us federal update 2012
DESCRIPTION
Legislative update presentation for TESOL International Association at 2012 TESOL International Convention in Philadelphia, PATRANSCRIPT
Tight Budgets & Election Politics
Status of FY 2013 Budget and Education Legislation
March 30, 2012
Welcome
• Ellen Fern, Senior Vice President, Washington Partners, LLC
• John Segota, Associate Executive Director for Public Policy & Professional Relations, TESOL International Association
Agenda
• Department of Education
• Congress – Congressional Leadership and Commi1ee Membership – Issues
• Federal FY 2013 Budget – Process – Overview of Themes
• Congressional Education Agenda – ESEA – WIA – Dream Act
Department of Education Leadership
Office of the Undersecretary – Martha Kanter Oversees policies, programs and acDviDes related to vocaDonal and adult educaDon, postsecondary educaDon and college aid.
– Office of VocaDonal and Adult EducaDon Dr. Brenda Dann-‐Messier, Assistant Secretary
– Office of Community Colleges • Frank Chong Ed.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary
– Division of Adult EducaDon and Literacy (DAEL) Cheryl Keenan, Director
Congress – Democratic MajorityU.S. Senate Leadership
• Majority Leader – Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) 51:47:2
• Minority Leader – Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• Appropriations Committee • Chairman – Senator Daniel Inouye (D-‐HI) • LHHS Subcommi1ee Chairman – Senator Tom Harkin (D-‐IA)
• Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee
• Chairman – Senator Tom Harkin(D-‐IA) • Judiciary Committee
• Chairman – Senator Pat Leahy (D-‐VT)
Congress – Republican MajorityU.S. House Leadership
Republican Majority – Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) 242:190 (3 vacancies) Minority Leader – Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Appropriations Committee
Chairman - Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) LHHS Subcommittee Chairman – Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT)
Education and Workforce Committee Chairman – Rep. John Kline (R-MN)
Judiciary Committee Chairman – Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
DC Environmental Assessment
• Partisanship has impacted all debate and legislative schedule.
• Unprecedented dysfunction in the legislative process.
• Issue landscape changing rapidly – has evolved from stimulus, job creation, war in Afghanistan and financial reform to huge emphasis on the deficit and 2012 elections.
• Super Committee failed. Sequestration to go into effect January 2, 2013.
Overview of President’s FY 2013 Budget Request
Budget Process
• Annual timeline – State of the Union – PresidenDal budget request release – Congressional budget resoluDon – Annual appropriaDons process – Floor debate – PresidenDal approval
President’s FY2013 Budget Proposal
• An Economy Built to Last.
• Overall budget requests $3.8 trillion in discretionary spending.
• Adheres to the Budget Control Act spending limits, although it ignores sequestration.
President’s FY2013 Budget Proposal
• Four Pillars:
1. EducaDon and Skills for the American Workforce
2. InnovaDon and Manufacturing 3. Clean Energy 4. Infrastructure
Education and Skills for theAmerican Workforce
• Department of Education (ED) requested $69.8 billion. – $1.7 billion or 2.5 percent increase from FY2012 – Largest increase in funding of any non-‐security agency
Education and Skills for theAmerican Workforce
• ED Proposal Has Five Core Areas:
1. Increasing College Affordability and Quality 2. ElevaDng the Teaching Profession 3. Aligning Job Training and EducaDon Programs
with Workforce Demands 4. ProtecDng Formula Programs for At-‐Risk
PopulaDons 5. ConDnue on the Path of Reform and InnovaDon
Increasing College Affordability and Quality
• $1 billion in Race to the Top for states to improve postsecondary education.
• $55 million First in the World Fund. (like i3 grant program)
• Development of College Scorecard and Financial Aid Shopping Sheet.
Elevating the Teaching Profession
• $5 billion in one-time funds for states and districts targeted at all aspects of the teacher profession.
• 25 percent set-aside in Title II for Effective Teachers and Leaders state grant funds.
Aligning Job Training andEducation with Workforce
• $8 billion over three years in Community College to Career Fund.
• $1 billion over three years to expand Career Academies.
Continue on the Path of Reform and Innovation
• $850 million for Race to the Top (increase of $301 million from FY2012).
• $150 million for i3 – new round. • $100 million for Promise Neighborhoods
(increase of $40 million).
FY2013 Budget: Programs of Interest
Department of Education FY2012 Final President’s FY2013 Request
English Learner Education (Title III)
$732.1 $732.1
Assessing Achievement $389.2 $389.2
Adult Basic and Literacy Education
$595 $595
National Leadership Activities (Adult Ed)
$11.3 $11.3
EL/Civics (Adult Ed) $74.7 $74.7
Overall Philosophy at ED
• At the core, Race to the Top [and other competitive grants] are about spurring reform; especially at a time of tight budgets, when we need to make every dollar count . . . formula funds alone cannot drive the transformational reforms our system needs.”
-‐ Secretary Arne Duncan
• Congress has eliminated funding for 49 programs from FY2010-FY2012. – Savings of $1.2 billion
• President proposes 21 additional program eliminations and consolidations.
Budget Control Act
• What is it? – Passed in August of 2011 – Allocated spending caps that will lower deficit by $1.2 trillion over ten years
– Spending caps—FY2013 = $1.047 trillion in discreDonary spending
– FY2013—$536 billion security/$501 billion non security – Super commi1ee failure triggered sequestraDon – January 2013
Caps and Cuts
• Sequestration triggers automatic cuts for each of the nine years FY13-21.
• For FY2013 – fixed percentage of across-the-board cuts projected at 9.1 percent (OMB key player in this process).
• FY2014 to 2021 – No across-the-board cuts but the discretionary cap is lowered further.
• Estimated at a $4 billion cut in FY2013 to ED programs.
End Game
• Congress Decides – Budget resoluDon
• House Budget Commi1ee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-‐WI) budget – Cuts $19 billion in discreDonary spending from BCA
• Senate will sDck with BCA cap for FY2013 Everyone ignoring sequestration. Hearings going on now to prepare for
appropriations process. A continuing resolution—or “CR” is the
likely outcome until after the November elections.
Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act
ESEA Reauthorization: Senate
• Senate – Waivers prompted acDon – BiparDsan bill – Passed out of Commi1ee on biparDsan vote in October
– Unlikely to be on the floor
Highlights of Senate Bill
• Consensus bill – product of compromise and negotiation
• Career and college readiness standards
• Closing loophole on comparability
• Providing incentives to improve teacher and principal quality
• Focus on bottom 5% of low-performing schools
Differs from Current Law
• Standards – Requires states demonstrate college and career ready standards and create assessments in reading, math and science.
– NO requirement to join Common Core Standards IniDaDve.
• Accountability – Same tesDng but eliminates AYP.
– DisaggregaDon of data NO achievement targets
Differs from Current Law
• Teachers – Let’s states decide how to evaluate teachers. – Requires states that receive TIF grants to crak evaluaDons based at least in part on student growth.
• Low-performing schools – For bo1om 5% of schools choice of 8 intervenDons based on SIG regulaDons.
– Bo1om 5% of high schools and elem/middle schools AND dropout factories.
Reaction from Administration
• Appreciate effort but objects to elimination of mandatory teacher/principal evaluation requirements.
• Critical of lack of required performance targets for subgroups.
Reaction from Stakeholders
• Support from Chiefs, administrators and teacher organizations
• Lack of support from civil rights groups, disability groups and business community. – Lack of strong accountability measures. – Lack of performance targets for subgroups. – Too much lek up to States.
ESEA Reauthorization: House
• House of Representatives – Last year • TerminaDon bill • Charter school expansion bill • Flexibility bill
– This year • Student Success Act • Encouraging InnovaDon and EffecDve Teachers Act • Both approved February 28 on party line votes • Might make it to the floor
ESEA Overview of Proposed Changes
• House bill merges Title III into subpart Title I. • Professional development for teachers of ELLs,
is not maintained as a national priority. • House bill eliminates HQT requirements. • House bill requires SEA/LEAs to develop
teacher evaluation systems; Senate only requires it for those applying for competitive grants.
• House bill includes significant expansion of funding flexibility.
Reaction from Stakeholders
• Support from Chiefs and administrators.
• Lack of support from TESOL, civil rights groups, disability groups and business community. – Merging Title III into Title I – Lack of strong accountability measures. – Lack of performance targets for subgroups. – Too much lek up to States.
ED’s ESEA Agenda
• “We can’t wait” • Waivers – States must adopt and have a plan to implement college and career-‐ready standards
– States must create comprehensive systems of teacher and principal development, evaluaDon and support that include factors beyond test scores
– States no longer have to meet 2014 targets but must set new performance targets for improving achievement and closing achievement gaps
Waivers
• 11 states applied in the first round – Approved in February – Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachuse1s,
Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee….and, New Mexico
• 26 states and DC applied in second round – Alabama, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada,
New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming siqng out
• Third round of applications due September 6 • http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility/requests
Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act
• Long overdue – hasn’t been reauthorized since 1998. – Title II – Adult Educa*on and Family Literacy Act .
• Senate HELP Committee drafted bipartisan draft. – Never introduced.
• House – Democrats introduced Workforce Investment Act of 2012 • Authorizes ELL/Civics Program • Increased investment in technology and digital literacy • Supports integrated adult ed and training
The Dream Act - Status
• Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced in House – 80 cosponsors.
• Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced in Senate – 34 cosponsors.
• President has expressed support for bill in past.
• Election year politics.
Outlook
• What will get done? – Will House Republicans introduce WIA bill? – ESEA or Waivers? – ElecDon results – Lame Duck
• http://www.slideshare.net
• http://www.tesol.org/AdvocacyDay2012 • 18-19 June 2012, Washington, DC