Where We Stand
The legislative priorities of NREAC.
National Rural Education Advocacy Coalition 2011 Legislative Agenda
The “65 Percent” Deception:
If a city spends less than 65 percent on its police force, does that make the community less safe?
In the face of news that Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has signed legislation mandating that “schools spend at least 65 percent of their dollars in the classroom,” AASA has disclosed its research comparing police protection costs as a portion of local police and municipal administration spending, combined.
It would appear that, just as schools display a wide range of statistics that compare classroom spending with overall school district dollars, municipalities report the same degrees of variations with respect to their police operations and overall municipal administration dollars.
There seem to be differing definitions of what ‘police protection’ is, and how it relates as a portion of a city’s budget.
For example:
1996 Local Expenditures – from a statistical sample by Statistical Abstract of the United States
Direct Expenditures:
- Police Protection - $38,184,000
- Governmental Administration - $31,631,000
- Police protection as a percentage of total police and governmental administration expenditures: 54%
1996 City Government Expenditures for the Largest Cities
Police protection as a percentage of total police and government administration expenditures
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States
No one would suggest that a person in Tucson is less safe than a person in Charlotte, yet the bald statistics, as applied by public school critics, would have us arrive at such a conclusion.
Nicholas J. Penning
Senior Legislative Analyst
American Association of School Administrators
April 6, 2006
Urging the National Assessment Governing Board to do a Rural Achievement Study
Information about achievement of students in public schools is increasing and improving as a result of both state wide testing programs and the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP.) NAEP was originally created to provide a national look at the achievement of low-income and minority students. In the early 1990’s NAEP’s purposes were expanded to compare NAEP results between the states. The purposes of NAEP have more recently been expanded to examine the achievement of urban students and compare achievement of students in charter schools with achievement in traditional public schools. NAEP has also been used to compare achievement on NAEP teats between public and private schools.
It is time for NAEP to study the achievement of the 15% of the nation’s students who live in rural areas and attend rural schools.
The NREAC urges Congress to implement the first national study of the achievement of students in rural schools in reading, math, and science beginning in 2008. A study of students educated in rural America would provide needed insight into achievement that would help Congress, the U. S. Department of Education, governors, state legislators and local school system leaders begin to shape policy that fits rural schools.
NREAC believes that a valid rural achievement study requires a large enough over-sample of students in rural schools that the results would give an understanding of regional findings as well as national findings.
NREAC urges Congress to require that NAEP work closely with rural organizations, including NREAC, as they plan and implement the rural study.