Federal Education Policy & Funding August 28, 2013 Amanda Karhuse & Jacki Ball

1. Federal Education Policy & FundingAugust 28, 2013 Amanda Karhuse & Jacki Ball

2. Agenda • ESEA Reauthorization • NASSP’s Key Legislation • Funding lingo • Sequestration & FY13 Appropriations • FY14 Budget & Appropriations • Helpful Resources

3. ESEA Reauthorization • ESEA (a.k.a. NCLB) was due for reauthorization in 2007 • Bipartisanship has already failed: four competing proposals in 2013! • Senate committee markup (6/11) and House floor vote (7/19) • Administration support for waivers

4. ESEA Reauthorization Big Picture Issues • Federal role in education • Flexibility for states & districts • College and career-ready standards and aligned assessments • Low-income & minority students and students with disabilities

5. ESEA Reauthorization House Bill (H.R. 5) • Eliminates AYP, 100% proficiency requirements & turnaround models • Locks in sequester cuts for Title I • Minimizes the role of the principal • No funding for literacy, ed tech, or secondary schools

6. ESEA Reauthorization Senate Bill (S. 1094) • Continues reforms in waiver states, including overreliance on testing • Expands support for school leaders • Incorporates key bills on literacy, ed tech, and ML and HS reform • Maintains school turnaround models

7. NASSP’s Key Legislation

8. School Principal Recruitment and Training Act (H.R. 1758/S. 840) • Focus on instructional leadership • One-year pre-service residency for aspiring principals • Ongoing mentoring & support for two additional years • Leaders commit to work in high-need schools for at least four years

9. Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) Act (H.R. 2706/S. 758) • $2.5 B for state literacy plans developed under Striving Readers • Early childhood, grades K-5, and ML and HS • Literacy across content area • Targeted interventions for students

10. Transforming Education through Technology Act (H.R. 521/S. 1087) • $500 M for State Grants for Technology Readiness & Access • Use of ed tech to ensure college and career-readiness • “Digital Age” PD opportunities for school leaders and teachers

12. Early Identification of Dropouts The Primary Off-Track Indicators for Potential Dropouts: • Attendance - <80-90% school attendance • Behavior - “unsatisfactory” behavior mark in at least one class • Course Performance – A final grade of “F” in Math or English Sixth-grade students with one or more of the indicators have only a 10% to 20% chance of graduating from high school on time or within one year of expected graduation -Robert Balfanz and Liza Herzog, Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University

13. Success in the Middle Act(H.R. 2316/S. 708) • $1 billion for Middle Grades Improvement Fund • State plans for improving achievement in grades 5-8 • Early warning indicator and intervention systems • Strategies aligned w/Breaking Ranks

14. Graduation Promise Act(S. 940) • $2.4 B for HS Improvement and Dropout Reduction Fund • Resources for schools w/low graduation rates (below 60%) • Differentiated school improvement & evidence-based interventions • Strategies aligned w/Breaking Ranks

15. CAP and GOWN Act(H.R. ?) • Reserves 40% of SIG funds for secondary schools • Establishes early warning & identification system in high schools, and reforms in feeder middle schools • Authorizes $300 million for HS redesign initiative

16. ESEA Waivers Status of Implementation • 41 states granted waivers • 4 requests still under review (IL, IA, TX & WY) • 4states have chosen not to apply (MT, NE, ND, & VT) • CA only state to be denied!

17. ESEA Waivers Flexibility from NCLB • 2014 deadline for 100% proficiency • District and school improvement and accountability • Use of federal education funding

18. ESEA Waivers State Requirements • College and career ready standards and assessments • Differentiated recognition, accountability, and support systems • Teacher and principal evaluation and support systems

19. ESEA Waivers Waiver Renewal • Most waivers expire at the end of the 2013-14 school year • Renewal guidance expected soon from ED • Focus on data analysis & continuous improvement • New requests due in January 2014

20. The Federal Budget & Education Funding

21. Terms You Need to Know Sequestration Automatic spending cuts Budget Resolution A framework or blueprint for Congress to make budget decisions about spending and taxes. It sets overall annual spending limits for federal agencies, but does not set specific spending amounts for particular programs.

22. Terms You Need to Know Mandatory Spending Money the federal government is required by law to spend Examples: Social Security and other entitlement programs, and interest on the national debt Discretionary Spending Money Congress gets to decide how to spend each year Examples: Education, Defense, everything else!

23. All of this is MANDATORY SPENDING!

24. Terms You Need to Know Appropriations Provides the actual amount of federal dollars to a specific program. Congress needs to pass appropriations bills each year for the operations and programs run by the federal government Continuing Resolution (CR) Authorizes government agencies to fund their agencies at the current level until either the resolution expires or an appropriations bill is passed

25. How Does the Federal Government Create a Budget? The President submits a budget request to Congress The House and Senate pass budget resolutions House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees “mark up” appropriations bills The House and Senate vote on appropriations bills and reconcile differences The President signs each appropriations bill and the budget becomes law

26. Sequestration & FY13 CR Budget Control Act of 2011 charged a “Supercommittee” to cut $1.2 trillion from federal deficit “Supercommittee” failed, triggering across-the-board cuts of $85 billion Sequestration went into effect March 1 FY13 CR passed in late March Education funding for 2013-2014 school year is cut by 5.23% ($3.1 billion)

27. House & Senate Budget Resolutions In March 2013, the House & Senate each passed Budget Resolutions for FY2014 The House & Senate are $91 billion apart

28. The President’s Budget Request President Obama submitted his FY14 Budget Request in April Funded Title I & IDEA at FY12 levels Consolidated Striving Readers into larger funding stream for literacy Tripled request for School Leadership Program to $98 million However, Congress has the “power of the purse”

29. Appropriations Process Congressional Appropriations Congress needs to approve 12 appropriations bills by September 30th Likely to have a Continuing Resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year 2014 This is problematic because the Budget Control Act is still law which places caps on discretionary spending over the next 10 years to reduce the deficit Enacted FY13 CR = $982.4 billion FY14 Cap = $967.4 billion

30. Key Federal Investmentsfor NASSP Title I IDEA State Grants Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy (SRCL) program Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program School Leadership program

31. Title I Cornerstone of ESEA Formula grants to states & districts based on the # of low-income children served by schools Contains all accountability provisions and subprograms, including HS Graduation Initiative, Advanced Placement, etc.

32. Title I (cont.) FY 2013 CR: $13.8 billion President proposed to flat-fund Title I at $14.5 billion (pre-sequester level) in his budget proposal Flat-funding is actually a cut in services when factoring in rising student enrollment and the impact of inflation! Senate Committee increased funding to $14.6 billion

33. IDEA FY 2013 CR: $11.0 billion President has proposed to flat-fund IDEA at $ 11.6 billion (pre-sequester level) in his budget proposal, but there is strong support in Congress NASSP strongly supports the IDEA Full Funding Act, which should be reintroduced this year Senate Committee increased funding to $11.7 billion

35. Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program First Funded in FY 2010 at $250 million Supports statewide, state-driven, research-based literacy instruction and interventions for children from birth-grade 12 6 states have received grants: GA, LA, MT, NV, PA, and TX

36. Striving Readers (cont.) FY 2013 CR: $151.3 million President has proposed consolidating Striving Readers into a larger funding stream for literacy education Senate Committee increased funding to $164 million

37. Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) Only federal program dedicated to ed tech investments in K-12 education and PD for teachers & leaders FY 2002-2004: ~$700 million FY 2010 (ARRA): ~$100 million Funding was eliminated in FY 2011!

38. School Leadership Program Only dedicated funding stream in ESEA for the training, mentoring, and PD for school leaders Critical program since <5% of Title II funding is spent on principal PD Bulk of Title II goes to class-size reduction and teacher PD

39. Funding History FY 2006-2008: about $14.5 million FY 2009: $19.2 million FY 2010-2012: $29.2 million FY 2013 CR: $27.8 million President’s FY14 Request: $98 M Senate Committee increased funding to $64 million School Leadership (cont.)

40. Federal Investments on Key NASSP Programs

41. Join the Federal Grassroots Network! Over 250 education advocates Commit to regular meetings with members of Congress and correspondence w/their staff To join, e-mail Jacki Ball at ballj@nassp.org How YOU Can Make Congress Pay Attention to Education

42. Helpful Resources Weekly Advocacy Update Principal’s Policy Blog www.nasspblogs.org/principalspolicy Principal’s Legislative Action Center www.nassp.org/PLAC Twitter@NASSP, @akarhuse, @balljacki

43. Call or e-mail Amanda or Jacki any time: Amanda Karhuse, Director of Government Relations karhusea@nassp.org, 703-860-7241 Jacki Ball, Manager of Government Relations ballj@nassp.org, 703-860-7338 Questions?