House Floor Schedule for FY 2012 Appropriations
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (VA) released the House floor schedule for appropriations bills. According to the schedule, Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations will be considered as follows:

• July 26th: Subcommittee markup
• August 2nd: Full committee markup
• Week of September 19th (tentative): Floor

Committee Report Filed on ESEA “Setting New Priorities in Education Act”
A committee report has been filed on H.R. 1891, the Setting New Priorities in Education Act, which would eliminate ineffective or unnecessary education programs to restore focus on successful federal elementary and secondary education programs for disadvantaged students. The report is filed under House Report 112-106.

House Approves Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act
Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC) recently introduced H.R. 2117, the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act, which would repeal unnecessary credit hour and state authorization regulations to protect institutes and students from excessive burdens.. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved the legislation this week, passing the Committee by a vote of 27 to 11.

Bills Introduced:

Bill to Develop and Support 21st Century Readiness Initiatives
Sen. Kay Hagan (NC) introduced S. 1175, a bill that would develop and support 21st century readiness initiatives to help students acquire skills for problem solving, critical thinking, communication, creativity, teamwork, and innovation.

Graduation Promise Act
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM) introduced S. 1177, the Graduation Promise Act (GPA), the first in a package of bills that aims to reform America’s schools by raising academic standards and helping students to achieve them. The GPA would direct funding towards underperforming high schools with the goal of increasing graduation rates and student achievement. In his press release, Bingaman points out that about 25 percent of low-income students in the United States attend high schools, yet less than 10 percent of federal funding for disadvantaged students goes to high schools. The GPA aims to improve this.

Tags: appropriations, budget, college and career readiness, Congress, federal legislation, Graduation Rates, postsecondary, skills

This entry was posted on Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 4:57 am and is filed under Legislation, Public Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.