Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 1

Public Education Network

Every day, in every community, every child in America benefits from a quality public education.

To build public demand and mobilize resources for quality public education for all children through a national constituency of local education funds and individuals.

Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 2

Public Education Network

Public Education Network

(PEN) is a national

organization of local

education funds (LEFs) and

individuals working to

improve public schools and

build citizen support for

quality public education in

low-income communities

across the nation.

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Our Communities Face…

The least qualified teachers teaching in the lowest performing schools

Modest alignment between standards, curriculum, assessments, and professional development

Low expectations of children from poor families

School reform agendas that change with new superintendents

Lack of public responsibility for public education

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PEN 200587 LEFs in 34 states + the District

of Columbia

• 11.5 million students (22%)

• 1,600+ school districts (9%)

• 16,000+ schools (17%)

87 members in 34 states and the District of Columbia

7 of the top 10 cities

17 of the top 25 cities

Key states of California, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas

A Powerful Base of Local Education Funds

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Our Members

Reduce the Achievement Gap Small schools Deep professional

development Serve as intermediaries Studies on unions

Build Community Within Schools, and Capacity Outside Schools

Information Parent training Promote common definition

of schooling Business partnerships

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Raise roughly $200 million annually to improve public schools and increase student achievement

Raised nearly $4 billion for quality public education

Invested over $1.5 billion in teacher quality

Donated over $2.5 billion in volunteer time

Resource Power of the Network

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Leveraged roughly $13 billion in public dollars by supporting local bond and tax referenda, state and local budget increases, and litigation

Changed the composition and improved the quality of school boards in 50 school districts

LEF boards serve as the meeting place for building common ground amongst educators, corporations, philanthropies, and policy and public officials

Civic Power of the Network

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Public Engagement: The Missing Element

Public engagement is important because:

Public education is essential to a democratic society

20 years of school reform have had limited success—not gone to “scale”

Accountability needs to become “public”

Public takes responsibility

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Purpose of the NCLB Hearings

To learn from the public about the impact of the law

To engage and educate the public about the law

To build constituency for public education

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Our 2004 Hearing Sites and Local Partners

• San Antonio, TXIntercultural Development Research AssociationSeptember 28

• Memphis, TNPartners in Public EducationSeptember 30

• New York, NYCampaign for Fiscal EquityOctober 7

• Chicago, ILCross City Campaign for Urban School ReformOctober 13

• Harrisburg, PAPennsylvania Public Education PartnershipMay 20

• Boston, MARennie Center at Massachusetts Institute for a New CommonwealthJune 2

• Sacramento, CALinking Education and Economic DevelopmentJune 8

• Los Angeles, CAUrban Education PartnershipJuly 21

• Cleveland, OHOhio PTA and Ohio Fair Schools CampaignSeptember 14

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PEN Thanks

Open Society Institute The George Gund

Foundation The James Irvine Foundation Nellie Mae Education

Foundation The Wallace Alexander

Gerbode Foundation

• New York Community Trust

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NCLB Hearing and Survey Participants

Over 1,700 people attended the hearings

Over 300 people provided 1,000 pages of testimony

Approximately 12,000 GiveKidsGoodSchools.org activists completed online survey

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Structure of the Hearings

Live testimony from:• Parents• Students• Business and civic leaders• Community advocates• Members of the general public

Three questions:• What do you know about the law?• How is it working?• What would you change?

Format:• Panel of 4-6 hearing officers• Multilingual presentations and

dialogue• Child care provided

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Hearing Areas of Focus

District and state accountability(Identifying and responding to low-performing schools)

Teacher quality(Quality teachers for every student)

Parent and community involvement

(Need for good information and active involvement)

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What We Heard From the Public

Public appreciated the opportunity to speak

Broad agreement on the goals of NCLB

Significant problems with implementation

The law is not benefiting those for whom it was designed

Stigma from labeling schools Lack of financial resources

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What We Heard From the Public

Highly qualified teachers’ definition problematic

District and state capacity to implement the law

Assessment and accountability are problematic

Information: accessibility and accuracy

Parental and public involvement is neither valued nor welcomed

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Count significant progress towards AYP

Provide SES before choice Reduce reliance on high

stakes tests Provide teachers with

professional development and incentives

Build district and state capacity to implement the law

Recommendations From the Public

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What We Heard from GiveKidsGoodSchools.org

Who We Heard From: 12,000 members of GKGS.org

from all 50 states Over 80% female, over 35,

white, and had completed at least four years of college; 58% are educators

60% reported that schools in their communities have been identified as “needing improvement” or “failing” based on NCLB requirements

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Over 95% believe every child should have a qualified teacher.

90% do not believe every child will have a qualified teacher by 2005.

80% or more feel that NCLB has made no difference in student performance, parental involvement, or teacher quality.

Nearly 75% feel that choice will not help improve student academic performance, but that SES will.

What We Heard from GiveKidsGoodSchools.org

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Half believe in the law’s disaggregated data requirements.

Over 2/3 do not believe that every child will score at grade level or above by 2013.

2/3 think the law requires too much testing.

Nearly 3/4 do not want the law to be repealed.

But 2/3 believe it needs to be changed.

What We Heard from GiveKidsGoodSchools.org

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Additional PEN Recommendations

Keep the public in the conversation

Enforce the law, especially in providing information and ensuring parent involvement

Hold states accountable, not just children, schools, and districts

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Members of the Pennsylvania Public Education Partnership:

• Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment

• Mon Valley Education Consortium

• Philadelphia Education Fund

• Pittsburgh Council on Public Education

Advocates

Conveners

Brokers

Local Education Funds in Pennsylvania

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Seven public meetings were held in 2004:

AltoonaBelle Vernon ErieLancasterPhiladelphiaPittsburghUniontown

LEFs

PA State PTA

Local PTOs

Good Schools PA

Other Local Partners

Choosing Partners for Public Meetings Across the Commonwealth

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The national panel of experts included:

• Wendy Puriefoy, Public Education Network • Ron Cowell, Education Policy & Leadership Center• Edward Donley, PA State Board of Education• Michael Churchill, Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia

Additional presenters:Parents, Community Members, Educators & Students

May 2004 State Hearing in Harrisburg, PA

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•From a Parent: “There’s so much emphasis on testing, I’m afraid my 8-year-old will lose his love of learning.”

Observations at PA hearings:

•From a Parent: “The school kept emphasizing how important it was for every child to do well and help the school score high. My special ed student was heart-broken because she knew her score would hurt the outcome.”

•From a Student: “My school actually paid students to come to school on test day and complete the test. Why didn’t they spend the money on new books and supplies? All I wanted to do was dissect a frog.”

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PEN NCLB Resources

NCLB Community and Parent Action Guide

Over 25 PEN/NCPIE NCLB Web Based Action Briefs

Weekly Federal Legislative Updates

National and Local Hearing Reports

NCLB Online Survey Results Hearing Toolkit Interactive NCLB CD-ROM

(future tool)

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Public Education Network

Every day, in every community, every child in America benefits from a quality public education.

To build public demand and mobilize resources for quality public education for all children through a national constituency of local education funds and individuals.