No Child Left Behind Bill Clears Senate Panel

By Adrianna McGinley

A group of Senators voted Thursday to send legislation overhauling the national No Child Left Behind law to the floor for a full Senate vote.

The vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was 15-7.

The bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) would limit government supervision of the nation’s 100,000 public schools to the lowest-performing five percent of schools. 

The legislation also proposes changing the way schools and teachers are evaluated as well as testing requirements for students.

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Former CBO Director: Charge Drivers For Using Congested Roads

In an effort to help the nation pay for infrastructure improvements, the U.S. government should consider charging drivers who use congested roads, according to Alice Rivlin, the founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

“We could put a transponder in every car, most them already have GPS, and charge people by the mile and more for the use of congested roads and then use the revenues more intelligently to improve the roads and in part to improve public transportation,”  Rivlin said during a panel discussion at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Senate Dem: Americans, Lawmakers Need The Will To Improve Infrastructure

By Janie Amaya

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) told TRNS Thursday that while many Americans support stronger infrastructure, the public needs to realize that it comes at a cost.

“We need to be able to convince the American people that if we want better roads, highways and bridges, we have to pay for them,” Carper said after appearing with a panel of leaders in the infrastructure sector at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “There are a lot of great ideas out there. What we simply need is the will to do them and the leadership to get them done.”

Infrastructure was a key component of the White House’s jobs package. After failing to pass through the upper chamber, Democrats opted to pass individual provisions of the bill instead.

Sanders Calls On DoD To Zero In On Contracting Fraud

Citing a recent Pentagon report that shows fraud among Defense Contractors has cost the U.S.  $1.1 trillion throughout the past decade, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) argued Thursday that the Pentagon needs to adopt stronger system for fraud prevention.

“The ugly truth is that virtually all of the major defense contractors in this country for years have been engaged in systemic fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money,” Sanders said in a statement. “It is clear that DOD’s current approach is not working.”

Facebook Now A Jobs Resource

By Andrea Salazar

In addition to reminding you of your friends’ birthdays, Facebook can now also help you find a job.

Representatives from the popular social network, the Department of Labor and three non-profit organizations announced their partnership to make resources more accessible to job seekers at a press conference Thursday. 

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis explained the partnership as an inexpensive “vessel” to move the job-finding process forward at a time when unemployment is at 9.1 percent.

“Much of our political debate today is focused on creating jobs, but…there are about 3 million jobs out there right now,” Solis said. 

The resources available on the new Facebook page are not new, but the social network will help make them more accessible to 132 million people because “our resources are only as good as when people use them,” she said. 

Facebook Vice President of Global Public Policy Marne Levine described the partnership as a “free online job fair that can be accessed 7 days a week, day or night,” offering job listings for all types of jobs along with other resources for job seekers and recruiters.

In addition to the Facebook page, the partnership will launch public service announcements in states with the highest unemployment rates and conduct research to continue to aid employees and the unemployed.

The Social Jobs Partnership page is at facebook.com/socialjobs and features content from the Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, DirectEmployers Association and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.

“Landing on this page can help Americans land a good job,” Solis said.