Category: Federal Government Actions

Gov. Wolf Urges Congress to Consider Key Priorities in American Families Plan That Will Support Pennsylvanians (September 14, 2021)

On September 10, 2021, Governor Tom Wolf sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation sharing his priorities for Pennsylvania as the US Congress considers major aspects of President Biden’s American Families Plan.

Specifically, Governor Wolf urged Congress to approve such items as universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-old children with strong investments in these programs, access to postsecondary education through investments in the plan’s proposed College Completion Fund, and increased funding that would provide states with enhanced Medicaid funding for home and community-bases services if they carry out certain activities that will support expanding access to these services and strengthen the workforce providing them. Such funding would help provide care to those with disabilities.

Click to access a copy of the letter Governor Wolf sent to the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation.

Path Out of the Pandemic Plan Released (September 10, 2021)

On September 9, 2021, the Biden Administration unveiled its Path Out of the Pandemic plan, which includes:

  • Requirements that teachers and staff at Head Start and Early Head Start programs, teachers and child and youth program personnel at the Department of Defense (DOD), and teachers and staff at Bureau of Indian Education-operated schools get vaccinated. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will initiate rulemaking to implement this policy for Head Start and Early Head Start programs, which provide comprehensive education and child development services to ensure that children are well prepared for kindergarten. The Department of Defense operates 160 K-12 schools for students from military families across the U.S. and abroad, and the Department of the Interior operates 53 schools through the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) across the U.S. on and off tribal lands. These schools and programs collectively serve more than 1 million children each year and employ nearly 300,000 staff. This action will help more schools and early childhood centers safely remain open and give comfort to the many parents that rely on them every day to keep their children safe.
  • A call for governors to require vaccinations for teachers and school staff. Currently, nine states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have vaccination requirements for K-12 school staff, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington. Building on Administration policies to require vaccination among federal employees, including those serving children in DOD and BIE schools more states are being asked to join in requiring the vaccine for school employees to make sure we are keeping students safe.
  • If a state cuts the funding to a local school district or the pay of a local education leader who is implementing CDC-recommended prevention strategies like universal masking, the school district may use ARP funds to fill those gaps. School districts can begin spending their ARP funds right away, including to reimburse for any allowable cost dating back to when the national emergency for COVID-19 was declared. In addition, the USDE plans to make additional funding available—beyond the ARP dollars—to help local school districts fill gaps when funding has been withheld by their state for implementing COVID safety measures. Local school districts will be able to apply to the USDE in the coming weeks to restore funding withheld by state leaders—such as for school board member or superintendent salaries who have had their pay cut—when a school district implemented strategies to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.
  • The USDE will assess all of its available tools to take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to ensure that state and local officials are giving all students the opportunity to safely participate in full-time, in-person learning. To date, the USDE has launched investigations in five states that have prohibited mask mandates at schools: Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. These investigations will examine whether statewide mask mandate prohibitions discriminate against students with disabilities who are at heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19 by preventing them from safely accessing in-person education.
  • Schools being asked to set up regular testing in their schools for students, teachers, and staff consistent with CDC guidance. CDC currently recommends that screening testing should be offered to students who have not been fully vaccinated when community transmission is at moderate, substantial, or high levels; and screening testing should be offered to all teachers and staff who have not been fully vaccinated at any level of community transmission. In combination with promoting and providing access to vaccination to all eligible members of a school community, schools will better be able to remain open for in-person learning and maintain the health and safety of all students, staff, and families. HHS and the CDC will continue to provide assistance to schools to accelerate the establishment of screening testing programs in all schools.

To view the plan, click here or go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/

USDE’s Office for Civil Rights Opens Investigations in Five States Regarding Prohibitions of Universal Indoor Masking (August 31, 2021)

On Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened directed investigations in five states exploring whether statewide prohibitions on universal indoor masking discriminate against students with disabilities who are at heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19 by preventing them from safely accessing in-person education.

For more info from USDE, click here.

New OSERS Guidance Reaffirms Importance of Full Implementation of IDEA Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic (August 24, 2021)

On Tuesday, August 24, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) sent a letter to its state and local partners reiterating its commitment to ensuring children with disabilities and their families have successful early intervention and educational experiences in the 2021–22 school year.

The letter outlines a series of question and answers (Q&As) as children and students return to in-person learning. The Q&As focus on topics to help ensure that — regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic or the mode of instruction — children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and that infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families receive early intervention services.  

The Q&As document on Child Find Under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is the first Q&A in the series and reaffirms the importance of appropriate implementation of IDEA’s child find obligations, which requires the identification, location and evaluation, of all children with disabilities in the states. An effective child find system is an ongoing part of each state’s responsibility to ensure that FAPE is made available to all eligible children with disabilities.

Read the Press Release

Read the Letter to OSERS State and Local Partners

Read the Q&A on Child Find Under Part B of IDEA.

Gov. Wolf: FDA Approval Solidifies Safety and Efficacy of COVID-19 Pfizer BioNTech Vaccine (August 24, 2021)

Today, Governor ​Tom Wolf issued a statement on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) full approval of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 16 and older.

“Today’s announcement is great news as we continue to fight COVID-19 and its variants,” said Gov. Wolf. “Full approval by the FDA solidifies the overall safety and efficacy of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. We hope this encourages people to get vaccinated who may have been hesitant while it was classified as emergency use to not only protect themselves, but their loved ones and everyone else around them.” 

“COVID-19 is still prevalent in our communities, which is why it is extremely important that everyone take their health seriously and get vaccinated,” ​Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said. “We have been working with vaccine providers to ensure they have the tools needed to vaccinate every Pennsylvanian who wants a vaccine. Providers are ready. Visit www.vaccines.gov to find a location closest to you.”  

Since Dec. 11, 2020, the Pfizer Vaccine has been available under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for individuals 16 and older. EUAs can be used by the FDA during public health emergencies to provide access to medical products that may be effective in preventing, diagnosing, or treating a disease, provided that the FDA determines that the known and potential benefits of a product, when used to prevent, diagnose, or treat the disease, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product. 

The EUA remains in effect for children 12-15 years of age.  For more information on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines, visit health.pa.gov or pa.gov/covid.  To find a vaccine provider near you visit www.vaccines.gov.