National Coalition for Literacy

—A Weekly Education Update

By Washington Partners

Last week, Capitol Hill hosted a rarity—both the House and Senate were in session.  That ends on Monday with the House recessing for a district work week while the Senate waits to follow suit until the week after Memorial Day.  When they return in early June, it is likely that action on appropriations bills—including funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education—will be on their agendas.  Action, however, does not mean completion, given virtually no one anticipates Congress finalizing the FY2013 budget until…

—A Weekly Education and Advocacy Update

By Washington Partners

President Obama found a clever way last week to get the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Secret Service scandals out of the headlines on Capitol Hill. He visited college campuses around the country and encouraged students to contact their Representatives in Washington to protest the doubling of student loan interest rates.

It worked. The switch boards were jammed. On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced his support for the $6 billion proposal to maintain the current low interest rate, though he…

—By Washington Partners with Jackie Taylor

Budget and Appropriations

The Congress has an uncanny way of exhausting itself and every advocate in town just before a district or state work period.  Last week was no exception.  Capitol Hill was crawling with citizens deeply committed to either keeping or tossing the Affordable Healthcare Act.  They surrounded the Supreme Court building that was hosting an unprecedented three-day proceeding at which the Justices were hearing arguments both for and against the constitutionality of certain provisions of the law.  There were also crowds protesting the tragic death of…

—By Washington Partners with Jackie Taylor

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

Adult education advocates now push for Senators to sign the Webb Dear Colleague letter in support of adult education funding. (This letter is the Senate counterpart to the Roe-Hinojosa Letter circulated in the House.) However, time is of the essence, as Senators have only 2 1/2 days to sign on. Advocates who already have a relationship with their Senators’ offices should place calls immediately, requesting that their Senators sign on. Details can be found here.

Last…

—A Weekly Education and Advocacy Update

By Washington Partners with Jackie Taylor

The Senate found itself “home alone” again last week as the House of Representatives was out of town for a week-long district work period.  In their absence, a surprising level of at least nominally bipartisan activity took place.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) came to agreement on approving 17 federal judges whose nominations had been languishing for months.  The Senate also passed a two year transportation bill that now goes to the House…

—A Weekly Education and Advocacy Update

By Washington Partners with Jackie Taylor

President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and even Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) had thought developing a budget for FY2013 would be a less contentious task this year, as last summer’s debt ceiling measure included an agreed upon FY2013 spending cap.  That was then.

Now it appears that House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) and many other Tea Party Members are insisting that the number be reduced and deep cuts in entitlement and domestic discretionary…

—A Weekly Education Update

By Washington Partners with Jackie Taylor

Congress returned to Washington last week after a rare recess during which Members of both the Senate and House were in their home states and districts.  Education policy was prominent throughout the week.

On Tuesday, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) led his colleagues in a day-long markup of the last two bills of his piecemeal approach to rewriting the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—H.R. 3989, the Student Success Act, and…

—A Weekly Education Update

By Washington Partners

With both the House and Senate in recess last week, Capitol Hill has been relatively quiet, allowing attention to focus on the nomination contest among the Republican presidential candidates.  If you are an education advocate and were paying attention, the news wasn’t particularly good.

At a forum in Arizona all four participants—Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul—tried to outdo themselves with complaints about the No Child Left Behind Act and how it needed to be eliminated because it allows “too much intrusion”…

—By Washington Partners with Jackie Taylor

The President sent his fiscal year 2013 budget to Capitol Hill last week to mixed reviews.  Republican Members were quick to criticize the proposal as too costly at a time that requires fiscal restraint.  Democratic Members offered muted praise and caution regarding the deficit and pending sequestration if the government doesn’t get its fiscal house in order.

For education advocates, the top line news was good.  The President has proposed a modest increase for education—a 2.5 percent bump, or $1.7 billion over FY2012.  As with past Obama budgets,…

—Campaign for a Fair Unemployment Insurance Extension

Congress passed the $143B payroll tax holiday compromise today, (293-132 in the House; 60-36 in the Senate), extending a tax cut for millions of Americans and jobless benefits through the end of the year.

The bill did not include education requirements which would have denied unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to any worker who lacks a high school diploma or its equivalent and is not enrolled in classes to earn one—regardless of how long the person worked or whether he or she has access to adult education.…

—Will It Include an Education Requirement?

Last night, Tuesday, February 14, Congressional leaders reached a tentative agreement to extend the payroll tax cut, including jobless benefits and reimbursement for doctors who accept Medicare. As a part of the tentative deal, Hill and media sources are reporting that the education requirement is off the table. However, the deal is not final and although leaders are pushing to finalize the year-long extension by this Friday, anything is subject to change.

According to the New York Times, “Democrats, elated after winning the Republican…

Today, February 13th, the President released his FY2013 Budget Proposal. According to the summary, adult education is proposed to be funded at $595 million, with $15 million to go towards the Workforce Innovation Fund for competitive grants. While some may see this as level-funding, others may not since the Workforce Innovation Fund is proposed to come from existing state adult education grants. These formula grants are being tapped to provide the proposed Workforce Innovation Fund, which is not a new trend (See last year’s 2012 Budget Proposal).

Additionally, 11…

—The Education Advocate’s Week in Review

By Washington Partners with Jackie Taylor

The Congress chose not to wait for the release of the President’s FY 2013 budget proposal, due out on Monday, before getting to work on their 2013 spending plan.  In spite of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) declaration that a budget resolution is unnecessary this year since spending levels were agreed to in last year’s negotiations around the debt limit increase, House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) takes a different view.  He has proposed removing any cost…

—Via @NCLAdvocacy and the #AdultEd #LitCaucus Hashtags

The National Coalition for Literacy is tweeting live today, February 8, 2:45-4:00 pm ET, from the House Adult Literacy Caucus briefing. Follow the conversation via @NCLAdvocacy and the #adulted #LitCaucus hashtags.

Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) and Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX) plan to attend and speak.  The following Members of Congress will be sending an education staff person to the briefing or will be attending in person.. The offices that have RSVP’d thus far include:

—Where Do You Stand?

Wednesday, February 1, members of the House-Senate Conference Committee met to further discuss issues and work out their differences surrounding the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, H.R. 3765. According to Roll Call, a newspaper which covers Capitol Hill, legislators “…still find themselves on shaky ground after their second meeting, with broad agreement on where to go but little agreement on how to get there.”

Legislators discussed the education requirement at great length, which was proposed by House Republicans as part of an earlier…

—Weekly Recap on Education Policy and Advocacy

State of the Union Address, Presidential Elections, Budget and Appropriations, House Adult Literacy Caucus Briefing, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Extension, ESEA Reauthorization, and Raising the Debt Ceiling

By Ellen Fern and Jackie Taylor

State of the Union Address

Both chambers of the Congress were in Washington this week following an extended recess. President Obama greeted them with a lengthy State of the Union (SOTU) address that was—not surprisingly—praised by Democrats and panned by Republicans. Now…

Thank you to everyone who got involved with the State of the Union Address for adult education and family literacy! On Tuesday, January 24, the National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) was invited to the White House to tweet live during the State of the Union (SOTU) address and participate in an interactive, open questions event with senior administration officials afterwards. We had the chance to ask questions about the speech and share questions from our followers on Facebook and [ Read More → ]

—Submit Your Questions for Senior Administration Officials During the State of the Union Address

This Tuesday, January 24, President Obama will present his 2012 State of the Union (SOTU) Address . The National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) will be at the White House tweeting live during the SOTU and participating in an interactive, open questions event with senior administration officials afterwards. We’ll have the chance to ask questions about the speech and share questions from our followers on Facebook and Twitter.

This is a unique opportunity for adult education advocates…

—A Budget and Appropriations Update

By Washington Partners

Next Tuesday evening President Obama officially kicks off the budget and appropriations season and his re-election campaign with his State of the Union Address.  In his remarks he will not only provide his assessment of where we stand as a nation, but also outline his legislative and spending priorities for the coming year.  Given the tone of his recent remarks about the Congress and the fact that their approval rating hovers at nine percent, well below his, you can expect a combative speech, critical…

Building Our Competitive Edge:

How Adult Education Leverages Multi-System Partnerships

for Student Success

February 8, 2012

1539 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC  20515

2:45 pm — 4:00 pm

At least 30 million adults in the U.S.  do not have the education or English language skills needed to compete for today’s jobs.  These adults commonly turn to adult education programs to boost their basic skills and obtain employment or prepare for further education.  Due to an increasing demand…

Congress will soon continue its debate on the extension of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits—but it may include a provision that’s alarming Americans nationwide.

House Republicans are expected to once again push for a condition that would “…deny UI benefits to any worker who lacks a high school diploma or GED and is not enrolled in classes to get one or the other—regardless of how long the person worked or whether he or she has access to adult education,” according to a recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).…

By Ellen Fern and Jackie Taylor

In this month’s update, learn more about the status of the budget and appropriations process for FY2012 and what this means for adult education; find updates and breaking news on extending Unemployment Insurance (UI) employment benefits and how it may impact undereducated workers, new jobs legislation that includes adult education, and see more progress made on WIA reauthorization in the House.

• Budget and Appropriations
• UI Alert
• WIA Reauthorization
• Pathways Back to Work Act
• Adult Literacy Advocacy – What this means for you

[ Read More → ]

By Washington Partners

With the clock ticking toward December 16^th, which is when the current continuing resolution that is keeping government funds flowing is set to expire, little progress was made last week on a FY 2012 budget plan.  Appropriations Committee conferees met on Thursday, just long enough to make opening statements and make public a widely known secret, that of the nine unfinished spending bills, the troublemakers were Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) and Interior.

For LHHS, the issues are both funding and so-called policy riders.  The key funding issue…

By Washington Partners

Rumor has it we are going to hear a word spoken on Capitol Hill in the next few weeks that we haven’t heard in a while.  That word is yes.  It appears the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, after months of saying no to any kind of compromise with Democrats, and Democrats similarly recalcitrant about working across the aisle, may come together to finish the pressing legislative business before the Congress in time for the holidays.  There are of course many opportunities for yes to turn into no in the world…

By Washington Partners

Budget and Appropriations

Though the House was in recess this week, Members of the Super Committee were meeting around the clock to try to reach agreement on a debt reduction proposal before the approaching November 23^rd deadline.  From outside, it appears that discussions have reached a stalemate, despite assertions that “progress is being made” from the Committee leadership.  Pressure is mounting, however, and lobbying from all sides to protect interests that, rumor has it, are on the chopping block is in full swing.

Another fast-approaching deadline is the November…

By Washington Partners, Public Policy Consultants of the National Coalition for Literacy

The separate work schedules for the House and Senate make a week when everyone is in town a rarity.  It happened last week, and finally there was progress on the FY 2012 appropriations front.  The budget is by no means decided, but the Senate did succeed in passing a so-called “minibus”—a bill that would fund several government agencies.  The bill passed on a vote of 69-30, vindicating Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) strategy to move forward.  House Republicans had questioned the minibus strategy, but…

—October 2011

By Jackie Taylor and Ellen Fern

Action items are listed first in this month’s update:

• American Jobs Act (Action)
• WIA Reauthorization (Action)
• Budget and Appropriations (Update)
• Joint Deficit Reduction Committee (Update)
• ESEA Reauthorization (Update)
• Advocacy Workshops & Tools
• 2012 House Calendar and Congressional Visits

American Jobs Act

A few weeks ago, the American Jobs Act was brought to the Senate floor where it died quickly. The only way both Democrats and Republicans…

By Jackie Taylor

National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week 2011 saw a large upsurge in local activities and events, raising awareness of the important role literacy has in our lives and communities. Thank you to everyone who participated in raising awareness this week and during the month of September.

What were some of the results of your efforts? Here is what we know, what we found online and what advocates sent to us:

• The National Coalition for Literacy tracked numerous news reports, [ Read More → ]

By Washington Partners

Reauthorizing ESEA

What a week.  The scheduled October 18^th markup of a proposal to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is still on.  When asked whether the markup might really happen, one Senate staffer replied, “This is not a drill.”  As a result, many education groups and interests spent this week making the rounds with Senate HELP Committee members trying to discern the content of Chairman Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) proposal.

While a draft of the bill…

By Ellen Fern, Washington Partners LLC

On Thursday, September 29, the House Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee released their FY2012 appropriations bill.  The legislation includes funding for programs within the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and other related agencies.  In total, the draft bill includes $153.4 billion in discretionary funding, which is $4 billion (-2.5%) below the fiscal year 2011 enacted level and $27.5 billion (-15.2%) below the President’s budget request.  The bill also contains several provisions intended to stop…