Hello everyone, Passing along an excellent update from Sheryl to close out the week. As mentioned the other day, the education community is going to be advocating for an omnibus bill in December; Republicans are going to push for divide it up into “mini-buses,” for the reasons Sheryl notes below. Have a good weekend, Jeff > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Sheryl Cohen <cohen@cef.org> > Subject: CEF Update 9.30.16 > Date: September 30, 2016 at 5:00:50 PM EDT > To: CEFMembersList <CEFMembersList@cef.org> > > > > Friday, September 30, 2016 > > > Dear CEF Members: > > I. From the Hill > > · A Deal on the CR > The Senate and House reached a deal on continuing to fund the government until December 9th on Wednesday, and both chambers have left Washington until after the election. They are scheduled to return on November 14th. One key sticking point for the CR negotiations involved providing funding for the Flint water crisis, which was temporarily resolved by the House Republicans allowing a separate vote on that funding issue on Wednesday. > > · Intelligence from Today’s Friday Meeting > At this morning’s Friday meeting, much of the conversation was focused on potential scenarios likely to come up during the lame duck session. 21st Century Cures negotiations appear to already be under way, and both Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell have indicated that will be a top priority for Congress when they come back after the election. Any additional mandatory funding provided by that legislation could affect the appropriations process for the Labor-HHS bill by eliminating one of the top items Republicans care about in the bill. We will continue to monitor the issue. Stacy Rich, Floor Director for Senator Murray, also stated that the Republican strategy is clearly to pass a series of “mini-buses,” instead of one large omnibus, which would potentially allow smooth passage of Republican priorities like the defense spending bill but leave contentious bills like Labor-HHS unfinished, and possibly rolled into a longer CR. She also stated, however, that Democrats will likely continue to block the passage of any one appropriations package until a larger deal involving all appropriations bills has been agreed to. This strategy will ensure Democratic priorities play an important role in end-of-the-year negotiations. > > · Change of the Guard at House Appropriations Committee next year > It is likely that next year the Republican at the top of the House Appropriations Committee will be Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), as Chairman Hal Rogers is term-limited in that role and announced Wednesday that he will seek to run the Defense Subcommittee next year. Frelinghuysen is a moderate-to-conservative (he got a 46% rating from the American Conservative Union, a 100% from the Chamber of Commerce, and a 21% from the AFL-CIO in 2015) who has represented a wealthy suburb outside New York City since 1995. He currently chairs the Defense Subcommittee and also serves on the Energy-Water and Homeland Security Subcommittees. He is a strong supporter of defense spending. On the education front, he voted for ESSA, and states his support for IDEA, Head Start, Title I, STEM education, and vouchers for school choice, while underscoring that primary responsibility for education lies with parents and local educators. He is the 6th member of his family to represent NJ in Congress and is one of the wealthiest Members due to his Procter and Gamble stocks (his mother was a Procter). > > II. Education Funding > > · Please see the attached two charts put together by CEF Deputy Executive Director Sarah Abernathy; > > · Appropriations Committee Bills Cut Education Department Discretionary Funding - The first chart shows funding for K-12 (including IDEA) and post-secondary education in the full-year funding bills approved by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees this summer. Note that while the House Committee bill cuts Pell grant funding for 2017 by $1.3 billion, the Senate Committee bill rescinds $1.2 billion of previously appropriated Pell grant funding, which does not show up in the 2017 total. On an apples-to-apples comparison, the two bills make virtually the same amount available for student financial aid for 2017. > > · Non-Defense Discretionary Levels - The second chart shows the caps on non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding from 2012 through 2021, when the sequester ends. Intervening legislation raised the caps for 2014 through 2016, but the sequester level returns in 2018, which will result in NDD funding in essence being frozen at the same level for three years in a row (2016-2018). > > · The table shows Department of Education Funding by major account, with several smaller programs aggregated at the bottom (this information for K-12 and for Postsecondary education is displayed in the first chart). Overall, both the House and Senate Committee bills cut education funding: career and adult education funding is frozen at the 2016 level by both bills; the Senate Committee bill cuts K-12 funding below the 2016 level; and both bills make less available for post secondary education. > > III. Upcoming CEF Dates > > · On Friday, October 7th, we will have our customary Friday morning CEF meeting from 9-11am, hosted by NCSDAE at Hall of the States Building, Room 233-235, 444 North Capitol St NW, Washington, DC 20001. The speaker will be Katie Meyer, Policy Advisor for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The first hour of this meeting will be devoted to a discussion with the website developer hired to revamp CEF’s site this fall. This is a great opportunity for members to provide input on what they would like and what they value most for the website. We encourage everyone to attend if possible, but if you can’t make it the call instructions are below. > > Call-in number: 1 (800) 371-9219; Conference ID: 9380459# > > · ACG-hosted Member Lunches > ACG is hosting its next member lunch on Wednesday, October 12, the third 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> > > · If you haven’t filled out our survey about this year’s CEF Gala, please take a minute to do so here <https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3PWB6TJ>. > > · REMINDER: Committee budget proposals are due October 15th! > > · NOMINATIONS: If you are interested, nominations for next year’s board are due by November 28 to CEF, emailed to Alex Hoffberg at Hoffberg@cef.org <mailto:Hoffberg@cef.org>. > > > IV. Events > > · National Principals Month Hill briefing > Attached is a flyer for the National Principals Month October 13 Capitol Hill briefing, titled “Revolutionizing School Leadership Under ESSA,” which will take place from 1:00-2:30pm in B354 Rayburn and will also be livestreamed. Please register by Friday, October 7th. > > NCLD Being You Screening and Panel > The National Center for Learning Disabilities and Understood.org <http://understood.org/> are hosting a screening of Being You <http://www.roadtripnation.com/roadtrip/being-you> on Tuesday, October 18th from 6-8 pm at the National Press Club. Being You <http://www.roadtripnation.com/roadtrip/being-you> is a new documentary that follows three young adults with learning and attention issues as they travel around the country interviewing successful adults with similar issues. They will host a reception at 6 pm, the screening at 6:30 pm, and a Q&A at 7:30 pm. This link <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/understood-presents-being-you-a-roadtrip-nation-screening-tickets-27417642908> has registration information and more details. > > · Thirteenth Annual AERA Brown Lecture in Education Research > The AERA will hold a lecture, with a reception to follow, titled “Public Education and the Social Contract: Restoring the Promise in an Age of Diversity and Division” on October 20th at 6 pm. The event will be at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW. Read more and RSVP here <http://www.aera.net/Events-Meetings/Annual-Brown-Lecture-in-Education-Research>. > > · Center for Law and Social Policy forum > Center for Law and Social Policy will be discussing the connections between criminal justice reform and postsecondary education and training in a public forum, titled “Reconnecting Justice: Pathways to Effective Reentry through Education and Training,” on October 28 from 12 pm to 3 pm at FHI 360, Academy Hall, 1825 Connecticut Ave NW. This link <http://www.clasp.org/issues/postsecondary/pages/reconnecting-justice-pathways-to-effective-reentry-through-education-and-training.> has more information and links to register. > > > 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/>