“I commend Labor Secretary Hilda Solis for suspending this destructive midnight regulation that slashed already low wages for farm workers,” said Miller. “I look forward to working with the Obama administration to improve all our nation’s guest worker programs by increasing oversight and labor protections for guest workers and U.S. workers alike.”   

The Bush regulation affects workers in the U.S. Department of Labor’s H-2A guest worker program. Under this program employers are allowed to hire foreign workers only if they can’t first find American workers, and only if the wages and working conditions they provide don’t have a negative impact on U.S. workers. Last year the committee heard testimony from witnesses about fraud and abuse in guest worker programs under the Bush administration’s watch.

Among other things, the December regulation weakened oversight of the H-2A program, making it much easier for employers to hire foreign workers over available American workers.

The suspension will go into effect in 30 days.

For more information on the regulation, click here.

The U.S. Department of Education currently operates two programs that provide borrowers with the same federal student loans, and with the same interest rates, terms and conditions.

One is the federally guaranteed student loan program – or FFELP – under which private companies make loans to students and receive federal subsidies. These loans are virtually risk-free for lenders because they get reimbursed by taxpayers when borrowers default on their loans. The other is the Direct Loan program, under which the federal government offers loans directly to students using Treasury capital. It’s the cheaper of the two for taxpayers.

Last year, as the credit markets froze, many lenders had trouble financing their lending activity, putting the loans that millions of students and families were depending on in jeopardy.

To ensure that no eligible student or parent was denied a loan, Congress enacted the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. This temporary program allowed the Education Secretary to purchase student loans made by FFELP lenders, but only in a manner that resulted in no additional costs to taxpayers and only if lenders used this capital to continue making new loans to students. The program is set to expire in 2010.

President Obama’s FY 2010 budget proposes increasing the Pell Grant scholarship and other forms of college aid for low- and middle-income students by almost $100 billion over ten years, at no new cost to taxpayers. His plan would be paid for by originating all new federal student loans through the Direct Loan program starting in 2010. According to preliminary estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, this would save $94 billion over the next decade.

“Reliable access to student loans is important not just for our students and their families, but also for our entire economy,” said Robert M. Shireman, the U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Education. “We have seen the guaranteed Federal student loan system, known as the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, come close to collapse this past year. Instead of maintaining this elaborate web of programs designed to prop up the FFEL program, we should originate 100% of new loans through the less costly Direct Loan program.”

Jack Remondi, the Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Sallie Mae, agreed that whatever policy is pursued, vast changes are needed to stabilize the student loan programs. “Sallie Mae fully supports the Administration’s objectives of assuring stable funding of the federal student loan program while generating tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer savings that can be used to increase need-based grant aid for students, specifically to put the Pell Grant program on stable footing,” he said.

Contrary to claims from critics, it would be fairly easy and inexpensive for colleges and universities that participate in FFELP to switch to Direct Loans, partly because schools would be able use the same on-site system currently used to administer Pell Grant scholarships.

Pennsylvania State University, formerly a FFELP school, switched to Direct Loans last March to protect its 38,000 students’ access to loans amidst the credit crunch.

“Direct Loans offered a logical alternative to the FFEL Program in light of our circumstances,” said Anna M. Griswold, the university’s Assistant Vice President for Undergraduate Education. “It is testimony to the streamlined nature of the direct loan process and the single point of contact model it represents, that we were able to convert fairly quickly. With adequate lead time, even most of the smaller schools will likely find converting to Direct Loans a manageable process.”

She added that Penn State did not have to hire extra staff, or increase its budget resources, during this switch and that Direct Loans offered better loan repayment and loan forgiveness options for students.

Campuses in the California State University System have found it easier for schools to administer, simpler for students and parents, and faster at originating and disbursing loans than FFELP, reported Charles B. Reed, the Chancellor of the system.

“Stability and reliability in a campus’s student loan program is tremendously important to our students and institutions,” he said. “Given this situation, coupled with the ready availability of a proven alternative in Direct Lending, beginning last year I strongly encouraged all of our remaining FFEL campuses to make the switch to Direct Lending.”

The Obama proposal would also maintain a role for the private sector by allowing companies to compete for contracts to service these loans. This competitive bidding process would result in the best customer service for borrowers by harnessing the private sector’s most innovative and consumer-friendly practices.

Miller said the committee will continue to closely examine proposals to determine the best policy for students, families and taxpayers.

To view all of the testimonies from today’s hearing, click here.

For more information on President Obama’s proposal, click here. ###

Duncan said that transforming the nation’s education system was fundamental to building a lasting economic recovery.

“Our agenda from early childhood through 12th grade is focused on helping states do the right thing. And that’s appropriate because states are responsible for establishing systems of education through the 12th grade,” said Duncan. “It’s our role to make it a national priority to reform schools and help states and districts do that.”  Duncan singled out the dropout crisis as a problem and urged immediate action. Last week, the Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on this topic.



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Duncan discussed the historic $100 billion education investment included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

“Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we have laid the groundwork for reform on the K-12 level and made an early down payment on expanding access to early childhood education and increasing student aid for college students.”

The ARRA includes a $39.6 billion state fiscal stabilization fund for states to use to backfill budget cuts, stave off teacher layoffs and upgrade, modernize and repair school facilities. In order to be eligible to receive the funds, states must meet four assurances that they are making progress on reforms: ensuring excellent teachers are placed in their neediest classrooms, improving the quality of assessments, developing data systems to give timely information on what’s happening in the nation’s schools and fixing their lowest-performing schools.

The law also creates a $5 billion fund for competitive grants for a “Race to the Top Fund” that will allow the Secretary to reward and encourage innovation “around the four pillars of reform outlined in the stabilization fund.”

Duncan also outlined President Obama’s FY 2010 education budget priorities, which include investing in early childhood education, literacy and expanding support for teachers.  

In addition, Duncan highlighted President Obama’s commitment to making college more affordable and accessible for American families. The President’s FY 2010 budget includes a proposal to increase the Pell Grant scholarship for students by almost $100 billion over ten years, at no additional cost to taxpayers. His plan would be paid for by making the federal government the sole originator of all new federal student loans beginning in the 2010 school year, a move that would make student loans more reliable, efficient and cost-effective for students, families and taxpayers.

“President Obama has set a goal that, by 2020, the United States once again will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. That’s an achievable goal but, to do that, we have to make college affordable. As federal policymakers, we need to improve preparation for college and expand college access and completion by increasing financial aid so that students of all income levels can pay for college without taking on a mountain of debt.”

On Thursday, the committee will hear more from the Department of Education at a hearing to examine proposals for increasing student aid through reforming the student loan programs. Lenders and colleges and universities, and an economist will also testify.

A GAO investigation released yesterday at a committee hearing, and conducted at the request of U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the committee’s chairman, uncovered hundreds of allegations of abusive uses of seclusion and restraint practices on schoolchildren over the past two decades. In at least twenty of those cases, this abuse resulted in the death of a child.

Currently, there are no federal laws that govern the use of seclusion and restraint in schools. State regulation and oversight varies greatly; nineteen states have no such laws.

Specifically, Secretary Duncan announced that he is asking all state school chiefs to submit their plans for using seclusion, restraint and other practices for physical intervention in their schools. His announcement came at the beginning of a hearing to discuss the Obama administration’s plans for transforming education in America.

“Children’s safety has to be our number one concern before we begin to think about educating them and doing other things,” said Duncan. “And as we go into the summer and prepare for next school year I want to make sure that as we go into next school year that every state has a real clear plan as to how to do this in a way that makes sense. And doesn’t jeopardize, doesn’t endanger children.”

To watch the full video of his announcement, click here.

Miller praised the Secretary for taking quick action on a first step toward improving federal oversight. The committee will continue working with GAO and the Obama administration on a comprehensive plan to keep school communities safe.

The Obama administration has indicated it plans to meet with stakeholders about these abuses in the coming weeks.



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For more information on yesterday’s hearing, click here.

“GAO’s report shows that in too many cases, a child’s life wound up being threatened even though that child was not a threat to others,” said Miller. “This behavior, in some instances, looks like torture. The current situation is unacceptable and cannot continue.”

Seclusion, as the term is used in this context, means the act of involuntarily confining a student in an area by himself. Restraint is used to restrict an individual’s freedom of movement. As GAO explained today, restraint can become fatal when it blocks air to the lungs. In some of the cases examined, ropes, duct tape, chairs with straps and bungee cords were used to retrain or isolate young children.

Unlike in hospitals, other health care facilities and most non-medical community-based facilities that receive federal funding, there are currently no federal laws that restrict the use of seclusion and restraint in public or private schools. State regulation and oversight varies greatly. Nineteen states have no laws governing the appropriate use of seclusion and restraint in schools.

“Cedric struggled as he was being held in his chair, so the teacher put him in a face down, or in a prone restraint, and sat on him,” said Toni Price, whose son Cedric was killed after a teacher restrained him and laid on top of him for trying to leave his classroom. “He struggled and said repeatedly: ‘I can’t breathe.’  Shortly after that, he stopped speaking and he stopped struggling.”

In half of the cases GAO studied, the teachers or school staff involved with the abuse continued to teach, either in the same school system or a new one.

Although Cedric’s death was ruled a homicide, the teacher involved continues to teach students with disabilities, only now in Virginia, a different state than where Cedric was killed. GAO said today that they have referred the case to the Virginia Department of Education. Today the American Association of School Administrators announced that the school district is investigating the case and the teacher has been placed on leave.

GAO also found that, more often than not, teachers and staff who used seclusion and restraint in abusive ways had not been properly trained. These practices were often being used as a routine disciplinary tactic, rather than in response to an emergency.

Ann Gaydos was never told that teachers were using restraint tactics on her daughter, Paige, until she came home with bruises:

“Within a week at her new school, she came home bruised and told me, ‘Mommy, my teacher hurt me and I couldn’t breathe.’ We were shocked that we had not been informed by the school of this use of force that had injured our daughter, and that such force could so easily be used for something as small as playing with a loose tooth in time out.”

A school aide who came forward to warn Paige’s parents that this abuse was happening to other students was ostracized by fellow staff.




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It is impossible to determine the full extent to which seclusion and restraint practices are used in schools because there is no centralized reporting system. The few states that do collect data suggest these methods are used frequently. During the last school year alone, Texas and California documented over 33,000 incidents in which seclusion and restraint were used on students in public and private schools.

“Since these reports are often the result of parent complaints or media reports, we do not know how many times these procedures are inappropriately employed with students,” said Dr. Reece L. Peterson, a Professor of Special Education at the University of Nebraska. “Yet there does appear to be a substantial number of these situations, and they appear to be scattered across the United States.”  

Yesterday, the Obama administration indicated it plans to meet with stakeholders to address these abuses.

Miller said that today’s hearing makes clear that legislation is needed to keep students safe.

“We plan to look at this closely, with the Obama administration, to determine whether federal guidance is warranted. In light of this report, we encourage leaders of all of our nation’s schools who are working hard every day to educate our kids to immediately review their policies regarding restraint and seclusion.”

Miller requested the GAO investigation in January 2009, after the National Disability Rights Network released a report highlighting these abuses.

“I am thankful that under Secretary Solis’ leadership, the Department has decided to withdraw this proposed rule - which was developed in secrecy and without the input of health and safety experts,” said Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee. “The Secretary recognizes that the safety of workers is our top priority, and to do this we must be in the business of putting in place needed health and safety standards.”

The Washington Post reported last year on a proposal being developed by political appointees in secret with little consultation with career agency health and safety experts. The proposal would have added additional red tape to an already slow regulatory process.

Education and Labor Committee members introduced legislation last July to prevent the Department of Labor from finalizing the regulation. The Workforce Protections Subcommittee held a hearing on the proposal in September.

For more information on the proposal, click here.

America’s children currently have a one in five risk of becoming obese before reaching kindergarten.

The healthy or unhealthy habits children develop during their earliest years can last a lifetime. An obese teenager, for example, has an 80 percent chance of being an obese adult.

“The link between early behaviors and obesity later in life leads to the conclusion that successful obesity prevention strategies must begin at a very young age. In fact, they should begin prenatally and in the first hour of life,” said Dr. Lorrene Ritchie, director of the Atkins Center for Weight and Health at the University of California, Berkeley. “If we do not take bold steps now to improve nutrition and prevent obesity, the present generation of young children will likely be the first in our nation’s history to live a shorter life than their parents.”

Schools and other community based programs such as WIC, a comprehensive health and wellness  program for women and children who are at nutritional risk,  are uniquely placed to use integrated approaches to teach students and families about healthy living and give them the opportunity to experience it through integrated education programs, nutritious meals, and physical education.

Nancy Copperman, director of the Public Health Initiative at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Long Island, told the committee about their partnership with schools called the Activity Works Program. The program is focused on integrating physical activity into the classroom by creating CDs and DVDs that combine education with getting children moving.

Witnesses urged lawmakers to apply the lessons from successful programs as it works to improve federal child nutrition laws, so that more children have access to programs that promote physical health and sound nutrition. Reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act is one of several priorities for the House Education and Labor Committee for the 111th Congress.

“While these successes are significant, working with one community, one school, or one childcare provider at a time is not going to end the obesity epidemic,” said First Lady of New York, Michelle Paterson of programs in New York.  “We need federal policies, standards, regulations and commitments that help make the healthy option the easy choice for New Yorkers and all Americans.”

The lawmakers highlighted the benefits today – almost a month and a half early – to increase public awareness as students prepare to graduate college and families work to finalize their financial aid award packages for the coming year.

“With graduation season here and families currently weighing next year’s financial aid packages, it’s critical for students, families and workers to know – right now – that additional relief is on the way,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and the author of the law. “Every little bit of help counts in this economy. These benefits will make a serious difference for college students and borrowers working hard to pay for college or pay down their student loan debt.”

“The federal government must help colleges and universities continue to prepare people to enter the work force and ensure that higher-education institutions remain economic engines for their communities and regions,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), a member of the committee and a former college provost. “The dream of a college education is dependent upon access and affordability, both of which should be pillars of our long-term economic recovery plans.”

Of the 1.2 million jobs lost last year, 60 percent were held by workers aged 25 or younger. Their wages may also suffer: Economists have found that workers who graduated during recessions typically earn less over a lifetime than workers who graduate in better economic times. Many borrowers already spend high percentages of their paychecks making student loan payments – and it’s only likely to get worse.

Beginning July 1, for the first time, students and borrowers will be able to participate in a new Income-Based Repayment program that caps their monthly loan payments at just 15 percent of their discretionary income. Any current or future borrower whose loan payments exceed 15 percent of their discretionary income will be eligible. After 25 years in the program, borrowers’ debts will be completely forgiven.

Other benefits include:

• Cheaper interest rates on need-based (subsidized) federal student loans. On July 1, interest rates on these loans will continue to drop, from 6 percent to 5.6 percent. This is the second of four annual cuts in this interest rate; it will continue to drop until it reaches 3.4 percent in 2011. Nationwide, about 5.5 million students take out subsidized student loans each year.

• Higher Pell Grant scholarships for low- and moderate-income students. Due to funding boosts provided by both the College Cost Reduction and Access Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the maximum Pell Grant scholarship for the 2009-2010 school year will be $5,350 – more than $600 above last year’s award. About 6 million students receive this scholarship each year.

 
In addition, students and borrowers will be able to continue to take advantage of other recent programs enacted under the law that will make it easier for graduates to go into public service fields while grappling with student debt.

To encourage more students to become teachers, the law provides up-front tuition assistance, known as TEACH Grants, of $4,000 a year – for a maximum of $16,000 – to students who commit to teaching high need subject areas in high need schools for four years after graduation. (These grants first went into effect for the 2008-2009 school year.)

Graduates who enter into public service careers, such as teachers, public defenders and prosecutors, firefighters, nurses, non-profit workers and more, will be eligible for complete loan forgiveness after 10 years of qualifying public service and loan payments. (This program began on October 1, 2007.)

To view a fact sheet on these various benefits, click here.

For more specific information on how the new Income-Based Repayment program will work and who will qualify, click here.

For more information on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, click here.

For more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, click here.

The committee obtained a draft PBGC Inspector General report that alleges Millard may have had knowingly inappropriate contacts with Wall Street firms, some of which were awarded contracts to advise PBGC as it reallocated a portion of PBGC’s then $48.4 billion investment portfolio. PBGC solicited bids for these contracts to implement the new investment policy the former PBGC board approved in February 2008. The policy would, among other things, dramatically increase PBGC’s exposure to the stock market. The Inspector General’s report also raises serious questions about whether Millard had contacts with firms where he may have been seeking employment.

To read the PBGC Inspector General report, click here.

Last year, the committee investigated an outside consultant’s report – commissioned by PBGC – that raised series questions about the agency’s management and governance practices.

For more information on the committee’s work, click here.

“All students and teachers deserve safe and healthy learning environments, but too often, their schools are literally falling apart,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and one of the bill’s sponsors. “This legislation is a victory for students, workers and our planet. It will help improve educational opportunities and boost student achievement, it will help transition us toward a green economy by making our classrooms more environmentally-friendly, and it will get Americans back to work by creating good-paying, clean energy jobs.”

"Many of our nation’s schools are in disrepair, creating an unsafe and unhealthy classroom environment that makes it more difficult to learn,” said U.S. Rep. Dale E. Kildee (D-MI), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Secondary and Elementary Education.  “This legislation will modernize and improve our educational facilities, providing a healthier learning and working climate for our students and teachers. Not only will this benefit our local schools, but it will create good jobs in our communities while helping to clean up the environment.”

“Today was a big step in the right direction—toward investing in our children, investing in our environment, and investing in long-term economic growth,” U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY) said. “How we educate our children today affects how our nation performs for generations to come, so it is absolutely unacceptable that some of our children are learning in schools with leaking roofs, asbestos, falling plaster, and faulty wiring.  I am so pleased that Congress stood today with Chairman Miller, Chairman Kildee, Congressman Loebsack, and me to fix our schools and secure the future of our great nation.”

“Our children deserve the best from us, and that includes all the educational advantages we can provide,” said U.S. Rep. Loebsack (D-IA). “I have been working on “greening” our schools since I have been a Member of Congress. Modernizing our school facilities keeps our students healthy and improves their academic performance. Repairing and upgrading our schools creates and saves good paying jobs while providing lasting long-term energy cost savings for taxpayers. Everything about green schools is a win-win for our taxpayers, our teachers, and most importantly, our children.”

According to recent estimates, the nation’s schools are hundreds of billions of dollars short of what it would take to bring them into good condition. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. schools a “D” on its national infrastructure report card for this year. A recent report by the American Federation of Teachers estimates it would cost almost $255 billion to fully renovate and repair all the schools in the country. Over the last eight years, the Bush administration provided almost no direct general federal funding for school improvements.

H.R. 2187 would authorize $6.4 billion for school renovation and modernization projects for fiscal year 2010, and would ensure that school districts quickly receive funds for projects that improve schools’ teaching and learning climates, health and safety, and energy efficiency.

To further encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources in schools, the legislation would require a percentage of funds be used for school improvement projects that meet widely recognized green building standards. It would require that 100 percent of the funds go toward green projects by 2015 – the final year of funding under the bill.

The legislation would also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and help improve local economies. According to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute, the legislation would support 136,000 jobs. Recent studies also show that school quality has a direct, positive impact on residential property values and can improve a community’s ability to attract businesses and workers. The legislation also applies Davis-Bacon protections to all grants for modernization and renovation projects guaranteeing fair wages and benefits for workers.

Congress recently endorsed this type of investment by enacting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allows school districts to use funds they receive under the state fiscal stabilization fund for school modernization, renovation and repair projects.

The legislation has received broad support including the Council of the Great City Schools, American Association of School Administrators, Rebuild America's Schools, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, AFL-CIO, and the U.S. Green Building Council. Congress passed H.R. 3021, similar legislation, last summer.

“We thank President Obama for convening this productive meeting and Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer for their strong leadership. As the Speaker said, we are ready to get the job done. We look forward to working with the administration and all of our colleagues in the House to pass a strong health care reform bill by the end of July that meets President Obama's principles: reining in skyrocketing costs, guaranteeing patients’ choice in selecting their health care plans and doctors, and ensuring that everyone has access to quality and affordable coverage that meets their needs.”

The chairmen have pledged to work together in an unprecedented way, as one committee, to pass a bill in the House before the August recess. To view their original letter to the President outlining this goal, click here.

“The crisis we’re seeing in our nation’s high schools is real, it’s urgent, and it must be fixed,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the committee. “It’s become increasingly clear that addressing this dropout crisis is one of the most important things we can do to turn our economy around and regain our competitive footing for good. We have a moral and economic obligation to ensure that, at a minimum, every student in this country can graduate high school prepared to succeed in college or the workforce. Our intent is to address this problem in this Congress in the most comprehensive way possible.”
Nationwide, 7,000 students drop out every day and only about 70 percent of students graduate from high school with a regular high school diploma. Two thousand high schools in the U.S. produce more than half of all dropouts and a recent study suggests that in the 50 largest cities, only 53 percent of students graduate on time.  Research shows that poor and minority children attend these so-called “dropout factories” – the 2,000 schools that produce more than 50 percent of our nation’s dropouts – at significantly higher rates.

Studies also highlight the financial impact of the nation’s dropout rates. A recent report by the McKinsey Corporation showed that if minority student performance had reached white students by 1998, the GDP in 2009 would have been between $310 billion and $525 billion higher – or approximately 2 to 4 percent of GDP. The report also says the achievement gaps in this country are the same as having “a permanent national recession.

“Currently this Congress is grappling with massive economic problems. But the enormous cost of bailing out the banks, financial institutions, the auto industry, and AIG is still less than the economic cost of just five years of dropouts in the United States,” said Bob Wise, president, Alliance for Excellent Education and the former Governor of West Virginia. “That is why I believe that the ultimate economic stimulus package is a diploma.”

Cutting the dropout rate in half would yield $45 billion annually in new federal tax revenues or cost savings, according to a recent report by Columbia University’s Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College.



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The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 90 percent of new high-growth, high-wage jobs will require some level of postsecondary education.

Cutting the dropout rate in half would yield $45 billion annually in new federal tax revenues or cost savings, according to a recent report by Columbia University’s Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 90 percent of new high-growth, high-wage jobs will require some level of postsecondary education.

“Simply put, the world has changed and there is no work for high school dropouts,” said Dr. Robert Balfanz, Ph. D, a research scientist at the Johns Hopkins University. “To meet its graduation challenge, the nation must find a solution for its dropout factories.”

Balfanz recent research findings show “it is often possible to identify as early as sixth grade up to half of the students who, absent effective interventions, will not graduate, and up to 80 percent by the ninth grade.”

Witnesses also presented data which shows African-America, Latino, American Indian and Alaska Native high school students have a far lower chance of graduating on time with a regular diploma.

“I echo the likes of Secretary Duncan and other education leaders when I say that education is the most important American civil rights issue of the 21st century,” said Michael Wotorson, executive director of the Campaign for High School Equity. “The one consistency in our education system is in our high schools that fail to provide students of color and youth from low-income neighborhoods with the high-quality education they need to succeed in college and in the modern workplace.”

Witnesses all agreed that a common core of rigorous internationally benchmarked standards will help ensure all students graduate career and college ready.

 “We do not have to live in a country where three out of 10 students do not graduate on time, and where on-time graduation for minority students is a 50-50 proposition,” said Marguerite Kondracke, President and CEO of America’s Promise Alliance. “We have solutions on the ground, and legislative proposals that will bring them to scale.”

Other witnesses called for reforms that to make schools and teachers more accountable to their students.

Scott Gordon, the CEO of Mastery Charter Schools in Philadelphia, where 47 percent of the city’s public school first graders graduate from high school, discussed strategies that help his school turn around high dropout rates and low performance.  The average scores for Mastery students increased 35 points per grade in every subject and violence decreased by 85 percent. The schools’ turnover rates dropped a third. 

He urged teachers to take more responsibility for the outcomes of their students, and urged administrators and state officials to reward teachers accordingly.

“The structure of the turnarounds required that Mastery continue operating as a neighborhood schools and enroll all of the students currently attending.  So, in many ways these turnaround schools are perfect controlled experiments on school reform,” said Gordon. “The same students, the same neighborhood, the same building – the only variable that changed was the adults.”

“I also applaud President Obama, and Secretaries Duncan and Solis for launching a new user-friendly website to help Americans understand and take advantages of these various student aid benefits. Their proactive leadership will open up new opportunities that will empower students and workers to become part our nation’s recovery.  I look forward to working with them to continue making college more affordable and getting our economy back on track.”

Currently, jobless Americans who receive unemployment benefits cannot keep those benefits if they go to college and receive federal financial aid. President Obama’s proposal will allow these workers to maintain those benefits if they enroll in college. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Congress increased the Pell Grant scholarship to $5,350 for the 2009-2010 school year – an increase of more than $600 its current level.

Under current law, financial aid offers are allowed to use unemployment benefits as proof that a family’s job status has changed, even if their financial aid forms list an old income level, and adjust their student aid award package accordingly.

For more information, visit www.opportunity.gov. 

“President Obama is serious about transforming our economy and strengthening our middle class and his budget shows it. This budget backs up his promises to reverse years of damaging policies that undermined the health and safety of our nation’s workers. It will put the success of our children first, by investing in educational opportunities that will prepare every American to compete globally and expanding access to college. It will help get our fiscal health in order by finally fixing our broken health care system and providing all Americans with affordable, quality health care coverage. It will build a clean energy economy that opens up new job opportunities for Americans and encourages innovation.  I look forward to working with his administration and Congress to put this smart and optimistic roadmap for our future into action.”

For more information on the FY2010 Education budget, click here.

Fore more information on the FY2010 Labor budget, click here.

“This outbreak has proven that a pandemic can have a ripple effect on our communities,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.  “In many cases, our morphing public health needs simply don’t align with our education and business needs. Especially in this economy, it’s critical to ensure that when an outbreak hits, students can keep learning and businesses and workers can continue to help move our economy forward.”

While proper planning by schools and businesses and a well-coordinated response by the Obama administration have been effective in helping reduce the threat of this outbreak, additional tools are needed to better protect school and workplace environments from future, imminent pandemics. Experts are predicting that a stronger strain of the H1N1 virus or a similar strain could hit again this fall.

“While events have progressed with great speed, this will be a marathon, not a sprint,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the Interim Deputy Director for Science and Program at the Centers for Disease Control. “Even if this outbreak yet proves to be less serious than we might have initially feared, we can anticipate that we may have a subsequent or follow-on outbreak several months down the road.”

Witnesses urged the importance of ensuring that workers on the frontlines of a pandemic, such as health care workers and first responders, must be able to stay healthy and on the job when an outbreak hits.



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“Our frontline healthcare workers are the foundation upon which our health care system is built,” said Jordan Barab, the Acting Assistant Secretary, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “If they are not able to work due to illness, or unwilling to work due to fears for their health, individual patients and the country’s entire health care structure will suffer.”

A recent survey of almost 200,000 U.S. health care workers found that 57 percent of these workers had not been provided training on pandemic flu.  More than half of these workers felt that their facility was not “ready for most things” that could arise in a flu pandemic.  And only 33 percent thought that most health care workers would report to work during an actual flu pandemic.

“Currently there is no comprehensive federal standard to require employers to protect health care workers from an airborne virus like H1N1 or tuberculosis,” said Miguel Antonio Garcia, a registered nurse in Los Angeles who has been treating patients for the current outbreak. “Protecting these workers will preserve our surge capacity to treat the infected.”

Garcia also emphasized the need for better protective equipment for health care workers, like respirators specifically designed to protect against transmissible airborne viruses.

While OSHA has issued guidance and even has some specific standards relevant to pandemic flu, the agency does not have a mandatory standard that comprehensively addresses the workplace hazards posed by airborne transmissible diseases.

Current federal sick leave policies also present significant challenges for workers, both when dealing with their own health and safety and when finding care for their children if schools close.

The Family Medical Leave Act does not require employers to provide paid sick leave benefits, and not all workers quality for FMLA leave. Fifty-seven million Americans have no paid sick leave, including as many as 86 percent of food service workers. Almost 100 million Americans have no paid sick leave to care for a child.  

Even a worker who does have coverage has no right to leave to take care of a non-infected child whose school was closed due to an outbreak.

Many closed schools have yet to re-open. As of Tuesday, approximately 726 schools had closed, affecting 468,000 students, said Bill Modzeleski, the Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education. By Wednesday 140 schools had re-opened. The Department also anticipates that 278 schools will have reopened by today, returning 150,000 children to school.

While communication has been strong between school districts and federal, state and local public health and education agencies throughout this outbreak, the current lack of a central reporting system has made it harder for some officials to track school closures.

“We discovered that we did not have a system in place to track and report the individual schools that had been ordered to dismiss students due to H1N1. My office is working with the County Offices of Education to developing an easy-to-use reporting process so that the state could be kept up to date about any school impacted by an order to dismiss,” said Jack O'Connell, the Superintendent of Public Instruction for California Department of Education, where many of the nation’s first school closures occurred. He also cited a shortage of school nurses as an obstacle to fighting the outbreak on campuses.

For more information about protecting health care workers from pandemic flu, click here.

“For too long, students and teachers have suffered in school buildings that are literally crumbling, posing direct threats to their safety, health and learning,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the Committee. “This legislation presents us with a vital opportunity to help boost student achievement, enhance teachers’ effectiveness, and create good jobs that transition us toward a clean energy economy – all at once.”

"Many of our nation’s schools are in disrepair, creating an unsafe and unhealthy classroom environment that makes it more difficult to learn,” said U.S. Rep. Dale E. Kildee (D-MI), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Secondary and Elementary Education.  “This legislation will modernize and improve our educational facilities, providing a healthier learning and working climate for our students and teachers. Not only will this benefit our local schools, but it will create good jobs in our communities while helping to clean up the environment.”

“Everything about the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act makes sense,” said U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA). “By modernizing our schools to make them more energy efficient, we increase academic performance, student health, teacher retention, and cost savings for our schools while creating good paying construction jobs. That’s why I have been an advocate for Green Schools since I have been a Member of Congress, and I am pleased that we are moving forward to provide our children with a world class education in a safe, environmentally friendly learning environment.

For years, schools have been hundreds of billions of dollars short of what it would take to bring them into good condition, in part because the Bush administration provided almost no direct federal funding for school improvements over the last eight years.  In 2009, the American Civil Society of Engineers gave U.S. schools a “D” on its national infrastructure report card. According to a recent report by the American Federation of Teachers, it would cost almost $255 billion to fully renovate and repair all the schools in the country.

Congress recently endorsed this type of investment by enacting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allows school districts to use funds they receive under the state fiscal stabilization fund for school modernization, renovation and repair projects.

H.R. 2187 would authorize $6.4 billion for school renovation and modernization projects for fiscal year 2010, and would ensure that school districts quickly receive funds for projects that improve schools’ teaching and learning climates, health and safety, and energy efficiency.

To further encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources in schools, the legislation would require a percentage of funds be used for school improvement projects that meet widely recognized green building standards. It would require that 100 percent of the funds go toward green projects by 2015 – the final year of funding under the bill.

The legislation would also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and help improve local economies. According to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute, the legislation would support 136,000 jobs. Recent studies also show that school quality has a direct, positive impact on residential property values and can improve a community’s ability to attract businesses and workers.

Congress passed H.R. 3021, similar legislation, last summer.