Legislative Activity Opposition to Betsy DeVos Builds Joining other professional education associations, the National Association of Secondary School Principals announced in a letter to the Senate HELP Committee that it opposes the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. Senate offices have reported tens of thousands of calls and letters encouraging a no vote … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Holds Hearing on Campus Sexual Assault Last Thursday, September 10, the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee held a hearing titled “Preventing and Responding to Sexual Assault on College Campuses.” The hearing focused on the current state of campus safety and the patchwork of state and federal … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Continue Legislative Action Addressing Sexual Assault Last week, Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Patrick Meehan (R-PA), along with 25 other members, re-introduced a bipartisan measure from the 113th Congress titled the Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency on Campus Sexual Violence Act (HALT Act). This piece of legislation would, among other … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: Wednesday, April 29: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education will hold a hearing at 8:30 a.m. featuring public and outside witnesses to testify on the FY 2016 appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. Thursday, April 30: The House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Vote on ESEA Postponed to This Week The House will continue to consider its Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bill – the Student Success Act (H.R. 5) – that was brought to the House floor last week. Last Thursday, House members began floor consideration of 44 amendments to the legislation— … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity ESEA Reauthorization Bill to be Considered on the House Floor this Week The education community continues to analyze H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, which the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved and reported to the House prior to the Congressional recess. Echoing the White House report criticizing H.R. 5 released last … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Campus Sexual Assault Legislation to Remain a Priority Next Congress This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on campus sexual assault to explore the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement in handling these types of cases. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are scheduled to testify at … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House’s Legislative Agenda Today, the House will consider and likely pass the following pieces of legislation: The STEM Education Act (H.R. 5031). The bill would include “computer science” in the definition of “STEM education,” require the National Science Foundation (NSF) to offer competitive grants to support research and development of informal STEM learning, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity College Affordability Initiatives After failing last week to secure enough votes to proceed to floor consideration of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) student loan reform legislation, the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act (S. 2432), Democratic Senators committed to continuing to raise the issue – eyeing a week in September to refocus on … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Budget Committee Report Last week, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) released a report which details her priorities for the federal budget over the next two years. Chairman Murray called on her colleagues to use the greater budget certainty provided for the next year as a result of the December 2013 … Continue Reading
