Here’s a quick look at the news from last week (March 3 – 7).   

BUDGET
President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2015 budget request on Tuesday, March 4. The budget request for the Department of Education proposes $68.6 billion in discretionary spending, which is an increase of $1.3 billion, or 1.9 percent, over the Fiscal Year 2014 amount. The Department’s request includes two new higher education proposals providing bonuses to institutions of higher education for graduating Pell Grant students and incentivizing states to adopt performance-focused funding measures and maintain and increase state higher education spending. On the K-12 side, the request includes funding for a new technology and data use professional development initiative called ConnectEDucators, and a new focus for Race to the Top on school equity and student opportunity issues.

SENATE
The Senate has cleared the way procedurally to begin debate on S.1086, a bill to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. Majority Leader Reid has not yet announced when debate on the bill will begin, but it could be as early as this week. The bill passed the Senate HELP Committee late last year.

HOUSE
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce will hold a full committee hearing on March 12 on “Raising the Bar: The Role of Charter Schools in K-12 Education.” This hearing was rescheduled from March 4.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce will hold a Higher Education and Workforce Training subcommittee hearing on March 12 on “Examining the Mismanagement of the Student Loan Rehabilitation Process.”

ADMINISTRATION
Education Week reported that the U.S. Department of Education has approved California’s application for a waiver that will allow them to use Common Core field tests for a number of their students over the next year, rather than state tests.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
Penn Hill Group provides a list of grant opportunities and summaries for select grants, including the recently announced H1-B Ready to Work Partnership Grant competition under the Employment and Training Administration.  Please visit our website for more information.