Annette S. Werner PURE Reform
I'm here to talk about the proposed sale of the Schenley building.
The Schenley athletic addition - pool and gym- are asbestos free.
Again, the pool and gym added to Schenley in 1987 do not have asbestos plaster.
That is important information, because pools and gyms are of course very expensive. The district said the cost of just a new gym for Miller is $8M- and that would be a K-8 gym. The Schenley addition, which cost over $9M, would cost $18M in today's dollars.
It is bad enough to sell an $18M plus asset for 2M. Soon, however, we will be talking about money the district will need to spend to purchase what it just sold. The athletic facilities at U Prep are not suitable for a high school and not comparable to those enjoyed by other high school students in the district. Eventually it will become necessary to remedy the situation by adding new sports facilities, at great expense.
With the current state of the budget it will be difficult to roll in a wasteful expense unnoticed. There will be consequences in terms of higher taxes, more crowded classrooms, or both, and then repercussions in terms of enrollment and decisions people make about whether to live and locate businesses in the city. There are plenty of examples of urban school districts that ignored these considerations and have never recovered. Pittsburgh is not immune to these problems.
Now is the time to look ahead and prevent these unpleasant consequences. Put a padlock on the classroom portion of the Schenley building and preserve the very valuable sports facilities for PPS students. Maintenance costs of retaining the building can most likely be offset by fees for making the building available to other schools and organizations.
Looking beyond just this one building, insist on a realistic calculation of renovation costs when schools are closed or consolidated, and open those calculations to public scrutiny. Consider also the loss of options for the future when schools and plans don't turn out as expected. At some point we are going to have to take a good honest look at how the experiments of the last 6 years have turned out and one way or another, changes will need to be made; the only question is how much it will cost us.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Statement to the PPS School board from A.W.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Third letter on this blog about the sell off of PPS school assets
October 20, 2011
Dear General Wagner,
I am writing you today as a citizen, and former Pittsburgh Public Schools Board Member, to express my great concern about the sale of a public asset. I am writing about the proposed sale of the former Florence Reizenstein Middle School to the development company Walnut Capital. I believe that this sale would constitute an irresponsible stewardship of public assets by the Pittsburgh School Board and Administration. And that it should be stopped for the following reasons:
1) According to Allegheny County Assessment Office the Building and Land is worth $22,920,500.00
2) Sole Bidder bid $5,700,000.00
3) Bidder announced plans for $119,000,000.00
4) Bidder has history of seeking tax exemptions, thereby reducing or eliminating tax revenues to City, State, and School District.
5) There was only ONE Bidder
6) Bidding process was "fast-tracked". A shorter bidding process from other buildings for sale.
7) Property is within an area (East Liberty) that has seen great economic investment in the last 10 years(A Target store opened 3 months ago)
8) Board did not properly (only locally) advertise this property for sale.
9) Bidder developed property across the street from school.
10) Property not appraised by a least 3 appraisers.
11) School building only 30 years old.
12) School building is used for many community activities.
13) Building is modern facility with large gymnasium, pool, and air conditioning.
I believe that this property should remain a school. There is currently one proposed charter school for East End of Pittsburgh with of others likely. I believe the property's continued use as a school is highly possible and, most likely in the future, necessary.
Furthermore, the Reizenstein building is a valuable asset to the East End of Pittsburgh community. This building, because of its central location and access to public transportation is a natural meeting place. Its gymnasium and pool are used by many groups and organizations. It even housed the Pittsburgh Public Schools"Summer Dreamers" education program for hundreds of students.
The taxpayers of the city have invested tens of millions of dollars in this building and property. They should have every right to expect the property to be put to the best use for students and, if this property is to be sold, to receive the maximum amount possible. This sale should be halted for the purpose of determining if this has occurred.
Looking back over the years, I also believe the handling of this property to be a prima facie case(s) of, not only wasting precious tax dollars, but of NO fiscal planning by the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
I placed before the Pittsburgh School Board in April 2008 a resolution to cancel the planned move of students from the closed Schenley High School to the Reizenstein Building. $10 million dollars was slated to be spent to make the facility more appropriate for High Schools students. However, the Board knew at that time the move would be temporary because Business Affairs Director stated "that to make building permanent home for High School students would cost $40 million in upgrades". I asked Board to move those students to an existing High School. The Pittsburgh School Board voted my resolution down. In May of this year, the Pittsburgh School Board voted to send Reizenstein students to that very same existing High School. Yet, it does not end there.
The East End of Pittsburgh is an area that is experiencing great commercial and residential development (Coincidentally, the bidders for Reizenstein are proposing a $119 million dollar residential development). The communities of Garfield, East Liberty, and Highland Park are all doing significant building of new homes. Even the struggling communities of Larimer and Homewood have plans and funding and are beginning long overdue community re- development. We are already seeing many new families moving into the East End of Pittsburgh, and I believe many, many more will follow. What if the School District of Pittsburgh finds, in a few short years, that there is a need to build a new school for the new families? A new school will cost at minimum $40 million dollars. The East End also has many schools that are over 90 years old. How long will it be before it becomes cost prohibitive to maintain and upgrade these buildings? How long will it be before these buildings are obsolete? The Reizenstein property would provide a large parcel of flat land in an attractive location. If a new building is ever constructed the existing sports facilities might well be incorporated at significant savings. The lack of planning may cost the taxpayers of the city and state tens of millions of dollars.
I am writing to ask your office to intervene and investigate the sale of this building. I believe that tens of millions of public dollars are at stake. Yet, most importantly we are facing the loss of a building that has helped to enrich the educational experience of thousands of students. I believe that a building with excellent amenities make for a well-rounded education. Pittsburgh has long believed that well maintained facilities are important to a child's education. We have long believed in the importance of pools for our children to learn to swim and large gyms and fields for them to play and grow strong. This current Pittsburgh School Board has forgotten this. My hope is that you will us here in Pittsburgh to remind them.
Sincerely,
Randall Taylor
Former Pittsburgh School Board Director, District #1
Friday, October 21, 2011
Duquesne school district to close the end of the school year
Duquesne school district to close the end of the school year: Duquesne school district to close the end of the school year.Perhaps we can say too little and too late.
This is big news. And, it is a big impact to everyone in the region.
Allegheny County and the overall region is just too small to have such a failure in such epic amounts. Those kids are neighbors. Those students are getting screwed and have been put in jeopardy for decades.
The drag of Duquesne City's School District is an anchor that we all must lift and correct.
Back in the day I spoke at a PPS public hearing to the PPS board and took some heat from a person in the audience who was another citizen. She told me in no uncertain terms in a private conversation that she didn't want to hear me, a guy from the South Side who was seeking public office in the city, talking about Duquesne Schools. To her, that was out of bounds. She wanted me to rant about things within our neighborhood, our district.
I felt I had an important message to deliver and it was spot on for PPS to worry about. For a while, PPS had a consulting or management contract with the Duquesne School District for something. That didn't seem to pan out, I guess.
But my worry then and at the microphone that night was about the closing of schools in the 'right size plan' that were in Hazelwood and to the far east and south of the city. That is the part of the city that needed capacity because the Duquesne students might come flocking into the city some day as that district crumbles.
Well, it has happened. My prediction has come true, sadly.
And, the PPS is without the school buildings and without the capacity in the system to do something positive there.
It is a stretch, but not impossible, to get the kids from Duquesne into the city for school, even in the K-8 stages.
Oh well.
Kathy Fine makes a statement about the selling of PPS school facilities
Enough is enough.
Four years ago, the PPS administration proposed closing Schenley High School based on deceptions and out and out lies.
- They lied when they said that that would keep Schenley open after the community outcry. ·
- They lied about the level of danger due to asbestos and the urgency of removing students from the facility.
- They lied about forming a stakeholder committee to discuss possible reuses for the building.
- They lied about the cost for renovations.
And now their lies are public knowledge. The district let Schenley sit unused while they spent tens of millions of dollars on renovations on inferior buildings and instituted controversial reform experiments that we new would fail (and sadly, we have been proven right). Now they are proposing selling this historic building on invaluable city property for $2M dollars to a developer that will convert the old school into apartments for a cost of $35M dollars. That’s right, $35M dollars to gut the entire facility, remediate the asbestos, replace electrical and HVAC systems and build separate apartments. 5 years ago, the PPS administration told us that just updating the mechanicals and remediation would cost up to $81M!
The students at University Prep are worse off than they were at Schenley. They are faring no better academically, but now they are housed in an inadequate middle school facility and their sports and other extracurriculars have been decimated.
The closing of Schenley has resulted in the resegregation of our high schools and separate but unequal facilities and programming for the minority students in the East End of our city. While the predominantly white high schools like Brashear, Carrick and Alderdice have remained untouched, with beautiful buildings and sports facilities, the predominantly minority high schools like Obama (the new IB school), University Prep and Sci-Tech are squeezed into middle school facilities or facilities with no windows or natural light and have been forced to give up any real sports programming.
And the proposed Reizenstein sale also raises concerns. The county has assessed this property at over $22M, but the bidder the district is putting forward is offering only $5.4M Moreover, this flat, conveniently located property with some of the best PPS parking in the East End is the go to spot for district wide meetings. It is also the site of a popular pre-school program. DeJong, the facility consultant, recommended keeping the property, reportedly so that it would be available at a future time when the district wishes to build a new modern facility.
PLEASE, come to the public hearing at 6PM on Monday, 10/24 and tell our school board that we cannot see our district dismantled piece by piece. Call 412-622-3600 and sign up to speak by 12N on Monday. Or just come to lend support! Some talking points:
- End the separate but unequal treatment of the minority students in the East End.
- The lack of accountability regarding the deception about the true cost of renovation
- The failures of the reforms that took place at the cost of Schenley High School
- University Prep is a failed experiment
- Sci-Tech’s building is too small to accommodate all of the students that want to attend
- Sharing sports facilities between middle and high school has resulted in tremendous scheduling difficulties, with some students having to wait until evening for practice.
The Schenley building and sports facilities are worth much more than $2M. There has been talk of building a gymnasium for University Prep at a cost of $8M. We could use the Schenley sports facilities for University Prep, Obama and Sci Tech and save $6M, while providing these three schools with a centralized location for their sports programming.
Stop the fire sale of Reizenstein and Schenley.
The TIME IS NOW to stop this charade of “reform” and put a halt to the sale of our precious public school resources for a pittance.
Kathy Fine
Pure Reform
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
TJ needs a swim coach
Hello My name is Barb Hill and I am part of the booster club for the Thomas Jefferson High School swimming and diving team. Our high school swim team is desperately searching for a high school swim coach for this 2011-2012 swim season. I found your name on the website for USMS Allegheny Mountain Masters. I was wondering if you might know of anyone that has coaching experience that would be interested in coaching a high school team. Thomas Jefferson High School is located in Jefferson Hills, PA and is part of the West Jefferson Hills School District. This is a paying position. We have about 25-30 high swimmers that are anxious to get started. If you are interested or know anyone that may be interested please have them contact myself or William Cherpak the athletic director at the high school at 412-655-8610. Thank You Barb
Fw: cc letter waste/ mismanagement
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Mr. Ron Tomalis, Secretary of Education
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Dear Mr. Tomalis:
I am writing with a concern about possible waste and mismanagement of
As you may know, in June 2008 the
HOWEVER, the Schenley athletic addition (including gym and pool) does not have asbestos plaster problems. It was added in 1987 at a cost of $9.4M (about $18M in current dollars). Similar recent projects in neighboring districts have cost $20M - $25M. Even looking at just the athletic facilities,
More importantly, our
An additional concern is that the district put the cost of making Schenley available for continued use as a school at $81M, while the bidder for the property indicates that it will manage to convert it to an entirely new use (residential) for only $35M. I urge the Pennsylvania Department of Education without delay to investigate this discrepancy as well as the issues surrounding the athletic facilities and to ensure that our properties are being handled in a manner that is fiscally responsible and equitable to all students.
Annette S. Werner (asw122@aol.com)
cc: Auditor General Jack Wagner
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Bakery Square expansion proposed; three school sites for bid
Do not sell the Schenley High School for $2-million. Sell it for $20 or $30 million, not $2-million.
Do not give a tax credit to the new owners of Schenley High School. If they want it at a seal, then don't let them seal us into the future as well. Sell it at a fair price, and expect them to make an investment, without the price of a tax credit.
The Reizenstein property was to fetch $30 or $40 million dollars, not $5 or $6 million.
No deal. We (citizens, taxpayers, parents of school children) are getting robbed.
Bakery Square expansion proposed; three school sites for bid: Developers propose carrying housing, retail, office space across Penn Avenue to site of shuttered Reizenstein school
Sunday, October 16, 2011
New Book Includes Buhl Planetarium History
A history of Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, including its rather unique 10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope Observatory, is included in a new book published by the University of Pittsburgh Press titled Palace of Culture, Andrew Carnegie's Museums and Library in Pittsburgh. The author of this book is Robert J. Gangewere, former adjunct professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University and former editor of CARNEGIE magazine for three decades.
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center) merged with Carnegie Institute in 1987, thus the reason Buhl's history is included in this book. Mr. Gangewere interviewed me, regarding Buhl's history, for this book.
Mr. Gangewere will conduct a free-of-charge lecture on the new book, and a book signing this TUESDAY AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 18, 2011, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. (EDT) at the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.
Here is more information about the book --
Link to information from the University of Pittsburgh Press web site:
http://www.upress.pitt.edu/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=36260
Here is a book description from the CARNEGIE Magazine web site:
Palace of Culture
Told through the eyes of a longtime insider and gifted storyteller, the far-reaching history of Andrew Carnegie's lasting gifts to the Steel City and their worldwide influence comes to life in Palace of Culture, Andrew Carnegie's Museums and Library in Pittsburgh.
Published by University of Pittsburgh Press and written by Robert J. Gangewere, former adjunct professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University and former editor of CARNEGIE magazine for three decades, Palace of Culture is a thorough look at the life and times of Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Institute, which today comprises four distinctive museums and a separately operated system of libraries.
"It makes for a fascinating account that not only is a tribute to Andrew Carnegie's vision but also demonstrates that libraries, museums, and concert halls can have a powerful, even transformative impact on cities," says Petra Chu, professor of art history at Seton Hall University.
In his 2004 farewell note in CARNEGIE magazine, Gangewere promised to tackle this important project by sharing unforgettable stories—like when Carnegie, sitting on a log in Cresson, Pennsylvania, first told minister William Holland that he wanted to do something special for Pittsburgh, like build a library. "It's a very American story with no simple parallel in the larger world of museums," Gangewere wrote. "I can't wait to tell it." After scores of interviews and unprecedented research, Gangewere has accomplished his goal.
Join Gangewere for one of his scheduled talks about his book: October 18 from 3-5 p.m. in the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater; November 9 from 7-9 p.m. at Ligonier Public Library; and January 14, 2012, from 2-4 p.m. at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland.
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Monday, October 03, 2011
Sports stadium reading
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Fw: *Possible Free Charter Bus to Vote for Ron Paul in Value VotersStraw Poll, Sat. in D.C.*
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
The Values Voter Summit Straw Poll takes place on Friday October 7 & Saturday October 8, 2011 at Washington, D.C.'s Omni Shoreham Hotel. Ron Paul has issued a clarion call to supporters to travel to the summit to vote for him in the poll. Voting begins Friday at noon and runs until 7:00pm, then recommences at 7:00am on Saturday until 1:00pm. Tickets are regularly $100, but Ron is offering them for only $10 via his campaign site. His campaign has also offered to pay for a charter bus from the Pittsburgh area on Saturday if enough people commit to go. The following message is from Bill Faust who is from the Philadelphia area:
Friday, September 30, 2011
Fw: Register Now for EPLC's Arts and Education Symposium, October 13:The State Museum of Pennsylvania
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Please share this invitation!
You are invited to
The Education Policy and Leadership Center’s
Thursday, October 13, 2011
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
The State Museum of Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Keynote speakers:
Dr. Jonathan Katz, Chief Executive Officer, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
Dr. Mary Ann Stankiewicz, Professor of Art Education, Pennsylvania State University
Plus 9 Workshops with prominent Pennsylvania and national arts and education leaders.
Visit www.aei-pa.org
Join arts and education leaders from across the state and nation to participate in discussions about the policy implications of the arts in Pennsylvania’s schools and communities. Symposium discussions will inform the work of EPLC’s Arts and Education Initiative (AEI), which is generating a report including actionable policy recommendations for legislators and other audiences to be released in February of 2012.
Click here for more information about the agenda and to register online with a credit card, or to print and mail a registration form with payment by credit card or check.
$25 registration includes continental breakfast and lunch. Scholarships are available, as well as Act 48 credits for teachers. Email crosby@eplc.org with questions.
The Arts and Education Symposium is presented by EPLC in partnership with Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, the Pennsylvania Art Education Association, and the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.
The Symposium is made possible with the generous support of The Heinz Endowments, the William Penn Foundation, and the Buhl Foundation.
EPLC is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization based in Harrisburg, with programs and activities across Pennsylvania.
The mission of EPLC to encourage and support the development and implementation of effective state-level education policies to improve student learning in grades P-12, to increase the effective operation of schools, and to enhance educational opportunities for citizens of all ages.
Pittsburgh councilman Lavelle charged with perjury - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh councilman Lavelle charged with perjury - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Pittsburgh councilman Lavelle charged with perjuryTime to resign for both Wheatley and Lavelle.
Got a present 8th grader? What about those in 7th grade too?
Did you know that last year Pittsburgh Public Schools sent its graduates to some of the top universities in the country, including: Stanford Yale Penn Michigan CMU Pitt Honors And dozens of others... As you may or may not know, part of my role at PPS is to manage our magnet programs in the District. Tomorrow we are holding our annual Magnet Fair at Pittsburgh Obama (in the Reizenstein facility.) We will have tables open from some of our most popular programs including Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) Pitttsburgh Obama International Baccalaureate, Pittsburgh Sci-Tech, Pittsburgh Liberty Spanish, Pittsburgh Linden Mandarin, Pittsburgh Montessori, Pittsburgh Dilworth Traditional and others. Even if you are not considering PPS, think about stopping by. You may want to reconsider us! Additionally, learn more about the Pittsburgh Promise, a $40,000 college scholarship program for any PPS graduate, regardless of income. www.pittsburghpromise.org.This is a good way to do one-stop shopping if you are a parent. And, talk to others that are in the same boat as you -- and talk to those who did this in the last couple of years as well. Network. Talk to the PPS folks -- then talk to the women selling popcorn.
Fwd: Conservative Evan Feinberg likely to Challenge Tim Murphy in Repblican Primary for Congress in 18th
http://www.politicspa.com/tim-murphy-gets-a-challenger/28236/
Tim Murphy Gets a Challenger
By Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor, Politics PA
<http://www.politicspa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Evan-Feinberg.png> <http://www.politicspa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Evan-Feinberg.png>
Evan Feinberg, a future candidate
Rep. Tim Murphy will face a primary challenge next spring.
Months of recruiting efforts by a small, dedicated group of conservative activists has yielded challenger Evan Feinberg, a 26 year-old native of Washington County who spent the past five years working for various conservative causes in Washington, DC.
"I'm taking the necessary steps to consider a primary challenge against Representative Murphy," Feinberg confirmed. "The people of western Pennsylvania deserve a true conservative who will put the interests of the country and his constituents before his own."
Feinberg told PoliticsPA that he resigned his position in the office of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Wednesday. He, his wife and infant son will move back to the district on Monday. And as if to ensure he won't be drawn out of Murphy's district, he's moving to the Congressman's home turf in Upper St. Clair, Allegheny County.
"If I decide to run, I'm going to have going to have very extensive local and national support and I look forward to making this decision in the coming weeks."
Sources close to Feinberg say that his run is definite.
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HERE IS A GOOD ARTICLE Feinberg CO-WROTE 4 YEARS AGO
I like a Republican who is not afraid to criticise a Republican plan that is clearly a big government plan.
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http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21950
Remembering Who Opposed President Clinton's Education Plan
by Dan Lips <http://www.humanevents.com/search.php?author_name=Dan+Lips> and Evan Feinberg <http://www.humanevents.com/search.php?author_name=Evan+Feinberg> 08/16/2007
Before No Child Left Behind, President Clinton <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21950#> had his own plan for education reform. While it is not surprising that many Republicans opposed the Clinton plan, what is striking are the similarities between the Clinton plan and the (often) Republican-backed No Child Left Behind.
In 1999, President Clinton unveiled his education reform strategy in his State of the Union Address. He called on Congress to use federal funding to spur school reforms and "to support what works, and to stop supporting what doesn't work."
Texas Governor George W. Bush was sharply critical. "The federal government should be a limited partner, not a general partner," he explained. "If they feel like sending money back to the states, fine. But don't tell us how to run things."
It is funny how times change. Reviewing the Clinton plan, one can't help but notice similarities to No Child Left Behind, a centerpiece of President Bush's domestic policy.
President Clinton's plan called on Congress to attach five "strings" to federal education dollars. First, states would be required end social promotion. Second, states and school districts would be required to reform or close low-performing schools. Third, they must establish teacher qualification requirements. Fourth, parents must be given greater information in the form of district-issued school report cards. Fifth, states and school districts would be required to implement school discipline policies.
Congress didn't enact President Clinton's education strategy during his administration, but its spirit lived on.
Consider how core elements of No Child Left Behind resemble President Clinton's proposal. NCLB was meant to combat "the soft bigotry of low expectations" by ending the practice of automatically passing kids to the next grade. NCLB also defines a "highly-qualified teacher." The law mandates different school reforms for each additional year a school is deemed low-performing, including restructuring or closing schools after five years of failure. Moreover, NCLB requires states to test all students annually and to publish student performance data to provide greater information to parents.
President Bush's original proposal for No Child Left Behind did include some conservative ideas-like trimming bureaucracy, providing state flexibility, and promoting private school choice-but these provisions didn't survive congressional negotiations with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative George Miller <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21950#> (D-CA). What emerged was a law that has increased spending by 41 percent, expanded federal authority and bureaucracy, and created 7 million hours per year worth of new regulations and paperwork for state and local authorities.
The Bush Administration has taken full ownership of No Child Left Behind. Last summer, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said it was "like Ivory soap…99 percent pure." President Bush has made reauthorizing the law a top priority of his remaining tenure.
But Republicans should remember that they-and George W. Bush-once opposed expanding federal power in education-when it was being proposed by President Clinton. Back in the 1990s, conservatives on Capitol Hill <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21950#> fought to limit federal intervention and to return authority to state leaders to create a reform environment that minimized bureaucracy and fostered real improvement.
In the 1990s, Republicans supported the "Academic Achievement for All Act" (commonly called "Straight A's) which would have allowed states to enter into performance agreements with the federal government that would give them the opportunity to consolidate federal programs and redirect funding toward state initiatives to improve student learning. In exchange, states would establish performance objectives and administer state tests to measure student achievement.
The Straight <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21950#> A's bill drew the support of 128 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and 20 in the Senate. Florida Governor Jeb Bush testified in favor of the bill, asking Congress to "Imagine what our states could do if we could spend more of our time and energy working to improve student achievement, rather than tediously complying with a dizzying array of federal rules." A pilot version of the bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 215 to 213.
President Bush incorporated the Straight A's approach in his original blueprint for No Child Left Behind. The White House recommended creating a "charter option" to give states and school districts freedom from federal regulations and bureaucracy if they entered into a performance agreement with the Department of Education, but it was whittled down by Congress into a weak funding transfer program.
In 2007, conservatives on Capitol Hill have proposed legislation that follows the original Straight A's approach and the "charter" option. Senators Jim DeMint (R-DC) and John Cornyn <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21950#> (R-TX) have proposed the A-PLUS Act, which would allow states to opt-out of NCLB and enter into performance agreements with the federal government. Their plan would give states freedom from federal bureaucracy and red tape if they agree to establish academic goals and maintain a consistent, transparent testing system over time to determine whether students are learning. So far, the Bush Administration has been silent on the DeMint-Cornyn plan.
President Bush was right when he said that the federal government should be a "limited partner, not a general partner" in education. The time has come for him and Republicans in Congress to return to their principles on education reform, rather than continuing to champion Bill Clinton <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21950#>'s education strategy.
________________________________
Mr. Lips is education analyst at The Heritage Foundation <http://www.heritage.org/>.
________________________________
________________________________
Mr. Feinberg is a research assistant at The Heritage Foundation <http://www.heritage.org/>.
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