News
States urged to address funding disparities for HBCUs
by Annie Ma
02.24.22 Several members of Congress on Wednesday called on states to address gaps in their funding for schools in the land grant university system that shortchange historically Black colleges and universities. In a letter sent to governors, lieutenant governors and statehouse legislative leadership in 18 states, six Democratic members of the U.S. House said equitable state funding is essential for the schools to reach their potential. The letter, which was first shared with The Associated Press, also h… Continue Reading
A Key to Returning to Normal Is Paid Sick Leave, Democrats Say
by Claire Cain Miller
02.21.22 The Omicron wave hammered the American work force, sending more people home sick than at any other point in the pandemic. Yet unlike in 2020, there is no federally required paid sick leave for workers — and none at all for the one-fifth of workers who don’t receive it from their employers. Now, as Omicron recedes and many restrictions are being lifted, and as more of the country begins to treat Covid as an unavoidable part of life, some Democratic lawmakers and others are … Continue Reading
Education department to erase $415M in student loan debt for nearly 16K borrowers
by Shirin Ali
02.16.22 Thousands of students have filed fraud complaints against their university or college and now many are set to have their student loan debts erased as the U.S. Department of Education approved $415 million in borrower defense claims. The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that nearly 16,000 student borrowers will receive $415 million in borrower defense, a legal provision that promises loan relief for defrauded borrowers, after it found multiple schools misled students. … Continue Reading
Young workers give unions new hope
by Dee-Ann Durbin
02.13.22 After decades of decline, U.S. unions have a new reason for hope: younger workers. Workers in their 20s __ and even in their teens __ are leading ongoing efforts to unionize companies large and small, from Starbucks and REI to local cannabis dispensaries. The Alphabet Workers Union, formed last year and now representing 800 Google employees, is run by five people who are under 35. Multiple polls show union approval is high __ and growing __ among the youngest workers. And U.S. union membership… Continue Reading
How the White House wants to expand unions — starting with federal workers
by Sarah Ewall-Wice
02.08.22 The country's largest employer — the federal government — is looking to make it easier for its employees and contract workers to join a union. A White House task force announced 70 recommendations Monday to promote federal worker organizing and collective bargaining, which the Biden administration hopes can be a model for employees working for private companies. Union membership has been on the decline for decades. Last year, the number of workers in unions continued its drop to 14 … Continue Reading
School lunch rules updated to help ease pandemic disruptions
by Carolyn Thompson
02.04.22 Low-fat chocolate milk instead of only non-fat. Fewer whole-grain offerings. Less severe salt limits. The Biden administration issued transitional standards for school lunches Friday that are meant to ease the path for cafeterias to get back on a more healthful course as they recover from pandemic and supply chain disruptions. Schools have struggled to meet the government’s nutrition benchmarks through the pandemic but have not been punished for falling short. The “bridge… Continue Reading
House panel says nonprofit Everglades College enriches its owner
by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel
02.01.22 A House Education Committee probe into Everglades College Inc., the parent entity of Keiser University and Everglades University, alleges school president Arthur Keiser and other insiders have received millions of dollars from the two Florida universities in violation of Education Department rules. The findings add to Democrats’ concerns that former for-profit colleges are masquerading as nonprofits to avoid regulation while still reaping the financial benefits of operating as proprie… Continue Reading
Education chief: ‘We must make up for lost time’ in schools
by Collin Binkley
01.27.22 Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday that the nation’s schools must act more urgently to help millions of students who have fallen behind during the pandemic. “We must make up for lost time,” he said. Striving to keep schools open is no longer enough, Cardona said in a speech laying out his priorities. He urged schools to use billions of dollars in federal aid to expand tutoring and mental health counseling, and to close achievement gaps that have worsene… Continue Reading
Biden's $15 minimum wage hike for federal agencies goes into effect
by Alex Gangitano
01.21.22 Federal agencies were directed to implement President Biden’s $15 an hour minimum wage for government workers on Friday. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo to heads of executive departments and agencies, which provides guidance for adjusting pay rates for employees to at least $15 per hour. OPM called it a “general policy” of the Biden-Harris administration that federal employees receive a $15 minimum wage. The rule is set to take full effec… Continue Reading
Biden administration urges colleges to use covid relief funds to meet students’ basic needs
by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel
01.20.22 As the public health crisis continues to rattle college students, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and first lady Jill Biden are imploring schools to use pandemic relief funds to assist with housing, food and other basic needs. “As I’ve traveled the country and spoken with students at all types of colleges and universities, I’ve heard them share heartbreaking struggles about finding safe and nurturing child care, concerns about not having regular access to nutritious… Continue Reading
The Biden Jobs Boom Is Bigger Than We Thought
by Robert Shapiro
01.19.22 Last Sunday on Meet the Press, James Carville offered Democrats good advice: “Quit being a whiny party and get out there and tell people what you did … the exact truth.” On the vital issue of jobs, they should be cheering, because the Biden administration has helped create and sustain a remarkable employment boom. When it comes to what’s been called the “Great Resignation,” there’s nothing new about Americans quitting their jobs to look for somethi… Continue Reading
Vulnerable Students, Districts at Greater Risk as Natural Disasters Grow More Frequent
by Andrew Ujifusa
01.19.22 School districts that have relied on emergency aid to recover from floods, fires, and storms are more likely to serve large shares of students of color, economically disadvantaged children, and other vulnerable groups, new federal research says. While that disaster aid proved very beneficial to many communities, K-12 officials also reported a variety of significant disruptions to students’ mental health, school infrastructure, and other problems stemming from destabilized housing environm… Continue Reading
Biden renewed a free program to feed needy kids. Most states haven’t even applied.
by Laura Reiley
01.19.22 Odessa Davis worked three jobs to get by, until the pandemic shutdowns made it impossible to work to put food on the table for herself and her 12-year-old son, Leon. Previously, Leon had gotten reduced-price meals at his school. Now the expense and preparation of his meals fell to Davis, 33. At first, the Montgomery County, Md., resident resorted to picking up food boxes from Capital Area Food Bank, whipping up meals on the fly as if in an episode of “Chopped,” trying to mak… Continue Reading
Hospitals Confront the Fallout From Supreme Court Ruling on Vaccine Mandate
by Audra D. S. Burch and Reed Abelson
01.15.22 Just days after the Supreme Court’s decision about requiring health care workers to be vaccinated, the nation’s health care systems braced for the possibility of some resistance and more staff shortages — particularly in the states that banned mandates or had none. The ruling lands not long after the one-year anniversary of widespread vaccine distribution in a country still largely split over how best to protect Americans during a pandemic that has produced multiple … Continue Reading
Biden Administration to Offer Schools Millions of Free Covid-19 Tests Each Month
by Andrew Restuccia
01.12.22 The Biden administration plans to distribute millions of free Covid-19 tests to schools around the country, part of the federal government’s effort to keep schools open amid a surge in coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant. Later this month, the administration will begin shipping five million rapid Covid-19 tests to K-12 schools each month, White House officials said. States will have to apply to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to receive the tests. The … Continue Reading
Biden, in Shift, Prepares Americans to See Covid-19 as Part of Life
by Sabrina Siddiqui
01.06.22 As Covid-19 cases climb across the U.S., President Biden and his administration are preparing Americans to accept the virus as a part of daily life, in a break from a year ago when he took office with a pledge to rein in the pandemic and months later said the nation was “closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus.” The recalibration of Mr. Biden’s message comes as the country braces for another round of disruptions wrought by the pandemic. A… Continue Reading
With Omicron’s Rise, Americans Brace for Returning to School and Work
by Audra D. S. Burch, Stephanie Saul, Edgar Sandoval and Mitch Smith
01.01.22 In two short weeks, as the year closed out, the Omicron variant drove coronavirus case counts to record levels, upended air travel and left gaping staffing holes at police departments, firehouses and hospitals. And that was at a time many people were off for the holiday season. Now comes Monday, with millions of Americans having traveled back home to start school and work again, and no one is sure of what comes next. Most of the nation’s largest school districts have decided to forge ahe… Continue Reading
Biden administration extends federal student loan payment pause until May
by Nick Anderson and Jeff Stein
12.22.21 The Biden administration, shifting course on a crucial pocketbook issue for millions of adults, announced Wednesday it will extend a pause on federal student loan payments through May 1 as the omicron variant threatens to hurt the U.S. economy. President Biden depicted the move as an essential step to help borrowers at a moment of ongoing public health challenges. Until now, the payment moratorium had been scheduled to end in a little more than a month. “Now, w… Continue Reading
Appeals Court Reinstates OSHA’s Vaccine Mandate for Workers at Larger Businesses
by Lauren Hirsch, Emma Goldberg and Charlie Savage
12.17.21 A federal appeals panel on Friday reinstated a Biden administration rule requiring larger companies to mandate that their workers get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing by early January. The decision, by a split three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, overturned a ruling last month by its counterpart in New Orleans, the Fifth Circuit, that had blocked the government from carrying out the rule. The contested rule, issu… Continue Reading
For universal pre-K to work, we must revamp K-12 education
by William T. Gormley Jr. and Opinion Contributor
12.10.21 At President Biden’s urging, the House has voted to embark on a massive social experiment — universal pre-K for all 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds in the United States. If the Senate concurs, we will be making a historic new investment in the education of young children. The future of this experiment, if enacted, will depend on the details worked out by the federal bureaucracy, continued congressional funding and how the states respond. But you don’t need a crystal ball to … Continue Reading