In this Issue

1. 2008 PTA National Legislative Conference Open for Registration
2. Federal Appeals Court Deems NCLB "Unfunded Mandate"
3. Congress Sets 2008 Program Funding
4. Head Start Program Reauthorized
5. SCHIP Funding Temporarily Extended
6. Farm Bill Passes Senate; Child Nutrition Bill Not Included

2008 PTA National Legislative Conference Open for Registration

PTA will host the 2008 National Legislative Conference February 27-28 in Washington, DC.  The Conference will inspire and educate its attendees whether they are new to federal and state advocacy or seasoned veterans.  Workshops and guest speakers are planned to help build skills and learn more about the issues.  Sessions include:

• Introduction to Washington
• Motivating Your Members
• Making the Connection Between Local and National Issues and Action
• Advanced Lobbying Techniques

Registration is open to any PTA member who wants to get involved. But hurry—registration closes January 18. Register online now!

Federal Appeals Court Deems NCLB "Unfunded Mandate"

On the eve of the No Child Left Behind Act’s 6th anniversary, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit revived a lawsuit challenging how the federal No Child Left Behind law is funded.  The court ruled in Pontiac v. Spellings that the federal government was in violation of the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution for not providing clear notice as to who bears the additional costs of compliance.

The lawsuit, brought by school districts in Michigan, Texas and Vermont, the National Education Association and nine of its state affiliates, contends that the Department of Education violated the Constitution in enacting the law by requiring states and school districts to spend local money to administer standardized tests and to meet other federal requirements.  At issue is Section 9527(a) of the law which states "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to… mandate a State or any subdivision thereof to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid for under this Act." [20 U.S.C. § 7907(a)]

The lawsuit was initially filed in April 2005 with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The District Court dismissed the complaint on procedural grounds for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiffs subsequently appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  In the ruling Monday, the appeals court sent the suit back to the lower court and reversed the lower courts ruling arguing that the Spending Clause of the Constitution requires Congress to give states clear notice of their financial liabilities when they accept federal financing that may fall short of the full costs of complying with requirements from Washington.

In a statement yesterday, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings left open the possibility of an appeal to the Supreme Court.  "The federal government is exploring all legal options available," Spellings said. "This decision could undermine efforts to improve the education of our nation’s children, in particular those students most in need."

Monday’s ruling, however, does not mean that states and local school districts no longer have to comply with NCLB.  The immediate effect of the ruling is that states and local school districts are not required to comply with the requirements of NCLB that are not paid for by the federal government. If a state or district chooses to continue to accept federal money, it must still comply with the NCLB requirements for which there is federal funding.

Congress Sets 2008 Program Funding

Last month, President George W. Bush signed into law a $551 billion omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2008 (FY08) containing 11 of the 12 annual appropriations bills.  The omnibus followed the president’s veto of a FY08 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill in mid-November.  Congress was unable to secure enough votes to override the veto. 

The omnibus provides an overall increase in discretionary funding for the Department of Education of 2.9 percent over fiscal year 2007 (FY07) but is significantly below the $3.2 billion (5.5 percent) additional the Labor-HHS-Education Conference Report would have provided. 

The omnibus provides an increase of $1.2 billion (9.2 percent) for Title I programs but also provides less than inflation level increases for the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), Impact Aid and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, among other programs.  The bill substantially cuts vital programs such as Even Start, Teacher Quality Enhancement, and Comprehensive School Reform and eliminates Title V Innovative Education. Finally, the omnibus contained a 1.75 percent across the board cut to all programs in the omnibus.  The across the board cut will have the greatest impact on programs that would have received the same level of funding in FY08 as in FY07, i.e. "level-funding," in the Conference Report.  Though level funding provides the same dollar amount as the prior year, programs must contend with inflation in the cost of services.  The across the board cut will cause programs to receive fewer dollars still.

For a detailed list of FY08 program funding levels, visit the Department of Education website’s budget section.  Tables are available in PDF [86KB] and MS Excel [793KB].

Head Start Program Reauthorized

On December 12, President George W. Bush signed into law legislation reauthorizing the Head Start program.  The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 concludes a four-year effort to reauthorize the law. 

The bill would broaden Head Start’s income-eligibility requirements by permitting families that make up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or $26,800 for a family of four, to participate in the program. In the past, the program only served children whose parents’ incomes were at or below the federal poverty level, or $20,600 for a family of four.  To keep the program’s focus on children in poverty, however, the bill places a 45 percent cap on the number of Head Start students in any individual program whose families earn above the federal poverty level.

The legislation also

• Dedicates $2 million in fiscal year 2008 to Head Start agencies for local training and improvement efforts.
• Sets a goal that half of all Head Start teachers and curriculum specialists earn a bachelor's degree within six years.
• Expands Early Head Start by $83 billion to serve additional low-income infants and toddlers.
• Establishes a new system for the designation of Head Start grants and provides for an open competition among agencies with deficient record of non-compliance within Head Start.
• Eliminates the National Reporting System, a controversial test given to all 4- and 5-year-old Head Start students.

A major goal of the reauthorization was to address concerns about mismanagement in some local Head Start programs.  Head Start programs are run by two separate panels: governing boards, which are directly responsible for the federal Head Start grants, and policy councils, on which the majority of members are parents of participating pupils.
The legislation makes clear that while both panels share responsibility for governing Head Start centers, including budgetary and personnel decisions, the governing boards retain ultimate authority over hiring or firing Head Start directors and other top-level employees.

For more information on the reauthorization, visit the House Committee on Education and Labor’s website.

SCHIP Funding Temporarily Extended

On December 29, 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law legislation extending the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) through March 2009.  Created 10 years ago, SCHIP is a state-federal partnership intended to provide health coverage for children from low-income families not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.

Twice, Congress passed legislation significantly expanding the program, passing legislation increasing SCHIP’s annual funding from about $5 billion to $12 billion annually for the next five years.  President Bush vetoed both bills, saying that the legislation would expand the program beyond its initial intent. Congress was unable to override the vetoes.

In order to keep the program’s authorization from expiring, Congress crafted a simple extension of the law, pushing a full reauthorization into the next Congress.  While the current extension does not expand as far as some hoped, it does include some additional funding to address expected shortfalls in state funding for SCHIP. 

Farm Bill Passes Senate; Child Nutrition Bill Not Included

On December 14, 2007, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 2419, the Farm Bill Extension Act of 2007.  The overall Nutrition title of the bill was increased by over $5 billion.  Included in the title is an increase in funding for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program (FFVP) from $9 million to $225 million annually.  This Senate funding level will allow 4.5 million low-income elementary school children in 5,000 schools nation-wide to receive a fresh fruit or vegetable snack every day at school.  The House version of the bill, passed in July, included $70 million annually for FFVP. 

An amendment to the bill sponsored by Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were not included in the final Senate version.  Sens. Harkin and Murkowski sought to include language from the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act (S. 771) but were not able to garner enough supporting votes.  That bill would call on the USDA to update its nutrition standards for school foods sold outside of meals to ensure that they conform with current nutrition science and address pressing threats to child health and nutrition at school.

Congress must now reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill Extension Act.  The House/Senate Conference may occur as early as this month. 

This Week in Washington Subscriber Tips

For help, or to send comments, suggestions, or inquiries to the list administrator, address your e-mail to ogr_office@pta.org.

This Week in Washington comes to you free of charge via the Internet as a service of PTA in the furtherance of its nonprofit and tax-exempt status. Unless otherwise noted, PTAs may reproduce and distribute the materials from the PTA website for PTA use without express written permission. PTA materials may not be duplicated by any other organization or person without written permission.

PTA:

• Does not exert editorial control over materials that are posted by third parties onto its website or materials that are e-mailed by third parties to any other persons.
• Specifically disclaims any and all liability for any claims or damages that result from postings by third parties.
• Does not exert editorial or other control over content provided by links from the PTA website or newsletters.

PTA Office of Programs and Public Policy
1400 L Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005