A new Congress picks up the pace
for working families

The first 100 days of the new Congress will likely will be remembered as a period when progress on Capitol Hill was measured in hours rather than years.

The House of Representatives set the tone with its “100 hours” agenda—a  2006 election pledge to voters that the next Congress would take immediate action to address issues of importance to working families that had stalled in prior sessions. The new House leadership, with the aid of an average of 62 Republicans, not only made good on that promise but did it in half the time. In less than 50 hours following the Jan. 4 session opening, the House approved a half-dozen bills to raise the minimum wage, slice student loan rates in half, rein in prescription drug costs, invest in renewable energy, implement the 9-11 Commission recommendations and toughen ethics rules.

In late January, the House passed a fiscal year 2006 funding resolution that featured substantial increases in funds for Pell Grants, Title I, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Head Start. In March, the House passed the Employee Free Choice Act, which would ease barriers that private sector workers face when they seek a voice through unions. And, as the 100 days drew to a close, both the House and Senate put final touches on legislation that embodies a key voter demand from 2006: the need for President Bush to pursue a new course in the war in Iraq.

The Senate also passed bills on most key issues, including a higher minimum wage, restoring workers’ union rights, holding down prescription drug costs, making college more affordable and demanding a new direction in Iraq.

The next hurdle—ironing out differences between House and Senate bills and then getting them signed into law—still lies ahead. It will demand not only cooperation between the House and Senate, but also the cooperation of a White House that is interested in moving forward rather than obstructing the new direction. And frankly, the early signs are not good. The Los Angeles Times points out that President Bush only vetoed one bill during his first six years but has issued 12 veto threats in the first 90 days of the new Congress.

Higher Ed Act picks up steam

Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act moved to the front burner as both houses moved to draft new bills to replace the ones not acted upon in the last session.

The AFT and the NEA sent a joint letter to Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas) and Ric Keller (R-Fla.) to outline the unions’ joint priorities for reauthorizing the act. (The “Joint AFT/NEA Statement” can be accessed at www.aft.org/higher_ed/washwire.)

Financial aid: The unions call for measures to put Title IV of the act on track for serving needy students. These include increasing Pells, making the grant program an entitlement, removing “tuition sensivity” language that decreases students’ Pell contributions irrespective of need, improving efficiency in the aid program, and broadening loan forgiveness as an enticement for students to get into teaching.

Quality and accountability: The AFT and the NEA call for continued support for institutional accreditation, opposition to federal government-imposed standardized testing in higher education, programs to support student retention and persistence, and rigorous standards and oversight in the areas of distance education and contingent academic labor.

Academic freedom: The unions oppose the federal intervention that would occur through the adoption of “academic bill or rights” or “intellectual diversity” language. They also encourage full access for international students to U.S. higher education and academic independence for Title VI international studies programs.

Teacher education: The unions recommend that Congress focus on improving teacher quality by improving resources to schools of education, encouraging a practical, clinical training program, enhancing the role of community colleges, aligning licensure standards and teacher preparation programs to best practices, and rejecting such misguided programs as the president’s Adjunct Teacher Corps.