SETDA is excited to share that Mary Ann Wolf testified on Capitol Hill during The National Mathematics Advisory Panel Report: “Foundations for Success" Hearing on Wednesday, May 21st at 10 am ET.Click here to view Mary Ann's submitted written testimony. Click here to view Mary Ann Wolf's testimony before the House Education & Labor Committee.
SETDA Introduces the Class of 2020: Action Plan for Education Transforming Education is the Hope for America's Future Rationale: To create a succinct vision paper addressing technology’s transformative role in education that speaks to Presidential Campaigns, members of the new administration, USDOE officials, education staffers on Capitol Hill to inform future policy and legislation relating to ESEA reauthorization, economic policies concerning workforce development and our nation’s success in a Global Economy. Click here to learn more about this project.
President Zeros out EETT As you may have heard, the President once again zeroed out EETT in the proposed 2009 budget. In response to the elimination of EETT, SETDA sent a joint press release along with ISTE and CoSN on Monday. For additional information regarding the budget cuts please visit eSchoolnewsand the THE Journal. This is an important time for all of us to reach out to the folks on Capitol Hill and share with them the importance of EETT in your state. This year, in particular, presents a great opportunity to invite your Representatives and Senators to visit schools in your state. EVERY Representative and many Senators are up for re-election this year; and with the Presidential race, all members of Congress will be spending a lot of time in their home states and districts.
EETT Funded at $267 Million in Omnibus Appropriations Bill On December 19th, 2007, the House and Senate passed an Omnibus appropriations bill that will go to the President for his signature. This bill did include a 1.747% cut of all educational programs across the board, and several programs were eliminated, including Title V. Funding for EETT is $267 million. Although this is a decrease; SETDA is pleased that EETT was included, and that our decrease was only the result of the across the board cuts. Thank you to each of you for your efforts in sharing why this program is critical for students.
Appropriations October 23, 2007 On October 23, the Senate voted 75 to 19 to approve the FY08 Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations bill, which is eight votes more than necessary to override an expected veto. And six Senators were not even present so the vote could have been even higher. This bill now will be conferenced with the House version; and the conference report will be voted on, likely in the next two weeks, by both Houses of Congress. The House fell 14 votes short of a veto proof majority when it passed its version this summer, but this strong Senate vote, coupled with Congressionl dismay with the Administration's pushing for even more money for Iraq, may set the stage for vote changes in the House on a possible veto override vote. EETT received $272 million in both the House and Senate versions of the bill. We will let you know if any immediate outreach is needed after the conference. It seems that the same funding levels in both the House and the Senate should be helpful, and this is certainly a better position than last year when we had a 0 in the House version of the bill. Additionally, if they decide to operate on a Continuing Resolution, they typically use last year’s numbers, which is also $272 million.
ATTAIN Updates Reauthorization Update October 29, 2007 On October 16, the Senate shared its draft for NCLB reauthorization. This draft included the ATTAIN Act exactly as introduced in the Senate by Senators Bingaman (D-NM), Burr (R-NC), and Murray (D-WA) as Title II, Part D. While we were very pleased for the program targeted towards educational technology funds and the key components of the systemic reform and on-going and sustainable professional development, the House did remove a few specific recommendations from the ATTAIN Act. The Senate bill, however, includes ALL of the key pieces from the original version of the bill, including 5% or $100,000 for state administration, 2.5% or 50,000 for research at the state level, $3,000 minimum for district formula grants, technology literacy requirements, and 40% for professional development. More than 40 SETDA member states provided input on this legislation throughout the process and this certainly emphasizes the potential of influencing policy with high quality data and models that make a difference for students.
In terms of next steps, SETDA will review the entire NCLB discussion draft in great detail and provide comments to the HELP Committee, similar to the House Ed & Workforce Committee. The House plans to introduce an actual bill, taking into account the input received on the discussion draft, in the next couple of weeks (maybe sooner). The Senate will revise its draft based upon feedback received, as well, prior to introducing a bill. Ideally, we will see both the House and the Senate move quickly and get to the point where the two key committees will conference to come up with the final version. We know that several steps must still occur, but we are certainly in a good position for making educational technology an important part of the overall NCLB draft.
If you have a Senator on the HELP Committee, please write to them today (and have districts, schools, and your family and friends write to them) to say thank you for including this important legislation. The Committee members include:
Edward Kennedy (MA) Christopher Dodd (CT) Tom Harkin (IA) Barbara A. Mikulski (MD) Jeff Bingaman (NM) Patty Murray (WA) Jack Reed (RI) Hillary Rodham Clinton(NY) Barack Obama (IL) Bernard Sanders (I) (VT) Sherrod Brown (OH) Michael B. Enzi (WY) Judd Gregg (NH) Lamar Alexander (TN) Richard Burr (NC) Johnny Isakson (GA) Lisa Murkowski (AK) Orrin G. Hatch (UT) Pat Roberts (KS) Wayne Allard (CO) Tom Coburn, M.D. (OK)
If you have established a relationship with a Senator’s office that is not on this Committee, please drop them a quick note as well. You never know when extra support will be needed! Senate includes ATTAIN October 17, 2007 SETDA is thrilled to announce that the ATTAIN Act is included as Title II, Part D in the Senate’s just released discussion draft for NCLB Reauthorization. This is an important step in the progress towards reauthorization. As you know, the House included the ATTAIN Act as Title II, Part F in their discussion draft. The House did remove a few specific recommendations from the ATTAIN Act. The Senate bill, however, includes ALL of the key pieces from the original version of the bill, including 5% or $100,000 for state administration, 2.5% or 50,000 for research at the state level, $3,000 minimum for district formula grants, technology literacy requirements, and 40% for professional development. View the complete draft here of Title II at. The ATTAIN Act begins on page 43.
Federal Testimony September 10, 2007 Frances Bradburn from NC has been invited to testify during the House ESEA Reauthorization Hearing on Monday, September 10th. Frances was selected based upon synergies with the ATTAIN Act. Click here to view Frances' written testimony for the hearing. The webcast is available at http://edlabor.house.gov/committee/schedule.shtml (click on live webcast on the right side) and Frances’ panel is scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm Eastern time. This will be the second SETDA member to testify this summer, as Lan Neugent from VA presented on Internet Safety in the Senate in July.
ATTAIN Bill Announced August 3, 2007 SETDA is pleased to announce that the ATTAIN – Achievement Through Technology And Innovation was introduced in the Senate late on August 3rd 2007. Senators Bingaman (D-NM), Burr (R-NC), and Murray (D-WA) co-sponsored the bill. Building upon EETT and data from several research studies, the bill focuses on the integral role of educational technology in systemic school redesign and professional development for core curricular areas.
Senate Version of the ATTAIN Bill House ATTAIN Bill May 23, 2007 ATTAIN – Achievement Through Technology And Innovation – was introduced on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 in the House of Representatives by Representatives Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Hinojosa (D-TX), and Biggert (R-IL). This is the legislation developed to replace EETT in the reauthorization of NCLB by SETDA, ISTE, CoSN, and SIIA with input from all of you. This legislation builds upon the best of EETT and narrows the focus around ed tech programs based upon evidence learned in the past several years with the intent of having a stronger program.
