E-Update for June 24, 2016
Highlights
- On June 23, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing to examine the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) by the U.S. Department of Education (USED). Secretary John King testified before the Committee.
- On June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 ruled by a vote of 4-3 in Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin to uphold an affirmative action program at the university. The court held that UT-Austin’s program admitting some students based on consideration of their race is constitutional, while cautioning that the university must continue to show that other means of addressing diversity have failed.
- On June 22, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a markup of five pieces of bipartisan legislation aimed at simplifying the student financial aid process, strengthening transparency and financial aid counseling for students and families, and enhancing support for institutions serving minority students.
U.S. Congress
House Education and the Workforce Committee Examines ESSA Implementation: The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing entitled, “Next Steps in K-12 Education: Examining Recent Efforts to Implement the Every Student Succeeds Act,” to discuss federal, state, and local efforts to implement ESSA. Secretary King described the process that the Department of Education has undergone to help states successfully implement the law, while the second panel of witnesses explained how the implementation process has impacted their communities. Questions directed by Committee members focused on USED’s proposed regulations on accountability, consolidated state plans, and data reporting, as well as the draft supplement not supplant (SNS) regulations.
June 23, 2016
House Education and the Workforce Committee Tackle Higher Education Legislation: The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a markup of bipartisan legislation aimed at simplifying the student financial aid process, strengthening transparency and financial aid counseling for students and families, and enhancing support for institutions serving minority students. The legislation, which was approved by the Committee by voice vote, included H.R. 5528, the “Simplifying the Application for Student Aid Act”; H.R. 5529, the “Accessing Higher Education Opportunities Act”; H.R. 5530, the “Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Capital Financing Improvement Act”; H.R. 3178, the “Strengthening Transparency in Higher Education Act”; and H.R. 3179, the “Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act.”
June 22, 2016
Senate Democrats Urge Closure of 90/10 Loophole: 31 Senate Democrats, including Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter to USED calling for improvements in transparency and accountability of the “90-10 rule,” which caps for-profit colleges’ revenue from federal student aid at 90% of their total annual revenue. Senate Democrats noted that the rule leads to aggressive recruiting of servicemembers and veterans by for-profit institutions, and urged strengthening of the 90-10 rule by taking Administrative action. Senators also praised the Administration for calling on Congress to close this loophole, and for proposing that the 90% cap return to its original level of 85%.
June 22, 2016
Administration
USED Announces SIG Grant Recipients: USED announced that 16 states will receive over $113 million in grants to support school turnaround efforts in its persistently low-performing schools through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. Grants will be awarded to states, which will then award subgrants competitively to schools and districts that demonstrate the greatest need. Arizona, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Nebraska will receive awards to run a new grant competition and make new awards to schools. Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Utah will receive continuation funds for implementing a SIG model; Connecticut, Iowa, Oregon, and South Dakota will make both new and continuation awards. Awards to remaining states will be made on a rolling basis over the coming months.
June 23, 2016
Administration Releases Foster Youth Guidance: USED and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released joint guidance to states, districts, and child welfare agencies around provisions in ESSA supporting foster youth. The guidance aims to clarify certain provisions, in addition to providing information assist states, districts, and child welfare agencies improving collaboration in the delivery of services to foster youth. Guidance discusses various issues, such as ESSA’s new educational stability requirements, statutory requirements that a student remain in their school if it is in the student’s best interest, the transfer of relevant records, and protecting student data and privacy. Lastly, the guidance provides examples of best practices and suggestions for interagency collaboration. The full guidance can be found here.
June 23, 2016
Administration Announces Grants to Expand Early Head Start and Child Care Partnerships: HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced the availability of $135 million in competitive grants for Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships to expand access to high-quality, comprehensive services for low-income infants and toddlers and their families. States, non-profit, or for-profit agencies including community- or faith-based organizations that meet eligibility requirements are encouraged to apply. Applications must be submitted by August 24, 2016.
June 23, 2016
OCR Announces Title IX Settlement: USED’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement reached with a South Carolina school district after finding the district in violation of Title IX for discriminating against a transgender student. The district agreed to provide accommodations and access to the student, in addition to providing training to district and school level administrators to prevent gender-based discrimination.
June 22, 2016
Under Secretary Discusses Accreditation: USED Under Secretary Ted Mitchell spoke at the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity’s (NACIQI) meeting. The committee, which provides recommendations to USED regarding the recognition of specific accrediting agencies, met from June 22-24 and will subsequently provide their recommendations to USED in the coming days. Under Secretary Mitchell discussed the need for increased accountability among accreditors and within USED, in addition to highlighting the need to shift the focus in accreditation to outcomes to ensure quality for students.
June 22, 2016
USED Announces CTE Grant Winners: USED announced the winners of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Makeover Challenge. The challenge awarded $20,000 to applicants who created models for increasing access to tools to design, build, and innovate in order to strengthen next-generation career and technical schools. The announcement kicked off President Obama’s “National Week of Making,” which aims to celebrate and encourage students and entrepreneurs to design, build, and manufacture.
June 17, 2016
Events
On June 29, the Senate will hold a hearing entitled, “Next Steps K-12 Education: Examining Recent Efforts to Implement the Every Student Succeeds Act.” Secretary King is expected to testify to the Committee on U.S. Department of Education’s (USED) legal justifications for its proposed regulations on supplement, not supplant, accountability, state plans, and reporting provisions in ESSA. The hearing will take place at 10:00 a.m. in 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Live webcast and more information will be available here.
New Legislation
H.R.5528 : Simplifying the Application for Student Aid Act
Sponsor: Rep Heck, Joseph J. [NV-3] (introduced 6/20/2016) Cosponsors (4)
Committees: House Education and the Workforce
H.R.5529 : Accessing Higher Education Opportunities Act
Sponsor: Rep Heck, Joseph J. [NV-3] (introduced 6/20/2016) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: House Education and the Workforce
H.R.5530 : HBCU Capital Financing Improvement Act
Sponsor: Rep Adams, Alma S. [NC-12] (introduced 6/20/2016) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: House Education and the Workforce
H.R.5567 : To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that all Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, and Federal Direct PLUS Loans have the same rates of interest.
Sponsor: Rep Salmon, Matt [AZ-5] (introduced 6/22/2016) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: House Education and the Workforce
S.3093 : A bill to amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 in order to improve career and technical education, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Hirono, Mazie K. [HI] (introduced 6/23/2016) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
S.RES.510 : A resolution affirming the importance of title IX, applauding the increase in educational opportunities available to women and girls, and recognizing the tremendous amount of work left to be done to further increase such opportunities.
Sponsor: Sen Murray, Patty [WA] (introduced 6/23/2016) Cosponsors (37)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Publications
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Second Ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas: Preliminary Q&A on the Decision and Its Possible Implications: In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision in the Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin (UT) case to uphold UT’s race-conscious admissions program, the College Board’s Access & Diversity Collaborative released an FAQ, jointly with EducationCounsel, to break down the core components of the decision and highlight the details that may be particularly instructive for other institutions in regard to understanding the importance of the decision and value of diversity. Though the Court held that the policy is constitutional, it also cautioned that the University must continue to use race-neutral strategies and commit to a process of “constant deliberation and continued reflection” on the necessity of that policy.
The 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book: The Annie E. Casey Foundation released its annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, which provides various data about the overall well-being, economic well-being, education, and health of children in the post-recession years. The report found that children in Generation Z, born after 1995, broke records in education and health indicators despite growing up in the midst of the economic downturn.