CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Explaining the Latest IDEA COVID-19 Guidelines

Many educators have concerns regarding support for students with disabilities in light of COVID-19 school closures and the transition to remote learning. On March 21, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released new supplemental guidance to help address some of these issues. This builds on the initial questions and answers distributed on March 12. 

ED says it will offer guidance, technical assistance and information on any applicable flexibility, and specifically noted that compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should not prevent any school from offering distance learning education. While ED acknowledges that there is no uniform approach to providing online/distance learning to students with disabilities, districts should feel encouraged to pursue innovative ideas to meet the needs of these students. The guidance goes on to outline some possible solutions, such as utilizing phone consultations or providing information in multiple forms. 

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) within ED has also provided information on how IDEA timelines can be extended, including under both Part B and Part C of IDEA. Timeline adjustments may apply to areas such as State complaints, due process hearings, individual education programs and eligibility determination/individual family service plans. For all questions pertaining to Part B of IDEA, please visit ncsi.wested.org and for questions regarding Part C, please visit ectacenter.org. 

In addition, the National Center for Learning Disabilities has released two new resources to help parents and educators support students during the COVID-19 crisis. 

For the latest coronavirus-related CTE policy updates, visit ACTE’s blog post on the topic, which will be constantly updated throughout the pandemic.

DC Digest: March 16-22

We at ACTE hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy during these uncertain times. We will continue to bring you news from the federal government on COVID-19. For the most recent updates on federal policy activities related to COVID-19, please visit this blog post, which is being updated on a daily basis with any recent news or activity. While Congress and the Administration are spending most of their time on these response activities, there were a few other news items on CTE-related issues last week:

• The Education Commission of the States (ECS) and National Governer’s Association (NGA) released their new report “Governor’s Top Education Priorities in 2020 State of the State Addresses”. One of the top findings showed CTE and workforce development programs were addressed by Governors in at least 34 states, making it the most addressed issue in 2020 state-of-the state addresses.
  
  
• The Department of Education is now accepting applications for the Magnet Schools Assistance Program. This goal of this program is to decrease, eliminate and prevent isolation of minority groups through grant-based funding to create and reproduce evidence-based programs in schools. The application deadline is May 26.

House Passes Bipartisan Coronavirus Financial Assistance Proposal

3/18 UPDATE: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed the Senate by a vote of 90-8. It will now head to the President's desk to be signed into law.

On Saturday, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation that would provide financial assistance to people impacting by the coronavirus pandemic, in an effort to mitigate its economic impact. The bill, which passed 363-40, includes provisions that would strengthen unemployment insurance, allow workers to take paid sick and family leave, and guarantee that diagnostic testing kits for the coronavirus are free and available to all Americans. Then on Monday evening, the House passed the bill for a second time in as many days, after making a number of technical corrections.

More specifically, H.R. 6201, or the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, provides some workers two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave. It also limits the paid family medical leave to at-least two-thirds of your current pay. It’s important to note that the family paid leave provision only guarantees 12 weeks of pay for families caring for small children.

Further, the proposal includes about $1 billion for food programs aimed at helping those who may struggle to get access to meals during the pandemic. These programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, food banks, and the 22 million children who receive free or reduced-price lunch at school.

H.R. 6201 is still awaiting action in the Senate, which may include provisions that would add additional economic stimulus aimed at bolstering small businesses around the nation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that the Senate will not adjourn until a concrete proposal is passed.

Aside from congressional action, the Administration has taken numerous steps in an effort to mitigate the pandemics economic and health impact. Most notably, President Trump has declared a national emergency, which gives the government additional flexibility to deploy resources and waive certain laws and regulations. Additional proposals are emerging and evolving on a daily, if not hourly basis. Please continue to check the CTE Policy Watch Blog for updates on this and other proposals. For an exhaustive list of what the federal government is currently doing, please click here.

For additional information regarding the coronavirus and how to stay safe during this unprecedented time, please visit the CDC’s website.

Record House Signers for Perkins Funding Letter; Senate Letter Circulating Now

A “Dear Colleague” letter is currently circulating in the U.S. Senate, urging the Appropriations Committee to make a robust investment in Perkins Basic State Grants. The letter, led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), is addressed to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, respectively. It highlights the important role that Perkins plays in meeting the need of both students and employers, and urges a strong investment to address the skills gap and growing demand for CTE Programs. You can read a draft of the letter here.

Click here to ask your Senators to sign the Perkins funding letter. The sign-on deadline is this Friday, March 20, at noon, so please contact your Senators today!

A similar letter earlier this month in the House garnered 182 bipartisan signatures – beating last year’s record of 162! Thank you for all of your advocacy efforts that made this strong showing possible. We should have the full list of signers soon to share.

DC Digest: March 9-15

Most of the news from the federal government is understandably focused on the Coronavirus, so this Digest (and likely others for the next several weeks) largely concentrates on news and guidance coming from the administration and the Education Department. We will certainly still report on other news concerning federal education policy when it occurs! Here’s the news from this week:

 

• Senate Introduces Early Educators Apprenticeship Act: Three Senators—Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)—introduced the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act. The Act increases the number of child care apprentices with credentials or degrees, recruits new workers and offers apprentices career advancement opportunities.

 

• New Resources from the Department of Education for the Coronavirus: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has released new resources to help education leaders protect student privacy, allow for flexibility on accountability standards under ESSA and ensure students with disabilities continue to receive services that are required for learning. 

 

• COVID-19 Conference Call Between Department of Education and Chief State School Officers: The Department of Education, along with other agencies, hosted a conference call with the Council of Chief State School Officers and discussed issues relating to the Coronavirus such as school closures, school meal programs, testing and accountability measures and grant administration. Read the summary of that call here. 

 

• CDC Guidance on School Closures: The CDC has released guidance for schools when faced with decision to close down for a short period of time due to the Coronavirus or measures that should be taken if your school has already shut down. 

 

For the most up-to-date information on the Coronavirus, the Department of Education has created an information page for schools and educators. You can find more here.

 

Education Regulatory/Legislative Relief for Coronavirus Impact

Congress and the Administration have begun to taken concrete steps in an effort to mitigate the Coronavirus’s economic and health impact. Most notably, President Trump has declared a national emergency, which gives the government additional flexibility to deploy resources and waive certain laws and regulations. For an exhaustive list of what the federal government is currently doing, please click here.

Even with these actions underway, however, we know there is likely more to be done to address the specific needs of schools and other education and training providers, and we want to hear from you about specific needs of CTE programs. Through your work on a daily basis, you can provide a critical viewpoint on what additional regulatory or supplemental actions the federal government can take to help ease the burden on our school systems and workforce development programs. This may include things like waivers of requirements in federal law that you are having trouble meeting, regulatory changes, new guidance or even specific supplemental funding. If you have feedback, please email our public policy team at publicpolicy@acteonline.org, with the subject line reading “Coronavirus Relief.” We appreciate your support and are looking forward to working with you and our colleagues in the federal government to provide much needed relief to our schools, educators, and students.

For additional information regarding the coronavirus and how to stay safe during this unprecedented time, please visit the CDC’s website. 

Online/Distance Learning Resources

Are you one of the many CTE teachers and faculty members around the nation facing an abrupt move to online teaching, owing to COVID-19?

While your district, school or institution will have the most relevant resources to help you make this switch, ACTE is compiling a list of resources about online and distance learning that can supplement this official guidance and build your confidence in your online teaching abilities.

If you have suggestions of tools, guides or lesson plans that could help your fellow CTE educators during this challenging time, please leave your ideas and recommendations in the comments.

Final Labor Department Rule Establishes IRAPs

The Department of Labor has issued a final rule regarding industry-recognized apprenticeships (IRAPs). These apprenticeships are different from registered apprenticeships, which have to go through the Department’s rigorous approval process and meet a number of stringent requirements. IRAPs remove much of the federal oversight and instead allow third parties like corporations, nonprofits, trade and industry groups, and others to play a more singular role in the development and administration of these types of apprenticeships.

The Department has stated that the overarching purpose of IRAPs is to quickly scale “the availability of apprenticeships in emerging, high-growth sectors.” Accordingly, because of the well-established and widespread success of registered apprenticeships in the construction field specifically, the rule prohibits construction-related IRAPs.

IRAPs have been a priority of the Trump Administration, congressional Republicans and some industry groups who see the registered apprenticeship process as being too burdensome and complex, particularly for nontraditional apprenticeship fields. IRAPs’ detractors worry that removing the Department of Labor’s oversight responsibilities could dramatically reduce the quality of apprenticeships, which would be both harmful to students and, more broadly, the overall favorable impression that the public has of apprenticeships.

The final rule comes after House Democrats released bill text for legislation that would reauthorize the National Apprenticeship Act. While originally it was thought the reauthorization could be bipartisan, discussions seem to have stalled over issues related to IRAPs. Last week the House held a hearing on the National Apprenticeship Act, which you can read more about here.

DC Digest: March 2-8

It’s March and we’ve hit the ground running this month in the federal education policy realm. The coronavirus is on many people’s minds and on Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) asked top health officials about what school leaders and families should know. Here is what was said in the meeting, and the Department of Education has made additional resources available here. In addition, there were hearings in the House and Senate on appropriations, and in the House on apprenticeship during the week. You can find complete coverage of those in the linked blog posts. In addition, here’s what else is in the news:

• Speaker Pelosi Supports School Infrastructure Bill: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her support of the Rebuild America’s Schools Act at a press conference with teachers’ union leaders. The Act would allocated $100 billion in funding towards improving both the physical and digital infrastructure of public schools.
  
  
• New Legislation for Nutrition Education: Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) are jointly working on legislation to help students learn about healthy eating. The grants from the bill would fund activities such as school gardens, and would target schools that are experiencing high rates of childhood diet-related issues.
  
  
• CTE Mentioned at Annual Latino Coalition Legislative Summit: Secretary DeVos promoted CTE at the annual Latino Coalition legislative summit on Thursday, giving her support for CTE, and more specifically apprenticeship programs, to help with the increasing number of unfilled jobs.

DeVos Testifies at Senate Hearing on FY21 Education Budget Request

Last Week, U.S. Department of Education (ED) Secretary Betsy DeVos testified in a hearing hosted by the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H) subcommittee on the Presidents Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget request. This hearing follows closely on Sec. DeVos’s testimony in the House on March 3, and its goal was to further examine the Administration’s justifications for the funding levels in the president’s request.

Overall, the Administration’s proposal calls for a $66.6 billion budget for the Department of Education, a $6.1 billion, or 8.4 percent reduction below the FY 2020 enacted level. This year’s cuts to education funding are in line with the Administration’s previous requests, which have all been “dead-on-arrival” in Congress, with members of both parties noting the fundamental importance of these programs.

More specifically, with CTE being one of the areas in the president’s education request that received a substantial increase, it was again a significant topic of discussion during the hearing. In his opening statement, subcommittee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) highlighted the 60% increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program and discussed how CTE allows students to gain exposure to different career pathways. Secretary DeVos emphasized that the states have been working on their state plans and many have included “ambitious plans” to expand their scope, specifically toward middle schools. She also expressed that demand and excitement for CTE has increased. Aside from Sen. Blunt, Sens. Capito (R-WV) and Hyde-Smith (R-MS) expressed happiness in the proposed CTE increase and highlighted the work going on in their states.

Another important topic discussed was the Administration’s proposal to significantly cut funding for the Federal Work-Study program. The budget calls for a $680 million, or about 58%, cut to the program, which is designed to provide part-time jobs for students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. Chairman Blunt immediately dismissed this idea during the hearing and told Secretary DeVos “It’s almost certain we would not cut programs like TRIO or campus-based student aid like federal work-study.”

Other questions focused on the White House’s budget proposals to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the proposed block grant of ESSA programs, the skyrocketing costs of higher education, and the Administration’s recent decision to change the eligibility rules for the Rural Low-Income Schools Program.