NAfME News
Hill Day 2019 Scheduling Webinar Recording is Available!
For those attending Hill Day who missed the May 1 scheduling webinar, or who may need a refresher course in Hill Day logistics and protocol, you can view the recording of the webinar here.
Our Next Hill Day 2019 Webinar on NAfME’s Legislative Agenda is June 5!
Our next and final webinar before Hill Day 2019 will teach you what you need to know about NAfME’s legislative agenda and Hill Day “asks”, including Title IV-A funding under ESSA and the Guarantee Access to Arts and Music Education (GAAME) Act. Click here to register for this webinar.
Title IV-A Coalition supports funding boost to SSAE grant program proposed by House Subcommittee
The recently released Labor-HHS-Education funding bill approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies includes $1.32 billion in funding for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) grant program, authorized under Title IV, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act. The Title IV-A Coalition, a group of education organizations of which NAfME is an active part, stated their gratitude for this increase in a press release.
Federal News
Appropriations Subcommittee Approves Fiscal Year 2020 Labor-HHS-Education Funding Bill
4/30/19- ‘The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies today approved its fiscal year 2020 bill. In total, the bill includes $189.8 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $11.7 billion over the 2019 enacted level and $47.8 billion over the President’s 2020 budget request. The bill next heads to the full Committee for markup.’
Judge to Rule DeVos illegally delayed Obama-era Rules for online colleges
4/26/19- ‘A federal judge says she’s planning to strike down Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ delay of Obama-era regulations for online colleges. The ruling could set the stage for them to take effect as early as next month.’
State News
Districts Swamped by Cost of Hard-Fought Teacher Contracts
4/26/19- ‘Amid the teacher strikes and activism that roiled the nation last fall, school districts in California, Colorado, and Washington signed labor contracts they now say they cannot afford.’
Bill Would Require Third Graders to Meet Reading Benchmarks
4/24/19- ‘Alabama could become the next state to require third graders to pass a reading benchmark before moving to fourth grade, under a bill advanced by a legislative committee Wednesday.’
Bright Futures Standards could rise, hurting students of color- again
4/23/19- ‘In Miami-Dade, 63 percent of black students and 46 percent of Hispanic students who qualify now for the top scholarship would lose eligibility under the proposed changes, compared to 40 percent of white students.’
Florida House votes to expand school voucher programs
4/30/19- ‘The Florida House passed a bill Tuesday that would allow more Florida students to use taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay for private school, expanding school-choice options in a state already at the forefront of that national movement.’
Florida lawmakers approve school-safety bill that allows teachers to be armed
5/1/19- ‘The Florida Legislature is sending a controversial bill to the governor that allows teachers to carry guns on campus, despite protests from educators and students urging them not to put more firearms in schools.’
Bill to dramatically increase school choice in Pennsylvania passes through House committee
4/30/19- ‘Legislation that would nearly double the size of Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program and provide for annual increases whenever the program hits a certain threshold passed the House Education Committee on Monday, a move hailed by those who see the bill as a massive victory for school choice.’
Which States Have the Highest and Lowest Teacher Salaries?
4/30/19- ‘There’s a $40,000 difference between what the average teacher in New York makes, and what the average teacher in Mississippi makes.’
Research & Analysis
Supporting Governors’ Top Education Priorities Through the Arts
4/29/19- ‘Workforce development, teaching quality and early learning are some of the key issues that governors identified in their 2019 State of the State addresses, and the arts in education can play a beneficial role in advancing work in these areas.’
Rankings of the States 2018 and Estimates of School Statistics 2019
4/2019- America’s teachers saw a small bump in teacher pay over the course of a year, the National Education Association said Monday in a new report.
New Data: Who Plays Instruments Outside of School?
5/2/19- ‘Buried deep within student surveys accompanying the 2017 Nation’s Report Card in mathematics is something unexpected: a question about music. You can thank the drafters of those surveys for a supply of information about young people and the arts that has escaped notice until now: state-by-state data on how likely they are to play instruments outside of school.’