Education - Summary of Issues

Our country has witnessed tremendous progress in the area of education reform over the last fifty years: the educational achievement gap between those of different races has narrowed significantly; at the same time, increasing numbers of students are finding the resources necessary to pursue higher education. However, we still have not solved one of the most persistent and pervasive injustices in our educational system: poorer communities suffer from under-qualified teachers, substandard facilities and inadequate instructional resources.  Meanwhile, children in wealthier communities are provided with a superior education.  Because of their disproportionate representation in low-income communities, students of color are disproportionately affected by the current inequitable education system.

The section ahead will provide a primer on some pressing issues within education reform as well as highlight the role that the legislature has assumed in improving the system. At the foundation of the following issues is the question of equity.  Equal access means that no student is deprived of critical educational resources and opportunities because of where he or she lives.  Recognizing that education is the great historical equalizer, we must change our current system in which some children are denied the fundamentals of education to a system in which all children will have the opportunity to attain a world class education.  It is through this transformation that we are best able to support the American democratic tradition.

Equal Access

In the United States today, our system of school finance allows for great disparities in educational resources.  When they are supplied with less effective teachers, substandard facilities, insufficient textbooks, computers, and other instructional materials, students in poor areas are punished for where they live.

Reports consistently emphasize the critical role quality teachers play in a child’s education.  All too often, teachers in low-income communities are responsible for teaching students subjects which they themselves have not mastered. Indeed, research indicates that a fifth of secondary school teachers who teach core academic subjects may be out-of-field in one or more of these classes. It is clear that teachers must be qualified for their posts in order to ensure teaching excellence and improve student performance.

GEAR UP

GEAR UP, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, is a federal grant program designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in college. GEAR UP provides five-year grants to states and partnerships to provide services at schools with at least 50% low-income students. GEAR UP grantees serve entire grades of students beginning in middle school and follow the cohort through high school. GEAR UP funds are also used to provide college scholarships to low-income students.

Since its beginning, the program has awarded over 270 grants and contributed over $1.7 billion toward the educational advancement of low-income students.  Today, GEAR UP serves over two million children in 49 States, the District of Columbia and three Territories.  The program partners middle school students from low-income communities with almost 300 colleges and universities, including 5 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 29 Hispanic Serving Institutions, 3 Tribally Controlled Community Colleges, 1 Native Hawaiian Serving Institution and 2 U.S. Affiliates of the Pacific Region.  GEAR UP partners with 1,000 business, community and non-profit organizations in 800 school districts.

Special Education

The centerpiece of federal special education policy is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides funds to states for the education of children with disabilities as well as mandating the procedure for identifying and placing special education students. It contains detailed requirements for the receipt of these funds, including the core requirement that all students, regardless of physical, emotional or academic needs, be provided a free, appropriate public education (FAPE). Basic federal policy has been in place since 1975. IDEA was comprehensively revised in 1997, but Congress has continued to grapple with issues relating to the Act. Recent issues include: the amount of funding the federal government should provide for special education and whether federal funding should be "mandatory" or continue to be subject to the annual appropriations process; the manner in which students with disabilities should be treated when they create serious discipline problems in school; and, to what extent certain groups are over-identified and misidentified as needing special education and what can be done to address misidentification.

From the inception of IDEA, Congress has been concerned about both the over-identification (that is, identifying children as disabled who are not) and the under-identification of children with disabilities (that is, failing to identify and serve children with disabilities). Concern about under-identification can be seen, for example, in the extensive "child find" requirements of the Act. Concern about over-identification is exemplified in the Act by recent changes in the state and local formulas to remove possible financial incentives to over-identify and by extensive requirements for judging who is eligible for special education and related services. Substantial concern about misidentification has centered on the evident over-identification of African American students (especially African American boys). While African Americans account for about 15 percent of the population ages 6 to 21, they account for about 20 percent of students identified with disabilities.  More work must still be done to address the cultural competence of instructors and assessors, as well as providing early intervention services to prevent the academic under-preparedness that is too often misunderstood as a disability.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

On January 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, legislation to extend and revise the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), was signed into law.  This legislation extensively amends and reauthorizes many of the programs of federal aid to elementary and secondary education.

Some major features of the bill include: (a) states are required to implement standards-based assessments in reading and mathematics for pupils in each of grades 3 to 8 and at three grade levels in science; (b) all states are required to participate in National Assessment of Educational Progress tests in 4th and 8th grade reading and mathematics every second year; (c) states must develop Adequate Yearly Progress standards which outline how each public school, local education agency and the state overall will meet the goal of all students achieving at proficient or advanced levels by 2014, (d) states receiving Title I funds are also required to have a "highly qualified" teacher in each core subject classroom.  Some concerns that have been raised about this legislation are the lack of funds to meet the ambitious demands of the Act, the great variation from state to state in terms of graduation standards, teacher quality and academic proficiency standards and the reliance on traditional, narrow standardized tests which may compromise teacher creativity and well-rounded instruction.  Since NCLB became law, the Secretary of Education has issued numerous statements adjusting portions of the law, including attendance rates and the deadlines for teacher quality standards.  Unfortunately, the Act has failed to address resource inequity, the greatest challenge to American public education.

This year Congress will be considering the reauthorization of ESEA.  Recently the Education and Labor (now Education and the Workforce) Committee in the House and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee have held hearings to discuss such related issues as narrowing of the curriculum, authentic assessments, growth models and supplemental education services.   

Higher Education

In addition to ESEA, which covers K-12 education, the Congress recently reauthorized the Higher Education Act.  The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), as amended, authorizes a broad array of federal student aid programs that assist students and their families with paying for or financing the costs of obtaining a postsecondary education. The HEA also authorizes a series of programs that provide federal aid and support to institutions of higher education. HEA programs are administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

In the 110^thCongress, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) was enacted to amend, extend, and establish new programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). In most cases, funding authorization for programs extended or newly established under the HEOA is provided through FY2014. The HEOA also makes amendments to a number of other laws. Prior to the enactment of the HEOA, the last comprehensive reauthorization of the HEA occurred in 1998, under the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, which authorized funding for most HEA programs through FY2003 and included the GEAR UP Program.

The 111^thCongress enacted the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to make changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, and for other purposes.  

Title II, Part A of the HCERA, entitled the SAFRA Act, contains several education-related provisions. Major proposals in the SAFRA Act amend the HEA as described below.

• The authority to make federal student loans through the FFEL program terminates after June 30, 2010.
• Beginning July 1, 2010, Subsidized Stafford Loans, Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, and Consolidation Loans will be made only through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (DL) program. DL program loans will be serviced by private for-profit and not-for-profit servicers under contract with the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
• The income-based repayment (IBR) plan is amended for new borrowers of DL program loans on or after July 1, 2014. For new borrowers who repay according to the IBR plan, monthly payment amounts will be limited to 10% of their discretionary income. Also, new borrowers who repay according to the IBR plan will be eligible to have any loan balance that remains unpaid after 20 years of IBR plan repayment forgiven at that time.
• Effective March 30, 2010, indefinite mandatory appropriations are provided for the Federal Pell Grant program to supplement annual discretionary appropriations and to fund an increase above the annual appropriated Pell Grant maximum award. From AY2013-2014 to AY2017-2018, these annual increases to the Pell Grant award amount are indexed to the percent change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
• Effective FY2011, an additional $13.5 billion in mandatory appropriations for Pell Grants will be available for obligation until September 30, 2012.
• Mandatory funding for the HEA College Access and Completion Grant program is provided for FY2010 through FY2014.
• Mandatory funding for HEA programs serving Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions is provided for FY2010 through FY2019.

For more information on Income-Based Repayment, click here.

School Vouchers

Across the country, there is varied support for increasing the availability and scope of school vouchers. Among the more controversial of educational reform efforts are those that would, through federal legislation, alter the mix of publicly funded elementary and secondary educational opportunities that states and localities are required to offer. Particularly contentious are those efforts that would authorize the use of public funds to support students' attendance at private and and/or sectarian schools.  These proposals are extremely controversial as they are often seen as a way to divert tax payer dollars from public schools to private schools, undercutting the nation’s commitment to public education and rarely do they increase the quality of education for those most in need.

Other proposals that have been discussed include the authorization of tax credits or deductions for families' K-12 education expenses, or tax credits for contributions to charitable organizations that support school choice.

Additional Resources:

Department of Education
Senate Health, Education, Labor And Pensions Committee
House Committee on Education and the Workforce