EducationCounsel - E-Update for July 15, 2024 (2024)

The information covered below is from June 21, 2024, through July 11, 2024.

Highlights:

  • On July 10, the House Appropriations Committee held a markup and advanced by a partisan vote of 31 to 25 the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations bill, which includes funding for the U.S. Department of Education (USED) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
  • On July 11, the House passed H.J.Res. 165 by a party-line vote of 205-201, which is a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the Biden Administration’s recent changes to the Title IX regulations.
  • On July 10, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a markup and advanced H.R. 8932, the FAFSA Deadline Act, by a vote of 34-6, which would require the USED to make the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form available to students each year on October 1.

Administration:

Biden Administration releases Spring 2024 Unified Agenda: On July 8, the Biden Administration released its Spring 2024 Unified Agenda. The agenda outlines the estimated timing for potential administrative action on a wide range of policies. Highlights include:

While the Spring 2024 Unified Agenda provides information on the potential timeline for administrative actions, the timing of actions is subject to change.

U.S. Department of Commerce hosts Child Care Summit: On June 27, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and U.S. Department of Commerce hosted the first National Child Care Innovation Summit. The event was designed to inspire tangible actions, identify policy initiatives, and position child care as a catalyst for economic growth through emerging models, employer approaches, and public-private partnerships. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo remarked during the event that child care “is an economic issue,” and Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA), who is a Co-Chair of the Congressional Pre-K and Child Care Caucus, emphasized that child care is a “workforce issue.” The event also was aimed at encouraging action by the private sector as a partner and force multiplier to the public sector in establishing child care as critical infrastructure. According to resources issued by the First Five Years Fund, business leaders spoke about how offering child care support and benefits will allow businesses to attract and retain top talent, and therefore, retain a competitive edge.

White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden remarks on the importance of child care access at Center for American Progress event on lowering costs for Americans: On June 26, the Center for American Progress (CAP) hosted a webinar titled, “Lowering Costs for American Families,” in which former CAP president and current White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden discussed the Biden Administration's efforts to reduce costs across child care, housing, and healthcare. Specifically, Tanden called attention to President Biden’s April 2023 Executive Order on increasing access to high-quality care and emphasized how reducing child care costs is key to lowering overall costs to families. When asked about how child care deserts can be addressed in policy, Tanden stated the importance of long-term investments in child care to increase access.

White House:

White House holds meeting on expanding access to free community college: On June 21, the White House held a meeting with state leaders to discuss efforts to expand free community college programs in states. Representatives from Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, and others shared how lowering costs for community college students has increased enrollment rates and access to postsecondary education. Officials from the Domestic Policy Council shared the Administration’s commitment to expanding access to free community college, including examples of how states have used funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to build and expand community college access.

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

USED Office of Educational Technology releases new guide for Artificial Intelligence (AI) developers: On July 8, the USED’s Office of Educational Technology released a new guide for product developers with a focus on addressing safe, responsible, and trustworthy uses of AI in education. The guide, which is titled “Designing for Education with Artificial Intelligence: An Essential Guide for Developers,” builds on the Department’s prior report for developers making recommendations on AI and the future of teaching and learning. The new guide is organized by each of the USED’s recommendations to AI developers, including designing for teaching and learning, providing evidence for rationale and impact, advancing equity and protecting civil rights, ensuring safety and security, promoting transparency and earning trust. The report also promotes a “Dual Stack” approach to AI development, in which systems are designed around both innovation and responsibility. In conjunction with the release, the USED also hosted a webinar featuring USED Assistant Secretary for the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development Roberto J. Rodriguez, Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, and Executive Director of Digital Promise Jeremy Roschelle, as well as a panel of industry and practitioner experts.

USED Secretary Cardona delivers remarks at Seal of Biliteracy Summit: On June 24, USED Secretary Miguel Cardona spoke at the Department’s first Seal of Biliteracy Summit. The Summit was held to recognize the economic, educational, and social benefits of implementing multilingualism in education. In his remarks, Secretary Cardona congratulated the recipients present on receiving their seal of biliteracy, and emphasized the cognitive benefits of biliteracy, specifically noting the evidence of being “more creative, more flexible and better equipped to make good decisions.” Secretary Cardona added the work of the Department to advance biliteracy, “from promoting high-quality dual language learning to building up the pipeline of great bilingual educators.”

USED’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) releases new resources on protecting students with disabilities in K-12 and higher education: On June 20, the USED released new resources with information for students, parents and families, and schools addressing the civil rights of students with sickle cell disease, epilepsy, and cancer. The resources outline relevant legal rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against students with disabilities by institutions that accept federal financial assistance, including almost all public schools and public and private institutions of higher education. Specifically, the resources explain when these medical conditions trigger protections under Section 504, what kind of modifications an educational institution may need to take to avoid unlawful discrimination, and what an institution may need to do to remedy past discrimination.

Biden-Harris Administration awards more than $44 million to improve postsecondary education access and completion for rural students: On June 21, the USED announced more than $44.5 million for 22 grants under the Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development (RPED) program to improve rates of postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion among rural students. Grantees from Alabama and California, among other states, described how their programs will support rural students in both transitioning to career pathways and from community colleges to four-year institutions. Some grantees are also expected to expand existing Career and Technical Education programs in the health sciences and to develop pathways for rural students into Certified Pre-Apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship opportunities.

Congress:

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Cassidy and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Foxx request update on USED investigation into Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) rollout: On July 11, Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to the USED’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) urging an update on its investigation into the Department’s implementation of this year’s FAFSA form. The letter emphasizes the impact of this year’s delayed rollout on students and families and cites a May report from the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) that estimated a 10% drop in FAFSA completion as a result of the delays and challenges. The lawmakers conclude their letter requesting a briefing from the OIG on its ability to evaluate the development process for the 2025-2026 FAFSA and a timeline for evaluating “management challenges” at the USED.

Senate:

Senate Commerce Committee holds hearing on AI and privacy: On July 11, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing titled “The Need to Protect Americans’ Privacy and the AI Accelerant.” The hearing focused on how the “advancement of AI systems has changed the landscape for data privacy” and explored how AI has accelerated “the need for a federal comprehensive privacy law” that protects individual privacy and sets clear guidelines for businesses as they develop and deploy AI systems. According to Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-WA), “AI has allowed online surveillance, detailed consumer profiling, personalized fraud and deepfakes to be done at scale, with little human involvement and minimal cost.”

In her remarks, Chairwoman Cantwell noted that “AI is an accelerant that increases the need for passing legislation soon. Americans’ privacy is under attack. We are being surveilled…tracked online in the real world, through connected devices. And now, when you add AI, it is like putting fuel on a campfire in the middle of a windstorm.” Chairwoman Cantwell also highlighted bipartisan legislation on data privacy, the American Privacy Rights Act, that she introduced with House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), which would ensure that “our most important private data should not be bought or sold without our approval.”

The hearing heard from four witnesses, Ryan Calo, Co-Director of the University of Washington Technology Lab; Amba Kak, Co-Executive Director of the AI Now Institute; Udbhav Tiwari, Global Product Policy Director for Mozilla; and Morgan Reed, President of ACT, the App Association. Three of the witnesses spoke about the need for federal privacy legislation and the importance of such legislation as the foundation for AI governance. Mr. Reed commented that, “Our innovation economy could fare even better on the global stage if Congress were to enact a strong, preemptive federal privacy framework that bolsters trust in cutting edge AI tools while curbing mismanagement of personal data.” Several of the witnesses raised the issue of the “insatiable demand” for consumer data that AI fuels. One witnesses, Mr. Kak from the AI Institute Now, raised concerns about AI “further consolidat[ing] Big Tech’s already staggering control over consumer data.”

Senate Finance Committee holds hearing on the state of child care: On July 9, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing titled, “Examining the State of Child Care: How Federal Policy Solutions Can Support Families, Close Existing Gaps, and Strengthen Economic Growth.” The Committee heard from the following witnesses: Fatima Goss Graves, President And CEO of the National Women’s Law Center; Megan Pratt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Of Practice for the College Of Health at Oregon State University; Katharine B. Stevens, Ph.D., Founder and President of the Center on Child and Family Policy; and Ryan Page, Director Of Child Care at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (R-OR) opened the hearing by immediately calling attention to the nationwide crisis around child care affordability and highlighted provisions of the Building Child Care for a Better Future Act, legislation that he introduced in June 2023 with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Chairman Wyden stated that the Committee should use the bill to increase mandatory funding through the Child Care Entitlement to States which would make child care more affordable for families. Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-IN) shared similar sentiments about the state of child care, emphasizing that the Congress should “carefully evaluate existing programs” to determine how to act and where to invest.

Senate HELP Committee releases report on growing efforts to dismantle and privatize the American public education system: On June 25, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released a new report titled, “By the Wealthy, for the Wealthy: The Coordinated Attacks on Public Education in the United States.” The report focuses on the impact of school privatization policies in the form of private school vouchers, which impact public schools and education segregation, benefit wealthy families, and provide tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. Referencing data from Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, and other states, findings in the report showed the majority of students who participate in private school voucher programs never attended a public school before attending private school. Additionally, the report details how state budgets are impacted by voucher programs, noting that the costs of Arizona’s universal school voucher program are 983% higher than initially projected, and the costs of Florida’s program are 380% higher than estimated.

House:

House passes Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the Biden Administration’s Title IX regulations: On July 11, the House passed H.J.Res. 165 by a party-line vote of 205-201, which is a CRA resolution to overturn the Biden Administration’s recent changes to the Title IX regulations. The final Title IX regulations were released on April 19 and have received widespread criticism from Republicans, specifically concerning the way in which the regulations protect against discrimination based on gender identity. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued a statement “applauding” the House passage of the resolution, and noting that House Republicans have taken steps to “override the Biden administration’s radical revision of Title IX that hurts women, undermines women’s rights, allows men to compete in women’s sports, and threatens the safety of women’s-only spaces.” House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) spoke on the House floor against the resolution, stating, “This bill is particularly extreme because passing it would prevent any substantially similar rule from being enacted on these issues in the future.” A companion CRA resolution, S.J.Res. 96, has been introduced in the Senate, but it is unclear if the Senate will take any action to consider it.

House Education and the Workforce Committee advances legislation to require the USED to make FAFSA form available to students each year by October 1: On July 10, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a markup and advanced H.R. 8932, the FAFSA Deadline Act, by a vote of 34-6. The bill requires the USED to make the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form available to students each year on October 1. The legislation was introduced on July 8 by Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-IN), a member of the committee, amid continuing challenges from the Department to roll out the simplified 2024-2025 FAFSA form. Though the committee advanced the bill with support from committee Democrats, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) expressed concern in his opening remarks that the deadline was “arbitrary,” adding that the bill may not provide solutions to the challenges faced in this year’s FAFSA rollout. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) also introduced companion legislation in the Senate, but the HELP Committee has not yet taken action on the bill.

See Also
Alastair Dalton on LinkedIn: Ferguson Marine boss vows 'aggressive' bid for ferries against 'unfair'…The UNOFFICIAL New York Bar Exam Results Accidentally Posted on the Web Briefly Today.Sport Up, Lex! / Cowboy West!/Credits

House Appropriations Committee advances Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025) Labor-HHS bill: On July 10, the House Appropriations Committee held a markup and advanced by a partisan vote of 31 to 25 the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations bill, which includes funding for the USED and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). During the markup, an amendment was adopted by a vote of 33-24, which was offered en bloc by House Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Robert Aderholt (R-AL), increasing the total for the Charter Schools program by an additional $10 million in FY2025, while decreasing funding for the USED’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). The new total being proposed in the FY2025 House Labor/HHS Appropriations bill for the Charter Schools program is $460 million, which is a $20 million increase above the FY2024 level.

The FY2025 House Labor/HHS Appropriations bill proposes $67.95 billion for the USED, which is a decrease of $11.1 billion or 14% below the FY2024 level. Below are highlights of funding levels included in the FY2025 House Labor-HHS Appropriations bill for key education and early learning programs:

  • Early Childhood Education:
    • Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) - $8.77 billion, which is a $25 million increase above the FY2024 level.
    • Head Start - $12.3 billion, which is a $25 million increase above the FY2024 level.
    • Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) program - $250 million, which is a decrease of $65 million below the FY2024 level.
  • K-12 Education:
    • Title I - $13.69 billion, which is a decrease of $4.7 billion below the FY2024 level, after taking into account rescissions of previously appropriated funding.
    • Special Education Grants to States (IDEA Part B) - $14.24 billion, which is a $25 million increase above the FY2024 level.
  • Student Financial Assistance:
    • Pell Grants - Maintains the maximum Pell Grant level at $7,395 for the 2024-2025 school year.
    • Federal Work-Study - $615 million, which is decrease of $615 million below the FY2024 level.

House Ways and Means advances education-related legislation: On July 9, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced three education-related bills at a markup, including a bill aimed at holding colleges and universities accountable for failing to protect student civil rights, a bill to update the calculation of the endowment tax formula, and a bill to expand the allowable uses of funds for Section 529 plans. Detailed information related to the consideration of each bill is below:

  • H.R. 8913, the Protecting American Students Act, advanced by a vote of 24-13, incentivizes universities that receive U.S. federal tax benefits to either enroll more American students or spend more of their endowment funds on those students to avoid being subject to an amended formula of the Endowment Tax.
  • H.R. 8914, the University Accountability Act, advanced by a vote of 24-12, levies a financial penalty against schools that have a civil judgment entered against them by a federal court for violating a student’s civil rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
  • H.R. 8915, the Education and Workforce Freedom Act, advanced by a vote of 23-13 and allows tax-exempt distributions from 529 college savings plans to be used for additional educational expenses to cover K-12 educational expenses and workforce expenses for career or technical training.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Foxx sends letters to eight agencies urging adherence to Supreme Court’s decision to overturn “Chevron deference":On July 11, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent letters to the eight agencies that fall under the Committee’s jurisdiction, calling on them to adhere to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the Chevron decision (See below for more information under U.S. Courts). Letters to the USED and U.S. Department for Health and Human Services (HHS), among others, “assure [the agencies] we will exercise our robust investigative and legislative powers” to ensure agency compliance with the ruling. The letters also request information on agency rules - proposed, initiated, complete, and enforced since January 20, 2021 - including lists of all pending judicial challenges to final agency rules that may be impacted by the Court’s decision and final agency rules not yet challenged in court that may be impacted by the Court’s decision if they are so challenged.

House Education and the Workforce Committee hosts AI showcase: On June 26, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) hosted an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Showcase. Chairwoman Foxx shared that the event aimed to highlight “the first-hand uses and benefits of incorporating AI into education to prepare the next generation for success in the twenty-first century economy.” The Showcase featured several booths from leading tech-companies in the educational technology and AI spaces. Presenters included OpenAI, Google – which touted their new AI-driven features in YouTube and Google Classroom – and Khan Academy – whose KhanMigo software promises benefits to supporting students in their learning.

House Education and the Workforce Committee continues investigation into antisemitism on college campuses: Throughout June and July, the House Education and the Workforce Committee continued its investigations of antisemitism on college campuses. On June 26, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing titled, “Combating Workplace Antisemitism in Postsecondary Education: Protecting Employees from Discrimination.” Witnesses included: Mr. Mark Rienzi, President and CEO of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; Professor Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego; Melissa Emrey-Arras, Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security at the U.S. Government Accountability Office; and Professor Dafna Golden, Geography Professor at Mt. San Antonio College. During his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) shared examples of antisemitism that faculty and staff have faced at several University of California campuses, and emphasized that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects employees from antisemitic discrimination. Throughout the hearing, Committee members asked witnesses questions about instances of antisemitism on other college campuses across the country.

On July 2, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released an update on the Committee’s investigation into Columbia University. In June, Chairwoman Foxx requested text messages that were sent among the leadership of Columbia University following a report that administrators “downplayed” antisemitism during a roundtable held on the institution’s campus. The July update stated that the text messages “mock[ed] and disparag[ed] the university’s Jewish community…dismissed concerns [of Jewish students], [and] disparaged officials responsible for Jewish student life.”

U.S. Courts:

Republican State Attorneys General continue litigation to prevent implementation of Biden Administration’s income-driven repayment plan, as the USED pauses payments for 3 million borrowers: On July 9, State Attorneys General from Alaska, South Carolina, and Texas, filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court to prevent implementation of the Biden Administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, the Biden Administration’s newest income-driven repayment plan that allows for lower monthly payments and shorter timeframes for forgiveness for certain borrowers. The petition follows a June 30 decision from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to allow for a provision of the SAVE plan to be implemented which reduces monthly payments by lowering the current percentage of discretionary income from 10% to 5% for undergraduate borrowers. On June 24, District Judge Daniel Crabtree of the District of Kansas had blocked this provision.

Separately, on June 24, District Judge John A. Ross of the Eastern District of Missouri issued a preliminary injunction that blocks the provision in the SAVE plan that allows for loan forgiveness for certain groups of borrowers. Following the June decisions, the White House and the USED both issued statements that the Administration “strongly disagrees” with the decisions, adding, “the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the SAVE Plan.” In doing so, the USED reported to the New York Times and other news outlets that three million borrowers who are enrolled in SAVE will be placed in administrative forbearance, pausing their monthly payments. Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) issued a statement, calling the Biden Administration’s action “irresponsible,” while House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) reiterated prior sentiments about the Biden Administration’s loan forgiveness plans shifting responsibility to taxpayers.

U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overrules “Chevron deference":On June 28, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, explicitly overturning the 1984 precedent set by Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The 6-3 ruling significantly increases the risk that executive branch agency regulations will be overturned in litigation, shifting the power of interpreting ambiguously worded statutes from those agencies to federal courts.

SCOTUS ruled that Chevron's presumption that statutory ambiguities are implicit delegations of authority by Congress to federal agencies “is misguided, because agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do.” The Court did not articulate a newly defined standard of review for agency actions that will replace so-called “Chevron deference.” Instead, the Court ruled that federal judges must “exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, as the [Administrative Procedure Act] requires.”

Courts will likely now apply a more stringent review of agency interpretations. This decision may decrease the likelihood that the USED regulations will survive future legal challenges and puts the Biden Administration’s existing regulatory agenda and recently issued rules at greater risk of being overturned by federal courts in the near future. This includes the Department’s recently issued rules on Gainful Employment (protecting students from low-value programs), Borrower to Defense (forgiving loans for students defrauded by colleges), and Title IX regulations (providing for protections to students from discrimination). Analysis of the Court’s ruling is still ongoing as questions remain open as to its application and impact.

Upcoming Events (Congress & Administration):

  • From July 15 to 18, Congress will be on recess during the Republican National Convention. More information on the convention is here.
  • On July 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans (PAC) will host a virtual meeting. The meeting agenda will include welcome remarks; voting on Commission business; working group updates on the policy papers; presentations by subject matter experts on topics that reflect the PAC’s priorities outlined in Executive Order 14050; and a group discussion. Those interested in attending can RSVP here, and the public may submit written comments pertaining to the work of the PAC no later than 5:00 p.m. on July 15. Written comments must be submitted via the registration site or to whblackinitiative@ed.gov. More information is here.
  • On July 25 from 12:00 p.m. to4:00 p.m., the President’s Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics will hold a virtual meeting. The agenda for the Commission’s meeting builds upon conversations and information shared in the Commission’s six prior meetings and continues their engagement on advancing educational equity and economic opportunity for Hispanics. Members of the public may register to attend the meeting virtually here, and written comments pertaining to the work of the Commission may be submitted electronically to WhiteHouseHispanicInitiative@ed.gov by 5:00 p.m. on July 24. More information is here.
  • From August 6 - 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) will hold a hybrid meeting. Committee members will meet in-person while agency representatives and public attendees will participate virtually. The purpose of the meeting is to conduct a review of the applications for renewals of recognition. To request to make oral comments, submit a request by email to the ThirdPartyComments@ed.gov mailbox. Registration is here, and more detail on comment requirements and additional information is here.

Upcoming Events (Outside Organizations):

  • On July 17 at 4:00 p.m., the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a hybrid event titled, “Coming Together on Chronic Absenteeism: Schools’ Top Priority This Year.” Speakers will discuss the ongoing crisis in chronic absenteeism and call for a new goal: cutting chronic absenteeism by 50% over five years. Panelists include: Nat Malkus, Deputy Director for Education Policy Studies at AEI; Hedy Chang, Founder and Executive Director of Attendance Works; Denise Forte, President of the Education Trust; Tiffany Anderson, Superintendent of Topeka Public Schools; Lisa Coons, Superintendent of Public Instruction at the Virginia Department of Education; Angélica Infante-Green, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education at the Rhode Island Department of Education; and Caitlin Codella Low, Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. More information and registration are here.
  • On July 22 at 3:00 p.m., the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR) will host a webinar titled, “Supporting School Attendance in a Time of Changing Norms.” Presenters will consider how changing norms around school schedules and hybrid learning have impacted a recent spike in chronic absenteeism causing unique challenges to each school’s and community’s population and context. The conversation will be moderated by John Gomperts, Senior Fellow at CGLR, and feature: Hedy Chang, Executive Director and Attendance Works; Denise Forte, President and CEO at The Education Trust; Johann Lijengrenn, Director of Dropout Prevention and Student Reengagement at the Colorado Department of Education; and Nat Malkus, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Education Policy Studies at AEI. More information and registration are here.
  • On July 24 at 3:00 p.m., WestEd and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading will host a webinar titled, “The Influence of Social-Emotional Learning: Closing Literacy Gaps in the Classroom.” The webinar is the first in the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading’s mini-series on SEL, and presenters will examine the integration of SEL principles into literacy instruction, assess its impact on students’ academic growth and explore its implications for the gaps that start early and persist into the early grades. Panelists include: Natalie Walrond, Vice President for Whole Person, Family, and Community Systems at WestEd; Dr. Christina Cipriano, Director of the Education Collaboratory at Yale University; Dr. Carol Lee, Professor of Learning Sciences at Northwestern University; and Lakeisha Steele, Vice President of Policy at the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). More information and registration are here.
  • On July 25 at 3:00 p.m., the CGLR will host a webinar titled, “AI’s Gap-Closing Potential: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges.” The webinar will explore the role of AI in engaging students, with examples from literacy, math and more; how AI can support teacher effectiveness and wellness; and the disparity in AI access and its impact on educational equity, among other topics. Sal Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy, will provide the keynote address. A panel will be moderated by Eirene Chen, Director, District Strategy & Operations at Khan Academy, and feature the following speakers: Kip Glazer, Educator at Mountain View High in California; Keri Rodrigues, Founding President at the National Parents Union; Heather Schwartz, Director of PK-12 Education Program at RAND; and Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer at Code.org. More information and registration are here.

Publications (Congress & Administration):

  • On June 26, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a testimony titled, “Higher Education: Opportunities Exist to Improve Federal Oversight of Alleged Employment Discrimination at Colleges and Universities.” The testimony found that faculty and other employees filed about 20,000 complaints alleging employment discrimination at colleges from fiscal years 2011 through 2021, according to the data from the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Additionally, the GAO found that the referral process was often delayed and sometimes resulted in missing records, with the USED not tracking the timing of its referrals and missing opportunities to identify and learn from its field offices that are processing timely referrals. GAO recommends that the USED track the timing of the employment discrimination complaint referrals to EEOC and that the EEOC develop a protocol to ensure it receives and processes all complaint referrals from USED.
  • On July 8, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report titled, “K-12 Education: Differences in Student Arrest Rates Widen when Race, Gender, and Disability Status Overlap.” The GAO reviewed USED data on school police and the arrest rates of students of different races in the nation's K-12 schools from 2015 to 2020. The study found that a students’ race and ethnicity, gender, and disability status were all prominent with respect to rates of arrest and referrals to police; Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian/Alaska Native students were arrested at rates 2 to 3 times higher than those of White students. The report recommends that the USED collect arrest and referral data, by race, for students with disabilities who receive services under Section 504, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. It also recommended that USED disclose the limitations of its 2021-2022 data, as they did not inform districts of the new arrest definition before the data was collected, and clearly inform districts about future change to arrest and referral data in its civil rights data collection.

Publications (Outside Organizations):

  • On June 26, Urban Institute published a report titled, “How Access to Federal Student Loans Could Change under the College Cost Reduction Act.” The report uses the 2019-2020 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study to compare the loan limits in H.R. 6951, the College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA), with recent borrowing patterns to assess which student groups could gain access to additional loans and which may face borrowing constraints. The CCRA was first introduced by House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and among other provisions, institutes flexible loan limits that vary by fields of study and allow students to borrow up to the median cost of college. The report finds that CCRA’s annual limits are at least double what the median federal loan borrower among dependent undergraduates takes out and that dependent undergraduates pursuing certificates and dependent students pursuing bachelor’s degrees are more likely to have exceeded the estimate for the CCRA’s annual and aggregate loan limits, respectively. It also found that independent students are most likely to be constrained by the CCRA’s proposed limits among undergraduates while graduate and professional students are more likely than undergrads to be affected by the annual and aggregate loan limits set by CCRA. The report suggests that policymakers be aware that the total loan limits in the CCRA are not aligned well with student borrowing limits, and that they should consider aligning the annual and total limits with consideration to some metric, like program length, to set total limits.
  • In June, Vera published a report titled “The First Year of Pell Restoration: A Snapshot of Quality, Equity, and Scale in Prison Education Programs.” The report measures state progress on implementing Pell-funded systemwide postsecondary education in prisons, across three domains quality, equity, and scale. The report finds that there are more than 750,000 people in prison who are eligible to enroll in postsecondary programs, and more than 70% are interested in doing so. The report calls for decision-makers to assess their own systems’ needs, gaps, and strengths, so that corrections agencies and college partners can ensure high-quality postsecondary education offerings to those incarcerated. It also calls for collaboration among stakeholders, including corrections staff, college leaders, and students, to have the best tools to identify the jurisdiction-specific challenges to high-level performance and solutions to those challenges.

Legislation:

Introduced in the House of Representatives:

H.R. 8807

A bill to improve the structure of the Federal Pell Grant program, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)

H.R. 8844

A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch program.
Sponsor: Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT)

H.R. 8883

A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to disclose campus policies relating to responding to certain incidents of civil disturbance, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN)

H.R. 8886

A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to ensure no funds made available under such Acts may be awarded to a charter school that enters into a contract with a for-profit entity for operating, overseeing, or managing the charter school, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)

H.R. 8896

A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize an individual who is awarded the Purple Heart for service in the Armed Forces to transfer unused Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to a family member, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA)

H.R. 8897

A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to conduct a study to determine the relationship between school start times and adolescent health, well-being, and performance.
Sponsor: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

H.R. 8902

A bill to make certain individuals ineligible to receive any Federal financial aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Sponsor: Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX)

H.R. 8913

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude certain students from the calculation to determine if certain private colleges and universities are subject to the excise tax on net investment income, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA)

H.R. 8914

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose penalties with respect to civil rights violations by certain tax-exempt educational institutions.
Sponsor: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY)

H.R. 8915

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the expenses treated as qualified higher education expenses for purposes of 529 accounts to include additional elementary and secondary school expenses and certain postsecondary credentialing expenses.
Sponsor: Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK)

H.R. 8925

A bill to amend the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 and the United States Housing Act of 1937 to allow for housing assistance to certain individuals enrolled as students at an institution of higher education, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH)

H.R. 8932

A bill to establish an earlier application processing cycle for the FAFSA.
Sponsor: Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN)

H.R. 8943

A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to support arts education at minority-serving institutions of higher education.
Sponsor: Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA)

H.R. 8944

A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to establish a personal finance education portal on a centralized website of the Department of Education pertaining to Federal financial aid.
Sponsor: Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM)

H.R. 8947

A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to direct the Secretary of Labor to award grants to community colleges for high-quality workforce development programs.
Sponsor: Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA)

H.R. 8959

A bill to amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to ensure DACA recipients are eligible for educational awards.
Sponsor: Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX)

H.R. 8960

A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow participation in certain Fulbright programs to qualify for the repayment plan for public service employees, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Donald Beyer (D-VA)

H.R. 8981

A bill to amend the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act to improve trauma support services and mental healthcare for children and youth in educational settings, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT)

H.R. 8983

A bill to repeal portions of a regulation issued by the State Superintendent of Education of the District of Columbia that require childcare workers to have a degree, a certificate, or a minimum number of credit hours from an institution of higher education.
Sponsor: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC)

H.R. 8993

A bill to direct the Secretary of Education to conduct a study regarding the use of mobile devices in elementary and secondary schools, and to establish a pilot program of awarding grants to enable certain schools to create a school environment free of mobile devices.
Sponsor: Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR)

H.R. 9004

A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 regarding proprietary institutions of higher education in order to protect students and taxpayers.
Sponsor: Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)

H.R. 9005

A bill to ensure that Federal work-study funding is available for students enrolled in residency programs for teachers, principals, or school leaders, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO)

H.J. Res. 165

A resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to "Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance"
Sponsor: Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX)

Introduced in the Senate:

S. 4632

A bill to establish an earlier application processing cycle for the FAFSA.
Sponsor: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

S. 4653

A bill to repeal portions of a regulation issued by the State Superintendent of Education of the District of Columbia that require child care workers to have a degree, a certificate, or a minimum number of credit hours from an institution of higher education.
Sponsor: Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)

S. 4657

A bill to establish a grant program for education related to semiconductor manufacturing and related industries.
Sponsor: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)

S. 4670

A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act regarding employer-directed skills development, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC)

S. 4686

A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the disclosure of the annual percentage rates applicable to Federal student loans.
Sponsor: Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)

S. 4701

A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 regarding proprietary institutions of higher education in order to protect students and taxpayers.
Sponsor: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

S.Res. 755

A resolution designating June 2024 as National Cybersecurity Education Month.
Sponsor: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

EducationCounsel - E-Update for July 15, 2024 (2024)
Top Articles
Makrozytäre hyperchrome Anämie: Ursachen, Symptome, Behandlung
Beyond Hemoglobin: When and How to Work Up Possible Polycythemia Vera
Brian Brenberg Pete Hegseth
Sam's Club Gas Price Hilliard
Hum Na Baaz Ayenge Mohabbat Se Lyrics
Epaystubplus.com
Quantumonline
Craigslist Albuquerque Nuevo México: Your Hub for Local Classifieds - First Republic Craigslist
Drag Illustrated Releases 2022 30 Under 30 Issue Ahead of PRI Show
Bonnaroo 2023 updates: Foo Fighters, Paramore close Sunday lineup
How one architect’s radical ideas about nature changed American cities forever
Frederick Law Olmsted: His Life and Work
Latest Posts
Online Orderfilling & Delivery
Robbery Bonus Rewards
Article information

Author: Wyatt Volkman LLD

Last Updated:

Views: 6302

Rating: 4.6 / 5 (66 voted)

Reviews: 81% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Wyatt Volkman LLD

Birthday: 1992-02-16

Address: Suite 851 78549 Lubowitz Well, Wardside, TX 98080-8615

Phone: +67618977178100

Job: Manufacturing Director

Hobby: Running, Mountaineering, Inline skating, Writing, Baton twirling, Computer programming, Stone skipping

Introduction: My name is Wyatt Volkman LLD, I am a handsome, rich, comfortable, lively, zealous, graceful, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.