Category: Federal Government Actions

U.S. House Passes Bill to Ban Transgender Women and Girls from Girls’/Women’s Sports (January 19, 2025)

On January 14, 2025, the U.S, House voted 218-206 to ban transgender girls and women from girls’ sports in federally-funded schools by amending Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions. This bill, the first federal anti-trans law brought to a vote in the 119th Congress. If passed into law, this legislation would change Title IX and revoke federal funding for schools that allow trans girls and women in sports teams that align with their gender identity. Public K-12 schools would be implicated by this new rule, as well as colleges and universities. The bill was brought by Rep. Greg Steube of Florida, who reintroduced legislation he had previously tried to get through the House, alongside an identical bill in the Senate from Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

This legislation would change the actual statute of Title IX to explicitly exclude transgender people from a federal civil rights law — a major setback for LGBTQ+ rights advocates that fear it would leave trans and nonbinary students more open to discrimination and with fewer avenues to fight it. Notably, the effect of this law would go further than a recent judicial ruling in Kentucky that rolled back Title IX protections nationwide for LGBTQ+ students. 

The Senate version of the bill is not yet scheduled for a vote.

For more information from The 19th, click here.

Congress Extends Autism CARES Act for 5 More Years (January 11, 2025)

The Autism CARES Act is a federal law that for the next five years will provide nearly $2 billion for research, training and services, including for early detection and interventions.

-The newly signed federal law calls on federal agencies to update a report on the challenges faced by youth with autism when transitioning from school-based services into adulthood.

-The mandated report is required by the reauthorized Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act, or the Autism CARES Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in December after passage with bipartisan support in Congress. The law authorizes nearly $2 billion for autism research and training programs in fiscal years 2025-2029.

-About 13% of students with disabilities were identified with autism during the 2022-23 school year. That’s an increase of 8 percentage points from the 2008-09 school year, when about 5% of students participating in special education services were identified with autism, according to the U.S. Department of Education. 

For more details from K-12 Dive click here.

Remembrances of Former President Jimmy Carter Include Founding the USDE (January 5, 2025)

Among remembrances of former president Jimmy Carter is his signing of S. 210 on October 17, 1979, which created the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and became operational in May of 1980.

In creating the USDE, Congress said the intention of the agency was to strengthen equal education opportunities for students and to improve the quality of education by supplementing the efforts taking place in the states and local districts.

Since its inception, there have been attempts to dismantle the USDE, but those congressional proposals have been unsuccessful. Presently, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to eliminate the Education Department and send “all education and education work and needs back to the states.”

Source: K-12 Dive

CEP Program Grows by Nearly 19%, But Future Uncertain (January 3, 2025)

According to a report by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) participation in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) increased by almost 19% during the 2023-24 school year as half of all National School Lunch Program (NSLP) schools now use the provision that lets low-income schools serve free meals to all students. In fact, 47,766 schools from 7,717 schools districts opted into the federal program for 2023-24, resulting in upwards of 23 million students in high-poverty schools access to free breakfasts and lunches.

In 2023, the (U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lowered the minimum threshold for low-income schools and school districts to qualify for the federal reimbursement program. Previously, 40% of students enrolled in a school had to be certified as eligible for free school meals, but that threshold is now 25%.

With the change in administration, it is unknown what the fate of the program will be since President-elect Trump has not signaled his position on the CEP, but Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation policy blueprint developed by former Trump administration officials, has called for the program’s elimination. The policy agenda also proposed that the USDA work with lawmakers to reject any efforts to support universal school meal programs.

For more details from K-12 Dive, click here.

USDE Withdraws Proposed School-based Medicaid Rule (January 2, 2025)

On December 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) withdrew a proposed federal rule that supporters said would have made it easier for schools to be reimbursed for school-based Medicaid services. It was seen as a way to reduce schools’ paperwork burdens and increase reimbursements for the rendering of applicable in-school Medicaid services.

The proposed rule, first issued in May 2023, recommended a rare amendment under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which guarantees that students with disabilities receive supports for learning and related services. The rule also sought to eliminate an IDEA provision that requires one-time parental consent before schools file first-time invoices for school-based specialized services for children eligible for public benefits under Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or other public insurance and benefits programs. No other parental consent procedure under IDEA would have been affected. 

In addition, USDE leadership will change with the January 20th inauguration and it is unknown what the tenor would be for making such a rule change.

For more details, visit K-12 Dive by clicking here.