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Posts Tagged ‘president’

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Obama Administration Releases ESEA Blueprint

Monday, March 15th, 2010

This weekend, the Obama Administration released its blueprint for revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) with the goal of raising expectations of students and rewarding schools for producing dramatic gains in student achievement. The blueprint builds on the reforms currently being undertaken through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including:

Many of these priorities align to the areas of focus in NASDCTEc’s ESEA reauthorization recommendations.

Of particular note in the blueprint is the administration’s plan for funding for assessments in the law, which CTE could be a part of [emphasis added]:

“States will receive formula grants to develop and implement high-quality assessments aligned with college- and career-ready standards in English language arts and mathemat­ics that accurately measure student academic achievement and growth, provide feedback to support and improve teaching, and measure school success and progress. States may also use funds to develop or implement high-quality, rigorous statewide assessments in other academic or career and technical subjects, high school course assessments, English language proficiency assessments, and interim or formative assessments. Beginning in 2015, formula funds will be available only to states that are implementing assessments based on college- and career-ready standards that are common to a significant number of states. The program also will support competitive grants to consortia of states, and to other entities working in partnership with states, for research on, or development and improvement of, additional high-quality assessments to be used by multiple states in such areas as science, history, or foreign languages; high school course assessments in academ­ic and career and technical subjects; universally designed assessments; and assessments for English Learners and students with disabilities.”

CTE may also benefit from the proposed grant program to increase access to accelerated learning opportunities  that help students prepare for, or directly provide, college-level work such as dual enrollment and early-college programs.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will testify before both the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee on Wednesday to discuss the blueprint.

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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Deficits of $1 trillion per year expected over the next decade

Monday, March 8th, 2010

New preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released on Friday projected that President Barack Obama’s budget would lead to annual deficits averaging nearly $1 trillion for the next decade. These estimates are larger than the budget shortfalls expected by the White House. According to CBO, annual deficits under Obama’s budget plan would be about $976 billion from 2011 through 2020, while the Obama administration estimated that its budget would result in an average annual budget shortfall of $853 billion for the next 10 years. The reason for the discrepancy is that the Obama administration’s estimate expects more tax revenue.

The CBO and the White House agree on the amount of government spending over the next 10 years — about $45 trillion — but CBO expects Obama’s policies laid out in his budget will bring in $35.5 trillion in tax receipts, while the White House expects $37.3 trillion. CBO expects less tax revenue due to slowed economic growth over the next decade.

President Obama recently created a bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform consisting of lawmakers and experts who are tasked with making recommendations to Congress by the end of the year to balance the by 2015. Democratic congressional leaders have pledged to hold votes on the commission’s recommendations after the mid-term elections.

By admin in Public Policy
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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
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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
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White House To Propose Three-Year Non-Discretionary Spending Freeze

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

President Obama is expected to announce in tomorrow night’s State of the Union Address that he will propose in his fiscal year 2011 budget freezing all non-security federal discretionary spending for three years in an effort to reduce the $1.4 trillion deficit.

While details have not been released by the White House, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that all discretionary spending not related to the military, veterans, homeland security and international affairs will be subject to the freeze. The limits will not be imposed across the board, however. Some areas would see cuts while others, including education and job creation programs, may see increases. Such a freeze is estimated to save $250 billion over ten years.

The specific details of the proposed freeze will be officially unveiled on Monday, February 1 when the President publicly releases his fiscal year 2011 budget.

By admin in Public Policy
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Meet the Press Discussion on Education Reform

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

The discussion about education reform took center stage on Meet the Press on Sunday November 15.  There was a freewheeling, 25 minute  discussion between moderator David Gregory and guests Arne Duncan, Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton.  Duncan, Gingrich, and Sharpton have been touring schools across the country to find out what works, what needs to change and what students expect in the classroom.  This bi-partisan group has embarked on this journey together to show that politics should not get in the way of the important need to reform education. 

Although there was no specific mention of CTE during the discussion this conversation touched on a number of topics that are important to all sectors of education.  This includes the role of charter schools, the importance of accountability, the goals of the Race to the Top fund, the challenge and impact of drop outs, teacher recruitment, and the importance of setting expectations for students, parents, teachers, and all who are involved in the education system.  The panelists also talked specifically about what they learned from visits they made to schools in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Tucson. 

If you would like to watch this interview you can see it on the Meet the Press website at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/#33948109

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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Meeting with Office of Management and Budget

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

This week Kim Green and I (along with Steve DeWitt and Jamie Baxter from ACTE) had a positive meeting at the Office of Management and Budget to discuss future Perkins funding.  We met with David Rowe, the Education Branch Chief and Christine Leininger, the program examiner responsible for career technical education within the education branch.   These two people play a critical role in the White House budget development process as OMB is part of the Executive Office of the President. 

They are just beginning their work on NEXT year’s budget proposal.  Here is how the process works.  Starting this week each agency submits their initial budget request to OMB.  Over the course of the next two months or so OMB and the agency discuss priorities, goals of the Administration, and budget realities to come up with the request that will be included in the President’s budget for each department.  Around Thanksgiving OMB lets each department know what the President’s request will be.  In DC terms this is known as the “pass back”.  While there may be some tweaking of the numbers over the ensuing several weeks, essentially this is the FY 2011 budget proposal that will be introduced by the President the first week of February and considered by Congress.

We let Mr. Rowe and Ms. Leininger know about changes and innovations that are taking place as a result of Perkins IV and talked about how the goals of the programs align with many of the Obama Administration’s priorities.   While it was important that we got to share this type of information with them, what was encouraging is that they were both knowledgeable about CTE and asked many questions about how the money is being spent,  accountability, demographics of students and programs, data collection and the various priorities for Perkins state by state.

We are going to be cultivating our relationship with OMB, sharing information, data and resources. This was a good first step in building a very important, long term partnership.

By admin in Legislation, Meetings and Events, Public Policy
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President Speaks to America’s Students

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

On September 8, coinciding with the first day of school for many American students, President Obama delivered a 17 minute address from  Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.  The message he delivered to students was straightforward and clear; students need to work hard at school for the betterment of themselves and their country.

He encouraged students to set goals for themselves and follow through on those goals. He talked about how everyone has to be responsible for their actions related to having great schools and providing educational opportunity.  Teachers need to inspire students, parents need to help their children with their homework and encourage them to focus on school, government has a responsibility to set high standards and support schools.  However, he emphasized, that all of this effort won’t matter if individual students fail to fulfill their own responsibilities—to show up at school, listen to teachers and their parents, and put in the hard work necessary to succeed.

The President noted that everyone is good at something and that each student needs to find out what that is and work towards being the best they can at that skill.  That is a great message and something that we should keep in mind because we are part of that process.  The work that the CTE community is undertaking every day; at high schools, community colleges and area career centers, as well as in administration offices across the country, is providing students a lens to look through.  We are helping them to find out about themselves, to find out what they are good at and to help them determine the path they want to take in their schooling and their life.  While the President’s comments today focused on students, let us not forget the link we all have to the students and the efforts we are all making to put the programming and resources in place to help students succeed no matter their stage of education or life circumstances.

If you would like to view the President’s speech you can go to:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/A-Message-of-Hope-and-Responsibility-for-Americas-Students/

By admin in Public Policy
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President’s Council of Economic Advisors Report Supports CTE and Career Clusters

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

On July 13, the President’s Council of Economic Advisors released a report, Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow.   Put simply, this report is something that anyone who cares about CTE should read. The essence of the report can be summed up in one sentence ” (h)igh-quality education and training is the best way to prepare the workers of today for the jobs of tomorrow.” 

A few key points worth noting:

 

 

By admin in Career Clusters®, Public Policy
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