SEE YOU NEXT YEAR: Congress Wraps Up for 2006, Delays Education Funding Decisions to 2007

At the beginning of last week, Congress had only passed two of the eleven FY 2007 appropriations bills that fund various government agencies. Facing a choice between additional weeks of contentious debate on the remaining appropriations bills, or a stopgap spending resolution that would temporarily fund federal programs into next year, the Republican leadership chose the latter during a brief session of Congress last week. The task of finishing the remaining FY 2007 spending bills now falls to Democrats, who will assume control of both chambers of Congress in January. The continuing resolution that Congress passed just before midnight on December 8 will expire on February 15, 2007.

HEALTHIER AND WEALTHIER: Ensuring that Every Student Graduates from High School Could Save More than $17 Billion, According to New Alliance Brief

If the approximately 1.2 million young people who are expected to drop out of school in the United States this year were to earn their diploma instead, states could save more than $17 billion in heath care costs over the course of those young people’s lifetimes. So says Healthier and Wealthier: Decreasing Health Care Costs by Increasing Educational Attainment, a new brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education that was funded by MetLife Foundation.

ADDRESSING AMERICA’S DROPOUT CHALLENGE: New Report Calls for Federal Role in Raising Graduation Rates

A new report from the Center for American Progress and Jobs for the Future calls for an investment of $1 billion to $1.5 billion annually to raise high school graduation rates and close the graduation gap within the next five years. The report, Addressing America’s Dropout Challenge: State Efforts to Boost Graduation Rates Require Federal Support, argues that increased federal support can provide a boost to state and local efforts to end the dropout problem.

NGA TASK FORCE TO ADDRESS AMERICAN INNOVATION, COMPETITIVENESS

Earlier this month, the National Governors Association (NGA) announced the creation of a seventeen-member task force that will guide Innovation America, the 2006–07 Chair’s initiative of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (D).

“To maximize our strengths in this increasingly global environment, governors must partner with the business and academic communities to ensure state policies complement and reinforce private [sector] innovation,” Napolitano said. “The Innovation America task force provides an outstanding forum for these groups to work together to enhance our economic competitiveness.”

CONGRESS RETURNS BRIEFLY, POSTPONES DECISION ON EDUCATION SPENDING

Members of Congress returned to Capitol Hill during the week of November 13 to hold leadership elections and continue unfinished work on FY 2007 spending bills. While Democrats and Republicans were able to enact their respective leadership structures for the 110th Congress (see box below), they made little progress on the ten appropriations bills that have yet to be signed into law. Instead, Congress passed another stopgap spending measure, or continuing resolution, that will fund governmental agencies through December 8.

ARE THEY REALLY READY TO WORK?: Survey of Employers Reveals Dissatisfaction with Skills of Recent High School Graduates

Over 40 percent of recent high school graduates are not sufficiently prepared for jobs after high school. So says Are They Really Ready to Work?: Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce, a new report based on a detailed survey of 431 human resource professionals. The report, which also surveyed employers’ opinions of college graduates, reveals frustration among employers at the lack of preparedness of all new workforce entrants—both high school graduates and two- and four-year college graduates.

WHERE AMERICA STANDS: Report Finds that the U.S. Educational System Fails to Meet the Needs of a Globally Competitive Economy

Since 1986, the United States has nearly doubled its Gross Domestic Product and today remains the world’s largest economy, according to Competitiveness Index: Where America Stands, a new report from the Council on Competitiveness that includes a special section on education. However, while America has among the highest levels of productivity and standard of living, the report identifies adequately educating its workforce as a serious area of concern.

RULING ANNOUNCED IN LANDMARK SCHOOL FUNDING CASE: Appeals Court Rules that New York Must Provide a Minimum of $1.9 Billion to New York City Schools

On November 20, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that the state must provide a minimum of $1.93 billion in additional aid every year to New York City’s public schools, an amount that is significantly less than the $4.7 billion that a lower court said was the minimum needed to give every child in the city a sound basic education. The case, which was initially brought by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) on behalf of New York City schoolchildren in 1993, has been one of the most closely watched of the school financing cases in a number of states that seek to direct more money to needy school districts.