Title IX Protects LGBTQ Students, Education Department Says
In an expected move, the U.S. Education Department announced on Wednesday that LGBTQ students are protected by Title IX—making clear how the federal government plans to enforce the gender-equity law during the Biden administration. President Biden had set the stage for the announcement on his first day in office, in January, when he signed an executive order asserting that Title IX’s protections based on sex cover sexual orientation and gender identity. As the basis for its interpretation, the department cites a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that determined that Title VII, the civil-rights law covering employment, protects LGBTQ workers from discrimination in the workplace. The department’s decision could have the greatest impact in elementary and secondary education, where Republican state legislatures have passed or considered bills in recent months that would ban transgender students from participating in school athletics. ( The Chronicle of Higher Education - June 16, 2021)
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Democrats Introduce Legislation to Double Pell Grant
A group of Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday that would double the Pell Grant over a five-year period and extend eligibility to undocumented students. The Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2021—introduced by Democratic senators Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Patty Murray of Washington alongside Democratic representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Bobby Scott of Virginia —would increase the maximum Pell Grant to $13,000 by the 2027-28 award year. The grant would be indexed to inflation for each subsequent award year. A similar version of the legislation was introduced in 2017, also co-sponsored by Hirono, Murray and Scott. In addition to doubling the award, the bill would make funding for the program fully mandatory to protect it from budget shortfalls, reinstate Pell Grant lifetime eligibility to 18 semesters —up from 12 semesters, authorized in 2011 —and set the minimum award level at 5 percent of the maximum so that part-time students are able to access the aid. ( Inside Higher Ed - June 17, 2021)
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FY 22 APPROPRIATIONS NEWS
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Proposed Education Spending Hike Faces Resistance in Senate
President Joe Biden’s proposed historic increases in education spending ran into headwinds at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday, including apparent opposition to tuition-free college from Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who has already shown his power in the 50-50 Senate to scale back or derail administration initiatives. Manchin told Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that free tuition for the first two years might not help students get through college and instead suggested making student loans for that period forgivable. Cardona tried to sell a proposed 40 percent increase in education spending, to $102.8 billion next fiscal year . . . . The lion’s share of the department budget would go toward a $20 billion increase in the Title I program . . . [and] also includes elements from the administration’s infrastructure and economic development proposals, such as making the first two years of community college free. ( Roll Call - June 16, 2021)
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AAU, ACE, Other Associations Send Letter on Higher Education Tax Proposals
On Monday, AAU, ACE, and 32 other associations sent a letter urging the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to include higher education tax proposals in any legislation that incorporates President Biden’s American Jobs and American Families plans. The proposals include repealing the taxability of scholarship and grant aid, expanding debt issuance with a Direct Pay Bonds Program, enhancing higher education tax credits, and more. “Each of the proposals,” the letter states, “would support students and their families, as well as institutions of higher education, as they rebuild and move forward beyond the COVID-19 crisis.” ( Association of American Universities - June 16, 2021)
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NIH Should Boost Rigor of Animal Studies with Stronger Statistics, Pilot Studies, Experts Say
[L]ast week a working group of federal and academic experts advising the National Institutes of Health released ideas about how to shore up the rigor, transparency, and clinical relevance of NIH-funded animal research. The group’s recommendations take aim at studies using vertebrates and cephalopods, such as squid and octopuses. They include having NIH add a page to its current 12-page grant application form that would ask researchers to describe study details, such as the number of animals they will use and plans for data analysis. Peer reviewers with statistics expertise would then assess the plan. The report delves gingerly into the issue of preregistration, which involves posting plans in an online registry before animal experiments begin. But scientific groups warn preregistration could stifle creativity in basic research, tip off competitors to ideas, and make researchers vulnerable to attacks by animal rights activists. ( Science Magazine - June 16, 2021)
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