NASW, in partnership with the National Alliance of Pupil Serving Organizations (NAPSO) coalition, held a briefing for Senate staff to educate them about the role of specialized instructional support personnel in promoting  student success as Congress gears up to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

A dance therapist, physical therapist, school nurse, and a speech and language pathologist were among the panelists from a variety of disciplines that work to improve the lives of students.  A common theme among the panelists was a perceived workforce shortage, high caseloads, and administrative burdens. Of particular note, Fran Lewandoski, a social worker serving three schools in Fairfax County, stated that the current ratio for school social workers to students is 1:2500, significantly higher than the generally accepted industry ratio of 1:400.

This briefing is one of NAPSO’s many activities, in addition to numerous Hill visits and public comments to educate Congressional members about the role of specialized instructional support personnel in schools.  For more information about NASW’s advocacy to reauthorize ESEA, go to http://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/school/default.asp

NASW is partnering with the College for Access and Success and the U.S. PIRG to urge Congress to ensure that the Restoring American Financial Stability Act (S. 3217) gives the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) full authority over all private student loans. The bill has been criticized for not providing CFPB enough teeth to enforce authority over existing private student lenders, some who have lent to for-profit colleges that are attended disproportionately by low-income and minority students. To view the coalition’s letter to the Senate click here.

Private student loans are considered to be one of the riskiest ways to pay for college, yet a significant number of students have private student loans as well as, or instead of, safer federal student loans.Private student loans typically have uncapped, variable rates that lack the fixed rates, consumer protections and flexible repayment options of federal student loans and are extremely difficult to discharge in bankruptcy.

NASW continues to advocate for public policies that make higher education more affordable for social worker students and professionals who are repaying their student debt obligations. You can view additional resources about federal and state loan forgiveness programs by going to www.socialworkers.org/loanforgivenss and for information about our school social work advocacy click here.

On March 30, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872). NASW strongly supported this bill and has tirelessly advocated for the creation of public policies that make health care and higher education more affordable and accessible for all Americans. The higher education provisions are expected to generate significant savings by redirecting lender subsidies to boost Pell Grant scholarships, expand the Income Based Repayment Program, increase the number of students who enter and complete college, including community colleges, and invest over $2 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and minority serving institutions (MSI) to provide students with the support they need to stay in school. The bill passed the House and Senate on March 25 with a Democratic vote of 220-207 and 56 to 43, respectively.

While some colleges and universities have already switched to direct lending, others are racing to switch from private lenders to the U.S. Department of Education by July 1, 2010. The lending overhaul, which would eliminate a program that subsidizes banks and other providers of federally backed loans, is projected to save the federal government $61 billion over 10 years with more than half of the savings channeled to Pell grants for low income students. More than 8 million low income students rely on these grants to fund their education.

For more information about our advocacy efforts to make higher education more affordable go to www.socialworkers.org/loanforgivness

To join the Advocacy listserv, go to http://capwiz.com/socialworkers/mlm/verify/

On March 17, 2010, Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the House Education and Labor Committee on the Obama Administration’s newly released blueprint for revamping the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act. He focused on the themes of college and career readiness, accountability for all students, and incentives for states to improve their approach to educating our nation’s students. The Committee expressed a strong commitment to working with the Administration in rewriting the law. In his opening statement, Chairman George Miller said “the President’s blueprint lays important markers for us as we begin this rewrite.” To view the full statement click here http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/full-committee/

NASW, independently and in collaboration with the National Alliance of Pupil Serving Organizations (NAPSO), recently submitted comments for the Chairman to consider as Congress gears up to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act https://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/issues/education/default.asp

• For information on joining NASW’s Advocacy listserv, go to http://capwiz.com/socialworkers/mlm/verify/.
• For more information on the School Social Work Specialist credential, go to http://www.socialworkers.org/credentials/default.asp.
• For more information on the school social work specialty practice section, go to http://www.socialworkers.org/credentials/default.asp
• For more information on school social work practice, including practice standards, go to http://www.socialworkers.org/practice/default.asp.
• For information on books and research regarding school social work practice, go to www.naswpress.org

The House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education held a hearing on March 18, 2010 titled “Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization: Addressing the Needs of Diverse Students” to examine how schools can appropriately educate low-income, minority, English Language Learners, disabled, Native American, and homeless students within the context of reauthorizing  the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

This goal was expressed by Subcommittee Chairman Representative Dale Kildee (D-MI) in his opening statement: “While the No Child Left Behind Act shed light on the inequalities in our education system, it unfortunately did not do enough to close the achievement gap for diverse students…This must be a top priority for future steps in education reform.”

To this end, the Subcommittee considered recommendations from a panel of educators, advocates, and a researcher working to close the achievement gap for diverse students. They included Dr. Daniel Curry, Superintendent for the Lake Forest School District in Felton, Delaware, Dr. Jack Dale, Superintendent for Fairfax County Public Schools in Falls Church, Virginia, Arelis Diaz, Assistant Superintendent for Godwin Heights Public Schools in Wyoming, Michigan, Dr. David Gipp, President of United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), Jacqui Farmer Kearns, Principal Investigator for the National Alternate Assessment Center, and Michael Wotorson, Executive Director of Campaign for High School Equity.

To read the transcript go tohttp://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/ecese/

Go here for more information on NASW’s advocacy efforts. 
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NASW Standards for Social Work in Schools 
NASW Specialty Practice Section for School Social Work 
NASW School Social Specialist Credential

On March 18, Congress coupled the Student Aid bill with health reform legislation to advance President Obama’s two major domestic policy issues, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872). NASW strongly supports this bill and has tirelessly advocated for the creation of public policies that make health care and higher education more affordable and accessible for all Americans. The higher education provisions are expected to generate significant savings by ending lender subsidies to boost Pell Grant scholarships, keep interest rates on federal loans affordable, increase the number of students who enter and complete college.

The House passed the bill on March 21, and the Senate is expected to vote later this week. While there is generally strong support for the bill among Democrats, it has no Republican support and is considered controversial by some. A few Senators are concerned that banks and some lenders will jeopardize their long term viability by producing fewer loans and many higher education institutions, in anticipation of this legislation, have already increased their direct federal loan lending to students. In spite of these differences, the legislation is expected to pass. NASW believes that this legislation will make obtaining a higher education easier for thousands of social work students by reducing their existing financial debt or reducing their dependence on student loans. For more information about our advocacy efforts on loan forgiveness go to www.socialworkers.org/loanforgiveness

• $40 billion to expand the Pell grant program that aids low income students
• $10 billion to help community colleges increase enrollment and enable students to obtain a higher education
• $8 billion to help states improve early learning programs for children from birth to age 5
• $2 billion for historically black colleges and universities and other minority serving institutions

Early voting and absentee ballots are helpful to students, the elderly, military men and women and persons with disabilities, to name a few. In many states, to qualify for an absentee ballot or early voting you need to request a ballot or apply for one. There are many websites that can offer you information regarding this aspect of the voting process.

Deadlines for an absentee ballot and early voting vary for each state. To find out if your state offers early voting or absentee ballots, you can click here for information on absentee ballots and click here for information on early voting.

In most states the deadline to register to vote is October 6, which is the first step in acquiring an Absentee Ballot. If you have not yet registered to vote, you can do so at our Web site. Please encourage your colleagues, friends and family to vote!

Take Action!

On September 17, 2008, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 6893, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893), by voice vote. This legislation targets specific deficiencies in the child welfare system and addresses some of the most important needs affecting foster children in America today, including extending federal foster care payments up to 21 years old, providing federal support for relatives caring for foster children, increasing access to foster care and adoption services to Native American tribes, and improving the oversight of the health and education needs of children in foster care. Major provisions of the bill include:

1. Helping Relatives Care For Foster Children – Continues federal assistance (at state option) to relatives assuming legal guardianship of eligible children for whom they have cared for as foster parents. Authorizes Family Connection Grants to increase involvement of relatives as caregivers and help them navigate public programs. Requires notification of close relatives when children are placed in foster care.

2. Extending Assistance to Foster Youth Up to the Age of 21 – Extends federal foster care payments up to the age of 19, 20 or 21 (at state option) for children living in supervised settings. Require youth receiving such assistance to be in school, work, or related activity. Extends adoption assistance and guardianship payments up to age 19, 20, or 21 (at state option) for children adopted or entering guardianship after attaining the age of 16.

3. Expanding Training Funds – Expands coverage of federal funds for the training of child welfare workers to include private agencies approved by the state.

4. Improving Oversight of Health Care – Includes overseeing plans for the health care needs of foster children, accounting for the assessment and treatment of health conditions and ensuring the continuity of care, medical records, and prescription drugs.

5. Promoting Educational Stability – Requires plan for ensuring the educational stability of children in foster care and mandate assurance of school attendance.

6. Increasing Aid for Tribal Foster Care – Provides direct federal foster care and adoption funding to tribal governments for children in their care. (more…)

Take Action!

Senator Blanche Lincoln recently introduced, “Increased Student Achievement Through Increased Student Support Act (S. 3364),” a bill that will have a tremendous impact on the lives of children by creating a better trained and prepared school social work workforce to address the psychosocial and emotional issues that can impede educational performance. Our nation currently faces a serious shortage of qualified school-employed professionals, putting students with issues that interfere with learning at greater risk for school failure.

Its companion bill, H.R. 6654, introduced by Representative Towns, has over 40 co-sponsors. We need your help to get both of these bills passed. The “Increased Student Achievement through Increased Student Support Act” seeks to address this shortage. It creates a federal grant program designed to increase the number of school social workers, school counselors, and school psychologists serving low-income local educational agencies (LEAs) by creating a pipeline between institutions of higher education and low-income school districts. Institutions of higher education with graduate training programs in school social work, school counseling, and school psychology that develop collaborative training and placement partnerships with LEA’s will be eligible to apply for federal grant funds to hire and pay participating graduates to work in those schools. Program participants who remain employed in a low-income school setting for a minimum of five years will be eligible for loan forgiveness. By expanding the number of school social workers in low-income, high-need schools, we can improve the school and life success for students throughout the country.

Action Needed: Please contact your Senator and urge them to join their colleagues, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Thad Cochran (MS) and Robert Menendez (NJ) as co-sponsors of the “Increased Student Achievement through Increased Student Support Act”. Let them know that you are a social worker who is committed to improving the lives of our nation’s children and you look forward to passage of this important legislation. Thanks for your advocacy. Nancy McFall Jean, MSW NASW Lobbyist