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March 3, 2011

Dear Governors:

I  appreciated very much the opportunity to visit with so many governors at the National  Governors Association winter meeting recently.   Thank you for the hard work you are doing every day to secure America's  future in a globally competitive, knowledge-based economy.  The most meaningful work in education reform  is happening at the state and local levels, and our role at the U.S. Department  of Education is to support you, provide flexibility in every way possible, and  highlight and reward your vision, courage, and success.

In  these challenging financial times -- what I call "The New Normal" -- governments  at every level face a critical need to cut spending where we can in order to  invest where we must.  The President's  proposed 2012 budget would reduce the deficit by more than a trillion dollars  over this decade, while investing in innovation, infrastructure, and  education.  He and I both recognize that  states face enormous financial pressures that could put students at risk so, as  promised, I am enclosing three  documents offering some options on the effective, efficient, and responsible use  of resources in tight budget times.  These  options are entirely voluntary and entirely a matter of state and local discretion.

The  first document, *Flexibility in Using  Federal Funds to Meet Local Needs*, outlines opportunities currently available  to states and districts to invest federal funds flexibly. The laws governing Department programs allow  for transferring funds among certain of those programs, combining funds in  small rural districts, consolidating administrative funds at the state and  district levels, and consolidating federal, state, and local education funds to  promote comprehensive reforms in high-poverty schools.  For example, a share of the money we provide  for educational technology can be used for programs to improve and reward teacher  and principal effectiveness, and vice versa.   While we always seek the greatest return on investment for children and  taxpayers, we believe states and districts are in the best position to tailor  the use of federal funds to meet the individual needs of students.

The  second document, *Smart Ideas to Increase  Educational Productivity and Student Achievement*, describes steps that states,  districts, and schools can take to ensure that federal dollars support  policies, practices, and programs with the greatest positive impact on students.  These ideas include innovative uses of  technology, new staffing policies, targeted adjustments in class size, and  compensation models that reward the best, most effective work.  There are right ways and wrong ways to cut  spending, and the most important guiding principle I can offer is to minimize  the negative  impact on students and seize this opportunity to direct your spending to the  highest priorities.

The third document, *Advancing Student Achievement Through Labor-Management Collaboration*,  grew out of an event the Department held in Denver on February 15 and 16.  We brought together school board presidents,  superintendents, and union leaders from 150 school districts in 40 states for a  two-day conference on how to put students at the center of the labor-management  relationship.  As the enclosed document  shows, there are school districts in America today that have moved beyond the  adversarial labor-management relationship and made great progress on issues  like teacher evaluation, compensation, staffing and placement decisions, benefits,  and strategic agenda-setting.  These  relationships are defined by a sense of shared responsibility, shared  accountability, and shared sacrifice, and they proceed from the understanding  that we stand or fall together on the quality of education that we provide to  our children and young people.

America's  governors are facing tougher financial challenges than at any time in recent  history.  Please know that we are your  partners in this effort and will do everything we can to help you adjust and  move forward in "The New Normal."  We also  invite and challenge all stakeholders, from elected officials at all levels to  school administrators, school boards, and teacher leaders, to work with you to  achieve the very best possible outcome for students.  At the very moment when education is more  important than ever to our economic and national security, it has never been  more at risk.  Working together, we can  get through these difficult times and provide all of our children with the high-quality  education they need and deserve.



| | Sincerely, 
| | -----------
| | /s/        
| | Arne Duncan

Enclosures

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Enclosures

Flexibility in Using Federal Funds to Meet Local Needs download filesMS Word (105 kB)

Smart Ideas to Increase Educational Productivity and Student Achievement download filesMS Word (134 kB)

Advancing Student Achievement Through Labor-Management Collaboration download filesPDF (6.3 MB)