House Passes H.R. 1-Keep Fighting.
Association for Career and Technical Education. On February 19, the House passed H.R. 1 by a vote of 235-189. The bill cuts the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act by $102.9 million by completely eliminating the Tech Prep program. However, there is still hope for stopping these cuts! Our next line of defense is in the Senate. The Senate is expected to begin working on this bill on February 28, since both chambers are on recess next week. It is crucial that you continue to fight for a restoration of funds to Perkins! Although the process has moved to the Senate, the House will still be involved because both chambers have to agree on the final bill. The recess provides us a great opportunity to keep the pressure on Members of Congress to restore Perkins funding!
Can Detroit Find the Road Forward?
ByEDWARD L. GLAESER, The New York Times, February 22, 2011, 6:00 AM. “During the Super Bowl, Chrysler and Eminem gave us a chest-thumping, soul-lifting vision of Detroit as a city of character, competence and style. But the Census tells us that per-capita incomes in Detroit are barely half the national average and that one-third of the city lives in poverty. Michigan was the only state that lost people from 2000 to 2010, and the state’s unemployment rate remains near 12 percent. Is it possible that Detroit will turn the corner despite decades of decline? Detroit’s triumph and tragedy may be the great story of 20th century urban America. Like all of America’s older cities, Detroit first grew along a waterway as part of the great transport network that won the West. Learn more…
CUNY-IBM to Open Unique School in NYC
By Karen Matthews, The HuffingtonPost, The Huffington Post. NEW YORK — The City University of New York and IBM will open a unique school that merges high school with two years of college, allowing students to earn an associate's degree, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday in announcing a series of ambitious educational initiatives. Those students will be "first in line for a job at IBM," Bloomberg said in his announcement. The mayor also renewed a proposal to do away with automatic teacher tenure and instead ensure it's linked to classroom performance. He also said the city would work with the state to end "seat time" – requiring students to spend a certain number of hours in desks learning every subject – and would try to change a state law that requires schools to buy printed textbooks rather than use digital content. Learn more…
Summary of OPPAGA Reports Examining Workforce Education Programs and Legislative Options
Both colleges and school districts provide workforce education, which includes adult education and postsecondary career education. Recent proposals to give colleges responsibility for all postsecondary career education and school districts responsibility for all adult education have both positive and negative aspects. Florida's current structure allows school districts and colleges to locally decide how to divide workforce responsibilities, resulting in varying service delivery systems across the state. Despite the variation, districts and colleges typically avoid duplicating programs. Consolidation could create more uniformity and make it easier to align and articulate postsecondary career education programs, but could weaken operational connections between districts' secondary and postsecondary career education programs and reduce the availability of flexible training options that benefit students. Analysis of student outcomes for workforce education programs found slight but not overwhelming performance differences between district and college programs. This report provides options the Legislature could consider if it chooses to maintain the current workforce education structure but improve uniformity; implement a consolidation; or charge fees to offset some state costs and potentially motivate adult education students to achieve learning gains before leaving programs. Learn more…
