Education – Page 2

Race to the Tots

Problem

Investing in a 4-year-old’s brain is the single best investment we can make for the longest term return on closing academic and achievement gaps, but it’s been difficult in many places to prioritize funding for preschool and test what works best.

Solution

Senator Ferguson has an innovative solution: “Race to the Tots,” a competitive grant funded by the state lottery that allows local districts to test ideas that demonstrate how expanding access to preschool for low-income families can benefit all of us.

The Education and Economic Engine Endowment

Problem

Because many states continue to face budget challenges, many states have scaled back critical funding for education and entrepreneurship.

Solution

State Treasurer Cowell proposes the creation of a multi-billion dollar state-funded endowment using escheat money that pays for community college and university scholarships and invests in high-growth funds and companies. The endowment is literally an investment in the twin goals of educating our future workforce and creating new jobs.

Education Empowerment Zones

Problem

Good schools can greatly influence the economic vitality of a neighborhood by improving home values and attracting higher income residents. These residents in turn attract businesses and improve the overall economic development of the town. By channeling additional funds to a struggling school, the impact extends far beyond improved test scores, into the overall economic health of the entire community.

Solution

Rep. Johnson is proposing legislation to create education empowerment zones that will provide additional funds targeted at struggling schools. These funds would be dedicated to specialized tasks like tutoring and after school programs, school supplies, and technology upgrades and could help ameliorate some of the challenges faced by schools in lower income areas. In order to qualify for these zones, the school district must commit matching funds and would be allowed to retain a certain amount of the state tax revenue from the zone.

Channeling Savings From Early Graduation Into Pre-K

Problem

Access to a quality education at a young age is one of the most important pathways to future educational and economic success. Unfortunately, funding for such critical pre-k programs is often limited by tight budgets.

Solution

Currently, Dallas school districts with students who graduate a year early lose the funding associated with that student’s twelfth year in school. Instead of penalizing a school district for a student who has accomplished their requirements at an accelerated pace, Rep. Johnson initiated a program to redirect those savings to expand the availability of pre-k education. This allows the school districts to invest in education opportunities that have been shown to have important, positive long-term effects on student outcomes.

A Better Way for Teachers: The 403(b) Option

Problem

Existing retirement programs for teachers often charge employees high fees and thus reduce amounts employees are actually saving for retirement.

Solution

State Treasurer Cowell set up a publicly sponsored statewide retirement plan option that will become available to school districts this fall and can offer lower fees as more teachers participate in the program. This new retirement plan provides a better opportunity for teachers in the state to save for a more secure retirement.

Pay For Success

Problem

Government often focuses more on treatment than prevention, which leads to solutions that are more costly to taxpayers and less effective. In education, this has led us to spend more on special education, dropouts, and jail–giving us less to spend on tools that help at-risk kids learn how to contribute.

Solution

Mayor McAdams is using Pay for Success Bonds to fund high-quality preschool for at-risk kids. Private investors buy these bonds from the government and get paid back if the preschool programs succeed in saving taxpayers money from fewer at-risk kids using more expensive programs like special ed. This pay for success model gives government the tools to fund an ounce of evidence-based prevention on the front end out of cost savings on the back end–and it helps elected leaders focus on what works best to achieve outcomes.

State Bar for Teaching

Problem

For more than a generation, America has struggled to improve our public schools–especially in our poorest areas. This hurts all of us, because our country’s economic competitiveness depends on our ability to out-educate the rest of the world.

Solution

Representative Townsend wants to improve public schools by elevating the profession of teaching with a State Bar of Teaching patterned after the professional associations that govern the learned professions of law and medicine. Studies show that countries with the highest performing students have one thing in common: more of their best and brightest students want to become teachers. A professional association would attract better students to teaching jobs by giving them the autonomy, accountability, and tools to become excellent teachers.

Town-Square Schools

Problem

Too often Cincinnati public school facilities were sitting unused after school hours, while there was a prevalent need in the surrounding communities for additional academic support and resources for students and their families.

Solution

City Councilmember Sittenfeld helped facilitate the creation of Town-Square Schools in Cincinnati to transform underutilized school facilities into round-the-clock neighborhood hubs, offering after-school programming, health resources, adult education, and recreational opportunities for students, their families, and the surrounding community. By bringing community resources into the schools, this approach has helped students get the extra support they need to be successful and helped build strong community partnerships to better maximize current resources to serve the needs of each neighborhood.

Evidence Based Policy – College Financial Aid Access

Problem

Access to college aid programs is a major impediment to low-income students applying to and enrolling in college. Numerous studies show that many college applicants, especially those who are low-income, have very little understanding of college tuition levels, financial aid opportunities, and how to navigate the admissions process. Because of the complexity of the financial aid system and the lack of information about the availability of college aid, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of students who are eligible for financial aid do not complete the necessary forms to receive said aid each year.

Solution

Delegate Andrew Platt is proposing legislation in Maryland to use tax assistance preparation services for low-income families to help them complete and submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application for their child. This approach has already been proven effective by the Coalition for Evidence-based Policy. Platt’s legislation will create a grant program to cover the cost of the tax preparation provider to provide this service, which is $90 per family. He plans on using the open-source software used in the field experiment, have the Maryland Department of Education and the Maryland Higher Education Commission fine tune it, and then work to create partnerships with online tax preparation companies, like Turbo Tax, to offer the service alongside online tax preparation and submission, using the free, open sourced software.

How to steal this idea:

The Coalition for Evidence Based Policy sponsored this experiment. Publications related to the evidence can be found at the following links:

https://toptierevidence.org/programs-reviewed/hr-block-college-financial-aid-application-assistance

https://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1232998.files/Bettinger%20Long%20Oreopoulos%20-%20The%20FAFSA%20Projects%20-%20description%207-25-13.pdf

Visit and share the gallery of NewDEAL Challenge winners at governing.com/newdeal.

Preschool – From Risk to Success

Problem

Many at-risk preschoolers are kicked out of traditional preschool programs and not given the opportunity to a high-quality education. These students often need additional support and wraparound services in order to make sure they do no fall further behind. Access to an early education has been shown to help set students on a pathway to future success, avoiding additional services further down the road.

Solution

Linn County offers a targeted preschool program for these at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds who have been identified as needing additional support in order to be prepared for kindergarten. By targeting this at-risk population, the County is able to provide much needed resources for students who are not getting the support they need from traditional schooling. The County preschool program partners with community businesses to offer additional resources to parents, including after-school counseling and activities to be with their kids. By investing early in the services these students and their families need, Linn County has been able to help more students be successful in kindergarten and beyond. The program has already experienced a 14:1 return of investment in future cost-savings from other country services.

Race to the Tots

Problem

Solution

The Education and Economic Engine Endowment

Problem

Solution

Education Empowerment Zones

Problem

Solution

Channeling Savings From Early Graduation Into Pre-K

Problem

Solution

A Better Way for Teachers: The 403(b) Option

Problem

Solution

Pay For Success

Problem

Solution

State Bar for Teaching

Problem

Solution

Town-Square Schools

Problem

Solution

Evidence Based Policy – College Financial Aid Access

Problem

Solution

Preschool – From Risk to Success

Problem

Solution

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