The major task before Congress last week was the passage of a $90 billion-plus emergency supplemental spending bill to support wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Alhough the House and Senate managed to pass their respective versions of the measure, the basis of which was a package sent to the Hill by the White House, they did not get to meet to conference the bills.

Work on the supplemental spending bill delayed action on the FY 2010 budget. The so-called 302B allocations, when the appropriations committees meet to decide how much money each subcommittee will have to spend, was postponed until after next week's recess. Also following the recess, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is scheduled to make his first appearance before the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriation Subcommittees. Although it's clear leadership in Congress wants to support the president as much as possible, members of the appropriations subcommittees have minds of their own when it comes to spending on specific programs. Duncan will be warmly greeted, as he was before the House Education and Labor Committee this week, but the budget proposal for the Department of Education will not be rubber stamped by David Obey (D-Wis.), House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee chairman, his Senate counterpart, Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), subcommittee chairman, or their colleagues.

The National Education Association (NEA) and the Urban Institute hosted separate forums last week to discuss the education of English-language learners (ELLs), the unique challenges these students face and the need for the public education system to better meet their needs. Even with the implementation of certain provisions in Title I and Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act, there is growing evidence that most schools, faced with the dual challenge of increasing English-language proficiency while simultaneously improving academic proficiency in the content areas aren't meeting the challenge of educating students with limited English proficiency. Although ELLs are the fastest-growing population in public schools, national test scores show ELLs' academic performance levels are significantly below their peers in nearly every measure of achievement.

Presenters at both events agreed there is a shortage of trained teachers and administrators who know how to teach and support ELL students. According to David Rogers, executive director for Dual Language Education, who presented at the NEA symposium, as well as Manny Rivera, CEO of Global Partnership Schools and former New York state deputy education secretary, this is due to poor pre-service training at colleges of education. Rogers argues they are not preparing teachers to teach the students in 21st century classrooms. Speakers stressed the need for systemic reform and leadership at both the school and district levels. Educators need access to ongoing, embedded professional development and time for planning and reflection among ESL and content area teachers. Elena Izquierdo, Ph.D., associate professor of applied linguistics and bilingual education at the University of Texas at El Paso said, "Two-way dual-language programs are the Ferrari of education." Quality programs of this nature require: all students to achieve high levels of language proficiency in both languages of instruction, achieving at or above grade level academically as well as in language proficiency, positive cross cultural attitudes, a belief that being multilingual is an asset, ongoing assessment and adaptation.

When the Urban Institute panelists were asked what role the federal government could play to help bring about reform, Kathleen Leos, president of the Global Institute for Language and Literacy Development and former director of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition, said, "It's really important that schools understand that they have to change to meet the needs of the students. A lot of schools think students and families need to change to meet the needs of the schools." Panelists stressed that providing a fair and equitable education for ELLs is a civil rights issue, and currently there is a disconnect between the goals of No Child Left Behind and actual classroom practice. Bethany Little, chief education counsel to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), noted that while the federal government should not mandate classroom instruction practice, it can help incentivize systemic change beginning with increased access to early childhood education, quality health care and an expectation that all students will graduate high school ready to go to college.

Melendez Nominated for Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education: The Obama administration has announced the nomination of Thelma Melendez, Ph.D., to serve as the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education. Melendez currently serves as the superintendent of schools in the Pomona Unified School District in Pomona, Calif. She is known for her work on improving teaching and learning and accelerating student performance, and she has worked with the Stupski Educational Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation. Melendez has written several articles for national education publications and has spoken extensively on the role of school administrators, the achievement gap, women in education and the issues of race and class.

CEF Holds Congressional Briefing on FY2010 Budget: On May 18, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) held a briefing for congressional staff in response to President Obama's FY 2010 budget request for the Department of Education. The event highlighted several sections of the budget request, including: elementary and secondary education, career and technical education, higher education, education research and other related programs. CEF members expressed appreciation for increases in funding for programs including early childhood, an expanded Striving Readers middle and high school program, the Teacher Incentive Fund and a college access and completion fund. However, concerns were also articulated over cuts to programs including career and technical education, TRIO and GEAR UP. CEF urged Congress to make additional investments in education funding for the success of America's students. More info.

Capitol Hill Event Highlights Importance of K-12 Computing Education: The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) joined a number of groups with interests in the computing field and computing education to host a briefing on May 20 on the importance of rich computer science curriculum in K-12 education. The event focused, in part, on the work of Dr. Joanna Goode in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She and her colleagues, with support from the National Science Foundation, have worked to expand computer science education opportunities in the district. The program they developed and studied includes a rich high school-level computer science curriculum, strong professional development for teachers and school counselors, as well as a concerted effort to engage minority and at-risk students. Her comments echoed those of Chris Stephenson, executive director of the CSTA, who told the audience about the importance of exposing young people to curriculum imparting computational skills and educating them on the opportunities available to would-be computer scientistsMore info.

CAP Holds Briefing on Increasing College Enrollment and Graduation: On May 21, the Center for American Progress (CAP) held a briefing, "Getting To Work: The Tough Journey of Getting To More Post-secondary Degrees," at which a panel of education experts discussed increasing the number of students enrolling in post-secondary study and the overall graduation rates of post-secondary students. Louis Soares from CAP discussed the findings of a report, "The Other College." The report finds that two-year colleges have experienced continually increasing enrollment rates. However, the report also shows that students attending two-year colleges are less likely to graduate than students attending four-year colleges. In agreement with Soares, Rick Stephens, senior vice president of Human Resources for Boeing, stressed the need to improve the alignment between high school, two-year colleges and four-year colleges to reduce the need for remediation in post-secondary education and to increase graduation rates. More info.

CBC Foundation Holds Briefing on Promise Neighborhoods: On May 21, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation held a briefing to discuss "Promise Neighborhoods," the moniker for a new $10 million initiative in President Obama's FY 2010 budget proposal. The administration hopes to provide one-year planning grants to nonprofit, community-based organizations that want to develop comprehensive neighborhood programs for children and youth, inspired by the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York. PolicyLink and the Harlem Children's Zone have joined together to develop a series of recommendations on how to successfully replicate the program in other communities, which include creating a pipeline of programs, engaging the community and producing measurable results. David Johns, senior education policy advisor for the Senate Heath, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said that if the initiative is successful, policymakers will explore a legislative vehicle for the program. More info.