February 2024 IEL Federal Policy Update

Policy by the People Agenda

Summary of federal policy action this past month and a look-ahead to the next few weeks/month

1. Congress Continues to Work to Avoid Government Shutdown: On February 28th, Congress returned to Washington to pass a short-term spending bill to keep the government operating per a continuing resolution passed earlier in the year, which pushed the deadline to pass a federal budget for fiscal year 2024 until March 1^st for part of the government and March 8^th for the remaining agencies.
2. The U.S. Department of Education Announces Additional Preparation for the 2024-2025 FASFA Application: In the wake of the challenging rollout of the new FASFA in Fall 2023, the U.S. Department of Education will provide technical assistance to colleges and universities through the FASFA College Support Strategy. Through this strategy, “the Department is deploying federal personnel, allocating $50 million in technical assistance and support, and providing tools to help schools prepare to process student records as efficiently as possible.”
3. The United States Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case on Race-Neutral Admissions: On February 20^th, the High Court decided not to take up a case examining the role of race in admissions to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a selective school in Alexandria, VA. The Court’s decision to not hear this case, as well as a case from West Point, indicates the Justices have no interest in revisiting the precedent set in June 2023 during the landmark case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

Events

• Upcoming Event: The American Enterprise Institute will host the hybrid event Education Policy Debate: “My Fellow Democrats, We Should Support Education Savings Accounts” with Nat Malkus on February 29^th from 6-8:00 pm EST. More information can be found here.
• Upcoming Event: FutureEd will host the webinar Identifying and Supporting Children with Learning Differences on March 5^th at 3:00 pm EST. More information can be found here.
• Upcoming Event: The National Summer Learning Association will host a virtual and free Summer Planning Bootcamp on March 6-7^th.  The NSLA will host six panel sessions over two days with 30 great leaders and organizations from across the US sharing insights, resources and tips you can utilize this summer. More information can be found here.
• Upcoming Events: The Hunt Institute will host the webinar Postsecondary Pathways: Aligning Higher Education Curriculum with Workforce Needs on March 14^th at 2:00 pm EDT. More information can be found here.

Resources

• The 74: Interactive Report: See How Student Achievement Gaps Are Growing in Your State
• U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights: Data Snapshot: Profile of Students with Disabilities in U.S. Public Schools During the 2020-2021 School Year
• The Education Trust: Article: ‘Segregation Forever’? Private Universities Haven’t Increased Diversity in 20 Years. What now?
• FutureEd: Report: Learning Curve: Lesson from the Tutoring Revolution in Public Education

IEL Policy Highlights:

• IEL and the Coalition for Community Schools signed onto MENTOR’s letter advocating for Congress to approve $130 million in fiscal year 2025 for youth mentoring programs.