CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Rep. Duckworth Introduces Bill to Protect Financial Aid Eligibility for Working Students

On Tuesday, February 2, Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) introduced the Working Students Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, a companion bill to a version previously introduced in the Senate by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). The bill would adjust the income threshold for eligibility for Pell grants, a form of need-based financial aid under the Higher Education Act, to better reflect the needs of the 66 percent of students working full- or part-time to put themselves through postsecondary education.

Under the current system, federal law allows students to earn a certain amount of income through employment, known as the Income Protection Allowance (IPA), without impacting the amount of Pell aid they are eligible for. However, many students’ earnings exceed the existing threshold, which negatively affects their eligibility for financial aid – functionally penalizing them for working to support themselves while enrolled in postsecondary education. The Working Students Act would increase the IPA threshold by 35 percent, which would provide needed relief for these student populations.

ACTE applauds Rep. Duckworth and Sen. Baldwin’s work to support working students nationwide, and has endorsed the legislation. We encourage ACTE members and CTE advocates to share their support for the bill on social media using the hashtag #workingstudents, and to include this image in their outreach:

LEGISLATIVE ALERT: Ask Your Senators to Sign the CTE Month Resolution!

Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rob Portman (R-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA),  co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate CTE Caucus, have circulated a letter to their colleagues encouraging them to join them as cosponsors of a resolution to recognize February as CTE Month in the U.S. Senate! This resolution would formally demonstrate the Senate’s support of the goals and ideals of CTE Month, and help to build awareness of CTE among policymakers and education stakeholders in Washington. It is crucial that the resolution has a strong show of support among Senators from all across the country, and we need your help to ensure its success!

Take Action

• Contact your Senators using our CTE Action Center or by phone through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
• Tell them to add their name to a resolution to officially recognize February as CTE Month!

President Obama to Request $4 Billion for New Computer Science Education Initiative

During his weekly address on Saturday, January 30, President Barack Obama announced his plan to expand student access to computer science courses across the country. In his upcoming Fiscal Year 2017 budget request, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 9, the president will ask for $4 billion in funding for states and $100 million directly for districts to train teachers, expand access to instructional materials and build effective regional partnerships under the newly announced “Computer Science for All” initiative. This new proposal, intended to specifically expand computer science at the K-12 level, would spread the $4 billion over three years, and $100 million in proposed discretionary funding. However, the proposal will require congressional approval before it can become a reality.

In addition to the newly proposed spending, the effort will invest $135 million this year in existing funds from the National Science Foundation and Corporation for National and Community Service to train and support additional computer science teachers.

President Obama has placed significant emphasis on the importance of computer science recently, including a reference during his State of the Union address. During his remarks on January 30, he said:

“Now we have to make sure all our kids are equipped for the jobs of the future – which means not just being able to work with computers, but developing the analytical and coding skills to power our innovation economy.  Today’s auto mechanics aren’t just sliding under cars to change the oil; they’re working on machines that run on as many as 100 million lines of code.  That’s 100 times more than the Space Shuttle.  Nurses are analyzing data and managing electronic health records.  Machinists are writing computer programs.  And workers of all kinds need to be able to figure out how to break a big problem into smaller pieces and identify the right steps to solve it.”

Click here to learn more about the initiative on the Administration’s website. ACTE will monitor this and other information about the president’s budget request as it becomes available!

ED Releases New Guidance on ESSA

Recently, the U.S. Department of Education sent a "Dear Colleague" letter to states with some new guidance on implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The department sent a similar letter in December that provided initial guidance on a range of issues, including the fate of existing state flexibility waivers. This most recent letter outlines the department’s intent to administer ESSA programs consistent with current rules and practices for the upcoming 2016-17 school year, which will serve as a transition period from the old No Child Left Behind Act, with a few exceptions. Notably, states will not have to meet the existing requirement that all teachers of academic subjects must be “highly qualified” (having at least a bachelor’s degree and a state certification or license). This provision, which was eliminated in ESSA, has long been a source of consternation for CTE programs that can be credited toward students’ academic course requirements, but must have an instructor that meets the threshold for highly qualified.

Additionally, the department solicited comments from education stakeholders and the public on areas of ESSA where there is a need for greater clarity and guidance from the federal government to help states and school districts implement the new law. ACTE and the National Association of State Directors of CTE Consortium provided comments that are available here.