2009
November 17: The all-consuming conversation about health care on Capitol Hill has further delayed adoption of a budget for fiscal year 2010 for the Department of Education (ED). To keep ED and other federal agencies afloat Congress was forced to pass a second continuing resolution when the first one expired on October 31.
November 3: Health care, health care, health care. If that’s all you’re hearing from Washington, D.C., lately, your ears are just fine. In spite of reported advances toward a consensus health-care reform bill, it seems that one step forward leads to two steps back, resulting in slow progress to the finish line.
October 15: While the topic of health care dominates Capitol Hill, last week the Congress inched a little closer to completing work on the FY 2010 budget—good news, since the new fiscal year began on October 1.
October 1: The recent mood in Washington is best described as “cranky.” The budget bills that make funding decisions important to math educators—the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS-Ed) Appropriations bill and the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bill—have passed the House but have yet to be debated by the Senate.
September 16: Congress returned on September 8 to face a full legislative agenda for the remainder of the year. President Obama’s address to Congress and the nation on health care reform has made clear his commitment to action on that front and has left little hope for discussion of elementary and secondary education issues in the chambers of Congress before the end of the year.
September 1: Clearly, no one at the Department of Education (ED) got the memo about the slower pace of work in Washington in August. With Congress out of town for the month, not much has been happening on Capitol Hill. But it’s a different story at ED, which has been convening meetings and placing conference calls to explain plans related to spending billions of dollars appropriated in the stimulus bill enacted in February.
July/August: After months of anticipation, the first Obama administration budget request made its way to Capitol Hill, setting the stage for the FY 2010 federal spending debate. For education, the news was good overall. The FY 2010 budget request includes almost $60 billion “to advance President Obama’s agenda to reform the nation’s schools while making fiscally responsible decisions to cut ineffective programs and unnecessary personnel.”
May/June: As the weather warmed and cherry blossoms bloomed in Washington, the magnitude of the challenges facing the new President came into sharper focus. The quick enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—a bill that provides a two-year investment of more than $100 billion in education alone—left agencies scrambling to distribute funding in hopes of stabilizing and jump starting the economy.
April : January 20 marked the historic inauguration of our 44th president—Barack Obama. The largest crowd on record came to the nation’s capital to celebrate the event and mark the transition to Democratic leadership in the White House and both Houses of Congress. President Obama and the 111th Congress have worked diligently since that date, confirming appointees for the new administration, reorganizing the new Congress, and developing legislation aimed at addressing the staggering decline in our economic fortunes.
March: Washington is adjusting to a new Congress, president, and leadership at federal agencies. President Obama’s selection for Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, who most recently was the chief of the Chicago Public Schools, was hailed by congressional leaders, education policymakers, and advocates as an aggressive education reformer who has done impressive work with underperforming schools.
January/February : It is estimated that 4 million visitors will gather in Washington to celebrate Barack Obama’s swearing in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20. Education advocates have been hard at work forecasting how and when the new president and Congress will turn their attention to education policy issues as the country struggles with the number one priority—the economy.
2008
December: With the election results in, Washington is busy sorting out its impact. A new president means a new administration, including a new secretary of education. Currently, president-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is refining and implementing its plans and determining who might serve and advise the new president. Education advocates are guessing who will succeed Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and assume other key positions at the Department of Education.
November: At this writing, both major presidential candidates have been discussing education, although some say not often or loudly enough. Senator McCain and Senator Obama have both discussed school choice, new compensation arrangements for teachers, and college affordability, and their parties’ platforms have outlined detailed education proposals.
October: With overwhelming bipartisan support, the Higher Education Act (HEA) made it to the president’s desk where it was signed into law on August 14. Because of the inability of Congress and the public to find common ground for a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act, the reauthorization of HEA will stand out as the major education policy accomplishment of the 110th Congress.
September: The politics of this presidential election year mean that education advocates face an uphill battle in their work for the remainder of the year. Although congressional staff continue to work to negotiate ways of resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of legislation that would reauthorize the Higher Education Act, it is possible that no final agreement will be achieved.
July/August: A teacher would have given low marks to the 110th Congress for its legislative performance after it returned from the Memorial Day recess. Congress was occupied for much of the spring with the FY 2008 supplemental spending bill. The bill offers potentially good news for math education advocates.
May/June: As detailed in the National Mathematics Advisory Panel’s final report, preparing elementary and middle school students for success in algebra is crucial to fostering academic and personal achievement. As part of last year’s America COMPETES Act, Math Now, a new initiative for elementary and middle school students to prepare students for rigorous high school mathematics courses, was authorized.
April: At the beginning of February, the White House unveiled this administration’s final budget proposal. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget would spend $3 trillion overall and largely freeze spending for domestic programs. For the Department of Education (ED), the president recommends appropriating a total of $59.2 billion, the same amount suggested last year.
March: Hints about education priorities in the administration’s budget emerged first in President Bush’s speech at a January event commemorating the sixth anniversary of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and later in remarks by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
