The Public School Forum’s Friday Report

PDF versions can be found at www.ncforum.org/archives.htm

Volume 4, Issue 40                                                                               May 23, 2003

Five Decades After Brown v. Board

      Last weekend marked the 49-year anniversary of the United State Supreme Court’s unanimous decision outlawing separate but equal education in the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case.  As part of this year’s assessment of Brown’s legacy, the Education Trust, a Washington, DC-based group that advocates for higher academic standards for low-income children, released The Unfinished Business of Brown v. Board of Education, which includes two reports detailing the current education progress between races.  The first report focuses on curriculum and raising standards and expectations for students, while the second report, Education Watch: Achievement, Attainment, and Opportunity from Secondary School Through College, provides national and state-by-state analysis of student performance data, achievement gaps, and access to resources. Education Watch compiles data on achievement gains, using National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores, education attainment, using high school and college data, and opportunity gaps, using teacher quality and expenditures.

Achievement

      North Carolina has earned high marks for its improvement on NAEP assessments, especially in mathematics.  North Carolina led the nation with the most improvement on the 4^th and 8^th grade math assessments among White, Black, and Hispanic students.  The state ranked sixth among White students, third among Black students, and fourth among Hispanic students on improvement on the 4^th grade reading assessment.  Education Trust detailed the performance gaps between White and Black and Hispanic students on the 2000 NAEP mathematics assessments (see below).

Source: Education Trust

Attainment

      As part of their analysis of education attainment, Education Trust analyzes the advanced placement test participation rates and scores for racial subgroups.  As the chart below shows, 32% of North Carolina students are black, but fewer than 10% take the Calculus AB, English Language and Composition, or Biology tests, compared with white students who represent 62% of the student population but take over 83% of the Calculus AB, English Language and Composition, or Biology tests.  Student performance on the tests show similar discrepancies: on average less than 30% of black students scored a 3 or better to earn college credit, compared with 59% of White students who scored high enough to earn college credit.  Black students in North Carolina outperformed their national peers in the percent who scored high enough to earn college credit, whereas white students slightly under performed their national peers. 

Source: Education Trust

Opportunity

      On North Carolina’s teacher quality indicators, the state outperforms the national average in the percentage of secondary teachers with subject matter expertise (see chart).  Under the No Child Left Behind legislation, student accountability and teacher quality standards, it will be more important than ever to insure that struggling students get access to high-quality teachers.  Education Trust notes that “research is very clear: good teachers make good schools. Students who get several effective teachers in a row will soar no matter what their family backgrounds, while students who have even two ineffective teachers in a row rarely recover.”

 Source: Education Trust

For more information, go to www.edtrust.org

State News . . .

Justice Center Releases Budget Analysis:

“Why Cuts Alone Won’t Be Enough to Fill the Hole”

      As the House and Senate budget conferees try to reconcile differences between their budget versions, they also must address a projected $400 million shortfall due to weakened revenue collections.  As the chambers confront the shortfall, the North Carolina Justice and Community Development Center has released a policy brief, “Piecing Together a Budget: Why Cuts Alone Won’t Be Enough to Fill the Hole,” which questions the assumption: “Can’t we just tighten our belts?”  The Center notes that many observers opine that the state needs to freeze state spending and services at the 2002-03 level and the budget problem will be solved.  All three proposed budget versions (the Governor and both chambers) propose spending less next year than would be necessary to fund government services at this year’s levels.  The Center confronts the “just freeze things” argument noting that it ignores the major areas of state government that are driving spending:

      “While some critics claim that all problems can be solved by simply cutting waste or extravagances, most of the big money growth in the current budget process is in two areas: education and health care.  Together, education and Medicaid alone made up 74% of 2002-03 general fund spending.  Much, if not most of the remaining budget growth is attributable to other popular or unavoidable expenditures such as prisons, debt service, state employee pay raises and health insurance expenses.”

      The major areas of rapid spending increases, include expanding education enrollment, rising health care costs, growing demands for prison space, and rising amounts of debt service.  Enrollment for public schools, the UNC system, and community colleges is projected to grow by 40,000 students next year; health care spending is growing at an alarming rate and 72% of health care spending is for elderly and disabled; the state’s prison population has grown by 50% during the past decade; and the state’s rising debt service spending will grow 50% next year ($130 million).  The Center concludes:  “In short, North Carolina cannot simply cut its way to a balanced budget without dramatically reducing some of its most popular programs (education, health care, corrections) and without hurting three of its most vulnerable populations (children, the elderly, and the disabled).”  Below are the Center’s recommendations for addressing the shortfall:

      1) Start with the Senate revenue package –Shortfall: $400 million

      2) Suspend the state allocation of all funds received from the national tobacco lawsuit settlement not earmarked for smoking cessation and the Senior Prescription Drug Program – Reduces shortfall to: $263 million.

3) Enhance tax collection and enforcement as outlined by the Department of Revenue – Reduces shortfall to: $213 million.

      4) Close additional corporate loopholes such as the tobacco export credit, bank tax loophole and “nowhere income” loophole – Reduces shortfall to: $178 million.

      5) Suspend the William S. Lee Act business tax incentive program for one year while independent analysts assess its real impact in bolstering the state economy – Reduces shortfall to $108 million.

      6) Suspend allocations to the Governor’s business incentive fund – Reduces shortfall to $98 million.

      7) Enact a temporary 1% surcharge on corporate and personal income taxes – Reduces shortfall to zero. 

editor’s note: to understand the potential impact of proposed budget cuts, DPI’s Financial and Business Services division prepared a spreadsheet detailing the various budget scenarios.  To view a specific school system, go to www.ncforum.org and look under “Budget Effects on LEAs”

For a copy of the brief, go to www.ncjustice.org

Civics Consortium Releases Civics Index

      The North Carolina Civics Consortium, a partnership of almost 200 non-profit, government, and business organizations interested in effective civics education, released the results of a statewide poll of civic involvement of youth and adults.  The findings from the Civics Index 2003 indicate that youth express higher levels of confidence in government and nonprofit organizations than adults, including high levels of confidence in the military (79%), the federal government (62%), Congress (57%), and state and city/county government (52%).  Youth involvement in political activity is low but their level of volunteerism is high, with 75% reporting some volunteer activity in the past year.

      Despite their confidence in many of these institutions, their knowledge of them is lacking.  For example, less than 10% of youth can successfully identify North Carolina’s two United States Senators, compared with 31% of adults; 57% of youth can successfully identify that the General Assembly is responsible for enacting laws, compared with 63% of adults.  Seventy-four percent of youth can successfully identify that the first ten amendments to the Constitution are the Bill of Rights, know the legal age for suffrage, and the responsibilities of the different levels of government, compared with 63% of adults.

      Part of the Consortium’s efforts are to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the state’s civic education and to build on the successes and shore up areas of weaknesses, including the state’s woeful voting record.  North Carolina ranks 11 in the percentage of eligible citizens who are registered to vote (88.4%), but 47 in the percentage of registered voters who vote (57%).  The Consortium is planning a Policy Forum on the Civic Mission of Schools on December 4 in Raleigh as a follow-up to the Index and to explore next steps in improving the civic involvement of youth.

For more information and a copy of the poll, go to www.civics.org

Lee County Establishes Education Foundation

      This week former Lt. Governor Dennis Wicker announced the creation of the Lee County Education Foundation, with $500,000 for programs to improve student performance.  At the announcement, Wicker stressed that “we don't want to amass an impressive bank account.  We want to amass impressive test scores.” 

      Areas of possible funding include after-school reading programs, dropout prevention strategies, and programs designed to improve postsecondary education opportunities.  Until the board selects a director, the director of the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce will manage the Foundation. 

National News . . .

GAO: NCLB Test Development Could Cost Billions

      The General Accounting Office recently released a study, Characteristics of Test Will Influence Expenses; Information Sharing May Help States Realize Efficiencies,  examining the costs of developing and implementing tests under the No Child Left Behind legislation.  The report claims that the tests mandated by No Child Left Behind will cost $1.9 billion to $5.3 billion over the next seven years.  According to the report, if all states use only multiple-choice tests the costs will be $1.9 billion, which is less than the $2.34 billion Congress must provide under the present law.  If all states use multiple-choice and essay questions, it will cost $5.3 billion.  If states continue to use a combination of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, which are more expensive to grade but are believed to be a better measure of skills, the tests will cost $3.9 billion.

      Dan Fuller, a lobbyist for the National School Boards Association, said that federal support is not enough to support the new law regardless of what tests are used.  He said, “I do not dispute that they have added significant money.  But there’s a significant difference between what they provide and the costs districts will incur.  We’re not in a position economically for states to pony up.  They don’t have it.”  Education undersecretary Eugene Hickok said that the sources of federal funding were understated and that many testing costs would be the responsibility of the states irrespective of the new law.

For a copy of the study, go to www.gao.gov and type the title in the search engine

The Friday Report is published weekly by the Public School Forum of NC and

is distributed to Forum Board members, legislators active in educational policy,

the press, and Forum subscribers.  Archived editions can be found at www.ncforum.org/archives.htm