E-Update for June 8 through June 19, 2018

Highlights:

• On June 14, the House Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee released the fiscal year (FY) 2019 House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations bill. The bill was approved by the Subcommittee along party lines on June 15 and will receive full committee consideration on June 26 (full committee markup was originally scheduled for June 20, but was postponed).
• On June 13, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing titled, “The Power of Charter Schools: Promoting Opportunity for America’s Students.”
• On June 15, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) released a notice announcing that the Department will allow additional time, until July 1, 2019, for institutions to comply with certain disclosure requirements under the gainful employment regulations.

Budget & Appropriations:

House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee Releases FY2019 Appropriations Bill: The House Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee released the FY2019 House Labor/HHS Appropriations bill. The overall allocation for the FY2019 House Labor/HHS bill across the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education is $177.1 billion, which is the same as the FY2018 level.  The FY2019 House Labor/HHS bill provides $70.91 billion for USED, which is a $43 million increase above the FY2018 level. The bill is available here. Some of the highlights in the FY2019 House Labor/HHS bill include:

• For early childhood education programs, Head Start receives a $50 million increase above the FY2018 level to $9.91 billion. Additionally, Child Care and Development Block Grants and Preschool Development Grants receive the same level of funding as in FY2018 at $5.23 billion and $250 million, respectively.
• For K-12 education, Title I, which provides grants to schools for the education of low-income children, receives the same level of funding as in FY2018 at $15.76 billion, while Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Grants to States receive $12.33 billion, which is a $50 million increase above the FY2018 level. Additionally, the bill would maintain funding for Title II State Grants for professional development training and 21^st Century Community Learning Centers for afterschool programs. Both programs had been targeted for elimination in the FY2019 President’s Budget Request. Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-Part A) receives a $100 million increase above the FY2018 level to $1.2 billion.
• For student financial assistance, the Pell Grant maximum award is maintained at $6,095 and the bill does not include a rescission to the Pell Grant Surplus.
  June 14, 2018

House LHHS Subcommittee Holds Markup of FY2019 Appropriations Bill: The House Labor/HHS Subcommittee met to consider the FY2019 House Labor/HHS Appropriations bill.  During the Subcommittee markup, the bill was approved by a voice vote setting up consideration by the full Appropriations Committee on June 26. During the markup, Subcommittee members expressed support for increases in the bill for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), early learning programs, and TRIO/GEAR UP; however, a number of Democratic members of the Subcommittee stated their disappointment that the increases come at the expense of cuts and eliminations to other programs. Additionally, Democratic members of the Subcommittee noted that the allocation for the Labor/HHS bill remains flat in FY2019 despite a bipartisan agreement that increases funding by $18 billion in FY2019 for non-defense, discretionary programs.  Another point of contention raised during the Subcommittee markup was the addition of policy riders, which Democratic members of the Subcommittee asserted will place restrictions on health care, in particular for women. House Labor/HHS Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro’s (D-CT) opening statement is available here. House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey’s (D-NY) opening statement is available here.
June 15, 2018

Congress:

Democratic Committee Leadership Submits Comment on Delay of Online Education Program Rules: House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) submitted a public comment to USED to express their opposition to the delay of program integrity rules, which govern how distance education is authorized in states. Ranking Members Scott and Murray argued in the comment that the delay of the rule “improperly bypassed the negotiated rulemaking process required by the Higher Education Act (HEA) and Administrative Procedures Act,” and urged the Department to allow the rule to go into effect on the originally planned date of July 1, 2018. The comment is available here.
June 12, 2018

Senate:

Democratic Members Send Letters to Secretary DeVos on Gun Safety Comments Made During Hearing Testimony: Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter to USED Secretary Betsy DeVos questioning her comments on gun safety in schools at a recent Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee hearing.  At the hearing, the Secretary stated that the Federal Commission on School Safety would not be studying the role of firearms in gun violence that takes place in schools. Ranking Member Murray criticized Secretary DeVos’ “failure to provide enough notice for students, parents, teachers, and advocates,” to sign up for a recent listening session of the Federal Commission on School Safety, her decision not to attend the session, and the lack of a response to Ranking Member Murray’s request sent in March asking for details on the Commission. The press release is available here and the letter here. Additionally, On June 8, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-AL) and Democratic members of the House Education and Workforce Committee also sent a letter to USED Secretary DeVos to ask for clarification of her testimony. The press release is available here and the letter here.
June 11, 2018

House:

House Education and the Workforce Committee Holds Hearing on Charter Schools: The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing titled, “The Power of Charter Schools: Promoting Opportunity for America’s Students.” The Committee heard from both charter school supporters and opponents during the hearing. During her opening statement, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) highlighted the opportunities that charter schools can present to students in underserved areas, and stated that every child deserves to attend the school that best suits their needs. More information is available here. The minority press release is available here. Chairwoman Foxx’s opening statement can be found here and Ranking Member Bobby Scott’s (D-VA) opening statement here.
June 13, 2018

House Majority Whip Scalise Conducts Outreach on PROSPER Act: Politico reported that House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) was reaching out to House Republicans to gauge support for H.R. 4508, the “Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform (PROSPER) Act,” which is the House Republican plan for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The PROSPER Act was passed by the House Education and the Workforce Committee on a party-line vote in December 2017 and the Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) has been working to ensure that the bill is brought to the House floor for a vote.
June 12, 2018

Administration:

White House:

Ivanka Trump Tweets Support to Senate HELP Committee Leadership for CTE Reauthorization: Ivanka Trump tweeted her thanks to Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) for their commitment to reauthorizing career and technical education (CTE) programs. Trump also noted that she met with Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY), Doug Jones (D-AL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to support advancing CTE legislation and ensuring access to high-quality vocational education for Americans.
June 13, 2018

U.S. Department of Education (USED):

USED Releases Notice Announcing Additional Time for Gainful Employment Regulations Compliance: USED released a notice announcing that the Department will allow additional time, until July 1, 2019, for institutions to comply with certain disclosure requirements under the gainful employment regulations. Specifically, the delay relates to the requirements that institutions subject to gainful employment regulations include a disclosure template with information specified by the Department, or a link thereto, in their gainful employment program promotional materials and that institutions directly distribute the disclosure template to prospective students. Comments on this action may be submitted by July 18.
June 15, 2018

USED Releases Staff Report on ACICS: USED released a career staff report in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that shows that the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) failed to meet 57 of the 93 criteria that accreditors are required to meet under federal law. The Century Foundation had filed a lawsuit to compel USED to release the report and, on June 5, ACICS withdrew its request to block the release of the “draft staff analysis” written in March. USED Secretary DeVos recently reinstated the ACICS’ status as a federally recognized accreditor following a federal judge’s ruling in March that the Department under the prior Administration illegally failed to properly consider some additional submissions of evidence by ACICS.
June 8, 2018

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ):

DOJ Releases Applications for New School Safety Grant Programs: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released the applications for two new grant programs created by H.R. 1625, the “STOP School Violence Act.” The two new competitive grant programs will award $50 million in FY2018 funding combined, and will focus on training teachers and students on how to respond to mental health crises and bolstering anonymous reporting systems to help identify threats. The deadline to apply is July 23. The grant applications are available here and here.

Upcoming Events:

• On June 20, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development will conduct a hearing titled, ““Occupational Licensing: Reducing Barriers to Economic Mobility and Growth,” at 10:00 a.m. More information is available here.
• On June 20 at 2:00 p.m. and June 21 at 12:00 p.m., USED will conduct webinars to provide additional detail about the requirements of a new pilot to afford local educational agencies (LEAs) flexibility to create equitable, student-centered funding systems, take Q&A, and address lessons learned during the spring 2018 submission cycle. More information is available
• On June 21, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions will conduct a hearing titled, “Growth, Opportunity, and Change in the U.S. Labor Market and the American Workforce: A Review of Current Developments, Trends, and Statistics,” at 10:00 a.m. More information is available here.
• On June 25, Attorney General Jeff Sessions – a member of the Federal Commission on School Safety – will address the National Association of School Resource Officers School Safety Conference. Conference information is available
• On June 26, the House Appropriations Committee will markup in full committee the FY2019 House Labor/HHS Appropriations bill at 10:00 a.m. The markup was originally scheduled for June 20. A number of amendments are expected to be offered at the markup. The accompanying report to the FY2019 House Labor/HHS Appropriations bill is expected to be released on June 25. More information is available here.
• On June 26, the Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee is tentatively scheduled to markup the FY2019 Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations bill in subcommittee. A markup of the bill by the full committee will likely follow on June 28.
• POSTPONED: The Senate HELP Committee will markup legislation reauthorizing the a bill to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. The committee had also been scheduled at the markup to consider the nomination of Scott Stump to be Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education at USED. Stump previously worked for the Colorado Community College System as Assistant Provost for Career and Technical Education.

Publications:

• On June 13, the Nation’s Report Card published a report titled “2015 Survey Questionnaires Results: Students’ Views of Mathematics, Reading, and Science.” As part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), students, teachers, and school administrators answer survey questionnaires which collect contextual information to provide a better understanding of educational experiences and factors that are related to students’ learning both in and outside of the classroom and to allow for meaningful student group comparisons. This report takes an in-depth look at the responses of nationally representative samples of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 from the 2015 NAEP surveys. The report is available here.
• On June 13, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a report titled, “Sexual Harassment of Women Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.” The report states that current policies and procedures have not resulted in a significant reduction in sexual harassment, and provides recommendations to lawmakers to end a culture of harassment. More information is available here.
• On June 11, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the results of a survey of athletic administrators at 784 public high schools which found that about 39 percent of high school athletic officials receive support from Title IX staff, while about 40 percent were unaware of a Title IX coordinator at their school. The survey results are available here.
• On June 11, the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) published a report titled, “The Investing in Innovation Fund: Summary of 67 Evaluations.” The report assesses the quality of the 67 Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) grant evaluations completed by May 2017 and summarizes the findings of the evaluations. The report is available here.
• On June 11, USED announced the launch of the Comprehensive Center Network (CC Network) website to assist state education policy makers in accessing resources developed by Comprehensive Centers. The CC Network website brings together a compilation of more than 700 resources developed by 23 Comprehensive Centers and over 200 projects currently underway in states across the country and makes searching by state or topic easier. The CC Network website is available
• IES Director Mark Schneider announced that IES will be making improvements to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), which produces a variety of publications and resources to help practitioners find what works for their classrooms. Specifically, the WWC reviews existing research on different programs, products, practices, and policies in education with the goal of providing educators and schools with the information they need to make evidence-based decisions. One change includes the broadening of research to focus on early childhood education and postsecondary education. The announcement is available here.

Legislation:

H.R.6099
A bill to promote registered apprenticeships, including registered apprenticeships within in-demand industry sectors, through the support of workforce intermediaries, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ)

H.R.6120
A bill to establish a competitive grant program for parent engagement that would focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs designed to increase capacity of parents to demonstrate and teach children social and emotional skills and for teachers to work with parents to develop these skills.
Sponsor: Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH)

H.R.6112
A bill to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to make institutions of higher education eligible for assistance for community food projects, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA)

S.3061
A bill to promote registered apprenticeships, including registered apprenticeships within in-demand industry sectors, through the support of workforce intermediaries, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Senator Christopher A. Coons (D-DE)

S.3066
A bill to amend the General Education Provisions Act to allow the release of education records to facilitate the award of a recognized postsecondary credential.
Sponsor: Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA)

S.3065
A bill to prohibit States from suspending, revoking, or denying State-issued professional licenses or issuing penalties due to student default.
Sponsor: Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)