Join Literacy Partners for a virtual reading of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, February 23 and 24. Literacy Partners, an adult literacy program, presents this public reading in solidarity with Black girls and women everywhere. Learn more >>

On February 16, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of "Career and Technical Education Month." Senator Kaine (D-VA), the lead sponsor of the resolution, remarked, “By formally recognizing CTE Month through this resolution, we hope to bring greater awareness to improving access to high-quality career and technical education for millions of America's students and our Nation's ongoing economic competitiveness.” The House recently introduced a similar resolution and is in the process of recruiting additional co-sponsors. Read resolution >>

On February 15, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on Supporting Quality Workforce Development Opportunities and Innovation to Address Barriers to Employment. The hearing focused particularly on individuals with barriers to employment and the value and impact wraparound support services–like childcare, transportation, and career navigation supports–have in helping workers overcome these existing challenges. A video archive of the hearing, including related written testimony, can be found here. View archived video >> 

Senate HELP Subcommittee Holds Hearing on the Health Care Workforce On February 10, the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety held a hearing on Recruiting, Revitalizing & Diversifying: Examining the Health Care Workforce Shortage.” The committee and witnesses discussed the health care workforce shortage and opportunities to alleviate them now and, in the future, in addition to opportunities to build a diverse pipeline of next generation providers. View archived video >>

On February 17, a bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday announced that they had reached an agreement on a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, after months of negotiations in the chamber. The legislation offers resources for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Read more >>

On February 4, the House voted Friday to pass the America COMPETES Act, a bill that aims to increase U.S. competitiveness with China and to address the country’s shortage of semiconductors by strengthening the country’s supply chain. The Senate passed its counterpart, the US Innovation and Competition Act in June 2021. Now that the House version of the legislation passed, the differences between the two bills will be reconciled by conference committee. Read more >>

The Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act is intended to strengthen protections for part-time workers and allow them to better balance their work schedules with personal and family needs. Read press release >>

Sydney Lake, Fortune

The U.S. Department of Education announced on February 16 that an additional 16,000 borrowers will receive a collective $415 million in debt cancellation, which adds to the $15 billion in federal student loans forgiven during President Biden’s presidency. Currently, about 43 million borrowers hold a collective $1.61 trillion in federal student loan debt. Read more >>

The White House announced more than 10 million households are enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, the nation’s largest broadband affordability program. Read the announcement >>

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released the Digest of Education Statistics 2020, an annual compilation of education statistics gathered from a variety of government and private sources.Reported data include secondary and postsecondary enrollment, educational attainment, and types of degrees conferred. Learn more >>

The Department of Labor is hosting a series of three roundtables exploring how community colleges can better measure equity in their programs to advance employment-related outcomes for historically underserved groups. Each roundtable will highlight key findings and feature expert speakers with time for audience Q&A. Future roundtables are scheduled for 

To support a comprehensive and ambitious education agenda, in late 2021 the Secretary released six priorities for use in currently authorized discretionary grant programs or programs that may be authorized in the future.

Greg Stohr, Bloomberg

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider banning the use of race in college admissions decisions, accepting appeals involving Harvard College and the University of North Carolina in what could be a transformational showdown for higher education. Read more >>

For the past year, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) tracked state activity, cataloged final state policy actions and categorized trends based on the policy areas of focus. Last week, they released "State Policies Impacting CTE: 2021 Year in Review" and the 2021 State Policy Tracker. Learn more >>

This report reviews the Biden administration’s key efforts and accomplishments to advance equity in its first year and outlines future policies needed to build a better and more dynamic nation that equitably respects the rights and meets the needs of all Americans. Read more >>

State lawmakers across the U.S. are trying to require schools to post all course materials online so parents can review them, part of a broader national push for a sweeping parents bill of rights ahead of the midterm congressional elections. Read more >>

One of the Build Back Better (BBB) Act’s most significant effects would be in reshaping the child care and early education field through long-overdue changes that will begin to address racial inequities—both for families and providers—through alleviating many of the socioeconomic barriers that uphold those inequities. Read more >>

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