Weekly Update 3/27/23

California

On Wednesday, 3/22, the state Senate Education Committee advanced some of the closest-watched education proposals to emerge so far this year…

Governor Gavin Newsom, whose administration is struggling to contain a worsening homelessness crisis despite record spending, is trying to tap into federal healthcare funding to cover rent for homeless people and those at risk of losing their housing…

President and Administration

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is concerned that schools throughout the country are moving too slowly toward spending the funding provided by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (S.2938)…

Internet access is increasingly recognized as a “super determinant” of health. It plays a role in health care outcomes and influences more traditionally recognized social determinants of health, such as education, employment, and healthcare access…

The Biden administration is sending out the first round of cash from the $1 billion spending pot the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created for helping bolster fire resilience…

The Biden administration’s decision to end the COVID-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the healthcare system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for covid tests…

 In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers found that male babies exposed to COVID in the uterus were more likely to be diagnosed with neurodevelopmental issues during their first year…

Many schools across the country have installed metal detectors and fortified their entrances in response to the threat of school shootings…

School districts across the country are increasingly taking on social media, filing lawsuits that argue that Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube have helped create the nation’s surging youth mental health crisis and should be held accountable…

A new survey of college students and the parents of college students found big disparities in their perceptions of student mental health struggles…

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is creating an office to prevent domestic violence and assist victims…

Many lower-income Americans who left the workforce when the pandemic began three years ago are staying on the sidelines because of a lack of child care, a factor contributing to worker shortages and historically low unemployment…

Congress - Student Loans

Republicans are charting a new path to take on President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan even as it remains in limbo at the Supreme Court…

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), who chairs the House Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee, focused his first hearing of the new Congress on examining the implications of the Biden administration’s student loan policies for students and taxpayers…

Education

As demand continues to grow for colleges and universities to serve students with intellectual disabilities, a recently formed accreditation council is focused on ensuring that programs meet quality standards…

On Friday, 3/24, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona sent a letter to Governors, Chief State School Officers, and School District and School Leaders and urged them to end corporal punishment in schools—the practice of paddling, spanking, or otherwise imposing physical punishment on students…

On Thursday, 3/23, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will hold virtual public hearings on April 11, 12, and 13 to receive stakeholder feedback on potential issues for future rulemaking sessions…

On Tuesday, 3/21, the Education Department (ED) announced that the new and simplified 2024-25 FAFSA application form will not be released until sometime in December…

According to a new report from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation, nearly two-thirds of people who have never enrolled in higher education cite emotional stress as a key deterrent…

A new research initiative seeks to expand access to clear, precise data about minority-serving institutions…

A new report, Examining Disparities in Unexcused Absences Across California Schools, shows how overuse of the “unexcused” label for student absences could be deepening education inequities and interfering with efforts to improve attendance…

As federal funding expires later this year, the extra counselors brought on by schools may be let go…

On Tuesday, 3/21, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Miguel Luna Perez, a deaf man, can sue his former school district in Michigan for monetary damages because he was denied appropriate services and left unable to communicate in school…

Tens of thousands of documents containing personal information of special education students within New York City's public school system were held in an unsecured database exposed to the internet…