The second and final presidential debate took place on Thursday in Nashville, TN. Education played a minor role in the debate, with several mentions of reopening schools within the context of the coronavirus pandemic.. With the election right around the corner, make sure to keep up with ACTE’s Election Watch 2020 on the CTE Policy Watch blog. On the Hill on Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the full Senate. The full Senate is scheduled to vote on Barrett’s nomination on Monday, October 26. Here are a few other notes from the federal education policy realm last week:
- Additional Funding for the Earn-and-Learn Initiative: The Department of Education announced additional funding for the Federal Work Study (FWS) Experimental Sites Initiative, which launched in 2019 with participants announced earlier this year . This initiative, one of several Pell experiments underway, allows students to work more hours off-campus under the work-study program, and permits institutions to pay students for work-based learning such as apprenticeships, externships and clinical rotations, among other flexibilities
- Virtual Hill Briefing Featuring Principals Thoughts on COVID-19: On Thursday, the American Federation of School Administrators, the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals hosted a virtual Capitol Hill briefing to hear from principals on COVID-19 related challenges and the federal supports that would help schools and students during this time.
- Senate COVID-19 Relief Proposal Fails Cloture Motion: The Senate failed to move forward the $500 billion COVID-19 relief package that was proposed on Wednesday by Senate Republicans. Among the major provisions, the proposal included more than $100 billion for schools, although these funds were largely conditioned on in-person reopening. Talks remain ongoing between congressional leaders and the White House to try and get another relief measure passed before the November 3 election.
- New Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide: The Department of Education’s Office of Technology released a Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide to help parents and guardians understand digital learning tools, particularly while students are learning from home. Some of the topics the guide covers include how to leverage the flexibilities and innovations that technology and digital tools provide, online safety, competency-based learning, federal laws concerning student privacy and safety, and more.
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