Teacher Student Loans

President Signs Bill to Increase Amount Forgiven on Teacher Student Loans

Election 2004

Congress Returning For Lame-Duck Session; IDEA Reauthorization on the Schedule?

President Bush Signs Bill to Increase Amount Forgiven on Teacher Student Loans

Celebrate National Inclusive Schools Week, Dec. 6-10, 2004

Election 2004

You may or may not be happy with the outcome of the recent elections, but like many Americans, youíre probably glad that all the 2004 campaigning is over. Here are some quick facts about the past election:

President George W. Bush won re-election this past Tuesday. He is the first President to win a majority of votes since the election of 1988. Roughly 60 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the election, which is considered a substantially large voter turnout. Give yourself a pat on the back if you voted!

The Republican Party strengthened its control of the Senate and House of Representatives. Senate Republicans gained a net of four seats, and now hold a 55-44 majority. One Senator is an Independent. House Republicans gained one seat, and now hold a 232-201 majority, with 1 Independent. One House seat remained undecided as of this writing.

Voters Tuesday ranked education seventh among the top issues in the election, according to exit polls. Moral values was the top issue cited.

CEC is a non-partisan, non-profit association, and as such, only advocates on behalf of issues, not individual candidates or political parties.

Congress Returning For Lame-Duck Session; IDEA Reauthorization on the Schedule?

Congress will reconvene for a lame-duck session on November 16 for about a week, although it is not certain how long Congress will meet, or which issues it will focus on. It is likely that Congress will only reconvene for one week. Congress still needs to pass a number of appropriations bills for fiscal year 2005 that it did not enact before adjourning early last month for last minute campaigning. Congress also may consider sweeping intelligence reform legislation, which was drafted as a result of the 9/11 commissionís report. However, the House and Senate are reportedly far apart on their respective reform proposals. IDEA reauthorization potentially could be considered as well, provided that the conference committee finishes in time to file the bill and that Congress makes passage of IDEA reauthorization a priority.

As always, CEC will keep you updated on any movement of IDEA reauthorization legislation.

President Bush Signs Bill to Increase Amount Forgiven on Teacher Student Loans

On October 30, President Bush signed HR 5186, the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004. The law authorizes an increase from $5,000 to $17,500 in the maximum amount of student loan debt the government may forgive for certain math, science, and special education teachers who agree to teach for five years in high poverty schools. The bill also ends the subsidy rate of 9.5 percent for issuers of student loans.

This is good news for the special education community. With increased loan forgiveness for special education teachers, this law will certainly attract more students considering a career in special education.

Celebrate National Inclusive Schools Week - Dec. 6-10, 2004

Support the National Institute for Urban School Improvement's National Inclusive Schools Week, which fosters the development of schools and communities that welcome all students, including those with disabilities. The 2004 theme is "working together." CEC is a proud co-sponsor of this endeavor.

For more information on National Inclusive Schools Week, go to
http://www.inclusiveschools.org/nisw04/info/welcome.htm