News
Student loan payments are starting again soon. Most borrowers say they aren’t ready
by Annie Nova
07.20.21 More than two-thirds of federal student loan borrowers say they're not ready to resume their monthly payments. That's the finding from a survey conducted for The Pew Charitable Trusts, which comes as the U.S. Department of Education's payment pause and interest waiver for borrowers is set to expire at the end of September. Around 60% of borrowers who are taking advantage of the relief said they were using the extra cash for essential expenses, including rent and food. The average student loan … Continue Reading
People Working A Minimum Wage Job Can’t Afford Rent Anywhere In The U.S.
by Sarah Ruiz-Grossman
07.15.21 A full-time, minimum-wage worker can't afford even a modest one-bedroom apartment in 93% of U.S. counties, according to a new report. And nowhere in the U.S. can a person working a standard 40-hour workweek at the federal, state or local minimum wage afford a modest two-bedroom rental, according to the annual report released Wednesday from The National Low-Income Housing Coalition. The group considers someone to be able to "afford" rent if they don't have to spend more than 30% of their… Continue Reading
Schools Are Receiving $129 Billion in Stimulus Aid. Where Is It Going?
by Madeleine Ngo and Kate Taylor
07.13.21 In Dallas, the school district has big plans for its share of federal stimulus money, including hiring about 1,300 tutors. New hires, though, are being handed a sheet of paper that says their positions may last for only two or three years. Bristol Virginia Public Schools wants to use the federal money for one of its most pressing needs, replacing aging school buildings. But since that is most likely not allowed, it will use some of the money to fund a summer field trip to Florida. Legislators … Continue Reading
House of Representatives passes bill to protect older Americans in the workplace
by Carmen Reinicke
06.24.21 The House of Representatives has passed a bill aimed at protecting older Americans in the workforce by making it easier to mount age discrimination suits. The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act was introduced earlier this year by Reps. Bobby Scott, D-Va., and Rodney Davis, R-Ill., and passed Wednesday. It aims to restore protections for workers age 40 and older that were eroded in a 2009 Supreme Court ruling, Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. The decade-old decision made i… Continue Reading
House to take big step on eliminating Trump-era rules
by Rachel Frazin
06.21.21 The House is gearing up for votes this week to undo three Trump-era rules, using a special legislative tool to repeal some of the previous administration's agency actions. Democrats will draw on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to take aim at rules governing methane regulations, lending practices and employment discrimination cases. The three resolutions, which made it through the Senate on simple majority votes that included Republicans crossing the aisle on two of the measures, all have a … Continue Reading
Democrats Introduce Legislation to Double Pell Grant
by Alexis Gravely
06.17.21 A group of Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday that would double the Pell Grant over a five-year period and extend eligibility to undocumented students. The Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2021 -- introduced by Democratic senators Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Patty Murray of Washington alongside Democratic representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Bobby Scott of Virginia -- would increase the maximum Pell Grant to $13,000 by the 2027-28 award year. The grant would… Continue Reading
Biden admin extends protections to transgender students
by Collin Binkley
06.16.21 The U.S. Education Department on Wednesday expanded its interpretation of federal sex protections to include transgender and gay students, a move that reverses Trump-era policy and stands against proposals in many states to bar transgender girls from school sports. In a new policy directive, the department said discrimination based on a student's sexual orientation or gender identity will be treated as a violation of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that protects against sex discrimination in edu… Continue Reading
Poll: A majority of voters support the PRO Act
by Gabby Birenbaum
06.16.21 The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act seems unlikely to succeed in the Senate due to a lack of Republican support - but it has the support of the majority of likely voters, according to a new poll from Vox and Data for Progress. The act, a sweeping labor rights bill, would strengthen unions through overriding Republican-led "right to work" state laws, which impede unions' abilities by allowing workers to join without paying dues. It would also penalize companies that restrict union act… Continue Reading
Education Department Approves More Loan Forgiveness for Defrauded Student Borrowers
by Lauren Camera
06.16.21 The Education Department approved 18,000 claims for federal student loan forgiveness Wednesday - totaling roughly $500 million in relief - for students who attended the now defunct for-profit ITT Technical Institute. The new batch of relief for borrowers, who filed years ago for loan forgiveness through what's known as borrower defense, is the latest effort by the Biden administration to help individuals who enrolled in for-profit colleges that made false claims about the value of their certifi… Continue Reading
Rep. Scott Demands Halt to For-Profit College Conversions to Non-Profit
by David Halperin
06.08.21 Pushing forward with oversight of controversial conversions of for-profit colleges to non-profits, House Education and Labor Committee chair Bobby Scott (D-VA) has written to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, calling on the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service to "take steps to reform their processes and halt the approval of all conversions until they finalize those reforms." In a June 3 letter to Cardona posted on the committee's website, Scott summarizes findings of a… Continue Reading
America’s Lingering Problem With School Segregation
by Lauren Camera
06.07.21 In Massachusetts, where echoes of the 1970s busing riots still haunt the commonwealth's public school system, a new integration effort is underfoot in education - one that could, for the first time, shine a light on the state's hypersegregated districts and push them to change the status quo inside and outside their borders. "Being from Lynn, everyone thinks my school district is diverse," Brendan Crighton, a Democratic state senator, says about the urban outcrop north of Boston that he represe… Continue Reading
Senate Republicans make new infrastructure offer as House Democrats urge Biden to dig in
by Tony Romm and Seung Min Kim
05.27.21 In an attempt to salvage stalled negotiations, Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a revised counteroffer for infrastructure spending, outlining roughly $928 billion in a package that's still far short of what the White House has proposed. Only about a quarter of the total price tag appears to represent new spending above existing or expected levels under the "road map" put forward by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and her GOP counterparts. But the lawmakers still stressed that their ret… Continue Reading
Bill heading to Congress to ban seclusion, restraints in schools
by Char Adams
05.26.21 Congressional Democrats will introduce a bill to make it illegal for any school receiving federal funding to use seclusion or dangerous restraints on students. The Keeping All Students Safe Act would bar school personnel and police stationed on campus from physically restraining students in potentially life-threatening ways, like restricting their breathing or using a prone or supine restraint. Non-life-threatening restraint tactics - except prone or supine - may be used if the student "poses a… Continue Reading
Teachers union chief calls for full return to school this fall
by Laura Meckler
05.13.21 The president of the nation's second-largest teachers union is calling for full-time in-person school this fall, a move that could smooth the way back after a year where teachers often resisted a return to classrooms. "There is no doubt: Schools must be open. In person. Five days a week," Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a speech Thursday delivered via YouTube and other streaming services. "Given current circumstances, nothing should stand in the way o… Continue Reading
‘I expect it.’ Cardona says every school needs in-person instruction this fall
by Kalyn Belsha and Matt Barnum
05.03.21 Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he expects every school to offer in-person instruction this fall - and that while there is a place for online learning, not every student requires a virtual learning option. He also acknowledged challenges that have kept large swaths of students learning remotely this spring, including families' lack of trust and concerns about how students were treated at school even before the pandemic. Nationwide, Hispanic, Black, and Asian students are less likely tha… Continue Reading
This Bill Could Turn Into America’s First Comprehensive Child Care Program
by Jonathan Cohn
04.21.21 In 2017, a pair of senior Democratic lawmakers first introduced legislation designed to create the nation's first comprehensive child care system. But they were in the minority then, Donald Trump was president, and the bill never even got a hearing. A repeat effort in 2019 produced basically the same result. Now, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) are at it again, with plans to reintroduce their bill, the Child Care for Working Families Act, on Thursday. The legislatio… Continue Reading
Gender Wage Gap Bill Passes House as Democrats Press for Equity
by Andrew Kreighbaum/ April 15, 2021
04.15.21 House lawmakers passed legislation Thursday to close pay gaps for women by tackling loopholes in federal wage equity law, a priority for President Joe Biden's administration. The Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7) would prohibit employers from using wage history to determine an employee's salary, and would ban retaliation against workers for discussing pay. It would also narrow the acceptable defenses companies can cite when there is pay disparity among workers. The bill was approved on a 217-210 … Continue Reading
The Biggest Problem for America’s Schools
by Adam Harris
04.06.21 Brian Woods has seen a lot in his nearly 30 years as an educator in the Northside Independent School District, in San Antonio. Tornadoes and storms have damaged buildings and left area campuses without power for weeks. Hurricanes have sent an unexpected surge of students into the district. In hindsight, each of those disruptions seems temporary-minor, even-compared with what he's seen over the past 12 months. Three times as many students as normal are failing courses. "It's almost impossible to … Continue Reading
Students who got partial loan relief to see full discharge
by Carole Feldman
03.18.21 WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands of students defrauded by for-profit schools will have their federal loans fully erased, the Biden administration announced Thursday, reversing a Trump administration policy that had given them only partial relief. The change could lead to $1 billion in loans being canceled for 72,000 borrowers, all of whom attended for-profit schools, the Education Department said. "Borrowers deserve a simplified and fair path to relief when they have been harmed by their institutio… Continue Reading
House passes sweeping child abuse prevention bill
by Paul LeBlanc
03.16.21 The House on Tuesday passed a sweeping child abuse prevention bill, setting up deliberations in the Senate as experts and advocates raise alarm about unreported abuse during the coronavirus pandemic. The Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, which cleared the House by 345-73, represents a legislative overhaul of the flagship bill addressing child welfare in the US. The new legislation would require the US Department of Health and Human Services to establish national standards for … Continue Reading