Education Report March 26, 2010

1. Budget and Appropriations
-Capitol Hill is expected to be a pretty quiet place this week. The president's signing of the healthcare bill and accompanying reconciliation bill allowed exhausted Members and staff to leave for a much needed two-week spring recess.
-The passage of the reconciliation bill, despite new provisions was a bitter pill for K-12 advocates to swallow. Arne Duncan well aware of the disappointment looks to Congress to find other vehicles to enact these priorities.
-Friday was the deadline for organizations to offer recommendations to the House Education and Labor Committee regarding the pending reauthorization of the ESEA act.

2. Senate Committee passes Bill addressing Child Nutrition Programs
-Wednesday the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee held a well attended meeting to mark-up S. 1650, the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010.
-The program provides $4.5 billion in new funding for feeding programs over the next 10-years, the largest in history. It was, however, acknowledged that the bill falls short of the president's goal of a $10 billion jump. They will be working to increase spending for these critical programs.
-Action moves to the House, where the Education and Labor Committee has jurisdiction.

For more information, visit: http://ag.senate.gov/site/news.html [1].

3. In Brief
-NAGB releases NAEP reading results
-LHHS subcommittee holds hearing on FY 2011 budget and job training

Be sure to also check out sections #4 (New Publications) and #5 (In the News) for articles of interest.