Department of Education: Contacts With White and Publishers On Reading First: Dept. of Education Doc: Part 1

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om: ............................. katherin e-mci-aneI ..........................
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; kevin.sullivan@who.eop.gov

Subject: NYT: Most States Fail Demands Set Out in Education Law
INonresponsive
New York Times
July 25, 2006
Most States Fail Demands Set Out in Education Law
By S~H DILLON
Host states failed to meet federal requirements that all teachers be "highly qualified" in
core teaching fields and thmt state programs for testing students be up to standards by
the end of the past school year, according to the federal government.
The deadline was set by the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush’s effort to make all
American students proficient in reading and mmth by 2014. But the Education Department
found that no state hmd met the deadline for qualified teachers, and it gave only i0
states ful! approval of their testing systems.
Faced with such findings, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who took office
promising flexible enforcement of the law, has toughened her stance, leaving several
states in d~nger of losing parts of their federal aid.
In the past few weeks, Ms. Spellings has flatly rejected as inadequate the testing systems
in Maine and Nebraska. She has also said that nine states are so far behind in providing
highly qumlified teachers that they may face sanctions, and she hms accused California of
failing to provide federally required alternatives to troubled schools. California could
be fined as much as $4.25 million.
The potential fines are far higher thmn any the Education Department has levied over the
law, and officials in several states, already upset with many of the law’s provisions,
have privately expressed further anger over the threat of fines. But Ms. Spellings faces
pressure for firm enforcement of the law from a broad array of groups, including
corporations and civil rights organizations.
"In the early part of her tenure, Secretary Spellings seemed more interested in finding
reasons to waive the law’s requirements than to enforce them," said Clint Bolick,
president of the Alliance for School Choice, a group based in Phoenix that supports
vigorous enforcement of provisions that give students the right to transfer from failing
schools.
"More recently, she seems intent on holding states’
feet to the fire."
In an interview, Ms. Spellings acknowledged her shift in emphasis.

"I want states to know that Congress and the president mean business on the law," she
said. She has stressed that message in part, she said, because the deadlines, which
expired this month, were not met, and because lawmakers have been asking her whether
states are meeting the law’s requirements.
"’Last year it was, ’We’re

"I’m enforcing the law --does that make me tough?" she said.
marching together toward the deadline,’
but now it’s
time for, ’Your homework is due.’ "
Douglas D. Christensen, the Nebraska education conumissioner, has accused Hs. Spellings and
her subordinates of treating Nebraska in a "mean-spirited, arbitrary and head-y-handed way"
after their announcement on June 30 that the state’s testing system was "nonapproved" and
that they intended to withhold $127,000 in federal money.
In an interview in Lincoln, Neb., Mr. Christensen said he first realized the
administration’s attitude h~d changed in April, when Raymond Simon, deputy education
secretary, addressed most of the 50 state schoo! superintendents at a gathering in
Washington.
"Ray went on a 12-minute diatribe of ’You folks just ain’t getting it done’ and said the
department would be strictly interpreting the law from here on," Mr. Christensen said.
Mr. Simon disputed thmt account -- "I’m not a diatribe type of guy," he said -- but
acknowledged that he had spoken bluntly.
"I tried to emphasize that we continue to be partners," Mr. Simon said, "but that there
are some things we cannot be flexible on."
~k. Bush signed the act into law in January 2002.

Under his first
education secretary, Rod Paige, legislators, educators and teachers unions criticized the
law’s many rules and what they said was its overemphasis on standmrdized testing.
After Ms. Spellings took office in Janumry 2005, she allowed some states to renegotiate
the ~ays they enforced the law, and on major issues she offered ways to comply that
prevented thousands of schools from being designated as failing.
Her efforts softened the outcry from states. But they brought criticism from corporate
executives who hoped the law would shake up schools to protect American competitiveness.
Criticism also came from civil rights groups that wanted the law to eliminate educational
disparities between whites and minorities, and from groups angry that although the law
required districts to help students in failing schools transfer out, only 1 percent of
eligible students had done so.
Some experts say most parents do not want to remove children from neighborhood schools.
But others say districts have subverted the program, partly by informing parents about
their options too late.
Mr. Bolick’s group, the Alliance for School Choice, used a similar argument in a complaint
filed this year against the Los Angeles Unified School District, where 250,000 students
were eligible for transfers in 2005-6, but only about 500 successfully transferred.
That complaint
generated considerable news coverage and moved Ms.
Spellings to action.
On May iS, she wrote every state, linking the "unacceptably low"
participation in transfer programs to the ’~oor and uneven quality" of many districts’
implementation. "We are prepared to take significant enforcement action, " she said.
At the California Department of Education, Diane Levin, the state’s No Child Left Behind
administrator, said she had assumed that California was on solid ground because a federa!
review of its enforcement of the law was ending positively.
But then California received a letter from Ms.

Spellings’s office
demanding extensive new documentation by Aug. 15 on the transfer programs in the state’s
20 largest districts. Officials warned California that if the documentation proved
inadequate, the government would withhold part of the $700 million the state was to
receive this fall for high-poverty schools, said Ms. Spellings’s spokesman, Kevin
Sullivan.
~. Levin said California felt whipsawed. "We’re doing everything the law asks us to do,"
she said, "which in a state this size is a huge amount of work, and we’re treated like
we’re doing nothing."
Dozens of other states have also felt the tougher enforcement.

In May, federal officials ruled that nine states were so far from meeting the teacher
qualification provision that they could lose federal money. Ms. Spellings said she would
decide on the penmlties after August, when states must outline plans for getting 100
percent of teachers qualified.
At the end of June, Henry L. Johnson, an assistant secretary of education, wrote to 34

states, including New York and New Jersey, saying that their tests had ma~or problems and
that they must provide new documentation during a period of mandatory oversight.
Dr. Johnson warned some states thmt federal money might be withheld.
And he rejected the testing programs in ~ine and Nebraska. His letter to Maine said
$114,000 would be withheld unless the state cottld change Washington’s mind.
Nebraska is the only state allowed to meet the testing requirements with separate exams
written by teachers in its 250 districts rather than with one statewide test.
Dr. Jol~nson’s letter to Nebraska said that although !ocally written tests were
permissible, the state had not shown it was holding all districts to a high standmrd.
Before announcing that decision, Dr. Johnson visited the Papillion-La Vista School
District, south of Omaha.
Marian H. Metschke, Papillion’s superintendent, said he had told Mr.

Johnson that Nebraska’s tests helped teachers focus on students’ learning needs, unlike
standardized tests, which compared students from one school with another.
"But federal officials have the mentality that there has to be one state test," Hr.
Metschke said.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

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: August 11, 2006 5:41 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; Young, Tracy, kevin f. sullivan@who.eop.gov;
Simon, Ray; Luce, Thomas
Subject: USAT: Panel calls for ’urgent reform’ of higher education
Panel calls for ’urgent reform’ of higher education Posted 8/10/2006 11:59 PM ET By Mary
Beth Marklein, USA TODAY WASHiN®TON -- Warning that U.S. higher education "requires urgent
reform," a nationml panel created by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is
recommending a set of bold proposals, including overhauling the financial aid system and
holding colleges and universities more accountable for their students’
progress.
"Change is overdue," says a draft report, the substance of which was approved by the 19-
member commission ThursdAy. "Other countries are passing us by at a time when education is
more important to our collective prosperity than ever."
Last year, Spellings asked the panel to explore four issues -- access, affordability,
accountability, and quality and innovation -- and to determine whether students are being
adequately prepared to compete in a global economy.
"I formed the commission to spark a national debate,"

she said in a statement Thursday. "I will review findings, determine appropriate actions
and continue this national dialogue."
Spellings is to get a formal report next month.

Commission members on Thursday signaled near-unanimous support for a set of proposals that
the report says would, if adopted, produce "institutions and programs that are more
nimble, more efficient and more effective."
Some panel members expressed hope that the recommendations will lead to legislation. Two
national groups are developing a voluntary system of accountability for pt~lic
universities.
The report has its critics. A group representing private non-profit institutions has
raised concern that tracking students could violate student privacy laws.
Panel member Richmrd Vedder, an Ohio University economics professor, said many relevant
issues, including grade inflation and faculty tenure, should bare been addressed but
weren’ t.
Even so, Vedder supported the recommendations. Panel member David Ward, president of the
~merican Council on Education, was a holdout. He said the report’s one-size-fits-all
approach could be counterproductive, given the diversity of missions in higher education.
"Change in higher education is needed, but we need to get it right and above all do no
harm," he said.
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~,lonresponsi
(b) katherine mclane[ .................. J
: November 28, 2006 9:06 AM
To: Bdggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Johnson, Henry;
Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon,
Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.;
Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey
Subject: Panel: States Should Set Education Goals (USAT)
Pane!: States Should Set Education Goals (USAT) USA Today, November 28, 2006 A higher-
education panel created by the National Conference of State Legislatures agrees with most
of the points raised by a national co~rmission created by Education Secretary Margaret
Spellings. But there’s one ma~or exception: It says states, not the federal government,
must be at the center of a nationwide higher-education reform movement. Higher education
"can get short shrift in tough budget times because it has the built-in funding source of
tuition," says the report, released Monday. But, it says, states spend $70 billion a year
on higher education and provide more funding and regulation of colleges and universities
than any other level of government. The goverri~ent’s involvement centers on funding
academic research and financial aid for lo~~-income students, the report says. "Each
state’s systems, traditions, strengths and weaknesses are unique. States need the
flexibility to set their own goals," says commission co-chair Denise Merrill, a state
representative in Connecticut.
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~ ~t71-~i’~i’i ~ - ~- ~T~ ~I ...........................
(b)( ~S~e°nl~..: .............................
November 28, 2006 8:51 AM
To: Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Johnson, Henry;
Subject: Push For Better Data Quality Paying Off (eSN)
Push For Better Data Quality Paying Off (eSN) eSchool News, November 28, 2006 States are
making progress in building longitudinal data systems to support instruction, according to
a new report--by there is stil! more work to be done A year-old campaign that seeks to
improve the collection and use of data to drive school reform appears to be bearing
results: States around the nation are making progress in building longitudinal data
systems to support instruction, according to the Data Quality Campaign (DQC). November 27,
2006mA year-old campaign that seeks to improve the collection and use of data to drive
school reform appears to be bearing results: States around the nation are making progress
in building !ongitudinal data systems to support instruction, according to the Data
Quality Campaign (DQC).
On the first anniversary of its lattnch, the Data Quality Campaign has released a report
b~ghlighting states’ successes in building longitudinal data systems. Over the past year,
the DQC--a nationa! partnership that aims to improve the quality, accessibility, and use
of data in education--has highlighted the power of developing and using data systems that
fol!ow individual students’ progress over time as a key tool to improve student
achievement, and its work now seems to be paying off.
As a result of its efforts, the group says ...
"42 states (up from 97 last year) now report having a u~ique student identifier in place--
an integral part of a !ongitudina! data system; "Nine states have eight or nine of the I0
essential elements the Data Quality Campaign has identified as necessary building blocks
for a longitudinal data system. No state reports having all i0 elements, but only six
states have three or fewer; "36states have put into place an audit system to ensure high-
quality data, which is one of the i0 essential elements the DQC has identified;
"26 states indicate they have or are working on building data warehouses; and
"28 states have some form of web-based data and analysis tools available for loca!
educators.
The progress made over the past year is encouraging, the group says, but there is still
more work to be done.
"As we work to provide a high-quality education, our hopeful vision of the future requires
us to take a hard look at the past," said U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in a
statement. "By measuring children’s performance over time, we can determine how best to
educate the next generation. The Data Quality Campaign is committed to making reliable and
relevant longitudinal data accessible to all. Its member partners include some of the
nation’s most dedicated and serious educationml organizations. I am confident that with
their help, policy makers will clearly see the educational challenges ahead, so they can
make the very best decisions to meet them."
Nanaged by the Nationa! Center for Educational Accountability and supported by the Bill &
~elinda Gates Foundation, the DQC hopes to encourage all 50 states to implement statewide
longitudinal data systems for education by 2009 (see story:
http:/!~w~.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory, cfm?ArticleID=5991).
The campaign says educators and policy makers need to know if students are being prepared
not only for college, but also for long-term success in the workplace by matching the
academic and emp!oyment records of individu~l students. Schools also must be able to
transfer student data across states electronically using common data standards and
definitions, the group adds.
Together with nationa! and state partners, DQC is working to ensum-e that statewide
longitudinal data systems are completed and widely accessible so they can be used to
inform important discussions about improving America’s schools. Without longitudina! data,
the group says, these conversations are limited--but with them, educators can more easily
identify which schools produce the strongest academic growth for their students; calculate
their state’s graduation rate; and determine which high school performance indicators
(enrollment in rigorous courses, performance on state tests, and so on) are the best
predictors of students’ success in college or the workplace.
In its second year, the campaign wil! focus on promoting the use of longitudinal student-
level data for accountability purposes and for tailoring instructional programs and
policies to individual students’ needs, while continuing to support state efforts to build
longitudinal data systems.
"Taking on one of the most critical issues in education reform--the collection,
availability, and use of high-quality education data to improve student achievement--the
campaign has already made real progress. The issue has moved front and center in states
and n~tionally; states are accelerating their adoption and use of longitudinal data
systems to drive improvement; and the partnership that is the campaign’s hallmark is
getting key education reform organizations singing from the same hymnml," said Harlene
Seltzer, president and CEO of the nonprofit group Jobs for the Future.
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Nonresponsi
............................. k~hefiIle-m-ci-ane-[ ........................... ]
Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Johnson, Henry;
Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Menitt, Townsend L.;
Subject: Why Students In Austin Are Still Being Left Behind (AAS TX)
Why Students In Austin Are Stil! Being Left Behind (~_hS TX) Austin American-Statesman
(TX), Nove~oer 28, 2006 Although the Austin school district is hardly alone in failing to
attract students to the free tutoring required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act,
its performance is particularly disma!.
The law says that low-income students in consistently !ow-performing schools are eligible
for free tutoring in math, reading and language arts. The promise of No Child Left Behind,
one piece of legislation the Bush administration regularly points to with pride, is that
it wil! close the persistent achievement gap experienced by poor and minority students.
The test score and graduation gaps between poor and wealthier students, and between
minority and white students, still exist five years after No Child Left Behind became law.
They will still be there when the law is up for reauthorization by Congress in two years.
There is no simple, easy, quick or inexpensive way to bring poor students up to the
performance level of middle class and wealthy students. It wil! take time, money and an
intense effort if it is to happen at all.
Other~ise, No Child Left Behind is doomed to failure.
The "effort" part of that equation includes the tutoring mandated under the federal law.
Extra help outside the classroom can be truly beneficial for students who take advantage
of it. Yet in Austin’s !ow-performing schools, only 2 percent of the students eligible for
tutoring aid signed up for it.
That is 104 students out of the 6, 644 eligible in the four high schools and two middle
schools where !ow-income students meet the threshold for free tutoring. The Austin school
district wil! pay up to $1,060 for extra help to every eligible student.
There are a lot of reasons why low-income students don’t take advantage of the tutoring
program. Many probably have after-school ~obs; others have family obligations or
transportation difficulties. And, according to an article in the ~erican-Statesman last
week, many families might not even know about the tutoring program or understand how to
access it.
Getting parents involved is an enormous undertaking.
But tutoring is an absolutely vita! part of the effort to help poor and minority students
catch up to their peers. Austin, and most other urban districts, must do a better 9ob of
getting the word out to students and parents and helping them find the right tutors.
Nationally, only about 18 percent of the 2.4 million students eligible for after-school
help are taking advantage of it this year. Although that’s a sadly low number, it shows
Austin’s 2 percent rate to be truly pathetic. Austin must do better by its low-income
students at Johnston, Lanier, Reagan and Travis high schools and Porter and Dobie middle
schools.
It can be done. Last week’s news story noted that the Houston school district, the largest
in Texas, increased the number of students getting free tutoring from 200 to 1,900. It may
also have helped when U.S.
Education Secretary ~rgaret Spellings has threatened to fine school districts with !ow
participation rates.
The promise of No Child Left Behind -- a i00 percent success rate on state achievement
tests -- is a long way off, if it ever arrives. The disadvantages caused by poverty are
deep and enduring, and bringing every student up to even a minimal education performance
leve! is daunting, maybe impossible.
But if society cannot erase that educational achievement gap, it can -- and must -- shrink
it. A magor part of that effort is giving low-income students the extra help they need,
and seeing that they take advantage of it.
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INonresponsi 1
............................. katherine-m-ci-ane[ .......................... J
Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Johnson, Henry;
Kuzrnich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon,
Subject: State Lawmakers Blamed For Colleges’ Troubles (WP)
~TION IN BRIEF
Tuesday, November 28, 2006; A06
State Lawmakers Blamed For Colleges’ Troubles
DENVER -- State lawmakers are to blame for a looming crisis in U.S. higher education
because of their failures in fttnding and oversight, their own lobbying organization hms
concluded in a report released Mondmy.
The National Conference of State Legislatures said an 18-month study showed that too many
states are reducing spending and other support for their colleges rather than treating
them as a valuable investment.
"It h~s become clear that the states and the federal government have neglected their
responsibilities to ensure a high-quality college education for all citizens," the panel
said in its final report.
The report, ~itten by six Democrats and six Republicans, reinforces several key
conclusions of a year-long study commissioned by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret
Spellings. The Spellings commission said in its September report tb~t the United States is
leaving its students increasingly unable to afford college and unsure they are receiving
quality education.
The legislatures panel described state lam-makers as "satisfied to let others take
leadership" in guiding the development of colleges.
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Nonresponsive
From: katherine m clane }(b)(6)

Sent: November 21,2006 8:38 PM
To: kevin f. sullivan@who.eop.gov; dana m. perino@who.eop.gov; scott_m.
_stanzel@who.eop.gov; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, C~thia; Dunn,
David; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Maddox, Lauren; Private-
Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Ten’ell; Toner,
Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey
Subject: AP: Ed. secretary places 2nd on ’Jeopardy’
Ed. secretary places 2nd on ’Jeopardy’
By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
AP EDUCATION WRITER
This photo provided by Jeopardy Productions Inc., taken Oct. 8, 2006, shows
Education Secretary ~~rgaret Spellings, right, posing with Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, at
P~dio City Music hal! in New York. (AP Photo/Jeopardy Productions Inc. ) WASHINGTON --
Education Secretary #~rgaret Spellings says she studied hard to prepare for Tuesday
night’s airing of "Celebrity Jeopardy!"
"I didn’t want to be the education secretary who didn’t know how to spell potato,"
Spellings joked, describing how she read books and sought advice from a former show
contender and her dmughters.
In the end, Spellings said she thinks the effort was worth it. She came in second behind
the actor Michael McKean, best known for his role as ’Lenny’ on the television show
"Laverne and Shirley" and for the movie "This Is Spinal Tap. "
Placing third was actor Hil! Harper, from the television show "CSI: ~rf."
"I think I held my on-n, " Spellings said in an interview Tuesday, hours before the show
aired. She noted McKean had an edge, having been on the show before.
Spellings was the first Cabinet secretary ever to appear on the popular quiz show. She
said she’d like to return for another try.
She said she didn’t realize how much skill went into hitting the buzzer at just the right
moment after host Alex Trebek read a clue. She said she often hit it too early and as a
result didn’t get picked to tackle a category.
Spellings’ strong subjects included internationa! language and business.
She mas asked to appear after the show’s producer read a magazine article in which
Spellings said she was a "Jeopardy!" fan.
Each celebrity earns at least $25,000 for the charity of his or her choice, and the winner
gets $50,000 for a charity.
Spellings’ winnings from the show, taped in New York last month, went to ProLiteracy
Worldwide - an international literacy organization.
Trebek said "Jeopardy[" picked the charity for Spellings to comply with government ethics
rules.
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Nonrespons!
From: katherine mclaneL(h ~i’R ~ [
Sent: November 19, 2006 7:18 AM
To: Briggs, Kerri; Ruber8, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Johnson, Henry;
Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Marsaret; Simon,
Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, dana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.;
Subject: Newsweek/MSNBC.com: A Pop Quiz for the Secretary
Education: A Pop Quiz for the Secretary

Newsweek
Nov. 27, 2006 issue - The tables were turned on the nation’s top test-giver when Secretary
of Education Margaret Spellings competed on "Celebrity Jeopardy["
She spoke with Jonathmn Mummolo before taping the show, airing this week.
What if you freeze up and forget your geography?

Why are you saying that right now?! That’s 3ust cruel!
Well, did you do anything to prepare?

I haven’t studied as much as I wish I had. Famous last words, right?
Does the president know you’re here?

He said, "Well, do they give you the categories [beforehand]?" I said, "No! It’s a lot
harder than that[" He thought it was pretty funny. He kind of wondered what the heck I was
thinking to agree to do it.
What’s your strongest subject?

Well, of course, politics and civics ... I think I know my state capitals. I’m also pretty
good on pop culture, since I have two teenagers. I’m worried about sports.
Did you set a performance benchmark for yourself like No Child Left Behind does?
I’m playing to do my best, but no matter how I score, I’m sure I’l! learn something.
Will you bet the ranch on a Daily Double?

[Smiles] It depends on the category.
http: //~. msnbc .msn. com/id/15784300/sit e/newsweek/
© 2006 MSN]%C.com
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Nonresponsi ~
From: McLane, Katherine
Sent: August 17, 2006 8:43 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; Young, Tracy, ’kevin f. sullivan@who.eop.gov’
Subject: NewsMax: NewWhite House P.R. Pro: Who is Kevin Sullivan?
Nonresponsive
New White House P.R. Pro: Who is Kevin Sullivan?
Ronald Kessler
Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006
WASHINGTON -- ~qlo is Kevin Sullivan? That’s what Bush administration and media people wanted to know
after two sentences in the Washington Post announced that Sullivan is replacing Nicolle Wallace as White
House conmalmications director.
For more than a year, Sully, as he is known, has been assistant secretary for communications and outreach at the
Education Department. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings hired him after she heard good t~ngs about him
from Tom Luce, an education reformer in Texas.
Sullivan got to know Luce when Sullivan was a public relations executive with the Dallas Mavericks. After that
job, Sullivan led the communications efforts for three Olympic games at NBC Sports and then took on media
relations at NBC Universal.
As domestic policy advisor in the White House prior to becoming a cabinet secretary, Spellings esche~ved the
press. Sullivan turned her into a media star, with glomng stories about her relationship ,,vith her teenage
daughters and her decision to modify slightly the waythe No Child Left Behind Act is implemented.
Other Bushies could only wish for such good press. PR people either have the right touch or they don’t. Sully
has it. He understands that PR people can do two things at once -- be helpful to the media ~vithout forgetting
that the main job is to represent the principal.
When Spellings was doing stand-up TV interviews onthe north lawn of the White House, Sullivan would rim
into Dan Bartlett, Bush’s counselor in charge of communications.
"He said once, ’We’ve got to get together sometime,’" Sullivan told me. When BaI~ett called on a Tuesday,
Sullivan thought he just wanted to shmooze. An hour later, Sullivan was in Bartlett’s West Wing office.
"We talked for probably 20, 30 minutes, just about stuff, and after that period of time, he said, ’You know, I
want to talk to you about Nicolle’s job,’" Sullivan said. Wallace was leaving the White House to move to New
York with her husband.
"Is this when the camera crew comes in through the door?" Sullivan asked, suggesting it was a "Candid
Camera" spoo£
"No, I’m not kidding," Bartlett said.
After being interviewed by Josh Bolten, the White House chief of staff, Sullivan met with Bush for about 10
minutes, and he was in. His main job is strategic message planning for events and the media.
Bartlett was already moving toward encouraging more interaction between Bush and the press and humanizing
him more. Sullivan was thinking along the same lines. Bolten also was open to new ideas, Sullivan sNd.
"The president has such great humanity, and he’s so good with people, and the public doesn’t see that enough,"
Sullivan said. "Dan wants to do more events like his overnight trip to Chicago, where he went to multiple events
and rubbed elbows with reporters and the breakfast cro~vd at Lou Mitchell’s, a legendary local hot spot. The
public doesn’t get to see that often enougt~, That is something we talked about I think you’ll see more of that."
Ronald Kessler is Chief Washington Correspondent for NewsMax.com. Get his dispatches FREE sent
you via e-mail- Click Here Now. <http://w~wv.newsmax.com/kessler.cfm>
Nonresponsi
From: katherine mclaneL(h~i(R~ J
Sent: August 11, 2006 5:58 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; Young, Tracy, Simon, Ray; Luce, Thomas;
Johnson, Henry; kevin f. sullivan@who.eop.gov
Subject: NYT: Panel’s Report Urges Higher Education Shake-Up
_August ii, 2006

Panel’s Report Urges Higher Education Shake-Up
By S~M DILLON
WASHINGTON, Aug. i0 -- A federal commission approved a finml report on Thursday tl~t urges
a broad shake-up of American higher education. It calls for public universities to measure
learning with standardized tests, federal monitoring of college quality and sweeping
changes in financia! aid.
The panel also called on policy mmkers and leaders in higher education to find new ways to
control costs, saying college tuition should grow no faster thmn median family income,
although it opposed price controls.
The report recommended bolstering Pell grants, the basic building block of federal student
aid, by making the program cover a larger percentage of public co!lege tuition. Thmt
proposal could cost billions of dollars.
Eighteen of the 19 members of the pane!, the Commission on the Future of Higher Education,
voted to sign the report, which attacked increasing tuition costs and pointed to signs of
complacency on some campuses. David Ward, who as president of the largest association of
colleges and universities was the most powerful representative of the higher education
establishment on the commission, refused to sign.
Calling the report "a shot across the bow," Dr. Ward said that academia would take it
seriously, but that he wanted to remain "free to contest" it. Several proposals, including
those on testing and financial aid, aroused fierce opposition from university leaders and
at points divided the panel.
The chairman, Charles Miller, an investor and a former chairman of the University of Texas
Regents, had hoped to turn out a punchy report that would rattle academia with warnings of
crisis.
But in the last six weeks, the commission issued six drafts, watering do~ passages that
had drawn criticism and eliminating one this week, written by Mr. Miller, that had
encouraged expanding private loans as a share of student financial aid.
A proposal on standardized tests was also weakened at the last moment. Previous drafts
said that "states should require" public universities to use standardized test, but the
final version said simply that universities "should measure student learning"
with standardized tests.
All the panel members who participated in a meeting on Thursday at the Education
Department headquarters here expressed unanimity on some points, including that the report
correctly identified critical challenges like increasing access to higher education for
poor students and holding institutions more accountable for students who drop out or
graduate with few skills.
The members seemed at odds on how to carry their recommendations forward. Some, like
former Gov. James B. Hu~t Jr. of North Carolina, called on President Bush to incorporate
them in the Congressional agenda.
Mr. Miller said the next step should be more "national dialogue" with governors and
corporate leaders. He seemed upset by what he characterized as wrangling with
representatives of the status quo.
"You can’t act on the recommendations today because you encounter one set of defenders and
then behind them another set of defenders, and you get into all these battles,’" he told
reporters after the panel voted.
Education Secretary I~rgaret Spellings established the panel a year ago, drawing members
from sectors of higher education like community colleges, for-profit trade schools,
liberal arts colleges and large research universities, public and private, as well as from
the ranks of executives at I.B.M., Boeing, Hicrosoft and other businesses.
The commission was created at a time of increasing tuitions. From 1999 to 2004, median
family income grew
13 percent and average tuition 38 percent, according to federal data cited in an interview
by Richard redder, an Ohio University economist on the commission.
Ms. Spellings urged the group to examine access, affordability and accountability, to
determine whether co!leges were turning out students qualified to compete in the global
economy. The answer in too many cases, the panel said, is that they are not.
"Too many Americans ~ust aren’t getting the education that they need," the report said.
"’There are disturbing signs that many students who do earn degrees have not actually
mmstered the reading, m-tiring and thinking skills we expect of college graduates."
A spokeswoman for Hs. Spellings, Katherine HcLane, said, "’The commission has made bold
recommendations on improving the accessibility and affordability of higher education, to
which the secretary intends to give very serious consideration."
One recommendation that won broad support ~s for changing immigration laws to help
foreign scientists who graduate from American universities obtain green cards.
Dr. Ward’s organization, the American Council on Education, is the ma~or coordinating body
for all higher education institutions, public and private.
Leaders of some of the associations that belong to the council, like the American
Association of State Colleges and Universities and the American Association of Community
Colleges, embraced the report as a helpful statement of priorities.
Other important groups in the council issued withering critiques.
The Association of American Universities, which represents 60 top research universities,

noted that the report "deals almost exclusively with undergraduate eduoation.’"
Robert M. Berdahl, a former chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, who is

president of the universities association, said, "}~at is needed is something much richer,
with a more nuanced understanding of the educational engagement and how it is undertaken."
said
Another council member, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities,
which represents 900 private institutions including liberal arts colleges, ma~or research
universities and church- and other faith-related colleges, attacked the recommendation to
develop a national database to fol!ow individua! students’ progress as a way of holding
colleges accountable for students’ success.
The association called the proposal a dangerous intrusion on privacy, saying, "Our members
find this idea chilling."
Several groups said the report spent much ink discussing increases in students’ work
ski!ls, while slighting the mission of colleges and universities to educate students as
citizens.
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NonresponsiI
From: katherine mclan4(h’l(~ l
Sent: December 12, 2006 8:27 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings,
Margaret; Simon, Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt,
Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey
Subject: Progress seen at ’failing’ school (LAT)
Progress seen at ’failing’ school

U.S. education official visits a North Hills campus where 51% of pupils get free tutoring.
By Howard Blume
Times Staff Writer
December 12, 2006
In search of a loca! success story, U.S. Education Secretary #~rgaret Spellings visited
Noble Avenue Elementary in North Hills during a quick trip to Los Angeles on Monday.
Some 51% of its students take advantage of free tutoring established through the federal
No Child Left Behind Act. That’s one of the top participation rates in the Los Angeles
Unified School District.
But tutoring services are offered only at schools that are flunking federal standards
under the S-year-old federal law. In fact, despite significant improvement, Noble
"qualifies" for maximum sanctions, which could include a takeover by the state or by an
outside entity, such as a private firm, and replacing the entire staff and principal.
So is Noble a success or failure?
"We’re pleased but not satisfied," Spellings said.

"Are they at the goa! line? No. But few schools are."
Spellings toured two classrooms, effusively praised Principal P~rgaret EspinosaNelson and
staff, and took part in a round-table discussion with education officials, parents and
civic leaders.
The locals had questions, including a pointed one from new schools Supt. David L. Brewer
about how many students have access to tutoring.
"The issue is: Do you have enough slots for everybody?" Brewer asked.
He knew the answer. L.A. Unified has 40,658 tutoring slots, funded by redirecting other
federal aid to schools, for 310,000 eligible students. Any student at a so-called failing
schoo! is eligible, but the fast-growing tutoring program is already 93% full and on track
to exceed capacity next year, forcing the district to turn away families.
Spellings did not respond directly to Brewer’s question, but there isn’t a criticism of No
Child Left Behind that the well-traveled official hasn’t heard.
The tutoring, she said in an interview, is not intended as a panacea for a school’s
shortcomings.
"What has to be provoked is some discussion of what’s going on during the school day, " she
said.
The tutoring provides an opportunity for many failing students -- and for the companies
that provide instructors. The district contracts with 55 services that provide 20 to 80
hours a year to a student for about $1,500. Some providers offer one-on-one help at home;
others offer online tutoring with live help.
Three tutoring services provide computers and let families keep them.
By a federal government corot, 909 of 874 L.A. Unified sohools are in "program
improvement," meaning they’ve fallen short of hitting gradually rising academic targets
mmndated by No Child Left Behind. The goal is that 100% of students will be academically
"proficient" by 2014. The current state standard is about 25%.
As a result, the number of failing schools is expected to rise shmrply because the
percentage of students who must be proficient will go up each year.
"We’ve got to pick up the pace -- no doubt about it,"

said Spellings, who brooked no talk of extending the deadline. "We’ve got to be smarter
about how we meet the needs of these kids."
Some unsolicited suggestions were offered by the school board member in whose district
Noble lies.
"There should be federal funding to reduce class size," said Julie Korenstein, who spoke
outside a fourth-grade class of 35 students.
Korenstei~ also objected to requiring private firms to provide the tutoring. District
teachers, many of whom Korenstein said would be highly qualified to tutor students, aren’t
allo~ed to do so because the school system as a whole is rated as failing.
"It’s the privatization of public education," she added.
Spellings noted that her office has m~de a handful of experimental exceptions to the
rules. But she repeated her reGently quoted insistence that the No Child Left Behind Act
is "99.9% pure."
For their part, despite their criticisms, district and state officials praised the law for
focusing needed attention on the achievement gap between rich and poor, white and
minority.
Noble’s principa! refused to make excuses. "It is fair," Espinosa-Nelson said. ,,]v[y belief
system is that every child can succeed, and my teachers believe that too."
An], questions? Get answers on any topic at ~.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now.

NonresponsiI
Sent: February 12, 2007 8:01 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Dunn, David; Flowers, Sarah;
Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mark ;
Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy;
Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young; Williams, C~thia; Young, Tracy
Cc: Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof,
Samara
Subject: Bush Seeks Teacher Merit-pay Funds (W-F)
Bush Seeks Teacher Merit-pay Funds (WT)

By Amy Fagan, The Washington Times
The Washinqton Times, February 11, 2007
President Bush wants more money in the 2008 budget for a fund that encourages performance-based pay systems for
teachers -- a request that will no doubt feed into the larger debate on Capitol Hill about how best to attract, create and retain
effective teachers.
The administration is asking for $199 million for its Teacher Incentive Fund, which was created in 2006. The fund provides
financial incentives for teachers and principals who improve student achievement in high-poverty schools and helps to recruit top
teachers to these schools. Rewards are let1 LIp to the states to decide and can include bonuses or raises.
The fund received $99 million in 2006. In November, the administration awarded the first 16 grants - totaling a little more
than $40 million -- to school districts across the country, including Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Memphis, Tenn.; and
Philadelphia.
The administration requested an additional $99 million for the program for 2007, but in the interest of belt-tightening, the
House essentially zeroed out funding for it in the recently passed fiscal 2007 funding package. That measure has yet to pass in
the Senate, so the White House and some Republicans are working hard to get the money.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said last week that there is a consensus about using compensation "to make sure
our best teachers are in our most challenging" schools nationwide.
"We think that is a sound principle," she said, adding, "1 think we’ll have a lot of discussion about how our teachers are
rewarded for doing the best work."
The top teachers union has criticized the fund.
Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, recently said the setup "is nothing more than a merit-pay
system, and merit pay hasn’t worked wherever it has been tried, for the most part."
Far from spurring teachers on to greater effectiveness, extra bonuses for some and not others simply "creates tension"
between teachers and kills any teamwork, he said.
"It doesn’t work and it’s not going to do anything to attract and retain quality teachers," Mr. Weaver said. What will work is
getting teachers involved in the decision-making process, giving them a safe and orderly school and a decent salary, he said.
The issue will be front and center as lawmakers work this year to renew the No Child Lett Behind Act and pass the Higher
Education Act.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and Rep. George Miller, California Democrat, have cratted a
comprehensive bill to improve teacher quality. Included in it is a grant initiative to encourage high-needs schools to implement
teacher-incentive programs.
However, their plan would require the financial rewards to be based not just on student test scores, but on broad criteria,
including whether the teacher takes on a leadership or mentorship role with other teachers. Each performance-based setup
would have to be approved by the local teachers union as well.
Most public school teachers are paid based on years of experience. Merit-based pay systems for teachers are scattered
throughout the country, and are more common in private and charter schools than in public schools.
Some recent studies have indicated positive results.
The University of Arkansas examined a Little Rock elementary school that gave bonuses to teachers based on their
students’ test scores. The study found that math scores rose more in that school than in similar schools in Little Rock that didn’t
implement such merit systems. S&~dents in the school where teachers received bonuses made gains over the other students
equivalent to a 6 percentile or 7 percentile jump for a student who started at the 50th percentile.
"It’s a pretty substantial gain," said Marcus Winters, a senior research associate at the Manhattan Institute, which was
involved with the study.
A broader study released recently by University of Florida economics professors examined about 500 public and private
high schools and found that having any salary incentive was associated with a 1.3 point to 2.1 point rise in test scores. It also
found merit-pay programs were more effective if they targeted just a few teachers for rewards.
But researchers say more sk~dies must be done to fully determine the effectiveness of such programs.
’1 knowwe’re not done evaluating nationwide," Mr. Winters said.
~onresponsi~
Talber~, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young; Williams, C~thia; Young, Tracy
Cc; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof,
Samara
Subject: Financial Aid Penalty Plan Is Unique To Texas (HC)
Financial Aid Penalty Plan Is Unique To Texas (HC)

By Matthew Tresaugue, Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle, February 12, 2007
Gov. Rick Perry’s call for college students who don’t graduate on time to repay grant money might discourage low-income
and some Hispanic students from pursuing higher education, some critics say.
The governor is seeking an overhaul of the state’s financial aid programs, with the goal of encouraging more students to
graduate faster. His plans include more money for loans and additional requirements for those receiving grants.
The grants, which typically don’t have to be repaid, would become zero-interest loans for those who do not graduate within
the specified time of their certificate or degree program. No other state has such a policy that penalizes students who take longer
to earn a degree, education experts said.
The proposal’s critics said they worry about students from poor families losing access to universities at a time when state
leaders, including Perry, are promoting greater enrollment.
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Houston Democrat, said that lawmakers debated financial aid at length during the previous
legislative session, producing the consensus "that we cannot add more restrictions and rely on more loans if we hope to close
the gaps and open the door to college to more Texans."
Ellis would rather see an expansion of the TEXAS Grants program, which provides money for those who showfinancial
need and complete the required coursework in high school or at a community college. About 25,000 eligible students did not
receive the grant last year for lack of funds.
"]-he bottom line is we’re trying to get more high-tech graduates, and we need to get them in the door," said Jeremy
Warren, a spokesman for Ellis. "Our competitors are doing a better job."
Emphasis on grantsOther states rely more on grants because the federal government is the primary provider of student
loans. New York, for example, spent $910 million, or $47 per capita, in grant aid in 2005, according to the National Association of
State Student Grant and Aid Program’s most recent survey.
Texas, meanwhile, spent $362 million, or $16 per capita.
Donald Heller, an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University’s Center for the Study of Higher Education, said
several states are trying to be more innovative with financial aid -to get more from their investment - but few are considering
more loans.
"If your goal is ensuring access, grant aid is the best mechanism a~ter low tuition," Heller said. "If you say ’loan,’ you’re
scaring the very people you’re trying to attract."
Grants, not loans, influence a prospective student’s decision to enroll, two University of Texas System attorneys wrote in a
recent report on financial aid strategy to a federal commission. Loans and on-campus jobs, however, may increase retention and
graduation rates.
In response, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings called for increased spending on need-based Pell Grants.
Perry has proposed increasing the overall outlay for financial aid $362.8 million, or 60 percent. Fewer dollars would be
allocated for grants, while the interest-free B-on-Time loan program would grow from $20.7 million to $405.3 million a year.
Under the four-year-old program, the state forgives the loans for students who graduate in four years with a B average. The
program was conceived as a way to help middle-income students and parents to pay tuition and fees.
The vast majority of new students will be Hispanic, according to population projections. Yet an aversion to loans is common
among students from first-generation college, immigrant or low-income backgrounds, researchers said.
National surveys show that needy Hispanics are less likely to borrow than other ethnic groups. For example, students
graduate from the University of Texas at El Paso, where four-fifths of the enrollment is Hispanic, with the lowest average
indebtedness among public research institutions in the country.
Long way aroundShort on cash, many students leave school for semesters at a time to work or take fewer classes because
the textbooks are too expensive, causing them to graduate in eight, nine and even 10 years, if at all, experts said.
The reasons behind the loan phobia, observers say, include lack of knowledge about financial aid, fear of debt and sticker
shock.
"It’s not that they won’t take loans, but they’re reluctant," said Deborah Santiago, vice president for policy and research at
Excelencia in Education, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. "When they see that tuition is $20,000, which is as much as their
family makes in a year, they fear the implications of not finishing."
Jesus Vigil, a University of Houston student who receives a TEXAS Grant, said tying more requirements to aid would not
send a welcoming message to the state’s poorest students.
"~ don’t know anyone who graduates in four years," he said. "It could hurt some people. The University of Houston is a
commuter school, and nearly everybody works."
Vigil is on pace to earn a bachelor’s degree in communications in five years despite working two jobs to help with the
mortgage on his mother’s house. "If it weren’t for those grants," he said, "1 wouldn’t be able to afford college."
Nonresponsi
Samara
Subject: Kdstine Cohn in MJS: Federal Efforts Target Struggling High School Readers
Federal Efforts Target Struggling High School Readers (MJS)

By Kristine Cohn
iVilwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 12, 2007
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings told a gathering of teachers last summer that "the heavy lifting of educating our
students doesnt happen in the superintendent’s office or the Department of Education. It happens in real classrooms with real
teachers like you."
I can attest to that statement fiom my visits to thousands of classrooms at hundreds of schools - including several
Milwaukee Public Schools - and from my own experiences as a morn of six, "Nana" of 17, former school district administrator and
student.
So MPS teacher and community columnist Thomas Biel’s firsthand observations on struggling high school readers hold a
lot of weight with me ("Why Johnny can’t read very well and what to do about it," Jan. 31 ).
However, there is an important fact missing from his conclusion that leaders "at the federal level need to take a stand and
do something practical, like earmarking funds for literacy wherever literacy is a problem."
The Department of Education is already doing that. We plan to expand our efforts through a plan recently released by
Spellings called "Building on Results: A Blueprint for Strengthening the No Child Le~t Behind Act" and the president’s 2008
education budget, released last week.
These initiatives build on the strong achievement gains already posted by elementary school children under No Child Left
Behind. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, more reading progress was made by 9-year-olds in five
years (1999-2004) than in the previous 28 years combined.
Math scores for fourth- and eighth-graders and 9- and 13-year-olds have reached new heights. Achievement gaps in
reading and math between African-American and Hispanic 9-year-olds and their white peers have shown great improvement.
Older students, however, are lagging. Between 1999 and 2004, reading scores for 17-year-olds fell three points, and math
scores fell one point, according the NAEP. Achievement gaps between Hispanic and white 17-year-olds grew wider, in both
subjects. Nearly 1 million students drop out every year.
Both President Bush and Spellings recognize that much work remains to ensure that middle and high school students
aren’t being left behind in this emerging global economy. "Building on Results" and the new budget address those concerns.
Since its inception in 2005,
$61.3 million in federal funding has gone toward a program called Striving Readers, which supports research-based
interventions for students in grades 6 to 12 at risk of dropping out because of poor reading skills. Under Bush’s education budget,
funding for Striving Readers would increase to $100 million in 2008 - a $68 million increase.
The budget also calls for a
$1.2 billion increase in Title I funding, the primary source of federal funding for schools with large numbers of poor children.
This would substantially raise allotments to eligible high schools while protecting funding for elementary and middle schools.
Title I funds an array of programs for disadvantaged students, including tutoring, a~ter-school and summer programs to
extend and reinforce the regular school curriculum. Funding for Title I schools serving low-income students has risen 45% since
2001.
Including the budget request, funding for No Child Left Behind is up 41% since Bush took office. For 2007 alone, total
federal education funding to Wisconsin will be an estimated $1.825 billion - an increase of 54.7% since 2001. This is good news
for Wisconsin’s children.
The Department of Education provides resources, but dedicated teachers like Biel are at the very foundation of our efforts
to ensure that "all students will have a better chance to learn, to excel and to live out their dreams," as Bush said more than five
years ago when he signed No Child Lef~ Behind into law.
Together, working with parents and state, school district and community leaders, we can truly make this dream a reality.
Kristine Cohn is the top official for Region V of the U.S. Department of Education, comprised of Wisconsin, Ohio,
Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.
INonresponsi
Samara
Subject: WP LTE: This Will Be On The Test
The Washin,qton Post, February 12, 2007

The argument made by the Bush administration’s Education Department regarding testing students who are learning
English runs counter to logic ["Virginia, Standards Are Long Overdue," Close to Home, Feb. 4]. The Fairfax County School
Board’s decision not to adhere to one of No Child Left Behind’s more bizarre requirements is bold and overdue.
The argument against testing the youngsters in question can be illustrated by imagining a planeload of American 8-year-
olds bound for a new life in China. They arrive tomorrow. According to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings’s vision, these
children should be subjected to testing, and the results carry dramatic ramifications not only for the students but also for the
schools they attend, after one year and one day -- a mere 193 school days after their arrival. They must be tested in math,
science and literature, all in Chinese.
They must be challenged to unlock the meaning of metaphors and complex Chinese writing conventions that are a
challenge for native speakers who have spent their lives in a Chinese-speaking environment and who have been receiving all
their academic instruction in that language.
If Ms. Spellings and President Bush can seriously say that they think this would be an intelligent way for the Chinese
educational establishment to proceed with newly arrived English-speaking students, I’ll go ahead and eat my hat.
JEFFREY S. HACKER
Bethesda
The writer teaches English to speakers of other languages in Montgomery County Public Schools.
Page 1 of 5
Nonrespons
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Ken-i; Dunn, David; Flowers,
Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox,
Lauren; Mark ; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Simon,
Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young; Williams, Cynthia;
Young, Tracy
Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie;
Yudof, Samara
Subject: FW: The Moming Update: 2/2/07
SMS in WH Morning Update:
Education Secretary Margaret Sp ellings Announces Prop osal To Increase Pell Grmlt Funding By
Largest Amount In More Than Three Decades, "The Bush administration yesterday proposed boosting
the nation’s main fmancia! aid progran for low-income college students by the largest ,amount in more
than three decades, the latest in a flurry of measures this week by Congress and the White House to make
higher education more affordable .... ’As costs skyrocket, it becomes increasingly difficult for middle-class
families to afford college,’ Spellings said in a speech at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. ’And
for low-income, mostly minority students, college is becoming virtually unattainable. States, institutions
and the federal government - we all must increase need-based aid.’" (Amit R. Paley, "Bush’s 2008
Budget Calls For Boost To Pe!l Grant," The Washington Post, 2/2/07)
..... Original Message- ....
From: White House Communications [mailt~:WhiteHouseCommunical~onsCti~vhitehouse.gov]
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 8:00 AM
To: McLane, Katherine
Subject: The Morning Update: 2/2/07
FEBRUARY 2, 2007
This a~ernoon, President Bush will participate in a photo opportunity and make
remarks to the Carolina Hurricanes, winners of the 2006 Stanley Cup.
THE PRESIDENT participates in Photo Opportunity and makes

2:20 pm: Remarks to the Carolina Hurricanes
EST The White House I Washington, DC
This morning, Mrs. Bush will participate in a roundtable with cardiologists,

survivors, and partners for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Heart
Truth campaign. The goal of the Heart Truth campaign is to make women more
aware of the danger of heart disease, giving them a personal and urgent wakeup
call about their risk. Mrs. Bush will later attend the Heart Truth 2007 fashion show.
06/05/2008
Page 2 of 5
MRS. BUSH participates in a Roundtable with Cardiologists,

9:40 am: Survivors, and Partners for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
EST Institute’s Heart Truth campaign
Bryant Park Hotel I New York City, NY
11:05 am: MRS. BUSH attends the Heart Truth 2007 Fashion Show.
EST Bryant Park I NewYork City, NY
The President And Mrs. Bush Participate In A Meeting On Childhood Obesity.

"President Bush yesterday added his voice to the growing debate over childhood
obesity, as he met at the White House with representatives of some of the
companies considered responsible for aggravating the problem and urged them to
stress the importance of healthful eating and physical fitness in their marketing
campaigns .... ’Childhood obesity is a costly problem for the country,’ Bush said
before startinq the private meetin~l, which also included first lady Laura Bush. ’We
believe it is necessary’ to come up with a coherent strategy to help folks all
throuqhout our country cope with the issue.’ ... The group also played for the
president a public service announcement developed by Dreamworks and the Ad
Council featuring the characters from the hit movie ’Shrek’ urging kids to get
outside and play." (Michael Abramowitz, "Bush Urges Stepped-Up Campaign Against
Childhood Obesity," The Washington Post, 212107)
The President And Mrs. Bush Attend The National Prayer Breakfast. "He said
first lady Laura Bush was on her way to New York to kick off Friday’s ’Wear Red
Day’ for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Red Dress Project to
increase awareness that women are at risk for heart disease. Bush signed a
proclamation making February American Heart Month .... Earlier, the president
and Mrs. Bush attended the 55th national prayer breakfast at a Washington hotel
where he prayed for the safety of U.S. troops, saying: ’During this time of war, we
thank God that we are part of a nation that produces courageous men and women
who volunteer to defend us.’" (Deb Riechmann, "Bush Urges Parents To Get Kids
Outdoors," The Associated Press, 2/1/07)
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings Announces Proposal To Increase

Pell Grant Funding By Largest Amount In More Than Three Decades. ’q-he
Bush administration yesterday proposed boosting the nation’s main financial aid
program for low-income college students by the largest amount in more than three
decades, the latest in a flurry of measures this week by Congress and the White
House to make higher education more affordable .... ’As costs skyrocket, it
becomes increasinqly difficult for middle-class families to afford college,’ Spellings
said in a speech at North Carolina State University in Raleiqh. ’And for low-income,
mostly minodty students, college is becoming virtually unattainable. States,
institutions and the federal govemment- we all must increase need-based aid.’"
(Amit R. Paley, "Bush’s 2008 Budget Calls For Boost To Pell Grant," The Washington Post,
2/2/07)
In A Letter To The New York Times, OMB Director Rob Portman Says The
Administration’s FY08 Budget Will Use "Realistic Assumptions To Reduce
Deficits Each Year And Achieve Balance By 2012." "On Monday, we will
present a budqet that uses realistic assumptions to reduce deficits each year and
achieve balance by 2012 .... I believe that the revenue projections provided by the
career professionals at the Treasury Department will be viewed as credible, even
cautious. Your skepticism about the president’s balanced budget plan is very
similar to skepticism expressed in February 2004, when the president set a goal to
cut the deficit in half in five years. The New York Times joined others in
questioning whether this goal could be achieved without raising taxes. In fact, the
06/05/2008
Page 3 of 5
goal was accomplished three years ahead of schedule, while keeping taxes low."
(Rob Portman, Letter To The Editor, The New York Times, 2/2/07)
President Bush To Present A Plan Saving $70 Billion In Medicare And

Medicaid Spending Over The Next Five Years. "President Bush will ask
Congress in his budget next week to squeeze more than $70 billion of savings
from Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years, administration officials and
health care lobbyists said Thursday .... Mr. Bush is also expected to propose
changes in the Children’s Health Insurance Program to sharpen its focus on low-
income families .... Representative Jim McCrery of Louisiana, the senior
Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, said: ’The current rate of qrowth
in Medicare, fueled by rising health costs and an aging population, is
unsustainable. If Congress does not undertake sensible reforms soon, the system
will be swamped as the baby boom generation begins to retire. Taxes v~ll rise,
benefits will be cut, and the entire economy will suffer.’" (Robert Pear, "Bush Seeks
Big Medicare And Medicaid Saving," The New YorkTimes, 2/2/07)
Outgoing Top U.S. Commander In Iraq General George Casey Says "The
Struggle In Iraq Is Winnable." "’Senator, I do not agree that we have a failed
policy,’ Casey said. ’1 believe the president’s new strateqy will enhance the policy
that we have.’ ... Casey didn’t criticize Bush’s plan. He said that the three brigades
it adds above his recommendation would give the new commander more flexibility.
... ’The struggle in Iraq is winnable,’ Casey said, but it will ’take patience and will.’
He said that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri aI-Maliki on Jan. 6 agreed to target anyone
breaking the law, regardless of sect, and ’so far the results have been
heartening.’" (Renee School, "Casey Defends War In Iraq," McClatchy Newspapem, 2/1/07)
President Urges The House To Join The Senate In Supporting A "Combined

Minimum Wage Increase And Small Business Tax Relief." "The Senate, in a
94-3 vote Thursday, passed an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25
an hour over two years. The bill also would extend small business tax cuts, close
off some corporate tax loopholes and rein in executive compensation .... ’1 strongly
encouraqe the House to support this combined minimum waqe increase and small
business tax relief,’ Bush said in a statement followinq the Senate vote .... Sen.
Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), R-Iowa, said the overwhelming vote in
favor of the Senate bill was a clear signal that the minimum wage and tax breaks
must be linked. He scolded House Democrats for insisting that the tax provisions
be removed. ’No one should be mistaken,’ Grassley said. ’It is House Democrats,
not Senate Republicans, who are delaying passage of the minimum wage.’" (Jim
Kuhnhenn, "Minimum Wage Bill Heads To Negotiations," The Associated Press, 2D/07)
OMB Deputy Director Clay Johnson Says The President’s Management

Agenda Is Improving Agency Performance. "Johnson, previewing Bush’s
management agenda for 2007, said Democrats can expect candor and
cooperation .... ’We want things to work better and it begins with an honest, candid,
transparent assessment of what we know now. And out of that comes the fact that
a lot of really good things are going on here.’ ... Bush has an ongoing management
agenda that grades Cabinet departments on their performance in areas such as
financial practices, implementing electronic government plans and competitive
sourcing. Overall, scores are on the way up, Johnson said Thursday. ’The
averaqe agency today has more manaqement capability than the best agency did
five years ago,’ he said." (Ben Feller, ’~hite House Welcomes Tougher Oversight," The
Associated Press, 2/I/07)
Dow Jones Marks 27th Record Close Since October. "Both the Dow Jones
industrial averaqe and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies closed at new
highs. The Dow advanced 51.99, or 0.41 percent, to 12,673.68. That marks the
blue-chip average’s 27th record close since October. It came in well above the
06/05/2008
Page 4 of 5
record of 12,621.77 set Jan. 24 .... Economic data continued to play a big role in
trading, as it has all week. As expected, consumer spending in December showed
its biggest increase in five months, dsing 0.7 percent." ("Dow, Russell 2000 Close At
New Highs As Economic Data Bolster Confidence," The Associated Press, 2/2/07)
The U.S. Donates Vehicles And Arms To Help The Afghan Army Stand On Its
Own. "The donation of 800 military vehicles and more than 1 2,000 weapons is
part of a critical effort to build an Afqhan army able to defend the country on its
own and eventually allow U.S. and NATO-led forces to pull back. ’These modern
technologies are a step toward the vision of the Afghan National Army: a welt
equipped, well-trained, well-led, self-sustaining army,’ U.S. Maj. Gen. Robert
Durbin, who heads the training of the new force, said at a handover ceremony on a
sprawling military base near the capital, Kabul .... Karzai, attending Thursday’s
ceremony, thanked the U.S. officials and said that such donations and further
training would enable Afghans ’to stand on our own feet.’" (Rahim Faiez, ’LI.S. Donates
Vehicles, Arms To Afghan Army," The Associated Press, 2/1/07)
The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Release Guidelines To Help
Prevent The Spread Of Pandemic Flu. "’We have tools in our tool kit that we can
use now to slow down pandemic flu,’ said Martin S. Cetron, the director of global
migration and quarantine at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
country’s chief public health a.qency. ’These are tools we just are not used to using
in recent decades, when all the attention has been on magic bullets.’ The 106-
page document issued by the CDC outlines ’non-pharmaceutical interventions’
against a virus that can sometimes be caught simply by standing near an infected
person. The chief strategy is to keep people physically apart as much as possible
during the eight-to-10-week-long waves of illness." (David Brown, "CDC Issues
Guidelines For Battling Flu Pandemic," The Washington Post, 2~2/07)
President Bush Attends National Prayer Breakfast
President and Mrs. Bush Discuss Childhood Obesity
~ Fact Sheet: Encouraqinq Child Fitness
Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance to Beaver, Cimarron, and Texas

Counties, Oklahoma
President’s Statement on Senate Passage of Minimum Waqe Increase and Small

Business Tax Relief
Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance for Oklahoma
President’s Statement on Senate Passaqe of Minimum Waqe Increase and Small

Business Tax Relief
President Bush to Welcome President Martin Torrijos of the Republic of Panama
American Heart Month, 2007
Press Briefinq by Tony Snow
06/05/2008
Page 5 of 5
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06/05/2008
Nonrespons]
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; ’scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov’; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs,
Kerri; Dunn, David; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly;
Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mark ; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara
Martinez; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Williams, C~thia; Young,
Tracy
Samara
Subject: Education Secretary vows new tutoring focus (Ed Daily)
Education Secretary vows new tutoring focus (Ed Daily)

by Sarah Sparks
Education Daily, February 2, 2007
Going into reauthorization of the No Child Lett Behind Act, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has laid out a blueprint
of priorities for Congress, many of which serve to strengthen the law’s keystone interventions - public school choice and
supplemental education services.
The reauthorization guidelines expand on the Education Department’s two pilot programs to increase lackluster
participation in the programs. Spellings sat down with Education DailyTM late last week to discuss her outreach to states on SES
and her thoughts on the program going forward.
Q: What have you learned so far from the SES pilot programs?
A: Norfolk, Va., is our best example, where the take-up literally went from 17 percent to 62 percent - something quite
significant. The inFY crease has not been that dramatic [in other sites] but yes, there has been an increase across the board, I
think.
Yesterday I was in Chicago, the other place that I’ve allowed variation from the overall theme.., to allow a district in need
of improvement - which as you know, most urban districts are - to offer supplemental services. So that too, has had a good
effect; in fact [participation] is up about 11,000 kids in Chicago. And because they, for a variety of reasons, have a lower per-
pupil cost of providing services, more kids are getting the help.
The other thing that is an issue that is certainly reflected in the policy book is the need to provide some incentives to get
this help to kids as soon as possible. As you know, we have a kind of "use it or lose it" provision in here, which builds some
power into the motivation for schools to get that help out early.
Q: In the 20 percent "use it or lose it," that leftover money would go back to the state. Would that be specifically for state
choice/SES administration, or would it go to the state general Title I fund?
A: It’s a place where we’d want to have discussions with the Congress, but our thinking is, one of the things states have
complained about is [not] having the ability to more closely monitor the providers and more closely monitor school districts with
respect to this part of the law. I think some of those resources could be used for that purpose.
As the No Child Left Behind Act accountability marches closer to 2014, the 20 percent requirement is a very reasonable
and spendable amount of money. In Los Angeles, where I was not long ago, there were nearly 400,000 kids who were eligible
for those services, they have money for around 40,000, and about 37,000 are getting services. So when you’ve got 10 times as
many kids eligible for the services, don’t come to me and say you can’t spend the money.
Q: Others have talked about forcing districts to "ro!lover" SES money from one year to the next instead.
A: Well, those two are not mutually exclusive by any stretch of the imagination. These are conceptual proposals in nature.
We haven’t, obviously, designed the specific bill language that would go. We certainly want to do that collaboratively and would
hope they will want to do that with us collaboratively in Congress. I think those are provisions that could work together - maybe
rollover for one year, and then lose it, or whatever.
So, I’m certainly not opposed to that notion.
Q: Any results yet on whether student achievement is raised in the districts using SES flexibility?
A: Too early to tell on that front... That’s another issue that other people have raised: the accountability issues around
providers. I hear that from chiefs, some; I hear that from the civil rights community, some, and I think that, too, will be discussed
as part of reauthorization.
Q: Do you see any possibility of NCLB following the route of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and giving
parents a direct legal recourse if school districts don’t follow the law?.
A: We’ve talked about some of that with respect to supplemental services. I think it wilt be discussed, but... I believe
educators are people with good faith and good will, and they want to serve kids too. So rather than start at a place of conflict and
contention, I think we should believe that both parents and educators are going to act with good faith and good will from the
beginning.
Q: Is there a difference between the proposed Promise Scholarship for intensive tutoring and SES?
A: Potentially, yes. t think the mechanism could be quite similar or it could be modeled more like the D.C. choice model.
Again, these are policy concepts hat we have to have a lot of discussions around. Obviously, No Child Lett Behind is over 1,000
pages, and we laid out a 20-page policy paper that seeks to improve it, so there is a lot of detail that needs to be fleshed out.
Q: States have had major problems getting back test data early enough to notify parents of schools’ adequate yearly
progress status. What are you doing to help states get that timing right?
A: Obviously that’s a big part of our Title I monitoring. One of the things in our policy book is the need to get that
information out before school starts - especially as it comes to public school choice. You know, no morn or dad wants to uproot
their child two months into the school year, and it becomes a dead letter, if you will, as an option. So I think we can do a lot better
on that.
I also think there are some legitimate issues that states have. I was in Illinois yesterday, where, for whatever reason ... they
still do not have data for this school year. It’s quite troubling. I had the test contractor and publishing community in here and
talked about some of these issues with them. But, states have the authority to fine their test contractors; I don’t knowwhat other
sanctions or motivations might be brought to bear so that we can get this data out more quickly.
Nonresponsi ]
............................. .......................
February 02, 2007 6:16 AM
To: scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby,
Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela;
Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray;, Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman;
Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey;
Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Bush Seeks Big Medicare and Medicaid Saving (NYT)
"...The president’s budget will propose raising the maximum Pell grant -- the federal
grant for !ow- and middle-income students to attend college -- to $4,600, Education
Secretary ~rgaret Spellings announced Thursday.
The announcement followed by only a day the Democratic-controlled House’s passage of a

$260 increase in the current maximum grant, to $4,310, under a catchall spending bill
needed to address budget matters remaining from last year.
Ms. Spellings’s announcement suggests that the administration will try to emphasize access
to education, an issue that Democrats have seized upon as the cost and debt burden of
higher education continue to rise. Democrats have already proposed legislation in the
Senate that, exceeding the administration’s plan, calls for an increase to $5,100.
The last substantial increase was in 2001."

February 2, 2007
Bush Seeks Big Medicare and Medicaid Saving
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHIN®TON, Feb. 1 -- President Bush will ask Congress in his budget next week to squeeze
more than $70 billion of savings from Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years,
administration officials and health care lobbyists said Thursdmy.
The proposals, part of a White House plan to balance the budget by 2012, set the stage for
a battle with Congress over entitlement spending. Even some administration officials say
they cannot imagine approval of such large cutbacks in a Congress now controlled by
Democrats.
~ir. Bush is also expected to propose changes in the Children’s Health Insurance Program to
sharpen its focus on low-income families. The changes could reduce federal payments to
states that cover children with family incomes exceeding twice the poverty level.
Under federal guidelines, a family of four is considered poor if its annua! income is less
than $20,650.
The child health proposal, like those for Medicare and Medicaid, is likely to touch off a
fight on Capito! Hil!. Senator Hillary Rodh~m Clinton of Ne~ York and other Democrats are
seeking major expansions of the children’s health program, though they have not said how
they would pay for the changes.
One measure of the political difficulty facing the president’s plan for Medicare and
Medicaid is that he sought $20 billion less in savings from the two programs last year,
when Republicans controlled Congress, and few of those proposals were adopted.
Representative Charles B. Rangel, the New York Democrat who heads the House Ways and Means
Committee, said Thursday: "There is a large area for potential compromise and agreement,
but with these latest Medicare proposals, the president is just asking for controversy. He
still acts as if Republicans were in complete contro! and Democrats had lost the
election.’"
Mr. Bush has repeatedly said thmt Medicare has serious long-term financial problems, and
many experts share his concern.
"If you want to balance the budget eventually and you do not want tax increases," said
Joseph R. Antos, an economist at the ~erican Enterprise Institute, "you have no choice
but to propose substantial reductions in Medicare. The president’s budget is an opening
bid, the start of negotiations with Democrats over health care and other programs."
Taken together, Medicare and Medicaid cover more than one in four Americans. Federal
spending for the two programs totaled $554 billion last year, or about 21 percent of all
federal spending -- a little more than Social Security. With no change in existing law,
spending on the two health programs is expected to rise at a brisk pace, averaging more
than 7 percent a year in the next decade.
Representative Jim McCrery of Louisiana, the senior Republican on the Ways and Means
Committee, said: "The current rate of growth in Medicare, fueled by rising health costs
and an aging population, is unsustainable. If Congress does not undertake sensible reforms
soon, the system will be swamped as the baby boom generation begins to retire. Taxes wil!
rise, benefits wil! be cut, and the entire economy will suffer."
Under the president’s plan, some Medicare beneficiaries would shoulder added costs. At
present, about 4 percent of the 43 million beneficiaries must pay more than the standard
monthly premium -- it is $93.50 this year -- because they have high incomes:
more than $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for married couples. The president’s budget
would require more people to pay the higher premiums, but administration officials would
not immediately provide details.
Most of the proposed savings, however, would come from health care providers. Mr. Bush is
expected to propose freezing Medicare payments to home health agencies and reducing the
inflation allowance paid to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers.
Hospitals plan to fight the president with lobbying and advertising. "~o-thirds of
hospitals already lose money treating Medicare beneficiaries," said Richard J. Pollack,
executive vice president of the .American Mospital Association.
The president’s budget also assumes that Medicare payments to doctors will be cut at least
8 percent next year, as provided under a formula in existing law.
Administration officials said I’~. Bush would not try to curb pa~ents to private managed
care plans, which currently enroll more than eight million Medicare beneficiaries. But
mmny Democrats in Congress want to do so, because, they maintain, Medicare overpays the
plans, which they see as a step toward privatizing the program.
Insurance companies are mobilizing beneficiaries to lobby against any cuts in Medicare
payments to private plans. Mohit M. Chose, a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance
Plans, a trade group, said, "’Any cuts would take away benefits from millions of low-income
people and members of minority groups, who enroll in private plans because they cannot
afford the high out-of-pocket costs in the traditional Medicare program."
Budget Asks Rise in Pe!l Grants
The president’s budget will propose raising the maximum Pell grant -- the federal grant
for low- and middle-income students to attend college -- to $4,600, Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings announced Thursday.
The announcement followed by only a day the Democratic-controlled House’s passage of a

$260 increase in the current maximum grant, to $4,310, under a catchal! spending bill
needed to address budget matters remaining from last year.
Ms. Spellings’s announcement suggests that the administration will try to emphasize access
to education, an issue that Democrats have seized upon as the cost and debt burden of
higher education continue to rise. Democrats have already proposed legislation in the
Senate that, exceeding the administration’s plan, calls for an increase to $5,100.
The last substantia! increase was in 2001.

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Nonresponsi
............................. K~itfl~Rii ~-i’haAii;~ ......................... ]
To: scott rn. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby,
Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela;
Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman;
Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey;
Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Bush’s 2008 Budget Calls For Boost to Pell Grant (WP)
Bush’s 2008 Budget Calls For Boost to Pell Grant By Amit R. Paley Washington Post Staff
Writer Friday, February 2, 2007; A05
The Bush administration yesterday proposed boosting the nmtion’s main financial aid
program for !ow-income college students by the largest amount in more than three decades,
the latest in a flurry of measures this week by Congress and the White House to make
higher education more affordable.
The president’s 2008 budget, which will be unveiled next week, would increase the annual
Bel! grant next year by $550, to a maximum of $4,600, Education Secretary ~largaret
Spellings said yesterday. Grants, unlike student !oans, do not need to be repaid.
"As costs skyrocket, it becomes increasingly difficult for middle-class families to afford
college," Spelling said in a speech at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. "And
for !ow-income, mostly minority students, college is becoming virtually r~attainable.
States, institutions and the federa! government--we all must increase need-based aid."
_Advocates for students hailed the proposed expansion of the Pell grant but cautioned that
it would be meaningless if offset by cuts to other federal aid programs in the president’s
budget. Spellings did not say how the president would pay for the increase.
"We can’t be robbing Peter to pay Bell," said Luke Swarthout, an advocate for the U.S.
Bublic Interest Research Group’s Higher Education Pro~ect. "But this is clearly a step in
the right direction on college affordability."
Democratic leaders said the president’s plan was a response to their recent moves in
Congress to reduce the rising costs of higher education. The House voted Wednesday to
increase the maximum Pell grant this year from $4,050 to $4,310; Senate Democrats have
proposed raising it immediately to $5,100.
Sen. Edward H. Kennedy (D-Hass.), chairman of the education committee, said he welcomed
the change but criticized Bush and fellow Republicans for failing to increase the Pell
grant in recent years.
Pell grants, given each year to 5.3 million students with family incomes less than
$40,000, have !ost much of their buying power in recent years. Twenty years ago, the
mmximum grant covered about 60 percent of the cost of a four-year public university, but
last schoo! year it covered ~ust one-third of that cost, according to the College Board.
Congress is also debating a host of other measures to increase college affordability. The
House voted last month to cut interest rates on subsidized loans for students, and the
Senate is soon expected to take up a similar measure.
Yesterday, Kennedy and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bill, the Student Loan
Sunshine Act, which they said would "protect students and parents from exploitation by
private lenders and lenders who offer gifts to colleges as a way to secure loan business."
The measure would ban schools from receiving gifts from private lending companies and
require disclosure of financial relationships between higher education institutions and
lenders.
No need to miss a message. ®et email on-the-go with Yahoo~. Mail for Mobile. ®et started.
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Nonresponsive
January 25, 2007 7:06 AM

To: Neale, Rebecca; Terrell, Julie; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs,
Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force,
Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich,
Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.;
Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Spellings stands firm on ’real school choice’ (WT)
Spellings stands firm on ’real schoo! choice’
By Amy Fagan
THE W~SHIN®TON TIMES
Published January 25, 2007
Advertisement
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said yesterdmy the admir~stration will fight
tenaciously for a few key changes to its signature education law, including helping
children in chronically failed public schools to attend private schools instead.
During his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President Bush called on Congress to
renew one of his key domestic accomplishments -- the No Child Left Behind Act -- this
year, and the administration yesterday laid out its suggestions, including new
requirements for high schools, a new focus on science, and aggressive restructuring tools
for schools that have failed to make progress during the past five or six years.
Mrs. Spellings told editors and reporters at The Washington Times yesterday that she
thinks a bill to renew the law will be ready to move through the Senate education panel by
P~rch or April.
"We must be much more aggressive and much more vigorous about those restructuring
notions, including offering real school choice to the kids on those campuses," Mrs.
Spellings said. "We’ve given them a chance, we’ve given them resources, and it’s time for
us to say ’[The law] is a real promise and other options have to be brought to bear.’ "
Top Democrats, such as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate
education panel, immediately balked at the school-choice provisions, while indicating
agreement in other areas. Democrats’
top goal is to secure a steep funding boost for the law, and Mrs. Spellings indicated the
administration will use that as a bargaining chip.
’What levels of funding are calibrated to what levels of reform I think is the
discussion we’ll have this year," Mrs. Spellings said. "But you bet I am going to fight
for these policies."
She said funding details won’t be released until Mr. Bush sends his budget to Capitol
Hill in the coming weeks.
Mr. Bush’s proposal for renewal wouldn’t change the bulk of the five-year-old law,
which mandates that students be able to read and do math at grade level by 2014, and
requires that states set standards and administer annual tests.
But Mrs. Spellings said she has "never been involved in the passage of a perfect
bill," so some changes are needed.
The administration’s proposal adds science to the list of subgects tested, requiring
students to reach grade-level proficiency by 2020. It also would set more tests and
requirements for high schools, such as collecting better graduation-rate data and
partnering with colleges to develop English and math curricula that better prepare
students for the workplace.
Meanwhile, conservatives on Capitol Hill have worried the administration will try to
dramatically expand the law, either with more funding, by mandating new requirements for
high schools, or both.
Some Republicans in the Senate and House want to keep the law’s high standards in
place but let states enter a five-year performance agreement with the federal goverr~ment
in exchange for less regulation and more flexibility in how they would use federal dollars
and would track their progress.
The administration’s proposal doesn’t go thmt far, though it does give states more
flexibility in how they spend their federal education dollars.
Mrs. Spellings said she has spoken with some of these concerned conservatives and is
open to more discussion, as long as the core requirements of the law aren’t watered do~n.
But she also said there will be some degree of increased education funding this year.
Among its more contentious suggestions, the administration proposa! would allow more
aggressive action to be taken when a school has consistently failed to make progress for
several years. Currently, chronically failing schools must offer their students the option
of another public school or after-school tutoring.
But if a school fails to meet improvement standmrds repeatedly, which Mrs. Spellings
defined as five or six years, the new proposal would give each child about $4,000 to take
to another public school or a private school. It also would allow superintendents in these
areas to convert the schools into charter schools even if a state’s charter-school limit
has been reached. Superintendents also would be able to break union contracts in order to
move teachers within these schools.
Right now, about 1,800 schools fall into this "chronically underperforming" category.
In commur~ties with several failing schools, the administration proposal also would
offer scholarships for pupils to attend private schools.
Democrats have argued that these struggling schools need more money in order to meet
the law’s tough requirements.
House education panel Chairman George ~ller, California Democrat, slammed the school-
choice idea yesterday, saying it "didn’t pass muster when Republicans controlled the
Congress, and it certainly won’t pass muster now that Democrats do."
Hr. Hiller said he’d consider some of the administration’s ideas but added "we won’t
know if the president is seriously committed to the law tuntil we see his budget."
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From: katherine m clan e ~L~~ J
Sent: January 25, 2007 6:53 AM
Kerd; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force,
Subject: Bush: Toughen No Child law (CHI TRIB)
Bush: Toughen No Child law
Private school vouchers for poor back in play
By Stephanie Banchero
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
January 25, 2007
The Bush administration called Wednesday for Congress to strengthen the No Child Left
Behind law by ratcheting up penalties on low-performing schools, giving districts more
latitude to transfer teachers to failing schools, and providing poor children vouchers to
attend private schools.
The plan, released by the U.S. Department of Education a day after Bush’s State of the
Union address, also would give districts more power to convert failing schools to
charters, even if that meant subverting state-imposed charter caps. Such a move would
greatly benefit the Chicago Public Schools system, which has been thwarted from opening
more thmn the state-allowed 30 charter schools.
"I see this as a very vigorous package of proposals that are sound and make sense if taken
together," said U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. "This is the president’s
answer to the question, "Is the promise of No Child Left Behind real?’ If this proposal is
not what Congress had in mind, then we all have to ask them whmt they have in mind."
Spellings will be in Chicago Thursday to tour a charter school and promote the president’s
proposals.
But the plan already is coming under fire from some Democrats, who object to vouchers, and
from teachers union officials, who are opposed to a plan that would allow districts to
subvert collective bargaining agreements and move teachers to underperforming schools.
"Once you put vouchers and teacher contracts out there, this is war," declared Reg Weaver,
president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union. "It
appears that, instead of putting forth areas that we have commonality on, they put forth
the stuff where they knew there would be no agreement. If we have to go to war, we are
certainly prepared to do so."
No Child Left Behind, Bush’s signature domestic policy, comes up for renewal this year.
The five-year-old act mandates that schools test students in mmth and reading and holds
them accountable for the results. Schools that repeatedly fail are subject to increasing
sanctions. Students in those schools can transfer out or receive free tutoring.
Spellings laid out a laundry list of proposals that touch virtually every aspect of public
education, from high school reform to teacher quality to penalties for chronically
underperforming schools. Many of the proposals, including those that would give schools
move flexibility in determining student progress and relaxing requirements on testing
specia! education students, are likely to receive bipartisan support and applause from
educators n~tionwide.
Some proposals, however, are certain to draw fire.
The so-called "Promise Scholarships" will meet stiff resistance. Under the plan, a poor
student who attends a chronically failing school would be given a $4,000 voucher, which
could be used to transfer to a private school. Bush tried to insert a voucher component
into the No Child Left Behind Act five years ago, but it was defeatedby Democrats.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-~ss.), who ch~irs the Senmte Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee, already has attacked the voucher proposal. "Once again, he proposes siphoning
crucial resources from our public schools--already reeling from increased requirements and
budget cuts," Kennedy said in a statement.
Other major changes in the plan include:
Results from state science exams would be used to determine whether schools are meeting
federal goals.
Currently, only math and reading results are considered.
States would be required to publish a report card that compares student results on state
exams with performance on more rigorous national exams.
Students who attend schools where test scores are low for two consecutive years would be
eligible for free tutoring. Currently, the school must fail for three years before free
tutoring is offered.
States would have to develop assessments that measure whether high school students are
prepared
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............................. kat’nelinemclane-[ ......................... J
January 25, 2007 6:44 AM
Neale, Rebecca; Terrell, Julie; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.~]ov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs,
Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private-Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich,
Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey;, Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Bush Proposes Broadening the No Child Left Behind Act (NYT)
January 25, 2007

Bush Proposes Broadening the No Child Left Behind Act
By DIANA JE~ SCHEMO

WASHBfGTON, Jan. 24--The Bush administration called on Wednesday for an array of changes
to the president’s signature education law. The proposals would give local school
officials new powers to override both teachers’ contracts and state limits on charter
schools in the case of persistently failing schools.
The proposals are part of the administration’s blueprint for revising the No Child Left
Behind Act, which Congress is scheduled to renew this year.
Margaret Spellings, the education secretary, said the goal was to provide students in
failing schools with other options and "to make sure we have our best personnel in the
neediest places."
President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law in 2002. It requires schools
to test students in reading and math anllually in grades three to eight, and establishes
progressively more severe penalties for schools that fail to m~ke adequate progress,
including shutting the schools altogether.
Administration officials said there were currently about 1,800 of these schools across the
country, where students have failed to meet state targets for reading and math for more
than five years. But they said that loopholes in the current law allowed them to avoid
serious action indefinitely.
"We all have to answer the question what are we going to do about that," Ms. Spellings
said in a telephone news conference. "This is the president’s answer to, Is the promise of
No Child Left Behind rea!?’"
She said that allowing local officials to close failing schools and replace them with
charter schools would give children new options. Charter schools are publicly finmnced but
freed from many of the regulations that apply to traditional neighborhood schools.
In 26 states, including New York, there are limits on how many charter schools can be
opened. Critics point to a lack of consistent research showing charter schools are any
more effective than traditional public schools in raising achievement.
Ms. Spellings said local superintendents would also be helped if they could transfer
teachers in their districts to help improve poorly performing schools, even if union
contracts banned such moves.
Edward J. McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, derided the proposal
as "silly on its face," adding, "I have a feeling they’re setting up a straw man just to
knock it down."
While allowing for "areas of agreement" with the president’s blueprint, Senator Edward M.
Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the education committee, said he
was "disappointed that the administration has proposed circumventing state law" with its
proposal on charter schools.
In the House, Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the
education committee, rebuffed the administration’s move to allow superintendents to
override contracts, which he called a "~roposal to gut collective-bargaining agreements.’"
Separately, he rejected the administration’s call for school vouchers. President Bush
proposed, as he has every year since taking office, taxpayer-financed vouchers to allow
children in struggling schools to transfer to private schools.
"Private school vouchers," Mr. Miller said, "have been rejected in the past, and nothing
has changed to make them acceptable now. They are the same bad idea they have always
been."
Other administration proposals seemed likely to be more acceptable, among them: a call for
a federal fund that would give extra pay to teachers who are most effective in raising
children’s test scores, or who agree to teach in the neediest schools; and allowing
districts with failing schools to first offer children tutoring before allowing them to
transfer.
The administration also proposed requiring states to publicize how their students perform
on a national exs_m, kno~Tn as the nation’s report card, side by side with student
performance on state exams. The move is intended to pressure states to make their own
standards more rigorous.
Congress will consider the president’s blueprint as it takes up hearings to renew the law
this spring. But with the presidential race taking shape, it is not at all certain that
Congress will complete the ~ob this year.
In moving to update the law, Congress and the administration are threading their way
through discontent from across the political spectrum, from teachers unions upset that the
law’s testing requirements are dictating whmt teachers do in the classroom to
conservatives who say education should remain a purely !oca! matter.
Michael J. Petrilli, an Education Department officia! in Mr. Bush’s first term who
recently called the law "fundamentally flawed," said the administration’s proposals
represent "a pretty decent repair attempt."
"It’s 50 percent stay the course, 30 percent tweak and tuck, and 20 percent bold new
ideas," Mr. Petrilli said.
He added, "’Not bad for a president with 33 percent approval ratings, though the package as
a whole has about a zero percent chance of getting through Congress."
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lNonresponsi
............................. kath~i-iri e-m dan e~i- ........................
(b) January 25, 2007 6:39 AM
Subject: The State of Federal Education Policy (HE)
The State of Federal Education Policy
by Dan Lips
Posted Jan 24, 2007
Human Events online
In his State of the Union address, President Bush spoke in broad themes to outline his
education agenda for the next two years. The bottom line: The Administration ~zants to
"strengthen" the status quo version of No Child Left Behind in its coming congressional
reauthorization. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings hms already stated that the
administration has been studying ways to "perfect or tweak" NCLB.
After five years, it’s become increasingly clear that No Child Left Behind -- like
previous federal reform attempts -- will not fundamentally improve public education in
~tmerica. While NCLB dramatically increased federa! authority, the federal government
(thankfully) is still only a minority partner in public education, with only 8.5 percent
of funding for schools coming from Congress.
Policym~kers should remember that past administrations and Congresses have sought to use
the lever of federal power in education to improve student aclmievement and reduce the
achievement gap since 1965. But after four decades and hundreds of billions of dollars in
federal spending, the federal government has proven unable to bring about big improvements
in ~erica’s schools. For example, since the early 1970s, little has changed in long-term
measures of student performance.
~ Congress prepares to consider the ninth reauthorization of the original Elementary and
Secondary Education Act, it’s time to draw some conclusions from these !ong-term trends
and reconsider the federal government’s role in education.
For starters, families, taxpayers, and school officials should question whether the
federal government has been a good partner in education all these years. In 2006,
taxpayers paid more than $24 billion to the Internal Revenue Service to fund programs for
No Child Left Behind. In exchange, the Department of Education uses that funding to play
the role of a heavy-handed middleman.
After keeping a sizeable chunk of money to pay for administration, the Department sends
that money back to states and local education agencies along with a blizzard of mandates,
red tape, and bureaucratic reporting requirements. For exesLtple, the Office of Hanmgement
and Budget found that No Child Left Behind alone increased the paperwork costs due to
federa! education programs by 6,688,814 hours, or $140 million.
Beyond this wasteful bureaucratic burden, the federal government’s role in education
exacts huge opportunity costs. Were it not for the Department of the Education, states and
local communities would have more than $24 billion per year in additional funding that
could be used for other purposes, such as locally controlled programs that direct
resources to classrooms.
Perhaps the costs of the federal government’s "middle man" relationship would be the
3ustified if Congress and the 4,500 workers at the U.S. Department of Education proved
that they have a formula for improving student performance in America’s 96,000 public
schools. Unfortunately, a forty-year track-record shows this isn’t the case. Rather than
travel further down the current road of federal education policy, the Bush Administration
and Mergers of Congress have a responsibility to reassess .whether the federal government’s
current role in education is ~ustified.
A promising alternative strategy would be to begin restoring state and local contro! in
education, while maintaining true transparency in measuring student performance at the
school level. Senators Jim DeMint
(R.-S.C.) and John Cornyn (R.-Tex.) recently announced their support for such a proposal.
The DeMint-Cornyn plan -- called the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success or "A-PLUS"
Act -- would allow states to opt-out of No Child Left Behind.
These states would enter into a contractua! agreement with the federal government, under
which they would be free to control federal education funding and use it however state
leaders believe would improve student achievement and assist disadvantaged students. In
exchange, states would maintain performance transparency by measuring student achievement
through state-directed assessments.
The DeMint-Cornyn plan has three important benefits.

First, the amount of tax-dollars wasted on administrative costs and bureaucratic paperwork
would be greatly reduced. More ftunding would be available for productive purposes, such as
increasing resources in the classroom.
Second, states and local communities could innovate and try new approaches to improve
student learning.
Some states could try improving educational opporttunities with policies that introduce
competition into public education through school choice or performance pay for teachers;
other communities may decide to pay teachers more or create new early education programs.
Since transparency would be maintained, communities could learn what approaches work best.
Third, the Cornyn-DeMint plan would put an end to the idea thmt politicians and
bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. hmve a one-size-fits-all solution that will fix all our
educational problems. Instead, this plan would shift the responsibility for improving
American education back to where it belongs -- among parents, teachers, school leaders,
and !oca! representatives.
The coming reauthorization of No Child Left Behind offers Congress and the American people
an opportul~ty to rethink the federal government’s role in education.
One thing should be clear by now: continuing down the same path isn’t the answer.
This is the first of a two-part series responding to the education ideas outlined in the
State of the Union Address.
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Nonresponsi
January 25, 2007 6:31 AM
Neale, Rebecca; Terrell, Julie; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs,
Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Kuzmich, Holly;, La Force,
Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private-Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich,
Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L;
Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey;, Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Bush Proposes Adding Private School Vouchers to ’No Child’ Law (WP)
Bush Proposes Adding Private School Vouchers to ’No Child’ Law By Amit R. Paley Washington
Post Staff Writer Thursday, January 25, 2007; AI6
The Bush administration yesterday unveiled an education plan that would allow poor
students at chronically failing public schools to use federal vouchers to attend private
and religious schools, angering Democrats who vowed to fight the measure.
The private school vouchers, which on average would be worth $4,000, were among a series
of proposals presented yesterday thmt President Bush hopes will be included in the
reauthorization of his signmture education initiative, No Child Left Behind.
In a conference call with reporters, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the
initiatives were necessary to help students in the nation’s 1,800 most persistently under-
performing schools.
"How do we answer the question: What do we do for kids trapped in schools that continue to
under-perform?"
she said. "Is the promise of No Child Left Behind real?"
Democrats in Congress assailed the plan -- which also would allow low-performing schools
to override union contracts or become charter schools despite state laws limiting their
creation -- and expressed concern that the politically chmrged proposals could delay the
reauthorization, which is scheduled for this year.
"Ideological proposals like private school vouchers and attacks on collective-bargaining
agreements won’t help this reauthorization move forward on shared, bipartisan goals," said
Sen. E~ard M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee.
The plan also includes measures that enjoy bipartisan support. It addresses one of the
most persistent criticisms of No Child Left Behind: that schools that meet state testing
goals overall but fail in a small category must provide all students in the school with
free tutoring or the option to transfer to another school. Under the president’s proposal,
only students in the categories that failed would receive those options.
The initiative also would hold schools accountable for test scores in science starting in
2008 (the current program holds schools accountable only in reading and math). It also
would for the first time require states to publicize their performance on a national test
that states are already required to administer.
Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers
union, attacked the administration’s proposal to al!ow some school administrators to
override labor contracts to push out bad teachers and attract better ones.
"The No Child Left Behind law was designed to close the achievement gap, not to strip
collective-bargaining agreements," he said.
The president’s plan also would allow mayors to take over chronically failing schools and
for those schools to transform themselves into charter schools, even if that would violate
a state law capping the number of charter schools.
It was the private school voucher proposal, modeled on a plan implemented in the District
in 2004, that seemed to anger some Democrats. The program in the Distict provides $7,500
vouchers, kno~Tn in the administration as scholarships, to about 1,800 students, from
kindergartners to high schoo! seniors, attending 58 private schools.
"We h~ve seen that the sky doesn’t fall when kids go to private schools with public
money," said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, who was briefed
on the plan in advance by ~~hite House staff. "So school choice is not nearly as scary as
some congressmen have led us to believe."
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, called
the voucher proposal a "bad idea" that was urlikely to gain traction in Congress. "Private
school vouchers, ~hich would divert taxpayer dollars away from public schools that need
them, have been regected in the past and nothing has changed to make them acceptable
now, " he said in a statement.
Spellings insisted that the administration will try to push through even those proposals
likely to face stiff resistance in Congress. "I plan to fight hard for the whole kit and
caboodle," she said.
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............................. kat’nerin e-mclane[: I
January 25, 2007 6:29 AM
Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich,
Subject: Bush proposal revives private-school vouchers (USAT)
Bush proposal revives private-school vouchers Posted 1/24/2007 8:39 PM ET By ®reg Toppo,
USA TODAY On the heels of the State of the Union address, the Bush administration unveiled
its education wish list Wednesdmy. It proposes more leeway for administrators to move good
teachers into poorly performing schools and would provide a $4,000 check for students who
would rather leave the p<~lic system for private school.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings released the 15-page plan as Congress gears up for
hearings on reauthorizing President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law. Hearings could come
as early as spring; the law expires this year.
Under the plan, school districts would be required for the first time to send parents a
"report card" showing how students do both on state skills tests and on a more rigorous
r~tional test. In many states, the majority of students meet state standards but not
national requirements.
The move could force schools to toughen course~ork in math and reading.
Among other proposals, the plan would:
¯Allow students with poor skills to get federally funded tutoring earlier, even if a
schoo! isn’t required to offer it to al! students.
¯ Give schools more flexibility with federal money. For instance, money intended for safety
programs could be spent on reading or teacher training.
¯Allow a more generous measure of student progress, giving credit for year-to-year gains
even if children don’t meet rising benchmarks.
A controversial proposal would allow supervisors to move talented teachers to struggling
schools even if a union’s collective bargaining agreement forbids it.
The law now prohibits such moves if they conflict with union contracts. Spellings says the
plan is a too! "to get these best people in the neediest campuses."
Edward McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, says the union "would
oppose any federa! intervention’ in !ocal contracts. The move may not get better teachers
into struggling schools but could drive good teachers out, he says. "This is a whole area
where we need thoughtful study rather than people setting up straw men and knocking them
do~rn."
The proposal to allow students in persistently failing schools to use about $4,000 in
federal money to attend a school of their choice faces steep odds. Congress has killed
similar plans in Bush’s budget each year since 2001.
Sen. E~¢ard Kennedy, D-~ss., who chairs the Senate education committee, says he’ll look
closely at the administration’s ideas: "I am sure there will be areas of agreement." But,
he says, "I am disappointed that the administration has once again proposed siphoning
crucial resources from our public schools -- already reeling from increased requirements
and budget cuts -- for a private school voucher program."
Spellings says she’ll "fight hard" for the vouchers and the rest of the plan.
"I see this as a very vigorous package of proposals that are sound and make sense when
they are taken together," she told reporters Wednesday.
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[Nonresponsj
............................. k~lh~i-irie-m ~i-ane[ .......................... I
January 19, 2007 7:47 PM
Neale, Rebecca; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Conklin, Kristin; Oldham, Cheryl; Beaton,
Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Pdvate - Spellings,
Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner,
Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Government Settles Student Loan Case (AP)
2nd write thru

Government Settles Student Loan Case
- By NANCY ZUCKERBROD, AP Education Writer Fridmy, January 19, 2007
(01-19) 16:02 BST WASH~GTON, (AP) --
The Bush administration announced a settlement Fridmy with a leading student loan company
accused of overbilling the government by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Under the deal, the Education Department said any future payments the company, Nelnet, has
pending from the agency for subsidies on student loans will go through a review process to
determine what the proper amounts should be.
Nelnet spokesman Ben Kiser said the company isn’t expecting to go through such a review,
because, the company does not expect to continue to bill the government at a special, high
rate.
The settlement fol!ows an audit by the Education Department’s inspector general last
September which said failure to change Nelnet’s billing practices could lead to the
company receiving more thmn $800 million in overpayments.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings rejected the inspector genera!’s recommendmtion

that the department should seek to recover past overpayments. The audit estimated that
Nelnet has been improperly paid more than $278 million by the government.
Recovering past payments could be precedent setting, Sara ~rtinez Tucker, under secretary
for higher education issues, told reporters during a conference call.
She said federal officials did not want to set a precedent that could put small nonprofit
lenders out of business.
"This decision was reached in the best interests of taxpayers and students as well as the
integrity of the federa! student loan programs," Tucker said in a statement.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate committee overseeing education issues,
criticized the settlement for not requiring the recovery of past payments.
"The administration should have settled for nothing less than the full recovery of
Nelnet’s ill-gotten proceeds from these !oans," said Kennedy, D-l~ss.
Nelnet Chairman and co-CEO Mike Dunlap issued a statement saying the company disagreed
with the inspector general’s audit but was "pleased to have reached a resolution that
allows us to avoid costly litigation."
The audit by the inspector general’s office found that Nelnet has improperly sought and
received an artificially high rate of return on many of its loans.
The rate -- a 9.5 percent guaranteed return-- was put in place in the 1980s when interest
rates were high.
At the time, Congress guaranteed lenders the 9.5 percent return on student loans financed
by tax-exempt bonds. When interest rates later declined, the old guaranteed rate stayed in
effect, funneling billions of federal dollars to lenders.
Congress ended the 9.5 percent guarantee in 1993, but Nelnet found ways to keep getting
that rate of return, according to the federal audit. Nelnet used payments it received from
pre-1993 loans to make new loans and then claimed the old 9.5 percent guarantee. It did
that over and over again, a practice referred to as !oan recycling, according to the
audit.
The inspector genera!’s report said the company created a special project in 2003 -- when
interest rates hit a low point -- to increase the amount of loans receiving the special
rate, in violation of the law and department regulations.
The company disputes that it made money off ineligible loans and says it informed
Education Department officials of its recycling practice. The federa! audit said, however,
that Nelnet left out key information, including that its practice would lead to an
increase in loans getting the old guaranteed rate of return.
Nelnet officials have said the company followed the department’s guidance and that any
!oans billed at the higher rate were fully eligible.
As part of Friday’s settlement, the Education Department also plans to review future
payments to other lenders to ensure that those seeking the 9.5 percent rate of return are
eligible to receive it.
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.._N_°nresp°ns~
b e ............................. .........................
January 17, 2007 6:19 AM
]
Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren;
Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara;
Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara
Martinez
Subject: California at odds with feds over No Child Lef[ Behind law (AP)
California at odds with feds over No Child Left Behind law JULIET WILLIA#~S Associated
Press SACPJk~ENTO - California education officials are battling the U.S. Department of
Education over provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, hoping Congress
considers their complaints as it evaluates the five-year-old landmark education reform
law.
At the heart of the dispute is disagreement over how best to measure student performance.
California says its incremental system is best for the state and wants to keep it. Federal
officials say California must use another method to fol!ow the law.
The California Department of Education also wants to delay the federal law’s deadline to
h~ve all students reading and doing math at grade leve! by 2014.
Officials also seek leniency on provisions related to those learning English, who make up
nearly half the state’s 6 million public schoo! students.
They plan to resubmit a previously re3ected plan to help all California students meet the
target, even as they concede their proposa! has little chance of being approved.
"Whmt we want is the federal goverriment to give credence to states that have well-
established accountability systems in place that existed before NCLB," said Pat McCabe,
director of policy and evaluation for the California Department of Education.
The federal-state feud revolves around California’s method of measuring student

achievement, kno~Tn as the Academic Performance Index. It rewards schools for making
progress toward achievement over time, even when they don’t meet the overall yearly
targets and even when some groups of students remain far below others.
That model is more fair to schools than the federal measurement, the annual yearly
progress toward achievement goals, McCabe said.
He said the California model rewards schools that start out as very low achievers rather
than holding all schools to the same standard. Department of Education officials also
believe the 2014 deadline is too ambitious, he said.
"Of course we’re trying to (meet it), that’s our goal," McCabe said. "Do I think it will
happen? No."
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings hms been flexible on some of the law’s
deadlines, such as its requirement to have all teachers fully qualified by 2006. ~d while
she has said she is open to new ways of measuring achievement, she has identified a few
principles the administration will not alter. ~ong them is the 2014 goal.
"It’s written into the law," department spokesman Chad Colby said.
No Child Left Behind had bipartisan support when it went to Bush in 2002, designed to
force schools to improve student testing, boost teacher quality and pay more attention to
the achievements of minorities. It has been championed by President Bush, who is pushing
for reauthorization.
But some states continue to tussle with federal officials over how the law is applied,
especially regarding sanctions for failing schools.
Page 54
Schools that receive federal aid but do not make enough progress must provide tutoring,
offer public school choice to students and their parents or initiate other reforms thmt
can include an overhaul of their staffs.
More than half California’s public schools, about 6,000, receive federal poverty money for
basic instruction.
Last year, more than a third of those were considered to be failing and were subgect to
some form of sanctions.
One of the law’s chief goals is to c!ose the achievement gap between black, Hispanic and
poor students and their white and Asian peers. In California, those student subgroups lag
on nearly all performance measures from elementary through high school.
As part of California’s efforts to eliminate that gap, Superintendent of Public

Instruction Jack O’Connell announced last week that he is creating a new branch of the
education department that wil! encourage successful schools to share tips with other
schools.
The state wants to "devise its o~n corrective actions"

for failing schools, the state said in its application to the U.S. Department of
Education.
McCabe and other state officials don’t expect their plan to gain acceptance now. Instead,
they hope to illustrate to lawmmkers in Washington what’s wrong with No Child Left Behind.
"It is our two cents about what we think should be reconsidered," said Hilary McLean, a
spokeswoman for O’Com_nell.
Without flexibility, the state would have to completely rewrite its system of standards,
which it touts as among the toughest in the nmtion, she said.
Some states have weakened their standards in response to the law to avoid the consequences
that arise when schools miss annual targets. Under No Child Left Behind, student
performance is 9udged against state expectations, rather than a national standard.
"We do want to keep engaging with the federal government to inform their thinking, but
we’re not prepared to undo our standards or our assessments,"
McLean said.
Bush met last week with Democratic congressional leaders, who generally support the law’s
aims but say it has been underfunded by about $56 billion. Among them was Rep. George
~ller, a California Democrat who took over as chairman of the House Committee on
Education and Labor this month after Democrats won control of Congress.
Miller also was an author of the No Child bill.
A Democratic aide to the committee said last week that California’s achievement system is
fundamentally different from the federal law’s measurement because it allows schools to be
rated as extremely successful even as achievement gaps widen between racial groups.
The aide, who spoke on background because she was not authorized to speak to the media,
said schools should not be al!owed to claim annual yearly progress if al! children aren’t
doing better.
California’s resistance to some parts of the federal law may ultimately prove futile.
Jack Jennings, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Education Policy, a

nonpartisan group that surveys all states, said a magor overhau! of No Child’s mandates is
unlikely.
"The basic concepts of the law are becoming elements of American education," he said.
"What many educators want are changes in the accountability provisions, changes in the
penalties, more funding. But in a way the debate is over because the basic concepts have
been accepted."
Page 55
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Page 56
INonresponsi!
January 16, 2007 6:32 AM
Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson;
Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi;
rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young,
Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Democrats Aim To Cut Student Loan Interest (AP)
"Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in an Associated Press interview this week
she would prefer that Congress increase Pell grants, which go to the poorest students and
do not have to be paid back. "
Democrats Aim To Cut Student Loan Interest Associated Press

POSTED: 6:09 pm EST January 15, 2007
UPDATED: 6:15 pm EST January 15, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Following up on an election-year promise, House Democrats said Friday they
plan quick action to lower interest rates for student loans.
Their proposa!, scheduled for a vote next week, would out interest rates on some student
loans in half.
However, the college tuition plan h~s been scaled back since it was first touted on the
campaign trail last year.
The interest rate relief would apply only to need-based loans and doesn’t help people who
take out unsubsidized student loans -- a distinction not made in the campaign literature
Democrats handed out before winning control of Congress last fall. The measure also
abandons a pledge to reduce rates for parents who take out loans to help with their kids’
college costs.
The rate cut for subsidized student loans -- from 6.8 to 3.4 percent -- would be phased in
over five years.
The measure would cost ~ust under $6 billion, according to the Congressiona! Budget
Office.
"This legislation will be a vita! first step toward helping !ower college costs for
millions of !ow- and middle-income students, while keeping our promises to taxpayers to
mmintain responsible spending," said Rep.
George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the committee overseeing education issues. Me
introduced the bill and said the House would vote on it Wednesday.
To avoid increasing the deficit, the bill’s cost would be offset by trimming subsidies the
government gives lenders and reducing the guaranteed return banks get when students
default. Banks also would have to pay more in fees.
Tom Joyce, a spokesman for lending giant Sallie ~e, said such cuts could impact the
services and benefits students receive.
"We do not oppose an interest-rate reduction," Joyce said. "But if the goal is to try to
get a low-income or middle-income student into a seat, we’d better be careful of the law
of unintended consequences."
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in an Associated Press interview this week she
would prefer that Congress increase Pell grants, which go to the poorest students and do
not hmve to be paid back.
~other Democratic campaign promise was to raise the maximum Pell award from $4,050 to
$5,i00. Miller said lawmakers wil! get to that.
An estimated 5.5 million students receive subsidized loans.
A typica! borrower with a $13,800 subsidized student !oan debt would pay about $22,100 in
interest and principal over 15 years at the existing rate. When cut to 3.4 percent, that
same borrower would pay $17,700
-- or about $4,400 less -- over the same period, according to Luke Swarthout, who !obbies
on higher education issues for U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Republican leaders pushed a budget bil! through Congress last session that cut $12 billion
from the student !oan programs. Democrats and student groups argued the money should have
been preserved to help cover college costs rather than redirected toward other priorities.
California Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, the top Republican on the House Committee on
Education and Labor, criticized Democrats for moving the interest-rate bill without first
holding hearings to see if it is the best approach.
"This bill, impacting the largest entitlement program within ottr committee’s ~urisdiction,
Page 57
has not been vetted by a single committee hearing, has not been part of a bipartisan
conversation of any sort," McKeon said.
In the Senate, Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy heads the committee overseeing
education issues. He said he wants broad legislation addressing the interest-rate cut and
other proposals.
The bill is H.R. 5.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. Al! rights reserved. This materia! may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Page 58
~lonresponsi!
January 16, 2007 6:16 AM
J
Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly;, La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren;
Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara;
Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara
Martinez
Subject: No Child Left Behind needs work at 5 years (MST)
[Nonresponsive
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Last update: January 15, 2007 - 7:42 PM
Editorial: No Child Left Behind needs work at 5 years Changes needed to make federal
education rules effective.
In marking the fifth am_niversary of No Child Left Behind last week, President Bush and his
education department pronounced that the plan is working.
Patting all involved on the back, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said NCLB has
done a good job of inproving education for all students.
Yet many teachers, parents and students rightfully don’t buy thmt rosy assessment. As the
ll0th Congress considers renewing the federal education rules, some major changes must be
made.
One of the basic problems with NCLB is that establishing a system to identify and report
struggling students is not the same as actually doing something to help them. The federal
program is great on issuing penalties and punishments, but not so good at fol!owing
through with support. And many of its detailed provisions have proven to be unrealistic
and unreasonable.
NCLB promised parents their children would get tutoring if a school continued to fail
them, but did not fol!ow through with support for the tutoring. The law said students
could shift to a more successful schoo!, but neglected to give !ocal districts the
resources for the moves. Matching mandates with money must be a feature of the
reauthorized law.
As a 2004 Minnesota legislative auditor’s study said, NCLB rules are "costly, unrealistic
and punitive." The report said state schools would have to spend millions more (beyond
federal funding) on additiona! tests, tutoring, transportation and teacher quality
adjustments.
Because details of the law were not well thought out from the start, some of the best
schools in the nation have been labeled "failing." Excellent programs were found not to
make "adequate yearly progress" because a handful of students were absent on test day or
because English learners weren’t given enough time to master materia! in their second
language.
Another problem is that extensive testing requirements take snapshots of student

performance instead of measuring progress. Comparing the test scores of this year’s
eighth-graders to last year’s doesn’t measure the grade-to-grade improvement of individual
kids.
And the federal goverrnnent must design ways to make meaningful comparisons of student
performance state to state. NCLB rules call for all states to develop their o~Tn tests and
standards. Therefore, some states have lower standards to appear more successful on test
score reports.
The spirit and intent of "No Cl~ld" continue to be worthwhile. But its best goals cannot
be reached unless the law is modified.
Page 59
@2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
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Page 60
Nonrespons
............................. kath~iirie-m-c/anet ........................... t
January 12, 2007 6:37 AM
Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Private - Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara;
Martinez
Subject: N. Phila. school hailed byfeds (PI)
N. Phila. school hailed by feds
By MENSAH M. DE~!~
Philadelphia Inquirer
deanm@philllrnews, corn 215-854 -5 949
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings stopped by yesterday morning at a North
Philadelphia school, in a neighborhood where drug dealers are a regular fixture and where
nearly all the students qualify for free lunch, to congratulate the 416 students and
faculty.
"The eyes of the nation are on you and your good work... Bravo[" Spellings said during her
visit to M.
H~ll Stanton Elementary.
Spellings was in town to mark the fifth anniversary of the federal No Child Left Behind
law amd the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
She visited Stanton, !6th Street near Huntingdon, because the school, led by Principal
Barbara Adderley, is embracing and meeting the mandates of the federal law like few
others.
From the auditorium stage Spellings noted - as Adderley and schools chief Paul Vallas
listened - Stanton’s impressive progress since the inception of the law, which calls for
al! students to read and do math on grade leve! by 2014.
In reading, the school’s third- and fifth-graders went from 12.2 percent scoring at the
advanced or proficient levels on the state’s exams in 2002 to 65.5 percent this year.
In math, 76.6 percent of students scored at advanced or proficient levels, compared to the
20.7 percent who did in 2002.
Those numbers, Spellings said, shatter myths held by some people that students from inner-
city schools cannot learn.
"I reject that, Barbara Adderley rejects that. Thmt is why she got the award," Spellings
said, alluding to a national award the school received this fal! in Washington for its
successful academic strategies.
Adderley said that stressing reading and writing in al! subjects and the constant
gathering and studying of student data have been keys to her school’s success.
And instead of cramming for state tests, she said, students are taught throughout the year
the subject matter on which they are tested.
"No Child Left Behind has made us all more accountable," said Adderley, who has led the
kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school for six years.
"It’s made us all know that we must be accountable for every child."
During yesterday’s ceremony some of Stanton’s top sixth-graders received star treatment.
Rmfik Johnson, 11, received a trophy for attaining a perfect score on the state math exam
last year, and Malik Walker, 11, got a trophy for general academic excellence.
Kaitlyn Lindsay, !1, received the Bronze President’s Volunteer Service Award for her work
Page 61
at the Clara Baldwin Nursing Facility.
President Bush is lobbying Congress to renew No Child Left Behind, which mandates that al!
teachers be "highly qualified" and which requires failing schools to provide students with
private tutoring and transfers to better schools.
Vallas said he supports the law, but believes its m~ndates should come with more federa!
funding. Since the law’s inception, the percentage of highly qualified Philadelphia
district teachers has risen to
92 percent, about a i0 percent increase said, Tomas Hanna, senior vice president for Human
Resources.
~out 750 teachers have been terminated for failing to reach the goal in time, he said.
Any questions? Get answers on any topic at ~.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now.

Page 62
Nonresponsi!
............................. .........................
January 12, 2007 6:32 AM
To" Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara;
Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy;, Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara
Martinez
Subject: Score rigging may lead to tutors (PI)
Score rigging mmy lead to tutors

The U.S. secretary of education said she would look into waivers for Camden students.
By Kristen A. Graham
Inquirer Staff Writer
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, visiting Philadelphia yesterdmy, said she
would investigate whether students affected by rigged test scores in two Camden elementary
schools should get waivers for tutoring.
New Jersey has refused to invalidmte the rigged 2005 scores at H.B. Wilson and U.S.
Wiggins Schools, which could have helped with eligibility for tutoring reserved for
failing schools. State officials have said federa! regulations have kept them from
providing tutoring to the affected students.
During the 2004-05 school year, 97 percent of Wiggins’
fourth graders achieved proficiency in language arts, and 98 percent were proficient in
mmth.
The next year, as fifth graders, those same students achieved 56 percent proficient in
language arts, and
62 percent proficient in math.
Spellings, in an interview, said she was not aware of the Camden cheating scandal or that
the state had determined the 2005 scores stemmed from "adult interference." When told, she
said she would take action.
"Let me go investigate that - I’m not familiar with that," she said. "I’ll find out the
specifics of where the waiver request is."
"We ought to take a tough stance toward that - cheating shouldn’t be tolerated. We
shouldn’t tolerate it from kids, and we shouldn’t tolerate it from groom-ups," she said.
Still, Spellings stood by the department’s earlier position that it’s up to states to look
for cheating if they so choose.
"On the whole and in the main it is the rare exception. Educators are honorable people,
and I don’t see much of that," Spellings said.
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Page 63
INonresponsi !
(b)(~)om:
January 11,2007 8:36 AM
]
Sent:
Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell;
Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Panel urges collegians to focus on liberal arts (USAT)
Panel urges collegians to focus on liberal arts Updated 1/10/2007 8:01 PM ET By Mary Beth
~rklein, USA TODAY A panel of national higher education and business leaders issued a
roadmap Wednesday for reforming higher education, arguing that college graduates must be
able to do more than equip themselves for their first job.
Rmther, it says in a report, "In an economy fueled by innovation, the capabilities
deve!oped through a libera! education have become ~erica’s most valuable economic asset."
The report identifies four "essential learning outcomes," grounded primarily in the
liberal arts, that graduates should possess. They are: a broad base of knowledge across
multiple disciplines; intellectual and practical skills such as teamwork and problem-
solving; a sense of persona! and social responsibility, including ethical reasoning; and
experience applying what they learn to real-world problems.
The report was released as part of a lO-year initiative by a non-profit group that
promotes the libera! arts -- the Washington-based Association of ~erican Colleges and
Universities. It is the work of a 33-member panel, convened by the association, whose
members include business, labor, philanthropy and policy leaders, along with educators
representing a range of colleges and universities.
Employers appear to support the recommendations. In a poll released with the report, 69%
of employers said combining broad knowledge with more in-depth focus is "very important;"
63% said "too many recent gradumtes do not have the skills to be successfu! in today’s
global economy."
"We need more than ~ust the technica! skills," says panel member Wayne Johnson, a vice
president at Hewlett-Packard. "The thing we often see missing (in new hires) is the
ability to use the right side of their brain, the creative part."
The report also presses for more than an economic payoff for students. "We’re preparing
them to be citizens," said association president Caro! Geary Schneider. "The quality of
learning, not the possession of a diploma, will determine whether the next generation can
keep our economy and democracy strong."
The pane! does not spell out (nor can it mandate) what colleges should do, but it
recommends an interactive, integrated approach so that students are active learners and
their skills are developed throughout their college experience, whether at a community
college, research university or libera! arts school.
It also identifies practices, including first-year programs, writing-intensive courses,

undergraduate research, service learning and internships, that have been sho~rn to be
successful in engaging students.
Schneider says the report complements the work of a higher-education commission created
last year by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, which addressed issues of
accessibility, affordability and accountability. It recommended a number of reforms,
including efforts to keep tuition down and simplify financial aid, better monitor student
progress and assess how much students are learning.
Wednesday’s report also "moves beyond" the commission’s work, Schneider says. The
commission urged colleges "to take responsibility for significant learning outcomes," she
says, "but never said what those ... outcomes would be."
Page 64
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Page 65
INonresponsl
January 11,2007 8:32 AM
Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly;, La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren;
Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Fairfax vs. ’No Child’ Standoff Heats Up (WP)
Fairfax vs. ’No Child’ Standoff Heats Up County to Protest Mandate on English Tests for
Immigrants By Maria Clod Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, January ii, 2007; A01
Teenagers from Uzbekistan, Korea and Egypt huddled one recent morning in a Fairfax County
classroom, studying English words on slips of paper. Dozens were familiar, but not
"bitter," "nibble" or "wicked." Felobateer Hana, 13, held up another. An animated movie
character came to mind: "Shrek?"
"Thmt’s a good guess, but Shrek doesn’t have an ’i’ in it," said teacher Karyn Niles at
Liberty 9~ddle School in Clifton. "This is ’shriek.’ Shriek is kind of like yelling."
Students such as Felobateer and his eighth-grade classmates, all recent iminigrants who are
learning English as a second language, are at the center of an intensifying dispute
between Virginia schools and the U.S. Department of Education over testing requirements
under the federa! No Child Left Behind law.
Fairfax County school officials are protesting a federal mandate to give most English
learners reading tests that mirror those taken by their native-speaking peers. Tonight,
the school system is taking a mm~or step toward challenging that mandate and the federa!
law.
School board member Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner (Providence), backed by other members

and school administrators, plans to propose a resolution that would authorize officials to
refuse to give immigrant students tests that they think most would fail.
The resolution could come to a vote as soon as Jan.

25. If it passes, several Fairfax schools probably will fal! short of federal academic
standmrds.
"When it comes between doing what’s educationally sound for children and doing what’s best
for bureaucrats, I’m siding with children every day of the week," said school board Member
Stuart D. Gibson (Hunter Mill).
School officials in Arlington and Harrisonburg are considering a similar step.
As Congress prepares to debate renewal of the five-year-old federal law, controversy has
emerged over how to measure the progress of children learning English. The federal
government objected last year to the way Virginia and 17 other states test limited-English
students. Often, federal officials indicated, the state tests for such students were not
demanding enough. They said that al! students in a given state must be held to the same
standards.
"It’s important students enrolled in our schools are properly assessed, and that includes
limited-English-proficient students," Chad Colby, an Education Department spokesman, said
yesterday. "With testing, we have more data. So policymakers and educators at every level
will have more information to make sure students who need more help get it."
One of the 17 states that drew a federal objection was Te~{as, home state of President
Bush. Another was New York, which has asked federal officials to waive test scores for
certain students who are recent immigrants.
Testing programs for English learners in Maryland and the District have withstood federal
scrutiny.
Page 66
Fairfax is well positioned to challenge the law because of its record of high academic
achievement, said Wa!rne E. Wright, professor of bicultural and bilingual studies at the
University of Texas in San Antonio.
"The feds are saying, ’If you say an English language learner cannot meet state standards,
you blve low expectations,’ " Wright said. "The classroom teachers are saying, ’The
federal government has completely unrealistic expectations.’ "
Until now, Virginia hms given English learners a specialized proficiency test to measure
progress in reading. Many Virginia educators say that children who lack mastery of the
language aren’t prepared for grade-level exams that may include questions about similes,
metaphors or analogies. They say it can take three or more years of school to reach that
level.
Federal law requires testing every year in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and once
in high school.
The government exempts students who have been in a U.S. school for less than a year from
taking standard grade-level reading tests.
But after one year, the students are supposed to enter the testing mainstream. Federal
officials say that students with limited English skills may be given special assistance,
such as a bilingua! dictionary or more time on a test.
But many local educators say the federal standard is too lofty for students just beginning
to understand the nuances of English. The Virginia Board of Education has asked federal
officials for permission to use the old, specialized test this spring, giving the state a
year to design new tests aligned with state standards. Virginia’s congressional delegation
is lobbying Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to grant the request. Colby said
Spellings has not made a decision. Fairfax officials support the one-year deferral, saying
that it would be the best solution.
~bout 10,200 Virginia students are affected by the testing dispute, state officials said.
About 4,000 are in Fairfax, which has the largest school system in the state and the
Washington region.
At Liberty Middle School, Niles said her class shows why grade-level tests would stump
mmny recent immigrants. She said that her students are making rapid progress but are still
learning to decipher sounds and rules of English.
This week, the class was reading "The Enormous Crocodile," learning about character, plot
and theme through a fourth-grade text. Other eighth-graders who are native English
speakers were studying John Steinbeck’s "The Pear!." Niles predicted that many of her
students would be overwhelmed by passages in the standard state reading test.
"They’d shut down," she said. "They’ll just put their heads down."
Under the resolution, English learners will continue to take proficiency tests, and the
Fairfax district will report the results. Fairfax Superintendent Jack D. Dale is urging
principals and teachers to focus on Virginia standards and county goals and not worry
about the threat of federal sanctions.
"It’s time for us to describe what are the cft~lity parts about the law and what needs to
be altered to make sense," Dale said.
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Page 67
Nonresponsive!
Private- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Ten*ell;
Subject: Obstacles, opportunities for No Child (DMN)
Obstacles, opportunities for No Child

Bush, Congress must keep factions in check to secure deal
09:13 AM CST on Tuesdmy, January 9, 2007 William McKenzie, Dallas Morning News Columnist
If by this time next year, Congress and the 9~lite House have not worked out a compromise
on their top education bill, the No Child Left Behind Act, you will know that the left and
right have prevailed. In truth, there’s enough interest in the middle to get a new and
better model passed by year’s end.
From President Bush to Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep.

George Hiller, the Democrats’ education leaders, key people up and down Perznsylvania
Avenue want this bill renewed now that its five-year life is ending. You could see that
yesterdmy when these people gathered at the White House to celebrate its anniversary.
But here are the problems:
-There is uncertainty about the quid pro quo the GOP administration and Democratic
Congress must strike.
This could be where the left kills the deal.
¯ It’s also unclear how much support Mr. Bush has among his o~rn people. This could be where
conservatives undermine things.
¯ .~knd there’s a procedural problem. Two education bills stand in line ahead of No Child.
Bills governing Head Start and overseeing federal aid to higher education have been stuck
for a while.
Surely, Congress realizes those bills don’t rival the importance of No Child, which is
crucial to students’
progress. By focusing on their performance, the law has sparked a vigorous discussion
about how well schools serve students, particularly !ow-income children. It also has
highlighted a gap between affluent and poor schools.
"NCLB put the gap on the map," Amy Wilkins of the respected Education Trust told me last
week.
The quid pro quo part will be difficult. Some Democrats will want big money to fund the
bil!, just as they did when No Child was written.
There’s little chance money will flow like a river since domestic dollars compete against
9/11 responses, foreign wars and budget rules that require legislators to pay for any
spending hike.
And whatever new cash there is must go into areas that matter. For example, extra dollars
could attract better teachers to inner-city schools and reward them for enlisting there
and teaching tough classes like mmth and science. They also deserve bonuses if their
evaluations show they’ve improved a struggling school.
Here’s another idea: Money could benefit programs that keep middle schoolers and early
high schoolers from dropping out. Eighth and ninth grades are where we start losing kids.
However, schools should only get more money in return for states being required to test
high school students each year. Today, No Child demands only tt~t states test kids in
Page 68
grades 3 through 8. If the goal is more college-ready kids, says Sandy Kress, who
negotiated the first No Child bill for Mr. Bush, then we need to know if they are ready.
Here’s a third area: Give states cash to create databases that allow their schools to know
how a child is doing year to year. Ms. Wilkins says states lack that ability, which also
would help schools evaluate teachers.
I don’t know how much each area needs, but they could form the basis of a deal.
Now, here’s the White House part of the exchange. It must cough up real funds, not simply
shift money from vocationml education into these or other efforts.
This could be a problem because some in the White House reportedly fret that more money
for No Child will anger conservatives frustrated about Bush-era spending. Hey, education,
we’ve done that already, some might think. Peanuts are enough.
I have little doubt Mr. Bush - and Education Secretary ]~argaret Spellings - wants to see
No Child expanded.
Education has been his passion since he was governor.
P~nd as one Texas Republican told me last week, this bill is his domestic legacy. Me can’t
let it fall apart.
What he must do is keep up the pressure; if not, a combination of Iraq worries, budget
pressures and staff hesitancy could slow things down.
This is more than some political scuffle. We need this bill to keep the pressure on
schools so students can become creative thinkers and sustain our way of life.
And if that doesn’t get Washington’s attention, I don’t know what will.
William McKenzie is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. His e-mail address is
~Tmckenzie@dallasnews.com.
~y questions? Get answers on any topic at w~.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now.

Page 69
I.N_onrespons
(b)( ~eOo~: .............................
January 10, .........................
2007 6:28 AM
Subject: As NCLB Turns 5, Washington Outlines Ways to Change It (EDWEEK)
As NCLB Turns 5, Washington Outlines Ways to Change It By David J. Hoff and Lynn Olson
Washington The fifth anniversary of the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act hmd more
to do with its future than its past.
In a series of events across Washington on Jan. 8, Bush administration officials and
lawmakers started to outline their ideas of how to revise the law, addressing the need to
improve teacher quality, find ways to turn around struggling schools, and establish
challenging standards that define what students should know and be able to do.
At a White House meeting, President Bush met with the leaders of Congress’ education
committees, covering all of those issues and others, including whether the law has
adequate funding behind it.
"We K~de our case that the legislation clearly needs additional resources to be
successful," Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Education and Labor
Committee, said in a news conference after the White House meeting. "I do not believe we
can accomplish [reauthorization] without additional funding."
Earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings outlined several
important changes she and others in the Bush administration want Congress to make as it
revisits the law, which is scheduled to be reauthorized this year.
Ms. Spellings said the law has been successful in spawning academic improvements in
elementary schools, and said she would like to see its emphasis on testing and
accountability extended further into high schools.
The law currently requires states to assess students in grades 3-8 and at least once in
high school.
"We need more accountability, more measurement," she said in a speech at the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce’s headquarters. "We need to broaden our accountability with additional
subjects. It’s absolutely critical that we focus on high schools this year."
National Standards
Also on Monday, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., the second-ranking majority member on
the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and a potential presidential
contender, and Rep. Vernon J.
Ehlers, R-Mich., introduced a bill thmt would provide incentives for states to adopt
voluntary national education standards in mathematics and science, to be developed by the
governing board for the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
A few days earlier, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-I~ss., the new chairman of that co~m~ittee,
introduced a bill that would encourage states to benchmark their om-n standards and tests
to N~P, often kno~,~n as the "nation’s report card," but would stop short of developing
national education standards. Both bills would give states incentives to increase the
rigor of their standards, rather than mmndate national standards. Secretary Spellings said
she would support efforts such as Sen. Kennedy’s that would provide states with incentives
to independently adopt challenging standards.
"’Any time there’s a carrot approach as opposed to a stick for raising the bar, that will
be well received," Ms. Spe!lings said at the White House news conference.
Earlier in the day, in a speech commemorating the law’s anniversary, she said she would
not support anything that would give her or her agency control over the content of such
standmrds. "I’m not sure people want me to be the person setting standards for their
schools," she said.
Vol. 26, Issue Web only
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Page 71
Nonresponsive!
............................. kathetiiiem-ci-ane~- .......................... j
January 10, 2007 6:25 AM
Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Subject: New Bills Would Prod States to Take National View on Standards (EDWEEK)
Published: Janumry 9, 2007

New Bills Would Prod States to Take National View on Standards By Lynn Olson Washington As
Congress moves to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act as early as this year, at least
one topic will be high on the list: increasing the rigor of state standmrds and tests by
linking them to those set at the nationa! level.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-~ss., the new chmirman of the Senate education committee,
introduced a bill late last week that would encourage states to benchmark their o~-~
standards and tests to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often kno~ as the
"nation’s report card," but would stop short of calling for the development of national
standards.
~d on Monday, Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, the committee’s second-ranking
Democrat and a potential presidentia! contender, introduced a bipartisan bill with Rep.
Vernon J. Ehlers, R-Mich., thmt would go a step further by providing incentives for states
to adopt voluntary "American education content standards" in m~thematics and science, to
be developed by the governing board for NAEP.
About 40 organizations have endorsed the Dodd-Ehlers bill, including such Washington-based
groups as the National Education Association, the Thomas B. Eordham Foundation, the
Alli~ce for Excellent Education, and the Council of the Great City Schools. The sponsors
have ~ust begun circulating the bill on Capitol Hill in an attempt to gain additional
congression~l sponsors.
Studies over the past year have found that, in many states, a far higher percentage of
students score at the proficient level on state tests than on NAEP.
That’s led to concerns that states’ standards and tests may not be stringent enough, and
that pressure to meet achievement targets under the NCLB law may be having the perverse
incentive of encouraging states to lower their standards.
"Core American standards would set high goals for all students, al!ow for meaningful
comparisons across states, and ensure that all of our students are prepared for higher
education," Sen. Dodd said at an event held here Monday to unvei! his bil!. Creating
incentives for states to adopt such standards voluntarily is the way to go, he stressed,
emphasizing "there are no mandates here."
Incentives for States
The Dodd-Ehlers bil!, the Standards to Provide Educational Achievement for all Kids, or
SPEAK Act, would require the Nationa! Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for
~EP, to create voluntary national education standards in math and science for grades K-12
and ensure that they are internmtionally competitive. States could compete for grants of
up to
$4 million each to adopt the math and science standards as the core of their o~Tn state
content standards.
States that won the awards would have to align their state tests in math and science with
the standmrds and with NAEP achievement levels in those subjects. They also ~ould have to
align teacher licensure, preparation, and professional-development requirements with the
new standards.
As a further incentive to adopt the voluntary national standards, the bill would permit
the U.S. secretary of education to extend the 2014 deadline for states to get all students
to the proficient level on state reading and math tests under the NCLB law by up to fotm
years. In addition, states that fulfilled the grant requirements would be eligible for
additional bonus grants, equal to 5 percent of their Title I allocation under the federal
law, to develop data systems that can track individual student performance over time.
U.S. Secretary of Education Mmrgaret Spellings has indicated, however, that she has no
interest in shifting the 2014 deadline for al! students to reach proficiency under the
federal law.
The bill introduced by Sen. Kem_nedy would stop short of advocating voluntary national
education standards, but instead would use N.~P as a national benchmark.
That bill, the States Using Collaboration and Coordination to Enhance Standards for
Page 72
Students, or SUCCESS Act, would require that NAEP revise its standards and tests to ensure
that they are internationally competitive.
At the 12th grade level, NAEP also would have to incorporate measures of whether students
are prepared for college, the military, and the workforce. The bil! would require the U.S.
secretary of education to analyze gaps in student performance on state and NAEP tests and
to identify those states with the most sigr~ificant discrepancies. States could ask the
governing board for NAEP to help analyze state standards and tests compared with the N~P
benchmarks and devise a plan to c!ose any gaps.
Sen. Kennedy’s bill also would provide $200 million for state grants to establish P-16
Preparedness Councils that would engage members of the education, business, and military
communities in aligning state standards mith the skills needed for success in college and
the workplace. And it would provide up to
$75 million for state consortia to establish common standards and tests that are rigorous,
internationally competitive, and aligned with postsecondary demands.
’An Inexorable March’?
"The country is on an inexorable march toward national education standards," said Michael
Dannenberg, the director of the education policy program at the Washington-based New
America Foundation. "The question is no longer if, but when and how."
At the Monday event, which was co-sponsored by New .~kmerica Foundation, Sen. Dodd played
down differences between the two bills, saying that there are a variety of bills focused
on raising education standards "is very encouraging."
But he argued that his legislation would go further in changing the status quo. 9~ile the
bill focuses on math and science standards as more politically feasible, he added, he’d
support voluntary national standards in other subgects over time.
Sen. Kennedy’s office also downplayed any differences between the two pieces of
legislation. "As today’s economy redefines the knowledge and skills needed to compete in
the global marketplace, it’s crucial now more than ever for our schools to challenge al!
students to learn to high standards," Mr. Kennedy said in an e-mail.
But ~mdrew J. Rotherham, the president of the Washington-based think tank Education
Sector, and a former domestic policy adviser in the Clinton White House, cautioned that
the Dodd bil! would have a "tough row to hoe" on Capitol Hill. "When you get outside some
policy elites, who are big on this, you don’t see a real groundswell of support" for
national standards, he said.
Noting that NAEP is still "incredibly contentious," he also questioned whether relying on
NAGB to do the work is the best way to go. "I’m much more partia! to letting the states do
this from the bottom up," he said. "I think you’re more likely to get that substantive
buy- in. "
"All that said," Mr. Rotherham added, "today was symbolically important in terms of
national standards."
"That you’ve got a bill from a guy who’s thim_king seriously about runming for president,"
he said, referring to Sen. Dodd," all substance aside, it was an important sigr~l, and we
shouldn’t lose sight of that."
The Dodd-Ehlers bil! also would require NAEP to test science, in addition to reading and
math, in grades 4, 8, and 12 every two years and require states receiving school
improvement funds under the NCLB law to participate in such tests for students in grades 4
and 8, beginr~ing with the 2007-08 school year.
Associate Editor David J. Hoff contributed to this report.
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Page 73
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January 10, 2007 6:13 AM
Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrell;
Subject: Bush to Start NCLB Push in Congress (EDWEEK)
Published: January I0, 2007

Bush to Start NCLB Push in Congress
President, Spellings signal delay is not inevitable.
By David J. Hoff
~{aking college more affordable, raising the minimum wage, and other domestic items were at
the top of Democrats’ agenda when they formally took control on Capito! Hill last week.
President Bush, meanwhile, made olear that another item was near the top of his list:
reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act.
To mark the fifth anniversary of his signing the measure into law on Jan. 8, the president
invited leading members of the new ll0th Congress to the White House to discuss his goal
of revising the law on schedule by the end of the year.
"It’s a very high priority," Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in an
interview last week.
"We’ve come a long way in five years. We’re in a place where we need to build on the core
principles of the law and go to the next level."
The possibility that the NCLB reauthorization wil! emerge as a top-tier issue this year
upset the conventional wisdom in Washington that tackling the law would be too time-
consuming and politically difficult in 2007, let alone during the presidential-campaign
season next year.
Senators gather in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S.

Capitol for a caucus before the Democrats take control last week.
--Win McNamee/Getty Images
In a December survey of 12 Washington lobbyists and think tank researchers, all but one
said they did not expect Congress to pass changes to the law until 2009, the Thomms B.
Fordhm!n Foundation reported last week.
Even with Mr. Bush’s active involvement, it would be difficult to push an NCLB bill
through Congress this year, said Michael J. Petrilli, the vice president of national
programs and policy for the Washington-based think tank.
"It’s still unlikely because the calendar is so challenging," he said. To meet the
deadline, "they have to be putting pen to paper immediately," said Mr.
Petrilli, who served in the Department of Education during President Bush’s first term.
A prominent Washington policy expert not surveyed by the Fordh~m Foundation said that
Congress is unlikely to finish the reauthorization because it has other things to
accomplish, and it doesn’t have firm answers on how to fix problems in the law.
~’I don’t see any rush to reauthorize," said Jack Jennings, a former aide to House
Democrats who is now the president of the Center on Education Policy, a Washington
research and advocacy group that has been tracking the law’s impact.
Now or Later
But officials at the local level expressed optimism that Congress will solve the problems
that states and districts are having in complying with the la~, which requires schools and
districts to meet ambitious achievement goals and holds them accountable for failing to
reach them.
"There are a lot of things ... that need to be fixed,"
said Ellen C. Guiney, the executive director of the Boston Plan for Excellence in the
Public Schools, a group working to improve the city’s schools.
For example, the law gives states the authority to take over schools that fail to make
annual acadenzic goals. But it doesn’t say whether states have the power to ignore teacher
collective-bargaining agreements while doing so. If a state tries to do so, it is likely
to face a legal challenge from teachers’
unions.
"Do you [answer the question] in the courts, or do you do it by getting clarity in the
statute?" said Ms.
Page 74
Guiney, a former aide to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Under the NCLB law, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, funding
authority for Title I and other programs in the statute expires on Oct. 1 of this year.
Although that date is written into law, Congress has routinely extended such deadlines for
the ESEA and other laws.
New Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is greeted by Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.,
as the ll0th Congress convenes on Jan. 4.
--Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
When Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate in the midterm elections,
they said they would pursue a long list of domestic priorities they had emphasized during
the campaign. In education, those plans included lowering student-loan interest rates and
creating new tax breaks for college-tuition costs. On Jan. 17, the House is scheduled to
consider a bill to cut student-loan interest rates in half by 2011.
The Democratic agenda also encompasses improving access to health care, raising the
minimum wage, and other issues outside of education.
But the two most powerful lawmakers on education matters have said that the NCLB law is on
their lists for action. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the new chairman of the House
Education and Labor Committee, said last month that renewal of the law was a "very, very
high priority." (His committee has reverted to its longtime name after being called
"Education and the Workforce" under the Republican majority.) In a post-election speech on
the Senate floor, Sen.
Kennedy, now the chairman of his chamber’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Committee, listed several labor and health-care bills before mentioning the NCLB
reauthorization as part of his agenda.
Even while other issues may take priority, Rep. Miller and Sen. Kennedy are laying the
groundwork for the reauthorization process.
Rep. Miller plans to hold hearings that will address critical issues facing the MCLB law,
according to a House aide familiar with the plans. Those include how to measure students’
academic gro~h in determining whether schools and districts are making adequate yearly
progress, or AYP, how to recruit the "highly qualified" teachers required under the law,
and how to improve states’ reporting of graduation rates, the aide said.
In the Senate, Mr. Kennedy hopes to begin NCLB hearings next month, said Melissa Wagoner,
a spokeswoman for the education committee.
In his speech to the Senate, the senator’s main goal for the reauthorization of the law
will be to give struggling schools help in meeting their AYP targets.
The aid could include financial and other incentives for highly qualified teachers to stay
in such schools, as wel! as professional development on how to address students’ failure
to meet proficiency goals.
Also in the speech, Sen. Kennedy said he wants to ensure that states set challenging
academic standards and improve the quality of schoo! assessments.
Room for Compromise
In the interview last week, Secretary Spellings said that the Bush administration wants
Congress to address issues such as using "’growth models" in calculating students’ academic
progress, expanding access to school choice and tutoring, and improving assessment of
special education students and English-language learners.
But she said the administration is steadfast in principles that are the "heart and soul"
of the law.
Those include the goal that all students be proficient in reading and mathematics by the
end of the 2013-14 school year, and that schools annually test students in grades 3-8 and
once in high school to determine whether their students are making progress toward meeting
that goal.
The administration is also committed, she said, to ensuring that test-score data continue
to be broken down by ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic subgroups.
"’Those things are sound, true, and righteous," Ms.
Spellings said.
But exactly how to accomplish those objectives wil! likely be the subject of intense
debate.
Last week, the Eorum on Educational Accountability, a coalition of i00 education, civil
rights, and religious groups, recommended changes to the law that would cross some of
those principles. The forum said it wants to "’replace the law’s arbitrary proficiency
targets with ambitious achievement targets based on rates of success actually achieved by
the most effective public schools."
The member groups include the National Education Association, the National School Boards
Association, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The
recommendations show how hard it will be to build consensus around the NCLB law even
Page 75
though President Bush, Rep. Miller, and Sen. Kennedy all support the underlying
principles, said Mr. Petrilli of the Fordham Foundation.
Democrats wil! have to assuage groups such as the NEA, the N~ACP, and others traditionally
aligned with them.
The Republicans will have a similar dilemma getting support from conservative groups that
believe the law gives too much authority to the federal government, Mr. Petrilli said.
"They’re going to have to deal with the anger on the right and on the left,’" he said.
To enmct a rene~a! of the No Child Left Behind law or any other major bills, Democrats
will need President Bush’s support and possibly help from Republicans in Congress.
As House leaders move quickly to pass legislation to raise the minimum wage and cut
student-loan rates, they may be spoiling their chmnces of bipartisan cooperation later,
said one Democrat with long public policy experience.
"’The Democrats are making a tactical mistake. There’s a lot to be said for this fast
start--it projects energy--but they’re passing up a chmnce to practice working with the
Republicans," said Alice M. Rivlin, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a
Washington think tank, who was the director of the White House Office of Management and
Budget under President Clinton.
"They can’t do any big piece of legislation, any expensive piece of legislation without
working" in a bipartisan way, she said.
Staff Writer Alyson Klein contributed to this report.
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Page 76
Nonresponsi
............................. k~me~e-m-dan~ .......................... J
January 08, 2007 6:12 AM
Subject: Dan Lips: Bush left too many good education ideas behind (WE)
Dan Lips: Bush left too many good education ideas behind Dan Lips, The Examiner Read more
by Dan Lips Jan 8, 2007 3:00 AM (3 hrs ago) Current rank: # 167 of 12,072 articles
WASHINGTON - Five years ago, President Bush signed into law No Child Left Behind. As a new
Congress prepares to debate the law’s future, the White House is working to build support
for renewing it without any serious reforms. Last week, Education Secretary ~rgaret
Spellings remarked that she was looking only at proposals to "perfect or tweak" it.
But the Bush administration’s satisfaction with No Child Left Behind is surprising because
the President’s original education agenda ~s very different from today’s law. President
Bush once advocated limiting federal power in education. During the 2000 campaign, he
pledged that he did not want to be "federal superintendent of schools" or the "national
principal." He promised not to "tinker with the machinery of the federal role in
education" but to "redefine that role entirely."
After entering the White House, Bush unveiled the original No Child Left Behind plan. One
of this plan’s main pillars was to give states and school districts control in exchange
for strong accountability. "The federal government must be wise enough to give states and
school districts more authority and freedom," the White House explained. "~d it must be
strong enough to require proven performance in return."
The president proposed a "charter state" option for "state and districts committed to
accountability and reform." This would have allowed participating states and districts to
enter into five-year agreements with the secretary of education to free them from federal
mandates while still requiring public school to be transparent about results through
student testing and extensive public reporting.
Yet Congress scrapped much of President Bush’s original plan. The 1,!00-page bill that
emerged established new federal requirements and boosted fL~ding for elementary and
secondary education programs by approximately 26 percent. All that remained of the
"charter state" option was a smmll provision to grant states and school districts limited
flexibility in transferring funds between existing federal programs. Little was done to
cut masteful programs or streamline the expensive education bureaucracy.
The federal government still provides only 8.5 percent of education funding. No Child Left
Behind, however, gave the Department of Education great powers to exert control over local
schools. Policies once left to local leaders, concerning student testing and teacher
qualifications, are now set by the federal government.
This new federal power comes at a large cost to local school districts, beyond the loss of
control.
.According to the Office of Management and Budget, No Child Left Behind costs state and
local communities an additionml 6,688,814 hours, or $140 million, to fill out paperwork
and ensure compliance. Thousands of state and local workers across the country spend their
days on this task, instead of teaching students or otherwise contributing to their
education.
The increase in federal power has led states and school districts to question whether the
federal government’s funding for education is worth the cost of submitting to federal
mandates. Many state legislatures t~mve debated resolutions criticizing No Child Left
Behind. Some states like Utah have even come close to opting out of the program
altogether.
But doing so would cost the state millions in federal funding, and taxpayers sending their
money to Washington expect to get some of it back for education.
Page 77
The Bush administration has responded to state and loca! revolts with waivers and some
flexibility, on a case-by-case basis. Getting a waiver is a tug-of-war match between the
Department of Education and local leaders, and they do little, anyway, to empower state
and local education officials to take real control over education decision-making.
In 2007, Democrats and Republicans alike should recognize the benefits of state and local
control in education. Letting states enter into a "charter agreement" with the federal
government for greater freedom and flexibility would spur progress in education.
State leaders and local school leaders, not federal bureaucrats, would be responsible for
improving student learning. And communities across the country would experiment with
different policies, share results, and learn which solutions work best, from school choice
to higher teacher pay.
The llOth Congress has the opportunity to set a new course for .~merican education.
Restoring state and local control should be its destination.
Dan Lips is education analyst at the Heritage Foundation, ~.Heritage.org.
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Page 78
~Nonresponsiv
............................. I<atherin e-m-el-an e-[ .........................
January 08, 2007 5:47 AM
Subject: Report card mixed on education law (GNS)
Report card mixed on education law
Ledyard King
Gannett News Service
Washington -- Cecilia Hedina of Denver loves the free tutoring her daughter receives as a
result of the No Child Left Behind Act. Teacher Debra Kadon is angry the law’s focus on
testing has turned her Green Bay, Wis., middle school classroom into an assembly line.
Five years after President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law, passions
about its impact run high.
The controversial law changed the climate of public schooling in the United States by
requiring that states not only measure whether all students are learning the basics but
also punish those schools whose kids aren’t.
Students are being tested on math and reading in most grades, states are using those test
scores to flag thousands of schools for poor performance each year, and low-income parents
are finding an unprecedented opportunity to ship their children to better schools or take
advantage of free tutoring.
"Last year, it really helped with the reading," Medina said about the after-school help
her elementary school-age daughter gets at no charge.
That’s the kind of success U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is expected to tout
today as she addresses the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about the law’s impact.
But there are plenty of doubters as well who say the law’s heavy emphasis on testing has
squeezed out time for the arts, physical education and other elements of schooling that
capture children’s interest and keep them in class. The Nationml Education Association,
the country’s largest teachers union and a critic of the law, issued a report Sunday
filled with lamentations from teachers.
"The joy of teaching and learning is being sucked out of our schools," wrote Kadon, a
middle school teacher.
"Children are being forced to endure endless hours of rote skill practice at the expense
of higher-level thinking projects (and) activities."
The law requires states to test students in third through eighth grade in math and English
and once in high schoo!. Schools make "adequate yearly progress"
not only if they do well overall, but also if every student subgroup (blacks, whites,
disabled students, non-English speakers, etc.) in every grade either scores above a level
set by the state or shows steady progress from the previous year.
~bout a quarter of the nation’s 90,000-plus public schools failed to make AYP in 2004-05,
according to the U.S. Department of Education.
High-poverty schools that miss improving even one group for multiple years must give
parents the opportunity to transfer to another school or provide free tutoring beyond the
school day. After five consecutive years, they must restructure by closing the schoo!,
replacing the staff or undertaking some other major step.
Critics, including the National School Boards Association, say helping schools -- not
punishing them -- is far more effective.
Page 79
The law expires next year, so Congress will spend the next few months deciding what
changes to make.
With Democrats now in control of Capitol Hill, congressional leaders are promising to find
more money so states can implement the requirements more quickly.
Since 2002, lawmakers have provided states with nearly
$56 billion less tb~n what was authorized under the law.
The law also requires schools to have "highly qualified" teachers in every classroom and
that states draw up standards so schools with a high crime rate can be identified and
helped. All students also must be proficient in math and English by 2014 under the law.
But while it requires student proficiency, qumlified teachers and safe schools, it allows
states to define those standards. That’s been a big failing in the law, said Philadelphia
Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas, who would like to see more national standards.
Still, he likes the law.
"It’s forced cities to take greater responsibility for their individual schools," said
Vallas, who once ran the Chicago schoo! system. "And it’s forced schools to be more
innovative about finding ways to improve student performance -- even when not having
enough resources."
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Page 80
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January 08, 2007 5:25 AM

Toner, Jana; Mcni[t, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
How Bush education law has changed our schools (USAT)
How Bush education law has chmnged our schoolsUpdmted

1/8/2007 1:26 AM ET
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
The ~Talls are speaking these days at Stanton Elementary School in Philadelphia, and
they’re talking about test scores.
Post-It notes with children’s rmkmes tell the story of how, in ~ust five years, a federal
law with a funny name has changed schoo! for everyone. "We spend most of our days talking
about or looking at data,"
principal Barbara Adderley says.
Test scores run her week.
She meets with kindergarten teachers on Monday, first-grade teachers on Tuesday and so on.
The meetings begin with a !ook at each teacher’s "assessment wall," filled with color-
coded Post-Its representing each pupi! and whether he or she is mmking steady progress in
basic skills. Once students master a skill, the Post-Its move up the wall.
"If they don’t move, then we have to talk about what’s happening," Adderley says.
Wl~at’s driving the talk? President Bush’s landmark education law, dubbed No Child Left
Behind.
A cornerstone of Bush’s domestic agenda and one of his few truly bipartisan successes, it
took what was once a fairly low-key funding vehicle (it was known as the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act before Bush borrowed the catchy name from the Children’s Defense
Fund) and turned it into a vast -- and contentious -- book of federal mandates.
At its simplest, the law aims to improve the basic skills of the nation’s public school
children, particularly poor and minority students.
At Stanton, it seems to hmve made a difference. In 2003, fewer than two in I0 kids here
met state reading standards; by 2005, ~out seven in i0 did.
The law turns 5 years old today.
It faces a tough future as Congress prepares to reauthorize it -- a group of i00

education, religion and civil rights leaders today am_nounces an effort calling for
changes."
Is it improving education nationwide? It’s too early to tell --many schools didn’t get
around to enacting most of its more than 1,000 pages of regulations until two or three
years ago. U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings says the law wasn’t being fully
implemented in all 50 states until 2006.
But one thing is certain: No Child Left Behind has had a magor influence on the daily
experience of school for millions of kids. Here are five big ways it’s changing schools.
It’s driving teachers crazy
Here’s a pretty safe rule of thumb: Start £n the classroom and travel up the educational
food chain.
The further you travel, the more you’ll find that people like the law. Mention it to most
teachers and they’ll ~ust rol! their eyes. Many principals tolerate it. Ask a local
Page 81
superintendent, a state superintendent or a governor and the assessment gets rosier as
their suit gets more expensive.
Carmen Mel@ndez quit her job as a bilingual language arts teacher at an elementary school
last spring in Orange County, Fla., after the law prompted her principal to institute 90-
minute reading blocks and a scripted curriculum -- in the process making individualized
instruction impossible. Mel@ndez also found that she couldn’t teach poetry anymore.
"It was insane," she says. "The kids were all jaded.
They were tired-- they hated schoo!."
Most of the frustration, teachers will tell you, comes from the stress of mmndated math
and reading tests.
The law requires thmt virtually al! children be tested each year starting in third grade
-- and it doles out grov~ng penalties if schools don’t raise scores each year. Naturally,
test day in most schools is fraught with tension.
"They’re 8 years old, and they’re so worried about a passing score," Mel@ndez says. "I
think that’s inhumane."
Dianne Campbel!, director of testing and accountability in Rockingham County, N.C., told
the ~merican School Board Journal in 2003 that administrators discard as many as 20 test
booklets on exam days because children vomit on them.
Also, many state rating systems (which often predated No Child Left Behind) now end up
celebrating the same schools the federal law slams.
Longstreet Elementary School in Daytona Beach, Fla., has scored high on the state ratings
for five years, but Longstreet is one of 21 Volusia County schools due for "corrective
action" this year under the law.
"Our parents are thrilled at what happens at our school -- and a lot of what happens at
our school has nothing to do with No Child Left Behind," says counse!or Bill Archer.
Jack Jennings of the Center on Education Policy, a Washington education research group,
says some of the testing actually helps drive better instructional strategies and, in that
respect, is helpful. But he says teachers tell him they’re overwhelmed by the sheer volume
of testing, which can last six weeks in some schools.
"I don’t think you can go into a teacher meeting in the country without somebody bringing
up No Child Left Behind," he says.
After five years, the law has even spawned an online petition that, as of Sunday, had
about 22,500 signatures of people urging Congress to repeal it.
Along with his signature, teacher Mark Quig-Martman of Vallejo, Calif., said: "I am well
on my way to becoming an embittered and mediocre teacher who heretofore considered
teaching to be a profession, not a job. I once loved wh~t I did. I do not now, nor do my
students; school has become a rather grim and joyless place for al!."
Teachers’ unions have often been the law’s loudest critics. One top National Education
~sociation official even entertained the NEA’s 2004 conference in Washington by appearing
onstage with an acoustic glLitar and singing a protest song with this unforgettable hook:
"If we have to test their butts off, there’ll be no child’s behind left."
And if you think it’s just teachers who complain, think again: 2006 saw even the law’s
most ardent supporters complaining, but for a very different
reason: They say states and school districts game the sqIstem by lowering their standards.
Because the law allows each state to set its o~rn pass/fail bar on skills tests,
"proficient" means something different depending on which state you live in. The
percentage of Missouri fourth-graders at or above "proficient" in English is only 35%, but
89% of Mississippi fourth-graders meet that state’s standards. In math, only 39% of Maine
fourth-graders are proficient or better; in North Carolina, 92% are.
Philadelphia Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas jokes that to really improve scores in his
2
Page 82
city, he could make classes smaller and modernize buildings. "Or we can give everyone the
Illinois test," he says.
It’s narrowing what many schools teach
If nothing else, the law’s first five years h~ve proved the maxim "What gets tested gets
taught."
The law’s annual testing requirements in math and reading have led many schools to pt~p up
the amount of time they spend teaching these two staples -- often at the expense of other
subjects, such as history, art or science.
Jennings found that 71% of districts are reducing time on other subjects in elementary
school.
"What we’re getting under (the law) is a very strong emphasis on building skills at the
expense of history and literature and science," says researcher Thomas Toch of the
Education Sector, a Washington think tank.
Other critics say the law has created a "complexity gap." Children in lower grades have
mmde improvements -- some impressive m in basic skills, but the improvements vanish in
middle school and beyond, when kids are tested on more complex conceptu~l thinking.
Brown University researcher Hmrtin West this fall compared federal data from 2000 and
2004, and found that since No Child Left Behind, elementary schools have spent, on
average, 23 fewer minutes a week on science and 17 fewer minutes on history. He also found
that in states that test history and science each spring, teachers spend about half an
hour more a week on each subject.
He also found, oddly, that after a large jump in the 1990s, schools actually spend a few
minutes less a week on math -- but they stil! spend more than twice as much time on math
than on either history or science.
And they spend more than twice as much time on reading and language as on math.
"Schools really do respond to the incentives that are provided to them," West says. "That
places a huge premium on getting the incentives correct."
But he and others aren’t quite ready to say the law is dumbing down school.
Researcher Jane Hannaway of the Urban Institute theorizes that improved reading skills may
help children understand other topics, even if they’re spending less class time on them.
She recently looked at Texas fourth-graders’

standardized test scores and found that they had some of the nation’s highest ~rks in
science -- even though they don’t tackle science until fifth grade. One possible theory?
The children in Texas were simply able to read the test questions better.
’Invisible’ students get attention
Even opponents of No Child Left Behind grudgingly concede that, five years out, the law
has revolutionized how schools look at poor, minority and disabled children in big cities,
who often find themselves struggling academically. It forces schools to !ook at test score
dmta in a whole new light, breaking out the scores into 35 or more "subgroups."
If even one group fails to make "Adequate Yearly Progress," or AYP, in a year, the whole
school is labeled as "in need of improvement."
Perhaps most significant, the law has given a handfu! of big-city superintendents the
politica! leverage to make radical changes m they can now make the case thmt "federal
requirements" m~ke them necessary.
In Philadelphia, public schools CEO Paul Vallas invoked the law when, in one school year,
2002-0S, he replaced all of the city’s elementary and middle schoo! math and language arts
textbooks and hired Kaplan, the test-prep company, to write a standardized core
curriculum.
Page 83
He pumped up full-day kindergarten and preschoo! -- Philly students are now 50% more
likely to have attended preschool than before the law -- and instituted extended-day math
and reading programs for struggling students. "No Child Left Behind gave us the cover to
do it," he says.
In the past three years, he also has dismissed 750 teachers who didn’t meet minimum
standards the law put in place.
"We would have never been able to do that without the federal (Sword of) Damocles hanging
over our head, " he says.
Superintendents in New York City, Chicago, San Diego and elsewhere have made similar --
and sometimes bigger -- changes under the cover of No Child Left Behind.
Spellings says the law has had similar effects nationwide. "It has built an appetite to
pay attention to kids who have been overlooked previously," she says.
A few observers, such as Mike Petrilli, a former top Bush administration official, say the
law has been felt most keenly by suburban school districts, where for years low achievers
weren’t a priority because high-achieving kids could bring up the district average.
Petrilli, who now works for the Fordham Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank,
says the idea of breaking out poor and minority kids’ scores was "really revolutionary" in
most suburbs.
It has prompted many suburban districts in places such as Montclair, N.J.; Shaker Heights,
Ohio; and Evanston, Ill., to form a co-op that shares ways to help once-neglected minority
kids.
"There’s general agreement that (the law) has created more of a sense of urgency," says
education blogger and Virginia State Board of Education member Andrew Rotherham.
that looks like in individual schools varies, but in many, "urgency" is not pretty.
"It really has brought the Hounds of Hell dom-n on the schools of Prince William County,"
says Betsie Fobes, a recently retired eighth-grade algebra and pre-algebra teacher at
Parkside Middle School in Manassas, Va. "This AYP business is just killing us --
absolutely killing us."
Parkside, which has seen a large Latino influx, didn’t meet its goals two years in a row
-- so now teachers must attend twice-weekly meetings, often focused on testing. They’ve
built in a tutorial period, and even secretaries do their share of tutoring.
"The entire school is revolving pretty much around these kids who fit into these
subgroups," Fobes says.
It’s making the school day longer
If a restaurant takes 12 eggs and makes a lousy omelette, will adding another two eggs
make it better?
If a school can’t teach a child to read in seven hours, will eight do the trick?
Under No Child Left Behind, the answer is: Probably yes.
The law requires schools that don’t make adequate yearly progress to offer free transfers
to a better-performing public school.
If results don’t improve the next year, the school must begin offering free after-school
tutoring -- in many cases with classes taught by the school’s own teachers with whom the
kids were failing during the school day.
William Bennett, Ronald Reagan’s education secretary, invoked the egg metaphor, and as it
turns out, a lot of families -- and teachers -- are willing to try the omelette. In the
Page 84
2004-05 school year, 1.4 million students were eligible for the tutoring, and about 17%
took a@vantage of it.
Spellings says the tutoring is often provided by different teachers from the ones a kid
sees during the regular day. Perhmps more important, she says, the law is forcing large
districts such as Los Angeles to figure out how to keep kids from needing tutoring in the
first place.
"They’re ... sitting there thinking, ’9~at the heck? How can we have so many kids who can’t
get to grade level in the course of the school day? What needs to happen in the school day
different?’ "
It’s changing how reading is taught
Forget everything else No Child Left Behind stands for. If it does nothing else, advocates
say, it will have improved poor kids’ reading in unprecedented ways. A few say it already
has.
The law gives schools $1 billion a year to spend on reading and focuses it, laser-like, on
5,600 schools that serve the nation’s poorest 1.8 million kids. It starts with kids as
soon as they enter school and, so far, has trained 103,000 teachers on "scientifically
base~’ reading strategies heavy in phonics, step-by-step lessons and practice, practice,
practice.
.And because many schools build their reading programs around what primary grades do, it
could affect millions more students’ reading skills.
How could it fail? Easily, say critics such as Susan Ohmnian. She points to overly
scripted reading curricula and a curious little reading test called DIBELS, which makes it
easy to rate children’s reading skills, in part by asking them to look at nonsense words;
it then rates them on their ability to read the words aloud--very quickly.
"I have never seen anything like this," says Ohanian, a former New York teacher who blogs
about education in general and No Child Left Behind in particular. She bemoans the loss of
teacher autonomy and says DIBELS is one of its worst symptoms.
"I don’t dispute that it’s quick and easy and it’s a tool -- and if you just used it that
way, I probably wouldn’t have a problem with it," she says. But she
adds: "They’re using DIBELS to hold kids back in kindergarten. And that’s where it becomes
really evil.
Some kids are just not ready for that skills stuff."
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]
January 04, 2007 6:30 AM
’To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Subject: ’No Child’ Law on Track, Spellings Says (WP)
’No Child’ Law on Track, Spellings Says

By A m it R. Baley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 4, 2007; AIO
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said yesterday that she welcomed proposals to
"perfect and tweak" the No Child Left Behind law as Congress prepares for what could
become a divisive debate on renewal of the landmark education initiative.
But in an interview five days before the act’s fifth anniversary, Spellings said its
implementation was on track. She rejected calls for a major re%~ite of the law, including
some proposals advanced yesterday by a coalition of about i00 groups with a stake in
education.
"We’ve made more progress in the last five years than the previous 28 years," Spellings
said. "Can the law be improved? Should we build on what we’ve done and all of that sort of
thing? You bet. But I don’t hear people saying: ’You know what? We really don’t need to
have education for all students.’ "
Her remarks come as various groups begin to weigh in on the law and what they believe
works and what does not. The No Child Left Behind law is scheduled to be reauthorized by
Congress, but it is uncertain when lawmakers will act.
The Forum on Educational Accountability -- a coalition that includes education, religious,

civi! rights and disability rights groups -- said yesterday that the law overemphasizes
standardized tests and arbitrary academic targets. The coalition also criticized penalties
the law imposes on schools that fail to meet standards.
"We don’t have to throw out the whole law and make a big political battle," said Reginald
M Felton, a serior !obbyist for the National School Boards Association, a member of the
coalition. "But we need to change from the punitive, ’gotchai’ kind of approach to actual
support for progress."
The coalition includes the National Parent Teacher Association, the NAACP and the National
Education Association, a teachers union. The coalition has called for more federa!
education funding to help schools meet the law’s mandates.
Spellings said the past five years have laid the foundation for the law’s key goal of
ensuring that every child can read and write at grade level by 2014.
Under the law, states must test al! students in reading and math from grades 3 to 8 and
once in high school. Schools that fail to mmke adequate progress face a range of
penalties.
The Bush administration has granted some states flexibility in how they carry out the law.
For example, North Carolina and Tennessee are experimenting with a way to rate schools
that emphasizes the year-to-year academic growth of students rather than how scores
compare with fixed benchmarks.
"Have we learned something as we’ve made public policy for the last five years that we
ought to act on going forward? Absolutely," Spellings said. "~d I’ve done some of those
things."
She added, "Those are some of the areas that ought to be discussed in the context of
reauthorization."
Page 86
The law, which passed Congress in 2001 with overwhelming bipartisan support, was signed by
President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002.
Yesterday, Spellings lauded the incoming education committee chairmen, Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. George ~ller (D-Calif.), as "stalwarts" who h~ve "stayed very
true to the core principles of this law."
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Page 87
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............................. l~th~ii i-i 0 - m- e1-~n el .... I
danuary 04, 2007 6:23 AM
Toner, dana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Bush to meet with lawmakers to push renewal of No Child Left Behind (AP)
Jan. 4, 2007, 3:33AM

Bush to meet with lammakers to push renewal of No Child Left Behind
By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
Am so ciat ed Press
WASHINGTON -- President Bush plans to meet with lawmakers next week to boost efforts to
renew the No Child Left Behind education law, according to a Democratic congressional
aide.
The top Democrats and Republicans on the Mouse and Senate committees that deal with
education issues planned to attend the White House meeting Monday, the aide said on the
condition of anonymity because the White House had not announced the session.
Monday is also the day the Bush administration is commemorating the fifth anniversary of
what is widely considered the most significant federal education law in decades.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, in an interview with The Associated Press on

Wednesday, said she was optimistic the law would be renewed for five more years. She said
it is a n~tura! issue on which Bush and Democrats, who won control of Congress in
November, can come together.
"It’s on everybody’s list of things where we might forge agreement as we have done
before," she said.
The law seeks to ensure that all children can read and do math at grade level by 2014,
which has placed unprecedented demands on schools. They have been required to step up
testing, raise teacher qt~lity and place more attention on the achievements of minority
children.
Poor schools that get federal aid but do not make enough progress must provide tutoring,
offer public school choice to students or initiate other reforms such as overhauling their
staffs.
Spellings said there were a few "bright-line principles" that the administration would not
agree to alter under a rewrite of the law. Among them is the requirement that all students
are proficient in reading and m~th by 2014 -- a goal many observers call unrealistic.
Spellings said the administration was open to debating how student achievement should be
measured. Critics, including the teachers’ unions, have said the current law does not give
enough credit to schools that make significant strides in student achievement but fall
short of reaching an annual target.
"There is too much punishing going on," said Reg Weaver, president of the Nationa!
Education Association, the largest teachers union in the country. Weaver also called the
law "grossly underfunded."
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-l~ss., and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who are to lead the
committees overseeing education, say the administration has provided about $50 billion
less than originally called for by Congress.
Republicans say it is common practice for legislation to be funded at less than the full
level Congress authorizes.
Page 88
Spellings declined to preview the amount Bush would seek when he releases his annua!
budget in February.
She did indicate an interest in getting more money to teachers who work in schools that
have difficulty attracting people.
Bush sought $500 million from Congress for that purpose last year and got about $i00
million.
"Our best teachers, or are most experienced teachers, are in places with our least
challenged learners,"
Spellings said.
Spellings also reaffirmed the administration’s view that the law, which focuses on early
and middle grades, should be expanded in high schools.
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(b)( ~)om:
:Sent:
............................. ~{-~{1~’] ~ ~- ~" ~l’~i~ ~ {" .........................
January 03, 2007 6:05 AM
]
Subject: When college aid competes ~Mth school reform (SFC)
When college aid competes with schoo! reform

- Bruce Fuller
Tuesdmy, January 2, 2007
San Francisco Chronicle
Romancing swing voters, like other tentative trysts, often yields soft promises, even
broken hearts. Take the college-aid proposals of new House Speaker Nancy Pe!osi, eager to
signal thmt her Democrat-led Congress will sooth the economic angst of middle-class
families, starting with making college more affordable.
Under Pelosi’s tuition tax-credit proposal, the plumpest cash back would actually go to
the richest fifth of America’s parents, those in the 25 percent tax bracket. Truly
middling students -- the average family with a youngster in college earns $63,000 yearly,
according to the College Board -- would benefit little, because their income-tax bills are
comparatively small.
Pelosi’s tandem idea -- shaving the cost of student loans -- would better aid the real
middle class, yet it would !ower monthly payments of recent graduates by just 14 percent
on average, while costing the taxpayers $3 billion annually. And expensive private
universities would be the big winners: fully two-fifths of the $22.2 billion lent to
parents with subsidized loans in 2004 went to the narrow one-fifth of students who attend
private schools, such as Harvard University or Cal Tech.
While symbolically potent, such tinkering with loan rates would not likely alter the
sorting of high-school graduates into community colleges, state universities or
prestigious ivies. College-goers from affluent families are three times more likely to
enter a private college than middle-class students, odds that have failed to improve since
1981, according to a Stanford study.
To widen college access, the Democrats could instead increase the funding for Pell Grants,
concentrating dollars on students least financially able to enter any four-year
institution, including first-generation college-goers. But phasing in this option is
"clearly going to have to be over a period of years," U.S. Rep.
George Miller, D-Martinez, the new House education committee chairman, said last month.
Overall, the newly empowered Democrats are faced with a nettlesome dilemma when it comes
to education
refoz~: offer light dollops of economic relief to swing voters who have drifted from the
GOP, or act to dramatically improve high schools, mmking college a real option for
millions of working-class youths. The latter priority holds less appea! for many suburban
moderates who already benefit from fine public schools.
The political rub for Pelosi’s Congress stems from two point-spreads revealed in the fall
election: college graduates backed Democratic candidates by a 53 percent to 45 percent
margin, the widest advantage since 1982.
Voters under age 30, many with university ties, went Democratic by a huge 60 percent to 38
percent margin.
The equally prickly dilemma is that any serious attack on achievement gaps means a
stronger federal role in raising the quality of high schools, widening the student
pipeline into public universities. This requires taking up -- and revamping -- the No
Child Left Behind Act. President Bush wants to quickly renew his signature domestic
program, signmling his born-again commitment to bipartisanship. Bush’s education
secretary, Margaret Spellings, recently proclaimed "’No Child" an unmitigated success.
Page 90
"It’s like Ivory Soap, it’s 99.9 percent pure," she said.
But upcoming hearings over the federal school reforms are likely to get doom and dirty, a
dusty wrangling with the nation’s governors who complain of Washington’s micro-management
of local schools. The teacher unions, to whom mmny new Democrats in Congress are beholden,
are eager to weaken accountability.
Three recent studies have detailed how "No Child" -- as implemented by the Bush
administration -- hms done little to narrow disparities in learning, despite bipartisan
promises made five years ago. In California, achievement gaps between students from poor
and better-off families have actually widened in middle schools since 2003, presaging an
escalating count of high-school drop outs.
Reading scores have leveled off nationally since the federal act was approved in 2001,
according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. A Gallup Poll last suntmer
showed that among ~mericans familiar with the "No Child" law, 3 in 5 hold sour views of
it.
So, asked when the House will begin its review of "No Child," one aide said, not for
attribution, "Some people say we should wait until 2009," after the presidential election.
Democrats must demonstrate to swing voters how a sustained attack on achievement gaps --
from spav~ning smaller, more engaging high schools to expanding preschools -- will yield a
more productive workforce, fueling growth in middle-class jobs. The nation’s literacy rate
is now in decline, dragged down by youths who acquire few skills in mediocre high schools,
who come to feel little stake in civil society. So, American firms move overseas,
ironically spurring upward mobility for graduates in Bangkok and Bangalore, rather than in
Daly City and Des Moines.
To help raise the quality of irnler-city schools, Miller and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.,
want to reduce loan payments for college graduates who want to teach in urban centers.
This offers a more inventive balance of priorities, making college more affordable for
idealistic graduates who serve the less fortunate.
More deeply, we must rethink what’s motivating about the high-school institution and
what’s not, for adolescents and teachers alike.
lliddle-class ~ericans, worried about economic security and fairness, will applaud the
Democratic pitch to restore six years of Republican cuts in student aid. But costly policy
options that assist children of well-off parents to enter Iv-y League universities will
test the populist rhetoric of the Democrats. It will also reveal how the new Congress
weighs expedient fixes against serious efforts to address inequality.
Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at the University of California, is
author of "Standardized Childhood," (Stanford University Press, February 2007).
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Page 91
January 02, 2007 7:37 AM

Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Simon, Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Ten’ell;
Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey
Subject: U.S. Secretary Of Education Wants To Improve Higher Learning (AltoonaM PA)
U.S. Secretary Of Education Wants To Improve Higher Learning (Altoone~I PA) By Dawn Keller
Altoona Hirror (PA), January 2, 2007 Just like other parents, U.S. education secretary
Iv~rgaret Spellings wonders about her daughter’s future.
"’Where we once were leaders, now other nations educate more of their young adults to more
advanced levels than we do," Spelling told the National Press Clu~ this fall. "And like
m~ny parents, I’m wondering, will my daughter graduate equipped with skills for a career,
or is she going to move back home with me?"
With thoughts like that in mind, Spellings convened a commission to improve higher
education.
"This is an issue that touches us all," Spelling said during the speech. "’Parents,
students and taxpayers pick up the majority of the tab for higher education.
Over the years, we’ve invested tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money and just
hoped for the best.
We deserve better."
Area college officials say Spelling’s plan has some good points. But they also question
some of her suggestions.
Her plan calls for an overhaml of the financial aid system to make funding available to
more students.
"We are very supportive of that," Juniata College President Thomas Kepple said.
College costs nmtionwide have increased over the last several years, Penn State Altoona
Chancellor Lori Bechtel said.
At the same time, opportunities for students to receive federal aid have decreased because
the largest grant program offered by the government has not received additiona! funding
for years, often resulting in graduates leaving college with record levels of debt, she
said.
"The government’s plan to make higher education one of its highest priorities is of vital
importance, since the cost of a college education is an investment in the nation’s
economy," Bechtel said, adding that the U.S. Census Bureau shows that college graduates
mmde an average of $51,554 in 2004, compared with $28,645 for adults with a high school
dip!oma.
Higher education is more important than ever, Spelling said. Ninety percent of the
fastest-growing jobs require post-secondary education, but more than 60 percent of
Americans have no post-secondary credentials.
"As a result, the commission found that more and more adults are heading back to school,"
she told the Association of Community College Trustees in October.
"’And to keep America competitive, we must ensure we have a higher education system that
can meet this increasing demand."
Sister Hary Ann Dillon, president of Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, said the Spellings
Commission Report rightly identifies six major challenges to higher education and that
they are all related.
Reforms are needed to make higher education more accessible, especially for !ower-income
students, she said.
"’One of these is the need to rethink the current financia! aid system, which is
desperately in need of being streamlined," Dillon said.
The process can be intimidating for first-generation college students, which is why Houmt
Aloysius provides educational sessions and personal assistamce for those navigating
through the system, she said.
"’It would be very helpful if high school students and their parents could learn early in
their high school careers what their estimated aid eligibility might be," Dillon said.
"Knowing this would encourage many students to choose high school programs that would
prepare them for college."
In addition to problems with the process, it will be important to increase need-based aid,
Dil!on said.
"Without sufficient aid, many students are forced to work while carrying full academic
Page 92
loads," she said.
"Others take sizzle loans, which are burdensome for years to come."
The report calls for the process to be streamlined and for students to determine aid
eligibility sooner.
During the past 25 years, college tuition for four-year schools has outpaced inflation and
family income m even doubling the cost of health care, Spellings said.
"And as the commission noted, the entire financial aid system is in need of reform,’"
Spellings said. "At the federa! leve!, it’s a maze of 60 Web sites, dozens of toll-free
numbers and 17 different programs."
There’s another part of the plan that Kepple doesn’t think is necessary. It calls for the
government to pull together privacy-protected student-level d~ta to create a higher
education information system. It will include every student class and grade. Forty states
already have a similar system in place.
Kepple said he doesn’t think the government needs to have that type of information about
students.
"’It ~ust doesn’t seem to me that [the federal government] need to be collecting that," he
said.
Another suggestion calls for high schools to prepare students better for college.
Pennsylvania already permits dual enrollment in high school and college.
"I think it’s great," Kepple said. "I hope the state expands it."
Juniata also tries to help prepare students with its Science in Motion program, which
alloms students to learn about science hands-on before they get to college.
St. Francis University spokesman Ross Feltz said the university already has severa!
recommendations in place.
"We are fully engaged in assessment," he said. "We are making St. Francis very accessible
and, thanks to donors, affordable. The marketplace is telling us that because we are
growing in student interest in attending St. Francis and in enrollment.’’
St. Francis concluded a year of involvement by faculty and staff in deve!oping a new
strategic plan, he said.
The plan was approved earlier this month.
Assessing student mastery of all genera! education and academic department/program
objectives is the first goal.
"Deve!oping those assessment tools will be a ma~or focus immediately," he said. "’We were
ahead of the Spellings report on that one."
St. Francis admissions officials begin working with students as early as their sophomore
year of high school, said Erin McCloskey, dean of enrollment mmnagement.
They build a component on education -- what questions to ask, how to start a college
search and what important performance indicators are -- into their presentations and
literature. They do the same with the financial aid process.
"Our goal during the early years is to educate students by giving them the knowledge of
how best to navigate the college search process," she said. "We want students to make the
best choice for them, whether that be SFU or not."
The action plan highlights a number of findings and recommendmtions those in higher
education have been aware of addressing for some time, Bechtel said.
Penn State is actively engaged in assessment activities to document and improve student
learning through the university, she said.
"At Per~n State Altoona, the mm~ority of our academic programs hmve stated outcomes that
dm-ive continued curricular improvements," she said.
Penn State Altoona assesses student learning and engagement through the implementation of
the National Survey of Student Engagement, which is referenced in the Spellings report,
Bechtel said.
The Collegiate Learning Assessment, which also is highlighted in the report, was
implemented this fall across the university, she said.
Mirror Staff Writer Da~Tn Keller is at 949-7030.
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J
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Case),; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Subject: Democrats Promising To Help More Students Afford College (INDYSTAR)
Democrats Promising To Help Hore Students Afford College (INDYSTAR) By Maureen Groppe,
Gannett News Service The Indianmpolis Star, January 2, 2007 WASHINGTON -- Democrats are
championing the politically popular issue of making a college education more affordable,
promising to move on at least three fronts when they take control of Congress next year.
House Democrats say they will immediately cut the interest rate on need-based student
loans then turn to expanding Pell Grants and expanding tax benefits for those paying for
college.
But Rep. George Miller, the California Democrat who wil! tackle the issue as incoming
chairman of the House education committee, noted this month that all the Democratic
priorities would have to be reconciled with the financial reality of budget deficits.
"We’ve been left a very substantia! sea of red ink by the last 12 years and we’ve got to
factor that in,"
Miller said. "But we’re not taking our eye off the goal."
Given budget constraints, however, it’s unclear whether Democrats will concentrate
resources on the poorest students who have the most need or on the more politically
popular middle class, which is also struggling to pay for the ever-increasing cost of a
higher education.
College costs have risen much faster than inflation and median f~tmily income for two
decades. The average cost of tuition and fees for full-time undergraduates in 2003-04 was
$5,400 a year at public four-year institutions and $18,400 at private schools, according
to the most recent figures available from the National Center for Education Statistics.
College affordability is the top issue for young voters and is also popular with those
voters’ baby boomer parents, according to Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. It’s a top
issue, Lake said, because of both the increasing costs and the belief that a college
education is necessary to make it in a changing eoonomy.
The U.S. Department of Education estimates that about 200,000 people annually delay or
forgo college because they can’t afford it.
Cost and affordmbility was one of the main areas focused on by Education Secretary
Mmrgaret Spellings’
recent Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
The commission recommended that the federal government increase Pell Grants so cfumlified
students could pay for 70 percent of the cost of average in-state tuition at a public
institution. The grants, which help the poorest one-third of students, now pay for less
than half the average cost.
"Clearly there’s unanimity amongst students and institutions and advocates for higher
education that Pell Grants are a huge priority," said Luke Swarthout, a higher education
advocate for U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
But F~tie Haycock, director of the nonprofit Education Trust, said she’s concerned that
the lawmakers who emphasized the need to increase college affordability in the recent
campaigns did not tend to talk about Pell Grants.
"That was the fine print," Haycock said. "It was the tuition tax credit and tax deduction
that was front and center."
The federal government offers a range of tax benefits that include allowing taxpayers to
reduce their taxable income or the amount of taxes they owe.
Bob Shireman, executive director of the Project on Student Debt, said tuition tax credits
poll "really, really well" because tax credits don’t sound like government spending even
though they mean fewer taxes will be collected. In the late 1990s, Shireman said, Congress
used a tuition tax credit for the middle class as political cover for increasing Pell
Grants, but that’s when there was money to do both.
Although when I~iller detailed his priorities for the House Education and the Workforce
Committee next year he said his focus is on "strengthening the middle class," he promised
to help make college more affordable for both the poorest students and for the middle
class.
"We’re going to try to do both," he said.
Page 94
But in addition to helping people trying to afford college now, David Hicks, a 37-year-old
program director at an aerospace manufacturing facility in southern Indiana, said he hopes
Congress also considers people like him who are stil! struggling with old debts.
Although his family of four lives in a modest home, has never owned a new car and doesn’t
eat out at Olive Garden on a weekly basis, Hicks said he’s finding it hard to pay off the
$50,000 he borrowed at a 9 percent interest rate to get his bachelor’s degree from Indiana
State University. .And in the not-so-distant future, Hicks also will have to worry about
educating his 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.
"I’m concerned," he said, "about how I’m going to pay for their college."
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Ir
J
( )(~nt:b on~: ............................. kathednemclane~iiDecember 28, 2006 6:16 AM .......................
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey
Subject: Reading, writing & wrangling (USAT)
Reading, writing & wrangling

Updated 12/28/2006 12:36 .~/~ ET E-mail i Save i Print
Subscribe to stories like this
~]nong the top headline-grabbers this year in education
news ;
The Spellings commission: Seeking accountability in higher ed
A commission created by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings urged an overhaul of U.S.

higher education.
Though the final version of its report was not as tough on colleges and universities as
early drafts were, it found fault on a number of counts, from high tuitions to low
gradumtion rates to inadequmte preparation for an ever-evolving globa! economy. Now,
Spellings is !ooking for ways to increase accountability..~ong her more controversial
goals, announced in September: a national c~tabase to track the progress of individual
students. Privacy advocates bristle at the notion, but Spellings says it would help
researchers better gauge how much students actually pay and how long it takes to graduate.
She also vowed to streamline financia! aid, strengthen efforts to align high schoo!
standards with college work, and encourage public reporting of data showing how much
students have learned. The panel also recommended increasing need-based aid, but Spellings
has offered no specifics. In March, she plans a summit to move forward on recommendations.
¯ P~ry Beth Marklein
Testing: SAT puts students through the wringer
A scoring snafu involving the SAT college entrance exam exacerbated the anxieties of more
than 4,000 college-bound students. The error, which was made public in March just as
college admissions officials were preparing to inform applicants of their decisions, was
blamed on excessive moisture on certain scanned answer sheets for tests taken in October.
That explar~tion from test o~er the College Board didn’t mollify many critics, including
students who filed a class-action lawsuit that is still pending. New York state Sen.
Kenneth LaValle now is sponsoring a bill tt~t would create an oversight board to promptly
review problems with ack~issions tests.
Meanwhile, about 730 colleges and universities no longer require SAT or ACT scores for at
least some applicants, says the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, a non-profit
based in Cambridge, P~ss. More than a dozen schools changed their policy this year.
--M. B. M.
Low-income-student programs: Help for needy students inconsistent
Concerned by evidence of a wealth gap in higher education, more schools vowed to cover
costs for low-income students. Princeton started the trend five years ago, when it
guaranteed that low-income students would graduate with no debt. Announcing such plans
this year: the University of Iowa, HIT, North Carolina State, the University of
Pennsylvania, Stanford, Troy University in Alabamm, and the College of William & Mary in
Virginia. Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia said they also would drop
early-admission policies (which studies show benefit wealthier students most) beginning in
2007. Still, a report by the non-profit Education Trust says public research universities
decreased grant aid by 13% from
1995 to 2003 for students with family incomes of $20,000 or less, and increased aid by
Page 96
406% to those with incomes over $i00,000. ~d tuition continued to increase this year --
about 6% for four-year universities. --M.B.M.
No Child Left Behind: Debate continues over law’s effectiveness
Squabbling continued this year over No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s education
reform law, which requires annual tests in math and reading for millions of kids. Congress
must reauthorize it in 2007.
The Education Sector, an influential Washington think tank, said in a report by Thomas
Toch that the testing industry is "buckling under the weight" of the mandates. Yet many
states test little more than basic understanding, he says, and only about $20 of the
average $8,000 spent per pupil goes to develop tests.
A rising chorus of other voices also has been criticizing the law. "We stil! believe in
the ideas of it," says Hike Petri!li of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. But he says
several of the law’s key tenets are proving ineffective: Fewer than 1% of eligible
children have transferred to better-performing schools; few struggling schools are
restructuring, as the law demmnds; and state efforts to improve teacher quality are weak.
"We just have one frustration after another," he says.
The complaints apparently don’t wash with Education Secretary Mmrgaret Spellings, who said
in August that the law needs only minor tweaks.
-- Greg Toppo
Other education headlines ...
oVoucher ruling: In early January, Florida’s highest court struck down a state program
championed by President Bush and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, his brother, that gives students
taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers to private schools. It was the first time a state Supreme
Court said states have a duty to educate students in public schools -- and it handed a
victory to public school advocates, acknowledging that vouchers could drain funds from
needy public schools.
oTerrorism and privacy: Spellings’ inspector general revealed that Project Strike Back, a
joint project of the Education Department and the FBI, examined financial aid records of
college students targeted in terror probes. It’s unclear whether the program, created days
after Sept. 11, 2001, netted any terrorists.
¯ Taking on schoo! violence: A spate of school shootings prompted President Bush, Spellings
and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to hold a Safe Schools Summit in October. -- G.T.
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(b)(e)or.: ............................. ..........................
Sent: December 14, 2006 6:40 AM
Subject: More generous Congress could do much for schools (San Jose MN)
Posted on Thu, Dec. 14, 2006

More generous Congress could do much for schools
Mercury News Editorial

When reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act next year, Congress should include more
carrots and fewer sticks. It should use, as a mode!, the Academic Competitiveness Grants
that the Bush administration proposed and Congress approved this year.
Academic Competitive Grants supplement Pell Grants, which are the federal government’s
primary source of financial aid for college students from poor and middle-class families.
They will hmve the effect of encouraging high schoo! students to take tougher classes in
high school while indirectly pressuring their schools to offer more of them.
In California and across the nation, there’s a shortage of advanced science and mmth
courses for capable students in urban and !ow-performing high schools. The lack of courses
pretty much tells students to lower their ambitions at a time of higher education~l
demands. Nationmlly, a third of students are dropping out of high school, even though two-
thirds of ~obs in the future wil! demand a college degree.
For a freshman, an Academic Competitiveness Grant will add $750 per year on top of the
current maximum $4,050 Pell Grant. That will increase to $i,900 for sophomores with a B
average. The federal Department of Education must approve the "’rigorous’’ classes that
will help a student qualify, but California’s course requirements for admission to a
University of California or California State University campus qualify, as does passing
two ~vanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests.
The amounts for the Academic Competitiveness Grants are too sm~ll, and the incoming
Democratic Congress has arrnounced that college student financial aid -- higher Pell Grants
and !ower interest on federa! loans
-- will be a priority. But the idea is right.
No Child Left Behind has nudged achievement upward in lower grades but has failed to make
much of an impact on low-achieving high schools. One reason is that high schools are
complex and resistant to change. Another is that many districts have managed to fend off
the law’s stiffest sanctions: complete restructuring or conversion to a charter schoo!.
No Child Left Behind’s testing requirements are concentrated in elementary and middle
school. With the law already under siege, it’s unlikely that Congress will expand testing
in high schools. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings acknowledged that during a
meeting with the Mercury News editorial board this week.
However, there is more that the federal government could do to promote fumdamental changes
in high schools. It could create incentives for teachers willing to work in the toughest
schools and fully fund extended days and Saturday schools in low-income areas. It could
fund programs to entice engineers to teach math and science part time to ease the
impending teacher shortage.
The federal government puts up only 8 percent of the money for K-12 education. That’s
partly why states have resented the No Child Left Behind Act.
The law should be reauthorized, but only with a lot more flexibility in enforcing it and
with more funding. Incentives, like Academic Competitive Grants, as well as sanctions,
should drive federal education policy.
Page 98
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Page 99
Nonrespon 1
(b)( e)o,-,-,:
Sent:
............................. ..........................
December 12, 2006 8:39 AM
To: Bdggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Johnson, Henry;
Subject: Spellings: Uniform N-size would be ’perilous’ (Ed Daily)
Spellings: Uniform N-size would be "perilous’ (Ed

Daily)
by Stephen Sawchuk
Education Daily December 12, 2006
In a surprise announcement, Education Secretary ~rgaret Spellings said Friday she does
not support the establishment of a national, uniform N-size for accoumtability under the
No Child Left Behind Act. The assertion, for now, sets to rest speculation that the
Education Department might require states to revisit their N-sizes.
Spellings, speaking from the White House via satellite, made the announcement at ED’s
winter accountability summit in Nashville, Tenn., to an audience composed mainly of state
accountability officers.
’I firmly believe that a one-size-fits-all N-size is not appropriate, and I think it would
be perilous for the Congress to mandate a single number for al! cases and all states,’
Spelling said.
But she added that there are some ~great’ educationa!, methodological and statistica!
reasons to take that position. Although she did not specify those reasons, experts have
pointed to privacy concerns and higher error rates that accompany small N-sizes.
States not off the hook N-sizes represent the minimum number of students required in a
school subgroup for those students’ achievement to be tracked separately and calculated as
a separate adequate yearly progress.
A student not counted in a particular subgroup would still be counted for general AYP for
the school and, frequently, for the subgroup at the district level.
Spellings" announcement came as a surprise, since ED correspondence this summer announcing
the Dec. 8 meeting said states would be expected to 9ustify their N-sizes.
Other ED officials also appeared unmware of Spellings"
stand on N-sizes; asked earlier Friday whether ED might seek to restrict N-sizes,
Assistant Secretary of Education Henry Johnson said ED had not yet decided on a course of
action.
Despite the announcement, Spellings indicated she is well aware of the potential that
setting higher N-size~ -- especially when they are coupled with other accountability plan
tweaks, such as confidence intervals -- often means fewer schools wil! be identified as
needing improvement because of subgroup performance.
.~d while Spellings also discouraged Congress from requiring a uniform N-size, both ED
and Congress may seek better documentation from states in the future.
’I also appreciate where the Congress is coming from, that there are situations where
we’re cutting the pattern to fit the cloth,’ Spellings said. ~We need to be very mindful
that when N-sizes are described ... experts can and should and must be brought to bear as
those unique decisions are made in state plans.’ Some states may stil! need to re-examine
their N-sizes if the final regulations for the 2 percent flexibility for assessing
students with disabilities maintains language in the proposed regulations requiring all
states to set uniform N-sizes for subgroups. The timeline for that is uncertain. Despite
repeated inquiries from Education Dail!P~, ED staffers declined to say when the final 2
percent regulations would be released.
Need a quick answer? Get one in minutes from people who know.
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Page 100
Nonlrespd-nsi
December 12, 2006 8:33 AM
Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings,
Margaret; Simon, Ray; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Halaska, Terrelt; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt,
Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey
Subject: Spellings Gets L.A. Opinion (LADN CA)
Spellings Gets L.A. Opinion (LADN CA)

By Naush Boghossian
Los Angeles Daily News, December 12, 2006 NORTH HILLS - The federa! goverrument’s
controversial program to make schools accountable for student achievement is working but
could be improved, U.S.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Monday during a visit to a San Fernando Valley
campus.
Criticized by local and state education officials as an unrealistic benchmark, the No
Child Left Behind Act requires the nation’s schools to have all students reading and doing
math at their grade level by 2014.
Schools that don’t will face sanctions.
"We’re pleased but not satisfied," Spellings said about the five-year-old law. "There
certainly is work to do, and that’s why we’re here - talking with officials here about
what are things we can do together to make improvements."
Signed into law Jan. 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act is up for reauthorization next
year. Some hope that a Democratic-controlled Congress will revise the bill to be less
punitive, with goals educators consider more realistic.
"(The act) needs to be fixed this spring. You can’t expect every kid to pole-vault 17 feet
in four years,"
David Tokofsky, a member of the Los Angeles Unified School district board, said.
Spellings visited Los Angeles to raise awareness of free federal tutoring available for
qualifying schools
- one of the key programs offered ttnder the act. She went to Noble because 51 percent of
its eligible students take advantage of the tutoring before or after school or on
weekends. Distriotwide, just 30 percent of eligible students participate.
"When it comes to getting students enrolled in free tutoring, Noble Avenue Elementary is a
shining example for others to follow. These programs help children achieve academic
success and prepare for great lives,"
said Spellings, who is pushing for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Superintendent David Brewer III, Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon,
R-Santa Clarita, and school board members met with Spellings to discuss what can be done
to secure more federal funding and increase on-campus tutoring opportunities.
There are 310,000 LAUSD students in 200 schools eligible for the tutoring, but district
officials say they have funding only for 40,000 spots - of which 93 percent are filled.
"As (the act) has gone five years (with) man},, many aspects we support, it needs to be
sorted fiscally also," said Donnalyn Jacque-~ton, executive officer for educationml
services at the LAUSD. "We’ve got a mandate but there hmsn’t been any real increase in
funding."
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Page 101
Nonresponsiv~
I"
From: Ditto, Trey

To: McLane, Katherine; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Dunn,
David; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela;
Maddox, Lauren; ’Mark ’; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Simon,
Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toom ey, Liam; ’Tracy Young’; William s, Cynthia; Young,
Tracy; Oldham, Cheryl
Cc: Colby, Chad; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey;, Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: How President Would Pay for Increase in Pell Grants (Chron. for Higher Ed)
The Chronicle For Higher Education
http:~~chr~nic~e~c~m~cgi-bin~printab~e~cgi?artic~e=http:~~chr~nic~e~c~m~week~y/v53/i24~24a~26~1.htm
BUDGET 2008
How President Would Pay for Increase in Pell Grants

The money would come h’om killing one program and reducing subsidies for lenders
By KELLY FIELD
Washington
The good news for colleges and loan companies turned bad last week as President Bush revealed that he would
pay for a much-heralded increase in the maximum Pell Grant by cutting lender subsidies and eliminating the
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program.
Under the president’s budget, previewed in January, but officially unveiled last week, the maximum Pell Grant
would grow to $4,600 next year, while the maximum award for academically talented low-income students in
the Academic Competitiveness Grant program would increase by 50 percent, to $1,125 for freshmen and $1,950
for sophomores. Taken together, the maximum grants would cover a!l ttfition and fees and up to $4,000 in living
expenses for community-college students, and tuition and fees for sophomores at an average four-year public
institution, in 2008.
But the increases would come at a cost to some low-income students and to lenders in the federal government’s
guaranteed-!oan program. Many SEOG recipients would receive less need-based aid in 2008 than in 2007. And
lenders would see their federal subsidies slashed for a third time in a year, this time by $18.8-billion.
Whether Congress wi11 embrace those eliminations is another question. In the past, ta~qnakers have rejected
most of the president’s proposed cuts, instead providing flat funds or even modest increases for student aid. This
year members of Congress from both parties rushed to denounce the president’s ideas for how to pay for the Pell
Grant increase.
Republicans warned that a third reduction in the subsidy in such a short time could put ~anteed lending at a
competitive disadvantage with direct lending. In the guaranteed-loan progr~ banks and other types of lenders
deliver federally backed lom~ to students; in the direct-loan program, the Education Department provides loans
directly to students through their colleges.
"The impact of these cuts has never been seriously considered," said Steve Forde, a spokesman for Rep. Ho~vard
P. (Buck) McKeon of California, the top Republican on the education committee in the U.S. House of
Representatives. "We need time to take into account what we’ve already done and what impact it’s having on
those serving students -- and the students themselves."
Page 102
Mr. Forde said the president never consulted Congress about his plan to slash lender subsidies.
Democrats praised the plan to cut what they consider "excess" lender subsidies, but warned against abolishing
supplemental grants, which augment Pell Grants for lo~v-income students, and other student-aid programs.
"It is important that we find ways to increase the Pell Grant scholarship that don’t harm other students," said
Rep. George Miller, Democrat of California, chairman of the House education committee.
If Congress does reject the president’s plan, it will have to either scale back the Pel! Grant increase or find
another way to pay for it. That could be difficult, given budget constraints and competing national priorities.
Cuts Called ’Debilitating’
Lobbyists for the lending industry reacted with alarm, warning that the proposed cuts could drive some lenders
from the program and force others to shrink benefits to borrowers.
"The pattern of repeatedly cutting federal financial-aid programs cannot be sustained without harming the very
students these programs are meant to serve," said Kathleen Smith, president of the Education Finance Council,
which lobbies on behalf of the 30 state and regional nonprofit loan agencies.
But Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said there was little evidence that the subsidy cuts would harm
lenders. "We have all seen the lending industry continue to be highly profitable" in the face of recent cuts, she
said in a conference call with reporters.
She said the department would work with Congress "to find the right calibration" between subsidy cuts and Pelt
Grant increases.
At a separate briefing for higher-education lobbyists last week, Sara Martinez Tucker, under secretary of
education, said the administration had analyzed where lender subsidies go and concluded that "a small
percentage of the subsidies pass through to students."
"We don’t believe it’s going to hurt students," she said.
The proposed reduction comes on top of $8-billion in cuts contained in last year’s budget-reconciliation measure
and another $6-billion included in a pending bill that halves the interest rate on student loans. That bi!l, which
was passed by the House of Representatives last month, would achieve a tt~rd of its savings by trimming the
subsidies that the government pays to lenders in the guaranteed-loan program by one-tenth of a percentage
point.
The president’s budget wouldgo even further, cutting the subsidy rate by halfa percent. It would also double the
origination fees that lenders pay the government when making consolidation loans, and reduce the amount of
money that the government reimburses most lenders for loans that go into de "~ult, from 97 cents to 95 cents of
every dollar unpaid.
In addition, it would reduce the amount that guarantee agencies can keep for themselves from the money they
recover from borrowers who default, and it would change the way the department calculates an administrative
fee it pays to gamrantee agencies.
Lenders say they have never been hit so hard by the administration.
"Every 10 years or so, they come after you for 10 to 20 basis points [0.1 to 0.2 percent], but 50!" said Jeffrey R.
Andrade, a former Education Department official who !obbies on behalf of the U.S. Educafion Finance
Corporation. "This is unprecedentecL"
He said the cuts could force lenders to stop making loans to students at community colleges and trade schools,
Page 103
where the profit margins are smaller and more students default.
"The smaller, riskier loans are always the fist to go,"said Mr. Andrade. "What you’re going to have is a credit
Crtlilch."
Last week shares of several student-lending companies, including Sallie Mac and Nelnet, fell by 6 percent or
more as the stock market reacted to news of the proposal.
Gains in Pell Offset Elsewhere
Additional dollars for the increases in the Pell Grant program and the competitiveness grants would come from
the elimination of the $880-mi!lion Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Program.
This year 1.3 million students will receive SEOG awards of up to $4,000; roughly 300,000 of them would gain
under the administration’s proposal, which would increase the maximmn Pell Grant for the 2008 fiscal year by
$290 over the 2007 level approved by the House. CYhe Senate has yet to act on a 2007 budget for the Education
Department.)
But the one million students who received supplemental grants of more than $300 would actually lose money
that first year, according to an analysis by the American Council on Educatior~-
"Symbolically, it’s a very important step for the president to call for a sffostantial increase in Pell," said Terry W.
Hartle, the counci!’s senior vice president for government and public affairs. "Unfortunately, it’s difficult to be
enthusiastic about a proposal that will leave one million students worse off."
Asked why the administration chose to abolish the supplemental-grant program, Ms. Tucker told lobbyists at the
briefing that "while some campuses see SEOG as highly effective, candidly, the money isn’t going to the
neediest students." The program also costs 250 times more to administer than Pell Grants, she said.
The cuts would not stop with SEOG, however. To achieve additional savings, the budget would also abolish the
$64.5-million Leveraging Educational Assistance Parmership program, which matches each dollar that states
commit to need-based aid, and the $40.6-million Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program.
It would also end the Perkins Loan Program and require colleges to return the federal share of the money they
use to make new Perkins Loans.
Those programs have been targets before and are likely to survive the budget a,x again this year.
But some of the proposed diminations are new, such as $12-billion from the Strengthening Alaska Native and
Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions program, and some of the administration’s perennial targets were spared,
including two of the federal TRIO pro~ams for disadvantaged students, and Gear Up, which helps financially
needy middle-school students prepare for college. Most of the other student-aid programs would receive flat
funds or a slight decrease.
Ties to Commission
In explaining the program eliminations, the Education Department said it was following the recommendations
of the secretar,fs Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which issued a repolt last fall that called the
cm:rent federal financial-aid system "overly complicated," "redundant," and "incomprehensible to all but a few
expelts." The report recommended consolidating the "maze" of federal financial-aid programs.
Heeding that advice, the president proposed eliminating 44 education programs that he said have either
"achieved their original purposes, duplicate other programs, are narrowly focused, or are unable to demonstrate
effectiveness."
The commission also recommended raising the purchasing power of the typical Pell Grant to cover 70 percent
3
Page 104
of the average in-state tuition at public four-year colleges over the next five years. The president’s plan would
not go that far, but it would increase the maximum Pell Grant to a level that would cover 75 percent of tuition
and fees at a typical public four-year college.
A third commission recommendation -- that the department revive a proposal to create a national student unit-
record tracking system -- also made it into the budget, albeit in modified form. The department first offered that
plan in 2004, but it was roundly rejected by members of Congress from both parties, who raised privacy and
security concerns. This time around, the administration made a more modest request, asking Congress for $25-
million for a pilot program "to assess the feasibility of implementing a system that would safeguard privacy of
individual data."
Among other tNngs, the president’s budget also would:
Increase almua! subsidized-loan limits for juniors and seniors by $2,000, to $7,500, while raising the
aggregate undergraduate borrowing limit by $7,500, to $30,500. Congress raised the loan limits for
freshmen, sophomores, and graduate students last year, but did not increase them for juniors and seniors.
Provide $24-million in grants of $1-million each to colleges and school districts that work together to
educate students in languages critical to national security, such as Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean,
and Russian_
Raise the interest rate on PLUS loans from 7.9 percent to 8.3 percent for borrowers in the Direct Loan
program, while reducing it by 0.2 percent, to 8.3 percent, for borrowers in the guaranteed-loan program.
Congess raised the rate on PLUS loans to 8.5 percent for borrowers in the gnaranteed-loan program last
year, but because of a drafting error in the bill, direct-loan borrowers were spared the increase.
Make Pell Grants available year-round, while limiting Pell eliNbility to the equivalent of 16 semesters.
o Eliminate a role that enables students at costlier institutions to receive larger Pel! Grants.
Allow students and parents to exclude money held in Section 529 college-savings accounts when
calculating their financial need. Contributions to such savings accounts are taxed, but the interest that
accumulates is tax free.
Page 105
jNonresponsiv
F tom: McLane, Katherine
Sent: February 12, 2007 3:28 PM
Talber[, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof,
Samara
Subject: Newsweek: Stop Pandering on Education
Stop Pandering on Education

Alter: No More Excuses For Bad Teachers
It’s time to move from identifying failing schools to identifying failing teachers. Sounds obvious, but it hasn’t
happened in American education.
By Jonathan Alter
Ne~vsweek
Feb. 12, 2007 issue - The crazy thing about the education debate in the United States is that anyone with an
ounce of brains knows what must be done. Each political party is about half right. Republicans are right about
the need for strict performance standards and wrong in believing that enduring change is possible without lots
more money from Washington. Democrats are right about the need to pay teachers more but wrong to kiss up to
teachers unions bent on preventing accountability.
As President Bush’s flawed (but landmark) No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program comes up for
reauthorization this year, the onus is on Democrats. Will they cave to their partys biggest special interest-or do
what most of them acknowledge in private is essential? Among Democratic presidential candidates, supporting
accountability with teeth and more charter schools should be a litmus test for anyone serious about proving he or
she is not just another hack.
The good news is that we’re getting some leadership in New York, long a bastion of mindless paleoliberalism
Gov. Eliot Spitzer unveiled his first budget last ~veek and it offers a gand bargain on education-much Inore
money in exchange for muchmore accountability-that should be a national model. Predictably, State Assembly
Speaker Sheldon Silver, in the pocket of teachers unions, objects to Spitzer’s plan to allow for more charter
schools, even though thousands of low-income parents are on waiting lists to get into them. The president of the
United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, called the new governor and tried to buffalo him on charters.
She failed.
Spitzer seems game to fight his own partys instinct to pander. "The national Democratic Party has got to
understand that real education reform is a central issue both politically and for our economic future," he told me
last week. "We have to get our arms around the idea that if there’s no performance, you must remove those
responsible for the failure." Ifs a sad commentm7 on Democrats that they*ve allowed "educational
accountability" to become a winning issue for the GOP.
In New York City-home to !,400 schools, 80,000 teachers and 1.1 million students-Republican Mayor Michael
Bloomberg (a huge improvement over his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani) is showing what accountability means.
First, he won mayoral control of the school system, a prerequisite for getting anything done in a big city. Now
his tough-minded schools chancellor, Joel Klein (a Democrat), is moving forward on an impoltant new plan to
slash administrative layers and empower individual schools. The idea is to make each principal "the CEO of the
1
Page 106
school instead of an agent of the bureaucracy," Klein says. More than 300 New York principals are signing
performance contracts that Nve them more control in exchange for being accountable. Klein means business: "If
your school gets a D or an F, I’m gonna fire your ass."
A big accountability problem nationwide is teacher tenure, which is almost automatically a~varded whether a
teacher is good or not. Ifhe’s not, he gets to commit educational malpractice for the nex~ 40 years. In New York,
Klein wants to toughen standards for receiving tenure, and he has already succeeded in ending union ’~bumping
rights," where lousy teachers with seniority can bump good, younger teachers and move into a school where a
good principal doesn’t want them. Above all, a princit~ must have control of who teaches in his or her building.
All other reforms depend on it.
At the five-year mark, NCLB is a mixed blessing. While Bush has sharply increased federal aid to at-risk
schools, he broke his 2001 funding promises. Where’s the cash to attract talented teachers? But once the
Democratic Congress addresses the money problem and works out some testing kinks, the real fault of NCLB
will become clear: it doesn’t go far enough.
It’s time to move from identifying failing schools to identif?dng failing teachers. That sounds obvious, but until
now it hasn’t happened in Amei:ican education. "We need a management tool that can show whether Ms. Jones
can teach long division," says Margaret Spellings, Bush’s sensible secretary of Education. Too many educators
are sti!l caught in what Klein calls a "culture of excuses." The excuse du jour is that NCLB is "punitive." But
Spellings has a point that basic assessment is both right and popular: "I don’t think parents see reliable data as
punitive."
Do Democratic presidential contenders? Education Week rated Iowa and New Hampshire as having the two
least-accountable state education systems in the country. Uh-oh. Let’s hope the press and public are prepared to
call candidates to account if they undertake a primary-season panderfest.
URL: <htt~://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16960416isitdnewsweek/>
Page 107
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Sent: March 15, 2007 8:35 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Colby, Chad; Dunn, David;
Eve’s, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers,
Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara
Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Sire on, Ray; Tada, Wen dy; Talbert, Kent; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy
Young; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Cc: Quesinberry, Elaine; Farris, Amanda; Conaty, Joseph; ’scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov’; Ditto,
Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Oversight Is Set For Beleaguered U.S. Reading Program (NYT)
Oversight Is Set For Beleaguered U.S. Reading Program (NYT)

By Diana Jean Schemo
The NewYork Times., March 15, 2007
WASHINGTON, March 14 - Under attack for improprieties uncovered in its showcase literacy program for low-income
children, the Department of Education will convene an outside advisory committee to oversee the program, known as Reading
First, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Wednesday.
Facing tough questions at a hearing before a Senate subcommittee considering appropriations for the Bush
administration’s signature education law, known as No Child Let~ Behind, Ms. Spellings also promised to clean up the reading
program in other ways.
tn about a half dozen reports in recent months, the department’s inspector general detailed irregularities in the program,
which awards $t billion a year in grants to states to buy reading materials and teacher training. The reports also found that
federal officials overlooked conflicts of interest among private contractors who advised states applying for the grants. Ms.
Spellings said her office’s general counsel would examine the records of contractors accused of conflicts of interest, and remove
those with actual conflicts from any role in the program.
Her promises came as Reading First faces growing attacks while heading for reauthorization. Representative David R.
Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said this week that the problems with the
program "make it even more difficult to persuade a number of people, including me, to vote to renew programs like No Child Left
Behind," of which Reading First is a part.
Acknowledging that "there’s certainly room for improvement" in Reading First, Ms. Spellings told the Senate panel
Wednesday that her department had removed the program’s leaders; expanded its staffto seven employees from two, to reduce
its reliance on so many private contractors with the potential for conflicts; and accepted all the recommendations of the
department’s inspector general.
’I’d hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater," the secretary said, adding that despite the problems, the program was
improving reading among poor children.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Senator Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who is the subcommittee’s chairman, said he, too, was
disturbed by the accusations against Reading First. "It has an odor that I don’t like," Mr. Harkin said. But he said he was not
considering eliminating financing.
At~er Ms. Spellings left the hearing, Robert Slavin of Johns Hopkins University, whose Success for All reading program was
shut out of many states under Reading First, said he did not think the secretary’s promises went far enough. ’1 haven’t seen the
slightest glimmer of even intention to change," Dr. Slavin said.
Because schools had already chosen their readng curriculums, promises to clean up Reading First now meant little, he
said. He compared them to finding eight innings into a baseball game with a score of 23 to 0 that the opposing team had been
playing with cork bats.
’Then they say, ’From now on, we’re using honest bats.’, Dr. Slavin said. "I’m sorry, it’s 23 to nothing. You can’t just say,
’From now on.’"
Reading First was required by law to finance only reading programs backed by "scientifically based reading research," and
the Education Department was prohibited from mandating or even endorsing specific curriculums. But the program has been
plagued by accusations that states were steered toward a handful of commercial reading programs and testing instruments.
With only two Education Department employees in charge of the vast program, the administration relied largely on private
Page 108
contractors to advise states on their applications for grants, screen products for scientific validity and weigh applications. The
inspector general found that several of these contractors wrote reading programs and testing instruments that were competing
for money, and that they gave preference to products to which they had ties.
Ms. Spellings has maintained, and said again under questioning Wednesday, that the problems with Reading First
occurred before she became education secretary.
She denied accusations from a former political appointee at the department, Michael Petrilli, who said she had essentially
run Reading First from her post as domestic policy adviser at the White House. Mr. Petrilli is now a vice president at a nonprofit
education research foundation. Asked about Madison, Wis., where educators gave up $2 million in Reading First money because
they would have had to drop a so-called balanced literacy reading program that they said had been successful for the district,
Ms. Spellings said she was unfamiliar with the particulars of Madison’s reading program. But she defended Reading First’s
ground rules under her predecessor, Rod Paige, saying the program did not exclude specific reading curriculums, but intended
only to ensure that they were backed by research.
Page 109
~~,onresponsi
(b)( ............................. ..........................
March 15, 2007 5:29 AM
To: kevin f. sullivan@who.eop.gov; rebeccca.neale@ed.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri;
Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La
Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Mesecar,
Doug; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterrnan; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska,
Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Cc: McLane, Katherine
Subject: front page, WP: Dozens in GOP Turn Against Bush’s Prized ’No Child’ Act
Dozens in COP Turn Against Bush’s Prized ’No Child’

Act
By Jonathmn Weisman and Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 15, 2007; AOI
More than 50 GOB members of the House and Senate -- including the House’s second-ranking
Republican -- will introduce legislation today thmt could severely undercut President
Bush’s sigr~ture domestic achievement, the No Child Left Behind Act, by allowing states to
opt out of its testing mandmtes.
For a White House fighting off attacks on its war policy and dealing with a burgeoning
scandal at the Justice Department, the GOP dissidents’ move is a fresh blow on a new
front. Among the co-sponsors of the legislation are House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.),
a key supporter of the measure in 2001, and John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Bush’s most reliable
defender in the Senate. Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), the House GOP’s chief deputy whip and a
supporter in 2001, has also signed on.
Burson Snyder, a spokesman for Blunt, said that after several meetings with school
administrators and teachers in southwest Missouri, the House Republican leader turned
against the measure he helped pass.
Blunt was convinced that the burdens and red tape of the No Child Left Behind Act are
unacceptably onerous, Snyder said.
Some Republicans said yesterdmy that a backlash against the law was inevitable. Many
voters in affluent suburban and exurban districts -- COP strongholds -- think their
schools have been adversely affected by the law. Once-innovative public schools have
increasingly become captive to federal testing mandmtes, ~ettisoning education programs
not covered by those tests, siphoning funds from programs for the talented and gifted, and
discouraging creativity, critics say.
To be sure, key la~makers would like to reauthorize the law this year. Ranking Republicans
on the House and Senate education committees are pushing for a renewal. ~d key Democrats,
including Rep. George Miller (Calif.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.), the chairmen of
the House and Senmte committees responsible for drafting an updmted No Child Left Behind
Act, are strong supporters, although they want large increases in funding and more
emphasis on teacher training and development.
Still, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), author of the new House bill, said the number of
Republicans already backing the new measure exceeds the 41 House Republicans and Democrats
who voted against the original legislation in 2001. Of the House bill’s co-sponsors, at
least eight voted for the president’s plan six years ago.
"President Bush and I 9ust see education fundmmentally differently," said Hoekstra, a
longtime opponent of the law. "The president believes in empowering bureaucrats in
Washington, and I believe in local and parental control."
As Congress considers reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act, the COP rebellion could
grow, conceded Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (Calif.), the ranking Republican on the House
Education and Labor Committee and a key ally of the president on the issue. "It was a
struggle getting it passed last time. It’ll be even more of a struggle this time," he
said.
Page 110
Under Hoekstra’s bill, any state could essentially opt out of No Child Left Behind after
one of two actions.
A state could hold a referendum, or two of three elected entities -- the governor, the
legislature and the state’s highest elected education official -- could decide tbmt the
state would no longer abide by the strict rules on testing and the curricultum.
The Senmte bill is slightly less permissive, but it would allow a state to negotiate a
"charter" with the federal government to get away from the law’s mandates.
In both cases, the states that opt out would still be eligible for federal funding, but
those states could exempt any education program but special education from No Child Left
Behind strictures.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said that advocates do not intend to repea! the No Child Left
Behind Act.
Instead, they want to give states more flexibility to meet the president’s goals of
education achievement, he said. As a House member in 2001, De]v~nt opposed No Child Left
Behind when it first came to a vote, but he voted for it on finml passage.
"So many people are frustrated with the shackles of No Child Left Behind," DeMint said. "I
don’t think anyone argues with measuring wh~t we’re doing, but the fact is, even the
education community . . sees us just testing, testing, testing, and reshaping the
curriculum so we look good."
Parent unrest in places such as Scarsdale, N.Y., and parts of suburban Michigan could
affect members of Congress. Connecticut has sued the government over the law, while
legislatures in Virginia, Co!orado and heavily Republican Utah have moved to supersede it.
Republican lawmakers involved in crafting the new legislation say Education Secretary
Hargaret Spellings and other administration officials have moved in recent days to tamp
down dissent within the GOP. Since January, Spe!lings has met or spoken with about 40
Republican la~Tmmkers on the issue, said Katherine McLane, the Education Department’s press
secretary.
"We’ve made a lot of progress in the past five years in serving the children who have
traditionally been underserved in our education system," McLane said.
"Now is not the time to roll back the olook on those children."
But so far, the administration’s efforts have borne little fruit, Republican critics said.
"Republicans voted for No Child Left Behind holding their noses," said Michael J.
Petrilli, an Education Department official during Bush’s first term who is now a critic of
the law. "But now with the president so politically weak, conservatives can vote their
conscience."
Expecting? Get great news right away with e_mail Auto-Check.

Try the Yahoo~ Mail Beta.
http://advision, webevents.yahoo, com/mailbeta/ne~mail tools.html
Page 111
~Nonresponsiv
Sent: March 14, 2007 8:52 AM
Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers,
Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy
Cc: Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Conservative Plan Would Shift Accountability To The States (EDWEEK)
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and a leading House Democrat said they oppose Rep. Hoekstra’s plan because
it would remove any meaningful accountability’ for the use of federal K-12 money.
’We tried that approach for 40 years," Ms. Spellings told reporters last week, referring to lax accountability under previous
versions of the ESEA, which was first enacted in 1965. "We need and deserve accountability for our kids."
’1 don’t know why we would invest federal dollars in a system where there’s no accountability," said Rep. George Miller, D-
Calif., who spoke with reporters along with Ms. Spellings atter they each had received awards from the Semiconductor Industry
Association for their work in trying to improve math and science education.
Conservative Plan Would Shift Accountability To The States (EDWEEK)

By David J. Hoff
Education Week, March 14, 2007
Conservative Republicans in Congress plan to introduce a plan to dismantle the No Child Le~ Behind Act’s accountability
measures and give states wide la~tude in spending the $23.1 billion a year currently appropriated under the law.
Acknowledging that the proposal will likely face nearly insurmountable opposition, the House sponsor of the measure said it
nevertheless would generate support among GOP members because it reflects the party’s traditional belief that the federal
government should play a limited role in setting education policy.
The NCLB law is the "greatest expansion" of federal control over education since Congress passed the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act in 1965, said Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., who is third most senior Republican on the House
Education and Labor Committee.
"We have clearly moved on the road to... federal government schools," Mr. Hoekstra said at a seminar on the 5-year-old
law at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based here.
Rep. Hoekstra, who voted against the legislation in 2001, said he expects to recruit more than 41 co-sponsors for his bill,
which he plans to introduce this week. He considers that number important because that’s how many House Republicans voted
against the NCLB bill when it passed in December 200t. "There will be significantly more opposition to No Child Lett Behind in
2007 than there was in 2001 ," he said in the interview.
Sens. John Comyn, R-Texas, and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., plan to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.
The NCLB law, an overhaul of the ESEA, was pushed by President Bush and passed Congress with broad bipartisan
support. The House approved the bill, 381-41, and the Senate voted 87-10 in favor of it.
Uphill Battle
Under the GOP conservatives’ plan, state officials would agree to take full responsibility for setting education policies for
their states. They also would promise to use accountability systems of their own design to report on the progress toward meeting
their achievement goals.
That contrasts with the current law’s detailed accountability system, which requires annual testing in reading and
mathematics in grades 3-8 and at least once in high school, as well as reports on the yearly progress that districts and schools
are making in meeting the goal that all children be proficient in those subjects by the 2013-14 school year.
Districts and schools must also meet those goals for various demographic, ethnic, and racial subgroups.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and a leading House Democrat said they oppose Rep. Hoekstra’s plan because
it would remove any meaningful accountability for the use of federal K-12 money.
’’We tried that approach for 40 years," Ms. Spellings told reporters last week, referring to lax accountability under previous
Page 112
versions of the ESEA, which was first enacted in 1965. "We need and deserve accountability for our kids."
’I don’t know why we would invest federal dollars in a system where there’s no accountability," said Rep. George Miller, D-
Calif., who spoke with reporters along with Ms. Spellings alter they each had received awards from the Semiconductor Industry
Association for their work in trying to improve math and science education.
With such opposition, Rep. Hoekstra said, "clearly you’re going uphill." But he added that support for his proposal could
help derail attempts in the pending reauthorization of the NCLB lawto expand testing or add other new burdens on states and
districts.
Republicans supported the No Child Lett Behind bill in 2001 because they wanted to support the president’s chief domestic
goal in the first year of his term, according to former Rep. Dick Armey, a Texas Republican who was the House majority leader at
the time. Mr. Armey voted for the bill for that reason and regrets doing so, he said at the Cato Institute seminar.
With Mr. Bush nearing the end of his presidency, many Republicans in Congress will be less likely to defer to him as they
did in 2001, Mr. Armey said.
’1~eople are going home and listening to their school boards and listening to their parents saying, ’We want our schools
back,’ "Rep. Hoekstra told the audience at the Cato Institute.
Vol. 26, Issue 27, Page 22
Page 113
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Sent: March 13, 2007 8:44 AM
To: Private-Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Colby, Chad; Dunn, David;
Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy
Subject: Spellings takes heat for proposed education cuts (Education Daily)
Spellings takes heat for proposed education cuts (Education Daily)

Legislators defend GEAR Up, Ed Tech, Safe schools grants
By Patti Mohr
Education Daily, March 13, 2007
In her first formal appearance before the Democratic-controlled Congress, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings
defended the Bush administration’s budget against a series of bitter complaints from Hill lawmakers about its proposals to cut
programs, continue funding at current levels, and finance transfers to private schools.
Though it is not unusual for administration officials to face resistance over budgetary proposals while testifying before
Congressional committees, Spellings encountered an especially tough crowd at Monday’s hearing held by the House Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee.
Practically every committee member addressed Spellings with demanding questions about cuts to specific programs, the
administration’s commitment to education, and its process for making budget decisions.
President Bush’s budget would fund education programs at the 2006 level of $56 billion - $1.5 billion below the current
$57.5 billion per year level.
While taking shots at the administration, Democrats promised to reject the proposed spending cut.
’I want to make it clear," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wisc., chairman of the subcommittee and the full Appropriations
Committee, "this budget for education is going to be increased significantly."
Specific differences Hill lawmakers criticized the administration for proposed cuts or level funding to coveted programs,
such as GEAR Up, TRIO, Safe and Drug Free Schools, 21st Century Learning Centers, Enhancing Education Through
Technology, and Even Start. Spellings insisted that states and local governments should have the discretion to spend funds as
they see fiL
Some of the harshest criticism came from Republicans who represent rural states.
’~Ve don’t need the latitude; we need the money that was promised to us," said Rep. Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont. NCLB
shows that schools on Indian reservations have some of the worst problems, yet receive the fewest dollars. Rehberg complained
Bush would cut rural education, Impact Aid and special education programs that Indian schools rely upon.
In some cases, ED has ceded ground to Hill lawmakers. For instance, rather than eliminating the GEAR Up and TRIO
programs, the administration would maintain their current levels. "Obviously, we heard yoLI and understand that it is a priority of
this Congress," Spellings said.
Even so, Hill lawmakers said they are not satisfied besause the current levels only support a small number of eligible
applicants.
’These programs should be expanded because they do work," said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.
Page 114
~onresponsiv1
Sent: March 12, 2007 9:05 AM
Subject: Making Graduation Rates Matter (IHE)
IVlaking Graduation Rates Matter (IHE)

By Doug Lederman
Inside Hi,qher Ed, March 12, 2007
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings recently wrote a letter to the editor of The Detroit News in defense of her higher
education commission’s proposal for a national "student unit record" system to track all college entrants to produce a more
accurate picture of degree completion. "Currently," she said, ’~ve can tell you anything about first-time, full time college students
who have never transferred-about half of the nation’s undergraduates." It took a long time to bring Education Department officials
to a public acknowledgment of what its staff always knew that the so-called "Congressional Methodology" of our national college
graduation rate survey doesn’t pass the laugh test. If the Secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education made one
truly compelling recommendation, it was for a fuller and better accounting through student unit records.
But it was well known that the establishment of a national student unit record system was a non-starter in Congress due to
false worries about privacy and data security. So one wonders why the department hasn’t simply proposed a serious revision of
the process and formula for determining graduation rates. Having edited and analyzed most of the d-department’s postsecondary
data sets, may I offer an honest and doable formula?
There are four bins of graduates in this formula, and they account for just about everyone the Secretary justly wants us to
count. They count your daughter’s friends who start out as part-time students - who are not counted now. They count your 31-
year-old brother-in-law who starts in the winter term - who is not counted now. They count active duty military whose first college
courses are delivered by the University of Maryland’s University College at overseas locations - who are not counted now. They
count your nephew who transferred from Oklahoma State University to the University of Rhode Island when he became
interested in marine biology - andwho is not counted now. And so forth. How do you do it, dear Congress, when you reauthorize
the Higher Education Amendments this year?
First, define an "academic calendar year" as July1 through the following June 30, and use this as a reference period
instead of the fall term only. Second, define the tracking cohort as all who enter a school (college, community college, or trade
school) as first time students at any point during that period, and who enroll for 6 or more semester-equivalent credits in their first
term (thus excluding incidental students).
Automatically, institutions would be tracking students who enter in winter and spring terms and those who enter part-time.
Your brother-in-law, along with other non-traditional students, is now in the denominator along with your daughter. Ask our
colleges to divide this group between dependent traditional age beginners (tinder age 24) and independent student beginners
(age 24 and up), and to report their graduation rates separately. After all, your daughter and your brother-in-law live on different
planets, in case you haven’t noticed. You now have two bins.
Third, establish another bin for all students who enter a school as formal transfers. The criteria for entering that bin are (a) a
transcript from the sending institution and (b) a signed statement of transfer by the student (both of which are usually part of the
application protocol). These criteria exclude the nomads who are just passing through town.
At the present moment, community colleges get credit for students who transfer, b~ the four-year colleges to vTnich they
transfer get no credit when these transfer students earn a bachelor’s degree, as 60 percent of traditional-age community college
transfers do. At the present moment, 20 percent of the bachelor’s degree recipients who start in a four-year school earn the
degree from a different four-year school. That we aren’t counting any of these transfers-in now is a traves~ - and makes it
appear that the U.S. has a much lower attainment rate than, in fact, we do. All this hand-wringing about international
comparisons that puts us on the short end of the stick just might take a different tone.
Fourth, ask our postsecondary institutions to report all students in each of the three bins who graduate at two intervals: for
Page 115
associate degree granting institutions, at 4 years and 6 years; for bachelor’s degree granting institutions at 6 years and 9 years.
For institutions awarding less than associate degrees, a single two-year graduation rate will suffice. Transfers-in are more
difficult, because they enter an institution with different amounts of credits, but we can put them all on the same reporting
schedule as community colleges, i.e., 4 and 6 years.
These intervals will account for non-traditional students (including both active duty military and veterans) who move through
the system more slowly due to part-time terms and stop-out periods, but ultimately give due credit to the students for persisting.
These intervals will also present a more accurate picture of what institutions enrolling large numbers of non-traditional students,
e.g. the University of Texas at Brownsville, DePaul University in Chicago, and hundreds of community colleges, actually do for a
living.
Colleges, community colleges, and trade schools have all the information necessary to produce this more complete
account of graduation rates now. They have no excuse not to provide it. With June 30 census dates for both establishing the
tracking cohort and counting degrees awarded, the algorithms are easy to write, and data systems can produce the core reports
within a maximum of two months. It’s important to note that the tracking cohort report does not not replace the standard fall term
enrollment report, the purposes of which are very different."
But there is one more step necessary to judge institutions’ contribution to the academic attainment of the students who start
out with them.
So, in rewriting the graduation rate formula in the coming reauthorization of the Higher Education Amendments, Congress
should also ask all institutions to make a good faith effort to find the students who lett their school and enrolled elsewhere to
determine whether these students, too, graduated. The National Student Clearinghouse will help in many of these cases, the
Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange will help in others, state higher education system offices will help in still others,
and we might even get the interstate compacts (e.g. the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education) into the act.
Require our postsecondary institutions to report the students they find in a fourth bin. They will not be taking credit for
credentials, but will be acknowledged as contributing to student progress.
No, this is not as full an account as we would get under a student unit record system, but it would be darned close - and all
it takes is a rewriting of a bad formula.
After 27 years of research for the U.S. Department of Education, Clifford Adelman recently left to be a senior associate at
the Institute for Higher Education Policy. His last monograph for the department was The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree
Completion from High School Through College (2006).
Page 116
Nonresponsiv
Sent: March 12, 2007 9:03 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Colby, Chad; Dunn, David;
Eve’s, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrel!; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers,
Subject: Bush Claims About NCLB Questioned (EDWEEK)
Bush Claims About NCLB Questioned (EDWEEK)

By David J. HoffAnd Kathleen Kennedy Manzo
Education Week,, March 14, 2007
Data on gains in achievement remain limited, preliminary.
Is the No Child Left Behind Act working?
President Bush says it is, pointing to student-achievement results f]-om a single subsection of the National Assessment of
Educational Progress and tentative Reading First data. But the evidence available to support his claim is questionable.
"Fourth graders are reading better," the president said during a March 2 visit to a school in NewAIbany, Ind. "They’ve made
more progress in five years than the previous 28 years combined."
In mathematics, he said, elementary and middle school students "earned the highest scores in the history of the test."
The data Mr. Bush cited at that event are from just the ’long-term trend" NAEP in reading and math, researchers say. All
available data, they add, show modest improvements that can’t be attributed to the 5-year-old law. Instead, progress in
achievement is more likely a continuation of trends that predate the law.
’There’s not any evidence that shows anything has changed," said Daniel M Koretz, a professor of education at Harvard
University’s graduate school of education.
Other researchers suggest that the standards and accountability system of the NCLB law is drawing attention to
achievement gaps and other inequalities and is causing educators to change their practice. But it’s too early to say whether the
federal law will result in achievement gains, they contend.
The laws "mechanisms are just coming into play, and not enough time has passed to establish a trend," said Adam
Gamoran, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
’I’m Lobbying Congress’
Portraying the No Child Le~ Behind law as a success is a critical element in President Bush’s argument that Congress
should renew it on schedule this year. The president signed the legislation, an overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, with much fanfare in January 2002 and has cited it as his most important accomplishment in domestic policy.
’I’m not only speaking to you, I’m lobbying," Mr. Bush said at the Silver Street Elementary School in NewAIbany earlier this
month. "I’m lobbying Congress. I’m setting the stage for Congress to join me in the reauthorization of this important piece of
legislation."
Congress is laying the groundwork for reauthorizing the measure. This week, the Senate education committee held a
hearing on the laws teacher-qualib/requirements. Next week, the House and Senate education committees plan to hold a joint
session on an overview of the law.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., the chairmen of the education committees and two of
the architects of the bipartisan law, say they hope to renew it this year. But many observers expect the process will be delayed
until next year or even atter Mr. Bush leaves office in 2009.
At the New Albany school, IVL Bush highlighted the gains on the national assessment’s long-term-trend tests in reading
and mathematics. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings pointed to the same NAEP data on the laws fitth anniversary in
January, and during several other recent speeches.
Between 1999 and 2004, the reading scores of 9-year-olds climbed from 212 to 226 on the test’s 500-point scale. The gap
between African-American and white students that age narrowed to 26 points in 2004, compared with 35 points five years earlier.
The gap between Hispanic 9-year-olds and their non-Hispanic white peers tapered from 24 points to 21 points in that same time
period.
Page 117
On the math test, 9-year-olds’ scores rose by 9 points, and the gaps between Hispanics’ and African-Americans’ scores
and whites’ scores narrowed slightly as well.
Although the results for 9-year-olds on the reading test are positive, researchers say they can’t be linked to the law. The
testing window extends back to 1999-three years before President Bush signed the NCLB legislation into law and even before he
was president.
’With some of the claims that Spellings has made, for most of the time period there was no NCLB, so she can’t really say
[any improvement] is because of the law," said Gerald W. Bracey, the author of Reading Educational Research: Howto Avoid
Getting Statistically Snookered,who runs a LISTSERV, or e-mail forum, tracking what Mr. Bracey calls the administration’s
"disinformation."
Mr. Bracey, a frequent critic of testing programs, points out that implementation of the law began in 2002, but didn’t start to
fuel significant change in schools until the 2003-04 school year. "So I guess [the Bush administration] should be sharing some of
the credit with the Clinton administration," he said.
In math, the gains since 2002 are the extension of an upward trend that dates back more than 20 years, researchers say.
’They just pay attention to what happened after NCLB," said Jaekyung Lee, an associate professor of education at the
State University of New York at Buffalo. "Part of it is just a continuation of a trend from pre-NCLB."
The administration appears to ignore other data that suggest the law has had little or no positive effect on achievement.
On a different NAEP exam, gains haven’t been as signiticant, Mr. Lee said. What is known as the "national" NAEP, as
distinguished from the long-term-trend tests, shows 4th grade reading scores the same in 2005 as three years earlier, when the
law was signed. Math scores rose 1 point between 2003 and 2005. While that increase was statistically significant, it was smaller
than the 9-point gain between 2000 and 2003.
The scores on the "national" NAEP demonstrate that the NCLB law’s impact is incomplete, said Katherine McLane, the
U.S. Department of Education’s press secretary.
’The secretary is the first to say we have more work to do," Ms. McLane said in response to the criticisms. "That is one of
the issues we have to look at in education."
Regardless of whether NAEP scores go up or down, it’s almost impossible to link those changes to the NCLB law without a
well-designed research study, said Mr. Koretz of Harvard. That would compare a group of students who were exposed to NCLB
policies against one that hadn’t participated in the testing and accountability measures in the law.
Those are the types of studies that the Bush administration says must be presented as evidence to select reading materials
for the Reading First program and to win approval for research grants from the department.
Also, scores in the upper grades on both versions of the national assessment are for the most part unchanged from before
the laws passage.
NAEP is given to a sampling of students nationwide. Scores on states’ own tests, however, are used to determine whether
schools have made adequate yearly progress under the federal law. Mr. Gamoran of the University of Wisconsin said the debate
over NAEP scores is probably irrelevant. Even in 2005, the laWs most significant policies weren’t fully phased in. Those include
the requirements that all teachers be "highly qualified" and that all states annually assess math and reading achievement in
grades 3-8 and once in high school, said Mr. Gamoran, the director of the university’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
’Reading First’ Results
In addition to speeches citing the NAEP long-term-trend data, members of the Bush administration have lauded the
success of the $1 billion-a-year Reading First program, the largest new initiative in the NCLB law.
In the administration’s blueprint for the reauthorization of the No Child Lett Behind Act, unveiled in January, the Education
Department described Reading First as "the largest, most focused, and most successful early-reading initiative ever undertaken
in this country."
Few disagree that it is the largest and most focused. The initiative, which requires that participating schools use
"scientifically based" materials and assessments, includes more than 5,600 schools in 1,600 districts. An estimated 100,000
teachers have had some kind of professional development associated with the program, according to the blueprint.
But there is scant empirical evidence showing the program’s effect on student achievement. An independent interim study
on Reading First implementation, released last year, included survey results from state otficials. It showed that the program had
led to significant increases in the time participating schools spent on reading instruction, as well as more substantive professional
development and support for teachers, and the use of assessment data to inform instn.lction.
A later survey, conducted by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and advocacy group, indicated
that states were generally pleasedwith the program, with most claiming some improvement in student scores on state tests.
President Bush’s blueprint includes preliminary results showing some gains in students’ reading fluency. "For the 2004-05
school year, students in Reading First schools demonstrated increases in reading achievement across al! performance
Page 118
measures," Education Department officials wrote in the blueprint.
’The percentage of 2nd grade students who met or exceeded proficiency in reading on Reading First outcome measures of
fluency increased from 33 percent in 2003-04 to 39 percent in 2004-05 for economically disadvantaged students; from 27 to 32
percent for [limited-English proficient] students; from 34 to 37 percent for African-American students; from 30 to 39 percent for
Hispanic students; and from 17 to 23 percent for students with disabilities," the document adds.
Those gains, however, are based on a compilation of all test results in annual state reports for Reading First.
That compilation includes results from the DIBELS assessment, or Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills,
developed by researchers at the University of Oregon and used in more than 35 states to monitor student progress on fluency
and other measures. But they also include results from a variety of other assessments, including the Iowa Test of Basic Skills
and Terra Nova.
’The results showthat more kids in the early grades are making great progress on learning the basic components of
reading under Reading First," Ms. McLane, the department’s press secretary, said of the data reported in the blueprint.
Although such an assemblage of test scores can provide a general view of student progress, some researchers question
whether the compilation says much about reading proficiency.
’If the goal is just to see if students are improving, I think there is nothing wrong with using different tests as long as it is
established that the tests are reliable and valid, and reasonably comparable," Stephen D. Krashen, an education researcher and
linguist at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, wrote in an e-mail. However, "many [researchers] feel that
DIBELS is not valid."
Critics of DIBELS cite the tendency of some educators to teach to the tests or give the measures too much weight in
judging reading ability. They also question whether a test that gauges how many words a student can read accurately in a
minute, as DIBELS does, is a valid indicator of their proficiency. ("National Clout of DIBELS Test Draws Scrutiny," Sept. 28,
2005.)
According to Mr. Bracey, fluency-the ability to read a text accurately and quickly-is not a good indicator of reading mastery,
which requires comprehension.
"Kids can be very fluent and not have a clue abo~ what they just read," he said.
Success of Standards
While most researchers say it’s too early to measure the NCLB laws impact on achievement, many are beginning to see
evidence that educators are changing their behavior as a result of both the federal law and policies that took root in the 1990s at
the onset of the movement for higher standards and greater accountability in education.
’The big success of No Child Let~ Behind so far is to galvanize attention to the challenges we face, particularly the
challenges of inequity," Mr. Gamoran said.
But critics of the law question, in any case, the central place it gives to test scores. They say it puts too much emphasis on
the negative consequences of failing to meet annual student-performance targets and glosses over the professional
development and other interventions needed to improve struggling schools and get to the heart of elevating student
achievement.
’~that’s troublesome about it is the idea that you can eliminate [achievement] gaps by putting pressure on schools and
nothing else," said Gary A. Ortield, the director of the Civil Right Project at Harvard and the University of California, Los Angeles.
"It’s making a bad situation worse."
Vol. 26, Issue 27, Pages 1,26-27
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NonresponsiI
Sent: March 12, 2007 8:40 AM
Eve-s, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers,
Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara
Subject: Chamber Hopes State Grades Spur School Reform (BusJrnls)
Chamber Hopes State Grades Spur School Reform (BusJrnls)

By Kent Hoover, Washington Bureau Chief
Business Journal% March 12, 2007
States should be grateful the U.S. Chamber of Commerce graded their school systems on a curve: Otherwise, according to
the chamber, there would have been many more Ds and Fs.
The chamber, which has made education reform one of its top priorities, decided to grade each state because national
statistics hide wide variations in how schools are doing in educating America’s future work force. The chamber evaluated state
school systems in nine categories, ranging from academic achievement to management flexibility. States -- in what may be a first
-- also were graded on their return on investment in education.
States didnt receive an overall grade -- properly weighting the categories was too complicated, chamber officials say.
Some states, however, were clear leaders: Massachusetts got As in seven categories, and Washington got As in five.
Florida and Virginia each got four As.
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico and Rhode Island were at the bottom of the class, with four Fs each.
Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue says he hopes the grades will act "like fingernails on the chalkboard that make
everyone sit up and take notice."
"We’re going to have a bunch of chambers that are mad as hell at us," Donohue says. "My answer to them is: If you cook
the soup, you eat it."
Arthur Rothkopf, who heads the chamber’s educationtwork force initiative, calls the report card "a clarion call for action."
"We want the business community at the table in every state pushing for tougher standards, more innovation, better data,
better teaching," he says. ’Fundamental reform’ needed
Even states with good grades have a lot of room for improvement, Donohue says. There wasnt a single state where a
majority of fourth-graders and eighth-graders were proficient in math or reading on the National Assessment of Educational
Progress in 2005.
That’s "unconscionable," says John Podesta, president and C EO of the Center for American Progress and White House
chief of staff under President Clinton.
Despite years of well-intentioned but insufficient reforms, American students still aren’t prepared to compete in the global
economy, he says.
"We need to be honest with ourselves," Podesta says. "We need fundamental stn.~ctural reform."
Podesta’s think tank joined with the chamber to call for.
Overhauling how teachers are trained and paid;
Spreading innovations such as charter schools, online learning, early enrollment in college-level courses and
apprenticeships; and
Giving principals more authority over budgets and personnel, while holding superintendents accountable for academic
outcomes relative to their district’s expenditures.
Donohue says schools can improve by applying business practices to education -- "a hard thing to talk to educators about."
No state, for example, could provide systematic data on teacher performance and its reb.~rn on investment in education, he
says.
No business "could success&~lly operate with such a lack of information," he says.
Return on investment is important because education spending has tripled in the past four decades, but there is little
evidence that students are learning more as a result, according to the study. The report card tracked return on investment by
Page 120
dividing state expenditures into student achievement, alter firs~ controlling for student poverty, the percentage of students with
special needs and cost of living.
Utah, North Carolina and Washington had the best ROI; the worst were Washington, D.C.; New Mexico; and Hawaii. ’Lot
behind these numbers’
The report card received mixed grades from the education community.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings applauded the initiative.
"I’ve found that when business leaders take a stake in the education of our nation’s future leaders, good things happen,"
she says.
The Council of Chief State School Officers also welcomes the chamber’s report.
’lt’s just another sign that people realize how critical a solid -- and a redefined -- education is," says Gene Wilhoit, the
council’s executive director.
The council, however, contends the chamber didnt give states enough credit for work already under way to raise student
achievement. It’s too early to conclude that recent standards-based reforms are failing, the council contends.
’q-here’s a whole lot behind these numbers," Wilhoit says of the report card. "It wont be helpful if people just sort of look at
it and make an immediate judgment about states and move on."
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..Nonrespons]
............................. .......................... ]
March 09, 2007 5:50 AM
To: rebeccca.neale@ed.gov; Quesinberry, Elaine; Conaty, Joseph; scott m. stanzel@ed.gov;
Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private-
Spellings, Margaret; Mesecar, Doug; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof,
Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young,
Subject: In War Over Teaching Reading, a U.S.-Local Clash (NYT)
March 9, 2007
In War Over Teaching Reading, a U. S.-Local Clash
By DI_A_NA JEAN SCHEMO

MADISON, Wis. -- Surrounded by five first graders learning to read at Hawthorne Elementary
here, Stacey Hodiewicz listened as one boy struggled over a word.
"Pumpkin," ventured the boy, Parker Kuehni.
"’Look at the word, " the teacher suggested. Using a method known as whole language, she
prompted him to consider the word’s size. "Is it long enough to be pumpkin?"
Parker looked again. "’Pea,’" he said, correctly.
Cal! it the $2 million reading lesson.
By sticking to its teaching approach, that is the amount Madison passed up under Reading
First, the Bush administration’s ambitious effort to turn the nation’s poor children into
skilled readers by the third grade.
The program, which gives $i billion a year in grants to states, was supposed to end the
so-called reading wars -- the battle over the best method of teaching reading -- but has
instead opened a new and bitter front in the fight.
According to interviews with school officials and a string of federa! audits and e-mail
messages made public in recent months, federal officials and contractors used the program
to pressure schools to adopt approaches that emphasize phonics, focusing on the mechanics
of sounding out syllables, and to discard methods drawn from whole language that play dom-n
these mechanics and use cues like pictures or context to teach.
Federal officials who ran Reading First ma~ztain that only curriculums including regular,
systematic phonics lessons had the backing of "scientifically based reading research"
required by the program.
But in a string of blistering reports, the Education Department’s inspector general has
found that federal officials may have violated prohibitions in the law against mandating,
or even endorsing, specific curriculums. The reports also found that federal officials
overlooked conflicts of interest among the contractors that advised states applying for
grants, and that in some instances, these contractors wrote reading programs competing for
the money, and stood to collect royalties if their programs were chosen.
Education Secretary ~rgaret Spellings has said that the problems in Reading First
occurred largely before she took over in 2005, and that her office has new guidelines for
awarding grants. She declined a request for an interview.
Madison officials say that a year after Wisconsin joined Reading First, in 2004,
contractors pressured them to drop their approach, which blends some phonics with whole
langumge in a program called Balanced Literacy. Instead, they gave up the money -- about
$2 million, according to officials here, who say their program raised reading scores.
In New York City, under pressure from federal officials, school authorities in 2004
Page 123
dropped their citywide balanced literacy approach for a more structured program stronger
in phonics, in 49 !ow-income schools. At stake was $34 million.
Across the country -- in Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Iv~ine and New Jersey -- schools
and districts with programs that did not stress phonics were either rejected for grants or
pressured to chmnge their methods even though some argued, as Mmdison did, that their
programs met the law’s standard.
"We hmd data demonstrating that our children were learning at the rate that Reading First
was aiming for, and they could not produce a single ounce of data to show the success
rates of the program they were proposing," said Art Rainwater, Madison’s superintendent of
schools.
Both the House and the Senate are laying the groundwork for tough hearings on Reading
First, which is up for renewal this year.
Robert Sweet Jr., a former Congressional aide who wrote much of the Reading First
legislation, said the law aimed at breaking new ground by translating research into lesson
plans. Under the law, the yardstick of a reading program’s scientific validity became a
2000 report by the National Reading Panel.
That panel, created by Congress, with members selected by G. Reid Lyon, a former head of a
branch of the National Institutes of Health, set out to review the research and tell
~ericans what worked. It named phonics and related skills, vocabulary, fluency and
reading comprehension as the cornerstones of effective reading instruction.
Mr. ~eet firmly believes that phonics is the superior method of instruction; he is now
president of the National Right to Read Foundation, a pro-phonics group. His e-mail
address begins phonicsman.
With Reading First, he said, "we felt we could put education on a new path.’"
Dr. Lyon, another architect of the legislation, also strongly favors phonics. Teaching
children to read by reason and context, as Parker did in Madison, rather than by sounding
out letters to make words, is anathema, he said in an interview, suggesting that teachers
of the whole language approach be prosecuted for "educational malpractice."
~k~. ~{eet agreed. "You’ve got billions used for the purchase of programs that have no
validity or evidence that they work, and in fact they don’t, because you have so many kids
coming out of the schools that can’t read," he said.
But educators in Madison and elsewhere disagree about the effectiveness of phonics, and
say their results prove their method works.
Under their system, the share of third graders reading at the top two levels, proficient
and advanced, had risen to 82 percent by 2004, from 59 percent six years earlier, even as
an influx of students in poverty, to
42 percent from 31 percent of Madison’s enrollment, could have driven do~rn test scores.
The share of ~[adison’s black students reading at the top levels had doubled to 64 percent
in 2004 from 31 percent six years earlier.
And while 17 percent of African-Americans lacked basic reading skills when Madison started
its reading effort in 1998, that number had plunged to 5 percent by 2004.
The exams changed after 2004, mmking it impossible to compare recent results with those of
1998.
Other reading experts, like Richard Allington, past president of the Internationa! Reading
Association, also challenge the case for phonics. Dr. Allington and others say the
national panel’s review showed only minor benefits from phonics through first grade, and
no strong support for one style of instruction. They also contend that children drilled in
phonics end up with poor comprehension skills when they tackle more advanced books.
"This revisionist history of what the research says is wildly popular," Dr. Allington
said. "But it’s the main reason why so much of the reading community has largely rejected
the National Reading Panel report and this large-scale vision of what an effective reading
program looks like."
Page 124
Under Reading First, many were encouraged to use a pamphlet, "A Consumer’s Guide to
Evaluating a Core Reading Program Grades K-3," written by two special education
professors, then at the University of Oregon, to gauge whether a program was backed by
research.
But the guide also rewards practices, like using thin texts of limited vocabulary to
practice syllables, for which there is no backing in research. Dr. Allington said the
central role Washington assigned the guide effectively blocked from approval all but a few
reading programs based on "made-up criteria."
Deborah C. Simmons, who helped write the guide, said it largely reflected the available
research, but acknowledged that even now, no studies have tested whether children learn to
read faster or better through programs thmt rated highly in the guide.
Fatally for Madison, the guide does not consider consistent gains in reading achievement
alone sufficient proof of a program’s worth.
In making their case, city officials turned to Kathryn Howe of the Reading First technical
assistance center at the University of Oregon, one of several nmtionwide paid by the
federal Education Department thmt helped states apply for grants. But early on, they began
to suspect that Dr. Howe wanted them to dump their program.
At a workshop, she showed them how the guide valued exposing al! children to identical
instruction in phonics. ~dison’s program is based on tailoring strategies individually,
with less emphasis on drilling.
Dr. Howe used the Houghton Mifflin program as a model; officials here believed that
approval would be certain if only they switched to that program, they said.
In interviews, Dr. Howe said she had not meant to endorse the Houghton Hifflin program and
used it only for illustration, and had no ties to the company. She added that she might
have been misunderstood.
"i certainly didn’t say, ’You should buy Houghton Mifflin,’ " she said. "I do remember
saying: ’You can do this without buying a purchased program. It’s easier if you have a
purchased program, so you might think about that.’ "
Dr. Howe said Madison’s program might have suited most students, but not those in the five
schools applying for grants. "Maybe those students needed a different approach," she said.
Mary Watson Peterson, Madison’s reading chief, said the city did use intensive phonics
instruction, but only for struggling children.
After providing Dr. Howe extensive documentation, ~dison officials received a letter from
her and the center’s director, saying that because the city’s program lacked uniformity
and relied too much on teacher ~udgment, they could not vouch to Washington that its
approach was grounded in research.
Ultimately Madison withdrew from Reading First, said Mr. Rainwater, the superintendent,
because educators here grew convinced that approval would never come.
"It really boiled doeth to, we were going to have to abandon our reading program," the
superintendent said.
A st~sequent letter from Dr. Howe seemed to confirm his view. "Madison made a good
decision" in withdrawing, she wrote, "since Reading First is a very prescriptive program
that does not m~tch your district’s reading program as it stands now."
Never miss an email again!

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Page 125
Nonresponsiv
Sent: March 08, 2007 7:22 AM
Eve-s, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers,
Subject: From IHE Quick Takes: More Scrutiny on Lender
A group of Democrats in the House of Representatives have asked the Education Department
<http://~vww.house.gov/appsilist/speectfedlabor dem/RelMar7.html> to explain why it let the National
Education Loan Network keep $278 million in federal subsidies that the department’s inspector general said
were paid to the lender improperly under a now-closed loophole in federa! law. In a letter Wednesday to
Education Secretary Marg~et Spellings, Rep. George Miller (D-Ca!if.), chairman of the House Education and
Labor Committee, and nine other lawmakers ca!led the decision not to require Nelnet to return the payments a
%erious misuse of federa! fimds’" and asked the department to explain the decision and to department’s
approach to the controversy. <http:i/insidehi~hered.com/news/2007/01/22/nelnet>
Page 126
INonresponsl
Sent: March 08, 2007 7:20 AM
Kerd; Colby, Chad; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson,
Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar,
Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara MaRinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy;
Subject: What NCLB Needs (IBD)
What NCLB Needs

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY
Posled3/7/2007
Education: The 2001 school reform la~v is far from perfect, but its no-excuses approach to school accountability is worth keeping. Its
weakest link is a lack of national standards, not a shortage of funds.
No Child Left Behind, enacted during George ]3ush’s brief bipmtisan honeymoon, is up for renewal this year in a much-changed
environment. With Democrats fully in charge of Congress and the president no longer popular, it’s a safe bet that the debate over
NCLB will include a big fio~t over money.
Bush has hiked federal outlays on elementary and secondary education 75% since taking office, more than any president since LBJ.
Much of the increase is due to the spending added under NCLB, but Bush won’t get much credit for that. NCLB was passed in 2001
with authorization to spend even more, and Democrats have long complained that NCLt3 wasn’t being funded to the limit.
You can expect to hear that theme repeated, loud and long.
Rep. George Miller, the new chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, dropped a hint of things to come last fall
when he gave the law an "A" but its funding an "F."
But if the Democrats are making too much of an alleged mone3, ~p, the administration is too inclined to dismiss NCL]3’s real fla~vs.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has said the law, like Ivory Soap, is "99.9% pure" with "not much needed in the way of
change"
There is plenty about the law that needs changing, though not in a way that many Democrats or Republicans may like.
The main problem is that, as American Enterprise Institute scholar Frederick M. Hess put it, "Congress and the Bush administration
punted on most of the tough questic~s when they negotiated NCLB." So standards are slippery, definitions are vague and
consequences of failure are uncertain. States must have a "highly qualified teacher" in each chssroorrg but states get to decide what
"highly qualified" means. The law doesn’t spel! out what it means to "restructure" a school, even though this is supposed to be the
penalty for schools that don’t fai! to make yearly progress for five years.
It’s also left to the states to set the standards that schools are supposed to meet. NCLB says all students must be "proficient" in reading
and math seven years from now.
But each state gets to define "proficient." Thus, states with the weakest schools have a built-in temptation to windo~v-dress their
performance by lowering standards to make more schools look adequate. Perversely, the states that take the NCLB mandate most
seriously and are toughest on their schools end up looking the worst
NCLB has other problems that can be blamed on "punting" in 2001, such as the failure of lawmakers to offer private-school vouchers
to parents with children at failing public schools.
But the most fundamental flaw is the lack of credible national benchmarks for school performance. Without these, no reform has much
of a chance. Parents armed with vouchers, for instance, still would fred it tough to make an informed choice as long as the schools can
use weak or shifting standards to mask their failures.
Page 127
Teacher unions, with their enormous statehouse clout, can continue to influence state and local assessment systems to defend their turf,
keep inflexible work roles in place and prevent private firms from gating a shot at running schools.
NCLB has the right idea in demanding school accountability nationally. That attitude of demanding results and not accepting excuses
is the law’s great strength. It’s probably one big reason the law gets an "A" fi-om Miller and still enjoys bipartisan support, even though
it has made little progress toward closing the achievement gaps related to race and social class.
But to even get close to that goal, it needs to close the loopholes that let states judge their own work. Without national standards
behind its tests, especially in the k~ subjects of reading and math, No Child Left Behind will be remembered as just one more school
reform that failed by putting rhetoric before results.
Page 128
N_onresponsi
Sent: March 08, 2007 7:15 AM
Kerri; Colby, Chad; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson,
Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Mesecar,
Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy;
Subject: Dems seek US Education Dept student loan scrutiny (Reuters)
Attachments: Picture (Metafile); Picture (Metafile)
Dems seek US Education Dept student loan scrutiny

WedMar 7, 2007 7:24PM EST
(Refiles to fix spacing in paragraph 1.)
By Kevin Drawbaugh
WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - Ten Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings on Wednesday urging scrutiny of a student loan pro~am involved in a January settlement
with Nelnet Inc. (NNI.N: Quote </stocks/quote?sgmbol=NNI.N>, Profile </stocks/companyProfile?
sgmbol=NNI.N>, Research </stocks/researchReports?svmbol=NNI.N>).
Student lender Nelnet in January ageed on a settlement with the Education Department over disputed payments
under a 1980s program that gamranteed lenders a 9.5 percent interest rate.
The settlement came after the department reported m September that Nelnet had misused loan rifles "to receive
hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments in loans by the federal government," said a statement from
California Rep. George Miller, who sig-ned the letter to Spellings.
Miller, chairman of ~e House Education and Labor Committee, wrote to the secretary that t~e Nelnet case,
"represents a serious misuse of federal funds, and it is likely that this is not an isolated case. It is critical for you
to conduct fifll oversight of the use of~e 9.5 percent provision."
The letter was signed by nine other Democratic lawmakers.
Nelnet said on Jan. 19 it had agreed to a settlement that would eliminate all of its special allowance payments
for certain loans on and al~er July 1, 2006. The company said it would incur a related $24.5 million fourth-
quarter chmge.
The lawmakers’ letter asked Spellings for information about the depar~-nent’s intentions regarding the 9.5
percent program, "including any oversight of additional lenders."
The request to the Education Department comes at a time of turmoil for the student loan industry.
The Bush administration last month proposed to slash subsidies paid to financial institutions that make college
loans, hammering sector leader Sallie Mae’s (SLM.N: Quote </stocks/quote?swnbol=SLM.N>~ _Profile
</stocks!companyProfile?sgmbol=SLM.N>~ Research </stocks/researchReports?sgmbol=SLM.N>) stock.
SNares of the lender, formally known as SLM Corp., dosed do~m 55 cents at $42.02 on Wednesday, near a two-
1
Page 129
year-low, on the New York Stock Exchange in a generally flat market.
Nelnet closed down 75 cents at $24.82 on the Big Board.
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy and other lawmakers also are moving to reshape student
lending.
Kennedy is seeking support for legislation that would directly threaten Sallie Mac and other student lenders by
rewarding colleges for steering students to direct government loans, instead ofgovernment-g~aaranteed loans.
The House of Representatives has approved halving interest rates on many student loans to 3.4 percent over five
years.
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching,
framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior "~,aitten coment of Reuters. Reuters and the
Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the
worl4
Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure
of relevant interests.
Page 130
[Nonresponsi
Sent: March 08, 2007 7:12 AM
Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Mesecar,
Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Mad’inez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy;
Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; ’Tracy Young’; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Subject: NCLB School Reform Deserves Renewal, and It’s Not Enough (RCP)
March 08, 2007
NCLB School Reform Deserves Renewal, and It’s Not Enough

By Mort Kondracke <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/author/mort kondracke/>
<http:www.rollcal!.com/subscribe>There’s reason to hope that Congress ~vill reauthorize, extend and improve
the landmark 2001 No Child Left Behind Act school-accountability law. But, by itself, the federal program is
clearly not going to solve America’s education crisis.
The crisis, documented in one alarming report aRer another, is that American schools systematically are failing
their students and endangering the nation’s ability to match global economic competition.
Beyond NCLB, there has to be drastic action at the state level, where responsibility for education primarily lies.
And school reform needs the backing of 2008 presidential candidates, who so far have said little about it.
The newest dismal evidence came out from the National Assessment of Education Progress last month:
American 12th graders in 2005 performed worse in reading than 12th graders did in 1992. Only 35 percent of
students about to graduate could read at grade level. Only 23 percent were proficient in math.
And these numbers apply only to students finishing high school. Fully a quarter of youngsters entering high
school drop out, including 50 percent of minority kids.
The Bush administration once again is proposing to extend NCLB’s regimen of state standards-setting, testing
and accountability to the nation’s high schools and, this year, Congress likely w~l go along -- inthe process,
upping Bush’s paltry request for just $1.2 billion to finance the effort.
In an interview, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings told me "the major focus of NCLB has been on our
elementary and middle schools, grades three through eight. And that is where we have seen the power of the
improvement, pro~4ng the adage that ’what gets measured, gets done.’"
Spellings can cite some evidence of progress in the lower grades -- 70 percent of schools meeting state-set
adequate yearly progress marks, record-setting reading and math scores for 9-year-olds and math scores for 13-
year-olds, plus some closure of disparities beb,veen whites and minorities.
And yet, the goal of NCLB is that all American schoolchildren will be proficient in reading and mathby 2014 --
not world-class, just proficient, able to read with critical judgment and solve minimally complex math problems.
Right now, five years into the NCLB era, the United States is far from there -- far.
Study results in 2005 showed that in 1992, 29 percent of fourth graders read proficiently. By 2005, that
percentage was up to just 31 percent. The same applied to eighth graders. Average math scores increased
significantly, but the percentages performing proficiently in 2005 were 36 percent for fourth graders and 30
Page 131
percent for eighth graders.
"Scores have increased, but they are really low," commented Phillip Lovell, education specialist at the youth
advocacy group First Focus. "At 30 percent proficiency, you’d have to say that on a traditional grading scale of
A to F, as a country we are still way below the lowest F."
Beyond proficiency levels, Lover noted, "the scariest numbers" are a doubling in the number of schools failing
to meet adequate yearly progress levels for four or five years, requiring either corrective action or restructuring.
Nearly 10 percent of schools serving low-income children are expected to need restructuring by 2008.
As part of his runup to formal hearings on NCLB reauthorization, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) last week
called for special efforts to attract top-quality teachers to high-needs schools. But he and other Democrats
stoutly oppose the administration’s favorite remedy, vouchers to permit ill-served pupils and parents to escape to
private, parochial or out-of-district public schools.
Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has blessed the
recommendations of a bipartisan commission assembled by the Aspen Institute that included a requirement that
school teachers serving low-income students receive the same salaries as teaching higher-income students.
Democrats tend to resist, however, a proposal of the Bush administration that chronically poor-performance
schools be freed from the strictures of union contracts so that they can be restaffed and more effectively
managed by principals.
To its credit, the administration is budgeting $500 million to help schools needing improvement. But it has no
position, as of yet, on a Kennedy-sponsored measure, the Keeping Pace Act, to facilitate community support for
low-income schools or a forthcoming measure sponsored by Sens. JeffBingaman (D-N.M.) and Richard Burr
(R-N.C.) to target $2.5 billion at "dropout factories," the 15 percent of schools accounting for more than half of
the nation’s dropouts.
Welcome as federal action on the schools is, SpellinN points out that the states account for 92 percent of
national school funding and the bulk of education responsibility. And half of the states failed to meet their
planning responsibilities under NCLB until the last minute.
A new report just issued jointly by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the liberal Center for American Progress
and the American Enterprise Institute, "Leaders and Laggards," rates the states on overall academic
achievement, minority progress, return on investment, proficiency troth-in-advertising and other measures.
Its bottom line is that "despite decades of reform efforts and many trillions of dollars of public investment, U.S.
schools are not equipping our children with the skills and knowledge they -- and our nation -- so badlyneed."
The state ~vith the best academic achievement records of all -- Massachusetts -- could boast only that about half
of its students scored proficiently on the National Assessment of Education Progress. At the bottom was
Washington, D.C., with proficiency ratings barely above 10 percent.
The chamber hopes to equip its state affiliates and member businesses to confront state legislatures, local school
boards and teachers tmions to demand reform. It’s a worthy purpose.
And it could use some help from a presidential candidate whdll call for a grand trade -- professional level pay
for teachers in return for professional accountability, pay-for-performance and an end to rigid union work rules.
Also, equalization of funding bet~veen rich and poor school districts, a longer school day and a longer school
year and more investment in early childhood education.
Republicans resist spending more. Democrats chronically do the bidding of the teachers unions. America’s kids
and the country’s future need a president who’ll break that rancid mold.
Page 132
Mort Kondracke is the Executive Editor of Roll Call <http://ww~v.rollcal!.com/>, the newspaper of CapitoI Hill
since 1955. © 2007 Roll Call, Inc.
Page Printed h’om:
http~//~vww.rea~c~ear~litic~c~m/artic~es/2~7/~3/nc~b-sch~-ref~rm-deserves-re.htm~ at March 08, 2007
- 06:07:49 AM CST
Page 133
LN,~onresponsi!
Sent: March 07, 2007 8:18 AM
Subject: Governors Edge Toward Position on NCLB (EDWEEK)
Governors Edge Toward Position on NCLB (EDWEEK)

By By Michele McNeil
Education Week., March 7, 2007
In a shift of direction, NGA vows a lobbying effort in law’s renewal.
The nation’s governors, who were noticeably absent when Congress passed the No Child Let~ Behind Act more than five
years ago, are vowing to take a front-row seat as the law comes up for renewal this year.
Led by Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington and Gov. Donald L Carcieri of Rhode Island, the bipartisan lobbying effort
kicked into high gear during the National Governors Association’s winter meeting here Feb. 24-27.
The two met privately with U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings last week to start the discussion, and they will
urge fellow governors to work with their chief state school officers to appoint one person from each state to coordinate policy
efforts on NCLB reauthorization. Representatives from all interested states will convene in the next couple of months to nail down
changes the governors would like to see.
After that, Gov. Gregoire, a Democrat, and Gov. Carcieri, a Republican, may seek a follow-up meeting with Secretary
Spellings. And, if needed, the governors will testify before Congress.
’We will be very active," Gov. Carcieri said in an interview. "We want to fairly quickly come together and develop very strong
opinions on the policy."
In their initial meeting with Ms. Spellings, Gov. Carcieri said, he and Gov. Gregoire laid the groundwork for fi.~ture
discussions by listening to the secretary’s take on the reauthorization, and indicating the governors wanted to be closely involved
in shaping the next version of the law.
Joan E. Wodiska, the director of the NGA’s education committee and the coordinator of the lobbying effort, said the
governors are concerned about four key areas: increasing the support for teachers; giving states more flexibility on
accountability; increasing funding; and giving states more say in which tests are used, who is tested, and what penalties can be
used for poorly performing schools, for example.
The next step, she said, is to get a majority of governors-both Democrats and Republicans-to agree on policy
recommendations.
’The governors are in the game. Now, we just have to work out the details to make sure our suggestions are meaningful,"
Ms. Wodiska said.
One common theme emerged at the governors’ meeting: Though they agree with the fundamental components of testing
and accountability at the heart of the NCLB law, many governors feel states need more flexibility and funding to see the changes
through.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat and the chairwoman of the NGA, summed up the existing federal law as a "one
size fits all" approach to school improvement that isn’t as effective as it could be.
Katherine McLane, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education, said the priorities Ms. Spellings laid out for the
reauthorization include "a number of flexibilities," such as allowing states to use so-called growth models to measure student
progress and alternative standards to measure special education students’ achievement.
Even though education is a top priority for the NGA, the bipartisan organization that represents all the state governors
generally has shied away from particularly divisive issues, which has deterred the group-until now-from lobbying on the NCLB
law.
’We admit the NGA was not involved," said Gov. Gregoire. "It’s a different day. Whether we are in charge of education or
not, it always comes back that we’re responsible for it. We will make sure our voices are heard."
Page 134
Power Struggle
Disputes about the NCLB law are an example of the ongoing power struggle over what a number of governors at last
week’s meeting complain are unfunded mandates from the federal government. Governors also complain that the federal
government is interfering in what should be state-level decisions. In particular, a number of them object to part of the Bush
administration’s blueprint for the NCLB reauthorization that calls for the federal law to override state moratoriums on the
expansion of charter schools.
Gov. Carcied is one of those who object-even though he said it would help his cause in Rhode Island, where he wants to
see lawmakers lift the moratorium they placed on charter schools in 2004. His point is that the federal government shouldn’t be
interfering.
’That’s the state’s role," he said of such changes.
Such debates come at a time when the governors are being pressured from all sides to make improvements in K-12
education, which takes up about 50 percent of states’ budgets. Around the country, for example, local education groups are
pushing for increased school funding and taking their states to court-in Missouri, for example, a coalition comprising nearly half
the state’s public school districts is suing to increase school funding.
Meanwhile, the federal government is bearing down on states to comply with the No Child Left Behind law, which requires
annual testing in reading and math in grades 3-8 and once in high school, a range of penalties for schools that don’t show
adequate yearly progress, and extra help for students in underperforming schools. The goal of the law is that all students be
proficient in reading and math by the end of the 2013-14 school year.
But achieving consensus among the 50 states on how to improve the law won’t be easy. Many states have their own
specific concerns about the act.
Virginia, for example, has tangled with the U.S. Department of Education over how English-language learners are tested.
Connecticut is suing the federal government over what it contends is a failure to provide enough money to implement the law.
In Minnesota, one of the biggest issues, as Republican Gov. Tim Pawtenty sees it, is labeling an entire school as needing
improvement if one subset of the student population, such as special education students, lags behind on achievement tests.
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, also a Republican, echoed that sentiment. "Governors believe in accountability," he said.
"But how we measure that progress-that’s going to be a big part of the discussion."
Vol. 26, Issue 26, Pages 16-17
Page 135
Nonresponsi
From: Yudof, Samara
Sent: March 06, 2007 4:38 PM
Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mcnit[, Townsend L; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara
Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; ’Tracy
Young’; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Oldham, Chery; Schray, Vickie; Conklin, Kristin
Cc: McLane, Katherine; Ditto, Trey, Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie
Subject: (U.S. News and World Report) The Measure of Learning: Can you test what colleges teach?
Academics are appalled that the government wants to try
This story appears in the March 12, 2007 pdnt edition of U.S. News & World Report.
U.S. News and World Repo~t

Nation & World
The Measure of Learning
Can you test what colleges teach? Academics are appalled that the government wants to ta3~
By Alex Kingsbury
In his autobiography, The Eah~cation of Henry Adams, the grandson of the sixth president delivered the
American school system one of its most memorable intellectual smackdowns. His treatise on the value of
experiential learning concluded that his alma mater, Harvard University, "as f~ as it educated at all ... sent
young men into the world with all they needed to make respectable citizens. Leaders of men it never tried to
make." His schooling, replete with drunken revelry and privileged classmates, didn’t prepare him for a world of
radical change: the birth of radio, X-rays, automobiles. "[Harvard] taught little," he said, "and that little, ill."
Todays undergraduate education, of course, is far more than just the canon of classics that Adams studied. And
with heavy investments in technology, it’s hard to argue that colleges don’t prepare students for the job market or
the emerging digital world. But the question remains: What sho~dda student learn in college? And whatever that
is, which colleges teach it most effectively?. With the average cost of private college soaring--and with studies
consistently showing American students falling behind their peers internationally--it’s a question being asked
more and more. And it’s one that colleges are at a loss to fully answer. "Every college tries to do what it says in
the brochures: ’to help students reach their full potential,’" says Derek Bok, folrner Harvard president and the
author of Our Underachieving Colleges. But, he says, "most schools don’t know what that means. Nor do they
know who is failing to achieve that full potential."
It’s called "value added," an elusive measurement of the thinldng skills and the body of knowledge that students
acquire between their freshman and senior years. In other words, how much smarter are students when they
leave college than when they got there? Trying to quantify that value--and assessing how effective each of the
nation’s 4,200 colleges is at delivering it--is at the heart of one of the most ambitious and controversial higher-
education reforms in recent history.
Later tNs month, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will meet with college leaders to discuss the
findings of her Commission on the Future of Higher Education and its plan to assess college learning through
one or a number of standardized tests. "For years the colleges in this country have said, ’We’re the best in the
world, give us money and leave us alone,’" says Charles Miller, the chairman of the commission. "The higher-ed
comlrnmity needs to fess up to the public’s concerns."
Page 136
Along with the parents footing the bills, the federal government has a vested interest in knowing how the
nation’s colleges are doing their jobs. Although the government provides only 10 percent of the furlcting for all
K-12 schools, it is responsible for 24 percent ofa!l money spent on higher education. Despite this inflow of
public money, colleges have largely escaped the accountability movement that has been shaping policy and
curricula in the early grades.
One size. Not surprisingly, cdleges abhor the idea ofgovermnent-imposed testing, insisting that they are
reforming themselves and that government oversight is not the answer in any case. A one-size-fits-all solution is
grossly impractical, they argue, given the variety of American colleges, and it undermines the prized
independence of the institutions, widely regarded as among the finest in the world. "No one wants standardized
No Child Left Behind-style testing in colleges--not parents, not students, not colleges," says David Ward,
president of the American Council of Education. Adds Lloyd Thacker, author of College Unranked: Ending the
College Admissions Frenzy, "The danger is that the soul of education will be crushed in the rush to quantify the
unquantifiable."
A combination of factors has prompted the government to rethink its historically hands-offpolicy toward higher
education. They include a staggeringly high dropout rate, a perceived decline in international competitiveness,
and sky-high tuitions. Nationwide, only 63 percent of entering freshmen will graduate from college within six
years--and fewer than 50 percent of black and Hispanic freshmen will. And while degree holders have far
greater earning power than nondegree holders, the students who incur debt only to drop out are often worse off
than if they had never attended college in the first place.
And debts they have. A year of t~tion at Harvard cost Henry Adams $75, or nearly $1,750 in today’s dollars.
Now, four years at a public in-state, four-year college costs $65,400, up more than 27 percent in the past five
years. Four years at a private school costs more than $133,000. In the past 30 years, the average constant-dollar
cost of a degree from a private schoo! has more than doubled. So it’s hardly surprising that college students with
loans graduate with an average of $19,000 in debt.
Yet an expensive degree does not necessarily a literate citizen make. In 2003, the government surveyed college
graduates to test how well they could read texts and draw inferences. Only 31 percent were able to complete
these basic tasks at a proficient level, down from 40 percent a decade earlier. Fewer than half of all college
students, other studies show, graduate with broad proficiency in math and reading. And, according to Bok,
evidence suggests that several groups of college students, particularly blacks and Hispanics, consistently
underperform levels expected of them given theix SAT scores and high school grades.
It is just these sorts of reports that have triggered the goveira-nent’s demands for greater accountability. "It was
always assumed that higher education knew what it was doing," says John Simpson, president of the University
at Buffalo-SUNY. "Now, the government wants provable results."
There are currently two major tools used to measure student learning in college. The Collegiate Learning
Assessment, administered to freshmen and seniors, measures critical thinking and analytical reasoning. About
120 schools use it--though nearly all keep the results confidential. Hundreds of schools also administer the
National Survey of Student Engagement, which tracks how much time students spend on educational and other
activities--a proxy for value added. Colleges have also made efforts to monitor student satisfaction, faculty
effectiveness, and best classroom practices. The problem is, schools largely keep these results from the public.
Many graduate programs require standardized tests for admission, from the Graduate Record Exam to the more
specialized tests for law, medicine, and business. So demonstrating a college’s effectiveness could be as simple a
matter as tabulating its graduates’ pass rates on those exams. But many colleges have no way to determine if
their graduates take these exams or how well they score. Nor, colleges argue, can they easily and
comprehensively monitor starling salary, graduate school acceptance, or years spent in debt. This is despite the
prodigious data-gathering capabilities of the fundraisers in the alumni office.
Page 137
Conm~on knowledge. One of the major hurdles for measuring value added is agreeing on what students should
learn </usnews/news/articles/070312/12college.b.htm>.
Should a philosophy major be proficient in calculus? Should a physics major be able to conjugate French verbs?
A study of hundreds of students at the University of Washington suggests that measuring success within
disciplines might be the way for~vard instead. "We found that learning outcomes were highly dependent on a
student’s major," says Catharine Beyer, who has compiled the results of that research into a book to be published
this spring. "A chemistry student will learn something very different about writing than a philosophy major.
That’s why standardized tests across institutions are too simplistic to determine what learning takes place."
Others contend that a myopic focus on testing is simply the wrong way to think about learning. Peter Ewell, vice
president at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, says that alternative assessments,
like portfolios of student work or senior-year capstone projects, can be effective yardsticks for gauNng progress.
Ball State University in Munde, Ind_, for instance, requires that all students must pass a writing test in order to
graduate; in two hours, students must produce a three-page expository essay. In several majors, including
architecture and education, students must maintain an electronic portfolio of their work.
In the ne~ five years, Ball State will also give all students the oppommity to ~ticipate in an "immersive
learning project," in which they solve a real-world problem. One recent class, for example, produced a DVD
about the American legal system for the local Hispanic communities. "The limitation of the Spellings
commission is that they only think about universities in terms of the classroom," says Jo Ann Gora, Ball State’s
president. "We see our educational mission in much broader terms, including community involvement that is
not easy to quantify with a test."
To a large degree, schools already are held accountable for their performance. It happens through the
accreditation process, in which an independent panel reviews the operation of an institution and gives its official
blessing. When the process started, there were fewer colleges and far fewer federal dollars at stake. But now,
with federal student loans contingent on a school’s credentials, a loss of accreditation could put a college out of
business. Thus, accreditors are reluctant to fail schools, preferring instead to issue warnings and encourage
improvement. Accreditors meeting in Wastfm~on recently also confessed that some were reluctant to shutter
schools that are "failing in the numerical sense" because those institutions were serving students who othenvise
might not have options.
Freeze. But if the feds have their way, that sort of attitude may change. The Department of Education recently
made an example out of the American Academy for liberal Education, a minor accrediting agency, by freezing
its authority for six months for--among other things--failing to clearly measure student achievement. It was an
indication of how quickly the government is moving.to implement the recommendations of the commission.
"We’re not just going to sit around and study this," says Cheryl Oldham, the commission’s executive director.
"We’re going to begin to correct the problems."
Another key resource for evaluating schools is, of course, college ranldngs--the Best Colleges
</usnews!edu/colle~e/ranldn~s/ranldndex brief.php> list by U.S. Ne~,,s in particular. College rankings have
been blamed for all manner of ills, from runaway tuition costs to unhealthy adolescent stress. But chief among
critics’ complaints is that U.S. News relies more on "inputs" such as SAT scores and the high school class ranks
of admittees than "outputs" of the sort that Spellings wants to measure.
"U.S. Nears ranldngs heavily weight the wealth of a school, thro ~ugh things like spending per student, rather than
how much a student learns," says Kevin Carey, a researcher at the nonpartisan think tank Education Sector.
Unless colleges release them, U.S. Ne~,s does not have access to such data. But if such measures were
incorporated, the ranldngs could change. Florida, for example, makes data about student learning public, often
with sm~rising results. The average student at the University of Florida, for example, has SAT scores a full 100
points higher than those at Florida International University. There are fewer fifll-time faculty members at FIU,
Page 138
and only 4 percent of alumni donate money back to the school, compared with 18 percent of University of
Florida grads. Those are just two reasons that the University of F!orida ranks higher than FIU in the U.S. News
list. Yet the average earnings of FIU grads--only one measure, to be sure--are significantly higher than those of
their University of Florida counterparts.
The state of Texas also requires its public colleges to release more data. In a recent report, the state announced
that the tiny University of Texas of the Pem~an Basin in Odessa far outperformed the larger UT campuses in E1
Paso and Dallas on the Collegiate Learning Assessment. What’s more, Permian Basin also had a greater
percentage of students either employed or enrolled in a graduate pro~am within a year after graduation for
every year between 2001 and 2004, when compared with its counterparts in E1 Paso and Dallas.
These are the sorts of statistics students should consider ~vhen looking at colleges, g~dance counselors say. In
their absence, students look dsewhere for comparisons--to campus luxuries like room service or Jacuzzis, for
instance, or to the success of a school’s sports teams. "Students will choose a college because of its party
reputation or its campus facilities or how many limes it’s been on ESPN, because they don’t have a lot of other
meaningful information to base their choice on," says Steve Goodman, an educationa! consultant and college
counselor. The irony is that ifs often easier to find statistics about a college football running back thanit is to
find, say, the college’s expected graduation rate for black males from middle-class households.
Spellings, for her part, sees outcomes as inseparable from the college search process. She envisions a database
on the Web where people can shop for a school the way they shop for a new car--an analogy that incenses
academics to no end. (These critics also point out that the Department of Education already maintains such a
website, though it is far from user-friendly.)
A~ling ,ow. Some schools are already taldng the hint. The University of North Carolina recently announced
that it was considering requiring the Collegiate Learning Assessment. The Kentucky and Wisconsin
governments require that state schools prove learning outcomes. In Texas, in addition to the testing it already
mandates, Gov. Rick Perry has proposed a college exit exam. The Arizona State University system has moved
to give individual deans more power to require learning assessments. And businesses are lining up to provide
the tools to do it. "Employers, governments, and parents want to know what they are paying for," says Catherine
Burdt of the educational research firm Eduventures. As the college going population includes more part-time
and older students, studies show, the demand for measuring learning outcomes will only increase.
In a few ~veeks, colleges will hear how Spellings intends to move forward. Colleges, meanwhile, continue to
search for that elusive value-added measure, which, however flawed, can lead to better teaching.
"We should not be afraid of a culture of self-scrutiny on campus, but only the faculty can create a culture of
learning," says Bok, who is wary of a federally imposed solution. "Those who say it’s impossible to quantify a
college education are not being honest or they are dissembling. All the things you learn can’t be counted, but
some can. We need to get more schools interested in examining their own successes and shortcomings."
That might be something Spdlings could support--provided that the colleges publish the results.
Posted 3/4/07
Page 139
lNonresponsiv!
Sent: March 06, 2007 8:31 AM
Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Co: Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Reauthorizing No Child Lel~ Behind (MBARONE)
Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind (MBARONE)

IVichael Barone, March 5, 2007
Mchael Barone
The No Child Left Behind Act - the education bill passed by Congress in 2001 and signed by George W. Bush in 2002 --
comes up for reauthorization this year. NCLB injected into the federal aid to education program important doses of accountability
-- yearly testing of kids from grades 3 to 8, consequences for failing schools, disaggregation of data by race and ethnicity -- and it
seems to have resulted in some modest improvements in test scores.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is optimistic that it will be reauthorized. Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. George
Miller have scheduled a bipartisan joint meeting of their committees for March 13 -- both played major roles in 2001 shaping the
bill, which passed with bipartisan majorities. Yet 11 members of a bipartisan group of 12 Washington education law professionals
surveyed in December by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute predicted that the new version will not be passed until 2009.
President Bush, second from left, and first lady Laura Bush, left, meet with members of Congress in the Oval Office of the
White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 8, 2007 on the Fifth Anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act. from left are, Mrs.
Bush, the president, Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. (AP
Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Perhaps this is because they think that Kennedy and Miller would rather wait until a Democratic president is in office. They
have made it plain that they want a bill authorizing considerably more funding. Kennedy has been complaining since 2002 that
the administration hasnt fulfilled its promise to spend the full amounts authorized then. Others do not recall such a promise and
note that few programs are funded up to the fiJII authorization amount. And the teachers unions -- an important Democratic
constikrency -- would probably like more money and less accountability. The Republicans involved -- Spellings and Sen. Mike
Enzi of Wyoming and Rep. Buck r,,/bKeon of California -- seem primarily interested in more accountability.
On that, they have received serious intellectual support in recent months. An Aspen Institute panel headed by two former
governors, Republican Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin and Democrat Roy Barnes of Georgia, called for beefed-up
accountability measures, more public school choice, aligning state test standards with college and workplace standards, and
more assessments in high school grades.
Bill Gates, whose foundation has been concentrating on education, is pushing for more rigor and better results in high
schools. The Center for American Progress, headed by former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta, has teamed with the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce and Frederick Hess of the conservative American Enterprise Institute to urge more in the way of
accountability.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and high-tech CEOs have emphasized that America needs better schools if it is
to remain competitive. At the same time, there appears to be little support in liberal think tanks for the positions the teachers
unions have taken over the years.
Spellings calls for some interesting changes: merit pay for teachers in districts with "challenging" schools, overriding
teachers union contracts when they conflict with NCLB sanctions and more assessments of students’ progress in high school. It’s
not at all clear that Kennedy and Miller are going to oppose all such changes (though the teachers unions will press them to
oppose the second).
Their support of the 2001 legislation represented a sharp shit~ from the Democrats’ approach to the 1994 reauthorization,
which added more money but did little about accountability. Kennedy and Miller, impressed by the success of state accountability
programs in the intervening years and acting out of a heartfelt conviction that schools without accountability were poorly serving
disadvantaged children, led their party to a sharp change on policy.
Page 140
But more progress is needed. Something more needs to be done about the 15 percent of high schools that produce 50
percent of high school dropouts. Only about half the blacks and Hispanics who enter high school graduate within four years.
Kennedy and Miller seem willing to plunge ahead with elaborate hearings, and my sense, based on observing them over many
years, is that they will be not only open, but inclined, to support many tougher accountability measures. They proved that in their
work on the bill in 2001.
It’s also my sense that Spellings, Enzi and McKeon are open to more funding. The Bush budget already adds $1.2 billion
for Title I aid to disadvantaged schools, $500 million for low-performing schools and $600 million for tuition to alternatives to
failing schools.
The fact is that our schools are not as good as they could be. This doesnt hurt kids from affluent, stable, book-filled
households too much -- they’re mostly going to do well even if they go to mediocre schools. But it does hurt kids from low-
earning, single-parent, bookless households who fall behind in poor schools and too often never reach their potential. It would
help them if these Democrats and Republicans could once again reach a deal. Let’s hope the insiders are wrong on this one.
Mchael Barone is a senior writer with U.S. News & World Report and the principal co-author of The Almanac of American
Politics, published by National Journal every two years. He is also author of Our Country: The Shaping of America from
Roosevelt to Reagan, The New Americans: Howthe Melting Pot Can Work Again, the just-released Hard America, Soft America:
Competition vs. Coddling and the Competition for the Nation’s Future.
Page 141
Nonresponsi
Sent: March 06, 2007 8:29 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; ’scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov’; Beaton, Meredith; Bdggs,
Subject: Fixing No Child Left Behind (WSJ)
Fixing No Child Left Behind (WSJ)

The Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2007
The No Child Left Behind education law is up for renewal this year, and an independent commission recently released
some recommendations for improvement. Not [o be outdone, the White House has also put out its own "blueprint" for
strengthening the law. The legislation could use a serious reworking, but any fixes wont go far enough unless they do more to
expand public and private school choice.
NCLB’s political bargain was that, in return for a big increase in federal education spending, the government would hold
schools more accountable for results in the classroom. Six years later, taxpayers have done their part. Since 2001 overall NCLB
funding has risen by 34% and federal spending on Title I schools serving low-income students has gone up 45%
NCLB and [he Bush Administration also deserve some credit for shifting the terms of the education debate. The taw has
focused attention on learning gaps between students of different races and economic backgrounds that persist even at some of
the nation’s best public schools. The laws requirement that schools test annually in grades 3-8, and report both averages and
the results of racial and economic subgroups, has made it much more difficult for administrators to hide the fact that all students
aren’t learning.
NCLB has been much less successful in bringing pressure to bear on states and school districts that fail to implement the
law. That’s especially true of the school choice provisions, which are the best way to get the attention of the education
bureaucracy. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration abandoned its voucher proposal very early in the 2001 negotiations. What
passed was a watered-down version of public school choice, which in theory’ allows a child in a failing school to transfer to a
better public school or get free after-school tutoring from private providers. * **
In practice, however, the Education Department has too often allowed school districts to skirt even these limited choice
provisions, either by granting exemptions or looking the other way. It took a formal complaint from the Alliance for School Choice
before Secretary Margaret Spellings did anything about Los Angeles failing to notify parents of their transfer rights as required
under the law. So far she’s sent the district a sternly worded letter.
And the Chicago public school system, which has been repeatedly labeled "in need of improvement" and thus should be
banned under NCLB from offering its own after-schoo! tutoring, has been given a waiver to do exactly that. So while it would be
nice if the Bush Administration enforced its own law, the larger lesson is that school choice "life" turns out to be no substitute for
the real thing.
To be fair, some of these problems are structural. Even if more school districts were implementing NCLB’s transfer
provisions, [here often isn’t enough room in decent schools to handle all the children who qualify for a transfer. And many of the
private after-school tutoring services allowed under the law are simply employing the same teachers from the local public school
system who are failing the kids during regular school hours.
There’s also the problem of allowing each state to develop its own standards and tests to determine proficiency in reading
and math. The Administration was deferring to federalist prindples on an issue that’s traditionally been handled at the state and
local level. But the reality has been a "race to the bottom," with some states constructing easy tests to avoid federal penalties.
"If you’re in Oklahoma right now, you’re told that 95% or 96% of your schools are doing fine," says Frederick Hess, who
follows education at the American Enterprise Institute. "And if you’re in Massachusetts, you’re told that 40% to 45°/0 of your
schools are doing fine. But if you look at the actual achievement data, it suggests that kids in Massachusetts are doing far better
than kids in Oklahoma."
Some education reformers are now calling for "national standards" to address this problem. But we tried national history
standards in the 1990s, and the politicized results weren’t pretty -- unless, of course, you favor a history curriculum that
Page 142
downgrades the Founding Fathers while playing up the working experiences of midwives in 19th-century Nebraska.
Rather than force a national test on states, the best compromise here may be to require them to benchmark their own
assessments against the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), a federal standardized test that already exists and
that most educators agree is fairly rigorous. "So people at least have a common metric by which to judge the rigor of the state
assessment," says Mr. Hess.
It’s worth considering, and w~ wish we could say the same about the Commission on No Child Left Behind, which was
ft~nded by private foundations and co-chaired by former Governors Tommy Thompson and Roy Barnes. But the panel’s report is
more interested in tinkering than l~ndamental change, and its 75 recommendations dont include the one that would make the
biggest difference: school vouchers. ** *
The Administration’s proposed fixes are bolder and potentially more consequential. President Bush’s 2008 budget sets
aside $250 million for "promise scholarships" for low-income students in schools that have consistently underperformed for five
years. The scholarships would average about $4,000 and "the money would follow the child to the public, charter or private
school of his or her choice."
Thorn’s fightin’ words for the Democrats who now control Congress. But Mr. Bush has the bully pulpit, as well as the moral
authority from five years of evidence on failing schools. We hope his Administration uses them to explain why real school choice
is essential to any reform in K-12 education.
Page 143 Page 1 of 11
lNonresponsivI
Sent: March 02, 2007 4:22 PM
To: Private- Spellings,~Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Ken-i; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill;
Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Jehnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela;
Maddox, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara
Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam;
Tracy Young; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Jutie;
Yudof, Samara
Subject: From WH: REMARKS BYTHE PRESIDENT ON NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
REAUTHORIZATION
THE WHITE HOUSE
office of the Press Secretary

(New Albany, Indiana)
For Immediate Release March 2, 2007
RE~RKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND REAUTHOR!ZATION
Silver Street Elementary School
New Albany, Indiana
2:38 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated.

(Applause.) A little bossy today, aren’t I? (Laughter.)
Thrilled to be here in New Albany. Thanks for coming out to
say hello. I want to talk about schools and the federal role
in schools relative to local governments -- is what we’re here
to talk about.
I’m glad to be here in the home of the Stars, the Silver

Street Stars. (Applause.) I brought a lot of cameras and
limousines. (Laughter.) Kind of fits in with the theme,
doesn’t it -- Silver Street Stars. I understand the school is
06/05/2008
Page 144 Page 2 of 1 ~
90 years old. You’ve seen a lot of decent people come here to

teach, I’ll bet you -- a lot of people who said, I want to put
my community first, and became teachers and principals and
caring citizens of the state. And so I’m real proud to be
with you.
I’m here because I think it’s important for a President

to herald success and to talk about what’s possible,
particularly when it comes to schools. Hy only regret is that
my wife hasn’t joined me today. She’s, by far, the best deal
in our family. (Applause.) Just like in Hitch’s family I
want you to know. I know the Danielses well and I can certify
that the person from New Albany is, by far, the best part of
his family, too. (Laughter.)
I’m real proud of Hitch. I know him -- he worked in my

administration. I called him out of the private sector when I
first got sworn in. I said, would you come and work for the
country? And he did. He was the watchdog for the people’s
money -- it’s what’s called the OMB. And he did a fine job
there, really, and I miss him a lot. I love his sense of
humor. I knew he’d make a fine governor. He asked me about
governor; I said, listen, it’s the greatest job in America --
next to President. But it’s a great -- (laughter.) And he’s
an innovative, smart, capable, honest guy, and I’m proud to be
with him.
I know he cares a lot about schools, too. And so when I

talk about education, I can talk confidently about the schools
here in Indiana, because you’ve got a Governor who will
prioritize education. I used to say to people, public
education is to a state what national defense is to the
federal government. It ought to be the number one priority.
And I know Hitch is making it so. (Applause.)
I want to thank Tony Dully. Dully has done a find job of

dealing with a impossibly large entourage. (Laughter.) I
really appreciate your spirit. It turns out that if you were
to correlate education in a school with educational
entrepreneurship at the principal leve!, the two go hand-in-
hand. In other words, you have to have a good principal in
order to be able to challenge failure when you find it,
mediocrity when you see it, and praise excellence when it’s
evident. 9md you’ve got a good principal here. I can’t thank
you enough, Tony.
I want to thank all the teachers, as well, who teach

here. Teaching is a hard job, it’s a really hard job, and
it’s never really appreciated enough in some circles. And I
just want the teachers to understand full well that I know the
community here thanks you from the bottom of their heart, and
06/05/2008
Page 3 of 11
Page 145
the parents thank you. And for the parents who are here, I
appreciate you paying attention to your school. It turns out
parental involvement is an essential part of having excellence
in the school system. So when parents pay attention, it not
only gives confidence to the teachers, :it also enables the
school to listen to the needs of those who matter most, and
those are the parents and the chilc~en.
I appreciate very much Congressman Baron Hil! joining us

today. The Congressman flew down on the airplane. As you
know, we’re not from the same political party, but we both
care about education. And it’s nice of you to come. You’l!
meet a friend of mine who is with us, Mike and Keta --
appreciate you all coming.
Now is not the time to be involved with politics when

we’re talking about the education of our children. This is an
issue that needs to rise above politics and needs to focus on
what’s right, because getting the schools right in America
will make sure that this country remains competitive and
hopeful and optimistic. So I’m proud you traveled with me,
and it’s good to see you both again. Thanks for coming.
Mayor Jim Garner and Debbie are with us. Mr. Mayor,
thank you for being here, sir. Proud to be in your city. I
appreciate the reception that we received from the citizens.
People respect the presidency, and sometimes they like the
President. (Laughter.) I appreciate the fact that people
came out to wave.
I want to thank Dr. Reed, who is the Indiana

Superintendent of Public Instruction. Thank you for coming,
Dr. Reed. There you are. I appreciate Mr. Don Sakel, who is
the President of the School Board. Don, where are you? There
you are, yes. I saw him coming in. I said, you’ve probably
got the toughest job in America, being on the school board.
For those of you who know school politics, you know what I’m
talking about. But I appreciate the school board and the
board of trustees, people who serve the loca! community by
serving on the school board, making sure that local control of
schools remains an essential part of the school system in this
state and around the country. Dr. Dennis Brooks, who is the
superintendent of the New Albany and Floyd County schoo!
system is with us; and community leaders, thanks.
So there is a bill coming up for reauthorization called

the No Child Left Behind Act. I happen to think it’s if not
the, one of the most substantial pieces of legislation I wil!
have had the honor to sign -- I’ve signed a lot. I want to
describe to you the philosophy behind the act and why I
strongly believe it needs to be reauthorized by the United
06/05/2008
States Congress.
I first became directly involved with public schools from

a public policy perspective as the governor of Texas, and I
was deeply concerned about systems that quit early on a child
and just moved them through. In other words, I was concerned
about a system where people would walk in the classroom and
say, these children are hard to educate, therefore, let’s just
move them through the system. It may not have happened in
Indiana, but it happened in Texas. And it was unacceptable,
because guess who generally got shuffled through the system.
The poor, the newly arrived, the minority student. And I knew
that unless we confronted a system which gave up on children
early, that my state would not be a hopeful place.
And so I decided to do something about it. And I took

that spirit to Washington, D.C. Now, look, I fully understand
some are nervous when they hear a President talking about
federal education -- you start thinking to yourself the
government is going to tell you what to do here at the local
level. Quite the contrary, in this piece of legislation. I
strongly believe in local contro! of schools. I believe it’s
essential to align authority and responsibility. And by
insisting upon loca! control of schools, you put the power
where it should be -- c!osest to the people.
On the other hand, I know full well that to make sure a

system doesn’t lapse into kind of the safety of mediocrity
that you’ve got to measure. See, in my state we said we want
to know whether or not a child can read or write early, before
that child gets moved through the system. And so I insisted
upon accountability.
And the spirit of the No Child Left Behind Act is the

same. It says if you spend money, you should insist upon
results. Now, I recognize the federal government only spends
about 7 percent of the total education budgets around the
country, and, frankly, that’s the way I think it should be.
In other words, if local people are responsible or the state
is responsible, that’s where the primary funding ought to
come. But I also strongly subscribe to the idea of the
federal government providing extra money for what’s called
Title I students, for example, students who go to this school
-- money that I think bolsters education for students in the
community.
But I also believe that in return for you spending that

money -- it’s your money, after al! -- it makes sense for
government to say, is it working? Are we meeting objectives?
Are we achieving the results necessary for all of us to say
that the school systems are working nationwide? And so step
06/05/2008
Page 5 of 11
Page 147
one of the No Child Left Behind Act was to say you’ve got to
measure.
We didn’t design a federal test because I believe a

federal test undermines local control of schools. As a matter
of fact, Hitch and Baron and I were talking in the car about
how Indiana has had a longstanding accountability system, and
that’s good. It ought to be your accountability system; after
al!, it’s your schools. But I do believe you need to measure,
and I know you need to set high standards and keep raising
those standards.
In life, if you lower the bar you get lousy results. If

you keep raising that bar, it’s amazing what can happen. I
call it challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. And
that’s an important part of the No Child Left Behind Act. We
expect people to set high standards and measure to determine
whether or not those standards are being met.
Now, one of the interesting debates in the schoo! system

is curriculum. I imagine you’ve had a few of those tussles
here; we had a lot of them in the state of Texas. Reading
curriculum, for example, there was a !ongstanding debate over
which type of system works better. And it can get pretty
heated. One way to cut through all the noise, however, is to
measure. If the children are learning to read given a basic
curriculum, then you know you picked the right way to teach,
the right set of instructions. If your children aren’t
meeting standards, then an accountability system gives you the
opportunity to change. And school systems, in my judgment,
need to be flexible. That’s why local control of schools
makes sense. When something isn’t working, you need to
correct. But what the accountability systems enable you to do
is determine if it’s working at all.
I think it’s very important for there to be

transparency. In other words, when you have scores -- I don’t
know if you do this, Hitch, or not, but I would strongly
suggest that you post them for everybody to see across the
state of Indiana. It’s kind of hard to tell how you’re doing
relative to your neighbor unless there’s full accountability -
- in other words, unless everybody can see the results. A lot
of times people think their school is doing just great -- the
principal, in all due respect, says, we’re doing just fine,
don’t worry about it -- to the community. But you may not
be. And it’s important for people to fully understand how
your schoo! is doing relative to other schools, so that if you
need to correct, you’re able to do so. See, if you have high
standards, then you want to aim to those standards and make
sure that you’re doing well relative to other schools that are
setting high standards.
06/05/2008
Page 6 of 11
Page 148
Finally, what we need is to make sure that we

individualize, as best as possible, the school system. That’s
what happens here at Silver Street. In other words, when you
use your accountability system properly, you can tailor it to
each individual student. That’s why the act is called the No
Child Left Behind Act. It doesn’t say "all children shouldn’t
be left behind," it says, "no child." In other words, you can
individualize curriculum based upon accountability. And this
school does that.
Testing data has helped teachers tailor instruction.

Here’s what your principal said. He said, "We drill down in
the data." In other words, they take the data and drill down
-- I presume you meant analyze a lot. Yes, excuse me. I’m
from Crawford, Texas, too, so I know. (Laughter.) They
analyze, they drill down in the data and figure out what the
best practices are that we need to be using in the classroom.
In other words, they use the data not as a way to punish, but
as a way to improve.
The spirit of the No Child Left Behind Act says we will

spend money, we will use accountability to drill down, to make
sure no child gets left behind. You know, one way you can
really use this, particularly in your early grades, is for
literacy. Science doesn’t matter if the child can’t read.
It’s really hard to be good in math if you don’t have the
capacity to read the problems in the first place. And so I
know this school is focused on literacy, as it should be, as a
step toward educational excellence in all subjects.
I appreciate very much the fact that this school uses the
accountability to focus on teaching techniques. Sometimes,
probably not in this school, but sometimes teachers have got
the right heart, but they don’t have the techniques necessary
to deliver the results that are expected. And so you can use
your accountability system, if you’re wise, to make sure that
the techniques are analyzed and the compassion in the
classroom is backed with the skills necessary to be able to
achieve objectives.
Here’s what the principa! also says -- and this is an

important part of excellence -- "We never give up. There are
no excuses." Sometimes if you don’t measure, you can find all
kinds of excuses. And it’s just not in schools, it’s life.
The easy position sometimes is the default -- saying, well, I
just didn’t have what was necessary to get the job done, or
something like that. This is a no excuses school. That means
high standards. Low standards are a place where people find
excuses; high standards, there is no excuse, and there’s a
focus on what’s right for each child.
06/05/2008
Page 7 of 11
Page 149
And that’s why I’m here at Silver Street. I appreciate

so very much that this school has met state standards for
progress under No Child Left Behind every year since 2002.
Isn’t that interesting? (Applause.) Isn’t it interesting to
be able to say that? You can’t say something that draws
applause unless you measure. Without a measurement system the
President would be saying, well, we anticipate that we are
doing well. We certainly hope that we’re meeting state
standards. Under this system you can say, we know we’re
meeting state standards. And that should give the parents who
pay attention to this school a great comfort, and give the
teachers who teach here great pride.
The No Child Left Behind Act is working across the

country. So when members of Congress think about
reauthorization -- by the way, I’m here to -- I’m not only
speaking to you, I’m lobbying. I’m lobbying Congress. I’m
setting the stage for Congress to join me in the
reauthorization of this important piece of legislation.
The test scores across the country are heartening.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, don’t get me wrong.
But there’s improvement. One of my issues is that there’s an
achievement gap in America; certain students are doing better
than other students. White students are doing better than
African American students, or Latino students. And that’s not
-- that’s simply not acceptable. It’s not acceptable to the
country. It’s not -- it forebodes not a positive future, so
!ong as that achievement gap exists. The gap is closing.
It’s heartening news.
Fourth graders are reading better. They’ve made more

progress in five years than the previous 28 years combined.
In other words, we’re able to measure whether or not all
children -- and by the way, we disaggregate results -- that is
a fancy, sophisticated word meaning that we’re able to focus
on demographic groups. And the progress has been
substantial. You just heard that it’s easy to quantify how
well we’re doing because there’s measurement.
In math, 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds earned the highest

scores in the history of the test. I hear some people say,
oh, we don’t like tests. I didn’t like them either. But it’s
really important to make sure that we’re achieving standards.
And so reauthorizing this good piece of legislation is one of
my top priorities. And my claim is, it’s working. We can
change parts of it for the better, but don’t change the core
of a piece of good legislation that’s making a significant
difference in the lives of a lot of children. (Applause.)
We’re living in a competitive world. Whether people like
06/05/2008
Page 8 of 1 !
Page 150
it or not, the reality is we live in a world where our

students are going to have to compete for jobs with students
in China or India or elsewhere. And if this country.wants to
remain the economic leader in the world, we’ve got to make
sure we have a workforce capable of filling the jobs of the
21st century. And it’s a real challenge for us. It’s a
challenge we’re going to meet, by the way. There’s no doubt
in my mind we can meet it.
But it really starts with elementary school. It really

starts here, in schools like this. It’s important to get it
right early, to make sure that children have got that
foundation necessary to become the scientists and the
engineers and the leaders for tomorrow. No Child Left Behind
Act is a central part of the competitiveness initiative, to
make sure that America remains on the leading edge of change
and is the economic leader of the world.
We can do some other things around. One thing we need to

do is to make sure that we align our high school graduation
requirements with college readiness standards, which is
precisely what the state of Indiana has done. We want to make
sure that a high school diploma means something. I happen to
believe that we ought to take the same accountability that
we’ve got in elementary and junior highs, and get it to high
school, just to make sure; to be able to say with certainty
the high school diploma that somebody gets really means
something, that it’s working.
I fully believe that we need to advance -- that we need

to spread advanced placement courses around the country.
Advanced placement is a fabulous program. (Applause.) It’s a
way to set high standards, isn’t it? We need to train
teachers in AP, and help students afford the AP exam.
(Applause.) AP is a good way to -- we’ve got an AP teacher
back there.
Hath and science are really important subjects. I can

remember -- math and science probably doesn’t have cachet,
it’s not cool, but it’s important to emphasize math and
science. And one way to do that is to take math and science
professionals and encourage them to go into classrooms. I
went to a school with Margaret Spellings, who happens to be
the Secretary of Education, a dear friend of mine and doing a
fine job -- and we went to a school in Maryland, and there was
a scientist from NASA explaining the beauties of science.
Parents sometimes have trouble explaining the beauties of

science. I certainly did when I was trying to work on those
science projects. (Laughter.) But when you get a
professiona!, somebody who knows what they’re talking about,
06/05/2008
Page 9 of 11
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they can really enlighten the child to the benefits of math or

science focus. And so we’ve got a program to work with
Congress to get more of those professionals in classrooms. We
call them adjunct professors. I hope the Congress funds that
program. So there’s one way, for example, to build on the No
Child Left Behind Act, focus on high schools and math and
science.
Secondly, one of the things that we’ve got is -- in our

budget is to understand that when a school struggles, that
there ought to be extra federal money to help the struggling
school. I !ook forward to working with Congress to fully fund
that. We’ve got incentive -- a teacher incentive fund, grant
programs to encourage teachers to go to schools that need
extra help with the teachers. I think it makes sense to give
school districts grant money, or states to give grant money,
to say, here’s a district that needs focus, test scores
probably aren’t as good as they should be; if there needs to
be additiona! qualified teachers there, we’ll provide
incentives for the teachers to go.
Thirdly, I strongly believe that there needs to be

consequences when there’s failure. And, oh, by the way, Baron
and I talked about this, and Mitch and I talked about the
accountability systems. They ought to be flexible, we
understand that. Flexibility does not mean watering down
standards. In other words, when we talk about accommodating
special needs students in terms of the accountability system,
which I understand is an issue, and so does Margaret
Spellings, who is working with Congress on this issue, we
cannot use that flexibility to water down accountability.
And so we -- Margaret briefed the governors and told

Mitch and all the other governors we’ll work with them, just
so long as we maintain those high standards. And I believe we
can make sure that we accommodate schoo! needs without
watering down this important piece of legislation. Watering
down No Child Left Behind Act would be doing thousands of
children a disservice, and we can’t let it happen.
(Applause.)
We’ve got a -- one of the problems we have -- one of the

good things in the bill was that when a child is in a school
and has fallen behind -- a Title I child -- there’s going to
be extra money for tutoring. I think it’s a great idea. In
other words, you find a young child early in his or her
career, school career, and they can’t read, there’s extra
money. One of the problems we’ve had is for -- is to make
sure we get the test scores out in a timely basis to schoo!
districts who, therefore, can then get the information on a
timely basis to their parents, to make sure that the extra
06/05/2008
Page 10 of 11
Page 152
tutorial money is available for their child.
Sometimes the best intentions get stuck in getting the

information to students. And so Margaret is going to work
hard with Congress to make sure that parents whose child is
not meeting standards and who is eligible for this extra money
gets notified early enough to be able to take that money
wherever the parent may want their child to receive tutorial
help. See, I’m a person who believes that parents know best
when it comes to the interests of their child. And,
therefore, when we find a school that is persistently in
failure, parents must be given different options. There has
to be a consequence; something has to happen if schools refuse
to change and a child stays trapped in mediocrity. And one
such consequence is to give parents the ability to send their
child to a different school -- public or private, as far as
I ’m concerned.
Another option, and something I strongly support, is for

there to be competitive grant programs for opportunity
scholarships. You know, in Washington, D.C. we’ve got a
terrible problem there in the public school system because
it’s not meeting standards. They’re just simply not getting
the job done in too many instances. And so I work with the
Mayor, a Democrat Mayor -- a Democratic Mayor -- who, by the
way, believes what I believe, that when you find failure you
can’t accept it. And so you know what we did? We put forth
what’s called opportunity scholarships for families of the
poor students, so their family, if the schoo! isn’t meeting
needs, can afford to go to a different kind of school. What
matters is the child getting the education. That’s what
matters most. And my attitude is if there’s persistent
failure, it makes sense to liberate the parents so their child
can have a better chance.
So here’s some reforms I look forward to working with

Congress on. This is a piece of legislation that is vital for
the country, in my judgment. It is working and I think we
ought to make sure it stays in law. And I’m looking forward
to working with both Republicans and Democrats to get it
done. I’ve reached out to the bill sponsors in 2001, Senator
Kennedy of Massachusetts, Congressman ~ller of California,
Congressman Boehner of Ohio, and Senator Gregg of New
Hampshire. These four gentlemen worked with the White House
the last time to get the bill done; we’re in consultations now
to get it reauthorized.
I’m pleased to report we’re all headed in the same

direction. In Washington when you get everybody like that
headed in the same direction, sometimes you can get some
things done. Believe it or not, it is possible to put aside
06/05/2008
the sharp elbows of partisan politics and focus on what’s

right for the country. And in my strong opinion, the
reauthorization of No Child Left Behind is right for the
country. And that’s what I’ve come to New Albany to tel!
you. God bless. (Applause.)
END 3:06 P.M. EST
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No Spanish-Speaking Child Left Behind (WP.com) Page ! of 10
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~ onrespons
From: Ditto, Trey
Sent: March 03, 2007 11:12AM
To: McLane, Katherine; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd;
Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich,
Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts,
Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy;
Co: Colby, Chad; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof,
Samara
Subject: Weekend News Clips 03.03.2007
Weekend News Clips 03.03.2007
Los Angeles Times on Bush visit to Indiana

AP on Bush visit to Indiana
Local Virginia TV on ESL situation
Kathleen Leos in WaPo on LEP achievement gap
Hattiesburg American on Tom Meredith
Preserve ’core’ of No Child Left Behind Act, Bush urges

He warns Congress against ~atedng down’ the education law.
B~i J.-’..~mes ¢~e,’~..’.er~z~.,.,’~& Times S..’.af~ W..’iter
March 3, 2007
LOUISVILLE, KY. -- President Bush urged Congress to avoid broad changes to the education law
that represented one of his key domestic policy accomplishments, saying Friday that "watering down"
the No Child Lett Behind Act "would be doing thousands of children a disservice."
"It’s working," Bush said. "We can change parts of it for the better, but don’t change the core of a
piece of good legislation that’s making a significant difference in the lives of a lot of children."
The law, which Bush signed in 2002, is to expire this year, and the president expressed his
willingness to work with Capitol Hill’s new Democratic majority on renewing it. He singled out the
Democratic chairmen of the Senate and House education committees -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of
Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of Martinez -- as crucial to those negotiations.
Kennedy and Miller helped provide bipartisan support for No Child Left Behind, but since its passage
they and other Democrats have said that the administration has failed to provide sufficient funds to
carry out its requirements.
Democratic leaders now can push for these and other changes to the law that they could not enact
when Republicans controlled Congress.
Bush spoke to a crowd in the gymnasium of an elementary school in New Albany, Ind., before
addressing a Republican Party fundraiser in nearby Louisville, Ky., later Friday.
Even as Bush focused on the education issue, reminders were plentiful of the foreign policy matters
that have defined his presidency -- his response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and his decision to
invade Iraq.
As Bush’s motorcade neared the school, it passed a clutch ofantiwar demonstrators; one held a sign
reading, "War Leaves Every Child Left Behind." Elsewhere, he passed a banner reading, "Thank You
06/0512008
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for Keeping Us Safe."
At the fundraiser, Bush spoke to about 650 conlributors to the National Republican Senatorial
Committee and Mitch McConnell’s 2008 reelection campaign. The Kentucky Republican, the Senate
minority leader, will be seeking his fitch term.
McConnell estimated that Bush’s appearance would take in about $2.1 million.
A key provision of the No Child Left Behind Act required states to establish uniform tests for
assessing students’ progress and school quality.
The measure’s supporters say this has promoted greater accountability in public education and
helped motivate improved student performance in some subjects.
But along with criticism of the funding level for the law, some skeptics have charged that it has
hamstrung teachers by putting too much emphasis on "teaching to the test."
Earlier this year, an independent commission assembled by the nonpartisan Aspen Institute think tank
recommended more than 70 changes to the law, including requiring an "exit exam" for high school
seniors.
Bush has not said what changes he would accept. But he opposes relaxing testing requirements or
requiring a national test to replace state exams.
He said Friday that he also favored speeding up the process through which parents learn about a
school’s test results to make it easier for them to decide whether to seek additional help for their
children.
james, gerstenzang@latimes.com
Bush: Reauthorize No Child Left Behind
By DEB RIECHMANN
NEW ALBANY, Ind. - President Bush, who wants his legacy engraved with
his education policy, lobbied Congress on Friday to reauthorize the No
Child Left Behind law_ and do it this year.
"My claim is it’s working," Bush said at Silver Street Elementary School
where he stopped before heading to Kentucky for a dinner to raise money
for Senate Eepublican Leader Hitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the National
Republican Senatorial Committee.
"We can change parts of it for the better, but don’t change the core of a
piece of legislation that is making a significant difference in the lives of a
lot of children."
It was the second day in a row that Bush called for renewing the law he
signed in 2002, requiring math and reading tests in grades 3 through 8
and once in high school. Schools that fail to show progress face
consequences, such as having to provide tutoring or overhaul their staffs.
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"We didn’t design a federal test because I believe a federal test

undermines local control," Bush said. "But I do believe you need to
measure and I know you need to set high standards."
He also cautioned against weakening the law by making compliance too

flexible.
"Watering down No Child Left Behind would be doing thousands of

students a disservice," he said.
On Thursday, Bush made similar remarks at a charter school in New

Orleans, pitching reauthorization of the law this year before the 2008
election makes is difficult to get legislation passed through Congress.
Democrats have complained that Bush has not provided enough money
for education. In his budget proposal released last month, funding for the
law would increase by a little more than $1 billion with an emphasis on
boosting aid for low-income high school students. The proposal calls for
new reading and math tests to be added in high school.
Before he spoke, Bush visited with kindergartners wiggling in tiny blue

seats anticipating sharing their math lesson with the president. They told
him it was the birthday of children’s poet Dr. Seuss.
"Open up your bag of M&lVls," teacher Beverly Juliot told the children.
"Just like Dr. Seuss wrote sentences with words, we’re going to learn how
to write sentences with numbers today."
Bush also visited with fifth graders who were learning about the
Declaration of Independence. They asked Bush to sign his name in large
letters _ like John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence _ to
their Declaration of Patriotism in which they pledged to be strong U.S.
citizens.
They also showed hi m pictures of others who signed the Declaration of

Independence.
"I know who that is _ with the kite," Bush said. "Ben Franklin."
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
ESL Letter
The U.S. Department of Education is threatening to cut funding to localities with high populations of n0n-English speal4ng
students if they do not ccrnply with a portion of the No Child Left Behind Act. Now this includes Harris0nburg
Friday. Senator Mark Obenshain and Delegate IVlatt Lohr sent letters to President Bush and the entire Virginia Congressional
Delegation requesting urgent attention.
The federal g0vemment wants the Harris0nburg to administer SOL tests to students who cannot read English. But if they fail it,
06/05/2008
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the school will lose funding. So city school officials have dedded to suspend the tests until the group of students acquire the
skills to understand it. But the federal government says if the city suspends the test Harrisonburg will loose about a million
dollars in funding.
Senator Mark Obenshain says it’s difficult because state and federal regulators are not seeing eye to eye. "Harrisonburg public
schools have done exactly what they are suppose to do, they have worked with federal regulator worked with the State Board
of Education, and with other school divisions with similar problems, however, the federal regulators refuse to cooperate."
Obenshain says the letter simply asks for assistance and intervention.
Limited-En~ish Students Struoo oto Close Language

Gap
Four-Fifahs of En~ish-Poor Students Are U.S. Natives
Kathleen Leos
Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition
Friday, March 2, 2007; 1:00 PM
A 2005 Urban Institute report found that 56 percent of children who enter high school with
limited En~ish proficiency are U.S.-bom -- which means, according to the institute, "that
many children are not learning English even after seven or more years" in U.S. schools.
With one in four new U.S. students expectedto have limited fluency by 2025, Office of
English Language Acquisition Director Kathleen Leos was online Friday, March 2 at 1
p.~n. ET to discuss the problem and what the Education Department is doing to address it.
A transcript follows.
As assistant deputy secretary, Leos has visited 35 states and Puerto Rico to interpret No Child
Left Behind, train administrators and create federal-to-state-to-!ocal ixtrtnerships to ensure
that state agendes and communities understand the responsibilities they have to inclnde
limited-English students in the Act’s accountability systems.
Kathleen Leos: Good afternoon, thank you for joining me in today’s chat on a topic of great
importance to me personally and professionally -- the education of our nation’s 5 !/2 million
English language learners and the role oflangnage development as the foundation of strong
literacy skills for our ELL academic achievement.
San Bruno, CaliL: What should we be doing with the large number of working adults who
have limited English language ability?. What new programs have been developed in the last
! 0 years?
Kathleen Leos: There are many new programs developed for English language development
for adults. The office that can provide information to you is the Office of Adttlt Education. I
am happy to pass this request to them and they can give you current information.
Silver Spring, Md.: I’ve heard similar statistics before, but in different contexts. The last
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time I heard it, it was a Latino activist aim ost advertising that "The vast maj ofity of third
generation Americans of Lafino decent speak En~ish fluently". Third generation[ ? Over 50
percent of high schoolers non-fluent in English were born in this country! ? What is the
reasoning for these mtmbers in recent years? Certainly there is FAR better education than
there was 90-plus years ago. But yet, when my great-grandparents came here from eastern
Europe spealdng not a world of English, they learned enough to get by. And my
~andparents, first generation Americans, didn’t even speak Hungarian outside of a few
words. While I don’t claim that the attitude of my great-grandparents was correct -- don’t look
back, thafs the old country and we’re Americans now -- I feel like there’s a certain pride in
being a part ofon~s new culture t~t is lost in family’s of foreign descent these days. I just
can’t see any other reason -- it’s by no means the educational system,because I promise you
no one was teaching any of my grandparents English aside from their, parents who struggled
to learn it themselves. Ifs not that ethnic groups live in closed commtmities -- my great
grandparents all lived in HEAVILY Hungarian neighborhoods of N.J. So what is possibly the
reasoning that makes the end result so vasty different from the turn of the century?
Kathleen Leos: There are over 5 million non-English speaking students in America’s
schools. They are the fastest growing group of students at an annual rate ofl0 percent.
Currently 1 in 9 students in our classrooms are "limited English profident," or LEP. By 2025
that number will hover around 1 in 4 students. No Chad Left Behind, the current
reauthorizafion of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is the education legislation
that addresses the En~sh language development and academic achievement of all LEP
students in a systemic and comprehensive manner. All children identified as LEP must
acqt~e the English language and achieve at the same high standard in reading and math set
by the state for all students.
Washington, D.C.: I find the quote used to introduce this topic incredibly simple and
unsophisticated, much like the authors, policy makers, and business leaders, at the forefront
of this debate. First, all native English speakers are academic English language learners,
whereas ESL learners must first attain communicative competence prior to malting the
transition to academic language. The Urban Institutes report also fails to point out the fact
that meaningful learning is almost entirely experiential, i.e., driven by family and commlmity
norms. If English langamge learners are perpetually being modeled nonstandard, poor
English, what do you expect these students to learn? Add the fact that most of these students
are taught with black Americans that also speak a nonstandard form of English creates a
major obstacle to learning academic language. Simple solutions are agvays championed by
simpletons that are almost always monoling~oa! and have never migrated to a new country,
with no money or education, and then forced to take a test to prove their mastery of the
English language. Proposed solutions, from the right, are always brutal and tantam otmt to
parental outsourcing and brute force hnmersion. Please respond.
Kathleen Leos: There is a statutory provision in NCLB Title III that requires states to ensure
that the teachers who teach "limited Englishproficient" students are fluent in the lang, aage of
instruction. The level of fluency is determined by the state but must be demonstrated by the
individual with both oral and written exams. The district is al!owed to develop the assessment
and receive state approval or the state may develop the assessment and send it to the districts
to administer.
06/05/2008
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Arlington, Va.: At the risk of sounding too hide-bound, maybe part of the problem is that
English language programs are more aimed at promoting communitythan teaching En~ish. I
know a little of what I speak. Ivly stepson matriculated into Arlington’s English for foreig-ners’
program (HILT) in the middle of the seventh grade. He was one of two students who were
not of Hispanic origin. Most of his class had been in the HILT since first grade. Part of his
incentive to move on to the "regular" classes (he tested out of HILT by ninth grade) is he felt
like the proverbial you-know-what at the family reunion. Now I realize that my stepson had
the advantage of living with a native speaker, but it seems to me that somehow the school
system should be putting more pressure -- thafs right, pressure -- on students to learn En~sh
more quickly so that these limited resources can be best applied. I get the feeling that these
kids would rather have stayed with their friends than learn English.
Kathleen Leos: All students identified as a Limited English Proficient student through a
language assessment are immediately recommended for placement in a lang~aage education
instruction pro~. The program is to address the English language development needs of
the student and academic content knowledge that is at the appropriate grade level as soon as
the students enters the school. NCLB Title ]II then requires each student to be assessed
armually for progress made in their acquisition of the English lan~o-uage and attainment of the
language. In grades 3-8, and one time in hitch school, the student must also take a content test
in reading and math unless the student is a "recent arrival," then a different maimer of
assessment is allowed.
San Juan de Pnel~o Rico, USA:"Limited-English" speakers, second-lang~aage households,

when Spanish became a foreign language in Estados Unidos? The move for universal
bilingual education makes sense in economic terms. Should not the USA educational system
be geared towards a global economy?
Kathleen Leos: Yes.
Springfield, Va.: I’m bothered that so many high school t~eshrnen with poor English have
been in U.S. schools for so long. But it sounds to me like a problem with the homes, not the
schools. Kids who have received ESOL inslraction for that long and still have limited
English are not hearing, speaking, or reading English at home. As a result, they come to
school each Monday having heard no En~ish since Friday, and they come to school each
September having heard no English since June. How can parents with limited English skills
themselves help their children with homework, reading, etc? And how can we encourage
parents to take a more active role in helping their children acquire English without cross~g
the line into cultural assimilation?
Kathleen Leos: There have been several surveys Nken in households where English is not
the first language spoken at home. Eighty-seven percent of the families surveyed indicated
that the No. 1 priority for them and their children is education and that they want their
children to learn English.
Washington, D.C.: Ms. Leos, good luck on your quest. I am bilingual and run a day care
06/05/2008
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Page 160
center in a predominantly Hispanic section of the city. It has been horrifying to discover that
many of my children not only don’t speak English, which is to be expected, but many don’t
speak Spanish, either[ Their parents are so harried try~g to make a living, worried about
being deported, and the like that they barely talk to their children, much less read to them or
teach them their ABC’s. There was an article in The Post to this effect a couple years ago,
which caused outrage but no action that I Cml discern. This simply shows the scope of the
problem. I think that my two children, who are also bilingual, are getting a decent education,
but keeping in contact with their teachers, monitoring the~ progress, mid helping with
homework, etc., takes a major commitment of time and energy. If parents don’t have time to
even talk to their children, it’s tmreali~dc to think they will be able to do this. I wish you well
but can’t say I am optimistic about your chances of success.
Kathleen Leos: The U.S. Department of Education has published and distributed
information nationwide to parents (in multiple languages), teachers, districts and states on the
importance of the parent’s involvement in their child’s education. Title I fimds are also made
available for districts and schools to support and encourage a variety of acti~dties to include
parents in school deeision-maldng. The goal is to have parents have as much information as
possible to make good decisions related to the education of their child.
Rockville, Md.: We are seeing some school districts in Virginia resisting the testing of
English Language Learners (ELL) on the Commonwealth’s Standards of Learning
assessments because ELLs are not ready to lake the assessments. Do you have any
suggestions on how Virginia can make the assessments ready for ELLs? It seems that this is a
two-~vay street and states can also make the tests more accessible for ELLs and well as ELLs
getting ready to take them.
Kathleen Leos: Secretary Spellings announced a special LEP State Partnership Initiative in
2006 that invited all states to work with assessment experts and practitioners in the
development of valid and reliable content assessments that appropriately include LEP
students. All states are voluntary members of the parknership.
Fairfax, Va.: As aimmigrant to the United States who was in ESL for one year, I have many
opinions about the issue. I noticed that some of the kids that learned En~ish the fastest were
those that completely stopped speaking Spanish at home. I recall that several of my
classmates learned English this way, and it really annoyed me. Sure, they may learn the
language, but at the same time, they lose Sparfish. Only 10 years later, when they realize that
spealdng Spanish is an asset in the job market, do they acknowledge that they should have
continued speaking their native language. So the answer to the problem, therefore, must be
found at schools, ~d not primarily at home, I feel.
Kathleen Leos: The No Child Left Behind Act allo~vs states and districts to select any
lan~oxlage education program approach that the community, district or state thinks is
appropriate for the children in the district Some may choose bilingual programs, others may
choose English as a Second Lang~lage programs or variations of either. The program choice
is a state or local decisiorc
06/05/2008
Page 161
Baltimore: There shouldn’t be any excuses not to be able to help your children improve
English, no matter your socioeconomic or cultural condition.
Is the child failing English? Make the child take intensive English classes after school, take
the child to the liblary, read a book .... make the chad proud.
Parents don’t speak En~sh? Make time to take ESL courses or free English courses offered.
I did it.
Don’t have time to learn English or help your kids? That is paternalistic and getting the
parents offthe hook. People should be held responsible.
Kathleen Leos: The U.S. Department of Education provides funds for adult education
classes, including learning English. Funds ~re available for family literacy programs and also
parent involvement activities. Different program offices within the Department of Education
monitors states and local districts to ensure that the federal funds are spent on the activities to
increase English language acquisition and parent involvement and increased information to
parents about their child’s academic status.
Sprin~ield, Va.: I’m not as interested in surveying parents’ avowed dedication to helping
their children learn EngJ_ish as I am in statistics showing ho~v many parents learn the
langa~age themselves and help the children learn it. 21ais information would be far more
telling. Isn’t it important to determine if the problem here is a problem at home, rather than
attributing it to something the schools aren’t doing correctly?.
Kathleen Leos: The Office of Adult and Vocational Education has current statistics and can
be provided at a later date. There was a study done a few 3rears ago that determined that 40
million adults in the U.S. are not functionally literate. The majority ofthe adults are English-
langa~age learners. Also there are more adul~ in ESL classes in the U.S. than in basic adult
education classes.
Manassas, Va.: The last words of the article resonated the most with me.
"In other words, cultural differences shouldnot be allowed to become a justification for
inaction."
Action, I fervently believe, starts with the family.
Ten years ago, I came to this country with my wife and baby with practically nothing. I
already knew English, but my mfe did not. For two years, she took ESL classes every
weekday in the evening for four hours. Now, she reads and writes En~sh correctly, is a
proud U.S. citizen, and is expected to get her BA degree at the end of the year.
Al! of us went through tremendous hardships those years, but we always understood how
important it was to speak and write EnNish correctly. We constantly apply this understanding
by being very involved in our kids’ education.
06/05/2008
Page 162
By the way, I work two fi~-fime jobs, yet my wife and I still fred enoug~h time to be together
as a family and to contribute to their development.
The way I see it, there simply is no excuse to neglect one’s child’s mastery of EnNish.
Kathleen Leos: Your personal story is an inspiration to many families and children. I hope
you tel! your story often and in varied audiences.
N.Y.: That "many children are not learning English even after seven or more years" has far
more to do with nurture than nature.
Most remedia! En~ish classes fail because of the basic fact that you’re recreating the same
conditions that have prevented people from improving after "all those year in U.S. schools."
Instead of clustering non-proficient kids together, as it always happens --which is
segregation, even if unintended -- spread them out. Set up your envirom-nent for immersion.
Draw people out of their comfort zones -- I’m not talldng about assimilating the poorer
performers (legs face it, inevitably there’s a slight supremacist tone to that kind of talk). I’m
talking about drawing the "native-sounding" speakers out of their comfort zone just as well,
so that people do not just naturally fa!l in with people like them, as most humans are naturally
inclined to do.
Kathleen Leos: NCLB Title III has new requirements in how limited En~ish proficient
students receive language instruction. The program approach is up to the state or local
district. Ho~vever, no matter what approach is used it must be based on current scientific-
based research. There are many ne~v research projects underway in the U.S. related to the
acquisition and development of language while lemaing academic content knowledge.
Several researchers are begimdng to publish their work and lrain teachers in new methods
and strategies.
Northern Virginia: So what you are saying is that the $60 million ddtars a year Fairfmx
County Public Schools pay each year for ESOL programs is basically a waste?
Kathleen Leos: I think this question references the article.
Washington: Why is it that Maryland (and other states) can successfully test second-
language children and Va. cannot?
Kathleen Leos: All states have joined Secretary Spellings LEP Parhnership Initiative to
develop content assessments that appropriately include LEP students in reading and math
assessments.
Kathleen Leos: I ~vant to thank everyone today for joinmg me in this i~nportant discussion
on how to best educate our Limited English Proficient students throughout America’s
06/05/2008
Page 163
classrooms.
Editor’s Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online
discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hos~s; g~ests and hosts can
decline to ans~ver questions, washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by
tIfird parties.
Hattiesburg American
costs
Special I:o the American
Mississippi Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Thomas C. Meredith has been selected by the
U.S. Department of Education to head a working group responsible for developing recommendations
on howto make information about college costs more available to the public.
Meredith is one of five working group leaders who will present action steps to approximately 300
academicians, elementary and secondary school leaders, business leaders, and philanthropists at a
national higher education summit scheduled for March 22 in Washington, D.C.
In addition to Meredith’s working group on college cost and openness, other groups are focusing on
such topics as aligning kindergarten-12th grade curricula with college and university requirements;
increasing need-based student aid; measuring s~udent-learning outcomes; and providing higher
education to nontraditional students.
The working groups and the corresponding summit, "A Test of Leadership - Committing to Advance
Postsecon dary Education for All Americans," have been convened by U.S. Secretapj of Education
Margaret Spellings to directly address the recommendations made by the Secretary’s Commission on
the Future of Higher Education.
The commission, which was appointed in September 2005 to develop a plan for postsecondary
education that would address the economic and workforce needs of the future, released its
recommendations in September 2006 in their report, "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of
U.S. Higher Education."
06/05/2008
Page 164
INonresponsi t
From: Neale, Rebecca
Sent: March 01, 2007 9:42 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Cariello, Dennis; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dunn, David;
Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Herr, John; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox,
Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Neale,
Rebecca; Pitts, Elizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Rosenfelt, Phil; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele, Marc;
Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell, Julie; Toomey, Liam; tracy_d.
_young@who.eop.gov; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Williams, Cynthia; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Spellings Defends Testing Under NCLB (B’berg)
Testing Anxiety: The High Cost Of Educational Testing (Bloomberg)

By Rhonda Schaffler
Bloomberg
February 28, 2007
Welcome to the special report, ’Testing Anxiety: the High Cost of Educational Testing." We’re a nation in the middle of a
testing frenzy. The No Child Left Behind Act signed in 2002 is an attempt by the federal government to force states to
improve public education. This mandate requires every third to eighth grader to take a math and reading test every year.
As a result, 45 million tests are now being administered nationwide. In the next half hour, we’ll show you how the rapid
growth of the testing industry has led to a lot of test anxiety, caused by companies misscoring tests, delaying results, and
compromising the quality of exams. Some cdtics now say it’s time to regulate the industry.
An elementary school in southern Alabama with 310 students was the victim of a testing error. After the students took
mandatory standardized tests in reading and math last Apd!, the school was told in July that it had failed.
Harcourt Assessment, one of the world’s largest educational testing companies made an error grading the exams. The
school had not failed.
This was not a first for Harcourt. It was at least the thirtieth time in five years that the company had made errors including
improper scoring. Harcourt wrongly flunked three other elementary schools in Alabama plus made errors on tests in
Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Virginia and Hawaii. The company declined requests for an interview. Another testing
company, CTB-McGraw Hill, misscored standardized tests for 1,000 students in NewYork City last year, including a few at
P.S. 48 in the Bronx.
Principal John Hughes says his school’s low scores put P.S. 48 on the departm ent of education’s needs improvem ent list.
Once the law passed, the sanctions on our school intensify. It becomes increasingly m ore difficult to get off the list,
because they raise the bar every year.
The way schools must show the government their students are learning is passing the standardized tests administered
and graded by private testing companies.
Educational testing is already a 2.8 billion industry and it is expected to grow 30% in 3 years. But that quick growth, critics
say, is what has led to so many mistakes.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently celebrated the five-year anniversary of "no child left behind." She
remains convinced that more progress has been made in the last five years than in the previous 28.
Spellings was shown saying, ’"¢#e have 49 million individuals taking assessments, just like if you had 49 million people
filling out a form of any kind, tax return or anything like that, you would certainly find some places where there were errors,
but that’s not a reason to retreat from the ability to measure and the ability to understand the quality of the education
system as a quality of performance by individual students."
Curt Langraph is C.E.O. Of Educational Testing Service, the biggest standardized testing company. He says even though
99.9% of the scoring is correct, on tim e, that’s not what draws attention.
The industry test scoring errors go beyond grade level testing. Last June, shane fulton, a freshman at northeastern
university in Boston, took his first S.A.T. and scored 1910 out of a possible 2400. Intending to im prove his math score, he
took the test in October, and his score came back nearly 600 points lower.
Page 165
Shane asked to have his exam scored by hand. When the results were in, his score was actually 390 points higher.
Pearson Assessments, the company that scored the October test declined an interview.
The no child left behind set off a fierce battle for state contracts among companies that create and grade standardized
tests and no wonder, the United States General Accounting Office estimates states will spend up to $5 billion by 2008 on
tests mandated by NCLB.
Dozens of testing companies compete for the right to create and administer standardized tests for districts in all 50 states.
Each state sets its own standards and awards its own contracts.
Stewart Call is founder of measured progress, a New Hampshire-based test-making company. His company has won
contracts in about 25 states.
Educational Testing Services profit margins for these tests are as low as 3%. The company actually lost $2.5 million on a
$200 million contract in California. Pearson Educational Measurement won the current contract for the state of Michigan
for $44 million, beating out competitors which were bidding as high as $120 million. V~hy do companies bother if the profit
margins are slim to none? Because one contract leads to another. Two years ago, Harcourt Assessments won a four-year
$44 million contract with the state of Illinois. As a result, it also got a nearly $2 million higher margin test prep contract for
Chicago’s school district, but critics worry low-ball bids can lead to lower quality tests.
CTB-Mcgraw Hill’s contract with the state of Florida requires its scorers to have a bachelor’s degree in mathematics,
reading, science education or a related field, but information obtained by the state showed one had a associate’s and
others were a janitor, a personal trainer and som cone from Hungary with a degree in physical education who did not
correctly spell physical. CTB-Mcgraw Hill officials declined interview requests.
And with the science test being added to the list of mandatory tests, the state education departments and testing
companies will be under intense pressure to put in place an infrastructure that can handle the volume of testing. Coming
up, profits from fear. How test companies are cashing in on schools and students afraid of failing tests, but do the prep
materials their hawking really work?
More standardized tests mean more students and teachers who fear failing the tests and that fear has translated into
opportunity for companies promising to help them prepare. With $1.7 billion in sales, the test prep business is bigger than
the $1.1 billion testing market.
At P.S. 48 in the Bronx, students attend classes on Saturday to help them get ready to take their standardized tests.
Schools use a variety of books, software programs and practice tests to help their students prepare. Principal John
Hughes says he keeps the costs down by relying on his teachers to develop their own test prep materials. Other principals
May have little choice.
States can spend between $10 and $30 per student to administer their basic testing programs. Some school system s
spend twice that amount just to prepare their students to take those tests.
Companies are rushing into this part of the business, because the profit margins on test preparation materials can be 20%
or higher compared with margins on exams themselves, which are as low as 3%.
Laura Dresco is the C.E.O. Of test-prep, a company based in gainsville, F!odda. She sold her test maker software to half
of the 67 school districts in the state. For this small publisher, NCLB has been good for business.
Even the President’s brother, Neil Bush is in the test prep business.
How do you answer the critics that you don’t have an education background?
Neil Bush responded, "1 will tell you flat out I’m not qualified as an educator. I’m qualified as a parent of three kids and have
observed their going through school. My vision comes from personal experience, but l think I’m a smart enough executive
to know I have to hire good people to bring my reaction of my vision into reality."
Bush projects that his test prep business will generate more than $100 million in revenue in the next three to four years.
Despite the big business, former Bush administration education official Michael Petrilli cautions there is no proof any prep
m atedals work.
Even if some schools do score better, Robert Schaefer of the education watchdog group fair test says preparation
materials may do more harm than good in the long run.
Some observers say that the federal government needs to do more to make sure the public is protected as the testing
2
Page 166
industry grows.
No federal agencies regulate educational testing. The individual state departments specifications are solely responsible for
the quality of their tests, and the contractors they hire.
Michael Petrilli of the Fordham Foundation, a group that has supported the no child left behind law, says a national testing
system is the answer.
This topic was front and center at the U.S. Capitol in November.
The no child left behind law faces reauthorization this year. It is expected to be approved, helped by intense lobbying from
the testing companies. The testing company will watch closely as the debate continues on how much federal money
should be spent to implement NCLB.
Companies that stand to profit from the nation’s ongoing obsession with testing will remain in the spotlight. As the pressure
increases on students an schools to improve, so will the demands on an industry that, as we’ve heard; not al\~ays making
the grade.
Page 167

To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill;
Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox,
Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; TracyYoung;
Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Samara
Subject: Students Taking More Demanding Courses (EDWEEK)
The results "showthat we have our work cut out for us in providing every child in this nation with a quality education," U.S.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in a statement. "If, in fact, our high school students are taking more challenging
courses and earning higher grades, we should be seeing greater gains in test scores."
The No Child Left Behind Act has raised accountability for the nation’s elementary and middle schools, and states had begun
changing their education policies and practices at those levels over a decade ago.
Students Taking More Demanding Courses (EDWEEK)

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo
Education Week, February 28, 2007
Scores on national tests show no improvement.
The proportion of high school students completing a challenging core curriculum rose significantly between 1990 and 2005-
from 31 percent to 51 percent-and students are doing better in their classes than their predecessors did.
But that good news is tempered by other findings in two federal reports released last week. The performance of the nation’s
high school seniors on the National Assessment of Educational Progress has declined in reading over the past decade and is
showing no signs of improvement Student performance is also lackluster in mathematics.
Moreover, a third of high school graduates in 2005 did not complete a standard curriculum, which includes four credits of
English and three credits each of social studies, math, and science.
"Kids are doing more of what we would like them to do, on the surface," Darvin M Winick, the chairman of the National
Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP, said in an interview. ’1~ut my question is, are we not yet seeing the
results, which means we will be soon? Or are we not doing what we need to do to raise student achievement?"
Some observers say the mixed results suggest that while access to a curriculum defined as challenging is increasing for
many students, the quality of the coursework is not keeping pace.
The 12th grade reading and math results on "the nation’s report card" are based on a nationally representative sample of
21,000 seniors at 900 public and private schools who took the tests between January and March of 2005. The report on their
performance was accompanied by the latest NAEP transcript study, which analyzes the coursetaking patterns and achievement
of high school graduates.
Lackluster Performance
On the reading test, 12th graders’ average score has declined significantly since the first time the test was given in 1992.
The test-takers averaged 286 points on a 500-point scale, a 6-point decline over 13 years, but statistically the same score as in
2002.
Achievement levels in reading have also declined since 1992; 80 percent of the students tested that year scored at the
"basic" level or better, but only 73 percent did so on the 2005 test, the same proportion as in 2002. In addition, the gap in scores
between members of minority groups and higher-scoring white students has not narrowed significantly.
In math, the scores are not comparable with those from previous tests since the 2005 assessment was based on a new
framework. Students scored, on average, 150 points on a 300-point scale. Just 61 percent of the seniors demonstrated at least
basic command of the subject, with 23 percent considered "proficient" and 2 percent "advanced."
Transcripts Analyzed
Two-thirds of the 26,000 graduates who were followed for the transcript study also participated in the 2005 NAEP math and
science assessments. It is the fifth such study since 1990. The sample of private school students taking part in both studies was
too small to allow comparisons with their peers in public schools.
Page 168
Among 2005 high school graduates, 68 percent completed at least a standard curriculum, while 41 percent took a more
challenging course load that could be considered college-preparatory. Ten percent took classes deemed even more rigorous,
which could include those offered through the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs.
In 1990, just 40 percent of graduates completed at least a standard curriculum, and 36 percent took additional courses,
while 5 percent took what was deemed a rigorous course load.
Students who took the more challenging course loads tended to score higher on the NAEP tests than those who completed
a standard or less-than-standard curriculum.
Francis M. "Skip" Fennell, the president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, was not surprised to see
results showing that students taking more difficult courses, particularly Algebra 2, were scoring higher on NAEP.
’It sort of validates that Algebra 2 is a gatekeeper" to college and high academic achievement, Mr. Fennell said. "It confirms
some of the things we’ve been saying: If we want to field a competitive workforce, students need a steady diet of math, from pre-
K through grade 12."
The transcript study also shows that students who take more demanding classes early in high school are far more likely to
progress to advanced math.
For instance, 34 percent of participating students who took Algebra 1 as 9th graders went on to take advanced math or
calculus. But the likelihood of taking advanced math soared, to 83 percent, among students who took geometry by 9th grade-
which probably meant they took Algebra I as 8th graders. Mr. Fennell said he believes more schools are moving Algebra 1 to
the middle grades.
The results "showthat we have our w~rk cut out for us in providing every child in this nation with a quality education," U.S.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in a statement. "If, in fact, our high school students are taking more challenging
courses and eaming higher grades, we should be seeing greater gains in test scores."
The No Child Left Behind Act has raised accountability for the nation’s elementary and middle schools, and states had
begun changing their education policies and practices at those levels over a decade ago. Trends on the national assessment for
4th graders have shown some improvement over that time. President Bush has proposed more-rigorous standards and
accountability for secondary schools in the law’s reauthorization.
’Big Steps Needed’
More students across minority groups are on a college-prep track than previously, and the gap between the proportion of
black students participating in a challenging curriculum-which includes more math and science classes and foreign language
study than the standard-and that of their white peers has disappeared. The gap between Hispanic students and non-Hispanic
white students is statistically unchanged. A little more than half of white and black students completed a challenging course of
study in secondary school, according to the findings, while 44 percent of Hispanic students did.
’It seems to dovetail a little with some anecdotal evidence we see around the country that there’s been progress in terms of
increased recognition for the need for rigorous courses," said Marie Groark, a senior policy officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, which underwrites high school reform ventures in a number of states. Ms. Groark noted that the College Board
reported recently that more students, and more minority students, are taking Advanced Placement courses.
"Small steps have been taken, but big steps are needed," she said. "All students should graduate ready for college-level
work and careers, but these scores indicate that’s just not the case."
The grades students have earned generally have improved. The overall grade point average of the graduates increased
over 15 years, from a 2.68 in 1990 to a 2.98 in 2005, the equivalent of about a B on a 4-point scale.
The GPAs of all subgroups of students improved over that time as well. But some minority students have not bridged the
gap in grades. African-American students, for example, earned on average a 2.69 GPA, compared with the 2.82 average for
Hispanic students, and 3.05 for whites. Asian-American students were highest, on average, with a 3.16 GPA.
The change could be caused by a variety of factors, according to the report, including grade inflation, differences in grading
practices, and improved student performance.
The National Center for Education Statistics, the arm of the U.S. Department of Education that administers the national
assessment, collected transcripts for students in schools randomly selected to take NAEP in 2005. The course titles and
descriptions were analyzed to ensure consistency in how the transcripts were evaluated.
The report cautions that the transcript information does not identify reasons for the findings.
But some observers say there is wide variation in the content of courses from district to district, and even within schools.
Courses labeled "advanced" are not always so, they contend.
’We’ve collected examples within the same school and the same course title of huge differences in the assignments and
the expectations for students," said Daria L. Hall, the assistant director for K-12 policy development for the Washington-based
Education Trust, which promotes high academic standards for disadvantaged children. "When we see that more students are
Page 169
taking more advanced courses, bt~t that their achievement is not increasing, it’s a sign that they are not getting what they need
out of those courses."
Staff Writer Sean Cavanagh contributed this report.
Vol. 26, Issue 25, Pages 1,17
Page 170
Nonrespons
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Posny, Alexa; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Dunn, David;
Samara
Subject: Let Vouchers Help Kids, Not Pain Schools (AJC)
’q-hat was part of the problem with No Child Left Behind’s choice provisions, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret
Spellings acknowledged here earlier this month. Parents of poor children in persistently nonperforming public schools could go
elsewhere. They had choice, but some systems made that information difficult for parents to access or understand. Choice, then,
was chance."
Let Vouchers Help Kids, Not Pain Schools (AJC)
The Atlanta Journal-constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 27, 2007
Lanetta Estrada is a special education teacher in the public school system of Miami-Dade County, Fla. She came to
Georgia last week to tell state legislators why they should pass the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act, which is being fought
here by the alphabet-soup organizations that congregate to defend their public school turf.
She stood before a House education subcommittee as a teacher - and as the mother of a 10-year-old autistic son. Her
story of his journey through public school, and of her growing awareness that despite her "utmost respect and admiration" for her
fellow teachers, "my school was not the best place for my son."
Uke most special education parents, she devoted enormous time and effort to finding out what her son needed. Her
research led her to the decision to remove her son, Lucas, from "the school I loved."
She applied for one of Florida’s McKay scholarships, the program on which the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act is
patterned. ’1 was scared," she said. ’I loved my school. After all, this is my job. I prayed that this was the right decision."
She enrolled her son in a private school specializing in disabilities. "At this school, he is now reaching his full academic and
emotional potential," said Estrada. ’q-he bottom line is that the Florida McKay Scholarship program has been a blessing for me
and my son and for 17,000 other children and families in Florida," she said.
Estrada was one of a string of teachers, parents, alphabet-soup lobbyists and others who argued for and against bills
sponsored in the Senate by state Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) and in the House by schoolteacher and state Rep. David
Casas, (R-Lilburn). Casas and Johnson have different ideas about the extent to which private schools should be subject to state
regulation in taking special needs students on scholarships or vouchers, whatever one prefers to call these and the HOPE
stipends that currently go to private schools.
This effort, along with charter school legislation initiated by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and state Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth)
and a bill by state Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) to o~fer educational tax credits to individuals and corporations, marks
this as the most reform-minded legislatures yet.
Nothing being offered is revolutionary in the sense that it is particularly daring. It’s patterned, by and large, on programs
elsewhere. It’s noteworthy simply because Georgia has been so resistant to altering the status quo, except by the means
endorsed by the traditional interests that dictate public policy- the unions and alphabet organizations representing public school
groups. None of them are bad people or bad organizations. They are, like every other industry confronted by a changed
marketplace, eager to limit and manage the competition - and for decades, they’ve done that.
The trick now- and it was evident in last week’s debate - is to avoid planting poison pills in the special needs scholarship
act.
On regulation, for example, the alphabet organizations know that the quickest way to eliminate the appeal of scholarships
to potential private sector competitors is to package them with paperwork, with rules and regulations that make it too time-
consuming and expensive to admit scholarship kids. It’s paper choice - existing on paper, but not in reality.
That was part of the problem with No Child Left Behind’s choice provisions, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
Page 171
acknowledged here earlier this month. Parents of poor children in persistently nonperforming public schools could go elsewhere.
They had choice, but some systems made that information difficult for parents to access or understand. Choice, then, was
chance.
As the House and Senate work together to advance reform, it is essential that choice and scholarships for parents of
special needs children not become, or be seen as, an indirect way of regulating private schools. The intent should be to actually
give parents options and to trust them to buy the education services they believe their child needs from any willing and able
provider.
It’s up to the parents, not the government, to decide - just as Lanetta Estrada did - which approaches will best serve the
needs of their children. The goal here is to empower parents, not to regulate the competition.
Jim Wooten is associate editor of the editorial page. His column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Page 172
[Nonresponsi!
From: Yudof, Samara
To: Private-Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill;
Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; ’TracyYoung’;
Cc: Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie;
McLane, Katherine
Subject: Chronicle of Higher Ed: Education Dept. Official Describes Plans for March Summit on
Commission’s Recommendations
Monday, February 26, 2007
Education Deist. Official Describes Plans for March Summit on Commission’s

Recommendations
By KELLY FIELD
Washington
Last fall, the secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, announced she would hold a summit with higher-
education leaders to discuss ways to carry out the recommendations of her Commission on the Future of Higher
Education.
On Friday, in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, the under secretary of education, Sara Martinez
Tucker, filled in the details.
The summit witl be held in Washington on March 22 and will include some 300 selected participants from the
worlds of academe, business, philanthropy, and elementary and secondary education. Over the course of the day,
participants will complete a list of 25 "action items" and assign responsibility to states, colleges, and other
groups for putting them into practice.
"We want to create ownership and accountability for the thilNs that w~l happen outside the federal
govemment," said Ms. Tucker, a former member of the commission.
The day will begin ~vith a progress report in which Ms. Tucker will describe the steps the Bush administration
has taken to bring about the commission’s recommendations. In her speech last fall announcing the summit, Ms.
Spellings laid out a separate five-point action plan for her department that included creating a "unit record"
database to track students’ progress through college, focusing accreditation more on student-learning outcomes,
and simplifying the federal student-aid system.
After the under secretary gives her report, the heads of five small working groups that began meeting this month
via conference calls will offer five proposed "action items" each. The summit attendees will then jointhe
working groups to discuss whether items should be added to or dropped from the agenda.
During lunch, Ms. Spellings will speak about "the imperative for reforming higher education and the principles
that will guide that reform," Ms. Tucker said. The working groups wil! then reconvene to discuss how to bring
about the proposed changes and whom to put in charge of doing so.
In the late afternoon, two panels will convene, one on "best practices" in the states and one on issues affecting
students.
Page 173
At the end of the day, the heads of the worldng groups will report back to the secretary and her steering
committee on their final 25 action items. The secretary created the steering committee, which comprises roughly
25 representatives of government, business, and higher education, to serve as a sounding board for the action
items.
Worldng Up the Working Groups
Work on the summit’s agenda began last fall, when Education Department staff members met to review the
more than 40 recommendations made bythe commission_ The officials identified 15 that would affect many
students and were likely to transform higher education and sorted the recommendations into five groups, by
goal:
, Better aligning elementary and secondary schools’ cumcula with higher education’s requirements.
, Increasing nee&based student aid, outside of the federal government.
¯ Using accreditation to measure student-learning outcomes.
¯ Serving adults and other nontraditional students.
o Making more information about college costs available to the public.
The deparlrnent then created working groups of eight to 10 members each to come up with ways to turn the
recommendations into reality. At the helm of each group, it put an expert on the issue:
° On alignment, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri of Rhode Island, a Republican_
° On aid, Natala K. (Tally) Hart, senior adviser for economic access at Ohio State University.
® On accreditation, Geri H. Malandra, vice chancellor for strategic management, and interim executive
vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of Texas system.
° On adult learners, Charlene R. Nunley, another former member of the commission and at the time the
president of Montgomery College, in Maryland.
° On cost and openness, Thomas C. Meredith, Mississippi’s commissioner of higher education.
In December the department sent e-mail messages to the heads of several higher-education associations asldng
them to nominate 10 members each to participate in the summit.
From the resulting list of nominees, the department chose 300 people, half from higher education and half from
other sectors, such as business and philant~opy.
After the summit, the department will hold a series of regional meetings -- in Atlanta, Boston, Kansas City,
Phoenix, and Seattle -- to "highlight best practices that are occurring" in those cities and to introduce attendees
to ideas from other states, Ms. Tucker said.
Meanwhile, the department continues to move on Ms. Spellings’s own five-point action plan. This month it
released a budget plan for 2008 that includes $25-million for a pilot project to test a unit-record database. And
last week it held the first of three rule-malting sessions on accreditation.
The department has also held a series of meetings with students and other federal officials on how to streamline
the federal student-aid system and make it easier for students to apply for aid. Last Wednesday it continued that
conversation in a close&door meeting with financial-aid administrators and lending-industry officials. The 23
attendees, Ms. Tucker said, discussed who should be eligible for student aid, how the federal system should be
2
Page 174
structured, when students should be notified of their eligibility for aid, and how the aid should be delivered.
The under secretary said she had kept the meeting private so that at*endees could speak freely, without fear that
their remarks would be attributed to their institution or organization_
"I wanted to create a safe place," Ms. Tucker said, "where we could have a candid conversation."
Page 175
Nonresponsi]
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; ’scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov’; Beaton, Meredith; Bdggs,
Kerri; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich,
Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddex, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pit[s,
Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert,
Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young; William s, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Co: Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof,
Samara
Subject: Magna Charters (WSJ)
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings recently proposed reauthorization language permitting local officials to reopen
a failing school as a charter even if it would exceed a state charter cap. The secretary’s idea is on-target, but Congress should go
her one better, permitting cap-free chartering wherever students lack suitable public schools. And the local school board should
not be the only game in town. In states where universities and state boards can approve charter schools, they too should be able
to override restrictive caps.
Magna Charters (WSJ)

By Nelson Smith
The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2007
As he prepared to announce the Aspen Commission’s recent recommendations for revamping the No Child Lett Behind Act
(NCLB), co-chair Tommy Thompson made a telling remark: "We have been much more successfi.~l at identifying struggling
schools than we have been in actually turning them around." Regrettably, as with other mainstream groups that have weighed in
on the NCLB, the commission’s report focuses almost exclusively on fixing ailing schools rather than starting healthy new ones.
Both tracks are needed.
The NCLB has laid bare the troubling gaps in student achievement among racial and socioeconomic groups, and it has
spurred some improvement, particularly in the early grades. Yet its prescriptions for reform have provoked meager change in
schools and systems that produce chronically weak results.
The law lets parents move kids to a higher performing public school -- but in many dries there simply aren’t any better
choices available. Using federal dollars for "supplemental services" can help -- but tutoring otten takes place after students have
spent the school day in learning-deprived classrooms.
The act’s coup de gr§ce, atter years of failure, is to require "restructuring" a dysfunctional school from scratch, through
state takeover, contracting-out, or re-opening as a public charter school. But its impact has been stifled by legislative language
allowing "any other" step as well. Districts and states have opted to switch principals, give pep talks and hire "turnaround
specialists" instead of coming to terms with intractable failure.
Indeed, according to a recent analysis by SRI International for the U.S. Department of Education, only one of 12 states with
Title I schools identified for restructuring as of 2004 had reopened a school as a public charter, one turned over operations to the
state; two states replaced school staff and eight took no action.
Ironically, the best illustration of the NCLB’s mission may be outside this whole "turnaround" apparatus, in the open sector
of public education called charter schooling, where parents, teachers and entrepreneurs are creating new schools that are
publicly accountable but independent of bureaucratic rules. Reporter Paul Tough recently wrote about three charter-school
networks (Achievement First, the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), and Uncommon Schools) for the New York Times
magazine. Students attending these institutions made large learning gains despite years of educational neglect elsewhere.
Rather than cobbling together remediation strategies, these schools create an unyielding culture of high expectations, offer
significantly longer learning time than traditional public schools, and organize everything (including personnel decisions) around
evidence of student achievement. While these are superstars, dozens of independent studies show that public charter schools
around the country are closing achievement gaps at a faster pace than their district counterparts.
Despite low participation rates for "official" NCLB-driven choice (less than 1% of those eligible to transfer, according to
federal figures), more than a million families, disproportionately poor and minority, have sought out public charter schools on their
own. Charters now educate 26% of all public school kids in Washington, D.C.; 28% in Dayton; and 18% in Detroit (and climbing
1
Page 176
since that city’s recent teacher strike). According to our research, charters now account for more than 13% of public school
enrollment in 19 jurisdictions.
By all means, the next No Child Left Behind Act should continue pushing to improve existing schools. But the reauthorized
NCLB should also be an engine for creating new, high-quality schools in communities where they’re most needed. Here’s how:
Quality first. The federal Charter Schools Program, authorized in Title V of the NCLB, provides critically important seed
fi.lnding for startups. It has been an important source of support, especially for small, community-based charters. Created with
bipartisan support when only seven states had charter laws (there are 40 today), the program is due for an overhaul, placing
more emphasis on ~lnding the strongest startups and replicating top-quality charters.
Grants should be targeted toward places with high numbers of schools "in need of improvement." And states should be
expected to promote and monitor quality like the best venture capitalists -- or lose the right to administer the grant program
altogether.
The charter program has been flat-lined for four appropriations cycles; it’s time to align funding levels with need. Related
programs that support charter fac~ities should be reauthorized and put on a sound financial footing as well, since charter schools
do not qualify for state capital programs and only 11 states offer any kind of compensation for facilities needs.
Bust caps. More money will be pointless unless artificial limits on charter growth are litted in the 26 states that now have
them. In some cases these "caps" directly pre-empt the intent of the NCLB. It’s actually illegal to create a new charter school in
New York State right now -- meaning that a mother desperate to pull her child out of a failing school in the South Bronx may
simply have to wait until Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has a change of heart about the state’s limit of 100 public charter
schools.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings recently proposed reauthorization language permitting local officials to reopen
a failing school as a cha~ter even if it would exceed a state charter cap. The secretary’s idea is on-target, but Congress should go
her one better, permitting cap-free chartering wherever students lack suitable public schools. And the local school board should
not be the only game in town. In states where universities and state boards can approve charter schools, they too should be able
to override restrictive caps.
Add teeth. Persistently failing schools need fundamental change, not cosmetic touch-ups. Re-opening as a charter, with a
proven academic model, new team and clear accountability for performance, can provide a fresh start. But to work, such "re-
opened" charters must have independent governance with frill autonomy over budgets, personnel and working conditions. That
independence must be spelled o[it in the federal law, or else ~ risk creating a ratt of so-called "charters" still tethered to the
same central offices that let students down in the first place.
In its first five years, the NCLB has affirmed a national commitment to educational opportunity for all. In the next five years,
it should do more to galvanize real change by ratcheting up its support of public charter schools. A vibrant new-schools sector is
the best way to challenge the status quo and offer real promise of achievement for every American public-school student.
Nelson Smith is president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Page 177
Nodr~~~o:nsi
Me From: McLane, Katherine
Samara
Subject: Hatrick Joins Foes Of Rule On Testing Immigrants (WP)
Hatrick Joins Foes Of Rule On Testing Immigrants (WP)

By Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post Staff Writer
Loudoun Hasn’t Decided Whether to Defy U.S.
The longest-serving school superintendent in the Washington area, Loudoun County’s Edgar B. Hatrick IIIi this week joined
a growing number of Virginia educators in denouncing a federal requirement to give tougher reading tests to immigrant stt~dents.
But whether Loudoun will, like Fairfax County, defy the mandate remains an open question.
Hatrick said in an interview that it was "wrong-headed" to give grade-level tests to students in the early stages of learning
English. Until now, Virginia schools have given such students proficiency tests that do not cover the same material as the exams
that native English speakers must take.
"It’s a frustration to me because it’s so obvious. I don’t understand why policymakers don’t understand," Hatrick said
Wednesday. "1 think it’s ethically and professionally wrong to give a child a test for which they can’t be prepared and aren’t
prepared."
Denunciations of the No Child Lett Behind laws testing rules are multiplying in immigrant-rich Northern Virginia. In Fairfax
and Arlington County, educators are preparing to defy the rules even though they are at risk of losing federal aid; other area
officials are moving more cautiously.
Federal officials have said repeatedly that grade-level testing is needed for immigrant students after they have been in U.S.
schools for one year, a requirement they say will help hold schools to high standards. Most states, including Maryland, are
following the rules. So are D.C. public schools, officials say.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has criticized Virginia educators who are resisting. "It’s time to remember that
yes, Virginia, there is a Standards Clause," Spellings wrote recently in a caustic open letter.
Fairfax, with the region’s largest school system, has led the state’s rebellion. The county School Board voted in January to
continue giving proficiency tests to immigrant students who have not progressed enough to take grade-level tests that assume
language fluency. Fairfax school officials appear to be standing firm even though the U.S. Department of Education has
threatened to withhold $17 million in aid if the county follows through with its plan.
The Arlington School Board has also authorized officials to shield some immigrant students from tests the federal
govemment insists they take. "Most people believe the rule makes no sense," said Arlington School Superintendent Robert G.
Smith.
The Alexandria School Board has not taken similar action. "Right now, there are not plans to do anything different from
what’s required," Alexandria schools spokeswoman Amy Carlini said yesterday. She added that some School Board members
want to determine how much federal funding is at stake.
The Prince William County School Board is tiptoeing around the battle. It has passed a resolution that expresses "concern"
over the federal requirements but notes that the school system will abide by them. School Board Chairman Lucy S. Beauchamp
(At Large) said that she applauds Fairfax’s stand but that Prince William cannot risk losing federal aid because it is already facing
a significant budget shortfall.
In Loudoun, Hatrick and his staff have proposed a resolution similar to what Fairfax and Arlington have adopted. Officials
estimate that as much as $2 million in federal aid could be at risk if the county defies the federal government.
Loudoun School Board Vice Chairman Tom Reed (At Large) said he supported the staff recommendation. "1 think the
decision about who should take which tests should be at the classroom level, not imposed from Washington," he said.
Page 178
The Loudoun board has not yet scheduled a vote. Loudoun board member J. Warren Geurin (Sterling) said the county
should follow the federal requirement.
"We don’t have to take a sharp stick and poke the federal government in the eye," Geurin said.
Staff writers Tara Bahram 3our and lan Shapira contributed to this report.
Page 179
02.24.07 In the News
The Washington Post: Hatrick Joins l~oes of Rule On Testing hnmigrants, Loudoun
Hasn’t Derided Whether to Defy U.S. (Michael Alison ChandlerE~)
The Washington Post: Colleges Go Online to Calm the Admissions Jitters (Susan
I(inzie)
The Washington Post: If Fenty Gets the Schools, Does He Have a Plan? (Colbert I.
K_ingLJ)
The New York Times: I~ederal Supervision of Race in Little Rod~ Schools Ends
(Steve Barnes)
The New York Times: A New Modal for Schools in the Boston Archdiocese (Katie
Zezima)
The Assodated Press:: ~VIassachusetts: Gay Topics and Schools
The New York Times: Protecting All Students (Editorial)
The Assodated Press (Hartford, CT): Testing, funding questioned as No Child law
faces reauthorization
Page 180
The Washin~on Post
Hatrick doins Foes of Rule On Testing Immigrants
By Michad Alison Chandler[~, Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 24, 2007; B02
The longest-serving school superintendent in the Washington area, Loudolm County’s

Edgar B. Hatfick III, this week joined a growing number of Virginia educators in
denouncing a federal requirement to give tougher reading tests to immigrant students. But
~vhether Loudolm ~vill, like Fairf-mx County, defy the mandate remains an open question_
Hatrick said in an intervie~v that it was "wrong-headed" to give grade-level tests to

students in the early stages of learning Enghsh. Until now, Vir~a schools have given
such students proficiency tests that do not cover the same material as the exams that
native English speakers must take.
"It’s a frustration to me because it’s so obvious. I donX understand why polic?nnakels

don’t understand," Hatlick said Wednesday. "I think it’s ethically and professionally
wrong to give a child a test for which they can’t be prepared and aren’t prepared."
Denunciations of the No Child Lell Behind la~¢s testing rules are multiplying in
immigrant-richNorthem Virginia. In Fairf~x and Arlington County, educators are
preparing to defy the rules even though they are at risk of!osing federal aid; other area
officials are moving more cantiously.
Federal officials have said repeatedly that grade-level testing is needed for immigrant
students after they have been in U.S. schools for one year, a requirement they say will
help hold schools to high standards. Most states, including Maryland, are following the
rules. So are D.C. public schools, officials say.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spe!lings has criticized Virginia educators who are
resisting. "It’s time to remember that yes, Virginia, there is a Standards Clause," Spellings
wrote recently in a caustic open letter.
Fairfmx, with the region’s largest school system, has led the state’s rebe!lion. The county
School Board voted in Januals, to continue giving proficiency tests to immigrant students
who have not progressed enough to take grade-level tests that assume language fluency.
Fair~x school officials appear to be standing firm even though the U.S. Department of
Education has threatened to withhold $17 million in aid if the cotmty follows through
with its plan.
Page 181
The Arlington School Board has also antholized officials to shield some immigrant
students from tests the federal government insists they take. "Most people believe the rule
makes no sense," said Arlington School Superintendent Robert G. Smith.
The Alexandria School Board has not taken similar action. "Right now, there are not
plans to do anything different from what’s required." Alexandria schools spokeswoinan
Amy Carlini said yesterday. She added that some School Board members want to
determine howmuch federal funding is at stake.
The Prince William County School Boardis tiptoeing around the battle. It has passed a
resolution that expresses "concern" over the federal requirements but notes that the
school system will abide by them. School Board Chairman Lucy S. Beauchamp (At
Large) said that she applauds Fairfax’s stand but that Prince William cannot risk losing
federal aid bec~mse it is already facing a significant budget sholtfall.
In Londoun, Hatlick and his staffhave proposed a resolution similar to what Fairfmx and
Arlington have adopted. Officials estimate that as much as $2 mi!lion in federal aid could
be at risk if the county defies the federal government.
Loudoun Schoo! Board Vice Chairman Tom Reed (At Large) said he suppolted the staff
recommendation. "I think the decision about who should take which tests should be at the
classroom leve!, not imposed from Washington." he said.
The Loudoun board has not yet scheduled a vote. Loudoun board member J. Warren
Geufn (Sterling) said the county should follow the federal requirement.
"We don’t have to take a sharp stick and poke the federal government in the eye," Geulin
said.
Staff ,~riters Tara Bahrampour and lan Shapira contributed to this report.
Page 182
The Washington Post
Colleges Go Online to Calm the Admissions Oitters
By Susan Kinzie[], Washington Post Staff Writer []
Saturday, February 24, 2007; A01
Daniel Creasy and the other Johns Hopkins University admissions office staffhave to
read 200 files a week to get through the 14,840 applications piled on chairs and crates in
the hallways. That’s 65 percent more applicants than they hadjnst five years ago -- so
many, Creasyj oked, that he has to get his dog to help read them.
He even posted a photo of his dog, paws planted next to a stack of files, on the Hopkins
admissions Web site.
Creasy is trying to lighten things a little and ease some of the arbxiety of the application
process as the admissions frenzy whips up. With more applicants than ever competing to
get into the top schools, students’ stress is obvious. It chokes online message boards about
college admissions. (One site -- where overachievers crunch numbers, analyze their
chances and obsess over scores -- had 17,048 posts about Hopkins None.)
Now, some schools have staffmembers like Creasy who not only read files but monitor
message boards, field questions on their c~.vn Web sites and try to hmnanize the process.
In charge of Hopkins Insider, "a behind-the-scenes look at the Johns Hopkins Admissions
Office," Creasyhopes to take away some of the mystery, correct misinformation here and
there, crack some jokes and, occasionally, talk students off the ledge.
"When I got into the field, I was told this is a very secretive field. Not a lot of people
lmow what we do," Creasy said. "I agreed with that." Many in admissions still do. Creasy
used to think of himself as an admissions officer, working for the institution to create the
strongest possible 1,200-student incoming class. Now, he has far more contact with
applicants -- at least electronically -- and knows just how much the~ire sweating the
admissions process.
He’s begun to see himself as more of an admissions counselor instead.
"So many applicants think of admissions as this abyss where you toss in an application
and never hear what happens to it," said Ben Jones, who helped transform the
Massachusetts Institute of Teclmology’s admissions Web site into apercolating
conversation among hundreds of students and staff members. "That creates a level of
amxiety and stress that is increasing as yem-s go on and admissions become increasingly
competitive."
Page 183
Last month, MIT posted winners of an essay contest about the admissions process. One
applicant created animation set to the Zombies’ "Time of the Season" with a stick figure
waiting by a mailbox in the sno,,v. Another,,vrote about anxiety, pressure and a classmate
who applied to Stanford and hanged himsel£
Jeannine C. Lalonde, an assistant dsan of admission at the University of Virginia, said:

"They picture people in a room with a big ’REJECT’ stamp. This makes people realize
we’re real we’re accessible, we~:e not scary."
So Creasy blogs. He ,,mites about how many files he has to read, explaining the
admissions process, the months of late-night reading and discussion about applicants. He
introduces other stagfers, giving their backgrounds, favorite animals (’2got a Bnshbaby --
those things scare me," one wrote) and admissions pet peeves. (Tip: Don’t leave the "s"
out of Jolms.)
He describes ho~v he works, with a blue binder, Nass of water, iPod, calculator and eight
-- eight! -- calendars. He adds photos of the stacks of applications and of his niece,
crawling along the floor. Andhe writes such things as: "...most ofus have dreams
(nightmares???) about application files, letters of recommendations, paper/folder cuts,
grading scales, aaaaahhhhh!"
And even with application folders filling 23 five-drawer filing cabinets along a wall of
the office and @ling onto most other flat surfaces, Creasy has gotten to know more
about individual students such as Christy Thai, a high school senior from Olney.
She was womed about her scores last year. Then she found a college admissions message
board with people posting their statistics and felt even ~vorse. "It was bad," she said,
"because it made me believe I ~von~t get accepted to any college."
As decisions near, the drama peaks online, with people writing, for example, "ONE
MORE HOUR!! !! !" until admission and rejection results would be posted and "I can’t
take it!"
When Creasy reads those message boards, he knows the people who wite often are a
small minority even of those who are competing for the most selective schools. "But it
does scare me sometimes," he said. "The intensity."
It’s great that students have access to so nmch more information, said John Latting,
director of undergraduate admissions at Hopkins. "The flip side is a sort of hysteria about
college admissions." He worries about college rankings, which can make families think
their options are limited to a short list of elite schools, and the misinformation floating
around.
On arecent night, someone listed his SAT scores (in the 700s on each part) on a site and
wrote: "Guys, do you think I have a chance to be admitted. I am really nervous..."
Page 184
Someone told him he had a 50-50 chance.
"Some of the information out there is just shockingly, shockingly bad," said Laionde,
who monitors sites for U-Va. and often pests corrections and clarifications. "I get
bombarded," she said, with nervous students and parents dragging her to other online
discussions to answer new questions.
Creasy tries to fight the stereotypes of Hopldns -- that the school cares only about
numbers and scores, not the applicants, and that the atmosphere on campus is
hypercompefifive and cutthroat. He takes questions. How many?.
"More," he said, "than you could ever image."
Thai sent some after finding that her early-decision application had been deferred to the
regular admissions pool. She didn’t know quite what to think -- was it all over for her?. --
so she posted to the Hopkins message board and got answers and alist of suggestions
from Creasy right away. "I felt like ’Oh, good, I have another chance!’ "she said.
Now at Hopldns, a group of students gives Creasy ideas for admissions, helps him
monitor the message boards and answers questions. Some biog.
Creasy rtms contests, shares his Oscar picks, posts pictures of teddy bears wearing little
Hopkins hoodies and chats online about his favorite TV shows, such as "24." "24 is on in
just a few hours!" one applicant posted recently. "Haha sweet i was the closest!" another
wrote alter a contest.
Thai checks the site often. "It’s really better. It kept my nerves down and stress down."
Not that a!l the applicants are laid-back no~v. Far from it.
"We definitely get students who communicate with us on an obsessive leve!," Creasy
said. BUt overall, he thinks the changes the school has made help it connect better.
That means making Hopkins more appealing, he hopes -- and luring more applicants.
And malting it even tougher to get in.
Page 185
The Washington Post
If Fenty Gets the Schools, Does He Have a Plan?
By- Colbert I. King[]
The car screeched to a halt in the driveway. The drive~; flushed with excitement, jumped
out, rm~ into the house and shouted upstairs to her husbcmd" "Hey, I just hit the lottery
jackpot. Pack your bags!"
Her husband rushed into the hallway, giddy with delight, and called" "That’s great,
honey. How should we pack? For the mountains or the seashore?"
She shot baclc ’7 don’t care. You just get the hell out of her!!"
That, I fear, could be the gist of the exchange between Mayor Adrian Fenty and
Superintendent Clifford Janey once Fenty gets control of the District’s public schools.
Not that Fenty said any such thing when I met with him and his deputy mayor for
education, Victor Reinoso, this week at the Petwolth Library in Nolthwest.
Fenty was careful not to reveal his thoughts on Janey’s performance; not so former school
board member Reinoso. With little prompting, Reinoso was quick to provide examples of
Janey’s alleged shortcomings as superintendent. Janey should be Oad he doesn’t selaze at
Reinoso’s pleasure. Reinoso, however, has Fenty’s ear.
The meeting wasn’t arranged to critique the superintendent. My purpose ~vas to learn
more about Fenty’s education plan and how and when it ~vould be implemented, should
he become Janey’s boss.
11eft convinced that Fenty has dear school-related obj ectives (reconstitute failing
schools, end sodal promotions, give plindpals more autonomy, create parent training
academies, etc.). But despite my best effolts (which obviously weren’t good enough) to
find out, I still don’t know how Fenty ranks his objectives or how he intends to achieve
them.
Before Reinoso arlived, I asked Fenty to state the tl~ee things he would do immediately
after he gained control of the schools. Fenty said he would examine the school system’s
structure, review its policies and assess the system’s leadership and top management.
Page 186
I reminded him of numerous studies of District schools beady on the shelf, including
one recently prepared by his own consult~mt, the Parthenon Group. "What’s there to
know," I asked, "that isn’t already known?"
Fenty said he doesn’t have the fN1 picture and won’t until the school system is under his
control -- a point Reinoso also made in response to other questions.
Pressed for his plan of action, Fenty repeatedly referred to well-known school
deficiencies and his commitment to address those problems with a greater sense of
urgency.
As the conversation unfolded, it was apparent -- at least to me -- that while Fenty brings
to the mayor’s job more enthusiasm, energy and desire to solve problems than this city
has seen in many years, Reinoso knows the Fenty plan better than Fenty knows it.
As it happened, the Council of the Great City Schools completed its own analysis
(available with the online version of this column) of Fenty’s plan this week. The council
is no apologist for D.C. schools. It has expertise with large urban school districts and over
the past three years has issued two critical repol~s on the school system’s instructional
program and financial operations.
The 21-page analysis is a must-read.
In short, the council faults Fenty’s plan as faiBng to:
¯ Address low and stagnant student achievement.
¯ Set measurable goals or benchmarks for academic achievement.
¯ Set accountability measures for the mayor and his leadership team.
¯ Address the issue of standards and training of teaching staff on content and use.
¯ Address professional development.

Page 187
¯ Have a mech~sm for getting reforms into the classroom.
¯ Have a stated strategy for addressing the lowest-performing schools.
That’s for starters.
The analysis concluded that Fenty’s plan, rather than reducing decision-malting layers,
makes decision-making more top-heavy and harder to coordinate. It suggests that Fenty’s
plan lacks a clear vision about the direction of the school system and that it actually relies
on Janey’s master education plan and other school system special education plans. It also
charges that Fenty’s proposal to give the D.C. Council line-item authority over the budget
will only worsen an already cumbersome process.
Finally, the council criticizes Fenty as not presenting a specific plan of action.
I presented these criticisms to the mayor and Reinoso by e-mail andreceived a response
(also available online) the follo~4ng day.
Feuty said he didn’t believe that specific student performance targets or academic
achievement benchmarks should be legislated. He rejected criticism of his proposed
decision-makdng process.
There’s no disagreement on the list of student performance issues that need to be

addressed, Fenty said. "What has been missing is implementation, and, specifically, the
accelerated implementation that responds to the urgency our students, parents,
community members.., feel when we think about our public schools."
Feuty wrote that under his plan, he is the "one person ultimately held accountable for
whether our children are receiving a qual~y education" and said the structure he proposes
"takes a comprehensive approach at establishing a framework by which the Mayor can
effect change."
-Tall get that?
Clifford Janey, pack your bags.

Page 188
The New York Times
February 24, 2007
Federal Supervision of Race in Little Rock Schools Ends
By- STEVE BARNES
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 23 -- The Little Rock Schoo! District was released on Fliday
from federal court supervision of its desegregation efforts, almost 50 years aRer President
Dwizht D. Eisenhower dispatched federal troops to eifforce an integration order that the
Arkansas governor defied.
In a written order, Jndge William R. Wilson Jr. of Federal District Court declared the
district "unitary." That meant it had met its obligations under court-ordered remedies to
address lingering questions about its commitment to equal opportunity in education.
Judge Wilson s~id the school board could’°now operate the district as it sees fit,
an~verable to no one" save its students, patrons and voters.
Superintendent Roy G. Brooks, who is black, told The Associated Press, "I think that this
is a clear indication that 1957 is not 2007:’
But John W. Walker, a civil fights lawyer here who is counsel to the Joshua Intervenors,
a group of black cb~ctren and parents who were a party in the long-running case,
disagreed_
"In 2007, ~ve have people in neckties lixring in big houses celebrating the return to 1957, a
return to the concept of white supremacy," Mr. Walker said in an interview.
In 1957, Gov. Orval E. Fanbus, a conservative Democrat, resisted the federal court order
to desegregate Central High School by surrounding it with National Guardsmen who
Page 189
blocked the entry of nine black students. Eisenhower responded by federalizing the
Guard troops and sending paratroopers from the !01st Airborne Dwision.
The black pupils ~vere admitted to classes, ruth the military provid~g security on campus
for the duration of the school year.
The confrontation was a seminal part of the civil rights movement. It was followed by
decades of litigation that devoured miNons of dollars m legal fees ~d went through
several judges, dozens of school board members and more than one superintendent.
Judge Wilson granted the district/the l~rgest in Arkansas, with 27,000 pupils --
conditional release from supervision several months ago, but retained jurisdiction unti! it
could demonstrate a resolve to monitor progress in reducing racial disparity in student
achievement.
The order on Friday said the district "has gone the e~m mile" in doing so.
Mr. Walker saidhe had not decided whether to appeal the order.
Page 190
The New York Times
February 24, 2007
RELIGION JOURNAL
A New Model for Schools in file Boston Archdiocese
By KATIE ZEZIMA
BROCKTON, Mass., Feb. 21 -- To the Rev. James Flavin, pastor of St. Edith Stein
Roman Catholic Church here, the notion of giving up control of his pafish’s elementary
school is one of the best ideas he has heard in a !ong time.
St. Edith Stein and two other churches inthis city of 94,000 about 25 miles south of
Boston, are consolidating their schools, wtfich together serve 500 children in kindergarten
through eighth grade, and ceding contro! to a bomd of directors.
The mrangement, which starts in September, will restflt in two ne~vly renovated schools,
one for louver grades and another for upper grades, at two different churches.
The move is the first in the Archdiocese of Boston’s 2010 Initiative, a plan to revitalize
its schools, particularly the elementary schools, which have been suffering from falling
eurollment and finances. The goal, officials said, is to offer the resources of a public
education with the morals and faith of a Roman Catholic one.
"It’s like Catholic education on steroids. It’s going to be great," saidthe Rev. David
O’Donnell of Christ the King Parish, which is also part of the consolidation plan.
The change represents a major shift in the ~,way schools are managedin the B oston
Archdiocese. For the last century, schools here and elsewhere have generally operated
from the top down, with the diocese overseeing schools that are aligned with one parish,
Page 191
~vhose priest deals with day-to-day administrative issues.
The Brockton schools will still fall under the umbrella of the archdiocese, but the board
and its supervisor will act as their administrator. Stonehill College, a Roman Catholic
institution in Easton, Mass., will provide curriculum support and trNNng for teachers.
For the fnst time the schools will have aworldng cafeteria and g~ium.
"Our students always had to settle for having no gym or computer lab," Father O’Donnell
said. "Now this takes all of the values we have plus the quality education?’
Not surprisingly, the plan to consolidate raised some concerns among parents.
"Some parents wondered why they weren’t let into the process sooner, others had
concerns about transportation," Father Flavin said, noting that parents were notified about
the changes last month.
Still others were concerned about start times, which led to the creation of a staggered
schedule.
Most parishes in the archdiocese’s cities --Boston, Brockton, La~vrence and Lowell --
once had large, xdbrant elementary schools.
Enrollment started dwindling in the 1970s and ’80s as many Roman Catholics moved to
the submbs, leaving the schools starved for money. A shortage of priests and nuns has
also hurt, leading to more lay employees and, therefore, salaries.
In 1965, about 150,000 students attended archdiocesan schools; today about 50,000 do.
No archdiocesan schools have beenbuilt since 1953.
"This is what we as a church need to do for our schools to endure," said Jack Connors Jr.,
Page 192
chairman emeritus of the advertising firm Hill, Hotliday, who helps lead the 2010 plan
and tins securedpledges of at least $15 million to’~ard the program.. "We want to build
schools, fix schools, re-energize our mission. And we have to say that a bake sale can’t
be the only source to do that."
The archdiocese is focusing its efforts oncity schools, and plans to take the Brockton
model to Boston and Lowell. City parishes are growing thanks to aninflux of Catholic
immigrants -- here Cape Verdean and Haitian-- and making a Catholic education
available and affordable is a priority. Tuitionin Brocktonis being catted at about $3,000
a student.
"We want to help the poor get ahead," Father Ylavin said. "We want college to be a no-
brainer, the next step in their lives."
Last year the archdiocese partnered with Boston College to nm a Boston eleinentary
school, becoming the first diocese in the country to hand over educational responsibility
to a university, said Sister Dale McDonald, director of public policy and education
research for the National Catholic Education Association.
Sister McDonald said that about 14 percent of Roman Catholic elementm3r schools
nationwide were consolidated from different parishes, but said that all but a few followed
the old top-down governance model. Many are also bringing in Catholic colleges and
universities to help with such things as student assessments and cunicttlttm development.
The plan is familiar to the president of Stonehill, the Rev. Mark Cregan, who ran a
Catholic school in the South Brorcx in the 1990s that received help from Fordham
University. The difference in Brockton, Father Cregan said, is that Stonehill will have
more of a hand in how the school runs, rather than simply providing extra support.
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"The genus of Catholic education throughout history is its ability to work with limited
resources and help immigrant children come into the mainstream," Father Cregan said.
"I’ve been on the receiving end, and I know how appreciative we were by the effort a
university made when we were under-resourced."
The archdiocese chose to begi~ the program in Brockton after Father O’Donnell, Father
Flavin and the Rev. Richard Clancy of St. Casimir asked that they be first. Father
O’Donnell said his school would probably dose if it were not merged.
The priests look forward to September and being able to preach, not teach.
"I’m the head of my school, you’re the head of your school. We ~veren’t trained to rtm a
school," Father Flavin said to Father O’Donnell. "Now we have experts involved to run
the school. We don’t have to rely on Father’ s talent, or lack thereof, to run the school."
Page 194
The Assodated Press
February 24, 2007
Massachusetts: Gay Topics and Schools
A federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by parents who wunted to keep their young
children from learning about same-sex marriage in school. The judge, Mark L. Wolf of
Federal District Court, said the courts had decided in other cases that parents’ rights to
exercise their reli~ous beliefs were not violated when their children were exposed to
con~ary ideas in school. Schools are "entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related
to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens," Judge
Wolf said. The parents ~vho filed the lawsuit, Touia and David Parker of LexingtolL sued
after their 5-year-old son brought home a book from kindergarten that depicted a gay
family. Another Lexington couple joined the lawsuit after a second-grade teacher read a
class a fairy tale about two princes falling in love. Jeffrey Delmer, alawyer for the
parents, said they would file a federal aPl~al and ref~e state-coult claims.
Page 195
The New York Times
February 24, 2007
EDITORIAL
Protecting All Students
Like all too many school districts, Toms River, N.J., has done a poor job of protecting
gay students from bullying. According to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the district
punished students for being one minute late for class, but made harassing another child
for being gay punishable only after a third offense.
In a landmark ruling this week, the court unanimously held that public school districts
like Toms River’s are liable for damages ff they fail to take reasonable steps to stop
prolonged anti-gay harassment of a student by another student. It correctly found that
students had aright to be protected aga~st this sort of abuse.
The decision changes the legal landscape in New Jersey, and we hope it wi!l be the start
of a new national approach to the problem.
A study by the National Mental Health Association a few years ago found that more than
three-quarters of teenagers reported that students who were gay or thought to be gay were
teased and bullied in their schools and communities.
The anonymous student who brought the suit against Toms River schools clearly
deserved better. He complained of being tatmted almost daily from fourth grade on. In
high school, he was physically attacked twice, and he said he eventually had to change
schools. School administrators disciplined the worst offenders, but failed to address the
overall school climate by taking such basic steps as talldng to parents and holding student
assemblies to make it clear that harassment wonld not be tolerated_
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The court’s ruling provides much-needed support to some of the nation’s most vulnerable
young people, mid it sets a wolthy standard for courts and educators nationwide.
Page 197
The Assodated Press
Testing, funding questioned as No CMId lmv faces routhorization
HARTFORD (AP) - Connecticut education offidals issued an infolana! report card

Friday to U.S. Sen. Joe Liebelman on the federal No Child Left Behind Act, lauding its
intentions but criticizing several of its regulations.
With the five-year education act set to expire on Sept. 30, Liebennan, I-Colm., hosted a
forum Friday at the state Capitol on ways to improve the rules before Congress votes on
reauthorization this summer or fall.
Among the concerns voiced: an emphasis on constant testing, inadequate funds to meet
mandates, the lack of consistent methods to track and compare progress, and a perception
that some states get more latitude than Connecticut to excuse large rmmbers of special-
education students from testing.
Signed by President Bnsh in 2002, the No Child law is intended to dose achievement
gaps by ensuring t~t all children can read and do math at their grade level by 2014.
Colmecticut has a federa! lawsuit pending against the U.S. Department of Education over
the law, saying its mandated testing requirements far exceed the federal reimbursements.
Those concerns were echoed at Friday’s forum, where education officials said lack of
funding hinders their ability to reduce class sizes, recruit and retain the best teachers and
offer early childhood education.
"Testing, testing, testing without doing the appropriate measures to help the children does
not get you where you want to be," said Sharon Palmer, president of the Connecticut
chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.
There is no standard nationwide test to measure progress tinder the No Child Left Behind
Act, so each state uses its own tests.
The percentage of special education students exempted from testing also varies from state
to state. The number of children with severe cognitive disabilities who are tested can
skew a school’s and district’s reslllts.
For example, the federal government allows Texas to exempt about 5 percent of those
students, compared with the 1 percent that Connecticut can excuse from testing, said state
Sen. Thomas Gaffey, D-Merider~ co-chairman of the legislature’s Education Committee.
The sheer volume of testing required also frustrates many educators, who believe those
exams do not reflect much of the progress in classrooms, some officials said.
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%Vith all of the testing we’re doing, we’re not going to have any time for instruction,"
said Robert Hale, president of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education,
whose comments prompted a spontaneous outburst of applause ffoIn education officials
in the heating room Friday.
Lieberman said he will host more forums to discuss the law before the congressional
reauthorizationvote, and the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches also
plans sevelN statewide gatherings to help pments understand the issues and voice their
thoughts.
Page 199
~lonresponsi!
From: Yudof, Samara
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; Simon, Ray; Tucker, Sara (Restricted); Maddox,
Lauren; Talbert, Kent; Halaska, Terrell; Kuzmich, Holly; Briggs, Kerri; Mcnitt, Townsend L;
Flowers, Sarah; Young, Tracy, tyoung@who.eop.gov; Williams, Cynthia; Beaton, Meredith;
Scheessele, Marc; Pitts, Elizabeth; Herr, John; Landers, Angela; Colby, Chad; McLane,
Katherine; Toomey, Liam; Rosenfelt, Phil; Cariello, Dennis; Evers, Bill; Mesecar, Doug;
Johnson, Henry; Ditto, Trey; Ruberg, Casey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Terre!l, Julie
Subject: 02.24.07 In the News
Attachments: 0224071ntheNews.doc
02~07In~eNews.
doc (82 KB)
The Washington Post: Hatriok Joins Foes of Rrtle On Testing Immigrants, Loudou~ Hasn’t
Decided Whether to Defy U.S. (~chael Alison Chandler)
The Washington Post: Colleges Go Online to Calm the Admissions Jitters (Susan Kinzie)
The Washington Post: If Fenty Gets the Schools, Does He Have a Plan? (Colbert I. King)
The New York Times: Federal Supervision of Race in Little Rock Schools Ends (Steve Barnes)
The New York Times: A New Model for Schools in the Boston Archdiocese (Katie Zeziraa)
The Associated Press: ~ssachusetts: Gay Topics and Schools

The New York Times: Protecting Al! Students (Editorial)
The Associated Press (Hartford, CT): Testing, funding questioned as No Child law faces
reauthorization
The Washington Post
Hatrick Joins Foes of Rule On Testing Immigrants
Saturday, February 24, 2007; B02

The longest-serving school superintendent in the Washington area, Loudoun County’s Edgar
B. Hatrick III, this week joined a growing number of Virginia educators in denouncing a
federal requirement to give tougher reading tests to immigrant students. But whether
Loudoun will, like Fairfax County, defy the mandate remains an open question.
Hatrick said in an interview that it was "wrong-headed" to give grade-level tests to

students in the early stages of learning English. Until now, Virginia schools have given
such students proficiency tests that do not cover the same materia! as the exams that
native English speakers must take.
"It’s a frustration to me because it’s so obvious. I don’t understand why polic!rmakers

don’t tlnderstand," Hatrick said Wednesday. "I think it’s ethically and professionally
~ong to give a child a test for which they can’t be prepared and aren’t prepared."
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Denunciations of the No Child Left Behind law’s testing rules are multiplying in
immigrant-rich Northern Virginia. In Fairfax and Arlington County, educators are preparing
to defy the rules even though they are at risk of !osing federal aid; other area officials
are moving more cautiously.
Federal officials have said repeatedly that grade-level testing is needed for immigrant
students after they have been in U.S. schools for one year, a requirement they say will
help hold schools to high standards. Most states, including Maryland, are following the
rules. So are D.C. public schools, officials say.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has criticized Virginia educators who are
resisting. "It’s time to remember that yes, Virginia, there is a Standards Clause,"
Spellings wrote recently in a caustic open letter.
Fairfax, with the region’s largest school system, has led the state’s rebellion. The
county School Board voted in January to continue giving proficiency tests to immigrant
students who have not progressed enough to take grade-leve! tests that assume langumge
fluency. Fairfax school officials appear to be standing firm even though the U.S.
Department of Education has threatened to ~ithhold $17 million in aid if the county
follows through with its plan.
The Arlington School Board has also authorized officials to shield some immigrant students
from tests the federal government insists they take. "Most people believe the rule makes
no sense," said Arlington School Superintendent Robert G. Smith.
The Alexandria School Board has not taken similar action. "Right now, there are not plans
to do anything different from what’s required," Alexandria schools spokeswoman Amy Carlini
said yesterday. She added that some School Board members want to determine how much
federa! funding is at stake.
The Prince William County School Board is tiptoeing around the battle. It has passed a
resolution that expresses "concern" over the federa! requirements but notes that the
school system will abide by them. School Board Chairman Lucy S. Beauchamp (At Large) said
that she applauds Fairfa){’s stand but that Prince William cannot risk losing federa! aid
because it is already facing a significant budget shortfall.
In Loudoun, Hmtrick and his staff have proposed a resolution similar to what Fairfax and
Arlington have adopted. Officials estimate that as much as $2 million in federal aid could
be at risk if the county defies the federal goverr~ment.
Loudoun School Board Vice Chairman Tom Reed (At Large) said he supported the staff
recommendation. "I think the decision about who should take which tests should be at the
classroom level, not imposed from Washington," he said.
The Loudoun board has not yet scheduled a vote. Loudoun board member J. Warren Geurin
(Sterling) said the county should follow the federal requirement.
"We don’t have to take a sharp stick and poke the federal government in the eye," Geurin
said.
Staff writers Tara Bahrampour and Ian Shapira contributed to this report.
The Washington Post

Colleges Go Online to Calm the Admissions Jitters
By Susan Kinzie, Washington Post Staff Writer?

Daniel Creasy and the other Johns Hopkins University admissions office staff have to read
200 files a week to get through the 14,840 applications piled on chairs and crates in the
hall~ays. That’s 65 percent more applicants than they had ~ust five years ago -- so many,
Creasy joked, that he has to get his dog to help read them.
He even posted a photo of his dog, paws planted next to a stack of files, on the Hopkins
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admissions Web site.
Creasy is trying to lighten things a little and ease some of the anxiety of the
application process as the admissions frenzy whips up. With more applicants than ever
competing to get into the top schools, students’ stress is obvious. It chokes online
message boards about college admissions. (One site -- where overachievers crunch nttmbers,
analyze their chances and obsess over scores -- hmd 17,048 posts about Hopkins alone.)
Now, some schools have staff members like Creasy who not only read files but monitor
message boards, field questions on their o~~ Web sites and try to humanize the process.
In charge of Hopkins Insider, "a behind-the-scenes look at the Johns Hopkins Admissions
Office," Creasy hopes to take away some of the mystery, correct misinformmtion here and
there, crack some ~okes and, occasionally, talk students off the ledge.
"When I got into the field, I was told this is a very secretive field. Not a lot of people
know what we do," Creasy said. "I agreed with that." Many in admissions stil! do. Creasy
used to think of himself as an admissions officer, working for the institution to create
the strongest possible 1,200-student incoming class. Now, he has far more contact with
applicants -- at least electronically -- and knows ~ust how much they’re sweating the
admissions process.
He’s begun to see himself as more of an admissions counselor instead.
"So i~ny applicants think of admissions as this abyss where you toss in an application and
never hear whmt happens to it," said Ben Jones, who helped transform the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology’s admissions Web site into a percolating conversation among
hundreds of students and staff members. "That creates a level of anxiety and stress that
is increasing as years go on and admissions become increasingly competitive."
Last month, MIT posted winners of an essay contest about the admissions process. One
applicant created animation set to the Zombies’ "Time of the Season" with a stick figure
waiting by a mailbox in the snow. Another wrote about anxiety, pressure and a classmate
who applied to Stanford and hanged himself.
Jeannine C. Lalonde, an assistant dean of admission at the University of Virginia, said:

"They picture people in a room with a big ’P~EJECT’ stamp. This makes people realize we’re
rea!, we’re accessible, we’re not scary."
So Creasy blogs. He writes about how many files he has to read, explaining the admissions
process, the months of late-night reading and discussion about applicants. He introduces
other staffers, giving their backgrounds, favorite animals ("Not a Bushbaby -- those
things scare me," one wrote) and admissions pet peeves. (Tip: Don’t leave the "s" out of
Johns.)
He describes how he works, with a blue binder, glass of water, iPod, calculator and eight
-- eight[ -- calendmrs. He adds photos of the stacks of applications and of his niece,
crawling along the f!oor. And he writes such things as: " . most of us have dreams
(nightmares???) about application files, letters of recommendations, paper/folder cuts,
grading scales, aaaaahhhhh~"
And even with application folders filling 23 five-drawer filing cabinets along a wall of
the office and spilling onto most other flat surfaces, Creasy has gotten to know more
about individual students such as Christy Thai, a high schoo! senior from Olney.
She mas worried about her scores last year. Then she found a college admissions message
board with people posting their statistics and felt even worse. "It was bad," she said,
"because it mmde me believe I won’t get accepted to any college."
As decisions near, the dramm peaks online, with people writing, for example, "ONE MORE
HOUR![ ![ [" until admission and re~ection results would be posted and "I can’t take it["
When Creasy reads those message boards, he knows the people who write often are a small
minority even of those who are competing for the most selective schools. "But it does
scare me sometimes," he said. "The intensity."
It’s great that students have access to so much more information, said John Latting,
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director of undergraduate admissions at Hopkins. "The flip side is a sort of hysteria
about college admissions." He worries about college rankings, which can make families
think their options are limited to a short list of elite schools, and the misinformation
f!oating around.
On a recent night, someone listed his SAT scores (in the 700s on each part) on a site and
wrote: "Guys, do you think I have a chance to be admitted. I am really nervous. ."
Someone told him he had a 50-50 chance.
"Some of the information out there is just shockingly, shockingly bad," said Lalonde, who
monitors sites for U-Va. and often posts corrections and clarifications. "I get
bombarded," she said, with nervous students and parents dragging her to other online
discussions to answer new questions.
Creasy tries to fight the stereotypes of Hopkins -- that the school cares only about
numbers and scores, not the applicants, and that the atmosphere on c~mpus is
hypercompetitive and cutthroat. He takes questions. How many?
"More," he said, "than you could ever imagine."
Thai sent some after finding that her early-decision application had been deferred to the
regular admissions poo!. She didn’t know quite what to think -- was it all over for her?
-- so she posted to the Hopkins message board and got answers and a list of suggestions
from Creasy right away. "I felt like ’Oh, good, I have another chance!’ " she said.
Now at Hopkins, a group of students gives Creasy ideas for admissions, helps him monitor
the message boards and answers questions. Some blog.
Creasy runs contests, shares his Oscar picks, posts pictures of teddy bears wearing little
Hopkins hoodies and chats online about his favorite TV shows, such as "24." "24 is on in
just a few hours!" one applicant posted recently. "Haha ~eet i was the c!osest[" another
wrote after a contest.
Thai checks the site often. "It’s really better. It kept my_nerves down and stress down."
Not that all the applicants are laid-back now. Far from it.
"We definitely get students who communicate with us on an obsessive level," Creasy said.
But overall, he thinks the changes the school has made help it connect better.
That means making Hopkins more appealing, he hopes -- and luring more applicants. And
making it even tougher to get in.
The Washington Post
If Fenty Gets the Schools, Does He Have a Plan?
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, February 24, 2007; AI9

The car screeched to a halt in the driveway. The driver, flushed with excitement, jumped
out, ran into the house and shouted upstairs to her husband: "Hey, I just hit the !ottery
~ackpot. Pack your bags["
Her husband rushed into the hallway, giddy with delight, and called: "That’s great, honey.
How should we pack? For the mountains or the seashore?"
She shot back: "I don’t care. You just get the hel! out of here["
That, I fear, could be the gist of the exchange between Mayor Adrian Fenty and
Superintendent Clifford Janey once Fenty gets control of the District’s public schools.
Not that Fenty said any such thing when I met with him and his deputy rLmyor for education,
Victor Reinoso, this week at the Petworth Library in Northwest.
4
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Fenty was careful not to reveal his thoughts on Janey’s performance; not so former school
board member Reinoso. With little prompting, Reinoso was quick to provide examples of
Janey’s alleged shortcomings as superintendent. Janey should be glad he doesn’t serve at
Reinoso’s pleasure. Reinoso, however, hms Fenty’s ear.
The meeting wasn’t arranged to critique the superintendent. My purpose was to learn more
about Fenty’s education plan and how and when it would be implemented, should he become
Janey’s boss.
i left convinced that Fenty has clear school-related objectives (reconstitute failing
schools, end social promotions, give principals more autonomy, create parent training
academies, etc.). But despite my best efforts (which obviously weren’t good enough) to
find out, I still don’t know how Fenty ranks his objectives or how he intends to achieve
them.
Before Reinoso arrived, I asked Fenty to state the three things he would do immediately
after he gained control of the schools. Fenty said he would ex~_mine the school system’s
structure, review its policies and assess the system’s leadership and top management.
I rem~nded him of numerous studies of District schools already on the shelf, including one
recently prepared by his ow~ consultant, the Parthenon Group. "What’s there to know," I
asked, "that isn’t already known?"
Fenty said he doesn’t have the full picture and won’t until the school system is under his
control -- a point Reinoso also made in response to other questions.
Pressed for his plan of action, Fenty repeatedly referred to well-known school
deficiencies and his commitment to address those problems with a greater sense of urgency.
As the conversation unfolded, it was apparent -- at least to me -- that while Fenty brings
to the mayor’s job more enthusiasm, energy and desire to solve problems than this city has
seen in many years, Reinoso knows the Fenty plan better than Fenty knows it.
As it h~ppened, the Council of the Great City Schools completed its own analysis
(available with the online version of this column) of Fenty’s plan this week. The council
is no apologist for D.C. schools. It has expertise with large urban school districts and
over the past three years hms issued two critical reports on the school system’s
instructional program and financial operations.
The 21-page analysis is a must-read.
In short, the council faults Fenty’s plan as failing to:
Address low and stagnant student achievement.
Set measurable goals or benchmarks for academic achievement.
Set accountability measures for the mayor and his leadership team.
Address the issue of standards and training of teaching staff on content and use.
Address professional development.
Have a mechanism for getting reforms into the classroom.
Have a stated strategy for addressing the lowest-performing schools.
That’s for starters.
The analysis concluded tb~t Fenty’s plan, rather than reducing decision-mmking layers,
mmkes decision-making more top-heavy and harder to coordinate. It suggests that Fenty’s
plan lacks a clear vision about the direction of the school system and that it actually
relies on Janey’s master education plan and other school system special education plans.
It also charges that Fenty’s proposal to give the D.C. Council line-item authority over
the budget will only worsen an already cumbersome process.
Page 204
Finally, the council criticizes £enty as not presenting a specific plan of action.
I presented these criticisms to the mayor and Reinoso by e-mail and received a response
(also available online) the following day.
Fenty said he didn’t believe that specific student performance targets or academic
achievement benchmarks should be legislated. He rejected criticism of his proposed
decision-making process.
There’s no disagreement on the list of student performance issues that need to be
addressed, Fenty said. "What has been missing is implementation, and, specifically, the
accelerated implementation that responds to the urgency our students, parents, community
members . . feel when we think about our public schools."
Fenty wrote that under his plan, he is the "one person ultimately held accountable for
whether our children are receiving a quality education" and said the structure he proposes
"takes a comprehensive approach at establishing a framework by which the Hayor can effect
change."
Y’all get that?
Clifford Janey, pack your bags.
The New York Times
February 24, 2007
Federal Supervision of Race in Little Rock Schools Ends
By S TEVE BAP$~ S
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 23 -- The Little Rock School District was released on Friday from
federal court supervision of its desegregation efforts, almost 50 years after President
Dwight D. Eisenhower dispatched federal troops to enforce an integration order that the
Arkansas governor defied.
In a written order, Judge William R. Wilson Jr. of Federal District Court declared the
district "unitary." That meant it had met its obligations under court-ordered remedies to
address lingering questions about its commitment to equal opportunity in education.
Judge Wilson said the school board could "now operate the district as it sees fit,
answerable to no one" save its students, patrons and voters.
Superintendent Roy G. Brooks, who is black, told The Associated Press, "I think that this
is a clear indication that 1957 is not 2007."
But John W. Walker, a civil rights la~-yer here who is counsel to the Joshua Intervenors, a
group of black children er~d parents who were a party in the long-running case, disagreed.
"In 2007, we have people in neckties living in big houses celebrating the return to 1957,
a return to the concept of white supremacy," Mr. Walker said in an interview.
In 1957, ®or. Orval E. Faubus, a conservative Democrat, resisted the federal court order
to desegregate Central High School by surrounding it with National Guardsmen who blocked
the entry of nine black students. Eise~ower responded by federalizing the Guard troops
and sending paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division.
The black pupils were admitted to classes, with the military providing security on campus
for the duration of the school year.
The confrontation was a seminal part of the civil rights movement. It was followed by
decades of litigation that devoured millions of dollars in legal fees and went through
several ~udges, dozens of school board members and more than one superintendent.
Judge Wilson granted the district --the largest in Arkansas, with 27,000 pupils --
conditional release from supervision several months ago, but retained ~urisdiction until
it could demonstrate a resolve to monitor progress in reducing racial disparity in student
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achievement.
The order on Friday said the district "has gone the extra mile" in doing so.
FLr. Walker said he had not decided whether to appea! the order.
The New York Times
February 24, 2007

RELI®ION JOURNAL
A New Model for Schools in the Boston Archdiocese
By KATIE ZEZII~
BROCKTON, Mass., Feb. 21 -- To the Rev. James Flavin, pastor of St. Edith Stein Roman
Catholic Church here, the notion of giving up contro! of his parish’s elementary school is
one of the best ideas he has heard in a !ong time.
St. Edith Stein and two other churches in this city of 94,000 about 25 miles south of
Boston, are consolidating their schools, which together serve 500 children in kindergarten
through eighth grade, and ceding contro! to a board of directors.
The arrangement, which starts in September, will result in two newly renovated schools,
one for !ower grades and another for upper grades, at two different churches.
The move is the first in the Archdiocese of Boston’s 2010 Initiative, a plan to revitalize
its schools, particularly the elementary schools, which have been suffering from falling
enrollment and finances. The goal, officials said, is to offer the resources of a public
education with the morals and faith of a Roman Catholic one.
"It’s like Catholic education on steroids. It’s going to be great," said the Rev. David
O’Dom_nell of Christ the King Parish, which is also part of the consolidation plan.
The change represents a major shift in the way schools are manmged in the Boston
Archdiocese. For the last century, schools here and elsewhere have generally operated from
the top down, with the diocese overseeing schools that are aligned with one parish, whose
priest deals with day-to-day administrative issues.
The Brockton schools will still fall under the umbrella of the archdiocese, but the board
and its supervisor wil! act as their administrator. Stonehill College, a Roman Catholic
institution in Easton, Mass., will provide curriculum support and training for teachers.
For the first time the schools will have a working cafeteria and gymnasium.
"Our students always had to settle for havLng no gym or computer lab," Father O’Oon~ell
said. "’Now this takes all of the values we have plus the quality education."
Not surprisingly, the plan to consolidate raised some concerns among parents.
"Some parents wondered why they weren’t let into the process sooner; others had concerns
about transportation," Father Flavin said, noting that parents were notified about the
changes last month.
Stil! others were concerned about start times, which led to the creation of a staggered
schedule.
Most parishes in the archdiocese’s cities -- Boston, Brockton, Lawrence and Lowell -- once
had large, vibrant elementary schools.
Enrollment started dwindling in the 1970s amd ~80s as many Roman Catholics moved to the
suburbs, leaving the schools starved for money. A shortage of priests and nuns has also
hurt, leading to more lay employees and, therefore, salaries.
In 196S, about 150,000 students attended archdiocesan schools; today about 50,000 do. No
Page 206
archdiocesan schools have been built since 1953.
"’This is whmt we as a church need to do for our schools to endure, " said Jack Connors Jr.,
chairman emeritus of the advertising firm Hill, Holliday, who helps lead the 2010 plan and
has secured pledges of at least $15 million toward the program. "We want to build schools,
fix schools, re-energize our mission. And we have to say that a bake sale can’t be the
only source to do that."
The archdiocese is focusing its efforts on city schools, and plans to take the Brockton
model to Boston and Lowell. City parishes are growing thanks to an influx of Catholic
immigrants -- here Cape Verdean and HaitianN and making a Catholic education available
and affordable is a priority. Tuition in Brockton is being capped at about $3,000 a
student.
"’We mant to help the poor get ahead," Father £1avin said. "We want college to be a no-
brainer, the next step in their lives."
Last year the archdiocese partnered with Boston College to run a Boston elementary school,
becoming the first diocese in the country to hand over educationa! responsibility to a
university, said Sister Dale McDonald, director of public policy and education research
for the National Catholic Education Association.
Sister McDonald said that about 14 percent of Roman Catholic elementary schools nationwide
were consolidmted from different parishes, but said that all but a few followed the old
top-down governance model. Many are also bringing in Catholic colleges and universities to
help with such things as student assessments and curriculum development.
The plan is familiar to the president of Stonehill, the Rev. Mark Cregan, who ran a
Catholic school in the South Bronx in the 1990s that received help from Fordham
University. The difference in Brockton, Father Cregan said, is that Stonehill will have
more of a hand in how the school runs, rather than simply providing extra support.
"The genius of Catholic education throughout history is its ability to work with limited
resources and help immigrant children come into the mainstream," Father Cregan said. "’I’ve
been on the receiving end, and I know how appreciative we were by the effort a university
m~de when we were under-resourced."
The archdiocese chose to begin the program in Brockton after Father O’Donnell, Father
Flavin and the Rev. Richard Clancy of St. Casimir asked that they be first. Father
O’Donnell said his school would probably close if it were not merged.
The priests look forward to September and being able to preach, not teach.
"I’m the head of my school, you’re the head of your school. We weren’t trained to run a
school," Father Flavin said to Father O’Donnell. "Now we have experts involved to run the
school. We don’t have to rely on Father’s talent, or lack thereof, to run the school."
The Associated Press

February 24, 2007
Massachusetts: Gay Topics and Schools
A federal ~udge threw out a lawsuit filed by parents who wanted to keep their young
children from learning about same-sex marriage in school. The 9udge, Mark L. Wolf of
Federal District Court, said the courts had decided in other cases that parents’ rights to
exercise their religious beliefs were not violated when their children were exposed to
contrary ideas in school. Schools are "entitled to teach anything that is reasonably
related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens,’"
Judge Wolf said. The parents who filed the lawsuit, Tonia and David Parker of Lexington,
sued after their 5-year-old son brought home a book from kindergarten that depicted a gay
family. Another Lexington couple ~oined the lawsuit after a second-grade teacher read a
class a fairy tale about two princes falling in love. Jeffrey Denner, a lawyer for the
parents, said they would file a federa! appeal and refile state-court claims.
Page 207
The New York Times
February 24, 2007
EDITORIAL
Protecting All Students

Like all too many school districts, Toms River, N.J., has done a poor ~ob of protecting
gay students from bullying. According to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the district
punished students for being one minute late for class, but made h~rassing another child
for being gay punishable only after a third offense.
In a landmark ruling this week, the court unanimously held that p~lic school districts
like Toms River’s are liable for damages if they fai! to take reasonable steps to stop
pro!onged anti-gay harassment of a student by another student. It correctly found that
students had a right to be protected against this sort of abuse.
The decision changes the legal landscape in New Jersey, and we hope it will be the start
of a new national approach to the problem.
A study by the National Mental Health Association a few years ago found that more than
three-quarters of teenagers reported that students who were gay or thought to be gay were
teased and bullied in their schools and communities.
The anonymous student who brought the suit against Toms River schools clearly deserved
better. He complained of being taunted almost dmily from fourth grade on. In high school,
he was physically attacked twice, and he said he eventu~lly had to change schools. School
administrators disciplined the worst offenders, but failed to address the overall school
climate by taking such basic steps as talking to parents and holding student assemblies to
make it clear that harassment would not be tolerated.
The court’s ruling provides much-needed support to some of the nation’s most vulnerable
young people, and it sets a worthy standard for courts and educators nationwide.
Testing, funding questioned as No Child law faces reauthorization
HARTFORD (AP) - Connecticut education officials issued an informal report card Friday to
U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman on the federal No Child Left Behind Act, lauding its intentions
but criticizing several of its regulations.
With the five-year education act set to expire on Sept. 30, Liebermmn, I-Conn., hosted a
forum Friday at the state Capitol on ways to improve the rules before Congress votes on
reauthorization this summer or fal!.
Among the concerns voiced: an emphasis on constant testing, inadequate funds to meet
mandates, the lack of consistent methods to track and compare progress, and a perception
that some states get more latitude than Connecticut to excuse large numbers of special-
education students from testing.
Signed by President Bush in 2002, the No Child law is intended to close achievement gaps
by ensuring that al! children can read and do math at their grade level by 2014.
Connecticut has a federal lawsuit pending against the U.S. Department of Education over
the law, saying its mandated testing requirements far exceed the federal reimbursements.
Those concerns were echoed at Friday’s forum, where education officials said lack of
funding hinders their ability to reduce class sizes, recruit and retain the best teachers
and offer early childhood education.
Page 208
"Testing, testing, testing without doing the appropriate measures to help the children
does not get you where you want to be," said Shmron Palmer, president of the Connecticut
chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.
There is no standard nationwide test to measure progress under the No Child Left Behind
Act, so each state uses its own tests.
The percentage of special education students exempted from testing also varies from state
to state. The number of children with severe cognitive disabilities who are tested can
skew a school’s and district’s results.
For example, the federal government allows Texas to exempt about 5 percent of those
students, compared with the t percent that Connecticut can excuse from testing, said state
Sen. Thomas ®affey, D-Meriden, co-chairman of the legislature’s Education Committee.
The sheer volume of testing required also frustrates many educators, who believe those
exams do not reflect much of the progress in classrooms, some officials said.
"With all of the testing we’re doing, we’re not going to have any time for instruction,"
said Robert Hale, president of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, whose
comments prompted a spontaneous outburst of applause from education officials in the
hearing room Friday.
Lieberman said he will host more forums to discuss the law before the congression~l
reauthorization vote, and the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches also plans
several statewide gatherings to help parents understand the issues and voice their
thoughts.
I0
Page 209
INonresponsi
From: Ditto, Trey
To: McLane, Katherine; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Dunn,
David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers,
Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Sim on, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toom ey, Liam; ’Tracy
Young’; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Colby, Chad; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey;, Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Chronicle on Higher Ed on NAEP
Didn’t see this one in the clips...
http://chronicle.comldaily12007/0212007022301 n.htm
Chronicle of Higher Education

High-School Students Are Aiming Higher Without hnproving Their Performance,
Federal Studies Find
By PETER S CH1VEDT <mailto:peter. schmidt(&.chronicle.com>
Washington
Two reports released on Thursday by the U.S. Education Department offer a paradox: More high-school
students are taking advanced classes and earning high grades, but they are not doing any better on a federal test
aimed at determining how much they have learned.
In fact, the performance of high-school seniors on the reading portion of the National Assessment of
Educational Progress declined from 1992 to 2005, even though high-school students were taldng more classes in
tougher subjects, and their median grade-point average had risen markedly and steadily -- from 2.68 to 2.98 --
from 1990 to 2005.
Education Department officials declined on Thursday to offer an explanation for why the improvements in
students’ course-taking habits and grades had not translated into clear improvements in learning. They noted that
the studies measure only educational trends, and do not try to pin down the trends’ causes.
But Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings issued a statement making clear her frustration with the studies’
findings. "The two reports released today show that we have our work cut out for us in providing every child in
this nation with a quality education," she said. "If, in fact, our high-school students are taking more challenging
courses and earning higher grades, we should be seeing greater gains in test scores."
Outside the Education Department, experts on elementary and secondary schools suggested that the findings of
the two studies, taken together, might point to the effects of grade inflation, or a watering down of the
curriculum in advanced high-school classes, or the presence of students with a wider range of ability levels in
such classrooms, or some combination of those or other factors.
Emerson J. Elliott, a retired commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, said the department’s
analysis of course-taking patterns is based solely on course rifles and does not look into the courses’ content, so
it is possible that the classes many students are taking seem more advanced than actually is the case.
Ross E. Wiener, vice president for program and policy with the Education Trust, a Washington-based nonprofit
group, said that there had been "progress in making sure more students take a college-prep curriculum, but there
has not been sufficient attention to ensuring consistency in the rigor of those college-prep courses."
Page 2!0
Mr. Wiener, whose organization seeks to promote equity in public education, suggested that colleges could help
improve the situation "by articulating more clearly the level of knowledge and skills that are ’good enough’ to do
college-level work."
The reports released Thursday were "The Nation’s Report Card: America’s High School Graduates"
<http://nationsreportcard. ~ov/hsts 2005/> and "The Nation’s Report Card: 12th-Grade Readin~ and
Mathematics 2005." <http://nces.ed.~ov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007468> Both were based on long-
term studies by the Education Department’s research-gathering arm, the National Center for Education Statistics,
and involved students who were part of the classes graduating from high schools in 2005.
The "High School Graduates" study involved an analysis of the transcripts of a nationally representative
sampling of 26,000 students who graduated from 640 public and 80 private high schools in 2005. Along with
finding that the overall grade-point average of students had risen by about a third of a letter grade since 1990,
the study found that the average 2005 graduate earned about three more credits -- or had 360 more hours of
instruction -- in high school than did graduates in 1990.
Over those years, the transcript analysis found, there had been a doubling, from 5 percent to 10 percent, in the
share of high-school graduates who had taken a curriculum classified as "rigorous," with at least four credits
each of English and mathematics (including precalculus or higher) and at least three credits each of social
studies, a foreign language, and science (including biology, chemistry, and physics.) The share of graduates who
had taken at least the "standard" curriculum -- three credits each of social studies, mathematics, and sdence, and
four credits of English -- had risen from 40 percent to 68 percent.
The "Reading and Mathematics" report was based on tests administered to students as part of the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which seeks to measure how students perform in various subjects
over ~e. Its data for 2005 were based on a representative sample of 2!,000 seniors from 900 public, private,
and Deparkment of Defense schools across the nation.
The report said that the percentage of students who had perfoirned at or above a basic level in reading had
decreased from 80 percent in 1992 to 73 percent in 2005, while the percentage of students performing at or
above a level viewed as proficient had declined from 40 percent to 35 percent_
Althongh the National Center for Education Statistics has not attempted to correlate various skill levels with
college expectations, its report provided examples of the types of tasks students must be able to perform for
each level. To be considered as having reached the basic level in reading, for example, students must be able to
do things like retrieving information from a highly detailed document or recognizing a sequence of plot
elements. The tasks used to measure whether students have reached the advanced level include identifying how
an author attempts to appeal to readers and using a theme to explain a character’s motivation.
The mathematics test given to high-school seniors in 2005 was changed significantly from the past versions of
the test, precluding a direct comparison of the 2005 scores with those of years past. At least as far as the 2005
seniors were concerned, however, the NAEP tests’ results were generally not viewed as anything to crow about.
Just 61 percent of seniors performed at or above the basic level, and just 23 percent performed at or above levels
that could be considered proficient. (Among the tasks assigned at the basic level are converting a decimal to a
numerical fraction and finding the length of the sides of a square. At the advanced level, students are asked to
perform tasks such as calculating a weighted average for two groups.)
"The NAEP scores, on their owr~ tell us that kids are not doing ~vell enough by the end of high school, and they
are likely to not be well-prepared for college," said Matthew Gandal, executive vice president of Achieve, a
Washington-based organization that seeks to align high-school standards with the expectations of colleges and
employers.
Both of the "Report Card" studies found substantial gaps between students based onrace, ethnicity, and gender,
Page 211
but also some signs of progress in closing them.
Substantially larger shares of students from each of the transcript-based report’s four major racial and ethnic
classifications -- white, black, Hispanic, and Asian or Pacific Islander -- were complel~g at least a mid-level
curriculum in 2005 than had 15 years earlier, and the gap bet-vveen the proportions of white and Mack students
taldng at least a midlevel curriculum had closed as of about 2000. But sizable gaps remained in the share who
had completed a curriculum deemed rigorous -- 22 percent of Asian or Pacific Islander high-school graduates,
11 percent of white graduates, 8 percent of Hispanic graduates, and 6 percent of Mack graduates had transcripts
suggesting they had reached this level.
The math- and reading-test report found no significant closing in either the white-black or white-Hispanic gap in
reading-test scores since 1992. In 2005, scores at or above the proficient level ~vere earned by 43 percent of
~vhite students, 36 percent of Asian or Pacific Islander students, 26 percent of American Indian or Native
Alaskan students, 20 percent of Hispanic students, and 16 percent of black students.
The education level of a students’ parents correlated heavily with test performance; scores at or above proficient
were earned by 47 percent of those who had at least one parent who graduated from college, but just 17 percent
who reported that neither parent finished high school.
The transcript analysis found that the share of all female graduates completing a rigorous cmriculum rose from 4
percent in 1990 to 11 percent in 2005, allowing them to overtake male graduates, whose share completing such
a curriculum rose to 10 percent from 5 percent. But while girls had higher grade-point averages and
outperformed boys on the NAEP tests in science and math, boys fared better on most such tests when their
scores were compared to those of girls in equally difficult classes.
On the NAEP reading test, girls substantially outscored boys, and the gap between the genders was wider than it
had been in 1992, but had narrowed somewhat since 2002.
Page 212
N o r4 c~’n_~i "
ve From: McLane, Katherine
Samara
Subject: Glaxo Donates $1M To Support U.S. Science Teachers (PHt)
Glaxo Donates $1 M To Support U.S. Science Teachers (PHI)

By Thomas Ginsberg
The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 23, 2007
GlaxoSmithKline P.LC. chief executive J.P. Garnier is known for unusual outspokenness as a global CEO. Now, he
appears to be putting money where his mouth is.
Earlier this week, Garnier, who lives part of the time in Philadelphia where the London-based drug giant has a U.S.
headquarters, let loose during a Wharton health-care conference on the deficiencies of the U.S. education system.
"In this country, you can take a college class in video gaming. It’s appalling," Garnier told a roomful of aspiring corporate
executives.
The French-born executive noted that Chinese and Indian colleges are cranking out science graduates in "waves," and
half-jokingly urged the audience to switching from financial training to science. "If you’re in the sciences, you can always get into
private equity later," he said, drawing laughter from the audience.
Today, GlaxoSmithKline announced it will donate $1 million to support science teachers pursuing additional training and
credentials under the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
The GlaxoSmithKline scholarship will expand a program already assisting teachers in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
The goal is improving the quality of science education. Only about one out of 10 teachers who hold National Board Certification
currently teaches math or science, the company said.
In a company statement, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was quoted as saying: "If we’re going to reach our
goal of having all children learning at grade level, we must arm teachers with the best practices to get the job done through
programs like these. Nothing helps a child learn as much as a great teacher, and we must ensure our teachers have the tools to
lead the way."
GlaxoSmithKline said the donation is part of its broad commitment to "social investment that focuses on health care and
education."
David Pulman, GlaxoSmithKline’s president of global manufacturing and supply, was quoted as saying: "A critical mass of
science teachers across the country will now have access to this powerful program which will ultimately result in greater student
achievement gains."
Joseph A. Aguerrebere, president of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, expressed gratitude to
GlaxoSmithKline and said it would enable about 50 more teachers to become certified.
Its grant exemplifies "the belief that the single most important action this country can take for our children is to improve our
schools by strengthening teaching," Aguerrebere said.
According to the group, the total number of certified teachers is 55,306, tdple the number five years ago. The group’s
certification process involves performance-based assessments and training that takes one to three years to complete. It includes
an analysis of teacher’s actual classroom performance, the statement said.
Page 213
INonresponsit
Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara MaRine.z;
Samara
Subject: Changing SEOG To Save It (IHE)
Changing SEOG To Save It (IHE)

By Constantine W. Curris
Inside Hi,qher Ed, February 23, 2007
American higher education’s system of need-based grants for college students, like Gaul, is divided into three parts. The
largest and by far the most significant is higher education’s voucher model, the Pell Grant - transportable to any institution listed
as accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. The second, considerably smaller in scope, is state- and institutional-
administered need-based aid, the most noteworthy of which is the Supplementary Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
program. The rest of the need-based grant world is an amalgam of donor programs, some of which are administered through
recipient institutions, and others that come to students via community foundations and private entities.
AJl three parts serve college students who have financial need, and each has its proponents. Not surprisingly, executive
branch officials favor the free-market enshrouded Pell Grant, while Congressional leaders continue to support institutional aid
programs like SEOG, which were conceived and implemented in years when access and educational opportunity were viewed as
a federal-state-institutional partnership.
Last week’s controversial comments - in which Education Department officials and college leaders traded statistics and
barbs over President Bush’s budget proposal to help fund a Poll Grant expansion by eliminating SEOG - while reflecting those
differences, also represented a postscript to the Report of the Secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
Relative to that exchange, several points need to be made.
First and foremost, the proposed increase in Poll Grant awards (a $550 boost, to $4,600) represents a significant
commitment on the part of the Bush administration to need-based aid. Beyond the actual increase (assuming appropriations and
legislative language are enacted by the Congress), this increase in an austere fiscal period represents noteworthy and successful
advocacy by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Charles Miller, who was chair of the Spellings Commission.
They deserve our sincere commendation.
Secondly, the SEOG program needs to be retained for several important reasons. It directs supplemental funds to the
neediest students and helps part-time students as well. As long as the Poll Grant fails to cover - or even come close to covering -
the basic cost of college for the neediest students, the SEOG program is a critical tool for student financial aid offices. The S EOG
program, it must be remembered, is more than a federal grant program. Each institution participating in the program must
provide institutional funds equivalent to 1/3 of the federal allotment. In the process the $771 million in annual federal
appropriations is leveraged into approximately $1 billion in need-based aid.
Rather than eliminating the SEOG program, it should be expanded as part of a public effort to encourage institutions and
state governments to refocus funding from merit aid competition to need-based assistance. We should not forget that the SEOG
program targets "need."
Having said that, the criticisms of the SEOG program outlined by Chairman Miller in the debate over the White House Pell
proposal need to be addressed. My viewpoint is that one of his criticisms is not warranted, the other clearly justified. To criticize
the SEOG program for having 5 percent administrative costs is not particularly persuasive. Student aid offices are exemplars of
efficient administration, and the 5 percent administrative figure is entirely consistent with other federal aid programs. But let’s
place this criticism in a contemporary context. At a time when billions of dollars cannot be accounted for by the U.S. Provisional
Authority in Iraq, a $40 million expenditure, audited and fully accounted for, in university spending clearly passes muster.
On the other hand, the administration’s budget proposal that criticizes institutional distribution under "an outdated statutory
formula" is absolutely correct. Miller’s observation that "colleges Wnich enroll 70 percent of low-income students get only 46
Page 214
percent of the SEOG funds" is a critical indictment of the SEOG program and warrants our support for Congressional correction.
The formula that drives distribution under the SEOG program decidedly shortchanges colleges and universities in areas
experiencing population growth and, specifically, institutions that have made a commitment to serving the less advantaged. In
short, there is a gap between our rhetorical commitments and our ~~nding priorities. Until we address programmatic
shortcomings, we will remain at risk to calls for elimination of programs such as SEOG.
One of the underlying criticisms that repeatedly surfaced during deliberations of the Spellings Commission was that of
higher education’s unwillingness to adapt to change. We were and are pictured as blindly defending the status quo. The higher
education community should take those criticisms to heart and be proactive in effecting change. If we so act and are so
perceived, our credibility in important policy discussions would be enhanced in Washington and throughout the nation.
Constantine W. Curtis is president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Page 215
2.23.07 NAEP Coverage
Advanced Courses May Not Be All That Advanced, Some Say Educators Say
(S PT FL)
Grades Rise, But Reading Skills Fall, Data Suggest (USAT)
Grades Rise, But Reading Skills Do Not (NY’I)
Test Scores At Odds With Rising High School Grades (WP)
Report Raises Questions About High.School Courses (WSJ)
Study Says Students Are Learning Less (LAT)
Higher Grades Contradict Test Scores (AP)
High Schoolers’ Scores Lag Despite Courses, Grades (WT)
U.S. High Schools Raise Grades, Don’t Test Better (Update2) (BLOOM)
Grades No Indication Of Proficiency (AAS TX)
No Reading Gains On Nation’s Report Card (DET NEWS)
Advanced Courses May Not Be All That Advanced, Some Say Educators Say
(SPT FL)
By THOMAS C. TOBIN
St Petersburq Times, February 23, 2007
tests show U.S. high schools need a major overhaul.
Years of education reforms have failed to lift the performance of U.S. high school students,
according to a gloomy set of numbers that stmned educators and brought calls Thursday for more
urgency.
In the most recent national test on reading, the nation’s 12th-graders scored lower than they did in
1992. Only 73 percent scored at or above the ’basic" level in the National Assessment of EducalJonal
Progress, also kn~vn as The Nation’s Report Card. That was down from 80 percent in 1992.
Students showed a similar lack of traction in science. Learning gaps beiween white and minority
students were as w~de as ever.
’~/e clearly have a major problem, and ifs not going to be addressed just by some minor changes in
our system," said David P. Driscoll, the education commissioner of Massachusetts, which, like Florida,
was an early adopter of strict school accountability.
Driscoll complained that American high schools have shorter years and shorter days than
competing systems overseas. "Clearly," he said at a news conference arranged by the National
Assessment Governing Board, ’We need to look at some major changes in the way schools are organized
and the way teaching and learning is delivered."
Results were not available by state.
Page 216
The stagn~on among high school students contrasts with gains made by younger students,
especially those in elementary school. It also has occurred even as high school students are exposed,
more than ever, to rigorous courses.
A study of 26,000 transcripts from public and private high school students who graduated in 2005
found that 51 percent took a ’tnid-level" or "rigorous" curriculum with challenging requirements for math,
science and foreign languages. Thatwas up from 30 percent in 1990.
"lfs a disconnect for sure," said Margaret Spellings, the U.S. Education Secretary, in Tampa
Thursday to discuss the federal No Child Left Behind Act. ’It does affirm that, by damn, we better pay
attention to our high schools."
For many top educators, the search for causes leads back to classrooms. The chief explanation,
they said, is that too many classes are rigorous in name only.
"It’s important what we teach and how it is taught has to be carefully inspected course by course,
textbook by textbook, classroom by classroom," said David Gordon, school superintendent in
Sacramento, Calif.
He called on teachers and administrators to collaborate in making sure classes are as rigorous as
they should be.
’qhis is difficult, time-consuming work," he said. "But without pulling back the curtain and taking a
hard look inside the classroom, nothing is likely to change."
Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox said many districts have begun talking about just
such an exercise.
In Pinellas, he said, a two-year-old program to assess students more frequently will help the district
detect gaps in teaching.
Wilcox also argued that the ~ends may not be as disheartening as they appear. Though graduation
rates have been flat since the 1970s, he said, a case can be made that the actual number of students
getting diplomas is up.
’~ou have kids (graduating) that never were there before," he said.
What made Thursday’s results more alarming for some was the fact that the students tested were
the best the system had to offer -- kids who had made it to 12th grade and were ready to graduate. The
numbers also included a slight decline among students whose parents graduated from college, another
group thought to be high performers.
At the Education Trust in Washington, an advocacy group that rails against the achievement gap,
president Kati Haycock said the numbers revealed a broad, systemic failure.
"Students are doing what is asked of them -- they are taking more academic courses and getting
higher grades -- but they aren’t being taught any more than in the past," she said, calling for more
qualified teachers and higher expectations.
As in the past, one number that stood out Thursday was the performance of Asian students, who
perennially out-acl’ieve students of all other ethnic backgrounds in every academic category.
Gordon, the Sacramento superintendent, said he noticed that Asian graduates annually have some
of the top grade point averages in his district, many of them after only recently irrrnigraling to the United
States and learning English.
’t/~/hat we need to do is have our own American kids, born here, speaking the language from the
tine they’re born ... to get motivated about something other than their iPod," said Driscoll, the
Massachuse~ official.
’There has to be a sense of urgency on behalf of everybody," he said. ’q’hat includes, by the way,
the kids."
Tines staff writer Leti~a Stein contributed to this report.

By Greg Toppo
Page 217
USA Today, February 23, 2007

WASHINGTON -- High school seniors are taking more challenging classes and earning higher
grades than ever, but their reading skills have actually worsened since 1992, data released Thursday by
the U.S. Education Deparlrnent suggest.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the results show that "we must act now to increase
rigor in our high schools." The No Child Left Behind law, up for reauthorizatJon this year, currently applies
only minimally to tigh schools.
The report brought mixed-- and contradictory -- results:
A record 68% of the class of 2005 completed at least a standard curriculun with four years of
English and three each of math, science and social studies. That’s a huge jump from 1990, when only
40% did the same, according to the study of 26,000 public- and private-school transcripts.
In 2005, 51% of students were doing college-preparatory work, up from 31% in 1990. And 10%
were earning college credit, up from 5%in 1990.
¯ The average high school senior doesn’t read as well as those in 1992, the first year the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was given to 12th-graders. In 2005, 35% of seniors scored
"proficienf’ or"advanced," down from 40%in 1992.
Reading at a "prot~cier~’ level means students can make critical judgments -- for instance,
describing how two editorials argue different viewpoints. "Basic" means students can read and retrieve
information from a document and recognize a sequence of plot elements.
The government has no comparable long-term data on math scores since it changed the test in
2005. But the 2005 scores show that, overall, 12th-graders’ skills are basic at best.
"Clearly we need to look at some major changes in the way schools are organized and how
teaching is delivered," Massachusetts Education Commissioner David Driscoll said.
The Brookings Ins~tution’s Tom Loveless, who researches the NAEP and course content, said that
the reading results"should really be an area of concern" -- and that perhaps even the brightest students
don’t read as much as they used to.
Critics have long said the NAEP is a poor measure of how well 12th-graders do, and the new data
could give them ammunition: Even students whose transcripts show they took calculus score only, on
average, "proficienf’ in math.
Loveless noted that the test includes no calculus, which forces advanced students to do math work
they haven’t done in three or four years.
Education researcher Gerald Bracey said 12th-graders take the NAEP in the last semester of their
high school careers, and they have no real incentive to do well. Poor results are "senior slLrnp writ large,"
he said.
Grades Rise, But Reading Skills Do Not (NY~
The New York Times, February 23, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 -- High school students nationwide are taking seemingly tougher courses
and earning better grades, but their reading skills are not improving through the effort, according to two
federal reports released here Thursday that cite grade inflation as a possible explanation.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, an exam commonly known as the nation’s
report card, found that the reading skills of 12th graders tested in 2005 were significantly worse than those
of students in 1992, when a comparable test was first given, and essentially flat since students previously
took the exam in 2002.
The test results also showed that the ove~hekning majority of high school seniors have not fully
mastered high-school-level math.
Page 218
At the same tine, however, grade-point averages have risen nationwide, according to a separate
survey by the National Assessment, of the transcripts of 26,000 students, which compared lhem ~th a
study of students’ coursowork in 1990.
’3"here’s a disconnect between what we want and expect our 12th graders to know and do, and
what our schools are actually delivering through instruction in the classroom," David W. Gordon, the
superintendent of schools in Sacramento, said at a news conference announcing the results.
The reports offered several rationales for the disparity between rising grade-point averages and
tougher coursewo~k on the one hand and stagnant reading scores on the otfier, including "grade inflation,
changes in grading standards" or the possibility that student grades were being increasingly affected by
things like classroom participation or extra assign’nents.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is considered the yardstick for academic
performance because it is the only test taken all across the country. The test of 12th-grade achievement
was given to a representative sample of 21,000 high school seniors al~ending 900 public and pdvate
schools from January to March 2005.
It showed that the share of 12th-grade students lacking even basic high school reading skills --
meaning they could not, for example, extract data about train fares at different times of day from a
brochure -- rose to 27 percent fiom 20 percent in 1992.
The share of students proficient in reading dropped to 35 percent from 40 percent in 1992. At
same ti’ne, the gap between boys and girls grew, with girls’ reading skills more than a year ahead those of
boys.
In math, only 23 percent of all 12th graders were proficient, but the exam has been revamped, so
the results could not be compared with those frem earlier years, officials said. The new test has fewer
questions requiring arithmetic and more using algebra and geometry. Some 39 percent of 12th graders
lacked even basic high school math skills.
These results came about even though the separate study of transcripts showed that 12th graders
in 2005 averaged 360 more hours of classroom instruction during their high s~nool years than students
had in 1990.
Their overall grade-point average was 2.98 -- just shy of a B. That was one-third of a letter grade
higher than in 1990. The share of students taking a standard curriculum or better, intended to prepare
them for college, jamped to 68 percent from 40 percent.
In math, girls had higher grades than boys, and closed the achievement gap, scoring about as well
as boys did on the national assessment. Boys who had taken advanced math and science courses,
however, scored higher than girls who had also taken such courses.
The Bush administration, which has been pressing to expand testing in high school under
federal educalJon law, No Child Let~ Behind, seized upon the results as proof that high schools were not
measuring up.
’qhe consensus for strengthening our high schools has never been stronger," Margaret Spellings,
the secretary of education, said in a statement released in advance of the report. "Schools must prepare
students to succeed in college and the 21st-century work force."
Just how students can be getting better grades in classes that are supposedly more challenging yet
lag in reading may become clearer in the future. Mark Schneider, the commissioner of the National Center
for Education StalJslJcs, the branch of the Education Department that administers the e×ams, had also
collected a warehouse full of course descriptions, reading lists and textbooks to investigate the actual
content of classes students are taking.
The Education Trust, a nonprofit group representing urban schools, attributed the disparity to a kind
of academic false advertising, saying that schools may seem to offer the same courses to all students, but
that the content ofthose courses is sometimes less demanding for poor and minority children.
For example, the group found, a ninth-grade English teacher at one school assigned students a two-
to three-page essay comparing the themes of Homer’s "Odyssey" to those in the movie "O Brother,
Page 219
Where Art Thou?" At the same school, assignments in another class covering the same material were
considerably less demanding. There, students broke up into ~ree clusters, with one designing a brochure
for "Odyssey Cruises," another drawing pictures and the third making up a crossword using characters
from the "Odyssey."
"Just slapping now names on courses with weak curriculum and il!-prepared teachers won’t boost
achievement," Kati Haycock, the Education Trust’s president, said.
Test Scores At Odds With Rising High School Grades 0NP)

By Amit R. Paley
The Washin.qton Post, February 23, 2007
High school seniors are performing worse overall on some national tests than they did in the
previous decade, even though they are receiving significantly higher grades and taking what seem to be
more rigorous courses, according to government data released yesterday.
The miomatch between stronger transcripts and weak test scores on the National Assessment of
Educational Progress, often called the nation’s report card, resonated in the Washington area and
elsewhere. Some seized upon the findings as evidence of grade inflation and the dumbing-down of
courses. The findings also prompted renowed calls for tough national standards and the expansion of the
federal No Child Left Behind law.
"We have our work cut out for us," Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement "If,
in fact, our high school students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades, we
should be seeing greater gains in test scores."
About 35 percent of 12th-graders tested in 2005 scored proficient or better in reading - the lowest
percentage since lhe test was launched in 1992, the now data showed. And less than a quarter of seniors
scored at least proficient on a new version of the math test; officials called those results disappointing but
said they could not be compared to past scores. In addition, a previous report found that 18 percent of
seniors in 2005 sc~’ed at least proficient in science, down from 21 percent in 1996.
At the same time, the average high school grade-point average rose from 2.68 in 1990 (about a B-
minus) to 2.98 in 2005 (about a B), according to a study of transcripts from graduating seniors. The study
also found that the percentage of graduating seniors who completed a standard or mid-level course of
study rose from 35 to 58 percent in that time; meanwhile, the percentage who took the highest-level
curriculum doubled, to 10 percent.
"The core problem is that course titles don’t really signal what is taught in ~he course and grades
don’t signal what a kid has learned," said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a D.C.-based
nonprof’t group tha~ supports No Child Left Behind. She added hyperbolically, "What we’re going to end
up with is the high school valedictorian who can’t write three paragraphs."
Some expe~ say these educational mirages, which obscure low student achievement with inflated
grades and tough-sounding class titles, disproportionately harm poor and minority students.
A visit to two nintfi-grade English classes in Prince George’s County this week showed that
instruction can vary immensely even in classrooms -- just 15 miles apart -- that share the same
champagne-colored textbook, the same course tilJe and the same syllabus.
In Room 101 at Bowie High, a racially diverse school in one of the county’s more affluent areas,
assignment was: Compare and contrast the themes of disillusior~rnent, pove~ and frustration in George
Orwell’s"Animal Farm" and the poems of Langston Hughes.
In Room 31 at Suitland High, which has more poor and black students, the assignment was: What
are your imrnedia~ goals? How would you feel if no one close to you supported you in reaching your
goals?
The teacher at Suitland, R’Chelle L Mullins, walked around the classroom and repeated
assignment several times to the students, some of whose heads were slumped on their desks. "What are
your iromediate goals?" she asked one boy again.
Page 220
"To pass the ninth grade," he finally answered.

After class, tvlullins said she had "stuck vmy close to the curriculum" and "was doing exactly what
the county wants me to do." But when told of the more complicated questions asked in the Bowie High
class, Mullins acknowledged that she sometimes modifies assignments based on the background of her
students.
Mullins, 24, who began teaching two years ago because she wanted to help underprivileged
children, said she had "a different caliber" of students in her classroom. "Not to dumb my kids down," she
added. "1 hate the bad reputation that they get, and I don’t think it’s fair at all .... Not to pass the blame,
but some of these kids should never have been allowed to graduate middle school."
County Superintendent John E. Deasy said he is working hard to reduce inequities among schools
and cited uneven teacher quality as a key issue. He said that the courty curriculam has been
standardized and that the challenge now is to ensure an equal level of instruction in every classroom by
investing in teacher training and increasing the nu’nber of Advancement Placement courses.
’q-his is the civil rights issue of our ti’ne," Deasy said.
The potential for grade and course-title inflation is not confined to low-performing schools. Julie
Greenberg, a math teacher at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, said she was under such
pressure to raise grades that she used to keep two sets of books in her statistics class: one for the grades
students deserved and one for the grades that appeared on report cards.
"If" a teacher were to really grade students on their true level of mastery, there would be such
extraordinary levels of failure that it would not be tolerated, so most teachers dorft do that," she said.
At a news conference yesterday near Capitol Hill, educafion experts expressed concern that white
and Asian students continue to score consistently higher than black and Hisparic students in all subjects.
They also said the overall discrepancy between the test scores and transcripts desewes close
examination. Darvin M. Winick, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversaw
the exams and the transcript study, called the gap"very suspicious."
"For all of our talk of the achievement gap amongst subgroups of students, a larger problem may be
an instructional gap or a rigor gap," said David W. Gordon, superintendent of Sacrarnento County schools
in California. "There’s a disconnect between what we want and expect our 12th-grade students to know
and do and what our schools are actually delivering through instruction in the classroom."
Lawmakers said the low test scores would reinvigorate the debate over high school reform as
Congress considers the renewal of No Child Left Behind.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said
"disappointing" results underscore the need to recruit first-rate teachers to low-performing schools.
Report Raises Questions About High-School Courses (WSJ)

By Robert Tomsho
American educators have complained aboLt grade inflation for years. But new findings suggest that
U.S. high schools may also suffer from another type of inflation --in the labeling of courses.
Under pressure to produce graduates better prepared for college and the workplace, dozens or
states have stiffened high-school gradualJon requirements in recent years, pushing a broader array of
students to take more years of core subjects and eliminating less rigorous lower-tier courses altogether.
Reflecting these e~rts, a review or high-school transcripts by the staff ofthe National Assessment
of Educational Progress shows that high-school students are taking, and receiving higher grades in, more
college-prep courses than ever.
Yet just-released test results for 12th graders on the NAEP, a widely respected barometer of
educational achievement known as the "nation’s report card," indicated that students are graduating with
mediocre math skills and reading abilities that have tumbled to their lowest level since the early 1990s.
The 12th-grade tests are designed to measure the sorts of high-level thinking demanded in college work.
Page 221
The findings raise queslions about whether college-prep courses are as tough as their titles indicate,
and, if so, whether high schools and their instructors are adequately prepared to teach such courses to a
rapidly changing mix of students.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings expressed disappoinl~’nent with the findings, saying:
"If, in fact, our high-school students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades, we
should be seeing greater gains in test scores."
Other observers said the results suggest that some school districts are teaching watered-down
versions of everything from history to trigonometry. "A course title alone does not make rigor," said David
Conley, a University of Oregon professor who studies high-school course content.
The NAEP results are likely to fuel calls for reform measures as the federal No Child Left Behind act
approaches a reauthorization debate. The Bush ad~’ninistration has proposed requiring states to conduct
additional reading and math achievement tests at the high-school level.
In December, the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a private group that
includes former governors and cabinet secretaries from both political parties, called for such radical
measures as ending high school after 10th grade for some students and denying entry to public colleges
and universilies to anywho ca~ft pass so-called board exams in core subjects.
The NAEP review of high school transcripts, released yesterday, found that 51% of the graduating
class of 2005 completed at least a midlevel college-prep curriculun that included four years of English;
three years of ma~, including geometry and algebra; and three years of science including at least two of
biology, chemistry and physics. In 1990, only about 31% of seniors completed a similar curriculum.
The NAEP review also found that the class of 2005 received about 360 more hours of instruction in
high school than their 1990 counterparts and earned higher grades. On a zero-to-four point scale, the
2005 seniors had a c[rnulative grade point average of 2.98 points, or about a B, up from 2.68 points in
1990. But the benefits of such changes weren’t evident in the results of NAEP reading and math
achievament tests for the class of 2005.
On a zero-to-500 point scale, their average reading score was 286 points. That was down a point
from 2002, the last fine the test was given, and was the lowest average score since 1992, when the
average was 292 points. About 40% of the test takers scored at or above the proficient range, down from
44%in 1992.
On the math side, the average score was 150 on a zero-to-300 point scale and only 23% of" the
seniors were scored at or above the proficient range. NAEP officials said results of the 2005 math test
aren’t comparable with those fiom previous years because of recent changes in the exam’s structure and
content
Reflecling demographic changes in society, the sorts of students taking the NAEP test have
changed significantly in recent years. Hispanics accounted for !4% of all 12th graders in 2005, up from
7%in 1992. The scoring gap between them and white students has changed little since 1992.
Since 1998, when NAEP began allowing accommodations such as longer testing limes, more
English-language learners are also taking the NAEP. In 2005, they accounted for about 4% of all seniors
taking the NAEP reading test and posted an average score of 247. The effect was to lower the overall
average score by two points, to 286, which NAEP officials said was statistically significant.
The decline in reading abilities was not a complete surprise. A recent study by ACT Inc., the
nonprof’~ testing concern based in Iowa City, Iowa, found that only about 51%of high school graduates
who took the ACT test in 2005 were prepared to tackle college-level reading, down from 55% in 1999.
ACT also found a decline in reading skills through the high-school years, with more eighth- and 10th-
graders on track for college reading than seniors. "Reading just drops off the radar in high school," said
Jon Erickson, ACT’s vice president for educational services.
And the NAEP results aren’t the only signs that college-prep courses may not be delivering all that
they premise.
Page 222
The College Board, the New York nonpro~ that gives the SAT admissions test, is in the midst of a
nationwide audit of its high-school Advanced Placement Program courses, amid concerns that some
districts aren’t offedng college-level content.
Meanwhile, a recent study by the state of Maryland found that 30% of its 2005 high-school
graduates who completed a college-prep curriculam needed remedial math in college, up from 26% for
the class of 2000.
States may require students to take more upper-level courses, but content is still largely left up to
local school boards and varies widely. And few states have instituted mandatory end-of-course tests to
measure what is actually being taught in high-school classrooms or taken concrete action to ensure that
high-school graduation standards are aligned with what colleges and universities expect incoming
freshmen to know.
Hodan Janay, of Boston says she earned B’s during four years of high-school English, took a
college-prep literature course her senior year and passed the state English exams required to graduate.
"But I wasn’t as ready as 1 thought," says the 21-year-old, who is now enrolled in a remedial English
course at Boston’s Bunker Hill Community College.
Wdte to Robert Tomsho at rob.tomsho@wsj.com3

By Mitchell Landsberg
The Los Anqeles Tines, February 23, 2007
U.S. high school students are taking tougher classes, receiving better grades and, apparently,
learning less than their counterparts of 15 years ago.
Those were the discouraging inplications dtwo reports issued Thursday by the federal Department
of Education, assessing the performance of students in both public and private schools. Together, the
reports raised sobering questions about the past two decades of educational reform, including whether
the movement to raise school standards has amounted to much more than windew dressing.
"1 think we’re sleeping through a crisis," said David Driscoll, the Massachusetts ¢ornmissioner of
education, during a Washington news conference convened by the Deparlment of Education. He called
the study results "stunning."
Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said
he found the results "dismal." After years of reforms aimed prinarily at elementa-y schools, Fuller said the
studies"certainly support shining the spotlight on the high school as a priodtyr for reform efforts."
The reports summarized two major government efforts to measure the performance of high school
seniors as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. One was a standardized test of 12th
graders conducted in 2005. The other was an analysis of the transcripts of students who graduated from
high school that year.
The t~anscript study shewed that, compared to students in similar studies going back to 1990, the
2005 graduates had racked up more high school credits, had taken more college preparatory classes and
had strikingly higher grade point averages. The average GPA rose from 2.68 in 1990 to 2.98 -- close to a
solid B-- in 2005.
That was the good news -- or so it seemed. But the standardized test results showed that 12th
grade reading scores have generally been dropping since 1992, casting doubt on what students are
learning in those college prep classes.
Math scores posed a different sort of mystery, because the Department of Education switched to a
new test in 2005 that wasn’t directly comparable to those used before. Still, the results of the new test
didn’t inspire confidence: Fewer than one-quarter of the 12th graders tested scored in the "proficienf’
range.
The reports also showed that the gap separating white and black, and white and Hispanic students,
has barely budged since the early 1990s. And while the results were not broken down by state, a broad
Page 223
regional breakdown showed that the West and Southeast lagged well behind the Midwest and, to a lesser
extent, the Northeast.
David Gordon, the Sacramento County, Calif., superintendent of schools and a participant in the
Deparlment of Education news conference Thursday, said he found it especially disturbing that the
studies focused on"our best students," those who had made it to 12th grade or who had graduated.
"It’s clear to me from these data that for all of our talk of the achievement gap among subgroups of
students, a larger problem may be an instructional gap or a rigor gap, which effects not just some but
most of our studerts," Gordon said.
The reading and math test was given to 21,000 high school seniors at 900 U.S. schools, including
200 private schools. The transcript study was based on 26,000 transcripts from 720 schools, 80 of them
private. The repo~ did not give separate results for public vs. private schools.
Policy analysts nationwide said the studies were gloomy news for the American economy, since the
country’s educational system already measured poorly in international comparisons.
"What we see out of these results is a very disturbing picture of the knowledge and skills of the
young people about to go into college and the workforce," said Daria Hall, assis~nt director of the
Education Trust, a Washington-based nonprofit dedicated to improving education especially for poor and
minority students.
Among other things, Hall said the transcript study provided clear evidence of grade inflation, as well
as "course inflation" - offering high-level courses that have "the right names" but a dLrnbed-down
curriculum.
"What it suggests is that we are telling students that they’re being successful in these courses when,
in fact, we’re not teaching them any more than they were learning in the past," she said. "So we are, in
effect, lying to these students."
Although the reports came out five years after passage of President Bush’s signature education
reform initiative, No Child Let~ Behind, Hall and others said it would be unfair to blame that program for the
students’ poor showing. They were already in high school when No Child Let~ Behind was enacted, and it
is primarily aimed at elementary and middle schools.
Driscoll recalled an earlier president’s contribution to education reform -- the Nation at Risk report
that seemed to ga!~anize the educational establishment when it was issued by Resident Reagan in 1983.
"That was a shocker," said Driscoll. "But here we are, 25 years later (and) ... we’ve just been
ignoring what it’s going to take to really change the system."
Hig her Grades Contradict Test Scores (AP)

By Nancy Zuckerbrod
AP, February23, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Large percentages of high school seniors are posting weak scores on national
math and reading tests even though more of them are taking challenging courses and getting higher
grades in school, say two new government reports released Thursday.
"The reality is that the results don’t square," said Darvin Winick, chair of the independent National
Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the national tests.
Nearly 40 percent of high school seniors scored below the basic level on the math test. More than a
quarter of seniors failed to reach the basic level on the reading test. Most educators think students ought
to be able to work at the basic level.
The reading scores show no change since 2002, the last time the tests were giverL "We should be
getting better. There’s nothing good about a flat score," Winick said.
The government said it could not compare the math results to old scores because the latest test
was significantly different.
Page 224
The National Assessment of Educational Progress -- often called the nation’s report card -- is
viewed as the best way to compare students across the country because ifs the only unifomn national
yardstick for how well students are learning.
The tests were given in 2005. The goverrrnent released the scores ThLrsday along with a report
examining the high school transcripts of 2005 graduates.
The transcript study shows high school students are earning more credits, taking more challenging
courses and getting higher grade-point averagesthan in the past.
In 2005, high school graduates had an overall grade-point average just shy of 3.0 -- or about a B.
That has gone up from a grade-point average of about ?_7 in 1990.
It is unclear whether student performance has improved or whether grade inflation or something
else might be responsible, the report said.
More students are completing high school with a standard curriculum, meaning they took at least
four credits of English and three credits each of social studies, math and science. More students also are
taking the next level of courses, which generally includes college preparatory classes.
But the study showed no increase in the number of high-schoolers who completed the most
advanced curriculu-n, which could include college-level or honors classes.
On the math test, about 60 percent of high school seniors perfo~ed at or above the basic level. At
that level, a student should be able to convert a decimal to a fraction, for example.
Just one-foLrth of 12th-graders were proficient or better in math, meaning they demonstrated solid
academic peffon-nance. To qualify as "proficient," students might have to deten-nine what type of graph
should be used to display particular types of data.
On the reading test, about three-four~s of seniors performed at or above the basic level, while 40
percent hit the proficient mark.
Seniors working at a basic reading level can identify elements of an author’s style. At the proficient
level, they can make inferences from reading material, draw conclusions from it and make connections to
their own experiences.
As in the past, the math and reading scores showed large achievement gaps between white
students and minorities.
Forty-three percent of white students scored at or above proficient levels on the reading test,
campared with 20 percent of Hispanic students and 16 percent of black students.
On the math test, 29 percent of white students reached the proficient level, compared with 8 percent
of Hispanics and 6 percent of blacks.
The gap in reading scores between whites and minorities was relatively unchanged since 2002.
The federal No Child Left Behind law has put added emphasis on math and reading, largely in the
elementary- and middle-school grades. It also requires states to separate out their test scores by race so
officials can track and try to narrow achievement gaps between groups of students.
High Schoolers’ Scores Lag Despite Courses, Grades (wr)

The Washin,qton Times, February 23, 2007
More 2005 high school graduates took chalenging classes and got higher grades than their peers a
few years prior, bLt overall, large percentages d high school seniors are scoring poorly on reading and
math tests, two new reports found yesterday.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said these results mean "we have our work cut out for us,"
in providing quality education.
"If, in fact, our high school students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades,
we should be seeing greater gains in test score,~" she said, a~er the release of the National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NEAP).
Page 225
These reading and math tests, released by the government yesterday, were given in 2005 to a
representative sample of more than 21,000 high school seniors free 900 schools. Accompanying that
report was a separate study examining the ~-anscripts of 2005 high school graduates.
According to the NAEP, neady 40 percent of high school seniors didn’t per~orrn at the basic level on
the math test and 23 percent performed at or above proficient level
The average reading scores didn’t change much since 2002 but declined since 1992. Seventy-three
percent of 2005 high school seniors performed at or above basic reading level, meaning more than a
quarter of seniors ~tdn’t reach that threshold.
In 2000, about 13 percent of high school graduates completed standard course work, and 36
percent went beyond and completed midlevel course work, according to the transcript study. Those
percentages increased in 2005, to 17 percent and 41 percent.
The 2005 graduates also carried a slightly higher grade point average - about a 3.0 - than 2000
graduates and notably higher than the 2_7 GPA in 1990. The study noted "many possible reasons" for the
increase, including grade inflation, changes in grading standards and practices, and growth in student
performance.
Lavtrnakers and education researchers agreed that improvement is needed but disagreed on the
best way of getting there -- with seee arguing the federal government should get more involved in high
schools and seee saying that is exactly the wrong approach.
"The No Child Left Behind Act is working to improve our nalJon’s elemertary and middle schools,
and we must act now to increase rigor in our high schools and inprove graduation rates," Mrs. Spellings
said, touting President Bush’s proposal for more testing and i-nproved curricula in high schools as paY[ of
his suggestions for renowing the law.
House education panel Chairman Rep. George Miller, California Democrat, called the scores a
"disappointmenf’ and said that as lawmakers work to renew federal education law for younger students
"part of our charge will be to develop strategies for helping our struggling high schools," such as recruiting
better teachers and ensuring all students have access to advanced courses.
Nea! McClusky, education policy analyst at the Cato Institute, noted that the disappointing scores
ceee despite "huge increases in per-pupil expenditures, the installation of ’standards and accountability’
mechanisms all around the country, and ever-greater federal intervention" in America’s schools.
"With all this in mind, the lesson free the latest NAEP scores is clear. American education needs
fundamental restructuring away from the top-down, government control that has wrought regular
academic failure, to a system that empowers parents to take their children and tax dollars out of broken
public schools and put them into institutions that work," he said.
By Paul Basken
Bloomberq, February 23, 2007
Feb. 22 (Bloornberg) -- U.S. high schod students are showing no overall improvement on a
nalJonwide achieva’nent test, even as they take more challenging courses and earn higher grades, the
U.S. Education Department reported.
Nationwide, 73 percent of 12th-grade students achieved a "’basic" reading score in 2005, down
free 80 percent in 1992, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a sampling test
the government calls the "’nation’s report card." Sixty-one percent scored at or above the basic level in
math.
At the same time, 68 percent of high schod graduates completed at least a "’standard" curricukrn,
up from 59 percert in 2000, with the overall grade point average about one-third of a letter grade higher
than in 1990, the department said in a report The figures raise questions aboutthe quality of the courses
being taught at U.S. high schools, it said.
Page 226
"’If, in fact, our high school students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher
grades, we should be seeing greater gains in test scores," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings
said in a statement The results "’show that we ha~e our work cut out for us," she said.
In May, NAEP said there were declines in science scores for high school students. Among 12th-
graders, 54 percent were at or above the basic level in science in 2005, statistically similar ~o 2000 and a
decline from 57 p~cent in 1996, the report said.
"Disappointing’ Results
Business and education leaders said the latest results reinforce fears that the U.S. school system
isn’t preparing its students to be competitive in the global workplace.
"’lt‘s disappointing and unacceptable," said Susan Traiman, director of educalJon and workforce
policy at the Business Roundtable, a Washington-based association of chief executive officers of U.S.
companies including General Motors Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Citigroup In~
"’These numbers perfectly book-end the rating of employers last fall," who in a nationwide survey
said more half of companies are finding workers inadequately training in ma~h or reading, said Linda
Barrington, labor economist and research director at the Conference Board, a New York-based business
group.
Bush Budget
Today’s report on reading and math follows President George W. Bush’s release earlier this month
of his fiscal 2008 budget recommendation, in which he again asked Congress to devote a greater share of
federal funding toward raising high school achievement levels.
Congress hasn’t endorsed that plan in the past, in part because Democrats opposed Bush’s calls for
financing high school improvements through spending cuts in other parts of the federal education budget.
Representative Buck McKeon, the California Republican who headed the House education
cemmi~tee last year, believes the NAEP results mean Congress must continue to demand more from
schools, spokesman Steve Forde said.
The NAEP report "’is a further indication that backing away from that comrnitment would be a huge
mistake," Forde said.
Others weremore cautious. Some of the lower performance at the 12th-grade level could be due to
older students realizing their scores on the NAEP test have no effect on their personal records, said
Antonia Cortese, executive vice president of the 1.3 million-member Amedcan FederalJon of Teachers,
the nation’s second-largest teacher union.
"No Child’ Testing
The federal No Child Left Behind law currertly requires schools to test students in grades 3 through
8, then once in high school. Researchers including Bruce Fuller, an education professor at the University
of California, Berkeley, have suggested that states may be weakening their tests to help raise their
passing rates under the federal law.
The NAEP reports today may reinforce fears that the quality of high-level courses suffers as more
students are allowed into them, the Education Trust, a Washington-based research and advocacy group,
said in a statement. "’This pattern is undoubtedly playing out in some schools," Education Trust said.
"’But we know thatit doesn’t have to be this way."
The NAEP tests for 2005 were given to a nationally representative sample of more than 2!,000 high
school seniors in 900 schools.
The results shaw 35 percent of 12th-grade students scored at or above "’proficient’ in reading in
2005, down from 40 percent in 1992. Only 23 percent of 12th-graders achieved the proficient rating in
math in 2005.
Math Scores
The math scores aren’t comparable wilh previous years because NAEP introduced a new
assessment test in 2005, the report said. A separate analysis provided by NAEP of common math
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questions, however, showed a "’statistically significant increase," to 44 percent in 2005 from 42 percent in
2000, in the percentage of students answering each question correctly.
The scores released today also showed persistent gaps among racial and ethnic groups, including
white students scoring 31 points higher than black students in math and 24 points higher than Hispanic
students.
The comparisons to high school transcripts were based on data from 26,000 graduates of about 640
public schools and 80 private schools. The report defined a "’standard cu~iculum" to mean the student
has taken at least four credits of English and three each in social studies, mathematics and science.
In addition to more students enrolling in such a curriculum and receiving higher grades, the NAEP
study found that U.S. high school graduates in 2005 earned about three credits more than their 1990
counterparts. That translates to about 360 additional hours of instruction during their high school years, it
said.
Possible reasons for the increase in high school grades include "’grade inflation, changes in grading
standards and practices and growth in student performance," the report said.
By Carlene Oisen
Austin h’nerican-Statesman, February 23, 2007
High school students taking harder courses but not meeting basic standards, study finds.
WASHINGTON -- High school students across the nation are earning higher grades in tough
courses, but, on average, graduating seniors failed to make gains in reading or reach proficient math
levels on 2005 assessment exams, according to a report released Thursday.
Graduating seniors had the lowest reading scores since 1992, and only 23 percent of tested
students scored at or above the exam’s math proSciency level, according to data from the 2005 National
Assessment of Educational Progress. The results are based on a sampling of 21,000 12th-grade students
from 900 public and private schools.
Math results from the recent exam could not be compared with past scores because significant
changes were made to the test
Reading scores for white and black students were lower in 2005 than in 1992, though white
students continued to score higher than other studied groups, according to the report In math, Asian
students outperformed white students by 6 points, taking the lead on the 2005 exam.
"Not improving over 1992 scores is not good news," former Michigan Gov. John Engler said. "We
need to step it up h education."
However, 2005 graduates earned more sd~ool credits than those in previous years, according to
data from the High School Transcript Study, featured in the same report The study evaluated transcripts
for 26,000 graduates from more than 700 private and public schools.
David Gordon, superintendent of schools in Sacramento County, Calif., said curriculum rigor should
be questioned when looking at the discrepancy between enrolknent and exam performance.
"A larger problem than the achievement gap may be a rigor gap," Gordon said. "And that affects not
just some students, but most of our students."
Educators charged that some high school courses do not challenge students enough or prepare
them with key skills for college and the job market.
"We need to get serious about making fundamental changes in the system," said David Driscoll,
Massachusetts coromissioner of education. "1 dortt think we’ve raised the expectations."
In Texas, ela’nentary school students show more progress than those in high school, said Darvin
Winick of the National Assessment Governing Board.
"Our elemertary school kids perform above most other states," Winick said. "But, a lot of work still
needs to be done atthe high school level."
Page 228

By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Detroit News, February 23, 2007
High school seniors didn’t make any gains h reading on a nationwide test even though students are
taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades, according to test results f.rorn the 2005
National Assessmen~ of" Educational Progress released today.
The tests, ot~en called the Nation’s Report Card, have served as a national bellwether of. students’
academic achievement since 1969.
Officials from the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees and sets policy for the
assessments, said the two reports released today-- one on how seniors scored on reading and math and
another on high school graduates -- present a mixed picture.
"On the surface, these results provide lit’de comfort and seem to confirm the general concern about
the per~on-nance of America’s high school studerts," Darvin M. Winick, chairman of the governing board,
said in a statemert. "The findings also suggest that we need to know much more about the level of rigor
associated with the courses that high school students are taking."
The percentage of. seniors scoring at or above proficient in 2005 on the reading test dropped from
40 to 35 percent since 1992. There was no significant change in reading scores since 2002, the last t~ne
students took the tssts.
The assessments in reading and math were given to a sample of. more than 21,000 high school
seniors in 900 public and private schools. There were no trend scores available for math because the test
is new.
You can reach Jennifer Mrozowski at (313) 222-2269 or ~rozowski@detnews.com.
Page 229
Nor}respdnsi
ve From: McLane, Katherine
Samara
Subject: NAEP Coverage
Attachments: 022307 NAEP COVERAGE.doc
022307 NAEP
~V~AGE.doc (~7 K2.23.07 NAEP Coverage
Advanced Courses May Not Be All That Advanced, Some Say Educators Say (SPT FL)
Grades Rise, But Reading Skills Do Not (NYT)
Advanced Courses May Not Be All That Advanced, Some Say Educators Say (SPT FL)
By THOMAS C. TOBIN
St. Petersburq Times, February 23, 2007
tests show U.S. high schools need a major overhaul.
Years of education reforms have failed to lift the performance of U.S. high school students, according to a gloomy set of
numbers that stunned educators and brought calls Thursday for more urgency.
In the most recent national test on reading, the nation’s 12th-graders scored lower than they did in 1992. Only 73 percent
scored at or above the "basic" level in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as The Nation’s Report
Card. That was down from 80 percent in 1992.
Page 230
Students showed a similar lack of traction in science. Learning gaps between white and minority students were as wide as
ever.
’We clearly have a major problem, and it’s not going to be addressed just by some minor changes in our system," said
David P. Driscoll, the education commissioner of Massachusetts, which, like Florida, was an early adopter of strict school
accountability.
Driscoll complained that American high schools have shorter years and shorter days than competing systems overseas.
"Clearly," he said at a news conference arranged by the National Assessment Governing Board, ’~ve need to look at some major
changes in the way schools are organized and the way teaching and learning is delivered."
Results were not available by state.
The stagnation among high school students contrasts with gains made by younger students, especially those in elementary
school. It also has occurred even as high school students are exposed, more than ever, to rigorous courses.
A study of 26,000 transcripts from public and private high school students who graduated in 2005 found that 51 percent
took a "mid-level" or "rigorous" curriculum with challenging requirements for math, science and foreign languages. That was up
from 30 percent in 1990.
’It’s a disconnect for sure," said Margaret Spellings, the U.S. Education Secretary, in Tampa Thursday to discuss the
federal No Child Left Behind Act. "It does affirm that, by damn, we better pay attention to our high schools."
For many top educators, the search for causes leads back to classrooms. The chief explanation, they said, is that too many
classes are rigorous in name only.
’It’s important what we teach and how it is taught has to be carefully inspected course by course, textbook by textbook,
classroom by classroom," said David Gordon, school superintendent in Sacramento, Calif.
He called on teachers and administrators to collaborate in making sure classes are as rigorous as they should be.
’This is difficult, time-consuming work," he said. "But without pulling back the curtain and taking a hard look inside the
classroom, nothing is likely to cha~ge."
Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox said many districts have begun talking about just such an exercise.
In Pinetlas, he said, a two-year-old program to assess students more frequently will help the district detect gaps in teaching.
Wilcox also argued that the trends may not be as disheartening as they appear. Though graduation rates have been fiat
since the 1970s, he said, a case can be made that the actual number of students getting diplomas is up.
’You have kids (graduating)that never were there before," he said.
What made Thursday’s results more alarming for some was the fact that the students tested were the best the system had
to offer - kids who had made it to 12th grade and were ready to graduate. The numbers also included a slight decline among
students whose parents graduated from college, another group thought to be high performers.
At the Education Trust in Washington, an advocacy group that rails against the achievement gap, president Kati Haycock
said the numbers revealed a broad, systemic failure.
"Students are doing what is asked of them - they are taking more academic courses and getting higher grades - but they
aren’t being taught any more than in the past," she said, calling for more qualified teachers and higher expectations.
As in the past, one number that stood out Thursday was the performance of Asian students, who perennially out-achieve
students of all other ethnic backgrounds in every academic category.
Gordon, the Sacramento superintendent, said he noticed that Asian graduates annually have some of the top grade point
averages in his district, many of them a~er only recently immigrating to the United States and learning English.
’What we need to do is have our own American kids, born here, speaking the language from the time they’re born.., to get
motivated about something other than their iPod," said Driscoll, the Massachusetts official.
’There has to be a sense of urgency on behalf of everybody," he said. ’That includes, by the way, the kids."
Times staff writer Letitia Stein contributed to this report.

By Greg Toppo
USA Today, February 23, 2007
WASHINGTON - High school seniors are taking more challenging classes and earning higher grades than ever, but their
reading skills have actually worsened since 1992, data released Thursday by the U.S. Education Department suggesL
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the results show that "we must act nowto increase rigor in our high schools."
The No Child Lef~ Behind law, up for reauthorization this year, currently applies only minimally to high schools.
The report brought mixed - and contradictory - results:
A record 68% of the class of 2005 completed at least a standard curriculum with four years of English and three each of
Page 231
math, science and social studies. That’s a huge jump from 1990, when only 40% did the same, according to the study of 26,000
public- and private-school transcripts.
In 2005, 51% of students were doing college-preparatory work, up from 31% in 1990. And 10% were earning college credit,
up from 5% in 1990.
¯ The average high school senior doesnt read as well as those in 1992, the first year the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) was given to 12th-graders. In 2005, 35% of seniors scored "proficient" or "advanced," down from
40% in 1992.
Reading at a "proficient" level means students can make critical judgments - for instance, describing how two editorials
argue different viewpoints. "Basic" means students can read and retrieve information from a document and recognize a
sequence of plot elements.
The government has no comparable long-term data on math scores since it changed the test in 2005. But the 2005 scores
show that, overall, 12th-graders’ skills are basic at best.
"Clearly we need to look at some major changes in the way schools are organized and how teaching is delivered,"
Massachusetts Education Commissioner David Driscoll said.
The Brookings Institution’s Tom Loveless, who researches the NAEP and course content, said that the reading results
"should really be an area of concern" - and that perhaps even the brightest students dont read as much as they used to.
Critics have long said the NAEP is a poor measure of how well 12th-graders do, and the new data could give them
ammunition: Even students whose transcripts show they took calculus score only, on average, "proficient" in math.
Loveless noted that the test includes no calculus, which forces advanced students to do math work they haven~ done in
three or four years.
Education researcher Gerald Bracey said 12th-graders take the NAEP in the last semester of their high school careers, and
they have no real incentive to do well. Poor results are "senior slump writ large," he said.
Grades Rise, But Reading Skills Do Not (NYT)

The NewYork Times, February 23, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 - High school students nationwide are taking seemingly tougher courses and earning better
grades, but their reading skills are not improving through the effort, according to two federal reports released here Thursday that
cite grade inflation as a possible explanation.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, an exam commonly known as the nation’s report card, found that the
reading skills of 12th graders tested in 2005 were significantly worse than those of students in 1992, when a comparable test was
first given, and essentially flat since students previously took the exam in 2002.
The test results also showed that the overwhelming majority of high school seniors have not fully mastered high-school-
level math.
At the same time, however, grade-point averages have risen nationwide, according to a separate survey by the National
Assessment, of the transcripts of 26,000 students, which compared them with a study of students’ coursework in 1990.
’There’s a disconnect between what we want and expect our 12th graders to know and do, and what our schools are
actually delivering through instruction in the classroom," David W. Gordon, the superintendent of schools in Sacramento, said at
a news conference announcing the results.
The reports offered several rationales for the disparity between rising grade-point averages and tougher coursework on the
one hand and stagnant reading scores on the other, including "grade inflation, changes in grading standards" or the possibility
that student grades were being increasingly affected by things like classroom participation or extra assignments.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is considered the yardstick for academic performance because it is the
only test taken all across the country. The test of 12th-grade achievement was given to a representative sample of 21,000 high
school seniors attending 900 public and private schools from January to March 2005.
It showed that the share of 12th-grade students lacking even basic high school reading skills - meaning they could not, for
example, extract data about train fares at different times of day from a brochure - rose to 27 percent from 20 percent in 1992.
The share of students proficient in reading dropped to 35 percent from 40 percent in 1992. At the same time, the gap
between boys and girls grew, with girls’ reading skills more than a year ahead those of boys.
In math, only 23 percent of all 12th graders were proficient, but the exam has been revamped, so the results could not be
compared with those from earlier years, officials said. The newtest has fewer questions requiring arithmetic and more using
algebra and geometry. Some 39 percent of 12th graders lacked even basic high school math skills.
These results came about even though the separate study of transcripts showed that 12th graders in 2005 averaged 360
Page 232
more hours of classroom instruction during their high school years than students had in 1990.
Their overall grade-point average was 2.98 - just shy of a B. That was one-third of a letter grade higher than in 1990. The
share of students taking a standard curriculum or better, intended to prepare them for college, jumped to 68 percent from 40
percent.
In math, girls had higher grades than boys, and closed the achievement gap, scoring about as well as boys did on the
national assessment. Boys who had taken advanced math and science courses, however, scored higher than girls who had also
taken such courses.
The Bush administration, which has been pressing to expand testing in high school under the federal education law, No
Child Le~ Behind, seized upon the results as proof that high schools were not measuring up.
’The consensus for strengthening our high schools has never been stronger," Margaret Spellings, the secretary of
education, said in a statement released in advance of the report. "Schools must prepare students to succeed in college and the
21 st-century work force."
Just how students can be getting better grades in classes that are supposedly more challenging yet lag in reading may
become clearer in the ft~ture. Mark Schneider, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, the branch of the
Education Department that administers the exams, had also collected a warehouse full of course descriptions, reading lists and
textbooks to investigate the actual content of classes students are taking.
The Education Trust, a nonprofit group representing urban schools, attributed the disparity to a kind of academic false
advertising, saying that schools may seem to offer the same courses to all students, but that the content of those courses is
sometimes less demanding for poor and minority children.
For example, the group found, a ninth-grade English teacher at one school assigned students a two- to three-page essay
comparing the themes of Homer’s "Odyssey" to those in the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" At the same school,
assignments in another class covering the same material were considerably less demanding. There, students broke Lip into three
clusters, with one designing a brochure for "Odyssey Cruises," another drawing pictures and the third making up a crossword
using characters from the "Odyssey."
"Just slapping new names on courses with weak curriculum and ill-prepared teachers won’t boost achievement," Kati
Haycock, the Education Trust’s president, said.

By Amit R. Paley
High school seniors are performing worse overall on some national tests than they did in the previous decade, even though
they are receiving significantly higher grades and taking what seem to be more rigorous courses, according to government data
released yesterday.
The mismatch between stronger transcripts and weak test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress,
otten called the nation’s report card, resonated in the Washington area and elsewhere. Some seized upon the findings as
evidence of grade inflation and the dumbing-down of courses. The findings also prompted renewed calls for tough national
standards and the expansion of the federal No Child Left Behind law.
"We have our work cut out for us," Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement. "If, in fact, our high school
students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades, we should be seeing greater gains in test scores."
About 35 percent of 12th-graders tested in 2005 scored proficient or better in reading - the lowest percentage since the
test was launched in 1992, the new data showed. And less than a quarter of seniors scored at least proficient on a new version
of the math test; officials called those results disappointing but said they could not be compared to past scores. In addition, a
previous report found that 18 percent of seniors in 2005 scored at least proficient in science, down from 21 percent in 1996.
At the same time, the average high school grade-point average rose from 2.68 in 1990 (about a B-minus) to 2.98 in 2005
(about a B), according to a study of transcripts from graduating seniors. The study also found that the percentage of graduating
seniors who completed a standard or mid-level course of study rose from 35 to 58 percent in that time; meanwhile, the
percentage who took the highest-level curriculum doubled, to 10 percent.
’q-he core problem is that course titles don’t really signal what is taught in the course and grades don’t signal what a kid has
learned," said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a D.C.-based nonprofit group that supports No Child Left Behind.
She added hyperbolically, "What we’re going to end up with is the high school valedictorian who cant write three paragraphs."
Some experts say these educational mirages, which obscure low student achievement with inflated grades and tough-
sounding class titles, disproportionately harm poor and minority students.
A visit to two ninth-grade English classes in Prince George’s County this week showed that instruction can vary immensely
Page 233
even in classrooms -just 15 miles apart -- that share the same champagne-colored textbook, the same course title and the
same syllabus.
In Room 101 at Bowie High, a racially diverse school in one of the county’s more affluent areas, the assignment was:
Compare and contrast the themes of disillusionment, poverty and f~ustration in George Orwell’s "Animal Farm" and the poems of
Langston Hughes.
In Room 31 at Suitland High, which has more poor and black students, the assignment was: What are your immediate
goals? How would you feel if no one close to you supported you in reaching your goals?
The teacher at Suitland, R’Chelle L. Mullins, walked around the classroom and repeated the assignment several times to
the students, some of whose heads were slumped on their desks. "What are your immediate goals?" she asked one boy again.
’q-o pass the ninth grade," he finally answered.
A~er class, Mullins said she had "stuck very close to the curriculum" and "was doing exactly what the county wants me to
do." But when told of the more complicated questions asked in the Bowie High class, Mullins acknowledged that she sometimes
modifies assignments based on the background of her students.
Mullins, 24, who began teaching two years ago because she wanted to help underprivileged children, said she had "a
different caliber" of students in her classroom. "Not to dumb my kids down," she added. "1 hate the bad reputation that they get,
and I don’t think it’s fair at all .... Not to pass the blame, but some of these kids should never have been allowed to graduate
middle school."
County Superintendent John E. Deasy said he is working hard to reduce inequities among schools and cited uneven
teacher quality as a key issue. He said that the counb! curriculum has been standardized and that the challenge now is to ensure
an equal level of instruction in every classroom by investing in teacher training and increasing the number of Advancement
Placement courses.
’q-his is the civil rights issue of our time," Deasy said.
The potential for grade and course-title inflation is not confined to low-performing schools. Julie Greenberg, a math teacher
at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, said she was under such pressure to raise grades that she used to keep two
sets of books in her statistics class: one for the grades students deserved and one for the grades that appeared on report cards.
"If a teacher were to really grade students on their true level of mastery, there would be such extraordinary levels of failure
that it would not be tolerated, so most teachers don’t do that," she said.
At a news conference yesterday near Capitol Hill, education experts expressed concern that white and Asian students
continue to score consistently higher than black and Hispanic students in all subjects. They also said the overall discrepancy
between the test scores and transcripts deserves close examination. Darvin M. Winick, chairman of the National Assessment
Governing Board, which oversawthe exams and the transcript study, called the gap "very suspicious."
"For all of our talk of the achievement gap amongst subgroups of students, a larger problem may be an instructional gap or
a rigor gap," said David W. Gordon, superintendent of Sacramento County schools in California. "There’s a disconnect between
what we want and expect our 12th-grade students to know and do and what our schools are actually delivering through
instruction in the classroom."
Lawmakers said the low test scores would reinvigorate the debate over high school reform as Congress considers the
renewal of No Child Le~ Behind.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.~ chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said "disappointing" results
underscore the need to recruit first-rate teachers to low-performing schools.

By Robert Tomsho
American educators have complained about grade inflation for years. But new findings suggest that U.S. high schools may
also sdfer from another type of inflation -- in the labeling of courses.
Under pressure to produce graduates better prepared for college and the workplace, dozens of states have stitfened high-
school graduation requirements in recent years, pushing a broader array of students to take more years of core subjects and
eliminating less rigorous lower-tier courses altogether.
Reflecting these efforts, a review of high-school transcripts by the staff of the National Assessment of Educational Progress
shows that high-school students are taking, and receiving higher grades in, more college-prep courses than ever.
Yet just-released test results for 12th graders on the NAEP, a widely respected barometer of educational achievement
known as the "nation’s report card," indicated that students are graduating with mediocre math skills and reading abilities that
have tumbled to their lowest level since the early 1990s. The 12th-grade tests are designed to measure the sorts of high-level
Page 234
thinking demanded in college work.
The findings raise questions about whether college-prep courses are as tough as their titles indicate, and, if so, whether
high schools and their instructors are adequately prepared to teach such courses to a rapidly changing mix of students.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings expressed disappointment with the findings, saying: "If, in fact, our high-
school students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades, we should be seeing greater gains in test
scores."
Other observers said the results suggest that some school districts are teaching watered-down versions of everything from
history to trigonometry. "A course title alone does not make rigor," said David Conley, a University of Oregon professor who
studies high-school course content.
The NAEP results are likely to fi.~el calls for reform measures as the federal No Child Let~ Behind act approaches a
reauthorization debate. The Bush administration has proposed requiring states to conduct additional reading and math
achievement tests at the high-school level.
In December, the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a private group that includes former governors and
cabinet secretaries from both political parties, called for such radical measures as ending high school atter 10th grade for some
students and denying entry to public colleges and universities to any who cant pass so-called board exams in core subjects.
The NAEP review of high school transcripts, released yesterday, found that 51% of the graduating class of 2005 completed
at least a midlevel college-prep curriculum that included four years of English; three years of math, including geometry and
algebra; and three years of science including at least two of biology, chemistry and physics. In ! 990, only about 31% of seniors
completed a similar curriculum.
The NAEP review also found that the class of 2005 received about 360 more hours of instruction in high school than their
1990 counterparts and earned higher grades. On a zero-to-four point scale, the 2005 seniors had a cumulative grade point
average of 2.98 points, or about a B, up from 2.68 points in 1990. But the benefits of such changes weren’t evident in the results
of NAEP reading and math achievement tests for the class of 2005.
On a zero-to-500 point scale, their average reading score was 286 points. That was down a point from 2002, the last time
the test was given, and was the lowest average score since 1992, when the average was 292 points. About 40% of the test
takers scored at or above the proficient range, down from 44% in 1992.
On the math side, the average score was 150 on a zero-to-300 point scale and only 23% of the seniors were scored at or
above the proficient range. NAEP officials said results of the 2005 math test aren’t comparable with those from previous years
because of recent changes in the exam’s structure and contenL
Reflecting demographic changes in society, the sorts of students taking the NAEP test have changed significantly in recent
years. Hispanics accounted for 14% of all 12th graders in 2005, tip from 7% in t992. The scoring gap between them and white
students has changed little since 1992.
Since 1998, when NAEP began allowing accommodations such as longer testing times, more English-language learners
are also taking the NAEP. In 2005, they accounted for about 4°/0 of all seniors taking the NAEP reading test and posted an
average score of 247. The effect was to lower the overall average score by two points, to 286, which NAEP officials said was
statistically significant.
The decline in reading abilities was not a complete surprise. A recent study by ACT Inc., the nonprofit testing concern
based in !owa City, Iowa, found that only about 51% of high school graduates who took the ACT test in 2005 were prepared to
tackle college-level reading, down from 55% in 1999. ACT also found a decline in reading skills through the high-school years,
with more eighth- and 10th-graders on track for college reading than seniors. "Reading just drops off the radar in high school,"
said Jon Erickson, ACT’s vice president for educational services.
And the NAEP results aren’t the only signs that college-prep courses may not be delivering all that they promise.
The College Board, the NewYork nonprofit that gives the SAT admissions test, is in the midst of a nationwide audit of its
high-school Advanced Placement Program courses, amid concerns that some districts aren’t offering college-level contenL
Meanwhile, a recent study by the state of Maryland found that 30% of its 2005 high-school graduates who completed a
college-prep curriculum needed remedial math in college, up from 26%for the class of 2000.
States may require students to take more upper-level courses, but content is still largely lett up to local school boards and
varies widely. And few states have instituted mandatory end-of-course tests to measure vTnat is actually being taught in high-
school classrooms or taken concrete action to ensure that high-school graduation standards are aligned with what colleges and
universities expect incoming freshmen to know.
Hodan Janay, of Boston says she earned B’s during four years of high-schoo! English, took a college-prep literature course
her senior year and passed the state English exams required to graduate. "But I wasn’t as ready as I thought," says the 21-year-
old, who is now enrolled in a remedial English course at Boston’s Bunker Hill Community College.
Page 235
Write to Robert Tomsho at rob.tomsho@wsj, com3
By Mitchell Landsberg
The Los Anqeles Times, February 23, 2007
U.S. high school students are taking tougher classes, receiving better grades and, apparently, learning less than their
counterparts of 15 years ago.
Those were the discouraging implications of two reports issued Thursday by the federal Department of Education,
assessing the performance of students in both public and private schools. Together, the reports raised sobering questions about
the past two decades of educational reform, including whether the movement to raise school standards has amounted to much
more than window dressing.
"1 think we’re sleeping through a crisis," said David Driscoll, the Massachusetts commissioner of education, during a
Washington news conference convened by the Department of Education. He called the study results "stunning."
Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said he found the results
"dismal." Atter years of reforms aimed primarily at elementary schools, Fuller said the studies "certainly support shining the
spotlight on the high school as a priority for reform efforts."
The reports summarized two major government efforts to measure the performance of high school seniors as part of the
National Assessment of Educational Progress. One was a standardized test of 12th graders conducted in 2005. The other was
an analysis of the transcripts of students who graduated from high school that year.
The transcript study showed that, compared to students in similar studies going back to 1990, the 2005 graduates had
racked up more high school credits, had taken more college preparatory classes and had strikingly higher grade point averages.
The average GPA rose from 2.68 in 1990 to 2.98 -- close to a solid B - in 2005.
That was the good news -- or so it seemed. But the standardized test results showed that 12th grade reading scores have
generally been dropping since 1992, casting doubt on what students are learning in those college prep classes.
Math scores posed a different sort of mystery, because the Department of Education switched to a new test in 2005 that
wasn’t directly comparable to those used before. Still, the results of the new test didn’t inspire confidence: Fewer than one-
quarter of the 12th graders tested scored in the "proficient" range.
The reports also showed that the gap separating white and black, and white and Hispanic students, has barely budged
since the early 1990s. And while the results were not broken down by state, a broad regional breakdown showed that the West
and Southeast lagged well behind the Midwest and, to a lesser extent, the Northeast.
David Gordon, the Sacramento County, Calif., superintendent of schools and a participant in the Department of Education
news conference Thursday, said he found it especially disturbing that the studies focused on "our best students," those who had
made it to 12th grade or who had graduated.
"It’s clear to me from these data that for all of our talk of the achievement gap among subgroups of students, a larger
problem may be an instructional gap or a rigor gap, which effects not just some but most of our students," Gordon said.
The reading and math test was given to 21,000 high school seniors at 900 U.S. schools, including 200 private schools. The
transcript study was based on 26,000 transcripts from 720 schools, 80 of them private. The reports did not give separate results
for public vs. private schools.
Policy analysts nationwide said the studies were gloomy news for the American economy, since the country’s educational
system already measured poody in international comparisons.
"What we see out of these results is a very disturbing picture of the knowledge and skills of the young people about to go
into college and the workforce," said Daria Hall, assistant director of the Education Trust, a Washington-based nonprofit
dedicated to improving education especially for poor and minority students.
Among other things, Hall said the transcript study provided clear evidence of grade inflation, as well as "course inflation" --
offering high-level courses that have "the right names" but a dumbed-down curriculum.
"What it suggests is that we are telling students that they’re being successful in these courses when, in fact, we’re not
teaching them any more than they were learning in the past," she said. "So we are, in effect, lying to these students."
Although the reports came out five years atter passage of President Bush’s signature education reform initiative, No Child
Lett Behind, Hall and others said it would be unfair to blame that program for the students’ poor showing. They were already in
high school when No Child Left Behind was enacted, and it is primarily aimed at elementary and middle schools.
Driscoll recalled an earlier president’s contribution to education reform -- the Nation at Risk report that seemed to galvanize
the educational establishment when it was issued by President Reagan in 1983.
’q-hat was a shocker," said Driscoll. "But here we are, 25 years later (and) ... we’ve just been ignoring what it’s going to take
Page 236
to really change the system."

By Nancy Zuckerbrod
AP, February 23, 2007
WASHINGTON - Large percentages of high school seniors are posting weak scores on national math and reading tests
even though more of them are taking challenging courses and getting higher grades in school, say two new government reports
released Thursday.
’q’he reality is that the results don’t square," said Darvin Winick, chair of the independent National Assessment Governing
Board, ~ich oversees the national tests.
Nearly 40 percent of high school seniors scored below the basic level on the math test. More than a quarter of seniors
failed to reach the basic level on the reading test. Most educators think students ought to be able to work at the basic level.
The reading scores show no change since 2002, the last time the tests were given. "We should be getting better. There’s
nothing good about a flat score," Winick said.
The government said it could not compare the math results to old scores because the latest test was significantly different.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress - often called the nation’s report card - is viewed as the best way to
compare students across the country because it’s the only uniform national yardstick for how well students are learning.
The tests were given in 2005. The government released the scores Thursday along with a report examining the high school
transcripts of 2005 graduates.
The transcript study shows high school students are earning more credits, taking more challenging courses and getting
higher grade-point averages than in the past.
In 2005, high school graduates had an overall grade-point average just shy of 3.0 - or about a B. That has gone t.lp from a
grade-point average of about 2.7 in 1990.
It is unclear whether student performance has improved or whether grade inflation or something else might be responsible,
the report said.
More students are completing high school with a standard curriculum, meaning they took at least four credits of English and
three credits each of social studies, math and science. More students also are taking the next level of courses, which generally
includes college preparatory classes.
But the study showed no increase in the number of high-schoolers who completed the most advanced curriculum, which
could include college-level or honors classes.
On the math test, about 60 percent of high school seniors performed at or above the basic level. At that level, a student
should be able to convert a decimal to a fraction, for example.
Just one-fourth of 12th-graders were proficient or better in math, meaning they demonstrated solid academic performance.
To qualify as "proficient," students might have to determine what type of graph should be used to display particular types of data.
On the reading test, about three-fourths of seniors performed at or above the basic level, while 40 percent hit the proficient
mark.
Seniors working at a basic reading level can identify elements of an author’s style. At the proficient level, they can make
inferences from reading material, draw conclusions from it and make connections to their own experiences.
As in the past, the math and reading scores showed large achievement gaps between white students and minorities.
Forty-three percent of white students scored at or above proficient levels on the reading test, compared with 20 percent of
Hispanic students and 16 percent of black students.
On the math test, 29 percent of white students reached the proficient level, compared with 8 percent of Hispanics and 6
percent of blacks.
The gap in reading scores between whites and minorities was relatively unchanged since 2002.
The federal No Child Lett Behind law has put added emphasis on math and reading, largely in the elementary- and middle-
school grades. It also requires states to separate out their test scores by race so officials can track and try to narrow achievement
gaps between groups of students.

The Washin,qton Times, February 23, 2007
More 2005 high school graduates took challenging classes and got higher grades than their peers a few years prior, but
overall, large percentages of high school seniors are scoring poody on reading and math tests, two new reports found yesterday.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said these results mean "we have our work cLIt or.it for us," in providing quality
8
Page 237
education.
"If, in fact, our high school students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades, we should be seeing
greater gains in test scores," she said, atter the release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NEAP).
These reading and math tests, released by the government yesterday, were given in 2005 to a representative sample of
more than 21,000 high school seniors from 900 schools. Accompanying that report was a separate study examining the
transcripts of 2005 high school graduates.
According to the NAEP, nearly 40 percent of high school seniors didn’t perform at the basic level on the math test and 23
percent performed at or above proficient level.
The average reading scores didn’t change much since 2002 but declined since 1992. Seventy-three percent of 2005 high
school seniors performed at or above basic reading level, meaning more than a quarter of seniors didn’t reach that threshold.
In 2000, about 13 percent of high school graduates completed standard course work, and 36 percent went beyond and
completed midlevel course work, according to the transcript study. Those percentages increased in 2005, to 17 percent and 41
percent.
The 2005 graduates also carried a slightly higher grade point average -- about a 3.0 -- than 2000 graduates and notably
higher than the 2.7 GPA in 1990. The study noted "many possible reasons" for the increase, including grade inflation, changes in
grading standards and practices, and growth in student performance.
Lawmakers and education researchers agreed that improvement is needed but disagreed on the best way of getting there
-- with some arguing the federal government should get more involved in high schools and some saying that is exactly the wrong
approach.
’q-he No Child Lef~ Behind Act is working to improve our nation’s elementary and middle schools, and we must act now to
increase rigor in our high schools and improve graduation rates," Mrs. Spellings said, touting President Bush’s proposal for more
testing and improved curricula in high schools as part of his suggestions for renewing the law.
House education panel Chairman Rep. George Miller, California Democrat, called the scores a "disappointment" and said
that as lawmakers work to renewfederal education law for younger students "part of our charge will be to develop strategies for
helping our struggling high schools," such as recruiting better teachers and ensuring all students have access to advanced
courses.
Neal McClusky, education policy analyst at the Cato Institute, noted that the disappointing scores come despite "huge
increases in per-pupil expenditures, the installation of ’standards and accountability’ mechanisms all around the country, and
ever-greater federal intervention" in America’s schools.
"With all this in mind, the lesson from the latest NAEP scores is clear. American education needs fundamental restructuring
away from the top-down, government control that has wrought regular academic failure, to a system that empowers parents to
take their children and tax dollars out of broken public schools and put them into institutions that work," he said.
U.S. High Schools Raise Grades, Don’t Test Better (Update2) (BLOOIVl)
By Paul Basken
Bloomberq, February 23, 2007
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. high school students are showing no overall improvement on a nationwide achievement test,
even as they take more challenging courses and earn higher grades, the U.S. Education Department reported.
Nationwide, 73 percent of 1Lffh-grade students achieved a "’basic" reading score in 2005, down from 80 percent in 1992,
according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a sampling test the government calls the "’nation’s report card."
Sixty-one percent scored at or above the basic level in math.
At the same time, 68 percent of high school graduates completed at least a "’standard" curriculum, up from 59 percent in
2000, with the overall grade point average about one-third of a letter grade higher than in 1990, the department said in a report.
The figures raise questions about the quality of the courses being taught at U.S. high schools, it said.
"’If, in fact, our high school students are taking more challenging courses and earning higher grades, we should be seeing
greater gains in test scores," U.S. Edusation Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement. The results "’showthat we have
our work cut out for us," she said.
In May, NAEP said there were declines in science scores for high school students. Among 12th-graders, 54 percent were
at or above the basic level in science in 2005, statistically similar to 2000 and a decline from 57 percent in 1996, the report said.
"Disappointing’ Results
Business and education leaders said the latest results reinforce fears that the U.S. school system isn’t preparing its
students to be competitive in the global workplace.
"’It’s disappointing and unacceptable," said Susan Traiman, director of education and workforce policy at the Business
Page 238
Roundtable, a Washington-based association of chief executive officers of U.S. companies including General Motors Corp.,
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Citigroup Inc.
"’These numbers perfectly book-end the rating of employers last fall," who in a nationwide survey said more half of
companies are finding workers inadequately training in math or reading, said Linda Barrington, labor economist and research
director at the Conference Board, a NewYork-based business group.
Bush Budget
Today’s report on reading and math follows President George W. Bush’s release earlier this month of his fiscal 2008 budget
recommendation, in which he again asked Congress to devote a greater share of federal funding toward raising high school
achievement levels.
Congress hasn’t endorsed that plan in the past, in part because Democrats opposed Bush’s calls for financing high school
improvements through spending cuts in other parts of the federal education budget.
Representative Buck McKeon, the California Republican who headed the House education committee last year, believes
the NAEP results mean Congress must continue to demand more from schools, spokesman Steve Forde said.
The NAEP report "’is a further indication that backing away from that commitment would be a huge mistake," Forde said.
Others were more cautious. Some of the lower performance at the 12th-grade level could be due to older students realizing
their scores on the NAEP test have no effect on their personal records, said Antonia Cortese, executive vice president of the 1.3
million-member American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest teacher union.
"No Child’ Testing
The federal No Child Left Behind law currently requires schools to test students in grades 3 through 8, then once in high
school. Researchers including Bruce Fuller, an education professor at the University of California, Berkeley, have suggested that
states may be weakening their tests to help raise their passing rates under the federal law.
The NAEP reports today may reinforce fears that the quality of high-level courses suffers as more students are allowed into
them, the Education Trust, a Washington-based research and advocacy group, said in a statement. "’This pattern is undoubtedly
playing out in some schools," Education Trust said. "’But we know that it doesn’t have to be this way."
The NAEP tests for 2005 were given to a nationally representative sample of more than 21,000 high school seniors in 900
schools.
The results show 35 percent of 12th-grade students scored at or above "’proficient" in reading in 2005, down from 40
percent in 1992. Only 23 percent of 12th-graders achieved the proficient rating in math in 2005.
Math Scores
The math scores arent comparable with previous years because NAEP introduced a new assessment test in 2005, the
report said. A separate analysis provided by NAEP of common math questions, however, showed a "’statistically significant
increase," to 44 percent in 2005 from 42 percent in 2000, in the percentage of students answering each question correctly.
The scores released today also showed persistent gaps among racial and ethnic groups, including white students scoring
31 points higher than black students in math and 24 points higher than Hispanic students.
The comparisons to high school transcripts were based on data from 26,000 graduates of about 640 public schools and 80
private schools. The report defined a "’standard curriculum" to mean the student has taken at least four credits of English and
three each in social studies, mathematics and science.
In addition to more students enrolling in such a curriculum and receiving higher grades, the NAEP study found that U.S.
high school graduates in 2005 earned about three credits more than their 1990 counterparts. That translates to abo[~t 360
additional hours of instn.lction during their high school years, it said.
Possible reasons for the increase in high school grades include "’grade inflation, changes in grading standards and
practices and growth in student performance," the report said.

By Carlene Olsen
Austin American-Statesman, February 23, 2007
High school students taking harder courses but not meeting basic standards, study finds.
WASHINGTON - High school students across the nation are earning higher grades in tough courses, but, on average,
graduating seniors failed to make gains in reading or reach proficient math levels on 2005 assessment exams, according to a
report released Thursday.
Graduating seniors had the lowest reading scores since 1992, and only 23 percent of tested students scored at or above
the exam’s math proficiency level, according to data from the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress. The results
are based on a sampling of 21,000 12th-grade students from 900 public and private schools.
10
Page 239
Math results from the recent exam could not be compared with past scores because significant changes were made to the
test.
Reading scores for white and black students were lower in 2005 than in 1992, though white students continued to score
higher than other studied groups, according to the report. In math, Asian students outperformed white students by 6 points,
taking the lead on the 2005 exam.
"Not improving over 1992 scores is not good news," former Michigan Gov. John Engler said. "We need to step it up in
education."
However, 2005 graduates earned more school credits than those in previous years, according to data fi’om the High School
Transcript Study, featured in the same report. The study evaluated transcripts for 26,000 graduates from more than 700 private
and public schools.
David Gordon, superintendent of schools in Sacramento County, Calif., said curriculum rigor should be questioned when
looking at the discrepancy between enrollment and exam performance.
"A larger problem than the achievement gap may be a rigor gap," Gordon said. "And that affects not just some students,
but most of our students."
Educators charged that some high school courses do not challenge students enough or prepare them with key skills for
college and the job market.
"We need to get serious about making fundamental changes in the system," said David Driscoll, Massachusetts
commissioner of education. "1 don’t think we’ve raised the expectations."
In Texas, elementary school students show more progress than those in high school, said Darvin Winick of the National
Assessment Governing Board.
"Our elementary school kids perform above most other states," Winick said. "But, a lot of work still needs to be done at the
high school level."

By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Detroit News,, February 23, 2007
High school seniors didn’t make any gains in reading on a nationwide test even though students are taking more
challenging courses and earning higher grades, according to test results from the 2005 National Assessment of Educational
Progress released today.
The tests, o~ten called the Nation’s Report Card, have served as a national bellwether of students’ academic achievement
since 1969.
Officials from the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees and sets policy for the assessments, said the two
reports released today -- one on how seniors scored on reading and math and another on high school graduates -- present a
mixed picture.
"On the sudace, these results provide little comfort and seem to confirm the general concern about the performance of
America’s high school students," DaMn M Winick, chairman of the governing board, said in a statement. "The findings also
suggest that we need to know much more about the level of rigor associated with the courses that high school students are
taking."
The percentage of seniors scoring at or above proficient in 2005 on the reading test dropped from 40 to 35 peroent since
1992. There was no significant change in reading scores since 2002, the last time students took the tests.
The assessments in reading and math were given to a sample of more than 21,000 high school seniors in 900 public and
private schools. There were no trend scores available for math because the test is new.
You can reach Jennifer Mrozowski at (313) 222-2269 orjmrozowski@detnews.com.
Page 240
L
N,~onresponsi
To: Pdvate-Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill;
Sam ara
Subject: High School Report Card Is Grim (TT FL)
High School Report Card Is Grim (TT FL)

By Marilyn Brown
The Tampa Tribune, February 23, 2007
TAMPA -As the nation’s top education official pushed continuation of the massive No Child Left Behind law Thursday, she
didn’t sidestep a new report showing lackluster performance in U.S. high schools.
Large percentages of high school seniors scored poorly on NCLB math and reading tests in 2005 despite taking more
challenging courses and making higher grades in their schools, the nation’s only comparative national test shows.
’Twelfth-grade reading levels are going down," U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings told a small group of
business leaders in Tampa. "That’s not good news, particularly when 50 percent of African-American and Hispanic students don’t
get oet of high school on time."
Thursday’s report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, considered the nation’s report card, shows 23
percent of high school seniors in 2005 scored at or above proficient in math. Thirty-five percent performed at or above proficient
in reading.
Reading scores in 2005 were unchanged since 2002 and significantly lower than 1992. The disparity between low test
scores and high letter grades could be a result of grade inflation or changes in grading standards, the report says, bet more
analysis is needed.
The test sampled more than 21,000 seniors from 900 schools nationwide. Results are not reported by state. The full
significance of the report is not clear, however.
If calculations included high school dropout rates, which some estimate at 30 percent or more, the percentages of students
not proficient in reading and math likely would be much higher, Spellings said. Dropouts never even made it to 12th grade to be
tested.
’q-hat is a key point," Spellings said. "Then it’s even more humongous."
Spellings noted that the Bush administration’s push for accountability through No Child Left Behind has focused on the
lower grades and must move up to high schools.
A new focus on math and science, comparing completion rates of high schools and "national protocols in measurement" for
high schools is called for, Spellings said.
She also promised more accountability for preparing for college admissions and better use of technology in schools.
"We have spent $40 billion on technology in our schools; we have not harnessed the power of technology for teaching.
Why is that?" she asked.
Spellings had praise and good news for Florida despite the grim report issued from an arm of her own department.
This year, Congress is slated to reauthorize the 2002 No Child Left Behind lawthat requires every state to measure
students with the state’s choice of tests. They must report results by racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, disabilities and non-English
speaking subgroups.
If a school with high percentages of students from poor families doesnt do well enough in all subgroups, including yearly
gains, the school is subject to sanctions, including school transfers and private tutoring for some students.
So far, most Florida schools have not made the passing mark on the federal report. Even many not subject to sanctions are
failing the federal mark despite grades of A or B from the state.
Spellings said she has granted Florida permission to include individual student progress when calculating whether schools
pass the federal mark, starting this year. It is one of five states allowed to use that measure.
Page 241
Also on her list to improve No Child Left Behind, Spellings said, is a way to compare how well the private tutoring
companies contracted under the law are doing by measuring their students’ progress.
After meeting with the businessmen, Spellings visited science and computer classrooms at Tampa’s A-graded Dunbar
Magnet Elementary School, which passed the federal mark. There, she attended a short assembly where the gentle voices of the
school choir sang a song about peace.
Spellings met with several parents in the media center.
Teresa G. Mosley told Spellings how her children’s test scores have improved greatJy because of the laws extra tutoring.
"It’s No Child Left Behind, baby," Spellings told her.
Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069 at mbrown@tampatrib.com.
Page 242
[Nonresponsi]
............................. k~t-heilri e-m el-an e-[ ........................ J
Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Eve’s, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private-
Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young,
Subject: Lifeline to Low-Income Students (IHE)
Feb. 2 0
Lifeline to Low-Income Students

Inside Higher Ed
That low-income Americans are far less likely to go to college than their peers are is a
fact; less clear are the reasons why. But one oft-cited explanation is that potentia!
college students from !ower socioeconomic groups are either unaware of how much need-based
financial aid is available or intimidmted by the process of applying for federal student
aid.
In a memorable stunt at a news conference in September where she discussed the need to
simplify that process, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings unfavorably compared the
length and complexity of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (F~SA) to the
stanc~rd federal tax form, and the American Council on Education and the Lumina Foundmtion
for Education hmve begun an aggressive public service campaign aimed, in part, at lowering
low-income students’ fear factor in applying for federal aid.
"We bmve all this financial aid, but it doesn’t seem to be reaching the people who need it
most," says Bridget Terry Long, an associate professor of education and economics at
Hmrvard University, who has ~itten widely about college access. "A lot of people just
don’t understand how the system works. And there are lots of calls for simplication, but
what does that really mean?"
Long and some fel!ow researchers are taking an unconventiona! approach to the problem. The
experiment, which is aimed at lower-income people who here teenage or college-age children
or are potential college students themselves, seeks to gauge whether making it easier for
!ow- and moderate-income families to apply for financial aid improves their college-going
rates. What is unusual, however, is the research design -- offering taxpayers a painless
way to turn the information on their tax forms into a financial aid application -- and the
sponsor: H&R Block, the tax preparation company.
Here’s how the project, which involves researchers at Case Western Reserve University and
University of Toronto in addition to Long, works: Randomly selebted taxpayers with incomes
below $45,000 who seek help from their taxes from H&R Block offices in and around
Cleveland, Ohio, will be offered help filling out their FAFSA forms (a control group will
receive only a brochure with publicly available information about attending and paying for
college).
H&R Block’s tax preparers, working with software the company and the researchers jointly
created, will help transport the applicants’ tax information into the federal financial
aid form (more than half of the FAFSA information comes from the tax form), and help them
collect the information for, and complete, the rest of the form. The hypothesis is that
using tax data to automatically fill in a large number of answers to the 108 questions on
the financial aid form, and offering personml help in filling out the rest, will make the
FAFSA less daunting than it might otherwise be.
Next, company representatives, trained by the researchers, will give study participants
projections of how much state and federal finmncia! aid they may qualify for, and how far
that would go in covering the cost of attending selected colleges in the area. "~~hen we
finish that interview, we give them a piece of paper that says, based on the information
we’ve gathered today, here’s the tuition and here’s the aid you’d be eligible for," says
Page 243
Eric P. Bettinger, associate professor of economics at Case Western.
Over time, the researchers plan to collaborate with the Ohio Board of Regents and the
National Student Clearinghouse, which works with colleges to track enrollments and other
information, to monitor whether those who participate in the program (and their
children) are more likely to attend college, receive financial aid, and earn degrees thmn
are students in the control group. The results, they hope, will point the way to possible
ways to build on the approach, perhaps through arrangements in which federal tax
:information would automatically be shared with the Education Department for financial aid
purposes.
"This should certainly give us some information about at what point in the pathway could
we invest money and time and see results," Long says. "if we see there are families
jumping at the chance to have someone help them with their F~SA, that might be one way to
invest our resources. If we find that we don’t get much of a response at all, that may
tell us there aren’t as many problems with process as we thought, and we should invest in
grant size."
Identifying the Problem
Americans" access to higher education varies widely by class. The Secretary of Education’s
Commission on the Future of Higher Education cited this gap as a key problem facing
American colleges and universities, noting that "low-income high school graduates in the
top quartile on standardized tests attend college at the same rate as high-income high
schoo! graduates in the bottom quartile on the same tests. Only 36 percent of college-
qualified low-income students complete bachelor’s degrees within eight and a half years,
compared with 81 percent of high-income students."
(The picture isn’t much better for adults.)
That gap has been much on the minds of higher education policy makers and researchers -
and it also found its way onto the agenda of officials at H&R Block, for whom low- and
moderate income Americans make up about two-thirds of the company’s customers.
The company has an obvious self-interest in improving the financial situation (and assets)
of its customer base, but it also has what Bettinger, the Case Western economist, calls a
"strong public service orientation." That led H&R Block, working initially with the
Brookings Institution, to sponsor a series of randomized research projects in various
realms (other projects dea! with retirement savings and food stamps) aimed at finding
"’nationally scaleable" public policy solutions to under-researched problems affecting low
and moderate income families.
"’As cliched as it sounds, one reason we selected the FAFSA project is that education is
the foundation and the cornerstone for so much," says Jeremy White, vice president for
business development and outreach at H&R Block, which is now overseeing the five research
projects alone. "The idea of getting folks more information and then allowing them to make
an informed decision seemed like a good one to test out, and one that we’re uniquely
equipped to play a role in."
White and the researchers acknowledge that H&R Block is an atypica! sponsor of research.
But its involvement seems unlikely to raise the sorts of conflict of interest concerns
that some corporation-sponsored studies generate; H&R Block isn’t charging clients who
agree to have the company translate their tax data into the federa! financial aid form (in
fact, study participants actually get either a discount on tax preparation or a gift card
for their involvement).
White acknowledges, though, that a company benefits any time it can "provide an additional
service or product to a client," and that it is in H&R Block’s longterm interest if it can
help its customers find their way to college. "The more educated anyone is, the higher
their income, and the higher their income, the more freedom they have to start a savings
program, and to be on the road to asset building."
Like many research projects, it might be some time before the FAFSA research project
produces the sort of verifiable results that can shape public policy. But Case Western’s
Bettinger says he hopes that early results might give researchers some estimate of whether
increased likelihood of filling out that Fi~SA influenced whether participants were more
likely to enrol! in college next fal!, or the amount of financia! aid they received once
Page 244
there.
Despite the longterm curve for research results, the project’s impact, on a personal
level, may be felt much sooner. As the researchers trained H&R Block’s tax preparers to
help study participants with their financial aid forms, Long says, she could almost see
the light bulbs going off in their heads. "They clearly saw this as a no-brainer," Long
says. "One said to me, ~We could be doing a lot of good here.’ "
-- Doug Lederm~n
Be a PS3 g~e guru.

Get your game face on with the latest PS3 news and previews at Yahoo! Games.
http:!/videogames.yahoo.oom/platform?platform=120121
Page 245
NonresponsiI
J
scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby,
Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson;
Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Mesecar, Doug; Simon, Ray;
Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner,
Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Bush Fdends, Loyal and Texan, Remain a Force (NYT)
February 21, 2007

Bush Friends, Loyal and Texan, Remain a Force
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 -- Israel Hernandez was a fresh-faced college graduate from the Texas
border town of Eagle Pass in the summer of 1993 when he landed a job in Dallas as the
personal aide to the part-o~eller of the Texas Rangers George W. Bush.
Together, they spent months ctriving the dusty back roads of the Lone Star State to promote
the team, Mr.
Hernandez behind the wheel of Mr. Bush’s Lincoln Town Car.
"Me would speak to a rotary or chmmber and say, ’You need to come to the ballpark and
we’l! make it Athens, Texas, Day. We’l! put you in your own special section; we can say
~Welcome Athens, Texas,’ on the big screen; you can come to batting practice, ’’ Mr.
Hernandez recalled.
Today, after nearly 14 years in Mr. Bush’s employ, with a short break to get a master’s
degree, Mr.
Hernandez, 37, travels the world promoting free trade as an assistant secretary of
commerce. From his sun-drenched corner office, with its sweeping view of the Washington
Monument, he can sit at his desk and watch the presidential helicopter, Marine One, ferry
around the man to whom he owes his career.
"In mmny ways," Mr. Hernandez said of Mr. Bush, "’I feel like I have grown up with him."
He is not the only one. Six years into Mr. Bush’s presidency, the corps of loyal Texans
who accompanied him to Washington from Austin remains a powerful force inside the
a~ninistration, a steady source of comfort for an increasingly isolated president. No
matter how grim the polls or dire the news in Iraq, they have stood by Mr. Bush -- and
been rewarded with plum jobs -- as their lives have grown increasingly intertwined with
one another’s and with his.
"We’ve gotten mmrried, gotten remmrried, had babies,"

said Margaret Spellings, who was a single mother with two children when she followed Mr.
Bush to Washington and h ms since been promoted from a domestic policy adviser to secretary
of education. "I remember the Bush twins when they were just little squirts."
To hear these people talk about the president is to meet a man many Americans have either
forgotten or no longer recognize. Their George W. Bush is the compassionate conservative
who helped soften the harsh image of the Republican Party, a m~n who chokes up at going-
away parties, as he did last year for ~drew H.
Card Jr., his departing chief of staff; a man unafraid of giving promotions to openly gay
people, as he did with Mr. Hernmndez, and who always remembers to ask how the family is.
"There’s a lot of devotion to George Bush the person,"

said Clay Johnson, a prep school buddy of Mr. Bush who is now a deputy director of the
Office of Management and Budget.
Like another Bush devotee, the first President Bush, these Texans are increasingly angry
at criticism leveled at him. Karen Hughes, the communications adviser who famously went
back to Texas when her teenage son grew homesick but has since returned as an under
Page 246
secretary of state, says she is tired of seeing Mr. Bush treated as a "caricature."
Mr. Johnson says the most painful accusation is hearing Mr. Brtsh called a liar.
"I said, ’How in the world can you be considered a liar by some?’ " Mr. Johnson said,
recou!~ting a conversation with Hr. Bush. "’i mean, there are bumper stickers about lying.
It’s just incredible.’ ~d he said, ’Well, you’ve just got to get used to it.
Because that’s what we have here.’ "
Every president has his kitchen cabinet, the intimate and informa! circle of friends and
advisers who typically wind up with high-placed jobs. John F.
Kennedy installed his brother Robert at the Justice Department. Ronald Reagan brought
Edwin Meese III and Michael K. Dearer from California. Jimmy Carter hmd the so-called
Georgia H~fia: Jody Powell, Hmmilton Jordmn and Bert Lance.
But in a White House that prizes loyalty, the Texans stand out, in number, influence and
discretion. Those who have left remain supportive even if they have been nudged out the
door, as in the case of Harriet E.
Miers, the former White House counsel.
"’Loyalty and friendship" is one explanation, said Dan Bartlett, counse!or to the
president, who has spent 13 years -- nearly his entire adult life -- with Mr. Bush.
Another explanation, Mr. Bartlett said, is the war in Iraq, which "lengthened a lot of
people’s stay."
Scholars say Mr. Bush has been more strategic than most presidents in sprinkling loyalists
throughout the administration. Paul C. Light, an expert in public service at New York
University, says it has created an "echo chamber" in which the president gets advice he
wants to hear.
"It’s like these are George Bush’s political children that he’s raised from infancy," Mr.
Light said.
"They’re incredibly loyal, and they’re also likely to tell him what he thinks, and that’s
what we’ve seen as the big weakness in this administration."
The Texans, not surprisingly, disagree; they say their closeness to Mr. Bush frees them to
be candid.
Mr. Bartlett, 35, knows the president better than most. His job during Mr. Bush’s first
campaign for Texas governor was to research the candidate’s background, and he is today a
kind of walking presidential biographer, with details crammed into his brain of ~k. Bush’s
triumphs but also his travails, including his National Guard Service and his arrest for
drunken driving in 1976.
"I dealt with him directly at a very young age," Mr.

Bartlett said. "’I don’t even think twice about telling him what I think."
The Texas circle includes three cabinet officials -- Ms. Spellings, the education
secretary; Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez; and Alphonso R. Jackson, the secretary of
housing and urban development -- as well as some of the best-known names in Washington:
Kmrl Rove, the chief political strategist, Mr.
Bartlett and Ms. Hughes.
There are also lesser-knowns. Mr. Johnson, the deputy budget director, met Mr. Br~h in
1961 at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., when they were two 15-year-olds far from home.
Mr. Johnson later ran the governor’s personnel office in Austin; in Washington, he keeps a
George Bush doll on his desk and is one of the few people in town to have had the Bushes
at his home for dinner, motorcade, Secret Service and all.
Gordon D. Johndroe, once a $5-an-hour college intern in Austin, is today the chief
spokesman for the National Security Cotuncil. Mr. Johndroe learned the art of dealing with
reporters by literally sitting at the president’s knee on the f!oor of the eight-seat Bush
campaign plane in 2000, monitoring the governor’s interviews.
"My job," he said, "was, ’Let us know if he makes any news. Let Z~ren know or call back to
Dan Bartlett, who was in Austin.’ _And I was able to do that because I had listened to him
Page 247
speak so much. I knew when he said something new. "
Among the benefits to being an old Texas friend of the president is access: the
invitations to Camp David, to dinner and movies at the White House, to Mr. Bush’s annual
July 4 birthdmy bash. Ms. Hughes remains a regular dinner companion, most recently at a
smal! White House gathering for Vaclav Havel, the former president of the Czech Republic.
Among the downsides is being ridiculed as a crony. Ms.
l~iers, who met Mr. Bush when she ran the Texas Bar Association, was excoriated by
lawmakers who deemed her unqualified when Hr. Bush nominated her to the Supreme Court.
Still, she calls her association with the president "one of the great blessings of my
life."
l~r. Hernandez, who is so close to the Bushes thmt he moved in with them in Dallas after
his apartment was burglarized, has been the subject of news articles suggesting that the
president dubbed him Altoids Boy, a reference to his duties dispensing Altoids mints to
Mr. Bush during their Texas travels.
"! hate that," Mr. Hernandez said. "He doesn’t call me Altoids Boy. He calls me Izzy."
Two years ago, the online edition of The New Republic, a liberal magazine, singled out Hr.
Hernandez as a member of the Bush "hackocracy. "
But sitting in his corner office the other day, recounting his trave! this past year to
Peru, China, Vietnam and Panama, Mr. Hernandez -- who in his Department of Commerce job
supervises 1,600 employees in 80 countries -- had the finml word.
Hr. Bush, he said, is simply giving him an opportunity to show whmt he can do.
"Everyone has their own journey, their own story, " he said. "I fee! like I climbed this
mountain with the president, and I’m getting a chance. "
TV dinner stil! cooling?

Check out "Tonight’s Picks" on Yahoo~ TV.
http://tv.yahoo, com/
Page 248
iNonresponsi]
Samara
Subject: Perry’s Higher Education Plan Praised (AAS TX)
Perry’s Higher Education Plan Praised (AAS TX)

By Ralph KM. Haurwitz
Austin American-Statesman, February 20, 2007
A senior federal official calls governor’s plan for more aid, incentives and accountability ’a bold step.’
Gov. Rick Perry’s proposal to increase financial aid, require exit exams and hold colleges and universities financially
accountable for students’ performance has been given a strong endorsement by a top federal education official.
Sara Martinez Tucker, undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education, said no other state has put forward a plan as
comprehensive as Perry’s.
’1 think Texas is taking a bold step, and I’m really proud of my home state for doing this," Tucker said in an interview last
week with the American-Statesman.
A native of Laredo, Tucker has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas. She delivered the
commencement address at her alma mater in 2005.
Confirmed in December by the Senate for the No. 3 position in the Education Department, she is Secretary Margaret
Spellings’ point person for implementing the recommendations of the secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
The panel, of which Tucker was a member during her previous job as president and chief executive of the Hispanic
Scholarship Fund, issued a report last year recommending some of the same initiatives that Perry is proposing.
’qhere was a lot there that we liked," she said of the governor’s plan. "There’s a lot of similarity with our commission report.
Number one, holding schools accountable and ensuring taxpayers are getting a return on their investment in higher education.
Also, simplifying financial aid and making access (to aid) easier and holding out incentives for academic rigor."
Perry could face a rough ride in pursuing his recommendations. The broad outlines have won praise from higher education
leaders, especially his call to boost state appropriations by nearly 8 percent, or $712 million, for 2008-09. But some lawmakers
oppose his plan to eliminate most "special items," the extra money doled out for favorite programs or to boost overall excellence
at newer, less established campuses in South Texas.
Some lawmakers and higher education leaders are also leery about Perry’s plan to add strings to financial aid programs.
For example, three major grants, ’#nich now do not have to be repaid, would be consolidated into a new program under which
students would have to pay back the aid at zero interest if they didnt graduate on time. Perry would also require students to
maintain a 3.0 grade point average to continue receiving aid, up from the current 2.5 minimum.
Critics say such repayment and grade rules could harm low-income and minority students, who enroll and graduate at
lower rates than their white and more affluent counterparts.
Tucker disagreed.
"1 think it’s a good deal," she said. "To the extent we put a carrot out for students, I think Texas will be very surprised at the
outcome."
She’s also comfortable with Perry’s proposal to require an exit exam for each student earning a bachelor’s degree.
A low score would not prevent a student from graduating. However, colleges, which would be financially rewarded for each
student who graduated, would get even more funding when students did well on the test, when students from low-income
families or otherwise deemed at-risk graduated and when students majored in so-called critical fields such as math and science.
Tucker is facing her own challenges as an architect and promoter of the Bush administration’s efforts to revamp and
simplify the federal financial aid system, persuade colleges to be more open about their spending practices, revise the college-
accreditation system and make other changes.
Page 249
For instance, a centerpiece of the plan is President Bush’s proposal to raise the maximum Pell grant, a major source of
need-based aid, to $5,400 a year from $4,050. The proposal has prompted considerable debate because of howthe president
would pay for the $19.8 billion increase in Pell aid.
Bush wants Congress to cut fees for lenders in the government’s guaranteed loan program to cover the bulk of the cost,
and he wants to eliminate the Perkins loan program and the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program, which
augments Pell grants.
It’s not clear whether Congress will authorize such changes. Lawmakers rejected his efforts to cut various aid programs
twice in the past, and that was before Democrats took control of both houses of Congress.
Tucker acknowledged that, with two years let~ in Bush’s term, there isn’t much time to push through the changes in higher
education policy the administration is seeking.
She’s a tad jealous of what she regards as somewhat brighter prospects for change in Texas.
"1 wish I were queen of Texas instead of swimming upstream here," Tucker said.
rhaurwitz@statesman.com; 445-3604
Page 250
Nonresponsive
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill;
Samara
Subject: No Child Left Behind Needs Flexibility To Be Useful To Good Schools (WNJ DE)
No Child Left Behind Needs Flexibility To Be Useful To Good Schools (WNJ DE)
Wilmin,qton (DE) News Journal, February 18, 2007
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings visited a Georgia middle school. AP
Delaware public schools had their problems - and still have them - despite our system’s national reputation for positive
innovations.
Nonetheless, almost a decade before the federal No Child Lett Behind Act laid down markers for school improvement,
Delaware was identifying students who were shortchanged and pushing instructors to gain competence and enrich curriculum.
Frustrations with No Child Lett Behind run coast to coast. The big themes are rigid and unfair targets based on test scores,
insufficient money to fulfill mandates, availability of qualified teachers, and getting useful data that help schools work smarter with
the children they’ve got.
In Delaware and elsewhere, friction also arises when Washington’s regulations -- or lack thereof- become a drag on good
ideas.
The good news is that the goals of No Child Left Behind are taken seriously here. The results are uneven. Black, Hispanic
and poor children do well in some outstanding schools, though an achievement gap persists. Special-education students get
caught in a bind of being judged by standard tests regardless of their capabilities or progress. High schoolers of all kinds fall short
in reading and math.
The complaints are legitimate and solvable with adjustments on the federal, state and local sides.
Congress will take up reauthorization of the 5-year-old education law with important suggested modifications. U.S.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has been persuaded to allow more flexibility and sample projects. Delaware is a model
in one key area this year. measuring individual students’ gains against what they knew when they started, rather than just
monitoring groups and categories of kids.
The federal administration also proposes adding money for teacher training, research-based curriculum and data tracking.
It’s willing to allow school districts to transfer funds to suit local needs. High schools with low-income students would get more
funds too.
Most controversially, the government proposes "scholarships" -- that is, vouchers -- of as much as $3,000 to parents if their
home schools fail and they wish to enroll children in tutoring or a different public or private school. It also wants the ability to get
around collective-bargaining contracts so failed schools could reassign teachers.
The fight will be over the last two ideas. There’s much practical good and common ground in the rest. For states such as
Delaware, these are tools to build on good intentions.
Page 251
Nonresponsi
Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara MaRine.z;
Sam ara
Subject: School Officials Resisting Federal Reading-Test Rule (WP)
School Officials Resisting Federal Reading-Test Rule (WP)

The Washinqton Post, February 18, 2007
In Diane Scott’s language a~ts class at Seneca Ridge Middle School in Sterling, students are learning how to use adjectives
to liven up sentences and how to connect sentences to make a paragraph.
The federal government is pressuring the state to give those students, most of them recent immigrants trying to grasp the
building blocks of English, the same standardized reading test as the one administered to native English speakers in their grade.
But Scott, along with Loudoun County school administrators, argues that it is too soon for the recent arrivals to be evaluated with
their classmates.
Sharon D. Ackerman, the school system’s assistant superintendent for instruction, recommended last week that the School
Board defy federal requirements and continue to administer a different test to students with limited English proficiency. The
federal No Child Le~ Behind law requires schools to give such students the same standardized tests that their peers take unless
they have been in the country less than a year.
If the School Board approves Ackerman’s recommendation, Loudoun will follow a path taken in recent weeks by school
boards in Fairfax, Arlington and Prince William counties and in Harrisonburg, further solidifying a block of opposition to a law that
many say sets immigrant students up for failure.
The rift goes to the heart of a national debate about howto evaluate the progress of the country’s fastest-growing student
population, those learning English as a second language.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and other federal officials have argued that students with limited English will be
held to low expectations if they are not judged by the same standards as their classmates. Critics of the federal policy argue that
uniform standards can sometimes be unreasonable.
’qhe main issue is, what is appropriate [for] testing kids who have been in the country for two years or less?" Ackerrnan
said. "It’s about fundamental fairness to kids."
There are 4,000 English as a Second Language students in Loudoun, and the debate involves about 250, those enrolled in
the first two levels of ESL classes. Students at higher levels are given the grade-level standardized test.
Research shows it takes two to five years to become proficient in a new language and five to seven years to be competent
enough to learn content, Ackerman said.
But School Board member J. Warren Geurin (Sterling) said the abilities of students with limited English skills should not be
assumed.
"Rather than say we know these kids cannot pass the test [and] therefore we will not give it to them.., let’s test them and
see. Maybe they will do better than we think," he said. If they don"[ do well, "then we can figure out how to improve" their
instruction.
Geurin has drafted a counter-resolution that says the county should follow the federal requirement.
’I do not want to see us... say we dont like the law, so we are not going to worry about abiding by the law," he said.
Scott said many of her beginning students are focused on the basics of communication and survival. She said it would be
overwhelming for them to take a test they cant understand.
"From the perspective of someone in the trenches, it’s probably not the best approach," she said.
The test the state currently uses for such students, the Stanford English Language Proficiency test, works well to gauge
language proficiency and to measure improvement, Scott said.
Page 252
But last summer the U.S. Department of Education disallowed the use of that test as a substitute for the Standards of
Learning exam.
The state applied for a year-long extension to find another solution and learned last month that its request had been
denied.
If Loudoun defies the federal requirement, some schools probably will not meet federal testing benchmarks because their
testing participation rate will be too low, county school officials said. But if the county complies and administers the SOL tests to
students with limited English skills, schools will have trouble meeting required pass rates.
’You’re damned if you do and damned if you dont," Geurin said.
Either way, such schools would be judged as failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP). Under the No Child Left
Behind law, schools that fail to make AYP can eventually face sanctions such as corrective action by the state.
It is unclear when the School Board will take up the issue. The board’s curriculum and instruction committee did not reach a
consensus at its meeting Tuesday, and its next meeting is March 6. The item is not listed on the agenda for the full board
meeting next week.
Page 253
[Nonresponsi~
Samara
Subject: Va. Raps No Child Testing Rules (AP)
Va. Raps No Child Testing Rules (AP)

By Zinie Chen Sampson
AP, February 20, 2007
RICHMOND, Va. -- Officials in some high-immigrant school districts are threatening to defy a federal law that requires all
children to take the same reading tests, even those struggling to learn English.
This month, the U.S. Department of Education threatened sanctions against Virginia _ including the possibility of
withholding fi.lnds _ if the state doesn’t enforce the provision, which is part of the No Child Let~ Behind law.
The Virginia Department of Education had sought an exemption for another year, contending that the rule is unfair.
Immigrants who have been in the U.S. a short time "are simply unable to take a test written in English and produce results
that are meaningful in any way," said Donald J. Ford, superintendent of the Harrisonburg city school division.
The federal government denied the state’s request, saying Virginia has known about the act’s guidelines for some time and
have had time to prod schools into compliance.
The five-year-old federal law is scheduled to be rewritten this year, and lawmakers have said they will try to change the
rules for recent immigrants and special-education students. The aim is to inject more common sense into the law wh~e sticking
with its promise to leave no child behind his or her peers.
Of Harrisonburg’s 4,400 students, 39 percent are English learners, and nearly 750 of them are classified as beginners,
school officials said. Most of the immigrants are Hispanic, and others are Russian and Kurdish. The Shenandoah Valley city has
many immigrants who work in poultry plants.
School boards in Harrisonburg and the Washington suburbs of Fairfax, Prince William, and Arlington counties have recently
signaled their intent to defy the No Child Left Behind mandates, and others are considering following suit.
Those boards have passed resolutions saying they will continue to evaluate all students’ reading proficiency, but will only
administer the state’s grade-level Standards of Learning tests to students who have an adequate grasp of English, as
determined by teachers and staff. Several school divisions said they will continue using an alternate test to measure progress in
non-native English speakers.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Virginia is "dragging its feet" and called the testing provision, the law’s
Standards Clause, a necessary measure to counter "the sot~ bigotry of low expectations." In a Feb. 4 letter to The Washington
Post, Spellings said: "It’s time to remember that yes, Virginia, there is a Standards Clause."
Spelling’s comments incensed school division officials.
"We’re all so angry," said Arlington County School Board chairwoman Libby Garvey. She called the required test a "painful
and humiliating experience" for children who havent grasped English.
Similar disagreements will arise in other states that have many students who aren’t proficient in English, said Reggie
Felton, lobbyist for the National School Boards Association. The association has asked that the federal education department
grant each state flexibility "for real-life situations to ensure that the test is valid and reliable for each student."
In Arizona, where there are many Latino immigrants, school officials also are grappling with testing language learners.
"We believe that English language-learner students come to school with different levels of competency," said Panfilo
Contreras, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association. "They may not be proficient in their o~q language, let
alone English."
The issue is part of a larger debate over the law, which seeks to have all students, regardless of race, poverty or disability,
proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014.
Page 255
Nonresponsive!
Samara
Subject: Bipartisan Coalition Pushes For Education Reform (Politico)
Bipartisan Coalition Pushes For Education Reform (Politico)

By Andrew Glass
Politico, February 20, 2007
Business and civic leaders, worried about the poor preparation U.S. public schools are giving students to compete in the
21st century"s global economy, have forged a bipartisan coalition to press for broad education reforms. Some of the first fruits of
their new partnership are scheduled to be shown on Feb. 28, when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for American
Progress plan to unveil their joint platform for change. The project has been in the works since last April.
Their common initiative comes in the wake of a nationwide poll the chamber conducted on how the business community
assesses the American education system. In response to one key question, 87 percent of the 571 business organizations that
answered the online survey said the current No Child Left Behind requirements should extend all the way through high school.
To qualify for federal subsidies, the law, enacted in 2001, requires public schools to annually measure the reading and
math skill levels of students in grades three through eight and at least once in high school.
"It absolutely shocked me when I got those results back," said Jacque Johnson, executive director of education and
workforce development at the chamber. "They revealed that there’s wide support out there for taking action. There’s a pre-
election window that’s open to extend the provisions with a target date for action in May or June, but that window is likely to close
next year if nothing is done."
On Feb. 13, a "Commission on No Child Left Behind," sponsored by the Aspen Institute, released its own blueprint for what
Congress should do. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said that report, in laying out needed adjustments, reflects "the
broad, bipartisan commitment to improving our nation’s schools that was behind" the original legislation.
"It was a good optic," Johnson said of the commission’s news conference, which Spellings attended. All four major
congressional players were there, which Johnson took to be a positive sign. They are Sen. Edward M Kennedy, D-Mass.,
chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the
House Education and Labor Committee; and their respective ranking members, Sen. Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyo., and Rep. Buck
McKeon, R-Calif.
’qhe key people on the Hill want it (the reauthorization) to be bipartisan," Johnson added.
For next week’s launch of the education reform initiative, the chamber and the center are presenting their top guns:
Thomas J. Donohue, the chambeCs veteran president and CEO, and John D. Podesta, the center’s president and CEO who was
former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff. In addition to releasing the reform proposals, the two groups plan to grade all 50
state education programs, plus that of the District of Columbia, from kindergarten through 12th grade. The idea is to gauge how
well today’s students are being prepared for tomorrow’s jobs.
"We will not rank them," Johnson said, referring to the analysis, which is called "Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State
Report Card on Educational Effectiveness." Johnson said the "report card" would cover nine specific areas, including "academic
achievement, the rigor of its academic standards, post-secondary workforce readiness and, somewhat uniquely, a business-
oriented took at ’return on investment.’"
Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, acted as a
third partner in preparing the analysis. In 2004, he published "Common Sense School Reform" (Palgrave MacMillan). His book
begins: "School reform is the province of utopians, apologists, and well-intended practitioners who inhabit a cloistered world
where conviction long ago displaced competence."
"My views haven’t changed in the last three years," said Hess, who holds a doctorate in government from Harvard.
Page 256
He’ll be joined in a panel discussion on Feb. 28 by Cynthia G. Brown, director of education policy for the Podesta-led
center, and Ulrich Boser, a contributing editor at U.S. News and World Report. Arthur J. Rothkopf, a senior vice president at the
chamber who was President George H.W. Bush’s deputy secretary of transportation, will moderate the discussion; he recently
retired as president of Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.
Page 257
lNonresponsi]
Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy Young;
Samara
Subject: NY coverage: NY1, NYP
Officials Praise Success Of No Child Left Behind Act At Manhattan School (NY1)
NY1, February 15, 2007
The push for renewal of the federal No Child Left Behind law came to New York Thursday.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein joined Education Secretary Margaret Spellings at Public School 210 in Washington Heights,
an elementary school Klein praised for its students’ strong results on reading and math tests.
The students have small classes and study in English and Spanish.
’’you hold yourselves to high standards, every kid at [P.S.] 210 is on his or her way to college, and you’re pushing
yourselves forward every year," said Klein. "And I’m looking hard at your performance."
"For the majority of students who are U.S.-bom, is it a reasonable expectation, I would argue that it very much is, that by
the time they get to the end of the third grade they have facility and proficiency in English," said Spelling.
The No Child Left Behind law holds states to strict standards on how students must do on reading and math tests.
Spellings says the rules also apply to children who speak a language other than English at home.
Joel Klein Rules! (NYPress)

New York Press., February 16, 2007
None of the school bus craziness and calls for the firing of Schools Chancellor Joel Klein appear to have made a dent in
Washington. According to Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings (pictured), New York schoolchildren are lucky to have him.
Spellings visited PS/I S 210 in Washington Heights today with Klein. While there, she took the time to let anyone who cared
to listen just how awesome she thinks Klein is and how great of a job he’s done with the City’s schools.
"You all are so lucky to have a chancellor, a leader in this community who is so committed to you all, the young people of
this C~ty, that he would give his very strong intellectual and leadership skills...this is a man who could be doing anything, and he
is a person who is serving our young people, and the young people of the City, and we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude,"
said Spellings, who asked for the crowd to give a round of applause to Klein.
Surely those parents who have lost bus service for their children would like to give Klein something.
Page 258
~l~nresponsi!
Samara
Subject: Schools Strive For ’No Parent Left Behind’ (CSM)
"...Other reasons for low transfer and tutoring rates cited by vadous experts include a lack of better performing schools into
which students could transfer; a strong desire to stay in neighborhood schools; and poor communication with parents about
tutoring options.
The US Department of Education acknowledges the need for improvements in these areas. "There are about 1,800
schools today ... in this chronic underperformance category," said Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings in a conference call
last month unveiling proposed changes to NCLB, which is up for reauthorization in Congress this year. "We all have to answer
the question ... what are we gonna do about that? No Child Left Behind must be a promise that is lived out and met for these
families."
Her proposals include providing more money for supplemental services for students who live in rural areas, have
disabilities, or are learning English - three groups that have been particularly underserved. "Promise Scholarships" would give an
additional $2,500 to $3,000 to eligible students to help them to transfer to better public schools (even outside their district) or
private schools, or to receive intensive tutoring.
Federal education officials are planning to visit 14 districts to focus attention on parental involvement and supplemental
services."
Schools Strive For ’No Parent Lett Behind’ (CSM)

By Stacy A. Teicher, Staff Writer Of The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor, February 15, 2007
Public schools facing pressure to perform are working to help parents be more engaged in their children’s educations.
With schools increasingly held accountable for the performance of every student, the demand to partner with parents has
intensified. School plays and fundraisers supported by morns, dads, and grandparents are still staples of American public
schools. But in the spirit of "it takes a village," families now might find such activities paired with a workshop on test-prep or a
briefing on how to read state accountability reports.
When "no child left behind" became the mantra of federal education officials five years ago, it was touted as a way to
empower parents to ensure their children received a good education. If schools are chronically failing academically, children can
receive tutoring or transfer. But there have been barriers to parents taking advantage of those offers. In 2003-04, only 1 percent
of eligible students chose to transfer, and only 19 percent participated in supplemental services such as tutoring, according to a
recent report by Appleseed, a nonprofit organization in Washington.
Such escape ~’alves give parents leverage, but it’s perhaps more important for family members to be brought in as allies as
local schools plan improvement, experts say.
’q-he revolution of [the No Child Lelt Behind Act] is it really institutionalized parent involvement in schools in a way that
says, ~(our contribution is more than just sending your kids and baking cookies,’ "says Edwin Darden, director of education
policy at Appleseed. But, he adds, "there’s a long way to go in terms of parents really understanding fully what the rights and the
opportunities are of No Child Left Behind." The vision of the law, the group reported, "remains unfulfilled."
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) actually requires schools that need improvement to ir~orm and involve parents in their
strategies, but federal and state monitors haven’t been paying much attention to that part of the law, says Anne Henderson, a
senior fellow at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and coauthor of"Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to
Family-School Partnerships."
Parents tend to have widely varied interactions with school staff, partly because of factors such as their socioeconomic
Page 259
background or ability to speak English, Ms. Henderson says. For white, middle-class parents, it’s generally easier to walk into a
school and advocate for a child to take particular classes to be on track for college. For low-income, less-educated families, "they
don’t know ’educationese’.... There are class and cultural differences that make it difficult for them to relate easily and
comfortably to school staff- and school staff may look down on those families," she says.
When Baruti Kafele, principal of Newark Tech high school in New Jersey, hears educators lamenting that certain groups of
parents just won’t get involved, he tells them, "That is an excuse, and it is unacceptable."
The author of"A Black Parent’s Handbook to Educating Your Children (Outside of the Classroom)," Mr. Kafele is often
called upon to give talks to parents and educators. One creative solution he heard about at a school in Charlotte, N.C.: The staff
took a bus tour of the communities the students live in, mostly impoverished areas where the teachers generally didn’t venture.
"Until you get into the community, you don’t even know the child ....You can’t fear the student, nor the community, nor the
parent," he says.
Parent-teacher partnerships
Research shows that students do better when teachers and parents get past their misunderstandings and work together.
Henderson mentions one study of schools with large portions of low-income students, for example, which found that when
teachers did a three-part outreach - getting to know families, sending home assignments that parents could do with kids, and
phoning routinely to talk about students’ progress - there was a 40 to 50 percent faster rate of student improvement in reading
and math.
Monique Taylor is the kind of parent who doesn’t have much time to attend group meetings at school, but she appreciates
that her daughter’s teachers talk to her about any concerns.
"When she was kind of dropping in her reading, you know, they gave me a call, and between me and her teachers, we kept
with her," she says as she’s picking tip her fiSh-grade daughter, Amira Patterson, at the Maurice J. Tobin school in Boston. Soon
mother and daughter will be attending orientation for a summer program that Amira’s teachers suggested, to help the family plan
for college.
Even this school, which tries hard to connect with parents, finds it difficult at times to keep them engaged in broader
decisionmaking, say staff members who attend a monthly parent-council meeting at Tobin. About 15 parents usually attend, but
on this frigid February night, the staff sat for nearly an hour munching on a dinner that’s provided, waiting in vain for any parent to
show up.
Approaches to involving parents at school
A state legislator in Texas, frustrated by what he sees as parents’ lack of engagement, is taking a hard-nosed approach.
Rep. Wayne Smith (R) proposed a law recently that would fine parents for failing to showup at a parent-teacher conference
without a legitimate excuse. Schools would have to send a certified letter proposing three dates for the meeting.
Organizations like the National PTA, on the other hand, prefer the carrot to the stick. It has designated this week as its
second annual Take Your Family to School Week. Hundreds of parent-teacher associations responded with ideas ranging f]om a
parent-teacher basketball match to parents shadowing their children in abbreviated classes.
One bright note as awareness on this issue grows: The percent of parents who participated in a general school meeting
rose fiom 75 percent in t993 to 85 percent in 2003, according to a recent report by the national Center for Education Statistics.
By the time students are in high school, it’s particularly difficult to get parents to participate, says Michelle Walden,
president of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Central High School in Capitol Heights, Md., a participant in the "family"
week.
"A lot of the parents just truly don’t know" of the activities going on, she says. Sometimes they refuse to be on e-mail lists
because they’re unsure what kind of e-mails they’ll receive, or their kids forget to give them announcements. "A lot of them are
kind of like, ’1 don’t get involved,’ unless it relates directly to them," she says.
When it comes to giving parents options if schools are failing, one key is for them to receive clearer and more timely
information.
,-ihe Appleseed study looked at reports on school performance that go out to parents and found "some that were, fi’ankly,
truly awful," Mr. Darden says; they were packed with statistics and jargon. "A parent shouldn’t have to pick up the phone to ask
someone to decode [the report]," he says.
Work still to be done
Other reasons for low transfer and tutoring rates cited by various experts include a lack of better performing schools into
which students could transfer; a strong desire to stay in neighborhood schools; and poor communication with parents about
tutoring options.
The US Department of Education acknowledges the need for improvements in these areas. "There are about 1,800
schools today ... in this chronic underperformance category," said Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings in a conference call
Page 261
~Nonresponsiv!
scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey;, Colby,
Subject: A ’Surge’ Strategy For No Child Left Behind? (EDWEEK)
A ’Surge’ Strategy For No Child Left Behind? (EDWEEK) By John Merrow Education Week,
Februmry 14, 2007 Stay the course? Surge? Or rethink the mission? Those familiar questions
are being asked again, but not about Iraq. This time around, they are domestic-policy
questions, because President Bush’s signature education legislation, the No Child Left
Behind Act, comes up for reauthorization in 2007.
But the parallel with Iraq is oddly appropriate. The No Child Left Behind Act h~s created
an upheaval in American public education. It’s had myriad consequences, positive,
negative, and unintended. Its critics say that the 5-year-old law is replacing a bad
system with one that’s equally oppressive, the tyranny of multiple-choice testing and a
nmrrow curriculum.
No Child Left Behind even has its own version of the Iraq Study Group that former
Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton chaired.
This national group, the Conu~ission on No Child Left Behind, hms as its chairs two former
governors, Roy E.
Barnes of Georgia and Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin.
But unlike "Baker-HAmilton," its report is endorsing a "surge" strategy of more federal
:involvement, more testing, and greater reliance on test scores. The commission, which was
scheduled to issue its final recommendations this week, is calling for national standards
and nmtional tests, two related notions that have been anathemm to most Republicans and
mmny Democrats. Even though participation would be voluntary, states that chose not to
participate would stil! be measured, publicly, against those that did.
~d while the No Child Left Behind law calls for publicly identifying failing schools, the
Barnes-Thompson report goes beyond that to recommend identifying individual teachers whose
students are not learning.
Does this "surge" strategy make sense? It’s worth recalling the legislation’s history. The
No Child Left Behind Act began with bipartisan optimism, thanks largely to President Bush,
Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., in the Senate, and George Miller, D-Calif., in the House. It’s
quite possible that George W. Bush’s great contribution to ~erican society may be the
memorable phrase "the soft bigotry of low expectations." The expression captures perfectly
the hidden flaw in public education, pre-Bush: Because expectations matter, not expecting
the best of all children is bigotry, pure and simple. By repeating this powerful insight
at every opportunity, candidate and later President Bush made it impossible to ignore.
That led directly to the No Child Left Behind Act, which set ambitious goals: fully
qualified teachers in every classroom by 2006, and all children achieving at or above
proficiency by 2014. It established sanctions, including the possibility that failing
schools would be closed. But it also allowed states to set their o~ standards and choose
their own measuring instruments.
It’s painful to note that the No Child Left Behind Act has been responsible for increasing
the "soft bigotry’
that the bipartisan coalition hoped the law would eliminate. Because it demands that
students demonstrate rudimentary math and English skills, and because education does
testing on the cheap, we’re witnessing the narrowing of the curriculum and a dramatic
increase in simplistic machine-scored, multiple-choice testing~recisely at a time when
the world economy demands not only higher skills but also different ones.
Pressure on schools to make what the law calls "adequate yearly progress" and avoid
sanctions has led to the narrowing of the curriculum. Science, art, music, history, and
physical education are disappearing, while math and English have been "dumbed down." A
veteran English teacher in a low-income school in Virginia told "’The NewsHour with Jim
Lehrer": "We used to spend time reading novels. I would love to do that, but now I need to
spend my time focused on the bare necessities, those things thmt I know will be tested."
A veteran special education teacher in Maryland wrote that, because her school had failed
Page 262
to make AYP for the second year in a row and was at risk of being shut down, teachers
there were now teaching to the test.
Clearly distraught, she wrote, "In teaching to the test, I am afraid thmt we are raising a
nation of idiots who may be able to pass standardized assessments without being able to
think."
Mmtters are worst in low-income schools, where parents are relatively (or genuinely)
powerless and pressures are greatest to close what’s generally referred to as "the
achievement gap." Schools for the poor are often dreary institutions with heavy emphasis
on repetitive instruction, because the goal is passing the test, not genuine education.
One veteran middle school math teacher put into words what was observably true:
"They’ve got to pass the test. Some of the kids aren’t going to learn all the concepts,
but if they h~ve some of the strategies, they stall can pass."
A teacher in a wealthy community---think Larchmont, N.Y.; Greenwich, Conn.; McLean, Va.;
Winnetka, !11.; or Palo Alto, Calif.---who expressed that view or taught that way would be
out of a job within a week, and perhaps by sundown.
But don’t put the blame on educators. The fault lies with our miserly, backward-thinking
approach to testing and assessment. Public education does testing on the cheap. In the
report "P~rgins of Error: The Education Testing Industry in the No Child Left Behind Era,"
Thomas Toch of the Washington-based group Education Sector estimates that state spending
on No Child Left Behind-related testing was less than $750 million last year, out of a
total K-12 spending of more than $500 billion. In other words, for every $I00 we spend on
K-12 education, we devote 15 cents to testing and measuring. Even Massachusetts, which
takes its responsibility as seriously as any state in the union, only devotes less than 1
percent of its education dollars to testing.
By contrast, chemical-engineering companies spend at least 3 percent or 4 percent on
research and evaluation, according to M. Blouke Carus, a chemical engineer who is better
known for developing the Open Court reading program and, with his wife, Marianne, the
Cricket, Ladybug, and Spider magazines for children. And the pharmaceutica! giant Bristol-
Myers Squibb spends 16 percent of its revenue on research and testing.
Imagine the outrage if Toyota, Gerber, Heinz, or Hartz Mountain spent only a fraction of a
percent of their revenue testing the products they want the public to use.
The No Child Left Behind law has actually undermined earlier efforts by some states,
including Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, and Oregon, to deve!op sophisticated
tests that include analytic essays, research papers, science inquiries, complex
mathematical problems, and projects. Citing the law, the U.S. Department of Education has
" e nc ou r a ge d"
these states to abandon the complex parts of their assessments in favor of off-the-shelf
multiple-choice tests. ~ryland and some other states complied, Nebraska fought back and
seems to have gotten its system approved, and Connecticut has sued.
By aiming too low, the No Child Left Behind Act is endangering our economic future. It is
becoming increasingly clear that any job that can be outsourced will be. Princeton
University economist Alan Blinder has observed that the key to survival in the American
economy will not be the n~er of years of education completed (as has been true), but the
kind of education one receives. Train for jobs that cannot be off-shored (doctor or
plumber), he advises, or become creative and adaptable, because that will empower you to
create jobs and job opportunities.
What should be done about No Child Left Behind? A group called the New Commission on the
Skills of the American Workforce is calling for a "far-reaching redesign" of ~erican
public education, including merit pay for performance, national negotiations for teacher
contracts, and allowing independent contractors to run public schools. ("U.S. Urged to
Reinvent Its Schools," Dec. 20, 2006.) In a culture in which government institutions
change slowly, these sweeping demands n~y relegate this important report to the bookshelf,
to gather dust with hundreds of other nationa! commission reports. But even if those
changes were to come to pass, they would not save the No Child Left Behind law.
Neither would the changes some superintendents are asking for, such as more time to reach
proficiency, greater incentives to succeed, or waivers for students with special needs.
That’s tinkering at the margins.
In August, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings compared No Child Left Behind to
Ivory soap, calling it "99.9 percent pure." Her new mantra--~’mend it, but don’t end it"-
also falls short, because the law needs more than a simple repair job. And Democrats in
Congress say the administration’s call for vouchers is "’dead on arrival."
Because of No Child Left Behind, teachers are teaching to the test. That would not be a
bad thing if the curriculum were sufficiently challenging, so that passing the tests
demanded a convincing demonstration of clear thinking, creativity, and mastery. The exams
Page 263
that students in International Baccalaureate programs have to pass are all these things,
and IB faculty members quite properly "teach to the test."
But the "No Child" tests and the typical public school curriculum aim too low. Schools
need integrated approaches to curriculum, like Seeds and Roots, which integrates literacy
and science for early-elementary students, and high school courses in economics such as
those advocated by the National Fotundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.
Challenging curriculum is available, but setting the bar higher isn’t sufficient. Because
testing drives curriculum, more money and energy must be devoted to developing
sophisticated testing instruments. But that would create another problem--education
doesn’t have enough sophisticated test-makers. Where are they?
They’re probably working for Hartz Mountain, Squibb, Gerber, and other companies that
spend serious money on evaluation.
"Will this be on the test?" Teachers have grown accustomed to hearing that question from
their students, but, ironically, they’re the ones now doing the asking, largely because of
the No Child Left Behind Act. That perversion of education has to be addressed.
As the law enters its sixth year, "staying the course"
would be disastrous for public education and, eventually, American society. But a "surge"
strategy won’t save the No Child Left Behind Act either.
Washington insiders say there’s no rush to reauthorize the law, particularly with a
presidential campaign already under way. We ought to use the time to debate the kind of
education we want for our children, an opportunity that should not be missed.
John Merrow is the education correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS and a
visiting scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, at Stanford
University.
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Page 264
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J~t~ 1i ~ifl 8]~ii ~!~ ........................
(b)( ~e°n~: .............................
Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private -
Subject: IntoThe Lamb’s Den (IHE)
Into The Lamb’s Den (iHE)

By Doug Lederman
Inside Higher Ed, February 14, 2007
Relations between the U.S. Education Department and college leaders have growth
increasingly strained in recent weeks. Accreditors and higher ed association types have
warily watched the department’s aggressive efforts to carry out the recommendations of its
Commission on the Future of Higher Education through possible changes in the rules
governing accreditation.
.And the Bush administration’s proposal last week to increase the maximum Pell Grant by
killing several other student aid programs has had many academic leaders and college
groups spewing venom in private and challenging the administration in public, drawing
sometimes testy responses from department officials and, notably, from Charles Miller, who
led the Spellings Commission and seems to relish the "bad cop"
role.
So Tuesday, when Sara Martinez Tucker, the U.S. under secretary of education who has
become the department’s point person on higher education issues, addressed the annual
meeting of the American Council on Education, the chief lobbying group for colleges and
universities, fireworks seemed possible, even likely.
But apart from one gently phrased question apiece from audience members asking Tucker to
explain the department’s positions on the financial aid proposal and the accreditation
review, the college presidents and other administrators in the room did not direct any
criticism or anger her way. And while she stood by the department’s plans, she did seem to
offer an olive branch to them, at least temporarily.
The decorous tone was set right from the start by David Ward, president of the American
Council on Education. He praised Tucker --with whom he served on the Spellings Commission
-- and the department’s call for increasing the Pel! Grant, and seriously minimized the
objections thmt .ACE officials and others have been voicing in recent days about the
administration’s plan to pay for that increase by killing the Supplemental Educational
Opportunity Grant Program. Ward acknowledged that there have been "concerns" about the
budget plan, but characterized them as a "secondary and lesser issue" and a "’detail." The
Pel! Grant increase, he said, "is the big news and that is the good news."
If Ward was pulling his punches, he may have done so in part because of criticism he and
the council have faced from administration officials and particularly from Miller, who
headed the commission appointed by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and maintains
close ties to her and the department’s leaders, including Tucker. In one e-mail that he
sent only to Ward and to Tucker, and in another message he distributed to all members of
the Spellings panel, Miller blasted Ward for comments made by the counci!’s top lobbyist
in an article last week in Inside Higher Ed, in which the ACE officia! said: "’Every
presidential budget, regardless of party, contains at least one bad idea. For 2008, it’s
eliminating SEOG."
"’What kind of tone is that for a professional organization representing much of higher
education?"
Miller wrote in the e-mail. He continued: "The attitude that no finmncial aid program can
be reduced or eliminated, even if it has serious flaws and even if the funds could be
spent demonstrably more effectively, stands selfishly in the way of making college more
affordable for everyone and does not represent the notion higher education claims of
creating the greater good for the broad community.
"’Does the ACE stand in favor of a major reform of the federal financial aid program? Or
will it be satisfied with defending the status quo and ~ust asking for more money? Those
are truly the only options. It’s time for leadership, not fuzzy dancing around the edges
of the crisis of college affordability faced by American students and families.’"
Tucker had engaged in her own criticism of ACE in the wake of the brouhaha over the
Page 265
budget, specifically calling a reporter last week to challenge data the council h~d
released about the proposal’s impact on students. But she did not go there in her comments
on Tuesday, which followed an awkward hug between her and Ward. Tucker exhorted college
leaders to dea! with the central issues facing the federal student aid system and its
success or failure in ensuring college access for !ow-income and minority students, rather
than tinkering around "the fringes."
"You are the professionals," Tucker said. "’You are probably in the best position to
tunderstand what’s necessary ... to ensure that we have more access and better results."
In the session’s question and answer phase, M. Matthew Owens, assistant director of
federal relations at the Association of American Universities, first praised Tucker’s
strong call for more help for needy students and then suggested that the administration’s
proposal to eliminate the SEOG program, which provides grants to about 1.3 million mostly
needy students, might be "counterintuitive" to that stance. Tucker reiterated the
administration’s view that the supplemental grants program should go because isn’t
targeted enough to the neediest students and is costly to operate, because 5 percent of
its funds go to the costs of administering it.
Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’
Commission on Colleges, gently questioned the Education Department’s push to require
accreditors to set "bright line"
standards for the colleges to meet to prove that they are educating students effectively,
rather than holding colleges accountable for meeting the standards they have set for
themselves. Tucker acknowledged that "’accreditation has become the lightning rod for our
commission recommendations," and said that it is "important thmt we let institutions stay
mission-centric. "
"But the thing we can’t shy away from, " she said, "is that there has to be some measure of
student learning." She did not specify whether she meant that there should be a common
measure of student learning.
Several college leaders interviewed after Tucker’s speech said they were not surprised
that the anger and frustration that so many college leaders hmve expressed about the
department privately did not bubble forth in public Tuesday. And one higher education
official who chmllenged Tucker when she appeared at a meeting of association leaders last
week said he was heartened by her recognition that the college leaders in the audience at
ACE are "the professionals" who are "in the best position" to understand what needs to be
done to improve college access.
"That’s not the way they’ve been acting up to now,"
said the Rev. Charles L. Currie, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and
Universities. "I sincerely hope that they will act that way, and I’m hoping this indicates
a change in strategy."
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1
Sent:
To: scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey;, Colby,
Subject: Suggestions For Education Law (USAT)
Suggestions For Education Law (USAT

By Greg Toppo
USA Toc~y, February 14, 2007
New proposals out Tuesday on reforming President Bush’s No Child Left Behind education law
come as Congress gears up to reauthorize the legislation.
The law already requires schools to test students in math and reading in about half of the
grades beginning in third grade. If scores don’t steadily improve, schools face mounting
sanctions that can include requiring them to offer free after-school tutoring or transfers
to better-performing schools nearby.
A commission, convened last year by the Aspen Institute, a non-partisan think tank,
traveled the country in 2006, hearing testimony on the law’s impact before issuing the new
recommendations.
The panel’s proposal to start measuring the effectiveness of teachers would look at three
years of data to see how well a teacher’s students performed on standardized tests from
the start to the end of each of those school years. It also would need a fortified data
system that tracks individual student scores from year to year.
Other recommendations:
-A set of voluntary national standards in math and reading that would allow parents to
compare the rigor of children’s work nationwide.
oA 12th-grade test of whether high school seniors have mastered material they will need to
be ready for college and work.
oA "growth model" of testing to give schools credit for gains made by students, even if
they don’t meet the law’s strict annual benchmarks.
¯ Limiting to 1% the number of disabled students who can be exempted from regular testing.
-Requiring school districts to increase access to successful schools for students in
struggling schools.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said she was "encouraged" that the commission
addressed the need for highly qualified teachers and new help for underperforming schools.
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(b)( ............................. .........................
Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez
Subject: Tougher Standards Urged for Federal Education Law (NYT)
February 14, 2007

Tougher Standmrds Urged for £ederal Education Law
By DIANA JE~I SCHEMO

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 --No Child Left Behind, the federal education law, should be
toughened to judge teachers and principals by their students’ test scores, and to b!ock
chronically ineffective educators from working in high-poverty schools, a private
bipartisan commission recommended on Tuesday.
The recommendmtions were in a report released here by the Commission on No Child Left
Behind, a 15-member group led by former Gov. Roy E. Barnes of Georgia and Tommy Thompson,
the former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and financed by
private foundations. The report is meant to be a blueprint for Congress as it prepares to
consider renewal of the law, President Bush’s signature education initiative, later this
year.
The commission also proposed that states revamp their testing systems to track individual
student progress from year to year, and to give schools credit if students are within
sight of achievement targets, rather than only if they reach them.
The report drew praise from the leaders of the Congl-essional education committees and the
administration, but it was immediately attacked by the teachers’ unions and others.
Edward J. McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said there were no
reliable assessment systems to tie student achievement to teacher performance. Currently
the law calls for low-income schools to have "highly qualifie~’
teachers, with degrees in the subjects they are teaching. The proposals would ratchet up
that criteria.
"The highly qualified measure was only just introduced, and we’re just coming to terms
with that,"
Mr. McElroy said. "To add another hoop at this point in time just demoralizes people. It’s
the opposite of what you’d want to do if you want the system to work.’"
Joe! Packer, a lobbyist for the National Education Association, the nation’s largest
teachers" union, also criticized the proposals, saying factors outside of schoo! affect
how children fare academically.
Monty Neill, executive director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, which is
skeptical of standardized exams, said the recommendations "will only intensify teaching to
the test."
At a news conference to release the report, llr. Barnes said, "’We believe our
recommendations wil! help improve academic achievement for our nation’s students and, most
importantly, quicken the closing of the achievement gap.’"
The chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate education committees promised
that the recommendations would be part of the debate over renewing the law. That set this
report apart from the flurry of proposals on updating No Child Left Behind coming out in
recent weeks.
believe so many of their recommendations are going to see light," said Senator Edward
Page 268
M. Kennedy, Democrat of ~ssachusetts, and the chairman of the education committee.
Margaret Spellings, the education secretary, said in a statement thmt the recommendations
"recognize the solid foundation built by N.C.L.B. and reaffirm the law’s core principles."
No Child Left Behind, enacted in early 2002, demands that all schools test students
annually in reading and math, and break down the results by ethnic, racial and income
groups. Schools where too few students reach state-established targets for proficiency
face penalties, ranging from paying for private tutoring to reopening the school under new
management.
That number would surely grow with the commission’s recommendations, which were largely
aimed at raising standards and closing loopholes in the law.
For example, the commission said the law should require more uniformity in how states
report student performance. Each state now chooses the minimum number of students who must
be present for a school to report on test results by ethnic and other groups. Some states
set the bar so high that they largely sidestep the law’s full scrutiny. Texas, for
example, sets the minimum at 200 students, while Maryland, at the other end, sets it at 5.
Citing broad variations in achievement standards between states, the commission also
reco~ended that states adopt a national standard of achievement, pegged to the National
Assessment of Educational Progress.
Its report compared the way in many states, students considered proficient in reading on
the state tests were not considered proficient on the National Assessment. In Mississippi,
for example, the state test found that 87 percent of fourth graders were proficient in
reading. According to the national test, only 18 percent were.
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Page 269
Nonresponsi
Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Samara
Subject: US lawmakers seek Sallie Mac exec stock sale data (Reuters)
Attachments: Picture (Metafile); Picture (Me~afile)
REUTERS
US lawmakers seek Sallie Mae exec stock sale data

Tue Feb 13, 2007 I:13PM EST
By Kevin Drawbaugh
WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - T~vo senior Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday they are asldng the
White House and Sallie Mae (SLM.N: Quote </stocks/quote?symbol=SLM.N>~ Profile
</stocks/companyProfile?svlnbo!=SLM.N>, Research </stocks/researchReports?symbol=SLM.N>) for
information on stock sales by Sallie Mae’s chairman days before the student loan goup’s share price fell on the
Bush administration’s latest budget proposal.
Reps. George Ivliller and Barney Frank, both committee chairmen, said they sent letters asking questions about
Sallie Mae C~airman Albert Lord’s sale in early February of 400,000 shares for more than $18 milliolt
On Feb. 5, Sallie Mae, formally known as SLM Corp., disclosed that Lord sold the shares on the openmarket
"to provide cash for commitments to business projects."
The sales shortly preceded a sharp decline in Sallie Mae’s share price after Wa!l Street was su~rised on Feb. 5
by a Bush administration fiscal 2008 budget proposal to slash subsidies paid to college loan institutions such as
Sallie Mae.
In their letter to the White House dated Feb. 12, Miller and Frank wrote: "Given the tin~lg between the stock
sale and the public announcement of lender cuts, we seek additional information about these events."
The lawlnakers said they want "any and all communications between the White House and SLM Corp. and its
agents beginning November 1, 2006 through the date of this request."
Sallie Mae spokesman Tom Joyce said the company was "happy to respond to any questions about this that the
members of Congress have."
He said Lord told the company on Jan. 23 of his intent to sell the 400,000 shares. "The timing with the
president’s budget was completely and utterly coincidental," Joyce said.
Miller chairs the House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee; Frank, the Financial Services
Committee.
Page 270
The two also wrote to Lord asking him for any communications he had with the White House and the Education
Department over the same time period. They asked Education Department Secretary Margaret Spellings for
information.
After the stock sales, Sallie Mae said that Lord owns about 1 million shares and units, and options to buy nearly
7.3 million shares, in the Reston, Virginia-based company.
Amid broadly bullish trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Sallie Mae bares were up 5 cents at $42.55,
near the level they hit after an 8.8 percent drop on Feb. 5.
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching,
framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written coment of Reuters. Reuters and the
Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the
worl&
Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook ~vhich reqt~es fair presentation and disclosure
of relevant interests.
Page 271
~~onrespons
Lauren; Mark ; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Samara
Subject: Jay Mathews: Had Enough Top-Down Reform?
"...In Virginia, where I sit at my desk in Alexandria and sort through these reports, we have a bitter argument
going on between the school superintendent and school board of Fairfax County and one of the countys best-
known residents, U. S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Along with at least two other Virginia school
districts, Fairfax is refusing to follow the Me set by Spellings’ department that they, like the vast majority of
other school districts in the country, give children from immigrant families the same state assessment test they
give all their other students.
There are reasonable arguments on both sides. Fairfax says 80 percent of the county’s students of limited
English proficiency are already getting the state test, and the remaining children are in the early stages of
learning the language. To these children, the test would be mostly incomprehensible and a waste of time.
Spellings says that it is important to measure just how far behind they are, and that the law will not work if some
rich and powerful districts such as Fairfax, as in the bad old days before No Child Left Behind, are allowed to
tell the federal role makers to go take a long jump into their nearest recreational reservoir."
Had Enough Top-Down Reform?

By Jay Mathews
Tuesday, February 13, 2007; 10:42 AM
Here comes another helpful report from a five-star, blue-ribbon, highly respected, serious-minded, no-nonsense,
ground-breaking, cannot-be-ignored, significant national commission.
The report <http://www.aspeninstitute.or~/atf/cfi%7BDEB6F227-659B-4EC8-8F84-SDF23CA704F5%
7D/NCLB Book.pdf> of The Commission on No Child Left Behind, co-chaired loy former Wisconsin governor
and former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Tommy G. Thompson and former Georgia governor Roy
E. Barnes and sponsored by the Aspen Institute, was released this morning. It says all the right things about how
to produce more effective teachers and principals, better school-assessment systems and more sensible ways of
helping our most disadvantaged children.
This may be the most prestigious of the groups recommending improvements in the No Child Left Behind law.
But it isn’t the only one. As Congress lurches toward reauthorizing the most ambitious federal education law in
our history, we are heating all kinds of suggestions about No Child Left Behind from every imaginable quarter.
But the more I read these well-intended documents, the more I wonder. Haven’t we had enough of this stuff?.
Are we really going to get significant improvement in our lowest-performing schools through more reports
telling us how to fix the federa! rules?
Page 272
I share the view of the majority of Congress, and the leaders of both major parties, that No Child Left Behind
was a good idea. It forced the states to pay attention to the poor teaching in our low-income neighborhood
schools. That was something many of those states failed to do under an earlier law that asked them nicely but
had no serious penalties if they told Washington to mind its own business. Nearly everybody in education
applauds No Child Left Behind’s insistence on measuring the progress each school and district is making in
helping low-income students, leaning-disabled students, students from ilnmigrant families and students from
the most neglected minority groups.
There are recommendations in the Thompson-Barnes report that I think both make sense and have a chance of
being implemented. Assessing teacher quality based on improved achievement of their students, allowing low-
income school principals to refuse to accept teachers who have not met the highest quality standards, requiring
education schools to teach courses that prepare future teachers for the real-life conditions of inner city
classrooms and requiring states to evaluate the effectiveness of federally-mandated after-school tutoring are
among the commission’s best recommendations. Some of them may fred support on Capitol Hill.
But there is also a lot of mushin the report. As is usual with such commissions, the members and staffwant to
make sure they reflect many points of views, since thoughtful people took the trouble to attend their hearings
and share their favorite ideas. Unfortunately, many of these proposals don’t make much sense.
The Thompson-Barnes commission recommends that the federal government hold schools accountable for
improving graduation rates. That sounds great, but it will do little good because we have yet to develop
techniques that significantly improve graduation rates in low-income schools of anything but the smallest sizes.
Another commission recommendation, requiring high-performing schools to reserve 10 percent ofthdr seats for
students who want to transfer from low-performing schools, is also bad. Nearly anyone can see it is a recipe for
parental revolt and administrative disaster. A third recommendation, increasing the amount of federal funds set
aside by the states for school improvement from 4 to 5 percent of school poverty allocations, will likewise do
little. State officials can define "school improvement programs" any way they like and send the moneyto the
least troublesome programs, which are often the least effective.
Some of the commission recommendations might bear fruit, lout most of them will just spark more of the
arguments over turf and image that characterize much of what passes for school reform these days.
In Virginia, where I sit at my desk in Alexandria and sort through these reports, we have a bitter argument going
on between the school superintendent and school board of Fairfax County and one of the countys best-known
residents, U. S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. A!ong with at least two other Virginia school districts,
Fairfax is refusing to follow the role set by Spellings’ department that they, like the vast majority of other school
districts in the country, give children from immigrant families the same state assessment test they give all their
other students.
There are reasonable argurnents on both sides. Fairfax says 80 percent of the countys students of limited
English proficiency are already getting the state test, and the remaining children are in the early stages of
learning the language. To these children, the test would be mostly incomprehensible and a waste of time.
Spellings says that it is important to measure just how far behind they are, and that the law will not work if some
rich and powerful districts such as Fairfax, as in the bad old days before No Child Left Behind, are allowed to
tell the federal role makers to go take a long jump into their nearest recreational reservoir.
Fixing schools is not supposed to be about adult fits of pique and petulance. It is supposed to be about kids.
It is, I admit, borderline ridiculous for me to suggest that we stop spending so much time and money pumping
the federal law full of new rules, because this is America and that is about the only way the officials we elect
know how to change things they don’t like. But it would be helpfi~, I think, if we embraced the likely delays in
fixing No Child Left Behind and used the time to think about other ways to go at this.
Page 273
I would like to take much of the money the Education Department spends getting states to obey the law and
invest it instead in the department’s admirable programs to identify which public schools are doing the best jobs
educating low-income children, and why they are succeeding.
The schools that have surprised me by raising student achievement far above expectations have rarely done that
because state and federal school officials gave them new rules to follow. In nearly every case, good teachers
found methods that ~vorked and persuaded other good teachers to join them for the joy of working in schools
where they knew their efforts would help kids in a big way.
Bottom-up reform, I realize, is often slow and uncertain. But is top-down reform any better? A little bit more of
the former, and a bit less of the latter, might be the way to go. The next several good-hearted national
commissions could then spend their time not fiddling with the law, but finding the schools that work and
explaining to the rest of us why that happened, and how other schools could do the same.
Page 274
lNonresponsi
Samara
Subject: Bush Unveils NCLB Proposals (TIM)
"President Bush is right that we cannot afford to go back to the status quo that existed before the enactment of No Child Lett
Behind. But the task of renewing the lawwill be made much more difficult if the president’s budget fails to provide a substantial
increase in funding for schools to carry out their responsibilities under the law," said George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the
newly renamed House Committee on Education and Labor.
Bush Unveils NCLB Proposals (TIM)

By Travis Hicks
-I]tle I Monitor, February 13, 2007
The Bush administration Jan. 23 unveiled proposed changes to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that would, in part, help
overhaul chronically under-performing schools by giving administrators and parents a variety of new options, including private-
school vouchers.
The administration’s proposal for reauthorizing NCLB would maintain the basic tenets of the law - annual testing, highly
qualified teachers, parental options and having all students proficient in reading and math by 2014 - while looking to make
permanent some of the flexibility offered over its five-year existence. In addition, the plan would turn an eye to improving the
nation’s middle and high schools by including portions of President Bush’s American Competitiveness Initiative in a revamped
NCLB.
One of the main goals, according to the U.S. Department of Education (ED), is to encourage district officials to take a
tougher approach with Title I schools identified as "in restructuring," the final sanction specified under NCLB. The proposed
changes would clarify existing options for those schools failing to meet their adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets for five or six
consecutive years, ED officials s~id.
’There are about 1,800 schools today who are in this chronic, underperforrnance category either in year five or six of not
meeting adequate yearly progress .... I think we all have to answer the question, and this is part of the president’s answer, ’What
are we going to do about that?’" U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings told reporters during a teleconference yesterday.
There currently are five statutory options for schools in restructuring: 1) replace all or most of the school staff, 2) turn the
school over to the state; 3) contract with a private management company to run the school; 4) convert the school to a public
charter school; or 5) implement "other major restructuring of the school’s governance."
Department officials said the vast majority of schools in restructuring typically elect to make only minimal changes in a
school’s operation, rather than take some of the more dramatic steps outlined in the law. Instead of becoming a charter school or
contracting with a private entity, the national Title I evaluation found that 87 percent of these poor performing schools chose the
"other major restructuring" option, which meant they simply brought in outside consultants or tweaked the curriculum. Only 2
percent of schools in restructuring became charter schools, while another 2 percent contracted with a private entity to run the
school, the study concluded.
In one of its more controversial proposals, the administration has suggested requiring schools entering restructuring to offer
vouchers worth approximately $4,000 to all low-income students in grades 3-12. The so-called "Promise Scholarships" would
enable the students to attend a private or out-of-district school, or receive tutoring. The per-student amount would include his or
her share of Title I funding and an additional $2,500 federal scholarship.
President Bush also would expand the competitive Opportunity Scholarship program to areas with a large percentage of
schools in improvement. Modeled after the Washington, D.C., program approved by Congress in 2004, the community-based
effort would provide selected students with vouchers equivalent to the fi.~ll cost of attending the school of their choice or the
Page 275
average per-pupil level for public schools in the state.
Another component of the administration’s focus on chronically underperforming schools is that, as a condition of receiving
Title I kinds, local leaders would be able to convert restructuring schools into charters even if state law caps the number of
allowed charters.
In addition, the administration’s proposal would:
Invest in the never-funded School Improvement Fund, which is designed to offer extra technical assistance money to
underperforming schools and districts;
Bolster accountability and data systems by permitting an expanded number of states to implement growth models;
Require states to validate the quality of their testing by including data from the National Assessment of Educational
Progress along with their own test results;
Substantially increase funding for Title I high schools by requiring districts to give high schools at least 90 percent of their
proportionate share of increased funds (ED says a corresponding hike will ensure that elementary schools’ Title I programs are
not negatively affected);
Provide funding for the Teacher Incentive Fund, which rewards teachers and principals who successfully increase student
achievement;
Institute the Math Now program in elementary and middle schools;
Consolidate the existing Safe and Drug-Free Schools state grant program into a single, flexible discretionary program
focused on four areas: emergency planning; preventing violence and drug use; school culture and climate; and emerging needs;
Expand the percentage of funds that schools hitting their adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets can transfer between
federal programs from 50 percent to 100 percent;
Enable schools missing AYP for only one student subgroup to target their choice and SES options on that particular
subgroup, provided the schools have reached the 95 percent participation requirement for state tests;
Tweak the supplemental educational services (SES) provision by allowing all low-income students to receive tutoring in the
first year a school is designated as "in improvement," rather than making them wait until the following year,
Allow expenditure of larger per-child amounts for SES provided to children in rural areas or with disabilities or limited
English proficiency (LEP); and
Encourage districts to strongly support Title I choice and SES by requiring them to spend all of their 20 percent choice and
SES set-aside or risk forfeiting the funds.
The proposal to take away unspent choice and SES funds is a sign of the administration’s support for these parental
options, but is bound to spark opposition. "The required return of the 20 percent set-aside is just unfair, particularly in rural areas
where there may not be options for SES and public school choice," said Mary Kusler, assistant director of government relations
at the American Association of School Administrators, in an e-mail.
Another proposal relating to LEP students is likely to be more welcomed by district officials. Although details are lacking,
the administration would allow state accountability systems to give credit to districts that quickly move their LEP students to
English proficiency. Existing requirements to test LEP children in reading and math using English-language tests have sparked
nationwide protests and open defiance by some Virginia school boards, which maintain that most LEP children will inevitably fail
the exams. The Bush proposal may be a partial response to these protests.
Timetable Uncertain
Questions remain as to the actual timing of the reauthorization. The administration hopes to complete work by the end of
this year, but many observers have their doubts. Spellings said there are "some real prospects" of revamping NCLB this year, but
added that she "learned long ago not to handicap Congress."
When asked during a conference call with reporters yesterday how hard the administration would push the proposal,
Spellings said she would "fight hard for the whole kit and caboodle."
’1 see this as a very vigorous package of proposals that really are sound and make sense when taken together .... If this
proposal is not what the Congress has in mind, I think we all need to ask them, ’What is their proposal?’" the secretary said.
Many specifics, including funding details, will not be available until President Bush releases his fiscal 2007 budget proposal
on Feb. 5. House and Senate Democrats have made clear that a guarantee of additional funding for federal K-12 programs will
be essential to reauthorization.
’1~resident Bush is right that we cannot afford to go back to the status quo that existed before the enactment of No Child
Lelt Behind. But the task of renewing the law will be made much more difficult if the president’s budget fails to provide a
substantial increase in funding for schools to carry out their responsibilities under the law," said George Miller, D-Calif., chairman
of the newly renamed House Committee on Education and Labor.
Added Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., head of the Senate education committee: ’The president’s budget should
Page 276
demonstrate that leaving no child behind is a moral commitment, not a political slogan."
Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., ranking minority member on the Senate education committee, strongly endorsed
the Bush plan’s continued commitment to accountability, and he noted that the "Promise Scholarship" voucher program was
similar to bill he introduced last year.
Both Kennedy and Miller asserted, however, that the voucher proposal would have no support among congressional Democrats
since it would take needed funds away public schools.
Page 277
Nonresponsiv
Sam ara
Subject: Bush Budget Would Boost NCLB Efforts (EDWEEK)
’1 am particularly concerned that the president has once again proposed inadequate funding for the law’s important
reforms," Sen. Kennedy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said in a Feb. 5
statement, referring to the No Child Left Behind Act. "He used the same old tactics of robbing other education priorities to pay for
his modest increases for school reform. Our schools and children deserve more than accounting gimmicks-they need new
resources to make progress."
Bush Budget Would Boost NCLB Efforts (EDWEEK)

By Alyson Klein
Education Week, February t4, 2007
Key Democrats say plan for 2008 is not enough.
President Bush’s fiscal 2008 budget request aims to help advance his agenda for reauthorizing the No Child Lett Behind
Act this year. But key congressional Democrats, who also want to maintain the laws accountability principles, said the proposed
spending plan for education falls far short of what schools need to get on track to meet the measure’s ambitious achievement
goals.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., the chairmen, respectively, of the House and Senate
education committees, said the inclusion of a long-sought hike for Title I grants to school districts and new money to improve
struggling schools in the administration’s $56 billion spending plan for the U.S. Department of Education won’t make up for two
years of stagnant federal spending on school programs.
Both noted that the president’s plan, unveiled Feb. 5, would shortchange the department’s overall discretionary budget by
2.6 percent compared with the $57.5 billion set for the department in a fiscal 2007 spending bill approved by the House on Jan_
31. The Senate is set to vote on a similar measure as early as this week. Among the most significant cuts in Mr. Bush’s plan is
less money for students in special education.
’1 am particularly concerned that the president has once again proposed inadequate funding for the laws important
reforms," Sen. Kennedy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said in a Feb. 5
statement, referring to the No Child Lelt Behind Act. "He used the same old tactics of robbing other education priorities to pay for
his modest increases for school reform. Our schools and children deserve more than accounting gimmicks-they need new
resources to make progress."
This budget cycle presents a somewhat unusual situation in which lawmakers are still hammering out a spending measure
to fund the Education Department and most other federal agencies for fiscal 2007, which began Oct. 1, at the same time the
president is introducing his fiscal 2008 budget.
Although the measure approved by the House last month would extend funding for most of the federal government at fiscal
2006 levels, lawmakers bolstered appropriations for some key education programs, including Title I grants to districts and
spending for students in special education authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The administration’s spending plan illustrates President Bush’s priorities for reauthorization of the 5-year-old No Child Left
Behind Act, slated for this year. It would provide new money to help low-income students in foundering public schools attend
private schools and extra Title I dollars for retooling high schools. ("Bush Plan Would Heighten NCLB Focus on High School,"
Feb. 7, 2007.)
"We believe [that] with the need to ratchet up levels of rigor and make sure that more than half of our minority students
graduate from high school on time that the share of the Title I pie for our high schools ought to be increased," Secretary of
Page 278
Education Margaret Spellings said in a conference call with reporters Feb. 5.

Special Education Cut
But to make room in the budget for the high school program and other initiatives, the administration is proposing cuts in
other programs, including special education. The budget request seeks $10.49 billion for special education programs under the
IDEA. That is about $290 million less than the $10.8 billion for special education approved in the House spending measure, or a
2.8 percent cut.
That’s significant for school districts struggling to keep pace with rising special education enrollment, said Steven P.
Crawford, the superintendent of the 1,700-student Byng school district in Ada, Okla.
Mr. Crawford said that since the extra money for Title I would be directed to new student assessments in high schools, it
wouldn’t go far in helping his district meet the achievement targets set under the No Child Left Behind law.
’It’s ’we’ll give you more money, but we’ll tell you how to spend it,’ "he said. "Money for new expenditure areas is not
money that’s going to help us reach the goals of NCLB."
Rep. Miller, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, also decried the proposed cuts to special
education, as well as a proposed level-funding of the federal Head Start preschool program.
’The cuts in this budget for students with disabilities and for young children are reprehensible and undermine the efforts of
students and teachers who are working hard in classrooms across the country," he said in a statement.
The Bush administration proposes $500 million in new money to help schools deemed in need of improvement under the
federal school law. The fund, which was authorized under NCLB but has never been financed by Congress, would help schools
cover the costs of implementing improvement plans, providing professional development for teachers, or tutoring. The House
included $125 million for the fund in its fiscal 2007 spending bill approved last month.
The budget also proposes a new-and highly controversial-S250 million "Promise" scholarship program that would allow poor
students in struggling schools to attend private schools using federal money. In addition, the spending request includes $50
million in new aid to establish a competitive grant program to help districts establish their own school choice programs.
Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Miller and Sen. Kennedy, have criticized those proposals as a federal voucher
program. Most Democrats and their political allies, most notably the national teachers’ unions, oppose such use of public funds to
pay private school tuition for K-12 students.
’lt’s clearly a nonstarter with this Congress," in which the Democrats control both houses, said Joel Packer, the chief NCLB
lobbyist for the 3.2 million-member National Education Association.
Teacher Incentive Fund
Mr. Bush’s budget would also increase funding for the Teacher Incentive Fund, which gives grants to districts to create pay-
for-performance and teacher improvement programs, to $199 million, from $99 million in fiscal 2006. The proposed increase
would keep the fund afloat, despite the House’s fiscal 2007 plan, which would slash its funding to $200,000.
Congressional Democrats say that move wasn’t an effort to eliminate the fund, which has drawn criticism from both national
teachers’ unions. The Democrats say they didn’t increase spending for the Teacher Incentive Fund in the fiscal 2007 bill because
the fund still has $43 million in leftover appropriations from fiscal 2006 to dole out for new grants. A Senate budget aide said he
expects congressional Democrats to provide funding for the program for fiscal 2008, possibly by as much as the president
proposed.
Meanwhile, Secretary Spellings is urging the Senate to restore the $99 million for the program when it votes on the fiscal
2007 spending bill, likely this week. If the fund doesn’t receive new appropriations in fiscal year 2007, it might be tough for the
department to continue to finance current grants in a timely manner, she said.
As announced by Secretary Spellings last month, the Bush administration’s budget also proposes increasing the maximum
Pell Grant for the first time in four years, from $4,050 to $4,600 in fiscal 2008. The measure approved by the House last month
would raise the Pell Grant maximum to $4,310 for the 2007-08 school year. Pell Grants help low- and moderate-income students
pay for college.
President Bush’s budget would also bolster Academic Competitiveness Grants, which provide extra money to Pell-eligible
students who take a rigorous high school curriculum. The request would raise the grants from $750 to $1,125 for first-year
students, and from $1,300 to $1,950 for second-year student~ Those increases would be paid for, in part, by cutting federal
subsidies to private student lenders.
44 Programs Targeted
Some advocates for increased math and science spending were pleased to see that the Bush administration has repeated
its calls for ftlnding its American Competitiveness Initiative, a series of proposals for spending on those subjects. The plan stalled
last year but re-emerged in the new budget.
Those proposals include Math Now, an effort to improve math instruction in elementary and middle schools that got $250
Page 279
million in the fiscal 2008 request, and $122 million to support competitive grants to expand Advanced Placement and
International Baccalaureate courses in math, science, and foreign languages, an increase from $32 million in fiscal 2006.
’We’re glad the administration is keeping money on the table. They’ve been true to what they had outlined" a year ago, said
Glenn S. Ruskin, the director of legislative and government atfairs for the American Chemical Society, a Washington-based
organization which advocates on behalf of science education. "Did they lose interest in this? No, not in the least bit. I think that
bodes well."
As in past years, the administration proposes to pay for some of its spending increases by cutting a host of other education
programs. This year 44 are slated for the chopping block. Some of those programs are popular in Congress, such as the $273
million Educational Technology state grants, which help districts buy computers and train teachers. The president proposed
eliminating the fund last year, but the fiscal 2007 measure that passed the House last month would restore its funding.
Other programs escaped targeting for outright elimination, but were still identified for drastic reductions. Vocational
education programs financed under the Cart D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, nearly all of it state grants, would
be cut in half, from more than $1.3 billion to a little more than $610 million, under the president’s request.
Last year, Mr. Bush proposed zero funding for the program, but Congress appears poised to restore that money in the
fiscal year 2007 bill.
Still, the administration took some perennial targets offthe table, including the $303.4 million Gaining Early Awareness and
Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, which helps prepare disadvantaged students for college. The
administration had proposed eliminating the program last year, but Congress appears likely to restore funding.
Staff Writer Sean Cavanagh and Assistant Editor Bess Keller contributed to this report.
Page 280
Nonresponsi
Sent: March 15, 2007 8:37 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; Sampson, Vincent; Beaton,
Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Colby, Chad; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska,
Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend
L; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray;
Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Stevens Upset With Education Cuts To Alaska, Hawaii (AP)
Stevens Upset With Education Cuts To Alaska, Hawaii (AP)

AP, March 15, 2007
Alaska Republican U.S. Senator Ted Stevens Wednesday said he was disturbed by the Bush Administration’s proposed
budget cuts for education’s programs in Alaska and Hawaii.
Stevens comments came during a question-and-answer session with U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings at
Wednesday’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on funding the No Child Let~ Behind Act.
Stevens’ office says Bush’s budget request zeros out more than 100 million dollars in funding for all Alaska-specific
authorized programs, including the Alaska Native Education Equity Act and the Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian-serving
Institutions of Higher Education program.
Stevens says, "1 look at what’s been done and I can’t believe that such a meat ax would be placed on the education budget
for Alaska and Hawaii."
He said he was greatly worried to represent a state apparently that is not understood by the Bush Administration. He told
Spellings that these programs have worked to bring Alaska children to the point they can meet the standards of the federal No
child Let~ Behind Act.
Stevens also invited Spellings to come to Alaska to learn more about unique challenges facing the state’s education
system. His office says Spellings said she hoped to visit Alaska.
Page 281
Nonrespon
Sent: March 15, 2007 11:20 AM
To: Private-Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Colby, Chad; Dunn, David;
Cc". Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Cal Thomas: Education renewal
E~d uc’a.tio n renewa~

By Cal Thomas
Congress will soon decide whether to renew President Bush’s signature education program "No Child
Left Behind" (NCLB), the goal of which is to bring every public school student to grade level in
reading and math by 2014.
Though leaving no child behind may be a worthy goal politically and socially, some are questioning
whether it is an obtainable one. Robert L. Linn, co-director of the National Center for Research on
Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA, recently told The Washington Post, "There is a
zero percent chance that we will ever reach a 100 percent target." Maybe not, but the poet Robert
Browning said that our reach should always exceed our grasp. By expecting more, we get more from
our institutions and ourselves than if we were to "settle" for less and get less.
Still, after five years of NCLB, the statistics are not encouraging. According to the National
Assessment of Education Progress, between 1992 and 2005, there has been an increase in the
percentage of 12th-grade students who read below the basic level (from 20 percent to 27 percent
since the previous assessment). Only 23 percent of 12th-graders are performing at or above math
proficiency levels. As usual, the figures are worse for black and Hispanic students.
I asked U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings about this. She told me that half of the states
waited until the 2005-’06 school year to do an annual assessment, but that 70 percent of the nation’s
90,000 public schools "are meeting the requirements of NCLB. But for 1,800, which are chronically
year after year failing our kids, something more dramatic has to happen."
That "something more" has included local government takeover of some school systems. In New
Yorkand Chicago, as well as in the state of Florida, which Spellings describes as a "leader" in
education improvement, interesting things" are being done. Washington, D.C., is also debating
whether government should take over its poorly performing schools. Spellings said "the state of
affairs" in Washington schools is "not encouraging."
Spellings cited one major reason for underperformance I had not considered. When I was in school,
she noted, I was taught mostly by bright and accomplished women. As opportunities for women in
other professions opened up, many of the best and brightest teachers - and potential teachers - left
or chose other professions because they paid more. ’q-he teachers’ unions," she said, "always
negotiate the same pay raises for everybody and the superstars say ’forget this, I’m going where I will
Page 282
be recognized as a superstar."’
Education in the United States continues to lag behind that of other nations. "When you go to China
or India," Spellings said, "they don’t sit around arguing about class size. They’re starving to death and
are motivated for education. We take all the advantages we have for granted." And while America
focuses too much on nonacademic subjects - sex education, driver’s education and the environment
- and not enough on what employers are looking for, some other nations are graduating young
people with real knowledge and skills of the kind we once produced.
A serious school choice program, not more money to subsidize underachievement, is one answer to
poor performance. Competition improves everyone’s product and service. It’s working in those states
and localities that have managed to nominally free themselves from the teachers’ unions, which seek
to maintain the education monopoly for political influence. Paying bonuses to the best teachers is
another good idea. According to Spellings, her department has provided $100 million through 16
grants for that purpose. If corporations can pay their CEOs huge bonuses for failure, why shouldn’t
teachers be paid bonuses for achieving and surpassing education goals?
There is another point no one in government will address. It is that not all children are equally
intelligent. Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute raised this controversial issue recently
in a series of articles he wrote for The Wall Street Journal, in which he noted that half of all children
have below average intelligence and that "even the best schools under the best conditions cannot
repeal the limits on achievement set by limits on intelligence."
Politically, that argument has no traction and so we are left with renewing "No Child Left Behind,"
monitoring progress and paying bonuses to the best teachers. Now if we can just get real school
choice added to the mix, maybe even some of the less intelligent won’t be left behind and we will see
even greater progress with the rest. With what we are spending on education, the adults deserve a
better product and the kids are entitled to a better education, which is their best chance at a good life.
Page 283
Nonresponsi!
............................. k~it-heriii e-m el-an et ......................... 1
May 10, 2007 6:37 AM
Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, KrislJn; Schray, Vickie; Duncket, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; jeanie_s.
_mamo@who.eop.gov; Manning, James; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey;
Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfrnan, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly;
La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings,
Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman;
Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L;
Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey;, Tucker, Sara Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Exam looms for US education secretary in Congress (Reuters)
Exam looms for US education secretary in Congress Wed l~y 9, 2007 8:02 PM ET
By Kevin Drawbaugh
WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, a former Bush
administration policy advisor, will appear before a congressionml committee on Thursdmy
with a scandal sweeping through the college student !oan business, a key area of oversight
for her agency.
The secretary is expected to face tough questions from the House of Representatives
Education and Labor Committee, which has been probing conflicts of interest in an $85
billion industry thmt plays a crucial role in helping American students afford the highest
college tuition fees in the world.
Investigators allege that loan firms have given college financial aid officers pay and
perks -- such as stock and gifts to curry favor and win inclusion on so-called "preferred
lender" lists that are shown to students seeking !oans.
The House voted 414-3 on Wednesday for a bill that would crack down on such lists; ban
lender gifts to college aid officers; require disclosure of lender-college relationships;
and protect students from aggressive marketing practices.
The Senate is considering a similar measure.
Spellings on Tuesday announced the resignation of a key subordinate at the Education

Department. Terri Shaw, chief operating officer for federal student aid, will quit June i.
Another department executive, Matteo £ontamm, was put on paid leave last month pending an
inquiry into allegations that he owned shares of stock in a student loan firm.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a leader in the widening conflicts investigation,
in an April 25 committee hearing said that the Education Department had been "asleep at
the switch" on its oversight of student !oans. He alleged that Spellings had "defaulted on
her obligations."
Spellings replied at the time that she shared Cuomo’s concerns about lender practices. She
said that she takes her "role as steward of federal financial aid very seriously" and
stressed that she had created an internal task force at the department to work on new
student loall regulations.
Brought up in Houston, Spellings worked for Bush when he was governor of Texas. During her
White House tenure she helped draft the president’s No Child Left Behind law.
House education committee spokesman Tom Kiley said the hearing also will examine the
department’s management of Reading First, a program that is part of No Child Left Behind.
"What we have seen in the student loan scandal and in Reading First is that, at a minimum,
the Department of Education has failed in its oversight," Kiley said.
Page 284
"What we want to learn tomorrow is why these failures were allowed to hmppen and what
steps will be taken to make sure they won’t hmppen again, " he said.
Paying for college is a big business in America and is profitable for financial
institutions like Citigroup <C.N>, JPMorgan Chase <JPM.N> and Bank of America <BAC.N>, as
well as specialist companies such as Sa!lie ~e <SLM.N>.
Most students who take out loans get them from banks or from Sallie Mae, either with a
federal guarantee backing them or, increasingly, without one. Loans also are available
directly from the government and from other sources.
Student debt has risen recently, as tuition has outpaced inflation and grant aid has
failed to keep up. A typica! undergraduate leaves school today owing about $20,000.
Congressional Democrats -- including House Education Committee Chairman George Miller of

California and Senate Education Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts --
support far-reaching reforms for student loans that directly threaten the business models
of Sallie P~e and the banks.
Critics of the loan industry charge it makes unfair profits at the expense of students,
while lenders say that their loans are cost-efficient and that they provide valuable
financial services to both students and the universities they attend.
Do You YahooS?
Page 285
Nonresponsi]
May 09, 2007 6:49 AM
Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, Kristin; Schray, Vickie; Duncket, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Colby, Chad; Williams, C:ynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly;
La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private-Spellings,
Subject: Federal Student-Aid Official Steps Down (WSJ)
Federal Student-Aid Official Steps Down

A WSJ NEWS ROilbFDUP
Mmy 9, 2007; Page A2
The head of the U.S. Department of Education’s student-aid office is stepping down amid
growing criticism that the agency hms been lax in overseeing the government’s $68 billion
student-loan program.
Theresa Shaw is leaving her post as chief operating officer of the Federal Student Aid
office, which she has held since 2002, the department said. A department statement said
Ms. Shaw told Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in February that she planned to leave
the department, but not until June i.
The department’s inspector genera!, John Higgens, is looking into possible conflicts of
interest involving department employees and lenders. The inquiry follows an investigation
by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that has unearthed widespread payments by
lenders to schools and aid officials responsible for referring students to lenders.
Ms. Shaw earlier worked at student-loan giant SLM Corp., or Sallie Mae. She is one of
several department officials who own shares in lending companies with big student-loan
operations. In federal financial disclosure forms, Ms. Shaw reported o~a~ership in Wells
Fargo & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The value of each holding was reported as less
than $15,000.
Katherine McLane, a department spokeswoman, said neither Ms. Shaw’s desire to leave, nor
the department’s timing of the announcement, were linked to the loan inquiry or
disclosures that she had invested with lending companies.
Ms. Shaw said in a statement that she had planned to announce her resignation about one
month before it was to take effect.
Ms. Shaw headed the office where student-loan official Matteo Fontana worked until it was
disc!osed that he had at least $i00,000 in stock in a student-loan company. Me has since
been put on leave. Mr. Fontana also previously worked at Sallie P~e.
Do You Yahoo!?
Page 286
_N...o._nrespon
(b) ............................. .....................
May 09, 2007 6:45 AM
To: Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, KrislJn; Schray, Vickie; Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; jeanie._s.
Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, C~thia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly;
La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private-Spellings,
Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.;
Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Federal Student Loan Official Is Resigning (NYT)
Mmy 9, 2007
Federal Student Loan Official Is Resigning
By JONATHAN D. GLATER
Under criticism that it h~s been lax in policing the
$85 billion student !oan industry, the Education Department annotunced yesterday that the
chief official responsible for overseeing the loan program was stepping dom-n.
The resignation of the officia!, Theresa S. Shaw, was mmde public two days before
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is to testify to a Congressional committee. Ms.
Spellings is expected to face tough questions about the oversight of lenders’ practices
and her department’s enforcement of policies against conflicts of interest.
Officials in the department characterized Ms. Shaw’s departure as chief operating officer
of the office of federal student aid as unrelated to disclosures about how lenders have
plied universities and financial aid officers with favors to win more business.
Ms. Spellings said in a statement that Ms. Shaw told her in late February that she would
leave in June.
That was after the Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced an investigation
of ties between lenders and universities.
"Terri has told us that she plans to take some time off," a spokeswoman for the
department, Kmtherine McLane, said.
Ms. Shaw was appointed in 2002 by Education Secretary Rod Paige after 22 years in
industry, mostly at Sallie Mae, the largest student lender.
Ms. Spellings called Ms. Shaw "a tireless advocate for students and families," saying that
the aid program "now delivers more aid to more students at a lower operating cost with
greater accuracy than at any point in its history."
Mr. Cuomo, by contrast, recently told the House education committee that the Education
Department had been "asleep at the switch" in regulating the practices of lenders.
Investigations by lawmakers and by attorneys general led by Mr. Cuomo uncovered evidence
that lenders paid colleges and universities in exchange for loan volume and gave financial
aid officials gifts, trips, consulting arrangements or stock.
At many of the colleges, the lenders were placed on the lists of companies recommended to
students.
Critics have warned that the department has been too cozy with lenders, choosing not to
provide guidelines on permissible inducements to university officials.
The department is also being scrutinized by Congress for its failure to crack down on
hundreds of millions in dollars in questionable subsidies that loan companies have
collected.
Page 287
Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education, said that
many of the problems that have come to light had not been considered a problem before.
"’Lots of things that were seen as acceptable three months ago are no longer regarded thmt
way, " Mr.
Hartle said.
Democrats have asked whether the department has too many people with ties to the industry
in senior positions. Ms. Shaw headed an office where another official, Matteo Fontana, was
put on paid leave after the disclosure that he had held at least $i00,000 in stock in a
loan company while at his job. He, too, had worked at Sallie Mme.
The inspector general of the department, John P.

Higgins Jr., told Democrats last week that he would look into possible conflicts of
interest.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the Senate
education committee, has asked for the "complete personnel files" for 27 employees.
"A number of serious questions have been raised about federal student aid’s ability to
ensure the integrity of the student loan system, screen high-level employees for
inappropriate entanglements with the lenders they oversee and protect the privacy of
students’ personal data from exploitation by lenders,"
Mr. Kennedy said in a statement. "Secretary Spellings must do all she can to assure
_Americans that the next director of federal student aid will work aggressively to correct
these problems and safeguard the best interests of students and families."
Congressional aides said the announcement of Ms.

Shaw’s resignmtion was a surprise to la%smakers.
Barmak Nassirian of the ~merican Association of College Registrars said the resignation
would not end concerns on enforcement. "if this is an attempt to defuse the situation by
throwing someone under the train," Mr. Nassirian said, "it is not going be enough."
The department has taken steps to address criticism.

Last month, it temporarily restricted access to a database of personal financial
information on millions of student borrowers out of concern that it was being improperly
used for marketing. Access is gradually being restored, with new security procedures.
Ms. Spellings has also named a group to propose by the end of the month how to regulate
lists of preferred lenders, and she has toughened the scrutiny of officials’ financial
disclosure forms.
Kmren W. Arenson, Jim Rutenberg and Diana Jean Schemo contributing reporting.
Do You Yahoo~?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http:/imail.yahoo.com
Page 288
Nonresponsi
/
(b)(~)orn: katherine m clane [ ......................... J
Sent: May 09, 2007 6:42 AM
To: Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, KristJn; Schray, Vickie; Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Colby, Chad; Williams, C~thia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, C~thia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly;
La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings,
Subject: Federal Student Loan Official Quits (AP)
May 8, 2007
Federal Student Loan Official Quits
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:00 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AIP) -- The head of the Education Department’s student loan office is stepping
down antid growing criticism that the agency has been lax in overseeing the student loan
industry.
Theresa Shaw is leaving her post as chief operating officer of the Federal Student Aid
office, a job she has held since 2002, the department said in a statement. The office
administers federa! student aid programs.
The statement said Shaw told Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in February that she
planned to leave the department, but not unti! June i.
Shaw previously worked at student loan giant Sallie P~e, also known as SI!~ Corporation.
Critics in Congress and student advocates have complained that the department has too many
people with ties to the student loan industry in charge of overseeing that industry.
Shaw headed the office where student loan official Matteo Fontana worked until it was
disclosed by the Higher Ed Watch blog that he had at least $i00,000 in stock in a student
loan company, an apparent conflict of interest. Like Shaw, Fontana previously worked at
Sallie Mae.
The disclosure about Fontana’s stock came a month after former Deputy Secretary of
Education Eugene Hickok acknowledged he didn’t sell stock he was supposed to sell while on
the job and agreed to pay the goverrn~ent $50,000 as part of a settlement.
Spellings recently said two lawyers would now examine financial disclosure forms filed by
department officials.
In response to questions from congressional Democrats, the department’s inspector general,

John Higgens, said last week that he would look into possible conflicts of interest
involving department emp!oyees and lenders.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been leading an investigation into the $85
billion student loan industry.
Cuomo says the inquiry has turned up evidence that some colleges received a percentage of
loan proceeds, which Cuomo calls kickbacks, from lenders given preferred status by the
schools. Cuomo also said some college !oan officers received gifts from lenders.
The House is expected to consider bipartisan legislation Wednesday aimed at stopping some
of the practices Cuomo uncovered.
Spellings is to testify on the issue before a House committee Thursday. She is likely to
face questions about conflicts of interest and a department database that contains
Page 289
financial information about students and recently was put off limits to lenders out of
concerns the lenders were mining it for marketing data.
Lammakers also are expected to press Spellings about a settlement with student lender
Nelnet. The department’s inspector general found Nelnet improperly sought and received an
artificially high rate of return on m~ny of its loans. The department said earlier this
year it would not try to recover the overpayments but made Nelnet promise to stop the
practice.
Do You Yahoo[?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Hail has the best spam protection around http:!/mail.yahoo.com
Page 290
NonresponsiI
............................. katheline-mdanet ......................... J
May 09, 2007 6:38 AM
Oldharn, Cheryl; Conklin, Kristin; Schray, Vickie; Duncket, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerrnan, Kristin; scott rn. stanzel@who.eop.gov; jeanie_s.
_mamo@who.eop.gov; Manning, Jarnes; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey;
Colby, Chad; Williams, C~thia; Dunn, David; Dorfrnan, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly;
Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterrnan;
Subject: Federal Student Loan ChidWill Step Down (WP)
Federal Student Loan Chief Wil! Step Down Resignation Comes as Probes Intensify By Amit R.
Paley Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, M~y 9, 2007; A04
The head of the U.S. Education Department’s student loan office announced her resignation
yesterdmy amid mounting criticism of the agency’s oversight of the !oan industry.
Theresa S. Show’s exit as chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid
comes as the New York state attorney genera!, congressiona! Democrats and the department’s
inspector genera! are investigating the loan industry and the web of persomml and
financial ties linking some key players in lending companies, universities and the
government.
Shaw, a former executive at loan industry leader Sallie ~e, hms held her department post
for five years. Her resignation is effective June i. Some student-loan consumer advocates
gave her a harsh appraisal.
"Her tenure hms been characterized by lack of oversight and negligent administration of
the student loan program," said I~chae! Dannenberg, education policy director at the New
America Foundation and a former Democratic aide on Capitol Hill.
But Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who is scheduled to testify tomorrow before a
congressional committee that is probing the $85 billion-a-year student !oan industry,
praised Shaw’s performance.
In a statement, the department noted a 2005 decision by the Government Accountability

Office that removed federal student financial aid from a list of "high-risk" programs. It
also said that under Shaw’s leadership, student !oan defaults were sharply reduced even as
the overall amount of money being lent was on the rise.
"Terri has been a tireless advocate for students and families," Spellings said in the
statement. "Her leadership and depth of experience wil! be sorely missed."
Shaw told Spellings in late February that she wished to leave, the department said. In
another statement released late last night, Shaw said, "I had accomplished all that had
been asked of me including .
ensuring that proper financial management and internal controls were in place."
In an earlier e-mail to the student !oan office obtained by The Washington Post, Shaw had
said she was leaving "to pursue other career opportunities."
"The recent attention on our programs and our work only confirms how very important our
programs are to the students and families we serve," she wrote in the e-mail. "I am
confident that together we established a solid foundation for Federal Student Aid’s
continued success. "
We won’t tel!. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo~ TV’s Guilty
Page 291
Pleasures list.
http: / !tv. yahoo, com/collections/265
Page 292
INonresponsi]
Sent: May 08, 2007 9:21 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dorfman, Cynthia;
Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gribble, Emily; Halaska, Terrell; Herr, John;
Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angeta; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath,
John; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Pitts,
Elizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele, Marc; Tada, Wendy; Talber~, Kent;
Terretl, Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-m all); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy;
Yudof, Samara; Zeff, Ken
Subject: student lender stories (9)
Congress And The Student Loan Scare (NYT)

J.P. Morgan To Stop Alumni Deals (WSJ)
College Loan Flap Graduates To Alumni (USAT)
College Loan Reimbursements Questioned (AP)
More Capella Staff Got Perks From Lenders (MINNST)
Colleges Looking At Connections To Lenders (MINNST)
N.Y. Adopts First Student Loan Reform Law (AP)
Student Loan Authority Votes To End Lender Arrangement (AP)
Breaking The Taxpayers’ Piggy Bank For Private Gain (McnTel GA)
Congress And The Student Loan Scare (NYT)

The NewYork Times, May 8, 2007
Republicans in Congress have generally defended corporate welfare for companies involved in the student loan business:
lenders that collect billions of dollars in federal subsidies in return for issuing government-backed loans that represent no real risk
to the companies themselves. But support for these wasteful subsidies is waning in both parties, thanks to recent revelations
showing just how corrupt and costJy the program has become.
Yesterday, The Times published a front-page article by Sam Dillon that offered chapter and verse on how the Department
of Education, which is supposed to oversee the lenders, was virtually taken over by the companies it was supposed to regulate.
The story focused on Jon Oberg, a department researcher, who notified the government back in 2003 that the lenders were
improperly collecting hundreds of millions of dollars a year in subsidy money.
IV’r. Oberg told the department that it could just shut offthe subsidies by simply sending the lenders a letter. But his bosses
feigned ignorance and twiddled their thumbs for three more years while the lenders grewfat off billions that should have been
going directly to needy students. Worse still, one well-connected company was allowed to keep $278 million in subsidies atter the
department’s inspector general found them improper.
The giveaway at the Education Department is closely related to the payoffs and kickbacks that lenders have recently been
found to be paying to colleges that steer borrowers their way. These schemes are driven by excess money that would
substantially dry up if Congress cut the subsidy rate. Beyond that, however, Congress needs to get out of the business of
artificially setting the subsidy rate, as it does now. It could do that, and drive down costs, by forcing lenders to compete for the
right to participate in the loan program at all.
Under another proposal, Congress would phase out the subsidized loan program and send students toward the less costly
direct-loan program, under which they borrow directly from the govemment. That, too, would be an improvement over the current
Page 293
dismal situation. It is not so common that big problems have such easy and obvious solutions. There is no excuse for inaction in
Congress.
J.P. Morgan To Stop Alumni Deals (WSJ)

By Rachel Zimmerman
The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2007
J.P Morgan Chase & Co. agreed to stop making payments to more than 100 alumni associations, including those at Boston
College, Brown University and University of Michigan, arrangements that enabled the company to market its loans directly to
graduates.
The financial-services company is the second to acknowledge such agreements as a result of an expanding investigation of
student-loan abuses by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Through its Collegiate Funding Service unit, J.P. Morgan
sought access to alumni lists so it could get graduates to combine multiple loans outstanding into a single "consolidation" loan.
Mr. Cuomo says the deals werent properly disclosed to students.
Last week, Lincoln, Neb.-based Nelnet Inc., one of the nation’s largest loan consolidators, said it had similar programs with
120 alumni associations. Nelnet said that it believes its agreements are appropriate, but the company is still under investigation
by NewYork state.
As part of his nationwide investigation, Mr. Cuomo has revealed payments by loan companies to colleges, aid officers and
alumni associations that he believes have compromised financial advice to students and their families. Twenty-two schools have
agreed to a new "code of conduct" that prohibits gifts and other payments from lenders to schools. Three lenders have agreed to
pay a combined $6.5 million into a consumer-education fund for high-school students and parents.
In a May 7 letter to J.P. Morgan, the attorney general’s office said that the company’s financial arrangements with the
alumni associations around the country were "not properly disclosed in the marketing materials" on alumni association Web sites.
For instance, the letter notes the alumni association Web site of the State University of New York at New Paltz. There, a link to
the Alumni Loan Consolidation Program led to what "appears to be a Chase site," the letter says.
Tom Kelly, a J.P. Morgan spokesman, said the company signed the attorney general’s code of conduct last month that
prohibits such financial agreements with alumni associations. Mr. Kelly said J.P. Morgan will voluntarily sever its agreements with
105 alumni associations by May 15. Representatives of SUNY New Paltz couldn’t be reached for comment.
Jerry Sigler, vice president and chief financial officer of the alumni association of the University of Michigan, said the
association terminated its $25,000-a-year contract with J.P. Morgan last month. Under the contract, the alumni association had
agreed to send its members a letter promoting the J.P. Morgan loan-consolidation plan.
Boston College and Brown didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
Separately yesterday, the New York Legislature passed a law requiring all of the state’s colleges to abide by Mr. Cuomo’s
code of conduct. Among its provisions, the new law would ban schools from "soliciting, accepting or receiving any gifts
whatsoever...from lenders in exchange for advantageous loan consideration."
Write to Rachel Zimmerman at rachel.zimmerman@wsj.com!
College Loan Flap Graduates To Alumni (USAT)

By Kathy Chu,
USA Today, May 8, 2007
A growing number of college alumni groups and lenders are moving to sever financial ties to each other in response to a
widening probe into whether some alumni groups received payments to steer alumni to certain lenders.
One major lender, JPMorgan Chase, says it will cancel contracts with 105 alumni associations by May 15 because it
believes those agreements are barred under a code of conduct it signed last month with New York Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo.
The alumni associations of the University of Tampa and University of Michigan, meantime, are suspending exclusive
contracts with lenders that marketed student-loan consolidation to the alumni.
The developments come at~er Cuomo began requesting information last week from 90 alumni associations related to their
financial ties to Nelnet, a lender, tn an interview Monday, Cuomo said he plans to request information from other lenders about
their ties with university alumni associations.
"We started this with colleges, but the assumption was that the scares stopped on graduation; they don’t," Cuomo said. "It’s
just the same wine in a different bottle."
Rae Goldsmith of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, which represents alumni associations, says the
council has urged its members to study their contracts with lenders to ensure that they "comply with standard ethical professional
2
Page 294
practices."
Separately Monday, New York’s state legislature passed a bill that bars universities from directing student-loan business to
lenders in exchange for money or perks. The bill is based on Cuomo’s code of conduct. It would be the first such ban at the state
level.
Cuomo says he believes his code of conduct applies not only to lenders and universities but also to their alumni
associations. But Goldsmith says it’s unclear whether the code applies to alumni groups, since their agreements with lenders
deal with former, not current, students. Also, some alumni groups are legally separate from their universities.
Four lenders and 22 universities have signed agreements with Cuomo to ban student-loan business in exchange for
payments. Cuomo says he’s contacting the colleges to see if they plan to end alumni associations’ contracts with lenders.
Nelnet, which has agreed to a similar code of conduct with Nebraska’s attorney general, says it believes this code doesn’t
apply to its ties with alumni group& It says those ties "provide valuable information and opportunities to alumni regarding student
loan consolidation, as well as generating income" for the alumni groups.
College Loan Reimbursements Questioned (AP)
AP, May 8, 2007
DES MOINES (AP) - Colleges in Iowa have been paid about $1.5 million over the last five years from a nonprofit lender
that dominates the college loan industry.
The money, from Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation, was for colleges that processed students’ applications for its
loans. That’s all according to a copyright story in the Des Moines Sunday Register.
Critics charge that the money could influence financial aid staffto steer students to that lender’s private loans. Those loans
can be more expensive than federal loans because some rates and fees are higher.
S~eve McCul!ough is CEO of Iowa Student Loan. He says Iowa schools don’t get extra money as a reward for processing
more loans, or higher-dollar loans. He says they must document their expenses processing the applications to get any funds.
State Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, says he wants Iowa students to be protected from the practice
of lenders paying out the reimbursements.
More Capella Staff Got Perks From Lenders (MINNST)

By Steve Brandt
IVinneapolis Star Tribune, May 8, 2007
Capella University’s parent company disclosed Monday that it has more employees getting perks from student lenders than
previously disclosed.
In a federal securities filing, Minneapolis-based Capella Education Co. said that "employees associated with our financial
aid department" were reimbursed by lenders for travel, lodging and meals after visiting lenders. It said that Student Loan Xpress
and other lenders also gave gifts and entertainment of nominal value to employees.
The company also said that it sometimes got "minimal temporary administrative services" from several lenders. Capella
offers online courses to 18,000 students worldwide.
The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission marked the first disclosure by Capetla that its problems with
student lenders go beyond Tim Lehmann, its financial aid director. The company put him on leave in April after the NewYork
attorney general’s office said it was investigating him for doing paid consulting work for Student Loan Xpress while it was on
Capella’s preferred lender list.
Capella President Michael Offerman said the added detail comes from Capella’s completion of its internal review. He said
he’s not at liberty to say more, at the request of New York officials. He said that he hopes that they will wrap up theirwork on
Capella by the end of this week.
The filing also said that in addition to $12,400 in consulting fees from Student Loan Xpress, Lehmann collected less than
$3,000 in honoraria for speaking or serving as an evaluator for the industry. It said $2,000 was returned. It said management
didn’t know of or approve the arrangements and they violated the company’s ethics code.
Capella said it expects to make changes in how it does business with lenders to reduce the potential for conflicts of interest.
Colleges Looking At Connections To Lenders (MINNST)

By Steve Brandt And Kara McGuire
IVinneapolis Star Tribune, May 8, 2007
What’s appropriate when it comes to deals be~een lenders and financial aid officials?
To Frank Loncorich, there’s nothing wrong with the trips that are paid partly or fully by the preferred providers of college
loans to St. Cloud State University students.
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The St Cloud State financial aid director has attended several conferences in Florida and two in California, at which lenders
paid for his lodging. And there are the annual weekends in Bayfield, Wis., and excursions on the St. Croix River.
Just don’t look for Sandra Loerts or Greg Peterson there. They’re Loncorich’s counterparts at Winona State University and
Minnesota State University, Mankato.
"We have to be careful with conflicts of interest with lenders," Peterson said. Added Loerts: "I’m a state employee, so I’ve
just not done those things. We’re not to take anything that gives us personal gain."
Just what is a conflict of interest in the financial aid business is at the heart of the controversy over college loans in
Minnesota and nationally.
As officials argue about what is appropriate, regulators are stepping in and colleges are moving to root out practices that
make them appear too cozy with their loan providers.
There’s a flurry of legislation in Washington addressing the relationship between financial aid officials and student lenders.
A bill could be passed by the Memorial Day recess.
The NewYork attorney general’s office is pressing lenders to agree to a code of conduct that prohibits trips, gifts or other
benefits.
IVinnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson’s office expects to release its own student loan code of conduct shortly.
Swanson’s office said last week that three schools have accepted fees from lenders, but would not provide details.
IVinnesota students have a special interest in this issue because they’re carrying more debt. The most recent statistics from
the state Office of Higher Education show that 49 percent of Minnesota college students took out loans in 2003-04, compared
with 35 percent nationwide.
So far, only one Minnesota school has been cited in the New York investigation. Minneapolis-based Capella University last
month suspended its financial aid director and delayed a stock offering after Tim Lehmann acknowledged taking consulting fees
from one of their preferred lenders. On Monday, the school’s parent company disclosed that other employees also were receiving
perks from lenders.
Closer look at St. Cloud State
A review of St. Cloud State’s financial aid office illustrates many of the practices now in question.
Loncorich has worked at St. Cloud State for 30 years and plans to retire this summer. His office displays a host of plaques
honoring his work for the university, its state system and students.
Like many colleges, St. Cloud lists preferred lenders. These are student loan providers that financial aid offices have
chosen based on criteria such as repayment benefits, interest rates and customer service. Those lenders snare much of a
college’s loan volume. However, there are no standards for how preferred lender lists are compiled.
Loncorich has served on the advisory board for Academic Funding Group, a Roseville-based lender on St. Cloud’s
preferred list.
He also attends an annual w~ekend in Bayfield for which AFG picks up lodging and meal costs. He previously took an
annual summer evening cruise sponsored by a lender associated with a principal of AFG, Gary Pressley.
AFG is one of a number of loan providers that have advisory boards of financial aid officers. Minnesota banks with student
loan products, such as U.S. Bank and TCF Bank, do not have advisory boards.
Critics worry that advisory board trips and other practices considered acceptable in the industry may influence a school’s
choice of preferred lenders. Loncorich said there is no undue influence.
Loncorich said that the AFG events are on his own time and that he provides his expertise to AFG. He said it’s up to
students whether they borrow from AFG or another lender, although he said AFG does offer some benefits for students.
"My personal preference is to provide as many good options as possible to students and let the students pick who they
want to choose," he said in an interview.
Loncorich’s daughter Melanie currently works for one of the lenders on St. Cloud’s list. Loncorich said College Loan
Corporation was added to the St. Cloud list before his daughter got a job there in mid-2006. He admitted that he asked lenders if
they had job openings, but said he didn’t ask them to hire her. She didn’t respond to a Star Tribune request for comment.
CLC offers an example of how joining a preferred lender list can be a boon to lending. In the 2003-04 school year, CLC
made just five federally guaranteed loans to St. Cloud students. That rose to 110 loans in its first year on the list, and 215 so far
this school year.
State ban on gifts
State law prohibits state employees from accepting gifts or favors in most circumstances for activities related to their jobs.
Asked if Loncorich’s involvement with preferred lenders was legal, Melinda Voss, a spokeswoman for the parent system of St.
Cloud, said it would be inappropriate for her to comment without knowing all the facts.
AFG’s Pressley didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.
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Loncorich said that colleges such as Bethel, Augsburg, Northwestern, Concordia and Hamline also have been on AFG’s
advisory board. Calls to financial aid directors at those schools brought a response only from Hamline.
Percy Nelson, an associate vice president at Hamline, said the school once was on AFG’s board but isnt now.
Hamline has used lenders to print its preferred lender list, although Nelson said those who did so weren’t given preference.
Some see this as a conflict, while others view it as a cost-saving measure.
Nelson said the school this year decided to absorb the cost of about $2,500 in light of recent scrutiny over lender-college
relations.
He said Hamline issued new rules last month that limit relations with lenders and allow serving on their advisory groups
only for professional development or to learn about products.
Proponents say that’s exactly why advisory boards exist. "They’ve been very integral in helping us design better products
and create savings for students," said Taige Thornton, president of St. Paul-based NorthStar Education Finance. "That group
can be directly responsible for creating hundreds of millions of [dollars in] savings for our students."
NorthStar’s most recent advisory meetings were held at the St. Paul Hotel and in Las Vegas, with meetings all day and
dinner and a hospitality suite into the night. Thornton defends the Vegas location, explaining that flights are cheap and the
business hotel where they stayed had no casino.
He also argues that the meetings cost less than making trips to multiple colleges would.
Yet John Pogue, past president of the Minnesota Association of Financial Aid Administrators, said lender-financed trips for
financial aid directors in appealing locales might "raise eyebrows."
Winona’s Peterson said he avoids serving on lender advisory boards. "We need to have a certain amount of neutrality
here," he said.
Whatever action is taken to regulate financial aid officers, some aren’t sweating the changes.
"Whatever the regulations are probably won’t affect us much because we are already there, hopefully," Loerts said.
N.Y. Adopts First Student Loan Reform Law (AP)

By Michael Gorrnley
AP, May 7, 2007
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The state Legislature on Monday adopted a law requiring colleges and lenders to adhere to a code of
conduct to avoid further kickbacks to colleges by student loan providers.
The bill to end gifts from lenders to colleges in exchange for steering customers to ~e companies was announced in April
by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. But Silver’s
concerns, following a public hearing, resulted in some changes. Lenders will still be able to provide philanthropic donations to
schools, as long as the donations don’t result in having students steered to the lender for loans or provide preferential attention
for the company.
"Not all connections are bad," Cuomo said. "It becomes a question of disclosure and it becomes a question of quid pro
quo."
"Private philanthropic activity should not be cut off," said Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, a Manhattan Democrat.
The bill, the first of its kind in the nation, was approved unanimously in the Senate and Assembly following Cuomo’s
national investigation into loan practices. He has targeted lenders, colleges and alumni associations in the $85 billion college
loan industry. Cuomo said he found some colleges received kickbacks from loan proceeds and some college loan officers
received trips to luxury resorts and gifts from lenders.
More than 20 schools so far have agreed to operate under a code of conduct that bans gifts and revenue sharing
agreements. Eight schools have agreed to reimburse a total of more than $3 million, most of which went to borrower information
programs. One settlement included $500 checks to some students at the University of Pennsylvania.
"Students have been ripped off to millions and millions of dollars," Cuomo said.
Cuomo, however, said he has no estimate of how much more students might have paid because of the arrangements. He
said the practice was a cost of doing business and limited competition by lenders.
The law protects students as they apply for their next loans. Cuomo also said students who have taken out loans affected
by the practice could benefit from any additional settlements he makes that include reimbursements. Those students will be
contacted by the school and lender.
Student Loan Authority Votes To End Lender Arrangement (AP)

AP, May 8, 2007
WARWICK, R.I. (AP) -- The board of the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority voted Monday to end an arrangement that
put a for-profit loan company in charge of its free College Planning Center.
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The authority’s board voted to take back oversight and staffing of the center from Lincoln, Neb.-based Nelnet, one of the
nation’s largest private, for-profit lenders.
The center offers services including college and financial aid application assistance, free SAT classes and help in finding
student loans and other ways to pay for college. Nelnet took over operating the center in 2004, and since then, students and
parents who sought help from the center with loans, college applications or other information were actually talking to Nelnet
employees.
State Treasurer Frank Caprio last week called on the authority to end the arrangement, saying it posed a possible conflict
of interest.
The board on Monday also voted to formalize a code of ethics, a move prompted by New York Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo’s investigation into allegedly unethical practices by several colleges and loan companies around the country, including
Nelnet.
Breaking The Taxpayers’ Piggy Bank For Private Gain (McnTel GA)
Macon (GA’) Tele,qraph, May 8, 2007
Question: What happens when the Education Department’s inspector general recommends that it recover $278 million in
overpayments from one firm? The unlikely answer is, nothing. The inspector general’s report was the end of a long and very
lucrative relationship between the Department of Education and companies that specialize in student loans.
In the 1980s Congress guaranteed a 9.5 percent return rate to companies to make sure low-cost student loans remained
available during economic bad times. When the economy got better and interest rates declined, Congress cut offthe subsidy
program, called 9.5 Special Allowance Payments, but allowed the SAP for already issued loans. So what did our fine, upstanding
student-loan lenders do? They found loopholes that allowed hem to continue adding loans to the SAP program. Congress,
according to The New York Times, eliminated some of the loopholes in 2004 and in 2006, but for some odd reason these 9.5
Special Allowance Payments were growing, not declining. When an Education Department employee, Jon Oberg, told his
superiors of the problem and howto fix it they basically told him to get lost.
In 2003 he wrote a memo that said that if the SAP were not stopped it could suck billions of dollars from taxpayers. He was
ignored. In 2004 the department was told by the General Accounting Office to rewrite its regulations to stop the increase in SAP.
Still, nothing was done. In 2005 the IG’s office said the department should recover $36 million from one lender, but Education
Secretary Margaret Spellings overruled the findings. Now comes the $278 million that was supposed to be repaid by Nelnet, one
of the nation’s most aggressive lenders. Instead of trying to recoup the money, the department settled with Nelnet,
The reasons the department wasn’t eager to slow the SAP were two-fold: Incompetence and corruption. Oberg’s
supervisor, Grover Whitehurst, a political appointee, didn’t know what he was doing. "In retrospect," Whitehurst said, "it looks like
he identified an important issue and came up with a reasonable solution. But it was Greek to me at the time... I didn’t know what
he was doing, except that he wasn’t supposed to be doing it."
Nelnet is one of the biggest supporters of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Nelnet’s top executives
were the largest individual donors. According to The Times, the company’s president emeritus sat on the Education Department’s
advisory committee but resigned alter it was announced that the department wouldn’t seek recovery of the $278 million.
And what did taxpayers get in return? Nelnet wont submit another $800 million in 9.5 Special Allowance Payments that it
probably isn’t eligible for anyway. Such a deal.
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Nonresponsi
Sent: May 02, 2007 7:52 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Conaty, Joseph; Farris, Amanda; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill;
Colby, Chad; Williams, C:ynthia; Dorfman, Cynthia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn,
David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzmich,
Holly; Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren; Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Beaton,
Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Spellings Called To Testify About ’Reading First’ Complaints (EDWEEK)
Spellings Called To Testify About ’Reading First’ Complaints (EDWEEK)

Education Week, May 2, 2007
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has agreed to testify before the House education committee about charges of
mismanagement and conflict of interest in the Reading First program, in a follow-up to a contentious April 20 hearing featuring
several former and current federal officials and consultants.
The hearing scheduled for May 10 will focus on the Department of Education’s oversight of the $1 billion-a-year initiative to
improve reading achievement in disadvantaged schools, and the steps being taken to prevent conflicts of interest in Reading
First and other federal programs, according to a letter to Ms. Spellings from Education and Labor Committee Chairman George
Miller, D-Calif. She will also be asked questions about the department’s management of federal student-loan programs, the letter
said.
After the first hearing, in which Rep. Miller and other House Democrats pressed former Reading First Director Christopher
J. Doherty on problems with the implementation of the program, some observers wondered why the secretary and other senior
department officials hadn’t also been called to testify. ("House Panel Grills Witnesses on Reading First," April 25, 2007.)
"Some of the key players who have some questions to answer weren’t there," said ~chael J. Petrilli, a former Education
Department official who has suggested that Ms. Spellings "micromanaged" the rollout of Reading First while serving as a top aide
at the White House during President Bush’s first term. Mr. Petrilli, now a vice president for the Washington-based Thomas B.
Fordham Foundation, said the committee’s grilling of Mr. Doherty was inappropriate, given that he was carrying out the program
according to the wishes of the Bush administration.
Justice Dept. Scrutiny
The Education Department’s inspector general has referred some of the information gathered in a lengthy audit of the
program to federal law-enforcement officials for further review. Inspector General John P. Higgins Jr. told the committee, in
response to a question on whether he had recommended any criminal review, that he had made "referrals to the Department of
Justice."
He declined to elaborate to reporters at the end of last month’s hearing, but Mr. Doherty told reporters that the Justice
Department had interviewed him last fall but has not followed up since.
The hearing, which ran more than four hours, mostly repeated allegations highlighted in a series of inspector general’s
reports beginning last fall. They concluded that Mr. Doherty and other federal officials and consultants appeared to have favored
the use of some commercial texts and assessments over others for Reading First and may have overstepped their authority in
directing states in curriculum choices for participating schools. ("Scathing Report Casts Cloud Over ’Reading First’," Oct. 4,
2006.)
Some new information about the financial ties between the program’s core advisers and several commercial products also
emerged during the hearing.
Edward J. Kame’enui, who is on leave from the University of Oregon while he directs the Education Department’s National
Center for Special Education Research, reported that he has earned about $150,000 in annual royalties from an early-reading-
intervention program. Deborah C. Simmons, a co-author on that te~, reported similar earnings.
Roland H. Good III, who developed the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, reported that he has earned more
than $500,000 from sales of the assessment, which is used in a majority of Reading First schools. A panel the three experts
served on gave DIBELS a positive review, but Mr. Good said he and his University of Oregon colleagues did not participate in the
Page 299
evaluation.
IV’r. Good noted that DIBELS is available free to schools on the Internet. But under questioning from committee members,
he acknowledged that many schools purchase neatly packaged versions of the test or spend money on hand-held computers
with DIBELS software, all of which add profits to his testing company.
Following the Law
A leading critic of the department’s handling of Reading First charged that Mr. Good’s attempts to discount his earnings
made #om DIBELS were disingenuous.
’He outlined 12 different ways that he wasn’t making money off DIBELS, until the committee asked the question just the
fight way, and we find out that in fact it’s making a lot of money," said Robert E. Slavin, a co-founder of the Baltimore-based
Success for All Foundation, whose complaints helped launch the probe.
rvi-. Doherty, who said he had not profited personally from Reading First, maintained tinder intense questioning that he and
his colleagues followed the law in directing states to choose only those programs and tests that he and grant reviewers had
judged would meet the program’s strict requirements for being research-based.
’We really implemented the program the way it was intended," Mr. Doherty said in an interview atter the hearing. "This
hearing was very unrepresentative of the very successful Reading First program."
Page 300
Nonrespons
Sent: May 02, 2007 7:50 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; William s, C~thia;
Dorfman, C:ynthia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers,
Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Ken’i; Kuzmich, Holly; Toomey, Liam; Maddox,
Lauren; Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; TracyWH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Quarles, Karen;
Bannerman, Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson, Vincent
Subject: Bush Pressing His Case On Renewal Of NCLB (EDWEEK)
Bush Pressing His Case On Renewal Of NCLB (EDWEEK)

By David J. Hoff
Education Week, May 2, 2007
In the complicated politics of the No Child Left Behind Act, one thing hasn’t changed since Congress first passed the law:.
President Bush’s desire to get a bill passed.
Over the past month, Mr. Bush has been actively highlighting what he sees as the successes of the law and the need to
chart its course beyond the end of his second term. But many political figures-including some Republicans-doubt that the
president will have the same influence over the second generation of the law that he had over its creation.
’The No Child Left Behind Act is working," Mr. Bush said last week at a charter school in the Harlem section of NewYork
City. ’qhese test scores are on the rise. Accountability makes a significant difference in educational excellence."
The April 24 event followed two White House meetings earlier in April with parents, business leaders, and civil rights
advocates to bolster support for the president’s reauthorization proposals. What’s more, Secretary of Education Margaret
Spellings traveled to Minnesota, Arizona, and New Mexico in the past month, often meeting with local business groups and
soliciting their support for the law.
At a time when Mr. Bush is approaching the twilight of his presidency and his approval ratings are in the mid-30s, many
observers say the president’s proposals to expand school choice to include private schools and access to charter schools are
unlikely to sway the Democratic majorities in Congress.
’The reauthorization of No Child Left Behind is going to be driven by Congress," said Kansas state Sen. John Vratil, a
Republican. "1 don’t see the administration leading the charge."
Last week, for example, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a high school reform plan that emphasizes improving
graduation rates in the schools with chronically high dropout rates. It does not include the Bush administration’s proposals to
expand NCLB testing across all high schools to measure students’ readiness to enter college or the workplace.
President Bush’s power diminished when Democrats regained control of the House and the Senate last fall, and it
continues to slide as he concentrates on the war in Iraq and his approval ratings hover near the lowest points in his presidency.
’It has everything to do with his current situation," said Mr. Vratil, who was among a group of state legislators who met with
White House aides in March to discuss the state lawmakers’ response to administration’s reauthorization plan.
But others suggest that Mr. Bush may have a significant say in the future of the NCLB law because of the unusual politics
surrounding the bill. With conservative Republicans rallying around an alternative and Democratic interest groups advocating
.structural changes to the law, Mr. Bush’s support could be pivotal in bolstering Democratic leaders who want to retain the law’s
goal of dramatically increasing student achievement, said Patrick J. McGuinn, an assistant professor of political science at Drew
University, in Madison, N.J.
’The fundamental question is whether the bipartisan consensus has fallen apart or not," he said. ’qhe preservation of the
original bipartisan consensus is key."
Legacy Bill
President Bush has listed reauthorization of the NCLB taw-whose passage was a centerpiece of his first-term domestic
agenda-as one of his top priorities for the final two years of his presidency.
The House and Senate education committees have held a series of hearings on topics related to the law in recent months.
Authorization for the 5-year-old law, an overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, expires on Sept. 30, but
Congress often extends programs for a year or more while it weighs broader changes.
Page 301
The law requires states to test students in reading and mathematics annually in grades 3-8 and once in high school, and to
determine ~ether districts and schools are making adequate yearly progress, or AYP, toward having all students proficient in
those subjects by the end of the 2013-14 school year. The law also contains a ratt of other mandates, in areas such as teacher
qualifications, and includes the Title I program for disadvantaged students, the Reading First initiative, and many other federal
K-12 programs.
With the goal of finishing a bill before the 2008 presidential primaries begin in January, the House and Senate education
committees are preparing bills to renew the law. Aides on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee are
starting to write portions of the bill. The goal is for the committee to debate a bill by summer, said Melissa Wagoner, a
spokeswoman for Sen. Edward M Kennedy, D-Mass., the HELP committee’s chairman.
The House Education and Labor Committee has not set a timetable for moving its reauthorization bill, said Aaron K.
Albright, a spokesman for Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., that panel’s chairman.
For such a complex bill to work through the legislative process this year, it would have to clear the education committees
this summer, experts say.
Completing the reauthorization this year is "an enormous personal interest of the president," Karl Zinsmeister, lV’r. Bush’s
chief domestic-policy adviser said in an interview. "He talks about it all the time. He’s very determined to put energy and
resources into it."
How much influence the president will have over the legislation is unclear, however.
In New York City last week, Mr. Bush promoted the success of the Harlem Village Academy Charter School. When the
school opened in the 2003-04 school year, 20 percent of its 5th graders met New York state’s math standards. Last school year,
96 percent of 5th graders met the standard.
’We ought to make it easier for officials to reorganize failing schools into charter schools," Mr. Bush said, according to the
White House transcript. "We just cannot allow the status quo to exist when we find failure."
Under the president’s NCLB proposal, school districts would be allowed to rely on federal legal authority to open new
charter schools, even if their states had reached caps on the number of charters set by state law. The administration’s plan also
would create $4,000 vouchers for students who attended schools that failed to make AYP targets for five consecutive years.
Those students could use the vouchers to transfer to other public schools or toward tuition at private schools.
But key Democratic lawmakers have said they won’t support such proposals for private school choice, and they are
pursuing other options for turning around poorly performing schools. ("Bush Offers ’Blueprint’ for NCLB," Jan. 31, 2007.)
High School Differences
Top lawmakers also aren’t following the president’s lead in other areas of education policy. For example, Sen. Kennedy
and a bipartisan group of members of his committee introduced a bill last week that would provide federal grants to the high
schools with the highest dropout rates.
The high school reform bill-introduced by Sen. Kennedy and other members of the HELP committee-would authorize $2.4
billion in grants to help such schools and would define ways to measure their progress in addition to their AYP result~ Schools
receiving the money would set a goal of improving their dropout rates and would have to intervene with students starting in 9th
grade to ensure they stayed in school until they earned their diplomas.
But the bill doesn’t include what the Bush administration sees as vital components of high school improvement. The
administration wants to set aside a portion of new Title I money for high school efforts and add two years of testing students’
preparedness to enter college or the workforce.
Such differences don’t mean that President Bush won’t have any influence over the future of the NCLB law, analysts say.
In 2001, Mr. Bush and his advisers worked closely with Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Miller to generate bipartisan support for the
No Child Lett Behind legislation that Congress passed late that year and that the president signed in January 2002.
In his speech at the Harlem school last week, Mr. Bush stressed the potential for continued bipartisanship. He mentioned
the two key Democrats by name but referred to their two GOP committee counterparts at the time-Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio
and Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire-simply as "two Republican colleagues of theirs."
’We work well together," the president said.
Rep. Miller and Sen. Kennedy have said repeatedly that they support the major provisions of the law, such as annual
testing and the goal that all students reach proficiency by the end of the 2013-14 school year.
tf President Bush presents a unified front with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, the group could preserve
the important elements of the law, said Mr. McGuinn of Drew University.
’That may have the effect of keeping the core of the law intact," he said.
The central ingredient, Mr. McGuinn added, will be the amount of money available for Title I and other NCLB programs.
Although Title I spending increased by a total of 40 percent in the first three years after the laws enactment, funding for the
Page 302
program has leveled off since.

Many Republicans, meanwhile, are unhappy because they believe that the administration has been inflexible in the way it
has carried out the law, he added.
More than 50 House Republicans and six GOP senators are supporting an alternative bill that would end the federal
government’s oversight of accountability and give the states wide latitude in deciding how to track students’ academic progress.
’There’s a belief among Democrats and Republicans that.., the Bush administration has reneged on its end of the bargain"
to increase spending on NCLB programs, Mr. McGuinn said.
Assistant Editor Erik W. Robelen contributed to this report from Washington.
Page 303

Sent: May 02, 2007 7:46 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; V’v1!liams, C~thia;
Dorfman, Cynthia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers,
Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzmich, Holly; Toomey, Liam; Maddox,
Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Secretary Spellings Wants More Vouchers (Hum Evnts)
Secretary Spellings Wants More Vouchers (HumEvnts)

By Terence P Jeffrey
Human Events, May 2, 2007
President Bush was in a jocular mood when he visited Boston Latin School on Jan. 8, 2002, with his new friend, Sen.
Teddy Kennedy (D.- Mass.).
"fou know, I told the folks at the coffee shop in Crawford, Tex., that Ted Kennedy was all right," a laughing Bush told the
crowd. "They nearly fell out. But he is. I%,e come to admire him. He’s a smart, capable senator. You want him on your side. I can
tell you that. And as a result of his hard work, we put together a good piece of legislation that has put Republicans and
Democrats on the side of the schoolchildren in America."
Bush was talking about the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which he had signed into lawthat day. He and Kennedy were
on a barnstorming tour to celebrate the new program
Before Bush was elected, the Republican Party favored abolishing the Department of Education on the grounds that the
Constitution gives the federal government no authority over primary and secondary education. Since then, department spending
has significantly increased and Republicans seldom talk abo[~ education and the Constitution in the same breath.
What did taxpayers get in return? That was on my mind when I went to interview Education secretary Margaret Spellings
on March 26.
The good news about Spellings is two-fold: She is an evangelist for school choice, and is ready to do battle with teachers
unions to improve the public schools. These are priorities for her as she works to reauthorize NCLB, which expires at the end of
September.
Moral High Ground
"We have the moral high ground," she said. "We have given additional resources, plenty of time. We know these kids are
trapped in these schools. Enough is enough. Our answer, the President’s answer, is school choice, real school choice."
When dealing with failing schools, she says, school districts must have the authority to throw out a collective bargaining
agreement "that is impeding the staffing of those schools with highly qualified teachers who can get results for those kids."
Under No Child Left Behind, states that take federal education dollars are required to test all students in 3rd grade through
8th grade for proficiency in reading and math. Each state develops its own tests and sets its own standard of"proficiency." But
every state is responsible for making sure its schools demonstrate "adequate yearly progress" toward the goal of having 100% of
students test proficient in both subjects by 2014. A school failing to show "adequate yearly progress" two years in a row is
supposed to allow its students the option of transferring to non-failing public schools in the same district A school failing three
years in a row must provide students with federally fl.lnded tutoring.
"We now know that there are about 2,000 chronically underperforming schools, and in those places we ought to have real
school choice for those parents," said Spellings.
In the 2005-06 school year, according the Department of Education, 65,000 students exercised their right to transfer out of
a chronically failing public school to another public school. That was an increase of 17,000 from the year before. But for
Spellings, it was not enough.
In re-authorizing NCLB, she wants to make sure "that students have a school voucher up to $3,500 to take either to
another public school, or to a private school, or to get additional ’supplemental services,’ which is the term that is used in the
federal law that means extra help or tutoring."
Why $3,500? Why not the full per-pupil amount spent by the public schools (which in the District of Columbia equals almost
$16,000)? "We think as a national number for a school-choice program, attached to accountability, that $3,500 is a great start,"
Page 304
said Spellings. (Department officials say the figure is equal to the national average for tuition at private elementary schools.) But
Spellings also supports more expansive school-choice programs if they are designed and enacted at the state level. As an
example, she pointed to a law enacted by Utah in February that if fully implemented would give the parents of every student in
the state a voucher worth $500 to $3,000 depending on family income. "lf l were a citizen of the great state of Utah, I would be
for that," said Spellings. "But is it appropriate for the United States Department of Education to say all of your state and local tax
monies have to go over here? That’s for the citizens of Utah to decide."
I asked Spellings if philosophically, at least, she would favor a state-based system in which every student was given a
voucher equal to the full per-pupil costs paid by the public schools. "Sure," she said, while stressing that "the giant school
voucher debates are going to be state debates and should be."
I had brought with me two charts that showed how 4th and 8th graders in public schools nationwide scored in the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading tests, which are periodically administered by the department. I showed
Spellings the chart for 4th grader~ Their reading scores had risen just two points from 215 out of a possible 500 in 1992 to 217
out of S00 in 2005 (the last year the test was given). In 2002, 4th graders scored 217. In 2003, they scored 216. And, in 2005,
they scored 217. In other words, the scores were essentially fiat during the Bush years.
"Let me tell you a couple of things about that," said Spellings. "If you are moving the needle-albeit two points-over that
period of time in a system that is getting more limited-English and poorer, I sometimes say the work is getting more challenging
by the year, and we are still getting gains. When you are moving a population of a system of 50 million kids, a two-point gain is
statistically significant,"
But then I showed Spellings the average NAEP reading scores for public school students in 8th grade. In 1998, they scored
261 o~t of 500. In 2002, they scored 263. And, in 2005, they scored 260.
"So, 8th graders actually went down," I said.
"And let me tell you something else," said Spellings. "If you go to 12th grade, it’s horrible."
One positive and encouraging sign is that over the 13-year period from 1992-2005, 4th grade reading scores have gone up
eight points among African-American students and seven points among Hispanic students, while in the 2002-05 period, they rose
one point among African-Americaqs and two points among Hispanics. Math scores have risen more dramatically for 4th grade
African-Americans and Hispanics, going up 17 points for African-Americans and 18 points for Hispanics from 2000-05.
But in the final analysis, Spellings says it is too soon to use the NAEP scores to judge NCLB, which was enacted in 2002
and which was not fully implemented in some states until the 2005-06 school year. Eventually, she says, it will be a fair gauge.
Increased Education Spending
Even as the overall reading scores have stagnated in public schools, federal education spending has risen sharply-no
matter how you measure it. According to the Office of Management and Budget, outlays for the Department of Education were
$25.8 billion in 1992. They rose, in constant dollars, to $35.5 billion by 2001, the year President Bush took offce. In 2006, they
were an astounding $93.4 billion. Department officials, however, say outlays were anomalously high last year for a number of
reasons. These include onetime expenditures related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, $4.3 billion to make up for previous under
funding of Pell Grants (which go to college students from poorer families), and a bump of about $20 billion for federally
subsidized student loans. This bump resulted from higher interest rates and a large number of people taking advantage of a new
opportunity to shitt their student loans from a variable rate to a lower fixed rate. Education outlays are estimated to drop to $68
billion in 2007.
Department officials say the fairest way to measure increases in federal education spending in the Bush years is to look not
at outlays, but at the department’s annual discretionary budget authority. According to OIVB, that increased from $40.1 billion in
2001 to $58.4 billion in 2006. Actual discretionary appropriations for Education rose from $42.2 billion in 2001 to $56.6 billion in
2006.
Spellings concedes there has been a significant spending increase. "It’s a lot," she said. But, she adds: "1 will say this: At
least we know what we are getting for our money-or not-these days, which is big step ahead of the game."
I asked Spellings if she could point to language in the Constitution that authorized the federal government to have a
Department of Education or be involved in primary and secondary education. At first she answered a different question: Whether
it was politically realistic to seek to abolish the department. "1 think we had come to an understanding, at least, of the reality of
Washington and the flat world, if you will, that the Department of Education was not going to be abolished, and we were going to
invest in our nation’s neediest students," she said.
So, I tried again. "It is one thing to say that the political reality is we are not going to abolish the federal Department of
Education," I said, "but can you seriously point to where the Framers actually intended the Constitution to authorize a
Department of Edu\cation?"
"1 cant point to it one way or the other," she said. "!’m not a constitutional scholar, but I’ll look into it for you, Terry."
Page 305
After follow-up inquiries, the department did not answer the question.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the relevant question isn’t whether the department can be abolished but how it
can best be used to advance the nation’s interest in an educated citizenry, what are the prospects now of making NCLB a more
effective instrument for achieving hat end?
Well, Teddy Kennedy, chairing the Senate Education Committee, is no longer in a mood to go barnstorming with George
W. Bush.
Congressional Quarterly Today recently reported that Kennedy calls the Bush voucher proposal a "nonstarter" and has said
reauthorizing NCLB will require a "bare minimum" increase of $5 billion in spending.
EDUCATION SECRETARY Margaret Spellings told Terence Jeffrey that she wants to see more school choice included in
the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.
terencejeffrey@eaglepub, corn
Page 306
Nonre~ponsiv
............................. ..........................
May 02, 2007 6:15 AM
Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, Krislin; Schray, Vickie; Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kfistin; scott m. s~anzel@who.eop.gov; jeanie_s.
_mamo@ed.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams,
Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson;
Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private-Spellings, Margaret;
McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof,
Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Yield Documents, Lawmaker Tells White House (NYT)
May 2, 2007
Yield Documents, La~anaker Tells White House
By KAREN W. ~]tENSON
The chairman of the House education committee asked the White House yesterdmy to turn over
all its communications about the scandal-tarred student loan program and also Reading
First, the administration’s $1-billion-a-year reading initiative, which hms been besieged
by accusations of conflict of interest.
The request by the lawmaker, Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, carries
his inquiries into education policy-making beyond the Education Department itself and into
the Bush White House.
"The committee’s ongoing investigations into both programs have revealed serious oversight
failures by senior officials," Mr. Miller’s office said in a statement.
The White House commumications sought include those from Margaret Spellings, the current
education secretary, who previously served as President Bush’s domestic policy adviser.
Ms. Spellings is to testify on both programs next week before Mr. Miller’s committee.
Emily Lawrimore, a presidentia! spokeswoman, said that the White House had received the
congressman’s request and that "’we wil! review it and respond accordingly."
Steve Forde, a spokesman for the committee’s Republicans, said, "Overly broad and
politically motivated fishing expeditions will not restore faith in these programs --
programs that continue helping millions of students learn to read and attend college, even
to this day."
The development yesterday was the latest turn in a variety of inquiries into a student
loan industry that leading federal lamlnakers and state investigators say benefits from
weak oversight and has an unacceptably close relationship with the Education Department.
As for Reading First, the Education Department’s office of inspector general has sharply
criticized the department’s handling of the program, accusing its officials of violating
conflict-of-interest rules when awarding grants to states and of steering contracts to
favored textbook publishers.
In addition to his request to the White House, Mr.

Hiller asked the Education Department yesterday for records of communications from several
of its current and former high-ranking officials, including Rod Paige, former secretary;
William D. Hansen, former deputy secretary; Eugene W. Hickok, former under secretary and
then deputy secretary; and David Dunn, the current chief of staff.
Kmtherine McLane, a spokeswoman for the department, said it was reviewing the request.
Separately, the department sent out notice that it had begun to tighten security measures
surrounding access to a national student !oan database that contains person~l financial
information on millions of student aid applicants.
Page 307
Users of the database seeking information about a student will, for example, have to
provide a birth dmte and a first n~me, as well as a Social Security number. And users will
be shom-n several random letters or nttmbers and be asked to retype them on the screen, an
approach Broadway ticket sellers use to help prevent computerized systems from buying up
multiple tickets.
Secretary Spellings suspended lender access to the database in mid-April, because of fears
that loan companies or other marketers were improperly obtaining information on potential
borro~ers. That suspension remains in effect.
Do You Yahoo!?
Page 308
NonresponsiI
(b)( ............................. .........................
May 02, 2007 6:13 AM
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kdstin; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; jeanie_s.
_rnamo@ed.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Bdggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams,
Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson;
Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret;
Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Tenell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young,
Subject: Democrat Demands White House Student Loan Records (Reuters)
Hay i, 2007
Democrat Demands White House Student Loan Records
By REUTERS
~TASHI~GTON (Reuters) - The Democratic head of the U.S.

House of Representatives education committee said on Tuesday investigators probing the
Bush administration’s management of federal student loan programs hmd found "’serious
oversight failures by senior officials.’’
Amid a conflict of interest scandal that is sweeping through the $85 billion student loan
industry, Rep.
George Miller asked the White House to turn over e-mails and other records, including
those of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, previously a ~{hite House domestic policy
adviser.
Miller, of California, also ~Trote to Spellings seeking records from her as well as former
Education Secretary Rodney Paige, former Paige adviser Beth Am_n Bryan and other staffers.
He also asked for documents on administration oversight of Reading First, a reading

program that is a key part of U.S. President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind
education law.
Spellings is scheduled to testify on May i0 before Miller’s House Education and Labor
Committee.
Congress and state attorneys genera! are probing allegations of misconduct across the
student loan industry. Investigators accuse some college financial aid officers of taking
payments and perks from lenders in exchange for placing the companies on "’preferred
lender’’ lists sho~n to students.
Student Lending Works, an Ohio nonprofit lender, said on Tuesday it hms been left off all
but 12 of i00 such lists.
"’We believe that the ’preferred lender’ list system is broken and needs fixing. It no
longer serves the interests of students and their families,’’ the organization said.
Miller last week asked for an internal inquiry at the Education Department into possible
conflicts of interest.
Another Democrat, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, has asked Spellings to hand over
personne! files and financial disclosure reports for
27 Education Department employees. Kennedy heads the Senate’s education committee.
Last month a manager in the Education Department’s financial aid office was put on leave
pending a review of his ownership of stock in Education Lending Group, former parent of
Student Loan Xpress, now a unit of CIT Group Inc..
Along with Kennedy and Miller, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been campaigning
Page 309
to clean up the student loan business. Cuomo has said criminal chmrges may result.
As the inquiry has progressed, lenders including Citigroup Inc., Sallie ~~e, JPMorgan
Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. bave agreed to a code of conduct recommended by
Cuomo banning school-lender finmncial ties, "’preferred lender’’ list payments and lender
gifts to college emp!oyees.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported thmt the Bush administration killed a plan
drafted at the end of the Clinton administration to rein in payments and gifts that
student lenders showered on college financial aid officials.
Do You YahooS?
Page 310
Nonresponsi
Sent: May 01, 2007 4:48 PM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia;
Lauren; Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Quarles, Karen;
Bannerman, Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson, Vincent; Conklin, Kdstin; Oldham, Cheryl;
Schray, Vickie
Subject: Democrat demands V~ite House student loan records (WP)
Democrat demands White House student loan records

By Kevin Dra~vbaugh
Reuters
Tuesday, May 1, 2007; 4:03 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic head of the U.S. House of Representatives education committee on
Tuesday asked the Bush administration to turn over emails and other records about its oversight of federal
student loan programs.
Amid a conflict of interest scandal that is sweeping through the $85 billion student loan industry, Rep. George
Miller said investigators for his committee had found "serious oversight failures by senior officials."
Miller, of California, asked the Bush administration for records including those of Education Secretary Margaret
Spellings, previously a White House domestic policy adviser.
Miller also wrote to Spellings seeking records from her and from former Education Secretary Rodney Paige,
former Paige adviser Beth Ann Bryan and other department staffers. He also asked for documents on
administration oversight of Reading First, a reading program that is a key part of President George W. Bush’s
No Child Left Behind education law.
Spellings is scheduled to testify on May 10 before Miller’s education pane!.
Investigators for Congress and several states are probing allegations of misconduct and conflicts of interest
across the student loan industry.
Miller last week asked for aninternal inquiry at the Education Department into possible conflicts of ir~erest.
Another Democrat, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, has asked Spellings to hand over personnel files
and financial disclosure reports for 27 Education DeFartment employees. Kennedy heads the Senate’s education
committee.
Earlier this month, a manager in the Education Department’s financial aid office was put on leave pending a
review of his ownership of stock in Education Lending Group Inc., former parent of Student Loan Xpress, now
a unit of CIT Group Inc..
Along with Kennedy and Miller, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been campaigning to clean
up the student loan business. Cuomo has said criminal charges may result.
Investigators have accused some college aid officers of taking payments and perks from lenders in exchange for
placing the companies on "preferred lender" lists shom~ to students.
Page 311
As the inquiry has progressed, lenders including Citigroup Inc., Sallie Mae, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of
America Corp. have agreed to a code of conduct recommended by Cuomo barming school-lender financial ties,
"preferred lender" list payments and lender gifts to college employees.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that the Bush administration killed a plan drafted at the end of the
Clinton administration to rein in payments and gifts that student lenders sho~vered on college financi!l aid
officials.
© 2007 Reuters
Page 312
lNonresponsi !
May01, 2007 5:27 AM
To: Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, Krislin; Schray, Vickie; Duncket, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kdstin; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton,
Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, Da,,,id;
Dorfman, C~nthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela;
MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar,
Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc;
Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara
Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Warnings On Student Lenders Unheeded (WP)
Warnings On Student Lenders Unheeded

Bush Aides Derailed New Rules in 2001
By A m it R. Paley
Tuesday, May I, 2007; A01
The Bush administration killed a proposal to clamp down on the student loan industry six
years ago following allegations that companies sought to shower universities with
finmncial favors to help generate business, according to documents and interviews with
government officials.
The proposed policy, which Education Department officials drafted near the end of the
Clinton presidency and circulated at the start of the Bush administration, represented an
early, significant but ultimately abortive government response to a problem that this year
hms grown into a major controversy.
Now, as the $88 billion-a-year student loan industry faces an array of investigations into
questionable business practices that some officials believe could have been curtailed by
the 2001 proposal, the Education Department has embarked on a new effort to set rules for
the industry to prevent conflicts of interest and other abuses. If approved, the rules
would be implemented in summer 2008, a few months before Bush leaves the White House.
The abandonment of the 2001 proposal underscores what some consumer advocates and
Democratic lam]m~kers believe is lax federal oversight of the financial aid system by a
department they say is too cozy with the industry. More th~_n a dozen senior department
officials either previously worked in the student !oan business or found high-paying
in the sector after they left the agency.
"The Department of Education has been run as a wholly owned subsidiary of the loan
industry under this administration," said Barmak Nassirian, a longtime advocate for
industry reform at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions
Officers. "They are running the federal loa~ program for the profit of their friends and
not for the benefit of students and taxpayers."
Chad Colby, a department spokesman, said he was not aware of the 2001 proposal but noted
that a task force was created last week to consider new rules. The department also
defended its hiring of loan industry veterans, saying their expertise was invaluable, and
pointed to a 200S decision by the ®overnment Accountability Office to remove federa!
student financial aid from a list of "high-risk" programs.
"The U.S. Department of Education takes its role as steward of federal financial aid very
seriously,"
Education Secretary ~dargaret Spellings, who took office in 2005, said in a statement last
week.
No one has been charged with any crime in the investigations led by the New York state
attorney genera!’s office and other agencies, but in recent weeks there have been a series
of revelations about conflicts of interest and financial links among universities, lenders
and government officials. Some Bush administration appointees have said they were unaware
Page 313
of the extent of these controversial practices.
But the 2001 policy draft shows that Education Department officials knew of the issue and
that at least some saw a need to act. In addition, some industry executives had sought
guidelines on what would qualify as prohibited payments, or "inducements," from lenders to
financial aid eL%rectors, according to current and former department officials. Several of
them spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
"We h~ve been asked to provide guidance on whether certain practices of [private] lenders
and guaranty agencies are considered to be prohibited inducements,"
according to the 2001 draft obtained by The Washington Post. "We are particularly
concerned with allegations that some lenders and guaranty agencies have attempted to hide
or disguise an impermissible offer."
Such allegations began to draw increasing attention from the department as early as 1999,
according to officials.
Although investigators have found several cases in which lenders made payments to schools
that steered business their way, it has not been established that those practices violate
federal prohibitions on quid pro quo arrangements. The 2001 proposal addressed that
oha!lenge by saying the department would presume that a violation has occurred if a lender
offers "something of value" to a school at which it has at least 20 percent of the
school’s loan volttme.
The draft policy, known as "subregulatory guidance,"

was outlined in a letter by John Reeves, a Clinton-era appointee who served as general
manager in a tunit of the Office of Federal Student Aid and stayed on for part of the Bush
administration. The office’s chief operating officer, Greg Woods, another Clinton-era
appointee, briefed industry groups on the proposa!, according to two people who met with
him. But Bush appointees quashed the rules.
"We were like, ’No, we’re not going to drop a bomb on the lending community with these
wacko ideas,’ " said Jeffrey R. Andrade, a senior Education Department official at the
time who now works for a loan company.
Reeves declined to be interviewed yesterday; Woods died after leaving the government.
Not everyone agrees that the rules would have had a significant impact.
"People who wanted to work around the rules would have found loopholes, unfortunately,"
said John Dean, special counse! to the Consumer Bankers Association, which represents
lenders and took no position on the proposal.
But Andrade, a former deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Postsecondary Education,
said the 2001 proposal was "very draconian," so much so that half the schools in the
country would have been found in violation of the policy. The department decided to
encourage the financial aid community to draft its o~n voluntary standards, an effort that
ultimately collapsed.
It wasn’t long before the department’s inspector general issued the first of several
reports criticizing a lack of oversight from the agency’s Office of Federal Student Aid. A
2003 report to Sally L. Stroup, then assistant secretary for postsecondary education and a
former lending agency executive, said the office "has never performed reviews of lenders
for the specific purpose of reviewing compliance" with federa! anti-inducement rules.
A 2006 audit sent to Theresa S. Shaw, the office’s chief operating officer and a former
Sallie Hae executive, said the agency’s unit responsible for overseeing the lending
industry "did not provide adequate oversight and consistently enforce" federal rules.
Instead, the audit said, the division "emphasized partnership over compliance in dealing
with guaranty agencies, lenders, and servicers."
Stroup said the department had considered issuing new anti-inducement rules in 2005, but
agency la~yers objected, saying they would not be enforceable if they weren’t made through
a formal process. The agency decided to postpone the start of that process until last
year.
"Of course, in hindsight, that wasn’t such a great decision," said Stroup, now a top
Page 314
Republican aide on the House education committee.
The formal process that began last year considered rules similar to the 2001 proposal, but
it broke down last month. Spellings then formed a task force to propose rules to take
effect next summer.
Congressional Democrats and the department also are now investigating potentia! conflicts
of interest among agency employees. One officia!, Mmtteo Fontanm, a former Sallie Mae
employee, was suspended early last month after revelations that he held more than $i00,000
of stock in a student loan company while overseeing the industry.
Do You Yahoo~?
Nonrespons
Sent: April 29, 2007 10:44 AM
To: Cariello, Dennis; Halaska, Terrell; Dunn, David; Terrell, Julie; Rosenfelt, Phil; Pitts,
Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Ruberg, Casey; Kuzmich, Holly; Scheessele, Marc;
Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Flowers, Sarah; Williams, Cynthia; Toomey, Liam; Tada, Wendy;
tracy_d._young@who.eop.gov; Reich, Heidi; Landers, Angela; Talbert, Kent; Colby,
Chad; Briggs, Kerd; McLane, Katherine; Simon, Ray; Pdvate - Spellings, Margaret;
Neale, Rebecca; Herr, John; Ditto, Trey; Maddox, Lauren; Beaton, Meredith; Yudof,
Samara; Gribble, Emily
Subject: Weekend News Summary, 4.29.07
Weekend News Summary

4.29.07
1. Reports On School Crimes Are Rare (WP)

2. Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard (NYT)
3. Rethinking the Path to Prestige (NYT)
4. Has bias jeopardized reading prod’am? ~cClatchy)
1. Reports On School Cri~nes Are Rare

Moutgomery Bucks Area Tendencies
By Daniel de Vise
The Washington Post
Sunday, April 29, 2007; C01
The recent announcement that Montgomery County school officials ~vere starting ~vork on an
annual report of crimes committed by students and other disciplinary incidents underscored a
sttrprising fact: In this era of heightened concern about school safety, few Washington area
school systems regularly report such offenses to the public.
The annual School Safety Report, slated for publication in Montgomery starting in the 2008-
09 academic year, will place the county almost alone among Maryland and Northern Virginia
school system s in reporting detailed school cTim e statistics to the public, according to
education leaders ~md lawmakers. In much of this region, as in much of the nation,
comprehensive reports on weapons, drugs and sex in individual public schools simply don’t
exist.
Among the area’s largest school systems, only Fairfax County reports school crime data
online, as part ofils searchable database of school report cards. One other county, Anne
Anmdel, publishes a hard-copy student disdpline report with annual ca-ime data for
individual schools. School systems in Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, Loudoun and
Prince William counties publish no such document.
"It’s all theoretically available to the public but rather difficult to obtain," said Montgomery
County Council member Phil Andrews (D-Craithersbu.rg-Rock~411e), who has pushed for
annual school crime reporting,
School systems in both states report student crime statistics to their state education
06/05/2008
Page 2 of 9
Page 3!6
departments. The state agendes, in turn, make some data available to parents, but the depth
and detail ofwha1~s available is widely regarded as inadequate. Neither state offers data on
individual schools.
D.C. school offidals did not respond to requests for crime data. The dty’s inspector genera
said in 2004 that the system had failed to keep adequate records on crimes in schools.
Kermeth Trnmp, a national authority on school safety who testified before Congress on
Monday, says the underreporting of disciplinary incidents in area schools is part of"a
historical culture of downplay, deny, deflect and defend when it comes to publicly
acknoMedging and reporting school crimes." Ifs driven, experts say, by an overarching
concern among school principals to protect their image and that of their school.
"If you’re the administrator and you report what happened, you may get blamed," said Jean
O’Neil, director of research and evaluation at the National Crime Prevention Cotmdl in
Washington. "If you’re the administrator and you don’t report what happened, you m ay get
blamed."
There are exceptions. The school district in Broward County, Florida, publishes annual crime
tallies for every school that cover more than 20 categories of offense. Annual schoo! crime
reports in Pennsylx~ania span more than 30 categories.
But a Washington area parent interested in knowing the kind and amount of weapons seized
at her child’s high school in the previous academic year would have greater or lesser success,
depending on where she lives.
The Maryland Stal~ Department of Education publishes an annual report on student

suspensions based on seven comparatively broad categories of offense. But the report is little-
known and buried deep within the agency’s Web site. Mary Jo Neff, president of the
Maryland PTA, said she has never seen it.
The Vir~nia Department of Education includes crime data in its annual school report cards,
accessible on the agency’s Web site; Fairfax replicates the data on its site. But the reports
offer only three specific categories of offense --incidents involving firearms, other weapon
offenses and fights -- and a somewhat broader tally of"serious incidents" involving
significant injury. Charles Pyle, a spokesman for the Virginia department, said the school
crime component is "a key piece" of the report card, "and ifs gotten bigger and bigger every
year,"
Montgomery’s Office of Le~slative Oversight last year studied how lhe county’s school
system reports crimes and concluded that its practices "do not currently include the routine
sharing of all serious incident data with the community."
Little information is shared with parents, although, the report stated, "almost every parent"
interviewed voiced strong interest in knowing more about school crime. The report cited
widespread concern among school staffthat reporting crime data might "create the wrong
impression."
Wayde B. Byard, a spokesman for Loudotm schools, invoked a common belief among
educators that parents will misuse crime data to "rate schools based on arbitrary statislics that
often involve students that are no longer at a school."
06/05/2008
Michele Menapace, the county PTA president in Fa~fax, said a school’s reputation for safety
is "one of the first things that comes up" when officials propose shifting school boundaries.
She has not heard, however, that parents want more information on school crime.
Jane de Winter, the county PTA leader in Montgomery, said the shor~ge of good crime data
"is something that we hear about pretty frequently. We have asked for better data. We’ve
heard parents ask for better data."
2. Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard

The New York Times
By Michael Winerip
April 29, 2007
On a Sunday morning a few months back, I interviewed my final Harvard applicant of the
year. After saying goodbye to the gift and watching her and her mother drive off, I headed to
the beach at the end of our street for a run.
Itwas a spectacular winter day, bright, sunny and cold; the tide was out, the waves were
high, and I had the beach to myself. As I ran, I thought the same thing I do after all these
interviews: Another amazing kid who won’t get into Harvard.
That used to upset me. But I’ve chinned.
Over the last decade, I’ve done perhaps 40 of these interviews, which are conducted by
alumni across the country. They’re my only remaining link to my alma mater, I’ve never
been back to a reunion or a football game, and my total donations since graduating in the
1970s do not add up to four figures.
No matter how glowing my recommendations, in a!l this time only o~ kid, a girl, got in,
many years back. I do not tell this to the eager, we!l-groomed seniors who settle onto the
couch in our den. They’re under too much pressure already. Better th~n anyone, they know
the odds, particularly for a kid from a New York suburb.
By the lime I meet them, they’re pros at worldng the system. Some have Googled me because
they think knowing about me wil! improve their odds. After the interview, many send
han&~Ntten thank-you notes saying how much they enjoyed meeting me.
Maybe it’s tree.
I used to be upset by these attempts to ingratiate. Since I’ve watched my own children go
through similar torture, I find these gestures touching. Everyone’s trying so hard.
My reason for doing these interAews has shifted over time. When I started, my kids were
young, and I thought it mi~t give them a line advantage when they applied to Harvard. That
has turned out notto be an issue. My oldest, now a college freshman, did not apply, nor will
my twins, who are both high school jtmiors.
We are not snubbing Harvard. Even my oldest, who is my most academic son, did not quite
have the class rank or the SATs. His SAT score was probably 100 points too low -- thou~ it
~vas identic~ to the SAT score that got me in 35 years ago.
Why do I continue to interview? It’s very moving meeting all these bright young people who
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won’t get into Harvard. Recent news articles make it sound unbearably tragic. Several Ivies,
including Harvard, rejected a record number of applicants this year.
Actually, meeting the soon-to-be rejected makes me hopefifl about young people. They are
far more accomplished than I was at their age and without a doubt will do superbly wherever
they go.
Knowing me and seeing them is like witnessing some major evolutionary change take place
in just 35 years, from the Neanderthal Harvard applicant of 1970 to today’s fully evolved
Homo sapiens applicant.
There ~vas the ~fl who, during summer vacation, left her house before 7 each morning to
make a two-hour train ride to a major university, ~vhere she worked all day doing cu~g-
edge research for NASA on weightlessness in mice.
When I was in high school, my 10th-grade science project was on plant tropism -- a shoebox
with soil and bean sprouts bending toward the light.
These kids who don’t get into Harvard spend summers on schooners in Chesapeake Bay
studying marine biology, building homes for the poor in Central America, touring Europe
with all-star orchestras.
Summers, I dug trenches for my local sewer department during the day, and sold hot dogs at
Femvay Park at night.
As I listen to them, I can visualize their parents, striving to teach excellence. One ~rl I
interviewed described how her father made her watch the 2004 convention speeches by both
President Bush and Senator John Kerry and then tell him which she liked better and why.
What kind of kid doesn’t get into Harvard? Well, there was the charming boy I interviewed
with 1560 SATs. He did cancer research in the summer, played two instruments in three
orchestras; and composed his own music. He redid the computer system for his student paper,
loved to cook and was writing his own cookbook. One of his specialties was snapper poached
in tea and served with noodle cake.
At his age, when I got hungry, I made myself peanut butter and jam on white bread and got
into Harvard.
Some take 10 AP courses and get top scores of 5 on all of them.
I took one AP course and scored 3.

Of course, evolution is not the same as progress. These kids have an AP history textbook that
has been specially created to match the content of the AP test, as well as review books and
tutors for those tests. We had no AP textbook; m any of our readings came I~om prim ary
documents, and there was no Princeton Review then. I was never tutored in anything and
walked into the SATs without having seen a sample SAT question.
As for my bean sprouts project, as bad it was, I did it alone. I interview kids who describe
how their schools provide a statistician to analyze their science project data.
I see these kids -- and watch my own applying to college -- and as evolved as they are, I
06/05/2008
wouldn’t change places with them for anything. They’re under such pressure.
I used to say goodbye at my door, but since my own kids reached this age, I walk them out to
their cars, where aparent ~vaits. I always say the same thing to the morn or dad: "’You’ve
done a ~vonderful job -- you should be very proud_’" And I mean it.
But I’ve stopped feeling bad about the looming rejection. When my fuur were little, I used to
hope a couple might go to Harvard. I pushed them, but by the end of middle school it was
clear my twins, at least, were not made that way. They rebelled, and I had to learn to see who
they were.
I came to understand that my own focus on Harvard was a matter of not sophistication but
narrowness. I grewup in an tmwofldly blue-collar environment. Getting perfect grades and
attending an elite college was one of the few ways up I could see.
Ivly four have beenraised in an upper-middle-class world. They look around and see lots of
avenues to success. Ivly wife’s two brothers struggled as students at mainstream colleges and
both have made wonderfifl fifll lives, one as a salesman, the other as a builder. Each found his
own best path. Each knows excellence.
That day, running on the beach, I was lost in my thoughts when a voice startled me. ’~ops,
hey, Pops!" It was Sammy, one of my twins, who’s probably heading for a good state school.
He was in his wet~t, surfing alone in the 30-degree weather, the only other person on the
beach. "What a day!" he yelled, and his joy filled my heart.
3. Rethinking the Path to Prestige

The New York Times
Peter Applebome
April 29, 2007
Richard C. Levin, president of Yale University, has a problem: too many applicants, too few
slots.
Of course, this is a problem that defines success in a process in which the biggest rewards go
to the universities that attract and then reject the most applicants.
But as this year’s version of the admissions demolition derby winds down for exhausted high
school seniors, two interesting issues are posed by a proposal of Dr. Levin’s to add t~vo new
undergraduate residential colleges at Yale: Is this a good idea for Yale? And is his larger
issue his problem or ours?
If any place is on safe footing in the admissions arms race, i~s Yale, which last year beat out
its competitors by accepting only 9 percent of applicants. ~his year ~e rate ~e~v to 9.6
percent as applications dropped, perhaps because some hi~ school seniors saw the futility of
applying.) So it’s hard to look from afar at the proposal by Dr. Levin and not think, Why
aren’t others doing this? His plan would add two new residential colleges to the 12 existing
ones, ~vhich would increase each class by about 150 students, or more than 10 percent.
As he said in an interview, after Yale expanded to its current size in the 1960s, there were
roughly 4,000 to 5,000 applicants a year for 1,300 positions in the freshman class. The size of
the freshman class has remained about the same, but now there are some 20,000 applicants,
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including a growing number of international ones, plus all the other desired niches of
minority students, athletes, children of alums and the rest.
"Expansion could help relieve those pressures and create more opportunities for students ~vho
are just ordinary, extremely brilliant and talented students who don’t have any of those other
comlecfions," Dr. Levin said. "We have astonishing educational resources here. If we can
educate more students and give them exposure to the opporOmifies here, I think we can make
an even more substantial contribution to the nation and the world."
The proposal is just that. and a decision is likely to come near the end of the year. If
expansion is approved, chances are that construction on the two colleges would begin in 2011
and be completed in 2013.
Adding 150 slots for 20,000 applicants goes only so far, but Nven the ever-expanding
universe of applicants, the idea has an undeniable loNc. Princeton, too, is completing an
expansion that will take its undergTaduate enrollment to 5,200 in 2012, from 4,700 in 2005.
The issue is particularly salient at state flagship institutions.
But making space for more students is no small tiffS; each of the colleges at Yale wonld cost
$200 million to build, plus other costs for educating the new students. People have
understandable worries about changing the intimate culture at Yale. Students saythe new
colleges might have the feeling of being too far from the heart of the campus. And, perhaps
not surprisingly, students who won the admissions game seem focused on protecting their
place in the pecking order. "I don’t see any reason not to just keep it selective," said Joanna
Boyle, a senior from Los Angeles.
Sigh. Which brings us back to the broader questions worth asking. Last week, in one of those
"you can’t make it up" episodes, Marilee Jones, the admissions dean ~t the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, who had been one of the strongest voices for toning down the
college hysteria, resigned after admitting she had fabricated her own education credentials.
BUT high school counselors and admissions experts who aren’t invested in the game say
there really is a backlash building against the notions that a college’s ranking or status is a
proxy for educational quality, and that teenagers should spend their high school years in a
frenzy of resume building, the better to get into the college most esteemed by guidebook
editors and readers.
So, most of them agree that if Yale can make it work, getting a few more people into the
university is almost certainly a good thing. But convincing a lot more people that there’s life
beyond the 20 or so colleges on the standard striver’s shopping list would be even better.
Even Dr. Levin says there’s something perverse about the current system, ~vhere "prestige and
reputation tend to depend on how many students you reject."
Lloyd Thacker, a former high school guidance counselor who founded the Education
Conservancy, a nonprofit group that has become a persistent voice against admissions
hysteria, criticizes what he calls "driving under the influence ofrarddngs."
The question now, he says, is who will take the lead in changing the way the game is played.
A few years back it was a fringe question. Now it’s one that a lot of people within education,
not just high school seniors with tread marks on their backs, are asking -- even if no one has
figured out what to do about it.
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"Admissions professionals are enga~ng in a lot of sonl-searching about what we’re doing,"
said Barmak Nassirian, a spokesman for the American Association of Collegiate Re~strars
and Admissions Officers. "People realize the system as a whole is getl~ng out of hand.
They’re aware we have setup a system in which rational behavior onthe part of each player
is contributing to a major national act of irrationality."
4. Has bias jeopardized reading program?

Questions arise over the denial of a grant to the KC school district.
McC latchy Newspapers
By Rob Hotakainen
April 29, 2007
WASHINGTON [ When the Kansas City public schools lost federal money for their new
reading program, Robert Slavin was plenty distressed.
Slavin, who designed the program used in Kansas City, had seen the pattern all too omen:
Local officials tryto get govermnent grants to help pay for the Success For All program and
then realize it has fallen out of bureaucratic favor in Washington.
°qltere have beenmany of these decisions --tl~s is only the latest." said Slavin, a researcher
at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Prompted by a growing list of such complaints, the House Education Committee is looking
into whether the Bush administration steered contracts to its favorite vendors, shutting out
Slavin and others.
The admi~stration denies any favoritism.
Still, the Education Department’s inspector general has asked the Justice Deparl~nent to
examine allegations of mismanagement and conflicts of interest that swirl around the $6
billion federal grant program, known as Reading First, a centerpiece of the five-year-old No
Child Lef~ Behind law.
Inspector General John Higgins said his office began investigating Reading First al~er
receiving complaints in May 2005.
He told the House committee that the law passed by Congress called for a balanced panel of
experts to review grant applications but that the depar~ent had created a panel that had
professional ties to a specific reading program.
U.S. Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat and the committee’s chairman, said in an
Aptil 20 hearing that committee investigators found three people involved in the revie~ving
process had benefited ~andally, tither directly or indirectly.
At the hearing, the three pand members acknowledged that they benefited from the sale of an
assesmnent product called the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Learning Skills, or
DIBELS. One of the panel members was a co-author of the product, and the company in
which he owned a 50 percent share received more than $1.3 million in royalties and other
payments from the sale of DIBELS.
The two other panel members were co-authors of a reading-intervention product that ~vas
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Page 322
packaged with DIBELS, and they each received about $150,000 in royalty payments for the
sale of the product
But all three denied any conflict of interest, saying they did not vote on their own products as
part of the grant rextews. They also said their products were selling because of their
popularity, not because of any pressure from Washington.
Bush admirdstration officials are defending the Reading First grant program, which is part of
the president’s effort to get all schoolchildren reading by third grade. They point to rising test
scores since the program began in 2002.
In a report earlier fltis month, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said that from 2004 to
2006, the percentage of first-graders who met or exceeded proficiency increased 14
percentage points, from 43 percent to 57 percent. She said that during the same period the
percentage of third-graders who met or exceeded proficiency rose 7 percentage points, from
36 percent to 43 percent.
Christopher Doherty, who managed the Reading First pro~am for five years, said the
Education Department never maintained a list of favored reading programs.
°~No one was ever told they must use a certain program or programs instead of others,’" said
Doherty, who left the post last year.
One of Reading First’s biggest defenders is the president. Speaking Tuesday at a school in
the New York neighborhood of Harlem, Bush said: °’I appredate the fact that nationwide, 9-
year-olds have made more progress in five years than in the previous 28 years combined on
these tests in reading ....The pipeline is begirming to be full of little readers that are
competent readers."
But Spellings is sure to be on the hot seat May 10, when she will testify before the House
Education Committee on her department’s oversight of the program.
Congress approved Reading First as a way to help public schools iml~ove reading instruction
by giving them federal money to pay for teacher training and materials.
When Kansas City lost its $3 million reading grant, school officials blamed a poor
application by the district, not bias.
But Slavin said Kansas City’s experience was clearly linked to the widening probe on Capitol
Hill. °’There’s not the slightest question in my mind,"he said.
While ~ant reviewers are allowed to conduct their work anonymously, Slavin said he had
asked the new federal Reading First director to examine exactly what went wrong with
Kansas City’s application.
Kansas City officials said they were aware ofthe controversy in Washington and they were
doing more analysis of the district’s failed bid.
’~here is a lot of smoke in the room," Superintendent Anthony Amato said. ’%Ve have to
analyze this. I don’t know if we were caught in the cross hairs with that,’" he said, refening to
the alleged bias a~st Success For All.
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Amato said that the district had sent a letter to state offidals, asldng for a fi~ review of its
bid. "I’m not giving up on this," he said.
At Amato’s urNng~ most of Kansas City’s schools have used Success For All this year. But
the district was denied money to expand the program to 15 schools that were using other
Reading First curricula. The Success For Al! program has generated controversy in the
district, partly because it was installed so quickly.
Supporters say that the program, which emphasizes phonics, is a good way to reach young
children from poor families.
Under Success For All, pupils are grouped by their reading levels, not grades. For 90 minutes
each day, nearly all teachers in a school teach reading by the script. No interruptions are
allowed.
At the Apri! 20 hearing, Miller said investigators had found examples ’Where states were
essentially bullied"to use favored reading programs in order to get federal aid.
An associate commissioner with the Kentucky Department of Education testified that the
state was pressured by then-Reading First Dkector Doherty to drop one of its reading
assessments and that it quickly received federal funding after doing so.
Miller said the federal program can be added ~’to that long and growing list of instances of the
administration operating outside the law."
He said congressional investigators had been investigating for months, reviewing thousands
of documents and interviewing dozens of people.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the head of the Senate’s Education Committee, said the Bush
administration has a record ’°of political m aNpulation and cronyism that have tainted" the
reading program. The Massachusetts Democrat said that "schools across the country were
pressured into using specific reading curricula that were backed by the progrmns’
administrators’ political agendas."
Slavin, who filed a formal complaint with the Education Deparkment alleging bias, has
worked on the Success For All reading program for more than two decades. His program has
been used at more than 1,200 schools, and he is still perplexed why it fel! out of favor in
Washington. Slavin said that even with Doherty gone, the bias remains.
’°They’ve done nothing to deal with the fact that the program was setup to exclude certain
program s, despite their evidence of effectiveness," Slavin said.
As the investigations continue, Democratic leaders promise to tighten controls.
Kennedy has introduced a bill that would require federal employees and contractors involved
in Reading First to file yearly financial disclosures showing any ties to publishers or
organizations that benefit from the program. His bil! also would increase monitoring in an
attempt to ensure that no federal employee tries to influence or control local curriculum
derisions.
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Nonrespon
Sent: Apd128, 2007 11:06 AM
Chad; Briggs, Kerri; McLane, Katherine; Simon, Ray; Private - Spellings, Margaret;
Samara; Gdbble, Emily
Subject: Weekend News Summary, 4.28.07
WEEKEND NEWS SUMNLARY

4.28.07
1. Massachusetts Acts to Save the Country’s First Public Hi~a School (AP)
2. The A-B-C’s of Calculating Financial Aid (NYT)
3. Howard’s President To Retire Next Year (~VP)
4. Education Secretary visits Albuquerque (AP)
1. Massachusetts Acts to Save fl~e Country’s First Public Hi~ School

April 28, 2007
BOSTON, April 27 (AP) -- One wall at English High School here holds old black-and-white
photographs of young white men in hight starched collars and V-neck varsity sweaters.
Another wal! is covered with a mural spray painted in graPfifi like an irmer-dty overpass.
English High was founded in ! 821 as the United States’ first public high school, and its
graduates include J. P. Morgan and Maj. Gen. Matthew Ridgway from the Korean War.
Today, its student body, dressed mostly in baggy jeans and do-rags, is one of the most
diverse in the city, and one of its lowest-performing, too.
Most schools that scored as poorly on standardized tests as English High Schoo! would have
been shut by now, Superintendent Michael Contompasis of Boston said.
°°I would have dosed En~ish, if it wasn’t English," Nix. Contompasis said.
Instead, the state has moved to salvage English. The school will be placed under state
supervision next year, enrollment will be reduced to 800 students from about 1,200, and
many union-negotiated work rules will be suspended to give more power to the headmaster
and allow longer school days.
English High is 48 percent Hispanic, 45 percent black and 5 percent white. Almost 20
percent of its students are recent immigrants in an English-immersionprogram.
The school is open to students from all over the city. But unlike some of Boston’s most elite
public schools, it has no entrance examination.
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Educators say the troubles are similar to those of other urban public schools with large
numbers of poor youngsters and immio~ants.
The school has failed year after year to meet federal benchmarks set by the No Child Left
Behind law. Last year, 74 percent of 10th graders failed to show proficiency on the language
arts section of the state examination required for a diploma, and 73 percent fell short in math.
Charles Glenn, dean of the School of Education at Boston University, said the problem for
English and other large city schools was that more elite public institutions took a~vay the best
and brightest.
"°The inevitable effect is that ldds who are academically able or families ~vho have their act
together to look for the best schools tend to get drawn off," Mr. Glenn said. °’l’he challenge
for English is catch up to that."
2. The A-B-C’s of Calculating Financial Aid

The New York Times
By Damon Darlin
April 28, 2007
THIS week, members of the Class of 2011 are coming down to the wire in deciding which
colleges they wil! attend and, more often than not, their choice is influenced by which offers
the most generous financial aid package.
Most students and their parents have until Tuesday to decide. In the precious few hours that
remain, as they try to decipher the fine print, they can be forgiven if the whole process
reminds them of buying a car from a slick salesman.
The car salesman would undoubtedly start the negotiations by quoting the sticker price, and
he would quickly cloud the whole deal with an intricate verbal fandango about loans. He may
eventually !ower the price a bit, though that would probably take the form of free car ~nats.
It is remarkably similar with colleges. They have an advertised price for tuition. The a~vard
letter that students received this month lists what the school will do to ~knock down the price.
It can do that with scholarships or grants, but more than likely it will quickly get you to think
about loans.
About 80 percent of students do not pay the tuition sticker price. But loans are increasin~y
the most common way they finance that education. American studenls last year took on about
$86 billion in loans to pay for education.
The big difference between a car salesman and the college of your child’s dreams is that the
salesman probably doesn’t know how much you are capable of spending, and he doesn’t
know what other dealers" cars you are considering. The colleges do, thanks to the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid that most parents complete.
’~ey will know an awful lot about the family’s financial situation," said Kathleen Dawley,
president of Maguire Associates, an enrollment-management consultant.
Her company is part of an industry that advises colleges on sttate~es for attracting the kinds
of students that they need to achieve particular goals, including ho~v to use financial aid to
entice the students.
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Parents hardly stand a chance because they will never know as much about the school’s
admissions plans and policies as the colleges kno~v about a parent’s hopes. Return to that car
lot for a moment. When you buy a car, it is possible to get an approxflnate idea of the price
the dealer paid for it and how much demand exists for a particular model.
A buyer of education cannot hope to get detailed information about how fle~ble a college
can be in offering financial aid. Still, there is some power in knowledge, so it’s important to
understand the award letter, the opening salvo of negotiations for student aid.
"Do it very carefiflly," warns Robert Shireman, president of the Institute for College Access
and Success, an advocacy group based in Berkeley, Calif., ’~oecause colleges that are trying
very hard to get someone to enroll sometimes sound better than they are."
The colleges won’t make it easy to compare offers. Although they want all your financial
information in a standardized format, they refuse to return that favor. So every offer looks
different. They even use different terms for the stone thing.
For example, a letler from the University of Pittsburgh offers $1,200 in a "PHEAA,’" a term
for a state grant that it doesn’t bother to explain. The college assmnes that most students
know what it is. (They certainly might atter revelations last month about members of the
Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency spending money on cigars, facials,
cooking lessons and falcomy lessons.)
The student and parents need to sort through the information by focusing on out-of-pocket
costs. They do that by tall3~g the free money the school is offering. Do not include any form
of loans in this calegory. Loans are money the student or parents must pay back.
"~ey mention them to seem like they are Nving you more than they are," said Mark
Kantromtz, publisher of the FinAid.org and EduPASS.org Web sites and a student financial
aid consultant
Subtract the total ’Tree money’’ from the coa of attending to determine out-of-pocket
expenses. But watch out for obfuscation in how the school calculates the total cost of
attendance. It includes tuition, room and board and fees. Those are pretty hard to fudge. But
the cost of books or transportation are also included in that sum, and it sometimes is not
accurate.
Mr. Kantrowitz has put a calculator on his Web site

(www.finaid.org/calculatorsiawardletter.phtm!) that allows three schools to be compared. It
wi!l take a little time to look up and fill in the information. Sallie Mac, which is in the
business of selling loans to students, also has one, w~v.collegeanswer.com/deciding/award-
comparisordac index.jsp. It requires re~stration and isn’t much easier to use. "~e reason
they are complicated is because the issue is complicated," Ivlr. Shireman said.
Ivlr. Shireman recommended the Web site FinancialAidLetter.com for dues on how to
decode the offers. The site was created by Kim Clark, a senior writer for U.S. News and
World Report, while ser~dng as a Kiplinger fellow at Ohio State University. (A disclosure: I
hired Ms. Clark when I was an editor at the magazine.)
The site has a ~ossary of all the terms colleges use in the award letters, but the highligaht is
the section called Letter Decoder. Ms. Clark has posted a number of actual letters and
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Page 327
helpfully translates and grades them. She also includes explanations from the college and
from other experts of the offers.
"°A lot of the schools are doing themselves a disservice," she said. Indeed, she has found
instances where colleges would look better if they had been clearer about scholarships versus
loans.
Any school’s determination of a family’s financial contribution ~vill ~nd to be the same
across the board, Mr. Kantrowitz said, because of the formulas based on the financial data
submitted to the school. What does differ is the out-of-pocket cost. which is the cost of
attendance, minus the gift aid. ’~’hat reflects the discounted price of the institution," he said.
(That’s more akin to a car’s invoice price of a car.)
How low the schod sets that discount price is determined by how desirable that student is to
the school and how wealthy that school is. The enrollment management experts have
counseled the collies on the concept ofleveraNng, which is the black art of determining the
minimum amount of money to dangle in front of a student to get them to enroll.
The colleges are t@_xtg to maximize the tuition revenue. Grants and scholarships diminish
that revenue. Loans do noL So a college is trying to get the parent to accept as much
financing in the financial aid package as possible.
Itis important to note ~vhat kind of loan is inthe package. A Perkins Loan is the best kind
because it carries an interest rate of 5 percent, with the interest deferred while the student is
in college.
With all the loans, look for one with low fees. It is hard to trust any school’s ’~referred
lender" list after the revelation that some college officials received compensation from
lenders. Loans may carry a college’s name because lenders have learned that the college’s
imprimatur makes it sound like a better loan and a good deal.
Ask a lender if it has signed the New York attorney general’s College Code of Conduct. That
is a promise to not take compensation from lenders and to behave ethically in business
dealings with student borrowers.
If you think the colleges really want your child, it may be worth asking them to reconsider.
You may have some leverage if another college offered a better deal. "For the most part, the
best offer is on the table," said Ms. Dawley, the enrollment-management cons~_nt. But
while colleges know who else is offering aid, they don’t know what the other specific offers
Colleges are also keeping ~ies on a daily basis on the number of students who are accepting
and what kind of students are accepting. They worry about what percentage of offers are
accepted because that can help determine their ranldngs on ~Best Colleges" lists.
Depending on how its class of2011 is shaping up, you may have an opportunity to eke out a
bit more. But there is no way to know ~vhether they need more female flute-pla34ng chemical
engineering students or Chinese-American poets from Alabama who also golf.
A college could just as easily say take it or leave it, because many in~tutions have a sizable
waiting list. °~ey know they can replace that student from the list, and they know who on
the list might require less financial commitment l~om the institution," Ms. Dawley said.
06/05/2008
Page 5 of 7
Page 328
They know parents can’t just waJk offthe lot and wait for prices to go down next year.
3. Hoxvard’s President To Retire Next Year

Faculty Had Called For His Removal
By Valerie Strauss and Susan Kinzie
The Washington Post
April 28, 2007
H. Patrick Swygert announced yesterday that he would retire from the presidency of Howard
University at the end of June 2008, a decision that cam e weeks after t~culty leaders called for
his ouster, saying the university was in crisis.
Swygert, 64, has led Howard, one of the nation’s most presti~ous historically black
tmiversities, since 1995. He arrived at a time of!ow morale after a string of leadership
changes -- he was the fourth president in sLx years -- layoffs and savaging enrollment.
The president said yesterday evening that he has put the school in a sound d~ection and felt it
was time to think about the next phase of his life. He wanted to announce his decision now,
he said, to give a proper farewell to the senior class, which graduates May 12.
"We just finished agreat capital campaign, this is a telrific class and Oprah [Winfrey] is
going to be our commencement speaker," he said. "What better time? I would hate to have
any of my soon-to-be graduates sayto me, ’Why didn’t you tell us?’ "
But there has been a growing tension bet~veen Swygert and some members of the board of
trustees, in part because of his rind management style, according to sources who asked not to
be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation.
And long-standing tensions with faculty flared in March, when the faculty senate counci!
voted to send a letter to the board that desert-bed "an intolerable condition of incompetence
and dysfimction at the highest level."
Addison Barry Rand, chairman oft_he board, said a committee is being formed to plan the
search for Howard’s 16th president. He saidthat Swygert has a "proud legacy of
achievements" at Howard and that he displayed dedication, leadership and "obvious love for
the institution."
The faculty letter in March cited a National Science Foundation audit critical of the way
Howard managedits grant money -- the federal govermnent provides the bulk of the funding
for the private university. The letter accused Swygert of jeopardizing Howard’s finances,
letting academic programs falter with inadequate facilities and failing to implement programs
after funds had been awarded. And it said Swygert had failed to find alternative fimding to
bolster federal appropriations, which have leveled offin recent years.
At the time, Swygert said that he would not resign.
He met with faculty in late March. In April, the council voted to reaffirm its original
statement. 19 to 0.
The council has about 32 members elected by the 1,100 full-time faculty members; 19 ~vere
in attendance at that meeting.
06/05/2008
Page 329 Page 6 of?
Theodore Bremner, chairman of the faculty senate, said yesterday that no one had expected
Swygeffs announcement. But, "it’s what we wanted, ifs what we asked for," he said. "Now
we as a faculty need to be sure we get the right kind of leadership to move the umversity
for~vard."
Professor Richard Wright said he was astonished when he heard yesterday evening that
Swygert would retire. "Wow[" he said several times. "This is totally unexpected. This is a
sudden reversal of what he said when he met with the council."
Wright said the faculty leadership’s concernhas been growing for years. "Anythne the
administration creates too much dis~nce from faculty, that is not a good thing for the
institution," he said.
There have been other signs ofproblerns at Howard in the past few years, including student
protests over the lack of leadership at the divinity school and concern over the nursing
program. Accrediting agencies had raised questions about several programs -- the pharmacy
program was taken offprobation this year -- and a plan for the city and Howard to build a
$400 million medical center, which Sw)~ert had pushed, collapsed suddenly amid questions
about the university’s oversight of the existing hospital.
Swygert acknowledged that the hospital continues to lose money. But he said he is proud of
his tenure and expects to do a lot more in the year he has left.
He listed a number of accomplishments, noting that Howard’s enrollment and bond rating are
both up, and that he just announced the successful completion of a $250 million capital
campaign, months ahead of schedule. He praised the university’s Fulbfight and Rhodes
scholars, its ability to recruit leading faculty and the redevelopment of the LeDroit Park
neighborhood, an effort led by the tmiversity and the Fannie Mac Foundation. The school has
been updated with research libraries and wixeless technology.
Student leaders praised him: "I’ve seen the tremendous changes he has brought to the
campus," said Richard Leachy, president of the Cn~dnate Student Council, who came to
Howard in 1997 as an undergraduate and is leaving next month with alaw de~ee. "I don’t
think people realize how much he has done. When I came, it was like a baseball field ~vith
dirt, and now the campus is beantififl. There are more programs, and the capital campaign
was great. I’m sad he’s leaving. He was an inspiration to me."
4. Education Secretary visits Albuquerque
Tile Associated Press
April 28, 2007
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) _ Despite innovations over the years, U.S. Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings says so much about the approach to education looks more like 19th
century A_rn. efica than the age of high-speed Internet.
"’The demands of the 21st century are not going to wait. We need every student to achieve
their potential today," Spellings said Fridayin a speech before the 2007 National Charter
Schools Conference.
Spellings hi~phlighted her support for charter schools and talked about President Bush’s
proposals for reauhhorizafion of the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires that all
06/05/2008
Page 7 of 7
Page 330
students make progress in reading and math, regardless of race or sodoeconomic status.
Spellings said more states are using growth models instead of pass or fail assessments to
measure progress.
She added that a school with chronic problems should be distinguished from one where only
a small group of special-education students or English-language learners is having a hard
time making improvements.
The nation, she said, is facing an inequity of opportunity when it comes to children getting an
education. She said 15 percent of high schools produce more than half of the nation’s
dropouts, and many of these schools are in big ciries and serve mostly minorities.
Spellings added that of those who graduate, many aren’t ready for college andless than 10
percent of low-income students earn college degrees by age 24.
She said charter schools can play a role in closing that gap.
"Charters are transforming urban education and tackling head-on the stubborn achievement
gap," she said. ’" For exarnple, the customization of learning that charter schools allow is
translating into improved academic growth among Hispanics, a key demographic group in
this country."
Spellings spent Friday tottring the city and speaking with Albuquerque business leaders,
politicians and educators as she promoted reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.
06/05/2008
Page 331
~onresponsiI
From: Ruberg, Casey
Sent: April 27, 2007 8:39 AM
Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; ’Tracy WH’; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Ditto, Trey; Neale,
Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Student Loan Industry Stories (6)
Inquiry Into Student Loan Industry Widens (NYT)

Loan Probes May Cut Students’ Costs (USNEWS)
Panel Backs Student Loan Oversight Bill (DMR)
Mo. Forgiving $500 On Some Student Loans (AP)
Rendell Wants Student-loan Agency To Free Up More Cash For Grants (AP)
Kennedy requests info on 27 ED employees (Education Daily)
Inquiry Into Student Loan Industry Widens (NYT)

The NewYork lqmes, April 27, 2007
Investigations by lawmakers into the student loan industry expanded yesterday as Representative George Miller, Democrat
of California and chairman of the House education committee, sent a letter to the inspector general of the Education Department
asking for a review of the department’s policies against conflicts of interest and the flnandal disclosure forms of employees
overseeing the federal loan program.
Mr. Miller’s letter follows one sent Wednesday by Senator Edward M Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts and chairman
of the Senate education committee, asking for "complete personnel files" for 27 department employees.
Mr. Kennedy has also begun to explore how student loan companies collect repayment.
In a letter, he said that two large lenders, Sallie Mae and Nelnet, may have made harassing phone calls to borrowers; tried
to collect fiom elderly or disabled borrowers; and refused to negotiate with borrowers on repayment deferrals, among other
tactics.
Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Mac, said that the company would cooperate with Mr. Kennedy’s investigation but
criticized it for being conducted "through press releases."
A Nelnet spokesman, Ben Kiser, said that the company was reviewing Mr. Kennedy’s letter and that it would cooper~e.
Loan Probes May Cut Students’ Costs (USNEWS)

By Kimberly Palmer
U.S. News and World Report, April 27, 2007
Students with loans may soon benefit f~om the ongoing investigations of lenders and schools. The resulting policy changes
are likely to lower interest rates and other financial aid costs.
In March, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he had uncovered deceptive practices in the loan industry,
including examples of lenders giving schools and employees financial incentives for putting them on "preferred lender" lists.
Cuomo has since announced that 16 schools as well as the four largest lenders-Sallie Mae, Citibank, Bank of America, and
JPMorgan Chase-have agreed to codes of conduct that prohibit these kinds of exchanges.
These new codes of conduct will probably directly affect the amount of money students pay for college, says Robert
Shireman, executive director of the Project on Student Debt, a Berkeley, Calif.-based nonprofit. First, the interest rate on student
Page 332
loans was likely to have been inflated between a half and a ful! percentage point because schools failed to properly negotiate the
best deals for students, he says. Second, students may have taken out loans instead of receiving grants because schools had a
financial incentive to encourage loans. Third, schools may have encouraged students to use expensive private lenders, with
interest rates of up to 20 percent, because the schools received portions of the revenue generated, instead of pointing students
toward cheaper loans, adds Shireman.
At some schools, the investigation has already translated into more money in students’ wallets. Cuomo’s office has signed
settlements with New York University, Syracuse University, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others, that required the
schools to pay students for the money that the schools accepted from lenders. At the University of Pennsylvania, the payment
worked out to about $500 per student.
"$500 per student is a lot of money, especially with the cost of college and all the financial pressures that are on the
students," Cuomo said at a congressional hearing this week.
Shireman says that schools that are not part of the investigation are also rethinking their student loan processes. "It has an
effect in terms of other lenders and schools and not wanting to get caught up in controversy and therefore being more cautious
about what they do," he says.
’q-he market itself is demanding a response," Cuomo said at the hearing, "as students, now informed, are asking the tough
questions, and lenders must change their practices or risk losing business."
While students stand to benefit, next year’s batch of college freshmen, who are in the midst of deciphering their financial
aid options, may find the process more confusing than usual.
"At some schools, where they are trying to make sure they haven’t stepped over the line, they’re going to be reluctant to
provide very much advice. That can be difficult for students," says Shireman.
More changes are most likely on the way. Rep. Buck McKeon, a California Republican, introduced a bill this week that
would require schools to develop codes of condust that restrict git~-giving from lenders to schools and to more fully disclose why
schools recommend certain lenders over others. Rep. George Miller, the California Democrat who chairs the House Education
Committee, had previously introduced a bill that would prohibit lenders from giving gifts to school employees.
Panel Backs Student Loan Oversight Bill (DMR)

By Jennifer Janeczko Jacobs
Des Moines Re,qister, April 27, 2007
No wrongdoing has been found in Iowa, but a senator says the state needs to ’get out in front’ on the issue.
In the wake of student loan scandals elsewhere in the country, Iowa lawmakers want to take steps to protect college
students here from any possible deceptive lending practices in the student loan industry.
"Let me stress that I know of nothing at all that has really happened in Iowa yet," said Sen. Tom Courtney, a Democrat from
Burlington. "There is no one at all in Iowa being accused of doing anything wrong, but we’ve learned from experience that we
need to get out in front."
On Wednesday, the Senate Government Oversight Committee voted 3-1 to pass Senate Study Bill t360, which is modeled
after a bill pending in the New York legislature.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has accused lenders of paying colleges financial incentives to help push their
loans to students and their families. He has won $6.5 million in settlements from lenders, and several universities in New York
have agreed to stop participating in revenue-sharing with lenders.
A dominant force in Iowa’s student loan industry is Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corp., a nonprofit organization created by
the state in 1979 to improve Iowans’ access to higher education.
Courtney called for a state audit of the organization in February. "It hasnt been audited in a long time, and the oversight’s a
little light," he said Wednesday.
One senator, Republican Ron Wieck of Sioux City, voted against the bill Wednesday, saying he thinks lawmakers should
wait until Auditor David Vaudt’s report is finished in June before deciding what action to take.
Eric Tabor, the Iowa attorney general’s chief of staff, said his office supports the legislation. The Iowa attorney general was
one of 40 who participated in a recent conference call with the New York attorney general, listening to advice on howto curb
deceptive student lending practices.
Attorneys general in Minnesota, Connesticut, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and California have recently said they’re investigating
student lending practices in their states.
Tabor said Iowa could also ask colleges to voluntarily comply with a code of conduct that bans lenders from paying for trips
for college employees, and governs other aspects of financial aid offices’ relationships with lenders.
For Senate Study Bill 1360 to become law, it would need to pass the full Iowa Senate and House before this session ends.
Page 333
Reporter Jennifer Janeczko Jacobs can be reached at (515) 284-8127 or jejacobs@dmreg, com
Mo. Forgiving $500 On Some Student Loans (AP)
AP, April 27, 2007
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- More than 9,300 college freshmen are getting a $500 break on their student loans,
courtesy of the state’s college loan authority.
The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority said today that it was forgiving up to $500 of loans for each freshman who
has both a federal Pell Grant and a MOHELA loan. The program generally wil! affect students from low-income families.
The loan forgiveness program will cost the Cheste~eld-based agency more than $4.6 million.
MOHELA regularly offers interest-rate reductions and loan-forgiveness programs as part of its mission as a quasi-
governmental loan authority to expand access to higher education.
Associate Director Quentin Wilson said the authority had chosen to target this particular break to low-income freshman to
try to encourage them to continue in college.
The agency made its announcement a day aEer the Missouri Senate passed legislation to take $350 million from MOHELA
over six years to finance Gov. Matt Blunt’s college construction plan. That bill now advances to the House.
MOHELA already has set aside $212 million -- generated partly by selling offthousands of loans made to non-lVfssourians
-- to make it its initial state payment of $230 million called for by Sept. 15 under the bill.
Wilson said the anticipated state payment had not affected the amount of money MOHELA decided to dedicate to the
freshman loan forgiveness program.
Rendell Wants Student-loan Agency To Free Up More Cash For Grants (AP)
AP, April 27, 2007
HARRISBURG, Pa. --Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration is proposing to reduce the amount of money the state’s student-loan
agency must contribute toward health benefits for retirees, which will free up an additional $11 million for state grants to college
students in the 2007-08 school year.
The proposed policy change would affect contributions that the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency must
make toward the administration’s retiree health benefits program, Budget Secretary Michael Masch said Thursday.
Masch, who presented the proposal at a meeting of PHEAA’s board of directors, said the agency asked the administration
in December to look into its contribution rate because they believed it was high compared to other state agencies.
The formula for each agency’s contribution rate takes into account the ratio of active employees to retirees, Masch said.
While most other agencies have two to three active employees for each retiree, PHEAA’s ratio is 10-to-l, he said.
"We’ve been pressuring them since this administration began to put more of their very ample accumulated profits into aid to
students, rather than letting it sit there unproductively," Masch said.
PHEAA originally planned to use $60 million from its student-loan proceeds for the grant program. With the reduced retiree
health benefit contribution requirement and other savings, it will be able to spend $75 million on the grants, PHEAA spokesman
Keith Newsaid.
"It was well received and welcomed," New said of the administration’s proposal. "It was certainly a proposal that the board
embraced."
The agency would still like state lawmakers to increase the state’s share of funding for the grants, New said. Rendell’s
2007-08 budget calls for maintaining the state’s current $386 million appropriation and asks PHEAA to supplement it with nearly
$89 million in student-loan proceeds.
The grant program currently provides awards of up to $4,500 a year to more than 166,000 students. The grants do not have to
be repaid.
Kennedy requests info on 27 ED employees (Education Dail)

By Patti Mohr
Education Daily, April 27, 2007
As House members scrutinized charges of conflict of interest deals in the $85 billion student loan industry, a key Senate
Democrat launched an investigation into decision making by Education Department employees working in the student aid
division.
In a letter sent to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings late Wednesday, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of
the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, asked for the complete personnel files and financial disclosure
reports of 27 employees, including several high-level officials.
Page 334
Kennedy’s letter is in response to reports that an ED official, Matteo Fontana, held $100,000 of stock in a company he
OVOrsSW.
Though Spellings dismissed the employee, and ordered a review of federal ethics and financial disclosure rules following
the reports, the actions were not enough to assure Kennedy that the department is effectively preventing conflicts ofinteresL
While expressing "grave concern" about ED’s ethics process, Kennedy said the facts of the Fontana case raise doubts
about "the department’s ability to police itself."
Kennedy’s request comes on the heels of a hearing by tile House Education and Labor Committee, where NewYork
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accused ED of being "asleep at the switch" while a culture of unethical practices developed in
the student loan industry.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who has accused the department of political cronyism, scheduled a May 10 hearing where he
plans to query Spellings about her oversight of ED’s programs, including its management of Reading First and federal loans. On
Thursday, Miller called for an independent ED Office of Inspector General investigation into conflicts of interest in federal student
loan programs.
While Spellings has vociferously defended the department’s record, the growing scrutiny by the top two Democrats in charge of
education policy underscores the growing tension between Congress and the Bush administration.
Page 335
LNonresponsi ]
From: Ruberg, Casey
Sent: April 27, 2007 8:33 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia;
Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; ’Tracy WH’; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Ditto, Trey; Neale,
Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Va Tech- Listening Tour Stories (11)
Larger Virginia Tech Shooting Panel Being Considered (USNEWS)

VT Massacre Prompts Talks (RMN CO)
Feds To Consult With Coloradans On School Violence (AP)
Bush Team Will Visit Minnesota To Prepare Report On Shootings (AP)
Bush Aide To Visit Tennessee To Collect School Security Info (KNOXNS)
Leavitt - Sans Gonzales, Spelling- To Meet With Huntsman, Others To Discuss Shootings (DMN
UT)
Leavitt Will Be Lone Secretary At Utah Discussion Of Mass Killings (SLT UT)
DELICATE BALANCE Colleges’ Culture Of Privacy Often Overshadows Safety (WSJ)
When A Student’s In Trouble, Should Parents Know? (CSM)
LINK Seeks To Unify Efforts In Identifying Troubled Kids (RIMIN CO)
Student’s Writing Brings Disorderly Conduct Charge (CHIT)
Larger Virginia Tech Shooting Panel Being Considered (USNEWS)

Even as the three cabinet secretaries tapped by President Bush to review the Virginia Tech shootings hit the road this
week on a listening tour, the White House is considering a broader commission to study and recommend changes to school
security and related issues, according to officials.
While the trio-Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and Health and Human
Services Secretary Mike Leavitt--plan to look at mental health and security issues from kindergarten to college, the broader
commission would include many more officials from school systems, colleges, and health fields. But a White House official said
the idea for a commission is still in the planning stages and that it might not be formed if the cabinet approach works.
The three are to report their findings to the White House in 30 days, at which point the administration will consider further
action. One name in the mix to be on, or perhaps to run, the still-unformed commission is Sean O’Keefe, the president’s former
NASA administrator and deputy budget chief. O’Keefe is now chancellor at Louisiana State University. He had previously served
in the first Bush administration as Navy secretary and Pentagon comptroller and later worked at Penn State and Syracuse
universities.
His name has surfaced because of his work during Hurricane Katrina to help bring New Orleans families and college
students to LSU in Baton Rouge. Leavitt visited the campus to discuss the school’s Katrina efforts and review LSU’s medical
evacuation role and security and law enforcement challenges on the campus during that time. He also has a good working
Page 336
relationship with Spellings from their days inside the White House, when he was deputy budget director and she ran the domestic
policy shop.
VT Massacre Prompts Talks (RMN CO)
Rocky Mountain News, April 27, 2007
Due to the lessons learned at Columbine, Colorado will be one of seven states to participate in a national review
concerning the broader questions raised by the shootings at Virginia Tech.
About two dozen state and local leaders, educators, mental health experts and law enforcement officers will have a private
meeting tomorrowwith a team of federal officials led by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
President Bush asked Leavi~t, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to head up
visits to states that can share lessons learned from previous events.
The visits begin today with officials traveling to California, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
"Colorado has unfortunately learned painful lessons from the tragedy at Columbine High School," said Gov. Bill Ritter, who
will lead tomorrow’s discussion with Leavitt.
"We will do everything we can to share those lessons and experiences, especially at a time like this when the nation’s
attention is focused so intently on what happened at Virginia Tech."
At the conclusion of the series of meetings, federal officials will summarize the issues raised and present a report to the
president within a month.
Feds To Consult With Coloradans On School Violence (AP)

AP, April 27, 2007
DENVER - Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt will be in Denver on Friday to meet with Gov. Bill Ritter and
others about school violence in the wake of the massacre at Virginia Tech.
"Colorado has unfortunately learned painful lessons from the tragedy at Columbine High School," Ritter said in a written
release.
’We will do everything we can to share those lessons and experiences, especially at a time like this when the nation’s
attention is focused so intently on what happened at Virginia Tech."
About two dozen Colorado educators, mental-health experts, law enforcement officers and others will meet with Leavitt and
a team of other federal officials.
The meeting will be closed to the public but Leavitt and Ritter will meet with reporters atterward.
President Bush asked Leavitt, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to meet with
officials in Colorado and six other states to discuss previous events there. The other states are California, Florida, Minnesota,
Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
Two teen gunmen killed 12 students and a teacher before taking their own lives at Columbine High School in Littleton in
April 1999.
On April 16, a gunman killed 32 people before committing suicide at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
Bush Team Will Visit Minnesota To Prepare Report On Shootings (AP)

AP, April 27, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY - Three members of President Bush’s cabinet will visit Minnesota, Iowa and other states to compile a
report on mass shootings.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Health and Human Services Secretary
Michael Leavitt are expected to report their findings in 30 days.
The order for the report was prompted by the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech. Student Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32
people and then himself on campus. Investigators have found no close links between Cho and his victims.
The cabinet members will visit Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Tennessee, Texas and California, the Justice Department
said. They will meet with community leaders, educators, mental health experts and law enforcement to review and learn from
mass shootings that occurred in those states.
"While our review will not answer all the questions or solve all the problems, we hope to frame up a series of issues as part
of a thoughtful, national dialogue and determine where the federal government can play a role in helping states and communities
avoid such tragedies in the future," Leavitt said in a statemenL
Bush Aide To Visit Tennessee To Collect School Security Info (KNOXNS)

By Richard Powelson
Page 337
Knoxville News Sentinel (TN), April 27, 2007
HHS secretary will meet with Bredesen and others Saturday
WASHINGTON - President Bush is sending three of his top aides to meetings across the country, including one with
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, to collect lessons learned from the deadly shootings on the Virginia Tech campus and from
school assaults elsewhere.
Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt will meet with Bredesen in Nashville on Saturday, Bredesen’s office
announced. Other attendees will be local leaders, educators, mental health experts and law enforcement officials.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is attending a campus security discussion today in Albuquerque, N.M. Also,
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is planning trips over 30 days before compiling their joint findings in a report to Bush.
Tennessee has received national attention for school shootings, including:
Campbell County, November 2005: Kenneth S. Bartley, 14, shot and killed Assistant Principal Ken Bruce in his high school
office, and wounded Assistant Principal Jim Pierce and Principal Gary Seale. He pleaded guilty this month to his offenses and
was sentenced to a total prison term of 45 years - eligible for parole in about 25 years.
Fayetteville, May 1998: Jacob Davis, 18, used a .22-caliber hunting rifle to shoot a classmate three times, killing him, in
their high school parking lot. Davis was upset over his girlfriend’s sexual relationship with the youth, Nicholas Creson. A jtlry
convicted Davis and sentenced him to life in prison; he will be eligible for parole after serving 51 years.
Leavitt plans to seek input from governors in Salt Lake City and Denver today before heading to Nashville on Saturday,
Leavitt spokeswoman Brynn Barnett said.
"It’s more of a national review, a national dialogue, on ways to avoid situations like this (school shootings)," she said. "It’s a
national review of the mental health issues, the safety issues having to do with law enforcement and obviously the education
component, involving mental health professionals, education professionals and law enforcement professionals from he states."
Richard Powelson may be reached at 202-408-2727.
Leavitt - Sans Gonzales, Spelling- To Meet With Huntsman, Others To Discuss Shootings (DMN
UT)
By Lisa Riley Roche
Deseret Morning News (UT), April 27, 2007
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and some 30 education, law enforcement and mental health professionals will meet Friday with
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt as part of a national effort to better understand mass shootings.
President Bush has dispatched Leavitt, a former Utah governor, along with U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spelling and
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, to gather information in light of the killings at Virginia Tech.
Administration officials clarified Thursday that the three cabinet members are traveling separately, not together as initially
reported by the Deseret Morning News. Between them, they will visit Minnesota, Colorado, low& Tennessee, Texas and
California in addition to Utah.
U~ah participants, which include representatives of the Nebo, Provo, Davis and Salt Lake school districts; the University of
Utah; the Salt Lake City Police Department; the Utah State Hospital and Valley Mental Health, will talk about February’s Trolley
Square shootings.
"What we’ve tried to do is get a cross-section from our community to participate," the governor’s spokesman, Mike Mower,
said ofthe group being assembled. Mower said first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman will also be involved.
The group is scheduled to begin meeting at 8:30 a.m. in the governor’s office and then break out into various discussion
groups before coming back together to summarize their findings.
Their work will be done privately, but Huntsman and Leavitt have scheduled an 11 a.m. press conference about the group’s
conclusions. The results of all of the meetings being held nationwide will be reported back to the president within 30 days.
Huntsman said "this being a natural one, because of the recent Trolley Square tragedy." Five people were killed and four
seriously wounded at the shopping mall by Sulejman Talovic before he was killed by police.
The governor said the discussion will focus on "what we might we all do together to make sure we are better prepared" for
such incidents. The president’s call for the meetings comes alter a troubled Virginia Tech students shot and killed 32 students
and teacher on the Blacksburg, Va., before killing himself.
E-mail: lisa@desnews.com
Leavitt Will Be Lone Secretary At Utah Discussion Of Mass Killings (SLT UT)
By Nate Carlisle
Salt Lake City Tribune, April 27, 2007
Page 338
Bush Cabinet members schedule Utah stop in probe of recent deadly rampagesPosted: 9:35 AM- Leaders still are meeting
Friday to discuss the shooting at Trolley Square, but the event will not be the mini-Bush Cabinet meeting it once appeared to be.
The governor’s office clarified Thursday morning only one Cabinet member- U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Director Mike Leavitt - will attend the meeting at the state Capitol. Federal agencies on Wednesday suggested U.S.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings or Attorney General Alberto Gonzales could join Leavitt in Salt Lake City.
A spokesman for Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Thursday neither Spellings nor Gonzales will attend. The spokesman,
Mike Mower, said there were never any plans for a meeting with multiple Cabinet members.
"I’ve been working with them from Day One and I’ve never heard they were coming," Mower said. "I’ve heard they were
doing similar activities in different states."
Leavitt, Spellings and Gonzales are being dispatched across the country to discuss mass shootings like the one at Trolley
Square on Feb. 12 and last week at Virginia Tech.
Leavitt, a former Utah governor, will meet Friday morning with state and local leaders from public safety, education and and
mental health about the Trolley Square shootings and its aftermath. The meeting will be closed to the public but will be followed
by a press conference at 11 a.m.
About 6:45 p.m. on Feb. ! 2, Sulejman Talovic entered the Trolley Square mall and began shooting shoppers and patrons.
He killed tire people and wounded four others before dying in a shootout with police. Police have said they do not yet know
Talovic’s motives.
ncarliste@sltrib.com
DELICATE BALANCE Colleges’ Culture Of Privacy Often Overshadows Safety (WSJ)

By Elizabeth Bernstein
The Wall Street Jouma!, April 27, 2007
Laws Allow Disclosure Of Troubling Behavior But Many Schools Resist
Fearful of litigation, supportive of students’ independence and often citing privacy laws, colleges for years have zealously
guarded the confidentiality of their sb.~dents. But the massacre at Virginia Tech last week is raising questions about what many
view as an excessive culture of privacy on U.S. campuses.
Colleges often hesitate to contact outside authorities about mentally unstable students, preferring to take care of
disciplinary issues quietly on their own. Students are legally considered adults at age 18, and college administrators say federal
and state privacy laws generally prohibit them from sharing details about a student’s health or academic record with parents or
outside authorities.
The privacy laws include explicit permission to intervene in case of danger, but some say colleges are too cautious about
using that exception. One of the largest college risk-management and insurance companies, United Educators, which insures
1,200 educational institutions in the U.S., believes that school administrators too often err on the side of privacy. "1 think there’s
been a hesitancy to share information in deference to student privacy probably more than the law requires," says Karen-Ann
Broe, senior risk analyst at the company. She advises client schools that they may be freer to intercede than they think. "Can not
going to class be a health or safety emergency?" she says. "It depends on the circumstances."
Nancy Tribbensee, general counsel for Arizona’s university system, holds training sessions on the issue for Arizona’s
campus attorneys and regMrar’s office staffs to make sure they understand their options. "The law isn’t black and white," she
says, and "too narrow or restricted an interpretation" can lead to a failure to make perfectly legal disclosures. Often, she says, the
college administrators making decisions haven’t read the laws that apply.
At Virginia Tech, Cho Seung-hui’s strange behavior set off enough alarm bells in 2005 that he was declared at "imminent
risk" of causing harm and ordered by a judge to seek counseling. Faculty members have told reporters they complained about
Mr. Cho’s behavior to school authorities, but didn’t know abou~ other complaints about him from students.
Some families have complained that students exhibiting suicidal tendencies don"[ even attract that level of intervention. In
2003, Ferrum College in Ferrum, Va., agreed to pay an undisclosed sum and admitted some shared responsibility to settle a
wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of a strident who hanged himself in his dorm room in 2000.
The lawsuit alleged the school knewthat the student, IVichael Frentzel, had written a note indicating he was going to harm
himself and had self-inflicted bruises. The school said allegations in the suit were incorrect but declined to comment further this
week.
In 2004, 18-year-old Paul Kraut jumped off a Manhattan balcony atter his freshman year at Babson College in Wellesley,
Mass. His mother, Pare Kraut, had asked the school early in the year to have a counselor speak to him because his parents’
marriage was breaking up and he had begun behaving erratically and driving recklessly. Ms. Kraut says she was told that privacy
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laws prevented the school from reaching out to students in distress and from informing parents about their behavior, and that
they couldn"~ send a counselor to him -- her son would need to seek counseling on his own. She says she learned only later that
he stopped attending some classes, and says atter his death she overheard friends discussing how he had tried to kill himself
once at school and had been taken to the hospital.
"No one could ever tell me anything," says Ms. Kraut, 57 years old, an interior designer in White Plains, N.Y. "1 was always
in the dark." His father, Robert Kraut, says: "The question is: What constitutes privacy versus the well-being of the child?"
Babson College officials say they have no record that Mr. Kraut tried to kill himself before leaving school and was taken to a
hospital. They say that the school does not notify parents if their child is missing classes, but instead has an academic adviser
reach out to the student. "For parents, the laws are very stringent," Tim Mann, the college’s then-dean of student affairs, said late
last year. ’qhese are young adults." A spokesman for Babson declined to comment further this week.
In fact, the laws have big loopholes that let colleges alert parents and authorities. The Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act, or Ferpa, adopted in 1974, protects the educational records of students, which olten include grades, transcripts and
reports of disciplinary action and campus violations. But it allows schools to break confidentiality and notify parents or authorities
in the case of a "health or safety emergency," or notify parents if there is a drug or alcohol violation and the student is under 21
years old. They can also choose to share any information with parents who claim students as dependents on their tax returns,
which is common. And if a potential danger stems from behavior on campus that’s not part of academic records, schools don’t
have to apply the privacy law at all.
State laws protect the privacy of medical records, including mental-health counseling records. But those laws allow mental-
health professionals to share infon’nation with police or other authorities, or even call for forced hospitalization, if there is a risk of
imminent harm.
In the case of Virginia Tech’s Mr. Cho, a judge decided more than a year before the shootings that the "imminent risk"
threshold for intervention was reached. But an outside mental-health facility that evaluated Mr. Cho recommended o~tpatient
counseling rather than hospitalization. It’s unclear what the school did to monitor his mental health a~er that, but school officials
told reporters they were not responsible for doing so. The school did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
The killings by Mr. Cho are prompting some universities to re-examine how they balance respect for students’ privacy
against campus safety. At the University of Maryland, College Park, administrator Gary Pavela has been busy dratting a memo to
advise faculty members on what to do if they are worried that a student may be troubled. Over the past week, he says, many
administrators have discussed creating new mental-health response teams -- faculty members, housing and security staff,
counselors and deans -- to monitor problem students.
About half the colleges in the country already have such groups, which typically meet every week so each member can
share details about any students or events on campus he or she is worried about. Ferpa allows such discussions among school
officials with a legitimate educational interest, and counselors dont share confidential information in the sessions. The groups
typically keep lists of problem students that get updated each week.
Some members of Congress want to make the Ferpa exceptions clearer to encourage college officials to take advantage.
This week Republican Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, who is a psychologist and co-chair of the congressional mental-health
caucus, proposed spelling out that the "health and safety" exception includes concerns of suicide, homicide or threats of physical
violence. His amendment also would absolve college officials ofliabilify if they contact parents to discuss concerns about a
dependent student, as long as they consulted first with a licensed mental-health professional. "Universities can find parents when
it comes time to pay the tuition or co-sign a loan," Mr. Murphy says. "Let’s get them involved when their child is in danger."
Colleges say they are seeing an increasing number of students with psychiatric diagnoses such as attention-deficit and
eating disorders, addiction, bipolar disorder and severe depression. The numbers may be going up partly because the stigma
attached to mental illness is fading, and partly because new medications are allowing students to function better.
Student outpatient mental-health claims rose 64% between 2000 and 2003, according to the Chickering Group, a college
health-insurance provider, which also says antidepressants are now among the most-prescribed drugs on college campuses.
More than 90% of college counseling-center directors reported an increase in the number of students they saw who were
diagnosed with severe psychological problems, according to a 2006 survey conducted by the American College Counseling
Association and the University of Pittsburgh. About 40% of counseling-center clients had severe psychological problems,
including 8% with disorders so serious they could not remain in school, the survey said.
One big obstacle for colleges in keeping track of troubled students: Many don’t have psychologists or psychiatrists on staff.
Often, they have therapists with master’s degrees. Some are primarily guidance counselors without advanced training in suicide
or other extreme behavior, more accustomed to discussing grades or roommates’ problems. Staffers don’t always know when it
is legal, or even advisable, to break students’ confidentiality, says Richard Kadison, chief of mental-health services at Harvard
University. Some small schools don’t even have counseling centers on campus. The average ratio of counseling staffmembers
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to students on U.S. campuses is about one for every 1,700, according to a soon-to-be published survey conducted by the
Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors.
Privacy at colleges and universities wasn’t always held in such high regard. For centuries, schools were bound by the legal
doctrine of in Ioco parentis, which required them essentially to take on the responsibilities of parents.
But starting in the 1960s, spurred on by the free-speech and civil-rights movements, a series of court decisions began to
award college students more legal rights. Michael Crabtree, a psychologist and professor of psychology at Washington &
Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., says that years ago he freely talked to parents about their children’s class work. Now, "all
you can do is have a cup of coffee -- you can’t talk about anything with substance," he says. The school, like many, says it asks
students to sign a waiver to allowtheir parents to have access to their educational records, and give professors and campus
officials permission to contact their parents if they see a need.
Gerald Ross’s 22-year-old son James shot himself in May 2002, just before the end of his senior year at the State
University of New York at Buffalo. After that, Mr. Ross began writing members of Congress suggesting that colleges should have
a system to notify parents if they notice that something is wrong. "A lot may not be a violation of the privacy law," says Mr. Ross,
a lawyer who lives in Manhattan. Because he wasnt allowed to see his son’s grades, Mr. Ross says he did not knowthat James
had dropped courses, taken one class twice without passing it, and wasn"[ likely to graduate. "The counseling department
already had a checklist of possible signs of suicide risk," he says. "Not going to class is one of them."
The school’s Web site lists poor school performance as a risk factor for suicide, but a spokesman for SUNY-B[~alo says
there can be other reasons for students missing classes. He says administrators call parents or authorities quickly if they feel a
student is a threat to himself or others, as Ferpa’s health and safety exception allows, but that no one at the university saw
James display any warning signs.
In the years since Ferpa was adopted, many colleges and universities have emphasized helping students growinto
independent adults, and helping parents accept this development. "1 don’t think students are given enough credit for knowing
what is best for them and being trusted as adults," says Jessica Barker, a psychology student at the University of Minnesota, in
Minneapolis-St. Paul, who has battled an eating disorder.
Many college counselors believe that breaching one student’s privacy, even if warranted, will scare other students away
from seeking help. "These kids are over 18, and it’s important when they go to the counseling center that they know that what
they say is confidential," says Joanna Locke, a program director at the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that works to prevent suicide
and promote mental health among college students. "No student would go to the counseling center otherwise."
College officials also note it can often be hard to tell what constitutes an emergency situation. Most troubled students who
are withdrawn, depressed or angry do not end up hurting themselves or others.
Colleges and universities fear being sued over not protecting students’ privacy well enough, but they also have been sued
for being too protective. At George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Hunter College in New York, students have
won settlements over being required to leave dorms or campuses after exhibiting suicidal behavior.
On the other hand, in 2002, the parents of Elizabeth Shin sued the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for millions of
dollars for failing to notify them of the emotional deterioration of their daughter, a sophomore whose death in a don’n-room fire
was ruled a suicide by a medical examiner. The case was settled out of court last year for an undisclosed sum.
Ann H. Franke, an attomey and president of Wise Results, a consulting firm in Washington, D.C., says she advises schools
to be prepared that they can face either kind of legal action. "Sometimes you have to pick your lawsuit," she says. She tells
college officials if they’re forced to choose, try to head off violence and risk a suit over privacy rather than one over wrongful
death or injury.
When Eva Turnipseed went to parent orientation with her daughter Hilliary at American University in Washington, D.C.,
three years ago, officials outlined the school’s privacy policy. She says they told her she wouldn’t be able to get her daughter’s
grades, find out if she was going to class or even if she was in trouble unless her daughter gave permission. "They made it clear
we could not call or raise a concern about a student," says Ms. Tumipseed, who lives in Berkeley, Calif.
Still, when Hilliary called her from school last September and, sobbing, said she thought she would be better otf dead, Ms.
Tumipseed immediately called the school’s counseling center to see why they hadnt been returning her daughter’s calls. The
doctor who spoke with Ms. Turnipseed told her she couldn’t discuss her daughter, but she agreed to wait by the phone so the
young woman could call. Wanda Collins, director of American’s counseling center, said counselors who have concerns about
students encourage them to talk to their parents.
Hilliary, a 20-year-old junior, says she was relieved her morn intervened. She began seeing a therapist at school and a
psychiatrist who prescribed an antidepressant; now, she says she feels much better. "1 know I’m technically an adult," she says.
"But I wouldnt call myself a &Ill adult yet."
Write to Elizabeth Bemstein at elizabeth.bernstein@wsj.coml
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When A Student’s In Trouble, Should Parents Know? (CSM)

By Amanda Paulson, Staff Writer Of The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor, April 27, 2007
US privacy laws prevent counselors from informing parents of danger signs. But many say they should know if their young
adult children - or their roommates - need help.
CHICAGO
For many parents, the issue is what their children might call a no-brainer: If their offspring has stalked a peer or stayed in a
mental-health clinic or been watched for suicidal inclinations at college, they want to know. Immediately.
Yet parents may be among the last people to be told of any concerns. Because of strict confidentiality laws, such problems
cannot be reported to parents - or roommates or others close to a young adult in trouble.
The laws, say counselors and mental-health experts, are there for good reason. Without them, few students would seek
help, and a trusting relationship could be impossible.
But such legal constraints - particularly in the wake of the killing of 33 students and staff at Virginia Tech - are deeply
distressing tomany parents who harbor a sense of love as well as responsibility for children they may see as not yet fully adult.
Add to that their role in providing financial support, and parents can find it tough to be barred from learning about a child’s mental
health - or that of a child’s roommate - without the appropriate consent.
"Parents who care about their children want them to become adults with their own rights, but we don’t want them to have
any more hardships than necessary when stepping out into the world," says Elizabeth Root, a parent with one child at the
University of Illinois and another who will head there next year. She recalls an incident last year when her college-age son ended
up in the emergency room; she wouldnt have been told had he not called her himself. "We pay for the tuition and the health
insurance," she says, "but we can’t be informed unless he dies, I guess."
Medical professionals are sympathetic, but say the assurance of confidentiality - except in dire circumstances - allows them
to do their job. "The students trust us. They come and tell us things they might not have told anyone ever before," says Maggie
Gartner, chief of student counseling at Texas A&M University and president of the Association for University and College
Counseling Center Directors.
She explains to every student who comes in what contidentiality means, and when - if the student seems to pose a danger
- she might breach it.
That decision to break confidentiality or to commit someone to involuntary care can be one of the toughest a counselor or
psychiatrist has to face, says Dr. Gartner, especially since it may mean the loss of any relationship. Still, she’s done it several
times.
"It’s an art and a science," she says, noting that she’ll assess how much of a plan students seem to have, whether they can
harm themselves or others, and how stable they appear. "We continually seek the place where we can go home at night and go
to sleep, she adds."
No assessment is perfect, Gartner notes, and schools -like Virginia Tech - are often blamed if things go awry.
In one highly publicized case, the parents of Elizabeth Shin sued the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after she
committed suicide by setting fire to herself in her dorm room in 2000, arguing that the school hadnt done enough to prevent it.
The case was eventt=ally settled out of court. In another case, George Washington University, saying that he posed a danger,
barred sophomore Jordan Nott from campus after the sophomore checked himself into a mental-health facility with suicidal
thoughts. Mr. Nott sued, and the case was settled last year.
Virginia Tech has faced considerable criticism for its lack of early action on the day student Cho Seung-Hui went on his
deadly rampage. But some experts say there weren’t enough signs to warrant an involuntary commitment orto breach
confidentiality. In 1995, many commentators were equally critical of Harvard for its decision to rescind admission to Gina Grant
once it came out that the student had bludgeoned her abusive mother to death when she was 14.
For parents, the concerns center less on liability than the welfare of their child. "1 understand privacy issues, but 18 years
old is way too young to have no parental guidance or awareness or involvement," says one mother, whose daughter experienced
serious depression her freshman year. Her other daughter tipped her off, and she instantly went to the school to help. But, she
says, it was excruciating to go to the psychiatrist and find she couldnt learn the smallest detail about her daughter’s condition.
"As a mother, it rips you up inside."
Root, the Illinois parent, says she would want to know if her child’s roommate had serious mental-health issues - and says it
might be a good safety measure.
But sharing that information with roommates or parents is often not just illegal but counterproductive, say expe~ts. "A
counseling center couldnt operate if there wasn’t some guarantee that what the student said in that setting was confidential. It’s a
Page 342
cornerstone of the whole therapeutic process," says Robert Gallagher, who annually surveys university counseling center
directors and ran the University of Pittsburgh’s center for 25 years. He says he often asks students’ permission to contact family.
In last year’s survey, 92 percent of directors said they have seen a growing trend in the number of students attending with
severe psychological problem s.
It’s unlikely privacy laws will change soon, though Dr. Gallagher and others say some clarification of exceptions that give
counselors more flexibility might help.
But the Virginia Tech incident has made parents and students more aware of what they don’t know. "Colleges should do
more to make sure everybody is ~ to be around other students," says Ashley Brown, a marketing major at Radford University in
Virginia. If they can’t inform roommates about medical is~les, they could still do more background checks and perhaps
determine that some students need solo living situations, she suggests.
"You never had to think about who your roommate was before," Ms. Brown says. "Now you want to know who that person
really is."
Patrick Jonsson contributed to this report.
LINK Seeks To Unify Efforts In Identifying Troubled Kids (RMN CO)

By Lisa Ryckman
Rocky Mountain News, April 27, 2007
Looking back, the signs were there: a Web site full of threats, a violent homework video, a fascination with guns and
bombs.
If local law enforcement, mental health professionals and Columbine High School had been talking to each other, the
behavior of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold might have set offthe right alarms before it was too late.
That kind of coordination is one of the goals of a new program in Cherry Creek Schools called LINK - Local Intervention
Network for Kids.
"One of the things they found after Columbine was that the boys involved had problems known to a diversion program,
community mental health and their school. But no one agency had the complete picture," said Mollie Cullom, a clinical social
worker at Mission Viejo Elementary in Aurora.
Cullom helps coordinate LINK, which has been designed to identify and help children with mental health problems. The
project, one of 16 nationwide and two in Colorado - the other is in Adams County - has been funded by a $262,000 grant from
the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools.
The idea is to bring together the school district, the courts and mental health agencies to create a system of intervention
and support for troubled kids.
"Lots of kids experience trauma and witness violence," said Cullom, who has a caseload of 100 students. "We’ve seen a
rise of depression and substance abuse among parents, a rise in domestic violence. My child abuse reports to social services
have quadrupled."
A key piece of the intervention equation involves removing barriers to mental health treatment. Only 10 percent of the
children in Cherry Creek’s programs for troubled kids receive therapy outside of school, Cullom said.
Outpatient therapy and mental health services cost $3,500 a year, about one-tenth the cost of a year in prison, she said.
Checking it out
The National School Safety Center has developed a checklist of characteristics common to many of the U.S. school
shooters of the past 15 years:
¯ Have a history of tantrums and uncontrollable angry oLd:bursts.
¯ Characteristically resort to name calling, cursing or abusive language.
¯ Habitually make violent threats when angry.
¯ Have previously brought a weapon to school.
¯ Have a background of serious disciplinary problems at school and in the community.
¯ Have a background of drug, alcohol or other substance abuse or dependency.
¯ Are on the fringe of histher peer group with few or no close friends.
- Are preoccupied with weapons, explosives or other incendiary devices.
¯ Have previously been truant, suspended or expelled from school.
¯ Display cruelty to animals.
¯ Have little or no supervision and support from parents or a caring adult.
¯ Have witnessed or been a victim of abuse or neglect in the home.
Page 343
Have been bullied and/or bully or intimidate peers or younger children.

Tend to blame others for difficulties they caused.
Consistently prefer TV shows, movies or music expressing violent themes and acts.
Prefer reading materials dealing with violent themes, rituals and abuse.
Reflect anger, frustration and the dark side of life in school essays or writing projects.
Are involved with a gang or an antisocial group on the fringe of peer acceptance.
Are often depressed and/or have significant mood swings.
Have threatened or attempted suicide.
ryckmanl@R ockyMountainNews.com
Student’s Writing Brings Disorderly Conduct Charge (CHIT)

By Jeff Long
Chica,qo Tribune, April 27, 2007
Officials say passages included ’shooting everyone’
A Cary-Grove High School student charged with disorderly conduct for writing a violently descriptive class essay had
received an assignment that said: "Write whatever comes to your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing."
Allen Lee, 18, responded with passages about "shooting everyone" and having "sex with the dead bodies," according to a
disorderly conduct complaint filed Thursday by McHenry County prosecutors, Tom Carroll, the first assistant state’s attorney,
said.
Lee’s English teacher, Nora Capron, and school officials found the senior’s stream-of-consciousness writing so alarming
that they turned it over to Cary police, who arrested him Tuesday morning while he was walking to school.
Carroll said the complaint against Lee quotes his essay as saying: "Blood, sex and booze. Drugs, drugs, drugs are fun.
Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, s... t... a... b .... puke. So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out
two Pg0s and started shooting everyone, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, bu~ it would be funny ifl did."
According to Carroll, another passage said, "as a teacher, don’t be surprised on inspiring the first CG shooting."
Carroll said the two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct in the amended complaint filed Thursday refer to both
passages.
Lee’s essay, written in class Monday, also refers to lyrics from a song by the band Green Day and violent images from a
Super Mario Bros. video game, according to Jamie Emling, a close friend of Lee’s who is in the same creative-writing class.
Emling is scheduled to begin Marine boot camp with Lee in October. He said he has talked to his friend several times since
the arrest, Emling said.
"He wrote about the dream of killing with Pg0s, which is a sci-fi gun from the show’Stargate,’" Emling said. "It’s a really
cool gun. Top-loaded. And it’s in ’GoldenEye,’ the Nintendo 64 James Bond game."
The gun used in the show is based on a real submachine gun.
Police searched Lee’s room in his parents’ home and confiscated his computer, Emling said.
Emling provided a reporter with a copy of the class assignment, which was titled "Free Writing." It advised students to "write
non-stop for a set period of time. Do not make corrections as you write. Keep writing, even if you have to write something like, ’1
don’t know what to write.’"
Emling said another recent English assignment was to write a 32-page children’s book. Lee’s book was about Hitler as a
baby taking over the playground, Emling said.
On Thursday, Lee declined to discuss the essay on the advice of the family’s lawyer, Dane Loizzo of Woodstock.
Lee’s parents met with Community High School District 155 Supt. Jill Hawk and Cary-Grove Principal Susan Popp on
Thursday, Loizzo said.
Neither Loizzo nor the school would release a copy of the full essay or discuss its specific contents.
"It wasn’t just violent or foul language," District 155 spokesman Jeff Puma said. "It went beyond that."
Loizzo said the essay’s content fell within the parameters of the assignment.
"1 don’t think there was anything disturbing or alarming in it, but obviously there’s a difference of opinion," he said.
Lee is being tutored at the school district’s administration offices in Crystal Lake. His family’s main priority is getting him
back into class, making sure he graduates and assuring that the incident does not affect his plans to join the Marines, Loizzo
said.
Lee has never been disciplined in school, Loizzo said, adding tha~ he has a 4.2 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale
because of honors and advanced-placement classes. He signed Marine enlistment papers last week.
"He’s excited to serve his country," Loizzo said.
Page 344
Students leaving Cary-Grove High School on Thursday said their classmates were talking about the essay, with many
saying Lee was treated unfairly.
Ashley Davis, 17, said many students thought "it was overreacting" to bring in the police.
Steve Zaabel, 19, said he has known Lee since they were in 8th grade. Although Zaabel is not in Lee’s English class, he
said Lee should have been able to write what he wanted withod[ police involvement.
"1 don’[ think he would ever harm anyone," Zaabel said. "This isn’t the type of person that he is."
lo
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Nonresponsi [
Sent: April 26, 2007 8:16 AM
Subject: How To Gauge A School’s Progress (CSM)
HowTo Gauge A School’s Progress (CSM)

By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, Staff Writer Of The Christian Science Monitor
As Congress prepares to reauthorize No Child Left Behind, more educators want new definitions of achievement.
What’s the right balance between pushing schools to reach a goal and giving them credit for making progress, even if they
fall short?
That’s a key question lawmakers are considering as they prepare to reauthorize the federal No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB), set up five years ago with the hope of closing achievement gaps in.public schools.
The call has been coming from all corners to incorporate "growth models" into the way schools are judged. Rather than
simply comparing this year’s group of third-grade or eighth-grade scores with last year’s, advocates say, states should also track
the progress of students individually, and see how much they learn over the course of a year.
Under the current system, a school in Milwaukee with only 2 percent of its students scoring "proficient" in reading and math
progressed to about 42 percent proficient in a few years. But because that number was still below state targets under NCLB, it
received the same label as schools that may have made no progress at all, according to the recent report by the bipartisan
Commission on No Child Left Behind.
Expand credit for improvements
Everyone from civil rights groups to teachers’ unions to the secretary of Education herself has acknowledged that giving
schools some credit for their students’ improvements makes sense. For instance, they say it would be more fair to schools with a
high turnover of students (common in high-poverty areas), because they could show the learning outcomes of students actually
taught there that year, versus newcomers, who may have low scores reflecting their previous experience.
"If we [want] to improve the effectiveness of schools, how are we going to do that if that’s not what we’re measuring?" says
Paul Barton, an educational consultant and former director of the Educational Testing Service Policy Information Center. By
simply looking at whether a certain percentage of students score proficient on an end-of-year standardized test, he says, states
are measuring what students have learned in their entire life up until that point - which is affected by many factors other than
what they are taught in school.
The concept resonates with the public: According to a Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll last year, 81 percent of Americans say
they favor looking at the improvement students make during the year, rather than the percentage passing a test at the end of the
year.
The mechanism that would be revised is known as AYP - the requirement that schools make "adequate yearly progress"
toward the ultimate goal of all students scoring proficient on state tests in reading and math by 2014.
AYP is "a blunt instrument," said Tommy Thompson, co-chairman of the bipartisan commission, whose report includes 75
recommendations for improving NCLB.
If a school does not meet AYP for all subgroups of students (such as ethnic groups, low-income students, and English-
language learners) for two years in a row, it must provide tutoring options and allow students to transfer out. Eventually, schools
can be taken over by the state or forced to restructure.
Many school administrators have expressed frustration that their school is perceived as failing if even one subgroup falls
short by a few points. That’s why the bipartisan commission also suggested that schools should only be judged as not meeting
AYP if the same subgroups fell behind the goal for two years in a row.
Test scores vs. tracking students
The current law relies heavily on a testing system designed for a different purpose - to sort and track students based on
Page 346
whether they were performing at a level that was average for their grade.
"When we came along with sanctions and accountability, we simply took the tests we had. Nobody started over from
scratch," Mr. Barton says. But accountability for closing gaps is a different goal and requires a different kind of testing, he and
many others insisL
Counting student progress has precedent in a few states, such as North Carolina. Since 1997, schools there have been
measured by a combination of proficiency and improvement.
NCLB "made a complicated system even more complicated," says Lou Fabrizio, director of accountability services with the
North Carolina Department of Public Instp,~ction. "Schools would be designated as meeting a growth component under our
program, but they would potentially be listed as not making AYP, and that [causes] a little bit of confusion," he says.
But recently he’s been glad to add yet another layer of complexity. North Carolina is one of five states that the US
Department of Education is allowing to experiment with growth models in AYP calculations.
After one year, "it did not help as much as we would have hoped," Mr. Fabrizio says, but it’s too soon to judge how many
more schools might be able to show progress under such a system. (Last year, 45 percent of the state’s schools met AYP.)
The US House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing last month on growth models and other assessment
issue~ A committee staff member says the research in support of growth models is almost overwhelming, and it’s no longer a
matter of whether to use them, but of how. The committee aims to prepare a reauthorizatJon bill by this summer, though a full
vote by Congress on such bills could be delayed until after the 2008 elections.
One point of contention is whether all students should be expected to reach proficiency by 2014. Some critics say that goal
is artificial.
"We need to start in reality instead of a fantasy," says Monty Neill, executive director of FairTest in Cambridge, Mass., one
of more than 100 groups that have signed a Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB. Schools serving high-needs populations
should be expected to aim for a growth rate based on what’s already being achieved by schools doing well with similar
populations, he says.
But US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings calls the 2014 goal one of her "bright line principles."
The DOE put out a proposal earlier this year that noted, "a growth model is a tool to achieve proficiency by 2014, not a loophole
to avoid if_"
Page 347
Nonresponsiv
Sent: April 26, 2007 8:12 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; William s, Cynthia;
Subject: Campus security tour stories (4)
Bush Cabinet Members ToVisit Iowa For Shooting Report (AP)

Leavitt, Other Bush Cabinet Members To Visit Utah As Part Of Mass Shootings Report (SLT UT)
Leavitt To Visit Utah In Effort To Prevent Future Shootings (KSL)
Leavitt Will Join U.S. Attorney General And Secretary Of Education In Utah Visit (DESERET)
Bush Cabinet Members ToVisit Iowa For Shooting Report (AP)

AP, April 26, 2007
DES MOINES, Iowa Three members of the Bush cabinet will visit Iowa and other states to compile a report on mass
shootings for the administratiortThe order for the report was prompted by the Virginia Tech shootings.The members compiling
the report are Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Health and Human Services
Secretary Michael Leavitt. They are expected to report their findings in 30 days.The threewill meet with several people in Iowa
and six other states to learn from mass shootings that occurred there in previous years.On the Iowa campus in November 1991,
a 27-year-old disgruntled graduate student from China shot and killed five people before killing himself.
Leavitt, Other Bush Cabinet Members To Visit Utah As Part Of Mass Shootings Report (SLT UT)
By Thomas Burr
Salt Lake City Tribune, April 26, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and ~o other Cabinet secretaries plan a multi-state
tour to probe the origins of violent rampages like the recent Trolley Square shootings in Salt Lake City.
Officials did not say exactly when LeaviE Education Secretary Margaret Spellings or Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
would travel to Utah, but the effort is part of a broader review of violence in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre in
Blacksburg, Va., that left: 32 victims dead. Leavitt is tentatively scheduled 1o be in Utah later this week, according to his office.
Leavitt, the former Utah governor, said on "Meet The Press" Sunday that the trio want to find out what leads to such violent
outbreaks and what can be done to stop them.
The secretary said the reviewwill include looking at howto balance privacy with security and howto ensure those who
need mental health treatment get it.
’q-hese are the kinds of larger issues that are not just applicable to what happened at Blacksburg, but also what’s
happening in this unexplainable pattern of nightmarish episodes of violence in our society," Leavitt said on the NBC program.
"We’ll be going across the country asking that question, asking mental health professionals, asking governors, law
enforcement, higher education officials, ’Talk to us, tell us what you’re feeling, what suggestions, what can we learn from this?’"
The officials will hold meetings in six other states as well - Minnesota, Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas and California -
and follow up with a report to the president on issues raised by local and state authorities.
Leavitt’s close circle of advisers was directly affected by the Trolley Square shootings, in Which five people were shot and
killed and four others seriously injured. Barb McKeown, the wife of Leavitt’s chief of staff, was in the mall at the time of the
shooting and was forced to hide inside a store While the rampage continued.
Leavitt To Visit Utah In Effort To Prevent Future Shootings (KSL)

Page 348
By Tonya Papanikolas
KSL--I-V Salt Lake City, Utah, April 25, 2007
~ah will play a significant role in helping the Bush administration learn from what happened at Virginia Tech and find ways
to prevent public shootings in the ftlture.
President Bush asked three cabinet members to travel the country exploring some of the serious questions raised by the
Virginia Tech tragedy. Utah is one of seven states that cabinet members wilt visit. We were chosen because we had our own
experience this year with the Trolley Square shootings.
On Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt will be in Utah. He will meet with Governor Huntsman and
30 local leaders to discuss what they can learn from the tragedies that can help them move forward.
The leaders who have been invited come from law enforcement, juvenile justice, mental health and education tields. They
will be asked to share their perspectives on how shootings like these can ultimately be prevented.
IVike Mower, Governor Huntsman’s spokesman, said, ’q-heir focus is on looking at primarily youth who have become
disaffected and may act out in awful, horrible and violent ways like we saw here in Salt Lake and they saw in Virginia last week."
Several of the local experts invited were directly involved with the a~ermath at Trolley Square. Governor Huntsman’s office
feels these Utahns may be able to provide good feedback that can help the rest of the nation.
The group will meet on Friday then break up into smaller roundtable discussions. While Secretary Leavitt will be in Utah
and Colorado, the attorney general and education secretary will be traveling to several other states, and then they will all take
their suggestions back to President Bush.
Leavitt Will Join U.S. Attorney General And Secretary Of Education In Utah Visit (DESERET)
By Geoffrey Fattah, Deseret Morning News
Deseret Momin,q News, April 25, 2007
Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt, and Education, Margaret Spellings, will accompany Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales to Utah to explore and discuss the tragic shooting at Trolley Square as part of a multi-state exploration
into public shootings in light of the recent massacre at Virginia Tech.
IVichael Leavitt President George W. Bush has directed three of his top senior staffto travel to the states of Minnesota,
Colorado, Utah, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas and California beginning tomorrow to explore what can be learned from such tragedies.
Former Utah governor Leavitt, Spellings and Gonzales are expected to meet with local leaders, educators, mental health
experts and law enforcement offidals. The issues will then be summarized in a report by the trio and presented to the president
within 30 days.
’qhe pain of this tragedy is felt throughout this nation and our hearts and prayers go out to the victims, families and friends
and the entire Virginia Tech community," Leavitt is quoted in a Department of Justice press release.
Thirty-two students and teachers were killed earlier this month when mentally-disturbed student Seung-Hui Cho went on a
shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus, resulting in the worst school campus shootings in U.S. History. Cho then took
his own life.
For residents of Utah, the campus shooting opened up fresh emotional wounds from the Feb. 12 shootings at Trolley
Square in Salt Lake City that left six dead, including the gunman, Sulejman Talovic, and four wounded.
"While our review will not answer all the questions or solve all the problems, we hope to frame up a series of issues as part
of a thoughi-ful, national dialogue and determine where the federal government can play a role in helping states and communities
avoid such tragedies in the future," Leavitt stated.
Page 349
[Nonresponsit
Sent: April 26, 2007 8:05 AM
Schray, Vickie
Subject: Cuomo Hearing stories (5)
U.S. Is Lax On Loans, Cuomo Says (NYT)

More Banks Respond To Student Loan Probe (AP)
Federal Oversight Of Student Loan Industry Is Lax, Cuomo Testifies (WP)
Lawmakers Push Reform For Student-loan Practices (WT)
How Students Borrow For College Could Soon Change (USAT)
U.S. Is Lax On Loans, Cuomo Says (NYT)

By Jonathan D. Glarer
The NewYork Times, April 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, April 25 - New York’s attorney general on Wednesday accused the federal Education Department of being
lax in regulating the student loan industry and said that criminal charges might result from his continuing investigation into ties
between universities and lenders.
In testimony before the House education committee, the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, said that as the housing
secretary in the Clinton administration he was "not quick to criticize" a federal agency.
’However," he said, "1 believe in this case, the Department of Education has been asleep at the switch."
Mr. Cuomo also announced that two more banks, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, had signed on to a code of
condust barring lenders from giving financial incentives to universities, or payments or trips to university officials, to win favor for
the lender.
Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the committee, said that he had asked
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to testify and criticized the department’s "slowness to react to the situation." Ms.
Spellings is scheduled to appear May 10.
Ms. Spellings, in a statement, said she shared Mr. Cuomo’s concerns about lender practices but called his testimony "ill-
informed on the department’s actions and on federal law."
She said it was "misleading"to suggest that a violation of state law on fraud or deceptive trade practices was also a
violation of federal law governing lenders participating in the guaranteed student loan program.
She also said the department was investigating, ’Wnether, in fact, there have been" such violations.
Mr. Cuomo said his investigation into the $85 billion student loan industry had uncovered abuses concerning both private
loans - those that are not guaranteed by the federal government - and those in the federal program that the department
regulates. ’This is one of those situations that cries out for a federal response," he said.
Mr. Cuomo recounted instances of colleges receiving payments from lenders based on the amount students borrowed; of
financial aid administrators receiving trips and other benefits from lenders; and of loan companies operating call centers on their
behalf. Such relationships are not disclosed to students, said Mr. Cuomo, whose inquiry began in January.
In response to questions, he said that some of his findings could result in criminal charges.
He said there was "significant evidence" of abuse in the federal loan program. He said that a Columbia University financial
Page 350
aid officer now on leave had obtained stock in a federally subsidized lender which was placed on the list of loan companies
recommended to students.
Both Democrats and Republicans on the committee are calling for legislation to toughen regulation of the loan industry, and
Ms. Spellings has created a task force to make recommendations to her by the end of next month.
The questioning of Mr. Cuomo also indicated that a ba~e is brewing over competing federal loan programs - one in which
the government gives out loans directly to students, the other in which it pays subsidies to private companies that give out loans
and guarantees them against default.
Representative Ric Keller, a Florida Republican, showed his skepticism toward the direct loan program in his questioning of
Mr. Cuomo. If the Education Department was so lax, he asked, "Why should we put the federal Department of Education in
charge of all student loans?"
rvlr. Cuomo did not take a stand in favor of either program, but said that the department "retrospectively and prospectively
should be doing a better job of oversight" of the guaranteed loan program.
Separately on Wednesday, Johns Hopkins University joined the growing list of institutions that have adopted Mr. Cuomo’s
code of conduct. It also announced that a financial aid director, Ellen Frishberg, had more consulting arrangements than
previously reported and that she had not cleared them with the university.
She had already been put on leave after Mr. Cuomo’s office had found that she had worked as a consultant for one
company, Student Loan Xpress, now a unit of CIT Group, and that the company had paid for part of her graduate school tuition.
Ms. Frishberg could not be reached for comment.
IVlore Banks Respond To Student Loan Probe (AP)

By Nancy Zuckerbrod
AP, April 26, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that two more student lenders
have agreed to abide by a code of conduct designed to protect students from questionable college lending practices.
JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, both leading student lenders, have agreed to adopt the code of conduct, Cuomo
told lawmakers at a hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee.
Cuomo said the code was needed to sever too-cozy ties between lenders and colleges or student financial aid officers.
"We have to change the culture here," Cuomo said. "There are relationships here which have to be changed and broken."
The code of conduct bans lenders from paying colleges in exchange for being designated a preferred lender. Cuomo said
Wednesday that students almost always use lenders that appear on schools’ preferred lender lists.
The code of conduct also bans lenders f~om paying for trips for financial aid officers and other college officials. Lenders
also cannot pay college employees to serve on advisory boards.
Sallie Mae and Citibank previously entered into agreements with Cuomo in which they said they would adopt the code.
Some congressional lawmakers vtant to write it into law.
Cuomo said his investigators uncovered numerous arrangements that benefited schools and lenders at the expense of
students. For example, investigators say lenders have provided trips for college financial aid officers who then steered students
to the lenders.
Cuomo also criticized revenue sharing agreements in which schools received a percentage of the money lenders made
from loans to students at certain schools.
Cuomo criticized the Education Department Wednesday for having a laissez-faire attitude about the student loan industry.
"1 dont believe the oversight was adequate. I don’t believe the guidance was adequate," he said.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and chairman of the committee, agreed.
’1 don’t understand their slowness to respond," Miller said. He recently called on the Education Department to temporarily
ban schools from using preferred lender lists and asked the agency to issue emergency regulations dealing with lender
inducements to colleges.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings on Tuesday ordered an internal department task force to come up with ideas for
better regulating the student lending industry. She said the panel should look at inducements lenders give to colleges and
preferred lender lists.
Spellings called for the department task force after a panel of industry, college and student representatives failed to come
up with consensus recommendations.
Cuomo said he and other attorneys general, who joined him in his investigation in recent weeks, would fill the void but
preferred to see the Department of Education and Congress do more.
"It’s not the best way to do it," he said of letting the attorneys general reach agreements with individual lenders and
Page 351
schools. "1 believe the best way to do it (is) with deliberate federal action, not federal inaction where the states fill the void."
To date, Cuomo has collected $6.5 million from lenders through his investigation. He said the money would go toward a
fund to help educate students and their families about taking out loans.
He also has recovered $3.3 million from colleges who had been in revenue sharing agreements with lenders. Cuomo said
that money was refunded to students who took out the loans.
Federal Oversight Of Student Loan Industry Is Lax, Cuomo Testifies (WP)

By Amit R. Paley, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washin,qton Post, April 26, 2007
New York Attorney General Andrew M Cuomo, whose investigation of ties between student loan companies and
universities has triggered calls for reform, charged yesterday that the Bush administration had been lax in oversight of the $85
billion-a-year industry.
’qhe Department of Education has been asleep at the switch," Cuomo (D) said at a House education committee hearing
prompted by controversy over the industry’s ethics. He called for federal action to revamp the student loan system.
His comments echoed criticism from congressional Democrats, who contend that inadequate federal scrutiny led to the
kickbacks and conflicts of interest among lenders, universities and government officials that have emerged in Cuomo’s
nationwide investigation.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings called Cuomo’s testimony "ill-informed" and said the department "takes its role as
steward of federal financial aid very seriously."
"We have taken a number of steps to tighten our oversight responsibilities of federal student financial aid programs under
existing regulations," Spellings added in a statement. She cited the formation of a task force this week to propose new rules.
Cuomo said yesterday that JP Morgan Chase, the nation’s third-largest student lender, and Bank of America, the fourth-
largest, have joined the top two in agreeing to the code of conduct his office developed. The code bars loan companies from
offering perks to university financial aid officials, sending their staffto work for free in financial aid offices and paying schools to
steer students to their loans.
In 2006, the four companies, including Reston-based Sallie Mae, provided loans worth nearly $20 billion to more than 4
million students.
Cuomo endorsed Democratic legislation that in many ways mirrors his code and criticized Spellings for not issuing
regulations immediately to curb some of the practices he has been investigating. The department convened a committee last
year to draft rules for the industry, but officials say the effort was fruitless.
Cuomo said there was no excuse for inaction: "That is IAe saying the flretruck has stalled on the way to the fire."
Education officials say the task force Spellings announced will continue the effort. But Cuomo called it "too little, too late."
In a news conference yesterday, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the committee chairman, said Spellings "has simply
defaulted on her obligations." His office said she would testify at an oversight hearing next month.
Johns Hopkins Universib/in Baltimore said yesterday that it also has agreed to follow Cuomo’s code of conduct after
revelations that its financial aid director had received more than $65,000 from a lending company, Student Loan Xpress, that the
school had urged students to borrow money from.
The official, Ellen Frishberg, also consulted for other companies, and school officials are investigating those relationships, a
university spokesman said.
Lawmakers Push Reform For Student-loan Practices (WT)

By Amy Fagan
The Washinqton Times, April 26, 2007
Lawmakers yesterday said they will move to restrict questionable student-loan practices after New York Attorney General
AndrewM. Cuomo blamed the Education Department for allowing improper relationships between lenders and colleges.
’q-his committee’s going to take action," said Rep. George Miller, California Democrat, chairman of the House education
committee.
lV’r. Cuomo, whose nationwide investigation has uncovered confiicts of interest and kickbacks in the student-loan industry,
told the panel yesterday "there is a crisis" that federal government should address.
"Now is the time for Congress to act," Mr. Cuomo said. "It is not a time for task forces or study groups" -- a dig at the
Education Department, which this week created a task force to examine the situation, despite Mr. Miller’s call last week for more
decisive action.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings called Mr. Cuomo’s comments "ill-informed."
"Contrary to Cuomo’s testimony today, the U.S. Department of Education takes its role as steward of federal financial aid
Page 352
very seriously," she said in a statement, listing ways that the department has improved federal student-loan programs in the past,
including taking "a number of steps to tighten our oversight responsibilities."
Mr. Miller is conducting his own investigation of the problems, and Mrs. Spellings is now scheduled to testify before his
panel May 10.
Mr. Cuomo said his investigators have found lenders paying kickbacks to schools based on the number of loans they
receive from students there, lenders providing vacations and other perks to school financial-aid officials to curry favor and secure
spots on "preferred lender" lists, and schools using "preferred lender" lists to recommend certain lenders to students and parents
without fully explaining why those lenders are best.
The cases he has turned up involve private lenders, which are largely unregulated by the federal government, as well as
some lenders in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, Mr. Cuomo said. He said the Education Department has
been "asleep at the switch" to let the FFEL problems occur and that federal action should include both a tightening of the FFEL
rules as well as new regulation of the private lenders.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed and have introduced bills. Mr. Miller said the committee will vote soon on a
measure.
Mr. Miller has proposed a bill that, among other things, requires lenders and schools to fully disclose the nature of their
relationships and bans lender gifts over $10. The committee’s top Republican, Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon of California, has
proposed a bill that would require schools to develop their own codes of conduct in this area, and banning revenue sharing
between private lenders and colleges.
Some Republicans say they are worried Democrats will use the current situation to shift to more government-controlled
loans.
Mr. Cuomo endorsed Mr. Miller’s bill yesterday. Meanwhile, Mr. Cuomo has supported a bill in New York -- approved by
that state’s Senate yesterday -- that legally establishes a code of conduct for schools and lenders, banning revenue sharing and
gifts, among other things.
His investigation has resulted in numerous schools and major lenders voluntarily signing his code of conduct -- most
recently JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, announced yesterday. More will follow, he said, adding that school officials and
lenders want to change their behavior because they know they must, in order to keep students’ business.
Cuorno Reaches Accords With Bank Of America, JPlVlorgan (Update7) (BLOOM)

By James M. O’neill And Matthew Keenan
Bloomberq, April 26, 2007
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo forged agreements with Bank of America Corp. and
JPMorgan Chase & Co. in his investigation of abuses in student lending and called for stronger federal oversight.
The U.S. Education Department has been negligent in regulating the $85 billion industry, Cuomo told the U.S. House
Committee on Education and Labor in Washington today. The two lenders, along with Johns Hopkins University, are the latest
institutions to agree with Cuomo that they’ll abide by a new set of ethical standards.
Cuomo, who is coordinating his investigation with counterparts in more than 40 U.S. states, called for immediate
regulations from the Education Department and stronger federal laws in the longer term. His inquiry has revealed undisclosed
revenue-sharing between lenders and colleges as well as other payments to financial-aid officers whose schools recommended
the loan providers to prospective borrowers.
"’The U.S. Department of Education has been asleep at the switch," Cuomo said. "’The practices we have uncovered were
not undiscoverable until now. Rather, the entity charged with maintaining the integrity of the student-loan market failed."
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings disputed Cuomo’s characterization, saying she called two years ago for greater
clarity in the student-loan system. Spellings also said she appointed a committee last year to design tighter regulations on
recommended-lender lists and inducements from loan companies.
Task Force
Spellings yesterday appointed an internal task force to recommend changes in federal regulations on student lending after
an external negotiating panel failed to agree on solutions. She is scheduled to appear before the House committee on May 10.
"’This secretary has defaulted on her obligations," said House education committee Chairman George Miller, a California
Democrat. He and Senator Edward Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, are conducting their own investigations.
Kennedy today asked Spellings to provide financial- disclosure forms for 27 department employees. Matteo Fontana, a
department general manager, revealed on his disclosures that he sold as much as $250,000 of stock in 2004 in Education
Lending Group Inc. Fontana was responsible for department relations with providers such as Education Lending, which was
Page 353
acquired by ClT Group Inc. in 2005.

Stock Holdings
The department’s policy restricts employees from handling matters involving companies in which they own more than
$15,000 in stock. Fontana has been placed on leave while the department’s inspector general investigates, and Spellings has
ordered a review of her agency’s ethics policy.
The Fontana case "’raises grave concerns about the effectiveness and impartiality of the ethics process at the
department," Kennedy wrote. "’These facts demand hard scrutiny of the department’s ability to police itself."
Criminal charges are possible in some cases against college financial-aid officials vTno accepted compensation from
lenders, Cuomo told the committee. He declined to be more specific a~ter the hearing.
"’It’s illegal, it’s wrong, it’s offensive," Cuomo testified. "’We’re going to enforce the law."
Cuomo’s probe has resulted in five loan companies and 16 schools agreeing to abide by new codes of conduct he devised.
Some of the lenders and schools also paid a total of $9.9 million to reimburse borrowers or contribute to a public-information
campaign. Attorneys general in Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska have reached similar accords.
Conduct Code
The federal government backs lending to students through a variety of programs, with about 80 percent of the money
routed through banks and other agencies. Lenders also provide private loans that aren’t federally guaranteed.
Colleges and universities otten list recommended or "’preferred" lenders on their Web sites and in brochures to help
students and families sort through their options. Preferred institutions account for 90 percent of money borrowed.
Johns Hopkins in Baltimore said today that it would drop all preferred-lender lists until a national consensus develops on
how they should be handled. The school also said it would adopt Cuomo’s college code of conduct.
Johns Hopkins financial aid director Ellen Frishberg took $65,000 in tuition and consulting fees from CIT Group’s Student
Loan XPress, the school and Cuomo have said. Student Loan XPress had been on some of the university’s preferred lists.
Consulting Links
In a meeting with Johns Hopkins attorneys last week, Frishberg said she had consulted for other companies, the school
said in a statement. The university is investigating those relationships. Frishberg was placed on paid leave April 9.
The university "" has found no evidence of any lender payments to Johns Hopkins in return for placement on any lender list
or as compensation for loans to Johns Hopkins students," according to the statement.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, is an alumnus
and benefactor of Johns Hopkins University, whose Bloomberg School of Public Health is named after him.
JPMorgan and Bank of America are the third- and fourth- largest student-loan originators. The top two, SLM Corp. and
Citigroup Inc., previously signed agreements with Cuomo and paid $2 million apiece into a public-education campaign on student
loans. Neither agreement announced today includes a monetary payment.
Private Loans
Bank of America said its existing policies already prohibit payments in exchange for being placed on preferred-lender lists.
"’We hope that today’s announcement will prompt widespread industry adoption of the code, and ensure a level playing
field exists among lenders and benefits students and their families," said Tracy Grooms, a student-lending executive at Bank of
America, in a statement today.
Federal laws should be extended to cover private student lending that isn’t federally guaranteed, Cuomo said. Lenders
"’prey" on students who’ve exhausted their options under the federal programs, he said.
"Double Whammy’
"’This is a double whammy for students," Cuomo said. "’The cost of a college education is skyrocketing. The student loans
don’t give students enough money to pay for their education, and the only alternative is to go to private loans at an exorbitant
interest rate."
The home-mortgage market has stronger protections against conflicts of interest than student loans, Cuomo said.
The terms of private loans also create a "’high potential for abuse," Cuomo said. "’The private loans are the Wild West of
student lending."
IViller said he is working with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank to coordinate legislation for
federal oversight of private, non-government-backed lending to students.
The House education committee’s ranking Republican, Buck McKeon of California, said he has introduced a bill with
Representative Ric Keller of Florida that would ask colleges to adopt their own codes of conduct, including restrictions on gi~ts
from companies to aid officials. It also would ban revenue sharing for federally backed loans and private loans.
"’We must be careful not to overreach, as Congress does all too often, but we do need to restore trust in the system,"
McKeon said at the hearing.
Page 354
How Students Borrow For College Could Soon Change (USAT)

By Sandra Block, Kathy ChuAnd Adam Edelman
USA Today, April 26, 2007
When Loretta Medeiros’ financial aid letter from New York University arrived last summer, she remembers seeing just one
lender mentioned: Citibank.
Assuming it was the only lender NYU worked with, Medeiros borrowed nearly $29,000 in a private loan for graduate school.
But this year, when she needed $3,000 more, she decided to ask NYU if other lenders were available. The university directed
her to a school website, where she says she found a lower-cost option that will save her money.
"1 was kind of going in blind" in seeking loans, says Medeiros, 23. "1 wish !’d known there were other options, instead of (the
school) throwing a main bank in my face."
Concerns that such students are paying too much for loans because of questionable ties between lenders and universities
are reaching a boiling point. With New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo set to testify before a House panel today
about his probe of the student-loan business, the industry could be on the verge of transformational change.
Cuomo and other critics argue that the $85 billion industry, a public-private partnership, has enriched lenders at the
expense of students. His investigation has already generated nearly $10 million in settlements from lenders and universities and
led to the firing or suspension of at least six financial aid administrators. A top official of the U.S. Education Department has also
been suspended. And Cuomo’s inquiry has prompted calls for structural reforms in the loan business.
The millions of students who need college loans could soon see changes that would revamp the way they borrow money
for college - from their choice of lenders to the interest rates on their loans. Proposals in Congress would also ensure that
borrowers max out on federally guaranteed loans before they take out costlier "alternative" loans.
Financial aid administrators say they work hard to find lenders that offer the best services at the lowest cost to students.
NYU, for example, says it mentioned only one lender in the financial aid letter "because we had a competitive process (to see)
who would offer the best rate to the greatest number of students, and directing students to that lender is precisely what students
would want financial aid administrators to do," says John Beckman, an NYU spokesman.
Among the changes that could arrive in coming months:
Revised "preferred-lender" lists.
When Ivy Bigelow, 27, received her financial aid package for graduate school at the State University of New York at Albany
several years ago, she received a list of five or six lenders. She chose M&T Bank because she already had an account there. But
she concedes that she didn’t really give the choice much thought.
’qhey all basically offered the same rates, so it really didn’t matter," Bigelow says. "Financial aid paperwork is a lot of work,
especially if you’re in school and working and trying to move."
More than 90% of student borrowers choose a lender recommended by their college’s financial aid office. But Cuomo’s
investigation found that some lenders gave stock options and all-expense-paid trips to financial-aid administrators. And he
alleged that those favors helped the lenders secure a place on the colleges’ "preferred-lender" lists.
Bigelow, who now works as a library staffer for Columbia University, says she’s been fairly satisfied with her lender. But
since the scandals, some borrowers are wondering if the lender recommended by their school really offered the best deal.
Samantha Prahl, 21, a senior political science major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, says the scandals have
caused students to question whether colleges and lenders have their best interests in mind. This month, the university’s director
of financial aid resigned from the board of one lender, Student Loan Xpress, a~er disclosures that other board members had had
a financial interest in the company. Student Loan Xpress is on UW-Milwaukee’s preferred-lender list.
’q-he real losers here are the students and the taxpayers," says Prahl, who is president of the school’s student association.
"We really need to start getting educated on issues like this when we can’t necessarily trust anyone."
Last week, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., head of the House committee overseeing education, urged the Education
Department to impose a moratorium on preferred-lender lists. And a moratorium should stay in place, he argued, "until we can be
assured these lists no longer feed corruption and cronyism."
Some schools arent waiting for a moratorium. The University of Texas recently directed its 15 campuses to stop offering
preferred-lender lists. The director of financial aid for UT-Austin, Lawrence Burt, was placed on paid leave this month alter
disclosures that he had owned stock in a lender that was on the university’s preferred-lender list.
Robert Shireman of the Project on Student Debt says he doesn’t think schools will permanently drop preferred-lender lists,
because students will continue to ask administrators for recommendations.
"It’s simply too awkward to respond to a student by telling them, ’There are 2,000 options, and I’m afraid I have no opinions
about any of them,’" Shireman says.
Page 355
lVichelle Mayer, a 22-year-old junior at Columbia University, borrowed from Citibank, a preferred lender at Columbia. The
scandal has left a sour taste in her mouth, Mayer says. Still, she acknowledges that the preferred-lender system allowed her to
pick a lender quickly and reliably. She’s receptive to an expanded federal role in the student-loan industry but says she wonders
how efficient it would be.
"Would it increase the bureaucracy of it all even more than it already is?" asks Mayer, who depends on easy access to her
loan checks. "It’s definitely a concern."
But since the investigations, preferred-lender lists could soon include more information for borrowers, and in some cases,
more lenders. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate committee overseeing education, has proposed
legislation to require schools that provide preferred-lender lists to include at least three unaffiliated lenders. Now, some schools
include only one. Schools would also be required to explain why they chose the lenders and to inform students that they’re under
no obligation to choose a lender from the list.
’qhere’s no doubt there will be changes, especially in ... providing more information and greater transparency" about how
the preferred lists are created, says Larry Zaglaniczny of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
An expansion of direct loans.
Students at the 1,100 schools that take part in the "direct-lending" program have only one option: They borrow directly from
the U.S. government instead of a private lender. The rate on a direct loan is 6.8% the same as the top rate allowed for federally
guaranteed private loans.
Advocates of this program, created during the Clinton administration, say it’s less costly for taxpayers. They also argue that
it avoids conflicts of interest between colleges and lenders. But the direct-lending program has suffered from meager political
support in recent years. Republican lawmakers contend that the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program - under which
private lenders provide federally guaranteed loans - offers more competitive loans, at a lower cost. The Bush administration and
Republicans in Congress have been "very hostile to the direct-lending program," Miller said last week.
Major lenders have lobbied against the program, sometimes offering incentives for direct-lending schools to switch to the
FFEL program.
In recent weeks, though, the National Direct Student Loan Coalition has seen a rise in inquiries from schools interested in
switching, says Craig Munier, financial aid director for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and chairman of the coalition.
Kennedy has proposed legislation to reward schools that switch to the direct-lending program. Under the Student Debt
Relief Act of 2007, schools that switch would receive additional aid for low-income students.
Fewer private lenders.
Even though more than 3,000 lenders take part in the federal loan program, the 10 largest lenders account for more than
half of loan originations - and the 100 largest account for 91%- according to Education Department data.
The number of major lenders has been falling and will drop further if lawmakers back proposals to reduce subsidies and
risk insurance given to FFEL lenders, says John Dean, special counsel for the Consumer Bankers Association. The savings from
those lower subsidies would be used to increase Pell grants for low-income students and lower the interest rate on federal
student loans.
The proposals are preliminary. But if all the government cuts now being considered were enacted, "Lenders would lose
money on each loan they made and would simply withdraw," Dean says, meaning less competition for loans. Competition
encourages FFEL lenders to offer interest-rate discounts, waive origination fees and provide 24/7 access to borrowers’ accounts,
Dean says. "None of that is required by regulations," he says. "It’s created by retail market competition."
Even smaller cuts than those in the legislative proposals could cause lenders to shrink those incentives for borrowers, Dean
warns. Boosting aid at the expense of the FFEL program is "unsound policy," he says.
Lenders, Dean adds, "need to do a better job of convincing Kennedy and Miller that the (FFEL) program is not rotten."
Financial aid administrators are also trying to show that the vast majority of their members are scrupulous professionals
who look out for students’ welfare. "An atmosphere of mistrust," Zaglaniczny says, "can lead to borrowers making the wrong
financial decision."
Restoring that trust might just be the biggest challenge now for colleges and lenders.
"My confidence is definitely shaken," says Jeff Runion, 25, a psychology major at St. Louis Community College-Meramec in
Kirkwood, Mo. Runion has $14,000 to $15,000 in student loans through Bank of America.
’I wouldn’t be able to attend school without loans, so whether I am confident (in lenders) or not, I need to take out loans,"
he says. "But I am wary. It’s a necessary evil."
Medeiros, the NYU grad student, welcomes change to He loan system, especially if it means students will get better rates
and have to take on less debt. "1 just want to know all my options," she says.
Page 356
Hopkins Shifts Loan Policy (BSUN)

By Gadi Dechter And Liz Bowie
The Baltimore Sun, April 26, 2007
Amid probe, it plans to adopt code of conduct, stop listing preferred lenders
The Johns Hopkins University will stop recommending loan companies to students and parents, and adopt a student loan
"code of conduct" established by New York’s attorney general, school officials announced last night.
The announcement was in response to New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s disclosure this month that a top
financial aid administrator at Hopkins had received $65,000 in consulting fees from Student Loan Xpress, one of several
"preferred lenders" the university recommended to families for financing their children’s education.
Ellen Frishberg, director of the private university’s student financial services, told Hopkins attorneys Friday that she had
consulted for other student loan companies, according to Hopkins spokesman Dennis O’Shea.
Frishberg remains on paid administrative leave while the university continues its internal investigation, O’Shea said. He
declined to say which other lenders Frishberg consulted for or how much she was paid for those services.
"Johns Hopkins is absolutely committed to a financial aid program that serves students’ best interests and meets the
highest ethical standards," President William R. Brody said in a statement. "The actions the university is announcing
[Wednesday] are intended to ensure that we meet that commitment."
Hopkins officials said they have "found no evidence" that university officials were aware of Student Loan Xpress’ consulting
fees paid to Frishberg, which included direct payments and tuition payments to finance her doctoral studies.
Frishberg had disclosed to the university that she sat on the preferred lender’s advisory board and had been reimbursed for
travel expenses related to her board service, officials said.
Frishberg, who did not immediately return calls to her home last night, was one of several top university officials nationwide
implicated in recent weeks in Cuomo’s sweeping investigation of the $85 billion student loan industry.
Several state attorneys general, members of Congress and the U.S. Department of Education are looking into whether
undisclosed financial arrangements between schools and lenders undermine the best interests of students and their families.
Cuomo’s voluntary code of conduct - adopted recently by such schools as New York University, the University of
Pennsylvania and the State University of New York - prohibits colleges from receiving "anything of value" from lenders and from
entering into revenue-sharing agreements with preferred lenders.
The code does not require schools to drop preferred-lender lists, but Hopkins said in last night’s statement that the
university’s seven financial-aid offices have placed a moratorium on such lists "until there is a national consensus on standards
for lists that are free of conflict of interest and serve the best interests of students."
Students and families typically turn to financial-aid offices for advice in navigating a complex system that leaves the
average borrower more than $19,000 in debt atter graduation.
Some experts think that colleges should guide students and parents to reputable lenders and that Hopkins’ halting
recommendations could be confusing.
Sarah Bauder, director of student financial aid for the University of Maryland, College Park, said she understands Hopkins’
decision to eliminate lender lists but that it will be a nightmare for students and aid officers there.
Bauder thinks Hopkins will be flooded with calls from parents seeking recommendations.
’qhere are 3,167 lenders o~ there. What family wants to research that?" she said.
When UM’s Web site went down once and prospective students couldn’t find the list of preferred lenders online, Bauder’s
office couldn’t handle the large volume of calls from parents and students seeking help, she said. Twenty-five percent of the calls
to her office that day were dropped.
Because Hopkins is such a respected institution, Bauder said, other colleges and universities might feel pressure to follow
suit. College Park, she said, will not follow Hopkins’ lead.
The lack of preferred-lender lists will not affect Hopkins students taking out federally backed Stafford or Perkins loans
because the university makes those loans available directly from the government. But families seeking federally backed Plus
loans and private loans will be on their own in finding a lender.
In the 2005-2006 academic year, Hopkins students took out $53 million in direct federal loans and $12.4 million in Plus
loans, O’Shea said.
Independent, trustworthy financial-aid information is hard to come by, experts say. The most widely used Intemet sources
for such information have sponsorship or revenue-sharing agreements with one or more lenders, said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher
of FinAid.org, a student aid Web site.
Kantrowitz said his site is sponsored by Citibank.
Page 357
Kalman Chany, author of the book Paying for College Without Going Broke, said media attention to the financial-aid
controversy has made parents and students more financially knowledgeable.
"1 don’t think it’s that big a deal," Chany said of Hopkins’ move.
The University of Texas also stopped making lender recommendations after being Largeted by Cuomo’s investigation.
Hopkins also announced yesterday that internal investigators had identified two contracts between the university and
lenders in which the loan companies agreed to provide loans to international students in exchange for a spot on the preferred
lender list.
Those agreements might have benefited foreign students - whom banks consider more risky consumers - but Kantrowitz
thinks they are improper.
’q-he problem with something like that ... is, it’s trading off a benefit to one group of students against another group of
students," he said.
It is possible, Kantrowitz said, that Hopkins was effectively marketing a less desirable loan to non-foreign students in
exchange for making loans available to its sizable international student body.
"When you’re giving advice to an individual student, your obligation should be to give advice to that student and not
students in general," he said.
Hopkins said it has found no indication that any students were harmed because of its preferred-lender relationships.
gadi. dechter@baltsun.com liz bowie@baltsun.com
Page 358
Nonrespon!
(b)( .............................April 26, 2007 5:59 AM
To: Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, KrislJn; Schray, Vickie; Duncket, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Dorfrnan, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie
MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug;
Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska,
Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: NY’s Cuomo: Education Dept "Asleep at Switch" (Reuters)
April 25, 2007

NY’s Cuomo: Education Dept "Asleep at Switch"
By REUTERS
Filed at 5:43 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo took a widening
campaign to clean up the student loan business to Washington on Wednesdmy, urging Congress
to reform student financial aid and accusing the Bush adm~inistration of being "’asleep at
the switch.’’
The son of former Gov. Hmrio Cuomo told lawmakers that criminal charges z~y result from
investigations he is pursuing into questior~ble ties between banks that lend money to
college students and individua! university financial aid officers.
Cuomo and fellow Democrats in Congress, along with other state attorneys general, are
racing ahead of federal regulators in an ez~mination of links between lenders and
colleges, which critics say pose conflicts of interest or worse.
Investigators have said some college aid officers took payments and perks from lenders in
exchange for placing the companies on "’preferred lender’’ lists shown to students.
"’There is a possibility of criminal charges in some of the cases we are investigating,’’

said Cuomo, 49, at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing.
Cuomo criticized the Bush administration, saying Secretary of Education ~rgaret Spellings
"’has defaulted on her obligation’’ to oversee the $85 billion student loan industry.
"’The failure of the Department of Education to pass adequate regulations is disappointing

and irresponsible ... the (department) has been asleep at the switch.’’ he said.
Cuomo was secretary of housing and urban development under President Bill Clinton. He
became New York’s top cop late last year and is moving quickly to carry on the crusading
style of his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, now the state’s governor.
SPELLINGS RESPONDS
Secretary Spellings said in a statement that she shares Cuomo’s concerns about lender
practices, but she said his remmrks were ill-informed. "’The U.S.
Department of Education takes its role as steward of federal financial aid very
seriously,’’ she said.
She added that the department has taken steps to tighten oversight. Earlier this week,
Spellings created an internal task force to work on new student loan regulations.
But California Democratic Rep. George Miller said the Education Department should be doing
more. He called on Spellings last week to undertake "’emergency reforms.’’
Both Hiller and California Rep. Howard McKeon, the education committee’s top Republican,
Page 359
hmve introduced legislation to overhaul the student loan system.
Kennedy is working on a package of reforms in the Senate.
Spellings has agreed to testify before the House education committee, which Miller chairs,
on May i0.
Separately, Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy on Wednesdmy asked Spellings for
files and public financial disclosure reports for 27 Education Department employees.
The chairman of the Senate education committee said in a statement that "’information has
recently come to light which raises serious questions about the impartiality of political
appointees working at the Department of Education.’’
Earlier this month, a manager in the department’s financial aid office was put on leave
pending a review of his o}~nership of stock in Education Lending Group Inc., former parent
of Student Loan Xpress, now a unit of CIT Group.
As Cuomo’s inquiry has progressed, lenders -- including Citigroup, Sallie P~e, JPMorgan
Chase & Co., and Bank of America Corp. -- have agreed to abide by a code of conduct
recommended by the attorney general.
It bans schoo!-lender financial ties, "’preferred lender’’ list payments, and lender gifts
to college employees.
In a related matter on Wednesday, the New York State Senate passed a bill barring lenders
from making gifts to universities in exchange for privileged treatment.
The bill has yet to be approved by the state assembly.
Do You Yahoo[?
Page 360
INonrespons
ore: ............................. ]
( )((~-’-~nt:b April 26, 2007 5:58 AM k~hefine-mclane-~----- ...................
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton,
Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg0 Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David;
Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie
Zeff, Ken
Subject: U.S. ts Lax on Loans, Cuomo Says (NYT)
April 26, 2007

U.S. Is Lax on Loans, Cuomo Says
By JONATKAN D. GLATER
WASHINGTON, April 25 -- New York’s attorney general on Wednesday accused the federal
Education Department of being lax in regulating the student loan industry and said that
criminal charges might result from his continuing investigation into ties between
universities and lenders.
In testimony before the House education committee, the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo,
said that as the housing secretary in the Clinton administration he was "not quick to
criticize" a federal agency.
"However," he said, "I believe in this case, the Department of Education has been asleep
at the switch.’"
Pk. Cuomo also announced that two more banks, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, had
signed on to a code of conduct barring lenders from giving financial incentives to
universities, or payments or trips to u~iversity officials, to win favor for the lender.
Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the committee,
said that he had asked Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to testify and criticized
the department’s "slowness to react to the situation." Ms. Spellings is scheduled to
appear May 1O.
Ms. Spellings, in a statement, said she shared Mr.

Cuomo’s concerns about lender practices but called his testimony "ill-informed on the
department’s actions and on federal law."
She said it was "misleading" to suggest that a violation of state law on fraud or
deceptive trade practices was also a violation of federal law governing lenders
participating in the guaranteed student loan program.
She also said the department was investigating, "’whether, in fact, there have been" such
violations.
Mr. Cuomo said his investigation into the $85 billion student loan industry had uncovered
abuses concerning both private loans -- those that are not guaranteed by the federal
government -- and those in the federal program that the department reg~tlates. "This is one
of those situations that cries out for a federal response," he said.
Mr. Cuomo recounted instances of colleges receiving payments from lenders based on the
amount students borrowed; of financial aid administrators receiving trips and other
benefits from lenders; and of loan companies operating call centers on their behalf. Such
relationships are not disclosed to students, said Mr.
Cuomo, whose inquiry began in January.
In response to questions, he said that some of his findings couAd result in criminal
charges.
Page 361
He said there was "significant evidence" of abuse in the federal loan program. He said
that a Columbia University financial aid officer now on leave had obtained stock in a
federally subsidized lender which was placed on the list of loan companies recommended to
students.
Both Democrats and Republicans on the committee are calling for legislation to toughen
regulation of the !oan industry, and Ms. Spellings has created a task force to make
recommendations to her by the end of next month.
The questioning of Mr. Cuomo also indicated that a battle is brewing over competing
federal loan programs -- one in which the government gives out loans directly to students,
the other in which it pays subsidies to private companies that give out loans and
guarantees them against default.
Representative Ric Keller, a Florida Republican, showed his skepticism toward the direct
loan program in his questioning of Mr. Cuomo. If the Education Department was so lax, he
asked, "Why should we put the federal Department of Education in chmrge of all student
loans?"
Mr. Cuomo did not take a stand in favor of either program, but said that the department
"retrospectively and prospectively should be doing a better job of oversight" of the
guaranteed loan program.
Separately on Wednesday, Johns Hopkins University joined the growing list of institutions
that have adopted Mr. Cuomo’s code of conduct. It also announced that a financial aid
director, Ellen Frishberg, had more consulting arrangements than previously reported and
that she had not cleared them with the university.
She had already been put on leave after Mr. Cuomo’s office had found that she had worked
as a consultant for one company, Student Loan Xpress, now a unit of CIT Group, and that
the company had paid for part of her graduate school tuition.
Do You Yahoo~?
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Page 362
Nonresponsi
(b) (9~°n~..: April 26, 2007 5:51 AM
To: Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, KrislJn; Schray, Vickie; Duncke], Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; BeaLon,
Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessete, Marc; Halaska,
Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: U.So Is Lax on Loans, Cuomo Says (NYT)
April 26, 2007

U.S. Is Lax on Loans, Cuomo Says
~SHINGTON, April 25 --New York’s attorney general on Wednesday accused the federal
Education Department of being lax in regulating the student loan industry and said thmt
criminal charges might result from his continuing investigation into ties between
universities and lenders.
In testimony before the House education committee, the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo,
said that as the housing secretary in the Clinton administration he was "not quick to
criticize" a federal agency.
"However," he said, "I believe in this case, the Department of Education has been asleep
at the switoh.’"
Mr. Cuomo also announced that two more banks, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, had
signed on to a code of conduct barring lenders from giving financial incentives to
universities, or payments or trips to university officials, to win favor for the lender.
Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairmmn of the committee,
said that he had asked Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to testify and criticized
the department’s "slowness to react to the situation." Ms. Spellings is scheduled to
appear May i0.
Ms. Spellings, in a statement, said she shared Mr.

Cuomo’s concerns about lender practices but called his testimony "ill-informed on the
department’s actions and on federal law."
She said it was "~isleading’" to suggest that a violation of state law on fraud or
deceptive trade practices was also a violation of federal law governing lenders
participating in the guaranteed student loan program.
She also said the department was investigating, "whether, in fact, there have been" such
violations.
Mr. Cuomo said his investigation into the $85 billion student loan industry had uncovered
abuses concerning both private loans -- those that are not guaranteed by the federal
government -- and those in the federal program that the department regulates. "This is one
of those situations that cries out for a federal response," he said.
Mr. Cuomo recounted instances of colleges receiving payments from lenders based on the
amount students borrowed; of financial aid administrators receiving trips and other
benefits from lenders; and of loan companies operating call centers on their behalf. Such
relationships are not disclosed to students, said Mr.
Cuomo, whose inquiry began in January.
In response to questions, he said that some of his findings could result in criminal
charges.
Page 363
He said there was "significant evidence" of abuse in the federal loan program. He said
that a Columbia University financial aid officer now on leave hmd obtained stock in a
federally subsidized lender which was placed on the list of loan companies recommended to
students.
Both Democrats and Republicans on the committee are calling for legislation to toughen
regulation of the loan industry, and Ms. Spellings has created a task force to make
recommendmtions to her by the end of next month.
The questioning of Mr. Cuomo also indicated that a battle is brewing over competing
federal loan programs -- one in which the government gives out loans directly to students,
the other in which it pays subsidies to private companies that give out loans and
guarantees them against default.
Representative Ric Keller, a Florida Republican, showed his skepticism toward the direct
loan program in his questioning of Mr. Cuomo. If the Education Department was so lax, he
asked, "’Why should we put the federal Department of Education in chmrge of all student
loans?"
Mr. Cuomo did not take a stand in favor of either program, but said that the department
"retrospectively and prospectively should be doing a better job of oversight" of the
guaranteed loan program.
Separately on Wectnesday, Johns Hopkins University joined the growing list of institutions
that have adopted Mr. Cuomo’s code of conduct. It also announced that a financial aid
director, Ellen Frishberg, had more consulting arrangements than previously reported and
that she had not cleared them ~£ith the university.
She had already been put on leave after Mr. Cuomo’s office had found that she had worked
as a consultant for one company, Student Loan Xpress, now a unit of ClT Group, and that
the company had paid for part of her graduate school tuition.
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Page 364
NonresponsiI
(b)( 9e°n~: ............................. I
~ ~th~i-]i-i ~ N ~1-~ii ~[ .........................
April 26, 2007 5:45 AM
Dorfman, C~thia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Federal Oversight of Student Loan Industry Is Lax, Cuomo Testifies (WP)
Federal Cr~ersight of Student Loan Industry Is Lax, Cuomo Testifies By Amit R. Paley
Washington Bost Staff Writer Thursday, April 26, 2007; AI2
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, whose investigation of ties between student
loan companies and universities has triggered calls for reform, oharged yesterday that the
Bush administration had been lax in oversight of the $85 billion-a-year industry.
"The Department of Education has been asleep at the switch," Cuomo (D) said at a House
education committee hearing prompted by controversy over the industry’s ethics. He called
for federal action to revamp the student loan system.
His comments echoed criticism from congressional Democrats, who contend that inadequate
federal scrutiny led to the kickbacks and conflicts of interest among lenders,
tuniversities and government officials that have emerged in Cuomo’s nationwide
investigation.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings called Cuomo’s testimony "ill-informed" and said
the department "takes its role as steward of federal financial aid very seriously."
"We have taken a number of steps to tighten our oversight responsibilities of federal
student financial aid programs under existing regulations,"
Spellings added in a statement. She cited the formation of a task force this week to
propose new rules.
Cuomo said yesterday that JP Morgan Chase, the nation’s third-largest student lender, and
Bank of America, the fourth-largest, have joined the top two in agreeing to the code of
conduct his office deve!oped. The code bars loan companies from offering perks to
university financial aid officials, sending their staff to work for free in financial aid
offices and paying schools to steer students to their !oans.
In 2006, the four companies, including Reston-based Sallie Mae, provided loans worth
nearly $20 billion to more than 4 million students.
Cuomo endorsed Democratic legislation that in mmny ways mirrors his code and criticized
Spellings for not issuing regulations immediately to curb some of the practices he has
been investigating. The department convened a committee last year to draft rules for the
industry, but officials say the effort was fruitless.
Cuomo said there was no excuse for inaction: "That is like saying the firetruck has
stalled on the way to the fire."
Education officials say the task force Spellings announced will continue the effort. But
Cuomo called it "too little, too late."
In a news conference yesterday, Rep. George Hiller (D-Calif.), the committee chairman,
said Spellings "has simply defaulted on her obligations." His office said she would
testify at an oversight hearing next month.
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore said yesterday that it also has agreed to follow
Page 365
Cuomo’s code of conduct after revelations that its financial aid director had received
more than $65,000 from a lending company, Student Loan Xpress, thmt the school had urged
students to borrow money from.
The official, Ellen Frishberg, also consulted for other companies, and school officials
are investigating those relationships, a university spokesman said.
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Page 366
Nonresponsiv
From: Yudof, Samara
Sent: April 25, 2007 7:55 PM
Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; ’Tracy WH’; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Quarles, Karen;
Schray, Vickie; Moran, Robert; Taylor, Jeff; Rosenfelt, Phil
Co: McLane, Katherine; Ditto, Trey, Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie
Subject: Bloomberg: Cuomo Reaches Accords With Bank of America, JPMorgan
Bloomberg
Cuomo Reaches Accords With Bank of America, JPMorgan (UpdateT)
By James M. O~eill and Matthew Keenan
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- New York Attorney General Andre~v Cuomo forged agreements with Bank of America
Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in his investigation of abuses in student lending and called for stronger
federal oversight.
The U.S. Education Department has been negligent in regulating the $85 billion industry, Cuomo told the U.S.
House Committee on Education and Labor in Washington today. The two lenders, along with Johns Hopkins
University, are the latest institutions to agree with Cuomo that the~.i!l abide by a new set of ethical standards.
Cuomo, who is coordinating his investigation with counterparts in more than 40 U.S. states, called for
immediate regulations from the Education Department and stronger federal laws in the longer tenn. His inquiry
has revealed undisclosed revenue-shaxing between lenders and colleges as well as other payments to financial-
aid officers whose schools recommended the loan providers to prospective borrowers.
"’The U.S. Department of Education has been asleep at the s,,vitch," Cuomo said. "The practices we have
uncovered were not undiscoverable until now. Rather, the entity charged with maintaining the integrity of the
student-loan market failed."
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings disputed Cuomo’s characterization, sa?dng she called two years ago for
greater clarity in the student-loan system. Spellings also said she appointed a committee last year to design
tighter regulations on recommended-lender lists and inducements from loan companies.
Task Force
Spellings yesterday appointed an internal task force to recommend changes in federal regulations on student
lending after an external negotiating panel failed to agree on solutions. She is scheduled to appear before the
House committee on May 10.
"This secretar7 has defaulted on her obligations," said House education committee Chairman George Miller, a
California Democrat. He and Senator Edward Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, are conducting their
own investigations.
Kennedy today asked Spellings to provide financial- disclosure foixns for 27 department employees. Matteo
Fontana, a department general manager, revealed onhis disclosures that he sold as much as $250,000 of stock in
2004 in Education Lending Group Inc. Fontana was responsible for department relations with providers such as
Page 367
Education Lending, which was acquired by CIT Group Inc. in 2005.
Stock Holdings
The department’s policy restricts employees from handling matters involvilN companies in which they own
more than $15,000 in stock. Fontana has been placed on leave while the department’s inspector general
investigates, and Spellings has ordered a review of her agency’s ethics policy.
The Fontana case "’raises grave concerns about the effectiveness and impartiality of the ethics process at the
depattment," Kennedy wrote. "These facts demand hard scrutiny of the department’s ability to police itself."
Criminal charges are possible in some cases against college financial-aid offidals who accepted compensation
from lenders, Cuomo told the committee. He declined to be more specific after the hearing.
"It’s illegal, it’s wrong, it’s offensive," Cuomo testified. "We’re going to enforce the law."
Cuomo’s probe has resulted in five loan companies and 16 schools agreeing to abide by new codes of conduct he
devised. Some of the lenders and schools also paid a total of $9.9 million to reimburse borrowers or contribute
to a public-information campaign. Attorneys general in Illinois, Ivlissoufi and Nebraska have reached similar
accords.
Conduct Code
The federal government backs lending to students through a variety of programs, with about 80 percent of the
money routed through banks and other agencies. Lenders also provide private loans that aren’t federally
gnaranteed.
Colleges and universities often list recommended or" preferred" lenders on their Web sites and in brochures to
help students and families sort through their options. Preferred institutions account for 90 percent of money
boi:rowed.
Johns Hopkins in Baltimore said today that it would drop all preferred-lender lists until a national consensus
develops on how they should be handled. The school also said it would adopt Cuomo’s college code of conduct.
Johns Hopkins financial aid director Ellen Frishberg took $65,000 in tuition and consulting fees from CIT
Group’s Student Loan XPress, the schoo! and Cuomo have said. Student Loan XPress had been on some of the
university’s preferred lists.
Consulting Links
In a meeting with Johns Hopkins attorneys last week, Ffishberg said she had consulted for other companies, the
school said in a statement. The university is investigating those relationships. Ffishberg was placed on paid
leave Apl~ 9.
The university" has found no evidence of any lender payments to Johns Hopkins in return for placement on any
lender list or as compensation for loans to Johns Hopkins students," according to the statement.
New York Mayor Michael B!oomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP,
is an alumnus and benefactor of Johns Hopkins University, whose Bloomberg School of Public Health is named
after him.
JPMorgan and Bank of America are the third- and fourth- largest student-loan originators. The top t~vo, SLM
Corp. and Citigroup Inc., previously signed agreements with Cuomo and paid $2 million apiece into a public-
education campaign on student loans. Neither agreement announced today includes a monetary payment.
Page 368
Private Loans
Bank of America said its existing policies already prohibit payments in exchange for being placed on preferred-
lender lists.
"We hope that today’s announcement will prompt widespread industry adoption of the code, and ensure a level
playing field exists among lenders and benefits students and their families," said Tracy Grooms, a student-
lendilg executive at Bank of America, in a statement today.
Federal laws shotfld be extended to cover private student lending that isn’t federally guaranteed, Cuomo said.
Lenders "’prey’’ on students ~vho’ve exhausted their options under the federal lC~ograms, he said.
¯ Double Whammy’
"This is a double whammy for students," Cuomo said. "The cost of a college education is skyrocketing. The
student loans don’t give students enough money to pay for their education, and the only alternative is to go to
private loans at an exorbitant interest rate."
The home-mortgage market has stronger protections against conflicts of interest than student loans, Cuomo said.
The terms of private loans also create a "’high potential for abuse," Cuomo said. "The private loans are the Wild
West of student lending."
Miller said he is working with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank to coordinate
legislation for federal oversiglat of private, non-government-backed lending to students.
The House education committee’s ranking Republican, Buck McKeon of California, said he has introduced a bill
with Representative Ric Keller of Florida that wotfld ask colleges to adopt their own codes of conduct, including
restrictions on gifts from companies to aid officials. It also wotfld ban revenue sharing for federally backed
loans and private loans.
"We must be carefi~ not to overreach, as Congress does all too often, but we do need to restore trust in the
system," McKeon said at the hearing.
To contact the reporter on this stow James M. O’Neill in Ne~v York at j onei116@bloomber~.net <mailto:joneitl6
@bloomber~.net> ; Matthew Keenan in Boston at mkeenan6~bloomber~.net <mailto:mkeenan6
~bloomberg.net>.
Last Updated" April 25, 20071&55 EDT
Page 369
N_onresponsi
Sent: April 25, 2007 6:47 PM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, C~thia;
Dorfman, C~thia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers,
Bannerman, Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson, Vincent; Conklin, Kdstin; Oldham, Chert;
Schray, Vickie
Subject: More Banks Respond to Student Loan Probe (AP)
"Spellings denied in a statement Wednesday that she had shirked her duties. ’We have taken a number of steps
to tighten our oversight responsibilities of federal student financial aid programs under existing regulations and
within the authority the department has been given through the congressionally mandated process for issuing
new reg~ations,’ she said.
"In addition to forming the task force, Spellings recently banned lenders from accessing a federal database
containing sensitive financial information about college students out of concerns that the lenders might be
seeking marketing data. Spellings also announced stepped-up efforts to review employees’ financial disclosure
forms after it was revealed a financial aid official in the department owned at least $100,000 in stock in a
student loan company."
More Banks Respond to Student Loan Probe

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD 04.25.07, 5:15 PM ET
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that two more student lenders have ageed
to abide by a code of conduct designed to protect students from questionable college lending practices.
JP Morgan Chase and Bank of Alneriea, both leading student lenders, have agreed to adopt the code of
conduct, Cuomo said at a hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee.
Cuomo said the code was needed to sever too-cozy ties between lenders and colleges or student finandal aid
officers.
"We have to change the culture here," Cuomo said. "There are relationships here which have to be changed and
broken."
The code of conduct bars lenders from paying co!leges in exchange for being designated as preferred lenders.
Cuomo said students almost always use lenders that appear on schools’ preferred lender lists.
The code also bars lenders from paying for trips for financial aid officers and other college officials. Lenders
also cannot pay college employees to serve on advisory boards.
Sallie Mac, Citibank and more than a dozen uNversities previously agreed to adopt the code. But some
lawmakers are pushing legislation to mandate such codes.
Cuomo said his investigators uncovered numerous arrmNements that benefited schools and lenders at students’
expense. For example, investigators say lenders have provided trips for college financial aid officers ~vho then
steered students to the lenders.
Page 370
Cuomo also criticized revenue-sharing agreements in which schools received a percentage of the money that
lenders made through student loans.
He told lawmakers that his investigation may lead to crimina! charges against individual financial aid officers.
Cuomo accused the Education Deparmaent Wednesday of having a laissez-faire attitude about the student loan
industry. "I don’t believe the oversight was adequate," he said. "I don’t believe the g~dance was adequate."
Committee chairman George Miller, D-Calif., agreed.
"I dodt understand their slowness to respond," Miller said. He recently called on the Education Department to
temporarily ban schools from using preferred lender lists and asked the agency to issue emergency regNations
dealing with lender inducements to colleges.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings on Tuesday ordered a department task force to develop ideas for better
regulating the student loan industry. Topics should include inducements that lenders give to colleges, she said.
Spellings created the task force after a panel of industry, college and student representatives failed to
reconmaend new regulations.
Cuomo said he and other attorneys general, who joined him in his investigation in recent weeks, would fill the
void but prefelTed to see the Department of Education and Congress do more.
"It’s not the best way to do it," he said of letting the attorneys general reach agreements with individual lenders
and schools. "I believe the best wayto do it is with deliberate federal action, not federal inaction where the
states fill the void."
Spellings denied in a statement Wednesday that she had shirked her duties.
"We have taken a number of steps to tighten our oversight responsibilities of federal student financial aid
programs under existing regulations and within the authority the department has been given through the
congressionally mandated process for issuing new regulations, "she said.
In addition to forming the task force, Spellings recently banned lenders from accessing a federal database
containing sensitive financial information about college students out of concerns that the lenders might be
seeking marketing data.
Spellings also announced stepped-up efforts to review employees’ financial disclosure forms after it was
revealed a financial aid official in the department owned at least $ !00,000 in stock in a student loan company.
Several lawmakers said Congress and the Education Departlnent have placed a greater emphasis on elementary
and secondary education in recent years, with the passage and implementation of the landmark 2002 No Child
Left Behind law.
"I just think that this particular issue that we’re looking at today has not been a major focus issue, and as a
consequence there have been some problems," said Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., the top Republican on the
education committee. He and Miller have introduced bills to address some of Cuomo’s concerns.
To date, Cuomo has collected $6.5 million from lenders through his investigation. He said the money would go
toward a fund to help educate students and their families about borro~ving.
He also has recovered $3.3 million from colleges who had been in revenue-sharing agreements with lenders.
Cuomo said the money was refunded to students who took out the loans.
Copyright 2007 AssociatedPress.All rights reserved This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten,
Page 371
or redistributed
Page 372
INonrespons
Sent: April 25, 2007 9:09 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Conaty, Joseph; Farris, Amanda; Rosenfelt, Phil; Landers,
Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dorfman, Cynthia; Mesecar, Doug;
Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent;
Bdggs, Kerri; Kuzmich, Holly; Toom ey, Uam; Maddox, Lauren; Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt,
Townsend L.; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy
WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Subject: State Data Show Gains In Reading (EDWEEK)
State Data Show Gains In Reading (EDWEEK)

Education Week, April 25, 2007
Washington
Schools taking part in the federal Reading First program are showing significant progress in boosting students’ reading
fluency and comprehension, according to state-reported data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education and released last
week.
In releasing for the first time detailed, multiyear data on how Reading First schools are performing on key measures,
federal officials hailed the results as solid evidence that the $1 billion-a-year initiative is working.
’We are very pleased with the outcomes we’ve seen from this data," said Amanda Fan’is, a deputy assistant secretary for
elementary and secondary education in the department. "This shows tremendous gains for our neediest students in our neediest
schools."
But some observers questioned whether the data should be used to generalize about the program’s impact on students’
reading skills. They also noted the timing of the report’s release, on the eve of what was expected to be a contentious
congressional hearing late last week into allegations of mismanagement and conflict of interest in the program.
The analysis of test results from about half the states-those that reported baseline data on participating schools-shows
about a 15 percent improvement in the proportion of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders who can read fluently, meaning accurately and at
an appropriate rate. In measures of reading comprehension, those states averaged about a 12 percent increase in the number of
3rd graders who were deemed proficient. Students in most subgroups also saw gains.
The report does not include information on the progress of schools that are similar to those in the program, making it
difficult to attribute the gains to the federal initiative.
’There are some small gains, yes. But are they larger than gains in non-Reading First schools?" said Richard A. Allington, a
professor of education at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. "We don’t know whether improvements are related to the
Reading First model or to general improvement trends across all schools."
Improvement Reported
The thick binder of state-level summaries released by the Education Department on April 19 includes test results for 1st
through 3rd graders from 2002 to 2006. Results are broken down into subgroups by race and socioeconomic status, as well as
for English-language learners and students with disabilities.
To measure reading fluency, most of the states relied on an assessment called the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early
Literacy Skills, or DIBELS, which scores how many words in a grade-level passage students can read in one minute. States set
their own benchmarks for determining proficiency, so the scores are not comparable across states. For assessing
comprehension, or students’ understanding of what they read, states used a variety of tests, including the Iowa Tests of Basic
Skills, the Stanford Achievement Test, the TerraNova, and state exams. In most states, students showed significantly more
improvement in fluency than in comprehension.
Some states reported that most of their Reading First districts showed improvements of at least 5 percentage points in the
two categories. California, for example, reported that nearly three-fourths of its Reading First districts showed significantly better
rates of proficiency in comprehension among 2nd graders, while 37 percent of such districts did so for 3rd graders. Oregon
officials, meanwhile, reported that all their participating districts had shown improvements in reading fluency among 2nd graders,
while nearly 80 percent did for comprehension at that grade level.
Page 373
Reading First was authorized as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, which President Bush signed into law five years ago,
to ensure that struggling schools had access to research-based programs, assessments, and teacher professional development
in the subject. Most states began receiving their share of annual funding in 2002 and 2003.
The program has been under scrutiny by federal auditors, who have been responding to complaints from several
commercial vendors that federal program officials and consultants favored particular reading textbooks, assessments, and
approaches over others and directed state officials to use certain products, which the NCLB law prohibits.
The Education Department’s inspector general largely substantiated those claims, as did a separate review by the
Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. ("Reading Probe Will Continue on Capitol Hill," April 4,
2007.)
The House Education and Labor Committee conducted an April 20 hearing into the program, with witnesses who included
Christopher J. Doherty, the former Reading First director in the Education Department, and Edward J. Kame’enui, a prominent
former consultant to Reading First who is now the commissioner of the department’s National Center for Special Education
Research.
The department’s inspector general, John P. Higgins Jr., who oversaw the six recent reports his office has released on the
program, also testified.
Timing Questioned
Reading First has earned praise, however, from state ofticials for providing the kind of money, other resources, and
technical assistance they say is necessary to fuel significant changes in reading instruction and achievement.
Two reports released last year, one commissioned by the Education Department and another by an independent policy
group, found that most states were satisfied with the program and reported achievement gains in participating schools.
l~articipating schools and districts have made many changes in reading curriculum, instruction, assessment, and
scheduling," the report by the Washington-based Center on Education Policy said. "Many districts have expanded Reading First
instructional programs and assessment systems to non-Reading First schools."
Neither of the reports, though, included test-score data or other empirical information to show the program’s impact on
students’ reading skills.
Such data have generally been unavailable because many states did not star[ reporting test results until 2004. The Institute
for Education Sciences, the Education Department’s research arm, is in the midst of a study of Reading First that will analyze the
state data and compare those findings with test results from a control group of other schools that are also in the federal Title I
program for disadvantaged students. The results of that study are due out next year.
The state data-reported annually as required under the Reading First program-have not been easily accessible until now. In
previous years, the data were closely held by Education Department officials and not released to the public at large. Over the
past several years, Education Week has been allowed to reviewthe state performance reports and lengthy data summaries only
after repeated requests.
Members of Congress have apparently also found it difficult to gain access to such information. In response to last week’s
data release, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., sent a letter to Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings asking why the department
had not released information on state Reading First programs until this month, even though it was requested by the House
education committee several months ago.
The committee, which Rep. Miller chairs, held its investigative hearing last Friday into charges that Reading First was
mismanaged, and that federal offidals overstepped their authority in directing states on their choice of reading texts and
assessments in participating districts.
’It is obvious that a great deal of time went into preparing and formatting this report," Rep. Miller wrote in his letter to Ms.
Spellings. "It is therefore clear that much of the information requested by committee investigators was available earlier than the
date it was provided.~
Education Department officials said last week that they have been working to make more information on Reading First
available to the public and chose to release the state performance results as a first step.
BUt while some of the raw results, along with a fact sheet and press release drafted by the department, appeared to
strengthen officials’ contentions that Reading First is working, some experts said they were not convinced that such conclusions
could be drawn from the available data.
’The information that they are reporting doesn’t really support the notion that this program has had an effect, but that’s not
to say that it hasn’t-there just isn’t the data to support that claim," said John A. Nunnery, an assistant professor of education
leadership and counseling at Old Dominion University, in Norfolk, Va., who teaches graduate courses on research methods and
program evaluation. "If you look at the statewide results in some of those states, they had similar or better gains as a whole. So
everyone is going up."
Page 375
INonresponsi
Sent: April 25, 2007 8:46 AM
Schray, Vickie
Subject: Education Dept. Forms Panel For Student-Loan Regulation (WP)
Education Dept. Forms Panel For Student-Loan Regulation (WP)

By Amit R. Paley
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced the formation of a task force to create new regulations for the student-
loan industry, the latest response to a nationwide investigation of the $85-billion-a-year business.
The regulations, expected to be finalized by Nov. 1, will address potential kickbacks from lenders to universities, school
policies that steer students toward specific lending companies, and the security of a national database with confidential student
information.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.~ chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said the task force is insufficient and
called on Spellings to take further action.
Page 376
Nonresponsiv
............................. kath~fine-rnclane[ ......................... ]
April 25, 2007 5:51 AM
To: Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, Krislin; Schray, Vickie; Duncket, Denise; Shaw, Terri; scott_m.
_stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad;
Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force,
Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret;
Subject: Task Force to Probe School, Lender Ties (AP)
Task Force to Probe School, Lender Ties
By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
WASH~]GTON - A federa! task force will examine the ties between lenders and college
financial aid officers amid growing concerns about student loans, Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings said Tuesday.
New York Attorney Genera! Andrew Cuomo, scheduled to testify before Congress on Wednesday,
has been leading an investigation into the issue, and other attorneys general are ~oining
him. Cuomo said Spellings’ move was "too little, too late."
Cuomo says his investigators uncovered numerous arrangements that benefited schools and
lenders at the expense of students. For example, investigators say lenders have provided
trips for college financial aid officers who then steered students to the lenders.
The department’s task force will be made up of Education Department officials. A panel of
outside experts that included lenders, colleges and student representatives failed last
week to agree on how the department should proceed with regulations covering relations
between colleges and lenders.
Luke Swarthout, who lobbies on higher education issues for the U.S. Public Interest
Research Group, represented students on the now-defunct panel. He said the process was
doomed from the start. "There’s only so much real reform you can push if the industry that
needs to be reformed has a veto," he said.
The department’s internal task force has been asked to look at preferred lender lists, in
which colleges recontmend certain lenders to students; inducements lenders make to colleges
to gain preferentia! status and a federal database that has raised worries that lenders
have mined it for finmncia! information about students. The department recently banned
lenders from accessing the database.
Spellings said she wants the task force to report back in about a month with
recon~endations for new federal regulations.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress also are pushing legislative fixes to the kind of
problems Cuomo highlighted. Some lawmakers want to write into law a code of conduct that
several schools and lenders recently agreed to abide by as part of a settlement with the
attorneys general.
The code would ban lenders from paying colleges in exchange for being designated a
preferred lender. It also would ban lenders from paying for trips for financial aid
officers and other college officials.
Lenders also would not be allowed to pay college employees to serve on advisory boards.
"The reforms we are pursuing in Congress, together with the work of the secretary’s task
force, wil! provide added help to families paying their college bills, restore trust in
our student !can program and make abuses within the system.illega!," said Sen.
Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who chairs the Senate education committee.
But California Democratic Pep. George Miller, who chairs the House education committee,
Page 377
said Spellings should do more than form a task force. He has urged her to temporarily ban
the use of preferred lender lists. He isn’t a!one in questioning how much the task force
will accomplish.
Jon Oberg, a former Education Department researcher who uncovered a scheme in which
lenders improperly sought an artificially high rate of return on !oans, said the
department’s oversight of the industry has been weak.
"I’m happy thmt the attorney general of New York and now others are exercising some
oversight," Oberg said.
"Actually the problem should have been addressed much earlier by Congress and the
department, because these problems have been kno~n for some time."
The department has had its o~Tn problems with the loan system. A senior department student
aid officia!, Hmtteo Fontana, has been placed on leave pending an investigation into his
holding of at least $i00,000 in stock in Education Lending Group, the former parent
company of Student Loan Xpress a company Cuomo is investigating.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that a second student aid official in the
department, ~chael Sutphin, reported holding more than $50,000 in stock in student-!oan
giant Sallie Mae. According to disclosure forms, he held the shares until the spring of
2004.
Under department guidelines, ownership in stock valued at more than $15,000 prevents an
employee from working on issues related to that company. A note in Sutphin’s file
initially disqualified him from working on issues related to his Sallie ~e holdings.
Subsequent reports showed he continued to own some shares, though under the $15,000
threshold.
Education Department spokeswoman Katherine McLane said Tuesday she knew of no wrongdoing
in Sutphin’s case.
"There’s a process. He complied with it. Our ethics office complied with it," she said.
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo~ Mail has the best spam protection around http:!/mail.yahoo.com
Page 378
INonrespons
............................. l~tlfl~iiiii~-m-~l~t: .............. --- ......... ~.
April 25, 2007 5:40 AM
Oldharn, Cheryl; Conklin, KrislJn; Schray, Vickie; Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terri; scc~t m.
._stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Cha~’;
Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfrnan, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force,
Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret;
McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterrnan; Yudof,
Sarnara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young,
Subject: Questions on Officials’ Ties to Lenders (NYT)
April 25, 2007

Questions on Officials’ Ties to Lenders
By JONATHAN D. GLATER and KAREN W. ARENSON Sara Martinez Tucker, the under secretary of
education, was relatively new to her job when she announced in January that the Department
of Education would allow Nelnet, a student loan company accused of overbilling the
goverm_ment, to keep $278 million in payments that auditors had declared improper.
Ms. Tucker was not a stranger to the loan industry.
Under her leadership, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, a philanthropy she turned into a
fund-raising powerhouse, harvested numerous donations from banks and loan companies, along
with scores of other corporations.
During her lO-year tenure, Sallie Mae donated at least $420,000. Bank of America gave at
least $i million.
Citigroup donated at least $315,000. JPMorgan Chase gave at least $280,000.
"We are grateful to Nelnet for supporting Piispanics in higher education," Ms. Tucker said
last September, according to a scholarship fund press release, when the company made a
$50,000 contribution.
Ms. Tucker also served for nearly four years on the board of a subsidiary of Sallie Mae,
the nmtion’s largest student loan company. Appointed by President Bush when Sallie Mae was
taking its final steps from a goverrument-sponsored entity into a completely private
company, she helped oversee the change.
Ms. Tucker, who as under secretary is responsible for higher education and student aid, is
not the only department official with previous ties to lenders.
Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Education
Committee, said that links between the department and the student loan industry were a
concern. His committee is holding a hearing todmy on student loan problems.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that the conflicts of interest undermining the federal
student loan programs may extend to the federal officials tasked with running them," Mr.
Miller said yesterday.
Luke Swarthout, higher education advocate for the U.S.

Public Interest Research Group in Washington, called the situation a "’classic" case "of
foxes guarding the henhouse."
Some officials came directly from lenders. Theresa S.

Shaw, head of the department’s Federal Student Aid office, worked at Sallie lyre for nearly
two decades.
Matteo Fontana, a former director of systems development at Sallie Mae, became general
manager of the office that oversees a database with financial information on student
borrowers. Mr. Fontana was put on leave by the department after his ownership of stock in
a student lender was disclosed.
Page 379
Government investigators looking into the industry say that in all at least 20 former
Sallie Mae employees had moved into the department under the Bush administration.
A former Sallie Mae employee, Stanley Dote, who had been assistant vice president for
corporate risk management at Sallie lyre, works in the office of Federal Student Aid.
~riana O’Brien, a vice president of public relations at Sallie ~{ae, also works there.
Michael Sutphin, director of financial industry alliances at Sallie ~e until 2002, is

state agency liaison officer at the department, according to his disclosure forms. When
Mr. Sutphin joined the department he had $50,001 to $i00,000 in Sallie Mae stock, which he
reported in 2005 that he had sold the preceding year, before his promotion to his latest
9ob, which requires him to work closely with lenders.
Defenders of the department say that it has 4,000 employees and that it is not
unreasonable for technica! jobs to be filled by people with particular skills honed in
industry. Katherine McLane, a department spokeswoman, said the ability to "’attract
experienced professionals" was essential to the agency’s "vital mission of helping more
students afford college."
But the department’s o~n inspector general’s office, in a scathing report last September,
said some staff members hmd favored "partnership over compliance in dealing with 9~aranty
agencies, lenders and servicers"
and failed to provide adequmte oversight. The report looked only at the small division
overseeing the department’s finmncial partners; it did not cite individuals.
At least a handful of others associated with the lending industry have moved into the
department.
Kristie Hansen and Tim Cameron, for example, both came to the department from the Nationa!
Council of Higher Education Loan Programs, a !oan industry trade group.
Ms. Hansen declined to comment on her move, referring questions to Ms. McLane. Mr.
Cameron, ~ho is no longer at the department, could not be located for comment.
Ms. Tucker, who b~d been an executive at AT&T before ~oining the Hispanic fund, also
served on Education Secretary Margaret Spellings’s commission on higher education. Ms.
Tucker joined the department months after the inspector general’s report, and she has many
ardent supporters who say she was devoted to giving out scholarships in her l0 years at
the helm of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Roger Benjamin, the fund’s chairman, said in an
interview that asking about possible conflicts in Ms. Tucker’s situation, growing out of
her previous post, was "’fair," but that he could not imagine her stepping over any ethical
line.
"’She certainly was the rainmaker for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund," Mr. Benjamin said.
"But there were so many contributors that I don’t know that she had any particular
relationships with the corporations and foundations in the banking and student loan area.’"
Ms. McLane declined to say whether Ms. Tucker was involved in making the decision to let
Nelnet keep nearly $300 million, or whether there was any discussion about recusing her
from certain decisions.
The department said at the time that trying to recover the money from Nelnet might require
it to pursue other lenders and could reduce students’ borrowing options.
Ms. McLane said that Ms. Tucker was not available for corL~ent but added that she was "a
public servant of the highest integrity" and was confirmed by the Senate, which did "not
think she had a conflict of interest."
Mr. Benjamin said he had faith she would be an impartial and creative force in cleaning up
any problems with the student !oan industry.
"If anybody can get to the heart of what seems to be a mess, and it definitely needs to be
cleaned up, she’s ~ust the person who can do it," Mr. Benjamin said.
"She has formidable organizational skills, and she is very sharp."
Sam Dillon contributed reporting.
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Page 380
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Page 381

Sent: April 24, 2007 8:46 AM
Subject: President, SMS in NY stories (5)
Bush To Salute A Charter In Harlem (NYSun)

By Sarah Garland
New York Sun, April 24, 2007
Rangel To Join President in Visit Today
President Bush will today visit a charter school in Harlem, aiming to push Congress to pass a renewed version of the No
Child Left Behind Act, Mr. Bush’s signature education law.
The president, along with his education secretary, Margaret Spellings, will tour the Harlem Village Academies charter
school, where he will renew his calls for Congress to extend the act’s accountability measures. The visit also comes just before
National Charter Schools Week, a celebration created in 2002 by the president, who is a strong advocate of charter schools.
’q-he president is highlighting charter schools specifically as a useful option for parents who are seeking choices for their
children - especially children who are not achieving at their current schools," a spokesman for the president, Blair Jones, said.
The Harlem school, he added, "sets high standards and has worked in innovative ways to make sure all students achieve."
The No Child Left Behind Act requires all schools to bring all students up to grade level in reading and math by 2014, and
the founder of the charter school, Deborah Kenny, said she believed the school’s track record in quickly improving the
performance of low-achieving students is the reason the White House chose her school for the president’s speech.
’q-hey were aware of our students’ strong academic achievement," said Ms. Kenny, who has been described as a "star" by
the cib/’s schools chancellor, Joel Klein. "We take in kids that are really struggling, but they just get better and better, and
stronger and stronger."
At the Village Academies, where "bureaucracy is banished," and the "entrepreneurial culture focuses on accountability," the
number of students reading and doing math proficiently has risen from a handful to more than two-thirds within a fewyears, Ms.
Kenny said.
A spokesman for the city Department of Education, David Cantor, praised the president’s choice of the Village Academies
for his visit.
"It’s terrific that the president is highlighting a charter school with such great success at educating the kinds of children the
system has failed for so long," he said.
The president of the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability, a pro-charter schools group, Thomas Carroll,
characterizing the school as one of the best in the state, said, "1 think the president chose wisely a backdrop of what the future of
urban education will look like."
Mr. Carroll also noted that the recent increase in the statewide cap on the number of charter schools and the Bloomberg
administration’s school reorganization efforts have recently drawn national attention - and also mirror many of the president’s
own education plans.
Mr. Klein, who wit! accompany the president today and otten repeats Mr. Bush’s line about the "soft bigotry of low
expectations" in his own speeches, is currently pushing through a reorganization of the school bureaucracy that borrows from
many of the major elements of the No Child Left: Behind Act -including increased accountability for individual schools.
Also accompanying the president is Rep. Charles Rangel, the Harlem Democrat who chairs the Ways and Means
Committee and who has been more critical of the No Child Left Behind Act in its current form.
In a recent article in The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper, rv’r. Rangel wrote: "Education officials ... are right in complaining
that it has unfairly burdened school districts because it fails to provide sufficient funding for full implementation. That needs to be
corrected."
Mr. Bush faces some hurdles in getting the act reauthorized, and it is possible that Congress will wait until a new president
Page 382
takes office before revising the federal education law. The stop in Harlem is a part of an ongoing campaign by the president to
convince lawmakers to reauthorize the law.
"He believes we need reauthorization this year," Mr. Jones said.
In agreeing to add some flexibility to the law, Mr. Bush has been emphatic in saying the increased flexibility shouldn’t "water
down" accountability.
School Day For Dubya In Harlem (NYDN)

By Carrie Melago
New York Daily News, April 24, 2007
President Bush is heading uptown today to showcase a flourishing Hadem school, thrilling the school’s students, but not its
neighbors.
Bush will use the Harlem Village Academy Charter School on W. 144th St. as a backdrop to push Congress to ex~end his
No Child Left Behind law.
The fifth- to eighth-grade students - who are assigned two hours of homework a night and posted impressive state math
scores last year - are delighted by the visit, the school’s founder said. "It gives them a sense of pride that the President wants to
come to Hadem to honor all of their hard work," said founder Deborah Kenny. "It makes me so happy to see them feel great
about themselves."
The four-year-old charter school teaches a challenging population, according to administrators, with 88% of students living
at or near the poverty level and many already lagging behind academically.
The neighborhood is also preparing for Bush’s visit, as garbage cans are removed and no-parking signs are posted on
surrounding streets.
Nellie Bailey, founder of the Harlem Tenants Council, felt it’s galling for Bush to visit Harlem, because so many residents
are opposed to the traq war and feel he’s done very little for them.
"It’s a bit of adding insult to injury," Bailey said. "1 think Harlem is with the rest of the country. His popularity is as low in
Harlem, or even lower, than it is in the rest of the country."
Edward Simmons, an accountant whose office is around the comer from the school, has concerns about Bush’s foreign
policy, but he plans to be a gracious host. "If you are a fan or not, you’re still an American and you are still patriotic," he said.
"They~e not going to be unkind. He’s the President."
Bush will also stop at a fund-raiser for the Republican National Committee at the Park Ave. home of Steve Schwartzman,
CEO of the Blackstone Group equity firm, GOP sources said.
President Bush Is Coming To NY (WABC)

By Lisa Colagrossi
WABC-TV NewYork, New York, April 24, 2007
Visit & start of gridlock expected at 1:00 p.m.
President Bush will enjoy dinner on Park Avenue tonight with members of the Republican National Committee. But first,
he’ll o~fer congratulations to children at a successful Harlem charter school.
Eyewitness News reporter Usa Colagrossi is live in Harlem.
The focus for the president today is on education, not on the Iraq war. He will highlight the success of the "no child left
behind" act at the Harlem Village Academy.
The four year old Harlem Village Academy is a standou~ success for charter schools, a program championed by the
president.
Students do two hours a night of homework. And they scored impressive gains in the state math test.
That’s all the more exciting an achievement, with 88 percent of the students living in Harlem, at or near the poverty level.
Mr. Bush will tour the school today, along with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
Local Congressman Charlie Rangel will be right alongside them. The democratic head of the powerful House of Ways and
Means Committee has been highly critical of the president’s program.
Rangel says it unfairly burdens school districts with obligations, without supplying the federal money needed to deliver on
all those promises.
He also says the democratic congress wants to see that financial imbalance corrected.
It’s possible that congress will wait until a new president takes office, before it tackles a revision of the education law.
President Bush is expected to be here around 1:00 this afternoon, so expect gridlock with this visit.
Traffic is expected to be cut off near the school on 144th Street. And in the evening, near the president’s Park Avenue
dinner in Midtown.
Page 383
President Bush In New York City (WNYW)

WNYW-TV New York, New York, April 24, 2007
The nation’s Commander in Chief makes a pit stop in New York City Tuesday.
President Bush is visiting the Harlem Village Academy to promote his ’No Child Left Behind’ program.
rvlr. Bush will also have dinner with the Republican National Committee.
You can expect major traffic tie-ups wherever the President is visiting.
Beginning around 1 pro, no traffic will be allowed to cross between 1 ! 0th and 145th Streets. And later in the evening the
area around the Waldorf Astoria will be closed to traffic.
Bush Visit Shines Spotlight On Harlem School (WCBS)

By Magee Hickey
WCBS-TV NewYork, New York, April 24, 2007
(CBS) NEW YORK A presidential visit to Harlem shines a spotlight on one charter school that’s being called a resounding
success.
Students rehearsed for their big day Tuesday at the Harlem Village Academy charter school. They will get a chance to see
President Bush up close when he uses their West 144th Street school as a backdrop to push Congress to extend his No Child
Left Behind law.
The students in the school, ranging from fifth to eighth graders, already have a lot to be proud of.
Sarba Sarkar, a 7th grade teacher, said, "If you ask a classroom who is going to college, every hand shoots up in the air."
"Education is our birthright" is part of the school’s pledge. This four-year-old charter school has 300 students in a
neighborhood where 88 percent of the students live at or near the poverty level.
Harlem Village Academy was founded when Dr. Deborah Kenny randomly searched for students.
"We go into housing projects, Pathmark, the bus-stops. Yes, they live in poverty; yes, they have challenging home
situations. If you just give them a chance, they will excel and flourish," Kenny said.
In the last round of testing, students here scored in the 96th percentile -- much better than those in nearby public schools.
Critics have said putting money into char~er schools takes resources away from public schools, but parents and students
say that the results are what matter.
"His writing skills soared. His test scores soared," said Nicole Adams, the mother of eighth grader at the school.
Eighth grader Kevin Smith said, ’q-hey come to our games. They show they care for us -- not just because they’re our
teachers."
The No Child Let~ Behind initiatives strives to bring all students up to higher standards by the year 2014.
Bush’s visit comes just before National Charter Schools Week, an initiative that he began in 2002.
And of course, a presidential visit to New York means presidential gridlock. Drivers should expect plenty of traffic backups
around Harlem this afternoon, and later near the Waldorf-Astoria.
Page 384
INonresponsive ]
............................. .........................
April 24, 2007 6:05 AM
To: Dunckel, Denise; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Sampson, Vincent; Quarles, Karen;
Bannerman, Kristin; Rosenfelt, Phil; Taylor, Jeff; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg,
Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich,
Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Private -
Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob
Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt,
Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Su~t: In U.S. Absence, States Take Lead in Student Loan Cases (NYT)
April 24, 2007

In U.S. Absence, States Take Lead in Student Loan Cases
By SAM DILLON
State attorneys general around the country are stepping up their scrutiny of college
lending practices in the absence of federal enforcement action, following a pattern that
experts say hms prevailed in some other major consumer investigations in recent years.
Yesterdmy the attorneys general of Illinois and Missouri announced that as a result of
investigations into lending practices at three major universities in those states, the
universities had agreed to adopt a code of conduct to guide their relations with student
lenders.
The code will be modeled on one developed by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York,
who hms been looking into student !oan practices for months and who said in an interview
that similar investigative efforts were snowballing around the country.
"’I think we’ve reached a tipping point," Mr. Cuomo said.
The state-by-state regulatory action, so far limited largely to efforts by Democrats,

comes at a time of little progress in the development of federal rules on lenders’
dealings with colleges. A bid by the Education Department to negotiate such rules
collapsed on Fridmy in disagreement among representatives of colleges, banks and other
groups.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, aides say, now plans to form a task force that
will recommend federal rules, which would govern lender gifts to colleges and university
officials, how colleges refer students to lenders and how to prevent lenders’ misuse of a
national student data system.
But Ms. Spellings is in danger of being overtaken both by Congress, which is considering
new legislation, and by the attorneys general.
In announcing the new agreements in their states, the Illinois and Missouri attorneys
general said Mr. Cuomo had shared with them information derived from New York’s inquiry.
And B~. Cuomo said he was sharing information with the attorneys general of "dozens of
other states."
James E. Tierney, a former Maine attorney general who is director of the National State
Attorney General program at Columbia University, said that in coming months the country
would most likely see an increasing number of states investigating lending practices at
the r~tion’s thousands of universities.
Professor Tierney said the actions by attorneys general had precedent in some major past
cases. Among them is the one that led to an agreement last year by the Ameriquest Mortgage
Compamy, accused of predatory lending practices, to pay $325 million and make changes to
its policies. The agreement settled investigations by attorneys general in more than two
dozen states.
Page 385
In addition to the attorneys genera! in New York, Missouri and Illinois, those in
California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Ohio bare announced in recent days that they are
investigating student lending practices. Last week 40 attorneys general, or their aides,
participated in a conference call with Mr. Cuomo, arranged by the National Association of
Attorneys General to discuss the student lending issue, said Angelita Plemmer, a
spokeswoman for the association.
Nebraska’s attorney general reached a settlement with the Nebraska-based lender Nelnet
last week, based on his review of the company’s own internal inquiry. But Mr. Cuomo says
he is continuing his Nelnet investigation.
Yesterdmy the spotlight was on Illinois and Missouri.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan of Illinois announced that she hmd reached settlements with
DeVry University and the Career Education Corporation, two for-profit higher education
providers based in her state. Both universities agreed to abide by a code of conduct that
prohibits student !oan companies from paying colleges for loan volume and bars university
officials from receiving payments from lenders.
DeVry, with 50,000 students at 84 campuses, will return to students the $88,122 that it
received from Citibank after the university put that lender on its preferred lending list
for students seeking private loans, which are not guaranteed by the federa! government.
DeVry no longer maintains a relationship with Citibank as a preferred lender.
Career Education, with about 90,000 students on 80 campuses in the United States and
overseas as wel! as online, received a total of $21,200 from Wachovia and Sallie Mae, both
of which were on its preferred lender list. The company has agreed to donate the money to
a fund that will inform the public about student !oans, Attorney General Madigan said.
In Missouri, Attorney General Jeremiah W. Nixon said that an investigation of Washington

University in St.
Louis had found that the university signed an agreement in April 2005 with Education
Finance Partners, a lender based in California, that included a revenue-sharing provision.
The university ended the agreement with the lender in March 2006 and never received any
money.
The university denied any wrongdoing but agreed to abide in the future by a code of
conduct, according to a settlement document signed yesterday by Mr. Nixon and a vice
chancellor at Washington University.
Do You Yahoo[?
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Page 386
INonresponsi
,Sent: April 23, 2007 8:54 AM
To: Private-Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia;
Dorfman, Cynthia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath,
John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzmich, Holly; Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren;
Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada,
Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Cc," Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Correct Flaws, But Renew Law (BuffNews)
It is heartening to note that Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is optimistic about getting renewal of No Child Left
Behind. This despite the fact that many state, suburban and rural superintendents don’t like the current law.
Correct Flaws, But Renew Law (BuffNews)

Buffalo News, April 23, 2007
In my April 8 column in The News I wrote that the No Child Le~t Behind Act likely will be remembered as one of the few
positive legacies of the Bush administration. In support of that contention I cited the major increases in education aid many states
have adopted to meet the demands of the law that mandates annual testing, with dire consequences if a school system fails to
deliver positive results. Having looked at that positive, I by design did not go into some of the negatives critics of the law have
properly expressed and now hope to rectify.
My primary concern is that the great many questions about the existing law could undermine all the efforts to make
changes that make good sense. They are all over the lot, even with calls to completely throw out all of the existing legislation.
That, in my opinion, would be a major setback in the American educational system. The existing law, with all of its shortcomings,
fills a basic need and should be altered to a degree but not cast aside.
The current law requires states to test students in elementary and secondary schools every year and bring them to
efficiency in reading and math by 2014. It ignores, and rightly so, decades of sentiment that education is primarily a state and
local government concern.
Unfortunately, with the law up for renewal, the calls for change could threaten its very existence. Some of the suggested
changes can be beneficial; others can only weaken the existing law.
The president of the Center on Education Policy said it right with his statement that ’q-he law is drawing opposition from the
right because they are opposed to federal interference and from the le~ because of too much testing."
Just about everybody involved with education has ideas on what revisions should be made in the existing law. Some are
meaningful, others are frivolous. The Bush administration would, among other changes, require testing in high schools. I would
concur that is something that should be done.
I would also agree with the position of Utah that the laws requirement that educators have the equivalent of a college
degree in every course they teach makes absolutely no sense, particularly in rural America where authorities by necessity ask
teachers to fill many roles. English teachers, for example, are asked to pitch in and take over a geography class. It’s been done
for decades and it works for everybody.
On the other side of the picture let’s look at a proposal that that would require every state to build a computer system that
could track every student’s academic performance. This would cost billions and most certainly is not an absolute necessity.
Another proposal that most assuredly should not be made would allows states to opt out of the law’s testing requirements
without losing any federal dollars. This would undermine the entire thrust of No Child Left Behind.
It is heartening to note that Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is optimistic about getting renewal of No Child Left
Behind. This despite the fact that many state, suburban and rural superintendents don’t like the current law.
Some congressmen who initially voted for the legislation have expressed their concerns about federal funding that they say
does not cover the costs of the extensive testing. That is a legitimate concern. But the president, who constantly boasts about No
Child Left Behind, hopefully will provide funding in his next budget.
Murray B. Light is the former editor of The Buffalo News
Page 387
Nonresponsi!
Sent: April 23, 2007 8:50 AM
Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada,
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Subject: Va. Schools Yield, Yet May Shape ’No Child’ (WP)
Va. Schools Yield, Yet IV]ay Shape ’No Child’ (WP)

By Maria Glod
Faced with the possible loss of millions of dollars in federal aid, Northern Virginia school systems have acquiesced
reluctantly to federal requirements for testing children with limited English skills. But the dispute between local educators and
federal regulators could influence the rewriting of the No Child Left Behind law.
Educators in Fairfax, Arlington and Loudoun counties backed away last week from threats to defy a federal order to use
grade-level reading tests for thousands of English learners in elementary and middle schools. Only immigrant students in U.S.
schools for less than a year are exempt from the mandate.
Federal officials say the grade-level exams are needed to show how well students are learning and to rate school
performance. Local educators say the reading tests, which could include questions about poetry, metaphors or hyperboles, are
unfair to students who are only beginning to grasp the nuances of a language.
Fairfax County School Board member Stuart D. Gibson (Hunter Mill) said he continues to believe it is wrong to administer
tests that will pose major obstacles for beginning language learners. But, he said, if Fairfax schools had lost $17 million in federal
aid -- a figure the U.S. Education Department brandished during the dispute -- it could have meant cuts in valuable programs.
’qhe children are being set up to fail by the U.S. Department of Education," Gibson said. "My dad used to talk about the
golden rule. He who has the gold makes the rules. They have the gold."
Virginia educators failed to convince federal education officials but said they will push their case with lawmakers who are
considering renewal of the five-year-old law. Although questions about how to measure the progress of English-language
learners have long been debated, the Virginia dispute heightened focus on the issue at a key moment on Capitol Hill.
’q-his has driven home to the Hill that this is a problem that needs to be addressed," said John R Jennings, president and
chief executive of the D.C.-based Center on Education Policy. "Both the House and Senate are looking at particular
amendments. It’s a formative time."
Reginald Felton, director of federal relations for the National School Boards Association, said educators nationwide have
become increasingly concerned about assessing students with limited English skills because the stakes are rising. Schools must
raise scores across the board as they move toward the laws goal of proficiency in reading and math for all children by 2014.
The law calls for math and reading tests for students in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. It requires schools to
improve scores over time. Subgroups of students -- including ethnic minorities, disabled students and those learning English -
also must make adequate progress every year for a school to make the grade. Schools that don’t meet annual goals face
sanctions up to possible management shake-ups or state intervention.
English learners pose an especially tough challenge because their ranks are in constant fiu)~ Each year, many students
enter schools speaking little or no English, while students who have mastered the language shed the label "limited English
proficient." That churn means that schools are continually starting over with this group of students. To help ease the burden on
schools, federal rules allow students to be counted in the limited-English testing group for two years after they’ve mastered the
language.
Federal officials also cite the testing exemption for students in the counfq/for less than a year as evidence of their flexibility
in enforcement. They note that the District and most states, including Maryland, have complied with the testing rules. U.S.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings accused Virginia of"dragging its feet" in a February letter published in The Washington
Post ~er the Fairfax School Board and others passed resok~ions threatening defiance of the testing mandate. She noted that
English-language learners are a fast-growing sector of students. "If we want them to learn with their peers and achieve the
Page 388
American dream, we have to pick up the pace," she wrote.

In July 2006, the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress, issued a report on reading and math tests for
English learners. It found that experts "expressed concerns about whether all states are assessing these students in a valid and
reliable manner." The Education Department is teaming with s~ates to create better tests.
Now that local educators have conceded the fight, some in Fairfax and elsewhere worry their schools will be labeled as
failing because some limited-English students will struggle on tests. Across Virginia, abot~ 10,200 such students were at the
center of the dispute, about half of them in Fairfax.
"Fairfax is still confronted with the reality that once we go through this exercise to accommodate the U.S. Department of
Education, the system is still going to have 5,000 kids who have a test in front of them, and perhaps 10 percent can Lake it," said
Fairfax School Board member Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner (Providence). "How is it helpful to have them take a test that is not
valid?"
Virginia schools previously had tested how welt these students were learning to become proficient in English. This spring,
the Fairfax system and others will give the students tougher grade-level exams but give them bilingual dictionaries and other
accommodations, if needed.
In Fairfax and across Virginia, educators will follow the federal rules. But they said they will tell students they can stop
taking a test if the material appears to be too difficult. A memo from the Virginia Department of Education on Thursday said
students can "indicate to the test examiner either verbally, or non-verbally by shaking his/her head ’no’... that he or she is not
able to complete any more items."
"Kids will have the test before them," Fairfax Superintendent Jack D. Dale said. "What we’re giving them is the freedom to
say, ’1 can no longer continue.’ We want to do the humane thing." Testing begins next month.
Page 389
Nonresponsi
From: Yudof, Samara
Sent: April 22, 2007 11:44 AM
To: Pdvate-Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; Simon, Ray; Tucker, Sara (Restricted); Maddox,
Lauren; Talbert, Kent; Halaska, Terrell; Kuzmich, Holly; Briggs, Kerri; Mcnitt, Townsend L.;
Flowers, Sarah; Young, Tracy, tracy_d._young@who.eop.gov; Williams, Cynthia; Toomey,
Liam; Tada, Wendy; Reich, Heidi; Landers, Angela; Colby, Chad; McLane, Katherine; Neale,
Rebecca; Herr, John; Ditto, Trey; Beaton, Meredith; Gribble, Emily; Oldham, Cheryl; Neale,
Rebecca; Cariello, Dennis; Terrell, Julie; Rosenfelt, Phil; Pitts, Elizabeth; Ruberg, Casey;
Scheessele, Marc
The Washington Post: Moments of Silence and Reflection; Virginia Tech Shooting Victims
Remembered Around the County (Arianne Aryanpur and Stephen Norris)
The Washington Post: Earth Day Volunteers Get a Sickening Feeling; Too Few Value
Resources, Crews Say (Carol Leonnig)
The New York Times: Students Recount Desperate Minutes Inside Norris Hall (Serge Kovaleski
and Katie Zezimm)
The New York Times: EDITORIAL OBSERVER: ~mother Young ~n Who Was Angry and Lonely, but
Unarmed (Nicholas Kulish)
The Boston Globe: Testing Harvard; The federal government wants to start tracking how wel!
the nation’s colleges teach. This could spur some of the biggest changes campuses have
seen in decades -- and perhaps threaten the very idea of a liberal education. (Linda
Wertheimer)
Kmnsas City Star: Editorial: Time to Fix No Child Left Behind
Boca Raton News: Are gifted children being left behind by NCLB? (Nicol Jenkins)
Dallas Morning News: Opinion Editorial: UT system wisely dumps preferred lender list
Los Angeles Times: A cultural identity lost in translation; Some wonder whether the stress
of straddling Korean and American worlds contributed to killer Cho’s undoing. (Bruce
Wallace)
The Washington Post
Moments of Silence and Reflection
Virginia Tech Shooting Victims Remembered Around the County

By Arianne Aryanpur and Stephen A. Norris, Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 22, 2007; LZ03

Students at Loudoun Valley High School paused during announcements Friday morning and
listened to the names of every student killed in the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.
The list was read by two Virginia Tech freshmen who came back to their alma mmter to make
sure the students were praying for them and to be c!ose to familiar teachers and friends,
Loudoun Valley Principal Susan Ross said.
Across Loudoun County, a place rich with ties to the Blacksburg campus, people gathered to
Page 390
pay respects throughout the statewide d~y of mourning declared by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine
(D).
Dulles District athletic directors had decided that each team playing Friday would honor
the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings in its own way.
Several high schools, including Broad Run, Loudoun County, Heritage and Dominion, painted
the "VT" maroon-and-orange logo on their baseball and softball fields. Broad Run and
Potomac Falls baseball players wore Virginia Tech baseball caps, and the Spartans’ soccer
team wore Virginia Tech wristbands.
The Dominion softball team wore orange-and-maroon socks, and the school played the
Virginia Tech fight song, "Tech Triumph," before the national anthem.
Students at Stone Bridge and Park View high schools painted "spirit rocks" in honor of the
Hokies.
Nearly i00 people dressed in maroon and orange gathered outside the Loudoun County
Government Center in Leesburg shortly before noon, bowing their heads to respect the
victims.
After observing a moment of silence, a woman led the crowd in prayer, asking for
forgiveness and healing.
"We pray that you will bring good out of the tragedy, " she said.
Those assembled sang "Amazing Grace," then bells chimed in the distance. The silence was
broken when someone began to chant: "Go Hokies["
Ryan Reed, a 2000 graduate of Virginia Tech, said he was struck by the proximity of
Monday’s tragedy when he was watching TV news reports and saw his college roommate, a
first responder in Blacksburg, helping the shooting victims.
"It was surreal until that moment," said Reed, 30, who was wearing a sweat shirt from his
alma mater.
"It’s certainly affected us all," said Reed, a soil scientist for Loudoun County
government. "It’s not a Virginia Tech thing. It’s a httman thing."
Several houses of worship in Loudoun held prayer services for the victims, including
Leesburg Community Church, which hosted "A Community Service of Hope and Remembrance" on
Thursday evening.
Flags outside the government center flew at half-staff Friday, and there was a flag
outside the Loudoun County courthouse with Virginia Tech colors.
~ke Murphy, 48, took a break from his job as an information technology consultant for
Loudoun County to observe the moment of silence.
"Probably next to 9/11 and Oklahoma City, this is the most shocked I’ve been in 40
years," said Murphy, whose nephew, a senior at Virginia Tech, was not hurt.
"It’s been a real stressfu! week for everybody. ! just came out to be with my co-workers
who are Virginia Tech graduates," Murphy said.
Staff writer Michael Alison Chandler contributed to this report.
The Washington Post
Earth Day Volunteers Get a Sickening Feeling
Too Few Value Resources, Crews Say
By Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 22, 2007; C03

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The Anacostia River glistened yesterday as it wended past budding willows. Muskrats,
beavers and cormorants basked in the late-morning rays. ~d along the shore, Earth Day
volunteers piled up hundreds of black plastic bags filled with the unsightly trash they
had collected from the river’s eddies and banks.
Inside those black bags were endless numbers of sodm bottles, plastic foam containers and
candy wrappers, as well as tires, luggage and even a shopping cart. They offered a
reminder that Washington’s "other river" remains one of the most threatened in the
country, with an estimated 20,000 tons of trash washed into its waters each year. Cleaning
up the river has been the focus of considerable energy during Washington’s annua! Earth
Day events.
"I feel sad to see the water like this," said Mmlik Fitzgerald, 15, a student at Merritt
Educational Center in Northeast. "The water is ~ust a reflection of us. The way we treat
it is how it’s going to turn out."
The volunteers hoped to burnish that reflection, and everywhere on the riverbanks -- from
the Bladensburg marina down to the site of the future Washington Nationals baseball
stadium -- people used nets, pitchforks and bare hands to remove the garbage. Some said
they had come to the river after seeing signs on the highway about the cleanup effort.
Others came with organized groups from schools, neighborhood associations, churches,
businesses, and the Maryland, Prince George’s County, District and federa! governments.
Boats on !can helped ferry them to various stretches of the riverbanks and then hmuled the
refuse to the Bladensburg m~rin~.
Along with Malik, Herbert Benjamin, 16, and Donnell Kie, 15, were pulling ~unk out of the
river yesterday morning, but they were determined to turn it into art for a contest when
it hit the dock in Bladensburg. They are members of Life Pieces to Masterpieces, a D.C.
program for budding African American male artists. Equipped with wire cutters and work
gloves, they made a modern sculpture of a frightened man using, among other things, a
Filet-O-Fish box, the shopping cart, a Shoppers’ Value juice bottle, a Citgo oil can and
discarded clothes.
One crew from Washington Community Fellowship Church on Capitol Hill and the city’s
Cornell Club worked on a section of the river under the New York Avenue bridge. They found
an old chair, plastic toys and a seemingly lifetime supply of 7-Eleven cups and McDonald’s
containers.
"The amotrnt of Styrofoam was amazing," said Cornell Club member Chery! Martson. "I will
never use Styrofoam again."
The team also spotted a Waste Management trash truck passing by on the bridge above them
with paper and plastic debris flying out of its uncovered top and landing in the river.
"In about a second, they undid about 2 or 3 bags worth of our work," said Jim Johnston,
also with the Cornell Club. "This river is beautifu!, but also dirty. I don’t think the
city appreciates wb~t it has."
Yet for all those who treat the river like a landfill, there are others rediscovering its
beauty and value.
A bit upstream, a women’s crew team from the University of Maryland was practicing. It was
a sign of progress for the river: The gradua! improvement of the river means more people
view it as an important resource.
The cleanup was hosted by the Anacostia Watershed Society, which has spearheaded many
efforts to restore the river. Robert Boone, founder of the organization, said much has
improved since he first arrived to monitor the Anacostia about seven years ago. There were
no crew teams practicing on the river then, but now six do. Volunteers clean up the river
eight times a year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gave the watershed society a $25,000
grant last year to help craft a strategy for reducing and removing the trash, and members
celebrated their new plan at a lunchtime party for volunteers after their work. Ken
Barton, of NO~, said getting more residents to care about the river is key to tb~t plan.
"I must have picked up 300 soda bottles this morning," Barton said. "People see trees and
green and ospreys here and say, ’Oh, the river’s fine.’ But what they don’t see are the
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contaminants in the sediments . the tumors on the fish here. . The more people
recognize what a beautiful place this can be, the more they’ll be upset about the trash."
The New York Times
April 22, 2007

Students Recount Desperate Minutes Inside Norris Hall
By SERGE F. KOVALESKI and KATIE ZEZIMA
BLACKSBUR®, Va., April 21 -- The Elementary German class was under way in Room 207,
reviewing German translations of computer parlance. A young man peeked in, saying nothing,
and withdrew. Students who noticed him thought that either he was searching for someone or
trying to !ocate his class. He did the same thing across the h~ll in Room 206, and again
in Room 204.
Later, some of the students would conclude that he was not actually looking for anyone but
was gauging mass -- calculating a plan for the limited time he was likely to have, so that
he could achieve the greatest carnage.
During the brutal interlude that Seung-Hui Cho spent last Monday on the second floor of
Norris Hall, the engineering building at Virginia Tech, he would slaughter 30 people in a
matter of minutes, in a furious fusillade of gunfire. From interviews with eyewitnesses
who survived the attack, these are accounts of what happened.
Sometime ~ust past 9:30 a.m., Mr. Cho reentered Room 206, Advanced Hydrology, a graduate
level class taught by Prof. ®. V. Loganathan. He shot the teacher and then turned and
fired at everyone else in the class.
Guillermo Colman, 38, dove to the floor and huddled against the radiator; another student
fell on top of him. At first, he thought this might be a stunt of some sort, something
with ketchup substituted for blood, ttntil a bullet hit behind his left ear.
The gunman left, and the students who were still conscious heard gunfire in nearby
classrooms. It was not long before the killer returned and pumped more bullets into the
students sprawled on the floor. Mr. Colman’s head was bleeding, and for that reason he
might not have been shot again, and he lived.
In Room 204, the students in Solid Mechanics were learning about strain displacements when
they heard what they took to be construction noise, what to them sounded like an enormous
hammer pounding.
"It was like someone would hit a nail, pull back, hit a nail, pull back," said Alec
Calhoun, a ~unior in the class. "Then, after about three hits, we started hearing
screams. "
Prof. Liviu Librescu, the teacher, said, "That’s not what I think it is, is it?"
The big hammer was a gun.
One student shouted, "’That’s gunfire, I’m getting out of here." He grabbed his belongings
and dashed into the hallway, trailed by one other student. But the killer was in the
hallway. The first student was shot twice, but managed with assistance from his classmate
to hobble do~nstairs. They tried the doors, but they had been chained shut and they could
not get them open, so they ducked into a ground-floor classroom to hide.
Professor Librescu said, "Someone call 911."

From the back of the room, Mr. Calhoun waved his cellphone in the air. He had already
Page 393
called.
Deckc were hurriedly flipped on their sides ac protective chieldc, and the ctudents
crouched behind them. Four ctudentc hmd skipped class, becauce they had a homework
acsignment for third period that they had not completed. Another happened to just then be
in the bathroom down the hall, and a professor wounded in the hallway ran in and locked
both of them inside.
Others, hearing the gunfire, had locked themcelves in the lounge and the offices on the
f!oor. The classrooms alone were without locks.
Fearing the door led to death and recognizing that it could not be locked, the Solid
Mechanics students chose the windows and whatever fate they would bring. "It wac the most
helpless feeling I had known," said Caroline Merrey, a senior. Soon after class was to
end, she had a telephone interview scheduled for her first 9ob as a graduate.
One of the students opened a window, leapt onto the windowsill and kicked out the screen.
The teacher was yelling at the students to get out as quickly as possible. Students
clambered through and began dropping the two stories toward grass that had been drenched
by a Sunday rain. Ms. Merrey tossed her knapsack and windbreaker out the window and
climbed onto the sill: "’I hung from the window from my fingertips and I duct c!osed my
eyes and said to myself, ’Mere we go.’ "
She landed next to a friend moaning that he had broken an ankle.
Nine or i0 jumped, and Mr. Calhottn said he was the last to go. As he stood on the sill, he
wavered. He saw students ahead of him fall and get injured, screaming in pain. One would
break a leg.
Jump? Don’t jump? A gum_man controlled the hall. He spied a shrub and aimed for it. He
successfully landed in it, bounced off and finished on his back on the grass. Picking
himself up, he sped for the nearest building.
Matt Webster had not yet ~umped. Professor Librescu, a Holocaust survivor who was 76, had
his weight against the door, but the gunman bulled his way in and shot the professor and
then fired at the remaining students.
"’He ~alked over to everyone individually and stood over us and shot do~ on us," Mr.
Webster said. A bullet grazed Mr. Webster’s head and penetrated his bicep.
A wommn near him was moaning from her wounds, and another student was hit in the leg.
Oddly, in all the mayhem, there were no screams. "There was no time for it," Mr. Webster
said. "It all happened so quickly."
The gunfire had roused the attention of others on the floors above and below, and most of
them sought refuge in their rooms. Kevin P. Granata, a professor with an office on the
third floor, ventured downstairs to investigate. Mr. Cho killed him in the hallway.
Gene Cole, 52, a custodian, was talking to his supervisor on the first floor when a
secretary came downstairs and alerted them to sounds of gunfire. Mr. Cole took the
elevator to the second f!oor. He came upon a wounded woman on the floor, writhing in pain,
unable to speak. Before he could get to her, the gur~man charged out of a classroom, raised
his gun and fired five shots at Mr. Cole. All micsed.
"I felt the bullets whiz by my head," he said.
He darted down the stairs, yelling at his boss to get out. Mr. Cole fled through the
auditorium exits. His supervisor, Mr. Cole said, hid in the bathroom.
The Issues in Scientific Computing class in Room 205 had heard the gunfire. Zachary
Petke~icz had shoved a table against the door and held it shut. Mr. Cho managed to get the
Page 394
door open six inches, but no further. He fired two shots into the door, splintering wood
but hitting no one, and emptying his clip. One bullet struck the podium, and the other hit
a window. The students could hear him reloading as he retreated.
In Elementary German, Room 207, students had heard noise outside, but dismissed it as
construction racket. The door was closed. ~. Cho opened it, and before it hit the
doorstop, he was firing.
"There was emptiness in his eyes," said Derek O’Dell, a sophomore. "He was like a stone.’"
He shot Christopher J. Bishop, the teacher, then turned on the class. Students dropped to
the floor, jostling for cover. The gunfire continued -- I0, 20, I~ybe 30 shots. The volley
covered little more than a minute, but it felt like much longer.
Mr. O’ Dell was hit in the right arm. "’I was under my desk, " he said. "’Then I started belly
crawling military-style to the back of the room, while he was firing, and hid under
another desk."
Kevin Sterne, 21, a senior, was shot twice in the thigh, his femur artery ruptured.
Drawing on his knowledge as an Eagle Scout, he snatched an electrical cord and wrapped it
fast around his leg, stanching the bleeding and saving his life.
Five were dead and most of the others wounded. The four or five who hmd not been hit lay
still on the floor, feigning death to live. There was no hope of escaping through windows
here, not on this side of the hmllway. Only the bottoms of the windows opened, with a
crank, and the opening was too slim. There was no la~rn below, just concrete. One student
cranked open a window and began screaming for help.
The survivors heard gunfire ringing in another classroom. Trey Perkins feared the killer
would return and finish them off: "I told people thmt were still up and conscious, ~Just
be quiet because we don’t want him to think there are people in here because he’ll come
back in.’
Using his belt as a tourniquet, Mr. O’Dell stopped the bleeding in his arm and then leap-
frogged across a half-dozen desks to the front of the room. He slammed the door shut and
barricaded it with his foot, leaning against the blackboard to avoid shots coming through
the door. Two classmates propped their feet against the door. The others tried shoving the
podium over, but it was bolted to the floor.
Sure enough, the gunman returned. He got the door open an inch, before the students shut
it again. He squeezed off hmlf a dozen shots into the door, and left.
Hearing the disturbances, Clay Violand, a junior in the Intermediate French class in Room
211 told Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, the professor, to push a desk against the door. She
glanced out in the hallway first, and pulled her head back with a look of frozen terror.
She told her students to call 911 and get down. She shoved a desk against the door, but
the barricade did not hold.
"i saw a gun emerge into view," Mr. Violand said. "Following the gun was a man."
He ducked under his desk.

The professor and nine students were killed.
"Shot after shot went off a~d I never felt anything," Mr. Violand said. "’I played dead and
tried to look as lifeless as possible."
He whispered to a classmate, "If he thinks you’re dead, then he won’t kill you."
And he prayed: "’I prayed thmt an invisible blanket of protection be placed aroumd me."
Colin Goddard hmd called 911 and then dropped the phone, the line still open to the
dispatcher. A bullet hit him in the left leg, breaking his femur. He, too, lay motionless,
and the gttnman left.
Moments later, he was back. Lying still on the f!oor, Mr. Goddard saw shoes approach,
heard additional shots fired, then the shoes stopped next to him. Me felt two more bullets
Page 395
rip into him, in the shoulder and buttocks. He was still conscious, and he would live. So
would Mr. Violand. The shoes moved away, headed toward the front of the room. Somewhere
nearby, one more shot rang out.
The police had burst through. I~r. Cho had turned his gun on himself.
Alicia C. Shepard contributed reporting.
The New York Times

April 22, 2007
EDITORIAL OBSERVER
Another Young Man Who Was Angry and Lonely, but Unarmed
By NICHOLAS IiULISH
! will never forget that the Long Island Rail Road massacre happened during my freshman
year at Columbia in 1993. Like the recent killings at Virginia Tech, it was an indelibly
horrible event, but that’s not why I remember precisely where I was.
A handfu! of students from my freshman floor were watching the coverage in the tiny, ill-
kept common room where we usumlly played a Sega golf video game or watched bad talk shows
between classes. At first, the news that Colin Ferguson had murdered six people on a
commuter train elicited the kind of stunned reactions you might expect. One of my
classmates got a different message.
"i could take a gun into Butler Library and kil! as many people as I wanted and no one
could stop me," this student said, not with a note of-concern in his voice or a menacing
cackle, but in a neutral tone that was scary exactly because of how drained of feeling it
was. His words were all the more frightening because it was probably a true statement.
There was nowhere close to the amount of security needed to stop an armed, determined
assailant in the school library.
As I read classmates’ descriptions of Seung-Hui Cho last week, i heard echoes of
conversations on my hall about the quiet but disquieting presence we had learned to live
with. This young man -- a classmate reminded me after the tragedy at Virginia Tech -- was
also flagged for bizarre writings in an English class. He usually did not accost people,
but threatened his roommate repeatedly.
He prowled the dorm at odd hours. Even in the middle of the night, getting a drink from
the water fountain in the hall, I would catch glimpses of him peering around the corner,
watching me but never speaking. The f!opping of his childlike bow! haircut was the last
thing I would see as he darted out of sight when he realized I was !ooking back at him.
After the comments about taking a gun to the library, I spoke to the resident adviser, but
no one did anything about it. His roommate could not get a new housing assignment and
began sleeping on other floors, in other dorms, essentially going into hiding. I
s~pathized. I was a foot taller, at least 50 pounds heavier, and stil! completely afraid
of the kid.
What strikes me now is how little we did to protect ourselves. This was before the
shootings at Columbine and the copycat killings that followed. It was before the Oklahoma
City bombing or Sept. ii. There was more of a presumption of safety in those days.
But the biggest difference to my mind was the absence of firearms. I never believed that
this increasingly unhinged student would get a handgun or an assault rifle with the
restrictive gun laws in New York City. And I certainly could not see him, unstable but
also meek, making an illegal buy in an alley.
In my home state, Virginia, as the world now knows to tragic effect, it might have been a
completely different story. The state has some of the lightest restrictions on owning and
carrying guns. It’s the kind of place where a couple living in a posh Alexandria town
Page 396
house once bragged to me that they had the first two concealed handgun permits issued by
the state.
I grew up in Arlington about a lO-minute walk or a five-minute bike ride from a pawnshop
where almost anyone without a criminal record could buy guns. When my father drove me to
school up the New Jersey Turnpike, we would talk about the police’s trying to stem the
tide of illegal weapons from my home state to my adopted city. Friends at school joked
that I could make pocket money bringing a few up every time I came back. For all the
murders in New York committed with Virginia handguns, it wasn’t all that funny.
It is hmrd for me, after all these years, to second-guess the administration at Columbia.
My strange classmate may not have been capable of following through on his fantasies. So
mmny students act up their first time away from home, so many bright personmlities clash
in the glare of adolescent egos, so many menta! illnesses blossom away from the steadying
influence of parents.
To find with any certainty the one in a million who will turn into a spree killer will
never be possible. Making it harder for him to acquire handguns is within our power. After
several years of increasingly erratic behavior, my classmate was asked to leave. The
episode ended as these things must end all the time, without headlines, without bloodshed,
and without loss of life. I wonder how it might have ended in Virginia.
The Boston Globe
Testing Harvard
The federal government wants to start tracking how well the nation’s colleges teach. This
could spur some of the biggest changes campuses hmve seen in decades -- and perhaps
threaten the very idea of a liberal education.
By Linda K. Wertheimer 1 April 22, 2007
With neon green and purple chairs in tiered rows, the auditorium in Harvard’s science
center looks like a stadium theater. But the physics professor at the front of the room,
Eric Mazur, takes pains not to behave like a sage on the stage.
Rather than lecture, he flashes questions on a movie-sized screen and asks the roughly 125
students to input their answers in hand-held devices. Then, their responses pour into his
computer, and he sees an immediate answer to a question that many professors rarely ask:
At $43,655 for tuition, room, and board, are Harvard students getting their money’s worth?
Mazur is a pioneer in a growing movement that sees more aggressive evaluation as a way to
transform higher education. Professors like Mazur have been experimenting with the idea
for a decade. But over the last two years, an increasing number of colleges and
universities, including Marvard, have begun using critical thinking and writing tests to
see if their students are learning what they should. And now the federal government is
pushing to require al! colleges to regularly assess students’ progress -- and reveal the
results to the public.
The movement could spur some of the biggest changes to higher education in decades.
Proponents say it could dramatically improve teaching and give consumers a new measuring
stick -- potentially boosting colleges that teach well, and bringing down those that rely
on reputation. But the movement, critics say, could also bring the same problems as
mandatory testing has to the K-12 world -- a culture of "teaching to the test" that would
undercut the very idea of a liberal education.
"Should everybody be learning the same thing? Should students at MIT be able to learn the
same things as students at Williams, at UMass?" said Jack Wilson, president of the
University of Massachusetts System. "Diversity is one of the great things about higher
education. I say, ’Vive la difference.’"
This month, the US Department of Education is working with accrediting agencies to design
new rules, pushing to require colleges to produce evidence thmt they’re making progress
with students and to require accreditors to compare the results of similar schools. Now,
many accrediting agencies ask colleges to show how they’re measuring students, but not all
demand actual data. By Nov. i, new rules have to be approved, and by July 2008,
Page 397
accrediting agencies must begin implementing the changes. But the effect on colleges,
which are accredited every i0 years, would be staggered over time.
The rules are inspired by work of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, a
bipartisan panel convened by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Last fal!, the
commission called on colleges to do a better job of measuring students’ academic growth.
The commission, chaired by Houston investment banker Charles Miller, former chair of the
University of Texas System Board of Regents, also proposed incentives for colleges and
states that collect and publicly report how students do. The government, Miller said, may
eventually decide to deny federal funds for research or student aid to a college, even
Harvard, if it refused to measure how well its students are doing and reveal results.
"I don’t necessarily think a rich powerful university like that should just say, ’Trust
me, amd we’l! do whatever we want,’" said Miller.
Charles W. Eliot, Harvard’s president from 1869 to1909, once quipped that the reason
Harvard was known as the nation’s greatest storehouse of knowledge was that "the freshmen
bring so much in, and the seniors take away so little."
Nearly i00 years later, Harvard and other universities have few ways to prove Eliot ~rong.
At Harvard, which often serves as a trendsetter for other universities, the movement has
met a mixed reaction. Many professors, and even some students, reject the idea of
publishing resttlts of any tests, and fear that a federal requirement would be dammging.
Some professors also question the idea of measuring progress when students are spread
among many disciplines. But some also express enthusiasm for improving teaching using
whatever tools work.
Last fall, interim president Derek Bok paid $50 each to more than 300 freshmen to take a
90-minute exam that tested their skills in problem-solving and critical thinking. This
spring, he’s doing the same with seniors, and hopes to see whether freshmen progress in
critical thinking and other areas. The test, known as the Collegiate Learning Assessment,
was touted by the Spellings commission as one example of what colleges could use. It
requires students to analyze background materials and then write a memo or recommendation.
Bok also is giving seniors a writing test, created by Harvard, and intends to compare the
quality with students’ fresh_man essays and use the results of both tests to show
professors where students need deeper instruction.
US Department of Education officials "want to use it to say, ’How good is Harvard,

anyway?’ They want to use it as accountability for parents, students," Bok said. "We want
to use it as a formative exercise to help us improve."
The tension over publicizing results will likely intensify. Universities regularly publish
data about their entering classes, including average SAT scores and GPAs. But employers
and politicians want to know more about gradumtes. Can they solve complex problems? Can
they read critically?
Mazur, who began teaching at Harvard in 1984, said it took him six years to realize he was
not doing a good job of reaching students. In 1990, he read an article about a physics
professor who quizzed students on their understanding of basic formulas, and the students
did poorly. Mmzur thought the quiz was "high school stuff" that his Harvard students could
handle with ap!omb. They did horribly.
After investigating, he realized that the students were solving physics problems by rote.
They could not figure out a problem if they had to deviate from a familiar formula. He
began adjusting his teaching style. He now rarely lectures and gives students his past
year’s lecture notes at the beginming of the semester. He asks them to read certain
portions each week, and e-mail him about concepts they do not understand. In class, he
poses questions based on the feedback.
"I’m going to have a few questions about flux," he said at a February class as he put a
question on a screen.
The students at first work individually and type in an answer. Mazur sees the answers as
they come in. "Twenty more seconds," he announces, "and we have no unanimity here. Forty
percent of you have the correct answer."
9
Page 398
Hmzur, who urges students to help one another solve in-class problems, gives traditional
exams, but also administer~ pre- and post-tests to measure students’ progress in a
semester. He also occasionally gives a critical thinking test.
Students said Hazur is atypical of their professors, many of whom act as if they’re in a
race to cram in material.
"He takes responsibility thmt every student learn," said Sama~tha Parker, a 20-year-old
j uni or.
Hazur hms written a book about his teaching and evaluating methods, and professors around
the n~tion have begun to use them in recent years. Roughly 250 colleges, including
Hmrvard, are using a critical thinking test just developed a few years ago. The schools
include the University of Texas System, Florida State University, Duke University, Lesley
University in Cambridge, and Wheaton College in Norton.
A task force set up by two national college groups, which represent more than 600 schools,
including public ones as well as Cornell and MIT, are evaluating various new options for
measuring students’ progress. The panel intends to create a voluntary system of
accountability to respond to the Spellings commission’s recommendations.
Arthur Kleinmmn, a Harvard professor of medical anthropology, is particularly worried

about the effect of more testing and of publicizing the results on higher education. He
fears the outcome could be standardization and unhealthy competition.
"We live increasingly in an audit world, in a regulatory world," Kleinman said. "Once you
start this, there’s no stopping it. It’s going to become a part of the culture of higher
education."
Lesser-known colleges have everything to gain by revealing results because unlike Harvard,
they often take students with mediocre academic records and turn them into great scholars,
said Ronald Crutcher, Wheaton’s president. The college plans to post results of the
critical thinking test and other evaluations on its website, aiming the information at
prospective students and parents.
Several Harvard professors said it was more important to evaluate students for the sake of
improving teaching than to give information to consumers. Some caution against putting too
much stock in certain tests because Harvard students -- so smart to begin with -- likely
would progress if professors did nothing.
"You could put every Harvard student in a subterranean vault for four years, and they’d
stil! grow," said Louis Menand, a Harvard professor of English, _~kmerican literature, and
language.
But parents of al! students have a right to know how well they’re doing, said Sara
Hartinez Tucker, an Education Department undersecretary working with the national
commission and accreditors.
"We can’t get away from the fact that we’re in an era of greater accountability," Tucker
said. "People want to know where their dollars are going."
Bok is not keen on sharing results with the public, partly because the tests are unproven,
but he is insistent about the need for the testing.
"It’s particularly important at a place like Harvard," he said. "One can go on in fool’s
paradise and say, ’They’re going off and doing great things.’ No one knows how much we
contribute to that. They came in as good students."
A January report by a Harvard committee of professors called for the university to do more
to improve teaching and evaluate learning. Harvard rewards cutting-edge academic research,
but tends to shove the importance of improving teaching to the side, particularly in
tenure reviews, the report said.
The report recalled the comments of a faculty member who had sat in on tenure proceedings
during three Harvard presidencies. The professor either heard nothing about teaching or,
if something was said, it was simplistic: "Teaching is either ’up to snuff’ or ’not up to
Page 399
snuff,’ but the ’snuff level’ is unclear."
Harvard and other universities eventually might hmve to go public with results, predicts
Bok.
"If the college faculties continue to make so little effort to figure out how well they’re
doing, then they have only themselves to blame if the government comes out and imposes
accountability," he said.
Linda K. Wertheimer, the Globe’s education editor, can be contacted at

wertheimer@globe.com.
Kansas City Star
Posted on Sun, Apr. 22, 2007
Time to fix No Child Left Behind
When Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Law in late 2001, it focused attention on an
admirable goal: All children should receive the educational opportunities that lead to
school success.
But a host of problems with the law since then shows it is time to give the states more
flexibility. Education is primarily a state and local responsibility, and the federa!
government’s attempts to help in recent years hmve often been disappointing.
Despite promises when the legislation was passed, Congress has failed to provide the
schools with sufficient resources to help students who are hindered by poverty, langumge
barriers or learning disabilities.
Some lawmakers, led by Rep. Dennis Moore, a Kansas Democrat, favor legislation that would
allow states to opt out of testing requirements unti! the federal government provides $55
billion more.
That is an excellent idea: No more federal mandates on schools without sufficient federal
money to meet them.
More money alone, however, will not resolve all the law’s deficiencies. They include:
oThe heavy emphasis on testing for reading and ~mth proficiency has led many schools to
shortchange science, social studies and the arts.
oGifted students get inadequate attention because teachers and specialists -- and the
funding for these professionals --are focused on other students.
¯ Schools are improperly labeled as needing improvement when a small group of pupils test
poorly, often because the students have special needs or are immigrants who cannot speak
English.
¯ Children with learning disabilities are under unfair pressure to perform on tests
designed for those without disabilities.
Before No Child Left Behind, many states were well on the way to improving their
educational standards.
I~issouri, for instance, passed the Outstanding Schools Act in the early 1990s. Schools
that fail to show progress risk losing state accreditation.
But the federal law has undermined many local and state efforts, hurting areas that have
worked to improve their schools.
Schools should not be allowed to return to the days when some were all too willing to let
children advance without knowing the basics.
Page 400
However, states should be given the opportunity to opt out of No Child Left Behind’s
testing requirements, and its misleading measurements of proficiency, as long as there are
suitable alternatives.
Those alternatives must still be focused on the ambitious goal of the federal legislation:
success for all children.
Boca Raton News
Are gifted children being left behind by NCLB?
Published Sunday, April 22, 2007
By Nicol Jenkins
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act aims at reaching those students- who are low academic
performing or specia! needs- before they fall behind.
However, some county parents and education officials believe NCLB is leaving behind
another group: gifted students.
"NCLB could lead to the underachievement of the nation’s gifted students," said Diane
Hanfmmnn, a county parent and advocate for gifted children.
What Hanf-mam_n is referring to is the belief that NCLB is not chmllenging gifted students.
For example, a gifted student could have the highest proficiency, which is a leve! 5 on
the Florida Comprehensive Assessment test (FCAT), and under NCLB that’s the highest level
a student has to meet. M=n_ny believe this leaves gifted students unmotivated to achieve
higher academically.
"NCLB’s goal is to be grade level proficient. It doesn’t require gifted children to show
much growth," Hmnfmann said. "This may produce a situation where the gifted child spends
the entire school year without showing much growth for time spent unless he or she
accesses a higher level curriculum. Yet his or her Spring FCAT score can look like a
success."
Others disagree.
"NCLB hms nothing to do with gifted children. It’s supposed to be for children not at
grade level," said Pam ~ith-Gondek, Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Coordinator at
Boca Raton Community High School. "NCLB is not challenging gifted children. Gifted
children are challenged regularly because they challenge themselves."
~d if they don’ t?
"The gifted programs are tailored to advanoe those kids," she said.
However, Smith-Gondek admits that motivation can be an issue among high school gifted
students.
But she added, "It has nothing to do with NCLB."
Instead, she credits it to age, interests, and other course options.
"It’s a time when many students tire of working their fingers off and want to have fun.
That’s why we lose them in high school," she said.
All children
Still others argue that NCLB or another measure should support all students- so they are
not !ost.
Palm Beach County School Board member Bob l<mnjian supports the premise of NCLB.
Page 401
"’The impetus to it was not gifted children but children left behind. They realized thmt
kids with special needs should no longer be placed in the corner with no accountability.
They need to test the same way," he said.
However, Kantian thinks gifted children need standards as well.
"There is a hole. I think it needs to address all children. We need to have standards and
accountability for gifted children whether it’s NCLB or another measure," l<angian said.
And he believes those standards should be higher for all students.
"NCLB is trying to get every kid’s average at least to a 3 [on the FCAT exam to meet
Adeqtmte Yearly Progress (AYP)]. Right now, they are basing kids on a level 3 and there
isn’t a benefit to be a 4 or S. We need to take kids from average and push them further,’"
he said.
"Whmt should be determined is that every child makes growth, whether it’s the smartest
kids in the district or the !owest performing," he said.
Cutting gifted programs
However, gifted programs are being cut across the nation and many don’t exist in Boca
Raton high schools.
"If we don’t have the talented or gifted classes we don’t hmve the leaders of tomorrow,"
Kantian said.
In fact, there was a bill in the legislature proposing eliminating the funding of gifted
programs for state high schools, according to Russ Feldman, District Executive Director
for Exceptional Student Education. However, lawmakers recently agreed not to cut funding
for these programs.
But the issue remains as to how widely these gifted programs are being used. Some argue
that Advanced Placement (AP) courses, International Baccalaureate (IB), and honors are
taking the place of gifted programs.
"The discussion in Florida for the gifted high school students is that unique programs in
high schools such as IB are sufficient to meet the needs of the gifted students," Feldman
said, adding some agree and others don’t.
That seems to be the belief in Boca Raton where Boca Raton High School is "the only high
school in the South area of Palm Beach County that offers any leve! of gifted!less,"
according to Smith-®ondek. And that’s only in English for ninth and tenth-graders.
The state cutting back funding and more students taking advanced placement courses are
some of the reasons that gifted classes have become obsolete in high schools, she added.
"The new swing with colleges and universities within the past couple of years is students
being obsessed with AP courses," Smith-Gondek said.
That’s also the case at Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton where approximately 300
to 400 students are taking multiple advanced placement (AP) courses, according to Dr.
Thomas Johnson, guidance counselor and AP coordinator. The school doesn’t offer gifted
classes and hasn’t for four or five years.
"’When we split with West Boca High at the time there wasn’t enough students in the gifted
classes to offer them," he said, adding that most students opt for advanced classes and
dual enrollment.
Either way, Feldman believes gifted children should not be ignored.
On the federal level, Feldman believes, "Congress and the President need to step up to the
plate and provide funding for gifted programs and for programs that effectively identify
historically underrepresented students in gifted programs.’"
_And on the state level, he added, "the impact of class size reduction on gifted programs
needs to be one of the areas studied pursuant to the legislature’s direction.’"
Page 402
"While many school districts across the nation have eliminated or severely reduced gifted
programs, our state, and more importantly, our school district, has continued efforts, in
spite of budget constraints, to continue our programs. Obviously, the debate will continue
as to the necessity of high school gifted programs, but at least our school district
offers several options for advanced study at the high school level," he said.
Nicol Jenkins can be reached at njenkins@bocanews.com or 561-549-0844.
Dallas Morning News
UT system wisely dumps preferred lender list
10:47 ~[ CDT on Saturday, April 21, 2007
The University of Texas System had students’ best interests in mind when it abandoned its
"preferred lenders" lists in the midst of a burgeoning student loan scandal. UT-Austin
already has put its financial aid director on leave after charges that a !oan company gave
him stock in exchange for inclusion on the list of lenders the university recommends. And
financial aid officials at many colleges across the country appear to have profited from
an array of unethica! and perhaps illega! practices. UT’s decision to ditch preferred
lenders and to report perks from loan companies are good signs that someone’s looking out
for students.
Los Angeles Times

A cultural identity lost in translation
Some wonder whether the stress of straddling Korean and American worlds contributed to
killer Cho’s undoing.
By Bruce Wallace, Times Staff Writer

April 22, 2007
SEOUL -- They are known here as the 1.5 generation. Korean-born. Immigrated to ~erica.
They are often not sure where they belong.
It was a 1.5er who unleashed the fusillade of terror at Virginia Tech last week. But in
South Korea, where tens of thousands of teenagers and young adults have gone abroad for at
least some schooling in this education-obsessed culture, the mayhem felt much closer to
home.
Koreans who have studied abroad say they understand the conflicted loyalties that may have
torn at Seung-hui Cho. They know what it’s like when non-Asians assume you are Chinese or,
if not, then certainly Japanese.
They’ve felt ostracized by second-generation Koreans, who look down on their poorer
English skills.
And they wonder whether the strains that accompany trying to straddle two cultures may
have contributed to Cho’s psychological detonation.
"My first assumption when I heard the news was that people must have done something bad to
him in America," says Choi Jung-song, 18, sitting in a lounge on the campus of Seoul’s
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Choi lived in Spain for more than a decade,
experiencing the pressures imposed by torn loyalties.
"I had difficulties fitting in growing up," he says. And he acknowledges being miserable
trying to adjust now that he’s back in South Korea.
Page 403
The Virginia Tech killings underscore one of the little-mentioned social costs of this
country’s remarkable focus on educating its children.
Korean families nmke extraordinmry sacrifices to ensure their children are well-schooled,
often sending mothers and children abroad while the fathers remain behind to provide for
their education.
But exposure to Western culture hms also produced cracks in the cultural assumptions of a
nmtion that prides itself on its strong sense of collective identity.
Cho’s murderous spree left many here asking whether he was an ~merican or a Korean killer.
"He wasn’t raised here, he left when he was 8," says Noh Seung-kyun, a 26-year-old wearing
a Detroit Tigers cap and slurping the universal college meal of pot noodle in the
university cafeteria. Noh also studied abroad -- accounting in Delaware -- and says Cho’s
use of guns points to his immersion in American culture.
"it would be more Korean to kill someone with a knife or a baseball bat or an ashtray
even," Nob says. "The guns show he was influenced by American society."
But the l. Sers also say it is unlikely that Cho would have freed himself of all traces of
Korean culture. Sitting across from Nob, Kim Jung-hwan, who studied for a year at a middle
school in Denver, says Korean roots never fully disappear. "It’s not easy to abandon your
national character, no matter how young you are when you leave," he says.
The initial reaction in Korea to the shootings -- an outpouring of apologies and even
fears that Korean American-run businesses and diplomatic relations could be harmed--
showed the collective sense of responsibility felt by many Koreans because of the killer’s
ethnicity.
"My first reaction was sort of embarrassment that he was from South Korea," says Kwon Yea-
won, 18, an English literature major sitting with Choi in the lounge. "Koreans just have a
stronger sense of nationalism."
They also feared an anti-Korean backlash. Kwon was attending high school in England during
the Sept. ii terrorist attacks. She says she saw how the English looked at Muslims
differently after that.
But many here acknowledge that worries about an ethnic backlash arose because that is how
Koreans respond to crimes committed by foreigners.
"When a G! rapes a Korean woman here, we see it as collective guilt," Kwon says.
Others note that Cho might have been reluctant to seek help for menta! trauma because
Korean culture can be harsh on those suspected of mental illness.
"Koreans are very concerned about how other people see them, and they refrain from being
open and frank about receiving mental treatment," says Jun Hyun-suk, 27, a law student at
Hankuk. "Some people will show understanding of a person who has psychologica! problems,
but it’s more likely that others wil! stay away from you. Menta! treatment records can
stigmatize you forever."
These young Koreans say that they might reach out to friends if they felt depressed, but
that parents and teachers remain remote figures.
"There is a lot of emphasis on the hierarchy of age, so it’s very difficult to be honest
or frank with your parents or even more so with your teachers," says fellow student Lee
Sang-hee, 18. "It’s either go to your friends, or you’re alone."
If there was a benefit to broadcasting Cho’s demented videos to the world, it might be
that it offered absolution to those who had initially wondered whether his Korean
background had played a role in the mayhem.
"At first I thought this might be a guy who was angry about his nationality, because
Koreans can be treated so badly overseas," Kwon says. But watching Cho’s incoherent rants
Page 404
online from a Seoul Internet care, Kwon realized she was watching someone who was sick.
"When I saw the tape, I realized he was mentally il!," she says. "And then I no longer
felt any relation to him just because he was Korean."
Choi agrees: "It had nothing to do with discrimination or being raised in America. He was
just a madman."
Page 405
The Washington Post: Key Initiative Of ’No Child’ Under Federal

Investigation; Officials Profited From Reading First Program (Amit
Paley)
The Washin~on Post: Federal Overseer Of Student Loans Invested in

Lendel~; She Owned Stock in 5 Large Firms (Amit Paley) []
The Washin~on Post: Fenty, Janey and Bobb Pledge United Effort to
Address Issues (Theola Labb~)
The Washin~on Post: Opinions: Nurse for America? (John Merro~v)¯
The New York Times: Student Lender Discloses Ties to Colleges That
Included Gifts to Officials (Sam Dillon)
The New York Times: Colleges Relying on Lenders to Counsel Students

(Julie Bosman)
Associated Press: Investigator makes Justice Department refer~-al in

controversial federal reading p~)gram (Jesse Holland)
USA Today: Readingp~mntogetJustice ~w(G~g Toppo)
Bloomberg: Gonzales A~nong Appointees on School Violence Panel

(Julianna Goldman)
FOX News: Saving ’No Child Left Behind’ From Itseff Dan Lips)
Page 406
The Washin~on Post
Key Initiative Of ’No Child’ Under Federal Investigation
Officials Profited F~m Reading First Program
By Amit R. Paley, Washington Post
April 21, 2007
The Justice Department is conducting a probe of a $6 billion

reading initiative at the center of President Bush’s No Child Left
Behind law, another blow to a program besieged by allegations of
financial conflicts of interest and cronyism, people familiar with
the matter said yesterday.
The disclosure came as a congressional hearing revealed how

people implementing the $1 billion-a-year Reading First program
made at least $1 million off textbooks and tests toward which the
federal government steered states.
"That sounds like a criminal enterprise to me," said Rep. George

1Vfiller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House education committee,
which held a five-hour investigative heating. "You don’t get to
override the law," he angrily told a panel of Reading First officials.
"But the fact of the matter is that you did."
The Education Department’s inspector general, John P. Higgins Jr.,

said he has made several refe~Tals to the Justice Department about
the five-year-old program, which provides grants to improve
reading for children in kindergarten through third grade.
Page 407
Higgins declined to offer more specifics, but Christopher J.

Doherty, former director of Reading First, said in an interview that
he was questioned by Justice officials in November. The civil
division of the U.S. attorney’s office for the District, which can
bring criminal charges, is reviewing the matter.
Doherty, one of the two Education Department employees who

oversaw the initiative, acknowledged yesterday that his wife had
worked for a decade as a paid consultant for a reading program,
Direct Instruction, that investigators said he improperly tried to
force schools to use. He repeatedly failed to disclose the conflict
on financial disclosure forms.
"I’m very proud of this program and my role in this pro~am,"

Doherty said in the interview. "I think it’s been implemented in
accordance with the law."
The management of Reading Fhst has come under attacks from

members of both parties. Federal investigators say program
officials improperly forced states to use certain tests and textbooks
created by those officials.
One official, Roland H. Good III, said his company made $1.3
million offa reading test, known as DIBELS, that was endorsed by
a Reading First evaluation panel he sat on. Good, who owns half
the company, Dynamic Measurement Group, told the cormNttee
that he donated royalties from the product to the University of
Page 408
Oregon, where he is an associate professor.
Two former University of Oregon researchers on the panel,

Edward J. Kame’enui and Deborah C. Simmons, said they received
about $150,000 in royalties last year for a program that is now
packaged with DIBELS. They testified that they received smaller
royalties in previous years for the program, Scott Foresman Early
Reading Intervention, and did not know it was being sold with
DIBELS.
Members of the panel said they recused themselves from voting on

their own products but did assess their competitors. Of 24 tests
approved by the committee, seven were tied to members of the
panel.
"I regret the perception of conflicts of interest," said Kame’enui,

former chairman of the committee, who now works at the
department as commissioner of the National Center for Special
Education Research. "But there was no real conflict of interest
being engaged in."
The intricate financial connections between Reading First products

and program officials extend beyond issues the committee
explored yesterday.
Another researcher, Sharon Vaughn, worked with Kame’enui,

Simmons and Good to design Voyager Universal Literacy, a
program that Reading First officials urged states to use. Vaughn
Page 409
was director of a center at the University of Texas that was hired to

provide states advice on selecting Reading First tests and books.
The publisher of that product, Voyager Expanded Leai~ng, was

founded and run by Randy Best, a major Bush campaign
contributor, who sold the company in 2005 for more than $3 50
million. Now Best runs Higher Ed Holdings, a company that
develops colleges of education, where former education secretary
Rodetick R. Paige is a senior adviser and G. Reid Lyon, Bush’s
former reading adviser, is an executive vice president.
"I’m very disappointed and saddened by the information that was

provided at the heating today," said Lyon, who had been a strong
defender of Reading Fh’st, which he said had nothing to do with his
new job. "The issues appear much more serious than I had been led
to understand."
Despite the controversy surrounding Reading First’s management,

the percentage of students in the program who are proficient on
fluency tests has risen about 15 percent, Education Department
officials said. School districts across the country praise the
program.
Members of both parties continue to support the goals of Reading

First even as they attack its management, l~filler and Senate
education committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
joined Republicans yesterday in pledging to tighten restrictions on
conflicts of interest in No Child Left Behind.
Page 410
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who declined to cmmnent

yesterday, has said management problems with Reading First
"reflect individual mistakes." But Doherty said nearly every aspect
of the program was carefully monitored by the department and the
White House, where Spelling was Bush’s top education adviser.
"This program was always firmly under the watch and control of
the highest levels of the govermnent," Doherty said.
Staff writer Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.

Page 411
The Washin~on Post
Federal Overseer Of Student Loans Invested in Lenders

She Owned Stock in 5 Large Firms
By Amit 1L Paley, [:]Washington Post Staff ~¥riter[]
Saturday, April 21, 2007; D01
The No. 3 official in the U.S. Department of Education, who

oversees the student loan industry, had more than $10,000 invested
in student lenders, according to documents released last night.
Sara Martinez Tucker, the agency’s undersecretary responsible for

financial aid and higher education, reported the shares in financial
disclosure forms filed in October 2006 and released yesterday in
response to a request from The Washington Post.
The department said she had not violated any ethics rules, which
prohibit employees from working on matters involving a company
in which they hold more than $15,000 in stock. The forms show
that Tucker held $2,745 in Bank of America, $2,597 in Citigroup,
$1,923 in Wells Fargo, $1,134 in J.P. Morgan Chase and $1,615 in
Wachovia. Those companies are five of the six largest student
lenders.
The disclosure comes in the midst of a widening student loan

scandal exposing financial ties among lenders, universities and
government officials. Matteo Fontana, another department official
who helped oversee the $85 billion-a-year industry, was suspended
this month after revelations that he held more than $100,000 worth
of stock in a single loan company.
Martinez Tucker, who declined to comment through a

spokeswoman, was confirmed by the Senate late last year. She
Pa~e 412
previously was president of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which

has awarded scholarships to about 78,000 students. Before that she
was an executive at AT&T.
"Sara Ma1~inez Tucker is a public servam of the highest ethics and

integrity," said Katherine McLane, a department spokeswoman.
"She has helped thousands of Hispanic Americans afford college,
and we are so fortunate to have her working on behalf of all
America’s students."
Page 413
The Washin~on Post
Fenty, Janey and Bobb Pledge United Effort to Address Issues
By Theola Labb6 [], Washin~on Post Staff Writer [~
Saturday, April 21, 2007; B05
The District’s mayor, school superintendent and school board

president pledged yesterday that they would work together,
proffering a show of unity one day after the D.C. Council approved
a mayoral takeover of the schools.
Emerging from a closed-door meeting that lasted 15 minutes,

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), Board of Education President Robert
C. Bobb and Superintendent Clifford B. Janey stood shoulder to
shoulder before television cameras. They displayed none of the
bitterness and infighting that marked the battle over the takeover
proposal, and said they would cooperate to iron out issues such as
the school budget, a forensic audit of the school system’s finances
and other transition issues.
The meeting of the three men so soon after Thursday’s historic vote
was designed to reinforce the message that the deteriorating
schools need attention immediately.
"We think it’s mandatory for the future of this city, and the future
of the children in our school system, that the thi’ee of us... get
together as soon as possible to start discussing how we are going to
work together," Fenty said during a 19-minute news conference at
the school system’s headquarters.
There was a suggestion of tension below the surface.
It became visible when reporters asked about Fenty’s proposal to

Pa~e 414
create a new position -- that of a chancellor, who would report

directly to the mayor. Fenty deflected questions on whom he might
select as his chancellor to run the 55,000-student school system.
But Janey, when asked whether he thought he might be the first

chancellor, replied, "I hold myself in high regard." He said he
intended to be a part of the planning for the transition.
"I expect fully to move forward as part of this team," he said. "I
didn’t come here for a year. I didn’t come here for two years. I
came here to make a commitment to the children, to the families
and the community of Washington, D.C."
Reinforcing his point, Janey added: "We’re in some stage of

transition -- I’m not."
But neither Janey’s declarations nor Fenty’s vow to work with

Janey and Bobb prevented elected officials and parents from
questioning whether Janey would remain in his job.
"I would like the mayor to make a decision about who is running
the school system," said council lnember Jack Evans 03-Ward 2),
who supported the takeover. "Is Clifford Janey staying? We need
to have a chancellor in place by the start of school."
Parent activist Cherita Whiting said it was time for the mayor to
reveal whom he intends as chancellor.
"It’s time for him to come clean and say whether he plans on
keeping Dr. Janey, yes or no," said Whiting, whose son is a junior
at McKinley Technology High School. "If not, who do you plan on
replacing hhn with? Who are your candidates? And what part will
the public play?"
Evans said a priority is getting quick approval from Congress for a

bill permitting the new arrangement. He said he also would like
Page 415
Fenty’s administration to begin evaluating the school budget,

"given the state of what [Chief Financial Officer Natwar M.]
Gandhi could only describe as chaos."
Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray 03) said he expects Fenty,

Janey and Bobb to modernize schools so students are not faced
with "broken batlu’ooms and peeling paint" when they return in the
fall.
"From the perspective of parents and students, they want to know

that schools are going to open on time," Gray said.
Donna Power Stowe, executive director of the nonprofit DC

Education Compact, said she didn’t expect to hear specific plans or
a timetable for addressing issues. But she said she was glad that
after months of often-contentious debate, it seemed that the men
had exchanged olive branches.
"It’s not always easy to get to that point [of cooperation] when
you’ve been looking critically at an issue, but they all agree that
this is the most important issue in the city," Stowe said. "It will
probably sound a little sappy, but I think that’s good."
Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said the news

conference showed cooperation between the mayor and school
board. "It’s a hopeful sign," he said.
Fenty said the three men plan to meet next week with Gandhi to
discuss the school system’s finances.
Staff writer Nildta Stewart contributed to this report.

Page 416
Tile VCashin~on Post
Opinions
Nurse for America?
By John Me,Tow []
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A17
This week seniors at some of 3anerica’s most prestigious colleges

learned whether they’d been accepted into Teach for America,
which recruits the "best and brightest" from Yale, Duke, Brown,
Dartmouth and other top colleges and puts them through intensive
summer training. The program is a proven magnet: 10.4 percent of
YaWs Class of 2006 applied, as did 9.6 percent of Dartmouth’s
graduating seniors. Scripps College topped the list, with 15.7
percent.
Most schools of education accept just about everyone who applies,

but Teach for America, which puts capable, smart and idealistic
young men and women into some of the country’s toughest public
schools, rejects an astonishing 83 percent of its applicants.
If they don’t make the cut at Teach for America, many students
will fall back to their second choices, often top law or business
schools or high-paying jobs on Wall Street.
Seventy-seven percent of those who are accepted will enter Teach

for America. By comparison, only 71 percent of those accepted
into Yale choose to enroll. The "yield" is lower at Princeton, at 69
percent, and Stanford, 67 percent.
Teach for America, now in its 18th year, has become the country’s
largest provider of teachers for low-income communities. What
Page 417
began in 1990 with 500 men and women working in six

communities has grown to 4,400 teachers working with 375,000
students.
The success of Teach for America has insph’ed the Jack Kent
Cooke Foundation to create a similar program -- it plans to
distribute $10 million in grants -- to provide guidance and
counseling at high schools in nine states. That program will recruit
and train college seniors to work full time as advisers for one or
two years after they graduate.
"It will be the next Teach for America," Vance Lancaster of the
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation told me in an e-mail, although they’re
not calling it Advise for America. Instead it’s the College Advising
Corps.
Unfortunately, the success of Teach for America reveals an

unpleasant truth about how little we value education and children.
Consider another helping profession that is often compared with
teaching: nursing. Just as there’s a teaching shortage, the United
States desperately needs nurses. Nationally, hospitals have about
210,000 empty nursing slots, according to the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.
But there is no "Nurse for America" program, because it’s

inconceivable that someone could step in and provide nursing care
after just two months of summer training.
Just imagine: "Hi, Mrs. Lingering. I’m John Merrow, your new
nurse. I just graduated from Dartmouth. Now let’s see. It says you
get two cc’s of this medicine. That’s about the same as a
tablespoon, isn’t it? And I’m supposed to examine you. Do you
know which orifice this instrument goes in?"
No, we will never have a Nurse for America program, because that
profession’s standards are higher than those of teaching. Nobody
Page 418
says, "Those who can, do. Those who can’t, nurse." That slur is
reserved for teaching, an occupation that’s ridiculously easy to
enter, at least through education schools.
So, two cheers for Teach for America -- but wouldn’t it be

wonderful if Nurse for America and Teach for America were
equally inconceivable? If teaching could become not merely an
honorable calling but also a well-paying, highly respected
profession that was difficult to get into?
The writer is president of Learning Matters Z~c. and education

correspondent for "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer."
Page 41g
Tile New York Times
April 21, 2007
Student Lender Discloses Ties to Colleges That Included Gifts to

Officials
By SAM DII~ON
Nelnet, a major student loan company, yesterday offered a broad

accounting of many often unpublicized relationships it has
established with universities and their senior officials, including
managing telephone call centers, paying college officials for
speaking engagements and giving plane tickets to financial aid
officers.
The revelations came in a broad new disclosure statement the

lender made in connection with an agreement to contribute $1
million to educate college borrowers and to abide by a code of
conduct governing its relations with colleges.
Nelnet, based in Lincoln, Neb., with $23.8 billion in student loan

assets, forged the agreement with the Nebraska attorney general,
Jon Bruning. The company’s president, Jeffrey Noordhoek,
appeared with Mr. Bruning at a news conference yesterday to
announce it.
The disclosures resulted from a review by Nelnet of its own

practices in the student loan industry, begun earlier this year after
Andrew M. Cuomo, New York’s attorney general, announced that
Page 420
he was investigating the company, said Ben Kiser, a Nelnet

spokesman.
In the news conference in Lincoln, Mr. Bruning characterized any

wrongdoing by the company as minimal. "As we looked at the
scale of mistakes that have been made in the student lending
industry, Nelnet is at the bottom," he said.
But in New York, Mr. Cuomo said, "Our investigation of Nelnet is

continuing."
The COlnpany announced an end to some of its practices, including

a revenue sharing agreement with Western Illinois University
under which Nelnet paid the university a percentage of all private
college loans that its students took out with Nelnet.
Nelnet also said it had paid a fee, on one occasion, to a university

chancellor for giving a speech to an advisory board the company
had established. "Nelnet intends to end such payments," the
statement said.
On another occasion, Nelnet bought Albany-to-New York plane

tickets for two university financial aid officers so they could go to
the theater. Mr. Kiser declined to identify the officials or their
university affiliation.
Nelnet said it would in the future limit gifts to university

employees to $10.
Page 421
The company said it would continue to manage telephone call

centers for the financial aid offices of seven educational
institutions, but its call center operators would now "disclose to all
callers that they are Nelnet employees when they answer the
phone."
Previously, students seeking financial aid advice could have been

left thinking they were speaking to a university official. Earlier this
year, lVlr. Cuomo wrote a code of conduct governing the relations
among universities and lenders, banning revenue-sharing
agreements on student loan volume and gifts to senior officials,
and forbidding loan company employees from ever identifying
themselves as college officials.
He has reached agreements with Citibank and Sallie Mae to abide

by the code. Each has paid $2 million to a fund similar to the one
to which Nelnet is contributing. Education Finance Partners,
another student loan company that investigators found had paid at
least 60 colleges and universities across the country for steering
students to its loans, agreed to pay $2.5 million to Mr. Cuomo’s
fund.
Mr. Bruning announced yesterday that Nelnet would abide by a

similar code of conduct, mostly written by Nelnet officials.
"I would say that we primarily wrote it, but worked with Bruning’s
office," said Mr. Kiser, the Nelnet spokesman.
Page 422
The New York Tilnes
April 21, 2007
Colleges Relying on Lenders to Counsel Students
By JULIE BOSMAN
Rachel Jones, a senior at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles,

recently was sitting through a student-loan workshop that university officials
had told her was mandatory when an uneasy feeling kicked ha.
The woman in the front of the classroom asked students to fill out forms
with personal information -- including names, addresses and phone
numbers of relatives, an employer and a friend. Ms. Jones recalled that she
also talked about "other loan companies" that would saddle students with
unfavorable rotes if they decided to consolidate loans on graduation.
Unable to keep quiet, Ms. Jones raised her ban& "°I just said, excuse me,
who are you and what is your affiliation?" The woman identified herself as
an employee of All Student Loan, a California-based lender.
Ms. Jones, a 22-year-old who has $17,000 in student loans, had unwittingly
stumbled upon another undisclosed relationship between universities and
loan companies.
Recent investigations have largely focused on incentives lenders give

universities to get coveted placement on the preferred lending lists students
use to take out loans ~vhen they enter college. But colleges also give lenders
crucial access to students when they are graduating, using lenders to conduct
Page 423
exit counseling required under federal la~v for students who have taken out
federally guaranteed student loans.
In some cases, loan company representatives come on campus and run

sessions for seniors on loan repayment. In others, colleges direct students to
loan company Web sites, including Wells Fargo, Citibank and Sallie Mae.
And in many cases, the loan companies are pushing a product: their
consolidation loans.
Anne Prisco, the vice president for enrollment management at Loyola,

defended the practice, saying the lenders allowed on campus were carefully
selected. "Every year when we have exit interviews we ask if they want to
assist," Ms. Prisco said. "’They are just there to provide additional
information.’"
Others say the access to students is improper. Heather McDonnell, the

director of financial aid at Sarah Lawrence College in Bror~xville, N.Y., said
she thought using loan companies for exit counseling was "absolutely"
inappropriate.
°°Behind every lender is a consolidation loan," Ms. lVlcDonnell said. ’~I don’t
allow anybody to come on my campus to come and do that. I just don’t think
it’s a good idea. I think that information should be coming directly from the
financial aid office."
lVfany students have various kinds of loans, and consolidation allows them to
combine the loans to pay a single interest rate and make one monthly
payment.
Page 424
Karen Gross, the president of Southern Vermont College and a professor of

law at New York Law Schoo!, said @ending on a student’s prospective
job, income and health, consolidating loans was often unwise. For example,
she said, students who take certain public sector jobs may sign away
available benefits if they consolidate federal loans.
"’There is no shortage of erroneous information that a studmt could receive

in a group counseling session," Ms. Gross said. ’°Student loan consolidation
makes sense for many students, but for many students it is absolutely not the
right choice." She added that "the reason this is bothersome is that students
are required to engage in exit interviews, and so lenders have a captive
audience."
The reason exit interviews are mandatory is that the federal government
wants to crack down on default rates. According to the Department of
F~tucation, exit counseling is intended to explain borrowers" rights and
responsibilities, loan repayment and the consequences of default.
Students who consider skipping the sessions are often threatened with severe
consequences. At Loyola, an e-mail message from the financial aid office
said, ’°A HOLD will be placed on your account and will only be removed
upon your attendance at one of the above sessions." A hold typically
prevents a student from registering for classes or even receiving a diploma.
Many institutions send students to complete exit counseling online through

Direct Loan Servicing, part of the Depar~ent of Education. But others do
not.
Page 425
Capella University, an online institution where the director of financial aid

~vas recently put on leave for accepting consulting fees from a loan
company, allows Collegiate Funding Services, a !oan consolidation
company, to conduct online exit sessions and introduce its "’consolidation
product.’"
Through a spokeswoman, Capella said that "as part of the online counseling
process, students are asked by C.F.S. whether they have an interest in debt
consolidatiort"
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore, according to a recent news

release, allows at least one lender, Consolidation Resource Center, to
conduct exit counseling. The same news release also announced the
company’s $10,000 donation to a university scholarship fund. University
officials did not return repeated calls for comment.
All Student Loan, which ran exit interviews at Loyola, has conducted 25
counseling sessions at 20 institutions tt~s year, said Joseph Booth, a
company spokesman.
The Indiana Institute of Technology directs students to complete exit

counseling through Open_Net, an online service run by Sallie Mae, the
nation’s largest lender to college students. The Web sites of George_
Washington University and Case Westem Reserve University in Cleveland
show that they do, too.
Before signing in, students must agree to a disclaimer allowing Sallie lVlae to
use their data for purposes beyond loan processing, "provided the proposed
Page 426
usage does not violate applicable laws and regulations or any confidentiality
obligations."
The financial aid director at Indiana Tech, Teresa M. Vasquez, said,

didn’t know that." She said Indiana Tech had been using Sallie Mae’s exit
counseling for three years.
Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Ivlae, said the students" data was shared
with the students’ lenders, whom the5, identify in the online exit counseling.
Sallie Mae also uses their e-mail addresses to send solicitations from
"partners" of Sallie Mae, %vhere we have slrack deals with industry-leading
third parties, like Geico for insurance," Mr. Joyce said.
At the end of the counseling, a link leads students to consolidate with Sallie
Mae if they choose, lVlr. Joyce said, but it is available only to students who
have already chosen Sallie Ivlae as a lender.
The Department of Education does not forbid the use of private lenders to
conduct exit counseling, a spokeswoman, Jane Glickman, said. "A lender
may participate in exit counseling sessions offered by the school," she said,
"°provided that the school maintains control of the session and school staff
members are present."
Senator Edward M. Kelmed_.v, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman

of the education committee, is examining exit counseling as part of an
investigation into student lending.
Mr. Kennedy said in a statement, "’When schools refer students to these

counseling services, they should be able to rely on honest advice about their
Page 427
financial future -- not be subjected to unexpected marketing pitches from

lenders."
lvls. Prisco of Loyola said that next year the university would consider
making it clearer that the sessions were conducted by lenders. "I’m not
saying that maybe we can’t make things a little more transparent," she said.
Weeks after her exit counseling at Loyola, Ms. Jones is still marveling over
the session. She wrote an opinion column in the student newspaper, The Los
Angeles Loyolan, denouncing the workshop as "nothing more than an
hourlong advertisement."
°’It just seemed really shady and underhanded the way it was run," Ms. Jones
said. "°I still feel like I was duped."
Jonathan D. Glarer contributed reporting.

Page 428
Associated Press
Investigator makes Justice Department referral in controversial federal

reading program
JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ A federal investigator looking into

allegations of conflict of interest and mismanagement in a $1
billion-a-year Education Department reading program said Friday
he has referred the matter to the Justice Department.
John Higgins, the Education Department’s inspector general,

refused to specify for reporters what he has asked government
prosecutors to look at, but investigators have been highly critical of
the department’s management of the Reading First program.
Referrals are made by investigators when they encounter evidence

of possible federal crimes or other misconduct, which only the
Justice Department has authority to pursue.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of

Columbia, Channing Phillips, confirmed that the referral had been
received by the department’s civil division. When the civil division
handles such referrals, the end result would usually be a lawsuit
seeking to recover funds rather than criminal charges being filed,
he said, although it is possible that after review criminal action
might be called for.
Reading First, created by President Bush’s signature No Child Left

Behind law, offers intensive reading help for low-income children
in the early grades. But investigators say that federal officials
intervened to influence state and local decisions about what
Page 429
programs to use, a potential violation of the law. Some of the

people who were influencing those decisions had a financial
interest in the programs that were being pushed, officials said.
"’I think we’re vein close to a criminal enterprise here," House

Education and Labor Committee chairman George Nfiller, D-
Calif., said at an investigative hearing Friday. "’Have you made
any criminal referrals, lVlr. Higgins?"
"’We have made referrals to the Department of Justice," Higgins

said.
i~filler said his committee may also make criminal referrals. "’I
think when we put the evidence together we may join you in those
criminal referrals," Miller told Higgins.
But Reading First’s former director told lawmakers Friday he did

nothing wrong, despite investigators’ findings that the Education
Department s ~kirted the law and etlfical standards.
In scathing exchanges with lvfiller, former Reading First program

director Chris Doherty defended his and his colleagues’ work
implementing the program.
Despite several attempts by 1Vfiller to elicit admissions of

wrongdoing, Doherty refused, offering explanations for several of
the complaints brought by the Education Department’s inspector
general and the Govermnent Accountability Office.
"’You’ve suggested because of logistics, because of the time frame,

because you might get 50 applications all at the same time, you
have a whole litany of reasons why you didn’t have to abide by the
law," Miller said.
"’We thought then and we think now we did abide by the law,"
replied Doherty, who stepped down last year.
Page 430
An inspector general report late last year stated that the reading
program was beset by conflicts of interest and mismanagement.
The inspector general stated that the review panels were stacked
with people who shared Doherty’s views and that Doherty
repeatedly used his influence to push states toward programs he
favored.
"" Our work showed that the department did not comply with the
Reading First statute regarding the composition of the application
review panel and criteria for acceptable programs," said John
Higgins, the Education Department’s inspector general. "’Further,
the department’s actions created an appearance that it may have
violated statutory provisions that prolfibit it from influencing the
cun-iculum of schools."
More recently, The Associated Press reported that the program

may have yet another conflict-of-interest problem. The Education
Department contractor hired to help set up and implement key
parts of the Reading First program beginning in 2002 also has been
brought in to help evaluate how well the program is doing.
California Rep. Buck McKeon, the education panel’s senior

Republican, has proposed a ban on any contractor evaluating a
program that it had a role in implementing. He and Massachusetts
Democrat Edward Kennedy, who chairs the Senate Education
Committee, are pushing bills that would tighten conflict-of-interest
rules in the reading program and make it harder for federal
officials or contractors to influence local curriculum decisions.
The Education Department has pledged to make changes to ensure

there will not be future problems in the Reading First program.
Doherty suggested in prepared testimony that "’a distorted story"

based on "’the worst possible interpretation of events" has been
told about the Reading First program.
Page 431
"’We were never told on any occasion we were violating the law,"
Doherty said at the hearing.
Hours before the hearing begal~ the Education Department

released statistics showing Reading First schools saw improvement
in reading fluency and comprehension for first and third graders
between 2004 and 2006. But from the start, the program has been
dogged by accusations of impropriety.
Page 432
USA Today
Reading proo~n to get Justice review
April 20, 2007 05:58 PM ET
WASH]NGTON -- The U.S. Education Departmenlts inspector general,

who spent nearly two years investigating allegations of mismanagement in
President Bush’s $1 billion-a-year Reading First program, has referred the
matter to the U.S. Justice Department.
It wasn’t immediately clear on Friday who the subject of the investigation
might be, or whether Jotzq Higgins, who led the Education Department’s
investigatiol% asked Justice to pursue criminal charges or a civil complaint.
But Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who chairs the House Education and
Labor Committee and is investigating the program on his own, told Higgins:
"I think when we put the evidence together we may join you in those
criminal referrals."
Higgins’ revelation came during sworn testimony before the committee. He
wouldn’t elaborate when pressed by reporters afterward, saying he couldn’t
comment on an ongoing investigation.
Reading First, a centerpiece of Bush’s domestic agenda, aims to help low-
income children learn to read by the time they finish third grade. But
mismanagement issues have plagued it since its inception in 2002. Friday’s
hearing focused on allegations that a select group of advisors steered states
toward buying textbooks and tests that they and close associates developed,
and that department officials stacked review panels with reviewers partial to
materials the administration favored
In one case heard during Friday’s testimony, Kentucky officials had to

submit their application four times before Reading First reviewers approved
it -- and only after Kentucky agreed to dump a proven reading test and
adopt one developed by a Reading First advisor.
Higgins also found that federal officials jettisoned the program’s own rules
Page 433
for setting up expert review panels, stacking several with Fzlucation

Department favorites. They also broke roles by having program staffers alter
remarks made by actual reviewers on state applications for Reading First
money.
Three Reading First advisors testified that they have earned six-figure
royalties since schools began receiving funding under the program. One,
Roland Good, a researcher at the University of Oregon, said his testing
company, in which he holds a 50% share, earned $1,291,333 from 2003-
2006.
Two others, Deborah Simmons, a researcher at Texas A&M, and Edward

Kame’enui, a University of Oregon researcher, said they earned about
$150,000 last year from royalties on a popular textbook series for yom~g
readers.
The revelations prompted Miller to quip, "That sounds like an inside job."
But the program’s former director, Chris Doherty, who testified that he was
essentially forced to resign in September after the release of Higgins’ first
report, on Friday defended the program, noting that several early evaluations
have been positive -- and suggesting the $1 billion schools get each year has
made a huge difference.
Doherty said the conflict revolves around "an undeniable, underlying

tension" that forces officials to ensure that schools are using scientifically-
based reading materials, but prohibits the officials from prescribing a
specific curriculum.
"I can only basica!ly restate that I’m very proud of the pro~am," Doherty
said in an interview after the hearing. "I’m very proud of my role in it. I feel
like I implented the law in the way it was written and the way it was
intended."
Outside of Washington, he said, Reading First has developed "a real sense of
community and family" among schools and state administrators. The
mismanagement allegations, he said, are "absolutely unrepresentative of the
program as a whole."
He said he spoke with Justice Department investigators last fall.
Page 434
"I’ve had one conversation with the Department of Justice," Doherty said in
an interview. "I met with them one time in the ftrst week of November and I
haven’t heard since."
He added, "I was invited down to talk to those guys -- I talked with them of
my own free will."
Officials with the Justice Department could not be reached Friday after the
hearing, and Education Department spokeswoman Katherine McLane said
she couldn’t comment.
Cindy Cupp, a Savannah, Ga., educator who saw Georgia schools overlook
her homegro~m phonics program aider Reading First reviewers refused to
fund schools ~vho chose it, said Friday’s hearing "exceeded my
expectations."
She first complained about the oversight three and a half years ago, she said.
"The fact that it took three and a half years to get here (is) a long time, but
I’m please& l?m very pleased."
Page 435
Bloomberg
Gonzales Among Appointees on School Violence Panel
By Julianna Goldman
April 20 ~loomberg) -- President George W. Bush is naming three Cabinet

officials, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, to study violence in
America’s schools and recommend ways to avoid tragedies like the mass
murder earlier this week at Virginia Tech university, the White House said.
The two other Cabinet members are Secretary Michael Leavitt of the
Department of Health and Human Services and Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings.
The president plans to announce formation of the group tomorrow in his
weekly radio address. Departh~ from practice, the White House allowed the
news media to report the appointments today instead of waiting for the
broadcast.
"We can never fully understand what would cause a student to take the lives
of 32 innocent people," Bush said in his prepared radio remarks. He said he
asked the three Cabinet officials" to provide the Virginia Tech community
with whatever assistance we can andto participate in a review of the broader
questions raised by this tragedy."
The president said the group, led by Leavitt, wit1 trave! around the country
and consult with educators, mental health experts and state and local
officials and then report back to him. The ~Vhite House didn’t announce a
deadline for the report.
To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at
Last Updated: April 20, 2007 14 :04 EDT

Page 436
FOX News
Saving ’No Child Left Behind’ From Itself
Friday, April 20, 2007
By Dan Lips
Conservative lawrnakers on Capitol Hill have introduced a bill that would let
states opt out of many of the mandates imposed by the federal No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB).
Under the new approach, states would be free to use federal education funds
as they see fit, provided they maintain student testing to assess their progress
and make the test results publicly available.
Some NCLB supporters charge that the conservative plan would undermine
accountability.
Sandy Kress, a former Bush administration education adviser, protested:
°°Republicans used to stand for rigor and standards, but no money for
educatior~ Now they seem to be for the money, but no standards."
But a closer look suggests that the real threat to accountability and
transparency in public[] education is NCLB itself. Indeed, the conservative
opt-out plan to restore state-level control may be the best option for
salvaging accountability for parents and taxpayers.
The law requires states to test students annually and offers a menu of
penalties for schools that fail to show progress on those exams. States must
measure up against a baseline that rises every year up to 2014, at which
point al! students are expected to score "proficient" on the tests.
States, however, establish the content standards and passing thresholds of
the tests -- meaning there’s an incentive for states to louver testing standards
to avoid federal sanctions.
Some are doing this already. Though states can use their own exams to
assess performance among all students, they must also administer the
"National Assessment of Educational Progress" (NAEP) to a sample of
students. This makes it easy to compare proficiency rates in reading and
Page 437
math as measured by the NAEP with what the states report using their own
tests.
Not surprisingly, the comparison sometimes unveils a huge disparity, with
Tennessee and Oklahoma, for example, reporting high proficiency rates on
their tests that aren’t matched by a similar performance on the NAEP.
The simple conclusion: Some states are "dumbing do~vn" their exams to let
more students pass and more schools show "’adequate yearly progress" under
NCLB.
Just imagine what parents in Illinois thought ~vhen they saw this recent
headline in the Chicago Tribune: "Making Grade Just Got Easier." The
article reported that % record number of Illinois schools escaped federal No
Child Left Behind sanctions this school year, largely because of changes in
how schools are judged and alterations that made state achievement exams
easier for students to pass 2’
For the education bureaucracy, it’s far more imperative to avoid bad
publicity and federal sanctions -- whatever it takes -- titan to offer honest,
useful performance assessments to parents and taxpayers. That’s a serious
indictment of federal intervention.
Consider ~vhat it means for the future. As we approach 2014, when a!l
children are supposed to reach proficiency under NCLB, state benct~marks
~vill rise, as will the incentive for states to lower the bar to avoid penalties.
In some states, 2014 may arrive ~vith all children declared "proficient" and
no schools labeled "in need of improvement." That may be a happy day for
politicians, but not for parents who want to !mo~v ~vhether their children are
learning.
Everyone a~ees that public schools should be held accountable. The real
question is: Accountable to whom?
The answer is that schools should be accountable to those who can make a
difference. Ultimately, tlmt’s parents, not politicians or bureaucrats. But
NCLB seeks to make local schools accountable to federal bureaucrats, even
though Washington provides only about 8 percent of what is spent on local
education_
Unlike bureaucrats, parents are not so concerned about ~vhether all public
Page 438
schools are labeled ~~proficient’" by 2014. A third-grader today will be in

high school when that day arrives. What parents want to know now is
whether their children are making progress in the classroom each day and
each school year.
Accountability should be geared toward providing transparency about school
performance, thereby empowering parents and local citizens. The best way
to do that is to give those with the greatest interest in children’s success --
their parents --the oppommity to make decisions based on that information.
Ironically, the No Child Left Behind ~°opt-out’" provision is the most
promisil~ way to protect the goals of the law: to make public education m~y
transparent and accountable.
Dan Lips is an education analyst at The Heritage Foundation (heritage.org),
a leading Washington-based public-policy i~z_vtitzction.
Page 439
[Nonresponsiv!
From: Yudof, Samara
Sent: April 21,2007 11:48 AM
To: Pdvate - Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; Simon, Ray;, Tucker, Sara (Restricted); Maddox,
Lauren; Talber~, Kent; Halaska, Terrell; Kuzmich, Holly; Briggs, Kerri; Mcnitt, Townsend L.;
FIo,~rs, Sarah; Young, Tracy, tracy_d._young@who.eop.gov; Williams, Cynthia; Toomey,
Liam; Tada, Wendy; Reich, Heidi; Landers, Angela; Colby, Chad; McLane, Katherine; Neale,
Rebecca; Herr, John; Ditto, Trey; Beaton, Meredith; Gribble, Emily; Oldham, Chert; Neale,
Rebecca; Cariello, Dennis; Terrell, Julie; Rosenfelt, Phil; PiEs, Elizabeth; Ruberg, Casey;
Scheessele, Marc
Attachments: 042107 In the News.doc
042107 In the
’4ews.doc (111 KB...
The Washington Post: Key Initiative Of ’No Child’ Under Federal Investigation; Officials
Profited From Reading First Program (Amit Paley)
The Washington Post: Federal Overseer Of Student Loans Invested in Lenders; She Owned
Stock in 5 Large Firms (Amit Paley)
The Washington Post: Fenty, Janey and Bobb Pledge United Effort to Address Issues (Theola
Labb@)
The Washington Post: Opinions: Nurse for America? (John Merrow)
The New York Times: Student Lender Discloses Ties to Colleges That Included Gifts to
Officials (Sam Dillon)
The New York Times: Colleges Relying on Lenders to Counsel Students (Julie Bosman)
Associated Press: Investigator makes Justice Department referral in controversial federal
reading program (Jesse Holland)
USA Today: Reading program to get Justice review (Greg Toppo)
Bloomberg: Gonzales Among Appointees on School Violence Panel (Julianna Goldmmn)
FOX News: Saving ’No Child Left Behind’ From Itself (Dan Lips)
The Washington Post

Key Initiative Of ’No Child’ Under Federal Investigation
Officials Profited From Reading First Program
By A m it R. Paley, Washington Post
April 21, 2007

The Justice Department is conducting a probe of a $6 billion reading initiative at the
center of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, another blow to a program besieged by
allegations of financial conflicts of interest and cronyism, people familiar with the
mmtter said yesterday.
Page 440
The disclosure came as a congressional hearing revealed how people implementing the $i
billion-a-year Reading First program made at least $i million off textbooks and tests
toward which the federal government steered states.
"That sounds like a criminal enterprise to me," said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.),
chairman of the House education committee, which held a five-hour investigative hearing.
"You don’t get to override the law," he angrily told a panel of Reading First officials.
"But the fact of the matter is that you did."
The Education Department’s inspector general, John P. Higgins Jr., said he has made
several referrals to the Justice Department about the five-year-old program, which
provides grants to improve reading for children in kindergarten through third grade.
Higgins declined to offer more specifics, but Christopher J. Doherty, former director of
Reading First, said in an interview that he was questioned by Justice officials in
November. The civil division of the U.S. attorney’s office for the District, which can
bring criminal charges, is reviewing the matter.
Doherty, one of the two Education Department employees who oversaw the initiative,
acknowledged yesterday that his wife had worked for a decade as a paid consultant for a
reading program, Direct Instruction, that investigators said he improperly tried to force
schools to use. He repeatedly failed to disclose the conflict on financia! disclosure
forms.
"I’m very proud of this program and my role in this program," Doherty said in the
interview. "I think it’s been implemented in accordance with the law."
The management of Reading First has come under attacks from members of both parties.
Federa! investigators say program officials improperly forced states to use certain tests
and textbooks created by those officials.
One official, Roland H. Good III, said his company made $1.3 million off a reading test,
known as DIBELS, that was endorsed by a Reading First evaluation panel he sat on. Good,
who owns half the company, Dynamic Measurement Group, told the committee that he donated
royalties from the product to the University of Oregon, where he is an associate
professor.
Two former University of Oregon researchers on the panel, Edward J. Kame’enui and Deborah
C. Simmons, said they received about $150,000 in royalties last year for a program that is
now packaged with DIBELS. They testified that they received smmller royalties in previous
years for the program, Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention, and did not ~ow it was
being sold with DIBELS.
Members of the pane! said they recused themselves from voting on their own products but
did assess their competitors. Of 24 tests approved by the committee, seven were tied to
members of the panel.
"I regret the perception of conflicts of interest," said Kame’enui, former chairrm~n of the
committee, who now works at the department as commissioner of the National Center for
Special Education Research. "But there was no real conflict of interest being engaged in."
The intricate financial connections between Reading First products and program officials
extend beyond issues the committee explored yesterday.
~other researcher, Sharon Vaughn, worked with Kame’enui, Simmons and Good to design
Voyager Universal Literacy, a program that Reading First officials urged states to use.
Vaughn was director of a center at the University of Texas that was hired to provide
states advice on selecting Reading First tests and books.
The publisher of that product, Voyager Expanded Learning, was founded and run by Randy
Best, a major Bush campaign contributor, who sold the company in 2005 for more than $350
million. Now Best runs Higher Ed Holdings, a company that develops colleges of education,
where former education secretary Roderick R. Paige is a senior adviser and G. Reid Lyon,
Bush’s former reading adviser, is an executive vice president.
"I’m very disappointed and saddened by the information that was provided at the hearing
today," said Lyon, who had been a strong defender of Reading First, which he said had
2
Page 441
nothing to do with his new job. "The issues appear much more serious than i had been led
to understand."
Despite the controversy surrounding Reading First’s mmnagement, the percentage of students
in the program who are proficient on fluency tests has risen about 15 percent, Education
Department officials said. School districts across the country praise the program.
Members of both parties continue to support the goals of Reading First even as they attack
its management. Miller and Senate education committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
~oined Republicans yesterday in pledging to tighten restrictions on conflicts of interest
in No Child Left Behind.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who declined to comment yesterday, has said
mmnagement problems with Reading First "reflect individual mistakes." But Doherty said
nearly every aspect of the program was carefully monitored by the department and the White
House, where Spelling was Bush’s top education adviser.
"This program was always firmly under the ~atch and control of the highest levels of the
government," Doherty said.
Staff writer Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.
The Washington Post
Federal Overseer Of Student Loans Invested in Lenders She ~~ned Stock in 5 Large Firms
By A m it R. Paley, Washington Post Staff Writer?

The No. 3 official in the U.S. Department of Education, who oversees the student loan
industry, had more than $i0,000 invested in student lenders, according to documents
released last night.
Sara Martinez Tucker, the agency’s undersecretary responsible for financial aid and higher
education, reported the shares in financial disclosure forms filed in October 2006 and
released yesterday in response to a request from The Washington Post.
The department said she had not violated any ethics rules, which prohibit employees from
working on matters involving a company in which they hold more than $15,000 in stock. The
forms show that Tucker held $2,745 in Bank of America, $2,597 in Citigroup, $1,923 in
Wells Fargo, $1,134 in J.P. Morgan Chase and $1,615 in Wachovia. Those companies are five
of the six largest student lenders.
The disclosure comes in the midst of a widening student loan scandal exposing financial
ties among lenders, universities and government officials. Matteo Fontana, another
department official who helped oversee the $85 billion-a-year industry, was suspended this
month after revelations that he held more than $I00,000 worth of stock in a single !oan
company.
~rtinez Tucker, who declined to comment through a spokeswoman, was confirmed by the
Senate late last year. She previously was president of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund,
which h~s awarded scholarships to about 78,000 students. Before that she was an executive
at AT&T.
"Sara Martinez Tucker is a public servant of the highest ethics and integrity," said
Kmtherine McLane, a department spokeswoman. "She has helped thousands of Hispanic
Americans afford college, and we are so fortunate to have her working on behalf of all
America’s students."
The Washington Post
£enty, Janey and Bobb Pledge United Effort to Address Issues

Page 442
By Theola Labb~, Washington Post Staff Writer?
The District’s mayor, school superintendent and school board president pledged yesterday
that they would work together, proffering a show of unity one dmy after the D.C. Council
approved a mayoral takeover of the schools.
Emerging from a closed-door meeting that lasted 15 minutes, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D),
Board of Education President Robert C. Bobb and Superintendent Clifford B. Janey stood
shoulder to shoulder before television cameras. They displayed none of the bitterness and
infighting thmt marked the battle over the takeover proposal, and said they would
cooperate to iron out issues such as the school budget, a forensic audit of the school
system1’s finances and other transition issues.
The meeting of the three men so soon after Thursday’s historic vote was designed to
reinforce the message that the deteriorating schools need attention immediately.
"We think it’s mandmtory for the future of this city, and the future of the children in
our school system, that the three of us . . get together as soon as possible to start
discussing how we are going to work together," Fenty said during a 19-minute news
conference at the school system’s headquarters.
There was a suggestion of tension below the surface.
It became visible when reporters asked about Fenty’s proposal to create a new position --
that of a chancel!or, who would report directly to the mayor. Fenty deflected questions on
whom he might select as his chancel!or to run the 55,000-student school system.
But Janey, when asked whether he thought he might be the first chancellor, replied, "I
hold myself in high regard." He said he intended to be a part of the planning for the
transition.
"I expect fully to move forward as part of this team," he said. "I didn’t come here for a
year. I didn’t come here for two years. I came here to make a commitment to the children,
to the families and the community of Washington, D.C."
Reinforcing his point, Janey added: "We’re in some stage of transition -- I’m not."
But neither Janey’s declarations nor Fenty’s vow to work with Janey and Bobb prevented
elected officials and parents from questioning whether Janey would remain in his job.
"I would like the mayor to make a decision about who is running the school system," said
coumcil member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who supported the takeover. "Is Clifford Janey
staying? We need to have a chancellor in place by the start of school."
Parent activist Cherita Whiting said it was time for the mayor to reveal whom he intends
as chancellor.
"It’s time for him to come clean and say whether he plans on keeping Dr. Janey, yes or
no," said Whiting, whose son is a junior at McKinley Technology High School. "If not, who
do you plan on replacing him with? Who are your candidates? And what part will the public
play?"
Evans said a priority is getting quick approval from Congress for a bill permitting the
new arrangement. He said he also would like Fenty’s administration to begin evaluating the
school budget, "given the state of what [Chief Financial Officer Natwar M.] Gandhi could
only describe as chaos."
Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said he expects Fenty, Janey and Bobb to modernize
schools so students are not faced with "broken bathrooms and peeling paint" when they
return in the fall.
"From the perspective of parents and students, they want to know that schools are going to
open on time," Gray said.
Donma Power Stowe, executive director of the nonprofit DC Education Compact, said she
didn’t expect to hear specific plans or a timetable for addressing issues. But she said
she ~as glad that after months of often-contentious debate, it seemed that the men had
Page 443
exchanged olive branches.
"It’s not always easy to get to that point [of cooperation] when you’ve been !ooking
critically at an issue, but they all agree thmt this is the most important issue in the
city," Stowe said. "It will probably sound a little sappy, but I think that’s good."
Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward i) said the news conference showed cooperation between
the mayor and school board. "It’s a hopeful sign," he said.
Fenty said the three men plan to meet next week with Gandhi to discuss the school system’s
finances.
Staff writer Nikita Stewart contributed to this report.
The Washington Post

Opinions
Nurse for America?
By John Merrow?
Saturday, April 21, 2007; AI7
This week seniors at some of America’s most prestigious colleges learned whether they’d
been accepted into Teach for America, which recruits the "best and brightest" from Yale,
Duke, Bro~Tn, Dartmouth and other top colleges and puts them through intensive summer
training. The program is a proven magnet: 10.4 percent of Yale’s Class of 2006 applied, as
did 9.6 percent of Dartmouth’s graduating seniors. Scripps College topped the list, with
15.7 percent.
Most schools of education accept ~ust about everyone who applies, but Teach for ~merica,
which puts capable, smart and idealistic young men and women into some of the country’s
toughest public schools, regects an astonishing 83 percent of its applicants.
If they don’t make the cut at Teach for America, many students will fall back to their
second choices, often top law or business schools or high-paying 9obs on Wall Street.
Seventy-seven percent of those who are accepted will enter Teach for America. By
comparison, only 71 percent of those accepted into Yale choose to enroll. The "yield" is
lower at Princeton, at 69 percent, and Stanford, 67 percent.
Teach for ~merica, now in its 18th year, has become the coumtry’s largest provider of
teachers for low-income communities. What began in 1990 with 500 men and women working in
six communities has grown to 4,400 teachers working with 375,000 students.
The success of Teach for America has inspired the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to create a
similar program -- it plans to distribute $I0 million in grants -- to provide guidance and
counseling at high schools in nine states. That program will recruit and train college
seniors to work full time as advisers for one or two years after they gradumte.
"It will be the next Teach for America," Vance Lancaster of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
told me in an e-mail, although they’re not calling it Advise for America. Instead it’s the
College Advising Corps.
Unfortunately, the success of Teach for _~merica reveals an unpleasant truth about how
little we value education and children. Consider another helping profession that is often
compared with teaching: nursing. Just as there’s a teaching shortage, the United States
desperately needs nurses. Nationally, hospitals have about 210,000 empty nursing s!ots,
according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
But there is no "Nurse for America" program, because it’s inconceivable that someone could
step in and provide nursing care after dust two months of summer training.
Just imagine: "Hi, Mrs. Lingering. I’m John Merrow, your new nurse. I dust graduated from
Dartmouth. Now let’s see. It says you get two cc’s of this medicine. That’s about the same
as a tablespoon, isn’t it? And I’m supposed to e}~amine you. Do you know which orifice this
Page 444
instrument goes in?"
No, we will never have a Nurse for America program, because that profession’s standards
are higher than those of teaching. Nobody says, "Those who can, do. Those who can’t,
nurse." That slur is reserved for teaching, an occupation that’s ridiculously easy to
enter, at least through education schools.
So, ~o cheers for Teach for America -- but wouldn’t it be wonderfu! if Nurse for ~erica
and Teach for America were equally inoonceivable? If teaching could beoome not merely an
honorable calling but also a well-paying, highly respected profession that was difficult
to get into?
The ~nriter is president of Learning Matters Inc. and education correspondent for "The
NewsHour With Jim Lehrer."
The New York Times
April 21, 2007

Student Lender Discloses Ties to Colleges That Included Gifts to Officials
By S~H DILLON
Nelnet, a major student loan company, yesterday offered a broad accounting of many often
unpublicized relationships it has established with universities and their senior
officials, including managing telephone call centers, paying college officials for
speaking engagements and giving plane tickets to financial aid officers.
The revelations came in a broad new disclosure statement the lender made in connection
with an agreement to contribute $i million to educate college borrowers and to abide by a
code of conduct governing its relations with colleges.
Nelnet, based in Lincoln, Neb., with $23.8 billion in student loan assets, forged the
agreement with the Nebraska attorney general, Jon Bruning. The company’s president,
Jeffrey Noordhoek, appeared with Mr. Bruning at a news conference yesterday to announce
it.
The disclosures resulted from a review by Nelnet of its own practices in the student !oan
industry, begun earlier this year after ~drew M. Cuomo, New York’s attorney genera!,
announced that he was investigating the company, said Ben Kiser, a Nelnet spokesman.
In the news conference in Lincoln, Mr. Bruning chmracterized any wrongdoing by the company
as minimal. "As we looked at the scale of mistakes that have been made in the student
lending industry, Nelnet is at the bottom," he said.
But in New York, Mr. Cuomo said, "Our investigation of Nelnet is continuing."
The company announced an end to some of its practices, including a revenue sharing
agreement with Western Illinois University under which Nelnet paid the university a
percentage of all private college loans that its students took out with Nelnet.
Nelnet also said it had paid a fee, on one occasion, to a university chancellor for giving
a speech to an advisory board the company had established. "Nelnet intends to end such
payments," the statement said.
On another occasion, Nelnet bought Albany-to-New York plane tickets for two zuniversity
financia! aid officers so they could go to the theater. Mr. Kiser declined to identify the
officials or their university affiliation.
Nelnet said it would in the future limit gifts to university employees to $i0.
The company said it would continue to manage telephone call centers for the financial aid
offices of seven educationa! institutions, but its call center operators would now
"disclose to al! callers that they are Nelnet employees when they answer the phone."
Page 445
Previously, students seeking financial aid advice could have been left thinking they were
speaking to a university official. Earlier this year, Mr. Cuomo wrote a code of conduct
governing the relations among universities and lenders, banning revenue-sharing agreements
on student !can volume and gifts to senior officials, and forbidding loan company
employees from ever identifying themselves as college officials.
He has reached agreements with Citibank and Sallie Mae to abide by the code. Each has paid
$2 million to a fund similar to the one to which Nelnet is contributing. Education Finance
Partners, another student loan company that investigators found had paid at least 60
colleges and universities across the country for steering students to its loans, agreed to
pay $2.5 million to Mr. Cuomo’s fund.
Mr. Brttning announced yesterdmy that Nelnet would abide by a similar code of conduct,
mostly written by Nelnet officials.
"I would say that we primarily wrote it, but worked with Bruning’s office, " said Mr.
Kiser, the Nelnet spokesman.
The New York Times

April 21, 2007
Colleges Relying on Lenders to Counsel Students
By JULiE BOSHTkN
Rachel Jones, a senior at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, recently was sitting
through a student-loan workshop that university officials had told her was mandatory when
an uneasy feeling kicked in.
The woman in the front of the classroom asked students to fill out forms with personal
information -- including nmmes, addresses and phone numbers of relatives, an employer and
a friend. Ms. Jones recalled thmt she also talked about "other !can companies" thmt would
saddle students with unfavorable rates if they decided to consolidate loans on graduation.
Unable to keep quiet, Ms. Jones raised her hand: "I just said, excuse me, who are you and
what is your affiliation?" The woman identified herself as an employee of All Student
Loan, a California-based lender.
Ms. Jones, a 22-year-old who has $17,000 in student loans, had unwittingly stumbled upon
another undisclosed relationship between universities and !can companies.
Recent investigations have largely focused on incentives lenders give universities to get
coveted placement on the preferred lending lists students use to take out loans when they
enter college. But colleges also give lenders crucia! access to students when they are
graduating, using lenders to conduct exit counseling required under federal law for
students who have taken out federally guaranteed student loans.
In some cases, loan company representatives come on campus and run sessions for seniors on
!can repayment. In others, colleges direct students to loan company Web sites, including
Wells Fargo, Citibank and Sallie Mae. And in many cases, the !can companies are pushing a
product: their consolidation loans.
~m_ne Prisoo, the vice president for enrollment management at Loyola, defended the
practice, saying the lenders allowed on campus were carefully selected. "Every year when
we have exit interviews we ask if they want to assist," Ms. Prisco said. "They are just
there to provide additiona! information."
Others say the access to students is improper. Heather McDonnell, the director of
financial aid at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., said she thought using !can
companies for exit counseling was "absolutely" inappropriate.
"’Behind every lender is a consolidation loan," Ms. McDonnell said. "I don’t allow anybody
to come on my campus to come and do that. I just don’t think it’s a good idea. I think
that information should be coming directly from the financial aid office."
Page 446
Many students have various kinds of loans, and consolidation allows them to combine the
loans to pay a single interest rate and make one monthly payment.
Karen Gross, the president of Southern Vermont College and a professor of law at New York
Law School, said depending on a student’s prospective job, income and health,
consolidating loans was often unwise. Eor example, she said, students who take certain
public sector jobs may sign away available benefits if they consolidate federal loans.
"’There is no shortage of erroneous information that a student could receive in a group
counseling session," Ms. Gross said. "Student loan consolidation makes sense for many
students, but for many students it is absolutely not the right choice." She added that
"the reason this is bothersome is that students are required to engage in exit interviews,
and so lenders have a captive audience."
The reason exit interviews are mandatory is that the federal government wants to crack
down on default rates. According to the Department of Education, exit counseling is
intended to explain borrowers’ rights and responsibilities, loan repayment and the
consequences of default.
Students who consider skipping the sessions are often threatened with severe consequences.
At Loyola, an e-mail message from the financial aid office said, "A HOLD will be placed on
your account and will only be removed upon your attendance at one of the above sessions.’"
A hold typically prevents a student from registering for classes or even receiving a
dip!oma.
Many institutions send students to complete exit counseling online through Direct Loan
Servicing, part of the Department of Education. But others do not.
Capella University, an online institution where the director of financial aid was recently
put on leave for accepting consulting fees from a loan company, allows Collegiate Funding
Services, a loan consolidation company, to conduct online exit sessions and introduce its
"’consolidation product.’"
Through a spokeswoman, Capella said that "as part of the online counseling process,
students are asked by C.F.S. whether they have an interest in debt consolidation."
The University of l~aryland Eastern Shore, according to a recent news release, allows at
least one lender, Consolidation Resource Center, to conduct exit counseling. The same news
release also announced the company’s $i0,000 donation to a university scholarship fund.
University officials did not return repeated calls for comment.
All Student Loan, which ran exit interviews at Loyola, has conducted 25 counseling
sessions at 20 institutions this year, said Joseph Booth, a company spokesman.
The Indiana Institute of Technology directs students to complete exit counseling through
OpenNet, an online service run by Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest lender to college
students. The Web sites of George Washington University and Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland show that they do, too.
Before signing in, students must agree to a disclaimer allowing Sallie Mae to use their
data for purposes beyond loan processing, ’~rovided the proposed usage does not violate
applicable laws and regulations or any confidentiality obligations."
The financial aid director at Indiana Tech, Teresa M. Vasquez, said, "I didn’t know that."
She said Indiana Tech had been using Sallie Mae’s exit counseling for three years.
Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Mae, said the students’ data was shared with the
students’ lenders, whom they identify in the online exit counseling. Sallie Mae also uses
their e-mail addresses to send solicitations from "partners" of Sallie Mae, "where we have
struck deals with industry-leading third parties, like Geico for insurance," Mr. Joyce
said.
At the end of the counseling, a link leads students to consolidate with Sallie Mae if they
choose, Mr. Joyce said, but it is available only to students who have already chosen
Sallie Mae as a lender.
The Department of Education does not forbid the use of private lenders to conduct exit
Page 447
counseling, a spokeswoman, Jane Glickman, said. "A lender may participate in exit
counseling sessions offered by the school," she said, "~rovided that the school mmintains
control of the session and school staff members are present."
Senator Edward M. Kernuedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the education
committee, is examining exit counseling as part of an investigation into student lending.
Mr. Ker~nedy said in a statement, "When schools refer students to these counseling
services, they should be able to rely on honest advice about their financial future -- not
be subjected to unexpected marketing pitches from lenders."
Ms. Prisco of Loyola said that next year the university would consider making it clearer
that the sessions were conducted by lenders. "I’m not saying thmt maybe we can’t make
things a little more transparent," she said.
Weeks after her exit counseling at Loyola, Ms. Jones is still mmrveling over the session.
She wrote an opinion coluntn in the student newspaper, The Los Angeles Loyolan, denouncing
the workshop as "’nothing more than an hourlong advertisement."
"It just seemed really shady and underhanded the way it was run," Ms. Jones said. "I still
feel like I was duped."
Jonathan D. Glarer contributed reporting.
Associated Press
Investigator makes Justice Department referral in controversial federal reading program
JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) A federal investigator looking into allegations of conflict of interest

and mismanagemen~ in a $1 billion-a-year Education Department reading program said Friday
he has referred the matter to the Justice Department.
John Higgins, the Education Department’s inspector general, refused to specify for
reporters what he has asked government prosecutors to look at, but investigators hmve been
highly critical of the department’s management of the Reading First program.
Referrals are made by investigators when they encotulter evidence of possible federal
crimes or other misconduct, which only the Justice Department hms authority to pursue.
A spokesmmn for the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, Cb~nning
Phillips, confirmed that the referral had been received by the department’s civil
division. When the civil division handles such referrals, the end result would usually be
a lawsuit seeking to recover funds rather than criminal charges being filed, he said,
although it is possible that after review criminal action might be called for.
Reading First, created by President Bush’s signature No Child Left Behind law, offers
intensive reading help for low-income children in the early grades. But investigators say
that federal officials intervened to influence state and local decisions about what
programs to use, a potential violation of the law. Some of the people who were influencing
those decisions had a financia! interest in the programs that were being pushed, officials
said.
"’I think we’re very close to a criminal enterprise here,’’ House Education and Labor
Committee chairman George Miller, D-Calif., said at an investigative hearing Friday.
"’Have you made any criminal referrals, Mr. Higgins?’’
"’We have made referrals to the Department of Justice,’’ Higgins said.
~ller said his committee may also make crimina! referrals. "’I think when we put the
evidence together we may join you in those criminal referrals,’’ Miller told Higgins.
Page 448
But Reading First’s former director told la~nakers Friday he did nothing wrong, despite
investigators’ findings that the Education Department skirted the law and ethical
standards.
In scathing exchanges with Miller, former Reading First program director Chris Doherty
defended his and his colleagues’ work implementing the program.
Despite several attempts by ~ller to elicit admissions of wrongdoing, Doherty refused,

offering explanations for several of the complaints brought by the Education Department’s
inspector general and the Government Accountability Office.
"’You’ve suggested because of logistics, because of the time frame, because you might get
50 applications all at the same time, you hmve a whole litany of reasons why you didn’t
have to abide by the law,’’ Miller said.
"’We thought then and we think now we did abide by the law,’’ replied Doherty, who stepped
doeth last year.
An inspector general report late last year stated that the reading program was beset by
conflicts of interest and mismanagement.
The inspector general stated tb~t the review panels were stacked with people who shmred
Doherty’s views and that Doherty repeatedly used his influence to push states toward
programs he favored.
"’Our work showed that the department did not comply with the Reading First statute
regarding the composition of the application review panel and criteria for acceptable
programs,’’ said John Higgins, the Education Department’s inspector general. "’Further,
the department’s actions created an appearance that it may have violated statutory
provisions that prohibit it from influencing the curriculum of schools.’’
More recently, The Associated Press reported that the program may have yet another
conflict-of-interest problem. The Education Department contractor hired to help set up and
implement key parts of the Reading First progr~n beginning in 2002 also has been brought
in to help evaluate how wel! the program is doing.
California Rep. Buck McKeon, the education panel’s senior Republican, has proposed a ban
on any contractor evaluating a program that it had a role in implementing. Me and
Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, are
pushing bills that would tighten conflict-of-interest rules in the reading program and
m~ke it harder for federa! officials or contractors to influence !ocal curriculum
decisions.
The Education Department has pledged to make changes to ensure there will not be future
problems in the Reading First program.
Doherty suggested in prepared testimony that "’a distorted story’’ based on "’the worst
possible interpretation of events’’ has been told about the Reading First program.
"’We were never told on any occasion we were violating the law,’’ Doherty said at the
hearing.
Hours before the hearing began, the Education Department released statistics showing
Reading First schools saw improvement in reading fluency and comprehension for first and
third graders between 2004 and 2006. But from the start, the program has been dogged by
accusations of impropriety.
USA Today
Reading program to get Justice review
April 20, 2007 05:58 PM ET

Page 449
WASH~IGTON -- The U.S. Education Department’s inspector general, who spent nearly two
years investigating allegations of mismanagement in President Bush’s $i billion-a-year
Reading First program, has referred the matter to the U.S. Justice Department.
It wasn’t immediately clear on Friday who the subject of the investigation might be, or
whether John Higgins, who led the Education Department’s investigation, asked Justice to
pursue criminml charges or a civi! complaint.
But Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee and
is investigating the program on his own, told Higgins: "I think when we put the evidence
together we may join you in those crimina! referrals."
Higgins’ revelation came during sworn testimony before the committee. He wouldn’t
elaborate when pressed by reporters afterward, saying he couldn’t comment on an ongoing
investigation.
Reading First, a centerpiece of Bush’s domestic agenda, aims to help low-income children
learn to read by the time they finish third grade. But mismanagement issues have plagued
it since its inception in 2002. Friday’s hearing focused on allegations that a select
group of advisors steered states toward buying textbooks and tests that they and close
associates developed, and that department officials stacked review panels with reviewers
partial to materials the administration favored.
In one case heard during Friday’s testimony, Kentucky officials had to submit their
application four times before Reading First reviewers approved it --and only after
Kentucky agreed to dump a proven reading test and adopt one developed by a Reading First
advisor.
Wiggins also found that federal officials jettisoned the program’s own rules for setting
up expert review panels, stacking several ~rith Education Department favorites. They also
broke rules by having program staffers alter remarks made by actual reviewers on state
applications for Reading First money.
Three Reading First advisors testified that they have earned six-figure royalties since
schools began receiving funding under the program. One, Roland Good, a researcher at the
University of Oregon, said his testing company, in which he holds a 50% share, earned
$1,291,933 from 2003-2006.
Two others, Deborah Simmons, a researcher at Texas A~I, and Edward Kame’enui, a University
of Oregon researcher, said they earned about $150,000 last year from royalties on a
popular textbook series for young readers.
The revelations prompted Miller to quip, "That sounds like an inside job."
But the program’s former director, Chris Doherty, who testified that he was essentially
forced to resign in September after the release of Higgins’ first report, on Friday
defended the program, noting that several early evaluations have been positive -- and
suggesting the $i billion schools get each year has made a huge difference.
Doherty said the conflict revolves arottnd "an undeniable, underlying tension" that forces
officials to ensure that schools are using scientifically-based reading materials, but
prohibits the officials from prescribing a specific curriculum.
"I can only basically restate that I’m very proud of the program," Doherty said in an
interview after the hearing. "I’m very proud of my role in it. I feel like I implented the
law in the way it was written and the way it was intended."
Outside of Washington, he said, Reading First has developed "a real sense of community and
family" among schools and state administrators. The mismanagement allegations, he said,
are "absolutely unrepresentative of the program as a whole."
He said he spoke with Justice Department investigators last fall.
"I’ve had one conversation with the Department of Justice," Doherty said in an interview.
"I met with them one time in the first week of November and I haven’t heard since."
Page 450
He added, "I was invited down to talk to those guys -- I talked with them of my own free
wil!."
Officials with the Justice Department could not be reached Friday after the hearing, and
Education Department spokeswoman Katherine HcLane said she couldn’t comment.
Cindy Cupp, a Savannah, Ga., educator who saw Georgia schools over!ook her homegrown
phonics program after Reading First reviewers refused to fund schools who chose it, said
Friday’s hearing "exceeded my expectations."
She first complained about the oversight three and a half years ago, she said.
"The fact that it took three and a half years to get here (is) a long time, but I’m
pleased. I’m very pleased."
Bloomberg
Gonzales Among .Appointees on Schoo! Violence Panel
By Julianna Goldman
April 20 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush is naming three Cabinet officials,

including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, to study violence in America’s schools and
recommend ways to avoid tragedies like the mass murder earlier this week at Virginia Tech
university, the White House said.
The two other Cabinet members are Secretary Michael Leavitt of the Department of Health
and Human Services and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
The president plans to announce formation of the group tomorrow in his weekly radio
address. Departing from practice, the White House al!owed the news media to report the
appointments today instead of waiting for the broadcast.
"’We can never fully understand what would cause a student to take the lives of 32
innocent people,’’ Bush said in his prepared radio remarks. He said he asked the three
Cabinet officials "’to provide the Virginia Tech community with whatever assistance we can
and to participate in a review of the broader questions raised by this tragedy.’’
The president said the group, led by Leavitt, will travel around the country and consult
with educators, menta! health experts and state and !ocal officials and then report back
to him. The White House didn’t announce a deadline for the report.
To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at Jgoldman6

@bloo~erg.net
Last Updated: April 20, 2007 14:04 EDT
FOX Mews
Saving ’No Child Left Behind’ From Itself Friday, _April 20, 2007 By Dan Lips
Conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill have introduced a bill that would let states opt
out of many of the mandates imposed by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
Under the new approach, states would be free to use federal education funds as they see
fit, provided they maintain student testing to assess their progress and make the test
results publicly available.
Some NCLB supporters charge that the conservative plan would undermine accountability.
Sandy Kress, a former Bush administration education adviser, protested: "Republicans used
to stand for rigor and standards, but no money for education. Now they seem to be for the
money, but no standards."
But a closer look suggests that the real threat to accountability and transparency in
Page 451
public?education is NCLB itself. Indeed, the conservative opt-out plan to restore state-
level control may be the best option for salvaging accountability for parents and
taxpayers.
The law requires states to test students annually and offers a menu of penalties for
schools that fai! to show progress on those exams. States must measure up against a
baseline that rises every year up to 2014, at which point all students are expected to
score "~roficient" on the tests.
States, however, establish the content standards and passing thresholds of the tests --
meaning there’s an incentive for states to lower testing standmrds to avoid federa!
sanctions.
Some are doing this already. Though states can use their own exams to assess performance
among all students, they must also administer the "National Assessment of Educationa!
Progress" (NAEP) to a sample of students. This makes it easy to compare proficiency rates
in reading and math as measured by the NAEP with what the states report using their own
tests.
Not surprisingly, the comparison sometimes unveils a huge disparity, with Tennessee and
Oklahoma, for example, reporting high proficiency rates on their tests that aren’t matched
by a similar performance on the NAEP.
The simple conclusion: Some states are "dumbing dome" their exams to let more students
pass and more schools show "adequate yearly progress" under NCLB.
Just imagine what parents in Illinois thought when they saw this recent headline in the
Chicago Tribune: "Making Grade Just Got Easier." The article reported that "a record
number of Illinois schools escaped federal No Child Left Behind sanctions this school
year, largely because of changes in how schools are judged and alterations that made state
achievement exams easier for students to pass.’"
For the education bureaucracy, it’s far more imperative to avoid bad publicity and federal
sanctions -- whatever it takes -- than to offer honest, useful performance assessments to
parents and taxpayers. That’s a serious indictment of federal intervention.
Consider what it means for the future. As we approach 2014, when all children are supposed
to reach proficiency under NCLB, state benchmmrks wil! rise, as will the incentive for
states to lower the bar to avoid penalties.
In some states, 2014 may arrive with all children declared "proficient" and no schools
labeled "in need of improvement." That may be a happy day for politicians, but not for
parents who want to kno~ whether their children are learning.
Everyone agrees that public schools should be held accountable. The real question is:
Accountable to whom?
The answer is that schools should be accountable to those who can make a difference.
Ultimately, that’s parents, not politicians or bureaucrats. But NCLB seeks to mmke local
schools accountable to federal bureaucrats, even though Washington provides only about 8
percent of what is spent on !ocal education.
Unlike bureaucrats, parents are not so concerned about whether all public schools are
labeled "proficient" by 2014. A third-grader today will be in high school when that day
arrives. What parents want to know now is whether their children are making progress in
the classroom each day and each school year.
Accountability should be geared toward providing transparency about school performance,
thereby empowering parents and local citizens. The best way to do that is to give those
with the greatest interest in children’s success -- their parents -- the opportunity to
make decisions based on that information.
Ironically, the No Child Left Behind "opt-out" provision is the most promising way to
protect the goals of the law: to make public education truly transparent and accountable.
Dan Lips is an education analyst at The Heritage Foundation (heritage. org), a leading
Page 452
Washington-based public-policy institution.
Page 453
Nonresponsit
Sent: April 20, 2007 8:41 AM
To: Private-Spellings, Margaret; Farris, Amanda; Conaty, Joseph; Rosenfelt, Phil; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia;
Subject: Main Troubled Reading Program Draws Heat From Congress (ABC)
Main Troubled Reading Program Draws Heat From Congress (ABC)

By Joseph Rhee
ABC News, April 19, 2007
The Department of Education today touted what it called successes in its troubled multi-billion-dollar reading grant program,
even as a prominent lawmaker accused it of hiding information about the grant money.
Citing "strong gains" in reading proficiency among American children receiving instn.~ction through the Reading First grant
program, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education Amanda Farris said it was evidence of"tremendous progress."
The number of first-graders at schools receiving grant money meeting or exceeding reading standards on "fluency outcome
measures" increased by 14 percentage points, the study found. The number of third-graders at Reading First schools meeting or
exceeding those standards for their age level increased by seven percentage points.
"We rarely see this kind of success from a federal education program," Fan’is said of the report, according to a press
release from the department.
But others saw the report as evidence of a problem. In a letter to the department today, House Education and Labor
Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., charged the Education Department with withholding the report for months from his
committee’s investigators.
In late February, Miller wrote, his staff requested a state-by-state breakdown of where the billions of dollars in Reading First
grant money had gone - information that was included in the department’s report released today.
But Miller’s staff received the information only yesterday, he wrote. "It is inconceivable to me that the Department withheld
the request information from Committee investigators who had been conducting a formal Congressional inquiry." He demanded
to know of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings whether her staff had deliberately withheld the information from his panel.
The fireworks come on the eve of a major hearing in Miller’s committee on the Reading First program, which has been
plagued with accusations of bias, improper political influence and fraud.
The Education Department’s inspector general has mounted six separate investigations into the matter, one of which
concluded in February that the program had inappropriately steered billions in grant money towards a select group of companies.
An Education Department official criticized that report, saying it "did not recognize the positive aspects" of the program’s
activities.
At tomorrows hearing, Miller told ABC News he hoped to determine whether the misdeeds within the program amount to
criminal activity. "You could not end up with the result that they ended up with without intending from the very outset to either
ignore the law, violate the law, distort the law," he said in a recent interview. "At that point, yes, it raises question about criminal
activity and criminal intent."
Secretary Spellings turned down ABC News’ request for an interview on the Reading First program.
Page 454
Nonrespons
Sent: April 20, 2007 8:39 AM
Dorfrnan, Cynthia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath,
John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzmich, Holly; Toorney, Liam; Maddox, Lauren;
Subject: Gulf Coast Sum m er Reading s~ories (3)
Education Secretary Hands Out Books To Coast Schools (AP)

AP, April 20, 2007
KILN - Education Secretary Margaret Spellings read to students along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and passed out free
books as part of a new summer reading initiative.
Spellings met Wednesday with students of the consolidated Charles B. Murphy (Peadington) and Gulfview (Lakeview)
elementary schools, which now holds classes on Hancock Middle School grounds in trailers after their schools were wiped out by
Hurricane Katrina.
She read "Alphabet Adventure" to about 40 first- and second-graders and addressed students in the gymnasium.
’They are eager young learners just like you’d find at any school across the country, and I think the fact that they face this
particular challenge, they are mighty learners, so I am impressed," Spellings said afterwards.
First lady Laura Bush had intended to accompany Spellings on the trip, but canceled late Tuesday night.
Spellings said the 2007 Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative is a partnership among the Department of Education, First
Book and Scholastic Inc. with the goal of passing out 500,000 new books this spdng for students in the areas affected by
hurricanes Katdna and Rita.
The program would place books in libraries, schools and homes in an effort to keep students’ reading skills honed over the
summer.
The schools received the Level 5 accountability rating, which is the highest the state gives, and Spelling said it is proof they
are on the right track.
Teachers Katie Wiltz and Lauren Turcotte both said their first- and second-grade students have given much emotional
support since the storm and so far, this school year has been much better than the last.
’The kids have done a fantastic job helping us through it," Wiltz said, explaining the students didn’t mind watching their
teachers cry during tough times.
-MORE DETAILS AS THEY DEVELOP AND ~-OMORROW IN PRINT AND ONLINE EDITIONS
Secretary Of Education Visits Coast Students (BSH MS)

By Michael Newsom
Biloxi (MS) Sun-Herald, Apdl 20, 2007
Tdp part of new reading initiative
KILN --Rows of enthusiastic students in an elaborately decorated temporary classroom greeted U.S. Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings on Wednesday and she passed out mountains of free books as part of a new summer reading initiative.
The secretary met with students of the consolidated Chades B. Murphy and Gulfview elementary schools, which now hold
classes on Hancock Middle School grounds in trailers atter their schools were wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. She read
"Alphabet Adventure" to about 40 first- and second-graders and addressed students in the gymnasium.
Afterwards, Spellings said the students are prevailing over the hand the storm dealt them.
’They are eager young learners just like you’d find at any school across the country, and I think the fact that they face this
particular challenge, they are mighty learners, so I am impressed," she said.
First lady Laura Bush had intended to accompany Spellings on the trip, but canceled late Tuesday night. A statement
released from her office said Bush, who has made 16 tdps to the Gulf Coast since the storm, would reschedule.
Spellings and others on Wednesday unveiled the 2007 Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative. The effort is a partnership
among the Department of Education, First Book and Scholas!Jc Inc. with the goal of passing out 500,000 new books this spring
Page 455
for students in the areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The program would place books in libraries, schools and homes
in an effort to keep students’ reading skills honed over the summer.
The schools received the Level 5 accountability rating, which is the highest the state gives, and Spelling said it is proof they
are on the right track. Teachers Katie Wiltz and Lauren Turcotte both said their first- and second-grade students have given
much emotional support since the storm and so far, this school year has been much better than the last.
’qhe kids have done a fantastic job helping us through it," Wiltz said, explaining the students didn’t mind watching their
teachers cry during tough times.
Laura Bush Visits New Orleans, Announces More Library Grants (NOTP)
By Darran Simon
New Orleans Times Picayune, April 20, 2007
First Lady Laura Bush kicked off her visit to New Orleans at a breakfast Thursday morning calling for support for a program
that would help her foundation continue rebuilding devastated libraries along the Gulf Coast.
Zurich Financial, the sponsor of this week’s professional golf tournament on the West Bank, will donate to the Birdies for
Books program $100 for every birdie made at the event. Bush’s foundation, the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries,
will benefit from the Zurich program.
’q’his is actually one time when we want sub-par performances," Bush said at a breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in
downto~ New Orleans as the golf tournament began at the TPC on the West Bank.
Since 2005, Bush’s foundation has awarded $2.5 million in grants to help rebuild school libraries in Mississippi, Louisiana,
Florida and Texas.
’Rebuilt libraries will bring children back to the their schools," Bush said. "And rebuilt schools will bring families back to a
revitalized Gulf Coast."
After the breakfast, Bush visited the Holy Cross School in the Lower Ninth Ward. She announced the school will receive a
$50,000 grant to help rebuild its libraries, one of 14 grants totalling $502,000 announced today for schools in Louisiana and
Mississippi.
Holy Cross’ library had 50,000 volumes before Katrina struck, but presently has only 500.
’q-his money is essential to he school in rebuilding its libraries," said Holy Cross teacher Mark Lasserre, who teaches
computers, robotics and journalism. "We’re starting essentially from ground zero."
In Harvey, St. Ville Academy for high school preparation received a $25,000 grant. St. Ville librarian Priscilla Kelly said her
school switched from being an elementary to a middle schoolthis year, and because of that, she plans to use the award to
upgrade the public school’s collection of reference, history, poetry, biography and fiction.
Other New Orleans area schools receiving grants: Edna Karr High School in Algiers, Sophie B. Wright Charter Middle
School in Uptown New Orleans, J.F. Gauthier Elementary School in St. Bernard, Alice M. Harte Charter School in Algiers and
Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy in Jefferson.
Page 456
NonresDons
Sent: April 20, 2007 8:37 AM
Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Conklin, Kristin; Oldham,
Cheryl; Schray, Vickie; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson,
Vincent
Subject: Loan Database Shutdown Could Cause Delays (USNEWS)
Loan Database Shutdown Could Cause Delays (USNEWS)

By Kimberly Palmer
Students could face delays in getting their loans as a result of the Education Department’s decision to block access to the
central loan database, according to lenders that rely on the database. Meanwhile, student advocates lauded the decision as a
much-needed response to misuse of the system.
The Education Department blocked access to the database Tuesday after reports that lenders were using it for marketing
purposes, which is prohibited. Lenders are allowed access to data only for students with whom they already have relationships.
The database was created by Congress in 1986 to keep track of which students have which loans.
"[Lenders] have to check to see ira student is eligible before they can make a loan to them," says Harrison Wadsworth,
special counsel to the Consumer Bankers Association, which represents the banks that participate in federal student loan
programs. The shutdown, he says, will cause lenders to move more slowly and in some cases hold off action if there are
questions that need to be checked against the database.
Loan consolidations will also be affected, he says, because students sometimes forget to include certain loans in their
consolidation and lenders use the database to make sure they are all included. "It just kind of grinds things to a halt," Wadsworth
says. Even if the database shutdown lasts only another week, it will slowthings down during this busy period, he adds.
Sallie Mae, the largest student loan company, referred questions about the database to the National Council of Higher
Education Loan Programs, which represents schools, lenders, and collection agencies. Brett Lief, president of the council, said
the database shutdown could result in eligible students getting rejection notices because lenders rely on the database to confirm
eligibility and correct errors in other data.
"It’s happening at a bad time .... If a student doesnt think they’ll get aid at their first choice because of an error in the
record, the fact that it’s closed down could really hurt a number of students," says Lief.
An Education Department spokeswoman said she was unable to say when database access would be restored. In a letter
to Sen. Ted Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Education Department
Secretary Margaret Spellings said that during the blockage, the department will review the database usage and consider
updating its guidance to users. "Recognizing that students and families depend on vital financial aid dollars to suppor~ their
education, the department will work to minimize any disruption in service," Spellings wrote. Students’ access to their own loan
information is not affected.
Kennedy had requested the shutdown of the database Sunday, after the inappropriate usage was first reported in the
Washington Post. Spellings said the department had already taken action against 261 instances of suspicious activity on the
database but gave no details.
"It’s a great idea to limit the access these lenders have to this database because it shouldn’t be used to solicit students to
take out additional loans," says Rebecca Thompson, legislative director for the U.S. Student Association.
Thompson says she otten hears from students who are contacted by loan companies, sometimes with confusing
solicitations, and they wonder howthe companies obtained their personal information. "[The shutdown] is one way to make sure
lenders aren’t accessing students’ information to solicit them," she says.
Luke Swarthout, higher education advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, says that even if the shutdown
causes some delays, it will help students in the long run by protecting the financial aid system from corruption. "A timely review
[of database usage] is clearly necessary," he says.
Page 457
The move to shut down the database was described as too little, too late by Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House
Education and Labor Committee. In a conference call with reporters, he said he intends to investigate the abuses of the
database system and whether borrowers’ privacy rights were violated.
’qhe student loan database is there for the benefit of the student loan program. While it’s a rich environment for other uses,
neither the students nor the families signed up for those purposes," said Miller.
Page 458
Nonresponsi
kat’nerin e-rncl’ane{
\~ / \"~n :{ I,~ ~, { t~lf,otrn: .............................
April 20, 2007 6:02 AM
Bannerman, Kristin; Rosenfelt, Phil; Taylor, Jeff; Conaty, Joseph; Farris, Amanda; Beaton,
Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara MarLinez;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Testimony alleges mismanagement of federal reading program (USAT)
Testfmony alleges mismanagement of federal reading program By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
Federa! advisors mismanmged President Bush’s $i billion-a-year reading program and
profited from close ties to the Bush administration, according to testimony released
Thursday -- in one case repeatedly rejecting one state’s funding proposal unti! state
officials dumped a successful reading test and bought one written by a top Bush advisor.
In the first of two expected hearings, scheduled for Friday, House lawmakers will probe
alleged mismanagement of Bush’s $i billion-a-year Reading First program. The U.S.
Education Department’s inspector general found that early implementation of the program --
a key part of Bush’s 2002 No Child Left Behind education reform -- was plagued with
conflicts of interest on the part of top a~isors, several of whom are authors of reading
textbooks or tests; they also advised states on what materials to buy.
According to prepared testimony to be delivered on Capitol Hill Friday, Start Lewis,
Kentucky’s associate commissioner of education, says that when she and others pointed out
what they considered a clear conflict, a deputy to then-Education Secretary Rod Paige told
them there were "no conflicts of interest."
Lewis’ written testimony was released late Thursday by U.S. Rep. George ~ller, D-Calif.,
who chairs the House Education Committee.
In her testimony, Lewis says it was only after more than a year’s worth of rewriting that
federal officials approved Kentucky’s Reading First grant -- and only after the state
agreed to drop a favored reading test in favor of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literati
Skills, or DIBELS, which was deve!oped by University of Oregon researcher Roland Good, who
served on a federal committee that reviewed reading tests. She also notes that one member
of a team assigned to help Kentucky with its proposal trained teachers to use DIBELS.
While printed copies of DIBELS are available free online, Lewis notes in her testimony,
they are unwieldy, difficult to use and don’t lend themselves to "fast turnaround of
results." So Kentucky purchased handheld computers that run DIBELS software -- paying a
contractor nearly $725,000 over the past three years for the tests alone. Good and another
Oregon researcher, Edward Kame’enui, helped develop the handheld system. Both are
scheduled to testify today.
Federal disclosure forms show that in 2005, Kame’enui, now a top Bush administration
education official, earned between $i00,001 and $i million on royalties from reading
materials he developed.
Miller has cited Kentucky problems as a model of how badly manmged Reading £irst was in
its early stages.
Education Secretary ~rgaret Spellings has already told la~makers that she’s bringing more
oversight to the program, and a few evaluations have suggested that schools are benefiting
from its materials and training.
But Friday’s hearing is expected to bring to light the extent to which Good, Kame’enui and
others profited from their association with the program they helped develop.
The U.S. Education Department on Thursday released three-year test results for schools
Page 459
participating in Reading First, saying the percentage of students whose reading skills
improved grew sharply. But department officials offered no comparable data on schools that
did not use Reading First, saying that oomparison is not expected t~til next year.
In the study from 2004 to 2006, the percentage of first-graders meeting or exceeding
proficiency standards on reading fluency grew from 43% to 57%. The percentage of third-
graders improving grew from 36% to 43%.
"We feel like these are very i~ressive gains," said Amanda Farris, a deputy assistant
secretary of education, who oversees the program.
But Farris offered no data on students attending schools that don’t receive a portion of
the $1 billion Reading First annual grants, saying a comparison to schools outside the
program is "a little bit of a difficult question to answer" because states use a variety
of tests to assess reading, even within grades.
Control group comparisons are expected to be part of a larger Reading First evaluation due
out next year, Farris said.
Thursday’s data release brought a rebuke from Miller, who said his committee asked the
Education Department for state-by-state breakdowns of Reading First funding and
assessments on Feb. 27 and again on Mmrch 29, with no reply until Wednesday.
He said much of the information he requested is the same as thmt now being released to the
media.
"It is inconceivable to me that the department withheld the requested information from
committee investigators who have been conducting a formal Congressional inquiry," he said
in a letter to Spellings.
Miller asked Spellings to tell him whether department staff "deliberately withheld" the
information from the committee and when the department "first possessed the information"
on types of reading assessments used by the states.
In a terse reply sent late Thursday, Spellings told Miller, "My staff has not deliberately
withheld any requested information."
Do You Yahoo!?
Page 460
Nonresponsi
April 20, 2007 5:58 AM

ro: Dunckel, Denise; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Sampson, Vincent; Quarles, Karen;
Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, Da,~id;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: From AI Kamen’s WP column
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chmirman of the House Education and Labor Committee, wasn’t
pleased to find that the Department of Education waited until this week to provide data --
first reported yesterday in The Washington Post -- thmt showed a $1-billion-a-year reading
program is helping kids. Miller shot off an angry letter to Education Secretary I~argaret
Spellings saying thmt his office, probing cronyism and mismanagement in the Reading First
program, had asked for the info two months ago but never got it.
The department tells our colleague ~it R. Paley thmt it doesn’t know what Miller is
talking about and has complied with his requests. Stay tuned.
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of sputum? Yahoo! flail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Page 461
Nonresponsiv
Sent: April 19, 2007 8:49 AM
John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzrnich, Holly; Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren;
Cc" Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Secretary of Education visits Coast students (BSN)
Secretary of Education visits Coast students

Trip part of new reading initiative
By M!CHAEL NEWSOM
Biloxi Sun Herald
Rows of enthusiastic students in an elaborately decorated temporary classroom greeted U.S. Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings on Wednesday and she passed out mountains of free books as part of a new summer reading
initiative.
The secretary met with students of the consolidated Charles B. Murphy and Gulfview elementary schools, ~vhich
now hold classes on Hancock Middle School grounds in trailers after their schools were wiped out by Hurricane
Katrina. She read "Alphabet Adventure" to aloout 40 first- and second-graders and addressed students in the
gymnasium.
Afterwards, Spellings said the students are prevailing over the hand the storm dealt them.
"They are eager yomN learners just like you’d find at any school across the country, and I think the fact that they
face this particular challenge, they are mighty learners, so I am impressed," she said.
First lady Laura Bush had intended to accompany Spellings on the trip, but canceled late Tuesday night. A
statement released from her office said Bush, who has made 16 trips to the Gulf Coast since the storm, would
reschedule.
Spellings and others on Wednesday unveiled the 2007 Gulf Coast Summer Reading Initiative. The effort is a
partnership among the Department of Education, First Book and Scholastic Inc. with the goal of passing out
500,000 new books this spring for students in the areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The program
would place books in libraries, schools and homes in an effort to keep students’ reading skills honed over the
summer.
The schools received the Level 5 accountability rating, which is the highest the state gives, and Spelling said it
is proof they are on the right track. Teachers Katie Wiltz and Lauren Turcotte both said their first- and second-
grade students have given much emotional support since the storm and so far, this school year has been much
better than the last.
"The kids have done a fantastic job helping us through it," ~Viltz said, explaining the students didn’t mind
watching their teachers cry during tough limes.
Page 462
lNonresponsivl
Sent: April 19, 2007 8:37 AM
To: Private-Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia;
Subject: SMS Gulf Coast, TX stories (4)
Education Secretary Delivers Praise And Books To Hancock Schools (WLOX)

First Lady Postpones Visit To Miss. Coast; Spellings Still Coming (AP)
A Visit With Margaret Spellings (OA TX)
U.S. Secretary Of Education Gives Speech At UTPB (KWES)
Education Secretary Delivers Praise And Books To Hancock Schools (WLOX)

By Steve Phillips
WLOX-TV Biloxi, Mississippi, April 18, 2007
The U.S. Secretary of Education delivered congratulations and boxes of books to schools in Hancock County on
Wednesday.
’q-he little letter "i" tripped on a bump. Help she cried!" read Margaret Spellings to a classroom of kids at GulMew-Charles
B. Murphy Elementary in Hancock County.
The highest ranking education official in Amedca seemed right at home with the first and second graders. Only an
abundance of flashbulbs pointed to someone special reading "Alphabet Adventure".
Education Secretary Spellings stepped into the spotlight at the last minute. She was to be accompanied by First Lady
Laura Bush, who had a late schedule change.
America’s education boss read to the children and got a progress report from their teacher.
"We’re all happy. And things are so much better. And many of them are back in their homes," said an emotional Laura
Turcotte, who teaches first graders.
’1 really want to say a great big congratulations. ’Cause I’m very proud of you. Not only for the physical rebuilding that’s
going on, but all that you’re accomplishing academically," said Secretary Spellings at a schoolwide assembly.
Despite Katrina-related heartache and challenges, these students have maintained superior academic ratings. The
secretary encouraged the kids and brought gifts to help them maintain that success.
"Yes, there’s some for everybody in the whole school. But we’re starting with you all," she said, clutching an armful of brand
new books.
Boxes of books were available to everyone. In all, one million will be distributed to children in hurricane stricken areas of the
Gulf Coast.
"And that’s why you have all this good stuff. So you can keep on reading all summer," said the Education Secretary.
First Lady Postpones Visit To Miss. Coast; Spellings Still Coming (AP)
AP, April 19, 2007
JACKSON, Miss. -- First Lady Laura Bush has postponed her trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, according to a statement
from the White House on Tuesday.
Bush and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings were supposed to visit the Mississippi coast on Wednesday, handing
out books to children under a program designed to keep children reading over the summer. Spellings still plans to be in
Mississippi on Wednesday, officials said.
Page 463
IV~s. Bush will visit New Orleans on Thursday.

President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush attended a memorial service yesterday at Virginia Tech.
Spellings was scheduled to visit Wednesday with volunteers from Helping Americans Needing Disaster Support and the
Family Restoration Coalition in Pass Christian on Wednesday before heading to Gulfview-Charles B. Murphy Elementary School
in Kiln.
A Visit With Margaret Spellings (OA TX)

By Michael Castellon
Odessa (TX) American, April 18, 2007
A day alter shootings at Virginia Tech claimed 33 lives, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings addressed the
Permian Basin at the JBS Public Leadership Institute’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
’What we can do and will do is bring resources like counseling and those sorts of services (to the students at Virginia
Tech)," Spellings said. ’These sorts of things can happen in any community."
Although the thoughts of Blacksburg, Va., hung over the crowd of about 200 at UTPB, which included University of Texas
Chancellor Mark Yudof, Spellings continued with her original plan discussing accessibility, affordability and accountability.
One UTPB student listened intently to what Spellings had to say Tuesday night in the UTPB gym.
’I’m studying to be a teacher in special education and this’ll be important to me in the future," UTPB junior Candice
Campbell said.
One question addressed by Spellings was the criticism from educators about "teaching to the test," which some say
stemmed from the No Child Left Behind Act, an act Spellings helped introduce.
As Odessa students are knee-deep in TAKS this week, Spellings said standardized tests, like the Texas Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills, are to gauge student progress from year-to-year and the material on the tests should be exactly what
students should learn at their respective grade level.
’It germinated ... instigated, was tried and proven to work here in Texas," Spellings said. ’There’s nothing wrong with
teaching to the test."
She also rejected any notion that her department would attempt to institute standardized testing for college students.
Spellings applauded President Bush’s call for more money for the Pell Grant for higher education students.
Moreover, she called for secondary schools to adopt more advanced placement classes to better challenge America’s
youth, which is behind the international average.
"Our schools are failing to challenge our student’s in the first place," she said. "We live in a world where knowledge is the
universal currency."
U.S. Secretary Of Education Gives Speech At UTPB (KWES)

By Camaron Abundes
KWES-TV Odessa, Texas, April 19, 2007
ODESSA, TEXAS- Hundreds gathered at the UTPB campus Tuesday night, to attend the John Ben Shepperd Public
Leadership Institutes Distinguished Lecture Series with special guest, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
The night began with a moment of silence.
’~/e are all focused on Virginia right now and that terrible tragedy, this is a fine place for us to take a moment and
remember them," said Dr. W. David Watts, president of UTPB.
Secretary Spellings congratulated UTPB for their leadership role in higher education. She also took the time to campaign
for the possible re-authorization of the No Child Lelt Behind Act.
’The philosophy, is to measure every kid, every year and hold yourself accountable for their achievement and give your self
a deadline, that by 2014we are going to have every kid working on grade level," said Secretary Spellings.
Secretary Spellings defended the notion of teaching exclusively to increase test scores doesnt work.
’There is nothing wrong with teaching to the test. If we want kids to know long division and long division is taught because it
is on the test, that’s been going on in education since we were in school even," she said.
Page 464
Nonresponsi
Sent: April 19, 2007 8:33 AM
John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzrnich, Holly; Toorney, Liarn; Maddox, Lauren;
Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Quarles, Karen; Bannerm an,
Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson, Vincent; Conklin, Kristin; Oldharn, Cheryl; Schray, Vickie
Subject: Lawmaker Urges "Ern ergency" Stud ent Loan Reform s (WP)
Lawmaker Urges "Emergency" Student Loan Reforms (WP)

By Kevin Drawbaugh
WASHINGTON -The Democratic chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Education Committee on Wednesday
urged the Bush administration to quickly adopt emergency reforms to eliminate bribes and cronyism in the embattled student
loan industry.
Amid a widening conflict-of-interest scandal in the $85-billion business, California Rep. George Miller told reporters that the
U.S. Department of Education "has failed to conduct adequate oversight of the student loan industry."
tvtller called on Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to "clearly define and end bribes paid by lenders" to colleges
and universities and for a moratorium on "preferred lender lists," which are at the heart of multiple investigations.
’qhe secretary must immediately require colleges and universities to end the practice of establishing special relationships
with lenders -- which they do by creating ’preferred lender’ lists -- until we can ensure that these lists no longer feed corruption
and cronyism," he said.
IViller said the department has failed for six years to publish regulations on inducements paid by lenders to colleges and
universities in order to receive special treatment.
’q-he secretary must publish emergency regulations to clearly define inducements and bribes," he said.
Further, he called on Spellings to require immediate disclosure by institutions and lenders of existing conflicts of interest
and to take steps to end them.
He urged Spellings to request the department’s inspector general "to investigate all senior Department of Education
employees that work on higher education issues to ensure they have no conflicts of interest with student lenders."
In a letter on Tuesday to Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, who also is pushing for student aid changes,
Spellings addressed some of the department’s critics.
She wrote: "Let me assure you that l hold the department and the thousands of civil service professionals who administer
these programs to the highest ethical standards ...
"1 consider the integrity of the student aid programs, the safeguarding of taxpayer funds and, most importantly, the best
interests of America’s students to be among my greatest responsibilities."
rvtller’s remarks escalated congressional pressure on the student loan industry and the agency that oversees if_
Several state attorneys general and two committees of Congress, including Miller’s, are investigating financial relationships
between university officials and student lenders that critics say pose conflicts of interesL
IViller and other lawrnakers have introduced legislation that would change how the nation’s complex student aid system
works, directly threatening the business models of major lenders.
Page 465
_._N°nresp°ns_
Sent: April 19, 2007 8:31 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; ’scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov’; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill;
Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dorfman, Cynthia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts,
Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzmich, Holly;
Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren; Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Beaton, Meredith;
Tucker, Sara MaRine.z; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken;
Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson, Vincent; Conklin, Kristin;
Oldham, Cheryl; Schray, Vickie
Subject: Student-Aid Offices Are Reviewing Practices (WSJ)
Student-Aid Offices Are Reviewing Practices (WSJ)

By Anne Marie Chaker
The Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2007
Colleges are re-evaluating their financial-aid operations -- or at least coming under pressure to do so.
As the probe into student lending widens, schools are reviewing their practices. Some are putting letters on their Web sites
defending their lists of recommended lenders. Others are even scrubbing their offices clean of freebies with corporate brands on
them, such as pencils.
In Washington, legislators are asking the Education Department to go even further. Yesterday Rep. George Miller, (D.,
Calif.) chairman of the House education committee, urged Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to impose a "moratorium"
on preferred lender lists "until we can ensure that these lists no longer feed corruption and cronyism."
Rep. Miller plans on holding a hearing on student-loan abuses next week.
But some experts say that getting rid of the lists may not entirely solve the problem of any cozy relationships between
schools and student-loan companies. And it doesn’t help students looking for advice on student loans.
"Shutting out preferred lender lists is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater," says Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of
financial aid Web site FinAid.org. If done objectively, he contends, they can provide an important service.
The Department of Education is also in the process of drafting new rules on prohibited inducements to schools and
preferred-lender lists - expected to be finalized in the coming days. "Rather than abruptly pulling the plug on systems American
families rely on, as [Rep. Miller] suggests, the Department has taken a more deliberative and comprehensive approach," says a
spokeswoman. But schools are already taking steps. On Monday, the University of Texas asked its campus officials to "cease
and desist use of all preferred lender lists."
Vice Chancellor and General Counsel Barry Burgdorf says the cease-and-desist memo was sent pending a
"comprehensive review" of the use of those lists systemwide.
At the University of Califomia at San Diego, director of financial aid Vincent DeAnda last week posted a note on the
school’s Web site defending his use of the lender list, and explaining how lenders are chosen. "We do not receive ’kickbacks’
from any lender, nor do we share in any of the profits from student loans. It is immaterial to UCSD which lender you choose."
More broadly, the University of California is planning a "systemwide review," says financial aid coordinator Nancy Coolidge,
asking officials from all its campuses to assess their choice of recommended lenders and make sure they can defend their
practice& Financial aid directors and other senior officials from the campuses will meet in the coming weeks to discuss those
practices as well as any potential changes they might make. The university will also draft formal policies that will address working
with -- and recommending -- student-loan companies.
At Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo., director of financial aid Jim Swanson last week distributed a letter to parents
at an Open House for admitted students. "We are shocked and disturbed by these reports of unethical behavior by anyone
involved with student aid programs," the letter read, adding that "we would like to assure you that there are no revenue sharing
agreements, stock options, or financial benefits to Colorado College or the financial aid staff from any lender."
At Union College in Scenectady, N.Y., financial aid director Dan Lundquist even went so far as to get rid of corporate-
branded office supplies by donating them to a campus community service outfit.
At Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., dean of admissions and financial aid Monica Inzer is considering getting rid of the
designation "preferred lender," though she wont give up the practice of recommending lenders to students.
Page 467
NonresponsiI
............................. kathedn e-m-el-ariel .......................... I
April 19, 2007 6:07 AM
Dunckel, Denise; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Sampson, Vincent; Quarles, Karen;
Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, Da,,4d;
MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Student Loan Probe Moves Congress to Act (AP)
Student Loan Probe Hoves Congress to Act
By NANCY ZUCKEKBROD
WASHINGTON - A developing scandal over ties between the student loan industry and college
financial aid officers is adding momentum to a congressional push to overhaul the system
for college loans.
Hembers of Congress say new rules, being pushed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo,
on how loan companies deal with campuses should be applied nationwide.
"The case for major reform cannot be clearer. Our current student loan system is broken
and m~tional reform is required," said Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy, who leads
the Senate education committee.
Kennedy and Rep. George Hiller, D-Calif., who heads the House education committee, are
leading the push for congressional action.
The top Republican on the House committee, California Rep. Buck McKeon, also says Congress
must pass legislation to curtail the problems found by Cuomo.
The state attorney general is scheduled to testi~y before the committee next week.
Cuomo says his investigators uncovered numerous arrangements that benefited schools and
lenders at the expense of students. For example, investigators say lenders have provided
al!-expense-paid trips for college financia! aid officers who then steered students to the
lenders.
Cuomo’s office has found that loan officers at a few schools had stock in a company that
owned Student Loan Xpress, which was on the schools’ preferred lender lists.
Miller called on the Education Department on Wednesday to temporarily ban colleges from
using preferred lender lists.
Cuomo’s investigation has elicited public outrage, making it all but certain that Congress
will act, says Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association
of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
"The main legacy of the investigation I believe is that it opened up space for political
reform, "
Nassirian said.
Others say legal agreements Cuomo is reachLng with lenders and schools must become
uniform.
"This is a federal program," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American
Council on Education, an umbrella group of colleges and universities. "In a federal
program, you’re better off having one code of standards than fifty."
Cuomo has agreements with industry leaders Sallie F~e and Citibank and some colleges in
which the lenders and schools will adopt a code of conduct. ~ny in Washington, from both
Page 468
parties, see the code as a potential model for a federal law.
The code bans lenders from paying colleges in exchange for being designated a preferred
lender. It also bans lenders from paying for trips for financial aid officers and other
college officials. Lenders also cannot pay college employees to serve on advisory boards.
The prohibitions are similar to restrictions in legislation that Kennedy and Miller are
pushing. The lawmmkers introduced their legislation before Cuomo’s investigation made
headlines this month; the measure has gained momentum in light of the investigation.
McKeon recently said the Democratic bill was a good starting point. Through spokesman
Steve Eorde, McKeon said he plans to introduce his own bill.
Forde said McKeon believes the Democratic bill is too heavy-hmnded in trying to clamp down
on private loans.
Such loans operate outside federal programs and usually are more expensive than the
federal ones.
One of the main programs relies on banks to mmke loans; in the other, the government lends
students money directly.
Students typically rely on these programs, particularly the bank-based one. Private loans
have grown more popular in recent years and now accotunt for an estimated 20 percent of all
student loan volume.
The Education Department also is working to address the relationship between lenders and
student aid offices. One idea could require schools to have at least three lenders on any
preferred lender list.
Sallie Mae would opposes that step, company spokesman Tom Joyce said.
"We think those decisions should be made at the school level, not by bureaucrats in
Washington," Joyce said.
Lenders, he added, sometimes give students lower rates when loan volume is high at their
schools.
Education Secretary Mmrgaret Spellings recently asked a member of a panel providing advice
on the department’s student loan rule-making to step down.
Cuomo’s investigation indicated that Johns Hopkins loan officer Ellen Frishberg received
consulting fees and had her graduate school tuition paid by Student Loan Xpress.
Spellings also placed a department official, Matteo Fontana, on leave after it was
disc!osed that while overseeing the !oan industry, he owned at least $i00,000 of stock in
the former parent company of Student Loan Xpress.
Fontana previously worked in the student lending industry, as did many others in the
department.
That makes it all the more important that Congress take the lead in addressing the
problems highlighted by Cuomo’s investigation, said Nassirian.
The legislation that emerges probably will become part of a higher education bill that
Congress is expected to pass this year.
Do You Yahoo!?
Page 469
Nonresponsive
............................. katheririe-m-ci-ane~ ......................... J
April 19, 2007 6:05 AM
Dorfman, Cwnthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Calling Out Spellings on Student Loans (IHE)
"At various points in the conference call, Miller:

Responded noncommittally to a reporter’s question of whether Spellings should keep her
job, saying "We don’t know yet, and that’s what we’re going to have to determine.’"
Calling Out Spellings on Student Loans

A day after Education Secretary Margaret Spellings made a major concession to one
Democratic member of Congress, another one asked her to do much, much more to rein in
perceived abuses in the federa! student loan programs.
Spellings announced late Tuesday thmt, in response to a request from Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy (D-Mass.), the Education Department would temporarily bar banks, guarantors and
other student loan entities from using the National Student Loan Data System, amid charges
that some of them hmve tapped into the database inappropriately to collect personal
information about borrowers for marketing purposes. That revelation, which was first
reported in Sunday’s Washington Post, was one in a frenetic flurry of charges that have
been made in recent weeks amid unfolding investigations by Congressional Democrats and New
York Attorney General _Andrew Cuomo into possible wrongdoing by lenders, college financia!
aid officials, and at least one department official.
Spellings made her announcement about the suspension of lenders" access to the database in
a letter in which she otherwise strongly defended the department’s efforts (which she
described as significant) to monitor the student loan industry. That response clearly got
the goat of Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), who heads the House of Representatives
Education and Labor Committee.
He issued a statement late Tuesday night saying the secretary had not gone nearly far
enough, and on Wednesday, he went further, calling on her to adopt several "’emergency
reforms," including suspending colleges’ use of lists of preferred lenders, ending "bribes
paid by lenders," and instructing the inspector genera! to "investigate al! senior
Department of Education employees that work on higher education issues to ensure they have
no conflicts of interest with student lenders."
And in a conference call with reporters, Miller used often harshly critical language to
paint a picture of a student loan industry out of control and to accuse the Education
Department of having more or less let it happen through inadequmte oversight.
"At the very time that our nation’s students are struggling harder than ever to pay for
college, it is clear that our nation’s federal student loan program has been hijacked by
third parties more interested in boosting their bottom lines" than in helping students,
Miller said, adding that the industry has been "spirn%ing out of control under the watch of
the Department of Education."
At various points in the conference call, Miller:
Responded noncommittally to a reporter’s question of whether Spellings should keep her

job, saying "’We don’t know yet, and that’s what we’re going to have to determine."
Said that reports that some lenders had given stock and cash to financial aid directors at
colleges that recommended the lenders to their students might well amount to "a widespread
Page 470
case of bribery."
Accused department officials of ignoring evidence that began mounting years ago that
lenders were paying inducements to colleges to encourage them to leave the government’s
direct loan program. "They were told about this six years ago. Hel!o, where have you
be en?"
The decision to restrict lender access to the student loan database is fine and well,
Miller said, but it is ’Very clear that it is time for the secretary to step up and take
responsibility for the entire program."
He urged Spellings to take the fol!owing steps, which he argued she had the legal
authority to do, as "emergency actions:"
Impose a moratorium on "preferred lender lists,"

requiring colleges to stop using the referral lists for student borrowers "’unti! we can
ensure that these lists no longer feed corruption and cronyism."
Define and end "’bribes paid by lenders," publishing emergency regulations to "clearly
define inducements and bribes."
Require all institutions and lenders to "’immediately disclose any and all relationships
that present conflicts of interest."
Instruct schools and lenders to cease all conflicts of interest.
Ask the inspector general to investigate all senior department emp!oyees in higher
education areas to ensure they have no conflicts of interest with lenders.
Make public all records of loan industry meetings with the department’s political
appointees, "so that the Congress and the american public better understand who at the
department was being lobbied by the industry."
Asked why he thought the department might embrace his calls for emergency actions now,
when his underlying premise is that its officials have not acted aggressively thus far,
Miller said that "if the department cannot understand all of the events that have come to
light over the last 60 days and the angst this has got to cause students and families, it
is simply out of touch.’r
He said he was asking Spellings to act rather than introducing emergency legislation to
accomplish the same goals because he was "’trying to work cooperatively," but said he had
approached House leaders about scheduling a vote soon on the Student Loan Sunshine Act,
legislation that he and Kennedy and others introduced that would require significantly
more disclosure and restrict some of the contested practices (though it would, for
instance, limit rather thmn bar preferred lender lists).
Miller also said he did not intend to ask department officials to testify at a hearing
scheduled for next week, at which Cuomo, whose investigation in New York has turned up the
heat on the student loan industry, will be the only witness, Miller said.
Spellings did not respond directly to Miller’s heated rhetoric or to his calls for
specific actions in the loan scandal. In a response released Wednesday evening, Katherine
McLane, a spokeswoman for the secretary, responded much more generally to Miller’s
suggestion thmt she wasn’t putting students" interest first, and noted obliquely that the
department has been examining possible changes in the loan programs through a federa!
negotiating process.
Her full statement read: "The Department of Education has been actively engaged on higher
education reform.
As Chmirman ~ller knows, Secretary Spellings convened a commission two years ago that
recommended reforms to make America’s higher education system more transparent, affordable
and accessible. In addition, the Department has been working with schools, students and
the higher education community through negotiated rulemaking to create reforms t~mt work.
Rather than abruptly pulling the plug on systems ~erican families rely on, as the
Chairman suggests, the Department has taken a more deliberative and comprehensive
approach.’"
I~iller’s Republican counterpart on the House education committee, Rep. Howard P. (Buck)
McKeon (R-Calif.), who headed the panel in the 109th Congress, said through a spokesman
Wednesday that he plans to introduce his o~n legislation to dea! with the student loan
issues raised in the continuing investigations in New York and Washington. The spokesman,
Steve Forde, said that McKeon "’shares the concerns of Mr. Cuomo and others," and "believes
the Democrat bill (the Student Loan Sunshine Act) is a good starting point."
Forde said McKeon’s measure would, among other things, seek to end "revenue sharing
2
Page 471
agreements" between lenders and colleges and fees paid to fir~ncial aid officers to serve
on lender advisory boards. He questioned, however, whether ending preferred lender lists
m~kes sense, or would leave students with less information about their loan options. "We
need to make sure that in our breakneck pace to reform this industry, we don’t leave
students in the dust," Forde said.
-- Doug Lederman
Do You Yahoo~?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection arotund http://mail.yahoo.com
Page 472
Nonresponsive
April 19, 2007 5:50 AM

Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, Da’~id;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Democrat Demands Student Loan Reform (WP)
Democrat Demands Student Loan Reform

By A m it R. Paley
Thursday, April 19, 2007; D03
The chairman of the House education committee said yesterday that the student loan
industry was "spinning out of control" and demanded that the Bush administration adopt
emergency regulations to end bribery and cronyism in the business.
"The Department of Education has been delinquent in its oversight of the student !oan
industry," Rep.
George Miller (D-Calif.) wrote to Education Secretary ~rgaret Spellings. His remarks were
the strongest Democratic attack so far on the Bush administration’s role in a student loan
scandal that has engulfed the
$85 billion-a-year student loan industry. An investigation has exposed a complex web of
financia! connections and conflicts of interest among lenders, universities and government
officials.
Hiller called on Spellings to forbid lenders from paying schools to steer students toward
their loans.
He also urged her to impose an immediate moratorium on schools placing any company on
preferred lender lists, "until we can ensure that these lists no !onger feed corruption
and cr onyi sm. "
Katherine HcLane, an Education Department spokeswoman, said the agency has been working
for at least two years to reform the loan industry. "Rather than abruptly pulling the plug
on sl~stems American families rely on, the department has taken a more deliberative and
comprehensive approach," she said.
Mot all consumer advocates agreed that outlawing the lists would help students. "We are
inundated with so much information that it would be extremely difficult for students to
nmvigate an already complex system without that guidance," said Jennifer Pae, president of
the U.S. Student Association.
Loan companies and congressional Republicans also oppose a moratorium.
Hiller said the Bush administration has allowed federal student loan programs to be
"higacked by third parties" because of lax oversight. He said the department’s inspector
genera! should investigate all agency emp!oyees to make sure they don’t have conflicts of
interest with loan companies. And Miller urged the department to make public all meetings
between political appointees and loan industry officials.
His remarks came two weeks after the agency suspended a senior official who held more than
$i00,000 worth of stock in a student loan company when he helped oversee the industry.
This week, the department partially cut off access to a d~tabase with confidential
information on tens of millions of students because of concerns that it was being used
inappropriately by lenders.
Page 473
"We are talking about a program that is spinning out of control under the watch of the
Department of Eduoation," Miller said.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate education committee, said he
welcomed Miller’s recommendations and promised to push to make them law.
Do You Yahoo~?
Page 474
lNonresponsiv
Sent: April 18, 2007 9:34 AM
Elizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele, Marc; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent;
Terrell, Jutie; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-m ail); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy;
Subject: William McKenzie: Bipartisan Wins Amid Partisan Ril~s? (DMN)
William McKenzie: Bipartisan Wins Amid Partisan Rifts? (DMN)

The Dallas Mominq News, April 18, 2007
Domestic triumphs still key to both parties’ interests
The last few weeks have looked depressing when it comes to Washington doing anything this year, other than rudimentary
bills like the budget or firefights over Iraq spending.
President Bush’s political capital is so low that even conservative columnist Robert Novak compares his standing to a
Jimmy Carter or Richard Nixon. And despite a 100-hours push in January, congressional Democrats look mostly content - make
that thrilled -to scrub every move the White House has made.
Next up, they’re going after the obscure Reading First program.
But maybe not all is lost. And I’m not saying that because I’m an optimist.
There are twin pressures at work to get both parties to make deals, particularly on education and immigration. Each party’s
self-interest demands that it do more than square off. Here are some reasons I’m still hopeful:
Pelosi and Reid need triumphs to retain Congress: Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid can’t expect voters to let them keep
running Congress after the 2008 election if their leadership hasn’t produced significant victories.
They aren’t off base investigating the administration, because there’s a genuine role for an opposition party in reviewing a
president’s mistakes. But that’s not all there is to governing. It also demands passing bills that resolve public problems.
You can see hints that Speaker Pelosi gets this. When you study the nuance of the immigration debate, for instance,
there’s reason to believe she may work with Mr. Bush to pass a bill this year.
First, she’s on record supporting the same goals the president wants: tougher border security, a guest worker program and
a chance for illegal immigrants to earn citizenship.
Second, she’s showing a practical side. My sources in Washington tell me she originally told the White House she wanted
100 House Republicans to back a broad immigration bill. Now, she’s down to accepting 70. If she wanted to kill things, she would
have stuck to 100.
Third, there’s a House bill that could bring Republicans and Democrats together. Republican Jeff Rake and Democrat Luis
Gutierrez introduced it last month, and it includes the goals Mr. Bush and Ms. Pelosi support. The speaker has termed it "an
excellent framework," and religious and labor leaders today will join business advocates in supporting the bill.
Let’s turn next to the Democratic Senate and Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Sen. Ted Kennedy continues his quest to rewrite the No Child Let~ Behind Act. He reportedly doesn’t want 2008
presidential politics to muck it up, so he’s meeting regularly with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. You don’t read about
this onthe front pages, but they are pressing ahead.
The key will be when the Senate starts the Reading First investigation. Democrats have been hiring investigators to see if
the Education Department gave the program an unnecessary advantage. Will Mr. Kennedy use his muscle to get the Senate to
keep moving on No Child? Or will partisan pressures around Reading First deter him?
My bet is that he muscles forward. At 75, he’s interested in legislating - and since he’s not just any senator, his muscles
matter.
Bush’s legacy is domestic, not foreign: Second-term presidents usually go international to cap their tenure. But the Middle
East is such a mess that Mr. Bush can’t go far there. And Democrats won’t offer much help.
That’s why you see him in places like Yuma, Ariz., where he visited after Easter to tout his immigration reform ideas. Three
days later, he held a roundtable in Washington with business, education and civil rights leaders to discuss No Child Left Behind.
Page 475
Both fronts involve intricate maneuvering. On immigration, for example, the president’s trying to win over conservatives like
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, who previously opposed a broad reform. If Mr. Bush can enlist more Kyls, he can start negotiating the
architecture of a final bill with Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Pelosi.
I said earlier this year that I would track what’s going on across party lines to make a difference in Americans’ lives.
These developments don’t promise a bipartisan nirvana But it’s not unreasonable to think the two parties can make
progress on these two huge ~onts, which would help them - and certainly the rest of us.
If we create a saner immigration system and educate the many low-income children coming up in America - a growing
number of them Latino - we can guarantee that our prosperity continues.
William McKenzie is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. His e-mail address is wmckenzie@dallasnews.com.
Page 476
...N_onrespons
Sent: April 18, 2007 9:24 AM
Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings, Margaret; McGrath,
John; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Pitts,
Terrell, Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-m all); Tucker, Sara Martin ez; Young, Tracy;
Subject: U.S. Education Secretary Visits UTPB (MRT TX)
U.S. Education Secretary Visits UTPB (MRT TX)

By Jennifer Edwards
lVidland (TX) Reporter-Tele,qram, April 18, 2007
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings expressed strong support for the No Child Left Behind Act during a
presentation at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin Tuesday.
The talk was part of the John Ben Shepperd Distinguished Lecb.ire series which in the past have included notables
including Mikhail Gorbachev, other congressional officials, ambassadors and past presidential hopeful Ralph Nader.
’qexas is a best place to have this conversation because many of the ideas and ideals (behind it) ... are tried and true in
Texas," she said, citing the state’s down-to-the-brass-tacks attitude about education.
Spellings, a m ember of the president’s cabinet and a graduate of the University of Houston, spoke before an audience that
included University of Texas System Chancellor Mark G. Yudof, representatives of Sen. Kel Seliger and U.S. Sen. John Comyn,
as well as Midland Mayor Mike Canon, superintendents of Midland and Kermit Independent School districts and other community
leaders and residents.
The act, she said, has "introduced real accountability across our country," she said. "Before No Child Left Behind, many
different states didn’t have accountability.
"In God We Trust - all others, bring data."
Among the gains she credited to the act was an increase in academic achievement of many black and Hispanic students.
Later, she outlined the importance of this by saying the percentage of both groups in the United States is projected to outstrip the
percentage of Anglo-Americans by 2050.
’q’he president’s new proposals will strengthen (NCLB)," she said. "And strengthening K-12 (education) is the first step."
Moving on to higher education, she said many warning signs exist for the nation’s higher education system, which she
called the "best in the world."
"Only 9 percent of low income students earn a degree by the time they are 24 years old," she said. "And 43 states,
including Texas were given an ’F’ for affordability" of college.
Among the ways she said the president is seeking to bolster education legislation is to increase Pell Grants. The grants,
which offer no-payback funds to low-income students, once covered 84 percent of the cost of higher education. Now, she said,
those same grants cover just 36 percent of the same costs.
Meanwhile, she said Bush is trying to implement legislation that would raise that percentage past previous marks, to 86
percent.
’Today, 90 percent of (attractive)jobs require post-secondary training." Also during the presentation, she answered the
question on many minds as legislators review NCLB.
When asked about her opinion on "teaching to standardized tests," she said, "There is not a thing wrong in teaching to the
test."
She also said fears about the testing might be in part due with "grown-up anxiety," as educators adapt to the change in
standards. "1 think we are seeing anxiety on the part of grown-ups..."
Also, when asked if her children were attending public or private schools, she replied that her college-aged daughter is
attending a private university in South Carolina, while her younger daughter had attended public schools until attending a
parochial high school for the first time this year.
While there, she also expressed strong endorsements for both the University of Texas system and UTPB in particular.
Page 477
’~’ou all are leading the way in the UT system and here at UTPB," she said. "I’m proud to congratulate you on your good
work."
She also gave a nod to the university’s recent positive press, remarking, "We live in a world where education is the
intellectual currency."
Audience member Helen Fobbs of Odessa said she felt NCLB helped her special needs child, currently enrolled at ECISD.
"Before they did testing to find out she had special needs, she would fall behind and she couldn’t pass TAKS," she said.
After being diagnosed, she said her child this year passed a special version of the test for special-needs children.
Spellings In The Basin (OA TX)

Odessa (TX) American, April 18, 2007
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings visited with the Permian Basin this evening as part of the JBS Leadership
Institute’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
’1 am here to congratulate UTPB," Spellings said, referring to accomplishments mentioned in Newsweek. ’~ou all are
leading the way in the University of Texas system and at UTPB."
Find out more of what Spellings had to say in Wednesday’s Odessa American.
Rebecca Neale
U.S. Department of Education
Deputy Press Secretary
Office: 202-205-0584
(b) ((~cca.r~ie@ed.gov
Page 478
[Nonresponsiv
Sent: April 18, 2007 9:21 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey;, Dorfman, Cynthia;
Terrell, Julie; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-mail); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy;
Subject: Leery Officials Kick Lenders Out Of Student Database (USAT)
Leery Officials Kick Lenders Out Of Student Database (USAT)

By Kathy Chu
The Department of Education has suspended lenders’ access to a national database containing the personal information of
60 million students and is investigating whether lenders misused this system to troll for borrowers.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., on Sunday had called for the shutdown of the database amid concerns about students’
privacy. In a Tuesday letter to Kennedy, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the department decided to temporarily
close the database after noticing a "significant increase in usage by lenders, loan holders, servicers and guaranty agencies" in
recent years.
The database helps lenders determine the eligibility of students for federal loans. But lenders are prohibited from using this
information to market student loans and other products, according to the Education Department.
The revelations come amid intense scrutiny of the $85 billion student-loan industry. New York Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo has requested information from more than 400 schools and 20 lenders to determine whether lenders are compensating
schools for student referrals.
At least six financial-aid officials have been suspended alter their colleges learned they owned stock in a lender the school
recommended. The Department of Education also suspended an official who oversaw the national student-loan database
because of his ownership of stock in a student lender.
The Education Department database contains student names, Social Security numbers, loan amounts and e-mail and
street addresses. Spellings said the department would "conduct a review of the specific uses of the (database by lenders) to
determine if there has been unauthorized usage."
Concerns about misuse of the studentqoan database have increased in recent years as students rushed to consolidate
loans and lock in low interest rate~
"With the flurry of consolidations over the past five years, knowing who has loans and who has not consolidated is valuable
information," says Robert Shireman, executive director of the Project on Student Debt.
The Education Department says it has invested more than $650,000 since 2003 to improve security and monitoring of the
database. In recent years, the department has revoked access to the database by 261 users for suspicious activity, most of them
lenders, loan holders and servicers.
Yet a 2005 report by the department’s inspector general said employees without the proper security clearance may have
access to the data.
Kennedy, in a statement Tuesday night, said that he looks forward to working with Spellings ’to ensure that students
receive their loans without sacrificing their privacy."
Shireman calls the suspension a move in the right direction. "! think it is the prudent thing to do with questions raised about
whether the data is being used appropriately," he says. ’q-here is a lot of private and confidential information in there that
borrowers should be concerned about keeping private."
Page 479
Nonresponsi!
Sent:
.............................
April 18, 2007 5:59 AM
]
To: scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; terri.shaw@who.eop.gov; cheryl.oldham@who.eop.gov;
kristin.conklin@who.eop.gov; vickie.schray@who.eop.gov; Dunckel, Denise; Beaten,
Zeff, Ken
Subject: U.S. Blocks Lenders From Student Database (WP)
U.S. Blocks Lenders From Student Database By Amit R. Paley Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 18, 2007; A06
The U.S. Department of Education yesterday blocked lending companies from accessing a
nationa! database with confidential information on tens of millions of students after some
companies were found to have searched the dmta in ways that violate federal rules.
The temporary restriction came two days after The Washington Post reported on the improper
searches and on concerns raised about data mining and abuses of privacy of the 60 million
students in the system.
In a letter sent last night to the chairman of the Senate education committee, Education
Secretary Margaret Spellings said the department and its inspector general will review
unauthorized access to the database, known as the National Student Loan Data System.
"The Department is vigilant in its monitoring for unauthorized use of NSLDS and closely
safeguards access to the system," she wrote. She added that the agency had blocked 246
users from the student loan industry thought to have engaged in inappropriate searches and
thousands more deemed unqualified for access after previous security reviews.
Sen. Edward H. Kennedy (D-~ss.), the committee chairman, had urged the department to take
further action Sunday after the report in The Post.
"I appreciate the Secretary’s willingness to take action to protect personal student
information,"
Kennedy said in a statement last night. "I look forward to working with her to ensure that
students receive their loans without sacrificing their privacy."
Department officials have for months debated shutting down access to the database, which
contains student Social Security nttmbers, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and
sensitive financial information covered by privacy laws. Some worry that loan companies
are trolling the system for marketing data they can use to bombard students with mass
mailings.
The temporary shutdown will block lenders, loan holders, guaranty agencies and other
industry-connected users from the database. But agency officials said it would not affect
students or schools. The department "will work to minimize any disruption in service,"
Spellings wrote.
Katherine McLane, a spokeswoman for the department, said the database shutdo~n was
unrelated to a malfunction of the agency’s servers yesterday that shut down its Web site
and prevented employees from accessing e-mail or files most of the day.
Do You Yahoo!?
Page 481
~
qonresponsive
From: katherine m clane[(b)(6) ]

Sent: April 18, 2007 5:56 AM
kristin.conklin@who.eop.gov; vickie.schray@who.eop.gov; Dunckel, Denise; Beaton,
Dorfman, C:ynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Govt Bars Lenders From Student Database
Govt. Bars Lenders From Student Database By NANCY ZUCKERBROD The Associated Press Tuesday,
April 17, 2007; 9:38 PM
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has put a federal database containing sensitive
financial information about college students off 1Lmits to lenders at least for now.
Typically, lenders and gumrantee agencies hmve access to the dmtabase to help determine
the eligibility of an applicant for federa! student aid.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings stated in a letter Tuesday to Sen. Edward M.

Kennedy, D-Mass, that the department had noticed an uptick in the usage of the database by
lenders, loan holders and guarantee agencies.
Such activity could indicate the system is being mined for potential marketing data,
something that isn’t allowed.
Spellings said during the temporary suspension, the department would conduct a review of
who is using the database and why. Since 2003, she said, the department has invested more
than $650,000 in system security and monitoring tools and processes to ensure the
integrity of student information.
Kennedy, who chairs the Senate education committee, had sought the suspension following a
story in The Washington Post over the weekend about the potential misuse of the database.
"I appreciate the secretary’s ~~illingness to take action to protect persona! student
information," he said. "I look forward to working with her to ensure that students receive
their loans without sacrificing their privacy."
Education Department spokeswoman Katherine McLane said the agency had been considering the
suspension of the database for some time.
The department’s inspector general issued a report in

2005 raising concerns about access to the database.
Concerns about possible abuses of the database come as the student loan industry is under
investigation by congressional Democrats and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Do You YahooS?
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Page 482
Nonresuonsi ¯
ore: ............................. ]
( )((~nt: b April 18, 2007 5:49 AM kathefine-mclane-~ ........................
kristin.conklin@who.eop.gov; vickie.schray@who.eop.gov; Dunckel, Denise; Beaton,
Zeff, Ken
Subject: U.S. Limits Access to Student Loan Database (NYT)
April 18, 2007

U.S. Limits Access to Student Loan Database
The Education Department last night cut off outside access to a government database that
contains the personal financial information of millions of student aid applicants.
The department acted on concerns that loan companies or other marketers were improperly
obtaining private information on potential borrowers.
The shutdown, announced by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, is its strongest

response to a broadening student !oan scandal that has already implicated loan companies
and caused several universities to put their financial aid administrators on leave and
review their dealings with lenders.
In a six-page letter to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, chairman of the education committee,

Ms. Spellings offered a staunch defense of the department’s practices and its oversight of
the student loan industry.
The letter disclosed that since 2003, the department had revoked 261 user IDs that grant
access to the database, known as the National Student Loan Data System. The database was
used, among other things, to help determine eligibility for financial aid. Of the revoked
IDs, 246 belonged to student loan companies, holders of loans, guaranty agencies and loan
servicers, and 15 to schools.
Ms. Spellings said that monitoring the database had shown "a significant increase in usage
by lenders, !oan holders, services and guaranty agencies" and that the uptick "was a
matter of concern to us."
"’I hold the department and the thousands of civil service professionals who administer
these programs to the highest ethica! standards," Ms. Spellings said to Mr. Kennedy,
Democrat of P~ssachusetts.
The shutdown of access to the database, described as temporary, came a few weeks after the
disclosure that a department official involved in oversight of access to the database had
sold at least $i00,000 of stock in a student loan company. That employee, ~tteo Fontana,
was put on paid leave; filings released by the department showed that he had disclosed his
shareholdings.
The question of improper searches of the database has been a longstanding one. Mr.
Fontana, the general manager in the Education Department office that oversees federa!
student loan programs, warned in an April 2005 letter to !oan companies, university
financial aid administrators and others with access to the database that the access "is
made available only for the general purpose of assisting with determining the eligibility
of an applicant for federal student aid and in the collection of federal student !oans and
grant overpayments."
But critics said the department until now had taken few steps to protect access to the
database.
Page 483
Representative George lliller, Democrat of California and chairman of the House education
committee, said last night, "I am pleased that the secretary has belatedly taken some
steps to address these fundmmental privacy issues. However, it is long past time for the
department to step up to the plate and vigorously investigate both the extent of lenders’
misuse of the student !oan database and the exploitation for profit of federal programs"
for student aid.
Some financia! aid officers said they believed student !oan companies were trolling the
database for potentia! borrowers.
"My understanding is that there have been lenders accessing the database for very long
periods of time, !ooking at large n~nbers of students to mine the database for possible
borrowers they can market to,"
said Eileen K. O’Leary, director of student aid and finance at Stonehill College in
Massachusetts.
The possibility that the department might restrict access to the database was reported
Sunday in The Washington Post. Mr. Kennedy had raised concerns about access to the
database in a letter to the department.
Last night, he hailed Ms. Spellings’s action, saying, "I look forward to working with her
to ensure that students receive their loans without sacrificing their privacy.’"
Kevin Bruns, executive director of America’s Student Loan Providers, said he hoped that
the shutdown "is, in fact, temporary."" He added, "The department’s lax oversight in the
past should not be grounds for a permanent shutdown."
The department’s announcement came after months of investigation of the ties between
lenders and universities by ~drew M. Cuomo, New York’s attorney general.
In recent weeks, Mr. Cuomo has won $6.5 million from lenders that he had accused of
improper practices. He has criticized a range of tactics including "kickbacks" to
universities for steering student !oan volume to companies and paying consulting fees to
university aid administrators who provide students with information on where to borrow.
Yesterday, Mr. Cuomo briefed his counterparts from more than 40 states on his
investigation, raising the possibility that more states wil! begin seeking to regulate the
industry’s practices. "I !ook forward to working with other states to clean up the student
loan industry," Mr. Cuomo said after the call. "This is a widening national scandal, and
we need to address it as such."
The Education Department itself has been reacting to the heightened scrutiny in other
ways. After two members of federal advisory committees on student aid -- the directors of
financial aid at the University of Texas and at Johns Hopkins University --were found to
have financia! relationships with a lending company, Ms. Spellings asked them to resign
from the committees.
Other committee members say that department officials have contacted them in recent days
to verify information they had provided on financial disclosure forms. The department has
also announced that it was looking for ways to "enhance" its disc!osure program.
The department has been criticized in the past by its inspector general’s office as
exercising lax oversight of the kinds of incentives that lenders were offering
universities. In her letter to Mr. Kennedy, Ms.
Spellings defended the department on that score. "The department’s Office of Federal
Student Aid reviews complaints about lender inducements and determines what, if any,
action is required," she wrote. "If it suspects violations, it evaluates the facts and
takes appropriate action."
She added that a review last year had identified "only a few cases where college and
lenders may have violated the rules."
But the department stands in danger of being overtaken by the states. Attorneys general in
California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Ohio have indicated they are !ooking into
relationships between student loan companies and colleges and universities.
Page 484
Attorney General Edmt~nd G. Bro~n Jr. of California arznounced yesterday that his office had
demanded that two student-loan companies based in the state provide records concerning
their financial relationships with public and private universities, and vocational schools
in California.
Karen W. Arenson and Sam Dillon contributed reporting.
Do You YahooS?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mai! has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Page 485
INonresDonsl
(b) (ge~nT..: April 17, 2007 5:51 P, Ivl
kristin.conklin@who.eop.gov; vickie.schray@who.eop.gov; Dunckel, Denise; Beatcn,
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Student Loan Database Used for Marketing (USNWR)
Student Loan Database Used for Marketing By Kimberly Palmer Posted 4/16/07 Students with
!oans typically receive a barrage of solicitations for loan consolidations and other
services in their mailboxes, and they often wonder how the advertisers got their names and
addresses. Recent reports suggest they may have come from the U.S.
Education Department itself.
As first reported in the Washington Post, lenders have been improperly using the
department’s Nationa! Student Loan Data System to gain access to student loan information,
including names and loan balances.
Congress authorized the creation of the database in
1986 to keep track of the way loans were being awarded and repaid. Lenders are prohibited
from using it to gather information for advertising.
"They’re using it for things that they’re not supposed to be using it for," says Stephen
Burd, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation.
This latest development comes amid a series of allegations of improper behavior in the
student loan industry. Last week, an investigation by New York Attorney General _Andrew
Cuomo revealed close relationships between schools and the lending companies they
encourage their students to use. Cuomo uncovered evidence that university financia! aid
executives accepted money and other perks from the lenders. Meanwhile, Matteo Fontana, an
Education Department official who helped to oversee the student loan database, was
suspended for owning stock in a student loan company.
The idea that lenders would use the database to drum up business outraged student
advocates. "To me, this is a striking example of loan programs being administered in the
interest of lenders," says Luke Swarthout of U.S. PIR®, a public interest advocacy group.
"It’s an issue of what the consumer expects when they sign up for a federal loan. They do
not expect thmt their information is being handed over to private companies for
marketing," says Robert Shireman, executive director of the Berkeley, Calif.-based
nonprofit Project on Student Debt.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the Senate’s Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, has sent a letter to Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings urging her to stop private lenders from using the database while the
department figures out how to stop lenders from improperly using the information.
This is not the first time concerns have been raised about the security of the loan
database. In 2005, the Education Department’s inspector general reported that the dmtabase
was not in compliance with department policy on password duration and did not require
weekly audit log reviews. The report also found that contract emp!oyees without
appropriate security clearances had access to the system and that people who had not used
the system in 12 months retained active passwords, including over 1,000 users classified
as lenders. The Office of Federal Student Aid, which oversees the dmtabase, generally
agreed with the findings and agreed to update its security measures.
The Education Department says it continuously monitors the system and has revoked over
52,000 user IDs since 2003. It issued a letter in Apri! 2005 that reminded users of the
Page 486
dmtabase rules. Lenders are allowed to view only the accounts of students with whom they
have relationships.
Do You Yahoo[?
Page 487
INonrespons!
............................. ..........................
April 16, 2007 4:57 AM
Bannerman, Kristin; Rosenfelt, Phil; Taylor, Jeff; Conabj, Joseph; Farris, Amanda; Beaton,
Dorrman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Textbook scandal reaches Congress (USAT)
Textbook scandal reaches Congress

By ®reg Toppo, USA TODAY
A s!ow-motion scandal surrounding a federal multibillion-dollar reading program has its
first congressional hearing this week, but it remains to be seen whether the scrutiny will
shed any new light on a complex, contradictory tale of textbooks, tests and allegations of
federal arm-twisting.
A key part of President Bush’s efforts to remake public education, Reading First was
launched in 2002, giving schools $i billion a year to improve reading in early elementary
grades. Five years later, early evidence suggests that it may be helping. But
investigators say a handful of advisers have railroaded schools into buying textbooks and
other materials that they and associates developed.
The result: a conflict-of-interest case that took two years to jell as investigators in
the Education Department connected the dots. To date, no criminal charges have been filed,
but Democrats, now in control of Congress, promise to give the case a full airing.
"The purpose of Reading First is to help schoolchildren learn to read, not feather the
nests of a select group of well-connected individuals and organizations," says Rep. George
I,~ller, D-Calif., who chairs the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Miller and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-P~ss., are conducting probes. Kennedy plans hearings
later this spring.
Miller will preside at the first hearing Friday, wl~ch brings together Chris Doherty, the
program’s former director, and three top advisers.
Atop the witness list: John Higgins, the Education Department’s inspector general, who has
issued six reports detailing how Reading First leaders and contractors looked the other
way at possible conflicts of interest among advisers and others -- severa! of whom
authored textbooks. He also found that Doherty and others strong-armed states and school
districts into choosing from a smal! selection of mmterials that stress phonics.
In one e-mail Piiggins cited, Doherty said of a publisher whose books downplayed phonics,
"They are trying to crash our party, and we need to beat the
(expletive) out of them in front of all the other would-be party crashers who are standing
on the front lawn waiting to see how we welcome these dirtbags."
Doherty quit in September after the report’s release.

Higgins also found that a 2002 conference for educators focused too exclusively on a few
programs, creating what investigators said was a perception that there was an "approved
list" of texts.
A related probe last month by the Government Accountability Office found that officials
from i0 states complained that the Education Department told them to eliminate reading
programs or tests that they didn’t endorse. Federal rules prohibit the department from
endorsing any curriculum.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who until 2005 was a %£hite House domestic policy
Page 488
adviser, says the troubles occurred before her move to the Education Department. But Mike
Betrilli, a former associate deputy secretary under Spellings’ predecessor, Rod Paige,
says Spellings "micromanmged the implementation of Reading First from her West Wing
office." She already has told lawmakers she is beefing up oversight of the program.
But even a few critics cautiously concede that the program has been a boon to schools. The
Center on Education Policy, a Washington think tank that has criticized Bush’s education
programs, in September said Reading First is having "a significant impact" in schools.
A five-year, $30.5 million evaluation, begun in 2003, should produce complete results next
year.
Cindy Cupp, a Savannah, Ga., educator, was among the first to complain in 2005, after
Reading First schools in Georgia passed over her homegro~Tn phonics program.
Cupp compiled a huge dossier outlining the links between publishers, federal advisers,
universities and the Bush administration. In findings issued last January, Higgins largely
upheld her complaint.
She says it’s irrelevant whether Reading First works:

"To rationalize breaking the law by saying the program has been effective is just that --
a rationalization."
She also notes that part of the evaluation bid went to KMC Research Corp., which Higgins
cited for turning a blind eye to conflicts of interest among three top advisers it hired.
All three are scheduled to testify Friday.
Do You YahooS?
Page 489
[Nonresponsi]
............................. ]
April 16, 2007 4-:52 AM
To: Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terd; Oldham, Cheryt; Conklin, Kristin; Schray, Vickie; scott_m.
_stanzel@who.eop.gov; Sampson, Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; Rosenfelt,
Phil; Taylor, Jeff; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams,
Cynthia; Dunn, David; Don~man, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson;
Landers, Angela; Katie MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings, Margaret; McGrath,
John; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara;
Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy; Ditto,
Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Subject: To stop abuses, Congress must govern how colleges choose which lenders to recommend
(newsday.com)
To stop abuses, Congress must govern how colleges choose which lenders to recommend
BY STEPHEN BLTRD
Stehen Burd, a fellow at the New America Foundation, formerly was a reporter for the
Chronicle of Higher Education. This is from the Los Angeles Times.
_April 16, 2007
After 15 years of reporting on the student-loan industry, I didn’t think much could
surprise me.
But even I was shocked last week when I learned of Securities and Exchange Commission
documents revealing that financial-aid directors at three pronL%nent ttniversities - as well
as a senior officia! at the U.S. Education Department - had significant personal
investments in a private student-loan company.
What could have motivated these officials to take tens of thousands of dollars in stock
options from the company, Student Loan Xpress? Has the student-!oan business become so
corrt~ot that they failed to see the conflict of interest?
If so, Washington is most to blame. For seven years, federal officials have turned a blind
eye to problems with the companies participating in the government’s student-loan
programs.
The Bush administration rewarded loan-industry officials and lobbyists with prominent
positions throughout the Education Department. At the same time, lenders such as Sallie
M~e showered Republican congressiona! leaders with hundreds of thousands of dollars in
contributions. "Know that I have all of you in my two trusted hands," Rep. John A. Boehner
(R-Ohio), a top recipient, told loan providers.
[New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo last week announced a settlement with Sallie
Blue under which it agreed to adopt a binding code of conduct on student loa~s.]
The cozy relations that developed among the Bush administration, the Republican-led
Congress and the lenders have left the loan industry essentially unregulated. Lenders and
colleges display little regard for students or taxpayers.
Every company wants to be a college’s "preferred lender," competing fiercely to get on

such lists. But the dirty little secret of the guaranteed student-loan market is how
concentrated it is: Only 32 lenders hold 90 percent of the loan volume.
What’s more, the Education Department has found that at about 300 colleges one lender
controls 99 percent of the loan volume - essentially holding a monopoly on those campuses.
Any company trying to break into the market has to rely on unconventional means.
Some upstarts have promoted revenue-sharing arrangements in which colleges get a cut of
each !can their students take out. Established lenders, worried about losing market share,
have taken up similar kickback practices. One of the most egregious schemes is called an
Page 490
"opportunity pool," pioneered by Sallie Hoe. Here’s how it works:
A lender hands a college a fixed amount of private loan money the institution can lend to
students who otherwise wouldn’t qualify for loans. These are loans that typically come
with higher interest rates. In return for the "opportunity pool," the college makes that
company its exclusive provider of federally backed loans.
Soon after Sallie Mae started its Opportunity Loan Program in 2000, some competitors
questioned whether it violated the provision of the Higher Education Act that bars lenders
from offering inducements to colleges "to secure applicants" for federal loans.
They brought their complaints to the Education Department’s inspector general. Department
officials, however, refused to take action, insisting that the loan industry should
regulate itself. Many lenders took that to be tacit approval of the deals. As a result,
other companies such as Citibank made similar offers. Giving credit-unworthy students
high-interest private loans was a recipe for disaster the department could have stopped.
Recently, as Democrats have gained control of Congress, the department has had a change of
heart.
Officials are considering more heavily regulating how colleges choose lenders to recommend
to their students. For example, the agency might require financial-aid administrators to
include at least three choices on their preferred-lender lists.
Moreover, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced Thursdmy night that the
department has initiated reviews of its own ethics and financia!-disclosure policies.
The department’s proposals for reforming the industry, contested by lenders and aid
administrators, are welcome but unlikely to go far enough. Instead, polic!rmmkers should
consider a complete overhaul of the !oan programs so that college aid administrators are
no !onger in the business of recommending favored lenders.
If there can be a lendingtree .com for home mortgages, there can be one for student loans,
too. Lenders should bid for student-loan business. Students would get cheaper loans. And
there would be fewer incentives for unseemly activity.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.
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N_onresponsi [
Sent: April 15,2007 11:17 AM
Mcnitt, Townsend L; Flowers, Sarah; Williams, Cynthia; Toomey, Liam; Tada, Wendy;
Chad; Bdggs, Kerri; McLane, Katherine; Simon, Ray; Private- Spellings, Margaret;
Samara; Gribble, Emily
Subject: WEEKEND NEWS SUMMARY, 4.15.07
WEEKEND NEWS SUMMARY

April 15, 2007
1. Lenders Sought Edge Against U.S. in Student Loans ~exv York Times)
2. College Loan lh’ograms That Flunk Ethics (Washington Post)
3. College Lenders’ Futnre (~¥all Street Journal)
4. Do homework when seeking student loan (Newsday)
5. Author’s Poverty Viexvs Disputed Yet Utilized (Washington Post)
6. Conclusions Are Reported on Teaching of Abstinence (AP)
1. Lenders Sought Edge Against U.S. in Student Loans

Nexv York Times
April 15, 2007; A1
By Jonathan D. Glarer and Karen W. Arenson
In a fierce contest to control the student loan market, the nation’s banks and lenders have for
years waged a successful campaign to limit a federal program that was intended to make
borrowing less costly by having the government provide loans directly to students.
The companies have offered money to universities to pull out of the federal direct loan
program, ~vhich was championed by the Clinton administration. They went to court to keep
the direct program from becoming more competitive. And they benefited from oversight so
lmx that the Education Department’s assistant inspector general in 2003 called for tightened
regttlation of lender deal~gs with universities.
At Indiana University in 2004, for example, Sallie Mac, the nation’s largest student lender,
offered $3 million that the university could use for "opportunity loans" to some students if it
left the direct loan program. Indiana lef~ the direct loan pro~am but said the $3 million was
not the reason; Sallie Mac currently administers their loan program.
Bank of America, which won the University of Virginia’s student loan business, said in its
2002 proposal that certain possible incentives had °~he potential to violate" federal law. The
bank, ~vhich said such a discussion was normal in the bidding process, suggested that it
discuss the issues with university officials "during the oral presentation phase of the process."
All of this has helped give private lenders clear domh~ance of the $69 billion federal student
loan industry. The lenders, who defend these practices, say they are winning business
06/05/2008
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Page 492
primarily because they offer lower interest rates than the government and often lower fees.
Advocates of the direct loan program say that it has been held back from offering more
competitive rates and benefits, and that a very small percentage of students can take
advantage of the private rivals’ advertised rates and incentives. They argue that private
lenders cost the government vast amounts of money because they are subsidized and
guaranteed against default.
President Bush’s budget reports that in 2006 for every $100 lent by private lenders, the cost
to the government of subsidies, defaults and other items was $13.81, while the same amount
lent through the direct !oan program cost the government $3.85. The battle for dominance in
the loan market has escalated as tuitions have soared and students have borro~ved more. This
is the context for many of the payments to universities and financi!l aid officials that have
come to light as a result of recent investigations into student loan practices.
"What has happened is unbridled competition meets lack of oversight,’" said Ten-y W. Hattie,
senior vice president at the American Coundl on Education.
Part of what is generating the competition is that the government rims two loan programs --
and universities usually choose to paxticipa~ in one or the other.
Until the 1990s, the primary program was the federal gaaranteed loan program under which
private lenders like Citibardq Sallie Mae or Bank of America made the !oans to students.
They were Nven a helping hand from the government, which paid subsidies to the lenders
and guaranteed them against default.
Bill Clinton campaigned for president on the notion of expanding the federal government’s
role as student loan guarantor into a more central position as the direct lender. The idea ~vas
that this would prove cheaper and simpler for students and be less costly for taxpayers
because borrowers would pay interest to the federal government instead of to the lenders.
The program went into effect in !994. The Democrats expected it to become dominant. But
tmwilling to be muscled aside, private lenders began offering schools and students a vmiety
of benefits like scholarship money and lower interest rates and fees.
Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Mae, said, "~i-he private sector program has better prices,
better product selection, better service and better technology."
For a few years afar direct lending ,,vent into effect, it grew quickly. But as student loan
volume has risen, climbing above $85 billion in 2005-6 from just over $30 billion 10 years
earlier, the government’s share as a direct lender has declined, and nc~v amotmts to less than
a quarter of the total.
"’When direct lending was created, the initial assumption was that the bank-based program
would be quickly overwhelmed by the government program," Ivlr. Hattie said. No one
counted on the strength of the reaction from the lending industry, he and others said.
The Education Department fought back. Richard W. Riley, then the secretary of education,
tried to make the direct lending program more competitive in 1999 and 2000 by reducing
origination fees and interest rates. The private lenders sued, saying Mr. Riley had no
authority to do this because these rates were set by Confess under the loan leNslation. (Last
year, lawmakers set the interest rate on new Stafford loans, one of the most popular federally
06/0512008
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Page 493
guaranteed loans, at 6.8 percent; many private lenders offer to reduce that rate for borrowers
who make payments on time or meet other goals.)
In response to the lawsuit, the Education Department argued that the public and private loan
programs had the power to offer the same terms and conditions, and added that better loan
terms would make loans more affordable and thus reduce defaults, benefiting taxpayers.
With the Bush ad,ministration more sympathetic to the private market, the lenders withdrew
the lawsuit last year, and the direct loan Nogram has offered some of the incentives used by
its private rivals.
Katherine IvlcLane, a spokeswoman for Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, said both
federal loan programs were "°a vital source of fimds for student aid." Ms. McLane said that
°Ntrough these two programs we have improved students’ and families’ choices by increasing
competition, upgrading customer service and lowering costs."
The Bush administration took virtually no action as lenders offered special pools of money if
universities would leave the direct loan program. Lenders, by law,-are barred from offering
inducements to gain loan applications. But what is an inducement is not entirely clear.
A review by the Education Department’s office of the inspector general in 2003 -- prompted
by an accusation that Sallie Mac was offering illegal inducements -- found that the
department had brou~ht only one public action, a case involving Sallie Mae and a college of
podiatric medicine in 1995, which an administrative law judge later struck do~vn.
The assistant inspector general, Cathy H. Lewis, who conducted the ~amination, also noted
that the Education Department had not given any updated opinions about what kind of
inducements were barred since 1995, even thou~ the competition for loan business had
escalated sharply since then. Ms. Lewis expressed concern about "~oargaining practices
between schools and lenders.’" She referred to both the guaranteed loan progrmn and private
loans, which like any consumer loan tack government bacldng. Students increasingly rely on
private loans because of limits on borrowing through the federal program.
She wrote that the practices "should be addressed through statutory and regulatory changes or
further department ~o~dance."
Ms. McLane said in an e-mail message that the department had offered no g~tidance to
lenders because it believed it had ~5ao authority over the private loan instruments and market
and therefore no gnidance could be provided_"
She said the depariment had begun examining whether there should be new regMations in
December.
Republicans in Congress have issued a continuing stream of criticisms about the direct
lending program and tried to restrict it in a variety of ~vays.
Just last year, they voted to give lawmakers the po~ver to cut the budget of the Education
Department office that oversees the student loan program -- a looming if indirect threat to
direct lending. They also made it more difficult for many borrowers ~vith multiple loans to
combine them into a single, larger direct loan, effectively making it harder for students to
refinance their debts.
06/05/2008
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Page 494
"°-!’he federal govermnent should be in the business of student loans as the lender of last resort
when private lenders can’t offer competitive opportunities," said Senator Michael B. Enzi, a
Wyoming Republican who is the former chairman of the Education Committee.
In the absence of any crackdown on inducements, banks and other lenders sho~vered
universities with incentives to leave the direct lending program.
Sallie Mac, for example, offered Pace University in New York City $4 million in loans for
students who would not have otherwise qualified if it left the direct loan program, the
university said. Pace turned the offer down, a spokesman said. But it did eventually leave the
program.
Colleges in the direct lending program were increasingly concerned about its future in the
face of growing Republican opposition.
Yvorme Hubbard, director of Student Financial Services at the University of Vfiginia, said
that ~vas one factor that prompted the school to leave the program, along with the better deals
being offered by the private lenders.
The university in’dted lender proposals in 2002 and chose Bank of America for a five-year
term. It was in this process that the bank warned that some services under discussion had °°dae
potential to violate" regulations against inducements.
Ms. Hubbard said she had no memory of what that lan~o~age migaht have referred to, and a
Bank of America spokesman, Joe Miller, said that it was not unusual to use this language in
responding to a request to bid for a contract.
Bank of America is the only lender the University of Virginia recommends. The bank
handles about 95 percent of the federa! student loans atthe university. Under the agreement,
students who take out subsidized loans through the bank pay no origination or guarantor fees.
Ms. Hubbard said that the university tried to make dear to Families that they were free to
bo~ro~v from anyone but that it also offered this advice: °°Take the terms we have negotiated
with Bank of America and use this as your baseline, and try get your vendor to at least match
it. It’s a good dea!.’"
Along with the partisan battle over the lending programs has come a fierce argument over
their relative costs to taxpayers. Lenders vehemently argue that the direct loan program is in
fact more expensive.
With Democrats now in contro! of Congress, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of

Massachusetts, and Representative George Ivliller, Democrat of California, with some
bipartisan support, are pushing legislation intended to bolster the direct loan program.
Many Republicans are determined to defendprivate lenders. "I don’t want a few problems to
be the excuse for the Democrats to put the federal government in charge of all student
lending in the United States," said Representative Ric Keller of Florida, the ranking
Republican on the higher education subcommittee.
2. College Loan t¥ogrmns That Flunk Ethics

Washin~on Post Editorial
April 15, 2007; F03
06/05/2008
Page 5 of 21
Page 495
We’ve lcnown for years about the "iron Mangle" of college finance, the alliance among
universities, lenders and federal education officials that seeks to conslanfly mcpand the
college loan program. But it is only now that we are learning about the myriad of ethically
questionable practices that have held the lriangle together.
Le~s start with the fees or special lending fadlities that student loan originators offer to
college financial aid offices for designating them as "preferred providers" or sending them a
certain volume of business. And the call centers to advise students and parents on tuition
financing options that appear to be run by the college but in fact are run by the lenders.
Of course, because you wouldn’t want college loan officers to be unfamiliar with the products
they are recommending, the lenders were generous enough to pay thdr way to conferences
and seminars where they were wined and dined and entertained. And from there, it was only
an etNcal hop and a skip to paying consulting fees, paying tuition for graduate courses taken
by college finandal aid officers, or inviting university officials to serve on the lendegs board
of directors. Some of those officers were so impressed that they decided to buy stock in the
lenders whose services they were recommending.
The federal government, of course, has rules about such conflicts of interest, like requiring its
employees to disclose fmandal holdings annually. But we learned last week that even when
officials fill out those forms and disclose how much they have profited by investing in the
student loan industry they are ostensibly supposed to reg-ulate, nothing happened because
nobody bothered to read them.
Out in Reston, our own Sallie Mae has agreed to pay $2 million and end several questionable
marketing practices to settle its part of an industry-wide investigation by New York’s attorney
general. Its statement announcing the deal last ~veek was a model of Orwellian spin:
"We are pleased that Attorney General Cuomo has recognized Sallie Marls leadership in the
student loan industry and our ethical market practices .... Sallie Mae has cooperated with
this inquiry since its inception and, as the industry leader, we have been confident throughout
that our polities and procedures wonld stand tall."
Tall enonglg anyway, for the Blackstone Crroup to consider offering $20 billion for Sallie,
even before Congress completes it own investigation of the industry and rewrites the rules on
college lending.
3. College Lending’ Future
Wall Street Journal
By Janet Paskin
April 15, 2007
Ever since the 2006 election ushered in a flock of legislators determined to reform the
student-loan industry, the shares of student lenders like SLM and Nelnet had been tumbling.
To make matters worse for holders, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has
targeted the student-loan business, alleging improper revenue-sharing agreements with
colleges and universities. Predictably, thafs been enough to scare away many investors.
But for those with a long horizon, some of the biggest players in the student-loan business
look promising -- and not just for retail investors. On Friday shares of SLM, formerly known
06/05/2008
as Sallie Mae, jumped 15%, to $47, on reports that the heavyweight among U.S. student loan
companies was in talks with one or more bidders to be acquired in a deal that might exceed
$20 million, or about $48 a share.
That price seems too low, according to analysts who cover the company. "But this does put a
floor on the stock," says Sameer Gokhale, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, who
thinks the stock is worth $52. The reported offer opens the door for higher bids, or for a
bigger bank to step in and acquire SLM.
Regardless of the outcome of this particular offer, SLM’s business -- and its competitors’ -- is
growing, on a.rising demand for student loans. More and more students are going to college;
el~_rollment is rising at graduate schools, too.
That trend is expected to continue, fueled bybaby boomers’ children, a growhlg number of
foreign students, and the increasing necessity of an advanced degree in the job market. At the
same time, the cost of college has increased an average of 6% to 7% a year over the past five
years, climbing twice as fast as personal income. More students borrowing more money is
good news for student lenders.
To be sure, these aren’t stocks for the faint of heart. Attorney General Cuomo’s investigation,
which picked up s~am in March, remains awild card. So does a handfM ofcollege-ftmding
bills winding their way through Congress. The short-term uncertainty may hurt stock prices
more than any law.
For those pursing SLM, which originates more government-guaranteed loans than any other
lender, the announcement last week ofa rel~vely benign settlement with the New York
attorney general’s office doesn’t hurt. At $46, the stock is less of a bargain, and the deal might
fall through. But even though it’s vulnerable to congressional action, prospects are still
strong. The private-loan business is growing twice as fast as SLM’s subsidized portfolio, and
it also operates a debt-collection business and provides loan servicing.
Another potential takeover target, Nelnet, also originates and services primarily government-
subsidized loans, and boasts a default rate about half the industry’s average. The company,
which is about one-tenth the size of SLM, has kept costs !o~v and freed up capital to reinvest,
says Robert Kirkpatrick, mana~ng director of Cardinal Capital. It’s also small enough to be
an attractive takeover candidate; its share price rose 6% Friday. Insiders o~vn almost 65% of
the company, which Mr. Kirkpatrick thinks will help protect value.
Nelnet is still a target of the Cuomo investigation, but Mr. Kirkpatrick says, "it’s a good,
stable business, one tlmfs just misunderstood by investors right now."
Operating mostly in the private studentqoan market, First Marblehead is protected from the
le~slative risk that plagaes SLIvl and Nelnet, though its shares have tumbled reeent13% too.
Big banks outsource their private student lending to First Marblehead, which processes,
securitizes and ser~dces the loans. As the private loan industry has ~owr~ First Marblehead
has posted impressive earnings and operating margins around 70%. Still, ifs a risky stock.
Some investors are concex~ted that prepayment rates will be higher than the company
anticipates; others think defaults are likely to increase.
Janet Pask~ is a writer for SmartMoney magazine.
4. Do homework when seeking student loan
06/05/2008
Page 7 of 21
Page 497
Nexvsday
April 15, 2007
By Tami Luhby
MELVILLE, N.Y. -- Just as parents and students are applying for college loans, the Nexv
York Attorney General’s Office last month dropped a bombshell.
Some colleges are in cahoots with loan companies that are Wing kickbacks to finandal-aid
offices to get on t~ schools’ preferred-lender lists, said New York Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo. These lenders did not always offer the best deals to students.
So ho~v do you go about getting the right college loan?

Experts say you b~in by calling several lenders and comparing their offerings.
If your college has a preferred lender, cal! that one first "and then shop around," said Tony
Esposito, founder ofLerner & Esposito College Consultants in Commack.
Before you sign up with a lender, you’ll need to know how the student-loan industry ~vorks.
There’s a big difference between federal loans and private loans.
Federal loans come in two main flavors: Stafford and PLUS, or Parent Loan for
Undergraduate Students.
Stafford lom~ have borrowing limits of $3,500 for freshmen, $4,500 for sophomores and
$5,500 for juniors and seniors. Famihes that demonstrate need can get subsidized Stafford
!oans, where the government pays the interest while you are in school. If you have
unsubsidized loans, you can defer interest payments until after graduation.
Graduate students can receive up to $20,500 per year, but only $8,500 can be subsidized.
Stafford loans carry a fLxed interest rate of 6.8 percent. Some lenders discount the rate for
customers ~vho allow monthly payments to be dented from their bank accounts and!or who
have a history of on-time payments.
Under the PLUS loan program, parents can borrow as much money as they need to pay for
costs not covered by their child’s financial-aid package. A PLUS loan carries an interest rate
of 8.5 percent, but parents can get a 7.9 percent rate if they go through the U.S. Department
of Education’s Direct Loan program.
SOME REFUNDS DUE
Here’s a twist: Your college financial-aid office may be sending you a check.
As part of his investigation into the student lending industry, New York State Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo announced a $3.27 million settlement with six colleges. The schools
will reimburse students who borrowed from Citibank or Education Finance Partners ~vNle
those companies had revenue-sharing agreements with the colleges.
Colleges involved are New York University, St. John’s University, Syracuse University,
Ford, ham University, the University of Pennsylvania and Long Island University.
06/05/2008
The schools will get lists of affected students from the lenders and then send out checks
within a fe,v months.
To learn ho~v to find out if your student loan qualifies for a refund, go to
http://newsdav.com/starhr~now.
5. Author’s Poverty Views Disputed Yet Utilized
Materials Have Guided Va., Md. Teachers
Washiugton Post
April 15, 2007; Affl
By Ian Shapira
According to Ruby K. Payne, a consultant to school systems locally and nation,vide, teachers
should know a few things about poor people.
The Texas-based author saovs in her book "A Framework for Understanding Poverty": Parents
in poverty typica!ly disdpline cb~dren by beating or verbally chastising them; poor mothers
may turn to sex for money and favors; poor students laugh when they get in trouble at schoo!;
and low-income parents tend to "beat around the bush" duzing parent-teacher conferences,
instead of getting to the point.
In the past several years, at least five school systems in the Washington area have turned to
Payne’s lessons, books and workshops.
But many academics say her works are riddled with unverifiable ass~rlions. At the American
Educational Research Association’s annual conference in Chicago last week, professors from
the University of Texas at Austin delivered a report on Payne that argued that more than 600
of her descriptions of poverty in "Framework" cannot be proved true.
"She claims there is a sinNe culture ofpov~ that people live in. It’s an idea that’s been
discredited since at least the 1960s," said report co-author Randy Bomer.
Ifs unclear ho,v much public money has been spent on Payne region,vide. Ho,vard County
dispatched about 300 teachers in 2003 to a two-day Payne seminar and has continued to send
math and reading teachers to her for training. Montgomery County also has sent teachers to
Payne workshops in recent years; th-ince George’s County Superintendent John E. Deasy
distributed one of Payne’s books to some of his staffthis year, and Frederick County sent
about 250 teachers to a mulli-day training session three years ago.
In one case, I51nce William County schools recently spent more than $320,000 for Payne and
her aides to train hundreds ofstaft’members. Now Prince William officials are reconsidering
the value of Paynds advice.
The officials say Payne is welt meaning, but they are put offby her blunt generalizations
about life in poverty and worry about her standing among academics.
"She seems to be always stereotyping," Natialy Walker, Prince William’s professional

development supercisor, said during a staffmeeting about Pasnae last month_ "If only we
could get away from all the labels and move beyond that."
Still, in their nonstop quest to raise test scores of students from !ow-income families, schools
everywhere are searching for expertise from such consultants as Payne. The mission has
06/05/2008
Page 9 of 2 !
Page 499
become more urgent under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Frederick’s director of professional development, Ann Httmmer, said administrators are

a~vare that Payne’s workshops are controversial. Bt~ she called them refreshing. "People who
are in high-needs schools, they were like, ’Yeah, we see this.’ "
Payne, 56, said that she speaks to about 40,000 educators a year and that she has sold more
than 1 million copies of her self-published "Framework." She estimated that she and others
with her company, Aha! Process Inc., have worked with staff from 70 to 80 percent of the
nation’s school districts over the past decade. She declined to reveal the company’s annual
revenue.
Payne’s backers contend that teachers who can grasp the realities of impoverished households
-- ~vhatever those might be -- are better positioned to help students in those situations
succeed.
Critics say that that approach demeans low-income famiBes and that there are better ways to
raise scores -- among them, intensifying coursework, lowering teacher-student ratios and
ensuring that experienced teachers do not leave lo~v-income schools for those with wealthier
students.
Payne, a former teacher and administrator in Texas and Illinois who has worked with lo~v-
income students, says her characterizations of poverty come from her professional experience
and from spending time with the low-income family of her ex-husband.
"I ask the critics this question: Have you ever taught poor kids? The answer every time is,
’No,’ "Payne said. "So ho~v do they know [my descriptions of poverty] are not true?"
Another consultant, Glenn E. Sin~eton, based in San Francisco, con~nds that race influences
achievement more than poverty. Singleton, who is black, coaches teachers on cultural
sensitivity.
"Why is Ruby Payne popular?" he asked. "Ifs a safe place to go. When you’ve determined
kids are poor, there’s nothing you as a teacher can do about that. When you deal with race, it’s
about how we perpetuate racism and how that gets in the way of higher student
performance."
Payne said she doesn’t focus on race in part because of her skin co!or. "The real issue is that I
am white, and there’s a huge belief out there that if you’re white, you can’t talk about poverty
and race," she said.
To establish Payne’s credentials, her company has conducted research that attempts to show
that the author-consultant has helped boost scores on state standardized exams. The study,
d,rawing on data from five states, found that 63 percent of the students in classes with "high
fidelity" to Payne’s tenets had greater growth on their math e,,aarn scores over a two-year
period than students who were in "low-fidelity" classes. On reading ~ams, 78 percent of
students in Payne-influenced classes had greater growth.
Critics say these findings have not been revie~ved by independent experts.
In Prince William, Payne has influenced many educators, t~ncipal Joanne Alvey of
Marttrnsco Hills Elementary -- where nearly 70 percent of students are economica!ly
06/05/2008
Page 10 of 2!
Page 500
disadvantaged -- credits Paynds work among many factors that helped her school recently
meet the academic standards of No Child Left Behind.
Alvey said she bought some of Payne’s litemtttre for her staffeven before school officials
sent the teachers for county~de training.
"We talk in Ruby Payne terms all the time. Whafs really important is the teacher having a
relationship with the children_ Children in poverty tend not to work for grades, but they ~vork
for the teacher," Alvey said. "Another thing I discovered is how they address adults. Children
of poverty don’t generally know how to do thaL We have to teach them that."
Rita E. Goss, prindpal of Dumfries Elemenlxry, where about 65 percent of students are
economically disadvantaged, said Pabme’s work has helped her and her staff understand what
goes on in low-income homes and why some students misbehave in class.
"She talks in her book about generational poverty, like background noise and the TV always
being on, how it’s al~vays important to show their personality and to entertain and tell
stories," Goss said_ "You may assume that ldds have certain knoMe@ of the rules and how
to adapt to [school] but, in fact, they really don’t."
But debate about Payne is growing in Prince William. "I don’t know the last time Ruby Payne
stepped outside the Ruby Payne atmosphere," said Pare Bumstead, a seventh-grade language
arts teacher at Potomac Middle School. "We have kids whose parents are alcoholics, kids
whose parents arein jail and kids whose parents who live in McMansions, and those three
different kids can come to school with the same problems."
Victor Martin, the county’s supervisor ofmulticultural education, is trying to determine ~vhat
to do with Payee’s materials. As he led administrators last month in a discussion of her work,
Mm-fin wondered aloud about Payne’s "hidden rules" of poverty.
He took issue with one conclusion in the "Framework" book: "The noise level is hi~ (the TV
is always on and everyone may talk at once)."
"As a person that comes from poverty myself, 1 look at these ’hidden rules’," Martin said. He
paused. "The noise level in my home wasfft high. My dad worked shift work, and if he was
sleeping and if you had TV on -- there [would be] no entertainment."
Martin asked: "How is that information being filtered? Like, ’Well, that child is loud because
he’s poof?"
6. Conclusions Are Reported on Teaching of Abstinence
The Associated lh-ess (published in the NYT)
April 15, 2007
WASHINGTON, April 14 (AP) i Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs

were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by
Confess.
Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes reviewed reported having similar
numbers of sexual partners as those ~vho did not attend the classes. And they first had sex
about the same age as other students -- 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy
Research Inc.
06/05/2008
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Page 501
The federal government spends about $176 million a year promoting abstinence until
marriage. Critics have repeatedly said they did not believe the programs worked.
Bush administration officials cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the
study, saying the four programs were some of the very first estabhshed after Congress
overhauled the nation’s welfare laws in 1996.
Officials said one lesson they learned from the study was that the abstinence message should
be reinforced in subsequent years.
°~’his report confirms that these interventions are not like vaccines," said Harry Wilson,
associate commissioner of the Family and Youth Services Bureau at the federal
Administration for Children and Families. "You can’t expect one dose in middle schoo!, or a
small dose, to be protective all throughout the youth’s high school career."

April 15, 2007
1. Lenders Sought Edge Against U.S. in Student Loans (New York Times)
2. College Loan Progralns That Flunk Ethics (Washington Post)
3. College Lenders’ Future (~Zall Street Journal)
4. Do ho~nework when seeking student loan (Newsday)
5. Author’s Poverty Views Disputed Yet Utilized (Washington Post)
6. Conclusions Are Reported on Teaching of Abstinence (AP)
1. Lenders Sou~it Edge Against U.S. in Student Loans

New York Times
April 15, 2007; A1
By Jonathan D. Glarer and Karen W. Arenson
In a fierce contest to control the student loanmarket, the nation’s banks and lenders have for
years waged a successful campaign to limit a federal pro~am that was intended to make
borrowing less costly by having the government provide loans directly to students.
The companies have offered money to universities to pull out of the federal direct loan
program, ~vhich was championed by the Clinton administration. They went to court to keep
the direct pro~am from becoming more competitive. And they benefited from oversight so
lax that the Education Department’s assistant inspector general in 2003 called for ti~tened
regulation of lender dealings with nniversities.
At Indiana University in 2004, for example, Sallie Mac, the nation’s largest student lender,
offered $3 million that the university could use for "opportunity loans" to some students if it
left the direct loan pro~am. Indiana left the direct loan program but said the $3 million ~vas
not the reason; Sallie Mac currently administers their loan program.
Bank of America, which won the University of Virginia’s student loan business, said in its
2002 proposal that certain possible incentives had "the potential to violate" federal law. The
bank, which said such a discussion was normal in the bidding process, suggested that it
06/05/2008
discuss the issues with uuiversity officials ~during the olal presentation phase of the process."
All of this has helped give private lenders clear dominance of the $69 billion federal student
loan industry. The lenders, who defend these practices, say they are ,,~ming business
primarily because they offer !ower interest rates than the govermnent and often lower fees.
Advocates of the direct loan program say that it has been held back from offering more
competitive rates and benefits, and that a very smal! percentage of students can take
advantage of the private rivals’ advertised rates and incentives. They argue that private
lenders cost the government vast amounts of money because they are subsid~ed and
guaranteed against default.
President Bush’s budget reports that in 2006 for every $100 lent by private lenders, the cost
to the government of subsidies, defaults and other items was $13.81, while the same amount
lent through the direct loan program cost the government $3.85. The battle for dominance in
the loan market has escalated as tuitions have soared and students have borrowed more. This
is the context for many of the payments to universities and financial aid officials that have
come to light as a result of recent investigations into student loan practices.
"’What has happened is unbridled competition meets lack of oversight," said Terry W. Hartle,
senior vice president at the American Coundl on Education.
Part of what is generating the competition is that the government runs two loan programs --
and universities usually choose to participate in one or the other.
Until the 1990s, the ~ary program was the federal ~onaranteed toan program under which
private lenders like Citibank, Sallie Mac or Bank of America made the !oans to students.
They were Wen a helping hand from the govermnent, which paid subsidies to the lenders
and guaranteed them against default.
Bill Clinton campaigned for president on the notion of expanding the federal govermnent’s
role as student loan guarantor into a more central position as the direct lender. The idea was
that this would prove cheaper and simpler for students and be less costly for taxpayers
because borrowers would pay interest to the federal government instead of to the lenders.
The program went into effect in 1994. The Democrats expected it to become dominant. But
tmwilling to be muscled aside, private lenders began offering schools and students a variety
of benefits like scholarship money and lower interest rates and fees.
Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Mae, said, ’q’he private sector program has better prices,
better product selection, better service and better technology."
For a few years afar direct lending ~vent into effect, it grew quickly. But as student loan
volume has risen, climbing above $85 billion in 2005-6 from just over $30 billion 10 years
earlier, the government’s share as a direct lender has declined, and now amounts to less than
a quarter of the total.
~°When direct lending was created, the initial assumption was that the bank-based program
would be quicldy ovel~vhelmed by the government pro~," Ivlr. Ha-fie said. No one
counted on the strength of the reaction from the lending industry, he and others said.
The Education Department fought back. Richard W. Riley, then the secretary of education,
06/05/2008
tried to make the direct lending program more competitive in 1999 and 2000 by reducing
origination fees and interest rates. The private lenders sued, saying IvIr. Riley had no
authority to do this because these rates were set by Congress under the loan legislation. (Last
year, lawmakers set the interest rate on ne~v Stafford loans, one of the most popular federally
guaranteed loans, at 6.8 percent; many private lenders offer to reduce that rate for borrowers
who make payments on time or meet other goals.)
In response to the lawsuit, the Education Department argued that the punic and private loan
programs had the power to offer the same terms and conditions, and added that better loan
terms would make loans more affordable and thus reduce defaults, benefiting taxpayers.
With the Bush administration more sympathetic to the private market, the lenders withdrew
the lawsuit last year, and the direct loan program has offered some of the incentives used by
its private rivals.
Katherine McLane, a spokeswoman for Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, said both
federal loan programs were "’a vital source of funds for student aid." Ms. McLane said that
°~hrough these t~vo programs we have improved students’ and families’ choices by increasing
competition, upgrading customer service and lowering costs."
The Bush administration took virtually no action as lenders offered spedal pools of money if
universities would leave the direct loan program. Lenders, by law, are barred from offering
inducements to gain loan applications. But what is an inducement is not entirely clear.
A revie~v by the Education Department’s office of the inspector general in 2003 -- prompted
by an accusation that Sallie Mac was offering illegal inducements -- found that the
department had brought only one public action, a case involving Sallie Mae and a college of
podiatric medicine in 1995, which an administrative law judge later struck down.
The assislant inspector general, Cathy H. Lewis, ~vho conducted the examination, also noted
that the Education Department had not given any updated opi~ons about what kind of
inducements were barred since 1995, even lhou~ the competition for loan business had
escalated sharply since then. Ms. Lewis expressed concern about ’q0argaining practices
bet~veen schools and lenders." She referred to both the guaranteed loan program and private
loans, which like any consumer loan lack govermrnent bacldng. Students increasingly rely on
private loans because of limits on borrowing through the federal program.
She wrote that the practices "should be addressed through statutory and regulatory changes or
further department gafidance."
Ms. McLane said in an e-mail message that the department had offered no gaidance to
lenders because it believed it had ’No authority over the private loan instrmnents and market
and therefore no guidance could be provide&"
She said the deparirnent had begun examining whether there should be new regulations in
December.
Republicans in Congress have issued a conl~uing stream of critidsms about the direct
lending progTam and tried to restrict it in a variety ofw’ays.
Just last year, they voted to give lawmakers the power to cut the budget of the Education
Department office that oversees the student loan program -- a !ooming if indirect threat to
06/05/2008
direct lending. They also made it more difficult for many borrowers ruth multiple !oans to
combine them into a single, larger direct loan, effectively making it harder for students to
refinance their debts.
"°I~he federal government should be in the business of student loans as the lender of last resort
~vhen private lenders can’t offer competitive opporamities,’" said Senator Ivlichae! B. Enzi, a
Wyoming Republican who is the former chairman of the Education Committee.
In the absence of any crackdown on inducements, banks and other lenders showered
universities with incentives to leave the direct lending program.
Sallie Mac, for example, offered Pace University in New York City $4 million in loans for
students who would not have otherwise qualified if it left the direct loan program, the
university said. Pace turned the offer down, a spokesman said. But it did eventually leave the
pro~am.
Colleges i~ the direct lending program were increasingly concerned about its future in the
face of growing Republican opposition.
Yvonne Hubbard, director of Student Financial Services at the University of Virgi~a, said
that was one factor that prompted the school to leave the program, along with the better deals
being offered by the private lenders.
The university invited lender proposals in 2002 and chose Bm~ of America for a five-year
term. It was in this process that the bank warned that some services under discussion had
potential to violate" regulations against inducements.
Ms. Hubbard said she had no memory of what that lan~o~age mi~ht have referred to, and a
Bank of America spokesman, Joe Miller, said that it was not unusual to use this language in
responding to a request to bid for a contract.
Bank of America is the only lender the University of Virginia recommends. The bank
handles about 95 percent of the federal student loans at the university. Under the agreement,
students who take out subsidized loans through the bank pay no ori~oination or guarantor fees.
Ms. Hubbard said that the university tried to make clear to families that they were free to
borrow from anyone but that it also offered this advice: ’Fake the terms we have negotiated
with Bank of America and nse this as your baseline, and try get your vendor to at least match
it. It’s a good deal."
Along with the partisan battle over the lending programs has come a fierce argument over
their relative costs to taxpayers. Lenders vehemently argue that the direct !oan program is in
fact more expensive.
With Democrats now in control of Congress, Senator Ed~vard M. Kennedy, Democrat of
Massachusetts, and Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, with some
bipartisan support, are pushing legislation intended to bolster the direct loan program.
Many Republicans are determined to defend private lenders. "I don’t want a few problems to
be the excuse for the Democrats to put the federal government in charge of all student
lending in the United States," said Representative Ric Keller of Florida, the ranldng
Republican on the higher education subcommittee.
06/05/2008
Page 15 of 21
Page 505
2. College Loan I5"ograins That Flunk Ethics

XNashington Post Editorial
April 15, 2007; F03
We’ve known for years about the "iron triangle" of college finance, the aBiance among
u~versities, lenders and federal education officials that seeks to conslantly expand the
college loan program. But it is only now that we are learning about the ms~ad of ethically
questionable practices that have held the triangle together.
Lefts start with the fees or special lending facilities that student loan originators offer to
college financial ~id offices for designating them as "preferred providers" or sending them a
certain volume of business. And the call centers to advise students and parents on tuition
financing options lhat appear to be nm by the college but in fact are run by the lenders.
Of course, because you wouldn’t want college loan officers to be ustfamiliar with the products
they are recommending, the lenders were generous enough to pay their way to conferences
and seminars where they were wined and dined and entertained. And from there, it was only
an etNcal hop and a skip to paying consulting fees, paying tuition for graduate courses taken
by co!lege financial aid officers, or inviting university officials to serve onthe lenders board
of directors. Some of those officers ~vere so impressed that they decided to buy stock in the
lenders whose services they were recommending.
The federal government, of course, has roles about such conflicts of interest, like requiring its
employees to disclose financial holdings annually. But we learned last week that even when
officials fill out those forms and disclose how much they have profited by investing in the
student loan industry they are ostensibly supposed to reg~ate, nothing happened because
nobody bothered to read them.
Out in Reston, our own Sallie Mac has agreed to pay $2 million and end several questionable
marketing practices to settle its part of an industry-wide investigation by New Yorl4s attorney
general. Its statement announcing the deal last week was a model of Orwellian spin:
"We are pleased that Attorney General Cuomo has recogn~ed Sallie Mae’s leadership in the
student !oan industry and oar ethical market practices .... Sallie Mac has cooperated with
this inquiry since its inception and, as the industry leader, we have been confident throughout
that our policies and procedures would stand tall."
Tall enough, anyway, for the Blackstone Group to consider offering $20 billion for Sallie,
even before Congress completes it own investigation of the industry and rewrites the rides on
college lending.
3. College Lenders’ Future
Wall Street Journal
By Janet Paskin
April 15, 2007
Ever since the 2006 election ushered in a flock of leNslators determined to reform the
student-loan industry, the shares of student lenders like SLM and Nelnet had been tumbling.
To make matters worse for holders, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has
targeted the student-loan business, alleging bnproper revenue-sharing agreements with
06/05/2008
Page 16 of 2!
Page 506
colleges and universities. Predictably, thaVs been enough to scare axvay many investors.
But for those with a long horizon, some of the biggest players in the student-loan business
!ook promising -- and not just for retail investors. On Friday shares of SLM, formerly known
as Satlie Mae, jumped 15%, to $47, on reports that the heavyweight among U.S. student loan
companies was in talks with one or more bidders to be acquired in a deal that might exceed
$20 million, or about $48 a share.
That price seems too low, according to analysts ~vho cover the company. "But this does put a
floor on the stock," says Sameer Ookhale, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, who
thinks the stock is worth $52. The reported offer opens the door for higher bids, or for a
bigger bank to step in and acquire SLM.
Regardless of the outcome of this particular offer, SLM’s business -- and its competitors’ -- is
growing, on a rising demand for student loans. More and more students are going to college;
enrollment is hsing at graduate schools, too.
That trend is expected to continue, fueled by baby boom ers’ chi14ren, a growing number of
foreign students, and the increasing necessity of an advanced degree in the job market. At the
same lime, the cost of college has increased an average of 6% to 7% ayear over the past five
years, climbing t~vice as fast as personal income. More students borrowing more money is
good news for student lenders.
To be sure, these aren’t stocks for the faint of heart. Attorney General Cuomo’s investigation,
which picked up s~eam in March, remains a wild card. So does a handful ofcollege-fimding
bills winding their way through Confess. The short-term uncertainty may hurt stock prices
more than any law.
For those pursing SLM, which originates more government-guaranteed loans than any other
lender, the announcement last week of a relatively benign settlement with the New York
attorney general’s office doesn’t hurt. At $46, the stock is less of a bargain, and the deal might
fall through. But even though it’s vulnerable to congressional action, prospects are still
strong. The private-loan business is grooving twice as fast as SLM’s subsidized portfolio, and
it also operates a debt-collection business and provides loan servicing.
Another potential takeover target, Nelnet, also originates and services primarily government-
subsidized loans, and boasts a default rate about half the industry’s average. The company,
which is about one-tenth the size of SLM, has kept costs low and freed up capital to reinvest,
says Robert Kirkpatrick, manaNng director of Cardinal Capital. Itts also small enough to be
an attractive takeover candidate; its share price rose 6% Friday. Insiders own almost 65% of
the company, which Mr. Kirkpatrick thinks will help protect value.
Nelnet is still a tmget of the Cuomo investigation, but Mr. Kirkpatrick says, "it’s a good,
stable business, one tha~s just misunderstood by investors right now."
Operating mostly in the l~ivate student-!oan market, First Marblehead is protected from the
legislative risk that plagues SLM and Nelnet, though its shares have tumbled recently, too.
Big banks outsource their private student lending to First Marblehead, which processes,
securitizes and services the loans. As the private loan industry has gown, First Marblehead
has posted impressive earnings and operating margins around 70%. Still, ifs a risky stock.
Some investors are concerned that prepayment rates will be higher than the company
anticipates; others think defaults are likely to increase.
06/05/2008
Page 17 of 21
Page 507
Janet Paskin is a writer for SmartMoney magazine.
4. Do homexvork xvhen seeking student loan

Nexvsday
April 15, 2007
By Tami Luhby
MELVILLE, N.Y. -- Just as parents and students are applying for college loans, the New
York Attorney General’s Ot~ce last month dropped a bombshell.
Some colleges are in cahoots ~vith loan companies that are Nving kickbacks to financial-aid
offices to get on the schools’ preferred-lender lists, said Ne~v York Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo. These lenders did not always offer the best deals to students.
So how do you go about getting the ri~ht college loan?
Experts say you begin by caJJing several lenders and comparing their offerings.
If your college has a preferred lender, call that one first "and then shop around," said Tony
Esposito, founder ofLerner & Esposito College Consnl~nts in Commack.
Before you sign up with a lender, you’ll need to know how the student-loan industry works.
There’s a big difference between federal loans and private loans.
Federal loans come in two main flavors: Stafford and PLUS, or Parent Loan for
Undergraduate Students.
Stafford loans have borrowing limits of $3,500 for freshmen, $4,500 for sophomores and
$5,500 for juniors and seniors. Famines that demonstrate need can get subsidized Stafford
loans, where the govermnent pays the interest while you are in school. If you have
unsubsidized loans, you can defer interest payments until after graduation.
Graduate students can receive up to $20,500 per year, but only $8,500 can be subsidized.
Stafford loans carry a f~xed interest rate of 6.8 percent. Some lenders discount the rate for
customers who allo~v monthly payments to be debited from their bank accounts and!or who
have a history of on-time payments.
Under the PLUS loan program, parents can borrow as much money as they need to pay for
costs not covered by their child’s financial-aid package. A PLUS loan carries an interest rate
of 8.5 percent, but parents can get a 7.9 percent rate if they go through the U.S. Department
of Education’s Direct Loan program.
SOME REFUNDS DUE
Here’s a twist: Your college financial-aid office may be sending you a check.
As part of his investigation into the student lending industry, New York State Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo announced a $3.27 million settlement with six colleges. The schools
will reimburse students who borrowed from Citibank or Education Finance Partners while
06/05/2008
Page 18 of 21
Page 508
those compames had revenue-sharing agreements with the colleges.
Colleges involved are New York University, St. John’s University, Syracuse University,
Fordham University, the University of Pennsylvania and Long Island University.
The schools will get lists of affected students from the lenders and then send out checks
within a few months.
To learn how to find out if your student loan qualifies for a refund, go to
http://newsd~r.com/startingnow.
5. Author’s Povel~y Views Disputed Yet Utilized
Materials Have Guided Va., Md. Teachers
Washington Post
April 15, 2007; A01
By Ian Shapira
According to Ruby K. Payne, a consultant to school systems locally ~md nationwide, teachers
should know a few things about poor people.
The Texas-based author says in her book "A Framework for Understand~g Poverty": Parents
in poverty typically discipline ch~dren by beating or verbally chastising them; poor mothers
may t-am to sex for money and favors; poor students laugh when they get in trouble at school;
and low-income parents tend to ’"oeat aroundthe bush" dining parent-teacher conferences,
instead of getting to the point
In the past several years, at least five school systems in the Washington area have turned to
Payne’s lessons, books and workshops.
But many academics say her ~vorks are riddled with unverifiable assertions. At the American
Educational Research Association’s annual conference in Chicago last week, professors from
the University of Texas at Austin delivered a report on Payne that argued that more than 600
of her desc~ptions of poverty in "Framework" cannot be proved true.
"She claims there is a s~gle culture of poverty that people live in. It’s an idea that’s been
discredited since at least the 1960s," said report co-author Randy Bomer.
Ifs unclear how much public money has been spent on Payne regionwide. Howard Cotmty
dispatched about 300 teachers in 2003 to a two-day Payne seminar and has continued to send
math and reading teachers to her for training. Montgomery County also has sent teachers to
Payne workshops in recent years; Prince George’s County Superintendent John E. Deasy
distributed one of Payne’s books to some of his staffthis year, and Frederick County sent
about 250 teachers to a multi-day training session three years ago.
In one case, Prince William County schools recently spent more th,’m $320,000 for Payne and
her aides to train hunckeds of staff members. Now Prince William officials are reconsidering
the value of Paynds advice.
The officials say Payne is well meaning, but they are put offby her blunt generalizations
about life in poverty and worry about her standing among academics.
"She seems to be always stereotyping," Nafialy Walker, Prince William’s professional

development supervisor, said dtuing a staffmeeting about Payne last month. "If ouly we
06/05/2008
Page 19 of 21
Page 509
could get away from all the labels and move beyond that."
Still, in their nonstop quest to raise test scores of students from lo~v-income families, schools
everywhere are searching for expertise from such consultants as Payne. The mission has
become more regent under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Frederick’s director of professional development. Ann Hummer, said administrators
aware that Payne’s workshops are controvemial. But she called them refreshing. "People who
are in high-needs schools, they were like, ’Yeah, we see this.’ "
Payne, 56, said that she speaks to about 40,000 educators a year and that she has sold more
than 1 million copies of her self-published "Framework." She estimated that she and others
with her company, Aha! Process Inc., have worked with staff from 70 to 80 percent of the
nation’s school districts over the past decade. She declined to reveal the company’s annum
revenue.
Payne’s backers contend that teachers who can grasp the realities of impoverished households
-- whatever those might be -- are better positioned to help students in those situations
succeed.
Critics say that that approach demeans low-income families and that 1here are better ways to
raise scores -- among them, intensifying course~vorl<, lowering teacher-student ratios and
ensuring that experienced teachers do not leave low-income schools for those with ~vealthier
students.
Payne, a former teacher and administrator in Texas and Illinois who has worked with lo~v-
income students, says her characterizations of poverty come from her professiona! experience
and from spending time with the !o~v-income family of her ex-husband.
"I ask the critics this question: Have you ever taught poor kids? The answer every time is,
’No,’ "Payne said. "So ho~v do they know [my descriptions of poverty] are not true?"
Another consultant, Glerm E. Singleton, based in San Francisco, contends that race influences
achievement more than poverty. Singleton, who is black, coaches teachers on cultural
sensitivity.
"Why is Ruby Payne popular?" he asked. "Ifs a safe place to go. When you’ve determined
kids are poor, there’s nothing you as a teacher can do about that. When you deal with race, it’s
about ho~v we perpetuate radsm and how that gets in the way of higher student
performance."
Payne said she doesn’t focus on race in part because of her skin color. "The real issue is that I
am white, and there’s a huge belief out there that if you’re white, yon can’t talk about poverty
and race," she said.
To establish Pa3~e’s credentials, her company has conducted research that attempts to show
that the author-consultant has helped boost scores on state standardized exams. The study,
drawing on data from five states, found that 63 percent of the students in classes with "high
fidelity" to Paynds tenets had greater growth on their math exam scores over a two-year
period than students who were in "low-fidelity" classes. On reading ~ams, 78 percent of
students in Payne-inflnenced classes had ~eater growth.
06/05/2008
Page 20 of 21
Page 510
Critics say these findings have not been reviewed by independent experts.
In Prince William, Payne has influenced many educators. Principal Joarme Alvey of
Marumsco Hills Elementary -- ~vhere nearly 70 percent of students are economically
disadvantaged -- credits Payne’s work among many factors that helped her school recently
meet the academic s~ndards of No Child Lef~ Behind.
Alvey said she bought some of Payne’s literature for her staff even before school officials
sent the teachers for countywide training.
"We talk in Ruby Payne terms all the time. Whafs really important is the teacher having a
relationship with the children Children in poverty tend not to work for grades, but they work
for the teacher," Alvey said. "Another thing I discovered is ho~v they address adults. Children
of poverty dofft generally know how to do hhaL We have to teach them that."
Rita E. Goss, prindpal of Dumfries Elementary, where about 65 percent of students are
economicaBy disadvantaged, said Payne’s work has helped her and her staffunders~nd what
goes on in low-income homes and why some students misbehave in class.
"She talks in her book about generational poverty, like background noise and the TV always
being on, how it’s al~vays important to show their personality and to entertain and tell
stories," Goss said. "You may assume that ldds have certain knowledge of the rules and how
to adapt to [school] but. in tact, they really don’t."
But debate about Payne is grm~g in Prince William. "I don’t know the last time Ruby Payne
stepped outside the Ruby Payne atmosphere," said Pam Bumstead, a seventh-grade language
arts teacher at Potomac Middle School. "We have kids whose parents are alcoholics, kids
whose parents are in jail and kids whose parents who live in McMansions, and those three
different kids can come to school with the same problems."
Victor Martin, the county’s supervisor ofmulticultural education, is trying to determine what
to do with Payne’s materials. As he led administrators last month in a discussion of her work,
Martin wondered aloud about Payne’s ’~hidden rules" of poverty.
He took issue with one conciusion in the "Framework" book: "The noise level is high (the TV
is always on and everyone may talk at once)."
"As a person that comes from poverty myself, I look at these ’hidden rules’," Mm-tin said. He
paused. "The noise level in my home wasn’t high. My dad worked shift ~vork, and if he was
sleeping and if you had TV on -- there [~vould be] no ente~dnment."
Martin asked: "How is that information being filtered? Like, ’Well, that child is loud because
he’s pool?"
6. Conclusions Ale Reported on Teaching of Abstinence

The Associated tYess (published in the NYT)
April 15, 2007
WASHINGTON, April 14 (AP) -- Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs

were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by
Congress.
06/05/2008
Page 21 of 21
Page 511
Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes reviewed reported having similar
numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes. And they first had sex
about the same age as other students -- 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy
Research Inc.
The federal government spends about $176 million a year promoting abstinence until
mamage. Critics have repeatedly said they did not believe the programs worked.
Bush administration officials cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the
study, saying the four programs ~vere some of the very first established after Congress
overhauled the nation’s welfare laws in 1996.
Officials said one lesson they learned from the study was that the abstinence message should
be reinforced in subsequent years.
°°11ais report confirms that these interventions are not like vaccines," said Harry Wilso~
associate commissioner of the Family and Youth Services Bureau at the federal
Administration for Children and Families. "You can’t expect one dose in middle school, or a
small dose, to be protective all throughout the youth’s high school career."
06/05/2008
Page 512
No nresponsi ]
............................. katherin emciane-[ ......................... ]

April 16, 2007 4:22 AM
To: Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Oldham, Che<yl; Conklin, Kristin; Schray, Vickie; scott_re.
_stanzel@who.eop.gov; Sampson, Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; Beaton,
MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Private-Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug;
Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey;, Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Kennedy Wants Lenders Blocked From Data (WP)
Kennedy Wants Lenders Blocked From Data

Request Comes Amid Scramble to Protect Student Information By Amit R. Paley Washington
Post Staff Writer Monday, April 16, 2007; A02
The chairman of the Senate education committee urged the Bush administration yesterday to
block student loan companies from accessing a nmtional database that holds confidential
information on tens of millions of students.
The request by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), came after The Washington Post reported
on inappropriate searches of the database that could violate federal rules and raise
concerns about data mining and abuses of privacy.
The problem has so alarmed officials at the U.S.

Department of Education that they are considering a temporary shutdown of the system,
which contains 60 million student records.
"Until the security of the database can be ensured, I urge you to block the use of the
database by private lenders," Kennedy wrote in a letter to Education Secretary Margaret
Spellings.
The d~tabase, known as the National Student Loan Data System, contains Social Security
numbers, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and other sensitive financial
information covered by federal privacy laws. Some worry that loan companies are trolling
the system for marketing data they can use to bombard students with mass mailings.
Spokeswoman Kmtherine McLane said the department has spent more than $650,000 and hired a
ful!-time employee to safeguard the system. She said the agency hms already blocked
thousands of users that it deemed unqualified for access after security reviews.
"The department takes these matters very seriously and invests significant planning and
resources to enhance security and protect the data entrusted to it," she said in an e-
mai!.
Both Kennedy and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House education committee,
said they would look into the management and security of the database. Kennedy asked the
department to provide documents from the past five years on security breaches of the
system.
"Students have a right to the strictest privacy when they provide their personal
information to the federal government," Miller said in a statement. "Reports of this
privacy being abused raise extremely serious questions about the Department of Education’s
efforts to safeguard the privacy of millions of students."
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Page 514
WEEKEND NEWS SUMB4ARY

April 14, 2007
Student Lender Stories

1. Ohio launches probe into student loan industry (Reuters)
2. Private company in talks to buy SallieMae (AP)
3. Kennedy to Limit Student Loan Backstop (AP)
4. Sallie Mae Stock Rises On News of Possible Sale (W. Post)
5. Talk of Possible $20 Billion Deal for Sallie Mae Pushes Shares Higher (NYT)
6. Blackstone Considers $20 Billion Bid for Sallie iVIae (Bloomberg)
7. E-Z Loan U (Chicago Tribune Editorial)
8. Loans no bargain (St. Pete Times Editorial)
Other News
1. Meeting Brings No Headway in ’No Child’ Stalemate (W. Post)
2. Funding urged for Catholic schools (W. Times)
STUDENT LENDER STORIES
1. Ohio launches probe into student loan industry

Reuters
Friday, April 13, 2007; 7:17 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (Renters) - Ohio joined on Friday the list of states launching probes
to see if college and lmiversity officials have steered students to student loan companies
in exchange forperks.
Ohio Attorney General Marc Drum’s office said in a statement he has contacted university
and college presidents across the state advising he will investigate claims concerning
potential conflicts of interest, self-dealing and other illegal and unethical conduct
involving lenders.
Dann’s office is seeking documents relating to student loan providers, including revenue
sharing and referral fee agreements, preferred lender lists, consulting agreements and
lender marketing materials.
"This issue of potential deceptive practices will examine whether college officials have
taken free trips, benefited from stock deals, or taken gifts that some in the student-loan
industry offer to financial aid officers," the statement said.
Students and their parents often rely on advice from school officials on how to borrow
money to pay for tuition.
Connecticut Attorney GenelN Richard Blumenthal said on Thmsday he is investigating
possible improper deals between student loan companies and colleges and tmiversifies,
revealing for the first time the state is probing the $85-billion-a-yearindush-y.
Page 515
California Attomey General Jerry Brownis also keeping a close eye on the issue.
Investigators for the state of New York have already discovered some lenders offered
vacations and other perks to university officials to steer student borrowers their way.
Earlier this ~veek, SLM Corp. (SLM.N), the counUs~’s biggest lender to college students
and best kno~m as Sallie Mae, said it would pay $2 million into a fund to educate
students on fln~mcial aid to settle a probe by New York State Attorney General An4rew
Cuomo.
Cuomo has also settled a case with Citib~k (C.N) and New York University, Syracuse
University, St. John’s Universky, For4ham University and the University of
Pennsylvania. They agreed to pay $5.2 million.
Separately on Friday, U.S. Secretary of Edacation Margaret Spellings asked for the
resignation of Ellen Frishberg, student financial services director at Johns Hopkins
University, from a panel that helps develop financial aid regulations.
Johns Hopkins said on Monday it put Ffishberg on paid leave after learning she received
about $65,000 in consulting fees from a student loan company.
2. Private company in talks to buy SallieMae

The Assodated Press
Apr 14, 2007 3:22 AM
RESTON, VA. - Shares of Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student-loan provider, jumped
15 percent Friday after a newspaper report that it is in buyout talks ruth a private equity
firm for more than $20 billion.
The New York Times reported that Blackstone Equity Group is a potential bidder to take
Sallie Mae private.
Sa!lie Mae, formally known as SLM Corp., was created by Congress in 1972 as a
company to which private lenders could sell their student loans. But it was privatized in
the 1990s and became a Nlly independent, publicly traded company in 2004.
Spokesmen for Sallie Mae and Blackstone declined to comment on the report.
Sallie Mae shares increased $6.01 to $46.76 a share. The trading pushed SaJlie Mae’s
market capitalization from $16.7 billion to $19.2 billion.
The Times report, citing tmnamed sources, said the acquisition price could exceed $20
billion. The Times reported that the negotiations appear to be at a late stage, but that
numerous hurdles remain.
Page 516
While it is nowindependent, Sallie Mae faces considerable congressional scrutiny

because many student loans are federally subsidized.
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., said Friday
that a buyout by a private finn raises concerns about a lack of public disclosure of Sallie
Mae’s actions, since they would no longer be subject to regulation by the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
"It is abundantly clear that the lack of public disclosure required by both student lenders
and schools has undermined the credibility of the student loan industry," Miller said in a
statement. "The American people must be able to hold lenders and schools accountable to
ensure that federal student aid dollars are being properly used."
Sallie Mae, with 11,000 employees and $1.2 billion in annual profits, is by far the largest
lender in the $85 billion student loan industry.
3. Kennedy to Limit Student Loan Backstop

The Assodated Press
April 13, 2007, 3:48PM
NEW YORK -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy plans to propose legislation to force student
lenders to shoulder a greater share of the risk of students defaulting on loans, Wall Street
analysts and student lenders said Friday.
Charles A. Gabriel, an analyst with Prudential Equity Group, wrote in a research report
Friday his sources on Capitol Hill told him Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts,
wants to modify the safety net the federal government provides against student loan
defaults.
President Bush and the House of Representatives each proposed to reduce the scope of
the backstop, b~t Kennedy’s proposal cuts more deeply, the report said.
Federally guaranteed loans, which comprise four-fifths of the $85 billion a year student
loan industry, compensate student lenders for 97 cents out of every dollar lost to
delinquent borrowers. Bush and the House each proposed cutting the safety net to 95
cents on the dollar.
Galniel said Kennedy’s proposal would slash federal reinsm’ance to 85 cents on the
dollar, a "particularly surprising hike in lender risk-sharing." The government protects
student lenders against credit losses to help ensure college-bonnd students can find loans.
A spokesperson from Kennedy’s office couldn’t be reached for comment. Thomas Weisel
Partners analyst Mark Sproule wrote in a research report SLM Corp., the biggest U.S.
student lender, confirmed the proposed legislation.
Page 517
Kennedy’s bill also proposes a slightly steeper cut in subsidies paid to student lenders,
Gabriel said. Lenders such as SLM Corp., Nelnet Inc., CIT Group Inc.’s Student Loan
Xpress and Cifigroup Inc. benefit from a federal subsidy known as a special allowance
payment. The subsidy, administered by the Department of Education, pays lenders a
f~xed spread above their cost to boi~row money to finance student loans.
The House of Representatives earlier this year approved legislation cutting this spread,
‘‘vhich is typically about 2.34 percentage points, by 0.1 percentage points. In his 2008
budget proposal, President Bush proposed a 0.5 percentage point cut. Kennedy proposes
a 0.6 percentage point cut, Gabriel said.
The reported proposal represents the Democrats’ efforts to make attending college more
affordable. Some Democrats say the federal goverrmaent wastes taxpayer money
subsidizing highly profitable lenders. Instead, the subsidies could be used for student loan
grants, they say.
It’s not clear what effect a modified backstop would have on lender profits. Nelnet, a
Lincoln. Neb.-based lender, said ! 1.5 percent of its federally guaranteed loans were
delinquent at the end of 2006. Kennedy’s legislation threatens to force a greater share of
the losses from those delinquencies on NelNet.
Sallie Mae reported 13.1 percent of the borro~vers in its private loan portfolio were
delinquent at the end of last year, with 5.3 percent of student borrowers delinquent for
more than 90 days.
But only 16 percent of Sallie Mae’s loan portfolio consists of private loans, or loans not
backed by the goverrnnent. Private loans carry higher interest rates than federally
guaranteed !oans, and are therefore more likely to fall into delinquency.
Shares of student lenders surged Friday because the news of the legislation coincided
with a New York Times article that private equity investors including Blackstone Group
were in talks to buy Sallie Mae for $20 billion.
The value cited in the Times represents a 20 percent premium to Sallie Mae’s market
value at the end of trading Thursday. Shares of Sa!lie Mae spiked $5.27, or 12.9 percent,
to $46.03 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.
Sallie Mae, with almost 10 million student borrowers and a $142 billion loan pol~folio,
was chartered by Congress in t 972 to help bolster a broader market for student loans.
Congress privatized the company in 1996 and Sallie Mae cut its link to the government in
2004.
4. Sallie Mae Stock Rises On Nexvs of Possible Sale

Student Lender Retains Banker
The Washington Post
By David Y~ Hilzenrath and Tomoeh Murakami Tse
Page 518
Shares of Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student loan company, rose 14.8 percent
yesterday on reports that it was in talks to be bought by private investors.
The Reston company has been talking with potential buyers, including private-equity
firms, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions who spoke on condition
of anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing.
Sallie Mae has retained the investment bank L~ S to explore options, the source said.
A buyout could cost more than $20 billion, the New York Times reported yesterday,
citing sources briefed on the discussions. One potential buyer is Blackstone Group, the
paper reported.
John Ford, a spokesman for Blackstone, one of the country’s biggest buyout finns,
declined to comment yesterday on the report.
The talks come as Sallie Mae faces proposed cuts in federal subsidies and scrutiny of
student loan marketing practices. Those developments have helped depress Sallie Mae’s
stock price in recent months, making it a less expensive takeover target.
Sallie Mae spokes~voman MarthaHoller declined to comment. "It’s our long-standing

policy not to comment on market rumors or speculation," she said.
Taking Sallie Mae private could insulate it from the forces that have been hinting its
stock price andliberate it from the extensive disclosure requirements that come with
publicly traded shares.
Sallie Mae’s top executives have the potential to benefit from a sale of the company. For
example, they could receive substantial payonts if they lose their j obs as the result of a
change of control at the company. As of Dec. 31, such payments to five top executives
would have totaled $30.7 million, including $14.4 million for chief executive Thoma~s J.
Fitzpatrick. according to a regulatory filing Sallie Mae made this week.
SLM Corp., as Sa!lie Mae is officially known, was once a government-sponsored

enterprise like mortgage funding giants Farmie Mae and Freddie Mac, but its federal
chatter was dissolved in 2004. Its dominant position in the industry today is largely a
legacy of its former favored status.
Days ago, the company agreed to a $2 million settlement with the New York state
attorney general’s office to limit its exposure in a widening investigation of the student
loan industry.
Under the settlement, Sallie Mae agreed that it would no longer pay travel and
entertainment expenses for university officials or send its employees to work for free in
Page 519
campus financial aid offices, practices that critics say could skew the lending system in
its favor.
The Bush admilfistration has proposed cutting subsidies to student loan companies, which
could take ante out of Sallie Mae’s earnings. Democrats have argued that student loan
progran~ have needlessly enriched private lenders, and they are trying to overhaul the
system.
Much of Sallie Mae’s business involves loans that are subsidized and guaranteed by the
government, minimizing the potential losses if borrowers default.
As of Dec. 31, the company owned $142.1 billion in loans to almost 10 million
borrowers. Of those loans, 84 percent were federally insured. The steady flow of cash
that comes from student loans is a key element of the company’s apNal to private equity
buyers.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chaim~an of the House Education and Labor Committee,
expressed concern yesterday about a potential buyout.
"The American people must be able to hold lenders and schools accountable to ensure
that federal student aid dollars are being properly used to help students and families pay
for college," Miller said in a statement.
The possibility of Sallie Mae becoming private "raises significant concerns that even less
information will be disclosed to the public," he said.
The company has been a generator of wealth for its top executives, who have ranked
among the most higlfly compensated in annual Washington Post surveys of the area’s
public companies.
Sallie Mae ChN_rman Albe~t L. Lord made news a year ago with his plans to build a golf
course for his private use on 244 acres in Anne Arundel County.
In early February, Lord sold $18.3 million worth of company stock just days before the
Bush administration proposed a multibillion-dollar cut in subsidies to the lending
industry, causing Sallie Mae shares to plunge. A Sallie Mae spokesnmn said Lord had no
advance knowledge of the Bush budget plan when he sold the shares. The Securities and
Exchange Commission has begun examining the transaction, as have members of
Congress.
Sallie Mae shares closed at $46.76 yesterday, up $6.01 from a 52-~veek love of $40.75 on
Thursday but sti!l well below the 52-week high of $54.82 last May.
5. Talk of Possible $20 Billion Deal for Sallie Mae Pushes Shares Higher
The New York Times
By Michad J. de la Merced and Andrexv Ross Sorkin
Page 520
April 14, 2007
Shares of Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest lender to college students, sm~ged nearly 15
percent yesterday on the prospects that the company could be bought out in a deal ~,Volth
more than $20 billion.
Sallie Mae, officially the SLM Colporation, is in talks with the Blackstone Group and a
group consisting of the private equity firm J. C. Flowers & Company and JPMorgan
Chase, people briefed on the discussions said yesterday.
Representatives from all three companies declined to comment.
Several analysts yesterday cited what they called significant hurdles to completing a deal
For one, buyers would need to structure atransaction in away that would not load the
company up with a huge amount of debt and endanger its credit ratings.
More difficult than the financial challenge may be the political one. While no longer a
government-sponsored enterprise, Sallie Mae, now ~vholly owned by its shareholders, has
a special relationship with Washington in its role as the biggest originator of federally
guaranteed lomb, according to StudentMarketmeaure, a research firm.
Nonetheless, the prospect of a deal appeared to hearten investors. After The New York
Times reported yesterday that Sallie Mae was in talks on a buyont, shares of the company
rose $6.01, or 14.75 percent, to $46.71 -- the biggest single-day gain ever for the
company.
Bradley Bail, an analyst with Citigroup, wrote in anote yesterday that an offer for Sallie
Mae at $48.72 would seriously undervalue the company. He maintained a target price of
$55 a share.
Kathleen Shanley, an analyst with the research firm Gimme Credit, wrote yesterday that
Sallie Mae was a"poor candidate" for a levemged buyont. ’°The company is dependent
on access to the debt markets, has a razor4_hin net interest margin and uses derivatives to
manage its interest rate exposure," she wrote.
Still, there are obvious attractions to Sallie Mae. It is by far the leader in the student loan
business, with a $142 bi15on loan portfolio. It is both alender and debt collector, making
profits off both sides of its loans. Last year, the company earned $1.2 billion.
For JPMorgan, a deal would bolster its own student lending business, run through its
Chase Education Finance uNt. The bank has made several acquisitions in recent years to
bulk up that business, including a $633 million purchase of Collegiate Funding Services
in 2005.
From 1996 unti! 2005, Sallie Mae and JPMorgan ran a joint venture for student lomb.
JPMorgan originated the loans, which SalBe Mae then bought and serviced.
Page 521
The venture was dissolved after YPMorgan sued Sallie Mae, contending that its partner
~vas undercutting the enterprise by lending directly to students.
The discussions over a possible deal are taldng place at a time when the student loan
business has come under increased scrutiny, by the New York attorney general, Andrew
Cuomo, and by la~wnakers in WashingtorL Senate and House committees are !ooldng into
the relationships between lenders and college financial aid offices.
In a statement yesterday, Representative George lVliller, Democrat from California and

chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said he ~vas skeptical of efforts
to take Sallie Mae private.
"The Americanpeople must be able to hold lenders and schools accountable to ensure
that federal student aid dollars are being properly used to help students and families pay
for college," he said.
Some analysts noted yesterday that the involvement of a financial company like
JPMorgan, with large capital and established influence in Washington, could make a
buyout of Sallie Mae more palatable to lawmakers and regulators.
6. Blackstone Considers $20 Billion Bid for Sallie Mae (Update4)

Bloomberg
By Edxvard Evans and James IVI. O’Neill
April 13, 200717:59 EDT
April 13 ~loomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP is considering a $20 billion takeover offer

for SLM Corp., the largest U.S. student-loan provider, a person familiar with the talks
said.
SLM, known as Sallie Mae, serves a market where demand has surged an average 27
percent each of the last six years as more students borrow to attend top universities
including Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Private-equity groups such as Blackstone may be
drawn to SLM because of climbing revenue, low risk and govemmeflt-loan guarantees,
analysts said.
"Tuition costs have been rising more rapidly than household income, and that has fueled
a need for aid," said Sameer Gokhale, a New York-based analyst with Keefe, Bruyette &
Woods. "’Federal and state grant money has not kept up, so the gap has been filled by
loans."
Shares of SLM, based in Reston, Vir~ni~ fell 30 percent from Janumy 2006 through
yesterday. Even as demand for loans rose, earnings were tempered by a surge in
consolidation notes in 2006 as interest rates declined. In addition, Sallie Mae had
derivative-related losses of $339 million last year.
Page 522
Today, the stock rose the most ever, by $6.01, or 15 percent, to $46.76 at 4:01 p.m. in
New York Stock Exchange composite trading, after touching $47. The company had a
market value ors 16.7 billion yesterday.
The New York Times earlier repo~ted Blackstone’s interest and said that one group of
potential biddem may include a financial services firm.
Other Potential Buyers
A partnership including JC Flowers & Co. LLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also is in
talks to acquire SalBe Mae, competing with Blackstone Group, the Wall Street Join-hal
reported, citingpeople familiar with the matter. One of the people rated the likelihood of
completing the transaction at about 50 percent because it is so complex, the Jotm~al said.
Shares of other student-loan finance companies rose on the SaNe Mae report. First
Marblehead Corp. rose 74 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $44.43, while Student Loan Corp.
climbed $8.50, or 4.7 percent, to $191. Nelnet Inc. gained $1.46, or 6.4 percent, to
$24.45.
S~ie Mae’s bonds have been among the most actively traded today, according to Trace,
the NASD’s bond-pricing service. The company’s 5.625 percent bonds due in 2033
dropped 6.2 cents to 86.8 cents on the dollar, Trace data show. The yield was 6.7 percent.
Loans, Savings Plans

SLM retained UBS AG as an adviser, according to an individual with knowledge of the
matter. Sallie Mae spokesman Tom Joyce refused to confirm or deny the report.
Blackstoue spokeswoman Sophia Harrison in London declined to comment today.
Sallie Mae, created in 1972, has a portfolio of $!42 billion in loans to almost 10 million
students. It also manages more than $15 billion in college-savings plans. The institution
was a U.S. government-sponsored agency similar to the mortgage finance companies
Freddie Mac and Fanuie Mae until becoming independent at the end of 2004. SLM has
$67 billion in bonds and loans outstanding according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
According to the New York-based College Board, ~vhich administers the SAT college-
admissions test, the percentage of students graduating with $30,000 or more in debt
reached 23 percent at nonprofit private institutions and 14 percent at public colleges,
based on 2004 data.
Tuition and fees have iisen by 28 percent at four-year private institutions and 55 percent
at public schools over the past five years, increasing demand for student lomb, according
to the College Board. Tuition, room and board will surpass $50,000 for the first time this
year at George Washington University. Rates at Ivy League schools, such as Harvard,
will exceed $45,000.
Page 523
Competition
Students at U.S. colleges borrow an estimated $85 billion a year to finance school costs.
In providing loans, Sallie Mae competes with companies including Cifigroup Inc., the
world’s largest financial services company, and CIT Group Inc.’s Education Lending
Group Inc.
Student loans are a relatively safe investment because of government guarantees. The
default rate is lower than other types of loans, at 5.1 percent, according to SLM’s Joyce.
In addition, even private student loans not guaranteed by the government have strong
protection under bankruptcy law. Students can’t walk away from the debts.
"In bankruptcy proceedings, these lenders go to the front of the line to get paid back,"
analyst Gokhale said_
Proposed legislation puts lenders at risk of reduced revenue. A key lender such as Sallie
Mae currently enjoys a 99 percent guarantee from the government on student loans.
President George W. Bush proposed reducing the guarantee to 95 percent, and Senator
Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts said it should be cut to 85 percent.
Kennedy Comments
"Todays student loan system is broken, and students and their families are paying the
price," Kennedy said today in response to the report of a bid for Sallie Mae. "I believe
we need national reforms to our student loan system that protects the interests of students
instead of protecting the excessive profits of the lenders."
A private-equity buyout might encourage the U.S. Senate to pass legislation unfavorable
to the student-loan industry, said Kathy Shantey, senior analyst at Gimme Credit, anew
York-based independent research service on corporate bonds.
"" We still think Sallie Mae is a poor candidate for an LB O," Shanley wrote in a report.
"The company is dependent on access to the debt markets, has a razor thin net interest
maro~m and uses derivatives to manage its interest rate exposure."
$30 Billion of Bonds
Gokhale said he would have rather expected a large bank to be a prospective buyer for
Sallie Mae, because of the possible advantages of obtaining student customers who could
become clients for life, buying other bank offerings from auto loans to mortgages.
Sallie Mae last year sold $30 billion of bonds backed by student loans, or about half of all
new student loan securities in 2006, accoNing to data compiled by Citigroup. The
company has issued $18.5 billion in asset-backed securities this year.
Page 524
LBO firms typically finance about two-thirds of the purchase price with debt, often
resulting in below-investment-grade credit ratings for the target company. Sallie Mae is
rated A2 by Moody’s Investors Serxdce and A by Standard & Poor’s, in the middle of the
investment-grade scale.
Credit Ratings
The company relies on its high credit ratings because it profits on the difference between
its cost to borrow and the returns on the loans it buys. It then takes much of those loans
and packages them as bonds for sale to investors.
Sallie Mae last year issued $! 1.7 billion of long-term unsecured debt, according to New
York-based bond research finn CreditSights Inc. The company bought $37.4 billion of
student loans in 2006, a 24 increase from the prior year.
Gokhale said a private-equity finn could securitize all of Sallie Mae’s loans, so the
corporate credit rating~ even if lowered, would be less important.
"’ If a private-equity finn wants to pay $48 a share without a lot of leverage, the
company’s cash flow and growth prospects must be attractive to them," Gokhale said.
Earlier this week, Sallie Mae agreed to pay $2 million and adopt ane~v code of conduct
in a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating
possible deceptive loan practices among lenders and co!lege financial aid officers.
The perceived risk of ownirLg Sallie Mae’s bonds surged. Credit-default swaps based on
$10 million of the company’s bonds more than doubled to an offered price of $90,000
from $38,000 yesterday, according to NewYork-based loroker Phoenix Partners Group.
The commas, used to speculate on the company’s ability to repay its debt, were the most
actively traded today, ac cording to Phoenix.
7. E-Z Loan U.
Chicago Tribune E di torial
April 14, 2007
When you take out a loan to pay for college you expect to reap a profit -- an education,
and higher earnings down the road. You don’t expect that the first people to profit from
your debt will be the people who run your school.
That’s what’s so infuriating about news that financial aid officers at several universities
have been getting co~ting fees, stock gains and other benefits from lenders who were
given an inside track to their students.
Page 525
An investigation by New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo found that financial aid
officers at several colleges were paid by a lending agency that the schools selected as a
"preferred" lender, essentially steering students in their direction.
The Tribune reported this week that Chicago State University President Elnora Daniel is
a director and shareholder in Seaway National Bank, which is on her school’s list of
preferred lenders. The number of federally guaranteed loans issued to Chicago State
students by the bank has gone up by nearly 200 percent since Daniel joined its board in
2004.
The Illinois attorney general’s office is scrutinizing loan practices at Chicago State and at
Western lllinois University, where, the T~ibune reported, a loan company paid to get
student loan referrals. Daniel’s defense is that there has been no quid pro quo and that her
financial stake in Seaway -- about $16,000 in stock and less than $2,000 in annual
compensation for serving on the board -- is mJNmal.
When students go to the campus financial aid office, they expect to receive unbiased
advice -- not advice that will pad the pockets of administrators. If colleges offer to guide
students in financing their education, the schools’ first and only interest should be in the
students.
Nobody should be making money off their students on the side.
Big money is at stake. In the 2005-06 school year, according to the College Board,
students and their parents borrowed $85 billion to finance their educations. Preferred
lender lists can be an invaluable resource, helping students cut through the thicket of
loans and lenders and weeding out those with high fees or urLfavorable repayment terms.
But the lists cease to serve their function if people lose faith in those putting them
together. This lending mess is breaking as Congress grapples with how to help more
students afford college.The House has passed abill that would cut in half the 6.8 percent
interest rate on federally subsidized undergraduate student loans. In February, President
Bush signed legislation to boost Pell grants for lower-income students, and Bush has
called for cuts in subsidies to lenders.
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass.) has proposed raising the federal tax deduction for tuition to
$12,000 from $4,000 and cutting the undergraduate student loan interest rate in half.
Congress is also looking into whether students get what they pay for. A bipartisan
Commission on College Access and Affordability headed by Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings has proposed that colleges disclose pertinent data on how student
perfornmnce measures up against tuition costs.
A bill sponsored by California Republican Rep. Howard ’~Buck" McKeon proposes

creation of a College Affordability Index. If the increased annua! cost of a school’s
attendance exceeds twice the rate of inflation, administrators wouldbe required to
explain and to find ways to hold down costs. Ifa college failed to hold the following
Page 526
yeags increases to less than twice the inflation rate, it could lose eligibility for
government financial assistance.
It sounds like we’re going to be heating alot in the coming weeks about the rising cost of
college -- and how some administl~ors have made a quick and quiet buck by steering
their students to certain lenders.
Congress should be wary of going the McKeon route, which sounds like government
price controls on colleges. Congress can help by providing an overdue rise in Pell grants.
As for the colleges: Quit scamming your students.
8. Loans no bargain
SL Petersburg Tilnes Editorial
April 14, 2007
The cozy relationship betweon some universities and lending institutions is costing both
the students and their schools - the former in interest charges and the latter in credibility.
If higher education won’t police this unseemly practice, then state and federal officials
must.
Already, Ne~v York Attorney General Andre~v Cuomo has uncovered a pattern of
troubling business practices at some 60 universities. He is finding campuses that direct
their students to "preferred" lending institutions chosen not for low rates and quality
service but for the financial rewards the companies bestow on the universities.
Sometimes the universities are paid a fee for each loan_ Sometimes the lending
institutions provide free services instead, including call centers that lead students to
believe they are talking with university financial advisers.
As Cuomo puts it: "A preferred lender list ought to mean that the lender is preferred by
students for its low rates, not by schools for its ldckbacks."
Unfortunately, it gets worse. Cuomo also has found a U.S. Department of Education
official and three directors of financial aid- at Columbia Universky, the University of
Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California - who have traded in lending
company stoclcs. David Charlo~v, of Columbia, apparently made $100,000 from special
stock trades with a "preferred" lender named Student Loan Xpress. Matteo Fontana, who
is a manager in DOE’s Office of Federal Student Aid, also owned roughly $100,000 in
Loan Xpress stock at one point.
On Monday, ClT Group Inc., the parent company ofLoan Xpress, put three of the
executives on paid leave.
Florida u~versities have not been under tl~ same prosecutorial microscope as those in
New York, but students here deserve answers as well. Florida International University,
for example, has included lenders on its preferred list because they agree to make
Page 527
telephone calls or hold workshops. Lenders have pitted financial aid brochures for the
University of Central F!orida. One of the 11 preferred lenders listed at Florida State
University, Sallie Mae, also has a business relationship with FSU.
This is an $85-billion-a-year industry that tl~ves from the continuing growth in tuition
and fees, mid the least that universities can do is to make sure their students are getting
the best loans possible. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education have joined
Cuomo in his search for the troth, and Florida’s university Board of Governors should
want their own answers.
Iftmiversity financial aid officers can’t give their students inforlned and impartial advice,
they are working for the wrong team.
OTHERNEWS
1. Meeting Brings No Headway in ’No Child’ Staleinate

The Washington Post
By Maria Glod
U.S. education officials and several Virg~a school superintendents met yesterday to
discuss tests for students with limited English sldlls under the No Child Left Behind law
but made no progress toward solving a standoff over what the local educators call an
unacceptable federal mandate.
Federal officials called the meeting with chiefs of several school systems that are on the
verge of defying an order to give grade-level reading tests to certain students who are just
beginning to learn English. Superintendents Jack D. Dale of Fairfax County, Edgar B.
Hatrick III of Loudotm County and Robelt G. Smith of Arlington County were among
those who attended the meeting and say the federal directive will only set up students for
failure.
The three schools chiefs said they had hoped the t~vo sides could agree on a solntion.
They added that they have not decided on their course of action for when exams for the
state’s Engiish-language learners begin in coming weeks. School systems face the
possible loss of federal funds if they don’t give the tests.
"The letter that was sent inviting us to the meeting I thought held out hope that we mig)ht
find ways to ~vork around the position we’re in with beginning-English-language
learners," Hatrick said. "In fact, there was nothing put on the table."
The dispute centers on about 10,200 students statewide ~vho are begirming to learn
Engiish. Last summer, federal officials rejected the test Virginia had given to those
children because it doesn’t cover grade-level reading sldlls, such as understanding poetry
or identifying the main idea of a passage. The Virginia test instead measures how well
students are learning to read, speak and write English.
Page 528
Depaltrnent spokesman Chad Colby said federal officials summoned the superintendents
because they wanted to hear their concerns firsthand. He said Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings remains committed to testing all children.
"The secretary feels it’s important that these students are assessed at grade level so we
know how to instruct them and target resources to their needs," Colby said. He noted that
immigrant students who have been in U.S. schools for less than a year are exempt from
the reading test.
Virginia educators said most students leaming English take the same reading test as their
peers once their language skills are strong enough.
"The small group of ldds we’re tal!dng about don’t read or speak or understand English,"
Smith said. "The reasonable person on the street mlderstands it’s inappropriate to give a
test to a student in a language they don’t lmderstand."
Federal officials have threatened to withhold millions of dollars in funding, including $17
million to Fairfax alone, if school systems refuse to give the grade-level reading tests.
Charles Pyle, aVixginia Department of Education spokesman, said the state Board of
Education is advising systems to follow federal guidelines but push for change during
reanthorization of the federal law.
"It’s the board’s expectation that schools vAll comply, regardless ofho~v distasteful they
find it," he said.
2. Funding urged for Catholic schools

The ~Vashington Times
April 14, 2007
By don Ward and Natasha Altamirano
President Bush yesterday said he will try to prevent an increasing number of inner-city
Catholic parochial schools from closing by adding funding for them in the upcoming
renewal of the No Child Left Behind law.
America’s Catholic schools "have given millions of Americans the lmowledge and
character they need to succeed in life," Mr. Bush said during a short speech at the
National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.
"Today, these schools are also serving thousands of non-Catholic childrenin some of
nation’s poorest neighborhoods," the president said~ "I am worried that too many of these
schools are closing, and our nation needs to do something about it."
The foulth annual breakfast -- establishedin 2004 in response to Pope John Paul II’s
appeal for a "new evangelization" -- attracted political and religions leaders, including
Page 529
Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito
Jr., and the Most. Rev. Pietro Sambi, the Vatican’s envoy to the United States.
Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl lauded the history of faith’s influence on U.S.
public policy and called on the nearly 1,500 attendees to continue the legacy.
"As believers, we look to our faith," Archbishop Wuefl said at the Washington Hilton.
"We should look to our most deeply held convictions when we address matters that affect
our nation’s activities at home or abroad."
Archbishop Wuefl pointed to issues that sti!l demand attention, including abortion,
immigration and education.
"Religious faith has played and continues to play a significant role in promoting social
justice issues just as it has in defending all innocent human life," he said.
lVlr. Bush also made reference to abortion, stem-ceil research and human cloning.
"Renewing the promise of America begins with upholding the dignity of hmnan life," Mr.
Bush said.
"In our day, there is a temptation to manipulate life in ~vays that do not respect the
humanity of the person. When that happens, the most vulnerable among us can be valued
for their utility to others -- instead of their own inherent worth."
After the event, Mr. Bush met at the White House in the afternoon ~vith parochial school
leaders and parents from across the natior~
The closing of Catholic schools, especially in lo~v-income neighborhoods, is "a national

concern" for the National Catholic Education Association, said NCEA President Karen
Ristau.
Mr. Bush wants to expand school choice, similar to what exists in Washington, to states
across the cotmtry. His proposal for reauthofizing No Child Left B ehind would include
funds for scholarships that would allow students in !ow-performing schools to transfer to
private schools.
The president’s reauthorization plan would also push for more Catholic schools to be
allo~ved by states to provide after-school tutoring to public school students.
Page 1 of 14
Page 530
Nonresponsi t
Sent: April 14, 2007 9:28 AM
To: Cariello, Dennis; Halaska, Ten’el!; Dunn, David; Terrell, Julie; Rosenfelt, Phil;
Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Ruberg, Casey; Kuzmich, Holly;
Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Flowers, Sarah; Williams, Cynthia;
Toomey, Liam; Tada, Wendy; tracy_d.__young@who.eop.gov; Reich, Heidi;
Landers, Angela; Talbert, Kent; Colby, Chad; Briggs, Kerri; McLane, Katherine;
Simon, Ray; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Neale, Rebecca; Herr, John; Ditto,
Trey; Maddox, Lauren; Beaton, Meredith; Yudof, Samara; Gribble, Emily
Subject: WEEKEN D N EWS SU MMARY, 4.14.07
Attachments: 4.14.07 weekend news summary.doc

April 14, 2007
Student Lender Stories

1. Ohio launches probe into student loan industry (Reuters)
2. Private company in talks to buy SallieMae (AP)
3. Kennedy to Lilnit Student Loan Backstop (AP)
4. Sallie Mae Stock Rises On Nexw of Possible Sale (W. Pos0
5. Talk of Possible $20 Billion Deal for Sallie Mae Pushes Shares Higher (NYT)
6. Blackstone Considers $20 Billion Bid for Sallie Mae 031oomberg)
7. E-Z Loan U (Chicago Tribune Editorial)
8. Loans no barg,~n (St. Pete Times Editorial)
Other News
1. Meeting Brings No Headway in ’No Child’ Stalmnate (W. Pos0
2. Funding urged for Catholic schools (W. Times)
STUDENT LENDER STORIES
1. Ohio launches probe into student loau industa’y

Reuters
Friday, April 13, 2007; 7:17 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Ohio joined on Friday the list of states 1attaching probes to
see if college and university officials have steered students to student loan companies in
exchange for perks.
Ohio Attorney General Marc Daun’s office said in a statement he has contacted tmiversity
and college presidents across the state advising he will investigate claims concerning
potential conflicts of interest, self-dealing and other illegal and unethical conduct involving
lenders.
Dann’s office is seeking documents relating to student loan providers, including revenue
sharing and referral fee agreements, preferred lender lists, consulting agreements and lender
marketing m aterials.
"This issue of potential deceptive practices will examine whether college ot~cials have taken
06/05/2008
Page 2 of 14
Page 531
free trips, benefited from stock deals, or taken gifts that some in the student-loan industry
offer to financial ~id officers," the statement said.
Students and their parents often rely on advice from school offieials on how to borrow money
to pay for tuition.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said on Thursday he is investigating

possible improper deals between student lo~n companies and colleges and universities,
revealing for the first time the state is probing the $85-billion-a-year industry.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown is also keeping a close eye on the issue.
Investigators for the state of New York have already discovered some lenders offered
vacations and other perks to university offidals to steer student borro~vers their way.
EarBer this week, SLM Corp. (SLM.N), the country’s biggest lender to college students and
best known as Sallie Mac, said it would pay $2 million into a fund to educate students on
financial aid to settle a probe by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo has also settled a case with Citibank (C.N) and New York University, Syracuse
University, St. John’s University, Ford,ham University and the University of Pennsylvania.
They agreed to pay $5.2 million.
Separately on Friday, U.S. Secretm-y of Education Margaret Spellings asked for the
resignation of Ellen Frishberg, student financial services director at Johns Hopkins
University, from a panel that helps develop financial aid regulations.
Johns Hopkins said on Monday it put Frishberg on paid leave after learning she received
about $65,000 in consulting fees from a student loan company.
2. Private company in talks to buy SallieM_ae

Apt 14, 2007 3:22 AM
RESTON, VA. - Shares of S allie Mac, the nation’s largest student-loan provider, jumped 15
percent Friday after a newspaper report thatit is in buyout talks with a private equity firm for
more than $20 billion.
The New York Times reported that Blackstone Equity Group is a potential bidder to take
Sallie Mac private.
Sallie Mae, formally known as SLM Corp.,was created by Congress in 1972 as a company to
which private lenders could sell their student loans. But it was privatized in the 1990s and
became a fi~y independent, publicly traded company in 2004.
Spokesmen for Sa!lie Mae and Blackstone declined to comment on the report.
Sallie Mae shares increased $6.01 to $46.76 a share. The trading pushed Sallie Mae’s market
capitalization from $16.7 billion to $19.2 billion.
The Times report, citing unnamed sources, said the acquisition price could exceed $20
billion. The Times reported that the negotiations appear to be at a late stage, but that
numerous hurdles remain.
06/05/2008
While it is now independent, Sallie Mae faces considerable congressional scrutiny because
many student loans are federally subsidized.
House Education and Labor Committee Chailman George Miller, D-Calif., said Friday that a
buyout by a private finn raises concerns about a lack of public disclosure of Sallie Mae’s
actions, since they would no longer be subject to regulation by the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
"It is abundantly dear that the lack of public disclosure required by both student lenders and
schools has undermined the credibility of the student !oan industry," Mi!ler said in a
statement. "The American people must be able to hold lenders and schools accountable to
ensure that federal student aid dollars are being properly used."
Sallie Mae, with 11,000 employees and $! .2 billion in annual profits, is by far the largest
lender in the $85 billion student loan industry.
3. Kennedy to Limit Stndent Loan Backstop

April 13, 2007, 3:48PM
NEW YORK -- Sen. Edward M. Kelmedy plans to propose leNslafion to force student
lenders to shoulder a greater share of the risk of students defaulting on loans, Wall Street
analysts and student lenders said Friday.
Charles A. Gabriel, an analyst with Prudential Equity Group, wrote in a research report
Friday his sources on Capitol Hill told him Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, wants
to modify the safety net the federal government provides against student !oan defaults.
President Bush and the House of Representatives each proposed to reduce the scope of the
backstop, but Kennedy’s proposal cuts more deeply, the report said.
Fedeially gaaranteed loans, ~vhich comprise four-fifths of the $85 billion a year student loan
industry, compensate student lenders for 97 cents out of every dollar lost to delinquent
borro~vers. Bush and the House each proposed cutting the safety net to 95 cents on the dollar.
Gabriel said Kennedy’s proposal would slash federal reinsurance to 85 cents on the dollar, a
"particularly surprising hike in lender risk-sharing." The government protects student lenders
against credit losses to help ensure college-bound students can find loans.
A spokesperson from Kennedy’s office couldn’t be reached for comment. Thomas Weisel
Partners analyst Ivlark Sproule wrote in a research report SLM Corp., the biggest U.S. student
lender, confirmed the proposed leNslafion.
Kennedy’s bill also proposes a slightly steeper cut in subsidies paid to student lenders,
Gabriel said. Lenders such as SLM Corp., Nelnet Inc., CIT Group Inc.’s Student Loan Xpress
and Citi~oup Inc. benefit from a federal subsidy known as a special allowance payment. The
subsidy, administered by the Department of Education, pays lenders a ~xed spread above
their cost to borrow money to finance student loans.
The House of Representatives earlier this year approved legislation cutting this spread, which
is typically about 2.34 percentage points, by 0. i percentage points. In his 2008 budget
06/0512008
Page 533 ~ge 4 of 14
proposal, President Bush proposed a 0.5 percentage point cut. Kennedy proposes a 0.6
percentage point cut, Gabriel said.
The reported proposal represents the Democrats’ efforts to make attending college more
affordable. Some Democrats say the federal government wastes taxpayer money subsidizing
highly profitable lenders. Instead, the subsidies could be used for student !oan grants, they
say.
Ifs not clear what effect a modified backstop would have on lender profits. Nelnet, a Lincoln,
Neb.-based lender, said 11.5 percent of its federally guaranteed loans were delinquent at the
end of 2006. Kennedy’s legislation threatens to force a greater share of the losses from those
delinquendes on NelNet.
Sallie Mae reported 13.! percent of the borrowers in its private loan portfolio ~vere
delinquent at the end of last year, with 5.3 percent of student borrowers delinquent for more
than 90 days.
But only 16 percent of Sallie Mac’s loan portfolio consists of private loans, or loans not
backed by the govermnent. Private loans caxry higher interest rates than federally guaranteed
loans, and are therefore more likely to fall into delinquency.
Shares of student lenders surged Friday because the news of the legislation coincided with a
New York Times article that private equity investors including Blackstone Group ~vere in
talks to buy Sallie Mac for $20 billion.
The value cited in the Times represents a 20 percent premium to Sallie Mae’s market value at
the end of trading Thursday. Shares ofSallie IvIae spiked $5.27, or 12.9 percent, to $46.03 in
afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.
Sallie Mae, with almost 10 million student borrowers and a $142 billion loan portfolio, was
chartered by Congress in 1972 to help bolster a broader market for student loans. Congress
privatized the company in 1996 and Sallie Mae cut its link to the government in 2004.
4. Sallie Mac Stock Rises On News of Possible Sale

Student Lender Retains Banker
The Washington Post
By David S. Hilzenrath and Tomoeh Murakami Tse
Shares of Sa!lie Mac, the nation’s largest student loan company, rose !4.8 percent yesterday
on reports that it was in talks to be bought by private investors.
The Reston company has been talking with potential buyers, including private-equity firms,
according to a person with knowledge of the discussions who spoke on condition of
anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing.
Sallie Mac has retained the investment bankUBS to explore options, the source said.
A buyout could cost more than $20 billion, the New York Times reported yesterday, citing
sources briefed on the discussions. One potential buyer is Blackstone Group, the paper
reported.
06/05/2008
Page 5 of !4
Page 534
John Ford, a spokesman for Blackstone, one of the country’s biggest buyout finns, declined
to comment yesterday on the report.
The talks come as Sallie Mae faces proposed cuts in federal subsidies and scrutiny of student
loan marketing practices. Those developments have helped depress Sa!lie Mae’s stock price
in recent months, making it a less expensive takeover target.
Sallie Mae spokes~voman Martha Holler declined to comment. "Ifs our long-standing policy
not to comment on market rumors or speculation," she said.
Taking Sallie Mae private could insulate it from the forces that have been hurting its stock
price and liberate it from the extensive disclosure requirements that come with publicly
traded shares.
Sallie Mae’s top executives have the potential to benefit from a sale of the company. For
example, they could receive substantial payouts if they lose their jobs as the result of a
change of control at the company. As of Dec. 31, such payments to five top executives would
have totaled $30.7 million, including $14.4 million for chief executive Thomas J. Fitzpatrick,
according to a regulatory filing Sallie Mae made this week.
SLM Corp., as Sallie Mae is officially known, was once a government-sponsored enterprise
like mortgage funding Nants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but its federal charter was
dissolved in 2004. Its dominant position in the industry today is largely a legacy of its former
favored status.
Days ago, the company agreed to a $2 millien settlement with the New York state attorney
general’s office to limit its exposure in a widening investigation of the student loan industry.
Under the settlement, Sallie Mae a~eed that it would no longer pay travel and entertainment
expenses for u~versity officials or send its employees to work for free in campus financial
aid offices, practices that critics say could skew the lending system in its favor.
The Bush administration has proposed cutting subsidies to student loan companies, which
could take a bite out of Sallie Mae’s earnings. Democrats have argued that student loan
programs have needlessly enriched private lenders, and they are trying to overhaul the
system.
Much of Sallie Mae’s business involves loans that are subsidized and guaranteed by the
government, minimizing the potential losses if borrowers default.
As of Dec. 31, the company owned $142.1 billion in loans to almost 10 million borrowers. Of
those loans, 84 percent were federally insured. The steady flow of cash that comes from
student loans is a key element of the company’s appeal to private equity buyers.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee,
expressed concern yesterday about a potential buyout.
"The American people must be able to hold lenders and schools accotmtable to ensure that
federal student aid dollars are being properly used to help students and families pay for
college," Miller said in a statement.
The possibility ofSallie Mae becoming p~ivate "raises significant concerns that even less
06/05/2008
Page 6 of 14
Page 535
information wil! be disclosed to the public," he said.
The company has been a generator of~vealth for its top executives, who have ranked among
the most highly compensated in annual Washin~on Post surveys of the area’s public
companies.
Sallie Mac Chairman Albert L. Lord made news a year ago with his plans to build a golf
course for his private use on 244 acres in Anne Anmdel County.
In early February, Lord sold $18.3 million worth of company stock just days before the Bush
administration proposed a multibillion-dollar cut in subsidies to the lending industry, causing
Sallie Mac shares to plunge. A Sallie Mac spokesman said Lord hadno advance knowledge
of the Bush budget plan when he sold the shares. The Securities and F_xchange Commission
has begun examining the transaction, as have m embers of Congress.
Sa!lie Mae shares closed at $46.76 yesterday, up $6.01 from a 52-week low of $40.75 on
Thursday but still well be!ow the 52-week high of $54.82 last May.
5. Talk of Possible $20 Billion Deal for Sallie Mac Pushes Shares Higher
The New York Times
By Michael J. de la Merced and Andrew Ross Sorkin
April 14, 2007
Shares ofSallie Mae, the nation’s largest lender to college students, surged nearly 15 percent
yesterday on the prospects that the company could be bought out in a deal worth more than
$20 billion.
Sallie Mac, officially the SLM Corporation, is in talks with the Blackstone Group and a
group consisting of the private equity firm J. C. Flowers & Company and JPIvIorgan Chase,
people briefed on the discussions said yesterday.
Representatives from all three companies declined to comment.
Several analysts yesterday cited what they called significant hurdles to completing a deal. For
one, buyers would need to structure a transaction in a way that would not load the company
up with a huge amount of debt and endanger its credit ratings.
More difficult than the financial challenge may be the political one. While no longer a
goverument-sponsored enterprise, Sallie Mac, now wholly owned by its shareholders, has a
special relationship with Washington in its role as the biggest originator of federally
guaranteed loans, according to StudentMarketmeaure, a research firm.
Nonetheless, the prospect of a deal appeared to hearten investors. A_ft~r The New York Times
reported yesterday that S allie Mae was in talks on a buyout, shares of the company rose
$6.01, or 14.75 percent, to $46.71 -- the biggest single-day gain ever for the company.
Bradley Ball, an analyst with Cifigroup, wrote in a note yesterday that an offer for Sallie Mae
at $48.72 would seriously undervalue the company. He maintained atarget price of $55 a
share.
Kathleen Shanley, an analyst with the reseal~h firm Oimme Credit, wrote yesterday that
Sallie Mae was a "poor candidate" for a leveraged buyouL ’~I~e company is dependent on
06/05/2008
Page 7 of 14
Page 536
access to the debt markets, has a razor-thin net interest margin and uses derivatives to
manage its interest rate exposure," she wrote.
Still, there are obvious attractions to Sallie Mac. It is by far the leader in the student loan
bus~ess, x~4th a $142 bison loan portfolio. It is both a lender and debt collector, making
profits offboth sides of its loans. Last year, the company earned $1.2 billion.
For JPMorgan, a deal would bolster its own student lending business, run through its Chase
Education Finance unit. The bank has made several acquisitions in recent years to bulk up
that business, including a $633 million purchase of Collegiate Funding Services in 2005.
From 1996 until 2005, Sallie Mac and JPMorgan ran a joint venture for student loans.
JPMorgan originated the loans, which Sallie Mac then bought and sewiced.
The venture was dissolved af[er JPMorgan sued Sallie Mae, contending that its partner was
undercutting the enterpris e by lending directly to students.
The discussions over a possible deal are taking place at a time when the student loan business
has come under increased scrutiny, by the New York attorney general, Andre~v Cuomo, and
by lawmakers in Washington. Senate and House committees are looldng into the
relationships between lenders and college financial aid offices.
In a statement yesterday, Representative George Miller, Democrat from California and

chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said he was skeptical of efforts to
t~e Sallie Mae private.
"The American people must be able to hold lenders and schools accountable to ensure that
federal student aid dollars are being properly used to help students and families pay for
college," he said.
Some analysts noted yesterday that the involvement of a financial company like JPMorgan,
with large capital and established influence in Washington, could make a buyout of Sallie
Mae more palatable to lawmakers and regulators.
6. Blackstone Considers $’20 Billion Bid for Sallie Mae (Update4)

Bloomberg
By Edward Evam and 3ames M. O’Neill
April 13, 2007 17:59 EDT
April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP is considering a $20 billion takeover offer for
SLM Corp., the largest U.S. student-loan provider, a person familiar with the talks said.
SLM, known as Sallie Mae, serves a market where demand has surged an average 27 percent
each of the last sLx years as more students borrow to attend top universities including
Harvard, tMnceton and Yale. Private-equity groups such as Blackstone may be dra~vn to
SLM because of climbing revenue, low risk and government-loan guarantees, analysts said.
"Tuition costs have been rising more rapidly than household income, and that has fueled a
need for aid," said Sameer Gokt~ale, a New York-based analyst with Keefe, Bruyette &
Woods. "Federal and state grant money has not kept up, so the gap has been filled by loans."
Shares of SLM, based in Reston, Virginia, fell 30 percent from January 2006 through
06/05/2008
Page 8 of 14
Page 537
yesterday. Even as demand for loans rose, earnings were tempered by a surge in
consolidation notes in 2006 as interest rates declined. In addition, Sadie Mae had derivative-
related losses of $339 million last year.
Today, the stock rose the most ever, by $6.01, or 15 percent, to $46.76 at 4:01 p.m. in New
York Stock Exchange composite trading, after touching $47. The company had a market
value of $16.7 billion yesterday.
The Ne~v York Times earlier reported Blackstone’s interest and said that one group of
potential bidders may include a financial services firm.
Other Potential Buyers
A partnership including JC Flowers & Co. LLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also is in talks to
acquire SaJlie Mae, competing with Blackstone Group, the Wall Street Journal reported,
dting people familiar with the matter. One of the people rated the likelihood of completing
the transaction at about 50 percent because it is so complex, the Journal said.
Shares of other student-loan finance companies rose on the Sallie Mae report. First
Marblehead Corp. rose 74 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $44.43, while Student Loan Corp. climbed
$8.50, or 4.7 percent, to $191. Nelnet Inc. gained $1.46, or 6.4 percent, to $24.45.
Sallie Mae’s bonds have been among the most actively traded today, according to Trace, the
NASD’s bond-pridng service. The company’s 5.625 percent bonds due in 2033 dropped 6.2
cents to 86.8 cents on the dollar, Trace data show. The yield was 6.7 percent.
Loans, Savings Plans

SLM retained UBS AG as an adviser, according to an individual with knowledge of the
matter. Sallie Mae spokesman Tom Joyce refused to confirm or deny the report. Blackstone
spokeswoman Sophia Harrison in London declined to comment today.
Sallie Mae, created in 1972, has a portfolio of $142 billion in loans to almost 10 million
students. It also mintages more than $15 billion in college-savings plans. The institution was
a U.S. government-sponsored agency similar to the mortgage finance companies Freddie
Mac and Fannie Mae tmtil becoming independent at the end of 2004. SLM has $67 billion in
bonds and loans outstanding, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
According to the New York-based College Board, which administers the SAT college-
admissions test, the percentage of students graduating with $30,000 or more in debt reached
23 percent at nonlxofit private institutions and 14 percent at public colleges, based on 2004
data_
Tuition and fees have risen by 28 percent at four-year private institutions and 55 percent at
public schools over the past five years, increasing demand for studentloans, according to the
College Board. Tuition, room and board will surpass $50,000 for the first time this year at
George Washington University. Rates at Ivy League schools, such as Harvard, will exceed
$45,000.
Competition
Students at U.S. colleges borrow an estimated $85 billion a year to finance school costs. In
06/05/2008
Page 9 of 14
Page 538
providing loans, Sallie Mac competes with companies including Citigroup Inc., the world’s
largest finandal services company, and CIT Group Inc.’s Education Lending Group Inc.
Student loans are a relatively safe investment because of government guarantees. The default
rate is louver than other types of loans, at 5.1 percent, according to SLM’s Joyce. In addition,
even private student loans not guaranteed by the government have strong protection under
bankruptcy law. Students can’t walk away from the debts.
"’In bankruptcy proceedings, these lenders go to the front of the line to get paid back,"
analyst Gokhale said.
Proposed legislation puts lenders at risk of reduced revenue. A key lertder such as Sallie Mae
currently enjoys a 99 percent guarantee from the government on student loans. President
George W. Bush proposed reducing the guarantee to 95 percent, and Senator Edward
Kennedy of Massachusetts said it should be cut to 85 percent.
Kennedy Comments
"’Today’s student loan system is broken, and students and their families are paying the price,"
Kennedy said today in response to the report of a bid for Sallie Mac. "’I believe we need
nation!l reforms to our student loan system that protects the interests of students instead of
protecting the excessive profits of the lenders."
A private-equity buyout might encourage the U.S. Senate to pass legislation unfavorable to
the student-loan industry, said Kathy Shanley, senior analyst at Oimme Credit. a New York-
based independent research ser~dce on corporate bonds.
"’We still think Sallie Mae is a poor candidate for an LBO," Shanley wrote in a report. "’The
company is dependent on access to the debt markets, has a razor thin net interest margin and
uses derivatives to manage its interest rate exposure."
$30 Billion of Bonds
Gokhale said he would have rather expected a large bank to be a prospective buyer for Sallie
Mac, because of the possible advantages of obtaining student customers who could become
clients for life, buying other bank offerings from auto loans to mortgages.
Sallie Mac last year sold $30 billion of bonds backed by student loans, or about half of all
new student loan securities in 2006, according to data compiled by Citigroup. The company
has issued $18.5 billion in asset-backed securities this year.
LBO firms typically finance about two-thirds of the purchase price with debt, often resulting
in below-investment-grade credit ratings for the target company. Sallie Mac is rated A2 by
Moody’s Investors Service and A by Standard & Poor’s, in the middle of the investment-
grade scale.
Credit Ratings
The company relies on its high credit ratings because it profits on the difference between its
cost to borrow and the returns on the loans it buys. It then lakes much of those !oans and
packages them as bonds for sale to investors.
06/05/2008
Page 10 of 14
Page 539
Sallie Mac last year issued $11.7 billion of long-term unsecured debt, according to New
York-based bond research firm CreditSights Inc. The company bought $37.4 billion of
student loans in 2006, a 24 increase from the prior year.
Gokhale said a private-equity firm could securitize aB of Sallie Mac’s loans, so the corporate
credit rating, eveniflowered, would be less important.
"Ifa private-equity firm wants to pay $48 a share without a lot of leverage, the company’s
cash flow and growth prospects must be attractive to them," Gokhale said.
Earlier this week, Sallie Mae agreed to pay $2 million and adopt a new code of conduct in a
settlement ~vith New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating possible
deceptive loan practices among lenders and college financial aid officers.
The perceived risk of owning Sallie Mac’s bonds surged. Credit-default swaps based on $10
million of the company’s bonds more than doubled to an offered price of $90,000 from
$38,000 yesterday, according to New York-based broker Phoenix Partners Group.
The contracts, used to specalate on the company’s ability to repay its debt, were the most
actively traded today, according to Phoenix.
7. E-Z Loan U.
Chicago Tribune Editorial
April 14, 2007
When you take out a loan to pay for college you expect to reap a profit -- an education, and
higher earnin~ down the road. You don’t expect that the first people to profit from your debt
will be the people who run your school.
ThaWs what’s so infm-iating about news that financial aid officers at several universities have
been getting consulting fees, stock gains and other benefits from lenders who were given an
inside track to their students.
An investigation by New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo found that financial aid officers at
several colleges were paid by a lending agency that the schools selected as a "preferred"
lender, essentially steering students in their direction.
The Tribune reported tNs week that Chicago State University President Elnora Daniel is a
director and shareholder in Seaway National Bank, which is on her school’s list of preferred
lenders. The number of federally g~anteed lom~ issued to Chicago State students by the
bank has gone up by nearly 200 percent since Danie! joined its boardin 2004.
The Illinois attorney general’s office is scrutinizing loan practices at Chicago State and at
Western Illinois University, where, the Tribune reported, a loan company paid to get student
loan referrals. Daniel’s defense is that there has been no quid pro quo and that her financial
stake in Seaway -- about $16,000 in stock and less than $2,000 in ammal compensation for
serving on the board -- is minimal.
When students go to the campus financial aid office, they expect to receive unbiased advice -
- not advicethat will pad the pockets of administrators. If colleges offer to guide students in
financing their education, the schools’ first and only interest should be in the students.
06/05/2008
Nobody should be making inoney offtheir students on the side.
Big money is at stake. In the 2005-06 school year, according to the College Board, students
and their parents borrowed $85 billion to finance their educations. Preferred lender lists can
be an invaluable resource, helping students cut throngh the tNcket of loans and lenders and
weeding out those with high fees or unfavorable repayment terms. But the lists cease to serve
their function if people lose faith in those putting them together. This lending mess is
breaking as Congress grapples with how to help more students afford college.The House has
passed a bill that would cut in half the 6.8 percent interest rate on federally subsidized
undergraduate student loans. In February, President Bush signed legislation to boost Pel!
grants for lower-income students, and Bush has called for cuts in subsidies to lenders.
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass.) has proposed raising the federa! tax deduction for tuition to
$12,000 from $4,000 and cutting the undergraduate student loan interest rate in half.
Congress is also looking into whether students get what they pay for. A bipartisan
Commission on College Access and Affordability headed by Education Secretary Margaret
Spellings has proposed that colleges disclose pertinent data on how student performance
measures up against tuition costs.
A bill sponsored by California Republican Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon proposes creation
of a College Affordabi~ty Index. If the increased annual cost of a school’s attendance exceeds
twice the rate of inflation, administrators wonld be required to explain and to find ways to
hold do~vn costs. Ifa college failed to hold the following year’s increases to less than twice
the inflation rate, it could lose eli~bility for government financial assistance.
It sounds like we’re going to be hearing a !ot in the coming weeks about the rising cost of
college -- and how some administrators have made a quick and quiet buck by steering their
students to certain lenders.
Congress should be wary of going the McKeon route, which sounds like government price
controls on colleges. Congress can help by providing an overdue rise in Pell grants.
As for the colleges: Quit scamming your students.
8. Loans no bargain
St. Petersburg Times Editorial
April 14, 2007
The cozy relationship between some universities and lending institutions is costing both the
students and their schools - the former in interest charges and the latter in credibility. If
higher education won’t police this unseemly practice, then state and federal officials must.
Already, New Yo~k Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has uncovered a pattern of troubling
business practices at some 60 universities. He is finding campuses that direct their students to
"preferred" lending institutions chosen not for low rates and quality service but for the
financial rewards the companies besto~v on the universities. Sometimes the u~versities are
paid a fee for eachloan. Sometimes the lending institutions provide free services instead,
including call centers that lead students to believe they are talking with university financial
advisers.
As Cuomo puts it "A preferred lender list ought to mean that the lender is preferred by
06/05/2008
Page 12 of 14
Page 541
students for its low rates, not by schools for its kickbacks."
Unfortunately, it ~ts worse. Cuomo also has found a U.S. Department of Education official
and three directors of financial aid - at Columbia University, the University of Texas at
Austin and the University of Southern California - who have traded in lending company
stocks. David Chartow, of Columbia, apparently made $100,000 from special stock trades
with a "preferred" lender named Student Loan Xpress. Matteo Fontana, who is a manager in
DOE’s Office of Federal Student Aid, also owned roughly $100,000 in Loan Xpress stock at
one point
On Monday, CIT Group Inc., the parent company of Loan Xpress, put three of the executives
on paid leave.
Florida uMversifies have not been under the same prosecutofial microscope as those in New
York, but students here deserve answers as well. Florida International University, for
example, has included lenders on its preferred list because they agree to make telephone calls
or. hold workshops. Lenders have printed financial aid brochures for the University of Central
Florida. One of the 11 preferred lenders listed at Florida State University, Sallie Mac, also
has a business relationship with FSU.
This is an $85-billion-a-year industry that thrives from the continuing gro~vth in tuition and
fees, and the least that universities can do is to make sure their students are getting the best
loans possible. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education have joined Cuomo in his
search for the truth, and Florida’s university Board of Governors should want their own
answers.
If university finandal aid officers can’t give theh students informed and impartial advice,
they are working for the wrong team.
OTHER NEWS
1. Meeting Brings No Headway in ’No Child’ Stalemate

The Washington Post
By Maria Glod
U.S. education officials and several Virginia school superintendents met yesterday to discuss
tests for students with limited English skills under the No Child Left Behind law but made no
progress toward solving a standoff over what the local educators call an unacceptable federal
mandate.
Federal officials called the meeting with chiefs ofsevera! school systems that are on the
verge of defying an order to give grade-level reading tests to certain students ~vho are just
beginning to learn English. Superintendents Jack D. Dale of Fairfax County, Edgar B.
Hatrick III of Loudoun County and Robert G. Smith of Arlin~on County were among those
who attended the meeting and say the federal directive will only set up students for failure.
The three schools chiefs said they had hopedthe two sides could agree on a solution. They
added that they have not decided on their course of action for when exams for the state’s
English-language learners be~n in coming weeks. School systems face the possible loss of
federal funds if they don’t give the tests.
06/05/2008
Page 13 of 14
Page 542
"The letter that was sent inviting us to the meeting I thought held out hope that we might find
ways to work around the position we’re in with beginning-English-lml~o-uage learners,"
Hatrick said_ "In fact. there was nothing put on the table."
The dispute centers on about 10,200 students statewide who are begMuing to learn English.
Last summer, federal officials rejected the test Virginia had given to those children because it
doesn’t cover grade-level reading skills, such as understanding poetry or identifying the mare
idea of a passage. The Virginia test instead measures how well students are learning to read,
speak and write En~isl’L
Department spokesman Chad Colby said federal officials summoned the supe~tendents
because they waned to hear their concerns firsthand. He said Education Secretary Margaret
Spellings remains committed to testing all children.
"The secretary feels i~s important that these students are assessed at grade level so ~ve know
how to instruct them and target resources to their needs," Colby said. He noted that
immigrant students who have been in U.S. schools for less than a year are exempt from the
reading test
VirgiNa educators said most students learning English take the same reading test as their
peers once their langvage skills are strong enough.
"The small group of kids we’re talking about don’t read or speak or understand En~ish,"
Smith said. "The reasonable person on the street understands ifs inappropriate to give a test
to a student in a language they don’t understand."
Federal officials have threatened to ~vithholdmillions of dollars in fimding, including $17
million to Fairfax alone, if school systems refuse to give the grade-level reading tests.
Charles Pyle, a Vhginia Depar~cnent of Education spokesman, said the state Board of
Education is advising systems to follow federal guidelines but push for change during
reauthorization of the federal law.
"It’s the board’s expectation that schools ~ comply, regardless of how distasteful they find
it," he said.
2. Funding urged for Catholic schools
The Washington Times
April 14, 2007
By Jon Ward and Natasha Altamirano
President Bush yesterday said he will try to prevent an increasing number ofirmer-city
Catholic parochial schools from closing by adding funding for them in the upcoming rene~val
of the No Child Le~ Behind law.
America’s Catholic schools "have given millions of Americans the knoMedge and character
they need to succeed in life," Ivir. Bush said during a short speech at the National Catholic
Prayer Breakfast.
"Today, these schools are also serving thousands of non-Catholic children in some of nation’s
poorest neighborhoods," the president said. "I am womed that too many of these schools are
closing, and our nation needs to do something about it."
06/05/2008
Page 14 of 14
Page 543
The foarth annual breakfast -- established in 2004 in response to Pope John Paul II’s appeal
for a "new evangelization" -- attracted political and religious leaders, including Supreme
Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., and the
Most. Rev. Pietro Sambi, the Vatican’s envoy to the United States.
Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl lauded the history of faith’s influence on U.S.
public policy and called on the nearly !,500 attendees to continue the legacy.
"As believers, we !ook to oar faith," Archbishop Wuerl said at the Washington Hilton.
"We should look to oar most deeply held convictions ~vhen we address matters that affect oar
nation’s activities at home or abroad."
Archbishop Wuerl pointed to issues that still demand attention, including abortion,
immigration and education.
"Reli~ous faith has played and continues to play a significant role in promoting social justice
issues just as it has in defending all irmocent human life," he said.
Mr. Bush also made reference to abortion, stem-cel! research and human cloning.
"Renewing the promise of America begins ~th upholding the dignity of human life," Mr.
Bush said.
"In oar day, there is a temptation to manipulate life in ways that do not respect the humanity
of the person. When that happens, the most vulnerable among us can be valued for their
utility to others -- instead of their own inherent ~vorth."
After the event, Ivlr. Bush met at the White House in the afternoon with parochial school
leaders and parents from across the nation.
The closing of Catholic schools, especiaBy in low-income neighborhoods, is "a national

concern" for the National Catholic Education Association, said NCEA President Karen
Ristau.
Mr. Bush wants to expand school choice, similar to what exists in Washington, to states
across the country. His proposal for reauthorizing No Child Left Beb~d would include funds
for scholarships that would allow students in low-performing schools to transfer to private
schools.
The president’s reauthorization plan ~vould also push for more Catholic schools to be al!o~ved
by states to provide after-school tutoring to public school students.
06/05/2008
Page 544
[N,~onresponsi
From: Ditto, Trey
Sent: April 13, 2007 1:58 PM
To: McLane, Katherine; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad;
Williams, Cynthia; Dorfrnan, Cynthia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers,
Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzrnich, Holly; Toorney, Liarn; Maddox,
Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; ’Tracy WH’; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Cc: Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Sarnara
Subject: Townhall Interview With Secretary Spellings
http://wvcw.townhall.com/coltkmnists/MaryKatharineHamJ2OO7/O4/13/interview sec spellings_prepares for ba

ttle over no child left behind
Interview: Sec. Spellings prepares for battle over No Child Left Behind
By Mary Katharine Ham
Friday, April 13, 2007
So, I’m set to meet the Secretary of Education, right? What should I expect? Stern school-marm? Sugar-sweet
Texan teacher? I find a combination of southern style and Condi’s steel. Margaret Spellings, a morn of schoo!-
age children herself, and one of the architects of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, looks the part of a woman
of this administration--fierce and feminine.
A sure tone and a bright-red blazer ensure that she can command a room and a conversation without
succumbing enl~ely to either Washington’s drab spirit or its sad sartorial sense.
At any rate, she comes across, like any good principal, as a woman not to be messed with. But this is
Washington, and here, everyone gets messed with. Right now, Spellings and the president are facing
conservative opposition to the renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act--a national accountability program for
public schools that the president calls a cure for the "soft bigotry of low expectations" and many conservatives
call a hard boondoggle of big government.
Five years into the program, Spellings said it has Nven America a benchmark for success it’s never had before.
’%Vithout assessment, ~ve don’t know where ~ve are... We’ve tried the ’pass the money out and hope for the
best’ strategy," she said. "Now, you can use the information to improve and manage the system. We can be
precise about the cure."
But conservatives like Jim DeMint and John Cornyn believe NCLB’s method of getting such information has
taken control away from those who know best how to solve education problems--cities and states--~vhile
imposing a mountain of paperwork on teachers. They’re proposing a conservative alternative to NCLB called A-
PLUS that would give some of that control back. The bill has more than 50 co-sponsors.
John Comyn spoke about the A-PLUS plan at The Heritage Foundation last month
<http://ww~v.heritage.org/Research/Education!N994.cfm>:
Too often, what passes for educational reform results in mandated bureaucracy in education, thus
creating a spider’s web of federal regulations with which the states are required to contend. In Florida
alone, former Governor Jeb Bush has observed, "Though the federal contribution to education in Florida
is small--only about seven percent of total educational spending--it takes more than 40 per-cent of the
Page 545
state’s education staff to oversee and administer federal dollars."

Spellings said the A-PLUS plan would be a set-back.
%Vhat their notion is is to go back to they way it was before No Child Left Behind--send the money and no
accountability."
She concedes that there are improvements to be made with NCLB, but won’t concede the federal government’s
role in education.
"I’m for more flexibility, too," she said_ %Ve’ve learned a lot and we ought to build on that experience. Now
that we’re five years in, we need a more nuanced accountability process."
She also said one of the most prevalent myths about the program is that, because it’s federal, it’s one-size fits-
all.
"States set standards, devise their own success rates. All technicalities are derided by the states,’" she said.
°There is so much variety in No Child Left Behind."
The A-PLUS plan, according to DeMint, would offer more than that
<http://www.herita~e.org/Research/EducationN!994.cfm>:
What we’re asking is that states have the option to stay under the No Child Left Behind regime or choose
to take the accountability and standards of that re,men but have the flexibility to accomplish the goals
in a different way. This would do what wel-fare reform did. If you remember, welfare reform did not
start at the federal level, but by giving states the flexibility to create laboratories for change. Then the
federal government saw what was working, and we did some things to allow more states to do that, and
we changed the system.
We need to do that for education, because, first of all, what we’re doing is not working.
Spellings, of course, cites stats to show that it is, in fact, working.
"’My job is to be a steward for the taxpayers oftNs country," she said, noting that the gap between African-
American and white 9-year-old readers is at an all-time low, and that the gap between Hispanic and whites in
math and reading is similarly shrinking.
I told the Secretary I kno~v a lot of teachers--Bush-supporters and detractors alike-- many of whom I’ve heard
gripe about No Child Left Behind. I asked her about some of their concerns. Chief among them is that teachers
are using a !ot of time teaching tests, test-taking techniques, and taking practice tests.
°’If the tests are aligned with the curriculum and teaching what you want the kids to know, there’s nothing wrong
vdth teaching to the test."
But, she acknowledged, there is some adjusting that has to happen.
"’In Texas, I sa~v kind of an adapting process," and five years into NCLB, teachers are adapting to the new
requirements, just as they did in Texas, she said.
Of course, not all parts of No Child Left Behind make conservatives cringe. Right now, Spellings is working to
expand the parts of the law that make teachers’ unions cringe--giving ldds in failing schools a choice.
Page 546
One of the ideas for NCLB reauthorization is that failing schools set for restructuring could reopen as charter
schools, and would not be encumbered by charter-school caps in the individual states.
Spellings also touted a plan to increase a federal Teacher Incentive Fund, ~vhich would allow states to reward
good teachers with merit pay and escape the imposed mediocrity of collective bargaining.
Department of Education figures show that 65,000 children took advantage of the school choice portions of
NCLB last year, up from 17,000 the year before.
"We have had some trouble with parents not being informed of options," Spellings said, but reauthorization
would require schools to spend all their funds for private tutoring and choice programs or risk forfeitir~ them.
For now, the administration and conservatives will continue to slug it out in Congress over No Child Left
Behind. Just this week, Bush was publicly defending the law
<http://www.casperstartribune.net!articles/2007/04/13/apiwashin~tolddSofflgo0.txt>, and acknowledging
frustrations with it.
And, then, one last question, of grave national security importance, because I couldn’t resist:
IvIKH: ’°Madame Secretary, are you familiar with ~Battlestar Galactica’?"
Spellings: "A little."
MKH: "Well, in ’Battlestar Galactica, the whole government and much of the nation is wiped out in an
attack, ~vhich mem~ the Secretary of Education nmst take charge and save humanity from murderous,
intelligent, alien robots."
Spellings: ’°Yes?"
MKH: "I’m just sayin’, if it came down to it, ~vould you be ready for something like that?"
Spellings: "I am ready and willing to do battle with anyone who would limit oppommities for the
schoolchildren of America," she laughed.
Fierce.
Mmy Katharine Ham is the managing editor for Townhalt.com.

Page 547
Nonresponsiv
Sent: April 13, 2007 8:08 AM
To: Pdvate-Spellings, Margaret; ’scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov’; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill;
Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren; Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Beaton, Meredith;
Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada, Wendy; Hataska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken;
Conklin, Kristin; Oldham, Cheryl; Schray, Vickie
Subject: Did Revolving Door Lead To Student Loan Mess? (WSJ)
Did Revolving Door Lead To Student Loan Mess? (WSJ)

By John Hechinger And Anne Marie Chaker
The Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2007
Four years ago, Sally Stroup, then an assistant secretary at the U.S. Education Department, got a memo from the agency’s
inspector general urging her to curb any "illegal inducements" lenders might be using to win college loan business.
Ms. Stroup, who had previously worked for a Pennsylvania loan company and a for-profit education concern dependent on
student loans, didn’t take the memo’s advice.
A~ least eight top officials in the Education Department during the Bush administration either came from student-loan or
related organizations or have taken lucrative jobs in that arena since leaving the agency. Former Education Department staffers
say a revolving door between the department and industry has led to lax oversight of federal financial aid. Members of Congress
-including the Democrats who head committees overseeing education, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep.
George Miller of California - say they are concerned about the industry ties. Mr. Miller plans to hold a hearing on student loan
abuses this month.
Some Republicans are critical as well, including Rep. Tom Petri of Wisconsin. "It’s hard for a program staffed mainly by
folks in the industry to impartially conduct oversight of the industry," says Thomas Culligan, Mr. Petri’s aide for education policy.
In recent years, department officials monitoring financial aid were informed about several questionable practices by
lenders, yet they were slow to crack down. In addition to the current scandal over loan companies’ grants of stock and other
payments to college officials, lenders also breached a government database of student borrowers and made hundreds of millions
of dollars in excess payments through a controversial loophole.
’1 sawtoo much in the department that indicated that many of the people were too dose to the lending industry and were
making decisions that weren’t in the public interest," says Jon Oberg, a former Education Department researcher.
Ms. Stroup says that until now, no one knew the extent of student loan abuses, and she says she took action when
allegations could be proved. "We always wanted to run the agency right for students, families and schools," says Ms. Stroup,
now a senior Republican aide on Capitol Hill.
Katherine McLane, a spokeswoman for Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, defends the department’s record, saying
that it taps private-sector experience to improve efficiency and provide "better service to students and families." She notes that
student loan default rates have plummeted on the Republicans’ watch and that, in 2005, the Government Accountability Office
removed the department’s student aid office from a list of government programs at high risk for "fraud, waste, abuse and
mismanagement."
Last week, the Education Department put Matteo Fontana, a senior financial aid official, on leave atter it was disclosed that
in 2003 he held $100,000 of stock in the parent company of Student Loan Xpress Inc. That firm, a unit of financial-services
company CIT Group Inc., has been at the center of a widening investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Before joining the Education Department, Mr. Fontana worked at the nation’s biggest student lender, SLM Corp., be~ter known as
Sallie Mae.
One of Mr. Fontana’s early responsibilities at the Education Department was safeguarding the National Student Loan Data
System, which has detailed information about borrowers that isn’t supposed to be used for commercial purposes. In 2005, Cathy
Lewis, the department’s assistant inspector general, sent a memo to Theresa S. Shaw, chief operating officer of the department’s
student aid office, about security problems with the database, which was being tapped by lenders to get customers. Ms. Shaw,
who previously worked for Sallie Mae, rising to chief information officer, and Mr. Fontana couldn’~ be reached to comment. Ms.
Page 548
McLane says the department has "rigorous" database monitoring and has spent $650,000 since 2003 to improve information
security.
In another example of close industry ties, William Hansen, a former deputy secretary, worked for an industry trade group
before taking the department post. When he left in 2003, he joined Affiliated Computer Services Inc., an information-technology
company that won a contract that year - with a value of at least $I billion -- to administer student loans. Mr. Hansen says he
recused himself at the Education Department when the project came up and didn’t work on higher education matters while he
was at ACS.
Mr. Cuomo’s investigation has already led eight colleges, including the University of Pennsylvania, NewYork University and
Syracuse University, to settle allegations concerning payments from lenders that the state considers kickbacks. Six financial-aid
officials, including those at Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Texas, are under scn2iny for
accepting stock or other payments from Student Loan Xpress. Sallie Mae and Citigroup Inc.’s Citibank have reached agreements
with Mr. Cuomo over allegedly deceptive practices.
In Ms. Lewis’s memo to Ms. Stroup in 2003 about improper inducements, she said the inspector general’s office had found
evidence that Sallie Mae had negotiated with a school to offer private loans to students there if that school placed Sallie Mae on
its preferred-lender list. Ms. Lewis was concerned that the agreement might have constit[~ed an improper inducement by Sa!lie
Mae for preferred status. Sallie Mae notes that the government never took action against the company.
Ms. Lewis also complained in her memo that the department had done nothing since 1995 to update its interpretation of
agency rules for lenders despite a student loan marketplace that had changed "significantly." Also in 2003, Mr. Oberg wrote an
internal, widely distributed memo warning that lenders were exploiting a legal provision that guaranteed lenders a minimum 9.5%
rate of return no matter how low the prevailing rate might be. The 9.5% guarantee was supposed to apply only to loans funded
by tax-exempt bonds. Congress eliminated the guarantee in 1993 but grandfathered in the existing arrangement, thinking the
high-rate guarantees would disappear. Mr. Oberg warned that the proliferation of these loans could cost taxpayers billions of
dollars in excess subsidies.
A later report by the inspector general confirmed Mr. Oberg’s findings. It focused on student loan company Nelnet Inc.,
which figured out a complicated strategy to collect about $278 million in what the report said were excessive payments from the
government from January 2003 through June 30, 2005. The report recommended that the department require Nelnet to "return
the ... overpayments received and exclude ineligible loans from future billings." In securities filings addressing the issue, Nelnet
said it had received verbal approval from the department to collect the higher rate.
Despite the inspector general’s report, the Education Department announced this past January that it would let Nelnet keep
the bonanza, though not future payments. In a statement, Nelnet spokesman Ben Kiser said the company’s receipt of those
payments conformed to department regulations. Ms. McLane says the settlement was in "the best interests of taxpayers and
students" because seeking repayment could have jeopardized a source of aid in some markets.
Jeffrey R. Andrade, former deputy assistant secretary for postsecondary education until 2003, says he opposed the lucrative
loans at a time when the department was examining the issue but that the department couldn’t stop the practice because it was
hamstrung by pre-existing rules. ’I wanted to call" Nelnet "and say if you guys do this, we’re going to audit you to death, and in
hindsight that would have been the better strategy," says Mr. Andrade. He is now an executive vice president of U.S. Education
Finance Group, a student loan company.
Page 549
Nonresponsi!
(b)(6~S~nt:"
om" ~ ............................ I~t]~i’iii ~ -i9- ~1-~ii ~t"
April 13, 2007 6:14 AM
J
To: Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, Kristin; Schray, Vickie; scett_m.
_.stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad;
Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret;
Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara MaRine.z; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Head of financial aid group talks about scandal (AP)
Head of financial aid group talks about scandal By JUSTIN POPE AP Education Writer
Every day at colleges across the country, financial aid administrators help students
navigate the complicated maze of grants and loans they need to finance their educations.
The administrators consider it noble work -- and many took exception when New York
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo started an investigation into the field’s practices.
But over the last few weeks, the landscape has changed.
Cuomo’s office, and separate research from the Washington, D.C.-based New America
Foundation, have uncovered a number of troubling ties between companies that loan students
money and college financial aid officers, who are supposed to give students unbiased
advice on borrowing options.
The crux of the controversy involves "’preferred lender" lists maintained by many colleges.
Students are free to borrow from any lender, but they often seek advice from college
financial aid officers on where to go. Colleges often maintain lists of preferred lenders
-- or sometimes just a single lender -- and typically direct students to them. For lenders,
securing spots on such lists is crucial for business.
The system is supposed to protect students by steering them toward lenders who have been
vetted by their school. But what has emerged in recent weeks is new and detailed
information about financial ties between lenders and colleges -- and even individuml
administrators.
No evidence has emerged that colleges have lowered their standards to let certain lenders
on their lists, but the arrangements raise questions about conflicts of interest.
Among the nighest-profile revelations, Cuomo’s office has found that loan officers at
Columbia University, the University of Texas and the University of Southern California had
stock in 2003 in a company that owned Student Loan Express, a lender on their preferred
lists.
Investigators also are examining consulting fees and travel expenses that lenders paid to
administrators at a number of schools, including Johns Hopkins University, which had
Student Loan Express on its list, too. A Johns Hopkins financial aid director received
more than $60,000 in consulting fees and support for her doctoral work from CIT, wnich is
now the parent company of Student Loan Express.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on Thursday asked the Johns Hopkins official,
Ellen Frishberg, to resign from a department panel that is working on new federal rules
for how student loans are handled.
Fris~erg already had been suspended from her job by the University because of the
investigation.
On Wednesday, the nation’s largest student loan provider -- SLM Corp. (commonly known as
Sallie Hae) -- agreed to pay $2 million into a financial aid education fund and adopt a
new code of conduct.
Page 550
It’s also come out thmt a Department of Education official who oversaw the student loan
industry owned at least $i00,000 worth of stock in Education Lending Group -- the former
parent company of Student Loan Express. That official hms been placed on leave, as have
three top executives at Student Loan Express.
Cuomo also is looking into the practice of lenders paying a portion of the loan revenue
they generate from a college’s students back to that school’s financial aid office.
Typically, such payments are cycled into financia! aid, but in theory, they can add to
costs for borrowers -- and Cuomo and others have called them "kickbacks.’"
The Associated Press spoke about the situation with Dallas Hartin, president of the
National Association of Student Finmncial Aid Administrators, which represents 12,000
financial aid professionals at 3,000 schools nationwide. His group is concerned about the
widening scandal and has fol!owed the investigation closely.
~: When Attorney General Cuomo’s investigation was getting started, your group was
critical, saying it was causing distrust and sullying the reputations of aid officers. But
hmsn’t it u~covered some things the public should know about?
Martin: Part of the way it was described in the initial announcement talked about an
"unholy alliance’
between administrators and lenders. It kind of painted everybody with the same brush.
That’s why we responded by saying these people are hardworking, have a lot of integrity,
the vast majority of them.
But I would be the first to say -- given these situations where it appears some people
hmve profited for personal gain, either through stock or fairly lucrative consulting fees
-- I think it raises real questions about these kinds of arrangements. I think it’s
inappropriate for these lenders to be offering such, and I also think the individuals, if
this is what they’ve accepted, I think it’s a real lapse of judgment and I cannot condone
that behavior. It’s a serious breach of public trust.
AP: Given the potential for apparent conflicts, are preferred lender lists still
worthwhile?
Martin: If done properly, I think preferred lender lists can be useful to students and
families. Often you will find students, parents, they go through this process, it’s a
confusing thing. There’s about 3,000 lenders across the country who provide student !oans.
A lot of times they’ll talk to the financial aid administrators and say, "Who do you
recommend?’
Schools go out and say ’we’re going to have a recommended lender list and we want to know
what rates of interest you’re going to charge, what benefits are you going to provide,
will you have 24-7 customer service?"
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with (lists) provided they’ve done in an objective
reasonable fashion, but it’s also important they remind families thmt even though we’ve
m~de this list you’re still free to (borrow from) any place you want.
AP: What about the practice of lenders offering colleges a slice of the loan revenue they
generate from their campuses?
Martin: My personal feeling has always been, I think revenue sharing arrangements often
leave the appearance of a conflict of interest. There may not be one. But it almost makes
it appear the institution may be trying to encourage you to take out !oans because they’ll
mmke some money back on it.
If you have such an arrangement, I think it’s very important that it be clearly disclosed.
AP: What assurance can you give students and families that they’re getting unbiased advice
from the financial aid advisers they work with on campus?
Page 551
Martin: We have over 3,000 post-secondary education institutions that are members of our
organization. We continue to believe the vast majority carry out their responsibilities in
a verqT ethical and straightforward manner. Unfortunately over the last few weeks, there
has been brought to our attention some practices that some financial aid administrators or
some institutions have engaged in that raise questions about whether they’re acting in the
best interests of students. And we regret that.
Do You YahooS?
Page 552
[Nonrespons
............................. katheiirie-mcianet ......................... J
April 13, 2007 5:50 AM
Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, Kristin; Schray, Vickie; scott_m.
._stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad;
Hudson; Landers, Angela; Katie MacGuidwin; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings, Margaret;
Subject: Education Chief Orders Ethics Check (WP)
Education Chief Orders Ethics Check

By A m it R. Paley
Friday, April 13, 2007; AO9
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings hms launched reviews of the department’s
ethics and financia! disclosure policies in response to questions raised through far-
ranging investigations of the student loan industry, the agency said in a statement last
night.
Spellings also asked for the resignation of Ellen Frishberg, director of student financial
services at Johns Hopkins University, from a committee that is drafting new student loan
regulations for the department.
Frishberg was suspended from her post at Johns Hopkins this week after revelations that
she hmd received at least $65,000 from the private lender Student Loan Xpress for
consulting fees and tuition.
The actions by Spellings are part of the fallout from an expanding probe of the $85
billion-a-year student loan industry.
Congressional Democrats and the New York state attorney general have recently stepped up
their scrutiny of the complex financial ties among lenders, universities and government
officials.
Last week, the Education Department suspended an official, Matteo Fontana, after
revelations that he owned at least $i00,000 in stock in the parent company of Student Loan
Xpress while he helped oversee the student loan industry.
Last night, the department released Fontana’s financial disclosure forms filed from 2002
through 2006. In those forms, he disclosed selling more than $10O, 00O worth of stock in
that company, Education Lending Group, in 2004.
Despite that disclosure, Fontanm continued to work in the Office of Federal Student Aid as
a deputy general manager. Government regulations generally do not al!ow employees to work
on matters involving companies in which they hold more than $15,000 worth of stock.
Spellings has ordered at least two attorneys to review every disc!osure form filed this
year.
Kmtherine McLane, an Education Department spokeswoman, said, "The department’s ethics

office is very clear with emp!oyees that the onus is on them to provide full and complete
and up-to-date information on their financial holdings."
The matter is under investigation by the agency’s inspector general and aides to Sen.
Edward H. Kennedy (D-Mass.), education committee chairman.
Kennedy said in a statement last night: "The financial disclosure forms filed by Education
Department official Matteo Fontana during his time at the department raise grave concerns
about the effectiveness and impartiality of the ethics process at the department. The
Page 553
forms show that department officials were aware that Hr. Fontana held a significant
financial interest in a company that he ~as charged with overseeing. Any American can tell
you that this is dead wrong."
Fontana did not respond last night to telephone messages left at his home.
Before he went to the agency in November 2002, Fontanm worked for !! years as a director
at Reston-based student loan giant Sallie ~e overseeing inforrm~tion technology staff, the
filings show. His financial disclosure forms also indicate that he sold between $1,000 and
$15,000 of Education Lending Group stock in December 2002. But the forms do not reveal
that he held any shares in 2003. Then they show the larger sale in 2004.
Do You Yahoo~?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mai!.yahoo.com
Page 554
[Nonresponsi !
Sent: April 11, 2007 8:31 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Conaty, Joseph; Farris, Amanda; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill;
Colby, Chad; Williams, C~thia; Dorfman, Cynthia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts,
Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken;
Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson, Vincent
Subject: With subpoena, witness list reveals RF hearing focus (Education Daily)
With subpoena, witness list reveals RF hearing focus (Education Daily)

By Kds Kitto
The House Education and Labor Committee made good on hints that it would make rare use of its subpoena power to
assemble the witness list for the upcoming Reading First hearing, a proceeding that now looks to be focused on the tangled web
of alleged conflict of interest surrounding the program’s widely used assessment test.
A trio of members from the Education Department’s now-defunct committee on reading assessments was called to testify
at the April 20 hearing. Roland H. Good, a professor at the University of Oregon and the author of the Dynamic Indicators of
Basic Early Literacy Skills assessment test, and Edward Kame’enui, an ED employee who used to direct the University of
Oregon’s Reading First technical assistance center, voluntarily agreed to appear before the committee.
But Deborah C. Simmons, a former Oregon colleague of Good and Kame’enui now at Texas A&M University, was served a
subpoena Monday atter Simmons’ attorney was elusive about his client’s attendance, according to a committee statement.
The hearing’s other two confirmed witnesses are John P. "Jack" Higgins, ED’s inspector general, and Chris Doherty, the
former program director for Reading First.
Experts said the witness list indicates that Congress members want in-depth answers to questions about the literacy
program’s implementation before taking the possible next step of calling Secretary Margaret Spellings to a future hearing.
’1 would presume.., that the committee wants to get the facts straight before asking the Secretary questions," said the
Center on Education Policy’s Jack Jennings, "and they have all the key characters who can give them the facts."
Spotlight on DIBELS The roster of witnesses also reveals a focus on Good’s reading assessment, DIBELS, which is now
one ofthe most commonly administered early literacy tests, according to several sources.
The Office of Inspector General’s February audit found that several ED materials on Reading First, some of which were
written by Kame’enui and Simmons, appeared to promote DIBELS. Good had also made presentations on DIBELS to state
directors during the program’s 2002 initiation.
The three were also a part of one of the three technical assistance centers ED set up to provide help to states
implementing the literacy program.
The centers were a subject of IG scrutiny in an audit that cited them for conflicts of interest among their employees.
Success for All Foundation’s Robert Slavin, one of the first to complain to I G about the program’s implementation, said the
committee has rightly focused on DIBELS to bring ethical issues to light.
’There’s no benign way to explain what happened with DIBELS," he said, commenting on the assessment’s quick growth,
which he said can’t be attributed to marketing or research. "In some ways, it’s the clearest story that simply has no other
explanation."
But Simmons will have to respond to the subpoena in order for Congress members to get their desired background on the
billion-dollar-a-year program. Her attorney, Gaines West, told Education DailyTM that his client has not yet decided what she will
do.
Spokesman Tom Kiley said the committee chose to take the unlikely step of issuing a subpoena because it "is critical that
[Reading First] be managed in the best interests of schoolchildren and taxpayers."
West said Simmons was given only five days to respond to the committee’s invitation, and West’s request to look for
alternative dates went unanswered by the committee’s chief investigative counsel, Michael Zola.
Jennings and The George Washington University congressional expert Christopher Deering both said they can’t remember
Page 555
the last time a congressional subpoena was used for education- policy purposes.
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Vice President Michael Petrilli said the witness list reveals that partisan politics are at play.
’1 think it’s clear that they are going after some of the organizations that have gained financially because of Reading First,"
he said. "1 hope they consider whether or not these programs are effective and are helping kids learn how to read."
Page 556
Nonresponsi
Sent: April 09, 2007 10:16 AM
Dorfman, C~thia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath,
Subject: Clear The Ivy On Academia (CSM)
Clear The Ivy On Academia (CSM)

Colleges should welcome a federal role in judging their success.
In a yearly drama, millions of high school students received letters in recent days telling them if they can go to the college
of their choice. But this spring, colleges themselves faced a kind of acceptance or rejection - by the US Department of Education.
The department began closed-door meetings earlier this year with officials of institutions of higher education to discuss
possible federal rules that would open up the schools to regular public scrutiny on the quality of their teaching and learning.
If the project goes through, i~ could be either a heavy-handed government intrusion into the finest education system in the
world, or it could bring needed accountability and lower tuition to a creaking system that’s failing many of its graduates. (For one
view on this proposal, see today’s Opinion page.)
While US universities are the envy of the world, only 4 in 10 graduates have the comprehension skills to compare
viewpoints in editorials such as this one. And despite their pivotal role in keeping the American economy competitive, only about
half of seniors are asked to write lengthy research papers.
Leading this effort is Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Building on President Bush’s No Child Left Behind lawthat
put standardized testing into public K-12 schools, she wants to make sure the billions of taxpayers’ dollars that support colleges
and universities are well spent. More than that, she sees government as a protector of education "consumers."
This puts a cold wind in the ivied halls of higher ed. Educators are already upset at the influence of annual college rankings
by U.S. News & World Report, which many dismiss as looking mainly at the reputation and "inputs" of schools rather than
"learning outcomes."
The schools also cite the diversity of purposes that each college offers, perhaps making it impossible to judge them by
federal cookie-cutter standards.
Rather than challenge colleges directly, Ms. Spellings is using her department’s regular approval process for regional,
private agencies that accredit colleges, a type of peer-review regulation. (Federal student loans are tied to such approvals.) The
accreditors, who largely act in secret, collect and compare vast amounts of information about each school. Sensibly, Spellings
wants these assessments on websites for students to use.
The far more difficult proposal calls for more rigor in such assessments - if not outright measurements of what students
actually learn.
Making public each college’s effects on graduates would, indeed, help prospective students. Done badly, however,
measurable national standards might also distort many nonmeasurable, long-term results of education, such as instilling a
passion for learning or an ethical sense. One way around this standoff would be for the department to simply insist that
accreditors and schools put forth their own objective criteria for success in learning.
Many colleges have already started benchmarking themselves better. The central issue of "what’s good enough?" for
schools can be addressed later, once there is more transparency in assessing college performance.
Negotiations begin again April 24, with the federal rules expected to take force by J.ily 2008. Both students and schools
that rely on federal money should welcome this call for more accountability on behalf of taxpayers.
Page 557
NonresponsiI
Sent: April 09, 2007 10:12 AM
Subject: Lowedng Boom On High Cost Of Higher Education (VVT)
"At a time when more Americans need a degree, it’s becoming more difficult to get one -- and for low-income and minority
students, it can be nearly impossible," Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said at a national summit she hosted last month
to discuss the Bush administration’s ideas for making college more accessible and affordable.
Lowering Boom On High Cost Of Higher Education (WT)

The Washin,qton Times, April 9, 2007
About 20 parents sat in the Falls Church Community Center on a recent sunny Saturday afternoon, scribbling notes and
listening intently to the presentation on how to pay for college.
"It’s just so overwhelming; any help is welcomed," said Jayne Bryant, a single mother from Oakton who is researching the
college-application process for her daughter, a high school junior.
She and the others attended a free workshop -- offered by Todd Hughes, a college-funding adviser and chief executive
officer of Hughes Financial Solutions -to get some advice and answers.
Joseph Fontana and his wife, Gloria Cruz-Fontana, of Fairfax Station, are starting their research early -- the oldest of their
four children is a high school sophomore. Mrs. Fontana said she wants tips on "how to avoid paying so much" and "how to
optimize" the way to pay for college so their children won’t be strapped with loads of debt.
’qhings are different than when we went to school," Mr. Fontana said of the application process. "We’ve got a lot of worries
and concerns."
The Fontanas are not alone. Across the country, parents and teenagers alike are concerned about how to pay for college
and how to navigate the otten daunting financial-aid process. These are hot topics not only around kitchen tables, but in the
White House, governors’ mansions and the halls of Congres~
Rising costs
It’s no secret that college costs have risen dramatically over the years.
According to the College Board’s annual study on costs, tuition and fees on average have increased 35 percent in the past
five years for public, four-year institutions and 11 percent for private, four-year institutions. The figures were adjusted for inflation.
For the 2006-07 school year, a four-year public institution cost $5,836 and a four-year private institution $22,218 --
increases of 6.3 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, over the previous school year. The numbers jumped to $12,796 for a
public institution and $30,367 for a private school when room and board were added.
Of course, a realistic student budget also would include transportation, books and other expenses, which - according to
sample budgets compiled by the College Board -- push average total costs to $33,301 for a four-year private college, $26,304 for
an out-of-state four-year public college and $16,357 for an in-state four-year public college.
’lt’s clearly a matter of great concern to the public and to many policy-makers," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for
government and public affairs at the American Council on Education. "It’s an issue that merits attention."
And it is receiving attention at the highest levels of government.
"At a time when more Americans need a degree, it’s becoming more difficult to get one -- and for low-income and minority
students, it can be nearly impossible," Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said at a national summit she hosted last month
to discuss the Bush administration’s ideas for making college more accessible and affordable.
Not surprisingly, many students choose to attend less expensive colleges and universities.
According to the College Board, 65 percent of full-time undergraduates attend institutions whose tuition and fees are less
than $9,000, while 13 percent attend those that cost $24,000 or more. The best in-state deals are in the West, where the
average public university four-year tuition and fees are $4,646 a year. The in-state option is most expensive for New England
Page 558
residents, who pay an average of $7,658 at public four-year schools.

To help pay for all of this, most turn to student loans. Nearly two-thirds of four-year graduates have taken out student loans,
and their average debt is $19,000 -- about $10,000 more than it was in 1993 when fewer than half had student loans, according
to figures compiled by the Project on Student Debt.
"It has now become a significant way that students pay for public and private, even moderately priced institutions," said
Luke Swarthout, a higher-education specialist with U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups.
What parents can do
All of this can be extremely daunting to parents, specialists agree. But there are reasons to be hopeful.
First, the "sticker shock" of college prices may be misleading.
’q-he net price can be a lot lower" than the publicly listed cost of college -- after factoring in financial aid, grants,
scholarships and work-study provided by the school, Mr. HartJe said.
’q’hat’s a tremendous challenge for independent higher education - to encourage families to look beyond published
prices," said Bill Troutt, president of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.
There is a lot of financial help out there, waiting to be discovered. That help includes about $135 billion in federal, state and
private money, according to the College Board.
Mr. Hughes -- whose company can be hired by parents to navigate the entire college-application process -- not only urges
parents to look beyond sticker prices, but also helps them fill out the complicated Free Application for Federal Student Aid --
known as FAFSA -- to get the maximum amount of federal aid possible.
He tells parents to apply for aid early and ot~en and not to waste too much time seeking private scholarships because these
only account for a small fraction of the money handed out. Mr. Hughes also advises parents not to shy away from more
expensive private colleges since they otten have more alumni money to distribute than public schools.
Especially for a lower-income family, "it might be cheaper to go to Harvard" than to a state school, Mr. Swarthout said.
There are other tips for cutting costs, including reallocatJng assets in order to qualify for more financial aid. Mr. Hughes also
encourages parents to negotiate when a college sends a letter laying out how much aid it will provide.
It is important to remember that the federal government and colleges won’t knock down doors to give away money, he said.
’q-he colleges and the government are the ones who control this, and they’re the ones giving out the money, so they really
have no incentive to educate parents on this," Mr. Hughes said.
Another cost-cutting measure is to finish college sooner. Students take an average of 6.2 years to complete a bachelor’s
degree at public colleges and 5.2 years at private institutions, according to the College Board. But more colleges are offering
accelerated bachelor’s degree programs, which are completed in three years.
The best way to prepare for the steep college price tag is simply to save as much as possible.
One way to save for college is a 529 plan. These tax-advantaged investment plans are sponsored by states, state agencies
or educational institutions.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia sponsor at least one type of 529 plan. The account’s earnings are exempt from
federal tax and in most cases, state tax, as long as withdrawals are used to pay college expenses, according to a description by
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
One such plan, known as the Independent 529 Plan, allows families to pay today’s tuition prices for later use at 259 private
colleges and universities that are part of the network.
"By prepaying, you can actually lock in today’s tuition rates for fd[ure use," said Nancy Farmer, president of the plan.
Marc Farinella of Melbourne, Fla., joined the plan for his 7-year-old daughter. He said in light of rising college costs it "just
made sense to me."
IViss Farmer said it’s never too late to start saving - even when a child is in high school. But ultimately, she said,
Americans must learn to save for college just as aggressively as they save for retirement.
"For a 2-year-cid’s birthday, do they really need another toy? How about $50 for the college fund?" Miss Farmer said.
Causes and cures
College access and affordability have been hot topics on Capitol Hill and in the Bush administration.
"In a word, it’s a crisis that’s tarnishing the American dream for millions, and we can’t ignore it any longer," Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the education committee, said at a hearing of his panel on college costs in
February.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced numerous pieces of legislation to address the issue, including
subsidizing the student-loan interest rate, boosting the maximum federal Pell Grant award, revamping federal student-loan
programs, simplifying FAFSA and holding colleges more accountable.
The House in January overwhelmingly passed a bill that would cut the student-loan rate in half for future loans; the Senate
Page 559
has yet to pass it.

Critics of the rate cut argue it’s a poor use of money because it doesn’~ address the problem of college access and steep
costs. Supporters say it’s a first step.
Increasing money for the Pell Grant -- which is given to 5 million needy students each year - has bipartisan support.
President Bush’s 2008 budget proposal would increase Pell Grants from $4,310 to $5,400 over five years. Mr. Kennedy is
seeking to boost the grants to nearly the same level and make funding for the program mandatory, and House and Senate
Democratic 2008 budget proposals suggest increases as well.
At the same time, Congress and the administration are looking to slice some of the federal funds given to student-loan
companies, an industry that some argue profits at the expense of students. Mr. Bush’s 2008 budget proposed about $19 billion in
cuts to lender subsidies over five years.
Lenders say cutting their federal dollars in order to boost grant aid to students won’t really help students.
"We’d love to see the debate be about finding additional funds for education -- not moving funds ~om one program to
another," said Joanna Acocella, executive vice president of the College Loan Corp.
Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo is continuing a nationwide probe into conflicts of interest in the
student-loan industry, and last week the Education Department placed on leave an official who supervises lenders and also held
stock in a student-loan company.
Working for change
Many of these issues will be debated this year as the House and Senate try to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. There
are key differences, especially when it comes to retooling federal student-loan programs.
Members of the House education committee sent a letter last month to relevant players asking for ideas on a range of
goals, including improving the financial-aid delivery system, finding ways to address escalating college costs and boosting
transparency of college-cost information.
But some lawmakers say the government shouldn’t keep pouring dollars into higher education without understanding what
is causing the current problems.
"Unfortunately, the skyrocketing cost of tuition minimizes the positive impact of our increases to important financial-aid
programs, such as Pell Grants. We need to get to the heart of what I believe is the real problem -- why costs are dsing so
dramatically and what we can do to stabilize this trend," said Rep. Ric Keller of Florida, the top Republican on the House
education panel’s higher education subcommittee.
He complained that the Education Department will award about $90 billion in new grants, loans and work-study assistance
this year, yet college costs continue to rise. Mr. Keller has introduced a bill with Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, thetop
Republican on the House education panel, that would target colleges whose prices have risen the most.
Some lawmakers want more information on how colleges spend their money. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican,
on Wednesday asked the Congressional Budget Office to examine how colleges use their "generous tax breaks" -- whether they
truly use the savings to improve education or "whether the taxpayers are subsidizing other priorities."
The administration has proposed its own steps to help children and families access college -- based on a report of the
Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
In September, Mrs. Spellings suggested several changes, including increasing need-based aid; simplifying the financial-aid
process with changes such as a recently announced online tool to simplify FAFSA for parents and students; notifying students of
their eligibility earlier than spdng of their senior year; and redesigning the Education Department’s Web site to list howmuch a
school is truly going to cost and howlong it will take to get a degree.
Some argue that not enough is being asked of the colleges and universities.
Richard Vedder, economics professor at Ohio University and author of "Going Broke By Degree: Why College Costs Too
Much," said there is tremendous waste on college campuses -- everything from ballooning administrative departments to
increasing salaries for professors and presidents to state-of-the-art student centers and attractions.
"You can’t run a university without a climbing wall these days," he said.
rvt. Vedder argues that the billions of federal dollars poured into student loans and grants help raise the cost of tuition.
"Why do universities raise tuition? Because they can get away with it. Third parties are paying part of the bill," he said,
referring to the federal loans and grants. "When someone else pays the bill, you’re not as sensitive to the cost of things."
For their part, college officials say they are taking steps to lower costs.
According to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, a few schools have frozen tuition. Some
are offering four- or five-year tuition guarantees to freshmen, and others are adopting business practices to control operating
costs, such as outsourcing some campus services.
Other colleges are banding together to leverage joint purchasing power for lower costs on energy, insurance and
Page 560
information technology.
But Mr. Vedder and others say more is needed -- including more transparency. He would like to see an intricate breakdown
of each school’s budget and how many hours professors spend teaching.
"We don’t get much of that information on colleges, and there’s no reason why we couldn’t," he said.
Page 561
INonresponsi]
Sent: April 09, 2007 10:08 AM
Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, To,~qsend L; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada,
Subject: Education Secretary Asks UT Official To Resign From Panel (AAS TX)
Education Secretary Asks UT Official To Resign From Panel (AAS TX)

By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz
Austin American-Statesman, April 7, 2007
Lawrence Burt’s stock ownership under investigation.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has asked a University of Texas official whose ties to a student lending
company are under review to resign from an advisory panel on student aid.
Lawrence Burr, UT’s associate vice president of student affairs and director of student financial services, was asked to step
down from the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, Education Department spokeswoman Katherine McLane
said Friday. The panel advises the education secretary and Congress on student aid matters.
LIT placed Burr on paid administrative leave Thursday, a day after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo requested
information about Burt and the university’s financial aid practices. Burr owned stock in a company listed by UT as a preferred
student lender and sold his shares in 2003. Burt’s annual salary is $145,880.
Meanwhile, an Education Department official who owned about $100,000 worth of stock in the same company while
overseeing lenders has been placed on paid leave. The official, Matteo Fontana, oversaw lenders and guarantee agencies that
participate in the Federal Family Education Loan Program. His ownership of Education Lending Group Inc. stock was disclosed
Thursday.
Fontana’s case has been referred to the Education Department’s inspector general, McLane said.
The allegations by Cuomo’s office that Burr had a conflict of interest are under review by the UT System’s general counsel,
Barry Burgdorf. Securities and Exchange Commission records show, and Burt has confirmed, that he owned 1,500 shares of
Education Lending Group, the former parent company of Student Loan Xpress Inc., one of 20 preferred lenders listed by UT.
Burr could not be reached for comment Friday on Spellings’ request that he step down from the advisory committee. He
has previously denied wrongdoing, asserting that his acquisition of stock was for a company fhat consolidated loans for former
students but did not make loans to students. That company, Direct III Marketing Inc., later morphed into Education Lending
Group, he said.
Spellings appointed Burt to the advisory panel in January 2006 for a term that runs though September 2008.
rhaurwitz@statesman.com; 445-360& Additional material from the Associated Press.
Page 563
Kennedy has said he wants to trim federal subsidies to banks that make student loans. The subsidies are designed to
guarantee lenders a rate of return that makes student lending profitable.
IVichael Dannenberg, director of education policy at the New America Foundation, said the subsidies are excessive and the
industry’s stake in them led to some of the alleged conflicts.
"What’s happening is the banks appear to be giving a taste of the corporate welfare in the system to some colleges, some
college administrators and maybe even some people in the Department of Education in order to secure business," Dannenberg
said.
Page 564
qonresponsi]
Sent: April 09, 2007 10:07 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; ’scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov’; ’kelly._s._scott@who.eop.gov’;
Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dorfman, Cynthia; Mesecar,
Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs,
Kerri; Kuzmich, Holly, Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren; Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend
L.; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada, Wendy, Halaska, Terrell; Tracy VVH;
Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey, Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Universities, Feds Suspend 4 Officials In Student-loan Probe (USAT)
Universities, Feds Suspend 4 Officials In Student-loan Probe (USAT)

By Kathy Chu
A Department of Education official who owned about $100,000 worth of stock in a student loan company while overseeing
lenders has been placed on leave, a spokeswoman for the department said Friday.
Three universities have also suspended top financial aid administrators after revelations that they owned stock in
"preferred" lenders that are recommended to student borrowers and their parents.
Metteo Fontana, who oversees lenders and guarantee agencies that participate in the Federal Family Education Loan
Program, was placed on leave a day after his ownership of the stock in Student Loan Xpressv, a unit of CIT Group (CIT), was
disclosed.
Fontana is related to Student Loan Xpress’ president, according to the New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank.
The case has been referred to the inspector general, said department spokeswoman Katherine McLane.
McLane also said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has asked for the resignation of Lawrence Burr from the
department’s Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.
Burf~ associate vice president and director of student financial aid at the University of Texas at Austin, is under investigation
by the UT System Office of General Counsel regarding allegations of impropriety.
Securities and Exchange Commission records showed Burt also owned 1,500 shares in Student Loan Xpress.
Thursday, the University of Texas and the University of Southern California announced they had placed top financial aid
officials on administrative leave pending an investigation into the officials’ stock ownership in Student Loan Xpress. This follows
Columbia University’s suspension earlier this week of a top financial aid official. The financial aid officials couldn’t be reached for
comment.
The developments raise questions about whether students are being inappropriately referred to lenders. They come amid a
widespread investigation by NewYork Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office into potential conflicts of interest in the student-
loan industry.
At issue is how lenders end up on universities’ preferred lender lists. Cuomo’s office estimates that 90% of students choose
their lenders from this lisf_
IVichael Dannenberg, director of education policy at NewAmerica Foundation -which first reported about the university
officials’ ownership of the stock options - says there’s a "fundamental conflict of interest .... No financial aid officer should own
stock in a student-loan company, especially one which its parent college recommends."
Meanwhile, Larry Zaglaniczny, of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, says, "Clearly, there are
abuses occurring, but we believe those abuses are fairly rare."
CIT Group, which acquired Student Loan Xpress in 2005, says it’s "currently seeking to determine the facts surrounding
those (stock) transactions."
Cuomo’s investigation is focusing on both non-federal loans issued by private lenders and federally guaranteed loans
administered by private lenders.
Robert Shireman, executive director of the Project on Student Debt, says he doesn’t believe that it’s common practice for
lenders to give stock options to university officials.
Still, he notes, "There are a whole variety of ways that lenders have tried to encourage financial aid administrators to
include them on the preferred lenders list."
Page 565
"It is also a concern when a government employee has financial interests in the industry they’re responsible for regulating,"
Shireman adds.
Page 566
Nonresponsi1
( b ) (l~nt: ore: .............................
April 06, 2007 katg’erinemdanet 5: 3-4--A-~ .......................... !
To: scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; kelly_s.__scott@who.eop.gov; terri.shaw@who.eep.gov;
chery!.oldham @who.eop .gov; kristin.conklin@who.eop.gov; vickie.schray@who.eop.gov;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Federal Official in Student Loans Held Loan Stock (NYT)
April 6, 2007
Federal Official in Student Loans Held Loan Stock
By JONATHAN D. GLATER and KAREN W. ARENSON A senior official at the federal Education
Department sold more than $i00,000 in shares in a student loan company even as he was
helping oversee lenders in the federal student loan program.
The official, ~tteo Fontana, now general manager in a unit of the Office of Federal
Student Aid, was identified yesterdmy from government documents as a stakeholder in the
parent company of Student Loan Xpress who sold shares in 2003.
His involvement with the company emerged a day after a widening investigation into the
student loan industry revealed that three senior finanoial aid officials at Columbia
University, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California
had also sold shares at the same time.
The stock sales raise questions of conflicts of interest on the part of university
officials charged with giving students advice on financial aid and loans and a government
official who helped oversee the industry.
The Education Department said late yesterday that Secretary ~rgaret Spellings had just
been briefed on Mr. Fontana and that the department was taking the matter "very
seriously."
"We are providing the department’s inspector general all relevant documents regarding this
mmtter," Samara Yudof, a spokeswoman, said in a statement. Officials declined to answer
questions about the stock transaction.
The government documents, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, show that
Mr. Fontana sold I0,500 shares in the company in 2003, when they were valued at around $i0
a share. He came to the department in 2002 and at the time of the sale was in a slightly
more junior position than now, overseeing lenders in the student !oan program.
Mr. Fontana did not return calls, and it was not clear what he had originally paid for his
shares. At least two of the three university finanoial aid direotors originally paid about
$i a share.
Student Loan Xpress is currently o~ned by the financia! services company ClT Group. C.
Curtis Ritter, a spokesman for CIT, declined to answer questions about Mr. Fontanm’s
dealings with the company.
CiT Group Inc. also has a top university official on its board: John R. Ryan, the
chancellor of the State University of New York, which has 64 campuses and more than
400,000 students.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Chancellor Ryan said he believed strongly that there
was no conflict between his positions as S~f’s chancellor and as a CIT director, a post
that paid him nearly $150,000 in cash, stock and stock options. He earns $340,000 from
Page 567
.As the Education Department responded to questions about Mr. Fontana’s stock ownership,
the University of Texas and the University of Southern California followed Columbia’s lead
and suspended their financial aid directors pending the outcome of internal investigations
into the officials’ relationship with Student Loan Xpress. Columbia also removed the loan
company from its spot on the university’s preferred lending list.
All three universities had given Student Loan Xpress a spot on the lists. Students
generally rely on the lists for seeking a loan rather than shopping for the best terms.
Mr. Fontana’s participation in the stock sale, which was first reported by the New America
Foundation, a Washington policy institute that has focused on student loan issues, caught
the attention of lawmakers already !ooking into the student loan industry.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts and chmirman of the Education

Committee, faxed a letter to Secretary Spellings last night saying, "These circumstances
raise serious concerns about the impartiality of Mr. Fontana’s work at the department."
Mr. Kennedy asked her to provide documents about the case.
John Edwards, the Democratic candidate for president, also weighed in on the issue
yesterday, arguing that students should borrow directly from the government.
"We need to fix the student loan program to take banks --which are just an expensive
middleman -- out of the process," he said in a statement.
Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York attorney general who has been investigating the relationship
between student lenders and universities, hms issued subpoenas to Columbia and to the CIT
Group, and requested information from the University of Southern California and the
University of Texas.
A senior lawyer in Mr. Cuomo’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
investigation is continuing, said, "As we gather the information we have subpoenaed from
CIT, and we’ve subpoenaed both documents and testimony, we certainly will get to the
bottom of all these relationships."
The New York State Ethics Commission twice approved Mr. Ryan’s membership on the CIT
board, in July 2003, when he was president at SUNY’s Maritime College, and again in July
2005, when he became SUNY’s acting chancel!or.
Mr. Ryan said he had been unaware until yesterday that Maritime College, where he was
president for three years, had listed Student Loan Xpress as a preferred lender last year,
after he had left the campus. He was Maritime’s president from 2002 to 2005. He recently
announced his intention to step down as ~’s chancellor at the end of ~y.
"I don’t make loans," he said. "I don’t mmke any decisions as chancellor about who is
going to be permitted to make student !oans at each university or college. They have
professionals that do that."
}~. Ryan said that CIT, a New York-based company that specializes in commercial and
consumer finance, had not been in the student !oan business when he joined its board in
2003. He said it entered that business in
2005 with the acquisition of Education Lending Group, the parent company for Student Loan
Xpress. He said he had undoubtedly voted on the acquisition, but had not been consulted
individually about it.
At the time of the acquisition, CIT’s chairman and chief executive, Jeffrey M. Peek, said
student lending was attractive because it ~~s a "higher growth business with predictable
performmnce characteristics."
In its 2006 annual report, CIT said that its student loan business "has shown outstanding
growth" and that its Student Loan Servicing Center handled more than $6 billion in loans a
year, up from $1.4 billion. It said it had expanded its marketing and servicing
capabilities in the field last year. CIT had a student lending portfolio of $8.8 billion
as of Dec. 31, 2006,
In the 2005 clearance statement for Mr. Ryan , the executive director of the state ethics
Page 568
commission, I<mrl J. Sleight, said Mr. Ryan’s outside work could not be done during state
work hours, should not interfere with his officia! duties. Mr. Sleight also said,
an open and competitively bid contract, you are prohibited from selling goods or services
to any State agency."
Mr. Ryan said that when he was first recruited to ~oin SUNY, he had been encouraged to sit
on corporate and nonprofit boards. He said many companies that do business with
universities have college and university presidents on their boards.
CiT also has at least two former college officials on its board: Thomas H. Kean, the
former New Jersey governor who was president of Drew University until June 2005; and Peter
J. Tobin, the former dean of the business school at St. John’s University, who also served
as special assistant to the president there from September 2003 to May 2005, a few months
after CIT entered the student lending business.
Dominic Scianna, a spokesman for St. John’s, said that the university was on break and
that neither Mr. Tobin nor the university’s president could be reached for comment.
Mr. Kean said he saw no conflict in his positions in 2005. "I was making no decisions for
the university at that point and the university had no connection with the company," he
said.
SUI~f was one of eight universities that recently agreed to abide by a code of conduct
drawn up by ~k.
Cuomo’s office. It prohibits universities and their employees from receiving anything of
value from any lending institution in exchange for any advantage and requires them to
disclose the criteria used to select preferred lenders.
Columbia yesterday sent a lengthy e-mail message of reassurance to students about the
stock sales by David Charlow, the director of financia! aid for its undergraduate college
and engineering school. "We believe that this has had no adverse financial consequences
for students and their families," the umiversity said.
Julie Bosman contributed reporting.
Looking for earth-friendly autos?

Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos’ Green Center.
http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/
Page 569
INonresponsi]
Sent: April 05, 2007 8:58 AM
To: Schray, Vickie; Conklin, Kristin; Oldham, Cher:yl; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Williams,
Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah;
Gribble, Emily; Halaska, Terrell; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private-
Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar,
Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Pitts, Bizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele, Marc;
Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-mail); Tucker, Sara Martinez;
Young, Tracy; Yudof, Samara; Zeff, Ken
Su~t: The Flawed Metaphor Of The Spellings Summit (IHE)
The Flawed Metaphor Of The Spellings Summit (IHE)

By Daniel F. Chambliss
Inside Hiqher Ed, April 5, 2007
By the conclusion of Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings’ recently-convened Test of Leadership Summit on Higher
Education, I finally understood why her proposals are so ... well, so ill-conceived. They rest on a faulty metaphor, the belief that
education is essentially like manufacturing. High school students are ’~/our raw material," as Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri
told us. We need "more productive delivery models," economies of scale, even something called "process redesign strategies."
Underlying everything is the belief that business does things right, higher education does things wrong, and a crisis is almost
upon us, best symbolized by that coming tsunami of Chinese and Indian scientists we hear so much about. Time for higher ed to
shape tip and adopt the wisdom of business.
But the whole metaphor is wrong. Education is nothing like business, especially not like manufacturing. Consider the
Spellings Summit’s faulty assumptions:
1. "If it isn’t measured, it isn’t happening. ° This slogan we heard in formal talks and casual conversations. Therefore more
testing, more reporting, more oversight, as Spellings is proposing, should improve colleges and universities. The one certain
result of the Spellings initiatives will be a mountain of new reporting by colleges and universities, funneled to the Federal
government via accreditors. Without formal assessment, this view holds, nobody learns anything.
But for human beings, it’s obviously wrong, unmeasured good things happen all the time. Left alone, a 5-year old will
explore, discover, and learn. So will a 20-year-old. They get up in the morning and do things, forat least a good part of the day,
whether anyone watches and measures them or not. Many people read even if they aren’t forced to. The professor does nothing;
the student learns anyway. Medical doctors live by the dictum Primum non nocere: first, do no harm. Sometimes the best
treatment is to leave the person alone. That’s because -- unlike steel girders -- students are living creatures. (We’ll return to this
point.)
2_ Motivation is simple. "Rewards drive behavior," said several speakers with no more thought on the matter, moving easily
to the use of money to guide institutions. Students and professors alike were considered to be easily directed. If tests are "high
stakes," students will automatically want to do well, and if colleges as a whole do poorly, they should just be punished. Nowhere
did the Spellings Commission report, or the "action plan" presented at the summit, consider that students might not like
standardized tests, that administrators find report-writing onerous, or that professors could resent the nationalization of
educational goals-and quit teaching altogether. Coercion, it is believed, is a simple and effective method for directing people.
After all, if you put a steel girder on a flatcar, it will stay there until moved. And if you melt a steel girder to 4,000 degrees F., it
almost never gets angry and storms out of the room or broods.
Consider one of the immediate results of No Child Left Behind, the resignation of hundreds of fourth-grade teachers.
Coercion costs; people will try to avoid it. They’ll quit their job, for instance. They’ll get angry and sulk in the back of the room.
"Getting tough" is not the answer.
3. Clearly stated goals at the outset are a prerequisite for success. In machining, orthe production of microchips, precise
specifications, measured to the nanometer, are necessary. Everything must be planned, laid out in advance, then rationally
carried through to completion. As several speakers said, "We all know what needs to be done," as if that were a simple thing.
But in fact, serendipity --the occurrence of happy, if unpredicted, outcomes seems to have no place in this scheme. The
great Peter Drucker recognized that in business, unplanned outcomes can be better than planned outcomes. Post-it Notes and
Viagra, for instance, were not intended outcomes in planning; they were huge successes.
Page 570
People set their own (otten conflicting) goals; they resist coercion; they otten surprise us. Admittedly, that makes working
with them (healing them, leading them to salvation, encouraging their curiosity) a messy process. But I’ve seen no evidence that
business people are better at it than educators.
Daniel F. Chambliss is chair of the sociology department at Hamilton College and director of the Project for Assessment of
Liberal Arts Education. He is the author of Champions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers and Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses
and the Social Organization of Ethics.
Page 571
Nonresponsi
Sent: April 05, 2007 8:36 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunn,
David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox,
Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Mesecar, Doug;
Pitts, Elizabeth; Scheessele, Marc; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young
(E-mail); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Subject: 2% reg coverage
ARTICLES FROM:
USA TO DAY
AP
WASHINGTON TIMES
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
WILMINGTON NEWS JOURNAL
ED DAILY
EDWEEK
New Rules Let More Special-ed Students Take Alternate Tests (USAT)
By Greg Toppo
The U.S. Department of Education will allow public schools nationwide to test thousands more disabled students with
alternate -- and in many cases simpler -- tests than their classmates take.
New regulations, announced Wednesday by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, effectively tdple the number of
students who can take alternate tests and have their scores count toward a school’s average score.
Currently, about 10% of all special-education students can take such tests; that could grow to 30% or as many as 530,000
studer~s, 3% of all students tested annually.
Under President Bush’s No Child Le~t Behind law, math, reading and science tests are required annually for students in
grades three through eight and once in high school. Schools must test virtually all students; the scores of disabled students are
averaged with those of others.
The 2002 law requires that schools steadily increase the percentage of students who master basic work. Schools that don’t
keep improving face escalating sanctions that can include replacing staff.
While only the most severely disabled students now take modified tests, which compensate for their disabilities, the new
regulations allow less-severely disabled students, including those with behavioral problems and attention deficit disorders, to do
the same -- and to have their scores counted.
’qhese students are capable of achieving high academic standards, and now states and schools can be better attuned to
their needs," Spellings said. The change was proposed in December 2005.
Parents and advocates for disabled children have long sought extensive changes in the law, and for some, Wednesday’s
move may not go far enough. Even with the modifications, special-education students must master grade-level work or a subset
of it. That worries a few observers, who say it could doom schools’ chances to show steady progress.
"We had said from the very beginning.., that there was another group of students that, even with all the best supports,
would not be able to be proficient on the grade-level achievement standard," said Nancy Reder of the National Association of
State Directors of Special Education.
Wednesday’s announcement, while significant, could ultimately prove only a temporary fix.
No Child Le~t Behind is up for reauthorization this year on Capitol Hill, and a panel in February recommended cutting the
3% allowance to 2% Such a move would mean millions of mildly disabled students would have to take tests identical to their
classmates’, with no special accommodations.
Test Rules IVlay Loosen For Disabled Kids (AP)

By Nancy Zuckerbrod
AP, April 5, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is letting more children with disabilities take simplified tests under the No Child
Page 572
Lett Behind education law. The change, outlined in final regulations Wednesday, would triple the number of children who can
take tests that are easier than those given to most students under the 2002 law.
Roughly 10 percent of special education students _ those with the most serious cognitive disabilities _ currently can take
simplitied, alternative tests and have the results count toward a school’s annual progress goals.
Under the new rules, about an additional 20 percent of children with disabilities could take alternative tests and have those
count toward a school’s progress goals.
The new tests are for children who are not severely disabled but who have been unable to work on grade level at the same
pace as their peers because of disabilities, such as some forms of dyslexia.
The new tests will not be as easy as those given to the children already exempted from the regular tests. But the tests will
not be as hard as those given to typical students. Federal officials said the newtests would provide educators with a more
meaningful way to measure what some students with disabilities know and can do.
"It’s an option for those children whose needs are not being met under the current system," the deputy education secretary,
Raymond Simon, said Wednesday.
The change means 3 percent of all children _ or roughly 30 percent of all children with disabilities _ will be allowed to be
tested on standards geared for them.
The No Child Left Behind law is up for renewal in Congress this year and lawmakers, educators and the public have
pushed for changes.
Simon said the administration would like to see the newspecial education rules written into lawwhen No Child Lett Behind
is updated.
Some lawmakers gave the new rules high marks.
"It’s essential to fully include children with disabilities in No Child Left Behind’s guarantee that every student counts. Today’s
regulation is an important step forward in helping to address that challenge by ensuring better assessments for children with
disabilities that recognize their progress and ability to achieve at high standards," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who
heads the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The administration is responding to pleas from states for more flexibility in how they test special education students.
The 2002 law requires that all students be tested in reading and math in grades three through eight and once in high
school. When enough students miss annual progress goals, their schools can face consequences such as having to overhaul
their staff.
Schools can face penalties even when just one group of children, such as those with disabilities, fails to meet the
benchmarks.
That has focused more attention on the progress of children with disabilities, says Doug Fuchs, a professor of special
education at Vanderbilt University.
"It includes them in the same accountability framework as kids without disabilities," Fuchs said. "Educators feel as
compelled to work with kids with disabilities as they are compelled to work with kids without disabilities."
Several advocacy groups for children with disabilities worry that the changes could weaken the promise to leave no child
behind.
"Most of these kids surprise us in what they can do," said Katy Neas, a lobbyist for Easter Seals. "When we set the bar
higher, more kids do better than we ever thought they could."
Neas said she hoped the government would provide states and districts much help in coming up with high-quality tests and
putting the new policy in place to ensure the right students are given the correct tests.
The department said $21 million would be available to help states come up with the new tests.
In addition to calling for changes in how special education students are tested under No Child Left Behind, lawmakers are
debating changing the testing requirements for students learning English.
Lawmakers also are considering giving states more flexibility in how they measure student progress. Schools that fail to
meet progress goals by just a little are treated the same as schools that miss those goals by a wide margin, something
lawmakers say is unfair.
Middle Ground Found In Testing (WT)

The Washinqton Times, April 5, 2007
Bush administration officials yesterday said they will ease some of the rules that govern testing for students with disabilities
-- thus allowing more of these students to take tests that are geared to them as opposed to those currently required under the No
Child Left Behind law.
Page 573
’q-hese students are capable of achieving high academic standards, and now, states and schools can be better attuned to
their needs," said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. She said the changes will help "drive the field forward in developing
better tests" for students with disabilities.
States currently are allowed to give alternative tests to about 10 percent of special-education students -- those with the
most serious disabilities -- and have the results count toward a school’s annual progress under NCLB goals.
The final rules outlined yesterday by administration officials would allow roughly another 20 percent of disabled children to
take modified tests -- meaning that about 30 percent of all children with disabilities could take more applicable tests.
The group that is being targeted is students who are not severely disabled but still have some trouble and aren’t able to
keep pace with typical students. Right now, this particular group of disabled children must be given either the same tests as
typical students, which are too difticult, or the alternative tests given to the most severely disabled, which are too easy. The new
rules aim to set a middle ground.
"Its a better way to identify, teach, test what these students know," said Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond Simon,
who briefed state education chiefs on the changes yesterday.
State and local education leaders have complained that the No Child Left Behind law has one-size-fits-all testing and
tracking and needs to provide more flexibility for students with disabilities.
At a recent hearing, Rebecca Cort, deputy commissioner of New York State Education Department’s special education
arena, argued that the federal law"needs to acknowledge and accommodate" the differences among students with disabilities --
from those who are profoundly developmentally delayed to those with learning difficulties -- as opposed to lumping them
together.
The 2002 law requires all students to be grade-level proficient in reading and math by 2014. It requires states to set
standards, give annual tests and mark the progress of each school. Schools that fail to make adequate progress are penalized,
and some special-education experts have worried that special-education students would be blamed if a school is labeled as
failing.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Senate education panel, called the new changes
"an important step forward. The House Education panel’s top Republican, Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon of California, said it
will "enhance this dialogue" as leaders try to include disabled students into the national education goals in "the most meaningful
and appropriate way."
States wouldn’t be required to use new tests for this group of students, but a handful of states are moving in that direction
and have volunteered to help other states, Mr. Simon said.
Testing Rules To Be Eased (FREEP)

By Ledyard King, Gannett News Service
Detroit Free Press, April 5, 2007
Special-ed students to get new exams
WASHINGTON -- New federal rules are giving schools more flexibility to test - and pass -- special-education students
under the No Child Le~t Behind Act.
After months of pressure from states, the Bush administ]ation said Wednesday that schools would be able to administer
easier and more-suitable tests to certain students with disabilities who have struggled on traditional exams.
Officials said the tests still must measure a student’s mastery of grade-level work, but the tests would recognize that
proficiency takes longer to achieve. Tests can be slightly less challenging. A multiple-choice question, for example, could have
three possible answers instead of four.
In addition, states may count the proficient and advanced scores on those assessments when calculating whether a school
made adequate yearly progress under the law, as long as the number of those scores doesn’t exceed 2% of all students
assessed.
Many schools have said they would have made adequate progress if their special-education students didn’t have to meet
the same criteria as other students.
About 11% of the nearly 25,000 schools that failed to make adequate progress in the 2004-05 school year did so because
special-education students didn’t score high enough.
’qhese students are capable of achieving high academic standards, and now states and schools can be better attuned to
their needs," Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said.
The administration said it would make $21.1 million in grants available to help states create new tests.
Signed into law in 2002, No Child LeE Behind expects all children, regardless of ability, to be grade-level proficient in math
and reading by 2014 and requires states to test them regularly.
Page 574
Exam Rules For Disabled Youths Changed (WNJ DE)

By Alison Kepner
Wilmin,qton (DE) News Journal, April 5, 2007
No Child Lett Behind allows for easier tests
Delaware Education Secretary Valerie Woodruff says the state will move quickly to change.
More disabled children can be given easier alternatives to state standardized tests under changes to the No Child Left
Behind law released Wednesday.
About 10 percent of special education students -- those with the most serious cognitive disabilities -- currently can take
easier, alternative tests and have the results count toward a school’s annual progress goals under the law.
Under rules the Bush administration unveiled Wednesday, about another 20 percent of children with less-severe disabilities
would be allowed to take alternative tests.
The No Child Left Behind law is up for renewal in Congress this year, and lawmakers, educators and the public have
pushed for changes. The law imposes sanctions on schools that don’t meet certain goals.
In 2005, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings offered 31 states -- including Delaware -- the option of creating modified
achievement standards for "gap kids," those who typically can perform at grade-level but at a slower pace because of disabilities
such as dyslexia. But state leaders didn’t have federal officials’ regulations for creating those modified standards until
Wednesday.
Delaware, like some other states, waited to design a modified test until federal officials released their regulations. In the
interim, Delaware used the standard test with a mathematical formula to adjust gap kids’ scores for school accountability.
With Wednesday’s long-awaited release, Delaware officials can discuss what to do next.
"Now we have to figure out what that means," state Education Secretary Valerie Woodruff said. "Does that mean we can
give them the same test with a lower [passing] score, or do we need to develop a new test?"
Woodruff expects the answer likely will be a new test, which could be expensive to develop.
Spelling said $21 million would be available to help states come up with the new tests.
Woodruff said the state likely will apply for a federal grant and may seek collaboration with other states.
"We will move as quickly aswe possibly can," she said, noting she hopes to have something in place by 2008. That is
when the Delaware Student Testing Program, the state’s standardized exam, will be replaced.
The modified tests wouldn’t be as easy as those given to children with severe cognitive disabilities but wouldnt be as hard
as those given to typical students.
Brandywine Special Needs PTA co-President Pat Heffernan said while some children need modified tests, educators must
be careful which children are placed in that category. "We want to make sure that all the kids are challenged and can live up to
their full potential. You don’t want it to be an easy out or a way to lower expectations."
Lawmakers also are considering loosening the testing rules for students learning English and are considering giving states
more flexibility in how they measure student progress. Schools that fail to meet progress goals by just a little are treated the
same as schools that miss those goals by a lot, something lawmakers say is unfair.
Contact Alison Kepner at 324-2965 or akepner@delawareonline.com.
ED Releases Modified Assessment Regulations (Ed Daily)

By Sarah Sparks
The Education Department on Wednesday released long-awaited regulations to guide states on how to test a tricky group
of special education students.
So-called "gap kids" do not fall within the one percent of students so cognitively challenged that they cannot meet regular
grade-level standards in math, reading and science. However, these students, whom ED estimates account for roughly 2
percent of all students and a fitth of those in special education, still have trouble meeting academic standards in the same time
frame as their classmates. The new modified assessment regulations, simultaneously covered under NCLB and IDEA, take
effect May 9. They allow states to develop new achievement expectations and tests for these students based on regular grade-
level content standards. States will not have to develop a whole new set of alternate content standards as they had for the most
severely challenged students. ’q-hese students are capable of achieving high academic standards, and now states and schools
can be better attuned to their needs," said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. It may be a bit of a culture shock, however,
to special educators not used to NCLB’s grade-level standards, and to school districts hoping for more laxity.
’They’re really trying to square a circle here, how to deal with grade-level standards when that’s never been our focus
Page 575
before," said Christian P. Johnson, attorney and education consultant for the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on
Children and the Law. "It is definitely a change in perspective and one that may be uncomfortable for IEP teams initially."
ED also took the unusual step of releasing guidance at the same time as the regulations themselves, stressing that states
should modify only their expectations of how students master the content, but not the topics themselves: qhe requirement that
modified academic standards be aligned with grade-level content standards is important; in order for these sb.Jdent to have an
opportunity to achieve at grade level, they must have access to and instruction in grade-level content."
That seems to be an attempt to calm special education advocates’ fears that modified assessments would undercut efforts
to keep gap special education students in regular classrooms and help them keep up with their peers. The regulations also
require students’ Individualized Education Plans under IDEA to include grade-level content goals, with regular monitoring.
’That’s an important move," said Lynda Van Kuren, spokesman for the Council for Exceptional Children, "because the I EP
is the roadmap by which we plan our instruction to students, so that is another key to ensuring that our students with disabilities
do have access to general educa~on and high standards."
New $21 million partnership
For more than two years, with no federal guidelines on howto identify gap students or modify tests to suit them, 28 states
have federal flexibility that allowed them to waive up to 2 percent of students f~om accountability reporting as a proxy for using
modified assessments. Only a handful of states, including Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, North Dakota and North
Carolina, had developed modified assessment systems of some sort. Now, with the regulations on hand, ED has also launched
a new Special Education Partnership to help states develop and implement the new assessments, including $7.6 million in Title I
Enhanced Assessment Grants and $13.5 million in IDEA General Supervision Enhancement Grants. ED wil! hold monthly
teleconferences with state leaders, as well as a July national summit on the regulations.
Education Deputy Secretary Raymond Simon said the six states that have started developing modified systems have a leg
up and will likely have approved assessments within the year, but he expects all states will be able to develop a system in the
next two school years. ED will continue to offer interim flexibility for states that join the partnership and set clear timelines and
training systems to develop modified assessments.
Gene Wilhoit, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said the two-year timeline should be
manageable, provided ED follows through with extensive technical support. "It’s better than being in the limbo we’re been in for
the last year or so; we can at least start moving toward some assessment systems," he said.
It remains uncertain how much the new regulations will help schools and districts in bottom-line test reporting. They retain
the proposed cap on using 2 percent modified assessment scores for determining adequate yearly progress. Terri
Schwartzbeck, policy analyst for the American Association of School Administrators, argued that would be of little help to rural
schools or those with exceptionally large special education populations, such as those near medical centers or those with a
magnet program. Yet ED officials stressed that only 10-13 percent of schools did not make AYP this year only because of
students with disabilities, and the regulations were made to improve instruction, not flexibility. The full regulations are available at
www.ed, govlpolicytspecedtguidlnclbtfrO40407-web, doc
Ed. Dept. Releases Final Rules On Tests For Special Education Students (EDWEEK)
By Christina A. Samuels
The U.S. Department of Education today released final regulations to guide the creation of tests for students in special
education who are capable of learning grade-level content, but not as quickly as their peers.
Currently, the only options available for such students are to take the general assessments that are given to all students,
which may be too difficult, or tests intended for students with significant cognitive impairments, which are too easy. The new tests
will allow a more accurate assessment of what these students know and how best to teach them, Deputy Secretary of Education
Raymond J. Simon said during an afternoon press conference.
The tests may also allow some schools to make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act when they
had not before. Up to 2 percent of students’ proficient and advanced scores on these particular tests, which the department calls
"alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards," may be counted when measuring AYP. Two percent of all
students is equivalent to about 20 percent of students with disabilities.
The Education Department also allows up to 1 percent of all students in a state--equivalent to 10 percent of students with
disabilities--to take a different type of alternate assessment and be counted as proficient for purposes of AYP. Those tests,
which are the ones used with students with significant cognitive impairments, are less complex and comprehensive.
This testing flexibility was first announced in April 2005, with dratt regulations released in December 2005. In the meantime,
states were allowed to use a mathematical model to adjust their scores as if the policy were already in place. That flexibility will
Page 576
be allowed for the 2006-07 school year, but at~er that, if states want to continue using the model, they have to enter into a
partnership with the Education Department to develop the "2 percent" tests, Mr. Simon said.
’We believe a state that has not done anything so far, should be able to do what we ask them to do over the next two
school years," Mr. Simon said. "Only those who participate with us in a meaningful way" can use the mathematical model, he
said. Content Important
The final regulations, like the draft version, also make it clear that out-of-level assessments would not be allowed to serve
as appropriate tests for students in special education. So, a 6th grader who reads at a 3rd-grade level would not be allowed to
take a test intended for younger students.
’The reason we’re taking that position here is we’re really trying to emphasize the importance of students getting access to
grade-level content," said Kerri L. Briggs, the acting assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy for the Education
Department.
However, the tests can still be easier than the tests given to the general student population, while reflecting grade-level
content. Examples of changes in the tests include offering three choices on a multiple-choice test, instead of four, using math
manipulatives to illustrate test answers; or allowing students to receive test questions in spoken word or pictures, in addition to
print.
Some states already have begun offering such assessments to their students, Mr. Simon said. Though those tests haven’t
gone through the department’s peer-review process, he said they can be used as a starting point for other states as hey
consider their own tests.
The response to the new regulations during a teleconference held today with state school chiefs was positive, Mr. Simon
said. He said the state school leaders who have created tests told their colleagues that the tests "have given us information that
we’ve needed" to improve education for students with disabilities, Mr. Simon said.
The department plans to launch an effort to assist states as they create the tests, including $21.1 million in grant funds for
technical assistance, a meeting with the states scheduled for July, and monthly teleconferences.
Page 577
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John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzmich, Holly;, Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren;
Subject: NRC Sees Deficit In Federal Approach To Foreign Languages (EDWEEK)
"Holly Kuzmich, the deputy chief of stafffor the department, which paid for the report, said in an interview last week that
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings "thinks we need to do a better job in getting more students to sb.~dy foreign languages
and understand other cultures."’
NRC Sees Deficit In Federal Approach To Foreign Languages (EDWEEK)

By Mary Ann Zehr
The U.S. Department of Education should have a more visible presence in directing efforts for international education and
the teaching of foreign languages, particularly in K-12 education, concludes a report sent to Congress last week by the National
Research Council.
The report characterizes the Education Department’s programs for the teaching of foreign languages and cultures as
"fragmented." It says that "there is no apparent department master plan or unifying strategic vision."
Holly Kuzmich, the deputy chief of staff for the department, which paid for the report, said in an interview last week that
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings "thinks we need to do a better job in getting more students to study foreign languages
and understand other cultures."
Ms. Kuzmich said the Education Department’s participation last year in launching the National Security Language Initiative-
which supports the teaching of languages considered critical to the nation’s security, such as Arabic, Chinese, and Farsi-is
evidence of that assessment.
Among the report’s recommendations are that the department should improve how it evaluates programs in foreign
languages and culture; that it consolidate oversight of such programs under a high-level official who would be appointed by the
president and confirmed by the Senate; and that the secretary of education, in consultation with the departments of State and
Defense, submit a report to Congress on the nation’s needs in foreign languages and international education every two years.
Experts in the foreign-language instruction said most of the recommendations are on target. They also seconded the
finding that more resources be spent on the teaching of other languages.
’~fe need specific legislation and funding to expand the teaching of foreign languages," said Bret Lovejoy, the executive
director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, in Alexandria, Va. Increased federal funding would help
"leverage state and local money," he said.
Though the report includes various criticisms of the Education Department, Joy Kreeff Peyton, the vice president of the
Washington-based Center for Applied Linguistics, said she hopes its release would not be used as an opportunity for ’tfnger-
pointing" or saying that department officials "aren’t doing their part."
Rather, she said, the release is "an opportunity to see what we need and put into place the focus, leadership, and
concerted effort across agencies that we need."
No Congressional Funding
The report notes that the National Security Language Initiative, which President Bush announced in January of last year,
never received funding. ("Bigger Ed. Dept. Role Seen in Bush Foreign-Language Plan," Jan. 18, 2006.) Rather, the departments
of Defense, Education, and State reorganized exisffing programs to carry out some parts of the plan.
In the Education Department, that means a larger proportion of the money in the Foreign Language Assistance Program-
the department’s only program that provides grants for foreign-language instruction at the K-12 level-now goes to the teaching of
languages considered cdtical to national secudty rather than to more traditionally taught languages, such as Spanish and French.
Ms. Kuzmich estimated that about 80 percent of the $24 million for that program in fiscal 2007 has gone to schools to teach
critical-need languages.
Page 578
Congress did not appropriate money for the department to implement four other components of the initiative, according to
Ms. Kuzmich. Those were underwiting grants for K-16 foreign-language programs, recruiting non- educators who speak critical-
need languages to become teachers, establishing a clearinghouse for e-learning in languages, and holding foreign-language
workshops for teachers, she said. The department did hold some teacher workshops last summer, but wasn’t able to carry out
the three other unfunded parts, she said.
Ms. Peyton, who has been monitoring the teaching of foreign languages in U.S. schools since 1980, said she has read
reports dating back to the 1960s, after the Russians launched Sputnik 1, that call for the nation to cultivate a greater pool of
fluent foreign-language speakers. "As this report points out, we’re definitely not where we want to be," she said.
A first step, Ms. Peyton said, would be for Congress to tinance the proposals in the National Security Language Initiative.
Page 579
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Williams, Cynthia; Dorfman, C~thia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers,
Subject: Spellings Seeks Input On Technology’s Role In Schools (EDWEEK)
Spellings Seeks Input On Technology’s Role In Schools (EDWEEK)

By Andrew Trotter
Roundtables may lead to broader effort to chart future federal course.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has put up her antennae for the best ideas on how technology can improve
education, with the launch of a series of roundtables she is holding with education "stakeholders."
Katherine McLane, a spokeswoman for the secretary, compared the meetings to Ms. Spellings’ outreach before she
created the Commission on the R~ure of Higher Education in 2005. That federal panel released long-range recommendations
for the nation’s colleges and universities last August.
’The goal is at this point to inspire a conversation about integrating technology more efficiently into education, and
exploring how we can utilize the technology we have to raise student achievement," Ms. McLane said last week.
The first of the four planned roundtables took place March 23 in NewYork City, with about two dozen officials of technology
companies and educational publishers, educators from districts that use technology heavily, and researchers.
The companies represented included Texas Instruments Inc., Intel Corp., IBM Corp., Wireless Generation Inc., Harcourt
Inc., and Pearson PLC. School people hailed from Connecticut, New York City, the Orange County, Fla., district and the District
of Columbia, among other places.
Federal officials present included Kevin J. Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which
oversees the $2.25 billion federal E-rate program of support for school telecommunications. Another participant was Timothy J.
Magnet, Ms. Spellings’ adviser on educational technology, who issued the invitations to the roundtable about a week earlier.
Taking Copious Notes
The March 23 roundtable was closed to the press, which is Ms. Spellings’ usual practice to encourage candid discussion at
this type of meeting, Ms. McLane said.
Participants said the two-hour meeting kicked off with two-minute presentations from educators about their successes in
using technology.
Business leaders and researchers also had plenty to say at the meeting, stressing the need for teachers’ professional
development and describing the potential of technologies, such as handheld assessment devices and video games, to suit
specific learning opportunities.
Larry Berger, the chief executive officer and a co-founder of Wireless Generation, based in New York City, spoke in favor of
’things that make teachers’ lives easier." He said his company’s handheld data-collection system allows teachers to "capture
useful classroom data" while meeting the requirements of the federal No Child Lett Behind Act.
Several educators said they noticed that the company officials tended to plug their own products at the meeting.
Mark S. Hannum, a mathematics and physics teacher at Banneker Academic High School in the nation’s capital who
presented at the meeting, also observed that ’~om a lot of the business leaders, there was the suggestion that school leaders be
held accountable for strategic technology plans."
’~Across the board, people decided that the use of technology is more than how many computers are in your classroom, but
how you integrate technology into your teaching," he said.
Another school presenter, Leon H. Strecker, who teaches a high school engineering class in Darien, Conn., said he sensed
that some participants were on a different page from the school people.
’1 got the feeling there was a lot of people there that have no idea what it was like to be in a classroom," he said.
Ms. Spellings reportedly took copious notes and asked many questions, but made few comments.
However, Mr. Strecker noted, "it said a lot to me when Ms. Spellings said basically all this money was spent for technology
in schools and she hasn’t really seen anything come from it-that kind of wowed me a little bit."
Views From Trenches
Mary E. Skipper, the principal of the TechBoston Academy, described how the school’s use of laptops and data collected
from computer-based activities have helped her students overcome learning deficits and contributed to 94 percent of last year’s
seniors graduating two- or four-year colleges.
The 360-student academy is a chaffer-like "pilot" school in the Boston school district that was founded with financial support
from the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mr. Hannum underscored the need for improved professional development of teachers, citing a "big drop-off’ in know-how
between teachers who are technology stars and those with average skills.
’The federal government, as well as local school districts, need to provide much better professional development to
integrate the use of technology in instruction," Mr. Hannum said.
Banneker High, which enrolls 400 students in grades 9-12, has found that training that takes place among teachers at the
school "is much more effective than the outside training," he said.
Teachers also need faster access to data from school benchmark assessments that measure students’ progress
throughout the school year, Mr. Hannum said.
In his own presentation, Mr. Strecker said he underscored the power of independent learning, aided by technology. Darien
High School, which enrolls 1,200 students in grades 9-12, occupies a new building out:fitted with "the whole nine yards" of
technology, he said.
His 1 lth and 12th graders drive the class program, he said. "Over the last couple of years, my engineering class has
developed a hybrid fuel-cell-powered car-a true engineering project, because at the time they started there wasn’t much
information" about fuel cells. "My most important point.., was that technology should empower the student to do learning," he
said of his presentation.
In a speech Ms. Spellings delivered earlier the same day as the meeting in NewYork City, she tied the role for technology
tightly to her department’s priorities in implementing the No Child Left Behind Act, the main federal education law.
"For the first time ever, teachers can measure student progress from year to year and note which strategies work best." she
said. "We know where we’re failing short, where students’ needs aren’t being met, and where more rigor is needed. With the help
of technology, we must now begin to answer those needs."
Robert W. Richardson, the East Coast education manager for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, saw clues in Ms. Spellings’
questions at the roundtable.
"She was especially interested in the role of technology in collecting data about kids and their achievement levels," he said.
Ms. McLane said details of the other sessions have not been decided.
Page 581
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Sent: April 04, 2007 8:17 AM
Subject: SMS AZ coverage
Business execs share concerns over education (AZ Rep)

U.S. Education Secretary calls tech education ’black hole’ at Phoenix event (PBJ)
US Secretary Of Education Touts Federal Law During Mesa Visit (AP)
U.S. Education Secretary Impressed On Mesa Visit (AZ Rep)
Business execs share concerns over education (AZ Rep)

By Stephanie Paterik
The Arizona Republic, April 4, 2007
Arizona business leaders voiced concerns Tuesday about lagging schools, saying that math and science curriculums are
outdated, technology funding is scarce and students are turning away from engineering careers for fear of outsourcing.
In a roundtable discussion with President Bush’s top education official, they also pointed out that federal testing
requirements are tough on immigrants and special-education students.
’q-he sense of urgency in the innovation community is palpable," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings told the
group, which included representatives from Motorola Inc., Intel Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., State Farm and Tucson Electric Power
Co.
"We passed the very best taw we could five years ago," Spellings said. "These issues that have emerged .... We have
become more informed."
Spellings is stumping for the No Child Let~ Behind Act, which she helped create five years ago and is up for reauthorization
this year. She met with 20 business people and educators at Phoenix’s University Club about improving the lightning-rod policy.
Spellings said that nationwide, two-thirds of limited-English students are citizens and 80 percent have lived in the country
five years or more. Because of that, many politicians in Washington believe those students can meet federal testing standards.
But, she added, there should be wiggle room.
"We can be more nuanced about accountability," she said. She took notes and fielded questions on an array of other
concerns.
¯ Barbara Clark, Motorola education manager, said teachers must be re-educated in new technologies. "It’s not about just
plugging a kid into a computer program. It’s about a teacher who knows how to use technology."
¯ Michael Block, chief executive officer of BASIS Charter Schools, said students need incentives to pursue math and
science careers.
"Fewer students are excited about getting into engineering out of the perception those jobs will go to another country," he
said. "We’re getting killed from a competitive standpoint."
o Olga Block, also of BASIS, added that math and science teachers are hard to find. Most people in those subjects enter
lucrative business professions, not education.
She suggested courting teachers from overseas to the fill the void. Right now, work visas are expensive and difficult to
secure for K-12 teachers. That idea intrigued Spellings. "I’m going to investigate that," Spellings said.
¯ Greg Wyman, Apache Junction School District superintendent, said technology could transform students in rural areas.
But he can’t afford the sottware.
Page 582
"We cant get it into their hands for purely cost reasons," he said. "Ask Bill Gates to stop giving million-dollar grants and
(instead) cut the licensing fee for educators."
Spellings noted that businesses are more interested in education than ever. She encouraged attendees to organize their
efforts.
Arizona business leaders, keen to cultivate a bioscience industry, are particularly interested in education.
"We’re seeing them be more interested in public policy and school boards," said Susan Carlson, executive director of the
Arizona Business & Education Coalition, which helped organize the discussion. "They see the relationship, particularly if
employees refuse to move to Arizona because the (education) funding is so low."
Reach the reporter at stephanie .paterik@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7343.
U.S. Education Secretary calls tech education ’black hole’ at Phoenix event (PBJ)
Phoenix Business Journa!, April 4, 2007
You know fixing technological education is going to be tough when the head of the country’s education department
describes the task as a "black hole."
That how U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings described the task during a meeting with members of the Arizona
Business & Education Coalition Tuesday. The forum is part of Spelling’s nationwide tour touting the need to re-authorize the 5-
year-old No Child Left Behind program. While she spoke of increased accountability and assessment in schools nationwide, she
found a disparaging gap between students in the U.S. and other countries in technological learning.
"A lot of the technology discussions have been a black hole," she said. "This cannot continue if we are going to continue to
be the lead innovators in the world."
Spellings discussed numerous topics, most leading back to the No Child Left Behind legislation. But sided by
representatives from local tech companies lntel Corp., Motorola and Ensych, and members of local school districts, the topic of
technology rose to the forefront.
"Right or wrong, we are underfunded in this state in terms of education," said Greg Wyman, Apache Junction School
District superintendent. "We as adults are the immigrants. These kids in terms of technology are going to far outdistance us, but
we can’t get (the technology) in their hands because of cost."
Spellings agreed that the cost and evolution of techno!ogy makes teaching the fundamentals to educators take too much
time. Additionally, the higher education system is not producing enough qualified students for the non-innovative jobs, which
were cutting edge a decade ago.
To address these issues, Spellings said the business community should take a more consistent role in schools, from the
elementary to college levels. Beyond giving money, companies can donate experience.
"We’ve come a long way from the ’80s, when it was adopt a school, punch and cookies," she said. "If we can make
mathematicians out of teachers, we can make teachers out of mathematicians."
Spellings said fewer students are taking advantage of national SMART grants, which provide up to $4,000 for the third and
fourth year for qualifying students in science, mathematics, technology and engineering degree programs. Of the $900 million
allocated for the SMART program, less than half has been spent.
Although more than 70 percent of college students use some form of financial aid, he SMART program suffers because
many students are not interested in those fields and those who are aren’t prepared to advance further in college.
"We cant even spend the money and that’s sad commentary," she said.
US Secretary Of Education Touts Federal Law During Mesa Visit (AP)

AP, April 4, 2007
MESA, Ariz. (AP) - The nation’s top education official said schools with high concentrations of Spanish speakers should
not be exempted from federal English requirements.
"Most of our English-language-learner students are born here," Spellings said Monday after visiting a Mesa charter school.
"1 dont think it’s unreasonable that by the end of the third grade they would be able to read on grade level in English."
Spellings toured the Mesa Arts Academy to promote the reauthorization of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. The
2001 education reform law has forced schools around the country to focus more on high-stakes, standardized tests.
"We passed the very best law we could five years ago, and now we can improve it based upon what we’ve learned,"
Spellings said.
Spellings did not meet with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Home during her visit.
Home has called No Child Left Behind "erratic" and has charged that it sets schools with high Spanish-speaking
populations tip to fail because it requires immigrant children to be proficient in English after spending just one year in the country.
Susan Carlson, executive director of the Arizona Business and Education Coalition, said she supports the law but shares
Page 583
some of Home’s concerns.

"Arizona is unique among the states in that we have a continual influx of English language learners," Carlson said. "Other
states can take three years to test their students in Spanish or the native language, but our state law requires they are tested in
English. That puts Arizona in kind of a losing position."
During her tour, Spellings praised the charter school for posting high test scores even though many of its students come
from low-income backgrounds, and more than half the students come to the school speaking no English.
Spellings said the school is an example of the benefits of No Child Left Behind. The lawwas touted as a way to ensure that
minority children and those with low-income backgrounds achieved at the same level as their wealthier counterparts.
U.S. Education Secretary Impressed On Mesa Visit (AZ Rep)

By Josh Kelley
The Adzona Republic, April 4, 2007
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings had announced she was coming to Mesa Arts Academy as part of her tdp to
Arizona.
Spellings had read about the charter school’s success in the face of tough demographics. Nearly 80 percent of students are
impoverished and about half of students who first enroll in lower grades do not speak English.
"She wanted to come out and see what we were doing differently," longtime Principal Susan Douglas said.
But first the secretary’s staffand security came eady to the school and got their first look at the physically unimpressive
campus with classrooms in portable buildings.
As they stood in the school’s small front office, they suggested that Spellings meet with reporters in the teachers’ lounge.
"1 looked at them and said, q-his is the teachers’ lounge,’ "Douglas said. The room also serves as the staff lunchroom.
’q-hey were a little surprised. We are what we are. We put the money into the kids, and so I wont apologize for not being
fancy," Douglas said.
She does not have to apologize for her students’ test scores: 100 percent of eighth-graders at the school last year passed
the math and reading sections of Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards, the statewide exam all public schools must
administer.
This is the 12th year for Mesa Arts Academy, which is sponsored by the Boys & Gids Clubs of the East Valley. The school
has been featured in Time magazine. It has helped revitalize the surrounding neighborhood, where most of its students live. And
it’s viewed by many as a model of how a good charter school should work.
The school, which has 220 students in Grades K-8, also caught Spellings attention, prompting her visit Monday. Kids
showed offtheir robots, assembled on construction paper, and read to Spellings, who spoke with Douglas as they walked across
campus.
"We talked a lot about how important the assessment piece was, that we look at our data to determine if every child is
making progress, and if not, we change instruction," Douglas said.
The secretary asked Douglas how the school overcomes the challenges of poverty and language barriers.
"1 said we don’t do that by Iowedng the bar," Douglas said. "We just push the kids up a little higher."
A vital component of the school’s success is community partnerships. Students from Mesa Community College regularly
volunteer their services. Teacher interns also work in classrooms. Students go to after-school programs at the Boys & Girls Club
next door.
Mothers give of their time to help the school, which also teams with the Mesa school district to train teachers.
’qhe community partners are key to beating the odds because they dont cost you money," Douglas said. "You can’t just
ddll and kill them (students). What these students need is to believe that they can be successful."
And motivate she does. A school assembly at Mesa Arts Academy feels more like a pep rally.
"You just go in there, the energy, the morale, the school spirit, it’s incredible," said rvike Hughes, a Mesa school board
member who is also a Iongtime board member for Mesa Arts Academy.
’q-he secretary did say something really nice yesterday," Hughes said. "Show me a successful school, and I’ll show you a
successful principal, and that really is true. Sue has put her heart and soul in that program."
But she isn’t getting a big head.
"You know, we’re not done," Douglas said. "I’m scared to death of those AIMS tests next week."
Page 584
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Sent: April 03, 2007 8:51 AM
John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzmich, Holly;, Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren;
Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Quarles, Karen; Bannerm an,
Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson, Vincent
Subject: Q and A with George Miller: Making College More Accessible (NSWK)
George M iller: "Sen. [Ted] Kennedy [Democrat of Massachusetts], Sen. [Michael] E nzi [Republican of Wyoming],
[Republican Rep. Buck] McKeon [of California] and I all met with the president on No Child Lett Behind, and it is a high priodty for
all of us. If we don’t get No Child Left Behind right, more students will find that they will be borrowing money to pay for the
remedial classes they have to take in college. Right now, about 35 percent of state college students need remedial education. If
we can make No Child Left Behind a success, that’s another way we can reduce the cost of college. ! was one of the original
coauthors of that bill, and I think we have learned a lot in the last five years. It will pass, but we will make changes to it."
IVlaking College More Accessible (NSWK)

By Pat Wingert
Newsweek, April 3, 2007
Members of both parties are pushing to make colleges more accountable to the consumer. Will it work? A leading
education reformer in Congress speaks ouL
April 2, 2007 - Bidding to take control of Capitol Hill last fall, Democratic candidates vowed to make college more
accessible--and more affordable--for American families. The pledge excited education reformers, who had largely focused on No
Child Left Behind and the needs of the country’s youngest students during the Bush years. Now that the Democrats run both the
House and Senate, the wheels are starting to turn. And late last month, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings hosted the
administration’s first higher-education summit and called on colleges to be more accountable to consumers. NEWSWEEK’s Pat
Wingert talked to Rep. George Miller, Democrat of California, and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, about
where this momentum comes from and where it may be headed.
NEWSWEEK: Does this increased interest by both parties mean that students and their families can expect Washington to
make some changes that will really make colleges more accessible and affordable?
George Miller: I hope so. We clearly made it a priority by including it in our "Six for 06" campaign, and our "first 100 hours"
included the cost of college as a top priority, but that was just the beginning. We’ve also cut the interest rates of student loans in
half (Stafford loans’ fixed rate drops from the current 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent by 20! 1 ), which means significant savings for
students over the life of those loans. The estimate is that they’ll save an average of $4,400. That’s a significant amount of money
not to have to pay back. I’m going to get a little technical here, but when we came back to the continuing resolution to fund the
government for the remainder of this year, we included an increase for P ell Grants of $260, the first increase since 2003. And in
the budget resolution bill that we’re debating now, we hope to make room for additional increases in Pell Grants, which means
more money going to those in financial need, the students who are under the most pressure about whether they can afford to go
to college. A lot of universities and colleges have shitted resources from need-based to merit-based scholarships, so we felt like
we needed to give some money back to the students who are most in need. These are tangible, significant results that will
benefit students and their families .... Sen. Ted Kennedy and I support the Student-Aid Reward Act, which encourages colleges
to direct more students toward direct loans, which have the lowest cost, and we plan to take the savings from that, and recycle it
back to schools in the form of need-based financial assistance to students. That could result in another $9 billion in benefits for
students. This is all part of a larger program to strengthen and grow the middle class. People can no longer retain their position in
the middle class without an education that goes beyond high school. People need two-year, four-year or graduate degrees.
Page 585
As you point out, cost is an increasingly big concern for families hoping to send their kids to college. In the last six years,
four-year colleges have increased their prices by more than 40 percent, after inflation. Increasing financial aid and lowering loan
interest rates help, but can you also slow down tuition increases?
There are things that the government can do, but it’s also important to talk about what colleges can do, what
responsibilities they have to deliver an education that’s affordable. We plan to continue that conversation, and directly confront
them about what their responsibilities are. But we also know it’s not easy for public colleges when their state legislatures cut their
funding. They end up having to raise tuition to make up the difference. If we’re putting more money in at the federal level, we
need to see that they are making he most efficient use of it .... We’re trying to find ways to provide immediate relief to families
and students, but we also want to know what the colleges can do, so we can all move to the next stage. We don’t want to see
another 40 percent increase in another five years that nullifies everything that we’re doing today.
The most popular proposal--as far as colleges are concerned-is more money for Pell Grants. After five years of flat
funding, the Bush administration says it supports increasing these grants so that they cover 70 percent of the average cost of in-
state tuition, rather than the current 44 percent. The estimated cost would be $9 billion to $12 billion? Is this likely to happen?
My first question is, where were they on this for the last five to seven years? But yes, I think we will be able to increase the
size of Pell Grants, and my guess is that we’ll get as close to $4,600 a year (maximum) as we can .... It is fiscally responsible to
put the money where the priorities of the nation are. But remember that the Republicans took $12 billion out of the student-loan
program last year and gave it away as tax cuts. I think they have so little credibility on this issue.
Many of the proposals on the table are aimed at low-income students. But because of skyrocketing tuitions, affordability is a
growing issue with middle-class families, too. Are there any proposals likely to pass that would make college more affordable for
them, too?
Direct student loans lower the cost of college for students, and are available to families making up to $70,000 a year. We
also introduced the Student Loan Sunshine Act, (which requires disclosure of any agreement or relationship between colleges
and the financial institutions providing loans on campus). That will help middle-class students.
A few weeks ago, a bill was introduced in the House to greatly simplify the cumbersome process of applying for federal
student financial aid. Meanwhile the administration announced the creation of a new tool designed to help families estimate how
much aid students can expect to get. Is this a new indication of competition or cooperation between Congress and the
Department of Education?
What we’re seeing is what happens when a country gets stuck with a one-party government and doesn’t feel it needs to do
anything on this topic. Since November, we’ve been able to inject some competition into the care of vets and the costs of going
to college. [Democratic Rep.] Rahm Emanuel introduced this bill to fix the financial-aid form in the legislature last year, and it
didn’t pass. As he says, it’s easier to get a loan from the World Bank than it is to get a loan for your child to go to college, and
that’s just ridiculous. There shouldn’t be these kinds of barriers, and every sector can see how important it is that a maximum
number of students get an advanced education. But with all due respect, the Republicans had not been responding. Now that we
have a Democratic Congress, the administration is scrambling.
A lot of the focus on education these days remains on reforming the No Child Le~ Behind program. Do you think it will be
renewed?
Sen. [Ted] Kennedy [Democrat of Massachusetts], Sen. [Michael] Enzi [Republican of Wyoming], [Republican Rep. Buck]
McKeon [of California] and I all met with the president on No Child Left Behind, and it is a high priority for all of us. Ifwe don’t get
No Child Lett Behind right, more students will find that they will be borrowing money to pay for the remedial classes they have to
take in college. Right now, about 35 percent of state college students need remedial education. If we can make No Child Left
Behind a success, that’s another way we can reduce the cost of college. I was one of the original coauthors of that bill, and I
think we have learned a lot in the last five years. It will pass, but we will make changes to it.
Page 586
INonresponsiJ
Sent: April 03, 2007 8:41 AM
Cc" Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: CEP: States’ tutoring implementation still sketchy (ED)
CEP: States’ tutoring implementation still sketchy

By Sarah Sparks
While nearly all states take a hard look at groups that want to offer tutoring in troubled schools, few have the capacity or
structure to keep an eye on providers once they get a foot in the classroom door, according to a new analysis by the Center on
Education Policy.
The effectiveness of one of the laws key student achievement provisions has become a hot-button issue in Congressional
reauthorization debates on NCLB. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is wrapping up a five-month, 14-district outreach tour
to discuss ways to improve participation in the program, and has slated a summit on the program for early summer.
In 20054)6, CEP found roughly 12 percent of all Title I districts, including more than 50,000 schools, failed to make
adequate yearly progress for three years or more. That meant 15 percent of the 12.5 million students in those districts became
eligible to receive private tutoring under NCLB.
In a survey of the 50 states, center analysts found more than 47 states use the law’s provider criteria - whether the group is
financially sound, has a record of effective strategies aligned with district instruction, and uphold health, safety and civil rights
laws, among others - to determine whether or not to approve the provider for tutoring.
However, CEP found many states still lack the staff, money and technological know-how to monitor those providers after
they have been approved; in 13 states, tutoring groups never have to reapply at all, and only 10 states reported monitoring
providers "to a great extenf_"
Very few states have cleared the preliminary hurdle of determining how to gauge tutoring effectiveness in the first place.
Only Georgia has completed a statewide, randomized field trial, tracking the growth of 9,807 students who received services in
2005-06 and comparing it with that of eligible student left out of the program. The results there were lukewarm at best; tutored
students performed about as well as their eligible classmates in math and reading, and in some cases they performed worse.
The report is the latest in CEP’s annual "From the Capital to the Classroom" series on NCLB implementation. This year the
report was divided by subject; another focused on school improvement is forthcoming.
Page 587
~ionresponsi
Sent: April 03, 2007 8:35 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; ’scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov’; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill;
Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terre!l; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Subject: The Benefits Of NCLB (w-r)
This ran on 3.31, last Saturday.

The Benefits Of NCLB (WT)
The Washin,qton Times, March 31, 2007
Deborah Simmons’ agriculture-themed column critical of the No Child Left Behind Act ("Hog-slopping politics," Op-Ed,
March 16) deserves a response.
It’s important to remember the climate that existed when NCLB was passed. The law found fertile soil in a nation sick and
tired of watching schoolchildren shuffled from grade to grade without mastering the basics. Despite our plowing billions of dollars
into our public schools, reading scores for young children remained stagnant at best in the 1990s, while achievement gaps
between black and Hispanic students and their white classmates grew ever-wider.
The No Child Left Behind Act was our response. The law gives states the freedom and flexibility to set high academic
standards and identify what work~ In exchange, schools are held accountable for results
We already have seen the fruits of this approach. Across the country, more reading progress was made by 9-year-olds in
five years than in the previous 28 years combined. Math scores are at record highs, and achievement gaps are finally beginning
to close. More than 60,000 schools - more than 70 percent overall - are meeting their annual performance goals. We know this
because states are setting standards and, more important, measuring their students’ performance against them. We cannot opt
out of this vital responsibility.
As the No Child Left Behind Act comes up for reauthorization, we are working with members of Congress from both parties
to strengthen it and build on results. The president has proposed new Promise Scholarships and Opportunity Scholarships for
risk students that can be used at public, private or charter schools. We also favor giving parents and community leaders new
power to restructure and reform chronically underperforming schools.
In more than two decades in public policy, I have never seen a perfect law. Nevertheless, the No Child Left Behind Act
remains our best chance for bringing our children up to grade level so they can compete in the world as adults. We must not
weaken or water down this important and effective reform. Let’s give every young mind its very best chance to grow.
MARGARET SPELLINGS
U.S. secretary of education
Washington
Page 588
Nonresponsi
Sent: April 02, 2007 8:36 AM
Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; TracyWH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Minding Their Business (CQ Weekly)
Minding Their Business (CQ Weekly)

By Michael Sandier
CQ Weekly, April 2, 2007
Seats went quickly in one of the largest Senate hearing rooms one morning last month. The unusually large gaggle of
photographers kept their eyes out for the man with glasses and tousled brown hair who had ushered in the personal computer
era.
Even a few of the senators, known for neither punctuality nor star gazing, filtered in a little early. At least seven would stick
around toward the end of the hearing, deciding that their only witness was more important that day than listening to King
Abdullah of Jordan, who was addressing a joint meeting of Congress.
Bill Gates has a way of corn manding attention. The Microsott founder and chairman is a pioneer in the worlds of technology
and philanthropy. But his most recent visit to Washington dealt with his latest interest: starting a revolution in America’s public
schools.
Appearing before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Gates warned that the U.S. economy faces a
daunting future unless immediate steps are taken to improve education. "Unless we transform the American high school, we will
limit economic opportunities for millions of Americans," he declared in his opening statement. During the rare chance for
lawmakers to have a give-and-take with Gates, he made clear the ’~ve" includes businesses such as Microso~ Corp.
’1 think business is seeing this as a top issue and wants to get more involved."
Gates is visible and vocal onthe issue, and he is not alone. Executives from some of the nation’s largest and most
influential corporations, as well as many small, local businesses, have turned their focus on education policy and have made
involvement in the schools an imperative.
A number of executives have spoken out on the issue for years, of course, and played an active role in enacting the
education law five years ago that is arguably the most significant domestic achievement of the Bush administration.
Now, as the statute that Bush dubbed "No Child Lett Behind" comes up for reautho~ization, an even larger force from the
business community is trying to influence the outcome. They bring to the debate in Congress a sense of urgency that the nation’s
economic future depends on an educated workforce, and that, in turn, depends on schools with high standards. China and India,
they w’am, are experiencing extraordinary gains in education and outpacing our production of engineers and scientists.
The business leaders point to data that reveals a generation of students lagging behind and failing to leave high school
prepared. They insist that schools reshape curricula, boost standards and carefully evaluate teachers in order to better prepare
students for college and the workforce.
Worded about the general economy and their own balance sheets, business has pooled its resources and rallied behind a
serious lobbying campaign on the reauthodzation of No Child Le~ Behind.
Leading the effort is the Business Roundtable, an organization of some of the top CEOs, who have been lobbying on
education policy for decades. They are getting a boost from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was not involved in 2001 but
has made education a top priority this time, spreading the word across the country among its local chapters.
In addition to hiring top lobbyists, business has forged a strong relationship with two liberal Democrats who chair the
Senate and House Education committees: Sen. Edward M Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of California.
’1 think it is serious, as serious as it can be, in terms of the big issues," said Miller.
But the odds might be long. A number of interest groups have been critical of the law - most notably the largest teachers’
union, which says the law focuses too much attention on testing.
Then there is opposition from a sizable group of Republicans who say the federal government should stay out of local
Page 589
education policy. And Congress’ attention is nearly consumed by the war in Iraq, various inquiries into administration actions and
policy, and the 2008 presidential campaign.
Perhaps the best chance for overcoming these obstacles is the prestige, money and powentil voice of an organized
business lobby with a mission.
’My thinking is, ’What do we do with this generation of kids?’ "said Ed Rust, CEO and chairman of State Farm Insurance.
"No Child Left Behind has its own set of warts that need to be worked out. But overall, as we started the conversation, it has
made a critical and correct adjustment at looking at outcomes."
Executive Exigency
Creating a sense of urgency in Congress is by no means easy, but Rust and his colleagues believe they have enough data
that cannot be ignored.
A recent study of school testing results that the business group commissioned found a majority of 4th and 8th grade
students are scoring below proficiency levels in reading and math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress
administered by the Education Department. The business report, titled "Leaders and Laggards," looked at performance in
kindergarten through high school in all 50 states and the Distdct of Columbia.
Even the top 10 states could only boast of having little more than a third of their students considered proficient in both
subjects. The study also reports that only about two-thirds of all 9th graders graduate from high school during the following four
years. Only about half of black and Hispanic students meet that time frame, and of those who do graduate and go on to college,
at least 40 percent have taken at least one remedial course.
At the same time, the business coalition is concerned that fewer college students are pursuing degrees in math, science
and engineering. A report two years ago commissioned by 15 of the nation’s top CEOs predicted that by 2010, if current trends
at that time continued, more than 90 percent of all scientists and engineers in the world would be living in Asia.
Hoping to turn that around, the group has set a goal of doubling the number of science, technology, engineering and
mathematics graduates with bachelor’s degrees by 2015. That means more than 200,000 additional graduates, for a total of
400,000 that year. (The study used as a baseline an estimate that 200,324 degrees in those subjects were granted in 2001.)
The Business Coalition for Student Achievement, a lobbying group made up of the Roundtable, the Chamber and other
business organizations, points to these reports as proof that Congress should not wait another year to reauthorize the education
law. Furthermore, it has drafted a series of broad changes that it would like implemented.
At the top of the group’s priority list is to raise academic standards and improve assessments so they are more aligned with
college and workplace expectations. That includes giving business leaders a say in what students learn.
The group’s lobbyist, Sandy Kress, envisions a time when representatives from the business community join state school
administrators and leaders from higher education institutions for the drafting standards and curricula. He sees them all sitting in a
room as assistants bring them drafts of high school standards for math, critical reading and writing, to start At some point, they
would draft standards for lower grades, too.
Students would be expected to meet those standards through a number of state assessment tests. Today, federal law
requires that students get tested in math and reading in grades 3 through 8, and at least once again in high school. Beginning
next year, states must also test students in science three times staffing in the 3rd grade.
’If these standards are learned and this test passed, we believe those who do can come in and either study at a higher
level without the need for remediation, or be able to handle - without a whole lot of retraining - a job now," Kress said.
Another imperative for business is that teachers and principals be "effective," not just credentialed. That means evaluating
them on how well their students meet those standards.
The business coalition would like teachers rewarded when students show substantial growth, with performance-based as
well as market-based pay. Those incentives could also be used to attract math and science teachers, who are more difficult to
find. And they want consequences for those who fail to meet established benchmarks - policies that "quickly and fairly remove
ineffective educators."
’:As we raise standards, we need to hold people accountable," said Bob Ingram, vice chairman for GlaxoSmithKline Inc. and
the pharmaceutical giant’s former CEO and chairman. ’q-hen I think we need to reward achievement. I believe firmly in a merit-
based pay system. We have it in the private sector. I think we should have it in the public sector.~
States such as Alabama and Florida have already begun experimenting with merit pay, creating controversy with teachers
who say the system is structured in a way that rewards educators who ’teach to the test."
Measuring how students perform and how effective teachers are in raising that performance are critical steps that must be
taken, said Rust, if the United States hopes to keep pace in a complicated world. "Do we have all the tests and evaluations
perfect? No," he said. °But it is headed in the right direction."
Rust has been involved with education for two decades, going back to his days with the Illinois Business Roundtable, and
Page 590
he’s now helping to lead the discussion as co-chairman of the national Business Roundtable and a member of a private
commission that studied the Bush education law with financing f~om the Aspen Institute, a private, non-profit educational group.
Along the way, he has built a strong relationship with the central figures in Congress on the education laws future,
Kennedy and Miller.
Though an iconic liberal, Kennedy has a knack for building diverse coalitions to support his legislative priorities, and those
include business. In fact, this year he is working on the education law rewrite with, among other bills, an overhaul of immigration
policy supported by business, labor groups, clergy and civil rights organizations.
IVlller, for his part, has never been very popular with business and on most issues sides with organized labor. But as
chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and a close confidant of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a fellow California
Democrat, Miller’s support is just as vital.
Eye to Eye
Rust and other CEOs, however, built a bridge of trust with Miller in 2001, when the education bill was written and cleared
by Congress. It began when Rust led a delegation of CEOs to meet with Miller in Washington. Miller joked that he couldn’t recall
having that many CEOs in his office before.
IVlller invited them back, and Rust brought more CEOs. One time, Miller was called away for a vote and met with the
corporate executives in a noisy hallway outside the House chamber during a roll call vote. "He appreciated that he and they were
on the same side of No Child Left Behind," remembers Susan Traiman, director of education policy for the Business Roundtable.
’q’hen he said, with a chuckle, that this was probably the first time he and Business Roundtable CEOs saw eye to eye on an
issue."
Rust described entering the first meeting "intrigued" and left with a great admiration for Miller’s passion on the issue. "You
are trying to scale the same mountain, and you might look at taking a different path," he said. "But the end goal is howdo we get
our kids performing at a high level of academic achievement."
IVlller is grateful for the interest displayed by the CEOs. "The fact of the matter," the chairman said, is that business
executives "keep coming back and participating in efforts to try and improve the education system. I think members of Congress
appreciate how serious the situation is. °
Lobbying Strategy
IViller and Kennedy are not the only liberals who would have to be brought on board business’s agenda; a comprehensive
reauthorization requires broad support in both parties.
Bush understood that challenge well enough in his first year as president that he enlisted a Democrat to sell his principal
domestic policy initiative on Capitol Hill.
Kress, a Texas lawyer and lobbyist, has a connection to Bush reaching back to the early 1990s, just before Bush ran for
governor. At the time, Kress was a Democrat on the Dallas School Board, where among his subordinates was Margaret
Spellings. Despite their different party affiliations, Bush supported Kress in a tough re-election campaign and helped him raise
money. When Bush entered the governor’s mansion in 1995, he chose Spellings as his education adviser, and the two of them
called on Kress for help. Kress followed Bush to Austin and then subsequently to Washington, as a special presidential adviser
on education.
Kress proved indispensable during the 2001 negotiations on the education law, working closely with interest groups and
lawmakers, particularly Democrats, behind closed doors.
"Sandy is the one who really evolved from the executive branch to write No Child Left Behind," said Dale E. Kildee of
Michigan, who has been the No. 2 Democrat on the Education and Labor panel throughout this decade. °He’s the one who really
knows the bill, who carried out the president’s wishes and was our chief contact at the White House."
Business leaders thought that strategy was so effective that they hired Kress as their lobbyist. He works out of his office in
Austin, flying to Washington every few weeks for meetings.
Despite his new assignment, Kress sees himself in a similar position, as the champion of high standards and "continuous
improvement" in all schools, with the goal of all students graduating ready to either attend college or join the workforce.
With every policy issue and question, Kress ultimately brings the conversation back to what he calls "the awareness of a
very changed world." When he talks about it, he gestures upward, as if indicating where schools should go.
’~Any softening or weakening of our national posture on standards and rigor and accountability is unacceptable," Kress said
during a recent interview in Washington. "It would almost be laughable. You could almost see business leaders and education
leaders and political leaders in the big cities of India and China snickering at the Americans."
Kress isn’t the only heavy hitter building the case for the business coalition. In 2005, the Chamber of Commerce hired
Arthur Rothkopfto lead its foray into education policy. He took the job as senior vice president and counselor to the chamber’s
president, Tom Donohue, after spending 12 years as president of Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. Before that, he served in
Page 591
the first Bush administration’s Transportation Department.

’The business community is deeply concerned with what is happening, or not happening, in our school systems," Rothkopf
told a joint session of the House and Senate Education committees last month. "That’s because it is business that hires the
graduates and must rely on the end product of those schools. And I should say that there are good jobs going begging in this
country because the candidates do not have the knowledge and the skills to fill those jobs, and the situation will only get worse
when 77 million baby boomers start retiring."
Strong Headwlnds
Getting people to focus attention on education is the easy part. Bringing a diverse collection of interest groups together
behind one version of the No Child reauthofization - all of them with different ideas of what a federal policy should look like - is
something just shy of impossible.
Just as business is lobbying for the reauthorization, others are lobbying against it.
Leading the opposition is the National Education Association, the nation’s largest union, representing teachers. It has
criticized the current law for taking a "one size fits all" approach for students, calling it punitive instead of beneficial to the cause
of public education. The group particularly doesn’t like meet pay proposals.
Joel Packer, the NEA’s director of education policy, said the union supports "a whole array of financial incentives" to attract
and retain teachers in hard to staff areas, and that it welcomes bonus pay for those teachers who are national board certified.
But it opposes bonuses based on standardized test scores. And it is wary of higher pay or incentives for specific subjects.
Packer says paying one teacher more than another could create shortages, drawing people away from fields such as
special education or foreign languages.
Furthermore, a tiered system would add tension to the ranks. "Our concern is it will create morale problems, essentially
saying reading is less important than math," she said. "Our position is teacher pay is generally too low."
The group has its own ideas for attracting more teachers. Among its core policy objectives is a nationwide mandate that
teaching salaries start at a minimum of $40,000 a year.
If the criticism were simply coming from teachers, that would be one thing. But a large and growing segment of
conservatives, normally allies of business, object to the education strategy that business supports.
In February, when the Aspen Institute’s commission issued more than 70 recommendations to change the law, the
conservative Thomas B. Fordham Foundation cried foul. The foundation promotes more parental choices in education and has
bankrolled charter schools. The Aspen Institute commission’s prescription for schools is "a breathtaking expansion of the federal
role in education," said Michael Petrilli, the foundation’s vice president for national programs and policy.
Petrilli said the federal government should not be determining who is a "highly qualified" teacher. He said that if the
reauthorization is based on this draft agenda, every conservative on Capitol Hill should vote against it. "If this were to become
law, it would only increase the regulations and rules schools would operate under," he said. "What we need is the exact opposite.
We need to free schools of regulations and hold them accountable."
Already, 58 House Republicans have signed on to legislation sponsored by Michigan Republican Peter Hoekstra that
would, in his words, make the law "voluntary."
’1 think there should be an opportunity to allow states to opt out of No Child Left Behind," Hoekstra said. "We are clearly on
a path to national curriculums, national testing, national accountability and national performance measures."
All that spells trouble for Bush, whom Democrats have already accused of reneging on his promise of more funding for
schools to help them meet the new standards.
Yet some supporters of the law remain optimistic.
’If it was just the business community and the president that wanted to get this done in the next six months, I’m not sure I
would rate their chances as very good," said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a nonprofit group that seeks ways to
increase academic achievement. But without the CEOs, Haycock says, the effort would be "a struggle, frankly," adding: "Is it nice
to have the powerful voice of business and its resources? You bet it is."
Inside or Outside Players
Business’s increasing interest in education as a source of skilled workers has led to a debate about its proper role in
schools.
No Child Left Behind’s emphasis on increased standards, more testing and greater accountability for teachers, along with
the push for more math and science, is designed to better prepare students for college and the workforce and to keep the
country more competitive in the long run.
’This is not about whether children learn Shakespeare more or better, even though that’s important," said Roy Barnes, a
former Democratic governor of Georgia and the co-chairman of the commission that recommended changes in the education
law. "This is about whether we are a competitive nation over the next 50 years and a nation at all over the next 150 years."
Page 592
But for many edticators, a good education goes deeper than training a workforce. It’s about preparing people for life.
The N EA’s Packer points to a report issued Dec. 14, funded by the National Center on Education and the Economy,
predicting that the current trend ofoutsourcing low-skilled and "routine" work overseas will continue and that the U.S. economy
will ultimately depend almost entirely on "creative work." In that case, the most successful students will be those who go beyond
the basics: math, science, reading and writing. In that environment, he contends, music, art, literature and history will prove
invaluable.
’What sets America apart is our creativity," Packer said. "So maybe the guy who reads Shakespeare can come up with the
next creative product. That can be as valuable a skill as having an engineering degree."
IViller says that should not be cause for alarm, and he doesn’t think the two goals conflict. "We know," the House chairman
said, "the world is becoming more technical. We knowtoday that you need greater math skills, greater science skills, but we also
knowto get to that point, you have to be able to read and do critical thinking. These are not mutually exclusive."
Many educators and school administrators are open to the idea of having business leaders offer input, and a number of
states and communities have been experimenting with such models for some time. School officials say the trick is to establish
boundaries.
’1 don’t think it is as easy forme to sit outside General Motors and say what they should do," said Jane Gallucci, president
of the National School Board Association.
Valerie Woodruff, Delaware’s education commissioner, said businesses in her state have been involved in education going
back to the late 1980s, when Republican Rep. Michael N. Castle was governor.
Woodruff said a lot can be gained from a respectful partnership. When Delaware drew up new standards for schools in the
1990s, the vice president for research at E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., one of the state’s largest employers, teamed up with
a teacher as co-chairs of the commission that developed the science standards. Since then, 80 percent to 90 percent of students
have met those standards.
’It is very important to our local businesses that we continue down that path," she said. ’1 think that when business comes
in as a partner, and not a driver, it can be very successful. They need to come in with the respect for the education profession."
For the most part, business leaders agree.
’1 don’t think it is businesses’ role to dictate to the school what a curriculum should be," said Ingrain of GlaxoSmithKline. ’1
do think we should share with schools the skill sets and the knowledge bases that we think are going to be important, in terms of
what we are going to be looking for now in terms of employees."
In for the Long Haul
Fixing schools through state and federal policy is only the beginning for some businesses. For many, the goal is to play a
more active part in the community.
Ingram talks about the programs his company has started with high schools in North Carolina. He and Bill Shore, the
company’s director of U.S. community partnerships, invited the Durham school superintendent to a national summit in Dallas
sponsored by the business coalition. Atter the summit, they started a partnership with the schools’ guidance counselors, bringing
them into their labs and plants to get a sense of what their workers do, and what skills they require.
"Just think if you got guidance counselors across America involved," Shore said. ’qhey would be going back with ideas."
John Long, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in St. Petersburg, Fla., said the U.& Chamber started a committee of
leaders from the top t00 chambers around the country to assess trends in education and what area businesses can do to
change them. "It’s certainly a huge concern," he said. "We’ve started a couple of task forces."
Among them, businesses are nowworking with the Pinellas County Superintendent on such issues as vocational training.
Long also said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, a Republican, recently started a program that has local businesses adopting
area high schools.
Galtucci, the National School Board Association president, is also a school board member in Pinellas. She said the
business community has done a superb job guiding students, particularly those not bound for four-year colleges, toward skills
and job training.
’Without them at the table, giving us input and their needs for a workforce, the school district then can’t set up centers to
educate children to go out and be gainfully employed," Gallucci said. ’That’s what I mean about both of us being together. I think
they have information that is important. But I don’t think they have all the information that is important. They have a piece of the
pie. ~
Perhaps the greatest area of concern for business is not the training of low-skilled employees but the path to innovation
that comes with math, science and engineering.
Sen. Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming says he can’t understand why so many students are eschewing careers in those fields,
particularly during a technology boom. Like a number of his colleagues, he was a boy when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik,
Page 593
the first artificial satellite, in 1957, an achievement that sent a ripple of fear through the United States and set off a generation of
innovation.
Enzi, the ranking Republican on the Senate Education Committee, said that during a trip to India last year he asked
everyone he encountered why their nation understood the importance of math and science better than his own did.
’1 did have one person say they don’t have any professional sports teams, so the highest pay and the most prestige they
could get was being a scientist, an engineer, a doctor or something in that kind of field," Enzi said at the Gates hearing before
turning the question to the executive. Gates said he also is bewildered; after all, where would he be without either one? The Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation has supported more than a thousand schools, and Gates said he has seen a spark of excitement
in smaller schools with fewer subjects, and in some cases, specific themes, such as aviation or construction.
But in the end, Gates said, the solution is in finding teachers who not only understand the fields but love them. He told the
panel that his own excitement began with two of his eady teachers, who made the subjects fun and relevant, rather than simply
teaching "math for math’s sake."
Gates is aware of the controversy surrounding merit pay and incentives for teachers. His answer is what you would expect
from a devotee of science: experimentation. Try every and any possibility. But he cautioned that the answer may not come right
away.
’~te should have a hundred such experiments, because I think 90 of them won’t work," Gates said, adding that most
schools are not at the point where they can reward teachers simply based on how well their students do on standardized exams.
But he said with experimentation and money the answer can be found.
’This is a great example, where we don’t know the answer today, of what is a merit system that would pay teachers more,
that teachers as a whole would feel is a predictable, well-run system. As we do these experiments, we might have to invest more
in teacher remediation, or reviewing what is going on with teachers."
Gates would also loosen qualifications so that talented retirees and other professionals who might lack a formal teaching
background could enter the classroom. He said students have a misperception of math and science if they don’t see them as
exciting fields. ’qo some degree, I am very surprised we haven’t been able to do better on this," he said. ’q-hese jobs are very
interesting jobs."
Spoken like a man who star~ed one revolution and is embarking on another.
Page 594
Nonresponsiv
Sent: April 02, 2007 8:30 AM
Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Towqsend L.; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada,
Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Conklin, Kristin; Oldham,
Cheryl; Schray, Vickie
Subject: Taking The Trick Out Of Tapping Into Federal Aid (WP)
Taking The Trick Out Of Tapping Into Federal Aid

By Amit R. Paley, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washinqton Post, April 2, 2007
It’s hard to find a college student who doesn’t despise the FAFSA.
The 101-question, eight-page form - short for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid -- is filled out by 14 million
students each year who apply for federal financial aid. But the questionnaire is so mind-bogglingly complicated that many others
just give up and miss out on govemment grants.
So Congress and the Education Department are moving to simplify the form and let students know earlier whether they
qualify for aid, steps that officials hope will make college more affordable and accessible.
"You should not need a graduate degree in engineering to figure out this application," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.),
who co-sponsored legislation introduced last month that would reduce the form to ~o pages.
The legislation, sponsored by House and Senate Democrats, would allow students to have some of their financial data
transferred from the Internal Revenue Service to the Education Department_ That change would eliminate 31 of the most
complicated questions on the form, according to the Institute for College Access and Success, a student advocacy group that
helped develop the proposal.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings also unveiled a new online tool, FAFSA4caster, which will help high school
students estimate how much federal financial aid they might receive.
’q-hey need to start looking at this in their junior year and even before," Spellings said last month. She said the device "will
help families and students plan for postsecondary education."
The tool, which debuted yesterday at http://www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov, makes it simpler to complete the FAFSA by
automating answers to 51 of the questions on the form.
Lawmakers and the Bush administration hope these steps will help more students attend college. Experts estimate that 1.5
million poor students who qualify for federal grants don’t receive them because they don"[ finish the form.
’qhe form itself can deter people from applying for the aid that is necessary for them to go to college," said Rep. George
Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. With the initiatives, he said, "we will be able to address
this in very short order."
Page 595
Nonresponsiv!
Sent: March 29, 2007 9:14 AM
Subject: Governor Appoints New Secretary Of Education (LAT)
Governor Appoints New Secretary Of Education (LAT)

By Jordan Rau, Times StaffWriter
The Los Anqeles Times, March 29, 2007
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today appointed David Long, Riverside County’s superintendent of schools since 1999, as
state secretary of education.
Long, 67, lives in Canyon Lake, is a Republican. He will be paid $175,000.
Long endorsed Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial bid in 2003, and was on the same side as the governor in 2004 when
Schwarzenegger successfully opposed a ballot initiative to expand tribal gambling. In 2005, Long was president of the California
County Superintendents Educational Services Assn., part of a coalition that fought Schwarzenegger’s ballot measures to change
teacher tenure rules, weaken the political clout of public employee unions and reduce education funding.
Schwarzenegger told reporters today: "David shares my values when it comes to education: improving student
achievement, bringing up low-performing schools, hiring quality teachers, building new facilities."
In Riverside, Long oversaw 23 school districts and more than 400,000 students. He came to that elected position, where he
was in his third term, from the Lake Elsinore Unified School District.
He has also serves as chair of the Federal Education Safe and Drug Free Schools and Community Advisory Committee,
which reports to President George Bush’s secretary of education, Margaret Spellings.
jordan.rau@latimes.com
Page 596
Nonresponsiv1
Sent: March 29, 2007 8:35 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; ’scott m. stanze!@who.eop.gov’; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill;
Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent; Briggs, Kerri; Kuzrnich, Holly;
Toomey, Liam; Maddox, Lauren; Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Beaton, Meredith;
Tucker, Sara Martinez; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Subject: No Child Law Faces Medley Of Changes (Stateline)
No Child Law Faces Medley Of Changes (Stateline)

By Pauline Vu
~ March 29, 2007
If President Bush wants the nex~ version of his signature No Child Left Behind education law to carry his imprint, the White
House will have to compromise ~th a host of disparate groups seeking changes in the 5-year-old act. As Congress s~arts
considering complaints from school districts, governors and others, a holdup in revising the law as scheduled this year could wind
up leaving the future of Bush’s domestic legacy to his successor.
States are among the chief stakeholders clamoring to leave their stamp on a new version of the education law, which has
riled some state lawmakers and educators to the point of rebellion over its costs, penalties and unprecedented federal oversight
of school policy.
13ire me some more flexibility because I think we could do this better," said Wisconsin Schools Superintendent Elizabeth
Burmaster, representing the Council of Chief State School Otficers, before a joint congressional hearing March 13.
The nation’s governors are gathering suggestions from each other so they can present Congress with a recommend a set
of changes.
’We’re doing something unique," said Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri (R), co-chairman of the National Governors
Association’s lobbying effort with Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D). q-he education issue is front and center now and so
... it’s important to take a key leadership role."
The federal law, which Congress passed in 2001 with bipartisan support, mandates annual testing in reading and math for
grades 3-8 and once in high school with the goal of making all students proficient in the subjects by 2013-14. Schools that fail to
make annual progress face a variety of penalties, from being forced to pay for tutoring to being taken over by the state.
The law is up for reauthorization this year, meaning Congress has a chance to change it. However, experts polled by the
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, an education think tank, say it’s unlikely that No Child Left Behind will be reauthorized until
after the presidential election. Until it’s renewed, the law will continue in its current form.
Critics have decried the lawfor its focus on testing, federal intrusion into what traditionally has been a local issue, and what
they say is an unrealistic goal of proficiency by 100 percent of students.
The Bush administration, however, says No Child Left Behind has already had a positive impact. The 2005 results on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test given to a cross-section of students in every state, showed that 9-year-olds
were better readers than at any point over the last 30 years. The act also has drawn attention to the achievement gap between
white students and their minority peers.
The costs of carrying out the mandates are a particular sore point with states. According to the National Education
Association, No Child Left Behind has cost $40 billion more to carry out than the federal government has allotted over the last
five years. The U.S. Education Department maintains the law is adequately funded. Congressional Democrats are calling for an
infusion of cash during reauthorization.
The act also has been slammed because a school can fail even if just one subgroup of students, such as minorities or
students with disabilities, fails. This issue has led to confrontations with the federal government, the most recent in Virginia,
where seven school boards, led by the one in Fairfax County, have vowed to defy the U.S. Education Department and give
English-proficiency tests to certain English-language learners for another year instead of grade-level reading tests. The
education department has warned the districts they’re in danger of losing federal funds.
States have rebelled against No Child Left Behind almost since its inception. To date, 23 states have or are considering
bills to opt out of the law, according to Communities for Quality Education, an advocacy group that tracks state actions on the
Page 597
act. Lately, however, the majority of state action has been to pass resolutions calling on congressional delegations to amend the
act during reauthorization.
’lt’s gone from open revolt on the part of some states to more of a simmering resentment about too many federal
requirements and too little federal money," said Jack Jennings, the president and chief executive of the Center on Education
Policy, a research organizationthat has monitored the laws effects.
Other perceived shortfalls of the education mandate can be seen in the myriad solutions offered by different groups. The
independent, high-profile Aspen Institute Commission on No Child Left Behind, headed by two former governors, called for an
expansion of the federal role. Among its 75 recommendations: States should adopt stronger standards based on voluntary
national standards, and teachers should be rated based on how well their students perform on tests.
The Forum on Educational Accountability, a coalition of more than a hundred groups including the country’s two largest
teachers unions, took a different tack: It wants to shorten the laws reach by scrapping the test-based accountability system to
focus more on teacher training and parent outreach.
A significant dose of protest has come from the president’s own party. On March 15, 52 U.S. House Republicans
introduced a bill to allow states to opt out of the act without penalty. "It is about accountability to parents, about parents holding
local schools, districts and states accountable versus bureaucrats in Washington," said U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the
bill’s lead sponsor. "Get the heavy hand of federal government off of education."
At the state level, the main changes that groups representing the states seek is more local control over deciding whether a
school has made progress, and more flexibility to meet the laws requirements.
The White House recommendations for the law include tweaks, such as differentiating between schools that fail to make
progress by just a few students or by several, as well as major changes, such as spending $300 million on vouchers that
students at failing schools can use to go to private schools.
Most observers - even critics - agree that the law eventually will be renewed because its intent is admirable.
The two ranking Republicans on the House and Senate education committees support re-authorization, and the Democrats
in charge of Congress support the law and are open to expanding it - minus the GOP-favored vouchers but with more money.
’If we’re going to require more of schools, let’s help get them the resources to do the job," U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
said to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing March 14. "1 don’t see that in
your budget."
Comment on this story in the space below by registering with Stateline.org, or e-mail your feedback to our Letters to the
editor section at letters@stateline.org.
Contact Pauline Vu at pvu@stateline.org.
Page 598
tNonresponsi
Sent: March 28, 2007 8:33 AM
To: Pdvate- Spellings, Margaret; Conaty, Joseph; Farris, Amanda; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill;
Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath, John; Talbert, Kent; Bdggs, Kerd; Kuzmich, Holly;
Tucker, Sara MaRine.z; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy;
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Letter: Reading First Is Making Progress (LVS)
Letter: Reading First Is Making Progress (LVS)

Las Ve,qas Sun, March 28, 2007
Regarding the Las Vegas Sun’s March 17 editorial, "Accountability First":
With all the talk about the Reading First program, one simple but important message has gotten lost along the way. As
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has told Congress, "More students are being taught to read."
Reading First was created to meet a real and growing need. From 1971 -99, reading scores for 9-year-olds rose only 4
points nationwide, according to the Nation’s Report Card. In the 1990s scores actually fell among fourth-graders.
Reading First trains teachers in proven, research-based instructional methods, such as phonics and phonemic awareness,
based on more than two decades of research into how best children learn to read. It’s an important component of the No Child
Left Behind Act, which has helped produce rising test scores in reading and math.
Success has been notable. From 2004 -06, first- and third-graders in Reading First schools made double-digit percentage
gains in fluency and comprehension. Nearly every category of second-graders - economically disadvantaged, English language
learners, students with disabilities, black and Hispanic - made significant gains in fluency.
It is true that a report by the U.S. Department of Education’s inspector general found that mistakes were made in the early
implementation of Reading First. Spellings concurs with the inspector general’s recommendations and has completed nearly all
of them. Nevertheless, some critics continue to use the findings to try to end not only the program but also No Child Left Behind
itself.
This would be a tragedy. No Child Left Behind and Reading First are working, and deserve to be reauthorized. Just as
important, your readers deserve to know why.
Tori Hatada, San Francisco The writer is U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings’ deputy representative for Region IX,
which includes Nevada.
Page 599
Nonresponsi
Sent: March 27, 2007 8:44 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, C~qthia;
Dorfman, C~thia; Mesecar, Doug; Dunn, David; Pitts, Elizabeth; Flowers, Sarah; McGrath,
Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Simon,
Ray; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Conklin, Kristin;
Otdham, Cheryl; Schray, Vickie
Subject: Pushback Against A Perceived Power Grab (IHE)
Pushback Against A Perceived Power Grab (IHE)

By Doug Lederman
Inside Hiqher Ed, March 27, 2007
College basketball connoisseurs of a certain vintage - especially fans of the old University of North Carolina teams - might
have appreciated the tactics that some college officials and accreditors engaged in as a federal panel reconvened Monday to
negotiate possible changes in U.S. regulations governing accrediting. The Tar Heel squads of the 1960s and ’70s, whenever
they got a lead late in the game, would spread their players across the offensive end of the floor and essentially play "keep away"
from their opponents, wiping time offthe clock (this was before the shot clock limited the amount of time a team could hold the
ball). The stalling tactic, known as the four corners offense, frustrated the opponents and bored the fans to tears, but it worked.
On Monday, representatives of regional and professional accrediting agencies and some college officials engaged in their
own form of the four comers, repeatedly interrupting the negotiating session by calling for closed-door "caucuses" in which they
discussed strategies, possible changes in regulatory language, and the like. In the end, little formally got accomplished at the
session - by day’s end, the group hadn’t even polished off its debate over the written summary of the group’s first meeting, in
February, to which most of the negotiators objected.
There’s one big difference between what the old Tar Heels did and the tactic of the higher education officials: Basketball
teams used the four comers when they were winning. The accrediting negotiators were stalling in the hope that they can come
up with some kind of strategy to fight off a set of proposals that they argue will dramatically expand the federal government’s
involvement in their day to day operations.
The U.S. Education Department sent its recommendations for changing federal accrediting rules around to the negotiators
late last week, several days past the department’s self-imposed deadline for providing the information. Its officials had promised
to get the material to negotiators at least seven days before the negotiating panel reconvened Monday - but it arrived only late
Thursday, as many of the negotiators were in Washington for Education Secretary Margaret Spellings’s summit on higher
education.
(It is a sign of the mistrust that has developed between the department and many college officials that it is widely assumed
that department officials withheld the accreditation proposals until the summit was essentially over, because they feared that the
aggressive nature of the proposals would probably blow up the surprisingly cooperative spirit of the summiL Vickie L. Schray, the
department official who is leading the negotiating session, steadfastly denied that suggestion Monday.)
When the proposed rule making language did appear, though, it contained several provisions that would, if etched into
federal regulation, give the Education Department significantly greater authority in monitoring accreditors, and give accrediting
agencies much more say over the institutions they accredit.
Among other changes, the department’s proposed regulatory language would:
Give accreditors three options for measuring institutions’ success in educating students - two of which would force them to
set minimal levels of acceptable performance, which regional accreditors (and many college officials) have traditionally
considered it inappropriate for them to do.
Require accrediting agencies to bar the colleges they monitor from basing decisions about whether to accept a transfer
student’s academic credits on the accreditation status of the "sending" institution, and significantly increase the amount and types
of information that accrediting groups would have to make public.
Force accrediting agencies to collect and analyze more regularly than they are required to do now "information on key
performance indicators, such as enrollments, financial audits, retention and completion rates, and other measures of student
Page 600
achievement identified by the agency," and to justify to the education secretary the frequency with which they collect that
information.
Give the Education Department’s staff significantly more power to monitor accrediting agencies, including the power to
"conduct an investigation" into an accrediting agency "at any time, on its own initiative, at the request of the [National Advisory
Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity], or in response to a third party complaint."
Require accrediting bodies to require the programs, colleges and universities they oversee to "publish information related to
the program’s or institution’s effectiveness in fulfilling program objectives and institutional mission, especially indicators of the
program’s or institution’s performance regarding student outcomes." And accreditors themselves, the department adds, must
publish information about the standards to which they hold colleges accountable, and that information "must explicitly describe
the agency’s expectation of perfon’nance in relation to each standard."
Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions
Officers, said that department officials’ proposed policies, taken together, ’k, vould enable them to federally regulate academic
policy through accreditation." He added: ’q-his is an unfounded assertion of authority that is breathtaking in its daring, coming, as
it does, from an administration that is entirely bereft of credibility on higher education .... The secretary apparently believes that
she can unilaterally control accreditation - and by implication, academic policies of institulions - both procedurally and
substantively."
Most of the accreditors and other officials who are participating directly in the negotiating session were much more guarded
in their comments about their concerns about the department’s proposed language.
That’s partly because some of them - especially officials from the "nationaF accrediling bodies that generally monitor for-
profit colleges - have been held for a decade and a half to standards very similar to those the department is now proposing for all
agencies and institutions.
It is also, though, because the purpose of the rule making session is to try to work together - federal and non-federal
negotiators alike - to come to agreement, and the participants want to be seen as operating in good faith. The way the process
works, if the negotiators don’t reach agreement on regulatory language by the end of three three-day negotiating sessions (today
was the first day of the second session - the third and last one is next month), the Educalion Department can basically make
whatever changes in federal n.~les that it wants - unless Congress tries to rein the department in, that is.
So college officials and accreditors who oppose the department’s initial language have some hope that they can cratt a
strategy in which federal officials will either settle for softer or gentler language or will (perhaps pushed by members of Congress,
many of whom have expressed discomfort with the department’s aggressive stance on accreditation) abandon some of the
approaches that college leaders see as most invasive.
In the meantime, though, they stalled by repeatedly requesting closed-door meetings that excluded the federal negotiators
(and the public), resulting in a long day that was as interesting as watching paint dry (not to whine).
The most significant proposals - those that would require the accrediting agencies to set minimum standards for the
performance of the colleges they review on student achievement, and demand that accreditors ensure that colleges do not make
decisions on credit transfer based on the accrediting status of the student’s original institution - are set to be taken up on
Tuesday.
A report on what happens then will appear in this space Wednesday.
Page 1 of 10
Page 601
lNonrespon I
Sent: March 25, 2007 9:41 AM
Chad; Briggs, Kerri; McLane, Katherine; Simon, Ray; Private - Spellings, Margaret;
Samara
WEEKE2qD NEWS SUMMARY

March 25, 2007
1. The New York Titnes -- States Praise Reading Program Despite Its Troubles, Report
Says
2. The Washington Post -- To Be AP, Courses Must Pass Muster
3. Associated Press -- Experts: U.S. testing companies "buckling" under weight of
NCLB
4. Associated Press -- Arizona State: A university tries to be both big and great
States Praise Reading Program Despite Its Troubles, Report Says

By Diana 3ean Schemo
The New York Times
March 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, March 24 -- Despite irregMarities in the management of Reading First,
President Bush’s initiative to teach reading to low-income children, a majority of states credit
the program with improving reading instruction, according to a report by the Government
Accountability Office released Friday.
The G.A.O., the investigative ann of Congress, surveyed education officials across the nation
about Reading First, which awards $1 billion a year in grants to states to buy texts and
curriculums. According to the report, 69 percent of those surveyed praised the program for
"great or very great improvement in reading instruction." About 80 percent said the program
had vastly improved teacher training.
The report also found that most states were satisfied with the help they had received from
federal officials and private contractors in applying for grants.
But the accountability office, echoing criticism in a series of reports by the Education
Department’s inspector general, found that department officials and private contractors might
have broken the law in either steering 14 states toward specific reading programs or advising
them not to use others. Those states were not identified in the report.
The law authorizing Reading First requires that grants go only to districts using reading
approaches backedby scientific research. It prohibits Education Department officials frown
promoting, or even endorsing, specific curriculums.
06/05/2008
Page 2 of 10
Page 602
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings declined to comment on the G.A.O. report.
The reports from the inspector general also found that federal officials had overlooked
conflicts of interest among contractors advising states applying for grants, and that in some
instances, contractors had had a financi!l stake in programs competing for the money.
The report by the accountability office found that of 3,400 districts eligible for Reading First,
2,100 applied for grants, and 1,200 are receiving them. In most states, officials gave the
program high marks for improving the way reading was taught.
States reported that teachers were worldng more systematically to build children’s skills in
phonics, reading aloud, vocabulary and comprehension, and that schools ~vere devothag more
time to reading, typically 90 minutes or more a day.
In addition, all sta~es said professional development of teachers had improved under the
program.
Reading First has come under heavy fire in Congress and elsewhere. Previous audits of the
program, and some local school officials, said the department had used the law to promote
reading programs with a heavy reliance on phonics, which focuses on the mechanics of
sounding out sy~ables, rather than methods emphasizing additional strategies for making
sense oftex-ts. The House and the Senate are planning hearings.
The G.A.O. reportincorporated recommendations from the earher inspector genera! reports
that the Education Department should gnard against conflicts of interest in administering the
program.
In a response attached to the report, the deputy secretary of education, Raymond Simon,
wrote that the department a~eed with its recommendations.
To Be AP, Courses Must Pass Muster

Teachers Required To Submit to Audit
By Daniel de Vise
The Washington Post
March 25, 2007
While her students at Blake High School prepare for an Advanced Placement exam that
measatres whether they know college-level world history, S aroj a Ringo is being asked to
prove she knows how to teach it.
The College Board, pubhsher of college-preparatory exams, is auditing every Advanced

Placement course inthe nation, asking teachers of an estimated 130,000 AP courses to
famish v~tten proof by June 1 that the cotwses they teach are worthy of the brand.
An explosion in AP study -- partidpation in the program has nearly doubled this decade --
has bred worry, particularly among college leaders, of a decline in the rigor for which the
courses are known. Once the exclusive province ofehte students at select high schools, AP
study or its equivalent is now more or less expected of any student ~vho aspires to attend even
a marginally selective college.
In the haste to remain competitive in the AP arms race, schools sometimes award the
06/05/2008
Page 3 of 10
Page 603
designation to courses that barely resemble the college curriculum the pro~am is meant to
deliver, according to College Board officials and educators. Until now, there has been no
large-scale effort to weed out such abuse.
"Anybody could just say, ’I’m teaching an AP course; I’m an AP teacher. There’s no protocol,’
"said Ringo, who teaches AP World History at the Silver Spring school and works as an
official grader of the exams.
Beginning ~vith the 2007-08 academic year, only teachers whose syllabuses have been
approved by the College Board may call their courses AP. Each teacher must submit an audit
form, along with a syllabus for the course he or she teaches. Depending onhow well the
teachefs syllabus -- assuming he or she has one -- reflects the rigor ezq~ected by the College
Board, the process can be brief or time-consuming.
The task has been met with no small amount of grumbling. Montgomery County teachers
loosed an angry volley of e-mails over the exercise, mostly along the lines of"Why me?" and
"Why now?" But many faculty begrudgingly accept that some quality control is needed, lest
the AP program spiral out of control.
"I think the teachers are sympathetic in hindsight." said Stephanie Valentine, ~vho oversees
the program at Springbrook High in Silver Spring. "Not while they’re doing it."
The implications for high schools and colleges, students and teachers are enormous.
One would be a probable decline -- after years of double-digit growth -- in the number of
courses labeled Advanced Placement Collie Board offidals have set a goal of approving at
least 105,000 AP courses, of an estimated 130,000 nationwide. The attrition, they predict,
would come mainly from teachers ~vho decline to parfidpate. No school will be restricted
from Wing the exams, although students without adequate preparation are unlikely to take
them.
Tom Matts, a College Board official who oversees the audit, said its purpose is to help
teachers elevate their courses.
"We’re not trying to eliminate any courses," he said, "but to help teachers understand ~vhat
needs to be in the course and to provide evidence in the syllabus" that college-level material
is being taught.
Since its Jan. 23 launch, the audit has dra~vn submissions from 55,000 teachers, Matts said.
University professors review the courses and usually respond within two months. Seventy-
four percent of courses have been approved to date. Unsuccessful teachers are encouraged to
resubmit up to three times, with guidance from the College Board. Once approved, teachers
and their syllabuses are sanctioned until they move to another school or the course
requirements change.
Wendy Bonelli, ~vho has taught AP Literature and Composition at Springbrook High for two
years, earned approval on her first try. She completed the audit in a day and submitted it the
first week the College Board wotfld take it
"The bulk of what I sent them ~vas the real syllabus that I give my students each semester,"
Borrelli said. She concedes that the audit would be more work "i£you weren’t the kind of
organized or, shall I say, anal-retentive teacher that I am."
06/05/2008
Page 4 of ! 0
Page 604
For college admissions officers, the audit might assuage rising doubts about the value of the
AP stamp on an applicant’s transcript. They, more than any other group, pushed for the
review, dziven by the steep increase in applicants claiming an AP pedigree.
"Is it possible to expand these courses as fast as they have and maintain their quality?" asked
Andrew Flagel, dean of admissions at George Mason University in Fairfax County.
"Anecdota!ly, what we’re hearing from people is that that’s a huge challenge: that the classes
have gotten significantly larger and that the push to get so many people into [them] has led to
a tendency or a temptation to lower the rigor of the course."
Mat~ said college officials nationwide ~vere "curious to know ~vhat has happened to the
curriculum when we’re seeing a 150 percent increase in the number of students taking these
classes over the past 10 years." He cited well-traveled anecdotes about schools that "simply
make up courses and call them AP."
Although fast-growing AP programs in the Alexandria, Fairfmx, Montgomery and Arhn~on

County systems retain a uniformly high caliber, veteran teachers there say, they have seen or
heard of scofflaws elsewhere. In a typical scenario, a school combines disparate groups of
honors and AP students into a vaguely defined AP course without intending to teach the
advanced curriculum or to prepare students for the end-of-course exam.
"They’ll call it AP, but you end up with two of 26 kids taking the AP test," said Mel Riddile,
principal ofT.C. WJBiams High School in Alexandria. "Is that really an AP course?"
Students might have the most at stake. An aspiring pre-med student might learn in the fall
that the AP biology course on her high school schedule has been downgraded to the more
generic "honors." This, in turn, could affect what she is taught in the class and her chances
for taking, let alone passing, the prized AP biology exam, a gateway to college credit and
advanced standing. (Taking an AP course byitselfis not enough to earn college credit; a
student must take and score ~vell on the corresponding exam.)
Also at stake might be the prestige factor of the course on a high school transcript and the
potential for lost bonus points awarded for AP study, with a corresponding effect on class
rank.
Some teachers remain skeptical of the audit: What’s to stop lazy AP teachers from copying
another teachffs syllabus and passing it offas their own? Who will ensure that lesson plans
approved by the College Board will actually be taught?
Supporters of the audit effort, however, say it’s a step in the right direction.
The mean AP exam score dipped from 3.01 in May 2000 to 2.89 in May 2006, on a five-
point scale, a modest erosion in a span of years when the number of~ams taken doubled to
2 million.
Of greater concern than the scores -- to critics, at least-- is the growing number of AP
students who never take the exam.
Matts, of the Collie Board, contends that "students benefit even without the exam."
But Riddile says the test is the ultimate measure of AP success.
06/05/2008
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Page 605
"Whafs the only way you can assure that’s art AP course?" he said. "Thafs that the student in
that course took the AP assessment, and here’s their score."
3. Experts: U.S. testing co~npanies "buckling" under weight of NCLB
By Megan Reichgott
Associated Press
March 24, 2007
CHICAGO - To motivate juniors on last April’s assessment exams, Springfield Higli School
offered coveted lockers, parking spaces near the door and free prom tickets as incentives for
good scores.
But the incentives at the central Illinois school went unclaimed until earlier this month, ~vhen
Illinois finally published its 2006 test scores - more than four months after they were due.
Critics pounced on Harcourt Assessment Inc., which lost most of its $44.5 million state
contract over delays - caused by everything from shipping problems to missing test pages and
scoring errors - that made Illinois the last state in the nation to release scores used to judge
schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
But experts say problems are more widespread, and poised to get worse. A handful of
companies create, print and score most of the tests in the U.S., and they’re straggling with a
worldoad that has exploded since President Bush si~o~ed the five-year-old education reform
package.
"The testing industry in the U.S. is buckling under the weight of NCLB demands," said
Tliomas Toch, co-director of Education Sector, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
When Education Sector surveyed 23 states in 2006, it found that 35 percent of testing offices
in those states have experienced "significant" errors with scoring and 20 percent didn’t get
results "in a timely fashion."
Illinois saw more problems this month, ~vhen students took achievement tests that contained
as many as 13 errors, officials said. But Illinois isn’t the only state that’s experienced
difficulties:
_ Connecticut last year fined its testing company $80,000 after a processing error caused
wrong scores for 355 students on the 2005 test. The problem came a year after the state
canceled its contract with another company after scoring problems caused a five-month delay
in reporting scores.
_The Texas Education Agency passed 4,160 10th-graders who initially failed the math
section of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills in 2003 after officials discovered a
test question had more than one correct answer.
_Iviichigan Educational Assessment Program results were delayed last year, and there were
previous problems under another contractor. In 2003, 3,400 MEAP scores were delivered
months late and nearly 1,000 results ~vent missing.
Alabama education officials said a testing company mistakenly failed some schools while
passing others that should have failed, after scoring problems on the 2005 assessment test.
06/05/2008
Page 6 of 10
Page 606
_In Oregon, the state Education Department complained that a computerized state assessinent
test was plagned by system problems. The testing company later terminated its contract with
the state, claiming it was owed back payments, and the state sued the company for breach of
contract. Now, thousands of students who haven’t completed online exams wil! take them in
May using paper and pendl.
Causes of the problems are multipronged, testing company and education exper~ say.
The number of students being tested has risen sharply since the No Child Left Behind Act
took effect. Illinois, for ex,~ple, used to test only tNrd, fit}_h and eight graders but now tests
students in tNrd through eighth grades.
To meet NCLB requirements, states administered 45 million exams by spring 2006, and the
number keeps rising. By the end of the 2007-2008 schoo! year, it wil! reach about 56 million
tests.
What’s more, each state has its own test, andmany want them customized, said Michael
Hansen, chief executive officer of Harcourt Assessment, which no longer administers Illinois’
tests but still is involved in developing and grad~g them. Before NCLB was signed into law,
states used exams like the Stanford Achievement Test, and publishers created new tests every
six to eight years.
"Not only (have) states wanted different content in terms of the tests, but they also have very
many different requirements as to lo~sfics, delivery, look and feel. color, how the questions
are organized, horizonta!, vertical ... you name it, it was on the table," Hansen said.
On top of that, experts sa~v, are rigid NCLB-driven deadlines.

"That means March and April we are completely ... at peak capacity and so is every one of
our competitors," Hansen said. "But also then when the test results come in, they (schools)
need the test results back as soon as possible.., so the tuxnaround from the time that the test is
taken, to (when) we need to report the resnlls is extremely tight and ifs getting tighter and
tighter."
Others say the problems are exacerbated byline competition or regulation.

The NCLB testing industry is dominated by four companies: San Antonio, Texas-based
Harcourt; Monterey, Calif.-based CTB/McCrraw-Hill; Iowa City, Iowa-based Pearson
Educational Measurement and Itasca, lll.-based Riverside Publishing.
"It’s not entirely a monopoly, but it is an oligopoly, with very little regulation," said Walter
Haney, professor at the Center for the Study of Testing Evaluation and Educational Policy at
Boston College.
Both state education depart~nents and testing companies are "overtaxed and bursting at the
seams," said Becky Watts, former chief of staff at the Illinois State Board of Education.
"It’s logical. Any time you have a relatively small industry ... ilts a tall order. What is
demanded of the testing industry, what is demanded of the states, ifs huge," Watts said.
Between 2002 and 2008, states will spend between $1.9 billion and $5.3 billion to develop,
06/05/2008
Page 607 Page 7 oflO
score and report NCLB-required tests, according to a report by the Govermnent

Accountability Office. Ultimately, the price tag depends on whether states prefer exams with
open-ended questions - ~vhich are hand-scored and more cosily - or multiple-choice
questions.
But it’s a mistake to blame only the vendors for the problems when la~vmakers are notorious
misers in funding ~ate testing agencies, said Toch, from Education Sector.
States spend less than a quarter of 1 percent of school revenue - or between $10 to $30 a
student - on testing programs, even though federal, state and local spending per pupil adds up
to more than $8,000 a year, Toch said.
"That’s not enough to produce high-quality tests in the tight timelines that NCLB requires. It’s
ludicrous," Toch said.
The Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Education said last year it would
study whether high-stakes tests need federal oversight. The once has not be~onn working on
the study, but oNdals hoped to do so this year, said spokeswoman Catherine C_rmnt
Last year, Congress gave states $408 million to develop standardized testing under NCLB,
but the states can use the money in lots of ways, and many of them use it for tasks urtrelated
to test-building, Toch said.
The U.S. Department of Education must be more active, Toch said.
"Instead, Secretary (Margaret) Spellings has largely washed her hands of this problem, said
ifs a state problem, which is a peculiar.., response because it’s the federal government that
has required the states to take these actions," Toch said.
Arizona State: A university tries to be both big and great

By Justin Pope
Associated Press
March 24, 2007
EDITOR’S NOTE_ Ifs one of the fimdamental challenges for colleges in the 21st century:
how to make hi~er education serve a growing and diversifying population without
compromising quality. Universities are being called on to do more for the best and brightest,
but also to help more people get a bachelor’s degree in a professional world where a college
education is vital.
TEMPE, Arizona (AP) _ Like the state it serves, Arizona State University is big, bustling and
relentlessly ne~v.
If colleges were countries, most wound resemble the developed nations of the West _ stable,
working to improve but changing only gradually and grooving slowly, if at a!l. Arizona State
wound be China. I~s campuses are giant construction sites. New schools and programs spring
up nearly every week. Hundreds of faculty are berg hired, thousands of dorm rooms are
being built_
There are 280 undergraduate majors, three separate schools of business, 32 on-campus dining
options, and 601 student clubs.
06/05/2008
Page 8 of 10
Page 608
ASU is a city in itself. With 5 !,000 students on the main campus, plus 10,000 more at t~ee
branches around PhoenLx, it is already among the largest traditional universities in the United
States. But unlike any current rivals for that title, ASU plans to keep growing _ to about
90,000 students over the next decade. That would make it easily the largest university of its
kind in America.
Michael Crow, ASU’s president, calls his school tt~e "new American university" and sees it
as the u~versity of the future.
Ifs a model that takes on two challenges some see as contacting: to be a great u~versity, and
to be an enormous one, with its doors open to a huge number of students with widely varying
abilities.
Arizona, Crow says, needs ASU to be a great university, with top-tier researchers solving
pressing local problems like water resource management. But it also urgently needs to
expand access to four-year college degrees. The state’s population is growing and
diversifying, with a half-dozen new high schools opening each year. But there are just three
public universities to accommodate the growth.
"’This is a tmiversity on the front line of dealing with a 300 million-person America going to
a 450-million person America," Crow says.
Schools in Mexico, Europe and Asia have enrolled 100,000 students or more, but traditional
American ones have topped out at around 50,000, excluding multi-campus state systems and
for-profit chains such as the University of Phoengx. Most have preserved a flagship campus
for the strongest students and channeled grc~vth elsewhere.
Crow doesn’t believe quality has to suffer when a university scales up to this size.
"In higher ed, tlmfs what people think is needed: to create this very grand school for the best,
and give everybody else generic campuses," Crow says. "’ We’re like, ’Why?’"
And so, ASU is a place of e~aordinary variety. There is a growing roster of high-profile
faculty doing cutting-edge research, working alongside instructors in more vocational
programs like golf-course management. There’s an elite honors college for exceptional
students, but it’s set within the larger u~versity that accepts 92 percent of its applicants.
Some critics says i~s a fantasy to think a university can simply ignore the quanity-vs.-quality
tradeoff.
"’ASU will very clearly get worse, much worse, not better, so long as they keep driving the
enrollment," says Geoffrey Clark, an anthropology professor and 35-year faculty veteran. He
says the tmiversity is overcrowded and has sold it soul for corporate sponsorship. ASU could
have become a distinguished public research uNversity like University of Califol~a, Los
Angeles, he says; instead Crow has turned it into just another state college.
"’ The new American university in my opinion is a fraud," Clark says." You can’t get big and
good at the same lime."
But even skeptics say that. if anyone can pull it off, it’s Crow.
After holding senior administrative jobs at Iowa State University and Columbia University,
06/05/2008
Page 9 of 10
Page 609
Crow came to ASU in 2002 and has been busy since _ building, rec~xtiting, ftmdraising and
lobbying, and generally kicking up the desert dust.
There’s a massive ne~v campus in downtown PhoenLx. Eight news schools within the
university have opened in the current academic year alone. There’s a new Biodesig~ Institute
that went from ideato functioning laboratory with 500 ~vorkers in just a fe~v years _ apace
unimaginable at many universities.
Crow has raised ASU’s prone substantially with donors, voters, the leNslature and the
regents, who have forked over new money and freedom to a school that tradilionally has
played second fiddle to the University of Arizona in Tucson.
He’s also brou~t in some top-shelf talent, a business school dean from Wharton business
school, a top fandraiser from Harvard. Wellington Reiter, the dean of the College of Design,
said he was chawn by" the chance of making a difference on a scale that was inconceivable
in a place like MIT," where he was a professor.
ASU has a strong record luring top students, too. Test scores are rising. They are lured with
sunshine and access to the sma!l classes of the Barrett Honors College. And they’re lured
with money.
Of the cash ASU a~vards as financial aid, nearly 80 percent is given on the basis of merit _
much of it for out-of-state students with good grades.
"’After visiting MIT and Harvard I just felt like a number," said Cary Anderson, a junior from
Apple VaBey, Minnesota. "Then I found out I can go here for nothing _ actually get paid to
go to school." Three personal phone calls from the dean sealed the deal.
Ambitious universities like ASU have faced c~tidsm for spending too much money to attract
bright students who improve a college’s academic ranking, but don’t necessarily need the
money to attend college. Rankings are clearly important at ASU: In an unusual arrangement,
Crow’s contract includes a $10,000 (euroT,490) incentive for boosting ASU’s standing in U.S.
News & World Report magazine’s rankings of the top U.S. schools.
But Crow says recruiting top students improves the intellectt~ atmosphere on campus _ and
that ASU is still backing up its commitment to widen the gate. About two-thirds of ASU’s
financial aid, evenififs awarded for merit, goes to students with need. The number of
students from the poore~ famihes has increased by about 500 percent since 2002 while the
number of black, native American and Hispanic students have all more than doubled over the
last decade.
ASU’s graduation rate is also improx4ng, though still a problem. Only 56 percent of freshmen
entering in 2000 had a degree by 2006. Rates for Hispanics (51 percent) and Native
Americans (23 percent) are lower still.
One ofthe key factors in strong graduation rates is close attention from facttlty. Thafs a
challenge here.
ASU’s student-faculty ratio is 22-1, and even then only 63 percent of faculty are tenured or
tenure-track; the others are lecturers, instructors and adjuncts. Overall spending per student is
low, largely because ASU has received comparatively little state support.
06/05/2008
Page 10 of 10
Page 610
In the School of Life Sciences, Professor Ronald Rutowski says faculty are trying to give the
!,000 or so majors, plus students from outside the department, an engaging experience in the
classroom. But capacity is crunched, with classes and labs oversubscribed and lecture halls in
short supply.
’" We’re trying," he says. But" there’s no question the demand far exceeds what we’re able to
offer at this point."
Honors college students get more pampered treatment and praise the ASU experience. Still,
some say they have concerns about the scale of growth.
Adding 30,000 students is "too much," said senior Taylor Jackson, a senior from
Hattiesburg, Miss." I wont the money will become even thinner and the class sizes will
become even larger."
Crow says ASU plans to hire 500 more faculty above the enrollment growth rate in the
coming years, which would improve its ratios. It also plans to add 6,000 new dormitory beds
over three years; Crony g~esses $1 billion (euro750 million) worth of new residence halls are
in the works. Students who live on-campus are typically more successful, so that could
improve the graduation rate.
But there will sti!l be thousands of students who have to commute, and are inevitably less
connected to the university.
"’ I wish I could be in the band and the Christian Bible groups here but I just don’t have time
for it," said Tim White, a geography maj or from nearby Glendale ~vho commutes from home
on Mondays and Wednesdays. He calls ASU’" satisfactory" but says he doesn’t really feel
like part of a community.
Crow says his goal is to build a great university, where greatness rubs offon and inspires
students in every comer of the institution _ and he insists ASU is on its way to making that
happen.
Still, some critics maintain ASU is growing too fast, d~ing too many things but none of them
well enough.
"’We’re increasin~y re154ng on part-timers, contract faculty, grad students, adjtmcts," says
Clark, the anthropology professor." And yet we’re ratcheting up tuition," which costs $4,690
(euro3,5 ! 0) for in-state students this year.
"" ASU students, or a good chunk of them, are going to be paying (four-year) university
tuition and they’ll be getting a (two-year) community college education for it."
06/05/2008
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~Nonresponsiv ]
Sent: March 23, 2007 8:22 AM
Subject: The Kinder, Gentler Summit (IHE)
The Kinder, Gentler Summit (IHE)

By Doug Lederman
Inside Hiqher Ed, March 23, 2007
When the history of the Spellings Commission and its aftermath is written - the real history, not the serialized, on-the-fly
version that’s been appearing in these pages for the last 18 months - one of the dominant themes is likely to be the alternating
conflic~ and concurrence between American higher education and its sometime foe and sometime friend, the Margaret Spellings-
led Education Department.
Since the education secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education issued its report last fall, the Education
Department has sent conflicting signals, often at the same time, about its goals and its strategies for changing higher education.
The "good cop" Education Department has proposed major increases in the Pell Grant Program and vowed, as Spellings
famously did at an accreditation forum the department held last November, to "do this with you, not to you."
Yet on other occasions, college leaders have very much felt as if the department was sticking it to them, proposing a
mammoth expansion of federal data collecting about student learning measures and financial aid, which the department has
apparently abandoned in the face of sharp criticism, and pursuing an aggressive approach to considering new federal rules on
accreditation ( see related article, which in many ways is a counterpoint to this one).
Heading into the much-antidpated summit Thursday at which department leaders brought together about 250 people to
craft an "action plan" for carrying out the Spellings Commission’s recommendations, college leaders and others weren’t sure
which Education Department would show up. Would federal officials try to cram a predetermined set of ideas down the throats of
the attendees, presenting it to them just so department officials could say they got signofffrom the masses? Or would there be,
as the department suggested, actual give and take, a legitimate discussion in which alternative approaches were considered,
changes made?
The ink is still wet, and given the previously mentioned conflict and concurrence routine, it may be unlikely to stick. But
most of those who were there agreed that Thursday’s event showed the department to be generally in good cop mode.
Spellings herself gave a speech in which she praised colleges much more than she typically does and focused much more
heavily on the parts of the commission’s agenda that advocates for students and campus officials endorse (the need to expand
access and financial aid for low-income and minority students) than on the calls for more accountability and transparency and
threats of federal policy making that trouble many of them.
rvbre importantly, at the end of the day, department officials acknowledged that pafficipants in the summit had (in their
closed-door working group sessions) proposed many changes in the proposed recommendations that department officials had
put forward at the start of the summit, and they promised they would take the changes to heart. And department leaders said that
the dialogue that unfolded during the day would continue as they decided on their next steps.
’1 don’t know at this minute what we’re going to do next," said Sara Martinez Tucker, the under secretary, who was the
day’s master of ceremonies. "We have a lot of distilling to do" of the many recommendations that emerged. "But we’re not going
to violate the process that we created today, which is open dialogue." Spellings herself added: "We don’t intend to end this
engagement."
College leaders seemed to appreciate the department’s open approach. Carol Geary Schneider, president of the
Association of American Colleges and Universities, said she believed a "significant amount of good will" built up among summit
participants as the day went on. And Les Garner, president of Cornell College, in Iowa, commended Spellings for "bringing us
together, helping us start talking to each other again."
Page 612
That sort of upbeat vibe would have been hard to predict at the start of the day. Many summit participants were put out that
they had not seen any materials before they arrived, and when they finally did see the initial set of "recommended actions" that
small ’V¢orking groups" of summit participants had quietly put together in the weeks leading up to the event (and been told not to
share), they did not like some of what they saw. The four recommendations on "increasing need-based aid for access and
success," for example, did not mention any role for the federal government at all, focusing on the need for states, institutions and
the private sector to increase their emphasis and investment in such aid.
As Tucker sent the 250 or so participants offto the working group sessions at which they were supposed to review the
initial list of proposed "action items," to use the corporate lingo that dominated much of the day, she insisted that they should not
hold back. "Kick the heck out of the tires," she said. "Bat anything around, with no sacred cows."
Those larger working group sessions included the members of the smaller groups that had framed the initial
recommendations plus 20 or 30 additional summit participants (but no reporters, who were barred from sitting in - so much for
transparency). Participants described the sessions as spirited and substantive, and in the late afternoon, when the heads of the
various working groups reported back to the larger assemblage, it was clear that the recommended actions had been
significantly transformed, and in many cases expanded.
Tally Hart, Ohio State University’s senior adviser for economic access, who headed the financial aid group, said that its
members had inserted the need for the federal government to continue to increase its spending on need-based aid, above and
beyond the much-touted increase in the Pell Grant Program that President Bush proposed in his budget for 2008 and beyond.
qhere must be a net increase in need-based aid," Hart said, not just "what may appear as just shitting numbers among
programs" - a reference, it seemed to criticism that the Bush budget would increase Pell spending in part by cutting money for
other financial-aid programs.
Thomas C. Meredith, Mississippi’s commissioner of higher education, said the working group he headed, on "enhancing
affordability, decreasing costs and promoting productivib/," felt obliged to significantly alter the recommendations the smaller
group had made initially. Meredith said its participants felt the need to answer the question of "why on earth would faculty and
administrators and presidents take on this whole thing of trying to cut costs and be more efficient? This is a painful kind of
operation. Why would they do this on their own?°
The answer, participants in the session agreed, he said, was if the rewards for institutions changed. Instead of being
receiving funds "based on warm bodies," the group proposed, public colleges should get incentives and rewards if they improve
their attainment rates and learning of their students. The group also called for bringing together a new collection of
"professionals" to help deal with the "touchy topic of common data° that might be used to measure how well colleges are
performing. His point seemed to be that moving too fast to hold colleges accountable for their performance, without letting
experts define the best ways of measuring, would be a mistake.
Geri Hockfield Malandra, vice chancellor for strategic management at the University of Texas System, said her group’s
discussion on the use of accreditation to drive more emphasis on student learning outcomes focused on how accredltors could
encourage colleges to do more, without imposing a "one size fits all" approach.
The panel offered a range of suggestions - such as incentive funds for 100 colleges to work with accrediting bodies and
state agencies to publish "annual assessment reports of institutional outcomes in a public-friendly way" - aimed at "creating
ownership at the institutional level for using student learning outcomes." The group, she said, hoped the vadous practices ’~vould
create an upsurge of interest in participating voluntarily in the developments we’re recommending."
That sort of language, the cooperative spirit of the day’s discussions, and Tucker’s vow that the department would continue
it going forward left many of the summit’s participants in an upbeat mood as some of them headed to the White House for a
reception. But there were divisive developments on the hodzon.
Some private college officials were troubled by the fact that a "steering committee" the department put together to advise
Spellings and Tucker as they continue to carry out the commission’s recommendations (the group is meeting this morning)
contained not a single representative of independent colleges (the closest person is Schneider of the Association of Amedcan
Colleges and Universities, whose members are split 50150 publictprivate). The steedng committee - which Charles Miller, who
headed the Spellings Commission and is on the new panel, described as part sounding board and part a vehicle to build grass-
roots support - contains eight businessmen or women, six state officials, assorted others and just three college officials (a list
appears below).
And late Thursday, the department circulated proposed changes it would make in federal rules on accreditation, which
would not only require accreditors to force the institutions they assess to report how they perform on learning outcomes, but also
demand that the accreditors judge independently whether the institutions are performing well enough, by setting minimum
standards.
That language, which would seem to conflict with all the cheery discussion of’~oluntary" approaches at Thursday’s
Page 613
meeting, could well undo at least some of the good will generated at the summit.
Jim Applegate, vice president of academic affairs, Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education
David Armstrong, chancellor, Florida Community College System
Haley Barbour, governor, lVississippi
Craig Barrett, chairman of the board, Intel Corp.
Ralph H. Baxter Jr., CEO and partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliff
Stephanie Bell-Rose, managing director, Goldman Sachs; founding president, Goldman Sachs Foundation
Erskine B. Bowles, president, University of North Carolina
Jim Boyle, College Parents of America
Donald Carcieri, governor, Rhode Island
Constantine (Deno) Curris, president, American Association of State Colleges and Universities
Susan Dell, co-founder and chairman, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation
Allan Golston, president, U.S. program, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
William Green, CEO, Accenture
Suzanne Nora Johnson, vice chairman, Goldman Sachs
Frank Keating, president and CEO, American Council of Life Insurers; former governor, Oklahoma
Martha Lamkin, president and CEO, Lumina Foundation
Charles Miller, private investor, former chairman, Commission on the Future of Higher Education
Geanie Morrison, state representative, Texas
Charles Reed, chancellor, California State University System
Raul Romero, president and CEO, Alliance Consulting Group
-I]m Pawlenty, governor, Minnesota
Tad Perry, executive director, South Dakota Board of Regents
Carol Geary Schneider, president, Association of American Colleges and Universities
Mark Yudof, chancellor, University of Texas System.
Page 614
Nonrespons
Sent: March 22, 2007 8:38 AM
Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Tovmsend L; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Simon,
Ray; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken; Quarles, Karen;
Bannerman, Kristin; Watkins, Tiffany; Sampson, Vincent
Cc: Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey;, Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subjec{: Possible Changes To No Child Left Behind (AP)
Possible Changes To No Child Left Behind (AP)

AP, March 22, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) - Four Virginia congressmen introduced bills Wednesday to give school districts a one-year grace
period to comply with a federal lawthat requires children who are learning English to take the same reading tests as their native-
speaking peers.
A number of school boards have passed resolutions in recent months expressing their f~ustration with the measure - a
provision of the No Child Lett Behind Law - and some divisions have signaled their intent not to test students with limited English
ability.
In response, a top U.S. Department of Education official said last month in Richmond that Virginia school divisions would
lose federal funding for not complying with the provision.
The No Child Left Behind Common Sense Rexibility Legislation, sponsored by Sens. John Warner and Jim Webb in the
Senate and Reps.
Tom Davis and Jim Moran in the House, would give "hold armless"
status to school districts in states like Virginia that have had their 2006-2007 testing plans deemed invalid by the federal
education department.
The states and local school districts would not face sanctions, but would have to come up with a federally approved reading
test for the 2007-2008 school year, Warner spokesman John Ullyot said.
Reps. Ric Boucher, Jo Ann Davis, Frank Wolf and Bob Goodlatte also signed on as co-sponsors in the House.
The schools and districts "are being set up for potential failure because of bureaucratic logistical problems," Warner wrote
in a statement entered into the Senate record. "Common sense begs for a reasonable solution."
To qualify, school divisions would have had one or more approved academic assessment plans in 2005-2006 and had one
or more of such plans held invalid by the U.S. Department of Education for the 2006-2007 school year.
Governors also would have to certify that the state cannot effectively train educators on an alternative assessment prior to
the testing date.
Virginia’s 2006-2007 state assessment reading tests - declared invalid in June - are scheduled to be given next month.
The legislation is supported by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy K. Cannaday and state
Board of Education president Mark Emblidge, Warner said.
State education officials asked in December for a one-year extension on developing a new test, but that was denied in
January
by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
"Students in our schools should not suffer because government officials can’t work out their disagreements," Davis said in a
statement.
NCLB seeks to have all students, regardless of race, poverty or disability, proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014.
It calls for students to be tested in math and reading in the third through eighth grades and once in high school, and it
requires schools to show annual progress in test scores. If schools fail to show progress by each of numerous student subgroups
-including children who have limited English proficiency -they face being labeled as failing schools.
Page 615
Nonresponsj
Sent: March 22, 2007 8:37 AM
Ray; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Tracy WH; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Margaret Spellings On The American Dream (Forbes)
Margaret Spellings On The American Dream (Forbes)

By Tara Weiss
Forbes, March 22, 2007
Margaret Spellings is the U.S. secretary of education, the first mother of school-aged children to serve in that position. Prior
to her tenure as education secretary, Spellings served as assistant to the president for domestic policy, where she helped create
the No Child Left Behind Act.
What is the American Dream?
What is the American Dream? The answers are as diverse as the American people themselves. But a common theme is
opportunity. And the key to opportunity is education.
F~ve years ago, President Bush and a bipartisan Congress came together to improve education and increase opportunity
for all Americans. The No Child Le~ Behind Act was our national commitment to educate every child, regardless of race,
ethnicity, disability, income level or zip code. The law pledged to have all children read and do math at grade level by no later
than 2014. A child who can read is a child who can learn, in any subject.
It is difficult to achieve the American Dream without a diploma. Students who drop out of school make the "million-dollar
mistake"-the average difference in lifetime earnings between a dropout and a bachelor’s degree recipient. About a third of all
students and half of African-American and Hispanic students do not graduate from high school on time. Many say they were not
sufficiently challenged. Rigorous coursework is needed to prepare students for success in the wodd. We are also taking steps to
make higher education more affordable, accessible and accountable to the people it serves.
The world has changed. About 90% of the fastest-growing jobs now require post-secondary education or training. An
increasing number are in the challenging fields of math, science and technology, such as advanced manufacturing and health
care. Young Americans are competing for these jobs not just with one another, but with the world. If we recognize and prepare
for this reality, we can help make the American Dream a reality for generations to come.
Page 616
~,,=onresponsi
Sent: March 22, 2007 8:36 AM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Landers, Angela; Evers, Bill; Colby, Chad; Williams, C:ynthia;
Scheessele, Marc; Mcnitt, Towqsend L; Beaton, Meredith; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Simon,
Subject: Making College-Savings Process Easier (WSJ)
Making College-Savings Process Easier (WSJ)

By Jilian Mincer
The Wall Street Journal, March 22, 2007
Two New Web Tools Can Guide Families Through the Maze
Families now have two more Intemet tools to help them save and pay for college.
One new online tool will enable students and their families to determine more easily whether they will be eligible for federal
financial aid for college. Called FAFSA4caster, it was unveiled yesterday by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and will
be available April 1.
Earlier in the week, the College Savings Plans Network launched a new Web site to help families compare 529 college
savings plans.
FAFSA4caster comes in response to recommendations made by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The
bipartisan group had recommended streamlining the college-aid application process to help families plan for college. It also had
suggested cutting in half the time it takes to apply for federal student loans, and helping students learn about their aid eligibility
before their senior year of high school.
The new site, which will be available at www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov, will help families determine eligibility for federal
aid, how much the family will be expected to contribute to college and whether the family will be eligible for the Federal Pell Grant
Program, which can provide more than $4,000 for college expenses and which doesnt have to be repaid.
FAFSA4caster should make it easier for students to file the notoriously complex application form for federal aid, known as
Fafsa (the acronym for Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Researchers have estimated that 1.5 million U.S. college
students who were likely eligible for federal Pell grants didn’t apply for aid in 2004. About 11 million students filled out the Fafsa
form in 2005-2006. Now, users of FAFSA4caster will have their information transferred to the application.
The Department of Education expects the new site to be available in Spanish on April 29. And it plans to release an
updated version in September, with expanded features. For one thing, the next release would provide some case studies to help
students determine how much state and college aid they could expect to receive.
Amid rising college costs, legislators have been focusing more attention on the student-aid process. On Tuesday, House
lawmakers introduced a bill that aims to simplify the application form for federal financial aid for college.
The College Board has estimated that the average annual cost of tuition and fees at a four-year private college is $22,218
in 2006-2007. The estimated average cost for fees and tuition for in-state students at public institutions is $12,796.
For families interested in 529 plans, the College Savings Plans’ Web site, which has been in the works for about a year, will
"provide a noncommercial site" comparing different state 529 plans," said Jackie Williams, executive director of the Ohio Tuition
Trust Authority and chairwoman of the College Savings Plans Network. The Web site is funded and coordinated by the College
Savings Plans Network, an affiliate of the National Association of State Treasurers.
So-called 529 plans, named for the section of the Internal Revenue Service code under which they were created, are
popular college-savings vehicles monitored by individual states. Investments in them can be withdrawn free of federal taxes as
long as the money is spent on higher education. But plans in different states are run by different financial firms, and can have
different investment options, expenses and tax ramifications. The differences can be confusing to investors.
The site recommends that investors consider their home state plan first because about 30 states provide tax and other
benefits to in-state investors.
"It helps to filter plans based on things that are important to you," said Ms. Williams.
Page 617
Write to Jilian Mincer at jilian.mincer@dowjones, com 1
Page 618
Nonresponsi
(b)( ~e°nl~:: .............................
, ~-t]fl~ii ii ~ ~ ~1-~ii ~1 .........................
March 22, 2007 5:44 AM
]
Dorfman, C~thia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox,
Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca;
Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska,
Zeff, Ken
Subject: Summit Thursday on higher education (USAT)
Summit Thursday on higher education

By ~ary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY
WASH]]qGTON m Education Secretary ~rgaret Spellings will convene a summit Thursday aimed
at building consensus among higher education stakeholders as they chart a road map for
reform.
More than 300 people, including college presidents, corporate CEOs and congressional
representatives, wil! be asked to share views on how to move forward on 25 items
identified by the department as having the greatest potential to improve higher education.
The list grew out of recommendations by a controversial Spellings-appointed commission

last year that concluded, among other things, that college tuition is too high, graduation
rates are too low, poor and non-traditiona! students are not being well served by the
higher education system, and nobody really knows what college students actually learn.
The department already has responded to some concerns.

One ~ras that families can’t get financial information soon enough in the college search
process. On April i, the department will launch a tool to help families predict how much
federal aid to expect before their children graduate from high school.
In an effort to make the college search process more user-friendly, Spellings will
announce Thursday a pi!ot pro~ect in which three states (Kentucky, Florida and Minnesota),
each supported by $i00,000 in federal money, will create or upgrade websites so different
types of students (returning adults, say, or community college transfers) can compare
institutions.
Spellings says the federal government can’t -- and won’t m direct reform efforts: "We have
to have ownership in the community."
Even so, some in higher education worry that items on the table involving transparent
measures for college comparison suggest that already-voiced concerns seem to have gone
largely unheeded.
"We support a lot of the (commission’s)

recommendations," says Robert Berdahl, president of the Association of American
Universities, which represents 60 U.S. research universities. But "in order to get buy-in,
(Education Department officials) have to make certain that they are truly listening to
what is being said. I think there’s a fear that they’re not listening carefully."
We won’t tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV’s Guilty
Pleasures list.
http://tv.yahoo, com/collections/265
Page 619
Nonresponsi!
March 22, 200g 5:30 AM
kevin f. sullivan@who.eop.gov; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs,
Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers,
Bill; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings,
Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Simon, Ray; Reich, Heidi; rob
Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Subject: David Broder: Battling the ’No Child’ Backlash (WP)
Battling the ’No Child’ Backlash

By David S. Broder
Thursday, March 22, 2007; A21
The last thing President Bush needs is another fight with his political base. But that is
what he has found as he presses Congress to renew the No Child Left Behind Act, his
signature education program passed by a bipartisan majority in the first months of his
first term.
Last week, 57 Republican legislators signed on as sponsors of legislation that would -- in

the view of the administration -- destroy No Child Left Behind.
The bill would allow any state that objected to the law’s standards and testing to excuse
itself from those requirements and still receive federa! school aid.
The sponsors, who include Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the House GOP whip, and Sen. Mel
Martinez of Florida, the chairman of the Republican National Contmittee, say the measure is
needed to curb federa! interference in loca! schools.
The backlash against No Child Left Behind h~s been building almost from the moment it was
enacted in the winter of 2001-02 as one of Brush’s first legislative successes.
By requiring annua! tests in the elementary grades in English and math and by demanding
that schools show that all students, regardless of background, are making progress toward
proficiency, the program sought to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities and lift
overall performance toward world-class standards.
But parents complained that the emphasis on testing basics was narrowing the curriculum
for bright students and that the rankings were not making allowances for the poverty or
language limitations of many kids who were failing.
Teachers and their unions, especially the big National Education Association, asserted
that they were being unfairlyregimented and penalized by the application of the new law
-- and also challenged the evidence that it was improving student performance.
These are not trivial concerns, and the Republican effort to change the law shows that
politicians have been hearing and heeding the complaints. But the remedy they are
recommending seems drastic -- and the abandonment of the first serious nationa! effort to
raise standards in the schools would be disastrous.
Under the Republican proposal, states could, at their omq% initiative, opt out of the law’s
requirements while continuing to receive their share of the billions the federal
government .invests in elementary and secondary schools. To measure progress in the
schools, states could use their own standards.
As Chester E. Finn Jr., a conservative who once worked for the late senator Daniel Patrick
Mo!rnihan, and a group of other education specialists wrote recently, most state standards
"were mediocre-to-bad ten years ago," before No Child Left Behind, "and most are mediocre-
to-bad today. They are generally vague, politicized, and awash in wrongheaded fads and
nostrums. With a few exceptions, states have been incapable (or unwilling) to set clear,
coherent standards, and develop tests with a rigorous definition of proficiency."
Finn and his colleagues at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, an education think tank, are
Page 620
critical of No Child Left Behind and the Education Department for getting too deeply
enmeshed in the day-to-day routine of schools, instead of emphasizing the goal of
proficiency in key subjects and encouraging states to find their own best methods of
teaching, then testing for results.
As the legislation comes up for renewal, thoughtfu! legislators of both parties, such as
Ted Kem_nedy, George Miller, Buck McKeon and Mike Castle, are working with ~4mrgaret
Spellings, the secretary of education, to apply the lessons of the past to the specific
provisions for the future.
The president, who has disdained compromise with the Democrats on Iraq policy, or the
budget, or much of anything else, finds himself dependent on Democratic help to rescue
this notable domestic initiative. He is lucky that they are still willing to give it.
There are ways to reinforce the goals of high proficiency for al! students while reducing
the bureaucratic regulations, and that should be the measuring stick for renewal of No
Child Left Behind.
But the dissenting Republicans’ idea of letting every state set its own standards and
measure its o~Tn progress is a certain way to consign many youngsters to second-class
educations. And that would be a serious step backward.
davidbroder@washpost.com
Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check.

Try the Yahoo[ Mail Beta.
http://advision, webevents.yahoo, com/mailbeta/newmail tools.html
Page 621
Nonresponsiv
Sent: March 21, 2007 7:48 AM
Ray; Tada, Wendy; Halaska, Terrell; Young, Tracy; ’tracy_d.__young@who.eop.gov’; Zeff, Ken
Subject: Policymakers’ Agenda: Cut Through Red Tape Of Befuddling College Aid Form (AP)
Policymakers’ Agenda: Cut Through Red Tape Of Befuddling College Aid Form (AP)
By Justin Pope
AP, March 21, 2007
The Department of Education and Congress seem ready to take another swipe at a task they’ve straggled with for years:
simplifying the befuddling form that ! 4 million students a year fill out to apply for federal financial aid for college.
Despite some improvements over the years, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid - or FAFSA - still runs eight
pages including instructions and 101 questions. That’s longer than most tax returns.
The Department of Education has estimated it takes an hour to complete, but one study claims it’s more like 10. Some
students simply give up, forfeiting aid such as Pell Grants, worth up to $4,310 next year and subsidized student loans they may
be entitled to receive.
How to simplify the form - and get students information eadier about their eligibility - will be among the major topics on the
agenda Thursday when Education Secretary Margaret Spellings convenes a summit in Washington. The purpose of the meeting
is to implement recommendations made last year by a national commission on higher education.
The commission called for simplifying the FAFSA, as well as broader forms and efficiencies in the 20 separate student aid
programs run by the federal government.
Ahead of that summit, the department planned to announce on Wednesday a new online "FAFSA4caster" tool, debuting
April 1, that will let students know before they graduate from high school how much aid to expect. Officials hope students who
thought college was too expensive might reconsider, while others will see how much they’ll have to cull from other sources before
it’s too late.
’The folks we need to reach are people who may think college is not an option for them because of a lack of affordability -
they dont know how to jump on," Spellings told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Democrats introduced legislation Tuesday in Congress that would allow students to apply early for aid, and
would create a two-page FAFSA-EZ form, a simplified version similar to the IRS’ 1040-EZ
’If you can figure this out, you should just go to graduate school," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., of the current FAFSA.
"Forget the four years of college."
The proposal also calls for students to be able to choose to have family tax data transferred directly from the IRS to the
Department of Education. That could reduce errors and cut 31 questions from the current FAFSA, according to a new report by
the Institute for College Access and Success, an independent nonprofit group.
The confusion surrounding the FAFSA is more than just an inconvenience. One study has estimated 1.5 million low-income
students who would have been eligible for Pell Grants in 2004 didn’t complete the form.
Colleges, meanwhile, spend countless hours helping students negotiate the paperwork and an estimated $400 million
verifying that tax data has been transferred correctly, as required by the Education DeparfJnent.
Tying in the tax data ’~vould eliminate a lot of long lines, a lot of frustrations on the part of the students as well as the
counselor," said LaFawn Green, a student at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla.
Still, history suggests there’s no panacea for cutting the FAFSA’s red tape. The document has shed 10 pages and dozens
of questions over the years, and 96 percent are now filed online (though there’s a paper worksheet to do first). But more
questions haven’t been cut for fear it would mean less aid for some students.
And cutting questions wouldn’t necessarily reduce paperwork. Dallas Martin, president of the National Association of
Student Financial Aid Administrators, notes how states and colleges depend on the FAFSA to calculate their own financial aid
awards, so they need it to collect enough information.
Page 622
’We don’t want to go back and complicate the system again, and make it so people again have to go back and fill out two
or three forms" to get money, he said. "It sounds simple until you start walking through the details. ~
Transferring the data from the IRS could solve that problem, though there have been worries about feasibility. But Lauren
Asher, co-author of the report for the Institute of College Access and Success, notes theiRS has started providing tax
information to other third parties - for instance, allowing taxpayers to have their information shared directly with mortgage
brokers. Providing it to FAFSA processors should be simple.
An IRS spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday.
Asked about the Democratic proposal, Spellings said she was pleased there’s a "consensus around the need to have a
vastly improved system." But she said involving the IRS would do little good without more fi.~ndamental reforms.
’While we need to take steps and certainly this is a step, we certainly need to think more comprehensively," she said. "We
simply have to get more kids to college."
On the Net:
Education Department FAFSA site: www.fafsa, ed.gov/
Institute for College Access and Success: www.ticas.org/index.php
Page 623
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Sent: March 19, 2007 8:49 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Cadello, Dennis; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dunn, David;
Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Neale,
._,voung@who.eop.gov; Tucker, Sara Mar~inez; Williams, Cynthia; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Comyn Diverges From White House - Slightly (DMN)
The answer is clear enough, since Mr. Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, another Texan, prefer the law as
it stands.
"Secretary Spellings is a little perturbed with me," Mr. Cornyn said.
Cornyn Diverges From White House - Slightly (DiMIN)

By Todd J. Gillman, The Dallas Morning News Tgillman@dallasnews.com
The Dallas Mominq News, March 19, 2007
Senator splits on fidngs of attorneys, education; some see election ploy
WASHINGTON - Sen. John Cornyn has proved himself time and again to be one of President Bush’s fiercest defenders.
It’s endeared him to conservatives, but the cachet of being the president’s man in Congress isn’t what it used to be.
Last week, Mr. Comyn broke ranks. He criticized the attorney general over the handling of politically tinged firings of
prosecutors. And he took on the president on education policy, pushing a No Child Le~t Behind overhaul that would undo federal
testing requirements at the heart of a signature Bush program.
Is he trying to put an unpopular president at arm’s length as he gears up for his nex~ campaign?
"Reminds me of the song - ’Darned if l Do, Danged if l Don’t’," Mr. Cornyn said Friday. "1 get criticized for being too close to
the president and my friends at the White House, and when I take positions that conflict with theirs, then it must be part of some
calculated move to distance myself.
"1 don’t feel the need to prove that I’m my own guy, because I think I am," he said.
Ongoing worries
Others disagree. Analysts and Democrats say that even Mr. Comyn, loyal as he’s been, can’t ignore the president’s
flagging poll numbers forever. Ongoing worry about the war has some Republicans anxious about Mr. Cornyn’s prospects,
though Democrats have yet to find a viable opponent for 2008.
"1 don’t see him distancing himself at all from the White House. He’s just representing his Texas base," said Bill Crocker,
one of two Texas Republicans on the party’s national committee, adding that it’s natural to see "small differences" develop
between a Texas senator and a Texas president. He expects a "tough race" next year for Mr. Comyn.
Bush political guru Karl Rove recruited the former Texas attorney general to run when Phil Gramm retired. Genial,
quotable, energetic and dependably conservative, Mr. Cornyn has catapulted to the top ranks of GOP senators, claiming the No.
5 leadership slot as conference vice chairman a few months ago.
On the Judiciary Committee, he emerged as White House point man on judicial nominations and an ally on immigration
reform, though he and Mr. Bush split last year on details of a potential guest worker program. During the 2002 campaign against
Ron Kirk, the former Dallas mayor, he managed to cite few areas of disagreement with the president; the most notable was
criticism of Vice President Dick Cheney’s secret energy task force.
Attorney firings
A more severe split became apparent last week over revelations of White House involvement in the firing of eight U.S.
attorneys. Attorney General AI Gonzales - like Mr. Cornyn, a former Texas Supreme Court justice - had assured Congress that
there was no political influence. A newly uncovered e-mail trail has pointed to Mr. Rove.
’q-here’s a perception that the White House is calling the shots," Mr. Cornyn said last Monday in Dallas, adding that he was
"disappointed" in Mr. Gonzales. The next day, at a news conference with Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-VL, to
promote a new open-government bill, he went further.
’q-he appearances are troubling," Mr. Cornyn said. "I’m concerned ....This has not been handled well." And the final blo~
"In Texas, we believe in having a fair trial and then we have the hanging."
Page 624
What he meant was that guilt shouldnt be pre-judged, he said later. And he wont join the chorus of Democrats and a few
Republicans calling for Mr. Gonzales’ resignation. Still, he said, "I’m pretty upset" that Congress was misled.
He’s also irked by revelations that the FBI improperly used the Patriot Act to seize personal records of thousands of people
- suggesting, Mr. Comyn said, "serious management and accountability problems."
Democrats see fear
Democrats see a political calculus at work.
’I think it’s pretty indicative of a senator who’s running scared," said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie. "He
has recognized the danger that he is in when he has been such a rubber stamp for the presidenL"
A go-to defender of the administration for IV talk shows, Mr. Comyn was stung by a Washington Post story a month ago
suggesting he’s clung unquestioningly to the Bush administration line.
He’s adamant that his loyalty hasn’t been blind, but said, "There’s no coincidence that two Texas conservatives happen to
see eye to eye on a lot of things."
That said, Mr. Cornyn has shown an unprecedented interest in the last month in teaming with Democrats - with Sen.
Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts on tobacco deregulation; with Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois on pressuring Sudan to
end genocide in Darfur, and with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein to ensure that homeland security funds go to states at highest
risk.
Democrats are skeptical about the depth of Mr. Cornyn’s supposed independent streak. They noted his unwavering support
for White House Iraq policy, which he displayed again last week when - as he’s done countless times - he took to the Senate
floor to decry the Democrats’ "slow bleed" strategy.
’If you want to look at anyone in the Senate who has been a supporter of everything the president has done, he stands out
as example No. 1," said Matt Miller, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
On No Child Left Behind, Mr. Comyn is hardly the only Republican to oppose the presiden[ As Congress gears up to
debate the future of Mr. Bush’s signature domestic program, dozens of COP lawrnakers- including the No. 2 COP House
leader, Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri - are pushing a plan that would let states opt out of testing rules.
Mr. Cornyn portrays it as an effort to cut red tape, and contends his stance is more Bush-like than the president’s, given
that state flexibility was part of the original Bush plan, until it was dropped in negotiations with Mr. Kennedy, the chief Democratic
sponsor, in 2002.
"1 don’t know if that gets me in trouble for agreeing with him, or disagreeing with him," Mr. Cornyn joked.
The answer is clear enough, since Mr. Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, another Texan, prefer the law as
it stands.
"Secr~ary Spellings is a little perturbed with me," Mr. Comyn said.
Page 625
Nonrespons
Sent: March 19, 2007 8:45 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Cariello, Dennis; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dunn, David;
Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Neale,
Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell, Julie; Toom ey, Liam; tracy_d.
Subject: Reading First editorial (LVS NV)
"Schools have already chosen their reading programs, and Spellings’ revisions have come too late to help. Still, Reading First’s
shortcomings and conflicts illustrate some of the reasons Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act is a poorly crafted lawthat should not
be renewed in its current form."
Editorial: Accountability First (LVS NV)

Las Vegas Sun, March 17, 2007
Bush’s Reading First program shows problems of No Child Left Behind Act
The Bush administration’s Reading First literacy program for schools serving children from low-income families has been
previously criticized by federal auditors and also came under fire in Congress this week as lawmakers discussed reaL~horization
of the program’s funding.
Reading First, which is at the heart of Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act that is up for renewal, dedicates $1 billion a year to
seeking out scientifically proved, research-based programs for improving reading education. The money pays for teacher training
and materials to be used in schools that serve low-income families.
But audits by the Education Department’s inspector general showthat Reading First has been riddled with mismanagement
and conflicts of interest, pushing lucrative federal contracts to untested reading programs and materials created by former
employees or friends of the Bush administration.
Reading First has relied largely on the work of private contractors who chaired the panels that awarded federal grants to
states for various literacy programs. But often these contractors, while working for the federal government, also were paid
royalties by the creators of untested reading curriculums and texts that were chosen and recommended to states through the
program.
The inspector general also found that Reading First officials failed to properly screen curriculums for scientific validity or
make certain that grant guidelines were followed.
According to a recent story by The Washington Post, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings told a Senate subcommittee
that she was adopting all of the recommendations made by the department’s inspector general, which included removing
program leaders and hiring additional employees so that fewer outside contractors would be used.
Spellings promised to create an outside advisory council to oversee the program and promised that the Education
Department’s general counsel would examine the records of contractors accused of having conflicts of interest. Those
determined to present actual conflicts would be removed.
We are skeptical that the Education Department’s leadership is capable of convening an objective outside advisory council
or has the ability to recognize wha~ constitutes an actual conflict of interest, seeing as how such conflicts were allowed to exist for
more than five years.
Schools have already chosen their reading programs, and Spellings’ revisions have come too late to help. Still, Reading
First’s shortcomings and conflicts illustrate some of the reasons Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act is a poorly crafted lawthat
should not be renewed in its current form. It is a travesty that private gain and favoritism were allowed to take precedence over
such an important task as teaching poor children to read.
Page 626
N rfn.~i
ve From: Neale, Rebecca
Sent: March 19, 2007 8:43 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Cadello, Dennis; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dunn, David;
Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Neale,
Subject: Opposing Viewpoints: Spellings vs. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Opposing Editorials: Spellings vs. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

No Child Left Behind? (MJS)
By Margaret Spellings
IVilwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 18, 2007
Actually, it’s working and needs to be renewed so more good can be done
This is a critical time in American education.
Five years ago, with No Child Left Behind, we made a historic commitment to have every child learning on grade level by
2014.
We shifted our national conversation to focus not only on how much we’re spending but to ask also how well students are
performing.
Instead of just inputs, we’re now looking at results and using data to drive decision-making, allocate resources and improve
education.., as others in fields from medicine to business to government have done.
Because we’re measuring student achievement, we know howfar we’ve come and where we need to improve.., from the
national level to individual schools and students.
My department’s National Education Report Card shows strong gains in the early grades, where we have focused our
efforts. Younger students have made more reading progress over five years than in the previous 28 combined.
African-American and Hispanic students are reaching all-time highs in reading and math. Achievement gaps between poor
and minority students and their peers are finally beginning to close.
More than 60,000 schools - over 70% overall - are meeting No Child Left Behind’s annual performance goals.
No Child Left Behind is working, and going forward, we must preserve the key principles of the law: high standards,
accountabilib/and the goal of every child on grade level by 2014.
At the same time, we can use the knowledge we’ve gained to strengthen and improve the law.., continuing the workable,
common-sense approach that were developed together with states.
Now that we’ve identified the schools that are struggling the most, we must target resources and personnel accordingly.
And nowthat we’ve laid the groundwork for reform, we must raise the bar and better prepare all our students for college or the
work force.
To achieve these goals, our budget focuses on three key priorities: improving chronically underperforming schools;
increasing resources and rigor in our high schools, especially in math and science; and making college accessible and affordable
for every student who wants to attend.
Preliminary data shows roughly 2,000 schools are chronic underperformers that have been unable to reach standards for
five or more years.
And though many serve our neediest students, they’re often staffed by our least experienced teachers.
Our budget provides $500 million for school improvement such as hiring more teachers or, if necessary, reinventing the
school as a charter school.
We’ve also included heady $200 million to attract our most effective teachers to work in high-need schools and reward
them for results - an approach that’s been shown to help students and schools improve.
In addition, we offer immediate choices and options for families, including $250 million in Promise Scholarships and $50
million in Opportunity Scholarships for those who want to transfer to better-performing public or private schools or receive free
intensive tutoring.
Page 627
Next, we must increase rigor in our high schools, where every year, about a million students drop out ....Only about half of
our African-American and Hispanic students graduate on time.
A recent report by my department shows that even as high school grades have risen, student skill levels have actually
declined in recent years.., a troubling fact when we know that 90% of today’s fastest-growing jobs will require postsecondary
education.
That’s why we’ve increased high school funding dramatically, while protecting resources for younger students. We’ve also
included $365 million to strengthen math, science and rigor throughout the K-12 pipeline.
Finally, in addition to preparing young people for college, we must ensure they can afford it.
As Chairman (David) Obey (D-Wis.) has said, in our ever-more-competitive world, "Access to education ought to be based
on how much you are willing to learn and how hard you are willing to work, not on how many dollars your family has in their bank
account."
That’s why when we released our budget proposal last month, the president proposed the largest Pell grant increase in 30
years, raising the maximum award from $4,050 to $4, 600.
We’ve also increased funds for Academic Competitiveness and National SMART grants to $1.2 billion overall.
Together, these grants encourage students to take challenging high school coursework.., and to major in the math and
science-related fields that are foundation of today’s knowledge economy.
As you know, there’s a growing consensus around howto improve our schools ....
From parents to business leaders to the civil rights community, people across our country agree: We must address
inequalities within the system.., and we must better prepare all our students for college and the workforce.
As 9% investors in K-12 education, our role at the federal level is limited. But we can make a real difference for students by
targeting resources strategically.
We all agree that education is a top priority for our country’s future, and we all agree that we must produce a balanced
budget.
Bill Gates recently said, "Talent in this country is not the problem - the issue is political will."
I believe we have the will, and I look forward to working with you to ensure that our students have the knowledge and skills
they need to succeed.
Margaret Spellings is the U.S. secretary of education. This article was excerpted from her remarks Monday before the
House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.
No Child Left Behind? (MJS)

By Barbara Miner
lVilwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 18, 2007
Don’t renew an initiative that particularly hurts urban kids and school systems
Good o1’ Russ.
Wisconsin’s maverick senator is once again challenging Washington’s prevailing groupthink. This time, it’s not around
campaign finance reform, the USA Patriot Act or the war in Iraq but President Bush’s top domestic initiative - the No Child Left
Behind education reform.
Signed five years ago, NCLB unleashed an unprecedented federal mandate to test America’s school children until every
child’s fingers ached from holding those No. 2 pencils and filling in bubbles on computerized test sheets.
Bush garnered bipartisan support for NCLB by decrying "the soft bigotry of low expectations." But instead of higher
expectations, we have the harsh bigotry of false rhetoric.
Across America, teachers overwhelmingly complain that the law has narrowed the curriculum and promoted "teaching to
the test." Schools, told they must meet an unrealistic goal of continual progress toward all children being "proficient" by 2014
(and meanwhile facing unrelenting budget cuts), are being set up for failure.
Needless to say, it’s urban schools and kids of color that are most likely to be labeled as failing and to be subjected to
punitive sanctions.
NCLB is due to be reauthorized this year, and the time is right to highlight the laws wrongheaded approach and to promote
alternatives.
Unfortunately, most pundits and politicians are tripping over themselves to see who can crack the whip the hardest on our
slacker schools and students. Their approach can be summed up in five words: more tests and more sanctions.
Enter Russ Feingold with a breath of common sense.
Feingold spearheaded a letter by 10 Democratic senators in mid-February to the Senate education committee, noting, "We
have concluded that the testing mandates of No Child Left Behind in their current form are unsustainable and must be
Page 628
overhauled significantly during the reauthorization process beginning this year.

"While we all agree that states and districts should be held accountable for academic outcomes and continue working
toward closing the achievement gap among their students, federal education law should not take the form of a one-size-fits-all,
cookie-cutter approach."
The 1,100-page NCLB was passed a few months after Sept. 11, when the country’s attention was elsewhere. A
bureaucrat’s dream of matrices, goals, subgoals and rhetoric such as "Adequate Yearly Progress," it was billed as school reform
with a special focus on reducing the achievement gap.
But at heart it is a "test-and-punish" bill. This is one reason it has spawned a subindustry of clever nicknames; my favorites
are No Child Lett Untested and No Child’s Behind LeE
Its core mandates call for annual tests in reading and math in third through eighth grade and at least once in high school as
the sole way to measure a school’s success. Science tests are mandated beginning next year.
But forget about sufficient money to develop and give these tests, let alone money to reduce class sizes, expand curriculum
or improve teaching development.
Annual testing, however, is only the tip of NCLB’s cold-hearted, kids-as-testing-machines iceberg.
Perhaps Bush was listening to Paul Simon’s "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" when he dreamed up NCLB. Because his so-
called reform has no less than 40 ways in which a school can fail.
Under AYP (in case you’ve forgotten, bureaucratese for "Adequate Yearly Progress"), each school is judged by a matrix of
40 indicators tied to state test scores. And this matrix is just as confusing as the 1999 Keanu Reeves movie.
It outlines 10 student groups: total population, special education students, English language learners, white, African-
American, AsiantPacific Islander, Native American, Hispanic, other ethnicities and economically disadvantaged. In each
category, there are two mandates: 95% of students in each group must take the state test, and each group must make its AYP
target.
Any school that misses its target on either the reading or math test and in any subgroup is on the road to being labeled a
failure. If it does not get off the failing list, it is subject to increasingly punitive sanctions, including turning the school over to a for-
profit private management firm.
Last year, more than 25,000 schools - a quarter of all public schools - failed to meet their test targets.
I’m not a conspiracy buff, but I can understand why so many teachers believe NCLB was set up to systematically create the
impression that all our schools are failing and to sotten opposition to vouchers and!or for-profit companies running our public
schools.
Consider this example of "failure." Ridgewood High School in Bergen County, N.J., was placed on an early-warning list in
2003 for not meeting AYP. The school, nestled in an upper-middle-class suburb where the median household income is more
than $100,000, generally boasts SAT scores well above the national average.
The entire school failed AYP because three students did not take a required test, according to a story in The New York
Times. One student had let~ the school by the time the test was given, and the other two were in private schools financed by the
district that did not offer the tests.
In Wisconsin, 83% of the state’s superintendents believe that NCLB is not helping poor students and students of color -
those who were rhetorically misused to push through the law, according to a recent survey by the state teachers union and the
Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.
To date, Washington politicians have largely ignored such grass-roots dissatisfaction, somehow thinking that teachers and
superintendents and school boards have nothing valid to say about education reform.
Feingold’s letter is a welcome and necessary step forward to a reauthorized NCLB that does more than test and punish but
actually helps schools improve.
So do a favor for your child - or grandchild, cousin, niece or nephew - and send an e-mail of support to Feingold.
And make sure to send a copy to Sen. Herb Kohl.
Barbara Miner is a Milwaukee-based writer and columnist for Rethinking Schools magazine.
Page 629
L
Nonresponsi
Sent: March 15, 2007 6:49 PM
Kerri; Colby, Chad; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrelt; Johnson,
Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; McGrath, John; Mcnitt, Townsend
L; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray;
Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Subject: Lawmakers Eye Changes to Education Law (AP)
Lawmakers Eye Changes to Education Law

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD, AP Education Writer
Thursday, March 15, 2007
(03-15) 15:03 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --
President Bush’s signatt~e No Child Left Behind education law is headed for fundamental changes as Congress
rewrites it this year, including a likely softening of do-or-die deadlines.
School administrators long have complained about the annual deadlines, which punish schools that do not make
adequate progress toward having all children perform at their grade levels.
School officials also have rebelled at requirements that students with limited English ability or with learning
disabilities perform as well as their grade-level peers.
Now, those complaints are being taken up by lawmakers spanning the political spectrum.
Key Democrats who control the federal purse strings are demanding changes. Moderate Republicans say the law
must be more flexible. On Thursday, they were joined by dozens of GOP conservatives who want an even more
radical overhaul.
Lawmakers say a major fla~v is that schools that miss achievement targets by a little are treated the same way as
schools that miss those goals by a lot. Schools then are labeled as needing improvement and face the same
penalties.
"We can’t have one-size-fits-all," Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., said Thursday. He led a group of House and
Senate lawmakers in introdudng legislation that would let states opt out of No Child Left Behind requirements
without losing federal education money.
Currently, any state that does not adhere to the requirements of the $23 billion program carmot get the federal
dollars that come with it. The requirements include annual testing in math andreading in grades three through
eight, and once in high school. The tests must show steady yearly progress toward a goal of getting students
worldng on grade level by the year 2014.
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Ivlissouri is supporting the conservatives’ bill, even though he voted for
the law in 2001.
"The overriding intrusion in No Child Left Behind is too large to deal with unless you fundamentally change the
leNslation," Blunt said.
Page 630
A former education secretary, GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, said, "That’s a visceral reaction to too
much federal involvement in local schools."
Alexander is not backing Hoekstra and Blunt in their effort but said their concerns must be taken into account
when the law is rewritten.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has testified on Capitol Hill this week, hearing from Republicans and
Democrats who want changes.
Rep. James Waist, a senior member of the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees education
spending, wants the law loosened for schools that are failing due to the performance of immigrant students who
do not speak English fluently.
The government exempts students who are just learning English for less than a year from taking reading tests.
After that time, those students have to be tested and schools are held accountable for their scores.
"We’ve gotta find a better wayto test the progress of these kids," said Walsh, R-N.Y., who expressed the
popular view that a year is not long enough.
When groups of children, such as those learning English or special education students, fail to meet the law’s
achievement goals, entire schools can be labeled as failing and cotfld face consequences such as having to fire
their staffs -- which lawmakers say is unfair.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., also on the committee that oversees education spending, told Spellings she was
upset that some states have lowered the requirements for what students must be able to do on reading and math
tests to avoid the law’s penalties. That creates a situation where some states look like they are perfolrning well
when they may not be.
"We look like we’re doing a poor job when comparedto states that set the bar low," McCollum said.
The issue has led some lawmakers to call for national educational standards to be included in the law when it is
rewritten.
Spellings heard criticism from Wisconsin Democratic Rep. David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations
Committee, and Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, who heads the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that
oversees education spending. Both said they were upset about the law’s $1 billion reacting program called
Reading First.
An Education Department inspector general’s investi~tion found that people in charge of running the program
and reviewing grants had conflicts of interest and steered money toward certain publishers of reading curricula.
Spellings expressed concern that the program might be in jeopardy, saying, "I hope we don’t throw the baby out
with the bath water."
Rep. George Miller, D-Cali£, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who leadthe committees in charge of
rewriting the education law, have indicated they support the reading program but intend to make changes to it.
Page 631
Nonresponsi
From: Ditto, Trey
Sent: March 15, 2007 11:23 AM
To: McLane, Katherine; Private- Spellings, Margaret; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Colby,
Chad; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska, Terrell; Johnson, Henry; Kuzmich,
Holly; Landers, Angela; Madd~, Lauren; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pints,
Elizabeth; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert,
Kent; Toomey, Liam; ’Tracy Young’; ’Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy
Cc: Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subject: RE: Cal Thomas: Education renewal
N o nresf~~~~i~ Fh-dayin the W~hington -Tim es-al se-.-I- ........

ve Trey
.... Orig hal Message---

From: McLane,
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 :t:t :20
To: Privat~ - Spellings, Margaret; Beaten, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Colby, Chad; Dum, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Halaska,
Terrell; Johnscn, Henry; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; M~qitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitl~,
Elizabeth; Sara Martinez Tucker; Scheessele, Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Tabert, Kent; Toomey, Liam; Tr~y Young;
Williams, Cyn~ia; Young, Tracy
(~c: Ditto, Trey; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Terrell, Julie; Yudof, Samara
Subjed:: Cal thomas: Education renewal
E!ducation renewai
By Cal Thomas
Congress will soon decide whether to renew President Bush’s signature education program "No
Child Left Behind" (NCLB), the goal of which is to bring every public school student to grade level
in reading and math by 2014.
Though leaving no child behind may be a worthy goal politically and socially, some are
questioning whether it is an obtainable one. Robert L. Linn, co-director of the National Center for
Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA, recently told The Washington
Post, "There is a zero percent chance that we will ever reach a 100 percent target." Maybe not,
but the poet Robert Browning said that our reach should always exceed our grasp. By expecting
more, we get more from our institutions and ourselves than if we were to "settle" for less and get
less.
Still, after five years of NCLB, the statistics are not encouraging. According to the National
Assessment of Education Progress, between 1992 and 2005, there has been an increase in the
percentage of 12th-grade students who read below the basic level (from 20 percent to 27 percent
since the previous assessment). Only 23 percent of 12th-graders are performing at or above math
proficiency levels. As usual, the figures are worse for black and Hispanic students.
I asked U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings about this. She told me that half of the
slates waited until the 2005-’06 school year to do an annual assessment, but that 70 percent of
the nation’s 90,000 public schools "are meeting the requirements of NCLB. But for 1,800, which
are chronically year after year failing our kids, something more dramatic has to happen."
Page 632
That "something more" has included local government takeover of some school systems. In New
York and Chicago, as well as in the state of Florida, which Spellings describes as a "leader" in
education improvement, interesting things" are being done. Washington, D.C., is also debating
whether government should take over its poorly performing schools. Spellings said "the state of
affairs" in Washington schools is "not encouraging."
Spellings cited one major reason for underperformance I had not considered. When t was in
school, she noted, I was taught mostly by bright and accomplished women. As opportunities for
women in other professions opened up, many of the best and brightest teachers - and potential
teachers - left or chose other professions because they paid more. "The teachers’ unions," she
said, "always negotiate the same pay raises for everybody and the superstars say ’forget this, t’m
going where I will be recognized as a superstar.’"
Education in the United States continues to lag behind that of other nations. "When you go to
China or India," Spellings said, "they don’t sit around arguing about class size. They’re starving to
death and are motivated for education. We take all the advantages we have for granted." And
while America focuses too much on nonacademic subjects - sex education, driver’s education and
the environment - and not enough on what employers are looking for, some other nations are
graduating young people with real knowledge and skills of the kind we once produced.
A serious school choice program, not more money to subsidize underachievement, is one answer
to poor performance. Competition improves everyone’s product and service. It’s working in those
states and localities that have managed to nominally free themselves from the teachers’ unions,
which seek to maintain the education monopoly for political influence. Paying bonuses to the best
teachers is another good idea. According to Spellings, her department has provided $100 million
through 16 grants for that purpose. If corporations can pay their CEOs huge bonuses for failure,
why shouldn’t teachers be paid bonuses for achieving and surpassing education goals?
There is another point no one in government will address. It is that not all children are equally
intelligent. Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute raised this controversial issue
recently in a series of articles he wrote for The Wall Street Journal, in which he noted that half of
all children have below average intelligence and that "even the best schools under the best
conditions cannot repeal the limits on achievement set by limits on intelligence."
Politically, that argument has no traction and so we are left with renewing "No Child Left Behind,"
monitoring progress and paying bonuses to the best teachers. Now if we can just get real school
choice added to the mix, maybe even some of the less intelligent wan’t be left behind and we will
see even greater progress with the rest. With what we are spending on education, the adults
deserve a better product and the kids are entitled to a better education, which is their best chance
at a good life.
Page 633
NonresponsI
............................. kat’nerin e-rnclane!
May 10, 2007 6:4i AM
To: Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, KrislJn; Schray, Vickie; Duncke!, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kdstin; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; jeanie s.
_mamo@who.eop.gov; Manning, James; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Cagey;
Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly;
La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings,
Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Su~t: Spellings Faces Student Loan Questions (AP)
Spellings Faces Student Loan Questions

By N~ICY ZUCKERBROD
Thursday, H~y i0, 2007; 4:18 AM
WASHINGTON -- Education Secretary Margaret Spellings says she’s prepared to defend her
agency from criticism that it failed to address conflicts of interest in the student loan
industry and in a reading program for young children.
"Not only are we not asleep at the switch, but we are very much at the helm and managing
our business,"
Spellings said in an Associated Press interview Wednesday, a day before she was to testify
before a House contmittee.
Spellings was referring to a recent comment by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who
said the department was "asleep at the switch" when it came to overseeing the student loan
industry.
Cuomo has led an investigation into the $85 billion industry that h~s turned up evidence
that some colleges received a percentage of loan proceeds from lenders given preferred
status by the schools a practice Cuomo calls "kickbacks." Cuomo also said some college
loan officers received--gifts from lenders to encourage them to steer borrowers their way.
On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill that would ban gifts from
lenders to schools and impose strict controls on schools that publish approved lender
lists to guide students to certain !can companies.
Spellings said she has asked an Education Department task force to come up with
recommendations for new regulations to better protect against conflicts of interest
between schools or school officials and lenders.
The proposed regulations will include a requirement of at least three lenders on any
school’s preferred-lender list, together with an explanation of how and why they were
chosen. The rules also will spell out what is allowed and what is prohibited with regard
to inducements from lenders to schools, Spellings said.
In addition to facing questioning about the student loan industry, Spellings is expected
to be asked by lawmakers Thursday about a No Child Left Behind reading program, Reading
First, that hms been criticized for conflicts of interest and mismanagement.
Now that’s room service~ Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo!
Trave! to find your fit.
http://farechmse.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097
Page 634
[?~,
onresponsi
May 10, 2007 6:47 AM

I
To; Oldham, Cheryl; Conklin, KristJn; Schray, Vickie; Dunckel, Denise; Shaw, Terri; Sampson,
Vincent; Quarles, Karen; Bannerman, Kdstin; scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; jeanie_so
_mamo@who.eop.gov; Manning, James; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Ken’i; Ruberg, Casey;
Colby, Chad; Williams, C:ynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, C~thia; Evers, Bill; Kuzmich, Holly;
Subject: New Figures Show High Dropout Rate (WP)
New Figures Show High Dropout Rate

Federal Officials Say Problem Is Worst For Urban Schools, Minority Males By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, May I0, 2007; A06
First lady Laura Bush and national education leaders yesterday unveiled an online database
that promises to provide parents across much of the nation the first accurate appraisal of
how m~ny students graduate from high school on time in each school system.
The statistics paint a dire portrait: Seventy percent of students nationwide earned
dip!omas in four years as of 2003, the latest data available nationally, a much lower rate
than that reported by the vast majority of school systems. According to the database,
Washington area graduation rates ranged from 94 percent in Loudoun and Falls Church to a
low of 59 percent in the District, with most other systems falling in the 60s, 70s and low
80s.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the data show that half of the nation’s
dropouts come from a small group of largely urban "dropout factories," high schools ’%zhere
graduation is a 50-50 shot or worse."
She scolded state and local education officials for masking the problem by publishing
inflated graduation rates based on bad math.
"We are finally moving from a state of denial to a state of acknowledgment," she said,
speaking in Washington at a summit titled America’s Silent Epidemic. "It’s hard to believe
such a pervasive problem has remained in the shadows for so !ong."
Most states, including Virginia, Maryland and the District, continue to report graduation
rates by a method that, while accepted by the federal government, has been rejected by
much of the academic community and was roundly criticized yesterday by federal officials.
They estimate the graduation rate based on the number of students known to have dropped
out. The problem is, few public high schools track every student who drops out.
"In some states," Spellings said, "a student is counted as a dropout only if he registers
as a dropout. That’s unlikely."
The publication of the new national database, compiled by the trade journal Education
Week, signals a sweeping chmnge in how graduates are counted. The site tabulates
graduation data for school systems based on simple attrition, tracking the dwindling size
of a high school class from the fall of freshman year to gradumtion day.
Bush, in a lunchtime speech, urged the nation’s parents to consult the database and "find
out if your community has a dropout problem."
The summit marks a growing national sense that high schools are facing a dropout crisis.
The extent of the problem -- only two students in three graduate with their class -- has
been clear for years within the education co--unity but not among members of the general
public, who, according to surveys, believe that nearly 90 percent of students graduate
from high school.
Speakers stressed that dropout rates are particularly high among black and Mispanic
Page 635
students, especially males.
Prince George’s County schools reported a 90 percent graduation rate for 2003. The new
database shows a graduation rate of 67 percent for that system. More than half of the
dropouts, it shows, never make it to the lOth grade.
Montgomery schools reported a 93 percent graduation rate for that year, but the database
puts it at 82 percent. In that county, the database shows, the largest group of dropouts
exits the system during 12th grade.
The District reported a graduation rate of 71 percent for 2009. The new database
calculates the true graduation rate at a dozen points !ower, with a steady exodus across
the grades.
All 50 governors have embraced the new method -- a slight variation on the formula
employed by Education Week -- for calculating graduation rates. Virginia schools wil! use
the new formula by 2008, the District by 2010 and ~ryland by 2011. Parents will probably
see a precipitous drop in graduation rates reported by many high schools.
"I think you have to be honest with the people," said Hike Easley (D), governor of North
Carolina, who participated in a panel discussion yesterday with two other governors.
Spellings also announced that graduation rates will be incorporated into the federal No
Child Left Behind law by 2012 as a measure of adequmte yearly progress for every high
school, along with test scores and other factors.
Schools will have to meet federal targets for black and Hispanic students and other
statistical subgroups, as well, a requirement likely to stir considerable anxiety in low-
performing school systems.
Jynell Harrison, a 19-year-old graduate of Central High School in Providence, R.I., who is
black, lamented her school district’s 54 percent graduation rate and said, "I almost got
lost, too."
Do You Yahoo~?
Page 636
I?~onresponsi
Sent: July 13, 2007 9:00 AM
Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gribble, Emily; Halaska, Terrell; Kuzmich, Holly;
Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; McLane,
Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Pitts, Elizabeth; Reich,
Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele, Marc; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell, Julie; Toomey,
Liam; Tracy Young (E-m ail); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy; Yudof, Samara
Subject: ’Highly Qualified’ Deadline Recedes Into Future (Title I Monitor)
’Highly Qualified’ Deadline Recedes Into Future (Title I Monitor)

ED Downplays Importance of 100%HQT, Shifts Focus to Teacher Impact
By Travis Hicks
Title I Monitor July 2007
In spring 2006, U.S. Department of Education officials publicly threatened to sanction states they felt were not making a
"good faith" effort toward ensuring that all core classes were taught by "highly qualified" teachers.
But after giving states a one-year reprieve from the statutory deadline, the Education Department’s (ED’s) enforcement of
the highly qualified teacher (HQT)provision has grown gradually more lax, with monitoring of state progress not set to begin until
the fall -- more than a year after No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandated that every teacher demonstrate expertise. This raises
the possibility that students may be taught by non-highly qualified teachers a second year after this practice was supposed to
cease.
ED’s apparent indifference to the deadline for 100 percent HQT compliance contrasts sharply with its enforcement of
NCLB’s standards and assessments requirements.
The department has doggedly pursued states falling short of expectations in that area, placing conditions on TitJe I grants
and threatening to withhold a quarter of some states’ Title I administrative funds. When looking at state progress related to
teacher quality, however, ED has taken a much softer tack.
Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, speculated that the less-rigorous enforcement is due to the
Bush administration’s commitment to test-based accountability as compared to the highly qualified teacher requirements. The
highly qualified teacher provision "originated in Congress... and did not come from the administration," noted Jennings, who
served as the Democratic staff director and later general counsel of the House Education and Labor Committee for 20 years.
Relationship with States
ED officials, for their part, say that they have postponed monitoring implementation of state HQT plans until they have fully
refined their monitoring protocol.
The goal of the revamped protocol -- scheduled to be piloted shortly in a couple of unnamed states --is to focus more on
"outputs," rather than "inputs.~ The department wants to identify the characteristics, qualities and training levels of teachers that
directly impact student achievement.
Moreover, ED officials note that official monitoring is not the sole contact the department had with states on the issue.
"Certainly, we’ve provided a great deal of technical assistance," said Amanda Farris, deputy assistant secretary for policy and
strategic initiatives. "We’ve done periodic check-ins with states to see where they’re at [and] made requests for information
regarding a number of issues that they might be dealing with."
States also view the relationship as positive, saying that the department has helped them hone their strategies and better
align data-gathering efforts.
Deadline a Moving Target?
NCLB mandated that all teachers in core subjects be deemed "highly qualified, ° that is, state-certified and able to
demonstrate subject content mastery, by the end of the 2005436 school year.
States, for their part, made uneven progress toward the goal, and it was generally understood that few -- if any -- states
would hit the target on time.
ED Secretary Margaret Spellings recognized in fall 2005 that states were falling short of the goal. In an October 2005 letter,
the secretary told states that the department would review states’ annual Consolidated Slate Performance Reports (CSPRs) to
assess state progress, but would give states failing to reach the 100 percent mark a reprieve provided they had made a "good
Page 637
faith" effort toward improving teacher quality.
Ultimately, all states were asked to submit revised plans for the 2006-07 school year illustrating howthey would help their
districts ensure teachers met the requirements, howthey would ensure an "equitable distribution" of experienced teachers in low-
and high-income classrooms, and how they would minimize the use of alternate (i.e., less rigorous) paths to HQT status. A
March 21, 2006, letter to states said the submitted plans would be evaluated "on the sufficiency of the plan for reaching the HQT
goal by the end of the 2006-07 school year." [emphasis added]
ED peer-reviewed the revised proposals in July 2006, but only approved nine states in the initial round. States hat did not
receive approval on the first pass were asked to tweak their plans for resubmission, and some did not achieve full approval until
this spring. Two states’ plans -- Hawaii and Puerto Rico -- have not yet been accepted.
Although there is no assurance that states achieved 100 percent compliance by the new target of spring 2007, ED’s Farris
said, "All [state plans] were of high enough quality to be approved -- and I think we consider that to be a pretty high standard.
Now, the question really comes down to [the fact that] a plan is great, but what happens when the rubber meets the road? A plan
is only as strong as the actions that take place alterward."
One Year Later
But it appears that it will be a while before the department knows how well states are implementing those plans, or when all
their teachers will actually achieve HQT status.
The March 21, 2006, letter from ED said that monitoring of state HQT plans would begin in August 2006.
Now, the full monitoring cycle won’t be underway until after the start of the 2007-08 school year, a full year later.
Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, said the HQT provision was "doomed from the start"
because ED didn’t believe in the requirement.
’The department has an obligation to Congress to look like they’re doing something about [HQT], but I think they’re willing
to take their licks on not doing an especially good job," she said.
One ED official said that she was unaware of any variance in the enforcement of HQT compared to NCLB’s testing
requirements, but emphasized that Secretary Spellings considers quality standards and assessments to be the heart of the law.
’NCLB is based on assessments," said Catherine Freeman, the deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary
education policy. "You don’t knowhow kids are doing unless you have a good way of showing that."
In any case, ED denies standing pat; the department says it may place conditions on as many as five states’ grants this
year. The department would not divulge information concerning the specific states or what conditions could impact the grants, but
said a couple of states have "significant issues."
A spokesman for House education committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., the lawmaker who led the charge for
teacher quality in NCLB, did not address the rigor of ED’s enforcemenL In an e-mail, Aaron Albright simply affirmed, "We need
highly qualified teachers in the classroom. The sooner we can get highly qualified teachers in the classroom, the better."
Although she agreed that the department’s actions have essentially given states a two-year extension on No Child LeE
Behind’s 2005-06 deadline for all teachers to be highly qualified, Sheila Talamo, Louisiana’s assistant superintendent of educator
support, said that was the "only practical approach."
Much Work Remains
Based on the CSPR data submitted for 2005-06, ED estimates that more than 90 percent of all teachers nationally have
met their state’s definition of "highly qualified," with some states making substantial progress. New Mexico, for instance, boosted
the percentage of highly qualified educators teaching core classes from 88 percent in 2004-05 to 95 percent in 2005-06,
according to preliminary CSPR data.
However, Farris acknowledged that much of"the low-hanging fruit has been picked," meaning that states will have to
ratchet up their efforts.
’Now, it’s an issue of the much more difficult work being done and how do we collectively ... accomplish that work to get
some of these teachers -- teachers who are in rural areas, who are in special education, who are teaching multiple subjects --
how do we ensure that all of those teachers have the qualifications they need to be successful in the classroom," she said. "And
those are much harder issues to address than how does an elementary teacher demonstrate appropriate content knowledge."
Equity Requirement
While states may be making headway on getting all teachers to highly qualified status, they still face the daunting task of
addressing inequity in the assignment of experienced teachers between poor and more affluent classrooms.
This problem is the subject of a different provision of NCLB that requires states to ensure that "poor and minority students
are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers."
Dianne Piche, executive director of the Citizens Commission on Civil Rights, criticized the department for ignoring this
equity provision until last year, calling equitable distribution of teachers "the most important civil rights aspect of teacher quality."
Page 638
’There’s simply no way that high-poverty schools are going to meet the 2014 deadline for [student proficiency in reading
and math] without their fair share of good teachers," she said. "It’s time folks recognize that this isn’t a quiet, polite technical
assistance and implementation issue, but a hard-edged political problem."
Farris conceded that equitable distribution has been a challenge for many states, but expressed optimism based on
increasing state data capacity.
’I certainly think the quality of data systems is going to impact [states ability to monitor teacher placement]," Farris said.
q-he fact that this is an issue that is on their radar screen and that they’re paying serious attention to it is a huge step forward.
What we need to continue to do is push the ball forward and make sure that the plans that they’ve developed and the processes
they’ve put into those plans become a reality."
A number of states contacted by the Title I Monitor, including Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky and New Mexico, pinpointed
changes in their data collection as the key to better addressing equitable distribution.
The HOUSSE Question?
Still, some observers argue the lack of enforcement is symptomatic of the Bush administration’s uneven implementation of
NCLB.
Joel Packer, a lobbyist for the National Education Association, said the department’s lack of monitoring and enforcement [o
date "is just one more example of the incredibly chaotic [and] mismanaged implementation of the HQT provision." He cited
confusion over NCLB’s option for veteran teachers to demonstrate subject content mastery -- High Objective Uniform State
Standard of Evaluation, or HOUSSE -- as an example.
ED has consistently maintained that states’ HOUSSE procedures are a weak alternative to the normal HQT requirements,
which consist of a major in each subject a teacher teaches, or a rigorous examination of their content knowledge.
In May 2006, ED told states it would be limiting the use of HOUSSE atter the 2005-06 school year to three situations:
¯ middle and high school teachers teaching multiple subjects in eligible rural districts who were highly qualified in at least
one core subject at the time of hire;
¯ special education teachers teaching multiple subjects who were highly qualified in language arts, math or science at the
time of hire; and
¯ teachers from other countries working here on a temporary basis.
Four months later, the department softened its stance, saying that while it would "pursue the further phase-out of HOUSS E
procedures through the reauthorization" of NCLB, it would, until then, only "strongly encourage states to eliminate the use of
HOUSSE procedures to the extent practicable."
Shortly thereat~er, in October 2006, ED pulled its HQT guidance from its Web site for revision, promising to post a new
version "in the near future." As of press time -- eight months later -- no revised guidance had been released.
Additional reporting by Andrew Brownstein
Page 639
lN_onresponsi
Sent: July 13, 2007 8:55 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dorfman, C~thia;
Landers, Angola; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; McLane,
Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Mesecar, Doug; Neale, Rebecca; Pitts, Elizabeth; Reich,
Liam; Tracy Young (E-mail); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy; Yudof, Samara
Subject: RFWins In New Report, Loses In Congress (Ed Daily)
RF Wins In New Report, Loses In Congress (Ed Daily)

By Kds Kitto
Education Daily, July 13, 2007
Reading First received praise from states as one of the most effective federal interventions for schools in need of
improvement, according to a report released Thursday, wedging Congress into a difficult spot one day a~er a House panel
gashed the literacy program’s budget.
In the Center on Education Policy’s new study, Moving Beyond Identification: Assisting Schools in Improvement, 81 percent
of the 48 states that responded to a survey called the Reading First professional development component very or moderately
effective, and 79 percent of 47 respondents made the same distinction for the program’s curriculum and assessment materials.
But the study’s findings came too late for members of the House Appropriations Committee to consider before pushing to
the House floor Wednesday a $629 million cut to the program that in the past has enjoyed a $1 billion-plus annual budget.
Opportunities for the literacy initiative’s funding to be restored continue to dwindle as Congress’ appropriations work moves to
conference.
CEP President Jack Jennings said he knows the appropriations committees are ’~ery aware" of his organizations’ reports
but wouldn’t speculate on whether the new report’s findings would influence future decisions Congress will make regarding the
reading program’s funding.
’It’s not just what [Congress members] hear from the field, it’s what other people are telling them, like the inspector
general," he said.
Reading First’s funding cut comes a~ter a drawn-out investigation into alleged mismanagement and conflicts of interest
during the program’s implementation that included six Education Department inspector general audits, one Government
Accountability Office audit, and ~ congressional hearings.
Cathy Roller, director of research and policy at the International Reading Association, said Congress should focus on
getting more money to states that need Reading First instead of punishing ED through cutting the literacy program’s funding.
’Reading First is, for many states, the only money for intervention with reading," she said. "It is the money that they are
using to provide professional development, and it’s just crucial to them."
The Senate Appropriations Committee also recently approved a Reading First cut, albeit a smaller one. The committee
report said the committee appreciates ED’s "expressed willingness to correct its mistakes" but explained the roughly $200 million
slash by saying it would not be "appropriate to maintain funding for the program at its current level."
In a statement, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings praised the CEP report’s findings for "adding to the overwhelming
evidence that Reading First is working" but did not directly mention Congress’ proposed cuts. However, she sent letters to the
committees, outlining the changes she made in the program’s management and underscoring departmental evidence of the
Reading First’s effectiveness.
’We can’t afford to take tools like Reading First away from the students who need them most," Spellings said.
Other findings
The study, based on a state survey, a school district survey, and case-study interviews with district- and school-level
officials, documented several other findings concerning schools in need of improvement_ Among them:
¯ In the 2005-06 school year, about t8 percent of districts had schools in the improvement phase, compared to roughly 20
percent of districts in the 2004-05 school year.
¯ No federal policy was rated as an important contributor to increased math achievement among students.
¯ More than 90 percent of surveyed school districts said NCLB policies for supplemental education services and school
Page 640
choice were not at all or somewhat important for reading and math achievement.
Also, 69 percent of districts that receive Reading First grants called the program’s assessments important or very
important, and 68 percent made the same classification for the program’s instructional component.
Page 641
[Nonresponsiv!
Sent: July 13, 2007 8:53 AM
Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; McLane,
Subject: Ray Simon charter school visit (3)
Brighter Choice Praised By Dept. Of Education (CAPNS9 NY)

Capital News 9 Albany, New York, July 12, 2007
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Students at Brighter Choice Charter Schools get a boost from the U.S. Department of Education.
The department’s Deputy Secretary of Education, Ray Simon, was in Albany Wednesday and praised Brighter Choice for
their top-ranked test scores and nationally recognized innovations.
"It represents an extremely successful charter school," said Simon. "It represents a student body that deserves more than
anybody to have the very best chance everyday from day one, and this school represents that."
Students at Brighter Choice Charter Schools get a boost from the U.S. Department of Education for their top-ranked test
scores and nationally recognized innovations.
Both Brighter Choice Charter Schools ranked first among public schools in Albany on state exams for reading, writing and
math in the past two years.
Simon, along with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, lead the effort to implement the No Child Left Behind Act.
The Deputy Secretary also delivered best wishes to the students from President Bush for their graduation.
Thirty-eight fourth graders also graduated at the ceremony.
U.S. Educational Official Touts Charter Schools (ELMIRA)

By Cara Matthews, Gannett
Elmira Star-Gazette INY), July 13, 2007
ALBANY -- With a successful charter school’s graduation ceremony as a backdrop Wednesday, President Bush’s deputy
education secretary said the administration is pushing to expand the number the publicly funded private institutions when a 5-
year-old education accountability program is reauthorized this year.
"Charter schools continue to be a very important component of our reauthorization process. We want to make charter
schools available to more and more kids," Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon said after addressing 38 graduating fourth
graders and their families at Brighter Choice Charter School in the city.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings was scheduled to attend but leamed at the last minute she could not, according to
a statement.
"Charter schools, like Brighter Choice, prove that with hard work and a willingness to innovate, every child can reach his or
her potential. Across America, thousands of charter schools are breaking apart the myth that some kids just cant learn and
getting great results for the students and families they serve," she said.
Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 to increase school accountability and student performance. The goal is to
have all children performing at grade level by 2014. Key aspects of the law include allowing states "the freedom and flexibility to
invest in what works" and giving parents more information and options for their children, according to the U.S. Department of
Education.
The law is not without controversy and criticism. For example, the National Education Association wants NCLB to use more
than standardized test scores to evaluate children’s performance, reduce class sizes and provide incentives to instructors who
teach in hard-to-staff schools, among other measures.
Brighter Choice, which educates boys and girls in single-sex programs, has higher test scores than other public schools in
the city. The school, which is expanding to a second site, admits only students from families that meet the income eligibility
standards of the federal free- and reduced-meal programs.
Simon highlighted one of the unique features of Brighter Choice -- a longer school day and an 11-month school year. (The
Page 642
last day of school is Friday, and the school opens at 7:30 a.m. and closes at 4:15 p.m.) He praised Brighter Choice for making
education a successful collaboration between teachers, students and parents.
"It takes a partnership. The schools can’t do it alone. And this school represents one of the partnerships. We’ll be promoting
this type of school," he said.
A number of states have limited the number of charter schools that can open. Doing so can reduce options for parents who
want to move their children out of struggling schools, Simon said.
"So, we certainly want to make sure that in states where a school is in restructuring (due to prolonged poor performance),
where major, major changes need to occur, that charter schools are one of the available opportunities for those children," he
said.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the Legislature elected this year to lift the cap of 100 charter schools in the state and permit another
100. The State University of New York, one of the authorizing bodies for charters, announced this week thaf~ it had received more
than 20 applications for new schools.
Nationwide, the number of charter schools has doubled to 4,000 in just over five years.
In New York, cities with many charter schools, such as Albany, claim they are siphoning away too much money from
traditional public schools since state money follows the children. The state is providing transition aid, although the districts have
said more money is needed.
Amelia Seel of Albany said she liked the longer school day and year, the uniforms and the high test scores at Brighter
Choice, but the single-sex classes sold her on the school. Her daughter, Amirah Muhammad, graduated Wednesday and her
son, Ahmad Muhammad, is finishing second grade.
Brighter Choice was the nation’s first single-sex public charter school when it was launched in 2002. Since then, federal
regulations have been revised to make it easier for public schools to provide single-gender instruction.
Karen Rodriguez of Albany, whose son, Joel Aguila, graduated, said she is impressed by the amount of support the family
receives from staff. Teachers don’t give up on anyone, she said.
The Alliance for Excellent Education, a national group, has criticized NCLB and said it does not serve high school students
well.
Simon said it’s a shame that 1 million children drop out of school every year in this country. NCLB has focused more on the
early and middle grades in its first five years, and it’s time to ’take this to the next level" and ensure students have the teachers
and courses they need in all high schools, he said.
The Bush administration wants to make another $1.2 billion in education money for needy schools available specifically to
high schools, Simon said. "We believe that’d be a good jump start to help high schools get the coursework they need," he said.
U.S. Education Official Touts Charter Schools (BINGPSB)

By Cam Matthews, Gannett News Service
Greater Binqhamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, July 13, 2007
ALBANY -- With a successfi.=l charter school’s graduation ceremony as a backdrop Wednesday, President Bush’s deputy
education secretary said the administration is pushing to expand the number the publicly funded private institutions when a 5-
year-old education accountability program is reauthorized this year.
"Charter schools continue to be a very important component of our reauthorization process. We want to make charter
schools available to more and more kids," Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon said after addressing 38 graduating fourth
graders and their families at Brighter Choice Charter School in the city.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings was scheduled to attend but learned at the last minute she could not, according to
a statement.
"Charter schools, like Brighter Choice, prove that with hard work and a willingness to innovate, every child can reach his or
her potential. Across America, thousands of charter schools are breaking apart the myth that some kids just cant learn and
getting great results for the students and families they serve," she said.
Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 to increase school accountability and student performance. The goal is to
have all children performing at grade level by 2014. Key aspects of the law include allowing states "the freedom and flexibility to
invest in what works" and giving parents more information and options for their children, according to the U.S. Department of
Education.
The law is not without controversy and criticism. For example, the National Education Association wants NCLB to use more
than standardized test scores to evaluate children’s performance, reduce class sizes and provide incentives to instructors who
teach in hard-to-staff schools, among other measures.
Brighter Choice, which educates boys and girls in single-sex programs, has higher test scores than other public schools in
Page 643
the city. The school, which is expanding to a second site, admits only students from families that meet the income eligibility
standards of the federal free- and reduced-meal programs.
Simon highlighted one of the unique features of Brighter Choice -- a longer school day and an 11-month school year. (The
last day of school is Friday, and the school opens at 7:30 a.m. and closes at 4:15 p.m.) He praised Brighter Choice for making
education a successful collaboration between teachers, students and parents.
"It takes a partnership. The schools can’t do it alone. And this school represents one of the partnerships. We’ll be promoting
this type of school," he said.
A number of states have limited the number of charter schools that can open. Doing so can reduce options for parents who
want to move their children out of struggling schools, Simon said.
"So, we certainly want to make sure that in states where a school is in restructuring (due to prolonged poor performance),
where major, major changes need to occur, that charter schools are one of the available opportunities for those children," he
said.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the Legislature elected this year to lift the cap of 100 charter schools in the state and permit another
100. The State University of New York, one of the authorizing bodies for charters, announced this week that it had received more
than 20 applications for new schools.
Nationwide, the number of charter schools has doubled to 4, 000 in just over five years.
In New York, cities with many charter schools, such as Albany, claim they are siphoning away too much money from
traditional public schools since state money follows the children. The state is providing transition aid, although the districts have
said more money is needed.
Amelia Seel of Albany said she liked the longer school day and year, the uniforms and the high test scores at Brighter
Choice, but the single-sex classes sold her on the school. Her daughter, Amirah Muhammad, graduated Wednesday and her
son, Abroad Muhammad, is finishing second grade.
Brighter Choice was the nation’s first single-sex public charter school when it was launched in 2002. Since then, federal
regulations have been revised to make it easier for public schools to provide single-gender instruction.
Karen Rodriguez of Albany, whose son, Joel Aguila, graduated, said she is impressed by the amount of support the family
receives from staff. Teachers don’t give up on anyone, she said.
The Alliance for Excellent Education, a national group, has criticized NCLB and said it does not serve high school students
well.
Simon said it’s a shame that 1 million children drop out of school every year in this country. NCLB has focused more on the
early and middle grades in its first five years, and it’s time to ’take this to the next level" and ensure students have the teachers
and courses they need in all high schools, he said.
The Bush administration wants to make another $1.2 billion in education money for needy schools available specifically to
high schools, Simon said. "We believe that’d be a good jump start to help high schools get the coursework they need," he said.
The president wants Congress to renew the No Child Left Behind Act and make changes that will:
- Strengthen efforts to close the achievement gap through high standards, accountability and more options for parents.
- Give states flexibility to better measure individual student progress, target resources to students most in need and
improve assessments for students with limited English proficiency.
- Prepare high school students for success by promoting rigorous coursework and providing new resources for school
serving low-income students.
- Provide greater resources for teachers to further close the achievement gap through improved math and science
instruction, intensive aid for struggling students and other measures.
- Offer additional tools to help local educators turn around chronically under-performing schools.
Source: U.S. Department of Education.
Page 644
[Nonrespons]
Sent: July 13, 2007 8:53 AM
Subject: Cohn: Facts Tell Story On ’No Child Lelt Behind’ (LSJ)
Cohn: Facts Tell Story On ’No Child Left Behind’ (LSJ)

Lansinq State Journal/MI), July 13, 2007
Improvements in performance clearly visible
Fred Barton (Viewpoints, June 21) not only opposes the No Child Left Behind law, he also takes issue with the mounting
data that proves the law is working.
Barton would have us take his word for it that scores are up due to better test preparation. I’d rather take the facts.
And the fact is that NCLB has led to real progress in student achievement. Reading and math scores are at all-time highs in
several categories and achievement gaps are finally beginning to close. A recent study put out by the nonpartisan Center for
Education Policy showed improved student performance and a narrowing achievement gap across most of the country.
Advertisement
In addition, we also have the results from the Nation’s Report Card, or NAEP. More reading progress was made by 9-year-
olds in five years (1999-2004) than in the previous 28 years combined. Math scores for young students have reached record
highs across the board. Scores in history have improved in al! three grade levels tested -fourth, eighth and 12th.
Thanks to NCLB, each of our 50 states now has grade-level standards for reading and math. Every child is measured so
that those who fall short can get the tutodng and extra help they need. And more than 70 percent of all schools are meeting their
annual progress goals.
As Michigan Schools Superintendent Michael Flanagan told the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee in February, "The beaub/of No Child Left Behind is it has helped us see our faults."
True, no law is perfect. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has said, we are "pleased, but not satisfied"with
progress under NCLB and has offered common sense improvements. This includes increased flexibility for states to use growth
models that measure individual students’ progress and give schools credit for year-to-year improvement. It would also give
families more choices and options, including intensive tutoring and scholarships for children in chronically underperforming
schools.
As we work to renewthe law, we can make some needed adjustments and still adhere to the principles of accountability
and high standards that are helping raise achievement for all students. With NCLB, the facts prove we’re on the right track.
And when it comes to the future of our children, I’d rather put my faith in the facts than opinion.
- Kristine Cohn is the regional representative for the U.& secretary of education in Region V, which includes the state of
Michigan.
Page 645
[N,~onresponsi
Sent: July 11,2007 8:55 AM
Subject: Stanton: The Feds Flunk Out (TUCCIT)
Nonresponsive
Stanton: The Feds Flunk Out (TUCCIT)
Tucson Citizen, July 10, 2007
Government not providing dollars to make No Child Lett Behind Act work to improve the worst schools
BI LLI E STANTON
The good news, U.S. Reps. Rail Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords report, is that most members of Congress want a full
overhaul of our education plan.
The No Child Left Behind Act has done great harm, despite all the spin by President Bush and Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings.
The bad news is: The elephant in the living room probably is here to stay.
It’s rarely discussed now, but once upon a time, America had a thing called "states’ rights," and schools came tinder
something known as "local control," by which school boards, PTAs, parents and other community members made their priorities
and concerns known.
Not any more. The advent of NCLB in 2002 put the federal government squarely in charge.
Now we’re stuck with federal control, which wouldn’t be so bad if the lofty goals articulated- standards, accountability and
closing the achievement gap - were intelligently pursued and adequately funded. But they’re not.
So we can only hope that Giffords, Grijalva and other thoughtful members of Congress will get us an elephant that provides
props instead of penalties.
NCLB’s reliance on tallying up scores from multiple-choice tests has led to what some bureaucrats call "more focus" and
what educators and parents call dumbed-down curriculum, with a "drill and kill" focus on only questions that will be tested.
The high stakes, by which "failing" schools can be closed and reconstituted, have led to some desperate measures.
Some schools have encouraged poor-performing students to leave, even drop out, so as to improve the institution’s scores
average.
Others have tried to deter enrollment by certain kids, i.e., those from families that are poor, minority or both.
Many schools have eliminated fine arts, social studies, history and anything else that isn’t tested, though research keeps
showing that music, art, field trips, experiential learning and other creative approaches have profoundly positive effects on kids’
academic achievement.
But some schools are doomed to failure no matter howhard they try to meet the mandates.
That’s because they’re in poor neighborhoods, have a high percentage of English language learners or maybe a high
number of special education students.
NCLB doesn’t make allowances for such challenges. It deems those schools failures even if they have propelled their
students forward by miraculous measures.
Grijalva and Giffords understand this, thank God.
"NCLB accountability has become punitive instead of supporting schools’ efforts," Grijalva said last week. Under its
framework, "the obvious became obvious": Kids of color, poor kids, non-English speakers - none fared as well as the other
students.
"It’s not fair or even moral" to expect developmentally disabled students to perform on a par with the rest of the student
body, Giffords said.
Ditto the notion that kids who don’t speak English should be able to score high on tests in English.
Page 646
Democrats Giffords and Gdjalva both understand that much of NCLB is sheer lunacy.
Both know the act has failed to tighten, much less close, the achievement gap between poor and minority kids and the rest
of students.
Most important, Grijalva and Giffords both understand that along with reasonable expectations, the federal government
must provide actual dollars to improve the worst schools.
"If the federal government is going to make demands of local schools," Giffords said, "then they should also accept their
responsibility as a partner for reform and fund the mandates in the No Child Left Behind Act."
Long before NCLB, Americans knewwhich students and schools were in trouble. As Grijalva recently learned, "Filteen
percent of our high schools are responsible for 54 percent of the dropouts. Isn’~ that an amazing statistic?"
It’s amazing but not surprising. For decades, extensive research into what’s wrong with America’s schools has all boiled
down ultimately to the economic gap.
Yet nowhere does NCLB exhort states to instigate newfunding mechanisms so that poor schools get resources equal to
those in rich neighborhoods.
A new federal act "must finally address the deep and tenacious educational debt that holds our nation’s future in hock," said
leading education expert Linda Darling-Hammond, "and ensure that every child has access to adequate school resources,
facilities and quality teachers.
"Federal education funding to states should be tied to each state’s movement toward equitable access to education
resources."
That’s a novel idea indeed in Arizona, where education funding always is an afterthought.
Congress now has an opportunity to set an example for the states.
It should invest heavily in creating a stable supply of qualified teachers, providing scholarships for those who specialize in
math, science and other shortage areas.
It should subsidize teachers who agree to work in high-challenge schools where they’re needed most.
And it should hold states accountable for equalizing funding, so even poor kids’ schools get the fair share desperately
needed to ensure their learning.
This may sound too utopian to some. But corny as it sounds, the future of our nation is riding on it.
As American students lag far behind those in other industrialized nations, it’s time to look at what those nations are doing
right - and recognize that NCLB does the exact opposite.
We are, most assuredly, in need of a new elephant.
Page 647
Nonresponsi
............................. J
July 11,2007 5:51 AM
To: kevin f. sullivan@who.eop.gov; dana_m._perino@who.eop.gov; Scott_rn.
Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Evers, Bill; Gribble,
Emily; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox,
Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Moran, Robert; Neale,
Rebecca; Oldham, Cheryl; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessete, Marc;
Martinez; Wurman, Ze’ev
Su~t: Ruben Navarrette: Selling out as children fail
Ruben Navarrette
Selling out as children fail
It’s no surprise to see presidential candidates pandering to contributors. But whmt is

disappointing is how far some of them will go to take care of those who take care of them.
Imagine being so eager to please the money crowd that you’ll try to destroy a reform
measure that is reasonable and helpful, especially when the help is going to the same
folks you claim to represent.
That’s what happened recently when the major Democratic presidentia! candidates made a
pilgrimage to the annual convention of the National Education Association, the nation’s
largest teachers union with
3.2 million members, and -- one by one -- bashed the No Child Left Behind law.
We’re talking about one of the most important educational reforms of the last 50 years --
and one that is quite modest. One of the law’s central goals is that all children be
reading and doing math at grade-leve! -- by 2014.
Why, have you ever heard of such a thing? A lot of teachers oppose that requirement as too
stringent and too unrealistic. Wouldn’t you like to know if your child’s teacher is among
those who want to keep the bar low and who apparently don’t see a problem with children
performing below grade-level?
NCLB also lifts the curtain on which kids are learning and which aren’t by calling for
testing in the third through eighth grades and once in high schoo!, and requiring
districts to group students’ test scores by race and ethnicity. For the most part,
teachers hate the emphasis on testing. At their convention, some wore buttons and stickers
proclaiming: "A child is more than a test score." _And they really hate having to advertise
to the world what sort of job they’re doing in teaching students of certain racial and
ethnic backgrounds.
This suggests that teachers know more than they’re letting on about which students they’re
serving and which they’re sacrificing. The law shares the information with the rest of us.
So you might think that the Democrats running for president, who rarely miss an ethnic
celebration and who claim to have the best interests of African-Americans and Latinos at
heart, would rush to defend No Child Left Behind -- especially since the candidates who
were in Congress in 2001 voted for the legislation.
You know better. The only thing close to the heart of politicians is cold cash, and those
with the cash -- i.e., unions such as the NEA -- want this law tossed into the dustbin.
NCLB comes up for reauthorization in Congress later this year and the campaign to kil! it
is well under way.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the NEA gave more than $1.9 million to
candidates in the
2006 federal elections. Another union, the American Federation of Teachers, gave more than
$2.1 million.
And, if the pattern of contributions during over the last three decades is any indication,
the lion’s shmre of that money went to Democrats over Republicans by a margin of 9-1.
According to the National Taxpayers Union, from September 2004 through August 2005, the
NEA spent $25 million on political activities and lobbying, and an additiona! $65.5
million on contributions, gifts and grants.
And what do the teachers unions get in return? You name it.
Not that Republicans are any more virtuous. They just serve a different array of masters
Page 648
such as the Nationa! Rifle Association, the U.S. Chmmber of Commerce, the American Medical
Association and other groups in line with the conservative agenda.
Incidentally, there are a lot of Republicans in Congress who also oppose No Child Left
Behind.
In an apparent bid to regain GOP support, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is
reportedly pushing for vouchers to be included in the renewed version of No Child Left
Behind.
That should hmve been in the law all along. Still, the NEA is going to come unglued. I can
just see the buttons. Say, if the teachers are looking for slogans, how about this one: "A
child is more than a paycheck."
Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a nationally syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers
®rqup. His twice weekly column appears in more than 175 newspapers.
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Page 649
Nonresponsil
July 11,2007 5:18 AM
To: kevin f. sullivan@who.eop.gov; dana_m._perino@who.eop.gov; scott_re.
Rebecca; Oldham, Cheryl; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc;
Subject: Ron Brownstein: Don’t leave this law behind (LAT)
Don’t leave this law behind

Progress is slow under Bush’s 2001 education reform, but No Child Left Behind is worth
improving.
Ronald Brownstein
The Los Angeles Times
July ii, 2007

THE COMPLAINTS are reaching a crescendo as Congress moves closer to reauthorizing No Child
Left Behind, the education reform law that President Bush passed with rare bipartisan
support in 2001. Conservatives are wailing about federal intrusion. Teachers unions and
some leading Democrats moan that the law relies too much on testing as the measure of
student progress. ~d some parents echo each of those indictments.
There’s no doubt the law has minted enemies. But Kati Haycock, president of the Education
Trust, a nonpartisan group thmt advocates for low-income children, has it right when she
says the law wasn’t designed "to make people happy." It was passed because too many
students in too many places were not learning enough. It wouldn’t be doing its job if it
left in place the practices that produced those unacceptable results. Grumbling, in
education as in everything else, is the inevitable price of chmnge.
And the evidence is that change is generating some progress. The Center for Education
Policy, an independent research organization, recently found that the share of students
demonstrating proficiency in reading and (especially) math is up in most states since the
law’s passage. In most places, achievement gaps between white and minority students are
narrowing. The problem, on both fronts, is that improvement is coming too slowly. The
overall gains remain relatively modest. And the gaps between white and minority students,
though narrowed, remain dauntingly wide in many places.
Those numbers -- not the whining from teachers, the right or, yes, even parents -- ought to
be the beacon as Bush and Congress reconsider the law. Washington shouldn’t try to silence
the complainers but to sharpen the law’s focus on helping the schools and students most in
need. In some cases, such an emphasis may even mute the discontent.
Currently, the law requires every state to test every student annually in reading and math
between third and eighth grade and once again in high schoo!. Schools are required to
annually increase the share of students who score at a proficient level on those tests --
not only overall but in eight subgroups, such as African ~ericans or Latinos. If the
school as a whole, or even a single group, fails to show "adequate yearly progress" for
two consecutive years, the school is identified as needing improvement and confronted with
an escalating series of interventions that can culminate in a state-ordered restructuring.
That system -- the heart of the law m is mostly admirable. It ensures that schools focus
on educating all their students. The problem is that it has produced a reverse Lake
Wobegon syndrome, one in which all (or at least too many) schools are be!ow average.
Fully one in five schools that receive federal Title I education dollars are now
identified as needing improvement. That trend is alienating parents and educators at
basically solid schools tossed onto the "failing" pile because one or two groups
underperformed. It also means states must spread their resources over so many "failing"
Page 650
schools that they can’t concentrate on the most troubled. "They are swamped, " says Bruce
Reed, President Clinton’s former chief domestic policy advisor. "They have too many
failures to fix. "
The Bush administration and leading Democrats should be able to agree on a solution:
establish tiers to distinguish between schools that fall just short of their annual
improvement targets and those with deep, systemic problems, and then direct most attention
to the latter. "We should focus our resources on the chronic underperformers," says
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) says much the same.
Keeping the focus on the neediest schools could guide other revisions. Haycock correctly
argues that the formidable $3 billion a year the law provides for improving teacher
quality should be targeted more precisely toward high-poverty schools, as the law
intended, rather than spread over districtwide programs, as is now often done. Washington
should also require states and districts to provide more sophisticated help to schools
that persistently underperform and to ensure that students in those struggling schools can
transfer to other public schools and receive after-school tutoring, as the law requires.
Only a small fraction of eligible students receive those services today.
With immigration reform derailed, educational accountability offers Washington its last
chance for a big bipartisan accomplishment this year. It won’t be easy -- conservative
Republicans want to repeal the federal testing mandate, and teachers unions are pressing
Democrats to dilute it by allowing schools to be ~udged not only by test scores but by
fuzzier measures, such as teacher assessments. Such changes would amount to dismantling
the foundation built since 2001. The better course is to dig deeper into the law’s initial
motivation and more effectively lift up the millions of children stil! left behind every
day.
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Page 651
~Nonresponsi]
(b) ............................. kathedn e-m-d-an~I ..........................
July 10, 2007 6:10 AM
]
Dorfman, C:ynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Evers, Bill; Gribble, Emily; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force,
Hudson; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret;
McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Moran, Robert; Neale, Rebecca; Oldham, Cheryl; Reich,
Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana;
Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Wurman, Ze’ev
Subject: Education Department, on the Case (IHE)
Education Department, on the Case

Inside Higher Ed
Doug Lederman
For months, leaders at the U.S. Education Department have battled the impression, fostered
by Democratic members of Congress and New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, that the
Bush administration did far too little to regulate the behavior of lenders and colleges
until its hand was forced by the burgeoning scandal in the student loan industry.
Margaret Spellings challenged that view in May testimony before a House of Representatives
committee.
And on Monday, department officials delivered their latest defense during a session in
which they briefed members of the National Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators about their recent activities on a range of fronts.
Not only did the administration officials look to the past -- suggesting that the
department had actually been out in front of Congress and Cuomo in trying to crack down on
preferred lender lists and improper inducements from lenders to colleges -- but they also
signaled that they are getting more aggressive in their oversight of the loan programs.
The overall message from department officials - whioh seemed aimed as much at the
representatives of Cuomo’s office in the audience as at the financial aid administrators
themselves --was, "We’re on the case.’"
Jeff Baker, who directs the policy liaison and implementation staff in the Education
Department’s Federal Student Aid office, said at Monday’s session at the NASFAA annual
conference that the department had sent letters late last month (a sample of which is
available here) to more than 900 colleges where at least 80 percent of the institution’s
federal student loan volume is held by one lender.
Critics have argued that a single lender’s domination of a college’s loan volume (often a
lender on its list of "~referred lenders") raises a red flag, suggesting that the
institution is directing prospective borrowers to that lender and raising questions about
why. Many of the institutions that have been found to have revenue sharing agreements with
lenders, for instance, had directed much of their loan volume to those lenders, with the
implication that they were doing so to get a cut of the loan funds.
Baker said the department had identified the colleges that received the letters during a
review of data from the National Student Loan Data System. He characterized the June 29
letters less as a warning than as a "friendly" reminder that colleges and universities are
obliged to ensure that students know that they are free to choose any lender they wish,
and to encourage them to review their practices to make sure that they are following
federa! rules and laws.
The letter, he noted, mostly mirrored a message that the department relayed to al!
colleges in a Dear Colleague letter in late March.
"We weren’t out to get anybody," said Baker, noting that the department did not plan to
follow up with the colleges involved. But he added that the letter was meant to imply that
"if you had 80 percent [going to one lender], mmybe you weren’t right with the spirit of
the regulations."
Asked if the June 29 letter represented an uptick in the department’s oversight of the
loan programs, Baker
Page 652
said: "’It’s our obligation to mmke sure our schools are in compliance. This is what we
do. "
That’s not how critics see it. Department officials have been bashed repeatedly in recent
months as revelations have poured out of investigations by Cuomo’s office and those of
U.S. Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy and U.S. Pep. George Miller, revealing questionable practices (including payments
from lenders to college officials, in the extreme) that, the critics say, might have been
uncovered had the department met its obligations to oversee the !oan programs.
"I agree with New York Attorney General ~drew Cuomo, who testified before this committee
last month and said that the Department has been ~asleep at the switch" when it comes to
overseeing the federal student loan programs," Miller said at the May hearing at which
Spellings testified.
Spellings said then-- and Baker and other department officials reiterated the argument at
the N~SFAA meeting Monday -- that the department had actually ~umpstarted scrutiny of the
loan programs by initiating a federa! rule making process last August that, among other
things, examined improper inducements by lenders to college officials and the practices
colleges use in putting together their preferred lender lists.
That was long before the investigations by Cuomo, Kerznedy and Miller began cranking out
almost daily findings of real or perceived conflicts of interest and other questionable
behavior by some lenders and student aid officials, which have prompted legislation at the
state and federal leve! in recent months, Baker and Dan Madzelan, another department
official, said Monday. Madzelan described the "sea change" that has occurred in recent
months in scrutiny of the loan programs, and "’the world caught up to what we were
concerned about and what we were trying to address in negotiated rule making," he said.
The suggestion that federal officials had led the way in cracking dom-n on improper
behavior in the loan programs brought a swift negative response from the department’s
critics.
Melissa Wagoner, a spokeswoman for Kennedy, said that while the senator did not formally
introduce his loan reform bill, the Student Loan Sunshine Act, unti! November, the
legislation was drafted in August, the same month in which the department announced that
it was beginning its rule making process. And more importantly, Wagoner said, "systemic
reform of the student !oan industry ... is a topic Senator Kennedy has talked about for
many, many years. "
Michael Dannenberg, director of the education policy program at the New America
Foundation, characterized the department’s scrutiny of colleges with one dominant lender
as a "positive sign," but said the Department of Education "’still has a long way to go
when it comes to oversight of the student loan program .... We’ve had scores of critical news
stories, multiple investigations, firings and resignations of financial aid officials,
reports of kickbacks, stock options, cash payments, and luxury gifts being offered by
lenders to college officials and yet not one lender has been disciplined by the Department
of Education.
Why has Student Loan Xpress, which gave insider stock to leading college and federal
officials, not been disciplined by the U.S. Department of Education?"
The loan programs aren’t the only area in which the Education Department seems to be
ramping up its oversight. Also on Monday, Baker said that the department had sent letters
to about 300 college presidents and chancellors, noting that their institutions had fallen
short of the requirement that at least 7 percent of their federal work study funds go to
students participating in community service.
"This is serious stuff here," Baker said, noting that there are the ’~ossibility of
sanctions," and that "’we are obligated to enforce [the requirement], and we wil!."
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Page 654
lNonresponsi
( om: .............................
[~t}~iii~ii~l-~i~t ............................
July 10, 2007 6:03 AM
]
To: Rosenfelt, Phil; Taylor, Jeff; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg, Casey; Colby, Chad;
Rebecca; Oldham, Cheryl; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheesseie, Marc;
Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt, Townsend L; Young, Tracy, Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara
Su~t: ABA Moves to Tighten Bar Passage Standards (NLJ)
ABA Moves to Tighten Bar Passage Standards Leigh Jones The National Law Journal Under
pressure from the U.S. Department of Education, the American Bar Association has proposed
to tighten bar passage requirements for law schools, a change that is drawing a sharp
rebuke from deans and others who claim that it would create an unfair standard for
accreditation and result in an administrative mess.
The proposal would draw a bright-line standard regarding the responsibility of law schools
to graduate students who are capable of passing the bar.
The ABA, which receives its authority to accredit law schools from the U.S. Department of
Education, asserts that the revised standard is necessary to protect consumers who are
considering attending law schoo! and consumers who use the legal services of those who
graduate.
Many in legal education say that they see the need for a standard that is more precise in
measuring bar passage rates, but they assert that the current proposa! is deeply flawed.
"It’s just going to be chaos," said Richard Hatasar, dean of New York Law School.
A member of the board of directors for the American Law Deans Association, Matasar has
drafted an opposition letter thmt board members are expected to sign in the next few days.
In addition, Washburn University School of Law professor William Rich, who just ended a
term as the schoo!’s interim dean, is gathering signatures from about 20 deans for an
opposition letter that was scheduled to go to the ABA on Monday.
For schools already accredited but undergoing a periodic review, the proposal would
require them to meet one of two criteria. Under the first, they would need to show that in
at least three of the most recent five years, first-time test takers passed at no more
than i0 points below the first-time bar passage rates for graduates of other accredited
law schools taking the bar in the same jurisdiction.
Also under the first criterion, schools in which more than 20 percent of their graduates
take the bar exam for the first time in other jurisdictions would need to demonstrate that
at least 70 percent of their first-time test takers passed during the two most recent bar-
exam periods.
As an alternative to the first criterion, schools would need to demonstrate that 80

percent of their graduates who took the exam anywhere in the country passed within three
attempts, within three years of graduation.
GOAL IS CONSISTENCY
The purpose of the proposal is to bring consistency to the application of the ABA’s
general law schoo! accreditation rule that requires schools to maintain educational
programs that prepare students for admission to the bar, said William Rakes, chairman of
the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.
The ABA’s proposal initially provided that schools failing to meet the standard would
trigger further review, a component that the Education Department rejected, Rakes said.
Instead, schools failing to meet the passage rate will be deemed noncompliant.
Page 655
Rich, at Washburn, said that law schools could face having their success measured by just
a small group of students taking a bar exam outside of the school’s primary jurisdiction.
He also is concerned about the accuracy and feasibility of tracking graduates’
performance.
The ABA’s attempt to revise the standmrd is part of its bid to the Department of Education
to remain as the accrediting body for law schools. Last month, the Department of Education
extended the ABA’s power to continue accrediting for only 18 months, instead of a five-
year term that it received in the past.
The two organizations have butted heads, in part, because of the disagreement over the
ABA’s diversity rule -- Standmrd 212 -- which the ABA revised at its annual conference
last summer. The standard requires law schools to demonstrate by "concrete action’ that
they are admitting minority students. Opponents assert that the requirement is unlawful.
In a June 20 letter to the ABA, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings wrote that
her concerns about its accrediting authority were "far beyond any concerns about Standard
212." The Department of Education declined to comment for this story.
The bar pass rate provision will go to the ABA House of Delegates for a vote at its annual
conference in August.
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Page 656
INonresponsi ]
Sent: July 09, 2007 9:03 AM
Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private - Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; McLane,
Liam; Tracy Young (E-mai!); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy; Yudof, Samara
Subject: Nest Egg Seven Myths About College Finances (WSJ)
Nest Egg Seven rvlyths About College Finances (WSJ)

By Anne Made Chaker
The Wall Street Journal, July 9, 2007
We cant afford the tuition -- and we’re not poor enough to qualify for financial aid.
I’ll have to refinance my house.
There goes my retirement money.
These are just a few of the depressing assumptions that come to mind when parents consider how to pay for college. And
with good reason, as tuition continues to rise faster than the rate of inflation. This past school year, average total tuition and fees
at private colleges rose to $22,218 -- 5.9% more than the previous year. Add room and board, and that cost climbs to $30,367.
Ot~en, families resort to these assumptions because the system for financing a college education is too complicated to get
their arms around. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, speaking before a House education panel in May, said the federal
student-aid system she oversees "is redundant, it’s Byzantine and it’s broken."
Consider, for instance, that there are two different systems of federal student-loan distribution, and whether you use banks
for these loans or borrow directly tom the federal government depends entirely on what college you attend. Then there are the
confusing pros and cons associated with the different tax-advantaged college-savings vehicles -- Roth IRAs, 529 plans and
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts.
Add to that the varied ways your finances will be considered, from the Education Department’s assessment for federal
financial-aid purposes to some schools’ use of their own formula to figure out how to parcel out their own aid.
And now, can you even trust your college’s financial-aid office anymore? A nationwide probe by NewYork Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo has led more than two dozen schools to settle claims of deceptive trade practices involving alleged
undisclosed payments to financial-aid officers from lenders they recommended to students.
The unfortunate result of all this is that many families don’t even bother trying to find their way through the maze. Instead,
they make their assumptions. And those assumptions are often wrong.
Here we deconstruct some of the most common myths.
Myth No. 1: Financial aid comes only in the form of grants and scholarships.
Many families think that "aid" means only money that doesn’t have to be paid back -- and that they won’t qualify for, based
on need. But while scholarships and grants certainly are the best form of financial aid, aid can also come in the form of federal
loans that carry favorable interest rates and that can be available regardless of need.
The most common student loan is the Stafford loan. The unsubsidized variety of these loans doesnt require the student to
demonstrate need. But they are available only to those who have filled out the so-called Fafsa form, the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid, which is something many middle- and upper-income families don’t bother to do.
The interest rate on Stafford loans is currently set at a maximum of 6.8% By comparison, the rate on loans from private
lenders isn’t capped and currently averages around 10% at some of the biggest lenders. For a $20,000 loan, that’s a difference
of about $4,100 over the typical 10-year life of a loan.
Federal student loans also carry more-flexible repayment terms than loans from private lenders. For instance, a borrower
who is unemployed or facing economic hardship can request a deferment, which allows the borrower to postpone repaying the
loan.
For certain loan programs, the interest still accrues and the borrower is eventually responsible for paying it; for others, the
government pays the interest during the deferment.
There are even loan-forgiveness programs available for borrowers who take some teaching jobs or who enter public
Page 657
service. The federal teacher loan-forgiveness program allows certain math, science and special-education teachers in low-
income schools to qualify for t~p to $17,500 toward the repayment of their student loans. In addition, many states offer loan-
forgiveness programs for their resident teachers. The American Federation of Teachers maintains a list of state-by-state offerings
at att.org/teacherstjff/Ioanforgiveness.html0. Certain public-service organizations offer their own loan-forgiveness programs,
such as AmeriCorps, which will grant volunteers with at least one year of service as much as $4,725 toward loan repayments or
future tuition.
One drawback of federal student loans is that there are limits on how much can be borrowed this way. But Congress
recently moved to raise the cap for some students. Effective this month, the annual limits on Stafford loans for dependent
freshmen and sophomores are $3,500 and $4,500, respectively, up from $2,625 and $3,500. Juniors and seniors can borrow up
to $5,500 a year.
If student loans arent enough to cover expenses, parents of undergraduates are also entitled to federal loans: The PLUS
loan has the benefit of not carrying any set borrowing limits -- though the total can’t exceed the cost of attendance minus other
forms of aid -- and the interest rate is set at a maximum of 8.5% Just remember it’s the parent, not the student, on the hook for
repayment.
Myth No. 2: The value of my retirement funds and my home will prevent me from getting need-based aid.
Under the federal calculus for distributing aid, retirement plans are completely excluded. So is the home you live in. On top
of that, the federal government shelters a certain amount of general parent savings, for retirement purposes. This "asset
protection allowance" varies based on age, but for a typical parent of a college-age child, the figure is around $45,000 to
$50,000.
Many private colleges use a separate form to determine how much of their own aid to distribute. It also excludes retirement
assets, but it does ask for the net home equity of the family’s primary residence, capping it at two to three times annual income.
Myth No. 3: I should choose a lender from the list of"preferred" lending companies recommended by my college financial-
aid office.
Because of the complexity of the whole aid process, many people trust their college’s financial-aid office to provide them
with information on loans and point them to the best deals. But the New York attorney general’s probe and investigations by
members of Congress suggest that lenders haven’t always been recommended by financial-aid officers based entirely on
students’ interests. So you may want to do at least some shopping for loans on your own.
Lenders compete with one another largely by offering "borrower benefits" that lower the costs of their loans. But borrowers
should be skeptical of some of these discounts, which can be easy to lose if a student misses a payment.
Citigroup Inc.’s Citibank offers a discount of one percentage point on the interest rate of a Stafford loan -- but a student who
misses a scheduled payment loses the discount and has to make 24 consecutive payments on time in order to regain it. Nelnet
Inc. offers a 3.33% reduction on the original principal balance --if the first 30 payments are made on time. Once the discount is
lost, it cannot be regained.
Some deals are more forgiving. Northstar Education Finance Inc., of St. Paul, Minn., offers a month-by-month credit on its
student loans that can amount to an annual rate reduction of up to 1.3 percentage points. Students lose the credit only if they fall
60 days past due on a payment. Once the borrower is caught up again on payments, the benefit resumes.
MyRichUncle, a New York lender, cuts one percentage point offthe interest rate on its Stafford loan from the start of
repayment but charges an origination fee, totaling 1.5% of the original principal balance, that other lenders might waive.
Because the discounting formulas vary markedly from one company to the next, it can be extremely difficult to calculate the
best deal. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org, a free guide to financial aid, has come up with a calculator on his Web site
that allows consumers to punch in various criteria to compare discounts from the different companies.
Myth No. 4: I’m doomed: I’ll have two kids in college at the same time.
The federal assessment of aid eligibility is based on an "expected family contribution" -- the amount of money that parents
are expected to shell out, based on their financial picture. That expected outlay stays the same no matter how many kids you
have in college at the same time. So if you have two or more kids attending college, your expected contribution is split among
them.
The upshot: You are likely to qualify for more aid when you have multiple children in college at once.
Myth No. 5: The federal aid process is bound by a strict formula, and it’s virtually impossible to eke any special
consideration out of college administrators.
While it’s tn~e that everyone applying for federal aid must answer the same questions on the Fafsa, there may be special
circumstances worth alerting the college financial-aid office to.
The Higher Education Act, ’dnich authorizes federal aid programs, gives college aid officers the authority to make
adjustments when they feel it’s warranted. If you have a solid case, backed up by documentation, it’s definitely worth requesting
Page 658
a "Professional Judgment Review" in a letter addressed to the financial-aid officer and supported by documentation.
For example, if your income looks artificially high in the year that’s being evaluated, explain why (perhaps it was due to an
atypical bonus) and provide previous tax returns to show what it’s normally like. Other instances not covered by the Fafsa and
worth alerting the financial-aid office to: high medical costs, a death, private-school tuition for kids not yet in college, divorce, job
loss, a big decrease in family income.
Amherst College financial-aid director Joe Paul Case recalls adjusting one aid package as the student’s family reeled from
the impact of the father’s work-related accident, which occurred in the student’s sophomore year. The accident let~ the father out
of work for six months. By reassessing the family’s finances, Mr. Case says, the school was able to bolster his financial aid
through both federal sources and institutional grant money.
New York-based financial-aid consultant Kalman A. Chany had one client this year with household income over $225,000
receiving need-based aid, in part due to high medical costs and an atypical bonus that distorted the client’s income stream.
rvlyth No. 6: Not to worry. Our brilliant/talented/athletic child will get plenty of privately funded scholarships, maybe even a
free ride.
Some 87% of parents are counting on their children receiving scholarship or grant money, according to a survey by Mathew
Greenwald & Associates Inc. for investment-management firm AllianceBernstein LP. The firm polled 1,358 parents last summer,
as well as more than 200 college financial-aid administrators. The responses from financial-aid officers told a remarkably different
story: 92% of them believed that parents overestimate the amount of scholarship and grant money their children will receive.
That is not to say you shouldn,t search. In fact, there are several scholarship search services available free online. Sites like
FastWeb (fastweb.coml 1 ) or the College Board’s scholarship search service (collegeboard.com12) match student profiles to
scholarship opportunities.
Myth No. 7: The 529 college-savings plan offered by my state is bound to be the best for me.
Many people’s search for a 529 plan stops with their own state’s offering. But with all 50 states and Washington, D.C., now
offering these college-savings plans, consumers should shop around.
Some states offer their own tax breaks on these plans for state residents, so it is smart to take a good look at your own
state plan. But you should also take a hard look at the fees. Most experts say you should pay no more than 1.5% of assets in
fees and other expenses. High-fee plans can easily cancel out any tax breaks that come with investing in your own state plan.
Morningstar Inc., the Chicago-based financial-information firm, rates the following state plans among the best because of
their low fees and the performance of their investments: the Utah Educational Savings Plan, the Maryland College Investment
Plan and the College Savings Plan of Nebraska. And you can invest in any one of these three directly, without the help of a
broker.
Anne Marie Chaker is a staffreporter in The Wall Street Journal’s Washington bureau.
Page 659
Nonresponsi
Sent: July 08, 2007 10:56 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dorrman, Cynthia;
Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Neaie, Rebecca; Pitts, Elizabeth; Reich,
Liam; Tracy Young (E-mail); Tucker, Sara MaRine.z; Young, Tracy; Yudof, Samara
Women and politics a hard line to cross

By Carolyn Sackariason
Aspen Tim es
July 7, 2007
ASPEN --Women have finally gained a foothold in American politics but it has taken decades to break through ’the old
boys dub" in Washington, D.C., to get there.
That was the overriding theme during Friday’s panel discussion, ’M#’omen and American Politics," moderated byveteran
joumalist Andrea Mitchell.
During the Aspen Ideas Festival, some of the most powerful worn en in politics shared their stories about how they broke
through the glass ceiling in a male-dominated profession.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said her male counterparts were dismissive of her on many occasions - even
after she became the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government.
Albright remembers that when she first took office, her colleagues were skeptical of her effectiveness, particularly in
Muslim countries.
"1 had no problem, because of course, ! arrived in a large plane that said ’United States of Am erica,’" she joked. "1 had
more problems with men in our own government.
’You think it’s over when you have the job. It’s not," Albright added. "Every single day, I had to prove that I could do the
job."
When Albright was the U.N. ambassador, she said she voiced her concerns about the strife in the Balkans early on, only
for Gen. Colin Powell to be dismissive.
"He said, ’Oh, Madeleine, don’t be so emotional, you don’t know anything about the military,’" Albright said, joking that
Powe!l would show up in full military garb with medals dangling from his chest. "1 just had a little pin on ....I was just a
mere mortal woman."
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., recalls that when she ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969, she
didn’t get much support from men- or women.
"Everyoody said ’Something must be wrong with her marriage, and that’s why she’s running for political office.’"
After 15 campaigns and decades of political experience, Feinstein said it’s still an uphill battle to be heard. And given that
worn en couldn’t vote until 1920 and weren’t allowed to own property, Feinstein said she’s not surprised at how difficult it
has been to break through the barriers.
’%~/omen had to fight for everything in this democracy," she said.
Despite the challenges, women have come a long way in power and politics, and rightfully so, said U.S. Rep. Jane
Harman, D-Calif.
Harman was elected in 1992, the same year that Feinstein took the Senate seat. Feinstein described it as the ’~jear of the
woman" because the number of women in the House of Representatives doubled. Today, there are 17 women in the
Page 660
Senate and more than 70 in the House.
’~’omen have arrived and are qualified to serve any position in this country," Harman said. ’M~/hen there is a woman in the
White House, which will be in mylifetime, people will pinch themselves and say, ’Why did it take so long?’"
Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid became a topic of conversation on many levels, but particularly on how she and her
husband, Bill, conduct themselves on the campaign trail. Bill’s presence appears choreographed in an effort not to
dominate or overshadow Hillary, who wears mainly black these days.
"She dresses for strength," Feinstein said. She also expressed her hope that Clinton would cross party lines if she were to
win: ’q’he greatest problem with Washington is partisan politics."
All the panel members agreed that the presidential campaign thus far has lacked substance. And the press coverage has
focused more on the candidates’ personas than the issues.
"[Hillary] should talk about her life and the issues, and I think that will impress everybody," Harman said. "She is an
excellent senator."
The subtext of Hillary’s campaign and the public’s view th~ she’s aggressive highlight the double standard, Albright said.
Different adverbs are used with women," she said, adding that critics label a woman who cries as "emotional," but when a
man does it (particularly the president) it’s a symbol of empathy.
"People think that’s kind of neat, but ifa woman gets wobbly it’s bad," Albright said. ’There is no question that we are
judged on a different scale than others."
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said it’s true that women face double standards in politics, but she said it’s
not all gloom and doom.
"1 can silence a group of male hard-liners if I’m prepared," she said.
Harman said it’s imperative that older women serve as role models in politics to keep their strength in numbers in
Washington.
"It’s our obligation to mentor young women and girls," she said. "If we don’t make tha~ clear, we are not exercising our
power properly."
Page 661

7/7/07
1. Aspen Dally News (Panel: Women still face challenges in politics)

2. Education Week (Advocates for Students With Disabilities Balk at Proposed
NCLB Changes)
3. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (State schools nmke progress on federal
standards)
1. Panel: Women still face challenges in politics

Aspen Daily News
By Catherine Lutz
07/06/2007
With presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) appearance at two Aspen
fundraisers tonight and her recent high-profile carnpaigning with her husband, former
President Bill Clinton, it was no surprise that a pane! discussion on women in politics
Friday morning often turned to the former first lady, and often with a note of admiration.
"Hillary Clinton’s strongest selling point is that she’s an excellent senator," said U.S. Rep.
Jane Harmmi (D-Calif.). "Women do excel in high political roles. Is she strong enough to
be commander-in-chief? I have no doubt. We can do these ~s."
The Aspen Ideas Festival panel included a veritable who’s who of women in Ameiican
politics: fomler Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, California Sen. Diarme Feinstein,
U.S. Rep. Jane Hannan (D-Calif.)and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, plus one
man, John Dickerson (his mother, NancyDickerson, was the first female correspondent
for CB S News).
Hope that a wonlan will be the next president of the United States ~as high among some
of the panelists. Harman told the audience -- which was, not surprisingly,
overwhelmingly female -- that the previous apex of female political power was in 1992,
the "year of the women," when die number of women in the House of Representatives
nearly doubled from 13 to 25. Two years later, in the Republican "tsunami" of 1994,
many ~vomen lost their seats. But now, as moderator andjottrnalist Andrea Mitchell
pointed out, there are more women in the president’s administration than at any other
time.
"Women are problem solvers, and when we have a woman in the White House people
will pinch themselves and say, ’Why not sooner?.’" said Harman.
Beyond the iah-rah attitude, however, panelists warned that a woman politician -- and
particularly Clinton -- faces more challenges than her male counteq:arts.
Page 662
Despite being the overall ftmdraising leader and Democratic frontmrmer, "Hillary still
has a major job cut out for her," said her colleague, Sen. Diarme Feinstein (D-Calif.).
"She has to take this long-standing concept that women are not as strong as ... (in terms
of) determination, motivation, staying power. And it’s those things that will detenNne a
woman’s long-term effectiveness."
Clinton also has the tricky task of having a very high-profile spouse, panelists said, who
draws as much or more attention out on the campaign trail. Mitchel! noted that Hillary
Clinton’s campaign has very carefully choreographed where Bil! Clinton sits and how
he’s positioned during the recent Iowa appearances.
Not only that, her 15-point lead on Sen. Barack Obamais almost all with women voters,
and if she wins the presidency, it will be with alarge gender gap. B~t it could also be a
liability. Dickerson, a former White House correspondent, noted tha~ by out polling
Obama two to one among women, she does face a challenge. "She’s making a clear
appeal to women," he said, "and if you play too hard for the women’s vote, then you have
all those other problems," like being seen as only a woman’s candidate.
Women often have to be better prepared, more informed and even more careful with their
emotions, panelists said. And different adverbs are used to describe women: while a
woman is seen as aggressive, a mart is bold, for example.
"Women carmot do what men can get away with," like cry or get emotional, said
Albright. "When President Bush or President Clinton chokes up, people think it’s kind of
neat. When women do it it’s very bad."
Albright told the audience that she often had a harder time dealing with men in the U.S.
administration ttlan men in Muslim coun~es because they were indignant or jealous of
her high position.
"There’s no question we are judged on a different scale than others," she said.
Asked if women are still facing a double standard in their professional lives, Feinstein
replied, "very dearly yes," and pointed to the history of this country, in which women
didn’t even have the vote until 1920 and for a long time couldn’t own property. "Women
have had to fight for everything we’ve ever received in this great democracy, and there
are still deep-seated biases."
Feinstein told the audience a story about how when she ran for governor of California,
women would ask what they could do to support her and she suggested they donate to the
campaign. Almost to a fault, she said, the women said they’d go home and talk to their
husbands about it.
Women also face challenges ~vhen they do attain a high position because more is
expected of them, the panelists said, particularly in the realm of juggling home and
family responsibilities. However, things have come along ~v-ay since the days when
Page 663
women ~vere not suppoltive of each other, otten whispering that a wonlan in high
pohtical office must have something wrong with her marriage. Or when a pregnant
Nancy Dickerson could not be shown on television and shocked her audiences ~vhen it
was armounced she’d be taldng a two-week maternity leave. Or when Dickinson broke a
story and it was assumed she had to sleep with someone to do that.
Albright, ~vho responded that "short of one thing, I used everything I had," also described
an incident when she was U.N. ambassador and was butting heads with Gen. Colin
Powell about using force in Bosnia -- she was for it and he was patiently trying to
convince her otherwise. When force was used and the campaign ~was successful, the two
exchanged books in which Po~vell signedhis book, "Patiently, Colin" and she signed
hers, "Forcefi~y, Madeleine."
But, Education Secretary Spellings said, ~vomen do have some advantages. They can be
passionate and emotional, she said, and can shame people.
"Women can do that in an effective and compelling ~vay," she said. "I can silence a group
of male hard-liners if I’m prepared. It’s not all dour and dire."
The women also agreed that the U.S. government -- in its position as a world leader -- has
a responsibility beyond its own borders and ought to spend more on humanitarian aid
rather than war (currently eight-tenths of one percent of the budget is humanitarian
spending, said Feinstein). But on a more positive note, the panelists agreed that women in
high-leve! positions have the obligation to mentor younger women, and there’s plenty of
hope for women professionals in the future.
Noting that more men want to stay at home with their children now,
"I can see our whole society adjusting in ways we never imagined," said Harman. "I can
imagine high-power careers for women."
2. Advocates for Students With Disabilities Balk at Proposed NCLB Changes

Education Week
July 6, 2007
As Congress wlestles with reauthofizing the 5 ½-year-old No Child Left Behind Act,
some disability-rights advocates fear high standards for students with disabilities could be
sacrificed as states seek more flexibility in the law.
Some education groups, as ~vell as lawmakers, have called for more choice in how states
can administer the law’s accountability provisions, including greater power for school-
based teams to decide what type of assessment a student receiving special education
services should take.
Page 664
That’s a step away from gradeqevel achievement as a goa! for all students, said James H.
Wendorf, the executive director of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, a Ne~v
York City-based group that works to provide opportunities for children and adults with
lea.ming disabilities. The law needs tweaks, not wholesale changes to its ambitious
achievement goals, he believes.
Mr. Wendor£s group advocates on behalf of the law~est group of chilctren served under
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the federal law that mandates special
education sewices for some 6.6 million students nationwide. Students with "specific
learning disabilities" account for nearly half the students covered under the law.
"No Child Left Behind has put some real teeth in the IDEA," Mr. Wendorf said. "It’s
given parents some information they wanted desperately, and some information that they
didn’t know how much they needed until it was being provided to them."
The federal law requires schools and districts to report the academic progress of students
with disabilities, along with other subgroups of students, such as those in low-income
families and those who are learning English. The performance of such subgroups on
annual tests in reading and mathematics helps determine whether their schools have made
adequate yearly progress to,yard proficiency for all students, as required under the law.
The reporting provision has forced administrators to pay attention to a group of students
that is too often ignored, disability-rights advocates contend. They point to studies that
show that students with disabilities, even those with cognitive impairments, can achieve
at higher-than-expected levels when teachers hold them to grade-level standards.
As disability-fights advocates lobby federal lawmakers, their focus has been on

maintaining what they see as the strong standards of the law, while al!owing schools to
get credit for a student’s academic growth towards proficiency, even if the student
occasionally falls short of a particular benchmark.
Hearing ’Frustration’
For instance, the National Center for Learning Disabilities recently released two reports
that outline the progress students with disabilities have made under the No Child Left
Behind law, as well as the challenges that remain.
The group says that Congress should maintain the requirements for schools to make
adequate yearly progress, or AYP; that all schools should be required to report the
performance all student subgroups 20 studsnts or more (current rules allow for a larger
minimum); and that students should not be subject to repeated retesfing for the purpose of
determining AYP. Those recommendations would maintain or tighten existing rules for
districts and states.
At the same time, the center supports allowing a "growth model" factor to be a part of No
Child Left Behind’s accountability rules. Growth models allow schools to receive credit
for improving individual students’ academic performance over time.
Page 665
The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities--a coalition of 100 groups, including the
Council for Exceptional Children, the Easter Seals, and the National Disability Rights
Network--stresses in its NCLB recommendations that "all students with disabilities are
general education students first," and argues that the law "must continue to build on
IDEA’s strengths by promoting a learning environment in wbJch all children are expected
to become proficient on grade-leve! content and states, school districts, and schools are
accountable for their achievement."
Advocacy groups have also been calling on legislators to counter what they believe are
negative impressions of the No Child Left Behind law, which passed Congress with big,
bipartisan majorities in late 2001 but has encountered a host of criticisms during its
implementation_ Several new members of Congress are serving on the House Education
and Labor Committee, and those members may be heating from their school districts that
assessment of special education students is a problem, advocates believe.
"I think they’re hearing a lot of frustration from schools that don’t have the capacity to do
what they need to be doing," said Jane E. West, the vice president for government
relations for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, in
Washington, and a co-chai~voman of the consortium’s task force on education.
But states already have a tremendous amount of flexibility trader the law, said Laura W.
Kaloi, another co-chairwoman of the consortium and the public-policy director for the
National Center for Learning Disabilities. She noted that under current testing rules, 1
percent of all students, which is equivalent to about 10 percent of students with
disabilities, canbe counted as proficient when they pass a test specially designed for
students with severe cognitive disabilities.
Another 2 percent of all students, equal to about 20 percent of students with disabilities,
can be counted as proficient when they take alternate assessments based on modified, but
grade-level, academic standards. Those tests can have fewer questions, fewer choices in a
multiple-choice section, and require a lower level of reading skill.
In addition, schools can meet AYP under so-called "safe harbor" proxdsions, which
permit schools to make adequate progress as long as there were more students who
maintained or moved up to proficiency in the current school year th~ in the prior school
year. And, some schools don’t have to achieve AYP in the subgroup of students in
special education because the state has a large minimum subgroup size.
"’To say that we need more fleNbility--to me, it doesn’t pass the laugh test," Ms. Kaloi
said.
Fear of Flexibility
Other educationgroups, however., including the National Schoo! Boards Association, the
American Association of School Administrators, and the National Education Association,
have banded together to argue for just that.
Page 666
A move for greater flexibility acknowledges that special education students are a
heterogeneous group of individuals that should be tested at their academic-performance
level, those groups contend. Even with the fleNbility allowed tinder the "1 percent" and
"2 percent" tests, the federal Department of Education has stood finn against testing
students with disabilities out of their grade levels, such as giving a 2nd grade reading test
to a student in 6th grade. Groups including the NSBA and the AASA find that stance
restrictive.
"They need to be assessed by an instmment that meets them where they are," said Brace
Htmter, the associate executive director for public policy for the Arlington, Va.-based
AASA. "You start with an assessment tlmt isn’t built around group norms, and isn’t built
around groups."
The groups are also calling for an end to the 1 percent and 2 percent caps. "Students with
disabilities should be assessed as determined by their Individualized Education Program
team and not subjected to arbitrary caps," said a group statement. The IEP team is
required under the special education law to detelmine the selvices eligible children must
receive. Such groups at the school levels are most often made up of parents, teachers, and
administmt ors.
Reginald M. Felton, the director of federal relations for the Alexandria, Va.-based school
boards’ association, said he understands the fears of advocates for students with
disabilities. But, he said, the law requires valid and reliable assessments, and for some
students with disabilities, grade-level tests don’t yield valid results.
"When we reauthorized the IDEA, we talked about the power and the relevancy of the
IEP team," Mr. Felton said. "That’s the group we should be empowering."
But Bill East, the executive director of the National Association of State Directors of
Special Education, also based in Alexandria, said IEP-driven assessments have never
worked. Instead, he contended, they’ve allowed a different, !ower standard to exist for
students with disabilities.
"We’ve had 30 years of experience using the IEP as an accountability measttre. It has
failed miserably," he said.
Predictions vary on how members of Congress eventually may handle the issue of
accountability ~nd students in special education under the NCLB law, whose
reauthorizationis due this year but could be delayed.
"NCLB really shifted the default [for students with disabilities], andno one wants to shift
it back," said Scott R. Palmer, a lawyer with the Washington law film Holland & Knight
and a consultant on special education to the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Students receiving special education services are performing at higher and higher levels.
Page 667
But ~vhen it comes to accountability, "this is an area ~vhere I don’t think we have the best
answers yet," he said. "The best practice is s~ evolvine,.
Others remain concerned that the revised law will a!low too much leeway.
"I’m very afraid we’re going to have more flexibility than ~ve think the public schools
either should have or deserve," said Jamie RuppmalllL the associate director of The
Advocacy Institute, a disability-rights group in Marshall, Va., tkat t~s lobbied Congress
along with other orgm~atious.
"This is so important," Ms. Rupprnann said. "They’re saying they shouldn’t be held
accountable for educating our children. Who but our kJds would anybody say that
about?"
3. State schools make progress on federal standards

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By- Laura Diamond
07/06/07
About 82 percent of Georgia’s public schools met federal testing goals this year,
according to figures the state released Friday. Roughly 79 percent met the standard last
year.
The state Depaltment of Education released its annual report Friday on whether Georgia
schools met the testing goals required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The law
requires all public schools to test students each year in math, reading and language arts in
grades 3 through 8. The law requ~es school to test high school students once.
Results for Georgia’s 2,100 public schools are available online.
The state uses a complex formula to detelmine whether schools meet federal testing
goals, which expect schools to improve each year. The formula that takes into account
scores on several state tests and other school information, such as attendance. Schools
that meet the mark are said to have made "Adequate Yearly Progress." or AYP.
The No Child Left Behind Act was designed to determine whether schools successfitlly
teach students. Schools must show results for all students and subgroups, including
minorities, low-income students, children with disabilities and those who are learning
English as a second language. These last two groups typically receive some of the lowest
test scores.
A school that fails to make gains for two consecutive years is labeled one that "needs
improvement." Georgia has 326 schools in that status this year, an increase from 308 last
year.
Page 668
This is the first time the number of schools missing the mark increased, State
Superintendent Kathy Cox said in a news release.
Schools that need improvement face a series ofincreasinNy severe sanctions. In some
cases, the law al!ows parents to transfer their children to higher-performing schools. In
other cases, the state can actually take over a school.
To shed the needs-improvement label, a school must make Adequate Yearly Progress two
years in a row.
Thousands of Georgia families ,~¢N receive letters in the next couple of weeks if their
school did not meet the marlc Some families will have the option of sending their child to
a higher-achieving public school.
Page 669
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Sent: July 07, 2007 9:42 AM
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Flowers, Sarah; Gribble, Emily; Halaska, Terrell; Herr, John; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela;
Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.;
Neale, Rebecca; Pitts, Elizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Rosenfeit, Phil; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele,
Marc; Simon, Ray; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell, Julie; Toomey, Liam; tracy_d.
_.¥oung@who.eop.gov; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Williams, Cynthia; Yudof, Samara
Attachments: 7.7.07_WEEKEN D N EWS SUMMARY.doc

7t7/07
1. Aspen Daily News (Panel: Women still face challenges in politics)

2, Education Week (Advocates for Students With Disabilities Balk at Proposed NCLB Changes)
3. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (State schools make progress on federal standards)
1. Panel: Women still face challenges in politics

Aspen Daily News
By Catherine Lutz
07/06/2007
With presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) appearance at two Aspen fundraisers tonight and her recent high-
profile campaigning with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, it was no surprise that a panel discussion on women in
politics Friday morning often turned to the former first lady, and often with a note of admiration.
"Hillary Clinton’s strongest selling point is that she’s an excellent senator," said U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.). ’M~omen
do excel in high political roles. Is she strong enough to be commander-in-chief? I have no doubt. We can do these things."
The Aspen Ideas Festival panel included a veritable who’s who of women in Amedcan politics: former Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Education Secretary Margaret
Spellings, plus one man, John Dickerson (his m other, Nancy Dickerson, was the first female correspondent for CBS
News).
Hope that a woman will be the next president of the United States was high among some of the panelists. Harman told the
audience --which was, not surprisingly, overwhelmingly female --that the previous apex of female political power was in
1992, the "year of the women," when the number of women in the House of Representatives nearly doubled from 13 to 25.
Two years later, in the Republican ’tsunami" of 1994, m any women lost their seats. But now, as moderator and journalist
Andrea Mitchell pointed out, there are more women in the president’s administration than at any other time.
’"Women are problem solvers, and when we have a woman in the White House people will pinch themselves and say,
’Why not sooner?’" said Harman.
Beyond the rah-rah attitude, however, panelists warned that a woman politician - and particularly Clinton -- faces more
challenges than her male counterparts.
Despite being the overall fundraising leader and Democratic frontrunner, "Hillary still has a major job cut out for her," said
her colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). "She has to take this long-standing concept that women are not as strong
as ... (in terms of) determination, motivation, staying power. And it’s those things that will determine a woman’s long-term
effectiveness."
Clinton also has the tricky task of having a very high-profile spouse, panelists said, WhO draws as much or more attention
out on the campaign trail. Mitchell noted that Hillary Clinton’s campaign has very carefully choreographed where Bill
Clinton sits and how he’s positioned during the recent Iowa appearances.
Page 670
Not only that, her 15-point lead on Sen. Barack Obama is almost all with women voters, and if she wins the presidency, it
will be with a large gender gap. But it could also be a liability. Dickerson, a former White House correspondent, noted that
by out polling Obama two to one among women, she does face a challenge. "She’s making a clear appeal to women," he
said, "and if you play too hard for the women’s vote, then you have all those other problems," like being seen as only a
worn art’s candidate.
Women often have to be better prepared, more informed and even more careful with their emotions, panelists said. And
different adverbs are used to describe women: ,,’chile a woman is seen as aggressive, a man is bold, for example.
’MTomen cannot do what men can get awaywith," like cry or get emotional, said Albright. ’M/hen President Bush or
President Clinton chokes up, people think it’s kind of neat. When women do it it’s very bad."
Albright told the audience that she often had a harder time dealing with men in the U.S. administration than men in Muslim
countries because they were indignant or jealous of her high position.
’q’here’s no question we are judged on a different scale than others," she said.
Asked if women are still facing a double standard in their professional lives, Feinstein replied, ’Very clearly yes," and
pointed to the history of this country, in which women didnt even have the vote until 1920 and for a long time couldn’t own
property. ’M/omen have had to fight for everything we’ve ever received in this great democracy, and there are still deep-
seated biases."
Feinstein told the audience a story about how when she ran for governor of California, women would ask what they could
do to support her and she suggested they donate to the campaign. Almost to a fault, she said, the women said they’d go
home and talk to their husbands about it.
Women also face challenges when they do attain a high position because more is expected of them, the panelists said,
particularly in the realm of juggling home and family responsibilities. However, things have come a long way since the days
when women were not supportive of each other, often whispering that a woman in high political office must have
something wrong with her marriage. Or when a pregnant Nancy Dickerson could not be shown on television and shocked
her audiences when it was announced she’d be taking a two-week maternity leave. Or when Dickinson broke a story and it
was assumed she had to sleep with someone to do that.
Albright, who responded that "short of one thing, I used everything I had," also described an incident when she was U.N.
ambassador and was butting heads with Gen. Colin Powell about using force in Bosnia -- she was for it and he was
patiently trying to convince her otherwise. When force was used and the campaign was successful, the two exchanged
books in which Powell signed his book, "Patiently, Colin" and she signed hers, "Forcefully, Madeleine."
But, Education Secretary Spellings said, women do have some advantages. They can be passionate and emotional, she
said, and can shame people.
’M/omen can do that in an effective and compelling way," she said. "1 can silence a group of male hard-liners if I’m
prepared. It’s not all dour and dire."
The women also agreed that the U.S. government --in its position as a world leader - has a responsibility beyond its own
borders and ought to spend more on humanitarian aid rather than war (currently eight-tenths of one percent of the budget
is humanitarian spending, said Feinstein). But on a more positive note, the panelists agreed that women in high-level
positions have the obligation to mentor younger women, and there’s plenty of hope for women professionals in the future.
Noting that more men want to stay at home with their children now,
’1 can see our whole society adjusting in ways we never imagined," said Harman. "1 can imagine high-power careers for
worn en."
2. Advocates for Students With Disabilities Balk at Proposed NCLB Changes

Education Week
July 6, 2007
As Congress wrestles with reauthorizing the 5~/~-year-old No Child Left Behind Act, some disability-rights advocates fear
high standards for students with disabilities could be sacrificed as states seek more flexibility in the law.
Some education groups, as well as lawmakers, have called for more choice in how states can administer the law’s
2
Page 671
accountability provisions, including greater power for school-based teams to decide what type of assessment a student
receiving special education services should take.
That’s a step away from grade-level achievement as a goal for all students, said James H. Wendorf, the executive director
of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, a New York City-based group that works to provide opportunities for
children and adults with learning disabilities. The law needs tweaks, not wholesale changes to its ambitious achievement
goals, he believes.
Mr. Wendorf’s group advocates on behalf of the largest group of children served under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, the federal law that mandates special education services for some 6.6 million students nationwide.
Students with "specific learning disabilities" account for nearly half the students covered under the law.
"No Child Left Behind has put some real teeth in the IDEA," Mr. Wendorf said. "It’s given parents some information they
wanted desperately, and some information .that they didn’t know how much they needed until it was being provided to
them."
The federal law requires schools and districts to report the academic progress of students with disabilities, along with other
subgroups of students, such as those in low-income families and those who are learning English. The performance of
such subgroups on annual tests in reading and mathematics helps determine whether their schools have made adequate
yearly progress toward proficiency for all students, as required under the law.
The reporting provision has forced administrators to pay attention to a group of students that is too often ignored, disability-
rights advocates contend. They point to studies that show that students with disabilities, even those with cognitive
impairments, can achieve at higher-than-expected levels when teachers hold them to grade-level standards.
As disability-rights advocates lobby federal lawmakers, their focus has been on maintaining what they see as the strong
standards of the law, while allowing schools to get credit for a student’s academic growth towards proficiency, even if the
student occasionally falls short of a particular benchmark.
H ea ring ’ Fru stration’

For instance, the National Center for Learning Disabilities recently released two reports that outline the progress students
with disabilities have made under the No Child Left Behind law, as well as the challenges that remain.
The group says that Congress should maintain the requirements for schools to make adequate yeady progress, or AYP;
that all schools should be required to report the performance all student subgroups 20 students or more (current rules
allow for a larger minimum); and that students should not be subject to repeated retesting for the purpose of determining
AYP. Those recommendations would maintain or tighten existing rules for districts and states.
At the same time, the center supports allowing a "growth model" factor to be a part of No Child Left Behind’s accountability
rules. Growth models allow schools to receive credit for improving individual students’ academic performance over time.
The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities---a coalition of 100 groups, including the Council for Exceptional Children, the
Easter Seals, and the National Disability Rights Network---stresses in its NCLB recommendations that "all students with
disabilities are general education students first," and argues that the law "must continue to build on IDEA’s strengths by
promoting a learning environment in which all children are expected to become profident on grade-level content and
states, school districts, and schools are accountable for their achievement."
Advocacy groups have also been calling on legislators to counter what they believe are negative impressions of the No
Child Left Behind law, which passed Congress with big, bipartisan majorities in late 2001 but has encountered a host of
criticisms during its implementation. Several new members of Congress are serving on the House Education and Labor
Committee, and those members may be hearing from their school districts that assessment of special education students
is a problem, advocates believe.
"1 think they’re hearing a lot of frustration from schools that don’t have the capacity to do what they need to be doing," said
Jane E West, the vice president for government relations for the Am edcan Association of Colleges for Teacher Education,
in Washington, and a co-chairwoman of the consortium’s task force on education.
But states already have a tremendous am ount of flexibility under the law, said Laura W. Kaloi, another co-chairwom an of
the consortium and the public-policy director for the National Center for Learning Disabilities. She noted that under current
testing rules, 1 percent of all students, which is equivalent to about 10 percent of students with disabilities, can be counted
as proficient when they pass a test specially designed for students with severe cognitive disabilities.
Another 2 percent of all students, equal to about 20 percent of students with disabilities, can be counted as proficient when
theytake alternate assessments based on modified, but grade-level, academic standards. Those tests can have fewer
Page 672
questions, fewer choices in a multiple-choice section, and require a lower level of reading skill.
In addition, schools can meet AYP under so-called "safe harbor" provisions, which permit schools to make adequate
progress as long as there were more students who maintained or moved up to proficiency in the current school year than
in the prior school year. And, some schools don’t have to achieve AYP in the subgroup of students in special education
because the state has a large minimum subgroup size.
"To say that we need more flexibility--to me, it doesn’t pass the laugh test," Ms. Kaloi said.
Fear of Flexibility
Other education groups, however, including the National School Boards Association, the American Association of School
Administrators, and the National Education Association, have banded together to argue for just that.
A move for greater flexibility acknowledges that special education students are a heterogeneous group of individuals that
should be tested at their academic-performance level, those groups contend. Even with the flexibility allowed under the "1
percent" and "2 percent" tests, the federal Department of Education has stood firm against testing students with disabilities
out of their grade levels, such as giving a 2nd grade reading test to a student in 6th grade. Groups including the NSBA and
the AASA find that stance restrictive.
"They need to be assessed by an instrument that meets them where they are," said Bruce Hunter, the associate executive
director for public policy for the Arlington, Va.-based AASA. "You start with an assessment that isn’t built around group
norms, and isn’t built around groups."
The groups are also calling for an end to the 1 percent and 2 percent caps. "S’tudents with disabilities should be assessed
as determined by their Individualized Education Program team and not subjected to arbitrary caps," said a group
statement. The IEP team is required under the special education law to determine the services eligible children must
receive. Such groups at the school levels are most often made up of parents, teachers, and administrators.
Reginald M. Felton, the director of federal relations for the Alexandria, Va.-based school boards’ association, said he
understands the fears of advocates for students with disabilities. But, he said, the law i’equires valid and reliable
assessments, and for some students with disabilities, grade-level tests don’t yield valid results.
"When we reauthorized the IDEA, we talked about the power and the relevancy of the IEP team," Mr. Felton said. "That’s
the group we should be empowering."
But Bill East, the executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, also based in
Alexandria, said IEP-driven assessments have never worked. Instead, he contended, they’ve allowed a different, lower
standard to exist for students with disabilities.
"We’ve had 30 years of experience using the IEP as an accountability measure. It has failed miserably," he said.
Predictions vary on how members of Congress eventually may handle the issue of accountability and students in special
education under the NCLB law, whose reauthodzation is due this year but could be delayed.
"NCLB really shifted the default [for students with disabilities], and no one wants to shift it back," said Scott R. Palmer, a
lawyer with the Washington law firm Holland & Knight and a consultant on special education to the Council of Chief State
School Officers. Students receiving special education services are performing at higher and higher levels.
But when it comes to accountability, "this is an area where I don’t think we have the best answers yet," he said. "The best
practice is still evolving."
Others remain concerned that the revised law will allow too much leeway.
"I’m very afraid we’re going to have more flexibility than we think the public schools either should have or deserve," said
Jamie Ruppmann, the associate director of The Advocacy Institute, a disability-rights group in Marshall, Va., that has
lobbied Congress along with other organizations.
"This is so important," Ms. Ruppmann said. "They’re saying they shouldn’t be held accountable for educating our children.
Who but our kids would anybody say that about?"
3. St~:e schools make progress on federal standards

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Laura Diamond
Page 673
07/06/07
About 82 percent of Georgia’s public schools met federal testing goals this year, according to figures the state released
Friday. Roughly 79 percent met the standard last year.
The state Department of Education released its annual report Friday on whether Georgia schools met the testing goals
required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The law requires all public schools to test students each year in math,
reading and language arts in grades 3 through 8. The law requires school to test high school students once.
Results for Georgia’s 2,100 public schools are available online.
The state uses a complex formula to determine whether schools meet federal testing goals, which expect schools to
improve each year. The formula that takes into account scores on several state tests and other school information, such
as attendance. Schools that mee~ the mark are said to have made "Adequate Yearly Progress." or AYP.
The No Child Lett Behind Act was designed to determine whether schools successfully teach students. Schools must show
results for all students and subgroups, including minorities, low-income students, children with disabilities and those who
are learning English as a second language. These last two groups typically receive some of the lowest test scores.
A school that fails to make gains for two consecutive years is labeled one that "needs improvement." Georgia has 326
schools in that status this year, an increase from 308 last year.
This is the first tim e the number of schools missing the mark increased, State Superintendent Kathy Cox said in a news
release.
Schools that need improvement face a series of increasingly severe sanctions. In some cases, the law allows parents to
transfer their children to higher-performing schools. In other cases, the state can actually take over a school.
To shed the needs-improvement label, a school must make Adequate Yearly Progress two years in a row.
Thousands of Georgia families will receive letters in the next couple of weeks if their school did not meet the mark. Some
families will have the option of sending their child to a higher-achieving public school.
7.7.07_WEEKEND
IEWS SUNII~ARY.do..
Page 674
INonresponsiv
Sent: July 06, 2007 8:28 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dorfman, Cynthia;
Subject: Alexander Bill Would Halt Federal College Accrediting Rules (CTFP)
Alexander Bill Would Halt Federal College Accrediting Rules (CTFP)

By Beverly A. Carroll
Chattanooqa Times Free Press, July 6, 2007
Chattanooga, TN - U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., is shepherding through the Senate a bill on higher education that
would halt the federal Department of Education from imposing rules on colleges and universities similar to the requirements of
the No Child Left Behind law.
Earlier this year, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings moved ahead with plans to require college accrediting agencies
to set minimum levels of acceptable performance.
Higher edupation officials were alarmed by Ms. Spellings’ attempt to negotiate rules ahead of Congress, according to Belle
Wheelan, president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which represents
seven accrediting agencies across the nation.
Sen. Alexander last month warned that he would support legislation that would block Ms. Spellings’ move. The Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions asked Ms. Spellings to hold off until Congress reauthorized the Higher
Education Act.
"In light of the (Senate committee’s) work to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, I will not publish proposed regulations
regarding accreditation at this time," she wrote in a letter to the committee chairman, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Sen. Alexander applauded the secretary’s decision, spokesman Lee Pitts said.
The senator "thinks it is a thorough and reasonable approach," Mr. Pitts said. "He was encouraged by the secretary’s
actions and looks forward to (continuing to address) this important question of higher education."
Ms. Spellings appointed a commission in 2005 charged with making higher education more accountable and affordable.
The panel last fall recommended financial aid reforms and increased aid for students from low-income families.
Critics of the commission charge that the recommendations attempt to impose a system to measure academic
achievement similar to the 2002 No Child Left Behind act.
That act holds elementary and secondary schools accountable for student performance in math and reading, among other
factors. Students must show improvement in all areas or schools are classified as failing.
Richard Rhoda, executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, said universities are concerned with
overregulation and uniform measurements but not accountability.
"Education is being funded based on performance," Dr. Rhoda said. "As technology becomes better, testing is more
accurate, and we are probably getting closer to objective measurements. But we probably will never come to 100 percent
agreement on how to do that."
Alan Richards, spokesman for the Southern Regional Education Board, said Ms. Spellings’ proposed rules were "definitely
creeping" toward No Child Lett Behind-type requirements. The education board is a research and policy organization.
"We are pushing for accountability for higher education in other ways," Mr. Richards said. "Our reoommendation is that
states involve universities in long-term economic plans to make sure job needs are met."
Page 675
Nonresponsiv
July 06, 2007 6:43 AM

Dorfman, C~thia; Dunckel, Denise; Evers, Bill; Gribble, Emily; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force,
McGrath, John; Meseoar, Doug; Moran, Robert; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob
Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Seheessele, Marc; Halaska, Terrell; Toner, Jana; Mcnitt,
Townsend L.; Young, Traoy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Wurman, Ze’ev
Subject: Schools Move Toward Following Students’ Yearly Progress on Tests (NY-r)
Schools Move Toward Following Students’ Yearly Progress on Tests
By WI]qNIE HU
The Cohoes city school district, outside Albany, is considering a gifted progr~n for
elementary students and adding college-level courses after discovering that its top
students improved less on standardized tests in the past two years than everyone else in
the district.
In Ardsley, N.Y., a Westchester Cor~ty suburb, administrators intend to place more special
education students in regular classes after seeing their standardized test scores rise in
the last year.
And as the New York City Department of Education begins grading each public school A to F
for the first time this fall, more than half the evaluation will be based on how
individual students progress on standardized tests.
All three changes resulted from an increasingly popular way of analyzing test scores,
called a "growth model" because it tracks the progress of students as they move from grade
to grade rather than comparing, say, this year’s fourth graders with last year’s, the
traditional approach.
Concerned that the traditional way amounted to an apples-to-oranges comparison, schools in

more than two dozen states have turned to growth models. Now a movement is mounting to
amend the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for reauthorization this year, to
allow such alternative assessments of student progress.
Many urban educators contend that growth models are a fairer measure because they
recognize that poor and minority students often start out behind, and thus have more to
learn to reach state standards. At the s~ne time, many school officials in affluent
suburbs favor growth models because they evaluate students at all levels rather than
focusing on lifting those at the bottom, thereby helping to justify instruction costs to
parents and school boards at a time of shrinking budgets.
Adding growth models as a way to satisfy federal requirements to demonstrate "adequate

yearly progress"
could make it easier for some schools to avoid penalties because they would receive credit
for students who improve performance but still fall below proficiency levels. It could
also increase pressure on high-performing schools that sail above state standards to prove
that their students are continuing to advance.
Federal education officials agreed in 2005 to a pilot program allowing up to i0 states to
experiment with growth models, but emphasized that they remained responsible for ensuring
that all students would reach reading and nmth standards by 2014, and show consistent
gains along the way. Seven states ~ North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Delaware, Ohio,
Florida and Iowa -- have joined the pilot so far, federal officials said, and on Tuesday,
the Education Department green-lighted Alaska and Arizona to use growth models to analyze
data from the 2006-7 school year.
"A growth model is a way for states that are already raising achievement and following the
bright-line principles of the law to strengthen accountability,"
Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, said in a statement. "We are open to new
Page 676
ideas, but when it comes to accountability, we are not taking our eye off the ball."
In New York, education officials are developing a statewide growth model that will be in
place by the
2008-9 school year, to be used as an additional way to measure student learning. Fifteen
New York school districts, mainly in the Albany and Catskill regions, have experimented
with growth models on their own through a voluntary program started by two regional
support educational agencies in 2005. The districts typically pay these agencies from
$i,000 to $6,000 to train administrators and staff, and an additional $2.50 a year for
each student for the data analysis, which is partly reimbursed through state aid.
"There is absolutely a need for this kind of data,"

said Timothy G. Kremer, executive director of the New York State School Boards
Association, which represents about 700 districts. "It keeps the focus on student
achievement, and not on whether you’re going to pave the parking lot or who’s going to get
hired as next year’s coach."
But as growth models become more widespread, some teachers and parents have complained
that they are hard to understand and place too much focus on test scores. Teachers’
unions, even while supporting the concept, have protested the use of growth models for
performance reviews and merit pay.
"It’s detrimental for education," said Aimee Bolender, president of the Alliance-AFT,
~{hich represents 9,000 teachers and other staff members in the Dallas schools. "It is
pulling apart team, s of teachers and it doesn’t look at why test scores are low. From the
very beginning, we viewed it as a slippery slope that did not do anything valuable to
improve the educational enviro~nent in the schools."
Ms. Bolender’s union is fighting a decision by the Dallas school district to remove about
30 teachers from five middle and high schools this summer after not enough of their
students passed the state tests, and too many failed to show adequate progress on growth
models. Ms. Bolender said that many teachers question the reliability of the growth model
data, calling it "voodoo math" because "you have to be a Ph.D. in statistics to even
comprehend it."
Even some supporters of growth models have expressed concerns that they could shift
attention and resources away from the neediest students. Kati Haycock, director of the
Education Trust, an advocacy group for disadvantaged children, said she was worried about
growth models’ focusing too much attention on students at the top. "It risks so broadening
the federal government’s involvement that its historical role will be dissipated," she
said.
While growth models have existed for at least two decades, they were not widely used by
school systems until recently because few states had the extensive testing data required
for the analysis. But under the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires annual testing
for students in Grades 3 through 8, states have developed larger databases ripe for the
growth-model approach, which many experts see as a more thorough picture.
"When you look at achievement, every single wealthy suburb has high test scores," noted
Theodore Hershberg, a professor of public policy and history at the University of
Per~nsylvania. "That’s a terrible way to measure the performance of a school or an
individual teacher because what you’re really looking at is family background or family
income."
In the high-performing Ardsley schools, where more than 87 percent of the students passed
state reading tests this spring, district officials have long mined scores on their own,
compiling a thick data book for review and coining the saying: "In God we trust, everybody
else bring data."
But this year, they employed a more sophisticated growth model, which showed, for
inst~knce, that seventh-grade special education students had benefited from learning in
regular classes. So this fall the district will expand the mainstreaming to the elementary
and high schools. "This gives us the ability to measure whether a program has any teeth or
is all fluff," said Richard Maurer, the superintendent.
Cohoes school officials have spent more than $I million on programs for their most
struggling students in the past five years, and wanted to find out how much they had
2
Page 677
progressed. They learned that the lowest-level students were doing fine, while their high
achievers were starting to fall behind.
Charles S. Dedrick, superintendent of the 2,200-student district, said that parents had
complained that their children were scoring too low on the Advanced Placement exams to
receive college credit, but he thought there was just a problem with the A.P. coursework.
Now, after examining over time the state test scores of students in advanced classes, he
sees a more systemic problem. So the district hms made top-level students a priority, too,
and is considering starting a gifted program, expanding A.P.
and college-level courses, and adding an International Baccalaureate progr~n to keep them
challenged.
"The fact is we serve all students, and not just the lower-end students," said Mr.
Dedrick, who travels across the state to speak about growth models to school
superintendents. "If you’re just concentrating on one group of kids, it’s not fair because
both sets of parents pay taxes."
Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your ~tory. Play Sims Stories
at Y~oo! Games.
http://sims.yahoo, com/
Page 678
Nonresponsiv,
(b)(geOnr~:: ............................. ~["t~"ii ~’iif ~l-~h ~t ...........................
July 06, 2007 6:39 AM
]
Dorrman, C~thia; Dunckel, Denise; Evers, Bill; Gribble, Emily; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force,
McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Moran, Robert; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob
Townsend L.; Young, Tracy; Ditto, Trey; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Wurman, Ze’ev
Subject: Our view on the college-loans scandal: Shift the dollars to students and away from lenders
(USAT)
Our view on the college-loans scandal: Shift the dollars to students and away from lenders
Fri Jul 6, 12:22 AM ET To the average student or parent, the college-loan fiasco thmt h~s
unfolded over the past few months is as about as easy to understand as the federal tax
code. Far clearer is the severity of the problem.
Students pay interest rates of anywhere from 6.8% to 18% for college loans. The higher end
of that range borders on usury. Repaying the average loan-- $20,000 -- over i0 years at
the top rate costs more than twice that amount.
That’s no way to start a career, but the problem is affecting more and more students. The
size of an average loan has doubled in a decade. And every week, it seems, some college
financial aid officer gets the boot for accepting discounted stock, golf outings or boozy
lunches from deep-pocketed lenders seeking preferred positions.
As awful as the situation is, there’s no mystery about why it’s happening, or what forces
need to be brought under control for it to improve.
The first is the rapidly rising cost of college. Over the past 20 years, tuitions b~ve
risen 385%, roughly double the rise in health care costs, according to Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings.
At the same time, federal financial aid hms stagnated.

Twenty years ago, the federal Pell grant for poor students (maximum: $4,300 a year) paid
80% of the cost of going to a public university. Today it pays only 40%.
Unwilling to increase ft~ding for Pell grants, Congress seized upon an alternative: Give
students fewer grants but more loans. Thirty-five years ago, federal college aid consisted
of 60% grants, 40% loans. Today, that ratio has flipped.
To attract loan companies, Congress offered loan guarantees, but the lenders demanded
subsidies as well. In a deal greased with campaign contributions, Congress obliged. Over
recent years, some of the biggest college-loan companies have out-contributed the oil and
drug lobbies.
Subsidy-fueled loans proved to be a lucrative, $85 billion-a-year industry, leading the

loan companies to shower favors on colleges in exchange for spots on their "preferred"
lenders list, where most students look when seeking a loan.
Mostly, the favors consisted of free software installations or manpower to process loans.
At times, however, they were blatant bribes, leading to dismissals of financial aid
officers at prestigious universities such as Col~mabia, Johns Hopkins and the University of
Texas. "While I may not golf well, at least I always golf for free," the director of
financial aid at the University of Texas once quipped.
Earlier this year, the money train finally crashed, as independent investigations by New
York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and thi~ tanks such as New America Foundation exposed
the practices. Cuomo, using the threat of prosecution, has forced both lenders and
colleges to sign codes of conduct.
As for solutions, the surest way to stop slush-fund abuses is to remove the slush. The
Page 679
White House and Congress are both poised to lop off about $4 billion a year in subsidies,
and shift the money to direct loans. Yet that is just a small nick for an $85 billion
industry.
The rest of the solution requires boosting grant money, controlling college costs and
riding herd on both lenders and college financial aid offices.
Will reforms hurt students by causing the private lenders to fade away, as some of them
contend? Not likely. Despite the looming subsidy cutback, the stock prices for the big
lenders remain quite healthy.
The same can’t be said for the finances of their young customers saddled with decades of
debt.
Got a little couch potato?

Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search, yahoo, com/search?fr=oni on mail&p=sununer+activities+for+kids&cs=bz
Page 680
[Nonresponsi
Sent: July 05, 2007 8:43 AM
Subject: A Stronger Education Law (CHIT)
Good NCLB editorial...

’Congress has to resist the efforts by some education groups that want to water down the demands and expectations of
NCLB.
A better idea--strengthen the law in critical areas so it has every chance to succeed."
A Stronger Education Law (CHIT)

~, July 5, 2007
The results of the No Child Lett Behind Act should impress even the most dour skeptics. NCLB has brought a critical
spotlight to struggling schools. It has put pressure on all schools to raise the performance of all kids, no matter their race,
ethnicity or social class. It has set clear standards for student improvement. It has exposed the failure of even some elite,
suburban schools to improve the performance of their poor and minority students.
Thanks to NCLB, many parents are better consumers of education. Nearly half a million parents now shop among private
tutoring firms to choose the best extra help for their child.
The 5-year-old education reform law expires this year. How Congress handles its renewal will determine whether the
federal government keeps pressure on local schools to meet the ultimate goal: get all students at all schools proficient in core
subjects by 2014.
No one argues that NCLB can’t be improved, but there’s likely to be a heck of a debate about how to do it. U.S. House and
Senate committees are expected to begin discussing that later this summer. Congress has to resist the efforts by some
education groups that want to water down the demands and expectations of NCLB.
A better idea--strengthen the law in critical areas so it has every chance to succeed.
We offer four keys to a better education law:.
Enforce it. States have found 101 ways to evade challenging parts of the law, and the reds have allowed that to happen.
For example, the law states that every teacher must be highly qualified--a recognition that student improvement depends on top-
notch teachers. But states and schools across the nation ignored that provision because the feds, until recently, looked the other
way. Many states, including Illinois, adopted broad definitions of "highly qualified" that rendered the term meaningless. The feds
should tighten that.
One way to enforce the lawis to provide more alternative choices for students. The Bush administration wants to fund
scholarships that students in failing schools could use at any other public or private school.
Stop moving the finish line. As pressure mounts on schools to get more students to pass state tests, many states have
responded by lowering standards or dumbing down their exams. Mississippi reported that 89 percent of its 4th-graders passed
the state test in 2005. Fantastic, right? But only 18 percent of those 4th-graders passed the tougher National Assessment of
Educational Progress, otherwise known as the nation’s report card. All the evidence says Mississippi made its own test so easy
that everybody could get a passing grade.
Comedian Steven Colbert zeroed in on the absurdity of this. "Instead of passing the test, have kids pass a test," Colbert
said. "Have them walk into a room that’s empty except for a chair and a test on a shelf. If they can figure out how to step on the
chair to get the test, they pass. If that doesn’t work, help them out by putting a piece of pizza up there."
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings asserts that requiring states to publish both national and state test scores should
be sufficient remedy. But unless states face stricter consequences for lowering standards--or financial incentives for raising
them--then the federal lawwill slide into a meaningless expenditure of money and resources.
Page 681
Measure progress, not status. Schools don’t get credit for students who, say, move up two grade levels in a school year but
still fail a proficiency test. Under a "growth model" for measuring student gains, a state evaluates how far each child progresses
each year. If schools post sufficient student gains, they can meet the NCLB requirement of Adequate Yearly Progress. Seven
states have received federal approval to use growth models to measure student progress.
Improve tutoring. The Department of Education says that more than 2.4 million students qualify for free tutoring under No
Child Left: Behind, but only about 450,000 students receive it. Tutoring could be one of the laws best options for boosting student
achievement, but no one knows how effective current programs are because they haven~ received much scrutiny. Many tutors
provide little beyond after-school baby-sitting. There have been reports around the country of tutoring firms that have bribed
parents or students to use their services.
States need clear, high standards for the companies that provide tutors. Those that fail to help kids improve should be shut
down.
NCLB has shown the nation how far it has to go to educate every child. A stronger law from Congress and a better
commitment from the states and local schools can help to get there.
Page 682
[Nonresponsi
From." Neale, Rebecca
Sent: July 02, 2007 8:45 AM
Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath,
Terrell, Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-m all); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy;
Yudof, Samara
Subject: Do Vouchers tn D.C. Pass The Test? (WP)
Do Vouchers In D.C. Pass The Test? (WP)

The Washin.qton Post, July 2, 2007
Yes, There Is Early Success
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s takeover of the District’s schools provides him a historic opportunity to bring bold reforms to
the city’s public school system.
At the same time, any education reform effort must embrace all city students, including those in public charter schools and
the 1,800 low-income students attending private schools under the federally funded scholarship program.
For those of us who fought to bring scholarships to the District -- over heated opposition from some quarters -- the recent
federal report on the program is further evidence of early success. Scholarships are serving families most in need -- applicant
families support three children with just over $17,000 a year, and, on average, students entered with standardized math and
reading test scores in the bottom third. Scholarships are beginning to make a difference in early test scores. Studies show that it
usually takes at least two years for students in a new school to show academic improvement, making it all the more impressive
that atter just seven months some scholarship students showed slight gains in math.
More telling is a recent Georgetown University report in which scholarship parents proudly describe their children’s new
attitudes toward learning. Zachary Tanner, after two years at St. Ann’s Academy, "thinks more critically and, with his good
grades, earns honorable mention," says his mother, Sharon. It’s given "me a chance to test myself," explains Zachary, who has
been accepted into St. John’s High School. "I’ve never seen him this excited about school," his mother said.
Parents’ involvement in their children’s education -- one of the strongest indicators of student achievement -- has
"dramatically increased," according to the Georgetown research, which is also reflected in the federal study.
It’s no wonder that the program is so popular, with more than four students applying for every scholarship.
These scholarships were shaped and championed by local leaders, notably myself, Kevin Chavous, then a member of the
D.C. Council and education committee chair;, and Peggy Cooper Cafritz, then presideht of the D.C. Board of Education; and a
host of local parents and educators and community leaders. Together, with the Education Department and Democratic and
Republican congressional leaders, we built a local program tailored to the District’s needs. And rather than diverting funds f~om
public to privateschools, scholarships -- at our insistence -- embody a three-sector approach in which the District’s public and
charter schools have received more than $100 million in new federal funds.
As Mayor Fenty observed, when it comes to educating our children, "nothing less than the future of our city is at stake."
Few know this better than Magalee @pie a recent Archbishop Carroll High School graduate. An avid poet, Magalee credits the
three-year scholarship experience for her acceptance to Oberlin College. "The school’s writing program really helped me sharpen
my skills. Without that scholarship, I probably wouldn’t be going to Oberlin."
As Washingtonians, we should support our new mayor’s ambitious agenda for all our city’s students, including those on
scholarships.
- Anthony Williams
Washington
The writer is former mayor of the District and chief executive of Primum Public Really Trust, a real estate investment firm.
School voucher programs have been controversial in this city and in our nation for a long time. Historically, the dispute
broke down along Republican-Democratic lines. But in the 1990s, voucher proponents made a smart tactical decision and sought
support from African American voters and their political allies. Voucher advocates had a simple and compelling claim: They told
black parents that private schools would produce better academic outcomes for their children.
Page 683
Voucher supporters made the same argument before the Supreme Court in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, which decided that
the programs were legal. The lawyers offered a litany of statistics documenting the dire educational prospects for children in
inner-city schools. Vouchers were a way out of failed school systems, the lawyers said, because private schools teach more
effectively.
The Supreme Court accepted these arguments, as have many black parents and leaders. Former mayor Anthony Williams,
for example, strongly supported the D.C. voucher plan. But what if it turns out that students who get vouchers do not learn more?
Or what if we never know because the children do not take the sam e tests?
Recently the U.S. Education Department released the first round of results for the D.C. plan, and it turns out that the test
scores of students receiving vouchers did not go up. Voucher supporters argue that these scores are from students’ tirst year in
the program, so we cannot label the program a failure. Research shows that children often struggle when they change schools,
so we need more time to tell whether D.C. vouchers will make a difference.
But some voucher supporters -- including Education Secretary Margaret Spellings - were even more defensive, suggesting
that the program works if parents say it works. This argument is inconsistent with the No Child Left Behind Act, which says that
schools will be judged by the results of reading, math and science tests. Many people, including me, think that this is too narrow
a definition of success, but it is the one the federal government has adopted.
In another hit on vouchers, the think tank Education Sector reported last month that the McKay voucher program for
special-education students in Florida cannot be evaluated because the students don’t even take the same test as their
counterparts in public schools. As a result, the report said, "We cannot know whether McKay students perform better, worse or
the same as special-education students in public schools."
For voucher proponents who told African Amedcan parents that students would learn to read and write better in pdvate
school, now is the time to speak up. Now is the time to make clear that parental satisfaction, in the absence of improved test
scores, is not enough to justify a voucher plan. And now is most certainly the time to demand that every voucher program be
assessed in such a way that the parents and the community can learn how much students are learning.
- James Forman
Washington
The writer is a co-founder of the Maya Angelou Public Charter School.
No one who has followed voucher studies will be surprised by Education Department findings of no bottom-line
achievement differences between students in D.C. voucher programs and the D.C. public school students with whom they are
being compared. However, count on the usual war, with each side citing experts who agree with its positions. Notwithstanding
such differences, no study has found anything worth getting our hopes up for. Our focus now must be on the future of our
voucher children.
Raising hopes for the vouchers experiment would be particularly unfair to these families. Neither the Republican Congress
that torturously passed the voucher bill nor the new Democratic Congress support public funding for private schools. The bill
initially failed in the House, even though many Congressional Black Caucus members who oppose vouchers were away for a
presidential debate. The vote was held open for 40 minutes to turn around enough members to pass it by one vote.
We don’t need to guess what most members of Congress would say if asked, as I was recently, whether they would still
oppose the D.C. voucher program if the children performed better than their public school counterparts. No need to take the Fifth
on that one. Most members of Congress join the American principled consensus that public funds, always in short supply, should
go to public schools, and that funding for religious schools crosses the line of separation between church and state, wisely drawn
by our nation’s founders to avoid the religious strife found in many countries. For me there are two additional principles: No. 1, no
system for educating our children should be imposed on any local jurisdiction against the will of the majority of elected officials
and residents, and No. 2, every child is entitled to a good public education for which families have paid taxes.
Our responsibility now is to the children caught in yet another congressional experiment on the District. I have rejected
suggestions that I try to get the program stopped now before its fiscal 2008 end date. Instead, I have had good talks with officials
of the Catholic Church, whose schools most of the voucher children attend, and with the Washington Scholarship Fund
concerning options. I have offered to join church and scholarship fund officials in raising money for children who desire to remain
in private schools (D.C. school vouchers were privately funded by the Washington Scholarship Fund before being displaced by
federal funding). For others there are two options: attending an acceptable public school outside the child’s neighborhood or
charter schools.
The irony is that vouchers were forced on the District against the will of the great majority of the city’s elected officials and
residents, even though the city had the largest number of charter schools per capita then and now. The city’s charter schools
operate as a popular alternative to the public school system, where children do as well and are now beginning to exceed D.C.
public schoolchildren in achievement.
Page 684
The voucher wars are over. D.C. school reform, our charter schools and good alternatives for our voucher students deserve
our attention now.
- Eleanor Holmes Norton
Washington
The writer, a Democrat, is the District of Columbia’s representative in Congress.
Page 685
[N,~onresponsi
Sent: June 29, 2007 8:50 AM
Yudof, Samara
Subject: Teachers Target Bush’s No-Child Law For Change Under Democrats (BLOOM)
Teachers Target Bush’s No-Child Law For Change Under Democrats (BLOOM)
By William Mcquillen And Brian K. Sullivan
Bloomberq, June 29, 2007
President Bush speaks about No Child Left Behind
June 29 (Bloomberg) -- The largest U.S. teachers’ union is urging the Democratic-controlled Congress to fix "’serious
flaws" in the No Child Left Behind law, a plan by President George W. Bush to make schools more accountable for improving
students’ basic skills.
The National Education Association, representing 3.2 million teachers and other school staffers, put the five-year- old
measure at the top of the agenda for its national convention opening tomorrow in Philadelphia. Seven Democratic candidates for
president and one Republican will address the meeting.
The association calls the law, which affects public school children in all 50 states, a "’rigid one-size-fits-all approach."
Teachers say they want changes to reward steady improvement in students, reduce class sizes and recognize individual needs
of certain children, such as non-English speakers and special-education students.
"’We’re not for repealing the whole law," said Joel Packer, 53, director of education policy and practice for the association,
based in Washington. "’What we’re trying to do is make some significant changes and fixes to the flaws."
The legislation requires almost 50 million American public school children to be tested in reading and math and threatens to
withhold some of the $37 billion in federal school funds from districts that don~ measure up. Bush says the law will close the
achievement gap between minority and white students.
"’The American public and educators agree -- Congress needs to change No Child Lett Behind," said association President
Reg Weaver, a former middle school teacher in Harvey, Illinois, in a statement earlier this month.
Up For Renewal
Congress may give the organization an opening 1o change the law when it comes up for renewal this year. Delegates to the
NEA conference will hear from Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Christopher Dodd, Bill
Richardson, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich, and Republican Mike Huckabee.
Under the education initiative of Bush, a Republican, students are tested in reading and math annually in grades three
through eight and once in high school. Low-performing schools face requirements to allow student transfers and, after two years
of failing test grades, to fund tutoring. Atter six years of sub-par performance, teachers and administrators can be removed.
No-Child Requirements
Schools that don’t measure up face the loss of federal funds, which account for 9 percent of the $500 billion spent each
year on U.S. elementary and secondary schools. The NEA, the state of Connecticut, and school districts in Texas, Mchigan and
Vermont have filed lawsuits alleging the measure makes unlaw[ul demands of the states.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings rejects criticism of the law and says it is achieving its goals of improving U.S.
schools.
According to the department, 450,000 students are receiving free tutoring or have been allowed to transfer to other
schools, 90 percent of all U.S. classes are nowtaught by qualified teachers, and the gap between black and Hispanic students’
test scores and those of white children is at its narrowest point.
"’Democrats are more open generally to hearing from us, particularly the committee chairs," the organization’s Packer said
in an interview. In appearances before Congressional panels, "’we have had seven different witnesses from the NEAtestify this
year," he said. "’In the past we haven’t had any."
Page 686
Presidential Candidates
The presidential contenders are likely to criticize current education policy and call for more funding for No Child Lef~ Behind
and more flexibility for states to use their own proposals, based on comments some of them have made. The candidates
declined this week to discuss their planned remarks to the teachers, and most of them haven’t outlined specific positions on the
No-Child law.
On her Web site, New York Senator Clinton says the federal government hasn’t kept a "’promise" to schools to provide
needed funding in exchange for accountability on test scores. She will address the NEA conference on July 2.
Former Arkansas Governor Huckabee, the lone Republican appearing, who will speak July 5, has called for states to have
more autonomy in developing their own standards.
Former North Carolina Senator Edwards and Connecticut Senator Dodd also are scheduled to speak July 2, with Ohio
Representative Kucinich and New Mexico Governor Richardson on July 3. Illinois Senator Obama and Delaware Senator Biden
will join Huckabee on the dais July 5.
’~/hat Won’t Go Away
The Bush system gives only a "’snap-shot" of how a student is doing, the NEA’s Packer said. The association wants to
change testing so that a student’s progress can be tracked through the school year. States should be able to get real-time data
on individual improvements, Packer said.
Schools can also be judged failures under the law if they don’t meet federal criteria. Some measurements are more
important than others and should carry more weight, the NEA says.
Democratic control of Congress doesnt guarantee that the teachers will get what they want, said Cara Stillings, a 31 - year-
old adjunct instructor at Boston University. As a No-Child law researcher, she helped organize a symposium on the plan this
month at her university.
"’1 don’t think you are going to see standardized testing go away," Stillings said. She helped develop achievement tests for
a division of Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston, which had $1.4 billion in sales of educational materials last year. "’1 don’t think
you are going to see parental choice go away, and I don’t think we’re going to see accountability for schools go away."
Page 687
!Nonresponsi
Sent: June 29, 2007 8:50 AM
Terrell, Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-mail); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy;
Yudof, Samara
Subject: Spellings Gets Tougher On The ABA (IHE)
Spellings Gets Tougher On The ABA (IHE)

By Doug Lederman
Inside Hiqher Ed, June 29, 2007
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has upheld the recommendation of a federal advisory committee that she extend
for 18 months her department’s recognition of the American Bar Association body that accredits law schools. But the secretary,
expressing clear disapproval of the accreditor’s controversial new "diversity" standard, is also -- against the recommendation of
the advisory panel -- requiring the law school accreditor to report about how it applies the diversity standard.
In December, when the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions appeared before the
department’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, the Education Department’s staff-- at the urging
of political appointees at the department, according to several people familiar with the situation -- was told that it faced
punishment if it did not alter a standard it used to ensure racial and ethnic diversity among law school student bodies.
The staff report asserted that the law school accreditor’s "ambiguous" diversity standard, which has come under persistent
criticism from groups that oppose affirmative action, could be inconsistently applied in ways that would pressure insti~~tions to
break the law in states where affirmative action has been banned. The law school accreditor’s written "equal opportunity and
diversity standard" (Standard 212, formerly known as 211) requires law schools to "demonstrate by concrete action" their
commitment to a diverse student body.
The staff report cited a signiticant number of other perceived problems with the ABA council’s performance with which
members of the advisory committee generally agreed, and the panel endorsed the staff’s overall recommendation that the
department should extend the law school accreditor’s recognition for only 18 months instead of the typical 5 years.
But some members of the advisory panel- led by George A. Pn.~itt, president of Thomas Edison State College, the
committee’s longest serving member-- objected at the December meeting to the staff’s recommendation on the diversity
standard. ’1 am very concerned that we’re taking an agency that has a lot of problems ... and the one area that we’ve chosen to
hang our hat on and beat them up on is the one area where I think they’re OK," Pruitt said. Pruitt argued that the staff had
misconstrued the standard as insisting that law schools take certain actions to maintain diversity, and noted that no law school
had complained about howthe accreditor had applied the diversity standard.
Pruitt also objected to the staff’s call for the ABA to submit to onerous new reporting requirements documenting how it
carried out the diversity standard, calling it a "dangerous precedent" for other accrediting agencies seeking to enhance diversity.
Along with Arthur E. Keiser, president of Keiser Collegiate System, he proposed a successful amendment that stripped the
finding about the diversity standard (and the reporting requirements) from the recommendation that the committee ultimately
approved for the ABA council.
Recommendations by the accreditation advisory committee, which goes by the acronym NACIQI (nuh-see-kee~ are just
that -- recommendations to the education secretary. The department’s political leaders were reportedly very upset by the turn of
events at the December meeting, according to people familiar with the situation. Ten days after the committee met in December,
the department’s staff, as is its right, signaled that it would appeal the committee’s recommendation about the ABA council, even
though it was upheld except for the language on the diversity standard. A formal appeal was never submitted, though.
Fast forward to this week. In a June 20 letter obtained by Inside Higher Ed, Spellings said that she would uphold the 18-
month recognition period. However, she made abundantly clear that she disagreed with the committee’s vote not to accept the
staffs recommendation about the diversity standard. ’1 note that the council did not directly and persuasively address the staff’s
finding that the council failed to comply with ... requirements to maintain effective controls against inconsistent application of
Page 688
Standard 212? (the diversity standard) "and its interpretations," Spellings wrote. She insisted that the accreditor provide a
mountain of documents by December, when it again must seek renewed recognition from the department, showing that it has
met the department’s requirements for all of its standards, "including (but not limited to)" he diversity standard.
Critics of the ABA’s diversity standard speculated -- and an Education Department official confirmed --that the language
in the secretary’s letter meant that she was requiring the ABA to prove that it is fi.~lfilling the department’s requirements in carrying
out the diversity requirement. "It certainly would seem as if she has restored this as an item on the agenda to which ABA must
respond, and I think that’s a positive development," said Stephen Balch, president of the National Association of Scholars. The
scholars’ group had urged the department last year to deny the ABA council’s authority to operate if it did not abandon its new
diversi~y requirement.
ABA officials, however, did not seem to view the secretary’s letter as a rebuke, as least to judge by the terse written
statement they released.
’The Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is pleased that Secretary Spellings has agreed with the
National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Inte£[ity and renewed the Section’s recognition as the national
accrediting agency for law schools,° William R. Rakes, a Virginia lawyer and chairman of the ABA accrediting section, said in a
prepared statement. ’The section looks forward to continuing work with the Department of Education to assure fi.lll compliance
with each and every criterion set by the department for accreditation agencies. We take seriously each point raised by the staff of
the Department and by NAClQI, and have worked diligently to address them."
Officials of the accreditor declined further comment.
Page 689
N_onresponsi
Sent: June 28, 2007 9:10 AM
Elizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele, Marc; Tad& Wendy; Talbert, Kent;
Terrell, J ulie; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-m all); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy;
Yudof, Samara
Subject: ED: Tutoring Shows Gains In Math, Science (Ed Daily)
ED: Tutoring Shows Gains In Math, Science (Ed Daily)

By Sarah D. Sparks
Education Daily, June 28, 2007
NCLB’s flagship tutoring program is staffing to take off and pay offfor students in math and science on state assessment
tests, according to a congressionally required evaluation.
Yet the team of reviewers from RAND and Mathematica Policy Research found that supplemental education services’
partner initiative, school choice, has generated little interest and no benefits for student achievement.
Researchers studied the state math and reading test scores of students involved in the two programs in seven large
districts. Among the findings:
¯ S ES participation varied considerably by student group and grade level. From 24 to 28 percent of eligible elementary
school students received tutoring, dwindling to 5 percent in high school. Black students were most likely to participate, at 16.9
percent, followed by 14.6 percent of special education students, 13.1 percent of English learners, and 11.6 percent of Hispanic
students. About one in 10 eligible white students received tutoring.
° By contrast, no more than 1.1 percent of any student group transferred to a new school. Those who did so on average
transferred to higher-achieving schools with fewer minorities.
o Students tutored for one year across seven districts achieved on average .09 of a standard deviation higher than the
district mean in math and .08 of a standard deviation in reading, though all scored belowthe district mean before tutoring. After
two or more years of tutoring, the effect doubled in math and nearly doubled in reading. The increases are statistically
significant.
¯ Transferring to a new school showed no improvement in students’ scores in math and reading and caused a statistically
significant drop in math for special education students.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings released the evaluation Wednesday at the National Summit on Supplemental
Services and Public School Choice in Washington, D.C., asserting that the results would bolster support for both programs in
NCLB reauthorization.
"Supplemental services and more options for parents have really come of age in our country," Spellings said. ’ln fact, in
many cases, the longer students participated, the better they got.
"You wouldn’t think we’d need RAND researchers to figure that out, but there you go."
Policymakers will have to take good and bad findings alike with a grain of salt, as the result barely skimmed the surface of
SES and choice implementation.
The report did not include the program characteristics or the hours students actually received tutoring before being tested.
The Education Department released a statement with the report noting that considerably fewer students used the choice
provision to transfer to another school than took tutoring, making choice results iffy.
INe’re very pleased that this study was undertaken," said Steven Pines, executive director of the Education Industry
Association, a tutoring firm trade group.
Yet he cautioned, "One single study doesn’t provide conclusive evidence, be it positive or negative.
’~Ve’re very interested in howthis study works in conjunction with state and schools district evaluations.
’~/Vhen they are all stitched together, we’ll be able to see better who benefits most from SES and what program
designs are most effective."
Page 690
L
N,,=onresponsi
Sent: June 27, 2007 8:40 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dorfman, Cynthia;
Yudof, Samara
Subject: President Bush Lobbies For NCLB Reauthorization (Ed Daily)
President Bush Lobbies For NCLB Reauthorization (Ed Daily)

By Kds Kitto
President Bush wasted little time congratulating the 2007 Presidential Scholars on Monday before making another attempt
at stimulating Congress to commence NCLB reauthorization as soon as possible.
Citing the importance of closing the achievement gap and maintaining global competitiveness, the president called for a
swif~ renewal of the law because ’No Child Lef~ Behind is working."
’£eauthorizing No Child is one of the top priorities of my administration, and I knowit’s a top priority in members of
Congress," he said. "We made a historic commitment, and I believe we have a moral obligation to keep it."
But amidst the confident pressure the president has been putting on Congress lately, Bush hinted at a pull-out-all-the-stops
strategy Monday that has him resorting to tactics he might not have used to in order to get NCLB renewed. Among them are an
admission that he’s willing to give on certain parts of the law in the name of reauthorization and his use of the first lady to lobby
lawmakers on behalf of NCLB.
’1 know some members and senators have got concerns about the law, and we’re more than willing to talk about flexibility,"
he said, quickly adding that high expectations and assessments are offthe bargaining table. He did take the opportunity to
promote several of the requests his administration has made, like a greater focus on high schools, a teacher incentive fund and a
voucher program.
But before the president can begin bartering with Congress on what a new NCLB would look like, he must continue to build
support among lawmakers, said Center on Education Policy President Jack Jennings.
’He has to create a mood among the Republicans that it’s worthwhile to support the reauthorization," he said,
acknowledging the difficulty of that task given the president’s low approval ratings and several Republican legislators’ preference
for education control on the local level.
But the president doesn’t have much time to spare for coalition building because of Congress’ full agenda and his term
limit. Bush’s primary incentive for a speedy reauthorization is that the resulting law would probably be more toward his liking,
said American Association of School Administrators Associate Executive Director Bruce Hunter.
This administration is trying to push reauthorization along because it’s not advocating for many substantial changes to the
law, he said.
’The faster it’ll go, the fewer changes there’d be," Hunter said.
The president also revealed that Education Secretary Margaret Spellings recently had a lobbying companion in first lady
Laura Bush. He said the first lady has met with several Congress members on NCLB and will continue to do so -- a policy role
she typically hasn’t played in the past.
"She has a terrific public image and has experience in the school business, and so she’s not a fish out of water," Hunter
said.
But the White House isn’t alone in its outreach efforts. Rep. Mike Castle, R-DeI., who has been in two NCLB meetings with
the first lady, told Education Daily@that he and his colleagues are working on changes to the lawthat might persuade Rep. Pete
Hoekstra, R-Mich., and others adamantly opposed to the lawto reconsider.
’1 would hope that those who may not be sure about this legislation will take a good look at it when all these changes are
made, and maybe it’ll change their minds back," he said.
Page 691
INonresponsi,
Sent: June 26, 2007 8:42 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey; Dorfman, C~thia;
Kuzm ich, Holly; Landers, Angeta; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath,
Terrell, Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-m ail); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy;
Subject: Colleges Release Data To Allow Comparison (USAT)
Colleges Release Data To Allow Comparison (USAT)

By Mary Beth Marklein, Usa Today
USA Today:, June 26, 2007
If all goes according to plan, high school students embarking on the college search process can expect to get more help
beginning this fall.
A number of higher education associations are developing tools through which participating colleges will make more
information available to families in user-friendly formats that are easier to compare.
At least three voluntary initiatives are in the works.
Two similar but independent efforts involve participating schools using a common Web-based template to post information.
One is being created for private colleges; the other is aimed at public universities.
In a third effort, an association of 60 public and private research universities says it will collect and make public comparable
data about its members.
Though all the projects are works in progress, dratt versions suggest one key focus will be costs. At least two initiatives
plan to include tools to help prospective students estimate the cost of attending a particular school.
The various endeavors are a response to calls for transparency in higher education, especially as tuition increases have
continued to outpace inflation.
Last year, a commission created by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings concluded that colleges need to do a better
job of demonstrating that students are actually learning. Some higher education leaders also note a growing desire to provide an
alternative to U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings.
The idea is "aimed at putting students in a position to make better decisions from where they sit," says Peter McPherson,
president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, which represents more than 200 public
universities.
Page 692
Nonresponsi
Sent: June 26, 2007 8:42 AM
Terrell, Julie; Toomey, Liam; TracyYoung (E-mail); Tucker, Sara Martinez; Young, Tracy;
Subject: Students Call For More Ed Tech Integration (Ed Daily)
Students Call For More Ed Tech Integration (Ed Daily)

By Sarah D. Sparks
The nation’s top high school seniors told Education Secretary Margaret Spellings that education technology should focus
on critical thinking, not programs.
’Technology is not a substitute for a brain; you still need to knowhowto think," said Katherine Roddy of the Webb School
of Knoxville, Tenn. Being prepared for life after graduation, she argued, "is not necessarily about how we maximize our ability to
take in information but our ability to use that information and do something with it."
Roddy was one of more than 100 Presidential Scholars who peppered the secretary with questions and suggestions at an
education technology forum Spellings sponsored at the White House on Monday. The meeting was the third in Spellings’ series
of national focus groups on education technology and the only one to involve students.
Spellings criticized what she saw as a "cut-and-paste" approach to designing technology programs. She vowed the next
iteration of federal funding for education technology would move away from the infrastructure build-up set by the traditional
Enhancing Education Through Technology grants -- which President Bush has called to cut for several years -- toward improving
schools’ integration of technology into classes.
’We don’t need to spend another 40 billion on infrastructure; we need to start figuring out what works academically,"
Spellings said.
Student Ideas
While experts debate what is needed for basic computer literacy, the students called for more challenging, complex lessons
with a real-world focus. They voiced fn.~stration with minimal or stunted technology curriculums that focused on learning
programs such as Microsott Word, PowerPoint and Excel, which David Tao of the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn.,
argued students should know "by fourth or fitth grade."
Instead, the students suggested a wide array of interactive lessons, from teaching students to build their own computers to
creating study networks to help students in poor schools, even in other countries. Many of the suggestions had a strong altruistic
note, such as one proposal by Lu Wang of Mesquite High School in Gilbert, Ariz.: an "ED YouTube" based on the video-sharing
Web site, in which students could create demonstrations of science experiments.
Sites like YouTube and Wikipedia show students ’~ve don’t just have the opportunity to explore and learn, we have the
responsibility to contribute to it," said Leah Anthony Libresco of the Wheatley School in Old Westbury, N.Y.
Students also called for more training for teachers in howto use and incorporate technology in the classroom, even
suggesting joint student-teacher courses. Asher Frankfurt, of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual
Arts in Dallas, said teachers’ tech-sawy has been a mixed bag: "Some are very fluent in technology and some still type with one
finger."
Spellings was surprised to find students as savvy about computer use in the clas~sr.oom as experts in the field. "Oiten, we
in public policy don’t ask that much of our customers, especially young people, and we are long overdue for that contribution,"
she said.
WEEKEND NEWS SUMMARY 06.23.07 Page 1 of 8
Page 693
Nonresponsi [
From: Ditto, Trey
Sent: June 24, 2007 11:35 AM
To: Ditto, Trey; Reich, Heidi; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Bryant, Jessica; Cariello,
Dennis; Colby, Chad; Doffman, Cynthia; Dunekel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill;
Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassie; Gribble, Emily; Halaska, Terrell; Herr, John; Higgins,
Kristan; Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Laur.en;
Maguire, Tory; McGrath, John; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar,
Doug; Moran, Robert; Morffi, Jessica; Neale, Rebecca; O’Daniel, Meagan; Pitts,
Elizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Rosenfelt, Phil; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele, Marc; Private-
Spellings, Margaret; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell, Julie; Toomey, Liam; Tucker,
Sara Martinez; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Young, Tracy D. ; Yudof, Samara; Zeff,
Ken
Subject: WE EKEN D NEWS SUMMARY 06.24.07
Garmett News Service on RAND study that says schools must adopt narrow cmriculum of
math and reading.
Washington Post on teacher shortage (NOTE: other outlets wrote stolies citing this mlicle)
Indy Star editorial on shortage of HQT
SA Express News on student loans
Schools adopt nanow cunicnlmn to increase students’ math and reading scores
BY LEDYARD KING
Gannett Ne~vs Setwice
June 24, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The federal No Child Left Behind law is prompting many schools to
focus increasingly on math and reading at the expense of other subjects, new research
suggests.
The trend is particttlarly appment at low-performing schools in arban areas, according to a
study the California-based RAND Corp. presented to a panel of education rese,’u’chers early
this month.
The study is sm’e to give annmmition to critics who contend a nano~ver cm~iclfllun deplives
children ofa ~ich education.
The study released June 12 concludes that subjects such as art, music and social studies,
which aren’t tested m~der No Child Left Behhtd, are increasingly neglected.
"If only math and reading count, then other (courses) will take second place, and we’re
stmling to see that already," said Brian Stecher, a senior social scientist with RAND.
U.S. Education Secretat3r Margaret Spellings repeatedly has emphasized the need for math
and reading, saying those are the building blocks to other subjects.
The law’s supporters also say schools can hnprove math and reading skills without nsalowing
the cmlictdum by blending them into other subjects, such as science and
A separate RAND study of the law’s impact in California, Georgia and Pennsylvatfia also
fmmd an increased focus on math and wading.
But teachers in those stutes aren’t just doing more to teach those subjects. They’re also
spending extra tiine prepming students for questions expected to be on state tests and training
students in test-taking skills, said Lauaa Han~ilton, a senior behavioral scientist with RAND.
Among other findings:
¯ Only a qumnter of parents with children at Niling schools were aware their school wasn’t
making adequate in’ogress m~der No Child Left Behind. School disl]icts are supposed to
notify parents so they may lransfer theh" childi’en to another school or get fi’ee tutoring.
06/05/2008
Page 694
¯ Schools continue to have the raost trouble raising test scores of students with disabilities
and those who don’t speal~ English as a fn’st language. Many say they don’t get enough money
or materials to help those students.
¯ Most teachers find test data helpfid in identifying ways to improve teaching and ~ilor
instruction to straggling students.
Schools Pinched In Hiring
Teacher Shol~age Looms As Law Raises Bat and Boomer Women Reth’e
By Michael Alison Chandler
Sunday, June 24, 2007; A01
As htmdreds of thousands of baby boomers retire and the No Child Left Behind law raises
standards for new teachers, school syste~ns across the country are facing a growstg scarcity
of qualified recruils.
A labor force that for generations cushioned teacher shortages and kept salaries relatively low
is disappeming. Three-quarters of the natioffs more than 3 milliou public school teachers are
women, a figm’e that has changed little over fore" decades. But in that time, women have
become ~nore educated, with more career choices than ever. So far, sd~ools are not faring
well on the open raarket.
"It’s not that you don’t have some tenifically talented people going into teaching. You do,"
said Richard J. Mnmane, an economist at Hat~gard University’s Graduate School of
Education. "The issue is that you don’t have enough. And many are the most likely to leave
teaching, because they have lots of other opportanities."
A study co-w~itten by Mmnane and published this year reports that minorities and poor
children are raost likely to be taught by teacliers with weak acaderaic backgrounds or line
preparation. Overall, the pxoporiion ofworaen who pursue teaching after college, as well as
the caliber of recruits, has declined significantly since the 1960s.
The mtmber of eollege-edneated women in the United States laipled from 1964 to 2000,
according to a 2004 study by University of Ivlaryland economists, but the share of those
graduates who became teachers dropped from 50 percent to 15 percent in the sam e time. And
although in 1964 1 in 5 young female teachex~ gradnated in the top 10 percent of her high
school class, the ratio was closer to 1 in 10 by 2000.
The growing paucity of talented recruits comes as federal policies are tightening
requheraents for teacher qualifications.
The No Child Left Behind law, recog~tizing widespread research that shows teacher quality
helps drive student achievement, requires tcachers to have college desa’ees, full state teaching
licenses and demonstrated proficiency in their subjects. The reqtth’ement is intended to keep
school systems fio~n relying on emergency credentials or assigning teache~ to subjects they
are not certified to teach.
The 33-year career of Debbie Valcom’, 55, amath teacher at Sterling Middle School in
Loudoun County, ~eraplifies the path taken by many boomers. Valcour, who retired last
week, hid teat~ behind oversize sunglasses as her last students rushed out the door. She
graduated l~om Bradley University in Peoria, N., with a bachelor’s degree in edncation and a
certificate to teach fomN fluough seventh grades.
"We didn’t have a lot of options back then," she said. "Actually, I didn’t have any idea what I
could do. Nobody talked about it."
She took a job in Loudoun in 1974 -- neat" McLean, where she had finished high school --
and there she stayed. Her salmy started at $5,000 for a partial year and plateaued at $85,000
~nore than ~vo decades and a master’s degree later; it was augmented by her husband’s larger
gove~mnent paycheck. They bought a house in Sterling and raised two sons, who are now
pm~uing business careexs, and a danghter, who just got her first teaching job at a Faixfax
CounN eten~enta~7 school.
06/05/2008
Page 695
When she needed a new challenge, Valcour switched fi’om ele~n enta17 school to middle
school and from language arts to math.
Along the way, the economy and the mission of public education shifled. Although her early
students had a shot at good jobs ri~tt after high school, m ore recent graduates will probably
need higher degaees to earn competitive wages. As the United States Faces stiff co~npetition
in technology and engineering, solid math sldlls are at a premiu~n.
Math teachei~ now face more pressure to engage students, to get them to really understand
and enjoy scientific notation and exponents -- so~nething Valcour worked hard to do on a
recent warm aRea-noon in a room full of 24 chatty sLxth-graders.
No Child Left Behind, enacted in 2002, durh~g Valcom~s 28th year in teaching, elevated the
importance of standardized tests. She said that most of her class thne soon was dedicated to
preparing for them. As Loudoun recruiters seek to replace her, the law adds pressure to find a
teacher with a college major or minor in math, a qualification that more than a third of
secondat3r matt1 teachers lack, according to lhe federal gove~mnent.
To offset a shortfall of 280,000 qualified math and science teachers projected by 2015, the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics advocates more competitive pay -- a
controversial move away from a fixed salary stmctare that so~ne teacher advocates say
reflects a mentality that teaching is a second income.
Many schools are also trying to fill hard-to-staff positions by appealing to working
professionals rather than relying on traditional teacher-preparation programs.
Vanessa Chang, 28, who wrapped up her first year of teaching last week at nearby Park View
High, is a typical exa~nple of that new approach to recruiting. After graduating from the
University of Virginia with degrees in Ge~Tnan and economics, she tiffed a job in i~tt’o~Tnation
technology that lasted less than a year, followed by a stint in public relations.
"I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do," she said. Finally she got a job at a nonprofit
organization, where she worked for five years. Toward the end, she took evening classes pm~
lime to become cet~fied to teach English as a second language.
Chang said that landing her first teaching job was easy. Recntiters everywhere have been
hatd-pressed to fill jobs to serve the growing immigrant student population. Chang was hired
in Loudoun with a provisional license before completing her coursework. Her starting salary
was about $42,000 a year.
Getting up to speed has been much harder. In the first months, she woald work tmtil late at
night, then lie awake "thinking, thinking, thin!dUg,’~ about school, she said. For most of the
year, she woke up at 5 a.m. to plan lessons and prepare handouts and then stayed at school
until at least 5 p.m., grading papers or helping the pep rally dance team or the ESL homework
club.
In such a den~anding job, the turnover rate is high.
Although the impending loss of a wave of retirees troubles school systems, the annual
attrition of younger teachers is an even bigger challenge.
About a third of new teachers leave the profession after three years. After five years, the
mnnber is closer to 50 percent, the District-based Center on Education Policy reported in
2006. Reca~iting and training new teachers costs the cotmla7 $7 billion a year, according to
an eslhnate by the National Commission on Teaching and A~nerica’s Future, also based in
Washington.
Richelle Patterson of the American Federation of Teachers, a union, said high mobility is a
dethting characteristic of the modem workforce. Schools must find innovative ~vays to
suppo~ new teache~ "for however long they are trying to be in the system," she said.
Chang is committed for five years. "It will take that long to get the hang of this," she said.
Beyond that, she’s not sure. She toys with the idea ofworldng for another nonprofit group,
the State Department or a commmtity college.
"I like the idea of moving aroustd," she said. "I could see ~nyselfdoing a lot of other thh~gs."
Top-notch teachers key to well-prepared stude~ts
06/05/2008
Page 696
Lack of qualified people ultimately hurts kids.

,~un~e 24, 2007
Our position: Addressing teacher shortages is the answer to stemming dropouts.
A review of Indianapolis Public Schools personnel reports for the past six months reveals one
of the reasons for the dislaict’s relatively poor performance.
Shortages oftfigh-quality teachers, especially in science and math, rob students of an
opportanity to learn skills they need to compete effectively in our knowledge-based
economy.
About 200 teachers have quit, retired or taken leaves of absence from IPS since January. A
quarter of them -- 51 -- taught math, science and special education, the hardest-to-fill
positions for any school district.
Yet the district added just 80 teachers to the roster over that same period, me,-ufing that it
must scramble to find substitutes to replace the missing ins~a-uetors. Doing so will get even
harder this smnmer, when more teachers depart. Too often, IPS is forced to rely on substitute
teachers, whose qualifications --just 60 college credits and the ability to pass a criminal
background check -- means that they wouldn’t fit the federal No Child Left Behind Acfs
definition of "highly qualified teachers."
Ul~nately, tiffs shortage translates into low scores on ISTEP-Plus exams. That teaching gap
probably contribul~d to the distfct’s 2006 graduation rate of 50 percent. The problem isn’t
limited to IPS. Twenty-eight percent of new teachers hired by the stall’s public schools in
1994 had qait within six years -- the second-iffghest rate of turnover after Illinois -- according
to the North CenttN ReNonal Education Laboratoxy’s 2005 study ofl~acher att6tion. Another
18 percent left one district for another in that same period.
School dist6cts nationwide report an annual tin:hover rate of 16 percent. Fox" high-poverty
urban schools such as IPS -- whose students are in the greatest need for high-quality teaching
-- attrition rates are even more severe.
Chicago’s public schools faced a 30 percent tin, rover rate from the 2002-03 through 2003-04
school years, according to a study released last week by the National Commission on
Teaching and America’s Future.
This is why students in poor distafcts are 77 percent more likely than those in affluent
distaicts to end up with teacliers leadstg cova~es for which they were neither trained nor
certified, according to the nonprofit Education Trast.
Consistent, high-quality teaching can have a greater impact on a student’s long-reign
achievement ttxan his socioeconomic backgronnd. Ninety percent of previously low-
peffo~zming students in Dallas passed Texas’ standardized test after being taught by thaee
consecutive high-quality teachers, according to a study by resem’chers Sitha Babu and Robert
Mendi’o. High teadxer turnover and the resulting sho~ages make it more difficult for students
to learn and, ulthnately, graduate.
The challenging worldng conditions that exist in IPS and other dist6cts contribute to the
attrition. Those challenges strengthen the perception of such dislaicts as mere gateways into
teaching, where rookies can lem~ the ropes and then depart for more comfortable jobs in
suburbia.
Compensation is also a factor, as teachers in shoa~age positions, espedally math and science,
are paid at the stone levels as those in English and kindexgarten, which ah’eady have an
abundance of instructors. That turns offmath and science majors, who can command better
pay in the laivate sector. The lack of merit raises for the best-performing teachers means that
a iffgh-performing instructor is often paid the same as a laggard.
The laaditional system of teacher training, in which an aspiring instn~ctor spends four yem’s in
college before they are licensed to teach, is ~other factor. That training, much of it
debatable, makes it diffictdt to bring in baby boomers in rite math and science fields.
Ste~nming teacher attrition -- and attrac~tg new instructors -- requires reforming how schools
06/05/2008
Page 697
recluit, train and compensate teachers.

State officials must look at increasing salmies for math, science and special ed teachers, an
idea long-resisted by teacher unions. Merit pay must also be a tool in retaining the best
instructors.
Targeting districts such as IPS has to be a priority. Allowing them to offer better pay to
veteran teachers in exchange for working in their tough enviromnents seems to be a
reasonable option.
Allowing aspiring teachers with graduate d~rees in math and science (along with some
teaching experience) to become licensed teachers by simply taking the state test, an idea
unsuccessfully advocated by state Sen. Teresa Lubbers during the legislative session this
year, should be revived.
Students can’t lemn if there aren’t high-quality teachers to guide them.
Many pay for college -- and pay and pay...

Web Posted: 06/24/2007 01:36 AM CDT
Melissa Ludwig
Expres s-News
Denek Millett paid for college in all the wrong ways.
Instead of applying for federal loans to cover tuition at the University of Texas at Austin, the
New Braunfels native took out a private loan from Wells Fro’go for $5,500, and put thousands
more on a credit card.
Unlike private loans, which often carry high interest rates that jmnp over time, federal loans
are cheaper and safer for students. They are subsidized by the government, cany a low, fixed
interest rate and can be defen’ed in times of economic hardship or dining school.
Like many financially naive youngsters, Miller didn’t know that.
"That was a large enor on my part, just not knowing ~vhat resources I had there," said Millett,
now a 29-year-old medical student at Howard University in Washington.
Now, Miller is stuck paying $10,000 in private loans and credit card debt that he can’t defer,
forced to work as a concierge at an assisted living thcility ~vtfile in ~nedical school.
Millett blames himself for file blunder, but he is hardly alone in struggling with private loan
debt, or any student debt for that matter.
As tuition continues to skyrocket, students borrowed $85 billion last year to go to college,
nearly 20 percent from the booming priVate-loan sector.
That trend alarms education advocates, who say the specter of debt can scare away would-be
college students, or hinder graduates fiom working in the less-well-paid public sector, buying
a house, stm~ing a fiamily or business, or ms_king other investments that keep the econo~ny
healthy.
In particular, the explosive growth ofp~ivate loans is a concern because they cany higher
interest rates and fewer protections for borrowers than loans backed by the government.
Limits on federal loans have not kept pace with college costs, and the private loan indnsW
has rewed up to fill the gap.
tSofits matgins are wide, and the competitic~l fierce. Recent investigations into unethical
marketing tactics have prompted New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to call the
private student loan business file "Wild West" of lending.
"Taking out a p~ivate loan for college is ~nuch like bon’owing to invest in the stock market,"
said Robe~ Shireman, director of Project on Student Debt, a Berkeley, Calif., nonl~’ofit
organization. "Everything might tm~ out fine, but there are big risks."
Bombarded with ads and maileas for private loans, students and their fmnilies aren’t clear
where they shottld tm~ for sound borrowing advice.
Overworked high school guidance couunselors are little help and colleges and mtiversifies, the
places students have traditionally turned to for gttidance, are now under fire for their cozy
relationships with the lending iudusW.
06/05/2008
Page 698
The bottom line? Students and their parents need to be savvy, info~Tn ed consumers -- now
nlore than ever.
"It is not clear who is the honest broker in providing information," said Richard Colvin,
director of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Cohtmbia University. "It’s
also clear that individuals just have to do much more work in terms of educating tt~em selves."
Bills percolating in Congress aim to tilt the equation in students’ favor.
A Senate bill would take away billions in subsidies fiom lenders and invest it in financial aid,
cap loan payments based on income, folgive student loans for public sercants and create a
watch list to emban’ass colleges that jack up tuition.
Lawmakers also are pushing for more disclosme on the tenThS of private loans, and cracldng
down on ruthless marketing.
"No one is proposing that private loans be ba~med," Shireman said. "The answer is, you cast
o~tly be responsible when you have good i~ffo~ation. We need to make sure the options and
costs are cleat" up fi’ont."
Who is borrowing?
Dan Gainor, for one, is sick of hearing the sob stories.
Gainor, who directs the pro-business Business & Media Institute, a nonprofit organization in
Alexandria, Va., said students featured in newspaper and television irterviews bemoaning
high loan payments have one thing in coinmon: They chose to attend very expensive
colleges.
"Where is the concept of personal responsibility in all this?" Gainor said. "I always ~vent to
state schools."
The statistics beat" out Gainor’s complaint.
In 2003-2004, undergraduates who took out plivate loans attended pIivate institutions at a
higher rate tlmn those ~vho did not, and paid about $16,000 to $21,000 compared with $9,000
to $13,000 for non-borrowers, according to a report by the Institute for Higher Education
Policy.
But Gainor’s complaint also raises a key question: Should p~ivate colleges and universities be
the sole domain of the p~ivileged?
Officials at Amherst College, an elite liberal m~s college in Massachusetts, thiul~ the ans~ver
is no. Like a nmnber of other elite institutions, Amherst is taking steps to recI~t and cover
costs for talented, low-income students who could not othe~svise afford adinission.
Such progrmns are nm]owly targeted, however, and don’t solve the college finance problem
for the vast numbers of middle class fmnilies straggling with tttition bills.
Many private loan bonowe~s, even those who attend state schools, are kids from fan~ilies
whose parents make too much to qualify for need-based aid but don’t make enough to pay
what the government deems an "expected fatnily contribution."
For ins~mce, a dependent student can only take out $3,500 in federal loans the first year of
college. Total costs for a freshinan at the University of Texas at Austin nm about $18,000 per
year.
Other private loan bon’owers are independerl, working adults. Of these, 40 percent attended
for-profit schools, some of which are not accredited attd don’t qualify for federal loans.
Bo~owing to attend for-profits is especially risky because loan default ~ates are higher than
traditional colleges, according to U.S. Education Depat±ment data.
Students also take out private loans to attend medical or law school. In 2003-2004, about one
quarter of professional students bo~owed private loans on top of federal loans. For those
students, total debt often tops a staggering $200,000.
Doctors and lawyas usually can manage high payments, but it can prevent them from
choosing public seavice jobs, or ones that s~ce low-income communities, recent graduates
say.
My debt "is not devastating to ~ne, but someone making half of what I do, ~vhich so~ne
beghming lawyers do, it would be devastating," said IO:istal Cordova, a local lawyer and
06/05/2008
Page 699
graduate of St. M~’ry’s University School of Law.

Cordova took out federal and private loans to attend St. Mary’s, which charges $22,000 a
year in tuition and fees.
"If you went to a private school, I don’t see how you could altbrd to be a public defender,"
Cordova said.
’Monopoly n~ o~ey’
Television spots for private loans on young, hip stations like MTV make borrowing $40,000
look as easy as buying a latte. Get yotu" check in about a week! Dofftpay a cent until after
you graduate!
The ads usually direct students to Web sites, which advertise the lo~vest possible interest
rates.
But few explain the hue interest rate or repayment te~ns tmtil students get deep into the
process, said Shireman, who shopped online for private loans and wrote about it on his Web
site, proj e ctonstudentdebt, org.
"At the time, you just want money, that’s aB there is to it," Cordova said. "Until you strut
paying it back, ifs Monopoly ~noney."
Unlike federal loans, private loans are based on the credit history of a borrower or co-signer,
and interest rates ~uy according to the risk the bank feels ifs taking. In many cases, that
means the poorer yon are, the higher yotu interest rate.
That rate can range fiom about 10 percent, which is the average for Sallie Mac, the nation’s
largest lendel; to 16 percent or more. The rate is not fixed and goes up and down with the
market.
Students don’t have to pay until graduation, but interest acm~es ~vlfile they are in school.
Private loans can’t be consolidated with federal loans, can’t be dismissed by bankntptcy, and
often can’t be defen’ed in times of hardship.
Nationally, about 5 percent of students default on federal loans. There is no nationwide
mtmber for private loans; Sallie Mac says its default rate on private lc~ns is about 3 percent.
Remember Milletfs $5,500 loan fiom Wells Fargo? That loan has an interest rate of 16
percent, and the bank has refused to defer payments while he’s in medical school. After six
years, he still owes $4,600.
Shady n~ arketing
Experts agree collNe financial aid offices are still the best place to go for advice on student
That’s in spite of Cuomo’s investigation, which exposed too-cozy relationships between

lenders and finandal aid workers at many schools, including the University of Texas at
Austin.
That school’s financial aid director, Lawrence Bt~, was fired for owning stock in Student
Loan Xpress, a loan company that clahned ~he top spot on the university’s prefen’ed lender
list, meant to reco~nmend reputable leuders to students.
Other tmiversities struck deals with lenders in which the school would put the lender on the
prefened list in exchange for kickbacks on loan profits, or for making private loans to
students with bad caedit.
Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Mae, said profits have brought a lot of new players to the
game, and some are lmscrtlpulous in their marketing.
"P~ctices have evolved that need to be weeded out," Joyce said.
Cuomo also targe~d Sallie Mae, but not for the most egregious practices. The company
signed a $2 million setfle~nent with Cuomo and agreed to follow his ethics guidelines.
Beyond tackling shady marketing, Joyce and others say if citizens want to ctu’b private loans,
they must find a ~vay to keep college costs down, or be willing to invest more tmxpayer
~noney in federal loans.
"What I think we need to wrestle with as a society is how we want to finance educational
opportmtity," said Hechinger’s Colvin. "Do we really want to dole out educational
06/05/2008
Page 700
opportunity the same way that we a~vard credit cards? That’s the big question."
06/05/2008
Page 701
Nonrespon_~s ...........................................................................................
From: Yudof, Samara
Sent: June 22, 2007 4:14 PM
To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; Maddox, Lauren; Beaton, Meredith; Monroe,
Stephanie; Black, David F.; Briggs, Kerri; Williams, Cynthia; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey;
Dorfman, Cynthia; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gribble, Emily; Halaska, Terrell; Herr, John;
Kuzmich, Holly; Landers, Angela; Neale, Rebecca; McGrath, John; McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt,
Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Pitts, Elizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele,
Marc; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell, Julie; Toomey, Liam; Tracy Young (E-mail);
Tucker, Sara Martinez; Oldham, Cheryl; Young, Tracy; Zeff, Ken
Subject: USA Today: Education secretary praises success of Title IX
USA Today
Education secretary praises success of Title IX
June 22, 2007
Posted 19m ago
By Erik Brady, USA TODAY

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings saluted Title IX and praised her department in a statement released Friday on
the eve of the 35th anniversary of the law that bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds.
’M~e honor the principle of equal opportunity before the law and applaud the am azing contributions made by worn en," she
said. ’Title IX’s impact on college sports has been well documented. But its greatest influence has been in the classroom.
"In 1972, 46% of female high school students enrolled in college immediately after graduating. In 2005, that figure was
70% and climbing. Over that time period, the share of bachelor’s degrees earned by women has risen from 44% to 57%."
Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, criticized the U.S. Department of Education in
testimony before Congress Tuesday, alleging its Office for Civil Rights was lax in enforcing the law from 2002-2006.
Spellings appeared to react to that criticism in her release.
’q-he U.S. Department of Education remains corn mitred to ensuring non-discrimination in all aspects of Title IX
enforcement," she said. "From 2002 through 2006, our Office for Civil Rights investigated and resolved over 1,100 Title IX
complaints. More than one-third involved charges of sexual harassment or retaliation. We are aggressively rooting out
discrimination in order to foster a climate of fairness and justice.
’qo improve Title IX compliance, we continuously provide technical assistance to colleges and universities and work with
school administrators to help them meet their responsibilities under the law."
Title IXwas passed by Congress on June 23, 1972.

Page 702
Nonresponsl ._
~FOITI: Neale, Rebecca
Sent: June 22, 2007 1:00 PM
Subject: Dumbing Down America Through Accreditation Rules (SAEN)
Dumbing Down America Through Accreditation Rules (SAEN)

By Mansour EI-Kikhia
San Antonio Express-News, June 22, 2007
Americans need to elect officials who care about them and their well-being. This means never again the likes of the current
bunch of nincom poops.
I can forgive their lies, misappropriation of funds and even the bloody global mess they have gotten America into. But I
cannot forgive their attempts to stupefy America’s kids and create an environment of mediocrity in the U.S. higher education
system.
The Bush administration is trying to manipulate and modify the accreditation process of the 1998 Higher Education Act. All
bona fide institutions of higher learning are accredited by specialized agencies such as the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools, or SACS. The U.S. Department of Education designates these agencies to ensure that diplomas issued by the
accredited institutions are valid and course credits can be transferred.
More important, these institutions are eligible for Title IV funding, which governs federal student financial aid programs, as
well as other federal funding. Hence, accreditation is the operating license for educational institutions.
A battle has been brewing between the Department of Education and the Council of Regional Accrediting Associations, or
CRAC, over the language and substance of the reauthorization proposal of the Higher Education Act. The Department of
Education is insisting on inserting language to reflect three interests that have little to do with serious education.
The first involves "for-profit educational corporations" that have championed school vouchers. Using its power of
designation, the department is applying pressure on crediting institutions to force institutions of higher learning "to accept credits
without regard to their accreditation status."
The second demand is on behalf of interests pushing for TAKS-type testing. This means that testing would most likely be
done by external for-profit agencies using standards far removed from goals, objectives and missions of the institutions.
The third and most important insertion demanded by the Department of Education is a provision "requiring an accrediting
agency to demonstrate that it applies its standards in a manner that does not undermine the stated religious mission of any
institution of higher education."
This means that peer review per se goes out the windowand the University of Texas at San Antonio or UT-Austin must
accept Gog and Magog 102 from one of the institutions controlled by the Southern Baptist Conference or any other religious
institution.
I have no problem with religious institutions sponsoring universities. Indeed, some of them are very good and I went to one.
But mine ceased to be strictly a religious school a century ago, and so has Harvard, Princeton and others.
Secular institutions shouldn’t be forced to accommodate any mumbo jumbo they do not want to accept. More important, the
proposed changes open the doorto accepting courses and credits from such mediocre online organizations as the University of
Phoenix and the many others that have exploded on the Internet.
The question is, who is pushing this? The answer is four Bush appointees with little experience in education.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings is one main actor. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science, and the
limit of her knowledge is working on the failed No Child Lef~ Behind program. She is in her position because she served as
political director of Bush’s first gubernatorial campaign and as his senior adviser as governor.
The second is Charles Miller, who has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. A successful investment portfolio manager, he
was appointed to the UT System Board of Regents.
Page 703
Cheryl Oldham, a lawyer from St. Mary’s University who was appointed to the Department of Education after serving at the
White House, joined Miller.
The fourth is Vickie Schray, who worked with vocational programs at Mount Hood Community College in Oregon.
A letter from the Education Department threatened that if CRAC does not agree with the administration’s plan, the
department will be "free to recommend whatever roles it wishes."
CRAC’s response was to inform the administration that it would not be swayed into changing its accreditation principles.
Congress has joined the balfle and negotiations have ended without agreement. America now ranks 15th in education
among the developed countries.
With mediocrity like this running the system, I am surprised it isn’t behind Afghanistan.
Page 704
Nonresponsi ,h
Sent: June 22, 2007 12:59 PM
Subject: DC Choice stories (3)
Voucher Students Show Few Gains In First Year (WP)

By Amit R. Paley And Theola Labbe, Washington Post Staff Writers
The Washinqton Post, June 22, 2007
D.C. Results Typical, Federal Study Says
Students in the D.C. school voucher program, the first federal initiative to spend taxpayer dollars on private school tuition,
generally performed no better on reading and math tests after one year in the program than their peers in public schools, the
U.S. Education Department said yesterday.
The department’s report, which researchers said is an early snapshot, found only a few exceptions to the conclusion that
the program has not yet had a significant impact on achievement: Students who moved from higher-performing public schools to
private schools and those who scored well on tests before entering the program performed better in math than their peers who
stayed in public school.
The results are likely to inflame a national debate about using public money for private education. Many Democrats, who
have long opposed such programs, seized on the study as evidence that vouchers are ineffective.
’~/ouchers have received a failing grade," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). "This just makes the voucher program
even more irrelevant."
But Republicans and other voucher supporters said it is too soon to judge.
’qhe report’s findings are in step with rigorous studies of other voucher programs which have not typically found impacts on
student achievement in the first year," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement. "We knowthat parents
are pleased with the success of the program in providing effective education alternatives."
A Republican-led Congress created the $14 million-a-year program in 2004. The five-year initiative provides $7,500
vouchers each year to 1,800 students, from kindergartners to high school seniors, who attend 58 private schools, most of them
Catholic schools. Participants must live in the District and come from low-income familie~ Advocates say the program offers an
alternative to the troubled D.C. public schools.
Known as the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, the initiative is one of the few government-ran voucher systems in the
country. Milwaukee and Ohio have similar plans, and Florida and Arizona offer vouchers to special education students.
In studies of those programs and others funded with private money, researchers tended to find little improvement in test
scores after one year, said Paul Peterson, director of Harvard University’s program on education policy and governance. He said
it takes time for students to adjust to new surroundings.
"Kids lose ground when they change schools. Even if they may be in a better school, they’re not going to adjust to that right
offthe bat," he said. "It doesnt happen overnight. It’s a slow process."
Former D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and former Ward 7 D.C. Council member Kevin P. Chavous, early advocates
of the program, reiterated their support.
"We welcome the release of this ’early look’ at the program’s performance," they said in a statement signed by community
and business leaders. "Although these findings reflect just seven months of schooling -- typically far too short a time period to
see any significant academic progress -- there is an early indication of gains in math, particularly for students who had less
academic ground to make up."
The report, released by the Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences, examined test scores from more than
2,000 students who entered a lottery for admission to the voucher program. Scores from students accepted in the program were
compared with scores from those who weren’t. The study followed two groups of students in their first year in the program,
Page 705
2004-05 and 2005-06.
The study also found that parents like vouchers. Those whose children are in the program were significantly more likely to
rate their school with a grade of A or B than their public school counterparts.
Tiesha Lawrence said the voucher program has been a boon for her 7-year-old son, Nickquan.
Lawrence, 27, an administrator for the federal government who lives in Anacostia, said Nickquan had been targeted for
special education at the public Orr Elementary School in Southeast because he had trouble finishing assignments.
Using voucher money, Lawrence enrolled him at Ambassador Baptist Church Christian Academy in Southeast. She kept
him back in first grade because he knew some words but couldn’t read, she said. Since then, there has been a sea change.
"He loves to read, and he does his work on his own," said Lawrence, who hopes to send her 3-year-old son to
Ambassador. "It’s just really been a great help. It’s like [Nickquan] really cares about school, and they are going to make sure that
each child gets what they need before they go on to the next grade."
The report also found no evidence that students in the program were safer than their counterparts, even though their
parents thought they were.
Nikia Hammond, 30, who has four children in the program, said she thinks the private schools her children attend are safer
than public schools.
"It means something to me, as a single parent, not being able to afford private school, to be a part of the scholarship
program," said Hammond, an eyewear specialist. "Without the scholarship fund, I’d probably be back at square one, thinking
about where I’m going to be putting them in a public school. I think if they were to take this away, I’d be out of luck."
The Bush administration wants to expand vouchers nationwide through revisions in the No Child Left Behind law. But
Democrats said the new report will make it easier for them to kill such proposals.
’This report offers even more proof that private school vouchers won’t improve student achievement and are nothing more
than a tired political gimmick," Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House education committee, said in a statement.
Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, which supports vouchers, said she is confident that future
reports on the program will show greater gains. But she said the study should be viewed as validation of the program.
"Does it help kids? Does it help families?" she said. "1 think the answer from this report is clearly yes."
Staff researcher Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.
Voucher Use In Washington Wins Praise Of Parents (NYT)
By Sam Dillon
The NewYork Times, June 22, 2007
Students who participated in the first year of the District of Columbia’s federally financed school voucher program did not
show significantly higher math or reading achievement, but their parents were satisfied anyway, viewing the private schools they
attended at taxpayer expense as safer and better than public schools, according to an Education Department study released
yesterday.
The students themselves painted a picture different from that of their parents, though, feeling neither more satisfied nor
safer than did students attending public schools.
’The program had a substantial positive impact on parents’ views of school safety, but not on students’ actual school
experiences with dangerous activities," the study said.
A Republican-controlled Congress established the voucher program, for Grades K through 12, in 2004. Over the last three
years it has provided scholarships of up to $7,500 annually to cover tuition, fees and transportation expenses for each of about
1,800 poor children to attend private school. About 90 percent of the participating students have been African-American, and an
additional 9 percent Hispanic, according to the Congressionally mandated study.
The results were eagerly awaited, because studies of similar programs elsewhere, in cities including Cleveland, Milwaukee
and Dayton, had not produced definitive conclusions about whether vouchers significantly increased the academic achievement
of students who previously attended public schools.
The new research found that in the Washington program’s first academic year, 2004-5, it "generated no statistically
significant impacts, positive or negative, on student reading or math achievement."
But Grover J. Whitehurst, director of the Institute of Education Sciences, the Education Department agency that oversaw
the study, told reporters yesterday that it was too early to tell whether the program would significantly affect student achievement.
The students had been attending private schools for an average of less than a year when they were tested for the study, not
much time for their new academic environment to affect performance.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in a statement, qhe report’s findings are in step with rigorous studies of
other voucher programs, which have not typically found impacts on student achievement in the first year."
Page 706
Because the number of students who have applied for the program exceeds the number of available scholarships, or the
number of seats available to them in the 58 participating private schools, eligible students have been chosen by lottery. As a
result, researchers were able to study two randomly selected groups: one of scholarship recipients and another of students
rejected by the lottery who continued to attend public schools. The researchers, led by Patrick J. Wolf, a political science
professor at the University of Arkansas, compared the academic outcomes of the two groups, as well as their perception, and
that of their parents, toward their schools.
About two-thirds of the participating students attended parochial schools operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
Washington; the rest attended other private schools. The $7,500 scholarship that families spent was about half the average
public expenditure per student in the District of Columbia public schools.
Parents of students using the vouchers were significantly more likely to give the school their child attended a grade of A or
B than were parents of students rejected by the lottery, the study found.
Joseph P. Viteritti, a professor of public policy at Hunter College, said those findings were consistent with studies of other
voucher program s.
%o me," Mr. Viteritti said, "it just means that parents are happy to have a choice."
But Clive R. Belfield, an economics professor at the City University of New York who has studied voucher programs, noted
the new report’s finding that of the 1,027 students who entered the Washington program in the fall of 2004, only 788 remained in
it by the fall of 2006.
"That’s quite a bit of attrition," Mr. Belfield said. "If parents are so satisfied, why have about 20 percent of the students lef~
the program?"
D.C. Vouchers: Perception vs. Reality (Ed Daily)

Voucher students show no gain in math, reading
By Sarah D. Sparks
Washington’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, the first federally supported private school voucher system, has had no
effect on the performance of the struggling students it was designed to help.
Parents love it anyway.
The Institute for Education Sciences reported that students who used the $7,500 vouchers to leave schools in need of
improvement performed no better in math and reading the next year at private schools than did students passed over for the
program.
,Students who came f~om regularly performing public schools and those who scored above-average on previous math tests
had a modest increase in math performance, the equivalent of about one month’s learning. However, that could be a statistical
fluke, researchers cautioned.
No help for Spellings
The results do nothing to bolster Education Secretary Margaret Spellings’ push to expand the voucher program into
national Promise Scholarships to help students leave chronically underperforming schools for public or private alternatives.
Spellings’ push, in part through the Empowering Parents through Choice Act sponsored by Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon,
R-Calif., has found little traction in NCLB reauthodzation discussions.
Yet the I ES report is likely to carry weight with policymakers as the only large-scale, randomized control trial of a voucher
program, with the largest pool of students studied: 2,308 eligible applicants assigned by lottery, virtually all poor and minority,
and many from schools in need of improvement.
Spellings, GOP leaders and researchers were quick to note that this is only the first-year review of student performance.
Two prior reports looked at participation and program structure, not results.
’The report’s findings are in step with rigorous studies of other voucher programs, which have not typically found impacts
on student achievement in the first year," Spellings said in a statement.
School choice programs "empower parents with more opportunities to choose a school that’s right for their child-- and we
knowthat parents are pleased with the success of the program," she said.
Parent-approved
Parental perceptions of school quality improved regardless of actual academic performance. Parents who received
vouchers were 25 percent more likely to give their school "A" or "B" grades.
Moreover, on a 10-point "danger perception index," voucher parents rated schools nearly a full point safer. Other parts of
the study, however, suggest parents’ views may be rosier than reality. There was no difference in the number of dangerous
school incidents reported by students.
Page 707
Voucher students didn’t benefit from greater amenities, either.
A year into the program, they were no more likely than their non-voucher peers to attend a school with a library, gym, gifted
education program, tutors, or ar~s or after-school programs.
Voucher students were more likely to have a computer lab or a music program, but they were less likely to have access to
counselors or English learner and special education programs.
Unlike their parents, the students did not report being more satisfied with their schools.
S~mggling students from struggling schools were less likely to report liking their new school than students from regular
public schools and those who had performed better on prior math and reading tests.
Grover "Russ" Whitehurst, I ES director, said he theorized this, too, might be a symptom of the program’s first, transitional
year.
’1 think that’s pa~ of the story," he said. Voucher students are moving into an environment where they’re not prepared, he
said, and "that’s got to be pretty dramatic for them."
’It may be that students who are better prepared in D.C. public schools are better able to adapt to change in that first year."
For the full report, see http:llies.ed.govlnceetpdf120074009.pdf.
Page 708
Nonresponsi! ..........
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 20, 2007 8:45 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Bryant, Jessica; Cariello, Dennis; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey;
Dorfman, C~nthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassie;
Gribble, Emily; Halaska, Terrell; Herr, John; Higgins, Kristan; Kuzmich, Holly; Lambert, Kelly;
Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Maguire, Tory; McGrath, John;
McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Moran, Robert; Morffi, Jessica;
Neale, Rebecca; O’Daniel, Meagan; Pitts, Elizabeth; Reich, Heidi; Rosenfelt, Phil; Ruberg,
Casey; Scheessele, Marc; Private - Spellings, Margaret; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell,
Julie; Toomey, Liam; Tucker, Sara Martinez; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Young, Tracy
D. ; Yudof, Samara; Zeff, Ken
Subject: To Know NCLB Is To Like It, ETS Poll Finds (EDWEEK)
To Know NCLB Is To Like It, ETS Poll Finds (EDWEEK)

By David J. Hoff
Education Week., June 20, 2007
Familiarity with laws emphasis on standards found to boost support
The more Americans learn about the No Child Lef~ Behind Act, they more they like it, according to a poll scheduled to be
released this week.
When asked whether they back President Bush’s K-12 initiative, respondents to the poll were evenly split over supporting
the 5-year-old law. But once the questioner described the law’s goals and its emphasis on holding schools to academic
standards, support for the law grew substantially, according to the poll commissioned by the Educational Testing Service.
The poll was scheduled to be released June 19, and this summer, congressional committees may act on a bill that would
reauthorize the law, which is one of President Bush’s biggest domestic accomplishments.
’The basic upshot of this survey is... policymakers have to earn [reauthorization] from the public by going out and selling
it," said Allan Rivlin, a partner in Peter D. Hart Research Associates, one of the Washington-based firms that conducted the
survey.
Focus on Fixing Schools
In particular, he said, that means reassuring voters that classroom instruction won’t be reduced to test preparation and
reminding them that the law attempts to ~x low-achieving schools.
’The public is squarely focused on trying to fix, rather than just identify, schools that are struggling," Mr. Rivlin said in an
interview.
And Americans want to know ’k#nat do we do to help students, not what do we do to punish schools," said David Winston,
the president of the Winston Group, the other firm that conducted the survey.
Advocates for the law say the survey’s results identify the central issues they face when they talk to audiences where
people aren’t experts on the law. Too often, people associate the NCLB law with President Bush-and are against it if they oppose
the president-or complain that it overemphasizes testing, said Susan L. Traiman, the director of public policy for the Business
Round, able, a Washington-based group of chief executive officers of Fortune 500 companies.
’~)nce they hear that.., it’s about identifying the kids and the schools that need assistance and making sure the assistance
gets to them, then their support increases," said Ms. Traiman, whose group is leading a coalition of business leaders that is
lobbying for the laws reauthorization this year.
But others say the survey also reminds policymakers that they need to sell the public on the general goals for raising all
studer~s’ achievement to proficiency and closing the test score gaps between children of different racial and ethnic groups.
’They almost need to backtrack a little bit to rally people around the broad themes, and then explain how you’re going to
get there," said Joseph Williams, the executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, a New York City-based political
action committee that supports charter schools and other nontraditional methods of improving public schools.
Confusion and Clarification
The Educational Testing Service, a nonprofit assessment and research organization based in Princeton, N.J., was
scheduled to release the poll results this week. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the
chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, were scheduled to speak at the event near the Capitol.
Rep. Miller’s committee is likely to take up his plan to reauthorize the NCLB lawat some point this summer, with the goal of
Page 709
passing a bill before the presidential primaries begin early next year. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Committee also is working on a bill, but hasn’t set a timetable for approving a proposal.
Although the ETS poll’s findings look to be different from others on the surface, those differences may be explained by the
information respondents received in the questions asked in the different surveys.
The ETS researchers interviewed 1,526 adults from May 4-15. The poll has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
They found that fewer than half the respondents could identify the main components of the law when presented a list of
educational interventions, such as ending social promotion, creating a national test for high school graduation, or giving vouchers
to students to redeem at private schools.
Forty-seven percent gave the correct answer. The law requires states to set standards for student achievement and assess
students to determine whether they’re meeting them. To receive their portion of the $23.6 billion in federal funds under the NCLB
law, states must test students in grades 3-8 and once in high school in reading and mathematics and report the progress in
ensudng that all students score as proficient in those subjects by the end of the 2013-14 school year.
Before those polled were told those and other details about the law, they split almost evenly in their support for it. Forty-one
percent said they supported it, and 43 percent said they did not, with 52 percent of Republicans endorsing it and 35 percent of
independents and 35 percent of Democrats objecting to it.
But once the interviewer mentioned the laws focus on standards and accountability, requiring highly qualified teachers, and
other details, 56 percent said that they viewed the law favorably. Thirty-seven percent still opposed it.
Wording Differs
By comparison, a recent poll conducted by the Scripps Research Center, a polling project based at Ohio University in
Athens, Ohio, told interviewees that the NCLB law"requires states to test elementary students to determine if schools do a good
job teaching," but tells them that critics say the law overemphasizes testing.
With those prompts, 34 percent said the NCLB law was a "good law" and 43 percent said it was "not a good law."
Responding to the next question, 48 percent said Congress should change the law and another 14 percent said Congress should
"cancel it." Just 23 percent said "renew law."
The Scripps survey included three questions on the NCLB law in a poll that also measured public attitudes toward personal
characteristics of candidates in the 2008 presidential race, and asked respondents how they felt about their own high school
educations. The poll surveyed 1,100 people from May 6-27 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
By contrast, the ETS poll asked 25 questions about educational issues and no other topic. It’s the seventh annual poll ETS
has commissioned from bipartisan polling firms.
Overall, the ETS poll’s findings suggests that Americans "support the underlying logic" of the NCLB law, said Mr. Rivlin.
The public likes that "it’s not just about funding, and it’s not just about accountability measures," he said. "It’s both."
But policymakers need to tread carefully when they design interventions to help schools failing to meet the accountability
goals, the ETS poll found.
Respondents’ favorite response to low-achieving schools is to require that school to create a turn-around plan that
addresses their specific needs. Their least favorite: Replacing teachers in those schools.
The ETS poll also found support for national standards. Fitty-nine percent of respondents said they would prefer a set of
common standards for all schools, rather than trusting state officials to set challenging standards.
’It’s pretty consistent with what other polls have found," said Michael J. Petrilli, the vice president for national programs and
policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization that supports national
standards. "This is one of those issues where a vocal minority can carry the day, and it has to date."
Even with public support for national standards, one political scientist said Congress is unlikely to tackle that issue this year.
With well-entrenched opponents, mostly among conservatives, adopting the standards while also making major fixes to the law
will be difficult, said Paul Manna, an assistant professor of government at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
’They have to do so much repair work on No Child Lef~ Behind," he said, "a move toward national standards would be too
much to do right now."
Page 710
N°nresponsih__ .......................
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 20, 2007 8:41 AM
Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassie;
Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tucker, Sara Martin ez; William s, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Young, Tracy
Su~t: LawHelping Kids (BFLDC)
Law Helping Kids (BFLDC)

The Bakersfield Californian., June 19, 2007
The recent article "BCSD calls for changes to No Child Left Behind" failed to note an important point: Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings is working with Congress to make common sense changes to NCLB. But as we do, we must be care~ll to not
violate its core principles of higher standards and greater accountability.
It is clear that NCLB has helped improve the quality of education. According to the National Assessment of Educational
Progress, achievement gaps in reading and math between white nine-year-olds and their African-American and Hispanic
counterparts are at all-time lows. Under NCLB, schools can no longer be considered successful solely based on overall
averages. Instead, low-income and minority students must, by law, be part of that progress.
Secretary Spellings’ plan to reauthorize NCLB builds on the progress made while otfering new tools to reform schools and
strengthen math and science coursework. We will also continue the diligent work with states that has led to flexibilities such as
growth models that track students’ yearly academic progress and new modified assessments for students with cognitive
disabilities.
In return, states must followthe law’s core accountability principles, including annual assessments and steady growth
toward the 2014 goal of all children reading and doing math at grade level.
This is not too much to ask - in fact, it’s the very purpose of a public education. No Child Left Behind offers higher
standards and greater accountability in exchange for increased federal resources and flexibility. This is the right formula for
continued academic success.
-- CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT, U.S. Department of Education, San Francisco
Page 711
[Nonresponsiv,
June 20, 2007 6:01 AM
]
To: scott m. stanzel@who.eop.gov; Warder, Larry; Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerri; Ruberg,
Casey; Colby, Chad; Williams, Cynthia; Dunn, David; Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise;
Evere, Bill; Gribble, Emily; Kuzmich, Holly; La Force, Hudson; Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin,
Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Private- Spellings, Margaret; McGrath, John; Mesecar, Doug; Moran,
Robert; Neale, Rebecca; Reich, Heidi; rob Saliterman; Yudof, Samara; Scheessele, Marc;
Martinez; Zeff, Ken
Subject: USAT editorials
Below is USAT’s view on SES, followed by Secretary Spellings’
Our view on No Child Left Behind: Taxpayer-f~~ded tutoring fails needy students Program
costs up to $2.6 billion a year but shows few gains.
Back in 2001, when the No Child Left Behind law was being crafted, President Bush wanted
students from failing schools to get vouchers to attend private schools. The idea was that
this would help the students and put pressure on the schools to improve.
But Democrats, fearing that public education would be undermined, hated that idea. So a
compromise emerged:
Students whose schools repeatedly fell short of performance goals would be eligible for
free tutoring, courtesy of federal taxpayers.
Six years later, hundreds of thousands of students across the USA are receiving such
tutoring. No one knows exactly how many. Estimates range from 450,000 to 600,000. Nor does
anyone have a hmndle on the costs. Estimates range from $700 million to as much as
$2.6 billion a year.
In everyday terms, tl~t means every man, woman and child in the country is contributing $2
to $9 annually for a program that for all its good intentions is poorly administered and
shows scant evidence of effectiveness.
That’s not to say tutoring is a bad idea. Watching effective school tutoring -- such as
the ’book buddies"
program designed by the University of Virginia -- is akin to viewing fine ballet in
action, with a series of carefully choreographed interactions among students, tutors and
regular teachers. By contrast, many of the federally financed tutoring programs under No
Child Left Behind resen~le a clumsy polka.
The tutoring providers are a mishmash of non-profits, for-profits, local school districts
and faith-based organizations. Classroom instruction and tutoring are often misaligned,
according to numerous education researchers, think tank studies and news reports. Time
gets wasted when tutors don’t show up. Overly large tutoring sessions of i0 or even 15
students per teacher produce no gains. Services are scarce for special education or
limited-English students.
Sometimes this leads to scandal: In Georgia, one tutoring company was caught paying
students $5 to forge parents’ signatures for non-existent sessions.
Next week, the U.S. Department of Education will release a report citing schools with
successful tutoring programs-; No doubt some exist. But mush more is needed to ensure that
students are benefiting and that federal taxpayers are getting their money’s
worth:
* Real accountability. States are charged with oversight, but most struggle to tell the
good from the bad, according to Congress’ Government Accountability Office. The only true
measure is proof of learning.
* Research-based programs. Schools are not required to use tutoring programs that have
been proven effective.
Page 712
In the absence of that, fly-by-night outfits have moved into some schools, recruiting
students by handing out gifts.
Defenders of tutoring argue that states are starting to assert accountability over the
program. And they argue that you can’t measure improvements when a child gets only 40 or
so hours a year of tutoring. Their solution is more of the same, which is a very hard
sell.
If a progr~ can’t be proven effective, it should lose the money. There are other ways to
help those kids, who remain very much in need.
Opposing view: Tutoring shows success

Students who get the extra help nmke gains; program should grow.
Don’t give up. That’s what we tell our children when they fall behind in school. What kind
of message would it send to give up on a program that helps them get back on track?
The program is called Supplemental Educational Services, or SES. Here’s how it works: A
school must offer low-income students free tutoring and after-school instruction if it has
not met its achievement goals for three years running. Many of these schools are in poor
neighborhoods and have a poor track record of reform. Students who need extra help should
not be held hostage to their school’s broken promises.
Today, more than 500,000 children receive tutoring through SES, part of the No Child Left
Behind Act. Now we have concrete evidence of the program’s success.
A new U.S. Department of Education study found significant improvements in reading and
math for African-American and Hispanic students in the districts surveyed. Students who
received the tutoring for longer than a year made even greater academic gains. Parents
have told me they credited the SES program with helping their child learn to read proof
that a little help goes a long way.
Our only regret is that more students have not benefited. The 450,000 figure is just a
fraction of the 2.4 million who qualify. Many parents do not learn their child is eligible
for free tutoring until it’s too late. In some cases, a letter written in bureaucratic
jargon and stuffed in a student’s backpack is considered proper notification.
We are working to solve this problem. We’ve established pilot programs in several states
that offer greater flexibility in exchange for greater results; in one district Anchorage
the SES participation rate tripled. We are helping states monitor and evaluate providers
to improve the quality of tutoring. Finally, President Bush has proposed offering SES one
year earlier and increasing the per-child funding amount for some recipients so they get
help when they need it.
Next week, I will host a summit for states, districts, providers and parents to share ways
to help more children achieve. They’re counting on us to make SES work not shut it down.
Margaret Spellings is the U.S. secretary of Education.
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Page 713
INonresponsive !.__
~rOITl: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 19, 2007 8:48 AM
Subject: EDITORIAL: The Reality Behind Student Achievement Gains (WP)
The Reality Behind Student Achievement Gains (WP)

The Washin,qton Post, June 19, 2007
The Post’s editorial board rightfully supports a strong, equity- minded federal role in education ["Measurable Progress in
School," editorial, June 9]. But this should not color how it interprets research findings such as this month’s claim by the Center
on Education Policy that test score gains have become more buoyant since the enactment of the No Child Lett Behind Act in
2002.
The centeCs carefully worded report details how just 13 states could even provide sufficient data, from before and atter the
laws enactment, to make a comparison possible.
Only nine states showed higher rates of achievement growth after the law was enacted. Analysts for the study only went
back to the 1999-2002 period to establish baseline rates of annual achievement growth.
Our Berkeley-Stanford center has tracked achievement growth in 12 diverse states since 1992, and we ~nd that the rate of
growth has slowed, not accelerated, since the enactment of No Child Left Behind. This is probably because state-led
accour([ability efforts were well underway throughout the 1990s, years before the lawtook effect.
Also, one must note that Virginia claimed that in 2005, 85 percent of its fourth-graders were proficient in reading, while the
federal assessment put this share at 37 percent. Texas claimed a 79 percent proficiency rate that year, the reds say it was 29
percent. Should we believe state officials when they claim even higher levels of pupil proticiency? Well, of course, says President
Bush’s education secretary, Margaret Spellings. Her stump speeches also emphasize that Washington must demand higher
performance from students and teachers -- but apparently not from governors and state school chiefs.
BRUCE FULLER
Berkeley, Calif.
The writer is a professor of education and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley.
Page 714
Nonresponsiv
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 19, 2007 8:48 AM
Subject: Future Of School Safety Left To Congress (Ed Daily)
Future Of School Safety Left To Congress (Ed Daily)

Issue could be crowded out in NCLB reauthorization
By Kds Kitto
Education Daily~ June 18, 2007
The fate of federal campus and school safety programs lies with Congress as the issue is expected to be caught up in the
maelstrom surrounding pending NCLB reauthorization.
In the wake of school shootings last fall and the Virginia Tech tragedy this spring, o~cials are now focused on an issue that
normally gets little more than federal lef[overs.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales delivered a report on the Virginia Tech shootings to President Bush last week. And Spellings is said to be
considering how to incorporate recommendations recently submitted by an advisory panel into the~department’s NCLB
reauthorization proposal.
However, despite the surge in national attention on campus and school safety, experts still fear legislators and government
officials won’t give the issues the importance they deserve - and if they do, won’t fashion the most effective programs
There are three main safety-related programs in NCLB:
1. Grants that states and districts can use for safety initiatives.
2. The unsafe-school-choice option in which students at "persistently dangerous schools" can transfer elsewhere.
3. The collection of safety data.
Spellings’ advisory committee called for substantial changes to all three programs. But some experts say the programs
need complete redirection, with greater emphasis placed on prevention and early intervention.
’1 just think that this program continues to be focused on the wrong things," said Myrna Mandlawitz, a Washington, D.C.-
based education consultant. She said federal safety programs should focus more on prevention and early intervention, and one
way to do that is by addressing students’ social-emotional needs in school.
Mandlawitz suggested the federal government help schools enhance the ranks of school counselors and psychologists.
They could then help students work through the issues that cause them to act out. That strategy would limit dangerous
situations in schools, Mandlawitz said.
Kevin Jennings, the executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said federal prevention
programs should be responsive to the stressful climates that can prevail on school campuses.
’The Virginia Tech tragedy is a classic example of what happens when there are isolated and alienated students who don’t
feel included," he said. But Jennings noted Congress has a history of shortchanging school safety.
’They haven’t really viewed this as important," he said. ’They’ve seen test scores as the main metric for school success."
On the Hill, however, officials are insisting the campus safety issue will get its due respect in the reauthorization.
"Safe and drug-free schools are vital to classroom achievement," said House Education and Labor Committee spokesman
Aaron Albright. "We are looking at a number of proposals on school safety from groups and members of Congress during the
NCLB reauthorization process."
Among those proposals is New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy’s Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act,
H.R. 354, which would eliminate the use of the "persistently dangerous" label, offer counseling to student offenders, and enhance
the use of school-safety related data, among other initiatives.
Page 715
Also, legislation on a firm bullying and harassment policy is expected to be introduced in the House soon.
Members of Congress would be wise to make campus and school safety a top priority this year said Bill Bond, a resident
practitioner for safe and drug-free schools at the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
’~arents can forgive low test scores," he said. "Parents can never forgive administrators for not protecting their children."
Staff Writer Karen Bagwell contributed to this reporL
Page 716
lN,~onresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 18, 2007 11:20 AM
Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, Dav~d; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gate, Cassie;
Subject: SMS interview with Tom Bevans, Real Clear Politics
Real Clear Politics
Jtme 18, 2007

Intelwiew With Education Secretary Margaret Spellings
Postedby TOM BEVAN
I recently had the opportunity to interview Secretai7 of Education Margaret Spellings about the administration’s push to
reauthodze tile No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB was passed in 2001 by wide malgins in both the House and the Senate,
and is considered by many to be the President’s signature dolnestic achievement.
But the adininistration has run into some resistance on reautholSzing NCLB, both from the states and fiom members of
Congress - particularly Republicans.
Tile full text of my inteiwiew with Secretm7 Spellings is below the jump.
RCP: Let’s start with the basics: why does No Child Left Behind deserve to be reauthofized?
SPELLINGS: Well, for lots of great reasons, and first let Ine say if we don’t do it this year I think it’s probably a pretty
good handicap to say it’ll be 2009 before a law can pass - the end of ’09 - with nile thinking to follow. I mean, it’ll be a
long thne before new nfles and so forth are mitten, so ti~ne is of the essence as we n~’ch toward 2014 to strengthen
NCLB mid to make tile law more workable.
If people care about resources, wkich obviously lots of folks do - I leanled from my Texas days that reform plus resources
equals results - this is the time that filnding can and should be debated.
So, for a valiety of great reasons. But I tliink most impoltantly is building on what we’ve leanled over the last fore or five
years, and effecting and twealdng the law and mmking it workable while holding tnle to our shared goal of every single
kid proficient by 2014.
RCP: You’ve said there have been lessons leanled over the past five years. What are solne of those lessons?
SPELLINGS: Well, I sometimes also say we passed the very best law we could five yems ago. We have probably about
half the states who did annual assessments. We didn’t know as much about our schools in this country as we do now
today. And we ought to act on that information.
Some of the things that have emerged ,are the ability to have ,an accotmtabilky system that recognizes growth and progress
over time. That can only be done when we have our mmual measmement systems mad fits with what’s called in the trade,
the debate about the gro~vth model.
Right now NCLB compares this year’s 3rd graders with next year’s 3rd graders and the year alier’s 3rd graders. A growth
ldnd of notion gives us tile opportunity to chart the progress of individual kids and groups of kids over tinle &s tile go
Page 717
through the system. So that’s a better and potentially more precise, more accurate accotmtability mechanism for schools -
and for kids for that matter. So that’s the fhst thing.
The other thhlg we’re hearing alot about are issues that relate to special education and limited-English kids. I ttdnk we
can provide a more nuanced accountability system that makes distinctions about schools that are within range of ~neeting
targets in those chronic, chronic underperformers year atter year. NCLB really fight now functions kind of as apass-fail
system and doesn’t allow for much gradation along the spectrum, and I think we can be more precise about that.
I’m being way to ~vonky with you, I kmow, but ....
RCP: That’s okay.

SPELLINGS: You ask a ~vomky question, you get a wonky ans~ver.
RC P: (Laughter) That’s fight. As you know, there’s been sort of a mini-revolt in Congress and in some of the states - you
were just in Connecticut yesterday and I’m sure heard about it there 2 and the 2 main issues seem to be that the testing is
too rigid and that there’s not enough dorms. You just mentioned the growth model as the answer to the first pat of tilat
question perhaps, but what about the second part of the question?
SPELLINGS: Resources in Washington, and at the state legislative level, and the local school board are a perennial
issue, mid they will continue to be. Funding for education is up more than 40% since the President took office. As I said, I
think the prospects for additional resources are fro greater when the law is being debated and renewed aud strengthened
than they are in the absence of that. Again, if you care a lot about adequacy of resources, the time is now.
RCP: But there was a report that just came out this week showing that the federal portion of the spending pie has
increased to about 9.1%, and I believe when the debate started it was some~vhere around seven -
SPELLINGS: probably more like eight. It’s up a percentage or so...
RCP: Ok. Is 9% where it should be? If not 9%, what should it be?
SPELLINGS: Well, that’s ldnd of a ho~v many angels are on- the head of a pin ldnd of discussion. I ttfi~k the point is, in
Washington we’re always going to be a minority investor in education. Whether it’s 8% or 10% or 9.2% is to me less
material than what is the proper role - vigorous but discreet - for the federal level. And I think asking for results for
taxpayer investments on behalf of our nation’s neediest students, wtfich has been the 40-year commitment of the federal
role in education is the ~ight balance.
The thing that’s so important about NCLB is instead ofjust asking, "how much do we spend?" we’re now asking "how are
our kids doing?" And that only happened five years ago.
RCP: The angle that I’m tryi~ to get at is that some Republicans in Congress said they 1~eld their nose’ to vote for this
last time mou~ld, and I believe the vote in the House was 381-41 and 87-10 in the Senate -
SPELLINGS: Yeah, that was a pretty huge bipartisan - I was a domestic policy advisor for 4 years and I can’t think of
anytjfing that came close to that.
RCP: Right. BUt one of the co~nplaints was that the original bill was mitten by TedKennedy, and obviously this time
around it certainly is going to be mitten by Ted Kennedy. Democrats certainly want increased funding. How much is tha
going to pose a problem for building the so~t ofbipmtisan coalition you want for this bill?
SPELLINGS: Well, fi~t let me just say this about that: obviously Ted Kennedy had an hnportant role last time, as did
Judd Gregg, John B oehnel; the president, all of those - obviously Congressman Miller as well. This is a place where -
87-10 in the Senate, that’s strong bipmtisan support. The President has been very, very much in support of this law since
its passage, so to say tiffs is Ted Kennedy’s la~v is just not accurate.
With respect to resources, as I said, sure, we’re going to have additional funds for education. We have every yemin ever,]
level ofgovmzunent I~re ever been involved with. The President has asked for more than a billion dollars. Obviously, the
Democrats want more than that, mid I’m suure a happy place somewhere between the figures will be found at the end of the
day, as it always is.
Page 718
RCP: You’ve been in charge of the department since 2005. What’s been yore loudest moment and/or greatest
accomplishment so l~ar?
SPELLINGS: Oli, there have been so many it’s hard to nmTow it down. (Pause) That was a little joke, Tom. (Lat~ghter)
Of course l~m vmy, very proud of NCLB. It’s been a huge gmne-changer in this com~try, to the good of minority and poor
kids. Is there anxiety about it out there with grownups? Yes, there is. If we’re going to continue to be the world’s leader
and innovator we have to do a ianch better job than getting half of the minority kids out of high school on time. We have
to really, really focus on this achievement gap that is plaguing the develol~nent of those individuals and ultimately will
tiffs country. And so I’~n proud of that work and I think it’s thrown a spotlight on this issue as never before.
And I think to the extent we’ve worked collaboratively with the Hill and with state policy makers and so foRh to bring
about the Progress that’s been made over the last five years is a hnge deal. Literally, there are nearly 50 million school
children in the systern of America, and now we have 50 state accountability plans that are approved, we have standards in
place, kimw how we’re doing, we’re looking omselves in the mirror. All of that is powerfifl.
Secondly on the list - becat~se it’s been so much associated tdnd of uniquely with me and my term - is the vigorous
discussion we’re having on higher education for the first thne in a long time. Shortly atier I was named I appohtted this
commission - a year ago, September of last year, actually - acting on the more eularged debate because it’s becoming
more and more critical to our citizens.
RCP: What about biggest disappointments so fat’?
SPELLINGS: Otl, gosh, I don’t really - I mean I haven’t even thought about that. I don’t think I have an answer for that,
to tell you the troth. Have I had disappointments? Sure. I wish we could go faster. But I tmderstand what’s necessary to
bring people around and to build consensus, and I understand that we’re just one player in this equation ofimI~oving
public schools. So I guess I feel a sense of urgency, and I sometimes get a little impatient.
RCP: Going back to NCLB real quick. H ow do you see the debate playing out over the next couple of months in terms of
the timetable, how confident are you that you’ll be able to build the sort of support you need to get this thing signed and
when will it get signed?
SPELLINGS: Oh gosh, I’in not to try and handicap the Congress, that’s dm~gerous lx~siness. I do think that both bodies
are on course to get this done before the end of the year. The House will soon beginmarlmp and the Senate will follow
thereafter. Floor action will happen either shortly before or after the August recess, certainly in one body. Anyway, we’re
on track and there’s lot of work going on.
You know, when I heat" people say "well, I’m not going to vote for NCLB in its current fol~n" and I would just say, "no
one is asking you to." We should make improvements to tiffs law. That’s why we have reanthorizations. I’ve never heard
of a reanthorization that no change was made to the initial statute. And this is an 1,100 page bill or something.
RCP: Have you had discussions with Republicans in the House who’ve brought np the alternate bill, Rep. Blunt and his
proposal -
SPELLINGS: Yes, I’ve talked to lots of people on all sides of the aisle, including folks who are concerned about
additional flexibility in the system, which of course the president has proposed as well. But we cannot go backto the "put
the money out andhope for the best" strategy where there is no accountability for federal dollars, and that’s not a good
idea whethar it’s coming fi-om the teachers union or whether it’s coming from conservatives.
RCP: One of the gripes of Republicans last time around was that school choice provisions in the bill were completely
watered down. Is that an accurate assessment in your" opinion of~vhat happened last time around and is there any hope of
SPELLINGS: Not at all accurate. I just want to say, for the record, this president has done ~nore for pment options of
school choice than any president in the history of Ol11" cotnltry. Period. Pin, graph. And it’s not even close.
We have the DC pilot program - choice program- here in its second yea-. We have millions of kids who are enjoying the
oppolturfity to get additional supplement services, additional tutoring with federal dollars. We Nave kids who are
transfening a~nong public schools as a condition of school accotmtability that is part of NCLB. Should we do more? Yes.
Page 719
Have we done a ton? You bet.
RCP: Let me ask one question about 2008, since we are focused on politics, mostly. Do you think the cmTent crop of
candidates on the Republican side is doing enough to address tile issue of education?
SPELLINGS: Well, you know, I don’t l~low. I’m focused on trying to get the work that the president wants to get done
here in Washington done, whichis primarily reauthoriziug NCLB and moving out oil higher education. So, I’m not the
best pei~son to ask about what’s going on in the campaign on education on either side of the aisle, tmthfitlly.
RCP: So you haven’t paid attention to what’s the candidates are proposing?
SPELLINGS: Well, I generally read the paper, but it seems like they’re taildng a lot about Iraq and healthcare and what
not, and education is not so much on the radar as far as I can tell.
RCP: How confident are you that this bill (NCLB) is going to get passed? Do you have complete confidence?
SPELLINGS: I’m cautiously optimistic.

RCP: Cautiously optimistic.
SPELLINGS: Yes. I mean, it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of good will flom a lot of parties, but I’m confident
that the ingredients are there forus to be successfifl this year. I would say that, I think both ChaJlanen ~vould say that, and
I think the Ranldng Members would say that, and I talk to them all the time.
RCP: Very good. Madame Secretary, thank you very inuch for yore time.
Page 720
IN onresponsiv~[__~~.,,
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 18, 2007 9:01 AM
To: Beaton, Meredith; Briggs, Kerd; Bryant, Jessica; Cariello, Dennis; Colby, Chad; Ditto, Trey;
Dorfman~ Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassie;
Landers, Angela; MacGuidwin, Katie; Maddox, Lauren; Maguire, Tory; McGrath, Jchn;
Subject: Senators And Spellings: Showdown Looms (IHE)
Senators And Spellings: Showdown Looms (IHE)

Inside ~ June 18, 2007
The plan for months has been for the U.S. Education Department to propose changes in federal regulations governing the
higher education accreditation system by July, with the goal of having them take effect a year from now, before the Bush
administration ends.
But if department officials stick to that plan now, they will have to directly defy Congress to do so.
Eighteen of the 21 members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee sent a letter to Education
Secretary Margaret Spellings late Thursday in which they "respectfully" asked her to refrain from issuing those new regulations
until Congress passes legislation to renew the Higher Education Act.
The letter from the bipartisan group of senators, who represent all but three Republicans on the Senate education panel,
represents an upturn in Congressional pressure on department officials not to proceed wi~h their plans to use the federal
regulatory process try to transform higher education’s system of self-regulation. Those efforts, which grew from the work last year
of the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, have been controversial among many
accreditors and college officials, who have accused the department of seeking changes that are not supported in underlying
federal laws governing accreditation, which have not changed since 1998.
Last month, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who was among the signers of last week’s letter, warned Spellings in a
speech on the Senate floor that he would seek to add a provision to soon-to-emerge Higher Education Act legislation that would
prevent the department from issuing final regulations (the last stage of the federal regulatory process) for one year.
And two weeks ago, a House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee attached to its 2008 spending bill for
education and health programs a provision that would prevent the Education Department from using any funds to propose or
enact new accreditation rules. That is a standard tactic used by Congressional appropriators to block executive branch behavior
that they don’t like, and a spokeswoman for Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), who sponsored the provision, said that lawmakers
intended to slow the department down.
Because the Senate Higher Education Act legislation has yet to emerge, and there is no chance that the spending bill for
2008 will become law before late summer, the Education Department could technically take the likely next step in its regulatory
process - issuing proposed rules -without directly contravening Congressional authority.
But the letter dratted by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and signed by most of his Democratic and Republican
colleagues on the Senate education panel would appear to leave department officials in the uncomfortable position of having to
decide whether to ignore a clearly stated request (if not demand)from an important group of lawmakers. Spellings and other
Education Department officials very much need to work well with Kennedy and the other senators not just because of its higher
education priorities, but because lhey are in a position to make or break the department’s top legislative goal for this year,
renewal of the lawthat carries out the No Child Left Behind law.
In their letter, the senators seek to reassure department officials that they share some of the underlying goals of the
department’s efforts to revamp the accreditation system. "Although members differ on the particulars, we support your overall
goal of ensuring that our accreditation system is an effective means of promoting quality in higher education," they write.
Changes are needed, they write, to "strengthen our nation’s accreditation system by clarifying the Department of Education’s
responsibilities with respect to recognizing accreditation agencies and organizations, and [specify] the criteria that these agencies
should examine when reviewing institutions of higher education."
Page 721
But as Alexander and members of the House panel said previously, the senators made clear that they thought it was
inappropriate for the department to make changes in federal rules now, given that Congress will soon change the laws in ways
that would require the department to again dratt changes to carry otlt those alterations in the law.
’l[G]iven our committee’s expectation that the current accreditation provisions will soon be changed, and that a new round
of rulemaking on this issue will subsequently be needed, we respectfully ask that you refrain from proposing new regulations on
accreditation until alter the Higher Education Act is reauthorized," the senators wrote.
Department officials have repeatedly declined to comment on the warnings coming out of Congress. But comments that
Spellings made when she testified last month before a House panel about regulatory changes the department has proposed to
govern the student loan programs may apply in this situation as well.
Responding to suggestions that the department had done too little to rein in improper practices in the student loan industry,
Spellings noted that the department had initiated the federal regulatory process because its officials did not feel that they could
wait for Congress to pass legislation to renewthe Higher Education Act, on which lawmakers began work in 2003 and that
stalled in 2005.
’St that time, Mr. Chairman, you and other members of this committee sent me a letter requesting that I delay further action
until Congress could act .... [I]n the absence of completed Congressional action, it’s been my duty to expedite reform."
Page 722
Nonresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 18, 2007 8:59 AM
Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gate, Cassie;
Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tucker, Sara Martinez; William s, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Young, Tracy
Subject: Shopping For A Good College Needs To Be Made Easier (FDDem NH)
Shopping For A Good College Needs To Be IV]ade Easier (FDDem NH)

Foster’s Daily Democrat (NH), June 17, 2007
Institutions of higher education should better cost justify themselves
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has made an intriguing proposal - grade colleges and universities on their
ability to turn out productive and competent graduates.
In other words, grade those who grade others.
It’s such a simple concept, it is a wonder it hasn’t already been implemented. It is also curious that Spellings’ proposal has
been rejected by a coalition of public and private colleges in New Hampshire.
To be fair, Thomas Horgan, president and chief executive officer of the New Hampshire College and University Council,
argues that the current system, one of peer review, is working. He even goes so far as to call it "the gold standard of the world."
But is it?
Under Spellings plan colleges and universities would be required to report their graduation rates, the jobs graduates get
and their incomes, along with other data about the services the schools provide.
As reported by the Associated Press, Spellings’ goal is to make it easier for students and their families to compare colleges.
And what better way to help than to require colleges and universities to keep track of their own success rates, i.e. how
students do in the real world a~ter they graduate.
Spellings argues that the current system needs to be replaced with one "that promotes transparency and accountability."
For many who have been through the college search process, Spellings’ words strike a chord - or perhaps nerve.
While many colleges and universities offer some performance statistics, many do not. And many of those which do bury
them so deep college admission personnel are hard pressed to dig them out when asked.
In addition, there currently is no uniform reporting requirement that allows prospective college students to easily compare
colleges and universities across the country.
Comparisons are also made more difficult due to the differences between private and public institutions and whether it is an
Ivy League-type school or one from the Big Ten.
Yet, in the final analysis, all colleges and universities - despite these differences - need to be held to one standard. It is their
ability to produce productive members of the work force.
Perhaps the flaw in Spellings plan, if there is one, lies in calling for an overhaul. If Horgan is even partially correct, the
system may not need an overhaul, just a few enhancements.
Hopefully, his resistance is not due to a shyness by the 17 New Hampshire colleges affiliated with the NHCUC - including
the University of New Hampshire and Plymouth State University - to prove they are worth the fees and tuitions they charge.
Being able to compare colleges and universities is becoming exponentially more important given that increases in fees and
tuitions have far outstripped inflation over the last 20 years.
These rising costs have led to higher loan burdens for students in New Hampshire who average a debt at graduation of
$22,793, according to the Associated Press, twice the national average. The case is nearly the same in Maine.
As a result, more and more prospective college students are being forced to cost justify owing the equivalent of a new-car
loan upon graduation.
Students need to ask themselves: "Will college or university X land me a job to justify going deep into debt?"
Page 723
One way to help answer that question is for colleges and universities to track their own success rates - both through offering a
job-oriented curriculum and ~ne tuning their job-placement services rather than just bragging about a few success stories.
Page 724
Nonresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 18, 2007 8:59 AM
McLane, Katherine; Mcnitt, Townsend L.; Mesecar, Doug; Moran, Robert; Morffl, Jessica;
Subject: For Bush, ’No Child’ A Hard Act To Follow (BSUN)
For Bush, ’No Child’ A Hard Act To Follow (BSUN)

By David Nitkin
The Baltimore Sun, June 18, 2007
Debate growing as education package nears expiration
WASHINGTON -- President Bush is locked in a struggle to preserve his signature education initiative as Republicans and
Democrats press for key changes in the law that ushered in an era of high-stakes testing and strict standards.
The No Child Left Behind Act took effect in 2002 after receiving the kind of bipartisan support that has all but evaporated
since. It will expire this year unless it is renewed or extended.
With his time in office waning, Bush regularly refers to the education reform act as one of his most notable achievements,
and one that he hopes will endure.
But his push this year to renew the law has made little progress. The administration is redoubling its lobbying efforts -
including enlisting first lady Laura Bush - against opposition from both ends of the political spectrum.
"lf l do say so modestly, it is the jewel in the crown of his domestic achievements," said Secretary of Education Margaret
Spellings, who was a White House policy adviser when the lawwas enacted. "Obviously, he is very committed."
Spellings plotted legislative strategy last week with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of
California, the Democrats who chair Congress’ education committees, and senior Republican lawmakers.
"If you care about resources, this is the time to act. If you care about competitiveness, and high schools, like Bill Gates
does and our governors do, this is the time to act," Spellings said in an interview. "I’m very concerned that if we don~ act this
year, having this sort of thing in play in the middle of a presidential campaign becomes much more difficult."
The debate carries important consequences for schools in Maryland and elsewhere.
Maryland schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick praises the accountability goals contained in the law.
With more families moving from state to state, the public is entitled to a "level of transparency" so they can judge how
schools are performing, she said.
But teachers, principals and parents in Baltii’nore and throughout the state criticize what they say is a lack of t]exibility
imposed by the measure. The day after Worcester County’s IVichelle Hammond was honored at the White House as Maryland’s
teacher of the year in April, she joined a news conference to decry the absence of teacher involvement in developing policy
options.
No Child Left Behind has imposed stricter qualifications on teachers and required that schools face tough sanctions, such
as being taken over by states or private companies, if they fail to make yearly progress. The law aims to make every student-
regardless of race, learning ability or native language - proficient in reading and math by 2014.
The act has been studied incessantly over the past five years, with no shortage of ideas for changes.
Some educators want subjects such as science, history and geography added to the testing regimen, so their disciplines
get more attention.
Others want to make sure that schools are not automatically labeled as failing if they miss the mark because of a small
number of non-native English speakers or special needs students.
State officials say they hope they’ll get more money to pay for administering the law. A recent analysis by the independent
Center on Education Policy found that eight of 10 school districts nationwide have been forced to spend more money on
bureaucratic requirements not paid for by the federal government.
Page 725
The White House is open to making changes, and officials say they want to provide more flexibility and a stronger focus on
high schools. The administration has not proposed specific refinements - leaving that to Congress - and Bush warned in a
speech this year that "we will not allow this good piece of legislation to be weakened."
But the president has his work cut out for him. Conservatives say the law is an unneeded federal encroachment into an
arena that has traditionally been a state and local domain.
"My colleagues are hearing nothing positive about No Child Left Behind in their districts," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a
Michigan Republican.
His plan to let states opt out of the law has garnered support from more than 60 Republican congressmen - some of whom
voted for it five years ago.
"It may be OK in theory, but to get it mandated in Washington just is not working," Hoekstra said.
Likewise, newly elected congressional Democrats have brought to Washington concerns about an over-reliance on testing
that is stripping creativity from the classroom as schools focus on test preparation to the exclusion of other subjects and
activities.
"Most of us saw No Child Let~ Behind as incredibly cumbersome and punitive," said Rep. Tim Walz, who taught high school
geography before coming to Washington, and whose wife is in charge of compliance with the federal requirements in their
Minnesota school district.
Still, few of those involved with the issue predict wholesale changes. Kennedy and Miller, the congressional Democrats
who ~re instrumental in getting the law passed in 2001, are now in leadership positions and, like Bush, viewthe education
initiative as part of their legacy.
With education an important topic with voters and several studies showing that increased testing and accountability has
raised student performance, there could be a heavy political price to pay for those who vote to undo the main principles of the
law - such as splitting out test scores for minority, special education and non-native English-speaking students in an effort to
address performance gaps, analysts say.
’qhey are not going to change the core of the act," said Tom Loveless, head of education policy at the Brookings
Institution. Overall, that’s "a good thing," he said.
Frederick M. Hess, an education expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said lawmakers and the administration do not
appear ready to address flaws in the initiative.
By setting an all-but-impossible goal of having all children proficient in math and reading by 2014, the legislation
encourages states to set low standards and fudge numbers, he said, while doing little to make sure that children are learning.
’To my mind, it makes sense to hold a school- whether it is in Baltimore or Boston - accountable not for having children
where we wish they would be in a perfect world, but for whether that school, or that teacher, is ensuring that those students are
making a year’s worth of progress in a year’s time," he said.
Even some of the laws staunchest supporters, such as Grasmick, acknowledge that changes are needed. She says she
wants not only more money, but emphasis on principals as a critical component of good schools.
And the scoring system for schools needs to be improved, she said, to recognize schools that are making strides but do not
meet the thresholds set out in the law.
Democrats will continue to push for more money [o address concerns that the measure imposed federal requirements but
did not provide enough resources [o pay for them.
The Bush administration has asked for $2.53 billion in additional education funding next year.
Democratic lawmakers will likely try to push that figure higher. Many Democrats say Bush reneged on a pledge to persuade
a Republican-controlled Congress to provide more funding for education. While the federal share of education money rose early
in the Bush administration, it has declined since, and the amount of federal money provided under the act each year has fallen
short of the maximum authorized under the law.
For its part, the White House is enlisting Laura Bush, a former school librarian, who has invited groups of lawmakers for
coffee at the White House to discuss [he merits of legislation.
"I’ve never known her to get involved in legislative initiatives," said Hoekstra. "Maybe they recognize they are in a whole lot
more trouble than what they anticipated."
david.nitkin@baltsun.com
Page 726
Nonresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 15, 2007 9:00 AM
Dorfman, C~thia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassie;
Subject: Education Experts Call For National Education Change (OWHrld NE)
Education Experts Call For National Education Change (OWHrld NE)

By Jake Thompson
Omaha World-Hera!d, June 15, 2007
WASHINGTON A Nebraska official and other education experts called Thursday for replacing the No Child Left Behind
Act’s annual multiple choice tests and its penalties for lagging schools.
They called for more frequent state and local assessments and broader measures to determine which schools are teaching
kids best.
"We have the accountability horse pulling the learning cart," said Pat Roschewski, director of statewide assessment for the
Nebraska Education Department, at a Capitol Hill press conference.
’qests wont solve the problem; it will be people’s actions based on those tests. None of us need the sanctions. What we
really need is support, not intimidation," Roschewski said.
She was joined by other members of the Forum on Educational Accountability, a coalition of 130 education, civil rights,
religious, children’s, disability and civic organizations.
Roschewski is part of the group because Nebraska’s education system has emphasized local district accountability, but that
is headed for some major changes with the Legislature’s approval this year of new statewide testing.
The forum released a position paper outlining six principles it believes should be followed for improving schools and
learning. The group drew an immediate rebuke from U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
"]he report would turn back the clock to a time when accountability was not a way of life in our schools," Spellings said.
President Bush won congressional approval in 2002 of the No Child Lef~ Behind law requiring standardized testing and
penalties for schools that fail to improve test scores. The law is up for renewal.
’qhe data shows that No Child Left Behind is working for our children," Spellings said. "We must pick up the pace by
strengthening accountability, not watering it down."
The educational forum, which opposes the law’s penalties for struggling schools, proposed:
¯ Ensuring that all students have access to resources and information needed to learn.
¯ Providing incentives for states and districts to develop more local assessment of student achievement and teaching.
. Supporting research to ensure that English language learners and students with disabilities receive attention.
¯ Developing multiple ways of assessing student performance from state and school district data.
¯ Encouraging states to use all subjects not just reading, math and science in evaluating quality of teaching and student
learning.
¯ Providing help to struggling schools, such as professional development, curriculum improvements or help in retaining
high-quality teachers.
Nebraska’s education system, which has opposed standardized testing under the No Child Left Behind law, has drawn
attention from Time magazine, educators and lawmakers.
They include Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., a key backer of the No Child Lett Behind Act. Roschewski has a personal
note signed by Kennedy in blue felt-tip marker expressing interest in Nebraska’s system.
But the Nebraska Legislature recently approved a new statewide reading test by 2009-10, and a new statewide math test
the year after. That will allow the public to compare test results among school districts. The state already has statewide testing in
writing.
Page 727
Roschewski said she hoped the new tests would complement the state’s existing system that emphasizes local assessments of
student learning.
Page 728
Nonresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 15, 2007 9:00 AM
Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tucker, Sara Martinez; William s, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Young, Tracy
Subject: Regional Higher Ed Summit stories (3)
U.S. Education Leaders Desire Funds For College (OPSun KS)

College Accessibility, Affordability Topic Of Discussion (NashTel NH)
’Top Fed For Higher Ed’ Hosts Town Hall (GSTms AZ)
U.S. Education Leaders Desire Funds For College (OPSun KS)

By Kellie Houx
Ovedand Park (’KS) Sun, June 15, 2007
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Undersecretary Sara Martinez Tucker listened to area educators, students
and civic leaders discuss educational issues at a town hall meeting June 4.
The education leaders’ message focused on having enough employees trained to compete in the world market They
stressed the need for more federal grants to put people through college and getting more high schoolers to take advanced
placement courses to prepare for college.
Mary Elizabeth Davidson Cohen, the Department of Education’s regional representative, said people need help getting into
college.
’Change in higher education is long overdue, especially for adults," Cohen said. "When I worked at the University of Kansas
as assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs, I listened to adults who struggled to have access to schooling."
Cohen praised communications between Johnson County Community College and the universities in Kansas.
"Education should be a seamless garment and we need to do a better job of meshing institutional information at a national
level," Cohen said. "People move around and often attend several schools. Getting information should not be a hassle, but be
accessible nationwide.
’It is not just a local problem. We don’t want people to lose hours. It costs them money and time. There needs to be a
greater ease in matriculation."
Tucker said lack of time and money shuts 37 million adults out of higher education.
’We estimate that 44 percent worry they don’t have enough education for their jobs," she said during the forum at the
University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Spellings said she wants Congress to enact President Bush’s request to raise Pell grants from $4,050 now to $4,600 next
year and to $5,400 over the next ~ve years. Pell grants help low-income students pay college costs.
"Federal student aid needs to be looked at," Spellings said. "Have you tried to ~11 out the federal financial aid form? It is
horrible. It needs to be streamlined."
Cohen said she also seeks help for adult learners.
’Not everyone is eligible for a Pell grant, especially adults who cannot go to school full time because they are taking care of
families and working," she said, and suggested "multi-year aid that rewards adult learners who are doing well."
Cohen said she wants private enterprise to help with scholarships and counseling.
’~ounselors in high schools help either those with many needs or those who are high achievers," she said. "Many students
fall by the wayside."
Page 729
Cohen said many companies complain that high school and college graduates are not prepared for work.
’OK, if the economy of our country, by extension, could suffer from ill-educated students, why not allow business leaders to
step in and offer guidance," she said. "We have major corporations like Comer, Black & Veatch, Honeywell and so on that could
help tailor needs to their future employees.
’~/e do not live in a vacuum. A publidprivate partnership could be what we all need."
College Accessibility, Affordability Topic Of Discussion (NashTel NH)

By Michael Brindley
Nashua, June 15, 2007
NASHUA - There were several reasons for Sara Martinez Tucker to apologize Wednesday night.
Martinez Tucker, the federal government’s new head of higher education, said that for too long, Americans haven’t had
enough information, money or access to college. Now 44 percent of adults say they don’t feel they have the education they need
to be successful, she said.
’We have not done a good job, and I know we need to do a better job," she said, speaking to an audience at a town-hall
style meeting at the New Hampshire Community Technical College in Nashua.With changes being proposed to the Higher
Education Aot, which is due for reauthorization, undersecretary Martinez Tucker said the Department of Education is taking the
initiative to make accessibility and affordability for college a national priority.
’We’re setting a national standard to ensure that every Amedcan has access to higher education," she said.
The Nashua event was one of five being held across the country, what Martinez Tucker described as a "listening tour."
There are changes that need to be made, she said, but not without the input of those who are impacted most.
’We can’t do this in a vacuum," she said.
She spent the evening first holding a roundtable with college-bound seniors and current technical college students, then
held the public town hall meeting later that night.
The meetings in Nashua are part of a two-day regional event. Today, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will be in
Boston for a higher education summit.
In response to a report issued by a commission Spellings appointed to study the issue, the secretary is proposing several
changes she said will make college more accessible.
Consolidating federal financial aid programs, increasing the size of Pell grants, and aligning high school curriculum with
college expectations are all being proposed.
But it is the change to the college accreditation process that has raised red flags wilh New Hampshire college officials.
Last week, Thomas Horgan, president and chief financial of the New Hampshire College & University Council, said that his
organization was opposed to the changes to the accreditation process that Spellings is proposing. The NHCUC is a coalition of
16 public and private colleges in the state.
Horgan said it would replace the peer-review system with holding colleges up to standardized measurements of
effectiveness.
He expressed those concerns at the meeting Wednesday night, saying that the higher education community, both in New
Hampshire and across the country, is concerned that a model similar to the No Child Lett Behind act is being forced on colleges.
’It sounds a lot like a national standardized program," he said.
Martinez Tucker said Horgan’s assessment of the accrediting changes is wrong but is a common misconception she has
heard from others.
People are suspicious because the proposals are coming from the same administration that initiated NCLB, she said. She
doesn’t want to do away with peer review, but there needs to be standards for colleges that accept taxpayer money.
’3Vhat we’ve said is we need every institution to have evidence of student learning and student achievement," she said.
Colleges would be able to set their own goals, and they would be required to show how and if they met those goals, she
said. The purpose to is to give prospective students the information they need to make the right choice, she said.
Unlike with public education, for which the federal government covers only 10 percent of the cost, the government funds
more than a third of higher education through loans, Martinez Tucker said.
’We have a legitimate right, on behalf of the taxpayers, to see where we are spending our money wisely and where we are
not spending our money wisely," she said.
Horgan said college students are being forced to bear an increased responsibility for costs.
At $22,793, the debt load for students graduating from college in New Hampshire is more than double the national
average.
IVichael Fishbein, provost of Daniel Webster College in Nashua, said that over the past two generations there has been a
Page 730
bipartisan retreat from grants to loans.
’That’s the major problem, from a financial point of view, to access," he said.
Martinez Tucker was president and chief financial officer of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund before being confirmed as the
head of higher education last year.
She said that too few young people are entering college, and even among those who do go on to secondary education,
many don’t have the skills they need to achieve.
’We are heading for a crisis," she said.
At the roundtable discussion earlier in the evening, members of the group expressed concern about affordability and
access to information.
The students recommended using mass media to get more information out to prospective students at earlier ages. They
also said that there needs to be more job shadowing programs, so young people can figure out what they want to do.
Martinez Tucker asked the group whether her department should look at using Intemet formats like YouTube, MySpace
and Facebook to get information out.
Of course they should, said 23-year-old Jason Rodier, because that’s what young people are familiar with. Rodier just
graduated with his associate’s degree in liberal arts from the technical college.
Those sites aren’t going anywhere, "so use them to your advantage," he said. Rodier plans to continue his college
education now that he has earned his associate’s degree.
Siobhan Connolly, 18, a Nashua High School South senior who will be attending Curry College, said she found the right
school by using Internet sites, like The Princeton RevieWs Web site.
Connolly said it has become expected for teens to go to college.
’It’s almost weird to hear someone is not going to college," she said.
Farhan Quasam, 18, a Nashua High School South senior headed to Cornell University, said the federal student loan
process is "too black and white."
The nine-page form applicants are required to fill out doesn’t take into account unusual circumstances people have faced,
be it deaths in the family or financial problems.
’It’s way too much numbers and not enough heart," he said.
Martinez Tucker said Spellings wants to see high school students allowed to apply for federal loans earlier, so as they are
entering their senior years, they know how much assistance to expect.
Anthony Faha, 26, said the biggest mistake he made was trying to finance his college education using credit cards. He was
doing fine until his car broke down; then he started to fall deeper in to debt.
He didn’t go to college immediately a~er high school, which he said was a mistake too many young people make.
’If they don’t have the ability to go out and try, then they’re just stuck," he said.
~chael Brindley can be reached at 594-6426 or mbrindley@nashuatelegraph.com.
’Top Fed For Higher Ed’ Hosts Town Hall (GSTrns AZ)
By Jean Bihn
Glendale (’AZ) Star-Times, June 15, 2007
There were more answers than questions at Monday’s Town Hall on higher education at Arizona State University West.
Hosted by Undersecretary of Education Sara Martinez Tucker, the event drew about 130 students, parents and education
officials.
Tucker is visiting several cities across the country on a ’listening tour."
And listen she did n but not before providing an update on the state of higher education.
Approximately 27 percent of Americans have a four-year degree and more than 60 percent have no post-secondary
education, she said.
"Even worse, just 18 percent of African-Americans have four-year degrees and 10 percent of Latinos have earned
bachelor’s degrees," Tucker said.
Added to the statistics, she said, are estimates that by 2012, 40 percent of manufacturing jobs will require post-secondary
education.
When Tucker sought comment from the audience, about a half-dozen Hispanic college students spoke about the high cost
of college tuition. Many noted the passage of Proposition 300, which requires students not in the country legally to pay out-of-
state tuition.
’1 am not legal," one student said. "With Proposition 300, prices are double. It’s scary."
Page 731
Several members of the audience said numerous high school students are unaware that post-secondary education is
possible.
Tucker said after gathering commentary, her team will create a plan of action.
Even though her post could end with the election of a new president, she said, ’1 have until Jan. 20, 2009. There are things
that I can do today that will get traction for the future."
Reach the reporter at jbihn@star-times.com or (623) 847-4611.
Page 732
Nonresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 15, 2007 9:00 AM
Subject: Spellings Pleads For Full Reading First Funding (Ed Daily)
Spellings Pleads For Full Reading First Funding (Ed Daily)

Cut would diminish program’s success in early literacy, she says
By Kds Kitto
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings mounted a defense for Reading First Wednesday, sending Rep. David Obey, D-
Wis., a warning that the drastic slash in the literacy program’s funding that his House subcommittee approved last week would
come back to haunt him in his home state.
¯ In a letter to the House’s Committee on Appropriations chairman, Spellings said Wisconsin stands to lose more than $8.5
million in grants for Reading First, which she added has demonstrated improvements in first- and second-grade literacy levels in
100 percent of the state’s participating schools.
The committee cut $629 million from the former billion-dollar program, a reduction that would touch a large portion of the
approximately 1,600 participating districts.
Spellings’ tactic is the latest in an ongoing political tug-of-war over Reading First’s widely documented success and the
department’s alleged mismanagement and conflicts of interest during the program’s launch.
Spellings acknowledged that there were "problems in the early implementation of the program" but said the cut "will result in
a critical loss of services for our nation’s neediest students and significant hardships for states."
She said she takes the program’s management ’~ery seriously," highlighting the appointment of Reading First Director
Joseph Cona[y, the expansion ofstaffto curb [he use of contractors, and more detailed conflict-of-interest guidelines as steps
she’s taken to restore its integrity.
But to date, Spellings’ arguments for the program’s success as well as her promises of a cleaner administration have yet to
convince lawmakers that Reading First’s troubles are a thing of the past.
The result, according to Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Vice President Michael Petrilli, is that the program has paid the
ultimate price.
’It looks to me that the Democrats are trying to punish the administration for some of the problems of the program, but it’s
sort of a backwards way to do it," he said. Petrilli added that Congress might have been better off looking deeper into Spellings’
role in the alleged mismanagement and demanding that she bke responsibility for it.
Instead, the budget slash has invoked a call-to-arms among states and districts that have benefited from the program and
are loathe to see it go.
’The program, from all independent reviews, is helping kids learn how to read," said Rich Long, the government relations
director at the International Reading Association, noting that his organization has heard very few Reading First-related
complaints from the field since ED has instituted management changes.
’1 think we’re going to see letters from various states coming to the Senate that will demonstrate on a state-by-state basis
how effective the program is."
And Spellings would be wise to direct her efforts toward the Senate, too, Center on Education Policy President Jack
Jennings said, since the House is unlikely to write another appropriation to get the money restored in Reading First.
’Her best bet is to try to convince the Senate that she’s seriously reforming the program," he said.
But Spellings will likely face resistance in the Senate, too. Jennifer Mullin, a spokeswoman for Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa,
the leader of the Senate’s education appropriations, said Harkin believes in the program’s mission but "has voiced some pretty
1
Page 733
significant concerns about the program and its mismanagement." The Senate subcommittee plans to look at the issue before the
July 4 recess, she said.
As for continued congressional oversight of the program, House’s Committee on Education and Labor spokesman Aaron
Albright said the committee’s investigation is ongoing, and Melissa Wagoner, a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions spokeswoman, said a previously scheduled hearing on Reading First might get incorporated into NCLB
reauthorization talks.
Page 734
...N_°nresp °ns L__._._

From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 15, 2007 9:00 AM
Casey; Scheessele, Marc; Private - Spellings, Margaret; Tada, Wendy; Tatbert, Kent; Terrell,
Subject: Groups Call For Multiple Assessment ’Overhaul’ Of Law (Ed Daily)
Groups Call For Multiple Assessment ’Overhaul’ Of Law (Ed Daily)

By Sarah D. Sparks
The mantra of NCLB has been, "What gets tested, gets taught." Yet a new testing report warns the laws accountability
system has taught schools the wrong way to measure student achievement.
’We’re living in a testing mentality, and that sacrifices some of the instructional mentality, the learning mentality," said Pat
Roschewski, Nebraska statewide assessment director. "Assessment is a learning tool. It has become a weapon."
The Forum on Educational Accountability, a coalition of 134 national education and civic groups and the test-watchdog
group FairTest, released the findings of its assessment panel at the Capital on Thursday. It called for a change in testing focus
in the reauthorized law, from annual statewide assessment to a mix of formative diagnostic tests and multiple summative tests to
gauge student growth throughout the year. The panel called for the Education Department to allow more experimentation with
different types of assessment.
James Pellegrino, psychology and education professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, agreed that the format of nearly
all state assessments - using mainly multiple choice and other standardized questions for quick reporting turnaround - limits the
scope of skills and knowledge on which students can be tested. Critical thinking and scientific inquiry are especially difficult to
capture on standardized tests, he said.
’No single assessment, regardless of its technical rigor.., can accomplish the range of diagnostic and accountability goals
required under NCLB," he said.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings agreed with the panel’s request for more flexibility but flatly rejected its suggestion
to reconsider the goal of universal math and reading proficiency by 2014, saying it would introduce a "fuzzy and shitting target
that sets the bar low."
Spellings likewise rejected suggested changes to assessments for English learners and special education students,
arguing, "It would put students with disabilities and English-language learners back on a separate, slower academic track."
However, one of the panel’s ELL experts, Margot Gottlieb, also participates in the state-ED partnership on ELL assessments.
ED has launched pilot programs to allow more flexibility in designing accountability, such as one that would allow states to
track student growth in addition to comparing cohorts of students. Yet the state proposals so far "represent a highly constrained
view of how student growth might be measured," according to Brian Gong, panel member and executive director of the National
Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment. Bill Taylor, chairman of the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights,
argued that most of the testing flexibility FEA suggested is already in the law under states’ discretion, but state officials must be
more assertive in developing high-quality tests.
"When a testing company comes to a state and says, we can add six multiple choice questions to our test and align it to
your standards, why do so many states agree?" Taylor said.
Roschewski agreed but pointed again to NCLB, noting states have less time and staff capacity to develop new
assessments.
The full report is available at www.edaccountability.orgtAssessmentFullReportJUNE07.pdf.
Page 735
INonrespons,
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 15, 2007 8:54 AM
Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gate, Cassie;
Gribbte, Emily; Halaska, Terrell; Herr, John; Higgins, Kristan; Kuzmich, Holly; Lambert, Kelly;
Subject: Report Cites Conflicts In Student Loans (AP)
Report Cites Conflicts In Student Loans (AP)

By Nancy Zuckerbrod
AP, June 15, 2007
WASHINGTON -- A University of Texas financial aid officer who was fired last month expected meals and parties from
lenders who did business with students at the school, according to a Senate report.
The report released Thursday quotes an internal Bank of America e-mail about Lawrence Burr as saying, "Larry loves
tequila and wine. Since becoming director at UT Austin, he has not had to buy any tequila or wine. Lenders provide this to him on
a regular basis."
Buff, the former director of financial aid services at the university, also demanded favors from Citibank, and when the bank
refused he dropped Citibank from the school’s preferred list, the report found. Citibank then invited Burt to serve on an advisory
board, treated him to golf outings and expensive meals _ eventually getting back on the preferred list, the report stated.
The university fired Burt last month after determining his ownership of stock in a loan company violated university rules. A
woman who answered the phone at Burt’s home said he was not immediately available Thursday.
The report, released by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, bolstered the findings of New York’s attorney general that there
are widespread conflicts of interest in the $85 billion-a-year sludent loan industry.
Kennedy found many instances in which banks gave student aid officials trips, tickets to sporting events and other gilts.
Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, highlighted several instances in
which lenders improperly marketed their products to students under the guise of providing them with financial counseling
services.
Kennedy’s report focused solely on improper practices in the federal student loan program. Under the program, banks
make loans and the government guarantees them.
Much, though not all, of the wrongdoing that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has found has involved the
private student loan market. The government does not guarantee those loans and has less oversight over them than over the
federally backed loans.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has said she only has control over the federal program. She also has said it is
difficult to prove wrongdoing in cases involving alleged inducements by lenders to schools or loan officers.
Katherine McLane, a spokeswoman for Spellings, said the department was reviewing the Senate report.
Ellen Frishberg, the former tinancial aid director at Johns Hopkins University, received payments from several lenders,
according to investigations by Kennedy and Cuomo.
Kennedy’s report cites a newly disclosed e-mail in which Frishberg wrote an official with Student Loan Xpress asking for
personal tuition assistance for a doctoral program she wished to pursue.
’1 am searching for half tuition support. Know any good scholarship programs? Or, why don’t you put me on retainer to
EdLending?" she wrote. EdLending is the parent company of Student Loan Xpress.
Shortly alterward, the Student Loan Xpress official sent Frishberg an e-mail saying she would get a consulting job that
would help with tuition. No documents were provided to investigators showing any consulting work was ever done in exchange,
according to the Senate report.
Frishberg resigned last month alter the university found she failed to comply with its ethics rules.
Also Thursday, Cuomo announced a settlement with Johns Hopkins. The school agreed to submit a report on its financial
Page 736
aid practices and pay $1.1 million into a fund to educate students about financial aid. The school also agreed to adopt a code of
conduct developed by Cuomo.
To date, Cuomo has reached agreements with 26 schools and the nation’s top five lenders.
Page 737
JN°nresp°nsik .................................. ~ ........................... ~ .... __.

From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 14, 2007 9:04 AM
Casey; Scheessete, Marc; Private - Spellings, Margaret; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell,
Subject: 2 more VA Tech/school safety stories
President, ED Reconsider Campus, School Safety (Ed Daily)

By Kds Kitto
Education Daily~ June 14, 2007
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales submitted a report to President Bush Wednesday outlining obstacles to making campuses and schools safer
and recommending actions to be taken at the local, state and federal levels.
The President, who faced a flurry of K-12 school violence last fall, directed the three cabinet members to take on the
project in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy this spring.
The interagency report was released a day after the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Advisory Committee
sent a proposal to Spellings for changes in ED’s K-12 school-safety programs. The committee report focused on school safety
grants for states, the unsafe-school-choice option under NCLB, and the collection of school-safety related data.
The two reports fit into the federal government’s larger struggle with its role in school safety - how best to direct funds,
whether new legislation will do any good, and what information to disseminate to the state and local levels.
After the Virginia Tech tragedy, Spellings, Leavitt and Gonzales met with law enforcement, health and education officials
across the country to figure out how to minimize violence in educational settings.
With the information the cabinet members collected, they made the following conclusions:
¯ Information sharing is critical but faces substantial obstacles.
¯ Information about people prohibited from owning guns must be accurate and complete.
¯ Prevention depends on improved awareness and communication.
¯ People with mental illnesses must get the services they need.
¯ Emergency preparedness, violence prevention and other such programs must be fully implemented.
In a statement, Spellings said her work on the report confirmed that "safety is a shared responsibility that requires
cooperation, communication and commitment on all sides." She said the department plans to move forward with the
recommendations and "continue its search for ways to enhance security on our campuses."
Safe And Drug-Free Report
The recommendations from ED’s advisory committee touched on the state grants program, which in the past has been
equally criticized for the small amounts of money it makes available and praised for directing funds to what supporters call a dire
need.
The committee called the program "crucial" but suggested that ED require grantees to meet objectives that would indicate a
school’s safety level.
The program’s funding, however, remains in question. The president proposed a drastic cut to state grants in his 2008
budget proposal, but a subcommittee for the House Committee on Appropriations last week approved a funding level much
greater than the president’s request.
Additionally, the report recommended that data gathering for school safety be stronger and better integrated into practice. It
also made suggestions on the unsafe-school-choice option.
Fuzzy Understandings of FERPA

Page 738
From Inside Higher Ed.com
June 14
A federal report on the Virginia Tech shootings considers the misunderstanding of federal and state privacy laws to be a
"substantial obstacle" to the information sharing needed to protect students.
"Throughout our meetings and in every breakout session, we heard differing interpr~ations and confusion about legal
restrictions on the abilityto share information about a person who may be a threat to self or to others," states the Report to
the President <http:llwww.hhs.govlvtreport.html> on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy, released Wednesday
and compiled by the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Justice. Fears of violating state
privacy laws, statutes designed to prevent discrimination of people with mental illness- and, of course, the federal Health
Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Ac~ (FERPA)
- can serve to "chill legitimate information sharing," the report reads.
"It was almost universally observed that these fears and misunderstandings likely limit the transfer of information in more
significant ways than is required by law," the report says.
"Amen," Sheldon E. Steinbach, a lawyer in the higher education practice at the Washington firm Dow Lohnes, said
Wednesday. "That may actually be an understatement. Excessive paranoia about compliance with FERPA and HIPAA
greatly impedes essential communications on campus that would provide for greater safety for students, employees and
the entire college community."
"There was an immediate hue and cry after Virginia Tech to change the privacy laws," added Jennifer Mathis, deputy legal
director for the Judge David L. Bazelon Center <http:llw,~,~v.bazelon.orgl> for Mental Health Law. "1 think that there was a
lack of understanding of the [emergency] exceptions that already exist."
The perceived constraints on information sharing have been major points of concern since the April 16 shootings, with a
<http:llwww.insidehighered.comlnews120071061121vt> Virginia panel appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine fixating on the tension
between privacy and protection at a day-long meeting at George Mason University Monday.
The federal study, based on feedback from meetings between federal delegations and state, local, mental health,
education and law enforcement leaders from across the nation, finds that while partidpants in the meetings were aware of
both HIPAA and FERPA, "there was significant misunderstanding." For instance, in some discussions, "participants
reported circumstances in which they incorrectly believed that they were subject to liability or foreclosed from sharing
information under federal law."
In response, the report recommends that federal agencies develop and widely disseminate additional guidance clarifying
how ir~ormation can legally be shared - including with parents - under HIPAA and FERPA. "In addition, the U.S.
Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should consider whether further actions are needed to balance
more appropriately the interests of safety, privacy, and treatment implicated by FERPA and HIPAA," the report states.
The report also summarizes findings in four other areas, stressing for instance the need for states to provide information
about relevant mental health history to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (right now, only 23 states
provide information on individuals disqualified from possessing firearms under federal law for mental health reasons). The
report subsequently describes a need to improve awareness and communication efforts on campuses; to deal with
capadty issues in the mental health system and integrate mental health with primary care to ensure that the people who
need help find it; and to ensure emergency preparedness in part by planning, practicing and enhancing the
professionalism of campus police forces through joint training with federal, state and local law enforcement.
"We agree with virtually everything that was said in this report," said Mathis of the Bazelon Center, which advocates for
individuals with m ental disabilities. In particular, she said the report’s focus on a corn munity-based, coordinated integration
of the mental health system - as opposed to, forinstance, a focus on involuntary commitment laws - was a meaningful and
appropriate response to the lack of coordination displayed in Virginia (as evidenced by a
<http:llwww.oig.virginia.govldocumentsNATechRpt-140.pdf> state report released Monday).
"We welcome this report and hope that its recommendations will be adequately funded, especially with regard to making
mental health services available, and implemented with the best interests of all stakeholders in mind," the American
Psychiatric Association’s president, Carolyn Robinowitz, and the association’s medical director/CEO Jam es H. Scully Jr.,
said in a statement.
"We know that most of the adolescents and young adults who have carried out violent attacks in school settings have had
long histories of emotional and behavioral problems," the American Psychiatric Association statement continues. "And we
knowthat many of these troubled youths were not receiving adequate care - and some were not receiving any mental
health care - at the time of their violent acts. It is imperative that mental health services be available and accessible to all
Page 739
who need them."
- Elizabeth Redden <mailto:elizabeth.redden@insidehighered.com>
The original store/and user comments can be viewed online at http:l~nsidehighered.com/news120071061141vt.

Page 740
I,Nonresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 14, 2007 9:01 AM
Julie; Toomey, Liam; Tucker, Sara Martinez; William s, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Young, Tracy
Subject: Higher Education Topic Of Summit (GKCCN KS/MO)
Higher Education Topic Of Summit (GKCCN KSIMO)

By Kellie Houx
Greater Kansas City Community Newspapers (KS!, June 14, 2007
Competitiveness in the world market coupled with enough employees to take on tomorrow’s jobs is the cornerstone for the
U.S. Department of Education.
During a two-day summit June 4 and 5, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Under Secretary Sara Martinez
Tucker listened to area educators, students and civic leaders about educational accessibility, accountability and affordability,
especially at the college and university level. Spellings’ effort is to improve the Higher Education Act.
Tucker held a town hall meeting June 4 to listen to school leaders, parents and teachers. Her department responsibilities
include post-secondary, vocational and adult education, plus financial aid.
Both Spellings and Tucker’s message is to increase the number of people able to afford college through larger federal
grants, streamlining the preschool to senior high school curriculum to make sure graduates are ready for college, and increasing
enrollment in high school advanced placement courses.
The Kansas City meeting marked the first of five to be held around the country in Boston, Atlanta, Phoenix and Seattle.
Before Tucker joined the department, she served on the 2005 Commission on the Future of Higher Education in her role as
president of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. She said 37 million adults are being shut out of higher education because of time
and finances.
’We estimate that 44 percent worry they don’t have enough education for their jobs," she said.
The Metropolitan Community College System and the University of Missouri-Kansas City may be examples of how to
streamline and aid students moving from high school to the collegiate level. They have partnered to assure access, affordability
and accountability.
Chancellor Jackie Snyder said the community college is a good value at $80 per credit hour. Tucker said community
colleges also are a chance for students who struggled with high school courses to find help.
’If you take four years of math, but those four years are introduction to algebra, algebra, introduction to geometry and
geometry, that is not going to cut it," Tucker said.
Center School District Superintendent Bob Bartman said the district is striving to better prepare students. This year, all
eighth-graders took algebra rather than waiting until high school.
’We are looking at the K-12 continuum," he said. "If kids are coming into high school, but they cannot deal with the rigor, we
have dropped the ball some place. The idea is to get kids on grade level early in math and reading and keep them there."
The implementation of eighth-grade algebra provides a foundation for the advanced math students can take in high school,
Bartman said.
’We want our students to look at geometry, algebra II, trig and calculus," he said. ’qhe teachers in the middle and high
school are getting together to make sure everything is aligned and they have created an exit test that mirrors expectations for
competency. We are making sure that what we are providing in the eighth grade is not a water-downed version. If they pass and
move forward, they get the credit onalgebra I and we have more kids ready to take geometry."
Tucker said the K-12 pipeline has to be accessible to all, including minorities and low-income students.
’We are holding ourselves to a standard," she said. "With No Child Lett Behind, we want every child at grade level on math
and reading by 2014. We need to find and fill the gaps."
Page 741
Gaps might be filled with more A+ dollars. According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, ’the
primary goal of the A+ Schools Program is to ensure that all students who graduate from Missouri high schools are well prepared
to pursue advanced education and employment."
High school students who participate in the program must perform 50 hours of tutoring, keep at least a 2.5 grade point
average, have 95 percent school attendance and good behavior.
Students who graduate from a designated A+ high school may qualify for a state-paid t~nancial incentive to attend any
public community college or careedtechnical school in Missouri. Center High School is an A+ school.
Bartman said Center High School is adding more advanced placement courses and seeking teachers to "beef up" the
science curriculum.
’We are aiming for those high levels," he said. "It is critically important for us to be able to offer biology, earth sciences,
chemistry and physics with [he best teachers and the strongest level of coursework."
Bartman said several teachers have received training to improve their advanced placement courses.
’The teachers are not only improving their skills in the various classes such as communication arts, English, history and
science, but these teachers are gaining skills that will benefit students in the traditional classroom too," he said. "That is a great
bonus."
Page 742
[Nonresponsi,L__
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 14, 2007 8:48 AM
Dorfman, C~thia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gate, Cassie;
Subject: Tough Standards Reap Gains (NSDY)
Tough Standards Reap Gains (NSDY)

Long_Island Newsdav, June 14, 2007
But they only work when the schools have control on a local level
A quiet revolution of accountability is sweeping public
education. We’re measuring students annually, breaking down scores by student group and insisting that all children be
taught to achieve at their grade level or better.
A new study by the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy, revealing improved student, performance and a narrowing
achievement gap across most of the country, shows that we’re on the right track.
Test scores are up, but has the academic bar been raised? An Education Department report released June 7 found that
state standards for reading and math assessments were generally lower than those of the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP, also known as the Nation’s Report Card). In most cases, the knowledge required to reach the "proficient" level
on state tests was comparable to the "basic" level on NAEP. O~her studies have echoed these findings.
This may fuel a Beltway-based movement for "national standards" and a national test created and mandated by the federal
government. Such a move would be unprecedented and unwise.
National standards are not synonymous with higher standards - in fact, they’d threaten to lower the academic bar. And they
would do little to address the achievement gap.
This approach goes against more than two centuries of American educational tradition. Under the Constitution, states and
localities have the primary leadership role in public education. They design the curriculum and pay 90 percent of the bills.
Neighborhood schools deserve neighborhood leadership, not dictates from bureaucrats thousands of miles away. The proper
role of the Education Department is in helping states, districts and schools collect data to drive good decision-making
Information is our stock in trade. President Teddy Roosevelt understood this when he called on the federal government to
provide "the fi.=llest, most accurate [and] most helpful information" about the "best educational systems." States showing
leadership, such as Arkansas and Massachusetts, can inspire others.
The debate over national standards could become an exercise in lowest-common-denominator politics. We’ve seen it
before, most recently during the 1990s fight over national history standards.
The landmark 1983 report "A Nation at Risk" called for "standardized tests of achievement.., as part of a nationwide (but
not federal) system of state and local standardized tests" to stem the rising tide of mediocrity in our schools. Rather than top-
down mandates, we are encouraging a race to the top.
Five years ago, many states did not regularly measure their students’ performance against the tough NAEP standards.
Today, all 50 do. The president’s plan to reauthorize the No Child Lett Behind Act calls on states to post their scores side-by-side
with the NAEP results. This would drive up the political will to raise standards.
We are already seeing heartening signs of change. States are aligning high school course work with college and employer
expectations. Many have adopted a core curriculum of four years of English and three years each of math and science. All 50
governors have agreed to adopt a common measure of graduation rates to help solve the dropout crisis.
Our approach is working for students. NAEP says more reading progress was made by 9-year-olds from 1999 to 2004 than
in the previous 28 years combined. President George W. Bush wants to build on this progress. His plan would train more
teachers to lead advanced math and science classes.
Page 743
Accountability can light the way forward. But only higher standards oan take us there. Our goal is a public education s,/stem
responsive to the needs of parents and children - not to the whims of Washington.
Page 744
[N,~onresponsi,
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 14, 2007 8:48 AM
Dorfman, C~thia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassio;
Julie; Toom ey, Liam; Tucker, Sara M artinez; William s, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Young, Tracy
Subject: Tighter Gun-Buyer Background Checks Passed By House (BLOOM)
Tighter Gun-Buyer Background Checks Passed By House (BLOOM)

By William Roberts
Bloomberq, June 14, 2007
June 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House of Representatives, prompted by the Virginia Tech shootings, passed legislation to
improve the accuracy of the national database used by gun dealers to check for prospective buyers with criminal backgrounds or
a history of mental illness.
"’It really feels good to finally see some common sense," said Democratic Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York,
the chief sponsor of the measure.
The bill passed the House by voice vote without dissent atter McCarthy reached an agreement with gun-rights backer
Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, and other House leaders. The measure is aimed at prompting states to
forward the names of those who should be disqualitied from buying handguns to a national database kept by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hut Cho, 23, a mentally ill student who killed 32 persons on April 16, was able to buy two
handguns in Virginia. He wasn’t listed in the database although a Virginia magistrate issued a ruling in December 2005 that Cho
posed a danger to himself or others. The college in Blacksburg, Virginia, is formally kno~n as the Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and S~ate University.
Senator Charles Schumer of New York said he was seeking an agreement in the Senate to let McCarthy’s proposal be
approved without amendment. "’The fact that the House bill passed without opposition bodes very well for getting it through the
Senate," he said.
Bush "Closely Following’
President George W. Bush, in a statement, said he is "’closely following" the instant-background check I’egislation and
looks forward to working with Congress on it. He cited the conclusion of a study, delivered today by three Cabinet secretaries,
that states must do a better job of matching gun sales against criminal and mental health records.
The bill is supported by the National Ritie Association and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
"’Gun owners lose nothing in the bill as it’s currently written, and in fact the bill improves the system for those who~’e been
caught in the bureaucratic red tape," NRA President Wayne LaPierre said in a statement on the group’s Web site.
The legislation provides a process to exempt as many as 80,000 veterans who were added to the national list by the
Clinton administration because they were found mentally unfit due to a Veterans Administration disability claim.
They would be removed from the list if they are no longer mentally defective or a doctor certifies they aren’t a danger to
themselves or others.
Financial Incentives
The bill includes financial incentives and penalties to encourage state governments to provide accurate, computerized
records of felony convictions to the federal government.
"’Virginia Tech showed us that we don’t do a good job of reporting these records," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady
Center. This can "’help us get those records more complete."
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine issued an order on May 4 requiring state agencies to give the national database names of
individuals found to be dangerous and ordered to undergo involuntary mental health treatment.
Kaine, in a statement today, applauded the House action and said he was "’surprised to learn that Virginia was one of only
Page 745
22 states reporting any mental health information" to the database.
The Cabinet secretaries’ report, ordered by Bush after the Virginia Tech shootings, also said that schools, police, parents
and healthcare experts often dont share information because of fear they will violate privacy laws.
"’We need to do a much better job educating educators, mental health community and law enforcement that they can, in fact,
share information when a person’s safety or a community’s safety is in fact potentially endangered," said Health and Human
Services Secretary Michael Leavilt, who conducted the study with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings.
Page 746
Nonrespons,
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 14, 2007 8:45 AM
Dodman, C~thia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassie;
Subject: Federal Panel Releases Report On Virginia Tech Shootings (USAT)
Federal Panel Releases Report On Virginia Tech Shootings (USAT)

By Mike Carney, On Deadline
USA Today, June 14, 2007
The cabinet secretaries tasked with reviewing the Virginia Tech shootings presented their report to the president today.
Below are some of its suggestions:
¯ Federal agencies should "clarify" how much psychological information can be shared with police and educators.
¯ The Education Department "should explore research of targeted violence in institutions of higher education."
¯ The Justice Department should "encourage state and federal agencies to provide all appropriate information to the NICS
so thai required background checks are thorough and complete."
¯ The Department of Health and Human Services should spend more time focusing on college students in its mental-health
awareness campaigns and "identify opportunities to expand CDC’s ’Choose Respect’ initiative so that it includes efforts to
develop healthy school climates and prevent violence in schools."
The panel included some suggestions for local and state governments, including the recommendation that offidals
establish emergency-management plans for schools. They urged the schools to practice these plans and to ensure that they
include clear lines of communication that make the best use of new technologies.
’q-his report is not, and should not be, an attempt to answer these fundamental questions once and for all, or to set the
balancing of these critical interests at the national level," the officials write. "Instead, along with identifying how the federal
government can help, it serves to focus the issues that must be part of the ongoing dialogue - in communities, states, and at the
federal level - that will continue to calibrate the balance of these important rights, as we protect our freedoms and provide for our
safety."
The panel included Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Health and Human
Services Secretary Mike Leavit[. The state of Virginia and Virginia Tech are conducting their own parallel reviews of the shooting
spree that left 33 people dead on the rural campus in April.
Page 747
~Nonresponsiv
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 14, 2007 8:45 AM
Dorfman, C:ynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassie;
Subject: Confusion Over Laws Impedes Aid For Mentally III (WP)
Confusion Over Laws Impedes Aid For Mentally III (WP)

By Chris L. Jenkins
The Washinqton Post, June 14, 2007
U.S. Panel Reports on Va. Tech; House Passes Gun-Control Bill
Authorities’ abilities to identify potentially dangerous mentally ill people are crippled across the nation by the same kinds of
conflicts in privacy laws that prevented state officials from being able to intervene before Seung Hut Cho went on his rampage at
Virginia Tech, according to a federal report commissioned atter the Blacksburg shootings that was presented to President Bush
yesterday.
Because school administrators, doctors and police officials rarely share information about students and others who have
mental illnesses, troubled people don’t get the counseling they need, and authorities are often unable to prevent them from
buying handguns, the report says.
The report was released on the day that the House of Representatives passed a bill designed to make it more difficult for
people with mental health problems, such as Cho, to buy firearms.
Lawmakers said the measure, the first major gun-control legislation since 1994, would improve the national gun
background check system by requiring states to report their list of mentally ill people who are prohibited from buying firearms to
the National Instant Cdminal Background Check System.
Cho, who killed 32 students and faculty members April 16 before turning a gun on himself, had been deemed mentally ill
and a danger to himself in December 2005, but that information was not available in the computer systems used by he outlets
that sold him guns.
The Democrat-backed legislation was cratted in coordination with the National Rifle Association, increasing its chances of
becoming law, lawmakers said yesterday.
The federal report released yesterday was commissioned by Bush, who ordered Education Secretary Margaret Spellings,
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to meet with school officials,
mental health experts and local leaders in 12 states to figure out howto better address some of the issues raised by the Virginia
Tech case.
The report found that teachers and school administrators fear they might be breaking the law if they share student
information. In many cases, the report said, officials have more power to share information than they realize.
"One of the most important things we found is that many of the obstacles are perceived," Leavitt said. "People don~t
understand what they can share and what they can’t share and that we need to do a much better job educating educators, the
mental health community and law enforcement that they can, in fact, share information when a person’s safety or a community’s
safety is in fact potentially endangered."
In a statement, Bush said that record-sharing among officials in health care, law enforcement and other areas "must
i m prove."
Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger said that "based on my quick review, the report unearthed the deep complexities
of the issues facing college campuses today. We believe that this will further inform the national and our state discussion on the
nexus between societal safety and personal freedoms."
One of the nation’s leading advocacy groups for the mentally ill said that the report doesn’t reveal anything that wasn’t
already known and that it ignores the need for more fi.=nding for people with mental health problems.
Page 748
"We don’t need any more commissions or task forces. We know what to do," said ~chael J. Fitzpatrick, executive director
of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, based in Arlington. "The president’s task force report is a disappointment. It repeats
much of what we have known for years. It talks about encouraging people to get help when they need it -- when the real problem
is that help o~en is not available."
O~hers said that the report heightens concerns about how to protect the privacy rights of those who are deemed mentally ill
while giving family members access to pertinent information.
"it’s becoming a bigger and bigger issue," said Mary Zdanowicz, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center in
Arlington. "There are a lot of families getting frustrated."
In addition to making suggestions on mental health issues, the report also recommends that schools develop procedures
for quickly notifying students when emergencies occur.
Virginia Tech officials waited more than two hours to alert the more than 25,000 students that two students had been fatally
shot that morning. By then, Cho was in another campus building, where he killed 30 more people.
The report and gun-control legislation come as Virginia conducts its own investigation into the shooting. Relatives of
shooting victims have raised concerns about that investigation, saying that they should be represented on a state panel.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) said yesterday that he had been in regular contact with many family members since early May
and had offered to put them in touch with the panel.
"1 really felt that in my dialogue with family members, I had connected everybody who wanted to be connected with the
panel," Kaine said.
Kaine said he didn’t think it would be appropriate to name a relative to the panel. "1 kind of view the panel in a way kind of
almost like a jury. They are sitting in judgment, and it is a tradition in juries -- folks with a direct connection to the event are not on
the jury," said Kaine, noting that there is no Virginia Tech representative on the panel.
Staff writers Tim Craig and IVichael Abramowitz contributed to this report.
Page 749
Nonres onsive
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 13, 2007 8:51 AM
Julie; Toomey, Liam; Tucker, Sara Martinez.; Williams, Cynthia; Young, Tracy; Young, Tracy
Subject: Can NCLB Survive The Competitiveness Competition? (AEI)
"In light of the challenges, it is surprising how effectively the redistributive focus of NCLB has dominated the agenda in the
past five years. This dominance is a testament to the Bush administration’s efforts, the moral power of the declaration to educate
the children "left behind," the odd coalition both of the left and right that has resolutely supported the law, and the frustration of
the public and policymakers with the seemingly intractable troubles of low-performing schools and districts.
"As President Bush recedes from the national political scene, three factions are likely to emerge within the Republican Party
with regard to education policy. Business-oriented Republicans who have championed the president’s education policies since he
was a governor are likely to be squeezed by the tension between the competing agendas. While they have strongly backed
NCLB, this community may benefit more--at least in the short term--from ACI. Then there are the more traditionally conservative
Republicans. In the wake of the rough 2006 midterm election, which many on the right have interpreted as the comeuppance for
undisciplined spending and big-government Republicanism, these small-government conservatives are reemerging as a force
demanding a reduction--rather than an expansion--of the federal role in education. Finally, religious Republicans, particularly the
evangelical right, may see an opportunity to draw attention to such issues as prayer in school and school vouchers, which have
been largely sidelined by the gap-closing and competitiveness agendas.
Can NCLB Survive The Competitiveness Competition? (AEI)

By Frederick M. Hess, Andrew J. Rotherham
American Enterprise Institute, June 13, 2007
Some see the George W. Bush administration’s American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) as the perfect complement to
the No Child Lett Behind Act’s (NCLB) equity focus. The prospects for synergy of these two agendas, however, are not bright.
American schools have spent the last five years tinder the spotlight of NCLB. The siatute’s relentless push to close the
racial achievement gap and to pursue universal proficiency in reading and math has focused unprecedented attention on basic
instruction.
This push, however, has also raised concerns about a slighting of high-achieving students and the advanced instruction
they need for national competitiveness. The problem has taken on more urgency as study after study shows an America
unprepared to compete in an increasingly global marketplace. Pulitzer Prize-winning NewYork Times journalist Thomas
Friedman gave this worrisome trend a name when he titled his 2005 bestseller The World Is Flat. Friedman described a
continent-connecting communications, transportation, and financial marketplace in which high-level science, math, and language
skills would be more crucial to American well-being than ever. That same year, the National Academy of Sciences reviewed the
trends and concluded rather ominously that the "scientific and technical building blocks of our economic leadership are eroding at
a time when many other nations are gathering strength."[1]
Last year, just ahead of an Educational Testing Service report that 61 percent of opinion leaders identified better math,
science, and technology skills as essential to a healthy American economy, t2] the Bush administration launched ACI. In order to
"ensure America succeeds in the world," a White House press release said, President Bush proposed training 70,000 new high
school teachers for Advanced Placement (AP) courses in math and science and bringing 30,000 new math and science
professionals to teach in classrooms.t3]
What does this new emphasis on competitiveness mean for schooling? Is it consistent with the NCLB requirements that
Page 750
have so thoroughly dominated education policy for the past five years? Are the two agendas on a collision course? And what are
the implications for the future of federal education policy?
A Bit of History
For all the popular attention Thomas Friedman has garnered, his central insight is hardly new. Robert Reich, secretary of
labor under President Bill Clinton, made many of the same arguments in his influential 1992 book The Work of Nations. And
fears about China and India today are more than a little reminiscent of--and tinged with the same hysteria as--discussions of
"Japan, Inc." in the 198% or the Sputnik crisis of the late 1950s.
Historically, there always has been an unavoidable tension between efforts to bolster American "competitiveness" (read as
efforts to boost the performance of elite students, especially in science, math, and engineering) and those to promote
educational equity. Champions of particular federal initiatives tend to argue that the two notions are complementary, but trends of
the last fitty years show that the ascendance of one tends to take attention from the other.
The great investment of energy in high achievers in math, science, and language by the National Defense Education Act of
1958, for instance, largely dissipated when the Johnson administration and the Washington education community turned their
gazes to the equity issues of the Great Society. Those concerns gave us Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA) of 1965, which focused on educationally disadvantaged children. The ESEA ethos was, in turn, supplanted by the
dictates of A Nation at Risk in 1983, a report from the blue-ribbon presidential panel that warned that the United States had
engaged in "unilateral educational disarmament." But while Ronald Reagan the next year called for "tougher standards, more
homework, merit pay for teachers, discipline, and [putting] parents back in charge"[4] as a means of re-arming American school
systems, the standards movement born in response to his challenge was soon overshadowed by the desperate condition of
urban schooling.
The "rigor-centric" reforms of the t980s were then dropped or defanged in all but four or five states, while "adequacy"
lawsuits and growing attention to achievement gaps re-elevated the equity agenda. This time the push for equity culminated in
NCLB (the reauthorization of the canonical federal education text, ESEA), the 2002 law marked not only by a relentless attention
to elementary and middle school math and reading achievement, race- and income-based achievement gaps, and "universal
proficiency," but also by its bipartisan support: NCLB passed in the U.S. House on a 381 to 41 vote and in the U.S. Senate by 87
to 10.[5]
NCLB and ACl
In some form or other, NCLB was as necessary as it was inevitable. For too long, inadequate instruction in essential skills
and abysmal performance by poor, black, and Latino children had been tacitly accepted as the status quo. But aside from the
inclusion of science on NCLB’s proficiency radar, this mighty federal attempt at ratcheting up standards for the underserved has
swamped sensible concerns about advanced instruction.
The result? Today, 71 percent of adults think U.S. high.schools are falling behind When it comes to helping students
compete for scientific and engineering jobs against students from other countries, and 64 percent reportedly think education
reform is necessary if America is to remain globally competitive in the next decade.t6] The results of international assessments,
like the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, lend credence to the public’s concerns. Just last year Senator Ted
Kennedy (D-Mass.) declared, "Perhaps nowhere is it more obvious that we are falling behind than in math and science. For a
nation that prides itself on innovation and discovery, the downward slide is shocking."[7]
Amid this atmosphere of urgency, President Bush unveiled ACI. The plan called for $5.9 billion in new spending in fiscal
year 2007 and more than $136 billion in spending over the course of the next decade. The vast majority of the latter sum would
fund research agencies and research and development: $50 billion for the National Science Foundation, the Department of
Energy’s Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and $86 billion to fund the research and
development tax credit. Despite the rhetorical centrality of education in the policy debate on competitiveness, only $380 million--
just one-fifth of 1 percent of the total--was earmarked to support math, science, and technological education in K-12 schooling,
and even that amount has fallen prey to political infighting among various members of Congress.
Different Diagnoses
Is meeting the global competitiveness challenge to train elite scientists and engineers compatible with NCLB? The
preferred line for most federal school reformers--both right and left--is to deny any real conflict between the two. And major
national voices, from the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights to the Education Trust to the Business Roundtable and the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in reassuring policymakers and voters that NCLB and ACl fit hand in
glove.
"We can no longer afford the inequities that have long characterized our system of education," says Charles E. M. Kolb,
president of the Committee for Economic Development. "As our need for educated workers grows, the American workforce is
going to come increasingly from the ethnic groups that have been least well served at all levels of American education. By 2020,
Page 751
some 30 percent of our working-age population will be African-American or Hispanic, nearly double the percentage in 1980."[8]
But there are still tensions. The equity-leaning camp postulates that by providing the poor--and generally minority--students
who fall out of the education pipeline a solid education and access to college, the nation will dramatically broaden the extent of its
development of human capital. While such an approach obviously can benefit from the larger pool of students that a successful
equity approach would provide, the emphasis here is on improving the quality--not the quantity--of potentially high-achieving
math and science students.
These tensions are made more poignant as influential state-level actors--including key governors, powerful philanthropies
such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and business-oriented groups like Achieve, Inc.--push high school standards and
math and science education, while federal pressure is focused on bringing up the bottom in K-8 reading and math. But from any
short- or medium-term perspective, K-12 schooling seems a flimsy tool for addressing competitiveness in science and
engineering. This is akin to signing preschoolers to a baseball team’s farm system rather than bringing in top-tier free agents.
The reality is that today’s third-graders will not receive their PhDs in engineering until about 2025. [9] Consequently, the ability of
NCLB to enlarge the pipeline gradually is more relevant to our competitiveness in 2030 than to our standing in the next decade
or two. This helps explain why even those most ardently focused on America’s economic well-being sometimes see the K-12
debate as less than urgent.
Nonetheless, whatever the substantive merits of the strategy to pursue competitiveness through the schools, it has
immense political appeal. Investing in high-achieving students, advanced math and science courses, foreign languages, and AP
programs clearly pleases educated, high-income, suburban families--in other words, those most likely to show up at the polls.
It is also less contentious proposing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)improvements than
enforcing NCLB-style accountability mandates. A competitiveness strategy focuses on augmenting the status quo rather than
remaking it, and this is an easiertask, both substantively and politically, for legislators, governors, superintendents, and school
boards.
Finally, while raising the performance floor can be a begrudging and thankless task, addressing STEM topics may produce
more tangible and visible rewards. A handful of successful classes, programs, or curricula can yield contest winners, Ivy League
admissions, prestigious scholarships, or a bump in AP results--in short, a public relations bonanza.
In light of the challenges, it is surprising how effectively the redistributive focus of NCLB has dominated the agenda in the
past five years. This dominance is a testament to the Bush administration’s efforts, the moral power of the declaration to educate
the children "left behind," the odd coalition both of the left and right that has resolutely supported the law, and the frustration of
the public and policymakers with the seemingly intractable troubles of low-performing schools and districts.
But times have changed. The NCLB agenda has so far played out in an environment in which federal spending on K-12
education has risen sharply, increasing from $27 billion in 2001 to $38 billion in 2006. Current massive federal budget deficits, a
bipartisan refusal to rein in entitlement programs, and public resistance to tax increases mean that significant new federal
spending on education is unlikely. (Spending under NCLB has increased nearly 40 percent.) Meanwhile, at the state level,
continued growth in Medicaid spending is squeezing state budgets, an aging population is looming, and concerns about college
affordability are competing with K-12 spending. Consequently, school spending in the coming decade is unlikely to keep pace
with recent growth.
Where the Public Stands
Compounding the challenge posed by limited funds is the fact that NCLB’s public appeal is mixed, at best. The law has
been a source of much unrest among teachers and principals, and nine states have engaged in some form of statutory
resistance (though none has actually refused to accept federal education dollars and the accompanying conditions).
The 2006 Phi Delta KappatGallup poll on attitudes toward education reported that 88 percent of the public believes it is
very or somewhat important to close the achievement gap between white students and black and Latino students,[10] and 81
percent believe the gap can be "narrowed substantially" while maintaining high standards for all children.[11] Just 19 percent of
respondents think the racial achievement gap is "mostly related to quality of schooling," while fully 77 percent believe it is
primarily due to "other factors."[12]
Such responses constitute broad but shallow support for NCLB and massive support for a "no tough choices" strategy on
the part of elected officials. It surely suggests a public open to arguments that schools cannot and should not focus solely on
achievement gaps, but that same public may not tolerate painful reforms intended to address those gaps.
Moreover, Americans remain surprisingly skeptical about the importance of academic excellence itself. For instance, when
asked whether they would prefer that their oldest child get "A grades" or make "average grades and be active in extracurricular
activities," just 29 percent of Americans opted for "A" grades.[13] That figure has been stable over the past decade.
And consider that 26 percent of adults oppose requiring students in their local public high schools to take four years of
math, 30 percent think elementary students are required to work too hard today, 49 percent reject proposals to extend the school
Page 752
year or school day in their community, 39 percent think there is currently too much testing in their community’s schools, and 67
percent think more testing will lead teachers to teach more to the test than to the acquisition of broad academic skills (which
three out of four respondents think is a bad thing). These figures suggest that a quarter or more of voters may resist calls for
more intensive schooling, longer school days, extended school years, more homework, or beefed-up accountability--whether for
closing the achievement gap or for competitiveness.[14]
Politics and Policy: 2008 and Beyond
V~hat does all of this mean for the future of federal policy and its effect on America’s students, teachers, and schools?
In theory, NCLB is scheduled for reauthorization this year. Practically speaking, it is an open question whether the
administration and Congressional leaders will ram it through as an exhibit of bipartisan comity or whether it will ultimately stall
and await the administration that takes office in 2009. In the interim, the Bush administration is gearing up to hold its ground on
the law, with the president asserting that reauthorization is a priority, and secretary of the Department of Education Margaret
Spellings insisting, "1 like to talk about No Child Left Behind like Ivory soap. It’s 99.9 percent pure. There’s not much needed in
the way of change."[15]
Among Democrats, one generally pro-NCLB coalition made tip of centrist reformers or "New Democrats" like Rep. George
Miller (D-Calif.) of the House Committee on Education and Labor, believes that accountability is the most effective equity strategy
the federal government can pursue. These Democrats are more fragmented on the competitiveness agenda, though both the
moderates among them and most Democratic governors, who generally have closer ties to business groups, are more likely to
regard it as a priority.
There also exists a liberal anti-NCLB coalition united by the belief that NCLB-like policies are damaging teachers, schools,
and students. Some from this coalition are following the lead of the National Education Association, parroting the union’s
resistance to testing, accountability, and disruption. Others believe it is folly to hold schools accountable for erasing the academic
achievement gap absent broad changes in social policy--an argument advanced, most notably, by Richard Rothstein. Inattention
to such issues as health care, they say, invalidates the assumptions underlying NCLB, whatever the laws other merits might be.
Some in this camp, buoyed by critics such as popular education author Nile Kohn and former National Academy of Education
president Nel Noddings, have an aversion to testing and accountability, more generally. Though often more antagonistic toward
business interests, this coalition reads Thomas Friedman, too, and its members are not uniformly hostile to the competitiveness
agenda--especially if supporting it means dropping the current emphasis on universal testing and coercive accountability.
Republicans are split as well. While the GOP let President Bush plant the party’s flag on closing the achievement gap
through NCLB, many Republicans only grudgingly supported the president’s strategy of expanding the federal role in education.
Former majority leader Tom DeLay, a Republican from Texas, confessed to Rush Limbaugh that he "voted for that awful
education bill"[16] only to support President Bush. He explained to Limbaugh, "1 came here to eliminate the Department of
Education, so it was very hard for me to vote for something that expands [it]." On Capitol Hill, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and
Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), with the ardent backing of the Heritage Foundation, have enjoyed substantial success this year
leading a resurgence of conservatives who are wary of federal involvement in schooling.
As President Bush recedes from the national political scene, three factions are likely to emerge within the Republican Party
with regard to education policy. Business-oriented Republicans who have championed the president’s education policies since he
was a governor are likely to be squeezed by the tension between the competing agendas. While they have strongly backed
NCLB, this community may benefit more--at least in the short term--from ACI. Then there are the more traditionally conservative
Republicans. In the wake of the rough 2006 midterm election, which many on the right have interpreted as the comeuppance for
undisciplined spending and big-government Republicanism, these small-government conservatives are reemerging as a force
demanding a reduction--rather than an expansion--of the federal role in education. Finally, religious Republicans, particularly the
evangelical right, may see an opportunity to draw attention to such issues as prayer in school and school vouchers, which have
been largely sidelined by the gap-closing and competitiveness agendas.
The politics at work resemble the politics of the late 1990s more than those of the first few years of the Bush presidency.
Consequently, moderates in both parties--and perhaps espedally the New Democrats--may again emerge as a fulcrum of
education policymaking.
In the foreseeable future, elected officials will continue to be cross-pressured by the two agendas. Business interests--
notably the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Round, able, and such coalitions as Achieve, Inc., and TechNet--will
continue to work to keep competitiveness on the policymaking agenda. Meanwhile, the equity coalition is unlikely to give an inch
of ground in its efforts to keep the focus of public policy on gap-closing.
NCLB, however, is highly vulnerable. At its core, it is an attempt to transform the provision of schooling for low-performing
students, which means that its benefits are diffuse and targeted to a disorganized and frequently voiceless population. It seeks to
do this through measures that impose costs on potent constituencies, particularly teachers, school administrators, and high-
Page 753
achieving communities.[17] The result means that it is a good bet that several of NCLB’s sharper edges will be dulled over time.
Considering the growing appeal of the competitiveness agenda, the gloomy fiscal picture, and the inability of policymakers to
stay focused for long, proponents of the equity agenda ought not take recent gains for granted.
Setting a Smarter Course
Ultimately, the seeming inability to settle on a coherent agenda is due to a simple t[uth: schools exist to serve both the
equity and the competitiveness agendas--and many other agendas as well. Our desire to ignore this banal reality, to "fix" the
equity problem, and then to "solve" the competitiveness problem fosters grandiose ambitions and hyperbolic claims that will
inevitably come up short. Schools are meant to serve a staggeringly diverse population of students and a ratt of competing
needs. Buckling down somewhere will almost inevitably mean easing up elsewhere. The best we can hope for is an incremental,
awkward stagger toward meeting a stew of public and private objectives.
The truth is that we cannot do everything. This means accepting disagreement and abandoning the tempting dream that
we might reach consensus on what needs to be done if only good-hearted souls would examine the right data. It also means
acknowledging that every policy decision will yield both winners and losers. What we need in 2007, 2008, and beyond is not
bland reassurance or misguided efforts to paper over real divides, but honest and informed debate about whose needs take
precedence at a given moment, ~hat to do about it today, and what to leave for tomorrow.
Frederick M. Hess (rhess@aei.org) is director of education policy studies at AEI. Andrew J. Rotherham
(arotherham@educationsector.org) is cofounder and codirector of Education Sector. A version of this article appeared in the
January 2007 issue of Phi Delta Kappan.
AEI editorial associate Nicole Passan worked with Messrs. Hess and Rotherham to edit and produce this Education
Outlook.
Page 754
INonresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 12, 2007 9:07 AM
Doffman, Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gate, Cassie;
Subject: No Child Left Behind Lowers The Bar On School Reform (SFC)
No Child Left Behind Lowers The Bar On School Reform (SFC)

By Bruce Fuller
San Francisco Chronicle, June 11, 2007
President Bush seems a bit frantic as he campaigns for swift renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act, eager to salvage
a late-inning win on the domestic policy front. He recently dropped into a Hadem charter school by helicopter, urging the
Congress to pass No Child 2.0, no questions asked. Bush’s education secretary, Margaret Spellings, pitched pithy remedies
on a satirical news show. Washington simply needs "to expect more of our kids," Spellings said to the incredulous host, Jon
Stewaff.
But despite the Bush administration’s orchestrated theatrics, the bipartisan coalition that crafted the original No Child
law in 2001 is splintering badly, an unsettling development for those who count on Washington to help equalize educational
opportunity in America. The first real test comes this month when Sen. Edward Kennedy -- Bush’s odd bedfellow on both
education and immigration reform -- intends to rally his congressional committee to move forward No Child’s 1,100-page
bundle of centralized school reforms. But sharp criticism is growing louder and from unexpected corners.
Speaking before thousands of cheering teachers in Washington last month, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., agreed that
federal activism is required to boost the schools, "but not the kind of accountability that the NCLB law has imposed. The
tests have become the curriculum instead of the other way around."
Former President Bill Clinton then sharpened the attack on No Child’s holy grail -- standardized testing -- speaking to
the nation’s local school boards in San Francisco. "You don’t need to test every child, every year," he said. A nationwide poll
out late last month revealed that just more than two-thirds of all parents with school-age children believe that No Child should
be rewritten or simply killed by the Congress.
Still, Bush insists that "the No Child Left Behind Act is working," as he proclaimed dudng his NewYork visit, running
counter to the evidence.
Federal officials track children’s learning curves in reading and math in each of three grade levels. Since No Child was
approved, just one of these six trend lines has inched upward: fourth-grade math. The other five plots have gone flat or
simply fallen. Progress in narrowing achievement gaps also has stalled, after closing markedly in the 1990s.
California students continue to inch upward within elementary schools. But Sacramento officials -- feeling enormous
and unrealistic pressure to move all pupils toward proficiency under No Child -- tinker with state tests. After the state’s third-
grade scores failed to dse, test designers were nudged to make the questions a bit easier.
The aging Democratic bulls, including Kennedy and House Education Committee chair, U.S. Rep. George Miller of
Martinez, risk perpetuating a costly and disappointing schools policy if they jump at the chance to cut a deal with Bush while
failing to confront No Child’s deep flaws.
Some testing experts, for instance, support Mr. Clinton’s alternative.
Yearly exams given to every student are not essential in gauging how schools or student subgroups are performing
over time. Federal monitoring of achievement gaps should continue, but it doesnt necessitate the huge chunks of time spent
on test preparation that No Child now requires. Most surreal, No Child has pushed many states to lower, not raise, the bar
that defines whether students test at "proficient" levels, given Washington’s wishful mandate for universal proficiency.
Many states in response have simply lowered the hurdle that defines proficient student achievement. Texas claims that
79 percent of its fourth-graders are proficient readers; in California, where the bar is set higher, just 46 percent of all students
Page 755
are deemed proficient. In turn, Washington declares more schools as failing, because smaller shares of pupils clear the bar
in states like California that set high standards.
States are adapting to Byzantine mandates from Washington. But governors and state school officials also game the
system to create the illusion of rising achievement. So, its important to fix No Child in ways that retain a forceful yet surgical
federal role. We certainly need a single benchmark for tracking student achievement over time.
Another monumental challenge facing the Congress is howto help states attract able and motivating teachers to work
in flagging schools. But irrationality prevails again in No Child. Washington only credits schools for litting students over the
proficiency bar. This penalizes poor children -- and those who teach them -- who have much farther to climb to clear the
hurdle than kids in better-off communities. Inner-city teachers quickly see their schools being slammed for being guilty on
one count: trying to se[ve poor children.
Congressional Democrats may opt this summer for a middle ground, legislating a new effort to recruit and reward high-
quality teachers while slowing down to judiciously work through the weaknesses of the larger No Child law. Such teacher
legislation could finance crisp incentives to attract and retain the best teachers in urban schools. What’s key for
congressional Democrats is to avoid cutting an expedient deal with Bush. Instead, the Congress might first pass bipartisan
legislation to enrich the teacher workforce, then move carefully to shape a federal role that truly litts the schools.
Bruce Fuller, a sociologist at UC Berkeley, recently published "Standardized Childhood," (Stanford University Press,
February 2007).
Page 756
L
N,~onrespons
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 12, 2007 8:44 AM
Subject: College accreditation stories (2)
Colleges May Face Tougher Review (NashTel NH)

By Michael Bdndley
Nashua Tele_L~g..~h, June 12, 2007
NASHUA - The state’s higher education council is opposing a Change to the college accreditation process being proposed
by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
The change would replace the current peer-review system with a federalized process based on standardized
measurements of effectiveness, placing more emphasis on results.
The modification to the Higher Education Act is one of several being proposed by Spellings, who will be in the Boston area
this week for a regional summit on higher education, one drive being held across the country.
In addition to the Boston summit, there will be a town hall-style meeting in Nashua on Wednesday night at the New
Hampshire Technical College campus.
Jane O’Heam, a former Republican state senator from Nashua who now works for the federal education department, said
Wednesday night’s discussion would focus on issues relating to access to higher education, specifically affordability and
accountability.
O’Heam said Undersecretary of Education Sara Martinez Tucker, the department’s head of higher education, would be in
attendance at the Nashua meeting, which starts at 7 p.m.The proposed reforms to higher education are based on a report issued
in September by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education. They include aligning high school standards with college
expectations, making college more affordable, and to simplify the process for applying for federal student aid.
Spellings has said the changes would make college more accessible, but Thomas Horgan, president and chief executive
officer of the New Hampshire College & University Council, said federalizing the college accreditation process would have the
reverse effect.
’The higher education community is very upset with Secretary Spellings’ proposal," he said. "We think it would actually
threaten access."
Seventeen New Hampshire colleges are affiliated with the NHCUC, and Horgan said that this week they would be sending
a statement expressing their opposition in writing to the federal education department.
Horgan said colleges in the United States are ’the gold standard of the wodd still held up as the model other nations are
trying to replicate." Students from across the world travel here to go to college, he said.
’To argue that a system that is basically working and working well should have a controversial makeover doesn’t make
sense to us," he said.
In her speech last week at the first regional summit in Kansas City, Mo., Spellings described the current accreditation
system as an "impediment to innovation and competition."
’We’d like to see a system that promotes transparency and accountability to the institutions and public it serves," she said
in her speech, available on the Department of Education Web site.
Calls to the department’s headquarters in Washington and regional office in Boston last week were not returned.
O’Hearn said last week there needs to be more accountability in higher education, providing parents and students with data
on graduation rates, employability, and what kind of services colleges provide.
Horgan said while he agreed colleges in New Hampshire and across the country need to be more transparent about their
spending, he doesn’t think changing the accreditation process is the answer.
Page 757
That’s not to say things are perfect with the state of higher education in the Granite State, he said. Only half of the state’s
high school seniors who go on to college choose go to school in New Hampshire, he said.
’We think a lot of that goes back to dollars," he said. "We have a very low investment in higher education in New
Hampshire."
The average student debt for New Hampshire college graduates is $22,793, well above the national average of$11,709,
he said.
Tara Payne, vice president of communications for the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation, said
something has to be done to improve financial aid for students in the state.
’We should be doing far more to help students in New Hampshire," she said.
Part of the event in Nashua will be a roundtable discussion speaking with college-bound students from local high schools
and students at from the technical college about their concerns, said O’Heam.
Maureen O’Dea, a guidance counselor at Nashua High School South, said one of the biggest challenges facing students
wanting to pursue college remains the high cost.
O’Dea said that more students are looking at college as an option, but the pool of financial aid available to them is getting
smaller.
’The availability of funds isn’t always there for their top-choice schools," she said.
Karen Chininis, a guidance counselor at North, said simplifying the financial aid process would help students.
"You take one look at the FAFSA form, and it’s pretty scary looking," she said.
O’Dea and Chininis said the high schools try to work with students early on to help them prepare for not only the financial
aspects of college but also for the change in environment.
"For 12 years, they’ve had the same routine," said O’Dea. "College is very different. You don’t necessarily have class every
day."
Chininis said a majority of the students who go to college come from homes where their parents went to college. Part of her
job is trying inform students who may not have the best opportunities of their options, whether it’s a two-year or four-year
program, she said.
"Slowly but surely, we’re making progress," she said. "Kids are getting the message there are options out there for them."
~chael Brindley can be reached at 594-6426 or mbrindley@nashuatelegraph.com.
N.H. Colleges Reject Changes Called For By Spellings (AP)

AP, June 12, 2007
Changes Similar To No Child Left Behind Standards
NASHUA, N.H. -- A coalition of public and private colleges in New Hampshire said it opposes new national accreditation
standards being promoted by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in a series of regional meetings.
Spellings wants to modify the Higher Education Act to require colleges to meet national standards based on student
outcomes instead of going through peer review.
The changes would impose federal accountability standards reminiscent of those required of public schools under the No
Child Left Behind Act.
But instead of standardized testing, colleges would be required to report their graduation rates, the jobs graduates get and
their incomes, along with other data about the services the schools provide.
Spellings said she wants to make it easier for students and their families to compare colleges. She said she also wants to
consolidate federal financial aid programs and increase the size of Pell grants, improving access to college for low-income
students.
The proposed changes are based on a report by a commission Spellings appointed to study the issue.
The education secretary, in he first of five regional meetings held in Kansas City, Mo., last week, called the current
accreditation process an "impediment to innovation and competition."
"We’d like to see a system that promotes transparency and accountability to the institutions and public it serves," she said,
according to a copy of her remarks posted on the department’s Web site.
Thomas Horgan, president and chief executive officer of the New Hampshire College and University Council, said he
agrees colleges need to be more transparent about their spending.
He said students also need much more financial aid, especially in New Hampshire, where the average student debt for
graduates is $22,793, nearly twice the national average.
But Horgan said the current accreditation process has led to a system that is "the gold standard of the world."
’qo argue that a system that is basically working and working well should have a controversial makeover doesn’t make
Page 758
sense to us," he said.
Horgan, whose group represents 16 colleges in the state from Dartmouth to the state’s community technical colleges, said
it would send a formal, written protest to the Department of Education this week.
’qhe higher education community is very upset with Secretary Spellings’ proposal," he said. "We think it would actually
threaten access."
Undersecretary of Education Sara Mar~inez Tucker will discuss the proposed changes at a community meeting at the New
Hampshire Community Technical College in Nashua on Wednesday night. The meeting will include a discussion by high school
and community college students.
Page 759
INonresponsi
From: Reich, Heidi
Sent: June 11,2007 8:42 AM
Dorfman, Cynthia; Dunckel, Denise; Dunn, David; Evers, Bill; Flowers, Sarah; Gare, Cassio;
Neale, Rebecca; O’Daniel, Meagan; Pitts, Elizabeth; Private - Spellings, Margaret; Reich,
Heidi; Rosenfelt, Phil; Ruberg, Casey; Scheessele, Marc; Tada, Wendy; Talbert, Kent; Terrell,
Subject: A National Test We Don’t Need (WP)
A National Test We Don’t Need (WP)

The Washin.qton P__E_0_#~ost June 9, 2007
A quiet revolution of accountability is sweeping public education. We’re measuring students annually, breaking down scores
by student group, and insisting that all children be taught to achieve at grade level or better.
A new study by the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy, revealing improved student performance and a narrowing
achievement gap across most of the country, shows that we’re on the right track.
But while test scores are up~ has the academic bar been raised? An Education Department report released this week found
that state standards for reading and math assessments were generally lower than those of the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP, also known as the Nation’s Report Card). In most cases, the knowledge required to reach the
"proficient" level on state tests was comparable to the "basic" level on NAEP. Other studies have echoed these findings.
This may fuel a Beltway-based movement for "national standards" and a national test created and mandated by the federal
government. Such a move would be unprecedented and unwise.
National standards are not synonymous with higher standards -- in fact, they’d threaten to lower the academic bar. And
they would do little to address the persistent achievement gap.
Why do I believe this approach is wrong?
First, it goes against more than two centuries of American educational tradition. Under the Constitution, states and localities
have the primary leadership role in public education. They design the curriculum and pay 90 percent of the bills. Neighborhood
schools deserve neighborhood leadership, not dictates from bureaucrats thousands of miles away.
The proper role of the Education Department is in helping states, districts and schools collect data to drive good decision
making. Information is our stock in trade. President Teddy Roosevelt understood this when he called on the federal government
to provide "the fullest, most accurate [and] most helpful information" about the "best educational systems."
States that have shown true leadership, such as Arkansas and Massachusetts, can inspire others to act.
Second, the debate over national standards would become an exercise in lowest-common-denominator politic& We’ve
seen it before, most recently during the divisive fight over national history standards in the 1990s.
The landmark 1983 report "A Nation at Risk" called for"standardized tests of achievement.., as part of a nationwide (but
not federal) system of state and local standardized tests" to stem the rising tide of mediocrity in our schools.
Rather than top-down mandates, we are encouraging a race to the top.
Five years ago, many states did not regularly measure their students’ performance against the tough NAEP standards.
Today, all 50 do. The president’s plan to reauthorize the No Child Lett Behind Act calls on states to post their scores side-by-side
with the NAEP results. This would increase transparency and drive up the political will to raise state standards.
We are already seeing heartening signs of change. States are aligning high school coursework with college and employer
expectations. Many have adopted a core curriculum of four years of English and three years each of math and science. Recently,
nine states announced a common Algebra II assessment, the largest such effort ever undertaken.
In addition, all 50 governors have agreed to adopt a common measure of graduation rates to help solve the dropout crisis.
"There is more momentum in the states now than at any time since.., the release of ’A Nation at Risk,’" reports Achieve Inc.,
an alliance of governors and business leaders dedicated to high standards.
Our approach is working for students. According to NAEP, more reading progress was made by 9-year-olds from 1999 to
Page 760
2004 than in the previous 28 years combined. Math scores have reached record highs across the board. History scores improved
in all three grade levels tested -- four~h, eighth and 12th. And the number of students taking an Advanced Placement exam in
high school has risen 39 percent since 2000.
President Bush wants to build on this progress. His plan would train more teachers to lead advanced math and science
classes. It would offer incentives for the best teachers to work in the most challenging environments. It would also provide more
choices and options, such as intensive tutoring and scholarships, to help children in underperforming schools -- measures
opposed by the big teachers unions.
Accountability can light the way forward. But only higher standards can take us there. We’ve knocked down the blackboard
wall that once stood between schools and parents. Now we must work with Congress and the states to share and replicate best
practices, not scrap them for an untested system.
Our goal is a public education system that is transparent and responsive to the needs of parents and children -- not to the
whims of Washington.
The writer is the secretary of education.
Page 761
The Washington Post: Can D.C. Schools Be Fixed? (Dan I(eafing and V. Dion
Haynes)
The Washington Post: His Body Imprisoned, His Mind Set Free (Marc Fisher)
The Washington Post: Schools Chief Infusing Some Of His Own Pep Into SI= Mary’s
(Megan Greenwell)
The Assodated Press: Clinton: No Child Left Behind Threatens U.S. Creative Edge
(Henry Jackson)
The New York Times: Private Loans Deepen a Crisis in Student Debt (Diana
Schemo)
The New York Times:: Iraq Is Backdrop for Many Graduation Speakers (Alan
Finder)
The New York Times: Larry Summers’s Evolution (David Leonhardt)

The Louisville Courier-Journal: The r~al world; Does high school prepare students
for life after graduation? (Raven Railey)
The Yorktova~ Patriot: Why are college students going into debt?
The Arab American News: Scl~ool Grants to Promote Learning Arabic (Mohamed
Kadry)
Page 762
The Washington Post
Can D.C. Schools Be Fixed?

After decades of reforms, three out of fotu" students fall below math standards. More
money is spent running the schools than on teaching. And urgent repair jobs take more
than a year...
By Dan Keating and V. Dion Haynes

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 10, 2007; A01
ht_~p://www.washin ton ost.conff -

d~gn/c ont ent/article/2007/06/09/AR 200 7060901415.html
Kelly Miller Middle School openedits doors in a struggling Norateast Washington

neighborhood in 2004, a $35 inillion showcase for the District’s public schools, eve15~
classroom equipped with awhiteboard and computers. A pmticular source of pride was a
media production room, where students could broadcast announceinents and l~oduce
programs to be viewed on TVs wired in each classroom.
Thi’ee years later, there have been no broadcasts. The :room still needs a last, critical piece
of equipment, which fell into a bttreaucr~c chasm. Until a few days ago, the principal
had never b e en t old what the part was or when it was coming. For now, the $15 0, 000
production room is a storage closet for unused boolcs and furniture.
As Mayor Adriun M. Fenty (D) l~’epares this week to become the filSt Washington mayor
with direct control of the schools, his temnpromises a clean slate and a rapid tm-naround.
Yet a detailed assessment of the state of the school system, based on extensive pnblic
records, snggests that the challenge is enc~nous: The system is among the highest-
spending and worst-peffoiming in the nation. Kelly Miller is one small example of a
breakdown in most of the basic functions that are ineant to support classroom lea~fing.
¯ Tests show that in reading and math, the District’s public school stt~lents score at the
botto~n among 11 maj or city school systems, even when poor children m’e compared only
with other poor children. ThiI1y-three percent of poor fourth-gxadms across the nation
lacked basic skills in math, but in the District, the figme was 62 percent. It was 74
percent for D.C. eighth-grade~s, compared with 49 percent nationally.
¯ The District spends $12,979 per pupil each yew’, mnldng it third-ttighest among the 100
largest districts in the nation. But most of flat ~noney does not get to the classroom. D.C.
schools rank fi~st in the share of the budget spent on a.dminist~ion, last in spending on
teachers and insv-uction.
¯ Principals repca-dng dangerous conditions or la’gently needed repairs in their buildings

wait, on average, 379 days -- a year and two weeks -- for the problel~s to be fixed. Of
146 school bltildfilgs, 113 have a repair request pending for a leaking roof, a Washington
Post analysis of school records shows.
¯ The schools spe~t $25 million on a computer system to manage perso~mel that had to be
discarded because there was no accm’ate list of employees to use as a starting point. The
Page 763
school system Mies on paper records stacked in 200 cardboard boxes to keep track of its
employees, andin some cases is five yeals behind in Nocessing staffpape~vork. It also
lacks an accmate list of its 55,000-plus students, although it pays $900,000 to a
consttltant each year to keep count.
¯ Many students and teachers spend their days in an environment hostile to learning. Just
over half of teenage students attend schools that meet the District’s defi~fition of
"persistently dangerous" because of the m~nber of violent crimes, according to an
analysis of school reports. Across the city, nine violent incidents are repo~ted on a typical
day, including fights and attacks with weapons. Fire officials receive about one complain
a week of locked fire doors, and health inspections show that more than a third of schools
have been infested by nfice.
"I don’t know if anybody knows the magnitude of problems at D.C. public schools. It’s
mind-boggling," said Abdusalam O~ner, the school system’s chief business operations
officer, who was hit’ed in Febixmry to tackle payroll, purchasing, peisormel and repair
operations.
O~ner, who worked for the schools as ctfief financial officer a decade ago, said little has
chm~ged.
"It’s like I’ve been in a coma for 10 years and just ~voke up," said Omer, who left the
schools to be chief of staffto fo1~ner anayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and then worked in
Kenya for the United Nations.
He said that when he walked into the personnel office ttfis year, it was "strikingly scmT"
to ftnd the mountain of boxes holding files on more than 11,000 employees.
The pressures on the schools to succeed have increased in recent years as a

congressionally mandated expm~ment with independent, publicly funded charter schools
has taken root. Viewed by proponents as a way to both improve the traditional public
schools and give parents an option, charters have proven to be uneven in quality but
hugely popular. Nearly one-fourth of public school students now attend the city’s 55
charters, and because funding follows the students, regulm public schools with sl~inking
emollment are losing funds.
MacFarland Middle School off Georgia Avonue in Noxth~vest, for example, is stu-rounded
by chartm~, and emollment has dropped from more than 600 to about 300 in two years.
"I don’t tin to compete with them ansnnore," said Antonia Peters, inher ninth year as
MacFarland’s principal. "I try to work with the kids that we have. Most of my students
are ELL [English language learners] or special education, but they take the same test as
mainstxea~n kids in English. It’s hmd if yon don’t lmow the language or have special
needs, but we’re held to the same standards."
As with many other schools across the city, her program has been pared to the basics,
with foreign language and art classes gone from the cttrrictfltm~.
She reaches out to colmmmity groups to bolster her resomces for instruction. A former
employee volunteers to watch over students who have been suspended so they don~t have
Page 764
to be sent home. Peters can’t tfire an art teacher, but a custodian at the school with a flair
for art, Kenneth McCrory, helps students paint porkraits before he cleans the building.
’Bdow Ground Zero’
Like school dislricts in most large cities, Washington’s faces datmting problems,
including a lmge population of students fiom poor Nmilies riving in troubled
neighborhoods. About three-fottrths of elementary students are poor enough to qualify for
free or reduced-price hmches.
Across the city, dedicated teachm~ and plincipals work every day to help non-English
speaking children learn to read, challenge bright students to stay engaged and provide a
secure refuge for children coping with dmnaged t~amilies.
St.~Lpefintendent Clifford B. Janev -- the sixth superintendent in a decade -- said he is

malting steady progress and hopes that new test results, to be released in the coining
months, will show significant gains in achievement.
He and others point to pockets of excellence: The predo~ninately low-income students in

a French program at J.O. Wilson Elemsntary School in Northeast consistently finish near
the top in national competitions, the ntm~ber of stndents taking Advanced Placement
classes has increased by nearly one-thJld in the past tlnee years, and the rate of graduates
going to college has doubled since 1999, according to one study.
In his nearly thine years in the District, Janey has ddrawn praise for imposing rigorous
systemwide standards on ~vhat shotfld be taught ,at each grade, a curticulnm to accomplish
that and a testing program to measure its success. That reversed a trend of letting each
school set its own pNh, which was widely criticized in education circtes.
Janey said he inherited not only poor classroo~n performance, but an agency where the
computers didn’t work, the payroll was a mess, schools lacked supplies and textbooks
anived months late.
"We were at or below ground zero and had been hoveaJng there for some longth ofti~ne,"
he said. "We m’e not in denial. We are doing the work in spite of the.. That’s the
proposition we were given. It’s an obstacle, but it hasn’t paralyzed us to distract frown our
core mission. I’ll be damned if it’ll paralyze us."
For yem’s, debates about the quality of city schools revolved aroand a central question:
Does lagging academic achievement -- t~vo out ofttaee students are not proficient in
reading and three out of four are not proficient in math -- merely reflect the high nmnber
of students who are poor and ~mprepared for learning? Or are other urban districts with
similar student populations better at improving performance?
Ttuat question finally has an answer, tl~fl~s to an expansion of a federal program that
tests student achievement across the counta-y. The National Assessment of Educational
Progress, or NAEP, had been reporting resnlts by state since 1990, but in recent years
began isolating test scores from selected urban school systems.
Page 765
Eleven city school districts were tested in 2005, including New York, Bosto--------------~. A/lama,
Cleveland., Miani and Chicag~ as well as the District. The Washington Post’s analysis of
the data shows that D.C. students ranked last or ,,vele tied for last on eve13, measure. That
is true even when poor children in the District are colnpmed only with poor children in,
say, Atlanta.
Indeed, on almost every cut of the scores, District students finished at the bottom,
including students who were not poor andwhose parents were better educated.
The one group fltat scored ‘‘yell was ,,vtfite stndents, creating the widest gap between
white and minority students among the cities tested. The District’s white students, who
make up 6 percent of the school popnlaion, tend to be affluent and are concentrated in a
few schools.
The test results flom NAEP combined students from public and Chalter schools. The
Post’s analysis, sepm’ating out the chaxler results for the first time, turned up a significant
change: D.C. chmters had lower scores in both reading and math in 2003, but they moved
slightly past the other public schools in both snbjects in 2005.
This conld mean either that charters are able to do ~nore for their students or that charters
are simply ds’awing the best students fiom the public schools.
Overall, Distlict scores improved slightly between 2003 and 2005, the latest results
available. But those in the other urban districts improved more, leaving Washington at
the bottom.
A Voice From the Gym
Benjalnin Hosch arrived from Chester, p.p_g.~, to become plincipal at Theodore Roosevelt
High School in 2005 and quickly decidedhe didn’t have "the level and caliber" of staff he
needed. Only one in sLx students were meeting the basic standards. He thought he’d
scored a coup when "one of the best math teachers in the District" agreed to come from a
chalter school. He sent the paperwork downtow~L but the hiring ,,was delayed so long the
teacher took a job elsewhere.
Hosch was disgusted by the filth at the 75-year-old school on 13th Street Northwest. "No
one has ever walked in my building in my career as a principal and said my building
looked dilty -- until I got here," he said.
He tried to get rid of his custodians, only to find that the persomlel office put them back
in his school because there were no openings elsewhere. And tile once failed to fill three
teacher openings in core subjects by the time school opened.
But when he questions the oNce on why things have been going offtrack, Hosch said,
"the things people say to me don’t make sense."
Just arotmd the comer from Roosevelt, at Powell Elementary School, Principal Lucia
Vega said she has had to "warehonse" at least one tmwanted staffer.
Page 766
Walking down the hallway recently, Vega stopped and commented: "Hear that singing?
Coming fiom the .gym?" said Vega as a lone voice echoed down the hall,way. "That’s my
literacy coach." The coach "was given to me" by the central office, Vega said, adding that
the coach does not work with students, and, in Vega’s view, doesn’t contribute much to
the school. "That person is totally useless ....
That $80,000 is something I could have
used for my students."
The coach, ChelTl Mabry, said she has been with the schools for 34 yem~ and has been
trained to help teachers work with students who are struggling to real and vcrite. She said
she was sent by rite central office to Power becanse, like ]nost D.C. public schools, it (lid
not meet academic targets.
"As far as what I’m doing, I think I’m making an impact," Mabry said, but she does not
expect to be back next year. "Ms. Vega has other ideas. I don’t think I fit into her plaus."
When Vega was infolmed last year that she had overspent her budget, she knew
sometNng was wrong and visited the regional administrative office to check the ledger.
There, she discovered that her budget included salmies for two teacher~ who did not work
at her school m~d whom she had never heard of. The persoImel office, for unknown
reasons, had assigned thegn to her payroll.
Staff problems go beyond how teachers me deployed. Citywide, fewer than half of core
courses are taught by teachers who are considered "highly qualified" in their subject,
wtfich requires that they have earned a degree or passed a competency test in that suloj ect.
Nationally, the nmnbers are worse in only one state -- Alaska. In ~nost states, the figure
was over 90 percent.
Width the District, teachers are less likely to meet this "highly qtmlified" stm~dard at
schools with poorer students, according to a Post analysis.
At Deal Jtmior High, which has relatively few poor students, two-thirds of the core
classes have highly qualified teachers, twice the figme at MacFarland and Gm~tett-
Pattel~on ~niddle schools, where ahnost all the students come fi-om poor families.
Across the city, 58 percent of classes in the jtmior high and middie schools with the most
affluent students are taught by highly qualified teachers, compared with 38 percent at the
poorest schools, The Post found. The gap is smaller at ele~nentm3~ schools.
Under the law, parents must be told if their ctnld’s teacher does not ~neet this standard.
But that hasn’t happened because the District is more than a year behind in submitting the
data.
Students are also hint by the system’s management problems. A 2003 attdit, for example,
found mistakes in student tlanscripts at all of the city’s 16 high schools.
Flying Sparks
The list of repair requests front D.C. schools, compiled in a database at the central office,
details the cnnnbling condition of many of the city’s school buildings. This spring, k
Page 767
contained thousands of tmfilled requests, including 1,100 labeled "urgent" or "dangerous"

that have been waiting to be fixed, on average, for more than a year.
Of the 146 schools, 127 have a pending repair for electrical work, soIne of which caused
shocks or flying sparks. Those typically have been on the books for two years.
At the strut of the 2002 school year, a student from Ferebee-Hope Elementary in
Southeast was taken to the hospital after being gouged by sharp edges on a broken
railing. It took file school systein more than four years to make that repair, records show.
Gage-Eckington Elementmy in Northwest notified the central repair office in May 2006
that a plexiglass window was dangling from its fiame in tile second-floor boy’s restroom,
posing a danger because a student could fall out. Two months later, the head custodian
sent a second request labeled "Dangerous." A third request went out in Septembei; and a
fotn~ah in November, reading "asap! This is a safety hazard." The plincipal said it took
workers until Januar~j to replace the window.
More evidence of neglect has been uncovered by city health inspectoi~ sent to check
school cafeterias. In the most recent rotmd of inspections, 85 percent of cafeterias had
violations, including peeling paint mid plaster near food, inadequate hand-washing
facilities and instffficient hot water. Well over one-third of public school cafeterias
showed evidence of rodent or ro~h infestations in the past three years, according to
health inspections.
Ariel Smith, an AJnerican Universit_y student who taught recently in an after-school

program at Bnlce-Moraoe Elementary School in Northwest, said she htitially was
appalled at the mice scmrying arotmd the cafeteria and kinde~gmten classroom. They are
so common, she said, that students have given them m~anes and diawn their pictmes.
"These kids are so used to it, it doesn’t faze them anymore," Smith s~id. "Fii~t it upsets
you, then you get used to it, then you work around it."
Broken Promises
Fmnilies at H.D. Cooke Elementary School have seen firsthand how grand plans can
dm~il.
A $19 million project to rehab tile bttilding in Cohunbia H ei~4hts has dizgged on for
years. The schools relocated students to a vacm~t building in 2004, spen4ing at least $3
million since then to tl~tnspolt them, but broke grotmd o~dy last week.
Troy Robinson isn’t letting his two danghters get their hopes up. "All I’ve heard is
promises," he said. "Seeing is believing." . ...... "
~-,,~ t ! ; "
In the years since the construction plans have been on the table, five ch,-mer schools lihve
opened in the area.
A sinfilar disconnect is playing out across tovcn at Kelly Miller Middle, over the
$150,000 media prodi~ction room and the ~nissing equipment.
Page 768
When Piincipal Sheena Tuckson maived at the school in the fall, she was thlilled when
she lem~ted about the plm~ for student broadcasts.
"I see it as learning about job tinning, looking to theh future, what are the possibilities
out there," she said.
Site had assttmed the long-a~vaited, mystea~y piece of equipment could at-rive any day.
When The Post inquired about the missing part, Renard Alexander, who heads the
instructional television program, said it was a $2,000 custom cmnera. But, he said, it was
not his department’s job to provide it. He said it is up to the principal to order and pay for
the camera out of her school budget.
But nobody had told Tuckson.
This is the latest glitch in a series that stretches back three yeats. The ambitious plan first
stalled in the mad rash to open the school. The media roo,n became a lo~v priority that
was put on hold when the ftmding was used for other ptwposes. Responsibility slipped
fiom the construction managers down the chain to Alexander’s department. Some
equipment was eventually installed -- most recently in March, ~vhen workers told
Tuckson’s staff that the school neededjt~st one last piece.
Now, the roomhas a lack of media components, a DVDiVCR and a television. A second
black rack, designed to hold more colnponeuts, lies empty on its side.
Statfley Johnson, director of instructional technology, said all new buildings are being
designed with production rooms, bnt most are ,tot being used. Changing priorities among
top administrators and smaller federal grants have lelt the schools without money for the
remaining eqnipment and training.
"It is a unique set of lemT~tg tools that we’re talldng about," he said. "We have these
great things we can do. I’ve got great plans. We could be so much fitrther along."
Resea~vh editorAlice Crites contributed to this tvport.
Photo slideshow available at http://,vww.washin~onpost, com/wt£:

srv/metro/interactives/dcschools/galleries/inthetrenches.html?hpid=artslot
D. C. Schools Scorecard available at http.’//www, washin~tonpost.com/wp-

srv/metro/interactives/dcschools/scorec ard html?hpid=topnews
Page 769
The Washington Post

His Body Imprisoned, His Mind Set Free
By Marc Fisher, Metro Columnist

Sunday, June 10, 2007; C01
By tlie time he dropped out of the D.C. school system in 1 lth grade, Leslie Sharp had
attended six different high schools. Some ldcked him ont; some he just lett. He didn’t go
to any of them all that olten.
When he did show up, nobody asked him where he’d been. Nobody bothered to try to get
to la~ow him. Nobody demanded that he cb much work. "So~ne schools," Sharp tells ~ne,
"they thought I was a fe~nale because of my name."
By the time Sharp finally did stay put somewhere, he was bettind bat’s. Convicted of
selling guns on the street, he spent nearly two years in jail. While there, he did some
things he had never done before. He read books. He wrote poems. He earned his high
school equivalency diploma. He connected with adtflts who told himhe had talent, asked
him about his life and insisted that he do his work.
This is a poem by Leslie Sharp. It is called "Five."

I am five
My father calls me L.J.
I hem" yelling and screaming
I’m laying on the bed
Trying to figttre out what’s going on

In my blue, red and white Pd.’s
My father holding me, telling me don’t worry
Eve~3tthing’s going to be o.k.

My mother meant the world to me
I feel lost
Iatn just five.
L.J. Sharp is 19 now, worldng as an intern at the National Juvenile Defender Center,
putting together brochmes for young people facing crhninal charges. He’s trying to get
started in college, aflning to study architectttre and design. And he mites.
Page 770
That all started not in the D.C. schools but in the D.C. jail, where a gtmrd asked Sharp
one day whether he was going to the book club. It wasn’t as if he had anything better to
do, so he fotmd himself in the weeldy session tun by vohmteers ffomFree Minds, a
District-based nonprofit group that introduces teenage imnates to books and creative
writing, then follows up with them after they are released, connecting them to trahfing,
jobs and more books.
The devastating portrait of the D.C. public schools painted in the investigative series that
begins in today’s Washington Post is a grim landscape of low scores, sunken expectations
and a hollow cuniculttm. What those systemic woes produce is far too ~nany classrooms
in which teachers seek only to get through the day and kids such as Leslie Sharp are
passed through without the slightest human touch -- name, passions, even gender
mflznown.
Inj ail, Shal) started out by reading the books and writing the book reports he was
assigned. And then he took the leap: "I basically put my e~notions dowt on paper.
Sometimes I’d write things that weren’t intended to get out, but they do. It gave me
something to do when I get mad, to relieve my mind."
He wrote about being locked up:
Sometimes I wish I can roll over and this just be a ~h’eam

But ~vhen the truth set in everything is not what it seem
These are my consequences from the way I acted
Now I do what I’m told and can’t help rile feeling of being
trapped.
In the D.C. schools, Shmp would show up Mondays to get the week’s assigmnents and
Fridays to take the tests, ,and that was about all. When I asked Sharp if any teacher had
ever inspired him, he excitedly told ~ne about a class on entreprenem~hip in which the
teacher tanght the basics of starting a business. But when I asked for the teacher’s nmne,
it became clear that Sharp and the teacher had never spoken to each other.
Kelli Taylor, who runs Free Minds with Tara Libert, knows that the District’s schools
include ~nany cachtg teachers who work in difficult conditions with students deeply
burdened by poverty, violance, dysfimctional parents, substance abuse mtd gang life. BUt
she also knows that "we as a comrmmity are failing our childi-en. Among the 200 youths
aged 16 and 17 that Free Minds has served over the last four years, their average reading
level is just
fifth grade when they maive at the jail." Many have never read a book. Many have been
labeled special education students, otten because they behaved poorly in school.
"They actually say that people just want them out of the way," Taylor says. Over and
over, she finds yom~g men who can barely read when they m-rive at the jail but are
reading voraciously six months later. "I have had two different kids in our progran~ tell
Page 771
me with a straight face that they are ’retarded’ and won’t ever be able to go to college.
Anyone cottld tell that these boys were not mentally retarded, but they’d already heard it
and accepted the label."
The stories she hears about the schools are as dishearteifing as they are consistent: Boys
who attend school only occasionally yet are never colffronted about theh" sldpping. Boys
who say they were never assigned homework in high school. Boys who catmot name a
teacher or a book that ever meant anything to them.
Obviously, some kids aren’t ready to lemaa tmfil they’re slmmned with the shock of losing
their freedom. But just as obviously, ~nany of them had no chance to discover the fixtit of
!~m~vledge because no adttlt ever set out to connect with them while demanding that they
work hard and study well.
Taylor rec eived a letter from a yom~g man named Drew, an imnate who said: "If I had
tiffs type of suppo~t when I was in the streets, I wonld not be in jail fight now. Y’all got
me over here writing letters, poems and stories. I think I could be a writer! It makes me
feel so happy, I never had no one who cared about my education. So y’all really touch my
heart."
Sharp doesn~ blame the D.C. schools for where he ended up. He figures he’s the one who
decided to inake his way on the streets. "School basically was in’elevant," he says. "I
thonght I had so~nething to prove. You can tell a cttild anything, but thegre going to do
what they want."
Prod then he says this: "The past is what made me today." He is tall~g about his mother;
about growing up on the street, about how easy it is for a kid to make some cash "doing
the wrong thing." Sharp plans to mite about this, using the tools he learned in prison but
not in the D.C. schools.
Page 772
The Washington Post
Schools Chief Infusing Some Of His Own Pep Into St. Mal~’s
By Megan Greenwell
Sunday, June 10, 2007; CO5
Michael Marfirano’s colleagues tease hiln about his abtmdant use of what tie calls his "e-
words."
"There’s just so nmch energy and enthusiasm here," he said while walking through an
elementary school hallway recently, shaldng his hands back and forth to amplify his
point. "Education here is just so exciting. It’s electrifying!"
Rarely has "electrifying" been aword people associate with St. Mary’s County. Rm’al and
sleepy, Inaybe. BUt with rising test scores and ambitious new progratns in the public
school system he oversees, Martilano says he plans to use a lot more "e-words" to
describe St. Mm-y’s. By the time he’s done, he says, the fast-growing cotmty surrounded
by the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay will have the best public schools in
Maryland.
Such talk is usually reserved for Montgolnery Cotmty, which is knc~vn for its academic
rigor and is one of the lmgest school systems in the state. Or perhaps Howard County,
which for yeats has boasted the highest overall scores on the Marylmld School
Assessment.
Mattirano has worked in both places, teaching in Montgomery mid overseeing 39 schools
as an assistant superintendent in Howard. Factor in his experience as a teacher in Amle
Artmdel Couslty and a principal in Prince George’s Comity, and he’s made stops in fore" of
the sLx latgest school systems in the state.
So how did an ambitious 48-year-old educator end up in an area known for being far
away and self-contained?
More than a few eyebi-ows were aNsed t~vo years ago when Martirano atmolmced tie
would leave his position as the director of school administration in Howard to become St.
Marsis superintendent, but the Frostbm’g native said he is convinced his new district will
soon be seen as a destination.
"We’re a good school system on the precipice of being a great one," Matth’ano says
frequently.
From some, it might seem boastful, but supporters -- and there are legions of them -- say
the first superintendent to come from outside St. Maine’s in many ye~s has the fight
combination of big-city experience and small-town charm to get the job done.
Parents love his easy interaction with their children trod his commitment to improving
test scores. Teachers compli~nent his nm~ufing attention that they say never feels stifling.
Board of Education members say his lolly goals are infectious. Folmer superintendent
Page 773
Patricia M. Richardson reth’ed a popular figttre, but site never generated anywhere near
Martiiano’s buzz.
Martirano’s co-workers and fiiends speak first about his seemingly endless enelgy. He
talks qtfickly, moves quickly and demands quick resnlts from his staff. He is in his office
by 7:15 each morning and often stays tln-ongh evening meetings or events that end atter
dark.
"He is extre~nely driven and extremely focused," said Dmtiel Michaels, a close friend and
co-worker from the Howard schools. "And because he’s so people-oriented as well, he is
able to accomplish so much."
Under Martirano’s watch, Mm3,1and School Assessment scores have lisen to within a few
points of Howard’s, and cotmfless ambitious programs have begtm. A science and
engineering academy will open next year, as will Southern Mm3,1and’s first chatter
school. Full-day kindergmten became the norm last fall, a year ahead of the state
mandate. An elementat3, school devastated by a N’e reopened with state-of-the-att
technology within a year.
Mmtirano has ~von as much praise for ackno~vledging the school system’s failings as for
new initiatives. Within a few months of his hiring in 2005, he unveiled his "15 Point Plan
of Priorities," headlined by a focus on the achievement gap betweenblack and white
students. His biggest goal is to have eveI~] child reading at grade level by third grade,
which he believes is realistic.
Weekdays begin on the treadmill at 4:45 a.m. By 6:50, he is out the door of his
Leonardtovcn home to drop the two youngest of his three children off at Leonardtown
Middle School. Meetings begin promptly at 8.
On arecent Thtusday mor~fing, Martirano’s 8 a.in. ~neeting was withKathleen Lyon,
executive dh’ector of student services for the school system. They spoke about the hiring
process for a distfictwide security coordinator, coming graduation ceremonies and a
celebration for special education teachers.
"Did that letter go out? Who are they supposed to send it back to? We’ve got to follow up
on that ASAP," Mattirano said at one point, refening to a letter to members of a task
force and speaking so quicldy the words all seemed to be part of one long sentence.
Lyon laughed.
"He’s only in about second gear at the moment," she said. "Give it a few hoar’s."
Indeed, as the moi~_ing ~vore on, Matth-ano ~peared to pick up the pace. By the ti~ne he
pulled his red Ford Expedition into a proking lot in fi’ont of Leonardtown’s popnlar
Linda’s Care for an early ltmch, he had visited four schools, greeted dozens of students
and placed phone calls to several employees who had received promotions earlier in the
we ek.
Yet, as fast as he moved, Mattimno always seemed to be a few nfinutes late, a fact
explained by his tendency to stop to chat with every student or stafflnember he passed or
Page 774
to strike a pose with students whenever he sees a camera. He has a knack for names and
personal details, asking a teacher about the gardening grant she ~vas awarded last fall and
stopping to congratttlate a gift he had watched play on the varsity basketball team.
"There’s the big cheese!" a high school frestunan yelled in the supefintendent’s direction.
"Why me you calling me that? You’re the one in here ~vorldng hard on your Spanish
lesson. Maybe you’re the big cheese," Mattirano responded with a
Several people who know Martirano have compared his chmisma with that of a seasoned
politician, aJ~ analogy that’s not far off. He was the student body president in high school
and was viewed as a 1oig man on campus at the University of Maryland, Mends said. He
won acceptance to several law schools and hoped to nm for office someday, but he
couldn’t shake the desire to be a teacher.
"This is a catling for me," he said in a rare ,noment of public solemnity. "It’s not about
the positional power o1 the title. It’s like the Bible says: ’To whom nmch is given, much is
expected.’ "
Page 775
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLINTON: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND THREATENS U.S. CREATIVE EDGE
By HENRY C. JACKSON
Assodated Press Writer
June 9, 2007, 9:41 PM EDT
INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Democratic presidential candidate HillmT Clinton criticized the No Child
Left Behind education program Satm’day, saying its elnphasis on testing puts Americm~ students in
danger of losing their creative edge.
"I think that we are in danger of nan’ovdng the cuniculum and leaving children behind," Clinton
said Satnrday. "That’s the very opposite of what they said would happen."
Clinton voted fcr No Child Left Behind, l~esident Bush’s signatme education policy, in 2001, but
has since been a sharp critic. She said the program’s emphasis on testing is diluting resomces
other valuable ~reas of education.
That will be a problem for the cotmtry going for, vard, she said.
"Pint of the reason A~neficawas always inthe forefront of the WofldEconomy is that we’re the
imtovators ... it’s because we have creative learners, we have people who learned to get around
obstacles, they didn’t go in a straight line."
Clinton spoke a~ a cmnpaign event in Indianola, ~vhere she lielped raise money for state lawmaker
Sen. Staci Appel. At the end of the event Appel, who is serving her ~st term in the Legislature,
said she was endorsing Clinton’s presidential bid.
Clinton gave a version of her stttmp speech before taking a handfifl of questions from a crowd of
about 300 people.
One woman, a college student studying ,rmsic, asked Clinton what she would do to ensure there
was room for music education in public schools. Clinton said she wus a big supporter of inusic and
other creative venues in school.
"Anyone who’s ever heard me sing, knows, I can’t sing," she said. "It’s a shame. I al~vays sound
great to my ears .... But I love music, and I cherish ~nusic, and I think back to my own yems at
school when the music teachers woldd come into oar" classroom."
Clinton said music ~d art can help unlockhidden potential in some students.
"Music and art, and exposm’e to different set of cultural experiences can ignite such a creative
passion and finagination in some people," she said. "I worry ttmt No Child Let[ Behind with its
emphasis on tests ... is going to weed so mm~y ldds out."
Page 776
The New York Times
June 10, 2007

Private Loans Deepen a Crisis in Student Debt
By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
WASHINGTON-- As tile first in her i~nmigrant falnily to attend college, Lucia DiPoi
said she had fe~v clues about financing her college education. So when financial aid and
low-interest government loans did not stretch far enough, Ms. DiPoi applied for $49,000
in private loans, too. "How bad could it be?" she recalls thinking.
When Ms. DiPoi graduated from Tufts University. in Boston, she found out. With interest,
her private loans had reached $65,000 and she owed an additional $19,000 in federal
loans. Her monthly tab is $900, with intelest rates topping 13 percent on the private
loans.
Ms. DiPoi, now 24, quickly gave tip her dream to work in an overseas refugee camp. The
pay, she said, "would have been enough for me but not for Sallie Mae," her lender.
The regulations that the fedelN Education Department proposed this mouth to crack
down on payments by lendels to universities and their officials were designed to end
conflicts ofiuterest that cotfld point students to particular lenders.
But they do nothing to ad&ess a problem that many education officials say may have
greater consequences -- more students relying on private loans, which are so unregulated
that Attolney General Andi’ew M. Cuomo of New York recently called them the Wild
West of lending.
As college tuition has soared past file stagnant limits on federal aid, private loans have
become the fastest-growing sector of the student finance market, more than tlipling over
five years to $17.3 billion in the 2005-06 school yeaI; according to the College Board.
Unlike federal loans, whose interest rates are capped by law- now at 6.8 percent-
these loans cans~ variable lates that can reach 20 percent, like credit cards. Mr. Cuoino
and Congress are now investigating how lendels set those rates.
And while federal loans come with safeguards against students’ overextending
themselves, private loans have no such limits. Students are piling up debts as high as
$100,000.
Banks and lenders face negligible risk fi’om allowing studems to take out lalge stuns. In
the federal ovefllaul of the bankruptcy lawin 2005, lendels won a provision that Inakes it
viltually impossible to discharge private student loans in banlu~lptcy. Previously such
provisions had only applied to federal loans, as a way to Iaotect the taxpayer against
defaulting by smdeuts.
While federal loans also allow bon’owers nlyfiad chances to redirce or defer payments for
hardship, private loans typically do not. Aud many private loan agreements make it
impossible for students to reduce the principal by paying extra each month lmless they
are paying offthe entire loan. Officials say they are troubled by the mnount of debt that
loan companies and colleges are encomw, ing students to take on.
"It’s a huge problem," said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. "When a
student signs the paper for these loans, they are basically signing an indentm’e," Mr.
Nassirian said. "We’re indebting these kids for life."
Page 777
Dozens of students interviewed said that when they signed for their loans they were
unclear on what interest rate they were getting mid that financial aid counselors
discussing repayment failed to include interest that students were compomlding ~vhile in
college. The lenders say they ar’e providing a valuable selwice, helping students who
might otherwise not be able to afford college. Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Mae,
the Iw, tion’s largest student lender, said the company’s average interest I~e on p~ivate
student loans vtas just over 10 percent mid that the typical bonower was a yotmg person
with little or no credit histoI3~ and no collateral.
"What would the credit card interest rate be for that bolro~ver -- 24, 25 percent?" Mr.
Joyce asked. "Our goal is to make it possible for students to graduate."
But various members of Congress are now looldng at ways to tighten oversight ofpfiv’ate
student loans.
The large growth in private loans -- once confined pi~nurily to graduate students --
largely comes fi’om steep increases in tuition, which have outpaced inflation and federal
aid, and an increasing reluctance among parents to take on more debt.
For the last 15 years, the lin~ts on the most common federal loans have stagnated at
$17,125 for fore years. They will increase slightly starting next month. In addition, loan
companies have also come to realize that such loans cart be hugely profitable.
Although the federal Education Department has no jurisdiction over private student loans,
Education Secretmy Margaret Spellings recently pledged to convene the agencies that do,
including the Secmities and Exchange Cormnission, the Federal Trade Conmtission mid
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Research by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and others show that some students
are taldng private loar~s before exhausting their eligibility for low-interest, fixed-rate
federal loans.
Janea Morgan, 25, a 2006 graduate of California College San Diego, said that college
officials had her fill out the federal fi~mndal aid fol:m but never tapped federal loans.
Instead, she said, they steered her to a p~:ivate loan with KeyB auk, at an interest rate that
could rise four times a year’, with no cap.
Now, she is car~jing $46,000 in private loans at 9.22 percent interest, which she fears
may rise beyond her ability to pay. Ms. Morgan said that when she asked college officials
why they bypassed federal loans, "They said it would take too long."
Barbara Thomas, vice president and cbiefoperating officer at California College San
Diego, said that she could not discuss Ms. Morgan’s sittmtion because of privacy laws,
but that generally students someti~nes tooktoo loug to fill out the federal financial aid
application properly. "It’s a lime thing that kids have to woI’k with," Ms. Thomas said.
Sometimes marketing is at work. Last September, the United States Student Association
complained to the Federal Trade Conmfission that a major l~ivate lending program, Loan
to Learn, made "false and deceptive claims" in a brochm’e called "De~nystifying
Financial Aid."
According to the complaint, the brochme stated inaccttrately that "most gove~:mnent loans
are need-based," suggested that federal lomts could not be used for education-related
costs like computers and books, arid that there were "strict deadlines" on applying for
federal loans. In fact, students can get federal loans to pay for educational expenses, even
retroactively.
George C. Pappas, a spokesman for Loan to Learn, dismissed the complaint as
"absolutely ridiculous." Nevertheless, EduCap, the parent company, has removed the
passages fi’om the guide. The F.T.C. declined to co~mnent on Loan to Learn.
Students with private loans can be caught by smprise at how adjustable interest rates
allow debt to swell.
Page 778
Sean Craig Hicl~s, 35, attended the Westwood College of Aviation Teclmology, now
known as Redstone College, in BroomfMd, Colo., from 1997-2000 inthe hope of
becoming an ailplane inechanic. He said a financial aid officer gave him an application
for a $6,000 private loan through Wells F~rgo to help pay outst~mding expenses just
before graduation. On the school’s hall wulls, he said, were fliels for Wells Fargo loans.
"You trust those people when they tell you tiffs is the one to go with," Mr. Hicks said.
Mr. Hicks said his loan docttments had pmnfised that if he paid the min~nmn due each
month, he would pay offthe loan by 2010. Instead, after six yeats ofpaymeuts, most of
theln on time, he owes $100 more than when he took out the loan.
A spokeswoman for Wells Fatgo, Mary Berg, confirmed that Mr. Hicks held a studant
loan, but called the de alings with him a private matter. Officials at Redstone College did
not respond to requests for comment.
Many students out of dozens interviewed said it was not particularly clear what interest
rate they had signed up for.
Take Attila V~yi, a Motorola employee in Plantation, Fla. Eager tojump-statt iris
education, he tinned to American InterContinental University, a for-profit institution
offering a bachelor’ s degree in 13 months. But discovering how much file diploma would
cost was an endeavor WOlthy of a dissertation.
While the $28,000 tuition was no secret, IVlr. Valyi said that at the m’ging of university
officials, he had signed an application for a loan that donbled as a pledge to pay the
money back. It did not indicate an interest rate. He took out two more loans before
getting his bachelor’s degree, realizing only when it was too late, tie said, that he canied
loans at three different interest rates that coltld rise from month to month, the latgest for
$10,745 at 18 percent.
When Mr. Valyi, 30, contacted the lender, Sallie Mae, to refinance, he said he was told he
could not do so until he graduated. "You’re locked in at 18 percent," he said he was told.
Mat~ha Holler, a spokeswo~nan for Sallie Mae, said Mr. Valyi and other bon’owe~s of
those yems would have been told, dining the application process and in an approval
letter, the interest rate as a percentage above the p~ne rate. And they were fi’ee to cancel,
up to 30 days alter tlie money went to the school.
Lynne Baker, a spokeswoman for the Career Education Corporation, ~vhich owns
American InterContinental and scores of other for-profit colleges, s~id that the
corporation did not track individual student interest rates and that whether to pay such
rates was the students’ decision.
Page 779
Tile New York Times
June 10, 2007

COMMENCEMENT SPEECHES
Iraq Is Backdrop for Many Graduation Speakers
By ALAN ~NDER
For many if not most members of the class of 2007, the ~var in ~ has been the constant
background of their college years. And so as seniors graduated flom thousands of
colleges and universities in recent weeks, tile war was on the mind of many
co~rmlencement speakers. Some criticized its prosecution, others commended the
sacrifices of the hundreds of thousands ofvoltmteers se~wing in the mined forces, but few
ignored the continuing struggle.
"Most of you were jlmiors in high school when terrorists attacked America in September
2001, and it became clear we were a nation at war," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates
told graduates at the United States Naval Academy. "With your credentials, you could
have ,attended another prestigious university, and subsequently pmsued a private life,
with all its material rewards, your freedom and safety assured by other young men and
women who volunteered to serve in the American military."
Solne speakers offered a critical view of the war and its consequences. Anthony W.
Marx, the president of Amherst College, spoke at Amherst’s colrmlencement of the
lessons of the Roman empire, ~vhich he said declined when leaders turned away from
civic action tovemd private pursuits, abdicating civil authority to the militat%
"Always, our political reach, our cultural persuasion, our economic integration and our
militm~y lnight are botmded," Dr. Marx said, drawing analogies between Rome’s decline
and the present. "At those botmdalies, smugness is challenged. If we fail to heed that
challenge, if we do not lemn from the limits of our victories, we lisk the fate of Rome."
Boyd Tinsley, an electric violinist in the Dave Matthews Braid, told graduates in a speech
the day before graduation at the University of Virginia, his alma mater, "I hope that you
will once again bring us back to a time when a person’s patriotism was judged by how
much they loved their country, and not byhow much they loved war."
Still, there was plenty of customary co~mnencement fme. Graduates were exhorted to be
bold mad pnblic spirited, to confront onviromnental degradation and global wanning, to
end poverty in the United States mid curb it internationally. They were urged to find their
inner voice, to leap confidently over obstacles in theh cmeers, to avoid apathy and the
lure of personal emictnnent over civic engageinent.
"Times like these call for people like you to stand up and get to world" Kamala D. Hmais,
the San Francisco district attorney, told gl~adtmtes at San Francisco State University. "To
bl"eal~ bmaiers, to drive change, roll up your sleeves instead of tin’owing up your hands."
There was also tile usual complement of confessions. Brimi Williams, the anchor 0fthe
NB C Nightly News, confided to students at Tulane that he had not earned a college
Page 780
degree, which he described as "one of the great, great regrets of my life." The mystery
novelist May Higgins Clark told gt~aduates of ti ’ "ac niversit that she could not
sing, dance, cook or sew, though she acknowledged she could tell astory.
And Tom Brokaw, the former news anchor at NBC, said at the Skidmore College
coimnencement that his meutor at the University of South Dakota had characterized his
undergraduate career this way: "We aiways thought his first degree was an honorary
degree."
Then, too, a number of speakers worried aloud that they might be going on too long. The
presidential historian Michael Beschloss reminded gradtmtes at Lafayette College that
former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey was known for giving speeches that lasted as
long as three hours.
"Once Humphley did this, and even he knew he w~s overdoing it," Mr. B eschloss said.
"He yelled at the audience, ’ Anybody here got awatch?’ and someone yelled back, ’How
about a calendar?’ "
Robert M. Gates
Secretary of defense
The College ofWillian~ & Mary
Some of you may know the story of Ryan McGlottdin, William & Mary class of 2001: a
high school valedictorian, Phi Beta Kappahere and Ph.D. candidate at Stanford. After
being turned dc~vn by the Army for medical reasons, he persisted and joined the Moaines
and ~was deployed to Imq in 2005. He was killed leading a platoon of riflemen neat" the
Syrian border.
Ryan’s story attracted media attention because of his academic credentials and family
co~mections. That someone like him would consider the military smlJrised some people.
When Ryan first told his parents about joining the Mm:ines, they asked if there was some
other way to contribute. He replied that the privileged of this country bore an equal
responsibility to rise to its defense.
It is precisely dining these trying times ttmt America needs its best and baightest yotmg
people, from all walks of life, to step forward and conm~t to public se~wice. Because
while the obligations of citizenship in any democracy are considerable, they are even
more profotmd, and more demanding as citizens of a nation with America’s global
challenges and responsibilities -- and America’s values and aspirations.
Tom Brokaw
FolTner anctlor, NB C News
Skidinore College
You’ve been told during your high school years and your college yem’s tl~ you are now
about to enter the real world, and you’ve been wondering what it’s like. Let me tell you
that the real ~vorld is not college. The real wofldis not high school. The real ~vofld, it
ttmas out, is ~nuch more like jtmior Ngh. You are going to encounter, for the rest of your
life, the same petty jealousies, the satne irrational juvenile behavior, the same tmcertainty
that you encountered during your adolescent yeats. That is your bm’den. We all shate it
with you. We wish you well.
Satnuel A. Alito Jr.

Supreme Court justice
Page 781
St. Mary’s College

Decades from now, you may be different than you are today in a lot of significant ways.
You may have a lot more than you have today. You may have more money and more
status and more power and more accomplishments. You 1nay also have more
responsibilities, more worries, more regrets and ~nore bruises. But m~demeath all of that,
you will still be the same person who is here today graduating from college, and it will be
good for you to stay connected with the people who know the real you.
Gloria Steinem
Writer
Smith College
In my generation, we were asked by the Smith vocational office how many words we
conld type a minnte, a question that was never asked of then allqnale students at Hmvard.
or Princeton. Female-only typing was rationalized by supposedly greater female verbal
skills, attention to detail, smaller fingers, goodness knows what, but the public
imagination just didi~’t include male typists, certainly not ~-educated ones.
Now computers have come along, and "typing" is "keyboarding." Suddenly, vofla! --
men can type! Gives you faith in ~nen’s ability to change, doesn’t it?
Kamala D. Harris
San Fl~rtcisco district attorney
San Fi:ancisco State U~tiversity
As you grow in yore" career, you may hit another barrier -- the limits that others set for
you. A ceiling on what you can accomplish and who you can be. That happened to ~ne.
When I decided to rnn for district attorney, it was considered a man’s job even here in
Sm~ Fxancisco. No woman had ever been elected district attorney in San Francisco. No
person of color had ever been elected distaict attorney in San Francisco.
I remember the day I got my Nst poll resNts back. I was sitting in asmall conference
room, alittle nervous, but very hopeful. Then I read thegn. I was at 6 percent. And that
wasn’t good. So I was told what you all have probably heard in your life, and that you
will certaktly hear in yore future. I was told that I should wait my turn. I was told that I
should give up. I was told that I had no chance.
Well, I didn’t listen.
And I’m telling you, don’t you listen either. Don’t listen when they tell you that you can’t
do it.
Jotm Grisham.
Novelist
Univei~ity of Virginia
Thirty years ,ago this ~veek, I graduated from college, class of 1977. I don’t recall much
about my conunencement. I do remember that the speaker was dt~ll and long-winded, and
he did infolTn us that the Ntttre was om~ and the world was at ottr feet. I do remelnber
sitting through my colnmencelnent being pretty smug: I was graduating from college, I
had been accepted to law school and I knew exactly what I was going to do. I was going
to study tax law. I wanted to be a tax lawyer because I was convinced I could make alot
of money representing wealthy people who did not want to pay all their taxes. That was
my di’earn, and I had it all plamted. I knew the @ I was going to strut la~v school, the
day I was going to filfish. I had a pretty good idea where my office was going to be. It
was all planned.
Page 782
I don’t know ~vhere this idea came fl’om. I did not like tax la~v. I sure didn’t know any
wealthy people. Looking back, I cannot begin to remember where this idea was planted,
but that was my dxemn. I had everything planned. The idea of waiting a book had never
crossed my mind. I had never written anyflfing that had not been required by school. I had
never di’eamed of it.
Lesson No. 1: You cannot plan the rest of your life.
Rev. Peter J. Gomes

Professor, Harcard University
Augustana College
Pa’ound this time of year I have an annoying habit of asldng pe@e, like you seniors, "Do
you have a job?" You resist answering that question, but I repeat it, "Yore" mother and I
want to know, do you have a job?" By job we don’t mean simply something that gives
you a salm% I think we really mean: "Do you have a pttrpose? Do you have a calling? Do
you have a vocation?"
I want to suggest to you that whether or not you have a job, everyone has a vocation, and
that vocation is to live alife that is worthliving. The best advice I can give is that which
St. Paul gives ~as in Romans 12, where he says to the likes of you, who all look alike fiom
here, "Be not confolTned to tiffs world." Do not join the throng. Don’t get lost in the
crowd. Don’t be a part of the cookie-manufactured college generation, but stake out for
yourselves some extraordinary, maybe even eccentlic, piece and place of the world, and
make it your own.
Representative John Lewis

De,nocmt of Georgia
Adelphia University
Sometimes I hear some yotmg people say nothing has changed. I feel like saying, come
and walk in my shoes. In 1956, at the age of 16, being so insph’ed by Dr. King along with
stone of my brothers and sisters and first cousins, we weut to the little library in Pike
County, Alabama, a public library in the little town of Troy trying to get library cards,
trying to check out some books. And we were told by the libralian that the library was for
whites only and not for coloreds.
I never ~vent back to that library until July 5, 1998. By that time I was amember of
Congress, and I want there for a book signing of~ny book. Hundreds of blacks and white
citizens showed np. I signed many books. In the end, they gave me alibrary card. It says
something about the distance we’ve come and the progress we’ve made in laying down
the bttrden of race.
Jeffi’ey D. Sachs
Director of the Earth Institute,
Columbia University.
Ursinus College
R’s all about choice, graduates, it really is. There is nothing about fate. It’s ,qll about
choice. It’s all about values, creativity, leadership. Let me give yon just one small
example of choice: the choice we are making, the choice we sho,fldbe making. Malaria is
a disease we don’t know vei7 much in this country, but it is a disease that will kill two
million children this year, ovelwvhehningly in Afiica. Two million childien. Now Otis is a
disease that is largely preventable and 100 percent treatable. And the tream~ent costs 80
cents. BUt people are so poor that two nfillion kids are going to die fltis yem because they
Page 783
don’t even get access to the simplest things, like a bed net treated with insecticide that
wotttd protect them fiom this disease.
Now here’s the basic mitlmlefic of ore" time: There are 300 million places in Africa,
sleeping sites where people are vulnerable to being bitten by this disease. 300 million.
Each bed net costs five buclcs. I trust your economics comae ~vas sufficiently good so you
could quickly calculate this, it’s why I went for a Ph.D. I know that’s $1.5 billion. Or you
could take out Excel if you w~nt to do it that way. $1.5 billion. AJ~d yet almost none of
these children sleeps under a bed net because they are too poor. But what is $1.5 billion
in today’s world? That is what we spend every day on the Pentagon. That’s our daily
militm3, budget. So here is the calculation and here is the choice. One day’s Pentagon
spending would provide all sleeping sites in Aflica with five years of bed net coverage, to
fend off a disease which kills millions every year. That’s a choice. We haven’t made it.
My suggestion is, the Pentagon take next Thursday of£
Stffrley Ann Jackson

President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Univmsity of Rochester
I am an optimist. I am short, and short people can only see the glass as half hill. So
optinfize who you are and what you are. Optimize your experiences and what you have
lemned. Optimize others. Optimize your opportunities. Seize them aud do meaningful
things.
B el:ry Gordy Jr.
Founder of Motown Re cords
Occidental College
I was a songvn~tel; I was st~w, gling, and I loved it. I wanted to be the greatest songwriter.
I was writing about everything -- everything I saw. But I was not making money, and I
finally agreed with everyone I ever talked to who knew ~ne, who said, "Boy, you need to
get aj ob -- a real one." So I got aj ob on the Ford assembly line. AJ~d every day I
watched how abare metal flame rolling down the line would co~ne offthe other end a
spanking biand-new car. Wow, I thought. What a great idea. Maybe I can do the same
firing with my music -- create a place where a ldd offthe street can walk in one door an
tmknovcn and come out another door a star. That little thought that came to me while
rtmnfl~g up and down that assembly line at Ford Motor Co~npany became a reality you
now know as Moto~vn.
Lam~ Bush
First lady
~erdine U~tiversit!~
Today starts a period of incredible liberty and adventure -- a time to demand the ~nost of
life, before life makes specific demands on you. And as you work to make the most of
what you’ve received, I can tell you one thing for sure: You won’t waste your talents and
education if you fleely give them in smvice to others.
This is especially important for the class of 2007. More than any other generation of
Ame~:icans, yotu~ is tasked with resolving challenges that lie far beyond your doorstep --
even far beyond America’s borders. Between cellphones and the Internet, you have a
world of information literally at yore fingertips. And because oar world is so small, you
can’t ignore the genocide in D arftu’, or the htunan-~ights abuses in Btmna. You can’t ttu-n
away as pandemic diseases torment an entire continent. And you can’t look aside as
American coinmunities lie in rt~.
Page 784
D e an Katnen
Inventor and entrepreneur
Bates College
We’re moving liom aworld of stuff, fromthe idea that there’s a finite mount of gold out
there, a finite amount of almost anything out them. Throughout all of bistro% people
fought over stuff: land, fuel, stuff. But in your generation, the most value that will be
created isn’t stuff anymore. It rely is ideas. The Internet is an abstraction, and the value
of Ooogle exceeds the value of all the car makers. In a world that’s about ideas, it’s not a
zero-stun gmne. You don’t have to win by someone else losing, where you have the gold
or oil or watm; and somebody else doesn’t.
Angela Davis
Professor, University of California,
Santa Cruz
Grhmell College
I hope that you will treasure the approaches and ways of thinldng that you have leamed
more than the facts you have accttrnulated. For you will never discover a scat’city of facts,
and these facts will be presented in such away as to veil the ways ofthktldng embedded
in them. And so to reveal these hidden ways ofthinldng, to suggest alternate fiameworks,
to imagine better ways of living in evolving worlds, to imagine new hmnan relations that
are freed from persisting himmchies, whether they be racial or sexual or geopolitical --
yes, I tttink this is the work of educated beings. I might then ask you to think about
edncation as the practice of freedom.
Alice Walker
Novelist and poet
Nmopa University
When it is all too ranch, when the news is so bad meditation itsdf feels useless, and a
single life feels too small a stone to offer on the altar of peace, find a hu,man sunrise. Find
those people who are committed to changing our scary reality. Human sunrises are
happening all over the earth, at every moment. People gathering, people working to
change the intolerable, people coming in their robes and sandals or in theh rags and bare
feet, and they ate singing, or not, and they are chanting, or not. But they are working to
bring peace, light, compassion to the infinitely fiightening downhill slide ofhmnan life.
George Stephanopotflos
Chief Washington COlxespondent, ABC News
St. John’s Universit_y
Solidatity and love are needed more than ever in a world that confounds ns with
contradictions attd confronts us with the challenge of living with its paradoxes.
We live in the strongest military power the world has ever known. No cotmtry in the
world can match that arsenal, but years of war have taught us the painful limits of
military force. And we all have been mml~ed by the day when 19 men atoned o~tiy with
box cuttm~ and a death wish struck at the heart of our cttlture and consciousness.
You are about to anter one of the biggest economies the world has ever known. We are
creating 1note billio~mires and millionaires than ever before, but the gap between out"
richest and our poorest is bigger titan ever before. One out of every eight Americans is
livi,tg in poverty, with ,nillions more st~w, gling to get by. You’ll be shaping a cultute that
for better or worse, is copied all over the world. The libmZies and opportuttities we t~e
for granted make us a Jnagnet for people from all over the world. But the power we
Page 785
project also makes us a targa. A country with the reach of an empire cannot avoid the
envy of those who have less, o1 the duty to help cm’e for them.
Tavis Smiley
Radio and television talk show host
Rutgms Univelsitx
The tragedy of life does not lie, yous~g folk, in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in
having no goal to reach. It is not a calsanity to die with dreams lmfiflfilled, but it is a
calamity not to di’eam. It is not a disaster to not be able to capture your ideals, but it is a
disaster to have no ideals to captm-e. It is not a disgrace to not be able to reach all the
stms, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.
Page 786
The New York Times
June 10, 2007
ENCOUNTER
Larry Summers’s Evolution

By DAVID LEONHARDT
Backin the 1980s, two young Harvard professols trying to reinvigorate the Democratic
Patty would meet at the Wmsthans restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., to have hmch and
argue with each other. They must have made for an entertaining sight, one of them
bealish and tile other less than five feet tall, debating each other in a dark Hmvard Squme
dive. The argument, in a nutshell, came to this. Tile smaller man-- Robert Reich, a
future secretary of labor -- argued for something that he called "industrial policy." Since
the govermnent couldn’t avoid having a big influence on the economy, he said, it should
at least do so in a way that promoted fast-growing indnstries and invested in worthy
pnblic projects.
The beatish professor was Lawrence H. Sunmaers, ~vho was then the youngest person to
have received tenttre in the modern history of Hmvard University. He loved to taclde big,
broad questions, and, by his lights, industrial policy amounted to another version of the
govenmlentai meddling that had helped consign the Democratic Party to opposition
status. How could bttreancrats lmow which indnstries and projects to support with tax
credits? The better solution, Su~mners responded, was to get the economy growing fast
enough that the problems of the middle class would begin to solve themselves. And the
way to do this was to slow government spending and loise taxes on the wealthy, which
would biting down the Reagan-era budget deficits and, eventually, interest rates. Once
that happened, the American economy would be unleashed.
The debate, fiiendly as it was when SlLmmers and Reich were having it, ~vould come to
dolninate the straggle over domestic policy within the Democratic Patty for more than a
decade. Bill Clinton ended up embracing the centrist, business-fiiendly ideas of Slmuners
and his mentor, Robelt Rubin, and the situation played out just as they had predicted:
interest rates fell, and along came a boomthat helped ahnost everyone. In the late ’90s,
the wages of rank-and-file workers rose faster than they had in a genelNion. A fmstrated
Reich left the Labor Depattment after Clinton’s filst term, ~vhile Summers eventually
ascended to file top job at tile Treasm3~ Depattment.
All of which makes it rather fascinating to listen to Summels talk these days. Having left
the presidency of Harvard after a rocky five-year temue, he l~s tinned his attention back
to econolnics. But he doesn’t sound like atritunphant Clinton alnlmlUS who simply wants
tile country to retnrn to the policies of the 1990s. He sounds, strangely enough, a little
like Bob Reich.
On Oct. 30 of last yeat’, Stmn~ners made his debnt as a monthly columnist for The
Financial Times. The cohllun was titled "The Global Middle Cries Out for Reassmance."
He began by noting that the world’s economy had grown faster over tile previous five
yems thatl at any other point in recorded history. "Yet in many corners of the globe there
is growing disillusiontnent," he continue4 The main reason seems to be that the benefits
of growth are flowing largely to only two groups: previously impoverished residents of
Asia and an international elite. Sarmners’s favorite statistic these days is that, since 1979,
the share ofpretax income going to the top 1 percent of American households has risen

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Nonresponsit

om: ............................. katherin e-mci-aneI ..........................

To: Private- Spellings, Margaret; Dunn, David; kevin.sullivan@who.eop.gov

In an interview, Ms. Spellings acknowledged her shift in emphasis.

"’Last year it was, ’We’re

~k. Bush signed the act into law in January 2002.

But then California received a letter from Ms.

Dozens of other states have also felt the tougher enforcement.

At the end of June, Henry L. Johnson, an assistant secretary of education, wrote to 34

Marian H. Metschke, Papillion’s superintendent, said he had told Mr.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

"I formed the commission to spark a national debate,"

Spellings is to get a formal report next month.

Want to start your o~rn business?

State Lawmakers Blamed For Colleges’ Troubles

From: katherine m clane }(b)(6)

Ed. secretary places 2nd on ’Jeopardy’

Spellings’ strong subjects included internationa! language and business.

Education: A Pop Quiz for the Secretary

What if you freeze up and forget your geography?

Well, did you do anything to prepare?

Does the president know you’re here?

What’s your strongest subject?

Will you bet the ranch on a Daily Double?

http: //~. msnbc .msn. com/id/15784300/sit e/newsweek/

The all-new Yahoo[ Mail beta

_August ii, 2006

Other important groups in the council issued withering critiques.

The Association of American Universities, which represents 60 top research universities,

Robert M. Berdahl, a former chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, who is

Progress seen at ’failing’ school

December 12, 2006

So is Noble a success or failure?

"We’re pleased but not satisfied," Spellings said.

"We’ve got to pick up the pace -- no doubt about it,"

"It’s the privatization of public education," she added.

An], questions? Get answers on any topic at ~.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now.

Bush Seeks Teacher Merit-pay Funds (WT)

Financial Aid Penalty Plan Is Unique To Texas (HC)

Federal Efforts Target Struggling High School Readers (MJS)

The Washin,qton Post, February 12, 2007

SMS in WH Morning Update:

THE PRESIDENT participates in Photo Opportunity and makes

This morning, Mrs. Bush will participate in a roundtable with cardiologists,

MRS. BUSH participates in a Roundtable with Cardiologists,

The President And Mrs. Bush Participate In A Meeting On Childhood Obesity.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings Announces Proposal To Increase

President Bush To Present A Plan Saving $70 Billion In Medicare And

President Urges The House To Join The Senate In Supporting A "Combined

OMB Deputy Director Clay Johnson Says The President’s Management

President Bush Attends National Prayer Breakfast

President and Mrs. Bush Discuss Childhood Obesity

~ Fact Sheet: Encouraqinq Child Fitness

Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance to Beaver, Cimarron, and Texas

President’s Statement on Senate Passage of Minimum Waqe Increase and Small

Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance for Oklahoma

President’s Statement on Senate Passaqe of Minimum Waqe Increase and Small

President Bush to Welcome President Martin Torrijos of the Republic of Panama

American Heart Month, 2007

Press Briefinq by Tony Snow

You are currently subscribed to Communications Update - Agendes as:

Education Secretary vows new tutoring focus (Ed Daily)

The announcement followed by only a day the Democratic-controlled House’s passage of a