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U.S. Department of Education, Hispanic Outreach & Resources

April 23, 2010

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Here are the recent news and developments coming out of the U.S. Department of Education:

* Latinos and Hispanic Serving Institutions to Benefit from the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

* Listening and Learning About Early Learning Tour for Denver, Orlando and Chicago

* $350 Million Now Available to Help Consortia of States Create Next Generation of Assessments, Including English Learners

* $3.5 Billion in School Improvement Grants State Awards in Process

* Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana named Woman of the Year by Hispanic Business Magazine!

Latinos and Hispanic Serving Institutions to Benefit from the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

With the passage of The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, President Obama’s administration takes a huge step toward making America the best educated nation in the world by 2020. The attached file offers more details about the Act’s impact on higher education and Latinos.

Specifically, the Act increases college access and graduation rates by making it more affordable for Hispanic students through the following means:

* By academic year 2020-2021, the Department of Education estimates more than 150,000 additional Pell Grant awards would be made to Hispanic students due to the changes in the law.

* It also supports Minority Serving Institutions. America’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), which do more with less and enroll higher proportions of low- and middle-income students, will receive $1 billion in mandatory funding over ten years.

* To ensure that Hispanic Americans can afford their student loan payments, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act makes the existing income-based student loan repayment program more generous for new borrowers after July 1, 2014. They will be allowed to cap their student loan repayments at 10 percent of their discretionary income and, if they keep up with their payments over time, forgive their balance after 20 years. Approximately 143,000 of the Income Based Repayment borrowers are expected to be Hispanic by 2020.

* Also, starting July 1, all new federal student loans will be direct loans delivered and collected by private companies under performance-based contracts with the Department of Education.

Listening and Learning About Early Learning Tour Announced for Denver, Orlando, and Chicago

Over the next two months, the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) will hold a series of Listening and Learning About Early Learning meetings that will focus on topics related to early learning (birth through 3rd Grade), and will be led by Secretary Duncan’s senior advisor on early learning, Jacqueline Jones, and HHS’s Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development at the Administration for Children and Families, Joan Lombardi.

The meetings will occur from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m on the dates and at the locations that follow.

* Workforce and Professional Development: Monday, April 26, 2010, in the auditorium at the Center for Early Education, 3245 E. Exposition Avenue, Denver, CO

* Family Engagement: Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at the Orange County Public Schools Educational Leadership Center, 445 W. Amelia Street, Orlando, FL

* Standards and Assessments: Tuesday, May 11, 2010, at the Polk Bros. Lecture Hall at the Erikson Institute, 451 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL

The following is a link with more information about the Listening and Learning Tour.

Link: http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/04/listening-and-learning-about-early-learning-tour-announced-for-dc-denver-orlando-and-chicago/

$350 Million Now Available to Help Consortia of States Create Next Generation of Assessments, Including English Learners

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan set aside up to $350 million of the Race to the Top funds to support a consortium of states in developing and implementing a new generation of assessments. Among the many goals of this competition is a new generation of assessments that will boost the success of Latino students, English language learners and other diverse learners.

Notice of Intent to apply due: April 29, 2010

Applications due: June 23, 2010

Below are links with more information on the Race to the Top Assessment Program:

Link to Press Release: http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/04/04062010c.html

Link to Race to the Top Assessment Program Homepage: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/index.html

$3.5 Billion in School Improvement Grants State Awards in Process

States have begun to receive School Improvement Grants (SIG) funds to turn around their persistently lowest achieving schools. The grant also targets schools with low graduation rates - also known as “dropout factories” - which disproportionately affects the Latino community.

The $3.5 billion available to states this spring are funds that come from the 2009 budget and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). To view the present recipients and their application please visit the link below. At this site you will be able to view future awardees as well.

In order for states to qualify for funding under the Title I School Improvement Grant program, they are required to identify their lowest-performing schools and transform them with one of the four following intervention models:

· Turnaround model: Replace the principal and rehire no more than 50 percent of the staff, and grant the principal sufficient operational flexibility (including in staffing, calendars/time and budgeting) to fully implement a comprehensive approach to substantially improving student outcomes.

· Transformation model: Implement each of the following strategies: (1) replace the principal and take steps to increase teacher and school leader effectiveness; (2) institute comprehensive instructional reforms; (3) increase learning time and create community-oriented schools; and (4) provide operational flexibility and sustained support.

· Restart model: Convert a school or close and reopen it under a charter school operator, a charter management organization, or an education management organization that has been selected through a rigorous review process.

· School closure: Close a school and enroll the students who attended that school in other schools in the LEA that are higher achieving.

Link: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/summary/index.html

Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana Named Woman of the Year by Hispanic Business Magazine

Congratulations to our Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana for being chosen Woman of the Year by Hispanic Business Magazine. Dr. Meléndez has been a lifelong advocate of student success in the classroom and in life. As you may know, Dr. Meléndez plays a pivotal role in policy and management issues affecting elementary and secondary education. She directs, coordinates and recommends policy for programs designed to assist state and local education agencies with improving the achievement of elementary and secondary school students. A link to Hispanic Business Magazine’s article is provided below.

Link: http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/2010/4/7/woman_of_the_year_thelma_melendez.htm

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Juan A. Sepúlveda, Jr.

Director, White House Initiative for Education Excellence for Hispanics

Ida R. Eblinger Kelley

Director, Hispanic Outreach and Communications

U.S. Department of Education

- President Barack Obama

February 24, 2009

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 delivered a significant down payment on the President’s ambitious agenda to make higher education more affordable and help more Americans earn a college degree. The law raises the maximum Pell Grant, makes loan payments more affordable for students with unmanageable debt, increases investments in community colleges, and extends support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions, all at no additional cost to taxpayers according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The education initiatives funded by the law are fully paid for by ending government subsidies that were being given to financial institutions making guaranteed federal student loans.

Building on existing accomplishments since the President took office—raising the maximum Pell Grant by more than $800 and tripling the largest college tax credit now known as the American Opportunity Tax Credit—the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act will help expand college access and increase graduation rates for Hispanic Americans.

To support Hispanic Americans’ success in higher education, the new law:

Increases Pell Grants: The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act invests more than $40 billion in Pell Grants to ensure that all eligible students receive an award and that these awards will be increased in future years to help keep pace with the rising cost of college. These investments, coupled with the President’s previous investments, more than double the total amount of funding provided for Pell Grants since the President took office. The law increases the Federal Pell Grant maximum award by the Consumer Price Index from 2013 through 2017, which is estimated to raise the award from $5,550 to $5,975, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. By academic year 2020-2021, the Department of Education estimates more than 150,000 additional Pell Grant awards would be made to Hispanic students due to the changes in the law.

Expands Income Based Repayment: Because of the high cost of college, about two-thirds of students take out college loans with an average student debt of over $23,000. This debt is particularly burdensome for graduates who choose to enter lower-paying public service careers, suffer setbacks such as unemployment or serious illness, or fail to complete their degree. To ensure that Hispanic Americans can afford their student loan payments, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act makes the existing income-based student loan repayment program more generous for new borrowers after July 1, 2014. They will be allowed to cap their student loan repayments at 10 percent of their discretionary income and, if they keep up with their payments over time, forgive their balance after 20 years. As under current law, public service workers—such as teachers, nurses, and those in military service—will see any remaining debt forgiven after only 10 years. According to Department of Education estimates, of the 1.2 million borrowers projected to qualify and take part in the expanded IBR program between 2014 and 2020, approximately 143,000 are expected to be Hispanic.

Increases Support for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs): While many of today’s colleges and universities are facing a host of challenges—shrinking endowments, decreasing state appropriations, deteriorating facilities and increasing costs—many of America’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are feeling the pain more acutely. They do more with less and enroll higher proportions of low- and middle-income students. That’s why the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act provides $1 billion to HSIs in mandatory funding over ten years for these institutions, dollars that can be used to renew, reform, and expand programming to ensure that students at these colleges and universities are given every chance to live up to their full potential.

These benefits build on other provisions of the law that put the Pell Grant program on sounder footing by covering past and expected shortfalls and that invest new dollars in community colleges. Ultimately, the education related provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act are fully paid for by ending the government subsidies currently given to financial institutions that make guaranteed federal student loans. Starting July 1, all new federal student loans will be direct loans delivered and collected by private companies under performance-based contracts with the Department of Education. According to the Congressional Budget Office, ending these wasteful subsidies frees up nearly $68 billion which this new law reinvests back into students and into reducing the deficit.