Legislative Activity
ESEA Reauthorization Bill to be Considered on the House Floor this Week
The education community continues to analyze H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, which the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved and reported to the House prior to the Congressional recess. Echoing the White House report criticizing H.R. 5 released last week, an estimate published by the Council of the Great City Schools also described the negative effect H.R. 5’s Title I portability measures would have on school districts.
In response to the White House’s report, Chairman John Kline (R-MN) accused the White House of using “scare tactics and budget gimmicks to kill K-12 education reform.” Rep. Kline believes his legislation provides states and families with greater flexibility to meet student needs.
The House Committee on Rules recently announced that it will meet next week to grant a rule that could limit the amendment process for floor consideration of H.R. 5. The announcement also stated that amendments to H.R. 5 are due to the committee by Monday afternoon. The bill will be brought to the floor for debate on Wednesday and Thursday and a final vote is scheduled for Friday.
Senate HELP Committee Will Hold Hearing on Burdensome Regulations
Last week, the Task Force on Federal Regulation of Higher Education published a report identifying 10 regulations/regulatory areas that are most burdensome to institutions of higher education due to cost, complexity, lack of relevance, and for having duplicative requirements. On Tuesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing on the report and will hear testimony from two members of the Task Force – William Kirwan, Chancellor of the University System of Maryland, and Nicholas Zeppos, Chancellor of Vanderbilt University. In addition to these witnesses, the Senate HELP Committee members that led this effort, including Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Michael Bennet (D-CO), plan to testify.
This is the first hearing of the 114th Congress related to HEA reauthorization. The Senate HELP Committee may hold other hearings on HEA this year before it drafts legislation. The House is expected to introduce a bill as early as March.
Senators Question Department of Education’s Enforcement of Title IX
Last week, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) sent a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asking for information on the Department of Education’s enforcement of Title IX and the Clery Act. Specifically, the Senators requested information on the number of complaints received over the past five years, the number of investigations conducted in response to those complaints, the average length of time it takes to complete investigations, the penalties the agency has imposed, and what procedures are used to protect students from sexual assault. Both Senators have been leaders on issues related to campus sexual assault and will likely reintroduce the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA) in the 114th Congress. Additionally, Senator Boxer plans to reintroduce the Survivor Outreach and Support Campus Act (SOS Campus Act) this week.
This Week’s Hearings
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Tuesday, February 24: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing titled “Recalibrating Regulation of Colleges and Universities: A Report from the Task Force on Government Regulation of Higher Education.”
Regulatory Activity
Federal Agencies Continue to Focus on Preventing Campus Sexual Assault
Last week, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened new Title IX investigations at the University of Connecticut and the State University of New York at Brockport. To date, OCR is conducting 102 Title IX sexual violence investigations at 97 colleges and universities.
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