From:                              National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity [nape@napequity.org]

Sent:                               Tuesday, February 26, 2013 7:10 PM

To:                                   ntuvesson@napequity.org

Subject:                          NAPE Public Policy Update for February 2013

 

National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity

Public Policy Update
February 2013

 

NAPE Releases Position Paper on Perkins   

   

On February 26, NAPE released a Position Paper regarding the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which is designed to increase the quality of career and technical education (CTE) and is set to be reauthorized in 2013. NAPE promotes the ideals of the Act and advocates for closing equity gaps and providing all students the opportunity to obtain skills and training necessary for the jobs of today and the future. NAPE believes that the federal government and states should work together to ensure that local education agencies provide high-quality CTE programs based on strong standards that will provide youth and adults with the skill-sets to be competitive in the 21st century. Read Press Release  

 

Budget  

  

The sequester will go in to effect on March 1 unless the Administration and Congress reach an agreement on a deficit reduction plan. The sequester, i.e., mandated federal cuts, will mean automatic across-the-board cuts for defense and discretionary funding. The discretionary cuts will impact the programs of most concern to NAPE's membership. Discretionary spending cuts will be at a rate 9 percent for all programs. Visit the White House and the Center for American Progress websites for more information on the sequester and state-by-state analyses of its impact.


On February 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing to highlight the damaging impacts of the sequester. The chair Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) requested information from federal agencies on the impacts of sequestration. Their responses are available on the committee website.    

   

The continuing resolution (CR), which is currently funding the federal government, is due to expire on March 27. Discussions about extending the CR continue to occur. On February 15, Hal Rogers, Chair, House Appropriations Committee, discussed his plan for extending the CR in order to avoid a government shutdown on C-Span.

 

On February 19, former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) released a new plan titled A Bipartisan Path Forward to Securing America's Future, designed to reduce the federal deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years. Adopting the plan will require a great deal of political compromise. The new plan calls for more cuts to Medicare and Medicaid than the Administration has supported and recommends more revenues from taxes than House Republicans have agreed to consider.

At this time, there is still no date for the official release of the President's FY 2014 budget request.  

State of the Union 

 

On February 12, President Obama gave the State of the Union address, which centered on economic recovery and job creation. The President incorporated career and technical education into the speech by discussing the preparation of students for good jobs and the Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH). P-TECH, in New York City, works in partnership with New York Public Schools, the City University of New York and IBM. Students graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in computing or engineering. President Obama stated, "Four years ago, we started Race to the Top--a competition that convinced almost every state to develop smarter curricula and higher standards, all for about 1 percent of what we spend on education each year. Tonight, I'm announcing a new challenge to redesign America's high schools so they better equip graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy. And we'll reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering and math--the skills today's employers are looking for to fill the jobs that are there right now and will be there in the future." 

 

In his response to the State of the Union address, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) discussed offering student's skills needed in today's job market. See:

Other items of interest to NAPE's membership raising the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour, ensuring equality for women and underrepresented minorities, and expanding access to early childhood education. Obama's blueprint for the economy is outlined here in Business Insider

 

Congress

 

This month is Career and Technical Education Month. Reps. Jim Langevin and Glenn Thompson, co-chairs of the Congressional CTE Caucus, recognized the importance of CTE on February 13. Representative Langevin noted, "The most important step I believe we can take this year to support CTE is to fully reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. Currently, the Perkins Act is authorized at a level set in 2010, which does not reflect the reality of a modern economy." Rep. Thompson added, "I join with a bipartisan group of my colleagues in not only recognizing the importance of maintaining these federal investments for our country's future but also saying thank you to the countless men and women who make these programs possible."

On February 14, Reps. John Tierney, George Miller, and Ruben Hinojosa reintroduced the Workforce Reinvestment Act (HR798). According to CAAL, the bill is substantially the same as last year's WIA HR4227, which has support from national adult education and workforce skills development leaders.  On February 22, 2013, the Education and the Workforce Committee Republicans, led by Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), released Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act. Rep. Foxx will chair a hearing on Tuesday, February 26, at 10 a.m. Senate intentions are not yet known.     

  

Reps. Polis and DeLauro are planning to reintroduce H.R. 4830, the Women WIN Nontraditional Jobs Act. The Act was originally introduced by Barbara Mikulski in 2011 and was designed to provide women with a pathway to higher paying job fields in which they are currently underrepresented. "Women are a crucial part of our country's workforce, but many are overrepresented on the bottom rung of the pay ladder," Senator Mikulski said. "The Women WIN Jobs Act will help us grow and diversify our innovation economy by recruiting and training hard-working women for industries where they make up less than a quarter of the workforce. Putting women on the path to economic success helps families and businesses succeed by building the highly skilled workforce of tomorrow."

 

Political Office Changes


Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced that he will not seek re-election in 2014. He recently served as chairman of both the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Appropriations subcommittee that handles Health and Human Services funding. Click here for a full list of Harkin's Senate committee assignments.

On February 5, Subra Suresh, Director of the National Science Foundation since October 2010, announced his resignation effective the end of March. Suresh has accepted a position as President of Carnegie Mellon University on July 1.

 

NAPE Meetings

  

On February 20, Mimi Lufkin and Yolanda Comedy met with Thomas Showalter, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to discuss the Carl D. Perkins Act. There is no set timeframe for the reauthorization.

On January 29, Yolanda Comedy attended the NDD Town Hall at the National Education Association (NEA). The Town Hall featured Congressman Steven LaTourette, President and CEO, Main Street Partnership; Sharon Parrott, Vice President for Budget Policy and Economic Opportunity, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; and Ellen Nissenbaum, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs.  Following the town hall, on February 8, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel sent a letter to President Obama.   

  


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About NAPE

  

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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