The Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill's $158 billion in discretionary funding provides a 0.12% funding increase from FY 2011 Education Department funding levels, and includes a provision to maintain Pell Grants at their current $5,550 maximum level. FY 2012 funding for the Education Department's Race to the Top competitive grant program would match current funding at $698.6 million. The Prom...
On Tuesday, the House voted 365-54 to pass the latest in a series of bills to update the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education law. This latest legislation (H.R. 2218) aims to establish more charter schools in order to increase student achievement around the country. Currently, the national charter school program provides funding for states to establish new charter schools. H.R. 2218 would provide...
The House Education and Workforce Committee advanced the third in a series of bills to reform the No Child Left Behind law on Wednesday. The bill (H.R. 2445) would expand states' freedom to distribute federal education funding, allowing them to take money allocated to a specific program and redirect it to other activities indicated by federal education law. Committee Chair and bill sponsor John Kl...
On Thursday, House Education and Workforce Committee Chair John Kline (R-MN) introduced No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reform legislation (H.R. 2445). The bill, which would give states and school districts almost complete control over how they spend federal education funding, is the third in a planned series of five education reform bills from House leadership. Supporters of the measure say that it w...
The Education Department released College Affordability and Transparency Lists on Thursday. The 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act requires the Education Department to produce six lists, with three examining tuition and fees and three examining each institution's average price of attendance minus grants and scholarships. The lists are also divided by type of institution (public/private, two-yea...
On June 11, Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that if Congress is unable to pass a comprehensive overhaul of the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education law before the beginning of the 2011-12 school year, he would grant states waivers for the law's most burdensome requirements if they agreed to implement a set of reforms. While he has not fully developed the alternative plan, Secretary...
Republican senators boycotted a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) which was called to discuss recruiting practices at for-profit colleges. Ranking Member Michael Enzi (R-WY) said in a letter that “until the Majority demonstrates a sincere willingness to hold fair hearings on higher education, we will not participate in any hearings on thi...
On Wednesday, the House Education and Workforce Committee advanced the first bill (H.R. 1891) in a planned series of education reform legislation. Under the bill, which was approved along party lines (23-16), $400 million in funding for over 40 education programs created under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) would be repealed. Republican supporters of the bill, sponsored by Congr...
On Monday, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) announced that she and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced legislation (S. 969) aimed at encouraging and improving science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. The bill would provide planning and implementation grants on a competitive basis to help states integrate engineering instruction into K-12 education. Sen. Snowe said in a press rel...
On Friday, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) introduced the first (H.R. 1891) of a series of education reform bills planned by the House Education and Workforce Committee. Congressman Hunter chairs the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, and his bill is aimed at reducing wasteful spending in K-12 education. The legislation would eliminate 43 education programs in o...
The House Education and Workforce Committee advanced the third in a series of bills to reform the No Child Left Behind law on Wednesday. The bill (H.R. 2445) would expand states' freedom to distribute federal education funding, allowing them to take money allocated to a specific program and redirect it to other activities indicated by federal education law. Committee Chair and bill sponsor John Kl...