ConnSENSE

New NCLB Policy for Calculating Participation

Senate IDEA Reauthorization Not on Senate Schedule Next Week

FY 2005 Budget Update

ED Announces New NCLB Policy for Calculating Participation

Senate IDEA Reauthorization Not on Senate Schedule Next Week

Despite many credible sources informing CEC that the Senate¹s bill to reauthorize IDEA (S. 1248) is slated to go to the Senate floor next Wednesday and Thursday, April 7 and 8, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has announced next week's schedule, and IDEA is not on the list. The Senate will adjourn for its spring recess during the week of April 12.

CEC is advocating that the Senate bring its bill to the floor for a vote. You can urge your Senators to take action on the bill through CEC¹s Legislative Action Center. Simply go to: http://capwiz.com/cek/issues/alert/?alertid=3674131&type=CO and enter your zip code.

As we¹ve written in previous Updates, the Senate last year passed a unanimous consent order that allows only 4 amendments to be offered by the Republicans and 4 amendments to be offered by the Democrats when the bill is brought to the Senate floor. Those amendments include:

Ø Gregg Amendment to limit IDEA attorney's fees;
Ø Gregg Amendment on IDEA funding;
Ø Gregg Amendment on IDEA paperwork reduction;
Ø Gregg Amendment that is IDEA-relevant;
Ø Hagel/Harkin Amendment on IDEA full funding;
Ø Murray Amendment, which would provide homeless students who change school districts or states with more rights than any other disabled student who transfers;
Ø Clinton Amendment on coordinating data on developmental disabilities; and
Ø Kennedy Amendment that is IDEA-relevant.

Both sides have agreed to drop the two undisclosed IDEA-relevant amendments that were in the original unanimous consent.

Once the full Senate has passed its bill, a Conference Committee (typically the same House and Senate committee leaders who first developed the bills) will be appointed to hash out the differences between the House and Senate bills and report out a final version of the legislation. This final version then goes back to both the House and Senate for a final vote. It is this version of the legislation that, once passed, goes to the President for signature and becomes law.

FY 2005 Budget Update

On March 25, the House passed its FY Œ05 Budget Resolution, H.Con.Res. 393, by a vote of 215 - 212. H. Con. Res. 393 was originally introduced by House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA).

Ten Republicans crossed party lines and voted against the resolution. They were: Representatives Castle (DE), Duncan (TN), Hefley (CO), Hostettler (IN), Jones (NC), Paul (TX), Renzi (AZ), Sanders (VT) and Shays (CT). No Democrat supported the budget resolution.

Reportedly, Representative Castle, leader of the Moderate Tuesday Group, stated the reason he voted against the Nussle (R-IA) budget was because it included too much funding for defense and not enough funding for domestic priorities.

The House Budget would allocate $819 billion to the Appropriations Committee for the 13 annual spending bills, excluding the $2.5 billion for Project BioShield. The House Budget includes a total of $2.8 billion for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. The Senate Budget would provide a cap of $821 billion excluding the BioShield funding.

Last minute deals with rank and file Republicans opposed to the Nussle budget facilitated the passage of the House Budget Resolution. Nussle assured Veterans Affairs Chairman Smith (R-NJ) that veterans would get additional funding. He also promised Shays (R-CT), his budget committee colleague, a vote on PAYGO before the Memorial Day recess, and promised a vote on pay parity for federal civilian workers next week.

Purportedly, Nussle is pressing to have a conference agreement and floor vote by April 2nd, the last chance to pass an FY 05 budget resolution before the spring recess begins next week and before the April 15th statutory deadline.

A dispute on PAYGO (rules requiring offsets for spending increases or tax cuts) may be an obstacle that could postpone a conference report until after the spring recess. While H.Con.Res. 393 contains PAYGO provisions for spending, it does not apply it to taxes. The Senate Budget Resolution, S.Con.Res. 93, contains a PAYGO provision for spending and new tax cuts. Senate moderates sided with the Senate Democrats to pass the Feingold (D-WI) amendment to S.Con.Res 95. It is uncertain if the Senate moderates will press GOP leadership to keep the provision or if they will vote no on the conference report if GOP leadership decides to remove the provision in conference. House Republican leadership strongly oppose applying PAYGO to taxes.

Representative David Obey (D-WI), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, attempted to offer a comprehensive budget amendment that included a $5.7 billion increase for education. However, the Rules Committee did not allow a floor vote on the amendment. Specifically, it would have added $1.5 billion for Title I, $1.2 billion for IDEA, $500 million for school improvement, and $2.2 billion to raise the maximum Pell Grant by $450 to $4,500.

In a ³Dear Colleague² letter, Obey mentioned he would introduce his comprehensive budget amendment as freestanding legislation.

House and Senate Appoint Conferees

Earlier this week, the House and Senate appointed conferees for the FY Œ05 budget resolution. The House conferees are: Representatives Nussle (R-IA), Portman (R-OH) and Spratt (D-SC). The Senate¹s conferees are: Chairman Don Nickles (R-OK), Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), Ranking Member Kent Conrad (D-ND), Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC), and Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD).

Apparently, the House and Senate conferees have not yet resolved the pay-as-you-go issue in the FY 05 Budget Resolution. Reportedly, if the Budget Resolution were to exclude the provision for taxes, the moderates would side with the Democrats giving them the votes to defeat the Budget Resolution.

A motion to instruct the House conferees to accept the Senate pay-as-you-go provision to offset tax cuts in addition to spending increases was defeated by a vote of 209-209 after seven Republicans switched their votes from yea to no.

Since House Budget Chairman Nussle (R-IA) reportedly stated that the conferees were not close to an agreement, possible passage of the FY 05 budget resolution will not take place until the week of April 19th, once both chambers return from their Spring Recess.

The Administration and House GOP leaders are firmly opposed to pay-as-you go for taxes, but the Senate Republican moderates are seeking a compromise on the issue.

Reportedly, twenty-two House GOP moderates and Blue Dog conservative Democrats wrote a letter to Nussle and Nickles urging them include pay-as-you-go requirements for tax cuts and spending in the conference agreement.

ED Announces New NCLB Policy for Calculating Participation

Following are portions of a press release from the U.S. Department of Education

In an effort to help states implement the No Child Left Behind Act, the Education Department has issued new policies for calculating participation rates -- the percentage of enrolled students who participate in an assessment program.

States will be able to average participation rates over a three-year period. In addition, students who are unable to take the test during the testing and make-up windows because of a unique, significant medical emergency will not count against the school¹s participation rate.

³Every student should count,² explained Education Secretary Rod Paige,² but if they don¹t take the tests, they can¹t be counted. The 95 percent participation rate was included in the law to ensure that all children are assessed. However, we recognized that there were circumstances whereby a few absent students prevented an otherwise successful school from meeting the 95 percent participation rate requirement. Thus, the school did not make AYP (adequate yearly progress). This practical examination of the law allows for those schools still to meet their AYP requirements."

States already have significant authority in calculating participation rates. They determine how large a subgroup must be in order to be considered separately for participation rate calculations. In addition, many states have testing windows, which include "make-up assessments" for students who miss tests. These make-up tests can count toward the school¹s participation rate.

Under the new policy, a state may use data from the previous one or two years to average the participation rate data for a school and/or subgroup, as needed. If this two- or three-year average meets or exceeds 95 percent, the school will still meet the AYP requirement. Thus, schools that are performing well in this category may not be identified as "in need of improvement" because of a one- or two-year dip in their participation rates. The new policy also makes allowances for those rare circumstances when a student cannot take the assessment during the entire testing window, including make-up dates, due to a significant medical emergency, such as a car accident. Although students remain enrolled in the school during this period, schools do not have to include these students when calculating their participation rates.

"This policy reinforces the accurate measurement of test administration in a given school," Paige added. "We remain committed to putting policies in place that are consistent with the intent of No Child Left Behind, as well as right for children and fair for schools. This new policy meets those goals."

To read the complete release, or for more details about the new policy, go to the Department¹s Web site at: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/03/03292004.html