Twitter icon
Facebook icon
LinkedIn icon
YouTube icon



Posts Tagged ‘community colleges’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Obama Administration Wants Your Input on Advanced Manufacturing

Monday, April 12th, 2010

As we told you last week, the Obama Administration is focused on the key role that manufacturing can play in revitalizing the economy.  On Wednesday, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology launched a website to gather input from the public about the future of advanced manufacturing. There you can answer any of the ten questions posed:

Support for new manufacturing technologies

1. Are public-private partnerships (e.g., consortia), in which government jointly funds projects with industry and often academia, a good mechanism to support new manufacturing technologies that are beyond the reach of individual firms? If not, why not?

2. Some advocate the expansion of the mission of the national laboratories to include R&D challenges relevant to a broad range of manufacturing industries. Is this an appropriate strategy? If not, why not?

3. At some federal agencies, an “innovation budget” is established to promote breakthrough discoveries. Should such a budget be established for advanced manufacturing technology? If not, why not?

Support for new manufacturing firms

4. Given the success of some government-industry-university innovation clusters, should the federal government take the lead in establishing additional clusters to support new manufacturing firms, in particular? If not, why not?

5. Should the federal government assist in the formation and advancement of small firms in the advanced manufacturing sector? If not, why not?

6. Do you believe that potentially valuable research at universities is not being fully utilized by industry?  If so, why does this occur, and should federal agencies increase the emphasis on translational research to address this issue? If not, why not?

Support for existing manufacturing firms

7. Should the federal government help form public-private partnerships to perform research on “horizontal,” cross-cutting technology platforms (e.g., modeling, simulation) that are essential, but beyond the reach of individual firms? If not, why not?

8. Should the government generate an international benchmarking effort to compare US manufacturing infrastructures (i.e., technology platforms) with those of competing nations? If not, why not?

9. Should government, in partnership with industry, sponsor programs in manufacturing training and certification at community colleges, technical schools, and colleges to enhance the nation’s workforce? If not, why not?

A national manufacturing strategy

10. Should the President create a national science– and technology–based manufacturing strategy as a pillar of US economic policy? If not, why not? If so, which actions should have highest priority? Which of these are most cost-effective?

You can submit responses to any of the questions by 5:00 p.m. EDT Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at http://pcast.ideascale.com.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: , , , , ,

NASDCTEc Spring Meeting: Perspectives from the Hill

Monday, April 5th, 2010

At last week’s Spring Meeting we heard from the following panelists about what is going on inside the Beltway regarding CTE, community colleges, college and career readiness, common standards, the President’s budget and ESEA:

Regarding the President’s ESEA Blueprint, Congress has concerns about competitive funding, consolidations, and the school turnaround models. They are also likely to look at current law and do what is realistic. There were also many unanswered questions from the Blueprint: How do states define CCR? How does CCSI fit in? When/how to do assessments?

There is an increased focus on high schools because of the emphasis from the Administration and the education community on college and career ready.  CTE has the ability to bring rigor and relevancy to this debate, and it has a track record of meeting students where they are. When asked why the college and career readiness discussion focuses mainly on academics, one panelist stated that Congress stays focused on English Language Arts and Mathematics because that is what is comfortable.

There was also some concern that the government should be funding existing, proven programs, rather than creating new ones.  Later, during the Q&A portion when the panel was asked why Perkins is frozen in the budget if there is so much focus on college and career readiness, one of the panelists pointed out that presidents and Congress prefer to create new programs. For this reason, it is important that there be Congressional champions of CTE who will fight for Perkins funding and make CTE a priority.

While Perkins is frozen in the budget, there is some additional funding for community colleges through the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.  Jill Biden is also hosting a community college summit in the fall, which CTE should make sure they are a part of.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: , , , , , ,

President Signs Reconciliation Bill at Community College

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Today, President Obama signed H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 at Northern Virginia Community College’s (NOVA) Alexandria campus. Dr. Jill Biden, the Second Lady and professor at NOVA introduced the President.

The new law invests $2 billion in new competitive career training grants, available to community colleges. The law also provides $36 billion over 10 years for Pell Grants, which will increase the maximum annual Pell Grant amount to $5,500 this year and to $5,975 by 2017.  There was also $2.55 billion available to historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions and $750 million for College Access Challenge Grants.

In his speech, President Obama said “We need to invest in our community colleges.  We need to invest in the future of this country.  We need to meet the goal I set last year and graduate more of our students than any other nation by the year 2020.”

President Obama also said, “And because community colleges like NOVA are so essential to a competitive workforce, I’ve asked your outstanding professor, Dr. Jill Biden…to host a summit on community colleges at the White House this fall.  And we’re going to bring everybody together, from educators to students, experts to business leaders.  We are going to bring everybody together to share innovative ideas about how we can help students earn degrees and credentials, and to forge private sector partnerships so we can better prepare America’s workforce and America’s workers to succeed in the 21st century.”

The White House released a fact sheet on the Community College and Career Training Grant program. President Obama’s and Dr. Biden’s remarks can also be found online.

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
Tags: , , ,

Legislative Update: Reconciliation Bill, WIA Summer Youth Funding, Health Care Training Grants

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Reconciliation Passes, Awaits President’s Signature

The House passed the reconciliation bill last night by a 220-207 vote. The amendment bill, which included the fixes made to the Senate version of the bill, will now go to President Obama for his signature.  This bill includes $2 billion in funding through the Community College and Career Training Grant Program for community colleges to support education and training programs for dislocated workers and unemployed workers. The program will be competitive, but each state will be guaranteed .5% of the total funding, which totals $2.5 million per state.

Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act

This week the House passed the H.R. 4899, Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act by a vote of 239-175.  The bill would provide an additional $600 million to the states in Workforce Investment Act funding for youth activities, available exclusively to support summer jobs. While the bill still needs to go to the Senate for consideration, the WIA funding has the full support of the White House which issued a Statement of Administrative Policy stressing the importance of providing summer employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth.

Health Care Bill Includes Training Grants

The health care bill, H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, includes several grants to provide money for training in the health care field:

By admin in Legislation
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

House Passes Reconciliation Bill

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Last night, after passing H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (known as the “healthcare bill” to most of us) by a vote of 219-212, the House included that bill in H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (known as the “reconciliation bill”).  The House then passed the reconciliation bill by a vote of 220-211. The reconciliation bill moves to the Senate this week where they hope to pass it before recess begins on March 29.

Also included in the reconciliation bill are several provisions that affect education.  The two largest pieces include overhauling the student loan industry and an increase in Pell grants.  But as we told you last week, the bill also includes $2 billion over four years for community colleges.

By admin in Legislation
Tags: , , , , ,

CTE State Directors Take Helms of Opportunity, Unveil New Vision for CTE

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

June SanfordThe world is changing at a rapid rate and as a result the nation’s education system has a new range of issues to face. A confluence of occurrences — national fiscal challenges, a flattening globe, and the winds of technology – has given rise to new economic challenges that have been impacting all sectors of our society, including education.

But with those challenges also comes opportunity, particularly for career technical education (CTE) – a system that addresses the nation’s needs to educate and train the economy to success. Recognizing the responsibility we have as leaders in the CTE community to combat these challenges, State Directors across the nation have taken the helms of rethinking how CTE serves individuals, the economy and society.

Recently, we have undertaken a major revamp of the guiding principles that have mapped our course for CTE in recent years. Acknowledging global influences, the evolution of the economy and the interconnectedness of all education stakeholders – from secondary to postsecondary, and educators to industry leaders – State Directors have a created a formal, unified plan for the way we will lead CTE into this new era.

New Vision Cover IconThat new plan is laid out in Reflect, Transform, Lead: A New Vision for Career Technical Education, which is a vision paper that is designed to serve as a guiding document to lead a new, progressive course for CTE. While spearheaded by State Directors, the vision paper is a product of teamwork that involved educators and administrators of all education levels, a mix of education associations, student groups and industry leaders. The principles reflect the effort to include and align the priorities of our valued stakeholders, who are all needed to successfully take CTE to the next level.

This vision paper highlights the major areas in which we recognize CTE must transform in order to best serve individuals. However, this is more than just a call to action. Our vision paper includes specific tasks that we have imposed on ourselves and ask of our peer stakeholders to implement. The tasks and vision are framed around the themes of five principles:

Already, CTE has played a leading role in equipping individuals for the jobs of today. While State Directors are looking to maintain our responsibility, we also accept the new, challenging task of preparing individuals for the jobs of tomorrow. A door has opened for CTE to showcase the value it holds for individuals and the nation as a whole. We have chosen not to squander this opportunity and the plan in our vision paper demonstrates just that.

June Sanford, President

By admin in Public Policy, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Congressional Leaders Urge Inclusion of SAFRA in Reconcilliation Bill as They Mull Cuts

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, joined House Majority Whip James Clyburn and Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra at a press conference this morning to address the need to include the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) as part of the reconciliation bill. The Congressmen said that they believed attaching the bill to health care legislation in reconciliation would garner more votes for health care passage. The House passed SAFRA this fall, while the Senate is being held up by health care.

This press conference comes in the wake of new analysis last week by the Congressional Budget Office showing that SAFRA would save $67-billion over 10 years by ending the bank-based system of distributing student loans. This projection is $20 billion less than President Obama’s estimates.  As a result, Congressional Democrats have reportedly begun private discussions about cutting down the $87-billion SAFRA bill.

The President’s American Graduation Initiative became part of the House passed SAFRA bill and would fund grants for community colleges and area CTE schools to expand their academic and training programs, enhance linkages, and create innovative programs.  Funding would also be available for facilities modernization.

The Congressmen declined to say what would be cut from the bill, with Rep. Miller telling the The Chronicle of Higher Education: “That’s a matter of discussion between Senator Harkin and myself and the leadership. I’m not going to answer the question because I’ve got to sit down with them.”

By admin in Legislation
Tags: , , , ,

Obama Visits Georgia Technical College to Unveil $6 Billion Energy-Saving Proposal

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

President Barack Obama visited Savannah Technical College in Savannah, Georgia today where he toured the college and spoke to students participating in the Savannah YouthBuild program, which puts at-risk students through a combined GED/construction program. After the tour, the president announced a $6 billion proposal to help retrofit homes to save energy. The goal of the plan is to reduce energy usage by at least 20 percent.

Under the “Home Star” plan, homeowners would receive rebates of $1,000 or more to upgrade windows, doors heating, air conditioning, roofing and other household features. White House officials said that the administration hopes 2 million to 3 million homes will be retrofitted under the proposal. The proposal could potentially create thousands of jobs for unemployed workers hit hard by the recession. Obama wants the program included in a jobs package being drafted by Congress.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: , , ,

Senate Committee Examines WIA Reauthorization, Experts Call for Postsecondary Support

Friday, February 26th, 2010

While talks on Capitol Hill suggest that the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is being held up by health care legislation, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) on Wednesday reminded attendees that President Obama has declared job creation the nation’s priority.

“That’s why we must act swiftly to ensure that American workers have the education, training skills and support to compete and thrive in the 21st century global job market,” Harkin said.

At the hearing, A Stronger Workforce Investment System for a Stronger Economy, education and workforce experts urged the HELP committee to recognize the significant role WIA plays in the nation’s economic recovery. The hearing is the first of a series that the committee plans to hold as Congress considers reauthorization of WIA.

The witnesses, who included Anthony Carnevale Director of Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, and Robert Templin, President of Virginia Community College, pressed the committee to provide the resources and services that enable individuals to earn credentials or degrees – the ticket to career entry and advancement.

To provide those opportunities, Carnevale said the Obama Administration has provided a “strong start” in aligning the Department of Labor and the Department of Education by asking for a set aside of $261 million to break down program silos and create Workforce Innovation Partnerships.

“The mismatch between job growth and skill is a growing problem in the American economy,’ Carnevale said in his testimony. “Thus, our ability to align our huge investments in postsecondary education and training programs funded by DOE with job openings and labor market services funded by DOL has become crucial.”

Templin echoed Carnevale’s emphasis on postsecondary training, but also added that such programs must prepare students with a broad educational and training base in which they may build upon.

“Without broader foundational knowledge, postsecondary-level training, a portable credential and actual job experience, narrowly focused skill development too often results in a one-way ticket to entry level jobs that are the first to the lost at the next technology innovation or economic downturn,” Templin said in his testimony.

The experts’ recommendations align with the strategies already in place for CTE programs of study, which maps out a comprehensive approach to education and training. As Congress moves forward with its reauthorization efforts in WIA, we hope they hear the message that all students will need to have access to quality education and training programs prior to entering the workforce.

View NASDCTEc’s WIA recommendations.

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
Tags: , , , ,

President Urges Investment in Skills and Education in State of Union Address

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

In a State of the Union address that focused mainly on the economy, President Obama outlined measures already taken by his administration – ARRA, bank bailouts, unemployment benefits – and those he wishes to undertake in the coming year to address the financial crisis.  In calling for a new jobs bill, the president said that jobs must be the number one focus of 2010.

As countries like China and Germany are revamping their economies and rebuilding their infrastructures, President Obama declared, “I do not accept second place for the United States of America.”  To that end, the president urged a greater investment in the skills and education of Americans.  Among the proposed and existing initiatives in that area:

Regarding the community college bill that has already passed the House, the president said: “Still, in this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job. I urge the Senate to follow the House and pass a bill that will revitalize our community colleges, which are a career pathway to the children of so many working families.”

As we told you yesterday, President Obama proposed freezing all non-security federal discretionary spending for three years as part of his plan to reduce the deficit.  He said the administration will invest in what the country needs and cut what we don’t need, promising to use his veto power if necessary.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: , , , , ,

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

 

Series

Archives

1