Flash Edition
February 17, 2016
The
Obama administration released its FY 2017—and final—budget on Tuesday, Feb.
9. Its primary education themes are
investing in educational equity and excellence; supporting teachers and school
leaders; and promoting college access, affordability, and completion. In a budget preview from the White House,
under “expanding education and skill opportunities,” there are four initiatives.
They are (1) providing computer science for all, (2) reforming Pell Grants (3) giving
community college partnership tax credits, and (4) connecting young Americans
with jobs and skills. Additional
information is available here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/02/05/president-will-release-his-final-budget-tuesday-heres-sneak-preview.
Under
the budget proposal, total budget authority for CTE and adult education in FY
2017 would rise to $1,808,686,000, as compared with $1,720,686,000 in FY 2016,
including $1.2 billion for CTE state grants and $9.4 million for CTE national
programs. The request also includes $582
million for adult education state grants and $24.7 million for adult education
national leadership activities. Details
of the CTE budget are provided below.
American Technical Training Fund
In
addition to the $1.19 billion request for CTE state grants programs, the budget
proposal includes $75 million for the American Technical Training Fund (ATTF) grant
competition to build on lessons learned from the Department of Labor’s Trade
Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Program and to
ensure projects are well-integrated with local workforce systems. This initiative would be jointly administered
with the Department of Labor. ATTF would
provide competitive grants to support the development, operation, and expansion
of innovative, evidence-based, short-term, or accelerated education and job
training programs that enable youths and adults, particularly those from
low-income families, to enter and complete career pathways that lead to jobs in
in-demand industries and occupations.
This
initiative aligns with the Department’s reauthorization proposal, Investing in America’s Future: A Blueprint for Transforming Career and
Technical Education (http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cte/transforming-career-technical-education.pdf), that contains initiatives to prepare
students for high-skill and high-demand occupations. The reauthorization proposal would also
support reaching the president’s goals that every student graduates from high
school college- and career-ready and that the United States will once again
lead the world in college attainment levels.
Career and Technical Education: National Programs
The
proposed budget authority for CTE national programs would rise from $7,421,000
in FY 2016 to $9,421,000 in FY 2017. Perkins IV specifically calls for the
operation of a national center to carry out scientifically based research in CTE
and for a national assessment of CTE programs under the act. Most of these funds would support
implementation of the administration’s proposal for a reauthorized Perkins Act (see the blueprint
referenced above), through research, evaluation, data collection, technical
assistance, and other national leadership activities, to improve the quality
and effectiveness of CTE.
The
Department would reserve $2 million from the request to provide technical
assistance and evaluation support for projects under the $75 million ATTF
proposal (described above). In addition,
the Department would use $500,000 from the request to strengthen data
collection efforts related to CTE conducted by the National Center for
Education Statistics.
Adult Education
The
proposed FY 2017 budget requests $512,120,000 for the Adult Education and
Family Literacy State Grants and an additional $69,835,000 for the Integrated
English Literacy and Civics Education program, maintaining level funding for
these programs from FY 2016 appropriations. The FY 2017 funds would help meet
the president’s goal of closing the opportunity and achievement gap so that
every American has access to education, training and pathways to the middle
class. The state grants served approximately 1.6
million adults in FY 2016, helping them to become literate and obtain the
knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency; obtain, for
parents, the skills necessary to become full partners in the educational
development of their children; complete a secondary education and transition to
postsecondary education; and assist immigrants and other English language
learners to improve their English literacy and understanding of the American
system of government, individual freedom, and the responsibilities of
citizenship. The state grants will
support the implementation of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA),
signed into law in July 2014, by promoting the use of career pathways and
implementing a common performance accountability system, the workforce
development system.
Adult Education: National Leadership Activities
The
FY 2017 budget proposal calls for an increase of $11 million in the national
leadership activities budget, from $13,712,000 in FY 2016 to $24,712,000 in FY 2017. $5 million of the increase is to help states meet
the WIOA requirement to align adult
education content standards with the challenging state-determined academic
standards for grades K–12 required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The administration is also seeking $6 million
to help meet WIOA data
requirements. The Department would use
$5 million of this amount to advance the interoperability of data systems and
to improve accurate and timely data reporting under WIOA, both of which would support greater accountability and
transparency, better research and evaluation, and increased data-driven
decision making. The Department would
use the remaining $1 million to provide technical assistance to states in the
collection of their new WIOA data
elements. National leadership activities
funds would also continue support for activities designed to enhance the
quality and outcomes of adult education and literacy programs.
For
more detailed information on the FY 2017 education budget proposal, please visit
http://www.ed.gov/budget ..
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