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DC Shuttle: Gridlocked Congress Considers Schools Reauthorization, Private Gift to Keep Head Start Going

John O. Harney — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 13:50:35 +0000

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.

DC Shuttle: All Shut Down? Not Quite

John O. Harney — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 17:34:14 +0000

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."

DC Shuttle: Lawmakers Revisit Bank-College Deals

John O. Harney — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 14:54:50 +0000

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.

DC Shuttle: Washington Moves on Higher Ed Reauthorization, Common Core Assessments

John O. Harney — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 16:03:41 +0000

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.

DC Shuttle: No Research Left Behind?

John O. Harney — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 14:21:50 +0000

Common guidelines for education research and development. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have formally released common guidelines for education research and development. The guidelines are intended to guide research investment decisions at IES, the U.S. Department of Education's main research agency, and NSF research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. They also seek to clarify the evidence expected for different types of research proposals in applications for grants from the agencies. At a hearing Tuesday, Education and the Workforce Chair John Kline (R-MN) said he will begin writing a renewal of the Education Sciences Reform Act while striving to make its work more useful in schools. Congress passed the law creating the agency in 2002 while also passing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization known as No Child Left Behind. Recent efforts to update that law have been stalled.

DC Shuttle: Loan Rate Bill on to WH; Workforce Reauthorization Trudges Ahead; Info From For-Profits Deemed Inconsistent

John O. Harney — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 15:26:20 +0000

Student loan interest rate bill sent to president. On Wednesday, the House approved the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act (H.R. 1911) by a vote of 392 to 31. The Senate passed the legislation the previous week and the bill is headed to the president, who has endorsed the legislation, for approval. The bill would modify how interest rates on federal student loans are set, tying interest rates to market rates, with loan interest rates fixed for the period of the loan. The bill would apply to all loans, except Perkins loans, issued on or after July 1, 2013. Interest rates would be pegged to the 10-year Treasury note, plus 2.05% for subsidized and unsubsidized portions of undergraduate loans, 3.6% for graduate loans and 4.6% for PLUS loans. The maximum rate would be capped at 8.25% for undergraduate loans, 9.5% for graduate student loans, and 10.5% for PLUS loans. The bill calls for a broader government study of college costs, at the request of Education Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA). Harkin has suggested the rates could be revisited as Congress begins to address the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, saying the results of the proposed study on college costs would provide important context. The Congressional Budget Office "scores" the proposal at about $700 million.

Workforce Investment Act approved by Senate panel. On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved a renewal of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the federal law that governs workforce training, by a vote of 18 to 3. The bill (S. 1356) would overhaul a broad range of job-training programs at community colleges, which haven't been updated in 15 years. The measure would reauthorize the 1998 Workforce Reinvestment Act which expired in 2003. Under the bill, states would submit a single plan detailing their workforce development and training efforts, and use a single set of performance indicators to evaluate program success. A 2011 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that 44 of the 47 federal job-training programs that exist under current law overlap in some way. The two-year sector seems to support the legislation. It faces an unclear future, however, in part because the House passed a much different job training bill earlier this year. The House-passed bill (H.R. 803) would consolidate 35 employment and training programs into one fund that would serve as a single source of support for employers and job seekers. Funding for those programs would be merged into a block grant to the states.

Audit of financial transparency of for-profits. Financial information that for-profit colleges submit to the U.S. Department of Education is inconsistent and generally not helpful, according to an audit by the department's Office of Inspector General. For-profits provide financial statements to the department as a requirement of their participation in federal financial aid programs but those statements lack transparency, the audit found, because the presentation of instruction and marketing costs is not consistent across institutions. The audit reports, "We determined that the audited financial statements that proprietary schools submitted to the department under 34 C.F.R. § 668.23 generally did not provide transparent information because the presentation of instruction and marketing expenses was not consistent across schools. We concluded that the financial information reported by schools is generally not useful to the department for purposes of identifying how schools spent their funds or making meaningful comparisons of financial information across schools participating in the Title IV, Higher Education Act programs."

As a member of New England Council, we publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington. This edition is drawn from the Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, of Aug. 5, 2013.

DC Shuttle: Many Progressives Wary of Senate-Approved Loan Rate, GOP Ed Reforms

John O. Harney — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 15:17:57 +0000

Senate approves student loan interest rate bill. On Wednesday, the Senate approved the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act by a vote of 81 to 18. House leadership has promised swift approval of the legislation, with a vote in the House likely this week. The bipartisan proposal would tie interest rates on undergraduate subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans to the 10-year Treasury note plus 2.05 percentage points for undergraduates, and plus 3.6 percentage points for graduate loans. This translates into an interest rate of approximately 3.86% for undergraduate students for the coming year, higher than the 3.4% rate that lapsed on July 1, but certainly more manageable than the current 6.8% rate. Graduate students would have access to loans at 5.4%, and parents would be able to borrow at 6.4%. The interest rates would apply retroactively to loans taken out since July 1, 2013. The compromise does include caps on interest rates for these loans—8.25% for undergraduate students, 9.5% for graduate students and 10.5% for PLUS loans for parents. The compromise proposal also calls for a broader government study of college costs, at the request of Education Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA). Harkin did suggest the rates could be revisited as Congress begins to address the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, saying the results of the proposed study on college costs would provide important context. Harkin said Wednesday that "this discussion will continue" next year when the Higher Education Act comes up for reauthorization. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the value of the proposal at about $700 million. Sixteen Democrats voted against the bill. The plan does not address the $1 trillion in student loan debt that already exists. It does not address the growing cost of a college degree. It does not reduce the billions of dollars in profit they say that the government earns from these loans. And it establishes a rate-setting system that will probably lead to higher rates. "My colleagues who support this proposal say that it will lower interest rates on loans for this year—and that's all that matters," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). "Now, that's the same thing credit card companies said when they sold zero-interest credit cards, and it's the same thing subprime mortgage lenders said when they sold teaser-rate mortgages. In all of these cases, the bill comes due." Warren introduced an amendment with Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) that would cap the new interest rates at the current rates. That amendment failed. So too did an amendment introduced by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) that would have authorized the new rates for just two years.

Democrats resist House education bill. Democrats and the Obama administration lashed out against the GOP proposal to reform national education policy and change the provisions of No Child Left Behind. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the bill "marks a retreat from high standards for all students and would virtually eliminate accountability for the learning of historically underserved students—a huge step backward for efforts to improve academic achievement." Senate Democratic leadership said it would not consider the bill in the Senate. On July 19, the House passed the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The bill, a departure from the policies of No Child Left Behind, would reduce the federal role in public education and cede back to states decisions about how to deal with failing schools, how and whether to evaluate teachers, and how to spend much of the money sent by Washington to educate poor, disabled and non-English-speaking students. The bill would eliminate the current accountability system, called adequate yearly progress, and would allow states to develop their own academic standards in reading, math and science, and leave to their discretion whether to set standards for other subjects. The bill also would allow states to identify their poorest-performing schools and let local districts develop their own strategies for improving them. The bill consolidates multiple programs into a Local Academic Flexible Grant, which would allow states and school districts to support their own priorities. The proposal would prohibit the education secretary from pushing for states to adopt the common core standards. The White House issued a veto threat against the bill on July 17. In the Senate, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved its own reauthorization bill (S. 1094) on June 12.

DC Shuttle: Loan Deal Reached, NCLB Weakened, E-Rate Boosted

John O. Harney — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 15:19:49 +0000

Student loan deal reached. A bipartisan group of senators announced a compromise on the Stafford Loan interest rates. Senator Tom Harkin, chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee and Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) Tom Coburn (R-OK), Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Angus King (I-ME) also participated in the announcement at the Capitol. According to reports, the White House also backs the measure. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) vowed "quick" action on the bill, which is expected to be voted on in the next week. The bipartisan proposal would tie interest rates on undergraduate subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans to the 10-year Treasury note plus 2.05 percentage points for undergraduates, and plus 3.6 percentage points for graduate loans. This translates into an interest rate of approximately 3.86% for undergraduate students for the coming year, higher than the 3.4% rate that lapsed on July 1, but certainly more manageable than the current 6.8% rate. Graduate students would have access to loans at 5.4%, and parents would be able to borrow at 6.4%. The interest rates would apply retroactively to loans taken out since July 1, 2013. The compromise does include caps on interest rates for these loans—8.25% for undergraduate students, 9.5% for graduate students and 10.5% for PLUS loans for parents. The compromise proposal also calls for a broader government study of college costs, at the request of Chair Harkin. Harkin did suggest the rates could be revisited as Congress begins to address the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, saying the results of the proposed study on college costs would provide important context.

House ESEA reauthorization. The House passed the Student Success Act (H.R. 5) by a 221 to 207 vote, with no Democrats voting in support. The bill, a departure from the policies of No Child Left Behind, would reduce the federal role in public education and cede back to states decisions about how to deal with failing schools, how and whether to evaluate teachers, and how to spend much of the money sent by Washington to educate poor, disabled and non-English-speaking students. The bill would eliminate the current accountability system, called adequate yearly progress, and would allow states to develop their own academic standards in reading, math and science, and leave to their discretion whether to set standards for other subjects. The bill also would allow states to identify their poorest-performing schools and let local districts develop their own strategies for improving them. The bill consolidates multiple programs into a Local Academic Flexible Grant, which would allow states and school districts to support their own priorities. The proposal would prohibit the education secretary from pushing for states to adopt the "Common Core" standards. The House adopted by voice vote an amendment that would delay implementation of the bill's new Title II funding formula until the Education Department determines that the formula would not reduce funding for schools serving high percentages of students in poverty. It also adopted, by voice vote, an amendment stating that if there is not enough funding to award grants to run an effective direct student services program, states would be required to prioritize awards to local educational agencies with the greatest number of neglected, delinquent or migrant students, English learners, at-risk students and Native Americans. The White House on Wednesday issued a veto threat against the bill. In the Senate, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved its own reauthorization bill (S. 1094) on June 12.

E-Rate. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing on broadband in schools and libraries. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) E-Rate program has worked since 1996 to connect schools and libraries to the Internet at speeds of at least 100 megabits per second. Newly elected Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) was named to the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and expressed support for the program and emphasized the need for expanding and evolving its use. The FCC is scheduled to address the issue at its next public meeting on July 19.

DC Shuttle: SCOTUS Ruling Suggests Colleges Can Continue to Use Diversity as Admissions Tool for Now; Congress May Revisit Loan Rate Debate After Recess; US Spends Most on Ed

John O. Harney — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 16:22:52 +0000

Supreme Court affirmative action ruling. On Monday, the Supreme Court released a ruling in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. The 7-1 decision was indecisive, remanding the case for reconsideration in the lower courts and directing lower courts to use "strict scrutiny" in affirmative action cases. The result of the ruling is that schools will continue to be able to use diversity as a tool in accepting students, as they have since the 2003 Supreme Court ruling. While schools may continue to consider race in admissions, the ruling says they must set a high standard for using affirmative actions programs. The Supreme Court chose not to rule in the specific case, sending the case back to the lower court for further argument. That result does little to address the debate over affirmative action, allowing current practices to continue but not guaranteeing their acceptance into the future, and has led to claims of victory from both side of the debate. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said that race can be a factor in college admissions, but that courts should use a more rigorous standard when evaluating a specific program. When considering race in admissions, schools must show that they have a compelling interest in promoting diversity and that the specific program is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. The case was the first heard at the beginning of this court session, almost eight months ago, and the long wait for a decision has led to speculation that the decision was a compromise that leaves the question open for further debate and later reconsideration.

Student loan interest rates double. Congress recessed for the Fourth of July, leaving town without agreeing to a means to stop student loan interest rates from doubling today to 6.8%. Congress is expected to come up with a solution after the recess and apply it retroactively. There was fanfare in the closing days of the session with dueling press conferences held to introduce new proposals that were largely symbolic as leadership from both parties admitted they had not reached a deal in time to stop the rate hike. On the Senate floor, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) objected to a request for unanimous consent from Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) to consider a bill (S. 1238) that would extend the current 3.4% interest rate for one year. Sen. Reed then objected to a similar request from Sen. McConnell to consider a bill introduced Thursday that would tie interest rates to the 10-year treasury note plus 1.85% for subsidized and unsubsidized undergraduate Stafford loans. Under that proposal, introduced with bipartisan sponsorship, the interest rate would be fixed for the life of a loan and borrowers would be permitted to consolidate their loans and cap repayments at 8.25%. While the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the bill would reduce the deficit by $1 billion over 10 years, the proposal has been met with opposition from Democrats that would prefer a cap at the outset of the loan. On Tuesday, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing on private student loan regulation. At the hearing, witnesses warned that allowing the interest rate to double might send borrowers to the private loan market, where it is more difficult to restructure loans. Federal regulators testified that they were continuing to urge private lenders to be more flexible with restructuring and thought there was room for new options despite some concerns that have held up their implementation thus far. Committee Chair Tim Johnson (D-SD) asked regulators to be on guard for changes in the market resulting from changes to federal student loans.

OECD education report. On Tuesday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report, Education at a Glance 2013, which details American education practices and results in comparison to those of other developed countries. The report said that the U.S. spends more than other developed nations on its students' education each year, with parents and private foundations picking up more of the costs. The report finds that American teachers make more than their counterparts around the globe, but that salaries have risen at a slower rate in the U.S. In 2010, the U.S. pent more than $11,000 per elementary student and more than $12,000 per high school student. When factoring in other postsecondary school costs, the U.S. spends $15,171 on each person in the system, the most of any country in the report. The average OECD nation spent $9,313 per person. In 2010, the U.S. spent 7.3% of its gross domestic product on education. The share of public spending accounted for 70% of all education spending, with parents paying 25% and private funds contributing the rest. For postsecondary education, 36% of education spending comes from the public, a stark contrast with most other developed nations that publicly fund a greater percentage of postsecondary education such as college and vocational training.

DC Shuttle: Teacher Quality Under Scrutiny on Capitol Hill

John O. Harney — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 13:57:22 +0000

House committee OKs ESEA reauthorization. On Wednesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved a proposed reauthorization to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by a vote of 23 to 16. The bill, the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), introduced by Committee Chair John Kline (R-MN), would consolidate most federal funding into one block grant. The proposal would eliminate the current accountability system and allow states to develop their own academic standards and assessments. The legislation "reduces the federal role in education by returning authority for measuring student performance and turning around low-performing schools to states and local officials" according to a summary by the committee leadership. The bill eliminates the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) metric, streamlines the data reporting that states and school districts must issue and distribute in annual report cards, eliminates more than 70 existing elementary and secondary education programs and removes all "Maintenance of Effort" (MOE) requirements. The bill rewrites the main teacher-quality program in favor of the development and implementation of local- and state-driven teacher-evaluation systems and limits the authority of the secretary of education over decisions in the classroom. The bill must be approved by the House Finance Committee before it can be considered by the full House.

Lawmakers close to deal on student loan interest rates. Ongoing negotiations to reach an agreement to avert the doubling of federally subsidized student loan interest rates on July 1 are reportedly producing a compromise proposal in the Senate. The agreement would peg the rates to the 10-year Treasury bill and include a cap on how high rates could climb. Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) said several details still need finalizing, including specifying a percentage above the 10-year Treasury bill that would be added to the rates. The House passed a bill (H.R. 1911) May 23 that was very similar to the proposal outlined by President Obama but was criticized by Democrats for not including a cap. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) wrote a letter to the president on Thursday calling on him to urge Democrats in Congress to move forward with negotiations.

More time allowed for waiver states on teacher evaluations. On Tuesday, the Department of Education (DOE) announced in a letter that it would allow extra time on teacher-evaluation standards for some states that have been granted waivers from the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Thirty eight states and the District of Columbia have been granted waivers from NCLB provisions by DOE in exchange for replacement rubrics proposed by the states. Those proposals needed approval from DOE and included new systems for teacher evaluations. In response to concern from many states, DOE announced it would allow states to postpone using student growth on state tests as a factor in personnel decisions for up to one additional year, until the 2016-17 school year. States will have to make their case in applications for the new flexibility, and DOE will approve the plans on a case-by-case basis.

Report on teacher-training programs. On Tuesday, the National Council on Teacher Quality released a report on the quality of the 1,430 education programs that prepare the nation's K-12 teachers. The results were not positive, claiming that the country's institutions are failing to adequately train the 200,000 people who become teachers each year. Part of a $5 million project funded by major U.S. foundations, the report has been endorsed by education secretaries in 21 states, but some universities and education experts said the review was incomplete and inaccurate.