Congress Finally Acts—Sequestration Cuts Are Over | By: Committee for Children In a rare display of bipartisanship cooperation, the US House and Senate were able to pass in January a $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that will fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2014 (the fiscal year began last October 1 and will end on September 30, 2014). The funding bill restores (or nearly restores) many of the cuts that were implemented through the dreaded sequestration process. Funding levels for some of the key programs that affect young people are: · $14.4 billion for ESEA Title I (a $624 million increase compared to fiscal year 2013) · $10.9 billion for the IDEA State Grants program ($497 million increase) · $1.149 billion for after-school programs (an increase of almost $60 million) · $505 million for School Improvement Grants (SIG) · $250 million for another round of Race to the Top competition focused on preschool programs for children ages four and over · $2.36 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grant ($154 million increase) Schools and school districts have used all of these funds to implement social-emotional learning programs. Learn more about funding opportunities. New Federal Grant Program for Improving School Climate The omnibus appropriations bill has several provisions that could be especially relevant for the Committee for Children community. Although specific details are still unknown, the bill contains several streams of funding focused on school climate and safety. The bill report includes the following language: The bill includes $140 million, an increase of $29 million, for activities that support safe school environments. Funds may be used to develop or upgrade emergency management plans, create positive school climates, or address issues of pervasive violence in some of our communities. Safe, positive school environments can help reduce unhealthy student behavior, increase academic achievement, and counter the effects that violence can have on students. A portion of this funding will be used to implement School Climate Transformation Grants that will be used to “train school staff to implement evidence-based strategies to improve school climate.” More details on this new funding stream will be included in the next public policy newsletter. Federal Guidance on Student Discipline and School Climate On January 8, the US Department of Education and US Department of Justice released guidance to schools focused on school discipline policies. As part of the federal “Supportive School Discipline Initiative,” the guidance is designed to enhance school climate and improve school discipline practices and policies. The package of materials included four components: · A “Dear Colleague” letter that describes how schools can meet their legal obligations under federal law to administer student discipline without discriminating against students on the basis of race, color, or national origin · A Guiding Principles document that outlines key principles and action steps that can help guide state and local efforts to improve school climate and school discipline · A Directory of Federal School Climate and Discipline Resources that outlines federal resources related to school discipline and climate available to schools and districts · A Compendium of School Discipline Laws and Regulations that lists laws and regulations related to school discipline in each of the 50 states Find the documents listed above here. Moving On Congressman George Miller, a Democrat from California, has announced he is retiring from Congress. Miller is the Ranking Member on the US House Education and Workforce Committee and was a key author of the No Child Left Behind Act. He has been a key voice in K–12 education for the past 40 years.