The Daily Report Card: Voucher Confusion, Education Supercommittee, And NCLB Waivers

Ind. voucher memo confuses, concerns districts – chicagotribune.com A memo that sparked concern among Indiana’s school districts by saying they would begin losing funding this month under the state’s new private school voucher law was sent “prematurely” several months before the first funding reductions take place, a state education official says. The Journal and Courier reported (https://on.jconline.com/t0Oz0i ) that school leaders across the state received the memo in September showing the varying amounts each school district would lose in November to support the state-funded voucher program. (chicagotribune.com)

How education fares if debt supercommittee fails – The Answer Sheet – The Washington Post Failure of the congressional supercommittee tasked with reducing the federal deficit by at least $1.2 trillion could lead to across-the-board budget cuts, which would have a serious impact on already-distressed public education funding. The Congressional Budget Office has projected what could happen to public education if the trigger is pulled and across-the-board cuts kick in in January 2013. There are new reports that the supercommittee is getting ready to admit that its Republican and Democratic members couldn’t compromise after several months of negotiations — this after Congress itself couldn’t reach an agreement. (ashingtonpost.com)

Transparency Watch: NCLB Waiver Judges Identified – Politics K-12 – Education Week A couple of weeks ago, Politics K-12 made a strong case for why the U.S. Department of Education was wrong for not disclosing, up front, the names of the judges who would help decide which states earned waivers under the No Child Left Behind Act and which wouldn’t. Today, to its credit, the department reversed course and identified the 21 education-policy experts who will inform U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s waiver decisions. (More on the who’s-who list in a moment.) (blogs.edweek.org)