Equity Symposium Presents Studies, On-the-Ground Perspectives on Stimulus Impact

Education experts and practitioners provided a preliminary assessment of the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on opportunities for students from poverty backgrounds at “Stimulating Equity?: The Impact of the Federal Stimulus Act on Educational Opportunity,” the Campaign for Educational Equity’s Fifth Annual Equity Symposium held February 8 and 9 at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The ARRA, also known as the federal stimulus act, included two important and unprecedented initiatives in regard to public education. First, it allocated about $100 billion in additional funding for education. Second, it contained a number of significant adequacy and equity provisions that gave promise of partially or fully immunizing children from poverty backgrounds and students of color from the impact of recessionary budget cuts. The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), intended to mitigate anticipate cutbacks to public education and job losses, constituted $48.3 billion in formula-based grants for states. The bulk of SFSF funds were allocated to the Education Stabilization Fund (ESF). The act also provided states an additional $13 billion for economically disadvantaged children under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and $12.2 billion more for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). In order to receive the money, governors were not only required to commit to using the funds to save jobs in the short term, but also to achieve the following goals:

1. take actions to improve teacher effectiveness, and to address inequities in the distribution of effective teachers between high and low-poverty schools
2. establish a longitudinal data system to track student progress and improve educational practice
3. take steps to improve state academic standards and the quality of academic assessments it administers, and
4. provide intensive support and effective interventions in low-performing schools

Research papers presented at the event indicate that states have not used their ESF funds to promote the reform objectives of the act, opting instead to use the money for only one of the Congress’ aims in enacting the statute: maintaining jobs and stabilizing services. The Title I and IDEA portions of the funds were in many instances used to promote these goals, but the "funding cliff" and loopholes in the law that allowed the funds to be diverted to other purposes limited the equity impact. Keynote speaker Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) addressed advocates’ and researchers’ concerns by pledging to renew the commitment to equity.

Research Suggests States Using Stimulus to Maintain Status Quo

Three studies conducted by the Center for Education Policy (“CEP”), the Education Law Center of New Jersey (“ELC”) and the Campaign for Educational Equity (“the Campaign”), respectively, concluded that the states are using the ESF money to fill budget gaps instead of promoting education innovation or equity.

According to the CEP study [PDF] presented by Jack Jennings, the majority of education officials in the 45 states surveyed have reported plans for meeting two of the four ARRA assurances: creating longitudinal data systems and adopting rigorous academic standards and assessments. The states were less likely to have plans for raising the effectiveness and equity in distribution of teachers and turning around low-performing schools—the two assurances requiring a long-term approach. The study also notes that 44 states have spent 70% of their funds already and face a dire fiscal situation in the next year, further endangering reform efforts.

The ELC’s David Sciarra and Danielle Farrie, and Bruce Baker of Rutgers University, assessed the impact of State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF) on K-12 school funding formulas in 11 states. According to their research [PDF], half of states with planned formula increases partially funded those increases, and, in most states, ARRA funds did not contribute to making these formulas more equitable. The ELC report also cautions that some states may drop below the FY 2006 education funding threshold after accounting for mid-year budget cuts.

Finally, Michael A. Rebell, Jessica R. Wolff and Daniel A. Yaverbaum, authors of the Campaign’s 20 state study [PDF], found that, while ARRA was highly successful in achieving its goal of assisting states to maintain or even increase their pre-recessionary levels of basic education in FY 2009 and FY 2010, no states distributed the Education Stabilization Funds (ESF) portion of the ARRA to school districts to promote the four reform areas emphasized by Congress and the U.S. Department of Education. Furthermore, the researchers found that all states explicitly or implicitly “backfilled,” that is, they adjusted their level of state support and allocation of ESF funds in a manner that would allow them to reach prior year funding levels or continued implementation of the state’s funding formulas, but without leaving any surplus for subgrants to local educational agencies. The study also concluded that, though increases in Title I and IDEA grants to districts through ARRA have led to new initiatives and infrastructure improvements in many areas, the looming “funding cliff” has constrained the ways in which districts may effectively use funds. Additionally, unintended loopholes in both Title I and IDEA statutes are allowing large portions of these funds to be directed to general education budgets rather than to programs or services for disadvantaged and disabled children.

Progress in Pennsylvania: Stimulus and Steps Toward Adequacy

Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, who has consistently pressed for greater equity in educational funding, delivered the keynote address on day 1 of the symposium. Governor Rendell stressed the importance of the stimulus moneys in moving forward his state’s quest to meet its adequacy formula. According to Rendell, the state is half-way towards meeting its adequacy formula, and this year marked the 8th straight year of increased education funding with the support of ARRA money. In keeping with this trend, in his budget address last week, the Governor proposed a 6.4% increase to the Basic Education Fund for the next fiscal year.

Advocates and School Officials Discuss Promising Practices, Challenges

A discussion focusing on use of SFSF, Title I and IDEA ARRA funds from practitioners and advocates at the local level provided some promising news. Michele McNeil of Education Week moderated the panel, and Joseph Martin, Executive Director of the Georgia School Funding Association, Timothy Mitchell, Superintendent of Chamberlain School District 7-1 in South Dakota, and Debra Jennings, Executive Co-Director of the New Jersey Statewide Parent Advocacy Network were participants.

Superintendent Mitchell provided an overview of how his school district has attempted to effectively use Title I ARRA funds. The grant has gone toward funding professional development programs to improve teacher effectiveness, purchasing technology, and maintaining online assessment programs. According to Mitchell, while stimulus money is temporary, “the knowledge [we] can buy will never go away.” Ms. Jennings cited Connecticut’s use of IDEA ARRA funds for transitioning students from segregated to inclusive settings and providing assistive technology (FM hearing devices, for example) for disabled students as good use of the money.

In a panel on coping with budget cuts in New York State, Superintendent of Syracuse City Schools Daniel Lowengard and Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, President of Say Yes, emphasized the crucial role of ARRA in helping Say Yes Syracuse maintain its unique comprehensive educational opportunity program that promises all students in the district a college education if they graduate from high school. The program provides students a range of comprehensive services, including health, after school programs and family support centers.

Martin, Mitchell and Jennings, however, echoed previous panelists’ fears over widespread inattention to reform areas, the “funding cliff” and maintenance of effort loopholes. Martin acknowledged the dearth of reforms in Georgia and characterized stimulus as “only a temporary reprieve,” but said that SFSF funds were essential to keeping the state’s economy afloat and reduced budget cuts by 33.33%. Jennings and Mitchell reiterated the Campaign’s concerns over maintenance-of-effort loopholes, as well as the impact of the “funding cliff” on the use of funds by local actors.

Looking Ahead: Assistant Secretary Ali Pledges to Focus on Equity in Coming Months, Advocates Assess Stimulus' Implications for the ESEA

The second day’s keynote speaker, USDOE Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights Russlynn Ali, emphasized the equity aims of the ARRA, and urged advocates to provide input as the USDOE begins to evaluate phase II SFSF applications. According to Assistant Secretary Ali, equity is “at the core” of the ARRA assurances. The additional IDEA and Title I funds and the effort to “[move] the teacher equity agenda” reflects, in the Assistant Secretary’s view, the USDOE’s commitment to high need students.

The Assistant Secretary addressed concerns over states’ evasion of maintenance-of-effort requirements by noting that the Department may impose sanctions on, and possibly take funds away or withhold phase II funds from, states failing to meet statutory requirements. Ali also outlined the Office of Civil Rights’ strategic plan to be unveiled next month. The Office of Civil Rights will seek to promote equity more broadly through compliance reviews, investigations and extensive data collection.

The two-day event concluded with John Merrow of Learning Matters moderating a panel featuring Jack Jennings and Mitchell Chester, Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. The conversation focused on federal and state roles in maintaining educational opportunity in "the hard times ahead." The discussion began with questions on the "funding cliff." Jennings predicted a second stimulus in the form of a "jobs bill," to which Chester replied, "[we] certainly would like to have [the additional federal money.]" The conversation quickly turned to the possible role of the federal stimulus bill in increasing the federal government's influence over education, and the ARRA's implications for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). For example, the panelists viewed the Race to the Top (RTTT) focus on common standards and assessments as a bellwether for a possible change to the ESEA: a restructuring of the way Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) will be assessed.

For podcasts of the aforementioned panels, as well as other discussions featuring New York City Department of Education Chief Operating Officer Photeine Anagnostopolous and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Alison Avera, Jamienne Studley of Public Advocates, Glynda Carr of Education Voters of New York, Geri Palast of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and others, and full text of research papers, please visit www.equitycampaign.org/symposium.