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AESA 2010 Legislative Agenda

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Federal Legislative Updates

 

AESA 2010 Federal Legislative Agenda 
The AESA Governmental Relations Committee set the AESA 2010 Legislative Agenda in January. It was adopted by the AESA Council at its next meeting in March.

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.

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

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

Title I School Improvement Fund
The Department of Education has released the final requirements for $3.5 billion in Title I School Improvement grants to turn around the nation's lowest performing schools. The applications are now available at http://www.ed.gov/programs/sif/applicant.html and are due into the Department of Education by Feb. 8, 2010.

Race to the Top

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.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Integrated Education Reforms
Presented by Massie Ritsch, U.S. Department of Education at the 2009 ECA Conference

IDEA

2009 Educator's Call to Action Conference Position Paper on IDEA Mandatory 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.

2008 Educator's Call to Action Conference Position Paper on  IDEA 

ESEA

A Blueprint for Reform New! 
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.

2009 Educator's Call to Action Conference Position Paper on ESEA Reauthorization 

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

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 New! 

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

2009 Educator's Call to Action Position Paper on E-Rate

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

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

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

Important Update on REAP Reauthorization from the AESA 2008 Legislative Conference
The Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) was conceived by AASA in 1998. It was included in the 2001 reauthorization of ESEA and has grown every year in support among members of Congress and numbers of rural schools involved.

Federal Funding

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.

2009 Educator's Call to Action Position Paper on Appropriations / Funding

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.

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

Legislative Conference Archives

2008 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.

State ESA Legislative Platforms
We invite state ESA groups to send us their legislative platforms.

• The California Co. Superintendents Educational Services Association
    State & Federal Legislative Committee Protocol and the 2006 Federal Legislative Priorities
• The Colorado BOCES Association Position Paper on NCLB
• The Minnesota Service Cooperative's 2007 Initiatives
• The New Jersey ESC's 2007 Legislative Agenda
• The Ohio Educational Service Center Association Legislative Platform and Brochure for 2007
• The Oregon Education Service Districts' Legislative Position 2007

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