New Bill Introduced Urges Prioritization of Pell Grant

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Last week U.S. Rep. Paulsen (R-MN) introduced legislation to express the sense of Congress that the federal Pell Grant program should be a high funding priority.

House Resolution 5198 (HR 5198) was introduced at a time when the Pell Grant currently faces an estimated $5 billion budgetary shortfall that may threaten to reduce awards to students.

The shortfall is due to a dramatic increase in the number of students served by the program. This year the program is estimated to to provided aid to 8.3 million undergraduate students.

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor for further consideration.

Preview of Candidates for Fall Election in Washington

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This fall all of the seats in the Washington House of Representatives will be up for election along with twenty-four seats in the Washington Senate.

House
Though all seats will be up for election in the Washington House, several current serving representatives have announced their decision to either retire or run for a different office.

Both representatives for District 1 (parts of Snohomish and King Counties) have announced they will not seek re-election. Rep. O’Brien is retiring and Rep. Ericks (Vice Chair for Ways & Means) is setting his sights on a position with U.S. Marshall’s Office.

Several other representatives are also seeking positions elsewhere in public service.

  • Rep. Herrera (R-18 Kalama, Evergreen State College) – Third Congressional District
  • Rep. Williams (D-22 Thurston County, Evergreen State College) – WA Supreme Court
  • Rep. Priest (R-30 Federal Way) – Federal Way Mayor
  • Rep. Roach (R-31 Bonney Lake) – Pierce County Council
  • Rep. Nelson (D-34 West Seattle) – Vacated Senate Seat currently held by Sen. McDermott
  • Rep. Ericksen (R- 42 Ferndale) – Vacated Senate Seat currently held by Sen. Brandland

Finally, several more representatives have chosen to end, which for many is a multi-decade career in the Washington Legislature, to pursue other interests.  These include Representatives:

  • Rep. Wood (D-3 Spokane),
  • Rep. Wallace (D-12 Vancouver, Chair of House Higher Education),
  • Rep. Kessler (D-24 Parts of Clallam, Jefferson and Grays Harbort Counties, Majority Leader),
  • Rep. Flannigan (D-27 Tacoma/Fife), and
  • Rep. Quall (D-40 Parts of San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties, Chair of House Education).

Senate
This fall  twenty-four seats will be open for election in the Washington Senate.  The seats in which the term will expire in January 2011 are currently held by the following elected officials:

  • Sen. Marr (D-6 Spokane)
  • Sen. Morton (R-7 Kettle Falls)
  • Sen. Delvin (D-8 Richland)
  • Sen. Holmquist (R-13 Moses Lake)
  • Sen. Honeyford (R-15 Sunnyside)
  • Sen. Shin (D-21 Edmonds, Senate Higher Education & Workforce Dev. Cmte)
  • Sen. Kilmer (D-26 Gig Harbor, Chair – Senate Higher Education & Workforce Dev. Cmte)
  • Sen. Franklin (D-29 South Tacoma)
  • Sen. Eide (D-30 Federal Way)
  • Sen. Roach (R-31 Auburn)
  • Sen. Fairley (D-32 Parts of King and Snohomish Counties)
  • Sen. Keiser (D-33 Kent)
  • Sen. McDermott (D-34 West Seattle)
  • Sen. Sheldon (D-35 Potlatch)
  • Sen. Kohl-Welles (D-36 Seattle)
  • Sen. Kline (D-37 Seattle)
  • Sen. Berkey (D-38 Everett)
  • Sen. Brandland (R-42 Bellingham)
  • Sen. Murray (D-43 Seattle)
  • Sen. Hobbs (D-44 Lake Stevens)
  • Sen. Oemig (D-45 Kirkland)
  • Sen. Jacobsen (D-46 Seattle, Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Cmte)
  • Sen. Kauffman (D-47 Kent)
  • Sen. Tom (D-48 Bellevue, Vice Chair of Senate Ways & Means)

Four of the Senate seats will be open races with no incumbent. Senators Fairley, Franklin, and Brandland have announced their retirment, while Sen. McDermott is seeking a seat on the King County Council in November.

Governor Signs Energy Jobs Bill

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This afternoon the Governor signed into law House Bill 2561.  

House Bill 2561 requires a ballot measure be sent to voters to authorize the issuance of $505 million in bonds to finance an array of energy efficiency improvements to public schools and buildings on public college and university campuses.

The bonds for the improvements would be funded by making permanent the proposed tax on bottled water after three years.

Governor Partially Vetoes 2010 Supplemental Budgets

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This afternoon Governor Gregoire partially vetoed the 2010 supplemental operating and capital budgets passed by the Legislature in April.

Operating Budget

The Governor vetoed several sections of the 2010 supplemental operating budget passed by the Legislature in April. In total she vetoed all or parts of thirty two sections of Senate Bill 6444.

Only a handful of the sections vetoed impact Evergreen in some way. None of the areas vetoed that impact Evergreen changed the state funding reduction to Evergreen’s institutional budget.

  • Vetoe Section 501(1)(f)(iv) – Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Exempting the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) from Expenditure Restrictions.
    This section exempted PESB from the restrictions on travel allowances and meeting costs that apply to other boards and commissions under Chapter 7, Laws of 2010 (Engrossed House Bill 2617). This law allows agencies to seek exceptions to the travel and meeting restrictions for critically necessary work. To maintain consistency in the application of these restrictions among state boards and commissions this section was vetoed.
  • Veto Section 708, pp.270-271, Washington Management Service and Exempt Management Services Reductions.
    This section ties to Section 2 of Senate Bill 6503 which was vetoed. The budget proviso assumes additional compensation reductions of $10 million in General Fund-State funding from the Washington Management Service and exempt managers, who comprise less than 5% of the state employees. This cut would require that specified staff take nearly two weeks of temporary layoff time beyond the ten days included in ESB 6503. This inequity is likely to create problems in recruiting/retaining qualified and experienced workers, as well as be disruptive to normal state operations. Managers will be subject to temporary layoffs in the same proportion as all affected state employees.
  • Veto Section 902, pp. 289-290, Agency Staffing Report
    The agency staffing report required by Section 902 adds another layer of complexity to the data already required to be reported through allotment and accounting systems. The addition of monthly job class information adds immensely to agency workloads with seemingly minimal benefit. The Governor directed the Office of Financial Management to work with legislative fiscal staff to identify alternative reporting formats that can be useful without creating an unacceptable workload burden.
  • Veto Section 920, pages 301-302, Washington State Quality Awards
    Section 920 accelerates the date by which agencies must apply to the Washington State Quality Awards program. It also limits that requirement for agencies that have more than 300 full-time equivalent employees. A great deal of time and effort is required for a well-executed Washington State Quality Award application. The new date of June 30, 2010 is too short a timeframe especially for large agencies that may have to submit multiple applications.

Capital Budget

The Governor vetoed only three sections of the 2010 supplemental capital budget passed by the Legislature in April. Of the three sections vetoed, two impact Evergreen.

  • Section 6003, p.111, Office of Financial Management Budget Instructions
    With this proviso the Office of Financial Management must require that preliminary energy audits be conducted on project requests that involved significant renovations or improvements in owned or leased facilities. Reducing energy consumption is a high priority, but requiring energy audits before funding decisions are made will be burdensome and costly. The Governor has directed the Office of Financial Management to develop instructions to state agencies that will serve the goal of reducing energy costs without requiring formal audits for every project.
  • Section 6012, pp. 121-122, Project Tranfer Authority
    This proviso eliminates existing authorization for the Office of Financial Management to approve the transfer of funds from one capital project to another within the same state agency. It also places limitations on approving spending plans for construction contingencies, bid alternates, and equipment costs for capital budget projects already approved by the Legislature. These limitations are too stringent for state agenices and may cause unintended cost increases and schedule delays. The Governor has directed the Office of Financial Management to continue to scrutinize capital project spending plans to identify additional savings that can be directed to new projects in the 2011-13 biennium.

Obama Administration Strengthens Title IX

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In late April, the Obama Administration announced that they would issue a “Dear Colleague” letter to withdraw a 2005 interpretation of Title IX policy.

Enacted in 1972, Title IX mandates that any educational institution receiving federal aid for programs and activities cannot discriminate on the basis of gender.

Over the last several decades the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has provided three options to determine whether athletic programs at higher education institutions comply with Title IX:

  • Match the proportion of female athletes to the proportion of women on campus,
  • Show a history and continuing practice of increasing sports for women, and
  • Prove the school has met the interest and ability of women to participate in athletics.

However, under the third option, the 2005 ruling, which was withdrawn by the Obama Administration, allowed higher education institutions to use a survey to prove a lack of athletic interest.

The “Dear Colleague” letter from the Obama Administration clarifies that the Office of Civil Rights requires higher education institutions to use multiple indicators to assess athletic interests and abilities and does not consider survey results, alone, to be sufficient evidence to justify an imbalance in women’s sports.

Recent Report Suggests Putting Brakes on Teacher Reform

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This week the Committee on the Study of Teacher Preparation Programs in the United States released a report urging the U.S. Department of Education and states to collect more data on teachers and their routes to becoming teachers before initiating widespread reform of education schools and alternative route programs.

The report, Preparing Teachers: Building Evidence and Sound Policy, was published by the National Research Council and funded by the Education Department’s Institute for Education Sciences.

The Committee essentially responded with a “none-of-the-above” statement to the congressional charge to collect and analyze data and research on undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs, as well as alternative routes to certification; and determine whether teachers of reading, math, and science were well-prepared for their jobs.

The Committee concluded that “because of the paucity of systematic research as well as the enormous variation in virtually all aspects of teacher education programs and pathways we cannot draw any specific conclusions about the characteristics of current teacher preparation programs.”

According to Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, the Committee Chair, “at a time that people care a lot about education and want to improve it, there is so little known about teacher preparation at a national level. Strong policy has to be built on strong evidence and we don’t have strong evidence.”

The Committee, in the report, calls for research that would compare programs’ selectivity, timing, and characteristics, as well as various means of teaching classroom management skills and how to teach a wide range of students, to help determine essential components of teacher preparation programs.

Higher Education Advocates Express Concern with Proposed Changes to Tax Credits

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This week the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), the American Council on Education (ACE) and other higher education advocates shared concerns with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s proposal to institute a community service requirement as a condition for receiving a tax credit for tuition and related expenses.

In a letter to the Department more than 20 higher education organizations expressed several concerns about requiring mandatory community service as a condition for receipt of federal higher education tax credits.

The letter argues that this proposal, if implemented, could:

  • Detrimentally impact a number of students, particularly low-income and nontraditional students,
  • Be extremely difficult and costly to implement and administer, and
  • Inadvertently harm the thriving community service and service-learning efforts already occurring on campuses across the higher education community.

Financial Literacy Commission Launches New Website

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On Tuesday, the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC) launched a redesigned financial literacy education website, My Money.

The new website includes enhanced interactive features and utility to provide more resources to Americans seeking information that can inform their personal financial decisions. The website creates an online point of access to financial information from the twenty-one federal agencies, departments and bureaus that comprise the Financial Literacy and Education Commission.

Through the website users will be able to:

  • Find information about how to plan for a host of life events that have financial implications, including having children, home ownership, and retirement,
  • Find information targeted to their personal or professional situation, and
  • Access money management tools including a financial savings calculator and a college preparation checklist.

The website is one of the steps the Obama Administration is taking to expand financial education and access for the future. President Obama recently proclaimed April to be National Financial Literacy Month.

California Governor Threatens Veto if No Additional Funding for Higher Education is Realized

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Yesterday, California Governor Schwarzenegger promised the state’s colleges and universities that he will veto any state budget that does not include additional funding for higher education and the financial aid awards known as Cal Grants.

The Governor made this promise at a meeting with a dozen top administrators and student leaders from the University of California, California State University, and California’s Community Colleges systems.

Schwarzenegger proposed a $224 million increase in general fund spending for higher education for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Many in Sacramento argue that the Governor’s veto is premature, since the Governor has not yet released his revised budget which is expected in May.

New Rules to be Proposed on Student Privacy

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On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that they would propose new regulations governing student privacy rights in the next several weeks.

In the announcement, the Department stated that they would revise rules to implement the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) with two goals in mind.

  • Strengthen enforcement, and
  • Clarify how states can use information from the statewide longitudinal data systems to inform policy decisions without running afoul of the student privacy law.