Category: Lauren Katims
Special Education Funding Increasing, but Districts Still Struggling
SPECIAL ED FUNDING
The Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
12-14-06
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 —Even though Congress has more than doubled federal funding for special education and has altered funding allocation formulas over the last six years, local school districts are still struggling to find adequate money.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, passed three decades ago and reauthorized in 2004, requires states to fully fund the education of all children with mental and physical disabilities. Because the legislation added additional costs to the school systems, the federal government pledged to cover up to 40 percent of those costs.
However, federal funding has never reached beyond 18 percent. Currently, the federal government pays 17 percent of total costs, creating a $10.6 billion shortfall for states and local school districts.
At issue is not only the ongoing task of closing the unfunded mandate but also deciding how to properly spend the money.
For Congress to keep increasing funds, it had to change the formula of how it determines the amount of dollars allocated to each state, according to a report released last year by the American Institutes for Research, a non-profit, non-partisan behavioral and social science research group.
Under the old formula, every new student enrolled in special education generated more money for that state. In the new formula, funds are allocated based on poverty and total enrollment of all students (not just special education) —two factors, according to the report, that are not directly related to special-education enrollment.
With these changes, which took effect in fiscal year 2000, states receive increasingly different amounts of money, based 70 percent on total enrollment and 30 percent on poverty level, said Thomas Parrish, co-author of the report and director of the Center for Special Education Finance at the Institutes. Total funding for special education has increased from a little more than $5 billion in 2000 to around $11 billion today, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
As funds continue to rise, there will be more disparity between states, which could leave those with higher enrollment of severe special-education cases starving for more funds, said Parrish, who added that there is no way to tell which states will have more severe cases.
If Congress reaches full funding, which Parrish said is possible but unlikely, it would then have to reevaluate the way funds are allocated.
But for now, experts agree that the change in formula was a good thing.
“You don’t want to create an incentive to identify kids with special needs,” said Andrew Rotherham, co-founder and co-director of Education Sector, an independent non-profit national education policy think tank.
That would encourage over-enrollment with students who may just have slight learning disabilities and don’t need to be placed in a special-education program, Rotherham said, and puts a formula in school districts’ mind: “identify more kids, and you get more money,” he said.
Plus, communities with high poverty are more likely to have more special-education kids, he said. And the higher the total enrollment in school, the higher the chances are of having more special-education students, he added.
The number of students enrolled in special-educations programs in the United States has doubled since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed, to an estimated 6.9 million, or about 11 percent of all students nationwide.
New Hampshire has very low enrollment rates, said Ralph Tilton, program specialist for the Bureau of Special Education in the New Hampshire Department of Education. From 2004 to 2005, the number of special education students went up only 107, from 31,675 to 31,782, making up 15 percent of total students enrolled in public education.
But Tilton said that even though the state has low enrollment, the costs are still high because of inflation: skyrocketing costs of the special education programs, hiring good-quality teachers and the already-high price of education is going up.
The federal funding contribution for New Hampshire for 2007 is about $48 million, a 0.8 percent increase from 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
This year, the state Department of Special Education dispersed $41 million to local districts for special education. But most of the responsibility for funding special education programs falls on the local school districts, said Mary Heath, deputy commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education.
The local districts raise the majority of funding from property taxes, and then make their own budget with that money. But because there are so many districts, there is no overall figure for special education spending in the Granite State.
“Local school districts are spending enormous amounts of their budget on special education,” said Heath.
And the money being spent is only growing, she said. Hence the perceived need for increased federal funding.
“If we had more resources in our state, more federal dollars, we could do more programs,” said Santina Thibedeau, director of special education for the New Hampshire Department of Education.
Outgoing Congressman Charles Bass (R-N.H.) was a long-time advocate for special-education spending and last year he made a failed attempt to make increases in federal special-education money mandatory.
“If we don’t continue to increase funding, the percent that the federal government gives will go down,” he said.
Complicating the issue further, students with disabilities cost more to put through school than do regular students.
According to the National Education Association, the average public school student costs $7,552 per year. A child with disabilities costs $16,921—an extra $9,369. That number has increased about 30 percent over the last 30 years.
Chad Colby, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education, said that people cannot look at special education funding as a lone issue. They need to look at education and the federal budget as a whole. “There is a finite amount of money, and competing interests,” Colby said.
Some of those competing interests are rising college tuition costs and a large achievement gap between minority students and their peers, he said.
Opponents of increasing special education funds argue that special education expenses are absorbing an excessive portion of the public’s investment in education, and that the money should be spent on other areas of education, like gifted programs.
Critics also said it is not fair for regular and special education students to be in the same classes because then no one gets the attention he or she needs.
Whether special education dollars are taking money away from gifted and regular programs is a hot topic in Tilton’s school board meetings, he said. He would not say which side he thought was correct.
Parrish, from the Center for Special Education Finance, said a change in congressional leadership might just be what special education needs.
During the late 1990s, Republicans were in the forefront of increasing special education funds. Almost every time President Clinton proposed an education initiative, like smaller class sizes and improving after-school programs, Republicans responded by demanding full Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding as the top priority, wrote Rotherham from the Education Sector, in a 2002 report called The Politics of IDEA Funding.
Rotherham also managed education policy activities at the White House and advised Clinton on a wide range of education issues.
He continued, however, writing that “some Republicans were probably motivated less by the policy problems of IDEA finance than a desire to champion some education spending plan as an alternative to the Clinton agenda.”
But he does not put the blame directly on either party.
“There’s places for bipartisan credit, and there’s places for bipartisan blame,” Rotherham said.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the incoming chairman of the House the Education and the Workforce Committee, wrote in an e-mail that the Republican-controlled Congress has “woefully underfunded” the Individuals with Disabilities Act.
“We will begin to undo the damage done by this past Congress by securing more funding for IDEA and will create a dialogue with special education students, parents and educators,” he wrote.
Steve Forde, spokesman for the Republicans on the committee, said that all congressmen—Democrats and Republicans—have a strong presence of special education teachers, parents and students in their districts.
“It’s one of those issues that straddles both sides,” Forde said. “It’s not even political; all members deal with it equally.”
While Rotherham agreed that the “basic fault lines of special education are not really partisan,” he warned, “it will become political, everything does.”
And just like they did during the Clinton administration, “it’s not unreasonable to think the Republicans will again start to look to special education as a palpable place to put money and say they are for education spending, and as a way to counter what’s going to…be on the Democratic wish list of spending priorities,” Rotherham said.
But he added that there are problems with special education that can’t be fixed by money.
For example, there is a lack of high-quality assessment of students that is adding to the skyrocketing enrollment numbers around the country, he said. Students who cannot read are being placed in special education programs, when all they need is better reading lessons, he said.
But Congress has had a hard time looking beyond dollar signs.
“In the federal government, it’s more of a money matter,” said Catherine Reeves, director of special education in the Keene school district. “It’s not about special education… it’s not about a philosophical issue, it’s about money.”
Rep.-elect Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) said he is a strong advocate of increased special education funds and will continue to fight for more money, but he is not sure how he will tackle the issue yet.
Getting a better understanding of the law is the first thing the Democrats need to do, Rotherham said.
“It’s a very complicated law,” he said, and suggests starting with “getting a handle of what’s happening around the country, and starting to think about what changes are needed the second time around [for the next reauthorization].”
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Hodes Gets More Confident His First Week in Washington
HODES
Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
11-16-06
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 —Just like a freshman in high school, New Hampshire Rep.-elect Paul Hodes felt overwhelmed when he arrived in Washington last Sunday for freshmen orientation, but after a week of congressional lessons, he said, he feels more comfortable.
“As the week has gone on, I’ve felt more confident. There’s much more that I don’t know than I know, but at least I know that I don’t know,” he said with a chuckle.
For the past few days, Hodes has been busy in meetings with members of Congress who have been introducing him to the rules of the House.
And it seems that he is catching on. He has already been mentioned in The Hill, a newspaper that cover Congress, for supporting Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in the race for House majority leader.
Hoyer won the post on Wednesday, defeating Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who had the public support of House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Hodes said he was happy that Hoyer won and that now the Democratic Party can move forward. But the press is making a big deal of something that is not really an issue, he said.
It is just the way Democrats do business, he said. They have “open discussions and real contests,” he said. “We are tough, smart and fearless, and together we are going to move this country forward.”
The dispute over choosing a majority leader was not a reflection of how Pelosi will lead or how the Democrats will rule Congress, he said, adding, “We are unified on important issues.”
Hodes said he was pleased with the new leaders and they will “help propel the Democrats to victory.” Now they can start working on other issues like improving health care and raising the federal minimum wage, he said.
“Congress has been very welcoming,” Hodes said. Orientation has given him the chance not only to learn about Congress but also to meet new people. He’s been working closely with Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire’s other representative elect, to plan how to “work hard for New Hampshire,” he said.
He also has been meeting with newly elected Peter Welsh (D-Vt.) and working with the two Maine representatives to discuss issues affecting the northern part of New England.
But even in the midst of his busy schedule, Hodes said he has had time to take a step back and see the big picture.
“Walking onto the floor of the United States Congress for the first time was incredibly moving-- to feel the history, to experience it first-hand,” he said. “The reverence and awe of this institution is beyond words.”
And it’s not just Congress that has kept Hodes busy. He has been looking for a place to live, and Friday he gets to pick his office. Saturday he returns home to New Hampshire, where his busy schedule doesn’t cease.
He said he has learned a lot from being here only a week, and he wants “to make sure I come to Congress with a good core group to help me,” Hodes said.
Next week, Hodes’ staff plans to look through the piles of resumes they’ve received to fill the Washington staff positions, said Dana Houle, his chief of staff and only one of two Washington aides hired so far. Hodes is in no rush to fill the spots. He wants to “make sure we hire the right people instead of rushing into it,” Houle said.
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Fantasy Congress Takes Political Gaming To The Next Level
POLITICAL GAMES
The Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
11-9-06
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 —In the real-life Congress, Republican Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu are New Hampshire political leaders. In Fantasy Congress, they are just average guys who are not at the top of their game.
Inspired by fantasy sports games, Fantasy Congress, a new non-profit, non-partisan political Web site, allows players, or “citizens,” to compete against other players by picking teams of legislators and scoring points by their team’s activities in Congress.
Created by four seniors at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California and launched a month ago, the league’s Web site, www.fantasycongress.org, has already attracted more than 24,000 participants eager to “play politics.”
And with Democrats becoming the majority in the House and perhaps the Senate in January, people will be more interested in seeing how the new freshman class will legislate, said Andrew Lee, one of the creators.
“We’re hoping to not take on Congress, but change the way people think of it,” he said. “If they can think of it like a sport, like stats, then we can evaluate legislators in an objective way.”
Although the site may appeal to competitive people, it’s not meant to be only a game; it’s also a way to learn about politics, Lee said.
“A lot of this information is already out there, but the problem is it’s not easy to use or easy to find,” he said. The key to the Website is that it’s engaging, and that’s what keeps people coming back, he added.
But even though Fantasy Congress is the most interactive on-line political game, it’s not the first.
In the 2004 presidential election, the political gaming industry exploded, with many games matching Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) against President Bush, but those games never reached the mainstream population.
But Fantasy Congress is different, bringing political games to broader audience, said Rachel Summe, a political science teacher at Keene High School.
Summe teaches the 9th to 12th grade students. She said her students are interested in politics and want to talk about issues, but she admitted it has been hard finding a tool that keeps them excited and engaged. Fantasy Congress, she said, could do the trick.
The rules of the game are similar to those of sports fantasy games.
The game comes with a diagram that explains the rules, showing the user how a bill becomes a law and how each step in the legislative process earns points for members of the congressional team: Team members get five points for introducing a bill or an amendment, and receive more as the measures move successfully through the legislative process.
Then the user chooses a league, which bear names such as “Free Pizza and Beer” and “New Hampshire Clearly Deserves the First Primary.”
After that, the player drafts a team of 16 legislators, which must include Representatives and Senators with different levels of seniority.
Sununu leads New Hampshire legislators with 647 points, ranking him 65th among all members of Congress. Gregg, with 437 points, is ranked 106th. Much lower on the list are Republican Reps. Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley, who lost their seats on Election Day. Bass, with 107 points ranks 357th; Bradley has 172 points and ranks 276th.
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) leads with 1,991 points.
Lee said the strategy for winning is simple: pick legislators who will be steadily active. It’s not always the best choice to pick a “showboat,” he said, because one week the lawmaker could be very active and the next week do nothing.
Sununu, Lee said, isn’t a bad choice.
Each week players can reshape their teams by picking up lawmakers who can be expected to be more active the following week.
In terms of public understanding, Lee said, “Congress is probably one of the murkiest places in the country.” But if the information is packaged differently, he said, people may start getting more excited about important issues.
“It's one way to learn,” said Dennis McCauley, editor of GamePolitics.com, a Web site that covers gaming and politics. “And it's a good way because it draws people into the mechanics of the legislative process in a way that they might not care to
experience otherwise.”
But right now, most of the people playing are “political junkies, the same people who watch ‘Meet the Press’ and read political blogs,” McCauley said, and he’s not sure political games will transcend that niche market.
Jerome Climer, president of the Congressional Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit group in Washington that educates the public about congressional issues, agreed, saying that political games are missing the “human element,” which has kept them out of the mainstream.
It’s easy to take a member of Congress’ position on any given issue and look to see how the member votes on legislation, he said. But in real life, he argued, constituents are not going to vote based on in-depth congressional issues; instead, they will side with the member of Congress with whom they sympathize and with whose party they can identify, he said. And it’s difficult to put that into a game.
Other critics note that a legislator’s job cannot be simply quantified by tallying the number of bills introduced. Although it is an important part of their job to create new legislation, said Dr. Stuart Shulman, editor of the Journal of Information Technology and Politics, it’s easier for senior members – which may be a downside for the new Democratic freshman class trying to win points.
Lee said that he is planning on including media mentions in the point system, but he warns that there is no guarantee that the low-ranked members will go to the top. “But you know, that’s politics,” he said.
It’s doubtful that members of Congress are familiar with political games like Fantasy Congress, experts agree. Lee admitted he has not gotten any feedback from the lawmakers but said he knows of some staff members who have joined teams.
But the Web site has received mainstream attention. National publications, such as The New York Times and Time Magazine, have written about it, and Lee said he’s received e-mail messages from fantasy sports fans looking for a game to play during the off-season.
Summe, the Keene High teacher, said she will use the Web site in her classroom next year to teach students about politics. She has experimented with other political Websites, but when she showed Fantasy Congress to her class, her students were “intrigued,” she said. Many of them showed interest in forming teams.
Summe said that interactive teaching methods, especially about politics, are a key factor in getting kids interested in learning about Congress. She said Fantasy Congress impressed her because unlike in a newspaper or a textbook, her students can look up how their local members of Congress voted and compare their stances to those of other lawmakers.
Now students can understand issues in Congress and how much time the democratic process consumes, she said.
The real excitement, Lee said, will come when Congress returns for a lame-duck session to vote on pending issues.
Then for the first time the site will be dealing with real-time congressional action, he said, and people have no idea what will happen.
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Will Money Be Enough Against a New Hampshaire ‘Dynasty’?
FECKEENE2
The Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
11-2-06
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 -- In the final days before the election, Democratic challenger Paul Hodes may have raised more money than Republican Rep. Charles Bass, but he is competing against something bigger than a campaign treasury: He is challenging a political dynasty.
The name Bass goes back more than 100 years, noted Rep. Charles Weed (D- Cheshire County), a politics professor at Keene State College.
People are not “political junkies,” he said, so they do not always look at the voting record; they look at the name. And in this case, Bass is the name that comes to mind.
Nevertheless, said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit, non-partisan group in Washington that tracks political contributions, Hodes can be considered a “serious” candidate because he passed the $1 million threshold in money raised for his campaign.
According to the latest Federal Election Commission filings, Hodes had raised more money than Bass, which is uncommon for a challenger.
Through Oct. 18, Hodes raised $1,246,059 and Bass $1,001,629. But Bass had $331,796 left in his campaign kitty and Hodes had only $56,288 to spend, according to the filings.
Weed said the money left in the bank doesn’t matter at this point.
“Hodes has gotten the message out,” he said. “I’m not sure there’s an awful lot to do in the last three weeks that hasn’t already been done.”
Ritsch says that at this point, voters have made up their minds and the opponents should be focusing on getting their supporters to the polls. And even though Bass’ leftover money can be used for advertising, gathering support is not something you can buy, he added.
So, the question remains: will money be enough to win this election?
Judging by the amount of money he has raised, Hodes has a good chance of winning, Ritsch said.
Dana Houle, Hodes’ campaign manager, said the Bass family name is not hurting the challenger’s campaign.
Bass, who defeated Hodes by 58-38 percent in 2004, is the son of a former Rep. Perkins Bass, who served from 1955 to 1963, and the grandson of Robert Bass, who was elected governor in 1910.
“People want someone in Congress who is going to hold the president accountable,” Houle said. It does not matter how important someone’s grandfather or father was, he said, Bass is not doing an adequate job.
Lindsay Jackson, spokeswoman for Bass’s campaign, said that although the Bass family has a “strong political tradition, working hard for the people of New Hampshire,” the incumbent has established his own name. “He’s running on Charlie Bass,” she said.
Bass always pushes his moderate stance around election time, making him appealing to the masses, Weed said, especially in a time when there is such a negative attitude toward the Bush administration.
For now, the race could go either way, according to the Cook Political Report, a non-partisan analysis of electoral politics.
This is a good time for Democrats, Weed said, and Hodes has a good chance.
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New Hampshire Congressman Labeled as Not Doing Enough for U.S Troops
VETERANS
Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
10-26-06
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26-- A new report by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group, labeled New Hampshire congressmen as not doing enough.
The report, released last week, gave both New Hampshire senators a grade of “D” and Rep. Charles Bass a “C+.”
Grades are based on 169 House votes and 155 Senate votes since 2001 that the group identified as affecting U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, war veterans and military families. The issues ranged from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury research to supplemental appropriations and death benefits.
“Congress as a whole is underperforming,” said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the group. The average grade in the Senate was a “C” and in the House a “B-,” he said.
A major reason legislators did so poorly is because veteran’s issues have not been a priority for this Congress, Rieckhoff said. Less than one percent of the population has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was different when almost every family was affected by someone fighting in World War II, he said.
Rieckhoff said he wants to make sure people are just as informed about this war.
However, the New Hampshire congressmen’s press secretaries did not seem to be concerned about their members’ bad report cards.
“Congressional rankings rarely take into consideration the full scope of any lawmaker's legislative record or their work on a particular issue,” wrote Barbara Riley, Sen. John Sununu’s spokesperson.
She added that Sununu has visited troops twice abroad and has spent time with injured soldiers and their families.
But Rieckhoff said their ranking system is the most comprehensive way to figure out how the congressmen feel about the issues. And he said that if people do not agree with their method, they can still use the group’s research to see how their members voted.
“We want to show Americans the issues that are import to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and find out who really does support the troops and who just spouts campaign promises and empty rhetoric,” Rieckhoff said. “Veterans are not political chew toys.”
Rieckhoff said he has gotten both negative and positive feedback from members of Congress. Senators and representatives may be upset about their low grades, but so is he, Rieckhoff said.
The organization’s Web site shows Sununu and Sen. Judd Gregg voting against increasing funding for traumatic brain injury research, which Rieckhoff said has been categorized as too expensive by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“If the Senate or anyone else is unhappy with their grade, they should work with us to find out how they can get a higher grade next time,” Rieckhoff said.
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Challenger Hodes Raises More Funds Than Incumbent Bass
FECKEENE
The Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
10-18-06
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 – Democratic congressional candidate Paul Hodes has raised roughly $100,000 more than Rep. Charles Bass , according to their most recent federal filings, though the incumbent had more on hand to spend in the campaign’s final month.
But it may take more than a fund-raising advantage to win the 2nd District seat in November’s elections.
Bass has been financially beat before. When Katrina Swett more than doubled Bass’ campaign finances in the 2002 election, Bass won, noted Steve Kornacki, who writes for PoliticsNH.com, a non-partisan political news Web site. “Bass has survived before when maybe he shouldn’t have,” he said.
“It’s the nature of the district and Charlie Bass’ reputation,” Kornacki said. “It’s very difficult to dislodge an incumbent anywhere in the country, and Bass has run and won six times before.”
Hodes challenged Bass in 2004, financing his own campaign, which was unorganized and started late, Kornacki said.
But this time around he has taken a more structured approach, aggressively speaking to voters about what he will do differently than Bass, said Hodes campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin.
“People are really ready for a change,” Cherlin said. “They are disappointed by Bass rubberstamping the Bush administration.”.
According to campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission, Hodes had raised $1,085,135 as of Sept. 30, the end of the most recent reporting period, and had $216,081 left in the bank to spend until the Nov. 7 election.
Lindsay Jackson, spokesperson for the Bass campaign, said they are not worried about Hodes’ success with contributions.
“The congressman’s finances are very strong,” she said.
Bass has raised $918,789 and has $508,134 to spend, according to his filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Members of Congress generally get their campaign contributions from two main sources: economically vital industries from their home district and Washington-based interest groups that are attentive to committee assignments, according to the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics’ Web site, opensecrets.org, which tracks money and politics.
Bass, who is on the House Energy and Commerce committee, has received 61 percent of his contributions from political action committees, most coming from the energy and natural resource industries, which the Energy and Commerce committee oversees.
Hodes, a former state assistant attorney general not as well known outside New Hampshire, has received the bulk of his contributions, 67 percent, from New Hampshire individuals, specifically lawyers, according to opensecrets.org.
The election is considered competitive, even though Bass, elected in 1994, has a slight advantage, according to The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter that analyzes electoral politics. Kornacki said he thinks this will be Bass’ tightest race.
“The 2nd District can be used as a barometer nationally; the closer the Democrats get to winning the 2nd District, the more Democrats are getting elected nationally,” Kornacki said.
However, “incumbents almost always win,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics.
“The district, on paper, is one that the Democrats should be competitive in, and if Bass ever left, the Democrats would be favored to win,” said Kornacki. But because of Bass’ personal name and his moderate reputation, the Democratic victory is not likely, he said.
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Flying Flags That Flew Over the U.S. Capitol
FLAGS
The Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
10-12-06
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 – On Flag Day this year, Rita Cummings, 80, had a personal celebration at Langdon Place, the senior citizen facility where she lives in Keene.
To honor Cummings’ long-time membership, the Keene Kiwanis Club contacted Rep. Charles Bass’s office and requested a U.S. flag to be flown over the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and mailed to Cummings with a letter and a certificate signed by Bass.
Cummings was a war bride from England and is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has an affinity for the American flag. Since she is no longer able to drive or attend meetings, the club wanted to do something to honor her, said Jane Lane, a staff aide for Bass’s Keene office.
During the June 14 ceremony at Langdon Place, Cummings’ friends and family came to watch as patriotic music played.
“It was very moving, a very nice ceremony,” said Lane.
Having a flag flown over the Capitol for a constituent is not unusual. The practice’s origins are “casual,” said Eva Malecki , communications director for the Architect of the Capitol, but can be traced back to 1937 when a member of Congress wanted a flag flown for commemorative reasons. The program caught on, she said.
Since then, around three million flags have been flown over the Capitol. Now more than 100,000 are flown each year.
In Bass’ Washington office, junior staffers handle the three to five flag requests that come in each week, said Bass spokesman John Billings. The most demand comes around the holidays, particularly Veteran’s Day, Fourth of July and Memorial Day.
But flags are flown for all different reasons, said Karen Livingston, supervisor of the flag office in the Capitol. Some people order flags for retirement, graduation or a pet’s birthday. Someone has even requested a flag to honor the removal of a cast, she said.
Some states get more requests than others, but Livingston said she could not say which states are in the lead because the program is not intended to be competitive.
Anybody can order a flag from his or her congressman and have it shipped home, but most choose to have the flag flown on the roof of the Capitol for an additional cost. A signed certificate from the Senator or Representative accompanies the flag, said Dennis Anthony, the flag office assistant supervisor.
“These flags are very important to members because it’s a symbol of sincerity, appreciation, reaching out to constituents,” said Anthony.
After a constituent chooses the size, texture and reason for flying from an order form on his or her member’s Web site, the request is sent to the flag office where boxes of folded flags sit in carts waiting to be lifted to the roof.
Workers raise about 200 to 500 flags a day on the three designated poles for about 30 seconds each, said Anthony.
James Barber, who has raised flags since 1973, said the program really took off during the Bicentennial year when about 63,000 flags were flown, 10,000 on July 4, 1976, alone.
After a flag is flown, the flag is then refolded into a box -- stripes facing up to signify that is has been flown -- and shipped.
The order takes about two weeks to process and costs about $12 depending on order preferences, Anthony said.
Lane, the spokesman for Bass’s Keene office, said the Keene office receives about six to 12 requests for flags a year.
When Bass is in Keene, she said, he will present flags to schools, organizations and individuals.
About a month ago, Bass went to Langdon Place, where Cummings lives, to attend a conference on Alzheimer’s disease. He remembered the flag given to her in June and saw that Cummings had decided to donate the flag to Langdon Place, where it still flies today.
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Bass Pushes to Make Special Education Funding Mandatory
SPECIAL ED
The Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Newswire
10-5-06
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 – As New Hampshire schools prepare their 2007 budgets, money for special education will fall short of needs—again, school officials say. But when Congress returns in January, the state’s congressional representatives will try to do something about it--again.
Parents of special-education children, like Jeanne Haase of Jaffrey, whose son is autistic, are hoping Congress will respond.
Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) has been a long-time activist for special- education spending and is renewing his effort to make increases in federal special-education money mandatory.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, passed three decades ago and reauthorized in 2004, requires states to fully provide funds to all children with mental and physical disabilities. The federal government pledged to cover up to 40 percent of the costs, but it never provided more than 18 percent. Currently, it pays 17 percent of local costs.
As a result, special-education programs in the school districts are left with too many kids and limited funds, said Catherine Reeves director of special education in the Keene school district.
“In the federal government, it’s more of a money matter,” Reeves said. “it’s not about special education…, it’s not about a philosophical issue, it’s about money.”
Bass’s bill would require that special-education funds be increased each year until by fiscal year 2011 it reaches the promised 40 percent of state costs.
The bill was introduced last year, and if it doesn’t become law before the new Congress comes into session in January, he will introduce it again that month.
The 2007 budget estimate for special-education programs in New Hampshire is about $48 million, a 0.8 percent increase from 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
But schools are still lacking funds to provide more services for students.
“If we had more resources in our state, more federal dollars, we could do more programs,” said Santina Thibedeau , director of special education for the New Hampshire Department of Education.
The cost of special education is going up, and the government needs to increase its financial aid to keep up with inflation, Bass said.
“If we don’t continue to increase funding, the percent that federal government gives will go down,” he said.
One reason the cost is rising is because the number of students enrolled in special-educations programs in New Hampshire and around the country has doubled since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed, to an estimated 6.9 million, or about 11 percent of all students nationwide.
In New Hampshire, about 14 percent of students enrolled are special-education kids, said Reeves, the special education director in Keene.
On average, children with disabilities cost more to educate than regular students, Reeves said, and school districts do not have the funds to give these students the education they deserve.
Haase, the mother of the two-and-a-half-year-old autistic son, is feeling the crunch.
Her son, John Michael, was diagnosed with autism about a month ago. He is at a critical time, she said, where he needs the most attention and therapy he can get. However, the state froze funds for the program just at the time he was diagnosed, so John Michael receives only one hour of home therapy a week, where he would have benefited greatly from 20 hours, she said.
“The most important thing is parents working with the children when they are this age; I have three boys, and I just don’t have the energy in me,” Haase said.
Haase was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She and her husband do not have health insurance, and her illness is hurting them financially, she said Her family does not have the money to do anything for John Michael, she said. “It’s really impacted our lives…been really hard on us,” she said.
“I take him with me wherever I go; I’m here trying to do what I can with him,” Haase said.
When he’s three, John Michael can go to a pre-school program where he will get the treatment he needs, but until then, he has a lot of time that Haase wishes was better used.
To help parents like Haas, Amanda DiNino, who moved from New York to Peterborough with a 5-year-old autistic son, started a support group about six months ago for parents with autistic children. She was surprised about how little people knew about autism. Many families did not realize there were other kids in the area with autism, and some people did not even know what autism was, she said.
But she was most surprised by the lack of funds for treatment.
“People were more aware in New York…. Taxes are higher, there’s more money put into it, more resources, more services,” she said.
Kids with autism need a full 40 hours of attention each week, and the programs the schools offer are only for half the school day, she said. Her son is in kindergarten, and has an aide working with him throughout the day.
DiNino said, “We’ve been happy with what we’ve received, but it’s just not enough because the money’s not there.”
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New Hampshire Higher Education Fails in Affordability
FAILING
The Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
9-20-06
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 – At Keene High School, students are busy worrying about how they will pay for college and with some of the highest tuition costs in the country and low-state aid, their worries are completely justified.
In the last decade, New Hampshire colleges have become less affordable, especially for low-income families, according to a new report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a non-partisan group that studies education. The state received an “F” in affordability, a grade they have not been able to escape for years.
The report grades each state on five categories relating to its post-secondary education systems. New Hampshire received a “B+” in preparation, a “C+” in participation, and aced completion and benefits.
New Hampshire was one of 43 states that received failing grades in affordability. California and Utah each received the highest affordability score – “C-”.
New Hampshire has among the highest college tuition costs in the country said Tara Payne, vice president of marketing and communications for the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation. Costs are far outpacing inflation, she said.
Since the 1990s, New Hampshire college tuition has been climbing, according to the report, and financial aid is not keeping up.
Patricia Blodgett, director of student financial services at Keene State College, said 71 percent of Keene’s students are using financial aid to help pay tuition, a number that has been increasing over the years.
In-state students pay $14,848 and out-of-state students pay $22,118, which includes tuition, room and board and basic needs. Blodgett said Keene State’s tuition is a reasonable amount for college tuition. If a student goes out-of-state for college, they are not going to find a better price than this, she said.
But still, 45 percent of students who graduate high school in New Hampshire attend college out-of-state, according to the report. Matthew Cookson, associate vice chancellor for external relations at the University System of New Hampshire said the reason students leave the state has nothing to do with high tuition.
“One of the reasons people do go out of state is they are looking for a different experience,” Cookson said. There are a lot of great education opportunities in New Hampshire, he said, but it is a small state and students feel they need to explore other areas.
The trend of high school graduates leaving the state is something the University System of New Hampshire wants to reverse or at least slow down, Cookson said. Having so many students leave for college has an effect on the economy, he said.
“It makes the state more robust to have a wider range of individuals living here,” he said.
The University System of New Hampshire recently enacted a program called Affordable College Effort, targeted at helping New Hampshire’s neediest students pay for their freshman year in college.
With high tuition costs comes high debt. On average, Payne said, students leave a New Hampshire college owing $22,793, the highest in the country, which is the reason the state keeps failing affordability.
Some families are spending 48 percent of their annual income on tuition, even after federal aid, according to the new report.
“Traditionally, our university system has received a lower percentage of support from the state legislature than almost every other state university system,” Cookson said.
Eighty-three percent of grants given to college students in New Hampshire are from the colleges themselves, said Payne. Only one percent of funds actually come from the state.
“Colleges are shouldering most of the burden,” Payne said. “They are using more of their institutional dollars than other colleges around the country.”
Since 2000, the University System of New Hampshire has worked to keep tuition hikes five to seven percent lower than the national average, Cookson said. However, it is unlikely that state support will increase enough for New Hampshire school systems to be able to lower tuition and fees, Cookson said.
Students who attend college are likely to make $1 million more in their lifetime than students who do not, Payne said, but they are also missing out on something more than a higher salary.
People who go to college have more flexibility in their lives. There is a lower unemployment rate and better work environments to name a few, she said.
However, despite high tuition costs and soaring loan debts, New Hampshire has one of the lowest default rates in the country, Payne said.
The New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation has an outreach program that teaches students and parents about repaying debt.
“Students and parents who have been dealing with stagnant aid understand what it is,” Payne said, and they understand they have to pay their loans back.
According to the report, students are prepared for college in other areas too. New Hampshire received a “B+” in preparation.
At Keene High School, 71 percent of students pursue some type of post-secondary education, said Kim Baker, director of guidance at the high school. And more than half of them attend a four-year university.
Each year, the guidance department meets with students to develop some sort of post-secondary plan, she said. They help students get exposure to courses they might be interested in and discuss career opportunities.
Although Keene High School does not advise individual students on financial aid, they work closely with the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation to educate students and parents on financial assistance.
Baker said students often confess their concerns about affording college.
“I worry too,” Baker said. “It’s very expensive. The cost of school has been on the rise and it’s more of a hardship for families. There are a lot of hidden costs that people don’t see.”
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Ken Burns Speaks About 9/11 at Kalb Report
BURNS
Keene Sentinel
Lauren Katims
Boston University Washington News Service
9-11-06
WASHINGTON- On September 11, 2001, Ken Burns sat in his office in Walpole, N.H., and turned on the TV to see the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center. He didn’t believe it was happening – the idea of such an attack on America seemed inconceivable.
Five years later, the acclaimed documentary filmmaker misses seeing those images. He doesn’t miss the tragedy, but what the tragedy gave us – a sense of community, he told a packed room at the National Press Club on Monday, Sept. 11.
“There is a hunger for a sense of where we’ve been that is innate in all of us,” Burns, 53, said, appearing on the Kalb Report, an interview show. “We wish to be together again. We have to find our footing.”
A 28-year resident of Walpole, Burns has completed 18 documentaries, including his most famous, “The Civil War,” “JAZZ,” and “Baseball.” He knows he will do a documentary on 9/11 one day, but not for 25-30 years, he said.
“You think the past is fixed, but it’s malleable,” he said. Time allows for a sharper view of the subject, a better understanding of the importance of the incident. Motioning with his hands for emphasis, he said that 9/11 was the first time Americans felt vulnerable.
“Who would have thought this day five years later we would be where we are,” he said. “That’s why you need the passing of time to figure out exactly what these things are about.”
For the past six years, Burns has been working on a World War II documentary that will air on PBS next September. The film tells the story of the Second World War from the American perspective. It will follow the “so-called ordinary people,” onto the battlefields. “We follow these men into hell,” he said.
His goal is to correct what he sees as a lack of historical knowledge regarding the war today. He said that when asked, many high school students say that the United States fought with Germany against Russia. He added that the war was “necessary,” a fact that people need to understand.
In every one of his films, Burns asks the question: “Who are we Americans as a people?” The sense of community that 9/11 gave us is what Burns thinks Americans need right now, he said. But it seems that a tragedy is the source behind the togetherness.
Americans are “dialectically preoccupied,” Burns said. Everything in our environment assigns people as one thing or another until they are divided into a bunch of “independently-operated persons,” he said.
“Lincoln is still right saying we will die by suicide,” Burns said.
Burns thinks one of the main sources of separation in America is race, a theme in all his films, that will be with America as long as there is a country, he said. “I’m intolerant of intolerance,” he said. “How can you love your country without loving what it stands for?”
He said one day he would like to do a documentary about President Bush because he thinks people have misjudged him. However, Burns usually avoids politics in his work. He said he is “very liberal” after growing up in a liberal home, but makes it an “obsession” to keep it out of his films.
Burns moved to Walpole after he graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., because most of his friends headed to that area. “I moved to a beautiful place, and it turned out to be the best professional decision I’ve ever made,” he said.
The small-town life allows Burns to concentrate on his art. What he does is “so intensely labor intensive,” he said, that the solitude of Walpole permits him to focus on his work.
Burns has thought about making a documentary about the history of Walpole called Home, which would explore “the universal and the particular,” though for now he has a full plate with three upcoming films.
Now that his two older daughters are in college, he lives with his is wife and 19-month old daughter “in the most beautiful area of the country,” he said. And he never plans to leave.
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