CEC Policy Insider

“Welcome back to another day in paradise”: CEC Celebrates Teachers at the White House Teacher of the Year Ceremony

“Welcome back to another day in paradise,” is how National Teacher of the Year award winner Jeff Charbonneau greets his students every day. For him, school is paradise – he says that the work is a reward of its own.

Yesterday, CEC’s President Christy Chambers, and Associate Executive Director for Policy and Advocacy Deborah Ziegler attended the ceremony at the White House to celebrate this year’s Teacher of the Year. Attendees gathered in the Rose Garden to hear remarks by President Barack Obama as he honored Charbonneau, a science teacher from Zillah, Washington. Charbonneau reinvigorated the science curriculum in Washington State, where students now participate in everything from robotics competitions to drama productions because of the energy and passion Charbonneau brings to his work.

 “Educators like Jeff and everyone up here today, they represent the very best of America – committed professionals who give themselves fully to the growth and development of our kids,” said President Obama during his remarks. “And with them at the front of the classroom and leading our schools, I am absolutely confident that our children are going to be prepared to meet the tests of our time and the tests of the future.”

State Teachers of the Year from all over the country attended the event and were celebrated during the ceremony – an homage to the teaching profession, and to public education. Included among the honorees was National Teacher of the Year finalist, and CEC member, Alex Lopes, a prekindergarten special education teacher who had been named Florida Teacher of the Year by his home state. Also among those honored yesterday was Shannon Shanning, special education teacher for seventh and eighth grade and the Maine Teacher of the Year. CEC congratulates both Lopes and Shanning on this wonderful honor, and applauds all that they’ve done for children and youth with disabilities.

CEC congratulates all of the teachers honored at the Teacher of the Year ceremony on their extraordinary work and contributions to the field of teaching and education.

“The teachers from across the Nation present at the Teacher of the Year Ceremony embody the best of the teaching profession,” says CEC President Christy Chambers. “And I recognize and commend each of them for the work that they do every day to ensure great outcomes for children.”

Education is not an Expense, it is an Investment: Secretary Duncan Testifies about President Obama’s Education Budget

Today, the US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor Health and Human Services about the President’s budget proposal. He staunchly defended investment in education and urged the Senate to eliminate sequestration cuts.

According to Secretary Duncan, “The big takeaway message here is that education is more than a set of numbers on the ledger line. Education is not just an expense—it's an investment. In fact, it is one of the most critical investments in the future that we, as a Nation, can make. America cannot win the race for the future without investing in education—it's that simple.”

Secretary Duncan highlighted several investments in the President’s Budget proposal including his focus on early childhood and early learning. He also specifically urged Congress to reject the 8% across the board sequestration cuts which are slated to be in place for the next 9 years.

CEC was pleased to hear the Secretary speak out on these important issues and continues to urge members of Congress to reject the coming 9 years of Sequestration. Want to join us? Know your zipcode? Then use CEC’s Legislative Action Center to contact your members of Congress and tell them to invest in education.

Want to know more about what Secretary Duncan told Congress today? Read his statement or watch the full hearing.

Not sure what “sequestration” is? Read our 1 page explainer!

Curious about where we are in the budget process? Read our 1 page quick explanation!

Tune in Today to Hear about Early Learning Priorities from the U.S. Departments of Education, and Health and Human Services

Later today, at 4:00 p.m. ET, Secretary Duncan and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will host a conference call on the Administration’s commitment to early learning. This comes as part of the President’s education priorities defined in the budget released by the administration earlier this week, focusing in particular on the President’s plan to make high quality preschool available to every child in America.

Then, for a more in dept conversation, tune in on April 19, at 12:30 p.m. ET, when senior staff from both agencies will host an in-person briefing to delve deeper into the plan.  The briefing will also be live streamed. 

To register for the call and/or the briefing, click here.

President’s Budget Proposal Includes Few Increases for Special Education; Expands Investment in Preschool and Overall Education Budget

Today, President Obama released his fiscal year 2014 budget which proposes to increase spending on education programs by 4.5% and repeals the devastating, automatic across-the-board cuts known as sequestration which stripped over $600 million from special education programs. 

While the President’s proposal increases the overall investment in education, funding levels for special education programs would largely remain the same as pre-sequestration funding amounts with a few important exceptions (see full list of programs below).  Funding for IDEA represents 18% of the president’s education budget request.    

• IDEA’s grants to states programs for school aged children would be level funded at $11.6 billion,
• IDEA’s infants and toddlers with disabilities program would be increased by $20 million to $462.7 million,
• IDEA’s preschool program would be level funded at $372.6 million,
• IDEA’s state personnel development grants would be increased by $1.1 million to $45 million,
• IDEA’s personnel preparation grants would be decreased by $2.5 million to $85.8 million,
• IDEA’s technical assistance and dissemination grants would be level funded at $46.8 million,
• IDEA’s parent information centers would be level funded at $28.9 million,
• IDEA’s educational technology, media, and materials would be level funded at $29.6 million,
• Special education research would be increased by $10 million to $59.9 million,
• Special education studies and evaluations would be level funded at $11.4 million.

*It is important to note that these funding comparisons do not take into account the over 5% across-the-board cut imposed by sequestration.  These figures come directly from the U.S. Department of Education’s budget materials. 

While there are aspects of the President’s budget that CEC commends – such as the elimination of sequestration, increases to IDEA’s early intervention and special education research programs – we are greatly concerned that there wasn’t a greater investment in all IDEA programs.   School districts rely on a healthy federal investment in special education to support the implementation of services and supports for students with disabilities.  Unfortunately, the President’s proposal does little to fulfill the federal government’s commitment to fully funding IDEA established in 1975 and never met. CEC will continue to actively advocate to increase funding for all IDEA programs.  If you would like to help us advocate, please let us know by emailing pubpol@cec.sped.org – we need a strong collective voice!!

Other highlights of the President’s proposal include:

• Preschool for All: A new early learning initiative in which the president is proposing $75 billion in over 10 years to provide high-quality, full-day preschool to all 4-year-olds from families whose incomes are at or below 200 percent of the poverty line; with an additional $750 million would be dedicated to states to help build capacity for implementing such programs.  This program would be paid for by increasing the tobacco tax. 
• Reducing School and Community Violence:  To compliment the President’s Now is the Time proposal, which was created in response to the tragedy in Newtown, the budget proposal includes:  $30 million for emergency management grants, $50 million for school climate transformation grants, and $25 million for project prevention grants, a new initiative that would enable school districts with high levels of violence to provide social and emotional supports and mental health services. 
• High School Redesign:  This new initiative proposes $300 million for a competitive grant program to support partnerships between school districts, institutions of higher education, and business, industry, nonprofits and community-based organizations to redesign high schools. 
• STEM Initiatives: The President is proposing several new initiatives to address the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) including $150 million for STEM Innovation Networks to support STEM educators, $80 million for STEM Teacher Pathways to prepare 100,000 new STEM teachers, and $35 million for STEM Master Teacher Corps. 

It is important to note that the President’s budget proposal is not law and is simply an illustration of the Administration’s priorities.  The budget and appropriations process is now underway in Congress and will continue in the months to come.  Stay tuned for updated information! 

More information on the President’s education budget.

CEC, DEC Call On President to Address Young Children with Disabilities in Early Learning Proposals

In a letter to President Obama, CEC, together with its Division on Early Childhood, have called on the Administration to support meaningful partnerships between pre-kindergarten and other early learning proposals and programs that serve young children with disabilities, namely IDEA’s early intervention and preschool programs.  

The CEC and DEC letter comes in response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech, whereby he called for expanding access to pre-kindergarten and the Administration’s early education plan, which was released on February 14, 2013.  CEC and DEC applaud the Administration for its leadership and commitment to supporting a continuum of high-quality early learning opportunities for children from birth to age five.

The Administration’s early education plan highlighted many areas of critical importance to implementing a coordinated approach to providing early learning opportunities, including:

• Improve quality and expanding access to preschool to enable all low- and moderate-income four-year olds from families at or below 200% of poverty. 

• Focus on high-quality programs through state-level standards for early learning, qualified preschool teachers, and a plan to implement data and assessment systems. 

• Expand the availability of full-day kindergarten.

• Grow the federal investment in the Head Start program  

• Launch a new Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership program

• Expand the evidenced-based home visiting initiative

• New investments to expand access and quality in the Child Care and Development Block Grant

Although this plan represents a starting point, CEC and DEC have expressed the importance of involving programs that serve infants, toddlers, and young children with disabilities at the forefront of planning and during the program implementation to ensure that young children with disabilities have meaningful access to early learning programs. 

Additionally, CEC and DEC call on the Administration to increase the investment in both IDEA’s early intervention (Part C) and preschool (sec. 619) programs.  The President is expected to unveil his budget to Congress during the week of April 8. 

Check back for regular updates as the Administration’s proposal evolves!