Congress Clears "No Child Left Behind" K-12 Legislation

The log jam that has tied up the major education bill of the 107th Congress, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, has has finally been cleared. A House/Senate Conference Committee resolved the last issues in dispute, and the House approved the compromise legislation on December 13th. The Senate approved the final bill on December 18th, and the President is expected to sign the legislation at a ceremony early this year.

Passage of this bill has been a priority of President Bush’s, who repeatedly called on Congress to redouble efforts to get the legislation to his desk before the end of the year. Of concern to community colleges, the bill contains alternative pathways to certification for elementary and secondary teachers. As the teacher shortage becomes more severe, it is expected that more teachers will be recruited and trained through non-traditional methods. Community colleges currently train many of these individuals who chose to switch careers and become teachers. Additionally, a component that the President campaigned on, testing students annually to gauge progress, was included in both the House and Senate versions of the bill. Another element the President campaigned on, providing vouchers to students in failing schools, was not included in either bill, and the Administration seems to have abandoned that proposal.

Congress Clears Bill Easing Hope Reporting Requirements

The Senate joined the House of Representatives in passing H.R. 3346, a bill championed by Representative Don Manzullo (R-IL), in the waning hours of last month's session, that simplifies the 1098-T reporting requirements related to both the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits. The bill embodies the recommendations made by the higher education community (including ACCT) on how to lessen the administrative and cost burdens associated with the credits enacted in 1997.

Key provisions of the H.R. 3346 include: (1) repealing the requirement on colleges to collect and report information to taxpayers who may claim the student as a dependent; (2) allowing institutions to report either aggregate amounts of qualified tuition and expenses paid by or on behalf of the student or billed to the student; and (3) clarifying that institutions only need to report adjustments to amounts reported in prior years, rather than on all refunds and reimbursements to students.

This legislation would effectively lock in place the relaxed reporting requirements issued by the Internal Revenue Service at the urging of ACCT and others over the past several years.

The Internal Revenue Service is expected to issue revised regulations soon in keeping with the new changes to the reporting rules. It is expected that there will be no required reporting of financial information until tax year 2003 -- which is the effective date for the new rules set forth in HR 3346.

FCC Decision Ensures Continuation of ITFS

In a decision sought by ACCT and educational broadcasters and others, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on September 24th its decision not to reallocate spectrum space currently held by community colleges and other educational broadcasters in order to provide additional spectrum to wireless providers. One of ACCT’s main legislative priorities during this year’s National Legislative Seminar, staff had been working directly with a national coalition of concerned educational broadcasters known as WEBNOW to preserve the Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) currently licensed for educational use. In its decision, the FCC stated “. . . because the 2500-2690 mhz band is extensively used by incumbent Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) and Multi-channel Multipoint Distribution Services (MMDS) licensees, and in order to preserve the viability of the incumbent services, the FCC is not relocating the existing licensees or otherwise modifying their licenses.” The decision does allow license-holders to lease excess capacity to wireless providers.

Proposal to Expand Hope Scholarships Introduced

Legislation addressing one of ACCT’s top priorities was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, H.R. 2219, provides significantly increased Hope Scholarship benefits for community college students. The legislative expands both the definition of educational costs to include books, fees, supplies, and equipment, and eliminates the rule that a student’s Hope Scholarship amount be reduced by Pell Grant and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant aid received by the student. This legislation, one of the highest priorities for ACCT and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) at the 2001 Community College National Legislative Seminar in February, was introduced by Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and has 8 co-sponsors, from both parties, from the Ways and Means Committee.

Trustees should encourage their Representatives to support this legislation by asking them to join as cosponsors.

H.R. 1992, the "Internet Equity and Education Act of 2001," Passes House of Representatives

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1992 on October 10. This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 by modifying several current restrictions on colleges that provide distance education and participate in the federal student aid programs. Specifically, the bill revises the limitation that no more than 50 percent of an institution's courses be conducted via distance education. Additionally, the bill relaxes a provision prohibiting incentive compensation — that is, paying a bonus to any official engaged in admissions and financial aid.

To date, no companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate. Congress will probably address this legislation next year, or during the next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which expires in 2003.

ACCT Board Chair Addresses White House Summit

ACCT Board Chair, Darrell Shumway, addressed the White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development at Georgetown University on July 27. This summit brought together leaders in early childhood education training, researchers on brain development, curriculum specialists and others. Because Community Colleges serve as the major provider of training for early childhood educators, ACCT was excited to partner with the Administration to draw attention to this concern.

In his remarks, Shumway issued a call to action to the nation’s community colleges to increase efforts to prepare more individuals to work as early childhood educators. Shumway urged colleagues to “continue increasing the quality of early childhood education by ensuring that our community college programs include specific coursework focusing on pre-reading and vocabulary development, cognitive skills, and pre-math.

First Lady Laura Bush served as the chair of the summit. The First Lady has held quality early childhood education as a long-standing priority of hers. The Summit was co-chaired by Secretary of Education Rod Paige and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson.

For additional information on federal issues, contact J. Noah Brown, ACCT's Director of Public Policy, at 202-775-4667.