Calls for action on ESEA. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Monday called for action on a long-overdue overhaul of the elementary and secondary school law, contending that Congress has "failed to carry out its basic core responsibilities on education." The last reauthorization of the law, known as No Child Left Behind, expired in 2007 and has been criticized by both parties as requiring unachievable standards. The House passed its reauthorization bill (H.R. 5) in July, and the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee approved its version (S. 1094) in June. Senate floor action appears unlikely this fall because there isn't enough time on the calendar for the open amendment process that Democratic leaders envision. In the meantime, the administration has advanced its education priorities by providing waivers to states from some of the NCLB requirements in exchange for them carrying out other policy changes.

"Education Pays" report. On Monday, the College Board released a report entitled Education Pays 2013. The report finds that a college degree still provides a significant earnings bump to individuals, but the value has declined slightly in comparison with those who earn only a high school degree.

Donation more likely to reopen Head Start programs than House-passed measure. Two Texas philanthropists have offered to donate millions of dollars to allow shuttered Head Start programs to reopen. Laura and John Arnold, who have a philanthropic foundation in Houston, will extend up to $10 million in loans to the shuttered programs, something that current law enables without federal approval. The loans would be dispersed through the National Head Start Association. If Congress approves a bill to give the programs their full year's worth of funding, the programs would repay the Arnolds at no interest. On Tuesday, the House passed stopgap measures by a vote of 248 to 168 extending appropriations for Head Start and local school aid. The Senate is expected to reject the measures and insist on the House passing a plan to reopen the entire government.

We publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington collected by the New England Council, of which NEBHE is a member. This edition is drawn from the Higher Education Update in the Council's Weekly Washington Report of Oct. 15, 2013.

Founded in 1925, the New England Council is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region. The Council's mission is to identify and support federal public policies and articulate the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.

Shutdown's limited initial effects of education. The U.S. Department of Education is on partial shutdown, with many employees furloughed, but school districts are functioning in full. The effects of the government shutdown would be harder felt in the education sector if the shutdown were to continue for a prolonged period. Pell grants and federal direct student loans will largely be unaffected by the shutdown. The department's Grants Management system called G5 will remain up and running throughout the shutdown. The department has roughly $22 billion in key K-12 formula funding through state Title I, special education and career and technical education grants to give out during the first week of October and it appears that those dollars still went out. Race to the Top, Investing and Innovation, and Promise Neighborhoods still have FY 2013 money left that needs to be allocated by Dec. 31. Head Start centers, which were expecting a round of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services funding this month, saw that funding delayed and some had to close their doors. Impact Aid funding has also been delayed. See the Department of Education plan for functioning during the shutdown.

House passes funding for Impact Aid and Head Start, unlikely in Senate. The partial funding measures passed by the House last week included legislation authorizing funding for Impact Aid to school districts with a large federal presence (H J Res 83). The bill provides funding for Impact Aid for Local Schools through Dec. 15, 2013, at the sequester-reduced funding levels effective at the end of FY 2013. The Education Department's Impact Aid program provides direct funding to school districts to make up for the loss of property taxes because the federal government owns large amounts of nearby land. Another funding measure would allocate funding for the Head Start program (H J Res 84). The bill provides funding for the Head Start program through Dec. 15, 2013, at the sequester-reduced funding levels effective at the end of FY 2013. The Head Start program provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families.

Title I funding guidance. New guidance, which provides further clarification about how Title I funds should be distributed to new and expanding charter schools, is intended to clarify federal laws that charter advocates say conflict with each other and prevent charter schools from receiving some funds. Education Week obtained a copy of the letter sent to Title I directors around the country on Sept. 23.

Supreme Court to consider race in admissions case. The new Supreme Court term opens today, and due to be considered early in the term is a case about a 2006 Michigan ballot measure that prohibited racial preferences in education and other areas of state and local government. Last year, a federal appeals court struck down the measure as it applies to admissions policies at state colleges and universities. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, in Cincinnati, said in an 8-7 ruling that the measure violated the 14th Amendment equal-protection rights of racial minorities in the state by making it harder for them to achieve a political goal, in this case, a race-conscious admissions policy. The case follows a ruling in May in which the Supreme Court avoided a decisive ruling on affirmative action and race-based admissions.

New Hampshire joins group for common core implementation. The National Governors Association (NGA) announced that New Hampshire, Arizona, California, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming will participate in the "Improving Student Learning at Scale Collaborative" to support effective implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The NGA and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the two groups that oversaw the development of common core, and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) will provide a grant to the states as part of the project, and their staff will provide technical assistance as well. In other elementary education news, on Monday, Texas was granted a waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Upcoming hearing on college costs. On Wednesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee's Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee will hold the first in a series of hearings titled "Keeping College Within Reach."

We publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington collected by the New England Council, of which NEBHE is a member. This edition is drawn from the Higher Education Update in the Council's Weekly Washington Report of Oct. 7, 2013.

Founded in 1925, the New England Council is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region. The Council's mission is to identify and support federal public policies and articulate the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.

Legislators ask for information on relationship between schools and lenders. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Finance Committee Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee George Miller (D-CA) demanded that eight U.S. banks produce information about agreements they may have with colleges to encourage students to use their products. They cited a 2012 report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group that said more than 9 million students risk being charged fees stemming from deals in which colleges allow financial firms to manage federal financial aid disbursement through checking accounts and prepaid debit cards. On Tuesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee's Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Keeping College Within Reach: Simplifying Federal Student Aid."

Debate over for-profit college provisions in defense bill. House GOP committee chairs, Rep. John Kline (R-MN) of the Education and the Workforce Committee, Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA) of the Armed Services Committee, Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) of the Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, are urging their fellow appropriators not to accept provisions added to the Senate's FY 2014 Defense appropriations bill that would limit the use of military members' education benefits. In a letter sent Monday to House Appropriations Committee leaders, the chairs argued, "While intended to punish bad actors from accessing higher education, both provisions harm low-income and veteran students and their colleges and fail to increase financial or institutional accountability." Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL), who chairs  the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, added the provisions to the spending bill (S. 1429) in July with the goal of protecting veterans and service members from being targeted by the for-profit college industry. The riders should be removed from the spending bill and Congress should consider such proposals during debate on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, which expires Jan. 1, the chairs added in the letter. The House Education and the Workforce Committee and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee have begun a series of hearings on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act. Leaders of both panels said a bill likely will begin to move through the legislative process early next year.

We publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington collected by the New England Council, of which NEBHE is a member. This edition is drawn from the Higher Education Update in the Council's Weekly Washington Report of Sept. 30, 2013.

Founded in 1925, the New England Council is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region. The Council's mission is to identify and support federal public policies and articulate the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin named Rebecca Holcombe, current director of the Dartmouth Teacher Education Program in Hanover, N.H., to lead Vermont's Agency of Education, starting in January. Before going to Dartmouth. Holcombe was a principal at Fairlee School in Vermont and a social studies and science teacher at the Frances C. Richmond School in Hanover, N.H. The governor’s office took over management of the agency in 2012 and chose then-Commissioner Armando Vilaseca to serve an interim term as secretary until January 2014.

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The U.S. Department of Education appointed Jamienne S. Studley to be deputy under secretary, where she will focus on higher education policy development and outreach. She previously served as president of Public Advocates Inc., president of Skidmore College, and associate dean of Yale Law School, where she helped to establish the loan-forgiveness program. She has also held positions in the Education Department under the Obama and Clinton administrations.

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Sarah Kelly, former vice president for enrollment management and dean of students at Wittenberg University in Ohio, became vice president for enrollment at Saint Michael’s College.

Passage of a budget for FY14 was complicated by action taken on a $1.9 billion transportation bill filed by Gov. Deval Patrick to fund transportation projects and increase funding for education. Lawmakers rejected Patrick’s $1.9 billion request for new taxes and sent back a bill with $500 million in new taxes including a 3-cent hike in the gas tax. Patrick subsequently vetoed the bill admonishing lawmakers that if the tolls in the western Massachusetts come down in 2017 when the bonds for the Mass Turnpike are paid off, there would be a loss of over $100 million in revenue. Lawmakers were not swayed and voted to override his veto by wide margins in the House and Senate.

In early July, following action on the transportation bill, lawmakers sent Patrick a $34 billion budget for FY14. The governor vetoed $240 million in transportation accounts and $177 million in local aid, claiming the budget would not be balanced. Local officials reacted with anger to massive reduction in local budgets for cities and towns and urged legislators to override the governor’s vetoes. Subsequently, legislators voted to override the governor’s vetoes restoring the budget to its original form.

The budget:

• Increases funding for the University of Massachusetts to $478.9 million in exchange for a freeze on tuition and fees.
• Increases unrestricted local aid by $21.2 million sending $902.2 million to cities and towns
• Provides a $38 million increase for rates paid to Massachusetts hospitals who treat large numbers of Medicaid patients by boosting reimbursements from Medicaid and gambling revenues.
• Requires photo IDs to be used on electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards for those age 18 or older.
• Approves $30,000 pay raises for judges over FY14 and FY15. This is the first pay raise approved since 2006.
• Increases funding for elder care home services by $6.2 million, bringing total funding for FY14 to $182 million.

Session highlights ... so far ...

The Massachusetts Legislature is in session until Dec. 31, 2013. But already, state legislation has:

• Funded an $800 million transportation finance bill which provides for a 3-cent increase in the gas tax, a $1-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax and a broad tax on computer services. The bill is purported to avoid fare hikes on the MBTA while providing additional funding for regional bus services and other transportation upgrades. Some lawmakers expressed concern that the tax on computer services would drive businesses out of the state.
• Repealing the tax on computer services or the “tech tax” is likely. State officials have now delayed collection of the tax, which was passed as part of the transportation finance bill. In response to business concerns, legislative leaders and the governor now admit the tax was ill advised
• Raised the age of jurisdiction for juvenile offenders to 18 years. This will allow 17-year-olds to be processed in juvenile court, rather than the adult courts. However 17-year-olds on trial for serious crimes, e.g. murder, would still be tried in adult courts.

Higher education

From FY2002 to FY2013, state appropriations for all sectors of the Massachusetts public higher education system declined by 25%. Consequently, institutions raised tuition and fees.

In the FY14 budget, approximately $100 million in additional funding was approved for the University of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts State Universities and the Community Colleges. More specifically,

• Funding for the University of Massachusetts increased by $40 million bringing FY14 funding to $497 million. In exchange, tuition and fees will be frozen.
• Funding for the State Universities increased by $29 million bringing funding for FY14 to $232.8 million.
• Funding for the Community Colleges increased by $32.4 million.

The Massachusetts State Scholarship Program, which includes MASSGrant (need-based financial aid), will increase by $3 million or 3% over FY13.

K-12

Funding for Chapter 70 (education aid to cities and towns) increased by approximately 3% or $4.3s billion.

The budget provides $1 million for Innovation Schools. This would fund competitive grants for school districts who are planning or in the process of implementing innovative programs.

Early ed  

The budget also provides approximately $500 million for early education and child care programs. Most of the funding is allocated to TANF-Related Child Care, the Department of Children and Families and Income Eligible Child Care.

Carolyn Morwick handles government and community relations at NEBHE and is former director of the Caucus of New England State Legislatures.

Related Posts:

NE’s 2013 Legislative Sessions: New Hampshire
NE’s 2013 Legislative Sessions: Maine
NE’s 2013 Legislative Sessions: Rhode Island
NE’s 2013 Legislative Sessions: Connecticut
NE’s 2013 Legislative Sessions: Vermont

Congress considers renewal of the Higher Education Act. Momentum is slowly building to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA) with college costs and student debt under bipartisan scrutiny. The most recent reauthorization of the HEA passed in 2008 and expires in 2014. On Thursday, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on reauthorization. It is the first of 12 hearings to be held regarding the HEA. Teacher colleges have been targeted by the Obama administration and members of Congress to be held accountable for their graduates once they graduate and enter the classroom. The HEA governs major college-access programs, including Pell Grants, and programs that help prepare disadvantaged students for postsecondary work, such as GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), TRIO and Upward Bound. Last month, President Obama called for developing a college-rating system to help prospective students navigate postsecondary options. The ratings would be based on access, including the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, affordability, including average tuition and loan debt and outcomes, including graduation and graduate earnings. The system could be used to tie tens of billions of dollars in federal student aid to college performance. On Friday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee's Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee held a hearing on career and technical education and training programs.

Common core testing flexibility. The Department of Education announced that it will give states the chance to suspend some or all of their current tests in mathematics and English/language arts for the 2013-14 school year, as new tests are experimented with. The department also released a policy guidance letter from Education Secretary Arne Duncan and a letter from Deborah Delisle. To obtain the "double-testing flexibility," states must give their own tests or experimental tests of new common-core assessments being designed by state consortia, to 95% of their students in grades 3-8 and one grade in high school, as federal rules require. Each student must take a full-length test, either their state's current test or the new tests, in both math and English/language arts. States are considering a range of responses to the offer of flexibility, including a mix of the new tests and their own tests. Currently, states are struggling to administer their own tests along with the new experimental tests being designed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC. A state wishing to request the field-test flexibility must submit its request to the Department of Education by Nov. 22.

We publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington collected by the New England Council, of which NEBHE is a member. This edition is drawn from the Higher Education Update in the Council's Weekly Washington Report of Sept. 23, 2013.

Founded in 1925, the New England Council is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region. The Council's mission is to identify and support federal public policies and articulate the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.

Lawmakers passed a budget totaling $8.2 billion with no new fees or taxes and worked to address the state’s ailing business climate by providing structural changes and government reforms. Gov. Lincoln Chafee opposed the structural changes, but let the bill become law without his signature.

The budget provides for:

• payment of $2.5 million related to the state-supported bonds of baseball star Curt Schilling’s failed 38 Studios
• over $30 million in tax incentives for historic development
• a 10-cent toll on the Sakonnet Bridge
• $7 million for a new roads and bridges program
• $4.5 million for workforce development
• elimination of sales taxes on works of art
• full funding of the school formula, plus an additional $30.3 million
• $500,000 for expansion of pre-K.

Session highlights

Rhode Island lawmakers:

• Replaced the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation with a new Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. The board of directors for the new agency would be responsible for creating performance measures, metrics and would include a member of the Governor’s Workforce Board to bring together the state’s economic and workforce interests and efforts.

• Created the Executive Office of Commerce effective in 2015, which will house the new Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. The Executive Office of Commerce will be the lead agency for the state’s economic development activities. The governor will appoint a secretary of commerce. Other agencies that will come under the Executive Office of Commerce include the Office of Regulatory Reform and the Department of Business Regulation as well as certain functions related to housing and community development.

• Created a Council of Economic Advisors with members from the public and private sector who will collect and disseminate economic data for the governor, the General Assembly and the secretary of commerce.

• Approved law allowing same-sex couples to marry. Rhode Island becomes 10th U.S. state to approve the legislation.

• Approved paid family leave for Rhode Island workers who require time off to care for a seriously ill child, parent, spouse, parent-in-law, grandparent or domestic partner. The program will be funded through employee contributions. Rhode Island joins New Jersey and California in passing such legislation.

• Eliminated tax on wine, spirits (but not beer).

• Increased the minimum wage from $7.75 to $8.00, which will be effective on Jan. 1, 2014.

• Passed law prohibiting the use of EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) for purchase of alcohol, lottery tickets or tobacco.

• Extended eligibility for Medicaid coverage to age 26 (effective Jan. 1, 2014, Affordable Care Act), for young adults who “age out “ of the Rhode Island child welfare system at age 18.

• Passed the Rhode Island Health Care Reform Act of 2013 to continue efforts to reduce costs, improve transparency, promote service delivery innovation and comply with the federal Mental Health Care Parity Act.

• Approved implementation of the Affordable Care Act. which begins on Jan. 11, 2014. For the first time, adults without dependent children whose income is at or below 133% of the federal poverty level will be eligible for Medicaid.

Higher education

The General Assembly created the Rhode Island Board of Education to replace the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education and the Board of Governors for Higher Education. Chafee appointed all 11 members of the board who were subsequently confirmed by the Rhode Island state Senate. The board is chaired by Eva-Marie Mancuso.

Lawmakers approved a $6 million increase in funding for Rhode Island’s public colleges and universities with the requirement that tuition be frozen at current rates.

The Rhode Island Senate passed several bills endorsing recommendations put forth in the Rhode Island State Senate’s “Moving the Needle” report including the following:

Reverse transfer of college credits.

A resolution passed by the Rhode Island Senate asked the state Board of Education to provide a policy for the reverse transfer of credits from a four-year institution to a two-year institution.

Dual enrollment

The state board of education will prescribe and regulate a statewide dual-enrollment policy that allows students to enroll in courses at postsecondary institutions to satisfy academic credit requirements in both high school and postsecondary schools.

“Finish What You Started” outreach

The Rhode Island Senate passed a resolution urging the Rhode Island Commission on Higher Education to assist in the coordination and expansion of programs within Rhode Island’s public universities and institutions which are intended to help individuals return to school and gain a credential—including the estimated 110,000 Rhode Islanders with some college education but no degree.

Employees of public higher ed Institutions

Current employees of any state college or the University of Rhode Island, who are receiving free tuition for themselves, spouses and children must disclose their names and waiver amounts. The new law does not open the records of former employees.

K-12: high school grad requirements

Lawmakers passed a joint resolution urging the Rhode Island Board of Education to reconsider current graduation requirements. But the board voted to uphold the current requirements, which includes NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program). The states of Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont are participants in NECAP, which annually administers a series of tests including reading, writing, math and science that were developed in response to the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

School safety

Two laws were passed to improve, reassess and review school safety and emergency response procedures. One law requires that the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education annually certify that all schools have reviewed and updated safety and response procedures. The second requires that school safety assessments and school safety plans be reviewed with local police, fire and school safety officials and also that such plans be exempt from the public records law.

Carolyn Morwick handles government and community relations at NEBHE and is former director of the Caucus of New England State Legislatures.

Related Posts:

NE’s 2013 Legislative Sessions: Vermont

NE’s 2013 Legislative Sessions: Connecticut