May 2000 Contents
Senate Debates ESEA
In early May, the Senate began debate on the reauthorization of the
Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, S.2.). Debate and voting have
fallen along
party lines. It is unclear if the Senate will actually pass a
comprehensive
ESEA bill this year or when debate on the bill will conclude. The
Senate has
set aside the bill for now to consider other issues. When it takes up
ESEA again,
debate could continue for several weeks.
Senate Republican leadership has made it clear that the ESEA debate
will continue
only if the parties can reach agreement on which amendments may be
offered on
the Senate floor. This is intended to prevent gun control advocates
from offering
amendments to the bill. Upcoming Senate votes on appropriation bills
could delay
consideration of S. 2 until June.
So far, the Senate has not considered education technology
amendments. Votes
thus far include:
- Senator Tom Daschle’s (D-SD) substitute that would replace
S.2 with
a Democratic alternative. Failed 45–54.
- Senator Joe Lieberman’s (D-CT) ESEA bill, S.2254, The Public
Reinvestment,
Reinvention and Responsibility Act, (“The Three
R’s”), which
would consolidate the federal education programs into five
goal-oriented titles.
The bill combines all current Title III technology-related
categorical grants
into a single technology block grant. Failed 13–84.
- Senator Patty Murray’s (D-WA) amendment to authorize
approximately
$1.8 billion for the third installment of President Clinton’s
plan to
hire 100,000 new teachers. Failed 44–53.
- Sens. Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and Connie Mack’s (R-FL)
amendment to
authorize funds for merit pay, teacher testing, and tenure reform
under Title
II. Passed 54–42.
- Senator Edward Kennedy’s (D-MA) second-degree amendment to
change the
Abraham/Mack amendment to authorize funds for merit pay and bonuses
for teachers
only in schools that have improved student achievement. Failed
43–54.
- Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is expected to offer two education
technology
amendments: 1) authorization for preservice teacher training
program; and
2) to strike education technology from S.2’s block grant
provision.
- Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is also expected to offer an
amendment to
authorize Community Technology Centers.
Education & Workforce Committee Completes H.R. 4141
Markup
On April 13, the House Education and Workforce Committee completed
the markup
of H.R. 4141, The Education Opportunities to Protect and Invest in Our
Nation’s
Students Act (Education Options), which is the final section of the
ESEA considered
by the committee. The committee bill, approved by a 25–21 vote,
eliminates
categorical federal educational technology programs in favor of
flexible local
spending.
The only Title III categorical programs authorized in the bill are
the Ready
to Learn Television and the Telecommunications Demonstration Project
for Mathematics
and Science. Ninety-five percent of the remaining education technology
funds
would go to local education agencies (LEAs), the rest to the states in
the form
of formula grants.
Of those funds, H.R.4141 distributes a maximum of 20% through a
competitive
process—with 80% going to target high-need LEAs. The bill allows
states
to transfer up to 100% of their ESEA funds among ESEA activities,
while LEAs
may transfer up to 35% of their funds without state approval or 100%
with state
approval.
House Education and Workforce Committee Democrats offered a series of
education
technology amendments authorizing new and existing programs, which
were defeated,
including the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund and Community
Technology Centers.
H.R. 4141 is expected to come to the House floor in late May or early
June.
Congress Passes Budget
The House of Representatives passed the FY 2001 Budget Resolution
conference
report on April 12th by a vote of 220–208. The House Budget
Conference
Report contains eight Sense of the Congress, Senate, and House
resolutions relating
to education. These include:
- A Sense of the Congress that 31 federal elementary and secondary
education
programs should be block granted; that local control and
partnerships between
governors, parents, teachers, and principals are essential to
strengthening
public schools; and that the Department of Education, the states,
and LEAs
should cooperate to ensure that at least 95% of funding for
elementary and
secondary programs reaches classrooms.
- A Sense of the Senate that elementary and secondary education
funds should
be spent in accord with S.2, that Impact aid should be increased,
that the
goal of education reform funding should be that every child comes to
school
ready to learn, that training for principals and teachers should be
a priority,
and that tribal colleges should be given priority for funding.
House Subcommittee Increases Ed Tech Appropriations
Bill
On May 10, The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and
Human
Services, and Education finished markup of the FY01 funding levels for
Labor,
Health, and Education programs. The Subcommittee increased overall
education
funding to $37.2 billion for education programs, compared with $35.6
billion
in FY00, including $905 million for education technology programs, an
increase
of $139 million from FY00. The following programs received a spending
increase:
- Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, $92 million increase, total:
$517 million
- Technology Innovation Challenge Fund, $51 million, total: $197.5
million
- Teacher Training in Technology, $10 million, total: $85
million
Most of the other technology programs are funded at the FY00 funding
levels.
The full committee is expected to markup the bill on May 24.
A list of programs and funding levels can be found at www.house.gov/appropriations.
Senate Committee Marks Up Appropriations Bill
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and
Education programs
completed markup of the FY01 spending bills on May 11. Overall, the
Senate Subcommittee
appropriated $40.2 billion for education programs, an increase of $4.6
billion
from FY00. The Subcommittee appropriated $794.5 million for education
technology,
significantly lower than the House’s FY01 bill and the
President’s
request for education technology programs. The following programs
received a
spending increase:
- Teacher Training in Technology, $50 million, total $125
million
- Community Technology Centers, $32.5 million, total $65
million
The Senate froze the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund for FY01 at
$425 million
and cut the Technology Innovation Challenge Fund by $46 million,
appropriating
$100 million for the program.
E-Rate Update
First Four Waves of Year-3 E-Rate Funding
Released
The Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) has mailed the
first
four waves of funding commitment letters for Year 3 and are poised to
release
funding commitment letters for Wave 5. As of May 5, the 11,836 funding
commitments
released totaled $350,757,059. To view the Year 3 data generated thus
far, visit:
www.sl.universalservice.org/funding/y3/default.asp.
Notices will be mailed each week with postings of funded applicants
on the
following Monday at the SLD Web site (www.sl.universalservice.org).
The breakdown of the first four waves is:
- School Districts: 81.47%
- Schools: 9.57%
- Libraries: 4.48%
- Consortia: 4.47%
Last year, 82% of American public schools and over half of the public
libraries
received discounts under the E-rate program, including 53,000 urban
schools
and 25,000 rural schools.
FCC Extends Year 2 Implementation Deadline
Schools and libraries now will have more time to finish
Year
2 projects. On May 5, 2000, SLD announced that the Federal
Communications Commission
(FCC) voted to extend the deadline for using Year 2 E-rate funds until
September
30. The FCC made its decision in response to concerns raised by
schools and
libraries that they would not complete installation of internal
connections
by June 30. The Commission also voted to permit applicants whose
existing contracts
for nonrecurring services expire June 30 to extend those contracts
until September
30, 2000.
Year 2 Payments Lag Behind; Appeal Decisions
Underway
As of April 20, the SLD has authorized $499 million of
the $1.958
billion in commitments made for Year 2, which ends June 30. This means
that
with just a month and a half remaining in the funding year, SLD has
disbursed
only about a quarter of the funds committed. SLD has found that almost
87% of
recipients (representing $433 million of the $499 million disbursed)
have not
filed the Year 2 Form 486. No reimbursements or discounts can be paid
unless
the applicant has filed this form!
Also, as of April 18, the SLD had issued 1,187 decision letters
responding
to appeals, with plans to respond to the remaining 1,112 by end of
May. The
SLD will begin committing the funds set aside to provide for any
meritorious
appeals in May.
COPPA Now the Rule in Schools; FTC Opens Kids Privacy Web Page
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) went into
effect
April 21, making it illegal for commercial Web sites to knowingly
collect any
personal information from children under 13 years old without prior
parental
consent. The COPPA rule only applies to all operators of commercial
Web sites
and online services either directed at children 12 and younger or to
operators
of general audience sites who know that they are collecting
information from
children 12 or younger. Operators of such sites must:
- provide parents notice of their information practices;
- obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting a
child’s personal
information, with certain limited exceptions;
- give parents a choice as to whether their child’s information
will
be disclosed to third parties;
- provide parents access to their child’s personal information
and allow
them to review it and/or have it deleted;
- give parents the opportunity to prevent further use or collection
of information;
- not require a child to provide more information than is reasonably
necessary
to participate in an activity; and
- maintain the confidentiality, security, and integrity of
information collected
from children.
The Federal Trade Commission is expected to issue clarifications on
how COPPA
should be implemented in schools. In the meantime, for more
information, visit
the FTC’s “Kids Privacy” Web page (www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/index.html),
which includes information for businesses, parents, and children,
including
Internet safety tips for children. The FTC is encouraging those
interested in
children’s online privacy to provide a link to the Web page.
Visit www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.htm
for more information on the COPPA implementation rule.
Ehlers Introduces Trio of Education Technology Initiatives
Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) introduced a package of bills in April to expand
and promote programs relating to science, mathematics, engineering, and technology
education SMET:
- H.R.4271, National Science Education Act
- H.R.4272, National Science Education Enhancement Act
- H.R.4373, National Science Education Incentive Act of 2000.
The National Science Education Act (H.R. 4271) would create several
programs
in the National Science Foundation (NSF), including a demonstration
project
to help LEAs develop information technology programs that build or
expand mathematics,
science, and information technology curricula; a Master Teacher Grant
Program;
and a teacher technology professional development program.
The National Science Education Enhancement Act (H.R. 4272) would
allow LEAs
to use ESEA funds for mentoring activities for science, mathematics,
engineering,
and technology teachers. It would also expand the Eisenhower National
Clearinghouse
to solicit and gather all qualitative and evaluative materials and
create a
Summer Professional Development Institute for elementary and secondary
school
teachers. The bill would mandate at least 5% of after-school day care
programs
funds are spent on programs that focus on science activities.
The National Science Education Incentive Act of 2000 (H.R. 4373)
would provide
a tax credit for up to 10% of qualified undergraduate tuition paid by
an individual
up to $1,000 per fiscal year for only 10 years for teachers who teach
primarily
math, science, engineering, or technology courses.
NCES Releases Two Ed Tech Studies
The National Center for Education Standards (NCES) released two
studies in
May. The first study, Teacher Use of Computers and the Internet in
Public
Schools (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000090)
examines how public school teachers currently use computers and the
Internet
in their classrooms and how prepared they feel regarding integrating
the technology
into their curriculum.
The second study, Trends in Education Equity for Girls and
Women (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000030),
examines gender equity in access to educational opportunities by using
a series
of indicators. The study contains information on the gender
achievement gap
in science and math, and includes the finding that the gender gap in
science
and math at age 17 has narrowed.
Prepared by Leslie Harris, Jee Hang Lee, and Ghani Raines
On behalf of the International Society for Technology in Education.
|
