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January 23, 1996 |
After a three-week shutdown of the Department, Congress passed another in a series of continuing resolutions (CRs) on January 5, thereby extending temporary spending authority for the Department's programs until Friday, January 26. The current CR retains the formula in the last CR which allows spending at the lower of either (1) last year's rate (fiscal year 1995), or (2) the House-passed level in the pending fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill. In no case, however, is any program to be cut below 75% of the fiscal year 1995 level.What impact will the current CR have on funding (of major programs) for states, if the current CR is extended through the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends September 30, 1996? Overall, discretionary education funds would be cut by $3.1 billion (almost 13 percent below 1995 levels). For information on state-by-state cuts in 6 major programs, please see a chart being added to our Online Library tomorrow: "Reductions of Major Education Programs to States Under Continuing Resolution for 1996-97 School Year."
The fiscal year 1996 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill remains stalled in the Senate and, as of press time, budget talks between the White House and Congress are at a standstill.
Congress returned from recess on Monday (January 22) in time for the President's annual "State of the Union" address tonight. It is expected that Congress may pass another short continuing resolution this week until a more comprehensive budget agreement can be reached.
About 100 people from state and local education agencies attended a meeting on "implementing academic standards" December 7-8. Several lessons emerged from the meeting, which was hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers. First, the OPEN PROCESS of developing standards is as important as the document developed at the end (conversations across stakeholder groups about "what students need to know and be able to do" are essential for the long term success of the efforts). Second, in spite of leadership changes, political battles, and sometimes negative reactions to standards, STATES ARE MOVING FORWARD to develop standards and assessments. Third, content standards have captured the attention of educators and others, but much work must be done in an area that matters at the local level -- good CLASSROOM EXAMPLES.
"Bridging the gap between employee skills and employer needs" was the subject of a day-long conference in Chicago last month. More than 300 representatives from business, organized labor, education and city government attended the conference, which was designed to highlight recent successes businesses and schools have encountered in their school-to-work efforts. It was held in conjunction with the Illinois State Board of Education and the Columbia Institute, and was endorsed by an unprecedented number of Chicago business, labor, education, and community organizations. Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL-1st) chaired the conference, with Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) and Congressman Michael Flanagan (R-IL-5th) as honorary co-chairs. Miss America 1996, Shawntel Smith of Oklahoma, opened the event, which was the first in a series of national public policy forums on school-to-work. Three more are expected in major metropolitan areas in 1996 (dates and places will be announced when available). The forums are free and open to the public.
Last month, Secretary Riley announced awards of $41 million annually (over the next five years) to 10 regional educational laboratories. The labs, collectively, are one of the Department's largest investments in assistance aimed at helping educators and policymakers improve schools, so that all students will reach challenging academic standards. Under the new contracts, labs are asked to:
- link researchers and teachers in activities designed to find out how research findings can be translated into effective practice;
- provide states and communities with objective, research- based information, training and technical assistance to help with their own school improvement efforts;
- develop and try out innovative strategies to help districts and schools that serve high concentrations of economically-disadvantaged children and rural populations; and
- use advanced technologies as an integral part of their operations, and help other educational agencies to do the same.
Each lab will also focus on a specialty area and help coordinate field-based services among Department-funded technical assistance providers (such as the new Comprehensive Regional Assistance Centers, the Regional Technology Consortia, and the Regional Mathematics and Science Education Consortia).
In 1995, the labs served more than 3 million customers through telephone, mail, e-mail and visitor inquiries, field-based development and consultation services, publications sold or provided on request, and log-ons to laboratory electronic information services. In addition, the labs served more than 250,000 customers through personal interaction, ranging from responding to simple information requests to conducting more than 1,400 research and evaluation studies designed to meet customer needs.
Lab contracts were awarded to Brown University (Northeastern Region, Specialty Area: Language and Cultural Diversity), Temple University (Mid-Atlantic Region, Specialty Area: Urban Education), Appalachia Educational Laboratory, Inc. (Appalachian Region, Specialty Area: Rural Education), Southeastern Regional Vision for Education -- SERVE (Southeastern Region, Specialty Area: Early Childhood Education), North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (Midwestern Region, Specialty Area: Technology), Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (Southwestern Region, Specialty Area: Language and Cultural Diversity), Mid- continent Regional Educational Laboratory (Central Region, Specialty Area: Curriculum, Learning and Instruction), Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development (Western Region, Specialty Area: Assessment and Accountability), Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (Northwestern Region, Specialty Area: School Change Processes), Pacific Region Educational Laboratory (Pacific Region, Specialty Area: Language and Cultural Diversity).
Roughly 100 people from computer, software, and telecommunications companies joined education leaders for a White House Forum on Educational Technology in early December. Participants discussed a national vision and plan of action for equipping every classroom with modern computers and learning devices, connecting every classroom in America to one another and to the outside world, providing a rich variety of engaging instructional materials, and ensuring that all teachers have the training and assistance for making full use of these new technologies. The forum was convened by the Department's Office of Educational Technology, the Department of Commerce's Office of Planning and Policy, and the White House National Economic Council and Office of Science and Technology Policy.
On December 5, the Office of Postsecondary Education unveiled its "home page" on the World Wide Web (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/). This new addition to the Department's Online Library features:
- "The Student Guide to Federal Financial Aid Programs" -- an overview of all major Title IV Programs designed to assist students in applying for financial aid
- "Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid" -- instructions for completing the FAFSA, plus an example of the FAFSA form
- "1995-96 FAFSA Express" -- a downloadable software program that allows users with Internet access and a modem to complete and submit the FAFSA electronically through the ED Title IV Wide Area Network
- summaries of major OPE program areas, directories of headquarters and regional offices, addresses of state higher education agencies, and links to state agencies and other web sites on postsecondary education.
The OPE home page also points to information on the DIRECT LOAN program, including an overview of the program, facts sheets on various aspects of Direct Consolidation Loans (such as consolidating defaulted loans), and copies of the bi- monthly Direct Loan Program Newsletter. (http://www.ed.gov/DirectLoan/)
Last week we reported on the Employer Promise for Learning, an initiative of the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning. This week we want to look at what that means by mentioning a few FAMILY-FRIENDLY PRACTICES. They include: allowing time for employees to get involved in schools, supporting specific programs that promote family involvement in education, and providing resources to employees about how to become more involved in their own children's education. Examples of family-friendly efforts include:
- Marriott's Parent Resource Center and parenting information series, which provide employees with expert information on parenting, child care and work/family issues
- GTE Corporation's "College Planning Seminar for Employees and their Families," a day-long, interactive seminar (via satellite) linking college admissions and financial planning experts with GTE employee families (to help them plan for their children's college education)
- Pizza Hut's "Kids Hall of Fame" program, which rewards children ages 8-14 who make a difference in their family and community, with post-secondary scholarships
- The U.S. Army's partnership between Fort Hood's First Cavalry Division and the Killeen Independent School District, which incorporates parent/teacher conferences as part of military duty for all soldiers with children
- Hemmings Motor News "Education Participation Days," which allow all employees, not just parents, two days off with pay (in half-day increments) to attend classes with children in local schools
- School Specialty's matching funds program which matches up to $1,000 donated by an employee to any public or private K-12 school
- John Hancock's educational activities for children during school vacations and holidays
- Hewlett-Packard's flexible work hours that allow employees to stagger their start time to accommodate their children_s schedules and volunteer at the corporation's on-site elementary school
- American College Testing's "Realizing the Dream" program, which provides a workshop and resources to involve parents in their teenagers' educational and career planning
- Paragon Furniture's incentive program to reward students who achieve high grades, or improve their grades, for each report card period.
Religious leaders representing 24 different religious communities met with Secretary Riley to discuss future activities for religious groups in the Family Involvement Partnership. The religious leaders discussed with Secretary Riley their desire to encourage local churches and religious groups to sign on to the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning and to adopt one or more of the Secretary's priorities for the Partnership: READ*WRITE*NOW!, a mentoring program, and/or participation in America Goes Back to School. In the next week, each group represented will map out their level of involvement in these initiatives and how they will work with the Department to move the Partnership down to the local level of their churches. This movement will be kicked off on March 7 in Lawrence, MA, when religious leaders are joined by community organizations, family-friendly employers, education association, and family groups to sign on to the partnership and design state-wide plans for working together on the issue of family involvement in children's learning.
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[Past Issues of ED Initiatives] 
Last Updated -- Jan. 24, 1996, (pjk)
ED Initiatives...