The Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Office, in partnership with the Office of Innovation and Improvement, is hosting a pair of webinars on the “Investing in Innovation” (i3) funding opportunity. These webinars intend to provide relevant information to complete the pre-application for the i3 competition. The first is taking place Tuesday, April 16, 2013, 2pm EDT and is about the Q&A i3 PRE-APPLICATION. Register with this link.
Arts Education
Grantmakers in the Arts holds arts education as one of its core funding focus areas. GIA is committed to invigorate funding and support for arts education within federal policy and defend that every resident has access to the arts as part of a well-rounded, life-long education. In 2012, GIA formed the Arts Education Funders Coalition (AEFC), an interest group within GIA, to address identified needs in comprehensive arts education and to strengthen communication and networking among arts education funders. Advised by a committee of Coalition members, GIA engaged the services of Washington, DC-based Penn Hill Group, a firm with education policy expertise and experience working with diverse education groups to research, develop, and promote educational policy strategies.
Most recently, GIA worked with Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) on the development of the Arts Education for All Act, the broadest arts education policy bill ever introduced in Congress.
In Spring 2021, GIA influenced the U.S. Department of Education to highlight the importance of equitable access to arts and culture to the process of reopening schools and to make explicit how racialized this access was prior to the pandemic and that addressing this inequity is essential to effective reopening.
Grantmakers in the Arts is delighted that in 2020 Congress passed the Supporting Older Americans Act, including our recommendations that the Administration on Aging include the arts in the issues to be identified and addressed and be included among supportive services for older Americans.
GIA has successfully lobbied to include arts-related provisions in the Child Care for Working Families Act, which proposes to better help low-income families pay for childcare and expand high-quality state preschool options.
GIA is extremely proud of our work over the past several years on raising the visibility of the arts in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in its legislative form. GIA and Penn Hill Group continue these advocacy efforts around the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), guiding GIA members and their grantees in advocating for new or expanded arts programs at their local schools and districts.
April 12, 2013 by Steve
From ED Review, April 12, 2013
...a bi-weekly update on U.S. Department of Education activities relevant to the Intergovernmental and Corporate community and other stakeholders
April 12, 2013 by admin
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Overview of the Current Status Of ESEA Waivers (611 Kb)
Attached is a state-by-state chart that provides an overview of the current ESEA flexibility request status of all states, including the District of Columbia. Here are some of the highlights:
April 12, 2013 by admin
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Analysis of FY 2014 Budget Request for the Department of Education (111 Kb)
The Obama Administration submitted the FY 2014 budget request to Congress on April 10, 2013. Below is a summary and analysis of the portion of the budget request pertaining to the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
February 27, 2013 by Steve
From Alyson Klein, writing for Education Week:
Now that sequestration, that looming, scary, Inside-the-Beltway possibility, is finally upon us, what does that mean for states and school districts? Here's a rundown:
1) What exactly is sequestration? Sequestration is a series of across-the-board cuts to a broad range of federal programs, including those in the U.S. Department of Education, set to hit the government on Friday, March 1, unless Congress and the Obama administration make a last-ditch effort to stop them. Programs in the U.S. Department of Education would be cut by about 5.3 percent, according to the Government Accountability Office. The cuts aren't just for this year, either. They're aimed at chopping $1.2 trillion out of the federal deficit over the next decade. So, if nothing happens, they're the new normal.
February 27, 2013 by Steve
From Valerie Strauss, writing for The Washington Post:
Nearly all of the states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and math and are in the process of getting ready to implement them by 2014. In a number of states, however, the standards are meeting with growing resistance for reasons including questions about who was behind the initiative and whether they are better than previous standards. Alabama, for example recently said it was pulling out of the two consortia that are working on creating standardized tests aligned with the standards. In this and the next two blog posts, we explore some of the issues surrounding the standards.
February 21, 2013 by Steve
From Anne Midgette for The Washington Post:
Savoy Elementary is one of eight in the country earmarked by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities as a “turnaround” school — one in dire need of help. For three years, each of the eight is “adopted” by a well-known artist (in Savoy’s case, the actress Kerry Washington) and receives a tremendous funding boost to institute arts programs ($14.7 million for the eight). This is based on a new belief — after years of emphasis on standardized testing — in the power of the arts.
February 13, 2013 by Steve
This hearing, held on February 8, 2013, focused on ESEA State Flexibility Waivers. Senators had the opportunity to discuss the issue with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Duncan as well as state commissioners, academics, and advocates.
The webcast of the hearing can be found here.
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