• Katrina Update: President Presses to Include Vouchers in Katrina Relief Package
• Katrina Update: President Signs Legislation to Relieve Loan Repayment for Higher Education Students
• Katrina Update: CEC Launches Action Center to Help Katrina Victims
• Head Start Legislation Passes House; Allows Faith-Based Hiring
• Senate HELP Committee Passes Bill To Reauthorize Higher Education Act; House Passes Bill To Extend HEA Through 2005

Katrina Update: President Presses to Include Vouchers in Katrina Relief Package

As Congress continues to pass legislation aimed at reducing the burdens of those affected by Hurricane Katrina, the President continues to press for the availability of vouchers for displaced students. President Bush has requested from Congress $488 million approximately $7,500 per student in compensation for displaced students that wish to enroll in non-public schools. This earmark for vouchers is part of a larger $2.6 billion supplemental aid package for education presented by the President. The voucher proposal is said to be based on the estimated 25 percent of students that had attended non-public schools in the Katrina-affected areas. Under the President's plan, the vouchers would be accessible to all students, including those that had previously attended public school.

Many Democrats including Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), ranking member of the Health, Labor, Education, Pensions (HELP) Committee have publicly spoken out against the President's desire to include vouchers in Katrina relief legislation, stating "I am extremely disappointed that he [President Bush] has proposed providing this relief using such a politically-charged approach. This is not the time for a partisan political debate on vouchers."

Last week, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee and Senator Edward Kennedy introduced emergency relief legislation for students, schools and higher education institutions that have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. While the "Hurricane Katrina Education Relief Act" (S. 1715) does provide additional funding for affected school districts, it does not specifically allocate funds for a voucher program at this time. Other provisions in S. 1715 include: assistance to individuals with disabilities to ensure FAPE; funding for replacement of damaged or destroyed assistive technology devices; waiver authority for the Secretary of Education with respect to reporting requirements, assessments, and school improvement/corrective action under ESEA for States, local educational agencies, and schools affected by Hurricane Katrina.

While CEC is deeply concerned about the recovery issues facing New Orleans and other areas along the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina, we want to ensure that any federal response to aid displaced school children and the schools that serve them does not evolve into a political discussion involving the use of school vouchers. CEC has long opposed the use of school vouchers, particularly in the education of students with disabilities. CEC strongly opposes any federally authorized voucher program for students with disabilities as being contrary to the best interests of children and their families, the nation's public school systems, states and their local communities and taxpayers. Further, CEC believes that a voucher option would both contradict and undermine central purposes of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

CEC has sent letters to Senators Enzi and Kennedy thanking them for not including vouchers in S. 1715. At this time, it is unknown if vouchers will be included in the final version S. 1715. CEC will continue to monitor and report on the developments of this bill in future updates.

To view CEC's statement on vouchers, visit: http://www.cec.sped.org/gov/voucherstatement2003.pdf To read a summary of the bill, visit: http://help.senate.gov/kated.htm To read Senator Kennedy's remarks and information on Katrina, visit: http://kennedy.senate.gov/index_high.html

Katrina Update: President Signs Legislation to Relieve Loan Repayment for Higher Education Students

On September 21st, the President signed into law two bills that seek to provide flexibility and assistance to students forced to withdraw from higher education institutions due to the affects of Hurricane Katrina. Both bills allow the Secretary of Education to waive loan repayments for impacted students. The Pell Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act (H.R. 3169), deals specifically with waiving the repayments for Pell grants and the Student Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act (H.R. 3668), speaks to other grant aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, and the TRIO and GEAR UP programs.

For additional information on these bills, see CEC's Policy Update, September 9, 2005 http://www.cec.sped.org/pp/legislative_update/modules/news/article.php?storyid=119

Katrina Update: CEC Launches Action Center to Help Katrina Victims

CEC's Hurricane Katrina Action Center provides a forum for educators to post their professional and/or personal needs and for members to learn what they can do to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Please join us as we reach out to our members, their students, their families, and others as they rebuild their lives in this difficult time.

To find out how you can help, visit: http://www.cec.sped.org/cec_bn/Hurricane_Katrina.html

Head Start Legislation Passes House; Allows Faith-Based Hiring

On September 22nd, the House of Representatives led by Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) and Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) passed the School Readiness Act, legislation that would, among other things, allow for faith-based hiring in the federally funded Head Start program. Chairman Boehner stated, "The bill will increase competition for Head Start grants, increase the role of states and local communities, and help ensure Head Start funds are used for their intended purpose: preparing disadvantaged children for kindergarten."

While many provisions of the legislation gained bipartisan support, allowing faith-based hiring drew staunch criticism from some Democrats. In a statement, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee stated, "It is regrettable that what was otherwise a very strong and bipartisan bill was marred by the Republicans' determination to insert a provision allowing organizations that receive federal money to discriminate in hiring based on a person's religion." 173 Democrats voted against the bill.

Other provisions in the bill include:

Improved academic content and requirements; Increased disclosure, annual reports will be made available to public; Increased coordination between state and local early education programs and Head Start programs; Strengthened accountability for Head Start grantees by requiring on-site federal monitoring and by allowing quick revocation of federal funds from poor-performing Head Start programs; and Increased funding for migrant, seasonal and Indian Head Start programs.

Head Start is a comprehensive program for low-income children, ages three through five. The program helps prepare children for school and stay healthy by providing education, immunizations, health check-ups and nutritious meals.

For more information on the School Readiness Act please visit: The House Education & the Workforce majority website, http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press109/first/09sep/2123passeshouse.htm

The House Education & the Workforce minority website: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ed31_democrats/rel92205b.html

Senate HELP Committee Passes Bill To Reauthorize Higher Education Act; House Passes Bill To Extend HEA Through 2005

Earlier this month, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed legislation, S. 1614, to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). HEA is the broad federal program that provides access to college for students through loans and grants, prepares high school students for college, provides funds to institutes of higher education, and trains provides aid to train K-12 teachers at colleges and universities. Congress last reauthorized the HEA in 1998.

The new Senate measure seeks to address the growing need for financial assistance to those students who want to attend college but can't afford to do so. According to Senator Edward Kennedy, the ranking Democrat on the HELP Committee, many students who do find a way to go to college are borrowing more heavily than ever. Kennedy said, "In 1990, only 16 percent of students took out a college loan. Today, it's 52 percent. Thirty years ago, the typical student aid package was 60 percent grants and 40 percent loans. Today, it's the reverse -- 40 percent grants and 60 percent loans. The average undergraduate now has $17,000 in college debt."

S. 1614 would reduce spending on mandatory student loan programs by $7 billion over 5 years, and it would also eliminate the windfall profit to those providing student loans. The bill would force lenders to rebate any income generated by charging students higher interest rates than what lenders are guaranteed by the government. The new bill would also increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,100 for next year and up to $6,300 for academic year 2010-2011.

Of particular interest to CEC members, S. 1614 provides state grants and partnership grants to ensure the quality training and retention of special education teachers. State grants will be awarded on a competitive basis and would last for up to 3 years. In part, the state grants are designed to reform the teacher preparation requirements to be consistent with the highly qualified teacher requirements of the NCLB and IDEA laws. The grants will focus on methods, including performance-based compensation, used to recruit and retain teachers in high-need areas, such as special education. The grants will also be used to provide increased opportunities for under-represented populations like individuals with disabilities and minorities. Teachers in high-need academic subject areas, such as math, science, and reading, and high-need areas such as special education, early childhood, language instruction, or any area where there are instructional shortages, are addressed under grants to states in S. 1614.

The Senate bill also creates partnership grants, where grants are awarded to institutes of higher education together with state entities for up to 5 years. The bill allows partnership grant funds to be used for residency programs, which includes an induction period, for all new general and special education teachers. The grants may also provide for ongoing professional development opportunities for teachers.

In addition, S. 1614 authorizes demonstration projects that ensure that students with disabilities received a quality higher education.

The HELP Committee passed S. 1614 unanimously.

To read a summary of S. 1614, go to http://enzi.senate.gov/higheredauth.htm .

In a related development, the House on Tuesday of this week passed legislation to extend the current HEA until the end of 2005. The House-passed legislation, H.R. 3784, continues funding mandatory federal higher education programs through the end of the year. Yesterday, the House Education and Workforce Committee passed the House's bill to fully reauthorize HEA, H.R. 609. CEC will have a summary of that bill in the near future.

© 2005 ConnSENSE Bulletin