H.R. 3130, THE IMPROVING AMERICA'S SCHOOLS ACT OF 1993: THE IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN _=^=^^_ DISTRICTS Y 4.G JAR: AM 3/1 H.R. 3130, The Icproving Anerica's Schools Act of 1993: The Iiplications for Urban Districts,nOctuoberiAKlNG BEFORE THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 19, 1993 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Operations GOVERNMENT DO | eposTtory 8/98 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 49-424 WASHINGTON : 1998 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice.Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-057165-0 '5 THE IMPROVING AMERICA'S SCHOOLS H.R. 3130, ACT OF 1993: THE IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN DISTRICTS AM Y4.G 74/7: 3/1 HI 3130, The Improving Aierica's Schools Act of 1993: The Inplications for Urban Oistricts,rOctoiberUAKlNG BEFORE THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 19, 1993 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Operations GOVERNMENT BPL EPOS1TORY 8/98 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 49-424 WASHINGTON : 1998 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-057165-0 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Michigan, Chairman CARDISS COLLINS, Illinois WILLIAM F. CLINGER, Jr., Pennsylvania GLENN ENGLISH, Oklahoma AL McCANDLESS, California HENRYA. WAXMAN, California J. DENNIS HASTERT, Illinois MIKE SYNAR, Oklahoma JON L. KYL, Arizona STEPHEN L. NEAL, North Carolina CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut TOM LANTOS, California STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico MAJOR R. OWENS, New York CHRISTOPHER COX, California EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming JOHN M. SPRATT, Jr., South Carolina ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida GARYA. CONDIT, California DICK ZIMMER, New Jersey COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota WILLIAM H. ZELIFF, Jr., New Hampshire KAREN L. THURMAN, Florida JOHN M. McHUGH, New York BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois STEPHEN HORN, California CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York DEBORAH PRYCE, Ohio THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin JOHN L. MICA, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey ROB PORTMAN, Ohio FLOYD H. FLAKE, New York JAMES A HAYES, Louisiana CRAIG A. WASHINGTON, Texas BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont BARBARA-ROSE COLLINS, Michigan (Independent) CORRINE BROWN, Florida MARJORIE MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, Pennsylvania LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California GENE GREEN, Texas BART STUPAK, Michigan Julian Epstein, StaffDirector Matthew R. Fletcher, Minority StaffDirector Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York, Chairman HENRYA. WAXMAN, California STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin STEPHEN HORN, California DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey JOHN L. MICA, Florida CRAIGA. WASHINGTON, Texas BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont (Ind.) Ex Officio JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Michigan WILLIAM F. CLINGER, Jr., Pennsylvania Ronald A. Stroman, StaffDirector Allegra Pacheco, Professional StaffMember Martine M. DiCroce, Clerk Martha Morgan, Minority Counsel (II) CONTENTS Page Hearingheld on October 19, 1993 1 Statementof: Payzant, Thomas, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. DepartmentofEducation; and LutherWilliams, Assist- ant Director for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation 8 Simering, Jeff, Washington representative, Chicago Board of Education; Robert E. Slavin, Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Dis- advantaged Students, Johns Hopkins University; and Kati Haycock, Director of Education Trust, American Association for Higher Edu- cation 34 Simmons, Sharon Edwards, supervisor of Early Childhood Education, New York City Public Schools; Gerard G. Leeds, cochairperson of the Institute forCommunityDevelopment; and DoctorLavinia Dickerson ... 89 Letters, statements, etc., submitted forthe recordby: Fernandez, Joe, president, Council ofGreat City Schools, prepared state- mentof 37 Haycock, Kati, Director of Education Trust, American Association for HigherEducation, prepared statementof 72 Leeds, Gerard G., cochairperson ofthe Institute for Community Develop- ment, prepared statementof 101 Payzant, Thomas, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. DepartmentofEducation, prepared statementof 11 Simmons, Sharon Edwards, supervisor of Early Childhood Education, NewYork CityPublic Schools, prepared statementof 92 Slavin, Robert E., Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Dis- advantaged Students, Johns Hopkins University, prepared statement of 53 Towns, Hon. Edolphus, a Representative in Congress from the State ofNewYork, prepared statementof 3 Williams, Luther, Assistant Director for Education and Human Re- sources, National ScienceFoundation, prepared statementof 24 (III) H.R. 3130, THE IMPROVING AMERICA'S SCHOOLS ACT OF THE IMPLICATIONS 1993: FOR URBAN DISTRICTS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1993 House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations, Committee on Government Operations, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1 p.m., in room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edolphus Towns (chair- man ofthe subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Towns and Mica. StaffPresent: Ronald A. Stroman, staffdirector; Allegra Pacheco, professional staff member; Martine M. DiCroce, clerk; and Martha Morgan, minority counsel. Mr. Towns. The hearing on H.R. 3130, "The Improving America's Schools Act of 1993" and the implications for urban districts will now come to order. — This begins the subcommittee's hearing on H.R. 3130 "The Im- proving America's Schools Act of 1993" and the implications for urban districts. Today we are focusing on t—he administration's re- targeting proposal and title II of H.R. 3130 professional develop- ment. Over one-fifth of the children in our Nation live in poverty: that amounts to nearly 11.5 million children. Of these, 39.8 percent are African-American and 32 percent are Hispanic, many ofwhom live in our inner cities. With such a high concentration ofimpoverished children living in urban centers, the purpose of this hearing is to draw attention to the impact the administration's bill will have on the education ofpoor children in these areas. It has become far too accepted that minority and low-income chil- dren do not perform educationally as well as other children. Most uninformed people attribute the discrepancy in scores or achieve- ment rates to the children themselves, their parents or even the culture from where these children come from. These excuses serve only to perpetuate the cycle of low-achievement as many educators become accustomed to expecting less from these children and give less in return. Educators from all over the country, and some we are honored to have here today, have already demonstrated outstanding meth- ods and approaches to use in educating poor and minority children. (1) The administration's bill now attempts on a nationwide level to en- courage successful teaching methods in all schools. Additionally, H.R. 3130 attempts to further target chapter 1 money to the most needy school districts in our Nation. The pro- posed improvements would result in the highest poverty counties receiving a 15-percent increase in chapter 1 funding and the lowest poverty counties losing 34 percent oftheir chapter 1 funds. I know that the 625,000 impoverished children in the great State of New York will benefit greatly from this shift offunds and I applaud the administration for recognizing the importance of high standards and increased funding for schools with the highest concentration of poverty children. I support H.R. 3130, but as Chair ofthis subcommittee I am con- cerned about some parts ofthe proposal. My specific concerns deal with the allocation of the majority of Federal funds to schools and allowing them to commingle this money with other Federal discre- tionary funds without a specific, focused, and enforceable monitor- ing and assessment process to oversee the application of this fund- ing. I am also concerned about the absence of a coordinated effort to establish consistent professional development guidelines on both the Federal and State level. I agree with the administration that professional development is essential to any school reform program, but the standards by which we embark on training our teachers must be consistent all the way through. The purpose of this hear- ing will be to focus on these concerns and gather comments and recommendations from experts in the field, people that are out there making the difference day in and day out. da.AsWeyouwilclanapspeleyftrhoem5t-hmeinwuittenersuslel.istW,ewehahvaevea alinghatmbtihterieoutshaatgewne- put on, and, of course, it starts out green, and then it switches to red, and when it becomes red that means that your 5 minutes are up, just in case you lose yourselfin your testimony. And, I ask for everyone to please cooperate in this, which will allow us to raise some questions and cover the entire subject matter. Before we hear from our witnesses, I would like to yield at this time to a member ofthe subcommittee from the great State ofFlor- ida, Congressman Mica, for any remarks that he might like to make at this time. [The prepared statement ofHon. Edolphus Towns follows:] OPENING STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE EDOLPHUS TOWNS, CHAIRMAN SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS HEARINGON:"H.R.3130-THEIMPROVINGAMERICA'SSCHOOLACT OF 1993: THE IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN DISTRICTS" WILL THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS OFTHE HOUSECOMMITTEEON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS PLEASE COMETO ORDER. THIS BEGINS THE SUBCOMMITTEE'S HEARING ON H.R. 3130 - THE IMPROVING AMERICA'S SCHOOL ACT OF 1993" AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN DISTRICTS. TODAYWEARE FOCUSING ONTHEADMINISTRATION'S RE-TARGETINGPROPOSALANDTITLE II OF H.R. 3130 - PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. OVER ONE-FIFTH OF THE CHILDREN IN OUR NATION LIVE IN POVERTY: THATAMOUNTS TO NEARLY 11.5 MILLION CHILDREN. OFTHESE,39.8%AREAFRICAN-AMERICANAND32%AREHISPANIC, MANY OF WHOM LIVE IN OUR INNER CITIES. WITH SUCH A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF IMPOVERISHED CHILDREN LIVING IN URBAN CENTERS,THEPURPOSEOFTHISHEARINGISTODRAWATTENTION TO THE IMPACT THE ADMINISTRATION'S BILL WILL HAVE ON THE EDUCATION OF POVERTYCHILDREN IN THESEAREAS. ITHASBECOMEFARTOOACCEPTEDTHATMINORITYANDLOW- INCOMECHILDRENDONOTPERFORMEDUCATIONALLYASWELLAS OTHER CHILDREN. MOST UNINFORMED PEOPLE ATTRIBUTE THE DISCREPANCY IN SCORES OR ACHIEVEMENT RATES TO THE CHILDREN THEMSELVES, THEIR PARENTS OR EVEN THE CULTURE FROM WHERE THESE CHILDREN COME FROM. THESE EXCUSES SERVEONLYTOPERPETUATETHECYCLEOFLOW-ACHIEVEMENTAS MANY EDUCATORS BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO EXPECTING LESS FROM THESE CHILDREN AND GIVE LESS IN RETURN. THEIMPROVINGAMERICA'SSCHOOLACTOF1993-H.R.3130- - COUNTERS THIS TREND. ITATTEMPTS TO HAVE STATES IMPOSE HIGH STANDARDSFOR ALL.CHILDREN IN HIGH-POVERTYSCHOOLS