Federal Legislative Report 114-1

Distributed via Email: January 23, 2015

ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT (ESEA/NCLB) REAUTHORIZATION

On Jan. 13, U.S. Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) released draft language proposing a rewrite of ESEA/NCLB. Major elements of his draft include:

• Two assessment options for consideration and comment: 1) current law requiring testing annually in grades 3 through 8; and 2) a largely state-defined option that would not specifically require such annual (grade-by-grade) testing.
• Authorizes local educational agencies (LEAs) to administer their own assessments in lieu of state assessments if approved by the state.
• Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements, including requirements for Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) are eliminated. States would be required to describe in their state plan a single, statewide accountability system which annually identifies and differentiates between all public schools based on student academic achievement from assessments and other measures.
• States and LEAs would determine specific interventions for identified schools without specific strategies or requirements laid out in the draft.
• Eliminates nearly all Maintenance of Effort provisions.
• Eliminates Annual Measureable Achievement Objectives under Title III (English Language Learner state formula program).
• Repeals School Improvement, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Advanced Placement and other programs.
• Largely freezes authorization levels at FY15 funding levels.

Chairman Alexander started hearings this week, which will continue through the first of February. He is planning floor debate for some time in March. In the House, Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) has stated that he plans to join both bills previously passed by the House regarding ESEA/NCLB, and have floor debate at the end of March. The bills are HR 5 (reviewed in FLR 113-5 and 113-4) and HR 10 (reviewed in FLR 113-7)

FISCAL YEAR 2015 (FY15) FUNDING UPDATE

FY15 started on Oct. 1.   A budget was not completed before that time, so Congress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR), which generally directs that programs are funded at their current levels until a formal budget can be adopted, through Dec. 11.   A budget was again not completed before Dec. 11, so Congress passed another CR they called Cromnibus (a witty combination of CR and omnibus) which will fund government operations through the end of the fiscal year (Sep. 30, 2015).   Highlights of the Cromnibus include:

• Funding for key programs (including Title I and IDEA) is sustained and they will receive slight increases of $25 million each. Generally, formula funded programs are either increased slightly or maintained within the U.S. Department of Education. Competitive grant programs are targeted for reductions.
• Includes a $14 million increase in funding through English Language Acquisition Grants to help accommodate unaccompanied minor children that have been released to sponsors since Jan. 1, 2014.   School districts could use funding for supplemental academic and non-academic services. This is for school districts that have had a significant increase in unaccompanied minor children.
• The language regarding School Improvement Grants (SIG) is also favorable for school districts, providing more options for locally designed school turnaround programs.
• Flexibility for school districts under some child nutrition standards is included in the bill. States may grant an exemption to the whole grain requirement through the 2015-2016 academic year to districts that demonstrate hardship in procuring compliant products.   The bill also postpones sodium reduction targets until there is research validating the targets for children.
• Allows for up to $6 million of funds in the Educational Technical Assistance Act to support activities to improve data coordination, quality, and use at the local/state/national level.
• Appropriates $75 million for the Justice Department’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative program.
• Funding for Race to the Top was eliminated.

E-RATE

In mid-December, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a Report and Order to modernize the E-rate program that includes $1.5 billion in additional funds for broadband access and digital learning opportunities for schools and libraries. The current funding level for E-rate ($2.45 billion) has been virtually the same since the program was authorized by the Telecommunications Act of 1996.   This latest step in the modernization of E-rate will allow thousands of additional schools and libraries, including many in rural and remote areas, to gain access to high speed Internet connections.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS JOINT GUIDANCE

On Jan. 7, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice released joint guidance “to remind states, school districts and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential.”

The guidance explains schools' obligations to:

• identify English learner students in a timely, valid and reliable manner;
• offer all English learner students an educationally sound language assistance program;
• provide qualified staff and sufficient resources for instructing English learner students;
• ensure English learner students have equitable access to school programs and activities;
• avoid unnecessary segregation of English learner students from other students;
• monitor students' progress in learning English and doing grade-level classwork;
• remedy any academic deficits English learner students incurred while in a language assistance program;
• move students out of language assistance programs when they are proficient in English and monitor those students to ensure they were not prematurely removed;
• evaluate the effectiveness of English learner programs; and
• provide limited English proficient parents with information about school programs, services, and activities in a language they understand.

The guidance is available in detail on the U.S. Department of Education’s website www.ed.gov (under Laws, Civil Rights – Race and National Origin Discrimination, Resources related to the Limited-English Proficient Students).

This Federal Legislative Report is used to forward information on federal issues from NSBA and other federal sources. Those interested in additional information or signing up for these free reports should contact Susan Hilton.