Education Stimulus Package

In a recent New York Times op-ed Paul Krugman calls for a new stimulus package aimed at our nation's schools. "If you had to explain America’s economic success with one word, that word would be 'education.'" The problem is, if the federal government just gives this money to the states they will use it to fill cracks just like the last round. I have another idea that I thought I would air out here to see if it holds water.

Many many schools, dare I say most schools, would like to have 1:1 laptop programs if money were not a critical factor. The biggest problem with 1:1 initiatives so far has been the total cost of ownership for school districts. Of which most schools report maintenance as the biggest problem. Some 1:1 schools have even been seriously considering abandoning these initiatives because of the financial stress they put on the school budget. Connect With Stillwater Public Schools recently ran this post that poses the question of whether or not a 1:1 program can be accomplished with student-owned computers:

Student-owned technology: Is there a place for it in our schools?

If the government wants to do another federal stimulus that would greatly benefit education perhaps it would be more wise to do it as a federal tax credit for families with students in k-12 or post-secondary to purchase laptops. Schools could publish their minimum requirements and suggested models and families could either use the money to buy laptops for students that meet or exceed that requirement. A small amount of federal aid could then be awarded to schools that are not yet wireless to install necessary infrastructure to make the student-owned laptops useful. The only thing a school would have to do to become a 1:1 laptop school is adjust their policy.

Since this would be done through a tax credit, states would not be able to divert the money to other budget issues. And, since the computers would be student owned, schools would not be responsible for maintenance and repair. Schools could then apply technology dollars to teacher professional development, curriculum development, or other necessary uses instead of maintaining student use computers and outfitting labs. Additionally, this would be an economic stimulus because the money spent would go back into the economy to help boost the tech sector.

Project-Based Hybrid Charter School Within a School Interest Survey

For those of you who have been following my blog you will know that I have been exploring the possibility of starting a new charter school in Minnesota that is partially virtual but will exist as digitally connected classrooms within the walls of our existing public schools. If you are interested in this idea and want to be involved please fill out the interest form below:

Gov't Support for Progressive Charter Schools

Quite often it is the rule rather than the exception in politics that the headlines you read in the paper don't really tell the whole story. That story is only revealed later. A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of taking an education policy class from Dan Loritz in Hamline University's Graduate School of Education. Dan would often talk about the headlines and policy decisions repeating this mantra, "Only time will tell if this is good fortune or bad fortune." Such is the recent hullabaloo about the state of MN trying to pass policy that would tighten restrictions on Charter schools.

If you work for or are a stakeholder at any level in a charter school in MN this legislation looks on the surface as something that should cause alarm. It potentially could reduce funding for lease aid, clamp down on accountability that might or might not fit with the charter school's mission statement and educational philosophy, and could throw the proverbial monkey wrench in much of the operations charter schools currently face. Is this necessarily a bad thing? We need to be careful who we attack and who we lobby against. We just might be biting off the hand that feeds us.

This all became a bit more clear for me today. Curious about what might be in store specifically for education in the monster stimulus package slated to pass the senate later this week I found some interesting language that puts the current legislation regarding charter schools in MN in focus under a different light; a light that might paint tighter restrictions as good fortune rather than bad.

First, Tom Huffman wrote last week about President Obama's visit with children at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington D.C. more or less scolding the edublogosphere for not responding immediately to this trip in his piece, Is "No Comment" the Best We Can Do? Truth be told, I don't think most edubloggers had their eye on the ball on this one. Those of us who did have been slow in responding. However, this probably is not a bad thing. Carefully drafted posts require time for digestion and reflection. The reason this visit was important was because Capital City is a progressive charter school and the president's comments there reflect what I and many of my colleagues hope to be a statement that will set the tone for his education policy. As he visited the school he said, "This kind of innovative school…is an example of how all our schools should be."



This got me wondering what other evidence there is online that might shed light on the President's stance on progressive education and/or charter schools. That led me to this January 29th article in Teacher Magazine that gives a brief overview/preview of what elements of the economic stimulus package might be slated for education and how those funds are to be used. From that article:

The Obama administration is seeking to boost spending by nearly $500 million on reform-minded programs that fund teacher bonuses tied to student performance, and pay for charter school facilities and state data systems. The spending is in the stimulus plan approved Wednesday in the House, but it is not in the Senate version.

Also, on the White House website under the president's Education Agenda:

Support High-Quality Schools and Close Low-Performing Charter Schools: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will double funding for the Federal Charter School Program to support the creation of more successful charter schools. The Obama-Biden administration will provide this expanded charter school funding only to states that improve accountability for charter schools, allow for interventions in struggling charter schools and have a clear process for closing down chronically underperforming charter schools. Obama and Biden will also prioritize supporting states that help the most successful charter schools to expand to serve more students.

This brings us back to the state of MN clamping down on charter schools. Could it be that the drive behind this legislation is not to crush the charter movement but rather to open the door for more federal dollars to support successful MN Charter School programs? What I have seen of the legislation being passed around right now seems to take these last few lines in Obama's policy agenda almost verbatim.

And what charter schools are the best performing? Typically they are the ones that are the most progressive. However, this could all be for not if a two year moratorium on the formation of new charter schools passes in the state senate.