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Join CUE and find out how you can advance student achievement through technology.
California's great 'Bait and Switch' trick:
California directed schools and districts across the state to spend millions to support Educational Technology, then failed to distribute the over $72M in stimulus funds to pay for it! Now legislators want to create a whole new program that doesn't conform to state or federal guidelines and would delay getting the money to districts until 2011!
June 27, 2010
We are crowd-sourcing a list of EETT/ARRA Competitive Applicants - add to it here!
June 2, 2010 UPDATE:
The letter below was faxed to the Budget Conference Committee today. This committee will resolve the differences between the Assembly and Senate versions of the budget. We need to encourage them to adopt the Assembly version. Download and send your own version of CUE's letter here.
Senate:
Assembly:
June 2, 2010
Hon. Denise Ducheny, Chair
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Senator Ducheny,
RE: Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) Grants: Support for Assembly Version of the Budget
Computer-Using Educators Inc. (CUE) respectfully requests that the Budget Conference Committee support the Assembly version of the 2010 budget which would release both formula and competitive grant portions of the EETT/ARRA Federal Title II, Part D funds to Californiaís schools immediately via a Section 28 letter.
The Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) funds have been held up for months due to the Legislatureís unwillingness to agree with the distribution methodology used by the California Department of Education (CDE) in its request for proposals (RFPs) in July of 2009. The process used by the CDE is in full compliance with Federal law and has been used since the Federal EETT programís inception five years ago.
School districts competitively applied for grants to fund applications of technology based on local needs and to address the improvement of student learning and related teacher-professional development. The CDE received and reviewed 188 proposals and selected the qualifying projects that would collectively receive a total of $34,000,000 and had planned to notify districts that were approved for funding in November 2009.
Additionally, 1,300 districts were eligible to be approved for EETT/ARRA formula funds totaling another $34,000,000. Finally, the administrative funds (5% allowable under Title II Part D) were allocated to the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Technology Assistance Projects (CTAP), to provide support to the districts in implementing their EETT/ARRA projects and programs. None of these programs and projects has been funded because the Legislature has not released the EETT funds.
Both the Formula and Competitive Grants were based on local needs assessments and strategic plans developed to address educational needs of students served by the grants. External evaluation of these programs over the past five years has documented the positive impact both on instructional practice and student achievement.
Supporting the Assembly version of the budget would allow both the EETT Formula and already approved EETT Competitive funds to be released and utilized almost immediately by local school districts. CUE believes that CDE has clearly complied with both Federal and State law in the planning and implementation of the EETT funds. Additionally, the grant requirements outlined in the RFP are targeted to address policy needs outlined in the Education Code. Adopting the Senate version of the budget would allow the formula grant funds to be disbursed via a Section 28 letter, but would require the CDE to start over for all of the competitive grants. This would take months (even assuming the budget was passed today) and would base the grants on completely different priorities than the original grants. It would also cost an estimated $450,000 in staff time to administer a new round of grant applications. CUE feels there is no need for this grant process to be redone, which is why we support the Assembly version of the budget.
Again, CUE and the thousands of educators it represents across the state urge you to adopt the Assembly version when this issue is taken up at conference committee. Thank you for your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
Mike Lawrence
Executive Director, Computer-Using Educators (CUE), Inc.
cc: Budget Conference Committee members
Paul Navarro, Governorís Office
Jeannie Oropeza, Department of Finance
Rick Simpson, Speakerís Office
Susanna Cooper, Office of the President Pro Tem
May 28, 2010 UPDATE:
As of now, the EETT/ARRA funds are still being held back by the California Legislature. There is reported to be mounting frustration on the part of administrators, teachers, and principals in school districts that developed proposals for EETT/ARRA funding. Districts do not know if they can plan on the possibility of EETT/ARRA funding intended for district utilization by the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Stimulus funding earmarked for education last summer. Districts are now requesting the immediate release of the Title II-D EETT/ARRA funds to enable planning for full implementation in 2010-2011.
Computer-Using Educators (CUE) representatives as well as other organizations and individuals representing school administrators, technology coordinators, County Offices of Education, rural school districts, have been testifying before California Senate and Assembly Education Finance committees. The testimony and many letters have caused a willingness of the Assembly and Senate Finance Committees to address the issue by proposing a compromise to the original plan for distribution of EETT/ARRA funding. The compromise would be to release the EETT/ARRA formula funds ($34 million) as originally intended by the CDE last summer. The proposed compromise is still unacceptable because it does not release the funds (also $34 million) already targeted to the already developed and approved EETT/ARRA competitive grants. Also, the compromise does not allocate 5% of the total EETT/ARRA funding to the CDE, CLRN and the eleven, regional California Technology Assistance Projects (CTAP) to continue professional development and technical support to EETT/ARRA grant recipients.
The issue of the distribution of the EETT/ARRA competitive funding will need to be resolved by the budget conference committee representing the Senate and Assembly Education Finance Committees.
CUE and the other EETT/ARRA stakeholders are continuing to make every effort to get the Legislature to adopt the original plan for distribution of funds for the ARRA/EETT with 50% to the already reviewed and approved EETT Competitive grants and 50% to the EETT/ARRA Formula Grants with the 5% for administration of the program to CTAP and CDE and CTAP for technical assistance supporting EETT grant recipients. In general, it seems that incremental progress toward resolution because of the information and enlightenment provided to State Legislators through extensive testimony by the California education community.
Where should you send your letter?
These emails/letters should be sent to the following committee members:
It will also be helpful to send one to the Legislative Joint Budget Committee Chairs:
Further, letters may be sent to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education, which is meeting on April 29, consisting of these three members:
Additional efforts currently underway:
On Wednesday, March 10, 2010, CUE representatives, led by Executive Director Mike Lawrence, met with staff of several California legislators on the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to hand-deliver a letter requesting the distribution of long-awaited stimulus (ARRA) funds. California received these funds over the summer of 2009 as part of the nationwide stimulus package, but has yet to release these funds to districts throughout the state. These funds total over $70 million and are specifically designated to support Educational Technology in California.
CETPA, CCSESA and ACSA have joined CUE in this effort. CUE urges its membership, and all Californians to join us by contacting your legislator TODAY and end this reproachable delay in distributing funds to our cash-strapped school districts.
Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny
Chair, Joint Legislative Budget Committee
State Capitol, Room 5035
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Senator Ducheny,
Representing its thousands of members within California, Computer-Using Educators respectfully requests that the California Legislature immediately release the EETT/ARRA Federal Title II, Part D funds allocated to California schools.
The California Department of Education (CDE) issued requests for proposals (RFPs) in July of 2009 for school districts to competitively apply for grants to fund applications of technology based on local needs and to address the improvement of student learning and related teacher-professional development. The CDE received and reviewed 188 proposals and selected the qualifying projects that would collectively receive a total of $34,000,000 and had planned to notify districts that were approved for funding in November 2009. Additionally, 1,300 districts were eligible to be approved for EETT/ARRA formula funds totaling another $34,000,000. Finally, the state had allocated funds to the California Technology Assistance Projects (CTAP), the CTAP Portal known as MyCTAP, the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) and Statewide Technology Assistance Projects (SETSs) to provide support to the districts in implementing their EETT/ARRA projects and programs. However, none these programs and projects can be implemented because the California Legislature did not and still has not released the EETT/ARRA funds.
The CDE has clearly complied with the Federal Law in the planning and implementation of the EETT/ARRA funds. The excerpts from Federal guidance document for EETT/ARRA Federal Guidance Document make it clear how the EETT/ARRA funds can and cannot be used:
As of February 18, 2010, EETT funds are still on hold by the Legislature. There is mounting frustration on the part of superintendents, teachers, and principals in districts that applied for EETT/ARRA funding. They do not know if they can still plan on EETT/ARRA funding which was intended for district utilization by the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Stimulus funding earmarked for education last summer.
Therefore, we are requesting the immediate release of the Title II-D EETT/ARRA funds to enable school districts and related state and regional level services needed to support implementation of the already approved EETT/ARRA programs and projects.
Sincerely,
Mike Lawrence
Executive Director, Computer-Using Educators (CUE), Inc.
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