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Posts Tagged ‘federal legislation’

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Ask Business and Industry Leaders in Your State to Sign Letter in Support of CTE Funding

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) and American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) strongly urge you to join in the fight to protect career and technical education (CTE) funded by the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.

The legislation proposes to cut the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act by eliminating its Tech Prep program. This elimination results in a significant loss of career and technical education funding to all states and districts and will impact the ability of education institutions to provide students the skills needed in today’s workplace. You can view a chart with projected state loses on ACTE’s Web site.

We need your help to show Congress the negative impact these cuts will have on businesses and the economy! Please join ACTE, NASDCTEc and AACC in a fight to save Perkins funding by signing your organization or business on to this letter. Contact Nancy Conneely at nconneely@careertech.org by noon on Friday, February 25.  We will send the final version to the Senate.

By admin in Legislation
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Obama Proposes Deep Perkins Cuts in FY12 Budget

Monday, February 14th, 2011

President Barack Obama today released his FY12 budget, which proposed increasing Department of Education funding by $2 billion, or 11%, but there were significant cuts to Perkins programs. As he did in last year’s budget, the President merged Title II Tech Prep with the Title I Basic State Grant. However, this year he also proposed cutting $264 million from Title I, bringing the total appropriations for FY12 to $1 billion (13.9% decrease).

The Department’s rationale for the cut is that:

You can see a breakdown of the impact of cuts on each state here.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan this afternoon at the Department’s Budget Briefing said that “While we know that high-quality career and technical education strategies have the potential to prepare students for jobs in the knowledge economy, many career and technical programs haven’t lived up to their promise of preparing students for careers and college.” It is vitally important that we have the data and examples to back up our assertions that CTE programs do prepare students for college and careers. Please send any information you have on postsecondary going rates and programs linked to high skill, high demand careers to Nancy Conneely at nconneely@careertech.org.

By admin in Legislation
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Hearing Calls for Innovation and Accountability with Flexibility in ESEA Reauthorization

Friday, February 11th, 2011

The House Education and the Workforce Committee met yesterday to hear about and discuss state and local-level innovations, educational output from federal spending, and the role of the federal government in schools today.

Committee members and witnesses broadly discussed areas to include and exclude from the upcoming ESEA reauthorization. Both Chairman John Kline (MN) and Ranking Member George Miller (CA) cited balancing flexibility with accountability as a major concern.

Each of the four witnesses shared insight into education reform at the state and local levels. Andrew Coulson of the CATO Institute presented disturbing statistics revealing that dramatically increased education spending does not equate to improved results. Coulson stated that “We have little to show for the $2 trillion in federal education spending of the past half century… it now costs three times as much to provide essentially the same education as we provided in 1970.”

Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, discussed what his state is doing to increase educational productivity. He described state-level innovations, like value-added growth models, that are showing promise in Indiana. He and the three other witnesses agreed that Congress will need to produce a comprehensive plan to create effective reform.

Ranking Member Miller is confident that ESEA reauthorization will occur this year, and demanded high goals and achievement, aligned with college and career-ready standards, for all students.

You can view an archived webcast of the hearing here.

By admin in Public Policy
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House Bill Would Cut Community College Grants

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

The House is scheduled to consider a bill today that would reauthorize the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program under “suspension of the rules,” which requires a 2/3 vote for passage. Without reauthorization, most TAA programs will expire February 12, 2011. The House bill would extend authorization for the TAA for Communities program and Sector Partnership Grants until June 30, 2011.

The primary purpose of the TAA program is to provide assistance to workers who lost their jobs as a result of foreign trade, but it also includes the Community College Career Training Grant Program (CCCTGP). The bill includes a $238 million cut to CCCTGP in FY 2014 as a budgetary offset. Therefore, if the bill becomes law, community colleges would receive only $262 million in FY 2014, rather than the $500 million currently allocated.

Even if the bill passes the House, it will still have to clear the Senate and be signed by the President, who pushed very hard for these community college grants to be funded. Be sure to call your Member of Congress today to make sure they know how vital community college programs are for retraining workers and getting our economy back on track!

By admin in Legislation
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Legislative Update: Appropriations

Friday, February 4th, 2011

House Sets Spending Levels

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (WI) announced this week that he would cut federal non-security discretionary spending by 9.3%, or $42.64 billion, from FY10 levels.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rodgers (KY) this week also released spending allocations for each subcommittee. The Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education Subcommittee’s spending allocation is $157.02 billion for FY11. This represents a 4%, or $6.57 billion, decrease from FY10 levels. While this represents a smaller cut than the $100 billion pledged by Republicans during the campaign last year, the committee bill will be open to amendments, which means that more conservative members can propose deeper cuts. The House Appropriations Committee is expected to identify cuts to specific programs next week.

The Senate, meanwhile, is not working on their appropriations bills and are waiting for the House to act. Sen. Daniel Inouye (HI), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, last week told The Hill that he expected another short-term continuing resolution would be necessary in order to give the House and Senate time to reconcile their bills.

By admin in Legislation
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State of the Union Focuses on Education, CTE Student Sits with First Lady

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

In his second State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama set a broad agenda for improving the economy and maintaining the United States’ status as a global super power. Calling this our “Sputnik moment,” the President urged Congress, private businesses and the American people to work together to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.

Recognizing that the world has changed and that a high degree is no longer sufficient to earn a family sustaining wage, Obama focused on the ways that education can help turn around the economy. First, he cautioned against “pour[ing] money into a system that’s not working” and highlighted the ways that his Race to the Top grants have reformed education through the adoption of new standards. He also stated that Race to the Top should be the foundation for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind this year. Among the other education priorities that he addressed were: raising the status of the teaching profession, increasing the number of STEM teachers, making postsecondary more accessible and affordable, and training individuals for new careers and new jobs.

He also stressed the importance of community colleges in meeting the demands of out fast-changing economy and singled out Kathy Proctor, a student at Forsyth Tech in North Carolina who is earning her degree in biotechnology at the age of 55 because the furniture factories in her town have disappeared.

However, despite the President’s call for greater investment in things like innovation, education and infrastructure, last night he proposed a five-year freeze on non-defense discretionary spending beginning this year. This comes after House Republicans have pledged to return appropriations levels to FY08 or FY06 levels. So while we don’t know what spending levels will look like after the CR expires in March, it seems certain that there not be any funding increases this year.

On a brighter note, Brandon Ford, a junior at the Academy of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering at West Philadelphia High School was invited to be a guest in First Lady Michelle Obama’s box last night. Brandon was recognized for his participation in the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE competition, in which teams from across the globe compete to create production-ready, highly fuel efficient vehicles. Brandon and his team went up against corporations, universities and other well-funded organizations from around the world, advancing all the way to the elimination round.  Congratulations, Brandon!

By admin in News, Public Policy
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ED Stakeholder Forum: 2011 Priorities and New Data “Dashboard”

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

At yesterday’s Education Stakeholders Forum, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outlined the Administration’s education priorities for 2011. Chief among these goals is the reauthorization of ESEA. Duncan told the group that he met Rep. John Kline (MN), Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, last week to discuss putting together a bipartisan bill. Duncan stated that there are many areas where the two agreed, including a smaller federal role in education, flexibility at the local level (but a high national bar), growth models, research and development, and broadening the curriculum beyond reading and math. Duncan conceded that “there are a whole host of reasons” why reauthorization may not happen this year, but he is optimistic that it will.

Second, the President intends to place a big emphasis on the importance of education in his State of the Union speech tonight. Third, despite the importance of education, the Department understands that states and local districts are in a position of having to make very tough cuts, and the Department would like to help states and locals make the best decisions they can.

Fourth, the Department has made postsecondary access and affordability a priority in 2010 and intends to continue that in 2011. They have already simplified the FAFSA forms and have announced applications of the Community College and Career Training Grants. The Department is also pushing for higher Pell grant maximum awards.

And finally, Duncan and other Department officials unveiled the “United States Education Dashboard,” a website that compiles a number of indicators that they believe give a holistic, big picture view of education in the United States and that are related to the President’s goals for education reform. The Department hopes that these indicators will help them find the gaps in the data and allow them to invest more in these areas. The Dashboard will also serve to inform policies and can be used to determine the most impactful interventions.

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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Republicans Propose Tech Prep Cuts

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

On Thursday Rep. Jim Jordan (OH), head of the Republican Study Committee, introduced the Spending Reduction Act of 2011, which aims to reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion by 2021. This bill first proposes setting FY11 non-security spending levels at FY08 levels, and thereafter setting FY12 to FY21 levels at FY06 levels.

Second, the bill would repeal or eliminate a variety of programs in an effort to reduce the deficit. One of the programs slated for repeal is Title II of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. While President Obama last year proposed consolidating Title II Tech Prep funding into the Title I Basic State Grants, this bill would eliminate that funding.

Among the programs singled out for rescission are those in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which includes the Community College and Career Training Grants that were just announced by the Administration last week. The bill would also rescind unobligated funds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which includes funding for Race to the Top and the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.

While this bill may pass the House due to the new Republican majority that has made deficit reduction a major priority, it is unlikely to pass the Democratically-controlled Senate. However, NASDCTEc will be watching this bill closely and will be advocating on the Hill for maintaining Perkins funding. But we may need your help! If the bill progresses through the House, we will likely contact you for state specific information on the impact of cutting Tech Prep funding, and may need your help in contacting key members of Congress that represent your state or district.

By admin in Legislation
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Legislative Update: 112th Congress, House Education Committee, ESEA

Friday, January 7th, 2011

New Congress Sworn in this Week, Republicans Pledge Spending Cuts

On Wednesday the 112th Congress was sworn in, with Republicans taking control of the House and Democrats retaining control of the Senate, but by a smaller margin than in the last Congress. One of the top priorities of the House this session is to cut spending.

During the 2010 campaign Republicans vowed to cut spending by at least $100 billion in the next year, but that number may be shrinking. With reality setting in, and three months of FY11 already gone, House Republicans are now indicating that that figure may be closer to $50 to 60 billion. One change to the rules for curbing spending is a new “cut as you go” rule. During the last Congress Democrats employed “pay as you go” rules that required most bills that increased spending or cut taxes to be offset with spending cuts or tax increases in other programs. But under this new rule, only spending cuts can be used to offset spending increases. This will allow members to propose tax cuts even if the cost is not covered by spending reductions. However, the new rule will have limited impact because it does not apply to the Senate, who must also pass any proposed legislation.

Changes on the House Education Committee

With Rep. John Kline (MN) taking over at the helm, there are a number of changes in store for the House committee that oversees Perkins and other education and workforce issues. For starters, the name of the Education and Labor Committee has been changed to the Education and the Workforce Committee. In a statement last month, Kline announced that the Committee will also be smaller this session, with approximately 23 Republicans and likely 17 Democrats. Kline also announced the subcommittee chairmen for the upcoming year. The Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness (which oversees Perkins and WIA) will be chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC), a former community college president. Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA) will chair the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education (which oversees ESEA). Kline also eliminated the subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities.

Secretary Duncan Urges Congress to Renew ESEA This Year

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan took the pages of the Washington Post this week to make the case for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this year, saying that “few areas are more suited for bipartisan action than education reform.” Duncan pointed out that there are many areas on which Republicans and Democrats can agree, from less emphasis on labeling schools as failures, to using a growth model, to enhancing flexibility for school districts.

By admin in Legislation
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OVAE Announces Goals for 2011-12

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Last month the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) at the U.S. Department of Education announced that in 2011 they will be focused on the several key areas in an effort to link education and economic opportunity. First, OVAE will work to support rigorous programs of study, funded by the Carl D. Perkins Act, that prepare young people for college and careers through postsecondary credentials completion. Second, they will serve 93 million adults in the U.S. whose basic or below-basic literacy levels limit their career opportunities, through funding from WIA Title II and the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. And finally, OVAE will improve the capacity of community colleges to meet today’s education and labor market demands.

To achieve these ends, OVAE has developed three goals for 2011–12:

1.      All youths and adults are ready for, have access to, and complete college and career pathways.

2.      All youths and adult students have effective teachers and leaders.

3.      All youths and adult students have equitable access to high-quality learning opportunities on demand.

“Enhancing our approach to career and technical education to prepare students for high-growth careers, we are particularly supportive of rigorous, relevant programs of study that span the secondary and postsecondary systems and that apply classroom-based instruction and work-based learning to meet academic, employability, and technical industry standards. This systemic approach relies on partnerships among K–12 schools, institutions of higher education, and employers.”

By admin in Public Policy
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