Public Policy

Federal Assistance Advisory Commission

The Commission serves as an advisory group of Catholic education practitioners who assist the USCCB Secretariat of Catholic Eduction in its efforts to maximize participation by Catholic school students and teachers in federally-funded educational programs.

DEFINITIONS FOR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Lobbying

Substantively important issue addressed in legislation which either is expected to be approved by Congress or is likely to be introduced at the initiative of the USCCB and on which the USCCB expects to take a formal position, commit lobbying efforts, and generate grass roots activity.

General Advocacy/Monitoring

"Advocacy is not just the responsibility of parents and teachers, but of all members of the Catholic community. As the primary educators of their children, parents have the right to choose the school best suited for them. The entire Catholic community should be encouraged to advocate for parental school choice and personal and corporate tax credits, which will help parents to fulfill their responsibility in educating their children." --from: Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium

Substantively important issue addressed in legislation which may or may not be considered by Congress which the USCCB intends to track closely in order to determine if and how the USCCB should respond if Congress decides to take action.

Federal Assistance Advisory Commission
The Commission serves as an advisory group of Catholic education practitioners who assist the USCCB Secretariat of Catholic Education in its efforts to maximize participation by Catholic school students and teachers in federally-funded educational programs.

USCCB EDUCATION LEGISLATIVE AGENDA - 112th CONGRESS, Second Session

Governing Legislative Principles

We support legislation that:

• allows all parents, but especially low and middle income parents,to choose the education they believe is best suited for their children.
• provides services to students and teachers in private and religious schools when services aimed at improving the educational environment or responding to catastrophic events, especially for those most at risk, are available to students and teachers in public schools.

Lobbying

Parental Rights:

We support legislation that:

• continues the annual funding of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program
• provides refundable tax credits/deductions for families with children to help pay for various educational expenses, including tuition.

 

Budget/Appropriations:

We support legislation that:

• continues funding for all federal programs benefiting public, private, and religious school students and teachers (e.g., ESEA, IDEA, child nutrition, higher education and technology programs).

Early Childhood:

We support legislation that:

• includes Universal Pre-K initiatives that assist parents to choose among public, private and religious pre-schools.

 

Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act:

We support legislation that:

• retains "child benefit" as the basic operating principle for participation in programs.
• ensures that funds generated by students in private and religious schools be used for services to them or to their teachers.
• revises the funding formulas for Titles I-A and II-A so that allocations to benefit private school students and teachers be determined before any "off- the- top" reservations to programs which do not include them.
• calculates and sets-aside at the state level all funds earmarked for services to students and teachers in private schools.
• provides for the participation of private and religious school students and teachers in any combined or newly proposed formula or competitive grant programs as well as in existing programs that are not currently available to them.
• requires school districts to expend in a timely manner funds generated by private school students for services to such students during the school year for which the funds have been appropriated.If funds are not expended during the appropriate school year, requires school districts to expend any remaining funds for services to private school students at the start of the subsequent school year.
• strengthens the requirement for the LEA and SEA to consult with appropriate private and religious school representatives prior to making any program or funding decisions.
• includes among the issues of required consultation the issue of pooling funds generated by private and religious school students for the purposes of improving services to students and teachers and enabling more efficient use of funds.
• requires school districts to secure written affirmations from private school officials that timely and meaningful consultation has taken place in connection with all programs servicing private school students and teachers.
• includes statutory language that requires on-site delivery of services to students in private and religious schools unless there is a specific agreement to the contrary.
• requires each state education agency to identify a private school ombudsman to advocate for private schools and to monitor and enforce requirements regarding private school participation in federal education programs.
• Streamlines the bypass provision and the complaint process and shortens the bypass/complaint implementation timeline.

 

Telecommunications:

We support legislation that:

• supports net neutrality inclusion in Universal Service provisions.
• ensures continued inclusion of private and religious schools in the Universal Service provisions.
• increases the level of funding available and does not change the way the E-Rate program is currently financed, that is, through the Universal Service Fund and not from federal appropriations.
• simplifies the E-Rate application process.
• provides for adequate protections against waste, fraud, and abuse.

 

Teacher Benefits:

 We support legislation that:

• provides tax credits to teachers in public, private, and religious schools to cover educational expenses.
• provides for programs of professional development for teachers in public, private, and religious schools.

General Advocacy/Monitoring

Environmental Hazards, Health, and Safety Issues Affecting School Children and Staff:

We support legislation that:

• supports independent studies of environmental, health, and safety hazards and funding to address them, including technical assistance and training to school personnel.

Homeland Security/Child Protection/ Catastrophic Events:

We support legislation that:

• protects the institutional safety and security of children to ensure that private and religious schools are included on an equitable basis.
• prepares for or responds to catastrophic events similar to 9/11, hurricanes, or pandemic diseases and treats public, private and religious school students, teachers and families equitably.

 

Approved by the Committee on Catholic Education on March 15, 2012