Washington Update, March 24, 2023
Washington Update, March 24, 2023
Dear Colleagues:
It was another busy week in Washington with education related decisions happening in Congress and the Supreme Court. Take a read below and Tweet me your thoughts!
1. House Republicans Pass “Parent Bill of Rights”
On Friday, the House Republicans passed the Parent Bill of Rights Act in a 213-208 vote. Republicans did not however, vote down party lines with Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ), Ken Buck (CO.), Matt Gaetz (FL.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.) and Matt Rosendale (MT) all voting with Democrats in opposing the measure. The legislation, H.R.5 , more commonly referred to as “The Parent Bill of Rights” was first introduced in the 117th Congress and would require K-12 school districts receiving federal funding to publicly post their curriculum and annually provide parents with a list of books in the school library, a breakdown of school expenditures and more. The bill has been touted by some as a vehicle for GOP priorities on policies relating to school choice and transgender students. On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, vowed that the bill “will meet a dead end” in the Senate. The legislation has also already been denounced by the Biden Administration and several education organizations.
2.Supreme Court Unanimously Rules in Favor of Student in Special Education Case
In 2017 the Perez family filed a due-process complaint with the Michigan Department of Education based on the IDEA, the ADA, and other statutes. The school district offered to settle the IDEA complaint, and the family agreed. The settlement agreement included the district agreeing to place Perez in the Michigan School for the Deaf and pay for postsecondary compensatory education and sign-language services. Following the agreement, he family then sued the district in federal district court under the ADA, seeking unspecified money damages among other relief. The school district argued that the Perez family could not file the suit because they had not exhausted all administrative proceedings under IDEA- and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit agreed with the district. The Perez family then appealed and the U.S. solicitor general recommended the court grant review.
The case raised two questions the first is whether the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires families who have settled their particular IDEA claims with a school district to “exhaust” all administrative proceedings under the that law before filing a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The second is whether a family must exhaust IDEA’s own administrative proceedings when it is pursuing a non-IDEA claim for money damages under the ADA or other federal disability laws.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Perez’s favor; individuals who have entered into a settlement resolving their Individuals with Disabilities Education Act claims can also pursue monetary damages against school districts under the Americans with Disabilities Act without exhausting the administrative process under IDEA. The decision reverses one from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling did not spell out whether ADA should provide financial compensation to the plaintiff in this case- Manuel Perez.
3. Department of Education Announces New FASFA will Debut in December
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) published the Better FAFSA Better Future Roadmap an implementation timeline of resources, guidance, and training materials for students, parents, schools, institutions, and other stakeholders about the redesigned 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) form. The redesign will significantly simplify how the form is used and should be available by December 2023 for the 2024-2025 form. The redesign stems in part from The FAFSA Simplification Act and Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act which requires the office of Federal Student Aid and its various partners to adopt important changes to the FAFSA process that will support students and families and make their federal student aid experience smoother. In November, the Department published a Dear Colleague letter which outlined the requirements of the FAFSA Simplification Act and the Department’s plans for implementation for the 2023–24 award year.
4. Action Alerts, Make Your Voice Heard: Pay Teachers Act, Educators for America, Personnel Investments in FY 24
AACTE Action Alerts: Urge Your Members of Congress to Support the Pay Teachers Act
As you will recall, earlier this month, Senator Sanders (D-VT), Chairman of the Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee introduced legislation aimed at addressing teacher pay and the critical shortage of educators facing the nation. The Pay Teachers Act not only would increase the minimum teacher salary to $60,000 per year, but also significantly increases federal investments in public schools and in personnel development. Additionally, to address the teacher shortage our nation faces, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) introduced the Educators for America Act with the input of experts like you in the field of educator preparation. The legislation would “build the capacity of educator preparation programs to ensure all students have access to profession-ready educators; recruit new and diverse educators into the profession; invest in partnership between higher education, state and local partners, and support innovation to meet the changing needs of students.”
Click this link to enter your address and you can quickly send a letter to your Members of Congress expressing the importance of the Pay Teachers Act and asking for their support and this link to support Educators for America.
CEC Action Alert: FY24 Personnel Investment
Last week we provided a breakdown of the Biden- Harris Administration’s FY2024 budget proposal- which includes substantial increases in investments that address the critical shortage of educators facing the nation. These investments include, but are not limited to:
• $132 million for the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP), which funds comprehensive educator preparation programs such as residencies.
• $30 million for the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program, which funds educator preparation programs at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs.
• $250 million for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part D – Personnel Preparation program (IDEA-D-PP).
Click this link to enter your address and you can quickly send a letter to your Members of Congress asking for support for these critical investments that can support rebuilding and diversifying the special educator and specialized instructional support personnel pipeline.
5. In the States: Nearly 65,000 LA Unified School District Employees go on Strike
This week, the nation’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, will cancel classes for its nearly 422,000 students as nearly 65,000 school district employees begin a three day strike The dispute involves Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents people who work for Los Angeles Unified in a variety of nonteaching positions- bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and paraprofessionals among others. The union represents 30,000 employees who are seeking a 30% pay raise – citing the increasing costs of living in Southern California. For context, the average Local 99 SEIU employee makes only $25,000 per year. The Los Angeles teachers’ union has asked its 35,000 members to join the walk out in solidarity and to avoid crossing the support workers’ picket lines. The joint walkout of marks the first of its kind for the district and is limited to three days.
“After nearly a year of bargaining, LAUSD has shown no effort to truly move essential workers out of poverty and address dire staffing shortages in our schools...Furthermore, throughout the bargaining process and the strike vote, workers have been subjected to surveillance, intimidation and harassment by the school district... and its these issues that justify a strike”
School district officials reportedly increased their offer in a series of moves over several days. By Saturday, the offer was, according to the district, a cumulative 23% raise, starting with 2% retroactive as of the 2020-21 school year and ending with 5% in 2024-25. The package was reported to also include a one-time 3% bonus for those who have worked since 2020-21, along with expanded hours, more full-time positions and improved eligibility for healthcare.
The district said that during the strike families would be able to pick up six grab-and-go meals for each student on Tuesday from specific food distribution sites — intended to cover breakfast and lunch for three days. Students will also have access to instructional material and on-demand tutoring during the three day strike.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
Until next time, see you on Twitter!
Kait
@brennan_kait
