House Democrats ready $100B school infrastructure plan
— The House Education and Labor Committee today gavels into session for the first time this Congress under Democratic leadership. Lawmakers will vote on subcommittee assignments and an “oversight plan” for the year.
— Democrats are planning a new push this week on school infrastructure. Rep. Bobby Scott, the House education chairman, will unveil a $100 billion plan to improve the “physical and digital infrastructure” of schools across the country.
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NEW HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE GAVELS IN: Scott plans to hold an “organizational” first meeting of the House education panel this morning at 10:15 a.m.
— On today’s agenda: The committee will unveil and vote on subcommittee assignments. Lawmakers will also vote on the committee’s rules as well as its “oversight plan” for the coming year.
— Scott outlined some of his plans for the committee this year to reporters on Monday:
— Scott said it was “possible” the Higher Education Act would be reauthorized this year. Democrats and Republicans were “obviously going in different directions” in their respective higher education bills during the last Congress, he said. “If we can get it done by the end of the year, it’ll be a great accomplishment,” he said.
— He’s also going to aim for a sweeping rewrite of the law rather than a piecemeal approach. “We’re going to try a comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, so we can get everything done at once,” he said.
— For oversight, Scott again struck a conciliatory note about his plans to scrutinize the Trump Education Department. "We’ll do oversight," Scott said, but that’s going to start with asking the department questions via letters rather than immediate hearings. "You don’t have to have a hearing to get a response," he said, adding that "if we’re getting timely responses, then our oversight responsibilities can be achieved."
— Scott listed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ restoration of an accreditor of for-profit colleges that was terminated by the Obama administration as one line of inquiry he’ll pursue. Scott said he was concerned the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools had been approving too many troubled schools.
— He also wants the committee to take up the Trump administration’s rollbackof Obama-era school discipline guidance as well as its proposal to rewrite the “borrower defense to repayment” rule that governs debt relief for defrauded students. He said he’ll also continue raising questions about how the Education Department has been approving state plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act.
DEMOCRATS TO PUSH $100B SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN: House Democrats this week will push new legislation, H.R. 865 (116), that would create major federal investments in school buildings. It's one of the first big items on the House education committee’s agenda this year.
— Scott, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) will join union leaders on Wednesday to unveil their plan to spend $100 billion over a decade to boost the “physical and digital infrastructure of schools across America,” according to a House Democratic aide. The plan, which Democrats said would create 1.9 million jobs, is meant to address the “chronic underinvestment in school buildings” across the country.
— The bill, the Rebuild America’s Schools Act, is similar to legislation of the same name, H.R. 2475 (115), that Democrats sponsored last Congress but went nowhere in a GOP-controlled House.
ALEXANDER WANTS NEW HIGHER ED LAW THIS YEAR, AIDE SAYS: The Tennessee senator is aiming to pass an overhaul of federal higher education policy by the end of this year, his top aide said on Monday.
— “Our goal is to have a law before Christmas,” David Cleary, Alexander’s chief of staff told a gathering of education journalists at an Education Writers Association event. “Eleven months is a lot of time to get through committee, get to the floor, go to conference with the House,” he added.
— Negotiations over a higher education bill between Alexander and Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, broke down in the last Congress. But Cleary said a divided government could spur more willingness to compromise this year.
— Read more here.
DEVOS SPEAKS AT GOLD MEDAL CEREMONY FOR CHINESE-AMERICAN WWII VETS: The Education secretary will be at the Department of Veterans Affairs this morning to deliver remarks at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Chinese-American World War II veterans. She’ll be joined by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, with whom she co-chairs the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
— The Trump administration will “honor five surviving Chinese-American World War II veterans and recognize the new law that allows for Chinese-American World War II veterans to be eligible to receive the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor,” the Education Department said.
VIRGINIA TEACHERS DEMAND HIGHER PAY FROM A GOVERNOR MANY BACKED: The red-state teacher rebellion that's found its way to blue America made a show of force in Virginia on Monday, intending the same kind of political headaches inflicted on Democratic governors in Colorado and California this month.
— Thousands of Virginia teachers and others marched outside the Capitol in Richmond wearing red caps that symbolized the #RedforEd movement and carrying homemade signs. Many demanded more from Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam — elected with the support of teachers unions — than the 5 percent raise he’s proposed.
— The protests mark a third major uprising by teachers in 2019 with January not even over yet, recalling the widespread unrest of 2018 that took place in largely GOP-held states but is now aimed at traditional allies in the Democratic Party.
— Virginia's teachers aren’t threatening a strike, but said they want to make sure they aren’t forgotten by Northam and legislators. Read Kimberly Hefling’s full dispatch from Richmond here.
TRUMP SAYS BIBLE LITERACY CLASSES IN SCHOOLS ARE ‘GREAT’: President Donald Trump on Monday cheered on the controversial push to introduce Bible literacy classes to public schools.
— “Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!” Trump tweeted. The message came half an hour after Fox News’ “Fox & Friends" aired a segment on the subject.
— A handful of states are making pushes to introduce elective courses in schools that lawmakers say would teach the Bible in terms of its historical context, and though none have passed, critics have pointed out that such bills could blur the constitutional line separating church and state. POLITICO’s Caitlin Oprysko has more here.
— The Chronicle of Higher Education has named Pam Fine as its next editor.
— 8 a.m. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation holds its 2019 annual conference. Capital Hilton Hotel, 1001 16th St. NW.
— 10 a.m. James Byrne, acting Veterans Affairs deputy secretary, hosts the Chinese-American World War II Veterans Congressional Gold Medal ceremony. Veterans Affairs Department, 810 Vermont Ave. NW, G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Veterans Conference Center, Room 230.
— 10 a.m. The National School Boards Association holds a news conference on "Reauthorize and Fully Fund The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act." Room 2168 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
— 10:15 a.m. The House Education and Labor Committee holds a meeting to organize for the 116th Congress. Room 2175 in the Rayburn House Office Building.
— Activists call on Education Department to take action for "menstrual equity": The Washington Post.
— What Johns Hopkins gets by buying the Newseum: The Atlantic.
— Koch group touts education push on curriculum, technology: The Associated Press.
— Controversial emails to international students at Duke suggest a greater struggle: Assimilation: The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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