Leading Democrats on the congressional appropriations committees sent a 10-page letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding information about the mass layoffs in the Department of Education (USDE). The March 11 layoffs cut the USDE's workforce nearly in half and many want to know what the impact will…
U.S. House Republicans are proposing a federal tax credit that would allow donors to fund private school tuition for students nationwide, saying the plan would empower parents to choose schools that best fit their children’s needs. The Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025, promoted during a March 11th House…
On Monday, March 3, 2025. Linda McMahon was confirmed as the new U.S. Secretary of Education. Her first order of business will be the downsizing and possible elimination of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). McMahon's confirmation was on the same date that USDE workers were given an opportunity to…
On Thursday, February 20, 2025. Linda McMahon’s nomination for U.S. Secretary of Education advanced with the approval of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which voted 12-11 along party lines. McMahon previously appeared before the committee February 13th for a 2 ½ hour confirmation hearing where she spoke…
On February 12, 2025, the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee passed H.R. 649, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025, which would amend the National School Lunch Act to allow participating schools to offer lunches with milk choices, including flavored and unflavored organic or non-organic whole, reduced-fat,…
At a February 5, 2025 hearing, Republican and Democratic members of a U.S. House education panel agreed that K-12 schools need a stronger focus on improving academic outcomes for students — but they had vastly different views on the direction the nation’s schools should take. For more information on the…
The House Ways and Means Committee is suggesting cutting $12 billion in school meal programs over 10 years by adjusting school qualification for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and requiring income verification for national K-12 breakfast and lunch programs, according to a document on the committee’s budget reconciliation options. Specifically,…
On January 14, 2025, the U.S, House voted 218-206 to ban transgender girls and women from girls’ sports in federally-funded schools by amending Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions. This bill, the first federal anti-trans law brought to a vote in the…
The Autism CARES Act is a federal law that for the next five years will provide nearly $2 billion for research, training and services, including for early detection and interventions. -The newly signed federal law calls on federal agencies to update a report on the challenges faced by youth with…
Among remembrances of former president Jimmy Carter is his signing of S. 210 on October 17, 1979, which created the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and became operational in May of 1980. In creating the USDE, Congress said the intention of the agency was to strengthen equal education opportunities for…
