Back to School Statistics

An estimated 49.6 million students are projected to be enrolled in
grades K-12 this fall in the United States, according to the National
Center for Educational Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau's Back
to School Fact Sheet.   Other interesting back to school statistics
follow:

*$489.4 billion is projected to be spent on elementary and secondary
schools in 2007-2008.
*$9,969 is the projected average expenditure per pupil in 2007-2008.
*887,000 students are projected to be enrolled in charter schools
this year in the U.S.
*6.1 million students are projected to be enrolled in private schools.
*42 percent of students in grades K-12 are minorities, as of October 2005.
*10.5 million students between the ages of five and seventeen speak a
language other than English at home.  Most of them, 7.5 million,
speak Spanish.
*21 percent of high school students had jobs while they were in high
school in 2005.
*1.1 million students are home schooled in 2003 (2 percent of
students 5 to 17).
*18 million students are projected to be enrolled in the nation's
colleges and universities this fall.

For more Back to School Facts please visit
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/010218.html
and http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id+372.

1) 127th Ohio General Assembly:  Ohio House and Senate leaders
announced last week that the House will hold sessions on September 11
& 12, 2007, and the Senate will meet on September 11, 2007.

Senator Patricia Clancy recently announced that she will resign from
her seat in the Ohio Senate (8th Ohio Senate District) in early
October to accept a position as assistance chief probation office for
the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas.  The Senate Republican
Caucus is now accepting nominations for candidates to complete
Senator Clancy's term.

2) Comments Due on NCLB Draft by September 5, 2007:  The U.S. House
Education and Labor Committee, Representative George Miller
(D-California) chair, released on August 28, 2007 draft
recommendations for the reauthorization of Title 1 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act, also known as the No Child Left Behind
Act.  The draft represents the recommendations gathered from dozens
of hearings over the past year, and responses from over 100
organizations.  The committee is seeking comments by September 5,
2007 regarding the recommendations.

Overall the draft recommendations include a variety of changes in the
current law that would lessen some requirements and penalties, and
provide school districts (and schools) with more flexibility to meet
the accountability requirements.  Specifically, under Title 1 Part A
there are recommendations that require states to set a minimum
subgroup size of 30 for reporting and accountability purposes;
require school districts to develop plans to assist students who are
at risk of dropping out of school; create priority schools and high
priority schools to receive assistance; and extend the deadline for
meeting proficiency goals in reading and math beyond the 2013-14
school year, if all racial and demographic subgroups are on track for
eventual mastery.  Also, states may be able to use multiple
indicators/assessments for accountability purposes.  For example,
states may factor in graduation rates, dropout rates, college
attendance, percentage of students completing end of course exams,
etc. into the calculation for adequate yearly progress.  In addition,
a new fund is recommended, the Graduation Promise Fund, which will
focus resources on ways to help keep students in schools, starting in
middle school.

Legislation that includes these recommendations may be introduced
over the next few months.  To view a summary of the recommendations
and the 400 plus page draft visit, please visit
http://edlabor.house.gov/.

The following includes some of the draft recommendations proposed for
the reauthorization of the Title 1 Elementary and Secondary Education
Act:

Title I - Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged

-Title I, Part A - Disadvantaged Children Meet High Academic
Standards.  This is the largest program in the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act, and authorizes federal aid to State and
local educational agencies for helping educationally disadvantaged
children achieve the same high State academic achievement standards
as other students.  Most of the recommended changes to the
legislation are included in this section under the topics of
Graduation Promise; College and Work-Ready Standards and Assessments;
Multiple Indicators/Assessments; Growth Models; Performance Index; N
Size and Confidence Intervals; English Language Learners; Students
with Disabilities; Peer Review; Report Cards; Other Elements of the
State Plan; Comparing State Standards; Local Educational Agency
Plans; School Improvement Assistance and School Redesign; Parental
Involvement; Qualifications for Teachers and Paraprofessionals;
Closing Comparability Loopholes; Graduation Rates, and more.

-Title I, Part B - Student Reading and Literacy Skills Improvement
Grants.  Includes literacy programs, including Reading First, Early
Reading First, and Even Start Family Literacy Programs. The text for
this section is not included in the draft legislation, but is
expected to be ready soon.

-Title I, Part C - Migrant Education.  Provides academic assistance
for children of migrant workers.

-Title I, Part D - Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children
and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk.  Provides
formula grants to States to serve neglected and delinquent youth in
institutions, community day programs, and correctional facilities.

-Title I, Part E - National Assessment of Title I.  Authorizes the
Secretary of Education to conduct an evaluation of Title I programs
and activities, and report findings to Congress.  It also requires
the Secretary to conduct a longitudinal study of schools receiving
assistance under Title I.  The discussion draft also requires the
National Academies of Sciences to conduct a study to identify an
appropriate instrument to accurately measure the closing of
achievement gaps among various racial and ethnic groups.

-Title I, Part F - Comprehensive School Reform.  Authorizes the
Comprehensive School Reform program, which is designed to assist
schools in improving the quality of the entire school based upon
reliable research and effective practices.  Includes the next
generation of comprehensive school reform based on Chicago's school
reform model.

-Title I, Part G - Advanced Placement.  Authorizes the Advanced
Placement program to increase access to advanced placement tests,
improve Advanced Placement programs, increase student academic
achievement, and increase the number of individuals who achieve a
baccalaureate or advanced degree.  This section was rewritten to be
consistent with the AP-IB language in the America COMPETES Act.  It
also maintains the current law's requirement to help students pay for
exam fees.

-Title I, Part H - School Dropout Prevention.  Provides grants to
States to strengthen and develop dropout prevention and school
reentry programs, and to raise academic achievement levels by
providing grants that: (1) challenge all students and (2) ensure that
all students have access to school-wide programs proven to be
effective in dropout prevention and school reentry.  The existing
program is rewritten in this draft to provide incentives to states to
increase graduation rates.  States will be required to determine how
to strengthen state policies in order to raise gradation rates, while
ensuring a rigorous secondary education, and implement new policies.
The analysis will include an examination of policies of school
funding, data capacity, accountability systems, interventions, new
school development, and dissemination and implementation of effective
local school improvement activities.

-Title I, Part I, Core Curriculum Development.  Includes a new
program to provide funds to low-income districts to support high
quality instruction in music and arts, foreign languages, civics and
government, economics, history, geography and physical education and
health.  Funds would support expanding the amount of instructional
time in such subjects, developing high quality curriculum, providing
essential materials and textbooks and partnering with community-
based organizations to increase student learning in these subjects.

-Title I, Part J, Expanded Learning Time Demonstration Program:
Includes a new program to provide funds to states and local
educational agencies to expand learning time aimed at improving
student achievement and engagement.  Funds could be used to expand
learning time at elementary and secondary schools to support
innovation, redesign, and improve educational programs, improve
instruction and teacher collaboration, and improve the academic
achievement of all students in participating schools.

3)  What do Children Need?  Voices for Ohio's Children is sponsoring
community briefings to discuss issues that will affect children in
Ohio in 2007-08; review the recently approved state budget for
FY08-09; review federal issues and strategies for becoming effective
advocates; and identify budget issues for 2010 and 2011.  The
briefings are open to the public, but registration is required, and
the organizers are asking for a $10 donation to defray expenses.
For more information (dates, time, and locations) about the community
briefings, please visit
http://www.vfc-oh.org/cms//970ae92bf0bd552e/index.html

4)  Report on Poverty and Income Released:  The U.S. Census Bureau
released on August 28, 2007 a report called "Income, Poverty, and
Health Insurance Coverage in the United States:  2006".  This annual
report includes 2007 data collected from two surveys to supplement
the 2000 Census.  According to the report, 12.3 percent of Americans
(36.5 million people) were living below the poverty level in 2006.
This percentage has decreased from 12.6 percent in 2005.  The average
poverty threshold for a family of four in 2006 was $20,444, and the
median household income in the U.S. rose from $47,845 in 2005 to
$48,201 in 2006.

The percentage of individuals without health insurance rose from 15.3
percent in 2005 to 15.8 percent or 47 million people, and number of
uninsured children also increased from 8 million to 8.7 million.

According to the American Community Survey, the median household
income levels in Ohio increased from $43,493 in 2005 to $44,532 in
2006.  The percent of people in Ohio below the poverty level
increased slightly from 13.0 percent in 2005 to 13.3 percent in 2006.
18.7 percent of Ohio's children lived below the poverty level in
2006, which is above the national level of 18.3 percent.  Cleveland
and Cincinnati were rated fourth and third poorest cities in the U.S.
Detroit was rated number one, with a poverty rate of 32.5 percent.

These reports are available at
http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf and
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTSelectServlet?ds_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_&_lang=en&_ts=206806266618

5)  Latest Report on For Profit Education Companies:   The Arizona
State University Commercialism in Education and Education Policy
Research Units released on August 9, 2007 a report called "Profiles
of For-Profit Education Management Organization:  2006-2007."  This
annual report, in its ninth edition, provides an overview of
information on education management companies (EMOs) in the U.S.

According to the report, "The for-profit education management
industry has, based on the available data, entered a period of
relative stability. The industry's actual condition, however, is more
difficult to determine than ever.  This is because companies that
dominate the industry are privately held and do not have to provide
information to the public that they choose not to share.  As a result
a large portion of the EMO industry is not subject to independent
scrutiny of either financial results or academic performance."

Researchers found that 25 percent of students are enrolled in charter
schools operated by EMOs; large EMOs dominate the for-profit
education management industry; EMOs mostly serve charter primary
schools; and 89 percent of students enrolled in an EMO operated
school will be in a school larger than the national average.  Overall
the number of charter schools is increasing, although the number of
students attending charter schools is declining, and the number of
EMO charter schools is stabilizing or declining slightly.

The researchers also noted the following, ".....despite repeated
requests, several large publicly funded Education Management
Organizations (EMOs) failed to provide information about their
schools or finances when queried by researchers. Ohio-based White Hat
Management, for example, was so reluctant to provide information that
an employee answering the phone at their corporate headquarters
refused to provide even her name before hanging up on an ASU
researcher."

For more information about this report please visit
http://epsl.asu.edu/ceru/CERU_2007_emo.htm  or contact INFORMATION
Alex Molnar at 480-965-1886;
epslmail@asu.edu.

6) What is the Whole Child Campaign?  The Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development launched the Whole Child Campaign to
support an education system in which all children are healthy, safe,
engaged, supported, and challenged.

The ASCD's Learning Compact Redefined:  A Call to Action, recommends
that policy makers ensure conditions that support comprehensive
approaches to learning.  This includes the following:

*Each student enters school healthy and learns about and practices a
healthy lifestyle.
*Each student learns in an intellectually challenging environment
that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults.
*Each student is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the
school and broader community.
*Each student has access to personalized learning and to qualified,
caring adults.
*Each graduate is prepared for success in college or further study
and for employment in a global environment.

The compact also supports a well-rounded curriculum, access to
rigorous programs in arts, foreign languages, and social studies, and
flexible graduation requirements.

To learn more about the Whole Child Campaign and view their extensive
list of resources please visit http://www.wholechildeducation.org/

7)  Bills Introduced:

HJR2 Special Sessions (Book).  Specifies that no General Assembly may
be held after the date of the general election in an even-numbered
year, except a special session.