Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Schools Could Lose Millions Under a GOP Congressional Plan, White House Warns

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By Stephen Koff

Cleveland schools could lose millions of dollars under a House of Representatives plan to loosen the federal rules over state and local education, the White House warned today.

The White House figures are dramatic. In dollars terms, Cleveland's possible loss of $14.1 million of the estimated $55 million it now gets for teaching children from low-income homes would amount to the tenth worst cuts in the nation.

As a percentage of the taxpayer money Washington gives to high-poverty districts, Cleveland could lose 25.8 percent, a White House analysis says.

Columbus would be hit almost as badly, with an $11.8 million reduction representing a 25.1 percent cut over current levels.

Yet schools in relatively more affluent communities could see increases. Under the House GOP proposal, the Shaker Heights district, for example, could see a 21.6 percent increase in its money for low-income students, according to Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

"This approach is backwards, and our teachers and kids deserve much, much better," Muñoz said.

But these figures, covering proposed cuts and rule changes under the federal Title 1 program for low-income districts, come with a caveat.

The figures are the White House's estimates of cuts under an education bill passed by a House committee on Wednesday. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce restricted amendments to the bill, angering Democrats on the committee including Rep. Marcia Fudge of Warrensville Heights. The full House has not voted on the bill, and its committee passage was split along party lines.

And the Senate has not yet taken it up.

Senate education committee leaders, including Chairman Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican and former U.S. education secretary, promise a more open process in hopes of finding bipartisan consensus.

The White House would not say today whether it would veto a bill with these cuts but made clear that it hopes the Senate will produce a measure it considers more reasonable.

The broader education bill would revamp the controversial program known as No Child Left Behind and change some of the restrictions on how federal education money must be spent. The goal of No Child Left Behind, promoted heavily by President George W. Bush and adopted by President Barack Obama, was to assure that schools throughout the country had standards as to what all children should learn or know.

But this led schools and states to adopt standardized testing regimens, and in some cases teacher evaluation programs, that are unpopular. Some teachers complain that they must spend too much time making sure students can pass the tests - by teaching to the tests rather than focusing on other subjects or skills they say are important.

The Obama administration and many Democrats say current versions of the standards, known as Common Core, give states and local school districts flexibility and leeway. They say Washington is blamed unfairly, partly because conservatives have long bristled at any involvement of the federal government in local school matters.

But critics counter that Washington ties financial incentives for schools to Common Core, making the standards the equivalent of a federal requirement for school districts that want to be labeled as excellent.

The White House's focus today on funding for low-income school districts comes from the House bill's proposed spending formulas. Obama wants to restore federal cuts made in recent years and then boost budgets by even more. He would increase Title 1 funding, now at $14.4 billion, by $1 billion, or 7 percent.

House Republicans would roll back funding, the White House says. And rather than providing extra Title 1 money to districts with the highest concentrations of poverty-level students - the Cleveland district's rate is 44.5 percent - the House bill would apportion that money on a per-student basis, regardless of where he or she attended school.

The money could follow each low-income student from school to school -- even to an affluent school in a well-funded district. Even without student transfers, wealthy districts would start seeing more money for every low-income student already enrolled.

The White House and Democrats say that ignores a basic tenet of Title 1, namely, that schools with higher concentrations of students from impoverished families have a greater need for that money. Current formulas provide such additional funding.

"It is tragic that students in Cleveland and in poor school districts throughout the nation will suffer" if the bill becomes law, Fudge said. "I believe it is no accident this legislation weakens public education and siphons resources from poor school districts and reallocates them to wealthier school districts. We are failing a generation of young people who deserve equitable resources and a level playing field. Those who voted for it should be ashamed."

Some liberal and education groups say this would be a precursor to the widespread use of school vouchers, which they oppose.

But House Republicans on the education committee says the bill would give families and local schools the flexibility they need.

"The Student Success Act helps provide American families the education system they deserve, not the one Washington wants," committee Chairman John Kline, Republican of Minnesota, said on Wednesday. "America's parents, teachers, and students have waited long enough for a new law that helps every child in every school receive an excellent education."

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