Federal Policy and Advocacy

Every Student Succeeds Act 

Legislative Update:  FY2019 Federal Education Funding Bill Passes

Overall funding for education programs remains mostly level to the funding that was provided in fiscal year 2018. However, there were some funding increases to programs outlined below.

Pell Grants: The bill includes a $100 increase to the Pell Grant maximum award for the 2019-2020 academic year. This would bring the overall maximum award level to $6,195. Appropriators utilized the Pell Grant surplus to pay for the majority of costs associated with this increase. The bill also cuts another $600 million from the surplus in order to offset other funding in the bill. The Pell Grant program has a $7.4 billion surplus for FY 2018. Cuts to the surplus will have no immediate impact on award level or eligibility, but could accelerate and intensify any future shortfall. 

Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE): CTE received a 5.9 percent increase of $70 million to the state grant portion of the program.

Adult Basic Education (ABE): State grants under adult education received a four percent increase of $25 million.

Federal TRIO Programs and GEAR UP: TRIO received a five percent increase of $50 million. GEAR UP received a 2.9 percent increase of $10 million.

Institutional Development: The bill includes a one percent increase for the following programs: Strengthening Institutions; Aid for Hispanic-Serving Institutions; Strengthening HBCUs; Strengthening Predominately Black Institutions; Strengthening Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities; Strengthening Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions; Strengthening Asian American & Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions; and Strengthening Alaskan Native & Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions. These increases ranged from $40,000 to $3 million depending on the size of the program.

Apprenticeship Grants: The Department of Labor grant program received a $15 million increase.

Funding for the following programs remain level in the bill: Federal Work Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants; State Grants under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; and Child Care Access Means Parents In School.

The bill also includes a new provision that will permit qualified individuals receiving treatment for cancer to defer repayment of their federal student loans without accrual of interest.

The full bill text may be viewed here: Conference report to HR 6157.

Big Win for CTE in FY 2019 Funding Bill

Today, the congressional conference committee that was tasked with negotiating a final Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill announced that it had reached an agreement to increase funding the Perkins Basic State Grant by $70 million--bringing the total to nearly $1.263 billion for next school year!

As we have reported, the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill that was passed by the Senate in August proposed to maintain the current funding level for the Perkins Basic State Grant. It significantly differed from the FY 2019 funding measure in the House, which would have increased the Perkins Basic State Grant by $102 million above the current level. It was the job of the conference committee members to reconcile the differences between the two versions and produce a consensus bill. The full House and Senate will likely begin consideration of the compromise measure, and hold votes on its final passage, starting next week. The hope is that Congress can pass the bill and send it to the president to be signed into law before the official beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1.

The conferees also weighed in on the Department of Education’s proposal to consolidate the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education with the Office of Postsecondary Education into a new Office of Postsecondary and Lifelong Learning. They expressed concerns that the elimination of OCTAE would “undermine the ability of the Department to fulfill not only its mission, but also congressional directives to implement relevant programs and purposes.” The conferees also noted that “OCTAE is authorized expressly in statute and cannot be consolidated or reorganized except by specific authority granted by Congress.” ACTE strongly opposes the consolidation plan, and we are working closely with Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and Jim Langevin (D-RI), co-chairs of the House CTE caucus, to push back on the proposal and highlight the important role of OCTAE in supporting state CTE systems. 

While we had hoped to secure the higher funding level included in the initial House bill, we are very pleased that Congress has provided, for the second year in a row, a significant increase in the federal investment in CTE and we will work to build on these funding gains going forward. This would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of CTE advocates nationwide!

UPDATE: On Tuesday, September 19, the Senate voted 97-3 to approve the funding bill. The House is expected to vote on final passage before the end of the month.

Carl D. Perkins Reauthorization:

(Please click on Perkins V for further news)

Jason Lewis has joined the House Committee on Education and the Workforce

House Education Committee Organizes for 115th Congress

Posted: 24 Jan 2017 11:51 AM PST

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce met on January 24 to officially organize for the new Congress. This Committee has jurisdiction over a number of ACTE’s legislative priorities, including the forthcoming reauthorizations of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the Higher Education Act.

In the 115th Congress, the Committee will have a new chair, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who succeeds former Rep. John Kline (R-MN), who retired at the end of the last congress. On federal education policy, Chairwoman Foxx recently told EdWeek that she “would love to get the federal government out of education policy altogether,” though she acknowledged that was unrealistic. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) will continue as the Committee’s ranking member.

The committee will now include 23 Republicans and 17 Democrats. Of these, six Republicans and three Democrats are new to the Committee. Many of these new members previously served in their respective state legislatures, with some of them serving on state education committees. Several also have relevant experience directly related to CTE or the workforce. For example, Rep. Rochester (D-DE) is the former Delaware labor secretary; Rep. Mitchell (R-MI) is a former owner/operator of the Ross Medical Education Center, a for-profit institution with both online and campus locations; and Rep. Rooney (R-FL) owns a major construction company. Three additional members are expected to be appointed soon.

The nine new members of the Committee, so far, are:

• Drew Ferguson (R-GA)
• Tom Garrett (R-VA)
• Jason Lewis (R-MN)
• Paul Mitchell (R-MI)
• Francis Rooney (R-FL)
• Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
• Donald Norcross (D-NJ)
• Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
• Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)

During the organizational meeting, the Committee formally approved rules for its operation and an oversight plan, detailing areas of priority for the Committee for the coming Congress. The oversight plan merely provides a general list of topics the Committee may review, not specifics. However, some key themes are evident, such as the desire to roll back Executive Actions of the prior Administration and reduce the regulatory burden. A substitute oversite plan was offered by Committee Democrats but was not approved.

ACTE looks forward to continuing to work closely with the Committee and its newest members as work continues on the reauthorization of Perkins. For a full list of the Committee and more information on subcommittee leadership, see this blog from EdWeek.

U.S. House of Representatives vote 405 to 5 to pass H.R. 5587 that would reauthorize Carl D. Perkins (Sept 13, 2016):

https://chttps://careertech.org/national-cte-associations-applaud-house-passage-and-urge-senate-reauthorize-carl-d-perkins-act

Updates provided on July 27, 2016:

HR5587_Committee_Passed_Redline_Final.pdf

H.R. 5587 Summary Analysis_FINAL.pdf