because it has been a lot
+of hard work without a lot of controversy.
+ Every one, school leaders, union leaders, superintendents,
+school boards, everyone is moving outside their comfort zones
+and doing some very, very different things for students. And
+all of these turnarounds, they won't all be A's. Many will be
+fantastic. Some will be okay. But for the first time, our
+country is showing courage in doing this work. And it makes me
+so hopeful about where we can be 3, 4, 5 years from now.
+ Mr. Hinojosa. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. My time has
+expired.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Dr. DesJarlais.
+ Mr. DesJarlais. Thank you for being here, Secretary Duncan.
+Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know by this point of the
+discussion, a lot of these questions may be somewhat
+repetitive, but I think there is some important points to
+continue forward. The Department of Education doesn't seem to
+be the only Department that has a draft like the one we saw
+with the increase of spending without actual results. And it is
+refreshing as we sit in this committee today that it does seem
+to be a fairly bipartisan discussion. One thing I think my
+colleagues might agree on that has come up a few times today is
+that maybe one of the biggest impediments to learning is the
+politicians and the Federal Government. So it is kind of
+interesting to maybe stop and take a look at that, that we have
+increased spending, the Department of Education has been with
+us for over three decades and we are not really seeing the
+outcomes.
+ And one thing that we haven't really focused a lot on
+today, we have touched on it a little, my colleague from
+Tennessee also mentioned that where do teachers come into the
+picture here. And we had a panel a couple of weeks ago where we
+asked them what were the top three things they are hearing from
+teachers. And certainly with your travels around the country, I
+am sure you get an earful. What would you say are the top three
+concerns that you are hearing from our educators?
+ Secretary Duncan. Let me just go back to one more point on
+the results that we have seen on the NAEP results, pretty
+significant gains in math scores over time, but we are not
+again, not at the same levels of other countries. So we are at
+a competitive disadvantage and have to keep getting better.
+Complaints from teachers, this idea of a well-rounded
+curriculum I talked about.
+ This narrowing of the curriculum is a huge challenge that
+teachers really struggle with. I haven't met a teacher yet who
+is scared of accountability. They just want it to be fair. And
+this idea of growth and gain is a huge one for them. If you are
+my teacher and I come to you three grade levels behind and I
+leave you a grade level behind, you have done an amazing job
+with me. You are an unsung hero. And under current law, you are
+labeled a failure, the school and ultimately the district is
+labeled a failure. You have accelerated my learning. So we have
+to focus on that. And then teachers want--they want to be held
+to a fair standard but then they want the room to be creative,
+to hit that higher bar.
+ So again for me that tradeoff is where is the high bars, I
+have much more flexibility at the classroom level, at the
+school level, the district level. If it is not working, then we
+have to look at that. But room to move, better accountability
+and a well-rounded education I think are amongst the tops of
+the complaints I hear from great educators.
+ Mr. DesJarlais. I think that is fair. I think that the
+teachers I have spoken with would echo those sentiments. As a
+physician, I get to spend a lot of time in the examining room
+having conversations about teaching. And I would just add to
+more succinctly and maybe not as eloquently as you put it, but
+one of the concerns--and you mentioned it earlier--was lack of
+discipline in the classrooms. And I thought it was interesting
+that you said that a school in Miami showed an improvement in
+the discipline problem and therefore it was headed in the right
+direction.
+ So perhaps there is an area of focus. I am certain to hear
+from the teachers that are frustrated that they can't control
+their classroom. And a second thing is that they seem to be
+lacking a little bit in terms of pride in their profession and
+I think that is because of the bureaucracy and regulation.
+ So if we have frustrated teachers, we may have less
+effective teachers. And so I think that in a sense they feel
+handcuffed and that lack of flexibility,--I appreciate you want
+to see more flexibility. But I know, like, in Tennessee, they
+have to teach to the standardized testing or the TCAP and they
+have a lot of pressure put on them by the administrations to
+make those numbers the way they should be. When we were kids, a
+standardized test was something you came in from recess, they
+dropped it on your desk, told you to take it and now they are
+actually teaching to these tests. Do you think that is an
+effective means of measurement?
+ Secretary Duncan. Again, if you are teaching to a test, the
+best way students do well on any exam is to give them rich
+content and to have them be creative in doing that. So again,
+when the curriculum gets narrowed, when you are teaching to the
+test, that is not good for children, not good for teachers.
+Again, having a high bar, being real clear about that but
+giving teachers lots of room to move to hit the higher bar, to
+be creative is hugely important. Your other point, I think, is
+so critically important, it is absolutely true that the
+teaching profession in education in general has been beaten
+down. And we have to reverse that. We have to elevate the
+profession. We have to strengthen the profession.
+ In our high performing countries around the globe, teachers
+are revered. In South Korea, teachers are known as nation
+builders. It is a really powerful concept, one I have thought
+about. Our teachers have to be believed to be nation builders.
+We lose far too many of our good young teachers due to
+bureaucracy, due to lack of support, due to difficulties of
+classroom management skills. And I think the only way we are
+going to get where we need to go again and lead the world is to
+recruit and retain the hardest working, the most committed
+young people to come into education. Other countries have done
+this systemically. We haven't and we can get better together at
+it.
+ Mr. DesJarlais. Thank you. I appreciate your comments. I
+yield back my time.
+ Chairman Kline. Thank you. Mr. Tierney.
+ Mr. Tierney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, how
+are you? I am sorry I wasn't able to be with you yesterday in
+Massachusetts, but I appreciated the visit on that. I cannot
+help but say I think everybody is interested in eliminating
+waste, fraud and abuse and duplication. And I commend the fact
+that you and the President have been spending considerable time
+trying to make sure that those are eliminated in the education
+budget. But I also think that sometimes we have cut beyond
+those areas and into the bone because both the White House and
+Congress failed to have, I think, the courage to take on a
+larger issue of making sure that people pay their fair share.
+ At the end of last year, at the end of 2010, this Congress
+and the White House allowed for a continued tax break so that
+people weren't paying their fair share, $800 billion over 10
+years. We have $700 billion in tax expenditures to corporations
+every year. We have the lowest effective tax corporate rate of
+all the OECD countries on average. Google paid 2.4 percent
+effective tax rate last year, the do-no-harm first company. GE
+and Boeing paid no taxes at all in the last several years.
+ So while we are here debating eliminating or reducing
+seriously some very important programs, there was a real lack
+of courage, of profiles in courage on a number of occasions and
+I think we are going to have to find some if we want to do it.
+I think Governor Martin O'Malley yesterday in testimony before
+our subcommittee--full committee rather up in Maryland made a
+good statement. The balance is wonderful; but if you are on a
+bicycle and you are trying to balance standing still, pretty
+soon you are going to fall over. You have to pedal forward. And
+if we want to be competitive in this country, we had better
+pedal forward to make sure that we outdo China, Germany and
+other countries to get there.
+ One of the ways we do that is by making sure we have a
+sound investment in education. And Pell grants and Pell
+scholarship money is one area along that. So it is of great
+concern that we see H.R. 1 eliminating about 9 1/2 billion
+college students--$800 a piece, a reduction in the Pell grant.
+135,000 in my State of Massachusetts. Another 1.7 million low-
+income students aren't even going to qualify for Pell grants if
+that cut is maintained.
+ That is about 20 percent of the current people. So it is a
+great concern there. But there is also a concern amongst many
+and me about the administration's proposal to eliminate the
+availability of Pell grants for those that are pursuing summer
+studies. I know there is some that mention it hasn't been shown
+to speed it up yet. But it hasn't even been in place long
+enough for people to get an associate's degree, 18 months or
+less. If we are going to compete with China and other countries
+on that, we have to get people able to get through and get that
+degree to be able to get back to work or get out to work in the
+first instance. Can you tell us how you expect to meet that
+need, while at the same time eliminating that program?
+ Secretary Duncan. And I really appreciate your
+thoughtfulness on this. So where we scaled back $800, $900 on
+Pell grants, that just means there are a lot of young people
+who are working hard who come from families who are struggling
+financially who have to drop out of school. And what is amazing
+to me, which we haven't talked about here, which I am sure you
+guys are aware, that at a time of high unemployment, we
+actually have a couple million jobs in this country that go
+unfilled every single day because we are not producing the
+knowledge workers who have the skills to fill those jobs. And
+the President and I met with a number of CEOs 2 weeks ago and
+it is amazing to hear how many CEOs are trying to hire now and
+there simply isn't the talent that we are producing K-12 and
+through higher ed to fill those jobs.
+ So any cutback to Pell would have a devastating long-term
+impact on our economy and our ability to compete. And jobs and
+companies and corporations, they are simply going to go where
+the knowledge workers are. And it is going to be in our country
+or it is going to be in other countries. And we are either
+going to put ourselves in a competitive advantage or we are
+going to continue to lose not the low skill jobs, but the high
+skill jobs which are really the jobs of the future. So we have
+to continue to invest there.
+ Obviously, the decision to say no to Pell grants--again,
+you can use the one Pell grant for summer--is not one that I
+enjoyed or wanted to make or felt good about. It is simply in
+very tough budget times trying to make a decision to preserve
+the $5,550 for the vast majority of people who use those Pell
+grants and by eliminating the second one is a savings of about
+$7 billion. But in an ideal world, would I choose to do that?
+Of course not.
+ Mr. Tierney. Just to remind you, Mark Canter, which is a
+student aide expert, tells us just to increase the Federal
+income tax revenue from increasing the number of college
+graduates would pay for the cost of doubling Pell grants. So we
+look forward to that. Let me ask you one last question while I
+still have time. In the Higher Education Opportunity Act in the
+House, I put in a provision, and Senator Kennedy put it in the
+Senate with respect for model transition programs for students
+with intellectual disabilities in higher education.
+ I know the chairman has a concern about that as do many
+others. It is only $11 million. And the fact of the matter was
+for model programs to move on, and particularly community
+colleges who have a disproportionate number of students
+challenged that way. We are going to put those models together.
+Is there some way the administration could take another look at
+that? Because there is a serious need with children aging into
+that grouping that need to be able to have a sustainable way to
+get through life.
+ Chairman Kline. If I may, the gentleman's time has expired
+and we would love the answer for the record if we could, Mr.
+Secretary.
+ Secretary Duncan. I would be happy to look at it.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Hunter.
+ Mr. Hunter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, great
+to see you. Love your name. Question. Mr. Tierney was just
+talking about taxes and about how much we are spending. In
+comparison to China, if you add State, Federal and local
+spending on our end here, we are paying more per kid than I
+think any other nation if you add everything together. I don't
+know the answer to this question.
+ What is more, I am not supposed to ask questions I don't
+have the answer to. But I am pretty sure that we pay more
+State, local and Federal than any other country does. So tell
+me, what is the real correlation, then, between spending cash
+and getting good results in education? When if you look at a
+model like China or any other country--Germany was mentioned--
+any other country you throw out there--obviously their
+structure is different. South Korea, they probably have a
+different structure.
+ So it is not about money, then, in that sense and just
+increasing funding into the future forever. What is it then?
+What is the correlation?
+ Secretary Duncan. Again, to be very clear, I am not pushing
+more investment in the status quo. I am pushing more investment
+in a very different vision of where we need to go. So a couple
+of things. I think the investment in early childhood
+education--I can make a very compelling case to you that that
+is the best investment we can make and the dividend is long-
+term and the ROI and the savings to society are huge.
+ What you see in other countries is, I think, they have been
+smarter, more strategic in how they invest. I think other
+countries have done a much better job of targeting the students
+in the communities that need the most help and have done much
+better there. And I think we have to continue to increase
+access to higher education.
+ And again, there are just so few good jobs out there, if
+any, if you just have a high school diploma. So it is not
+looking for investment in the status quo. I would never
+advocate for that. I am advocating for significant investment
+in a very different vision of what this country needs to do.
+ Mr. Hunter. But that means, though, that we are still going
+to be spending more per kid and we are not seeing any
+correlation between that spending and the actual results. So
+why not just change the entire structure, then, if we are going
+to do that and reinvest the money that we already have into a
+different system? Which is what you are doing and what we are
+trying to do here. But why increase it at all? Because if you
+were to somehow even cut and find some savings, then we could
+talk about Pell grants and things like that.
+ Secretary Duncan. So again, you and I may disagree on it. I
+think going forward we are going to see many more young people
+trying to go to college, trying to get some form of higher
+education, 4-year, 2-year. 10, 20, 30 years ago you didn't
+necessarily need that. I am from Chicago. You could graduate
+from high school. You could drop out of high school and go work
+at the stockyards, the steel mills and get a good job and own
+your own home and support your family. As you know, all those
+jobs are gone.
+ So in a knowledge-based economy, more and more not just 18
+year-olds, but 38-year-olds and 58-year-olds are going back.
+And so our Pell grant requests have gone up very significantly.
+ Mr. Hunter. Which I understand. I understand all this. But
+talking about K-12, if it is the structure that really matters
+and it is not increasing funding for a bad system, why not just
+take away the bad spending, if you will, those things that you
+don't believe in and restructure and reinvest as opposed to
+right now trying to get more funding which would increase
+funding per kid, which has not been proven has any correlation
+whatsoever to the results?
+ Secretary Duncan. What I would argue is that with the
+increased investment in the opportunity to drive systemic
+change, you are seeing breakthroughs you have never seen in the
+history of the country.
+ So again, 41 States raising standards for the first time
+ever, voluntarily, college and career ready standards, not
+dummied down standards, 44 States working together on this new
+generation of assessments, about 3 dozen States eliminating
+barriers to innovative schools, every State eliminating laws
+that prohibited the linking of student achievement and teacher
+evaluation, all of that happened, in part, due to our ability
+to reward great behavior. And we want to be able to do more of
+that going forward.
+ Mr. Hunter. Would you say, though, that we are still
+spending on bad along with the good?
+ Secretary Duncan. No question. We have to continue--on
+every single dollar. So we handed out to governors last week--
+in very tough budget times, you have to make tough calls. We
+handed out a document that we are happy to share. There are
+smart ways to cut and there are dumb ways to cut. And I worry a
+lot about in very tough budget times folks making decisions
+that exacerbate the challenges that we have.
+ Mr. Hunter. Could you see being successful--if the amount
+of funding does not go up, could you still be successful if you
+cut the right way and put the money into the systems that you
+know work? Could you do that?
+ Secretary Duncan. We have to do that anyway, but I continue
+to think we underinvest. And it is actually interesting. We
+underinvest relative to the high performing countries. We
+underinvest significantly in the most disadvantaged children
+communities relative to higher performance.
+ Mr. Hunter. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for your
+testimony. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Mrs. Davis.
+ Mrs. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for working
+so closely with the committee. Despite the overwhelming
+evidence that teachers matter most when it comes to student
+learning, low-income students and minority students receive
+less than their fair share of access to the best teachers. We
+would wish that even the most ordinary teachers could become
+extraordinary. And I think that is the goal in any system, to
+do that. But the reality is that as long as there are
+inequities in the quality of teaching from classroom to
+classroom and school to school, we are still going to see gaps
+in the achievement, and it is tough to close that gap. And you
+mentioned that earlier, and the distribution of effective
+teachers. I am wondering, in the budget itself, how can we look
+to that and see also in the ESEA blueprint what prompts States
+and districts to ensure that the students who need the
+strongest teachers most have access to those teachers?
+ Secretary Duncan. So again, this is just such a huge issue.
+I so appreciate you bringing it up. Because what other
+countries, other higher performing countries have done is they
+have systemically solved this problem--not totally--but in a
+much more thoughtful and comprehensive and systemic way than we
+have in this country. Other countries have put in place great
+incentives for the hardest working and most committed to go to
+the toughest communities, to give them the support they need
+and they retain them there. We have had almost no incentives,
+and frankly, lots of disincentives for the most committed, the
+hardest working teachers and principals--you have to have the
+principals as well--to go to underserved communities, be that
+inner city, urban or rural. And we can't talk honestly about
+closing the achievement gap if we don't talk about closing what
+I call the opportunity gap. And we have so many examples of
+high poverty, high performing schools where students are
+routinely beating the odds because they are getting great
+talent there. How do we do it? Two concrete ways. One is
+obviously--we have talked about some today--is the school
+improvement grants and a huge investment in these lowest
+performing schools.
+ And what I have said very publicly is if your community has
+not been able to attract a great math and science teacher, use
+our resources to do it. 10 grand, 15 grand, 20 grand. Pay that
+great math and science teacher more to come and give them the
+support they need. Not everyone agrees with me on that. I don't
+see how our students take AP calculus and physics if they don't
+have those kinds of teachers. If you have to pay a great
+principal--pick a number, 25 grand, 30 grand, 50 grand--to go
+to an underperforming community, use our resources to do that.
+We have the teacher incentive fund, which is we go out on a
+voluntary basis to communities. We have dozens and dozens of
+districts now that are being very creative and starting to look
+at this. I will give you one last example.
+ The district that I think systemically has done this better
+than any others I have seen is Charlotte-Mecklenburg. They have
+about 20 schools that historically, chronically underperformed.
+They are, year after year, putting the best talent into those
+schools. I met with a set of teachers and principals who have
+taken on this work. I will never forget what one of the
+principals said to me. He was a star principal in the district,
+was about to retire, was given this opportunity to go to a
+really tough school, which most people run away from. And he
+said to him, he said this is the most moral and ethical work I
+have ever done in my career. I am so thankful to have the
+opportunity. And to me it is such a profound statement, the
+most moral and ethical work he had ever done. So they are
+systemically through incentives, through awards, through
+support getting great talent.
+ Mrs. Davis. For those schools that are not applying for
+grants or their schools or their States are not applying for
+grants, trying to--obviously there are so many schools that are
+not in that position or choose to do that, how do we do that?
+And it ties in with evaluations, of course, as well.
+ Secretary Duncan. The school improvement grants go out
+formally to every State. So every State we give that money to
+and say you figure out who your bottom 5 percent of schools are
+and you figure out--if you need to do more--teachers do that.
+If you need to go to school after school, if you need more
+time, you have to go to school on Saturdays, if you have to go
+to school all summer, whatever it takes, more teacher planning
+time, more awards for teachers, whatever it takes, use our
+resources to do that. And that went out by form to every single
+State in the country.
+ Mrs. Davis. Are there some outside--I don't know if I want
+to call them--validators or mediators, if you will, who can
+help schools to do this sometimes when there is a lot of
+resistance in the school community? What do you suggest? What
+have you seen as best practices?
+ Secretary Duncan. As a country frankly, we are in our
+infancy. And I am so proud that historically there are
+literally a handful nationally, a handful of schools that are
+turned around. This school year, there are about a 1,000
+schools that are being turned around. So we are starting to
+build a community of practice. We are starting to learn what
+works and what doesn't. And you are starting to have some
+critical mass doing this work. And we want to do more every
+year and come back and come back and do more. But if we can
+turn around that bottom 5 percent of schools in this country
+over the next 3 or 4 or 5 years, the difference that is going
+to make not just for those children, but those entire
+communities that have been underserved is huge.
+ So there is growing awareness--again, amazing courage that
+I have seen. Union leaders, district superintendents, school
+board members doing some things very, very differently. And so
+I am--5 years from now, we are going to be in a different
+place.
+ Mrs. Davis. And how is that being shared? They can find
+this out in----
+ Chairman Kline. Excuse me. The gentlelady's time has
+expired.
+ Secretary Duncan. We will continue----
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentlelady. It is Mr. Barletta.
+ Mr. Barletta. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you,
+Secretary Duncan, for your time here today. Last month, this
+committee heard testimony from Mr. Andrew Coulson from the Cato
+Institute on the lack of any meaningful return on our
+investment of Federal funds, with one notable exception, the
+D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Yet this administration
+has not supported that successful program and put forward a
+budget proposal that increases spending on all of these other
+programs that have not significantly improved student
+achievement.
+ When our Nation is facing inconceivable debt levels and the
+taxpayers of this Nation have been clear about Washington
+getting its fiscal house in order, my question is, how can we
+afford to ignore successful programs like the D.C. choice and
+instead keep pouring money into costly programs that haven't
+shown any results?
+ Secretary Duncan. So on the D.C. scholarship program, we
+actually supported keeping students in the existing program. We
+didn't support adding more students. If you actually look at
+the data, the data was a little bit mixed. And I will go back
+and look. And it was either in reading or math, in one area
+student performance went up and the other one did not go up
+significantly. And what I said repeatedly is that if the
+private sector, individuals, businesses, philanthropy want to
+help scholarship students, I absolutely support that.
+ Our goal has to be I think, frankly, more ambitious. We
+have to give every single child a great education. The school
+improvement grants here in D.C. are transforming entire
+schools, not just saving 2 or 3 children from a tough school
+and leaving the other 500 to drown. I think the D.C. school
+system itself is absolutely going in the right direction. A
+long way to go, but real progress. And my goal has to be to
+help every single child and have a great system of public
+schools so that we just can't go to bed and be comfortable at
+night having saved a couple and left the rest to drown. That
+has been the mentality. What is staggering to me quite frankly,
+Congressman, is that for decades, the D.C. public school has
+been an absolute disaster. In the Nation's capital, we allowed
+that to exist, to be the status quo. And you have seen more
+progress in the past couple of years in D.C. than you have in a
+long time. And we want to make D.C. a world class school
+system. And I think we have an opportunity to do that with
+local leadership.
+ Mr. Barletta. Thank you. I yield back the rest of my time.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Loebsack.
+ Mr. Loebsack. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Secretary, good to
+see you today. Thanks for being here. I really appreciate
+almost everything--not quite everything--but almost everything
+or at least much of what you and the President are trying to do
+on the education front, all the way through preschool through
+secondary education and even graduate school for that matter. I
+am happy as an Iowan that when it comes to Race to the Top, you
+do have a rural carveout that you mentioned. I am looking
+forward to seeing the details of that. Because as I think I
+have communicated to your Department, the last couple of years
+it has been very, very difficult for States like Iowa,
+especially those rural school districts that don't have grant
+writers, don't have resources to participate in the program
+such as Race to the Top. Also, I am happy that over the course
+of the last several years, we have had a lot of discussions and
+you seem to be implementing some of the changes that I think a
+lot of us are recommending for NCLB, certainly moving to
+multiple measures of achievement. I think that is much more
+important and much better than high stakes test and being more
+flexible when it comes to subgroups.
+ I think that is really important too. And growth models.
+When I first came to Congress, for the life of me, I could not
+figure out why the original law was comparing one group of
+students one year in a grade level to another. It was apples to
+oranges. It didn't any make sense to me. Growth models I think
+are very important.
+ But really what I want to talk about today more than
+anything else is the Pell grant program, and in particular, the
+year-round Pell grant program and the proposed cuts that you
+folks are making to that program. Because in your fiscal year
+2012 budget, you propose to cut the year round Pell grant
+program. I think this program, this is a significant one for a
+variety of reasons. I think first and foremost, Pell grants in
+general help people in poverty rise into the middle class,
+become more productive citizens. Education does that anyway,
+but in particular for those who get Pell grants.
+ Last year around the country, the first year of operation,
+2009, 2010, about 760,000 students nationwide took advantage of
+access to financial aid over the summer in order to graduate
+faster and to come out of college with less debt. I think it is
+making a big difference, especially in community colleges. As
+you know, there are many community colleges such as Kirkwood
+Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they have
+nursing programs or other programs that really are in effect
+over the summer.
+ So for students to be able to access Pell grants in the
+summer I think is really, really important. I just think this
+doesn't make any sense to cut year round Pell grants for a
+variety of reasons. I guess what I would like you to do, if you
+could, is just give us some rationale as to why you are cutting
+that program.
+ Secretary Duncan. So again--you are echoing Congressman
+Tierney's real concerns and I share those concerns. So I am the
+biggest champion you are ever going to find for increasing
+access to college and increasing Pell grants. As you know,
+through health care reform, we got an additional $40 billion
+for Pell grants over the next decade, the biggest increase
+since the GI bill, frankly, one of the things I am most proud
+of that we have accomplished in the past 2 years.
+ So in an ideal world, we wouldn't have made that
+recommendation. At a time of extraordinary budget pressure, we
+made the tough decision to really fight to maintain current
+levels of Pell grant funding, not see that 5,550 cut back as
+some have proposed. And we made the tough decision that in
+order to maintain those efforts for every single student, to
+scale back on the twice-a-year program. I will say that at the
+community college level, that 5,550 for the vast majority of
+community colleges basically means that, again, whether you are
+18 or 48 or 68, you can basically go to community college for
+free. And we think that is so important. We want to invest an
+additional $2 billion in community colleges. We think as
+families get back on their feet, the country gets back on its
+feet, the community colleges are going to the huge vehicle to
+do that. So it is not a decision that we wanted to make or made
+lightly or didn't understand the ramifications. We are just
+facing tremendous budget pressure and made a very tough
+decision.
+ Mr. Loebsack. And I went around my district for a week a
+couple of weeks back and I went to community colleges
+throughout my district, all of them. And I can tell you the
+students, not just the administrators, but the students are
+also very aware of these proposed cutbacks, very concerned, of
+course, about fiscal year 2011 and H.R. 1 and what that is
+going to do in terms of the $850 cut in Pell grants right now
+during this academic year. But the summer Pell grants, the year
+round Pell grant program, I just can't reiterate strongly
+enough the testimonials I have heard from students and
+administrators and teachers, especially at community colleges
+and how important that is.
+ And again, after all, if what we are trying to do is
+increase the size of the middle class and have more productive
+citizens and have a more educated citizenry, then I just think
+that--at least I hope you will reconsider that cut.
+ Secretary Duncan. I absolutely hear and I share your
+concern.
+ Chairman Kline. The gentleman's time has expired. Mr.
+Thompson.
+ Mr. Thompson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you,
+Secretary. It is good to see you. I appreciate your testimony.
+I appreciate reading within the testimony all--out of all the
+pages, a small section on community--or career and technical
+education training as we have talked about in the past. That is
+an area I think that is an area of--well, there is nothing more
+important to the competitiveness of this Nation than a
+qualified workforce. And frankly, career and technical
+education I think really has proven its salt in terms of the
+outcomes it produces.
+ It is appropriate I follow my good friend from Iowa,
+because last night I had a chance to spend a period of time
+with four very impressive young persons from Iowa who are
+involved in career and technical education from different
+fields. And they shared with me some data that showed what
+those students in career and technical education, how they
+outperform. And I was limited to specifically that situation,
+but how they outperform in both math and science because of the
+value of applied education. It really was just very apparent.
+And America's competitiveness both address emerging job
+opportunities, but frankly with the retirement of baby boomers.
+ And so within your testimony, it was sort of a mixed
+message in your testimony, and that is what I want to come to.
+And I know we are on the same page with value in career and
+technical education. As I follow what you talk about, write
+about, most recently Harvard University's Pathway to Prosperity
+Report, you said ``For too long career and technical education
+has been a neglected stepchild of education reform. That
+neglect has to stop. And second, we need to re-imagine and make
+career and technical education as urgent. CT has an enormous
+and often overlooked impact on students, school systems and our
+ability to prosper as a Nation.'' And the fact that I say
+similar things, I think your remarks were brilliant.
+ Secretary Duncan. I stole them from you.
+ Mr. Thompson. Yeah. What I wanted to come to, though I
+agree with your sentiments and I serve as co-chair of the House
+career and technical education caucus and I think it really has
+proven its results of training and qualified workforce for a
+relatively small Federal investment for the return on
+investment, specifically in education. But despite that, the
+statement that you made, the budget request, your testimony,
+you affirm your support for it, but frankly the budget request
+decreases funding for CT programs by over 20 percent. And I
+guess just two questions. How do you expect schools to offer
+more high quality CT programs that we strategically need with
+fewer Federal resources?
+ Secretary Duncan. It is a great question and your
+leadership in this area is really important to me. I will give
+you one more stat that was interesting. When I ran the Chicago
+public schools, we tracked the data for students in CT
+programs. And they had higher graduation rates, they had higher
+GPAs. So it wasn't just about that course. There was something
+about engaging students in different ways that kept them
+engaged in the broader school environment that was very, very
+positive.
+ So this is one of those very tough decisions that we make,
+not too dissimilar to second Pells each year. I will honestly
+say that the results for CT across the country are mixed. There
+are some amazing programs that are creating real jobs and there
+are others that are frankly still antiquated. So what we tried
+to do--the investment is still at a billion dollar level. So it
+is still a very substantial investment. But we did scale back
+on basically trying to challenge the sector that where things
+aren't working, we have to do some things very differently. We
+have to get better results. Again, some pockets of excellence
+but that hasn't always been the norm. Some programs aren't
+leading to the kind of results we need.
+ Mr. Thompson. How do we do that?
+ Secretary Duncan. I think we learn from what is working. We
+replicate those successful models and frankly pay greater
+attention to outcomes. There are too many places that are
+saying we offer this class and okay, what does that mean? What
+is it leading to? What job is that leading to? What certificate
+is that leading to? We don't always get great answers there,
+quite honestly. So by replicating successes and I think
+building a stronger base, then I think it gives us the room to
+invest more going forward.
+ Mr. Thompson. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, my time I will yield
+back.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Ms. Hirono.
+ Ms. Hirono. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Aloha, Mr. Secretary.
+Just as there is a growing bipartisan, or there already is
+bipartisan consensus around the use of the growth model under
+NCLB, I think that there is a growing consensus around the idea
+of supporting quality early education. And you have mentioned
+it a couple of times. So it is not just the educators who know
+this, but scientists, economists, business leaders. I know for
+a fact that the L.A. Chamber of Commerce supports quality early
+education. Our military is telling us that this is important.
+ And, in fact, just last week in this committee, we heard
+from a Republican witness, Dr. Ed Hatrick who is a
+superintendent of the Loudoun County Public Schools and
+President of the American Association of School Administrators,
+when asked about the most important innovation we can make to
+improve outcomes--and you have had a lot of questions about
+outcomes--he replied pre-K, pre-K, pre-K.
+ So music to my ears and for a lot of us here. So obviously,
+I am very pleased that there is 350 million in the early
+learning challenge fund because this is one of the new programs
+that we are pursuing as we focus on using scarcest dollars for
+those things that actually work. So can you highlight some of
+the more recent research on the effectiveness of quality early
+learning?
+ Secretary Duncan. So we don't need another study. There
+have been hundreds of studies. The most recent one I saw was
+about 2 weeks ago from Vanderbilt University that talked about
+dramatic gains, looking at students who went through quality
+early childhood programs compared to students in a control
+group that didn't have those kinds of opportunities. But there
+have been dozens, if not hundreds of studies that demonstrate
+the efficacy here. What we are trying to do with the Early
+Learning Challenge Fund is a race to the top for early
+childhood, to really challenge States and districts to do two
+things, to increase access, particularly for disadvantaged
+children, but to make sure it is high quality.
+ And we know that quality can be uneven in the early
+childhood space. If this is glorified babysitting, it doesn't
+get us where we need to go. But we want to put significant
+resources there. I would also add that it concerns me that in
+these tough budget times, you have many governors who are
+scaling back, they are cutting back on early childhood
+programs. And I met with the governors and said that again I
+recognize the tough times. I don't think that is a place where
+you should be cutting back and you have to continue to invest
+and 3- or 4-year-olds don't have a lobby, they don't have
+people here in Congress working on their behalf.
+ Look, we reduce those investments at great cost long-term.
+To Congressman Hunter's point on reallocating resources, again
+this is where our flexibility comes into play. We really
+encourage governors to think about using our dollars--for
+example, Title I dollars that are having tough budget times to
+think about using those Title I dollars to maintain full-day,
+high-quality early childhood programs. And that flexibility
+already exists. A lot of the new governors don't quite
+understand that part of our advice to them is to be very
+creative. That to me should be one of the last things you cut,
+not one of the first things.
+ Ms. Hirono. I couldn't agree with you more. And I think it
+is about time that we all recognize that every dollar we spend
+on quality--and I always use that adjective, quality in front
+or early learning. That every dollar we spend on quality early
+learning really comes back to us many times fold, up to $17
+worth. So for those of us who--and all the business people who
+are talking about cause and effect of the dollar spent, this is
+the one area where there is so much research, I say we better
+get on with it. And I am glad that the President's budget
+reflects that.
+ Do I have more time? Yes. The issue of effective teaching,
+because that teacher standing in front of the classroom is the
+single most important person affecting student learning. Does
+your budget reflect an emphasis on encouraging the States to
+really focus on appropriate measures of effectiveness?
+ Secretary Duncan. That is an area that for the country for
+far too long didn't move. And again, we literally had States
+that had laws on the books that prohibited the linking of
+teachers and students, which is absolutely backwards. There is
+a remarkable outburst of creativity and innovation in this
+area. And there is no one district that has gotten this right,
+but there are many that are breaking through and doing some
+very significant things. I always say you have to evaluate
+teachers along multiple measures. You can never look at one
+test score. You have to look at multiple things. Peer
+evaluation, principal evaluation, professional dominant
+leadership, student achievement, student growth and gain have
+to be a significant part of that. And this conference we held
+in Denver with 150 school districts from around the country,
+labor and management and boards all there together, we had some
+fascinating conversations of what folks are doing to break
+through in this area.
+ Again, I think as a country we are in our infancy. We are
+putting a usage amount of resources behind this and you are
+seeing folks who traditionally fought over silly issues coming
+together. And I think it is going to help strengthen the
+profession in a critically important way.
+ Ms. Hirono. So the President's budget also reflects the
+support for this kind of effort that is going on all across our
+country?
+ Secretary Duncan. Huge investments not just for teachers
+themselves, but for creating the systems that help teachers be
+successful. Better data systems, the move towards higher
+standards is something teachers are desperately looking for.
+The move to better assessments. Teachers have been crying out
+for that for a long time. So both direct support for teachers
+but also creating the structure and the infrastructure around
+them to allow them to be very, very successful. Massive
+investments there.
+ Ms. Hirono. Thank you. I yield back.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentlelady. Dr. Bucshon.
+ Mr. Bucshon. Thank you. I want to start out with just
+commenting on some recent comments that were made about
+fairness in the U.S. Tax Code even though this isn't a Tax Code
+discussion. I just want to clarify that. I guess my definition
+of fairness isn't the same as was previously described when 45
+percent of the American people don't pay any income tax at all
+and the top tax brackets are paying 35 percent of their income
+and the top 10 percent of the taxpayers pay 70 percent of all
+federal income tax.
+ So I think I disagree with that definition of fairness and
+I want to just clarify that in the context of budgetary
+discussions: The question that I have is the EPA recently--and
+this is a little bit difference direction than has been taken
+so far. But they have five education efforts in their recent
+congressional justification document talking about support and
+working in partnership with K-12 schools, colleges and
+universities, Federal and State agencies, community
+organizations to assess the needs established priorities and
+leverage resources and lastly an effort to increase promotion
+of green principles and increase the nation's scientific
+education.
+ I would like to know if the Department of Education has
+been involved in those efforts through the EPA because it seems
+to me that that--those type of things should be talked about in
+education, not through EPA.
+ Secretary Duncan. We have had a very good partnership with
+Administrator Jackson. And I know they are doing some tough but
+important work in the New York City school system now. But your
+basic point, though, about collaborating and about sharing
+scarce resources I couldn't agree with more. Where we can have
+students and districts focus on these issues, do it in a
+thoughtful way, in a creative way. The knowledge for students,
+the savings to districts, the better environments obviously are
+all upsides. So we need to continue to partner and collaborate.
+Yes, sir.
+ Mr. Bucshon. I guess my concern is that, you know, there
+appears to be an educational underlying political agenda
+through EPA to--I wouldn't call it indoctrinate--but would you
+consider advocacy and promotion of green principles as
+something that we should be doing at the K-12 level when there
+is broad difference of opinion on this subject?
+ Secretary Duncan. So I don't know if I would agree with
+your characterization as political activities. I can just speak
+as a parent of two young children at home, that my wife and I
+continue to get a very good education every single day if we
+don't recycle, if we waste water, if we don't turn off our
+lights.
+ Mr. Bucshon. I guess that is fine. But I guess what I am
+saying is should the Federal Government, through an agency like
+the EPA, be telling our children these things? Or should it be
+us--I am a father of four children; I totally agree. We recycle
+everything. We want to do that. We want a clean environment for
+our children and grandchildren.
+ But the question in my mind, again, is through our
+educational system, should we be, in my view, promoting what I
+consider a political agenda through an agency that is not
+involved directly in our educational system?
+ Secretary Duncan. So you and I may agree or disagree on
+whether there is a political agenda there. What I will say is
+that there are many things that schools are asked today to do
+that maybe they shouldn't--in the past have had to do. Your
+four children are lucky to have an active family. My two
+children are lucky to have an active family. Unfortunately
+many, many children come into school each day who don't have
+those lessons at home.
+ This is a little bit off topic. But I had tens of thousands
+of children in Chicago who I fed three meals a day to because
+they weren't eating. I sent food home with them on the weekends
+because I worried about them going hungry. People challenged
+me, was that the role of the school system to provide
+nutrition? In an ideal world, I wouldn't have to provide that,
+but I had to.
+ So I would only say that whether it is around this or
+financial literacy or whatever it might be, schools are asked
+to do more than they have in the past. Is that a good thing?
+Maybe not. Is that a reality? Our children need to learn these
+lessons. And if they are not learning them at home, if they are
+not eating, if they are not getting eye glasses, schools and
+communities have to step up to provide those opportunities.
+ Mr. Bucshon. I wouldn't disagree with that. My view is that
+the Environmental Protection Agency is not the avenue for the
+government to address these issues. If anyone is to address it,
+it should be State, local, or potentially Federal education
+people that really understand education.
+ And, finally, I would like to say thank you for your
+testimony and for your advocacy for our Nation's children. So
+thank you.
+ Secretary Duncan. Thank you, sir.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Grijalva.
+ Mr. Grijalva. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Mr.
+Secretary, for being here. My two cents' worth on gainful
+employment, I hope that as a rule that there is some date for
+implementation. I think it brings accountability both to the
+student for their education that they are taking a loan on and
+also to the taxpayers of fiscal accountability on how that
+money is being used. I think it is a good process that we are
+in, and I hope we continue it.
+ The other observation--and I was glad the Secretary said
+that we need to have the educators, the practitioners at the
+table, as we start looking at turning schools around. My
+colleague also mentioned the stress on the pride of the
+profession. And I think you also mentioned that the profession
+is beat down right now for a lot of reasons.
+ And I would suggest that all those things are true. But I
+would also suggest that recently we have seen a lot of attack
+and commentary against teachers based on collective bargaining
+agreements, based on the cost in the budget and the stresses
+some States are going through.
+ The Governor of Wisconsin was bold enough to call teachers
+a privileged class that needed to be reduced more. I think as
+we try to lift the morale of teachers and also uplift the
+status of the profession, that that kind of commentary works in
+the opposite direction. It makes it harder for us to find good
+people to want to continue to be the critical partner in
+education, and that is educators.
+ You also said something, Mr. Secretary. And I am asked
+about this back home all the time. You said, sometimes when I
+was the head of the public schools in Chicago, we would ignore
+the State so we could get stuff done at the local level.
+ The improvement grants being a strategy, a question you
+hear more and more from local school districts, whether it is
+English learner issues, whether it is incentives for teachers
+to go into certain schools--more autonomy in terms of the
+resource allocation so they can apply it that way. How do you
+see that question evolving?
+ Secretary Duncan. I absolutely agree with that sentiment.
+So school improvement grants go to a local community. They
+decide what the most effective use of those resources is. They
+decide how to turn around those schools. The Teacher Incentive
+Fund grant to go only to districts that come up with their
+creative ideas and want to implement. And we just want to
+reward--I keep going back. We are pushing everybody really hard
+to change. We are pushing management, we are pushing labor. All
+of us have to get better.
+ But, Congressman, our Department has been a big part of the
+problem. We have been this big compliance-driven bureaucracy
+and we have stifled innovation, we have stifled creativity. We
+are trying to provide a lot more flexibility. We tried to
+shrink the Federal footprint, quite frankly. We want to reward
+excellence, we want to reward innovation, and we want to put
+resources behind places that are willing to do some things
+differently. And I think what we have done is we have unleashed
+a huge amount of creativity, a huge amount of courageous work,
+and we want to continue to take to scale those best practices.
+ Mr. Grijalva. Middle schools, the proportionate share of
+Title I funds being an issue; Success in the Middle being
+another piece of legislation; the graduation promise piece of
+legislation. But I think they both directly and indirectly talk
+about the proportionate share of Title I funds going to those
+two parts of the continuum.
+ Secretary Duncan. TRIO, Gear Up. And again, if we want to
+get serious about ending the dropout crisis, again, fifth
+sixth, seventh, eighth grade, we know what students are
+struggling. What are we doing to make sure students in eighth
+grade are taking high school algebra so they can be on a path
+to take, you know, AP calculus as a senior?
+ If we are serious about reversing some of these negative
+outcomes, we have to intervene and provide great opportunities
+early. And that middle school sometimes is I think neglected,
+and your focus and others' focus is hugely important there. And
+we want to continue to invest again, whether it is Title I,
+school improvement grants, Teacher Incentive Fund, scarce
+resources to get great talent in there.
+ The final piece, I would say, is the STEM piece. Often
+where students start to lose interest in science and technology
+and math is in middle school areas where the teachers don't
+quite know the content, don't have that. And getting more great
+STEM teachers--again, not just for the senior year in high
+school, but in fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth grade,
+could just open up a world of possibilities for students.
+ Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. I yield back, sir.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Walberg.
+ Mr. Walberg. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Secretary Duncan,
+your staying power at the witness table is impressive, but
+probably should have been expected because of your record-
+setting tenure in the Chicago Public Schools system as a
+superintendent.
+ Secretary Duncan. You are wearing me down.
+ Mr. Walberg. That was the school system, Cook County and
+Chicago school system of my birth and education as well. So for
+you to stay there that long indicates your staying power. So
+thank you for being with us.
+ It was mentioned, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships
+program, and there is certainly some disagreement on whether or
+not that should have been expanded, continued. I personally am
+one that likes to see a lot of competition, a lot of variety, a
+lot of framework for research and development that can come
+through things like that.
+ But moving into my question, first in the higher education
+realm, the Department recently finalized regulations for higher
+education which have caused private and faith-based colleges,
+universities, some great concern as these regulations will most
+likely require increased regulation by the government,
+affecting potentially the autonomy and mission and really just
+liberty of these schools.
+ Are you planning on clarifying these regulations or making
+accommodations for the concerns that you might have?
+ Secretary Duncan. There has been great feedback. And let me
+sort of say where we are. And we will continue to clarify. So
+under the regulations, States are explicitly permitted to
+exempt religious schools. That exists now.
+ Mr. Walberg. If I may jump in, is that exemption just for
+the mission courses; i.e., if it was a seminary or divinity
+school, that they would be exempt from some of the regulations
+just in the courses of religious education? Or would it be like
+one of my alma maters, Wheaton College for instance, where it
+is across the board?
+ Secretary Duncan. Wheaton is a great university. It is
+exempting those schools.
+ Mr. Walberg. The school in total?
+ Secretary Duncan. Congress requires that States authorize
+schools. And we are just asking the States to do a couple of
+basic things. We are not trying to be heavy-handed or anything
+like that.
+ A State has to have a process to review and appropriately
+act on complaints concerning the schools, just a place to hear
+what the issues are. A school is authorized by name as an
+educational institution by a State through a charter, a
+statute, a provision, or anything issued by the State. And the
+school complies with State approval and licenses. So just sort
+of the basic commonsense things that, you know, States have the
+responsibility given to them by Congress.
+ Mr. Walberg. Well, there definitely is a lot of latitude
+potentially in there for concern for how far, how aggressive,
+the regulating entity of the States might be.
+ Secretary Duncan. I understand that. We will continue to
+try to provide great clarity and I would be happy to continue
+the conversation. There are some States like New York that have
+done this extraordinarily well. So there are examples out there
+that I think are thoughtful and not heavy-handed, not
+overbearing. But I hear your concern.
+ Mr. Walberg. I would applaud that effort because, again,
+the diversity that is there, this country is built on that as
+you, I am sure, would agree with.
+ Secretary Duncan. I understand. And for all the challenges
+we have talked about with K-12, we have the best system of
+higher education in the world.
+ Mr. Walberg. They all come here.
+ Secretary Duncan. Yes.
+ Mr. Walberg. Moving to foundational area with early
+childhood education, the administration's education budget
+wishes to spend, as I read it, $350 million for creating State-
+run early education programs, Early Learning Challenge fund.
+This will lead to more requirements for existing preschool
+programs, many of which are privately run or faith-based as
+well.
+ What will you do to ensure protection for the autonomy, the
+mission, the purpose of private preschool centers and schools
+as you go forward with this agenda?
+ Secretary Duncan. So this is obviously a voluntary program.
+States can compete or not compete to come in. And again, we
+have just two goals: to increase access, particularly in
+disadvantaged communities for children who need these
+opportunities, and to make sure it is high quality. Those are
+our only two goals through the Early Learning Challenge fund.
+ Mr. Walberg. There won't be any hurdles that would keep a
+school like this from applying or being able to apply due to
+resources, or to gain the resources because of some of those
+standards that we set arbitrarily?
+ Secretary Duncan. Again we want to go to the most stressed
+communities and give those children and those families who are
+trying to give their children a chance at life a chance to have
+a great childhood education. That is our goal.
+ Mr. Walberg. Thank you. I yield back my time.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman.
+ In order to keep my promise to the Secretary, I regret to
+tell my colleagues that we are going to go on the 3-minute
+clock. I would like to give everybody in the room a chance to
+ask a question. Mr. Payne, you are recognized for 3 minutes.
+ Mr. Payne. Thank you. For the new members that came or for
+those who have been here for the whole time? Anyway, I will try
+stay to 3 minutes.
+ Last week, Mr. Secretary, during a committee hearing on
+education regulations, I asked the Loudon County district
+administrator from Virginia if he thought Virginia would still
+be focused on educating all students equally, advantaged and
+disadvantaged, if the disaggregation data required of NCLB had
+not shed light on such an achievement gap. To this, he answered
+the following. He said: In Loudon County, we actually
+disaggregated and reported disaggregated data before NCLB was
+law. We realized, he said, that when you are as wealthy and
+have as high a social economic index as we have, children do
+not have those same opportunities and are in greater danger of
+not succeeding.
+ So I think it is very fair to say that probably one of the
+most important change outlooks of the law has been the
+disaggregation of data and reporting that. And I think it would
+be fair to say that had the law not been passed, practices
+would not have changed. We recognize in a place like Loudon
+County, it would have been easy to let the overall wonderful
+performance, on average, of our students mask the issue that we
+face. As far as I am concerned, this is the signal strength of
+the law.
+ Now, his statement supports much of what has been alluded
+to today. NCLB drew attention to poor performance of specific
+subgroups in our schools and held schools accountable for
+improving their performance. However, some have inferred that
+the Department intends to have a targeted accountability
+focused only on the lowest 5 percent of schools. These schools
+educate a significant share of the Nation's disadvantaged
+youth, but there are also a large number of disadvantaged youth
+in schools above the 5 percent threshold who, prior to NCLB,
+were not receiving the attention they deserved because, as Dr.
+Hartwick said last week, it was too easy to let the overall
+wonderful performance, on average, mask the issue they faced.
+ So in my opinion, I find it equally important to hold
+schools with demonstrated capacity to educate some of their
+students to high levels accountable for educating all students,
+regardless of the demographics.
+ Can you assure us that, you know, to reiterate how the
+blueprint maintains accountability for student subgroups, since
+you are just basically going to focus on the lower 5 percent,
+and that other group not disaggregating can go back to the way
+it was before NCLB?
+ Secretary Duncan. That is a great point. You can just rest
+assured that we are absolutely committed. I said in a pretty
+lengthy way in my opening statement how we are going to
+continue to disaggregate it, how that was one of the best
+things about NCLB, whether it is for minority children, whether
+it is for English language learners, we want to continue to
+look at those gaps and challenge them. So we will absolutely
+maintain that accountability.
+ Let me give you one more, though. What I would also argue
+what never happened under NCLB are those districts that did a
+great job of closing those gaps, no one ever got rewarded, no
+one ever got recognized. We didn't learn from that. So, yes, we
+want to hold folks accountable. Desperately important. But we
+also want to shine a spotlight on success. And where you have
+districts that are closing gaps and helping every single
+student be successful, we want to recognize them. We want to
+reward them. We want to learn from them. We want to give them
+more flexibility.
+ So, rewards at the top. Challenge folks to continue to
+improve. Massive interventions--as you know, if districts and
+schools aren't making differences--intervention, if that need
+be. But let's also reward excellence.
+ Chairman Kline. The gentleman's time has expired. Mr.
+Kelly.
+ Mr. Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Secretary, it is good to see you in person after
+talking to you on the phone. I know you have a great passion
+for this. But I really do question where we are going with the
+spending because it is not that we don't spend enough, it is
+just that we don't get enough for what we spend.
+ And if there was no clearer message on November 2, we have
+to rein in the spending. I am just looking at this. For a
+budget that has increased 68 percent in the last 3 years--in
+2009 alone, the budget tripled. My question--and Mr. Hunter
+asked this several times--why not redeploy funds that aren't
+working? And why isn't part of the strategy let's eliminate
+what is not working and put it into what is working?
+ And I keep hearing about so many countries are doing it
+better than we are. Well, obviously, we must know what other
+countries are doing. Why continue down the same path that we
+are on, in not getting results, where in the private sector--I
+have got to tell you, when it is your own money, when it is
+your own skin in the game, you don't have that option of just
+spending it. I think the worst thing we can do is to continue
+to throw money at a problem. We have to start coming down to a
+strategy that actually fixes the problem.
+ So please tell me what is the strategy for the DOE? Because
+a lot of people are starting to wonder, Why do we even have a
+DOE? We are spending tons of money and I am not seeing any
+results for it.
+ Secretary Duncan. So what I would argue to you, sir, that
+in the past 2 years you have seen more change in this country
+than in the past decade or two combined. And I would make a
+pretty compelling case to you that because for the first time
+our Department was awarding excellence and encouraging that
+kind of creativity and ingenuity and courage, you have seen
+those dramatic changes. So I would be the first to concur with
+you.
+ Our Department historically has been part of the problem. I
+have told the story repeatedly, that I almost had to sue our
+Department of Education when I ran the Chicago Public Schools
+for the right to tutor my children after school. It made no
+sense whatsoever. I won that fight.
+ Mr. Kelly. I am not an adversary. There is not a person in
+this room that doesn't want better education for our kids. But
+there is also, on behalf of the taxpayers who fund every one of
+these programs, where is the return on investment and when do
+we start to see that there is actually a positive to this?
+Because everything I look at looks at a tremendous spend and a
+flat line.
+ Secretary Duncan. I understand that. So I would argue that
+there is compelling, compelling, data that investments in early
+childhood education, particularly for disadvantaged children,
+are hugely important. So, yes, we want to invest there and we
+haven't in the past. I think that has been a strategic error on
+our part. We are trying to drive dramatic K-12 reform, higher
+standards, better assessments, much more flexibility to award
+excellence. And we are asking to continue to fund young people
+who are trying to go to college with access to Pell Grants who
+desperately need that.
+ Mr. Kelly. And I understand that. But my question goes back
+to we keep spending more money, and at some point it has got to
+stop. It has absolutely got to stop. And the argument always
+is, well, there are a lot of people out there who aren't paying
+for their share. Really? Look what is being paid. There is no
+other country in the world that invests more in education than
+the United States and has a lower return on the investment.
+ My concern is--and again, I am not adversarial. It is just
+at what point do we start to realize what we are doing isn't
+working, and when are we going to stop? And I understand that
+you are saying that there is compelling evidence that it is
+getting better.
+ Chairman Kline. If I can interrupt. I am sorry, the
+gentleman's time has expired. Mr. Scott, you are recognized for
+3 minutes.
+ Mr. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being with us. You mentioned
+the achievement gap. The 1954 Brown decision talked about the
+harm inflicted on children when the children of the minority
+race were denied an equal educational opportunity. The school
+system maintains a significant and persistent achievement gap.
+Are the children of the minority race being denied an equal
+educational opportunity in violation of their civil rights?
+ Secretary Duncan. I think all of us have to use every fiber
+in our bodies to close those achievement gaps. And where you
+have huge and gaping achievement gaps, we are trying to push
+more dramatic change than we have ever seen. Every child has a
+right to have a great education. We have to provide those
+opportunities, particularly for disadvantaged children. That is
+the only way we end cycles of poverty and social failure.
+ Mr. Scott. And speaking of civil rights, the Department of
+Education gives out grants. If the sponsor of a grant insisted
+on discriminating on employment based on religion or which
+church a job applicant attended, would your Department continue
+to fund such a program or not?
+ Secretary Duncan. I understand the significance of the
+issue and the question. And it is one that I will follow up
+with the Department of Justice on.
+ Mr. Scott. So it is possible that you might continue to
+fund an organization that has a policy of employment
+discrimination?
+ Secretary Duncan. Well, again, this is an area where the
+Department of Justice I think can provide some real guidance
+and help. I will follow up with them directly.
+ Mr. Scott. Civil rights implications of zero tolerance
+policies, particularly in pre-K, people being expelled. Can you
+tell us what the Department's position is on zero tolerance,
+kicking kids out of school without any services?
+ Secretary Duncan. So one of the things the Office of Civil
+Rights is doing is looking at places where you might have
+disproportionate rates of expulsions or suspensions, whether it
+is by race or whether it is young boys of color. And where we
+are expelling students to the street, again, we are part of the
+problem. So we are going to track that. We are going to
+challenge that. And there are many places that are finding
+creative ways to help the students who have historically
+struggled to stay engaged in school and be successful, and we
+need to continue to learn from those examples.
+ Mr. Scott. Since you are going to get back with me on the
+other, I have several questions that I am obviously not going
+to have time to address. But you indicated if a subgroup fails,
+the resources ought to be--the response ought to be targeted at
+that subgroup and not schoolwide. If you could follow up on
+that.
+ And also you mentioned the importance of higher education.
+Could you tell me what your strategy for access to higher
+education is, and college completion, particularly as it
+pertains to the TRIO programs, whether or not the Promise
+Neighborhoods will be correlated with the dropout factories and
+whether there is a strategy of dealing with dropouts in No
+Child Left Behind? Some of the dropout factories are actually
+being awarded AYP, which seems absurd to me.
+ And finally, there is a controversy over what to do with
+less qualified teachers, but there are two problems. To my
+knowledge, there is no accurate measure of what an effective
+teacher is. And you have the counterproductive school
+collaboration where teachers might not want to collaborate and
+take on problem children because it might adversely affect
+them. Can you talk about how you are going to identify who a
+qualified effective teacher is?
+ Chairman Kline. The gentleman's time has expired. You will
+will have to talk about that on the record. And we would
+appreciate it if you would do so.
+ Mr. Gowdy, you are recognized for 3 minutes.
+ Mr. Gowdy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Secretary, in the interest of full disclosure I had the
+privilege of hearing you speak in Colorado several years ago,
+and despite some differences, left that seminar finding you to
+be incredibly candid, challenging, willing to offend if
+necessary. And I want to thank you, along with my colleagues,
+for being here today.
+ I just want to ask you about one thing because you
+mentioned reform. And in listening to your testimony, it
+strikes me that if a program is working or if it even appears
+to be working, you would be willing to continue it.
+ So I have to go back to the Opportunity Scholarship
+program, a 91 percent graduation rate. Their reading scores are
+higher, their math scores may not be higher, but educational
+attainment is being reached even if, assuming arguendo,
+educational results are not. The parents like it. The demand
+outpaces the supply four to one. So why not continue it?
+ Secretary Duncan. No. Again, more than fair question. I
+stated earlier that we fought very hard to keep children in the
+program, to be able to stay in those schools, and we are able
+to do that. I would disagree a little bit with you on results.
+I think the results were pretty mixed actually. But at the end
+of the day, what I see our responsibility here is to create a
+great system of public schools, where the private sector, where
+the philanthropic community, where individuals want to step up
+and provide scholarships to a relatively small number of
+students; that is fantastic. We need to do more of that.
+ But we have to be much more ambitious. We have to fix the
+D.C. Public Schools. They have made remarkable progress. Great
+local leadership. We are continuing to invest in that
+transformation. They are a Race to the Top winner. My goal is
+not to save a handful of students and leave the other 500 to
+drown. My goal is to save every single child, and that is what
+I think our proper role should be.
+ Mr. Gowdy. If I told you that we could craft legislation
+that funded all three sectors of the D.C. school system--
+public, private, and charter--to fund all three of them, would
+you then support the Opportunity Scholarship program? If there
+was no harm being done at all to the public school system and
+no harm being done to the D.C. charter school system, you would
+then support it?
+ Secretary Duncan. I don't think any harm is being done.
+Again, our focus has to be to create a great set of public
+schools. So they are expanding charter schools very
+significantly here. We want to create access to great public
+schools for every single child. That is where I think our focus
+has to be. I am a big fan of choice. I am a big fan of
+competition. But it has to be access across the board, not for
+a tiny percent of students.
+ Mr. Gowdy. I will do something uncharacteristic and yield
+back, Mr. Chairman.
+ Chairman Kline. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Holt you are
+recognized for the final 3-minute question of the day. I am
+almost going to keep my promise, Mr. Secretary.
+ Mr. Holt. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you for your
+endurance and all of your good work.
+ Let me just state two questions and three comments, ask you
+to get to them as time allows, or get back to me or the
+committee with your answers.
+ First of all, ARPA-ED. What do you imagine doing with the
+$90 million and why is it important? Secondly, in your
+legislative proposal, you proposed ending the year-round or
+summer Pell Grant programs. Why are you taking on that? They
+are new, relatively new. Are they already determined not to be
+as successful? Why did you choose to cut there?
+ My three comments or concerns. I remain concerned that the
+math and science partnerships are combined under teacher
+effectiveness. And it puts science in competition with, oh,
+gender equality and foreign languages and other such things.
+And I question the wisdom of that.
+ Also, you are celebrated for your competitive grants and
+indeed you have shown how the competitive instinct gets people
+to work hard. But if the best practice is not replicated and
+extended, it turns out to be very inequitable. And I guess I
+would like to know what measures you are applying to see that
+in--again, this is new, too. So I mean, you have only been at
+it for a couple of years, but what measures are you applying to
+see that the competitive grant actually results in, well,
+lifting all boats?
+ And I had a third concern, but I will let it go at that.
+Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
+ Secretary Duncan. So on ARPA-ED--and I appreciate you
+bringing that up--what I have said repeatedly is that I think
+the education sector has lacked the transformational change
+that other sectors have had. I think technology can do an
+amazing job of equalizing opportunity and accelerating
+learning. I think we have to be much more thoughtful there. We
+need to invest more in R&D. And this is a chance for us to
+invest in a set of players that could potentially transform the
+learning for young people. And I think a part of our job is not
+just to deal with the day-to-day issues today but to look over
+the horizon.
+ What DARPA has done I think is pretty extraordinary. And if
+we can see those kinds of transformational changes in the
+education sector, in part due to our investment, that would be
+a hugely important piece of work that we can do for the
+country.
+ On summer Pell, we discussed it a couple of times, that
+again in an ideal world, in flusher times, this is not a choice
+I would have begun to have thought about. In very tough budget
+times you have to make tough choices. The summer Pell was set
+up with an estimate of a couple hundred million dollars a year
+and ended up being a couple of billion dollars. In a perfect
+world, we would continue that. In tough budget times, we have
+to make tough choices. And our choice was to try and maintain
+the commitment for the $5,550 Pell for everybody.
+ Mr. Holt. Thank you Mr. Secretary. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Chairman Kline. Thank you. The gentleman's time has
+expired. Mr. Miller, you are recognized for any closing
+remarks.
+ Mr. Miller. I won't take any more of the Secretary's time.
+Thank you, Mr. Secretary. We will all have follow-up
+conversations. I thank you.
+ Chairman Kline. Mr. Secretary I thank you. I do have one
+note that I would like to bring up. The last time we had a
+hearing, we asked for some responses for the record. We,
+frankly, had the hearing in March and got the answers in
+December.
+ We have had several requests today. I hope you will look at
+getting those responses in as timely a way as possible. I
+apologize to you; I am 7 minutes over. Thank you very, very
+much for your attendance, for your testimony, and for your
+responses.
+ There being no further business, the hearing is adjourned.
+ [Questions submitted for the record and their responses
+follow:]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ ------
+
+ [Responses from Secretary Duncan follow:]
+
+
+ Secretary Duncan's Responses to Questions Submitted for the Record
+
+Chairman John Kline
+ 1. How many political appointees are employed by the Department as
+of March 28, 2011? How many full-time employees (FTEs) are working at
+the Department as of March 28, 2011? Provide a breakdown of political
+appointees and FTEs by program office. Provide a comparison of these
+aggregate numbers to political appointees and FTEs employed by the
+Department for each of the last 30 years, broken down by fiscal year
+(1980-2010).
+
+ As of March 28, 2011 the number of political appointees is 145 and
+the number of full-time employees is 4,315. A table has been provided
+displaying the number of political appointees and FTEs for each of the
+past 30 years.
+
+
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 1980\3\ 1981\4\ 1982\4\ 1983\4\ 1984\5\ 1985\5\ 1986\6\ 1987\6\ 1988\6\ 1989\4\
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Program office Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time
+ appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Secretary........................................... ......... 1,484 ......... 1,458 ......... 212 ......... 198 25 151 16 163 ......... 47 ......... 67 ......... 65 ......... 66
+Deputy Secretary.................................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Under Secretary..................................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 29 ......... 36 9 59 23 45 ......... 43 ......... 20 ......... 22 ......... 17
+Civil Rights........................................ ......... 1,092 ......... 1,050 ......... 970 ......... 922 7 922 5 879 ......... 840 ......... 831 ......... 778 ......... 784
+Inspector General................................... ......... 236 ......... 283 ......... 272 ......... 283 1 315 1 288 ......... 263 ......... 314 ......... 302 ......... 328
+General Counsel..................................... ......... 75 ......... 92 ......... 84 ......... 85 2 95 1 95 ......... 96 ......... 102 ......... 100 ......... 95
+Special Ed and Rehabilitative Services.............. ......... 510 ......... 507 ......... 464 ......... 459 12 433 10 402 ......... 378 ......... 385 ......... 396 ......... 403
+Postsecondary Education............................. ......... 1,176 ......... 1,091 ......... 1,213 ......... 1,182 10 1,210 10 1,054 ......... 995 ......... 1,169 ......... 997 ......... 1,068
+Federal Student Aid................................. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Institute of Education Sciences\1\.................. ......... 803 ......... 614 ......... 520 ......... 463 10 447 7 447 ......... 402 ......... 432 ......... 417 ......... 454
+Elementary and Secondary Education.................. ......... 458 ......... 496 ......... 359 ......... 271 7 265 5 254 ......... 239 ......... 259 ......... 253 ......... 242
+Vocational and Adult Education...................... ......... 180 ......... 172 ......... 147 ......... 125 5 114 6 117 ......... 102 ......... 109 ......... 107 ......... 104
+Chief Financial Officer............................. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 107 ......... 115 4 117 5 108 ......... 151 ......... 166 ......... 168 ......... 166
+Chief Information Officer........................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Safe and Drug Free Schools.......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Innovation and Improvement.......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Planning, Evaluation and Policy Develop............. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs........... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 73 ......... 51 8 72 13 65 ......... 110 ......... 121 ......... 102 ......... 112
+Communications and Outreach......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+English Language Acquisition........................ ......... 53 ......... 57 ......... 54 ......... 50 3 52 3 47 ......... 48 ......... 45 ......... 49 ......... 44
+Advisory Councils and Committees.................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 24 ......... ......... ......... 28 ......... 23 ......... 17 ......... 16 ......... 12 ......... 17
+Management.......................................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 783 ......... 739 11 736 13 618 ......... 653 ......... 636 ......... 611 ......... 623
+Legislative and Congressional Affairs............... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 69 ......... 69 13 61 11 62 ......... 25 ......... 26 ......... 25 ......... 22
+Institute of Museum Services........................ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 5 ......... 9 ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+National Institute for Literacy..................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+National Assessment Governing Board................. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Miscellaneous Offices............................... ......... 11 ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 21 ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Total......................................... 102 6,078 115 5,820 125 5,385 128 5,078 127 5,077 129 4,667 140 4,409 127 4,698 118 4,404 129 4,545
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Notes:
+ \1\ Prior to August 2003 was called Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
+ \2\ Only Full Time Equivalent Usage Available for 1992 and 1994 and is not comparable to full-time employees.
+ \3\ Political Appointees for 1980 are as of November 1980 by total only.
+ \4\ Political Appointees for years 1981-1983, 1989-1991, 1994, and 1995 are as of December of each year by total only.
+ \5\ Political Appointees for years 1984-1985 are as of March of each year by Program Office.
+ \6\ Political Appointees for years 1986-1988 are as of September of each year by total only.
+ \7\ Political Appointees for years 1992, 1993, 1996-2010 are as of September of each year by Program Office.
+ \8\ Political Appointees and Full Time Employees for 2011 as of March 28, 2011
+
+
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 1990\4\ 1991\4\ 1992\7\ 1993\7\ 1994\4\ 1995\4\ 1996\7\ 1997 1998 1999
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Program office Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time
+ appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Secretary........................................... ......... 112 ......... 115 31 110 38 117 ......... 110 ......... 105 35 95 41 102 40 100 37 102
+Deputy Secretary.................................... ......... ......... ......... ......... 8 25 10 ......... ......... 20 ......... 22 12 17 10 23 10 26 12 27
+Under Secretary..................................... ......... 20 ......... 24 4 16 1 17 ......... 132 ......... 130 5 126 4 126 1 125 1 126
+Civil Rights........................................ ......... 800 ......... 856 8 848 5 848 ......... 821 ......... 760 5 721 5 650 5 720 4 706
+Inspector General................................... ......... 329 ......... 358 1 350 1 369 ......... 358 ......... 326 1 286 2 275 0 289 2 281
+General Counsel..................................... ......... 95 ......... 95 4 103 2 99 ......... 106 ......... 104 4 104 4 106 3 97 3 100
+Special Ed and Rehabilitative Services.............. ......... 421 ......... 400 8 407 2 404 ......... 388 ......... 349 10 338 10 352 9 351 9 361
+Postsecondary Education............................. ......... 1,116 ......... 1,169 13 1,146 7 1,234 ......... 1,240 ......... 1,507 12 1,398 11 1,409 10 1,350 14 246
+Federal Student Aid................................. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 1,165
+Institute of Education Sciences\1\.................. ......... 431 ......... 472 9 448 6 431 ......... 407 ......... 359 3 343 2 346 2 340 1 338
+Elementary and Secondary Education.................. ......... 267 ......... 300 10 254 3 262 ......... 213 ......... 239 8 231 12 246 13 256 10 253
+Vocational and Adult Education...................... ......... 112 ......... 121 8 112 3 106 ......... 102 ......... 111 5 107 7 110 7 114 6 122
+Chief Financial Officer............................. ......... 134 ......... 136 3 168 ......... 239 ......... 313 ......... 322 ......... 304 2 260 1 317 0 263
+Chief Information Officer........................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 80
+Safe and Drug Free Schools.......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Innovation and Improvement.......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Planning, Evaluation and Policy Develop............. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs........... ......... 113 ......... 110 39 108 20 91 ......... 100 ......... 99 27 110 32 106 35 115 39 125
+Communications and Outreach......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+English Language Acquisition........................ ......... 46 ......... 48 2 51 1 45 ......... 42 ......... 46 4 43 5 47 3 46 1 49
+Advisory Councils and Committees.................... ......... 14 ......... 10 ......... 12 ......... 14 ......... 12 ......... 7 ......... 7 ......... 7 0 7 0 8
+Management.......................................... ......... 602 ......... 675 8 621 ......... 499 330 ......... 301 ......... 1 289 ......... 286 0 197 0 194
+Legislative and Congressional Affairs............... ......... 22 ......... 23 8 26 5 22 ......... 22 ......... 23 5 22 5 22 6 21 6 22
+Institute of Museum Services........................ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+National Institute for Literacy..................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 6 ......... 10 ......... 11 ......... 13 ......... 13 ......... 12 0 14 0 15
+National Assessment Governing Board................. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 10 ......... 10 ......... 10 ......... 9 ......... 9 ......... 10 0 10 0 10
+Miscellaneous Offices............................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Total......................................... 160 4,634 174 4,912 164 4,821 104 4,817 156 4,737 147 4,832 137 4,563 152 4,495 145 4,495 145 4,593
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Notes:
+ \1\ Prior to August 2003 was called Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
+ \2\ Only Full Time Equivalent Usage Available for 1992 and 1994 and is not comparable to full-time employees.
+ \3\ Political Appointees for 1980 are as of November 1980 by total only.
+ \4\ Political Appointees for years 1981-1983, 1989-1991, 1994, and 1995 are as of December of each year by total only.
+ \5\ Political Appointees for years 1984-1985 are as of March of each year by Program Office.
+ \6\ Political Appointees for years 1986-1988 are as of September of each year by total only.
+ \7\ Political Appointees for years 1992, 1993, 1996-2010 are as of September of each year by Program Office.
+ \8\ Political Appointees and Full Time Employees for 2011 as of March 28, 2011
+
+
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Program office Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time Political Full-time
+ appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees appointee employees
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Secretary........................................... 40 100 27 85 53 130 58 136 50 144 39 118 40 122 40 123 31 125 32 128
+Deputy Secretary.................................... 10 22 7 17 9 19 2 99 11 68 6 12 6 10 5 12 3 8 8 13
+Under Secretary..................................... 0 124 6 126 8 127 10 47 3 89 1 2 2 1 5 5 5 7 7 8
+Civil Rights........................................ 5 686 0 697 7 676 5 646 2 643 5 613 6 598 8 599 4 577 2 554
+Inspector General................................... 2 261 1 280 0 275 1 277 1 268 1 303 1 289 1 271 0 272 0 291
+General Counsel..................................... 3 96 2 94 4 97 5 98 5 96 4 97 5 92 7 97 7 92 5 96
+Special Ed and Rehabilitative Services.............. 8 359 4 363 9 362 7 357 6 344 6 299 7 259 4 259 4 262 3 266
+Postsecondary Education............................. 11 257 0 224 8 225 6 239 6 228 5 227 6 215 6 208 3 211 0 205
+Federal Student Aid................................. ......... 1,175 ......... 1,172 ......... 1,128 ......... 1,069 ......... 1,070 ......... 1,007 ......... 979 ......... 1,005 ......... 1,008 ......... 968
+Institute of Education Sciences\1\.................. 1 308 1 307 2 277 2 177 3 171 1 184 1 178 1 183 1 183 1 188
+Elementary and Secondary Education.................. 8 261 4 255 11 268 6 210 8 170 10 200 10 200 11 203 10 211 5 218
+Vocational and Adult Education...................... 6 117 2 117 5 118 4 123 6 119 4 115 2 97 4 94 4 94 4 89
+Chief Financial Officer............................. 0 265 0 280 4 277 4 288 4 280 3 275 3 271 2 258 2 262 0 182
+Chief Information Officer........................... 0 106 0 103 0 110 0 106 0 102 0 96 0 77 0 70 0 67 0 138
+Safe and Drug Free Schools.......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 2 49 3 54 4 50 4 49 4 46 4 44 3 43
+Innovation and Improvement.......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 5 84 3 91 2 86 2 87 4 89 4 88 5 84
+Planning, Evaluation and Policy Develop............. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 4 112 4 112 6 114 6 124 7 125
+Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs........... 32 127 11 104 25 105 26 105 27 106 8 10 ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+Communications and Outreach......................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... 31 122 44 135 44 135 40 130 13 106
+English Language Acquisition........................ 1 51 0 48 4 48 4 45 4 43 1 38 2 41 2 37 0 30 0 22
+Advisory Councils and Committees.................... 0 7 0 7 0 9 0 9 0 7 0 7 0 8 0 8 0 5 0 5
+Management.......................................... 0 187 0 196 5 194 6 189 3 178 3 165 4 182 4 179 4 196 1 189
+Legislative and Congressional Affairs............... 6 23 5 20 5 19 10 25 10 25 10 24 9 23 11 24 6 19 6 21
+Institute of Museum Services........................ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+National Institute for Literacy..................... 0 16 0 17 0 13 0 16 0 13 0 11 0 17 0 14 0 12 0 11
+National Assessment Governing Board................. 0 10 0 11 0 11 0 11 0 10 0 12 0 11 0 11 0 11 0 12
+Miscellaneous Offices............................... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Total......................................... 133 4,558 70 4,523 159 4,488 163 4,405 155 4,319 148 4,185 158 4,053 169 4,044 138 4,038 102 3,962
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Notes:
+ \1\ Prior to August 2003 was called Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
+ \2\ Only Full Time Equivalent Usage Available for 1992 and 1994 and is not comparable to full-time employees.
+ \3\ Political Appointees for 1980 are as of November 1980 by total only.
+ \4\ Political Appointees for years 1981-1983, 1989-1991, 1994, and 1995 are as of December of each year by total only.
+ \5\ Political Appointees for years 1984-1985 are as of March of each year by Program Office.
+ \6\ Political Appointees for years 1986-1988 are as of September of each year by total only.
+ \7\ Political Appointees for years 1992, 1993, 1996-2010 are as of September of each year by Program Office.
+ \8\ Political Appointees and Full Time Employees for 2011 as of March 28, 2011
+
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 2010 2011\8\
+ -------------------------------------------
+ Program office Political Full-time Political Full-time
+ appointee employees appointee employees
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Secretary................... 39 140 37 145
+Deputy Secretary............ 8 16 10 33
+Under Secretary............. 10 10 10 13
+Civil Rights................ 7 609 7 604
+Inspector General........... 1 327 1 323
+General Counsel............. 6 95 6 91
+Special Ed and 6 267 6 266
+ Rehabilitative Services....
+Postsecondary Education..... 3 213 3 210
+Federal Student Aid......... ......... 1,157 0 1,212
+Institute of Education 1 194 2 187
+ Sciences\1\................
+Elementary and Secondary 11 239 12 226
+ Education..................
+Vocational and Adult 7 85 6 82
+ Education..................
+Chief Financial Officer..... 0 191 0 185
+Chief Information Officer... 0 128 0 132
+Safe and Drug Free Schools.. 3 42 3 43
+Innovation and Improvement.. 7 94 6 101
+Planning, Evaluation and 11 133 12 130
+ Policy Develop.............
+Intergovernmental and ......... ......... ......... .........
+ Interagency Affairs........
+Communications and Outreach. 14 104 16 104
+English Language Acquisition 1 20 2 22
+Advisory Councils and 0 6 0 5
+ Committees.................
+Management.................. 1 183 0 171
+Legislative and 7 20 6 18
+ Congressional Affairs......
+Institute of Museum Services ......... ......... ......... .........
+National Institute for 0 10 ......... .........
+ Literacy...................
+National Assessment 0 12 0 12
+ Governing Board............
+Miscellaneous Offices....... ......... ......... ......... .........
+ -------------------------------------------
+ Total................. 143 4,295 145 4,315
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Notes:
+ \1\ Prior to August 2003 was called Office of Educational Research and
+ Improvement.
+ \2\ Only Full Time Equivalent Usage Available for 1992 and 1994 and is
+ not comparable to full-time employees.
+ \3\ Political Appointees for 1980 are as of November 1980 by total
+ only.
+ \4\ Political Appointees for years 1981-1983, 1989-1991, 1994, and
+ 1995 are as of December of each year by total only.
+ \5\ Political Appointees for years 1984-1985 are as of March of each
+ year by Program Office.
+ \6\ Political Appointees for years 1986-1988 are as of September of
+ each year by total only.
+ \7\ Political Appointees for years 1992, 1993, 1996-2010 are as of
+ September of each year by Program Office.
+ \8\ Political Appointees and Full Time Employees for 2011 as of March
+ 28, 2011
+
+ 2. How many new employees is the Department expected to hire in the
+next fiscal year? What specific projects and program offices are these
+new employees connected to?
+
+ The Department's 2012 budget includes a net increase of 61
+positions in fiscal year (FY) 2012. Twenty of the positions are for
+Federal Student Aid, primarily due to increases resulting from the
+Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which terminated the
+Federal Family Education Loans program and shifted all new Federal loan
+originations to the Direct Loan program.
+ Fifteen positions are to help the Department achieve other high-
+priority performance goals. These efforts will include providing
+technical assistance to States to help achieve education reform (7
+positions in the Office of the Deputy Secretary); enhancing and
+increasing the Department's program evaluations (6 positions in the
+Institute of Education Sciences); administering the proposed Workforce
+Innovation Fund, in conjunction with the Department of Labor (1
+position in the Office of Vocational and Adult Education); and
+supporting the Rehabilitation Service Administration's Management
+Information System (1 position in the Office of Special Education and
+Rehabilitation Services).
+ An additional 12 positions are included in the 2012 budget for the
+Office for Civil Rights to handle increased workload. In FY 2010, OCR
+received 6,933 complaints, a 9 percent increase from FY 2009--the
+largest number of complaints ever received by the office.
+ Lastly, the 2012 budget includes an additional 30 positions for the
+Office of Inspector General. In order to fully address high-priority
+areas, additional auditors and investigators are needed to perform a
+larger number of audits and to conduct investigations larger in scope,
+with emphasis on programs funded by the American Recovery and
+Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), including the Race to the Top and
+Investing in Innovation programs, as well as oversight of guaranty
+agencies, Direct Loans, and distance education. The additional auditors
+and investigators, supported by additional Information Technology
+Audits and Computer Crime Investigations staff, also will allow OIG to
+expand reviews of student loan programs.
+ The addition of these 77 new positions will be partially offset by
+the elimination of 16 positions of staff currently working on the
+administration of the Recovery Act and the Education Jobs Fund, and
+through the streamlining of administrative processes in several areas
+of the Department.
+
+ 3. How many contracts does the Department utilize to operate its
+programs and projects, as of March 28, 2011? For each contract, specify
+how many contractors and subcontractors are utilized to carry out the
+required activities. For each contract, also specify the number of
+workers attached to the particular contract. In complying with this
+request, group the relevant information by program office. List the
+number of contracts, contractors, subcontractors, and workers assigned
+to the Direct Loan program. How many contracts utilize more than ten
+contractors?
+
+ The number of active contracts, as of March 28, 2011, is listed
+below.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Number of
+ Principal office active
+ contracts
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance..... 6
+Institute of Education Sciences........................ 198
+National Assessment Governing Board.................... 24
+Office of the Chief Financial Officer.................. 18
+Office of the Chief Information Officer................ 35
+Office of Communications and Outreach.................. 40
+Office for Civil Rights................................ 38
+Office of English Language Acquisition................. 1
+Office of Elementary and Secondary Education........... 32
+Office of the General Counsel.......................... 1
+Office of Inspector General............................ 41
+Office of Innovation and Improvement................... 13
+Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs........ 1
+Office of Management................................... 116
+Office of Postsecondary Education...................... 46
+Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. 30
+Office of the Secretary................................ 23
+Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools................... 10
+Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services 28
+Office of Vocational and Adult Education............... 22
+Federal Student Aid.................................... 228
+ ----------------
+ Total............................................ 951
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ Each contract is between the Department and one prime contractor.
+The number of subcontractors per contract is not tracked except under
+the Direct Loan program.
+ The Department does not track the number of workers attached to a
+particular contract except under the Direct Loan program.
+ A total of 36 contracts are associated with the Direct Loan
+program. The contracts are with 33 contractors and 15 subcontractors,
+and include approximately 7,600 contract workers. The Department does
+not assign staff to specific programs, as there are many functions,
+activities and contracts that overlap programs--1,034 federal employees
+work on some aspect of the Direct Loan program.
+
+ 4. How many additional employees (defined as FTEs, contractors, and
+people working under current or new contracts) will be needed once the
+Department assumes ownership of all federal student loans in the
+country? How many additional employees would be needed to implement the
+Administration's proposed changes to the student loan programs included
+in the Department's fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget request?
+
+ Under current law, the Department will not assume ownership of all
+federal student loans in the country. However, the Department has
+purchased a significant share of recent loan volume pursuant to the
+Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 (ECASLA), as
+lenders exercised the option to sell these loans to the Department. In
+addition, per the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), as
+of July 1, 2010, the Department has begun to originate 100 percent of
+all new student loan volume that was previously divided between the
+Direct Loan program and the Federal Family Education Loan program.
+Implementing these two pieces of legislation has required approximately
+120 new federal staff. While the Department does not track exact
+figures for contract personnel, approximately 3,400 additional contract
+workers have been needed to implement ECASLA and SAFRA.
+ The Department expects that 5 additional employees will be needed
+to implement proposed changes to the student loan programs. Some
+additional contract staff may also be needed.
+
+ 5. What cost efficiencies have been undertaken to reduce the
+Department's Administrative budget since January 20, 2009?
+
+ The Department has undertaken a number of steps to reduce the
+Department's Administrative budget since January 20, 2009, including
+the following:
+ Savings through dissolving the National Institute for
+Literacy.
+ Savings realized through implementing the Department's ED
+Pubs project, which distributes Department publications, through an
+interagency agreement rather than through a contract.
+ Savings through reducing the number of leased computers
+and printers.
+ Efficiencies through Deputy Secretary review of the annual
+acquisition plan and elimination of programs and contracts.
+ Savings through strategic sourcing, including
+strategically sourcing office supplies and preparing to transition to
+the new Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative for office supplies
+(OS2), strategically sourcing online subscription services, and
+developing in-house strategic sourcing methods for conference planning.
+ Savings through the implementation of a five-year plan to
+consolidate building locations within the Washington, D.C. area, which
+will reduce rental and security costs.
+ Federal Student Aid programs have seen savings through:
+ Changing the Common Origination and Disbursement
+fulfillment processes to replace paper letters to borrowers (in
+specific circumstances) with electronic notices.
+ Modifying the Common Services for Borrowers (CSB) contract
+modification to eliminate borrower account transfer fees, when accounts
+were moved from CSB to other servicers.
+ Reducing the percentage payout rate through negotiated
+pricing with Federal Student Aid Private Collection Agency contracts.
+ Cost avoidance of development work costs through a
+renegotiated contract for the Default Management Collection System.
+
+ 6. The Administration's Elementary and Secondary Education Act
+(ESEA) reauthorization proposal requires states and school districts to
+focus accountability and school turnaround efforts on the lowest
+performing schools in the state and defines this category as the bottom
+5 percent of schools. How did the Department determine that 5 percent
+is the appropriate cut-off, and what data was used to ensure the
+students most in need will be reached by this proposal to focus on the
+bottom 5 percent of schools?
+
+ Our proposal requires states and districts to focus specific
+intensive interventions on the 5 percent of schools that represent the
+lowest achieving schools in the State that also are not improving,
+because these are schools that have consistently failed their students
+and communities. While there are additional schools that may need
+significant intervention to improve, we limited the most intensive
+interventions to 5 percent of schools because states and districts may
+not have the capacity to fully and effectively implement these
+interventions in too many schools, and we want them to focus their most
+intense support and resources on a limited number of schools that are
+farthest behind to increase their chances of success in improving these
+schools. The Department has examined state performance data over time,
+as well as research and reports from outside organizations to determine
+there are very low-performing schools that are not improving across the
+country, where intensive support is needed. For example, research has
+found that there are approximately 1,600 ``dropout factories'' where
+less than 60 percent of 9th-grade students are still enrolled in 12th
+grade, which represent about 10 percent of all high schools. Beyond
+this 5 percent of schools, our proposal would also require states to
+implement evidence-based, data-driven interventions in the next-lowest
+5 percent of such schools and the 5 percent of schools with the largest
+achievement gaps that aren't closing, which will help ensure that
+states focus on the schools and students most in need.
+
+ 7. Several states, including Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida, and New
+Jersey are making dramatic changes to their K-12 education systems that
+improve student academic achievement. Has the Department examined
+whether there are provisions in federal law or regulation that may
+limit the ability of state and local leaders to innovate? If so, what
+are those provisions?
+
+ The Department wants to right-size the federal role and to serve as
+an engine of innovation, not a compliance-driven bureaucracy. Our
+Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization proposal
+is designed to reduce burden and allow States and districts to focus on
+results. Through proposed program consolidations, streamlined
+accountability systems, and other measures, we would reduce red tape so
+that state and local leaders can focus on innovating and improving
+student achievement.
+ Also, at the President's direction, the Department and other
+agencies are undertaking a collaborative process to coordinate and
+streamline requirements as well as reduce administrative, regulatory,
+and legislative barriers. While this work is still in its initial
+phases, the Department hopes it will help to reduce burden and improve
+results. Finally, there are many existing flexibilities that are under-
+utilized by States and districts. The Department is taking steps to
+shine a bright light on these burden-reducing options and to identify
+innovative practices in using them. In March, the Department brought
+together in one place options and ideas for handling education funding
+in tough budget times and released this information to Governors. The
+materials and technical assistance, which are available on our website
+(http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-provides-
+promising-practices-productivity-flexibility), clarify the
+flexibilities available for using federal funds, which can reduce
+burden and provide more room for local innovation if states and schools
+districts take advantage of these opportunities.
+
+ 8. Mr. Secretary, you have stated that it is critically important
+for parents to be involved in their children's education. Where do you
+stand on the idea of allowing parents to petition school districts for
+the right to turn around their schools (a.k.a. a parent trigger)?
+
+ We are in favor of parents demanding excellence in their schools.
+We need to do a better job of empowering our parents to demand a high-
+quality education and better, safer schools for their children. Parents
+should have good options and demand better schools when their children
+are consistently being ill-served, but for public school choice
+programs and school improvement efforts to work, they have to be fair,
+open, and transparent and fully engage parents so they can make the
+best decision for their children.
+
+ 9. The Department has made several changes affecting student
+privacy and has been actively working on new regulations under the
+Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). What has the
+Department done to help states and school districts protect the
+personal information of students they are required to collect? What
+changes is the Department planning to make to protect student privacy?
+
+ The use of data is vital to ensuring the best education for our
+children. However, the benefits of using student data must always be
+balanced with the need to protect students' privacy rights. Students
+and their parents should expect that their personal information is
+safe, properly collected and maintained and that it is used only for
+appropriate purposes and not improperly disclosed. It is imperative to
+protect students' privacy to avoid discrimination, identity theft or
+other malicious and damaging criminal acts. All education data holders
+must act responsibly and be held accountable for safeguarding students'
+personally identifiable information--from practitioners of early
+learning to those developing systems across the education continuum (P-
+20) and from schools to their contractors. For this reason, the
+Department has begun several initiatives to provide technical
+assistance to States, districts and schools to protect the privacy
+rights of students and promote the responsible use of data to inform
+education policy.
+ chief privacy officer
+ The Department has hired its first Chief Privacy Officer. Kathleen
+Styles joins the Department from the U.S. Census Bureau where she most
+recently served as Chief of the Office of Analysis and Executive
+Support. In that role she managed a portfolio that included
+confidentiality, data management, the Freedom of Information Act
+(FOIA), privacy policy and coordination for the acquisition and
+management of data from other agencies. She has extensive experience
+with Federal data collections, including the decennial census, and with
+ensuring appropriate protections for large databases. As Chief Privacy
+Officer, Ms. Styles oversees a new division at the Department dedicated
+to advancing the responsible stewardship, collection, use, maintenance
+and disclosure of information at both the national level and for
+States, local educational agencies (LEAs), postsecondary institutions
+and other education stakeholders. Her office will help to ensure that
+the Department complies with applicable legal obligations and
+epitomizes the best practices we espouse. It will work with other
+Department offices to include privacy, confidentiality and data
+security requirements in Department policies and programs; coordinate
+the development and delivery of privacy training for all Department
+employees and contractors; oversee the Department's retention and
+disposition of records; coordinate the development of official
+Department guidance for the education field on topics such as data
+stewardship, electronic data security and statistical methods for data
+protection; serve on the advisory board that manages the work of the
+Privacy Technical Assistance Center; and administer the Department's
+responsibilities under the following statutes: FERPA, the Protection of
+Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), the military recruiter provision of the
+ESEA, the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, and FOIA.
+ privacy technical assistance center
+ The Department has established a Privacy Technical Assistance
+Center (PTAC) which serves as a one-stop resource for State educational
+agencies (SEAs), LEAs, the postsecondary community and other parties
+engaged in building and using education data systems. PTAC's role is to
+provide timely and accurate information and guidance about data
+privacy, confidentiality, and security issues and practices in
+education; disseminate this information to the field and the public;
+and provide technical assistance to key stakeholders. PTAC will share
+lessons learned; provide technical assistance in both group settings
+and in one-on-one meetings with States; and create training materials
+on privacy, confidentiality and security issues. PTAC will accomplish
+its mission by providing:
+ A ``privacy toolkit'' including such resources as common
+FAQs, FERPA guidance and checklists for data governance plans;
+ Technical assistance site visits that offer in-depth
+reviews of data policies and practices;
+ Training materials that offer real-world examples of
+proper data governance strategies;
+ A help desk that provides a centralized location for
+education stakeholders to submit questions to the Department; and
+ Regional meetings for sharing training materials and
+facilitating the sharing of best practices.
+ At conferences and State-requested site visits, State educational
+agencies have responded very positively to PTAC and its offerings, both
+in terms of its content expertise, such as reviewing security
+architecture plans, and its ability to provide important and timely
+input to strengthen and inform the work of States.
+ technical briefs
+ The National Center for Education Statistics has been working on a
+new series of technical briefs that further the national conversation
+on effective practices for overall data stewardship, which include data
+security and privacy protections. The methods in the briefs incorporate
+NCES statistical expertise and best practices from the field and
+consider various Federal data privacy laws, including, but not limited
+to FERPA. These best practices are presented as voluntary methods and
+not a one-size-fits-all solution. NCES has already released the
+following three briefs: Basic Concepts and Definitions for Privacy and
+Confidentiality in Student Education Records; Data Stewardship:
+Managing Personally Identifiable Information in Electronic Student
+Education Records; and Statistical Methods for Protecting Personally
+Identifiable Information in Aggregate Reporting. The technical briefs
+can be accessed online at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/ptac/
+TechnicalBriefs.aspx. The Department will release at least four more
+technical briefs, covering the topics of Electronic Data Security, Data
+Access for External Researchers, Data Sharing across Sectors and
+Training. The Department encourages the public to review these
+resources as they become available and to direct comments to:
+[email protected].
+ proposed changes to ferpa regulations
+ The Department has also released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
+(NPRM) outlining proposed amendments to its regulations implementing
+FERPA. Over time, interpretations of FERPA have complicated valid and
+necessary disclosures of student information without increasing privacy
+protections and, in some cases, dramatically decreased the protections
+afforded students. As States develop their longitudinal data systems,
+the Department has been informed of significant confusion in the
+education field surrounding what are permissible disclosures of
+personally identifiable student information from education records.
+This confusion has led to delays in developing these systems or States
+proceeding in ways that may ultimately jeopardize student privacy. It
+was imperative for the Department to propose clarifying amendments to
+the FERPA regulations to ensure that these systems are being developed
+in ways that would allow States to meet the requirements of the
+American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the America COMPETES
+Act of 2007 and that do not put individual privacy at risk or create
+significant regulatory burdens. The proposed changes are designed to:
+ Strengthen enforcement. We need stronger, more specific
+enforcement authority against entities (SEAs, student loan guaranty
+agencies, student loan lenders and nonprofits) that receive our funds,
+regardless if they have students in attendance.
+ Ensure the safety of students. Schools need to have the
+flexibility to implement directory information policies that limit
+access to the information to prevent marketers or criminals from
+accessing the data but allow flexibility to pursue mundane uses of
+information such as yearbooks without getting consent.
+ Ensure that our taxpayer funds are invested wisely in
+effective programs. It is vital to ensure that all State or federally
+funded education programs are adequately preparing children for success
+in the next stage of life, whether that is in kindergarten or the
+workforce. It is critical that we assess all taxpayer funded programs
+so that we target our investments effectively and learn what works and
+what does not. Currently there are perceived barriers to collecting
+this information that need to be fixed and regulatory burdens that do
+not increase the privacy protections afforded students that need to be
+addressed.
+
+ 10. The Administration's budget request includes very few concrete
+proposals to address the growing and unsustainable costs of the Pell
+Grant program. Although we need bold ideas, you gave us short-term
+fixes. Why has the Pell Grant program almost doubled in size in two
+years, and how does the Administration propose to address the problem
+five or ten years down the line?
+
+ In recent years, the Pell grant program has undergone significant
+growth. Since 2008, we have seen our investment more than double, with
+an additional 3 million students receiving grants. The growth is
+primarily driven by the economy and higher enrollments. Other factors
+include the ``Two Pells'' provision, the auto-zero expansion, and the
+higher maximum award. In response to the growing costs of the Pell
+Grant program as currently structured, the Administration proposed a
+range of measures to reform program operations and funding. Our efforts
+to place Pell on a secure financial footing, rather than simply
+implementing a temporary fix, are at the center of our budget proposal.
+In particular, our Pell Grant Protection Act proposal will help ensure
+that students continue to receive the maximum grant of $5,550, even in
+these challenging times. The single largest step is the elimination of
+the provision allowing for two Pell Grants per year. The cost of this
+policy is between $4 and $6 billion a year--more than 10 times higher
+than expected--and questions remain about whether the policy has
+meaningfully accelerated students' degree completion. (The elimination
+of this authority was included in the continuing resolution that
+provides funding for federal operations for the remainder of FY 2011.)
+In addition, we propose to reduce loan subsidies for graduate and
+professional student borrowers, allow borrowers whose loan servicing is
+split among banks and the Department of Education's loan servicing
+contractors to convert such servicing with a single servicer, and
+expand the Perkins Loan program as a lower-cost alternative to private
+student loans. Collectively, these tough choices and options will save
+over $100 billion over the next decade and will put the Pell program on
+firmer financial footing. It remains our priority to protect the
+maximum grant of $5,550 and ensure that we don't force students out of
+the Pell Grant program. Also, through initiatives like reforming
+community colleges, College Completion Incentive Grants, and the Fund
+for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) ``First in the
+World'' competition, the Department is working to help more students
+graduate from college and to help them graduate sooner.
+
+ 11. More than 2,000 nonprofit colleges and universities have
+students with extremely low graduation rates who leave those
+institutions with massive student loan debt levels. Provide specific
+examples of what oversight the Department is conducting of the
+nonprofit sector.
+
+ The Department is committed to supporting improved college outcomes
+that help students succeed and protect the taxpayer investment in the
+federal student aid programs. A specific example of reform that the
+Department is conducting of the nonprofit sector is enhancing our
+efforts around school comprehensive program compliance reviews. This
+process ensures that all institutions that participate in the Title IV
+Federal loan program meet certain standards of quality, and is
+conducted at each of the 6,200 participating schools. This is a
+holistic review of the institution, ensuring that standards are met in
+regards to eligibility and recertification, accreditation and state
+licensing, program reviews and administrative actions, default rates,
+and other complaints received from students or members of the
+community. The Department has increased its capacity to conduct program
+reviews of all institution-types by 50 percent since 2009.
+ Additionally, the Department of Education is attempting to set
+minimum standards for postsecondary programs that are required by the
+Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to lead to ``gainful employment in a
+recognized occupation.'' These standards will apply to all career
+education programs, including certificate programs at public and non-
+profit institutions.
+ As part of our broader reform agenda, Congress made a $2 billion
+investment over the next four years through the Trade Adjustment
+Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants program. The
+program will reward evidence-based practices that lead to successful
+student outcomes for students who enroll in community colleges. In
+addition, institutions will be encouraged to apply to develop a new
+generation of high-quality, cutting-edge shared courses and resources
+to help students learn more quickly, transfer high-impact practices
+more quickly and lower costs and to better meet workforce and industry
+needs.
+ The President's FY 2012 Budget request also includes targeted
+investments to help disadvantaged students enroll in and complete
+college. This includes funding through FIPSE to test and fund
+innovative strategies for improving college access, quality, and
+completion, along with the College Completion Incentive Grant proposal
+to reward states and colleges that increase their number of graduates
+with a degree or certificate. These proposals are offset fully as part
+of our higher education and Pell Grant Protection Act proposals.
+
+ 12. The proposed College Completion Incentive Grant program would
+provide funds to states to encourage better student outcomes for
+colleges. However, the Department already operates the College Access
+Challenge Grant program. What is the difference between these two
+programs? What positive results have been documented from the Challenge
+Grant program that demonstrate the need to create additional state-
+based college programs when the federal government usually operates
+programs focused on institutional aid?
+
+ The proposed College Completion Incentive Grant program (CCIG) is
+designed to provide grants directly to States, who will then make
+payments to institutions linked to measured performance outcomes. To
+participate, States would be required to set goals for increasing the
+number of students who successfully complete college and for closing
+the achievement gap for vulnerable student populations. States would
+also be encouraged to align high school graduation requirements with
+standards for postsecondary academic preparation, create stronger
+articulation agreements among systems and colleges, facilitate student
+transfers, and match Federal funds or provide their own performance
+based funding for institutions. The Department is proposing $1.25
+billion over the course of four years, which is offset fully as part of
+our higher education and Pell Grant Protection Act proposals.
+ The purpose of the College Access Challenge Grant Program (CACGP)
+is to foster partnerships among federal, state, and local governments
+and philanthropic organizations through matching challenge grants that
+are aimed at increasing the number of low-income students who are
+prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. The College
+Access Challenge Grant Program is based on a formula designed to meet
+college access needs in each state and does not require states to make
+key policy changes prior to receiving funding. The College Completion
+Incentive Grant is a necessary investment for institutions that do a
+good job of supporting students through to completion, in line with the
+President's goal that the U.S. once again lead the world in college
+attainment by 2020.
+
+ 13. What is the Department doing to protect the federal assets
+being held by the guaranty agencies, particularly since these entities
+may have to start winding down without new loans to guarantee? What is
+the Department's plan for the guarantee agencies?
+
+ The Department has increased the frequency of reporting from
+guaranty agencies from annually to monthly and maintains open lines of
+communication with guaranty agencies to ensure protection of Federal
+assets and that these agencies are continuing to provide high-quality
+service to students, borrowers, schools, and lenders. Additionally,
+each guaranty agency must submit an independent audit annually. These
+audits are reviewed by Department staff and inform our oversight of
+each agency. The Department is fully prepared to transition the
+functions of guaranty agencies that wish to leave or otherwise change
+their participation in the FFEL program or if the Secretary believes a
+transition is required to protect Federal assets and maintain high-
+quality service. In the past, the Secretary has successfully
+transitioned guaranty agency functions from one agency to another due
+to such circumstances. Moreover, the Department is considering inviting
+guaranty agencies to submit proposals for entering into a Voluntary
+Flexible Agreement with the Secretary, as permitted under the Higher
+Education Act. Under this authority, agencies could be encouraged to
+submit proposals outlining their ideas of how best these agencies could
+individually or collectively ensure all required functions be carried
+out in light of their changing circumstances.
+
+ 14. How many federal programs operated by the Department have been
+evaluated for their effectiveness over the last two years and/or five
+years? Please provide a list of all federal education programs
+administered by the Department over the last five years and the
+increase or decrease in the program's budget over the last five years;
+denote whether each individual program has been evaluated within the
+last five years; detail the results of the program evaluations, if any;
+and cite the independent or Departmental source that conducted the
+evaluation.
+
+ The Department has not tracked or consolidated results from all
+individual program evaluations in the exact format described. The links
+below provide lists of evaluations of the Department's programs
+conducted by the Program and Policy Studies Service and the National
+Center for Education Evaluation at the Institute of Education Sciences:
+
+ http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports.html
+
+ http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/projects/evaluation/index.asp
+
+ The attached document includes a list of programs administered by
+the Department and their funding levels from FY 2008 through the
+President's FY 2012 request.
+
+ 15. As was mentioned in the hearing, I am very concerned about
+recent documents that have become available demonstrating that
+Department employees have corresponded with short sellers involved in
+proprietary colleges. I believe it is incumbent on the Department to be
+transparent about short sellers' involvement in the development of the
+gainful employment regulations. Please provide a list of all short
+sellers with whom any Department employee, past or present, including
+contractors, have communicated regarding the gainful employment
+regulation; what information was obtained from such short sellers; and
+how that information was used by the Department. Please also provide
+copies of all communications between all Department employees,
+including contractors, and short sellers regarding the gainful
+employment regulation.
+
+ The Department of Education has operated with utmost integrity and
+transparency in its efforts to protect students and taxpayers. Senior
+officials and staff have reached out to as many people as possible,
+including numerous representatives from the for-profit industry, in its
+efforts to craft the most effective regulations possible--in fact,
+staff have communicated with more parties on all sides of this issue
+than on any other regulatory effort undertaken by the Department in its
+history. The Department received more than 90,000 public comments in
+response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published on July 26,
+2010. The Department believes a broad set of views leads to a more
+informed and positive process.
+ Because there is no public list of individuals or institutions with
+short positions on education stocks, we are unable to provide all of
+the records you requested. We will send you the related documents we
+have already released under the Freedom of Information Act.
+Representative Tom Petri
+ 1. The Department published final regulations in the Federal
+Register (75 FR 67170) on November 1, 2010, designed to better regulate
+and eliminate fraud and abuse by foreign institutions. However, I am
+concerned that these regulations may have two significant unintended
+consequences and am hoping that the Department can clarify its intent
+on these two issues.
+ My questions relate to non-profit American institutions that are
+located outside of the United States but which are accredited in the
+U.S. and authorized by U.S. states to operate.
+ This includes institutions such as the American University of
+Paris, the American University in Cairo, and the American University in
+Beirut.
+ Under these new regulations, it is my understanding that the
+Department requires institutions it designates as ``foreign schools''
+to be authorized to operate by their host governments and for these
+governments to recognize the school's diplomas as a prerequisite for
+the schools to be eligible to administer Title IV student loan funds.
+ I am very concerned that the second part of this requirement will
+be difficult to meet for American international colleges and
+universities because these schools often offer American-style degrees
+focusing more on a liberal arts education, something that may not be
+consistent with the degree recognition requirements of the countries
+where they reside.
+ If this is the case, then these regulations could have the
+extremely unfortunate consequence that American students would not be
+able to use Title IV student loan funds at these American schools if
+the schools are unable to obtain foreign recognition of their degrees.
+This would discourage American students from attending American schools
+in foreign countries at a time when we should be encouraging American
+students to study abroad to gain valuable international experience.
+ a) Given that these institutions meet the same requirements in
+terms of accreditation and state authorization as their peer
+institutions in the U.S., and that they are required to show
+authorization to operate from the country in which they are located,
+what is the Department's rationale for also requiring these schools to
+obtain foreign recognition of the degrees they offer?
+
+ If an institution is not located in a State, under sections
+101(a)(2) and 102(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended
+(HEA), it cannot be eligible under the regulations as a domestic
+institution. Rather, under section 102(a)(2)(A) of the HEA, the
+Secretary is required to establish regulatory criteria for the approval
+of foreign institutions and for the determination that they are
+comparable to institutions located in the United States.
+ One reason the Department did not rely on accreditation and state
+licensure in this matter is that by statute the Department cannot
+recognize accrediting agencies for their accreditation of foreign
+schools. See HEA 496(a)(1). For this reason, accreditation of foreign
+institutions would not be comparable to the oversight that exists for
+domestic institutions. In addition, States do not have jurisdiction to
+authorize the offering of postsecondary education and credentials in
+foreign countries, nor is there any way by which the Department could
+ensure that a State that ``authorized'' a foreign institution even had
+any of its citizens enrolled. Also, the Department believed it
+important to have oversight of federal tax dollars beyond that which
+might be entailed by a foreign government issuing a business license in
+exchange for a licensing fee and perhaps tax revenue. The final
+regulations you reference were subject to the negotiated rulemaking
+process. This is a process through which the Department works to
+develop proposed regulations in collaboration with representatives of
+the parties who will be significantly affected by the regulations. The
+proposed regulations, published in the Federal Register on July 20,
+2010, were agreed to by all members of the negotiating committee. Final
+regulations were published November 1, 2010, and will be effective July
+1, 2011.
+
+ b) Has the Department taken any steps towards determining what
+institutions might be at risk of losing eligibility for Title IV
+student loans if these institutions are not able to obtain recognition
+of their degrees by their host country? Is the Department concerned
+about the loss of eligibility that may occur for those institutions who
+do not already comply with this requirement? If so, is the Department
+taking action to remedy this situation?
+
+ We have evaluated documents from five institutions, including the
+American University of Paris, the American University of Cairo, and the
+American University of Beirut. Thus far, we have not determined that
+any institution is out of compliance with these requirements. In
+addition, we have reviewed our files to identify all of the other
+similarly situated institutions (there are fewer than ten), and have
+begun obtaining information relevant to these requirements regarding
+those institutions. We will be in contact with institutions if
+additional information is needed and are committed to working with
+institutions to identify the options available for demonstrating
+compliance with these requirements.
+
+ c) Would permitting the Department to make separate regulations for
+these American international colleges and universities solve this
+problem?
+
+ Establishing a separate category of eligible institutions
+specifically for these colleges and universities would be one way to
+address this problem.
+
+ 2. I am very concerned that these new regulations would also
+prohibit American students who are pursuing a degree abroad at American
+international colleges and universities from using Title IV funds to
+study in the U.S. at accredited U.S. colleges and universities for a
+semester or a year as part of their program (without having to take
+additional steps of withdrawing from the international college or
+university). Can you clarify the Department's rationale for prohibiting
+U.S. students from using Title IV aid to attend accredited U.S.
+institutions in the U.S.?
+
+ The final regulations were developed for several reasons. To begin
+with, the rules will prevent abuses by institutions that seek to
+circumvent other Federal requirements by more clearly distinguishing a
+foreign institution from a domestic institution. For example, these
+regulations prevent a domestic institution that has established an
+offshore location but expects the majority of its students' coursework
+to be completed in the United States from claiming to be a foreign
+institution to avoid the requirements applied to domestic institutions,
+such as recognized accreditation. In addition, the Department wants
+U.S. students attending postsecondary institutions in the United States
+to be eligible for the full range of Title IV, HEA program funds
+available to domestic institutions. It does not want a foreign
+institution to send its U.S. students to a U.S. location of a foreign
+institution, or to a U.S. institution with which it has an agreement
+for their education, because students enrolled in a foreign institution
+are only eligible for Direct Loans. For this reason, the Department
+believes that for U.S. students who wish to attend a program partially
+in the U.S. and in a foreign institution, it is preferable that the
+students enroll in the U.S. institution and attend the foreign
+institution through a written arrangement, rather than the other way
+around. The Department has offered to work with foreign institutions to
+assist them in restructuring their programs in this manner in order to
+continue to make Title IV Federal student financial aid available to
+U.S. students who attend them.
+Representative Virginia Foxx
+ 1. Other than the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
+(IDEA), is there a single program in the Department that has
+demonstrated measured success as a direct result of spending from the
+federal government? Can you prove anything has come out of one dollar
+of spending from the federal government?
+
+ The Department of Education invests in a number of programs that
+have demonstrated measured success. In addition to IDEA, Title I, Part
+A and Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act have
+resulted in significant increases in achievement for students targeted
+by these programs. For example, since 1996 on the National Assessment
+of Educational Progress (NAEP), 4th grade math scores for students
+eligible for the National School Lunch program have increased 20 points
+to 227. Over the same period, 4th grade math NAEP scores for English
+Learners have increased 17 points.
+ In higher education, where Pell Grants are the foundation of
+student aid, the percentage of low-income high school graduates
+continuing on to college has nearly doubled in the last 30 years. The
+Department has also provided institutional aid to Historically Black
+Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and other
+Minority Serving Institutions that serve as the backbone of higher
+education for many communities across the country and are critical to
+college access for many minority students.
+ Investments made by the Department have also leveraged significant
+reform throughout the country. Race to the Top made it possible for
+states to develop groundbreaking, comprehensive reform plans and make
+significant progress on issues that were previously considered
+intractable. These reforms are moving forward in both winning and non-
+winning states.
+ But we need to do more as there are still significant achievement
+gaps. And, there are too many students dropping out of school, and not
+enough students completing postsecondary education.
+ Building the evidence base is a key part of new programs in the
+Department such as Investing in Innovation (i3). The program includes
+an evidence requirement for the Department to provide less funding for
+applicants with less evidence and more funding for applicants with more
+evidence. Each i3 grantee is also required to conduct a rigorous
+program evaluation to further build the evidence base for future
+proposals.
+Representative Richard Hanna
+ 1. When was the last time the Department conducted a comprehensive
+audit of all its regulations to determine the cost passed down to
+schools and the number of hours spent implementing these regulations by
+state educational agencies and local educators?
+
+ The President issued a memorandum to Executive Departments and
+Agencies in February calling on Federal agencies to work with State,
+Tribal, and local governments to reduce unnecessary regulatory and
+administrative burdens in order to focus resources on achieving better
+outcomes at lower cost. The Department will be working with OMB and
+other agencies on this effort and is required to identify regulatory
+and administrative requirements that can be streamlined, reduced, or
+eliminated, and where increased State flexibility could be provided to
+achieve the same or better outcomes at lower cost.
+ The Department is also required under the Paperwork Reduction Act
+of 1995 (PRA) to estimate the burden on grantees and subgrantees for
+maintaining and collecting information under programs of the
+Department. The Department is required under the PRA to calculate the
+costs of these burdens whenever a new requirement to maintain or
+collect information or is established and reconsider those burdens
+every three years thereafter. Each time that a new information
+requirement to collect or maintain information is established or
+reconsidered, the public has the opportunity to comment on the
+reasonableness of these estimates through the PRA review process, which
+requires the Department to publish notices in the Federal Register
+soliciting public comment on the proposed burdens.
+Representative Todd Rokita
+ 1. The budget request put forward by President Obama for the
+Department represents a 10.7 percent increase over current levels. In
+the last three years, the Department has had nearly a 68 percent
+increase in its budget. At a time when we are asking most American
+families to tighten their belts and survive in a weakened economy, how
+can the Administration responsibly ask for this level of funding?
+
+ The Department's budget request includes many tough choices,
+including reductions in spending, program eliminations, and
+consolidations. To rein in Pell costs, the Budget proposed eliminating
+the ``Two Pells'' policy and changes to student loan programs to
+generate significant savings to support Pell Grants. The proposed
+reduction in career and technical education (CTE) funding indicates our
+support for fiscal discipline as well as a recognition that the CTE
+system is characterized by uneven quality and has limited high-quality
+data on student outcomes. The Budget also proposes the elimination of
+13 programs and the consolidation of 38 programs into 11 new
+authorities aligned with the Administration's Elementary and Secondary
+Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization proposal.
+ The Budget, however, is about balancing critical investments needed
+to grow our economy and targeted cuts that represent responsible
+reductions needed in difficult fiscal times. President Obama has said
+that to win the future, we have to win the education race so that
+``every American is equipped to compete with any worker, anywhere in
+the world.'' That is why his 2012 Budget would provide the resources we
+need to educate our way to a better economy.
+
+ 2. Mr. Secretary, you have been on record that within the
+Department's proposed budget you have consolidated 38 programs and
+eliminated 13. While I commend your first steps, there is still more to
+do. You have at least two programs in this budget, totaling $3 billion,
+which would be used to ``recruit, develop, retain and reward effective
+teachers.'' Why do we continue to see duplicative programs within your
+Department?
+
+ Our Excellent Instructional Teams initiative would consolidate nine
+programs that focus on teaching and school leadership into three
+programs better designed to help States and LEAs recruit, prepare,
+support, reward, and retain effective teachers and school leaders, with
+a priority on improving teacher and school leader effectiveness and
+learning for all students. Each of the programs in our proposal has a
+distinct role in driving educator workforce reforms. The Effective
+Teachers and Leaders State Grants program would provide formula grants
+to all States and districts to support the development of rigorous and
+fair teacher evaluation systems that are aligned with professional
+development opportunities and ensuring the equitable distribution of
+effective teachers and leaders. While this formula program would
+support and incentivize all States to implement essential reforms, the
+Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund would make competitive awards to
+States and LEAs willing to implement bold approaches to improving the
+effectiveness of the educator workforce, including innovative
+performance-based compensation systems. The third program in our
+proposal is the Teacher and Leader Pathways program, which would make
+competitive grants to create or expand pathways into teaching, through
+high-quality programs such as teaching residency programs. This
+approach of integrating formula and competitive funding streams would
+be more effective than the current array of largely disconnected
+programs and an important step in realizing our goal of getting great
+teachers into our classrooms and great principals into our schools.
+
+ 3. While I know that you are not supportive of a policy of ``Last
+In First Out'' regarding teacher layoffs, and are open to moving
+towards a teacher evaluation model, can you explain to the Committee
+why you support teacher collective bargaining agreements that contain
+provisions about teacher layoffs with no consideration of teacher and/
+or student performance?
+
+ We need to look hard at the impact of staffing rules and policies
+on students, especially in high-poverty and low-achieving schools. We
+also have to make sure that the teachers having the biggest impact
+remain in the classroom. But many States and districts don't have
+systems in place that even identify who these teachers are. For this
+reason, one of the Department's greatest priorities in ESEA
+reauthorization is to ask States and districts to develop and implement
+fair, rigorous teacher and principal evaluation systems hat
+meaningfully differentiate teachers and principals by effectiveness and
+are based, in significant part, on student academic growth, but that
+also use other meaningful measures of a teacher's practice and impact.
+These systems will help identify teacher and principals who are
+succeeding. This is an essential step toward enacting State laws, labor
+contracts and personnel practices to support our best teachers and keep
+them in schools. Throughout this process, we are committed to building
+on the successful collaborative efforts taking place across the nation.
+ At our labor-management collaboration conference this February, we
+saw teacher leaders, administrators and school board members from
+across the country who have found new ways to work together to focus on
+student success. We expect this collaboration to lead to new contracts
+and agreements that will dramatically improve the way teachers teach
+and students learn, and that will focus efforts on improving student
+learning. We are learning from these successful collaborative efforts
+and challenging other districts to take action. Collective bargaining
+agreements can be a tool to drive student achievement. Bold reforms are
+most achievable, most effective, and most sustainable when they are
+designed and implemented in collaboration with teachers.
+Representative Kristi Noem
+ 1. Mr. Secretary, the budget proposal converts several formula
+programs to competitive grant programs. It includes a rural priority
+for many of these programs. How will the conversion to competitive
+grants impact rural communities and how will this new priority work in
+practice?
+
+ The President's budget maintains funds for the Rural Education
+Achievement program (REAP) and other critical formula programs, such as
+Title I, Title II-A, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education
+Act, that support schools in rural areas and elsewhere. At the same
+time, the budget invests in high-impact initiatives that make the best
+use of scare resources and drive reform. All schools, including rural
+schools, will benefit from competition that drives reform, spurs
+innovation, and rewards success. In some cases, we believe that
+competition provides the best framework to challenge the status quo and
+improve student outcomes. The Department will use a number of
+strategies to better support prospective rural applicants and ensure
+that size and geography do not prevent rural schools from having a fair
+chance to successfully compete. In the Race to the Top district
+competition and Investing in Innovation programs included in our FY
+2012 budget, we propose to carve out funds for rural applicants to
+ensure that a portion of funds goes to rural areas. In other grant
+competitions, the Department will use absolute priorities and
+competitive priority points to level the playing field for remote
+schools with limited resources and staff. Other strategies to ensure
+that rural districts can successfully compete include recruiting and
+training peer reviewers with rural expertise, providing additional
+technical assistance, holding pre-application webinars, and encouraging
+consortia and partnerships to increase capacity, expertise, and
+resources for rural applicants. For this last strategy, the Department
+has encouraged small schools and districts to work with Educational
+Service Agencies (ESAs), colleges, and universities. We have also
+engaged the philanthropic and nonprofit communities in an effort to
+better support high-need rural schools. Completing our set of
+strategies, we will work to increase States' capacity to support rural
+schools and districts through the work of our Comprehensive Centers as
+well as by providing technical assistance to REAP State Coordinators.
+
+ 2. Mr. Secretary, Impact Aid payments to some school districts are
+years behind. What is the Department doing to improve payment times to
+these districts?
+
+ We recognize that historically, there has been a problem of delays
+in getting final grant payments out and we are taking steps to fix it.
+We know it is important to get districts these funds, especially in
+difficult budget times.
+ One obstacle to getting final grant payments out in a timely
+fashion has been delays in determining estimated assessed values (EAV)
+for the federal property within the section 8002 program--payments
+relating to Federal acquisition of real property. We are interested in
+working with Congress to streamline this process from a prolonged back-
+and-forth with a small number of districts over the correct property
+value, delaying allocations. The Department's Impact Aid office has
+made significant progress speeding up processing of these payments and
+has dedicated additional staff to support the effort. Beginning with FY
+2010, new section 8002 regulations adopted in 2008 changed the
+application procedures to require reviews of all applicants. Because
+FYs 2010 and 2011 had not been reviewed and the new regulations
+institute a three-year cycle for FYs 2010-2012, we will review
+applications for FYs 2010-2012 concurrently. This action will ensure
+that we are able to catch up to the current application year (FY 2012)
+and decrease the backlog in payments. The Impact Aid office has closed
+and finalized payments for FYs 2006, 2007, and 2008 and is currently
+working to close out payments for FY 2009 by the end of the summer.
+Representative Robert Scott
+ 1. How does the Department intend to structure its response to
+schools that are not making adequate yearly progress (AYP)? Currently,
+responses are targeted to the entire school or to groups of students
+that may not need it. Does the Department intend to target assistance
+specifically to those groups of students within a school who need it
+most?
+
+ Under the Administration's proposal for ESEA reauthorization, the
+current system of AYP would be replaced by a system that focuses on the
+5 percent of schools that represent the lowest achieving schools in the
+State that also are not improving, the next 5 percent of such schools,
+and schools with persistent achievement gaps. The bottom 5 percent of
+schools would be required to implement dramatic reform strategies to
+support better outcomes for students, and the next 5 percent of schools
+would be required to implement research-based, locally determined
+strategies to help them improve. Schools with persistent achievement
+gaps would target data-driven interventions to support those students
+who are furthest behind and close the achievement gap. By asking states
+to identify these schools with the largest achievement gaps, our
+proposal would ensure that States and districts focus on the students
+furthest behind. Beyond these categories of particularly high need
+schools, states would be required to have a plan to differentiate and
+support all of their schools, which should include how the State will
+determine what each school's needs are and how it should focus
+improvement efforts.
+
+ 2. What is the Department's strategy to ensure that more students
+attend and complete their college education?
+
+ A wide range of factors influence a student's ability to attend
+college and earn their degree. The Department has adopted a broad
+strategy to address each of these issues in an effort to improve both
+college enrollment and degree completion rates as it works to achieve
+President Obama's goal of ensuring that the United States once again
+leads the world in college completion. The Department also is pursuing
+opportunities to raise awareness of promising practices that individual
+institutions and States are engaging in that others may wish to adopt.
+We incorporated the goal of improving postsecondary student outcomes
+relating to enrollment, persistence, and completion into the
+Department's supplemental priorities, which were published in the
+Federal Register in 2010 and are now being used in a number of
+discretionary grant programs. The Department has been using the
+priority related to improving postsecondary student outcomes relating
+to enrollment, persistence, and completion in all appropriate
+discretionary grant competitions to ensure that every available
+Department resource is used to effectively address the issue of
+completion. Moreover, the Department recently published a College
+Completion Tool Kit, which details how States can use existing programs
+and funding, such as the Educational Opportunity Centers program and
+College Access Challenge Grants, to significantly improve degree
+completion rates at their postsecondary institutions. Looking beyond
+its own programs, the Department is partnering with the Department of
+Labor to assist with the implementation of community college support
+programs across multiple agencies.
+ In addition to incorporating the completion agenda into existing
+programs, the President's 2012 budget request proposes several targeted
+investments to help disadvantaged students enroll in and complete
+college. The Administration has proposed the creation of a College
+Completion Incentive Grant program designed to, among other things,
+help States align high school graduation standards to postsecondary
+academic requirements and support postsecondary institutions as they
+develop ways to measure and use performance outcomes. Similarly, a
+``First in the World'' competition would refocus the FIPSE program on
+the most needed and likely-to-succeed institutional reform efforts.
+And, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED)
+would help to support broad transformational change in American higher
+education. The Department will continue to use all of its resources to
+highlight the issue of college completion and productivity and make a
+compelling case for action.
+
+ 3. Every child and every classroom deserves a qualified and
+effective teacher, not simply someone who appears highly qualified on
+paper. How does the Department intend to gauge whether a teacher is
+actually effective in the classroom? In addition, how will this be
+gauged without creating an anti-collaborative atmosphere? In other
+words, teachers may not want to collaborate or take on lower-performing
+students if it will adversely affect their performance rating. How does
+the Department intend to balance the need for qualified and effective
+teachers with collaborative environments and promote professional
+development for underperforming or ineffective teachers?
+
+ Through Race to the Top, our proposals for ESEA reauthorization,
+and other initiatives and programs, we are supporting the development
+and implementation of teacher and principal evaluation systems that
+take into account multiple measures, giving significant weight to the
+teacher's track record of improving student learning, while also
+considering other meaningful measures of a teacher's instructional
+practice. The measurement of a teacher's impact on student learning
+should be based on the progress a student makes over the course of the
+year, not just on one test on one day.
+ These systems should be designed in collaboration with teachers and
+based on fair, rigorous measures that take good teaching as seriously
+as the profession deserves. Schools and systems that do this work
+successfully cultivate strong, supportive school cultures that use
+evaluation systems to identify ways for teachers to better collaborate
+and learn from each other. Currently, too many evaluation systems just
+label 99 percent of teachers as satisfactory and do little to help
+teachers improve. Our Excellent Instructional Teams initiative in our
+ESEA proposal places a priority on providing teachers the support they
+need and on building a culture where collaboration is the norm. From
+pre-service to induction and throughout a teacher's career, we believe
+that professional development should be school-based, job-embedded, and
+provide opportunities for educators to work collaboratively, such as
+through classroom coaching, data analysis teams, peer observation, and
+the provision of common planning time. Systems that identify teacher
+strengths and needs, connect teachers with mentorship and professional
+development opportunities, and recognize and retain great teachers
+(like the ones our proposals will support) can ensure a qualified and
+effective teacher for every child, and a strong, supportive school
+environment for every teacher.
+
+ 4. While recognizing that AYP as we currently know it may change in
+ESEA reauthorization, it is nonetheless imperative that all schools are
+held accountable by the federal government for the performance of all
+students. Is the Department committed to federal accountability for all
+schools and all students? Does the Department intend to include a
+meaningful high school graduation rate factor as part of the new
+accountability system and if so, what will that look like?
+
+ The Department is absolutely committed to strong accountability for
+all schools and all students. Our proposal for ESEA reauthorization
+includes a fair, flexible, and focused accountability system that
+requires dramatic change in the 5 percent of schools that represent the
+lowest achieving schools in the State that also are not improving, and
+research-based, data-driven interventions in the next 5 percent of such
+schools, and schools that are not closing significant, persistent
+achievement gaps. Beyond these particular categories, States would be
+required to have a plan to differentiate and support all of their
+schools, and determine what actions to take in improving them. We have
+also proposed meaningful district and state accountability, to ensure
+that all levels of the system are responsible for student success.
+ The Department does intend to include meaningful high school
+graduation rates as part of the new accountability system. States,
+districts, and schools would be required to publicly report data on
+four-year adjusted cohort graduation rates, disaggregated by subgroup,
+and states would include graduation rates in their identification of
+schools that are in need of intervention and support.
+
+ 5. Are any programs permitted to discriminate based on religion
+using federal funds supplied, granted or otherwise given out by the
+Department of Education?
+
+ The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR)
+expressly provide that in the selection of grantees and contractors,
+the Department and grantees shall not discriminate for or against a
+private organization on the basis of the organization's religious
+character or affiliation and that private organizations that receive
+grants or contracts under Department programs may not discriminate
+against a program beneficiary or prospective beneficiary in the
+provision of program services on the basis of religion or religious
+belief. However, these regulations also provide that a religious
+organization's exemption from the Federal prohibition on employment
+discrimination on the basis of religion is not forfeited when the
+organization receives assistance from the Department or a grantee.
+Additionally, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which
+prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, states ``this section
+shall not apply to any educational institution which is controlled by a
+religious organization if the application of this subsection would not
+be consistent with the religious tenets of such organization.'' See
+also the Title IX regulation implementing this provision at 34 CFR
+106.12.
+
+ 6. The Department continues to place an emphasis on charter schools
+despite several reports finding that they do not serve students better
+than traditional public school and many in fact perform worse than
+traditional public schools. What is the Department doing to ensure that
+civil rights, including for students with disabilities, are applied to
+charter schools?
+
+ The Department is committed to supporting the establishment and
+maintenance of high-quality public charter schools, including strong
+measures to promote charter accountability, as part of an overall
+comprehensive strategy focused on ensuring that all students have an
+equal opportunity to receive a quality education that will prepare them
+for academic and professional success in an increasingly global world.
+Charter schools must, as must traditional public schools, comply with
+our nation's civil rights laws so that each and every student has equal
+access to a quality education irrespective of race, color, national
+origin, sex, or disability.
+ The Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is charged with
+enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibiting
+discrimination based on race, color, or national origin by federal
+recipients); Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (prohibiting
+discrimination based on sex by federal recipients); Section 504 of the
+Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (prohibiting discrimination based on
+disability by federal recipients); and Title II of the Americans with
+Disabilities Act of 1990 (prohibiting discrimination based on
+disability by public entities irrespective of whether they are federal
+recipients). In advancing its mission to bring equity into the
+classroom, OCR and its twelve regional offices use all the tools that
+are at their disposal, including complaint resolutions, compliance
+reviews, policy guidance, and technical assistance.
+ OCR remains committed to using its tools to address potential civil
+rights violations at charter schools. For example, of the headquarters-
+initiated compliance reviews that will be launched this fiscal year,
+several will involve charter schools. OCR and its twelve regional
+offices also provide technical assistance to federal recipients,
+parents, students, and community stakeholders so that they can better
+understand their rights and responsibilities under our civil rights
+laws.
+ Additionally, State educational agencies that apply for grants
+under the Charter Schools Program (CSP) are required to provide in
+their grant application a description of how a charter school that is
+considered an LEA under State law, or an LEA in which the charter
+school is located, will comply with sections 613(a)(5) and 613(e)(1)(B)
+of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). SEAs that
+receive CSP grants are required to ensure that any charter school
+receiving a subgrant provides assurances that it is in compliance and
+will continue to comply with the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title
+VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education
+Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and
+Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. We closely
+monitor State compliance with this provision, including monitoring
+whether the SEA itself closely monitors its subgrantees to ensure
+ongoing compliance with IDEA and other Federal laws.
+ Finally, the Department uses CSP National Activities funds to
+provide technical assistance to charter schools and other charter
+school stakeholders in the area of serving students with disabilities.
+
+ 7. Research shows that disparities exist in discipline treatment by
+gender as well as by race and ethnicity for all students, including
+pre-kindergarten students. In fact the Yale University Child Student
+Center conducted a study of almost 4,000 pre-kindergarten classrooms
+representing all 52 of the national state-funded pre-kindergarten
+systems. The research found that African-American students attending
+state pre-kindergarten programs were approximately twice as likely to
+be expelled as preschools of European descent. Further, boys were over
+41/2 times more likely to be expelled than girls. Importantly, these
+data demonstrated that being both a boy and a racial/ethnic minority
+places a preschooler at dramatically greater risk for expulsion.
+African American boys were 8.76 times as likely as African American
+girls to be expelled. Similarly, Latino boys are 6.66 times as likely
+as Latina girls to be expelled. Given that high-quality preschool
+programs improve school readiness and reduce racial/ethnic disparities
+in school readiness, preschool serves as a critical tool in reducing
+the racial/ethnic disparities in achievement in K-12 education.
+Monitoring disparities in discipline of preschoolers now promises to
+encourage local education agencies to address this problem sooner
+rather than later. Delaying examination of disparities in this area
+could contribute to and potentially worsen unequal education
+opportunities. Your testimony suggested that the Department of
+Education intends to address disparities in discipline and expulsion
+rates of students. Could you please explain in greater detail how the
+Department of Education intends to address the disparities in
+discipline and expulsion of students? Also, how does the Department
+specifically intend to address the disparities in expulsion of
+preschool students within its budget and in general?
+
+ The Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is using all the
+tools at its disposal to address the disparities in student discipline
+and help support schools to meet the challenge of adopting effective
+and appropriate disciplinary policies, practices and procedures that do
+not violate a student's civil rights.
+ With regard to its enforcement actions, OCR receives and resolves
+approximately three hundred individual complaints annually alleging
+discrimination in the administration of student discipline based on
+race, color, and national origin. Additionally, OCR launched several
+compliance reviews in 2010 and 2011 touching on the administration of
+student discipline under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
+ With regard to its technical assistance and policy guidance
+efforts, OCR is developing guidance, in the form of a Dear Colleague
+Letter, that will inform states and districts about their
+responsibilities in avoiding discrimination based on race, color, and
+national origin in the administration of student discipline which would
+apply to all students in schools receiving federal financial
+assistance, including preschool students. Furthermore, OCR in
+partnership with the Educational Opportunities Section of the Civil
+Rights Division of the Department of Justice, convened conferences last
+fall in Washington, DC and San Francisco, CA on civil rights and school
+discipline.
+ Finally with regard to data, the Department received Office of
+Management and Budget (OMB) clearance to significantly enhance the data
+it collects on discipline as part of the 2009-10 Civil Rights Data
+Collection (CRDC). This included expanding the types of discipline data
+and collecting separate discipline data for students with disabilities
+and students without disabilities. The revised collection will include
+data on corporal punishment, in-school and multiple suspensions,
+referrals to law enforcement, school-related arrests, and zero
+tolerance policies. The Department anticipates that these data will be
+available in late summer. The Department received approval from OMB to
+collect data from a universe of all LEAs for the 2011-12 CRDC. The last
+time a universal CRDC was conducted was in 2000. The Department also
+received approval from OMB to collect data on suspensions and
+expulsions in preschool programs operated by SEAs and LEAs as part of
+the 2011-12 CRDC. These data, like other data collected by the CRDC,
+will be disaggregated by race/ethnicity, disability, LEP and sex.
+
+ 8. Has the Department considered developing data collection
+software for the states in order to help ease their regulatory
+paperwork burden?
+
+ The Department has done significant work to utilize electronic data
+submission processes to streamline the data reporting for State
+educational agencies and maximize the utility of the data. A multitude
+of data collections that were historically done through paper
+collections or non-machine readable formats have been converted into
+less burdensome web-based collection methods to make data reporting
+easier for SEAs.
+ This includes, for example, much of the data required by the
+Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Individuals with
+Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Gun-Free Schools Act, the
+Consolidated State Performance Report, and the Carl D. Perkins Career
+and Technical (Perkins).
+ By moving to electronic data submissions, the burden on States and
+districts can be further reduced by utilizing the data reported once to
+meet multiple requirements. For example:
+ The Department's Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC)
+traditionally collects its data directly from LEAs. However LEAs also
+report some of these same data to their SEAs. With the school year
+2009-10 CRDC, the Department was able to use some of the information
+that States submitted to EDFacts so districts didn't have to ``double-
+report'' the data on the number of students with disabilities served
+under IDEA or the number of graduates and high school completers at the
+end of the school year.
+ Most SEAs have been approved to meet the data reporting
+obligations for both ESEA and IDEA by submitting special education data
+once to EDFacts, and no longer need to submit those duplicative data
+elements through the manual process for IDEA.
+ SEAs approved to meet data reporting obligations for both
+ESEA and Perkins by submitting performance data once to EDFacts no
+longer need to submit those data elements through the manual process
+for Perkins.
+ In school year 2008-09, the non-fiscal Common Core of Data
+collection was fully consolidated into the EDFacts collection, which
+alleviated SEAs from doubly reporting these data to the Department each
+year.
+Representative Carolyn McCarthy
+ 1. Secretary Duncan, as you know, I have been an advocate for
+reducing violence, bullying, and other activities that make our schools
+unsafe and make learning difficult. I would like to ask you about the
+consolidation of several existing school safety programs into the new
+Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students program. While I support
+flexibility in funding, I'm concerned about the possibility of losing
+sight of individual priorities within in a consolidated framework. I am
+specifically concerned with cuts to the Readiness and Emergency
+Management for Schools program. Can you talk about how this new
+approach will address the variety of different challenges faced by
+schools?
+
+ The proposed Successful, Safe, and Healthy Schools (SSHS) program
+would consolidate several programs into a single framework in order to
+accomplish three major goals:
+ 1. Improving safe school evaluation by using student surveys to
+assess school-level conditions, so that school officials can monitor
+multiple risk factors and protective factors in order to watch for
+school improvement or decline. By supporting efforts to improve safe
+school evaluation using State and locally chosen student surveys, SSHS
+would enable individual schools to better monitor and respond to a
+broader range of health and safety priorities, including risk factors
+(such as student weapons possession, physical fights, bullying,
+harassment, substance use, and teen dating violence) and protective
+factors (such as student engagement, mental health, nutrition, and
+physical activity).
+ 2. Improving access to financial assistance for the schools and
+school districts with the greatest need for safe school improvement.
+Federal safe school surveillance efforts show that there are pockets of
+youth violence amongst schools. During the 2007-2008 school year, about
+75 percent of schools recorded one or more violent incidents, but 24
+percent recorded 20 or more violent incidents (School Survey on Crime
+and Safety, National Center for Education Statistics.) Under the
+current authorization, the Department administers multiple small,
+competitive grant programs to fund local safe school efforts. Each
+grant program requires educational agencies to spend time and effort
+preparing an application, and, at the end of competition, funds may go
+in a disjointed manner for related but overlapping purposes, making it
+difficult for schools and districts to plan for and implement
+activities that address school safety issues comprehensively. A
+consolidated framework would reduce application burden, help to
+identify unsafe schools by improving school-level assessment, and
+enable states, districts, and schools to implement comprehensive
+programs that focus on schools with greatest need.
+ 3. Allowing educational agencies to utilize grant funds in a manner
+that suits the unique, local needs of schools and school districts.
+Currently, the Department administers a number of safe school grants,
+each offering a short, fairly restrictive list of program options.
+These grants may not be helpful to an unsafe school that already
+implements the types of activities supported by the programs or has
+needs that don't quite fit into the current criteria. Because many safe
+school programs and activities often allow a school to address a range
+of priorities (improving access to mental health services might be
+selected to address substance use or school violence), we have proposed
+a consolidated framework to ensure that unsafe schools are able to
+access the solutions they need using federal safe school dollars.
+ President Obama's FY 2012 budget request would provide $365 million
+for the Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students (SSHS) program. Under
+the national activities authority in this program, we would provide $6
+million for State Emergency Readiness Preparedness, which would provide
+competitive grants to States to help build state-level capacity for
+emergency preparedness and to respond to and recover from emergencies
+and crisis events. Also, we would provide $2.2 million for the
+Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical
+Assistance Center, which would allow the Department to continue its
+support of this important investment that has provided technical
+assistance for schools, districts, states, and institutions of higher
+education on emergency management issues. Our proposal to fund grants
+to States is consistent with the National Commission on Children and
+Disasters recommendations to the President and Congress. In this 2010
+report, the Commission recommended that ``competitive disaster
+preparedness grants be awarded to States through the REMS program as an
+initial step toward developing innovative models designed to ensure a
+higher level of school preparedness statewide.''
+
+ 2. Secretary Duncan, we have heard the President call on parents to
+take a more active role in their children's education. As you may know,
+Representative Platts and I have been working on this issue within the
+committee, and we have introduced the Family Engagement in Education
+Act. How can the Department and Congress encourage more meaningful
+parental involvement in our efforts to reform the public education
+system?
+
+ The federal government has often contributed to a fragmented and
+non-strategic approach to family engagement by offering small, siloed
+funding streams with narrow purposes and strict requirements. The
+Administration's proposal for ESEA reauthorization would help change
+that by preserving and expanding foundational funding for family
+engagement, similar to the proposal in the bill that you introduced. We
+have proposed doubling the 1 percent set-aside for family engagement in
+Title I and giving more flexibility in working towards key outcomes, as
+well as giving districts a greater share, to enable them to partner
+with nonprofits and coordinate a district-wide approach to engaging
+parents at all levels of schooling and before kindergarten entry. We've
+also proposed, for the first time, allowing states to set aside 1
+percent of their Title I funds to scale up promising and proven
+approaches to family engagement that have been developed by nonprofits
+and districts. We believe this will be a key lever for identifying what
+works and scaling it up.
+ Also, instead of thinking of family engagement as a matter of
+particular funding streams, it's important to put in place a context
+for coordinated and aligned strategies that drive towards the most
+important outcomes. That's why our proposals embrace and emphasize the
+vital role that families play in their children's learning at all
+stages of their child's development and academic career. For example,
+we want to make sure that parents know whether their children are
+prepared for college and a career by ensuring that all states have high
+standards and providing families with better data about where their
+students and schools are. This will help empower families to take
+action in their children's learning and improving their schools.
+
+ 3. Secretary Duncan, we have heard the administration advance the
+idea of tying teacher pay to the performance of their students. While I
+support using student performance as a component of teacher
+evaluations, I believe that we need to have a more comprehensive
+approach to teacher evaluations. In the 111th Congress, I introduced
+legislation, the Teacher and Principal Improvement Act, which, among
+other provisions, will incorporate the classroom practices of teachers
+along with student performance to provide a more complete picture of an
+individual teacher's performance. Evidence of classroom practices that
+would be evaluated include: observations of the teachers, videos of
+teacher practice, lesson plans, and parent, student, and peer feedback.
+By looking at the actual practices of teachers in the classroom, we
+will be better able to understand teacher effectiveness and evaluate
+teachers on a fairer, evidence-based basis.
+ Does the administration support a more comprehensive approach to
+teacher evaluations, such as that contained in my Teacher and Principal
+Improvement Act?
+
+ We agree with you that teacher evaluations should be informed by
+multiple measures, including student growth and also other measures of
+a teacher's instructional practice. Evaluations informed by a rigorous
+and fair set of measures, including student growth in significant part
+but also other measures, can most fairly and effectively inform both
+compensation and also the ways that schools support and develop
+teachers, and connect them with opportunities for collaboration and
+professional growth. This is an approach we have supported through Race
+to the Top and the Teacher Incentive Fund, as well as in our proposals
+for ESEA reauthorization.
+ This is an area where many states, either on their own or with the
+support of Race to the Top, are pioneering innovative new approaches to
+measuring teacher classroom practices. Your home state of New York,
+with support from its Race to the Top grant, is in the process of
+developing a teacher evaluation system that includes both student
+growth and also other measures like classroom observations against a
+fair and objective rubric, and student and parent feedback. Systems
+like this--in schools in New York and across the country--will help
+support and advance our teachers, and will help ensure that every
+student benefits from effective teaching.
+
+ 4. Secretary Duncan, as you know, I have worked to reduce school
+violence, especially gun violence in our schools. Loopholes exist in
+the Gun-Free Schools Act that prevent us from being as effective as we
+need to be in appropriately monitoring and preventing guns from ending
+up on school campuses. In the 111th Congress, I introduced the Safe
+Schools Against Violence in Education Act which, among other provisions
+would close some of these loopholes and strengthen the protections in
+current law. Specifically, the bill requires that local educational
+agencies report not only expulsions for incidents related to firearms,
+but also include information on incidents leading to suspension as
+well. The bill also expands the scope of current law to include not
+only incidents that occur on school campuses, but also include
+incidents occurring on school buses and events for which the local
+educational authority is responsible. Finally, the bill requires all
+incidents that occur on school grounds, not just those committed by
+students.
+ I look forward to working with you and the President to make sure
+our schools are safe and gun free. What steps are being taken by the
+Department to continue to ensure the safety of our schools?
+Specifically, is the Department looking at ways to improve the Gun-Free
+Schools Act?
+
+ The Administration recognizes the need to ensure that schools
+provide a safe and supportive environment free from physical violence
+and substance abuse. As described in the answer to your first question,
+the proposed Successful, Safe, and Healthy Schools (SSHS) program would
+assist schools in fostering a safe environment. Specifically with
+regard to gun safety, the Department is still reviewing options for
+reauthorization of the Gun Free Schools Act.
+ ______
+
+
+ DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SUMMARY OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FY 2008-FY 2012 PRESIDENT'S BUDGET
+ [In thousands of dollars]
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Change from FY2011-
+ 2008 2009 Recovery 2010 2011 2010 FY2012
+ Office, account, program and activity Appropriation Appropriation Act Appropriation Appropriation President's -------------------------
+ budget Amount Percent
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ ELEMENTARY/SECONDARY EDUCATION (K-12)
+
+Elementary and Secondary Education
+ (ESEA):
+ Race to the Top..................... 0 0 4,350,000 0 TBD 900,000 ........... ...........
+ Investing in innovation............. 0 0 650,000 0 TBD 300,000 ........... ...........
+ College- and career-ready students 13,898,875 14,492,401 10,000,000 14,492,401 TBD 14,792,401 ........... ...........
+ (Title I grants)...................
+ School Turnaround Grants............ 491,265 545,633 3,000,000 545,633 TBD 600,000 ........... ...........
+ Early learning challenge fund....... 0 0 0 0 TBD 350,000 ........... ...........
+ Effective teaching and learning: 0 0 0 0 TBD 383,348 ........... ...........
+ Literacy...........................
+ Effective teaching and learning: 0 0 0 0 TBD 206,046 ........... ...........
+ STEM...............................
+ Effective teaching and learning for 0 0 0 0 TBD 246,084 ........... ...........
+ a well-rounded education...........
+ College pathways and accelerated 0 0 0 0 TBD 86,000 ........... ...........
+ learning...........................
+ Effective teachers and leaders state 0 0 0 0 TBD 2,500,000 ........... ...........
+ grants.............................
+ Teacher and leader innovation fund.. 0 0 0 0 TBD 500,000 ........... ...........
+ Teacher and leader pathways......... 0 0 0 0 TBD 250,000 ........... ...........
+ Expanding educational options....... 0 0 0 0 TBD 372,000 ........... ...........
+ Assessing Achievement............... 408,732 410,732 0 410,732 TBD 420,000 ........... ...........
+ Magnet schools assistance (Part C).. 104,829 104,829 0 100,000 TBD 110,000 ........... ...........
+ Promise Neighborhoods............... 0 0 0 10,000 TBD 150,000 ........... ...........
+ Successful, safe and healthy 0 0 0 0 TBD 364,966 ........... ...........
+ students...........................
+ 21st century community learning 1,081,166 1,131,166 0 1,166,166 TBD 1,266,166 ........... ...........
+ centers............................
+ English Learner Education........... 700,395 730,000 0 750,000 TBD 750,000 ........... ...........
+ Impact Aid.......................... 1,240,717 1,265,718 100,000 1,276,183 TBD 1,276,183 ........... ...........
+ Other ESEA.......................... 6,506,141 6,148,589 850,000 6,151,979 TBD 877,992 ........... ...........
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Subtotal, Elementary/Secondary 24,432,121 24,829,068 18,950,000 24,903,094 TBD 26,701,186 ........... ...........
+ Education........................
+Special Education (IDEA):
+ Grants to States (Part B)........... 10,947,511 11,505,211 11,300,000 11,505,211 TBD 11,705,211 ........... ...........
+ Other IDEA.......................... 1,034,382 1,066,371 900,000 1,073,729 TBD 1,113,045 ........... ...........
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Subtotal, IDEA.................... 11,981,893 12,571,582 12,200,000 12,578,940 TBD 12,818,256 ........... ...........
+ State Fiscal Stabilization Fund..... 0 0 48,600,000 0 TBD 0 ........... ...........
+ Career and technical education State 1,160,911 1,160,911 0 1,160,911 TBD 1,000,000 ........... ...........
+ grants.............................
+ Other K-12.......................... 358,986 377,306 170,000 389,377 TBD 258,639 ........... ...........
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Subtotal, Elementary/Secondary 37,933,911 38,938,867 79,920,000 39,032,322 TBD 40,778,081 ........... ...........
+ Education........................
+
+Postsecondary Education:
+ Federal Pell grants (net)........... 14,215,000 17,288,000 15,640,000 17,495,000 TBD 28,600,059 ........... ...........
+ Other Student Financial Aid......... 1,866,136 981,973 200,000 1,801,809 TBD 1,737,957 ........... ...........
+ TRIO................................ 828,178 848,089 0 853,089 TBD 920,089 ........... ...........
+ Other Postsecondary Education....... 1,581,336 1,625,250 0 1,785,990 TBD 1,738,326 ........... ...........
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Subtotal, Postsecondary Education. 18,490,650 20,743,312 15,840,000 21,935,888 TBD 32,996,431 ........... ...........
+Other Discretionary:
+ Research, development, and 159,696 167,196 0 200,196 TBD 260,413 ........... ...........
+ dissemination......................
+ Statistics.......................... 88,449 98,521 0 108,521 TBD 117,021 ........... ...........
+ National assessment................. 98,121 130,121 0 130,121 TBD 135,121 ........... ...........
+ Statewide data systems.............. 48,293 65,000 250,000 58,250 TBD 100,000 ........... ...........
+ Departmental Management............. 1,247,578 1,338,249 74,000 1,407,679 TBD 1,749,415 ........... ...........
+ Other Programs and Activities....... 1,144,769 1,164,933 680,000 1,261,879 TBD 1,263,909 ........... ...........
+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Total, ed discretionary funds..... 59,211,468 62,646,199 96,764,000 64,134,856 TBD 77,400,391 ........... ...........
+ Total, ed discretionary without 44,996,468 45,358,199 81,124,000 46,639,856 TBD 48,800,332 ........... ...........
+ Pell.............................
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+The Department is in the process of completing a funding table for FY 2011, based on H.R. 1473/Public Law 112-10. We will update this table with that
+ information as soon as possible
+
+ ------
+
+ [Whereupon, at 5:08 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
+
+
+
+