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Posts Tagged ‘accountability’

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Legislative Update: House Committee Passes WIA Reauth Bill

Friday, June 8th, 2012

The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a markup of H.R. 4297, the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 yesterday. The bill represents large scale changes to the current WIA program. The bill was approved by a party line vote of 23 to 15. There is no word on when the bill will go to the floor.

The bill proposes to consolidate approximately 30 existing workforce and training programs into a single, flexible Workforce Investment Fund, and it would give Governors the power to consolidate even more programs under a unified state plan. The bill would also require states and locals to use common performance measures for all workforce development programs.

As we previously reported, an earlier bill introduced by Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC), which was merged into H.R. 4297, allowed states to submit a unified state plan encompassing two or more job training and related programs, including both Perkins secondary and postsecondary programs. Under Foxx’s bill, Perkins funds would have been eligible to be consolidated into a Workforce Investment Fund and used for workforce activities. After hearing from the CTE community, new language was added to the Workforce Investment Improvement Act that singles out Perkins as one program whose funds cannot be consolidated into the Workforce Investment Fund.

The Workforce Investment Improvement Act also proposes changes to the Job Corps program to ensure that CTE and job training offered under that program is focused on in-demand occupations and that disadvantaged youth receive a regular high school diploma and/or a postsecondary credential that prepares them for employment.

Democrats on the Committee are not supportive of the bill, and offered a substitute bill as an amendment. Their bill focused on career pathways in high demand industries that lead to industry recognized credentials and postsecondary attainment. It would also expand the role of community colleges in job training. The Democrats’ amendment was voted down along party lines.

A summary of H.R. 4297 can be found here.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation
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Eight More States Receive NCLB Waivers

Wednesday, May 30th, 2012

The U.S. Department of Education this week announced that eight additional states will receive waivers for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements, so long as they implement college and career ready standards and reform their accountability systems. Waivers were given to Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island. These states join 10 others – Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee – in receiving a waiver. States receiving waivers no longer have to meet 2014 performance targets set by NCLB but must set new performance targets for improving student achievement and closing achievement gaps.

For more information, visit the Department’s waiver webpage.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

 

By admin in Public Policy
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Legislative Update: Appropriations, Election 2012

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Tentative Date Set for Senate Appropriations Markup

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education has tentatively scheduled markup of their FY13 appropriations bill for June 12th.  As we previously reported, the Labor-HHS-Education bill sets a 302(b) funding level of $157.7 billion.

House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Rehberg (MT) previously stated that he does not intend to mark up their bill until after the Supreme Court rules on the status of the Affordable Care Act, which is expected to happen in late June.

Romney Provides Insight into Education Policy

Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Governor Mitt Romney (MA) focused on education this week. On Tuesday he released the names of his team of education policy advisors. You will recognize many of the names from the Bush Administration, including former Secretary of Education Rod Paige, former OVAE Assistant Secretary Carol D’Amico, and former ETA Assistant Secretary Emily DeRocco. A complete list can be found here.

On Wednesday Governor Romney gave a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, setting forth his education policies. The overarching theme of the speech centered on increased parental choice, especially for low-income and special need students, as a way to expand opportunities for students. While he did not mention CTE specifically, he did state, “…[S]ince we live in a twenty-first century economy that increasingly demands a college education, efforts at improvement can’t stop at high school’s end. Students must have access to a wide variety of options that will give them the skills they need for successful careers.”

In a white paper released on Wednesday, A Chance For Every Child: Mitt Romney’s Plan for Restoring the Promise of American Education, Governor Romney laid out more details of this proposed education policies:

K-12 Education

Higher Education

 Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Public Policy
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Department’s Perkins Reauthorization Proposal Raises Questions and Concerns

Friday, April 20th, 2012

Yesterday Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and OVAE Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier unveiled Investing in America’s Future: A Blueprint for Transforming Career and Technical Education at Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, Iowa. This Blueprint outlines the Obama Administration’s plan for reauthorizing the Perkins Act, and revolves around the following four themes:

  1. Alignment: Effective alignment between high-quality CTE programs and labor market needs to equip students with 21st-century skills and prepare them for in-demand occupations in high-growth industry sectors;
  2. Collaboration:  Strong collaborations among secondary and postsecondary institutions, employers, and industry partners to improve the quality of CTE programs;
  3. Accountability: Meaningful accountability for improving academic outcomes and building technical and employability skills in CTE programs for all students, based upon common definitions and clear metrics for performance; and
  4. Innovation:  Increased emphasis on innovation supported by systemic reform of state policies and practices to support CTE implementation of effective practices at the local level.

 

While we support the themes encompassed in the Blueprint, we worry that the details related to each of these areas could have an adverse affect on CTE programs. For example, the proposal to award funds to consortia on a competitive basis could result in decreased, inequitable student access to high-quality CTE programs. You can read our joint statement with ACTE here. We will provide more detailed analysis in the coming days.

For more information from the Department of Education, you can access a summary of the Blueprint, as well as their press release.

 Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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Governors to Focus on Education and Job Creation in 2012

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

During their State of the State addresses earlier this year, the majority of governors cited education and job creation as top priorities. A summary released by the National Governors Association, The Governors Speak: A Summary of the 2012 State of the State Addresses, found that nearly every governor that gave a State of the State speech this year said that job creation would be a major focus in 2012.

Among the strategies for job creation were changes to tax codes, government processes, and regulations, and im­provements to workforce training and education. College and career readiness was also mentioned by many governors as an education goal that is also tied to job creation. Other education priorities included accountability, local control and flexibility, and STEM education. More specifically, seven governors stated that they wanted to increase the focus on STEM to ensure that schools are providing skills relevant to careers. Additionally, 17 governors are proposing to either increase or maintain funding for education despite tight budgets.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Public Policy
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House Democrats Introduce Alternative WIA Bill

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

Democratic members of the House Education and Workforce introduced their version of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization this week. The bill, introduced by Reps. Ruben Hinojosa (TX), George Miller (CA), and John Tierney (MA), is similar to a draft WIA bill circulated in the Senate last summer. This bill is also considered an alternative to Republican WIA bills, such as Rep. Virginia Foxx’s (NC) Streamlining Workforce Development Programs Act.

The Democratic bill focuses on a number of issues raised in NASDCTEc’s WIA reauthorization recommendations, including sector-based strategies, adult career pathways, direct contracting with community colleges, common measures, and One Stop infrastructure funding. More information on the bill can be found here.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation
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Mayors Bloomberg, Emanuel, Villaraigosa and Secretary Duncan Discuss CTE as Part of Urban School Reform

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Mayors and school superintendents from Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, convened last week on a panel to discuss urban school reform in their cities, and Career Technical Education (CTE) was touted as an effective strategy.

The panel, hosted by NBC anchor Andrea Mitchell, focused on accountability and parent and principal access to data as keys to improving education. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the concept of Career Academies with smaller, career-focused areas as an effectual way to measure student performance and provide data to those who need it.

Addressing the skills gap through CTE was also at the forefront of the discussion.  “We’ve got to find ways to get people to stay in school and get degrees but to make those degrees and the skills they learn more relevant not to what the jobs used to be, but what the jobs are going to be down the road,” Bloomberg said. He emphasized that not every student should be expected to earn a 4-year degree, and that community colleges and technical schools are other high quality postsecondary education options that are appropriate for many students.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel echoed the importance of CTE in revamping his city’s public school system. Chicago has been creating more schools that train students for specific high-demand areas, such as Information Technology and Advanced Manufacturing, through partnerships with business and industry. Emanuel described how Chicago will prepare students in the Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics (TDL) Career Cluster™ with up-to-date technology skills through a new TDL-focused school.

A video of this session is now available. Discussion related to CTE begins at minute 12:55.

Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst

By admin in News
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Legislative Update: CTE Floor Speech, ESEA

Friday, February 17th, 2012

House Member Highlights CTE in Floor Speech

Rep. Jim Langevin (RI), co-chair of the Congressional CTE Caucus, took to the floor of the House yesterday morning to shine a spotlight on CTE and its effectiveness in his state of Rhode Island. National Grid, the primary utility in his state, and the Community College of Rhode Island have come together to offer a program that allows students to earn a certificate in energy utility technology and gives them the opportunity to become new employees.

Mr. Langevin also called on his fellow members of Congress to support the President’s Community College to Career Fund, which would invest $8 billion over three years to advance partnerships between community colleges and businesses, such as National Grid.

NASDCTEc was pleased this week to have Mr. Langevin author a guest blog on the importance of CTE.

House Holds ESEA Hearing

Yesterday the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing on two recently introduced pieces of ESEA reauthorization legislation, the Student Success Act and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act. Chairman John Kline (MN) stated in his opening remarks that these bills provide flexibility to States and districts around teacher evaluation systems, standards, and assessments. Ranking Member George Miller (CA), however, warned that Congress should not promote flexibility at the expense of accountability and that legislation must lead to better outcomes for students.

Rep. Tom Petri (WI) remarked that there are many unemployed individuals in Wisconsin, but that there are also many employers looking to fill jobs – good paying, middle class jobs – due to the mismatch between preparation students are getting and the changing job market. He warned that we need address this skills gap or “we are going to be in a world of trouble.” Mr. Petri wanted to know whether these two pieces of legislation would advance the collaborative efforts being made by states and businesses, such as through the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, to prepare young people for the modern world of work, or whether they would create barriers to these efforts. Tom Luna, Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction, said that while the federal government’s role is be to hold states accountable, there needs to be sufficient flexibility because while the problems like those described by Mr. Petri are the same in many states, the solutions are not the same.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

 

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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Legislative Update: ESEA

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

Congress is in recess and will return next week.

House Education Committee Introduces Two ESEA Bills

Members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee had been working behind the scenes on a bipartisan ESEA reauthorization bill, but have failed to reach agreement on key issues. As a result, Chairman Kline (MN) announced two partisan bills on Friday focused on teachers and accountability. These two bills, along with three other bills introduced last year, will make up Republicans’ efforts to reauthorize ESEA this year. However, Ranking Member George Miller (CA) has said that if the Chairman proceeds with a partisan bill, he does not believe ESEA will be renewed in 2012.

Student Success Act

The goal of the Student Success Act is to replace the existing federal accountability system with state-developed and implemented accountability systems. More specifically, the bill would:

Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act

According to the committee, the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act will “ support additional flexibility in the use of federal education funds, help provide better information to parents on teacher effectiveness, and increase school choice.” Some of the key elements of this bill include:

 Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation
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New FERPA Regulations Seek to Balance Privacy with Flexibility

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Late last week the U.S. Department of Education released new regulations for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). These long anticipated regulations seek to “safeguard student privacy while giving states the flexibility to share school data that can be helpful in judging the effectiveness of government investments in education.” The amended regulations will take effect on January 3, 2012.

The new FERPA regulations expand access to data in a variety of ways. First, they broaden the types of individuals or entities that can receive data for evaluation or audit purposes. This will allow states to link data across sectors, such as education and workforce, so that state departments of education can disclose data to state departments of labor or workforce to be used to evaluate education programs such as those supported by the Perkins Act.

Second, the regulations allow postsecondary institutions to disclose data to K-12 agencies with the purpose of evaluating how well the K-12 system has prepared students for postsecondary education. This is a change from the previous interpretation of FERPA which held that data could be disclosed only to evaluate or audit programs of the disclosing agency.

Finally, the new regulations broaden the definition of “education program” in the context of evaluation and auditing to mean any program that is principally engaged in the provision of education, including, career and technical education, adult education, and job training. Note that this definition includes not only programs administered by an education agency, but education programs administered by any entity. This reinforces the reality that not all education programs are administered by a state education agency, but may be overseen by a state labor or workforce agency.

For more information, there are two webinars scheduled for this week:

 

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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