| | | | | |  | | By Bianca Quilantan | With help from Michael Stratford, Juan Perez Jr. and Nicole Gaudiano 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. | | | — Sen. Rob Portman, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations chair, will introduce a bipartisan bill today that would amend the Higher Education Act to lower the reporting threshold for U.S. schools and universities receiving foreign gifts from $250,000 to $50,000. It also would give the Education Department the authority to punish schools that fail to properly report by imposing a fine. — A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction that orders Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to stop denying emergency coronavirus relief to hundreds of thousands of California community college students who are undocumented or don't qualify for federal financial aid. Last week, a federal judge in Washington state made a similar decision. — School superintendents and principals are stuck between a rock and a hard place: Governors are promising to put kids back in classrooms soon, but it's mostly school officials who are navigating the messy details of what that entails and how to do it safely. IT'S THURSDAY, JUNE 18. WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. WHAT ARE WE MISSING? Ping me at bquilantan@politico.com with stories you think we should be covering. 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. | | | | | | BIPARTISAN GROUP OF SENATORS TO INTRODUCE BILL LOWERING FOREIGN GIFTS REPORTING THRESHOLD: Portman (R-Ohio), along with Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and several others, will introduce the Safeguarding American Innovation Act today, which aims to "stop foreign governments, particularly China, from stealing American taxpayer-funded research and intellectual property developed at U.S. colleges and universities," according to Portman's office. — The bill would strengthen the State Department's authority to deny visas to "certain foreign nationals seeking access to sensitive technologies," and require the department's Student and Exchange Visitor Program sponsors to "have safeguards against unauthorized access to sensitive technologies and report to State if an exchange visitor will have access to sensitive technologies," Portman's office said. — Also, individuals who fail to disclose foreign support on federal grant applications could be penalized with fines, imprisonment and a five-year prohibition on receiving a federal grant. — The bill comes as lawmakers and the Trump administration have intensified their focus on academia's relationships with foreign countries, and China specifically. — The Education Department has upped its scrutiny on foreign gifts reporting by launching investigations into universities . And, President Donald Trump vowed to ban some Chinese students and researchers from receiving visas to study in the U.S. because they're suspected of being used by the Chinese government to steal intellectual property. — Earlier this month, the Senate also passed a bill that would require universities to have strict contracts with Confucius Institutes on their campuses or risk losing out on some federal funding. | | | | WINNERS PLAY THE LONG GAME : Our sustainability newsletter, "The Long Game," is designed for executives, investors and policymakers leading the conversations about how society can grow and thrive in the future. Interested in building a sustainable future for generations to come? 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. Subscribe today for a nuanced look at these issues and potential solutions. | | | | | | | | JUDGE BLOCKS DEVOS FROM ENFORCING POLICIES THAT RESTRICT CARES ACT FUNDING ELIGIBILITY: U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on Wednesday blocked DeVos from enforcing her policies that bar undocumented students, international students and students who don't qualify for financial aid from receiving grants meant to help students cover expenses like housing and food. — The preliminary injunction applies only to students attending California community colleges. Rogers ruled that California was likely to prevail on its claim that DeVos illegally added restrictions to the CARES Act funding that were not authorized by Congress, which did not explicitly include any prohibitions on which students could receive relief. — The ruling in California comes after a similar decision by a federal judge last week to block DeVos' restrictions on the funding for colleges in Washington state. That ruling left open the possibility that the Education Department could continue to deny aid to undocumented students under a separate law. Department spokesperson Angela Morabito said the agency would appeal. More from Michael Stratford. EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS TO SPEAK WITH FEDERALIST SOCIETY TODAY: DeVos, Education Senior Counselor Robert Eitel and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy & Deputy General Counsel Candice Jackson will participate in a virtual conversation with the society's Michigan Lawyers Chapter at noon. | | | REOPENING SCHOOLS IS A 'LOSE-LOSE SITUATION': School superintendents and principals are trying to navigate reopening schools amid urges from governors and lawmakers, but they still don't have all of the information they need. They're facing potential budget cuts and skeptical parents, and they're worried their students and teachers could get sick if they return too soon. — According to a nationwide survey from AASA, The School Superintendents Association, most superintendents haven't announced when their schools will reopen and resume in-person instruction. And, while principals understand they'll be opening with a mix of in-person and remote learning, they don't have a clear idea of how that will happen, said Bob Farrace, of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. — "I mean, it's like it's a lose-lose situation," said Dan Domenech, who runs AASA. "You have parents that are demanding the schools to open. And then you have parents that are saying we're not going to send our kids to school. You have teachers that are saying we're not going to go back to work. Districts that are saying, with these budget cuts, we're going to have to lay off teachers." Read more from Nicole Gaudiano and Dan Goldberg. — Worth noting: Even as the U.S significantly ramped up its coronavirus testing, there's a risk of another dangerous testing deficit this fall when schools and businesses try to safely reopen. Read more from David Lim and Alice Miranda Ollstein. | | | UNION OFFERS REOPENING GUIDANCE: The National Education Association, the nation's largest labor union, is out with initial guidance for reopening school buildings , calling it a "preliminary step toward reimagining our schools as environments where we are moving from equity to justice." The guidance calls for a reliance on health expertise, educators' voices in decision-making, consistently funded access to personal protective equipment and achieving racial and social justice. AFT CALLS FOR NEW FORM OF SCHOOL SECURITY: AFT's executive council, in its resolution approved on Wednesday , called for a new approach to school security and condemned the "brutal murders" of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd — entering a growing national conversation about the role of uniformed sworn police officers on campus. — "The necessary function of school safety should be separated from policing and police forces," said the union's resolution. "School security personnel should be trained as peace officers and integrated within the school community, with a focus on nonviolent resolution of conflicts with a minimal use of force." — AFT says it will "reconvene a unionwide conversation — including educators, students and parents — on how to transform school security to help achieve a safe and welcoming environment for students and staff, and not a militaristic police state that has criminalized Black and Brown students." More from Juan Perez Jr. | | | | TODAY - A POLITICO LIVE CONVERSATION WITH MICROSOFT PRESIDENT BRAD SMITH: The Covid-19 crisis and the nationwide outrage since the killing of George Floyd created a watershed moment for the tech industry. From using data to track, trace and curb the spread of the virus, to working remotely and using telehealth — technology is more prevalent than ever. Join POLITICO technology reporter Cristiano Lima for a conversation with Microsoft President Brad Smith to discuss the tech sector's role in pandemic relief and recovery, whether the relationship between Silicon Valley and Washington has changed, and how the industry is grappling with the recent mass protests for racial justice. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | — A new Gallup report, "Black College Grads Report Less Support in College," found that only 21 percent of black college graduates nationally strongly agree that their professors cared about them as a person, compared with 34 percent of white graduates. — A new Urban Institute report and interactive data feature examine racial and ethnic representation at colleges and universities. The report found that black and Hispanic students are underrepresented at more selective universities. The analysis of the composition of colleges' surrounding markets rules out the possibility that representation gaps could be caused by their location. — The Aspen Institute Education & Society Program released a resource, "Supporting Students to be Independent Learners: State and District Actions for the Pandemic Era," that outlines learning recommendations during the coronavirus for states and districts. | | | |  | | | | | | — Solicitor General Noel Francisco is leaving the Justice Department on July 3. Francisco, who was appointed in 2017, has argued before the Supreme Court 17 times on behalf of the Trump administration. "He has been a principled and persuasive advocate on issues ranging from the separation of powers to religious liberty to vigorous enforcement of federal immigration law," Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. — U.S. News announced that schools with test-blind admissions policies will now be included in the Best Colleges rankings, starting with the 2021 edition this fall. Schools with test-optional and test-required policies will continue to be included in the rankings. | | | — University of California votes to restore affirmative action nearly 24 years after it was outlawed: CNN — Netflix CEO is donating $120 million to HBCUs, wants it to celebrate 'great black achievement': CBS — Alabama educators debate equal justice training for K-12 schools: AL.com — 'No one predicted a pandemic': Denver district to ask teachers to give up some raises: Chalkbeat Colorado — Netflix's billionaire founder is secretly building a luxury retreat for teachers in rural Colorado: Vox — How the pandemic will shake up the university landscape: POLITICO | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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