November 14,  2007

1. Business/Housekeeping

• Financial Situation: NREAC has $62,235 in the bank. The major ongoing expense is maintenance of the website.

• NREAC incurred one special project. Rachel analyzed data on Title I and its effects on small districts.

• Current membership includes 10 states and 3 national organizations. During the NREA conference, Oregon gave a firm commitment that they will join. Montana is also joining.

• There is a start-up rural group in Kentucky that is very interested in and strongly considering joining NREAC.

• Ray Patrick and Joe Bard were re-elected as Chair and Vice Chair of the coalition.

2. State Summary

• The Indiana group is being revitalized. Scott is leading that effort. The state assessment was moved from the fall to the spring.

• Kansas has been represented by Bob’s organization. Will Steve’s organization be able to join us at the table?

  • Kansas is holding its state convention Feb 24-25.

• Nebraska: Joe Bard is in discussion with this state group about joining the coalition.

• Missouri’s legislative session starts in January. The radical anti-public school legislators currently in the legislature are term limited, and those terms are winding down. The main opponent has resigned.

• Oklahoma recently enacted a very restrictive and punitive immigration law. It’s trickle down effect results in schools not asking any questions about student and/or family status. If they know the student and/or family is illegal, they can not willingly provide transportation or services. The schools have been counseled (and are practicing) a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell policy’.

• Pennsylvania’s State Board of Ed has released its most recent costing out study. The report confirms a very wide income gap and the fact that the Commonwealth has the lowest taxation rate of six states in the region. There is speculation that Gov. Rendell has been waiting for this to use it as a catalyst/impetus for a major push in education.

• Montana’s REAP money is significant to the state. Some schools receive more REAP money than they receive in state funding. There has also been a shift awat from norm-referenced tests to criterion referenced tests, and there is a push involve locals in creating the assessment.

• Texas has a newly appointed commissioner. The legislature essentially passed a measure that dictates the school calendar for all schools in the state. The statewide test is now in February, and schools convene in the 4th week of August.

• Three member states of NREAC were not represented at the table: Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan.

3. Advocacy/Government Relations

• Refer to Mary’s power point presentation from 11/13.

• Veto Override: The veto override scheduled for Nov 15 was close, but unsuccessful. Thank you to those who reached out to state executives and helped drum up calls and emails expressing the urgency of getting the override.  AASA sent an alert to the full membership, and the response was overwhelming—over 2,000 members sent emails to Capitol Hill.

• REAP Funding: The ESEA reauthorization bill reorganizes the locale codes for REAP funding, and completely eliminates locale code 6. The list below details how many schools districts in the NREAC states will lose their REAP funding because they are currently locale code 6:

  State	Locale Code 6	REAP Schools
  Arkansas	36	81
  California	18	29
  Illinois	17	21
  Indiana	3	7
  Kansas	3	3
  Kentucky	41	73
  Michigan	5	29
  Missouri	29	74
  Montana	5	6
  Oklahoma	52	121
  Oregon	7	8
  Pennsylvania	5	13
  Texas	70	123
  Wisconsin	1	4

  • The woman pushing for the elimination of locale code 6 is from North Carolina. She used to work at the Department of Education. She was a political appointee in that position. She initially promoted changing REAP funding to a state grant program funded on a per-pupil basis. We are currently losing on the locale code 6 issue and in the rural/low-income schools program using free/reduced lunch as a proxy for census poverty.

  • Sen. Enzi, though usually a stronger advocate for such programs, is not stepping out as strongly because Wyoming doesn’t need the money, he’s not affected by the locale code 6 issue, and he is skeptical of free/reduced lunch as a measure of poverty.

  • Get your locale code 6 schools to call the senators and ask them to maintain their funding and to sponsor the preferred REAP Reauthorization bills (legislation numbers in next bullet)

  • We need more co-sponsors of the REAP Reauthorization bills that contain all of the preferred language. The bill numbers are S2051 and HR3545.

• Forest Counties: There is a current move to pass the 5 year reauthorization. The current extension expires at the end of December. When this extension was granted, it was under the premise that there would not be another 1 year extension.

  • The proposed reauthorization changes the formula and some states would lose money. Some of the larger states (WA, OR, and CA) were able to negotiate three-year ramp down proposals that allow them to lose their money over time. The other states (PA, LA, SC, SD, and TX) will lose their money all at once. The house bill has the ramp down for all the states.

• The Rural Schools Community Trust is holding a congressional briefing in December. AASA is a co-sponsor. NREAC will also co-sponsor.

4. Misc.

• A set of additional documents is attached to this email. The items include:

  • Mary Kusler’s Reauthorization Powerpoint from 11/13

  • Report on graduation rates and state efforts for longitudinal data

  • Report on growth models

5. Head Start Is Set for President’s SignatureProposed REAP Changes

In mid-November, Congress passed a Head Start reauthorization conference bill that focuses on serving younger children and includes provisions to boost service quality. This bill now awaits President Bush’s signature.  (It is expected that the president will sign it.) The reauthorization, titled Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, has five major components: it rejects the administration proposal to turn Head Start over to state governments and halts a controversial annual assessment of four-year-olds; strengthens and expands Early Head Start; increases access to Head Start; bolsters program quality; and increases collaboration. (Read more…)

 Highlights from the Head Star reauthorization bill include:

• Strengthen and Expand Early Head Start

  • Sets aside half of all expansion funds for Early Head Start expansion and gives Head Start programs flexibility to convert slots previously used for preschoolers to slots for infants and toddlers

  • Increases credential requirements for all teachers providing direct services to children and families in Early Head Start centers

• Increase Access to Head Start

  • Allows up to 35 percent of the children served by a grantee to have a family income between 100 percent and 130 percent the rate of poverty, as long as the grantee can demonstrate that children with family incomes below 100 percent of poverty are already being fully serviced

  • Ensures that children with disabilities are promptly identified and served

  • Allows part-day Head Start programs the flexibility to convert to full–day year-round services

• Boost Program Quality

  • Reserves 40 percent of new Head Start funds for quality enhancements in programs, including salary increases for Head Start staff

  • Sets aside a minimum of 2.5 percent and up to 3 percent for training and technical assistance

  • Requires all Head Start teachers to have an associate’s degree by 2011 and all Head Start curriculum specialists to have at least a bachelor’s degree

  • Requires all Head Start teachers to have at least 15 hours of in-service training every year

• Increase Collaboration

  • Requires states to establish state advisory councils on early education and care

• Provides new early education and care federal incentive grants to states to promote the development and expansion of state early education systems

6. Next Conference Call

Mark your calendars now! Here are the dates for the January conference and our next conference call:

• Next conference call is tentatively scheduled for Mon, Dec 10 at 2 pm (Eastern Time)

• The January conference will be held Jan 28-29, 2008.

  • We will meet at the Hilton Arlington. This is the Ballston Metro stop (orange line) and is 3 blocks from the AASA office.  The room rate is$189 and the cut off date for making reservations is Dec. 28, 2007. Here are the steps for making your reservation:

  • Dial 1-800-HILTONS (445-8667)

  • City and State: Arlington, VA

  • “I have am part of a group. My code is NRE, with the American Association of School Administrators.”

  • The operator will see that you are with the group staying at the Hilton Arlington for a rate of $189 per night plus tax.

  • Reserve the room!