June 2022 IEL Federal Policy Update

Policy by the People Agenda 

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

1. ED’s New Efforts and Resources for Supporting Mental Health and Students With Disabilities: On May 23^rd the Department of Education hosted the virtual summit From Recovery to Thriving: Supporting Mental Health and Students with Disabilities. In conjunction with the summit, the ED released FAQs on the disability-related rights of student veterans with disabilities, resources on website accessibility, and digital accessibility compliance reviews.  

2. House LHHSEd Subcommittee Hearing on Tackling Teacher Shortages: On May 25^th the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education hosted a hearing on addressing the nationwide teacher shortage. The subcommittee heard testimony from expert witnesses. The entire hearing can be viewed here. 

3. H.R.7921-Trauma Informed Practices for Workforce Development Act: On May 31^st Representative Marie Newman (IL-3) introduced a bill amending WIOA to require an action plan in each local plan for entities within the one-stop delivery system to meet the needs of individuals who have experienced trauma, mental health challenges, or substance use disorder, and for other purposes. 

4. ED Discharges Student Loans for Corinthian College Students: On June 1^st the Biden Administration announced that it would be cancelling $5.8 billion in remaining students loans for students who attended Corinthian Colleges Inc. at any point in its 30 years of operation. Including this group discharge, the ED has forgiven $25 billion worth of student loans for 1.3 million borrowers. 

Policy-related events and resources of interest, including federal funding opportunities 

Events 

• Upcoming Event: House Appropriations Mark-Up: LHHSE Subcommittee on June 23 at 5:30pm ET; Full Committee on June 30 at 10:00am. 
• Upcoming Event: 2022 Disability Vote Summit (virtual) on June 29-30 from 1:00-4:00pm ET. More information and registration found here. 
• Upcoming Event: The Hunt Institute will host the webinar Homeroom with Education Leaders: Building Robust Summer Development Opportunities for the Special Education Workforce on June 16 at 2:00pm ET. More information and registration found here. 
• Past Event: Collective Impact Forum hosted the webinar How can we Move Beyond Transaction Toward Relational Collaboration? More information here. 
• Past Event: Senate LHHSEd Subcommittee Hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for the United States Department of Education 

Resources 

• Resource: Education Commission of the States: State Policy Levers to Address Teacher Shortages 
• Resource: Data Quality Campaign: Show Me the Data 2022: States have Lost Momentum on Improving Report Cards 
• Resource: Nation School Board Association: Final Report on the Events Surrounding the NSBA’s September 29, 2021 Letter to the President requesting a federal investigation of and assistance with events at the school board meetings and alleged threats against school board member across the nation. 
• Resource: National Center for Educational Statistics: Annual Condition of Education Shows Historic Decline in Total Public School Enrollment between Fall 20219 and Fall 2020 

• Resource: UChicago Consortium on School Research: Improving School-Family Communication and Engagement 
• Resource: Chalkbeat: CRT Map: Efforts to restrict teaching racism and bias have multiplied across the U.S.  
• Resource: Collective Impact Forum: The Power of Parent Engagement 

Funding Opportunities 

• Federal Register: Education Department  

• Federal Funding: Federal Grant Opportunities: 

• WIOA: Leadership for the Employment and Economic Advancement of People with Disabilities (Department of Labor, FOA-ODEP-22-10), Due 6/17 
• Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Innovation and Early Learning Programs: Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Programs (Department of Education, ED-GRANTS-042722-001), Due 6/21 
• Institute of Education Sciences (IES): National Center for Education Research: Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking (Department of Education, ED-GRANTS-052622-003), Due 9/8 

IEL Policy Highlights 

• IEL sent an updated letter with close to 200 organizational sign-ons to the Hill urging Congress to fund the Full-Service Community Schools program at $468 million for FY 2023, to match the President’s budget request. 
• IEL team members accompanied Deputy Secretary Cindy Marten on site visit to Griffith STEAM Magnet Middle School to better learn about the success of community schools on students, teachers, parents, and community members. 

Policy Highlights from the Field 

• Over 3,500 educators, advocates, field leaders and government officials met in Los Angeles for the Community School and Family Engagement Annual Conference. During the three-day conference, Community School State Coalitions met, leaders in the Department of Education spoke to attendees, and sessions were held to provide training and innovations in the field. 

• The governor of Maryland signed a bill that establishes the Baltimore City Youth Data Hub, which will promote well-being of youth and improve access to and cost-efficiency of youth programs.