E-Update for the Week of June 27, 2022

Highlights:

• On June 23, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) released a notice of proposed rulemaking related (NPRM) to Title IX.
• On June 24, by a vote of 234 to 193, the House passed S.2938, which serves as a vehicle for bipartisan gun safety legislation, known as the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.” The measure – which passed the Senate by a vote of 65 to 33 on June 23 – will now move to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature.
• On June 23, the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee approved by a partisan voice vote its fiscal year (FY) 2023 Labor/HHS Appropriations bill.

Administration:

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

USED releases Spring 2022 Unified Agenda, including announcement of the delay in expected release of the Gainful Employment rule until April 2023: On June 21, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released USED’s Spring 2022 Unified Agenda, which provides the most up-to-date look at the Department’s plans for issuing proposed and final regulations. Of most consequence was the disclosure that USED no longer plans to issue a NPRM on Gainful Employment in a recognized occupation (GE) this calendar year, delaying the release of the GE NPRM until April 2023. This means USED will miss the Higher Education Act (HEA) Master Calendar deadline of November 1, 2022, and the earliest date that final GE regulations could become effective is July 1, 2024, a year later than previously assumed. Limited additional detail on each of these planned regulatory actions can be found at the OIRA website.
June 21, 2022

Biden Administration cancels student debt for 200,000 students: On June 22, USED Secretary Miguel Cardona announced that the Biden Administration would fully discharge nearly $6 billion in federal student loan debt for about 200,000 borrowers who claim they were defrauded by their college or university, most of which are for-profit institutions. This announcement is the result of a proposed settlement after a drawn-out lawsuit over the “borrower defense” law, which provides debt relief to federal student loan borrowers if their college defrauds or misleads them. The decision comes after years of litigation, first filed against the Trump Administration, and will address a significant percentage of the backlog of borrower defense claims. Nearly 70,000 claims remain that will still need to be addressed by USED, which has promised to resolve all claims before the end of President Biden’s first term.
June 22, 2022

USED releases a NPRM related to Title IX: On June 23, USED released a NPRM related to Title IX. The release of the proposed regulations corresponds with the 50^th anniversary of Title IX, and follows on commitments made by the Biden Administration to comprehensively review previous regulations and issue new regulations. Once published in the Federal Register, the public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed regulations before the Department can move forward with finalizing them. The Department is required to review every public comment received, which could take until later this summer or into the fall. Additionally, the Department notes it will engage in a separate rulemaking process to address Title IX’s application in the context of athletics.

Title IX, as was created by the Education Amendments Act of 1972, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any program that receives federal funding from USED. This most generally applies to any public elementary and secondary school, and most institutions of higher education (public and private). However, other entities may be subjected to compliance with Title IX when they receive federal funding for education, broadly defined to include, in addition to degree and certificate granting programs, research, professional development, workshops, etc.  In describing their intention for the proposed regulations, the Department stated its intention to ensure the regulations “advance Title IX’s goal of ensuring that no person experiences sex discrimination in education, that all students receive appropriate support as needed to access equal educational opportunities, and that school procedures for investigating and resolving complaints of sex discrimination, including sex-based harassment and sexual violence, are fair to all involved.”

Key provisions within the Department’s proposed regulations, based on its summary and an initial review by EducationCounsel include:

• The proposal would prohibit all forms of sex discrimination, including discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
  • The inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity builds off previous, but since rescinded, Obama-era guidance that interpreted Title IX to include such protections for LGBTQ+ students, and corresponds with the Biden Administration’s interpretation of the 2020 Supreme Court Bostock decision.
• The proposal would cover harassment that creates a hostile environment due to unwelcome sex-based conduct that is sufficiently severe or pervasive.
  • This is a shift from the previous regulations, in which unwelcome sex-based conduct was only prohibited if it was “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive.”
• The proposal also expands the application of Title IX protections to include sex-based harassment off-campus or outside the U.S. that affects a U.S. institution’s educational program or activity (subject to criteria).
  • The prior regulations had contracted the application of Title IX to exclude such harassment unless it occurred within the institution’s education program or activity in the U.S., regardless of its impact on the program.
• The proposal expands notification requirements for school and institution employees, including all K-12 school employees and in postsecondary institutions, those who have authority to take corrective action as well as all those in administrative leadership, teaching and advising roles — with exceptions at all levels of education for “confidential employees.”
  • The previous regulations previously only require a school or institution to take action if a Title IX coordinator or other employee with authority to take corrective action gained “actual knowledge,” whereas the proposed regulations would require action if a much broader range of roles are notified.
• The proposal provides more flexibility for educators at the K-12 and post-secondary levels in the design of resolution (including informal resolutions) and grievance processes, while maintaining guardrails for equitable treatment of all involved.

• The proposal allows a person to file a Title IX complaint after they have left a school or institution (recognizing that some individuals leave based on their experiences).

• The proposal prohibits schools and institutions from separating or treating any person differently based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics in a manner that subjects the person to more than minimal harm and unless otherwise permitted by Title IX.
  • According to the Department, this would include policies and practices that prevent a student from participating in an education program or activity consistent with their gender identity.
  • However, the proposal does not provide requirements related to athletics and when a student may participate on a male or female team.

A fact sheet, as provided by USED, on the draft regulations is here. A summary chart of the major provisions, as provided by USED, is here. A press release from USED Secretary Miguel Cardona is here. A press release from House Education and Labor Committee Chairperson Bobby Scott (D-VA) is here. A press release from Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairperson Patty Murray (D-WA) is here. A press release from House Education and Labor Committee Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) is here. A press release from Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC) is here.
June 23, 2022

Congress:

Congressional Democrats write in support of Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF): On June 21, 24 Senate Democrats and 45 House Democrats wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in support of additional funding for the ECF, a program that provides students and educators access to home broadband and internet-connected devices. In the letter, members express their concern that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which administers the ECF, has received $2.8 billion in applications for ECF funds during its latest grant application window, nearly double the roughly $1.5 billion remaining in the program. The members note, “Millions of students could be disconnected from the Internet. We ask you to work with us to prevent this exacerbation of the digital divide by replenishing the ECF funding as soon as possible.” Passed as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), the ECF has provided nearly $4.8 billion in grants to schools and libraries and helped more than 12.5 million students access the internet.
June 21, 2022

Congress passes bipartisan agreement on school meal program: On June 21, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC), along with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR), announced an agreement on extending funding and flexibility for school meal programs through the summer of 2022. The agreement – H.R. 8150, the “Keep Kids Fed Act,” – then passed the House by a vote of 376 to 42 on June 23 and the Senate by unanimous consent on the same day. Due to a procedural issue, the House then cleared the final measure once more by unanimous consent on June 24 before sending the measure to President Biden’s desk for signature. In 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act which, among other provisions, provided the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nationwide waivers and flexibilities for schools in administering school meal programs. These provisions were again extended in 2021 through the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021 and are scheduled to sunset on June 30, 2022. However, as schools transition back to more normal operations, they face ongoing operational and supply challenges. “While the country is on the road to recovery, many schools are still struggling with supply chain shortages and other increased costs that will make it more difficult to serve meals next year,” Chairman Scott said in a press release. “This bill provides additional assistance to ensure that students can get the nutrition they need to help them learn and grow.” More specifically, H.R. 8150 will extend the USDA’s authority until September 30, 2022, to provide summer meals to all students for free, eliminate the reduced-price meal category, and increase reimbursement rates to help offset rising food costs. A fact sheet on the bill is here.
June 24, 2022

Congress passes bipartisan gun safety package: On June 24, the House passed S.2938, which serves as a vehicle for bipartisan gun safety legislation, known as the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” by a vote of 234 to 193, sending the bill to President Biden for his signature. In the House, fourteen Republicans voted with all Democrats to support the bill. The day prior, the Senate advanced the bill by a vote of 65 to 33, with fifteen Republicans joining all Senate Democrats/Independents in passing the legislation. The package includes several provisions related to firearms and firearms safety, as well as resources to support school climate and safety improvement. More specifically, the bill includes funding to support states wishing to adopt their own laws addressing State Crisis Intervention Orders (also known as “Red Flag” laws); new penalties on “straw purchases” of guns, which are designed to cut down on illegal weapons trafficking; enhanced background checks for gun buyers under 21; and additional funding for school safety and community mental health clinics.

To support children and youth within school settings, the compromise legislation provides additional funding for existing programs, including those focused on increasing the number of school-based mental health service providers and increasing school safety. Specifically, the bill would provide $1 billion for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant program, $50 million for the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers program, $500 million for the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant program, $500 million for the School-Based Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Grant Program, and $300 million for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Students, Teachers, and Officers Prevent (STOP) School Violence grant program.  Additionally, the bill would provide funding for existing programs with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support trauma-informed care of children and adolescents and to support their mental health needs. Additionally, as part of the bill’s intent to identify evidence-based practices to support improvements to school climate and reduce school-based violence, the bill would create a federal clearinghouse on school-safety practices.  A fact sheet on the bill is here. A statement from President Biden is here.
June 24, 2022

Senate:

Senate HELP Committee holds hearing on supporting students and schools: On June 22, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing titled, “Supporting Students and Schools: Promising Practices to Get Back on Track.” Witnesses included Dr. Dan Goldhaber, Director for the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research at the American Institutes for Research and Director of the Center for Education Data and Research at the University of Washington; Charlene Russell‐Tucker, the Commissioner of Education in Connecticut; Kurt Russell, a history teacher at Oberlin High School in Oberlin, OH and the 2022 National Teacher of the Year; and Erin Wall, a parent of three school-age children from Cary, NC. During the hearing, Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) spoke of the impact of the pandemic and school closures on all students, but particularly for students of color or those from lower income families. “While we are still learning the full extent of how COVID has impacted our kids’ learning, we know enough to know this needs to be a top priority for all of us,” she said in her opening statement. “Data shows that kids are months or even years behind where they would be in a typical year, and a deepening educational divide between majority white schools and majority black schools [and] between wealthier school districts and higher poverty districts.” Committee Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA), agreeing about the impact on learning loss, focused his opening statement and questions on the effect of school closures and highlighted cases of declining public school and increasing charter and parochial school enrollment. Senator Cassidy also emphasized that lack of funding should not be an issue and, according to him, “$190 billion has gone through the door to support K-12 education, but only 23 percent has been drawn down.”

In their testimonies, all four witnesses shared their research or experiences on school closures and the impact on students, and thoughts on how best to address the effects of the pandemic. Goldhaber shared his recommendations for helping to keep schools open – particularly with labor shortages or should there be another outbreak. He suggested that states and districts needed to “streamline the bureaucracy associated with getting and keeping a substitute teaching credential to make sure that there are enough substitutes, and… have plans to reallocate staff so that not all schools close in a district when there are labor shortages.” Meanwhile, Russell spoke of the impact on teachers, observing that “the toll of more responsibilities with stagnant pay has, for some, become unattractive and unbearable.” Wall shared her experience having a child with special needs and the loss of important services, due to pandemic-related closures and staff vacancies, and the continued disruption to her son’s learning. Looking forward, Russell-Tucker highlighted how districts in Connecticut are using federal funds to address learning loss through supplemental tutoring and reading instruction, individualized in-home supports, more special education evaluations, and ensuring that individualized education plans (IEP) are implemented.
June 22, 2022

House:

Foxx publishes op-ed on educational ‘freedom’: On June 20, House Education and Labor Committee Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC), penned an op-ed for the Washington Times titled, “Biden Puts Americans’ Freedoms on Trial.” In the op-ed, Ranking Member Foxx addressed a range of alleged claims against the Biden Administration – from targeting parents for protesting school board meetings to attacks on religious freedom – as well as strong criticism of the Biden Administration’s school reopening guidance. “For the last year and a half, the Biden Administration waged its own prosecution against the American people — with a two-pronged strategy to disarm freedom and create a nanny state that controls every aspect of American life,” Ranking Member Foxx wrote. “This is not a dystopian musing: This is the reality we now face.”
June 20, 2022

House Appropriations Subcommittee advances its fiscal year (FY) 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations bill: During the Subcommittee markup, House Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) highlighted that the FY2023 Labor/HHS bill “grows opportunity with major investments in education, including significant funding for high-poverty schools and students with disabilities, and strong increases for programs that expand access to post-secondary education.” Subcommittee Ranking Member Tom Cole (R-OK) expressed Republican opposition to the bill, particularly given that there is not yet a bipartisan agreement on top-line spending levels for FY2023. Additionally, Ranking Member Cole objected to several policy provisions (also known as policy riders) in the bill, which he said will move the U.S. “toward a leftist agenda that is out of step with the American people.” The bill is expected to be considered by the full Appropriations Committee in the coming days before being considered by the full House in July. It is expected that the Senate will also begin to release its FY2023 appropriations bills and consider the bills at the committee level in July. A summary, released by the House Appropriations Committee, is here.

Key funding levels included in the FY2023 House Labor/HHS Appropriations bill include:

• Early Childhood Education
  • $7.2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, an increase of $1 billion above the FY 2022 level;
  • $12.4 billion for Head Start, an increase of $1.4 billion above the FY 2022 level; and
  • $350 million for Preschool Development Grants, an increase of $60 million above the FY 2022 level.
• K-12 Education
  • $20.5 billion for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies, an increase of $3 billion above the FY 2022 level; and
  • $16.3 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B Grants to States, an increase of $2.9 billion above the FY 2022 level.
• Postsecondary Education and Student Financial Assistance
  • $7,395 for the maximum Pell Grant, an increase of $500 above the FY 2022 enacted level;
  • $1.1 billion, an increase of $225 million over the FY2022 level, to assist primarily Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including $403 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (an increase of $40 million above the FY2022 level) and $247 million for Hispanic Serving Institutions (an increase of $64 million above the FY2022 level); and
  • $200 million for Postsecondary Student Success Grants to support evidence-based activities to improve postsecondary retention and completion rates.

June 23, 2022

U.S. Supreme Court/Federal Courts:

University of Texas must face renewed lawsuit over race-conscious admissions: On June 20, the Federal Appeals Court for the 5^th Circuit overturned a lower court ruling barring the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) – an anti-affirmative action group – from challenging the University of Texas’ (UT) race-conscious admissions policies. Citing the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision Fisher v. Texas, which upheld some affirmative action policies, a Federal judge for the Western District of Texas had previously thrown out the challenge to the UT admissions policy because SFFA, according to the ruling, had “brought essentially the same claims against the same university admissions policy as in Fisher.” However, this most recent decision allows SFFA to continue its latest challenge to UT’s policy. The lawsuit claims that the university improperly considers race in admissions and discriminates against white applicants – a violation of the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Relatedly, in January, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear two similar cases by SFFA against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
June 20, 2022

Court strikes down Maine’s law barring use of public funds to pay tuition at schools providing religious instruction: On June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the State of Maine’s tuition assistance program that limited funding to private secondary schools that were nonsectarian violates the Free Exercise Clause of the 1^st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As part of its overall school system design, Maine provides tuition support for parents who may contract with private schools in rural areas where many districts do not operate a secondary school – fewer than half of Maine’s “school administrative units” operate a public elementary school. Maine’s prohibition centered on First Amendment Establishment Clause concerns about public funding support of sectarian schools “associated with a particular faith or belief system” that presented curricular and related material “through the lens of …faith.”

The Court concluded that although a “State need not subsidize private education,” once it decides to do so, it cannot “disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.” To do so, it reasoned, “‘effectively penalizes the free exercise’ of religion.” In addition, the Court emphasized that where, as in this case, “public funds flow to religious organizations through the independent choices of private benefit recipients” (emphasis added), such funding would not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, notwithstanding Maine’s concerns on that score.

The implications of the Court’s decision appear relatively straightforward:

1. Nothing compels States to fund private religious education.
2. But: If States establish general voucher or other similar tuition support programs where parents are responsible for the selection of their child’s school (with corresponding State funding), States are unlikely to be able to limit eligibility to nonsectarian schools. Any such restriction would likely be violative of the Free Exercises Clause.
3. However: Potential limits on the scope of the Court’s ruling could emerge in cases where a clearer record of the role of private recipients of aid being responsible for helping fulfill the State’s constitutional duty of providing a public education to all; or where conditions of funding eligibility for private schools are “equivalent” to those available in the State’s public schools.

This is because a key point of dispute in the case was whether the relevant state law should have been considered as integral to fulfillment of the State’s constitutional obligation to provide all school-age students the opportunity for a “free public education.” The Court rejected Maine’s characterization of its law in that vein, finding that the precise benefit at issue was “tuition at a public or private school” (emphasis in original)—not the provision of public education. As support for that characterization, the Court pointed to:  private schools not being required to accept all students; tuition support provided by the State not fully compensating for tuition of all private schools; distinctions between state curricular requirements and permissible curriculum parameters for private schools; and distinctions in teaching certification requirements between public and private schools.

In circumstances like those, State funding of private sectarian schools through a parent choice model might be unlawful.

Finally, the issues that emerge with prospects for State funding for religious schools unaddressed by the Court include the potential applicability of State and federal non-discrimination rules and requirements that such schools might not be subject to, but for State funding.
June 21, 2022

Upcoming Events (Congress & Administration):

• On June 28 at 11:00 am, the House Education and Labor Subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee and the Subcommittee for Indigenous People of the United States will hold a joint hearing titled, “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Bureau of Indian Education” Tony Dearman, the Director at the Bureau of Indian Education, will testify. The hearing will be livestreamed here.
• On June 29 at 2:00 pm, USED will hold an event, “IES Listen & Learn Session: LGBTQl+ Voices in Education Research.” This online session will feature a panel discussion of the high-priority education research needs of the LGBTQI+ communities. More information and registration can be found here.
• On June 30 at 10:00 am, the full House Appropriations Committee will mark up the FY2023 House Labor/HHS Appropriations bill. The full committee mark up will be livestreamed
• On July 19 to 22, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) will hold a virtual meeting to consider applications from institutions of higher education (IHEs) for renewal of recognition, as well as compliance reports for certain IHEs. Information on how to attend and/or provide written or oral comments can be found here. Those who are interested can register here.

Upcoming Events (Outside Organizations):

• On June 28 at 10:00 am, the Brookings Institution and Yidan Prize Foundation will co-host a virtual event, “Education Meets the Metaverse: The Promise and the Worry.” This webcast is the second in a Brookings-Yidan Prize event series on the future of education in the 21^st century, and is based on their recent report, “A Whole New World: Education Meets the Metaverse.” More information and registration are here.

• On June 29 at 3:00 pm, the Urban Institute will hold an event titled, “Supporting Georgia’s Early Care and Learning System with COVID-19 Relief Funding.” The webinar will examine how Georgia is using Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) and ARP funding to support its early care and learning system. More information and registration are here.

Publications (Congress & Administration):

• On June 22, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a report titled, “The Cost of Eight Executive Actions Taken by the Biden Administration.” In the report, the CBO estimates that the Biden Administration’s student loan payment pause from February 2021 to August 2022 will cost roughly $85 billion. Additionally, the CBO notes that it was unable to determine the cost of the Administration’s expansion of Public Service Loan Forgiveness program or income-driven repayment plans “because of the programs’ complexity.” The full report is here.

Publications (Outside Organizations):

• On June 15, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) published a paper titled, “Progress and Potential: The Innovations of Pandemic Learning Communities Led by Leaders of Color.” In 2020, CRPE launched a research project to explore pandemic-era experiments and identify potential lessons learned when considering how to redesign education systems to meet individual student needs. In its analysis, CRPE conducted 22 case studies of pandemic learning communities. This paper examines seven initiatives that were led by community leaders of color and identifies potential strategies to advance racial justice in K-12 educational spaces. The paper can be found here.
• On June 17, CRPE published a paper titled, “Many Districts are Doing Less This Summer to Make Up for Lost Learning.” In the paper, CRPE examined the upcoming summer learning plans for 100 of the nation’s large urban districts school districts to determine that most districts “have not expanded or improved their 2022 summer programming.” According to the paper, most large districts have “scarcely improved” their summer offerings this year, despite the urgency to address student learning and well-being year-round, while making up for lost instructional time. The paper can be found here.
• On June 21, the Reimaging College Access (RCA) initiative published a new tool titled, “Performance Assessment in College Admission: Designing an Effective and Equitable Process.” The resource offers step-by-step guidance on requesting the most helpful performance assessment information. More specifically, the tool defines performance assessment and then provides concrete guidance on how admission officers can gather and incorporate information about students’ k-12 performance assessments into their application and review processes. The tool can be found here.
• On June 23, the Institute of International Education (IIE) released the results of its survey titled, “Spring 2022 Snapshot on International Educational Exchange.” The survey found that international student enrollment at U.S. institutions increased by 43 percent over the last year, after falling by 15 percent during the 2020-2021 school year as the pandemic restricted student mobility. The full report is here.
• On June 23, the 74 Million released a new resource, “The Learning Loss Calculator.” The tool uses data from over 8,000 districts across the country to estimate students’ pandemic-related “learning loss.” Then, users can compare that metric with an estimate of how much funding districts would need to spend to address the gap. The tool can be found here.
• On June 23, FutureEd released a report titled, “Unfinished Agenda: The Future of Standards-Based School Reform.” The report aims to identify “what went wrong” within the education standards movement and offers recommendations for a new approach to implementation. More specifically, the report highlights certain bright spots in the field, including districts and states that have established scalable, “high-quality, standards- aligned curricula and related professional learning.” The full report is here.

Legislation:

H.R.8150
A bill to amend the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to extend child nutrition waiver authority, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA)

H.R.8170
A bill to require elementary schools and secondary schools that receive Federal funds to obtain parental consent before facilitating a child’s gender transition in any form, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN)

H.R.8192
A bill to prioritize the hiring and training of veterans and retired law enforcement officers as school resource officers, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)

H.R.8195
A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to raise public awareness for skilled trade programs, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA)

H.R.8198
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the process by which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines whether an educational institution meets requirements relating to the percentage of students who receive educational assistance furnished by the Secretary.
Sponsor: Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL)

H.R.8204
A bill to amend section 262 of the Museum and Library Services Act to authorize the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Service to award grants to institutions of higher education for courses that use only publicly available digital resources for required reading assignments, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL)

H.R.8206
A bill to repeal Executive Order 13988 and prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from carrying out certain requirements relating to sexual orientation and gender identity for participation in school meal programs, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI)

H.R.8212
A bill to rescind the Executive Order on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX)

H.R.8216
A bill to promote digital citizenship and media literacy.
Sponsor: Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI)

H.R.8220
A bill to authorize the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to assist local educational agencies with ensuring that each elementary and secondary school has at least one registered nurse on staff.
Sponsor: Rep. Federica Wilson (D-FL)

H.Res.1193
A resolution expressing support for the designation of June 23, 2022, as National Federal Pell Grant Day.
Sponsor: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)

H.Res.1202
A resolution affirming, commemorating, and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the enactment of title IX, applauding the increase in educational opportunities available to all individuals, regardless of sex or gender, and recognizing the tremendous amount of work left to be done to further increase those opportunities.
Sponsor: Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI)

S.4458
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the process by which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines whether an educational institution meets requirements relating to the percentage of students who receive educational assistance furnished by the Secretary, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Senator Jon Tester (D-MT)

S.4459
A bill to provide targeted relief for student borrowers, improve the affordability of higher education, provide reforms to the student loan system, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)

S.4461
A bill to reauthorize the program for mental health awareness training grants, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)

S.4472
A bill to expand the availability of mental, emotional, behavioral, and substance use disorder health services, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)

S.4483
A bill to prevent class-based loan forgiveness for Federal student loans under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 without the explicit appropriation of funds by Congress for such purpose.
Sponsor: Senator Rick Scott (R-FL)

S.4490
A bill to promote digital citizenship and media literacy.
Sponsor: Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

S.Res.691
A resolution affirming, commemorating, and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the enactment of title IX, applauding the increase in educational opportunities available to all individuals, regardless of sex or gender, and recognizing the tremendous amount of work left to be done to further increase those opportunities.
Sponsor: Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)

S.Res.692
A resolution recognizing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the enactment of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 into law.
Sponsor: Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)