Transcript Slide 1
Catching Up With Congress:
Education Policy Update
AASA Advocacy Update
November 2011
Overview
• Funding/Appropriations
– FY12
– Deficit Commission
– American Jobs Act
• ESEA
– Reauthorization
– Waivers
– Title I Formula Fairness
• Other Topics
• Advocacy Resources
Funding & Appropriations
• President’s Proposal: education a highlight
• House: Education down over all, huge increases for Title I
and IDEA, cuts for many other ed programs
• Senate: overall increase for education, lack funding increases
for Title I and IDEA
• FY12: Started October 1, without a budget
– Current CR runs out Nov. 18
– Most likely will have a second CR into (if not through)
December
– Differing House and Senate Edu Numbers
– Role of final approps bills vs. CR vs. mini/omnibus
Funding & Appropriations
• Joint Deficit Commission
– Super Committee Roster:
• Senate: Murray (WA), Baucus (MT), Kerry (MA), Kyl (AZ), Portman (OH), and
Toomey (PA)
• House: Hensarling (TX), Becerra (CA), Camp (MI), Clyburn (SC), Upton (MI), and
VanHollen (MD)
– Has to identify $1.5 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years
– Has to announce plan by Thanksgiving and take vote by Christmas
– Includes required vote on Balanced Budget Amendment
• American Jobs Act
– Full bill defeated in the Senate
– First small piece (Teachers and First Responders) didn’t even get a cloture
vote
– May have a stand-alone piece including school construction, but not
timeline as of yet
ESEA: Reauthorization
Different Chambers, Different Approaches
House: piecemeal
3 of five pieces through committee
Senate: comprehensive
Senate GOP vs. Senate HELP
ESEA: Reauthorization
Mandated Standardization v. Focus on Poverty
Formula v. Competitive
Punitive Accountability v. Incentivizing Accountability
Assessment: One-Time v. Growth
Overly Prescriptive v. Flexibile
Charters: More v. Less
Assessing Special Learners
Early Childhood Education
Health/Wellness/Total Child
Turnaround Models/School Improvement
ESEA: Regulatory Relief
Administration unveiled their waiver plan Sept. 23
Conditional, quid-pro-quo deal, with states having to adopt
specific policy priorities I exchange for relief
To date, 39 states have expressed interest in the waivers
ESEA: Regulatory Relief
• Flexibility being offered in 11 specific areas
• States have to adopt all three policy priorities:
– Higher standards
– Differentiated accountability system
– Teacher/principal evaluation system based on growth
• NCLB Waiver Watch: www.cep-dc.org
• AASA position: we agree with the areas in which flexibility
is being provided but are opposed to the conditional nature
of the process.
Other Issues
Federal Mandates
RttT, I3, SIG
IDEA Full Funding
School Nutrition
Foster Care
Rural
Education Technology
Common Core/Testing Consortia
Get—and Stay—Involved!
• Weigh in early, weigh in often
• These decisions are made whether or not you weigh in.
• 15 minutes per month is all it takes.
• Get to know your Senator/Representative, and perhaps
more importantly, their education staffer.
• Invite the Representative/Senator and staffer to your
district. Anecdotes and stories have a lot of sticking power
with this Congress. Let the face of your school be the one
that sticks in their mind!
AASA Advocacy Resources
AASA Website: www.aasa.org
AASA Blog: www.aasa.org/aasablog.aspx
AASA Twitter: @Noellerson
AASA Legislative Corps: Weekly Newsletter
Advocacy Network: Monthly Update
Questions?
Noelle Ellerson
Assistant Director,
Policy Analysis & Advocacy
[email protected]