| | | | | |  | | By Bianca Quilantan | With help from Juan Perez Jr. and Michael Stratford Programming announcement: Our newsletters are evolving. Morning Education will continue to publish daily for POLITICO Pro subscribers, but starting on July 13th will consolidate to a weekly newsletter for all others. There will be no changes to the policy newsletters available to POLITICO Pro subscribers. To continue to receive Morning Education daily, as well as access POLITICO Pro's full suite of policy tools and trackers, get in touch about a Pro subscription. Already a Pro subscriber? Learn more here. | | | — The Council of Chief State School Officers estimates it will cost between $158.1 billion and $244.6 billion to safely reopen schools this fall, after Senate HELP Chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) asked for a projection at a hearing this month, the group said. Others also have estimates ranging from $116 billion to $500 billion. — The Chicago Board of Education voted in favor of keeping police on school campuses. The decision comes as school systems across the nation are re-evaluating their use of school resource officers amid growing calls for police reform. — Sixty-four people caught Covid-19 after University of Texas at Austin spring breakers traveled to Mexico in March, a new CDC report on the case found. The agency emphasized the importance of contact tracing and testing for campuses welcoming students back this fall. IT'S THURSDAY, JUNE 24. WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. HOW MUCH MONEY DO SCHOOLS NEED TO OPEN? Today's newsletter zeroes in on what K-12 needs, but what about higher education? Ping me at bquilantan@politico.com with your answer. Send tips to your host or to my colleagues, Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@politico.com, Michael Stratford at mstratford@politico.com and Nicole Gaudiano at ngaudiano@politico.com. Share event listings: educalendar@politicopro.com. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro. | | | | Get the free POLITICO news app for the critical updates you need. Breaking news, analysis, videos, and podcasts, right at your fingertips. Download for iOS and Android. | | | | | | REOPENING SCHOOLS COULD COST HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS: CCSSO, in a letter sent to Alexander, said its forecast includes "what school systems will need now and over the next two years" as they recover from the pandemic. The group also factored in anticipated declines in state and local funding for education. — The estimate takes into account investing in technology for remote learning and tools needed to implement health and safety protocols for in-person instruction. Additionally, the money would go toward "addressing students' academic learning loss and helping students overcome increased trauma and economic and food insecurities." — The group said funding from the CARES Act, H.R. 748 (116), will not be enough to help schools reopen, but "the cost estimates do not represent a specific request for additional federal aid in one piece of legislation." — Alexander said this week that he would support spending billions of dollars to help schools and colleges reopen safely. — Obama Education Secretary John B. King Jr., in a separate letter, urged Congress to provide at least $500 billion in additional state stabilization funds. K-12 should get at least $175 billion, he wrote. — Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers president, estimated that $116 billion more is needed on top of the HEROES Act. The House-passed measure, H.R. 6800 (116), would provide more than $100 billion to schools and colleges, but it isn't likely to pass in the Senate. | | | | BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE - A DIFFERENT KIND OF NEWSLETTER : Are you interested in creating a sustainable future for generations to come? Our sustainability newsletter, "The Long Game," is designed for executives, investors and policymakers who lead crucial conversations about how society can continue to thrive. Join the sharpest minds for a discussion about the most significant challenges from pandemics to plastics, climate change to land use, inequality and the future of work. Winners play the long game, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | CHICAGO SCHOOLS KEEP POLICE ON CAMPUS… FOR NOW: Following hours of dramatic testimony on Wednesday, the Chicago Board of Education narrowly voted to keep city police officers embedded in its campuses. But the city's fight over school policing isn't over. — Protesters gathered outside Board President Miguel del Valle's home, the Chicago Tribune reported, while separate throngs took demonstrations to downtown. — Members of Chicago's City Council testified in separate appeals to school board members, while board members made their best case to colleagues during the live-streamed meeting. Still, as WTTW's Matt Masterson notes, the school district is set to renew its annual contract — worth up to $33 million — with the police department later this summer. The city's local school councils could opt to remove officers from individual campuses, and other changes to the contract between the city and school district are likely in the offing. Here's more from WBEZ's Sarah Karp. — Across the country: The San Francisco Board of Education unanimously voted to cut ties with the city's police department, San Francisco Chronicle reported; and the Seattle School Board "voted to suspend a partnership that stations five armed police officers at Seattle schools," according to the Seattle Times. | | | CDC OUTLINES SPRING BREAKERS CONTRACT TRACING: UT Austin students partied in Cabo San Lucas during spring break as states shut down and imposed strict social distancing guidelines. When some students started displaying virus symptoms, the university's health center and its local public health authority launched an investigation to mitigate and control the spread. — Through contract tracing, the CDC said 298 persons were identified as having come in contact with people who had tested positive. Those who tested positive included: 60 students, one person who lived in a shared household and three who had close contact with the students. No one was hospitalized and no one died. — The report comes as colleges and universities are unveiling plans to allow students back to campus and even live in dorms. The CDC said dorms are like nursing or assisted living homes, and could have a similar pattern of person-to-person transmission of the virus. — "A coordinated response with contact tracing and testing of all contacts, including those who are asymptomatic, is important in controlling future COVID-19 outbreaks that might occur as schools and universities consider reopening," the report said. Read more from your host. SCHOOLS EVENTUALLY NEED TO REOPEN: That's what a panel of Harvard health experts argue in an extensive set of strategies to get campuses back in business this fall. — " There is no perfect plan to reopen schools safely, only 'less bad' options," say the "risk reduction strategies" from Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "There is no 'one size fits all' strategy that works for every school. Schools have limited budgets and staff. Compliance will be imperfect. Learning will be different. There will be disruption. Schools may need to reclose unexpectedly depending on local conditions." — One major strategy: Students and teachers should wear masks as often as possible, especially when in close proximity to others. Experts suggest schools build in time where students and staff can safely take a break from mask-wearing and train students and staff on how to properly wear, remove and care for masks. — Frequent hand washing and cleaning, plus maximal physical and group distancing, are other obvious strategies. But schools should also huddle with building engineers to consider ways to increase outdoor air ventilation and evaluate air flow from mechanical building systems. The guidelines also encourage schools to upgrade their building air filters, install Plexiglass shields and "touchless" technology for hand cleaning liquids and paper towels. | | | |  | | | | | | LAWSUITS, LAWSUITS, LAWSUITS: Your host's inbox was inundated with alerts from lawsuits we're following on Title IX, CARES Act funds restrictions and more. Here's a roundup of the developments: — Title IX: Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and other attorneys general filed their preliminary injunction to delay Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' new Title IX rule, which takes effect in August. They asked the federal judge to preliminary enjoin the rule until "judicial review of its validity has concluded." — Title IX, round two: The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Speech First and Independent Women's Law Center filed a petition in federal court to participate in the ACLU's lawsuit challenging the Title IX rule. They are asking the court's permission to "intervene" in the lawsuit in order to argue that department's "definition of peer-on-peer harassment is not only permissible but required by the First Amendment." — CARES Act: Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson will seek partial summary judgment on his challenge to DeVos' restriction on student eligibility for CARES Act emergency grants. He asked the judge to expedite consideration of the motion, which zeroes in on the Education Department's interpretation of a law that says the grants constitute "Federal public benefits," which most non-citizens are ineligible for. Ferguson plans to file the motion on June 29. — Gainful employment: New York Attorney General Tish James, as part of a group of 19 attorneys general, sued DeVos and the Education Department to prevent them from repealing the "Gainful Employment" rule. The regulation is set to come off the books on July 1. | | | | FOR CRITICAL NEWS AND CONTEXT YOU NEED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS, LISTEN TO POLITICO DISPATCH: Coronavirus cases continue to spike as states take steps to reopen. Americans are demanding action from lawmakers to address racial injustice and police reform. How do you keep up with the never-ending news cycle? For quick analysis on the essential news of the day, listen to POLITICO Dispatch, our short daily podcast that keeps you up to date on the most important news affecting your life. Subscribe and listen today. | | | | | | | | EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TAPS COMPANIES FOR LOAN-SERVICING OVERHAUL: The Trump administration on Wednesday announced it selected five companies to help carry out its plans to overhaul how the Education Department collects and manages federal student loans. — The five companies are receiving federal contracts under the "Business Process Operations" component of the department's Next Gen loan servicing plan. The contractors will be responsible for answering borrower phone calls and other "back-office" functions. — The companies: Edfinancial Services LLC, F.H. Cann & Associates LLC, MAXIMUS Federal Services Inc., Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, and Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation, which operates as Trellis Company. | | | — Universities and colleges in states with a higher reliance on nonresident students will face reduced enrollment in the fall if students decide to remain near home, a new Moody's report found. | | | — A lack of child care is keeping women on unemployment rolls: POLITICO Pro — What parents can learn from child care centers that stayed open during lockdowns: NPR — Opinion: How Covid-19 could doom the SAT and ACT: The Hill — Education Department delays action on college accreditor ACICS until after election: POLITICO Pro — For small colleges, decision to reopen campus is especially daunting: WBUR — Opinion: AP Is good for students: Inside Higher Ed — Billionaire Robert F. Smith launches new initiative to ease student debt at historically Black colleges: TIME | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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