1. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 1 Public Education Network Every day, in every community, every child in America benefits from a quality public education. To build public demand and mobilize resources for quality public education for all children through a national constituency of local education funds and individuals.

2. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 2 Public Education Network Public Education Network (PEN) is a national organization of local education funds (LEFs) and individuals working to improve public schools and build citizen support for quality public education in low-income communities across the nation.

3. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 3 Our Communities Face…  The least qualified teachers teaching in the lowest performing schools  Modest alignment between standards, curriculum, assessments, and professional development  Low expectations of children from poor families  School reform agendas that change with new superintendents  Lack of public responsibility for public education

4. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 4 PEN 2005 87 LEFs in 34 states + the District of Columbia 11.5 million students (22%) 1,600+ school districts (9%) 16,000+ schools (17%)  87 members in 34 states and the District of Columbia  7 of the top 10 cities  17 of the top 25 cities  Key states of California, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas A Powerful Base of Local Education Funds

5. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 5 Our Members  Reduce the Achievement Gap Reduce the Achievement Gap  Small schools Small schools  Deep professional development Deep professional development  Serve as intermediaries Serve as intermediaries  Studies on unions Studies on unions  Build Community Within Schools, and Capacity Outside Schools Build Community Within Schools, and Capacity Outside Schools  Information Information  Parent training Parent training  Promote common definition of schooling Promote common definition of schooling  Business partnerships Business partnerships

6. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 6  Raise roughly $200 million annually to improve public schools and increase student achievement  Raised nearly $4 billion for quality public education  Invested over $1.5 billion in teacher quality  Donated over $2.5 billion in volunteer time Resource Power of the Network

7. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 7  Leveraged roughly $13 billion in public dollars by supporting local bond and tax referenda, state and local budget increases, and litigation  Changed the composition and improved the quality of school boards in 50 school districts  LEF boards serve as the meeting place for building common ground amongst educators, corporations, philanthropies, and policy and public officials Civic Power of the Network

8. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 8 Public Engagement: The Missing Element Public engagement is important because:  Public education is essential to a democratic society  20 years of school reform have had limited success—not gone to “scale”  Accountability needs to become “public”  Public takes responsibility

9. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 9 Purpose of the NCLB Hearings  To learn from the public about the impact of the law  To engage and educate the public about the law  To build constituency for public education

10. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 10 Our 2004 Hearing Sites and Local Partners San Antonio, TX Intercultural Development Research Association September 28 Memphis, TN Partners in Public Education September 30 New York, NY Campaign for Fiscal Equity October 7 Chicago, IL Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform October 13 Harrisburg, PA Pennsylvania Public Education Partnership May 20 Boston, MA Rennie Center at Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth June 2 Sacramento, CA Linking Education and Economic Development June 8 Los Angeles, CA Urban Education Partnership July 21 Cleveland, OH Ohio PTA and Ohio Fair Schools Campaign September 14

11. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 11 PEN Thanks  Open Society Institute  The George Gund Foundation  The James Irvine Foundation  Nellie Mae Education Foundation  The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation New York Community Trust

12. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 12 NCLB Hearing and Survey Participants  Over 1,700 people attended the hearings  Over 300 people provided 1,000 pages of testimony  Approximately 12,000 GiveKidsGoodSchools.org activists completed online survey

13. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 13 Structure of the Hearings Live testimony from: Parents Students Business and civic leaders Community advocates Members of the general public Three questions: What do you know about the law? How is it working? What would you change? Format: Panel of 4-6 hearing officers Multilingual presentations and dialogue Child care provided

14. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 14 Hearing Areas of Focus  District and state accountability (Identifying and responding to low-performing schools)  Teacher quality (Quality teachers for every student)  Parent and community involvement (Need for good information and active involvement)

15. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 15 What We Heard From the Public  Public appreciated the opportunity to speak  Broad agreement on the goals of NCLB  Significant problems with implementation  The law is not benefiting those for whom it was designed  Stigma from labeling schools  Lack of financial resources

16. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 16 What We Heard From the Public  Highly qualified teachers’ definition problematic  District and state capacity to implement the law  Assessment and accountability are problematic  Information: accessibility and accuracy  Parental and public involvement is neither valued nor welcomed

17. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 17  Count significant progress towards AYP  Provide SES before choice  Reduce reliance on high stakes tests  Provide teachers with professional development and incentives  Build district and state capacity to implement the law Recommendations From the Public

18. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 18 What We Heard from GiveKidsGoodSchools.org Who We Heard From:  12,000 members of GKGS.org from all 50 states  Over 80% female, over 35, white, and had completed at least four years of college; 58% are educators  60% reported that schools in their communities have been identified as “needing improvement” or “failing” based on NCLB requirements

19. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 19  Over 95% believe every child should have a qualified teacher.  90% do not believe every child will have a qualified teacher by 2005.  80% or more feel that NCLB has made no difference in student performance, parental involvement, or teacher quality.  Nearly 75% feel that choice will not help improve student academic performance, but that SES will. What We Heard from GiveKidsGoodSchools.org

20. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 20  Half believe in the law’s disaggregated data requirements.  Over 2/3 do not believe that every child will score at grade level or above by 2013.  2/3 think the law requires too much testing.  Nearly 3/4 do not want the law to be repealed.  But 2/3 believe it needs to be changed. What We Heard from GiveKidsGoodSchools.org

21. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 21 Additional PEN Recommendations  Keep the public in the conversation  Enforce the law, especially in providing information and ensuring parent involvement  Hold states accountable, not just children, schools, and districts

22. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 22 Members of the Pennsylvania Public Education Partnership: Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment Mon Valley Education Consortium Philadelphia Education Fund Pittsburgh Council on Public Education Advocates Conveners Brokers Local Education Funds in Pennsylvania

23. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 23 Seven public meetings were held in 2004: Altoona Belle Vernon Erie Lancaster Philadelphia Pittsburgh Uniontown LEFs PA State PTA Local PTOs Good Schools PA Other Local Partners Choosing Partners for Public Meetings Across the Commonwealth

24. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 24 The national panel of experts included: Wendy Puriefoy, Public Education Network Ron Cowell, Education Policy & Leadership Center Edward Donley, PA State Board of Education Michael Churchill, Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Additional presenters : Parents, Community Members, Educators & Students May 2004 State Hearing in Harrisburg, PA

25. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 25 From a Parent : “There’s so much emphasis on testing, I’m afraid my 8-year-old will lose his love of learning.” Observations at PA hearings : From a Parent : “The school kept emphasizing how important it was for every child to do well and help the school score high. My special ed student was heart-broken because she knew her score would hurt the outcome.” From a Student : “My school actually paid students to come to school on test day and complete the test. Why didn’t they spend the money on new books and supplies? All I wanted to do was dissect a frog.”

26. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 26 PEN NCLB Resources  NCLB Community and Parent Action Guide  Over 25 PEN/NCPIE NCLB Web Based Action Briefs  Weekly Federal Legislative Updates  National and Local Hearing Reports  NCLB Online Survey Results  Hearing Toolkit  Interactive NCLB CD-ROM (future tool)

27. Public involvement. Public education. Public benefit. 27 Public Education Network Every day, in every community, every child in America benefits from a quality public education. To build public demand and mobilize resources for quality public education for all children through a national constituency of local education funds and individuals.