CEC Policy Insider

CEC Weighs in on House Higher Education Act Reauthorization

On Monday, CEC submitted a letter to House Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) in response to the introduction and consideration of H.R. 4674, the College Affordability Act, a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA).
In the letter, CEC:

• Commended the Committee for taking a comprehensive approach to HEA, which was last reauthorized in 2008
• Lifted up provisions of the bill that address the special educator shortage crisis, including improvements to the Teacher Quality Partnership program, which supports teacher preparation, and initiatives that make college more affordable by strengthening grant and loan programs aimed at teachers
• Thanked the Committee for making improvements to accessibility on college campuses and a strong reauthorization of the Transition to Postsecondary Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities program
• Urged the Committee to clarify and ensure that all preparation programs receiving federal funds, whether traditional, alternative, or “grow your own,” meet the same rigorous standards to ensure quality
• Questioned changes to data collection that could be burdensome to institutions of higher education with preparation programs.

On Tuesday, the House Education and Labor Committee began marking up H.R. 4674. That markup, which is expected to last for days, will likely not result in substantive changes to CEC’s priorities. CEC will provide an analysis of the proceedings in next week’s Policy Insider.

Read CEC’s letter to Chair Scott and Ranking Member Foxx here.

View the markup of the College Affordability Act and related information here.

Progress Stalls on Appropriations as Rumors of Second CR Circulate

Last week’s effort in the U.S. Senate to advance a number of non-controversial spending measures for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 stalled, as fundamental partisan disagreements continue to impede progress.

At the heart of the disagreement is the White House’s effort to secure funding for a border wall, which Democrats strongly oppose. Democrats are pushing to funnel that money, instead, into the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H) bill, which includes federal funding for education programs. Democrats are wary of supporting the advancement of any spending bills until dollar amounts for all 12 appropriations bills, including Labor-H, are approved.

The Senate’s failure to advance any FY 2020 bills last week led Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL) to suggest that Congress may pass a second continuing resolution in November to extend FY 2019 funding into February or March. This late winter timeframe suggests that Congress may put appropriations negotiations aside while each body carries out its impeachment duties. Due to the looming impeachment proceedings, it is fair to expect politics to weigh heavily on the progress of anything coming through Congress.

Call to Action

As a reminder, CEC has developed a Call-to-Action so members can engage in a final push on Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending through a letter-writing campaign. The template letter calls for spending increases to the following programs:

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Grants to States Program (Part B)
• IDEA Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Program (Part C)
• IDEA Preschool Program (Part B Section 619)
• IDEA National Activities (Part D)
• National Center for Special Education Research, within the Institute for Education Sciences
• Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act

It is not too late to join in this call to action! Until FY 2020 spending is finalized, this letter is timely and relevant. Act now!

Senate Bill to Address School Violence Through Threat Assessment Introduced

Last week, in response to recent mass shootings in El Paso and elsewhere, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced S. 2690, the RESPONSE Act, a bill that addresses the link between gun violence and school safety. The bill is aimed at preventing future mass shootings through law-enforcement, mental health, and school-based initiatives.

Senator Cornyn remarked that the bill “aims to make schools less vulnerable through promoting best practices and internet safety policies that would help schools better identify and assess students whose behavior indicates a threat of violence.”

Among its provisions, the bill would create best practices for establishment and implementation of behavioral intervention teams within schools that could report student behavior directly to law enforcement, bypassing an in-school process for behavioral interventions. This raises red flags for advocates, who are concerned that students could be targeted based on disabilities and other factors and addressed in a punitive manner rather than receiving supports from educators who have knowledge of their students and training in providing interventions and supporting students’ behavioral needs.

Disability rights, civil rights, education and privacy groups responded to the bill last week with a letter that opposed the bill and, in particular, the link between mental health and gun violence. “While we applaud the recognition that the federal government has a role to play in addressing the grave and complex issues surrounding mass violence, [we] oppose legislation that links efforts to reduce mass violence with mental health reforms,” the groups wrote.

Read the RESPONSE Act here.

SOAR Program Highlighted by DeVos, Federal Lawmakers

Last week marked the 15th anniversary of the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) program, the only federally funded voucher program. SOAR supports low-income students in Washington, DC to attend private or religious schools within the District. In recognition of the anniversary, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos joined Congressional champions in a push to make SOAR permanent through passage of S. 213/H.R. 787, the SOAR Reauthorization Act.

The program has been controversial for some time. Supporters, including DeVos and a bipartisan group of Members of Congress, argue that when schools fail their students, students and families deserve alternative options. The permanent authorization of SOAR would set a precedent for DeVos’ effort to create an expansive federal voucher program.

On the other side of the argument, voucher critics argue that SOAR students underperform as compared to their peers, and that private and religious schools are not obligated to comply with federal requirements such as IDEA and other civil rights and accountability requirements, stripping students of their rights under those laws. Despite the push, the SOAR Reauthorization Act is unlikely to be considered, for now.

Read S.213/H.R. 787 here.

Read a Congressional Research Service Report on SOAR here.