After a rocky first year of the second Obama Administration and 113th Congress, what is the status of education policies such as Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind, and the Workforce Investment Act? Where do things stand on comprehensive immigration reform? What other issues, such as the Common Core State Standards, are impacting ELLs and the TESOL field? This session will present an overview of the current state of affairs in Washington, DC, and provide an update on national education policy.

1. TESOL Education Policy
Outlook: the View from DC
John Segota, CAE
Associate Executive Director for Public Policy & Professional Relations
2013 GATESOL Conference

2. Overview
• 113th Congress
• Obama Administration
• Education Policy
– ESEA
– WIA
– Immigration
– Common Core

3. 113th Congress
• House of
Representatives
– 234 Republicans
– 201 Democrats
• Senate
– 53 Democrats
– 45 Republicans
– 2 Independents

4. House of Representatives
• Leadership
– Speaker of the House – Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)
• Education and Workforce
– Chairman – Rep. John Kline (R-MN)

5. U.S. Senate
• Leadership
– Majority Leader - Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
• Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
– Chairman – Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

6. U.S. Department of Education
• Deborah Delisle, Assistant Secretary, Elem. & Sec. Ed.
• Brenda Dann-Messier, Assistant Secretary, Voc. & Adult Ed.
• Libia Gil, Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director, OELA

7. Federal Budget
• Continuing Resolution
– HR 2775
• Sequestration
– Approximately 5% cut

8. Elementary and Secondary Education Act
• S 1094 - Strengthen America Schools Act
• HR 5 – Student Success Act
• S 1158 - English Learning
and Innovation Act

9. Elementary and Secondary Education Act
• NCLB Waivers
– 42 States + DC and Puerto Rico have
been approved
• Flexibility on some provisions
of NCLB in exchange for
State-developed plans

10. Common Core Standards
• PARCC and Smarter Balanced
• English language proficiency assessment
– ASSETS and ELPA 21
• Understanding Language Project

11. Higher Education Act
• Last reauthorized in 2008
• 12 Senate hearings
• Title II – Teacher Quality
– State grants
– Partnership grants

12. Adult Education
• Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization
– S. 1356 – Workforce Investment Act of 2013
– HR 803 – Supporting Knowledge and Investing
in Lifelong Skills (“SKILLS”) Act
– HR 798 – Workforce
Investment Act
of 2013

13. Adult Education
• Programme for the International Assessment
of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)
– Sponsored by Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD)
– 24 countries
– Results released October 2013
– Webcast – November 2 @ 1 pm EDT
http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org/webcast.html

14. Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals
• Eligibility criteria"
• Application procedure"
• Protection from deportation – 2 years"
• Possible employment authorization"
• Not a pathway to permanent residency or
citizenship"
"

15. Immigration Reform
• S. 744 – Border Security, Economic
Opportunity, and Immigration
Modernization Act"
– Border Security"
– Pathway to
citizenship"
– DREAM Act"

16. TESOL International Association
http://www.tesol.org
E-mail: jsegota@tesol.org
Twitter: @JohnSegota
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