EducationCounsel - E-Update for May 28, 2024 (2024)

The information covered below is from May 10, 2024, through May 23, 2024.

Highlights:

• On May 15, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), with Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Todd Young (R-IN), released a roadmap for artificial intelligence policy in the United States Senate.
• On May 22, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights released its Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023) Annual Report, which showed that the office received 19,201 complaints during FY2023, a 2% increase over its previous record high and the highest volume of complaints in its history.
• On May 23, the House Agriculture Committee held a markup of and advanced H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, known as the Farm Bill, by a vote of 33-21.

Administration:

Department of Justice (DOJ) hosts event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education: On May 14, the Department of Justice hosted an event commemorating the 70th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. The event welcomed representatives from the Administration, student advocates, and three members of the "New Orleans 4," trailblazing women who pioneered school integration in their city. This gathering centered on reflecting upon the significance of Brown, its enduring legacy, and discussions delved into both persisting challenges and ongoing efforts to ensure equitable educational opportunities for all students from various perspectives. On May 17, the White House released a fact sheet to announce new actions to advance equitable education, including additional funding and resources to support school diversity and advance the goal that all students have access to a high-quality education. Among these actions, the Department of Education will invest $20 million in new Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) awards to establish new magnet school programs in seven states designed to further desegregate public schools and create a new technical assistance center to help states and school districts provide more equitable and adequate approaches to school funding.

White House:

White House hosts summit and announces new actions to address student chronic absenteeism: On May 15, the White House hosted the Every Day Counts Summit with bipartisan state and local education leaders who are working to address student chronic absenteeism in their communities. The summit included a call to action from the Biden Administration for states, cities, towns, and schools to create a “culture of attendance” for students and families, including four specific strategies: increasing effective communication with families; visiting families at home to find supportive solutions; making school more relevant for students; and meeting the basic needs of students and families. Additionally, the Biden Administration announced new actions to address chronic absenteeism, including a competitive federal grant programs to activities intended to increase student attendance and engagement; USED issued a Notice Inviting Application for the Education Innovation and Research grant program to accelerate student achievement. USED also published new resources and tools on the effective use of data to identify students who are chronically absent and intervene early. A new toolkit includes an action planner for reengaging students, as well as a fact sheet with strategies to bolster student attendance and engagement through career-connected learning. The Summit also featured announcements from aligned organizations to target chronic absenteeism, such as a new resource from the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS) that outlines publicly available resources for communities to address chronic absenteeism.

White House announces new actions to eliminate barriers in STEMM ecosystem: On May 1, the White House announced new actions across various sectors to advance equitable science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) ecosystem. More than 40 non-federal organizations made commitments to collaborate across sectors, including the American Institutions for Research (AIR), Microsoft, and Uber, in addition to agencies in the federal government, such as the USED, National Science Foundation (NSF), AmeriCorps, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The announcement was made at the first White House Summit on Equity and Excellence in STEMM, where the STEMM Opportunity Alliance was launched to invest more than $1 billion in equitable opportunities across STEMM fields.

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

USED Office for Civil Rights (OCR) releases Fiscal Year 2023 report showing record high civil rights complaints: On May 22, the USED OCR released its Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023) Annual Report, which showed that the office received 19,201 complaints during FY2023, a 2% increase over its previous record high in FY2022 of 18,804 complaints and the highest volume of complaints in its history. Additionally, OCR Assistant Secretary Catherine Lhamon wrote that 16,448 complaints were resolved, “achieving the third highest number of complaint resolutions in OCR history.” The report also highlights publications and guidance that OCR published, as well as technical assistance that staff provided. Notably, the report raises the significant reduction in staffing – falling from nearly 1,100 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in FY1981 to 556 FTE staff in FY2023, even as complaints have increased from under 3,000 in FY 1981 to 19,201 in FY 2023.

Biden Administration announces additional $7.7 billion in student debt relief: On May 21, the Biden Administration announced an additional $7.7 billion in federal student loan forgiveness for 160,500 borrowers. The loan forgiveness will be issued to three groups: those receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF); those who signed up for President Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and who are eligible for its shortened time-to-forgiveness benefit; and those receiving forgiveness on income-driven repayment (IDR) as a result of fixes made by the Administration. The press release notes that with this debt relief, “one out of every ten federal student loan borrowers has now been approved for some debt relief.” In a statement regarding this loan forgiveness, President Biden stated, “I will never stop working to cancel student debt.”

Biden Administration announces update regarding borrower payment count adjustment: On May 15, the USED announced an update to its payment count adjustment which will allow for borrowers to get credit for progress made toward income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). The payment count adjustment is now anticipated to be fully implemented in September 2024, when borrowers with federally-held Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans will see an updated payment count. The USED first announced the payment count adjustment in April 2022 following a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report indicating that some borrowers did not have a proper accounting of their time to forgiveness under the IDR and PSLF programs. This most recent update includes automatic adjustments for borrowers in several statuses, including for any months in a repayment status, or twelve or more months of consecutive forbearance or 36 or more months of cumulative forbearance, among others.

USED Secretary Cardona participates in roundtable on student mental health: On May 21, USED Secretary Miguel Cardona joined Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD) in Annapolis, Maryland for a roundtable on student mental health. At Annapolis High School, Secretary Cardona learned about actions the Anne Arundel County Public Schools are taking to increase mental health services for students. Secretary Cardona also highlighted how President Biden’s Unity Agenda includes a national strategy to transform how we understand and address mental health.

Congress:

Congressional education leaders submit comments to USED’s proposed debt forgiveness rules: On May 17, multiple groups of Congressional representatives submitted comments to the USED’s April 17 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The NPRM aims to “provide targeted debt relief as part of efforts to address the burden of student loan debt” for several groups of borrowers, particularly when “the current outstanding balance on a loan exceeds the amount owed when the loan entered repayment for loans being repaid on any Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan if the borrower's income” meets certain thresholds.” Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) led 13 Democratic Senators in submitting comments in support of the proposed rules, and made a few recommendations, including to “eliminat[e] all of the excess interest that has accrued over what a person originally borrowed” and “discharging debt for borrowers who have been in repayment for over two decades on a rolling basis.” The comments led by Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), joined by 129 Members of Congress “strongly urge(s)” USED Secretary Miguel Cardona to withdraw the NPRM, stating the proposed rule “attempts to transfer as much as $1 trillion of student loan debt from those who willingly borrowed to those who did not or have already repaid their loans.” House Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) also submitted comments “applauding” the proposed rules, stating they would “increase access to economic opportunity for millions more borrowers.”

Congressional Democrats hold press conference urging USED to terminate the contract of federal student loan servicer MOHELA: On May 22, Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), among others, held a press conference to call for the Biden Administration to terminate the contract of Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri (MOHELA), a federal student loan servicer. During the press conference, members of Congress shared stories from constituents who shared that MOHELA has “failed to perform basic servicing functions such as providing borrowers with access to correct information about their loans and options, and processing basic forms.” Congresswoman Pressley stated, “The Biden Administration must protect borrowers by firing MOHELA and making clear to loan servicers that their negligence, exploitation, and profiteering will not be tolerated.” The press conference follows the February 2024 publication of The MOHELA papers, a publication from the American Federation of Teachers and the Student Borrower Protection Center following an investigation and discovery of “widespread mismanagement” of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Senate:

Senate Majority Leader Schumer releases bipartisan “roadmap” for Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy in the Senate: On May 15, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), with Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Todd Young (R-IN), released a roadmap for artificial intelligence policy in the United States Senate. The roadmap summarizes the findings of nine Senate AI Insight Forums that were hosted by Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group and highlights policy topics that the group believes merit bipartisan consideration in the Senate this Congress and beyond. A one-pager on the roadmap notes several potential policy priorities, including increasing funding for AI innovation in order to propel U.S. leadership in AI; enforcement of existing AI laws; and encouraging the consideration of the impact AI will have on the workforce. Majority Leader Schumer added that the roadmap can help to inform legislation on AI “that maintains U.S. leadership on innovation, promotes safety and accountability in AI, and ensures all Americans benefit from the opportunities created by AI.”

Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Cassidy submits letter opposing Head Start NPRM: On May 22, Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sent a letter to Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Acting Assistant Secretary Jeff Hild urging the administration not to finalize a November Head Start Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in its final form. The NPRM was published on November 20, 2023, and “propose[s] to add new requirements to the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) to support and stabilize the Head Start workforce, including requirements for wages and benefits,” among other provisions. Ranking Member Cassidy’s letter primarily focuses on how the proposed rule could “eliminate 110,700 funded slots for children, and remove the local control that Head Start programs have always relied on.” Specifically, Ranking Member Cassidy asserts that “HHS lacks the statutory authority” to increase Head Start staff wages to $15 across the country. The letter requests that the administration not finalize the rule with this provision, stating “While the administration finds it acceptable to impose this policy tradeoff on Head Start programs and serve 110,700 fewer children, I find this unforced tradeoff unacceptable.”

Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Cassidy launches inquiry into Tutor.com over data privacy concerns: On May 23, Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) opened an investigation into Tutor.com regarding “concerns that its users’ sensitive data could be used and exploited by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” Ranking Member Cassidy wrote in a letter to Tutor.com CEO Joshua Hyoung-Jun Park that because the company is owned by Primavera Capital Group, a China-based investment firm and “Chinese law requires companies based in China to ‘support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work,’ …that a company can be compelled to share information with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) if asked to do so.” Ranking Member Cassidy noted that Tutor.com has contracts “in approximately half of all U.S. states” and according to its privacy policy, “collects data on its users, including names, addresses, IP addresses, and recordings of tutoring sessions.” The letter to CEO Park seeks “full transparency regarding Tutor.com’s policies and monitoring arrangements,” and requests information on the state and local educational agencies that have contracts with Tutor.com, as well as “the relationships between Primavera Capital Group and Tutor.com.”

House:

House Education and the Workforce holds hearing on priorities of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): On May 15, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing titled, “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Health and Human Services,” at which HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra testified.

Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) criticized the Department’s Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025) budget request, “for both its fiscal unsustainability and misguided priorities, including a failure to address fentanyl abuse, child trafficking, and abortion on-demand.” Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) noted in his opening remarks that the Committee Democrats support the Biden Administration’s proposals to “expand access to care for our most vulnerable communities; lower the cost of quality care; and meet the changing health care needs of workers and their families.”

Secretary Becerra emphasized in his testimony how the FY2025 budget request “guarantee[s] affordable child care to low- and middle-income working families…preschool would be free and the average family would pay no more than $10 per day for child care until their child starts kindergarten.” Secretary Becerra added his support for the proposed increase to the Head Start and Child Care and Development Block Grant budgets, as they “allow …for us to maintain a high-quality child care workforce [and] continue our progress in stabilizing the child care sector,” respectively.

House Agriculture Committee advances 2024 Farm Bill with support from few Committee Democrats: On May 23, the House Agriculture Committee held a markup of and advanced H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, known as the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill passed out of committee by a vote of 33-21, with four Democrats voting with all Committee Republicans. The Farm Bill covers four primary issues related to education: early childhood facilities, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), land-grant institutions including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and broadband access. The title-by-title summary outlines that the bill would establish a new “Expanding Childcare in Rural America Initiative,” a three-year initiative at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would prioritize projects that address the availability, quality, and cost of childcare in agricultural and rural communities. The bill would also provide continued funding for scholarships for students at Historically Black Land-Grant institutions, and require that the Secretary of Agriculture conduct outreach to State governments regarding their one-to-one funding requirement. Commenting on the bill’s proposed $30 billion cut to SNAP over ten years, Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) stated that “Republicans are championing efforts for individuals to remain on their current career pathways without choosing between SNAP and employment or education. Committee Ranking Member David Scott (D-GA) emphasized that the bill “makes the largest financial cut to SNAP in 30 years” and noted the populations that would be impacted by the cuts: “low-income households with children, our senior citizens, our American people with disabilities, our courageous veterans, our working parents and caretakers who need the help the most with getting food.” Additional details on the 2024 Farm Bill are here.

House continues investigation of antisemitic activities on college campuses: Throughout May, House Committees continued their investigation of antisemitic events on college campuses. On May 15, the House Education and the Workforce Committee released an investigative update to Harvard University’s response to antisemitism on its campus. Among several findings, the investigation discovered that Harvard’s Antisemitism Advisory Group (AAG) presented “significant recommendations that the university should take to address antisemitism, but those recommendations were never made public or implemented.” The investigation follows the December 5 testimony of then Harvard President Dr. Claudine Gay; Dr. Gay resigned from Harvard leadership on January 2, 2024.

On May 23, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing titled, “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos,” at which the following university leaders testified: Mr. Michael Schill, President of Northwestern University; Dr. Gene Block, Chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles; Dr. Jonathan Holloway, President of Rutgers University. Prior to the hearing, Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent letters to Northwestern President Schill and UCLA Chancellor Block requesting information regarding the institutions’ response to “antisemitic incidents on its campus and its failure to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff.” Consistent with prior hearings with university presidents, Republican Committee members questioned the presidents’ responses to encampment, violence, and specific antisemitic actions against students and faculty. Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) also echoed similar sentiments to prior hearings, condemning the antisemitism occurring on campuses while asserting that the hearings have not resulted in “work being done to find a meaningful solution to address animus.”

On May 15, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government held a hearing titled, “Antisemitism on College Campuses.” The committee heard from four witnesses: Rabbi Mark Goldfeder, CEO of National Jewish Advocacy Center; Shabbos Kestenbaum, Graduate Student at Harvard University; Eyal Yakoby, Undergraduate Student at the University of Pennsylvania; and Kevin Rachlin, Washington Director of the Nexus Leadership Project. In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Chip Roy (R-TX) shared examples of protests on college campuses that are not “First Amendment protected speech,” and added that “the leadership of far too many of these universities has refused to respond with moral clarity as to what is happening.” Subcommittee Ranking Member Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) also condemned violence in her opening statement, and called for “adequate funding for the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights,” as that office is primarily responsible for investigating civil rights complaints at colleges and universities.

On May 23, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) led their colleagues in a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to raise “concerns over how HHS is ensuring that research universities are preventing harassment and discrimination—particularly against individuals of Jewish faith and heritage.” The letter notes that “We are troubled by the fact that colleges and universities that are recipients of massive amounts of Federal research grants from NIH are actively fostering antisemitism on campus and failing to protect Jewish students, faculty, and support staff.” The letter requests information on how HHS and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are assessing colleges and universities’ compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and providing safe research environments free of harassment and discrimination for all students.

House Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Scott hosts briefing on the importance of Brown v. Board: On May 17, House Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) hosted a briefing on the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education and the ongoing efforts for educational access. Members of Congress and staff heard from several experts during the briefing: Kim Atkins Stohr, Boston Globe; Saba Bireda, Brown’s Promise; Janel George, Racial Equity in Education Law & Policy Clinic at Georgetown Law School; David Hinojosa, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and Hamida Labi, Policy Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. In the briefing, Ranking Member Scott referenced efforts to desegregate schools, as well as a 2022 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that showed “high poverty schools where more than 75% of students were from low-income and from Black or Latino families increased from 9% in 2000-2001 to 16% in 2013-2014.” The full briefing can be found here.

House Science Subcommittee holds hearing on National Science Foundation priorities for 2025: On May 16, the House Science Subcommittee on Research and Technology held a hearing titled, “Oversight and Examination of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Priorities for 2025 and Beyond.” The subcommittee heard from two witnesses: NSF Director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan and Dr. Dan Reed, Former Chair of the National Science Board. The hearing was held to discuss President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget request for the NSF as well as implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act, which authorized new investments and modernizations for the NSF. Full Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK), in his opening remarks, said, “The NSF plays a vital role in advancing basic scientific knowledge and is the gold standard for basic research across the world. Today…that role has never been more important, as the United States faces enormous national and societal challenges, like cybersecurity threats, the growth of AI and automation, and the need for exceptional computing capacity.” Specifically, he noted his interest in, “improving the geographic diversity of our scientific workforce” and rural communities in particular, which was one of the goals of the CHIPS and Science Act. Chairman Lucas also highlighted the important role of the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships in taking fundamental research funded by NSF in “solving national challenges and advancing emerging technologies.”

In his testimony, Dr. Panchanathan spoke of the “three pillars” for the NSF’s future, which include, “strengthen[ing] NSF’s core mission to accelerate discovery and advance state-of-the-art research” Second, “ inspir[ing] more people to join the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math community, and… and pathways for…the millions of people…not making their way into STEM careers.” And third, “accelerating the Nation’s technology and innovation enterprise by enabling researchers, industry, entrepreneurs, and innovators of all kinds to translate research into solutions, products, and benefits for society.”

In his testimony, Dr. Reed argued that, “The United States is still the best place in the world for science and technology R&D. However, if we fail to make the necessary public investments in our national S&T knowledge infrastructure…we endanger the very foundation on which our innovative and dynamic private sector businesses depend for continued success.” He continued, “The warning lights are flashing red” and highlighted that K-12 students in U.S. are “middle of the pack” in STEM performance when compared to their international peers, and that, “what little gains U.S. students made in mathematics proficiency in the past 20 years were erased during the pandemic.” Dr. Reed continued that these declines have been the largest for “individuals from race and ethnicity groups already marginalized in STEM, and those from low socioeconomic status households.” In terms of federal funding for research and development, Dr. Reed noted that, “federal funding for R&D, when adjusted for inflation, is essentially flat. Meanwhile, the research and educational capacity of other nations continues to grow.”

House Democratic Whip Clark launches Affordable Child Care agenda: On May 10, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) launched her Affordable Child Care Agenda. The agenda is centered around three objectives in need of further investment: affordability, accessibility, and fair wages. Congresswoman Clark named the agenda as a “call to action” for the business and government sectors alike to address the child care crisis. Organizations such as the First Five Years Fund, National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Women’s Law Center, and American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), offered their support for the agenda.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Foxx recognizes National Charter Schools Week: On May 14, House Education and the Workforce Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) spoke on the House floor in recognition of National Charter Schools Week. Chairwoman Foxx said in her remarks, “Charter schools offer students and their families a crucial alternative to the one-size-fits-all education model,” and added, “A recent study found that charter school students gain an additional 16 days of learning in reading and 6 days of math per year over their traditional public school peers.”

Upcoming Events (Congress & Administration):

• On May 29 and 30, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will hold a virtual meeting of the Advisory Committee for STEM Education. The meeting will focus on rural STEM education and workforce development, including hearing from voices from the field on the impact of NSF investments, as well as how to unleash STEM education opportunities in rural and remote communities. Registration for virtual participation is here.
• On June 11 and 12 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., the National Advisory Council on Indian Education (NACIE) will hold a virtual meeting. On June 11, 2024, NACIE will conduct the following business: (1) discuss and approve the 2023-2024 Annual Report to Congress; (2) discuss fiscal year 2024 planning activities; (3) discuss and coordinate with the White House Initiative to fulfill Executive Order 14049; and (4) discuss subcommittee activities. On June 12, 2024, NACIE will conduct the following business: (5) discuss and hear updates from federal representatives regarding technical assistance, best practices, and development of regulatory or non-regulatory actions; and (6) hear comments from members of the public. Members of the public interested in submitting written comments may do so via email to Julian Guerrero at Julian.Guerrero@ed.gov no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Time (ET) on June 10, 2024. Members of the public may also make oral comments during the open meeting on June 12, 2024. The public may access the NACIE meeting via Zoom here, and more information is here.
• On June 20 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities will host a virtual meeting. The meeting will include an update from the Board Chairperson; an update from USED staff; an update from the Executive Director of the Initiative; a status report from each of the Board’s subcommittees (Preservation and Growth, Infrastructure, and Career Pathways and Financial Support and Research); and a discussion regarding the status of the Board’s report to the President. Written comments must be submitted to the whirsvps@ed.gov mailbox no later than two business days before the meeting. The public may access the meeting via Zoom here, and more information is here.
• On June 27, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will hold a markup of Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations. The location and additional details are forthcoming, and more information is here.

Upcoming Events (Outside Organizations):

• On May 28 at 1:00 p.m., the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) will host a webinar titled, “The Evolution of Digital Literacy in the Age of AI.” A panel will discuss the impacts AI has on our digital ecosystem, including social media feeds and cybersecurity practices. Key topics include,exploring how AI algorithms shape what we see online and the implications on mental health; learning how online hackers leverage AI to develop more sophisticated cyber threats and fraudulent activity; and demystifying how AI works and its future potential. Panelists include,Pamela Gupta, Chief Executive Officer at Trusted AI; Ariel Fox Johnson, Senior Advisor at Common Sense Media; Christian Pinedo, Chief of Staff at The AI Education Project; and Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer at Code.org. More information and registration are here.
• On May 28 at 3:00 p.m., the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading will host a webinar titled, “Scaling Evidence-Based Products & Programs Within Districts.” The webinar will explore how schools, districts, and states can leverage the latest scientific findings on reading instruction, utilize data to inform curricular decisions, and evaluate the efficacy of literacy programs to implement the evidence-based program best fit for their communities. The conversation will be moderated by Vanessa Coleman, Ed.D., SRI International and include the following speakers: Victoria Armstrong, Dinuba Unified School District in California; H. Alix Gallager, Ph.D., Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE); and Arlene Sullivan, AIM Institute for Learning & Research. More information and registration are here.
• On May 30 at 2:00 p.m., EducationWeek will host a webinar titled, “Staffing Schools After ESSER: What School and District Leaders Need to Know.” In anticipation of the upcoming deadline to obligate American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds - September 30, 2024 - the webinar will explore strategies for schools to use to invest in the teachers and staff members who students need while keeping a close eye on their budgets. The webinar will be moderated by Mark Lieberman, Staff Writer at Education Week and speakers include Jonathan Travers, President and Managing Partner at Education Resource Strategies (ERS). More information and registration are here.
• On May 30 at 3:00 p.m., the National Association for State Boards of Education (NASBE) will host a webinar titled, “Flexible Educator Supports and Pathways to Address the Teacher Shortage.” The webinar will feature information on how some states, districts, and schools are shifting to ongoing, flexible, and varied supports that provide educators with resources to better prepare for the classroom, achieve important milestones including initial licensure, and receive essential ongoing professional development, feedback, and encouragement. Speakers include Lisa Colón Durham, Director of Educational Partnerships at Educational Testing Service (ETS). More information and registration are here.
• On May 31 at 1:00 p.m., EducationWeek will host a webinar titled, “How can districts build sustainable tutoring models before the money runs out?” As many state and district leaders are facing decisions about how to deploy limited dollars to address learning recovery and chronic absenteeism through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, the webinar will help district leaders learn how to mobilize the tutoring infrastructure they’ve put in place and make the most of tutoring dollars before funding runs out. The panel will be moderated by Liz Cohen, Policy Director at Future Ed and include the following speakers: Anthony Salcito, Chief Institution Business Officer at Varsity Tutors; Joe McNaughton, Associate Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer at Polk County School District in Florida; Dr. Brent Mitchell, Chief Of Staff at Ferguson-Florissant School District in Missouri; and David DeSchryver, Co-Director of Research at Whiteboard Advisors. More information and registration are here.
• On June 4 at 4:00 p.m., the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a webinar titled, “Exploring Challenges to Biden’s Recent Student Debt Forgiveness Plan.” Legal experts and litigators will discuss the legal challenges of the Biden Administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, the details of ongoing lawsuits, and their likelihood of success. Speakers include: Michael Brickman, Adjunct Fellow at AEI; Abhishek Kambli, Deputy Attorney General at Kansas Attorney General’s Office; Sheng Li, Litigation Counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance; Stephen Petrany, Solicitor General at Georgia Attorney General’s Office; and Paul Zimmerman, Policy Counsel for the Defense of Freedom Institute. More information and registration are here.
• On June 6 at 10:00 a.m., New America will host a hybrid event titled, “Unpacking the Education, Labor, and Workforce Impact of NSF Engines: America’s Broadest Investment in Regional Innovation Ecosystems.” The event will consider multiple facets of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Regional Innovation Engines program, including how federal investments lead to technological innovation, and how community colleges and labor unions can partner with R&D organizations to strengthen job training. Speakers include: Dr. Sethuruman Panchanathan, Director of the NSF; Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America; Mary Alice McCarthy, Founder & Senior Director of the Center on Education and Labor at New America; and Shalin Jyotishi, Senior Advisor for Education, Labor, and Future of Work at New America. More information and registration are here.
• On June 13 at 9:00 a.m., the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI) will host a Congressional briefing titled, “Education R&D: Innovating Solutions for Today’s Challenges and Tomorrow’s Opportunities.” The briefing will highlight the significant social, economic, and competitive benefits of sustained federal funding in education research and development (R&D). Federal, state and non-profit leaders will discuss how education R&D can be used to address current educational challenges and pave the way for future educational improvements. The briefing will be held in Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room B48. Registration is here.

Publications (Outside Organizations):

• On May 21, the American Council on Education (ACE) published a new report titled, “Race And Ethnicity In Higher Education: 2024 Status Report.” The report uses over 200 indicators to analyze trajectories and outcomes of higher education students based on race and ethnicity, along with providing an overview of the racial and ethnic backgrounds of faculty, staff, and college presidents. The report found that diversity in higher education participation has increased, and both educational attainment rose and postsecondary completion increased across all groups but gaps in attainment and differences and outcomes remain between ethnic and racial groups. Among other findings, the report also found Black or African American students to be more likely to incur large amounts of debt, and that college and university staff and faculty were less diverse than their students.
• On May 21, the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI) published three new task force briefs. To better understand the current state of affairs and chart a path forward toward an appropriately-sized, inclusive, and equity-centered education R&D infrastructure at the federal, state, and local levels, ALI convened three diverse, nonpartisan task forces over the last year to dig into three critical, urgent priorities: strengthening state and local education R&D infrastructure; making the education R&D ecosystem more inclusive; and expanding and strengthening the role in education R&D of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). Each task force produced a policy brief outlining recommendations for their priority area.
• In May, ChildCare Aware of America (CCAoA) released a new analysis titled, “Child Care at a Standstill: Price and Landscape Analysis.” The annual analysis tracks availability and pricing of child care across the country. This year’s analysis focused on findings from 2022-2023 and found a small increase in the amount of child care centers, rebounding to pre-pandemic levels, and a small decrease in family child care facilities. CCAoA recommends state and federal policymakers prioritize child care and increase sustainable funding towards it, while increasing the supply of high-quality affordable child care options.
• In May, the Advancement Project released a report titled, “A Cop Is A Cop: The rise of school district police departments and why they must be dismantled.” The brief analyzed different types of school police structures and explored a compilation of more than 400 school district police departments across the country, as well as data trends within school district police departments. The report found that Black and Latino students are disproportionately represented by districts with school police departments. Black students make up 21% of students and Latino students make up 46% of students enrolled in districts with school police departments despite representing a much lower percentage of students enrolled nationally. The report argues that school district police officers also fail to keep schools safe, citing the failure of Uvalde’s department to stop the 2022 school shooting as an example.

Legislation:

Introduced in the House of Representatives:

H.R. 8389
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to report to the Secretary of Education each incident of antisemitism reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies.
Sponsor: Rep. Marcus Molinaro (R-NY)

H.R. 8407
A bill to provide for the discharge of parent borrower liability if a student on whose behalf a parent has received certain student loans becomes disabled.
Sponsor: Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI)

H.R. 8409
A bill to assist parents in locating and utilizing child care that meets individual family needs.
Sponsor: Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC)

H.R. 8451
A bill to establish a grant program for certain institutions of higher education to plan and implement projects for economic and community development in economically distressed communities, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)

H.R. 8461
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a program under which an institution of higher education may elect to cosign Federal student loans made to students attending the institution, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA)

H.R. 8468
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to terminate the eligibility of certain individuals for student loan forgiveness, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN)

H.R. 8469
A bill to establish in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security a program to promote the cybersecurity field to disadvantaged communities, including older individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, geographically diverse communities, socioeconomically diverse communities, women, individuals from nontraditional educational paths, individuals who are veterans, and individuals who were formerly incarcerated, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH)

H.R. 8514
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for an annual increase in stipend for books, supplies, equipment, and other educational costs under Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program of Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sponsor: Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM)

H.R. 8524
A bill to effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers.
Sponsor: Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA)

H.R. 8526
A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide criteria for use of Federal funds to support trauma-informed practices in schools, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA)

H.R. 8534
A bill to prohibit a student athlete from being considered an employee of an institution, a conference, or an association based on participation in certain intercollegiate athletics.
Sponsor: Rep. Bob Good (R-VA)

H.R. 8549
A bill to prohibit any person convicted of an unlawful activity on or after October 7, 2023, on a college campus from being eligible for public service loan forgiveness.
Sponsor: Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-TN)

H.R. 8540

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to enhance the employer-provided child care credit.

Sponsor: Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN)

H.Res. 1239
A resolution strongly condemning the rise of antisemitism on campuses of institutions of higher education across the United States.
Sponsor: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL)

Introduced in the Senate:

S. 4333
A bill to provide for the discharge of parent borrower liability if a student on whose behalf a parent has received certain student loans becomes disabled.
Sponsor: Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH)

S. 4379
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to change certain grant requirements for certain students with disabilities, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)

S. 4380
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to promote matriculation, and increase in the graduation rates, of individuals with disabilities within higher education.
Sponsor: Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)

S. 4391
A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to recognize digital skills and digital literacy as critical adult education and literacy objectives, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)

S. 4394
A bill to support National Science Foundation education and professional development relating to artificial intelligence.
Sponsor: Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)

S. 4397

A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide criteria for use of Federal funds to support trauma-informed practices in schools, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN)

S. 4407

A bill to effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers.

Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

S.Res. 699

A resolution congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and leaders of charter schools across the United States for making ongoing contributions to education and supporting the ideals and goals of the 25th Annual National Charter Schools Week, to be held May 12 through May 18, 2024.

Sponsor: Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)