20 Questions for the Secretary-Designate

In preparation for Secretary of Education-Designate Arne Duncan’s confirmation hearing in the Senate tomorrow, the New America education team has put together a list of possible questions to be posed. Feel free to suggest additional questions in the reader comment section.

Pre-K-12

1. You have talked about the importance of education reform to narrow achievement gaps for poor and minority children. But research shows that as much as half of the achievement gap exists before children enter first grade – and that high-quality early education programs can help narrow those gaps and have a long-term, positive impact. What role do you believe quality pre-k and early education should play in efforts to improve student achievement and narrow achievement gaps? How should the federal government be involved in supporting and expanding access to high-quality early childhood education?

2. As you know, the federal government’s largest early education programs, Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant, are under the oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department of Education also operates numerous programs-including Title I, Even Start, Early Reading First, and IDEA Preschool and Infants and Toddlers Programs-that provide early education. What steps will you take to improve coordination and collaboration among early education programs at the Department and between these programs and those operated by HHS?

3. How do you think schools should be measured under a revised No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability system? Are you content with the current use of static test scores or do you favor a model that compares individual student growth from year to year? If you favor a “growth model” as it is commonly known, what would you do to ensure that states have the data systems and technical capacity to track and assess individual student achievement? To what extent should federal funds be leveraged to put such systems in place?

4. Currently, the standards, benchmarks, and measures for academic achievement in the United States vary greatly. As a result of varied standards, assessments, and proficiency levels, America’s highly mobile student-aged population moves through the nation’s schools gaining widely varying levels of knowledge, skills and preparedness. And yet, we compete as one nation in the world economy. Proponents of national education standards argue that they are needed to: (a) ensure that all American students are given the same opportunity to learn at a high standard no matter where they live; (b) allow for meaningful comparisons of student academic achievement across states; (c) ensure American high school graduates are academically qualified to enter college or the workforce; and, (d) ensure that students are better prepared for the global marketplace to maintain America’s competitive edge. From equity, competitiveness, and efficiency standpoints, do you agree that it is the time for national education standards? If so, what role should the federal government play in setting such standards?

5. In 2008, fewer than half of the high school juniors and seniors who took the ACT national college admissions test met its college readiness benchmark in mathematics. Of the 40,000 freshmen admitted into the California State University system in 2007, more than 60 percent needed remediation in English or math. According to one study, only 34 percent of all students finish high school with the minimum qualifications necessary for admission to a four-year postsecondary institution. College remediation comes at great cost not only to students, but to taxpayers. When a student requiring remediation receives financial aid for college, taxpayers pay twice: once for the student’s high school education and again when federally subsidized student loans are used to pay for their remedial coursework. What resources, if any, should be leveraged at the state, local, postsecondary, and federal levels to ensure that students graduate high school college- and workforce-ready?

6. Unfortunately, the least experienced, least credentialed teachers often end up teaching the most disadvantaged students in this country. Both collective bargaining agreements and loopholes in federal law that allow teacher salaries to be exempted from resource calculations across schools contribute to this pattern. How might you address this imbalance in current resource allocations?

7. Many have claimed that the Department has been overly rigid in its enforcement of No Child Left Behind. While you were Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chicago Public Schools, the district pushed back on the Department’s regulations as they relate to the provision of supplemental educational services. Do you agree that enforcement has been too rigid? If so, in what areas would you grant states and school districts more leeway in meeting the law’s requirements?

8. School districts around the country, particularly high-poverty, high-minority districts, are struggling to recruit and retain highly qualified and effective teachers. Some districts are offering loan forgiveness, others offer mortgage assistance, and some provide signing bonuses or differential pay. No Child Left Behind currently provides competitive grants for local and state-operated innovative teacher compensation programs. Do you have plans to build more financial capacity for these types of programs or test their effectiveness through increased research and development?

9. The President-elect has talked a lot about program performance and ensuring that ineffective federal programs are eliminated. Under the current assessment system, known as the Program Assessment Rating Tool, many programs at the Department of Education are rated “results not demonstrated” because there is not enough information to determine whether or not they are, in fact, effective. As Secretary, what will you do to ensure that Department programs are performing? How will you measure and demonstrate results? What role will research and evaluation play in your administration?

HIGHER EDUCATION

10. Do you believe that as currently designed, the federal student aid programs are appropriately targeted and work both efficiently and effectively in expanding college access, or do you believe that the programs need to be overhauled to ensure that the doors of college remain open for low-income and working-class students? In particular, do you expect the administration to continue supporting both the Direct and Guaranteed Student Loan Programs or instead push for a 100 percent Direct Lending model given research that shows this program is less costly to run?

11. As currently designed, federal higher education tax credits disproportionately favor middle- and upper-income families and are largely unavailable to low-income families due to the fact that they are nonrefundable and have limitations on the costs that they cover (tuition and fees versus cost of attendance). Given that the federal student aid system was created to increase the enrollment rates of those who could not otherwise afford to attend, are tax credits an efficient way to deliver limited student aid resources? Has the administration given any thought to revamping the current tax credits so they are available to lower-income families? What steps do you anticipate taking to ensure that the President-elect’s proposed American Opportunity Tax Credit is available to low-income students who may have trouble meeting the 100 hour service requirement due to family and work responsibilities?

12. Over the last several years, the federal government has increasingly asked and expected families to save more for their children’s college education, and more and more are doing so in 529 college savings plans. As currently designed, 529s disproportionately benefit higher-income families who can afford to save and who reap enormous tax benefits for doing so. Potentially building on some innovations in various states, what would you do to make 529s more progressive or more attractive to the millions of moderate- and middle-income families who find it hard to save for their children’s education but very much want to?

13. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act, signed into law in September 2007, included a new auction program to determine taxpayer subsidy levels paid to private lenders that make federal student loans. The auction program will apply to all federal Parent PLUS loans made in the 2009-2010 academic year and thereafter. Does the administration plan to implement the program as required under law, or will it seek changes to the program, or argue that it be postponed as some stakeholder interest groups have suggested?

14. Studies have shown that a large percentage of students taking out private loans do not first exhaust their eligibility for cheaper federal student loan options. This can be extremely harmful to students, since private student loans almost always have much higher interest rates than federal loans and rarely provide repayment options that take into account income or public service. What do you think can be done to ensure that students first exhaust their cheaper federal student loan options before turning to private student loans?

15. Private student loans currently enjoy a level of protection in bankruptcy court akin to unpaid taxes, child support, and government fines. In reality, they are more similar to a car or home loan, which is dischargeable during bankruptcy proceedings. This disparity in treatment creates an enormous burden for students who find themselves stuck with high-cost debt during tough financial times. Do you believe that more should be done to equalize the bankruptcy treatment of private student loans so that they are closer to other conventional types of consumer debt?

16. Ever-increasing college prices are a major concern of American families. Some experts fear that college will be absolutely unaffordable for all but the most affluent within the next 25 years. Do you envision a proactive way for the federal government to do more to control college costs?

17. According to budget officials at the Department, the Pell Grant program is facing a $4 to 5-billion shortfall in the coming year. Will attempting to close that gap prevent the administration from being able to fulfill its campaign promise to significantly increase the maximum Pell Grant?

18. The Bush administration has been accused of turning a blind eye to allegations of corruption in the student loan industry. Will the Department of Education, under your leadership, make enforcement of student loan law and regulations a higher priority than it has been? How would you accomplish that?

BUDGET & STIMULUS

19. As Secretary of Education, you and the President-elect will have to choose among competing priorities when drawing up a budget for the Department of Education. What do you expect your funding priorities for the coming year to be?

20. There has been a lot of debate about what should be included in the stimulus bill. What are your thoughts and ideas on ways we can use the stimulus to further invest in our nation’s schools, early care system, and institutions of higher education?