The Fourth of July shortened last week, however, with both the House and Senate in session, there was still some federal policy activity. The conversation around school campuses reopening for the fall continued to dominate education discussions between lawmakers and health officials with no clear answers. Here are notes on what happened last week:
- Final Wave of CTE State Plans Approved: The Department of Education (ED) has approved seven additional Perkins State Plans! The plans that were approved are: Alaska, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, West Virginia and Puerto Rico. California and Palau have been granted extensions. More information on their plans can be found on the Department’s website.
- Senate HELP Committee Holds COVID-19 Update Hearing: The latest in a series of hearings by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was titled, “COVID-19: Update on Progress Toward Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School.” It featured panelists from governmental health agencies (FDA, CDC, NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services) sharing their thoughts on both health and education-related impacts of the coronavirus.
- House Passes Infrastructure Bill: On July 1, Democrats in the House passed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill called the “Moving Forward Act” which is an expansive bill that calls for improving America’s infrastructure, including repairing roads and bridgesand expanding broadband access in rural areas. While it also includes some money for schools, it is unlikely to pass in the Senate. You can read more about the underlying bill here.
- Innovative Technology Project Announced for Rural Communities: ED introduced The Rural Tech Project, a new project that aims to encourage high-quality technological education in rural areas. Rural schools or LEAs can compete for $600,000 in prize money if they come up with competency-based distance learning programs that build a pipeline for high-demand, high-quality jobs for students. The deadline to apply is October 8, 2020.
- CDC Released New Guidance on COVID-19 Testing in Education: As school districts and colleges consider whether to reopen campuses, on June 30 the CDC offered additional recommendations on testing in colleges and K-12 settings. The guidance does not recommend universally testing every student, but instead using testing strategically as one component of a comprehensive mitigation strategy. Guidance is provided on how to handle testing individuals with signs or symptoms of COVID, those who are asymptomatic but may have been exposed and those that are asymptomatic without known exposure.
- New Senate Bill Proposes $1 Billion for CTE: On June 30, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced S. 4112, the Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act, which includes significant resources to help educational institutional respond to the pandemic. You can read more about this bill in a detailed blog post, and see ACTE’s statement of support.
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