Share
Published by Advance 360 Education, in partnership with Tom Netting, Chief Executive Officer, TEN Government Strategies
In January the House Committee on Education and Labor published a report entitled “Committee on Education and Labor 2021 Year In Review” which, among other things, highlighted a list of “Legislative Accomplishments” and “Examination of Important Issues.”
Included within the list of accomplishments were the status of the thirty-two bills the Committee advanced during the first session of the 117th Congress and a very brief summary of the content of each bill. In summation, the House Committee emphasized:
- 3 Bills signed by the President;
- 13 Bills passed through the House; and
- 16 Bills advanced through the Committee
And included in the list of important issues that were examined through the hosting of thirty-seven hearings at the full and subcommittee levels were topics like:
- Full Committee Examinations
- Building Back Better from the pandemic
- Strengthening oversight of for-profit colleges
- Highlighting the Biden agenda for students, workers, and families
- Higher Education & Workforce Investment Subcommittee Examinations
- Increasing enrollment of Pell Students at public institutions
- Helping workers secure good-paying jobs
- Review of the polices and priorities of the Office of Federal Student Aid
so we got to thinking…
How much does the for-profit education community really know about these bills and similar bills and actions taking place in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions?
Major for-profit educational organizations are actively engaged in monitoring and influencing the process, but there isn’t a current source that gets into the nitty gritty of the politics of the bills, backstories, and offers quick, concise actionable items for the education community to undertake on a regular basis.
And what about the literally 100’s of other higher education proposals that have been introduced but not yet advanced by the House and Senate Education Committees?
Again, major community organizations track and summarize this information, but rarely have time to talk about individual bills that we should be promoting proactively – while at the same time fighting to fend off the sustained onslaught of bills adverse to our students and schools. For example, all the week our community has been fighting to protect our students’ and our community’s eligibility to participate in the new short-term program that excludes us. Did you know there is an alternative bipartisan bill that supports the inclusion of our community? How did we miss the opportunity to have that proposal being the one up for discussion this week? For example, during the debate on The American COMPETES Act just over a week ago, how could we have done a better job promoting the alternative bill?
And as importantly, what can be done to make sure the for-profit education community – and the individuals who want to become activists or who already are activists but want more insider information – have the resources and tools to assist you in doing so on behalf of our students, institutions, and employers?
A Solution Came To The Forefront
I shared these concerns with the Advance 360 Education team during broader discussions about the political environment, their capabilities in generating data needed to help validate and promote the effectiveness and value we know are inherent within the for-profit education community, and how we could develop solutions.
Working with Anthony Espinoza and the team at Advance 360 Education, we looked at all of the highly beneficial information that is already out there and how we could supplement those efforts by developing additional support and data. After a number of discussions, we have developed a plan to provide support in all of these areas discussed above and more.
Together, we endeavor to:
- Provide at least two articles a month that provide the most pertinent details on the efforts to move specific legislative proposals important to the for-profit education community;
- Regularly provide very brief summaries of introduced legislation important to the community that you probably haven’t heard much about yet; and
- Support the efforts of the for-profit education community in the development and refinement of both community-based and institutional-based outreach to Congress.
This valuable information will be available at www.a360education.com/blog and can be delivered to your inbox within the Advocacy News and Perspectives email newsletter from Advance 360 Education.
Tom Netting, Chief Executive Officer at TEN Government Strategies, is an experienced Public Policy Advisor with a demonstrated history of working in higher education legislative and regulatory affairs. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Negotiation, Analytical Skills, Governmental Affairs, and Government. Strong community and social services professional with a Bachelor of Science focused in Business Administration from Presbyterian College.
