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We’ve just received word that the House markup of the
supplemental appropriations bill has been postponed until after the Memorial
Day recess. I expect consideration of the bill will be rescheduled for the 2nd
week in June.
Published
Online: May 26, 2010
New Push Launched
for Education Jobs Bill
By Alyson Klein
The presidents of both national
teachers’ unions joined key lawmakers and U.S. Secretary of Education
Arne Duncan on Capitol Hill today to drum up support for legislation that would
provide $23 billion to help school districts cope with a looming tidal wave of
layoffs.
Supporters say up to 300,000
education jobs—including teachers, support-staff members, and
others—may be riding on the latest version of the bill, which relies on a
funding mechanism that supporters say is more narrowly targeted than previous
education aid under the federal economic-stimulus program.
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., the
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he plans to introduce the
measure as an amendment to the must-pass emergency-spending bill for the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan
that his panel is considering tomorrow.
The original plan was for the
Senate to vote on the language first, but the measure’s sponsor, Sen. Tom
Harkin, D-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said
yesterday he didn’t have the 60 votes needed to cut off debate in order
to pass the bill.
But if the language makes it
through the House of Representatives, it can be included in a conference report
reconciling the two bills. Conference reports can’t be amended, so if
Republicans and moderate Democrats in the Senate decided to vote against the
measure, they’d also be voting against the entire war
supplemental-spending bill and could be accused of defunding the troops in an
election year.
The House passed a similar
provision on a different jobs bill back in December. But that vote was very
close, and the legislation isn’t a sure bet this time around. Moderate
Democrats are concerned that there is no cut to offset the new education
spending. And many Republicans oppose what they deem a “bailout”
for education.
Supporters of the bill were quick
to point out what they see as the reasons lawmakers may suffer politically if
they don’t vote in favor of the legislation.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the
chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said that school
districts, which have been working to implement changes to improve education,
would have to lay off teachers because of problems caused by “financial
scandals,” an apparent reference to Wall Street.
“It will be a scandal on
this Congress” if lawmakers fail to act, he said.
Administration Backing
Secretary Duncan said that
educators play a role in the overall economy, purchasing houses and groceries
and contributing to their communities, so the economic impact of massive
layoffs could be substantial. He said that the bill’s language has the
full support of the White House, and that he has spoken personally to President
Barack Obama about it.
The language Mr. Obey is scheduled
to introduce in his committee on Thursday differs from other versions of the
bill in a few key ways.
Earlier proposals were modeled on
the $48.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act—the stimulus program—which let states use their
allocations first to restore state cuts to K-12 and higher education and then
distribute the rest of the money to districts based on existing formulas.
Under the latest bill, money would
flow directly to a state’s governor, who would then distribute it right
to school districts based on state formulas or the federal formula for Title I
aid to disadvantaged students. Districts could then use the money to restore
workers, hire new staff, or for compensation, benefits, and on-the-job
training. The money could be used for early childhood education and K-12
positions, not higher education.
The measure would require states
to sign off on the same four education-redesign-oriented assurances spelled out
in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the 2009 federal
economic-stimulus legislation that provided up to $100 billion for education.
Those assurances—improving
teacher quality and distribution, revamping standards and assessments, beefing
up state data systems, and turning around low-performing schools—were
left out of the bill the House passed in December, but Rep. Miller said the
move was necessary to help ensure passage of the legislation.
The measure includes $5.7 billion
to shore up Pell Grants for college students. But, while the stimulus law asked
states to restore cuts to both higher and K-12 education, the new legislation
is aimed only at K-12 job losses.
One of the major complaints about
the $100 billion in the 2009 aid package was the lack of strong prohibitions on
states’ diversion of the money for education to other areas. Joel Packer,
the executive director of the Committee for Education Funding, a lobbying
coalition of education groups, said the language intended to discourage states
from diverting money to purposes other than education appears to be strong.
Supporters didn’t specify
another strategy if this latest legislative tack doesn’t work.
“You can’t have a Plan
B for stupidity,” Rep. Obey said.
To help win passage of the bill,
the National Education Association, with the help of the American Federation of
Teachers, is working on a media blitz called “Speak Up for Education and
Kids.”
The effort by the two
teachers’ unions includes an NEA commercial in which children dressed in
suits and carrying briefcases ask whether Congress would be more willing to
save their teachers’ jobs or keep their classes small if the children
were Wall Street bankers. The NEA has also established a hotline to help supporters
of the bill reach their representatives in Congress.
Amanda N. Karhuse
Director of Government Relations
National Association of Secondary School
Principals
1904
Association Drive
Reston, VA 20191-1537
703-860-7241
Follow NASSP on Facebook (http://facebook.com/principals)
and Twitter (http://twitter.com/nassp).
The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. Get busy.