Earlier this year, President Biden announced plans to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for individual borrowers who make under $125,000 per year, an action that could benefit more than 40 million Americans. The application to receive debt forgiveness formally opened on October 17 and it is estimated to take about five minutes to complete.
At the start of the pandemic, the federal government paused the repayment requirements for most federal student loans. More recently, the Administration announced that it would forgive a certain amount of student debt to eligible borrowers. Both announcements were meant to help borrowers through economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and regain their financial footing after seeing student debt balloon to over $1.6 trillion. These are unique opportunities that could see thousands of dollars eliminated from your balance. But time is running out.
Mercer University’s Tift College of Education will partner with five local school districts on a three-year, $9.6 million U.S. Department of Education grant project aimed at strengthening the teacher pipeline in order to increase and diversify the teaching workforce.
The award is the largest federal grant in the history of the College of Education, which was formed by the merger of Tift College with Mercer in 1986 and is the largest private preparer of teachers and other educators in Georgia.
This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
On Friday, Congress passed a short-term spending measure that keeps the government funded at its current levels through December 16 and averts a government shutdown. Now is the time to flex your advocacy muscles — tell your story and encourage your Members of Congress to advocate for and support the highest possible investments in the educator workforce and pipeline in the final FY23 spending bill.
In September, Congress passed legislation that permits both borrowers of a joint student loan to apply to the Education Department to have their joint loan split up into two separate loans. President Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law.
Previously, married couples were able to combine their student loan debt into joint consolidation loans, which would make them both liable for repayment of the loan. Congress eliminated the joint consolidation program effective July 1, 2006, but it did not provide a means of severing existing loans, even in the event of domestic violence, economic abuse, or an unresponsive partner.
The National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE) is seeking proposals from educator preparation programs and their school and community partners to take part in the Family Engagement Educator Preparation Innovation Project.
This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
This week, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden launched their “Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour.” The tour kicked off in Tennessee with a visit highlighting ways states and districts are recruiting and preparing qualified, profession-ready educators into the classroom. Later in the week, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff joined the Secretary in Pennsylvania with visits highlighting how community schools are helping students recover academically and get the mental health supports they need, celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and raise awareness about the Administration’s actions to provide debt relief to millions, including teachers and administrators through Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
One of the barriers to a diverse and well-prepared educator workforce is the high cost of college and student loan debt. Research has found that higher debt burdens are associated with students avoiding public service jobs, particularly in the education field.
To encourage highly qualified individuals to become teachers or serve in other public sector jobs, the federal government created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in 2007, which eliminates any remaining federal student loan debt for those individuals that make 120 qualified payments while working for a qualified non-profit employer.
This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
Congress may have been on recess for the month of August, but it certainly did not feel like a break. Behind the scenes staffers maintained diligent in their work as Members spent time both in Washington, D.C. and their home states and districts for the opportunity to hear directly from constituents. In mid-August, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act is the legislation we have formerly referred to as the “reconciliation bill” or “Build Back Better.” That said, the Inflation Reduction Act is much different than any of the previously proposed “reconciliation bills” — including no investments in the educator workforce. Read more about what is included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Bellarmine University will recruit and prepare highly qualified science and mathematics teachers for high-need Kentucky middle and high schools with the support of a five-year $1.45 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce program.
Cummings Foundation has donated $10 million to Salem State University’s School of Education to support programs and initiatives aimed at diversifying, strengthening, and sustaining the next generation of educators. The gift represents the largest cash contribution ever made in the history of the nine Massachusetts state universities.
Sacred Heart University has received a grant of nearly $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. SHU will apply the grant to the preparation of educators to teach elementary science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
This week marked the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This landmark civil rights legislation represents the promise of inclusion and access for individuals with disabilities across our nation. While our country has made significant progress since the law was signed over three decades ago- there is more work to do to live up to the promise of ADA.
Senate Appropriations Committee Releases Draft FY2023 Funding Bills
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its proposed Democratic fiscal year (FY) 2023 funding bills along with an explanatory statement and summary for each bill. The explanatory statement comes in lieu of a Committee Report and explains the intent behind the funding values and includes an overview and descriptions of each account, list of earmarks, and a programmatic funding table at the end. The Senate bills won’t be marked up, but they will serve as a starting point for negotiations in the fall.
This article was originally published by the University of Iowa College of Education.
Thanks to a generous $15 million gift from the Scanlan Family Foundation, the Iowa Center for School Mental Health in the University of Iowa College of Education will be renamed the Scanlan Center for School Mental Health, pending approval from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, at its July 27 board meeting.
In addition to the new name, the gift will expand clinical support for school mental health in collaboration with the Belin-Blank Center, not only across the state but across the nation.
This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
This week, the 87th biennial American Federation of Teachers (AFT) convention is taking place in Boston, where the city will welcome more than 3,000 members and leaders of the labor group. Today, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will address the AFT with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey scheduled to take the stage as well. The AFT convention comes as districts across the nation are beginning to prepare for a return to school in the fall while in the midst of a critical shortage of educators and specialized instructional support personnel. An all-hands-on-deck approach will be needed, which includes comprehensive, full preparation coupled with support from federal, state, and local governments in order to address this crisis.
