Press Releases
Currently showing results related to K-12 Education
More than 150 Democrats Ask Trump to Invest in Public School Infrastructure
01.17.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) and 153 House Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to invest in the critical infrastructure that affects every city and town in the nation - our public schools. Too many of the more than 50 million students and six million staff who learn and work in our public schools spend their days in facilities that fail to make the grade. "To address this crisis, the federal government should partner with states and te… Continue Reading
Scott Condemns Action to Seek Delay of Rule Addressing Inequities in Special Education
12.14.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Education (Department) intends to seek a comment period for a delay of the Equity in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) rule, which addresses disproportionate identification, placement, and disciplinary treatment of students of color in special education. "I am deeply disappointed by the Department's efforts to propose a delay of the rule that addresses widespread disp… Continue Reading
Bonamici, Scott, 45 Democrats Fight to Protect K-12, Higher Education in Tax Reform
12.08.17 WASHINGTON - Today Education and the Workforce Vice Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), and 45 Democrats stood up for public education and urged tax bill conferees to mitigate the harmful aspects of the current tax proposal and instead advance a tax plan that supports public schools and investments in higher education. "This partisan tax proposal will have irreversible and lasting consequences for the future of K-12 and higher e… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Closed-Door Meeting at Ed to Discuss Undermining Civil Rights Protections for Students
11.17.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after a private meeting was held at the Department of Education discussing the "harmful effects" of school discipline guidance from teachers who experienced violence in the classroom. Enacted under the Obama administration, the guidance encourages schools, districts, and states to reassess their policies for and use of suspensions and expulsions that are disproportionately used on students of color and students with d… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Job Killing GOP Tax Proposal
11.09.17 "New analysis from the NEA estimates that if Republicans succeed in eliminating much of the state and local tax deduction, as proposed in H.R. 1, it would likely have a devastating effect on state and local public education budgets. According to the analysis, H.R. 1 puts nearly 250,000 education jobs at risk and could result in $250 billion in cuts to public education over the next 10 years. In Virginia alone, the GOP's proposed changes to SALT would mean a potential loss of 9,264 public educati… Continue Reading
Members of Congress Urge Trump Administration to Provide Relief to Schools in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands
10.24.17 WASHINGTON - Today, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), and Representatives Stacey Plaskett (VI-AL), and Jenniffer González-Colón (PR-AL), led 58 other Members of Congress in writing a letter to the Trump Administration urging them to prioritize providing relief to schools located in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Over the last two months, both territories have been devastated by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. "Schools play a central role in these devastated communit… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Rollback of Guidance on Special Education
10.20.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services rescinded 72 documents that provide guidelines on special education policy: "Today the Department of Education took another harmful regulatory reform step by rescinding 72 guidance documents for individuals with disabilities served under the Rehabilitation Act and students with disabilities served under the Individuals with Di… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Death of Bill Goodling, Former Chair of Ed & Workforce Committee
09.19.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the death of former Pennsylvania Congressman Bill Goodling, who served as chair of the Education and Workforce Committee from 1995-2001: "It is with sadness that I note the passing of former Congressman Bill Goodling, who I had the privilege of serving with on the Committee. He was a tireless advocate for education, particularly on issues of literacy and child nutrition. While we sat on different sides of the p… Continue Reading
As Secretary DeVos Invites States to Test Boundaries of Education Law, Scott, Murray Urge Her to Follow the Law
09.18.17 (Washington, D.C.) - Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos urging her to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as Congress intended, and only approve state plans that meet all of the law's provisions. In an interview yesterday, Secretary DeVos urged sta… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Judiciary Committee Passing Bill Attacking Civil Rights For People with Disabilities
09.07.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House Judiciary Committee passed, on a party-line vote, H.R. 620 the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017, legislation that attacks the civil rights of Americans with disabilities. "The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a bipartisan civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities and ensures access to places of employment, schools, as well as public buildings and … Continue Reading
115 House Democrats Demand Stronger Investments in Teachers
07.19.17 WASHINGTON - Today, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) and 114 House Democrats sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee expressing strong opposition to the elimination of the of the Supporting Instruction State Grant Program (Title II-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)) in the FY 2018 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations bill. "In 2015, Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the bipartisan reauthorization of the ESE… Continue Reading
ESSA Preserves Critical Role of Federal Government, Hearing Confirms
07.18.17 WASHINGTON - TODAY, the Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Passed in 2015, ESSA was the long-awaited replacement for No Child Left Behind, and reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). ESEA is a civil rights law that governs public K-12 education and directs states and school districts to take action to close persistent achievement gaps. When Congress passed ESSA, it ensured the civil… Continue Reading
Subcommittee Highlights Support For Data, Research to Improve Teaching And Learning
06.28.17 WASHINGTON - TODAY, the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing titled "Exploring Opportunities to Strengthen Education Research While Protecting Student Privacy." Educational data serves as an invaluable research tool that is necessary to improve teaching and learning when it is collected, stored, and used responsibly. There is a need for greater investment in education research and Congress must incentivize state and local leaders to develop data sys… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on President Trump’s FY18 Budget
05.23.17 WASHINGTON – Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the White House released its Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposal that cuts $9 billion from the Department of Education, slashes funding for the Department of Labor by 20 percent, and diminishes the Department of Health and Human Services’ ability to deliver early learning programs and health care for the American people. “A budget is a reflectio… Continue Reading
Bonamici Slams Trump Budget
05.23.17 WASHINGTON, DC - Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Vice Ranking Member of the Education and the Workforce Committee and Top Democrat on the Environment Subcommittee, issued the following statement on President Trump's Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposal: "A budget is a statement of values and priorities. President Trump's proposed budget says more clearly than ever that his values and priorities do not align with those of America's working families. The budget slashes Medicaid health care pro… Continue Reading
Blunt Rochester Statement on Trump’s Budget
05.23.17 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL), a member of both the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Agriculture, issued the following statement on the proposed budget from President Trump: "While President Trump's proposed budget should reflect our values, strengthen our economy and improve our quality of life, it, unfortunately, serves only to undermine and weaken the future of working families. Slashing funding for education and agriculture programs is an … Continue Reading
Polis Statement on Trump/DeVos Education Budget
05.23.17 WASHINGTON: Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., gave the following statement today after President Trump released his Fiscal Year 2018 Budget that included massive cuts to public education. "The destructive funding proposals only further inequities in education. The budget would take precious Title I dollars, our program to support our neediest students and schools, and re-direct them to wealthier schools and unaccountable private schools. Moreover, the budget undermines innovative programs and flies i… Continue Reading
Scott, Conyers Introduce Bill to Address Racial Inequities in Public Education
05.17.17 WASHINGTON - TODAY, Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) and Committee on the Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) introduced the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act (EIEA). This legislation would empower parents and communities to address - through robust enforcement - racial inequities, including inequities in access to educational resources, in public education. Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in th… Continue Reading
On Anniversary of Brown, Democrats Unveil Legislation to Invest in Schools, Create Jobs
05.17.17 WASHINGTON - Today, on the 63rd anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Representative Bobby Scott (VA-03), the Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and House Democrats introduced H.R. 2475 The Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2017. This legislation highlights the need for bold investment in school infrastructure as a means to achieve greater educational equity, while breathing new life into communities and creating jobs. "No child should learn, and n… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Findings of D.C. Voucher Program Study
04.27.17 WASHINGTON, DC - Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the Department of Education released a report concluding that the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) - the only federally funded voucher program - had negative impacts on student achievement. "We know vouchers don't work. For years I've been saying that on average, voucher programs are average. But IES confirms th… Continue Reading