Pulling Teeth

Okay, indulge me on this.

There’s this thing called Title I. Has to do with funding schools that have disadvantaged students. Under No Child Left Behind, these funds are supposed to provide tutoring to these kids if their schools “underperform.” They’re also supposed to provide money to bus them to higher performing schools. I think NCLB stinks. I think schools underperform because their students are impoverished. I also know through countless meetings with parents who sign up for free tutoring that many of the district funded agencies that provide it do shoddy, fly-by-night work. But I digress. Because even if free tutoring and busing aren’t the answer, at least they give the parent a little power. And who knows?  Maybe sometimes these programs do benefit kids. So why does Secretary Duncan now want to get rid of them? As Edweek’s Christina A. Samuels writes:

The U.S. Department of Education has released draft guidance to states and school districts on how to apply for waivers that would give them more flexibility in spending economic-stimulus money tied to Title I, the federal program for schools with high numbers of students in poverty.
The guidance also includes proposed waivers that follow up on an earlier promise made by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to revisit some Title I regulations that were passed last October by the Bush administration.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is providing a $10 billion infusion of Title I money to the states. By allowing waivers, the department is saying that states, districts, and schools don’t have to follow all of the same rules when spending the stimulus Title I money as they would have to when using their regular Title I federal appropriation.
For example, schools that are in “in need of improvement” status based on their test scores under the No Child Left Behind Act must now spend 10 percent of their Title I funds on professional development. The Education Department will allow schools to apply for waivers of that requirement for their stimulus Title I funds.
Also, districts are required to set aside up to 20 percent of their Title I dollars to pay for students in low-performing schools to receive tutoring outside the regular school day, referred to as “supplemental educational services,” or transportation to higher-performing schools if students choose to transfer. Under the guidance released last week by the department, districts can apply for a waiver from that requirement for their stimulus dollars.

You remember Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer? My wife makes me watch it every year. Well, in it there’s a wanabe dentist named Hermey. His claim to fame? Defanging the stupid, vaguely malevolent Abominable Snowman. See where I’m going with this? Arne Duncan is the oddball dentist. No Child Left Behind is the big guy with the gums. His teeth? Those would be tutoring, busing, class size reduction–anything that might actually work. Why does Secretary Duncan want to nix them?  To save for merit pay and charters is my guess. Of course, he will tell you that his waiver only applies to stimulus money. But as he must know, getting the school districts to see that distinction will be like pulling teeth.