Elementary and Secondary Education

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democratic lawmakers announced today they will introduce critical legislation to address the high school dropout crisis, which poses a growing threat to the nation’s economic stability and global competitiveness. Nearly one-third of all high school students do not to graduate every year, costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars in lost revenue. 

Strengthening Our Schools, Our Community and Our Future Competitiveness

The high school dropout crisis poses one of the greatest threats to our nation’s economic growth and competitiveness. Each day 7,000 U.S. students drop out of high school. More than half of all students who drop out are from the so-called “dropout factories” – the 2,000 high schools with dropout rates above 40 percent. Many of these students come from a struggling middle school. President Obama has challenged Congress and the American people to take action by asking every American to commit to at least one year of higher education or training. This will require addressing our nation’s dropout crisis and dramatically improving graduation rates.

The Graduation for All Act (H.R. 4122) will make a down-payment on our future competitiveness by helping our lowest-performing middle and high schools improve student achievement, increase graduation rates, and promote college enrollment. Specifically, the legislation would:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Many states have lowered the bar on what their students are expected to learn -- meaning that fewer children are being held to expectations that will adequately prepare them for a competitive economy, according to a new report released today.

On Thursday, October 8, the House Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities held a hearing to examine innovative strategies to ensure children have access to healthy, nutritious and safe school meals.

Today, the House is expected to vote on the Agriculture Appropriations Conference Report which includes temporary extensions of expiring provisions of the laws governing the child nutrition programs resulting in a cost savings of $150 million. These savings will be reinvested to meet critical child nutrition needs across the country to ensure more children have year-round access to healthy and nutritious meals at school, in child care settings, and during the summer months.

Ensuring More Children Have Access to Healthy and Nutritious Meals

ENSURING IMPROVED ACCESS AND QUALITY OF MEALS FOR ALL CHILDREN

Children should not have to go hungry – and they should have access to nutritious foods that will help them thrive physically and academically. In this difficult economic climate, the federal child nutrition programs have an increasingly important role to play in providing children with healthy meals while at school, childcare, or during the summer months. Over 32 million children each year are served by these programs. For many children, these meals may be the only healthy foods they receive during the day.

Research shows that children who are hungry have a harder time paying attention and learning in the classroom. Low-income children are also at greater risk of going hungry or becoming overweight, during the summer months. Providing children with access to healthier, nutritious foods at school, child care, summer programs, or other educational settings is vital to our efforts to help all children learn, succeed and grow.

To ensure that children can continue to benefit from these programs and services, Congress will temporarily extend expiring provisions of the Child Nutrition Act until a more comprehensive reauthorization of the law occurs next year. This one-year temporary extension will generate a savings of $150 million, which will be reinvested to meet critical child nutrition needs across the country. These new investments will address President Obama’s and Congress’ priorities to end hunger and improve child nutrition, increase access to quality school meals, and build program capacity.

On Thursday, October 9, 2009, the House Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities held a hearing to examine innovative strategies to ensure children have access to healthy, nutritious and safe school meals.

Visit the hearing page for the full list of witnesses.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Students at schools with the highest concentration of poor and minority students do not have equal access to effective teachers as their peers in more affluent school districts, education experts, including teachers, told the House Education and Labor Committee today. Teachers are the most important factor in determining the success of students, yet low-income and minority students are more likely to be taught by less experienced, less qualified teachers than their peers in wealthier communities.

“There’s no question that a great teacher is the key ingredient in a child’s education. It is no longer acceptable to allow our poorest children, who need effective teachers the most, to suffer in a system that is not helping them to achieve,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. “A young person entering the teaching workplace today wants it to look like their friends’ workplace, but don’t receive the same level of structure, support, or professional development opportunities offered in other industries. This is about being on the right side of history, about changing the teaching workplace to help every student and every teacher excel.”

On Wednesday, September 30, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing to examine the progress states and schools districts have made toward ensuring that every child is taught by an effective teacher. Current law requires states to make sure teacher talent is distributed fairly in school districts, so that all children – including poor and minority children – have access to outstanding teachers. Several of the witnesses are former teachers.

The Obama administration has already taken steps toward improving teacher equity. In order to be eligible for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, states are required to take steps to place effective teachers in the classrooms that need them most.

Today, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing to examine the progress states and schools districts have made toward ensuring that every child is taught by an effective teacher. Current law requires states to make sure teacher talent is distributed fairly in school districts, so that all children – including poor and minority children – have access to outstanding teachers.

The Obama administration has already taken steps toward improving teacher equity. In order to be eligible for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, states are required to take steps to place effective teachers in the classrooms that need them most.

The hearing page has a complete list of all witnesses.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, today issued the following statement after U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan convened a meeting of stakeholders and education advocates to discuss education reform and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Duncan has visited schools in over 30 states as part of his “Listening and Learning” Tour, which Secretary Duncan launched in May to seek input from stakeholders, teacher and parents on President Obama’s education agenda.

 

Today's front page story in the USA Today about a recent GAO audit is recommended reading. The audit is in response to an investigation request by U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), and U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-CA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY).

The USA Today says:

Federal agencies that supply food for 31 million schoolchildren fail to ensure that tainted products are pulled quickly from cafeterias, a federal audit obtained by USA TODAY finds.

The delays raise the risk of children being sickened by contaminated food, according to the audit by Congress' Government Accountability Office.

In recent recalls, including one this year in which salmonella-infected peanut butter sickened almost 700 people, the government failed to disseminate "timely and complete notification about suspect food products provided to schools through the federal commodities program," the audit says.

Such alerts sometimes took more than a week to reach schools, "during which time (schools) unknowingly served affected products."

Chairman Miller said, “Ensuring that all children have access to healthy and nutritious meals during the school day is vital to our efforts to help all children learn and succeed. Every possible effort must be made to make sure that the foods served to our schoolchildren are safe to eat. As we work toward reauthorizing the school meal programs, it is clear that further actions must be taken to strengthen the communications, planning and procedures needed to prevent recalled or contaminated foods from entering our cafeterias.”

We recommend you read the entire USA Today article, Democratic lawmakers' statements, and the GAO report.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To ensure that foods served to children in the nation’s schools are safe, the federal agencies that oversee school meals and food safety must work more collaboratively and establish better communications procedures, according to a government report released today by Congressional Democrats.

Chairman Miller appeared on Bloomberg TV to talk about House passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act by a bipartisan vote of 253 to 171. He highlighted how the bill:

• Invests the bill’s savings in making college affordable and helping more Americans graduate
• Provides reliable, affordable, high-quality Federal student loans for all families
• Prepares students and workers for 21st century jobs by providing all Americans with the skills and resources they need to compete
• Promotes early learning standards reform to ensure the next generation of children enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed in school
  
• Meets Pay-As-You-Go fiscally responsible principles and reduces the deficit  

Today Gail Collins in the New York Times writes an editorial about how the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act makes sense and is needed for today's American students:

Let us stop here and recall how the current loan system works:

1) Federal government provides private banks with capital.

2) Federal government pays private banks a subsidy to lend that capital to students.

3) Federal government guarantees said loans so the banks don’t have any risk.

And now, the proposed reform:

1) The federal government makes the loans.

....

If it all works out, Congress will have come a way toward fixing this problem, at least when it comes to federally financed student loans. There’s already a new law that forgives part or all of the debt for graduates who go into careers in public service. Terms will be easier for low-income debtors.

The House will vote on the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act today. Stay tuned to our Twitter feed for updates on the debate and the vote.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today released the following statement after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger requested a special session of the California legislature to ensure California will be eligible to receive ‘Race to the Top’ grants. The unprecedented $4.35 billion competitive grant program, included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will incentivize states to make progress in key areas of education reform.

"This is an important step forward to push for real reform for every child in California and, if done correctly, to provide more transparency that will end the educational inequities and improve classrooms all across the state. It's time to ensure that all of California's students have access to the world-class education they need to grow, thrive and succeed.”

For more information on ‘Race to the Top’ funding, click here.
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Late last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to state school chiefs asking them to formally submit their policies on seclusion and restraint in schools, as part of larger efforts to prevent abusive uses of these practices in the nation’s classrooms.

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office, conducted at the request of U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, uncovered hundreds of allegations of abusive uses of seclusion and restraint practices on schoolchildren over the past two decades. In several of those cases, this abuse resulted in the death of a child.
 

Parade Magazine will run a story in tomorrow's print edition (available online now) highlighting the use and abuse of seclusion and restraint techniques in schools. Parade reports:

Across the country each year, thousands of schoolchildren—especially disabled ones—are restrained or isolated for misbehaving. The Government Accountability Office reported more than 33,000 incidents of restraint or seclusion last year at schools in Texas and California, two of only six states that track such data. Nineteen states have no regulations at all regarding the use of restraint and seclusion in schools.

The Committee held a hearing in May on the findings of the GAO report and to hear testimony from parents of children that had been abused through the use of restraint techniques. The hearing generated considerable press coverage and Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, pledged to asking all state school chiefs to submit their plans for using seclusion, restraint and other practices for physical intervention in their schools.

“Children’s safety has to be our number one concern before we begin to think about educating them and doing other things,” said Duncan. “And as we go into the summer and prepare for next school year I want to make sure that as we go into next school year that every state has a real clear plan as to how to do this in a way that makes sense. And doesn’t jeopardize, doesn’t endanger children.”

And again Parade says:

George Miller (D., Calif.) is working on a new set of rules that could limit the use of restraint and seclusion, provide funding to train school staff, and require communication with parents if extreme disciplinary measures are used. Says Miller: “We’re meeting with the Obama Administration and education experts about a federal action to keep kids safe and stop horrific abuses from going unchecked.”

We encourage you to read the entire Parade article and watch Chairman Miller 's recent interview on CNN about this topic.

Chairman George Miller was on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer last night discussing the use and abuse of seclusion and restraint techniques in schools. On May 19, 2009, the Committee held a hearing examining the abusive and deadly use of seclusion and restraint in schools. In response to the GAO report delivered at that hearing, Chairman Miller said, “The GAO’s report shows that in too many cases, a child’s life wound up being threatened even though that child was not a threat to others. This behavior, in some instances, looks like torture. The current situation is unacceptable and cannot continue.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Legislation that will make college dramatically more affordable for millions of Americans, at no new cost to taxpayers, was approved today by the House Education and Labor Committee by a bipartisan vote of 30 to 17. The full House of Representatives will vote on the bill next.

The legislation, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, will generate almost $100 billion in savings over the next ten years that will be used to boost Pell Grant scholarships, keep interest rates on federal loans affordable, create a more reliable and effective financial aid system for families, and enact President Obama’s key education priorities.
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement on a new report released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): Achievement Gaps: How Black and White Students in Public Schools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The report provides a comprehensive look at progress in closing the achievement gap between black and white students.

Representative McCarthy was on CNN this morning talking about yesterday's hearing regarding Strengthening School Safety through Prevention of Bullying. After you are done watching the interview, check out the photos, videos and some statements from Representatives and witnesses.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – More needs to be done to prevent violence and harassment in schools, witnesses told Congress at a joint hearing held by the House Healthy Families and Communities and Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittees. Witnesses today discussed various methods to improve school safety, including better data and reporting, student run programs, and training for faculty and staff.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, July 8, the House Subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Healthy Families and Communities will hold a joint hearing to examine strategies for improving school safety, including ways to prevent violence, bullying and harassment. Recent studies show students are more likely to succeed academically and graduate when learning environments are free from harassment and violence.

The Wall Street Journal ran an article this morning to draw attention to the abusive use of seclusion and restraint within schools. These abuses were brought to national attention during a hearing by the Education and Labor Committee.

In Washington, the effort to limit the use of such techniques is being championed by Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor. In January, the California Democrat called for the GAO review, and last month his committee held hearings. What was discovered, he said in an interview, is a system "in which children are unnecessarily dying and being harmed."

In testimony before Congress in May, Education Secretary Arne Duncan called such findings "disturbing" and said he is instructing chief school officers in all 50 states to detail their plans for keeping students safe.

...

The scope of any possible federal law is still uncertain. Mr. Miller and others involved in the discussions say they would like it to be crafted so that states are primarily responsible for developing and enforcing policies.

We encourage you to watch the video testimony and to read the entire Wall Street Journal article.

On Wednesday, July 8, the House Subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Healthy Families and Communities will hold a joint hearing to examine strategies for improving school safety, including ways to prevent violence, bullying and harassment. Recent studies show students are more likely to succeed academically and graduate when learning environments are free from harassment and violence.

WHAT:         
Subcommittee Hearing on “Strengthening School Safety through Prevention of Bullying”
 
WHO:            
Witnesses TBA

WHEN:          
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
10:00 a.m. EDT
Please check the Committee schedule for potential updates »

WHERE:       
House Education and Labor Committee Hearing Room
2175 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.
 

The House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on Tuesday, June 16 to examine how technology and innovative education tools are transforming and improving education in America.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed the first federal legislation to keep students safe while on school-sponsored overnight field trips.

Under current laws, there are no requirements for schools to have safety plans in place when students attend off-campus, overnight trips. The legislation, Phylicia’s Law (H.R. 729), authored by U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), would rectify this. It would require school districts receiving federal funds through the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program to develop a school safety policy for off-campus, overnight field trips and make those policies publicly available. The bill is named after Phylicia Moore, an 18-year-old high school student from New Jersey who tragically died while on a school field trip to Ghana.

The USA Today ran a story yesterday about the increasing demand for school lunches during this economic downturn.

Nearly 20 million children now receive free or reduced-price lunches in the nation's schools, an all-time high, federal data show, and many school districts are struggling to cover their share of the meals' rising costs.

Through February, nationwide enrollment in free school lunch programs was up 6.3% over the same time last year, to 16.5 million students, based on data from the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which subsidizes the programs. Participation in reduced-price lunch programs rose to 3.2 million students, the data show.

...

Preliminary school lunch data for March suggest that February's record demand may be dipping slightly. Still, Congress should give "serious consideration" to boosting the federal subsidy during the reauthorization this fall of the Child Nutrition Act, says Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee. "For millions of children, this is the nutritional safety net."

This increased demand and other issues related to child nutrition were raised at the hearing regarding improving child nutrition programs to reduce childhood obesity on May 14, 2009.

The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, June 16 to examine how technology and innovative education tools are transforming and improving education in America.

WHAT:          
Hearing on “The Future of Learning: How Technology is Transforming Public Schools”

WHO:            
Witnesses TBA

WHEN:         
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
10:00 a.m., EDT
Please check the Committee schedule for potential updates »
                        
WHERE:       
House Education and Labor Committee Hearing Room
2175 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Access the webcast when the hearing begins at 10:00 am EDT »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress should find a way to replicate and support the successes of outstanding charter schools as it works to improve our public schools, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today.

Some of the most promising and influential public school reform strategies in recent years have been pioneered by the charter movement, including extending learning time, principal autonomy over staff and budget decisions, high expectations for all students, using data-driven research and focusing relentlessly on results.
 

The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, June 4 to examine how supporting outstanding charter schools can help build an innovative, world-class American school system that educates all students to high levels.

President Obama has repeatedly called on states to lift restrictions that limit the growth of successful charter schools and encourage rigorous accountability of them.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today after the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers announced that 49 states and territories have joined an effort to develop a set of common academic standards for K-12 students. 

The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, June 4 to examine how supporting outstanding charter schools can help build an innovative, world-class American school system that educates all students to high levels.

President Obama has repeatedly called on states to lift restrictions that limit the growth of successful charter schools and encourage rigorous accountability of them.

WHAT:          
Hearing on "Building on What Works at Charter Schools”

WHO:            
Steve Barr, founder and chairman of the board, Green Dot Public Schools, Los Angeles, CA
David Dunn, director, Texas Charter School Association, Austin, TX
Jim Goenner, board chair, National Association of Charter School Authorizers and lead authorizer at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI
John King, managing director, Excellence Preparatory Network, Uncommon Schools, New York, NY
Barbara O’Brien, Lt. Governor, Colorado
Jim Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education        
                                                                      
WHEN:         
Thursday, June 4, 2009
10:00 a.m, EDT
Please check the Committee schedule for potential updates »
                       
WHERE:       
House Education and Labor Committee Hearing Room
2175 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) today issued the following the statement following Governor Schwarzenegger’s recent call to expand learning opportunities for California’s high school students by providing them with free digital textbooks. The textbooks will be aligned with a rigorous core of standards.

“Governor Schwarzenegger has taken a historic step to help prepare California’s high school students to compete in a global, 21st century economy. Research shows that technology-friendly classrooms help teachers teach more effectively and boost student learning. By requiring these digital textbooks to be aligned with California’s high standards, he is raising the bar for students. I hope other states will follow California’s lead and incorporate digital textbooks into their schools, so that all students in this country can benefit from innovative and effective learning tools. As California grapples with this budget crisis, I hope Governor Schwarzenegger will make the education of our students a top priority.”

For more information on the Governor’s initiative, click here.

The committee's hearing about the GAO report regarding the use of seclusion and restraint generated a lot of television coverage. Please take the time to watch the videos below:

The Las Vegas Sun wrote an editorial over the weekend about the committee's hearing regarding the GAO report about seclusion and restraint techniques used in schools. After recounting some of the horrendous accounts of abuse, the Sun said this:

This is outrageous. Federal law allows workers in hospitals and treatment centers to restrain children only in emergencies, but the law leaves it up to the states to set policies regarding schools. State laws differ greatly. Many states allow teachers to severely restrain disabled children for little reason. To its credit, Nevada does not. The state outlaws the use of restraints on disabled children except where absolutely necessary and requires that school employees who work with disabled students receive training on “positive behavioral intervention.”

The disparity between states and the harshness of some of the restraint techniques has caught the attention of Congress. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said the result is that many students “are abused under the guise of punishment.”

Miller has called for legislation to outlaw schools from restraining or secluding students except in emergencies. Congress should act on that before any more students are hurt.

Michigan News also ran a similar editorial today. In it, they mentioned the Secretary Duncan's commitment to evaluate state guidelines, ensuring sensible policies are in place next school year. The Michigan News said:

Confining and restraining a student should be the last resort in every classroom. Training must be a critical part of any state policy. School should be a safe place for students and faculty.

We encourage you to read the Las Vegas Sun and the Michigan News editorials in their entirety.

To learn more about seclusion and restraint, click here.

On Tuesday, May 19, the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing to examine abusive and deadly uses of seclusion and restraint in U.S. schools. Seclusion and restraint are physical interventions used by teachers and other school staff to prevent students from hurting themselves or others

On the front page of the USA today, Greg Toppo writes an excellent article about how restraint can dispirit and hurt special-ed students. In it, Mr. Toppo writes:

His case is one of 10 to be highlighted today during a hearing on Capitol Hill over the use of restraint and seclusion in the USA's public and private schools — techniques often used to control children with disabilities.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, also out today, finds "widespread" allegations of abuse involving the practices in schools — even when students aren't physically aggressive or dangerous to themselves or others.

Investigators say they uncovered hundreds of allegations of abuse involving restraint or seclusion at public and private schools nationwide between 1990 and 2009.

Today the committee will have a hearing examining the abusive and deadly use of seclusion and restraint in schools at 10 am ET.

Additional stories about this subject can be found at NPR, CBS, and CNN. All are worth your time.
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to modernize, upgrade, and green America’s schools by a vote of 275 to 155.

The 21st Century Green High Performing Public School Facilities Act, (H.R. 2187), invests billions of dollars in school repair and renovation projects that would create safer, healthier, and more energy-efficient learning environments for students. The legislation makes schools part of the effort to revive the U.S. economy and fight global warming by creating clean energy jobs that will help put workers in hard-hit industries back to work. The bill also makes investments in Gulf Coast schools as they continue to rebuild following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and schools in other areas recovering from natural disasters.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. high school dropout crisis poses one of the greatest threats to the nation’s economic growth and competitiveness and must be addressed, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today. Witnesses urged Congress to explore legislative solutions as quickly as possible.

On Tuesday, May 12, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing to examine how policies for addressing the high school dropout crisis and improving graduation rates can strengthen America’s economic competitiveness.

Nationally, only 70 percent of students graduate from high school with a regular high school diploma. Approximately 10 percent of high schools in this country produce close to half of these dropouts. In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama called on lawmakers to address the dropout crisis.

In Saturday's New York Times, they have an editorial entitled: The Dropout Crisis. In it, the editorial board noted that:

The soaring dropout rate is causing the United States to lose ground educationally to rivals abroad and is trapping millions of young Americans at the very margins of the economy.

Nationally, only 70 percent of students graduate from high school with a regular high school diploma. Approximately 10 percent of high schools in this country produce close to half of these dropouts. As the NY Times continues:

Many of this country’s large urban high schools are rightly called “dropout factories” because more students leave school than graduate....The dropout crisis presents a clear danger to national prosperity.

There will be a full committee hearing tomorrow at 3pm Eastern to examine how policies for addressing the high school dropout crisis and improving graduation rates can strengthen America’s economic competitiveness.

On Tuesday, May 12, the Committee will hold a hearing to examine how policies for addressing the high school dropout crisis and improving graduation rates can strengthen America’s economic competitiveness.

Nationally, only 70 percent of students graduate from high school with a regular high school diploma. Approximately 10 percent of high schools in this country produce close to half of these dropouts. In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama called on lawmakers to address the dropout crisis.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Districts across the country would receive billions of dollars to modernize, upgrade, repair and green America’s schools under legislation approved today by the House Education and Labor Committee.

By a vote of 31 to 14, the Committee passed H.R. 2187, the 21st Century Green High Performing Public School Facilities Act, which would make critical investments to provide more students with modern, healthier, more environmentally-friendly classrooms. It would also support hundreds of thousands of new construction jobs and invest more than half a billion dollars for school facility improvements in the Gulf Coast, where many schools still face considerable damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
 

 

On Wednesday, May 6, the Committee will consider legislation that will provide the nation’s public schools with billions of dollars in funding for much-needed repair, renovation and modernization projects, while breathing new life into local economies.  

The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act could create as many as 136,000 new construction jobs nationwide, according to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute, while boosting student achievement by creating healthier, safer, and energy-efficient learning environments. Studies show there is a correlation between facility quality and student achievement. The legislation also would provide significant aid for Gulf Coast Schools still recovering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

WHAT:         
Full Committee Mark-Up of H.R. 2187 “21st Century Green High-Performing Public School”

WHEN:         
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
10:00 a.m. ET
Please check the Committee schedule for potential updates »

WHERE:      
House Education and Labor Committee Hearing Room
2175 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Improving Education, Creating Jobs, Fighting Global Warming

School buildings should be safe and healthy learning environments for children. But according to recent estimates, America’s schools are hundreds of billions of dollars short of the funding needed to bring them up to good condition. Research shows a correlation between school facility quality and student achievement. Modernizing school buildings would help revive our economy by creating jobs and preparing workers for the clean energy jobs of the future. And by upgrading school buildings to make them more energy efficient and more reliant on renewable sources of energy, modernized school buildings can also help reduce the emissions that contribute to global warming. Congress already has endorsed these principles by making green school modernization, renovation and repair part an allowable use of funds under the state fiscal stabilization fund in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Click here to download estimates of the amount of funding that each state and school district would receive under H.R. 2187 if it were to be enacted »

The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Facilities Act (H.R. 2187), passed by the House on May 14, 2009 by a vote of 275-155, would:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democratic lawmakers today reintroduced legislation that will help make America’s public school facilities more safe, healthy, energy-efficient and technologically advanced, while creating thousands of new jobs in construction and green industries. The House Education and Labor committee will consider and vote on the bill next Wednesday, May 6.

The bill, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act, (H.R. 2187), reintroduced by U.S. Reps. Ben Chandler (D-KY), George Miller (D-CA), Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) and David Loebsack (D-IA) would provide billions of dollars in funding to schools for much-needed modernization, repair, and renovation projects. It would also provide additional support for Gulf Coast schools still recovering from damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The House passed similar legislation last June.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The federal government should support state efforts to develop a common core of rigorous, internationally benchmarked academic standards, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today. The hearing showed that momentum for stronger, state-developed standards is growing, with teachers, schools, business leaders and stakeholders from across the political spectrum voicing support. 

On Wednesday, April 29, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing to examine how states can better prepare their students to compete in a global economy by using internationally benchmarked common standards.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement after the National Assessment Governing Board released its report on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), which measures the performance of 9, 13 and 17 year old students in reading and math. The report, “The Nation’s Report Card: Trends in Academic Progress 2008,” studies long term trends in student achievement and was last issued in 2004. 

On Wednesday, April 29, the Committee will hold a hearing to examine how states can better prepare their students to compete in a global economy by using internationally benchmarked common standards.

WHAT:         
Full Committee Hearing on “Strengthening America’s Competitiveness through Common Academic Standards”

WHO:            
The Honorable James B. Hunt, Jr., Former Governor of North Carolina and Foundation Chair, James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy, Durham, North Carolina
Ken James, Commissioner of Education, Arkansas Department of Education, Little Rock, Arkansas
Greg Jones, Chair, California Business for Excellence in Education (CBEE), Sacramento, California
Dave Levin, Co-Founder, KIPP: Knowledge Is Power Program, New York, New York
Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers, New York, New York
            
WHEN:          
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
10:00 a.m. EDT
Please check the Committee schedule for potential updates »

WHERE:       
House Education and Labor Committee Hearing Room
2175 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Today, Chairman Miller and Senator Richard Durbin visited the Shaw-Garnett Patterson middle school in Washington, DC with DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.  Principal Brian Betts and students gave them a tour of several classrooms, including math and literacy, and then the lawmakers had the opportunity to sit down with a group 8th grade students.  Following that meeting, Miller and Durbin also met with a group of teachers from the school.

The House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee will hold a joint hearing with the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security to examine if at-risk youth are missing out on educational opportunities while in foster care, juvenile justice facilities, alternative education settings and other environments.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Schoolchildren around the country have been subject to abusive – and in some cases fatal – uses of seclusion and restraint by school administrators, teachers and staff, according to a new report released today by the National Disability Rights Network. The report, the first national effort to examine these practices in both public and private schools identified hundreds of cases where the abusive and negligent use of seclusion and restraint injured or traumatized students, many of whom were disabled. In several cases, students died.

The U.S. Department of Education recently released new regulations for the No Child Left Behind Act.

Some of these regulations are steps in the right direction; but others will do little to change the criticism facing NCLB .  It is troubling that the Bush administration has waited until the last possible minute to address some of the serious concerns with No Child Left Behind, in particular the lack of uniformity across the states when calculating their high school graduation rates.  No Child Left Behind law is in need of significant and fundamental improvements -- so that every child has the opportunity to get a world class public education. I look forward to working with the next administration to make the law more fair, more flexible and better funded.

The administration should do more to improve academic standards for schoolchildren who attend Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools, witnesses told the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education at a hearing on Tuesday.  Specifically, they said the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Education must work more closely with tribal organizations to develop accountability systems under the No Child Left Behind Act.  The federal government provides elementary and secondary education and educational assistance to Indian children directly through federally-funded schools or through assistance to public schools. Ninety percent of Indian students attend public schools operated by local school districts.  However, 10 percent attend BIE schools, which are schools funded by the Department of the Interior. BIE schools are subject to NCLB with limited exceptions.

Witnesses told the Committee at today's hearing on physical education in America's schools that expanding and improving physical education in the nation’s schools is key to fighting child obesity.  Studies show that more than a third of U.S. schoolchildren are now obese, that the physical activity of American children is dramatically decreasing as they move into their teenage years, and that overweight children are now more vulnerable to serious diseases that were once a rarity among young kids, including cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, and certain types of cancer.

With the U.S. facing staggering rates of child obesity, the Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, July 24 at 10 a.m., to examine how to improve physical education in the nation’s schools and strengthen efforts to fight childhood obesity.

“The Benefits of Physical and Health Education for Our Nation’s Children”

Improving the teaching and learning of mathematics and science in U.S. schools is vital to maintaining America’s global leadership, witnesses told the Committee in yesterday's hearing.  A report released in March by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel found that the nation’s system teaching math is “broken and must be fixed” if the U.S. wants to maintain its competitive edge. Among other things, the panel called for a comprehensive, systemic effort to strengthen math education, including improving teacher training and professional development.  The panel of experts, which included business leaders, a teacher, and the first American woman to travel in space, recommended expanding partnerships between the business and education communities that focus on bolstering STEM education, and increasing training and support programs for teachers.  The witnesses also urged lawmakers to fully fund the America COMPETES Act, a law enacted by the Democratic Congress last year to provide education and job training for students and workers in math, science, technology, and engineering fields. Last year, Congress approved $193 million in funding for math and science education in the COMPETES Act, but President Bush vetoed that legislation.

The House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing to examine how business-education partnerships can help drive innovation and strengthen math and science education in America’s schools.

A report released by the National Math Panel in March found that the nation’s system for teaching math is “broken and must be fixed” if the U.S. wants to maintain its competitive edge. In May, the Committee first examined the report’s findings and recommendations; this hearing follows up on that hearing.

Tomorrow, July 22 at 2 p.m., the Committee will hold a hearing to examine how business-education partnerships can help drive innovation and strengthen math and science education in America’s schools. A report released by the National Math Panel in March found that the nation’s system for teaching math is “broken and must be fixed” if the U.S. wants to maintain its competitive edge. In May, the Committee first examined the report’s findings and recommendations; Tuesday’s hearing will follow up on that hearing.  Phil Mickelson, professional golfer and co-founder of the Mickelson Exxon Mobil Teachers Academy, will be among the witnesses to testify.

Setting high standards, ensuring that all children have access to outstanding teachers, holding educators accountable for their schools’ progress, and restructuring chronically struggling schools, are vital to creating a world-class public education system, mayors and superintendents of major U.S. cities told the Committee at yesterday's hearing.

On Thursday, July 17 at 10:00 a.m., the Committee will hear from mayors and school superintendents of major U.S. cities, including New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Atlanta, at a hearing on their challenges and successes in working to improve public schools.

The House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing to examine a recent report released by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel on the state of math education and instruction in the United States. Among other things, the report found that the nation’s system for teaching math is “broken and must be fixed” if the U.S. wants to maintain its competitive edge.

The Committee held a hearing to examine how to improve nutrition and food safety in the nation’s schools. Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered the largest recall of meat in the nation’s history after investigations revealed that meat from non-ambulatory (or "downer") cows at a California slaughterhouse had been allowed to enter the food supply. More than a third of the tainted meat had gone to federal nutrition programs, including to schools.