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House Republicans Introduce ‘Parent Bill of Rights’ … Again

In February, the House Education and Workforce Committee held their first hearing: “American Education in Crisis.” During the chairwoman’s opening remarks, Virginia Foxx (R-NC)  expressed her support for H.R.5 , more commonly referred to as “The Parent Bill of Rights.” The legislation 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, the ability to opt their child out of all data collection, and more. As anticipated, on Wednesday, House Republicans reintroduced the bill.

FY2023 Spending Bill Passes with Increases to Critical Programs that Address the Educator Workforce

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.

Just before the holiday break, Members of Congress completed their final task as the 117th Congress — passing the FY2023 omnibus spending package. The bill provides a $3.2 billion increase over the FY2022 level of funding provided to the Department of Education, with several significant increases in programmatic funding to address the educator workforce.

Biden-Harris Administration Proposes New Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) Plan

The Biden-Harris Administration today announced a new proposal to reduce the cost of federal student loan payments, especially for low- and middle-income borrowers.

While AACTE is generally supportive of the proposal, which according to a fact sheet will make college more affordable for perspective educators, additional steps must be taken to address the nationwide shortage of highly qualified, diverse teachers in our classrooms.  AACTE looks forward to working with the Administration, Congress and state officials to develop and implement policies that achieve these goals.

Texas State Teacher Education Program Selected as Raising Texas Teachers Partner

Texas State University’s teacher education program has been selected as a Raising Texas Teachers partner, a 10-year, $50 million statewide teacher workforce initiative supported by the Charles Butt Foundation. 

“This recognition speaks to our university’s historic roots as a teacher’s college up to our role today in graduating more teachers fully prepared for the classroom than any other university in Texas,” said Michael O’Malley, dean of the College of Education at Texas State. “Working with the Charles Butt Foundation has been a transformative partnership for our teacher education program that benefits not only our students, but the children they will educate throughout their careers.”  

Texas State joins 15 universities currently participating in partner teacher programs across the state.  

TEACH Grants: Helping to Make the Profession Affordable

Recently, the U.S. Department of Education issued a reminder that TEACH Grants are available to those who are interested in pursuing a career in education. 

The TEACH Grant Program, which was created approximately 15 years ago, provides grants of up to $4,000 a year to students who are completing or plan to complete course work needed to begin a career in teaching. A TEACH Grant-eligible program is a program of study that is designed to prepare you to teach as a highly qualified teacher in a high-need field and that leads to a bachelor’s or master’s degree or is a post-baccalaureate program. A two-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree is considered a program that leads to a bachelor’s degree.

House Judiciary Committee Request Interview with Top Department of Education Advisors

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.

The countdown is on for Congress to pass a fiscal year (FY) 2023 package before the 117th Congress ends at the end of this month. As you will recall, the government is currently operating on a continuing resolution. Essentially what this means is the government is operating on last fiscal year’s funding levels through December 16. At that time, a budget or another continuing resolution must pass or the government will shut down. While its widely reported that the four corners have not yet agreed on top line numbers, many believe a budget will pass before the 118th Congress begins, even if that means working up to Christmas Eve. Stay tuned!

SUNY-ESF Graduates Launch Their Science Teaching Careers Together at the School of Education

This article was originally published by Syracuse University News

Syracuse University’s relationship with its close neighbor, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, has been a long and fruitful one. After all, SUNY-ESF was founded as a unit of SU in 1911, and today the two universities share resources, their professors collaborate, and students mingle across the two campuses, take classes together, join cross-campus organizations, and—sometimes—graduate from one college and into the other.

That last scenario is certainly the case for six SUNY-ESF graduates who, in summer 2022, enrolled in the School of Education’s (SOE) 13-month master’s degree program in science education (Grades 7-12).

Teaching Innovators: A Spotlight on Special Education at Clemson University

This article was originally published by Clemson News and is reprinted with permission.

Catherine Griffith serves as a clinical associate professor of special education in the Department of Education and Human Development at Clemson University. She coordinates the Master of Education program in Special Education with emphases in academic and behavioral interventions and teaches coursework on individuals with learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral disorders, intensive academic interventions, and applied behavior analysis.

HPU’s Stout School of Education Receives Nearly $10 Million Teacher Quality Partnership Grant

The U.S. Department of Education Grant Will Fund Master of Arts in Teaching and Master of Education for Principals Programs.

High Point University’s Stout School of Education is a recipient of a nearly $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund two graduate programs for teachers and principals for the next five years. The school will receive $9,786,041, the second largest federal Teacher Quality Partnership grant awarded to 22 universities in the nation.

The Teacher Quality Partnership grant is the largest competitive grant ever awarded to High Point University, says Amy Holcombe, dean of the Stout School of Education. This is the second Teacher Quality Partnership Grant awarded to HPU’s Stout School of Education, which received a previous $4 million grant in October 2018.

Congress Passes Legislation to Allow Separation of Spousal Student Loans

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.

Take Action: Support Loan Forgiveness for Educators Act

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.  These barriers are more acute for people of color interested in entering the teaching profession and hinders their ability to stay in the profession.

Senate Appropriations Committee Releases Draft Labor-HHS-Education Bill

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.

Summer Scholars Helps Develop Science Teaching

 

The University of North Georgia’s (UNG) Summer Scholars STEM Institute held throughout the month of June helped pre-service teachers in UNG’s College of Education gain experience in preparing lesson plans in science and engineering while focusing on English language learners. A nearly $300,000 National Science Foundation grant, which runs through 2024, helped fund the academy for 60 students rising into fourth grade through eighth grade at local area schools.

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