Members, Here is the latest CEF update. I’m on the run, so you will be mercifully spared a long preamble commentary this time. Enjoy! Jeff > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Sheryl Cohen <cohen@cef.org> > Subject: CEF Update 10.21.16 > Date: October 21, 2016 at 3:54:12 PM EDT > To: CEFMembersList <CEFMembersList@cef.org> > > > > Friday, October 21, 2016 > > > Dear CEF Members: > > I. Advocacy > > · CEF on the Hill – This week we completed 10 Hill visits with House and Senate Democratic and Republican leadership and Appropriations Committee staff. We have several more scheduled next week to continue to emphasize the need to pass full-year, program by program appropriations measures that invest more for education than the House and Senate Appropriations Committee bills provide. In addition to the 8 staffers listed in the last update, we (Sarah and I, CEF officers, and Hill Teams co-chairs) also met with Patti Ross with House Minority Leader Pelosi and with Dustin Sifford and Emilio Mendez with House Democratic Caucus Chair Becerra. > > · Education funding is low – One of the many points we are making is that the federal government is not maintaining its education investment, and that even as non-defense discretionary caps have been raised, education funding is not receiving much of the increase. The first of the two attached charts shows that the fiscal year 2017 Labor-HHS-Education funding bills approved by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees both cut funding for the Every Student Succeeds Act the first year after Congress authorized its funding levels. The House Committee bill has more funding, but it includes some large cuts that the Senate is very unlikely to consider, making it less likely that its funding levels can be maintained in any compromise bill. > > · The second chart shows how the Department of Education’s annual appropriations excluding Pell grants has gone down. The Department’s funding is lower in 2016 than it was in 2010, even in nominal terms. (Pell grant total funding is so atypical and varies from year to year so much that the Department shows its total funding both with and without Pell grants.) > > > II. Policy Intelligence and Education News > > · State K-12 education funding is declining in nearly half the country – The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities just released a report <http://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/after-nearly-a-decade-school-investments-still-way-down-in-some-states> estimating that next year, 23 states will provide less general or formula funding for students than they did in 2008, before the recession started. In the 2014 school year (the most recent year with complete data), 35 states provided less state funding per student than in the 2008 school year; state funding covers about 47 percent of K-12 spending. In 27 states, local funding per student fell, compounding the funding decline. The report has some useful charts showing which states have cut funding in total and per student, and details some of the consequences of the funding cuts: fewer teachers, and lack of funding to support needed education reforms. This information buttresses are arguments about the importance of the federal investment in education. > > · ICYMI: Clinton and Trump’s education views - On Oct 13, the Washington Post <x-msg://224/She%20also%20has%20a%20lifetime%2096%20percent%20approval%20rating%20from%20the%20American%20Conservative%20Union.> asked both major presidential candidates questions about their plans for education. The Trump campaign provided only a general statement about his support for school choice. The Clinton campaign provided answers that touched on targeting federal funding to communities that need it the most, ensuring access to pre-school for every 4-year-old (doubling funding for Early Head Start), supporting computer science education, ensuring better and fewer standardized tests, supporting teachers, making college affordable. Clinton’s answers included the following quote in line with CEF’s mission: “there’s no better investment we can make in our future than investing in our children.” > > · New ESSA guidance – On Thursday, the Department of Education released guidance for states and local districts to help with investment in ESSA’s Preschool Development Program. For example, the guidance clarifies that federal dollars can be used to support early childhood teachers’ professional development, health and nutrition services for students in Title I preschool programs, and charter schools that serve preschoolers. Read the guidance here <http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essaelguidance10202016.pdf?>. > > III. Events > > · Annual membership survey – We are starting to plan events and budgets for next year, and ask you to fill to provide us with information about what is most helpful to you, and any areas where we can improve. Please take the brief survey here: CEF Member Survey <https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/65T5KCY> > > · ACG-hosted member lunches - ACG is hosting its next member lunch on Wednesday, October 26, the fourth in a series of biweekly lunches for CEF members for the remainder of the fall. These will serve as a way for me, and the ACG team, to get to know each member more personally and what your specific issues are. Please sign up here: Member Lunches Sign Up <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cef-member-lunches-tickets-27180617960> > > · The Nation’s Report Card: 2015 Science – On October 27 at 10am the National Assessment Governing Board and the National Center for Education Statistics will release will release results of The Nation's Report Card: 2015 Science at the National Air and Space Museum. This report features national and state-level results at grades 4 and 8, with national results at grade 12 from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. For more information or to register to attend, click here <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-nations-report-card-2015-science-results-release-tickets-27782733905>. > > · Save the date: post-election debriefing – Mark your calendars for November 16 for CEF’s post-election “de”briefing on what just happened and what it means. Details on speakers and venue coming soon. > > > My best, > > Sheryl > > > Sheryl V. Cohen, Executive Director > > 1800 M Street, NW > Suite 500 South > Washington, DC 20036 > T: 202-327-8125 > cohen@cef.org <mailto:cohen@cef.org> > www.cef.org <http://www.cef.org/>