EDUCATORS for DEAN

SIGN THE PETITION TO REFORM THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT AT DEAN FOR AMERICA! Standards and Assessment No Child Left Behind Starting School Ready to Learn Education Funding Special Education Vouchers Teachers’ Salaries Funding Equity Educational Technology Teachers for Dean Discussion Group Contribute to the Dean Campaign Teachers for Dean Merchandise Contact us Dean for America © 2003 Educators for Dean

Education Funding While the current administration does all it can to shift funds from real reform efforts in America’s public schools, Gov. Dean has stood proudly and courageously for the funding needs of education. Upon the signing of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Gov. Dean was the first elected official to propose that his state reject federal funding for NCLB because the law posed an inordinate financial burden on the state without the slightest promise of return in educational value. Dean’s contempt for unfunded federal mandates is clear in his special education proposal as well: While the federal government has never fulfilled its promise to fund 40 percent of special education costs, Gov. Dean has promised that he will fully fund special education in his administration’s first year. Gov. Dean also signed the controversial 1997 Equal Educational Opportunity Act (aka Act 60), which narrowed the per-pupil spending gap between wealthier and poorer school districts in Vermont. This redistribution of state wealth, according to some reports, led to improved student achievement among traditional low-achieving populations while not impacting the achievement of already high-achieving students. Special Education “When IDEA was enacted, Congress promised to pay 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure educating children with disabilities. Federal funding has never come close to meeting that promise; in FY 2002, federal funds constituted 18 percent of this cost. This has been a burden on local ratepayers and has led to diminished services many note takers, interpreters and other individuals hired to assist persons with disabilities in the classroom have been terminated. The federal government should fully fund its promised share of IDEA.” –Gov. Howard Dean Gov. Dean’s special education initiative in Vermont, excerpted from an address to New York State United Teachers, 31st Representative Assembly, April 4, 2003 Vouchers "I don't think sending kids to religious and private schools at the taxpayer's expense is going to be good for public education or for America in the long run. I think ultimately if you wreck the public school system in America, you've wrecked America."-Gov. Howard Dean Conversation with Joe Klein at the John F. Kennedy Library, March 26, 2003 "Who Is Howard Dean?” an assessment of Gov. Dean’s school choice stance from the conservative Citizens for a Sound Economy (scroll down to “School Choice”) Teachers’ Salaries “We must ensure that young people receive the best quality education possible, but we can’t do that when budgetary shortfalls strain school budgets and keep teacher salaries well below the national average. It’s an inexcusable failure when qualified and motivated teachers are forced into other professions to make a living.” –Gov. Howard Dean “Dean Decries New Hampshire’s Lowest-in-Nation Teacher Pay,” a July 14, 2003, article from PoliticsNH.com Funding Equity “It's only fair for everybody to have the same chance in Vermont, whether you come from a small town with a small school or a large town with a large school.” --Gov. Howard Dean Equal Educational Opportunity Act: Fact Sheet from the Vermont Department of Education Educational Equity in Vermont: A New Report on Vermont's "Act 60," a comprehensive February 2002 report from the Rural School and Community Trust Educators for Dean home