The U.S. Department of Education is moving forward with its proposal from a year ago to create vouchers for teachers to use for professional development鈥攄espite a previous congressional rebuke to the idea.
In its fiscal 2020 budget request early last year, the Education Department proposed using $200 million in the Education Innovation and Research fund that they felt fit their individual needs.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said the proposal, which she鈥檚 championed several times publicly, would offer 鈥渕uch-needed freedom and flexibility for teachers鈥� and respect their status as professionals.
Teachers are often 鈥渓imited鈥� in their own professional development, DeVos said in a statement last year. 鈥淭hey have little to no say in the courses they take,鈥� she added. 鈥淭hey have very little freedom to explore subject areas that interest them.鈥�
House Democrats vigorously objected to the idea, particularly because the department simultaneously proposed eliminating more than $2 billion in Title II aid that is intended to support 糖心动漫vlog鈥� professional development.
Stephanie Hirsch, the now-retired executive director of Learning Forward, a prominent organization that works to improve professional learning in schools, also criticized the proposal at the time, saying it would take 糖心动漫vlog 鈥渂ack to the old catalog-shopping days of professional development,鈥� and that teachers 鈥渁re not asking for a PD voucher program鈥攖hey鈥檙e asking for time for collaborative learning and problem-solving with their colleagues.鈥�
Subsequently, the House appropriations bill prohibited Education Innovation and Research money from being used for this idea. And the final fiscal 2020 appropriations bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last December did not designate money for these proposed PD vouchers. That legislation provided $190 million to the EIR program.
But in , the department says that, 鈥淎lthough this restriction was included in the House appropriations bill, it was not included in the Senate bill nor the final bill that was enacted into law. Therefore, the Department intends to use a portion of the funds available for the EIR program for projects that provide professional development vouchers.鈥�
A spokeswoman for the Education Department said the department is 鈥渞unning the competition this year鈥� for teacher PD vouchers, but declined to share details, such as how much of the EIR鈥檚 budget would go toward the program. It鈥檚 also unclear how teachers will be able to apply and how much they could receive.
The department might be working on these vouchers for this budget year. But in its fiscal 2021 budget request, the department wants to roll the EIR program into its big block grant that includes nearly 30 K-12 programs in total.
So in theory, if the Trump administration gets its way, the department would run this teacher PD voucher competition for just one year, fiscal 2020鈥攁lthough that block grant proposal faces a very steep uphill climb in Congress. (The department also wants to roll the Title II grants for educator development into the block grant.)
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the chairwoman of the House subcommittee that oversees the Education Department鈥檚 budget, said in a statement that she was 鈥渄isappointed to learn the Secretary is wasting taxpayer dollars on dubious approaches to teacher development.鈥�
鈥淎sking teachers to navigate an uncharted, unregulated teacher professional development market is unreasonable and unwise,鈥� DeLauro said. 鈥淎 better approach would be to provide school districts with resources to invest in high-quality, evidence-based professional development experiences.鈥�
Advocates Raise Concerns
Advocates for professional learning have long held that a $200-million-or-so voucher program is no replacement for the $2.1 billion Title II grant program. But Melinda George, the chief policy officer of Learning Forward, said even if a voucher program is offered in addition to the Title II program, she has some concerns.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 the purpose of the EIR program,鈥� George said. 鈥淲hen you start [putting] the administration鈥檚 priorities over field priorities, you鈥檙e defeating the purpose of EIR.鈥�
Also, she pointed to the Every Student Succeeds Act, which defines professional development as 鈥渟ustained (not stand-alone, 1-day, and short-term workshops), intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused.鈥� A voucher program, which only some teachers will be able to participate in, does not align with that definition, George said.
Desmond Blackburn, the CEO of the New Teacher Center, said in a statement that using EIR funds to offer professional development vouchers 鈥渘egates the program鈥檚 commitment to and value of research and evidence.鈥� (The center from the EIR Expansion program to implement high-quality, standards-aligned instructional coaching.)
鈥淩ather than providing 糖心动漫vlog the quality, consistent professional learning opportunities that we know to work, that are proven and evidence-based, a voucher leaves teachers to select from a catalogue of choices with unclear impact,鈥� he said.
The department has reached out to Learning Forward for consultation, George said, and the organization expressed its concerns about ensuring quality PD through vouchers.
鈥淸The department is] really trying to give teachers the freedom to choose professional learning鈥攖hey don鈥檛 want the kind of scattershot professional development that currently exists,鈥� George said. 鈥淟earning Forward would say, if you鈥檙e worried about scattershot, then you don鈥檛 want a select number of teachers using a little bit of money to try to figure out what they need.鈥�
But as the language in the budget proposal shows, George said, 鈥渢his is clearly the department moving forward, no matter what.鈥�
One School鈥檚 Experience
For teachers, 鈥渢he initial idea sounds exciting: 鈥榊es, I鈥檇 love to have more say in my professional development,鈥欌�� said Evan Stone, the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Educators for Excellence, a group that advocates for teacher leadership.
But in practice, he added, it鈥檚 more challenging: It puts a burden on teachers to go out and find high-quality professional development that aligns with their and their students鈥� needs. When Stone and a group of teachers met with DeVos, one teacher from Chicago told the secretary that her principal gave every teacher a personal budget for professional development鈥攂ut the experiment didn鈥檛 go so well.
The teacher, Shifra Adler, . She said that at the end of the year, very few teachers had used their allotted money.
鈥淭he younger teachers had felt overwhelmed and didn鈥檛 know what opportunities were available, let alone which ones would be most beneficial,鈥� Adler wrote. 鈥淭he more experienced teachers felt swamped with their school and family responsibilities and so this opportunity largely fell off their radars. Not only did this leave unspent the money meant to improve our teaching, but it also left us alone and static in our practice.鈥�
Stone said DeVos told Adler that the department would make sure quality professional development was available and that 鈥渨e believe deeply in choice.鈥�
Last year, EIR grant award winners included the state education departments for Alabama, Louisiana, and Rhode Island; IDEA Public Schools (a charter school network); code.org, which promotes computer science education; and the American Institutes for Research. And $78 million went specifically to initiatives in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), with 85 percent focused specifically on computer science. The Trump administration has prioritized STEM and computer science.
鈥淭hrough the EIR program, grantees have the opportunity to rethink education and approach student learning in new ways. I鈥檓 excited to see states, school districts and nonprofits proposing more creativity, innovation, and personalization on behalf of students,鈥� DeVos said in a statement announcing last year鈥檚 grants.
