August 2021
 Congress
As Senate departs, House plots August recess return: Schumer wants reconciliation bill ready the week the Senate returns – by Niels Lesniewski – Roll Call, August 11, 2021
A truncated August congressional recess is under way, but budget and voting rights legislation will take priority over the next month, bringing House members back to Capitol Hill the week of Aug. 23. The House continues to operate under protocols allowing for proxy voting because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer’s announcement Tuesday that the chamber would return to consider the budget resolution the Senate adopted Wednesday morning means not all members need to return physically. Read more >>

Nine centrist House Democrats threaten to oppose budget without infrastructure: Members want bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law first - Lindsey McPherson – Roll Call, August 13, 2021
Nine Democrats, led by New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, are threatening to vote against the fiscal 2022 budget resolution until the House passes and President Joe Biden signs the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill. “We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law,” the Democrats wrote in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi released publicly Friday. Read more >>

Pelosi offers to ‘advance’ budget and infrastructure measures together: Moderate Democrats threatened to vote against a budget resolution without a vote on infrastructure first. – by Jennifer Shutt – Roll Call, August 15, 2021
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday sought to reach a compromise with nine moderate House Democrats, who have threatened to vote against adopting the budget resolution unless the House first votes on a Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill. Read more >>

Biden’s Proposed $100B Investment in Workforce Development Is Essential – by Mary Gardner Clagett – Jobs for the Future, July 26, 2021
JFF urges Congress to fund workforce development at the full $100 billion proposed by President Joe Biden in the American Jobs Plan (AJP). As federal policymakers work to achieve a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure and on further legislation that will support job creation and economic recovery, it is critical that we also invest in America’s workers. It is essential for creating an economic recovery that is truly equitable. Read more >>
Administration
U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Announces Civil Rights Data Collection for the 2021-22 school year – August 13, 2021
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced in a letter to school superintendents that it will administer a 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), marking the first time that OCR has conducted a CRDC, including all public school districts and their schools, two years in a row, for 2020-21 and 2021-22. Read more >>

Citing Pandemic, Ed. Dept. Will Collect School Civil Rights Data for Two Consecutive Years - by Evie Blad – Education Week, August 13, 2021
The U.S. Department of Education will take the unprecedent - ed step of collecting a massive trove of school civil rights data for two consecutive years, citing concerns about equity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency will inform school superintendents Friday that it will conduct its civil rights data collection survey in the 2021-22 school year. It typically issues the survey every other year, but the collection that was originally scheduled for 2019-20 had been delayed a year because of mass school closures in the early months of the public health crisis. Read more >>
 
Statement by U.S. Secretary of Education Cardona on President Biden’s Nomination of Amy Loyd – August 10, 2021
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued the following statement today on President Biden's intent to nominate Amy Loyd as Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Read more >>

Biden administration clears the way for tighter oversight of student-loan companies – by Jillian Berman – MarketWatch, August 14, 2021
The Biden administration revoked legal guidance issued by the Betsy DeVos-era Department of Education, knocking down an obstacle to states regulating student-loan companies. This week’s announcement is the latest in a years-long battle between state officials, the federal government and student-loan companies over who has the authority to monitor firms hired by the Department of Education to manage the student-loan program. Read more >>
 School Openings
Back to school: Education secretary says 'politics has no place' in reopenings. – by Reggie Wade – Yahoo Finance, August 12, 2021
When it looks like the U.S. has the answers to the pandemic, COVID-19 keeps changing the questions. Parents and teachers must now contend with the Delta variant as millions of students starting or preparing to go back to school. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona told Yahoo Finance that he is paying attention not just as a federal official but also as a father.
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