This year, the 2008 elections will provide the backdrop for all of Congress’ policy decisions and realistically will be a distraction for moving forward on bills such as the No Child Left Behind reauthorization. The good news is that it looks like the Higher Education Act reauthorization is on track to be finalized by the spring. The Senate passed its bill in July 2007, and the House Education and Labor Committee passed its version in December. The House anticipates a floor vote on its bill in early 2008.

Title II of HEA has been significantly revised in both the House and Senate versions. Both eliminate the state and recruitment grant portions of the Teacher Quality Enhancement grants and focus the program solely on the partnership grants. The clinical and induction components of the programs are significantly expanded to strengthen the effectiveness of the grantees. In addition, the pass-rate provisions in Title II of both versions of the bill would require that pass rates only be reported for teacher candidates who have completed 100% of their nonclinical coursework. AACTE has advocated over the years for this modification.

Appropriations

On December 26, 2007 President Bush signed the omnibus legislation setting appropriations for FY 2008 for the vast majority of federal agencies. This signified the end to a long and contentious battle over appropriations. Throughout the fall, Congress attempted to push its FY 2008 figures through, but the President held firm on his promise to veto all bills that exceeded his recommended FY 2008 numbers. In December, Congress ceded to the President’s overall FY 2008 Appropriations figure of $933 billion to avoid a government shutdown or passing a year-long continuing resolution to fund the federal government at FY 2007 levels. While the Democratic leadership was very frustrated with the President’s FY 2008 funding level, they did find ways to emphasize their priorities and to cut some of the President’s in the omnibus bill.

The final figure for the Department of Education in the omnibus legislation is $2 billion above the President’s recommended figure, and this allows for some increased funds for Title I and Title II programs. Yet, on top of this increase appropriators were asked to cut 1.74% in their programs which resulted in many education programs having slight reductions in FY 2008 compared to funding in FY 2007.

The Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant program did not fare well in the FY 2008 appropriations process. The House and the Senate both recommended significant cuts to the program (see chart below). In the omnibus bill, the final figure for the program is $33.66 million. This represents an almost 50% cut from current funding of $59.9 million. $28.5 million of the FY 2008 funds will go toward funding continuing grants. The remaining money will be used to fund new partnership grants only.

One bright spot for teacher education programs in the omnibus bill is the inclusion of funding for two new STEM education programs authorized in this year’s America COMPETES Act. The STEM Baccalaureate degree program with concurrent teacher certification and the STEM Master’s degree program with concurrent teacher certification receive $983 thousand each. The bachelor’s program supports the development of preparation programs based on the U-Teach model.

The President will release his FY 2009 budget in early February, and that will start the budget and appropriations process. It is unclear if the FY 2008 appropriations experience is a preview of what is to come for FY 2009, but Congress and stakeholders (including the education community) are certainly retooling to prepare for a more successful outcome. While the overall omnibus bill is fairly disappointing for Department of Education programs, there is hope that if the Higher Education Act is reauthorized in the spring that it will provide momentum for appropriators to reinvest in many of the higher education programs, such as the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants.

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