President and Administration
Disagreements over legislation designed to boost U.S. competitiveness against China are clouding its prospects in Congress, as lawmakers enter a period of make-or-break negotiations…
The White House has announced that 20 internet service providers have agreed to offer $30 high-speed internet plans to low-income families, effectively giving free service to households that qualify for a federal subsidy under the Affordable Connectivity Program…
Last week, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced a proposal to allow the use of federal funding for Wi-Fi in school buses during a meeting of the National Coalition for Technology in Education & Training…
President Biden has unveiled a plan to help speed construction of projects funded under his $550 billion infrastructure law passed last year…
Yesterday, 5/16, the Supreme Court invited the Biden administration to share its views on whether Fairfax, VA, may be liable to a female high school student for its allegedly lacking response after learning a male student touched her sexually during a band class bus trip…
The Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, MI, an infant formula plant, has been shut down over the death of two infants…
An Interior Department report released last week highlighted the abuse of many of the children at more than 400 government-run boarding schools that the federal government forced them to attend between 1819 and 1969, with instances of beatings, withholding of food and solitary confinement…
Yesterday, 5/16, the Biden administration announced a partial lifting of sanctions on Cuba, including expanding flights beyond Havana and restarting a program to reunify Cuban families in the United States, its first moves toward fulfilling President Biden’s campaign promise to reverse many of the sanctions imposed by his predecessor…
Congress
Democrats are vowing to push through domestic terrorism legislation to improve intelligence sharing and coordination between law enforcement agencies following the mass shooting in Buffalo - despite growing Republican opposition that could scuttle even those modest efforts…
The House Education and Labor Committee's Democratic leadership unveiled legislation Thursday, 5/12, that would overhaul the government's workforce development system…
A congressional effort to crack down on Spanish language disinformation is expanding to include popular messaging platforms - including WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal…
A $40 billion aid package for Ukraine will likely head to the President’s desk by Thursday, 5/19…
A House subcommittee will hold the first public congressional hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years today, 5/17, with its chairman Andre Carson saying “Americans need to know more about these unexplained occurrences”…
Mental Health
Mental health disorders are surging among adolescents: In 2019, 13 percent of adolescents reported having a major depressive episode, a 60 percent increase from 2007…
Education
Yesterday, 5/16, the Department of Education announced plans for a first-of-its-kind virtual summit, Recovery to Thriving: Supporting Mental Health & Students with Disabilities, to highlight steps schools, colleges and communities can take to support students with disabilities and students with mental health needs…
The number of students in the United States who have attended college but left before receiving a credential, certificate or degree has risen to 39 million, from 36 million in 2019, according to a new report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center…
High school grade point averages have been on an uphill climb since 2016…
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a report titled, “As Students Struggled to Learn, Teachers Reported Few Strategies as Particularly Helpful to Mitigate Learning Loss”…
Student Loans
The debate over canceling student loan debt has ebbed and flowed in Democratic politics since progressives seized on it as a go-to issue in the 2020 presidential campaign trail…
President Biden’s advisers are looking at ways to limit student loan forgiveness based on borrowers’ income to avoid sending benefits to higher-earning Americans…
While many wait to see what President Biden will do about forgiving student debts, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators released a report yesterday, 5/16, on other ideas that it thinks are necessary…