Policy by the People Agenda 

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

1. Secretary Cardona Testifies before House Appropriations LHHSEd Subcommittee: On April 18^th, Secretary Cardon provided testimony on President Biden’s $90 billion budget request for the U.S. Department of Education in FY24, a $10.8 billion dollar increase from the previous fiscal year. Mr. Cardona outlined the ED’s four priorities for the FY24, including Achieving Academic Excellence, Boldly Improving Learning Conditions, Creating Pathways for Global Engagement, and Making Postsecondary Education Inclusive and Affordable, and responded to questions aimed at addressing the proposed regulatory changes for Title IX, student loan debt relief, and concerns over transgendered students participating in sports. The committee demonstrated bipartisan support for programs related to career pathways and increasing funding for the Pell Grant. 

2. House Passes Debt Ceiling Bill: On April 26^th, the Republican-led House voted 217-215 in favor of raising the country’s debt ceiling while making significant cuts to discretionary spending in the federal budget. This bill proposes a 22% cut in spending for programs including Medicaid, SNAP, veterans’ benefits, housing assistance, childcare, and education, which will have a devastating impact on low-income and historically underserved populations. The bill will now move to the Senate but is considered dead on arrival by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). However, with the announcement by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on May 1^st that the federal government will reach the debt limit on June 1, Congress and the President will now have to work more quickly to reach an agreement to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt obligations. The Committee for Education Funding has a toolkit and letter available to the public to contact their Members of Congress to ask that they raise the debt ceiling without making historical cuts to programs that impact children and families. 

3. House Appropriations Committee Markups: On April 27^th, House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX-12), announced that the Committee will begin the markup phase of the appropriations process. Subcommittee markups will take May 17^th-18^th and June 7^th-8^th. Full Committee markups will take place May 23^rd-25^th and June 13^th-15^th. 

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

Events 

• Upcoming Event: The Hunt Institute is hosting the webinar Postsecondary Pathways: Higher Education Deserts on May 11^th at 2:00 pm EDT. More information and registration can be found here. 
• Upcoming Event: The Education Trust is hosting the webinar Future of Assessments: Centering Equity and the Lived Experiences of Students, Families, and Educators on May 17^th at 3:00 pm EDT. More information and registration can be found here, and the accompanying report is linked below. 
• Upcoming Event: Workforce GPS is hosting the workshop Effective Community College-Workforce Development Board Partnerships on May 18^th from 1:00-2:00 pm EDT. More information and registration can be found here. 
• Upcoming Event: Learning Policy Institute is hosting the next webinar in the Whole Child Policy series: Redesigning Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, and Accountability on May 24^th from 2:00-3:00 pm EDT. More information and registration can be found here. 
• Upcoming Event: Education Week is hosting the webinar Improving Teacher Well-Being: Results of The Second Annual Merrimack Teacher Survey on May 25^th from 2:00-3:00 pm EDT. More information and registration can be found here. 
• Past Event: The Office of Apprenticeships at the U.S. Department of Labor held a listening session, as part of the rulemaking process, on policies and practices that should be adopted to strengthen the National Apprenticeship System. More information can be found here. 
• Past Event: Education Commission of the States hosted the webinar State Strategies for Implementing High-Impact Tutoring. More information can be found here. 
• Past Event: The National Women’s Law Center hosted the webinar Telling the Story of Child Care Stabilization Funds: Strategies for Sharing Providers’ Experiences. More information can be found here. 

Resources 

• The Education Trust: Report: Future of Assessments: Centering Equity and the Lived Experience of Students, Families, and Educators 
• FutureEd: Report: Teacher Mindsets: How Educators’ Perspectives Shape Student Success 
• American Enterprise Institute: 0p-Ed: “A Nation at Risk” Turns 40: It’s Roots, It’s Legacy 
• New America: Report: Improving Communications to Develop Work-Based Learning Programs in the Skilled Trades 
• Bellwether: Report: Expanding Opportunity: How States Can Accelerate the Use of Career Pathways Programs to Help Young People Access Meaningful Careers 
• EdSource: Commentary: Don’t Leave Students with Disabilities out of California’s Massive Community Schools Investment

Funding Opportunities 

• Federal Register: Education Department 
  • ICR: Comment Request: Evaluation of Full-Service Community Schools: Early Implementation Data Collection 

• Federal Register: Labor Department 
  • RFP: Disability Innovation Fund-Pathways to Partnership (Deadline to apply is June 5, 2023) 
  • RFP: Workforce Opportunities for Rural Communities (WORC) Grant (Deadline to apply is June 13) 

IEL Policy Highlights 

• IEL endorsed the Respect, Advancement, and Increasing Support for Educators (RAISE) Act (H.R.7660/S.4125), sponsored by Congressman Schiff and Senator Booker. This bill provides a refundable tax credit of up to $15,000 to help boost the salaries of early childhood and grade school educators to reduce the teacher wage gap. 
• On May 7^th, IEL graduated 17 youths from the first Youth Education Policy Fellowship Program. This fellowship was created to strengthen engagement and increase advocacy capacity for youth connected to Community Schools. The fellowship’s curriculum included capacity building sessions and a community action project focused on education policy and leadership development to ensure the youth fellows have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to amplify their voices. 
• Members from the Community Schools Coalition Team supported the Maine Coalition for Community Schools’ providing testimony in support of An Act to Promote the Community Schools Program (ME L.D. 1527) before the state legislature on May 1^st.