| | | | |  | | By Michael Stratford | WHAT WE'RE WATCHING ON BUDGET DAY: President Joe Biden this morning will unveil his spending plans for the coming 2023 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 — with another expected increase for federal education spending. Here's what we're watching amid the release of budget documents today: — What we know already: The White House earlier this year previewed parts of its major education spending plans as part of Biden's State of the Union address. Among the proposals already floated by the White House for the 2023 fiscal year: — $1 billion to help schools hire additional counselors, school psychologists and other health professionals. More than double the amount spent on Title I funding for schools that serve low-income families. An increase of $3.3 billion for federal programs for students with disabilities. An extra $450 million to programs that support early intervention services for infants and toddlers. —The Biden administration has also made a $400 million pitch to increase spending on the Education Department's Full-Service Community Schools Program, which aims to bring health care and other social service programs onto school campuses.
| 
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) | AP Photo/Susan Walsh | — For higher education, the Biden administration said earlier this month it was renewing its pitch for Congress to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $2,000. (Congress increased Pell by $400 in the fiscal 2022 funding deal several weeks ago.) The White House has also said it plans to propose increased institutional aid to HBCUs, Tribal colleges and other minority-serving institutions. — Reality check: Biden has called for major increases to federal education spending throughout his first year in office. But with Build Back Better stalled, there's still no clear path in Congress for the most ambitious of his education funding plans. Any government funding deal on fiscal 2023 education spending would require Republican votes. — Student loan relief price tag: As part of the annual budget process, the Education Department will issue its re-estimate of the cost of the federal student loan programs. We could get some more insight into the department's latest thinking and estimates on how much the pandemic-related moratorium on monthly student loan payments and interest is increasing the loan programs' cost — which is increasingly a point of frustration for Republicans who want to see the Biden administration restart payments after more than two years of forbearance. — Happening today: The Education Department will hold its own briefing on the administration's education budget request at 3 p.m. ET. It'll be live-streamed here. Join us today at 3:30 p.m. as our policy reporters, including Morning Money author Kate Davidson, discuss President Joe Biden's budget request and prospects for fiscal 2023. Register now. IT'S MONDAY, MARCH 28. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. Please send tips and feedback to your host at mstratford@politico.com or to my colleagues: Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@politico.com, Bianca Quilantan at bquilantan@politico.com and Jessica Calefati at jcalefati@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today. | | | | | Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories.
| | | CARDONA'S GOLDEN STATE TOUR: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona heads to the West Coast this week for a three-day tour of schools and colleges across Southern California. — Later today, he'll participate in a "fireside chat" at the Carnegie Foundation's Summit on Improvement in Education in San Diego. He'll discuss "pandemic recovery and reimagining education," according to the department. — On Tuesday, Cardona will visit Rio Hondo College, a community college in Whittier; El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera; and De Anza Middle School in Ontario. He'll also tour InTechCenter, a partnership between Chaffey Community College in Fontana and California Steel Industries. — On Wednesday, Cardona will visit with students and families from the Los Angeles Unified School District. MARTEN TOUTS COVID RELIEF MONEY IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY: Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten will visit several elementary schools in the Philadelphia suburbs today to discuss Covid relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. On Tuesday and Wednesday, she'll be in New Jersey, visiting schools in Princeton and Newark. She'll be highlighting "innovative pandemic recovery efforts," according to the department.
| | | PRIVATE LENDERS PITCH WHITE HOUSE ON SCALED-BACK PAYMENT PAUSE: Some private student lenders are asking the White House to extend the expiring moratorium on federal student loan payments until 2023 — but only for certain borrowers facing "severe hardship and distress." — The American Fintech Council, a trade association that represents some student loan refinance companies, on Friday detailed its plan for a new "targeted" moratorium on federal loan payments in a letter to Susan Rice, the chair of the White House Domestic Policy Council. — Their proposal: Extend the payment pause until January 2023 only for borrowers who are either unemployed or earning under $60,000. Borrowers should be able to quickly self-certify their unemployment status or income over the phone or in writing without needing to provide supporting documents, the group said. All other borrowers would have their loans restart in May when the pandemic relief is currently set to expire. — "A successful transition back to repayment in May would be yet another sign of the much-needed return to normalcy that has been possible by the hard work of the American people and tireless efforts of this Administration," the group wrote to Rice. — Democrats have been increasing pressure on the Biden administration to extend the relief beyond May 1. But GOP opposition to the idea is also growing. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of Senate GOP leadership, tweeted over the weekend that extending the payment pause again would be a "shortsighted & unfair deal for the vast majority of Americans who didn't take on debt & will ultimately be stuck w/ the bill."
| | | EDUCATION REGULATORS FAIL TO USE SUBPOENA POWERS, REPORT FINDS: Education Department regulators haven't issued a single subpoena as part of an investigation into a college or other company under their jurisdiction in at least the past three years, according to a new report out this morning from Student Defense. — The advocacy group says in its report that despite the Biden administration's promises to step up enforcement in the Federal Student Aid system, many of its investigative powers appear to "remain untouched." — In response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Student Defense, the Education Department disclosed earlier this month that it had not issued any subpoenas in student aid investigations since 2018. Although the Education Department might be able to obtain information from the colleges it directly regulates without a subpoena, the Student Defense report argues that subpoenas would be a "useful tool" for a broader range of investigations, such as those involving company executives, online program management companies or private lenders. — An Education Department spokesperson said in a statement that the agency is "prepared to use all compliance and enforcement tools available, including administrative subpoena authority if necessary." Education Department regulations "require institutions to comply with all of our requests for information, and schools typically do comply, recognizing that the consequences for noncompliance are steep, including the potential loss of their eligibility to participate in the federal student aid programs," the spokesperson added.
| | | | DON'T MISS POLITICO'S INAUGURAL HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON 3/31: Join POLITICO for a discussion with health care providers, policymakers, federal regulators, patient representatives, and industry leaders to better understand the latest policy and industry solutions in place as we enter year three of the pandemic. Panelists will discuss the latest proposals to overcome long-standing health care challenges in the U.S., such as expanding access to care, affordability, and prescription drug prices. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | SCHOOL SET TO RESUME IN MINNEAPOLIS: Students are expected to return to the classrooms as early as Tuesday in Minneapolis after the teachers union and school district leaders reached a tentative agreement to end the labor strike that halted 14 days of classes. Juan Perez Jr. has more.
| | | FLORIDA PASSES LAW TO SCRUTINIZE SCHOOL BOOKS, CURRICULUM: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a major piece of the Florida GOP's 2022 education agenda on Friday, enacting legislation that will bring more scrutiny to the content of classroom and library books and also create term limits for local school board members. Andrew Atterbury has more from Tallahassee.
| | | — When student debt stands in the way of religious poverty: The Wall Street Journal. — ICE set up a fake college to catch fraudsters. Students say they were duped: NBC News. — Betsy DeVos fought for private school vouchers for decades. She might finally get her wish: NBC News. — At age 101, he finally got his high school diploma: The Washington Post.
| | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment