March 01, 2015

New Democrat Coalition Works to Bring Innovative, Common-Sense Solutions to Nation’s Schools

New Democrat Coalition Members worked across the aisle this week to find bipartisan, common-sense ideas to improve America’s schools and extend opportunity to every American. The pragmatic lawmakers’ strategy contrasted sharply with the hyperpartisan Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) pulled from the floor this week.

“We need an approach to education that uses high-quality, proven models of education to put students first,” said Co-Chair of the New Dem Task Force on 21st Century Education, Immigration & Workforce Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO). “The federal government should help ensure that all students have the opportunities they need to excel by fostering innovative polices that work and phasing out those that don’t. Our students deserve only the best schools and the federal government needs to provide accountability – not just a blank check – for our education system.”

New Dems planned to support the Democratic substitute to the bill, a measure that will improve accountability to make states more responsive to students and parents and increase transparency for how states spend federal funds.  This amendment takes a common-sense approach to education by requiring states to establish college- and career-ready standards to ensure that all students fulfill their potential. Instead of giving states free rein to enact untested policies, the Democratic substitute will give states the flexibility they need to design the next generation of high-quality assessments and create innovative evaluations for schools, teachers, and education leaders.

Although members of the Coalition planned to oppose the highly partisan ESEA measure, New Dems offered a slate of amendments designed to improve the underlying bill and were successful in passing other bipartisan bills that would support students at all levels of education. Coalition Chairman Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) was the lead sponsor on H.R. 529, bipartisan legislation that will help keep college affordable for middle class students and families.

“I am pleased to see the House pass this commonsense, bipartisan legislation that will help keep college affordable for families in Wisconsin and across the nation,” said Rep. Kind. “With 14 colleges and universities across western and central Wisconsin, I know the importance of saving in advance for higher education. With rising tuition costs and the growing crisis of student loan debt, we need to do everything we can to help students attend college so they can compete in the global marketplace.”

Another bill, authored by Coalition Member Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) in conjunction with Chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee Lamar Smith (R-TX), passed the House by a vote of 412 to 8. The bill strengthens ongoing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education efforts at federal science agencies and ensures computer science is included in these efforts as a subject.

“Our country is built on the innovation and entrepreneurship of all Americans. We must support educational and economic foundations that encourage this innovation, and the bipartisan passage of our STEM Education Act brings us one step closer to that goal,” said Rep. Esty, Co-Chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s Task Force on 21st Century Education, Immigration & Workforce. “I hear from manufacturers, high-tech companies, and small businesses across all sectors that struggle to find workers with the necessary technical and critical problem-solving skills to fill jobs in demand. Strong support for STEM education in K-12 education will help prepare our children for good-paying jobs in high-demand fields like manufacturing, health and biomedical industries, energy, and information technology. I’m grateful to join my colleague and friend Chairman Lamar Smith in these efforts, and I look forward to working towards consideration of the STEM Education Act in the U.S. Senate.”

“These policies will help get our public schools and universities back on track and give middle class families the support they need,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro, Co-Chair of the New Dem Task Force on 21st Century Education, Immigration & Workforce. “Instead of partisan fixes that short-change students, we need commonsense solutions that sharpen the innovative edge that makes America the home of the world’s greatest scholars, scientists, and entrepreneurs.”

New Democrat Coalition Legislative Priorities Passed This Week:

•         H.R. 529: Cosponsored by Chairman Ron Kind (WI-03) and six other New Dems, this bipartisan bill modernizes the 529 loan program to make it work better for both students and plan administrators by allowing certain computer-related expenses as qualified expenses, permitting the re-deposit of refunds from colleges without taxes or penalties, and reducing the burden of unnecessary administrative paperwork. This bill passed on a vote of 401-20 on February 25, 2015.

•         H.R. 1020 – STEM Education Act: Coauthored by Rep. Elizabeth Esty (CT-05) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), this bipartisan bill continues successful National Science Foundation (NSF) grants that advance STEM education research, increases the number of teachers eligible for Master Teaching Fellowships, and expands the definition of STEM teachers to explicitly include computer science teachers.

New Democrat Coalition Member Amendments to ESEA:

•         Rep. Susan Davis (CA-53), Rep. Jared Polis (CO-03) Amendment: This amendment, with the bipartisan support of Rep. Robert Dold, clarifies the definition of 'school leader' to make it explicitly refer to a school principal as opposed to an off-site administrator.

•         Rep. Joaquin Castro (CO-03) Amendment: This amendment appoints a neutral Ombudsman within the Department of Education to ensure K-12 textbooks are held to high academic standards.

•         Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05) and Rep. Jared Polis (CO-03) Amendment: This amendment establishes a pilot program to award competitive grants to local education agencies to support career education programs that were negatively affected or eliminated due to recent economic events.

•         Rep. André Carson (IN-07) Amendment: This amendment advances assessments of student achievement, effective teacher preparation, and international comparisons. It also supports development of a national research strategy to ensure that students have effective teachers and are being prepared for the future.

         Rep. John Delaney (MD-06), Rep. Jared Polis (CO-03) Amendment: This amendment, with the bipartisan support of Rep. Todd Young, will help states save money and improve outcomes by allowing states and Local Educational Agencies use funding for Pay For Success initiatives.

•         Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20) Amendment: This amendment, with the bipartisan support of Rep. Steve Stivers, improves college and career readiness for homeless youth by requiring the State to include in the State Plan a description of how such students will receive assistance from counselors to prepare and improve college readiness.

•         Rep. Mike Quigley (IL-05), José Serrano (NY-15) Amendment: This amendment, with the bipartisan support of Rep. David McKinley, restores the paraprofessional qualifications currently in place. These standards helped stop school districts from hiring underqualified paraprofessionals with little experience and all districts have been in compliance since 2006, meaning this amendment would present no new burden.

•         Rep. Jared Polis (CO-03) Amendment: This amendment allows grants to be used for the creation and distribution of open access textbooks and open educational resources.

•         Rep. Jared Polis (CO-03) Amendment: This amendment, with the bipartisan support of Rep. Todd Rokita, encourages collaboration and sharing of best practices between charter schools and local education agencies.

•         Rep. Jared Polis (CO-03) Amendment: This amendment, with the bipartisan support of Rep. Luke Messer, expresses that charter schools are a critical part of our education system and that Congress should support opening more quality charter schools.

The New Democrat Coalition is dedicated to maintaining America’s standing as the world’s strongest, most successful nation. Founded in 1997, the New Dems believe firmly in the power of American ingenuity and innovation, and are focused on finding ways to foster and harness this creativity to grow our economy, create new American jobs, and ensure a safer and more secure future for our country.

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