Mental Health
Federal Reserve policy makers and researchers who have been puzzled by the slow return of U.S. workers to the labor force as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic may have found a new explanation: alcohol and drug abuse…
Conducted March 16 to 22, the Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse survey found nearly one in five students had struggled with suicidal ideation during college and seven percent of respondents identified substance abuse as a recent mental health challenge - although national research estimates that one in four college students meets the diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders)…
While the mental health challenges facing college students are well documented, many students aren’t seeking out counseling and other support services available to them on campus…
A family tragedy sheds light on a burgeoning mental-health emergency…
Almost every measure of mental health is getting worse, for every teenage demographic, and it’s happening all across the country…
President and Administration
As Congress returns from its two-week recess, the House and Senate will begin negotiations to finalize a deal on far-reaching China competitiveness legislation…
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by New York and three other states to overturn a $10,000 cap on federal tax deductions for state and local taxes that Congress imposed as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping tax overhaul in 2017…
After more than a year of review, more than 90 federal agencies, including all major Cabinet departments, released their “equity action plans” on Thursday, 4/21…
The Biden administration is preparing to scrap a Trump-era rule that allows medical workers to refuse to provide services that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs…
On Monday, 4/25, the Supreme Court began to hear oral arguments in the case of a high school football coach in Washington state who was fired for kneeling at the 50-yard line to pray after his team’s games…
Transportation projects that tackle carbon reduction from a variety of approaches - from greener truck stops to scooter charging - are eligible for a new pot of money being funneled to states from the infrastructure law…
The U.S. Justice Department said it would appeal a Florida judge’s ruling that threw out a mask requirement for plane and air travel, setting up a likely court battle that could extend past the midterm elections…
President Biden is expected to select Gary Restaino, the top U.S. prosecutor in Arizona, as the interim director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives until a permanent leader is confirmed…
Vice President Kamala Harris’s chief of staff is stepping down in the latest shake-up among her senior aides…
The Biden administration is launching a $6 billion effort to rescue nuclear power plants at risk of closing, citing the need to continue nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of power that helps to combat climate change…
The Agriculture Department announced more than $238 million in funding from bipartisan infrastructure law for the Secure Rural Schools program last week, which aims to help states and counties fund local services otherwise at risk because of a decline in timber sales revenue…
Congress
The “Four Corners” – House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Kay Granger (R-TX), the ranking member, plus Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the ranking member – will meet on Thursday, 4/28…
Education
More students are using their own money to pay for college rather than relying on their parents, according to the College Ave Student Loans survey conducted by Barnes & Noble College Insights…
Last week, the Education Department announced changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Income-Driven Repayment programs…
The U.S. government has extended through the 2022–23 academic year COVID-era guidance that allows international students enrolled at American colleges and universities to continue to take more online courses than federal law permitted before the pandemic…
Enrollment in state pre-K programs fell for the first time in two decades after a period of steady growth, according to a new report focusing on the 2020-21 school year…
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in what may be the most rapid rise in homeschooling the U.S. has ever seen…
As schools get thrust into the center of the divisive culture wars, a new survey shows a larger share of Americans support an expansion of classroom discussion on racism and sexuality than those who believe such conversations should be curtailed…
A new dashboard tracking ESSER spending data district by district has been published by Edunomics…
A new GAO report identified a dozen areas of greatest national concern where “GAO can better be prepared to respond”…