This week, NAPE Senior Policy Advisor Lisa R. Ransom attended events to say farewell to Denise Forte, who is leaving her position as Staff Director (Minority) of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Kim Ford, who is leaving her position as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education at USDOE.

Denise Forte (L) and Lisa Ransom (R)	Kim Ford (L) and Lisa Ransom (R)

(Courtesy of the Senate HELP Committee)
Led by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, nine Members of the Senate HELP Committee sent a letter today to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos urging her to address the dramatic increase in reports of harassment, bullying and intimidation in schools since the election of President Trump.

(Courtesy of PBS News Hour/Education)
The Education Department is considering only partially forgiving federal loans for students defrauded by for-profit colleges, according to department officials, abandoning the Obama administration's policy of erasing that debt. Under President Barack Obama, tens of thousands of students deceived by now-defunct for-profit schools had over $550 million in such loans canceled. But President Donald Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is working on a plan that could grant such students just partial relief, according to department officials. The department may look at the average earnings of students in similar programs and schools to determine how much debt to wipe away. Read more >>

(Courtesy of Advance CTE)
On October 16, U.S. Secretary of Labor Acosta announced the members who will serve on the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion. Members include representatives from education, business, industry and labor. The Task Force was one of the components outlined in the Executive Order, "Expanding Apprenticeship in America," that President Trump signed in June.

(Courtesy of Advance CTE)
On October 12, the U.S. Department of Education announced the proposed priorities for awarding competitive grants. USDoE has asked the public to weigh in on these priorities through a 30-day public comment process and will later announce the finalized priorities, which may be used to award competitive grants going forward.

(Courtesy of Benjamin Wermund with help from Mel Leonor and Kimberly Hefling)
The Education Department has made clear that the Office for Civil Rights plans to keep polling the nation's schools on a slew of issues, including discipline, bullying and access to courses and resources-assuaging fears of civil rights groups that the Trump administration may roll back what they see as crucial data collection efforts. Read more >>

Nominations Are Being Accepted for Advance CTE's 2018 Excellence in Action Award