Public
Policy Update
December 2013
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NAPE NEWS
The NAPE Professional Development Committee and NAPE
staff are very busy planning the 2014 Professional Development
Institute. Recent announcements include the following:
- Lockheed
Martin will again be the Platinum sponsor. Gold, Silver, and
Award sponsorships are also available. In addition, advertising
space is available in the Program Book. Learn
More
- NAPE
has announced its three featured speakers: Michele
Evans, Lockheed Martin; S.
Dallas Dance, Baltimore County Public Schools; Pedro
Noguera, New York University.
- Submissions
to the Call
for Proposals are due January 13, 2014.
- Applications
for scholarships
to attend the PDI are due January 10, 2014.
- NAPE
is accepting nominations for its 2014
Awards, to be presented during the PDI.
Please visit the NAPE
website for all information about our 35th PDI, which
is scheduled for April 7-10, 2014, in Arlington, VA.
CONGRESS
The
House Approves Budget Deal
On December 12, the House approved, 332-94, the Bipartisan Budget Act
(H.J. Res. 59). The House and Senate previously were unable to reach
agreement on H. Con. Res. 25, versions of which cleared each the
respective chambers with several differences. The 2-year
budget deal, negotiated by Senate and House Budget
Committee Chairs Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI),
would cap discretionary defense and nondefense spending at $1.012
trillion in FY2014 and $1.014 trillion in FY2015, an increase over
the caps set in the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25) of $44.8 billion
and $18.7 billion, respectively. Among the resolution's provisions,
H.J. Res. 59 would allow states to delay payment of Medicaid costs
for prenatal and preventive care when a third party is liable. In
addition, states would be permitted to collect medical child support
in cases where the noncustodial parent has health insurance. The
Senate is scheduled to consider the measure this week.
New STEM Bill
Targets Underrepresented Groups
On December 10, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Reps. Mike Honda
(D-CA) and Joe Kennedy (D-MA) introduced new legislation to encourage
women, minorities, and economically disadvantaged students to pursue
STEM careers. The STEM
Gateways Act would provide grants for classroom
learning, career preparation, mentoring, internships, informal
learning, and other appropriate educational activities.
Minorities are drastically underrepresented in STEM fields,
accounting for only 3 of 10 professionals. Not only are the number of
women and minorities in STEM fields low, but also their numbers are
decreasing. The number of engineering B.S. degrees awarded to
African-American women has steadily declined since the late 1990s.
Additionally, students from economically disadvantaged communities
struggle to access STEM opportunities, with the vast majority of
federal resources channeled into higher education institutions where
these populations are significantly underrepresented. This Act would
provide USDOE funding to help schools implement rigorous STEM academics,
with a focus on reaching underrepresented groups.
Selected elementary and secondary schools in partnership with
community colleges, nonprofits, and other partner organizations would
be able to use federal funding to support STEM classroom activities,
extracurricular and after-school learning, summer programs, student
tutoring and mentoring, and professional development for educators.
Such focused efforts on expanding STEM opportunities for girls,
minorities, and economically disadvantaged students will broaden and
strengthen the pipeline of American STEM workers.
The FAMILY Act
Is Badly Needed to Update the Outdated Workplace Policies That Are
Hurting America's Families
Most Americans have no access to paid leave when babies are born or
when serious personal or family medical needs arise, but that will
change when Congress passes the Family
And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, which was
introduced for the first time by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). It would establish a national paid family
and medical leave insurance program, bringing the country's
employment safeguards in line with the needs of its workforce and the
rest of the world.
"No legislation would do more to make this a family
friendly nation than the FAMILY Act. It is simply unacceptable that
millions of Americans work hard every day, yet are one birth,
accident or illness away from financial devastation because our
public policies fail to provide paid leave," said Debra L. Ness,
president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. The
Partnership wrote and led the effort to pass the Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), which is the only federal law designed to
help people manage job and family, and is now leading the coalition
of more than 415 members pushing for the FAMILY Act.
"The FMLA was a great first step, but it cannot be the
last--especially as the nation faces a tsunami of elder care needs.
With the FAMILY Act, Congress can fulfill the promise of the FMLA and
better meet the needs of working families, employers and our
economy."
Election of
Katherine Clark Increases Women Numbers in House
Rep. Katherine
Clark (D-MA) was elected in a special election to fill
the seat once held by then Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), who was elected to
the Senate in July. Her swearing-in on December 12 increases the
number of women serving in the House to 82 (19 Republicans and 60
Democrats), including the 3 delegates from DC, Guam, and Virgin
Islands. There are 20 women serving in the Senate; the total number
of women serving in Congress is 102.
ADMINISTRATION
USDOE Releases Updated Financial
Aid Shopping Sheet to Provide Students with Additional Transparency
in College Costs
USDOE released an updated version of the administration's financial
aid model award letter, known as the Shopping
Sheet, and announced that nearly 2,000 institutions of
higher education have voluntarily committed to using this important
consumer tool. Unveiled in July 2012, the Shopping Sheet makes it
easier for students to understand the type and amount of aid for
which they qualify and to easily compare aid packages offered by
different higher education institutions. It also provides a host of
outcome information about each school, such as graduation, loan
default, and median borrowing rates. When the tool was released in
2012 Secretary Duncan sent an open
letter to college and university presidents asking
them to voluntarily adopt the Shopping Sheet, to replace or
supplement their financial aid award letters for the 2013-14 school
year.
USDOE
Announces Highest-Rated Applications for Investing in Innovation 2013
Competition
On December 13, USDOE announced that the 25
highest-rated applications for the fourth round of the
Investing
in Innovation
(i3) program competition have secured private-sector
matching funds and will be awarded approximately $134 million to
expand innovative practices designed to improve student achievement.
The grantees were selected from 618 applications representing 13
states and DC. With this new cohort, the i3 program will encompass a
total of 117 projects that are using more than $1.2 billion in
federal and private-sector funds to address some of the most
important challenges in education.
The 2013 i3 competition required all grantees to secure
private-sector matching funds and submit evidence of 50% of the
required private-sector match before the award. Evidence of the
remaining 50% of the required private-sector match must be provided
no later than 6 months after the project's start. Eighteen are in
"Development"--supporting implementation of new and
promising, but relatively untested projects--and 7 are in
"Validation"--supporting building of organization capacity
of projects that have evidence of effectiveness in improving student
outcomes.
As in the past, the grantees address a variety of issues, including 4
projects focusing on family and parent engagement, 4 serving rural
students and communities, and 5 focusing on STEM course content and
instructional practices to increase student engagement and academic
achievement.
Obama
Nominates Assistant Secretary for DOLETA
On December 12, President Obama announced the nomination of Portia
Wu to be the next assistant secretary for the
employment and training administration at DOL. Wu is currently a
special assistant to the president at the White House Domestic Policy
Council, and she has also worked for the National Partnership for
Women and Families and for the Senate HELP committee. The ETA
administers funds for job training and dislocated worker programs,
including the Workforce Investment Act.
President
Obama's New Grant Opportunity for CTE Partnerships Housed in DOL
As reported in November's Update, President Obama announced a new,
$100 million competitive grant opportunity named "Youth CareerConnect."
DOL will award the funds from the H-1B visa program and will
administer the grants. Reportedly, 25-40 grants will be awarded to
partnerships of at minimum, a local education agency, a local
workforce investment system entity, an employer, and an institution
of higher education. Grants will range from $2 million to $7 million,
and the lead fiscal agent must be a public or nonprofit local
workforce entity, a local education agency, or a nonprofit entity
with program model experience. Applicants are required to provide a
match of 25% of the grant award through case or in-kind
contributions.
Applications must incorporate small learning communities, and be
designed around six core elements:
- Core
Element 1: Integrated Academic and Career-Focused Learning
- Core
Element 2: Employer Engagement
- Core
Element 3: Individualized Career and Academic Counseling
- Core
Element 4: Work-based Learning and Exposure to the World of Work
- Core
Element 5: Program Sustainability
- Core
Element 6: Program Performance and Outcomes
OTHER NEWS
PISA Results Show Educational
Stagnation in U.S.
U.S. students continue to perform poorly on international tests, with
15-year-olds scoring in the middle of the global pack on the latest math,
reading, and science tests administered by the OECD.
In a familiar hierarchy, Asian countries and regions topped the
rankings for 2012.
Average American scores on PISA tests haven't budged in a decade,
despite bipartisan efforts to shake up the status quo through reforms
such as mandating more frequent testing, publicizing student
proficiency rates, and opening public schools to competition from
charter and private schools. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called
the U.S. performance "a picture of educational stagnation."
Top-line takeaways from the volumes of data released:
- In
math, the U.S. ranked 26th in the world, on par with nations
such as Hungary, Russia, and the Slovak Republic. American
students had particular trouble with geometry, modeling, and
real-world applications of mathematical concepts.
- In
science, the U.S. came in 21st, ahead of Russia and at the same
level as Italy, Latvia, and Portugal.
- In
reading, the U.S. posted its best showing, with a rank of 17th
in the world, on equal footing with the United Kingdom, France,
and Austria.
One
possible explanation: Unlike the state standardized tests most
American teens are accustomed to, the PISA tests include
open-response questions designed to measure critical thinking and
problem-solving. The Common Core academic standards that are rolling
out nationwide this year are meant to push students toward that
"deeper learning" but have stirred considerable
opposition on both left and right.
CTE Activities
In November the bipartisan Congressional CTE Caucus held a briefing
for congressional staffers to discuss Perkins reauthorization from
the perspective of different CTE stakeholders. As the House moves
forward with reauthorizing the Perkins CTE Act, ACTE, and NASDCTEc
are working closely with the Caucus to better inform Members of
Congress on the importance of Perkins and CTE through in-person
meetings, schools visits, policy recommendations and informational
briefings like this one.
There are a couple of other notable events in Perkins reauthorization
that will be coming in the next few weeks. ACTE has organized a CTE
school visit for congressional staff later this month at the
Arlington Career Center in Arlington, VA. These schools visits allow
policymakers to see CTE teachers and students in action. This is a
great time for all ACTE members to contact their Senators
and Representative to arrange a school
visit during the upcoming congressional recesses.
Check the CTE
Policy Watch blog for more Perkins updates.
Keeping
Pell on Track to Help Low-Income Americans Afford College
The Save
Pell Coalition, of which CLASP
is a member, has released new findings on the current state of the
Pell Grant program and the many students who are counting on it. Key
takeaways include (1) students rely on Pell Grants more than ever,
(2) business and the public demand higher skills, and (3) Pell Grants
have already been hard hit.
The National
Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) is a
national, nonprofit consortium of state and local agencies,
corporations, and national organizations that collaborate to create
equitable and diverse classrooms and workplaces where there are no
barriers to opportunities. Through its Education Foundation, NAPE has
been involved in a number of initiatives to increase diversity in
America's workforce and to increase opportunities in high-skill,
high-wage, high-demand careers. Among these is the National Science
Foundation-funded STEM
Equity Pipeline Project, which works with educational
systems to increase the participation of underrepresented populations
in STEM education.
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