george miller

Great video from Chairman George Miller’s committee, the Education and Labor Committee, reminding the American people that his party has made college more affordable in multiple ways this Congress.

UpdateII: The Washington Post is now reporting that the US Senate may add the student loan overhaul in as a part of the health care bill that they hope to pass through reconciliation.

"The move would create a potential double victory for President Obama, who has championed both causes as among domestic priorities. And Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said Thursday, "There was a stronger feeling for including" the education proposal. Some senators disagreed with the strategy, Durbin said, adding that a final decision has yet to be reached."

UPDATEI: All of the youth groups are going all hands on deck with this. Here's how you can help:
Step 1: Call 1-888-254-5087
Step 2: Ask for your senators
Step 3: Use the script:

"Hi, my name is____. I a am calling today to urge Senator_______ to support students by putting Student Aid Reform in the Budget Reconciliation process. If student aid reform is not included, the maximum Pell Grant will be cut by thousands of dollars. 500,000 students will lose their Pell grants and 8,000,000 students will see their awards cut by 60%. This is UNACCEPTABLE.

Will Senator______ support students by including student aid reform in the budget reconciliation process?

Thank you for supporting students, have a good day.

Proposed Tweet: URGENT: Call 1-888-254-5087 to ask your Senators to support #SAFRA in the reconciliation bill. They ARE deciding today!! CALL NOW!

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Forgive my cynicism but... it figures. Once again the Sallie Mae lobby has bought their way into the overhaul in student lending that the President promised would happen in this Congress.

From the New York Times

"But Democrats in the Senate, where the private student lending industry has strong allies, predicted on Wednesday night that the education bill would not be part of an expedited budget measure containing the final revisions to the health care legislation. Some Democrats said that such a move would stall the student loan changes at a minimum for several months, and perhaps kill the overhaul altogether.

Mr. Obama’s plan would end a program in which the government pays private, for-profit student lending companies to make risk-free loans using taxpayer money. Instead, the proposed overhaul would broaden the government’s existing direct-lending program, saving billions of dollars that the president had proposed using to expand Pell grant scholarships for low-income students.

But the education bill is strongly opposed by some Senate Democrats, particularly those in states where for-profit student lenders are major employers. In a letter to the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, six Democrats said they disliked the president’s proposal.

"We write to make you aware of our concern with provisions of contemplated student lending reform that could put jobs at risk," the senators wrote. "Increase our nation’s commitment to higher education funding is a priority, but we must proceed toward this objective in a thoughtful manner that considers potential alternative legislative proposals, while still delivering an equivalent amount of savings over the next ten years."

Oh happy day. Ed and Labor Chairman George Miller isn't giving up his strong support on behalf of students and is about to hold a press conference in a few minutes. Once the video is available and there is further info I'll post it.

From the release:

" At 11:45 am eastern today, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, and other House leaders will hold a press conference on the urgent need to include student loan reform as part of the reconciliation bill.

The student aid bill would make historic investments in our economic future by increasing Pell Grants, making college more affordable and helping more students graduate – and all at no cost to taxpayers."

Jose Antonio Vargas has a piece on the Huffington Post asking what happened to all of the young people that turned out for Obama. He also asks where too is the mainstream media

"the same MSM that declared 2008 as "The Year of the Youth Vote" -- in covering how young people are impacted by the health care debate, which has dominated the news for months? (Studies show that a quarter of Americans ages 25 to 34 don't have health insurance, while about a third of Americans ages 21 to 24 live without it -- more than any other age group."

Vargas says this is in part due to the high unemployment among young people and that many employers don't offer health insurance.

"Where is the Team Obama that adeptly leveraged the enthusiasm of its digitally-plugged young troops, who scheduled rallies on Facebook, passed YouTube videos around their network and sent text messages reminding their friends to vote? Speaking last month at George Washington University, just a few blocks from the White House, Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe told the college crowd: "Your generation won the election. . .Obama simply wouldn't have been the nominee without you."

He goes on to quote our friend Tobin Van Ostern who created Students for Barack Obama but who is now working with Campus Progress

"But, as far as I can tell, engaging young people hasn't been a top priority for the OFA, DNC and the White House."

Sad but true. Vargas talks about who is knocking doors for OFA and who is doing the work for the DNC but the long and short is that the work done by the campaign to do outreach to young voters, on campus, online, in their communities isn't even half of what they did during the campaign.

We were lucky to have a representative from the Treasury Department speak at the 80 Million Strong Conference and had Interior Secretary Ken Salazar talk about the outreach he is doing to young people to encourage them to get more involved in our state and national parks. Beyond that there is very little outreach to young people, particularly considering that young people were such a large portion of the voters.

"The sentiment is echoed in a blog on the popular site Tech Crunch that's gone viral in the past few days. "On the night of your acceptance speech, just before you walked on stage, 'you' sent out an email saying 'I will be in touch soon' -- but you disappeared and all we were left with was the strange feeling you get when your older brother ditches you for his cooler friends," began the post, which blogger Edo Segal wrote as an open letter to Obama."

He goes on to quote many who say that Obama the candidate ran a new and different campaign based on change, but governs in the same old way politicians always have. The New Media Strategy has also seen a major change. While it was a major facets to the campaign with their director reporting directly to the campaign manager, the White House new media strategy falls under one of the many outreach tools in the communications department.

Not mentioned by Vargas is the office of public liaison whose youth outreach representative is the same as the faith based and non-profit outreach person. Can you honestly tell me that one person can handle all of the faith based outreach and non-profits and then have time to do an aggressive youth outreach strategy? Not a chance. At the same time, faith based groups are accustom to having a seat at the table in the White House, and they know very well how it works. Youth are accustom to being ignored, so they aren't as likely to stick their neck out and demand a meeting with someone from the White House.

At one point there was a monthly conference call among youth leaders and the office of public liaison, but one youth leader who asked to not be identified said it was such a colossal waste of time that he quite participating and he doesn't know if they continue.

While the process might seem trite, the result has the appearance that youth aren't a major concern to the White House, the DNC, or OFA.

By contrast, Congressional Democrats have done a lot more in efforts to reach out to young people. While I consistently criticize Chris van Hollen for the DCCC's youth outreach program being "showing candidates the data," chairs of Congressional Committees (particularly Rep. George Miller) have worked with several youth groups and young leaders as partners in policy initiatives and in passing legislation. The Speaker's office continues to be an open door to young people, and Speaker Pelosi reaches out to youth more and more each year.

Reporters and bloggers have been writing about the upcoming election saying that young voters won't come out for the midterms. It's the same thing we've heard over and over again, and each year we work to show them they're wrong, we are relevant, and that we can't be ignored. But in a year when we've been so consistently ignored, placated, and the once "You're the change in this movement" has turned into "you think you're invincible," makes me wonder if its a self fulfilling prophecy.

Vargas closes his piece quoting youth ally Morley Winograd who spoke about the outreach the White House could have done around health care to guarantee it was passed:

"There's been a missed opportunity here in showcasing the kind of youthful, optimistic, hopeful energy that greatly Obama benefited from during the campaign," said Morley Winograd. . ."But of course it does not at all mean that the opportunity has gone away."

I just returned from the House Education and Labor Committee hearing on youth unemployment. This hearing is the follow-up to the 80 Million Strong National Jobs Summit, which convened 100 young leaders from 30 states to discuss problems and solutions about youth jobs. Since the Summit, youth unemployment and underemployment have risen. In fact, this past summer, typically the best time for young people to find jobs, was the worst on record. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics summer youth unemployment report:

The youth unemployment rate was 18.5 percent in July 2009, the highest July rate on record for the series, which began in 1948. As with the decline in employment, the increase in youth unemployment in the summer of 2009 reflected a weak job market. The July 2009 unemployment rates for young men (19.7 percent), women (17.3 percent), whites (16.4 percent), blacks (31.2 percent), Asians (16.3 percent), and Hispanics (21.7 percent) increased from a year earlier.

Note that unemployment was up for all young people, not just specific demographics. In his opening remarks, Chairman Miller stated that "young people are the hardest hit". Simple and right to the point.

The first witness to testify, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, Jane Oates, said that the stimulus funds sent to states did create jobs and that a detailed report was still being prepared and actual numbers were not yet available. Anecdotally, she's received positive feedback from young people who got jobs through stimulus funds. She noted that in many of the letters she had received from young workers, there were stories of saving money for college or for helping out the family during hard times. If not for the stimulus funds, it's likely that youth unemployment would have been higher and all the negative externalities bundled with it. Representative Bobby Scott quoted a Los Angeles-based community organization's motto that the best way to stop a bullet is with a job.

Another committee member, Representative Marcia Fudge, explained that her first jobs when she was a young person were important to her, equipping her with the experiences and skills that could, and did, carry her forward. With a passion that seemed to make time stop so that we, the audience, could prepare for what she would say next, she talked about pride. The pride of working and contributing to the community in a positive way. That feeling of pride in work knows no generational boundaries. Matt Segal of 80 Million Strong, a witness at the hearing, testified to that fact when he said that the Millennial generation is enthusiastic about young people doing their part, through hard work, to get this country out of recession. He then presented some of our generation's ideas, collected from the 80MS National Jobs Summit.

Yet, one of the big questions that was not answered directly in the hearing is how to deal effectively with the transition of a fourth generation, Millennials, into the workforce. It's almost like there is an elevator so full that others are left to take the stairs, even though they contributed to the construction of said elevator. So, it sounds like we need a bigger elevator, and luckily there's the spirit to make that happen. In his testimony, Segal noted that young people are increasingly interested in public service careers and in such expanding fields as healthcare, cyber security, green jobs and social entrepreneurship.

Much of the hearing focused specifically on low-income youth and youth of color, but 80MS is talking about a broader, much more comprehensive jobs agenda that aims to incorporate our generation's varied talents and skills towards the construction of a 21st century economy. Poverty and racism are problems not unique to today's young people, but the current state of joblessness, debt and lack of opportunity for young people of all backgrounds are specific to our times; right now, we need a solution for a generational workforce problem that threatens to leave America's youth worse off than their parents.

This morning on The Hill Ed and Labor Chairman George Miller along with Speaker Pelosi held a press conference talking about the importance of passage of the GIVE Act.

Rep. Miller is by far one of the most dedicated elected officials when it comes to helping young people. We thank him for his leadership on this bill and look forward to seeing its implementation once is passes tomorrow.

Speaker Pelosi's speech - not seen in the above video - also emphasized the strength of young people and Congress's continued dedication to future generations at such a troubling time in our economy. Below is an excerpt from her speech:

"In times of great challenge, Americans always risen to the occasion. And our economy, our health care system, and our schools need the help of the generous Americans who are willing to serve. Today, with this legislation — it will pass tomorrow in the House — we will launch a new era of national service.

“The GIVE Act will create 175,000 new service opportunities — more than tripling the number of volunteers nationwide involved in this program. And it will reward those who volunteer with real investments nationwide. It will make tremendous change.

“This is one of those times where we have a bill that has a clear connection to millions of Americans, and also, not only to them and the use of their time, but the generosity of their spirit."

The national service movement continues.

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter wrote last week about the "new era of national service" beginning under President Obama. As Alter noted, the impetus for this new era appears to be ready to pass through Congress soon.

The House's legislation -- the GIVE (Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education) Act -- and the Senate's Serve America Act will serve as the backbone for this new government-led movement (I wrote about the Serve America Act last month). Alter ran down what is included in the House legislation.

• A boost in the educational stipend offered in exchange for service to $5,350, with the provision that it will continue to rise in tandem with Pell grants. (Pay for full-time AmeriCorps service is about $11,000 a year.)
• A $500 education award for middle-school and high-school students who take part in a "Summer of Service" or other service activities.
• The establishment of a Clean Energy Corps, Education Corps, Healthy Futures Corps and Veterans Services Corps.
• The establishment of new ServeAmerica Fellowships.
• The expansion of the Civilian Community Corps to include work on weatherization and other energy-conservation projects.
• The expansion of the Peace Corps (to 16,000) and other existing programs.
• The designation of September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

George Miller, the California representative who chairs the House Committee on Education and Labor, guided GIVE through his committee this week, with a strong bipartisan vote in favor of the legislation (34-3). The House is expected to vote on the bill early this coming week.

We've covered the bad economy's effect on youth in recent weeks here; these bills would increase the number of available options for those youth either looking for gainful employment or unable to pay for college.

Miller stresses two new components in particular. "We wanted to make sure that veterans are a fundamental part of it," he says. "And all through the process we were trying to link students to education, education, education." The idea is that young people having trouble paying for school—or looking for a job after graduation from high school or college (hundreds of thousands this spring)—will consider national service. An increased college stipend in exchange for tutoring, mentoring, feeding and other service activities could be attractive for students who have been dropping out of college in record numbers.

We have a ways to go in solving our myriad problems, but this legislation definitely gets us moving in the right direction. Cheers to Congressman Miller and Senators Hatch and Kennedy, and to all those working hard to get this bill passed.

This past year I had the great honor of meeting with and interviewing Chairman George Miller the head of the Education and Labor Committee in the House. Chairman Miller has an encouraging track record of reaching out to young people to uncover what Congress can do to best impact the difficulties we face in our schools and our higher education.

See my interview with him here:

Congress has now begun to craft their first 100 days of legislation which includes the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 designed to stimulate the economy like a defibrillator to Dick Cheney's heart.

"With our economy worsening by the day, bold and strategic investments are needed to jumpstart our economy and drive long-term growth and competitiveness," said Miller. "This remarkable effort will get Americans back to work quickly, strengthen educational opportunities for our children, and fuel innovation. Together, with President-elect Obama, we are moving quickly to build a 21st economy and strengthen our nation’s middle class."

Chairman Miller has gone through the many many parts of this bill to look specifically at the assistance it provides to students.

• School modernization: $20 billion to repair, renovate, modernize public schools and colleges and universities, including technology updates;
• Economic stabilization fund to provide relief to states: $79 billion to help states restore cuts to funding for early childhood, K-12, higher education and other vital programs;
• Aid for college students:$15.6 billion to increase the maximum Pell Grant scholarship by $500, for a maximum of $5350 in 2009 and $5550 in 2010;
• A strong, green workforce: $4 billion for job training to help get adult and dislocated back to work, create one million summer jobs for youth, and prepare workers for green jobs and other emerging industries;
• Extended unemployment benefits: $27 billion to continue the current extended unemployment benefits program – which provides up to 33 weeks of extended benefits - through 2009; and
• Health care for the unemployed: $30.3 billion to extend COBRA health insurance coverage to the unemployed, extending the period of COBRA coverage for older and tenured workers.

See the full fact sheet here (pdf)

This comes at a most important time. MSNBC released a story Thursday showing the jump in costs for college tuition. Guess what, its not a cute little hoppy jump, its a big one.

"Final prices will not be set until state budgets are finished in the coming months, but the trend is clear. In California, the governor's proposed budget would raise university fees around 10 percent. Florida's governor is trying to give several state schools more power to raise prices. And universities in both states plan to cut enrollment slots.

Other states could not wait until fall and have passed unusual midyear increases, including a whopping 14-percent increase in New York.

In previous recessions, state-supported institutions have raised tuition between 8 and 10 percent annually for several years running, said Nick Johnson of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

In a Today Show report Thursday morning on applying for student financial aid it was reported that there has been an 18% increase in financing available to students. But because the economy is in such dire straights, there has been a 9% increase in the number of students now applying for financial assistance.

The Senate is also at work on its first 10 bills to present in the new legislative session as Mike mentioned last week.

"SB7: Education Opportunity Act of 2009. "To expand educational opportunities for all Americans by increasing access to high-quality early childhood education and after school programs, advancing reform in elementary and secondary education, strengthening mathematics and science instruction, and ensuring that higher education is more affordable." An education omnibus bill that will no doubt be split up into separate pieces of legislation."

I'm grateful to Congress for their hard work and their attention to students who are suffering, I just hope it works and institutions and states don't continue to hike up prices making it totally pointless.

While Wendy's has proposed their own solution with the 3conomy and 3conomics, let me propose a few ways you might be able to make a few bucks for school.
1. Sell your extra house. Don't have one? Its ok... sell your neighbors!
2. Remix Steven Colbert into hiphop music and sell it in key swing states.
3. Offer to cat-sit for the Speaker

Thanks for the ed h/t, Tom.

On a recent trip to Washington DC I decided to see if I could talk to a few of our notable Representatives in Congress. Rep. George Miller was not only available but eager to talk with me about the outreach the Committee had done in the first 100 days of the New Congress in 2007 to work with students on how we can make higher education easier and more manageable for students.

Some friends who work on the Hill told me that he was a great guy, and very forward thinking when it comes to technology and outreach, but I had no idea he would be as engaging and eager to talk about the needs of students and ways in which we can continue our work after Election Day. It was a true honor, and I certainly look forward to seeing what is possible in the 2009 Legislative Session.

Crossposted from Wiretap Magazine