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September CTE Monthly: Impact of Sequestration, Exemplary CTE in MA, TX, and UT

September 18th, 2012

CTE Monthly, a collaborative publication from the Association for Career and Technical Education and the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, features the latest news on Career Technical Education (CTE) from across the nation for CTE stakeholders and Members of Congress.

In the September edition, read more about:

·         Impact of Sequester on the Carl D. Perkins CTE Act

·         Issue Brief on CTE’s Role in Urban Education

·         Exemplary CTE Programs and Students in Massachusetts, Texas, and Utah

·         CTE as a Key Solution to Absenteeism

View archived CTE Monthly newsletters and other resources on our Advocacy Tools Web page.

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst

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PARCC College-Ready Determination Policy to include Career-Ready?

September 18th, 2012

At a recent meeting in Alexandria, Virginia, the PARCC Assessment Consortium leaders discussed preliminary feedback received from the public comments on the draft PARCC Draft College-Ready Determination Policy and Policy-Level Performance Level Descriptors. As part of the discussion around the feedback, a question about adding career-ready to the description as a means to include the connectivity to the expectations for mathematics and English Language Arts for both college- and career- readiness was raised.

The policy determination is the initial step in the process that K-12 and postsecondary leaders in PARCC states will use to frame the performance expectations students must meet in English language arts/literacy and mathematics using a five point rating scale. The current draft under public comment review is available here. The primary objective identified within the draft policy states,

“ . . .  students who earn a College-Ready Determination and are admitted to two- or four-year institutions of higher education will be exempted from having to take and pass other placement tests designed to determine whether they are academically prepared to enter directly into entry-level, credit-bearing courses in English, mathematics, and a wide range of disciplines that require college-level reading, such as history and the social sciences.

The College-Ready Determination is not being designed to inform college admission decisions or to exempt students from having to take tests designed to place them into more advanced courses beyond entry-level courses (p. 2)”

As part of the policy development, PARCC leaders have connected with the CTE community through the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and others to engage in a dialogue around the issues and opportunities to include career-ready as part of the determination policy for mathematics and English language arts as well.

A webinar is being established to engage feedback and input about including a career ready level in the policy creation and assist in the public comment feedback period specifically from the CTE community.

 

Dean Folkers, Deputy Executive Director

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OMB Releases Sequestration Report

September 14th, 2012

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this afternoon released the OMB Report Pursuant to the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, as required by Congress. According to OMB’s estimates, non-exempt nondefense discretionary federal programs will be cut by 8.2 percent if sequestration occurs on January 2, 2013. The report does not get down to the program level, so we do not have official numbers on the amount the Perkins could be cut, but based on our rough estimates, Perkins could be reduced by approximately $92 million. The total cut to Department of Education programs would be $4.113 billion.

OMB’s determination that the cut from sequestration would be 8.2 percent is based on the assumption that FY13 discretionary spending will be at FY12 levels. However, as we told you earlier this week, the 6 month continuing resolution increases FY13 spending 0.612 percent above FY12 levels. Therefore, the final sequestration percentage will likely be slightly different than 8.2 percent.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

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Senate Hearing Focuses on College Affordability; Witness Calls for Streamlining Federal Reporting Requirements

September 14th, 2012

At a hearing this week — Improving College Affordability: A View From the States – members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee heard from higher education stakeholders about the obstacles that keep postsecondary education out of reach for many students. Dr. Camille Preus, Commissioner of the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, spoke about how the Federal government can encourage and support states in making postsecondary education more affordable:

The federal government also could help states in their efforts to be more efficient by aligning the various reporting requirements that it imposes on institutions of higher education. These requirements differ for various programs, such as the HEA and the Workforce Investment and the Carl D. Perkins Act, and these in turn differ from information that states themselves require. A concerted effort needs to be undertaken to eliminate these inefficiencies. Many community colleges have only one individual who is responsible for meeting all reporting requirements. Sometimes states becoming directly involved in providing needed information. In addition, the federal government needs to be much more aggressive in ensuring that appropriate state educational entities have access to data that will enable them, in concert with institutions, to identify the earnings of students after they have left institutions. These data in turn will help colleges to maximize resource allocation.

In the context of better aligning workforce and training programs, NASDCTEc has also recommended that common measures across programs such as WIA, Perkins, Trade Adjustment Assistance, and Adult Education would provide more interconnectivity in the workforce system as programs collaborate and work together to ensure the alignment of goals. Our recommendaitons also call for data sharing across federal programs in order to ease the burden that programs and providers face in collecting accountability information, and foster an environment of collaboration and efficiency in the workforce and education systems.

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OMB Delays Release of Sequestration Report

September 7th, 2012

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was scheduled to release a report on the impact of sequestration yesterday, as required by the Sequester Transparency Act. However, that did not happen, and it is now looking like it will not be released until late next week. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney had this to say:

“Given the time needed to address the complex issues involved in preparing the report, the administration will be submitting that report to Congress late next week. No amount of planning changes the fact that sequester would have devastating consequences. We need to deal with our fiscal challenges in a balanced way.”

We will let you know when the report is released, and what it has to say about the impact of sequestration on Perkins Act funding.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

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Democrats Support Career Academies and Technical Training in Party Platform

September 4th, 2012

This week in Charlotte, the Democrats released their party’s platform which outlines how their policies will help America out-education, out-innovate and out-build the rest of the world. As we reported last week, the Republican party’s platform included their support for CTE at the secondary and postsecondary levels. The Democrats also voiced their support for secondary CTE, saying that they would “continue to strengthen all our schools and work to expand public school options for low-income youth, including magnet schools, charter schools, teacher-led schools, and career academies.”

At the postsecondary level, Democrats called for greater access to higher education and technical training. To that end, the party supports the following proposals that would improve the skills of students and adult workers:

  •  increase the number of partnerships between businesses and community colleges to train two million additional workers with the skills they need for good-paying jobs;
  • support apprenticeship programs;
  • double investments in science education, encourage private sector innovation, and prepare at least 100,000 math and science teachers over the next decade.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

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Election 2012: Candidates’ Education Positions

August 30th, 2012

Yesterday we told you about the newly unveiled Republican party platform which supports local CTE programs at the secondary and postsecondary levels. While this platform reveals where the party as a whole stands on various issues, it does not necessarily reflect the position of an individual candidate. In a new publication from NASDCTEc, Election 2012: Candidates’ Education Positions, we take a closer look at the policy positions of both Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. This document does not cover every education policy issue, but those that the candidates have made public.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

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Republican Platform Highlights CTE

August 29th, 2012

With the presidential election just around the corner, convention season is upon us. Republicans are meeting in Tampa this week to formally nominate Governor Mitt Romney as the party’s candidate for President. Part of the convention process includes releasing the party’s “platform” or statement of principles. The Republican party’s platform covers a broad swath of issues, including education, jobs and the economy, agriculture, and government reform. The party’s education plank underscores the value of CTE in preparing students for the workplace:

School choice—whether through charter schools, open enrollment requests, college lab schools, virtual schools, career and technical education programs, vouchers, or tax credits—is important for all children, especially for families with children trapped in failing schools…We support the promotion of local career and technical educational programs and entrepreneurial programs that have been supported by leaders in industry and will retrain and retool the American workforce, which is the best in the world.

The platform also states the party’s belief that the status quo is not working for the higher education system, and calls for “new systems of learning” that can compete with traditional four-year institutions, including community and technical colleges, private training schools, and work-based learning in the private sector. The party also believes that the acquisition of advanced skills is necessary for the 21st century economy, and should focus on STEM fields.

Democrats will convene in Charlotte next week to officially nominate President Obama as their candidate, at which time they are expected to release their party’s platform.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

 

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New Poll Reveals Shifting Views of Public Education

August 23rd, 2012

This year’s PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools shows that the public’s opinion concerning education and funding is shifting. When asked in 1996, whether it was more important to balance the federal budget or improve the quality of education, nearly two thirds of respondents said “improve education.” However, this year 60 percent said that it’s more important to balance the federal budget. Given the state of the economy in 1996 versus today, this shift could be in response to the fiscal crises occurring at all governing levels in recent years.

That being said, the poll also revealed that the public feels that lack of funding is the biggest challenge facing public schools in their communities, with 35 percent of those surveyed citing it as the top challenge, compared with 23 percent a decade ago. Parents, at 43 percent, felt even more strongly that lack of funding is the number one challenge facing public schools.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

 

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Now Open: Race to the Top District Competition

August 13th, 2012

After revising the proposed criteria announced last May, the U.S. Department of Education released on Friday the finalized application for the Race to the Top District grant competition.

Districts are eligible to apply for the grants, which will provide nearly $400 million to support local reform efforts, if they meet the 2,000 student threshold and implement teacher, principal, and superintendent evaluations by the 2014-2015 school year. Beginning in December, ED expects to award 15 to 25 district grants ranging from $5 million to $40 million. Preference will be offered to applicants that form partnerships with public and private organizations.

The competition will be based on a 200-point grading scale with the following categories:

  • Personalized learning components (40 points)
  • Vision for reform (4o points)
  • Prior academic track record and district transparency (45 points)
  • Continuous improvement (30 points)
  • District policy and infrastructure (25 points)
  • Budget and sustainability (20 points)
Applications are due October 30th.

The finalized application does not include some items proposed earlier this year, such as performance evaluations of school board members, and includes a maximum grant award of $40 million rather than $25 million as written in the initial proposal.

Access the Race to the Top District application here, and learn more on the ED Web site.

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst

 

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