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Washington Update November 13, 2015
Dear Colleagues: It’s been a busy time in Washington and the accomplishments before the end of the year could be significant! 1. With Budget Agreement Final, Appropriations Bills Head to the Finish Line Last week the President signed the “Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015” into law paving the way for the Congress to complete spending bills for the rest of FY 2016. The new budget act added $33 billion dollars for “non defense discretionary” accounts, which include education. Now the task is to determine how those funds will be distributed among the programs. Advocates are making their cases to appropriators to capture some of the new dollars for their favorite programs. November 20 has been set as the internal deadline for each subcommittee to submit their bill to the full committee along with any unresolved issues. Those unresolved issues are likely to be policy riders. The draft bills currently include about 600 policy riders, many of them controversial “poison pills.” Democrats are vowing not to accept any “ideological riders” in the final bill. The rider that many education advocates are weighing in on would block five sets of higher education regulations from moving forward, including the proposed teacher preparation regulations. December 11 is the date the current spending bill expires, so the new bill needs to be passed by then. 2. ESEA Reauthorization Nearing Completion! After weeks of behind the scenes negotiating, it appears that the “Big Four” (Chairman Kline {R-MN} and Ranking Member Scott {D-VA} in the House and Chairman Alexander {R-TN}and Ranking Member Murray {D-WA} in the Senate) have closed in on a final compromise bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Look for conferees to be appointed next week. Rep. Kline will chair the conference which will likely only meet briefly next week to bless the agreement. The tentative schedule calls for the Conference report to be filed on Monday 11/30 and for the House to vote on the final bill on 12/2 with the Senate following. If this comes to pass, we will have a new law before the end of the year! It will be most interesting to see how key issues were resolved, such as expanded accountability which the civil rights groups and the Obama Administration have prioritized. The “portability” provision in the House bill was considered a deal breaker by many Democrats, so that is another provision to watch. The 1% assessment cap for students with disabilities is another contended provision. Because both bills significantly limit federal authority (particularly Secretarial action) and return much decision making to states and locals, we expect this transfer of power to be a theme of the final bill. Passage of the compromise bill would be an important indicator of how the new Speaker of the House, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) plans to lead the chamber. See: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2015/11/sources_house_and_senate_negot.html 3. TeachStrong A new collaboration of 40 education organizations, led by the Center for American Progress, made its debut this week. Agreeing on 9 principles to strengthen the teaching profession, TeachStrong has brought together some unlikely collaborators – the National Council on Teaching Quality, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Teach for America and both unions. With the goal of garnering the attention of presidential candidates on teaching, the campaign is a $1 million initiative. In conjunction with the debut of TeachStrong, the Center for American Progress issued a report that contains some controversial claims, particularly about teacher preparation: Smart, Skilled and Striving/Transforming and Elevating the Teaching Profession. See: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-to-build-a-better-teacher-groups-push-a-9-point-plan-called-teachstrong/2015/11/08/2b28b824-84c8-11e5-8ba6-cec48b74b2a7_story.html http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2015/11/can-new-campaign-to-modernize-teaching-succeed.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=teacherbeat http://teachstrong.org/ 4. Obama Administration Challenges Higher Education Accreditation The Obama Administration has announced a new agenda to transform accreditation for colleges and universities. Secretary Duncan has described accreditors as “the watchdogs that don’t bark.” The failure of Corinthinan/Heald schools while being fully accredited intensified concerns of policy makers. The Department plans to publish accreditor’s standards for evaluating student outcomes, increase transparency about the accreditation process, publish key institutional metrics and promote greater attention to outcomes. The Department also puts forward a range of legislative proposals for consideration during the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. See: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-advances-transparency-agenda-accreditation 5. American Education Research Association (AERA) Issues Cautions about Value-Added AERA issued a statement cautioning against the use of value added methodology (VAM) for high stakes decisions for educators and educator preparation programs. The statement comes as the Department of Education prepares to issue final teacher preparation regulations which would require the use of student learning outcomes as the foundation for evaluating teacher preparation programs and determining access to TEACH grants, a form of student financial aid. See: http://edr.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/11/10/0013189X15618385.full.pdf+html See:http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2015/11/research_group_latest_to_quest.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=teacherbeat 6. Happy Birthday to the Higher Education Act On November 8, the Higher Education Act turned 50! Note statements below acknowledging the anniversary. Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the 50th Anniversary of the Higher Education Act<https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/statement-us-secretary-education-arne-duncan-50th-anniversary-higher-education-act> Alexander Statement on the 50th Anniversary of the Higher Education Act<http://www.help.senate.gov/chair/newsroom/press/alexander-statement-on-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-higher-education-act> Murray Statement on 50th Anniversary of the Higher Education Act<http://www.help.senate.gov/ranking/newsroom/press/murray-statement-on-50th-anniversary-of-the-higher-education-act> Scott Statement on the 50th Anniversary of the Higher Education Act<http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/press-release/scott-statement-50th-anniversary-higher-education-act> 7. On the campaign trail…. Presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has described teachers unions as an impediment to education reform and described democratic candidate Hillary Clinton as a “captive” to them. He also reflected that the education bureaucracy has “outdated leaders who don’t realize how much the world has changed…” See: http://bit.ly/1OF5SKD<http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a43436e7d5103713a2312b0b9683bc48efc21fc700969736b851ef58bb9091c1>. Republican presidential contender Ben Carson notes that homeschooling is the best schooling followed by private schools and then charter schools. He hopes that the common core will “die a quiet death.” See: http://bit.ly/1SJG0M0<http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a43436e7d51037138cc12b32e151df63a17292683fe604055329f2963e6cc15a> Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton is getting flack from charter school advocates for noting that most charter schools don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids and if they do, they don’t keep them. See: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/hillary-clinton-wades-into-the-internal-democratic-battle-over-public-schools/2015/11/11/bde8766a-87e1-11e5-be8b-1ae2e4f50f76_story.html Stay tuned for an eventful week next week, which just so happens to be the week of my birthday! I may have a lot to celebrate along with you. We may be poised to witness a functional government! Best, Jane Jane E. West Ph.D. Education Policy Consultant Cell: 202.812.9096 [email protected] |
FTED and IHE Summer Institute 2015 Update
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Accountability Measures from OSEP
OSEP's accountability measures now include both procedural compliance and student performance. See more information at the link below.
Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act
TED and other professional organizations joined the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) to make recommendations to Congress regarding reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
CCD Recommendations
ESE Certification
FTED provided feedback to the DOE Certification Task Force with regard to the current structure of ESE Certification and possible changes under discussion. The document below contains the FTED's feedback. Thanks to those who provided input.
FTED Certification Feedback
News from AACTE
Please be sure to read the update from AACTE about future regulations for teacher preparation programs.
AACTE Update
OSEP's accountability measures now include both procedural compliance and student performance. See more information at the link below.
Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act
TED and other professional organizations joined the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) to make recommendations to Congress regarding reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
CCD Recommendations
ESE Certification
FTED provided feedback to the DOE Certification Task Force with regard to the current structure of ESE Certification and possible changes under discussion. The document below contains the FTED's feedback. Thanks to those who provided input.
FTED Certification Feedback
News from AACTE
Please be sure to read the update from AACTE about future regulations for teacher preparation programs.
AACTE Update