Ed-Flex Is Good At All Levels
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
There is a significant debate going on right now over education, the federal government and something called Ed-Flex.
That's short for education flexibility, of course. The basic premise is that the federal government will loosen up the restrictions on funds sent to the states for education. The idea is that states will have a lot more freedom to spend federal money as they like, on programs they believe will best benefit their particular school system.
I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. It is akin to the block grant programs that have become popular around Washington in the past few years. In those programs, money is turned over to the states and the states administer the programs. This saves money because most of the cost of Washington bureaucracy is eliminated.
This has always made sense to me.
A shooting analogy comes to mind. The closer you are to the target, the easier it is to hit.
I believe this is especially true when it comes to education.
One state education official from Florida noted recently that his state receives 17 percent of its annual education budget from the federal government. But he estimated nearly 40 percent of operating costs of Florida's schools could be directly or indirectly related to federal mandates.
The federal government is good at unfunded mandates. Federal lawmakers tell state officials what they need to do, but don't pony up the funds to do it with.
So I was glad to hear that the federal government was willing to loosen up a bit when it comes to education. I'll bet most school administrators and state government officials were probably glad to hear that, too.
But while many were happy to hear the news about Ed-Flex, others were quick to note that it really was only a good start. Members of the Education Leaders Council, which includes education officials from 10 states, and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, state that the current Ed-Flex proposal only affects a small number of programs. They also say the proposal won't shrink the Washington bureaucracy currently in place to make sure the states follow all the federal programs. And as for the unfunded mandates, well, there appears to be little relief in sight there either.
They favor an expanded Ed-Flex program that would allow even more flexibility, allowing states and local school districts to have their way with most federal money they receive. Accountability would be assured through a series of standardized tests. Schools that find themselves left out in the rain would be hauled back under the federal umbrella.
It all sounds good to me.
It sounds good to Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon, too, judging by his recent comments regarding federal Ed-Flex.
According to a release from O'Bannon's office, the governor "has worked actively for Ed-Flex since last fall, when he wrote Indiana's congressional delegation, asking them to support the bill. Last February, he managed to get all 21 Democratic governors to sign a letter to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle urging passage of Ed-Flex. During a White House visit this year, O'Bannon personally asked President Clinton to support the legislation," the news release says.
O'Bannon is quoted as saying, "Passage of the Ed-Flex bill will free up our schools to spend their money on innovative programs that better meet students' needs. That will improve our public schools exponentially. The teachers and administrators who work with students every day know what their individual students need. Very often, what is best for one school may not be best for another."
I think the governor is absolutely on point.
That is why it is difficult for me to understand his determined effort to foist all-day kindergarten on every school district in Indiana whether they want it or not.
In the upcoming budget debate in the Indiana legislature, there is a major difference between the Senate budget plan and those of the governor and the House of Representatives representatives regarding requests to fund all-day kindergarten.
The Senate included an identical amount of money for all-day kindergarten as did the House. But to allow local decision-making, the Senate proposal gives local school officials more options. Mandatory all-day kindergarten was deleted by GOP members of the Senate Finance Committee.
The $111 million GOP proposal allows local schools to decide how they will use the additional funds. The options include not only all-day kindergarten, but also alternative schools for disruptive students, reading improvement, remediation, summer school, gifted and talented programs or a combination of these, according to a news release from the office State Sen. Kent Adams.
If all 294 school districts in Indiana choose to implement all-day kindergarten, full state funding will be there under the Senate plan, Adams' release states. If some do not have the extra classroom space necessary to expand kindergarten or for any reason decide to offer all-day kindergarten, the additional state funds could be used for other purposes.
Sounds amazingly like a mini Indiana version of Ed-Flex.
The Indiana "Ed-Flex" proposal was hatched because lawmakers were hearing some negative comments about all-day kindergarten. Apparently, a number of teachers have been calling to oppose the proposal. Also, studies have shown that any benefit derived from all-day kindergarten seems to disappear by the end of the second grade and that there is no significant difference between all-day kindergarten students when their achievement is tracked throughout their whole school career.
It will be interesting to see how this whole scenario plays out. So far, O'Bannon is urging the Senate to restore all-day kindergarten. And despite opposition from teachers and some local school districts, he's been rallying support for the plan all around the state.
I really am not sure how I feel about all-day kindergarten. I don't buy the argument that it's taxpayer subsidized day care. But I'm not fully convinced of the benefits, either.
Regardless, the governor's position seems like a bit of a contradiction to me.
The governor is a big fan of Ed-Flex at the federal level. But it seems at the state level - at least when it comes to all-day kindergarten - the same concept eludes him.
Should the governor or the local school superintendent and school board decide whether our schools will offer all-day kindergarten? Isn't that what Ed-Flex is really all about? [[In-content Ad]]
There is a significant debate going on right now over education, the federal government and something called Ed-Flex.
That's short for education flexibility, of course. The basic premise is that the federal government will loosen up the restrictions on funds sent to the states for education. The idea is that states will have a lot more freedom to spend federal money as they like, on programs they believe will best benefit their particular school system.
I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. It is akin to the block grant programs that have become popular around Washington in the past few years. In those programs, money is turned over to the states and the states administer the programs. This saves money because most of the cost of Washington bureaucracy is eliminated.
This has always made sense to me.
A shooting analogy comes to mind. The closer you are to the target, the easier it is to hit.
I believe this is especially true when it comes to education.
One state education official from Florida noted recently that his state receives 17 percent of its annual education budget from the federal government. But he estimated nearly 40 percent of operating costs of Florida's schools could be directly or indirectly related to federal mandates.
The federal government is good at unfunded mandates. Federal lawmakers tell state officials what they need to do, but don't pony up the funds to do it with.
So I was glad to hear that the federal government was willing to loosen up a bit when it comes to education. I'll bet most school administrators and state government officials were probably glad to hear that, too.
But while many were happy to hear the news about Ed-Flex, others were quick to note that it really was only a good start. Members of the Education Leaders Council, which includes education officials from 10 states, and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, state that the current Ed-Flex proposal only affects a small number of programs. They also say the proposal won't shrink the Washington bureaucracy currently in place to make sure the states follow all the federal programs. And as for the unfunded mandates, well, there appears to be little relief in sight there either.
They favor an expanded Ed-Flex program that would allow even more flexibility, allowing states and local school districts to have their way with most federal money they receive. Accountability would be assured through a series of standardized tests. Schools that find themselves left out in the rain would be hauled back under the federal umbrella.
It all sounds good to me.
It sounds good to Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon, too, judging by his recent comments regarding federal Ed-Flex.
According to a release from O'Bannon's office, the governor "has worked actively for Ed-Flex since last fall, when he wrote Indiana's congressional delegation, asking them to support the bill. Last February, he managed to get all 21 Democratic governors to sign a letter to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle urging passage of Ed-Flex. During a White House visit this year, O'Bannon personally asked President Clinton to support the legislation," the news release says.
O'Bannon is quoted as saying, "Passage of the Ed-Flex bill will free up our schools to spend their money on innovative programs that better meet students' needs. That will improve our public schools exponentially. The teachers and administrators who work with students every day know what their individual students need. Very often, what is best for one school may not be best for another."
I think the governor is absolutely on point.
That is why it is difficult for me to understand his determined effort to foist all-day kindergarten on every school district in Indiana whether they want it or not.
In the upcoming budget debate in the Indiana legislature, there is a major difference between the Senate budget plan and those of the governor and the House of Representatives representatives regarding requests to fund all-day kindergarten.
The Senate included an identical amount of money for all-day kindergarten as did the House. But to allow local decision-making, the Senate proposal gives local school officials more options. Mandatory all-day kindergarten was deleted by GOP members of the Senate Finance Committee.
The $111 million GOP proposal allows local schools to decide how they will use the additional funds. The options include not only all-day kindergarten, but also alternative schools for disruptive students, reading improvement, remediation, summer school, gifted and talented programs or a combination of these, according to a news release from the office State Sen. Kent Adams.
If all 294 school districts in Indiana choose to implement all-day kindergarten, full state funding will be there under the Senate plan, Adams' release states. If some do not have the extra classroom space necessary to expand kindergarten or for any reason decide to offer all-day kindergarten, the additional state funds could be used for other purposes.
Sounds amazingly like a mini Indiana version of Ed-Flex.
The Indiana "Ed-Flex" proposal was hatched because lawmakers were hearing some negative comments about all-day kindergarten. Apparently, a number of teachers have been calling to oppose the proposal. Also, studies have shown that any benefit derived from all-day kindergarten seems to disappear by the end of the second grade and that there is no significant difference between all-day kindergarten students when their achievement is tracked throughout their whole school career.
It will be interesting to see how this whole scenario plays out. So far, O'Bannon is urging the Senate to restore all-day kindergarten. And despite opposition from teachers and some local school districts, he's been rallying support for the plan all around the state.
I really am not sure how I feel about all-day kindergarten. I don't buy the argument that it's taxpayer subsidized day care. But I'm not fully convinced of the benefits, either.
Regardless, the governor's position seems like a bit of a contradiction to me.
The governor is a big fan of Ed-Flex at the federal level. But it seems at the state level - at least when it comes to all-day kindergarten - the same concept eludes him.
Should the governor or the local school superintendent and school board decide whether our schools will offer all-day kindergarten? Isn't that what Ed-Flex is really all about? [[In-content Ad]]