9/29/2005   Share this page

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Note from the Editor
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Hurricane Relief Efforts
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Note from the Editor

With close to 372,000 K-12 students from Louisiana and Mississippi being displaced and nearly 25,000 community college students being impacted in Louisiana alone due to Hurricane Katrina, the Office of Vocational and Adult Education is dedicating a portion of this month's edition of "The Review" to hurricane recovery efforts as well as bringing you the latest updates on other important news that affects our subscribers. In doing so, our format is slightly different this month. The October edition will contain the regular breakdown of our three areas of focus for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education.

Last month, Secretary Margaret Spellings named Deputy Assistant Secretary Beto Gonzalez to serve as Acting Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education. Before coming to the department in August, Beto had been serving as a Special Assistant in the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Public Affairs, where he was responsible for coordinating Hispanic outreach and media relations. Previously, Beto was the Dean of Students and Student Services at Bakersfield College in California and, at the high school level, an Assistant Principal and a teacher of English literature and Spanish. His education credentials include an A.A. degree from Bakersfield College, B.A. and M.A. degrees from California State University, and doctoral work at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The U.S. Department of Education has established a Web site to help facilitate affected schools and educational organizations to receive the necessary supplies they need to rebuild. Officials from hurricane-affected organizations can post their needs on the Web site. Also, organizations and individuals who want to donate educational materials and goods can pledge to make donations there. Staff at ED monitor the site and connect donors and recipients.

To make a pledge to make donations to educational organization please visit www.hurricanehelpforschools.gov/org-form.html

For schools in the affected areas to register their needs, please visit www.hurricanehelpforschools.gov/school-form.html

The department thanks everyone who has already given via the ED Web site since it was set up following Hurricane Katrina and to those who have already helped schools via other means. However, the need is still great. We are asking that you help us to identify either schools or organizations that would benefit from this information. So please spread the word by forwarding the information provided in this edition of "The Review."

On September 16, President George W. Bush proposed $2.6 billion in supplemental aid for education. Funding would be provided to school districts enrolling displaced children that would cover, for example, additional teachers' salaries and supplemental educational services. The president also proposes to provide compensation to displaced families for enrollment in private schools. With regards to higher education, the president has proposed funding to help meet the needs of displaced adults who are in repayment of their student loans; provide aid to colleges and universities receiving displaced students; and provide support to both the institutions in the severely impacted areas and the students once enrolled by these institutions. For more information please go to www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/hurricane/index.html

"Katrina Recovery Job Connection" is a new Web site resource focused on supporting the transition back into employment for individuals impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The site's purpose is to connect job seekers with employers for either new permanent employment or for jobs related to the clean-up, recovery, and rebuilding process in hurricane-impacted areas. While the site is intended to complement efforts at the state and local levels, it is also intended to make individuals evacuated to other states aware of opportunities in their home state.

The site also allows employers to post jobs and job seekers to search for job opportunities and post their resumes. Please visit www.jobsearch.org/hurricanejobs for more information.

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has a link on their Web site directed at hurricane relief. They are monitoring daily the status of colleges, resources for institutions, students, and offers of assistance. See the sections for the support for students, help for colleges, news updates, status of colleges, policy updates, and hurricane relief resources. www.aacc.nche.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/
NewsandEvents/Hurricane_Relief/Hurricane_Relief.htm

The Louisiana Community & Technical College System also has a link on their Web site directed at hurricane relief. Follow the detailed information on college closures, faculty/staff FAQs, students FAQs, contact information, and hurricane recovery information. www.lctcs.state.la.us/hurricane.html

The Alabama College System has posted student tuition assistance information and adult education, job training information on their main Web site related to hurricane relief. www.acs.cc.al.us/

The Mississippi State Board for Community and Junior Colleges has a rolling update on the status of each community college on their main Web site. www.sbcjc.cc.ms.us/

The newest addition to the Office of Vocational and Adult Education is the Center for Rural Education (CRE). Designed to provide a unified approach to rural education, the mission of the CRE is to disseminate information regarding research and promising practices to stakeholders on a wide range of topics of particular importance to schools and communities in rural America and to bring renewed attention to the problems and issues of students in rural schools. The CRE has the responsibility for the administration of the Secretary's Rural Education Task Force and looks to establish partnerships with the department's principal offices investing in rural education programs, other federal agencies, and the Federal Interagency Committee on Education. The CRE also encompasses the duties and responsibilities of the Appalachian Regional Staff liaison in monitoring grants issued by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Former Commissioner of Education Dr. William Smith was named Director of the Center for Rural Education. Inquiries regarding the Center can be sent to RuralED@ed.gov.

The Career Voyages Web site www.careervoyages.gov, sponsored by ED and the Department of Labor, offers a wide range of information and advice for student, parents, career changers, and career advisors, including in-depth profiles of many occupations and related educational requirements and resources. Because this expansive site can be intimidating to general users - and because young people are a big part of the site's target audience - there is now a video tutorial available at the top of the home page.

By clicking on the link, users can launch a short video that walks them through the features of the Web site and introduces some of the navigational tools available. The video serves to help users access the resources available on the site and motivate them to keep exploring and learning. By doing so, users can uncover dozens more videos describing many in-demand occupations and their educational requirements. The Web site also includes career guidance and links to various federal, state, and local career resources. The videos are available in Windows or Real Player formats.

The Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released a special tabulation of 2000 Census data on LEP populations as a resource for One-Stop Career Centers and their education and job training partners. The data, which are disaggregated by state and for local workforce investment areas within each state, include the number of individuals who speak a language other than English at home, their native language, a self-reported measure of how well they speak English, their educational attainment, employment status, occupation, and income.

For more information and to access the data set, visit DOL's Web site at: www.doleta.gov/usworkforce/whatsnew/eta_default.cfm?id=1231

On September 19, 2005, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the formation of the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The new commission is charged with developing a comprehensive national strategy for postsecondary education that will meet the needs of America's diverse population and address the economic and workforce needs of the country's future.

Speaking at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, Spellings said, "It is time to examine how we can get the most out of our national investment in higher education. We have a responsibility to make sure our higher education system continues to meet our nation's needs for an educated and competitive workforce in the 21st century."

Former North Carolina governor James B. Hunt joined Spellings at the UNC event and will serve on the new 19-member commission, along with university presidents, CEOs, policymakers, and researchers.

Spellings said the commission will engage students and families, policymakers, business leaders, and the academic community in a national dialogue about all key aspects of higher education. Through public hearings to be held around the country, the commission will attempt to answer questions such as: What skills will students need to succeed in the 21st century? How can we make sure America stays the world's leader in academic research? And, how can we make sure opportunities for quality higher education and best jobs are open to all students?

Spellings noted that the achievement gap is closing and test scores are rising among our nation's younger students, due largely to the high standards and accountability measures called for by the No Child Left Behind Act. More and more students are going to graduate ready for the challenges of college, she said, and we must make sure our higher education system is accessible and affordable for all these students.

"We should send students a clear message: If you work hard, you can go to college, regardless of how much money your parents make," Spellings concluded. "I hope parents, students, and community members will take an active role in the commission's work. We all have a big stake in the outcome." For a complete list of the members of the newly formed commission visit www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/09/09192005.html