Posts Tagged ‘Congress’

« Older Entries

Legislative Update: Education Jobs, Veteran’s Training Bill, For-Profit Recruitment, STEM Education Bill

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Education Jobs Clears the Senate

The Senate voted yesterday to pass the Murray-Harkin amendment, which includes $10 billion for education jobs and $16.1 billion for federal Medicaid payments. The amendment passed 61-39, with Senators Collins and Snowe the only Republicans to join all Democrats in voting for it. The House is scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday for a vote on the bill..

Veteran Employment Assistance Act

The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs approved S. 3234, Veteran Employment Assistance Act of 2010, which would improve employment, training, and placement services furnished to veterans, especially those serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The bill will now be reported to the full Senate for consideration.

Senate HELP Hearing on For-Profit Schools

On Wednesday the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on “For-Profit Schools: The Student Recruitment Experience.” The Committee heard from Gregory Kutz of GAO who recently conducted an investigation into the recruitment process at proprietary schools and found that the abuses are systemic and that oversight is lax. Joshua Pruyn, a former admissions representative at Westwood College, also testified about enrollment quotas imposed on reps, awards given for enrolling students, and the psychological games they were encouraged to play with prospective students.

21st Century STEM for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA) introduced H.R. 6078, the 21st Century STEM for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act. This bill would amend ESEA to provide grants to LEAs to encourage girls and underrepresented minorities to pursue studies and careers in STEM.

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , ,

Senate Moves Forward on Education Jobs Fund

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

After a series of fits and starts, Congress is nearing the finish line on passing the education jobs fund. Today, the Senate invoked cloture on an amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill containing the education jobs fund. The amendment provides $10 billion for education jobs and $16.1 billion for federal Medicaid payments. The funding in this amendment would be fully paid for, and would reduce the deficit by $3 million over ten years and $1.371 billion over eleven years. While the amendment still needs to be passed, the cloture vote marked forward progress on the stalled amendment. If the 30 hours of post-cloture time is not yielded back, that vote will be around 5 pm tomorrow, and if the Senate passes the bill (only 51 votes are needed), it will have to go to the House for a vote.  The House left for summer recess last week, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) just announced that the House will be called into session next week to pass the bill once the Senate completes action.

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , ,

Senate Hearing on the State of the American Child

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Last week the Subcommittee on Children and Families of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held the second hearing in a series to address the state of the American child. This hearing looked at the impact of federal policies on children.

Dr. Cecilia Rouse, a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), told the subcommittee that a CB028331growing number of jobs require workers with greater analytical and interactive skills, but that students are not prepared to enter postsecondary, where they are most likely to acquire these skills. She went on to say that “while the current U.S. education and training system has been shown to provide valuable labor market skills to participants, it could be more effective at encouraging completion and responding to the needs of the labor market.” Her suggestions for improving the system come from CEA’s report Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow which we told you about last summer. She also said that federal legislation such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Workforce Investment Act would help the United States develop training and education systems that are once again first in the world.

Seth Harris, Deputy Secretary from the U.S. Department of Labor outlined the Department’s proposed “Good Jobs for Everyone” program that would ensure “that young people have access to careers in high growth industries and the skills they need to compete in the global economy.” He went on to stress the importance of WIA youth programs that prepare young adults with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in 21st century careers and emerging fields such as healthcare and “green” jobs.

Sen. Robert Casey (PA), during questioning, emphasized that there needs to be a comprehensive strategy to bring together all of the agencies and programs that focus on youth so that they are more effective at providing services to and improving the lives of children. He suggested that CEOs and business leaders could play an important role in supporting a strategy for comprehensive reform.

By Nancy in Public Policy
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Legislative Update: ESEA, Education Jobs Fund, Clean Energy Works Act

Friday, July 30th, 2010

ESEA Reauthorization Unlikely This Year

An article in Wednesday’s Washington Post sums up what we have been piecing together for some time — ESEA will probably not be reauthorized this year. While the President has made education a top priority and Congress has held hearings and is working behind the scenes to hammer out a bipartisan bill, progress has been slow and the upcoming elections make Congress wary of moving such a controversial piece of legislation. Former Secretary of Education and Republican Senator on the HELP Committee, Lamar Alexander (TN) does not think we will see a bill this year: “I’d say time is up,” Alexander said Tuesday. “I don’t see it happening.” In an interview with the National Journal the same day, Chairman George Miller (CA) of the House Ed and Labor Committee said that he and Ranking Member John Kline (MN) have agreed to work through August on a bill and want to be ready when the opportunity arises to introduce it. Only time will tell what Congress will do, but we will keep you posted on any new developments.

Education Jobs Fund Stripped from Supplemental

While the House voted earlier this month to include the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund in the emergency supplemental appropriations bill, the Senate lacked the votes to include the fund in their version of the supplemental. As a result, House Democrats have accepted the Senate’s plan to pass a stripped-down supplemental bill and are seeking another vehicle for the Education Jobs Fund.

Clean Energy Works Act

Sen. Patty Murray (WA) recently introduced S. 3631, the Clean Energy Works Act which would help prepare workers for clean energy careers. In addition to expanding the State Energy Program and making investments in national clean energy research, the bill would provide grants to clean energy companies for job training:

  • Regional Energy Alliance Skills Grants:  Competitive grants to producers of low-carbon producing energy industries in states or multi-state regions to educate, train, hire, and retain the skilled workers they need to grow their ability to provide energy at scale.
  • Regional Industry Energy Efficiency Grants: Competitive grants to industries that are high energy consumers (such as within manufacturing) to train or retrain workers to have the skills necessary to reduce their energy use through the use of new equipment, new practices, or other means.
  • Customized Renewable Energy Training Grants: Competitive grants to single companies either in the low-carbon producing energy industry, or an industry that supports such an industry, to provide the training necessary to have the skilled workforce to be competitive.  These grants need individual company needs, especially to companies that may not be in a regional cluster of similar companies in an industry.

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Marks Up Education Bill

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

On Tuesday the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education held a markup of and approved by voice vote their FY 2011 appropriations bill. While the text of the bill is not available, the subcommittee did release a summary of what’s included in the bill. There is no mention of Perkins funding in the summary, but we have heard from the Committee for Education Funding that Perkins was flat funded in the Subcommittee’s bill. We have also learned that the President’s proposed consolidation of Tech Prep was not in this bill, or the House Appropriations Subcommittee’s bill that they marked up earlier this month.

Some highlights of this bill:

  • An increase of nearly $163.6 million over the fiscal year 2010 level for state grants for job training and employment services, for a total of $3.8 billion.
  • $25 million increase for the Green Jobs Innovation Fund, for a total of $65 million.
  • $14.9 billion for Title I grants to local education agencies for improving education for low-income students. This amount is $450 million higher than the budget request and the fiscal year 2010 funding level.
  • $242 million for five new Workforce Innovation Funds, which will be administered jointly by the Secretaries of Labor and Education, consist of $55 million for dislocated workers, $35 million for adult job training, $95 million for youth, $27 million for disabled individuals and $30 million for adult education programs.

The bill now moves to the full Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, but Sen. Tom Harkin (IA), chair of the subcommittee, has indicated that the bill will not go to the floor for a vote before December.

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Legislative Update: SECTORS Act, DIPLOMA Act, Veterans Training Bill

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

SECTORS Act Passes House with Bipartisan Support

Earlier this week House of Representatives passed H.R. 1855, the Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act on a unanimous voice vote. The bill is sponsored by Representatives Loebsack (IA) and Platts (PA) in the House and Senators Brown (OH), Murray (WA) and Snowe (ME) in the Senate. The SECTORS Act would amend the Workforce Investment Act and establishes a new Industry or Sector Partnership Grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. Grants would allow recipients to establish or expand industry or sector partnerships that lead collaborative planning, resource alignment, and training efforts across multiple firms for current and potential workers within the targeted industry cluster. The bill must now be approved by the Senate. You can reach your Senator at (202) 224-3121 to voice your support.


DIPLOMA Act Aims to Increase College and Career Readiness

Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH) introduced S. 3595, the Developing Innovative Partnerships and Learning Opportunities that Motivate Achievement (DIPLOMA) Act which aims to strengthen student achievement and graduation rates and prepare young people for college, careers, and citizenship through innovative partnerships that meet the comprehensive needs of children and youth. States would receive funding that would be used in part to administer competitive grants to local consortia to assess community needs, coordinate existing funding streams, and provide services. Career technical education is specifically mentioned as a permissible of funds by the local consortia.

Among the other permissible use of funds allowed by this bill are multiple pathways to graduation (including dual enrollment programs, early college high schools, dropout prevention strategies, and dropout recovery strategies), job training, career counseling, and internship opportunities.


Senate Committee Looks at Veteran’s Bill

On Wednesday the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a hearing to examine improvements to S. 3447, the Post 9/11 GI Bill. This bill would make changes to the Post-9/11 GI bill which currently provides education funding and benefits to veterans. S. 3447 would allow veterans to use their benefits at educational institutions that do not award associate or higher degrees. This would be a change from the current Post-9/11 GI Bill, which does not allow participants to use funds at a non-degree granting institution. This bill would allow veterans to attend postsecondary education institutions that do not grant associate or higher degrees, such as area career technical schools, career schools, and apprenticeship programs. The Committee is scheduled to hold a markup of pending legislation on August 5, 2010, during which Chairman Akaka (HI) intends to bring the bill up for a vote

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Legislative Update: FY11 Appropriations

Friday, July 16th, 2010

Yesterday the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education held a markup of the $176.4 billion FY2011 appropriations bill and passed it by a party-line vote. The bill sets the total education funding level at $1.4 billion less than the Obama Administration’s request.

You can view the summary tables of appropriations for the Labor, Health and Education Departments here, but the full program funding levels will only be introduced if the bill is considered by the full appropriations committee. From what we can tell, Perkins was level funded in the House’s markup. The Workforce Investment Act state grants were increased for the first time in more than a decade, which will allow for training an additional 85,000 workers. Funding for summer youth employment opportunities was also increased by $250 million, which will provide employment for approximately 100,000 young adults, enabling them to gain valuable skills and workplace experience.

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Legislative Update: Education Jobs Fund, FY11 Appropriations, School Counselors Bill

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Education Jobs Bill Uncertain in the Senate

While the House voted last week to pass the Education Jobs Fund, it remains unclear what will happen in the Senate. Last Friday, a group of 13 Democratic Senators, led by Sen. Evan Bayh (IN), sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (HI) opposing the $800 million education offsets in the House bill, while expressing support for the education jobs fund.

FY11 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Markup

House Appropriation subcommittees have begun hearings to markup FY11 appropriations bills, with six bills already marked up. We have heard that the House Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee will markup their FY11 bill next week, possibly on Friday, July 16th. Now that the House passed the Budget Enforcement Resolution, the full House Appropriations Committee can formally make its 302(b) allocations, which set the amounts that each subcommittee has to work with as they set spending limits for programs they have jurisdiction over.

Put School Counselors Where They’re Needed Act

Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA) recently introduced H.R. 5671 the Put School Counselors Where They’re Needed Act. This bill seeks to create a demonstration project in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that would fund additional secondary school counselors in troubled Title I schools in an effort to reduce the dropout rate. While the bill does not specify CTE, it does allow for counseling services such as individual graduation plans, something NASDCTEc supports in our ESEA recommendations.

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Legislative Update: Education Jobs Fund, America WORKS, Technical School Training Bill

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Education Jobs Fund Passes House, But President Threatens Veto

As predicted earlier this week, the House voted on the Supplemental Appropriations Act. During the vote, the House passed amendment by Rep. Dave Obey (WI) which included $10 billion for education jobs and $4.95 billion for Pell grants by a vote of 239-182. However, White House has issued a Statement of Administration Policy which states that “If the final bill presented to the President includes cuts to education reforms, the President’s senior advisors would recommend a veto.”

The bill now returns to the Senate where it will be subject to any further amendments by the Senate or by concurrence with the House amendments. If the Senate further amends the bill, it will return to the House. It is unclear when the Senate will take up the bill because Congress is in recess next week.

America WORKS Act

Last week, Sen. Kay Hagan (NC) introduced S. 3529, the America WORKS Act which would require Federal job training and career education programs to give priority to programs that provide an industry-recognized and nationally portable credential. This bill would have implications for postsecondary Perkins indicators, and we are working with Sen. Hagan’s staff on getting this language amended. We will keep you updated on our progress.

Technical School Training Bill

On June 24, Rep. John Barrow (GA) introduced H.R. 5594, a bill that would amend the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to establish a technical school training subsidy program. This program would go a long way in ensuring that Workforce Investment Act funds would be used to provide career technical education and training services so that individuals are prepared for lifelong careers. This bill aligns to our recommendations for WIA reauthorization which call for greater access to high-quality training.

By Nancy in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Applications for Smaller Learning Communities Grants Available

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

The Department of Education is now accepting applications for the Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grant program. According to the Federal Register notice inviting applications, the SLC program awards discretionary grants to LEAs to support the restructuring of public high schools with enrollments of 1,000 or more students into smaller units for the purpose of improving academic achievement in these schools. These smaller units include freshman academies, multi-grade academies organized around career interests or other themes, ‘‘houses’’ in which small groups of students remain together throughout high school, and autonomous schools-within-a-school. These structural changes are typically complemented by other personalization strategies, such as student advisories, family advocate systems, and mentoring programs. Each application must address two absolute priorities: preparing all students to succeed in postsecondary education and career; and common planning time for teachers.

Notice of Intent to Apply: July 15, 2010

Application Submission Deadline: August 6, 2010

The Department is estimating that there is $32 million available to award grants to up to 14 states. Each grant will be for a period of five years. For more information please see the Department of Education’s Web site.

By Nancy in Public Policy
Tags: , , , ,

« Older Entries