Capitol Report: February 2017
By Della B. Cronin
New Year. New President. New Congress. These have been keeping NCTM and the Washington education and STEM education communities busy. A change in Administration always brings change to the city—personnel leaving jobs and getting new ones, office changes on Capitol Hill, and new priorities and directions for federal agencies. This time is no different, and so far the education community is finding the changes to be jarring.
Earlier this month, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hosted a confirmation hearing for Secretary of Education Nominee Betsy DeVos. Much has been written, said, posted, and tweeted about the over-three-hour proceeding that arguably raised questions about the school choice advocate’s familiarity with federal education policies (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] to be specific) and educational practice (the difference between “proficiency” and “growth” when discussing student achievement, to be specific). Her lack of experience with higher education programs was noted by committee members as well. She and her advocates said in the following days that she was confused by the questions, and she wrote a letter to Republican Senator Johnny Isakson (Ga.) clarifying her views on IDEA further. (The letter was meant to assuage any concerns he might have, given his strong support for the law and its goals.) The committee was expected to vote on her nomination formally on January 31, with the vote expected to follow party lines. She will also almost certainly be confirmed by the full Senate soon thereafter, despite an outcry from many large education associations.
Philip H. Rosenfelt, Deputy General Counsel at the agency, will be acting Secretary of Education in the meantime, since Secretary John King and all of the political appointees there and across the federal government left their positions by the time Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States at noon on January 20. Just before leaving the agency, Secretary King said the agency would not be issuing final regulations on the Title I “supplement, not supplant” provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act. The decision leaves the future of those provisions likely in the hands of Betsy DeVos, making civil rights and special education groups particularly anxious. The Trump Department of Education is expected to give states more leeway than the proposed “SNS” package, and to let them ignore the accountability regulations that had been released late last year as well. In the good news department, the agency will also likely ignore the controversial regulations that had been proposed concerning colleges of education and tracking graduates and their classroom performance.
While these developments have been keeping the education community busy, the Administration has been largely focused on other issues, as evidenced by the daily headlines nationwide. That leaves the resolution of FY 2017 spending up in the air. (The federal government is currently supported by a temporary spending bill that expires April 28, 2017.) While NCTM and others hoping for adequate investments in the new ESSA via an FY 2017 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill continue to talk to Hill staff about just that, it seems almost certain that the debate will ultimately be resolved with a year-long continuing resolution. That means hopes for a strong Title IV, Part A program in the 2017-2018 school year are diminishing.
President Trump will soon outline what he sees as federal spending priorities. He has been invited to appear before the Congress on February 28. This will be the “State of the Union” address—an address that is often late in the first year of a new administration. It will likely be broad in scope and short on details, but will give at least some indication of how he would like to invest federal funds. There have been strong hints that the Heritage Foundation will be relied upon heavily for this spending plan. The Foundation has recommended substantial cuts to domestic agencies for years. That’s not great news for the education and domestic policy groups, who are gearing up for an adversarial budget season.
Regardless of what the President’s plans are, the education committees in the House have several pieces of legislation up for action. The Perkins Career and Technical Education Act needs to be revised, and the Higher Education Act will be the subject of hearings and many pieces of legislation this year. That law is large and complicated. NCTM will be paying close attention to the teacher preparation and STEM education components of that debate.
It certainly is a time of great change in Washington, DC. There will be new adversaries and new champions for every group and issue. NCTM will continue to talk to both, challenge when needed, and partner as is mutually beneficial.
Della B. Cronin is a principal at Washington Partners, LLC.