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PART II RECENT EDUCATION STATISTICS AND FEDERAL LEGISLATION
Between 1990-1994, new laws were enacted that affected education in the United States. The Bush Administration enacted some legislation between 1990-1992. In 1993 and 1994, the Clinton Administration enacted several bills into law, bringing about the most sweeping changes in American education since 1965, during The Great Society program of former President Lyndon Johnson. Some of this enacted legislation consisted of the reauthorization of funding for existing major programs, with amendments and additions. The laws passed during the Clinton Administration broke new ground in the providing of government funds and services. The most important of the laws of both Administrations are briefly described below under the heading "Enacted Legislation".
The following are major laws affecting education that were passed between the years 1990 and 1994.
This Act established new literacy programs, provided higher authorization levels for some existing adult literacy programs, and restored eligibility for various programs to the Freely Associated States (i.e. the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia). The purpose of the Act was "to enhance the literacy and basic skills of adults, to ensure that all adults in the United States acquire the basic skills necessary to function effectively and achieve the greatest possible opportunity in their work and in their lives, and to strengthen and coordinate adult literacy programs."
This Act established the National Education Commission on Time and Learning and the National Council on Education Standards and Testing. The National Education Commission on Time and Learning was to review the relationship between time and learning in the Nation's schools and make a report on its findings by April 1994. The National Council on Education Standards and Testing was to provide advice on the desirability and feasibility of developing national standards and conducting national testing of school children. The Council was directed to make its report by December 1991. Both reports have been published.
This bill extended for five years the provisions of the Higher Education Act, as reauthorized in 1986. This legislation - - which included renewal of the higher-education student aid programs, such as Pell grants and student loans -- had as its broad purpose to expand student access to postsecondary education, encourage educational excellence, and ensure integrity in making service delivery. It also contained substantial amendments to the earlier act, adding more than forty programs in higher education.
This Act extended for five years support of programs at Gallaudet University, with its hearing-impaired student body, and at the National Institute for the Deaf (NTID). The purpose of this legislation was to allow Americans who are hearing-impaired to receive training and education that will qualify them to live full and productive lives.
This Act expanded the scope of previous legislation by (1) requiring the States to develop valuative studies and performance indicators for many of their programs, (2) vesting authority in the Secretary of Education to increase client choice within the vocational rehabilitation process, and providing authority to support business partnerships to develop model projects that give unemployed workers with disabilities the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to advance employment. The purpose of this bill was to bring greater integrity to existing programs and expand the educational opportunities for disabled Americans.
This Act reformed the student aid program by phasing in a system of direct lending which will eliminate private lenders and guaranty agencies, empowering the U.S. Department of Education to channel loan funds through postsecondary institutions. This new process is estimated to save tax payers and students $4.3 billion by 1997. Schools with adequate administrative capacity can originate loans on campus. Smaller schools have alternative processes. Students can choose among a variety of repayment options, including income contingency.
These amendments made no substantive policy changes, but corrected unforeseen operational problems caused by changes enacted in 1992.
This Act extended temporarily the Department of Education's contract for the Migrant Student Record Transfer System (MSRTS), pending possible modification in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. MSRTS is a centralized database that maintains records on the school-age children of migrant workers, since these students must transfer from school to school as their parents move from community to community seeking farm work.
This Act amended the Higher Education Act to make technical changes and conforming amendments.
This Act authorized the use of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a standardized test administered to selected schools nationwide, for state-by-state comparisons.
This Act amended the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a Corporation for National Service and enhance opportunities for service to the nation. The Act provided education grants of up to $4,725 per year to people aged 17 years or older who perform community service before, during, or after postsecondary education.
This Act is the centerpiece of the Clinton Administration's initiative to bring about systemic educational reform. It established a new federal partnership through a system of grants to states and local communities to reform the Nation's education system. This legislation formalized the six National Education Goals and their objectives, added two new goals, and established in law the National Education Goals Panel. The Act created a National Education Standards and Improvement Council (NESIC) to provide voluntary national certification of state and local education standards and assessments-to spur increased educational opportunity while creating greater accountability and responsibility for students and schools. It also established the National Skills Standards Board to develop voluntary national skill standards. More details are provided in Part III.
This Act established a national framework within which states and communities can develop School-to-Work Opportunities programs to prepare young people for first jobs and continuing education. It will facilitate the development of a system of rigorous academic and occupational preparation for students. The legislation provided seed money to states and communities to develop a system of programs that include work-based learning, school-based learning, and connecting activities. School-to Work programs will provide students with a high school diploma (or its equivalent), a nationally recognized skill certificate, an associate degree (if appropriate), and may lead to a first job or to further education. More details are provided in Part III.
This Act authorized the award of competitive grants to local educational agencies with serious school crime to implement violence prevention activities such as conflict resolution and peer mediation.
This Act reauthorized the educational research and dissemination activities of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). It established five institutes which will conduct research in direct support of the national education goals. The legislation also authorized continuation of the regional educational laboratories and university-based research and development.
This Act amended the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend until July 1, 1998 the effective date for cohort default rate exemption for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, tribally controlled community colleges, and Navajo community colleges.
Improving America's Schools Act (Reauthorization of ESEA)
This proposed Act, expected to be passed by the Congress in 1994, would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, with some significant changes. The Department's bill would require States to develop high-quality content and performance standards and assessments in order to qualify for certain kinds of federal funding; emphasizes local control and flexibility in exchange for accountability; shifts the focus away from remedial programs and emphasizes overall school performance; promotes school equity by focusing Federal funds for high poverty areas; links some federal funding to health, social service, early childhood, and school-to-work programs; expands the Eisenhower Professional Development Program to help teachers upgrade their knowledge and skills; requires parent-school "compacts" that spell out mutual responsibilities of parents and schools; provides for planning and opening public "charter" schools that can operate outside many constraining rules and regulations; provides for technology research and development; provides for bilingual education; gives the Secretary broad authority to waive requirements that stand in the way of reform, but continues to protect the rights of minorities and children with disabilities; and expands the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program to include violence prevention.
Section 406 of the General Education Provisions Act authorizes the activities of the National Center for Education Statistics. The NCES reauthorization is being considered with the reauthorization of ESEA.
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[Part III - Background ]