By Della B. Cronin

Before Congress left town for its August recess, there was a flurry of activity. The House Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2017 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill. Overall, the news for education wasn’t good—lower spending at the Department of Education overall, including a cut in investments in professional development. The one bright spot was a proposed $1 billion in spending on the new Student Support and Academic Achievement Grant program—the large program meant to support many issues and programs, including STEM education programs. That number was much higher than the Senate’s proposed $300 million. The debate of the bill was marked by partisan bickering over guns, women’s health, and LGBT issues, since the Republican-authored bill has a number of controversial policy riders. Regardless, the House was able to leave for its six-week recess with the accomplishment of getting all 12 of the FY 2017 spending bills approved by the Committee.

While Congress is out of town for conventions and the August recess, appropriations staff will start pulling together contingency plans for FY 2017 spending. It is certain that there will have to be a temporary spending bill to support government agencies between the end of the current fiscal year (September 30, 2016) and December. A three-month stopgap is expected. The scenarios for a final resolution are dependent upon many unpredictable factors, like who will be in the White House as of the end of January 2017, who controls the Senate, and what message voters send to federal lawmakers in November. So NCTM and education advocates will be staying in touch with decision makers on the Hill and preparing for the endgame in the meantime.

NCTM and others are hopeful that a few pieces of legislation might see enactment before year’s end. Reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the America COMPETES Act are on the wish list. There’s a thoughtful bipartisan proposal pending in the House on the first matter; the same in the Senate on the second. NCTM will be weighing in with offices in coming weeks urging action on both.

The Department of Education remains busy writing proposed regulations. NCTM recently submitted a response to a proposed package on accountability, state plans, and state and local report cards required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Over 14,000 comments have been submitted. Some, like NCTM’s, are detailed and provide clear recommendations to the Department. Some are one-liners that urge rejection of the Common Core or the overtesting of students. The Department has a tremendous sorting task ahead of it. And, in September, they will receive more comments on other solicitations. They are certainly working hard during the last months of this Administration.

With the conventions in the rear-view mirror it’s hard not to look ahead to a new Secretary of Education and agency priorities. Who might run the country’s Education Department next year? The Washington guessing games have begun. Regardless, there will be new priorities and new regulation-writers. But the guessing can be fun.

Della B. Cronin is a principal at Washington Partners, LLC.