Education Reform Act:
entitlement programs: Entitlement Programs of the federal government include Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment, and welfare programs. Entitlement programs are rights granted to citizens and certain non-citizens by federal law. The programs are either contributory or non-contributory. Non-contributory means the program benefits are available to participants without regard to whether they have contributed to the program.
Welfare programs such as SNAP (food stamps) or Pell Grants are examples of non-contributory programs. Participants receive benefits even though they have never made contributions to the program. The Social Security Retirement Program is an example of a contributory program. The program gets payroll taxes during a person’s working years and pays benefits in retirement.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): a US law passed in December 2015 that governs the United States K–12 public education policy.[1] The law replaced its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and modified but did not eliminate provisions relating to the periodic standardized tests given to students.[2][3] Like the No Child Left Behind Act, ESSA is a reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which established the federal government's expanded role in public education.
Medicaid: a government program that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by state governments, which also have wide latitude in determining eligibility and benefits, but the federal government sets baseline standards for state Medicaid programs and provides a significant portion of their funding.
Medicare: a government national health insurance program in the United States, begun in 1965 under the Social Security Administration (SSA) and now administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It primarily provides health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older, but also for some younger people with disability status as determined by the SSA
Permanent University Fund (PUF): a sovereign wealth fund created by the State of Texas to fund public higher education within the state. A portion of the returns from the PUF are annually directed towards the Available University Fund (AUF), which distributes the funds according to provisions set forth by the 1876 Texas Constitution, subsequent constitutional amendments, and the board of regents of the Texas A&M University System and University of Texas System. The PUF provides extra funds, above monies from tax revenues, to the UT System and the Texas A&M System which collectively have approximately 50 percent of state public university students. The PUF does not provide any funding to other public Universities in the State of Texas.
redistributive programs: Redistributive policies are an essential component of strategies for reducing inequality and promoting sustainable development in its three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. They represent a powerful policy instrument for improving equality of outcome through the redistribution of income and for enhancing equality of opportunity by improving the distribution of income-generating assets, such as human capital and wealth (including land and industrial and financial capital) across individuals as well as between the private and the public sector.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people to help them maintain adequate nutrition and health. It is a federal aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), though benefits are distributed by specific departments of U.S. states (e.g., the Division of Social Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, etc.).
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): a federal assistance program of the United States. It began on July 1, 1997, and succeeded the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, providing cash assistance to indigent American families through the United States Department of Health and Human Services.[2] TANF is often simply referred to as welfare.
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB): The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) is a state agency responsible for coordinating among Texas universities and other institutions of higher education. THECB evaluates the degree programs of Texas universities, sets certain standards, and collects data on higher education outcomes. However, THECB does not directly control universities, which are run by their own boards of regents.
The functions of the Higher Education Coordinating Board include:
- Eliminating unnecessary duplication of resources in higher education institutions;
- Developing and evaluating progress on a long-range master plan for higher education;
- Collecting and making accessible data on higher education institutions;
- Making recommendations to improve the transferability of credits between universities;
- Improving transitions from high school to postsecondary education, and from postsecondary to the workforce;
- Administering program funds for financial aid and other grants as directed by the Texas Legislature.
