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Federal Legislative Updates

 

AESA 2011 Federal Legislative Agenda 
Coming soon - the 2012 AESA Federal Legislative Agenda.

2011 Educator's Call to Action Conference
Read important legislative information from the conference.

AESA / AASA letter to FCC Urging Support of E-Rate Funding (March 7, 2011)  
AESA and AASA support the USAC recommendation for funding the 2010 Priority Tear threshold and strongly urge the FCC to approve it.

Wrapping Up the 111th Session of Congress: Federal Education Policy Update
Presentation at the 25th AESA Annual Conference by Noelle Ellerson, AASA.

Follow-Up Report to the 2009 Educator's Call to Action Conference  (November 9, 2009) 
As a follow up to our Educators’ Call to Action Conference this past September, we wanted to provide you with a current update on the status of our priority educational issues. First, we want to thank all of you who submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education regarding the inclusion of specific language for ESAs in the Investing in Education (i3) grants. We are confident that USED will carefully consider your input in the rule and regulation process.

Federal Funding

2010 Educators' Call to Action Conference Position Paper on Appropriations/Funding

2010 Educators' Call to Action Conference Position Paper on Vouchers  

2010 Educators' Call to Action Conference Position Paper on Education Jobs Fund

Fiscal Year 2011 Budget
On February 1, 2010 President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2011 Budget. See what is requested for the programs and activities of the Department of Education.

FY 2010 Appropriations 
On December 16, 2009, the President signed into law H.R. 3288, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, Division D of which provides FY 2010 funding for the Department of Education (ED). A table (last updated 12/16/2009) showing the amounts provided for ED by H.R. 3288 is available in PDF [106KB] and MS Excel [330KB]. It also shows the amounts provided in FY 2009 (including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding) and at each major step in the FY 2010 appropriations process.

Federal Funding Update: Education Funding in FY 2010
Presented by Abbie Evans, NAESP at the 2009 ECA Conference

Federal Lobbying and Gift Reform 2007
This memo on the new federal provisions on lobbying and gift reform has been provided to AESA by our Attorneys, Patton and Boggs, LLP. We appreciate their support.

Race to the Top

2010 Educators' Call to Action Conference Position Paper on Race to the Top (RTTT or RT3)  

The centerpiece of the Obama administration's education reform efforts is the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund, a national competition which will highlight and replicate effective education reform strategies in four significant areas:

• Adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
• Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals;
• Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practices; and
• Turning around our lowest-performing schools.

On November 12th The U.S. Department of Education announced the final criteria/application package for Race to the Top investments.  All materials related to this announcement can be found on the Race to the Top web site including the narrative portion of applications submitted by states and District of Columbia for Phase 2 of Race to the Top.   

Race to the Top Overview (November 10, 2009) 
Presentation by Joanne Weiss, Director, Race to the Top

AESA Working For You
The AESA staff have reviewed and researched the U.S Department of Education’s October 9, 2009 Federal Register announcement of proposed priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria for the Investing in Education (i3) grants. While the announcement specifies eligibility of LEAs to apply for the grants, and federal law includes ESAs in the definition of LEAs, we believe that there needs to be an explicit inclusion of ESAs as eligible applicants. Please read the letter that AESA has submitted to the U.S. Department of Education making that request.

IDEA

2010 Educators' Call to Action ConferencePosition Paper on IDEA Full Funding

2009 Educator's Call to Action Conference Position Paper on IDEA Section 613 

Reauthorization of IDEA
Link to 2004 law, ESAs are defined in section 602, paragraphs 5 and 19.

ESEA

2010 Educators' Call to Action Position Paper on ESEA Reauthorization  

A Blueprint for Reform  
On March 13, 2010, the Obama Administration released its blueprint for revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to help states raise expectations of students and reward schools for producing dramatic gains in student achievement.

Education Policy in the New Congress: What the Stimulus Can Tell Us About ESEA Reauthorization
Presented by Mary Kusler, AASA at the 2009 ECA Conference

How to Make a Difference and Influence the Next Version of ESEA
Presented by Mary Kusler, AASA at the 2009 ECA Conference

Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and ESAs
Including the legal and opportunities briefs for ESAs

E-RATE

ESA / AASA letter to FCC Urging Support of E-Rate Funding (March 7, 2011) New! 
AESA and AASA support the USAC recommendation for funding the 2010 Priority Tear threshold and strongly urge the FCC to approve it.

2010 Educators' Call to Action Conference Position Paper on E-Rate

Comments of the American Association of School Administrators and the Association of Educational Service Agencies Urging the FCC to Increase the Cap on the E-rate Program

AESA and AASA FCC Exparte Dark Fiber Filing (February 25, 2010)

Comment Sought on Broadband Needs in Education, Including Changes to E-Rate Program to Improve Broadband Deployment  (November 10, 2009)
The FCC issued a Public Notice seeking comment on various issues related to broadband access in education and on modifications to the Schools and Libraries Program to improve broadband deployment to meet the instructional and informational needs of schools and libraries.  In addition, the FCC seeks comment on whether and how increasing broadband deployment to schools can affect or stimulate the adoption of broadband more widely in communities and whether and how the program can be structured to more effectively distribute available funding.  Comments were due November 20; reply comments were due December 11. AESA and AASA submitted comments on this public notice.

Notice of Proposal Rulemaking  Regarding the Schools and Libraries Program (November 4, 2009) 
The FCC issued a Notice of Proposal Rulemaking on November 4, 2009, regarding the Schools and Libraries Program.  It proposes revisions to program rules to comply with the requirements of the Protecting Children in the 21^st Century Act (CIPA).  The comment period for this NPRM will be 45 days after publication in the Federal Register.  As of today it has not been published in the Federal Register so we have additional time to respond to this NPRM.

The Official E-Rate Web Site
The Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund makes discounts available to eligible schools and libraries for telecommunication services, Internet access, and internal connections. The program is intended to ensure that schools and libraries have access to affordable telecommunications and information services.

E-Rate Program in the Telecommunications Act

Rural Education

Rural Schools Programs from the Department of Agriculture New!
Back on January 19 with the help of John White from the U.S. Department of Education, AESA facilitated a conference call that featured Cheryl Cook and Gary Allen from the U. S Department of Agriculture who described a number of the USDA programs that impact schools and potentially esas. Those who were on the call were surprised with the number of programs available. AESA has obtained a transcript of the call from the U.S. Department of Education.
Also see:

Obama Administration Supporting Rural Schools Across Federal Agencies
This document provides examples of targeted federal programs and opportunities to provide additional support for rural schools

2010 Educators' Call to Action Conference Position Paper on Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP)

"How the government defines rural has implications for education policies and practices."
Publication by IES & REL, June, 2007

Child Nutrition

2010 Educators' Call to Action Conference Position Paper on Child Nutrition

Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act

Reauthorization of the Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act and ESAs
Including the legal and opportunities briefs for ESAs

ARRA 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. The ARRA provides more than $100 billion in education funding and college grants and tuition tax credits, as well as billions more for school modernization.

 2009 Educator's Call to Action Conference Position Paper on ARRA

Legislative Conference Archives

2009 Educator's Call to Action Conference 
Read important legislative information from the conference.

AESA 2009 Federal Legislative Agenda
The AESA Governmental Relations Committee set the AESA 2009 Legislative Agenda in January. It was adopted by the AESA Council at its next meeting in April.

Various PowerPoint Presentations from the Legislative conferences.
See Conference Archives.

Additional Government Relations Resources:

     Library of Congress

     Supreme Court

     THOMAS - Legislative Information on the Internet

     U.S. Department of Education

    National Laboratory Network (Link to all 10 Regional Educational Labs)

     U.S. Senate

     U.S. House of Representatives

     The White House