A bit more on the money switch

And thanks to Charlie, who sends me good links!

You can find a summary of the bill here. It gives a list of what programs money could be switched to and from. Looking this over, here's a new concern: the state administered grants on this list would give our DESE (and their equivalents in other states) whole new ways of manipulating the cards.

And a good point from ASCD Executive Director Gene Carter:

The department understandably wants to target its finite resources on its priorities and guard against opening the flexibility floodgates to the extent that accountability is watered down or eliminated altogether, but offering waivers in exchange for new requirements isn’t flexibility. Instead, flexibility needs to be built into federal legislation from the outset rather than added later through vague and broad allowances, a nontransparent and patchwork system of waivers, or more rules.

During the legislative process, lawmakers must consider educator input on the most effective uses of federal funds. They also need to hold schools and districts accountable for student learning while providing them with customizable supports grounded in local knowledge of what students need.