Latest from CEF. I’ll be at the McConnell and Clyburn meetings. Anyone here from Clyburn’s district in SC? Regarding the second bullet under “Advocacy” below, I’m not sure staff are going to buy the argument that “fair” = “proportional” so it will be interesting to see what reaction we get to that. Note that the Labor-HHS-Education bill includes more than just education funding — I suspect that if you pulled education out, we’d find that it has received a disproportionately smaller increase than other parts of that bill, such as health, so the story is probably even worse for education. Jeff > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Sheryl Cohen <cohen@cef.org> > Subject: CEF Update 10.31.16 > Date: October 31, 2016 at 11:18:51 AM CDT > To: CEFMembersList <CEFMembersList@cef.org> > > > > Monday, October 31, 2016 > > > Dear CEF Members: > > I. Advocacy > > · More Hill visits - We have more meetings with House and Senate Leadership and Appropriations Committee staffers. As of now, we have meetings scheduled this week with the following: > 1. Fitzhugh Elder, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Senate Appropriations Committee under Senator Cochran; > 2. Katelyn Conner with Senate Majority Leader McConnell; and > 3. Ashli Palmer with House Assistant Democratic Leader Clyburn. > > · Labor-HHS-Education funding has been shortchanged – We hear that “conference” allocations for the remaining 11 appropriations bills have been set, but one of the points we are making is that the Labor-HHS-Education bill did not received its proportional share of funding increases when the non-defense discretionary caps were raised for 2016 and 2017. In our Hill meetings we have heard from Republican staffers that the allocations for the various bills have been fair, but the data in the attached chart from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities <http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/2016-appropriations-placed-low-priority-on-low-income-programs-better> shows that is not true. The allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education bill increased only 3.6% from 2015 to 2016 (the caps for 2016 and 2017 were raised by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015), while allocations for 7 other non-defense bills rose by significantly higher percentages. Only two subcommittees – Legislative Branch and Homeland Security – received smaller proportional increase. > > II. Policy Intelligence and Education News > > · Rumors on possible choices for next Education Secretary – There have been rumors that if Hillary Clinton is elected President, the next Secretary of Education could come from higher education rather than the elementary and secondary world, which is the background of all past Secretaries. One possibilty being mentioned is Nancy Zimpher, who next year is retiring as chancellor of the State University of New York, the country’s largest public university system. Zimpher’s views support CEF’s focus on investing in the whole continuum of education, from pre-school through higher education, from cradle to career. “I don't think it will be any better to have someone with a higher education background if they can't see the relationship to K-12 than it would be to have someone from K-12 if they can't see the relationship to higher education," Zimpher has said <http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2016/10/supreme-court-hears-arguments-in-special-education-case-217134>. > > · “Race to the Top” evaluation shows uncertain impact – Last week the Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences released a long report <http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20174001/pdf/20174001.pdf> examining the student achievement impacts of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top (RTT) grants funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The report examined whether grantee states used policies promoted by RTT in six areas focusing on data, student achievement, teacher development, school improvement, and support for charter schools. The relationship between RTT and student outcomes was not clear; findings show RTT grantees used more promoted policies in some areas than others, but states differed before and after receiving the grants so there may have been other influences. The report cautions that its conclusions are based on states’ self-reported use of policies. This is the final report in a series of three. > > · Student loan changes – The Department of Education last week announced final regulations <http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/files/2016/10/BD-Summary-of-Provisions_Embargoed.pdf> to help defrauded student loan borrowers cancel their debt. Among other provisions, the defense-to-payment rules allow loan forgiveness to whole groups of students where a school is in breach of promise to students (for example, when a school suddenly closes) or where the school substantially mispresents its programs and employability of graduates. More than 82,000 students have filed debt relief claims recently, the vast majority from the now-closed Corinthian Colleges. > > · On October 26, the Department of Education also announced <http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-requirements-new-federal-loan-servicing-system> requirements for a new loan servicing system that will provide a single portal for borrowers to access information, make payments on student loans, and manage their account. The goal is to enhance oversight of vendors, increase efficiency, and improve communication with borrowers. This stems from the Obama Administration’s 2015 “Student Aid Bill of Rights” aimed at helping borrowers afford their loan payments and recommending changes to the current system. > > · Pell grant eligibility extended for students whose school closes – The Department of Education stated <http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ED%20response%20to%20Senator%20Murray.pdf> on October 28 that it does have the legal authority to extend eligibility for students to receive Pell grants for additional semesters (as of 2012, students can only receive Pell grants for 12 full-time semesters) to the more than 50,000 students enrolled at Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute when they closed down. The ruling will cover students who were unable to complete their program when a school closes down. > > > III. Events > > · Annual membership survey – As part of our process for planning events and budgets for next year, we’d like your feedback about what is most helpful to you about CEF and our activities, 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 – We have had great turnout and conversations at the four lunches ACG has hosted during our series of biweekly lunches for CEF members. These are a fun way for me and the ACG team to get to know each member more personally and what your specific issues are. The next lunch is Wednesday, November 9. You can sign up for it or later dates here: Member Lunches Sign Up <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cef-member-lunches-tickets-27180617960> > > · Save the date: post-election debriefing – Mark your calendars for November 16 for CEF’s post-election “debriefing” 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/> >